Playing House

Hello and happy Monday! I am so thrilled to have another full week off work. I have lots of little things to accomplish on my To Do list, but nothing major so I am hoping to have some time to relax...:)

You might have read my last post where I mentioned taking down all my Christmas decor and getting my house back in order. I decided to move a few things around in my kitchen when I put things back that had been packed away for Christmas.  I thought I would share a few vignettes.....nothing spectacular, but they make me happy!

 First up is this little corner shelf. The shelf and everything on it was thrifted....except the little bottle on the top shelf. My hubby found it at work one day this past year. I love my little butter bell and the adorable cow creamers.

I tweaked the area on the left side of the stove a bit and added my vintage cheese dome (a gift from my Aunt Loretta, Christmas 2012). I also moved my large apothecary jar over here as well. It holds various tools....a juicer, an apple cutter, cupcake corer, choppers and biscuit cutter, etc. 

On the other side of the stove is my flower pot of large utensils and my salt jar. This is one of my favorite pins I have tried. You just cut the top off the salt box and place in in a ring on a canning jar. So simple and I love the way it looks...:)

On the other side of the kitchen is the coffee and snack station. The jadeite cannister on the left holds granola bars and the apothecary jars hold nuts.

This is one of my favorite thrifted finds...a beehive cannister. It is definitely vintage. 

This is a piece I created by marrying a cheese dome and plate with a chunky wooden candle stick. I made this a couple years ago and it has been used to hold coffee filters since.

In front of my sink is a plant, ceramic egg crate and a few bottles. I got these bottles for free recently and plan to one day use them outside on a bottle tree. 

You might have noticed this little sock monkey cup in the coffee station photo above. It was a gift from one of my students...:) He is too cute! I just love his handle ears.

I used it this morning and enjoyed a nice cup of hot chocolate with marshmallow cream. 

One last thing to share that has nothing to do with the kitchen. The hubs and I went to town earlier to run some errands and he needed to run in Tractor Supply. I normally don't care much for this store, but they always get neat items in for Christmas and I thought they may have something cool left and on clearance. I was right! I found this awesome twine holder made from chicken wire. It comes with cutters too. It was normally $9.99, but was 40% off so it was only going to be $6. When it rang up though , it was only $4.59! I was thrilled. I plan to paint it black and of course it will live in my craft room. Best thing is, I bought two of them so I can include the other one in my upcoming one year blog anniversary giveaway! So be sure to keep checking in for details on that. 

I do hope your Monday was a wonderful one! I am excited to share some treasures I picked up on my trip to town today...but that is for another day. Have a blessed week my friends.
Until next time.....

Bridal Shower Decor & a New Fur Baby!

Happy Monday friends! Today was pretty good for a Monday two weeks before school lets out for summer! Only 12 student contact day left! Can I get a Woo Hoo! The students are as ready for summer break as we teachers are...:) Funny thing is, I love my break, but spend half of it working on school stuff and after a month or so, I start itching to get back to it. I guess that's a good thing though....it means I love my job...:) Anywho, I thought I would share what I spent part of my weekend working on. Thursday night, I am helping hostess a bridal shower for my niece's sweet friend and I was in charge of decorations. So, since the bride to be didn't have a preference in theme or colors, I starting browsing Pinterest for ideas. I was inspired by the cake you see below. 

Source

Isn't it just adorable? Well, I decided to go with this cake and use purple in place of the pink. My niece told me that purple is her friend's favorite color. I later found out that purple and green are her favorite colors, so I think she will love it! The cake we are having made will have a top hat on the groom pear and a veil on the bride pear...cute huh? I can't wait to see it...:)

I made the decorations. You can see the buntings and pom poms I made in the photo below. 

The next couple photos are just some of the items I am using to decorate with. I am using my milk glass vases & silver trays, as well as a few other items from my home. 

The next two photos are the centerpieces. You might remember the green flowers from Friday's post. They look very pretty wrapped in burlap! I found the sweet purple votive holders at Ross Saturday.....3 in a pack for $2.99! 

You can see the burlap and paper layered under the silver tray in the photo below. Some have purple prints and some green. 

I found this sweet little heart frame at Michael's Saturday for just $1. It was unfinished and I painted it white, added some pearls, made some yo-yo flowers and a couple other flowers and some burlap leaves and trim and voila! A pretty frame to display a black and white photo of the sweet couple  at the shower...:)

I still have another banner to make....using sheet music! I'll share that one later. I can't wait to get it all put together! I sure hope she likes it...:)

Now.....I also got a new kitten Sunday! My mother-in-law had a stray have kittens under her porch and this was the one that didn't have a home yet, so she came home with me...:) My daughter wanted so badly to take her home, but it didn't work out with her living in an apartment and having roommates, so I brought her home and she can see her when she comes home. She wanted to name it Sheldon after Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, but, it's a girl, so we named her Farrah after Amy Farrah Fowler from Big Bang. My family loves that show...they are too funny! She has been running across my laptop while I am trying to type and I can't count the times I have had to redo parts of this post...LOL! She's a feisty little thing but she already has my heart! I love kittens and cats...:) I tried and tried to get a good picture of her today, but alas, it wasn't in the cards! She is far too hyper. This one is from yesterday at my mother-in-laws before we came home with her. She's  a cross between tabby and calico....a very strange mix! She is a cutie though...:)

Well, I'm off to cook supper before my evening walk. Have a blessed, restful evening my friends and thanks so much for visiting!

Until next time......

 

 

In the Kitchen!

Today I'm sharing a few recipes I found on Pinterest and finally got around to trying! Yesterday, I made peanut butter, chocolate chip muffins for the hubby and son. 

These will be quick to grab and go in the mornings!

Please excuse the Valentine's Day cupcake liners....just using up what I had on hand!

They look yummy....if only I liked peanut butter!

Haven't heard from my son yet, but the hubs liked them! They are low in sugar and high in protein so they are a healthier muffin than some. We are trying to eat a little better at our house! You can find the recipe here if you care to try them yourself...:)

***Update! My son just returned home and he informed me that the muffins were good! 

Double Win! :)

The next thing I tried was a snack for myself. I bought some Agave nectar a while back and have been wanting to try it in a recipe, so I tried this one that I pinned some time ago. They are raw cookie dough bites. They are supposed to taste like oatmeal cookie dough. I wouldn't say they taste quite like that, but they are really yummy! They are supposed to be rolled into balls, but mine wouldn't stick together, so you I plopped scoops in my mini muffin tin, packed them down, and stuck them in the freezer to firm up. I then removed them and placed them in a container with a lid so I can store them in the freezer. They are made with raw almonds, walnuts, oatmeal, mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, and agave nectar. You can find the recipe here...:)

The last recipe I am sharing for today is what I made for supper last night.....zucchini pizza! Yep, I said zucchini and pizza together! This is a carb free pizza version! You use zucchini as the "crust". I made mine slightly different that the recipe I found, but you could do this any way you choose and it would be good! I absolutely loved it...:) 

I used zucchini and cut some of the inside out to hold the toppings! I didn't waste it though, I placed it on the cookie sheet, drizzled a little olive oil on it, as well as some salt and pepper and baked it along with the pizzas....YUM! I also used grape tomatoes, halved, pepperoni, also halved, and grated mozzarella cheese. Next time I will sprinkle a little Parmesan on as well. I baked them at 375 for approximately 15 minutes and then reduced the heat to 300 for about 8 minutes. I will definitely be making these again! Delicious and healthy! Next time I think I will use low fat cheese and turkey pepperoni. Each pizza only has 1 1/2 slices of pepperoni though so there's not a lot of fat in them.

What kind of healthy recipes do you make? Please share if you have a favorite! I need ideas....:)

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Until next time....

 

 

Choosing to Look at the Bright Side!

Well friends....I had to go back to work today! I sure didn't want to though. I'm such a homebody and enjoy being home and just piddling around. I can always find something to do at home...:) Right now I should be writing lesson plans but I am just not into it. I have been preparing and finding ideas, but I just don't want to finish typing them out. It just hasn't been the best day....you know? I had a jury summons in the mail when I got home today...UGH!  Then I got home and turned on my school laptop to start lesson planning and it was making the most awful squealing noise. I had to turn the volume down to use it. I did a little research and think it is just the fan, but now I have to send in a tech request and wait for it to be fixed! On top of that, someone I love dearly is having a tough time figuring out exactly what to do with their life and is a little sad, which makes me sad too. Anywho, I just had to stop and count my blessings, for they are far greater than my problems! I did my devotionals which I didn't do this morning and I feel much better now. I love how God always has a message designed just for you when you need it the most.....:) 

He never fails me, even when I feel like life is! 

So, let me list some things I am looking forward to this week.....

1. Seeing my 5th graders tomorrow after 17 days without seeing them!

2. Continuing to eat healthy and try new healthy recipes.

3. Finishing the book I've been reading....:) It's sad...but good!

4. Start back walking tomorrow after work!

5. Enjoy a fun evening with the hubs and some friends Friday night for a birthday cook-out! BYOS....bring your own steak!

6. Soccer Opening Ceremonies....for my son's last year of soccer...sniff, sniff...

I am sure there will be other things to look forward to, but these are just the ones that I thought of first. I need only think for a few seconds about people all over the world who have much more on their plate than I to realize that I need to suck it up and move on. So....to end, here are some of my favorite pins from my Words board on Pinterest.....enjoy!

I don't know about you, but I love words! I hope you enjoyed those as much as I do....just a couple more pictures before I sign off! My little bluebird air freshener my sister picked up for me at Bath & Body when we went shopping.....he just makes me smile! I hope he makes you smile too!

Be sure to check in tomorrow....I'll be blogging about green smoothies! If you've never tried them, you should...:) 

Until then.....

 

 

Challenging Myself!!

Hello! Who doesn't love a good challenge? I know I do, however sometimes I'm not so good at sticking with it! I plan to change that this year. I have challenged myself to several things as part of my New Year's resolutions! Here they are....in no particular order.

52 Week Money Challenge

I was checking up on ProTeacher this morning when I stumbled across this idea. It is simple....basically, you save the amount of whatever week of the year it is. So, week 1 you put $1 in savings, week 2 is $2, week 35 is $35! Some folks are doing a countdown and starting with $52 the first week. It's up to you.....but simple, right? I don't know why I have never thought to do this before. Anywho, I totally went to the Facebook page to sign up for the challenge. Here is the link to go check it out for yourself. If you do it, at the end of the year, you will have saved $1,378.00!....easy peasy! 

Devotional Time

Here is my Instagram picture I made to remind myself that I need that quiet time with God each morning. I always say I'm going to do this, but never follow through. I'm trying hard this year to make it a priority! My Secret Santa at school gave me the little orange book titled The Chosen Path and it has a devotion a day. The other book, Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort & Joy is one my sister gave me over 10 years ago that I am rereading. It is an excellent book and really focuses on gratitude, as well as living simply and in the moment. I highly recommend it...:) It too has a page a day for the entire year!

Good Reads

This one I can thank my beautiful daughter, Miranda for! Here she is wearing her Smart Folks Read shirt! She is and always has been a reader! She devours books....makes a mama proud!

Anyway, she introduced me to goodreads and I just had to delve right in and sign up for a challenge! I challenged myself to read at least 25 books this year. It is hard for me to find time during the school year, but I have been trying to squeeze in a few minutes here and there because I love to read! Right now I am reading a sweet little fiction book called Candles on Bay Street. 

It's really good so far and I just found out that a Hallmark movie was made from it in 2006. Now I'm dying to see the movie! Next up on my list is Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. I really want to read it before I see the movie....which comes out in February! Sounds like a date night with the hubs to me...:) More about goodreads though.....you can basically list books you have read and want to read, as well as rate books, take quizzes on them and so on. It a true book nerds dream...lol! Check it out!

Couch to 5K

Ok....so this one will probably be the most difficult, but I am determined to do it! I am starting the year out by walking every evening, drinking only water, and eating healthier. I am hoping to lost about 30-40 pounds and then start the C25K work-out. A couple years ago, I lost about 30 pounds and I felt so much better. I'm ready to do it again. Running a 5K is a goal of mine and it's on my bucket list! I'm not getting any younger so I figure if I'm going to do it then I better get started.....NOW! I can't keep putting it off. Wish me luck and I could use some prayers too!

Last but not least....my Pinterest challenge!

I don't know about you, but I love Pinterest! I discovered the treasure trove almost a year before everyone else jumped on the bandwagon and quickly fell in LOVE. I am such a visual person and pinning pictures instead of saving bookmarks totally works for me. I have well over 5,000 pins now, but haven't been as good as I could be at actually using the ideas, recipes, tutorials, etc! So....my challenge to myself this year is to actually cook at least one dinner recipe and one dessert recipe per week. ( I know I just talked about losing weight, but I don't go cold turkey on sweets...I love them and still eat them in moderation.) I also want to make some of the crafty things I have pinned, and try some of the organization and house-cleaning tips and tricks. Now....I have already made lots of the things I have pinned such as homemade croutons, vinegar & alcohol cleaner, chocolate chip cookies,  and the button monogram (see my V below...on the right) just to name a few! I want to make more though....there are so many awesome things! 

Here are a few I want to make, try, or do this year.....

Painted floor...for the new porch we hope to build this summer!

Source: The Sunset Lane

Swing bed.....for the future porch!

Source: Jane Coslick

My very own library.....I have the books, now we just need to build my floor to ceiling shelves and a ladder!

Source: Mini Manor Blog

Paint my bedroom furniture....I have this exact same French Provincial dresser and nightstands by United. I bought them at a consignment shop a couple years ago!

Formerly listed on ETSY 

Board and batten for my dining room wall!

Source: Just a Girl 

Well....those are my 5 challenges! I know it's a lot, but I'm going to do my best to keep up with them and hope to be able to report success at the end of the year! So....what are your challenges this year? Please share and as always.....