Fourteen years ago I was living and going to school in New York City when one of the greatest tragedies our country has ever known occurred right down the street. Please take a moment today to say a prayer for those who lost their lives, and for those who were left behind. We will NEVER forget.

I’m beyond ready for the weekend! I don’t know why, but this week has just been physically and emotionally draining in ways I could never have predicted. Time to kick your feet up, grab a steaming mug of hot chocolate, and enjoy this week’s favorites!

(Linking up to Katie and Heather)

Insanity Asylum

Recently my husband was given a copy of Insanity Asylum, and I can’t believe how much I love it. The original Insanity was completely crazy in the best way, but Asylum really takes it to the next level. The series uses resistance this time (dumbbells or bands) instead of just body weight and for me that has made all the difference. I didn’t realize how much I missed throwing dumbbells around until I started doing it again. Weight training is GLORIOUS! Although Jonah prefers the agility ladder…

General Conference

I’m a little bit early on this one, but it’s been on my mind a lot this week so I thought I would mention it. Twice a year, my church has a global conference hosted by the leaders of the church, and this year it’s schedule for the weekend of October 3rd. It’s basically 8 hours of teaching squished into 2 days, and I really love it.  I’ve heard people joke that conference gives them a 6 month recharge of peace and spirituality, but it’s really true for me. I’m also really grateful the church has embraced technology — I don’t have cable, but anyone can stream it online through BYUtv. 🙂

Shaking up the menu

It’s no secret that I’ve been trying new recipes almost every day for the last few weeks, and I’m really enjoying the variety! I’m not a very creative chef, but if someone tells me how to make something I’m usually pretty good at it. Most of the meals have been really good (although one or two I would just call edible and not much more), and my picky little toddler has even been willing to try some new things. He didn’t have any idea he was eating veggies — sneaking cauliflower into eggs for the win!

I love it when I get up early enough to have a real breakfast before work and not just a granola bar…

The crockpot orange chicken was my least favorite recipe so far this week. I have some ideas for tweaks to make it better, so I’ll try it again and see if I can fix it!

My new stroller

I know this is the third stroller I’ve gone through this year, but when you’re buying them secondhand instead of new, sometimes you don’t realize the options you should be looking for. In the last two months I have discovered that if I want to be able to spend some time in a library, store, or even just outside, I need three things: a cup holder for me,a separation between the two seats, and snack trays!

I have no idea how I didn’t notice that the two seats in my last stroller didn’t have anything to prevent the boys from pinching or poking each other, but once Jonah started to move around I discovered very quickly that he could lay on top of Micah if he wanted to. I also discovered that Micah really doesn’t like that, and will punch or slap anyone who invades his bubble. I’m in sooo much trouble when these two get older 😛

This stroller is another secondhand find (I bought it on OfferUp), but it’s much newer than either of my other strollers and it has all the necessities I didn’t realize I needed when I bought my last stroller. The timing is perfect too, because it’s just starting to get cool enough to take the kids for a jog at night. 🙂

What is one of your favorite things about this week? 

Any fun plans for the weekend?