The Monday holiday day totally messed up my days this week. Don’t get me wrong, I loved having a three day weekend, but a Monday holiday always makes the week seem off. I keep forgetting what day it is. Please tell me I am not the only one having that problem this week!
We are enjoying quiet, cooler than normal, weather here in Oklahoma, but the weather around the rest of the country right now is crazy. We just had all the flooding in Houston and now there is a hurricane off the east coast.
There are also fires destroying parts of the West Coast. I know there are many fires, but it is so sad for me to see what is happening to the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. I grew up hiking all over that area and I have taken my family there many times when we visited my parents. It is an area with so much beauty and it will be years before it is the same again.
My thoughts and prayers are with everyone dealing with the flooding, hurricanes, and fires.
I spent Labor Day cleaning out my freezer and defrosting it. It is one of my least favorite jobs. I have put it off way too long and decided it had to be done this week. Now that it is done I am so glad I did it. It is nice and clean and organized. Hopefully your Labor Day was more exciting than mine though.
What I am Cooking
Since I defrosted my freezer on Monday I had some things to use up. I found some sausage and some frozen hash browns and decided that it would be a great time to make homemade breakfast bowls. I made a large batch using two pounds of sausage and divided it up in containers for breakfasts and lunches for my husband. There is no need to buy the breakfast bowls from the grocery store, it is so easy to make and customize your own.
My daughter made some gluten free chocolate muffins this week and they were delicious.
The rest of my week has been pretty boring when it comes to cooking. I have tested a few new recipes and we have had basic favorites like tacos and taco salad.
What I am Loving
I love to keep an organizer in my car for when I go shopping. It helps keep things like produce, bread, chips, and other things from getting smashed. I had two small organizers that I have had for years and loved. However, they got destroyed in the car accident I had back in July.
They were actually not destroyed, but they were full of glass and pretty much impossible to get completely clean. I recently ordered this trunk/car organizer from Amazon and love it! It is much sturdier and more heavy duty than the last ones I had. I am sure it will get a ton of use.
I have talked about my family’s issue with clothes before. We are tall. Like way taller than average. Finding clothes that fit is tough, especially without spending a fortune.
My 15 year old son is now 6 ft. 5 in. and he is not done growing. I recently bought him these Old Navy tall pants and these ones and they are great! I love that Old Navy has some smaller waist sizes in their tall pants because not everyone is big and tall.
I also ordered my daughter some tall Old Navy tall women’s dress pants. If you are tall be sure to check out Old Navy. They are a great price for what you get. And they even have tall pajamas and sweat pants.
What I am Reading
My reading life has improved so much that last two weeks. I think I have read six books. Although I will admit that most of them were fun easy fiction type reads.
I read An Old Betrayal which is the seventh book in one of my favorite mystery series and I loved it. I also read In the Market for Murder which is part of a series recommended by one of you. I am loving that series too. They are easy, clean, mystery reads.
I also read A Death in the Off Season, which I think one of you also recommended. This one was slightly different than the mysteries I usually read, but I still enjoyed it a lot. I am actually not a huge mystery reader, but I have found a few mystery series that I enjoy.
I like mysteries books that are not overly graphic and don’t contain a lot of sexual stuff. Basically I like them clean and not full of scary graphic details. Those kind tend to be hard to fine. Do you have any to recommend? I would love to hear what mystery books you enjoy.
From the Archives
- Freezer Burrito Casserole– One Year Ago
- Microwave Apple Crisp– Two Years Ago
- Quick and Easy Apple Recipes– Three Years Ago
- Caramel Apple Bars– Four Years Ago
- Lettuce Wraps– Five Years Ago
- Maple Sausage Burgers– Six Years Ago
Where You Can Find Me
- My main Facebook page and my main Instagram where I share all things food related.
- My gluten free Facebook Page and my gluten free Instagram where I share all kinds of tips and recipes to make gluten free eating easy and delicious!
- From Our Bookshelf where my daughter and I share all about what we are reading! You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram
- And my newest project Oily Kitchen Adventures! If you love essential oils be sure to follow along on Instagram and Facebook.
I used to read a lot of Terri Blackstock. I really enjoyed her mysteries and they are considered Christian fiction, so no overly graphic details. I appreciated the way she made you keep guessing ‘who done it’.
(This is not a mystery, but a bio of Adam Brown called Fearless written by Eric Blehm. He was a Navy Seal and I thought it was such a great book, that I’m going to buy it for graduation gifts for my 3 sons when they graduate…it’ll be a while though cause the oldest is 14 and the youngest is 5. But it made that kind of impact on me. Please note that it is too mature for them to read now.)
Also, I must mention Francine Rivers, Mark of the Lion series…again, not so much typical mystery, but so captivating! A bit graphic in some aspects as it has Roman battles and gladiator scenes and a few racy things, but again, it’s considered Christian fiction so not too much of that sort of thing. It had me glued to the pages.
Sorry for rambling, but I love to read.
I have not read anything my Terri Blackstock, but I will give her a try. I have seen that book Fearless, but have not read it. I am glad to know it is good and will add it to my to read list! I have several Francine Rivers books, but have not read any. I keep hearing that her books are good, but for some reason have never actually read one. I need to do move them up the list on my to read pile. And you didn’t ramble. I love to talk books and love hearing recommendations!
We are about 45 minutes from the Gorge and right now are in Central Oregon on vacation when that fire broke out. We are having smoke here (in Sunriver) from fires about 60 minutes from where we are and have really only had one day where the air quality was below 100. We’ve spent a lot of time indoors with short spurts outside. Now we get to go home to poor air quality from the Gorge fires. It’s so heartbreaking. We love the gorge with it’s waterfalls and hiking trails. My daughter just did a sunrise hike there last week before vacation. But I’ve gotten caught up on some blog posts being stuck inside..
I have family in Florida so worrying about them with Hurricane Irma.
I’ve been messed up on days too so you’re not alone, especially since we’ve been out of town and out of normal routine.
NIce job on the book reading. I’ve got some hard copies I’m trying to read and some kindle books as well…I need to go to the eye doctor and have some store bought reading glasses so maybe that’s what’s keeping me from reading as avidly as I normally would.
The week prior to vacation I was just using up what I had in the house and brought quite a bit of it when we came so I’m going home to a fairly empty fridge, but that’s okay, i’ll clean it out and go shopping Saturday to replenish.
So the 36 length worked for your son? My husband is 6′ 3″, and a 32 waist. We recently found one place where he could get Levi’s chinos in a 38 length and that has been so nice. The 36 length ones start out fine but gradually get shorter. Have you had the Old Navy ones long enough to have washed a few times? I would love another option for pants! Thanks.
I think they work because they are a 32×36 tall. The tall adds 1 inch in the rise of the pants. So instead of just being 32×36 they are a 32×36 tall. So the waist/zipper area is 1 inch longer, or is in most brands. So I have found that a 36 inseam on a tall pant is actually more like 37 inches. If that makes sense. I haven’t found that Old Navy shrinks a lot, the length has been fine so far. The quality of Old Navy is not the best though. I have bought him their cargo pants in camo and in other colors before and my main complaint is that they fade. My husband who is 6 ft 5 in isn’t a fan of the Old Navy pants. He doesn’t like the fit as well or how well they hold up. I think for the price though and with my son still growing they work fine. The ones that fit my son the best are usually the ones that come from a Western store or Western type stores online. But those are so expensive. I usually get him one or two pairs to keep for nice stuff and he wears Old Navy for everyday. He is a teen so it works since he doesn’t dress up everyday. I am not sure that answered your question but I hope that helps. I recently realized that you can order directly from Levi’s brand and they have a decent selection on their site. I recently found some tall women’s jeans for myself on their site and noticed the men’s long inseam selection was pretty good. I might try that next time my son needs jeans. https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/ And a friend told me about this place to order online and they have some things in the really long lengths. https://www.fortbrands.com/ My husband wears pretty much only Eddie Bauer pants and jeans. They fit him well, but most of their tall’s don’t start until 36 in waist. So they don’t work for my son. That was a long answer. With a family full of tall people this is a subject I could go on and on about. 🙂
Thank you so much for all that information! I think a big part of the issue for us is my husband is still 32 waist, and still needs quality stuff for work, etc. We’ve ordered from Lands End as long as I can remember, but lately he has been wanting some more casual stuff that he can still wear to work. I had no idea about the tall waist/zipper area that is very useful to know. Thanks for taking the time to include all that!