MichelleBallard

Happy Valentine Cookie Love

2012-02-13T20:44:00.000-08:00

Last year I made these for Valentines day... this year Dave and I are over 130 lbs less than we were last year.. so I will not be making these. When there are more than two of us in the home to help eat them.. I will make them again :) I could not just let Valentines day go by without some cookie love though so I thought I would share these with you :) Have a wonderful day!!

This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe... well one of them! This one is really easy and always taste great.

Mix together

1/2 cup ( one cube ) softened butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla *you could add a little bit of another flavor.. almond is so good.. peppermint for Christmas*
1 egg

add in

2 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

I put it in the fridge for a little bit ( while I get the sprinkles ready ) just to make it a little easier to handle.

Drop by spoon (small.. cookie will be about double the size) onto the cookie sheet and then using the bottom of a glass you have dipped in the sprinkles to flatten the dough with.

Bake at 350 for about 7 minutes, you want to catch them just before they start to brown.

You can use a heart shaped cookie cutter.... then try the butter cream recipe from java cupcakes to frost them. They are so good! I am not used to decorating anything, having as many kids as I did it was about how many I could make and how fast.. they could eat them faster than I could cook them.. and they could care less what they looked like. So I need a bit more ( ok a lot ) practice with my decorating.

Dad uses Facebook to teach daughter a lesson

2012-02-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

Dad uses Facebook to teach daughter a lesson: A 15-year-old puts up a Facebook post bashing her parents for making her work too hard, dad reacts by posting a video response to her grievances on her Facebook page.

This dad is awesome!! I am so disgusted with how many parents think it is their "job" to be their childs best friend. They let their children do whatever they want.. be rude and mean and hurtful. Use the cover of "expressing themselves" or some such BS. Parents who allow their children to run free on facebook and twitter and in real life. It breaks my heart to see so many children not being taught respect.. for others or for themselves. When my kids were growing up.. and still ... I have always been known as the bitchy mom... my house always has had rules...and I followed through with consequences and often my kids did not like me at all... at times they picked going to their dads where there was no rules.. but now they are all over 18... and all moved out doing their own things and paying their own bills.. and I am able to work on real friendships with them.. because I worked hard at always being their mom first.. my Job was to teach them to be adults... to be able to think and manage their own lives... to be independent.. to keep them safe.. not only from others but from themselves. When we as parents do not do the job we signed up for when having children.. we teach them a lot more than we think.. and none of it is good... our children know we quit on them.. they know we are failures... that we just did not care enough to put in the work... when you do a half ass job.. no matter the job.. it comes back to hurt you and every one involved. We as parents will make mistakes.. but we always need to do our best.. we need to teach by example.

The dad Tommy has posted some updates to the first video and you can read on his facebook page Here

*This is my blog and my opinions on parenting.. based on my experience growing up and raising kids .... if you do not agree that is your right.

Dessert on Sticks part 2

2012-02-08T07:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I made more cake pops.. last batch here... trying out all the to see which ones will be best for sisters wedding.... These both get my vote for Yes!

I used a confetti cake mix... with a cream cheese to mix it up and hold it together. In half I added some coconut and then dipped in white chocolate and then coconut and the other half I did with no coconut and just dipped in sprinkles. I would not do the valentine sprinkles for sisters wedding.. but since I am giving away this match and it happens to be close to Valentines day I thought this would be fun. Dave said that they taste like the pink and white frosted animal cookies.. but in cake and on a stick... well they do.. and those cookies have always been one of my favorites.

So now I have made... chocolate peanut butter cake balls.. .. just chocolate ones.... dipped Oreos... and dipped peanut butter cookies...S'mores..... then confetti cake in white chocolate.. with and without coconut. I am thinking I will skip the peanut butter cookies.. the chocolate peanut butter cake balls are already a for sure...I am thinking I want to do a chocolate mint cake ball.. thinking of wrapping the cake around a jr mint... also have thought of a wrapping it around a rolo... I am thinking of maybe a fruity cake... strawberry.. maybe... I am not sure.. What flavor combo would you love??

Back Yard Oasis

2012-02-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

Love this site www.BlueWheelBarrow.biz and anything we do not end up doing ourselves I will be calling them about.. they just do amazing work and are awesome people! They have some great information on their blog too about native plants.

The house is all finished... it is our castle now... and the shop is in the finishing stages. Was almost starting to feel lost without a new project to be focusing on. This weekend we started really talking about the back yard and the plans we have for it. We have not done much in the yard in the last 5 years... we did clean up the parking areas.. lined them with rail road ties and filled in with gravel and rock. Cleaned it up and gave it some definition.. looks great but we have so many more things we want to do. We basically have 3 sections to the yard... the driveway and parking area.... the front yard.. and the back yard. The driveway/parking area is mostly done.. needs a bit more gravel.. every 3 year or so.. also would love to get some of it paved some day.. but that is a long ways off in the future. The front yard... that is going to be a lot of grass and some work along the front of it to give it some curb appeal.. but... not in a hurry for that either. The back yard... we have big plans here.. going to turn it into a whole other living area :) Well that is our plan at least. We started with the fence.... need to get that finished.. then we will build a deck area and a patio area .. put in a new hot tub... lot of native plants and walk ways and a trellis. We are just in the planning stages of it and talking about it stages... We will start working on it.. already have started with the fence... and we need to get that finished and get the big huge monster ugly trees out of the yard this spring.... not sure how long the rest will take... but it feels good to have a new project to really start thinking about now that the shop is getting close to finished :) Now I can start collecting photos of the yard I want.. and start thinking about what plants we want in it.. want to keep it native so if we leave for a few weeks in the summer we do not need to worry about watering it or mowing it... just the front yard will need mowing. We will have lots of water features and some fire... different areas to just hang out in listen to the birds and watch the sunset... sit around a table and play cards in the evening... enjoy a bbq with friends... roast some marshmallows over the fire pit... lol doing a lot of dreaming here... not only of the back yard we will be creating.. but of spring and summer and time spent outside just relaxing and enjoying each other and our lives. If you follow me on Pinterest you will see all the photos I am pinning for my backyard plan.. if you need a pinterest invite.. just send me an email Michelle_Ballard@hotmail.com and let me know you want one..I will send an invite back :)

Found this photo on www.penick.net where there are a few with the type of look I want.

Thankful

2012-01-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

Saw this today and had to come write about it. I have always told my kids to remember to be thankful for everything you have instead of asking for more. If one is not thankful for what they have then why would they think they deserve more. It is not just about saying thanks but about showing it. In how we treat the things we own, the relationships we are in and the strangers we meet is how we show if we are thankful or not. I hope that how I live my life has been a good example of this for my children ... I am very thankful for all that I own, the relationships I am in and the strangers that I meet. Writing this makes me smile.. I love my life!

Saw this on Pinterest* which lead me to a great new blog to explore (here)

*Warning ~ do not click on the link for Pinterest unless you have a LOT of time to kill.. it is way too much fun.. finding so many fun things I want to make.. and places I want to go and recipes and ideas and so many new blogs to read... it is a major time killer :) If you do have lots of time to kill and you would like an invite .. just get me your email and I will send you one right away :)

Dessert on Sticks

2012-01-26T14:26:00.000-08:00

Today I spent some time in the kitchen. My sister is getting married in March and I am going to be making some desserts on sticks. Cake pops and S'mores were the plan today. Needed to see how many one cake makes and how long it takes.. so I know what supplies to get and how long it takes to make enough.

S'mores on sticks = easy easy easy.. and fun! Take the marshmallow.. dip in melted chocolate.. stick the stick in there and then sprinkle with crushed graham crackers. Twirl them over an open flame to toast the edges and they are ready to go!

Next time I am thinking I will not crush the crackers so fine.

Next up.... Peanut butter / chocolate cake pops. This was my first adventure with cake pops.. I have done a lot of cake balls.. but this was the first time getting them on the stick. I did not think anything about it.. until I had the ball slide right down the stick in to my hand. Needed a plan.. so I decided to take the cake ball.. then dip the stick in the melted chocolate and slide it into the hole and stick them back in the fridge for a bit... it worked!! Yay!! Dip and cover in crushed peanuts!

I made a few more... everything was the same.. but instead of peanut butter in the cake I added a chocolate cream cheese thing I made up... and then half of them I dipped in crushed MnM's ( again I crushed them a little too much.

I also left some plain.. just chocolate/chocolate. I was thinking all the time about the different things I could dip them in... or thing I could put in them.. I could put a rolo around each bit of cake.. or maybe a jr mint... I really want to do some coconut ones. I am thinking I need something with a white cake.. not everyone loves chocolate.. hmm I could do those in white chocolate.. any ideas there?

Walk on the Beach

2012-01-06T12:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I spent some time on the beach.. it was warm ( for Jan) and so calm.. just walked and listened to the water just lapping at the shore.. no big waves. Ran into a friend with her two cute little dogs so walked with them for awhile and did some catching up.. was a wonderful walk. Found some treasures and took some photos. Very relaxing enjoyable couple of hours. Today my shoulder is screaming.. but it was still worth it :)

Pretty green sea glass

Even though the sun was setting I just did not want to go

Sea glass photo was added to Weekly Top Shot
Thanks to Madge @ The View From Right Here for the invite :)

December 5th 1969

2012-01-05T16:50:00.000-08:00

That was the day I was born.. thanks to Heather from Home to Heather I went to find out ( here ) what the number 1 song was the day I was born. I did not know the song by name.. or the group....pulled it up on youtube.. from the album cover.. I still did not know but I did start laughing.. then the song started.. oh yeah.. I know this song.. lol but the cover still has me laughing.. the cover makes me think of the too sexy for my whatever song.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-04T17:05:00.001-08:00

Wrapping up 2011

2012-01-03T16:44:00.000-08:00

Wrapped up the year by heading back to Montana and spending a few more days enjoying Yellow Stone and just being together! Last year was truly wonderful and I am so excited for the new year. Big plans are to just keep going... keep working on getting healthy... keep working on our new shop... keep having fun and enjoying life!

Bald Eagle

Bison

Paint Pots

Some of the photos of our winter tour through Yellow Stone.. Some day I hope to live close enough to visit here anytime I want.

Busy/Fun Time of Year

2011-12-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

I have not been posting because I have been busy and I have been sick.. and well I updated my blogger site and to be honest I have no clue how this all works now. The problem with not updating as soon as they come out is that you may miss a few and by the time you do update you have missed the how to steps they walked you through with the earlier updates. I am sure most of my blogging friends are shaking their heads thinking to themselves there have not been any updates... lol well it has been about 6 years since I updated :) If you can see this post it means I figured it out.

Sick.. cold/head stuff ...this has been floating around since we went to Montana... Dave kept thinking he was not feeling so good but then nothing happened.. well it hit last week.. him on Tuesday and then me on Thursday. I had a few days with no voice at all.. and spent a couple of days just laying in bed sure my head was going to explode. I am feeling a lot better this morning.. made it through the night with no cough meds and really got some good sleep.

Right before I got sick I jumped on the train and headed south to see my parents and my sister for a couple of days. It was pretty icy at my parents house and mom ended up taking a spill and breaking her ankle pretty bad.. she had to have surgery on it and it is all wrapped up. She is doing Awesome!! She has a wheel chair and a walker and is using the walker more and more.. her attitude is amazing too... instead of being all upset about it she is using it as an excuse to tackle a lot of stuff in her life and make some changes. I am hoping she is able to use it to slow down a bit maybe. She does a LOT of stuff for other people.. makes hundreds of quilts for cancer patients and helps so many people with so many things.. not that she should ever stop.. she loves what she does... I just hope that she is able to look around at everything in her life and really put the focus on things that make her happy.. maybe she is already there... I am not sure... I have to say I am using this as an excuse to spend some more time with her and my dad.. I am planning on making a few more trips up to there to stay for a few days each time.. I love both my parents so much and am so grateful for all they have done for me in my life.. so much love and support and butt kicking when needed ( which was/is often ) truly no one could ask for better parents. There is no way I can pay them back for all the wonderful they have given me... I am going to make more of an effort to try though... we have spent the last few years connecting as friends and adults and I have loved every second of it...lol it all happened just in time to show me that even though my teenagers are pulling away and making their own lives.. that there is hope of strong relationships. Funny how parents get really stupid when you are a teenager and then smarten the heck back up when you have teenagers :) Gives me some good days to look forward to and lots of "I told you so" time.

Fun stuff.... while at moms visiting she sent home some tiny jars with me.. these are cute... mom and I have become hooked on baking things in jars.. pies and cakes and dinners and just about anything.. so much fun and great way to do portion control. She had found some very tiny jars... normally we use half pint jars with the wide mouth... she found some about half that size.. only holds about 2 TBSP of pie filling... Love them! I made up some pies in the jars and took them back up for her to put in her freezer.. I knew she had some company coming.. and these would be perfect for that.

Trying to show how tiny the jars are.

Green is apple pie and red is cherry... just take them out of the freezer.. pop the tops off and bake in oven until brown and bubbly.. can serve in the jar.. or slide out onto a plate.. add whip cream or ice cream and it is perfect dessert.

Dave and I have done some fun Christmas type things... We visited Leavenworth for the Christmas tree lighting festival. So beautiful... so many trees and so many people.. we walked around and visited the shops and had a wonderful night.. holding hands and taking pictures of the lights and just being together.

Then we also did the Lights of Christmas here locally... The Lights of Christmas ... walked around again holding hands and being amazed at all the lights.. we love the walking around holding hands part.. even with gloves.. it is all sort of snuggly.. find ourselves leaning close together and whispering and laughing.

We have also been working in the shop... not as much as we would like but as much as life allows. Dust collection is still not complete.. it is how it is and we will have to live with it for awhile. It is not as good as we would like.. but we think it will have to do until we can afford to buy a larger collector and figure out where to put it. We really need a lot larger shop.. at least twice the size of this one and with no car stuff in it would be perfect.. then again.. we need to start buying some winning lottery tickets.. or at least a ticket :) Some day it will all work out... always good to have goals to keep reaching for.. the more reasons to work hard a person has the further they are likely to go. Today we will start building again in there.. starting with the drawers and doors for the cabinets we built. Then organize a little and with the new year we will be starting on customers orders.

Christmas around here this year is very laid back.... no presents... that takes care of a lot of stress... and almost all the kids are off busy doing stuff other places. Oldest is home from college so he will be here... and then next one is in California, I wish he was able to be here.. I know he is alone this year and it breaks this moms heart... I also know he will be ok... I am hoping to get to see him in February. My two youngest are doing some stuff with the other sides of the families. We will be going to my in laws for Christmas eve dinner... I am looking forward to that.. some great people to visit with and wonderful food.. will be a nice night. Then Christmas we will just be home working in the shop and being lazy .. watching movies, eating and enjoying being together. Being thankful for each other and amazed at how each year gets more and more wonderful just being together.

One of Those Wonderful Nights

2011-12-09T22:11:00.000-08:00

Today was spent at home.. I made this weekends lunches and dinners up and did some cleaning.. just a lazy day. Then tonight Dave and I headed into town for the Shop East Stanwood.. I had read about it in the local paper.. it promised carolers, twinkling lights and in house specials. Well it was said to be from 4 to 7.. we drove through at 5 and there were no people or twinkling lights.. the carolers were there but not playing.. we thought maybe it was slow to get going.. we went up the street and had some dinner... we did good and we split a small sampler tray.. had two Huge glasses of water each. Then back to to the shopping area.. found a spot right on the street... because there really was no one there around :( The carolers had gone, learned it was to cold for them and their instruments. It was nice though.. we walked in and out of the shops.. visiting with the shop owners.. all of them had trays of cookies and snacks and tea and hot chocolate.. we were good and said no thank you! At the end of the street is Stanwood Cupcakes and they had just locked their door and shut off their lights.. but when they saw us peeking in they opened up and I am so grateful. I was able to get the gift certificates for my mail lady and garbage man for Christmas... and for the first time I was able to try their cupcakes... I had the Chocolate Ganache and Dave had the Chocolate Peanut Butter...they were wonderful. Just the perfect amount of sweet and flavors and the cake was just how we like it. They are truly the perfect little treat! We visited the Frame shop.. which is the friendliest place in town... They not only have a lot of work by a lot of local artists.. but they have a selection of English treats.. candies and jams and teas... We go there to pick up treats for Dave's dad.. and for us too :) They have the sweetest dogs in the shop too.. every time I am there they saw hello and I just want to spend hours playing with them. Another place we love in that area is the SnowGoose Bookstore .. it is one of those shops that you walk into and you just feel right at home.. our only problem is that we always find a lot more books than we can afford :)

We took the long way home and drove around talking, holding hands some more and looking at Christmas lights. When we got home the house was all lite up with our lights and the fireplace had everything all warm inside. Friends stopped by and visited for a bit and it was just a very wonderful day/night.

To Montana and Back in a Weekend

2011-12-06T13:56:00.001-08:00

Last Friday really really early in the morning we took off for Bozeman Mt. with some friends of ours. We have added a new camera to out collection.. an hd web cam... we put it up on the gps in the dash of the jeep and then I can take pictures and videos. Since I can not wait to do a post about our trip I thought I would start with one sharing some of the pictures and videos from the web cam.. and later after our friends come over and we put all the regular camera pictures in one place I will do another post with some of those.. they will be much better.. I know there are some wonderful animal pictures from our trip through YellowStone.. we saw big horn sheep slamming their heads together and huge buffalo just lazing around on the side of the road.

This is in Montana.. somewhere... one thing I learned about taking photos with the web cam.. I need to put the quality up so I get a better picture... bad enough the wind shield is covered in ick... but most of the photos were taken on the lowest setting and they are just not very good.

Wallace Idaho is a small little town... Interstate 90 used to go right through the middle of town, they are known for having the last stop light on I-90

Driving through Yellow Stone and we have to stop so two coyotes can cross in front of us.. I missed the first one but here is the second one... we did pull over and take a bunch of pictures so will add those later :)

On our way home Sunday night... sky was clear and beautiful.. coming out of Spokane the sunset was so beautiful and it went on for many miles. We even saw Mt Rainer which none of us knew you could see from there.

The Emotional Roller Coaster.. Food

2011-11-22T09:26:00.000-08:00

Holidays... everywhere there is food! Yesterday I had some big highs and some big lows... all related to food. My college son is home for the week, and I want to cook all his favorites.. instead I offer him diet chili... healthy burger with no bun... which he eats with a smile.. only makes me want to cook something even more. Sorry Patrick, no holiday treats here :(

Yesterday we were planning on doing the grocery shopping so I am getting ready to go. I am trying to figure out what to wear and decided to try on some of the clothes that were in the too small tote... two new pairs of jeans fit.. size 18! Same size I was when I met Dave... mind you they are still a little tight.. but I wore them out shopping *happy dance* I am not even half way to what I want to lose total but it is moving right along.

Now to do the price matching and coupon matching for my grocery shopping trip.. lay out all the fliers and start going through them.. Arghhh :( Everything Thanksgiving is in there.. every baking item you would ever need... every frozen treat... candy... cool whip.. pies.. yams.. turkeys.. anything and everything I WANT IT ALL!!! I get none of it *pout* Think size 18... size 16... think muscle not fat.. think.. skinny... think healthy... ok I am back on track and ready for the store.

Or so I thought... talk about a battle... looking the to the left... cookies... to the right.. cider...eggnog... more baking stuff and treats... piled at the end of every aisle is everything Not on my list... all the pretty colors... this stuff is trying to jump into my cart. I am going through the store as quick as I can.. grabbing my rice cakes.. my V8 and my cauliflower and just trying to get out of there asap. I wish it was asap.. instead we get to spend 30 minutes in checkout .. everyone else in the store has all their Thanksgiving stuff in the carts.. and I just stand there watching it all scroll down the belt.

Into the car... headed home.. and the tears start... so much balancing... I love being able to wear my smaller clothes... I love being able to tie my shoes... I love that my feet do not hurt me all the time (wish it was helping my shoulder) there is so much wonderful happening right now as each pound falls off... but I do miss cooking.. and baking.. and feeding people and just enjoying food. I have used food as comfort for a long time... I have "taken care" of people by feeding them... food makes things better... but not really.. I mean it still can... I can still cook and bake and feed people.. but healthy food is not yet fun or comforting to me.. even though Dave said I make a good chili out of some horrible vegetables.

This phase of our diet is hard because the foods we eat are so limited that there are not a lot of options on what and how to make things... starting next week we are back into the 3rd phase and it brings more selection and options and that will help.. I am totally making a cheese cake again :) I also know that I just need to hang on and keep at it and that I will be able to find comfort in cooking, eating and feeding people again... I am sure it will be even more comforting knowing we will all be healthier for it.

Santa Needs to Hold His Horses

2011-11-17T07:33:00.001-08:00

While reading blogs this morning I came across a friends post about Rushing the Holidays and I decided to add my two cents here. I am loving all the cartoons this year that are going around about this subject.

Back in September, before the kids were even back in school.. I walked into Costco and was surrounded with Christmas. I remember just standing there sort of amazed. It was finally warm after a very mild summer and they were already pushing Christmas. Not cool in my book!

We do not do much for the holidays.. never have... doubt we ever will. I am not big on the present things... never did the Santa thing at our house.. not while growing up or while raising my kids. I am not a big religious person but I do believe that this holiday is so unrelated to what it should be representing... people getting trampled on black Friday in their search for saving a buck and yet buying the coolest presents... people stressed out and fighting about who is going where on Christmas eve and Christmas morning.

Stressed.... does anyone.. ANYONE... manage to make it from Halloween to Valentines without being stressed out? We do nothing for the holidays and yet they always come with stress. Growing up there was always a fight or bad attitude on Christmas day... added to that it was always too hot at grandmas house and someone ( yes most often me ) ate too much and ended up with a tummy ache. All in all I have wonderful holiday memories.. don't get me wrong.... but looking back... so much stress. Then as an adult... when my children were babies.. I did the same thing only worse to my kids.

Last year... my oven was not working for Thanksgiving so we bought a pre made dinner from the local grocery store... there was only a couple of us here... it was fine.. not home made and awesome by any means... but it was good and it was super easy.. and lot less stress.. ordered it and then picked it up. Then Christmas was pretty awesome... we did NOTHING!! We stayed in our jammies all day I think... got up late.. ate some cinnamon rolls... watched lots of movies... maybe worked in the shop a bit... but we were super lazy.... I had told my son he could stop by since he had no other plans.. and he was so sweet he called first.. well I was being too lazy and did not even get his message so he did not come over.. that part made me sad... I would have loved to have had him visit.

I do not want to ever put my kids in a situation where they have to schedule around us... they are growing up and having relationship that come with whole other families.. right now there are no grand kids but someday there will be.. and everyone wants to see the grand kids. Well my parents did something wonderful ( I think ) for Christmas with us.. when the kids were little they did the Christmas morning thing for us all.. but it started to get too stressful..with too many schedules... so they moved Christmas to a week or two later. This has so many advantages... one.. no stress... no schedule conflicts... awesome!! Two... after Christmas shopping sales... everyone knows what everyone got and did not get and we can go shopping and hit all the great sales.. I know they are rumored to be after Thanksgiving but after Christmas is really the time to go... the stores know you will be there returning stuff anyway so they put up the end of the year sales to entice you even more :)

Last year I had my kids over after the new year... it was so relaxed... I just picked a day and called them up.. told them they could stop by any time between noon and 5... everyone brought a snack and we all just spent the day visiting and catching up. I think I want to do something like that again this year... no stress.. no mess. I will just pick a day and invite everyone.. they can stop by and visit or not. Can bring a snack but no presents... until there are little kids... and just a nice relaxing fun day with family and friends. A great way to start our New Years

And back to topic... geesh I can ramble like no one else in the world! I think that if we start planning this now it might work so I am going to share with you all and see who is on board with me. One way to avoid all this holiday stress would be... to avoid this set of holidays... I am thinking we can put in a big custom order for Bunny hats I have also seen bunny ears in her shop... and as soon as the 4th of July is over we start wearing them while out shopping.. and we keep asking all the clerks for plastic eggs and Easter grass... Yeah I know it won't work... but it might be fun :) I know I just linked to her shop with the bunny hats.. but... seriously.. if you have little kids.. or grand kids... my friends shop is so much fun... Knees and Paws Kids love to use their imagination and they love to dress up and play.. and that is what her shop is all about! NO stress just fun!

Beach Walk

2011-11-14T12:53:00.000-08:00

Perfect day for sailing... sunny and windy

Starfish "hiding" in the seaweed so the seagulls do not eat them.

The little bit of beach not covered in seaweed today

Little starfish "playing" in the surf

Treasures found today while walking on the beach

After all the wind we have had I had thought there would be a lot of treasures... which there might be.. but 99% of the beach is covered in thick slimy seaweed so I will wait a couple of days for that to wash out and then head back out to see what is there :)

Enter To Win

2011-11-12T17:34:00.000-08:00

This is a list of places you can enter daily to win different things.. I will try to keep this updated.. if you find one that is no longer valid please let me know.. if you know of one not on the list.. please let me know :)

Facebook Links:

Amazon sweepstakes win a kindle and your friends can win too.. sign up once

This is on their website.. not facebook... you just answer the ten questions... you do not have to get them all right to win... so I have heard... I have yet to win.. but you do get a coupon option even if you lose :)

Corky Kouture This is a blog giveaway.. enter until Dec. 5th

Food Blog Giveaway Win a crock pot.. sign up until Nov. 30th

Stormy Beach

2011-11-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

Winter is arriving... with the wind and the rain. I love the beach and this time of year is my favorite... the wind comes in crashing the waves on the shore and then rips them back out.. dragging sand and rocks and logs with it... churning it all up and uncovering all the treasures.

There is power and life on the beach in a storm and one never knows what little bits of beautiful it may uncover and leave laying on the beach to be found. Yesterday there was a period of strong wind gust and it happened to be at high tide.. which was not all that high.. but mixed with the wind gust is made it so much more powerful and amazing. We were only out there for a few minutes yesterday and got a couple of pictures is all... I will be heading out there this week to see what has been turned up so there will be more pictures soon... this time of year.. there will be a lot of beach pictures :)

Normally at a 10.4 tide the water would be many feet from the little sea wall there... with plenty of room to walk down the beach.. and.. this is not big ocean beach.. most of the time we have little ripples not big frothy waves.

I am a little concerned though as I have been reading reports that items from the Japan earthquake and tsunami are expected to start washing up on beaches before too long.. with the most of it arriving in 2013. Beach Combers Alert Even though I do not expect any to wash up on the beach I spend time on..it would have to go around Whidbey island. I do know I will be looking at each item a bit differently. That tsunami really affected my time on the beach... I have not walked the shore since without being thankful for everything I have or without thinking on those who lost so much.

If You Blog.. Then You Need...

2011-11-10T08:23:00.000-08:00

Eclecticsix.com Just be ready to spend a few days wandering around like a kid in a candy store.

I have followed Heather from Home to Heather for a long time now.. to be honest I have no clue where or how it started (feeling a bit like a stalker now) I am thinking possibly twitter.. years ago. I also follow her on facebook and her blog. She is always friendly, helpful, supportive and fun to read and interact with. She started talking about a new adventure her and some of her friends were getting into it. As soon as I had a couple minutes (turned into all day) to sit and explore it I headed over to have a look. Within minutes I was drawn in and I am amazed at how much stuff is in here. I shouldn't be.. it is just like Heather... full of information, support, ideas and help and it is fun too.

Eclecticsix is a forum based blogging world. I am sure there is everything there one would want or need for blogging. A collection of people who blog..... from beauty to recipes to family to anything you can think of.. you will find someone here who blogs about it. The wonderful thing is that it is set up to help and encourage and share. Do you need a little help trying to figure out how to add a widget to your blog... do you want to know what a widget is? This is the place! Have questions about wordpress vs blogger or other places to blog... ask here! Want to learn about how to get followers... there is a place for talking about that too. This is a forum ran by some amazing people who have a lot of experience in the blogging world and who are sharing that experience. This site is priceless, a place to share, support and help in all areas of blogging from real people.. who help in terms we all understand. This is not a place just for people who know all the right coding words or tricks.. this is not a place just for people who blog about their babies... this IS a place for anyone who blogs.. if you are just starting or if you have perfected it... this place really feels like what blogging is all about to me...connecting.. this place is an amazing connection for bloggers.

After you sign up.. this place is free to join... I would love it if you would visit the Chit Chat thread and go to the !!Win $100 Cash!! thread and let them know you signed up thanks to me... while you are there and after you have spent some time looking around you can also get signed up to win the $100 (instructions are in the thread) I am not in anyway asking anyone to sign up just to help me win.. This is all about blogging so if you have no interest in blogging then there is no need for even taking a peek.

Reaching Goals

2011-11-08T08:20:00.000-08:00

Today I am doing a serious happy dance... I have reached a goal! Today I got on the scale and I am down 30 lbs from where I started almost 3 months ago. I still have about 50 lbs to go.. but right now my next goal is to reach -40 my half way mark.. ten more pounds! Today I am wearing a whole size smaller jeans than I was last week.. and 4 sizes smaller than when I started. Let me tell you... my music is playing loud and I am having a hard time even sitting still long enough to write this post!

I have a long ways to go... but with every pound that comes off it is getting easier and easier. I am having less cravings for unhealthy food... and thinking about my future so differently. I am moving more... exercise is a whole different story now than it was 30 lbs ago.... I can do so much more so much easier.. one there is less weight to move around. Two I am seeing things happen.. which makes it much easier and is great motivation to keep things happening!

We have weekend hiking trips planned this spring.. hiking to ghost towns.. and over mountain ranges... sleeping in the woods and playing in the creeks. I am thinking about all the beautiful photos we can take of flowers and animals and even bugs. The time we will get to spend just being together out in nature watching the sun set and sleeping under the stars. I am so excited for the doors that loosing this weight is opening!

Beach Walk

2011-11-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

30 degrees and a bit cold this morning... but still a great morning for a walk on the beach!

Tide was coming in so it was not a long walk but it was so calm and sunny and brrrr cold.. Wonderful morning walk! With all the wind the last few days there was all sorts of fun stuff stirred up and left on the beach :) This morning the water was so calm and the birds were just having a lazy morning.. lots of stretching and quiet noises... very peaceful and calming.

Found lots of fun treasures

This one made me think of my flickr friends :)

Pretty sure the bird on the left was telling the other bird... " head up.. open the wings.. fly!"

Time to head home.. which was ok because my toes and finger tips were getting a bit chilly :)

Five and Dime Post

2011-10-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

This post is going to be just a little bit of this and a little bit of that and some of not really anything :)

Had an awesome weekend.. as always.. with my honey... spent Friday in the jeep on the freeway stuck in traffic most of the day.. lots of time for just visiting and holding hands and being together :)

Made another load of stuff to goodwill.. the last of the loads from storage.. feels so good to have that cleaned out.. one more trip to the dump soon... almost have enough ready to go... the dump and goodwill are two of my favorite places to go.. I love getting rid of stuff!

Worked in the shop this weekend which is always good... a bit frustrating now since we are so much further behind than we wanted to be. Had planned on being done and making things by now.. but.. life happens. We are getting closer... have the dust collection ran from the sander and router table and from the miter saw up and across the ceiling to the dust collection.. now we need to add on the table saw, band saw, jointer, planer, and drill press and than it will be good to go. We did get the new (old) heater, from my dad up and running and it works great.. so much quieter than the one we were using. Will sand it down and give it a coat of paint this week and get it installed. Also planning on adding insulation into the rafters this week / weekend.. should be a lot cheaper to keep it warm this winter.

My plans this week include lots of house keeping stuff. I want to move the furniture around a bit.. into a better set up for laying on the couch and snuggling while watching movies. I love this time of year :) Also want to get the cupboards in the kitchen all emptied out and cleaned out.. lots of food in there we are not eating anymore.. and this is a great time of year to donate to the food banks. Noticed the fridge could use some cleaning up too.. shelves wiped down and what not. Will have to pace myself and see how my shoulder goes.. and will have to save some of it for Dave to help with... thankfully he enjoys this type of stuff too :)

Wanted to share a couple of things I saw this week and thought were fun. A friend blogged about 25 uses for coffee filters.. oh and you can use them to make coffee too :) I am going to be trying a couple of these.. love the microwave soup one! Also found a new blog this week that is local and interesting... Journey Beyond Average I love finding local blogs.. I keep a list on the right hand side of the blog of the ones I find and I enjoy!

Scale update.. it is still moving down... down... down... slowly but surely. Which works for me!

Big Four Ice Caves

2011-10-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

This was a wonderful weekend, we did not get a LOT done around the house.. we did get the garage cleaned up and ready for finishing up the dust collection.. and we did get the closet redone in the back room so I can get some stuff organized back there. Other than that we did nothing but relax and have fun. We went out on the bike on Saturday and headed to La Conner for some Awesome fish and chips, we walked around and did some shopping.. just a nice time together. Saturday night we had a late dinner at the Olive Garden and just some more nice time to sit and visit and home for some snuggle time while watching some tv. I love these weekends we just spend time reconnecting with each other :)

Lots of caches right here on the island.. but we are going to save those for another day

Sunday we decided to go do some geo caching, which I am so happy to be getting back into. We headed up Mountain Loop Highway which is one of our favorite places to go for a drive, or hiking or camping... it is so beautiful out there and we have had a lot of fun there. Yesterday we added one more awesome day to list of ones we have had out there. We started out just getting some quick and easy caches in some short interactive walks at a couple of places.

I did find the biggest Wish Rock I have ever seen :)

After some of these trails and caches we decided to head up to the ice caves... it just a mile hike up and a mile back... well if you stay on the trails it is just a mile each way. We are not well known for staying on the trail... always just want to see what is around the corner. So off we go. Figure by the time we went after a couple of caches up at the top and one in the middle.. that we added another mile or so to our walk :)

Such beautiful colors out here today and it was not too warm or too cold.. just perfect!

Had to take a little trail to the left so we could pick up a cache at the corner there :)

Under the new (since we were there) bridge caching before we cross it and head up and the trail.. will have to go back for this one as we did not find it. :(

There is a cache in there we will head back for too... never good to get all of them in one area... this way we have to go back here someday :) Hard to tell in the picture.. but this is big enough for Dave and I to both climb around inside of.

Almost out of the woods.

This is safe viewing distant... those little holes down there are the entrance to the caves themselves.. and are about 20 feet tall... but there are signs saying it is not safe and things can fall on you.. there are signs here and at the base before you even start.. also there are signs reminding you that there is no cell service.. has not been for miles. Just last year a little girl was killed and mom hurt when they were down near the mouths of the caves... then I read that the dad was trying to get something done about the safety.. or get the trails closed... I just do not understand why people make bad choices and then think it is not their fault... Be careful and read the warnings and pay attention to them.. it is not safe or smart to ignore them.. and if you do and something happens.. man up and be responsible for your own choices. I am horribly sorry for their loss... I am also sorry for all of the places and things that we as people can not do or see because some people made bad choices and it causes places to be closed.

With this all being said.. we did go a bit closer.... we did not go into the caves... and we did not (even though one picture looks like it) place ourselves under the edges of the cave either. We did walk on the snow/ice but only on the outside where it touches the ground and is an inch deep. I do have to say.. it is very tempting... then again.. it is just not worth it.

This is as close as we got... it looks like Dave is right in there but he really is not... this was a shorter cave and was so cool you could see the waterfall behind it.. this was the hard one for me not to go into.. it was just so amazing.

This trail is full of so many beautiful colors and textures and lots of water and fun stuff. Was a wonderful hike.. easy trail... will do it again .. in the spring for sure.. I bet there is a lot more snow up there in the spring.

Link to Big Four Ice Caves Here

Link to Geocaching Here

Points that Equal Money

2011-10-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

I know there are a lot of different places out there... search bars you can add that give you points for searching.. like swagbucks.. which I use.. and I like.. I do get paid from them regularly.. about $5 every month or so.. would be more if I used it more... it is not much but I do not use it too much either. If I remembered to log in there more often I could easily make more... they have videos you can watch and earn points.. you can search and earn points and all types of things. If you are interested in signing up with swagbucks there is a link at the very bottom of the blog.. scroll all the way to the bottom there is a swagbucks box.. just click on the signup button on the bottom right.

There are survey sites, I do some of those too .. My favorite does not seem to have a link I can share... but if you email me ( Michelle_Ballard@hotmail.com ) I can send you an invite to join... I like them because I get an email when there is a new survey to fill out... and biggest deal.. NO spam mail.. and if you fill out the info surveys first then almost ALL of the ones they send you are ones you qualify for.. I hate spending time answering stupid questions just to be told I do not qualify and it was all a waste of time. This one does not do that.. and it pays ok.. 1100 points = $10 in my paypal account.. took a couple of weeks is all.

Now I have found Superpoints... and I am in love. I have been doing this for just over a month.. I have cashed in $50 ... 500 points = $5. Yesterday I got over $2 .. today I only got about 65 cents. Totally works for a real nice dinner out every month.. or some other treat. The thing on superpoints is that they send points to your email.. all you have to do is click the link and you have points. If you want more points you can click on the super button and win points. Just for signing up you get like 3 or 5 spins a day... becoming a basic member you get 30 spins a day.... get people to sign up and become basic members under you and you collect some of the points they collect and you get 50 spins a day... get 5 people to sign up and become basic members under you and you are a hot shot plantinum member and you get 100 spins a day :) (Great big thanks to everyone who signed up under me )

The people who sign up under you only need to fill out enough profile to become basic members.. that is all.. they do not need to collect their points.. or play the super button or do anything. I mean if they do it is awesome because then you get more points too.. but they do not need to. I had over 5 people who were sweet enough to sign up and become basic members so that I could have the 100 spins.. a couple of them are collecting their points and some are not doing anything with it.. but I am just as thankful to each of them.

I am going to share some invites with you all... and I would love to have you join me. It isn't going to pay any bills for anyone but for ten quick minutes a day while I am sitting checking email and enjoying my coffee I am making some $$ for some of those little extras :)

Here are some invites. I will update these often ( as I remember to) All of the invites are single use.. if you miss out on the ones listed here just email me Michelle_Ballard@hotmail.com with "Superpoints" in the subject line and I will email you your own private invite :) If you are on Superpoints and have an invite to share.. feel free to leave it comments and hopefully someone will grab it up :) I will try to go through and delete superpoint invites from comments as they expire... or if anyone uses one it would be great to let me know so I can delete it out of there :)

Please if you click on one and it does not work.. let me know.. then I can get it out of there and replace it with a new one... thank you :)

Updated on 12/25/11

Invite Here (worth 25 points)

Be sure to leave a comment with the invites so I can get them posted in here.. or people can copy and paste them right from the comments!

Invite (waiting for one)

Any questions feel free to ask :)

~Michelle

Mentally Changing Our Lives

2011-10-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

Today I was talking with a friend of mine who is also doing the HCG Liquid Diet that we have been doing and we covered some topics I wanted to write down here. She is on her second week of phase 2 the first round.. and we are getting ready to start phase 2 round three next weekend. I have learned a lot while on this diet.. one.. people hate the word diet. For me it holds no bad meanings or history or anything so I use it. I can understand that for others it may be an evil word...for whatever reason... so I am ok with them not using it. I think this word is one of the reasons I started thinking about the mental aspect of my life. How to me when I say I am on a "Diet" it means I am focusing on what I am eating and how I am living and trying to do it as healthy as possible. When other people use or hear the word diet they may remember a time when they were starving or they lost weight and then gained it back it may make them feel fat. I can understand that if when you hear the word or see it and it makes you feel bad that then chances are slim that you will have success in what you are attempting.

I have always believed that as humans we believe what we are told and what we see, and picking what we hear or see so that we do not have to face truths. I know that is how it is for me and I watch it happen with others. Example for me.. instead of looking at my whole self and telling myself I was getting fat.. instead I managed to find one thing I did like.. say my shoes.. each day and really focus on how cute they were and I would tell myself many times throughout the day how cute they were.. that way I did not have to see myself for what I was. This list could be endless. I found that by making cupcakes instead of cake I was lying to myself about what and how much I was eating... my bowls and plates and cups got bigger... that way I could pretend I was not eating more... I mean it still looked the same on the plate.

This diet I am on now is teaching me a lot about how I do things.. making me really sit and think and look at myself and how I got where I am and how I am going to get where I want to be and to STAY where I want to be. Number one is being open and honest with myself about me. One thing I have decided is that instead of telling myself I "can't" have fast food or whatever it is. I am just going to say I do not want it. When I use the word "can't" it right away makes me want it even more than I did before. The truth is.. I can have it.. but I really do not want it... not as much as I want to be healthy. In taking this approach I feel stronger... I am the one with the power.. no one is telling me I "can't" .. I am deciding I do not want it.

I need to stay focused on the here and the now with an eye on tomorrow. Keep working towards what I want and keep being honest with how I got where I am. I need to keep my eyes open to everything.. not just what I want to see. I need to take the good and the bad and work on a balance. I need to face those habits I have and change them. I have been thinking of food as a comfort.. and yet... it does not really comfort me when it makes me fat and unhealthy and keeps me from liking myself. This diet is changing how I look at myself and how I deal with things. It is teaching me a lot about myself and how I work. It is helping me to get focused and learn new habits. In the process I am also losing some weight. This "diet" is working well for me!

Walk on Beach

2011-09-29T13:18:00.001-07:00

Beach to the left

Beach to the right.

Guarding his part of the beach.

I always want to climb up those stairs, I think there is a magical land up there.. must be to be connect to here.

The treasures I found today :)

Stores Coupon Policys

2011-09-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

Some things we need to have. A way to organize our coupons so we know what we have and when it expires. I have mine in a binder and I have a little pocket thing in it so I can keep a pen and some paper and a calculator. Being new to this I have added and changed a few times already... so far so good.. will keep changing until I find what works best for me.

One thing we always need to know are the coupon policy for the stores we are shopping in. I have printed out the ones for the stores I use and added them to my binder.. I have also been told to be sure to check before shopping that they have not changed them.

Walmart Coupon Policy and Ad Match Policy

Target Coupon Policy

Rite Aid Coupon Policy

WalGreens Coupon Policy

Albertsons Coupon Policy

Working on Home Depot, Have been told they accept coupons but so far can not find anything printable... I think it may be a per store thing.. but worth checking your local store. We get the coupons from Lowes all the time but often use Home Depot instead.. I will be trying it next time we shop there. Can't hurt to try!

If there is a store you use not on this list let me know and I will do my best to find it

Coupon Mail Train

2011-09-27T13:27:00.001-07:00

I have been reading about a great way to get coupons and have found some friends and family to help me give this a try. Would love to get more people involved so if anyone reading this is interested please let me know.

Right now we are starting off with 4 people, Greta, Brenda, Gina and myself. That is our circle. The plan is that I will clip a bunch of coupons and put them in a business envelope and I will mail them to Greta, she will go through the coupons and take out any that she would like to keep. She will then add in some more.. about the same amount she took about. It is not important here that the Same amount are added.. we do not want to have to use more than one stamp so we want to keep it about the same or a little less. About 60 regular newspaper type coupons is about an ounce, which is one stamp.. anything over that and it is 64 cents up to 2 ounces.. over 2 ounces it changes to 84 cents. Then she will mail it to the next person on the list, Brenda, who will do the same and so on until it is mailed back to me.

If we always take out expired ones and we are always adding new ones it should cycle through and have new coupons each time it gets to each of us. We do need to be sure that we keep it moving... since the coupons do expire. I am hoping that each of the people involved with this will take a moment to post a comment here ( at the bottom of the page ) and let us know what type of coupons you are looking for, certain brands or items. That way we can all keep our eyes open for each other and this could work really well.

Since we are all new to this and there are no real rules.. please let me know if we need to change how anything works.. you can always get a hold of me on twitter, facebook. email, phone, or leave a comment here on the blog :) If you want in on this.. just get me your mailing address and I will add you into the circle.

*I have done some looking into sending expired coupons to the troops and have talked with a friend who is stationed in Germany and I am going to be sending all of them to them to use so no need to take out the expired ones.. I will take care of that when the envelope comes back around :)

Store Coupon Policy links

Out Sailing on the Water

2011-09-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

Friday was a beautiful day, warm and windy.. perfect for sailing! We left early and picked up Dave's son and then down the street we picked up his parents. Off we headed to the water. Dave's dad loves to sail, has his own boat but it has not been in the water for a few years and needs a little TLC (which it will be getting over the winter) His dad is having some health issues and one thing we have learned over the years is that it is not a good idea to wait to do things you really want to do and to share them with people who you really love. We have been talking about going sailing with his dad and with john for years... the time was Friday.

The only sail boat I have ever really seen was Steve's ( Dave's dad) his is 25 feet and well.. to me.. it is a sail boat.. that is about all I know. When I booked the charter for Friday I booked it on a 33 foot sail boat.. I figured it would be huge.. like a yacht or something.. well I was totally clueless. It was a lot longer than Steve's.. but the sitting area was not any bigger.. in fact it is smaller.. was a bit of a crowded trip but we all like each other so that was ok.

We ended up powering up to Langley because it was too windy and the captain said we would all end up soaking wet and maybe sea sick.... well we ended up soaking wet anyway but it was still fun. We had a wonderful lunch in Langley at the Braeburn and I loved it. The food was wonderful, the service was great, the building was fun .. We will go back there for sure! There was a street fair going on right outside the windows so we were able to watch people and sit and visit while having lunch.. was a great time. On the way back we were able to sail.. I have to say.. getting the sails up and ready to go was a bit nerve wracking.. both sails were not really ready to go.. they were twisted and it was a bit of a mess.. twice the boom went flying almost knocking people off the boat.. but once they were up and we were on our way it was wonderful. Made some good time on the way back too.. 10.3 knots was the fastest we went.. ( on the way there we only went like 3.5) But it did not seem very fast.. the wind was with us and the water was beautiful, the sun was warm and it was so quiet.

On the way up to Langley Steve was in charge of the tiller (?) I have no clue.. I just know it is not called a wheel.. and in this case it really looks just like a stick so I am not sure. On the way back Dave and John did the raising ( not pulling ) of the sails and that sort of thing.. I am seriously going to have to learn a whole new language here. John and I had not been on a sail boat before and both of us are ready to be on one again ASAP.. we can't wait to get dads all fixed up and maybe even go out for a long weekend in it.

Not only was the sailing wonderful but the very best thing about Friday was the time spent with people I care so much about. So many smiles and hugs and happy memories. It will be a day I will never forget and that I will always treasure. I hope to have a lot more of these days to make memories like this with these people and with the rest of my family and friends too. It is important to remember that we never know what will happen tomorrow and we need to live each day to the fulliest and to share our love and smiles and to care for each other before we are gone.

This picture wraps up the whole day for me. Everyone smiling.. and in one picture! These guys almost never smile.

No Sugar Cheese Cake

2011-09-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

Added a few extra berries here... it is my favorite part :)

I made this last Thursday.. super easy and simple and it taste great. I made a half recipe and put it in a pie pan with a thin graham cracker crust. I did not have any fruit in the cheese cake itself.. just fresh berries on top. I also did not add the butter to the cheese cake but used a little with the cracker crumbs. Cut it in 8 pieces and figured out the math so that each piece (minus berries on top) was about 150 calories. The full recipe says it makes 12 servings.

Cheese cake recipe from HCG liquid diet Phase three recipe (lots more recipes at the link too)

2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups Plain Yogurt Plain Greek yogurt is good!
1 tablespoon Stevia
16 ounces cream cheese Softened
2 tablespoons butter melted

Directions

In a large bowl, blend together eggs, vanilla, sour cream and stevia. Slowly add butter and cream cheese. Spoon about 1/2c mix into another bowl and add raspberry flavoring (sugar free, any flavor) Mix well. Spoon remaining mix into a 10 inch spring release pan or 12 ramekins.(see photo) Add dollops of raspberry batter on top and swirl thru. If desired, you can make a crust from 1 1.2 cups ground almonds, 1/4 cup splenda and 1/4 butter. Mix all together like you would graham cracker crust and line pan or ramekins. (calculations do not include crust) Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-25 min if cooking ramekins, 35-40 min for spring pan. This will not look done, but will firm up when refrigerated. Place ramekins in a water bath or place a shallow pan with water in overn below the pan or ramekins. Garnish with fresh raspberries and whipped cream if desired (not included in counts) This can be frozen. Number of Servings: 12

I let it cool a bit then put it in the fridge.. I got busy and forgot to cover it and it sinked down and cracked a bit.. next time I will cover right away.. and eat the next day.. we ended up not eating it until Saturday night.. it had dried out a bit too much.. but was still good :)

Price Matching and Coupons

2011-09-22T06:52:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I went grocery shopping and ventured into the land of price matching. It went really well.. I saved about $5 on produce. I also had some coupons I wanted to use and I ended up saving about $7 dollars with those. It was a nice time to give this all a try, the store was pretty quiet and empty.. no lines for checkers :) I did learn.. do not go to the line that sells tobacco. Even though it is not a quick check lane.. It is the only lane that sells tobacco and even though it went ok I am thinking if there had been people in the store it could have been stressful. My checker acted a little put out.. well she started with clueless and then went to put out... but I just kept smiling at her and pretending like I knew what I was doing.. and she got the job done.

I made my grocery list, on two different pages ... all the produce on one page, since we get a lot of that and I knew I would be price matching what I could there. Then everything else on another page. I put little stars next to items with coupons and ones that I price matched. Next time I will give coupon items a star and then items I price matched I will circle. As I got to the item on my list I would pull out the coupon and decide if I wanted to use it. I refuse to buy a brand name because I have a coupon if I can get the store brand cheaper. I only used about half the coupons I had hoped to use. I did however score $1.50 off coupon for the cat food, there was a pile of them sitting next to the food so I grabbed a couple. I did end up having to buy a huge bag of cat food and bag of liter not because of the coupons but because the store was out of the smaller bags.. I now have about a 6 month supply.

All in all it was a good experience, I like the price matching at Walmart.. super easy to do.. I just gathered up all the adds locally and went through pricing things on my list.. anything on sale for a good deal I made a note of... then when I was shopping at Walmart I checked to see if the other ads were cheaper.. some of them were a LOT cheaper, Walmart cauliflower was $1.89 and my local store had it for .79 cents I grabbed a couple of those.. onions were about half the price and apples were 30 cents cheaper a lb. I made sure and kept all the price matched items in the front of the cart and when I got to the check stand I told her right away I wanted to price match those items and pulled out the flyers... she sort of rolled her eyes but she did it :)

My Giveaway Wins

2011-09-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

I read today someone posted about how much they had won in the last year and I have been signing up like crazy and have already won one item. I decided to start a list of things I win and how I win them.. giveaway, or contest or however it is, and their value. That way I can come back in a year and see how I have done :) This will be an ongoing list.. much easier here online then I do not lose the paper I write it all on.

Date ~ Item won ~ How it was won ~ Value

9/7/11 ~ HCG Kit ~ Twitter RT contest ~ $97

9/20/11 ~ HCG Strength Training for Phase 3 ~ Survey ~ $20

9/21/11 ~ Envelope full of coupons ~ Giveaway at Mommy Likes Deals ~ Value depends

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Coupons for Free stuff, ones I sign up for on the web and they mail me.

Two ( one for me and one for Dave ) free Hershey chocolate bars

Free gallon of ice cream

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Free stuff, samples, they mail to me.

Granola bar from kashi

Dove body mist from Walmart

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Hidden Vegetable Chili / Soup

2011-09-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

We are doing a very VERY low calorie diet, the HCG liquid diet, and can only eat certain foods. We have two servings of fruit, two of protein and 4 of vegetables. Mind you.. only certain foods in those groups. With a honey who does not eat any vegetables.. wait he will eat iceburg lettuce... no other lettuce or vegetable at all though.. so this has been a bit tricky.

This is what I came up with and so far I have done two versions of it.. the only thing that is different is the spices. Today I am doing the chili one since it is his favorite, the other one is Italian spices in it.. that is my favorite.

Hidden Vegetable Chili Soup

recipe is for one serving.. just multiply by whatever number of servings to make more. I make a big pot of it and then just warm up a bowl at a time.

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup of beef broth

1 cup of diced onion

1 cup of diced celery

1 cup of diced cauliflower

1 cup of diced tomato

1 cup of red and green peppers diced up

3.5 oz of ground hamburger ( either in a patty on the side or in the soup )

Boil until tender then mash up... I like it to have some texture but for us it can not look like vegetables at all... the texture would be all up to you.

Add some chili seasoning.. again.. as much or as little as you would like.

1 big bowl of the soup equals 4 servings of vegetables and one protein!

Sometimes we eat this like a soup and have a burger patty on the side.. sometimes we cook up the hamburger and put it in the bowl and pour the soup over and mix it all up. We do sprinkle a tiny bit of cheese on top even though it is not on the approved list of foods.

In a couple of weeks when we are eating a bit more I will also be adding carrots to this mix.

For more recipes from me, my family and my friends.. check out my kitchen blog

Coffee, Tea and Recipes

New Giveaway

2011-09-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

New giveaway is up and running today.. Winner will be announced in one week (15th of September) Remember you can always find the most current giveaway by clicking the giveaway link on the right hand side of the blog :)

You can win this Sea Glass Key Chain

If you would like a key chain but not this one... I do have a couple more in my shop and I can also make one just for you.. if you would like something custom. Also have Necklaces and bookmarks and earrings and picture frames and shadow boxes and more (coupon code 3off will save you $3 on all items marked with a yellow "coupon" banner.

Good Luck Everyone and have fun

~Michelle

Dinner

2011-09-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

We love fish and chips...and we used to eat it often.. 4 big pieces of fish dipped in all sorts of batter and fried up nice and tasty with a big piles of fries on the side. Well... totally not on the menu these days.. but we still love fish... so I took one of our cracker servings and made it into a powder and added a bunch of spices.. rolled the fish in it and baked it. So now instead of a pound of fish we get 3.5 oz. and instead of fries we have a big green salad and some cucumbers. I have to say it is in no way the same.. but it is really good. It makes the house smell so good and it looks so pretty.. and afterwards we have energy to do things.. used to eat the big pile of fried food and then have to sit around for an hour with a tummy ache. ( yes that is how we got fat ) Learning to eat until it is enough instead of eating as much as we can is a huge step in this... better choices in what we eat and how much we eat. It is awesome to be losing weight but the best part is how much better we are feeling.

North Cascades

2011-09-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

Four day weekend and Dave had to work on Friday and Saturday and a few hours on Sunday.. as soon as he was done Sunday we packed a picnic dinner and headed out. We decided to head up highway 20 and check out some camp sites. We love the drive and it was such a beautiful day. Found a few great camping places and a few not so great... saw a lot of mountains. Went on a couple small hikes to some awesome lookouts and just had a wonderful relaxing day.

Followed the Skagit river up highway 20 in the North Cascades

The lookout from the Newhalem visitor center .. also checked out the camp ground here and Love it!

Spill way is empty... first time I have seen it with no water.. lots of huge rocks.

Diablo lake at the look out.

Watched the sun set behind the mountains over Diablo lake.

Camping on the North Cascade Highway

Some of the camping areas we checked out where not so nice.. there are some in Marblemount but not the kind we like.. they were mostly open fields sort of camping.. looked like you were camping in someones back yard. As we went further up we found some we really liked though.

Goodell creek is right before Newhalen and is very woodsy and nice.. there were some bigger motor homes in there... no reservations.. no flush toliets.. spots are a bit hilly.. right on the skagit river... more of a tenting sort of place.. but I like it for roughing it :) $10 a night

Newhalen creek is super nice.. just minute or two from goodell creek and on the way to the vistor center.. they have a couple of loops.. nice clean maintained place with lots of motor homes and they have flush toilets.. no power but really nice big spots. $12 a night ~ I am guessing you can reserve these as a lot had reserved signs on them. Photo of one of the back in spots.. nice and long and clean.

Colonial Creek, has camping on both sides of highway 20.. on the North side it is a bit more rustic with one loop.. pretty hilly sites... not really for bigger motor homes. South side of highway 20 has a nice boat launch and a lot of camping spots.. flush toilets... nice.. everything is just really nice. $12 a night

I believe most of these close down by the end of September... so I would be sure to call ahead to check on any of them. We will hopefully be spending a lot of time up there next spring and summer.. the hikes out of that area are amazing!

Here is a link for Camping in the area

Eating on Our "diet"

2011-09-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

This new way of eating is working out really good for us... Lots of veggies and some fruit and some healthy meat... Since Dave does not like veggies I have been making up a soup that gives him 4 cups of veggies in every bowl. Today I made up a huge pan of it so that everyday I can warm him up a big bowl of it to go with dinner and he is happy and healthy :)

After this stage I give it a little puree so he can not see the veggies

I also baked a bunch of chicken and then cut up each serving into bite size pieces and put them in baggies we can have for lunch... and made 5 lbs of hamburger ( the 96/4) into 4 oz patties in the freezer. This week we added 15 servings of cod to the freezer too.. all frozen in single little servings I can just pull out and pop in the oven :) Eating like this is proving to be simple and easy.. to shop for.. to cook for and to eat.

It amazes me to think that in the last 17 days I have used no sugar.. no butter.. no breads.. no pasta... nothing preserved or boxed or fake.. everything has been fresh.. I did use stevia .. two little packets.. one when I made bbq sauce and one on some strawberries.. but that is it. I may not have lost a hundred lbs yet.. but we are both feeling so much better.. more focused and cleaner and in great spirits. A lot of people tell me negative things about this hcg diet... but a lot of them do not get it... for some of us, everyone is different, but like for us here.. being fat is a big mental thing.... this diet is teaching us how good we feel when we eat right.. and showing us some pretty bad habits we had.. we were not eating because we were hungry.. we were eating because it was habit. This diet has taken the hunger away and is letting us learn a lot about ourselves and how we work and allowing us the chance to change our habits and how we think about things. Not every "diet" works for every person...but this one is working for us.. not only are we losing weight.. and inches.. but we are feeling amazing... and learning so much and making huge life changes in how we eat.. what we eat.. and why we eat.

Focused

2011-08-31T09:38:00.000-07:00

I can not seem to get focused.. my brain either seems to be stumbling around with nothing or it is in overload. No need for blonde jokes here :) I know this is part of the bi-polar and I am keeping an eye on it because right now it is in overload (upswing) so many cool fun things going on.

1, Started a group on Facebook Stanwood Area Barter Group Hoping to get lots of people involved and start getting some bartering going on in the area.

2, The diet Dave and I are working on... post about that here it is going great.. a lot better than I had expected... day 13 of 40 days and feeling great!

3, Coupons... coupons and coupons... yes I am addicted. It is crazy how many coupons are out there for so many things. I spent a couple of hours just this morning signing up to have samples with coupons mailed to the house... I may not need to ever by any tampons, pads, shampoo, soap, or anything else for the bathroom for years. My facebook and my email are not filled 98% with coupon related things... I am printing and gathering and stacking and sorting and organizing like crazy... I love it! I am ready to take my first envelope to the store this week for our weekly trip... I may only save a couple of dollars ( not going too extreme here... yet) but it is a couple of dollars we would have spent last week. Our grocery list is changing .. food wise we are only buying meat and veggies and fruit right now.. so I am only using coupons for cleaners and stuff for the next couple of weeks.

4, Working on some new craft projects. Have three new projects I have started.. but they are not really ready to be talking too much about yet :) Next week I should be ready with a blog post for at least one of the projects!

5, Cleaning the house... this may sound odd.. but now that the kids are out.. and Dave and I have everything how we want it... I am so in love with cleaning it. The best part is.. it is so easy now. When I clean the kitchen ... it stays clean. Sometimes I clean something and then spend the day walking past it just amazed that it is still clean. My kids were not dirty or messy.. in fact they were a lot cleaner than most teenagers I know.. it is just so different now.

Ok that pretty much wraps up what is going on this week for me. I am on an upswing.. not too high though.. should be fine.. and I am getting bunches down and feeling great! Hope everyone else is having a good week too.

*a huge hug and a prayer for someone I know who is in a hard place right now, it will get better*

This little butterfly bush was planted in April, post here a friend had given me the little one inch start that was almost dead... it did nothing for months.. then all of a sudden it started growing and now it is about 2 feet tall and around and has little flowers. Yay!

~Michelle

Great View on a Sunny Day

2011-08-27T16:44:00.001-07:00

Well I do not really have a lot to write about these days... working on the house.. cleaning and organizing and sorting is mostly what is getting done. Getting ready to head out to the shop and start cleaning out there. Now that all the kids have moved out and we have brought everything home from storage it is as if Dave and I are finally moving in together. When I moved in here I left almost all my stuff in storage.. then he put most of his into storage so that he could make room for all of my kids and we could remodel the house. Now the house is done and the kids are gone and we are making it ours and it feels so good :)

Friday we went to Bellingham to pick up a couple of things for the house, a magnet door dick for the bedroom so the door stops blowing shut.. I am so afraid of the cat getting smashed. We also needed to get a new track for the closet door in the office.. we had the wrong one up and it made a really horrible sound when you opened it. On the way back we drove down Chuckanut Drive which is a beautiful drive and we stopped at a pullout to have our lunch and enjoy the view.

We visited a fun antique junk shop and found a few things we might need... decided it was best to come home and do some research and think about them first though. We then hit the hobby store and brought some track to set up Dave's very old train cars in so we can display them with our train stuff. Hit the grocery store for a lot of fruits and veggies... we did find a salad dressing that is everything free... no calories.. no fat.. no sugar.. no msg... pretty much there is nothing in there.. lol it is weird.. but it taste good so we enjoyed a nice green salad with some chicken in it and some fake? salad dressing.

This morning we had a lazy morning.. did our weigh in and we are both still dropping.. did our weekly measurements and they are down... Dave made up a bunch of charts so we can watch everything and then we went and hit some garage sales.. I got some fun baskets and a cool big glass bowl and a few other small things..tomorrow we focus on the shop and mowing the weeds in the yards.. the grass has all died off but those weeds are about 2 feet tall :(

Keeping Track of my Weight

2011-08-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

Started a new diet thing ... yes I know people hate the word diet.. but I am ok with it.. for me it is just a short way of saying I started a new way of watching what I eat and paying attention to how I am feeding my body and how I am taking care of myself. A couple of years ago we started a "diet" where we cut out the junk food.. stopped going to fast food restaurants.. this not only saved us a lot of money but we figured between fast food... soda.. and pizza.. we were eating close to 8k calories a day.. yes that would be number one on how we got fat.. plus we were not doing any form of exercise... those two things together and the pounds just flew on. We stopped eating all the ick and started walking almost every day and hiking and we stopped gaining weight.. even started losing....then life happens and we end up being too busy for the hiking and the walking starts to be less and less and the weight slowly starts coming back on... and we start eating out more.. and here we are on the up hill again... we know what we need to do... we need to eat healthy and exercise more... having a hard time getting back on that track though.

A couple of people I know started a liquid HCG diet and Dave and I were talking about it... then we learned some good friends were also starting it and we decided to jump in too. Some people love this and some hate it... I am a bit nervous about it but I do see it working with people and I am going to give it a try. Plan is to use it as a jump start... since we are having a hard time getting motivated and started again I am thinking this is going to be a great cleansing to be able to get back to no junk food and better eating schedule and being able to exercise a lot more... anyone who wants to talk to me about the harm it can do.. I have heard it.. and I do not throw away the concerns.. but.. there is also the thought that being fat is doing a lot of harm. I am not posting this to debate if this is a good "diet" or not... I am here so I can keep track of how this is working for me and my progress with it.

We took our measurements and got on the scale.. I know that last time I was losing weight it really helped when I shared it here... it holds me accountable and makes me work harder. When the whole world can see what you are doing (I know the whole world reads my blog..holds its breath just waiting for me to post ) or not doing it helps.. last time I listed my weight.. so sharing that is not a huge deal for me this time around.. but writing down how big I am in inches for anyone to see.. wow that is a hard one... just looking at it on paper myself is hard. I will be weighing in everyday and measuring once a week. I will be updating on this post and not starting new posts for any of this ( at least that is the plan )

That all being said... here goes

Week 1 ~ This was not as hard as we had thought or in the ways we had expected. The drops really help with the cravings and with being hungry. My biggest problem is I am not hungry at all... I am having to force myself to eat to be able to get enough calories each day. The water is going through me as if I was a funnel... not sure what good it does when it goes through so fast. Dave is having almost no problems with any of it. Last night was his first night of feeling a bit hungry late at night... he was up working... but he dealt with it fine. He is getting his veggies in a soup every night.. boring but he likes it so that works. Learning a lot about things we do, mostly with food, because of habit.. really paying attention to those things and keeping notes... really focusing and talking a lot about how the healthy eating will continue in our lives. Will be keeping LOTS of veggies and fruits and smaller portions and staying away from sugar and carbs. This week will be trying some new recipes.... That is one thing I do not discuss with Dave.. he does not want to know he is eating vegetables. *smile*

Weight

Date Weight Total loss

8-19-11 ~ 255.6

8-26-11 ~ 247.6 -8lbs

9-2-11 ~ 242.6 -13lbs

9-9-11 ~ 238.0 -17.6lbs

9-16-11 ~ 237.0 -18.6 lbs

9-23-11 ~ 234.0 -21.6lbs

9-30-11 ~ 232.4 - 23.2lbs

11-8-11 ~ 225.0 -30.6

11-18-11 ~ 222.2 -33.4

2-2-12 ~ 213.8 -41.8

Measurements

8-19-11 ~~~~ 9-23-11 ~~~~ 9-30-11 ~~~~ 11-18-11 ~~~~~2-3-12

Neck ~~ 15 ~~~~ 14.5 ~~~~ 14.25 ~~~~~~ 14 ~~~~~~ 13.5

arms ~~ 15 ~~~~ 14 ~~~~ 14.25 ~~~~~~ 13.75 ~~~~~ 13.25

chest ~~ 50 ~~~~ 48.5 ~~~~ 47.5 ~~~~~~ 46.75 ~~~~~ 44.75

waist ~~ 51.25 ~~~ 51.5 ~~~~ 47.75 ~~~~~~ 44.25 ~~~~~ 41.75

hips ~~ 55.5 ~~~~ 53 ~~~~~ 52 ~~~~~~ 50.25 ~~~~~~ 48.75

legs ~~26.25 ~~~~ 24.5 ~~~~ 24.25 ~~~~~~ 22.75 ~~~~~ 22.25

9/30/11 ~Today is day 43, that is two binge days and then 34 days on phase two and now 7 days into phase 3. I am down now to 232.4 scale goes up a little and down a little every day... pretty much staying right about here. What has amazed me the most has been the inches I have lost in this last week. All of a sudden the inches came off and I lost almost as many in this last week as I did in the last month. Which is nice because I now am able to wear a size smaller and I have clothes in this size I have been saving and hoping I could wear again... now I am working towards the next size smaller. Will do phase 3 for a couple more weeks... then a little bit of phase four and start back on phase 2 around the 21st of October.

11-18-11 Into the last week of Phase 2 round 2 and I am down a total of 33.4 lbs and 21.75 inches. Next week is Thanksgiving... and then we have a road trip planned and my Birthday and Christmas and New Years... some big challenges coming up.. time to really stay focused. Will start another round in Jan... I am going to try to work hard.. lots of exercise and eating good between now and then to be as close to under 200 lbs as possible

2-3-12 Last week of phase 2on the third round.. this one has been hard. Does not help that we went through Thanksgiving.. Christmas... son being home.. two road trips ... and news years eve... before we started.. had a bit of a hard time before we started this.. all in all we did pretty good. Had gained back 4lbs that had to be lost in this round too. I did it :) I am really seeing a difference now.... started in a size 24 jeans and now a 20 is lose.. I can put on size 18 but not really wear them yet.. I do expect to be able to very soon.. which will mean I will need new clothes very soon. I have one pair of jeans and one pair of Capri pants in that size.. then nothing smaller. I have been wearing all my summer clothes just because they are getting super baggy and by the time summer gets here I will need all new clothes in that area too. I am not planning on doing another round of the hcg diet for awhile.. I want to give it 3 months or so.. really focus on working out and eating healthy and getting things toned up and adding some muscle... then possibly will do one more round end of April and then this summer will be all about hiking and working out and eating right. I Want Muscles!!

Mini Vacation (photos)

2011-08-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

We went with some friends and headed to Sequim then down the coast to the Ocean and then home.. spent 3 nights 4 days and had a LOT of fun.

Sea lions playing in the water in Sequim at the John Wayne Marina

Fountain ( water comes up through the middle then pours through the roots ) at the Olympic Cellars Winery it is really cool and I am hoping to make one for the yard :)

Lavender, lots of it in Sequim.. this is at the Olympic Cellars winery Fun place.

The Lavender room at the The Red Caboose Getaway

Dining car at The Red Caboose Getaway in Sequim.. all set for breakfast

Sail boat in Port Angeles

A sail boat in Port Angeles with the big ferry in the background, ghosting into the fog.. it was really cool how it just disappeared into the fog

This tree is truly huge.. no way I can show it in a picture so I just did some fun ones :) We did see a mommy squirrel with her baby in the mouth moving it across the path and took it up the tree.

Ruby Beach on the Washington Coast.. just south of La Push.

Kites flying at Ocean Shores

Beach at Ocean Shores

The jetty at Ocean Shores

Promoting for Free

2011-07-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love Free.. it is like the magic word.. to get something for nothing... well nothing is for truly free.. but in this case Free equals no money... you have to do some work but it won't cost you any money. Every since I started selling online I have been meeting people who are looking for free places to put links to their shops and items they sell.. we all want to sell more and to sell more we need more people to see what we have for sale. It only takes one person seeing it.. the right person to buy it.. but often that person is buried in a pile of hundreds or thousands of other people.

Ever since I started selling handmade items online I have met a lot of people who are very supportive.. we share blog posts about each other and links to each others stuff... help spread the word as much as we can. Always seeing place mentioned that you can use to promote your shop/items/sites. That is how I found blogger, and twitter and facebook.. all of us talking about different places to share free links to our sites... how to get ourselves out there with the most coverage and the least amount of money.

On facebook I met Linda who is all about helping out small businesses and getting our links out there and sharing and supporting. She has been creating different groups and pages and websites all focused on these things. We got to be friends and I have trying to help her as much as possible in keeping these places going. Some have grown and are working good.. others have not grown and are now closed.. thing is.. she is all for trying new things and keeps trying them until she finds ones that work. Which is where the not so free part comes in. It might not cost money but there is a lot LOT of time involved in running an online site. One of the things that takes so long is finding the best places to promote your site. Linda has offered up a way to take a little bit of that time out of the equation for us. She has started a group on facebook Free Ways to Promote where we can all go and share the places we have found and see what is working for others. I decided to start a blog Promote For Free that ties into that group and we can work together to get as much info gathered up and shared as possible.

You can go through and post your link everywhere ( spamming it ) but who wants to do business with someone that is rude enough to do that. You need to find ways to get your links out there.. to the right market... in the right away so that no one is offended. Remember when you post your link you want people to want to visit.. to want to see what you offer.. and then to want to buy from you. Hopefully having a place where we can have a lot of different places offered to share on and all of us can communicate about how they work for us and give feedback.. will help us all to find the right places for our shops/sites. Some people are facebook people and some are bloggers.. some of us do both.. this has both options.

Would love to have you visit, follow, like and join. :)

Hike Through the Woods

2011-07-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

Went hiking today at Four Springs with my friend Cassidy and thought I would invite everyone to enjoy a little of it. We started out by the Big Maple by the barn and headed out.

Stopped for a bit of a snack along the way, lots of huckleberries and salmon berries out there today.

One thing I really do not know how to show is the hills... there are some pretty steep ones.

Back to the barn and the jeep and headed home. Felt great to be out there in the woods again.. even wore my hiking boots.. I love them still! I met Cassidy last month, she is a friend of my daughters. I have seen her running around past the house for the last year and have admired her for getting outside and doing something and having the stick to it to get it done. I am really enjoying getting to know her and look forward to many more hikes with her :)

Catching Up

2011-07-12T13:16:00.000-07:00

Well it has been awhile since I posted... before the 4th of July... A bunch has happened since then.. going to try to just wrap it up quick and move on. Will also post some random photos that might not relate to anything :)

The baby birds above the shop have hatched and are growing so fast.. they are so dang cute I can spend hours just watching them.

Dave's mom passed away on the 4th of July and it just sucks.. no matter that we knew she was not doing so well or that she lived many years longer than the doctors said.. it still sucks.. I am forever thankful to her for raising such a wonderful son.

We are getting everything out of storage... getting ready for son to be moving out and daughter moving to the back room ( or moving out ) so that we can take over the office... will be nice to not be spread out all over the kitchen table any longer.

Dave has been working just about 24/7... he goes to work for ten hours.. gets home.. has dinner.. works in the shop for an hour or two and then he is back to work ( at home ) until anywhere between 2 and 4 in the morning.. back up at 5:30 to start it all over again. He does this about 4 nights a week and has been spending time every weekend working crazy hours too. There is some stuff going on at his job that hopefully will help this.. but not in the really near future. Fingers are crossed and praying hard that it does get better though.

Still have not hooked up the auto sprinklers for the yard... seems we can not go more than 2 or 3 days without it raining.... this is the longest we have ever made it into summer and still had a hint of green in the yard. I am sure summer is right around the corner.. maybe.

Diet/exercise/getting healthy... is no where to be found... I do great for a few days then life happens and I am right back where I started... I am maintaining, which is a joke since I hate where I am.. but at least I am not getting any bigger or lazier. Vegas is coming really soon and I KNOW if I do not get on it I am going to regret it BIG time. Not only do I Need all my clothes (0ne size smaller than I am in now) to fit comfortably, but the amount of walking will kill me if I am not ready for it.

We are not getting as much done in the shop as we would like at all.. spending as much time out there as we can.. but it is just not as much as we would like.

I have been doing some battling with the bi-polar.. so far I am holding my own.. trying to stay focused and up but not too up... so many changes with the kids and home and everything right now that it is hard... been keeping my cd collection very busy!

Ok so that about wraps it up... I have a post coming about some places I want to share, places I have been using to promote my site and how that is going :)

Fun New Stuff

2011-06-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

I found these cute little wooden frames awhile ago.. and I knew I needed them.. just was not sure what I would do with them.. well I figured it out... lol sort of as I went.. I just sat down with the frames, some paint and some boxes of imagination (different supplies) and started having fun with them.

I have them listed in my shop now and if they do not sell fast I may be claiming them for myself.... I love them! I also had fun trying out a new setting for taking pictures.. I think it worked pretty well.. Basically.. today was a lot of fun!

I Am a Blue Berry Snob and More

2011-06-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

I do this every year.. and I am clueless as to why.. I should know better. I was at the grocery store and I saw they had blue berries on sale... I picked them up and then put them back and then ended up going back and getting some. They are horrible.. a huge waste of money. Not only are a bunch of them squished but some are moldy and some are not even ripe... they are just gross.

I grew up on a 45 acre blue berry farm and I am more than a spoiled snob when it comes to blue berries... I am really looking forward to visiting the local U Pick farm this year... am down to one small bag in the freezer and I need some great tasting fresh berries.

I have not been blogging much.. been too wrapped up in daughters graduation and her turning 18 and our last forced family road trip.

She did graduate and we had a wonderful day with friends and family stopping by for a bbq party.. it was a good weekend. She got a LOT of flowers :)

The following weekend we took Missy and John on a forced family road trip to the ocean.

The kids standing in front of a drill bit at the whoops site( Satsop Nuclear Power Plant ) ... and below is one of the towers... these things are HUGE!!!

we explored the whoops plant on the way there and then played some mini golf at one of our favorite places.

and spent sometime on the beach

we played games and had some great food...it was nice.. but it was very clear that even though we all had a good time.. we all would rather have been doing something with friends... sort of a weird thing.. it was a great time.. the kids were involved and part of it.. but... it is just not the same anymore.. which will be good... time to move on to having adult relationships with them all.. no more kids here.. sort of mixed feelings... excited to see what is coming and a little sad to see this change, but it does feel good... I am very proud of the kids and in myself for raising them to be independent.

Got some really cute fun cowboy shot glasses last week.. they were totally on sale and I could not refuse them :)

My mom brought me her spinning wheel, the one when I was growing up that I was not allowed to touch... it now lives in my living room... it is all put together and a friend came over and helped show me how to use it... now I practice a lot and I love it! It is another thing I am limited in how much time I can spend doing it due to the shoulder.. but I love it! I love the memories it brings from growing up.. I love that it makes yarn... furry stuff goes in and yarn comes out... I love it love it love it.. and I get to touch it every time I walk past it :)

We are still working on the wood shop... we did get most of the dust collecting items and are starting to get those set up so that we can finish building the rest of the cabinets and then it will be good to go. The dust collection has been the biggest challenge.. need it to gather as much dust as possible.. and be as out of the way as possible.. some tools collect from a couple of different places and some tools need to be able to move around the shop... all the tools seem to have different sized ports and there are 3 or 4 different ways/ type of hoses/pipes/and joints to use... and one kind matches with another but then another won't work and you can't seem to use all of one kind because none of them had all the pieces we need.. it has been a huge puzzle but I think we are on a roll now.

I am hoping to be doing a blog post all about that in the next week or two. We have been getting some trim pieces up on the one row of cabinets... makes it look so much more finished. We are both getting in a hurry to be able to use the shop to build fun stuff.. we still have orders coming in which is very exciting :)

Cupcakes Cupcakes Cupcakes

2011-06-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

Well there no cupcakes but... it is all about what goes on a cupcake... frosting!!!

If you have ever read my blog before then you know I LOVE Javacupcake! Not only are the women ( Betsy and Jenn) running it super awesome and fun to visit with (facebook here) but the recipes they share are so wonderful, easy and real and taste perfect. Betsy has been basically holding my hand while I attempt to make her butter cream recipe (here) I have tried a couple of times... both were good.. but not perfect by a long shot. Part of my problem is I can't just follow a recipe.. I always have to switch something up... and I can never find a measuring thing.. a cup or a spoon.. not because I don't have them... I just do not often use them and am not sure where they are. One I made was ok.. I added cut up fresh strawberries.. it tasted ok... a bit gritty.. texture was off.. and it was just not what I wanted.. the berry flavor was great though.

So backing up a bit... there was a contest on javacupcake and I was one of the 6 that won... I won a cupcake piping kit from Bake it Pretty .... The Best Ever Cupcake Icing Kit. It arrived today and I had to give it a try. Now I already have a chocolate cake in the house and not enough people here to eat it.. so I can't justify making cupcakes... but.. I figured I could make some frosting and pipe onto a plate.. and I did! I went for the strawberry again... This time it was a lot different. I am not sure if it was Betsy or Jenn who said something about really letting the butter and sugar cream.. even walk away from the mixer... let it do its job. I did that.. I mixed and mixed... and would scrape the bowl and then mix and mix some more... once the sugar and the butter were really really Really creamed... I added a little vanilla and a little milk and I let that mix and mix.. then I added a few cut up berries. The color is a very light pink... the flavor is all strawberry and the texture is just smooth and creamy and I may be up for days on this sugar high :)

Thank you so much Betsy and Jenn.. you are both wonderful and I am so grateful to you for all the fun and smiles you bring into my life.. with your friendship and your recipes :)

The pictures in this post are my first attempts at using the piping kit... I just piped them onto a plate.. frosting is in the fridge for next week when I can make cupcakes!

Zero to 18 in the Blink of an Eye

2011-06-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

Feels like this photo was taken yesterday.. and yet it was almost 18 years ago

Many moons ago my daughter was born, after having 3 boys in 4 years I was so very happy to see her... and I knew I was done.. with having babies... the easy part.. now on to raising them. Friday she graduates from high school and then in a couple of weeks she turns 18... guess I am done with the raising part now too. A friend on facebook who happens to be about 20 and who has a sweet little baby girl posted about how her daughter will never leave her... just made me smile. They do not stay tiny and sweet and in your arms for as long as you think they will.. you blink and they grow up. This last week has been full of a lot of memories... thinking about Missy and all that has happened when she was growing up... I remember how excited her brothers were when she was born... how proud of their baby sister they were. The road a mom and a daughter travel through the years is a lot different than the one a mom travels with her sons.. I am so thankful to have traveled with you Missy!

Their first steps and first big laughs that scare them... the look on their faces when they figure out the hand on the end of the arm is theirs and they can control it.. sort of.... pretty sure Greg gave himself several black eyes before he figured it out. I loved having my kids so close together.. watching them learn together and help each other...as soon as one child could do something they all would be doing it... which was good and bad. Took forever to potty train them all but once one child had it.. they all got it. As soon as one kid learned he could climb out the window and across the roof and down to the porch.. they all did it. Melissa never let being a girl slow her down... if her brothers could do it.. then so could she and she did.

I am feeling swamped by so many memories... leaves me crying and laughing at the same time... I have loved every single minute of being a mom, not that all of them were easy.. it has been by far the hardest thing I have ever done.... looking back I know my mom warned me... she told me how much work it would be.. and how no one can rip your heart apart like a child, and yet while it is being ripped apart it is at the same time filling with even more love, because as a mom you understand that it is their job to test and to push and pull and yours to hang on and love them no matter what. To all who have sweet cute little ones now... and they smile at you and your heart melts... collect that love and save it... you will need it on a rainy day when they are 16 :)

Always peek at your children when they are sleeping.. no matter how old they get... peek in and kiss them on the forehead and tuck them in while they sleep... there is a connection there... it reminds us of our position in this relationship, to love, protect and guide... care for and teach and treasure.

To all of my children, I am so proud of you all in so many ways. You have all be wonderful children and I will always be your mom and here for you when you need me. I am loving getting to be your friend and look forward to every day with you all.

Weight Loss Wednesday and Weekend Wrap Up

2011-06-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

This is the first time in many years that this barn does not have a child's name written on it because of a fatal car crash. With summer coming on and graduation and the end of the school year I am praying it stays this way

Well it has been a week since I have posted in here... been a busy week! I keep saying that.. every week seems to be getting busier and busier. I guess it means summer is coming rain or not. Winter time just seems, for the most part calmer, the list of things to do as the weather turns nice gets so much longer.

Had a wonderful visit with my parents, I love when they come over.. I really wish they lived a lot closer.. even next door would work for me, we did that for a couple of years and I loved it. I am going to keep working on them and then maybe in a couple of years when I win the lotto (tries to remember to buy a ticket) I will buy some property and they will move onto it with us :)

Parents went home Friday and that started our 4 day weekend around here. We had breakfast with them and then they headed home and we hit some garage sales... did not really buy anything... then we headed home and started working on the shop.. more demo.. almost all of the shelves came out of the left hand side of the shop... this weekend involved a LOT of moving things around.. between the shop.. the garage/shed and the garden shed... sorting everything and getting all the car/bike stuff into the one shed and all the garden and extra storage into the garden shed.. getting as much out of the shop as possible so that it can be as focused as possible on wood working. It has been decided that before October we will be building a new garage shed...right now we have a metal one, holds the Harley and has shelves in it.. and it is not big enough and it is not weather proof enough... even though it is up off the gravel it is still has a lot of moisture in there.. so we have added that to the must do list.. along with finish the fence. Now if the Gods of money and time could just see fit to send some extra our way that would be more than wonderful, thanks.

Saturday we did more of the same in the shop...and Sunday too... Monday we started building again and setting up the tools where they go and getting that sort of stuff all figured out.. feels great to be on the creative, building side of things again. That place was so super dirty.. we still have a lot of cleaning to do but everything in there has been gone through and organized and I love it!! We have decided to have a garage sale this summer.. not a HUGE super one like last time ( yes I remember swearing I would never do that again ) but just a few tables.. we are doing the serious sorting of the sheds, the shop, the house, and we will be bringing everything home from storage. We are getting rid of a lot of stuff.... just tired of clutter and storage. If it does not fit in the house and we are not using it then why why why would be not only keeping it but paying to keep it... through the remodel and when the house was so full of kids I get it.. but now there is NO reason. Anyone wants to come set up a table in the yard and sell some of their stuff just let me know :)

We did head out on Saturday to support or local police officers who do an Awesome job, had a chili lunch which was really good!

Daughter will be staying with us at least through the summer, she had planned to move out but those plans fell through, which is a great big welcome to the real world for her :) She was going to have a big graduation/birthday/house warming at her new house in July but since she is staying her we decided to throw her a little something here.. perfect excuse to get out and clean up the yard a little bit too. It is sort of last minute and I know a bunch of people have some other plans but I have my fingers crossed it will be a good turn out... I know my parents are going to be back in town that weekend and I am hoping both my sisters will be able to show up with their kids.

To the WLW, I got up this morning and got on the scale with my eyes closed.. I was so afraid to look. We ate out a bit more than most weeks and I was horrible about doing any exercises.. but it was not as horrible as I had thought.. I just really REALLY need to start minding my food and working out.

Weigh in last week ~ 254 Weigh in this week ~ 254

Weight Loss Wednesday

2011-05-25T06:14:00.000-07:00

Or not so much...This has been another busy week. I have been keeping active... lots more moving around than sitting around... been doing my walking and my exercises .. not as much as I would like. My shoulder has been killing me. Finding the balance of doing things so I do not feel completely useless and so that I am working towards getting in better shape.. and yet not putting myself in a position where I can not even lift my own coffee cup or sleep at night is very challenging. I hate taking any type of pain pills.. used to be before the accident that one advil would take care of any pain I had... now after three years 4 hardly make a dent and if I take too many I end up with other issues that are no fun either. I will find the balance.... I am glad I now have a set of workouts that I can do without making the shoulder hurt too bad... so I can keep doing those just have to figure out how to do the every day stuff.

We did get out of the house one night in the last week for a hike with some friends.. we kept it simple, one mile and level... but will be exploring some new places this week and figure we will do 3 to 4 miles. I remember when we started this last year I was so happy to make it around the block... and we were up to 7 to 10 miles without much more effort than around the block was when we started. Looking to be doing 10 mile hikes every weekend before long again.

My parents are in town this week for some visiting, and I had them and my kids over last night for dinner... I used that as an excuse to make some cupcakes in jars ( mom brings me the jars ) and I am also blaming those cupcakes for me not having lost any weight..in fact I went up one pound. I do also want to mention that aunt flow decided to come visit too and I always have a weight increase when this happens. Yes I am making excuses... but.. not really.. even though when I got on the scale this morning it was up a pound.. it was up a lot less than I had been ready for... and it really is not so much about the weight coming off as it is about getting healthy... and I AM feeling a lot better every week. My energy and my spirits are a lot better every week... even though my shoulder is killing me it feels so good to be doing a bit more.

Weigh in last week at 253 ~ weigh in this week at 254

Weekend Started on the Hobbit Trail :)

2011-05-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

Once again I had a wonderful weekend....One of the best things is getting to have three days with Dave. We love doing the same things and spending time together. Friday we ran errands in town and did a little grocery shopping. We visited some garage sales, bought an old wood working level for $2, it is really pretty, teak wood and brass edges. Friday night we had some friends over and we went out to explore a new trail we had found on the other side of the island. We had so much fun.. the trail is flat and one mile... we just did one loop but would be easy enough to do a couple more loops and if we stayed on the main trail I am thinking we could get a good workout in. We all picked the Hobbit trail..a little side trail you can take.. which was a lot of fun.. very cool in there.. but some bending over and winding around.. would make it a bit hard to do it with some speed.

We then came home and bbq'ed some buffalo burgers and visited for awhile.. getting our plans for our Vegas trip all figured out. I am so excited, I love trips.. and I love Vegas and these are awesome friends.. it is going to be a happy time with a lot of great memories :)

Saturday Dave and I took Missy out to lunch at Islanders.. We both had the fish and chips which were so good.. and then she had the almond chicken salad and it was great too. It was nice to get a chance to visit with her a bit, then we dropped her off at her boyfriends and Dave and I headed to do some tool shopping... the first stop we bought a dust collector that is twice as big as the one we have now.. one of the focuses of the new shop is to really keep the dust down. Then we headed to Rockler to get some more gates and hose for it. They were having a VIP special and it was 25%, traffic was so horrible we almost did not make it before they closed.. but we did. Home to have some dinner and watch a movie, Despicable Me (which I slept through) but Dave said was really good.

Sunday we did yard work.. all day. We spread some gravel in the driveway, weedeated, weeded the flower beds, mowed, moved the trailer to the back, cleaned out the shed, went through the cupboards in the shop. We figured out where everything will go for next weekend, bike stuff back in the trailer, cupboards from shop are moving to the shed so that ALL of the car stuff will be there. We talked about what we have to get done in the yard this year and what we want to get done and how we want it to all end up when finished. Sunday night we worked in the shop and got the upper cabinet on the right hand side up on the wall..we then made shelves which I will be staining today. We will put them in tonight and start moving stuff over from the left side so we can take those cupboards down to the shed and get the tools moved over there. Sometimes it seems that this is taking forever and we will never get it done.. but we are getting so close. This week we will get everything moved over and then next weekend (4 day weekend)we should be starting building the last two cabinets and the two roll arounds. After that it is a matter of getting everything in the right place.. then doors and drawers and a bit of trim. I am so excited and looking forward to it being done and being able to really get on making some fun stuff :)

For All Moms of Daughters

2011-05-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

A friend shared this song/video with me yesterday and I sat and listened to it with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face. My daughter is 18 next month and graduating and moving out. She is head over heels in love and planning on getting married next year.

I love her with everything I am, and am so thankful for the relationship we have had while she is growing up. I consider her one of my very best friends, even though sometimes she needs me to wear my mom hat. These last few months have been some of the hardest times, watching her go from my little girl to a woman who loves and has plans for her future that do not include me and that I have no say in. Harder still because she is my last baby. I look forward to sharing her adult life with her as her friend :)

Weight Loss Wednesday

2011-05-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

Week Two update with some pictures from todays beach adventure :)

This last week I started walking on the treadmill and did a good job (not great) of doing my workouts. The lunges, the weights and the resistance tubing. I really need to work on getting a lot better at doing at least some part of it everyday.. it is hard to get back on schedule for doing this.

I really tried to work hard on eating better.. smaller portions... and more veggies and fruits with less sugar and carbs... hmmm I still need a lot of work in this area.

I did have more energy this week and I did sleep better, also helps that we had some sunshine to enjoy.

Weigh in last week 255 ~ Weigh in today 253 = minus 2 lbs :)

New Beach and New Shop, Lots of Fun

2011-05-17T09:31:00.001-07:00

I have been wanting to write this blog for a couple of days, but with the issues blogger has been having I waited.. which.. was very hard to do! I had an amazing weekend with my honey. It is nice that we get three days.. we love spending time together.. only problem is.. it is still never enough time to get everything done. The plan was to spend as much time as possible in the shop working on the cabinets as we can not do anything else out there until they are done.. but.. Friday we had to run to town to do some errands and it was so beautiful out. We did get everything done we needed to.. and just in time for dinner, burgers and fries at 5 guys.. Awesome!! Then we walked around Best Buy and Costco.. turned it into a date night... yeah that is how we spend our date nights.. and we love it. We do need to buy a new printer so checked those out.. would love any recommendations, just leave a comment. Then home and we watched some tv... no shop time.

Saturday.. we slept in a bit... and then.. decided since it was still nice to run and get some propane ( to use to burn the weeds in the driveway) and while we were out we would stop at a garage sale or two. It was so nice and sunny out, we also stopped at the Beach House Barn , I love this place.. they are super friendly and have wonderful fun stuff, one of those places that every time you visit you see something new that you can't live without.

( that bottle is one of the things I Love at the Beach House Barn)

We also checked out a new shop that just opened... called Retreat. Beautiful place, friendly, fun stuff. I look forward to visiting there again too. Between Stanwood and Camano there are a lot of wonderful fun stores to poke around in and visit in.. I am not much of a shopper but I love the visiting part :) I love seeing fun stuff and new ideas on old stuff :) Retreat has that! They have a Market coming up on June 25th that looks like something not to be missed :) Lots of fun stuff from different people all in one place! ( I love the wine holder below)

We did find one garage/estate sale that we bought something from.. I got a old pan for making cheese cake in.. I always have a hard time avoiding the kitchen stuff.. a lot of the sales have stuff from when I baked with my grandma... I love it and can never refuse it.. I spent one dollar.. lol Dave spent $20, which for us is big spending.. but he got two brand new, in box never opened items.. one is a compass.. an old sighting compass.. looked it up online and you can buy a new one for $150, he also got a flash lighting kit thingy ( umbrellas and flash bulbs and tripods for taking photos) new is about $170. Everything works and has manuals for both items... so we got a great deal. ( One sale we went to has a bunch of peacocks running around )

Found a new beach I can not wait to explore more... we spent a little time out playing on it but hope to go back and walk the trails and I want to spend more time on the beach itself.. it is a lot different than the beach at my house.. mine is all rocky.. this one is all sandy and lots of drift wood.. even found some pieces of sea glass :)

We did get home about 2 or so.. we did get all the weeds in the driveway burned and cleaned up.. and well that was pretty much all we did..it started pouring and then it was dinner time.. we decided to head out and get pizza and beer.. went to Islanders and it was wonderful... as it always is :)

( crummy cell phone picture in the dark does this No justice)

Sunday we spent all day in the shop, the top cabinet is boxed and ready for face frame and shelves tonight.. then should start doing the finish work on and by this weekend it will be up on the wall.. then all we have left ( for that half of the shop ) is doors and drawers. I think we are going to tackle the other side before we do those though. That side will get some tear down of cabinets that are there and then we need to build cabinets for a couple of the tools.. and one more for the wall... they should be easy compared to the ones we have done. Just the fact that we will not be tripping over as much stuff will make it easier to build them.

It was a wonderful weekend.. and this week so far is wonderful too :) Sunshine :) Yesterday I had a burn pile for hours and got some of the scraps from the shop burned and a bunch of branches.. neighbors all came and visited.. it was a nice afternoon.. then worked in the shop in the evening :)

Test Run

2011-05-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

Well blogger seems to be getting it all back together.. finally have my missing post back up.. no comments with it though .. oh well.. better than nothing... I am not sure what all happened but wow did blogger take a big fall last week and it is taking a bit of time to get it up and going again. I had a wonderful weekend and took some pictures.. can't wait to share it... but I will.. just want to make sure when Publish PostI post that it will be sticking around.

Life Uncommon

2011-05-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

I love this song.. the video is not so wonderful.. but it gives you an idea. I love Jewel and this cd is from one of those times in my life where there were some powerful changes, one of those growing and learning stages in life. I put the cd in yesterday and was listening to it and thinking about how much life has changed since then and how even though some of the choices I made in that period of my life did not end up being the best at the time.. they all brought me to where I am and I would not trade this place for anything in the world.

The words of this song mean something to me.. in every aspect of life.. "Lend our voices only to sounds of Freedom" is something I believe we should all try to focus on. "No longer lend you strength to that which you wish to be free from" for me it is about not getting involved with what I do not support, not wasting time arguing about things that do not matter to me... watching/reading stories about things that I do not believe in. The big things to the little things. It is about keeping myself focused on the things that matter and that are important to who I am and where I want to be going.

*edited to add* Just read a friends blog and loved how it tied into this post "Talking Things Up"

Life Uncommon"

Don't worry mother, it'll be alright

And don't worry sister, say your prayers and sleep right

It'll be fine lover of mine

It'll be just fine

Lend your voices only to sounds of freedom

No longer lend you strength to that which you wish to be free from

Fill your lives with love and bravery

And you shall lead a live uncommon

I've heard you anguish

I've heard you hearts cry out

We are tired, we are weary, but we aren't worn out

set down you chains, until only faith remains

Set down you chains

And lend your voices only to sounds of freedom

No longer lent your strength to that

which you wish to be free from

Fill you lives with love and bravery

And we shall lead a life uncommon

There are plenty of people who pray for peace

But if praying were enough it would have come to be

Let your words enslave no one and the heavens will hush themselves

To hear out voices ring out clear

with sounds of freedom

sounds of freedom

Come on you unbelievers, move out of the way

there is a new army coming and we are armed with faith

To live, we must give

To live

And lend out voices only to sounds of freedom

No longer lend out strength to that which we with to be free from

Fill your lives with love and bravery

And we shall lead...

Lend out voices only to sounds of freedom

No longer lent out strength to that which we with to be free from

Fill you lives with love and bravery

And we shall lead a life uncommon

Weight loss Wednesday

2011-05-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

It is back... I did these post on Wednesdays for a while last year.. and I was losing weight.. sometimes just a tiny little bit.. but it was coming off.. then I had a few weeks where nothing was coming off and I stopped writing.. and then the weight not only stopped coming off but the weight I had lost started coming back :( Now I am starting over.. and going to be visiting this blog every Wednesday with my weigh in and to talk about what I have done during the week and what the goal is for the coming week. Holding myself accountable and writing it down here for not just me but for everyone else to see really helped. Thank you to everyone that left comments last time around and please feel free to leave them again, I can really use your support.. just knowing someone is reading this will help motivate me a lot.

I have about 20 weeks until our planned trip to Vegas, wow that seemed a lot longer away until I counted it out, and I would really like to have lost between 20 and 30 lbs by then.. well I would like to have lost at least 50... but I know there is no way that will happen. Last time I did this I started at 260 and by the time I lost 30 lbs I was in a whole different size of clothes.. which I have a LOT of clothes for that size.. so if I can lose 30 by the time we go to Vegas I will have a whole new wardrobe by then. My smaller goal is a one pound a week. My overall biggest goal is to be a LOT healthier. I am thinking in getting healthy I will lose about 60 - 80 lbs total.. but even though my focus appears to be on the weight itself.. it really isn't.. it is just that the weight is an easy way to watch things change as we start. Hauling around all the extra pounds is not healthy.. in anyway.. so being a bit focused on the weight to get things started is good.

My goals this week is to exercise, exercise and exercise! Drink lots of water! Eat less carbs and sugar!

I have my exercises all figured out, have a long list of things to do from my physical therapist... and I need to be walking/running on the treadmill at least 4 days a week.

Weigh in today 255 ~ Goal 180

Camping in the Rain

2011-05-09T08:58:00.001-07:00

Went camping last weekend with my sister at the spot she has.. it is one of those camp grounds where you buy a space in it.. that way you always have a place to camp. You can leave your trailer up there year around and there is a club house with a pool and a craft/activity room for the kids and basketball place and a bunch of other stuff.. always stuff for the kids to do.. and they even have a grown up only space.. yay!!

It was pouring rain for a lot of the weekend.. but.. the way they are parked we just pull in at a bit of a angle and then with both our awnings out we can put the fire right outside the awnings and sit under them and have the heat reflected in and it was awesome!

When we got there Friday night it was raining... we sat around the fire and visited.. had some awesome steaks that were cooked on the bbq.. sister covers hers with fried onions and mushrooms and then melts blue cheese on top... I tried some of this.. minus the mushrooms.. and omg.. I will now be eating my steaks this way.. they were So good! If you have a favorite recipe with Blue cheese.. please share it here.

Friday all night it poured... ... attempting to get up in Saturday morning was close to impossible.. it was cold out there... and every time I rolled over it rained harder.. so I stayed in bed until a bit late :) Then the rain stopped so I got up.. everything was still soaking wet and the huge trees were dripping big drips.. but it was nice to just sit and visit around the fire. I love spending time with my sister :)

The rain pretty much held off all day so in the afternoon we were able to all go for a walk with the puppy ( sister has a baby chocolate lab that is so very sweet and too cute ) we explored around the camp ground for awhile and then made it back right before it started raining some more, just in time for dinner :) Tonight it is hamburgers on the grill then smores in the pouring rain.. no way I was going a whole weekend of camping without a smore.. no matter what the weather.

Sunday morning was still a bit wet.. and Mothers day.. so I again slept in and then had a lazy morning with some hot cocoa and computer time. Then up for some visiting and cleaning up campsite so we can get home and get some things done. This weekend was very relaxing and calm... I loved getting to visit with my sister.. it is so special that we get to be friends now and not just sisters. I also loved the time Dave and I just spent together in the motor home, working on projects and visiting together.

A Wonderful Weekend!

Camping Deception Pass

2011-05-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we stayed close to home instead of heading out to the ocean... it was wonderful.. no stress of traffic... took like $25 of gas instead of $200 and gave us a lot more time to camp and relax and enjoy. I am thinking this year we will be spending a lot of time exploring camp grounds within an hour of us, there are a lot of them.

Almost there, driving across the big bridge over Deception Pass, going to be camping down there. We got to camp it was still daylight.. just barley.. but it was nice.. got camp all set up and the fire going.. and sat around visiting and roasting hot dogs and making smores... then inside to play

some poker and have some drinks... I am not sure what the martini was called that Laura made.. but I can tell you all this stuff was in it and it was so so good.. smooth and rich and oh wow!

Next morning we get up and have some breakfast and guess what.. more poker!! It was that kind of weekend... we played for a few hours.. had some lunch and some beer margaritas, my sister got me started on these and I love them. Beer Margarita Recipe here

We did decided to take a walk around the loop and check out some of the other camp sites and just walk a little bit... we ended up going around the loop and then heading to the beach..followed a nice trail down and then took the road back.. it was a nice adventure.

Trail to the beach

This is a very pretty beach, sandy and with some rocks and just a beautiful place with some of everything. I did find an agate and a handful of sea glass this weekend. :)

The big trees were just amazing... so tall and old and beautiful!

Camp is all cleaned up and we are ready to go.. well.. we are not ready to go home.. but we have to check out of the site... this photo is great.. makes out motor home ( on left ) look so tiny.. they pretty much are both the same size. Back to the beach we go.. just going to park the motor homes there and spend some time enjoying the wonderful weather.

I can not believe I did not get a photo of the motor homes parked in the parking lot with the awning out and the lawn chairs... some people gave us some odd looks.. I think they were jealous :) We did walk around the point and check out the bridge... the one we were on when we took the first picture... we got a bit closer.. in fact I am sure the huge rock we ended up on was where there was a cache.. but I had left the info in the motor home so was not sure. I did not get any pictures from there because my phone died... I will get them next time.

This weekend was so much fun... the weather was great... warm and sunny.. today it is pouring again :( We had good food and drinks and great friends to visit with. Even saw another good friend of mine who was visiting the park for the day with family in from out of town. The only problem with the weekend was it was just too short...they are always too short. After we got home and everyone got cleaned up we all headed back out and went to the casino to spend a couple more hours stretching the weekend out... now we are back to the weekdays and already making plans for another weekend out and some longer trips too :)

To Missy and Garret and all Who Love

2011-04-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

My daughter is 17 and head over heels in love... engaged and planning on getting married in 2012... Missy, I love you more than anything and hope you are always as happy and in love as you are right now!

Duct Tape Talent

2011-04-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

The talent here goes way beyond the duct tape... so many beautiful items here and the colors are amazing!

Everything in this shop is made from duct tape.. which I always end up making a big mess with so it is even more amazing to me that they can make such beautiful, bright, colorful, fun stuff from this magical tape.

I LOVE these rings... they are big and fun and different! I have added one of them to my must have list for sure.. I just have to decide on a color.. trying to decide between the lime green and the rock one there are also beautiful heart ones! You can also buy a pdf on how to make one for yourself... pretty sure this is NOT a talent I have.. but you might want to try it.

They also have wonderful stuff for your hair, and for your arms!

Please take a minute to go explore this fun shop, QuietMischief I hope it makes you smile as it did me.

~Michelle

Share Your Links

2011-04-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

I want to share a great group with you that is on Facebook. I am still learning how the group things work but so far am loving this one. It is called Share Your Link and is a great fun way to do some easy and free promoting of your shop or site.

Right now there are about 200 people in the group, hoping to get a LOT more.. so please join and get your friends to join. The object of this group is to get as many people to see your items/shop/site as we can, and when we all help each other it can be so easy. Hardest part is not buying every cool thing that you see popping up in the group.

So here is how it works... you join the group... easy as can be... just click on the Join button.

Next I would suggest checking out the "docs" on the right hand side (and linked below) and reading through the "how to's and tips" and then adding your facebook and twitter links to the "docs" for them. Great idea to follow the list of people that have posted their links before you.

Next check out the posts that people have posted in the group.. find a couple (or a lot but at least two ) and share them.. either on your facebook or on your twitter ( be sure to add the hashtag #sylink on twitter so we can easily retweet it ) When you share something.. be sure to leave a comment letting the people know you shared it.

Now you pick something of yours that you would like to share... one a day.. you post it to the group... be sure, when posting that you click on "link" and then add your link there and attach then write in whatever else you would like to say before sharing... if you do not add your link this way then we do not get a "share" button so that we can share your item easily.

Now you sit and watch as the views come in. I can not believe how many more views I am getting on all of my items.. not just the shared ones... and emails and sales... this has been the easiest and most fun way to promote the shop that I have tried yet. This is with only 200 people in the group.. can you imagine what is going to happen after you join and get all your friends to join... we get a few thousand people in this group and it could be a whole new sale world we are walking in :)

If you have any questions then feel free to ask... there are a lot of helpful people in this group. There is group chat, where you can visit with other people in the group and/or ask questions.. you can ask on the wall itself... or you can even message me if you want or ask here on my blog.

Hope to see you there soon :)

~Michelle

Riding Island Transit

2011-04-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

This post may seem silly to some.. but I was so proud of myself and I had a fun day so I wanted to share. Growing up I used to ride the local buses all the time.. I lived in a small town and there was nothing to do in town so I would hop the bus to the big city. When I was 15 I Started going to college in Seattle and I would spend 2 hours each way on the bus with a lot of time to kill in town as the buses did not run very often to home. For Three years I did this.. then I moved to the city and it was a lot cheaper and easier to just ride buses than to find parking.

Then I had kids and I moved out of the city and started driving everywhere... never to ride a bus again.. or so I thought. Now I live out on the island.. have two nice jeeps I can drive... and I make the kids ride the buss all the time... island transit has free buses and they are nice and clean and friendly... they run pretty often.. every hour.. and go right past the house and into Stanwood. Why would I spend the gas money and the time to haul my kids around at their whim when they can ride the bus for free. I did it for years when I was their age.. no reason they can't.. and they do.. only one of them has a problem with riding the buses and well.. he either rides them or gets his mom ( not me ) to drive him around... she seems to like being at his beck and call for most things.. her choice.

The other day I had a doctors appointment, for some tests ( that went wonderful ) and Dave wanted to take me since sometimes we are not sure how things will go and there have been tests that afterwards I would not be good to be driving home. He could have taken the Motorcycle to work and then I could have meet him somewhere and then we would have two cars in town and if things went crappy I would have been stuck driving home... so he just took the jeep and figured he would come back home and pick me up. He is so busy at work these days that he can't really afford to take any time off... and so I called a couple of friends to see if anyone was going to town.. then it dawned on me.. why don't I take the bus... no reason I can't... so I threw some stuff in a back pack and off I went.

Almost to the bus stop...right there at the back of that stop sign across the street.... beautiful day... having to fight myself not to go to the beach

Here comes the bus..yes it is a short bus... I got on and there was one other kid on the bus... a guy about 12 years old.. very friendly and nice mannered... the bus driver and the two of us ended up talking about the dogs we have owned and do own and it was a very nice visit. He got off the bus and then a lady and her cute little girl got on. I visited with the bus driver a bit more until we got to Terrys corner where we get off of this first bus ( which makes loops around the island ) and we get on the one the goes back and forth from Stanwood to Camano.

When I climbed off the bus my daughter was sitting at the bus stop waiting for her bus that goes back to the house and her work. I think she was pretty shocked to see me getting off the bus.. I loved it! There is about a ten minute layover here.. none of the island buses leave until the Stanwood one gets here so that everyone can be sure to make their connections. Daughter introduced me to a couple of the bus drivers... they are all so very friendly and helpful.

I got on the bus for Stanwood and there were a few people with me on that bus.. maybe 5... a couple of teenage boys, the mom with her tiny daughter, and another woman. Off we go for Stanwood.. picked up one or two more people.. and then I was dropped off at the Grocery store in town where Dave was waiting for me.

There goes the bus....I got to visit with some fun people and shock my daughter and saved Dave about an hour of his time... and it cost me nothing. Did I mention that not only are these buses super clean and friendly but that they are free? I am pretty sure I will be making many more visits to town this way.

Thank you Island Transit

~Michelle

Crossing Fingers for Spring

2011-04-19T18:50:00.000-07:00

Today was just beautiful... went to physical therapy and then stopped for a minute ( two hours ) at the beach... the tide was out really far and it was warm and sunny and beautiful! I am hoping this means spring is really here.. even though some neighbors not too far away had snow.

Now it is 7 pm and we are working in the shop with the door open and the sun shining in. Not even cold enough for sweat shirts :) *fingers are crossed for spring*

The Beach House Barn

2011-04-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

Today my daughter and I stopped by the Beach House Barn to check it out.. and we love it!! Right away outside I saw many things I would love to bring home and put in my yard. Bird houses and planters and lanterns and even milk boxes from the Smith Brothers Dairy. Had one just like this when I growing up, brings back a lot of wonderful memories. I am thinking I might go get one and put it in my garden by my front door. All of the prices on things in this shop are amazing, super deals for sure.

In we went and right away there are so many wonderful things to see. Jewelry and soaps and candles and fish things and beach things and bottles and lights and frames and bird houses and ornaments. This list could go on and on... every time you walk around it you see new stuff you would swear was not there a minute ago. They had some super cute rubber boots with lace around the top.. some fun cow boy boots and a leather vest. Daughter found a party dress she loved.. and it was only $24, she was super sad it was not the right size.

This is one of those fun stores that you could easily spend hours looking through. I loved that it had the whole beachy feel.. but it also has so much more. On their beautiful business card they say "antique treasures and retro riches" they are that and so much more. There is a little of everything for anyone in here. One of the best parts is that you can even bring your hubby. He may not want to go inside (it is a bit girly) but.. they have cool trucks outside and old tools and farm stuff. He would not be stuck totally sitting in the car. I wish I had taken more photos.. I only had my cell phone on me though.. I need to remember to always have the camera with me. I am hoping Snohomish County Blog Girl sees this post and heads out to check this place out. She does Awesome reviews on shops and takes wonderful photos. Be sure to check her blog out for some more awesome local places to explore.

Thank you Kelly for the wonderful visit while we were checking out your shop. We both loved it and I am sure we will be regular visitors :)

65 West North Camano Drive

Camano Island, Wa 98282

206-228-8159

Hours 10:30 ~ 5:30 Wed ~ Sun.

email Beachhousebarn@yahoo.com

Facebook.com/BeachHouseBarn

Fun Day at the Beach

2011-04-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

This morning I was sore from PT yesterday but I really wanted to head to the beach. Since starting PT I have not been spending much time at the beach.. too sore and well there have been other things going on also.. paper work type things that keep me sitting at the desk instead of out playing. Today I went out for a few hours just to play.

As soon as I got to the beach there was an Eagle sitting out on the pier just hanging out. I knew it would be a fun day, which it was. I meet up with my friend and her dog and cat... and off we went. I love walking with these guys on the beach... the dog is always so happy to see me... he loves collecting huge sticks ( sometimes more like logs ) and taking off with then down the beach :) The cat just follows along meowing and stopping once in awhile to get petted. Today we kept him really close to us as the eagles were flying around above. My friend is great to walk with.. we walk and talk and then she goes in search of what she collecting then we meet up again on her way back. I can go pretty slow.. just looking at things.. taking pictures.. watching the water.

I found a bunch of fun things today... lots of pretty glass.. some in the greens and blues that I love. Also found a big black rock that looks cool and is super light weight. A big chunk of cement that has news paper embedded in it.. reminds me of taking silly putty and transferring comics to it.

Starting a Bucket List

2011-04-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

Just going to be a list I can add to as I find more things I really want to do.. as soon as I find a LOT more time in a day

Canoe ~ I want to get a canoe and started spending more time out in the water. Starting with calm lakes and ending up with long trips down the coast that involve camping on the beach

Gold Panning ~ I want to spend a week camping next to a creek, panning for gold

Meteorite Hunting ~ I want a magnet on a stick and to find some treasure from out of this world

Hike out to the Dungeness Lighthouse ( just a one day trip)

Spend 3 days doing the lake Ozette hike on the Olympic Peninsula

More to come

Butterfly Bush

2011-04-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

My last post was last Tuesday.... all about my plans for April.. the one plan I forgot to mention, since I did not know about it... was that I would wake up Wednesday morning and be sick :( Pretty sure it is allergies... I seem to get this every year when the scotch broom blooms.. damn ugly weeds! Spent a couple of days in bed with my head fully stuffed up.. and now I am up and moving.. head is cleared up.. but have a bit of a cough... feeling a Lot better though.

Today I spent a little bit of time weeding the flower bed.. I have to do it in little bits since weeding seems to be one of the things on my list of things shoulder does not like so much. My friend had given me a little butterfly bush plant last week and I really needed to get it potted. I was going to put it in the garden but decided to go with a big pot. We are hoping in the next year or two.. always takes longer than we hope.. to really do a work over on the yard.. so I am trying to not get too carried away with garden stuff until we get everything where we want it.

I planted the tiny little plant in a big pot.. hopefully it will not grow too horribly fast and I can move it in a year or two. I have always wanted one of these and am looking forward to watching it grow.

My parents have been in town this weekend... I love getting to visit with them. While dad was here on Friday I had him look through my garden and let me know what was what. A neighbor had sent up a bunch of plants last year and I just stuck them in the garden and hoped for the best.. well the best is happening and they are ALL growing. Turns out I have a bunch of fun stuff I will be sharing photos of as soon as they start to bloom. *Smile* Have also decided to do a little more flower garden on the one side of the house.. if I can talk my son into helping me out in exchange for some cookies. *fingers crossed*

When we redo the yard part of the deal is we will redo the front deck too.. it is sturdy enough but needs all new railings and what not. The paint is seriously peeling.. but there is one spot that I love where the railings on the steps come down and meet a rose bush.. I always take a lot of photos of it since I love the old look of it... when the bush starts blooming I really love it but here is one to start the season with

Aprils Plans

2011-04-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

So far so good... it is only been a couple of days.. but they were Great.. we had a long weekend. We spent most of it in the shop working on the cabinets.. have all three shells built now.. and we will start working on the face frames and doors and drawers this week. Hope to finish those up by next weekend then we can start staining them. We still need to build the three uppers... but I am not sure if we are doing that after we get the bottoms all done and installed or after. I am hoping by the end of April we will have all the cabinets on this one wall finished and installed and being used. There are a few other things we are doing to the rest of the shop but they are minor compared to what we are doing now.

Saturday we had friends over and had dinner and cake for Dave's Birthday, that was super nice.. to just sit and visit and relax and eat. Also made plans for our first camping trip of the year... to the Ocean we will go. I am so excited.. not sure if I am more excited to be going camping.. or to the ocean or that we are going with friends... it is a great combination. I have already started packing..and making a grocery list... can't forget the beer and the limade.. will be making some beer margaritas for sure... My sister made some last summer while we were camping.. I thought they would be gross.. but oh no.. I loved them! Also hoping to collect some more sand dollars.. I have yet to find any sea glass while there... but love going out in the middle of the night and walking in the ankle deep water and finding the sand dollars :)

Also having my nerve test this month.. on the 29th.. will get the results on the 4th... will find out then if they think they should do surgery on it or not. On one hand I am hoping it shows no nerve issues.. I do not want to have another surgery.. even if it is just a small one... but on the other hand... I do want to know why it is still hurting. The physical therapy seems to be helping a bit... sort of hard to tell.. everything hurts when I am done there.. but seems the muscles that hurt feel better after a short time and the shoulder is just left with the throbbing still. I am super happy that I am learning all these great work outs that I can do .... with the shoulder hurting it is hard to know what I can do with it without being worried about making it hurt more or cause more of a problem in there. Now I have a bunch of things I can do that will help a lot in a lot of areas.. even if it doesn't fix my shoulder.

Already have another game of pinochle set up, I am super excited about that... and my parents are going to be in town this weekend.. I love getting to spend time with both of them. I have a lunch set up with my mother in law and working on getting one with my sister too. I WILL be doing some geocaching this month and getting out into the woods for some hiking. I want to get a few plants started in the house soon too.. some tomatoes and pepper plants and onions.. and some herbs... not doing a lot for a garden this year but want to make salsa again for sure. I also need to start taking more pictures.. I was taking so many last year.. and this year.. I just don't seem to .. getting out in the woods will help that :)

I did take this picture today.. found a new use for a tall skinny candle stick :)

A Little Bit of Sweet for a Great Day

2011-03-31T22:14:00.000-07:00

Awhile ago someone noticed that I bake for comfort... well tonight I decided that worked for me. I had a wonderful day, went to a friends house and a couple of her friends came over and I had my first pinochle lesson. It has been a long time since I sat around and played cards with friends. This is a game that I grew up watching my parents play with their friends, which makes me now feel like I have grown up since I am playing it. I had physical therapy this morning.. she worked me pretty hard this morning and we tried a couple of new things, one of them was not a good idea. I am hurting tonight, sore muscles and sore shoulder. So I baked!

I follow some amazing bakers on Facebook. Java Cupcake always is posting amazing recipes that I love to try. One of the other people I follow is The Piecycle who I think is just amazing. They make pie and deliver them at night on Friday and Saturdays. You just call or text your order to them.. $3 a slice or $20 a pie. Some night I am going to go find a parking spot in their delivery area just so I can order some and have it delivered. I think it is a great idea... and I LOVE pie! Until then.. I will make my own pies.

Mini Black Berry Pie Bites from Berries my son Picked

I Love Getting Mail

2011-03-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

I was so happy to get the mail today, I had a package in there :) I knew it was coming and I couldn't wait to open it. Wrapped up so pretty!

Let me back up here... awhile ago there was a giveaway on a fun blog called Lavender Rabbit Hoppenings to win this beautiful necklace called Pearl. I found this blog because it was advertised on my blog in the project wonderful ads over there ----> on the right hand side. I have found some of the best blogs and shops because they advertise there. I signed up to win and spent some time exploring her blog and reading about her rabbits, they are so cute.

I am guessing you have figured out I won the necklace "Pearl" Turns out Dot picked my name *thank you Dot* I wonder if Dot knows how much I love the beach and all the time I spend down there... I have yet to see an octopus but now I can always have one with me!

Thank you! Necklace is on and I plan on wearing it a LOT!

Supporting each other Locally

2011-03-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

The Crab Cracker is a local magazine that comes out every couple of weeks here on the island (and in Stanwood too) I am always in line waiting to get my copy, I love it. It covers all the things going on locally and has the typical classified stuff. Has an Artist of the week, local tide table ( love this ) stories from the community and so much more.

This last one.. has one of my stories in it! The post I wrote here a couple of weeks ago about the Gray Whales, they saw it and asked if they could put it in the Crab Cracker and I could not say yes fast enough. I know the little Crab Cracker is not like a big national magazine... but to me.. it is even better. It is local and about all the things that are important to those of us who live here. I feel so honored to be included. Thank you!

The Crab Cracker ~ Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

There is another amazing local site that I have been on. They added one of my recipes from my other blog Coffee Tea and Recipes the Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies. This site is Camano Community. They are very active on twitter and also have a FaceBook. They are all online and another wonderful resource for what is going on locally and who is who and they also have a lot of stuff from local people. I am really enjoying getting to read about and talk with local people and business that I am connecting with because of this site. The guy that runs it is super nice and friendly. Thank you!!

There is a new blog starting up that is a lot of fun Snohomish County Blog Girl ( she includes Camano ) She is out and about shopping and eating and enjoying the area and sharing her reviews of places.

There are so many more wonderful local sites and blogs. I have started a list on the right hand side of this blog of all the wonderful ones I find. I am looking forward to the list growing and growing! The Rely Local is a great site too, all about supporting local businesses. This one is in the Arlington Marysville area, but that is not too far for us on the island, since Dave works in that area I consider it very local for us.

Thank you to everyone who supports me in any way, in what I make and what I write and in who I am. I am grateful for all of it and hope to be able to share more than I receive. Support is a wonderful circle to be in.. the more you get the more you seem to have to share! Thanks!

Low Tide and Sunshine

2011-03-23T15:16:00.000-07:00

Headed to the beach today at low tide.. it was way out there too... almost a -1 .. I had not been to the beach when it was this far out for awhile. Today I just mostly walked.. and watched the water for whales.. did not do much treasure hunting. Found some Big rocks covered in Lots of shells and barnacles.

Lots of people on the beach, some clamming some walking and some just sitting watching. I did some visiting with some of them. I learned that years ago it used to be that when someone on the beach would see one of the whales that they would ring a bell on their porch and that you could hear the bells ringing down the beach as the whales swam by. I wish they still did this.. makes me want to get a big bell and ring it when I see a whale.. though with the luck I had last time I am just hoping to hang onto the camera long enough to get a picture when I see a whale next!

I am not sure what this is... I thought it was a cup cake paper someone had thrown on the beach so I bent over to pick it up and take it to the trash.. and it felt just like a star fish... but all one piece, no tentacles and it is the size of a cup cake paper. It was also pretty stinky.. well.. beach smelling.. so I just left it alone and took some pictures, will look into what it might be.

Today was a nice relaxing day on the beach, the news had said we would be aiming for 60.. but according to my house we made it past there and to 65.. I know it was
t-shirt weather at the beach today and I Loved it!

Spring Cleaning the Blog

2011-03-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

I follow some really awesome blogs... and have a lot of favorite sites, but trying to find the one I am looking for when I need it in a timely fashion has become a joke. So I have decided to do some house keeping in my blog. I have a million bookmarks.. and folders full of them.. and that works pretty good for a lot of sites when I am home on the computer.. but I am not always on my computer. So I am going to be putting the ones I use the most and want to be able to find onto my blog. I am also weeding through and deleting blogs that no one writes on anymore or ones where there is NO interaction. I do not expect 110% interaction... but every once in awhile a little something sometimes. I do not mean that I am only going to follow people who interact with me.. I do follow blogs and comment on them when they do not even follow me... what I mean is that if I have not read a blog in 6 months to a year and I am not interacting with them, then chances are we have gone in different directions, which happens regularly with all of us I think.

I am going through the blogs I do follow and I am putting them in categories on the right hand side. There will be local sites and blogs, food ones, Rv'ing and traveling ones and I am not sure what other categories there will be as I am still sorting and working on this. I am hoping this will help to find what I need.. and to share with my readers places they may like too. I know for myself when I do not have to weed through stuff I have no interest in... that I love exploring things I do find interesting.

These are the first flowers to bloom in my yard every year :)

I would love any feedback on this, I would also love to see more comments. I have taken off all the anti spam stuff and you do not even need to be signed in to leave a comment. I know this is something I am going to be working harder on doing myself. I read a lot of blogs and often do not take the moment to leave a comment. I am going to try to leave more comments and go back and see what is happening on the posts I enjoyed. I am thankful for the blogs I read, for the information, ideas and encouragement that they share and I want to make sure they know that and keep writing.

New Shop Update

2011-03-16T09:02:00.001-07:00

The online woodworking shop is going to take an extra week or two to get up and running. We are getting orders coming in a bit faster than we had thought we would to start with so before we get going too far we decided to remodel the inside of the shop.

Made these three black boxes for a customers tv room, each box holds 30 dvds or games, now they are thinking they would like a couple more to put in there to hold more stuff!

As it was we were having to push the tools, table saw, router, sander, miter saw and planer into the middle of the shop so we could use them.. and since it is a very small shop... we would have to step over cords and move things to get to other things and it just was not working as well as it should be. We were making it work but, we have always known we would need to do something to make it work a lot better. What we would like to do is to build a new shop... for woodworking only... a huge one.. well not too huge but the size of a 2 car garage... with a different place to park the jeep. That will not be happening though so a remodel of what we have has been started.

The plan is to build custom cabinets for each tool. Right now they are on stands that roll around... but our goal is to have them in cabinets that stay put along the wall. Dave designed cabinets for each tool... they will hang on the wall.. and have drawers and cupboards for all of the tools that go with that tool. The sander will have a drawer under it for all the other sanders ( we have about 6 of them ) and a cupboard above that will have all the different papers in it. The router will have drawers in it for the router bits and tools needed to change them. Everything will have a place. This should save a lot of time, not having to go back and forth across the shop for things.

We are adding a bunch of storage and making things a lot easier to use. Getting rid of a lot of things that we just never use and won't ever use, making room for things we need. We learned when we did the house that a place for everything and everything in its place really works well. If it is something we want or need then we need to make a place that is for that item... and then keep it in the place. If we do not need or want it then it needs to go. Makes everything work so much better.. a lot less clutter and mess.

We are keeping this shelf and the pegboard here, took everything off of it and cleaned it up and now giving it a coat of white paint to clean it all up.

This wall will have a counter top, the miter saw, the router and the sander. I am just going to once in awhile give a little peek, because I am so excited about it all... I can't wait to get it all done and take a lot of good pictures to show it off.

~Michelle

Anger at the Beach

2011-03-14T14:23:00.000-07:00

Today I took no pictures on my beach walk, today I gathered no treasures. I walked along the shore and I cried. I thought of the families who are missing, the damage and the pain and hurt that is in Japan right now. I prayed and I cried and I prayed some more.

I had to make myself go to the beach today, I thought I was a bit afraid... but I knew when I got there it would be ok... and yet it wasn't. I am not afraid of the beach, I am though angry at it. Which sounds weird.. but the beach has been my safe place, my place of therapy, and watching the news this last weekend and seeing all the damage that was done I feel like I just found out someone I love and trusted turned evil.

It is sort of weird writing this, feels childish. My head gets that the beach itself did not stand up and decide to go hurt people and destroy lives, and by admitting that I am angry at the beach shows that I have been thinking of it as something with thought and feelings. Yes I spend much time walking along the shore talking to the waves and letting them help me sort things in my head. It is a lot cheaper than therapy and seems to work as well.

Today I sat and I cried and I yelled at the beach while throwing rocks at it and into it. I then walked along the shore, crying and praying and thinking of every person who is missing.

*update* Today is a better day, for me. My heart still hurts for every person going through all of this... but me being angry at the beach is done... that won't do anyone any good... I am sure I will be down there throwing some more rocks at it and being upset... how can anyone not be when they see and hear all that is happening these days. Like i said earlier... the beach is my therapy.. so throw rocks, cry, pray and scream gets done there often.

Dangers at the Beach

2011-03-10T13:35:00.000-08:00

I love the beach.. everyone who has read here knows that... every once in awhile I get a little reminder that I need to be aware and be careful when I am at the beach.. and today was one of them. In the past I have bonked my head on low branches... even made it bled one time... I get so busy climbing over logs and looking for treasures that I have to pay attention and watch for low branches... since the last head injury I have been very careful. I also have to be careful because the logs and the rocks are slippery. I have not fallen yet *knock on wood* but I am sure my day is coming.... often I am sure if anyone could see me they would be thinking I was a drunk. I am not sure if it would be different if my shoulder did not hurt... possibly then I would be a bit more secure but at this time if I start to fall I will landing on my face or backside as no way I would be able to use the arm to stop myself. Also I have learned that animals live down there... I knew that birds and clams and crabs and what not.. but I had never thought about animals like raccoons or sea otters or snakes.. or any other animals living that close to the waters edge. Almost found myself in an animal den last summer before it dawned on me that something else was in there.....that the cool hole was a door. Slow and steady and carefully I enjoy many hours on the beach.

Today it is windy and stormy and raining a bunch. I had planned on heading to the beach first thing this morning.. but then it started just dumping, so I waited until it was only raining hard and the wind was only blowing a bit and I headed down. It has warmed up so it was not too bad down there.. I headed down the beach... saw a new landslide.. just a small one.. some mud came down the hill and a tree is laying over onto the beach a bit. Not a huge deal... as it was just the start of the high bank area...a bit further down there is a big tree that fell a little over a year ago, most days that is the turning around point... but today I climbed over it... I stayed pretty close to the low tide line... just because the bank starts to get unstable here... and only a little further is a big slide from last year... a dozen trees and lots of mud slid down the bank.... now it has been thinned out over the year and you can climb through the trees ( at low tide ) I was peeking through and thought I could see a couple more new slides so I decided to go for it and climb through the trees... it is not hard at all.. you just go under one and then up the bank a little bit and across another huge flat one ( easy walking on it ) On the other side I do see a new slide so I head down the beach to it... looking for sea glass and listening.. listening for mud falling.. trees cracking.. anything that might not be safe or normal... first I had the beejees scared out of me when I bird comes flying out of the bushes almost taking my head off.. then I see a perfect piece of green glass.. I am reaching in for it.. and I hear something, almost feel it... a big thud.. so I look up and step back and then take a lot more steps back as a big chunk of the bank comes down and makes a big muddy splat right on top of that green glass..it was a huge feeling... almost more than a sound that the slide made... but looks like a huge dinosaur just walked up and pooped on it.. no way I am getting it now. Then it dawns on me that even though it would not have been life threatening if that mud had fallen on me... I was still in a bad situation and was not being smart or careful.. I was very lucky that was not a bigger slide and that the tree just hanging there had not fallen. I decided it was time to march myself to the low tide and get home.. or least to low bank beach.

Big Slide I climb through

Big Tree at top of Slide that is just waiting to come down

The Green Sea Glass I wanted is under that pile of mud

~Michelle

Spring is Springing

2011-03-07T15:47:00.000-08:00

little daisies filling up the grass...which already needs to be mowed :)

Little flowers my dad gave me last year ( I think they will be blue )

Mint is smelling so good

Rhubarb is coming up

Need to weed out the whole front garden area, I want to plant another salsa garden this year.. we had a lot of fun with that a couple of years ago. ( picture below)

Gray Whales are in Town

2011-03-03T11:14:00.000-08:00

I spent a lot of time sitting here watching for the whale today

Last year I saw my first whale ever, not sure what kind it was.. I was so excited I dropped the camera and think I scared it back across the water. I kept hearing something.. and it was a sound that was not normal at the beach in the few months I had been visiting there regularly. I find I "see" more with my ears than with my eyes while I am on the beach. My eyes tend to be filled up with the sea glass and the rocks and what not. My ears have learned to listen to the water and the wind and the birds and critters, and now the whales. I kept hearing this sound and looking up and seeing nothing.. finally I stopped... and just sat on a big log and watched the water.. I knew something was out there. He came up and spouted ( that was what I had been hearing ) and then back under the water. I was just in shock.. I had no idea that it might be a whale. He was so close to shore.... I was so excited.. I stood on the log.. got the camera all ready... and stood perfectly still.. watching and listening.. up he came... so very close to shore I was so amazed that I just stook watching and forgot to click the button for a picture. So I stood awhile longer... and then when he came back up he was almost to Whidbey (island that is 4 miles or so across the water from where I am ) and not a good picture... I stood there forever.. another lady came by and I told her what I had seen.. she said it happened all the time and was not a big deal.. again my jaw dropped in shock.. how could it ever not be a big deal.. if you saw it everyday it would still be an Awesome site. To each their own I guess!

I have lived here for 6 years now... only starting spending time on the beach a year ago... I had no clue that whales visited here.. and regularly.. like yearly. Since I saw that whale I did some reading and I am so looking forward to seeing some whales this year and am going to do my best to keep my calm and get some pictures :)

Just heard that the first one of the year has been spotted. A bit south of me... but I am still watching the water just in case he/she it comes this way. I follow The Orca Network on twitter and on facebook so I can watch where they are.

You can find all types of information on The Orca Network, not just about the orcas but about the Grays too :) Click here to learn about the Grays

Here is an article published today on the South Whidbey Record about the first whale of the year being spotted and about the "Welcome the Whales" celebration

Just an Update ~ Hot Tub and a Shop Vac

2011-03-02T08:51:00.000-08:00

This last week has been a good week. We had a bunch of snow last week that carried over to the weekend... we went to the home show last weekend.. got some information about getting a windmill at the house.. can generate our own power.. and with the wind we get we could keep the block in power I am sure. Also found our dream hot tub... the infinity wall one.. when everyone gets over it has a spill over.. goes through the filter and then waterfalls back into the tub... so even though we do not plan on being large forever... it is still a problem when you get in the hot tub the water overflows and then when you get out the level is too low and it sucks air.. ok.. this may not be with ALL hot tubs but with the one we have now that is the problem. Well with the new one the over flow goes back into the tub... so you do not have to add more water or chemicals or anything.. plus it gives you that feeling of being in a huge tub that appears to just flow on forever.

We are still working on our boxes and getting a shop and blog all set up for them :) Finishing up another order this week and have another one next in line :) Having a lot of fun with these projects... it does involve a lot of cleaning in the shop... which is ok.. I am good at it. I love using the shop vac to clean up any sawdust that does not go into the dust collector.... I just love the shop vac... and the other day after cleaning the shop I noticed some particles I missed were having a party under it after I was done.. it was sort of cool to watch. ( so I thought I would share )

This week is more of working on the new shop and new blogger.. and looking for new ideas and more orders. Also have a bunch of doctors stuff going on.. same old crap different day for that... another MRI scheduled and more physical therapy. I am not looking forward to either.. yet.. if either of them help then I am more than willing to give them a go :)

~Michelle

Sneak Peak on Some Boxes

2011-02-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

It has gone from Spring is almost here.. to hard freeze winter, this was taken last night... since then not much more snow.. but everything is frozen solid

Been working on getting some pictures taken of the boxes we are making, still need some work on getting good pictures of these.. but they are getting a lot better :) A few hundred more and I should have it!
This is a pine box stained a walnut and then some coats of tung oil. This is not finished yet, will take some more photos when it is all finished.

This is a maple frame with purple splines ( not sure how to get the purple to show up in a picture as purple.. that is one thing I need more work on for sure)
Black Shadow box, this one will be getting listed in the shop hopefully this weekend. It is ready to go!

This is a pine box with oak splines.. it is ready to go and should be listed soon also.

Maple shadow box.. tall one.. with purple splines. Matches the frame above.

Hickory Shadow box

Close up of the purple splines.. still not looking purple though :(

Boxes have keyholes in the back so that they are easy to hang right up tight to the wall.

That is a sneak peak into some of the boxes we have been working on. We still have a list of orders we are working on.. which is wonderful! Makes it hard to get some into the shop.. but.. it will happen. With each box we make it seems to open the door to many more ideas.

~Michelle

Pacific Northwest Green from Local Artists

2011-02-23T08:10:00.000-08:00

Greens of the Pac...

Curated By: MichelleBallard

ArtFire.com

Fine Art Photography

New Items in the Shop

2011-02-21T10:03:00.001-08:00

I got some new drill bits the other day and it took a bit of practice to get them to work for me but once I did just about drilled holes in everything I could find. Now I have a lot of drilled sea glass waiting to be made into fun things so there should be a bunch of new listings happening in the next couple of weeks :)

I wanted to start with a couple of things for St Patrick's day

Green and White Earrings

Green Earrings

Green Necklace that can go with either pair of earrings

Also listed this white and blue necklace, not so great for St Patricks but I love it!

More to come any day :)

~Michelle

Brrrrr on the Beach

2011-02-17T12:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday it was sunny and warm... well if you did not count the wind chill... but I over did it in the morning when I opened the doors and windows and did a bunch of spring cleaning.. by noon my shoulder was hurting so bad I ended up spending the next four hours sleeping.

This morning my house is already all clean so I took off for the beach, it was only 35 degrees but there was no wind.. just a light drizzle :) I could see the sunshine across the water.. kept hoping it would sneak over and warm me up... but it did not. After a couple of hours I headed home to some hot cocoa and to sit in front of the fireplace with my book :)

I did find a bunch of wonderful treasures... lots of Bigger pieces and lots of really frosted fun pieces. One cool red spotted heart rock and one star agate too :)

Now that I have warmed up a bit it was a great day at the beach... I do love it when it is cold and wet... the glass seems to glistens and you get the whole beach to yourself :)

~Michelle