Menu Planning Sunday

Wow, I can't believe I have abandoned this blog for almost 2 months.  We have had some busier than normal weeks, not a lot of menu planning has been happening since we have been here and there a lot.  I made it to the store this morning, didn't think I would but thankfully, I got the one thing I really needed to do finished.

Not sure what days we will have what this week but here is what we are having at some point....

Pork chops/ Cheesy Potatoes/ Green beans
Chicken Stir fry with rice
Hamburgers/ Fries
Breakfast for dinner
Out to Niemergs one night (we have 2 coupons 1 from Matthew's bday and 1 for our anniversary coming up on the 27th, then we will get another one for my birthday in June so we probably have Niemergs a few times over the next month)
Grilled Chicken/ Potatoes on the grill with Corn

Have a great week!

Menu Planning Sunday

This Weeks Menu

Sunday- Pizza Man with the family

Monday- Grilled Chicken/Scalloped Potatoes/ corn

Tuesday- Broiled Parmesan Tilapia (carry over from last week, this has been a trend lately)/ rice/ green beans

Wednesday - Mexican Casserole

Thursday-  Leftovers

Friday- Slow Cooker chicken and Broccoli served with rice

Saturday- Wait and See

Have a great week!

Menu Planning Sunday

This week, making it quick and easy we are going to be enjoying this warm weather!
Also our menu gets pretty boring this time of year, when it's warm we grill a lot!

Sunday- Grilling out at moms

Monday- Pork chops/potatoes/veggies all on the grill

Tuesday- Carry over from last week Chicken Fajitas

Wednesday-  Matthew's small group night Burgers on the grill and fries  Dirt Cake for Dessert (not in a pot though, I'm boring  I will just make in a regular dish!

Thursday- Leftovers

Friday- Broiled Parmesan Tilapia/  Rice/ Green Beans

Saturday- Wait and See

Hoping to get some more stuff made  for Carson too, want to do apples, sweet potatoes, green beans and peaches.to add to our collection.

Have a great week everyone!

Laundry Detergent

As I posted on here a while back,  I had made my own laundry detergent.  I never actually did a follow up review on it.

At first I thought it was working fine but for those of you who know me, know I'm pretty stubborn and since I thought I did a good thing by making it, I wanted it to work.  Mine never seemed to turn out right to me, as it kept separating and before I used it each time, I would shake it up before putting it in the washer but the more and more I read online apparently most people's do separate.  It's just kind of gross and slimy though (which I have also learned since, that the homemade liquid can coat your washing drum and lead to problems later since most of the soaps used have animal fat in them).  Then I would forget to pretreat all Noah's shirts with spots and began ruining quite a few of them, then our whites really started to get dingy but just thought I was over-thinking / analyzing things.  I continued to use it until....

 I started selling Norwex and I decided to try their laundry detergent because I knew it was very economical for a HE washer and I heard great things about it.  Wow.. I love it.  Not only can I do well over 400 loads with my one little bag of detergent but it's also unscented, filler free, highly concentrated and biodegradable.  The product is highly water soluble and low sudsing making it perfect for HE machines.

Below is a picture of a demo another consultant did comparing Norwex detergent with one of the national leading brands. The same amount of detergent to water ratio was used in both  ( I did this demo for myself as well and got the same results but can't get my picture on here for some reason)  The one on the left Norwex detergent and the right big store brand.  As you can see Norwex is pretty clear and the right one is very murky and you can't see through it all.  Why is  this.....

Fillers.... Fillers are added to laundry detergent to make it suds more to make us think it cleans better, bulk up the product and give consumers a sense of better value, and to leave a nasty residue on every  item of clothing  it touches.  Fillers are what leave the residue on our clothing, thus giving us static cling and then causing consumers to need products like dryer sheets and  fabric softeners (the worst products you can have in your home of all cleaning products) .  With Norwex detergent there isn't any residue left behind, helping our clothes last longer and our whites stay whiter and without the need for dryer sheets or softener.

There are a few factors needed to determine how much of the Norwex detergent you need such as  type of machine- top or front, and hard or soft water.  If you are interested to know more, let me know!

Menu Planning Sunday

Our Menu for the week
Sunday  Pork Steak on the grill/ Grilled potatoes/ Corn

Monday  BBQ Chicken on the grill (so excited to be grilling again)/ Rice/ Broccoli and Cheese

Tuesday  Italian Beef Sandwiches

Wednesday  Beef Strogranoff /green beans

Thursday Chicken Fajitas

Friday and Saturday I'm out of town, Matthew will prob have leftovers and maybe eat out

Have a great week everyone!

Weekly Menu Plan

This Week's Menu
Sunday  Crock Pot Enchiladas (carryover from last week)

Monday  Roasted Chicken/ Uncle Ben's rice/ Corn

Tuesday Chicken and Rice Soup/ cornbread (better make a soup since warmer will hopefully be here to stay soon)

Wednesday Leftovers

Thursday BBQ Pork Sandwiches/ Chips

Friday Cheesy Hamburger Skillet/ Green Beans (sorry Matthew doing a pasta night)

Saturday Keepping it Open/ leftovers, out to eat, we will wait and see

Have a great week!!

Loving it!

Below is my old cleaning basket, windex, dust spray, kitchen antibacterial spray, disinfecting wipes, softscrub with bleach, and Lysol bathroom spray, swiffer duster, and of course you can't forget the paper towels.  Don't judge me on some of these products if you are someone who knows the harmful effects of these.  I never looked into it/didn't want to know and now have moved them to their home in the garage until I decide what to do with them.  No more household chemicals for this family!  After doing some research, I can't believe what I have been exposing my family to.  Feeling guilty, for not attempting to make our home healthier until now.    

 Now here is my new cleaning basket with Norwex.  Now of course I do have a lot more Norwex products than this but to make a fair comparison, this basket is just what I need to use to do the same jobs as the above basket.  And if some of you have heard that Norwex can save you money and didn't understand how.  This is how, a lot less items, no chemicals to buy every so often when your bottle runs out,  no more swiffer duster refills (I hated buying those) and probably the biggest one, no paper towels (I used to probably spend $5 a week on paper towels, and we bought the cheap ones!)

In this basket I have a few enviro cloths, 2 window cloths, dusting mitt, and cleaning paste, that's it!  

Just the enviro cloth, window/polishing cloth, and dusting mitt replaced my old windex, dusting spray, bathroom cleaner, kitchen antibacterial spray, disinfectant wipes (which by the way, I wasn't using any of my antibacterial sprays corrrectly so really I was just polluting our home, and wasting my money, will blog about that realization later)  and swiffer dusters.

Then the cleaning paste can be used for those tougher jobs, like my flat stove top and ceramic sink, and so many other things, the list is endless for that amazing little round container of heaven!  Last night I had a boil over on the stove and I was oddly excited that it gave me a chance to get out my tub of miracle cream (cleaning paste) and just wipe those spots right away without even having to work at it!    And that little tub has lasted people over 5-6 years!  Since I'm one of those crazy cleaners I may go through it faster I should write the date on the bottom and see!  

 Which basket would you prefer?  I'm definetly sticking with my Norwex!  I'm so in love with these cloths and   other products!  

Want to know more or have any questions feel free to email me at jenjones06@gmail.com

Menu Plan Sundays

Weekly Menu Plan

Monday- Matthew has business dinner, no cooking!  Yeah! However, it's just me and the boys all night!  Will be a long day, wake up to bedtime all on my own! 

Tuesday- Sour cream and bacon chicken served over rice, california blend

Wednesday- BBQ Chicken, scalloped potatoes, carrots


Thursday- Crock Pot Enchildas, corn

Friday- Shake and Bake Pork Chops, Ranch Potatoes, Green beans

Saturday and Sunday- Wait and see, If I plan something for these days I pretty much hardly ever end up making it, so we will just play it by ear.  If I need to make something I still have ingredients for a few things I haven't made in the last few weeks or a good excuse to go out to eat!

Have a great week!

Still in progress

We finally began working on redoing, or in other words just doing something to our bedroom a few weeks ago.  It's not completed but thought I would give a little peek at what we have been working on.

Here was our room before, white, plain and filled with baby stuff! Yes, nothing special to look at here. I had never put anything on the walls because I knew we were going to paint someday so blank slate it stayed. 

We have now painted the walls. The main wall our bed is on,  is a really deep purple and the other walls are a pretty dark tan, almost brown.  I love, love, love how the paint colors turned out! 

Then after we painted, Matthew began working on making us a headboard. ( we haven't ever had one, the room has always been pretty mismatched) I searched pinterest and the internet and found some headboards I liked and showed the hubs, he then kind of took everything I liked and made his own creation.  I really want a sleigh bed someday(when we buy a whole matching set, I realized this wasn't something we could actually make)  but told him a fabric headboard would be fine since it would match our bedding/ dressers after we paint them.  Well he gave me both, he tried to make it have a sleigh bed feel but also put the fabric panel in the middle.  I love it, he did a great job!  The picture just doesn't do it justice.  The top  and side rails on the headboard are not just flat they have curves and angles.  You can also get a peek of the purple wall in these pictures. 

We have put a few things on the wall, I did a big frame, some uppercase living, and a flower pinterest project that I love but we still need to paint the dressers and decide on a few other decorating things before you can see the whole room! 

Wreath Redo

The other day I changed out the flowers on my wreath to white ones and wow I love it so much more.  The big fluffy flowers are way cuter than the red ones I had on it before. 

Such a quick and easy wreath and I just love it!

Menu Plan Sundays

This Weeks Menu!

Sunday Some family coming over for breakfast for dinner
 (eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage, cinnamon rolls, maybe a few pancakes or waffles too we will wait and see)
Monday  Stuffed Green Peppers  (new recipe for the Jones family)

Tuesday  Cheesy chicken with rice/ green beans

Wednesday Monterey chicken, baked potatoes, carrots  (chicken is going to be new for us)

Thursday Lasagna and salad ( I was feeling like lasagna I asked the hubs if I can make it, he said he didn't care but we will see how much he actually eats)

Friday Leftovers

Saturday Will be busy getting ready and doing my first Norwex party, eating out for dinner!

Playroom Updates

When we moved into our house at the end of May, we decided to make one of the rooms on the main floor a playroom.  The room is in a weird spot right at the entry and has double doors, so it really is perfect for a playroom  and it's right off all the main living area spaces so I can always see/hear Noah playing. 

Here is the before picture

 Yes, pretty blah....  I didn't know what to do with all the toys so we basically lined the room with them.  The sad thing is most of the toys that were originally in there are now in the basement.  After birthdays and Christmas we have had to move a lot to the basement and have created another mess down there. 

 Here is the after, still not amazing, but painted, decorated and my attempt at organizing toys.  Pinterest gave me some wonderful ideas for a playroom but in my realistic world, I couldn't spend tons of money on built ins, benches, and shelving, or even lots of cute little bins like I would of liked.  Instead we did buy some cheaper things to help organize the toys, moved the futon from the basement up to give us adults some seating and got a play table for the boys! 

 One pinterest project I did, you can't hardly see the details but the background of the frames is scrapbook paper, then I hot glued closepins to the paper to hold the pictures.  You have to leave the glass off this way and then it's a super easy way to be able to change out your pictures whenever you wish.  Plus I love scrapbook paper, so I loved getting the chance to use some. 

 On another wall, we did an map wall decal and I painted mini chip board letters for the word learn.  I wasn't sure how well these would paint but they did really well!  Cheap and Easy!

For this side of the room we got the bright colored bin organizer, not as cute as cubes with cute pull out bins, but way more practical.  Now the kids can easily get to all the toys and see what is where.  Then we got the book display so we can keep some books in the playroom and the rest in the boys room. 

Here is the other side of the room, we had gotten some cubes and some bigger stackable bins to put the majority of the boys bigger toys.  I also found the magnetic white board at Ikea that is under the window.  Noah loved, loved it at first.  It's kind of worn off lately but he still plays with it.   

 Large chip board betters, that I painted just like the other ones by the map.  These took up a large amount of space on the wall and only cost $10. 

 Thanks again to pinterest for the playroom rules sign.  I found it on there, and then bought the file on Etsy.  I wish it was bigger but it works! 

And that's our playroom.  One more space down but still a lot to go.  We are working on our bedroom now, so am excited to post pictures of that when we get it finished!  

Freezer Organization

Our freezer has always bugged me!   Every week when I put groceries away I always try to straighten it up but never fails it's a mess in a day or two.  Also straightening it didn't make it so I didn't have to dig for something in the back.  Here was our freezer before....

 Here was my inspiration (thank you pinterest).....

Here is what we ended up with, not fancy but functional.  I went to Walmart and found the cheapest little containers I could and got them all for about $10.00.  I was going to make labels but thought to myself  I know what's in each container so I really didn't need to make them that would just be more for looks.  And in all honestly, who really cares what my freezer looks like besides me just thought I would share in case anyone else gets annoyed with their freezer.  I am loving it so far because each bin is for particular things like the top large one is all meat, then there is room for boxes like ice cream or containers of frozen items.  Then on the bottom left, it's potatoes products like hash browns, tator tots, fries, middle is Noah's food (pieroges and nuggets), and on the right is frozen vegetables.  Then I'm always going to have random stuff so that's what I'm using the door for.  The best part is being able to pull each container out and getting right to I want, no more digging!  Yeah! 

Thanks again Pinterest for another great idea to get my home more organized!  I love little projects like this, that to me make a big difference!  

Menu Plan Sundays

This weeks menu

Sunday Italian Beef, mac and cheese, chips

Monday: Pork Tenderloin, Au gratin potatoes, green beans

Tuesday: Fiesta Chicken Casserole ( I ended up not getting the chance to make it last week) corn

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Crock Pot Chicken Stir Fry/ Rice

Friday :Grilled Cheesburger Wraps/ Fries

Saturday: Leftovers or out to eat

Have a great week!

Command Center

My command center is finally finished!  Yeah! 

I would love to say mine looks like the pictures below, but it doesn't.  I had to do this on a limited budget and I needed it to not just look pretty I needed it to actually function for our family.  A lot of ones I found online, were for older kids with boards for each one but with our boys, they really don't have a schedule of their own yet, so maybe someday we will switch to a different layout.  Also the location I had for it to go is in our laundry room, which is right off our kitchen.  It is really the only space that would work and it's small so I had one wall available but everything pretty much has to be flat or close to it.  Our desk area is in the basement and it doesn't make any sense fora command center to be down there away from all the action. 

Love the look of this one, but we definetly don't need 3 dry erase boards with monthly schedules! One will work for us!

 Love how this one is like a command center/ mudroom set up

 Not sure what these boards are made out of or covered with, if it  is fabric or what, but I love all the different patterns mixed to create this space. 

 Very cute one on the side of a pantry or some sort of cabinetry and love all the color and patterns as well!

Love the cute boards for each family member, and the hooks are a good idea but again not ideal for us and our space. 

 I have no words for this besides a dream!  Ahh..

And here is what we now have below, doesn't look so great after looking at all those but hey it works and it's customized to work for our family (or for me because in all honesty lets face it, my boys could care less!)

The top left is our calendar, the right is a frame with our weekly menu and cleaning checklist.  I did customize a weekly menu plan and redid  the cleaning checklist from the previous one I posted.   I will post links for those later in case anyone wants them.  Then on the bottom there are 2 magnetic/dry erase boards, one has holders for bills and mail, then the grocery shopping list, and a holder for writing utensils.  The right is free space to write whatever we need, notes, to do list or anything else we decide we want to use it for. 

Close up of the menu and cleaning checklist, I took a large frame for this, used wrapping paper as a background and then put the plastic/glass in front so that way instead of always printing off new sheets I can just use it as a dry erase board.  Always ready to start over!

 Close up of bottom board

And that's our simple command center, ready to help me keep this house organized and on top of things!

Norwex

I'm excited to announce I'm starting a new venture, I am now a consultant for Norwex.

If you already have heard of Norwex or have their products you already know the products are great!

If you haven't heard of Norwex you will definetly want to learn more. 

The mission of Norwex is to improve quality of life by radically reducing the use of chemicals in personal care and cleaning.

With Norwex products you can clean your home without chemicals while saving time and money!  All Norwex cloths need is water and the results are even better than cleaning with chemicals.  You have to see it to believe it!

Norwex has a variety of different products to clean  and take care of your whole house, including special items for kitchen, baths, dusting, floors, personal care, bath and body, car cleaning, laundering, and dish washing. 

Norwex also has one of the best host/hostess plans in the home party industry!
Host a party and embrace the Norwex mission of improving the quality of life!
This is your opportunity to experience the Norwex lifestyle - amazing products, and healthy and simple solutions to improve your life. What a great opportunity to exchange ideas and make new friends.

If you would like to learn more please don't hesitate to email me at jenjones06@gmail.com
I could go on and on about all of the benefits of using Norwex products and would love to share more information with anyone who is interested.

I now also have a website site up where you can learn more information about the company Norwex itself, browse and order the products, and view some FAQ's. 
https://jenniferjones.norwex.biz

Menu Planning Sundays #2

This week trying 2 new recipes, they seem pretty safe and easy to we will see! 

Monday Foil Packed Chicken 

Tuesday Beef Stew with Rice

Wednesday Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops (new recipe for us) and Green Beans

Thursday Leftovers

Friday  Fiesta Chicken Casserole  (new recipe for us) with corn

Saturday  Homemade Pizza

Hope everyone has a great week!
Happy Meal Planning

Pinterest Projects

A few weeks ago I did a few quick little projects ( thanks to pinterest for the ideas, I love it when I acutally do/use what I pin, makes all the time I spend on there not feel worthless)

The first task was detangling the mess that had become of my necklaces. 

I wish I had a before picture of them, it was awful! Awhile ago I bought this jewelry holder thinking it would amazing but everything overlapped and the necklaces were always getting wound and twisted around each other.  It always took me forever to get one out and untangled so half the time I just decided not to wear one.  Well when I saw this idea I had the perfect space.  We have a towel rack over a large bathtub in our master that never gets used.  We don't need the tub and we really don't need the towel bar ( it was just holding a large decorative one that collects dust) so I decided to take it over for my necklaces.  This was simple I just bought 2 packages of shower hooks ( I tried to find something cheaper but couldn't find anything shaped the right way) on sale at Kohls with a 30% coupon and Kohls cash.  The project basically costs me $0.00 and I'm in love.   ( You have to ignore the ugly gold towel bar, right now it's what we have, we haven't got to painting/ switching anything out in the bathrooms yet, hopefully soon though!)

Now it's not the prettiest idea, but hey sometimes in areas that aren't seen all the time, I'm all about function over looks!

 I love wreaths and Etsy has so many cute ideas for wreaths.  Now I wouldn't pay the hefty price tag for them when some of them I could easily make on my own.  I purchased the large grapevine wreath at Hobby Lobby for $5.99 and the white numbers at Walmart for less than $5 and already had the red flowers.  The only thing else I needed was a glue gun.  I did purchase white flowers to put on it but decided I would do red first for Valentine's Day since I had some extra around the house we aren't using.  It didn't really turn out very festive looking so I will probably be switching the flowers out soon but I still love the idea and it was so easy and inexspensive to make.  I have lots more wreath ideas, I just need a season change or some more excuses of why I need to make more.  I have a hydrangea one pinned on my pinterest so that one is next and hopefully I will get to that next week after a trip to Hobby Lobby!

Anyone else have any pinterest projects they are working on? 

I'm getting closer to finishing my command center, and getting ready to do some cabinet and freezer organization, so those posts will be coming soon!

Homemade Dishwashing Powder

I'm on a role here, with the homemade items, tonight I decided to try the homemade dishwashing detergent.  I made it earlier and ran our first load of dishes through and they came out just the same as always, maybe even a little cleaner than normal.  I had a casserole dish in there and it came out perfect, that hardly ever happens!

I took a few different recipes I found and made a combo of them. 

1 cup borax

1 cup washing soda

1/2 cup lemi shine

Then for a rinse agent I used White vinegar. 

To make the detergent it's as easy as it gets, measure the items, pour together and blend well! 

You will need 1 tbsp per load. 

It's hard to figure an exact cost for this but if you purchase a box of borax and washing soda you could make about 6 loads of the detergent and then you would need 2 bottles of lemi shine for a total of about $13. 

30 loads  at 1 tbsp each x 6 batches=180 loads

$13.00 / 180 loads= $.07 per load

I saw where someone had used Palmolive Eco gel and figured it cost them about $0.14 per load, that's twice as much as homemade.  It may just be cents but I know we run our dishwasher every day so cents adds up around here! 

Now I just need to make a cute little container like this to keep my detergent in!

If anyone else has any other good recipes to share let us know!  So far this one seems to work but I wouldn't mind trying others as well, especially is someone has a less expensive combo! 

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I have been wanting to try my own detergent for a little while now and finally did it a few weeks ago.  I purchased the items for the detergent and spent less than $12.00. 

For mostly all the detergent recipes you need the same ingredients

Borax, Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, and Fels Naptha soap.  Now all the recipes differ in the amounts you use, I have lots of dirty clothes with my boys so I decided to use one that is more concentrated and uses more of each item compared to the amount of water. 

The recipe I used called for

2 cups Borax

2 cups Washing Soda

1 bar Fels Naptha soap

And it was just this simple, first grate the soap

Then put the soap into a pan with 1 qt boiling water.  Stir until soap is completely melted. 

Next pour the soap into a large container where you will pour in the borax and washing soda until blended well.  Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.  It will then need to sit for a day or two to gel up.  Mine does still separate but I have put it into gallon jugs which makes it easy to shake up for a few seconds before I pour it in my my washing machine. 

With the recipe I used I could make  3 batches of detergent without buying any more supplies.  That means you could make about 6 gallons of detergent and if you use 1/4 to 1/2 cup of detergent per load, it would last you between 192 and 384 loads.  We have a high efficiency so we only need to use about 1/4 cup but if you have a regular top loader you would want to use 1/2 cup per load.  We used to use Gain ( I have always loved the scent) and it was almost $11.00 for a container that said it would do 64 loads so for less than $12.00  I will have enough detergent to do almost 384 loads and that makes me happy.  I hate spending money on things like detergents! 

Also before you ask about the cleaning power, I have been using it for about 2 weeks now and haven't noticed any difference.  There is a different in smell, the detergent itself smells nice and clean but doesn't really put off a smell onto the clothing, if it does it's very mild.  And also it's safe for babies so no more two different types of detergent for this family we can now all use the same! 

I did try a powder recipe as well, but found the liquid works better with my machine, the powder wasn't quite getting all out of the dispenser.  But if you prefer powder here is an easy recipe I would recommend which was very quick and easy as well. 

If you are looking to save some money off of your grocery bill, here is one way to help! 

Menu Plan Sundays

This is what's on our menu this week

Sunday- Poppyseed chicken over egg noodles, green beans, salad and garlic bread ( If you haven't ever had poppyseed chicken, try it soon, one of my family's favorite.  I am making it with pasta today since we are having family over and most people serve it with pasta)

Monday- Beef Stuff shells, and california blend.  This will be a new recipe for us this week so can't vouche for it yet

Tuesday- Chicken ala king with biscuits

Wednesday- Tacos and salsa rice (the hubs is having some boys over for his small group, this was a request from them)

Thursday-  BBQ chicken sandwhiches for lunch, leftovers for dinner

Friday- Country pork with mushrooms, mashed potatoes, and corn

Saturday-  Eat out

There it is, our weekly menu!  Let us know what you are having this week!  I love new recipes!

My First Printable

Cleaning is a big deal in our house!  I absolutely love a clean house and really never feel relaxed in the midst of a mess or unclean house.  Ever since having kids I have always struggled with keeping my house the way I did before them.  I used to always clean the whole house on my day off before kids but now I have never a few hours to just get the whole house clean and not get interrupted.  I tried assigning different household tasks to each day so that way it wasn't all on one day, but that didn't really work for me. 

I have been searching online for months for printable cleaning checklist and couldn't really find one that really met my needs.  Since I couldn't find one that fit me, I decided to take a stab at making my own!  Now it's not the cutest form I've ever seen and honestly it's not even cute but it's functional and that's what it's really about!  I'm hoping someday to learn some graphic design, maybe in the near future so I can learn to create cute things! 

  The printable I made won't be for everyone but if you would like to try it go for it!  I prefer to just fit the different tasks in when I have time or when it works for my schedule that week since every week is different.  I also have things that don't need done each week but less frequently like once a month so I also made a column for them.  I haven't done it yet, but I think I'm going to frame my checklist with glass over it and then I can use it as a dry erase board.  That way I can mark off my weekly items and then date the bi weekly and monthly items so I remembered when I did them last.  Below is a link to my printable!  Happy Cleaning!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ix-OuTAYfw_MueEciyhub6apBnuJZpf5NWANcfcH5oE/edit

Menu Planning Sundays

I have been menu planning for over a year now and I love it!

I love feeling organized when it comes to meals.

I think it saves us money on groceries and because we have a plan for dinner and don't need to go out as much

I can plan ahead to try new recipes

I think planning ahead, helps save time later! 

I will be posting our family's menu each Sunday.

 Will our menu be for everyone?  No, most likely not.  My husband doesn't like pasta so we don't do much if any pasta.  If I find a good pasta recipe I would like to try I'll include it though just for fun for those of you lucky enough to get to serve pasta ( it does make me quite jealous, I truly love it )

However, like I do with other blogs you can just use the recipes you think would work for your family and fill in your own ideas for the other days.

Also we could all use other's ideas and new recipes, if anyone wants to comment each week with their menu plan or recipes they plan on using, please do! 

Welcome!

Welcome to my new Blog! 

Here is the how and why this blog began


Changing Dreams

If you would have asked me in high school/ or college what I wanted to do I would tell you the following

-Graduate HS and then College with a degree in fashion

-Move to the city and begin my Career using my degree. Career, Career, Career is all I used to think and dream about

-Wear fancy clothes and high heels every day to work

-Be Successful

-Get Married

-Have kids after 30

Well here is my life today......

-Graduated High School, Graduated College with a degree in Fashion

-Moved away from the city of Chicago and our small downtown city apartment to a small town named Effingham, IL and live in a beautiful home in the country surrounded by a few houses and mostly fields.

-Work with my husband at his optometry practice as a part-time office manager, who wears mom dress pants, plain uniform tops, and black flats and doesn't use my degree

-Is Married and has been for over 5 years to my amazing husband, who is a strong leader, hard worker and wonderful father!

-Has two adorable little boys and am only 27 years old

Am I successful??? ..... You Bet......

What happened to my dreams??? They Changed!

On our blog, there is a quote,
" Sometimes on the way to the dream, you get lost and find a better one"

I think that is my life in a nutshell! I have learned so much in the last few years about life and myself and wouldn't trade my life now for any dreams I used to have! All the blessings I have in my life now, I couldn't possibly have dreamed up!

My goals and dreams now....

- Be the best mom/wife I can be

-Get Dinner on the table each night

-Have a neat, clean and organized home

(Some days those last two really do seem like a dream, living with 3 boys; 1 grown, 1 toddler and 1 baby, it feels nearly impossible. )

-Someday have my own small town store, (haven't completely decided what I want that to look like yet but I do still have the deep desire to be creative and have a business I can call my own)

- And to enjoy each day because the older I get the faster they seem to go by!

The reason for this blog.....

To share my attempts at menu planning for our family, our ideas for keeping our house neat and organized, how we are saving money,  and having fun along the way with some crafts and diy projects!