Catching Up - Part II

Because I seem to have a slight obsession with seeing just how many irons-in-the-fire I can maintain, I've taken on a couple of more projects. Obviously, I love to write. I really long for even more time to spend on this hobby-turned-passion, but I know the day will all too soon arrive when each of my offspring are in school and my daylight hours can be better managed, thus leaving my night time hours free for hobbies...right now the night time hours are when I work - yes, this means I DO NOT SLEEP. You wish you had this super power. When I recently spent an afternoon at the local pool with my oldest, I found myself dozing with my head resting in an inner tube...one does sink when completely relaxed and thankfully I woke before going under. I consider it a successful night if I get 4-5 hours of sleep in a row (you know, as opposed to 5 hours broken up because a baby woke up in the middle of my endeavor for rest). I digresss....back to my point...I'm super excited about a couple of great opportunities:

1. My new monthly food/lifestyle column with The Daily Sentinel of Nacogdoches! If you are local to me, please pick up this Wednesday's paper for a little sneak peek in their food section.  

 2. I am a breath away from having our cheesecake line, Stu & Abner's Cheesecake, ready for mass production and restaurant distribution! There are a few loose ends, some product packaging details and some streamlining kinks, but we are nearly ready and super excited to begin mega-marketing in September. Crossing my fingers and other extremities that one day this logo will be well recognized among it's peers. Any of you out there with an interest in business and marketing, we're gonna be looking for a few fun folks to help distribute samples at upcoming events, research  packaging, and handle web updates. So email me: andrea@andreahoward.net if you think that sounds like fun (and if you happen to like working in a crazy environment with a crazy boss, that helps too). And, since we are officially an honest to goodness company, we can offer intern credit for school if you happen to be a marketing or business major.

And finally, a hearty "THANK YOU" to all of my loyal readers for clicking over every now and then to see what's cooking in my crazy kitchen!!

xox,

A

Catching Up - Part I

I've had a very busy summer - I really wouldn't have it any other way...after all, idle hands are the devil's workshop, right? It does seem that nearly every blog post of late begins with "busy" somewhere in the first two sentences. I'm so sorry if I sound like a broken record, but seriously - I'm kinda, sorta starting to feel a little in-over-my-head here!  However, help is on the way! My 1 year old and 2 year old begin preschool in exactly 29 days - I'm totally counting down to this monumental occasion. Yes, I know it's a bit strange to send the little guys to daycare while I homeschool the older two, but I need some help here.  In addition, I have a super, duper helper lined up to begin working for me September 1 and I can't wait!  One more month and I will feel like a new woman.

Anyway, back to the summer fun....

The Music Man and I reached a milestone - 15 years of marriage - over the summer and took the opportunity to get away from the normal hectic pace of life with four kids. We enjoyed a nice long stay at The Homestead, located in one of our favorite places on earth: Glen Arbor, Michigan. If you ever have the chance to go, I highly recommend this location. The area, climate, nature and local atmosphere are amazing. We were exceptionally fortunate to find that some good friends were also staying in the same resort at the same time - this really put the "cherry on top" of our visit. Who doesn't love to spend time with great people - eating, laughing and enjoying good wine. It was the perfect trip. Since sitting still has never been our thing, we spent our days kayaking, hiking, or swimming and our evenings relaxing or walking on the beach. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the adventure:

I especially enjoyed sitting on the beach one evening and capturing the sunset - clicking a picture every ten minutes until the sun disappeared behind one of the Manitou Islands...so quiet, so relaxing, possibly the best moment of the entire vacation...