Weekly Menu 9/26/11

Monday: Chicken, broccoli, black eyed peas, rolls

Tuesday: BLT's, tater tots

Wednesday: Parmesean crusted Tilapia (NEW)

Thursday: Pork chops, rice, green beans

Friday: Taco Casserole

Sat: Chili cheese dogs, fries

Sun: Spaghetti, salad, bread

Weekly Goals 9/26/11

1. Get up early
2. Take pills/eat well
3. Nails/toes
4. Scrap Page
5. No eating out for lunch
6. Get house ready for show by Wednesday!!!
7. Get Singer set up to get nipped:-)
8. Push Thomas to stay organized!
9. Try new recipe!
10. Workout as much as you can this week!!! Focus on eat well the most...but still try to work out too!!!

Weekly Goal Results 9/19/11

Weekly Goals 9/19/11
It's going to be a good week. I can feel it! I hope the people take the offer we made on the house!!! FINGERS CROSSED:-)

1. Get up early! - Yes,,,felt good!
2. Workout at least 3 times this week - Nope...only once!
3. Eat well and take pills - Yes!
4. Make lunches every day for me and Joel - Yes!
5. Keep laundry up! - Almost!
6. Finish book - yes!!!!! Now I am reading Hunger Games
7. Work on project - Done...love it! Looking forward to our first date night:-)
8. Scrap page:-) - Not yet
9. Nails/toes - Not yet
10. Get paperwork together for mortgage company! - Yes! We are good to go!

Absolute Fear - Lisa Jackson

Trying out my next Lisa Jackson book! The reviews aren't as good on this one as they were for Shiver...we shall see!!

Absolute Fear
Synopsis:
For the past three months, Eve Renner has struggled to remember the night she was nearly killed and her lover was tried for murder. She remembers getting the anxious call from a friend from her past: "Meet me at the cabin. I've got evidence." She remembers seeing that friend lying in a pool of blood. And she remembers a horrifying glimpse of her lover Cole Dennis's face as a gunshot plunged her into darkness. Now, her memory and emotions scarred, Eve has returned to New Orleans to forget the past. But the past will not be forgotten. Eve's shattered memory has helped Cole walk on murder charges just as a new series of killings begins.The latest murders are bizarre and baffling. The victims are killed in a ritual fashion, a series of numbers tattooed into their bodies. 212. 101. 111. 323. There is no clue to their meaning, no connection to the victims except one: Our Lady of Virtues Hospital, the crumbling old asylum that was once the scene of unspeakable madness. For Eve, it was a second home as a child. Her father was a doctor there, and she spent hours exploring its secret chambers, hidden rooms, and forbidden passageways. Somewhere in its decaying rooms lies the key to a terrible crime, a betrayal beyond imagining whose echoes are now being felt with a vengeance - a crime that seems to lead to Eve herself. And the only man she can trust with the search is Cole, her former lover and, just possibly, a cold-blooded killer. As forgotten memories begin to surface, bodies are found and each twist leads to another terrifying piece of the puzzle. Someone is watching, planning, luring her back to the ruins of Our Lady and the shocking truths hidden there - someone who has been waiting for this moment to strike. He is deadlier than she knows. For the sins of the past must be revealed, the crimes brought to justice, and the price paid - in blood.

Shiver - review

So, I FINALLY finished Shiver. It didn't take me forever because it was a bad book....I am just busy...always have something going on...and by the time I am ready to relax and read...I am so tired I can't stay awake long.

You can read my post about the book here:
http://kpattersonblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/shiver-by-lisa-jackson.html

Review:
I really liked this book. She does a good job of making you feel like you are there with them. She explains everything very well. Some books are so confusing...and it's hard to keep up. This one was easy to follow and it kept me interested. I enjoyed it!

I am going to read another book from Lisa Jackson next...called Absolute Fear!

Weekly Menu 9/19/11

Monday: (NEW) Recipe - Cheesy Chicken Baked Penne, salad, broccoli

Tuesday: Taco Salad with fresh homemade salsa

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Baked Chicken wrapped in bacon with broccoli, potatoes

Friday: Tilapia, rice, asparagus, salad

Sat: Thomas and I will eat out:-)

Sun: Spaghetti, salad, rolls

Weekly Goals 9/19/11

It's going to be a good week. I can feel it! I hope the people take the offer we made on the house!!! FINGERS CROSSED:-)

1. Get up early!
2. Workout at least 3 times this week
3. Eat well and take pills
4. Make lunches every day for me and Joel
5. Keep laundry up!
6. Finish book
7. Work on project
8. Scrap page:-)
9. Nails/toes
10. Get paperwork together for mortgage company!

Weekly Goal Results 9/12/11

Weekly Goals - 9/12/11

1. Workout 5 days this week, take pills daily! - Didn't work out 5 times....didn't take all of my pills every day either...slacker!

2. Finish Shiver - Almost...I WILL finish this book one day!

3. Thomas's room - YES!

4. Keep up laundry - YES!

5. Do at least one scrap page - No...but started a scrap project:-)

6. Try a new DIY project - Not yet....will soon

7. Nails/toes - Not yet....dang it

8. Get clothes ready for pickup on Wed for donation - Yes!

9. Go to be earlier and get up earlier - YES!

10. Make breakfast every morning - YES!

Changes aren't always a bad thing:-)

Joel and I bought our first home a little over a year ago. It's our dream home...beautiful...has a pool...4 bedroom...big open floor plan...and we LOVE IT!
After living here over a year we have realized that we didn't estimate some things correctly and didn't anticipate some things happening at all...which in the long run has made us totally house poor.

We didn't estimate all of our bills correctly...and we didn't estimate the expense of maintaining a pool correctly either. We had no idea that Joel's X would decide to take him back to court for as much as she could possible get just a few months after we bought the home (how sweet of her). It's her right....just think the timing sucked...bad:-(

What is boils down to is that NO home is worth being house poor and the stress that comes with it. We LOVE this house...but would love even more not to have to be stressed about our finances every month...and be able to do more with our kiddos....and each other...so that is where the "change" part comes in.

We have been talking about it for a month or so...and decided if we found another home that we like that will get us out of being house poor then we will move...if we don't then we will suck it up for a few more years until Thomas graduates...then move.

Every few days have been getting online and looking to see what houses are for sale. Last week I found a home that really interested Joel and I both....it's still in the same school district "for thomas" and it's a little further out (has a country feel to it) and is on a little over an acre. It also has a HUGE 30x40 shop with running water and electricity which is probably where my husband will live:-) It has a wrap around porch...which I have wanted all my life!! and all and all just a very homey feel that is more "me and Joel' then the house we are in now will ever be....and it's more affordable. The only downfall is it's 3 bedrooms which means Haley and Brenden will have to share a room...but they are only with us 4 days a month...so that shouldn't be too bad. There is also a possibility of adding another bedroom into the garage:-) Keep your fingers crossed for us!!!!

So....we went to look at it...fell in love...and are now in the process of going through the steps to try and buy it. We have been pre-approved....and will look at it one last time this weekend before putting our offer in. It's an older home and needs some TLC...so we want to look over it closely before making an offer. Hopefully we will be able to come to an agreement with the sellers and make it happen!! Then all we have to do is sell this house...which I don't think will be hard. It's a beautiful house! Someone will fall in love with it just like we did:-)

Now that everything is in the works and this is really becoming a possibility I am getting sooooo excited! The more I think about it the more I know this house will be so much better for me and Joel...and the kiddos. It fits our personality better...the little things will make a big difference too....like I have wanted a garden all of my life...but never really had the room...I WILL NOW!!! Joel has always wanted a big shop to work on cars/bikes...etc...HE WILL HAVE IT NOW....the kids need room to roam and be kids...THEY WILL HAVE IT NOW....and our dogs need to be able to run and be dogs...THEY WILL NOW!!! There isn't one part of me that thinks this isn't the right move. I pray that everything goes through smoothly and that we are able to start a new "less stressful" life in our new "country feel" home!

Weekly Menu - 9/12/11

Monday - Spaghetti, garlic bread

Tuesday - "the boys will have to take care of themselves tonight...I am going to a movie screening"

Wednesday - Chicken Quesadilla's

Thursday - Stuffed peppers, salad

Friday - Pizza with the kiddos

Sat - Tacos

Sunday - Family supper - Meatloaf/mashed potatoes

Weekly Goals - 9/12/11

1. Workout 5 days this week, take pills daily!

2. Finish Shiver

3. Thomas's room

4. Keep up laundry

5. Do at least one scrap page

6. Try a new DIY project

7. Nails/toes

8. Get clothes ready for pickup on Wed for donation

9. Go to be earlier and get up earlier

10. Make breakfast every morning

Weekly Goal Results 9/5/11

Weekly Goals - 9/5/11

A new week is ahead!! I want to keep losing weight!!! Do more scrapping.....workout more....etc...

1. Exercise and pills - Pills yes...workout...not so much:-(
2. Stay within calories every day! - YES! Except my free day Sunday...I had Taco Bueno...and it was goooood
3. Do at least one scrap page - Yes!
4. Finish Shiver - Almost...this book is going to be the death of me
5. Stick to dinner menu for the week:-) - YES!
6. Thomas - hang up beads in doorway of his room...and hang up calendar board above his desk.- Not yet

September 10 on 10

This is a cool little monthly project that I am going to try out. On the 10th day of each month you take 1 picture every hour for 10 hours. I didn't stay on track with the hourly thing this time...but I managed to get most of my day. This will be neat to look back on years down the road...what a cool idea:-)

10:14am - Woke up...got to sleep in this morning...nice!
11am - Breakfast:-)

12:00pm - Put flags out front to honor all of the people involved in 9/11...what a sad day:-( Can't believe it's been 10 years.
1:00pm - Caught up on facebook...scrapfreak...email...etc...

1:30pm - Headed out to the store to get things for the potatoes salad I am making for a party this evening.

2:00pm - Ended up deciding to let Thomas dye his hair...so we stopped by CVS on the way home from the store and picked up the stuff:-) I hope I don't regret this!


3:00pm - Once I got Thomas's hair workin' I did a sink full of dishes...fun fun! Hey it's something to kill time for 25 min while waiting for Thomas's color to set:-)

4:00pm - It's done...and I love it!!! I think it's looks too cool! I wish I was a teenager again:-)

6:00pm - Finally get to wear my new boots! Headin' out to a friend end of summer BBQ! Yee Haw!
6:30pm - Potato salad is ready...let's go!

Thomas - Teenage weirdness:-)

So Thomas has been DRIVING ME CRAZY about doing his hair a little funky. I have been saying no forever...or at least maybe....but today decided...why not? He is doing awesome in school...has been very pleasant, respectful..etc. It's not a big deal right? LOL....so to save money I figured I could just do it myself. I am so glad I did...because for 10 bucks...I think it looks AWESOME!!!!

Free Stuff! - Burberry Body perfume

I got a free sample of Burberry Body perfume in the mail today...it's nice...I like it!

Cruise 2010

Last year we took our first family cruise...we went to Mexico! It was beautiful!! The food on the ship wasn't the best...but we made due...it wasn't horrible. The weather was great and the kids had lots of fun! It was a great vacation with great memories. I can't wait to do it again!!!!

Right Now Sept 2011

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW … I am playing on the computer...facebook...scrapfreak...blogging....recipe searching
I AM THINKING … about what scrap page I want to do next...and what new recipe I want to try out
I AM LEARNING … new techniques in scrapbooking
I AM THANKFUL FOR … My family...my life...and how lucky I am to have such great people surrounding me at all times:-)
FROM THE KITCHEN … Tonight I am cooking chicken strips...mashed potatoes...mac-n-cheese and green beans
I AM WEARING … A pretty strapless flowered dress that is super comfy!
I AM GOING … to enjoy the rest of my 3 day weekend!!!
I AM READING ... Shiver (by Lisa Jackson)
I AM CREATING …Ideas of what to scrap next...and ways to organize my letters
I AM HOPING ... that Thomas does well in his first year of High School!
I AM HEARING … My dogs move around on their beds trying to get comfy!
AROUND THE HOUSE ... Trying to keep this place clean...it's a lot of house! ugh!
ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS …enjoying a nice lifetime movie with a big ole' bowl of fresh popped popcorn with salt and metled butter...and a big glass of water!

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK … Workout! Eat well! Keep laundry up! Scrap!
A PICTURE TO SHARE…Thomas and his first "new" friends at his new school. They are all super sweet girls:-)

Hidden Valley Salad Kits

I LOVE THESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You just add lettuce....(FRESH LETTUCE)!!!!!!!!! Nice:-) The other bad salads that already have the lettuce are nasty...yuk! These have everything but the lettuce...get some fresh lettuce...mix everything in and tada!!! LOVE IT! Wish I would have thought of it:-) They are cheap too....

Weekly Menu - 9/5/11

Monday: fin for yourself night:-)

Tuesday: BLT's - Chips

Wednesday: Pork Tenderloin - rice - salad

Thursday: Taco Salad

Friday: Pinto Beans - corn bread

Sat: Alyson's House Party

Sun: Spaghetti - Salad - Garlic Bread

Weekly Goals - 9/5/11

A new week is ahead!! I want to keep losing weight!!! Do more scrapping.....workout more....etc...

1. Exercise and pills
2. Stay within calories every day!
3. Do at least one scrap page
4. Finish Shiver
5. Stick to dinner menu for the week:-)
6. Thomas - hang up beads in doorway of his room...and hang up calendar board above his desk.

Weekly Goal Results 8/29/11

1. Pills and exercise - Pills YES...Exercise - not so much:-(...but I still managed to lose another pound this week!!!! by eating right and staying under my calorie goal:-)
2. Scrap (at least start the first day of high school page) - Yes! I got 2 new pages done this week...and am getting all of my scrap stuff organized! So exciting! www.scrapfreak.com is what I used to stay motivated!
3. Stick to dinner plans!- Almost...we went out one night becuase plans changed...but other then that we ate what I planned:-)