"We Don't Want The Whole United States, Just Alabama!!!!"

So yesterday was a hard day for me. I have been dealing with different things with my health and it is a battle in itself to get the coverage that I need in order to make the appointments that I need to make. Last night I was going stir crazy in the house and decided I just needed to get out. I asked a friend of mine if she wanted to go for a walk and we ended up walking more than 2.5 miles and had a nice, well needed talk.

We came to some realizations during the talk... One of which being that women look up to the first male figure they have in their lives, the ones that care for them and treat them well... whether it is a father, a brother, a cousin, or even a close friend. As we grow up and mature we tend to look for someone that in certain ways resemble the way we are treated by that male figure that we look up to. We don't always find that person but in the back of our minds we always wish we had someone to treat us the way that dependable male figure always has and always will.

One thing in specific that we were talking about were small gestures. A welcoming smile and questions about our day when we come home. Being surprised with flowers, or even a FLOWER when you come home. Seriously, you can get some cheap yet pretty flowers for $5 at Walmart!!! I have been with my husband for 6 years now... It's not often that I ask him about his day when he comes home, but that is because he is normally grouchy and snappy when I ask him questions right when he comes home. In our 6 years of being together there were only two times that he surprised me without it being a special occasion. TWO times in 2,204 days. REALLY?!?!?!?! I love my husband regardless... We wouldn't be together if I didn't... But sometimes it's nice to feel special, be surprised, be treated out of the ordinary. Countless times he has come home from a late night of playing poker or doing something else, and told me "I was going to surprise you and get flowers but I didn't." Really? You are telling me this why? In my opinion, for this situation... it is not the thought that counts. Thinking about doing it but not doing it does not give you brownie points. It actually takes AWAY brownie points. Now, if he came home and said to me, "I was going to surprise you and get flowers but I didn't have any money" and hands me some flowers he grabbed from outside on his way in the house, he would get major brownie points. THERE is where "it's the thought that counts" comes into play.

Bottom line is... small gestures are all we want sometimes. We don't want the whole United States... Just Alabama and we will be happy. Is that too much to ask for?????

xoxo

Menu Planning and Saving Money!!

Recently, I discovered something that is so so simple, and on top of couponing has saved me SO much money.

Menu planning has made my life so much easier!!!

I have a board hanging up in my kitchen... It's actually something that my husband found and brought home for free... It is a white board, with a cork board area on the bottom. It includes a calendar and a big area for notes. I decided to turn this area into my "Dinner Menu" spot... I have the days written down in a column, enough for 2 weeks worth of dinner menus, and I plan out my weekly meals based on what I already have in my pantry and what is on sale at my local supermarket that week. I also take into effect what leftovers will be around, so that I can make 2 night's meals using similar ingredients.

This has come in SO handy, especially with the fact that I was babysitting 3 children while their mom worked night shift for the past month and a half. Now that she is going on days, and I don't have to do dinner for them... my savings will be even higher. I have managed to spend under $50 each week to cover the cost of the dinners, plus breakfast items, lunchmeat for the hubby, and other extra things too.

Menu Planning has saved me time and money while shopping at the store... I know exactly what I need to complete my meals for the week, and I don't waste time wandering around the aisles looking for what I want to make. It has helped me get more creative, and try out new recipes so that we are not eating similar things every day. The menu is up for days before, so my husband and daughter both know what we are having and if they don't like something, or would rather switch days around they can tell me and I have time to change it. I make sure to eat almost all of the leftovers throughout the week for lunch and for nights that I have "open" dinners (I don't write anything on the menu because I know we can snack or eat leftovers on these nights).

A good example of a weekly menu is my menu for this coming up week...
Saturday (St. Patty's Day) - Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes
Sunday - Tacos
Monday - Chicken, breaded with Kraft's new Fresh Take... which I am in love with, and potatoes
Tuesday - Using the leftover taco meat, salsa, sour cream, and cheese to make taco baked potatoes
Wednesday - Using the chicken leftover from Monday to make chicken ranch wraps and french fries
Thursday and Friday are open for now... I will fill it in closer to that time when I can see the new sales and figure out what I want. We have a ton of pasta that I bought at BJ's a few weeks ago so I can probably do something with that and not spend as much money.

I keep lots of chicken and ground beef in my freezer... I can use those almost every night and I got it all on sale for really cheap at different stores. As long as I keep that kind of stuff in stock, my grocery bills stay wayyyy down, because I'm not rushing to get it last minute and paying a higher price for it.

Moms, or even any person really, who like to save time, money, and stress... should definitely try menu planning. It makes lives so much easier... no need to ask OR hear "what's for dinner???" at 6 PM. It is definitely a life saver!!!

Kayla :)

The Best Feeling In The World...

Tonight I laid on the couch with Brooklyn, who fell asleep in my arms. I started to think about how big and beautiful she is getting. Sometimes I can't believe it, and I wish she would stop growing already!!

When I moved her into her bed, she told me she was scared... as she always does. She used to sleep with the TV on but I stopped that after her 4th birthday from her waking me up numerous times between 12-4am and she was still in bed watching TV.

After battling her on the fact that she had to go to sleep in her bed with no TV, I sat on her bed and rubbed her until she dozed off. As she laid there I heard her start mumbling... "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10......12......13........16........17...........18.............19...............my mommy and daddy........................chocolate....chip....cookies................"

And she was out like a light.

When she began counting, I was trying to figure out in my head why in the world she would do that.... Then I remembered, one night I told her that sometimes people count sheep when they can't sleep. I didn't realize that she would literally count them... out loud. Ha ha ha.

The mention about mommy and daddy and chocolate chip cookies must be because I always tell her to think of happy thoughts before she goes to bed so she won't have any bad dreams. We used to have a bad case of the night terrors around here... and it was always so hard to get her to go to sleep because she was scared of those terrible dreams.

The moments like this are my favorite, I wish I could hold onto these times forever and ever.

Sigh... I love my baby girl <3

Counting Sheep and Thinking Happy Thoughts,

Kayla

Finally back after a hectic holiday season!!! (Good news and new changes to come!!!)

Okay, so after a hectic December and January, I am finally back. I switched jobs and kept the new job for two weeks before I decided that I wanted to be home with my little girl again. I was away from her so much, and I am so happy and lucky to be able to spend my days with her again!!!

Christmas was fun, New Year's Eve was quite uneventful compared to previous years, and Brooklyn had her 4th birthday at the bowling alley and had a blast. Then, I was left with the task of cleaning up and reorganizing the house to fit all the new things we got over the holidays. Brooklyn's room was the hardest... I could run a toy shop out of there!!!

The holiday season has also brought on many good ideas and plans for the future. In order to save some money, since I am staying home babysitting and not working anymore, I have taken up couponing and becoming a more "frugal" shopper. This blog is going to change somewhat... I plan to include tips to save money, coupon, weekly dinner menus based on what is already in your cabinets, etc.

My mom and I are also in the planning/small production stage of starting our own business, an online boutique selling lots of pretty homemade things. Not only that, but we have gotten into baking and cake decorating and things like that, so that will be a part of our business as well. Little by little we are getting things together that we need, and we will create a website and also offer things on sites like Ebay, and Amazon.

There are so many good things to come and I am so excited to share everything on this blog... Keep an eye out for my first money-saving post in the next couple of days, including how I set myself up to coupon and planning my menus. 

:)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The weather is cold

The street is lighted with christmas decorations

Craziness is happening at shopping stores

Presents are being exchanged

The smell of pine is in the air...

Yep, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Only thing missing for me is my snow... unfortunately it looks like we probably won't be getting any this year. I might have to move further north for next year ha ha ha.

This weekend and last was filled with lots of Christmasey-fun.

Last Saturday we had an all day adventure driving up to the mountains, visiting little shops, and getting our Christmas trees.

The trees are soooo cheap up there, and the farms are EVERYWHERE!!!!!

We saw SNOW!!!!! We stopped at an overlook and Tj and I had a little snowball fight... I forgot how cold snow was LOL

And we ended our day with a visit to Tanglewood Park's Festival of Lights... which was absolutely amazing!!! It's like a drive-through light show with some of the coolest stuff. It must take them forever to set it all up!

This Weekend, we got Brooklyn all dressed up to go see Santa at the mall.

On the way to Santa, we had a nice little surprise... Hello Kitty was at the mall too!! Brooklyn was SOOO excited.

We stopped at the play area where she took a picture with the doctor lady

Waited at least an hour for Santa

And finally, we met him!!!

I finished decorating the house inside and out...

Our tree doesn't have a topper this year because my genius hubby cut the top part off thinking we didn't need it.... hellooooo?????

My favorite find of the season... I got this hanging bell for $1 at Dollar Tree, I saw something similar for $6 at another store... but the bell was smaller. I think it is so cute!!!

Got some presents wrapped for the mother in law and step father in law back in Orlando.... one of these days we will get them sent out, ha ha ha. Notice the little fingers pointing out her Grandma's gifts...

Some people tell me every year they like how I wrap presents and use ribbon, And I just want to say that it is really not difficult to make presents look great for really cheap!! The wrapping paper was all Buy 1 Get 2 Free from Walgreens, (that sale is over) and the ribbon was cheap from Dollar Tree. The press on bow in the present on the left came from a bag of 50 for $2 at Walmart. Mixing different colors and shiny/matte ribbon plus lots and lots of curling can make any gift look extra special. It's my favorite thing to do at Christmas time <3

And finally, a pose from the princess herself... in her so-last-season pj's... LOL

And just like that, what was supposed to be a short post turned into a long one with all my pictures... But I have been crazy busy lately and wasn't able to update since before last weekend. I left my old job, and got hired at a new job... which is already trying to work me to death, scheduling me 9 days in a row my first week. And so it begins!!!!

Hello Kitty love and lots of pretty Christmas wrapping,

Kayla