Project Gallery

What started off as an idea in my head has exploded on our walls. So far we only have two walls with photos on them, but in my head I would like to have every single one of them loaded with pictures.

I have found many crafty blogs with posts regarding gallery walls. I love every single one of them. they have all given me inspiration to create my own.

First place we started was the wall in our "dining room" area. I put dining room in quotations because it's not really a room, but more of an area behind where the couch and desk sit.

The wall was white and bare. Nothing to give it any life. So, after we got our taxes I made the ultimate decision and booked us an appointment to get our pictures taken. The whole process from leaving the house to leaving the mall was an adventure in itself and I will not get into that. But, needless to say, after 4 and a half hours, we had our pictures and were headed home. The next day I started my project.

First I measured out where I wanted to the pictures to sit, and then I started hammering in some nails. I love hammering nails, it's fun.

This is what the end result came out as...

Though, I know it is not the biggest and most extravagant gallery wall every made, but for now it is simple and I love it. 

The next wall I tackled was the bare wall next to our GIGANTIC television. Trust me when I say it is big. 

There was nothing next to the television. It was where we had our love seat, but we moved that in December to make a space for our Christmas tree. After Christmas was over and the tree was put away we really didn't feel like going through the trouble of moving the love seat back, so we left it in the family room. 

Now I was faced with about a 5' x 3' area to work with. So I set up shop. I craftily made a desk out of two tv trays and the top to my old desk that mysteriously lost one of it's pieces, thus making it so I could not put it together. I laid the top of my old desk across the two tv trays and viola! A new desk for me! I set up my laptop with my printer next to it and had my very own work desk. 

Then I realized the wall needed a little something. So I started digging for pictures that would fit the frames I had. Sadly only 1 of our newly taken pictures would fit. I was so sad. But I did not let that get me down. I love looking at old pictures and reminiscing on the good old days. 

After about 20 minutes of trying to place them where I wanted them to I ended up with a pretty neat looking wall. 

The quilt in the frame is from a quilt that my grandmother made me. It had already been torn up between me, my kids and the dog using it. So I decided to turn it into art. I cut out my favorite part, (the only piece left untouched) and placed it in a frame. 

I love my walls. I will most definitely be adding to them in the future. I can't wait to show you all the process and how it all comes together. 

RAWR!

I am a couponing MONSTER!

Last night I stayed up super late to get all of my deals in order, my extensive shopping list together, my transactions separated, and my coupons divided up.

I woke up at 7am ready to tackle the day.

My first stop Walgreens. OOP (out of pocket) was $16.42. But, I saved $20.23. A 55% savings! WOOT!!

Next stop was Publix. I am in LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, with Publix. Their Buy One Get One Free deals are outstanding and I absolutely adore (as Fancy Nancy would say, adore is fancy for really liking something), pairing those deals with coupons. So, OOP there was $69.52. I wasn't planning on spending that much and I stuck to my list, however, I made a fatal error and forgot a few coupons at home. My reaction was as follows, "Aww, Poopstick!" This outburst was then followed up with a few strange looks from other shoppers. I gave a big smile and a slight nod and kept walking. Anyways, as I was saying... I saved $33.84. A 32% savings. I know I would have done better had I not forgotten the blasted creamer coupons. Blarg. Oh well. On to the next store.

Last but not least, Kroger. I love Kroger when they have their awesome Mega Events. This week it was buy 10 participating items and get $3 off instantly at checkout and save $2 on your next purchase. So of course I made my list out to where I would have 4 transactions and get to use 3 $2 coupons off my purchase.

I started off with my 10 Totinos Party Pizzas. They were on sale for $1.29 and I had coupons for $1 off 5. So I rang all of my pizzas up so I would have my 10 items and $2 coupon. After I paid I noticed that I didn't get my $2 Catalina coupon. "Uh... excuse me? Oh no you didn't!", is what I said to the self check out machine. I spoke with the self checkout register assistant came over and asked if I needed help. I said, "Yes sir. I scanned my items for the buy 10 item get $2 back deal and I did not receive my coupon." He looked into my bags and said, "Ma'am, you only have 9 items in here." OH MY GAH! How embarrassing? I was so mad at myself for not double checking to make sure that transaction was complete before paying for it.

After kicking myself in the ass, which is hard to do and looks silly when you are doing it in the middle of the self check out lane, I sorted out my remaining items and placed them neatly together so I knew what went with which transaction and this debacle would not happen again. The rest of my orders turned out like I had planned. My OOP for Kroger came out to $72.20. I saved $35.67. Drum roll please.... My savings was 33%.

It wasn't too bad of a day. I got a good amount of groceries, though I wish I had spent a little less. I still came out on top. I love when things go right.

Next week I will make sure to have every coupon with me before I leave and I will double and triple check every transaction before paying. I still can't believe I did that. Grr.

Now time to spend a little cuddle time with the babies before we head off to the basketball court.

Finally...

I got a NEW, to me, camera!

Now I can take pictures of all my crafts, projects, adventures, and my little ones.

Another awesome thing happened. Last night I got my new photo organizer. So far I have used 15 of the 16 cases. I had a great time going through all of our old photos and trying to separate them into the right categories.

After my Grandma had passed I went up north to Wisconsin to visit my Grandpa for the funeral. We went through all of the pictures she had, and boy did she have a lot. I would have to say she could have easily had over a thousand pictures of her family, spread out between over 30 or so photo albums. I got to take home all of the little albums she had of my two babies and also a couple that she had with pictures of me when I was a baby.

Yes, that is me.

It was so much fun getting to reminisce old memories with my family. It was sad that a death in the family brought on the reunion, but it was also nice to see my extended family. Some I had not seen in over 10 to 20 years. It was amazing to see the look on their faces when they realized it was me.

Anywho, back to the story at hand. I received the new photo organizer last night and today I am happy to say that all of my pictures are not put away in an orderly fashion. Before they were either hanging out in an old shoe box, in small albums, or laying around in drawers. I admit, I didn't take very good care of my photographs, but again, that is why I bought this awesome organizer.

YAY! This thing is the shizz!

Next thing I need to do is create labels for each of the boxes. 

I highly recommend this photo organizer. Jen from IHeart Organizing! was a genius when she put this nifty organizer on her site. I am obsessed with her blog and with my new photo organizing friend!

Tomorrow, I will show you how I jimmy rigged my own crafty little corner. I think it is pretty spiffy.

Critics Choice

Now, I don't claim to be a good critic, but each and every one of us is critical about something in life. I chose to be critical of movies. Particularly movies derived from books.

I love, love, LOVE reading. I have read The Twilight Saga more than once. I have read The Hunger Games trilogy more than 3 times. (I will admit that I am very much looking forward to seeing how Hollywood adapted these books into movies.)

    The Book

The Film

I am in the process of reading all of the Harry Potter books. I originally set a goal for myself that after finishing each book, I would watch it's corresponding movie. After the 4th book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, I cheated and watched the rest of the movies. However, I have been able to still compare notes. I am almost completed with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. So far, my favorite has been Goblet of Fire.

The Book

The Film

Over the next few months I really want to explore different books that were made into movies. Were they kept true to the book? What was different? What was kept the same? And last, but obviously not least, what was my favorite and least favorite part.

If you have any suggestions on books to read and their movie counterparts... please let me know. I would love to hear from you.

Out with the OLD, in with the NEW...

Year!

This year I have a lot planned. Not only do I have my own personal resolutions, but also resolutions for the family.

For the last almost 7 years I have put the family first, as most mothers do. But after the last 7 years I have come to the conclusion that my waist line has seen better days and my backside tends to jiggle more than the jello I made the night before.
Starting next Monday I will be starting my journey to rediscovering my pre-baby body. Though I know I will not be as small as I used to be, because as they say on One Tree Hill, "Zero is NOT a size!"
Come Monday I will be starting P90X.  I fully plan on sticking to it this time. The last time I "tried" I lasted all but two weeks. This time I am bound and determined to fit into my size 5 jeans that I absolutely LOVE!

Another resolution for myself is to become more organized. For anyone that has known me either since birth or from when I was a teenager, knows that I am not the most organized person on the planet. When I was a child everything that went missing in the house ended up under my bed. Though those days are long gone, I still have not gotten the hang of putting everything back where it belongs. So, to begin the journey to my organization resolution, I have subscribed to 3 organizing websites and I have already begun little projects.  The first was to organize all of our photos, and trust me we have a lot.

I have purchased a Photo Keeper from Amazon.

I got the idea from Jen at iHeart Organizing! She has amazing ideas when it comes to organizing. I recommend her site to everyone who is struggling with their organizational skills like me. 

When it came to resolutions for the family, I could think of one right off the bat.  Less time on our computers and the Xbox 360 and more time with each other. So much time of ours has been spent on the couch watching TV, playing Call of Duty, or sitting at our computers playing games or surfing the internet. 

With the cold and rainy days that have plagued us as of late, we have found that getting out and about is a difficult task.  Building forts has become our new favorite even here in our home. If it were up to them, they would have a fort in every room in the house.

I also want to start leaving the weekends to family time. No Xbox, TV (unless it is a family movie time), and no computer time. We are going to fill that time with crafts, reading, board games, and family outings... if the weather permits.

These don't seem like too much to ask, right? Hopefully it will all go over well with the little ones, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will stay on top of my personal goals as well.

Here's to a new year! Cheers!