Monday, January 31, 2011

Sheets of Ice and Hot Chocolate Coffee

Oh the weather outside is NASTY! We woke up to ice covering everything, so sad after the last two days being almost 60 outside. :(

Back Yard through the Kitchen Window
So I am sitting inside enjoying a cup of decaf coffee mixed with hot chocolate. Two things I shouldn't be drinking, I have kept these delicious treats down to once a week. Avoiding things you love just makes you want them more. Last week Colin felt bad for me and ordered a HUGE coke to share, I should mention he never orders any soda etc. if we go out. It's the little things that make you feel loved.


Before of Headlight on Colin's 4-Wheeler



I had to share what we were up to this weekend!
With a picture show!



After picture of 4-Wheeler Headlight
Taxes...Yuck we aren't done yet due to my business. :(
New Shelf under stairs to store my paint. 
We did LOTS of other little projects and I sold a few unneeded items from out last few years of being a nomad and a gypsy on Craigslist. Colin borrowed/stole my heat gun (I don't think he is giving it back) to work on his 4-wheeler. That simple little tool made the plastic on his 4-wheeler look almost new. Slowly he is getting it rebuilt and I think it is actually going to turn out nice. My only part is recovering the seat. Yeah to turning old worn out things into things you love. I also decided to clean my windows this weekend, all our windows have the ability to flip in so you can clean the inside and outside. It took me about 45 minutes to do the WHOLE house. Washing windows growing up took over 2 days with extra people helping. I am officially in love with the windows on our house. :)

Hope you have a warmer week than me!

Weekly Money Checkup

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on medical bills....they are making our checkbook cry :(.

2. Today I feel ok towards money. We worked on a plan for my medical bills this last weekend and having a plan makes me breath easier. Next year we are increasing our Health Savings Account ten fold.


3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was use up some gift cards and buy myself two shoe racks to make my closet more organized. Ok that wasn't "free" but the organizing part was and that makes me HAPPY!


4. I will consider this week a success if I get my but in gear and paint my guest bathroom.


5. Right now I am reading absolutely nothing as I can't put my books down and get anything else done. I am reading the last two issues of National Geographic that I got as a Christmas gift.



This comes from My Pretty Pennies, join in!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Soap.com is already here!

Just wanted to say that my soap.com order that I made Tuesday night showed up before noon on Thursday! I am VERY surprised and happy.

Yesterday I made a trip to the local theater union office. What a mess, construction in downtown Denver was horrible. I made it though and learned why I haven't been called to work. They have a separate wardrobe/costume union here in Denver because there are too many shows to manage employees. I called that business agent and am waiting again. No fun, but at least I am getting somewhere.

I really should be being productive but I am lounging with the puppies and then I need to pick my dad up at the airport. Right now I feel like painting my 2nd guest bedroom. Oh, the decisions. :)
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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Saving on Soap!

Want to save some money? Of course, everyone does. Thanks to a friend I made an order at Soap.com today and saved over $50 on things we use everyday! I got makeup, face wash, face lotion, hair gel, soap, mouthwash, toner, concealer, just to name a few items. I paid no shipping as I spent over $25 and paid less than half for some items. Saving makes me happy, not to mention I like getting things in the mail. If you would like to try them out here is a 15% discount code off your purchase. KERR505005


They also have a great supply of cleaning products. Check out Soap.com 


Hope you are having a wonderful week

Monday, January 24, 2011

Weekly Money Checkup

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on not very exciting fabric. Everyone I know seems to be having babies and I am out of bibs and burp clothes for gifts. Actually this will save me money. :)
2. Today I feel stressed towards money. We looked at sheds yesterday for the yard and thinking about the things we need to buy for the house this summer is making me stress.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was make a huge meal Saturday night with my husband. It's nice to cook together instead of by myself.
4. I will consider this week a success if I get my basement closet reorganized and all 12 gallons of paint that came with our house taken to Habitat.
5. My favorite way to relax is have a nice hot bath with salts and bubbles. I added a jetted tub for the master to my wish list of wants.



This Weekly money checkup comes from My Pretty Pennies.




Since I haven't written since last week first I want to say Happy Birthday to my father in law! I am not even really sure of what I have been up to since last Monday other than cutting out fabric for bibs and burp clothes. I am making a ton as I have sold out of all but one and they make good gifts and I sell a lot of them.


I need to stay focused because right now my head is swimming with how to balance our budget for this month/next month. My bills/statements have started arriving from my kidney stones/scans and we are going to be very tight and not be able put anything away in savings for at least a month. Sigh, this makes me sad because every time I see one of the medical bills it makes me think of what we could be doing with that much money. :( 


On to happy news.....I found shutters for the front of the house for CHEAP! Yeah! The last last few cold weeks have been horrible for the shutters on the front of our house. Every single one has cracked and broken. :( But I have found them for so reasonable that I want to dance! Yeah to good prices when I thought they were going to be expensive! So I have been driving around looking at house colors since those need replaced and our trim needs painted. 


Anyways have a wonderful week! I started mine out early taking my dad to the airport. Poor guy has to go to Minneapolis for the week. :( Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Weekly Money Checkup

So I am taking the cue from Namine and My Pretty Pennies.

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on three new shirts. I usually don't budget for clothes as before we were saving for a house and now the house sucks up extra money.

2. Today I feel sad towards money. I wish I could grow it on trees. Maybe I am sad because I just wrote two checks to our city and state for my business taxes.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was have a coffee date with my mom. She bought me some decaf for her house, I was missing the taste. When everyone else is drinking coffee tea is just not as good. Stupid diet restrictions.

4. I will consider this week a success if I finish cleaning the entire house. Yesterday I did 10 loads of laundry.....

5. My signature outfit is jeans, super cute shoes, and some kind of jacket. I have more jackets than anyone needs, but I do love them. Maybe that was why I hated living in Phoenix so much, I couldn't wear my jackets. :(


Hope you are having a wonderful Week!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Revamping your Diet for Kidney Stones

Due to my recently discovered Kidney Stones I am going to alternate my diet. :( I am torn between the pain of more stones (which I currently have either way) and my extreme dislike of not eating things I love.

Some of these things are caffeine. I was told specifically no pop, coffee or chocolate. The other that is really hard is red meat and salt, they told me to limit red meat to 3 or less times a week. They told me lots of other things but these are the major ones.

A little background on me, I have been drinking coffee since I was at least 5 (my dad is not a good babysitter). This last Saturday 5 people in my family drank THREE pots of a 12 cup coffee pot. We LOVE our coffee. I must admit that I went to the coffee isle at the grocery store last week just to smell the aromas. :( Second, growing up my dad raised cattle so we ate a lot of beef and still do. If it was up to him we would have had beef with every meal. Third, my dad/family has a high salt content in everything they cook, bland food never came out of my parents kitchen. And finally fourth I LOVE Coca Cola! Just that alone makes me sad.

So in order to prevent more stones from forming I am altering my diet. I bought some flounder, shrimp, and a pork roast this week at the grocery store. I am going to switch to ground turkey for tacos, burgers, etc. so that I can still enjoy meals I like. I cut out Coca Cola completely, and I have decided I can have ONE cup of coffee a week. And I am in full agreement with myself that if more stones form than I am discontinuing my diet that is unless I lose like 20lbs. I have one more stone in my kidneys at this moment but if I get any beyond that this plan is going out the door. Sadly that is mostly because of the coffee.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with the 100+ lbs of steaks/hamburger/roasts/other beef in our freezer that my husband can't eat alone.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

New Phone....an HTC Droid Incredible

I finally got a new phone Sunday! :) Yeah! That awful kidney stone day a few weeks ago was also the demise of my phone. My touch screen went bad so I switched to my old old phone (about 5 years old). Then  I realized the battery was bad and I REALLY missed having a keyboard to text.

I really did not want to increase my bill by adding data/Internet. I have had it before and it wasn't worth the extra cost. But that was before apps....my husband has an iPhone through his work. I love how seamlessly it can do just about everything but like Verizon's network. So we tested all of Verizon's smart phones and I chose the HTC Droid Incredible.

Bonus Points:
Awesome 8mp camera
Easy to use
Has features my husband wishes he had
Great locking features when off, it will not call people in my purse!
Google Maps with location so I don't need to carry my GPS. :)

We will see how happy I am next month though when my new higher bill comes in the mail. I already know I am going to HATE that part.

All I can say is the one good thing that came from that awful week is that my old phone died and got replaced by something pretty fantastic. Hope you are having a wonderful week.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Delicious Change in Plans

So we opted out of Schlotzky's and went to Joe's Crab Shack. Neither of us has ever been there and if I can't eat meat an anniversary was the perfect day to order crab legs. I wouldn't call it a standard anniversary restaurant but it was bright and happy, just what we both needed. I had a steamer pot that was delicious! It had crab legs, shrimp, sausage, red potato's, and corn. Colin had a stuffed fish, I already can't remember what kind. :(

It was a nice night, then we came home and watched a movie, he wanted to go see one in the theater but we are going to go Saturday instead since he had to leave the house at 6am this morning.

Right now I should be finishing my cleaning as I have 5 extra bodies (+ 2 more large dogs) staying at our house tonight. It is a really good thing we bought that sleeper couch with a good mattress. But even better than those 5 bodies coming is that we are going to the King Tut Exhibit as a family and then ordering pizza and playing games tonight. This is our Christmas present to do an activity instead of gifts. Getting everyone together is hard as I haven't lived in the same state as them for almost 10 years and one of my sisters has lived in another state for the last 2.

Yeah to having fun as a family! Hope you have a wonderful weekend......and get a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake, they are yummy!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Happy Anniversary

I just have to say Happy Anniversary to my husband of four years! There are days I don't know how you put up with me....like last week. So because I have energy today I am going to clean the house. :) And then I am going to pick up a tiny ice cream cake and Schlotzskys sandwiches with jalapeno chips that he loves for dinner. He has a BIG presentation tomorrow morning and since he hasn't come home from work until almost 8 the last few days I know he doesn't want to go out to dinner. I can clean but I know I am not up for making dinner too. My body is doing way BETTER but not that great yet.

Problem is if I am not supposed to eat chocolate what kind of ice cream cake do I buy? My silly husband doesn't like mint, or cookie dough etc. He does like cookies and cream.....that has minimal chocolate. I hope Baskin Robbins has one. :) I can have red meat up to 3 times a week so I guess I will use tonight as one. I think I need a food diary. I didn't think I ate that much red meat but I eat a lot! I grew up in the wrong house to not eat red meat, we NEVER had a meal without meat. I like chicken but it definitely is not my first choice. I need delicious chicken recipes as it has to be my first choice!

No beef, no coffee, no chocolate, and no coke make for a very sad Kerrie! At least I should lose weight I would hope. :) Ok, so here is my cleaning list:

-Mop main floor, as in entry, dining and kitchen. There are salt stains from snow and shoes.
-Vacuum Whole house, stupid me gave the dogs a rope bone. We have strings everywhere.
-Make master bed.
-Wash full sized guest sheets and remake bed.
-Finish Laundry and put away.
-Dust house
-Quick wipe down of bathrooms, my AWESOME mom cleaned them last week for me while I was sick.

Then I need to go to the grocery store (I need a card) and Baskin Robbins for cake. Hopefully my energy will last to get all this done! Since he picked up the slack while I was sick I think a clean house is the best gift I can give.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Yesterday was a GOOD day!

Yesterday was a huge improvement. I felt more like myself, YAY!

First thing I drove myself down to the doctors office, and calmly let them BS and lie to me. Then I called them on it, the doctor sent a nurse out with my results probably because she didn't want me to get angry with her as well. I HATE being lied to and if anything is my resolution this year it is to not let people walk all over me. (My goal is to improve at this, there are always times you need to hold your tongue.)

Then I drove (yeah to driving again!!!) to a specialist for more tests. I will keep this doctor, he was honest (no crap) informative and also asked his staff if they could come give me some recommendations for General Physicians so I don't have to go back to the bad doctor for general problems. He set up a plan for me so that next time I can call him directly for more pain meds/if I need to go to the ER. The sad thing other than the staff and the doctor I was by far 30 years younger than the people in the waiting room. :(

After the doctor I dropped some extra veggies we had from New Years at my cousin Autumns. The specialist mentioned checking into herbal medicine and oils as they can be known to make kidney stones dissipate. It just happens my cousin is into that and is a certified Doula (which doesn't apply to me). Anyways I figured I would like to try it, maybe it will help me keep my stones at bay. So she checked several books and mixed up  some oils for me to take each day. We will see if it helps but it can't hurt and it sounds much better than taking more pills or the emergency room.

And since I am feeling better I need to pick up my house, organize from Christmas, do laundry, and make some meal lists. I need to cut red meat (max 3 times a week) and salt. I have never really dieted or adjusted my diet that much so this may be a struggle. I also need to get my quarterly business taxes done, revamp our budget (I think my medical bills are going to mess it up), and work on some custom orders that have been patiently waiting for me to get better. Cheers to 2011 for improving from it's first few days!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Today has Been Looking Brighter

So I still hadn't shared my photos of my new couches so I thought I would. The room isn't arranged in its final position until Colin gets the tv hung above the fireplace though. This week has been a little rough to get anything done.

First I had kidney stones, once that passed I started feeling better instantly.....but the second doctor I saw sent me to get a CT scan and gave me an antibiotic just in case me not going to the doctor early enough had created an infection. The pills she gave me did not go over well. I guess our insurance companies computers being down the first time we tried to pick them up were a sign. Anyways this medicine made me hallucinate, nauseous, and feel like I got beat by a bat. On top of that it counteracts the pain pills they gave me and made them useless. They were $40 a pill before insurance and I thankfully only took them 2 days. What makes that worse is my husband called the doctors office twice Friday morning to let them know of my bad reaction and they still (Monday night) haven't called us back.


This experience has not made me any fonder of doctors, I was bad about going in before this experience. I would rather suffer than feel like that again. I should also note that after looking this prescription up I shouldn't be exercising for at least 2 months because my tendons may rupture, I could have similar side effects that I had and my hair can fall out among lots of other issues. Neither the doctor or the Pharmacist mentioned any of these and my stupid self trusted them. Today I am not aching all over but I still am having problems breathing and don't have much energy.

At least 2011 can only go up from here. :) That is if I stop sitting in the kitchen by the coffee pot which is tempting me. I pray that everyone else had a wonderful start to 2011!

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