Catch up

So for the first part of June the Joneses were crazy busy. We were out of town three weekends in a row. The last couple of weeks we have really enjoyed being home and having some down time. I haven't blogged and to be honest I am not quite sure why because lets face it I have honestly had a lot of time to catch up. Anyways here's a few highlights from the past couple of weekends:

*We celebrated father's day with some of our community group and celebrated the great DADS in our lives

*We've had several dinners/lunches/breakfasts with some great friends

*We spent an entire pool day with our BEST friends

*We have been learning a lot about saving money at the grocery store.. this last week I got all our groceries for 35 dollars!

*We created our itinerary for BOSTON which is in 3 days!

*I have been going to a lot of school... 3 times a week to DENTON its exhausting

* We have been working out a lot more and trying to back in shape

* We had an unplugged day with no technology

*Sad to admit this one, but we got caught up on all 7 episodes of the bachelorette in 7 days

*We got to hear some great testimony of Gods work at YL camp

*I've gotten to spend some time with my mom and sister doing fun things and of course what we are the BEST at SHOPPING

*We booked our Anniversary trip to CANCUN... we are going in October and we are going with our BEST FRIENDS (The Jeffrey's).. we got a crazy good deal and since it is in the middle of both of our anniversaries it works out great.

*We have had Skype dates with our nieces and nephews

*We have been studying Romans at church which has been very good and challenging

*We have been enjoying each other and this season of life of being newlyweds... It has been the best 7 months.. and I am looking forward to all the years ahead.

Looking back it has been quite a busy month! The summer always flies by :( It must be because of all the fun we are having.

Remember to be thankful for what you have and not compare to others, because what God has given you should be celebrated because we honestly deserve none of it!


Thankful for our life,

MJ

Snake Farm

Corpus Christi 
So I am a little bit behind, but I am trying to get back in the blogging groove. A few weekends ago June 8-10 to be exact one of my sweet friends from work, Victoria, got married to Trent. I was in the house party and was so excited to be a part of her special day. I am not the biggest fan of road trips, I think because we took so many growing up. Looking back, those are where some of my best memories come from and I know that I will want my kids to experience the same. Anyways this one was not too bad because I had some great company. Jeffrey of course and then my sister and her boyfriend who we LOVE, Nathan, came with us as well. We left early friday morning and made a quick pit stop in Waco (duH) to see our beautiful campus and have some common grounds coffee. Then we were back on the road. We had to make a stop at Bucces which is always an adventure/a tad overwhelming. We got to Corpus around 2:00 and wanted to have a picnic by the beach, but couldn't find it HA! Plus I had to be at a rehearsal. So we settled for the hotel room. Friday evening was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Saturday we woke up super early and headed to Padre to spend the morning at the ocean. We had a blast and ended the day with a visit to the peer and a yummy seafood lunch. Saturday evening was the wedding. It was a beautiful occasion, Victoria thought out every detail. The ceremony was outdoors complete with the couple writing their own vows (so sweet). We had a great time dancing the night away. We headed home Sunday, but of course we had to stop at the outlets and a Buccees one more time. It really was a great trip.. Now I'll let my pictures do some talking because in true MEGAN style I took a TON!

Road Trip!

Rehearsal

Beach Day

Wedding

It was such a GREAT weekend celebrating a GREAT couple! 

Ps the theme song for the weekend was SNAKE FARM (if you haven't heard it you should definitely check it out)

Thankful for weddings and weekends away, 

MJ 

Thankful Thursday on FRIDAY

Opps.. I forgot to post yesterday.. and this is one post I am trying to be consistent with, speaking of consistency it is time to pick up my blogging pace.. I have been slacking lately.. anyways this week I am thankful for:

1. Only 4 Thursday night classes & 5 Monday night classes left until I am DONE with summer school FOREVER.

2. A random power outage because Jeffrey and I got to have a study date like old times at Starbucks.

3. That I am able to work out. I take it for granted a lot of the time and this summer I am trying to make it a way of life again. 

4. A random Wednesday night dinner with friends in Dallas. 

5. Travel! We leave for Boston in 3 days and we booked our Anniversary trip to CANCUN in October! 

Remember to count your blessings big and small! 

Thankful, 

MJ 

Thankful Thursday

Hope everyone has had a great week, I am hoping to increase my blogging this next week. Anyways..this week I am thankful for..


1. Rest! This has been the least busy/most restful week I have had in I do not even know how long.

2. Hulu Plus.. I caved and got hulu plus for the summer and it has been great being able to watch more of my shows

3. Fun Fridays with my mom and sister.. this week we are headed to the Arbortetum and the Farmers Market

4. Compass Church, we had not been to church in three weeks because we were out of town and this past Sunday I was reminded of how lucky we are to be a part of such an incredible body of Christ

5. Coupons, I am trying to learn the art of saving money... we will see how it goes


Thankful for all God gives me,

MJ

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for...

1. Today is my LAST day of work until AUGUST

2. Being at home the next 3 weekends in a row

3. Fun Friday with my mom and Annie

4. Sonic  tea

5. That I get to spend ALL day Saturday with JEFFREY


Thank you GOD for all you have given me ,

MJ

Paleo Recipes

We are still doing our Pale challenge. We have a had some cheats when we were in Amarillo, but for the most part we are on track. As of tomorrow we have 3 weeks left. I have a few recipes we have tried that I am going to share they were super tasty and you would honestly never know they were PALEO. I have found that it really is about putting in a little more effort and thought into your meal planning. Hope you enjoy!

Blackberry Glazed Grilled Pork Chops Ingredients

1-2lbs US Wellness Meats Pork Chops

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

salt and pepper, to taste

12 ounces fresh blackberries

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons water

pinch of salt INSTRUCTIONS Turn your grill on!! If you don’t know how to light it, I can’t help you. Place pork chops on a plate and cover your pork chops in some cinnamon, thyme, salt and pepper on both side and press into the pork chop. While your grill heats up, place a small saucepan over medium heat on your stove top and add your blackberries, balsamic vinegar, water, and a pinch of salt. Let the sauce begin to mix together, stirring frequently to make sure it doesn’t burn on the bottom. Turn heat to low and let the sauce simmer for about 3-5 minutes. Then pour half of the sauce into a bowl (you can leave the blackberries in the saucepan because you’ll just use them to top your chops off later). Use a glazing brush to glaze one side of your pork chop then place that glazed side down onto your grill. Then glaze the other side, cover grill and let cook for 5-7 minutes per side. I glazed each side of my pork chop probably 3-4 times to make sure as much blackberry sauce as possible could be soaked up by the chop. Make sure your chop is cooked on both sides and cook completely through before removing from grill. (took me about 12-14 minutes total). Once your pork chops are all done cooking, add to plate and top with your leftover blackberry sauce that has been simmering and thickening up. Then eat until your cry. So delicious.

One night we had it with bell peppers and tomatoes

One night with squash and zucchini 

Egg Bites on the Go (it says to put in muffin pan, I made ours as a caserole and cooked it for 15 extra minutes) Ingredients 1lb ground pork mild italian sausage 12 eggs, beaten (if preferred) 1-2 narrow sweet potatoes, sliced salt and pepper, to taste Instructions Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Add your ground pork to a large skillet over medium heat. Use a spatula to break it up into crumbly pieces While the pork is cooking, slice your sweet potatoes a little bit thicker than a chip would be…I’d say the thickness of 2 quarters stacked together. Real technical. Then beat your eggs (unless you are going to crack them directly into the egg cups). Once the meat is cooked through and there is no pink remaining, transfer that to a plate (a slotted spoon will be best because it will keep the leftover fat in it, but just pouring it works as well). Now add your sliced sweet potatoes to the pan with the leftover fat and turn the burner on high. Cook for about 5 minutes per side, depending how thick they are but you want them to be soft so they will cook through fully when they are in the oven. Now place a cooked sweet potato slice into your muffin tin, top it with a little ground pork, then another slice of slice potato and top it all off with some beaten eggs or crack an egg into it, it will bind it all together! Cook for about 5 minutes per side, depending how thick they are but you want them to be soft so they will cook through fully when they are in the oven. Cook for about 10-15 min or until nothing oozy is moving around in the tins when you check them. Let cool, top with hot sauce!! This is pre-cooked Fajita Chicken Salad Ingredients: 1lb. Chicken Tenders Choice of Salad Greens (Romaine, Spinach, Iceberg) 1 Green Bell Pepper 1 Large Tomato 1 Medium Onion Black Pepper  Sea Salt Garlic powder **I added cilantro, avocado and organic hot sauce for dressing Process: 1. Begin by cutting onions and peppers into thick slices . Fry the Chicken Tenders and the Onion and Green Bell Pepper together. Season the chicken with Black Pepper and the Sea Salt and garlic powder. 3. Cut up the Tomato into chunks. 4. Continue cooking the chicken until slightly blackened. 5. Toss all the ingredients together and serve. Thankful for yummy food, MJ

Thankful Thursday

I missed last week because we were out of town (not a very good excuse), but I am back this week. This week I am thankful for...

1. SUMMER VACATION.

2. A weekend trip with Jeffrey, Annie and Nathan to see a good friend get married.

3. Spending more time in God's word

4. Having the feeling of relief after seeing my first client all by myself.

5. Spending more time in the kitchen learning to cook Paleo (ill share some recipes soon)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22


I read this in my quiet time this morning and wanted to share.. this is what I want to spend time with today. I need to work on DOING! Thankful for God's grace and mercy as I learn to be a complete follower of him.


Happy Thursday Everyone!


Thankful for summer vaca,

MJ

Amarillo FUN

We spent this past weekend in Amarillo with the JONES/BLANDFORD gang. We got to see our sweet niece Blythe and meet our newest Nephew Bennett. It is always so fun to get to spend time with our family. We did a lot of hanging out, getting tea ( it is the best around) and we even got to relive our wedding weekend with Jeffrey's grandparents. It was a nice relaxing weekend. We got a special treat of ending the weekend in Lubbock helping Jeffrey's parents look for a new house and do a meet and greet at the church they will be launching in January. We were so thankful we got to see all the amazing things God is going to do through them in Lubbock. Please pray for them in their new journey. It really was an AMAZING weekend.. Ill let my pictures do the rest of the talking! Enjoy!

Park time 

First time to use Curlers 

Bennett hanging with Jeffrey 

 Such a cutie 

 Sweet Bennett 

Waterstill Tea 

Park Time 

Thankful to be an AUNT, 

MJ 

Memorial Day Weekend Recap

I know it has been awhile since Memorial day, but I wanted to make sure to give a recap of our weekend. I took a ton of pictures.. so here it goes.. 

Friday: I had a sleep over with my mom and Annie. We had yummy dinner, crafted and watched movies. It was a great night! 

Handmade Bracelets.. Annie is amazing! 

 Cute onsies in the process for sweet Bennett.. Great Job Mom! 

4th of July Shorts 

Puppies! 

Saturday: I met my Best Friend Krista for mani/pedi's and shopping. We had a blast and got some great deals! We even got to stop and get coffee from my favorite PEARL CUP. 

Sunday: We spent Sunday at the Jeffrey's (James's parents) cooking out and swimming. It has become sort of a tradition. We always have a blast over there and our so thankful they include us. I sadly got no pictures :( Annie and Nathan then came to spend the night.. we walked to main street, ordered pizza and rented a movie. Such a fun night! 

Monday: We headed to Lake Grapevine with Annie and Nathan for a picnic. We found a great spot under a shade tree that had easy lake access. It was yummy food, great company and a memorable day! Here are the pictures I got on my phone for more picnic pics check out my FB. 

Wow what a GREAT weekend! 

Thankful for long weekends, 

MJ 

4th of July SHORTS!!! DIY

 

So many of you might have seen these cuties on PINTEREST.. well my sister and I decided to give them a try. Since we will be apart on the 4th of July it was necessary that we both make a pair to wear. She will be on the ranch in Longview and I will be in BOSTON on the harbor. I am horrible at giving tutorials on how to do anything but you can check out exact directions here  FLAG SHORTS ... I will say for someone that is not very crafty this was pretty easy.. granted I had my SUPER crafty sister Annie to help me along the way. Here is our process:

Here are the supplies we used.. fabric spray paint.. sticky stars for the template and painters tape! Oh and of course scissors to cut of the shorts! 

We went to the good will and bought Jeans for 99 cents to cut off... According to Annie you should not cut straight across it should be on a slant.. we used shorts we liked the length of to measure. We added two inches to the measurement because we wanted to be able to fold ours over if we wanted. 

We then taped everything off.. you can arrange things however you want. Then the painting begin 

After we finished spraying and removing the tape

Then it was time to wash and dry them.. ours didn't come out exactly how we wanted after the first wash so we added bleach and washed again to get the washed out faded look. 

 We can't wait to wear our shorts!

Thankful for a crafty sister,

MJ