Did you all have an enjoyable weekend? I’m finishing mine out on a very high note. I feel exhausted and Peter kindly figured out a way for me to have some time to relax this afternoon. I need it too after a busy rest of the weekend. At least it felt busy to me. In fact, everything was pretty low key.

Last night when dinner time rolled around I craved a burger and fries. Apparently my body goes through phases where I can hardly fit anything in my stomach for days…followed by days on end where I feel I can endlessly eat. I’m in one of the latter phases. A burger and fries sounded incredibly good last night. So, what’s a pregnant-hungry-picky-about-her-beef girl to do? Pat herself on the back for being prepared for such an occurrence with the perfect Groupon.

Awhile ago I purchased a Groupon to a place called The Counter – a burger joint with numerous toppings, sauces, types of burgers, etc to customize your perfect burger.

Even better? They serve only 100% natural, hormone-free, humanely treated beef. I may not ever become a vegetarian, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be picky about the meat we buy and be thrilled when a restaurant serves similar. I really looked forward to dining here. I even loved the decor.

Sadly though, the rest of the night didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The service was very slow and poor. For example, we never got refills on our water/soda and received our sides of sweet potato fries at least 10-15 minutes before our burgers came out. I will say that the food tasted great, minus the fries getting cold by the time we ate most of them, and I loved the variety of options. I ordered the beef burger with blue cheese, grilled onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, lettuce, and a roasted garlic spread on the multigrain bun.

Luckily burgers out don’t normally appeal to me so I doubt we will ever want to return. Peter actually found it surprising I craved a burger. I guess so much so that he wanted a picture of me eating mine?

Attractive, no? And oddly enough this picture reminded me of something I have noticed recently. After dying my hair back to its natural color and letting it grow out, I keep seeing more red. I’ve never noticed red in my hair before because I have had highlights for over a decade.

Well, I had more to talk about but I will just save that for another post. I’ve had some mental games recently related to food and body image I want to share with all of you, but don’t feel like adding it all on here. The beauty of blogging flexibly. 😉 Funny how it works out that when I say I plan to cut back I end up with tons to say and need more posts to do it in. That’s how it always happens though, isn’t it?

• Am I a redhead??? Do you see it too or is it just me?
• For what type of dish would you love to have a build-your-own restaurant with loads of options? My first option already exists – self serve fro-yo. It would also be cool to have a design/build your own sushi place!

Last night certainly ended on a high note.

And you all should have seen Makenzie’s excitement to have her daddy back home. It was such a sweet thing to witness. I love my little family.

It felt amazing to sit down and talk again. I had so many things I had to tell him – about Makenzie, the writing stuff I finished, how much I missed him, excitement over getting things finished and setup for baby B, etc. I also had so many things to ask him about his trip. He went on a church retreat and attendees can’t share specifics, so that way when other people go they can have the full experience. I couldn’t go this past weekend, so I have to be patient for when my time comes and live with the secrets until then. I think I can do that because I can see how much the weekend meant to him.

After talking for a long while, we both felt like snuggling on the couch before heading to bed. So we watched a tiny bit of TV with a sweet treat. I had gotten us some cream cheese brownies to enjoy together. So good and fudgy!

I can hardly believe its already back to Monday since this weekend felt more like weekdays to me. It sure does feel like a Monday though. Of course I woke up feeling tired. And I hurt. A lot today. Groceries, tutoring, mothering, and everything else still must get done. However, that really is not something to complain about. Even though I woke up in quite a bit of pregnancy pain, I still felt this incredible peace and overwhelming sense of blessing.  I love my life and thank God for it today. He does pretty amazing things and loves us so much.

Now that I have spent some time chilling with the little bean and had my oats & coffee, it’s time to tackle the day! Wish me luck. It’s a long one with tutoring.

• What types of weekends make it hard to believe when Monday rolls around? For me, weekends when I don’t have Peter around much. Also, those weekends that go by in a blur but I don’t really know WHAT we did.
• How do you feel blessed or appreciative of something today?