Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Beach Project #1

Remember this?
Did you guess that it was money pouch? Probably not. My Dad's response when I showed it to him was to laugh. He thought I'd made a mini-skirt. Guess he doesn't know me very well. I've never worn a mini-skirt. Plus if it was a mini-skirt would be pretty airy! 

This is the project I had in mind when I first bought the fabric. The laundry room re-do was only an afterthought. Thankfully there was still plenty left.
  

I'm always wanting a way to carry money with me when I do a craft show or garage sale. This is my solution. I'd say it looks much better than the ones you find at Home Depot! It will get its first use this weekend at the garage sale. Hopefully it meets my expectations!

Monday, March 28, 2011

What I've been up to lately....

Enjoying the view and sounds of the ocean....

Watching the sunrise after falling a sleep to the sound of waves crashing onto the beach...

Crafting up a storm and getting lots of projects knocked off my to-do list!! (Any guesses on what this is? My Dad's guess was VERY wrong!)....

Enjoying rest and relaxation....

Doing a little sightseeing (We walked through an old church graveyard and I was amazed to see this tree growing around this headstone).....

*Cooking with my niece ....

 
Doing some more sewing....

*Watching the waves roll in for hours and hours....

And enjoying more sunrises over the water...

*Enjoying time with family...


*Finding seashells...

*Enjoying the light reflecting on the water from fullest moon in 18 years...

Not wanting to ever get back to reality!

My parents were in town for the past couple of weeks and decided to get a beach house. My brother and his family and my youngest sister were also able to join us for 5 days. It was wonderful to have family around. They live in Colorado so we don't get to seem them very often. This was my brother and his family's first visit to see us. My parents left yesterday so now its back to reality {and a MUCH smaller kitchen!}

*Pictures taken by my talented sister Tiffany. I'm sure you could tell as her pictures are much more artistic than mine!

Friday, March 11, 2011

February Goals Update

Well, we are a couple of weeks into March and I decided it was high time I gave an update on my goals for the new year. I've been sticking to most of them, but there are definitely a couple that need improvement.

Cooking:
*Menu Plan- I have had a menu plan every week, but this one. Don't want to fall off the bandwagon, so I need to persevere. It truly does make cooking so much easier. Been doing quite a few new meals, but also find myself getting in a rut again. How does this happen so quickly? The next couple of weeks my mom is in town so I'll have help in the kitchen!

* I did my first attempt at freezer cooking and it was quite nice. Didn't go much because we don't have much space, but it was so nice to through a burrito in the husband when I was told for the umpteenth time "I'm hungry, anything to eat?" Made these two recipes brown bag burritos and pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. {I didn't use the glaze on the muffins and they were still plenty sweet and absolutely delicious!} Both of these were definite winners around here and will be made again soon! They all all gone now! I also made up a batch of m & m cookies form them into balls and froze them on cookie sheets for a couple hours before throwing them in freezer bags. SO nice to have a few cookie balls to through in the oven when I bring needed a dessert somewhere or just wanted a snack.
*Couponing- Last month was probably one of my best as far as couponing. According to my nifty spreadsheet I saved $431 with coupons - not sales, just coupons!! Saving percentage was at 77%! Totally makes it worth all the time and effort when I see how much more food we can bring in the house.

House:
* Every room has now been gone through! Feels so nice to be organized again. Most of the items are already priced and ready to be sold on April 2nd. (If you are in the area let me know if you want to join in. We usually have 10 - 12 families and its a great day of selling "junk"!) I did pretty well until I hit the closet...must have overdone it as I've been having a recurrence of symptoms. =( So this week I've been laying low, BUT I've been laying low in a clean house!

                        Before                                                                   After
Will be even better when all the garage sale stuff is out of there! Amazing how a little organizing causes everything to fit SO much better!
 I heart organization! (And having fully stocked gift closet. So nice to "shop" the supply I've gotten through out the year when a friend gets married or has a baby!) The next post will probably be on one of the organizational projects I did for the hobby room.

Hobbies:
*Didn't really get to any of my "crafts" this month. Hope to do a bunch of that while my parents are visiting for the next couple of weeks!

Finances:
*We are now at 38% of our goal for New York! Ahead of schedule so far, but my bigger money making things have already been done so it will be probably slower in the next couple of months. Would still LOVE suggestions for what to do in New York. Got some great ones with my last request. I'm particularly interested in restaurant suggestions. I keep seeing deals pop up, but I have no idea if its a good restaurant. We like pretty much anything.

Reading:
*Again not too great. I'm about half-way through two books. One of them I started the first two chapters last year and the other I'm doing for a bible study. VERY pathetic!
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