Slices of Life

We had another great week!  We went hiking, to the zoo, and managed to get quite a bit of schoolwork and housework done. Alec had a very early morning dentist appointment on Friday that got us up and out of the house.  By the time we made it back home I told the boys we'd have a shortened day of school so we could get outside and hike again after lunch.  The weather was beautiful even if it was still pretty wet/slushy out.  Slushy going and soaking wet shoes don't always make for a great hike but we still put in a full hour. My husband asked me to bake up some cookies on Saturday.   I wanted to try out Nestle's new Espresso chips anyway so I baked up a batch of these cookies.  I also spent part of the day working on the blog, getting the tax stuff organized for the accountant, and planning a bit more of our vacation. It was so beautiful out on Sunday that my husband and I decided to take the younger two boys on a hike (Ian was with his grandfather).

Each week I plan to click on 10 or so links and share them to our Encouraging Hearts and Home Pinterest board and each week I end up clicking on so many more than 10!  I am always so inspired by the variety of posts that are shared and have such a hard time picking just a few favorites.  Did you have a favorite from last week's link up? And Now, for This Week's Encouraging Hearts & Home Blog Hop!   Join your Encouraging Hearts & Home Co-Hosts each week for encouragement and support for your heart & your home . We hope to provide a space that builds each other up and lends a helping hand along the way. With all the negativity in the world, let's shine a positive light! The post with the most views from last week: It's Mid- January and Homemade Thin Mints Will Save Us from A Grace Full Life   Some of my favorites from last week: Mount Princeton Hot Springs Resort in Nathrop, Colorado by Mille Fiori Favoriti

Normally I'm kind of sad to put these posts together thinking about how fast another month has flown by but I'm not a huge fan of January and February so I'm pretty OK with how fast January flew right by!  Now it's time for What's Up Wednesday with Shay and Sheaffer. What We're Eating This Week:  Sunday: Haddock, rice, and roasted asparagus Monday: Oven roasted chicken breast, green bean casserole, & salad. Tuesday: Unsloppy joes with butternut squash fries and salad Wednesday: Taco salad (and tacos for the boys) Thursday: Chicken orzo soup Friday: Ham steak, egg noodles, & corn Saturday: Grilled filet steak, steamed broccoli, twice baked potatoes . What I'm Reminiscing About: We're heading to Disney and Universal Studios next month and I have been thinking about all our old trips! 2007: I can't seem to find my pictures!  I just remember being pretty miserable with morning sickness and exhau

We only have a few days left in the month so I thought today I'd check in and see how well I did with my January goals.   Personal: 1.  Make my goal weight -- Nope!  While the scale moved pretty darn close to my magic number it moved right back away. I'm not all that upset though as I did go down another clothing size.  I hope I will get there one day but it is just a random number I picked and I am focusing way more on how I feel and how my clothes fit.   2.  Exercise 3 days a week EVERY week!- - Check!   I couldn't tackle this until after January 6th but then I did great!  Most days if I exercised for 30 minutes in the morning we often ended up outside for a good half our in the afternoon too.   The weather was even nice enough to squeeze in a few hikes.  3.  Drink 3 full Yeti tumblers of water every day -- Not quite .  I did manage 2 1/2 most days and started drinking 3 many more days towards the middle of the month so hopefully it wi