What's Up Wednesday :: May 2018

It's the last Wednesday of the month, that means it's time for our What's Up Wednesday Link Up!

Link up with  me, Sheaffer & Shay the LAST Wednesday of each month so we can read about What's Up with YOU!

Today is a fun day because it's my birthday!!!!
My last year in my 30's! AHHHHHH!

Here we go!

What We’re Eating this week.....

Monday - Cheeseburgers, Sweet Potato Fries & Watermelon

Tuesday - Out to dinner with my mom & sisters for early birthday celebration

Wednesday - Out to dinner for my birthday with Kevin & kids

Thursday - Chicken Enchiladas

Friday - Dinner at Kate's 5th grade promotion party

I am on the desserts committee for Kate's 5th Grade Promotion Party, so I will be making some of my Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies


What I'm Reminiscing about.....
Grammy.
Last year on Memorial Day weekend my incredible Grandma passed away peacefully at exactly 105 years 7 months old.  Growing up, we always visited Grammy's house over Memorial Day Weekend, so that weekend always reminds me of her....even more now since she passed away last Memorial Day Weekend.


I posted a little about Grammy's life last year after she passed. You can read it HERE
 

 What I'm loving.....
The Warriors!!!

Going to the NBA finals against the Cavs for the 4th straight year.
That's kind of obnoxious if you aren't a Warriors or Cavs fan, sorry to the rest of the country.
But, hey....gotta cheer on the hometown team!
Let's Go Warriors!

What We've been up to.....
I posted last week about our Life Lately (you can read it HERE)
This past month has been BUSY.

I ran my 4th Half Marathon
Celebrated Mother's Day
Harry Potter World
Disneyland

I will be blogging that trip soon!

What I'm Dreading.....
It's the last week of school, so I am grading, grading & grading some more.
Grading is not my favorite...I dread doing it.
I have graded all homework packets, so now I have 130 projects to grade & 130 finals to grade.
Then, no more grading until August!

What I'm Working On.....
Besides grading,  I am working on things for Kate's 5th grade promotion party for her Elementary School. I am on the Dessert Committee, so I am making the food labels for the Dessert Table. Haven't even started yet...need to start working on those!
The theme is "Surfing into 6th Grade" and it's a Surfer/Hawaiian theme, so I am making the food labels like I made them for Claire's Hawaiian Luau birthday party:

 What I'm Excited About.....

 Today is my Birthday! The big 3-9...one more year until I'm 40 #holdme
In honor of my birthday, I am having a Rodan + Fields Flash Sale!

 I will be placing a Bulk Order at the end of this week.
Get MY pricing on ANY and ALL R+F products.
This deal is good for current customer or if you aren't a customer and want to try the products.
This would be a GREAT time to try them out.
Regimens,  Lash boost, Active Hydration Serum, Eye Creams, AMP Roller, you name it...My pricing on ALL of it!
60 day empty bottle 100% money back guarantee.
My pricing,  plus FREE shipping!

Find out what products are best for your skin HERE

Send me an email if you would like to order or have questions!
melissa_larson17@yahoo.com  

What I'm Watching........

 Grey's Anatomy, just watched the season finale last week.

Married at First Sight....seriously fascinated with this show! Season 6 just ended. Season 7 starts this Summer!

 Bachelorette!

Haven't missed a season yet :)

What I'm Reading.....
 I read 4 books this month: Girl, Wash Your Face

 Loved it 4.5 out of 5 stars

Sisters Like Us

This was a good beach read. 3.5 out of 5 stars. It's part of the Mischief Bay Series.

Every Note Played

 Oh, this book was good! 4.5 out of 5 starts...tear jerker!

Harry Potter


It had been 15 years since I read the first Harry Potter book, so I wanted to read it again for a "refresher" since we were going to Harry Potter World. I just love this book.
5 out of 5 stars :)

What I'm Listening to.....
 Pandora's Top Hits while I run.

 My favorite song right now is Say Something with JT & Chris Stapleton

What I'm Wearing.....
We've had mellow weather this month (besides the 90 degrees we had the past couple days) For work I have been wearing jeans, a cute top, a lightweight cardi & sandals.

Shirt ( Stitch Fix  )  // Cardigan //  Jeans  // Shoes // Earrings

What I’m doing this weekend.....
Heading to Chico for a wedding.
I love weddings!

What I'm Looking Forward to next month.....
SUMMER!!!!!!!!!

Last day of school is Friday! This year has FLOWN by.

In June we have some fun road trips planned.
We are heading to the Oregon Coast:

And, of course my happy place...Lake Tahoe!

What else is new.....

The new backyard structure that Kevin & our neighbor built is officially done!
Didn't they do an amazing job? 

Can't wait to have SHADE this summer!
I also need to blog the backyard before & afters.

Question of the month is:
What is your favorite Summer Salad?
Summer Salads are my favorite! I can't just pick one.
 I love dinner in the Summer because we grill some sort of meat on the BBQ and then I make a yummy Summer Salad to go with it..
Here are some of my favorite Summer Salads.....
Avocado, Bacon & Corn Salad {HERE}

Caprese Orzo Salad HERE:

Broccoli Salad HERE:

Chicken Taco Salad HERE:

 Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato (& Avocado) Salad HERE:

Cowboy Salad HERE:

Spinach Strawberry Salad HERE:
Tortellini Pasta Salad

Greek Tortellini Salad

Want more salad ideas?
Check out the Salad tab HERE in my Recipe Box!

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If you are new to my blog, thanks for stopping by!

Feel free to follow along! 

You can find me on Bloglovin, Facebook & Instagram

Can't wait to read about What's up with all of YOU!

Life Lately

Life Lately has been BUSY!!!

This past month has been busy, busy, busy.

I am so behind on blogging, because LIFE.

When I look back on the past 30 days, I am like "WHOA"....life has been crazy.

Not to mention life in May, especially when you are a teacher and a mom of school aged kids. 

 

May is always a busy time of year because it's the end of the school year (and Kevin & I both have May birthdays) but this May has been even busier because we went on a few trips, so here is a sneak peek of our life lately....

Make sure you read to the end of this post so you can see the not so glorious side of Life Lately.

We had a weekend in Yosemite for Claire's Adventure Guides tribe. It's a Father Daughter activity/tribe & 3rd grade is when you graduate. She has been in the tribe since Kindergarten and every year they do a celebration ceremony in Yosemite for all the 3rd graders & their families so we couldn't miss it. 

 If you haven't been to Yosemite before, add it to your MUST SEE list.

There is nothing like it....pictures don't even do it justice. 

It is MAJESTIC. We hiked to Yosemite Falls...it was 11 miles round trip & the views were spectacular....you can see Half Dome on the left:

I could fell the spray of the falls from where I was standing taking this photo:

 Just incredible.

Right after Yosemite,  Kevin and I went to Cancun for 5 days & it was amazing.

 I promise to blog this trip & let you know where we stayed, what we did, where we ate....maybe some of you are going to Cancun this summer, so I would love to share our experience! Look at this view!!

On Cinco de Mayo we were back home in California and I ran the Mermaid Half Marathon. It wasn't my best time, but it wasn't my worst time. It felt good to run a Half Marathon again.

I made a "resolution" this year to start running again. It had been 2 years since I ran a Half Marathon & I just love that distance. It hurts so good!! 

We had a nice Mothers Day Weekend...we had my family over on Saturday night for a BBQ.

We had ribs, broccoli/kale salad & I made my Caprese Orzo Salad.

It was a warm night & we hung out by our firepit and watched the Giants game.

Wonderful night with family.

On Sunday Kevin & the kids brought me donuts and coffee in bed.

I love Luke's poster he made me!

Hysterical...only one of them is correct....we do go on dates together. I think he meant play video games rather than watch video games :)

I told Kevin for Mother's Day all I wanted to do was sleep in, go on a run & then get a mani/pedi.

I didn't need flowers or gifts :)

It was a great day!

 May Birthday Bunco was last week. So thankful for these ladies (and a few who couldn’t make it)We have been watching each season of the Bachelor/Bachelorette together on Monday nights since our 3rd graders were in Kindergarten. 

5 of us have May birthdays (all born between May 20th- May 30th!!) 

We celebrated our birthdays with May Birthday Bunco!

So much fun.  

I did these Llama decorations because one of my friends loves Llamas :)

Banner // Plates // Napkins
Bunco last week week....Bachelorette starts next week! Can't wait!

Do you play Bunco? I love it!

I also wanted to let you know about my May Rodan + Fields Special! You will get MY pricing.

ACT NOW....One Week Remaining for the AMP MD System May Promotion....you can save over 20%.

Time is Ticking on the Limited -Time opportunity to score the AMP MD System. 
This offer is good for NEW and CURRENT customers!

I love the AMP roller....I call it the wrinkle eraser ;)

It works wonders on your neck as well!

I use the AMP Roller for 1 minute each night, it's super easy to use!

 Not only is this offer the fast track toward firmer, younger-looking skin!
SAVE an additional 20% off the already reduced bundle price of a REDEFINE or REVERSE AMP It Up Special.

Exclusive Special ends May 31st.
Not only will you get these extra savings, you also get a FREE essentials item!

I love our Essentials items....you get your choice of our Daily Body Moisturizer, SPF 30 Body Sunscreen, SPF 25 Lip Shield or our AMAZING Sunless Tanner.....which sells out every Spring/Summer....get yours now before it's too late!

 Even if you don't order the AMP roller or AMP roller bundle, you will still get 20% off ANY product and a FREE essentials item.

 PLUS, you will get $20 cash back and FREE shipping!

This deal also works on LASH BOOST!!

What's your biggest skin concern? I am here to help!

We have products for all skin types.

Take THIS quick 5 question survey to find out what products are best for your skin type.

All our products, indluding the AMP Roller come with a 60 day, empty bottle 100% money back guarantee! 

Email me to place an order or if you have questions!

melissa_larson17@yahoo.com

Last weekend my niece graduated from college in Southern California, so we headed south for her graduation. We extended our trip and went to Universal Studios Hollywood because our kids were dying to go to Harry Potter World there.

After a fun day at Universal Studios Hollywood, we took a slight detour to our hotel so that we could check another mission of our list. Mission San Gabriel Archangel, which is Mission #18 of 21 for Larson California Mission Adventures!

  This Mission is in the middle of the town & is still an active church and while we were there, a mass (or church event) was going on so we didn’t go in the chapel. 

Only 3 more Missions to go! Hoping to visit them this summer!

Last Spring Break, we drove to Santa Barbara and saw 10 California Missions on that Road Trip

You can read about it {HERE}.

We saw a couple more throughout the year.

Then, this Spring Break we drove to San Diego to see even more Missions (and Legoland and SD Zoo)

You can read about that Road Trip {Part 1 HERE} and {Part 2 HERE}

 

We also surprised the kids with a few days at Disney.

I promise to blog that trip also. 

 It was our best Disney trip yet & I can't wait to share my tips and tricks.

This post has definitely shown you the highlights of our Life Lately the past month, but let me assure you, while we were having fun, TONS of things have gotten neglected. 

Exhibit A:

I am sure you have seen this meme going around:

This is SO me right now.   

I haven't had time to do proper grocery shopping. 

I kid you not...we drove home from Disney at 6pm earlier this week. It is a 6 hour drive home, which meant we got home at midnight. I knew that we had NO food at home for their school lunches, so when we stopped for dinner at In N Out on the way home, there was a gas station/mini mart next to it, so I went into the mini mart and got the kids things for lunch the next day. I purchased Pop Tarts, Granola Bars, Cheez-its, Oreos & apple sacue squeezers. 

YEP. That was their lunch. 

#momoftheyear

Exhibit B:

My house is a complete and utter disaster. Here is our luggage that has been here all week:

 Also note the laundry basket. That is CLEAN laundry that has been sitting there since Tuesday. Haven't even attempted to fold it. I have another load in the dryer getting all wrinkled as well.

My kitchen with dishes in the sink & junk all over the counters....

Laundry Room....love that I still have Easter Baskets on there. Wasn't Easter almost 2 months ago? YUP.

Not pictured:

Piles of my kids school work/papers on the dining room table that I need to sort

My bedroom with a pile of clothes in the corner

My bathroom with all my toiletries STILL in the travel bag

The kids rooms....straight up DISASTER. 

Luke's room covered in Legos all over the floor. 

My floors....so dirty & need of mopping. 

The list goes on and on.

I have a cleaning lady come once a month to do deep cleaning, but she hasn't come since March because she hurt her back, so there is a nice layer of dust & grime all over my house.

Life Lately has been really, really, really fun.

But it has also been chaotic & unorganized because of all the fun.

I have dropped the ball on many things, like housework.
We've worked in our backyard & it looks great...but inside? Looking rough...LOL.

Hoping to re-group this weekend and get our house organized because next week is CRAZY as well.

Next week is the last week of school and we have my birthday, the 5th grade play, class parties for all 3 kids, my grades are due and I need to grade 130 homework packets, 130 end of year projects & 130 End of year math finals, we have the 5th grade awards ceremony,  5th grade promotion & my nieces high school graduation.  I need to get gifts for my kids teachers & the office staff at their school. I am sure there is more I am forgetting.

Oh, and then we are out of town for a wedding next weekend, so if I don't get my house under control this week, it won't happen until JUNE 4th!!!! 

Deep breaths :)

So, there you have it...Life Lately with a side of keeping it real! 

Hope you have a great Memorial Day Weekend!