Monday, February 28, 2011

Weekly Money Checkup

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on $485 on my very last medical bill. Cross your fingers that is the last one for a very long time! I also spent $380 on rugs for my main floor, I have been saving for those though and our tax return came.

2. Today I feel happy towards money. Every year when we get our tax refund we immediately put it in savings, this year just over a third went in savings and we are having a little fun even after paying medical expenses. :)


3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was sew 110 napkins for my sisters wedding. Well that doesn't really make me happy but it makes my mom happy that she saved money and I am glad I could help.

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4. I will consider this week a success if I put 50 new items on my website and take all the old sale items off and put in my sale trays for shows.


5. My favorite thing about spring is the birds chirping, it reminds me that warmer weather is on it's way.





Now I am off to finish laundry and package up orders! This was a great weekend for sales! But before this Monday ends I have to reupholster my husbands 4-wheeler seat....he wont build my garden boxes until it's done. Have a wonderful week!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Dreaming....

 Wouldn't it be nice to have this as a back yard? Of course but it would have to come with a gardener so you could enjoy it.
 This is what my last few "gardens" have looked like as landlords are not really cool with you digging up the yard for a real garden. I love being able to do what I want to our house, within reason of course. :)
 This is an awesome representation of what I am planting along our back fence, wildflowers! Cheap, Pretty and fairly dog resistant. My Mamo and I witnessed my puppy pulling a weed out of the yard last summer....I am hoping he will leave these alone because there will be so many of them.
And a dream of a waterfall and pond. I can just imagine sitting on a rock with a good book and enjoying this. Too bad this is a pipe dream, maybe I will get a fountain some day....one dogs can't swim in.

The sky is gray and cloudy dashing any hopes of being outside as much as I would like. Hopefully it is nice and warm for you and you have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Torn at what to do first....

I am super torn at the moment. I feel like I didn't get enough done inside the house before spring and there is so much I want to do. I know I have awhile but I have a lot to do outside this spring/summer. I have big plans that need planned and budgeted for. Here are a few items I need to do:

-Visit nursery and ask about prices for the plants I will need for the front yard beds.

-Determine what ground covers I want to use in backyard area.

-Price out building raised garden boxes. Should I go with Redwood or Cedar?

-Check with Pioneer (gravel, ground covers etc.) about prices for whatever we decide in backyard, some bark for front yard beds, and some soil for my garden boxes. I also want to see how much flagstone costs as I have a plan to increase the patio but it will have to wait until next year.

-Move sprinkler heads, I think we will only move one and cap the other one off as it wont be needed with the new yard arrangement.

- Rototill front yard beds.

-Build garden boxes, fill with old rock and new soil. Plant, marigolds, lots of peppers, tomatoes, lettuce,and acorn squash for sure.

-Lay foundation for shed, we are debating between concrete and blocks.

-Build shed....we need helpers. :)

-Plant new plants in front yard, currently we have none.

-Lay new ground cover in front and back.

-Transplant current Butterfly bushes to cover up electrical bushes next to shed.

Man just typing that is making me wonder how we are going to get it done. I also have to buy new shutters for the outside of the house, repair and repaint the trim. My family is supposed to be rebuilding our cabin's deck early summer as well. I don't think we are going anywhere this summer. Anyone want to come help?

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Purity Bracelet Story and Inspiration

This great story keeps disappearing online so I am re posting it to share with others. This story was shared by a wonderful mother that wanted this bracelet for her girls that I custom made. The bracelet created from this inspiration is available on my website. Enjoy!



The Charm Bracelet


Taken from the April 2008 Brio and Beyond Magazine:
The Charm Bracelet
By: Sarah Kistler
 Sweet 16 had finally come! I never thought I'd make it. But I did. And it was amazing. My parents threw the birthday party of the century, and I had more people than I could count. The whole day had been awesome. But as I watched the sun begin to set, I knew the best part was soon to come.
 It was late in the evening. Confetti had been swept up, helium balloons had started to sag and gift wrap had been folded neatly and tucked away for my mom's later use. As I sad at my window studying the dusky sky, Dad peeked into the room with a smile.
 "Ready to go, Sweetie?" he asked.
 Was that a trick question? I wondered as I scrambled to my feet. I'd been waiting for this night for five long years, and it was finally here! I was now officially allowed to date!
 The plan was for my parents and me to go to my favorite restaurant on the night of my 16th birthday and officiate the agreement, go over standards and discuss rules and such. And now we were finally on our way.
 I sat across from my parents in a quiet corner booth. Having just placed our orders, I figured it was time to get on with it. "So. I can go out with any guy I want to, right?" I squealed, hardly able to contain my excitement.
 Mom and Dad chucked. Dad answered, "Well, we agreed to that, didn't we?"
 "Sweet!" I exclaimed, doing a little victory dance in my seat. My parents had held me off for years, but now that the time had come, they would let me date any guy I wanted! Of course they knew I had a good relationship with God and wasn't too short on common sense, either.
 "Now wait just a second," Mom interrupted with a smile. "You have to agree to a little something yourself."
 I was expecting a lecture of some sort, so I was already prepared. "So what do I have to do now?" I asked, leaning forward on my elbows.
 "Just open this," Dad answered, producing a small white box. He gave a mysterious smile.
 I hesitated a moment before removing the curly pink ribbon. I slowly opened the lid and saw a beautiful silver bracelet. But not just any bracelet. It was a charm bracelet. And they weren't just any charms. They were gemstones, small but gorgeous. A dozen dainty charms dangled gently.
 "Wow." I didn't know what else to say. I wasn't expecting this at all.
 "Now you have to understand this isn't just any bracelet," Mom informed me.
 "I know," I said. "It's so beautiful!" I studied it closer. There were six small charms alternating with tinier ones. The smaller ones were deep blue. Sapphires, I guessed. And the other six were each different. One appeared to be just a rock, one was pink, a white one, a red one, green... and was that a diamond?
 "This charm bracelet is symbolic," Dad explained, leaning in closer to study it with me. "It represents you and your purity. This is what will guide you through your dating relationships. Your mother and I can only tell you what's right. We can't make you believe it yourself. Hopefully, this will."
 I looked up solemnly. "I'm listening."
 "This represents the first time you hold a guy's hand," Mom said, pointing to the gray one. "It's just a piece of polished granite. Seemingly cheap, yes, but it's still a part of your bracelet. This is pink quartz." She gently rubbed the next one between her fingers. "It represents your first kiss."
 "This green one is an emerald," Dad continued. "This is your first boyfriend. The pearl is the first time you say 'I love you' to a man other than me."
 I giggled. This was so amazing.
 "The ruby stands for your first engagement. And the diamond represents the first time you say 'I do,'" Mom finished.
 After letting it all sink in, I cleared my emotion-clogged throat. "What do the six tiny sapphires stand for?" I asked.
 "Those are to remind you how beautiful and valuable you are to us and to God," Dad replied. "Now here's the hitch in all this, the only and only rule you'll ever have to follow when it comes to dating."
 Only one rule. Sounded good. But little did I know...
 "Whenever you give one of these actions of love- a kiss, an 'I love you', a hand to hold- you also have to give the recipient the gem to match."
 I must've misunderstood. "I have to give him the gem?"
 "You have to give it to him," Mom restated.
 I was silent for a moment. I thought they must be joking. But they weren't even thinking of cracking a smile.
 "But Daddy!" I suddenly shrieked. "These are insanely expensive! I can't just give them away!"
 He gave a soft, loving chuckle, "Did you hear what you just said?"
 I thought about it.
 "Baby, your purity, your heart, they're far more valuable than a few little rocks. If you can't find it in your heart to give away your little charms, I don't think you should be giving away the things they represent."
 I could feel my insides melting, ready to gush out of my tear ducts. One the one hands, it made me feel valuable and precious. But on the other, it made me furious. It made no sense. But it would.
 A few weeks after that night, I was hanging out with my friends at the beach. Chad wouldn't swim because I wouldn't swim. I was more interested in reading than getting caked with sand, and he was more interested in sitting with me than swimming with his buddies. He was sweet. He was cute. And he tried to hold my hand.
 I was thrilled for a nanosecond when a certain piece of ugly granite flashed through my mind and made me move out of his reach. I was severely annoyed- annoyed at my parents, annoyed at my bracelet-turned-handcuffs, but most of all, annoyed at myself. I was letting a little rock dominate my romantic life.
 I furiously glared at it during the whole embarrassing walk to the bathhouse. But then God hit me upside the head with shocking epiphany. I couldn't give up my little chunk of granite. It was part of my bracelet, which in a sense made it a part of me. I wouldn't be whole without it. It wasn't a priceless gem, yet it was still valuable. It made sense after that.
 Kevin came along eventually. We had fun. we hung out a lot. I thought I might love him. I thought I might tell him so. I thought of my pearl. It turned out that I didn't love him as much as I thought I did.
 So my parents had been right. They couldn't make me believe the thins they wanted me to believe. So they let God and my bracelet do the work instead. Among the four of them, I figured out how valuable I was. How valuable my purity was. How not valuable guys were who just wanted my time and emotions. If they weren't in it for the whole bracelet, why should they get one part of it?
 Nate. He thought my bracelet was awesome. So he never tried to hold my hand. He never tried to kiss me. But he asked me to marry him.
 I never knew that so many years of torture could amount to so much happiness. I'd thought it was silly. I'd thought it was overrated. But now, I've never been more glad of anything in my life. As I gave my husband the charm bracelet in its entirety, I wondered why I had found it so hard to hang on to those little rocks when it was amazing to give them all to the man I truly loved.
 But it didn't end there. Now our daughter wears it.

Garden Ideas


I thought I would share one of my ideas for my yard. I have wanted a real garden for years! I have had container gardens almost everywhere we have lived but they have never been quite right with the different climates we have lived in. Word of advice don't bother trying to grow peppers in Phoenix, inside or outside.

Last summer I helped my uncle plant his but I would still like my own. So here is my inspiration. Mine will be a plank taller to prevent my plant eating puppy from enjoying. I also am going to use our old gravel that looks bad to provide drainage. Win win, less rock and a garden. Now I just need to build them and move the sprinkler out of the way.

Thanks to my husbands shed placement for creating the perfect place to build three of these.

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Monday, February 21, 2011

Weekly Money Checkup

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on a steam mop. I hate that I can't get my floor clean without streaks no matter what floor cleaners I use. Problem solved! :)

2. Today I feel off track towards money. My husband bought ski's, ski boots, and poles Friday....bye bye tax refund. He deserved them though and he is super excited. That was so not on our plan for extra money, he NEVER buys things like that.


3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was watch a 90 lb puppy/dog that I took care of when we lived in Washington. He "Jack" came to visit this weekend while his owner and my husband went skiing. I miss that guy and my puppy missed him too. I only wish they were still the same size....Jack is HUGE! 


4. I will consider this week a success if I finish cutting out fabric for bib sets and get my gift finished for my sister in law/new baby whenever it arrives.


5. My favorite meal of the day is  ALWAYS Chinese or Vietnamese food. I would eat it for every meal if my husband was up for it, maybe I need to go manage a Chinese restaurant again so I can eat for free.



Enjoy your week! I am dreaming about gardening ideas. I went to the Home and Garden show this weekend. What a GREAT place to see every home product out there. I now have a plan for my garden as soon as we get our shed purchased and installed. Hopefully I will get my plan drawn up soon and can share.


Go check out My Pretty Pennies to join the Weekly Money Checkup.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Sunny Thursday

Just wanted to say a quick good morning. I am enjoying a cup of coffee and debating whether or not I want to eat chocolate cake or blueberry muffins for breakfast? I went a little crazy baking yesterday. We had sandwiches for dinner because I was baking instead. Oops. :} Oh well at least my husband had something to take for breakfast this morning as he left at 6am and had to head to Colorado Springs for a meeting. One he didn't want to go to and had to drive in rush hour traffic to (it is almost an hour from our house in normal traffic).

So for the last 3 hours I have been catching up on blogs I like to read and Internet window shopping. Not very productive as I need to get to work sewing up a storm. I will hopefully share some photos later.

Have a wonderful Thursday! The birds are chirping and that makes me happy thinking about spring!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Weekly Money Checkup

Happy Valentines Day!





1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on paint for my craft room. There finally isn't a 7 foot mirror hanging on the wall so I had to paint the giant empty spot.

2. Today I feel happy towards money.


3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was borrow my sister to cut my hair. I haven't had it trimmed since September because I have been growing it out. She cut off over 2 inches to even out my weird layers. Yeah to free GOOD haircuts!


4. I will consider this week a success if I continue selling lots of purity bracelets this week. The last two weeks have been CRAZY and I am making a supply order right now as I am out of chain. :)


5. This Valentine’s Day I am  pretty lucky. We usually stay at home and I make a nice dinner but this Valentines we are going to the mall, eating at the food court and my husband is taking me shopping! Yea! He told me that since I have only been getting things for the house he wants to treat "me". Personally getting things to make the house look nice are for me but I am super excited that he is taking me to get some cute clothes. I have a good one ladies!



I hope you have a wonderful week and enjoy! We are supposed to have a nice warm week so I am excited!


Go check out My Pretty Pennies to join the Weekly Money Checkup.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Lost Paint

So I am sitting here waiting on paint samples to dry.....I finally got my husband to stop working on his 4-wheeler and help me take the 7foot long mirror hanging in my craft room off the wall. It only took almost 10 months to convince him to help. Who hangs a mirror that big in a small bedroom anyways? And hangs it crooked? Now it is sitting in my dining room, I hope it doesn't stay very long.....

Anyways when I got kicked out of the garage because my husband is collecting so many garage tools my saved paint can lids disappeared. Not good, so I have a bunch of sample jars trying to remember what color it was I painted my craft room. While waiting I am doing some internet window shopping.

I am thinking about this rug in three sizes for my dining room, den off of that room, and front door. Not super exciting but they should help keep the floor cleaner from the dogs and since all three areas are open to each other I think this is the best choice as I have pretty wild/vibrant colors everywhere.

We are getting a shed for the backyard with our tax refund, 3 rugs and the rest is paying off my medical bills. Nothing very fun but usually we put the little we get in savings so I am excited that we are getting some things we need/want this year. Now I am just waiting for our tax refund to show up so I can do some real shopping. :)

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend and not watching paint dry!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Sun is Shining

I had a BLAST last night at the CU/Texas A&M basketball game. Lucky me went with an Aggie (TX) fan and they won in overtime. I am a bad family member as my cousin cheers for CU, at least I got to say hi to her after the game. I also ran into a couple from my home town that adopted a dear friend of mine. It's nights like that that make me LOVE living in CO. (minus the icy roads)

I also got everything fixed with my website and all issues are resolved. Yeah!!!!!! Now money from items I have sold are in MY bank account and not floating around Paypal. That is a huge sigh of relief as I was super stressed out.

On another note I have decided I am drinking ONE cup of coffee a day, this once a week stinks. That and I am crabby without my coffee.

Hope you had a wonderful Wednesday as well and the rest of your week is fantastic!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Aaaahhhhhhhhhh

That is what I want to yell and it isn't even 7:30am my time this morning.

Between Paypal glitches, bad customer service, and glitches with my website I am having a BAD morning. I already had my one cup of coffee this week but I am thinking I deserve one today!

All I have to say is I am SO grateful for wonderful customers that are patient! And my husband for helping me fix issues while I was freaking out last night.

Here is to a better Wednesday! I am going to wander around Boulder, CO this afternoon as I am going to the CU, Aggie (TX) game tonight with a friend. I am not a huge basketball fan but I like hanging out with my friends. :)

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Snow+Cold+Coffee=Great Day Inside!

I thought I would share some lazy pictures as I was too chicken to go outside as it was below zero again. :( Most of this winter we have had pretty nice weather, I miss it right now.

View of Front Yard, and yes that stick in our yard is supposed to be a tree. :)  I took this from inside the dining room.
What I really would like to do is get my snow shoes out and hike around the neighborhood. But I have no clue where my snow pants are and I am not supposed to be doing anything for almost another month due to that poison Levaquin that the doctor prescribed me during my kidney stone unveiling. I am tempted to go anyway if I can find my pants.....the dogs are having a hard time getting in and out of the dog door because there is so much snow.
Messy office, I am clearing out space on the shelves to put books that I have in boxes I might want to work on this it looks messier in this photo....
Jalapeno Jelly, Yum this is the best jar I have ever eaten.
I treated myself to a grapefruit, COFFEE :), and an English muffin with jalapeno jelly for breakfast. I am not usually a breakfast person but since I haven't been drinking coffee much I have been eating breakfast more often.

Hope you are enjoying your day as well if it is cold wherever you may be!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Weekly Money Checkup

I am behind as it is Monday night....At least it has been a productive Monday.
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on medical bills again. :( I know super boring. It just occurred to me that we could have bought a new fridge with all this money. I REALLY would rather have had a new fridge.
2. Today I feel grateful towards money. Grateful the we have enough to live pretty well.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was utilize my husbands handy skills and have him make me a shelf to put in my laundry room cabinet.

4. I will consider this week a success if I mop our main floor. The snow/ ice melt has made it a mess, I kind of want to wait until spring.....

5. For the Super Bowl, we went to a friends house and got to see a bunch of our friends that moved to Colorado from Washington state like us. We used to all live less than 5 minutes away from each other, we miss seeing our WA family.
Weekly Money Checkup comes from My Pretty Pennies. Go show her some love.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Update as I have been a lazy blogger....

It has been FREEZING here, well just like most of the U.S. this week. I am really ready for spring!

Shoe Wall...I am thinking another one on the right? For Colin's shoes. :}
So I have been up to building a third shoe rack to organize the master closet. Ok I cheated and bought kits, they were cheaper than building them from scratch and much easier.
Blighty Pete the 3rd


I bought a few new plants, one for our master bedroom because we had no greenery and I love plants. This plants name is Blighty Pete the 3rd as my sisters have two just like this that were named Blighty Pete for some reason I can't remember almost 10 years ago.

And then I got three glass apothacary jars for my master bathroom. I have ZERO drawers and no storage so I wanted something pretty as most items are on the counter. The small jar has a bird for the knob/handle.

On top of that I made almond poppyseed muffins, snicker doodles, and chocolate chip cookies. I may or may not have burnt the last batch to a blackened crisp as I was unsuccessfully multitasking.

Today is a joyous day of paying bills. :( That is never fun but at least we can pay them. :)

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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