Menu Monday!

I've been reading Rachel's blog for quite some time and have always wanted to join in with her Menu Mondays. Now that I'm done with grad school I can actually concentrate on planning meals again and (hopefully) remember to take pictures!

Here is what we ate this week:

My Meals:

Enchilada Pasta

So good from Pinterest found on this blog

This was the first time I made this and was delicious--very easy too. I wish I could say this was my picture, but I totally forgot to take one, and we had plenty of left overs. I also didn't add the sour cream and avocado on top although I'm sure that would have been delicious.

Crispy Southwestern Chicken Wraps

We eat a lot of Mexican...can you tell? They were not on back to back days though :)

I actually grilled these just like they said to and they were delicious. Unfortunately I forgot to add the black beans :(

Turkey Burgers

J and I really try not to eat much red meat. It's been almost three weeks since the last time we had it. There's not particular reason (J said it's not the best for you), but we know there are good things in it too. Thankfully we both love turkey as a substitute. I forgot to take a picture the night we ate these, but I made an extra for my lunch. I am obsessed with mushrooms (cooked) and eat them whenever I can, so of course I added some on my burger. 

J's Meals

Jackson Street Salad

There is an amazing Greek restaurant in Columbus called Loops. We really can't get enough of it. J picked it up for us on Friday because we had both been talking about it and had not had it in over a month. I tried the Jackson Street in a salad (comes in pita). It had grilled chicken, mushrooms, cucumbers, and hummus. It was delicious! 

Sweet and Sour Chicken

This was J's other meal for the week. Wow! He is usually an amazing cook, but we were both pretty busy and didn't plan as well. This week will be better.

Hope you enjoyed our first Monday Menu! Don't forget to link up with Rachel and check out her blog. She is also a fellow teacher and such a doll!

Shout out!

It just occurred to me today that I never did a shout out to my amazing blog designer.

Becca at Jumping Jax Designs with such a doll to work with! I told her I wanted something that included both J and myself (even though I will mainly be writing on the blog) because it's about our life. When I went to pick out the images I knew that these two people completely represented us. She took them along with the color pallet I wanted to use and created this amazing design!! She was very easy to work with and got back to me right away. She even makes party invitations and birth announcements!

I'm so glad she helped us create a new look for our blog and I completely recommend her work to anyone!

Happy Wednesday!

Where has April gone?

I can't believe it's April 24th already. Where has the time gone?

I wish I could say we've been up to exciting adventures, but not so much. So to stay a little interesting, I decided to a little photo dump of our month so far.

J and I love to go to the Half Price Book Store. Who wouldn't?! As soon as we step in the door, we both go to our favorite places-- I go to Ohio History and J to European History. I'm pretty sure we are one of the dorkiest couples in the store. I guess that's what happens when I teach about Ohio and J just loves European history (snore).

My great-aunt passed away the day before Easter. Unfortunately, they live three hours away in Kentucky, so we don't get to see them too often. I was never very close to my great-aunt, but have spent hours on the phone with my great-uncle, Gordon. He loves history and genealogy and he could talk and talk about both all day long. They are both the kindest people and married almost 60 years. There was never one without the other. They were such amazing role models for married couples! I went down to Kentucky for the funeral with my dad and sister. It was a beautiful day and I know Aunt Eloise is at peace.

What would a blog post be without sharing by beautiful babies...

Top left: Oliver fell asleep and I tried to snap a pic, but he caught me!

Bottom left: I love him SO much!

Left: Buddy fell asleep on the way home from the in-laws. So sleepy!

And the Beaver... {I call him the Beav, or Beaver, because he reminds me of the kid on Leave it to Beaver. Not quite with the program all the time, really smart, and always getting into trouble!}

Oh, the life of a cat!

I hope to jump back into the blogging world now that I'm finally done with grad school (more on that later). I've been terrible about reading, commenting, and obviously blogging. Excited to finally have more time for the real important things in life!

Weekend Trip to Cinci

About a month ago, J and I purchased a Groupon (which is amazing) for a hotel in Cincinnati. We decided to make a two day trip out of it and enjoy some time on the town.

We left on Thursday afternoon and made our way down to the Cincinnati Premium Outlet Malls. I was super excited to visit the outlet malls because they had an Ann Taylor Loft and Michael Kors! Unfortunately I disappointed. To me an outlet mall is a mall with discounts. I'm pretty sure that I could have purchased anything from the ATL store for the same price up here in Columbus. I might have been able to get it cheaper with a coupon! The Michael Kors store was the same way, although I didn't expect it to be much different from Macy's prices. It was fun to gush over all the pretty bags! And because I was so excited and wanted to find some pretty outfits, I found nothing. But J got some jeans that actually touch his shoes! So hard to find jeans for someone who is 6'4''.

link

link

After we got in to Cincinnati, we checked in at our hotel and decided on a place for dinner. We found this amazing, old, hole-in-the-wall(ish) restaurant that has been in downtown Cincinnati since 1861. Let's just say that I fell in love with Arnold's Bar and Grill. J and I love old, nostalgic-feeling places. We really can't get enough. If there is a place where mainly people ages 60-80 hang out, I'm sure it's right up our ally. And if it's historical then it is an bonus. Arnold's was all of that plus more. When we walked in I just kept thinking of all the people that had been there before us. Someone could have sat at the bar discussing the re-election of Abraham Lincoln. Chills I tell ya!! Plus to top off the historic part, there was a live combo (band) playing ragtime music. I seriously could of stayed there all night. I didn't want to leave. I tried to get pictures, but it wasn't very light in the room and my camera flash was only capturing parts of what I was trying to see. So here are some pictures from Arnold's facebook page.

Again, taken from their FB page. The room these people are sitting in was where we ate. There was a roof overhead, but it is taken off during the summer months. You feel like you're outside the whole time.

same room as above

If you're ever in Cincinnati I highly suggest you go to this restaurant. You will have a wonderful time and eat delicious food! You can find more photos on their website.

On Friday, we headed home but not before our first shopping trip to...

This store is amazing!! We purchased a few times including two metal bars with storage hangers for my classroom, small storage containers, drawer organizers, and kid cat-proof cabinet door locks. We can not wait to get back.

J and I both enjoyed our trip to Cincinnati and can't wait to go this summer to see a Reds game!!