The Nelson Narrative

The girls turned 13 today!  Yesterday, Olivia wanted to get big "1" and "3" ballons and do a photo shoot at a nearby park with Mount Si in the background.  Then today she wanted to meet her friend at the mall and hang out with her for awhile before we met Paul, Kayley and Paul's parents for dinner as the Cheesecake Factory.  Poor Kayley didn't really do anything, other than dinner with all of us.  She was trying to hang out with one friend but she lives really far away.  I'm not sure why she didn't try to do something with one of her other friends that live closer, but maybe she can next weekend.

                                          Today I'm linking up with  Sheaffer  and  Shay  for another round of What's Up Wednesday. 1. What we're eating this week Hello Fresh Mediterranean Salmon and Sweet Chili and Soy-glazed Meatballs. We went out yesterday (Mexican) because our hot water heater stopped working and so we are trying to minimize dirty dishes.  We are also going out on Sunday for the girls' birthday and probably getting take-out on Friday.  The other two nights this week will probably be spaghetti and stir-fry. 2. What I'm reminiscing about The girls turn 13 on Sunday, so naturally I've been reminiscing about when they were little. 3. What I'm loving Nothing in particular at the moment.  Still loving working from home and all the new furniture/decor/home improvements that one day I'll get around to blogging more about. 4. What We've Been Up To Getting our new curtains hung in the living room and planning our summer vacations.  We are

I'm a little late with this but finally getting to it. Monday - Hello Fresh Mediterranean Salmon with Za'atar Couscous and green beans Tuesday - Chicken Stir-fry with Soba Noodles and Peanut Sauce (and veggies, of course) Wednesday - Hello Fresh Sweet Chili and Soy-Glazed Meatballs Thursday - Not sure yet.  Maybe enchiladas or soup of some sort Friday - Our weekly "support local small business" take-out Saturday - Spaghetti (we ended up not having it last week) Sunday - The girls' 13th birthday!  Dinner out at the Cheesecake Factory

I missed last week, but hoping to revive the streak. Monday - we still have lots of snow on the ground and it's raining a lot today, so I haven't done my weekly shopping yet and don't plan to today, so dinner tonight will be Trader Joe's beef and broccoli, or whatever else we can scrounge from the freezer. Tuesday - Hello Fresh Pork Carnitas Tacos Wednesday - Hello Fresh Silky Sicilian Penne.  Can't wait for this one, we've had it (or similar) before and it is SO good! Thursday - Cashew Chicken Stir-fry Friday - Take-out, I'm hoping Mexican Saturday - Spaghetti (we eat this a lot, because it's one of the few things both girls will eat!) Sunday - I never get that far with my weekly planning.  I'll come up with something, probably some sort of chicken dish with mashed potatoes and veggies.

We got a dumping of snow Friday night and more today.  We also had strong winds Friday night, making me worry that I might get called to work (I work for the power company, so when there are a lot of outages I have to work), but it wasn't that bad and I didn't have to.  It was weird because it was so windy that in some places it looked like it barely snowed and in others there was two feet.  We took several walks with the dog and Olivia went sledding at the park with a friend.  Kona is so cute in the snow but unfortunately I failed to get a good video.  Didn't really get any good picture yet, either, just one of the front porch. We pretty much get snow every year around now, but this is the third year in a row that we got a lot (I think we got about 14 inches).

Valentine's Day obviously isn't a big decorating holiday, unless maybe you're an elementary or preschool teacher, but I do like to decorate my mantel. The girls are done with Beanie Boos but I found some Valentine-themed ones so I put them on the mantle, and I grabbed some cute garland from Dollar Tree. I love this adorable owl I got from Pier 1 several years ago. And this candy/trinket tray.  So cute.  (Tried to rotate photo and I can't) Another cute Dollar Tree find Ànd this year my mother-in-law made me this pretty wreath as part of my birthday present. Now we're heading into a 3-day weekend (yes!) and expecting lots of snow and some wind.  Hopefully not enough to cause lots of outages and make me have to work.  Also, the girls are on mid-winter break next week.

This was a very different Super Bowl.  Normally we go to our friends John and Laura's house.  A few years ago we shook things up and they (and some other friends) came here, but most years we all go there.  This year of course, we just stayed home. Paul wasn't even going to watch it and was going to go skiing with Kayley instead but the pass was closed due to an accident or something.  So we both kind of watched a little but did other things as well.  I mostly watch for the commercials anyway but from what I saw this year they weren't even that good. It snowed a little today which seems to be becoming a Super Bowl Sunday tradition around here. Now I'm just going to watch some TV and read for awhile and go to bed.

I missed January, but one thing I want to do this year is set monthly goals and then review them at the end of the month to see how I did.  Just a few, not like multiple categories like some people do (work, home, spiritual, fitness, financial, etc.). Some that I had for January were: lose a few pounds, read two books (I'll never understand how some people can read like 5 or 6 or more books in a month, especially if they work and/or have kids), work on my goal of reading most of the Bible in a year (and the rest next year), do some purging/organizing. So here's how I did.  As of a few days ago I have lost 3 pounds.  Not great, but could be worse.  I finished a book that I was already half way through, and am almost half-way through book #2, and almost half-way through an audiobook (book #3).  Also, I have been keeping up with the Bible in a Year app and haven't missed a day yet.  So far I have read all of Genesis, most of Matthew, 19+ Psalms, 2 or 3 Proverbs and maybe half