Corner of My Home....Bathroom

Hello all - I woke up this morning to an inch of snow on the ground!! What in the world...Spring begins on Sunday so I guess the good Lord had to get one more snow in before the sun came back out. The snow was gone by 3pm. 

Like most of you, I too am ready for spring and all the prettiness that comes with it. So I went to the dollar store and bought some fake flowers. I know fake flowers...but I am really in need for some spring prettiness and the real ones are expensive and they don't last long. 

So I wanted to share with all of you a corner of my home. This is what I did with the flowers...

About four years ago we gutted the bathroom and remodeled it. There was a blue bath tub, Blue tile on the walls, gold sink and vanity, and gold linoleum floor. One morning I woke to a huge crash while my lover was in the shower...the wall fell in on him....cue bathroom remodel.

We are very happy with how it turned out! It's the nicest room in the house!

A friend of ours is an awesome cabinet maker. I drew him a picture of what I had in mind and he made it just like I envisioned it.

The baskets underneath are old freezer baskets. This bathroom is small and there is no closet for storage, so the baskets work great for towels and toilet paper.

The sink top matches the bath tub. It is cultured marble.

This sink looks so shiny!!! Trust me, its not!! It's due for a good cleaning..

I love using old mason jars for stuff like cotton balls! 

The hooks are from Hobby Lobby Clearance..gotta love things that cost $3! The little basket holds the q-tips.

The mirror was made by my FIL. We use the actual mirror that was there and then I described a frame I had seen in a shaker style furniture store and he did a great job. It is super heavy though. 

And this is me..without makeup...saying "have a great weekend"!!!

Organizing

So, I had some more thoughts on how I organize some of my paper work/filing and I thought I would share.

We all have that necessary paper that we get in the mail every month, bills, tax documents, receipts, warranties and so on. We have to keep these messy papers, but what to do with them?...

This is what I use...

These are expandable folders - 13 file. They are about $5 each. I use one for our personal bills and such and one for the business receipts, invoices and tax documents. They work great.

For our personal bills - I divide everything by the month which seems to work well.

For the Business we have 12 different categories that we divide the receipts into. At the end of the year I take all the receipts and put them into a spread sheet on Excel. By this time the folder is bulging and I can barely close it! I love being organized!   

Now I just have to find a place to put all these expandable folders when I'm done with them...

This may give you the idea that every part of my house is in complete order.....not true. I have some kitchen drawers that are screaming out at me to be organized!!

Oh, I almost forgot.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY big brother!!! I love you so much. You are a great friend to me and my love!! 

For those of you who do not have a big brother, I am sorry. Your missing out!

It's been a busy few days around here!! 

I'm super excited! I went to target today and saved $23.13 just with my coupons!!! It totally rocks!!

I'm not what you would call a "coupon-er" but I try and get the Sunday paper and cut out the ones in there. I also have a few I get on line. Then when everything falls into place perfectly....I save money! Gotta love it!

Ok, so last week sometime my friend who will be known as "Flantastic" asked me if I had a weekly menu plan...I try and have one. It goes a little like this....

I have a Monthly/Weekly planner and usually Sunday evening I sit down and think about what I want to fix for the up coming week and what is going on that week. I write down on my planner each dinner meal on a day of the week. For instance...

Monday - Pot Roast, potatoes and carrots

Tuesday - Penne alla Betsy with homemade rolls

Wednesday - Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup

Thursday - Mom's House ( we don't eat there every week for those of you who were wondering)

Friday - Vegetable soup

I decide what to fix according to what I have to do that day. Wednesday I pick something easy and quick because we have church that night. Tuesday a new recipe and homemade bread because I'm home most of the day. You get the picture..

Monday is my grocery day. I love having the store to myself in the morning and getting to know the faces that work there! I'm a very routine kinda person. It makes life easier.

When I am planning my menu I am also thinking about what goes in each meal. I try to use some of the ingredients more than once in a week. Like green pepper. If I know something will only take half a pepper, I try and make something on a different night that will also take green pepper. That way I am making the most of what I buy and not being wasteful. 

As for Saturday and Sunday, they are usually up in the air. Saturday is when I will fix a good breakfast and then we will go see family a lot of times. Sunday afternoon we either go to one of our parents or out to lunch. Sunday night I always try and keep something easy on hand to fix. Last week it was casadillas (Did I spell that right?). I have a casadilla maker and I used left over chicken and cheese with salsa and sour cream. Pretty yummy and really easy. The weekends are when I try and use leftovers.

Homestead Revival has this free download for a menu planner.Check it out!

I may have to expound on this menu plan idea....

there is so much to say...

If you need a new recipe to try for this week go to the Farm Kitchen page and it might give you an idea. I'm always trying different things. Tonight it is "Penne Alla Betsy" from the Pioneer Woman's cookbook. I love pasta! It's my favorite...I am also making no-knead dinner rolls. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Check It Out

My SIL is having a fabulous giveaway over at her cute blog vanhook and co. 

I'm hoping I will win!!

I'll be back later to post more!! 

Have a great day Friends!!!

Story of My Life

I think we need to diversify our wardrobes....

Can you tell which ones are his? 

Its only the two of us in the house and yet Laundry is still the story of my life! I don't mind though, I actually kinda like doing laundry.

How about you? Take it or leave it?

Favorite Things Friday....

So, I know this is Favorite Things Friday, however every Friday is to much pressure and takes the fun out of it. So maybe I will do it once a month. That being said....this is one of my favorite things....organizing!! Or rather having things be organized. The fun part is when it is all nice and neat. Not the part of sorting and purging.

I love to cook and am always looking at new recipes. Tearing them out of magazines, printing them off the internet, copying them from a cooking show, calling my mom. I love to try new recipes! However when you have been saving all these pieces of paper forever and you use a lot of them, but they are stashed in a corner somewhere or box, it is hard to find anything. A few years ago i decided to put all of these loose papers in a three ring binder with page protectors. I seperated them into different categories, breakfast, bread, soup, main course, side dish, dessert, drinks, pasta. This worked great and I loved it.

I put tabs to separate the categories.

A few years down the road.....a new pile and stash of loose papers. I didn't have any page protectors but I did have a binder. So I just hole punched all the loose recipes and added them in. 

I now have enough for two binders

This one is solely dedicated to desserts!!

It is such a great feeling when you get all your stuff organized and in a designated space! Love It!!

I also like to wright on the recipe whether or not we liked it!

That way I know I have made it before and if it is worth making again! This works well. Try it!

After a few dreary and rainy days, the sun decided to shine. 

Mr. Rooster and his entourage decided it was a nice day for a walk around the pond. Picking and scratching is a favorite for these guys! 

Mr. Rooster was just letting everyone know he is around!

Oh, how I long for Spring, but until then I will take a few days of sunshine here and there!