Hello weekend!

Ok so seriously, I have no concept of time or day.  Yes it's the weekend but everyday feels like the weekend right now!  Nice!

Not too much going on this week on the topic of DIY or house stuff.  Dave was off a few nights and of course there was 4th of July so we've been doing lots of fun & family & non-productive type things.

We spent the holiday at my brother's house, he has the pool and it's just lovely being there with him and Krystal and my parents and my little family.  We had our own fireworks display which I am betting was better than Bel Air's.  We decided to do the 4th this way because for the last 2 years we've sat at the Safeway parking lot in town, hot and sweaty and not able to enjoy an adult beverage, only to sit through a so-so fireworks show.

We decided that we were done with that.  It's only worth it if there is a long, amazing firework show, which sadly...our town just can't produce.   I am hoping I am wrong and they stepped up their games this year!

We had a great time swimming all evening, and I got to chill safely in the pool while the pyros (Jonathan, Krystal & Dave) set off everything.  We had yummy food too!  We played a fair amount of basketball type games...Jonathan put this impossible-to-shoot net in the pool.

Dave made a shot from his seat.

I made a shot from that back corner.  Ashley just had a great time overall - barely came out of the water except for...

Food!  We had so much!  Ham to make sammies, brats, hot dogs, burgers, corn, potato salad, mac salad, chips and dip...everything you can imagine an American family would have on the 4th of July;)  Except for crabs...but that will come tonight;)

This is a fairly intense game of HORSE going on;)

What a fun day!  I want to spend every 4th of July like that!  We had so much fun that Jonathan and my dad decided there is going to be a 4th of July in August!  ;)

Meanwhile, Dave and I are going to see some fireworks tonight in Havre de Grace.  We always enjoy their show, much better than Bel Airs!  Yipee!!!

My next project is to create a sweet little outdoor grill cart.  I got the inspiration from here:

I love that this one has everything that you would need while grilling like plates, a napkin (for messy hands and hot kabob skewers!) a tray, and a little caddy to hold some utensils.  Dave won't have to make as many trips in and out of the house to get those things and if we get all weatherproof items, they can just stay out there.  Hip hip hooray for convenience!

It just so happens that my mom had this sitting in their garage, all rusty and ready for a new home and makeover:

I am going to sand it and spray it a happy, bright color, and then probably coat it with some clear poly cover to keep it weather proof.  It will sit right next to our grill, ready to help!  I even bought a few accessories already too!  I have to decide which color to spray it, Dave wants orange and I think that may be perfect:)

The navy tray, green caddy, and yellow-green napkin are clearance finds from Home Goods - I spent less than $25 for all three!  The pepper shakers, BBQ bowl, disposable napkins and can opener are from Target - either clearance or ONE SPOT finds, about $11 for all of that stuff.  I also need to scrounge up some outdoor glasses or tumblers, and some weather proof utensils (maybe just plastic?) to complete the package.  

I've been waiting to jazz up our outdoor space, we spend tons of time out there now that it's summer.  I'm thinking of DIYing an outdoor rug as well.  Maybe something like this:

or this...

or this...I love a good stripe!

The DIY process seems fairly easy to do, and cheap.  I love cheap and easy!  No jokes;)

Anyways, I'll get working on all of that and get you some pictures!!  Happy Weekend!!!

Crossing it off!

Here is my weekly post about the ever-growing TO DO list.  Here is what it looks like as of 1:00pm today:

I'm rolling through it slowly but surely!

Patching up some holes created by yours truly.  I had a fight with the towel bar and tp holder.  I lost.  Then they lost;)  They needed to be replaced anyways...

 Then I had to sand and paint over them...

The paint isn't quite dry here yet.  But I am dubbing Phase 1 of this project done.  Moving on to phase 2 which is installing a new towel bar.  The TP holder isn't getting replaced.  We are going to use one of those free standing TP holders because everyone in our family is way too lazy to REPLACE the TP when it runs out.  I'm figuring, the easier it is to do, the more we will do it?  Hopeful thinking;)

Oh and I patched a random hole in the door too.  This calls for the whole door to get repainted.  I should add that to my list:/

Then I worked on the basement storage room where we had the flood.  It was such a MESS.  I cringed every time I had to go in:/  Warning, it's NOT pretty...

Junk! Junk everywhere!!!

We could hardly walk in our laundry room!  Oh the horror!

So out it all came, to be placed in piles for Good Will or the dumb, or to keep.

Then, I got busy getting organized, and taking stuff where it needed to go (don't worry, I fixed CHAULK to CAULK!)

My label maker is my BFF.

This is so far from done, but at least we can find things.  The pile in the very front is for the dump.  I need Dave to help me with that but his schedule has been so crazy lately, there hasn't been a good time.  Obviously we have some contractor-stuff to do here, take down and put up walls, put in tile, etc.

But at least you can walk into our laundry room again!

Stuff for the dump, once that comes out it'll be much less stress inducing.

Then I took an hour and took pictures of tons of stuff for Craiglist.  Unused scrap booking supplies, Ashley's furniture (we are totally redoing her room, it's going to be so cute!), and other miscellaneous stuff.

I feel happy when I am productive!  I can cross that off my Happiness Chart for today!  

Maltagliata

Because I am a lover of all-things-Italian, I wanted to make homemade pasta last week.  It was a super fun process and I learned a LOT about how to make pasta and how to not make pasta!  It's a fairly easy process too!  I'll share my do's and don'ts:

DO get your 14 year old step daughter to help.  It's fun for everyone.  She gets to put her hands in sticky dough and make a mess...what could be better??

DO use a recipe that you trust and love, like for me...I use Frances Mayes because she is my American-turned-almost-Italian-guru.

Oh and DO rotate your pictures when you upload them.  I do not;)

DO have bigger counters than I do, if possible.  You need a lot of space!

DON'T worry about having a pasta maker machine.  Or...DO worry about it.  These are our "badly cut pasta" noodles, or what the Italians call Maltagliata:

MALTAGLIATI

Maltagliati literally means 'badly (mal) cut (tagliati)'. So maltagliati pasta basically comprises very roughly chopped shapes of pasta. These shapes don't take a particular form as such - you can just chop any fresh pasta you've made into medium sized strips or shapes, using a sharp knife or pizza/ravioli cutter, and call it maltagliati.

Maltagliati is also often produced using scraps of leftover pasta dough (or you could, for instance, break packet lasagna sheets into bits).

We don't have a pasta machine yet (oh but do I want one for my Kitchen Aid!!  So badly!!)

DO roll your pasta out as thin as you can make it.  We didn't:/  Whoops!

DO cut your maltagliata in anyway you want.  It's badly cut, so anything is a go!!

DON'T pile them on top of each other, they will stick together.

DO make a yummy sauce.  We made Chicken Alfredo.  yum yum!

DON'T laugh at our pasta;)

DON'T realize halfway through the process that you have used self-rising flour instead of all purpose.

DON'T use self-rising flour.  It's comical how big the noodles turned out!

DO enjoy your pasta, no matter how it turns out.  It all tastes the same.  YUMMY!

AAARRRRGGH

Have you ever read a book that you just HAD to finish, and it was SO good, but...ARGH!!!  I can't even talk about it because you just need to read it so we can talk about it.  Anyone.  Just read it.  I can't say anything on here because it will ruin in.  ARGH ARGH ARGH.

The Fault in our Stars by John Green.  I read it because I joined a YAlit club in Baltimore and we are talking about it at the end of July.  But I can't wait until then.  SOMEONE READ IT!

Inspired Happiness Project

After reading GR's Happier at Home I was inspired to do a little project myself.  Just for a month, to see what happens.  Now, I am already a fairly happy person, so this project is to help me substantiate and sustain my happiness, appreciate it a little more because...well...I feel very blessed in life and I want to make sure I am being thankful, humble, grateful about that happiness and I want to share it!

GR has a template on her website, but I couldn't figure out how to type my resolutions into it, so I ended up copying hers and making my own.  Here is hers.  I will also share mine with you if you want, but you'll have to email me for it as I can't make google documents work right now.

Here is my chart filled out with my resolutions!

These are resolutions that work for me.  Yours may be a little different.  I like this little project because it actually helps me be a little more accountable for my life, happiness, prayer, health, sanity, etc.  I hung this up right next to my side of the bed, so I can give myself a little check mark every day on any of the columns that I accomplish.  This will help me think more about what makes me happy, its active happiness!  How very self-aware and counselor-ish of me.  We will see what happens!  Since today is the 28th (actually the 29th now!) I started at the bottom and will loop up into July.  

Let me sum up my resolutions.  

Pray - I usually pray throughout the day when I think of something or have time or need help (guilty) but this resolution will help me pray purposefully, maybe right before bed or when I wake up.   I need to carve time out of my life to pray and give thanks to God, not just here and there or when I have time.   Jesus makes me happy, so why not spend some purposeful time with Him!

Make a healthy choice - When I feel healthy, I feel happy.  I feel good.  This could be any healthy choice.  Like going to the gym.  Or not eating candy, or skipping french fries or taking a walk.  I wanted it to be general and free formed, because I think it will be easier to keep it.  Plus, it'll help me see that I AM making health choices and hopefully encourage me to make more healthy choices.

Earth - Lately I've been reading a lot about something called "earthing".  It's the matter of connecting your body to the actual ground, like putting your feet in the grass.  There is all this research out there (trying Googling it!) that says that earthing is so healthy for you in so many ways.  It grounds our bodies, electrically, because we have so much negative charge.  When our bodies come in contact with the ground, some of that negative charge flows into the earth and stabilizes our bodies.  It's supposed to help with stress, sleep, pain, and so much more.  It's really interesting.  So...I'm trying a little experiment with it;)  Less stress and pain; more sleep?  Sounds like a happy life to me!

Tackle a project - You know I love to DIY and get stuff done!  Part of my personal happiness is productivity, so this is totally on my happiness resolution chart.  It doesn't have to be a big project and it doesn't say to finish a project, just tackle one;)

Spend out - This is a Gretchen Rubin statement.  It means to give, or help, or look outside myself to see what others need.  I do this in my job a lot, but right now in summer I don't want to be selfish.  I want to make a solid effort to help others, be kind, volunteer, give, spend out;)  Nothing to do with money, unless I am giving for a cause.  Giving out would make others and myself happy, hopefully!

Hugs - I need to hug more.  I need to hug generously and earnestly and let people know that I love them to pieces.  I don't hug and show my love to people enough.  Personal contact with the ones we love help make us all happy!

Don't bite - This may be a surprise to some (not to Dave;)  lol!) but I have somewhat of an undercover red-headed temper sometimes (I was born with a head full of red hair.  It all fell out and came back as blond, but the temper still lurks up there)  I used to think that having a freak out was a good expression of my feelings, but it never leads to good things.  I yell at dumb drivers a lot too - it's terrible!  They don't hear me, but I do it!  I need to be slow to anger, underreact, and think about my words and actions.  Being more calm will probably help me enjoy life more, and others will enjoy me more;)

Seek adventure - I love to do this.  I am very adventurous!  I love to find new things to do, new places to see, new restaurants to try or parks to walk through.  It makes me, and usually my family, very happy and I want to be more thoughtful about this part of me.  I want to go on a new adventure at least once every month.  It doesn't have to cost money, but it can, and it has to be new!  There is too much world out there to not have new adventures.  

So there you have it.  My resolutions.  I'll try my best, probably forget a lot, but it should be fun.  Remember, these are what make me happy, what makes you happy could be totally different.  I would encourage you to read the books, if you are into this sort of thing!  They are really good and just make sense!  If you want a blank copy of my chart, email me!  

Cheers :)