Happy Dance

I know it's supposed to be Tasty Tuesday. Maybe I'll do that on Wednesday. I'm feeling all out of sorts with my blogging lately. I'll work on that.

I don't often do a happy dance when I get the mail and see all the "please send money" mail we usually get every day. But yesterday I didn't just get "please send money" mail. I got an envelope that had a big fabulous word scribbled on the paperwork inside. It was from our bank! The fabulous word that was scribbled was P A I D. That's right folks - we actually own our car. Does that sound minor? Maybe it is, but not to us! I am 30 years old and this is the first vehicle I've ever owned.

AND as of yesterday we have a personal loan paid off. One that Jeremy started when he bought his motorcycle years before we were married and it's one that we've added to over the years. You know, the time I needed my wisdom teeth pulled or we needed a new washing machine. Things that in our early years of marriage we couldn't pay outright for. It added up. But now, I'm so happy to say that we are DEBT FREE (except our house) and we are still looking forward to receiving our tax return!!

I don't mean to brag or anything, but I have to tell you that we have struggled financially for a long while. We were on a good track and then I totaled our car and we had to get a different one, then within six months, Carter broke his arm, I got kidney stones and had an overnight stay in the hospital and then I gave birth to Gemma. Those medical bills really added up. So to have all of this paid off and making only our mortgage payment and nothing else every month is such a huge relief!!!

So today, I am doing my happy dance!!

Dirteater

Did you know there is a guy named Dirteater? Ryan Dirteater is a professional bull rider. Surprised I know that? You shouldn't be.

Yesterday, if you didn't notice the weather was beautiful, you must live somewhere else!! Here in middle America, it was one of the best days so far this year.

I was asking Jeremy about our garden and when I should start buying seed and planting plans, etc. Somehow, during that conversation, the dump trucks and shovels came out and before long Gemma was on her belly, like a pig in a mud hole, living the farm life!

I'm going to have to try to find this girl some rubber mud boots for the spring. She really loves dirt. She would dig down where is was damp and cool - she was in heaven! She's even really good at making truck sounds - way better than me!!

Done. Well, mostly...

For the last several months I have been working on redoing my kitchen. We don't have a lot of money for major upgrades, so I worked with what I have on a budget. I think this entire project will cost us $300 or less. My 'Kitchen Makeover' involved painting my cabinets (don't worry - they were not high-quality wood to begin with. It's ok...), painting my countertops (yes,painting them!), painting walls, and installing tile backsplash. That's the 'almost done' part. We have some of the tile, but not all of it and we need to get it up. The other thing that's not quite finished, is the window. Jeremy needs to trim the window. Other than those two things, it's pretty well done!! YAY!!

Our house is not new. Have I mentioned that before? Couldn't remember. Our house is also a pre-fabricated house. I'm pretty sure that it was delivered in two halves and put together on site. Due the type of house it is, it doesn't have things that a 'normal' house might have - like sheet rock. Our walls are wall-board. The design that's on the wall, that IS the wall. So we had to do things a little differently. We had to use oil-based primer on EVERYTHING. Just to keep it from bubbling up and getting ruined. We also had a ceramic tile back-splash around the whole kitchen. When we ripped off those tiles, part of the wall came off with it. So we had to use sheet rock mud to repair that, prime and then paint. It was a process. I did all the work on the cabinets and countertops myself. My dad helped me pull off some of the tiles and my mom helped me prime and paint all the walls. Jeremy will be helping me with the tile.

On to the pictures!!

Here's what I started with:

And this is what we ended up with! I am SO happy with the way it turned out!!!

So now, we have this tile:

And it will look something like this on the walls:

We will put up just a half a sheet all the way around the island and then behind the kitchen sink, all along the north wall. We will completely cover the entire area between the cabinets and counters on the wall behind the stove.

And my mom is making me a curtain for the window. I'm so excited!!

I know these are kinda the halfway reveal pictures. But I will take pictures once the window and tile are done and the curtain is up and it is COMPLETELY done. I can't wait!!!

Thank you to my Mom, Dad and Jeremy for all the help - it's been a long process, but we're almost there!!

Soup's On

I'm on a mission lately for better time management and organization (the word makes me cringe) in my life and in our home. I have never been a clean freak (quite the opposite, in fact) but in recent weeks I've noticed that I've been able to keep my kitchen, living and dining room table clean(ish). I've determined that one of my biggest downfalls in time management is dinner. I never know what to make and once I figure it out, I either don't have all the right stuff and have to start over or what I need is still frozen. Happens 5 days a week!

So in an effort to streamline dinner, I decided to do a more extensive menu plan. (I've done this before for 2 weeks at a time. I love those two weeks. But I can't seem to "find time" to do it again once those 2 weeks are up!) So now I'm introducing the 4 week menu plan. I will start on Monday and it goes for 4 whole weeks, excluding Saturdays. Those can be clean-up-the-fridge days. I am going to try not to make more than we will eat, with the exception of maybe an extra serving for me to take to work the next day or extras to be purposely used in planned meals later in the week. I hate having a fridge full of leftovers that no one wants to eat and then they go bad. Not good money management. I also am going to try and have all meals done by 6:30. That way I know what my schedule will be. Even if Jeremy's not home (he's usually not), dinner will be done for the kids to eat. This way, I'm not tempted to feed them unhealthy, convenience foods. (I've already turned Carter into somewhat of a chicken nugget/corn dog/scrambled eggs snob by doing that.)

And speaking of healthy, while I was at it, I decided why not make it look like a school lunch menu? I've added a fruit and veggie to each menu item. I know myself well enough to know that if I don't plan for it, I won't shop for it, I won't buy it and it won't make it to the table. We all could eat more fruits & veggies. I am trying to loose some pounds so I'm hoping by integrating more good stuff, I'll less of the not-as-good stuff at meals.

I took the kids (by myself, I will add) to go shopping for ALL our groceries for 4 weeks. Including most of the stuff I'll need for Gemma's birthday party in a couple of weeks. I wasn't quite sure where my budget would end up. I tried not to be too hard on myself, only because I haven't shopped for 4 weeks worth of groceries in a really long time. I think I did ok. I had some extra stuff for the party, and a few staples that I won't have to buy all the time, but overall I think I did well. Now I kind of can have and idea of what it might be like going forward and can budget more effectively.

Side note: I put the menu plan in a sheet protector and I hang it on my fridge. If I have printed off any recipes I find and want to try, I put those in the sheet protector behind the menu plan, so everything is right there. I also have started a new menu so I can add to it as I go along, instead of having to sit down and plan 4 weeks worth of meals at one time. That's time consuming and can be overwhelming. I can also have it done and shopped for before we eat the last meal on the previous plan. You might also notice that every Tuesday is a crockpot meal. Those are my Bible Study nights and I leave home at 6:00. Not having to worry about cooking on Tuesdays is a big deal - the kids and Grandma Connie can eat and Jeremy and I can eat when I get home.

Wanna see it? Here's my meal plan for the next 4 weeks:

Done

I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. We still have to get something for Jeremy's dad and Mindy's husband, but other than that I'm mostly done.

Last night I just finished up Carter's teacher gifts. I found the idea on Pintrest, right here in fact. Now, you might notice a slight difference in mine and the ones I found, but that's the point, right? Make it your own.

I started with a white mug from Wal-Mart for $1.50. I printed off the letters of the teachers' first initials and taped them on. Then I traced around them with a red fine-tipped Sharpie in the same color as my paint marker.

I got the paint marker at Hobby Lobby for $2.99. There was a variety of colors.

Next, I traced over the Sharpie outline with my paint marker. Some of them I filled completely, some I scribbled in and some I left alone.

Here are the finished mugs. I filled them with Christmas candy. Not too expensive and I think a fairly nice teacher's gift. I may just do this for all of Carter's teachers in years to come.

Oh!! Spoiler alert if one of Carter's teachers (or future teachers) is reading this! ;)

Day 28 - I'm Thankful For...

My birthday. Yes, today is my birthday. The fifth grade class came in to tell me Happy Birthday today - it was cute. They were all guessing my age. The guesses ranged from 27 (thanks!!) to 144. Funny. Let's just say I'm somewhere in the middle. ;)

My good friend Laura put on a Birthday Extravaganza for me over the last several days. Wednesday night last week they had us all over for dinner and she made a presentation of my birthday gifts.

First up were my new shears. Laura's husband Mike was more excited about these than she was. He had to set up the ground rules - Jeremy was not allowed to use them to cut wire or tin with these, no matter how tempting! :)

Apparently Ginghers are quite the scissors! I used them yesterday and they cut fabric like a hot knife through buttah.

Next, she presented me with my very own rotary cutting system. I've been borrowing hers while working on a Christmas project (which is almost done!!).

Then, while we chatted after dinner, I got to pick out some fabric and she whipped me up a quilted bag before we left. :)

Then yesterday, Laura took me out for lunch after church, just she and I. Steak and lobster. Mmmmmmm.... She's really something else!

AND tonight, my hubby has promised to make me dinner! :) AND tomorrow night my mom & my sister and I embark on our traditional Christmas shopping trip. That will be the most fun of all!!

Day 24 - I'm Thankful For...

... All of God's creation and all that He has blessed us to be able to experience!

Day 22 - I'm Thankful For...

... The basic sewing skills my mother taught me. Also the willingness of good friends (and neighbors) to teach and help me complete a project very special to me. Soon to be revealed...