Weekending & Menu for the Week

Hi-dee-ho everyone! Hope your week is starting off on a good foot.

I dragged myself to the gym this morning despite every muscle in my body that wanted to stay in bed and sleep another hour or two. But as always, I am so glad I went.

In fact, this morning, not only did I get a great physical workout, I also struck up a conversation with another gym member about her struggles with infertility and how she is debating now that she's in her 40's if she wants to try IVF again, or move forward with adoption.

I always know that when these conversations come up - and they come up a lot more than you'd think - it's God saying, "Stacy, use your story. Help this woman. Encourage her. Love her. Give her strength by sharing what you went through."

So I did.

And I could see tears in her eyes as she opened up and was filled with relief that someone else understood her struggles.

Believe me people, God does not waste a hurt.

Whatever struggles you've been through in your past - or are currently going through - don't hide them. Don't shove them deep down in your thought closet. Share them. Give your road map to someone else who needs some good directions.

I promise you this...you won't ever regret helping someone else through a struggle that you've been through yourself.

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Now on to much more unimportant topics...

Weekending.

We had such a fun weekend. We went out with a group of our neighbors on their boat and sailed over to St. Petersburg where we exited the boat and went on a "Peddle Pub Tour." So. Much. Fun.

Starting off the evening with a sunset sail is just about the most perfect thing I can think of.

 Of course everyone brought yummy food...

And our neighbors who own the boat, prepared little "Emergency Bags" for each of us to take on the Peddle Pub Tour. Complete with snacks, water, and of course...glow sticks.

This picture of our friend Mike photo-bombing us may be my favorite of the night:

We walked several blocks and then arrived at our destination!

 Basically a Peddle Pub is an enormous bike built for like 15 people. There's no motor, so you are seriously getting a workout during your "tour." I was very thankful that there were two people on the tour with us who have completed Ironman competitions. :)

The girls

Think the sun was in my eyes??

 The boys

In other cities, they have a keg of beer on the front and serve you while you're peddling around, but St. Pete hasn't given them an alcohol license yet, so it was a "dry" Peddle Pub. The "Pub" part of the tour was that we went around to 4 breweries in downtown St. Pete. We had a super fun night with all of our neighbors and definitely got a great workout too! My tush is still sore!
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As for this week's menu, I apologize for posting it a day late. We had some friends over for dinner last night, so my Sunday night blogging got the boot.

This week is going to be some "oldies but goodies" because it's a very busy week and Brian is traveling again, so there's no need for fanciness in the kitchen.

Monday:
Leftovers from Sunday (grilled steak, asparagus and red peppers with sauteed artichoke hearts).
I also made these potatoes with the steaks (minus the sour cream). Super easy and very yummy! Kinda fun to spice up the traditional baked potato every once in a while.

Tuesday:
Fettuccine Alfredo with sauteed chicken breasts that I will cut into strips.

Wednesday:
Mini Cuban Sammies

Thursday:
Crockpot Mushroom Meatballs


Well, the baby's up from his nap, Payton is now home from school and giving me a terrible time about re-doing some old homework, so I'll say goodbye for now. Have a great week friends!

Memorial Day

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend full of family, beaches and BBQ's.

We started off on Saturday by going sailing with our neighbors. None of us Heckmans had ever been on this kind of a sailboat before, so we were all very excited about it. It did not disappoint, let me tell ya!

We drove to the causeway by our house and then sailed over to an island that is only accessible by boat. It was amazing! The water was so clear, the beach was soft white sand and the weather was perfect. God was really smiling down on us that day!

Here is a picture of the sailboat:

 Here are my two pumpkins in their matching swimsuits. I could just eat em up!

I had to include a picture of this solar oven that our neighbor's son made in school. They actually cooked hot dogs on the beach with it! Pretty amazing!

 It was so nice to just kick back and enjoy God's amazing creation.

 The island was perfect for shell hunting! Payton found an amazing conch that was fully in-tact (and "nothing was living in it!" he kept saying!) Plus lots of sand dollar pieces!

Great time had by all!

 Don't let him fool ya... Parker is not sleeping in this picture even though our neighbor's son was. He rolled around in that tent for an hour and never napped. What a stinker!

On Sunday we headed to Bradenton to visit Brian's family.

His two aunts, two cousins and their 3 kids were in town from IL & WI.

There was lots of time spent at the pool:

 How cute are Brian's cousin's kids?!? Precious!

 Even the adults enjoyed some poolside relaxation:

 Payton had so much fun being "thrown" by Uncle Todd (over and over and over):

 Brian's cousin's son is almost 6 and he and Payton hit it off instantly! They were "Best Cousins" as they kept saying.

 Can't you just hear Payton laughing???

 And fortunately for me, Brian's other cousin's daughter was more than willing to keep an eye on Parker, and he adored her too.

 All of us girl's at breakfast Monday morning:

Along with the rest of the family:

 It was so wonderful to spend such an important holiday with so many family members. Just reminds me that above all, it's family first! No matter what happens in life, your family will always be there for you. I feel so incredibly blessed to have married into such a warm, loving family.

After our whirlwind trip to Bradenton, we headed back Monday evening just in time to get the kids to bed and ready for school on Tuesday. All in all, fantastic weekend.

Hope you all had a nice Memorial Day too! Don't forget to thank a Veteran this week!