Happy New Year!!!! 2014

                 Hello ya'll! I hope everyone had a great and safe New Year! We had a blast with our neighbors. Staying at home, us girls did some online shopping while the guys went out and put the husbands tractor back together! So we accomplished a lot! It was great catching up with them. 

                 The husband got out there this morning and tested and ran the tractor! I cleaned up the cow stall. I checked the cows for bugs/mites, and good news everyone was CLEAN! I just love it when my animals are bug free! I have been thinking about a lot of things I would like to accomplish in 2014. 

So here goes my list of goals for 2014:

1- You know I LOVE books. But I think my husband will start throwing out books if they dont get read. I made a good dent in the books in 2013, but I still have many, many, many more to read. Sooooo..... I am not going to PURCHASE any books in 2014. (If its FREE that's not a purchase) I must read what I have already been blessed with. Read more! I want to read 30 books! 

NO PURCHASING BOOKS IN 2014. 

2- You know I love to be organized. So I have found an app "Meal Board" in the App Store. I LOVE this app. It has a pantry, shopping list, recipes, the works!!!! You can also go and get recipes from websites (there is about 15 websites connected to this app) I am going to be using this app a lot in 2014! I am very excited about it. 

MEAL PLAN BETTER

3- Ya'll know I have been moving towards better foods for my family. So in 2014 I am moving a little closer to CLEAN EATING. I have read some terrible things about the chemicals, hormones, pesticides, and all around junk in our food. So I have several goals in the category lined up. The first one is no more fast/fried foods. I also want to master a homemade hummus recipe this month! I have tried a few and can't seem to master any of them! 

MOVE TOWARDS CLEAN EATING. 

3- Adyson- Sometimes I feel that her needs are pushed to the bottom of the pile. For example, Adyson loves to go to Story Time at the library. Sometimes I just cant get going fast enough in the morning to take her. I feel bad that she misses out on that time, its only once a week!! Also I feel bad that I don't read to Adyson at night. By the time bedtime comes I am just ready for the house to be quiet and lights out! Adyson deserves my undivided attention for 15-20 minutes everyday.

4- Brittany- Her and I never have time to just hang out! There is always an excuse, - can't find a sitter for Adyson, there is work to do around the farm... She is a teenager and does want to go out with her friends but we don't get the chance to do much together. 

5- More Positive- I worked on this in 2013, I fell off the wagon a few times, it happens. 2014 is going to be the year! No more yelling. No more getting frustrated with things I can not control. I need to learn to ENJOY life. I will step in JOY! 

6- Blog on time- Life happens, lazy happens, but this year I will be more aware of blogging on time. My biggest issue is doing exactly what I'm doing now and thinking and typing at the same time. I need to take notes throughout the week so when its time to blog its easier! I plan on posting a lot more this year! 

7- Continue with natural cleaning-  I am going to continue with finding as many natural cleaners and making what I can! I can't wait to find recipes for window cleaner, tub scubs, floor cleaners, etc. 

8-Work out 3 days a week- I jumped on this band wagon for about 2 months in 2013. I lost interest when it got cold outside. Sorry I am not fond of the cold. Yes I know I can exercise inside, I guess I just needed the "cold" excuse. I am going to pick random work outs from my Pinterest. I'll work on getting a routine when I get into working out!

9- Music- My wonderful husband bought me a keyboard for Mothers Day 2012. I have learned a few songs, but dying to learn more. So this year I am going to try to teach myself to read music and play! I am hoping to be able to play 12 songs (1 song a month) by the end of the year. I would love to be able to play some Christmas songs next year! Anyone know of a good music app that will help me read sheet music?

10- Christmas stuff- I would love to make our own ornaments and decorations this year and have an "old fashioned" Christmas. I have found lots of ideas on Pinterest on my Christmas Board. 

11- Do more myself- I hate when I can't do something and I leave it for the husband to do. I am tired of always giving him a "to do" list. So 2014 is the year I will learn to be more "manly". I will learn to use a drill, level, and a whole bunch more! 

12- Schedule- I need to create a schedule and keep it! I have certain things that I do on certain days (I will start blogging about all this, this year). Since the holidays have kept me hopping and has blown my schedule out of the water. I need to plan a little better this year! 

In case you haven't noticed my "theme" of goals this year is to take a step back and enjoy life. Try not to be so rushed. I'm going to start small so its not so over whelming. 

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Happy New Year! What are your goals? What are your resolutions? How are you going to make 2014 count?

Week 2

        Hope everyone has had a great week! I know I have been challenged this week. 8 days on the kitchen was fun and exciting. Well onto the goals that I have done!

1. Smoking- I fell off the wagon for 2 days this week. But I'm back down to 4-5 cigarettes a day.
 2.Family time- is coming along. The kids got a little involved with me in organizing the kitchen. We are all eating dinner at the table at night. I also got the kids outside since the weather was actually warm for Jan. We pulled weeds in front flower beds!

 3.Organizing- my "new" kitchen looks great. I was able to save so much space! When I open my cupboards now they almost look empty. Me being a couponer, I had stockpiles of everything! Now it's all condensed down into containers. No more stuff falling over in my cupboards. I even put my cookbooks into categories (breakfast, dinners, desserts, etc) so no more searching for the right book! Look for my previous post Operation Kitchen Reorganization. I think next month I will do Adyson's room gathering ideas right now. 

4. Healthy eating- coming along great. I made HOMEMADE Stroganoff the other night, I only have a few "dinner helper" boxes left.

Homemade Stroganoff
1/2c dry/powered milk
1/3c cornstartch
1.5 tbl beef bouillon cubes crushed
1 small onion chopped
1/2 tsp each-basil-thyme-pepper-parsley-
1tsp garlic powder
2 c egg noodles
1.5 lbs hamburger
3.5 cups water
1c sour cream

mix hamburger & onion, brown & drain fat.
whisk cornstarch and 1/2 c of the water together until mixed well. Then add everything to pot EXCEPT sour cream.
Bring to boil - reduce heat, cover & simmer 15-20 minutes until noodles are done, stirring occasionally. 
Just before serving add sour cream. I chose to add sour cream separate-on top of servings, this way I can freeze leftovers, since sour cream doesn't freeze well. I froze leftovers in quart size freezer bags. Don't forget to label & date! 
This was awesome!

5. Yoga- still going great! researching now to find new moves for my yoga ball. If anyone has a suggestion to a magazine or book for this let me know!

6. Reading- I have read HomeMade by Readers Digest. Its a great book I bought it on my NOOK Color, so friend me & I can lend it to you. Teaches you to make a lot of your own homemade cleaners, beauty stuff, gardening tips, etc. So right now I am only 1 book behind!

7. Brain Teasers- I think the last 11 days of dealing with the kitchen were a brain teaser enough. So I got out the Suduko book & its sitting on my night stand to work a puzzle tonight.

8. Blog- Still going! or you wouldn't have anything to read!

9.Positive- Been doing great at having a "Can Do Attitude" the kids are starting to pick up on it too!

10.Crafts- Did 1 craft that went with my kitchen about creating my own cookbooks out of all the recipes i found laying around. I took spiral notebooks and labeled them and added recipes. Some recipes I stapled (if they were already on recipe card) and some I wrote in.

I still have to make them "pretty". Thinking of using  wrapping paper to  cover ?
We shall see what works, or old pieces of fabric? 

11. Music- My hands have been tied up with the kitchen (ha ha sometimes literally). I have scheduled music time for later today! :)

12. No Chemicals- has been working out great. I made my own coffee creamer this week, and the Homemade Stroganoff.

Coffee Creamer
1-14oz can of sweet condensed milk
2 c milk (what ever you normally use)
This make a good "base" to start with. You can make it sweeter if you would like. Take 1/2 c milk heat in microwave about 1 min. Then pour in your sugar, mix until sugar is dissolved let it cool! Then you can add it to the rest of the batch.

You can add flavorings or extracts to it & get a flavor you like. Mine is Cinnamon!

1.5 tsp cinnamon extract
1/2 tsp Almond extract
1 tsp Vanilla extract


13. Gardening- I had a great idea for starting plants indoors. I already had soil, starter pots, most of the seeds. I did go buy a wire shoe rack & assembled it. Put it near back door (now that I have room in my kitchen) it cost me $10 it also collapses for storage! Yes I know its early to plant, BUT when we waited and planted indoors in Feb, the plants were only 2-3" tall come April. NONE of those plants survived. So this year we are starting a few weeks earlier, so the plants can be 6-8" tall by April.

Labeling for now I stapled a stick to the seed pack. Adyson & I are looking into "cooler" ideas for labeling. I planted....
HERBS
Rosemary-basil-cilantro-oregano-tarragon-thyme-sage-parsley

VEGTABLES
Cherry toms- Slicing toms- cucumbers-Kohlrabi-green peppers

FRUIT-
Watermelon

So far this year has been awesome! So 11 out of 13 goals started!!! I need to get better about Music and brain teasers! Much better then last weeks 7 out of 13!!! Now since my attention has been focused on the kitchen the last week, its time to show some TLC to the rest of the house, dust, vacuum, etc....

Until next week, I hope all of you are achieving you goals for 2013! 

Week 1

      So far it has been a wonderful 1st week of 2012. On Jan 1, I posted my 13 goals for this year. I must say most of them have been started! Throughout the week I have felt like I can't set enough done. I am trying to take everything 1 step at a time to avoid "burn out" but I am so excited at the same time that I want it all done already, HAHA...

1. Quit smoking- This is going great. I'm down to about 5 cigarettes per day. I can't believe what I can accomplish with the "extra time" from cutting out all the cigarettes.

2. Family time- This hasn't been started yet. Poor Brittany hasn't felt good this week, and I have been BUSY with goal 3.

3. Get organized- This month I am concentrating on the kitchen. I have ordered all my needed containers from Walmart and they should be here next week. So during the week I have been going through EACH cupboard & shelf and wiping it down and stacking. I even put Post-It notes on the outside of every cupboard telling me what containers are needed and what shelf it goes on. So right now the outside of my cupboards are "decorated" with bright orange Post-Its! I have also been going through my stack of handwritten recipes. Throwing away ones that I will NEVER cook, & creating my own cookbook (using spiral notebooks & labeling the front, "Dinner", "Soups", etc). I have been cutting, & writing recipes for 2 days! I didn't realize how many recipes I had laying around, but I am almost done.

4. Eat Healthy- So far I have not bought any "junk food". There is still some left in the house, leftover Christmas candy, etc.

5. Get In Shape- So far this is working. While watching TV at night, I get out my Yoga ball & weights and do about 30 minutes! Can't wait til it gets warmer so I can go walking!

6. Read- This has not been started. I've been too focused on getting the kitchen done. Going to find a book today!

7. Brain games- Haven't started this either. But I must say my brain is in over drive over the excitement of organizing. I lay awake at night thinking how everything will look!

8. Blog- I have started this one or you wouldn't be reading it!

9. Positive- Been looking at things in a more positive light all week! Doing good!

10. Crafts- Haven't even thought about this yet. But I have a craft tub set up with lots of stuff in it.

11. Music- Haven't started this yet. But working in sometime over the weekend!

12. No Chemicals- I have made 2 HOMEMADE solutions! I did make my own Fabric Softener & Febreeze! It was very simple.

FABRIC SOFTENER                                              FEBREEZE
1 cup conditioner (cheap stuff)                          1/4 cup Fabric Softener
1 cup vinegar                                                    2 T  Baking Soda
2 cups water                                                      HOT water to fill 27oz spray bottle
Mix well & use                                                 Mix well & shake before use
1/4 cup to start & adjust as needed                   may separate a little.


13. Gardening. I have been saving my egg cartons to plant seeds next month. I have all the bulbs I need to start my flower garden and researched what I need for trees in the back yard!

So I guess I am going great. 7 out of 13 goals already started, within the first 4 days of the New Year New You!!!!


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