Super secret juicy hamburger recipe

This "recipe" is not for those closely watching their fat/calorie intake. So, here goes:

At Walmart I bought a chub (?) of ground beef for $1.88. I believe it's the 73/27 kind- the white 1 lb. one. The fattiest (yikes!) one.

After bringing it home, I divided into fourths, formed some round patties and put some beef fajita seasoning on them and some sea salt. Then I cooked them on the stove med- med/high heat until they were no longer pink, but still very juicy. I then added some American cheese. I teamed it up with a softened hamburger bun, some mayo, lettuce, tomato and a bit of raw sweet onion. DELICIOUS. With our burgers we had some baked bean and tater tots.

So, as you can see, this isn't much of a recipe. BUT, it is the way I'll be making burgers in the future. Try it; you'll like it ;o)

Had to throw in a sepia

And a few black/whites

What a cooperative bunch! :o)

This evening's photo shoot with the Shamburgers

Swimming "fun"

More from Father's Day photo shoot

This little photo session was one of my most frustrating ones EVER. The kids were pretty wild, tired, and the mosquitoes were horrible. Thankfully I still got a few good shots.

A bit from Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas

I'll post soon on my super secret hamburger recipe ;o), but I wanted to share a paragraph from this book I'm reading:

"Marriage teaches us to give what we have. God has given us one body. He has commanded our spouse to delight in that one body- and that body alone. If we withhold from our spouse our body, it becomes an absolute denial. We may not think it is a perfect body, but it is the only body we have to give. "

Pretty basic, but a good reminder for me. My husband is constantly complimenting me. Oftentimes I brush aside the compliment or mutter something sarcastic in return. In reality, I'm so thankful that he finds me attractive! He makes me feel beautiful, and I love him for it.

and before I turned 30

Not to brag or anything, but I did something today that I've NEVER done before. I FINALLY made a good hamburger. Can you believe it's taken me this long??? It was seasoned well, cooked to "perfection," and so yummy and juicy. I'm thrilled. So was my husband :o) Usually my hamburgers turn out very dry and very blah. Just thought I'd share my delight with you all- knowing how much you'd care. I'm excited that I made a good hamburger before I turned THIRTY. Can you imagine turning 30 and never have made a good one? How sad would THAT be?

In other news, I had a lovely Saturday with my family. I absolutely LOVE having my husband home on the weekends. He's such a dear and such a help. Our kiddos love him like crazy. We're both teaching Sunday School tomorrow, which means that I'll have Joseph in mine with me. That always makes for an "interesting" time. ahem. Hope you all have a blessed Lord's day tomorrow. Good night.

the use of natural light

I'm not a big flash fan. Obviously there are times when I'm very thankful to have access to flash on a camera, but for the most part, I LOVE using God's natural light. I guess one reason I don't especially like flash is that I'm not very good with it ;o) So, I guess the natural light works well for me. This is Mikayla "journaling" after her bath this evening. I LOVE MY GIRL!

Can't you tell I'm busy?

I love my children's father!

I

The Lord has done great things for me

I've shared this quote from my pastor before, but I'll share it again: The greatest blessings are spiritual blessings. I wholeheartedly agree. At the same time, the Lord gives us physical blessings as well. I got one of those yesterday. Thanks to my parents and my husband, I was able to get a new camera that I've not even really "dreamed" about. I just KNEW it would be years 'til I got one. Not so! Thank you, Lord! Thank you, mom and dad! Thank you, precious husband of mine! (It's a digital SLR. Canon Rebel xsi- 12mp!) As you can see I'm already enjoying it immensely...

My favorite banana bread recipe

I think I've tried about 20 banana bread recipes in my short life. There are so many to choose from! This recipe is my favorite because...
1- it's extremely simple
2- it's very banana-y (sp??)
3- it's dee-lish!

and some in black and white

Today's photo shoot in color

A sepia kind of day

Today has been a rough day. I have those every once in a while. Jody had to mow, so I took the kids to the park this evening. There we met a little girl who told me that I have white stuff all over my nose (yes, my face is peeling horribly!) and that she could fix Mikayla's hair better than I did. Well, what a smart girl. She made me laugh. AND, she took the picture of the three of us. I asked her if her name was Olivia, and she said, no, close- Octavia. Interesting. Thankfully the day is getting better as the sun goes down. As long as there are cherries, how could I NOT be doing better?

I got one!

A double jogging stroller, that is :) My mom spotted one at Goodwill and showed me and we bought it! This morning I took it out with the kiddos and we didn't get too far. The tires were in desperate need of air, so we made our way back home. I couldn't find the air pump, so I put it away and we came back in. rats! Maybe tomorrow. after the tires have been aired up. Anyway! I'm so thankful to have one!! Without it, it's nearly impossible for me to exercise with a 1 and 3 yr old.

I'm 13 weeks pregnant today. I guess today is the start of my 2nd trimester. Yesterday I had my 2nd appt. All was well, praise the Lord. It took the dr a while to find the heartbeat (kinda scary) and he said it was a quiet one. Mikayla and Joseph both got to be in there with us, so they were able to hear their brother's/sister's heartbeat. :) at my next appt I'll have my bloodwork done. fun.

Hope y'all are doing well. I know my blog has not super exciting these days. Maybe my next one (my 400th post) will be different. Stay tuned...