My Beautiful Month

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

Excitement for the Garth Brooks' concert!!!!!!!!

Mr. Darcy all dressed up for the Oscars.

Weeding. No space. Librarian problems.

Dr. Seuss love. Happy Birthday!

Cheeseburger salad. Oh, so good.

Why so serious, Misters?

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

My Beautiful Month

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

Protein smoothies get my mornings going...especially when I need to get going out the door!

 If I'm in the kitchen cooking, Mr. Darcy is on my feet. It's how we do things.

 Holy frijoles! Siamese is 17!!!!!

He LOVES his puppyccino! Just like Mama.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Breakfast Lately

This handsome boy barely gives me time to pour a cup of coffee in the morning, let alone to actually make breakfast. And I love breakfast. It's my favorite meal of the day. (...unless there is ice cream in my near future, then that, yes that is my favorite meal of the day. It may be for breakfast; I am not above that. Or it may be a mid-day snack, or a late night treat. Whenever. It's my favorite.) These days I'm scrambling around just to throw random items in my lunch bag in hopes I'll have enough for some sort of breakfast dish at my desk. Errr...I mean at the table in the break room.

Lately, I've been relying on my Greek yogurt bowls. I mix together a scoop of plain yogurt, a handful of berries, a spoonful of natural almond butter, and a little sprinkle of granola or nuts, and TA DA! Breakfast. It's to the point where now I'm just keeping containers of yogurt and berries in the fridge at work, along with my jar of almond butter, of course. Which, by the way, I'm running a little too low on for comfort.

I need my morning protein, and if I'm not getting it from my yogurt than I'm tossing it into my favorite Via Shakes. However, the blender is so loud Mr. Darcy starts barking while Siamese just glares at me because all of this unnecessary ruckus is disturbing her beauty sleep.

Of late, I'm just happy to make it out the door with enough time to run into my favorite place and grab an iced coffee because it's so dagum muggy I can't even think let alone do anything because the actual act of doing something makes me want to not wear clothing because when I open the fridge to find a container of Fruit Punch Kool-Aid where once was my homemade iced coffee stock for the week, and it's only Wednesday, I don't have time to brew a fresh pot because...well, see above.

And now the house is empty of our beloved protein powder.

And I was doing the happy dance all last week because when I stopped at Starbucks for a GIANT iced green tea (because it's so dagum muggy....) I saw they were having a buy one Via box, get one free deal. Jackpot. What a beautiful moment in the middle of a busy week. Glorious. Until this Monday rolled around and I ran out of protein. Now my Via packets just sit there and taunt me every morning.... However, I'm sure by the time we get around to buying more protein, I'll be out of my almond milk, or I'll pull out two empty ice cube trays because Mr. Darcy is just loving his ice cubes right now. You wanna know why? Because it's so dagum muggy....

Hold on a sec while I run to the fridge and add almond milk and more ice cube trays right next to the triple underlined protein powder. Oh, and I should probably get more yogurt and almond butter...and berries, yes need those.

Anyhoo, now that I've taken up the better half of the short moment you set aside to read this post this morning, let me get to the main point. In all my rushing around, toy-throwing, and random-ingredients-grabbing glory, I stumbled upon this tasty protein-filled breakfast. In the mornings, I enjoy making random egg scrambles, and lately I've been tossing together leftover ground turkey with some eggs and whatever vegetables I have on hand. It's quite filling, tasty, and quick. My most recent three favorite words, aside from Mr. Darcy, potty, and sit.

Double Protein Egg Scram-lette
serves 1

1 egg
1 egg white
couple drizzles of vegetable or chicken stock
couple spoonfuls of cooked ground turkey
1 Tbsp plain Greek yogurt
a handful of kale
sprinkle of nutritional yeast (or cheese, if you prefer)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Splash in some stock and saute the kale. When kale is almost wilted, add in ground turkey, stirring until warmed through. Meanwhile, lightly beat egg, egg white, and yogurt in a separate bowl. Lower heat, if needed coat pan with cooking spray, and pour in the egg mixture. Now I always start out with an omelet intention, but it usually ends up less pretty and more of an egg scramble (hence my new word, scram-lette). Do whatever works for you. Mix it together, flip it over, pour it on top, whatever floats your boat. When the egg is cooked and everything is warmed through, sprinkle on the nutritional yeast (or cheese, if you have it). I think tomatoes would work well with this dish but, alas, I was out. So if you have 'em, and you like 'em, add 'em. Serve on a plate and dig in. (Or, as I may have to revert to soon, throw in a wrap and head out the door.)

Of course, don't forget the drizzle of hot sauce. Enjoy!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Sunday Sweets

Meet MR. DARCY.

Y'all, I have been waiting FOREVER for a puppy dog of my own. (And now I can finally cross off the first thing on my 30 Before 30 list!) I am a huge dog person, and I love these four-legged family members. And from where I come from, they are family members. And we've had many of them, with plenty of love to go around.

Side note: a running list in my parent's household includes JoJo (Cocker Spaniel), ----> failed attempts with Chance (Chow-Chow/Lab mix) and Teeny (Dachshund) until we found the perfect fit with Sammy (Chihuahua), then he passed and my parents gave me...in order...Ice (Siberian Husky), Sheldon (collie), and Tiki (Jack Russel/Lab mix). Since I've been out of the house, my parents have had Franklin--a.k.a. Chopper (terrier mix?), Rizzo (Maltese/Papillon mix), and after her unexpected passing now have Gibbs (mix?).

[Don't even get me started on other beloved family members' pets which names include, Tippy, Taffy, Lucky Charms, Monica and Chandler, Buffy, PJ, Jake, and Stewie...to mention a few. Did I mention we love our puppy dogs over here? Did I mention I love finding out pets' names? I think the pet's name says a lot about its owner.]

I'm sure you can imagine my disappoint when I met Mr. B, almost seven years ago, and discovered he was the proud owner of Siamese. Yes, this....cat. I'm not a cat person, never have been. This probably stems from the first cat [and LAST cat] I ever owned at the age of eight. Her name was Bootsy (because she was all black except for her four white paws) and she was nothing but a living terror for the month or so we had her. She kept trying to get out of our house, tearing down the screens, biting people, and finally we set her free. She continued to haunt our neighborhood for years.

Whoa, big sidetrack. Anyhoo. On Friday we picked up this cutie, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, and he'll be nine weeks old tomorrow. I love him to pieces. I mean Be.Still.My.Heart.

Oh, Mr. Darcy, you are just precious on a stick.

Since we were picking him up near my hometown, we had to stop and show him off. Mama and my aunt fell all over him. How can you not?! Just look at that face. And those stubby legs. And that BUTT! Once we arrived home, two hours later with no accidents or issues, the neighbors and in-laws were all over him. Mr. Darcy is definitely not shy, loves the outdoors, and enjoys car rides. Siamese is handling this new four-legged intruder quite well actually. When we entered the house, she hissed at him to let him know who's boss. She is constantly following him around, keeping a close eye, and glares whenever Mr. B shows him any attention. I think we have one jealous lady. Mr. Darcy was scared of her that first night, yet after a good night's sleep he's now quite curious of her. But we're keeping them at a distance for now....

We made it through almost 24 hours without any accidents. And, as of now, we had only one little incident. Can I brag a little more on this sweet boy? In less than two days, Mr. Darcy knows how to fetch and bring back, tug with his toys, knows where his food and water bowls are and the times he gets his meals, and is bell potty-trained. Two days, my friends. Two days. And this morning, he now knows his name. Corgis are brilliant dogs. I am one proud Mama.

And these two...I can't get enough of watching them together. Best buddies.

However, I can't get anything done! Mr. Darcy loves playing and chewing, but you need to be right by him. If you walk away or turn your head to look at the phone or the TV or a chipmunk running across the driveway, he immediately stops what he's doing and nips at your heels (herding you) until you give him 100% of your attention. And I can't pick him up and carry him around. Oh no, this little boy is too busy exploring and chewing everything. He does not have time to be held. He gets all squirmy, and his stubby legs get going. If he's tired or scared then, by all means, cuddle away. Mr. B keeps telling me to put him in his exercise pen (THE best purchase ever--but more on that later), but I feel bad keeping him confined if I don't want him to nap. But his puppy-self needs many naps.

And, y'all, oh how he loves his tennis ball and carrots.

Heads up! Puppy pictures galore will soon be all over this blog, I'm sure. :)

I'll post a puppy update soon. Until then, I'll be over here trying to keep all my fingers.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

My Beautiful Month

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

Shoot. I think we forgot to get something?!

I know I shared the 80-degree day spring cleaning photo a few posts ago, but I had to post again because a few days later came more snow. Cheers to Ohio living.

The never-ending task of creating more space at work.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Photo an Hour

7 AM

8 AM

9 AM

10 AM

11 AM

12 PM

1 PM

2 PM

3 PM

4 PM

5 PM

 

6 PM

7 PM

8 PM

9 PM

10 PM

Just to clear up 8 o'clock. We did not get a new Camaro. Some family friends stopped by to show us their new gorgeous car. Although, I'm a Corvette gal myself ;)

And here's the recipe link to the Lemon Berry Angel Food Cake Trifle I made. My mother-in-law absolutely loved it. (Psst...I plan to devote a whole post to my experience with oil pulling, so stay tuned!)

I hope everyone had a very happy and blessed Easter!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi