Week 28: The Deep Freeze

It has been quite a chilly week around here, but we have been enjoying being bundled up and watching from inside the nice, warm house! 

Monday we ate burrito bowls, I studied and we got to enjoy some time together after a crazy weekend before! Tuesday was much less relaxing though. After work I went to ONU for allergy shots and for dinner with Hannah at Jalapenos. The roads in Ada, as usual, were absolutely awful - I am so glad that I don't have to deal with that train-wreck anymore! Jonathan had Bible study, worked on his resume and he straightened up the house and helped me with laundry while I was gone. 

Wednesday went a lot better than I thought. I still have to do quizzes for school and we had one on Wednesday, but thankfully it went really well and I finished in good time so we could have spaghetti for dinner. In the evening we worked on stuff and got to hang out for a little bit.

Thursday Jonathan had the career fair at ONU representing Fanning-Howey with Mark, he always enjoys those, and Emily stopped to see him, so that made it even better! Once we both got home we ate some leftover chili for supper, watched the Masked Singer and then went to small group.

Friday was a great day! I started cleaning when I got home, so we got the kitchen and bathroom cleaned, I made a cake, started some laundry and then we went over to Steve and Elise's house for dinner! Steve and Elise are a couple from our small group and we have found that we have quite a bit in common! It has been so fun getting to know them better and dinner at their house made for a great evening. They are even more passionate about games than Jonathan and I are, so we got to play some new games and they even lent us one to try out this week! We had a great time together and had a fantastic evening with plans of having more if time allows. They are life-giving friends who are so fun and easy to talk to, they are super wise and we love having them in our lives!

Saturday we got a lot done! I studied and Jonathan worked on some stuff, then we cleaned the rest of the house and got ready to go to Bellefontaine (pronounced "bell-fountain" for some odd reason). My next rotation is going to be at Mary Rutan in Bellefontaine, so we were trying the drive out to see how long it will take me and to scout out parking and getting there. We had an early dinner at Six Hundred Downtown, which is a really fun pizza place. Once we got home we settled in for a date night and played 7 Wonders Duel (the game Steve and Elise lent us). Fun fact, I won and almost shut Jonathan out, which takes a lot in a strategy game! More importantly, we both really enjoyed the game and had a ton of fun.

Today we FINALLY had church! The past two weeks it has been canceled! So it was great to go back to church and see everyone! Afterwards we went to get groceries, I got some chicken noodle soup ready for dinner this evening and we got the kitchen all cleaned up...there was quite the mountain of dishes. Throughout the day we talked to both sets of parents, I studied, Jonathan updated his resume and then after dinner he went to play volleyball at the YMCA with some friends. I wrapped up a few things for my rotation so I'm ready for the rest of the week...hopefully a low stress, high relaxation week! 

It has been quite busy recently, but we are working on slowing it down and making sure we don't stay that way! Busy is okay, but we definitely don't want to live there! This week we are going to try to take it easy!

\\Menu//

• Ham, green beans and potatoes
• Campbell's hamburger skillet (new recipe...not quite sure what to call it yet!)
• Leftover Chicken Noodle Soup (also new recipe, we like it but are going to make some adjustments in the future)

It's looking like it is going to be even colder this week, so we are ready to bundle up and leave early to let our vehicles stay nice and warm and function well! Have a great week!

Love,

Alli and Jonathan

Week 27: The Blizzard

Hello from a tired Lil Landis family. It has been a crazy week and we are a bit wiped out. I hope everyone is staying warm in the blizzard-y weather we have been having! Stay inside as much as you can, looks like it's going to be a chilly next few days! Last week was not even close to as bad as I had thought it would be weather wise, but I doubt this week will be as surprising.

After we got home from work on Monday we went to the gym and had some tuna noodle and BLTs when we came home. Then I did some studying and Jonathan prepared for Bible study. Chili was on the menu for Tuesday, so together we got that ready to start in the morning.

Tuesday was a long day for Jonathan, he didn't get home until after 6 and had Bible study at 7, so we had chili really quickly then he left. I stayed home and studied then watched a little bit of NCISLA. It was a rough day since we didn't get to spend much time together. Both of us value our quality time, so busy evening spent apart can really wear us down!

Wednesday we got to spend some time together, which was much needed. We grocery shopped, ate leftovers and, oddly, I had a lot of phone calls to deal with, so we just relaxed between all of that and enjoyed our time together.

Thursday is always busy. I had a ton of meetings (about 5) throughout the day and we both were pretty tired when we got home. Leftover chili was our main dish, then we went to small group. They are fantastic people and we love them a lot.

Friday after work we rushed to leave for East Rochester. It felt like a really long drive, but we made it and enjoyed catching up with my parents.

Saturday morning came very early, but we left before the snow started and had a busy day with the family. It is always good to see the Lumleys, Aunt Bev, Uncle Ron, Grandma, Grandpa and Kyle. Everyone was so helpful and we got done in great time! Our drive home was quite snowy, but we made it home easily. Jonathan did some shoveling once he helped us unload the truck and Mom and I put meat away in our respective freezers. We are so blessed to have meat for the rest of the year, now to use all of it! In the evening we watched Darkest Hour and enjoyed some good conversation with Mom and Dad before we went to bed...late...because early service had already been canceled!

By this morning all of the churches were cancelled. Grace Chapel, Harvest and SMC - so we had a lazy morning. Dad made omelets and we packed everything up to leave. On the way home we stopped to see Grandma and Grandpa Landis, Ken and Pam. We always love seeing them and loved catching up with everyone on that side of the family. Our drive home took quite a long time, but we are so glad to finally be home. The roads were surprisingly good and only got better as we went west. As always, we love coming back to our little apartment in Wapakoneta. Jonathan did a lot of shoveling once we got home while I did some meal prep, unpacking and ironing. Now we are both inside, snuggled up, watching the Patriots game and ready for a good night's sleep!

Honestly - our meal plan for this week involves quite a few leftovers and the use of some of the supplies we have in our pantry. Not very exciting, just trying to get our life back together and organized!

We love you all! Have a great week and stay as warm as you can!

Love,

Alli and Jonathan

Week 26: Snowy Sunday

Bundled up for the cold weekend!

What a week! We both feel as if it has been a long week!

Monday I had a ton of reading to do at work, but I actually completed a lot! In the evening we started a new workout plan, went to the YMCA and had ham braid and juicy noodles for supper! I had to do a bit of studying and Jonathan had some reading to do, so we did that for the evening and just relaxed a bit.

Tuesday there were a bunch of meetings for me to attend, 11-2:30 then one a 3, so I threw down some lunch between meetings and kept going! In the evening we had some leftovers, did a workout and watched Last Man Standing before Jonathan had his first Bible Study with Pastor Tony.

Wednesday I lead the reflection time at the medication safety meeting. My preceptor is in charge of it and before meetings there is a reflection/prayer time since St. Rita's is a Catholic hospital, it's pretty neat! Jonathan had a long day at work and didn't get home until a little later. We did a quick workout, had hot ham sandwiches with chips, salsa and smoothies! Both of us had a few things to do on the computer, so we sat and did that while we watched The Masked Singer, a new show that is on FOX. They got us hooked...so we watched the second episode on Thursday before we went to small group! Thursdays are a bit crazy since we have something in the evening, but we meal plan for the next week and make our grocery list! Another thing, since it's crazy, we have leftovers, no time to make dinner when there are other things to get done!

Friday was another long day for Jonathan since he had a meeting and they had a lot of work to get done, he was very happy for the week to be over. They are re-doing the floor in the pharmacy student room, so I have been in my preceptor's office just doing my reading. Strangely enough, I like it a lot better because it is so quiet in there and I can focus! Once we were back home we went to the gym to run and then did a work out. In the evening we did laundry, had leftovers and watched the Timeless finale (a show we loved that got cancelled). Then we went to bed early to recover from the week!

Saturday involved a lot of dishes,
so Jonathan and I made great use
of my new ring holder!

Saturday it snowed the whole day! The only reason we left the house was to work out and to get a movie. In the morning we tried a new baked oatmeal recipe for banana bread baked oatmeal, it was really good! While we ate we watched some Last Man Standing, then we cleaned, I studied and Jonathan did some pre-work for Bible Study. Afterwards we had a quick lunch, worked out and then made Cajun Chicken Alfredo. Once we got everything cleaned up and put away we watched The Greatest Showman, which is a phenomenal movie. We realized we are pretty behind the times realizing this fact but wow. Jonathan said it's probably the best musical he has ever seen and we are now obsessed with the soundtrack...we have been listening to it while I have been writing this, in fact! Before we went to bed we got an e-mail saying church would be canceled due to the snow, so we got to sleep in this morning!

Jonathan finishing his model!

Once we got up, we finished our leftover baked oatmeal while we watched the Last Man Standing from this week. After that we went outside so Jonathan could shovel snow while I cleaned all the snow off both of our vehicles. As you can see in the photo, they were both pretty covered. Jonathan's car went out yesterday, so it was doing quite a bit better than my poor truck was, but the truck got to go out today when we went grocery shopping! The good thing is, it didn't snow too much today, so tomorrow morning we will not have to do much snow removal! Once we finished grocery shopping we came home and got our meals ready for the week. While we ate leftovers for lunch we watched the Patriots game, Jonathan finished his model and I studied.

Finished product!

All in all, it's been a pretty normal week, there has just been a lot to get done, so we are a bit wore out. Thankfully, this weekend allowed us a lot of time to relax and catch up on sleep, so hopefully the next week will be much smoother sailing! 

[Meal Plans:]

• BLTs and Tuna Noodle
• Chili
• Black Bean Lime Burrito Bowl

{Prayer requests}

• Continued prayers for Jonathan's grandma
• Prayers for us as we are headed into a season of decision making with graduation coming up for me! No wrong decisions but no right ones either, so lots of stuff for the two of us to think about!

We love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Alli and Jonathan 

Jonathan shoveled the path and the porch yesterday afternoon...both were completely covered by this morning!

Our poor vehicles covered in all the snow!

Week 25: Beginning 2019

Hey there! The Lil Landis Fam is back on their own schedule here in Wapak, so now I am back to my normal Sunday schedule (thank GOODNESS!) and am able to update you here at my own kitchen table (not in the car like the last two weeks) with my mug of hot chocolate and a muffin. I also have some blood orange peels simmering on the stove, so there's a nice scent of citrus in the kitchen. It's all comfy-cozy!

We have so enjoyed getting back into a routine, honestly, going back to work and starting a new rotation were welcomed changes after the hectic holiday traveling. When we got back on Sunday there was a lot to do after being gone so long, we had to go grocery shopping, unpack, do some laundry and get ready for the next week. Unfortunately, Aldi is closed on January 1st, so we had to go to Walmart, otherwise it was a great day getting back into our own groove. As a bonus, my mom and dad got me recipe card box dividers for my birthday, so one of the early things I did when I got home was organize my recipe box! (No, I will not admit what order it happened in, just know that it is done and I am very content!☺) That was a real help when we were meal planning for the week since I can finally locate my recipes efficiently!

Wednesday was our first day back to real life. Jonathan went to work and I started my new rotation. He said the first day was rough since he had to get caught up on everything that was happening, but after that it went really well. My rotation started out well. I am on a Medication Safety rotation at St. Rita's Medical Center in Lima. Med Safety is looking into all the medication errors happening in the hospital and seeing what could be done in the future to keep them from happening again. My preceptor has never done a med safety rotation for an APPE student, so I get to be her first one and help her tweak it in rotations to come, which is a neat experience in and of itself! So far I have gone to a lot of meetings and have read a lot of articles, it has been interesting and is a challenge in time management for sure, but I am doing my best! I got home early my first day, so that was nice, it allowed me to finish getting our dinner ready. We had Fiesta Chicken and rice (one of my favorite meals). It cooks in the crockpot, so it was ready when we got home, but the chicken needs shredded and the rice needs cooked and stuff like that. Before we actually ate our dinner we went to the YMCA to workout (let's just say the Christmas cookies weren't good to the Lil Landis Fam). When we finally sat down to eat and catch up for the day we had a lot to talk about! It was a good first day back, but we for sure missed seeing each other throughout the day!

Thursday was a whirlwind, at least I thought so. I was just getting into the swing of things at my rotation, we had our first small group meeting of the semester and I had a lot of unexpected things come up that gave me some extra work to do when I got home. Thankfully, Jonathan made some rice so we could have leftovers quick before we had to leave for small group. Small group was definitely the highlight of Thursday. We haven't seen our whole group in awhile and they are all so wonderful. It is great to have a group of people who loves us and cares about us without trying to manipulate or use us in any way. Jonathan and Steve are becoming great friends as they bond over their love for games - he already has us thinking about the next one we will get (goodbye, Christmas money). It wasn't a very structured get together, which was much needed by the time we were there. Catching up with everyone after the holidays was a much needed time of relaxation.

Friday was a good, typical day for the both of us and allowed for a great evening. I got some laundry done, we went for a walk around the block, made rib steaks and roasted potatoes for dinner and had a lot of really good conversation. Time to chat is always a good thing around here! Around 7, Dillon and Graham came over to hang out since we haven't seen them in quite awhile. We caught up on all the holiday craziness and played a few games of Vegas and Splendor (two of each, in fact!). 

Quiche gave me the perfect
opportunity to use the new bowl
Dad found for our cutter!

It was a pretty late evening Friday, so we slept in Saturday and had brunch around 10:30. Jonathan got a cookbook from his mom's side of the family and there is a recipe for meat and potato quiche, his mom has made it for breakfast a few times that I have been there and, as I am sure is not surprising to anyone who knows me, I LOVE it! We made it for the first time on Saturday. It fits in a pie plate, so it was the perfect amount for breakfast yesterday and also had some leftovers for this morning! (Full disclosure - we ate a solid 2/3 yesterday, but it was late and we ended up skipping lunch, so we have no shame!) The afternoon was a little crazy, Jonathan had a Bible Study to read and watch a video for and I had a chapter to study and some reading to do. After we were done we went for a quick walk before I showered and headed out at around 3:45 to get dinner with Victoria...which was more of a lupper! She had a meeting in Wapak, so we met at Happy Daz to catch up and get some good food. I haven't seen her since JULY, so it was amazing to finally spend some time together. While I was gone, Jonathan enjoyed some time home alone and he also cleaned the majority of the apartment for us, which was much appreciated! When I got home we put all the Christmas decorations away and then sat down to watch Bourne Supremacy. Jonathan, as predicted, is loving the Bourne series and I too am enjoying the rewatch! 

Jonathan got to use the new bowl
too! He is giving this way of
prepping carrots for the week!

Preping our pizza! Onion,
sausage, pepperoni and cheese!
Jonathan added banana peppers
to his half...and he got to use
the new pickle plucker!

Today (Sunday) has flown by. Before church I made some pizza dough and afterwards we went shopping for the week. When we got home Jonathan went out to do some cleaning in his car and I worked on putting groceries away, organizing the fridge and making ham salad for my lunches this week. This week I am going to be eating blood oranges and, I love all oranges, but typically they sit in my fridge for weeks before I actually eat them, so I tore all of them apart today in hopes that it will make it easier for me to grab them and throw them in my lunch! Added bonus - I only have to get my hands all messy once! When Jonathan came in, he got his carrots ready for the week and started on the dishes while I started working on the pizza, sauce and ham braid for tomorrow. Our Sunday afternoons typically look like this, both of us in the kitchen getting ready for the week! I took my time getting the pizza ready, but when it was done we had my lunches ready for the week, his lunches ready for the week, lunch ready to eat and dinner ready to pop in the oven for tomorrow! In typical Haas fashion (it has worn off on Jonathan), we had french onion dip and chips with our pizza, then we poured us some cokes, took everything into the living room and watched some football. Afterwards, I threw together some muffins for the rest of the week and started in on rotation reading. We called all our parents, I did some flashcards and reading, Jonathan worked on his airplane model and went to help Graham move some boxes and now we are just sitting here in peace and citrus ready for whatever the next week has to throw at us! 

Meal plans for the week: (in case you were wondering - we sat down and planned this together on Wednesday so we would know what to grocery shop for - super helpful!)

• Breakfast Special: Peanut Oat Muffins 
• Dinners:
• Ham bread and juicy noodles
• Ham/Summer sausage sandwiches with chips, fresh salsa and peanut butter banana smoothies
• Cajun Chicken Alfredo

{Prayer Request} 

• Jonathan's grandma has been in the hospital this week. Things are looking up now, but there is a lot going on! Prayers for his grandma and grandpa, as well as the rest of his family, would be greatly appreciated!

We love you all! See you next week!

Love,

Alli and Jonathan

Week 24: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wow! It has been a long time since we have written! Being at our parents’ makes life a little bit crazier, but it has been great! We have really been enjoying our time visiting with family!

Monday we were at the Landis home and we made candy with Emily and Pam. Jonathan organized CDs and we all just got to relax for the day. In the evening we went to Christmas Eve service at his parents’ church and then came home for dinner and watched a Christmas movie!

Tuesday we had Christmas with the Landis family and enjoyed some time with them. Later in the evening we had the Dickerhoof family Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa’s. There were a lot of people and little kids in one place, but it made for a great time with good food and lots of laughing!

Wednesday I was up at 4 AM due to an asthma exacerbation, which was unfortunate since I did not have an inhaler. After having our Haas family Christmas, I went and got an inhaler at the pharmacy to help ease my breathing. The morning consisted of opening presents and eating breakfast, then we played some Bananagrams and 7s just the 5 of us. In the evening we went to Marlene’s for the Landis family Christmas and got to see a lot of the family there. It was great to see everyone from out of town and catch up with all of the cousins.

Thursday morning we got up and went to my allergist for shots and did a bit of shopping around Canton. We got some pretty good deals at our favorite stores, Old Navy and TJMaxx, and then returned to the Haas house. In the evening the Haas side of the family came over for supper. It was only 10 of us, but we had a great time together, taught everyone how to play Blob and just enjoyed the family time. In the evening Kyle and Blake came to spend the night so they would be here to help Friday morning. We also did Christmas with Kyle before we went to bed, he got Jonathan a new game called Vegas, it is way different than any of our other games, so we are excited to play it some more!

Friday morning the boys loaded up 7 pigs and went up to the farm to get everything ready for us on Saturday, an experience Jonathan had never had before! When they got home we took a quick trip to Charm for Shem to get boots, then we went to the Prusia’s for Chicken and Biscuits, played some Taboo and around the world ping-pong, then the guys had an airplane contest, which Jonathan ended up winning! In the afternoon my mom taught me how to make pie and we made Jonathan’s favorite – apple! So now I know how to do it!

Saturday we cut up pork, so now we have that ready for the year! There were a bunch of people there and we were very productive, everything went smoothly and it was great to spend time with all of those people. We left a smidgen early to go to the Landis’ for a quick family get together. It had been a long day, so we left at 9:30 and came back to East Rochester to ensure some good quality sleep.

Sunday morning we went to Grace Chapel and Grinders afterwards for some lunch. The afternoon was open, so Jonathan and Dad worked on my radio and did some shooting, I took a nap and then Grandpa came over for dinner. We had fish that Dad and Shem caught up on Lake Erie this summer then played some pig pile and the guys played euchre after we finished watching the Brown’s game.

Family picture of our first Christmas with 5!

Monday we slept in and then the guys went and waxed Shem’s truck after they did a bit more shooting. I studied a lot so I would be ahead to start the week and I also did our laundry – one less thing to do when we get home! The afternoon consisted of football, both xbox and college, lunch, more studying and getting ready for the evening. Our New Years Eve party consisted of the Lumleys, Graggs, Aunt Bev, Uncle Ron, Kyle and Marissa – some of my mom’s side of the family. There were 18 of us total and we had a good time playing lots of games and eating lots of good food! Blake (9) brought UNO Attack, so both of us got to play some of that and Kenna (7) brought Guess Who, which I found to be a bit of a struggle, but it was very fun! We taught them Pig Pile, then Jonathan went to play in the various Euchre games ranging from 4-6 people and I learned how to play Polish Poker – so now we have a new one to play! We rang in the New Year and said our farewells to everyone – surprisingly, few tears were shed…I think it was because we were so tired.

Pig Pile! Good thing Hudson was there to help Jonathan!

Kenna and I playing UNO Attack...can you tell we forgot to take pictures until the last day we were home?

This morning I slept in pretty late, we had some French toast and packed up to head back to Wapakoneta. Before we left my parents gave me some birthday gifts and I got my long-awaited recipe box label things – which I am SO excited to put to good use when I get home!!!

2018 was amazing, but 2019 is going to hold a lot of new things for the Lil Landis Family and we are so excited to see what is in store. Welcome to our adventure! Hang on tight!

Happy New Year!

Love,

Alli and Jonathan