More crafties!

I have two more crafts to put on my blog.  I absolutely LOVE both of them.  I think I'm getting better at the subway art type thing.  Its not traditional subway art, but its still nice.  At least I think so.  I've also started taking pictures of the food again, so I'll be posting recipes again soon!

This one is a simple project, I just glued some cardstock on top of each other, put a sunflower stick (that I actually ripped, and had to fix), and drew on the give thanks.  Its actually really cute, and its one of my favorite yet simple crafts that I've done!

My version of subway art.  I love it.  I painted the canvas a cream color, so the picture doesn't do it complete justice, and then I used stickers and other little letterings to finish off the words.  I think its adorable!!

Halloween is coming!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm fanatical about holidays.  I LOVE THEM ALL.  Even ones that don't pertain to me.  St. Patty's day anyone?  I still celebrate it.  What other day can you drink green bear and eat Irish food that you normally would never eat!  Last year my lame excuse for an apartment  home was FULL of cute Halloween decorations.  BUT~ my house now is probably twice the size of that place.  So I don't have ENOUGH Halloween decor to satisfy me.  

So I went all over the place, and decided to start crafting and painting again.  I first decided to do some subway art, I got the idea from: Tatortots and jello she has a lot of crafty ideas, and she also checks out other people's blogs for their ideas.  She has a few really cute ideas.  Anyway, I totally made the subway art my own, and I actually did more than one.  I also painted a little wooden house that I bought at Michael's.  I love the way they turned out, and they made my entryway all cute.  I had so much fun doing them, and can't wait to get started on my own little subway art for Thanksgiving!

 

Good morning Monday...

Have you seen the new letter art that is so trendy and popular lately?  I have, and I am absolutely in LOVE I tell you, LOVE!  I want one that has our last name on it to hang in my entryway.  I love the black and white pictures turned into letters, it all is kind of magazine rapist murderer crazy, but in black and white, and super cute, lol.  Seriously, I saw these letters and thought...well I could do that.  I looked around at prices ect.  I'm not spending upwards of 50.00 on something that I can do myself.  Soo I went through some of my pictures the other day and found a few that I could turn into letters.  Problem is that I haven't taken enough pictures with my good camera of just outside things.  So I think I'm going to talk my husband into taking me to a downtown area in Austin, and let me just take random pictures.  I think it would be fun.  My husband doesn't think so, lol.  He would be willing to go with me, but...he probably won't be too thrilled with me just lost in my own little artsy fartsy world, ha ha.  It is one of the major things I miss about Germany.  The absolute BEAUTY that is pretty much everywhere.  I couldn't wait to get back to the states, and I'm grateful to be back.  I do miss the beauty though.  I just can't get that same beauty in Texas.  There are beautiful things in Texas, but just not exactly where we are.  You don't think of Texas, and automatically think beauty.  You might of Rome, or Colorado, or the Florida coast, and I am a strong believer that beauty is in the eye of the beholder...and don't get me wrong, I've come across some gorgeous things in my time in Texas, just not much that I've taken pictures of.
I miss taking pictures of the greenery, the architecture, the old world wonder.  There is so much history in Germany, buildings that have been around since the 1600's.  Yeah I can't really get that around here.  So, I miss parts of Germany.  I knew I would, but I didn't think I'd miss it quite as much as I do I guess.
Anyway, back to my letter art topic, I went through some old pictures of mine and found some that I could turn into my own letter art.  It will take me a bit to figure it out and get some good ones, but I'll get there.  I'm going to work on our last name and see what happens.  That way, when someone comes into my house, and enjoys the letter art, I can say with pride, that I took ALL of the pictures myself.  So without further ado, here are some of my favorites!!  (Most of these are cropped to get the letter I wanted)

 A: I took this one in Worms, Germany

 B:  I took this one at a playground in Germany

 D: at a church in Germany

 E: Again, another church

 H: Paul actually took this one at a paintball field of all places...here in Texas!

 I: another from Worms, Germany

 T:  I need to work on getting this one darker, but this was on the side of a church to show the dates it was finished the first time

 V: this was near the hotel on the post that we were at in Germany.

 G: this is actually my dresser, lol.

 T: between two photos

A: This is our shed out back right now.

What fun things are you taking pictures of this week???

Back to the weight issue...

Yeah, so if you've read any of my blog, you know that I've struggled with my weight, in the past, present, and probably in the future.  It's not something I enjoy doing, who wants to be fat?  I certainly don't.  So I've been working slowly at getting back to being fit, and healthy again.  I guess the stress of the move back to the states, the excitement of being in the states, the depression that came with not having many if any friends, the financial issues we've been having, and the fact that I tend to take change hard, all contributed to my weight gain since being back.  It started before we got back, but excuses, excuses, enough with the excuses.  I'm working at it.  I'm trying, no, I'm doing.  I've lost weight twice before, I know I can do it, and I have it in me to do it.  I just haven't yet been able to maintain it.  This time I'm hoping that I will.  I've started running/walking again.  I'm doing the couch 2 5k workout, as well as all of the typical things I do around the house.  I have weight watchers cookbooks, which have meal plans in the back.  I eat my breakfast based on the things that it says to eat.  Lately I've been eating some big shredded wheat (2 biscuits) with some brown sugar, walnuts, and raisins, oh and fat free milk.  That's a great breakfast for me.  I enjoy it, it keeps me satisfied, but breakfast has never been my downfall.  Lunches have been anything from a lean cuisine, to leftovers from dinner, to just something around the house that seems appealing.  Yesterday was nacho's.  Not the greatest thing in the world.  Day before it was Lentil soup, much better decision.  Dinners have been anything.  Like I have said, financially things have been tough for us, and it is not cheap to eat healthy.  Although, its so much better for me.  It isn't cheap.  I'm utilizing my coupons, and trying to go with the healthier options, or just eating less if it isn't so great.  Last night, I made my husbands favorite meal.  Tator tot casserole.  The name says it all.  Its NOT a great meal for your body, but it is delicious.  I have to work on it some more to make it healthier.  I did use lean hamburger meat, the fat free mushroom soup, green beans aren't bad for you, but I should have used the no salt added, or fresh green beans instead of the canned.  The tator tots really don't need to be nearly as much as I put on, and the cheese needs to be reduced fat or fat free even.  Soooo...all in all, yeah, I could have made that meal healthier.  Shoulda' Coulda' Woulda', isn't that the saying?
Today is a new day.  A better day.  I worked out for 24 minutes on my treadmill run/walking.  I only made it to 1.17 miles, about a year and a half ago, I could do 2 miles in 20 minutes, so I know its in me.  I just have to get there.  I had my typical shredded wheat for breakfast this morning.  I'm having some lentil soup, and a salad for lunch.  And I'm making some ww lemon chicken with angel hair pasta and artichokes, with a salad, and more veggies.  For dessert, I have a bunch of pumpkin that needs to be used up, and I found a sparkspeople recipe for pumpkin oatmeal cookies that I'm going to try.
I am going to do this.  I just need support, and encouragement.  I need people to keep me on track, and I need help getting there.  I want to surround myself with supportive friends and family.  I need to do this for myself, and for my family.

So yeah, this may not be my typical post on my blog, but it is what it is, and I can do this!  =) 

Saving money!!!

Who doesn't love to save money????

I mean maybe there are people out there who just don't want to, and so they buy everything at full price and don't care to save money, but I am NOT one of them.
Since we moved back to the states, things have been tighter financially.  I'm not complaining at all, because I would so much rather be in the states than be in a foreign country where coupons are almost useless, don't get me wrong, you can sometimes get a great deal over there, but your stores are definitely limited.  Here, in the states, there are SO many more options.  So this past week, I was gearing up for payday.  I was clipping, printing, and researching all the coupons, great deals, and freebies that I could find.  To my absolute delight, it completely paid off!!
First I went through my cookbooks, and decided what I was going to be making for dinners, desserts, and the like, and wrote down my entire list.  Then I went through my Ziplock baggy of coupons that have steadily gotten bulkier week by week.  I pulled out anything related to my list first, I also went through and threw out the expired ones.  Then came the fun part.  I then went to all of my savings blogs (thefrugalgirls.com, moneysavingmommy.com, familyboundmom.com...the list goes on).  They had some excellent hints and tips for other stores.  So I scoured those websites, for any thing that I might need or want for our family.  I printed out more coupons, and wrote down all the freebie deals that were going on.
Pay day came, and I researched even more, all day.  I paid bills...ick!  Then I researched, and scoured the internet for coupons of any kind.  Finally, after my husband came home from work, I went off to Walgreens for my first batch.  Walgreens has their own coupons that are just for their store, but you can also combine those with manufacturers coupons, and if you keep an eye on the deals, you can get some amazing deals.  My main reason for going to Walgreens though was to get cereal.  Since we no longer receive WIC, cereal is a tough pill to swallow.  Financially, brutal.  I mean 3-4 bucks for a box of cereal that lasts MAYBE a week...YUCK!  Anyway, Walgreens had a special going on for buy 2 General Mills for $4 (with in store coupon), not a bad deal at all.  So I went for it.  You can only get a limited number of 4 per customer.  So I grabbed four, and looked through my coupons, Cinnamon Toast Crunch .55 off one, .65 cents off of another, then Honey Nut Cheerios, .50 cents off one, and Reeses Puff cereal, another .55 cents off.  I also needed some coffee, so I grabbed what I could, and then I also grabbed some progresso soups, they were 4 for 5 dollars in store, I had a coupon for $1 off four, and got them for a dollar each, not bad!  I mean they are usually about 1.25 in Walmart, but hey, I saved a buck, and I just happened to be there, so no biggie.  When it was all said and done, I saved 17 dollars on the normal price in the store.  I got four general mills cereal, four progresso soups, folgers coffee, and a candy bar (for my husband) for 15 dollars.  I was thrilled.  Now I will say that the savings was probably a little exaggerated.  I mean if I were to go to Walmart or even Target, it wouldn't have been much more than the 15 dollars that I spent, but it still would have been a great savings.  I can't wait to save even more money though.
The next day, I went to Target.  Again, researching and scouring the internet.  I ended up saving a lot, my original bill was 109 with some change, and my final bill was 63 and some change....oh and I also got an ADORABLE coupon holder book!
I also went to Walmart, and while I stayed in Walmart for a few hours, going through coupons, I ended up saving another 20 there.
Saturday, I dragged everyone with me to go run to do some errands, so I saved even more, went to Michaels and had two 40% off coupons, my husband and I both purchased items, saving me a total of 5.20, then we went to Bath and Body works where I had coupons for free travel sized items.  My husband bought a hand sanitizer for my daughter, and also grabbed me a travel size lotion (normally $5), and we got it all for 1.62.  I also had a coupon, so I got a candle, and another travel size lotion for $4.
Finally at the end of the day, we were exhausted from all of our shopping, and we went to El Chico.  I had a coupon there too.  We bought the huge sampler appetizer, and a meal for all of us to share (it more than filled all four of us up too), and we got $5 off.  We spent 15 bucks on our meal.
I think I've become just a little obsessed with saving money though, lol.  I am happy with my turnout, and am going to be gearing up for more fun savings later on!!

Okay okay...

I really really REALLY need to start blogging again.  I don't know why I haven't blogged.  Its not like I've done too much lately.  I guess I was just going through a rough patch.  You know the one, where you don't feel like you have any friends, and you just want to feel sorry for yourself.  Yeah, that's the one that I was in.  So I feel better though.  Things are settling into a normal pattern.  We are figuring out how to live stateside again.

Lets see, updates.  Autumn is doing well in school, but we did have to put her back on her adhd meds.  We had taken her off of them during the summer to see how things went.  We weren't making her do her school work, but she seemed to be doing well.  When school started, I asked her teacher to keep an eye on her.  Within about a week, her teacher gave me a call and updated me.  I decided to put Autumn back on her meds.  Since then, she is able to pay attention at school and is able to do her work in a timely matter.  I was really hoping she was growing out of the whole adhd thing, but the meds help her, so I want what is best for her.

Sierra is just as dramatic as ever.  Same little turd.  She started kindergarten, and can't get enough of school.  She's really enjoying herself.  She's talkative to a fault though, ha ha.  Oh, but she is still the sweetest kid, giving everyone that she's ever met once, a great big ol' hug when she meets them.  She lost her very first tooth the other day, and now has another loose one.  I guess my baby isn't really my baby anymore huh?  She still likes to snuggle sometimes, and I'll take what I can get!

They are both taking the bus now, and I really thought I was going to apprehensive about this whole bus thing.  At first I was, but I've gotten used to it now.  I don't even come grab them, or drop them off at the bus anymore.  I guess it helps that the bus is only 3 houses down, lol.

Paul is doing well, finally getting acclimated into his new unit.  Its been slow going.  This unit is very small, only a handful of people.  So he's slowly making friends.  I think we should have a platoon party soon, at least if nothing else, just to meet some people, so we'll see how it goes. 

Me, well I've been trying to find hobbies to occupy my time.  With both girls in school things have been kind of boring.  I don't have a lot to fill my time.  So I'm finding things to fill my time.  I've been painting, making tu-tu's, making Halloween costumes, cooking a LOT, drinking coffee (I feel like an adult now, lol), working out, cleaning, doing laundry...yeah well, you get the point.  So I've had to find things to do.  At first it was rather difficult because I didn't have much motivation.  Then I guess something clicked and I stopped feeling sorry for myself.  Yesterday I painted a canvas, finished painting a decoration for Halloween, and made some tu-tu's, as well as finished an application for bath and body works, and cato.  I also put in an application for Petsmart.  I am trying to put my application out there to anyone that will take it.  So its going basically everywhere.  I have weird hours, so I'm not sure how that will work out, but I'm certainly going to try.

 

Crazy hair day at school!

Lexi is adjusting well, she's getting chubby and happy.  Brody is also doing well, again, getting fat, but he's enjoying our new house.  Bella is getting along very well with Lexi.  Paul and I joke that we didn't get the dog for me, but for Lexi.  They are totally bff's!  But Bella does prefer me to Paul and the girls, not that she's mean or anything, she just would rather snuggle with me, and be near me, instead of the others.  No problem, we got her so that I would have a puppy, and she's a very good puppy to have!

 Bella, don't you love her blue eyes!

 Lexi!  Yes, we were dressing them up in their Halloween costumes!!