Winter Strikes the Unprepared

Yes, those are my lawn mower, bbq grill and new swing. They are now cleaned off and packed away.
Being sick for a few weeks and poof voila tons of snow and all of a sudden it hits me - its NOVEMBER already!
Also going through my closet and guess what? Yup I don't have winter boots either!
This is shaping up to be one of those years where I am wondering where I left my head!

So I am cleaning, prepping and labeling for the upcoming Miche party, I've gone over my list of needs and the only thing left to buy is the food!
Hopefully my party won't have any "where'd I leave my head," moments.


Now I am going to share a sad, unhappy, ultimately crazy, wacky and then surprisingly wonderfully true story with you - in story form (cause its fun that way.)

Two months ago my best friend Margie called me out of the blue - she was buying a new car. An older couple in her ward were going off on an elderly mission and were selling their 3 cars. She ran right over and test drove one - love at first ride.
That however, was not why she was calling me - she wanted to give me her old car!
Yes folks she really is that generous!
A few weeks later, she got her car - after paying 10 grand to the couple and gave me her old one.

A week later I was called again. "I think I'm taking the car in... its making a sound."  
Alright first off I did laugh - I mean she gave me the car that she had been constantly taking in, so she could have a car that didn't need to be taken in.
So first Sat. she went to take the car in - they didn't have room so she made an appointment for the next Sat.
That week she was sick - both her kids had been sick all week long.
So it was more than a whole month that passed before she was able to take her car yesterday.

Without telling the mechanic what was wrong with the car she handed over the keys and allowed a basic inspection.
He came out a long time later with an unhappy face.
6,000 dollars the car needed to fix it up.
Yeah that fender bender the couple told her the car had been in... yeah it cracked the engine block and did lots of other damage - also it wasn't a minor fender bender - so yeah they LIED.
He could tell that this news was devastating to my best friend.
He prompted her to trade it in.
After a few phone calls, a walk around the lot and some very intense bargaining she got the FULL value of the car in the trade in and walked out the door with a brand new 2013 Nissan Sentra!

I am so happy that it worked out well in the end! 

Kid Day - Unplugged

My kids have been sick off and on for the past week, for a while I was trying to get them to make it to school - after multiple times of having to run back and forth to the school (including having to beg a ride so I wouldn't have to walk in the rain) today I just gave up and kept them both home.

Instead of all of us plopping in front of the boob tube, we unplugged. I stayed off the internet all day and the tv was off most of the whole day!
We cuddled in bed, read books, talked and painted Christmas houses and ornaments.
When papa came home he was tackled by two very hyper happy children.

It was good they stayed home, they both needed to stay next to the bathroom and both have needed cold meds - twice to keep the snot at bay.
It was also a very good mama/kid day - no one yelled, screamed or cried for very long. All in all it was the type of day we always dream of having with our kids but rarely do.

Two weeks ago my face looked like this

Two weeks after using my new face wash - acne all gone - as well as the oily build up on my skin - no matter how many times I washed a day!

Home Made Face Cleanse

Tomorrow is another day at home - this time because there is no school

another day to unplug and listen.

Another day of cuddles and secrets.

Of stories and bonding

another day to be.

 

Power Cleaning

Today its hot, muggy and cloudy. As I type thunder clouds roll in over my head and the valley vibrates with the rumbles of an approaching storm.
Will we really get rain this time? Will tomorrow be even more unbearable?

 My BFF

 My amazingly clean living room

what my bedroom looked like half way through the process of organizing, cleaning & tossing.

I normally don't brag, but I do have the most amazing best friend ever!

She and I are like two peas in a pod!

We do everything together and are very much alike.

Save for those very few things about us that are polar opposites.

Like the fact that I am free and loose type of cleaner

while she has OCD.

Not kidding

We threw away roughly 13-15 bags of garbage.

Wash, swept, mopped and cleaned.

12 1/2 hours of cleaning!

Thank you to my Best Friend who helped

and to my hubby who took the kids out all day long leaving us alone to work!

Thankfully the garbage man comes tomorrow!

Today was my second week at our new home church and I loved it

my only issue was how sore my legs were today after all the work yesterday!

The rain is starting to quench the earth. The thunder has played out and the smell of rain on dirt has filled the air.

The smell is clean, fresh - a renewal.

It feels like my whole life has become new, clean, a rebirth.

My chimes are tossed about in the wind, making a tune that the trees dance to and the rain continues to fall.

Take some time this week to find an area of heart or home to clean. I know I feel so much better!

Organizing my Chaotic Life

There are a few areas of my life that I have been "winging" successfully for the last ten years. Dinner preparation falls into that, house hold chores falls into the unsuccessful category.
Pinterest (thank you for coming into my life) has given me many great ideas.
Some from people that really, really, really, love paper - I mean WAY to many different organizing sheets.
Too many means that one day you will overlook or forget to check one.

Here are a few from different blogs & Pinterest that spawned my new system, at the bottom I will link and explain my system at the bottom. ;)

First up - Home Management
This one REALLY likes to pay for things you print off AND all her links are no longer valid - however the idea is solid.


Next up is Sunday Planning, again she really likes paper.

After her came the Magnetic Menu Board.
This one is sure genius! I love this idea
Although my idea is cheaper and simpler I took a lot from her.

Lastly came Girl Loves Glam - funny enough the least glamorous of them all but still very functional.
If you are looking to organize your life a little more these women have some great ideas!
Mine is a much simpler, much cheaper way to do many of the combined.






First off I have only one binder. My sister bought me a very nice recipe keeper set a few years ago. Ever since then its been used to hold our "family favorite" recipes.

It has plenty of space, many tabs and is a 3 ring binder. For me and what I want, its perfect.

 Here is a bad photo of my weekly calendar

This sheet has my menu plan, weekly family schedule, holidays, moon phases, & house cleaning chart.
Color coded to event or person.

Here is my Monthly calendar

I found a free site called, Keep & Share, where you can save several printable calendars.
You can even schedule things weekly, monthly ect.

Sorry for my bad hand writing. I had to write up this list and place next to my calendar so that I can schedule my menu plan off of it. See I have recipes and then I have "recipes" things that I make so often that I don't need a recipe card.

When planning a menu a month in advance you may need a "reminder" list. Something to help you remember old favorites or your general back ups.
This list I am sure will grow and be added to, I have plenty of room saved up on the back for more.

Another great idea when menu planning is to make sure that similar ingredients be used in the same week.
I have a week where I make burritos, tacos, nachos, salad ect.
Since most of those recipes re-use the same ingredients. Insuring no waste and maxim food for your budget.

Which ever organizing idea is for you or if like me you pick and choose and find something that really works for you, I hope this helps.

Gleevilly!!!

Gleevilly - Mash up of Gleeful & Evilly! Just imagine me - laughing manically, crazed eyes, evil smile and I know the chubbiness makes me look all sorts of cute and fluffy - inside however....

Renewal and is Pinterest for you?

For those new to my blog if you want the full story please read the links under - The Path to Me - page on the page bar of my blog.

Why? Well because that is where the story starts for me. I went into deep depression and then it became a habit. Not thinking, feeling, focusing or caring is a very dangerous apathetic habit.
Only with the help of depression meds (that all sorts of studies say don't work, I say after six years of trying to pull my self up - Oh Hell Yes they do!) was I able to start to wake my brain back up. To fully sleep at night, and truly awake in the morning.

At first the task is daunting. I am so behind in everything. The whole house must be cleaned, organized, sorted and redone. Things that have been long put off are finally caught up on - many times I want to return to numbness as the ever growing list of things to do, and people who are watching, continue to grow.
The pressure I am sure would crush many, for me it only serves to make me angry.
For me though, that's a good thing - I clean better when I am angry.

For six months I battle before I even feel like I am finally getting ahead of things! Its a very long slow process.
Being awake again, has brought new things to my attention and has again sparked my creative side!
I started making and fixing more things at home (darning, repairing, reusing & Home Made products) and then I joined pinterest.

Where I found a new organizing tip! Instead of shelving your sheets like grandma did, you fold the whole set top, fitted & extra's INSIDE the matching pillow case!
Brilliant! I only wish I had done this when the kids were younger! Night time bed changes would have been so much easier!
No digging or searching just add them into piles - boys, girls, king, queen & twin. Voila!

Also going through my linen closet I was able to determine which sheets were loners - extras - leftovers.

Instead of throwing these away 

I'm going to start a scrap quilt.

Now a scrap quilt is much different then the beautiful quilts you see with patterns.

However, I will save all of that for another post ;).

Also I made our family a chore chart - I keep getting in trouble for NOT being a mind reader! I do a ton of work but because it's NOT what HE wanted done - he's not happy. I know, I feel his pain too - boo hoo!
Now he can write down one thing and I can write down one thing! Brilliant!

Now on to Pinterest and if it's for you!
First off many wonder what pinterest is and if its for them.
Here are the basic questions I have to help you.

1. Do you often find recipes, blogs, tips, hints & good ideas and say - That Rocks!
2. Do you do, How to - Do-It-Yourself or crafting projects?
3. Do you like gardening? cooking? scrapbooking? -------- fill in any hobby right here!
4. Do you like to keep up on certain products or items?
5. Have ever found something (online) that makes you say OMG! That is amazing! 

If you have answered a loud yes to more than 3 of the 5 questions and you don't have a pinterest YOU NEED IT. If you answered with a mild yes to 3 or more, you would like pinterest and get on every few weeks as needed.
If you only said yes to one or two - pinterest may or may not be for you - you should give it a try and decide then.
If you shook your head No, or didn't even understand half the questions -Pinterest is not for you - most possibly neither is the internet.

Getting Organized

I have a hard time keeping things tidy, clean, looking nice and neat.

With two very active children, who really can keep up without losing any personal time? If I cleaned every second of the day I might be able to keep up with my children's destructive wake!

Luckily they are starting to learn how to help. They both know how to keep their rooms nice (they don't unless forced but they do know HOW).
Prissy is learning how to clean the bathroom and fold her laundry. Littleman is also learning to put his laundry away and is helping clean up the living room.

The more they can help the more A. They will try to keep things cleaner and thus have less work to do & B. Help lighten my load of work around the house allowing us more joint family time.

 That said it is much easier to keep areas clean if you use the space wisely.

Like under our bathroom sink.

Before I had no shelves so all things had to be mushed into one low level area.

Now however, with the aid of the storage boxes from Target 

(all the white were sold out I am really not that much of a pink person)

Under my sink is much easier to KEEP clean and neat.

I also added a small things aid to the top most drawer of the bathroom vanity

again in the hopes of keeping things neater, easier to find and easier to use.

(also from target)

These dark brown baskets were very hard to find as my home is around 65 years old and does not follow modern box sizes.

I finally found these at Micheal's and yes they stick out about 1 inch.

After being here over a year I am finally beginning to feel at home!

We still have a lot of work to do on the house - walls to redo

cabinets, floors, appliances ect.

One step at a time though and thankfully these are easy!

Tomorrow I need to put all my Christmas items away in my Christmas storage!

I love my home! 

I love that I have special storage areas! 

Tomorrow hopefully I will have another Weekly Wednesday thing for you - running over there now to check!

Art & Free Advice!

My little girl (Prissy) is an artist - very much like her papa and auntie. So today we bought her a new art set.

My son (LittleMan) seems to have acquired my artistic talent - meaning I am GREAT painting ceramic Christmas houses - coloring in between the lines.... and writing, did I mention I am a really good writer?

So far he is taking after me - as in the can not draw my minds eye for ANYTHING! Praying that he will grow into more of his fathers talents as he ages!

So far the best part is that just like me - he doesn't care. Painting in and of itself is fun! Love the heart and the joy he brings to his art work!

This is the new art work gracing the walls of the kids down stairs living room. Why the previous owners used dark paneling in a dimly lit basement is beyond me, however, we are trying to lighten it up until the time we can afford to re-panel. (not very high on our to do fix it list)

Anything and everything we can do to bring some brightness and cheer to their area we will do - we want them to WANT to be down there!

Tomorrow I will post pictures of my newest obsession - organizing!!!

Did I mention that finally after several years I feel awake? Oh yeah - I am cleaning (amazing I know) don't get you hopes up though my bedroom is still a disaster!! (working on it tomorrow - or just crying thinking about working on it) I am organizing, cooking, helping with homework and keeping pace with life in general!

So glad that I took time - real time - for me and my problems this summer. Its funny but I kept putting it off because my family needed other things - "they" were more important ect ect ect....
Now, however, that I am ME again and my mind and body are fully awake, I can tell you that putting off taking care of me hurt them far more then it helped them.
They needed me - not the zombie drone barely awake, barley functioning me - the real me.
After I took a small amount of time I knew I should have taken care of my issues so many years ago. I can never make up to my family the years my putting "me" off cost them.
If you have depression, exhaustion, no motivation, lack of caring - please seek help!

2012 Eclectic Fun News

This will not be one of my "normal" blogs. I have found many little wisps of fun things I want to keep, share and drool over.

One of the coolest photos I have found in a very long time is of the Crab Nebula

 

 

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111225.html

 

Next up is really the engine of the future! I can't even imagine the possibilities if they can get the "test" - large car sized model - working the way they think it will, cars will weigh 1,000 pds less and need less gas to move the lower weight!
A 20 gallon gas tank really could take you a month of driving before running out - or even more! This engine really can redefine the world!

 GE 30 in. 5 gas range burner I can't even begin to tell you how badly I want this stove!

We are still remodeling the kitchen and I am not sure how long it will be until we get this stove (or one like it) but this is the model I am looking at - at the moment!

Now on to Salt Lake City, Utah - What is happening in 2012? I'll tell you - copy & posted from the previous new link - the whole article is worth reading though!

In March, the LDS Church opens City Creek Center, a $2 billion retail, restaurant and residential mega-development, destined to recharge Utah’s metropolitan heart.

Construction also will be visible next year on a Sugar House streetcar, a North Temple makeover — bisected by a TRAX train to the international airport — two new libraries, a federal courthouse, a $125 million public-safety headquarters, downtown housing projects and a $110 million touring Broadway theater.

Urban planners say the level of private and public investment is remarkable, especially given the limping economy.

Extra drama over the 2012 doomsday stems from the stars. On 12/21/12 — the winter solstice — the sun aligns with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in about 26,000 years. Scientists say that will disrupt the energy streaming to Earth.

Downtown window shopping is about to get a lot richer — from Brooks Brothers suits to Tiffany diamonds to Cheesecake Factory desserts.

Boasting 80 specialty stores and restaurants, hundreds of housing units in four towers and a Harmons grocery, City Creek Center spans 700,000 square feet on the two city blocks that once housed Crossroads Mall and ZCMI Center. Connected by a sky bridge over Main Street, it has 18-foot waterfalls, retractable glass roofs and a stream — re-creating City Creek — running through it.

Anchored by Nordstrom and Macy’s, City Creek should reshape and reboot Salt Lake City’s sometimes-sleepy downtown.

"It will place Salt Lake City in the cross hairs as one of the finest developing cities in the country." - end of copying.

Salt Lake City - is still very 1940's - 1950's when big buildings came into fashion and construction was made easier. (several different inventions helped)
This make's driving through downtown feel like a blast from the past, but really it's an OLD town. For being the 32nd most populated city in the entire USA - its really old and dying.

Thankfully having the Olympics here in 2002 we have lots of new hotels, pavilions, skate parks and event centers. Now onward to reviving our downtown!

Now when the rest of the country is saving money, watching their spending and economizing - Salt Lake is going to become THE newest - modern city. I can't wait for it all to be done!

Up that's it for today! Yesterday we deep cleaned the living room - today my hubby cleaned the kitchen with the kids and I organized the bathroom. (I also went shopping with my BFF and out to lunch! What a great day!)

So behind...

I have so much to catch up on.

Weight loss
Weddings
Girls night outs
Hair cuts
Autism walks (this Saturday!)
Cooking
Gardening
And how all of a sudden I am not only awake but cleaning my house.

First up - R.I.P Steve Jobs

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do....

~ (Steve Jobs) Apple Inc.
1955-2011 R.I.P.
You will be missed.

Also this Sunday my little girl turns 8!
This is so amazing, I remember every detail of her birth.
I remember who was their, what stupid things were said. How close I came to dying... Ah the good times.
I will be posting a special post Sunday to remember my girl over the years.

I have not stopped blogging. I love blogging.
However, I have woken up.
I am cleaning away and reorganizing 6 years of neglect and Irma (My Friend Irma) like behavior.
I have not been on due to the amount of work I have been doing - as well as working out.

Also my camera is dying... and I am heartbroken. So I haven't been able to take a lot of photos to share.
I miss you all. I miss running by and reading all of your posts. I promise to catch up soon.
I promise I will be back.

Girls Day!

My job for the day

Before my BFF came to grab

me for a day of shopping!

Dinner with my BFF

The demon possessed piggies we found at Target

 

My BFF loves my taste in earrings!

Some women love shoes,

others purses,

me I love Earrings!

A good earring - dangles, sparkles, moves and is not too heavy or bulky,

And then yes its raining again!

Another day inside

Its raining

again

Today's to do list:

review books on SheWrites

Cook: Creamy Crockpot Shredded Chicken

Work on short query letter for next Sunday

Guess the book

Work some more on my photography 

Read books to Children

Make coffee

Change sheets

Trees, Bricks and Friends

See those bricks?

They came with my BFF's home 

She took out the area they were occupying and put down a 

wonderful stamped concrete area

giving me all the bricks for our yard plans.

*Insert large smile here*

So today we removed all the bricks and helped cut down

all the broken branches from the massive amounts of snow and wind this year.

Then of course helped clean up!

Now for those that got pulled into the drama of TV and media hype about the end of the world here is the kicker. The bible clearly states that NO man knows the day or the hour that God is coming. AND it also says that God reserves the right to change his mind - NOT KIDDING. He says he can choose to come another day.

Why people keep thinking it helps to run around like Chicken Little screaming Doom! I don't know. All I know is that I pray, I love God, I raise my kids to love God. I leave the REST to God. I don't try to keep the earth spinning, I don't keep the sun on course, or the seasons turning. I live my life to be best of my ability and wait. 

I will wait til death or God takes me, I will NOT run around like an idiot sqwuaking and looking like a moron. I will not try to make people who believe in God look like idiots. So for those who made fun of Christians today - I am sorry that HE made you think we are ALL that dumb.

Rain and House Cleaning

So day three of rain. I am not talking about normal Utah intermittent sparse rain I am talking about RAIN not stop buckets of rain! For DAYS!! With another two possible days of rain on the way!

My problem with this is the fact that I need to garden!

See! They are over taking my kitchen!

So what do you do when you have so much time indoors on your hands?

I started cleaning the room so I could set up my home office.

To this (so far)

I know my space is tiny but I don't need a lot of room.

Right now my project is book two. 

My sis wants to read it now that she is done with book one but I have not really had the time to dedicate to rewriting and fixing it as I have the first.

Homeownership woes and Veterans day

I love my home. I really really do. I have 9 days until Mid Sis arrives. I have the bedrooms ready, I still have to clean floors, walls, put away cloths, toys and books not to mention finish fixing the kitchen. These things will be done in time.

But like many other new homeowners things crop up that were unexpected and unforeseen. Things that come with $200.00 water bills. One day of inspecting and turning things off we have determined that we have a major leak from the main pipe coming into the house. The expected repair bill for this (our friend Shayne did the same repair a few years ago) is $2,000! OUCH!!!

This has caused us to look into different alternatives as it HAS to be repaired quickly. For the first time in our 8 1/2 year marriage we have applied for a credit card. P.S No matter how many times people tell you that you can't buy a house without a credit card - don't believe them - WE DID!

So until we are approved for this or some other form of loan we have taken to turning the water off from the main at night so at least we won't be wasting extra money and water then. What makes this extra fun is today is Veterans Day! I thank God for all those men that have willingly put their lives on the line to protect my family, and my country. This year, however, it also means that we have to wait another day before we can do anything official about our problems. AHHHHHH!!!!!

Have I mentioned that I love my house? I really really do. Its just really really old.

Cleaning

I have been hard at work cleaning. Cleaning ever since I moved in.
Cleaning the floor from the residue of yucky old carpet and years of abuse.
I have been cleaning beer stains and smoke tar stains from the walls, doorways and windows.

I have been wrestling with laundry and figuring out where to put it all since the kids cloths are still piled in huge piles in my room, until we can get their rooms fixed.

I have been cleaning unpacking and wrestling with potty training my son and a new baby puppy that likes to poop on my floors.

Do I get any form of slack for the fact that we are in the middle of seven major remodels as well as unpacking, cleaning and settling in?

NOPE!

Instead I get a host of snarky rude comments from several different areas that think I should magically be able to finishing putting things away into spaces that don't exist.

Here is my response it will be done by Thanksgiving if you have issues with my home before then - DON'T COME OVER!


I am way to tired and grumpy to deal with this on top of everything else I have to do.
So if any of my other posts, responses or comments have been equally snarky and rude I apologize.

A late birthday post

Prissy with her new polka dot pants enjoying her 7th birthday with a sleepover with her BFF D!


She was a very spoiled girl and we had a ball! Grandparents came a few days early as we didn't have any plans for Prissys big day as our house is still in shambles.

Work update - Fridge is in and connected - water, power ect. Microwave is up and over the stove. My instant hot water is on as well as our reverse osmosis and the house water filter. My husbands new office desk is put together as well as the guest couch. I have been working hard at cleaning floors and organizing my kitchen items into their proper places.

As for the newest member of the house, well he really seems to like pillows for his head! He is getting better at house training and his indoor accidents are dwindling.
He now sleeps upstairs in our room and he is as fun as ever!

What a long day today

First off my BFF's house flooded this morning!
Besides running around in the rain chasing flying trash, panicking about the flooding basement, cleaning up the dirt or calming the screaming scared children.

I had a massive mammoth headache! ALL DAY LONG!!!

~ FYI - Lysol concentrate floor cleaner ~ cleans well but stinks! I mean really bad, I will stick with Pinesol in the future.

Shopping today though was great fun! I found the floor tile that I want to install in my soon to be upstairs bathroom! Yeah!

Update on house: Finally we have had progress! Verizon's HR finally gave in and talked to our lender. We received the bid on the fireplace and the shed. Got the final paycheck for this month and the proper paperwork showing that our school loans are not due for another year.
We need to resign the paperwork for the lower interest and then meet for the closing! Yeah closing!
Have I mentioned yet that I want to move into my new home?
NO!!! (fake incredulousness)
I WANT MY HOME!!!

LOL I am happy things are moving along again and I will never ever have to refinance. 4.75 FIXED!

I still have a headache, I still want to shoot people with marshmallow guns (who wouldn't) and of course I still want to move tomorrow, but today has been a fun day in spite of everything!

Tidbits of my day

Our storage shed after a few days of moving things (this was a few days ago so imagine another four feet of items)

My kids playing in the rain Little Man decided to wear his sisters shoes as they played in the rain.

Our first ripe tomato

Our strawberry plants

Today we did a huge trip to storage, packing and giving away my whole bedroom set.

After we move into the new home we will have to go shopping for a new one.

Alright you caught me I can't wait to go shopping for a brand new bed set!