Martins on a Mission

Hi! Our names are Andrew and Maggie Martin, and we are siblings and students at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Andrew is a senior biology major, and Maggie is a freshman nursing major. 

 We will be going on a mission trip to Arizona in March, and we are responsible for raising the funds required for our trip ($2,000 each). Andrew completed this mission trip last year and had such a wonderful experience that he is the mission team leader this year, and Maggie is so excited to join her big brother in serving those in need. 

 This mission focuses on working in a Catholic school just inside the U.S. border with Hispanic students who cross the border each day to attend the school. We collaborate with the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles. 

 Thank you so much for your financial support and, more importantly, your prayers for a successful mission where we can help a lot of people.  Thank you all in advance :)

Week in Review: Fall Sports, Fall Pictures, and an Actual Fall

Happy Friday my friends!  

Last Friday, Phil, my parents and I went out to dinner at the restaurant next to our shop to celebrate the closing of the Cottage, and it was delicious!  

My mom will happily give up carbs at dinner to leave room for dessert :)

The next day was spent deep cleaning, with little helpers:

In this off season, we will be replacing the roof and floors and are currently getting quotes.  We called it the Ice Cream COTTAGE because it is a tiny space, but the prices we are getting for roofs and floors feel like they're for a mansion.

I took a half day from work last Friday, just because I wanted a little break, and decided to try and take my half day off in the morning, instead of after lunch.  I dropped the kids at school, walked on the treadmill at the gym and took a delightfully hard cardio and weight class, came home and walked the dog a mile.  I had almost hit my daily move goal by 10:30am!  It was my perfect way to spend the morning, and then I showered and ate and went into work for 4 hours.  I think I prefer taking half days like this because when I used to work in the morning and leave at lunch time, I would go to the gym, then drive home, shower, eat and the kids would be getting home from school already.  It didn't really feel like time off.  Having hours to myself in the morning felt luxurious!  I can't wait to be a stay-at-home grandma one day.

Saturday morning brought Declan's first soccer game:

and then a birthday party at Top Golf:

Week in Review: Cottage Closing, Living Life, and a Physical PSA

I was trying to think back as to what went on this week and the biggest and bestest news was that The Ice Cream Cottage is officially closed for Season 4.  Woohoo!  We were running it on a skeleton crew, with Phil and Xander working doubles each day, so it is nice to be done with that until next May (once it's cleaned and winterized, of course).  

The last shift of wonderful workers

Even I had to go in on the last day because we were so busy and they needed waffle cones!

Once a season whether I like it or not

Fr. Cook helping himself to a last supper scooper

Everytime we covered up a flavor with tape, the crowd booed.  It was very dramatic! I loved it!

By the end, we only had Rum Raisin and Grapenut left (aka the old people flavors, even though I love grapenut), and people just kept ordering them until this was all the ice cream we had left in the shop:

Xander: I've never heard so many people ordering Grapenut before!

Me: That's because it's all we have left.  Desperate times!

Week in Review: We Certainly Ate

Happy 1st Friday in September!!  

I treated myself to a new coffee mug for the school year, and it is just so pretty and the mouthpiece is designed so comfortably that I am getting an inordinate amount of joy from it:

I also bought a rice cooker, which I have wanted for a long time because I LOVE rice but I have a hard time getting it perfect...usually because I'm cooking something else at the same time.  

We made the seasoned rice recipe with chicken cutlets and a salad and it came out great!

Leftover rice with the lime grilled chicken skewers from Aldi's and roasted cauliflower another night.

I also bought a big chuck roast from Aldi's and made pot roast and mashed potatoes for Sunday dinner:

My dad's tomatoes are finally coming in, so a BLT with extra mayo was on the menu.  Just for me.  The others are weird and don't like them.

Speaking of things nobody else in my family likes, here's one of my favorite snacks - cottage cheese with Popcorners or Sun Chips:

I like to make a crockpot meal on Saturdays so that when we come home from the vigil Mass, dinner is ready.  Last Saturday I made Chicken and Noodles which the kids call CaN CaN and we have to play the can can song while we eat.

I only had to cook for three one night (weird!) so I just airfried perdue chicken patties and turned them into chicken parm for the boys and a salad for me:

Chocolate chip cookies because why not?