The Most Important Work

{coming from obscurity for a silly post}

2010-07-19T21:25:00.004-04:00

I have really been missing this blog since I've been away and thought about how to make a brilliant come-back post. I couldn't decide, so I just haven't posted. Well, it is not going to be perfect, but I thought you might enjoy this story I found on Rocks in My Dryer. If you like those "If you give a mouse a cookie" books, you'll love this story.

I'll be back soon. I have a lot to say!

{does a wannabe count?}

2009-05-12T09:28:00.001-04:00

I'm re-reading a book that inspired me years ago called 'Confessions of an Organized Homemaker.' I borrowed it from the library as a newlywed living in married student housing and was wowed by the suggestions and writing style that the author had. I even used it as inspiration for a class on household organizing that I taught (seriously?, I know!) for women at our church.

In browsing book titles at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore last week, I spotted an aged & yellowed copy of the book for only 50 cents. I began reading it during a long bath this morning and am totally inspired to make my home work better.

Right now I feel like every room is out of control. I've been using our mini remodeling projects as an excuse for things to be messy. But that is going to change TODAY. The author of the book reminded me that a plan and a neat, organized house frees you to do other things with your time. Sometimes it seems like it will tie us down; like we're a 'slave' to a clean house. I'm glad to be reminded that that is not the case. What a great day to launch this take-back-control-of-my-house-project. The sun is shining and I have the whole day off. AND a girls night out tonight!

{my house looks cuter}

2009-05-04T15:57:00.001-04:00

I know I haven't posted forever, but there are several people who want to see the updates we're making to our house. And...since inquiring minds want to see, here goes...

I painted our family room Palladian Blue from Benjamin Moore, above the chair rail. It used to be a pale, buttery yellow. The chocolate brown was done to go with the yellow. The brown isn't staying for good. We're going to put in a board and batten-type wainscoting all painted crisp white. All of the trim will be painted that same crisp white.

So here are some things on the horizon for this room (besides the wainscoting):

- Drop cloth drapes

- Area rug (something like this)

- Painting the sideboard/tv stand either white or pale gray

- Spray painting the goldish color lamps (not sure what color yet...probably white or tan-ish)

- Bamboo blinds

I am LOVING how this room is turning out. If you've seen this room in it's before state, you'll know what a huge transformation has already taken place. Mike rocked it, installing the laminate floors on Saturday. I'll keep updating here as we make new changes.

Just for some perspective, here are some shots of my family room BEFORE:

The TV is now in front of this pass-through-window-thingy to the kitchen. It makes the room look sooooo much larger.

{deliberate}

2009-01-31T00:44:00.001-05:00

So I haven't posted in way too long. Months, y'all. And I've missed it. So, I'm back.

I started working a part time job and love it, but during the getting-used-to-my-time-not-being-my-own-anymore adjustment period, I didn't feel like I could spare any brain power on blogging. I know that sounds lame, but it is what it is.

My new goal for my home and life is to be deliberate. Instead of reacting to life, I want to make it happen the way I want it to. I'm talking about things I can control here, like my house. I'm sick of it being in perpetual upheaval. I can control that if I choose to.

I'll share more about my movement towards 'deliberacy' in the future. {I know that isn't a word, but I like it}. For now, here is some inspiration for you and me.

How cute are these? Check out this great blog post for some cuter-than-a-label-maker ways to label your stuff. She sells decorative vinyl. I've never purchased any, but have been drooling over it for a while.

{a few thrifty thursday finds}

2008-11-20T16:35:00.001-05:00

Today's post is kind of a conglomerate of thrifty goodness.

First, an arrangement on my kitchen island made up of discounted flowers from Kroger. ($1.25 for each bunch...2 bunches=$2.50) I love creamy white ironstone dishes. This is a faux ironstone pitcher, but it looks pretty with the flowers.

Next, you have a cute wrought iron piece that I purchased at a yard sale several years ago with it's twin. I bought them both for $3. Since we've been in this house (for about 3 years) they've been living on my screened porch. They're perfect out there.

Lastly, I'd like to tell you about some deals I scored just yesterday. I went to the Salvation Army to shop on 1/2 price clothing day and was surprised with a sign on the door that said, "All shoes $1." Wow. I walked away with 6 pairs of shoes for my kids for only $6. That is so awesome. Here are a few...

The brown leather shoes on the left are LL Bean...

I also got Zach a pair of Bass nubuck shoes for church, a pair of rain/snow boots, and dress shoes for Taylor.

What deals have you scored this week?

{let there be light on thrifty thursday}

2008-11-13T10:17:00.001-05:00

I love a good light fixture as much as the next gal, but I'm not going to pay full retail for it. There is a can't-be-missed flea market around these parts and I've found some seriously smokin' deals there.

Today I wanted to highlight some of the ceiling light fixtures I have in my home. The people who had this house built chose some hideous fixtures from the 80's even though the house was built in 1998. I'm not even going to go into the non-options this house has. Well...just that there was no garbage disposal and no water hookup for the fridge. 1998, y'all. Let me just say we have a garbage disposal now...yes ma'am. And...I'm pretty lucky 'cause my dad is an electrician and he only lives about 3 miles away. So for me, there is no cost for the installations of these babies.

First...over the kitchen table...

(Don't ask me what that black stuff is on the shade to the left...I didn't notice it until I uploaded the picture here.)

I think this is a way cute light fixture and it looks great in my kitchen, if I do say so myself. And do you know what I paid for it?

Wait for it...

$1.

Yep. You read that correctly. I said $1. It was from my favorite booth at the flea market's dollar table.

And how about this one? It is in my 'formal' living room.

This little beaut has cute leaves and stuff above the globe on it. And here she is all lit up, showing off for y'all.

I got her at the $1 table too.

Don't hate me, y'all.

{NKOTB - part 3, the saga continues}

2008-11-12T14:35:00.001-05:00

You can get caught up with parts I & II of this nonsense here: (part 1) & (part 2)

So you remember how Courtney & I were so excited about our VIP seats at the Wachovia Center?

After we took care of business in the bathroom (yes, that includes taking pictures) and got our Diet Cokes from the bar, we made our way to our seats. Shortly after we were seated, the first opening act took the stage. We weren't really sure who it was going to be. We just knew that we'd never heard of her before. Yeah. Her name is Lady Gaga & I'm pretty glad that I'd never heard of her before. For those of you not "in the know", like me...here's her picture:

(image source: Starimpulse.com)

Either I'm getting really old, or some music today is just weird. Maybe both. Anyway...in between strutting around in her underwear, waving a lit up staff/stick around, playing dead, and gyrating on the floor, she sang a little. We were not impressed. The gals sitting around us probably thought we weren't going to be any fun during the whole concert, because for Lady Gaga's performance, we sat there staring with our mouths hanging open. And when we did speak, it was mostly to talk about how ridiculous her act was. Moving right along...

Next was Natasha Bedingfield. She was fun. She did a good job warming us up for the good stuff. We enjoyed her fun, upbeat music & her performance. Although we did sing along to some of her songs, we didn't want to waste any serious vocal chords on anybody but the New Kids.

Speaking of New Kids? Um - awesome. Before they came out there was a montage on the big TVs around the stage that showed some of their past history & clips of old performances. It talked about how it has been so many years since they'd been together. Then they came out.

Don't laugh at me when I tell you I cried a little bit. Here & several other times throughout the show. I said don't laugh.

They put on a great show. I was pleased to see that much of the show time was spent performing the old stuff. That's the stuff I wanted to hear.

And they delivered, baby.

Joey-Joe has always been my favorite.

And Courtney has always loved Donnie.

About halfway through the show, they guys showed up on this small circle stage near the back of the floor. We had a great view of them there. The stage had a grand piano on it and it spun in a circle. I think they did 3 or 4 songs here. They were casually sitting on the piano during some of the talking parts and seriously interacting with the crowd. Wow. I bet those girls were very pleasantly surprised when they found themselves so close.

There were several "transition" songs throughout the show, when one guy would take the stage solo while the others changed outfits or something.

Here's Jordan. With his shirt unbuttoned and a breeze blowing.

I loved how the stage looked for this one. It is a classic. Cover Girl.

Some more shots of the show...

And for the encore numbers, they donned cute basketball attire. It reminded me of High School Musical. In a good way.

The concert was good. Really good. I can't believe I could talk or hear anything afterwards. It brought back all of those great feelings of being a kid again. I had a blast and loved every minute of it. Except the Lady Gaga part.

We were on cloud nine.

Until we tried to find the cab who was supposed to take us back to the hotel.

{NKOTB trip part 2}

2008-11-10T14:03:00.001-05:00

If you are just tuning in for this whopper of a story, you might want to read part 1 first.

Since you've been hanging on the edge of your seat over the weekend, dying to know how Courtney & I handled ourselves in the cab ride, I'll cut to the chase. It wasn't pretty. We were pretty sure that we'd end up with some crazy cab driver who'd charge us an arm & a leg OR we'd never be seen or heard from again. Lemmetellya...we had high hopes for this cab ride. Other than the fact that he was probably under the influence of something and we could hardly understand his slurred, mumbled speech...oh, and the fact that he drifted back and forth through the lanes like he owned the road (on big honkin' bridges, no less)...oh yeah, and the fact that his seat had some screws missing and it kept bouncing up and down...other than those things, the cab ride to the concert went pretty smoothly.

(By the way, these pictures were taken by Courtney through the windshield while I was driving on a highway. I think it was 95. We slowed down to a crawl...there was hardly anyone behind us and we needed to capture the bridges on film!)

So when we got to the Wachovia Center, there was a parking lot people. Right there in front of the building with a fence around it. We could have paid $12 and parked 50 feet from the building door. It would've been nice if the person at the hotel front desk mentioned that when we asked about the parking. To top it off, it was raining...hard...and the cab "couldn't" get us any closer than - really far away! So we were soaked when we got into the building and not very happy to be paying $100 for what we could've paid $12 for.

(Yes...we took this picture of ourselves and yes...we are pretty wet and no...we're not very happy right then.)

We started looking at signs in the building to see where our seats were. We were a bit confused and asked an employee on the main level to point us in the right direction. Meanwhile, we took in all the sights. The loooong lines for the bathrooms, the loooooong lines for refreshments, the crazy-busyness of it all. We were directed to go around the corner to the VIP elevator and show him our tickets. Whaaaat? We didn't know why we would need to get on that elevator, but off we went. We were glancing at each other with looks that totally showed how totally clueless we were.

After proudly showing the elevator guy our special tickets (that had been purchased on plain old ticketmaster, no less) he deposited us at the club box level. We knew that club boxes were for people who owned big companies and their friends. Neither of us own a big company, so we still didn't understand what we were doing there. We walked around about half of the building on that level when we found the room we belonged in. As we traveled the hallways, we noticed a distinct fewer amount of people, yet it had great amenities. There were bathrooms with no lines and a refreshment counter as well as a little food cart with gourmet-looking cheesecakes and stuff. Our eyes continued to get bigger and bigger as we entered the room where our tickets admitted us. There were two attendants at the door checking tickets. There were about 8-10 tall, pub-style tables with several chairs each. There was a big circular bar with about 3 bartenders. There was a buffet with food set out. There were also people milling about, looking like they belonged there. They did not have the expressions of amazement that we did.

Our plan was to locate our seats, then use the bathroom before the show. Imagine our utter amazement when we asked the door attendants which direction down the hall would take us to the closest bathroom. He kind of chuckled and pointed out that there was a bathroom in our club box. We told him that we were surprised to be there and asked about the food and drinks. He told us that some people had purchased a package that included alcohol and food. Onto the bathroom...there was no line. I mean we were the only ones in there. We were so excited about it that we had to take a picture. Inside the semi-private bathroom. Yes, we are dorks. It doesn't take much to make us feel special, huh?

I will leave you with the big smiles on our faces as we reveled in our VIP-ness for the evening. Be sure to tune in for more installments of this breathtaking story! :)

{New Kids have still got it! (the right stuff, that is)}

2008-11-07T16:01:00.001-05:00

My memories from 1988 to 1991 include a serious adoration and healthy obsession with the New Kids on the Block. Courtney was my bestest friend and we ate, drank, breathed, dreamed and lived NKOTB. During that time, we were privileged to attend 5 concerts. Yes. I said FIVE. See, my mom has had a thing for the Beatles since she was young, and didn't get to see them in person then. So she wanted her daughters to be able to live their dream, if it was in her power to make it possible. And it didn't hurt that she loved Jordan Knight.

Now, when the New Kids announced earlier this year that they were reuniting, I tuned in to all of the performances and even captured them on my DVR. I sat wide-eyed, staring at the TV, and hanging on their every word. See...you need to know that I never have denounced my love for them nor have I ever been too embarrassed to share my love for them.

Fast forward to this week...Courtney & I on a road trip to Philly for a New Kids concert. Yep. And it was awesome.

Neither one of us had been to Philadelphia before, so we knew nothing about the city, except that the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall were there. We'd heard that it was a pretty sketchy city and to be aware of our surroundings at all times. When we got to the hotel, we asked the front desk about the parking situation at the Wachovia Center. We basically wanted to know if we should drive and park ourselves or take a cab. The hotel was about 10 miles from the concert venue. Most concert places we'd been to recently did not have their own parking lots, so parking was an adventure either in a parking deck with quite a walk, or find a place on the street...good luck! The people at the front desk said it might be pretty crazy and that we should probably take a cab. We didn't want to walk very far because we were both recovering from a broken ankle (I know, weird, right?).

The front desk person gave us a number for a cab company. We even asked her how much she thought the ride would be. She estimated $50 each way. We were all about being safe in an unfamiliar city, so we booked the cab.

By the way, neither one of us is very cab savvy. Our combined cab rides equals 4. Ever. To say we were pretty nervous is putting it lightly.

This is getting pretty long, so I think I'll make this a series. This little 2 day trip packs in a whole lot of stories, lemme tell ya.

{full moon - halloween style}

2008-10-24T12:00:00.001-04:00

I saw this while driving around this week and had to capture a picture for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

If you can't tell by the picture, those are pumpkins standing in for bum cheeks! Very creative, thought I.

{introducing thrifty thursday}

2008-10-23T11:09:00.001-04:00

I am a lover of thrifty finds and love to share my finds with my friends. That includes you, oh friends that live inside my computer! So I'm going to start sharing my thrifty finds with you on Thursdays. Sound good? Alrighty then, let's get to it...

Yesterday was Wednesday, and around these parts that means half price clothing at the Salvation Army. My cute little hubby was in need of some shirts & sweaters that didn't drown him (he's been dropping pounds like crazy) so off I went.

Keep in mind that I only paid half of the ticketed price.

All in GREAT condition. A GAP sweater in bone ($2.50), an Old Navy long sleeved polo shirt in a cute stripe ($2.50), and a Tommy Hilfiger button down in a navy & white check ($2.00). Not bad, huh? I know!

I also found this darling skirt for my daughter for next Spring & Summer...only $1.50.

To finish up the clothing circuit, I got myself a wardrobe basic, long length Old Navy T-shirt in salmon...great for layering. Only $.50.

And here are my most fabulous finds for the day:

(remember...you can click on the pictures to enlarge them if you so desire)

Three large red, glittery, beady, beautiful cone tree things. Perfect for the upcoming holiday season. They look like they are brand new. The smallest one was $3, the middle $4, and the largest $5. That means I only spent $12 for this large piece altogether. I put the paper towel holder in that 2nd pic so you could see the large scale of these babies. Way cool, huh? Love 'em. I might dress the large one up with a ribbon bow when they come out for good after Thanksgiving. What do you think?

Have you found any thrifty deals lately? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!

{mt. laundry - wfmw}

2008-10-22T15:49:00.001-04:00

So it seems like laundry multiplies like bunnies. Just when you think you are caught up (yeah right), Mount Laundry rears it's evil head and cackles a monstrous laugh. "Muuah...haah...haah."

OK - so maybe that's just me.

I like to do a chore and be done with it. None of this never-ending stuff. I have come up with a system that helps me to feel a little bit better about laundry.

Monday - Parent's darks

Tuesday - Parent's lights

Wednesday - Towels & sheets

Thursday - Taylor's clothes

Friday - Zach's clothes

This way, after I'm done with the laundry for the day, I am done with laundry for the day. Check.

What a weight off of my shoulders when I can say that laundry is done for the day.

It works for me.

I've gathered some laundry room inspiration for y'all to drool over:

(photo source: Country Living)

(photo source: Women's Day)

(photo source: This Old House)

(photo source: Rate My Space)

{finally some fall decorations}

2008-10-21T12:33:00.001-04:00

After seeing so many adorable Fall and Halloween decorations on my favorite blogs, I finally found some energy to do something in my own home.

I should have taken a before picture of the sorry looking floral foam stabbed with cute fall flowers and greenery that I purchased from the Goodwill for about $2. I re-discovered it in my garage this morning. It had been there a while. I knew it had some potential. This is what it looks like now in my cute Southern Living cake stand/chip and dip/flower arrangement piece. I am a lover of versatility.

I like to use this piece in the center of the kitchen table to hold useful things like salt and pepper and napkins. But look how pretty it looks all dressed up for fall.

I also placed some gourds and mini pumpkins in a hurricane.

I know I haven't gone all out for my fall decorations this year, but something is better than nothing. And maybe I'm not done yet.

For more things people are finally getting around to doing, visit Tackle it Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom.

{using ideas from favorite blogs}

2008-10-20T15:04:00.001-04:00

If you've been here a while, you may know that I'm a big fan of Google Reader. If you'd like to know more about why I love it, see the bottom of this post. I save a lot of great ideas from blogs that I read, but only get around to doing a small portion of the things I'd like to.

My brilliant, yet unoriginal suggestion to you is to utilize this wonderful information to the betterment of your family and home.

Here are some things that I've done recently that I learned about from favorite blogs:

I made these cute ghost pancakes for our family to eat for dinner one night. Around here we love eating breakfast for dinner...maybe even once a week! Along with the pancakes, I tried cooking our bacon in the oven. Way less mess and it didn't shrink! We loved it.

(didn't my ghosts turn out cute?)

Yesterday, we made CrockPot Pizza Soup. It was the perfect chilly fall day and it was so yummy! My 9 year old daughter made the whole thing. The only thing I did was cut the pepperoni. She loved it so much that she wanted me to pack it in her thermos for lunch today. It is definitely a keeper recipe! By the way...if you haven't been to that wonderful CrockPot recipe blog, you need to go. Now. It is amazing.

(this picture is from A Year of Crockpotting)

For more kitchen tips, go see Tammy.

More about Google Reader: I love that it virtually delivers new posts directly to me from all of my favorite blogs. P.S. - I have a lot of favorite blogs. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the vast amount of wonderful ideas flooding into my reader. I liberally use the star function in reader to flag posts that I'll want to refer to later. I also love the fact that I can search by keywords from all of the blogs that I subscribe to. That way, if I've forgotten where that brilliant idea is to be found, I simply search for it. Another great thing is that I can view the posts (either in regular delivery or search mode) by the expanded view or the list view. The list view makes it easy to scan through posts to find the specific one I'm looking for.

{simple woman's daybook - journal entry}

2008-10-20T09:39:00.001-04:00

FOR TODAY October 20, 2008

Outside my window...it is getting sunny, but still cold. I had to send the kids to school in their thick winter coats this morning. It is definitely fall here!

I am thankful for...my mobility. I am finally able to move around like a fairly normal person. I'm still moving slow and awkward, but I can get things done that I want to get done and that makes me happy!

From the kitchen...I hope to do some baking today. My kids are loving muffins in their lunches and I found a neat corndog muffin recipe I'd like to try.

I am wearing...comfy cleaning clothes. I hope to get some cleaning done this morning before I get cleaned up and dressed for the day.

I am creating...cute Halloween decorations. I think we'll make some cute decorations as part of Family Home Evening tonight, along with a short lesson.

I am going...nowhere today. Last week included a bunch of outings, fun and necessary and boring. This week I will try to be purposeful in planning my days and errands.

I am reading...Emma. I'm still working on the Jane Austen compilation book that I started back in August. I've read Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and now am reading Emma. I really do love her style of writing and think that she is so ahead of her time in her wit and ideas for women. Very refreshing!

I am hoping...to bless my family by cleaning the house today.

I am hearing...the heater kick on. We finally turned the heater on this past weekend. Almost the end of October...not too bad.

A picture thought I'd like to share...these is my cute boys! Spring 2007 we took this fun train ride through the mountains. So fun!

For more of A Simple Woman's Daybook, click here.

{stuff on the walls - tackle it tuesday}

2008-10-14T17:45:00.001-04:00

So my friends and family know me as a bit of a procrastinator. But I tell you what...not being able to do stuff sure makes you want to do stuff. What I'm trying to say, is...when I couldn't do anything but sit, I couldn't wait until I was better so I could do all the things I couldn't do before. Clear as mud?

I'll quit mumbling and get to the pictures, k?

This is what the wall on my staircase landing looked like before I broke my ankle.

I bought that brand new, never before been used stretched canvas picture from the Salvation Army Thrift Store for $5. For what it is worth, I also bought the other 4 of her buddies that looked exactly like her (apparently there was a boutique of some sort that went out of business and donated it's goods). It sat in my garage for ~~months~~ a while and then leaned here in it's future home for ~~weeks~~ some time.

Now doesn't that look better?

I also need to tell you about that lovely black shelf. When I found her at a flea market, she wasn't nearly as charming as she is now. Believe it or not, she is plastic. And hollow. Yep. I only paid $3 for her, y'all. She was also a not-so-cute semi metallic gold color. She is sporting a new hammered black finish thanks to spray paint.She feels much better now that she's had a bit of a makeover.

Now, this is a good start for the wall at the staircase landing, but she's not finished. I have some plastic plates that I bought at the Goodwill for $.85 each and plan to spray paint red. There are 3 of them and they'll hang above the picture.

I need some advice from y'all. The beige color on my wall makes the canvas picture blend in since there's no frame. I need some way to outline the picture in black to make it pop. What do you think? Please share your advice in the comments. I'll keep you "post"ed (ha ha) on this project, k?

For other projects being tackled, hop over to 5 minutes for mom.

{carnival birthday party}

2008-10-13T13:50:00.001-04:00

How embarassing that it has almost been a month since I've posted. I promise I'm back from my unplanned, unannounced blogging break. Well - this post should fix your cravings for creativity and fun.

My daughter's birthday party was this past Saturday, and she chose a carnival party. I did a ton of Internet research and came up with some really fun ideas.

When the guests first arrived, they were greeted by me at the ticket table. They received their goody bags with tickets in them. They were directed to the "decorate your goody bag" tables. There were stickers, foam shapes, glitter, glue, buttons, and markers there. This is my Zach decorating his bag.

After everyone decorated their bag, they enjoyed a magic show by my magician hubby dressed for the occasion. I found his lovely necktie and facial embellishments at the lovely Dollar Tree. We used the clothesline, sheets, and balloons to create a festive backdrop for the show.

There were 7 activity booths. The kids rotated so they had a chance to do each one. We were kind of short on grown ups, so there was a grown up for every 2-3 booths. It was ok, though, as there were only 9 kids.

First we have "Lucky Pitch." The kids pitched ping-pong type balls (found packaged with a ball shooter-type gun thingie at the Dollar Tree (DT)). I purchased a piece of foam core from and a package of Styrofoam cups from the DT. We glued the cups down to the foam core with school glue and lightly spray painted the insides of some of the cups. This game was played on the flat driveway. We drew a line with sidewalk chalk where the kids had to stand and they tossed the balls into the cups. The color of cup it landed in determined the prize they received.

Next up there's "Bowl-a-Rama." We had a squishy foam bowling set that Zach got for Christmas last year. We drew lines on the driveway and little stars so the kids knew where to reset the pins after knocking them down. Very simple.

Then we've got the good 'ol "Ring Toss" game. We recruited our family to save plastic bottles for a couple of weeks and refilled them to use for the game. For rings, I cut out the middle from a sturdy paper plate and used the outside for the rings. Talk about easy.

"Gumball Guess" was cute. I used an old glass salsa jar and filled it with 2 ($1) bags of gum balls. Of course I had to count the gum balls and make the table cute. My mom helped with the making it cute thing.

We had a "Tattoo Booth" as well. I had a hard time finding tatoos to purchase locally, but I did find some really small Sponge Bob ones at Party City.

I liked the "Sucker Pull" too. I used a 99 cent Styrofoam cone-type thing from Wal-mart to stick the suckers in. I colored the ends of the sticks with markers. The color they pulled determined their prize.

The final game was the "Football Toss." We used a shepherd's hook plant hanger and a hula hoop for the goal. A DT nerf football completed the setup. I don't know why I didn't get a picture of that one.

Lunchtime was fun with a trip down the "Food Fairway." We enjoyed corn dogs, pickles, kettle corn, & nachos.

Instead of a cake, Taylor & I made cupcakes and made them to look like a bunch of balloons tied together. I used half a piece of DT foam core with scrapbook paper to put the cupcakes on.

Here are some general overall pictures.

Overall the party was really fun and things went pretty smoothly. I am glad it is over, though. For anyone who is interested, I used the Cricut cutting machine to make all the signs. I think they looked pretty good. We used streamers and garden stakes to section off the booths that were located in the grass. For the booths on the driveway, we just drew lines with sidewalk chalk to separate them. I find that for themed parties, music really sets the mood, so I researched carnival and circus music and made a cd. I was surprised to find that most polkas are circus-friendly music.

Let me know if you have any questions about the party that I didn't already answer. I got a lot of my ideas from this site.

{weekly weigh in}

2008-09-19T18:11:00.015-04:00

Remember that I'm wanting to be hot for the holidays? Well - I'm planning on posting my loss each week when I weigh myself on Fridays. I forgot to post last week.

Last week, I had a huge loss of 6.5 pounds. I hadn't weighed myself since before I broke my ankle, so it had probably been all in the month since then that the weight was lost.

And this week, I had a 1.5 pound loss. Yay!

So 8 pounds down so far!!!!!

Be sure to scroll down to see my wonderful, phenomenal 101st post extolling my love of all things Across the Universe.

{101st post - across the universe}

2008-09-19T18:11:00.012-04:00

101 Things About My New Obsession: Across the Universe

FYI - this is my 101st post on this here blog and was ~~bullied~~ encouraged to write a better post to commemorate this monumentous event! I've already done the meme listing 100 things about me. So here's this unique 101st post for ya. I had to be a bit different.

When the movie was released in October of 2007 I had no desire to see this movie.
I thought it looked way too weird/strange/generally acid-tripping from the previews.
Actually, I had to look up the release date on imdb.com because I didn't even remember exactly when it was new.
You want some background on me for a minute?...
OK - I had a Beatles phase in college.
It was after a trip to Vegas and spending some time in a cool memorobelia shop in Caesar's Palace.
A guy friend that I worked with was really into The Beatles so it kind of just happened.
It is such timeless music that it is sort of inevitable, really.
Another reason it was inevitable is that my mom loves them.
I mean, really loves them!
Like, she's loved them ever since she was a kid and would cry at night because she loved Paul so much and didn't think she'd ever get to see him in person.
Back then, she promised herself that if her kids ever had a music love, crush, obsession that she would try to indulge them in that love.
That is why I saw NKOTB in concert 5 times.
Yes. I said FIVE times.
I know. I'm lucky, right?
Fast forward to several years ago when my mom got to see a PAUL concert. Seriously. All of her dreams came true.
To this day, when she hears Paul singing on the radio or in a public place she stops...and reflects on the fact that she was actually in the same room as he was...breathing the same air as Paul McCartney!
My sister, Emily, who is a few years younger than I am has an ~~unhealthy~~ tremendous love for The Beatles as well.
That is another reason why, when the movie came out, we just didn't see it.
I mean, it was like sacrilidge...all these young people singing Beatles songs...who did they think they were?
Even though we are lovers of all things musical, especially show choir, plays and movies that include music.
Seriously...we are there on opening day when wonderful musical plays are made into movies. We love them.
But we just weren't going to go there with ATU. (That's what real lovers of this movie call it - Across the Universe).
Then I broke my ankle this past August and had a ton of time on my hands.
ATU was available to watch on our On Demand cable movie channel.
I thought...what the heck? I'll just watch it for a minute and see what all the buzz was about.
After all...I have a ton of time on my hands.
Jim Sturgess immediately caught my attention with the opening song set on the beach.
He sang "Girl"...on the beach...with a Brittish accent...looking straight at the camera...and spoke right directly to my heart.
I couldn't turn it off.
I didn't want to, either.
Ok - I admit there are some strange acid-tripping parts in this movie depicting the late 60's, but seriously...doesn't that seem to fit in with that time period?
Then...there was this scene in the bowling alley where he sang "I've Just Seen A Face" and I fell even deeper in love with every nuance of his movement.
Yes...you're right...I am happily married (today is actually our 11th anniversary...yay!)
I was born in 1976, so did not live to experience any part of the 60's. But I appreciate the insight this movie gives me into that time.
I know...it is just a musical...but I can't help it...strong emotions are evoked by certain parts of the movie.
Lots of historical events are touched on and covered in the movie.
Like the Vietnam war.
And the protests that went along with it.
Also the feelings of the families and friends who had loved ones fighting there.
And the fact that some of them didn't make it home.
Racial contention was also touched on in the movie.
In a touching scene set to "Let It Be."
On a much happier note, this movie introduced me to the scrumpteousness that is Jim Sturgess. His character's name is Jude.
And Joe Anderson. Joe plays Jim's friend, Max.
And since I've recently devoured the imdb's archives on this movie, I think I'll share with you some of the things that I found interesting.
If you're not as crazy about this movie as I am, you might think these morsels of information are ridiculously boring. Not me...
Joe Anderson originally tried out for the part of Jude, but once he read the script, he decided that he was more of a "Max."
Max is American & Joe does a knock-out job on his American accent.
So much of the details in this movie correspond or were inspired by actual events in the life of The Beatles, even though the movie's storyline isn't about them.
All the names of the main characters come from Beatles songs.
Jude is from "Hey Jude."
Max is from "Maxwell's Silver Hammer."
Lucy is from "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."
Prudence is from "Dear Prudence."
Jo Jo is mentioned in the song "Get Back."
Sadie is the main event in "Sexy Sadie."
Back to the other intersting tidbits...
A club where Jude is seen near the beginning of the movie is called The Cavern, in Liverpool, where the Beatles played in the 60's.
There's a scene where Sadie's band plays on the rooftop of their recording label's building. This is a clear reference to The Beatles' last public performance that took place on the rooftop of the building of their record label.
Sadie's record company is named "Strawberry Jamz." This is a reference to the Beatles record company - "Apple Corps."
There are several parts in the movie that I almost always rewind and play a few times in a row.
One is the bowling alley scene...YUM!
Depending on my mood, I might watch the opening scene on the beach again, or the part on the streets of Liverpool with Jude and his Brit girlfriend where he sings "All My Lovin'."
One of my favorite things I learned while I ~~casually~~ fervently watched Jim Sturgess interviews on YouTube is that...
THEY SANG ALL THE SONGS LIVE ON THE SET...AT THE TIME OF THE SCENE.
Sorry that I yelled for a minute, but seriously...the movie versions of the song are the way they sang them right then and there acting the scene.
Can you believe that?
I am in awe.
There is a crazy Beatles song called "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite" that is inserted into the psychodelic part of the film.
My kid's saw that part and thought that I must be crazy for watching such a weird movie.
Maybe I am.
If I am, then I don't want to be not crazy.
By the way, Lucy reminds me a lot of pictures I've seen of my mom during her high school years.
She graduated in 1971.
Lucy starts out as kind of a goody-two-shoes preppy girl...
And ends up in Grenwich Villiage...kind of not so goody-two-shoes.
My mom was more like the first Lucy.
There are lots of cameos throughout the movie.
You've got Selma Hayek.
Joe Cocker.
Bono.
A movie commenter on imdb thought the movie was the love child of Moulin Rogue and Hairspray.
I guess I can see that.
Sadie's character is supposed to "parallel" Janis Joplin.
Jo Jo is "like unto" Jimi Hendrix.
Jude is thought of as a compilation of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
I see it.
Did I mention I adore him?
Also, that I have some new Jim wallpaper on my laptop?
Evan Rachel Woods plays Lucy in the film.
She also dates Marilyn Manson in real life.
Yuck!
Please don't hold that against this film.
Have I convinced you to see it yet?
I'll be seein' ya later.
I have to go watch ATU again.
Wanna join me?
We'll pop some popcorn and make a night of it!
Will you come back for my 102nd post?
I promise it won't be as long as this! :)

{my 100th post!}

2008-09-17T23:32:00.003-04:00

OK - so here's the deal. I've been stewing over what kind of phenomenal 100th post I could write for almost a week. You know...creative, witty, entertaining, and all-around wonderful. Therefore...I've been avoiding posting on this blog until I came up with the perfect post. The problem is this: I got nothin'.

So I would like to commemorate my 100th post with a big 'ol WOO-HOO! Would you like to join me? Come on now...everyone together..."WOO-HOO!"

I'll be back real soon with somethin' good. I promise. :)

P.S. My pantry got cleaned out yesterday. Yay! I'll get some pictures up here soon. My cute daughter and her friend helped me.

{out & about}

2008-09-09T23:21:00.002-04:00

Whew! I've had quite a day. I was a bit grumpy this morning after the kids left for school. I was grumpy to my hubby and my mom over the phone. I didn't want to be, but I was. Sorry guys. Anyway, my mom decided to come kidnap me in order to change my surroundings. That was a great idea. Since I was actually leaving the house, I begged her to take me to the Goodwill. My dad ended up coming along as well. I love a good outing with my parents.

I got my husband some clothes since he's dropping pounds like crazy. I also found some plates to spray paint. Don't worry...I'll post before and afters once I get it done...hopefully this week.

After Goodwill, my mom needed to go home for a while, so Dad took me to lunch. It was so good to be out and I love going to lunch with my Daddy. I guess I'm still a kid at heart. In a grown-up's body. With a broken ankle.

My hubby worked from home the second half of the day so I didn't even have to be home in time for the school bus. Mom, Dad & I watched my new movie obsession, Across the Universe. Then my friend Amy came to pick me up.

Amy is the only friend from high school that I still keep in touch with. I love me some Amy, that's for sure. No matter how long it has been since we've talked, it is always exactly the same. Just like we've talked everyday. We had a yummy take out dinner and she showed me her cute new rental house. We did a lot of catch-up talking and watched a little DVR'ed Oprah. What a great night.

All in all, I had a wonderful day! I'm so glad I am not grumpy anymore. I'm too tired to be grumpy anyway. I've done more moving and shaking today than I've done since I broke that darn ankle.

Thanks everyone for helping me have a great, fun day! Especially hubby for coming home so I could go out. That guy really rocks and I love him tons!

{a simple woman's daybook ~ journal entry}

2008-09-08T16:53:00.000-04:00

FOR TODAY August 4, 2008

Outside my window...is the cool evening air that I am so thankfully taking in. I'm actually writing this on Sunday evening. For no reason other than that I am so thoroughly enjoying sitting on the screened in porch that I thought it would be a perfect time to reflect by writing this post.

I am thankful for...this laptop. That seems like such a material thing to be thankful for, but this beloved machine coupled with wireless internet has provided hours upon hours upon days of entertainment and enjoyment for me while moving around very much isn't quite easy.

From the kitchen...I've been enjoying hamburgers cooked on the grill by my cutie-pie husband. This week, we've nibbled on inhaled dinners lovingly prepared for our family by my mom, my grandma, and my friend Christina. Thanks so much everyone!

I am wearing...my usual wardrobe of late. If I'm not in jammies, I've got on a comfy T-shirt and a pair of knit/yoga-type pants. Tonight it is the latter choice. Jeans or fitted shorts are out of the question due to the cast.

I am creating...nothing right now. But I've spied with my little eyes a darling fall project in the blogosphere that I plan on making this week. Check out my picture thought at the bottom of this post for a pic and a link! :)

I am going...to be staying at home, mostly. But any outing I am priveliged to enjoy is surely a time of celebration!

I am reading...Pride & Prejudice. Halelujah! I shared in a previous daybook entry that despite majoring in English in college, I never did read any of Jane Austen's masterpieces. I have since begun to remedy that malady. (Wow...that sentence was a little much). I started with Northanger Abbey and was not disappointed. My sister, found a compilation of 3 of Ms. Austen's works whilst she was cleaning her room the other day. This same sister made persuaded me to watch the long PBS version of the movie several years ago. Be still my heart. I still love Colin Firth to this day thanks to his role as Mr. Darcy. Thanks babe (sister of mine & Mr. Darcy)! I sure do appreciate it!

I am hoping...to get some things checked off of my list. Things I CAN do, like organize the pantry (with a little help), and write some thank you notes.

I am hearing...the wonderful noises that happen outside in the evening while sitting on my back porch in the summer. Around here it still feels like summer during the day. But it is about 8:30pm, so it is nice and cool out here now. Did I mention how much I am enjoying myself on my screened porch?!!

A picture thought I'd like to share...

(Go here to visit Cherry's Jubilee, whom I've shamlessly borrowed this picture from.)

For more, go here.

{you wanna be hot for the holidays? me too!}

2008-09-07T17:00:00.004-04:00

I am joining in on a great challenge I discovered over at 5 minutes for mom today that I'm pretty excited about.

My hubby has dropped major pounds this summer by cutting his carbs way down. He's been trying to get me motivated to change my eating habits, but I just wasn't mentally there yet. My broken ankle is going to make this challenge extra challenging, since I can't really exercise, but I'm up for it. I can definitely change the way I eat, broken bones or not.

So I'm in...how about you? You wanna be hot for the holidays too?

{kid's school lunches}

2008-09-02T12:19:00.004-04:00

So today is the first day of school in our neck of the woods. It involves a ton of preparation so the mornings run smoothly around here. The 7:30am school bus comes awfully early! So the more things I can get done before the morning, the better.

I've been enjoying posts like this and this that have really got me thinking about what I can do ahead of time. The kids and I spent some time creating a master list for school lunches broken into 3 categories: main dishes, fruits/veggies, and snacks. The list is upstairs and I'm down, so I'll give you a sample list from my brain (its scary in there, I know).

Main Dishes

spaghetti-o's
chicken salad sandwich or crackers (will be referred to as s/c)
tuna salad s/c
egg salad s/c
pb & j sandwich
turkey, ham, or bologna sandwich
homemade lunchable
leftovers
bagel & cream cheese

Fruit/Veggie

apple
applesauce
oranges
mandarin oranges
banana
cold veggies & ranch (carrots, celery)
fruit salad

Snack (salty treat or dessert-type treat)

crackers
nabs crackers
chex mix
homemade quick breads (banana, zuccini, pumpkin)
cookies
homemade muffins
chips

Remember, this is just a sample list of some of the things I remember from our custom list. I have been a menu/meal planner for quite a while now...really since I've been married (our 11 year anniversary is this month!). But for some reason, I've only pre-planned and written out our dinners. Never breakfasts or lunches. But I am going to add that into the planning session from now on. It is going to be so freeing not to have to "dream up" what to pack in the kids' lunches each morning. It will already be decided...AAAND...I'll have everything in the house, because those ingredients will have been added to my grocery list during that planning session. Some of those items might already be pre-prepared, packaged up, and frozen. Seriously...such a simple solution, but something I hadn't done, nonetheless.

For more kitchen tips, head over to Tammy's Recipes.

Blog notes: the cute picture is a bento lunch . I'm going to be learning more about that type of packing method soon!

{its my party & i'll cry if i want to}

2008-08-28T21:51:00.003-04:00

Ugggghhh...I usually try to keep most of my posts on here cheerful, informative, and/or fun. But I guess since this is my place, I can do what I want, huh?

What I'm trying to say is that I am feeling a little sorry for myself tonight. In the almost 2 weeks since I broke my ankle, I have tried to have a grrrreat attitude. And I'm pretty darn sure that I accomplished that goal. Like 24/7. The kids staying with my SIL played a big part in my being able to keep it going. Now that they're home, it is all feeling a bit more real. I cannot get up and help my kids do anything. I can't easily go to the room they are in to intervene in ww3. I can't pick up a pile of junk on the floor and put it away. I can't even shower completely solo.

Everyone around me is very willing to help. Really. They are. My mom has really gone above and beyond. I mean, she cleaned my house just about from head to toe, caught up on all the laundry from our trip, and has spent countless hours keeping me company. She is the bomb...seriously. My husband has been very thoughtful. He bought a shower stool so I can keep clean without having to sponge bath. It feels heavenly. He calls several times a day to check on me. He's a cutie pie. I'm so glad I picked him. I really am!

The thing that is bothering me right now, is that I don't want to ask for stuff and bug people. I don't mind asking for a bit of help with the kids or for a few dinners, but I am realizing that I am going to have to gloss over things that are bothering me for a while. Aforementioned piles of stuff on the floor that may belong to me, and are usually my responsibility since it is my stuff...but I just can't do it. Ugggghhh.

And with so many others going through things that are soooo much tougher, I feel silly and guilty even feeling this way, much less posting this on my blog.

Let's see if this little exercise helps at all...here are some things that I can appreciate about my current position: (just go with me here...kind of like a situation gratitude list)

I get to read a ton of blogs cause I can't do much else.
I am not currently expected to maintain my house in any way.
I get to spend tons of time with my mum (we're great buddies, y'all...love that woman)
I get to endulge in Bravo marathons of Project Runway, Shear Genius, and discover new shows that I now love, like Tabitha's Salon Takeover.
Did I mention that I love reading and discovering new blogs?

I'm sure there is so much more...this is just what I can think of for now.

I think it will also help if I pretend that this is my bedroom where I get to hang out:

I am sure that I will feel better tomorrow. I am just having a minute (or 60) of a pity party. I feel better now. Thanks for listening.

P.S. Kelli -Thanks for dinner. It was so yummy & I pretty much inhaled it. Kind of embarassing, really. But don't go feeling like you need to run over here and do anything. I'm just venting, really. I promise. Put your keys away. Go sit down. I mean it. And thanks again for tonight.

{kids looking forward to chores...yes...really - wfmw}

2008-08-27T17:57:00.006-04:00

Have you ever heard of Handipoints? Well, it is currently the way that our family is handling chores. Here's a blurb taken directly from the handipoints.com website:

"Online chore charts that allow parents to award points that children can redeem for virtual rewards."

Here's a blurb from my brain:

"My kids love online games and playing around on the internet. This is a great way to combine that devotion with getting things done around the house that need to be done. The points they earn can be "traded in" for a non-virtual, real life prize. My kids are working toward earning webkinz. I asked them what they wanted to earn, considered the price, and set the value for each chore accordingly. It is a little bit confusing to learn at first (for me, who was setting up the charts...the kids had no problem with their part), of course I didn't read any directions, just jumped right in, so that might have been the problem.

There is an online world (kind of like webkinz) where they can have a house, play games, and interact with others. It is what is working for us right now!"

For other great ideas, visit rocks in my dryer.

{checking in with you & thank you!}

2008-08-27T16:09:00.004-04:00

For my beloved loyal readers: Oh my...I feel so loved! I wasn't sure whether anyone would still be reading this blog after I dropped off the face of the earth! If you're new, you can read what has kept me away here. Thanks guys for your kind thoughts and encouragement. I am glad to be "back on the bandwagon"...a bit more, anyway. Still getting used to my limited ability to get around the house. The kids came home yesterday, after staying with my SIL a couple hours away. They were there for 10 days, and it was such a blessing to be able to deal with "the worst of it", knowing that they were having a blast with their cousins. Thanks Kim! (blogless SIL)

The kiddos start school next Tuesday, so it will be interesting, getting into the habit of a new schedule with a broken ankle thrown into the mix. I'll keep you posted on how that goes next week.

I really have missed blogging. And all of you. I haven't checked the pictures that were taken at Zach's Shrek birthday party, but if there were any good ones of the cool party ideas, I'll share them with you. If I was there, I would've taken "blog-worthy" pictures of all the cool food and stuff and designed a whole post around it.

I hate to have two posts in a row without pictures, so, for your viewing pleasure...and for the love of all things beautiful, please go visit Sarah at A Beach Cottage. She decorates her beach cottage beautifully with thrifted, made-over finds that make me drool. She also has a way with photography that is a sure talent. I recently discovered her blog and have been devouring the archives for a couple of days. Enjoy!

{A Blogging Break, A Birthday Party, Broken Bones, & Plenty of Time on My Hands}

2008-08-24T23:11:00.005-04:00

Oh my, how I've missed you all! As you know, I spent a little over a week in Utah, visiting Mike's family (I claim them for my own as well...love my whole clan of in-laws). We had a ton of fun and kept busy enjoying one another's company, shopping, partying at the family reunion at Bear Lake, andsoonandsoforth.

It took several days to recover from the red-eye flight and generous lay-over in the middle of the night. Mike and I were so proud of ourselves for unpacking right away...as in, the minute we walked in the door...even though all we really wanted to do was sleep for hours. It really makes sense to not procrastinate that task. I hope we'll make that a habit from now on.

I am the kind of person that can only deal with the next big thing, as far as planning goes. For some reason, I can't plan for multiple things going on in the same month, for example. So it was no surprise that I didn't start to plan for Zach's 6th birthday party until we got home from our trip. We got back on Monday, the 11th and the party was scheduled for Saturday, the 16th.

There was a big swap meet-type event at our church that Saturday as well. During the previous week, you donate things you want to get rid of, then people come on Saturday and pick stuff up for free. It is pretty cool. Remember that FREE is my favorite price, right? So I did EVERYTHING ahead of time for the party. You would seriously be so proud of me. I'm actually pretty proud of myself. Here's what I did...

It was a Shrek Theme...

Made ice cubes with gummy worms in them and instead of water, used green drink.
Made and decorated the cupcakes with green slime frosting, dirt (crushed oreos), and a gummy worm.
Prescooped the ice cream into cupcake liners...do you hear me? Pre. Scooped. The. Ice. Cream. Cool, huh?
Stuffed shrek goody bags
Stuffed Shrek pinata
Gathered other party supplies in a cute tray...disposable plates, cups, silverware wrapped in napkins, etc.
Decorated the house with streamers.
Made party dip for chips and tinted it green.
Prepared leeches on a log (like ants, but Shrek likes leeches)

I was determined to get everything done the day before so that I could enjoy the FREE stuff in the morning, and get home at about 10:30...the party was to start at 11:00.

Taylor and I got up and left the boys sleeping as we went off to find some treasures on Saturday morning. I'll skip all the details cause I'm kind of getting sick of them, but...long story short (or not so much), while stepping off a cement step and onto the sidewalk at the church, my ankle rolled and I fell. I knew right away that it was broken. You see, this wasn't the first time this left ankle of mine had broken. (I'll have to tell you that story sometime.)

While I was in surgery, my dear friend Becca without a blog ran the birthday party for me. Boy, was I extra glad I'd done so much prep the day before.

Sorry for no great pictures for now, but I will have quite a while to "play" on the internets now...like 6 weeks worth.

We'll talk soon. I think my meds are kickin' in.

A Simple Woman's Daybook: Journal Entry

2008-08-04T11:33:00.003-04:00

FOR TODAY August 4, 2008

Outside my window...I see my darling kiddos and their Nana picking vegetables in the garden. My kids are so excited to help Nana harvest her veggies.

I am thankful for...family. It is so fun to see far away family. It has been almost 3 years since the kids and I have seen all of them and we're looking forward to a fun week.

From the kitchen...we've been enjoying lots of fresh veggies from the garden since we've arrived and from the looks of this morning's harvest, that will continue all week! I'm not a big veggie person at all, but those cukes are the best I've tasted!

I am wearing...my jammies. It has been tough adjusting to the time difference aaaaand we were up almost 24 hours during the trip.

I am creating...great memories!

I am going...to the Logan pool today to spend more time with the extended crew.

I am reading...BREAKING DAWN!!!!!! Is there really any question of that? The only thing is that I would probably be done reading it by now, if I wasn't visiting family. I'm sneaking in little reading moments, though. It is great, so far!

I am hoping...for good weather this weekend for our trip to Bear Lake.

I am hearing...it is a rare quiet moment. The kids are eating popcicles outside and I am inside.

Around the house...luckily, I don't have my regular chores to keep me busy this week. I'm just doing the pick-up-after-my-kids-everyday-so-they-don't-wreck-my-in-law's-house thing.

One of my favorite things...is seeing my kids play with their cousins and spend time with their Nana & Papa Howdy (I'll explain that name another time).

A few plans for the rest of the week...I'm pretty sure that every moment is planned out, though I'm not quite sure what we'll be doing in all of those moments, yet. I know today is the pool, movies, and pizza. Tuesday is ????. Wednesday is shopping with my cutie-pie SIL, Melanie. Thursday is the family golf tournament and we head to Bear Lake for our getaway. We stay in Bear Lake till Saturday. I think we might try to see Mamma Mia Saturday night. Sunday is church and also the day we fly out at 11:45pm. What a fun week!

I don't have a picture thought to share with you today. Since I'm not using my computer, I'm not going to upload my pictures onto it. I'll share some of my favorite pictures with you once we get home.

See you later...

2008-07-31T21:52:00.009-04:00

Tomorrow I will be seeing a lot of this:

photo: greg westfall

and a lot of this:

photo: Aaron Escobar

and a lot of this:

photo: extranoise

and hopefully lots of these:

photo: google images

and also NONE of these:

photo: google images

Wish me luck!

I hope to continue to post while I'm gone. Hope you have a great weekend!

WW: Deep Down, I Know They Love Each Other

2008-07-30T12:43:00.003-04:00

I needed a reminder. It seems like constant fighting between the 2 of them right now...

I've decided to throw in a post for Wordless Wednesdays at 5 Minutes for Mom. For more Wordless Wednesdays, go here.

Tagged Again!

2008-07-28T11:04:00.003-04:00

Kelli assured me that inquiring blog-minds want to know...ok here goes...

4 Jobs I've Had:

*Video store clerk (coolest high school job - ever...in the 1990's, that is)

*Mystery shopper (this was fun, but got expensive as gas prices rose)

*Olan Mills telemarketer (my first job EVER! - way fun...let me assure you!)

*Kinkos Copies (worked here through college in Utah...met so many friends here...loved this job for several years)

4 Movies I Can Watch Over & Over:

In general, I don't like to watch movies over and over, but there are some that I can...

*The Princess Bride - "Aaaaaaaas....youuuuuuuuuu...wiiiiiiiiiish!"

*Scrooge - the 1970's version with Albert Finney. It is a musical, of course..."The minister's cat is a lovely cat"

*Mamma Mia, The Movie - apparently I love this movie. I've seen it in the movie theater twice now. It is such a happy movie and I love, love, love the music!

*Lots of Disney Movies - for example, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin.

4 Places I've Lived:

*Laie, Hawaii - My freshman year of college at BYU Hawaii. Seriously beautiful...

*Logan, Utah - I finished up my college experience here at Utah State University. Also where I met my hubby.

*Virginia - born and raised and came back to raise my kids.

*OK - so I've only lived 3 places. Oh well.

4 TV Shows I Love:

*LOST - addicted to this one

*Decorating on a Dime - decorating shows that show frugal solutions

*American Idol - my husband & I dubbed this and Lost as our date night shows

*Project Runway

4 Places I've Vacationed:

*Walt Disney World! Loved, loved, loved it! If you are going, check out Tour Guide Mike's site and buy the inexpensive membership. Worth every penny!

*Hilton Head, SC - this is our favorite beach in the southeast (that we've visited) because it is warmer for longer in the south and the waves are big enough to boogie board in, but calm enough that the kids can play in the surf without getting knocked down.

*Nags Head, NC - aka. the Outer Banks - growing up, this was were we vacationed. I still love it. Beaches instantly calm me.

*Las Vegas, NV - I love the lights and action feel the place has. I don't enjoy the smut part of LV, but I love the energy and all the themed hotels to tour! :)

4 of My Favorite Dishes:

*I love the ribs from Lonestar Steakhouse and also Texas Roadhouse. I have a thing about eating meat from the bone. I don't do it. This rib meat just comes of the bone with a fork...yum!

*Crepe Diablotin - I, too, enjoy this delish dessert.

*Really anything cheesy or with chocolate...I'm good.

4 Sites I Visit Daily:

*Mine - I've got to see who ~~loves me~~ has commented and visit them!

*My google reader helps me check out tonnnnsssss of sites when they post new stuff. But I never miss The Nester, Fussy, or Just Beachy.

4 Places I'd Rather Be Right Now:

*The Beach

*Did I mention that I LOVE the Beach?!

Simple Woman's Daybook: Journal Entry

2008-07-28T10:34:00.005-04:00

FOR TODAY July 28, 2008...

Outside My Window... the raindrops are drying from the overnight rain.

I am thankful for... the business of the upcoming week. I have TONS to do to prep for the trip. Laundry, cleaning, cleaning, laundry, packing, cleaning.

From the kitchen...I am freezing grapes so they don't go bad. I am also going to be cooking and freezing some corn for the same reason.

I am wearing...It seems like when I write this post I'm never dressed in real clothes. I guess I live in bummy clothes unless I'm going somewhere...

I am creating...clean laundry? Can one really create clean laundry? I'm not sure.

I am going...to get as much done today as I possibly can. This is the only day this week when I don't have to leave the house.

I am reading...Still reading Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. Not a ton of time to read last week.

I am hoping...to have a peaceful, yet productive day.

I am hearing...Zach playing with Tanner (the canine that lives here) pretending they are in a zoo parade. Oh....kay.....?

Around the house...As previously mentioned, there needs to be lots of laundry and cleaning taking place here.

One of my favorite things...is sleeping. Unfortunately, I do too much of this, really. And yet, I'm always tired.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:Wednesday we are swimming at a friend's pool. Thursday we have a fun Activity Girls (group from church that Taylor is in) hike and museum field trip. Friday is the big day...off to Utah.

Here is picture thought I am sharing... this is my husband trying to nap on the couch at his sister's house last month. As you can see, their dogs (Hank & Libby) & Tanner have made themselves quite comfortable as well.

For more of A Simple Woman's Daybook, go here.

Grrrrr...TeleCheck

2008-07-24T15:49:00.007-04:00

Have you ever dealt with a company by the name of TeleCheck? You may have dealt with them unknowingly, even. They are a check guarantee system that some merchants use to, well, guarantee checks.

OK - Here's the situation, my parents went away on a week's vacation, and, I took the keys... (got a little carried away with Fresh Prince in my head, there. Anyway..........

Here's what happened:

The kids and I went to the free movie this morning at Regal Cinemas. It was Alvin & the Chipmunks. Cute movie. Anyway, after lunching at Chick-Fil-A (we affectionately call it "Chickee Fil Lay Lay") using our free meal vouchers from the first 100, I thought we'd head to the mall across the street and check out the end of season sale at the Children's Place. Rumor was they had an extra 50% off already marked down stuff.

They did, and I picked some stuff out for both kiddos for next summer. About $50 worth. I try not to shop with kids in tow, but in the name of saving gas money, I succommed to the sale since we were right there. I bought Zach a ton of stuff at $2.50 each and the most expensive purchase was for Taylor. A playdress, coming in at $6.99. Considering that's not tons more than I pay at thrift stores, I'm pretty happy with my purchases. Well...almost purchases...

Are you wondering what the heck this has to do with TeleCheck? Well, here's where it gets frustrating.

My total...$54.99. I wrote my check and handed it to the friendly employee. After a few minutes, she told me that it was declined. They use a check guarantee system and it wasn't approving the check. She didn't know why, though.

She handed me a little slip of paper with this message:

"We are sorry that we cannot accept your check, open your account, or cash your check at this time. Our decision is based, in part, on information provided to us by TeleCheck. If you have recieved a turndown, our decision may also be based, at least in part, on TeleCheck's need for additional information. We encourage you to call or write TeleCheck's check Writer Services Office to obtain the information in TeleCheck's files. Please include...blah...blah...blah..."

Also included on that paper was a toll free telephone number to call 24 hours a day.

So I did.

I rounded up the kids (who may or may not have been crawling on the floor under the clothing racks) and sat them on a bench outside of the store so I could make this phone call and straighten this situation out.

I knew there was plenty of money in the account and that it shouldn't be declined.

Lo and behold, after entering umpteen million (yes. I' m pretty sure that's a real number) phone numbers, check numbers, etc., etc., I was told by a recording that they couldn't accept the check. No reason, no human.

I tried back seveveral times, trying multiple ways to get a human on the phone with me. It. did. not. give. me. that. option. In desperation, I tried pressing zero to get a human. It hung up on me. Seriously. (Is my level of frustration coming across here?)

I went in to talk to the girl at the counter and explained the situation and she over-rode the transaction. Thank goodness for customer service.

We came home and I looked up the TeleCheck company online and found another phone number for them so I could speak to a human.

Enter a not-very-helpful customer service human being that works at TeleCheck. I told her my story...blah...blah...blah. I asked to speak to her supervisor. Cue the not-very-helpful, beligerant customer service human being supervisor that works at TeleCheck.

Get this - she told me that the account didn't have enough history in their system. Mind you, that account is about 5 years old. I told her that. She said that there weren't enough transactions or purchases made with it in the last 365 days. Whah????

Mike & I have several bank accounts for different things. One of those accounts gets money deposited into it EVERY PAYCHECK and rarely gets checks written to withdraw money from it. This is for things like school supplies, seasonal clothes, once-a-year payments, etc. And I use billpay online a lot. So basically, because I choose to save my money in this account, I can't use it when I need to. Seriously flawed system. "It didn't meet their company's parameters" (to quote the ever helpful Telecheck supevisor) for a check that could be approved.

She said that I should've called from the store. I told her that I did (multiple times, in fact), and that I could not get ahold of a human to help me. She says that the recording comes on when all the representatives are busy. It did not tell me that, nor did it give me an option of holding for a human representative.

The wonderful, helpful, beligerent supervisor told me that they just had to call the bank to verify the balance amount. Well - I guess that would've been helpful if I could get ahold of a human while still at the store, then, huh? She could care less that their system is flawed and told me she had no supervisor there and wouldn't give me a way to talk to one.

My next plan of action was to call the Children's Place customer service and let them know about the bad experience with TeleCheck. I thought they'd want to know that they were "partnering" with a company that is that difficult to deal with. The nice CS lady (I was totally nice to her too, btw. My problem was not with TCP at all) at TCP said that they'd had lots of complaints about TeleCheck and they are in the middle of getting a new check guarantee company to work with. She thanked me for sharing my experience and said that it did matter to them how their customers are being treated by TeleCheck.

There. I feel better.

Anyone else have a frustrating experience with a check guarantee company?

(photo sources: http://www.g-easy.com/; http://www.icsc.org/vrn/0008/childrens_place.gif;http://www.blog.wellsfargo.com/)

WFMW: New Favorite Hair Accessory

2008-07-23T16:30:00.005-04:00

Do you ever have one of those days when you can't stand to have your hair around your face? Yeah? Me too.

I have a stacked, a-line bob-type hair cut and its not very long...not really long enough for a ponytail. I showed you what it looks like here.

I found a product at Walmart (not my favorite store...at all) and I love it. It is called the Goody Stay Put headwrap. It looks like this...

I. Seriously. Heart. my new headbands. They grip and stay put just like their name says. Also, they don't give me a headache like other hard plastic headbands. Those little dotted lines you see are rubbery grippy thingys. Yes. That is the technical name.

Thought you'd wanna know what works for me.

To see what is working for other bloggers, check here.

Simple Woman's Daybook: Journal Entry

2008-07-21T14:25:00.007-04:00

FOR TODAY July 21, 2008...

Outside My Window... I'm enjoying the fresh cut grass (thanks to my sister) and trimmed bushes (thanks to my mamma) in our yard. My husband's back prevents him from doing those things, and I'm just not a yardwork kind of girl. I know, it sounds snobby, but it is what it is.

I am thinking...about my little man, who has a bit of a stomach bug as of this morning. I had to reschedule my birthday present massage for Wednesday, but that's ok cause I wanted to be here taking care of him.

I am thankful for...air conditioning. It is hot as hades out today. I think the heat index is something like 105. Yikes!

From the kitchen...I'm roasting a chicken tonight for dinner and chopping up the leftovers for enchiladas.

I am wearing...bum-around-the-house clothes. Comfy, but wouldn't leave the house looking this way.

I am creating...this blog post? Really not creating anything else right now that I can think of.

I am going...shopping tonight to pick up cheap school supplies on sale & other sale goodies at Kroger. Great sales this week!

I am reading...Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. Although I was an English major in college, I somehow missed out on some great classics. I'm trying to go through Austen's stuff. I've seen the movies, but now want to read the books. So far, I'm not disappointed.

I am hoping...to get organized for our upcoming trip. We will soon be heading to Utah to visit Mike's family for 10 days.

I am hearing...the Mamma Mia movie soundtrack. If you know me, you know I love musicals. My sisters & I (all 4 of us) got together and saw the new movie Friday night. It was fun and way cute. I had never seen the musical before, but my sister said the movie was very close to the stage version.

Around the house...Just laundry & straightening up.

One of my favorite things...Music can really set a mood. The Mamma Mia soundtrack is a great cleaning cd! It worked wonders for me this morning!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:Of course, my massage on Wednesday. We'll probably do the free movie on Thursday. We won't be having a water day this week, as my nephew's 3rd birthday party is Saturday and will be at the POOL!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...aren't cemetery pictures cool? These were taken at Hollywood Cemetery, an awesome, old cemetery in Richmond, VA.

For more of a Simple Woman's Daybook, click here.

Roll N Grow, Anyone?

2008-07-20T23:28:00.003-04:00

As the kids & I drove home from church today, I noticed some beautiful zinnias in lots of colors in a yard we passed.

I commented on their beauty:

Me -"Look at those beautiful colorful flowers, guys."

Taylor - "Yeah."

Zach - "They probably used Roll N Grow."

Yeah...I'm sure they did Zach. All beautiful flowers come from an infomercial, right?

Take a Mini-Vacation

2008-07-18T11:03:00.013-04:00

With the price of everything steadily rising, it is important to be smart with recreational fun.

Problem: Expensive hotels and travel expenses

Solution: Stay with friends nearby, but not in our hometown and do their cool local stuff

We stayed with our friends in Newport News, VA this weeks for several days and had a blast. It was just the kids and I...Mike had to work.

The Virginia Living Museum is an excellent local trip. We all enjoyed it. The friends we stayed with only live about 15 minutes away from the museum, and visit it often, so they have annual memberships.

There is currently a dinosaur exhibit, complete with robotic dinosaurs...a big hit!

The exhibit is complete with baby dinosaurs hatching:

The food chain in display:

A "bare bones" robotic dinosaur stripped of his skin. The kids could control the movements of this one and even make him roar. Kind of spooky:

There were plenty of photo opps:
Hands on areas where the kids could get up close and personal with local sea creatures:

A wildlife reserve path outside that includes many fun animals to observe: beavers, otters, pelicans, coyotes, and bobcats (among others):

There were cool "discovery centers" where the kids could learn about geology, archeology, animal tracks-ology, and fossil-ology. I liked the sign that said, "Discovery area: DO TOUCH!":

Our trip concluded with a fashion show in the museum's gift shop:

Although the museum admission was not inexpensive at $15 for me and $12 each for the kiddos, I feel that our little mini vacation was frugal because we kept the travel expenses low: we didn't go very far from home (only 1 hour drive) and had no hotel expenses. We also enjoyed the nearby beach the next day which was a ton of fun and frugal as well, but alas, the camera was left in the car.

Want more frugal ideas? Go here.

My Surprise This Morning...

2008-07-18T10:41:00.005-04:00

My daughter, Taylor(8), surprised me this morning. This was on the inside of my door when I woke up:

Then this on the upstairs banister:

Then halfway down the stairs on the landing:

Then in the downstairs foyer:

Then on the couch in the family room:

Then on the doorway to the kitchen:

Guess what I had for breakfast?

Scrambled eggs seasoned perfectly and cinnamon toast. Yum! And I didn't even have to cook it! :) Sorry I didn't get a picture of the plate before it was all gone! Thanks Taylor! It was a wonderful surprise!

Does Your Cat Use the Toilet?

2008-07-17T17:10:00.004-04:00

Ok - I'm not a cat person. Partly, I'm sure, because I'm allergic to them. That pretty much hinders my getting close to a cat without itching, sneezing, and runny eyes.

But I had to tell y'all about this new product a friend told me about. The Cat Genie. It's a cat toilet, y'all. You hook it up to the plumbing in your bathroom or your laundry room and it flushes. Yeah, I said it flushes.

Here's what the site says:

The only automatic cat box that flushes away wasteand, like a cat, washes itself clean.
CatGenie uses permanent Washable Granules that never need changing
For your cats, it's like using a clean box of cat-comfy, normal-size cat box filler
For you, CatGenie works like a modern washing-drying, cat toilet appliance
After a one-time, simple DIY hook up to water, you're set
Push a button or preset CatGenie Cat Box to start automatically
Used and recommended by veterinarians, nationwide.

You want one now? The basic version will set you back only $297 smackeroos. Yep. You heard me right. Two Hundred & Ninety-Seven dollars. Wow. That's all I can really say.

Yummy, Easy Crockpot Chicken Alfredo, Anyone?

2008-07-15T10:32:00.004-04:00

Simple, easy, & yummy. These are my requirements for a winning recipe at my house.

Here's one for ya...shared by a friend from college...Danielle...if you're out there, shout out!

Yummy, Easy Crockpot Chicken Alfredo
4 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces (uncooked, frozen is even ok)
1 8oz. block of cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat version...still yummy)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/3 soup can of water
1 packet dry Italian dressing mix
1/2 stick butter

Throw it all in there. Stir to mix. Cook on high for 6 hours or on low for 3. Serve over any type of noodles. Easy peasy!

For more kitchen tips, go to Tammy's Recipes for Kitchen Tip Tuesday.

Ants Have Taken Over My Kitchen

2008-07-14T12:53:00.002-04:00

Dear ants inhabiting my kitchen,

Seriously...could you leave, already? I mean come on. I understand that there's good stuff on the countertops sometimes and dirty dishes in the sink callin' your name and all. But still.

Don't you read the internet? There are pages upon pages of tips on how to get rid of you. I have followed all of that advice and none of it is working. I've tried to give you little "ant motels" to hang out in. Were they not decorated cute enough, or something?

From what I understand, you don't like to cross over a line of chalk or a sprinkling of baby powder. Do you realize that it is not fun having baby powder sprinkled all over my kitchen? Although, baby powder is preferable to having you all over the counters.

We've caulked up the spots you use as your special "doors" and bought the nice expensive Terro stuff the internet promises will make you leave us alone. What is with you anyway? Just go away!

I'm seriously too discusted to cook in my kitchen right now and my family menus and budgets are suffering.

Windex kills you right on the spot and I've got plenty of it, but I'm pretty sick of cleaning up trails of your carcasses all over my kitchen. Just eat that sweet smellin' stuff and leave us alone. You have really overstayed your welcome.

Tybee Island, Georgia

2008-07-11T16:01:00.002-04:00

This is a slideshow from last September when my husband & I (no kiddos) celebrated our 10 year anniversary at Tybee Island, GA. It was wonderful. I just thought I'd share my smilebox creation here. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Take 2 Of These And Call Me In the Morning - Organizing Medicine

2008-07-09T14:43:00.009-04:00

Where is that perfect location to store medicine? We've been told that it is definitely not in the bathroom, due to all the heat and moisture, even though that is where the medicine cabinet lives.

I keep mine in the kitchen. It seems the most convenient spot for my family. In this house, I've kept in on the tip top shelf in the pantry, you know, the one my kids can't reach (I can't reach it either, for that matter). So I dread getting medicine out. Especially since I get lots of free and cheap medicine due to the CVS deals. What's a girl to do?

How 'bout this?

Do you have one of these roll-up makeup/toiletry bags laying around from when you used to sell Mary Kay (and then you used it to tote scrapbooking supples when you sold Close to My Heart)? Well - I did. And it didn't have a use until recently. As in yesterday. Now it hangs on my SKINNY pantry door and holds all the medicines and medicinal supplies (I sound so smart, huh?) that we need to be convenient to get to. As in band-aids and neosporin. And Benedryl and tums...you get the picture.

So go find your leftover roll-up toiletry bag and put it to use (a new use, that is).

This is my challenge to you to think outside of the box, use what you have, and make it work for you.

How's that for inspiring?

What are you currently doing to use creative/out of the box/not what it was created for storage solutions in your home?

For more of my Works for Me Wednesday ideas, look here:

Gimmie 5 (or less) - Recipes with 5 ingredients or less
Painting the Easy Way
Summer Schedule

This is my next organizing project:

The rest of the pantry (cue scary music - cover your eyes and peek through your fingers...don't say I didn't warn you!) There is seriously no rhyme or reason in there right now.

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, see Rocks In My Dryer, here.

Keep That Fridge Clean

2008-07-08T08:55:00.009-04:00

(pretend this picture is rotated...it is on my hard drive, but when I put it here, it turns...grrrr)

I promised y'all another fridge tip last week and here it is. Now, this is not earth-shattering, or anything, but it helps me keep my fridge clean - so hopefully it can help you too! (Not that your fridge is messy or anything...I'm just sayin').

Problem: Fruits or veggies leak or somehow ~~rot and drip nasty smelly juice all in the drawer~~ make a mess in your produce drawers.

Solution: Place a couple of paper towels in the bottom of the produce drawers to catch any stray drips or other (ahem) messes that might happen there.

Like I said...not earth-changin', but definitely helpful!

For more kitchen tips I've shared check out these posts:

Organize & Conquer: Fridge Edition

Kid Snacks for Less

Leftover Juice Popcicles

For even more kitchen tips, check out Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy's Recipes.

Simple Woman's Daybook - Journal Entry

2008-07-07T11:08:00.006-04:00

FOR TODAY July 7, 2008

Outside My Window... I see clouds in the sky lingering from the wowser of a storm that came through here last night. It was seriously the loudest thunder I've heard in a long time. The electricity flickered for a moment, so now all of our clocks are blinking. I also see fresh mulch in the flower bed out front. I love the look of fresh, dark mulch.

I am thinking... that I need to be patient and consistent in my parenting today. My kiddos are fighting this morning and I need to remember that I can control my attitude today.

I am thankful for... family time. I love it when my hubby is home and can help me with the kids. He is so patient and can talk calmness into our children.

From the kitchen... I am enjoying toffee bars that were made last night. Saltines, butter, brown sugar, and chocolate chips...yum! Tastes like a skor bar.

I am wearing... jammies. I haven't gotten dressed yet for the day and it is 11:30am. Remember, it is cloudy. It feels good to have a jammies day sometimes.

I am creating... order in my home. Today I hope to organize the pantry as well as straighten up in each room.

I am going... to stay home today. It is an at-home day for our family.

I am reading... A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray. I picked it up on Saturday. It seems like it will be a fun read.

I am hoping... for harmony and peace in my home today.

I am hearing... birds chirping outside my office window. There is a nest in the tree out there with babies living in it.

Around the house... just tidying up.

One of my favorite things... is that yummy toffee. Seriously, too good!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: The kids are taking turns spending the night with Grandma. Taylor is going tonight and Zach tomorrow. We'll be swimming at a friend's house on Wednesday and going to the free movies on Thursday.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

This picture was not staged. Taylor, Zach, and cousin Trevor were amazed with the big fireworks in Grandma & Grandpa's backyard. This was the first "high in the sky" one of the night. Even Grandpa is surprised.

For more of a Simple Woman's Daybook, click here.

Menu Plan Monday

2008-07-07T10:36:00.004-04:00

For your viewing enjoyment, here are some pics of yummy kebobs that my hubby made. I didn't get any of the post-grill kebobs, but they were tasty!

Sunday – Breakfast Casserole & Melon
Monday – Apricot Chicken & Funeral Potatoes, Freezer Veggies
Tuesday – Moe’s Quesadillas Copy-cat & Mexican Rice, Melon
Wednesday – Sloppy Joes & French Fries & Sweet Fruit Salad
Thursday – Leftovers
Friday – Visiting with friends out of town
Saturday – Visiting with friends out of town

For more menus, look to Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Mondays.

For more of my posts on menu planning, check out these posts:

Five Ingredient Recipes

Meal Planning Using Sales

Menu Plan Monday - March 3, 2008

Menu Plan Monday - February 26, 2008

Be sure to check in tomorrow for a fridge tip and Kitchen Tip Tuesdays.

{checking in with you & thank you!}

2008-07-03T23:20:00.010-04:00

For my beloved loyal readers: Oh my...I feel so loved! I wasn't sure whether anyone would still be reading this blog after I dropped off the face of the earth! If you're new, you can read what has kept me away here. Thanks guys for your kind thoughts and encouragement. I am glad to be "back on the bandwagon"...a bit more, anyway. Still getting used to my limited ability to get around the house. The kids came home yesterday, after staying with my SIL a couple hours away. They were there for 10 days, and it was such a blessing to be able to deal with "the worst of it", knowing that they were having a blast with their cousins. Thanks Kim! (blogless SIL)

The kiddos start school next Tuesday, so it will be interesting, getting into the habit of a new schedule with a broken ankle thrown into the mix. I'll keep you posted on how that goes next week.

I really have missed blogging. And all of you. I haven't checked the pictures that were taken at Zach's Shrek birthday party, but if there were any good ones of the cool party ideas, I'll share them with you. If I was there, I would've taken "blog-worthy" pictures of all the cool food and stuff and designed a whole post around it.

I hate to have two posts in a row without pictures, so, for your viewing pleasure...and for the love of all things beautiful, please go visit Sarah at A Beach Cottage. She decorates her beach cottage beautifully with thrifted, made-over finds that make me drool. She also has a way with photography that is a sure talent. I recently discovered her blog and have been devouring the archives for a couple of days. Enjoy!

Gimmie Five (or less) - Recipes with 5 or less ingredients

2008-07-02T09:01:00.004-04:00

Here are a couple of my stand-by recipes that need only five ingredients (or less!). I am a very, very simple cook and like recipes that have few ingredients and ones that are easy to find.

Apricot Chicken

1 package dry onion soup mix

1 cup apricot jam

1 cup french dressing

6-8 pieces skinless chicken breasts or thighs

Combine first 3 ingredients. Place chicken in crockpot. Pour sauce over top, making sure each piece has sauce on it. Cook on low 7-9 hours. Serve with rice. Makes great sauce! Yum!

Mock Caesar Salad

3 Tablespoons cider vinegar

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/3 cup olive oil

7 cups torn romaine lettuce

Mix first 4 ingredients in blender (I use my magic bullet). Pour over greens and mix to cover greens. Serve immediately. YUMMY!

If you'd like some more great recipes with five ingredients or less, head over to Rocks in My Dryer.

Organize and Conquer - Fridge Edition

2008-07-01T10:01:00.005-04:00

Here's the problem:

Everything is all jumbled in the fridge and freezer and you can't find anything you need even though you know you bought it and it has to be in there (run on sentence anyone?).

How 'bout this for a solution?:

Round up some plastic organizing baskets (or something that can be used in place of them!). I was in this predicament described above, so...last week I picked up some baskets at the dollar store. I did a SERIOUS clean out of aforementioned kitchen appliance and threw out a lot of food. If you've been hangin' around here for a while, you know I enjoy being frugal, so throwing away food felt like throwin' money in the trash can (except it smelled a lot worse).

I now have a basket in my fridge for meat. When I shop for meat, I buy up a lot when it is on sale. For ground beef, I seperate it into 1 pound ziploc bags and pop it in the freezer (labeled, of course). Sometimes I cook up a bunch, then seperate and bag it up. Then I couldn' t find it when I needed it. Now, I have all bagged up meat (and other things like hot dogs, etc.) in the meat basket.

The other basket holds miscellaneous things like frozen fruit and baked items. I want to begin baking more frequently, so I will soon have a basket just for baked goods.

In the fridge, there is a basket for just yogurt, individual containers of fruit (like mandarin oranges), and puddings. An easy go-to for the kiddos & it keeps that small stuff contained in the fridge.

I know this isn't a new idea, but it seems to be a great one. I am looking forward to enjoying a more organized fridge and freezer and wasting less food.

If you are looking for more kitchen tips, check out Tammy's Recipes.

P.S. You know, I had to sneak in a post about my clean fridge and freezer so you guys could see some pictures of all the hard work I did. I'm a sucker for a pat on the back. I didn't take before pictures, though. That would've been too embarassing. Stay tuned for another fridge tip tomorrow (and yes, another picture!).

Frugal Curtain Rod

2008-06-27T15:59:00.006-04:00

So you wanna hang up some curtains and you really want one of those big chunky wood curtain rods, huh? Well, grab a few dollars and head to your closest home improvement store. You'll just need some plastic PVC. You can buy it as skinny or as chunky as you want it. I wanted it chunky.

Most of my guests cannot believe that this curtain rod is made from plasitc PVC pipe. The triple window is kind of large and I wanted the curtains to hang much wider than the window opening. I would be spending a pretty penny to buy a wood rod that size and the style I wanted. I spray painted the white PVC pipe a dark brown color. I used 4 wood brackets to support it due to the length. I am still trying to figure out how to do finials on the ends, since the pipe is hollow. Any ideas?

For more Frugal Friday ideas, head to Biblical Womanhood!

If You Like Decorating Magazines & Good Stories, You'll Love This

2008-06-26T15:05:00.005-04:00

I am ~~addicted to~~ a big fan of Google Reader. For those poor souls who don't know about this yet and still manually check all of the blogs you ~~are addicted to~~ so dearly love, let me give you a quick explanation. Basically, you can subscribe to all of your favorite blogs and it updates your reader when any one of them posts a new blog post. You just check in with Google Reader (from any computer with the internet, mind you) and you can read all of the new posts right there. It is ever so convenient. Just go to google.com, click on "more" at the top of the page, and a menu will drop down. Click on "reader" and there you go. You. will. be. forever. thankful. to. me.

I want to share some excellent posts that have come across my Google Reader lately. Hope you enjoy this little tour...

Tip Junkie is a great site. My favorite posts are the ones like this where she shares great projects her readers have sent her. You're bound to be inspired by several of these ladies.

I am already a huge fan of Heather's, even though I just discovered her site yesterday. She has woven a beautiful tale of how she came to meet her husband in fourteen seperate posts. Lucky us, we get to read them all at once, since we don't like to wait.

Always a huge fan of The Nester, she did not fail to impress me with her quick decorating skills. She recently moved into a new house, and everything already looks so lovely. Go check it out. Soon she'll take us on a whole tour...she promised!

(photo source: http://nestingplacenc.blogspot.com/)

The Life Hackery has given us 50 great kitchen tips in one post. Get out your notebooks, then click.

I don't even own a sewing machine, yet I long for creative ways to make my home beautiful with fabric. Let's just say that this post at Restyled Home is wayfreakin'cool. She's my hero.

(photo source: http://restyledhome.blogspot.com/)

Enjoy. Please share some of your favorites with me!

Painting the Easy Way

2008-06-25T18:09:00.011-04:00

A number of months ago (I am grossly underestimating here) I got a great deal on some french doors. They were only $15 each and fit perfectly in the doorway leading from my foyer to our home office. My husband and father-in-law hung them for me yay! Well, I am finally getting around to painting them.

I decided to share a few painting tips that I've learned over the years, either from watching decorating shows on TV, reading decorating magazines, so on and so forth. Some of them you may alreaady know, but hopefully you'll learn at least one new idea to make painting easier.

If you are a professional painter or a painting perfectionist of any kind, you may want to stop reading now. Some of these tips may feel like you're taking too many shortcuts. Just warnin' you, I'm just sayin'!

1. Line your metal paint tray. Sure you could buy the fancy-schmancy liners from the store, but why should you when you have a gazillion plastic shopping bags sitting around. Just slip the tray into the bag & wha-la a free liner (remember, free is my favorite price). Just toss the bag when your done.

2. While we're on the subject of your plastic shopping bag collection, why don't you get a few out to cover the rollers once you're done painting today, since you'll be going at it again tomorrow? That way you won't have to wash them twice. I know...genius!

3. And to add to your list of free or almost free painting supplies, do you have any rubberbands? Once you are done painting and have washed your brush, wrap a rubberband around the bristles to keep them nice and neat while they dry? Looks good! No nasty brushes for the next project.

4. Since we are getting this job done the easy way, let's not tape of the ceiling or window/door frames. What? I'm getting a little too crazy for you now? Just use one of those cool gadgets with a wheel and a pad for cutting in. But don't. get. paint. on that little wheel thing. Seriously, have you seen my ceilings? Good. Don't look at them. A painting perfectionist I am not.

5. You're not planning on removing the door knobs or taping off the window panes, are you? I didn't think so. I knew you were planning to wrap the door knob in aluminum foil and rub petroleum jelly on the door hinges and the edges of the window panes. That way you can just rub it off when you're done and no paint will stick.

6. And before you close up that paint can for good, put a little in a small glass jar, airtight plastic container, or an ice cube tray. That way if your child crashes into the wall while rollerblading in the house and chips the lovely paint job, you can whip out a q-tip and touch it up. If you choose to freeze a bit in an ice cube tray, you can touch up the chipped spot with your little frozen paint popsicle. That's right, use it just like a marker. Easy peasy.

Here are some pictures that show how the color you choose for your walls can really effect the feel of the room.

(Photos from Southernliving.com, last is from Ratemyspace.hgtv.com)

I believe what The Nester preaches, "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful." So no comments telling me about the proper prep techniques and such, please. It won't get done around here if it has to be done that way. Now stop procrastinating that painting project like me and get it done already. That's what I'm doing tomorrow. I'll send pictures.

So did you learn anything new here today? Please share your favorite painting tips!

If you'd like to read more tips, visit Works for Me Wednesday.

Kid Snacks for Less

2008-06-23T21:19:00.005-04:00

Who doesn't love convenience? I know I do. But convenience usually comes with a price. When it comes to individual servings of kid snacks, do the math. With this solution, you still get the convenience of grab and go kid snacks, but don't have to break the bank.

Sometimes it is pretzels, other times it is Chex Mix. Whatever you have that you kids love to snack on, you can use this tip for it. Using sandwich or snack size plastic baggies (one of my can't live without staples), make your own bags of snacks. I use a measuring cup to scoop the snack out of the big bag and into the small bag. This way you determine how much each serving includes. You can also use this trick for homemade goodies as well. Put all of the bags you made into a decent sized basket in the pantry or cabinet. Let the kids know where to look for the snack basket. Mine know where to look in our pantry. :)

For more Kitchen Tips, check out Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy's Recipes.

Trying to Make Our Home a Haven

2008-06-23T20:47:00.006-04:00

I'm joining with Crystal over at Biblical Womanhood to share what I did to make my home a haven today.

Make sure to check out my other post from today for some birthday love.

I don't know why, but it seems like my house is a disaster all over on Monday mornings. I guess we just like to relax on the weekends and don't pick up after ourselves like we should. So on Mondays, it is time to restore some order into our home. A home can't really be a haven without some order, right?

1. Straighten all rooms downstairs. - DONE

2. De-Ant the kitchen & clean it. - DONE (We must have a huge sign under our house that says "Ants welcome here" or something. I looked up some remedies online today and have sprinkled offending areas with baby powder, and wiped the counters down with a vinegar/water mixture. We'll see if it works!)

3. Laundry. - Got started, will finish tomorrow.

I ended up having to spend some time on the phone with Sprint, due to a problem with them ordering me a new phone, and with Comcast, because our internet was down. I had to drive over to the Comcast office and exchange our old modem for a new one. We are back online. How could we stand no internet??? :) Those things sucked up some of my time today, but had to be dealt with.

Tomorrow, I will try to follow Crystal's advice on how to begin my day. I know it will go smoother if I do.

Happy Birthday to Jason Mraz!

2008-06-23T19:49:00.009-04:00

So, who is Jason Mraz, you may ask? Well, let me tell you. He was my friend in elementary school. We "went together" when I was in 7th grade and he was in 6th (it made sense then, but what is what the "going together" thing? We rarely went anywhere together at the time). We became good friends. The summer I turned 15 (that would be good 'ol 1991 in case anyone is wondering), we had our birthday parties together in my backyard. You see, my birthday is June 13th and Jason's is June 23rd...only 10 days apart. It was an awesome party. My parents borrowed a flat bed trailer from someone and we had our chorus teacher Mr. Dalton (Dr. D was his DJ-ing name) DJ the party. We were involved in show choir (as were many of our friends), so there was much in the way of live music and performances as well. The electric slide was enjoyed by many. What can I say? It was a blast!

OK - so I had a friend when I was younger and we had a birthday party together...so what? Well, Jason followed his passion and has made a career for himself in the music business. This guy has quite a detailed summary of Jason's life/career on his blog. Have you ever heard "The Remedy" or "Curbside Prophet"? These were from his debut album. He just released a new album called "We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things." (Don't ask me about the title - I read somewhere it was the name of a piece of artwork he admired and he got the artist to do the cover for the album, etc.) There are many great songs on this latest work. Some of my serious favorites are "I'm Yours", "Lucky", where he duets with Colbie Caillat (love her song, Bubbly), and "If It Kills Me." I know I would love his music, even if we didn't have a history as friends. I honestly believe that vocally, his one of the most amazing artists out there. Live he is more amazing than recorded. If you don't know it already, you should check it out. I mean it.

So we didn't hang out during high school. He went to live with his dad and went to a different school in our county. We saw each other around sometimes, though. After I finished with college and moved back home, I found out what he was up to and couldn't believe it. We've seen him live several times since then and spoken to him backstage. It is pretty fun to hear a friend's music on the radio or see their video on VH1. Humor me and check out those songs. I know you'll love them too.

And, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON!

My Cell Phone Ate the Fun Dip

2008-06-21T22:20:00.006-04:00

I was happy with the most basic of cell phones for a really long time. I thought that people who just "had to have" the latest and greatest in cell phone technology were a bit greedy. In February, it was time for me to get a new phone. I was planning to get the basic phone that is free (remember, FREE is my favorite price?) when you renew your contract. Then I caught wind of the new Palm Centro. It was an affordable palm/phone combo for the masses. Now, I had been wanting a palm for years for scheduling, digital scriptures, etc. I looked into it more and found out that I could get one for $99 when I signed up for a new contract. SOLD!

I love the phone and sometimes even call her my BFF. I haven't named her yet, but now that I'm thinking about it, I will soon. I'm totally hooked on all the conveniences she provides me. Well, long story not so short, she died. Last week when we were off to the pool to celebrate the first day of no school, we picked up some candy at the drug store. The kids chose fun dip. You know, that yummy colored sugar separated into 3 compartments and the 2 yummy white sticks you lick, then dip into the sugar? Sweet bliss from my childhood memories? (I won't promise, however, that childhood was the last time I enjoyed this treat). Well, at the pool, the opened package of fun dip got put into the bag that was also carrying the precious phone.

Fast forward to my sister's high school graduation the next day. I called my husband to tell him it was time to meet us for the post graduation meal (he stayed home with the kids...small kids & a long graduation do not make a good pair). He couldn't hear me and I couldn't hear him! After much calling and re-calling I figured out what must have happened. Fun dip powder in the speaker and microphone on Precious Red Cell Phone! My dad even put his mouth over the speaker and breathed in really hard...yep he tasted fun dip. (Those of you who know my dad can picture him doing that, right? If you don't know him, it is still a great visual).

You should've seen the look on the faces of the gals at the phone store when I told them what was wrong with my phone. It would have been funnier if I was sure they could fix it. Turns out they couldn't and I'm getting a replacement. While I'm grateful for a replacement, I have lost my first Precious Red Love, and all the information she stored for me.

I promise I will name my new phone...any ideas?

Frugal Friday - Make a Money Plan

2008-06-20T22:21:00.007-04:00

I'm a little late in the game, in that I am just now reading Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Mak eover. It seems like several blogs that I follow already sing ol' Dave's praises. Better late than never, huh?

Today I made a plan to see when we could realistically get through some of Dave's baby steps. It will be a tough road, continuing to live frugally plus putting all extras onto debt (student loan). I know we can do it and it will be so worth it when we are able to be debt free.

It all starts with a plan. If you don't have one, I encourage you to make one, write it down (along with your financial goals) and then do it! I have a few pearls of wisdom that have really struck me from Dave's book and I hope to share them with you soon. For now, know that you have to tell your money what to do if you want it to work for you. (An idea from Dave's book, but not a direct quote).

Happy budgeting!
If you want to find more frugal tips, visit Biblical Womanhood here.

Give Me a Great Book - Nothing Will Get Done at My House! My thoughts on BOOK CLUBS.

2008-06-18T15:58:00.006-04:00

I recently completed the 3rd book in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. It is meant to be a book geared towards teens, but I tell you what(!), I couldn't put it down, and it has been a LONG time since the word teen was associated with my age.

The 4th book in the series comes out August 2nd and the movie for the first book releases on December 12th. No - I'm not obsessed or anything, but I do have a friend who is! She shares all of this date goodness with me frequently. I have visited a few sites for mega fans of the series and found some interesting topics, but I'm not nuts about it.

I have never been a member of a book club. I think that I would like too, though. As long as I found a group that had the same interests as I do. I don't like a ton of non-fiction (though some is ok) and I love to read for pleasure. I don't want to learn a bunch of heavy stuff, unless it is mixed in with fiction (like historical fiction, which I happen to LOVE)!

I am not up for organizing my own book club, but in case you are, here is a site that has some pretty comprehensive information on doing so. There is even information there about online book clubs, which seems like a convenient option, but may not give you the social outlet if that is partly what you are looking for.

I wouldn't mind needing to read certain books by certain dates...I don't think that would take much of the fun of reading away from me, but I do think that it would be vital to share common reading interests with the rest of the group. It wouldn't work for me otherwise.

Have you guys participated in book clubs? Were they a great experience, or not so much?

Summer Schedule - Works for Me Wednesday (WFMW)

2008-06-18T13:55:00.009-04:00

So, summer is here, and the kids must be entertained. Therefore, I have created a schedule in Powerpoint for us to loosely follow throughout the week. I am definitely flexible, but having this schedule will help us find our way if we find ourselves floundering. And that way I won't wonder where the day has gone at 5:30 when my husband comes home! :)

Monday and Tuesday are AT HOME DAYS. This is what they should look like:

Wednesday is Water Day. We will be getting wet somewhere on Wednesdays. We don't have direct access to a pool, but there are several places we can rotate for swimming. This is what it should look like:

Thursday is Movie Day where we go to the free movies at the Regal movie theater. This is what Thursday should look like:

Sometimes Friday will be an at home day and sometimes it will be a letterboxing day. I haven't done a schedule for Friday yet...not quite sure about what I want it to look like.

This schedule thing is brand new to me, so I'm hoping that it will work for me and my kiddos, but I can't promise that I'll be sticking to it everyday. It will give us a bit of a guideline, though. I'll let you know how it is going periodically.

Check out Rocks in My Dryer for more Works for Me Wednesday tips.

What's in a name?

2008-06-16T15:13:00.004-04:00

1.YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Ginger Chrysler (doesn't exactly flow from your lips)

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Chocolate Chocolate Chip (not such a scary gangsta name...but better than the alternative: Chocolate Snickerdoodle

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) J-Cha

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Blue Dolphin

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Hope Richmond(wow...that really works, huh?)

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Chaje (I don't pretend to understand star wars)

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The Pink Dr. Pepper

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Jesse Norwood

9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy) Happy Spree

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Carol Crawford

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Gizzo Glendale (I'm Gizzo Glendale and here are today's top stories...)

12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) Spring Hydrangea (doesn't sound very spy-like to me)

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Cantaloupe Skirty

14. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Kashi Cherry Blossom

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, weather element+ Tour") The Blogging Tornado Tour (tour dates announced soon)

Kinda fun, huh? Join in if you want to play. You know you wanna. Dont'cha, dont'cha, dont'cha?

Chick-Fil-A Grand Opening - First 100!

2008-06-16T10:43:00.012-04:00

So there were some crazy people in my town last week who camped in the Chick-Fil-A parking lot for 24 hours so they could win free Chick-Fil-A for a year. Seriously, who would do something as strange as that?

ME!

Oh my! It was really a blast. First of all, the grand opening was scheduled for Thursday at 6:00am. I got there at about 8:15am on Wednesday morning. My sister, Laura decided to come with me, but she didn't really understand what she was agreeing to. When she realized we would be sleeping there and that we couldn't leave the premises, she had to call and cancel plans with a friend to shop for a HS graduation dress.

So, it was really cool that they fed us breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Wednesday. But the coolest part about that, I think, is that we got to WALK through the DRIVE THRU for our food. They lined us up according to our number (I was 75 out of 100) and shuffled us through the line.

The weather had been seriously scorching for days (over 100, not including heat index!), but we got lucky that Wednesday was not as hot. I think it only got to about 90 degrees. It still felt warm, though. I called my dad to see if he could hunt down a canopy to borrow. He suprised us about an hour later with a brand new canopy he had purchased. I'm sure he'll get many uses out of it, but I couldn't believe that he bought it so we could use it. What a sweetheart!

You may be wondering what the heck we would do to occupy our time while waiting for the day to progress. We had wonderful company. My sister Laura and my friend Becca were with me. We met some great people. Dick, who is 85 years old and camped next to us (this was his 9th Chick-Fil-A grand opening, I kid you not) had wonderful stories and experiences to share with us.

We also sat around chatting, rested on an air mattress under our shady canopy,
& watched and participated in fun and silly games put on by the Chick-Fil-A crew. This one is a frozen T-shirt contest. They froze a wet T-shirt into a ball, and the first one to get it on their body won. And they couldn't bang it on the ground. Ha. It was funny to watch.

Laura even participated in a kind of musical chairs scavenger hunt.

We enjoyed many visitors to our humble homestead in the parking lot that day as well. Our friends and families couldn't resist checking it out...

Taylor and Zach participated in some of the line dances and other fun. They did the Cha-Cha slide, Hokey Pokey, and Freeze Dance.

In the evening, they had an MC, showed a movie, and served ice cream sundaes. I guess we hit the sack about 11:30pm. Wake up call from the mike was at 5am, bright and early! We cleaned up our temporary "home", then proceeded to line up according to our numbers for a final check. I got to meet the cow...notice the not-enough-sleep look on my face.

When we finally got to get our grand prize, we walked single-file into the building amidst a cheerful band of Chick-Fil-A employees loudly, very loudly, banging on their metal pans (with metal spoons, mind you). Did I mention that it was loud, and 6:00 in the morning? My sister snapped a pic of me approaching the magic table with the goods. Oh yeah...and before we went inside, they gave us all t-shirts and paper hats to wear.
That same wonderful sister, who claims to be a photographer captured this wonderful photo of me accepting my prize. Don't quit your day job, Laura! Just kidding sweetie...it was crazy in there, fast moving, and did I mention, REALLY LOUD?

And to top it off, Thursday was my kids' last day of school. They got out early, at 12:30pm. Guess where we went for lunch? You guessed it...I spent my first coupon for a free meal that very day. Here are my kids enjoying the grand opening. They had been dying to play in the new kids play area...it is pretty cool.

So what do you think? Am I nuts, or just frugal and fun? YOU DECIDE! :)

2008-06-09T20:01:00.003-04:00

I just read this thought-provoking story over at Five J's. I hope she doesn't mind if I post it here. The original author is unknown. Make sure to read the story all the way to the end.

A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small Tennessee town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in our family. In my young mind, each member had a special niche. My brother Bill, five years my senior, was my example; Fran, my younger sister, gave me an opportunity to play ‘big brother’ and develop the art of teasing; My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me to love the word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it.

But the stranger was our story teller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. His daily conversations with us were filled with adventure, mystery, and humor. He could hold our whole family spellbound for hours. If I wanted to know about politics, history, or science, he knew it all. He knew about the past, understood the present, and seemingly could predict the future. He was quite an artist, as well; the pictures he could draw were so lifelike that I would often laugh or cry as I watched him.

He was like a friend to the whole family. He took Dad, Bill, and me to our first major league baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see the movies, and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several movie stars. My brother and I were deeply impressed by John Wayne in particular.

The stranger was also an incessant talker. Dad didn’t seem to mind, but sometimes Mom would quietly get up—while the rest of us were enthralled with one of his stories of faraway places—go to her room, read her Bible and pray. I wonder now if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave.

You see, my dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions. But this stranger never felt an obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house—not from us, not from our friends, not even from adults. Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four-letter words that burned my ears and made Dad squirm. But to my knowledge the stranger was never confronted. My dad was a teetotaler who didn’t permit alcohol in his home, not even for cooking; but the stranger felt like we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He often offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages. He made cigarettes look tasty, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely, much too freely, about sex. His comments were often suggestive, sometimes blatant, but always embarrassing. I know now that my early concepts of love and romance were greatly influenced by the stranger.

As I look back, I believe it was the grace of God that the stranger did not influence us more. Time after time he opposed the values of my parents; yet he was seldom rebuked, and never asked to leave.

More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with the young family on Morningside Drive. He is not nearly so intriguing to my Dad as he was in those early years. But if you were to walk into my parents’ den today, you would still see him sitting over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name?
We always just called him TV.

--------------------------------

Original image by The Paper Boat

Staying Blog Savvy

2008-06-09T14:09:00.003-04:00

(photo source: Country Living.com)

Cool new blog signature, huh? Before you know it, I'll be composing stuff using HTML...naaah.

P.S. The photo in this post has nothing to do with the topic of the post, I just didn't want to give you a post without a pretty picture to look at! :)

Heavenly Hilton Head Holiday!

2008-06-04T16:30:00.015-04:00

Memorial Day week, we had a marvelous time at the BEACH! Oh, how I love the beach! I didn't want to do anything but set my self in a chair in the sand all. day. long. every. day. But my dear hubby reminded me that this was indeed a family vacation, not just a mommy vacation! :)

FISHIN'

Here are all of our fisherpeople doin' their thing. Yes. They caught several shark off the beach. I know. Yowsers. But we swam anyway.

This silly bird was our fishin' buddy. He came out every time we started to fish and hung around...getting closer and closer to the fisherpeople. He got little pieces of bait that had been dropped...and one time he snuck a whole fish from someone's bucket! He's got some nerve!

THA BEACH
Here are some pictures of Zach and Taylor playing on the beach. A really cool thing about the beaches at Hilton Head - tidepools form when the tide goes out. It is really fun for the kiddos to search for fun sea creatures in the tidepools...Taylor and Zach found hermit crabs, starfish, sand dollars, and even a baby blowtoad. Way fun.

I buried Zach in the sand. He was so excited for it! :)

Mike taught Taylor how to boogie board. She caught on really fast and spent tons of time doing it. Zach, on the other hand, decided to use his boogie board as a mailtruck. He dragged it behind himself carrying various beach finds.

One evening after dinner, we went back down to the beach so Mike and Taylor could fish. We stopped at our favorite beach ice cream joint (which happened to be across the street from our condo). Taylor enjoyed blue raspberry ice...as evidenced by these pictures.

This was our lovely view at the pool. I LOVE, Love, LOVE the spanish moss! Did I mention that I love spanish moss?

We did a lot of walking on the beach too.

LOVE this picture of the kiddos. They were sitting on a lifeguard chair in the evening. This shows true emotion. No canned smiles in this picture. :)

I love both of these pictures of Zach. Model much?

We saw this cool tree on the way to breakfast one morning. Couldn't resist the photo op.

I wanted a picture of our whole fam when we were showered and not in bathing suits, so I stopped some poor mom with a toddler and asked her to take our picture. I apologized the whole time cause I knew she was busy. But I really wanted a family pic from our vacation.

A Taylor Funny

2008-05-23T19:31:00.002-04:00

So I don't post for 10 days, then I write 2 posts in one day. Go figure. Don't miss the unforgettable post commemmorating Mike & I's first date anniversary.

So, Taylor had to have some bloodwork done today. She was not happy. But I did bribe her with a new webkinz. I think it kind of worked. After we were done at the doctor, I texted her dad (he was in a meeting) and called my mom to fill them in on how everything went. When I started dialing my mom's number, Taylor pipes up from the backseat.

Taylor - "So who are you calling now?"

Me - "Your grandma. She wants to know how it went."

Taylor - "Why don't you just have a parade? Then everyone can find out what is going on."

OK - a little bit sassy and a whole lot funny.

Memorial Day Memories

2008-05-23T13:39:00.003-04:00

I don't have any digital pictures of Mike & I when we were dating or first married, but I want to publicly commemmorate the anniversary of our first date 11 YEARS AGO this coming Monday!

I do, however, have a picture from our 10th wedding anniversary last September. We spent one whole week at Tybee Island, GA - oceanfront! We spent a lot of time in Savannah, GA too. What an amazing time we had. It was our first time going away without the kids for more than a night or two.

So back to that first date. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was so nervous/excited because I had been ~~stalking~~ admiring this guy from afar for months. He arranged for his best friend to double with us, him and a friend of theirs. First, we went to the grocery store and shopped for dinner ingredients, then we rented a couple of movies (remember when you had to actually go to a movie store instead of using On Demand or Pay per View?). That was when we discovered that we both loved scary movies. We rented The Changling and some stupid Ricky Lake movie, Mrs. Winterbourne. Then we went to his house and the guys fixed us dinner, then we watched the movies in the basement. I was seriously twitterpated (do you guys not from Utah know what that means?) and couldn't wait until he called me again. It was finally 3 days later and he asked me to go see a scary movie at the dollar theater (wish we had one of these around here!). After that, we were together every day. For those of you that are keeping track of these kinds of things, we had our first date on Memorial Day (met the day before for the first time but I had been watching from afar for a few months), were engaged July 8th (on my dinner break from work, he sent me on a scavenger hunt around his house and yard. His whole family was there...the ring in the box was hidden with the carrots, get it carats, outside in the garden - I know...he's way cute like that) and married September 19th. Yes...all in 1997. Whirlwind romance...but I wouldn't have it any other way.

So here are the lovebirds out side of Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House on Jones St. in Savannah. (If you haven't been there...RUN...do not walk...SERIOUSLY!)

Beautiful Weather, Photoshop, & a Baby Boy!

2008-05-13T22:03:00.003-04:00

OK - so nobody freak out...I'm not having a baby boy, it is my sister in law, Kari, who called us with the news that they are in fact, having a baby boy. They currently have 2 girls, so it will be fun with a little man running the house.

After lots and lots of rain and gloomy weather, we had a beautiful 70 degree day today with tons of sunshine. My sister & I went to a great spot in the city to practice our photography. I am trying to teach myself the basics of being an awesome photographer. I've never taken a class, but I'm reading a ton of stuff online and having lots of practice.

I also got PHOTOSHOP! YAY!!!!! I have been longing for that program for a longggg while and now that I have it, I'm not sure what to do with it...it is pretty tricky. But, in my regular obsessive nature, I've read a gajillion (you didn't know that was a number, did ya?) tutorials today.

I actually am now reading Photoshop for Dummies. I figure, if the title fits....ya know where I'm goin' with this dont'cha? And no, I haven't really done anything around the house today with all of this fun photo and photoshop stuff. Are you happy? I admit it.

So I can't wait to share some of my new photoshop skills with you real soon! I know you can't wait!

Baby Bunnies & Camping

2008-05-12T18:03:00.006-04:00

Friday afternoon, our neighbor found these darling little bunnies in her front yard, in a hole, covered by a bunny nest (a bunch of bunny hair that looks cottony). Seriously... darling. I think there were 5 of them. I put the key chain in the picture for scale.

Taylor & I went to a mother-daughter campout Friday night with the girl's group from church. There were 8 girls between the ages of 8 & 11, and their moms. I think a great time was had by all. We had quite a bit of rain and red clay mud to reckon with, but we also had quite a bit of singing, chatting, and enjoying one another's company. There was not, however, quite a lot of sleeping.

Here are some shots from the trip. I took pictures of lots of the campers, but am only including those with my daughter for privacy of the other girls' sake.

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

2008-05-06T13:21:00.003-04:00

This is my dad as...wait for it....William Shatner! :)

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

2008-05-06T13:13:00.002-04:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities

Chambers Look-alike Meter

2008-05-06T13:03:00.002-04:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family albums - Genealogies

Chambers Look-alike Meter

2008-05-06T13:00:00.002-04:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Free family tree - Pedigree

Welcome Tooth Fairy!

2008-05-05T20:26:00.005-04:00

Zach finally let Mike pull his extremely loose tooth tonight. As part of the coaxing I promised that I'd document it here and share it with all of you! Especially Nana & Papa Howdy. So here it is...

You can't tell that he's excited, can you? He was terrified and it took all kinds of convincing on Mike's part. I posted twice today, so don't miss the pictures of our lovely evening!

Lovely Spring Evening

2008-05-05T20:02:00.005-04:00

We had a lovely evening. We dined on a scrumptious dinner, took a walk in the neighborhood, and enjoyed chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.

We didn't want to waste the leftover chocolate, so we scurried around and found something else to dip. The best thing we could find was cookies that already had some chocolate on them...more chocolate = more better! :)

I Stand Corrected

2008-05-04T12:55:00.004-04:00

Mike and Zach went on a father/son campout with our church on Friday night. That left Taylor and I with a girl's night. It was a blast! On Saturday, we were running errands and listening to Radio Disney. After listening to a strange song for a minute, I suggested we change it. It was kind of rappish and just not my style. Taylor wanted to finish listening to it.

Me - "OK."

After the song ended with some alien sounding voice...

Taylor - "I stand corrected. You were right. That song was not good at all."

Me - (stifling a giggle) "Did you just say 'I stand corrected'?"

Taylor - (serious as can be) (shrugs) "I guess I did."

Me - "Where did you learn that phrase? From TV?"

Taylor - "I don't know. It just feels like I've always known it."

HILARIOUS. Such big words at 8 years old.

Flea Market Finds!

2008-04-24T07:16:00.005-04:00

I promised you pictures of my flea market finds from last Saturday. The most wonderful flea market happens once a year in the nearby city of Richmond and it is the pinnacle of awesomeness. Well, I loaded up the van that day, let me tell ya!

The chair in the top picture now proudly sits in my living room with it's twin. I purchased the set for only $20!!!! Seriously....can you believe it? They are structurally in great shape, and the color is perfect for that room.

The rug in the above photo was a steal at only $15. It has a little damage, but is so charming and goes perfect in my back hallway. I have tole painted trays hanging on the wall in there, so they are really perfect together.

This mini table is going to be perfect next to Mike's recliner. It needed a little sturdying up and it needs to be shorter, but it is the perfect small size to fit there and kindly hold his beverage. And I'll also paint it. But for $2!!!!???? It really was perfect!

This trio of Willilamsburg sketches in their black and white beauty will go in my bedroom. I am doing a soft grayish blue on the walls and black and white toile on the bed. Believe it or not, I only paid $3 for the trio. Maaaavelous. I will paint the frame and gold matte black, though.

I got tons of cute clothes for my kids and my husband. A pair of cute designer leather shoes for me ($1), and some more finds for the house. I'll do another installment with those and I'll also show you what all the new pretties look like in their homes all fixed up. Thanks for looking!

Spring Break

2008-04-21T18:52:00.013-04:00

So I finally uploaded the rest of the Spring Break photos onto the computer. We had a blast visiting our friends in Newport News, VA. Friday it was about 87 degrees, and we went to Yorktown Beach....

an awesome playground near Jamestown...

and the Virginia Beach Aquarium...

At the aquarium we played with stingrays...

Hung out with alligators...

and watched a real-life duck decoy carver...

Since we were right by the oceanfront, we decided to stop by...it was FREEZING on Saturday when we were there, so we only stayed a few minutes. We saw some people riding horses on the beach...BEAUTIFUL...

Spring Break was so fun. I'll post some of my finds from the flea market soon! Way cute stuff!

Spring, Sick Kids, Cleaning House, & Flea Market!

2008-04-17T14:22:00.003-04:00

(picture from allposters.com)

I love this time of year. The flowering trees are one of my favorite things about Spring in Virginia. Dogwoods...ahhhh!

My kids have been sick for the past couple of weeks, really. Zach had scarlet fever, and Taylor Fifth's Disease. It sounds like we should have a lock-down quarantine around here. Things are going alright, though. I think everyone is on the mend.

Everyone has been talking (or blogging) about spring cleaning lately. I haven't felt well enough or had the energy to even think about it. But my mom came over and for a few days and we cleaned, rearranged, decorated, hung stuff up, threw stuff away, and cleaned some more. Whew! If I didn't know she loved me before, I know it for sure now! :)

This Saturday is my favorite JUNKIN' event of the year! It is a flea market called Thirteen Acres and I have gotten a slew of great stuff there in past years. They used to do it twice a year, but now it is only once. I CAN'T WAIT! Can you tell I'm a little excited?!!!!! I'll be sure to fill you in on the treasures I bring home!

Singin' in the Mall, Just Singin' in the Mall

2008-04-10T12:27:00.005-04:00

You may be wondering what the heck I mean by the title of this post. Oh...read on...you'll love it! If you know me, you know I adore, love, am addicted to MUSICALS! There is just something ~~strange~~ right when random people spontaneously break out in song, especially in public places. My heart swells when they all harmonize so harmoniously. Ok - so that was a bit redundant.

Check this out, as ~~cruddy~~ ~~horrible~~ under the weather as I feel, this had me laughing OUT LOUD. I kid you not.

La La La La Linky Love

2008-04-09T16:57:00.008-04:00

Don't spit your diet coke all over your computer monitor! I don't mean kinky love. Linky love is where I share a few links of posts or sites that I've been enjoying lately. Get it? LINK-y love. Are you feeling the color coming back to your cheeks?

I just saw the absolute most cutest ever! baby socks. They are just plain ol' regular socks, except they're not. They look like shoes! But they are only socks! Trompe l'oeil you say? One of the greatest examples ever. Here are some for girls. And check these out for the boys. They are made by a company called Trumpette. To see them on an adorable little girl, look here. I wish these had been around when my kiddos were leeetle.

Seriously! Can you stand it? I don't think I can.

With Spring upon us, you might enjoy finding some pick your own fruits and veggies farms close to where you live. Check out this site. It list local u-pick farms by locality. See if you've got one near you!

I just found a new blog today (It is called Just Beachy) and I have spent several hours reading the archives. I. LOVE. HER. HOME. She decorates maaaa-velously and I am so inspired to change some of my color schemes similar to the ones she has used. Beautiful and cozy at the same time. I've been sick, so have many, many hours in my bed with my laptop and gorgeous blogs like this one! Check out her family room. She reupholstered and painted the lovely desk chair. Also look at this one. It is her bedroom. And don't judge her because she has an exercise machine in her room. At least she uses it! :)

Hope you enjoy these links as much as I have!

Tag! You're it!

2008-04-08T16:59:00.013-04:00

I thought this tag looked pretty fun! You have to find pictures on google images to describe your answers. You can't use any of your own personal pictures. Here's what I came up with...

1. My favorite song -

It seriously changes every month or so, but here is what it is right now. Taylor Swift's "Our Song". You should hear Taylor, Zach and I sing this at the top of our lungs in the car.

2. Favorite Author -

The jury is out on this one. I read this series a while back that I absolutely loved. I have a phone call in to my sista to help me remember the name of the author....

3. My favorite dessert -

Yum! The best dessert I've ever had was a banana pudding creme brulee-type thing. It was at a restaurant that I've only been to once and it was seriously the best tasting dessert ever! I've tried to go back but they have weird hours. I'll have to try harder!

4. Where I Live -

Virginia! I love it here because this is home. Some family is closeby. The beach isn't too far away either!

5. My Job -

Doesn't that really say it all?

6. My favorite color -

Once again, it is something that changes fairly frequently. But for a while now, colors like this feel really soothing to me. I hope to paint our bonus room this top color sooner or later. Probably later...

7. My Favorite Animal -

Have you ever....? Seriously! I think that YORKIES are the most adorable little things. I have never owned one, but really want to some day. I'm not ready for another pet right now (we have a shih tzu named Tanner, whom I love dearly) but pets are sometimes like children, responsibility-wise, except you can't put your kid in a cage at night to sleep. No really, I love my kids tons! One day....the yorkie....one day.

8. My Bad Habit -

Remember...these picture aren't really my house. I found them on the internet, for real! But I am not a good cleaner upper. I really wish I was, but I'm just not. I'm not saying that my house has never resembled this lovely room, but it is just not my house. No, I'm not getting defensive.

9. My Favorite Food -
Oh my! Now I'm hungry! I had to search through pages and pages of cheese fries to find this perfect picture and now I'm hungry. I wasn't anticipating that. :( I love the cheese fries from Lonestar Steakhouse and from Texas Roadhouse. Ok, maybe the cheese fries are just better in Texas? Anyone?

10. My Favorite Hobby -

I really do. Mostly reading blogs. I seriously can't get enough. I have always enjoyed magazines that had to do with frugal decorating, parenting, or basically anything I'm interested in. Reading blogs is like having an unlimited amount of these magazines available to me...FOR FREE! (I know, high speed internet is not free) Free is my favorite price! Since I've been sick a lot for months and months (seriously - don't get me started) I have been obsessed with having the laptop in the bed with me. I never run out of reading material. And I love wireless internet! :)

11. My Picture -
So - for those of you who know me in real life, you know this is not me. There are lots of people with my name, though. This is one of them. I will take it. I look pretty hot.

I'm not going to specifically tag anyone, but if you think this looks fun, go ahead! I'm just warning you...you'll get hungry when looking for favorite food and dessert pictures.

Spring Break - Thursday

2008-04-01T22:26:00.006-04:00

All moms adore Chuck-E-Cheese, right? Riiiiiiiiiiight! Well, my kiddos wanted to go during spring break and it had been a while. So...being the awesome mom that I happen to be, I even let them bring friends. I know. I'm too cool for words. We all packed in the van, not forgetting the coupons, and headed out. Like I said, it had been a while since we'd been and whadaya know...the place had gotten a face lift. They had expanded, opened the place up a bit, and added more cool stuff and more booths! I approve of the improvements. It was quite nice, and not as crowded as I expected it to be. Yay for me! I was equipped with my coupons and my cell phone so I could play solitare while they played. I've kind of become obsessed with that game lately. Can't help it. It was fun. Chuck himself even came out to visit the kids and tossed a bunch of tickets in the air. You should've seen those kiddos scrambling like craaaaaazy to get those tickets. It turned out that each pair of children (my child + friend) got to exchange their tickets added together for a bag of cotton candy. Yum! That was a decent prize if you ask me!

I like the new digs Chuck!

Adios Mayer Family....We Love You!

2008-03-27T14:45:00.008-04:00

(Trista, Julia, & Emily - she's my little sista)

Our great friends, the Mayers are moving to Texas. We had a girls' night Tuesday as a last hurrah and it was a blast. We went to Red Robin in our jammies and people looked at us like we were ~~nuts~~ so cool. Here are a few pics from that night. Looking at these pictures, you would never guess that none of us even drink alcohol. Actually, all of us were drinking freckled strawberry lemonade...yum!

(Me, Ginny, & Carol)

(Becca, Me, Ginny, Carol, Trista, & Julia)

There is just something special about a friendship where you never have to question whether to be your whole self. Where the comfort level is such that you are never embarassed in front of that person. Love her to death. Hope to visit her soon!

Here are some pics of our kids together on the evening we said goodbye.

(Taylor & Jonathan)

(Brooklyn wants to marry Zach in the Temple. Here she is savoring the moment...)

Spring Break - Wednesday

2008-03-27T14:26:00.007-04:00

So my kids are on Spring Break this week and we've been having a blast. I'm going to be posting a little about each day, but they will be out of order...oh well! Here's Wednesday.

We had breakfast a Chick-fil-A and then went to see Horton Hears a Who with my mom and nephew, Trevor. It was really cute. Not hilarious funny like I thought, though.

Then the kiddos and I went to the playground at their elementary school. There is a map there on the blacktop and Taylor wanted me to show her Utah. So we did.

Then we played on the cool stuff there.

Mike called and wanted to look at puppies. So we did that. I'm not ready to get another dog right now. They really are a lot of work, especially when they are puppies. After that it was dinner time, so we went to a fun place we enjoy. I had a coupon from the entertainment book, of course!

The not so cool part of our day was that we had to say our goodbyes to our friends, the Mayers. Our families have gotten really close, but they are moving to Texas.....hopefully temporarily. They feel like this is home and want to be back within a few years. Here are all the kids together.

Easter Sunday - Brrrrrr

2008-03-24T12:54:00.004-04:00

So on Easter Sunday it was pretty chilly here. I wanted a family picture of everyone in their Easter duds, but I didn't know how to set the timer on my camera and there wasn't another person to do it. Soooo, here is our family in several pics!

My Hair Story

2008-03-22T14:39:00.005-04:00

I recently got my hair cut (about 3 weeks ago) and am so glad I did. It had been so long since I'd cut it (probably since October or November) so it was kind of a desperate situation. Sooooooo here it is!

When I got married I had a similar version of this cut 10 years ago. Since then it has varied much but seems to always come back to this style that just works for me. It is quick and easy to fix, but feels like there is a "style" there. Growing up, through high school and part of college I had all one length hair about to the middle of my back. When the Jennifer Aniston thing hit in about 1996 I did that and it seemed adventurous. Once I got a stacked bob, that was it.

The photo to the right is me and some college buddies my freshman year. I don't have any other pics digital, and you can't see my hair that good in this shot, but can you believe I am the same person? I can't! I'm the 2nd from the right in the tealish shirt.

What is your hair story?

Tackle It Tuesday

2008-03-18T11:39:00.004-04:00

I need to get ~~off my bottom~~ motivated and get some serious stuff done around this house today. I decided to participate in this fun blog carnival thing-y called Tackle it Tuesday over at 5 Minutes for Mom to help give me the umph to get something spectacular done. So I thought to myself, "Self, what can you do that will make a huge impact around here?" I decided to clean my laundry room closet. Now I feel very blessed because it is upstairs where all of the bedrooms are so the laundry ~~monster~~ pile doesn't have to live downstairs in the public spaces. But today I am going to clean and wipe things down in there. It gets really dusty due to all that laundry lint. I think straightening up in there will motivate me to stay on top of the laundry. Lately it feels like it has been on top of me weighing me down. I will add pictures to this post later, but I wanted to write this part early, so I will be accountable to all of you! OK - I'm off to tackle it!

To see more things that are being/have been tackled today, check out Tackle it Tuesday here.

2008-03-18T11:11:00.003-04:00

OK - I was craving some more beautiful surroundings for my bloggy home. I searched for ~~all day~~ a reasonable amount of time before finding this new and improved template. I am not HTML or graphic design savvy at all, so I had to rely on those free downloads that are available.

What do you think? Is it ~~funner~~ more fun to visit a blog that looks pretty? I think yes. And I also learned how to do the cross out a word feature. That is my very first HTML. I am so proud of me! By the way, I love comments. They make me happy. I can't help it. Just wanted you to know. Next I need a cute header to complete my makeover. Is the only way to get a really cute one to design it myself in photoshop or pay someone to do it for me? Cause if you didn't notice, I'm too ~~cheap~~ frugal to shell out any money for that. And I don't want to overdo it with the whole cross out word feature, but it is fun. Oh well.

So what do you think of the new diggs?

Great Week @ CVS!

2008-03-17T21:03:00.007-04:00

I'm sorry to those of you who don't have a CVS nearby, but I have to share my sweet deals from today! I seriously got all of this stuff for less than $3.50 out of pocket. I had a CVS gift card from a prescription so I actually only paid about $.80 out of pocket for real. I went in with a dollar bill and came out with change and all of this stuff! We will use each and every item and our wallet will thank us! If you do have CVS nearby and you want to learn how to score like me, check out this website at moneysavingmom. Crystal has a great tutorial to help you get it all figured out!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T20:51:00.007-04:00

So today I made sure that the kiddos were wearing green (after Mike reminded me & they were already dressed in other clothes) so that no one would be pinched. The kids were excited to help set the table for dinner and to decorate the dining area with the various St. Patrick's Day arts and crafts they had completed at school. It was a very festive environment for our St. Patrick's day Breakfast for Dinner Night - green eggs, hash browns, and sweet rolls with green icing.

Meal planning using sales - Frugal Friday

2008-03-14T15:55:00.003-04:00

For a long time when planning my menu, I would scour my cookbooks, pick out some recipes, then make a shopping list with the ingredients I needed.

Now, I buy meat when it is a great price. I try not to pay over $1.99 a pound for any type of meat. I stock up when it is at a monumental low price. I also do that with other food and things.

I now have a good little stockpile. I pick my recipes based on what I already have. Sometimes I search the internet when I know I have some ingredients that would make something great together, but not sure of a recipe on how to do it. I have found some great meals that way. I really enjoy the challenge of doing my meal planning that way and love how it feels to know that it didn't cost much to make. I have also began to make more from scratch, when needed. It's usually not as tough as I previously thought.

I know this is not a new idea, but it is something that I have recently begun to do and it is really working well for me. Thought I would share! Check out Biblical Womanhood here for other great frugal ideas.

100 Things About Me - I've Been Tagged!

2008-03-14T15:08:00.003-04:00

Ok- so this is my first tag and it is a doosie! If you can stand to read 100 things about me, then you deserve a high five. Here goes...

1. This is my first time being tagged in blog-world.
2. My husband & I got married 3.5 months after meeting for the first time.
3. I kind of stalked, I mean admired Mike (hubby-o) from afar before he even knew I existed.
4. I'm 5'1'' tall on a good day.
5. I have 2 kids, Taylor & Zach.
6. At night when I tuck Zach in he says, "Goodnight Mommy, m'love!" (like my love) in his cute little voice.
7. Taylor loves to read. She is great at it too.
8. Zach is in kindergarten and is really picking up those reading skills also.
9. I am very outgoing and not afraid to speak up.
10. I married someone who likes to keep to himself much of the time.
11. That's ok because somehow we balance each other out.
12. I have lived in Virginia, Hawaii, and Utah.
13. I adore, adore, ADORE, the beach, and thus loved Hawaii.
14. This is tough...100 things are a lot!
15. I love vacations!
16. Even small ones...it's just breaking out of the routine and setting off on an adventure that thrills me.
17. My favorite vaction places usually involve sand and water.
18. But Disney World is up there too.
19. I obsess about planning sometimes.
20. I really went nuts when we were planning our trip to Disney, color coded itenerary note cards anyone?
21. I love Virginia in the Spring.
22. Like now when the flowering trees start blooming, the whole place comes to life.
23. My favorite flowering bush is a hydrangea, oh wait...and forsythia.
24. I can't keep plants alive in my house.
25. I'm not very good at keeping them healthy outside either.
26. But I will never plant fake plants in the ground outside.
27. I am very frugal.
28. And I LOVE being frugal.
29. Even if I didn't have to be frugal, I would anyway. It's like a sport to me.
30. And I'm always on the winning team.
31. Isn't it fun to be good at something?
32. I am also good at decorating...I enjoy it a lot.
33. I am good at being fun.
34. I love to read.
35. I am like Mel and when I am reading something good, it takes over my life.
36. I mean no housework or laundry, only the basics.
37. I turn on music and sing really loud while I clean, it makes it funner.
38. I'm pretty sure that funner isn't a word.
39. That's ok because I was an English major and that gives me the authority to make up words at will.
40. The best one I ever made up was DEMATERNITIZE.
41. As in "I'm not pregnant anymore...I need to dematernitize my closet."
42. I love my neighborhood.
43. And my house.
44. Even though the yard doesn't really have much grass.
45. I bought some cute new silk flowers and ribbon to springify my front door. I have a cute metal bucket that hangs there.
46. See, I did it again...springify isn't a word either.
47. Free is my favorite price, but almost free is good too.
48. I spend a lot of time on the computer.
49. I made myself a chore chart to motivate myself.
50. It works for the kids, why not?
51. OK - halfway through.
52. Pretty colors and fonts make me happy.
53. I refuse to have any white walls in my house.
54. I like to hang plates on the walls.
55. Sometimes when I get home from grocery shopping I only put the freezer and fridge stuff away right away.
56. The other stuff sometimes has to wait till later.
57. Like the next day.
58. I love yard sales & can't wait for the season to start.
59. I also love shopping at the Goodwill.
60. Being a mom is both the hardest and most fulfilling thing I've ever done.
61. I like to smile at strangers.
62. And people I know, too.
63. Why be grumpy?
64. But I am grumpy if I don't get enough sleep.
65. And for some reason, I need more sleep than the average person does.
66. When I was a teenager, I was tested for mono several times because I was always tired.
67. I never had it.
68. Mike always comments and/or thanks me when I clean something out and/or cook a meal.
69. He appreciates the small things.
70. I'm grateful for that, because life keeps us really busy doing the small things.
71. I just got a bunch of cute shirts from Old Navy for $1.99 each.
72. I also walked away from several good shirts because I didn't want to pay $7.99.
73. Told you I was frugal.
74. I "bought" free cereal today at Kroger.
75. I love being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
76. I currently have 2 callings.
77. Gospel Principles teacher and Activity Day Girls assistant leader.
78. I love teaching Gospel Principles.
79. Sometimes the girls in Activity Days are way to crazy and loud.
80. My husband has the flu right now.
81. I feel bad because he feels bad.
82. I live 3 miles from my mom and dad.
83. I live too many miles from my in-laws.
84. I am one of the few that totally loves her mother and father inlaw.
85. How lucky am I?
86. My college roomate from Hawaii recently found me on facebook.
87. After about 13 years!
88. It is so great to be back in touch with her! I've thought of her often!
89. I love warm weather.
90. Today is is 75 degrees!
91. I am going on a girls night with my girlfriend tonight.
92. We are celebrating her birthday.
93. I have 2 best girlfriends.
94. The other one is moving to Texas in 2 weeks.
95. I will really miss her.
96. But she will be back in a couple of years.
97. I like to surround myself with outgoing people.
98. I am addicted to Lost.
99. Can you believe they are still lost?
100. Now you know more about me than you did before. Good for you for sticking with it!

Decorating on the CHEEEEP!

2008-03-06T12:06:00.008-05:00

OK - I know that I spelled CHEAP wrong in the title, but I did it on purpose. You have seriously got to check out the Nesting Place. The Nester has a lovely blog and a lovely home that she decorates with frugal abandon! She also makes frequent references to BIRDS, note the name of her blog, thus the misspelling in the title. I love to read all her posts, but some of my favorites are about how she mistreats her windows (get it, not window treatments, but window mistreatments, ha ha). She has a whole window mistreatment series going on. You can find the other posts here, here, here, and here. I get so inspired by her no fuss decorating and wanted to share it with all of you. Enjoy!

Kitchen Tip Tuesday

2008-03-04T08:16:00.004-05:00

I found this fun post at Tammy's Recipes and decided to participate this week. I LOVE to read tips that will make my life easier. Here's something I do that my husband loves.

It is actually something that his mom did growing up, so I can't take the credit! Hi Ruth Ann! :) Whenever I use canned pineapple (for fruit salad or smoothies, for example) I pour the juice from the can into a ziploc baggie and pop it in the freezer. It makes for a yummy treat later and saves something that would have just been poured down the sink.

For more kitchen tips, check out Kitchen Tip Tuesdays.

Menu Plan Monday

2008-03-03T10:36:00.006-05:00

Hope y'all had a great weekend. Here's the menu for this week.

Dinners -

1)Roast in the Crockpot, canned veggies, applesauce, homemade bread

2)Beef Stew (with leftovers from the roast), bread, green salad

3)Spaghetti - served with Italian Cheese Bread...oh my...I can't wait to try that one out! I'll let you know how it is! :) - this is a leftover meal from last week I didn't get to.

4)Homemade Pizza, green salad

5)Appetizer night

6)Hotenanny - yummy breakfast dish to serve with fresh fruit, whipped cream, & powdered sugar! - or with maple syrup (like pancakes)

To see more yummy menus, check out orgjunkie.com's Menu Planning Monday!