Life Beautiful

This magazine caught my eye in the checkout lane at Food Lion.  I had never heard of it before but thought the cover was pretty and put it in my cart.  When I sat down to read it last night I was so surprised to see it was a Christian Lifestyle magazine full of articles from people like Bill & Gloria Gaither & Gary Smalley.  It is also full of beautiful fashion & decorating ideas, crafts, recipes and more…all of which could rival Martha Stewart.  I was blown away by this magazine and it is definitely my new fave!

from the website – “about us”:

Life:Beautiful

Life:Beautiful is a national, inter-denominational, Christian lifestyle magazine that celebrates an active, integrated faith. Built on a foundation of biblical teaching and encouragement for spiritual growth, Life:Beautiful offers relevant information and community for Christian women.

The pages of Life:Beautiful showcase everyday experiences and activities, such as parenting, cooking, decorating, teaching, working, volunteering, resting, traveling and offering hospitality—all of which can be used to share the joy of the Lord. 

 

Hurry up and get your copy…a subscription would also make a great Christmas present.

Meal Planning and a Photo Ornament

Have you heard of Pocket Full of Posies? I came across their blog while blog hopping and thought it was one of the best ideas ever! It is a meal planning system. Check out the link above for a video on how the system works. You get this cute pocket that you can put on your fridge & holds all your recipes, shopping lists and details. You can pick the pocket color and design.

Then you get a TON of good and easy recipes depending on what plan you choose. I was a little confused on what I ordered. I thought I was just getting a few, but there ended up being 55 recipes in my package!!! 55 new family friendly recipes! Each week has a shopping list of everything you you will need to make the meals for that week. The shopping list is broken down into categories like meats, produce & stock items, which makes it easy to coordinate with my coupon book.
I was so excited when I opened my package and the first recipe I saw was Olive Gardens Zuppa Toscana Soup. Aw man! I love that soup! Go check out Pocket Full of Posies...their prices are GREAT too. These would make great gifts.
_________________________________________________________
Photo Ornament - How To
I got these wooden circles at Michael's. I dont remember the exact price, but somewhere around $2 for the 4 pack. Spray painted them red...or whatever color you want.

Print out child's name and year or any other info you want. Punch out with hole punch or just trace and cut a circle if you dont have a hole punch. I think the punch I used was 2.5 inches. I broke down and bought it a year ago and it was one of the best craft purchases I have made. I use it all the time. It is great for gift tags. Repeat last step for photos

Mod Podge (I recommend the glossy Mod Podge for this project because I like the shiny finish, but the normal stuff will work too) pictures on one side of the disc and the name/year on the other side.

Let dry, drill a hole at the top and add a ribbon.

I also did a set in black & white. I cant decide which I like better.

Deals Deals Deals

I think I have mentioned several times how much I love Hip 2 Save. I am literally obsessed with this blog and find myself checking it several times a day so I don't miss any deals. She has helped me to save hundreds of dollars over the past months. I love it because she does all the thinking for you and tells you what to buy, and what coupon to use. Easy Peasy!

After following some deals she posted yesterday and today (click on the Walgreens Link on hr sidebar to view these specific deals), I just got back from Walgreens with all the items above for a grand total of $4.77 (total savings was $32.87 - 3 separate transactions using my register rewards from the first to pay for the second) I was especially excited about the Triaminic Flu deal. I am sure this will come in handy when Adam gets the flu. Notice I said "when" he gets it, not "if". I know it is inevitable and I am dreading it.

I also jumped on the deal she posted on Thursday (cant seem to get the link to work to take you directly to the deal) for Pyrex Baking dishes for $1.99 plus 20% off. I was able to snag 6 different Pyrex dishes for a total of $16 and that included the shipping! I needed some for myself, but they would also make great shower or wedding gifts.

Just wanted to pass it on in case you don't use her site...I HIGHLY recommend it! And I recommend to check it often!

Shameless Plug

Check out the new Hogwash Designs ETSY shop by clicking HERE. These are just some of the items that will be featured there.

Coverplay...why didnt I think of that?

Have you ever watched someone come out with a great invention and wondered "Why didnt I think of that"? This happened to me Sunday night while watching Shark Tank (the new show on ABC where inventors pitch their ideas to possible investors) most of the ideas and inventions are a little kooky, but these 2 sassy, cute lady's came out to pitch their wonderful idea. A SLIPCOVER FOR A PACK & PLAY!!!!

Seriously, how many times have you laid your sweet baby down in a nasty hotel pack in play and wondered where that thing had been before you got it. Or you have an old pack and play that is a little worn out from previous children . Or your old pack & play was for a girl and now you need to use it for a boy. Well, CoverPlay has invented a slipcover that fits most pack and play's (port a crib, play yard...whatever you call them) and they are in the cutest fabrics too! You can take them off and wash them...take them with you when staying at a hotel...keep them on you pack and play at home and be able to wash it when it gets dirty as opposed to letting your baby fester in the germs! :) Check out the video here.

I just ordered this one for myself.

I think they sell them at target, but I got mine on ebay for $28 so you might want to check there first. Just thought I would pass it on in case you are interested. Dang it, why didnt I think of this!?

Lucky Me!

I am one lucky...and happy girl today! Look what I got from my bestest friend Julie of JStyle. Is this not the cutest bag EVER??!! If you have ever been the recipient of one of Julie's creations you will know what a treasure they are! Her sewing skills are incredible and her stuff never looks "home made" So professional! so Classy! I dont know how she does it.

This bag is very big, much bigger than it looks in the picture. I am seriously contemplating saving it to use for a diaper bag. I think it would be so cute for a boy or girl. I literally have a list of things I am going to order from Julie as soon as I find out if the baby is a boy or girl. Blankets, burp cloths, bibs, hooter hider....and the list goes on. So, Julie will be all booked up in the month of March fulfilling all my orders!

Thanks Julie! I LOVE it!

Make and Take

Sorry, but I must add some more information that I forgot to mention about Make & Take Gourmet from my last post.

1. You can choose between making portions for 3 people or 6 people. Which is great for our family of 3 because we always seem to have way too many left overs when I cook meals at home. Or you can pay for the meal to feed 6 people and split in half into 2 container to make 2 meals out of one. You also go home with some new recipe ideas for the future.

2. You can stop by anytime and pick up fresh meals that have already been prepared for you. I love to do this on my way home from work. It is a good meal that I dont feel guilty about.

3. There are other franchises like Make and Take, but I like M & T the best because the food is more family friendly and they have good size portions.

4. You can book private parties to go with your friends for birthdays, showers or just for fun.

5. This is the most exciting one - They are having cookie week the week after Thanksgiving. They will have all different kinds of cookie dough options you can make for your holiday baking. Take it home and freeze it until you are ready to do the baking. Cuts your time and mess down significantly!

There are different recipies each month. This week there were 16 meals to choose from. This week I made:

Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken with Blue Cheese and Pecans
Aussie Chicken (like Alice Springs Chicken at Outback!!!)
Chicken Cordon Blue
and pictures below is one of our favorites - Cheesy Shrimp Pasta

Spilled Milk

WARNING! Long post with 3 random and unrelated stories. This may be boring to some of you, but I am posting this for scrapbook and memory purposes.

Last night we went shopping at Old Navy. I found the cutest dress shirt and tie for Adam. The tie had skull and crossbones on it (a skull is always perfect for church huh? :) Adam loves anything pirate or anything with a skull, so I thought this would be perfect. He looked so cute in it. Had I know the events that would have unfolded I would have taken a picture of him in it before we left for church this morning. But instead, I am posting this picture from the website so you can see how cute it was.

Anyway, every Sunday morning we have a tradition of stopping at Sheetz for doughnuts and coffee on our way to church. Choc Milk for Adam. I know, only the best for my family! We were driving down the road and I heard Adam shaking up his choc milk...can you see where this is going? Well you guessed it. We were about a mile from church when milk went flying all over the place. All over the car and YES, all over the new shirt and tie that I loved!!!! AAHHHHHH!

Here is a picture of the window. This is just a glimpse of the damage

Thankfully, Adam had insisted on wearing his favorite t shirt under the dress shirt that morning, so we were able to continue on to church.after cleaning up the damage. He is smiling in this picture because he didnt want to wear the tie in the first place so he was thrilled when he got to take it off.

Another funny story from Adam this week

We bought a devotional book for Adam so that we could do family devotions each night. The book said it was for boys between the ages of 6 - 9. Evidently it is much more for 9 year old then for 6 year olds. It uses alot of analogies that are WAY over Adams head. A few nights ago we were reading and it was telling a story about Peter fishing in shallow water and Jesus took him to deep waters. At the end of the devotions, it asked the question "How can you step into deeper water with Jesus?" Mark and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes because we are frustrated with this book and it was yet one more thing that would be over Adams head. Then Adam said he knew the answer. He was dead serious and said "Use a floatie".

And now....My new favorite

For some of you that live in the bigger cities, I know this will be old news to you. But we just got a Make&Take in Lynchburg. I think there are several other franchises like this with different names. For those of you who dont know about these places, it is basically set up with professional kitchen stations and you can go in and cook a bunch of meals and take them home and freeze them. For some of you who really enjoy cooking and baking this may not be for you. But I dread cooking dinner every night, especially when I have been working all day. More than not liking cooking, I dread having to come up with something new to make each night. So this place is a DREAM. I go in and cook all my meals for a week in one hour and dont have to clean up a thing. The meals are excellent and all the ingredients are fresh, so it does not taste like typical frozen food. I resisted doing this at first because I thought it would be more expensive. But, I have actually saved money and we have stopped going out to eat so much because there is always something for dinner. OK, so that was my plug for Make and Take Gourmet. This was not a paid advertisement.

Me at mt station. Mental note - do not use this pose in the future. My butt looks HUGE!

Patty cooking for the empty nesters.

Look how beautiful this place is. So clean. I love it!