Baby, it's getting cold outside

Took a small hiatus from blogging in order to enjoy the last months of summer but I'm going to make an effort to keep up with it. I'm committed!  In a previous post I made a Bucket List of things I wanted to do before Fall hit, let's see what I accomplished shall we:

1. Garage sale- I got this done and made some bucks.  I had the sale in October so the weather wasn't always the best but I had it on multiple days and it was totally worth it.  I made over $500 and got rid of so many things that I thought were trash!  What didn't sell went to the The Agape Help House in Pacific Mo.  This was a triple whammy, I cleaned out the basement, the shed and the garage in the process so this was a huge deal for me to get done.

Maxsens Contribution to the sale, a fit at the end of the driveway

2. Kitchen walls painted, pin boards hung and blue strip of tile back splash painted- I got 5 of the 6 pin boards hung, the last one I decided I didn't like the color and didn't finish installing it.  I have, however, changed my mind and like the color again and it's back on my to do list.  Lets not talk about the other stuff.

3. Photo albums organized (yes, I still print my photos, I absolutely love looking at old photos of my family and if I ever have a girl, she may want to do this. I hear boys have no interest in photos)- This had not even crossed my mind until I just printed 300 more pictures so I would have an empty camera card for my sons baptism.  I will get to it eventually.

4. House power washed (I happen to like power washing stuff)-DONE!  However, I paid someone to do it.  After trying to power wash my deck many times this summer I decided it was worth the $250 to have someone else do it, and I was right.

5. Pillows made for the condo-So not done but I JUST found perfect pillows on Etsy that I will be buying soon.  I have been searching for pillows since July so I am super excited about this one!

6. Accessorize the condo with pics (it is a massive sea of brown right now, it needs some blue and yellow badly!)-Been waiting to see what I came up with for pillows before I decorate at all.  Working on this I promise

7. Make some of the yummy desserts I have found on Pinterest-I don't know that I made any desserts but I did make some Buffalo Chicken bites that I found there.  They were a total PITA to make and just OK tasting.  Hopefully the deserts will be better.

8. Make a cake from scratch-Nope

9. Come to terms with my current obsession with all things yellow-Don't know what the issue is with this, I still love yellow and can't wait to see the yellow walls in the finished kitchen!

The yellow in the middle is the one I love

Meal Planning

I keep reading about how meal planning is key for many mommies and many mommies budgets so I feel it is something I should give the ole college try.  I'm not only doing this for the budget purpose but for the health aspect of it, we need to eat more whole foods around here and less pre made and processed foods.  We also need to eat more meals at home and not at restaurants which would work towards boths goals!  (GO US!) 

I'm not going to start off reading recipes and go to the grocery store and getting everything first though, I'm going to try something a little different.

My issue here is not only lack of ideas, it's that I buy a ton of stuff with the full intention of making some great masterpiece,  but then life with a toddler comes in and I'm either to tired or lazy to make it or I stare in the pantry like the little girl from Poltergeist waiting for something to jump out at me.  (It doesn't happen).  So right now I have a pretty well stocked pantry, just a pretty lazy attitude.  We have been spending money like crazy here sue to the new lake condo purchase (more on that later) and quite frankly we need to chill, or the money well (I wish) is gonna go dry.

My first week of meal planning started Monday.  I did go to the grocery store Sunday and got some fruits and veggies (because that is something we never have around here) and I am ready to roll. The goal is to make it to Friday through lunch (because all bets are off on the weekend baby!)  without having to go shopping or out to eat just using what we already have here.  Monday we had tacos and finished off a bag of cheese that was bound to go bad, Tuesday we had this chicken feta dish that a friend of mine posted on facebook.  I was excited about this one and it turned out ok, but I think I should have used the full fat feta for more flavor.  Maybe next time.   As for tonight I am making Chicken Tortilla Soup (that I found here )in the crockpot and I have to round up something for Thursday and Friday.  Wish me luck!