3 in 30

A friend of mine linked up to a 3 in 30 challenge on her blog. There was a link, and so, of course, I followed. This challenge really speaks to me at a time in my life when I am struggling with getting things done. There's so much to do in the house (every room has at least something unfinished), in the kitchen (I'm trying to eat more and healthier), in my spirit (I'm trying to pray more and read the bible) and in my life (I'm trying to exercise, be healthy, blog, and balance life in general). I get overwhelmed with my to-do lists so I make schedules. I get overwhelmed with my schedules, so I give up. Last night I sat on my booty and watched 2 hours of TV for lack of anything better to do.

I'm attempting to go from 0-60 in a day, and it's stressing me out. I need to pare down my to-do list into something managable. I need to do 3 things this month, and 3 things next month, and eventually I'll be doing it all (ha!).

So what to start with?

The being healthy kick is time-sensitive. I am participating in a facebook challenge as well as a company sponsored (so I can get a discount on insurance) challenge, both to lose weight in the next few months. This needs to be one of my top 3 because, well, if I get to it "eventually" I won't be able to complete my challenges! Of the millions of things I could do to be healthy, I think this month I am going to focus on eating balanced meals. I don't eat enough. I never really knew this until I started trying to track the "portions" I eat and make sure everything is balanced. If I cut out the crap (which doesn't really fit into a food group anyway), there's not too much left. I skip breakfast a lot. I skip lunch frequently. I always have dinner, but I rarely snack. Basically, not enough. Starting this past weekend I've been focusing on eating more often, more meals, and more better (can I even say that? lol!). I have lost 2 pounds since Monday. wow! Apparently my body was in starvation mode... and I had no clue. So this month, I just want to keep it up. I want to keep eating enough food. I'm not going to worry about going over (within reason obviously), I just want to get the food in my body. Then, maybe next month, I can start counting the calories and see if I've gone "above and beyond" on my eating more. haha!

The next big thing for me is my spiritual life. I want to read the bible. I want to pray and be closer to God. I just haven't been doing it. So item #2 for me will be to read the bible every evening before bed. I'm not giving myself a time or chapter minimum... just so long as I pick up the bible and read something... ANYTHING. Every day. From here, I will try to work more on my memory verses. I am currently memorizing Collosians 3. I know v1-12, but I've hit a stumbling block. Basically, I've stopped trying. *sigh* I don't want memory to be a fad for me. So I commit to continue reading (I'm in Genesis right now), and to not forget the Collosians 3:1-12. The next step will be to work on memorizing the rest. I may continue to work on it, but that will just be a bonus. My PRIORITY (isn't that such a key word?) is to make time to read. Isn't it so easy to get overwhelmed when you try to do good? I go from not reading, not praying, being a 1-hour-on-Sunday Christian to having a fire in my heart. I want to read, study, memorize, pray, minister, and so much more... but I need to learn that these things take time. If I am not willing or able to carve out hours out of my day on a moments notice, then I need to accept that these things will take time to work into my life. This is where I am now.

#3 is the hardest. There are a few things I would like to focus on. I would like to run regularly. I would like to work on The Shine Project (another fun new blog thing I just found). I would like to finish the unfinished projects in the house. I'd like to clean more regularly. I'd like to spend quality outside time with my family. I'd like to clean up the yard (or does this go into unfinished projects?). I'd like to take more pictures. I'd like to visit more with friends and family. I'd like to send cards "just because." I'd also like to work on my complaining and my attitude in general. Ugh! I guess that's more than one thing...

Running is something I enjoy doing. While I would like to, eventually, build to running every day, I am consistently running at least 3 times a week and I think that is good enough for now.

The Shine Project is just not a priority. I really like the idea... I might even blog about it... today! BUT this is not going to be one of the 3 things I do without fail. And if I try the Shine Project and don't have time, it's gone. This is definitely something I'd like to attempt eventually, but it doesn't make sense right now.

The projects in my house are a beast. This is something important for me, but it is something to do as a family. I hesitate to put something like this on a list of "must do" because it concerns my husband as well. I know that there are things I can do by myself, but it would not take long before I required my husbands help and/or had to spend money. I think it is best to leave this off the list... but again, something I should at least be working on in my free time.

Cleaning is a maybe. I mean, it needs to be done. I'd like to think I could just do it, but this may be a good canidate for my 3 in 30 challenge.

Outside time, pictures, cards... all of this stuff is more "fluff" to me. I think they're important, but when it comes to getting my life back in order, I think there are more important things to focus on first.
Complaining is the other big one.

How do I choose between cleaning more and complaining less? I think this month I will go with cleaning more just because it's much more measurable (everyone remember there SMART goals? lol!). I already at least touch the big stuff weekly (sweep, vacuum, dust, etc), but I would like to vacuum more often. I think a good goal for me would be to vacuum every time little dude takes a bath. I discussed it with big dude, and he agreed to do the baths to give me the time. It won't be every day, probably, although little dude wishes we would, but it will at least be a few times a week. Ok that's the plan!

So...

For the next 30 days (roughly the month of April) I will be working on...

1)  Eating balanced meals every day
2)  Reading the bible every day
3)  Vacuuming/sweeping every time Braden takes a bath (on top of normal cleaning)

Also, I will be linking this up, however I'm a little ahead of the game. As they are wrapping up their current 30 days, I will wait until they begin again to link in.

Verse of the Week

I like the command in this verse. We're being told that it's not enough to sit back and relax and enjoy our pending salvation. There is work to be done.

Weekend TO-Do Reviewed

Here was the plan...

To-Do Thursday:
visit mom
meal plan
deep clean bathroom

To-Do Friday:
bank
bill pay/filing
grocery shopping
vaccum/dust/sweep/mop
run with Sharese in the evening

To-Do Saturday:
run first thing (before it gets too hot)
possible F-I-L visit/work in the morning
gallery night from 2pm-9pm
*if F-I-L doesn't come over I will clean the fridge

To-Do Sunday:
run 1 mile
church
lunch after church
couponing
visit mom

Not too shabby! I didn't run Sunday because I was horribly horribly hung over... ugh! But then that is typically the case when I have Sharese and Mike over. I didn't get to meal plan, but I'm not sure that's going to happen right now. See, I'm not good at 100% changes all at once. Right now my eating is getting a major overhaul on it's own (post to come). So I think that meal planning may have to wait until I get used to eating good food. haha! No excuses on the bathroom or the fridge though... I just haven't gotten to it yet.

How did your weekend go?

Making the Most of Your Internet Play Time

Jade over at Super Organiser Mum has a great post today. She recently took a week off of the internet. She unplugged, and just enjoyed life without the world wide web. Today's post reflects on what she learned in that time. Now that she is using the internet again, she has decided to limit the time that she is online.

I'm going to share with y'all a list of 5 things she did to make the most of her online time. The first few have to do with e-mail, so here is a picture of the inbox I am starting with. Also, I did these in my own order as you'll see...

{Is that really 111 items in my inbox and 951 unread items!?!?}

#1 Completely empty everything (inbox, sent, etc) and reorganize
 I started to delete things, but I soon realized that the first thing I needed to do was to
 #2 unsubscribe to all of the crap I had coming in

These are all things that I unsubscribed from. I don't really know where these came from, and they aren't things I ever read. So why do I still get them?
Oprah
NoMoreRack
Omaha
1saleaday
read it forward
Ok Gone!

I went through my inbox and deleted everything that wasn't necesasry.  There was a lot of crap to take care of before I could just hit delete. All of the links I had sent myself of future projects to try went into a notepad. Each recipe got it's own notepad to be printed later. I also had an Amazon Subscribe & Save I needed to un-subscribe to.

I created some folders which you can see marked in red in the picture below. I have it set up to show the inbox all the time. Any other category is shown only if there is something unread in it. I also used filters to move anything I subscribe to (newsletters, spark people, fly lady, etc) directly to the label and to skip the inbox. That way I know if there's anything new, but it's not right in my face distracting me. I can click on the
label when I have time to go through all the new messages.

You'll notice I haven't deleted EVERYTHING. I'm unable to save the videos to my computer (weird I know) at work. So I marked with a star everything I need to save to my home computer and plan to do that this evening. The other e-mails in there are things I am not finished working on. After the pictures you can
see that I'm planning a bachelorette party, I have my memory verse saved in there (so that I can easily
access it from home, work, the phone, etc.), and that I have a virtual pre-paid gift card to redeem...
don't get excited! There's only $1.27 left on it! *lol* There is also a reminder from a facebook group I
am in.

The majority of those will go away tonight when I can save the videos. The giftcard expires at the end of
the month, so if I can't think of anything I can buy online for $1.27 I will delete that when it expires (suggestions?).
The memory verse I'm still thinking about. It's convenient, but I don't know if I want it taking up the
space in my inbox. I think I'll see what it looks like once everything else is out, and then decide if I
will keep it there or not. The bachelorette party conversation will stay until August. But that's the only
one that will be there for any length of time.

#3 prioritize your internet time

I don't think this is a huge deal for me, but then again I don't think it would hurt. I am on the internet
for the following things:
couponing - mostly on Sundays
reading blogs - on lunch at work
writing my blogs - on lunch at work
playing Minecraft - occasionally in the evening with my hubby
facebooking - mostly on my phone
email - mostly on my phone
bill pay/budgeting - I try to do this every payday

The only things I think may be an issue is the facebook. My phone is addicting. I think I need to do as
Jade suggested and ask myself "is there anything else that needs to be done?" before I pick up my phone.
If the answer is yes, no facebook.

#4 pare down blog reading list

I just got in to blogging, so I don't know if I'm ready to do this. I have about 20 blogs I currently
read. Most of the time, I read these during the day at lunch at work. This doesn't really cut in to any
family/productive time.

#5 delete facebook friends

I've already been doing this some. I used to have over 1,000 friends (yes seriously), and now I have
gotten it down to 483. Woo hoo!

And here is the pretty after picture!

Ok, so I've gotten everything cleaned up as much as I can from here. I plan on clearing out the rest of
the pictures/movies this evening, and I'll just be left with important things that actually need to be
done! Yay!

Is your inbox/internet life in need of a little organizing?

Weekend To Do+

Alright ladies, it's time to get those weekend to-do lists ready. As a working mom, I rely on my weekends to get caught up on what I just don't have time to do during the week. This includes cleaning, cooking, errands, etc. There are certain things I do every weekend, or every other weekend which helps keep me on track. The repeated things are going to the bank, filing, paying bills, and the basic cleaning. I also try to grocery shop on the same day every week (Friday, except for couponing which is done Sunday-Tuesday). So with that, let's get started!

ToDo:
Go see mom
bank
bill pay
filing
vacuum
dust
sweep
mop
run Friday evening
run Saturday morning
run Sunday morning (1 mile?)
church - 10am Sunday
lunch after church - after church Sunday
Gallery Night - 2pm-9pm Saturday
grocery shopping
meal plan
FIL may be coming over to replace door to garage & bring more baseboards - Saturday

Last week's list:
clean out the fridge
dress shopping for the wedding I'm in in September (more of a need than a want)paint master bathroom trim
deep clean guest bathroom (so little man can go in there)
family filing (I'm so far behind!)cook a good meal
swing by Michael's and finally use my gift card
cook that ground beef that's going to go bad if I don't cook it soon! gah!
organize the office (yea right!)

I took off any thing that I have to do every weekend (aka typical cleaning) completely. So I can add to the list:

clean out the fridge
paint master bathroom trim
deep clean guest bathroom (so little man can go in there)

Time to Prioritize!

Time Sensative:
#1 bank
#2 bill pay
#3 running
#4 gallery night
#5 grocery shopping (we lived off of $25 for the last two weeks so we need food!!!)
#6 church & lunch after
#7 F-I-L coming over (maybe?)
#8 meal plan

Ick Factor + Baby Safety:
#9 vacuum/dust/sweep/mop
#10 deep clean guest bathroom (so little man can go in there)

Ick Factor:
#11 clean out the fridge

Other:
#12 go see mom... although this is really priority #1

My husband is calling his dad to find out if he's coming over Saturday to work on the house.  So that will make a big difference to my to-do list... hmm... waiting is hard...

Anyway, let's move on for now.

Things I can do tonight:
#8 meal plan
#10 deep clean bathroom
#12 go see mom

What I'm left with:
#1 bank
#2 bill pay
#3 running
#4 gallery night
#5 grocery shopping (we lived off of $25 for the last two weeks so we need food!!!)
#6 church & lunch after
#7 F-I-L coming over (maybe?)
#9 vacuum/dust/sweep/mop
#11 clean out the fridge

Ok so finally, the entire point of this post:

To-Do Thursday:
visit mom
meal plan
deep clean bathroom

To-Do Friday:
bank
bill pay/filing
grocery shopping
vaccum/dust/sweep/mop
run with Sharese in the evening

To-Do Saturday:
run first thing (before it gets too hot)
possible F-I-L visit/work in the morning*
gallery night from 2pm-9pm
*if F-I-L doesn't come over I will clean the fridge

To-Do Sunday:
run 1 mile
church
lunch after church
couponing
visit mom

Phew! That's a lot! We'll see how it goes... stay tuned for an update Monday!

Oops!

I made a boo-boo!

See, I started this blog for my own rambling thoughts. Then I started reaching out to other bloggers. To be honest, I wondered why nobody wrote me back. I wasn't really concerned though. This blog is first for me. Then I saw a little button called comments on my screen. What's this? I clicked it and... woah! People have been commenting.

Apparently, I never set up blogger to e-mail me when I got a message. Oops! The worst part is I missed out on meeting up with a really inspirational blogger while she was in town!

But now I know, so if I never wrote you back, I'm sorry. I promise I wasn't being rude... just being a newbie! And Susan, I'm so sorry I missed you while you were in town!!!!!

Meal Planning (aka. the dirty dirty devil)

Why I don't do it:

I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I HATE IT!

Ok, no really, I don't. I just think I do. I have no good reason not to meal plan. I see the success of so many people. I'm a rational person, and I can see that starting to meal plan now will help so much when my little one is not so little anymore. I also see the merit in helping my  husband. He gets off work 2 hours before me. He feeds the little man before I get home. I know that having a plan in place (or even pre-cooked) would help him imensly! OO! What if I cook when I get home, and make enough for 3 people (even though the smallest one is in bed). Then the leftovers for that will be his dinner with Daddy the next day! Perfect! So why don't I meal plan? I don't know...

Today I'm reading over on Ask Anna Moseley. When I say I'm reading somewhere, let me explain what that means. It means that someone, somewhere linked to her. Within her blog she linked to other posts she had done. At the bottome of those blog posts were links with pretty pictures that piqued my interest. I can spend hours on a new blog just link-hopping!

The page I ended on is about meal planning. *sigh* Why does everyone do this? One thing that has separated this post from the 9 bajillion other posts I have read on meal planning, is that she seems to think like me. She's got a list (L-O-V-E) with paragraphs explaining each thing (L-O-V-E)! Oh! And she doesn't plan meals for specific days! Ok, maybe that's the true reason I'm singing her praises. One of my anti-meal-plan go-tos is that I don't know today (Wednesday) what I want to have next Thursday. Sure, I'll be home. But how do I know I'll want mexican vs italian? or what about Chinese? Or maybe I just want a good ol' fashioned meat loaf!

Anyway, Anna breaks things down into 8 easy steps!

1) Get your recipes accessible. This is a hard one for me. I have TONS of cook books... but I don't actually cook out of them. I also have tons of meals I've made just playing around... but I don't remember how I made them. Then I have family/friend recipes... but I can't find them. Oh! And I have an entire drawer in my kitchen dedicated to all of this crap!

I've never given this a lot of thought, but it makes absolutely zero sense! Why do I have an unorganized junk drawer of recipes I never use, when I could have a much simpler, usable system. So here's my thoughts. I want to make recipe rings.  You know, the little open/close rings from the office supply store? Well I want to put my recipes on index cards and punch them. Then keep them on the ring. That will free up SOOOOOOO much space in my drawer! Ack!

I think I'll do one for cooking and one for baking. If you know me at all, you know I bake A LOT. And I'd like to keep those separate.

Also, if I keep with this meal planning thing, I can remove the recipe cards for the meals I'm planning, then just put them back when I'm done with them. If I don't meal plan, it'll still be convenient to have them there!

2) Get a meal calendar. Ok, as I said above, this is usually where you'll lose me. I don't know what I want to eat next week. I don't know what I want to eat tomorrow. In fact, if I have a snack this evening, I don't know what I'm going to want for that either! So how am I supposed to use a calendar? I know I know! But stay with me please... we'll get there!

3) Use a shopping list. Check! well sorta... See, I used to be GREAT about using a shopping list... but then I started couponing. Then I stopped using a shopping list and started using the couponing list. The problem is that, sometimes I need something that's not 50% or more off! In which case, I don't have it written down.

This shouldn't be hard for me though. I think the answer is to go back to having 2 shopping lists. The first one being my meal-plan/keep stocked at all times list. The second being my couponing list. If I keep a running list of everything I WANT in my house, it's easy to just cross off what I don't have to buy that particular day. Then I can add bonus things I need for specific recipes as well.

4) Count out the meals you need for that pay period. This is pretty easy for me. My dear husband and I work at the same place so we get paid on the same day. Every other Friday is payday in our house! Woo hoo!

{Skip this if you want... I don't mind... This is my family's particulars}

So there are always 14 days of meals. It breaks down to (for each pay period) 14 dinners (for 3), 18 breakfasts (for 1) at work, 2 breakfasts (for 1) at home, 4 breakfasts (for 3) at home, 18 lunches (for 1) at work, 2 lunches (for 1) at home, and 2 lunches (for 3) at home. If you're doing the math, you'll know I'm missing 2 lunches... those are SUnday at we go out to eat with the in-laws. 

{ok come back now!}

5) Go through the recipes and pull the number you need.

6) Make your shopping list.

7) Write the recipes on the calender. WHAT?! WAIT! BUT YOU SAID... I know I know! But here I'm going to quote directly from Ms. Anna herself.

"Here's my rule: write each recipe on any day you'd like, you are not restricted to making that recipe on that day.  If you want to be strict about it you are welcome to do that but I know for me sometimes I feel like making a certain thing and other times I don't.  The calendar is important because it's a visual tool of what you know you have on hand and what your options for dinner are but, for me, that's about it."

See! I told you I love her!

8) Keep it all together.  Basically, once you've gotten all organized, don't keep it all over the house. Keep it close together where you can easily access it all.

So there you go. I think I'm going to give this a try. It just so happens to be pay day this Friday, which gives me 2 days to get it all together... think I can do it? I'll definitely let you know how it goes!

Verse of the Week

This weeks verse is a favorite of mine. I like the not-so-subtle reminder it gives. We are not saved becasue of something WE have done. Salvation is a GIFT. 

Want to join me? Click the link below and check out Lindsay's site!

Weekend To Do: Reviewed

Ok, sorry for the late review, but yesterday was a very hectic day. Prayers would be appreciated for my mother who is in the hospital right now.

Here is what I intended to do:

To-Do Thursday:
Cook the ground beef and freeze
Clean fridge while that's cooking

To-Do Friday:
vacuumsweep floors
dress shopping

To-Do Saturday:
Quick dustmeal plan for next week

Thursday -
My dear husband cooked the ground beef for me! How nice was that?! This gave me the opportunity to clean the fridge (not done, but I got the door and all of those shelves cleaned up) and dust.

Friday -
A pretty crazy day. When I got home from work I was on the phone with the insurance people until it was time to go dress shopping... nothing accomplished! Ugh!

I did manage to vacuum when I got home though, and sweep up at least under the high chair where it was most needed.

Saturday -
Dusting was done, but I did not meal plan for the week. I really don't remember much of what I did, but I know we were busy!


So in general, not too shabby! I got everything done except for my meal plan. And since this is the first week I was going to try a meal plan, I don't think it's a huge loss that it wasn't done!

DIY - Ballard Designs Inspiration

Morning loves! I have been wanting to do a DIY tutorial for a long time... in fact, I've been wanting to DIY for a long time... but I confess I've been scared. I'm a perfectionist, you see. So I want things to be perfect. I also tend to be a bit hard on my self so the conversation goes something like this.

Me #1: Ooo! I can be crafty! I can make something for my home!
Me #2: No you can't! It won't be good enough!
Me #1: Yea, you're right...

And that's the end of it. But yesterday afternoon I told Me #2 to take a hike! I was killing some time at Michael's and I decided to finally make the Ballard Designs inspired artwork that was one of the very first blog posts I ever read.

 {Ballard Designs}

 http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2009/05/using-ballard-designs-as-inspiration.html

 
I didn't have the blog on me, and didn't think of looking it up on my phone, so I just winged it (is that right? winged? wang? idk...). So I needed pretty paper, glue of some sort, and something square. Canvases were on sale so I got a set of 4. I got some Mod Podge and a brush too. I came home and told my husband all about the plan I was going to do "eventually." He kinda gave me a funny look when I said I didn't know what to do. See, he was reading Harry Potter... and I just finished the last one... so what am I supposed to do with my time? Those of you who are quick are thinking "yea but, you bought crafty stuff, you could... idk... craft?" but I had already forgotten about that! So anyway, with some helpful reminders from my husband I decided to go on my way. What started out as a covered canvas project became much different and actually much cheaper, as you'll see below. This taught me a great lesson though, don't avoid doing projects you see on other people's blogs because it looks like something you can't do. You may be right, but you'll find a way to make it your own and will be all the happier for it!

So here are all my pretty little supplies:

 4 pretty blank canvases (6x6)

4 pretty scrapbook papers (I got the thick cardstock-like ones... I got them because they were prettier than the regular papers, but this will be important later.)
  

Mod Podge and a foam brush

The first thing I did is begin to wrap my canvas like a present.

In order to make the corners smooth, I folded them out to get a 45% angle fold.

Then I laid it flat and cut off the top (to avoid a build up of excess paper making the corner bulky and harder to deal with)

With all of the folds already in place, I wrapped the present right up. It's important to get all of the folds in place before you wrap so that you can get crisp clean lines.

The finished corner should look like this.

At this point (I don't have a picture), but it's looking like a big box without a top on it. I still needed to fold down the paper that's sticking straight up the back. When I did this it was very bulky again, so I made a few more cuts like so:

More wrapping.

And the final back looked like this.

At this point, I realized that the paper was really holding up well on it's own. I started to question whether I needed the canvases at all. After consulting with the boss man (my dear husband), we decided they were sturdy enough to live without canvases underneath. SCORE ONE FOR KRISTI! I now have 4 blank canvases for ANOTHER project! Woo hoo!

I unwrapped the canvas, pulled it out, and modgepodged my box together. We decided to go for a matte look, and since I had purchased semi-gloss modge podge I was very careful not to get any on the front or sides. If you purchased different modge podge or wanted a shinier look, you could always cover the whole thing, which would really save a lot of worrying about getting glue everywhere!

So here's the final project!

A beautiful wrapped canvas. And here's a shot of my secret...

All empty!


And here's the beauty on the wall! Yes, I know it's a little empty, but little man went to take a nap and we can't do any more hammering/hanging until he wakes up.

Final cost for this project $2.

The canvases were $12.99 (40% off... and I didn't use them anyway).
The Mod Podge was $3.89 (I don't count this because I barely used it at all).
The sponge brush was $0.39 (Also not counted since it will be reused).
The scrapbook paper was $2.00 (on sale 2/$1).

And it took about an hour!

Lessons I learned in my first DIY project...

1) Don't be afraid... just try it!
2) You could make the boxes SOOO much easier if you had a silhouette machine! Oh wait! I do... except I'm too scared to try it (see lesson #1)!


And finally a HUGE THANK YOU to Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick for the inspiration and for really getting me in to DIY design in the first place!


I linked up!

RBP Kickoff Giveaway

Mornin' Sunshines!

Yesterday, my friend Rachel launched a giveaway on her photography blog, Rachel Brenke Photography! She is giving away some amazing stuff, and has some really great vendors I haven't seen in other giveaways! Head over here to see the giveaway and leave her some love! Rachel is an Army wife in the middle of the newest deployment (of many)... and I really mean the middle, her husband is nearing the end of midtour right now! She has two adorable little ones, J and O, and... she was one of my first roommates in college! So send her some love and see if you might win something fabulous!

Fill In the Blank Friday

It's Fill in the Blank Friday! Join me over at Lauren's blog for a fun little linky party!

1.   The best deal I've ever gotten is  our car! Not what you were expecting I know! But when my little PT Cruiser broke down we needed a car like *now*! We found a car on Craig's List and the guy was nice enough to give it to us for $1k + my broken down car. We figured we'd have it for a few months until we could save up, but we've been in the car for a year now and I AM IN LOVE! It's a little Alero, it's not pretty, it vibrates a bit, but it is mine all mine! Best purchase I've ever made!

2.  If I were hosting a dinner party and could invite people from my fantasy guest list it would include  ok I thought about this one a lot... but I realy can't think of anyone. I think the "fantasy" for me would just be to have a dinner party. I NEVER do. So my fantasy guest list would really be any of my friends that I'm able to pluck up the courage to invite.

3.  Something that inspires me is  the wonderful blogs I read. I can't name just one, but all of these women are so crafty and it really inspires me to do things around the house. Sure I'll make mistakes, but things will get done just the same. And way more so than if I just sat on the couch and thought about it!

4.  If I could only choose to eat one flavor of food for the rest of eternity (sweet, salty, spicy, bitter....) I would have to go with   unami. Or however you spell it. The stuff that's in soy sauce... so that means I can just have sushi for the rest of my life. :)

5.  I dream about   weird things. Like seriously, sometimes they're creepy, sometimes they're just random. But I dream about some weird shiznip!

7.  If I could only  watch one movie or TV show for the rest of my life, it would be  CSI. The original from Las Vegas.

6.  My weekend will be spent  with my family. I want to go to Trader's Village but my husband doesn't seem to be with me on that. We'll probably do a little painting around the house and hang out with the little man!

Weekend To-Do: 3/18-3/20

To-Do for the weekend:
Ok this is a little different than my normal weekend... it's only 2 days! *gasp* I know right?! But I knew two weeks ago that I would have to work a half day tomorrow... what I found out today is that I get to work ALL DAY tomorrow. *sigh* At least it's just an 8 hour day, right? So anyway, my super-glorious-super-busy-get-stuff-done-while-the-family-is-away day has been condensed into one hour. Hmm...

Things I want to do:clean out the fridge
dress shopping for the wedding I'm in in September (more of a need than a want)
vacuum
dust
sweep/mop
paint master bathroom trim
deep clean guest bathroom (so little man can go in there)
family filing
cook a good meal
meal plan for next week
swing by Michael's and finally use my gift card
cook that ground beef that's going to go bad if I don't cook it soon! gah!
organize the office (yea right!)

Let's prioritize, shall we?

Time Sensative:#1 dress shopping. This has already been set up, so I don't really have an option.
#2 cook the ground beef. This will go bad like Saturday morning (it's been frozen, thawed again, and now I'm just pushing it).

Ick Factor + Baby Safety:#3 vacuum. My little man needs a clean floor to play on.
#4 sweep/mop. I'd really like to allow my little man into the kitchen/bathrooms...
#5 deep clean the guest bathroom
#6 sweep/mop. the master bathroom

Ick Factor:#7 dust. It's gettin a little ridiculous around here.
#8 clean out the fridge (if I had a choice this would be #1

Other: (aka stuff that will probably not happen)paint master bathroom trim. So it's all pretty!
family filing. The office is trashed.
cook a good meal (don't judge me... but if I'm going to be gone dress shopping, I won't be able to cook a gourmet meal... they will still eat!
meal plan for next week. Got to stick to this budget!
swing by Michael's and finally use my gift card. Cause I want to! haha!
organize the office.



So first things first. I need to call my friend and find out what time we're going tomorrow! 6pm! So I'll be home from work about 4:30 and have an hour until I need to leave again. (yes you were just involved in my internal conversation).

Things I can do tonight:cook the ground beef. ugh! I know! I don't want to! But it must be done.
Clean the fridge (while the beef is cooking).

Then tomorrow I can vacuum real quick and possibly vacuum before I have to leave. Ooo! And I could leave early so that I'm for sure there on time (big thing with me).

Saturday I can probably manage to dust and make a menu plan for next week at some point.

So what does that leave me with?
#4 mop. the kitchen
#5 deep clean guest bathroom
#6 sweep/mop. the master bathroom
paint master bathroom trim. So it's all pretty!
family filing. The office is trashed. :(
cook a good meal (don't judge me... but if I'm going to be gone dress shopping, I won't be able to cook a gourmet meal... they will still eat!
swing by Michael's and finally use my gift card. Cause I want to! haha!
organize the office.




Ok so finally, the entire point of this post:

To-Do Thursday:Cook the ground beef and freeze
Clean fridge while that's cooking

To-Do Friday:vacuum
sweep floors
dress shopping

To-Do Saturday:Quick dust
meal plan for next week

I feel much better.

Verse of the Week

Genesis 1:1

This verse speaks to me because I have recently begun (yet another attempt) to read the bible. I'm following the E Word Today plan to read the bible in a year. I chose to go from cover to cover... although since I don't own a bible in a version I like to read, it's more like "line to line" as I scroll down the iPhone. But I digress...

I actually started this yesterday, and so this is a verse I have read quite recently. It is such a simple verse. There's not a lot to read in to it. Not a lot to decipher. But WOW. I mean, it pretty much sums everything up.

In the beginning {ok, so this is the first thing that happened, got it!}
God created {God did it! 'Nuff said!}
the heavens and the earth. {so umm... everything!}

So ok, The first thing that happened is God made everything! How profound is that?! It all started with God.

And this reminds me, that whether things are great or not going so hot, I need to start with God. Give thanks, ask for help, but always turn to Him. He created everything, and he's available, so why WOULDN'T I go to him?

Want to join me? Click the link below and check out Lindsay's site!

Also, check out my girl Cristin's site over at Mom.Nonstop! She's the one who introduced me to this great little linky party!