My Maine Dream

On this relaxing Saturday (I didn't wake up until 11:30!), I decided to brew some coffee and look at one of my all-time favorite sites. Realtor.com. I like to see what is for sale in cities that I dream of visiting (or living in). Today, as I searched Portland, Maine my heart skipped a beat. Just look at this house. Oh, the possibilities, the simplicity of this sweet little house. It looks so bright and airy and gave me a sense of calmness. I got lost in the moment imagining the cool summer breezes flowing through the open windows, the quiet nights in the backyard and the quaint little kitchen to try out new recipes. This is exactly what I want. Simple and enjoyable. I like to pull inspiration for small spaces on this website, also. I am back in reality right now, but later I plan to look up some million dollar coastal properties that I will drool over.

Loooooong Weekend!

I have a lot on my to-do this for this week, but I want to enjoy a nice long weekend! If you value your time and can't afford to spend hours online DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT click here. It is awful and wonderful at the same time. That website is AWESOME! I avoid it at all costs because it is so over-whelming to the senses! I warned you!!

I reused the Snapple bottles, instead of brewing iced tea to bottle, I made my own version of Starbucks iced coffee and bottled that. I hid them in the fridge, but someone found them! Mason loves iced coffee!

Some things that I need to do this week include getting Mason to the eye doctor, he is going to need new glasses. Also, baseball and football sign-ups are this week. Baileigh needs to get up to date on her shots, I am going to sort through old magazines and finally get two school projects done! Wow, now that is an exciting week!!

Have a great weekend, it looks like it is going to be beautiful!
Here's my little fur-baby, Trails, he really has the whole "lazy" thing down!

Good Food!

First of all, Happy Belated Valentine's Day! The new principal at Mason's school has lifted the evil "no sugary party snack" ban! YEAH! It's bittersweet for me since this is the last year Mason will have a Valentine's Day class party (sniffle, sniffle). So, I made these:



Yum!

Tonight I made veggie soup and homemade garlic bread for dinner:




Mason is not a soup-eater, so this was all mine!

Homemade pumpkin butter is simmering on the stove as I type. It smells fantastic in here! I found a few breakfast recipes that I want to try that call for pumpkin butter, so I thought that I should whip up a batch. It's the best!

This next item falls under the, "WHAT THE...." catagory:



WHAT THE heck are boiled peanuts (I mean, except the obvious). During my last trip to Wegman's (before Christmas), I found this in the ethnic food asile. I can't remember what ethnicity this can was under but I knew we had to try them! For the past two months everytime I open my cabinet I see these sitting there. I am afraid. Mason is afraid. These just seem too weird! I will be sure to update how they were, complete with pictures! However, that still could be another two months away! WHO boils peanuts....

Double Brrrr...

Wow! This cold snap can leave anytime now! Mason and I went out yesterday to get some things accomplished, one of which was a haircut (more on this later). We spent most of the day out and about. I had to return a Redbox movie (Shark Night and yes, it rocked!!). Giant Eagle has a Redbox that is outside of the store, so I decided to just pull up front (lazy, yes) because I didn't need to get anything inside. As I put my 4-way flashes on, I said to Mason that he needed to hurry up and run to return the movie before an officer says anything to me! As soon as Mason gets out of the car and sprints to the Redbox machine, here comes a security officer to my window. I rolled down my window and before I said a word the officer said, "Is SHE (SHE!) just returning a movie?". I could not contain my laughter, he was looking at me like I just left the loony bin! Between breaths I was able to say, "SHE is a HE, that is my son!!". The look on his face was priceless! He apologized and got a good laugh, too! Mason had made his way back to the car and even he thought it was funny (perhaps not as much as I did!). So, I informed the security officer that HE was getting a haircut later that day! Later that afternoon I took Mason to "the girl haircut place" and he got his hair trimmed. Then we made our way home in snow and white outs. I have driven in worse white outs but white outs on the highway are NOT fun.

Chobani Greek yogurt has new flavors!! Blood orange and Passion fruit. They are both delicious! Greek yogurt is amazing!

I have two papers to complete for Monday, two basketball games today and finish grocery shopping. The song, "Under Pressure" is playing in the background of my brain! We are going to collect on our FREE Papa John's Pizza today! During the superbowl Papa Johns was running a promotion with a coin toss and we choose the right one (heads!). That will be helpful for dinner tonight so that I don't have to worry about cooking anything between basketball games!

Hello!

That picture is from last year, but I love it! As I type, Baileigh is snoozing on the couch, barking in her sleep! I would love to know what dogs dream about! It reminds me of this video:



That never gets old!!

I had a semi-productive day today. I got my oil changed, it took longer to get an attendant to the counter than it did to actually get the oil changed. I bought some Starbucks coffee to brew at home since stopping at Sheetz before class is getting too time consuming! Have you ever seen Sheetz in the morning?? I stopped into BigLots the other day to find a great deal on Snapple, Trop-a-Rocka flavor! Yum! This is mine and Mason's favorite flavor. I am going to save the bottles and brew my own iced tea to have around for awhile.

That's all I have for now, Mason is due home any minute. I am sure that means we will have hours of fraction homework to do (insert dreaded feeling here).

Brrrr....

I guess we have been lucky so far this winter, but WOW, is it cold outside tonight! I went outside to take Mason to basketball practice and was not expecting to have to scrape ice off the windshield. I question myself time and time again why I do not want to move to a warmer climate when I make my move after Mason graduates.

I am enjoying basketball season but I REALLY can't wait until baseball season! Mason will have football sign-ups and weigh-ins in March and I am afraid that he will not make the weight limit. I don't know what to do, starving him seems so cruel (haha!).

In other news, I have a giant grocery-store list and we plan to shop on Saturday. I have some new recipes to try out. I started the year off by drinking a kale smoothie everyday and ginger tea. I feel great! I need to restock those supplies. I can honestly say that ever since I have been drinking them, I have not had a single sniffle! My days have been so busy, its been hard to actually make a decent grocery shopping trip. No basketball on Saturday, so we will be shopping instead. The worst part is carrying all the groceries inside and putting them away. I could do without that!

Stay warm!!

Lazy. Lazy. Lazy

Lazy seems to be a theme around here lately. I guess with the added pressures of school and Mason bringing home fractions for homework, most of our free time is spent lounging. That even applies to the cat! She fell asleep cleaning herself in the picture above! I have decided that tomorrow Facebook will not hold me hostage, I will not even log-in until all the cleaning is done! Yeah, we'll see about that one. Facebook = evil time-thief. I think it might be easier to survive living in a Turkish prison. [Jerry Seinfeld "Newman" voice] "Facebook"

The Giants won the superbowl!! It was a great game. The commercials were, once again, not up to par. There were a few good ones. There were more scantily clad women than I care for my 11 year old boy to see in a lot of the 30 second, million dollar ads. It just shows what society has come to. Less creativity and more skin is what sells, I suppose.


Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE inspirational quotes! I fill my house with them as daily reminders of how great life is even when it isn't so much. Sometimes the quotes are hand painted on canvas or printed on an item that was bought. However, most of them are hand written on the nearest index card or old reciept lying on the table, it adds character, ya know??!

Words that I live by:



Words that everyone should live by:



I really can't wait for flea market/yard sale season to get here! I have been on the lookout at the thrift stores for an old dresser to paint or re-finish. No luck. I have been feeling really creative on a redecorating level lately. Of course, I don't have the means to go buy all new, but even if I did that isn't my style. Unless we are talking about Pier 1. Let me tell you about Pier 1. That store actually makes me, the thriftiest of all thrift shoppers, think (if only for a few minutes) that it is ok to spend $450 on a side chair. A $300 framed mirror? Sure! Curtains that cost more than all the furniture in my house, combined? Not a problem. I love every single thing in that store. All the sparkle and glitter!! Don't get me started on glitter. When the Pier 1 catalog graces my mailbox, I act like a child in a candy store. I grab a cup of tea and get lost in the fantasy of having an entire house furnished with those items, some that I can't even pronounce. Thirty minutes later I am back to reality. Someday. Someday at least 25% of my house will be furnished with goodies from Pier 1!