Where in the world did April go? I feel as if I blinked and now we are at the end. We had such a wonderful month with family time, Easter fun, and summer vacation planning! We made many good memories and look forward to making more with our summer plans!
Books I’ve Read
- Know My Name by Chanel Miller– She was the Emily Doe of the Brock Turner case and her victim statement went viral. This memoir was an eye opening account of what it is like to go through sexual assault. It affects the victim and their families and friends on so many levels. I wish this book was required college reading for every incoming freshman. While I appreciated the story, the material was a bit difficult to read at times because it was so raw. 4/5 stars
- Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne- Helena is a devoted mother and wife. But she is also a woman with a secret past. Her mother was kidnapped as a child by her father and held hostage for 12 years in the marsh of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Her life is turned upside down when her father kills two prison guards and escapes. With her knowledge of tracking, Helena knows she is the only one who has the skills to catch him and put him back in prison. This story alternated between Helena’s childhood in the marsh and her present day. It was a fascinating story that held my attention until the very end. 4.5/5
- Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow– January Scaller is a curiosity. She has grown up a ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke while her father travels the globe searching for treasures to add to Mr. Locke’s collection. But then she finds a strange book that tells of other worlds, love, and secret doors. I loved the fantasy element of this book. It captured my attention and held it. The characters were so likable even though they had their flaws. I’ll be looking at other books by this author. 5/5
Products I’ve Been Using
- Tanger Fasting Mints– I’ve been wanting to try intermittent fasting for quite a while, but wasn’t sure about how I would be able to change my routine or if I’d be able to skip breakfast. There are many potential benefits, not the least of which is losing those 5 pounds that seem to be glued to me for the last year and a half. Sigh. Then I had the opportunity to try Tanger Mints. They contain citravarin which helps control your hunger pangs. I’ve been doing intermittent fasting for almost 3 weeks. After some trial and error, I found that taking them around 10-11am helped me not overindulge when 12pm rolls around and I break my fast. It’s a work in progress. I honestly noticed a difference with the mints. They dissolve easily in your mouth, become effective after about 15 minutes, and last for about 2-5 hours. I haven’t noticed any effects form intermittent fasting, but I’ll try that a little longer before deciding if it is, indeed, worth it. The mints definitely are worth it! You can get 20% off with code LAURA_AND_FRIENDS.
Recipes I’ve Made
- Taco Breakfast Casserole – I really enjoyed this! It was easy to make and I was able to add in extra bell pepper and tomatoes to clear out my fridge, too.
- Blueberry Pancake French Toast Bake (pictured)- I wouldn’t make this normally because of the time it would take to make the pancakes then put together the casserole. But we had a bag of frozen pancakes the girls were not eating so I made them into this. Personally I would add more fruit on the bottom before adding the pancakes and maybe even a cream cheese or icing drizzle on top. Overall, it was tasty though!
- Everything Bagel Salmon– This was an easy and quick dinner that my husband really loved. It reminded him a bit of lox.
- Mint Chocolate Dump Cake– Claire actually made a version of this for Easter. We couldn’t find mint chips so she chopped up Andes mints. I think that made it even better!
- Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches– These were SO GOOD! We just had them this weekend and the flavor was delicious. They were really easy to make as well. I just marinated them overnight in store bought teriyaki sauce and then Matt grilled them up with pineapple rounds. We skipped the ham for ease.
- Lamb Koftas with Yogurt Dressing (pictured)- Matt actually made a version of these with the leftover smoked lamb we had from Easter. We had it with the sauce, naan, and a little bit of cabbage. Yum!
Currently
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Consuming- It’s grilling season baby! Give me all the grilled foods. Our family loves brats, sausages, burgers, and grilled chicken.
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Exploring- Since our 15th wedding anniversary is this summer, Matt and I wanted to do something a little extra special. So we’ve been exploring some areas that we can go together using his hotel points and airline miles.
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Getting- We had to cut down 3 large evergreen trees in our yard last year and tried to replace them. Unfortunately, those all died. This year we got replacements from Lowe’s since their guarantee is a bit better. This time we got 2 pines and an apple tree. And we added some hydrangea bushes by the apple since there is so much space. Now we just need to get it all mulched.
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Hoping- Our new niece and goddaughter Elizabeth, was born this month! Yay! We are so happy for my SIL and BIL and can’t wait to meet her. We are hoping it is soon. Is there anything better than holding a sweet newborn baby?!
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Seeing- This weekend we are seeing my in-laws. They’ve been at their second home in Arizona since August so we haven’t seen them since July of last year I believe. The girls are really looking forward to it!
- Family Updates
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- Aveline– Avie starts soccer next week. I can’t wait to see how she will do! She is finally making progress on potty training. It’s as if she has turned a corner. Thank goodness. We went to the Shedd Aquarium over spring break as a family and Aveline just loved seeing all of the sharks. It was a wonderful day. Aveline and I also got to take part in a really fun Makoshey clothing photo shoot. We are on the website now! They are now carrying their super soft hoodies and tees in adult sizes! I’m here for it! Use code Bambrick20 for 20% off your purchase.
- Claire- Claire has been enjoying being back at school full time. She has had a few soccer practices and games. She practices and plays them all masked, but it’s so nice to see her playing on a team and loving it! Now that the weather is nice, she is doing Girl Scouts in person, but outside and masked as well. It’s such a great group of girls and parents, I’m thrilled for her.
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- Matt & Me- I’m all vaccinated! I had the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in mid April. Thankfully, I didn’t have bad side effects. Matt and I scheduled our family vacation to Disney World and Universal Studios this summer! We are so excited (oh and the girls are pretty excited, too.)! We leave in August and will spend a few days at a Disney World resort then a few days at a Universal Studios doing the Harry Potter experience. Claire can’t wait!
April Goals Recap
- Listen to an audiobook-Done! I was able to listen to Marsh King’s Daughter. It definitely took a bit to get used the narration since the narrator had a different prosody than I would use, but it was still good. I could see myself reading more this way.
- Try focaccia bread art– I didn’t have a chance to try this yet.
- Learn something new for my blog- One step forward, two steps back! So I would say this is partially completed. I wanted to set up a new email subscriber system. Currently I use feedburner, but this feature is ending in July. In order to do this I needed to create an email using my domain which took almost a week. It all had to do with DNS codes and GoDaddy versus Bluehost. Then I needed to verify my blog on the mailer system-more DNS codes. I also had to download all my emails from my subscribers and sort through and delete the spam ones. Now I need to learn how to set up an automatic subscriber email. It’s not for lack of trying! I’ve spent hours on chats and trying to get it to work!
- Take an afternoon for myself– This Sunday I took a few hours to visit a few different nurseries and buy plants and then get them in the ground and in pots. I even got to listen to my audiobook while doing it. It was nice! Fingers crossed we don’t have a late frost!
- Do a foot peel- Done! All set for sandal season!
May Goals
- Organize and clean garage- Every spring we need to reorganize the outdoor toys and do a good sweep out. It’s time.
- Do a plaster hand cast- We were given a kit to make a hand cast a while ago. I’ve been wanting to make it, but we forgot about it after moving. I rediscovered it and the time is now!
- Scratch off a date night- Matt got me a scratch off date night book for Valentine’s Day and we haven’t tried anything from it yet. I think there are even activities we could do as a family.
- Sign up for a 5K- I’ll be honest, getting up early for a run, not having Run Club to run with, and no in-person races for a year are all starting to get to me. I am feeling a distinct lack of motivation for increasing my weekly mileage and training for my half marathon. Hopefully finding an in-person shorter race will help.
- Try that focaccia bread again- I’m going to give that focaccia bread art another try. It would be perfect to make for a Mother’s Day brunch or dinner sometime.