Anyone Want to Claim Either of These?

Fusia/Siler and Black/Silver – both have platinum plated hooks.

Homemade Game–Take II

Sandy likes green.  Joyce says teal or purple.  Rachel wants purple.  And Denise says purple is her favorite, but she likes anything.  So…  Here’s something for my purple lovers…  just not sure which one to send it to:

 

Two down… a few more to go!

Homemade Game

On FB I agreed to send something that I’ve made home-made to 6 people in 2011.  Here’s my first item, for my friend Tammi:

A bracelet & earrings.  She said her favorite color is blue. 

 

FIVE more to go… 

Blessings Monday

I am very blessed to have a boss that has my back.  When we needed to leave town on a dime for a funeral… a few days before my big meeting… my boss accepted the load of responsibility to get everything accomplished for tonight’s big meeting.  He even updated me on Friday.  That made me feel better.  I made it back for the meeting and everything seemed to fall together nicely.  I really appreciate my boss. 

 

Thank you Lord for allowing me to work under the direction of a Godly man.  It is a wonderful blessing!

2011 Commitment

My girlfriend and I are making a pact to hike at least 200 miles together this year.  We are making our lists of places we want to hike and then we’ll put together a schedule.  I can’t wait to document this journey with her.  These will just be the hikes we do together… not counting miles we hike otherwise.  Yay! 

It’s Been Confirmed

We are officially crazy people!

We went geocaching again today, on the way home from Kentucky.  It was a whopping 7 degrees outside.  We are nuts!

 

It was fun tho.  We found 4/5 and swapped some travel bugs.  Not a bad day if I say so myself.  This really made the trip home more enjoyable.  We were disappointed to not be able to find the one at Cabela’s.  We will have to visit there again in warmer weather. 

We Must Be Crazy

It was –5 degrees when we woke up this morning.  That’s NEGATIVE!  By afternoon the balmy high was a whopping 23 degrees.  We had some trackable Geocaching bugs that we brought south with us intending to plant them far from where we picked them up.  This afternoon’s adventures took us out to do just that. 

 

The first find was easy, but it was just a log, not even big enough to leave any kind of trinket.  It was really close though, so worth it to stop. 

 

The second was a TB Hotel stop, near a rather large highway.  We found it with great ease.  We left two of our trackables and picked up one to hitch-hike north with us. 

 

The third and fourth caches we never found.  We blame it on the snow.  It’s hard to find something hidden in the woods when it’s significantly snow covered.  I thought it would have been nice to have snowshoes for this trek!  (still dreaming) 

 

The photo above was taken after we succumbed to defeat at #3.  The walk around the lake was really nice, even in the cold.  The sun was shining and I was in the best company.  I cannot wait to return in warmer weather to try this one again!

 

Now the house is empty… all have gone their ways.  Keith is playing poker with his cousins.  Tammy has gone out with her girlfriends.  Mom & Jim have gone out having special dinner invitations.  Me… I chose to stay home alone.  I’m beat.  I’m in need of some quiet.  I’m actually enjoying the solitude for the moment.   The dog isn’t thrilled to be left with me (of all people), but we exist harmoniously alongside one another.  He does his thing.  I do mine.  Sipping hot tea, perusing Face Book, and updating my blog.  Ahhh… peacefulness. 

Saturdays Saving & Meal Plan

My week was a bust.  I got NOTHING.  I saved NOTHING except the pennies that I did not spend because I didn’t get to do my weekly sales run.  I lost the Rite Aid Up Rewards that expired this week.  Boo hoo.  Oh well.  We had a family matter to attend to and we were glad that we could drop everything and go on a dime like we did.  I have coupons from last week to clip and should be getting more tomorrow as well. 

 

So then what’s on tap for meals? Hmm…

• Salad (hopefully what I left behind is still crisp and sweet)
• Beef Stirfry with rice
• BBQ Porkchop with mashed potatoes & veggie
• Grilled Cheese w/ soup
• Pancakes

What do I need to get?  Maybe a can of tomato soup and some milk.  That should do it.  YAY!!!!

Weekly Savings & Meal Planning

Once again, I hit Rite Aid at the last hour on the last day AFTER they had changed the signs and after most of the best deals were picked over and out.  Grrrr… I have to get there sooner next time!  I did get a couple good deals and I also did a quick grocery run as well.  I think we are pretty well set for the week.

 

Meals:

• Ham loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans
• Beef Stir fry with Jasmine rice
• Spaghetti w/ red-sauce
• BBQ Pork chop (boneless) w/ veggie
• Chicken quesadillas

We have enough salad to have some with every meal and then some. 

Trying Something New

I went snowshoeing today.  It was great fun with fabulous company and the exercise is a plus!  I so enjoyed it.  Now I want a pair of my own.  Hmmm…. not sure when that will fit in the budget.  This was the first REAL hike in 2011.  One other night I went for a walk in the woods, but I think anything under an hour doesn’t really count as “hiking.”  I wonder how many miles I will cover this year? 

These snowshoes would really be a nice thing to have in my car.  Sometimes I don’t make it the whole way up the long driveway at the farm, so I walk up the hill.  These have grippy claw-like teeth on the bottom that work really well for traction. 

 

Have I mentioned that I’d like to have a pair of snowshoes?  I can dream can’t I?

Mid-Winter

Yes, it’s mid-winter now.  I don’t mind it.  It’s part of living in western Pennsylvania.  I’m blessed with the ability to witness the change of seasons and for that I am grateful.

I had NO IDEA how much snow actually accumulated from last night to now.  I was surprised to see how high it was piled upon our trash cans this evening. 

I’ve now shoveled our driveway, porch, and sidewalk TWICE.  Shoveling is good exercise.  I’m not sure if it’s good for my shoulder or not, but I’m relentless when it comes to shoveling.  As a matter of fact, since I did not have to shovel at the farm tonight, I could not wait to shovel the driveway!  I probably need my head examined, huh?

This last picture is purely for amusement.  I should have swept first.  Try to look past that…  Crystal is spinning around trying to catch the laser I bought.  It’s great entertainment.  I really need to make a video of her chasing it.  She goes around and around and around and around until she just can’t do it anymore.  Then she plops her body down but her head keeps bobbing around watching the light.  Too funny!

 

Ok then, enough useless talk for tonight.  There is a big bowl of salad and a cup of tea with my name on them….  I shall go enjoy them.

Jewelry #4 - Amanda's Pieces

Both of these pieces are sterling silver. The top one is sterling silver on platium-plated hooks. Amanda picked out the embelishments for these so I could make them for her. I'm sorry but the pictures do not do them any justice. The little silver balls are textured and very sparkly. I can't wait to give them to her.

Jewelry #3

Amanda went shopping at the craft store with me and picked out some things to make a pair of earrings that she wanted to have made. These two pair above were my trial runs before I made hers. Aren't they neat?!!!

Jewelry #2

I bought this horse-shoe embellishment w/ matching earrings after Christmas. I LOVE it. All I did was add some coupling rings and strung it onto a necklace I already had.

I've made two of these sets. They are flat blue marbl-ish beads. I gave one set of earrings away to someone I work with. She says she really likes them. I do too.

These purple and blue beads are probably some of my favorites. These were gifted to me by Keith as part of the kit he got me. I've made several sets of earrings out of these and a couple of wire wrap bracelets like the one you see here. I've given away a couple pair of earrings I made with these. LOVE THEM!!!

Jewelry #1

I have seen those jewelry making kits in Walmart and craft stores and always think I want to try it. I asked for a small kit for Christmas and I got TWO kits and a gift card to get more stuff. It's been so much fun. Look at all the neat stuff I've made! I'm obsessed with making earrings. I've made a few bracelets, but earrings are quick and easy. I've only made one necklace so far.

If you especially like any of the ones I've posted, please let me know so I can share them. (but... you cannot have Amanda's)

Saturday’s Savings & Meal Planning

I set out with my coupons and grocery bag collection with good intentions yesterday.  I had Girls Group Bible Study in the morning followed by several hours at the office for a special project.  I was just cleaning off my desk and about to head home when a friend and I decided to help another friend.  So…. by the time I made it to Rite Aid, they had changed all the sales tags and didn’t have the cereal that I was after.  I bought some clearance Christmas cards and a bag of cough drops, but not the rest of my list.  I was too beat to do my grocery shopping, which is fine b/c the sales don’t end until Wednesday there AND I can pick up gift-cards at church which helps the church building fund.  So it’s all good.

 

Quick thoughts about the menu for the week:

• There is a quiche in the freezer!  YAY!
• Pork – either BBQ chops or a roast in the crockpot
• Cheeseburgers (need to use up the buns from last week)
• Beef Stirfry
• Pancakes
• Soup (wildcard item)

I have enough salad makings to have salad every day of the week or for a snack.  I need to chop it and put it in my salad bowl for easy access.

 

My grocery list includes stockpile items (good deals + coupon and/or discount) and that’s pretty much it.  I have everything else already.  Yay!!! 

Tuesdays With Jen, My Memoirs

A few random thoughts about horses:

 

• One time my horse fell in the mud.  I fell off of him as my feet came right out of my boots.  Wendy was sitting on the porch laughing about it.  I was more concerned with seeing that my horse was okay…  (more so than myself)
• One time my horse ran away from home…further away than I could track.  Later that afternoon someone called and said they thought they might have my horse.  A few miles away I found him safe and sound.  The lady there had a horse named “Jeepers Creepers.” She rode with me most of the way home, showing me the way.  I ran into her at a ‘horsie party’ just before Christmas this year.  It’s a small world!
• Another woman I recently ran into (at the same horsie party) said that her daughter (about 8yo at the time) clipped the for sale ad for my Magnium, slipped it into a homemade card that she gave her mother.  The card said “If you buy me Magnium, I will never ask for anything ever again.” Who knew?! How entirely sweet! 
• The neighbor girl once admitted to me that she was jealous of my horse.  This is the same girl that pulled me off of the horse and left me hurt and stranded in a field until my Grandma found me and called an ambulance. 
• Not long before Keith and I married, his sister was visiting and we took her to the stable.  He was going to impress her with his horseback riding knowledge.  Just before I gave him a leg-up onto Lacey, he said “This is how you do it.”  He swung him self up and over and kept on going.  He landed on his back, on the ground, with the saddle blanket between his legs.  Out of his mouth came “Ummm… this is NOT how you do it.”  We had a good laugh. 

Blessings Monday

New beginnings are a blessing.  New days, weeks, months, and years help us feel our new beginnings in a very real way.  We can re-focus and that is a good thing.  I’m so blessed to realize that each day is a new opportunity to serve the Lord and to try to do better than the day before.  Thank you Lord for new beginnings. 

 

Vulhop 2010 In Review

Saturday’s Savings & Meal Planning

Happy New Year!

 

I’m not much for resolutions; however, I am resolving to use my coupons, save some money, and pay off my student loan this year.  Tomorrow’s paper is supposed to have FIVE coupon inserts in it.  I think I might buy TWO papers!  Yesterday I caught up on all my coupon clipping and did some shopping.  I needed to spend the remaining balance in my FSA, which was approximately $60.  I bought a blood pressure monitor and some over the counter meds.  After 2010 they will no longer cover over the counter meds.  Grrr!!!  No sense letting it go to waste!  I also used some coupons yesterday…  Doritos for $2 – is that good?  I got a FREE Gillette gift-pack with razor and accessories.  NICE!  I got BOGO candy bars for Keith- ended up being 25 cents each.  That’s a deal.  I also got him 2 good size Toberlone for $1 each.  I’m not really a big fan of buying candy, but if I don’t buy it with a coupon, he will buy it for full-price.  I also hit Kohl’s as I had $20 Kohls-cash that expires today.  I picked up two sweaters for myself and paid a whopping $8 out of pocket.  Yay!!!!  I confess, I picked up some clearance items too…  I got a gold-colored holiday table cloth for $2, some bows for a few cents, and StarWars 4-mug Hot-chocolate set for 50% off at Target.  Not entirely cheap, but still probably worth it to spoil the boys.  I think I’ll take it to their Grandma’s house and let them share them there. 

 

Ok… meals for this week. 

• Quiche (Bacon & Swiss I think)
• Pork & Sauerkraut (At my parents)
• Ravioli
• Chicken Noodle Soup (from scratch)
• Breakfast (either pancakes or eggs/bacon)
• Salad Salad Salad – with or for every meal

Looks like I need some groceries:  Swiss cheese & salad makings plus dinner rolls to take to Mom’s for the family dinner tomorrow.

 

That sums it up for now.  I can’t wait to see how much I can save with coupons & deals in 2011.  I need to re-organize our closet and pantry soon.  Yay!