Wedding crashers

June was a very busy month! We got to see three of our good friends get married and I do love a wedding.

Our first wedding was in Dalhart. Our friend Mandy got married on the 11th and had a beautiful reception. It was my first time to ever be in a Church of Christ and I will be crossing that off my to-do list. Her bridesmaids and family decorated the church and reception venue and did a fabulous job.

The Henrys

At the reception

Sister Act

Their wedding was next!

The next wedding we went to was in Amarillo. Our friends Emily and Britt got married on the 18th and Daniel was a groomsman. Their wedding was out in the country, but so pretty. Emily did a peacock theme for her wedding colors and it turned out so cute.

The Krahns

Daniel enjoying the fire pit

I'm trying to get better about taking pictures and it is a constant struggle. Next week we leave for Miami and I will be taking lots and lots of pictures of what we do and eat. Is Miami really the city where the heat is on? All night on the beach til the break of dawn? We're about to find out.

Accountability

I am holding myself accountable. I will run a half marathon. I am putting this out there so I can't change my mind or give up in the home stretch, which is what I did last time. A friend and I have started training for the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas in December and with her help I will do this.

There, I said it and I can't take it back.

Good bones pay off

Today I decided to share pictures from another one of our remodels. The year before last, we decided it was finally time to update our kitchen. When we remodeled our master bedroom/bathroom we moved a wall which pretty much eliminated all of our cabinets. We were seriously living like fraternity boys.



As you can see our kitchen was u-g-l-y, but with the help of our interior decorator I knew we could transform it. Here are some pictures of the progress.







It took about a month to finish construction and it was an interesting experience to live without a kitchen. We ate a lot of microwave meals, but in the end it was worth it. I present, the finished product.







We are so blessed to be able to customize our home to our needs. I used to believe that if you had an ugly house, you had an ugly house. Now I understand what people mean when they say a house has "good bones". A little creativity and a lot of hard work can take a home from the worst of the worst to something more than you ever imagined. We are still loving our new kitchen!

Remodel progress

Construction is officially done at the Brown house! We have a few things to touch up, but now we are really just waiting on furniture. I ordered a new couch and chairs and we said goodbye to Daniel's old furniture. Sad day for him and the dogs, not so much for me.

Here are some pictures of what the room is looking like without most of the furniture in it. Hopefully everything we ordered will be in before our town's big rodeo and reunion in August. Fingers crossed!







I'll update the blog as more stuff comes in!

You must make this

Since getting back from France, we have been trying to eat a little healthier. Well, I have been trying to eat healthier and Daniel is paying the consequences. We are going to Miami and I refuse to be the fat girl like in Cosmo with the bar over my eyes.

I have been trying tons of different recipes and have made quite a few of the recipes from my Hungry Girl cookbooks. One day I was looking around her website and found a recipe for white lasagna. I love white lasagna and I knew I had to try it.

It was way too good and a serving is under 300 calories. I would eat this if I wasn't trying to lose weight and I've already made it twice. Do yourself a favor and make it tonight.



Hungry Girlfredo White Lasagna
Recipe from Hungry Girl

3 medium zucchini, ends removed
1 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
2 large egg whites or 1/4 cup liquid egg whites
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. salt, divided
1/4 tsp. black pepper, divided
1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms
2 cups chopped spinach
3/4 cup fat-free sour cream
4 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss cheese
4 tbsp. reduced-fat Parmesan-style grated topping, divided
4 sheets oven-ready lasagna noodles (like the kind by Ronzoni)
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Optional: additional salt and black pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Slice zucchini in half widthwise, and then slice each half lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick strips. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg whites, garlic, oregano, basil, 1/8 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. black pepper. Stir well and set aside.

Bring a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove. Add mushrooms and, stirring occasionally, cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add spinach and cook until spinach has wilted and excess moisture has evaporated, about 2 more minutes.

Remove skillet from heat and let cool. Blot away excess moisture from veggies, using paper towels. Transfer contents to the bowl of ricotta mixture and set aside.

Re-spray skillet and return to medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook zucchini until softened, about 2 minutes per side; remove skillet from heat and re-spray between batches. Set zucchini aside.

To make the sauce, in a microwave-safe bowl, combine sour cream with cheese wedges, breaking cheese wedges into pieces as you add them. Stir in 2 tbsp. Parm-style topping, remaining 1/8 tsp. salt, and remaining 1/8 tsp. black pepper. Microwave for 30 - 45 seconds, until very warm. Stir until smooth and set aside.

Spray an 8" X 8" baking pan with nonstick spray. Evenly place 1/3rd of the cooked zucchini strips on the bottom. With a spoon or spatula, spread half of the ricotta-veggie mixture on top. Evenly top with 2 lasagna sheets, followed by 1/3rd of the sauce.

Repeat layering with the same amounts of zucchini, ricotta-veggie mixture, lasagna sheets, and sauce. Evenly top with remaining zucchini, followed by remaining sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining 2 tbsp. Parm-style grated topping.

Bake in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes, until cheese starts to brown.

If you like, season to taste with additional salt and black pepper. Enjoy!

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Serving Size: 1/4th of lasagna (1 large piece)
Calories: 290
Fat: 6.5g
Sodium: 726mg
Carbs: 33g
Fiber: 3g
Sugars: 10g
Protein: 21.5g

PointsPlus® value 7*

Wrapping it up

It has been way to long since my last post. Daniel and I have both been busy at work. The month of June is shaping up to be super busy. We both had bachelor/bachelorette parties last weekend, two weddings to attend the next two weekends, Relay for Life and hopefully a lake trip coming up. Plus, we decided to go to Miami for my birthday to visit my dad.

Anyway, I wanted to post a couple more pictures of our trip to France and wrap it up. Our last day in Paris we went on a market tour. Next time we are there I will definitely be returning to the markets. You can get everything there. Seriously, you could buy dinner, socks, clothes and anything else you can think of. It was such a cool experience.

We got lunch from one of the stands on Rue Cler. We bought a rotisserie chicken and got to try potato gratin. It was something I would definitely recommend.

The rest of the day was spent shopping and trying to see the last couple of sights we had missed via on the bus tour.



For dinner we went to an amazing restaurant that specializes in duck. Daniel and I are not the most adventurous eaters, but we really tried to go out of our comfort zone on this trip. I had tried duck confit when we first go to Paris and loved it and was excited to try the best in the city.



Au Petit Sud Ouest's menu consists of duck, duck and more duck. A husband and wife run the restaurant and speak great English. It was one of the best meals we ate while we were there. I could write a whole blog about how amazing the potatoes were. Best ever. It was the perfect way to end our trip.

So, if you ever have a chance to go to Paris, GO! Don't let all of the negative stereotypes deter you. Everyone was nice and I would go back for sure.



And this is what we came to. The dogs were very happy that we were home.