Why I Enjoy Line Drying So Much!

Well it’s been about 4 months and I’m still going strong with the whole line drying thing. It was something that happened quite by accident. I really hadn’t given line drying a second thought when we moved in because I didn’t do it where we moved from, so why should I worry about it now? But there was this thing that was bolted onto the side of the screen porch and I had no idea what it was until Kathy came over and and was like, “Oh, that’s a retractable clothesline. See you just pull it out, hook it on the other end then make it tight by pushing this thing over.” Uh, what? Can you explain that again? LOL!

But what that did was get me to thinking. And once I get to thinking there’s no stopping me. Just get out of the way, the thinking train is a comin’. I decided to do a little experiment on just the money we could save, which I posted about here.

But then something happened. I found myself REALLY enjoying the whole process.

A. I get my vitamin D each day.

B. It just plain gets me outside to enjoy nature. I love listening to the birds and feeling the breeze on my face.

C. It’s saving us tons of money. YES!

D. I get to wear a really cute apron that I made out of an old sheet I bought at a thrift store,  to hold the clothes pins.

E. There is a gardenia “tree” right next to where I hang the clothes and it smells heavenly.

F. It does something to my hubby because he’ll walk by while I’m doing it and whistle and start carrying on like he’s a school boy. LOL! Must be the money I’m saving him. Hey if that’s all it takes I’d be out here in sub zero weather. LOL!

I admit it’s getting a little warm out there these days (low 90’s) but if I time it right it’s not so bad.

What chore brings you unexpected pleasure?

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY MY FRIENDS!

The Freezer Saga Continues….

Those of you that have been following me along for awhile might remember this.

Yes, this is the Rubix Cube that I found in my freezer over at our other home about two years ago.

You might also remember this.

I found that about a month later.

It’s been a little while and I was just settling into our new home when I found this yesterday.

Wait, here’s a close up.

Yes folks it’s a mini egg stuck in my ice cube tray. *sigh* I thought I had left those pesky elves at the other place but I guess they have found me and won’t be happy until they’ve driven me completely nuts. And they don’t have far to drive. LOL!

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve found in YOUR freezer?

No, I didn’t find this in my freezer I just wanted to show you the cake my BFF made for us  yesterday. LOL!

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY MY FRIENDS!

Just Some Things!

Numbers, I’m going to use numbers this time. It just seemed like a number using kind of day.

1. The Down Home Taco Casserole recipe is now posted on my cooking blog. This was voted the most wanted out of all the recipes during my Gooseberry Patch book giveaway.
2. Friday Funnies is taking a break during the Summer. It will be back in a couple of months and you can always go back into the archives and check out some past funnies. They are still funny no matter how many times you read or watch them. Did you know that I’ve been doing Friday Funnies for almost 3 years now?
3. We ate our first squash and zucchini the other day for dinner. It was so yummy.
4. 
5. This past Monday my BFF Kathy and  I got to meet a fellow blogger Nan for the first time in real life. We had a blast thrifting. I will get to meet two more bloggers really soon too. I think it’s so neat that when we finally meet in person it isn’t awkward in any way. It’s just like we’ve “known” each other for years. Which we kind of have.
6.  
7. I got these cute signs off of Craigslist the other day to go in my kitchen. I’m doing sort of a retro type theme. Aren’t they cute? One day I’ll be done and reveal the whole thing to you.
8. 
9. I obviously don’t know how to put in pictures and use numbers at the same time! LOL! I’m all off track now. But that being the least of my worries, I’ll move on.
10. Last week my super duper hubbalicious installed some cabinets that he had leftover from some he had gotten off of Craigslist for the garage, in my craft room/office. I needed more storage in there! Thanks honey!!
11. 
12. I’ve been eating Dove chocolates just to read the cute little sayings they have inside. Really! 

Well I guess that’s enough for you to ingest in one day. I don’t want you getting a tummy ache!
What’s going on in your neck of the woods?
HAVE  A FABULOUS DAY!

The Only Way I Can Be Fashionable!

I was able to do a little thrifting yesterday with my BFF Kathy and fellow blogger Nan. Let’s just say that there were LOTS of laughs and one of us even undressed in the middle of the store. Oh you need to hear more about that?  You see this particular thrift store had just opened and hadn’t put in a dressing room yet, so the lady locked the front door while one of us undressed behind a rack of clothing. (Can you guess who?) Then we proceeded to try things on over our clothes, model high heel shoes while cat walking across the floor etc. etc. etc.

I did manage to find some really cute things. I told my hubby that the only way I can afford to look cute is if I find it at a thrift store. LOL!

Here’s a little bit of what I found yesterday.

The two skirts on the left I found yesterday. I found the skirt on the right a month or so ago at a different thrift store. I thought they were cute.

This top is soooo me.

And this one is not me but I’m trying to branch out in the girlie department a bit. I’m such a tank top and shorts type of gal.  I tried this on with my jeans and it’s very cute.

 

Saturday morning my hubby and I were able to sneak away and actually go to a few garage sales. We hadn’t gone to any since we moved over here and I was amping to go.

Here some of the finds from that day.

You see the two broach like things underneath the snowmen? I’m going to turn those into magnets to put on my fridge. They just looked so vintagey. I’ll show you when I do it.

All in all I might have spent about $25.00 for everything pictured here today. The bad thing is that it ruins me for retail shopping. I just can’t seem to pay full price for anything any more. LOL!

If you need me I’ll be price bargaining with the Wal-Mart manager. Ha! Ha!

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY MY FRIENDS!

Giveaway Winner and The most popular recipe!

Wow! 176 entries. How exciting. When I was putting the numbers into the Random Number Generator I was like, “Watch it be a high number. I’ll be counting forever.” But much to my surprise it landed on the #17.

So without further ado, the winner is #17 Kristi from Kiki’s Corner!!

And the most popular recipe out of the list is

THE TACO CASSEROLE

I’ll be posting it on my cooking blog soon and will give a shout out on this blog when I do.

The Oh Harry! Bars came in second. I guess you’ll have buy the book for that and many more yummy recipes. :)

Thanks for joining in the giveaway fun! Be ready because you never know when the next one might be!

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY MY FRIENDS!

Friday Funnies! How good is YOUR phone?

Happy Friday Everyone!

I hope everyone had a good week. Thanks for stopping by today. I hope I am able to send you off with a smile. If you have family friendly funny you’d like to share, feel free to link it up below. It can be a funny story, picture, video etc.

Now let’s spread some funny!

These two commercials just crack me up.

Enjoy!

More Gardening Love!

My hubby and I are so excited about how well our garden is doing. About a month or so ago he tilled up another area that I’m calling Phase 2. There he planted watermelon, cantaloupe, butternut squash, zucchini, and summer squash.

Here are some pictures of that.

Here’s what’s still growing in Phase 1

We are still harvesting onions but the green beans and cucumbers are done. The remainder of the carrots were picked a couple of days ago.

You can see my past garden posts here.

Oh I almost forgot to mention. We were just messing around with growing potatoes and we actually harvested some the other day. And there’s more still to come. So exciting.

This really has been such a blessing. We couldn’t grow anything when we lived on the beach. Moving out here has been so much fun. We call this our trial garden because we are trying to see what does well and what doesn’t but so far everything with the exception to some corn, has done very well. Yay!!! And I don’t think my kids have ever eaten so much salad in their life. BONUS!

I’ll be keeping you posted.

Have a fabulous day my friends!!

101 Easy Everyday Recipes GIVEAWAY!!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. WINNER TO BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY!

Once again I had the privilege of reviewing another fabulous Gooseberry Patch cookbook.

 

I honestly can’t believe all the recipes I have tagged to make. I’ve worked my way through some and will share a few of them with you.

But first let me tell you a few things I loved about this cookbook.

I really liked the fact that there were color photos of every recipe listed. I’m a visual person and kind of like to see what to expect.

I also liked the fact that these recipes were indeed easy. Not a lot of extra unnecessary ingredients.

Let’s get to the recipes I made.

Slow-Cooker Hashbrown Casserole.

Skillet Dinner

Root Beer Float Cake

Still on my list?

Beef & Potato Roll

Down Home Taco Casserole

Spicy Carrot French Fries

Slow Cooker Potatoes Dijonnaise

Oh, Harry! Bars

I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!

I’m sure by now you’re wondering how you can win this fabulous Gooseberry Patch Cookbook.

Here’s what you can do. Please be sure to leave separate comments for each entry.

1. Leave me a comment telling me which one of those recipes I listed above you’d like me to make next.

Gooseberry Patch has given me permission to share the recipes that I’ve tried with you. You can click on the links above the recipes or the pictures themselves to visit my cooking blog, which is where I have them posted.

2. If you are a follower of my blog just let me know in a separate comment.

3. Tell me your favorite Gooseberry Patch book. If you don’t own one yet tell me which one you’d like to have. You can go here to visit their website and peruse their selections.

You have 3 chances to win. Good luck!

This giveaway is limited to the U.S and Canada and will run until 12pm EST Saturday, May 21, 2011

If you aren’t already staying in touch with Gooseberry Patch you can “like” them on FB and be able to keep track of all the other giveaways and fun things they have going on. If you don’t win this book you can pre-order in on Amazon by clicking on the picture.

HAVE FUN!

Friday Funnies! My boy!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Where has everyone been? I’ve missed you all. Well for those of you who are stopping by I hope you’re ready for some giggles. If you have a family friendly funny to share feel free to link it up below. It can be a funny story, picture, video etc. Don’t forget to visit others who link up for some more laughs.

 

My funny today is just one of the many conversations that my son and I have. Enjoy!

This particular conversation happened the other night. My husband had just got done putting the boys to bed and was in talking to our daughter. I was in our bed reading, ready for some quiet time, downloading my brain, enjoying some sweet alone time before I hit the hay. About 3 mins go by and my 8 year old son comes walking into the room. The conversation went something like this.

Him: “Hey Mom, Do you have an invention you want me to make?”

Me: *blank stare*

Him: “Cause I could make you whatever you wa….”

Husband calling from another room: “Get back into bed.”

Him: “Night Mom!”

Me: *Goes back to reading book, but all the while wondering if that boys brain ever shuts off. *

These conversations happen a lot. He’s going to make us rich some day! LOL!

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY!

31 Days to Clean Challenge. Days 5-9

I am still going strong with the 31 Days to Clean Challenge. It’s really giving me a sense of accomplishment each day. I love looking back and seeing what I’ve done.

The biggest challenge for me this week was cleaning out my pantry. I have to be honest. I don’t like my pantry. It’s to deep. I didn’t even know what I had back there. So before I started cleaning it out, I put the camera back as far as I could reach and took a couple of pictures.

This is what I found.

Gee wish I had known that parchment paper was there before I went and bought a brand new roll.

Anyway I did take before and after pictures because it’s always fun to snoop in other people’s cupboards. You know you’re looking at what’s in there. Don’t lie. Ha! Ha!

BEFORE (Top Part)

BEFORE (Bottom part)

Did anyone spot the 13.5lbs of baking soda? Okay it’s probably only 12.5lbs now. LOL! Only a few of you are going to get that.

AFTER (Top part)

LOL! I’m dying over here because it really doesn’t look that much better in the picture. Oh me! Let’s see the bottom half shall we?

Okay I can see a bit of a difference there. The main thing is that I took it all out and cleaned it. I sort of had to put things back close to where they were because I was pretty used to things being in a certain place. Oh and I only had 2 outdated cans. Yay me!

The kitchen part of the challenge is done. YAY!

But like I said before it’s not all about the cleaning challenges. The matters of the heart are getting a good cleaning too. She’s making me stop and think about specific things and it’s been really good. I’m getting a lot out of this.

Thanks for sticking it out with me.

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY!

For Hire:

I’m looking for a little help. If you feel you qualify please contact me. Qualifications are as noted:

• Must be able to follow me around in order to remind me of the reason I may have entered into a specific room at any given time.
• Must be able to complete my thoughts as I have not been able to do so on my own for a very long time.
• Must love children as they are here with me all day and might spontaneously ask you why I seem to have trouble hearing.
• Must have an internal GPS to find items that I have misplaced.
• Must be an exceptional motivational speaker as I need that to get to the gym most days.
• Must understand and be able to decode babbling. I do that when I’m thinking but usually forget what is was by the time I can write it down. I need YOU to write it down.
• Must be able to remember and remind me of appointments BEFORE the actual appointment.

Hours are long and the pay is cheap. But the entertainment is endless and for the most part amusing. If you’re out there please contact me immediately.

Can anyone relate?

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY MY FRIENDS!

 

My Week in Pictures!

You know, it was a pretty good week.

At the beginning of the week I started the 31 Days to Clean Challenge and got a tone done. Love the Mary and Martha Challenges!

I received my Gooseberry Patch Book and started trying some YUMMO recipes to share for the giveaway.

 

I also happen to win a giveaway that my dear friend Donna was having. What makes it so special is that it was all about birds. I love birds and use them in my decor’.  So this was just perfect.

  My BFF Kathy gave me the idea of framing the pretty birdie doily. So I spray painted a frame that I had lying around and put a bright green backing on it and Voila! It now hangs on my bedroom wall. I love it! Thanks Donna!

Mother’s Day was so special. My daughter made me this breakfast.

She also made the potato salad for lunch and my hubby made burgers and veggies on the grill. But that’s not the best part. She also made these for dessert. YUM!

She then gave me a foot massage and painted my toenails. Ahhh! Thank you my beautiful daughter.

My oldest son picked out these beautiful flowers.

 

Then both of my precious sons surprised me with these little gifts. Snickers? Uh, who likes those? Geesh! Those probably won’t even get eaten today.

Thank you my children for making me the proudest Mom in the world. You made me feel very special and very loved.  And thank you to my most excellent hubby for being their transport and in some cases financial lender.

How was your week?

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY!