This is a perilous journey - trying to read 10 books;)

This series is seriously cute!!  I read the first one a few months ago - then in March I bought the whole set because I enjoyed it so much.  There are three altogether.  Perilous Journey is the second book.  The children set off on an adventure set up by their friend and mentor, Mr Benedict, only to learn he has been kidnapped by his evil twin brother Mr Curtain.  I enjoy reading books that have a good moral lesson for children - this book is one - good triumphs over evil but with lots of obstacles and learning along the way.  This book is definitely considered Kidlit, which you all know by now that I love!!  It's perfect for your young readers Grades 4 and up (probably...I'm not a teacher so I really dont know reading levels well!) I give it a 4:

If you need to know how I rate my books, scroll to the bottom of my blog and there's a little book "key" that explains my rating system.  Most of my books lately have been a 4 or 5!

So...this was only book 6 for April.  I'm not going to be able to read 10 this month!  I'm on 7 now (The Screwtape Letters, which is way short) and I'll finish that one but that will probably be it.  April was a busy month for me - birthdays and getaways and shower and parties and cake pops - I just didnt find a lot of time to read.  Oh well, I am still going to keep my challenge and try harder next month!  Even though I get way busy or get sick, I still like have the challenge to motivate me.  I'm having such a wonderful time reading all these books!!!  So far this year I've read (almost) 37 books!  That's pretty crazy if ya ask me!  I love reading, so so much, so I'm having fun with it:)

I hope you all enjoy reading the blog!  I've had a few friends tell me lately that they are reading it (Hi Sherre!  Hi Katie Mac!!) it warms my heart to know you guys are taking time out of your busy lives to learn about my boring one - I hope it's entertaining at least sometimes...

Now I'm off to read some more, maybe finish the next book - I guess I could start book 8 for April...and just finish it this weekend. We'll see, I'm not beating myself up about it.   Stuff happens, right!?!?

Happy Weekend everyone!!!  Please, give me ideas for books to read - I need 8 more months worth:)

Where will you celebrate?!?

Ok, so maybe its my familys English heritage (My aunt lives there, my grandmother grew up there, my great grandmother was born there - all on moms side) or whatever but I love love love learning and reading about the Royals in good ol' London!!  I was obsessed with Diana as a kid, her dress was my dream wedding dress (now I think, WHAT was I thinking...lol - I know, it was the style back then) and I never really cared about weddings until I watched Diana and Charles' wedding on tape which I was like 6 or something and then I was always thinking about mine!

Needless to say, I am freaking excited about the Royal Wedding tomorrow.  Of course, it starts at 4am and I do NOT function well at 4am.  If I didnt have to work all day, I may try it, but since I have to be awake and peppy for a full day of counseling students, teachign guidance lessons, and running small groups, my DVR is doing the work at 4am and I will watch the big event with my friends tomorrow night!  Shout out to Katie Drost and possibly Crystal Conklin for a Royal Wedding Watching Party:)  I will probably leave my TV on overnight and if I happen to wake up, so bit it.  I'll just be tired!

I get happy tears thinking about their big day!  Look how happy they are:

Maybe it's because I'm a newlywed myself (June 13th will be a year) and I have so many happy memories from my day:

Or maybe it's because my older brother is getting married in 3 weeks:

That's his finace Krystal - they get married on May 15th!!  This picture was taken at our wedding, which they were both in...

Whatever the reason, I get all giddy and sappy just thinking about weddings these days!  This Royal one is huge, and even though I don't know Will or Kate personally, its part of history and I feel like being a part of that!

So tomorrow night we will gather with pizza (classy, I know) and a heart shaped cake I am making just for the occasion (corny, I know) and I will probably just wear my PJs (which would probably make Kate faint, PJs to a wedding?!?) and we will watch history!  I sincerely wish the couple happy and full of love days ahead!  Best Wishes and Congrats!  I can't wait!



Goodbye Spring Break:(

Oh where oh where does the time go?  5 days just flew by me in a flash.  I had a great break though!  I finish two whole books, almost my goal of finishing 3;)  I'm working on Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey now (book 2 in this series...)

I totally repurposed a while IKEA sofa table I had, sanded it and painted it black to go in our hallway for our "launch pad" entry table....only to realized after I did all the work that it doesn't fit in that spot!  It's too big!  OH MAN!  It's really nice too, looks like new.  So now we have to 1) find where to put and use this new beautifully redone piece of furniture (pics to come) and 2) find something else to put in our foyer hallway.  Moral of the story: always measure your furniture to make sure it fits.  We've only lived here a year and already we have more furniture than we have room for.

I got a lot of cleaning done, but mostly a lot of hanging with with family and friends.  Thu I went to my parents to help work on the house, at night Katie Drost (Hi Katie!) and I watched HP 7 Part 1 together.  Friday I went to the Lancaster Outlets for some shopping, it was so fun.  Then Dave and I got ready and went down to Bmore for the Orioles game but it go cancelled:(  We ended up ordering pizza back home and having a quiet night it.  Saturday I went shopping with Katie Mac (Hi Katie!) and then spent the evening going to church with Dave, Ashley & my MIL Joyce, and going to DuClaw after with Dave.  Yesterday was a day full of fun and family, Easter service at Joyce's church and dinner and Easter Egg fun times.  Here are some pictures.....

 Connie, MIL Joyce, Ashley and Dave....

 me, Ash, Dave - my family:)

 Just me - with the pretty tree....

 Dave & I hiding eggs for Ashley to find...

 Ashley hunting the eggs...

 Then Ash hid them for us and we found them, gotta love joining in on the fun!

 We celebrated Ashley's 12th bday, which is actually today, with ice cream cake and gifts later at the house...

 Make a wish!

 Oh, here are our eggs - solids and tye dyes....

 Ashley at home, getting ready to find all her gifts.  Dave & I wrapped and hid them all and came up with clues so Ashley went on a Scavenger Hunt to find them all....we hid them is crazy places...

 This chair was all set up in here room, she started here....

 We hid one in the dryer,

 In the shower, sorry its so blurry...

 In the craft room....

 These were just a few of the clues, there were 10 all together I believe,  it was so fun watching her scramble around excited to find her gifts.  It was a cool way to present her gifts too - she loved it.

All done and ready to open!  Again, sorry for the blur!

Today for Ashley's actual bday we spent the day at Six Flags America riding rides like the Superman and Batman and Jokers Jinx, my head is still rattling around!  It was a perfect day, actually a little too hot to be there and not have access to the water park (it's closed til summer) but overall it was so fun.  Then we took her out to Olive Garden fora big dinner.

My break was awesome.  I spent time with a lot of people I love, shopped for the first time in ages, and ate way too much!  Tomorrow it's back to work and reality.  I'm not ready!!  I hope everyone had a wonderful, fun and relaxing Spring Break. 

The Saturdays, and Sundays....and Mondays:)

Finished Book 5: The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright



It was so cute!  So you know how I am on this big "kidlit" kick right now.  This is definitely a kids book, its short and sweet - which is sorta why I chose it.  I had to give up The Host and Maybe this Time, because they were due back at the library and I was out of renews for those.  So I had to replace them.  The Saturdays was one of those, and I'm not sure what the other one will be yet! 

This book was about 4 children, brothers & sisters, who come up with a Saturday club where they put all their allowances together and go on fantastic adventures only on Saturday.  It's such a sweet book and any kid will love it, big or little:)  I give it a 4:)

Oh my, Spring Break has gone by way too fast!   Today was such a lovely day - going to church with family, eating dinner at my MIL's and dyeing & hiding & hunting Easter eggs, letting Ashley open her bday gifts early (we did a scavenger hunt - it was so fun!) and just beign together.  Tomorrow (Monday) is my last day off.  It is Ashley's birthday and we are taking her to Six Flags America for the day.  It'll be so fun and a perfect day for an amusement park, 80 some degrees and sunny!  I've gotten a lot done this weekend and I've had lots of fun - I'll get into details tomorrow.  Now I have to start a new book and get ready for tomorrow!  Happy Easter Everyone!

Totally redeeming myself....

After getting NOTHING done over the past two weeks, I am proud to say I've been getting soooo much done.  I miss staying at home, I need to be a homemaker - which I'd never thought I'd want to do!!!  Is that what marriage does to women?  I want to be all domestic and 50's like...it's so weird. 

Anyways, I've cleaned my downstairs for the most part - I still need to do the baseboards and the walls and a few of the windows, but the floors and all the surfaces and the kitchen is clean and the clutter that has built up is gone. 

Last night I made dinner and cookies, and they turned out so lovely, see:

I also started working on the "launch pad" table for our foyer, and it's looking good.  I can't wait to finish it (tonight) and set it up so I can start hanging the cute little city plates up and our "B" for Bland, its going to be so cute! 

I also when shopping today, yay!!  I don't shop for me much, as in clothes and girly stuff.  But Dave & I decided that this pay we would spend a little bit on us.  I needed NICE clothes, stuff to wear to work and church and out, some of my work clothes are years old and are old and don't fit right, they need to be thrown away.  So this am I hopped in the car all by myself and went to the Lancaster Outlets.  Dave had to sleep all day, and honestly I love shopping alone, because I don't have to worry about someone waiting on me or wanting me to hurry up - I can take my time and do my own thing.  It was so fun!  I went to Gap and Banana and got a LOT of stuff for under $130.  Then I came back and went to Kohl's and bought a cute dress for $21 thanks to a coupon:)

I even helped mom out yesterday for a few hours, we demo'd the sink in their bathroom, it was a learning experience and really fun.  Now I can know out our sink/countertop when we re-do our bathroom instead of paying someone $1000 to do it!  Wooo!

Tonight we were supposed to be at the O's game in Baltimore, we drove down there and ate at Pickles Pub, went into the stadium only to learn the game was postponed because of rain.  Boooo.  It's ok though, we automatically get to go to the make up, and hopefully it'll be a nicer, warmer, sunnier day!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Spring Break/Easter Weekend!!  I know I am!  Remember the reason we get to celebrate this time of year...it's important:)



A Pioneer Review

I finished this book last night!  It was really good, very cute.  The author, Ree, writes about her life as a city girl come home during a transition who falls madly in love with a cowboy.  It is such a sweet love story, such a journey with the author from turning herself inside out making choices for love.  Its worth it in the end.  I love the story because it shows the change of a woman during love, marriage and pregnancy and how we have to get over ourselves sometimes, to show others our love.  She does a great job of writing REAL love, and REAL life, and how no matter what happens, love is always there during the tough times.  I highly recommend it!  I give it:

4 books!!  Oh and Ree has a blog too - she has been blogging since 2006 and got her book idea off of blogging.  What an inspiration!!  Go check it out: The Pioneer Woman.

Ok, now on to book 5, whichever book that will be:)  Oh how I love days off, thank you Spring Break!



Yes, I'm alive!!!

Oh man, its been a WEEK since I've posted last!  It's so sad!!

I've been so crazy busy, it's not even funny!!  I've been on ONE book for over a week because I haven't had any time to read - I havent cleaned my house or done laundry or done anything in the way of house projects.  Its bad!! 

It's spring break so I have 5 days off school.  Honestly, it's time for ME time....I've spent so much time on other people, doing things for other people, which is wonderful and fulfilling but everything happened all at once and I've had absolutely no time for me, to do things that I need to get done or want to get done (like reading...)

Of course..when I got home from work today instead of DOING things that need to be done, I made dinner and fell asleep on the couch for 3 hours.  Now I'm too sleepy to do anything.  Tomorrow, I've told my parents that I will help in their house more for a few hours...siiiiiiiggghhhhh, so my house stuff will have to work around it.  They need the help and hey, they pay me to help renovate so it's all good, its just hard for me to say no sometimes when I know people need the help. 

Honestly, I've had no time or motivation to stick to my April Happiness Goals.  So sad.  I havent been getting up to work out, I've neglected my food diary, and my one line journal.  I set myself up this month for failure by giving myself too much to remember!  I'd still like to do the Happiness Project, but this month should've been "Focus on others" because I'd be a winner on that one:)  So I'm tweeking my "Be Healthy" goals for April, even though it's almost over, to just working out - to do at least 10 minutes a day, no matter what it is:)  I can do that!  Sometimes we have to let ourselves fail to learn a lesson. 

So what's on the ME agenda for this break?  Here is my mile long TO DO list.  It won't all get done, but I plan on putting a good chip in it:

1.  Get hair cut
2.  Go shopping for some clothes (I need work clothes!) for every item I buy I get rid of something I dont      wear! 
3.  Start spring cleaning:

• kitchen - clean floors, counters, appliances, walls, baseboard
• first floor - clean floors, dust surfaces, wash windows, clean clutter, clean walls and baseboards
• our bedroom - put winter clothes away, dust, vacuum, clean windows, baseboards, walls
• vacuum upstairs
• clean bathrooms, baseboards, mirrors, walls, counters and shower/bath
• get clutter out
• put stuff in attic (from room and basement)

4.  Work on "launch pad" new foyer table and hang pictures
5.  Finish books 4, 5, and 6..
6.  Work out!!
7.  Spend time with family and friends

That's my list so far, I'm sure there is more I want to do but can't think of right now.  I can't believe that April is going by so fast.  Does anyone else feel that way?  It'll be over next weekend?  How did that happen? 

Ok, game plan for tonight.  I'm going to start putting winter stuff away, getting summer stuff out, get rid of some more clothes, then take a nice hot bath, and then read until I fall asleep again.  Seeing as it's 10 pm I really cant launch a cleaning spree right now:) 

I've learned that two of my books are overdue at the library - so I may end up switching those out for two I have here - it's hard for me to keep up with library books during this busy month! 

More posts coming this weekend as I actually get stuff done thats blog worthy around here:)

A re-do or re-don't? Definitely a re-DO!

I have this IKEA chest that I bought a few years ago.  It's seen better days!  It's kinda beat up from moving twice with it, and a little dirty from its years with me.  See?

Please ignore the ugly carpet.  One day it'll be replaced!  Anyways, now the chest lives in my craft room (still organizing this room, its coming a long and really cute!) and for now I am keeping all the fabric I own for sewing projects (I have a lot, I'm not sure what to do with it all) inside of it.  I wanted to make it cute, but it was hard because it was so beat up.

 I'm going with English Country Garden theme down here....with green and white being the main colors, but with yellows and pinks thrown in - really girly honestly, but in a cute way:)  So I bought some pretty green & white contact paper at the Dollar Store and tried a little something:

I covered the top with the paper!  I think it's really cute, plus it hides all that damage the poor thing sustained in being owned by me. The green looks a little bright in this pic, its more sage green then lime, I need to figure out how to edit my Iphone pics to look nice. 

So, altogether, this little fun decor project cost less than $1 (I didn't use the whole roll of contact paper).  Now I'm wondering what else I can remake with this paper!!!  Gotta love a cheap project!  Not to mention, it wasn't time consuming at all.

Have any of you used contact paper to re-make something?

Linking up with:

Link Party! @ A bowl full of lemons!

I'm done the 3rd book of April!!!  Mockingjay...


The last book in the Hunger Games Series.  It was so sooo soooooo good.  All three of them.  Yes, they are Young Adult Lit, but its so grown up too - I know adults will love these books just as much!  This last installment of Katniss is all about the rebels (Katniss & friends) trying to over throw the evil Capital.  Some of it is heartbreaking, some of it is awesome.  Its really awesome!

I like Katniss, her character is very real, and very flawed.  I really enjoyed how Suzanne wrote her, if that makes sense.  A typical teenager, with way too much of the world on her shoulders, who messes up constantly and is seen by the people in a light she doesn't understand.  The personality of the "capital" astonished me, until I realized that's how the world is today.  People glorify things and people who really shouldn't be given any sorts of praise (um...I'm talking to YOU Charlie Sheen, Sookie, etc) and materialistic things instead of people who do good and matter to life in the world.

Anyways, I give this book a 5 obviously,

Please read it and tell me what you think, or tell me how you liked it!

Off to work I go.....

Catching Fire....

Before I review Catching Fire: Book 2 of Hunger Games, I need to review Book 1 officially.

Last week I made this Book 1 of April, since I was trying something new out of it and I like to have at least 1 cookbook on my list a month where I find a new recipe:



I give this book a 4. 

Its awesome!  I love making these cake pops, there are so many options of pops to make, I am going to do them again and again until I have all sorts of designs, maybe even open an Etsy shop selling my own?  We'll see....but the possibilities are endless with these tasty treats!  I recommend it if you love baking and love being creative.  Its a craft that you can eat.  How awesome is that??

Now for Book 2 on the April list:



This book gets a 5!

I did not want to put this one down!!  Just like the first one - but this time I made myself.  Since I am trying to Be Healthy this month, I couldn't stay up all hours of the night reading it.  But that was really hard.  Sleeping.  Going to work.  Not when there was such a good book to finish (one of the benefits of being a housewife in the winter...I could read right through a book in a day, no problem)!  Katniss' story continues and I can't even say what happens because if you haven't read the first book, it would just ruin it.  Read this series.  It's amazing!  I love love love it!  No, not as much as Harry Potter - but its right up there with Twilight fighting for my number 2 favorite series;)  I don't think it'll beat Twilight in that fight, but it's close!  LOL.  Book beating humor....what a dork;)

So tonight I am moving on to Book 3 (making up for lost time!) for April which happens to be Book 3 in the Hunger Games (last book) called Mockingjay.  I am sure that book will be done by Sunday, if not tomorrow.  It's the weekend and it's raining and I don't mind curling up on my couch and reading as much as my heart desires, with breaks for food, maybe some sleep, def some cleaning and cake popping;)

I've got some projects brewing for this weekend too, I'm hoping to get a few fun things done around the house so be on the look out, TeeBCrafty this weekend;) Have a pleasant Friday evening!

Happiness Project! Be Healthy!

I know I know, about time!! 
                   

Well April is my "Be Healthy" month, and I am using the quote "everything in moderation" to help me through it.  I really want me, and my family, to be healthier as a whole.  We are trying to use greener, healthier products in our house, trying to be healthier with finances, healthier as a Christian, and of course - eat well and exercise.  Perfect timing for this, since the weather is becoming nicer and there a whole bunch of weddings coming up (one of which I am in, my brothers!) that I'd like to look nice for!

Everything in moderation is to help me stay motivating, not to give me the excuse to eat whatever I want, as long as its "in moderation'.  It is more for the exercising.  I really do love to exercise, but I'm so busy and so TIRED all the time (I know, exercising makes it better blah blah blah, but you don't know me...this body doesn't work that way!!!) that finding the motivation to work out above all the other stuff I do is hard.  Half the battle is getting my work out clothes and shoes on, and either getting out the door or on the treadmill!  So exercising in moderation looks like this: I need to walk for at least 10-15 minutes a day.  Ok - it doesn't sound like a lot, but a wise doctor told me to start out this way, and build from here.  If I tell myself I have to work out for a hour today....um, yeah, I'm not going to do that!  A whole hour?  When I have so much other stuff to do and I am so exhausted?  Not gonna happen!  But....10 or 15 minutes?  Anyone can spare that;) 

Anyways, for my Happiness Project, each month has a goal and there are about 8 resolutions to help reach that goal.  Here are my 8 resolutions for April: Be Healthy Month:

1. Exercise every day for 10-15 minutes.  Walk, run, yoga.  Just do it!  AM exercise preferred...
2. Choose fruit/veggies whenever possible.  W-H-E-N-E-V-E-R!
3. Drink water.  Lots of it!
4. Take Vitamin D.  I'm severely low all the time.  This does not help my inclined-to-be-tired body.
5. Every night before bed have quiet time.  It helps the stress of the day melt away before I sleep.
6. Get to bed every night by 11pm.  This is really, really hard.  But, I know it's ESSENTIAL for health.
7. Keep a food journal everyday.  I hear this works wonders!
8. Act as I want to feel! 

That last one is borrowed right from Gretchen herself (author of Happiness Project).  Act as I want to feel.  I want to have lots of energy, I want to be thinner and super healthy, so gosh darn it I'm going to act that way!  We will see if that helps;)

I'll let you know what works for me, and what doesn't.  I eat fairly healthy right now, we don't do a lot of fried or fast foods, but I could cut back on things...like putting mayo on sandwiches, or eating sugar without thinking about it, or choosing healthier snacks to put in my lunch, etc.  It's a long road, changing little habits here and there - but I'm sure it'll be worth it!  I just really want to be an all around "healthy" person.  But...I want to be able to eat a burger here and there w/o complaining about it and making everyone around me miserable because they are eating a burger, lol!  I loathe those who feel that they are "better" because they can say no over and over to a piece of cake?  Eat some cake darn it!  It won't kill you to eat it once a month at a birthday party!!  I don't want to be a skinny girl, just a healthy girl.  I think I can manage that.

Since it's already 10:18pm and I have to be in bed in 42 minutes, it's time to sign off!   Let me know what works for you in your quest to be healthy!  Is it easy?  Is it hard?  I'm all ears!

PS I'm halfway through Catching Fire, I'm once again obsessed with these Hunger Games books - but NO staying up all night for me this time, I'm being healthy;)

PPS I was at the DR today (as part of my launching this months goal) and when she asked about babies I said, "well, we don't really know - we go back and forth between saying we want them now, and wanting to wait a few years..."  Her reaction to this?  HAVE A BABY!!  She said we will never "be ready" so we should just have one now!  LOL - isn't that funny?  I've heard this before, but coming from a doctor - it feels like a perscription!  HA!

Menu Planning!!!

Admist all my reading lots of books - I do try to be organized and run our home well!!  It does not always work out, and I'm still learning!  I've only been married for 10 months, and have only been a "mom" or a stepmom for that amount of time too.  Needless to say, theres a lot to learn on both accounts!  Learning we all like to do in free time, how clean we are, what our weekly menu looks like, it can be overwhelming sometimes - but in a good way!

I'm linking up with one of my fave blogs, a bowl full of lemons this week to learn how to plan a menu, shop for only those items on the menu - and be frugal while doing all of this!

If you like menu planning + frugal, you may want to check out 5 dollar dinners she has TONS of recipes on her website and if you want to, you can pay to sign up for her weekly or Since we are on Dave Ramsey, I'm not doing that, but I am using some of her menus for this week to make up my own $5 dinner plans.  The cool thing is, I picked all menus that include food items that we already have here at home, so this week its like $0 dinners;)  Anyways, I've only planned this week, and have only done dinner - since Ash and I are both in school all day (her learning, me counseling) and Dave sleeps during the day and works late at night (nurse) dinner is really the only meal we all eat together.  Of course, our breakfast and lunch items take up a bit of our weekly grocery budget too - but more on that later. 

Anyways, here are some pics I took of me planning our menu this week, and getting ready for weekly menu planning from here on out:

My Recipe Binder, which you can read more about how I made it, here

 Downloaded from $5 dinners, this is our monthly menu plan for April, not totally filled out yet....

 I printed out a TON of $5 dinners and keep them in the Recipe Binder

 I'm also going through a lot of my cookbooks and writing down our faves on this handy sheet, found randomly on the internet, and keeping this in the Recipe Binder too so its a one stop shop for all our favorite meals....

 See?

 The Monthly Menu plan will live in this binder too, as well as the Pantry stock list.  This list was compiled on $5 to help us figure out what staple foods and items I always need in my pantry to make most of her recipes, its a good list of things that most people usually already have too - I only need to buy a few things to complete it!

These are other free printables from $5 dinners - shopping lists.  There are two here that I like, one has space to list the meals for each week and what to buy, and the one the left is a list separated by sections of the grocery store....I like both!  I honestly think I'll fill the right one out during my meal planning time (probably on Sat when I cut coupons) and then transfer the list to the left one so that its shopping made easy in the actual store (who else tries NOT to forget anything in one part of the store, only to realize you have and go allllll the way back to the aisle to get it....so annoying!)

Anyways, so there is a lot that goes into this.  Couponing, meal planning, organizing, recipe building and searching, being frugal and being healthy (April is my BE HEALTHY month, I promise the Happiness Post on that is coming....) it's a lot to think of!

Saturdays I get my paper, I will sit down and find 7 meals (or 6 if we are going out that week, which we usually do once) and recipes from my books, my binder, or the internet.  From those, I will make my list of what to buy,  trying to be as frugal as possible, which is why I like $5 dinners and coupons!!  Then, I will clip coupons from the paper that I know I will use, the rest get recycled.  Never buy an item just because you have a coupon, only buy it if you actually eat it, and honestly only use them if its a good deal!  I also get on the computer and search coupons that way, again ONLY printing ones I know I will use.   Using the circulars from the paper, I will figure out where to buy my food.  Usually I go to the ShopRite right across the street, but if Target or Wal-Mart have a really good sale (last week W had 24 pop tarts for $5, can't pass that up since Ashley eats about 4 pop tarts a day!  She's gotta cut back...we're trying!)  Then, after gathering my coupons (I use little coupon pouches from Target), deciding what stores to go to, I'm off to shop!

I'll still be tweeking this process as I go.  I'm new at this.  But there is something nice about KNOWING what is for dinner every night, and preparing in advance.  It's also easier on our wallets, which is great since we are doing our Total Money Makeover!

So that's how I am planning my meals and menu!  Any tips or sharing of your process would be awesome!

FYI - I did finally finish Sense and Sensibility, it was SO good as I already said, way better than the movie.  I'm starting Book 2 of Hunger Games, I'm so excited:)

Cake Pops

Today I attempted to make cake pops again!  This isn't one of my April books, although now that I think of it, it should be!  I have never tried to make the bride and groom pops before, so it IS something new!  Maybe I will add this as a April book - I'd have to figure out what to bump until May....hmmmm

Anyways, this is the book, I got it for Christmas and have made one set of pops that were ok.  I get better with practice!!

Here are Bakerellas Bride and Grooms:


Hers are really cute - my dipping chocolate dried up before I could dip the grooms tuxes, so I improvised....


Here are mine:

These are practice pops, but I have two showers coming up that I have to make these for, I'll add ribbon to the final pops.  Aren't they cute??  Even though I didn't dip the grooms, they still look dapper, don't they?!?  These pops are chocolate cake mixed with fluffy white icing, dipped in white chocolate! 

I'm proud of myself:)  Practice makes perfect! 

I'm still working on Sense & Sensibility (from March) will prob finish that tonight and move on to April books finally!! I can't believe the weekend is over already, goes by so so fast...

Linking up with a bowl full of lemons for:



and also with...