The Simple Life of the Boreings

Blog Changes

2009-08-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

I have redesigned and moved my blog to WordPress.

You can visit the new blog Frugal & Simple Living at http://frugalandsimple.com/

If you want to keep up with our family, visit our family blog The Simple Life of the Boreings at http://blog.boreingfamily.com/

Maintenance

2009-08-07T18:28:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be doing some blog maintenance and re-vamping. The site may be down some over the next few days! Thanks for your patience!! If you find this post head over HERE to get to the new site.

Our Wedding Reception and Honeymoon

2009-08-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

I'm joining in again with Kelly for Show Us Your Life, this week is about your Wedding Reception and Honeymoon!

Our wedding reception was just lovely! We started it off with a receiving line! It was important to us to be able to speak to each of our guests who cared enough about us to join as witnesses to our special day! It did take quite a bit of time but it was wonderful getting to speak to everyone there!

Here we are cutting the cake! John David's Nana made our cake's for us!! It was beautiful and very special to us!

I think this picture is just lovely! The punch was wonderful...I only had 1 glass but remember that I wanted another glass of that great punch!!

The chocolate groom's cake with a tractor on it! You'll understand the tractor even more in a moment!

Leaving...I just love this shot with the bubbles in it!!

The getaway ride...a nice Case tractor!! I love that we left on a tractor...quite fitting since we met in the FFA!!

The tractor in all its glory!! (I suggested the tractor because I thought it would be fun & I didn't want to drive around on our honeymoon with "Just Married" written all over our car!!)

We didn't take many honeymoon pictures (we had a really bad camera that took horrible pics!) We honeymooned in Banner Elk, North Carolina and it was just lovely!! We went to the Banner Elk Cafe a few times for breakfast & dinner, we ate at this amazing barbeque place that I'd love to go back to and went to Grandfather Mountain. We went to the Mast General Store and Blowing Rock, NC and visited the little shops and got ice cream cones!! It was a lovely honeymoon!!

I Need Your Frugal Input!!

2009-08-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

Next month I am going to be teaching a class at church on the frugal lifestyle. I am really excited about this but also somewhat overwhelmed because there is so much I want to share and time constraints won't allow everything! I need some input from you!!

If you are just beginning a frugal lifestyle, what questions do you have? (Questions about anything from groceries, to clothing, to making things yourself!) Please send me these questions!!

If you are already frugal, what are some basic things that beginners can incorporate on their way to a frugal lifestyle and what basics would you cover if you taught this class?

Thanks so much! Just e-mail me at rachel@lifefrugalandsimple.com or leave a comment!

Decluttering the Master

2009-08-04T06:29:00.001-07:00

This week I am working on decluttering and finishing a few projects around the house. I started decluttering the master bedroom yesterday and went through all of our drawers, both night-stands and the closet.

All of this is leaving the master bedroom forever:

I have found that going through my house and evaluating our stuff about every 2 months really helps cut down on clutter. It is really amazing how much stuff 2 people living on a tight budget (& therefore not buying stuff "just because") can accumulate in a 2 month period! Our home is neat and organized and we are never overrun with stuff by doing this!

Financial Goals Update: July

2009-08-03T09:48:00.000-07:00

1. ~~Save 3 months living expenses by December 31.~~Yay!! We reached this goal 5 months early!! It's wonderful knowing that we have an emergency fund that is fully funded!!

2. ~~Pay $3,000 towards our "small loan".~~We completely paid off this loan!! :)

3. Make an extra principal payment every month. This month we finally started doing this!! 60% of my last paycheck went towards it and the money from John David's paycheck that has been going towards the Emergency fund was used too! Yay!!

4. Keep all Miscellaneous spending (Medicine, Toiletries, Clothing, Gifts, everything but food) under $100 a month.We kept it under $100 again! Yay!

5. Sell $500 worth of stuff from around our home by July 31. We sold 1 item in July and made a couple dollars. This goal was not reached on July 31, however we are going to continue to try to sell as much unwanted stuff in hopes that by December 31 we can say we reached the goal of $500!!

Meal Plan

2009-08-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

This week's meal plan is using food from the freezer and the garden!

Here's the plan:

Dinner:

Country Style Ribs with Grilled Veggies

Tomato Alfredo Pizza

Roast with Carrots, Potatoes & Onions

Mexican Chicken Salad (Lettuce, Green Pepper, Pico de Gallos, Cheese & Ranch Dressing)

Grilled Lemon Pepper Fish with Grilled Veggies

Chicken Pasta with Bread & Side Salad

Lunch:

Leftovers

Quesadillas

Breakfast:

Fruit

Oatmeal

Cream of Wheat

Cereal with Blueberries

1 Year Ago...

2009-08-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that it's been a year since I graduated!! I haven't taken a test, studied/crammed for hours, went to a class or had to endure long lectures & group work in a year! Time really does go by faster the older you get!

Sourdough Rolls

2009-08-01T17:21:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I began a sourdough starter and tonight I successfully made sourdough rolls!! They weren't pefect; they aren't big beautiful rolls but they tasted really good! In fact John David had 3 (that is success to me!!)

Nothin' Like Fresh Veggies

2009-08-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

I just love walking outside and coming back in with a bucket full of veggies!

Our Wedding

2009-07-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

I'm joining in with Kelly for Show Us Your Life and the topic this week is Weddings!

May 27, 2006

Our wedding was not typical at all because we weren't too concerned about the wedding!! We were young, very much in love, and firmly believed that it is more important to "plan a marriage and not a wedding." With that in mind we wanted a very small, inexpensive, intimate wedding where we could share the love of Jesus and the beauty of marriage!

We kept it simple and only had two attendants each. My sister, Rebekah, and John David's sister, Jill, were my bridesmaids.

My sister and me!

John David and Jill!

John David and his groomsmen (isn't this picture cute??) Casey was John David's best friend from high school and Adam served with him on a state officer team!

John David's former youth pastor, David, was the preacher for our wedding.

I can't share our wedding without sharing this story. John David was the ring bearer in David and LeAnn's wedding when he was 6 years old (they were living in East Tennessee at the time...where they are from)! At the time of our wedding, David was serving at a church in northern Middle Tennessee. In 2007 he became the Connections Pastor at a church in southern Middle Tennessee and in 2008 we moved to the same town with John David's job & we joined his church! Wow...what a God thing! But, it gets better!! On January 1 of this year John David went on staff as the Media Director at our church!! So, they are both over 200 miles from home and serving at the same church! Their family is like family especially since we don't have family near!

As I mentioned we wanted to keep our ceremony about God and the beauty of marriage. We had a time of worship and sang Be Thou My Vision and Holy Ground. Then we knelt at the alter and had our close friends and family pray for us and our marriage.

This picture of us praying is such a beautiful memory of our wedding.

After the prayer we sat down and David preached! With the ceremony and the sermon I believe we had probably one of the longest weddings ever!

We wrote our own vows . I love to read back over them and am glad we decided to share our hearts with each other during our ceremony.

Then we were pronounced man & wife and shared our first kiss as Mr. and Mrs. John David Boreing!

This is another special glimpse into our day. We are so blessed to still have our grandparents with us! All 8 of our grandparents were at our wedding. That is not something that happens very often and I am so happy that we have a picture with us, our parents, and grandparents.

Our wedding was wonderful but our marriage is even better!

Chaos & Productivity

2009-07-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

I brought John David lunch today and stayed a few hours working on the new KIDS building as well as painting the props for the new sermon series which starts Sunday. Since John David & Pastor Joey are so busy working on the new building I figured the more I could do to help with the props the less they have to worry about!

Once I left church I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things (I typically avoid Wal-Mart but they have things you just have to have!) There I purchased several packs of $.25 crayons (perfect for Operation Christmas Child boxes), a water bath canner, a pack of wide mouth pint Mason jars and a 5-quart bucket of Mayfield Neapolitan ice-cream! (It's much cheaper to buy Mayfield ice-cream in a 5-quart bucket and Wal-Mart is the only place that carries it!) After Wal-Mart I went to Aldi and picked up staples (sugar, milk, sour cream, butter) and ended up spending $24 there...it adds up fast some weeks!!

When I got home I unloaded the car, played with the dog, and then went out to the garden to see what treasures awaited me! My corn is looking great, several of my cantaloupes are getting riper, my cherry tomatoes look great, and my green beans were ready for picking.

Green beans!!! (The old 5-quart Mayfield buckets are perfect for use in the garden!!)

I snapped the green beans and then boiled water and put them in there for 3 minutes. I then took them out and put them in ice-cold water for about 5 minutes and then in my colander to get rid of excess moisture. I froze 3- 1 1/2 cup bags of green beans!!

Snapped and ready to be blanched so I can freeze them!

While I was working on the green beans I was also busy in the kitchen. I had a sink full of dishes from yesterday that needed to be washed and then I made chocolate chip cookies to bring to church tomorrow to share and Stir-Fry for dinner. After attempting to do those tasks at the same time my kitchen was an absolute disaster!

I don't think it's ever been this bad!!

An hour later order was restored and my kitchen once again is back to normal!! I often say that the kitchen is the best room in the house because everything has a specific place and you can go in there, make a huge mess (which I do when I cook), spend 30 minutes to an hour cleaning and it looks perfect once again with everything in its place! I wish the other rooms in my house were like the kitchen!! :)

Cooking Day & Working Days

2009-07-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

This has been a busy week! Monday was cooking day, after a few hours in the kitchen I managed to stock my freezer with some quick and easy meals!

I made and froze:

1 meal of Chili Verde
1 meal of Chicken Packet Stuffing
2 Poulet de France Casseroles
Huge pot of pintos to divide in 1 cup servings

I also chopped up celery that will go bad before I can use it to use in Chicken Noodle & Vegetable Soup this winter! And 2 cups of chicken broth from boiling chicken for my freezer meals! All in all it was productive!

Here are my 2 casseroles

Pinto beans before they cooked...I never took an after photo

That is where the normalcy of the week ends!! Tuesday and Wednesday I went to church with John David to work on the new children's building. It's opening this Sunday and there's work to do!! I have assisted John David with working on the lighting and sound, I've painted, taken inventory of tables and chairs, helped upholster a bench, all kinds of random things to do my part!

And so it's now Thursday morning, I slept in while John David went to the Staff Prayer Meeting and I'm preparing lunch! I'm making Chicken Packets using the filling that I made and froze Monday, but I made it to use on a day I didn't feel like fixing anything and today qualifies as that day!!

Garden Update

2009-07-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

The garden's a-growin' and I just get more excited every time I walk out to see it! I have a few ripe tomatoes, several tomatoes ripening, corn growing, cantaloupes getting bigger, it's just wonderful!!

Ripe Cherry Tomatoes!

Growing Sweet Corn

My biggest Cantaloupe

Not exactly sure what these are...I only planted Beefsteak & Cherry Tomatoes but I'm excited about them!

Ripening Beefsteak tomaotes...they aren't beautiful but as long as they taste good I'm happy!

Cabbage...I had given up on the cabbage completely but left it because I didn't want a big blank spot but it's producing now...exciting!!

My First Tomatoes!!

2009-07-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I picked my very first Cherry Tomato! This is the very first tomato I have ever grown too!

After finding it ripe, it didn't last long!

Yum!

Juicy!

Wonderful tomato!!

The tomato was wonderful and I think even more delicious than other garden tomatoes because I grew it!!

Menu Plan

2009-07-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

I have a fairly simple menu planning system that works great for me. Every weekend, typically on Sunday, I take a few minutes and plan out our meals for the week. Some weeks I am very structured planning a specific meal for every day and other weeks I just write down a list of meals and decide each morning what I am going to prepare that night. I have a dry erase board on the side of our fridge where I write the meals out. When I fix a meal, I mark it off the list!

This week's menu:

Monday
Cooking Day-Chili Verde, Chicken Packets & Poulet de France
Dinner-Beef Tacos on Corn Tortillas

Tuesday
Stir Fry (Chicken, Cabbage, Pepper, Onion, Celery, Carrots)

Wednesday
Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Apple Slices

Thursday
Grilled Deer Steak with Grilled Veggies and Sourdough Rolls

Friday
Country Style Ribs with Baked Potatoes and Cream Corn

Saturday
Alfredo Tomato Pizza

Sunday
Deer Roast with Potatoes, Carrots and Onions

Homemade Patty Melt

2009-07-26T18:02:00.001-07:00

In an attempt to eat a little healthier I have been considering trying to switch to healthier meats whether they be from our families farms, organic or without growth hormones & antibiotics. While we were grocery shopping this weekend I found a pound of ground Laura's Lean Beef marked down to $1.79 and decided to give it a try. It is a 92/8 beef and we could definitely tell the difference when grilling it!

We made Patty Melts for dinner! They were amazing with slices of Cabot Seriously Sharp White Cheddar and buttered grilled bread! The beef was delicious and I loved the lower fat content! I really think it's worth paying a little more for higher quality beef without the hormones and with a lower fat content!

Groceries

2009-07-26T17:49:00.001-07:00

The past few weeks I have really thought about the foods we eat and how unhealthy some things are. Our eating habits aren't bad, we don't eat a lot of processed foods like chips, cookies, meats, freezer meals, etc. however we still don't eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and healthy foods. I am going to start trying to eat much healthier and try to purchase organics and higher quality meats. I am not going to go completely organic and never eat "junk" food but I'm attempting to make healthier choices for our family!

With all that said, here is what we picked up at the grocery store this weekend (we have a freezer full of food and a producing garden so we didn't need to purchase much!)

2- Organic Kiwi @ $.55 ea. $1.10
1 lb. Laura's Lean Beef $1.79 (marked down)
Fresh Broccoli $1.59
3 lbs. Organic Onions $2.69 (less than a 3lb. bag non-organic onions!)
5 lbs. Whole Wheat Flour $2.49
White Vinegar $.56
Red Wine Vinegar $1.69
Hershey Syrup $1.76 (see...not everything is healthy!! Chocolate Milk!)

Total (with tax): $14.73

The First Green Beans

2009-07-25T17:46:00.000-07:00

The first green beans from the garden!

Snapped & ready to cook!

Wedding Dress

2009-07-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

I'm joining in with Kelly for Show Us Your Life and this week's theme is your wedding dress!

A front & back view of the dress!

I don't have the typical story that most women do, I never went dress shopping and found "the dress"! Instead I borrowed my dress! (In fact I was the only one in the bridal party without new wedding clothes, my mom bought a new dress & my dad bought a new suit for the wedding...ha!) The girl I borrowed it from is 5 years older than me and my mom babysat her when she was a little girl. We went over to her mom's home where the dress was kept and tried it on and it fit me like it was made for me! It's a beautiful dress with intricate beadwork on it and I just loved it! It not only saved us a ton of money on our wedding costs, I now don't have a wedding dress in the back of my closet to take up space! (Isn't that horribly unsentimental...however I have the most important part of my wedding and that's my HUSBAND!!)

My hair was elegantly pulled up with a tiara & veil!

Here's my husband reading me the vows he wrote!

Mr. and Mrs.!

Bountiful Harvest and Blessings

2009-07-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

We have been abundantly blessed with produce the past few weeks! Our friends from church gave us a huge bag of corn which we cut of the cob and froze 9 12-ounce bags of whole kernel corn! When my parents came last week they brought blackberries, tomatoes and purple hull peas and when my Grandma came to visit my sister in the hospital she brought me more tomatoes! And, to top all of this off we picked our first bell peppers!

It has been so much fun to watch our produce grow and such a blessing to receive from the abundance of friends and family!

This is what I have preserved thus far (minus the corn):

4- 2 cup bags of blackberries from my grandparents farm

4- 2 cup bags purple hull peas from my grandparents farm

The very first bell pepper from the garden!!

Peppers from my garden!!

Sliced peppers ready to freeze

5- 1 cup bags of sliced bell peppers

Tomatoes & tomato juice ready to be canned

5 pints & 1 jelly jar tomato juice
3 quarts & 1 pint tomatoes

Yard Raking

2009-07-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

Mac and Zorro

2009-07-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

When my family came to visit last week they brought Rebekah's dog, Zorro. Zorro and Mac hadn't seen each other since Christmastime and Mac has grown quite a bit since then! The two of them quickly became buddies again and enjoyed playing, barking, growling, fighting, walking, napping & eating together! I was happy that Mac was able to have a canine buddy visit for a few days!

Sweet pups taking their afternoon nap!

Zorro likes the boppy! It does seem to be the perfect small dog pillow!

Vintage Baby

2009-07-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

Tuesday evening Mom, Rebekah and I were watching some family videos of me when I was a baby and I was wearing this little sleeper with blue teddy bears on it. I remembered that I had it here so we decided to put Emerson in it since both Rebekah and I wore it as babies! It's a little snug but it's adorable!

Sweet yawn!

I just love all of her little expressions!

The Last Day of the Visit

2009-07-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning my family left! It was sad to see them go even though they had been here almost a week. In fact I was blinking back tears as they left! It has been really quiet with only Mac and me here at home while John David is at work but I suppose I will soon get back into the swing of things!

Here are a few more pictures of the sweet baby!

Snoozing in her swaddle blanket!

Trying so hard not to cry!

Family Visit

2009-07-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Rebekah was released from the hospital Tuesday around noon! She was so glad to be out of the hospital and able to eat solid foods! She is a little sore from the surgery but doing very well!

This is what we have been up to since Monday:

John David feeding Emerson Monday night around mid-night!

Holding Uncle John David's hand!

Enjoying her bedtime bottle!

Tuesday was a fairly relaxed day. John David went to work. I kept the baby in the morning and she slept pretty much the entire time so I was able to work and cook lunch (she is such a good baby!) When Mom, Dad and Beka got home they ate lunch and then we just had a relaxing afternoon and evening!

My dad was pretty impressed with our entertainment set-up. We have a Mac Mini & use Hulu and Boxee for all of our TV viewing. Here dad is researching about different systems! (And that is John David's "new to him" Mac Book he purchased off of Craigslist Monday night!)

This sweet girl napped!

The dogs played!

Mom fed the baby!

Emerson is tired of being fed...she is ready to be in control of her own feedings already!

I tried to take some pictures of Rebekah but she didn't want to be photographed! She snoozed & held her baby just happy to be out of the hospital!

Baby Feet

2009-07-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

My niece Emerson's tiny little feet!

What's Happening

2009-07-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

My parents, sister and niece came for a visit on Thursday night and were planning on visiting until Sunday. Well, Friday night my sister had two attacks (which were intiailly assumed to be panic attacks) and went to the emergency room. She had gallstones and her pancreas levels were really high. She was admitted to the hospital and has been there since Friday night. Sunday afternoon she had her gallbladder removed and hopefully will come home (to our home) Tuesday!

John David and I have been helping out with Emerson, we have taken care of her the past 3 nights and will be on baby duty again tonight! It has been an educational experience to say the least! (I am calling it baby college...I mean how many couples get to actually take care of an infant before they have their own children?)

Here is the beautiful girl Saturday. We bought her this wonderful swaddling blanket at TJ Maxx because it is impossible (at least for us) to swaddle with a receiving blanket!

The bouncy seat works wonders!

Here she is this morning in her jammies after eating breakfast!

Please keep my sister in your prayers that she will be able to come home sometime Tuesday, for healing without complications and for patience as she waits in her hospital room unable to hold her sweet babe.

One Month!

2009-07-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

Today Emerson is one month old!! I love that we were able to spend time with Emerson, Beka, Mom and Dad to celebrate one month!

Here is the sweet baby girl:

Sweet, sweet baby feet!

Precious!

Bedtime in her cute jammies!

Family Time

2009-07-17T20:22:00.000-07:00

My parents arrived yesterday for a weekend visit! We had a nice evening with my mom, dad, sister and niece! We enjoyed barbeque pork chops with corn on the cob (from their garden) and baked beans! After dinner John David and I held Emerson and mom, dad and Beka played Pay Day!

John David figured out that he can hold a sleeping baby while on the computer and using his Blackberry!

John David loves baby Emerson!

Mac was just sleeping!

Playing Pay Day!

Family Time!

Zorro relaxing while the Pay Day game was going on!

Blueberry Crisp

2009-07-17T07:29:00.000-07:00

Delicious!

Filling:

3 cups blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

Topping:

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup oats
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar

1. Mix blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt in a bowl for the filling. Transfer to a baking dish.
2. Mix flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. Cream butter and sugar together; stir dry ingredients into butter.
3. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Bake at 375 until bubbly in the center about 30 minutes or until topping is brown.

Work in Progress: Hot Dog Buns

2009-07-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

Last week was my first attempt at making homemade hot dog buns. I know making homemade hot dog buns sounds crazy to most people but I didn't have any hot dog buns and didn't want to run to the store to buy some and had all the ingredients to make my own. Additionally I am making better efforts to purchase and prepare healthier foods without preservatives and a list of ingredients where I can only pronounce about half of them!

My first batch of hot dogs buns were okay but not phenomenal so I am not sharing the recipe I used. Once I find a recipe that I am happy with and works really well then I will share!

Rolled out buns. I've realized it was probably a mistake baking them like this, next time I am going to put them much closer so they will be touching like the store bought buns.

The finished product. Most of them look like hot dog buns!

Close up of one of the buns.

An Italian Sausage in the bun.

Ready to eat!

This first batch was not horrible! They were a little thick and would have been too bread-y with hot dogs but our Italian Sausages were pretty thick so it wasn't bad. We decided to not use the rest of the buns for hot dogs so the next day I took some of the thicker buns and we made meatball subs out of them and then the remaining buns were toasted and made into breadcrumbs. I am still on a quest for the perfect hot dog/hamburger bun recipe! If you have any great bun recipes please leave the recipe in the comments or a link to it!

Away From Home

2009-07-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

I've not been doing much blogging lately because I am with a Tech Conference with my husband this week! It's funny that I am at a Tech Conference yet I am taking a break from most of my technology! Ironic! I haven't been keeping up with my e-mail or twitter much this week but I plan to be back soon!

When I get back tomorrow and begin blogging again I plan to share about making homemade hot dog buns, a wonderful blueberry crisp recipe, and pictures of my new niece (my family is coming to visit tomorrow)!

Random Facts About Me

2009-07-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to post some absolutely random facts about me to share a little bit about my personality!!

1. I love Jesus & I am thankful he saved me!

2. I plan to drive my paid for car until the wheels fall off...at least 200,000 miles!

3. One of my favorite foods is a Cheese Quesadilla cooked on the griddle!!

4. John David & I married 9 months & 1 day after we started dating, we were both 19 (he turned 20 four days later!)

5. I love spending time with John David, when we were married we had an entire summer together & enjoyed all of our college breaks. I think it would be weird adjusting to married life while working!

6. I love to read! Now that I am out of school I read 1-2 books a week!

7. I fully believe & follow "Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else!" :)

8. I teach preschool Sunday School class & love it!

9. I love to iron & listen to Dave Ramsey! It's a weekly routine!

10. I love cleanliness, organization & order in my home!

11. I don't want to move for at least 10 years...2 moves in a year takes a lot out of a person & I just want to stay put awhile!! :)

12. I love being a wife, I believe my primary "worldly" concern is to take care of my husband!

13. We have been planning for me to stay home with our kids since before we were married!

14. We live off one income since I am going to be a full-time wife & mom.

15. Coupon shopping is a hobby...I love grocery shopping days!

16. We rarely shop at Wal-Mart....we get all our groceries, cleaning supplies & toiletries at Kroger, Aldi & CVS!

17. I constantly have a to-do list made out!

18. I love buying my clothes at yard sales, thrift stores, Goodwill & clearance racks! (And hand-me-downs are even better!)

19. I love sharing a Sonic Route 44 Cherry Dr. Pepper with John David!

20. I love math! Crunching numbers related to personal finances is fun! :)

21. When asked where I want to eat I usually answer Taco Bell but I rarely get to go!!

22. I love shopping at CVS!

23. I want to learn to hand quilt!

24. I love boots!

25. Blogging is one of my favorite hobbies!

The Cost of My Livingroom

2009-07-12T20:32:00.001-07:00

I'm joining in with the Nester and sharing how much I have spent on my living room! We've been married 3 years & are in our early 20s so most everything is hand-me-downs or was given to us as gifts!! We appreciate the blessings and love the cozy little living room full of family furniture!!

*Barn Star-Gift from mother-in-law (she paid about $20 at Goodwill though!)

*Quilt Rack-My Daddy made it! (I made the quilt in the front!)

*Singer Sewing Desk/Treadle Machine-This belonged to my great-great grandma! My grandma gave it to me a few years ago & I love it! (The sewing machine on the desk belonged to my great grandma & it works wonderfully even though it's older than me!)

*Singer Sewing Machine in Case- We purchased this at a local antique store a few years ago for $60!

*Rocking Chair-This rocking chair is called the Woods of Tennessee and is made up using 10 different woods. My husband gave it to me our 2nd Christmas. It was $325 (and worth every penny)!

*Pinwheel Quilt- I just finished this quilt this week! It is made mostly from scraps and I spent $5.90 on it altogether!

*Floor Lamp-Wedding gift!

*Curtains- I just love my mistreatments! (This price is for both windows.) I bought this fabric on sale at Hobby Lobby, it was $25.12!

*Curtain Rods- (Again for both windows) These were a great find at Ross! I paid $13.98 for both!!

*Ring Clips- I bought a package of ring clips from Hobby Lobby for $5.99!

*Barn Star Candleholder-Goodwill find!! I paid $3.99 for it!

*Wreath-My mom bought this for me at an antique/gift store!

*Home Sweet Home picture-My mom gave this to me a few weeks ago! I just love it and it fits in perfectly with the living room decor!!

*TV Stand-Belonged to my husband when he lived at home! I would love to have a nice armoire but since that would cost money we don't have we are more than happy to use this TV stand!

*Coffee Table- This came from my in-laws and I just love it!

*Picture Frame Tray- (It's on the coffee table) My mom gave me this, I put black and white pictures from our wedding in it & I love it!

*Bookshelf-This too came from my in-laws! All of the picture frames, the clock & tray were gifts! (Most of them wedding gifts!!)

*Couch-This came with my husband too! I just love the black leather sectional!

*Yorkie Poo- Our dog Mac makes a nice decoration!! :) He was free too...my sister had 2 dogs & when she found out she was pregnant she gave us Mac! (We joke that everything is second hand including the dog!)

*Red Throw- My favorite blanket...wonderful wedding gift!

*Crocheted Throw-We purchased this at an estate sale last summer. We spent $10.50 on the throw, a big box of fabric, several cookbooks, a Christmas plate and other odds and ends. Let's say the throw was $5!

*PIllows- I made these using leftover fabric from the curtains!

*Picture Frames with Wedding Pictures- I paid $9.98 for both of these at Goodwill. (They are Target frames and still were in the original packaging & came with matting!!)

* 'B' Painting- This was a gift from a friend! The painting has 'as for me and my house we will serve the Lord' as the background! Check out her website If These Walls Could Speak to see more of her customizable artwork!

*Live, Love, Laugh Stickers- These were from my mother-in-law! (She bought it at Dollar Tree....that's $1 for this!!)

*Blanket Chest- This belonged to my husband's great grandma! We stained it and put on new hardware and spent right at $15 on that!

So that's our cozy little second hand living room!!

Grand Total (that we have spent:) $469.96

It's kinda hard to believe that we have spent less than $500 on our entire living room! You'd think on that kind of budget we would have a couch from the 1980s & hate our living room but the opposite is true...we love it!!! Of course, I would love an armoire & a nice chair/recliner in black leather or black/cream plaid! It would be nice but those things will come with time (& more money!)

Hope you enjoyed our living room!! :)

Pinwheel Quilt

2009-07-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

I have been working on this small quilt off and on several months! I originally planned to just do the blue pinwheels but added in red to give it more color! It didn't cost much either! The fabric in the blue pinwheels were leftover from another quilt, the red gingham was given to me, I purchased the white fabric for the pinwheels for $3.07, my grandma gave me the red backing & white binding, the batting was given to me and the red thread was $2.83. So all together I spent $5.90!

The binding and corner seam...it's far from perfect but works!

The backing!

This is where it is now! I love the red, white & blue...perfect for July!

Here is the quilt a few days ago before the binding and links to past posts about this quilt.

The Garden

2009-07-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Our garden is growing really well! I am learning as I go, I may have a degree in Agriculture but basic gardening is not taught! This is my first time to have my own garden! It is far from perfect and many of my plants are a little behind but I am learning so much and we have vegetables growing (the most important thing about the garden!!)

We haven't used any chemicals in the garden but we do use liquid Miracle Grow once a week. Surprisingly we haven't had many problems with bugs...I hope they stay away as our vegetables grow!

The Garden

My largest Bell Pepper

Tiny Bell Pepper

Green Beans...they were planted late but hopefully they will produce!

Pinto Bean plant

Pinto Beans...I started these from dry beans from the grocery store, I'm anxious to see how they turn out!

Tomatoes...the Tomato plants are small but they are producing!

Red Beans...these were also started from dry beans from the grocery store!

Cantaloupe plant

My biggest Cantaloupe!

Tiny Cantaloupe!

Corn...it's a little behind but hopefully it will produce!

My huge Cherry Tomato plant in the front flowerbed!!

The beautiful Cherry Tomatoes!

I am so excited about salads with Cherry Tomatoes, canning Tomatoes, eating fresh Cantaloupe, making fajitas with the Bell Peppers....

Past Garden Posts:
May 21 All seedlings planted!
March 26 Starting the seeds!

Home Improvements

2009-07-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

We have recently finished the last of the "major" home improvements! We have lived in our home 6 1/2 months and now have painted every door inside, all walls (minus wainscoting in dining room), all baseboards, crown molding, and chair-rail! It feels wonderful to have all of this done!!

Painted guest room closet...we hope to put in some type of closet system soon but for now it is just an empty closet ( & I refuse to allow it to collect clutter!)

Painted studio closet!

Close up of studio closet!

Fixed the wiring in the living room!! These switches have been uncovered with some of them hanging out for 6 1/2 months so I am so happy to have the wiring fixed & covered! My father-in-law and husband worked on this project this weekend! It's wonderful to have it fixed!

In this shot you can see my covered wiring & my painted front door! It looks so much better!

I finally found a shower curtain! We have had only a liner up since we moved in! I refused to pay $20-30 for a shower curtain knowing that if I patiently waited and looked around I would find one at a good price! I found this new looking, white curtain at Goodwill for $3.99!!

The lighting is bad in this shot...the bathroom has chocolate brown walls below the chair-rail and creamy tan walls above with white chair rail, crown and baseboards so the white shower curtain looks great in here!

Home Cooked Breakfast

2009-07-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks I have made it a priority to cook John David a hot breakfast at least once a week! He is getting tired of cereal and wants meat and potatoes for breakfast! I don't really like frying foods, but I am more than happy to do it for the man I love who takes care of me ( & whose primary love language is "Acts of Service.") I woke up really early this morning and had this lovely breakfast ready for him when he got out of the shower!

Fried Potatoes

Pork Patties

Raspberry Muffins

Everything was delicious, my hubby was happy and I froze the leftover Raspberry Muffins for a convenient homemade breakfast!

Pinwheel Quilt Progress

2009-07-08T07:56:00.001-07:00

Here is the latest shot of the quilt! I have it "quilted" and now all I lack is the binding which is lying beside the quilt waiting for me to iron it and then sew it on! (The binding is my least favorite part!) I hope to finish this sometime today! And as you can see Mac is in the picture...he loves when I sew because he likes lying on fabric or quilt batting!

Quilt Progression:
June 25
June 9
February 7
October 24

Saving Weekend Leftovers

2009-07-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

We had an overabundance of food this weekend! On top of all the food I bought for the weekend, my mother-in-law brought lots of fruits and veggies and our friends, The Claros, had an abundance of Chicken Pasta that they blessed us with! Our fridge NEVER looks like this! (That is why John David took this picture!) Our fridge is never full because we would waste so much food if it was and I like to be able to see everything in there! So after our family left, what were we supposed to do with all of the food? There was no way we could eat all of it without having any go to waste so I decided to freeze some of the leftovers!

This is what I froze:

2- 1 cup bags Raspberries
2-1 cup bags Pineapples (for smoothies)
2-1 cup bags Blueberries
2-4 pack Buns
1- 1/2 gallon Chicken Pasta
2-1/2 quart bags Baked Beans

So I saved food which saves us money and nothing will go to waste!

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-07T07:24:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend full of family, fun & food!! John David's parents and sister came in on Friday evening! We kicked off the weekend with Homemade Pizza and Cheese-Stuffed Garlic Breadsticks! They also brought fresh picked raspberries from their farm and fresh North Carolina blueberries! Yum!!

My 4th of July breakfast:

Raspberries, Blueberries & Strawberries

On the 4th we did a little shopping and then came home and cooked a wonderful All-American meal of Grilled Hamburgers, Baked Beans, Sweet Potato Fries & Potato Chips! We didn't buy any fireworks but we did step outside for a little while and watch the fireworks some of our neighbors were shooting off! (That's makes for a frugal 4th of July!!)

Burgers on the grill!

Sunday we went to church, stopped by Taco Express for lunch and had Super Nachos (John David & I split the nachos!)! Yum!

Super Nachos

Sunday afternoon was lazy (with naps) followed by the Church Picnic & Fireworks! We had a great weekend!

As you can tell we took no pictures of people...just the food! Ha!

Meal Plan for this Week

2009-07-06T19:27:00.000-07:00

We had so many leftovers from the weekend that made my meal planning for the first half of this week really easy!! I am also not going to go grocery shopping this week because I have a freezer full of meat & pre-made meals that we need to eat to make room for vegetables & fruit from the garden!

Here is the meal plan:

Monday: Leftover Hamburgers with Fresh Fruit
Tuesday: Leftover Chicken Pasta with Fresh Fruit
Wednesday: Meatloaf with Potatoes & Carrots
Thursday: Salad
Friday: Grilled Deer Steak with Grilled Veggies & Side Salad
Saturday-Pinto Beans, Greens & Cornbread
Sunday-Leftover night or Homemade Frozen Pizza

Lunches:
Leftovers
Quesadillas
Salad
Fruit Salad
Veggies

Breakfasts:
Fruit Salad
Cheerios
Waffles

The Simple Woman's Daybook-July 6

2009-07-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

For Today...

Outside my window...it's overcast & dreary!

I am thinking...I love lazy days at home with John David!

I am thankful for...being an American!

From the kitchen...I don't think I will be cooking for a day or two because of all the leftovers from this weekend!

I am wearing...my pajamas...still!!

I am reading...nothing as of right now! (I have slowed down on my reading which is keeping my home cleaner!) :)

I am hoping...to have a great week!!

I am creating...still working on the pinwheel quilt...I need red thread to finish it!

Around the house...things are in slight disarray but can wait until tomorrow since hubby is off today!

One of my favorite things...fresh berries!

A few plans for the rest of the week...get the house cleaned up, freeze leftovers that we won't be able to eat this week, work on the quilt, get a few home improvement projects done!

Financial Goals Update: June

2009-07-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

1. Save 3 months living expenses by December 31. We had a CD come due that we opened late last summer before we bought our home so we used that to pay off debt and put the rest in our emergency fund! At the end of June we have reached 87% of this goal! We hope to have this fully funded by October 1!!

2. ~~Pay $3,000 towards our "small loan".~~ This month we paid the entire "small loan" off!! WE'RE DEBT FREE...minus our home!! It feels wonderful to not be in debt again...hopefully these past 6 months will be the only time in our life that we have any debt except for a mortgage!

3. Make an extra principal payment every month. We haven't been doing this because we have been focusing on getting our debt paid and working on our emergency fund. However, since we refinanced and our payment was lowered we made an extra principal payment for the difference since we were already paying that and we are going to make this payment every month!! Once the emergency fund is fully funded we will begin making even more extra principal payments!

4. Keep all Miscellaneous spending (Medicine, Toiletries, Clothing, Gifts, everything but food) under $100 a month.In June we did a great job keeping our miscellaneous spending in check! We only spent $52.31 this month!

5. Sell $500 worth of stuff from around our home by July 31. We didn't sell anything in June..I seriously doubt that we will reach this goal by July 31 because we still have $248.61 to go to reach the goal but we are going to keep trying!!

The Real Reason Behind Our Lifestyle

2009-07-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

When my husband and I were planning on getting married we had several important conversations about finances, our roles in the household and kids. We decided before marriage that when we are blessed with children that I will stay home with them. Both John David and I had mother’s who stayed home when we were small and recognized what an impact that had on shaping us.

We married when we were young, in college, and poor! I was 19, he was 20 and our income was approximately $20,000 a year. Because of such a meager income we knew before marriage that in order to make it and not go into debt we were going to have to live very frugally. We were okay with hand-me-down furniture from family, shopping for clothing at thrift stores, not going out much, and living on a limited grocery budget. It wasn’t always easy, especially in the beginning, but we don’t have any regrets about our lifestyle and know those small sacrifices have gotten us to where we are today.

Since we entered into our marriage knowing that I will stay home with our children, we lived frugally during the next 2 1/2 years. We saved money given to us when we married, income from odd jobs, and once John David started working we kept our standard of living the same as it was in college to save! By keeping our standard of living the same and continuing to fine-tune our frugality we were able to purchase our first affordable home in December 2008 (with a 20% down payment)!

Now we are 22 and 23, own our own home, two paid for (older) cars, have no debt and almost have a fully funded emergency fund. We currently are living off of my husband's income (less than $35,000). I work limited part time (20-30 hours a month on average). My earnings are not figured into the family budget because we don’t want to rely on my income at all. Currently, my income, after tithes, goes to a car savings fund & our emergency fund!

We don’t have children now but we know that when we have children there will be absolutely no stress about deciding if I should stay home, losing one income or how we are going to make it. We know we will have to make material sacrifices, keep our hand-me down furniture, continue shopping at thrift stores, eat out rarely and stick to the tight grocery budget but it will be worth it because our children will be our wealth!

If you are married without children it is not too soon to make the decision to stay home. I believe the sooner you make the decision the more prepared and less stressed you will be once you find out you are pregnant or bring your precious baby home and decide then you want to stay home.

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Pray!

2. Have an honest, heart-to-heart conversation with your husband and discuss whether staying home is what you both want for your family.

3. Before the kids are born (or as soon as you and your husband decide you are going to stay home with your little ones) begin to adjust your budget to live only off of your husbands income. Use your earnings to pay off debt, build up a nice emergency fund, or pay extra principal towards your home.

4. Keep in mind that all the stuff we want and work so hard for (large homes, new vehicles, designer clothes, the latest and greatest electronic gadgets) do not bring us fulfillment and have no eternal significance. However, children are of eternal significance!! I know there will be days once I have children that I will probably question my sanity about my decision to stay home but I know that once I reach the end of this life I won't have any regrets about giving up vacations and new cars to stay home with the children God has given me.

Be sure to visit Amy at The Finer Things in Life for more articles about staying home in her Mommy, Come Home! series.

*This is my story, my personal conviction and my suggestions to help those who feel they are called to be full-time mommies. I do not look down on women who work outside the home at all, I know they are doing what they believe is best for their family.*

Italian Meatballs

2009-07-01T07:15:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I purchased a couple of 1 pound bags of frozen meatballs for $1.99. They made boring spaghetti into yummy spaghetti and meatballs! We finished our last bag of meatballs and I knew that making meatballs from scratch had to be better for us. So when I found ground beef on sale for $1.19 a pound this week I decided to make meatballs!

Here is the recipe (which I doubled to make 2 pounds):

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup Italian Breadcrumbs
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 medium onion
garlic
salt
pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Don't add all of the water at one time. Mixture should be moist but not so that meatballs fall apart. (I only used half of the water!)

Shape meatballs to desired size. (I used this cookie scoop to make sure all of my meatballs were the same size.)

Place on a broiler pan. (I just used my cookie sheets!)

(Close up of uncooked meatball.)

Broil until outside is slightly brown on one side and then turn and broil the other side. (Here is a shot comparing the cooked meatball and the uncooked.)

I then put mine on the cooling rack so they would completely cool before I froze them.

Yield: 62 meatballs (doubled recipe)

I separated the meatballs into 5-12 packs and froze them so now I have homemade meatballs to add to my spaghetti sauce! (And I sampled the other 2 which were delicious!)

Italian Breadcrumbs

2009-07-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a recipe for making very frugal Italian Breadcrumbs!

1 cup plain breadcrumbs*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon sugar
dash of oregano

Mix all ingredients.

*I used 4 pieces of bread, toasted it and put it in the food processor to make fine breadcrumbs. (I used the end pieces and the lone slice from last week's loaf which I typically would have just composted and an end piece from my new loaf!)

Homegrown Lettuce

2009-06-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our first salad with lettuce from our garden!!

A bowl of beautiful home-grown, chemical-free lettuce!

The delicious salads:

2 bowls with lettuce

Add grilled chicken and salad dressing! (John David took this photo... I am really concentrating on pouring the dressing!)

John David's salad-blue cheese dressing with blue cheese crumbles

My salad- ranch dressing

They were both delicious and I must admit I loved the fact that I grew the lettuce!!!

The Garden's Growing

2009-06-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

I am one happy girl because my tomatoes are beginning to fruit!! Yay!! Several of my cherry tomatoes & beefsteak tomatoes have tiny little green tomatoes on them which means very soon I will be eating garden fresh tomatoes!! I cannot wait!!

Beautiful tiny green cherry tomatoes!

My lettuce...I'm ready for a big salad!

Here are the tomatoes & lettuce on both sides of my front entrance!! I used up all available ground to plant all of my seedlings!!

The Simple Woman's Daybook-June 29

2009-06-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

For Today...

Outside my window...the sun is shining and it is beautiful...not too hot yet!

I am thinking...I am going to have a wonderful and relaxing week at home!

I am thankful for...a wonderful husband to helps me with household projects!

From the kitchen...it's a mess! We came home late last night and hubby is off this morning so I ignored the dishes because I would rather spend time with him! They will be there this afternoon!

I am wearing...red athletic shorts & an old FFA Camp t-shirt!

I am reading...Just to See You Smile by Sally John.

I am hoping...to have a productive week and get several things marked off my to-do list!

I am creating...still working on my pinwheel quilt!

Around the house...things are somewhat in disarray because of the busy week last week but not as bad as I figured it would be!

One of my favorite things...watching my garden grow!

A few plans for the rest of the week...organize studio, clean out guest room, get the basement/garage in order!

This Week's Menu

2009-06-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

We had VBS last week so I changed a few of my meals around...I kept things very simple!! So this week the meal plan looks a lot like last week's menu!

Dinners:

Grilled Chicken with Salad
Steak Fajitas
Hamburger Gravy
Grilled Steak with Potatoes and Salad
Pizza
Hamburgers, Baked Beans and Chips
Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Chips

Lunches:

Leftovers!

Breakfasts:

Cereal
Waffles
Cream of Wheat
Fresh Fruit

Absolute Randomness!

2009-06-28T15:03:00.001-07:00

It's been a busy past week and a half with my sister having her baby & VBS at church all last week. I've had a lot of stuff going on and even more swirling around in my mind but little time to blog each little thing so here are some of my random thoughts:

*VBS was tons of fun but very tiring! We have it from 9-12 but as an effort to be frugal and save gas I rode to work with John David everyday and stayed at church until 5:00 every evening except Wednesday which was 9:00....towards the end of the week I felt like I lived at church!! (I worked some, blogged a little, read, and hung out with him some!) I worked with the Younger 4's class, we had an average of 14 everyday! They were really great kids...full of energy but great!! I noticed that the little girls were so much more loving...they kept wanting to sit in my lap every time I sat down on the floor with them but not once did one of the boys try to get in my lap! It was just amazing to me those gender influenced personality differences!! Towards the end of the week I was tired but I had a blast with the kiddos!!

*I/John David made Red Velvet Cake Balls to take to a potluck Friday and I found out that Almond Bark and I do not get along! I first tried the microwave, then John David suggested putting my Pyrex in boiling water to create a double boiler but by that time there was too much cake in the almond bark and it wouldn't melt again! I finally dumped that and he melted the rest of it for me. Then as I started to dip one of the cake balls it slipped and I grabbed it thus burning my hand so I gave up! My precious/wonderful/amazing husband finished them for me! I said I wasn't going to make anything with almond bark for 4 years but they turned out so amazing I just might break that promise! Any suggestions on how to make dipping really easy??

*We LOVE The Unit! Last weekend we finished watching Season 4 and we were talking about it at lunch one day this week and one of John David's co-workers has the past 3 seasons and he brought us Season 1! We started watching it Friday night and watched 4 episodes! It is such a great show that keeps you on your toes and it has the man element with the military and woman element with the soldiers wives! But be warned it can become addictive!!

*The Brad Paisley song "Ticks" with the line, "I'd like to check you for ticks" is very cute and could maybe even be considered a "country romance" song but in reality it is completely horrible! We were sitting on the couch the other night and I looked down at my leg to see this tiny fleck, I tried to brush it off but it wouldn't budge so I pulled at it...turns out it was a micro tick!! Well, I got to looking and there was another micro tick and another! I finally asked my wonderful husband to check me for ticks!! We probably pulled off 15 of those micro ticks and they aren't exactly easy to find!! I will never sing that song without thinking about the reality of getting checked for ticks! And I think they were over near my blackberry bushes because John David didn't have a single one on him and he didn't go near the blackberries so next time I will suit up and immediately put my clothes in the wash and shower!! Ewww.....

*I think I will be sewing a lot more! My grandma and mom's friend, Cindy, gave me fabric! Wow! A lot of it is really cute and I can't wait to make quilts and aprons! The best part was that I needed solid red backing and solid white for binding for my pinwheel quilt and there was 3 yards of red and lots of white in this which saves me money! Yay! Here is all the fabric:

Episode 24: Compost Bucket

2009-06-27T19:34:00.001-07:00

It's finally here! Episode 24 of Life: Frugal and Simple. In this episode special guest John David Boreing joins me as we make a compost bucket for your back yard.

Completed bucket with zip ties.

Completed bucket with nylon string.

Inside view.

Close up view of inside.

Where the screen comes together inside.

Beautiful Baby

2009-06-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

A few more pictures of baby Emerson wearing some of the adorable outfits given to her! We took so many pictures it was hard to decide which ones to share but these are my favorites of her!

Pinwheel Quilt Progress

2009-06-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

I've finished the quilt top for my pinwheel quilt and I really like it! Now all that is left is the backing, binding and quilting! This will be a perfect project to finish up inside the cool house to stay out of the unbearable mid-day heat!

Emerson

2009-06-24T14:47:00.000-07:00

We took a lot of pictures of Emerson when we were visiting! John David took most of them and he did a wonderful job, he is a very talented baby photographer! I just had to share these!

She's gorgeous!

I just love this close up of her sweet face!

Sweet little hand, perfect tiny fingernails and baby bracelet!

Holding Uncle John David's finger!

Our Niece

2009-06-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a week since I have written on the blog but I have a good reason! My sister had her baby!!

Emerson Alexandria, was born on June 17 at 9:54 a.m. she weighed 7 pounds and was 21 1/2 inches long.

We were able to go visit and were at my parents house when they came home from the hospital! Emerson is such a gorgeous baby & so sweet! John David and I haven't been around many newborns and we were both amazed at how tiny and precious she was! We loved her the moment we looked at her!!

I'm an aunt!

Uncle John David

Gran & Emerson

Beautiful Mommy & Baby

Uncle John David loves his little niece

Beautiful baby!

Uncle John David, Aunt Rachel & Baby Emerson

I just love her!

She loved him holding her!

John David and me with Rebekah and Emerson

This Week's Menu

2009-06-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

We got through last week without going to the grocery store at al! My sister had her baby on Wednesday so we were visiting my family Thursday-Saturday so I never got to cook some of the meals I had planned last week!

As of today we have $77.77 in the grocery budget for the month and only need to purchase milk & bread. I probably will go to Kroger because they are having a Mega Sale this week! Yay!

Here is the plan for this week:

Dinners:
Monday: Chicken Fajitas
Tuesday: Hamburger Gravy with Broccoli
Wednesday: Chicken Salad Sandwiches & Chips
Thursday: Grilled Chicken & Salad
Friday: Grilled Steak with Potatoes & Salad
Saturday: Homemade Pizza

Lunches:
Leftovers!!

Breakfast:
Cereal
Waffles
Fruit

100,000 Miles

2009-06-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon we drove down to Birmingham because friends from Cherry Grove Baptist (where John David grew up) were down there for World Changers. We enjoyed the nice Sunday afternoon ride and really enjoyed spending a few hours with friends!

On the way home we realized that we were going to hit 100,000 on our Escape! I was so glad that John David grabbed the camera before we left & excited that we were going to get to celebrate 100,000 together!

We have a 2002 Escape that my daddy bought me after I graduated from high school & received a full-ride scholarship (we had struck a deal that full ride = new ride!!) We bought it in June 2005 and it had 39,000 miles on it! So in the past 4 years I/we have put 61,000 on it! This car took me all across the great state of Tennessee while I was a state FFA officer, I got my first speeding ticket in it and I made the 8 hour trip from my parents to John David's parents a few times in it! We took the Escape on our honeymoon, on a mission trip to Iowa & have made countless trips to our parents homes in it! We have lots of memories & hope that it keeps going another 100,000!!

About to hit 100,000....99,999 is memorable too!

Wow...100,000 miles!!

To celebrate we stopped & took pictures (obviously) and then got Frosty's at Wendy's! It was a fun way to celebrate the little milestone!

Of course I had to laugh at us & our frugality because most people think it is time for a new car when they get close to 70,000 or 80,000 but not us...we want to see that odometer keep going on up!

This Week's Menu

2009-06-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

After grocery shopping last week I had $87.77 left in the budget. My husband went out to lunch one day last week and spent $10 so my remaining grocery budget for the month is $77.77. My grocery budget for this week is $38.88.

I was able to make a meal plan out of foods that are already in my freezer and pantry so my plan is to not go grocery shopping this week although we may have to pick up milk because we have less than half a gallon right now. But hopefully at the most we will spent $3 this week on groceries!

Here is my menu plan using foods on hand:

Dinners:
Monday: Dinner with father-in-law who is in town!
Tuesday: Stir Fry (Chicken, Cabbage, Broccoli, Carrots)
Wednesday: Hamburger Gravy
Thursday: Grilled Steak with Potatoes & Salad
Friday: Grilled Barbeque Salad with Salad
Saturday: Steak Fajitas

Lunches:
Leftovers
Pizza Pockets
Cheese Quesadillas
Sunday lunch: Country Ham with Pintos & Cream Corn

Breakfast:
Cereal
Cream of Wheat
Scrambled Eggs & Ham
Fruit
Yogurt

Here is a link to my grocery shopping methods so you can understand how I can go a week without grocery shopping!

The Simple Woman's Daybook-June 15

2009-06-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

For Today...

Outside my window...it's cloudy...I hope it doesn't rain!

I am thinking...about what the day holds!

I am thankful for...my parents & John David's parents for teaching us sound financial principals and most importantly to be good stewards of all that God blesses us with!

From the kitchen...it's a bit of a mess...I made chicken salad earlier this morning for John David to take to work!

I am wearing...shorts & a t-shirt...I am serious about cleaning house today!

I am reading...Even Now by Karen Kingsbury

I am hoping...to get everything on today's to-do list done! :)

I am creating...a pinwheel quilt...I finished the top last week now I need to work on the backing & binding!

Around the house...the fans are running & the dog is laying down...all is peaceful!

One of my favorite things...Frosty's with John David....we had one last night to celebrate my car reaching 100,000 miles!

A few plans for the rest of the week...mop the basement floor, finish staking the tomatoes, send John David to work everyday with a good lunch, paint my upstairs basement door & inside of the front door!

My New Painting

2009-06-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

Here is my beautiful painting from If These Walls Could Speak! Annie Brown, who goes to church with me, recently began If These Walls Could Speak and her artwork is beautiful!

This art is in the Special Occasions category on the website. The background says, "But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord."

I had been looking for something personalized to put with our wedding pictures and this was perfect plus it matches my living room perfectly!

You can see that it goes perfect with my black couch and red accents!

All of Annie's artwork is personalized! If you like this painting you can change colors, change the scripture, and have your art made to match your room!

Quilt Progress

2009-06-09T20:17:00.003-07:00

I am working on a pinwheel quilt....this has been an ongoing project for months, in fact I referenced the patches in Life: Frugal and Simple on October 24...and again in the episode Easy Baby Quilt-Part One on February 7!

All of the blocks are sewn together in strips!

Now time to sew the strips together to make a beautiful quilt top!

My Grocery Shopping Methods

2009-06-09T20:17:00.001-07:00

I have been doing really well stretching my money grocery shopping the past few months even without many coupons! I have learned that stocking up on items when they are on sale is a great way to stretch my grocery budget! Some of my stock up items recently have been $.79 cent Kroger Cocoa Rice cereal (I purchased 5...every box they had marked down), $1.89 boneless skinless chicken breasts at Kroger (this week), and 3 boxes of Lipton tea bags that were on sale at CVS and after purchasing them with ECB's they cost me virtually nothing! By purchasing these items so inexpensively and stocking up I am able to save a lot of money! Since I have been stocking up for a while on items at low prices I am able to plan meals around what I already have and then I go to the grocery store to pick up milk, produce, and stock up on more sale items which is really helping me stretch my food money!

Monthly Grocery Budget:$160 ($40 a week)

Last week's grocery shopping:

Kroger

Italian Sausage (Manager's Special) $1.49
Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs FREE (with coupon)

Total: $1.76

Aldi:

(3 pounds chicken breast, 4 packs tortillas, produce, eggs, chocolate milk...yummy treat!)

Total: $25.67

Budget remaining: $132.27 ($12.57 below weekly budget!)

This week's groceries...no pictures since we went shopping right after church and we came home at 2:00 starving, I had to cook and put groceries away...not take pictures!!

I meal planned before we went shopping and only needed milk and apples, the rest of the items were to stock up with and for snacks!

Kroger:
8.78 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts @$1.89/lb.

6 Yoplait Yogurt @$.50 each ($3 minus $.40 manufacturer coupon doubled, minus $.40 shortcut) $1.80 ($.30 each)

Total:$19.84

Aldi:
5 lbs sugar $2.29
2 Macaroni & Cheese $.35 each*
Peas $.49*
Green Beans $.49*
Baby Dills $1.19
Applesauce $.99
Instant Rice $1.35*
Sour Cream $.89
Butter $1.99
Mozarella Cheese $1.29
Whipped Topping $.85
Milk $2.29
3 lbs Apples $2.99
Tortilla Chips $.99
Kettle Potato Chips $1.99
Cheese Puffs $.99

Total: $21.77

*Items for the food pantry at church

I also forgot to purchase soy sauce and my husband picked that up for me, it was $1.50.

Budget Remaining: $87.77 ($4.80 over weekly budget of $40 but $7.77 under monthly budget!)

So that is a little bit of insight into my grocery shopping method and the way I stretch my food dollars and keep a running total of how I am doing budget wise for the month!

No New Clothes Challenge

2009-06-08T15:39:00.001-07:00

A few months ago while I was cleaning out my closet and evaluating my spring/summer clothes I realized I have a lot more clothes than I need. Even knowing this, I would still like to have new clothes and spring/summer clothes are my favorites to buy because they are so cute! I decided to challenge myself and not purchase any new clothes for the summer season...this means no clothes from thrift stores & yard sales too! It is going to be a bit of a challenge but the way I look at it I am getting more value out of the clothes I already have and saving money which can be applied to our emergency fund once we pay off the last little bit of our debt!!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-06-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

Breakfast:
Cereal
Fruit
Yogurt
Cream of Wheat

Lunches:
Leftovers
Quesadillas
Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Dinners:
Scalloped Potatoes with Ham & Gouda Cheese
Stir Fry (Cabbage, Broccoli, Carrots, Onions, Mushrooms, Chicken...yum!)
Fajitas
Chicken Wraps
Grilled Hot Dogs with Chips
Grilled Chicken with Salad

We are really enjoying our grill...it's making summertime cooking so easy!

The Simple Woman's Daybook-June 8

2009-06-08T05:17:00.000-07:00

For Today...

Outside my window...the sun is shining bright...perfect day for hanging laundry on the line!

I am thinking...about what projects I am going to work on today!

I am thankful for...my "part-time" job and that I am able to work from home!

From the kitchen...I haven't started breakfast...I might cook or it might just be a day for cereal!

I am wearing...peach pajama shorts & a black tank top.

I am reading...Remembered by Tamara Alexander

I am hoping...that this will be a wonderful week!

I am creating...a pinwheel baby quilt! I am making quite a bit of progress finally!

Around the house...everything is peaceful! John David is still sleeping & the dog is playing with his monkey!

One of my favorite things...spending a whole day with John David! This Saturday we watched TV, grilled out, and did a little cleaning together!

A few plans for the rest of the week...finish the quilt top, hang up pictures in our living room, organize in the basement, make a few homemade 'convenience' meals to put in the freezer!

French Bread

2009-06-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

1 package yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon shortening, melted
1 1/2 cups warm water, divided
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups all purpose flour
Cornmeal

In mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup water. Add sugar, salt, shortening, and remaining water. Stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until smooth (do not knead). Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled. Turn onto a floured surface. Divide in half, let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into a 10 in. x 8 in. rectangle. Roll up from alongside; pinch to seal. Place seam side down on greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops with cornmeal. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. With a sharp knife, make 5 diagonal cuts across the top of each loaf. Bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. Yield: 2 loaves.

John David's mamaw gave me this recipe when we were visiting a few weeks ago. I have been anxious to try it and finally baked it! It isn't beautiful but tastes amazing!!

Here are my loaves:

They are far from perfect but delicious!

Leftover pasta makes a nice lunch with a slice of french bread!

One Year Ago

2009-06-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

Around this time last year my husband started his new job and I was finishing up college by taking CLEP tests and 2 online classes. Since I was still in school, I didn't look for a job because I needed time to study for these CLEP tests. It was our intention that when I graduated I would find a full time job.

Since it was impossible to study for a full 8 hours a day I needed something to do to keep me occupied as well as make me feel productive. I began evaluating our spending, clipping coupons, shopping at CVS, all in order to save money and be a good homemaker.

Here is an excerpt from a blog post from June 6, 2008:

"Since I have been home I have had some time to find things to keep me occupied and I decided to start using coupons and planning my meals according to the sales to save money at the grocery store. Now please don't think I am cheap because I am not! I am trying to be more frugal and wise with the money that God has blessed us with and we are working on saving up for our down payment since buying a house could be in the not so distant future for us!! Anyways, I went to Wal-Mart and using my coupons I bought a box of Honey Bunches of Oats, Post Live Active Cereal, and Grape Juicy Juice for $1.46 tax included! I thought that was pretty exciting! Then I went to Aldi for the first time and was impressed, I will probably do some more shopping there, I spent $10.02 there and then I went to Kroger and after a few coupons my grand total was $33.50 (after buying beef & ice cream for John David!) My grand total for groceries for the next two weeks was $44.98! Not bad at all...my mama would be proud!"

This really was a starting point for our "intense frugality." We have always been frugal (I am a saver....in fact some of my babysitting money from when I was a teenager was used for our house down payment!) It's hard to be married in college, without jobs, living off of excess financial aid and not be frugal however we now look back at those days and wonder how we did it. We ate out often and thought nothing of purchasing things just because we wanted it.

I really believed in college that we would get out and have good paying jobs, purchase 1 if not 2 new vehicles, and live in a $150,000-$200,000 house! My husband's first job out of college paid great and had a great future earning potential. However, we realized last summer when I began staying home just how much we could save for a down payment on our home by spending more carefully and with me having time to bargain shop, meal plan, use coupons, and cook dinner everynight. We were able to save more that $500 a month while he was at that job for our down payment! (From a single income!)

We evaluated my worth staying home and decided that I am more valuable at home. First of all our food costs are much lower because I do bargain shop, use coupons and cook our meals and snacks from scratch, I know if I worked full time our food costs would probably be doubled because I would come home drained and not want to cook anything and convenient foods and eating out would be my answer! Since I don't work full-time, I am able to keep our home clean and John David doesn't have to bother with housework,laundry, or meal planning/preparation at all. He comes home from a busy day of work and he is able to relax!

After evaluating what I was worth to my husband at home we decided that I would work part-time. I work from home around 20 hours a month and am currently going into the office once every week or every other week. This gives me something to do, the ability to use my degree, and earn a little money. We live only off of my husband's income, my earnings currently are for paying off debt and car savings (car repair/"new to us" car fund). Once we get the debt paid off, my earnings will be to get the emergency fund fully funded and then will be used for extra principal. Since we are strictly living off of his income, once we have children I won't have to work at all unless I want to.

It's interesting looking back on your life and recognizing turning points and lifestyle changes!

I love managing our household and being my husbands helpmeet!

I Made a Dress!

2009-06-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

In April my mom visited and we made a dress together! She taught me how to read the pattern and I paid attention to everything she did! I decided that I needed to make one by myself as a test to see what I had actually learned! I spent several hours one day and was able to cut it out and sew most of it! Then I ignored it a few weeks and finally put the zipper and some finishing touches on it. The only thing I didn't do was hem it, my mother-in-law hemmed it for me! (I tried to hem it and it was frustrating...I can hem but it is my least favorite part of sewing!)

Here is the dress:

It is not exactly perfect but I am very proud of it!

It's fun to wear because the skirt is so full...I like to spin around in it!!

The back view!

I wore it to church on Sunday (hubby's birthday!) It is a very light cream with royal blue flowers. My white sweater didn't match and my cream sweater was too dark plus it looked bland so I added this hot pink sweater to give it some color...very cute!

Cost: $1.95 for the zipper! I already had the pattern, zipper, dress fabric, and lining fabric.

I didn't want to go out and purchase $10-12 worth of fabric for an experimental dress so I looked in my fabric stash to see what I had and there was enough of this blue floral fabric & solid cream (for the lining) to make a dress. The fabric is from curtains in my old apartment! When we moved I changed color schemes and had no need for them! (Of course I made the curtains inexpensively out of simple cotton fabric so it's not like I made a dress out of drapery fabric!!) I am calling the dress my Scarlett dress!!

The curtains:

Here is the fabric in its former glory in my living room!

You just can't beat $1.95 for a cute little dress with an even funnier story!

Financial Goals Update: May

2009-06-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

1. Save 3 months living expenses by December 31. We were able to contribute $70 to this in May & now have 41.5% of our goal!
2. ~~Pay $3,000 towards our "small loan".~~ We have reached this goal but are continuing to pay this down and hope to have the entire loan paid before the end of the year!
3. Make an extra principal payment every month. We have not been doing this, I still have it listed because it is one of my original goals and I want be completely accountable to the goals we set. The reason we are not making extra principal payments is because we have debt and don't have our emergency fund fully funded...once these are in place we will begin making extra principal payments! We did however refinance our mortgage on the 29th and dropped our interest rate almost 1 percent and set up a bi-weekly payment plan which will help to pay the house off faster!!
4. Keep all Miscellaneous spending (Medicine, Toiletries, Clothing, Gifts, everything but food) under $100 a month. Since we have been staying well under $100 we changed the amount to $75! This month we were cutting it close to the $75 and only had $1.83 left at the end of the month! The majority of our expenses were at Lowe's for gardening supplies, potting soil, and compost bucket stuff!
5. Sell $500 worth of stuff from around our home by July 31.We sold $23.61 this month!! The remaining goal is $248.61 which seems unlikely to sell that much by July 31 but we will see!!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-06-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

This week my meal plan is solely based on what I have already! I am trying to use up food from my freezer so I will have space to freeze fruits & vegetables from my garden!

Breakfasts:
Cream of Wheat (my new favorite sweetened with brown sugar & a little butter!)
Cereal
Fruit

Lunches:
Leftovers
Salads

Dinners:
Grilled Pork Chops with Salad & Baked Potatoes
Stroganoff
Steak & Gravy with Mashed Potatoes
Spaghetti & Meatballs
Taco Dip
Grilled Ham Steaks with Cream Corn & Baked Apples

The Simple Woman's Daybook-June 1

2009-06-01T06:35:00.000-07:00

For Today...

Outside my window...the sun is shining & it's beautiful!

I am thinking...I cannot believe it is already June! Where is the year going??

I am thankful for...a big glass of ice water on a warm day!

From the kitchen...all is in order minus the dishes in the sink! Cream of Wheat sweetened with brown sugar will be my breakfast!

I am wearing...my pink nightgown!

I am reading...Simple Church by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger

I am hoping...to be productive this week & get several things checked off the master to do list!!

I am creating...either an apron or quilt...I can't decide which I want to work on first! I did finish my dress though...finally!

Around the house...it's peaceful! I just love mornings! John David is still home doing a little work on his computer too!

One of my favorite things...grilled food! John David bought a new grill last week and we are enjoying it!

A few plans for the rest of the week...clean out, organize & mop basement, paint the inside of my front door, paint the door to the basement, & work on apron/quilt...whichever I decide to make first!

John David's Birthday

2009-05-31T21:04:00.000-07:00

My wonderful husband turned 23 today! Since his birthday fell on a Sunday he worked hard this morning! We went to La Fuente for lunch! It's a wonderful Mexican restaurant and they have a buffet which is amazing! We both really enjoyed that...we had yummy Mexican foods & strawberry ice cream for dessert!! I didn't have an actual gift to give him but I am buying him a new pair of Cinch jeans (his favorite brand) and we are going to order those on-line! I didn't want to just order him a pair because I wanted to make sure I got the right style & color!

More Mac

2009-05-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

Every night we pull our excess pillows off the bed and put them in our recliner! Well, Mac really likes the recliner and while I was tossing the pillows on the recliner Mac was getting buried in pillows! Luckily my camera was close and I was able to snap a few cute pics of him!

Stuff Sold (May)

2009-05-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

I have set a goal to sell $500 worth of stuff from around our home in one year beginning August 1, 2008 and ending July 31, 2009!

I haven't sold anything since February and it's looking like I won't reach the goal by July 31 but I am continuing to try to sell things that we aren't using or don't need!

*God's Timing for Your Life $2.61 (minus shipping costs, sold on half.com)
*Microwave $16
*Hamilton Beach Drinkmaster $5

Total Sold: $23.61

Remaining to reach goal: $248.61*

*I need to sell $124.30 in June and in July to meet this goal...possible but probably unlikely!

John David's New Grill

2009-05-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

On Memorial Day we went shopping for a grill and in true Boreing fashion we got it discounted!! We had our choice narrowed down to 2 grills and we spent about 30 minutes comparing the two and trying to decide which on we wanted. Finally another salesman asked if a discount would make the decision easier. My bargain savvy husband said, "Of course." One of the grills, which was $189, had a few scratches and a bowed hot dog dog rack. They discounted it to $149 and John David said, "We'll take it!" So this is our new grill which we got $40 off which is 20% savings!! Yay!

The grill is a Char-Griller. It looks like a smoker and the name makes you think it is a charcoal grill but it is a gas grill. When we had our propane tank set for our home John David had them plumb in a line to the deck to hook up a grill so it's hooked up to a 100 gallon propane tank..so we'll be grilling all summer long!

Country syle ribs John David made last night! Yum! He soaked them in vinegar and then coated them with his special sauce (which is wonderful!)

He even put a pepper on his! This ribs look small close up but they were huge...we even had leftovers they were so big!

Here is the master griller himself! Now that we have a grill he will be taking care of a lot of the summer cooking which is wonderful! I am seeing hamburgers, ribs, chicken, pork chops, hot dogs, and maybe even a grilled pizza in my future!!

All About Weddings

2009-05-30T08:26:00.001-07:00

Last night the women's ministry at our church hosted an All About Weddings event. It started with a bridal fashion show, our women's ministry leader, Marie, talked about becoming the bride of Christ, and then was followed by a vendor show.

I participated in the fashion show! I wore my bridesmaid dress from my friend Kara's wedding which was in December. She told me that I would wear this dress again and turns out she was right! As of now I have worn it 3 times, at her wedding, for a picture to promote the All About Weddings Event, and last night during the show!

This is a beautiful bridesmaid dress!

The vendor show had wedding cake & punch (the punch was amazing...I hope to get the recipe!) There were photographers, wedding planners, caterers, Pampered Chef consultants, and Annie Brown was there with her new business If These Walls Could Speak. Her artwork is beautiful! I ordered one that has "But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord" as the background with a "B" and "established 2006" on it! Here is a link to what it looks like (except for the year difference!)

I had a lot of fun reminiscing over weddings and spending time with wonderful women from the First Family!

Refinancing the house

2009-05-29T14:36:00.001-07:00

Today we closed on refinancing our home! I believe the average life of a mortgage is 7 years and our first mortgage lasted 5 months! Our interest rate is almost 1 percentage less now and we have set up bi-weekly payments. A bi-weekly payment plan is every two weeks and the payment is half of what a monthly payment would be. By simply paying on the bi-weekly payment plan our 30 year mortgage will be paid off in 25 years! Of course we plan to start adding extra principal payments and maybe get that 25 years down to 15 or maybe 12...we'll see!!

Our Third Anniversary

2009-05-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

Today we are celebrating 3 wonderful years of marriage!

May 27, 2009

May 27, 2008

May 27, 2007

May 27, 2006

Trip to East Tennessee

2009-05-26T10:44:00.001-07:00

This Thursday we left around lunch time and headed to visit John David's family! We stopped on the way and visited Jill a few hours and then continued the journey. We arrived around 8:00 eastern and had a yummy dinner of Buffalo Dip (made with wild turkey John David's dad killed a few weeks ago!)

Friday we went with Annette (Mom) to The Pizza Parlor and had Pepperoni Mushroom Pizza! Yum! (This is my favorite place to eat in Jonesborough...we try to go every time we are up there!) Then we went to Mr. K's used books to shopping. Annette had some credit there and wanted me to get a few books! I was in heaven in this store!! There were books everywhere...I do believe I could stay in the store for hours just looking at everything! We did end up browsing about an hour! I found a few children's books & Karen Kingsbury books! That stop was like Christmas to me! :) We then went to Lifeway to look around where we heard a man trying out a song track, he had headphones on and was singing...LOUD (and not so great!) We all had a huge laugh after we got out of the store!! :)

Saturday I went and visited with John David's grandparents while John David worked with David (Dad) on one of their tractors. I enjoyed spending time with Mamaw, she gave me a French Bread recipe which I am anxious to try, sewing books, and some plants! Around 3:00 we left and went to John David's cousins wedding which was at 6:00. The wedding was an outdoor wedding and everything was beautiful! We left the wedding around 7:30 eastern time and arrived home around 10:30 central time! We had a wonderful weekend spending time with family!

Children's books from Annette, most of these were John David's when he was little!

My books from Mr. K's...a Little House Birthday, 365 Bible Stories, I Kissed Dating Goodbye (we read and reread Boy Meets Girl while we were dating and I wanted to have this one too!), and 3 Karen Kingsbury books...I am almost finished with A Time to Dance!

Sewing books from Mamaw!

Mint, sage, basil, and oregano from Mamaw & Annette!

Hay and tobacco stakes from the farm for our garden!

Beautiful Plants

2009-05-26T10:35:00.000-07:00

The flowers will bloom soon...I am excited!

Beautiful petunias on the front steps!

My petunias in the basket!

Road Trip with the Dog

2009-05-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

We visited John David's parents this weekend and brought the dog along so during the 5 1/2 hour trip there were plenty of funny Mac pictures to take! We kept him in the back seat area of John David's truck, we don't allow him up front because he wants to be in the driver's lap the whole time and that could prove dangerous! He slept some, climbed up on the luggage to peek out the window, and poked his head up on the arm rest some!

Sitting on his little bed in the back seat!

Trying to get as close to us as possible!

Then he realized that by standing on the luggage in the back seat he could not only look out the side window but he could also visit with John David:

Checking out the driver's view!

Standing on a crate of books!

Needless to say traveling with the dog can be quite entertaining. He whines a little especially when we first get in the car. Every time we hit a pretty big bump his head pops up, even if he is sleeping, so that can be entertaining to watch!!

Fan Makeover

2009-05-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

When we purchased our home it needed a lot of work, nothing too complicated just painting (every room, baseboards, crown molding, doors, and even closets!) There also were some pretty awful light fixtures in the bathrooms (which have been replaced!) Our ceiling fans in the living room and master weren't hideous they were just hunter green which matched the sage green walls that were in both rooms. Since they were green and weren't going to match our paint colors we decided to purchase new fans. However, when we went to purchase ceiling fans (and we went twice) we spent over 30 minutes just looking and never found an affordable fan we liked. Then there was no money left in the home improvement budget and we decided to paint them!

Before:

After:

It's not a huge difference but the green is gone and we only spent $2.50 and about 1 hour taking it down, spray painting, and reassembling....much better than $100 for a mediocre fan!

Mac

2009-05-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

This is too cute not to share!

Curb Appeal

2009-05-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Our home is starting to look home-y! We have been spending time outside working and doing small things to make it beautiful!

We have put up hanging baskets with flowers, added white folding chairs, and potted flowers on the steps!

Our potted petunias!

Our purple petunias in the beautiful basket!

Our Garden

2009-05-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was able to get out in the garden and finish planting all of my seedlings!! The garden is looking good! Most of my plants are small since I started everything from seed and this is our first garden to work in and we are learning as we go!!

My cantaloupes that were planted yesterday.

All of the Lasagna Garden plots! I have planted Bell Peppers, Broccoli, Cabbage, Pinto Beans, Cherry Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Red Beans, and Cantaloupe. We are planting our Sweet Corn & Green Beans soon! I am so excited to watch my garden grow and I am really enjoying getting outside in the garden and taking care of it!

Blackberries

2009-05-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I discovered blackberry bushes in our yard! And when I say bushes, I mean many bushes. On 2 sides of our property there are blackberry bushes lining the property!! I just love blackberries....jam, jelly, cobbler, frozen for smoothies, they're just great!! I was incredibly excited about this discovery!! Now I am anxiously awaiting the berries!!

Beautiful blackberry blooms!

Just one of the many bushes!

One side of the property lined with blackberry bushes (& honeysuckle which smells amazing!)

Almost time to make my wonderful Blackberry Cobbler with fresh blackberries!!

Work in the Flowerbed

2009-05-20T13:22:00.003-07:00

Our front flower bed has needed a lot of work and still needs even more! Earlier this week we were able to get quite a bit accomplished, doing some more weeding, pulling up old stumps and roots, and planting some flowers!

Before:

After:

Much better, the big hole is looking a little better!

These came up on their own and there were several shoots so I separated them. I think they are irises!

The Planter:

Before:

After:

I have weeded and removed all the landscaping rocks from around the edge. (There are still concrete pieces around the edge I need to do something with!) See my Easter Lily that came up...beautiful!! Obviously we need to get a load of dirt to fill this in. We are planning on doing this pretty soon! Once we get it filled in, we plan for this area to become an herb garden!

I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and enjoying my front yard since it's starting to look beautiful!

Wordless Wednesday: A Day of Rest

2009-05-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

I just love this picture I snapped this past Sunday of my husband. He is working on fixing a wireless router and watching NASA TV while kicking back and relaxing!! (You have got to love my very unique boot wearing, technologically savvy, media director hubby!)

Blackberry Cobbler

2009-05-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

4 cups berries
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
6 Tbsp. butter
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour

Place berries in an 8x8 baking dish; sprinkle with lemon juice. Stir together egg, sugar, and flour until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle over fruit. Drizzle melted butter over topping. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-05-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

This week is a no-grocery shopping week! We are going out of town this weekend and we have a lot of food in the pantry/freezer and since I am not going grocery shopping we will save a little money!

Here is my plan for the week:

Dinner:
Monday-Chicken Wraps* & Apple Salad
Tuesday-Patty Melts & Fruit Salad
Wednesday-Turkey Lasagna & Salad
Thursday-Saturday-Out of Town!

Lunches:
Leftovers

Breakfasts:
Cereal
Waffles
Yogurt
Fruit (Apples, Oranges, Grapes)

*My Chicken Wraps are easy, I cook chicken breasts on the griddle and then wrap them up in a tortilla with lettuce & ranch dressing! They are easy and delicious!

The Simple Woman's Daybook-May 18

2009-05-18T06:31:00.000-07:00

For Today...

Outside my window...it's beautiful!! The blue sky was the first thing I noticed when I woke up!! (However it is a bit chilly!)

I am thinking...about my day ahead and trying to figure out how I can be most productive!!

I am thankful for...my car that is about to hit 100,000 miles....I hope it goes 100,000 more!!! :)

From the kitchen...everything is neat & organized since I washed dishes & cleaned after dinner last night!!

I am wearing...jeans & long sleeved black t-shirt with fleece jacket over it....I'm cold!!

I am reading...When the Soul Mends by Cindy Woodsmall

I am hoping...to tackle a few little home projects this week!

I am creating...a dress (I haven't worked on it in two weeks but all I lack is putting the zipper in & hemming!)

Around the house...everything is pretty neat (minus the stuffing everywhere that the dog pulled out of his new toy!)

One of my favorite things...talking to my husband throughout the work day...keeps us connected :)

A few plans for the rest of the week...finish my dress, work in the garden & get my corn planted, go to visit my husband's family & attend his cousin's wedding!

Ribbon Memo Board

2009-05-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today instead of my usual Sunday afternoon nap I had a little bit of creative inspiration! As I was looking through some of our pictures from dating and our wedding I realized I had a lot of good ones that I would like to have out but I didn't want to go and purchase picture frames for them all! Instead I took a cork board, fabric, and ribbon and made a beautiful memo board which cost me nothing!!

It wasn't hard at all...the toughest part was working the staple gun (I was afraid my fingers were going to slip and I would staple myself!!) The ribbons aren't perfectly straight but that is not noticeable with pictures on it!

Here it is with pictures! On the board is our very first picture (with me in the FFA jacket), our first picture after we were engaged (John David in the orange shirt), our wedding, and our first Easter (in front of the door)! All of the colors on the board are in my kitchen/dining room which is where this is going to go, I have blue cabinet tops, black appliances, white wainscoting & crown, and light green walls (which match the little home sweet home sign!!)

Here is my creative process:

Hammer, glue gun, upholstery tacks, staple gun, scissors, ribbon spools, and scraps of fabric, and ribbon!

I have a need to spread things out when I am being creative...pictures everywhere, cutting tools, fabric, and more ribbon!!

I just thought it would be fun to include pictures of the mess I created while creating something beautiful!! (Of course I did clean up the mess when I was finished!) :)

Tropical Surprise

2009-05-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

We have had a few weeks of rain and I haven't been out in the yard much (and quite frankly the weeds were very thick close to the back of the house). When I was weeding the other day I found these!! I am not sure what they are but they are beautiful and look very tropical!! My plan is to separate them, spread them out and plant them along the back of the house for some beautiful greenery!!

(If you know what they are please let me know!!)

My Garden

2009-05-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

I declared Thursday my gardening day and it really was! I spent around 5 hours working in the garden, planting my vegetables, weeding, and working in the flower bed. I came in very tired (& a little sunburned on my arms) but it felt wonderful to get outside and work!

The big garden task that I have had is reworking my garden plots. We are trying Lasagna Gardening which involves layering organic matter. We read an article about no-till gardening before we read the Lasagna Gardening book and put our mulch down without putting cardboard/newspaper on the grass. Needless to say we have had grass grow through the mulch. So for the past week I have been reworking our 7 plots (so far I have completely reworked 4!) The reworking involves raking up all the mulch in that area, putting down cardboard, wetting it, and covering it back up with mulch. Very hard work but its been worth it and I have enjoyed it (minus the blister on my hand and the stiff muscles the next day!!)

I was also able to plant my Red Bell Peppers, Broccoli, Cabbage, and Cherry Tomatoes (all of which I started from seed!) I am anxious to watch them grow and produce vegetables for us to eat!!

The Red Bell Peppers. You can see the mulch in the plot and the lighter brown is grass clippings...the more organic matter the better!!

Up close of a cabbage plant!

The garden. You can see the 4 plots that have been reworked with cardboard/newspaper laid down. The other three are beyond them...but you can't tell because of all the grass!

Show Us Where You Live Friday: Guest Room

2009-05-15T15:58:00.001-07:00

My guest room is nothing special, in fact it is a very small room but I think it is a beautiful and welcoming room for our guests! This room was the first room we painted when we bought our home. My sister-in-law Jill helped me paint the room and even gave me a painting lesson because she had a lot more experience painting than I did!!

Here is the guest bed, the bed was John David's great grandmother's bed & the side table my mom's (we love hand me downs!) I can't say I am completely happy with the room, I would really like for the floor lamp to go (it was our living room light in our college apartment). My current bedroom lamp will be perfect in this room but before I can do that I have to purchase new lamps... I will one day!!

Here is the view from the bed to the door (& you can see the closet). The room is small but there is some open floor which I like!

My bookshelf and the closet door (it is a pretty nice sized closet that is currently lacking shelving & has painting supplies & sale/give away items tucked in there!!)

Bookshelf closeup! My mom & I made this together when I was in high school!! My treasured childhood books (Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables & American Girl books) are on the top 2 shelves. The bottom 2 hold children's books that were my husband's when he was young! And then there are the toys (so when we have friends with kids over or babysit the kids can play!) The doll on the 3rd shelf is wearing a dress my grandma made, my mom made the little doll beside her, the Cabbage Patch kid in the basket was my very last baby doll & there is a blanket beside him that my grandmother crocheted....memories!!

Easy Pillow Tutorial

2009-05-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Purchasing coordinating/matching pillows to go with your curtains can be expensive but it is nice to have pillows on the couch not only for looks but to use for a nap!! When I made my living room curtains I had plenty of extra fabric to make pillows! Here is a quick & easy way to make pillows!

Step 1:

Get a preformed pillow (or if you prefer using stuffing in the fabric, get stuffing!) My pillow is an older pillow that I had which I have covered with white fabric!

Step 2: Measure the fabric to fit your preformed pillow (I measure so I can use the fold of the fabric as a side) and sew all but 1 side.

Close up of my rough sewing!! :)

Step 3:Put your pillow in the pillow cover.

Step 4:Fold one side down onto the pillow and fold the other end down to where no rough edges show.

Step 5:This is where it gets fun! Put hot glue on the side that is folded down on the pillow & press the folded fabric on the hot glue until it dries! (I did this in small sections because the glue would dry if I tried to do it all at once!)

Step 6:Done! A finished pillow only sewing 2 straight lines!! You can't tell it is hot glued & there are no exposed seams at all!!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-05-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here is this week's meal plan:

Dinners:

Monday: Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, and Macaroni & Cheese

Tuesday: Mexican Casserole

Wednesday: Fajitas

Thursday: Country Ham, Creamed Corn, & Bread

Weekend: Alfredo Pizza with Salad, Chicken Tacos & Taco Dip, and Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Lunches:

Leftovers

Breakfast:

Cereal
Granola
Yogurt
Waffles