Resolutions, Resolutions, Resolutions

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To make them or not to make them? THAT is the question...

I could make some outrageous resolutions and then be super disappointed in myself for not completing/keeping them, but that would just be super silly! Besides, I already know that I won't keep up with them completely, I think I am allergic to New Year's Resolutions once January of the new year is over.

So, what would I be writing this post for if I am not making resolutions? Well, I have some goals or "strive fors" for the new year and wanted to tell all y'all about them.

Numero Uno... Strive to be a healthier family. Eating healthier, getting exercise, and spending quality time together as a family. This one is particularly difficult for me during the school year. No, not the eating and exercise, the family time. I work second shift Monday-Friday, so I do not get to spend as much time as I would like to with my kids. Gosh, I only see my son on Wednesday mornings before I leave to do respite care and then I don't see him until Saturday. Needless to say, quality time rather than quantity of time is very important since I don't get a large quantity of time with my family.

Two... O.R.G.A.N.I.Z.A.T.I.O.N! I don't know what my deal is, but for some terrible reason, I cannot keep things organized to save my life!!! Cleaning seriously is the worst. When a mess gets to me, is when I will lose it and clean it up, but when that happens, I have pretty much snapped and then it becomes a huge cleaning fiasco. As in, on my hands and knees scrubbing the floors, fiasco. I also "hoard" (I use that term loosely, because my house does not look like those on the TV show) fabric. It is out of control! So much so, that my husband has put the Ka-bosh on acquiring anymore unless I have to have something specific for an order. Anyway, the short of it, I need to get things in my house organized, cleaning, crafts, cooking, etc.

Tres... This one involves my husband's assistance... There are a number of things I have been wanting built and he always comes up with this reason or that reason as to why he can't do it. I would build the stuff myself, but alas, I am somewhat clumsy (for heaven's sake, I attempted sewing through my finger earlier this year...or was it last year...I can't remember), so there is no way I am going to attempt using any saws in our garage until I know how to use them while being supervised by him.

There you have it, my "strive for's" or goals for 2013. No resolutions here, I'm allergic remember!?!

Looks a lot like Christmas 'Round Here

Just wanted to share a few pictures of the prettiness around our house.

I'll actually share more pictures when it is day time and my house isn't quite the mess that it is currently.

Girls and Their Dolls Should Have at Least One Outfit that Matches!

We have been busy little bees for the past week and a half. We had an order of 15 doll uniforms that needed to get shipped out to a boutique in South Miami, Florida. They wanted them in time for Christmas shopping. Even though the notice was short, we got them all finished up and shipped out. We sure hope we will get to work with them again, just hope that next time we have a bit more notice. It was like working two full-time jobs in addition to making sure our households were still running efficiently.

They turned out pretty darn cute and I bet any of the little girls that get them will look absolutely adorable with their dolls dressed just like they are.

Here are some pictures of the dress. It will be in the Etsy (www.etsy.com/shop/warmbouquet) shop as a made to order only product.

Sad, Sad Week for Our Family

Last Wednesday, a beloved family member passed into the arms of God. He was loved by all of us and many of our friends and extended family. It's just not the same without him following me around each and every day, taking naps with me, and begging for lots and lots of lovin's.

The Great Gladiator Maximus came into our family nearly 10 years ago (January 2003) and passed away from a very aggressive form of cancer that just suddenly made him weak and lethargic on December 5, 2012. He is already dearly missed by us all. His "brother" Nickel doesn't really know how to deal with it, we can tell that he is quite depressed and now he seems to think he and I can be buddies. We sort of had/have a "love/hate" relationship, but this has sort of brought us together a bit.

RIP my dear sweet Maxi-boy, life won't be quite the same without you!

Winter Wonderland Craft Show

We will be found at this craft show in two days.

After the very first show we did a couple months ago, we found that there were some things we needed to do to improve our booth a bit.

For starters, matching table cloths were a must have!

Mom went through her fabric stash and found enough of the same fabric to cover 3 tables and cut it and hemmed the edges that needed to be hemmed.

A better set up...

We found that we didn't have nearly enough space for everything, so we went in search of another long table to make a "U" shaped booth for this time around.

How will people know who we are without a sign? 

That was a simple solution, I bought a piece of foamcore posterboard and used a Cricut to cut out our name and then put it together. A super simple design was best for the time being. We will eventually purchase a banner, but since this is just our 3rd show, we didn't want to get too ambitious too quickly.

Those are just a few of the improvements we have made for this time around. We have some a few other things that we want to get done (i.e. doll clothing racks), but they will have to wait until the next show. This time of year is just way to crazy busy with the holidays.

Since the flyer above doesn't have all of the pertinent information, I also wanted to include the "Save the Date" below, since it has the exact address on it. If you are in the Lincoln/Omaha, Nebraska area, we would absolutely LOVE to see you at the show.

Wowsa!!!

It has certainly been a long time since anything has been posted, so I thought it was time to get down to business and give you some updates on what's been happening with Warm Bouquet.

As you are aware, my mom and I have partnered up to bring you all our beautiful (yes I AM biased) handcrafted works of art, a.k.a 18" doll clothes, "washers and dryers", infant items, and of course the totally awesome wine cork trivets.

We have been busy little bees! Slowly getting more and more traffic to the Etsy (www.etsy.com/shop/Warmbouquet) shop and a few people have even found us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/WarmBouquet). Just a little note, if you "Like" us on Facebook, you will be the first to know about some of the Facebook/Twitter exclusive coupons we are offering.

Since the holidays are right around the corner, we currently have a coupon code for the remainder of the month of November that you can use when you checkout on Etsy.

NOVEMBER10

With that, I will give you a little peek at our first ever craft show that we attended. Of course, we have learned a thing or two, so this next one we are hoping will go much better than the last couple. We are definitely being optimistic about it anyway!

With that, here you go! Hope you had a safe and fun Thanksgiving holiday and we hope that the remainder of 2012 is full of joy and family time!

Game Day...

There is no place like Nebraska,

Dear old Nebraska U.

Where the girls are the fairest,

The boys are the squarest,

Of any old place that I knew.

There is no place like Nebraska,

Where they're all true blue.

We'll all stick together,

In all types of weather,

For good old Nebraska U.

GO BIG RED!!!

Yep, you guessed it!

Football season in Nebraska has officially started!

We kicked off the first game with some friends and family on Saturday, September 1.

I thoroughly enjoy having people over to our house to watch the games.

My problem is that we serve the same things every time.

If this is going to be a regular occurrence this year, I need to mix things up a bit!

I will totally admit that I am NOT the cook in our house, but I do like to try new things.

Luckily for me, I have a fabulous friend (who also happens to be a blogger) that is a tremendous cook!

She comes up with some of the tastiest recipes!

You have seriously got to check out her blog!

www.thecinderellamom.com

Not only does she post tailgating recipes, she posts recipes EVERY DAY, 5-days a week!

She has everything from breakfast to dinner and everything in between!

She goes through the weekly ads for our area and posts the best deals for "Wallet Watchin' Wednesdays."

There is even a place to print off coupons!

Seriously, you have got to go check it out.

www.thecinderellamom.com

You know the best part of the kick-off game for the HUSKERS...

They started off the season than with a WIN!

Huskers 49-Southern Miss 20

GO BIG RED!!!

School has Started...

...and this momma's got a plan for around the house!

Since we moved into our house 5 years ago, my husband has been ironing his clothes for work in our bedroom. Do I have a problem with this? Well, no...

The problem I do have is that our ironing board and iron NEVER get put away!

This is what I hope to do, but also add a shelf up above for the iron.

(we do not have a door in the spot that I want to put this)

Oh, and get us a new ironing board. Can you believe the metal broke!?! Seriously???



Since I had my goal of getting the house cleaned and in order before the start of school, I thought it would be a great idea to have chore check-offs for the kids to complete every day after they get home (yes, mom and dad too). I found this idea here.

Of course, I am making them more appropriate for our family and then will have them laminated to be used over and over and over and...well, you get the idea. Hopefully this will mean a clean house every day and less for mommy to do before she has to head to work in the afternoon.

Ok, we have a realatively large house...5 bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms, and two livingroom areas. Our bathrooms however, are not all that big (especially the master bathroom).

I found this idea and thought it would be perfect in our master bathroom and one of our guest bathrooms. The master bathroom especially, since there is virtually no storage in there.

hmmm.... this could work in our walk-in closet too...

The kids bathroom is in serious need of redecorating.

When we moved in, I thought it would be fun to make the bathroom more child-like and fun.

Now, I am ready to make it a little bit more grown up.

Not completely sophisticated or anything, just not the cartoon fish, turtles, and octopus's any more.

I also want the kids to be reminded of these 4 little things that they, for some odd reason, keep forgetting to do!

That shower curtain is kind of cute, but I won't subject my son to something quite that frilly.

There are so many projects I want to get done now that the kids are both in school.

I guess to prove I have actually completed anything, I will just have to prove it and take photos along the way...

If I actually get them done...

Just kidding, I will eventually get them done, it just may not all be done immediately.

I do have to adjust to the fact that I am home all by my lonesome during the day now.

Seriously...



Don't you just hate it when you are in the middle of a project and realize you need something else for it and it's Sunday!?!

Summer "To Do" List

I don't know about you, but after being out of school for a month, I am tired of hearing my son say "I'm bored." or "There's nothing to do."

After perusing Pinterest and many of the blogs on my reading list, I decided it was time to make a list.

This list consists of 100 Summer Fun things.

Activities range from blowing bubbles and using sidewalk chalk to trying a new food and baking cookies to going to a water park and taking a family vacation.

How will we keep track you ask?

Well, I went to Walmart and got a nice big piece of posterboard with "phantom" lines (so I would actually write everything straight). Then I spent nearly an ENTIRE day trying to think of 100 things that we can do in our days at home before I have to leave for work at 2:15 in the afternoon.

Great idea, right?

I certainly hope so!

We have done a few things on the list, but I still need to have it laminated and get us a dry erase marker. Since I put so much time into hand printing, we are SO going to use it for more than one summer!

Do you know how incredibly difficult it is to come up with fun stuff that an 11-year old boy AND a 5-year old girl would both want to do?

Holy bumper stickers, it was tough. I'm sure there are a few things my son will growl about, but all-in-all, it will hopefully be fun and making progress through the list will be a neat accomplishment.

Here are a few photos of our list and the activities we have completed.

Not too sure why this loaded on it's side! It was saved with the right side up.

Our Independence Day t-shirts.

All 4 of us had them even though I only took a picture of the 3.

Dad and Bubba had matching red shirts,

while Princess and I had the pretty white tank tops.

I took the 5th of July off from work and the kids and I went up to Fun Plex in Omaha.

They had a great time in the water and riding the amusement park rides.

Bubba had a ball riding the go-carts.

Princess preferred the water, she's my little fishy! ;-)

Fuse Beads are lots of fun at our house!

The dogs even get in on the action and try to eat the beads that happen to fall on the floor.

The kiddos however do enjoy coming up with fun designs.

On this day Bubba made the Mustang symbol you will commonly find on the Ford Mustang...

...he and my husband are obsessed with Mustangs.

Princess just plugged away at her heart there while she ate her boiled egg.

Doesn't my son just look soooooo thrilled?!?!

We don't keep a lot of sweets in our house, but today I wanted to use up some chocolate chips that were in the cupboard, so we made some choco chip cookie bars and used the left over dough to make a few cookies. Needless to say, the cookies were all gone by the time I got home from work at 11:00 pm. We still have a whole pan of bars though!

Well, that is what we have been up to so far this summer.

At least some of the stuff, we have gotten to check off quite a few things actually, but I am terrible when it comes to documenting by photography.

Hope your summer is going well too.

As of July 14, we only have one month until school starts up!

I can hardly believe it! Time sure does fly by!

Hugs,

Beth



Monday Musings



I Made a "U" Turn...



After last week, I think this is going to have to be my new personal slogan!

My journey took a turn for the worst and I did EVERYTHING wrong...

regular soda

chex Muddie Buddies

bread

sugary cereal

AMP energy (grape)

ice cream with chocolate sauce

etc, etc...

I need a serious recharge!

Today I was supposed to restart the whole low carb thing, but I couldn't resist the Muddie Buddies!

I did get a diet soda though.

It is really tough to find things to make when your fridge is nearly empty and the freezer is stocked with wild game meat instead of easy stuff like chicken breast and ground beef.

I ate the last of the eggs this morning for breakfast too.

Thank heaven my kids enjoy eating mac 'n cheese!

Guess I am going to have to buck up and go to the grocery store!

At least when I do shopping for myself, it doesn't get to be too expensive.

However, since we are nearly devoid of food in our house, I guess the grocery shopping will need to be done for all of us later this week (we still have enough to get a couple more lunch and dinners).

Shopping for me is simple...

eggs (lots and lots)

chicken

low fat string cheese

tuna

celery

apples

See, not much I need to stock up on!

I tried on my bathing suit and was completely mortified when I looked in the mirror.

I was so mortified, that I thought about cutting the thing to shreds!

However, I have changed my mind slightly on that. Instead, I am going to take a picture of myself in it and have two of them printed. Then I will take one of them and with a black permanent marker, I will "design" how I want to whittle my body. Hopefully in doing that and taping the picture to my mirror, I will be reminded of what I am working to acheive on a daily basis.

I seriously HATE this uphill battle!

BUT,

I need to

EARN THE DOWNHILL!

A Whirl-Wind Weekend

This weekend was my weekend "off" from my journey.

I didn't really want to do it, but I knew there would be no way I could keep up my protein intake.

We attended a wedding that was out of town and we stayed the weekend with my in-laws.

I knew there would be good friends that we hadn't seen in ages and with that, a LOT of alcohol consumption at the wedding.

When you are around good friends, it is almost impossible NOT to have a good time and "let your hair down."

My father-in-law did all of the cooking at their house and I wasn't about to request anything out of the ordinary, so I just ate what everyone else was eating.

I'm glad I did too!

He made us seafood alfredo for lunch on Sunday!

We had a great time and it was well worth the weekend off from the "diet."

Now it is time to climb back up on that wagon and start dropping the pounds again!

I found a great application for my iPhone that will hopefully get me running again too.

I have tried the Couch to 5K before, but it was kind of tough to watch the timer on the tredmill while I was running. This app. is great, because it gives me the cues to speed up, slow down, run, or walk. I can even listen to my own play list on my iPhone.

Now, I just need to get to the gym or out the door and run.

Living Lean Journey



With the first week of my living lean journey under my belt, I have learned a few things.

Check it out...

1) I really like chicken!

The best part about chicken is that I can "bake" it in the microwave!

2) String cheese is the most fun to eat while at work.

Hey, I don't have to share it with my kiddos!

3) It is possible to make low carb protein bars that taste great...

...oh, and pumpkin spice pancakes too.

Seriously, the recipes I have found are totally outstanding!

4) Exercise is definitely essential to weightloss.

I only walked one day last week, which means I didn't lose as much weight as I had hoped.

Here's to a new week and a fresh start with exercise!

5) No one, and I mean NO ONE makes a low carb protein bar.

Seriously?!?!?

The amount of carbs in one protein bar is nearly half of my daily carb allowance.

Ok, I don't need to buy a protein bar since I can make my own, but once in a while it is kind of nice to eat a protein bar that is a little bit more like a candy bar.

I'm just saying!

6) We should seriously think about investing in our own egg-laying chickens!

Holy smokes, we went through way too many eggs last week. Each of my protein bar recipes calls for at least 4 egg whites. Besides that, I will fix an egg for breakfast or hard-boil a dozen eggs for the week too.

7) I am down 4.5 lbs.

Yes, I am very proud of myself!

It is quite the feeling to wake up each morning and just get a feeling that you are thinner.

That happened to be how I felt after one, count it - ONE, day!

Amazingly, I had lost 2 lbs that day!

The best part is that some of my clothes actually fit better.

Mainly my shirts, but I don't care, it is just the beginning.

I am taking it slow and easy.

Reading the pages in the book that correspond to the day of the diet I am on.

I thought this might be a tad strange to me, but I have found that it is extremely helpful!

Keeping a written journal of my journey has been very helpful too.

Anyway, just wanted to give you a teeny tiny update on my Lean for Life Journey.

If I get the courage, maybe I'll post photos soradically throughout my journey, but no guarantees!

Hope you are having a spectacular week!

No Motivation

I am so un-motivated! This stinking cast has me so bummed. The good thing? I get it off on Wednesday and I am seriously looking forward to it!!! christmas gifts are slowly being bought and wrapped. All of the kids are done, but we have a few more things to pick up for our own kids. The adult's gifts are nearly finished up, just need a few more things. Then the big thing is all of the cleaning so the house is presentable and not a total disaster on Christmas Eve and Day. I m trying very hard to be relaxed, but it is beginning to prove to be difficult. Hopefully without this stinking cast on my leg things will change up a bit.

Down and Out

I am so disappointed. I was looking forward to do a lot of sewing to make Christmas gifts this year. Unfortunately, I had a silly accident on Thanksgiving that will keep me away from my sewing machine for at least 4 weeks. I was walking down the stairs at home and missed the bottom step. I landed on the main floor and heard and felt a "pop" in my foot. For about 2 hours, I sat with my foot elevated and put ice on it, but I absolutely could not put any weight on it. Finally, I decided it was time to go get it checked out. What better time to do than when we had people over that could stay with our kids while we went to the emergency room. Long story short... They took 3 X-rays and came back and said I had broken a bone in my foot. It was a complete break. Unfortunately, it is my right foot, so sewing is pretty much out for me, as is driving and working. U til I see the orthopedic doctor I have been on crutches and non-weight bearing for my right foot. It will be in the splint from the ER u til I can get in to see the orthopedic doctor (hopefully on Monday or Tuesday). I am rather bummed about the whole situation because I really don't like being helpless. Just taking a shower is a huge ordeal. Don't even get me started on doing my laundry. It took me 10 minutes to get my laundry basket to the washer and put the clothes in the machine. It is going to take some getting used to, but I don't have a choice and neither does my family. I really hate that I have to miss work! That part really stinks!

So Sorry!

I am so sorry to you all for being on a hiatus the past few weeks. I have had some personal "demons" to attend to and that has been taking up a large amount of my time. Unfortunately, I am still working out those demons, but I am getting better and will again begin to post more regularly.

I sincerely hope you can forgive my abcense and will continue to visit me as often as you have in the past. Hopefully I will still post things of interest to you all.

What'd You Do Today?



Date: August 22, 2011
Time: 2:00 p.m. Central Time
What'd I just do: Showered and got ready for work (which includes making my dinner).
What'd I do today: Woke at 7:20 a.m. and made me a cup-o-joe. Rushed Logan to get himself ready to go to school and took him. Came home and put on something a little more decent to head to the grocery store. Lil' J and I went to the grocery store which I must say did not take us nearly as long as I was afraid it would. We got home, I unloaded and put away all of the groceries and then spent the remainder of the day making chocolate chip cookies and egg salad for sandwiches (for Logan's lunches and my dinners at work).
What happened last night: I got off of work at 5:00, got home and was very grouchy! I picked up my craft room a bit and spent the rest of the night watching TV and reading my book (not good bed-fellows - it took me 3 hours to read 50 pages). Oh, and ate pizza for dinner.
What am I doing tomorrow: Taking Lil' J to her 4-year old Well-child appointment (only a few months late). Probably doing a tad bit of sewing on a tote bag and then going to work by 3:00.
What's Lil' J doing: Telling me that she cannot pick up her toys because it is too hard (even though it wasn't too hard to get them all out)!
What's Max doing: The same thing Max is always doing - laying in the middle of all of the toys (even on top of a few) and snoozing.

Maybe I need to make my days a tad less lazy?
What do ya think?

This Week...Operation de-Clutter



OK, maybe not de-clutter, but at least clean things up.

Our son is spending the week with his paternal grandparents out of town, so it's just me and the little one at home during the day this week.

Which actually works out to my advantage, because elementary schools start up on the 16th.

So, I am hoping to get the house into a semi-clean "state of affairs" for back-to-school.

Today I worked on the living and dining rooms...

picked up and vacuumed (still need to dust, but that can be done at a later date - not a fan of dusting).

The big project is going to be getting our daughter's room clean.

The kid changes - I swear to you - no less than a minimum of 3 times a day and sometimes more!

Oh, and that is between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Yes, we are trying to stop it, but we can't forbid her from playing in her room!

I am also in the process of de-cluttering my "studio."

I have actually sold a number of items that I no longer use on ebay, but I still have a very LONG way to go. Slowly, but surely it will get done.

Anyway, what are your plans for the week?

Live Free Project

This week, one very lovely lady began something she calls "The Live Free Project." Sam is a beautiful and inspirational woman and has a very fun and lively personality. Check out her blog. I liked the idea of her project and wanted to join her on her journey.

Like Sam, I have struggled for most of my adult life with weight fluctuations. Granted, I have gotten the eating-because-I'm-feeling-sorry-for-myself, or eating-because-I'm-bored issue pretty much out of the way. My joining her project is not for the exact same reason as hers, but it is close.

As Sam put it, "..we all have our own individual battles. For some it's anxiety, it's worry, it's negativity, it's insecurity, it's cruelty, it's gossiping, it's OCD, it's obsession, it's hoarding, it's lying, it's the desire to be liked, it's emptiness. It's anything. It's everything."

I have begun to realize that as much as I don't want to admit it, I lead a relatively sedentary life. I know, I know... How is that possible with two younger children? Well, unfortunately it is possible. When the kids go outside, I don't run around with them, I pull out an "easy chair" and sit in the shade and watch them play and have a grand ole time. Yes, my fitness activity is kind of spuradic, I will be running for a few weeks and then not do anything for a few weeks. I will start walking or lifting and then it tapers off again. In joining Sam on this journey, I am going to get over my battle with being sedentary so that I can be on a consistent regimen of physical activity. No more sitting around while the kids are playing. No more chillin' in the house on a perfectly sunny day. Who cares if it is hot outside!

My hope is that in increasing my physical activity, I will be able to slowly transform my body and lose this pesky 35 pounds that just doesn't seem to want to budge. Maybe I will finally not be such a wimpy mommy too!

Oh, and in case you are wondering how I am going to make this transformation without changing my diet, I'll let you in on a teeny tiny secret... Okay, it's not so teeny tiny... We actually eat very healthy in out home. We very rarely fry anything and I don't bake all that much and we try not to keep "junk food" in our kitchen. We have a 10-year old growning boy little mouse that seems to enjoy sneaking into the pantry or fridge at night and during the day to find something tastey. However, I will eat more "clean" foods instead of processed foods and I will also eat more frequent and much smaller meals during the day (5-6 meals) and drink a heck of a lot more water. Oh, and just so ya know...I WILL NOT give up my daily coffee. You would absolutely HATE to be around me when I don't have my coffee! To put it nicely, I am a ROYAL CRABBY PATTY without my coffee (my husband will agree with a not-so-nice name, and yes, I tend to concur).

Documenting my journey with The Live Free Project will be a bit tough, but I'll start out with these photos. Ugh...I can't believe I am posting these! So embarrassing!



Since my goal is to embrace my body and become less sedintary, hopefully there will be noticeable changes in my body from the beginning through the end. I will also try to post weekly on how my journey is unfolding. I haven't worked out all of the details, but I will have mini-goals along the way.

The very FIRST mini-goal is Get Moving Outside Every Day. It doesn't matter what it is, but for this first week, I need to get up and get moving outside on a daily basis for a minumum of 30 minutes. Maybe it is going for a walk with the kids, working in the garden, chasing Jilli down the sidewalk while she is riding her bike, but whatever it is, I will move 30 minutes a day.

Don't forget to help support Sam on her journey! Without her inspiration, I don't think I would have ever done this to keep my-self accountable. Especially, showing the world wide web the pictures I have taken and had NEVER planned to share. Now, that is being brave in my book.