"My Nearly Free Headboard"

Hey! I actually finished a project! I think it only took me about 7 months *lol* Can anyone relate to that? This is my headboard made out of an old door. I love it! Growing up I had nasty mismatched furniture...when I got married I thought it would be so awesome to have a matching set of bedroom furniture....so we took our wedding money and spent $2200 on 2 dressers and a bed. This was before I knew about craigslist! Well, every place we've lived has not been big enough to hold the furniture...so we sold it for $800. Aaack! And now I'm back to mismatch and I LOVE IT! :) It's sometimes hard for me to have things incomplete for so long....how long will it take for my "vision" to be fulfilled? This whole house is a work in progress so I guess it's just a process and I want it to be a reflection of me. Who cares what my hubby thinks...hahahaha. No, really he's coming around and he likes old stuff that's creative. I just don't say the word "shabby chic" because he'll think it's foofoo girly stuff. :) I'm going to post step by step pics at a later date. Hopefully sooner than 3 months....that's how long it's been since my last post. I'm terrible! Now it's time to make meatloaf...something I don't relish....but maybe this new recipe will turn out. If not, then I will be eating mashed cauliflower for dinner. By the way if you haven't tried mashed caulifower yet, YOU MUST! It's way better than potatoes!

Tis the Season To Be....Trusting....God!

This is my little Christmas corner that makes me smile....I've been very frustrated with my walls lately - they need a "treatment" and we haven't had the money to do it. This pic doesn't show how bad they are. Most of the walls have white sheetrock mud all over them, trying to fill in and mask what the previous owners were trying to do. The "sewing table" was $5 at a yard sale. I have plans for it - later. The old door was $5 at a yard sale. I took all the paint off with lye. That will be explained later. I had 2 doors and turned the other into a headboard. The window was $1 at a yard sale. It too will have another home when I get it figured out....So I just took some of my shabby stuff and put it all together and I like it! :)
On another note....trusting God....We are at a place where God has to do a miracle in our finances. Hubby was off work for one week, with more to come. No paycheck for that week because you have to claim your "waiting week" with the unemployment dept and they don't pay for the waiting week. I remember a couple weeks ago I figured out how much the next cycle of bills was going to be and even with a regular paycheck we couldn't cover them. NOW, we have less than that because of not working! All these questions go through my mind....Will God provide? Will I be able to cover the utility bills? Does He care? Will he provide like I think? Will I be able to pay the whole electric bill or just enough to get by? Because when I think about how BIG my God is, I think that the money should be there to pay all the bills ON TIME. That is my version of "provision". Just being real here guys. My faith is little. But I want to report back next week and be able to say "My God is Big - He gave us over and above what we asked/needed." As Jesse Duplantis says "My God is Not Enough, He's Too Much!" I'll keep you posted on my faith journey. And I'm gonna be honest!

Pumpkin Bars W/ Cream Cheese Frosting

PUMPKIN BARS W/ CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
(It's like what chocolate is to peanut butter!)

2 cups flour
1 tsp soda
2 tsp bkg powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c sugar
4 eggs well beaten
2 c pumpkin
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c oil

Beat eggs, add pumpkin, cinnamon, oil and vanilla. Mix well. Add the rest of dry ingredients. Combine.
Cut wax paper to fit the bottom of a 10x15 pan (I call this a jelly roll pan). Pour batter into pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 min. Cool. Frost and cut into bars.
*There is a bigger pan out there that is more common than 10x15 - I think it's 11x17. I'm sure this would work, just adjust your baking time. There is plenty of frosting with this recipe so don't worry about not having enough for the larger pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 box (1#) powdered sugar
Cream the cream cheese and butter, add vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat until soft and creamy.

For more great recipes go to Grocery Cart Challenge!

I Never Knew

I just had to share....I took some snapshots with my little guy on the fly the other day and ended up with a good one! I must admit....I look at photos of really good photograpers to get ideas! Shhhh. I also have another secret. I tear up when I talk about him. Why? I don't know. I'm not an emotional person. But everytime I share a story or a funny moment - my eyes water. I guess he's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me! And he brings a smile to my face everyday. I never knew this kind of love until I had a child.

Menu Plan Monday

I feel like my meals have been on the "fly" lately. Plus - I am tired of all my 'usuals'. So I spent some extra time planning this week and visiting my new favorite recipe site. I only plan for dinners. I don't plan which day I will have what - I just wing it - it depends on what's going on for the day and what's quick if we are busy and so on....I'm also crockpotting a bunch of chicken because I know it's on sale at Safeway this week for 99 cents a lb. So here's what's cooking this week in no particular order!

Pork Pulled Sandwiches

Chimichangas Blancas

Steak Inspired Slow-Cooked Beef , Mashed Potatoes & Green Beans

Beef Stroganoff (with leftover Beef)

Chicken Tetrazinni

Hobo Bags (with leftover chicken or beef)

Pizza (Maybe Chicken Ranch Pizza with leftover chicken?)

For more great ideas visit here.

My Claim to Fame

Ok, so maybe it's not Hollywood but maybe it's "BloggyWood"!
My sister and I have been following Gail at Grocery Cart Challenge for awhile now and have been inspired to "Eat for Less"! We happen to live in the general vicinity of Gail and wouldn't you know it.....she actually is a real person! We saw her twice in one day, I almost felt like a stalker! We do our grocery shopping on Mondays (just like Gail) and also frequent the same liquidators. So as we're pulling in to SNS Liquidators my sister says "Gail shops on Mondays, maybe we'll see her!" TeeHee! There was a green volvo in the parking lot and I remember reading that she drove a volvo. I promptly forgot about it as we went in. We grab our carts and start perusing the "aisles" and Sara says "There she is! Did you see her? She's at the checkout! I almost didn't recognize her b/c her hair is longer and not as curly as her picture" I'd like to tell you now that I was brave and outgoing and went and introduced myself as her stalker - but I didn't. I just peeked around the shelving non chalantly (is that spelled correctly?) and gave the checkout a looksee.....and then in a whisper "Yes I saw her!" Aren't we silly. THEN we went to WinCo and I saw her heading to the checkstands and I started running from the end of the front area trying to catch her "Gail, Gail! I read your blog everyday, what are you buying can I look in your cart, How much did you spend today?! Can I get your autograph?" OK, that last sentence was a lie. But then I found my sister and she said "Did you see Gail? I was really close to her cart, she left it unattended with her purse and her shopping list!" No Way I said.
By the way, I made Taco Casserole tonight, just like Gail. Do you think I'm a threat? ;)

Projects!

Ok, so how many projects do you have going?!? It seems that I'm not getting very many of mine done....not to mention this blog....I think about things to write all the time, but most times I'd rather go to bed....but tonight it's 11:30pm and I'm waiting for bread to rise! AAAkkkkk! So I started a list...I add things to it as I think of them...and sometimes I just put things on it that I've already done just so I can cross it off the list! That way when I have a few minutes I just look at my list and see what I can fit into my open time frame. Otherwise I just dink around and try to remember all the things that need done.....Here a few of my ongoing projects.....




This is a burp rag I made for a friend of mine...I want to make more to have on hand for baby showers, very reasonable to make and they don't take much time, unless it's your first one, and it took me about 6 weeks! No joke. The second one took about 45 minutes!

Well, lo and behold - I haven't downloaded the rest of my project pics but I will tell you they include: Turning an old dresser into a sink for my bathroom. Stripping the paint off of 2 old doors and making them into headboards. Oh and a house that is a project all it's own. That's all for now, must check on the bread and get some much coveted sleep.....