Labor Day Project

We had a pretty uneventful Labor Day weekend at our house. I had thought about heading to the coast, but in the end decided to just stay home and relax, and that's pretty much what happened!

On Monday, I decided to tackle a small project that's been on my mind for a WHILE now: my desk in our office. It had really gotten out of hand:

Yikes. Actually, this is not as bad as it has been in the past. Since I completed my Master's degree in 2011, my desk has been used as a dumping ground for all types of stuff (as you can see!). Anything I didn't have the time or energy to deal with got thrown onto my desk for me to handle "later." Since I graduated, I've been going through phases with this desk. I'll clean and organize it really well, keep it that way for a month or two, then it goes right back to the mess you see here.

My plan to stop that cycle (cause let's be real, I'm never gonna be good about immediately putting things away rather than just dumpin them on that handy flat surface!) is to get rid of the desk. I'll still need the storage for important papers and what-not, but I think a small bookcase can accomplish the same thing. We'll see what happens. Its not a huge goal on my list right now.

In the meantime, I decided to clean my desk (again). It took me about an hour, but I was so pleased with the results!

Ahhh, much better. The only thing left on there are my laptops (neither of which I use very often at all), a Mary Kay magazine (the current one - I throw out all the old ones now), and those 2 shoe boxes (which I'll explain in a minute). I was amazed at how much junk I was able to throw away!

I didn't do any organization of the drawers. Believe it or not, they're pretty tidy. Not perfect by any means, but I know where everything is in there. Not that I use most of it anymore, but still. There are, however, a ton of papers in both of the bottom (deeper) drawers that really need to be organized and filed better. At some point I'll come up with a system for that - probably when/if we ever get rid of this bulky desk.

My plan is to decorate those shoe boxes so they look prettier. But for now, they work so they're fine. The bottom box is full of craft stuff for C - coloring books, colored pencils, stickers, Modge Podge, etc.

I realize at some point I'll have accumulated enough craft stuff to warrant a much bigger storage solution, but for now this is fine. Its nice to have everything rounded up in one spot!

The other shoe box now houses my hair bow-making supplies: ribbon, scissors, wire, etc.

Such a big improvement over the grocery bag I was keepin this stuff in! I think I'm doin pretty well on the ribbon front, too. I've been making hair bows for C for several months now, and this is all the ribbon I've bought! I thought once I learned how to do it I'd go crazy, but I just don't feel the need to have a bunch of patterned bows for her. I like hers to be solid and simple.

So that's it! It was a simple project for the holiday, but it makes a huge impact on the office as a whole. Now I gotta do the same thing to my Mary Kay space on the other side of the closet..

I didn't take a picture cause its disgraceful to the Mary Kay brand (lol). My husband had a gorgeous shelf custom-built for my MK stuff, but something fell over and knocked a lot of stuff around, and I've been too lazy to fix it. It looks awful! One day I'd love to completely redo the office - get rid of my desk, get DH a new, nicer looking desk, pretty up the filing cabinet, get some curtains, etc. But the space is so unimportant to me that its not even on my list of house-related things to do (though maybe because its such a long list...haha!). ( :

Weekend Recap and Other Awesomeness

Ugh, I am SO unmotivated today! Mainly because I can't take a decent breath. I don't know if I've pulled a muscle from all my coughing spells over the past 10 days, or if I have pleurisy (which I get all the dang time, so you'd think I'd know), or bronchitis, but my right lung/chest HURTS when I breathe. I'm still coughing, though not as frequently as I was last week. I can now breathe through my nose, though I still have to blow it quite a bit. I guess not being able to breathe deeply makes you tired, cause I have no energy today.

Yesterday afternoon, I ran around in the yard with C, kicking balls. It was fun, but man did it wear me out! Am I goin to the doctor?  Nah, probably not. If I thought I had a sinus infection I'd be there to get some drugs, but I don't think they can do anything for this right now. So unless I get a whole lot worse, I'll just complain about it. :P (Just kidding, complaining will cease now!)

We had a great weekend. Saturday morning, me and C headed to town to find some tap shoes. On Friday during my lunch break, I went to the consignment store and bought her some tap shoes, but they ended up being too small. I also got a few leotards and skirts, which thankfully fit just fine - yay for consignment! I found some ballet slippers at Target, and they were too small as well.

Of course, Once Upon A Child (consignment) didn't have any tap shoes in C's size, but luckily I got a full refund. Next, we hit up Michael's, where I scored some ribbon on clearance for $1. I made a beautiful hair bow for her, and forgot to take a picture (haha). I'll try to get on that (and a bow tutorial) soon! We exchanged the ballet slippers at Target for a larger brand, then went on a search for tap shoes.

Luckily, we hit pay dirt at Payless. C is totally in love with her shoes and wants to wear them all the time. And I have to say, she's pretty much a natural at tapping. ( :

Hopefully that video will play! If not, here's a still:

She tapped all over the house for me, and after her long nap (in her CRIB!!), we went to my mama's house, where she tapped for her, my cousin, and my grandma. I love that kid. ( :

Yesterday, she was alternating between the tap shoes and the ballet slippers to dance for her daddy - so cute.

After church yesterday, we headed to my aunt's for a birthday lunch for my cousin. We had a good time, and got to eat some of my aunt's delicious chocolate pound cake with cream cheese icing! Yum. Of course, we stayed over there through nap time, and when we got home, C wasn't about taking a nap. So her and I played outside while DH worked on the chicken and rabbit pens.

C and I had so much fun playing outside. We played with the balls, she rode her tricycle, we swung on the swingset, and she had a blast on the slide. I cherish times like that. Then one of DH's friends stopped by to show us what he bought at the livestock sale that morning, and somehow we ended up with 6 guinea keets! When they get big enough, we'll turn them loose so they can eat bugs around the farm. Our farm will never be quiet again! If you're not familiar with guineas, they are LOUD - like, obnoxiously loud.

Anyway, after we got over our new bird excitement (note my sarcasm), C and I hopped on Sunshine bareback. Then C kicked me off so she could ride by herself, haha. I didn't feel up to giving her a "lesson," so I just walked around with her. She didn't care! I'm so glad she loves horses already. ( :

Speaking of birds, our baby ducks are still going strong! Well, 8 of them are. We lost 1, but that was expected cause he was very weak. I'm happy. Mama duck is doing a great job at protecting them. They hang out in the pond a lot, but have also been hanging out around the chicken pens - which is pretty farm from the pond, so they must be strong babies.

All in all, it was an excellent weekend. The only thing that would have made it better if is I had felt better. But I can't complain, since it was a drastic improvement from the previous weekend, when I couldn't do anything but hack and blow my nose.

At church yesterday, my pastor preached on Psalm 121. This is my favorite Psalm, and probably my favorite Bible verses. I'd never heard a sermon on it, and I was impressed.

This Psalm has gotten me through some tough times in my life. It reminds me that God is always there for me. My pastor's message was about much more than that fact, though.

It inspired me to be better about my Bible reading and studies. Well, I should say it inspired me to DO it again. Sadly, I've really gotten off track with that. At the beginning of this year, I was reading the Bible daily with my Bible In One Year app, plus I was doing other random studies through books I found. I also read several books about building a closer relationship to God. I'm not sure what happened, but I stopped doing all that gradually. Its just easier to read "fun" things, like trashy romance novels, I guess. But you know what? Lately, I've been feeling not quite myself, almost depressed at times. I was just thinking on Friday how I needed to get back into the Word, cause when I was deep within it, I didn't feel this way. And then I heard this sermon yesterday - coincidence? I think not. My God is just awesome like that. ( :

So, I'm jumping back in. I'm gonna pick up where I left off with my "The Excellent Wife Day by Day" devotional, the BIOY app, and a couple of other books I recently purchased. Fill myself with spiritual goodness, reconnect with my Maker, have peace again. Who's with me? ( :

Cheesy Macaroni Bake

I'm back with another delicious recipe!

My husband and I (and our daughter, actually) loooooove Spam. I know a lot of people think Spam is gross, and that's okay. Stop reading now if that's you. ( :  I don't think about what might be in a can of Spam. I just know it tastes delicious and its super easy to cook and eat. It used to be "poor man's food," but its actually kind of expensive these days. So we don't eat Spam very often. Growing up, I always had Spam and eggs sandwiches - and yum!! That's still a favorite of mine. But I looked a while back on the Spam website and learned there's a ton of other things you can do with that meaty goodness.

I tried a Spam and potatoes casserole a while back and it was a big hit at my house. I think I may have blogged about it, but right now I'm too lazy to look. Sorry.

Last night I decided to try another Spam recipe I had bookmarked: Cheesy Macaroni Bake (with Spam)!

It. was. delicious. Seriously. Actually, DH said it was good but not that good, but we all know I get a little overenthusiastic about my food. ( :  It was super-easy to make, and it only took about 30 minutes of prep before baking for 25 minutes.

You can find the real recipe here. But I'll type it up for ya, too, just in case you're lazy like me.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, divided
• 1 12-ounce can SPAM^® Classic, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 8 ounces elbow macaroni 
•  1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs (1 slice)
• 1 pinch ground red pepper (cayenne)
• 2 cups milk
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 pound processed sharp American cheese, diced I just grated a 1/2 pound of cheddar.
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

 Directions: 

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 2-quart casserole. I forgot to grease my dish but nothing stuck.
2. Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain.
3. In casserole, stir together SPAM® Classic and macaroni.
4. In medium saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Blend in flour, salt, mustard, black pepper and cayenne until smooth. I also added the paprika here because I read the directions wrong. Stir in milk; cook over medium heat, stirring, until mixture thickens and boils. Add cheese; cook, stirring, until cheese is melted. Pour over SPAM® mixture; mix well.
5. In microwave-safe bowl, melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter; stir in breadcrumbs and paprika. I did add more paprika in this step. We didn't think it was too much at all. In fact, I think DH would have liked more! Sprinkle over macaroni. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

See? Easy-peasy! I made this dish while tripping over all the toys my daughter thought would be fun to bring into the kitchen...and I didn't mess anything up, so it must be pretty fool-proof! I forgot to take a picture of how it looks out of the casserole dish - whoops. I did have leftovers for lunch today, and it was just as good as it was last night.


I've been a little off of my meal-planning game lately. But I guess that's understandable since we've been under a lot of stress. Which means that tonight we'll likely have sandwiches or bacon and eggs. Can't be super-cooking-mom all the time, right? ( :  Maybe I'll be blessed to have my husband decide to whip up something tonight....oh that reminds me! Sunday for lunch he made some crab cakes that were absolutely divine! I'd love to share the recipe but DH doesn't even tell ME how he cooks things, haha. My man can cook, he's just secretive about his methods. ( :

I also haven't forgotten that I said I'd do a hair bow tutorial this week. I did make another bow over the weekend, but I wasn't happy with the way it turned out. Here's a tip: don't buy satin ribbon for hair bows. It just doesn't look at nice. I'll be making another bow either tonight or tomorrow night, though, because C needs it for her Easter pictures Saturday morning (she'll be posing with a live bunny and I am so excited). So look for pictures and a tutorial soon. And yes, I'll share the bow I wasn't happy with, too. ( :

Quickie

What a week! We have been insanely busy at work (which is a good thing), and there's been a lot going on in my family, as well. Some good, some bad. My husband's grandma has been moved to a rehab facility, which is good because it means she's improving. She'll get therapy twice a day and hopefully will be coming home in 4-6 weeks. She's got a long road ahead of her, though, so she still needs prayers.

My uncle was diagnosed with cancer last year and has been very sick ever since. He started to get better, and actually got a positive report from his doctor just a couple of weeks ago, but he wound up back in the hospital last weekend, and he's gone downhill very fast. I think the doctors said today there's nothing else they can do. Its pretty sad. :(

On a happier note, my cousins had their baby boy yesterday! I went to meet him today and he is gorgeous. The only bad thing about that is it doesn't help the baby fever I already have....hahaha!

I have so many posts floating around in my mind, but no time to sit down and type them up! I'm not even gonna tell myself it'll happen this weekend, because I know the next 2 days will be crazy. Well, tonight, too. Tonight, C and I are going to a party. This one is Initials, Inc. I've never heard of this company, but from what I can see its a lot like Thirty-One. It'll be hard to sway me from Thirty-One! We always have a great time at my friend's parties, though, so I'm looking forward to it. Tomorrow, DH and I are going to a wedding - sans child! He said it'll be our date night. Not quite what I had in mind, but I'll take it. The wedding is at 4 and the reception is at a country club, so it should be nice. I've got a hot little number I'm wearin and I can't wait! (I love to dress up, haha.) And then Sunday we'll be at a baby shower. DH's cousin is due in a few months. I'm looking forward to that, but once again, all those teeny tiny baby things will be terrible for my baby fever! ( ;

One last thing: today I learned how to make a hair bow! Well, almost. This is somethin I've been wanting to do for a while, but never took the time to learn or even get the materials. I'm slightly obsessed with hair bows (for C, not me!), and they can be expensive. I found a great tutorial online the other night and it was so simple. I can't wait to perfect my technique and make a ton of more bows!

Not bad for my first try, huh? I was pretty pleased with it! Its not quite finished, though. Right now its just the bow, no hair clip. My friend is giving me some alligator clips tonight at the party (she used to make hair bows but doesn't anymore), so I'll have to finish this little project later.

Once I attach the bow to the clip, I'll post more pictures and a tutorial (along with the link for the one I followed). I'm so excited! (And how sad is it that hair bows excite me?!)