Sweet Balsamic Pork Loin {recipe}

Life is busy! So, I took advantage of a summertime recipe in the crockpot a few days ago and it was wonderful. Pork loins were buy one get one free at Harris Teeter so I picked up two and used one for this recipe. Everything else we had at home already.

I found the recipe on Mel's Kitchen blog, but as her post says, it isn't her original recipe. It's a keeper!

Feeling Grateful

I was talking to the mom of this cutie yesterday (as I do most days of the week)

 and she commented on how different they look from last July…when we first met.

And it got me thinking…was I really not friends with any of my local "mom friends" just one year ago?

I used to work full-time in DC and spent the rest of my time at home "in the country" as some say and my husband and I had friends with kids, but it just happened they were in our age range. What I mean is, we didn't purposefully seek out families with children. But I do now! Last fall I was part of our town's first MOMS Club and hold an Executive Board position which is alot of fun. I have met many more moms in town which is wonderful for those days when you go to a park and just shoot out an email to see if others want to join. Only a five minute drive for anyone in town, well except Jake and his mom ;)

But, the first friends I made as a new mom were some of these ladies:

This is what William looked like the day he met future friends Louisa, Samantha, Mason and Zoe:

These are some of the adventures they have had since then (plus another new friend or two):

    

I am so happy to have these friends (and their babies) in my life!

Happy Birthday to my Husband

Today, this little boy (now man) is celebrating a birthday. We are having a seafood-something dinner since he ordered chicken parmesan on Sunday while out to eat and that was my original dinner of choice, and a cake with our family.

It will be the second birthday that our son will be celebrating with his Daddy. This is still one of my favorite photos of them.

This was Brad's birthday last year. William slept through half of dinner and woke up for cake and gifts…typical!

Happy birthday Brad -- we love you!

Our day(s) at the Beach

In case you haven't heard, our town got hammered by a "derecho" on Friday night and it knocked out our power at home for 48 hours...some are still without as the temperature soars above 100 degrees. Fortunately, we had already left home to head to the Eastern Shore with my in-laws for a mini vacation so we didn't have to deal with the heat and no water at home (we have a private well so no electricity means no well pump). So, this is what we have been doing while I haven't been blogging:

Swimming in the pool and the beach

Taking long morning bike rides and at least one of us falls alseep

Hanging out on the boat and also sleeping

The good news of course is that William IS sleeping which is a relief since the three of us share a room while at the shore. He is a restless sleeper, or it seems that way in the PackNPlay which means I need to drink (more) wine to actually get a good night's rest. Oh well, tough :)

We will be here for a few more days and then go hom so I can get my Lasik procedure done on Thursday! Be back next week since my little brother is in town and I have several large Memorable Designs projects to complete!