12

This past weekend was 12 years.

This man has made my life what it is today. There is not a day that does by that I don't thank God for putting this man in my life.

He is funny, sexy, determined, charming, smart, caring, encouraging, loving, a great teacher, has a beautiful heart and the one that I admire. He thinks differently than I and I love it when he shows me a different perspective (sometimes), especially when it come to business or teaching me how to do something new.... I still have a lot to learn from him.

Standing at the alter 12 years ago, I would have never in my wildest dreams thought that this would be my future. I still can't image what the next 12 years will be like. He has made every minute worth it, one crazy ride! He also made me a Mom which is really awesome and seeing him with our boys just melts my heart.

I must say 12 years has gone by so fast and alot of life has happened in those 12 years just like any marriage or relationship, trips, children, new challenges, fun times, not so fun times, and lots of memories! I cannot imagine my life without him in it.


Happy Anniversary Babe!
I love you!

Photo by Tanya Furr Photography

This Happened......

I said  "No."

I said "No." Again.

I said  "No." Again.

I made up every excuse I could think of not to get one.

I tried putting off our boys for as long as I could. Finally, I began thinking about the long term.

Would it matter in 2 weeks if I was up during the night trying to train a puppy to go outside? Would it matter in 2 months? In 6 months? The answer..No.

Would it matter in 2 weeks if I was the one taking total responsibility for this small animal? Cleaning up after him? Feeding him? Bathing him? Or in 2 months? How about 6 months? Again, No.

However, would it matter if our little family had a sweet puppy to love? To snuggle? To play with our little guys? To teach them that caring for something other than yourself can and is a blessing? To help with responsibility? To use gentleness when caring for a puppy so small? For our little guys to have that companionship that only a dog can provide? The answer...YES! Yes, in matters..Now, 2 weeks from now, 2 months from now and 6 months from now.

That is how I gave in. Changing my perspective is why I gave in.

Say Hello to Zeus!

Our sweet Boston Terrier. Who is so smart by the way!,  And of course, he loves lots of snuggles and "talks" to you and will fall asleep in your arms in no time at all! He is very well tempered, loves the boys, they carry him around and he loves it! He loves to play and run from you! Loves to carry sticks, stuffed animals, anything he can get in his mouth and play "Keep Away!" Oh and he snores, like a person, maybe even like an old man. Ok, not sure about the old man part, but he does snore like a person, while we sleep we can hear him and I think it is so cute!  

We were debating on what kind of dog to get, what breed, a mix, boy or girl. After many months researching and looking online at different options, we choose this little guy. It was not an easy choice at first but after taking everything into consideration, like our lifestyle and what we wanted/needed in an dog, it narrowed it down and then we made a choice.

So, this and just life in general is why I have been quiet around here lately. Tired of getting up every night to take him out, I'm sure that I have not had more than a 3 hour span of sleep since we got him a month ago. I am one of those girls that needs her sleep and so this has kinda thrown me for a loop and totally disrupted my routine all around. However, he is cute and yes, this will pass so for the time being I am just dealing with it and knowing he will get bigger and he will be house trained..one day.

We  I am crate training him. Overall, he is doing well. We have had a few accidents but thank goodness they have all been in this crate. So throwing towels in the washer and adding Clorox works for me. But, I do want to get him to decrease those accidents and eventually stop altogether the older he gets. After a trip to the vet last week, the Dr. informed me that I was using the wrong crate. We have the wire crate compared to the plastic carrier he suggested I use. The more enclosed the more efficient the training I suppose. And, to not give him room to walk around in the crate. (another mistake on my part). And, that he should be crate trained in about a week. WOW! I have been doing the wrong things for a month now!

So, off I go to the pet store to purchase a plastic carrier with no room to walk, just stand up and spin around. (the thought just kills me, I would hate to be shut up like that).  I got it and got it home only to realize that the wire crate we have came with a divider! So I am going to try the divider first and hopefully that will prevent him from walking around inside his crate and he will whine and let me know when he needs to go. I pray the divider works so I can return that plastic carrier!

How did you train your pet? Was it easy?

Instagram Love

It's no secret that Instagram is so fun and just like most....I love it! This is where I post most frequently, it is my favorite social media site.

I haven't been on Instagram very long, but I have been on long enough to know that it is what I enjoy--after all I love taking photos so it is no surprise to me that this is my favorite.

Here are a few photos that I have shared on Instagram:

Check me out on Instagram! Click the button on the right side bar.

Furniture Placement is Key

Do you have one area of your home where you just can't figure out exactly where the furniture should go? You move the furniture around and around and around and it still doesn't look right? No?

Maybe it's just me?

Anyway, our family room is a large room, however it is longer that it is wide and it has been one room that just didn't look right to us.

Furniture has been moved around, the tv cabinet has been moved from one side of the room to the other, we changed the layout and still it just didn't look "just right".

The layout of the family room previously:

**First off, let me start by saying I am not an Interior Designer, nor do I think I am one...this is simply what I have found that worked for us and thought I would share.

There are five ways to enter this large room from other areas of our home...from the breakfast area, dining room, front door, office and the hallway. That is alot of entries in to a room! The photo above is the view from the breakfast area.

We moved the tv (1) to the current wall about a year or so ago. The main reason...our children could see what Mommy & Daddy were watching late night after their bedtime. We thought they were asleep but instead could be peeking in on our tv time. Let's just say there are many programs that little eyes should not see ;) Know what I mean? So I knew that the tv had to remain in this spot.

The fireplace (2) is huge and is a gorgeous focal point in the room.

 

As you can see from this photo we also have lots of light, when we built our home that was a must, we wanted lots of windows!. That is so awesome, I don't ever need light during daylight hours and I love that! The chair to the left (8) was the Mr.'s Grandmothers' and I love the vintage look, I just wish there were two of them.  To balance the fireplace I would love to have another chair to the right but because that is the entry from the breakfast area, there isn't room for a chair.

The painting (3) was the inspiration for the colors of our home when we built. The painting is from Ballard Designs. I love Ballard and could really go crazy if the Mr. would let me! Anyway, the console table under it (which you can't see in the photo) was also the Mr.'s Grandmothers' and we painted it black and I must say it is my favorite table in the whole house!

The loveseat (4) and couch (6) are just that and we have had them for a while now, the set which includes a chair, side table (9) and the coffee table (7) are a pre-children purchase, which explains the glass coffee table. I have been a nervous wreck when it comes to that glass top coffee table since the boys were born!

The red recliner (5) was a purchase after we moved into this home, it was comfy and it went with our color scheme so it came home with us.

As you can see from the photo, the furniture is really spread out. Not a very cozy and intimate area. From where the love seat was you could barely see the tv when the cabinet was open, so the only places to sit and watch tv were either the couch or the red recliner.  Also, there was no direct pass through from the hall, instead you met the side of the loveseat.

In order to remedy all this, I got our our furniture sliders that we purchased at Lowes  a long while back. Holy Cow! If you don't have these, go get some! They are awesome, I can move anything, anytime I want with these babies! (if I can lift it to put the slider underneath it). Let me be real here, sometime you can't always wait till the Mr. gets home, you want to do it now and with these sliders you can do just that!

Ok, then I just started moving furniture around piece by piece till I found the perfect arrangement. I loved it! In order to get that more intimate feeling, I wanted to be closer to the fireplace and I had to move the recliner to another spot in the room.  So now there is a conversation/tv area that is closer to the fireplace and tv.  This left the room with enough space to have a chair off to the side for reading and a more pleasant view from the front door.

The layout of the family room now:

It may be hard to tell from the photo, but the loveseat is brought in closer to the couch and coffee table which helps to add a more intimate, intentional space. 

 

The black table is now behind the loveseat and the yellow chair where the black table used to be. For now, this is a little reading area. Adding the black console table behind the loveseat adds a nice look into the room from the front door. Sammy likes to hang out under the table.

 

 

Another view, see more cozy!



I  have a few wall decor items picked out and now I just need to order them and get them on the wall!

Landscaping Dilemma-Part 2-Final Solution

Finally!

This issue is resolved...I think?! Sure, this is the end to this madness!

If you would like to read Landscaping Dilemma-Part 1, please go here.

Since the last post, we decided to stop calling our original landscaper, I mean, I called and called and there was always an excuse. And to be honest, while I try to give people the benefit of the doubt and
do my best to be patient...it ran out! My patience that is. So I called and got 2 more estimates to complete the work, picked one and after all this rain and the holidays they finally made it over!

OK, so we all love a good before and after photo, so here goes!

Before: (from the front of the driveway)

 

 

Before: (from the rear of the driveway)

After: (from the front of the driveway)

After: (from the side of the driveway)

Sorry, I didn't get a rear view...I took these photos just after it rained and I didn't want to get my tootsies wet :)

It may be hard to tell from the photo, but the dirt underneath extends out from the curb then declines. This is great because now if you step over the curb you won't be worried you will break something!  Another plus, it is a more pleasant view from the road and from the home beside ours.

I think this is for sure an improvement!

Merry Christmas & Looking Ahead to 2014

Since Christmas is over I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and that you were able to spend time with the people that matter to you most. And eats lots of good food too!

Well, I had intentions to post a few recipes that I bake every year but that just didn't happen.

The last few weeks have been busy to put it mildly and by the end of the day I just want to crash!

At least our cat, Sammy, got to take a few naps by the warm fireplace

Jake, our elf, was back again this year. A few times he got a little out of hand! I must say the Mr. had more fun with him than I did! At one point we had to touch him because he fell and the next morning we found him like this (his upper body was under the burlap tree).

 

 

The kids both had awesome art work and crafts that they completed at school this month, both will be added to their scrapbooks/boxes for safe keeping. However, this one was made by our youngest. He showed it to me and said "Mommy, this is you, an angel just like you!" That was so sweet!

 



You see, our youngest got the flu. He missed his birthday celebration at school and and we had to cancel the party here at home. I felt so bad, every year I have made an effort to separate his birthday from Christmas and this year that just didn't happen. We had a small party just the 4 of us but it was no big deal and I hate that. Hopefully next year we can have a big celebration!

 

 

The boys also got to decorate their very own ornaments



Once the flu was over we were able to concentrate on Christmas. It has been fantastic! My car has not left the garage in over a week! In fact the only time I left the house in the last week was for a quick 3 hour trip to the ER.  The Mr. thought he would take the extra trash we had that wouldn't fit into our large trash can to the dump and in one of those trash bags was a glass that I had broken on Christmas Eve. The glass I broke wasn't one of those little thin classes, it was one of those thick tall beer glasses. As he reached in the back of the truck to pull out the bag he cut his thumb. I will spare you the details, it was alot of blood and honestly made me a little lightheaded to see it.... But just for future reference, if you cut yourself and you think you need stitches, just clean it really well, put a splint on it and carry on because after waiting in the ER for over 2 hours just to be seen, it will go back together and begin to heal on its own. Just saying...Can you tell I have little patience?


I love being at home and having no where to go, no where to be.
Enjoying that:
extra cup of coffee in the morning,
extra drink after dinner,
extra Christmas movie,
extra chapter at night before bed,
extra game of Mario on the Wii,
extra glass of wine before bed,
extra yummy Christmas dessert,
extra hour on the Internet,
extra snuggles on the couch.

As you can see I have indulged a little.... :) and honestly I am fighting every minute to keep the obligations low for now. However, I am aware that it will soon come to an end and we will be right back to the hustle and bustle of everyday "normal" life.  But hey! I can hope for snow days, right?!

Anyway, as we look forward to 2014 it looks as if it is going to be a busy one. Lots to look forward to and also an opportunity to meet a few goals both personally and professionally.

Even though I am now working, I will continue to post here about projects and happenings in my life. This blog has been going  since 2009 and I plan to continue. In the upcoming year, I plan to post more about happenings in my life, more photos, getting more real with you guys and sharing more. That part excites me!

Thank you for reading and staying with me all this time! I am looking forward to what is ahead in the New Year!

A Search for the Perfect Tree

While this weekend was filled with family and way too much food, we decided a few weeks ago that this year we were going to pick out our very own Christmas tree.
Yes, there are more than a few local places to purchase a tree, but why do that when you can drive to the mountains and pick out your own??!

The Christmas tree farm we visited was just outside of Boone, NC. We arrived shortly after lunch so we drove on into Boone for lunch at Our Daily Bread. If you have never eaten at this restaurant, I suggest that you do so on your next trip to Boone. The last couple of times we visited Boone we have eaten here. So good, local food. This time we made sure to save room for dessert, carrot cake. So yummy!

After we filled up on a great lunch we headed to the Christmas tree farm. We were handed a stick to use as a guide to measure the height of our tree, once we found a tree, we swung our stick and the farm guys came up and cut our tree down and brought it to the bottom of the mountain  hill for us, then wrapped it and helped load it on our vehicle.

The view from the mountain was so beautiful. We picked out a 9ft. tree, then headed back down the hill to carry it home.

On the way home the sun was setting behind the mountains again such a gorgeous sight.

A Little Gratitude

Gratitude: the state of being grateful: thankfulness.

November always reminds me to focus on the positives, the things in my life that make it worth living.

Sometimes as we all move along our days we tend to move our focus away from the good things. We worry, which is total human nature but sometimes that can bring us down to the point where we are in a constant state of panic or in a state of constant competition. We allow ourselves be compared to our friends, co-workers, etc.

When we focus on what others have and what we don't or they are better than us or they have this or that and it is more than me....You get the idea. We loose sight of what matters, what makes us feel good and we also loose sight of what we have accomplished. You cannot compare yourself to anyone else. That isn't fair to you.

During the year when I began to worry about things, big or small, I try to see the things and people around me that matter the most and focus on those things. This is very difficult at times I assure you, but when I try to see the good it does improve my mood.

Example:

This weekend was super busy and flew by so fast. Before I knew it it was Sunday evening and all I wanted to do was stop time, I dreaded to see Monday roll around.

Then I turned my attention to the great weekend we just had. Lots of family time, enjoying the small moments, our oldest spent time with Grandparents & hunted & those memories will last him a lifetime. The youngest got to spend time with us and got lots of Daddy play time which he loved and learned alot about the insides of a truck, that too will stick with him for years to come. Snuggles, movie time, and attention is what happened this weekend. Golf & shopping as well and there again more memories made for our children.

When eating out yesterday at Olive Garden the waiter was fantastic. My in-laws and my husband made the comment that was the best waiter they had ever seen and I had to agree with them. When the bill arrived this small card was inside:

That was awesome. Just to take the time to write a note says alot about a person. He was busy I am sure, and I know he had more on his mind than us but he still took the time to let us know that he appreciated us being there. Now, this may be a new thing that Olive Garden has started or it may just be something our waiter did, who knows, but it adds that special touch that I think shows gratitude toward others.

So as November is here, lets try to see the good in ourselves, each other and to remember the things/people in our lives that make it so great!

Landscaping Dilemma-Part 1

This is something that I have been meaning to blog about for a while now.  This space in our yard is almost overwhelming.

At the back of our driveway there is a huge hill that leads to the back yard. So far we have put down more mulch than you can imagine to make it look somewhat presentable. The slope makes it difficult to mow with a riding mower so that is the reason behind using mulch. When we purchased the mulch, all the times we purchased....the guy says "it will last you years!!!" Guess what? Nope. Never. happens. How about 6 months? Yep that is more like it.

This photo was taken in 2011. By July, grass had taken over the hill. While I can pull the weeds and grass out everyday, it just isn't enough. Needless to say I went a while without weeding and this is what we ended up with.

We knew we needed to get this mess cleaned up because the following weekend we were hosting a community gathering in our back yard and to be honest, this was embarrassing, there was no way we were having people over with this eyesore!

 

See the Mr. at the top up there, that is where the driveway begins. I was at the bottom looking up, so you can tell it is a really steep hill. The pipe you see there, we  the Mr. buried that during the process to divert the water from the downspout under the hill to the bottom of the hill to prevent erosion. Actually there is one on each side, the left and the right for the same reason.

 

This time we removed all the grass, cleared all the old mulch away and then placed a weed barrier down. Then came a huge dump truck and dumped the mulch at the top of the hill and spread it out ourselves.  Talk about a huge undertaking. This was a dirty job.

 

But in the end it looked great and most importantly we could now have our neighbors over. Here is the after, sorry about the photo is was taken just before dark. After all the hard work I almost forgot to photo the after. (This project took an entire weekend).

 

 

See much better!

 

Fast forward to this year, the weed removal has become a monthly task and even then it looks so horrible that something had to be done. Plus the mulch had broken down to the point where it looked discolored and thin. Also, because of the slope of the hill when a downpour of rain comes, it washes alot of it down the hill into the grass.

 

This is also the way the boys access the back yard so when it is wet, the mulch gets tracked all in the driveway and makes a huge mess. The weed barrier helped some but it got to the point where the weeds were growing to the weed barrier which did not help the situation. Oh and don't even get me started on the ant hill that almost ate us alive or the massive earthworms that scared me to  death! I am not kidding, they were so big I thought it was a baby snake the first time I pulled one up while pulling up the weeds!

 

For many reasons we needed to rethink the layout of this hill and come up with a better solution.

 

Our solution?

 

As I stated earlier, we pulled up the weed barrier and headed to Lowes to see what we could come up with.

 

Here it is!

 

#1: Driveway

#2: The top of the hill will now be a small area surrounded by a rubber lining barrier that will keep the pine needles in the bed and the grass out, we added 3 Hawthorne bushes and a small Butterfly bush and filled in with pine needles.

#3:The slope of the hill will now be seeded and will hopefully grow grass. Since the slope is steep the grass will need to be cut down by a weed eater or push mower instead of our riding mower but either way  I feel sure that this will be a better way to maintain this monster of a hill.

 

The look from the road is improved just by this small adjustment. Once the bushes fill out and get a little bigger is will be perfect!

In a week or so we will work the dirt and seed the area for grass and cover with straw. This time I look forward to seeing the grass grow on the hill!

 

Today....

Well, grass growing on the hill is out. The Mr. thought that would not work and to be honest, it really wouldn't. I mean look at that slope...would you want to mow it?

 

I didn't think so.

 

So the Mr. took off and bought plants, weed barrier and more pine needles to finish off this area. He worked past dark then finished it up the following afternoon. And believe me it looks so much better! And another plus...the boys cannot run down the hill because if you try to step in the pine needles with the slick weed barrier underneath you fall instantly on your butt! Trust me on that one!

 

Here is the after and final photo. Hopefully this is the end of this madness! (not even close...)

 

 

 

 Here is another view from the bottom of the hill.

 



And here is another angle..from the side. The rocks were there when we had the mulch down. So we just left them this time. There is a drain at the top of the driveway to allow the water to run under the hill and the rocks were placed in case the drain overflowed, the rocks would still hold the mulch in place and the water could go between the rocks to divert it instead of a waterfall situation.

 

 

Ok, so in the spring we called our landscaper to come and help us fix this eyesore (the cliff). To us it is no big deal. I mean as we enter our home we never see this side of the driveway but coming from the other direction, all you see is a cinder block wall. By the way, there is a curb along the edge of the driveway that prevents you from driving off the driveway and rolling your car into the neighbors yard.  However, we have had people fall off of it before..and bikes....and scooters...and crock pots....

 



 

Anyway, I'll spare you the details...

 

Here you can see just how much of a drop off we are dealing with.

Well, because of all the rain the spring and summer gave us we are now looking at this project being completed next week......lets just hope it doesn't rain!

 

While this is something that isn't a big deal to us, I feel sure the neighbors will appreciate it and I hope the people that buy our home will too!

 

Stay tuned for Part 2!

 

 





We have a (talking) Snowman in our Refrigerator!

Not sure if any of you can say that! I personally do not know anyone who has a snowman in their frig, much less a talking one!

He is cute but don't let that fool you, he has an attitude.

The first time I opened the door to get yogurt for my oldest, it scared me to death! I mean who expects to hear "Is it cold in here or is it just me?" when you reach for your yogurt.
I jumped and our oldest just thought it was so funny!
Me, I thought it was funny and cute once I realized that he had put that snowman in the frig and set me up (the snowman came from Papa & Nana's house).

Mr. Snowman also has a cute little song he sings about keeping the door shut. But he also says "shut the door, you are letting out all the cold!"

If you continue to open the door a few times in row, like when you have kids that want something then change their minds so you have to open it a few more times ..... the attitude begins.

Mr. Snowman will say "You again!, I'm gonna have to put a lock on that door!"

Oh, no he didn't!

Yes, he did!

When I hear that it makes me want to pinch off his little carrot nose!

All funnies aside, it is a cute reminder to the kids to not stand with the door open. So for now he remains, but thank goodness he has an Off switch.

Happy Monday!

It's That Time of Year Again

On this particular day we were up and going way to early for a Saturday morning if you ask me. To me Saturdays are for sleeping in at least until 8am. Anyway, our youngest was up early, excited for his first flag football game. The night before I had boiled and fitted his mouth guard to his mouth which he proudly wears and for as long as I will let him.

In the car we go.

We get to the field, cars are beginning to flow in and families emerging excited to begin this new season. Me, I am praying that my little guy stays safe and doesn't get knocked down by some kid bigger than he is.

Luckily we parked directly across from the coach who has their uniforms so out little guy puts on the shirt which fits great but the shorts, no so well. So we stick with the black shorts that we have on. Turning to head to the field only to realize that we forgot the water bottle, back to the mini to retrieve it. Headed to the field again, we get to the gate and they are charging admission.

I totally forgot about this, 3 years ago when our oldest played flag football they charged admission and since then I had totally forgotten all about that. Plus for every other sport he played in this same group admission is never charged. Crazy!

Anyway, so glad I remembered that I had $10 in my wallet so back to the mini we go. again. Got the money and back to the field. I paid, we go in. Immediately I am cussing in my head because I  notice that the grass is cut perfectly but is wet, really wet. And the walk to the bleachers is at or below the 50 yard line. And I have on sandals. We arrive at the bleachers only to realize that the hard core football families brought their own yard chairs to sit in...maybe because they knew the metal bleachers would be soaking wet. Keep in mind that it had not rained, at least I don't think so, all the wet was from the morning dew I assume. So I make sure that the youngest gets with his coach and teammates and I hand over my camera to my oldest and tell him to hang out at the bleachers (another mom was there with him) while I head back to the mini to get some towels to dry off the bleachers so we can sit down.

On my way to the mini I feel so awesome of myself knowing that my prepared car kit was going to save this situation! Plus the Mr. stuck a full size bath towel into the back area for me a while back "just in case I needed it".

Anyway, I got the towels, 1 large and 2 small hand towels, so glad I had plenty so I could share with other mom sitting next to me. I look up to press the button to shut the door when my sunglasses fall off my head and hit the gravel, one of the lens  falls out. I cuss. Back to the field.

Cleaned off the area and sat down, the game begins. Goes good until this kid that is bigger than mine lines up in front of him. They get down ready to make the play. Ball moves and that big kid pushes my little man to the ground. Now you can bet that this Momma cussed more in her head plus I wanted to run out there and get him off that field. But I also know that this is part of the game so I halted. The next play came and the same kid pushes him down again. This time I was getting really aggravated. Then the lady behind me who has talked loudly about multiple subjects the entire game asked the man beside me about his son. His son, the big kid that pushed out little guy down! From their conversation I learned that this kid was much older and had played tackle football last year and for some untold reason was now back playing flag with smaller kids.

That made me mad. If your kid played tackle they should not be allowed to go back to flag. Flag to me meant for little kids to learn the game and become familiar with how it is played with a more gentle approach. Not to get out there and be pushed to the ground by someone bigger than them!
Our little guy is in kindergarten and some of the kids playing are in 2nd or apparently older.

Either way, my prayers were answered and our little guy was safe and a little worn out from all the running when we left. I asked him if he had a good time...his response was yes.

I asked him what he thought of the game. His response..."It was boring, all you do is chase a ball around."

I could not help but giggle. That is so true.

Looking forward to him finding what he likes, what he enjoys and what his passion is. That to me is what I hope he gets out of this. His passion could be baseball, soccer, golf , basketball, tennis or another sport. What I have learned in these few short years of sports that I have been through so far is that if they don't like it, it is miserable for everyone involved and if they love it, it is a joy for everyone. I prefer the joy.

Wanna Drive To Asheville For Some Lobster Mac & Cheese?

Several weekends ago, the husband and I had a weekend to ourselves. The boys were spending time with their grandparents. 
After not really planning anything special other than maybe a motorcycle ride we were at that point like....

 "What do you want to do?"
"I don't know, what do you want to do?"

You know you can always think of a million things to do when you can't do them! This was one of those moments.

Well, then my husband says "Let's drive to Asheville and have some of that good lobster mac & cheese."

I was like "Really, drive to Asheville for dinner?"

He was like "Why not?"

So after about 15 minutes of me thinking and checking the Internet for other options and him waiting for me to make a decision along with a few comments about how I have lost my spontinaeity............

Well during this 15 minutes of thinking, I began to think about this post and how I should take more risks and have more fun, so I thought to myself, why not? So the husband booked a hotel for the night and we packed a few items and left within 30 minutes. During this time all I could think about was that I was going to forget something but then I also knew that if I did, it would not be a big deal.

While gathering our items and on our way to Asheville we discussed places we wanted to visit while there, one place I wanted to visit was Finders Keepers of NC so we decided to stay at a hotel in Hendersonville so the next morning we would check out this store first then head to Asheville.

We got to Hendersonville late, very late. So trying to find a place to eat at 11pm was a little of a challenge. I was driving and we have never been to this town so we did not know where anything was located and we were just looking for what was open. After going down a one way street, the WRONG way, we found a Sonic. The after eating we went to the hotel. Guess what? they gave us a smoking room. Let me be clear....it was horrible, that smell slapped you in the face the second you opened that door. There was no way that we were going to stay in that room! So back down to the desk we went, after some discussion we were given another room. A nicer ,larger room. The next morning after breakfast we headed to the Finders Keepers of NC, which by the way is only open like twice a year. So make sure you check the dates before you go.

So we headed up the road to Asheville. Love Asheville, could live there, I think. Minus the snow and cold winters.

Anyway, downtown Asheville is awesome, so many people walking, shops, and good food!

Our first stop was at a small cafe, Old Europe Cafe on Broadway Ave. for coffee, tea and pastries.

Then off to visit all the shops, saw lots of interesting, useful, fun and vintage items. Some items were priced really high and some were reasonable depending on where you went.

During our time there it began to rain, yep, walking the streets without an umbrella and a chill in the air makes for a little uncomfortable time but honestly, we did not mind one bit. My husband had on an Under Armour sweatshirt that was waterproof so he stayed nice and dry.  Many shops/stores were out of umbrellas (imagine that) but my husband did find one for me. (Please excuse the wet look).

It was either a frog, ladybug or fish. We agreed the frog would be best, once we were home I passed that umbrella on to our youngest. He had been wanting one for a long time like his older brother.  At this point it was nice to have an unbrella the rain continued for the rest of the day.

We picked up a bottle of wine at Dolce Vita on Wall Street, which will be featured on my blog soon under Wine & Dine Wednesday! So stay tuned!

Then we ate at the Early Girl Eatery. This place is so yummy! Everytime we go to Asheville, this is a must! This time my husband had the BBQ Pork Sandwich & I had the Vegan Bean Burger. Both were really good. I must say that this Vegan Burger is the Best!!

After eating we decided to check out a few flea market type stores. The first few had a few cute items but mostly overpriced (in my opinion). Here are two items that we came across that I really liked.

I thought this was cool, since seeing this I have seen a similar one online on Pinterest. This would be cool in a child's room or playroom.

I liked the horse photo and the letter A (of course!). You could easily replicate this if you wanted.

Then after a long and adventurous day, we headed home and enjoyed sleeping in the next morning. It is amazing how long you can sleep in without kids in the house.

Even though we didn't get our Lobster Mac & Cheese, the trip was still worth it. A spontaneous trip alone with my man, oh yeah! it was worth it!!

DIY Family Notebook

 

 

Several months ago I realized that there were to many papers in different areas of our home that needed to be organized in some way, a way that worked for us  me. I had seen in different places around the Internet that some moms had come up with their own family organizer. Some were very detailed and some were not.  Some blogs offered free template downloads or you could purchase the templates for a fee and some just did not go with our lifestyle and some of the content was just to detailed for me to keep up with. I need something simple and easy otherwise it will not be kept up to date and a waste of time for me to have put together in the first place. So I started putting together information that I knew I needed and wanted to include and as a few months passed by, I found other items that needed to be included too.

 

This is something that works for me, it may not work for others but it has helped me contain papers and notes that may end up lost in a drawer somewhere.

 

Here is what I came up with.

 

I started with a 3 ring notebook from Target and page protectors. Some of the page protectors are top loading and I had a few that I purchased many years ago that are side loading and I love those for items that need replacing often; for example the kids weekly and monthly school newsletters, the weekly dinner menu template, grocery sales mailings, etc. The top loading page protectors house papers that I don't change very often. And page dividers for separating sections in the notebook.

 

I had some scrapbook paper which I cut to size and added a monogram on the front. 

 

I used the same paper to add a strip down the side and added the words "Family Notebook" with American Crafts foam Thickers. 

My first insert is one that I wanted to be able to get to easily. It is my coupon holder, a simple pencil holder.

My first divider is one labeled "General Info". This one has a lot of information in it. Some of it I am not going to share the template because of the personal information on it, but it has the names of our neighbors, family contacts, business contacts, emergency contacts, etc. The contact page is great for accessing numbers quickly.

 

 

Other information located in the "General Info" tab is our weekly schedule routine. I wanted to add this information because if for some reason I am not able to be here to care for my children, say an appointment or my husband and I went on vacation without the kids then whoever is watching them would know our routine if they aren't already familiar with it. Usually that is not the case, the grandparents are pretty darn good and know everything already but I like to cover my bases.

This information is very detailed.



Next page protector includes the local YMCA schedule.

 

The next page protector includes a template that I use to list out our weekly meal plan, I love this template and it works great for me, it is from Ali Edwards Blog.

 

Next up is my Costco savings flier, love that place! I keep this flier in the page protector that opens on the side.

 

Then I have the Whole Foods savings magazine, it is also in the protector that opens on the side.







Next up, is the Pantry Item list, this is just a simple chart I did one afternoon that lists some of the items in our pantry that I put into other containers or remove from the original packaging. This chart allows me to keep track of expiration dates and Lot numbers, this is helpful to keep track of expired foods and just in case any items are recalled. I use a pencil to write on this form, when the item runs out and I purchase new items I can just erase and put in the correct numbers.

 

Then I have inserted a Valuation Guide for Goodwill Donations, instead of having to look this stuff up, I just printed it out and included it in my notebook. This is helpful when having a yard sale or donating items to your local thrift shop.



 

The next divider is for our oldest child. This section holds his weekly classroom newsletter, the monthly lunch menu, the Box Top for Education form (this form has spaces to tape the box tops on the form to return to the school) and all of those forms are in the side loading page protectors because these forms get updated often. Other forms in the section were letters from school pertaining to art supplies needed during the year, the grade handbook and the grade level supply list.

 

The next divider is for our youngest child. This section has the monthly school newsletter which is in a side load divider, for easy updating. The other pages in this section include the school handbook, supply list for the school, general school information handout and also a recipe for play dough (the school request parents to make a batch or 2 during the school year for the class).

 

The next divider is the Maintenance/Clean section. This section includes my cleaning list which is broken down into weekly, monthly and seasonally cleaning. I also included a spreadsheet that I made which breaks down items that we do around the house just as maintenance, but it is always hard to remember when those chores were completed, so this is one way to keep track of that. The chores listed are flipping the mattresses, cleaning windows/blinds, cleaning the deck, etc.

 

The next divider is Helpful Tips/Info. This section includes stuff I find on the Internet and tips out of magazines, articles on how to freeze herbs, what food freezes best, food dyes to avoid, laundry tips, etc.



 

The last divider is Take Out Menus. This section keeps all of our favorite menus organized. And again the menus are in the side load page protectors for easy removal and return.

 

I feel like I will continue to add to this notebook, there are a few items that I have just recently found on Martha Stewart's website that I may add, she has checklist galore and many are very helpful. I am also sure that I will also change the items in the book down the road, I mean our lives change so much so as would our notebook. This works for me right now but this is something that anyone could make for themselves. I must say that it is so nice to have all this information in one spot, no more papers or checklist laying around!