My Week: March 19-25

Thank you for stopping by my blog today!  I hope you enjoy reading about my week here in Reno, NV.

Sunday dawned bright and early.  Two services - this little girl lost her first tooth - she was pretty excited. :)

For lunch, I made chicken quesadillas.  Yum!  Of course, you have to have cilantro - and we used green onions from my garden - so good!

I worked all afternoon catching up on little things that I just hadn't had time to get done.  Ironing and laundry.  Cleaned the kitchen, start the dishwasher.  Check my e-mail.  Finished a blog post.  Did a background check for the church.  Renewed the licenses for the dogs for the year.  

Then back to church for the evening service and off to work for my Sunday night shift.

Monday - first day of spring!  I love this episode of Barney!

Normally, I try to be as upbeat as I can with my blog.  But as we all know, life is sometimes hard.  

This is what I shared on my FB...

Last night during church, we got a text saying Tom suffered a stroke and was bleeding on the brain. Our church stopped and prayed for him...you could hear people crying around the auditorium.

As we were leaving, a song came on...I thought, God, why this song? The words, He shall wipe all tears from their eyes...hit me. The lyrics go like this...

"I Heard a great voice out of heaven saying 

Behold the tabernacle of God is with men 

He shall dwell with them and they shall be His people 

And Almighty God will be with them

He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes 

There shall be no more death 

Neither sorrow, nor crying, and no more pain 

The former things are all passed away

He that sat upon the throne said, 

"Behold, I make all things new" 

He said unto me, "Write these words 

For they are faithful and true"

And it is done

It is done

It is done

It is done

He is the Alpha and Omega 

The Beginning and the End 

The Son of God, the King of Kings 

Lord of lords, He's Everything 

Messiah, Jehovah 

The Prince of Peace is He 

The Son of Man, Seed of Abraham 

Second Person in the Trinity

He is the Alpha and Omega 

The Son of God, the King of Kings 

Messiah, Jehovah 

The Great I Am seed of Abraham 

He is the Alpha and Omega

The beginning and the end

Son of God, the King of Kings

The Lord of everything

He is Lord"

I will never forget that night. That text. That prayer. That song.

Then the text later saying...Tom was gone. Like the song...finally, no more pain.

Tom, you were the kindest hearted soul I have known. You were a dear, dear neighbor and friend. You started the journey of Sierra View Baptist Church with my husband and I. I will miss you deeply.

I am so glad for that day when you accepted Christ as your Savior with my husband by your side. For on that day, Like the words in that song, "He made you new" that day you accepted Him.

And now it is done. You are with Jesus. Welcome to Heaven, Tom.

Sunday night, Tom went to Heaven.  He had been fighting a battle with his health and had been in the hospital since September.

I received these texts from my husband...

Sunday was a hard night.

Monday, I got off work at 8am and went to the gym.  My husband had gone skiing and I was by myself.  I walked on the treadmill - willing myself not to cry so I didn't look like a crazy person - listening to music like this...sometimes when your mind is numb and your heart is broken...this helps.

I had a few errands I had already planned for after work that I thought it was best to go ahead and get done.  Accomplishing things when your mind is sad and your body emotionally spent is good.  I washed and vacuumed my van first after the gym.

Then I got my free Jamba Juice smoothie for my birthday. :)  Banana, peanut butter and honey protein smoothie.

I went to the tanning salon to use my free birthday tan - and another customer overheard about my birthday and asked if I wanted some birthday balloons.  Well, ok!  You don't every day receive balloons from a total stranger for your birthday.  LOL!

Then I got a free double and cheese with fries from Steak and Shake for my birthday as well - I took it home and had it for an early lunch. :)

I wasn't feeling too well - I had a horrible headache that I couldn't shake off.  I tried sleeping it off for an hour or so.

I promised the girls I would take them for free ice cream cones at Dairy Queen - I used my free birthday chicken tostada coupon from El Pollo Loco - and took it home for my dinner. Yay for freebies!  It was really good.

Used my BOGO free birthday coupon for mini blizzards and got one to take home to surprise the hubby - one of his favorites is Butterfinger.

Back home to make chicken fajitas for dinner and then off to softball practice at 6pm.

Addie at Mayors and Autumn at Raleigh Heights.

Off to work for my Monday night shift.

Tuesday morning, off at 8am.  It was a rainy day!

A beautiful rainbow on the way home. :)

Worked on school - Day 150!  It was a perfect day to burn a candle - this one is my favorite!

Made a chicken-broccoli-stuffing casserole for an early dinner.
Staff meeting 4-6:30pm.
Back to work at 8pm.

Wednesday morning, off at 8am. 
Workout at the gym.
Photo inspection job South Reno.
Home to shower and do school.
Piano lessons - 1-2:30pm.

Took the hubby's car to Jiffy Lube to get the oil changed and the tires rotated.  Check!
This girl...brought a yogurt - "in case she got hungry" she says.

Youth group and softball practice at 6pm.
Work at 8pm.

Thursday, off at 8am.  School and housework.
Time to now get my van in for an oil change at Jiffy Lube and a tire rotation at Les Schwaab.
While we waited, we walked over to Goodwill to do a little shopping.
Wal-Mart to get a birthday gift.

I asked my husband to grill some steaks for dinner - I grilled the asparagus and made potato wedges in the oven.  Before he got the steaks done, I had to leave to take the girls to a birthday party.  That is why the steak isn't on my plate.  LOL!

Birthday party at the park for James and Sam Martinez.
No softball practice on Thursday - coaches were on spring break.

Friday morning, a little quiet time before I started my day.
It was a busy day trying to get so much done.  My days off never seem long enough!  

Went for a Friday afternoon workout at the gym.

Then spoiled the workout with a caramel frapp.  LOL!  Oh well, it is Friday, right??  It was a long week. :)

Movie night with the girls/family at home.
Corned beef and cabbage for a yummy dinner too!

Saturday, up early to get some things done.  Off to early grocery shopping Saturday morning.
Softball practices at 11am and then at 1pm.  
Grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

Cleaned up around the church property together as a family.  
Threw chicken patties and tots in the oven for a quick dinner and then off by myself for a few errands.

Wash and vacuum the hubby's car.  (We won't mention the two little girls who played in the mud puddles during softball practice and then had to ride in daddy's car.  I knew this was a must to keep this man happy.  LOL!)

Hobby Lobby for a special gift for upcoming week.

And Wal-Mart to do some pricing for a few funds requests that I needed to get done for a few church activities that I am in charge of.

Home to prep for the morning.  Good night!

My Week: March 12-18

Thank you for stopping by my blog today - I hope you enjoy reading about my week in Reno, NV!

Time change Sunday - oh glorious day!  Ha!

Two services - 8:30 and 10:30am - I was blessed to see Pastor Joe and Addie lead the worship for the morning services.  Very blessed.  They put a lot of work into it.

Thank you to my Aaron for this sweet gift!

Art, Sandy's husband, made our family this delicious quiche for my birthday - so good!  We had it for lunch for Sunday.

In the afternoon, I had to run a few errands - Summer went with me.  We got fruit smoothies for a treat.

Back to church for the evening service.  After church, I made fish, shrimp and veggie foil packets on the grill - another yummy one!

Then off to my Sunday night shift.

Monday morning, enjoyed my cup of coffee in my new cup while working on school.

The weather was absolutely amazing!  It was hard to stay inside to get any work done!

I trimmed my bushes and watered them, the trees and the lawn.  

The girls went over to the church at 1 so I had the house to myself. :)  I made dinner - enjoying the sunshine and warm breeze through my kitchen door and windows.  Fresh pineapple seemed so appropriate for a nice day like this!

I also made these - chicken pizzas for dinner. :)

My husband then showed up and said, "Get ready, I will be back in ten minutes for you."

He brought me to the church where the girls had set up a dinner and play for my birthday.  They named the restaurant "Connie's Pizza".  They were playing off the movie - The Parent Trap - where the twins did dinner and a play for their parents of their first date.  Connie's Pizza was our first date. :) They did a wonderful job!

They started off with a song.

Our waitresses served us our drinks and salads.

Addie then played and sang a song that she had written.

For the intermissions, they played Tim Hawkin's videos - LOL!

Then it was time for their play - which was the story of my life. :)

Main course.

It was absolutely awesome - they did such a wonderful job - I felt so loved!  After the play, we had cheesecake, opened presents and they sang happy birthday.

Keren gave me this awesome Pioneer Woman dishes - I love them!

My hubby gave me my favorite treats and a Groupon for a mani-pedi. :)

From Autumn. :)

From Summer.  All the girls used their own money to do something for me. :)

From Jenny - for gardening!

From Addie - a new cover for my new Kindle that fits perfectly!

From Sierra - she knows I love pens. :)

Then it was off to the first softball practice of the season - I took Autumn and my husband took Addie.

I always love the sunsets from Mayors Park.  Then it was off to my Monday night shift.

Tuesday - another beautiful day! It reached 77 degrees and boy, did I love it!!

I spent some more time outside - it is so hard to be inside with such gorgeous weather. :)

My husband then picked me up to take me for my birthday sushi lunch - yay!  We have a restaurant that gives you free all-you-can-eat sushi on your birthday so we always go there.  SOoooo good!

We stopped at Wal-Mart for batteries and ended up buying several pots of tulips, daffodils and hyacinths - never let me go through the garden department.  LOL!

We stopped at the Post Office and then I realized - I had left my wallet in the shopping cart.  My heart dropped.  We went back to Wal-Mart and someone had turned it in to Customer Service - thank you, Jesus!  Thank you to the kind soul out there!!!

My husband went to his staff meeting - the girls and I went to the library and Starbucks for my free birthday drink.  That thing was so huge!  It took me three hours to finish it.

When we got home, I saw the girls left me more presents - coupons!

Put my plants in my garden to plant later.

Then off to take Summer to her t-ball practice.

A pretty view from this park too.  After practice, off to work.

This is how I felt Wednesday morning!  Fire alarms all over the building started going off at 4:20am- didn't make for a very peaceful night.  Yawn.

After work, I went to the gym to get my workout in for Wednesday.  Then home to work on housework and laundry.

  Drop the girls off for piano lessons and then we had appointments to get our physicals for our life insurance policies.  I crack up every time we have to do something like this - they will take my pulse and say, "Are you an athlete or do you work out a lot?"  LOL!  I will say, "I do work out but I know why you are asking.  No, my heart rate is not low because I am an awesome athlete."  Ha!  My heart was was 48 beats per minute - due to my mitral valve prolapse I have.

Home to fry up ground beef and make dinner.  I made a new recipe - tropical beans.  They didn't quite turn out - the beans were kind of crunchy still but edible.  Oh well!

Pick up the Bialys for youth group and drop them off.  Hubby took Autumn to softball practice and then off for my Wednesday night shift.

Thank you to Miss Tami for this sweet gift for my birthday!  The towels go perfectly with my kitchen and I always need more.  And I love special coffee cups like this! :)

It was a beautiful day so we tried to spend some of it working on school outside.

Thursday was the normal.  Made meatloaf, mashed potatoes and salads for dinner.  
My husband took Summer to her t-ball practice and Addie and I went to praise/worship practice at the church.

Friday, we took a day off of school - in honor of my birthday.  LOL!  I needed a day off from grading and tests and all that.  We specifically planned it for Friday because I didn't have to work and there is no softball on Fridays as well.
In the morning, I did finish up grading from the day before.  When you are working full-time, there are never enough hours in the day. :)  So, sometimes, it is a more wonderful feeling to get things accomplished than to relax and have to catch up later. :)  So, I first finished grading first and readied all papers for Monday.  Done!
Then housework - can't feel good with the house being out of sorts.
Laundry - I never take a day off of laundry.  :)
Then we went outside to get some things done.  The girls worked on the backyard to clean up the yard of the dog poop.
We planted the tulips, hyacinths and daffodils that I had gotten.  Added fresh mulch to the beds.  And watered the front lawn and all the bushes and shrubs.

Then we planted some of the lettuces into the garden beds.  I think they will be ok since they are cool weather plants.

After finishing up the yard and garden work, we did a few errands.
Post office - mailed Summer's grades and checked the church mail.
ATM to deposit a check.
Then we took a hike/walk by the river at Mayberry Park.

It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed getting out.

When we got home, our neighbor brought us over a yummy pizza!  So good - we enjoyed it!

For dinner, we enjoyed a wonderful, delicious meal at Rich and Alisa's home - it was so nice to fellowship with their family.  We love them and are so glad they are a part of our church.
And the food was delicious!  BBQ chicken, ribs, potato salad and salad.  Wow!

Saturday, I was up early with Summer.  She went with me to Winco early at 8am to get groceries for the week.  

Came home, put groceries away and then made breakfast for the family.
Softball practices at 11am - 
Addie went with Summer to her practice at Silver Lake and my husband went there after his 11am meeting.
I took Autumn to her practice at Raleigh Heights from 11am - 1pm.  I worked on my calendar for the week, wrote thank you cards and read my book during that time.
Then my husband took Addie to her practice at 1pm at Mayors.

Then we were off at 2:30pm to head to a wedding that he had up at Lake Tahoe.

This was the view from the wedding venue - cold but pretty!

After the wedding, we went to a little hole in the wall pizza place and got gyros - I love them!

Then the scenic route home driving the lake and the river and finally home about 7:30pm.  Watched a movie with the girls and off to bed.

I hope you had a good week - God bless!