~Fast Food Free February Recap~

So...the end of the month is here! At the beginning of February, I wrote about our decision to not eat fast food for the month of February.

We had only a few instances where we ate fast food:

:::Kevin was out around lunch time and picked up Taco Bell (for himself only)
:::We ate at Subway before going grocery shopping
:::We got milkshakes at Steak and Shake for a little treat
:::We had pizza for dinner a few nights ago, on a day where it had been impossible for me to get out and get groceries

Overall, I think we did great! Some might not classify Subway as "fast food", or say it is healthy, but after viewing Subway's ingredients in their "meat" I would rather stay away from them!

I haven't missed burgers, fries, or Taco Bell in the slightest!

~Amazing Race 20~

I'm excited that a new season of Amazing Race is here! I had to watch the first episode online because my DVR didn't pick it up. But now it is scheduled to record all the episodes so we're good.

This is one reality show that I really enjoy, for a number of reasons. One reason is that I feel it is the least unscripted of the reality shows out there. If they miss a shot they can't exactly ask the contestants to go back and redo what they've done. Commentary by the contestants is limited, so you're seeing straight action all the way through. Each episode is a nail-biter!

I haven't picked a favorite yet. Last season, I was anxious for several teams to be eliminated, and my least favorite ended up winning! So far I don't have a favorite or a team I'm rooting for elimination for! :)

Do you watch? and do you have a favorite yet?

~Yogurt~

I finally did it! I made my own yogurt. I knew it wasn't "hard" because my dad used to make it all the time. I've been wanting to make my own yogurt for quite a while now but I just never got around to actually doing it, until last Saturday.

I used the cooler method, in which a large pot of hot water is placed in the cooler, along with your jars of warm milk and yogurt mixture.

It turned out beautifully! On Saturday night I pulled it out of the cooler to put in the fridge, and started doing a little jig. Kevin said not to celebrate till I tasted it. ;-) So on Sunday morning, I did another little jig when I tasted it and it was awesome!

I made two quart jars, since that was what would fit into the cooler with the pan. This is the last of the second jar - time to make more yogurt!

~Happy Hearts~

I don't usually decorate for Valentine's Day but this year I threw a few heart things around the living room and called it good. ;-)



I made the paper heart chain, using an idea I saw on Pinterest.

I also put up the felt heart garland I made two years ago.

Valentine's Day has never been a hugely celebrated holiday for us. Last year Kevin was really sick so we did nothing. This year, what we did felt huge in comparison to last year. LOL Kevin grilled steaks and I made mashed potatoes and green beans almondine. We had a few little gifts to exchange with one another and we watched AFV together as a family. Just a quiet, fun evening together!

~Thumbprint Fun~

Yesterday I pulled out Ed Emberley's Great Thumbprint Drawing Book



and my daughter and I set to work having fun!



I got my book at a yard sale for $.20, and it is the older version of the book pictured above. I heartily recommend the library or a yard sale, but if you can't find it used, the picture above links Amazon, and is a referral link.

~Found~

I found this list in a library book. I always find it interesting to find lists, such as at the grocery store. The only thing you know about the person is what they wrote down.



At first I thought part of this list is a "ta-da" list (the top three items) and that the rest is a "to do" list, but then again it could all be a to do list. I wonder if she wrote this list again, after she lost it?

~Off the Needles~

One more project off the needles! My Pink Rivulet (Ravelry link) is finished! So excited! (Again...I have to weave in the yarn ends and block it...)


I finished the knitting about a week and a half ago. Once I get it blocked, it will be one more item off my UFO list!

I'm linking up to Susan's UFO Progress Report, if you'd like to see more click here.

~Fast Food Free February~

Try saying that 10 times fast!

On the 31st, I talked with Kevin and convinced him to do a no-fast food challenge for the month of February. He agreed, with one condition: Taco Bell for dinner. LOL

We don't typically swing through the drive through a lot, but our consumption rate has been creeping up. It is a convenient, though unhealthy, answer to the "what's for dinner?" dilemma on the way home from church or the cure to "I don't feel like cooking dinner tonight".

So far we're doing great. ;-) I was actually tempted today - my daughter and I were out grocery shopping during lunch, and a baked potato and chili from Wendy's would have been so easy and quick. And besides, Wendy's isn't fast food, right? Remember their slogan a while back? "We're waaay better than fast food." You can't compare yourself to something you are, right? Like I wouldn't say, "girls are better than girls" because that just doesn't make sense! LOL But I resisted, and we came home and ate leftovers.

Would anyone like to join with me for a Fast Food Free February? You can make your own rules up! For our family it means no Wendy's, Burger King, McDonald's, Little Caesars, Taco Bell, etc. If it's fast, it's out!

~Pink + Orange~

Last week I went out in search of a sweater with a pop of color. I am getting tired of the reds and blacks in my closet! And winter is not over yet, in fact we're just getting started, so I'll definitely get a lot of use out of a new sweater. I used some gift money from Christmas to get a T-shirt and sweater from Old Navy. The sweater was on clearance, and the T-shirt on sale, so I got both for a good price. I've never done this color combo before but I decided to give it a go:


I think I like it!

On my return home, I was listening to the radio and the temperature was 13 degrees with a windchill of negative 3. Spring flowers may be {quite} a ways off, but I can have a little cheer now, by way of my wardrobe! :)

~Empty Needles~

I am very happy to have these:


Empty needles!

From what? you may ask. My Twilight Lace Wrap (Ravelry link).


Technically speaking this project is not finished yet because I still need to weave in the tails and block it. But the knitting is finished!

I do not have blocking wires for lace so I am going to do what another knitter on Ravelry talked about and use the plastic wire from a weed wacker. The only problem is that it is dead winter so I might not be able to find it in the store. We'll see!

So, so, so excited to finally have this done! I started it in May, 2008!

I'm linking up to Susan's UFO Progress Report, if you'd like to see more click here.

~Organizing~

Well, I haven't really made any resolutions this year, but a few friends and I are going through this calendar and keeping each other accountable. At first, I thought it was an awesome idea, and then I printed out the calendar and started looking through it.

It isn't my style.

But then I started considering what, exactly, constitutes "my style" of organizing. Hmmm. Rip a whole room apart from top to bottom. Put it back together over a week. And then be so exhausted that I don't do any organizing for quite a while.

So I decided to give it a go.

The first week went great. This week, ah, this week! I started in with great gusto on my bedroom. The first two tasks for this week are to clean out your nightstand drawer and clean under your bed.

Before I knew it, every stitch of bedding was off the bed, anything washable was thrown out of the room and...you guessed it...I was exhausted! But my room is CLEAN now!

I'm trying to slow myself down and do my organizing little by little so that I'll get more done in the long run. Before Christmas, I sold some things on Craigslist and took a carload of things to a local thrift store. I have a bin in my basement for donations, and it's almost full already! Finding things to get rid of is an adrenaline rush for me, so I'm pretty happy to have a bin full already! :D

~Nifty Gifties~

Some little things I got for Christmas that I'm really enjoying:

Sweater tights. It's like sweaters for your legs. LOL I wore them in 20-degree weather and I stayed nice and warm. Well, that's not exactly true. My nose and hands felt like they were going to freeze and fall off but that's because I wasn't wearing a scarf or gloves.

Smashbox lip gloss. So pretty and feels so nice.

Organic Honey Lip Balm from Whole Foods. My new favorite lip balm and we don't even have a Whole Foods within driving distance. This could be a problem when I run out!

OPI lotion. Apparently this wonderful stuff is not available to the general public, so if you know someone in cosmetology school see if they can get you some. :)

Chocolate. A whole drawerful of chocolate that even Brenda Leigh Johnson would be happy with. It was fun having a stash but *ahem* it didn't last as long as it should have. I'm not too disciplined when it comes to things like this.

~Boxes~

Kevin calls me an "anti-hoarder". Especially after we watch shows like "Hoarding: Buried Alive".

So yesterday when we were talking, somehow my storing-boxes-that-stuff-comes-in habit came up. I store them (the empty boxes) in our attic stairway, in case we need to return the item. Thinking back I have to say that I can't remember actually needing a box, ever. I admitted that I needed to go through them and put some in recycling. Then I said, "I should mark the date on them so I only keep them a year". And then it totally hit me and I cracked up laughing - this whole practice of keeping boxes is something that old folks would do, not someone in their mere 30's.

Kevin just thinks it is funny that I will hang on to empty boxes, yet toss out (or donate, or sell) perfectly good items, just because I'm not using them at the moment.

I'm currently in a clean out, organizing mood, and I'll address those boxes that are piling up in the attic stairwell. Soon. But only the ones that are older than a year. ;-)

~Naps~

I still need naps. Not me sleeping. My daughter sleeping. Only my daughter doesn't seem to think so! Yesterday afternoon she did get a nap (from about 2:30 to 4:30) and afterwards she was so happy. We went to the post office, and on the way there, she was saying cute things like:

"Mom? Target is a place for little girls to play."

But then, in spite of my attempts at running off her energy, and even though she got to bed on time, she didn't go to sleep till nearly 10. Yikes.

I'm just not ready to give up naps, but I need to figure out how to get her to sleep in the early afternoon so it doesn't wreck havoc with her night-time sleep.

Any ideas for an almost-3-year-old?

~Children's Books~

I wanted to highlight two books that I got for my daughter recently. They are older books which have been republished. The drawings are black and white and the wording is simple and fun - short enough for a toddler to listen to but still enjoyable for an older child to read too.

If Everybody Did - imagining the consequences of what would happen if everyone picked buds or went without hats or "mashed hash".


They Didn't Use Their Heads - what happens when you don't use your head - what you should do instead. For instance, "Ruthie liked to run, but she didn't use her head...so it wasn't any fun." (She ran into a tree!) And then the advice: "Your eyes go with your feet."


The first book is more silly than the second - mostly exaggerating to make a point.

I got these books before Thanksgiving, and my brother was here over Thanksgiving. He saw these books and got excited about them because these were books we had when he was little. As a result, he read them several times to my daughter. :) Since I had read them many times to my siblings, I knew I wanted them for my daughter.

Clicking the pictures above will take you to Amazon through my affiliate link.

~Pages, Amazon, and Swagbucks~

Whenever I visit a new blog, I look to see if they have an "About Me" page. It dawned on me that perhaps I should create such a page for my blog! So I did. :D For those reading my blog via feed readers, you'll have to click through to my blog to see it (look under my header).

And just for kicks, since we're talking "about me" here's a picture of me from Christmas. That my daughter took.

I'm thinking of getting her a kid's camera for her 3rd birthday, I think she'd have a lot of fun with it!

OK, back to the pages...you'll also see a page entitled "Affiliates". I have Amazon and Swagbucks listed. I've never sought to make money with my blog, but over the years I've been blogging I have posted links to Amazon multiple times. I figured that the links I post might as well be affiliate links. :) If you click through my blog with the links I've provided, a small percentage of your order will be credited to my account. Your order will remain private (I won't know who has ordered or what they purchased). It's something small, but I hope that if you have an Amazon order, you'll remember my link. I appreciate it! And I promise that I won't post links just to try to generate an income. I'll continue to post links as I find books/items that are of interest to me, and clearly note that the link I'm providing is an affiliate link.

Swagbucks. I can't believe I forgot to blog about this, but in August I got my KitchenAid mixer! Waaaaaahooo!!! It's amazing! I did it almost completely with Amazon gift cards I earned with my Swagbucks. If you haven't tried it out yet, do give it a try! It's fun, free, and easy!

~Happy Christmas Eve!~

My house smells like Christmas Eve - well at least what Yankee Candle thinks Christmas Eve smells like! It also smells like cinnamon rolls (breakfast tomorrow) and blueberry pie (dessert tomorrow).


There has been a flurry of cleaning, baking, cooking, and laundry, and now I am sitting down to enjoy a cup of peppermint tea.

Happy Christmas Eve!

~Five?~

Wow, I just cannot believe it is only five days until Christmas! Where has December gone????!!! I remember back to when I was growing up, and how five days till Christmas just seemed tortuously long. Now it's nothing.

This year we're staying home for Christmas. Maybe next year we'll make the trek to California for Christmas. We'll see! I want to go sooner than that though, because it has been too long since we've seen my family! :(

As Christmas nears, I'm thinking of my grandma more and missing her more. The last Christmas we went to California (2009) was her last Christmas here on earth. She always worked so hard to make Christmas special for her family! I think Christmas was her most favorite time of year! Now she's in heaven, with Jesus! The One Who we are celebrating, and she is with Him.

I hope you have a blessed Christmas!

~From T-Shirts to Jammies~

Awhile back, I made a pair of jammies for my daughter, from two of my husband's t-shirts.


I love the way they came out!

For the top, I used a vintage t-shirt pattern that I found at a thrift store. For the bottoms, I traced around a pair of leggings that my daughter had. Then I added hearts to each piece in contrasting colors! They kind of curl around the edges, and I like that.

The pattern cost $.10, I had the elastic, thread, and of course the t-shirts. One pair of jammies for $.10 is not bad at all! :D

~Water~

In the summer, I am very careful about getting enough water! But in the winter, I don't pay enough attention to how much water I am drinking. With the cold weather, I want coffee (laced with sugar and cream), hot cocoa, and tea (with honey). But water? Not so much!

I have heard that your body needs as much water in the winter as in the summer, so just recently I decided to make sure I get my daily water. I have a 2-quart pitcher which I fill in the morning, and leave on the counter. It's a visual reminder to drink my water, and I don't have to keep a tally of how many glasses I've had. I often drink more than the 2 quarts, but at the very minimum I drink my 8 glasses of water each day.

One benefit I have just noticed, is that my skin is not so dry. A few weeks ago my hands were so dry that they cracked and started bleeding while I was out shopping. It was kind of embarrassing to be handing my money over to the cashier with blood all over my hands! Normally, at the onset of winter, my skin becomes dry and stays that way until spring. My hands crack and bleed, the skin around my eyes is so tight it's painful! I've still had to use lotion, but my skin is not painfully dry. I've tried what I thought was everything to help my dry skin, but apparently I was missing one thing: water!