{ If only Bella would let me sleep }

Ok, it's been 5 days since I've had proper sleep, I feel a little zombified at this point.  You know when you haven't slept well for a while, and you get to that cranky, yawning every five minutes, nobody must look at you, stage????

I'm there folks.  I actually got irritated with myself earlier because I'm so cranky and irritable that my own voice was getting on my nerves.  Haha

I've mentioned it before, Bella is very old and for the most part she is doing well, but she goes through these phases every month or two, where for 3 or 4 nights she is restless, walks around, whines and cries and keeps us up all night.  This just so happened to the be that week, so I'm struggling to make it during the day, and on top of that I have Jasmine's cosplay weapon to finish for Saturday, was dealing with the sinus and allergy thing, and my usual responsibilities around here.   So yes, just a bit of crazy hectic week for me.

Curt came home from work the other day with more fresh farm eggs for me.  How beautiful are they?  And yes I said beautiful, I always find them to be the most prettiest of brightest yellows. 

I also received my Blog Book for 2007 and again I'm so impressed and happy with the results.  It makes me so happy to see the actual book in my hands.

I've only quickly paged through it.  I was going to read the books, but then I decided that I want to wait until I have all my books, and I can sit down and just start reading from the very beginning.

I worked on my menu plan today.  I am trying to keep to the budget which has been hard to do lately, everything is getting more and more expensive.

My last grocery trip two weeks ago was $320.  I about died right there on the spot, I have NEVER, like NEVER spent that much on groceries for 2 weeks.  Everyone keeps saying to me, that's nothing, my actually still cheap for groceries, and I guess I need to take a second look at my budget and up the food total, but golly, I wasn't expecting that.

I'm not going to go crazy and throw caution to the wind and all that.  I still plan on trying to stay under $300.  Let's see how I do this time around.  I plan on doing a Grocery Haul for you all.  Not sure if I'll do video or just photos, but there will be one tomorrow for sure.

Jasmine's weapon is coming along.  It's giving me headaches, making me question my sanity at times, and wanting to just say forget it.  But I like a challenge and this is definitely in that category. 

I took that photo yesterday, it looks different already today as I've started adding the final pieces and details, but I'll wait until it's complete to show you.

As I was saying though, it has given me a bit of a run for my money and at times I have to stop, step back and go do something else for a bit. 

I've finished Part 4 of the Atlanticus, and I'm really hoping I can finish Part 5 this weekend (need to pick up more yarn though).

So yeah, that's what's been going on around here.  It's almost 9pm and I'm going to go ahead and brush my teeth, take my meds and try really hard to get some good sleep.  :)

{ Slow Cooking Thursday - Gumbo }

Hey everyone, welcome to another Slow Cooking Thursday.  I haven't tried this one yet, but it looks really good.

Crock Pot Gumbo Recipe with Sausage, Chicken, and Shrimp

 Source: Tammilee Tips

 

1lb Chicken Breast (cut into bite size pieces)
1lb Smoked Sausage (kielbasa, farmers sausage, garlic sausage, etc)
1lb Shrimp, raw and shells removed (I left tails on for more flavor)
1 Onion, diced
1 Green pepper, diced
1 Hot pepper, (jalapeno, serrano, scotch bonnet, habanero, etc) (optional!!!)
3 ribs Celery, diced
1 can Diced tomatoes (28 oz)
3 tsp Garlic, minced
2 C Chicken broth
1 Tbsp. Cajun spice (or more if you prefer)
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Oregano
1 1/3 C Rice (cooked)


1. Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker, except for the shrimp and the rice.
2. Cook on low for 6 – 7 hours, stirring occasionally
3. In last hour of cooking, salt the shrimp lightly, and then add them to the crock pot
4. In the last half hour of cooking, add the rice and stir. Replace cover. You want the rice just to warm through and take on some of the cooking flavors.
5. Serve with crusty bread, and enjoy!

{ Tackle it Tuesday - Bringing it Back }

Good morning everyone, hope you are having a good start to your day.

It's a beautiful Tuesday morning here in North Texas, and I'm just getting ready to tackle a project.  While I was gathering all my supplies I suddenly remembered the Tackle it Tuesdays I used to do back in 2006.  I don't think I ever did one in 2007, I may but I really don't remember.  Anyway, I have a ton of projects and things I want to get done around my house.

Reorganizing, painting, DIY, Yard, gardening and so on and so forth.

Time for it, is here.  Motivation, not always.

So I thought it would be a great idea to keep me in check, keep me motivated and make me accountable, if I had to do it to post it on the blog.  It's how I got a lot of projects done back in 2006.

You can go back and check those out if you wish, just click here on my Tackle it Tuesday label.

If it's something you think you would enjoy, then I highly encourage you to join me every Tuesday and work on a project you need doing whether around your house or work, it doesn't matter.

Here's what I'm tackling today.  Jasmine's cosplay.

I've gone back and forth on this gun for a few days and it's stressing me out, I don't know what the heck I'm doing.  So I'm going to try one last thing and hopefully get it done.  I'm basically going to adapt an old Nerf gun that is no longer used, and turn it into a prop gun.  *fingers crossed*

Here's what I'm facing....







I don't have finished pictures yet, obviously I'm working on it today, but I'll come back tonight and post the progress I've made.

As I said, I'm hoping to bring this feature back for as long as I have projects going and sharing it with you.  I hope I inspire you all to look at your own pile of To Do's and get cracking with them, it really does help when you know you need to post pictures and share with others. :)

{ What a blessing }

We often taken things for granted.  We often think that we're alone or not surrounded by people who love us and care about us.  And we're often very wrong.

I've been immensely blessed with wonderful friends, some who I have never met in person, yet are some of the most treasured friendships I have in my life.

The other day I mentioned that I broke my camera lens.  I've had my camera since 2010, yes that long, I've cherished it, I've taken care of it, I've been oh so careful with where I set it down, when I take it anywhere etc., so when I busted the lens I was heartbroken.

I've been wanting one for a while but it's not something that is within our budget at the moment, but it's such a huge part of my daily life that I was feeling very sad not being able to really take many photos anymore.

That's when one of those amazing friends that I'm blessed with, stepped in.  I've known Jen for so many years, we met through the blog, I've watched her children grow and she mine and we've become very good friends without ever having met.

She had an extra lens and decided to gift it to me as an early birthday present.  I could not believe it and honestly still don't quite know how to ever thank her.   If that wasn't enough, she sent me a few other goodies, because she knows me extremely well :)

She knows how much I love my teas, and I am quite sure I'm going to love these.  Just look at those flavors.  Yum!!!

And an Amish cookbook, I mean.....that's me right there.  I can not wait to sit and look through the recipes, I'll be making many from there, I'm quite sure.

So thank you Jen, I've already thanked you but you deserve all the love and recognition in this world :)

While I worked around the house, the Mister was just living the good life, laying around, enjoying his naps.  He is so cute, I just want to squeeze him.

Can you tell I have my wonderful lens back?  I don't know how I would live without my camera, I think I would be so unhappy not being able to capture my life.

I've also been working on my Atlanticus blanket.  I am almost finished with Part 4, hoping to be done with that tomorrow and then I can move on to Part 5, but I'm running low on yarn, so we'll see how far I get.

Speaking of crochet, I decided to end my Nuts about Squares blanket and just join the squares I have now, see how big it is and maybe work on an edging.  It will probably just be a lap afghan and that's fine with me :)

I worked a little more on my blog to book for 2010.  Also did a little more work on Jasmine's cosplay gun.  I'm a little stressed with it because I'm not used to making prop weapons and really have no clue what I'm doing, but I'm trying very hard to make it look semi good, so we'll see how it goes.  Talk about pressure.

All my housework is done, the only thing on the list that I didn't get around to was the dusting, but I'll do that tomorrow morning.

Right now I'm sitting here with my girl, actually she's laying and sleeping on the couch next to me.  She's not feeling very well, it's that time of the month but I think she's also got a bit of a cold.  If I told her I was going to take a photo she would have said NO, and at this age I gotta get what I can so since she's asleep, here's my chance right?  :)

No matter how old they get, I still see them as babies when they sleep.  Boy time has flown by.

Right, it's now 8pm and I really need to start getting things ready for bed.  Part of my nighttime routine is to get my coffee machine ready for the next morning so it makes the coffee when the alarm goes off, I better go and tend to that.

Hope you all have a good night.  God Bless!

{ Happy Homemaker Monday - 06/19/2017 }

Happy Monday everyone :)

I know, I sound a little too chirpy for an early Monday morning, but I've learned that it's best to just go with it and accept it than dwell in the sad notion that it's, in fact, the beginning of another week.

So let's get going, and I pray that you all have a beautiful, blessed week ahead, no matter what you're doing :)

The weather:::
It's been cloudy since yesterday and there was talk of rain, but it never showed up.  Bummer!  Anyway, it's dark and cloudy today but no rain in sight.  This week we'll be in the 90s.   

Right now I am:::
Typing up this post, and I have my TV on to ID Discovery, with, of course, crime shows. 


On my reading pile:::
News of the World by Paulette Jiles, for an upcoming review. 


Movies or Shows I watched this weekend:::
Finished Orange is the New Black, and also watched the last two episodes of Reign.  I'm so upset that it's over, and I really disliked the way it ended.  Of course the TV was on to crime shows as usual. 


On my TV:::
General Hospital
Dr Phil (if it's a new one)
ID Discovery Channel


On the menu for this week:::

Monday
Darn Yummy Pasta, Salad  
Tuesday
Honey Lime Pork Chops, Garlic Black Beans and Rice    
Wednesday
One Pot Baked Ziti w/ Ricotta, Steamed Broccoli
Thursday
Chili con Carne, Basmati Rice  
Friday 
Instant Pot Chicken Casserole w/ Butter Garlic Spaghetti   
Saturday
Crockpot Cubed Steak w/ gravy and Mashed Potatoes 
Sunday
Barbecue Ribs, Corn on the Cob, Maple Bacon Baked Beans. 
 

On my to do list:::
Laundry......Iron and put away all the laundry
Living rooms....Dust, vacuum
Kitchen.....unload and reload dishwasher, sweep and mop
Blog.....Continue on with the blog to book.  Just finished 2009 last night, moving on to 2010.  Start on my Slow Cooking Thursday book.



What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::
Have two rows left on Part 4 of the Atlanticus, then hoping to get started on Part 5 which was released today. 
Have to finish Jasmine's weapon for this weekend's cosplay event.



Looking around the house:::
I did a lot of housework yesterday, so it's not needing much other than just a quick tidy up here and there.   


From the camera:::
I hope you're not getting sick of my old photos, but as I go through previous blog years, I see so many wonderful pictures that I took of my kids.  Brings back so many memories.  This is the picture on my blog book cover for 2009.  Just love it )  

What I'm wearing today:::
It's not even 8am yet, so I'm still in my pajamas.  Black shorts with white and purple flowers, lavender tank top and my robe.  I'm not sure what I'll be wearing today, you know sometimes I want to just throw on some sweat pants and then there are days I actually put on jeans and a nice top etc.  Just because I'm a homemaker, doesn't mean that I should be sloppy all the time, right? 
Today though, it's cloudy and gloomy, and I may just put on a tshirt and some shorts for my cleaning/homemaking day.
  

One of my simple pleasures:::
Looking through old photographs


Inspirational Quote, Bible verse, anything you want to share:::
Prayer from today's Grace for Each Day.
"Dear Lord.  You have offered me the gift of abundance through Your Son.  Thank you, Father for the abundant life that is mine through Christ Jesus.  Let me accept His gifts and use them always to glorify You.  Amen."