Jesus is Risen!

Luke 24:1-5

1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?"

Happy Easter to all God's children!  

Katherine's First Fashion Show

Little Sister is a design/merchandising major in school.  Last semester, she had to make an outfit from repurposed materials.  Katherine chose grocery bags because Lord knows we have plenty. 

The fashion show was today in honor of Earth Day.  There were so many cool designs:  a wedding gown made from white trash bags and coffee filters, a sundress made from a bedsheet, a dress made from rolled up newspaper, and one made of Chick-Fil-A boxes.  I know all the designers worked hard on their creations and it's great they got a chance to showcase their talents!

                                                  Katherine's dress!

 Some of the other pretty outfits!  Repurposed denim dresses are cute.  The second dress was made from black straws.  The second to last dress was black trash bags and colorful gum wrappers.

The dress on the catwalk

Designer and model
 

Designer and models.  Katherine only designed the grocery bag dress but the models are her friends.

Chocolate Brownie-Like Cookies

I need a chocolate fix sometimes.  Maybe it's because we don't buy it ever.  But I keep cocoa powder on hand all. the. time.

I wanna make chocolate cake?  Cocoa powder.

I wanna make brownies?  Cocoa powder.

And tonight I wanted to make chocolate cookies.  Voila.  Cocoa powder.

For quick recipes, I usually search the Internet.  It can be hit or miss dealing with online recipes.  But this time, I struck gold.  I mean, if Jarred actually likes it, it's gotta be good.

I found this recipes from The Joy of Baking, but I've changed the recipe slightly.  I mean, who keeps unsalted butter on hand anyway?  Expensive!  Also, I used a medium egg instead of a large and I think it worked just fine.  There's only a slight difference in weight between a medium and large egg anyway.  I also would advise checking your cookies at the 10 minute mark.  Put a toothpick into one of the cookies.  Because though mine looked done on the outside, the inside was still a little wet.  Depends on the oven of course.

The original recipe called for salt, but I like to kill two birds with one stone.  It's called margarine or spread.  Buttery taste and texture and  it's salted.  Done and done.  Cookies don't need to be fancy.  They need to be tasty.  I also would love to try dark brown sugar instead of light.  I normally like dark brown better but I bought light brown last time.  Bummer.  If you've never substituted dark brown sugar for light, you don't know what you're missing.  Rich.  That's all I'll say about that.

And yes, that is imitation vanilla you see.  We're cheap when it comes to food.  But we eat well.  Have you seen our little belly pooches?  I couldn't stomach $6 for vanilla extract when Kroger was selling imitation for 99 cents.  Same with the spread.  $1.88.  Can I taste a difference?  Heck no! 

The recipe as is will not make 24 cookies as stated.  I think I got 17 or 18 cookies.  Though that's all fine and dandy, I feel like that's still a big discrepancy.  And that's considering the recipes says it will make 24 3 inch round cookies.  Of course, those who write recipes are magical and are able to do the impossible with their food.  If you're them, I'm sure you'd have no problem getting 24 cookies.  But for the rest of us, you'll get around 20, at most.

It's still completely delicious.

My batter could be mistaken for brownie mix.  Someone should try making this recipe but pouring the batter into a greased 8x8 dish to make brownies.  Yum.

I will totally make these cookies often.  I always have the ingredients on hand and it takes me roughly 30 minutes start to finish.  I'm tempted to try the recipe as the aforementioned brownie mix.  Seriously.

I'll be back sometime this weekend with more pictures.  Until then, I truly hope everyone has a wonderful Holy Thursday.

Wishing Wednesday

April is almost gone.  What happened?  It feels like just yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and I was defying tradition and wore no green.  Now we're in the last leg of April.

But gone with April is the rain, I hope.  I know the adage "April showers bring May flowers" which is really "April downpours bring soggy May grass".

This is a very short week for me.  Not that I mind.  I love Easter for its true intentions, but I've seen more non-religious ads promoting candy/clothing/shoes than I ever have before.  Is Easter the new Christmas in terms of commercializing the holiday?

Now for the reason to this post.  Wishing Wednesdays.

I think I will try to write a special post each Wednesday about my wishes for the next day, week, month, year, and lifetime.  I feel that it would be fun to look back on these wishes and see how many came true.

So let's get started with this inaugural post.


I wish to be motivated in my studies for tonight and tomorrow.  I have a test on Monday and I want to do well.

I wish for warm weather to come back quickly so I can take pretty pictures, much like I did this last weekend.

See?  Great weather.  Ignore the unruly hair. 

I wish to have a wonderful time at the wedding I am attending next week.  Jarred and I haven't attended a wedding since we've been married and I can't wait to see what it's like.  I'm sure I'll enjoy this wedding because I'm just going to be a guest and I get to relax!

I wish May will go by at a steady pace so I can end the semester on a good note.

I wish that by this same time next year, I am happy in my new major.  I hope I will love my weaving classes.

Louie You

It's pretty common knowledge that Lou is scared of everything:  the broom, the vacuum, clapping hands, snapping fingers, sound of nail clippers, scissors.... need I go on?  But we've also proven that he can be a tough cookie when it comes to saving his mama, remember?  What makes it even more precious is the fact that he's probably peeing his doggie-pants from fright, but he's still gotta help Mom.

Today you're getting some pictures of my handsome puppy that were taken over the weekend.  He doesn't like the noises the camera makes, but it will take some getting used to.  Until then, we're safe to take pictures of him outside where he can run and play without noticing I'm stalking him like the paparazzi.

Eeep!  So cute!

Lucas, you are such a dear and I'm glad you're getting used to the camera little by little.  You're almost 9 years old and that makes me so sad.  Always and forever my puppy-wuppy, Louie-Booie, SweetCakes, SugarLumps.

I've not yet become a mother to a human baby, but nothing in this world gives love like a dog.  Dogs love unconditionally.  No human on earth does.  And that's why I love Lucas as much as I do.  No matter how frustrated I get with him, he will always come over to me as if to say "I'm sorry Mommy" so I can rub his head.

Nothing sweeter.  Love you LouieBlue!

ETA: Him

Had a super-mini photography session outside with Jarred.  He's always such a good model for me.

Always?  Yes, he's modeled for me before, back in college when I took photography classes.

Real photography, mind you.  We used film and developed our own prints and everything.

Some of my most favorite photos are ones with him.  I'll always cherish them.

He's so handsome.

Jarred, I hope you don't mind me gushing about you repeatedly on the blog.  You're too stinkin' cute because as I'm writing this, I'm listening to you put up the dishes. 

I'm very lucky.

For you tonight, my Sweets:

Anyway, today was another lazy day.  I took more photos than this, but I just wanted to showcase my favorite.  Naturally.  There are some of me that I am avoiding because I'm looking pretty tore up.  Jarred and I woke up an hour before church this morning but seemed to be running late anyway, so I didn't get to style my hair or do nice makeup or anything.  Bummer.

I also have some cutey-patootey photos of Lou that I can't wait to show.  That will come tomorrow more than likely.

I didn't work on my bunting at all today.  After church, Jarred and I came back home and took a little nap and then he watched a NASCAR race.  I slept some more.  Then we trekked to the house for dinner with my parents.  I didn't feel like sewing today.  At all.

Just for those who didn't figure it out, I've done some minor tweaking to the blog so my photos will be much larger and therefore, prettier.  I'd love to also change up the design, but that's an arduous task, so no thanks.

I'll try to be back tomorrow with more pictures from this weekend.  Until then, ciao!

I Believe

...she has it right:

Lazy day.  Which means there is no tutorial for my bunting.  It might be another week or so now that I look at everything I need to cut, sew, iron, and sew again.  But it will be worth it.  The little I did today was looking mighty pretty.

I said in the last post that I got 4 different fabrics so today I made an individual bunting piece out of all the fabrics just to see how it would look.  I love my variation on a rainbow:  pink fabric, yellow and green, blue, and purple fabric.  I will probably never make a bunting this long ever again, so I might as well enjoy and do it right the first time.

We haven't had a pretty day out yet, so I'm still unable to really work at my camera.  I tried not to use flash today, even inside.  It kinda worked, but I still had to lighten the pictures in Photoshop.

Tomorrow is looking lovely (I think!  I hope!) so I will probably drag Jarred out to take pictures.  If he knows what's good for him, he'll oblige...

Amy Butler Fabrics and Bunting Beginnings

While Lou was at the groomer's this morning, I went over to Mom and Dad's to show off my new camera and get started on my bunting.  Only one of those panned out.

New camera?  Why yes.  We made the plunge to DSLR.  I bought a Canon Rebel t2i and I am really enjoying it so far.  I still have a lot of practice to do with the camera because I can hardly remember anything I learned in my photography classes in college.  So I'm basically a noob all over again.  Yes.  Noob.

The camera was one of the fun things I had mentioned in this post.  I didn't want to say we were getting an investment camera just in case something didn't work out.  We were waiting for our tax return, in other words.

I haven't been able to sit down and read the camera instructions for comprehension yet.  I hope this weekend to be able to do that and get comfortable with the manual features.  For now, I am happy taking photos using the automatic features and flash.

 One of the first pictures taken.  Me.  Dirty Mirror.  Suh-weet camera.  And yes, I'm giving the duck-lips look on purpose.

 Louie pre-haircut.  He's scared of the noise the camera makes, so I had to grab his collar to get this shot.  

Shot of gnome and books in Mom and Dad's living room.  Trying out black and white.

Also at the house, I was greeted by my Amy Butler fabrics I had ordered off Etsy from seller Mimis.  I will most definitely be ordering more Amy Butler very soon because I don't know of anywhere in town I can buy it.  Amy Butler knows fabric.  It's a beautiful thing.  

 Blue fabric is from the Amy Butler LOVE line -- Bliss Bouquet in Teal.  Purple fabric is from the same line and called Water Bouquet in Midnight.

Both these fabrics will be made into pillows for our bed.  Then leftovers will be cherished and made into a bunting or something.  What else?

I really hope Jarred's not opposed to our home looking like it vomited Amy Butler fabric.  But that would be the prettiest barf ever.

Ahem.

I meant to begin cutting out fabric for my bunting this afternoon at the house but got sidetracked.  This weekend I will be working on a new bunting for our bedroom.  I had toyed with the idea of making another tablecloth, but ultimately decided the bedroom needed far more interior decorating help than our table nook.

All I've done tonight is cut out 60 triangles for the bunting.  And that's just one yard of fabric.  I bought 4.  It's going to take awhile, but it's going to be so worth it.  I'm planning on stringing the super-long bunting across the room, back and forth.  I think there will be enough fabric for that.  

I'll be in the works of making the bunting, so I should have the beginnings of a tutorial up sometime this weekend or Monday at the latest.

Until then, happy crafting, happy life, happy thoughts!

Let's Have a Redeux

Jarred and I have been married for 8 months today.  I didn't even think about it until this morning when I signed onto my newlywed forum and saw my anniversary ticker.

In celebration of our first 8 months of married life, I wanted to repost something I first wrote on M + J Hooray.

I wrote this piece when I was in a bad place.  Not in my marriage, but just life in general.  I was upset about living in an apartment, upset about money, upset about school.  The one shiny spot in life was Jarred.

So I invite you to relive this with me.  The post has different meaning now because I am in a very different place in life at the moment.  I am happy with what we have.  I'm thankful for my creativeness to make our home not just our 'temporary-we'll-be-out-of-here-tomorrow' home.  I'm thankful that Jarred makes the money he does.  As long as we are able to pay the bills and live, what else can we ask for?  I'm thankful I was a finance major and hated it so much because it made me realize that money and jobs aren't everything and that true happiness is.

Most of all, I'm thankful to still have Jarred by my side.  I know I can be a true witch sometimes, but I'm thankful that we have the relationship where he can just roll his eyes at my attitude and call me silly, then tickle me and everything's okay again.

Amid

Amid the mess in our home and the chaos that is our lives, I'm glad we chose to slow dance at midnight.

Amid financial and personal struggles, I'm glad we still choose to be happy with what we have, or at least try to be.

Amid the bags of forgotten craft supplies, I'm glad you still applaud my DIY decorating efforts.

Amid our scarce collection of photographs, I'm glad we decide we'd rather experience life than hide behind a camera. We have our sweet memories which are better anyway.

Amid test papers and binders full of notes and stressful homework, I'm glad to be getting this degree not for me, but for us.

Amid all the rantings and ravings of parents of the world, I'm glad we know it really only takes two people who love each other to make a family. 'Us' is all we need for now.

Amid arguments, disagreements and spats, I'm glad all it takes is a silly face or gesture to get us laughing.

Amid heating pads, medicine bottles, and boxes of tissues; matted hair, unbrushed teeth, and runny noses, I'm glad we realize that yes, we really did agree to "in sickness and in health".

Amid everything else, I'm glad you will always be the constant factor in my life.

Thanks for such a kickin' life so far, Sweets! 

Husband

www.nataliedee.com

Was this written about my husband?

Sorry Jarred.  That was mean.  Though some of your jokes really are corny.  But it's endearing.

I wanted to take some time and write about my husband, Jarred, since I haven't mentioned him all too much.  He's quite the doll.  Sweet and by golly, I hope our children turn out to look just like him, complete with dimples.

Jarred works very hard.  He was the one who told me it was okay to quit my retail job even though we could have really used the extra money.  He has a good job and tries hard to please.  And he's so darn charming, how could anyone not like him?

I'm thankful to have a spouse who truly listens, even when I swear he's not.  Case in point:  We went to a baseball game tonight and I saw 'DH' listed beside a player's name.  I asked Jarred what it meant.  He said "It means Dear Husband, right?"  I looked at him weird and asked him how he knew 'DH' meant that.  He said "You told me that's what you call your husbands on that message board you talk on."  Why yes, yes I do.  Turns out 'DH' actually means 'Designated Hitter'.

Jarred and I have such a good time together.  Though I love my alone time during the day, I'm always excited for Jarred to come home because we always laugh, sing, dance, and generally have fun, no matter what we're doing.  

I'm glad Jarred is open to letting me do what I want.  We decided together that I would continue schooling, but change my major.  If he didn't think it was a good idea, I wouldn't have.  I'm also glad to have a husband who trusts me with finances but lets me get something if  I really want it.  

I'm super thankful all the time to have someone to walk through life with, regardless of whether we are rich or broke, whole or broken.  Thanks for making life a blast Sweets.

 

Thankful Once More

Short and sweet update tonight.

Yes, it's late. Past midnight. I am a little tired but am battling a headache.

Jarred and I have some fun planned for the next few weeks that I shan't speak of yet. Mostly because it would be a bummer if things didn't pan out.***

I wanted to do another session of Things I'm Thankful For, because I'm needing the pick-me-up right now.

1. I'm worried about money, as always, but at least I can be thankful that Jarred has a good job where he can excel and grow.

2. I have a test in 2 weeks and began studying for it yesterday. I am proud of myself.

3. I have had a cute outfit picked out for Thursday's presentation for a few weeks now.

4. Lucas, always and for everything.

5. I'm thankful for a caring husband who works hard all day but still came home to make me dinner and cleaned the kitchen because my stomach was pretty upset today.

Food for thought: Tomorrow will bring its own set of unique challenges, so it's best not to worry about much else.

***Note: Jarred and I have not recently run into a huge pile of money to do things with. Most of these activities are quite free or nearly free. We are waiting, much like many Americans, for our tax return. I see credit cards being payed off in our future...

Bright

It was more of an eventful Saturday than we've had in a while.  We were all around town this afternoon shopping.  We only came home with 2 bags though -- some fabric from the craft store and a new set of white sheets and a poster frame from Target.  We've proven that we can window shop, considering how many other places we went.

I purchased some Amy Butler fabric off Etsy this past week and I can't wait for it to arrive.  I'll be making some pillows for our bedroom.  We've been severely lacking in style when it comes to our bed and I'm slowly working on a way to resolve the issue.  The completion of my pillows and bunting will complete it.  For now.

I may have mentioned previously that I took the financial dive and purchased a new comforter.  I have been greatly inspired by photos of stark white bedrooms that have pops of color in random places.  So off I trekked to Target and found one heckuva white foofy comforter.  Loves it.  Jarred tolerates.

It was only Thursday that I found fabric to make an accent pillow for the bed.  I saw the fabric after I had already gotten my Easter patterns and thought I didn't want to spend any more money.  But for real, who wouldn't like this funky pattern?  So I took 30 minutes tonight and made the pillow.  Thanks for the help with the whips-stitch Mom!

 

Since 6th grade, I have been enthralled with Van Gogh.  I still am.  I mean, I have his portrait hanging in our room for goodness sake.  When Mom and I re-did my childhood bedroom, the painting Starry Night was the inspiration.  There were colorful swirls on my bedding and my walls were a very typical 'Van Gogh' yellow.  Of course.  The cherry on top was the Starry Night painting that hung above the bed.  

When Jarred and I moved into the apartment, the painting returned to its place above our heads.  But ever since we rearranged the bedroom a few months ago, the painting has been off-center since we moved the bed over a few feet.  Tonight, the painting came down.  And fabric and wooden hoops and paper doilies replaced.

I will most certainly add more as time goes on, but this was a nice start.  And yes, I did use thumbtacks to secure the hoops to the wall.  Ghetto, but it works.

So the (almost) finished product is something I am loving: 

Please excuse the wrinkly comforter.  I was crawling around to get a good shot of the pillow and hoops.

Color makes me happy.  Bright color makes me happiest.  Yes, I am quite fond of the work I have done on my home.

Just

a bit of a ramble.

I made the best fried eggplant tonight for dinner.  Best.  It was so much better than Olive Garden's and I could probably go back into the kitchen right now and eat some more.  I don't normally think too highly of my cooking, so this was a pleasant surprise. 

I'd love to share the recipe by Emeril.  I didn't add all of the ingredients, including the 'essence' because I didn't have all the spices.  I just used paprika, garlic salt, and pepper.  I also used Italian bread crumbs and had spaghetti sauce on hand.

On Facebook, I saw a friend had posted some more pictures of the construction of her home.  I felt sorry for myself for a second but didn't even look at the photos.  Good.  For.  Me.

On a brighter (?) note, tomorrow is finally Friday.  I was wondering when it was going to get here.  It's not as if my days are chock-full of busy, but this week has gone by at a snail's pace.

Why the excitement?  Shopping.  Or at least window-shopping.  And crafting.

I picked up these fabrics on Tuesday.  I kind of balked at the price per yardage, but then saw all fabric was 30% off.  Made me feel a tad better.  The girl at the counter asked what I would be making and I said I just wanted the fabric on hand.  I never tell salesclerks what I'm making.  Not to be secretive, but I've found that every time I answer them honestly, I just get a blank stare back.  Kind of reminds me of a funny story Ashley Ann told.  Of course on here, I'll say what I'm making.  I making a new bunting.  I need to go back to the craft store for a few more items, but I'm hoping I got enough fabric to make something that goes all the way around the bedroom.  Yeah.  Seriously.  

Be Okay

Wednesday.  Mid-week.  Time drags sometimes.

Maybe because I'm battling a sinus infection and sleep like 12 hours in a day in between classes and other various life activities.  But the weekend can't get here much slower.

I must confess.  I did some shopping yesterday.  I went to Hobby Lobby to buy some fabrics for my next project.  But it was all 30% off, okay?  And then, I went to the mall and bought some shoes...

Yes.  Me.  The complainer whining about no money.  Yeah.  I went out a bought a pair of athletic shoes.  I've been wanting something else to wear during 'breezy' weather other than my TOMS.  I love my TOMS, don't get me wrong.  But obviously being a shoe that is meant to be worn without socks, there's not much warmth during those 50-60 degree days.  A little too cold for sandals.

And frankly, I hate wearing my bulky athletic shoes with blue jeans.  Jeans are my staple and wear them almost everyday.  Call me vain, but I think I look ridiculous with my skinny jeans and big ol' Asics.  No thanks.

Yes, I'm just trying to justify my purchase.  I love the New Balance 442 shoes because they are athletic shoes but are not bulky and fit well with jeans.  So after Hobby Lobby, I trotted off to the mall.  And I found a pair.  $39.97 on sale.  Go me.

I whine a lot a lot about money.  Jarred and I are not well-off by any stretch of the imagination, but we're not living in poverty either.  I think we've been putting so much pressure on ourselves to save up for a house that we always felt like we were broke.

So we've stopped feeling like that.  Yeah, we'll save up little by little.  But I'm going through the cleansing process of being okay with our current situation.  We know what kind of loan we could get and it's not what we want to look at right now.  So we wait.  And I'm okay with that.

Knock on wood, but I'm slowly becoming okay with the prospect of living in this apartment for a little longer.  Just because I can't paint the walls doesn't mean I can't decorate.  Just because we don't own the place doesn't mean we can't make it our own.  This is home.  It's just not a house.

This morning before I got up for the day, I was looking around our bedroom and thinking of the things I want to do this summer with our furniture.  I then began thinking of my friends that are already in houses.  I'm feeling less and less envious of them.  They have a mortgage.  Some are paying double what Jarred and I pay in rent and are either just out of college or still in school.  I can imagine that there were a few mommies and daddies that helped out with some down payments.  Good for them.  But now they're left with gag-inducing mortgages.

And houses need repairs from time to time.  And that costs money.  When our disposal burnt out, the maintenance men came out the very same day we called in the work.  I understand that Jarred and I end up eating the costs with our rent, but still.  We'd be paying the same rent regardless of whether something in our apartment crapped out each month.

I don't have as big a space to clean.  Which is good.  Because at this point, I don't think I could handle anything bigger because I'm not that neat of a person anyway.

And I haven't heard Miss Neighbor Lady in a while.  Jarred and I stopped caring a while ago and began jacking our TV volume up to 11 (if you get this reference, good for you) and can't hear anyone else's noise.  Some women moved in beside us last week.  Haven't seen them since.

This was a long post just to remind myself that at this moment, I am okay with where we are.  Jarred and I are young and newlyweds and we should enjoy.  We are not wasteful with our money, but I feel like if we occasionally want something - within reason - we can go get it.  We should be able to go out and do things.  We've put way to much priority in zooming through our early 20s to the next phase in life that we have forgotten to enjoy now.  At this point in time, would we rather spend $50 doing something special like a night out and a movie or putting it in savings?  I think I'll take the option that doesn't trick me into thinking I'm miserable, thanks.

I hope this was a happy, upbeat post and it makes you think about both today and the future.  I absolutely believe in saving for future plans, but you can only live in the present.  So maybe try to enjoy!

Foods

Jarred and I are not the healthiest eaters, but we're not terrible either.  I used to try to eat super healthy foods but since I began buying groceries for myself, I can't bring myself to buy some things I used to eat.  I definitely pay attention to food prices and get annoyed when it gets more expensive.  I noticed that my usual bread went up in price buy 11 cents last week and I was pissed.  Really.

I normally plan our weekly menu on Sundays for the upcoming week.  I'm pretty limited when it comes to ideas for meals.  I could probably write down on a single piece of paper all the recipes I know and use.  Even though I have many cookbooks, I don't put much monetary value on our food, so we eat what's cheap.  I don't want to make something that has tons of ingredients because the remaining will just go to waste.

With all that being said, Jarred and I definitely don't starve.  We have the beginnings of nice belly pooches that attest to that.  I buy what's cheap even when there may be more calories, I figure we're young and have the drive to be active to counteract any high fat food.  I don't want anyone to get the impression that most cheap food is bad for you.  Totally untrue.  I buy off brand tomato soup rather than Campbell's and it has less sodium, fat, and calories per serving than the name brand.  Take that high dollar foods!

My grocery list for the week:

- lettuce head     -broccoli     -cucumber     -eggplant     -zucchini     -tomato     green pepper     -green apple     -2 baking potatoes     -hummus     -marina sauce     -chicken breasts     -red beans and rice mix     -cheddar cheese     -cereal     -milk     -tortilla chips     -salsa

And that's it!  That's not all I need for this week's meals, but I already have some of my ingredients at home.  I have decided that it's easiest (and cheaper) for me to only think about one week at a time.  Some will say that buying groceries to last 2 weeks is cheaper, but I've found the opposite is true.  I only buy what I need.  I will also buy a new bottle of shampoo this trip because we're going to run out during the middle of the week.  I have enough toilet paper for another week, but I will then have to buy more.  I used to keep toiletries stocked up, but I would find myself buying the same things week after week because I couldn't keep track of what we were running low on.

Our menu for the week:

Monday:  Broccoli and cheese baked potato with salads

Tuesday:  Chicken salad on toast with cut up veggies

Wednesday:  Fried eggplant with marina sauce and salads

Thursday:  Red beans and rice and salads

Fiday:  Spaghetti and meatballs with veggies/salad

I also try to cook things that will have leftovers for Jarred to have for lunch.  We used to buy frozen dinners for him, but that got old (and expensive) real quick.

None of our meals are overly expensive to make and it provides some variety.  I wanted to cut back on the meat intake this week, so we'll only be having it with the chicken salad and spaghetti.  I don't normally buy snacks, but I'm having a craving for chips and salsa as well as hummus, which is something we never have because of expense.

I don't really deviate from our regular recipes.  Jarred can eat anything and I know if I'm getting tired of eating something, he won't mind.  It may take more time to cook a meal, but there's always more satisfaction and I always get exactly what I want!

April is Nice

Hello party people and happy April!  I am loving this month so far.  It's been nothing but kind.  However, it's only the 3rd day in, so we'll see how long I'll keep whistling this tune.  Hopefully for a long while!    I hope winter has finally gotten the much overdue memo that it is no longer wanted.  The next 10 days look promising, though rainy.

I took a bit of a break from blogging to celebrate my mother's birthday -- photos found here.

Other than a birthday and a lazy weekend, nothing else has really been blog-worthy.  I have been scouring Pinterest for new crafting ideas and I found one I loved.  Wrapping glue-soaked yarn around a balloon and letting it dry.  I figured it would make one heckuva mobile.  I couldn't not try it!

Maybe I'll add more sometime.  I just wanted to get my feet wet with this simple project since I have a test Tuesday I also needed to study for.  But next weekend, it's on!  I'm going to be making some more buntings for our apartment.  No idea where I'm going to put it, but heck, why not??

I'm still feeling super elated about my move to an art degree.  So much so that I took silly pictures with my artist's figure.  What a trusty friend he was.  Glad to know we're back together.

I will be back later this week (not sure what day) to write about our eating habits and give you a sample of our menu for the week.  Until then!