3 in 30 update

Wow hard to believe that is the end of the month already. Where did March go?? Last week we were buried under a dump of snow and today I wore flip flops and Capri's. I love spring!!!

So here are March's goals.
1.In July Sarah and I are going to Las Vegas for a dance trip. So I am going to try and make some shrugs, or dance wraps, something like that, which I can sell to help raise money for this.
This one is not really a pass but not really a fail either. Sarah and I managed to do some crafting and made some adorable T-shirts. 
This is of course a Pinterest find and here is where I found them.

Here are a couple that we did with the glue on them. This is actually harder than it looks. 

In the dye bath.

Lying out to the dry the first time. They then got a rinse and sent through the washer and hung up to dry.

Finished product on one t-shirt.

Now she loves these and to be honest so do I. I chimped out on the T-shirts so I want to go and buy some better cotton ones still fairly cheaply. I would love to find some at a thrift store. :)


I also painted some place mats with chalkboard paint. However this has to cure for 10 days before you can write on them so I will put up pictures afterwards. 


2. Drink at least 2 8oz glasses of water everyday and exercise at least twice a week.
This might not seem much but I really need to get started.


I would say this is probably a 50% here. I did drink my water and am finding that I am more thirsty. On the plus side I gave up pop for lent and find that I am no longer at all craving it. I have no plans for one at all when Lent is over. 
The exercise part did not happen. Between crafts, dance, cleaning house I was too lazy to get on our treadmill. I think I will carry this one over to next month. 


3. Move our son out and move our daughter into his room, take down the temp walls that were her room and re-organize and clean that room that is our family room up. Hopefully I am able to bring our treadmill back in and set it up.


This was done during the first of the month. It has been great to have Sarah have a room to herself with a door. LOL 
We are trying to train her to not sleep with a light on now. Last night was number 3 with no light all night. :)
 
I am linking up with the weekly 3 in 30 update.
As well as with Michelle at Caffeinated Randomness.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for...
Sunshine and warmer temperatures.
Melting snow.
A friend confiding in me.
Being able to share apart of "my story" with said friends daughter.
Then realizing it was time to share the same part with my own daughter.
Knowing that God was directing my words so that through His grace they have the most impact.
Being able to spend time with my hubby at night.
Having a beautifully clean house, even if it only last a VERY short time.
Knowing Him as my Creator.
Being able to learn new things each and every day.
Being able to finally make a couple crafts this week.
Sticking with my 3 in 30 goals this month.
The sun being up longer.

I am linking up today with Red Oak Lane. What are you thankful for?

Is the list ever going to end?

I am not complaining. Nope not at all. Because I am healthy, happy and loved. My children are healthy, my hubby is healthy, my parents are healthy... OK you get the idea.

However today I feel like this chore list is growing instead of shrinking.
I did manage to get a ton accomplished today.
Laundry...check
Beds freshly made with said clean laundry...Check
Bathrooms cleaned...Check
Living room, dusted, valcumed and straightened out...Check
A healthy GF, SF treat for moi made...Check

However I still haven't been able to finish off the worker's list for the dance festival as of yet.
I still haven't done Sarah's costume or most of her alterations yet.
I still need to do a ton of baking for both the festival to sell and also so I can have snacks that I can actually eat without being sick.
I need to focus on Sarah's schooling so that she stays focused and on track.
I need to wax my legs. Too much info? :)
I stress...
What good does it do me?
When I start to get like this I am always reminded of one of my favorite verses.
Matthew 6:27
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Nope so why do I.
I need to learn to chill ax more.

Time for some R and R with my bible. :)

Top 10 chores. What is your favorite?

I was thinking of all the things today that I could write a top 10 about and I came up with....
Nothing.
OK I had lots of ideas, but none that really inspired me today. Then tonight I had an inspiration. I started to think about all the stuff I do around here. (meaning chores/housework) and it hit me my 10 favorite chores.
So here they are...
My top 10 favorite chores.
1. Laundry. I love, love, love to do laundry. I love the smell of clean laundry. I love to hang it out on the line and watch it blow dry. I love to sort, wash, dry, fold, even put away my clothes, etc... I love knowing that I have a drawer full of clean clothes. We don't have to go searching for a pair of socks because they are all clean and put away (hopefully in my daughters case).

2. Cleaning up the kitchen.
I love having a clean kitchen. I think I got this from my mom who always insisted that the kitchen be tidied up. The stove always had to be wiped. Now my kitchen is a small obsession for me. We have a breakfast nookie area and it always gets cluttered up. It is supposed to only hold my mixer and the fruit bowl but somehow it is often the catch all. I am WAY happier when everything is tidied up in there. The dishes washed, preferred put away. Floor swept and washed. I love walking into a clean kitchen morning, noon or night. :)

3. Cleaning the bathroom.
Yep you heard me right. I love to clean the bathroom. Even the stinky dirty toilet. I love being able to make it sparkle again. I also very much dislike walking into a dirty bathroom. (My daughter has the main bathroom to herself as we have an en-suite we use. It drives me crazy when she doesn't clean up. )

4. Baking.
I enjoy making treats for my family and myself. :)
I love being able to know what goes into the treats my children and husband eat as well as now makes some delicious GF treats for myself. I like to find new recipes and try them out and see what becomes a new family favorite.

5. Making my bed.
I most always make my bed in the morning or when my eyes actually open. LOL
I love climbing into a freshly made bed and I enjoy walking into my room when the bed is made. I can even ignore a very cluttered dresser when my bed is neat and tidy.

6. Washing the walls.
So this might not be a usual occurrence. My walls do not get washed every week or honestly even every month or even every other month but they usually get washed about every 3-4 months. I actually really enjoy doing this. I know that no one really notices it but I do. :)

7. Mopping the floor.
This actually used to be on my dislike list but since I have my new mop and not on my hands or knees or spraying harse chemical around it is now on my like list.
I used to use a swiffer wet jet, after I stopped getting on my hands and knees. (which if I want a REALLY good clean I still do) and I loved the ease of the wet jet. However I very much disliked the chemicals that I was spraying on the floor. Then I bought a Rubbermaid Reveal Mop. This is really similar as a Wet Jet but way more environmentally healthy and healthy on the pocketbook. You use whatever cleaning product you want with water and spray and mop away. Makes me happier. :)

8. Doing the dishes.
This too used to be on the dislike list, now though as my passion for a clean kitchen grows and the fact that my dishwasher will never ever work probably in this water I have learned to like doing dishes.

9. Organizing.
This is not by any means a daily chore. But then again it probably is. I always have to do something every day in the way of organizing. Whether its clothes, school work, food, or whatever comes my way, I always have to sort things out. I enjoy doing this. I like to be organized. Although don't come into my home right now and think that I am, it would scare the socks right off of you. :)

10. Valcumning.
I will totally admit that this does not get done every day. Even every other day. I will do it at least once a week. However just because this chore does not get done very often does not mean I do not enjoy it. There is something so clean looking about a freshly valcumned rug. :) I will explain shortly why this enjoyed chore does not get done as often as it should. :)

Now just to play it fair and also to have a little bit of fun I decided to give you a very quick recount of the top 10 chores that I dislike.

1. Cleaning up pet hair.
This is such a time consuming job and I never seem to be able to stay on top of it.

2. Cleaning the cat litter pan.
I would say that this is probably self explanatory. LOL

3. Windows.
Flies climb all over them and poop. Rain spots, and dust. :(

4. Dusting.
This is why my valcuming does not get done as often as I would like. I dislike to dust but hate to valcum if it hasn't been dusted. Yep vicious cycle. hahahahaha

5. Taking the garbage to the road for pickup.
I know, i know this is an easy job. However for some reason I don't care for this chore. If I can I usually make sure that either hubby takes it out or my kids. :)

6. Along the same lines... Recycling.
Now do not get me wrong I really enjoy recycling in the fact that we are doing it. I love knowing that we are helping the environment even if it is a tiny bit. However I am not fond of actually taking everything out of the house to the bins. This is now Sarah's job. :)

7. Cleaning up my office.
It just more and more full of paper. My dumping ground so to speak. It is a good thing that my 'office' is only a desk and a filing cabinet.

8. Getting the water bottles refilled.
It is fine once I do it, but oh how I wish I could always pass this chore onto someone else. :)

9. Cleaning up my truck.
I live in this thing one would think that this would not be such a bother but oh how it is. I love it is when it is clean...But oh the work of getting it in that state, only to have it messy shortly after. :)

10. Cleaning up my hair.
I lose a ton of hair all the time. I for a long time used to pull it out in my sleep and even now when I get overly stressed I do it again. Therefore my bathroom floor as it is loose when I go to the washroom in the morning and my bedroom floor on my side of the bed (also same spot as where I do my hair everyday) gets full of hair. This is gross no two ways about it but my of my I wish I could find an easy way to have that cleaned. My method getting down on my hands and knees and 'scraping' the rug with my hand is not fun at all.


So that wraps it up. 10 likes and 10 dislikes for chores.
I hope everyone enjoyed them or at the very least had a chuckle or two.

I am linking up today with Angie at Many Little Blessings.

Manic Monday!!

Wow such a crazy day, but manged to get a fair amount accomplished... I think. :)
I managed to pretty much finish the schedule that I have to do for the workers for Sarah's dance.
I worked on two craft projects. One with Sarah that I have been promising forever that we would do. I will take pics and when we are all finished I will post them.
I made myself half a dozen  GF cookies. (sooooo good!!)
I worked on some of Sarah's dance costume adjustments.
Laundry is in the washer and dryer.
Sarah did a FULL day of school and even made supper as part of it.
I cleaned up my dresser...mostly. :)
I paid bills. I ordered labels for her costumes, shoes, water bottles, etc...
I ordered another retainer to replace the one that went through the washer and dryer a couple months ago. Oops.


Now for the really fun part. I read. Yep you heard me right. I curled up with my e-reader and read. Almost an entire book. I loved it!! It felt like a mini holiday, (if you ignore all the million gazillion interruptions. hahaha)

So tonight I sit here rested and content. Now to spend a bit more time on the schedule and more important some time in His Word. Throw in a good night conversation with my hubby over the phone and you have one happy chick. :)

I hope that everyone had a great day as well.

Finding Joy in Depression

 

Wow I don't even know where to begin.
About a month ago I was reading other ladies 3 in 30 challenge updates when I came across Amanda's blog. Her challenges for that month were all to do with her upcoming ebook. One of the things that she was asking for was volunteers to read her ebook and then write a review. When I saw the title I was immediately signing up requesting her to pick me.

Finding Joy in Depression

Those words leaped across the computer at me. You mean besides me and my sisters, others suffer from this and are willing to talk about it? I knew I had to read it.

Then the day came when I received the email saying yes!!
I was so excited I quickly downloaded the book and started to read. I will say this, I only had about a half an hour before I had to leave to take Sarah to dance so I only had planned to quickly puruse it and then read it more closely the next day. However when I started to read down the first chapter I was hooked. I had a terrible time pulling myself away so I could go to town.

This book spoke to me. I have never been diagnosed with depression but so many of the things that she was saying I could relate too. I was also understanding for the first time how my sister's mind works. (She was diagnosed with bi-polar some years ago)

I had many moments that literally took my breath away while reading as I was like YES that's is it exactly and other times that brought tears to my eyes as I thought yes someone else knows what this is like.

I believe that anything that has to do with 'mental' disorders has such a stigma attached to it. But lets get real people if we had kidney stones we would do what we could to fix it. If our back was out we would do what we can to fix it or manage it. Why not do the same for something that we can not see?

Lets do everything we can to break through this stigma so that someone or even yourself is able to get the 'help' they need.

Please take time to read this book. I promise it will be worth it.
All you have to do is hop over to this link: Finding Joy in Depression and purchase your very own copy.

3 in 30 update

What a crazy busy week it has been.
I spend most of it right here at this computer, and it looks like after this weekend I will spend another good chunk of next week in the same place.
However I managed to get a tremendous amount of stuff accomplished. :)
As far as my 3 in 30 goes well...

1.In July Sarah and I are going to Las Vegas for a dance trip. So I am going to try and make some shrugs, or dance wraps, something like that, which I can sell to help raise money for this.

Well I would consider this a fail. I never even looked at my craft stuff this week. Next week maybe? Hopefully.

2. Drink at least 2 8oz glasses of water everyday and exercise at least twice a week.
This might not seem much but I really need to get started.

This however was a large success. I am drinking a lot more water. Up to 5 glasses a day and I exercised twice this week. Having the treadmill back in the house staring at me has helped a lot. Plus I am getting really motivated not to be a puddle of sweat from being so large when we get to Las Vegas.

3. Move our son out and move our daughter into his room, take down the temp walls that were her room and re-organize and clean that room that is our family room up. Hopefully I am able to bring our treadmill back in and set it up.

As previously mentioned this one is done!! Whoohooo!! We even put a couch into the 'new' family room and made a little reading nook in the craft room for Sarah.
Then just to make life interesting this past week Rob and I replaced the main bathroom tub taps and shower head, and then on Wednesday my kitchen taps sprung a very bad leak so my landlord came and replaced them. So now I have two pretty set of taps. :)

What about you? How was your week?

I am linking up with 3 in 30 challenge update.

Thankful Thursday

We got dumped on Monday with snow.
 And by dumped on I mean we went from none to this...

Poor kitty was so lost. She had never experienced this much snow in her life. She is a year.

Good thing this car is waiting to get a motor in it. :)

Plus we are getting another wicked storm tonight.
Now with all this I am thankful you might ask?
Yes I very much am!!!
I am thankful first and foremost that the farmers are getting the moisture that they so desperately needed. We had no water laying around before this dump. Any bit of snow that melted was lapped up by mother earth fast. This bunch plus what we are getting tonight is by no means enough but it will sure help.

I am thankful that I had no where to go on Monday. We received all this snow in about 4-6 hours. I am so thankful that Sarah did not have dance that day and that boys were not out on the roads working.

I am thankful that the plows were out early in the morning and that my hubby had a safe drive to work the next day.

I am thankful that with the storm tonight that I made it safety into town and back home again. The roads are a mess tonight. Icy, slushy, blowing snow. I am thankful that God protected us.

Now this might sound a little crazy but boy of boy does it look pretty outside. :)

I am linking up today with Theresa at Red Oak Lane.

Wednesday Wisdom or lack thereof...

Whoa what a day!!
To start with I decided that I desperately need to become more organised as we head into our very busy season. Dance season.
This means that our entire lives will be turned around for about 6-8 weeks.
So as I prepare to get more organised for this there was some things that I wanted to do.
1. Sarah's home school.
This needed some revision. Things are going well, but she needs a checklist to keep yourself accountable and so I know where she is at so that I can keep her on track.
So today we spent about an hour just going through all her papers, organizing. putting papers where they needed to be, just simply a good ole fashioned dung out. In doing this I plan to set up a weekly checklist with each day being set up so she knows what she has to do on what day and how much she needs to get done. Then she has to cross it off when she is done so that I know where she is at with it. I saw some great organisational charts on Pinterest that I might just try.

2. Giving my house a good cleaning out.
This is a necessity as we will be running constant for that time. Time spent at home will be doing laundry, meals, and home school but not a lot else, other than sleep of course. :)
So I have a list of chores (deep cleaning chores) to do each day.

3. Get all dance stuff organised and ready to go.
This means all costumes that need alterations are altered. I still have a costume to completely sew. (Yep I know I like to wait until the last moment. LOL) The accessories that are needed for each costume are put in a bag and hung with that costume. As well as making sure I have all make up, earrings, hair pieces, etc. Also making sure I have my first aid kit, sewing kit, and snack kit packed. I have a lot of this done already as I have been working on it for a month or so but still have things to do.

4. Set up a blog routine.
I have been wanting to become more consistent on my blogging for a while now, however just have not done it. So this is also on my to do list. It will be a lot simpler to have some posts done up already and just be able to post them from my phone while on the go. I also enjoy linking up with others so I plan to make sure I make  myself a guideline on what I would like to post when and try and stick with it. We will see how it goes.

5. I also would like to do up some meals for myself.
I know that I tend to run on junk food and coffee during this time and now that I am GF I just can't go and grab a sandwich or burger and fries. I need to be more aware of what I am consuming and where I can get food so I don't starve myself. It will make for me cheating then and tummy aches. (which I have no desire for)
After the crazy part of the season I am going to a specialist to see precisely what my food issues are but until then I am know I need to do the best I can. That means no living on chocolate bars. :)


So saying all this I worked my tail off today on something that wasn't on my list but a necessity non the less. I am coordinating workers for our own festival. So today for 2.5 hours I worked on the list of the workers I already have signed up, the new times and added some new spots in that our dance teacher requested.
Then off to dance tonight to try on some new costumes. 3 more costumes with only one needed alterations!! (insert happy dance here!!!)
We then grabbed some groceries, fuel and off to home. Once home we discovered we had a very large leak under our kitchen sink. (Did I mention hubby went back to work yesterday?) So I had to call my landlords.
Thank goodness he was home and came over right away. The taps were done so now I am sporting new kitchen taps!! So in one week our main bathroom and the kitchen both received new taps. :)

How was your Wednesday? Less eventful I hope.

10 Reasons why I love my Hubby

Yes you read that right.
I was laying in bed last night and this is the post that came to me.
Now some of these might seem silly but they are all a part of the reason I love him.
I also want to mention there is a lot more reasons these are just 10 of them.
Also they are in no particular order.

1. His extreme, generous, caring nature.
He is always there to help someone out, always there to lend a hand, and always there to give that little extra.
He is always paying for something or other, (ie. suppers for friends when they go out to eat, or when he visits his parents and brother, the meal is always on him.)

2. His sense of humor.
He always can make me smile and laugh. Even when I am furious about something he did he still can manage to make me laugh and relax.
I appreciate this is him so much.

3. His strong shoulders.
I mean this both literally and figuratively.
I always feel like he will protect me from anything. As well as he takes so much on his own shoulders. ie: he is THE bread earner.

4. His ability to teach me.
He has taught me so much. How to be a wife, how to be a cook, (sorry honey for the stew, meatloaf, etc as I was learning how to make a decent meal for you. ), how to tow and set up our trailer by myself, how to have patience.
Just last night he was teaching me how to change to taps in our bathroom, complete with new pipes. :)

5. His incredible handsome blue eyes and beautiful smile.
I love looking into his eyes and seeing him smile. :) He always manages to melt my heart.

6. His ability to teach himself.
He might grump a bit but if something needs doing he does it. He re wires, he fixes, he jerry rigs until it works great!

7. He is warm.
I mean really warm! I am always freezing and he comes and cuddles and warms me right up. Often times I am not even aware I was that cold until he comes along. :)

8. His adventurous outdoorsy try a lot of things once personality.
He has helped me overcome a lot of my fears. He loves to snowmobile, quad, camp, fish, etc...
We are often out together with just us two or the family enjoying being outside.

9. His childlike behaviour.
He has no problem encouraging the children to try something. When the kids were small, he often engaged in water fights with them or nerf gun wars.

10. He is an amazing Dad!!
He is always there when they need him. For whatever they need. When our son had his thumb crushed at work 2 years ago, he flew home early so he could go to the specialist with me. He backs me up when I am disciplining them. He is there to comfort them when something is wrong. Pull them out of the ditch, buy new work gear for them, listen to them when they need to talk, etc...

Some of these things have also been know to drive me crazy. However this is Rob. These make up a chunk of why he is such a great man. No matter what I would not trade him for anything at all.

Linking up with Angie at Many Little Blessings.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. NOT

It is a beautiful snowy day spring storm kinda day.
We were warned of the kind of storm coming but to be honest all winter it was quiet. They would issue storm warnings and we would be lucky if we got an inch.
Not so today.
Today we got are still get dumped on.
Its pretty, but oh so dangerous to those that have to travel the roads.
I am thankful that we did not have to be anywhere today.
The road from our place into town is mostly shut down only the bare traffic allowed.
Considering that this morning was no snow at all on the ground and now it is completely covered it is quite a change.
So today was a bit of a lazy day.
We slept in.
We sat around (hubby and I, Sarah did schoolwork) and drank coffee and visited.
Hubby and I went and had a nap while Sarah cleaned her room.
After nap time we changed out some taps in our main bathroom that were so wore out the water was pouring out.
Did a bit of room re-arranging and than a quiet evening.
I am on my blog and hubby is talking to his parents on the phone.
Kind of nice to have a snow day. Too bad it is in March. :)

3 in 30 update

Well this week was much calmer. It was mostly taken up with basic tidying and schooling.
On a side note schooling is going so much better!!! Her marks are constantly improving and she is enjoying it more and more. Yay for being able to learn with her learning style!!!

OK so here is the update.
1.In July Sarah and I are going to Las Vegas for a dance trip. So I am going to try and make some shrugs, or dance wraps, something like that, which I can sell to help raise money for this.


Fail again. Although I know have all the supplies together. We are doing some fundraising with the dance studio so must admit that is taking up a bit of my time.


2. Drink at least 2 8oz glasses of water everyday and exercise at least twice a week.
This might not seem much but I really need to get started.

This one I am really excited about!! I since last Friday have managed to drink a minimum of 2 glasses everyday with often 3-4. It really helped me to put it in a measured water bottle and have it with me all day. I bring it to dance and while she dances I purposely drink. On a side note I am also peeing more which I know is also a good thing. :)

The exercise part has been slower. This week I exercised but not in a conventional way. I shopped till my little old heart dropped last Saturday and then helped with a fundraiser busing tables on Wednesday.

However today my hubby and I brought in our treadmill and gazelle from out of the shed and set them up. I am really excited to have these up and going again!!!

3. Move our son out and move our daughter into his room, take down the temp walls that were her room and re-organize and clean that room that is our family room up. Hopefully I am able to bring our treadmill back in and set it up.

Well this one is officially finished!!!!! Everyone is where they are supposed to be, walls torn down, and treadmill in!! Such a great feeling!!

So I would say that this week was a success. I am really thankful for my hubby for helping bringing in the treadmill. He totally rocks!! 

I am linking up this week with the 3 in 30 weekly challenge update.

Also I am linking up with Michelle at her Caffeinated Randomness.

Parenting

Sometimes this parenting thing can be hard.

Sometimes it's harder on us the parents than the child.

Sometimes you have to do things as a parent that you really wish you did not have to do.
Such as lecturing your 18 year old.

Sometimes you look at your children and wonder how did so much time pass by.

Sometimes you look at your child with such pride at the individual he has become.

Sometimes you see so much of yourself in your children. I sometimes think it is God's funny joke. :)

Sometimes you have days were your heart cup overflows.

Birthday girl

Today my 'baby' turns 14. Where or where did the time possibly go?
It seems like only yesterday she was running into my arms for a big bear hug. I look at her now and really can see the woman she is growing into. She is beautiful inside and out.

Forgive the poor picture of both of us. This was taken about 3 hours after she was born. I was in such shock to be having a girl but oh so thrilled with it and the fact that we finally were able to meet her.

 This was taken at my sister's wedding. Sarah was 1 month and 2 days old. She received so much stuff when she was born from her Grandmas'. Her middle two names are after them. So she received lots of blankets and clothes that were saved from generation to generation. She even received a flour sack dress. So cute.

Today she turned 14. One of her big brothers came out to visit her and bring her some presents and a cake. As I was looking back at the pictures trying to find some of her as a baby to scan I saw tons of her with Matthew around. They have always been close so it is no real surprise to me that when he had the day off that he came out to visit her today.

We had a pretty calm day. We never schooled at all and just enjoyed some family time with Matt. We watched Hoodwinked, had some cake and visited. Then after he left she went outside to visit friends while I made homemade pizza for supper. Homemade crust for her and rice flour crust for me.

My heart cup overflows! Such a beautiful day for such a beautiful young lady. Sarah I am so proud of you and the wonderful young lady you are becoming. I love the choices that you are making. Choices not to party and be crazy as so many of your friends are doing and instead staying home with your family and believing in HIM. You desire to follow His Word and I see the impact of your decisions every day. I love the person you are and am so looking forward to seeing the woman you will be. Thank you for blessing my life!

3 in 30 update

Well it is that time again. Been a pretty crazy week but have really loved the results.
So without further ado here is the update on my goals this week.

1.  In July Sarah and I are going to Las Vegas for a dance trip. So I am going to try and make some shrugs, or dance wraps, something like that, which I can sell to help raise money for this.
Fail. But I did manage to get the trip booked. Plus saved some money booking the way I did so happy about that. Heading to the fabric store today so hoping that next week will be a different story. :)


2. Drink at least 2 8oz glasses of water everyday and exercise at least twice a week.
This might not seem much but I really need to get started.

Again Fail. But in my defence when you read number 3 you will understand about the exercise part. As far as the water part goes I realised yesterday that I was still not drinking the water so today I filled up a  large 24 oz water bottle and have it beside me. This has helped as I have already drank 8 oz. I plan to drink it all and then fill it up again before we head to town. I also started a app on my iPhone called Fitness Pal and realised just how much calories is even in a cup of coffee or tea so really need to make the switch to water. 

3.  Move our son out and move our daughter into his room, take down the temp walls that were her room and reorganise and clean that room that is our family room up. Hopefully I am able to bring our treadmill back in and set it up.

Well last Sunday was the day our son moved out. I have mixed emotions about this. He was living with a roommate for some time but officially moved all his stuff out on Sunday. We then needed to wash all his walls and steam clean his carpet before we moved our daughter in. 

Then on Monday we moved her in. We had bought her a new bed so set that up, washed her new bedding and moved all the furniture over. Then finished tearing down her old bedroom walls. WOW what a job that was. 

Then moved our organ over.

This week it was finishing up that room. Putting up new blinds, vacuuming, steam cleaning, cleaning out my pantries that were in the old hallway that is now a big room. Also thoroughly cleaning the main bathroom, complete with using q-tips to clean around the toilet and walls. 

I think that I should have made the cleaning goal for another month. LOL

So here are some pics of the progress.

My boy moving out!

Room empty. Walls were washed, floors were steam cleaned after this picture was taken.

Tearing down walls.

Checking out how weird it is. Still had to move all her stuff over to her new room.

Might as well do a few chin ups when she has the opportunity.

Not a great picture but I wanted to show you how the room was positioned.

Made a mess of my house while we were doing all this. Spent a good chunk this week just finding it again.

Walls down, organ moved, new blinds up. I was just finishing up cleaning out the pantries here. Still needed steam cleaning in this picture. 

New bed. She picked out all the bedding.  The bed was a surprise and part of her birthday gift.

A different angle of the newly moved in room. Her name sign will be in a post this week so check back. :)
By the way she loves it!!!!

I am linking up today with Michelle at Caffeinated Randomness.

Also with the 3 in 30 weekly update.

Thankful Thursday

I did a happy dance around the house this afternoon.

Why you might ask?

Well...

I got the trip to Las Vegas for Sarah's dance all booked!!! Whoohooo!!! 

It was starting to stress me out some.  

I even managed to save a pile of money because we were flexible on our leave date and because I booked a package deal. 

Then tonight my daughter and I are talking about her nightly devotions and how it affects her personal life. I love that God showed her tonight what she needed to hear. I also loved hearing her pray for thankfulness.

I am so thankful for a hubby that enjoys his job. (most of the time)

He is really good at it as well and well liked by many of the guys. He often goes above and beyond and continually shows me what an amazing man he is.

I am linking up today at Red Oak Lane. 

Help

Finally after months and months of trying to get a facebook page for this blog I finally managed!! Yay!! My problem wasn't starting the page it was getting so it was a  personal blog page.

But now I have it! Whoohooooo!!!

So please, please, please feel free to hop over and 'like' it! 

However now I am desperately trying to figure out how to link my blog and my facebook account together. Would also really love to link it all with my twitter account. 

If anyone at all can give me any suggestions I would love it.

I have googled and googled and am unable to find the information I need.

So in short this post is just asking for help.

Top 10

 Top 10 crafty things from that I am desiring to make this month.

1.  This t-shirt or a variety of it. I want to try and find some things that I can sell and fund-raise for our dance trip to Las Vegas this year. I have the t-shirts, the dye and finally found the glue after 6 different stores so I am hoping that it works. 

2. This shrug. I have made one and love it for Sarah, but hoping to make a few more and again sell them. I think that this is such a cute thing for dancers. 

3. These place mats. I love this idea. I think that this would really go over amazing. I bought the place mats not I just need the paint. :) 

4. I love these. I bought the sticks and we have paint so I think that it would be a really cute thing for Sarah to make and maybe sell? Not sure might just be for her friends.

5. These are adorable. I would love to see if I could make and sell, but at the very least Sarah will have some new headbands that I am hoping she will love. I picked up some scraps from my Mom so just need to get on it now. 

6. I love this idea. Maybe with a little bit of a change up. I can see this being a fun and easy craft.

7. I have bought wooden letters to spell out Sarah's name for her room. I have the paint, letters and ribbon so I hope to do this on the weekend. Should be fairly easy. I hope. LOL

8. I plan on making one or two of these. I have the pot holders. :)

9. I think this top is adorable. I can totally see Sarah wearing this all summer. 

10. I think that I would really like to do this. Of course typical me I will probably adjust it to fit my needs. But I need something to put in a bag for dance season to make my life somewhat easier. 

Can you tell what my life revolves around right now? Dance, Dance, Dance. With a side of dance.

Can you also tell that I tend to get the products and then never get around to making them. Good thing that it is part of my 3 in 30 this month. :)

I am linking up today with Top 10 Tuesday. Come on over and see what many others have wrote for their own Top 10. 

Growing up.

 OK so I have really debated with myself about whether or not I should post this and in the end decided to just go for it.
So I must warn you this post might not be what you want to read.
Are you ready???
Do I still have anyone??
Here it goes...



On Friday my daughter became a 'woman'. Nine days before she turns 14. Of course this happens when hubby and I are out running errands 45 minutes away.
When she called me I was tossed between being really sad that my 'baby' is growing up and so proud of her.
I honestly was tearing up. How is it that my baby is really of that age?
I wanted this to be special for her so I wanted to buy her some flowers. This was not to be so instead bought her an adorable plant.
I am not sure what hubby thought of all of this. He tends to keep all his emotions to himself. I imagine it was just as hard on him. That is his baby girl after all.

So here we sit another milestone crossed.
Another 'last' occurred. I am still tied between saddened and excitement. Although must admit right now sadness is winning.

3 in 30 update

Well what a crazy busy intense month February was.
Here March most definitely came in like a lion. We had snow flurries and wind all day. Does this mean we will have spring in a decent time this year? One can always hope I guess.
So here are my Feb goals and the new March ones.
FEB
1. Clean one room thoroughly and completely, purged, window washed (if have any) ceiling and walls washed. Lights washed, bulbs changed. If have curtains, them washed, ironed or replaced if need be.

Well I was a bit lazy this week. Only did my regular cleaning nothing major added.

2. Keep up with making a new recipe each week.
I made a new version of my lemon chicken using limes. Still just as delicious. The other new recipes is ones my daughter made for Home Economics. She made homemade meatballs, spaghetti sauce and spaghetti. It also turned out pretty decent. She did 99% herself. I stirred occasionally but she did all the rest. It is so awesome that she is so interested in doing these things.

3. Take more pictures.
So last week after I wrote my post about not taking any pictures I looked over and this is what I saw.

I could not resist grabbing my camera and snapping a pic. She looks so comfy waiting for me. :)


March.
1. In July Sarah and I are going to Las Vegas for a dance trip. So I am going to try and make some shrugs, or dance wraps, something like that, which I can sell to help raise money for this.

2. Drink at least 2 8oz glasses of water everyday and exercise at least twice a week.
This might not seem much but I really need to get started.

3. Move our son out and move our daughter into his room, take down the temp walls that were her room and reorganize and clean that room that is our family room up. Hopefully I am able to bring our treadmill back in and set it up.

I hope everyone has had a great month and I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone has for March goals.

I am linking up with Michelle and her Caffeinated Randomness.


By the way how do you all like my blog face lift. I am really enjoying it.

Thankful Thursday

I am blessed to come from a somewhat larger family.
My Dad is one of six.
My Mom is one of 14 (13 lived to adulthood).
Together they had 6 children.

I am the baby. The oldest is almost 22 years older than me. So needless to say I have very different relationships with each members of my siblings. Of the 6 of us there is only 1 boy and he is in the middle.

My oldest sister and I almost have a Aunt/Niece relationship. I love her. I respect her and I am proud to call her my sister. We could easily sit and visit for hours.

My next oldest sister and mine relationship is a bit more strained. Nothing major, just really never had the opportunity to become overly close. She lives in Portugal for half the year and only about 4 hours away from me for the other half. I also love her. I also am very proud to be called her sister.

The next sister and I have a much more sister relationship. She is 15 years older than me and for years it was more of a mother/ daughter relationship but she had her babies late and I had mine young. Her youngest and my oldest are only 11 months apart in age. So we bonded then. I am thrilled that we only live 45 minutes apart but saddened that we never seem to get together for just a visit anymore. Live is too busy I guess.

Then comes my brother. He lives full time in Thailand. For years his relationship with the family was stressed. However as of late he is coming back. I missed him. He is my big bro and I love him. I was the one he had the patience to teach me how to climb backwards down the stairs so that I won't fall flat on my face, and taught me how to ride my first bike ( that he bought ).

Then is the sister next to me. Her and I have an entirely different relationship. There is 6 years separating us so growing up we definitely had the sister/ sister thing happening. I was the pain in the butt to her and she was my idol. Then we both grew up and things changed. We grew very close. We can easily talk on the phone for hours and hours. We are not afraid to share everything with each other. Yesterday I was texting her and she told me she loved me. She said that I was more than a sister I was her friend as well. Now I must tell you I teared up. We both have had interesting paths in this world but through it all we remained close.

I am so lucky and thankful for my somewhat large family.

I am thrilled with my relationship with each of my siblings and would not change a whole lot about it.

I am thankful that my sister took the time to tell me just how much I meant to her.

I am truly and thoroughly blessed.

I am trying something new today and linking up with Theresa at Red Oak Lane.