No More Painting!

I had a very productive spring break. Here is the list that I accomplished:

*Paint the rest of the kitchen
*Paint the laundry room to match
*Plant front planter box
*Finish sprinkler system
*Clean house
*Get a tan
*Make meals for the month

Here's a sneak peak of the yard. This planter box is right in front of our big front window. These are peace lilies...so pretty and full.



It will be two more weeks until I show pictures of the entire yard--we are doing piece by piece and then next week we will plant sod...I can't WAIT to have REAL GRASS!

Well, the reason I show you a picture of a pipe is because on the second day of painting I bumped into the flush out pipe for the washing machine and it cracked and broke. So, we had to have that replaced...ugh! I am so sick of the old pipes in this house conking out on us.



Anyway, here is the room all put back together :) Loving the green on white.



Cute basket and curtains.



Anyway, tomorrow is my last day of "freedom" until school starts back on Tuesday. We have 30 days of school left starting Tuesday--let the countdown begin!

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Night and Day

I have been wanting to paint our laundry room since the moment we moved in. But, when we moved in that room really wasn't a room...it was infested...with lizard poo and dead lizies. Honestly, my friend Ryan would NOT have bought the house JUST BECAUSE OF THE LIZARD ROOM! Anyway, we did buy it and paid someone else to clean it up and make it a room for us. Everything in there is new: tile, washer/dryer, and cabinets.

I love green, and our entire house including the kitchen, which the laundry room is off of, is green. So yesterday I started to tackle it.

I think it looks great next to those white cabinets.



Here is a little night/day shot--I still need to do that wall and I do NOT want to! How do you all get behind washer/dryers??

Side note: I have sworn off yellow for the rest of my life. The ENTIRE house was yellow when we moved in...I mean EVERY SINGLE ROOM! And not a pretty yellow either...



And even more...how to get behind a hot water heater? UGH! I am forcing asking the hubby to help me today with this wall--we'll see how that goes.



Wish me luck!

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Freezer Cooking Part 2

Today I made:

2 Lasagna
1 Batch Meatballs
1 Batch Cookies
2 Banana Bread

Here are my meatballs--so quick and easy, hence their name Fast and Friendly.

I froze these on a cookie sheet and then once they were good and frozen, I transfered them to this ziploc. I like to write the directions on the bag so that I don't have to look the recipe up again when it is time to cook.



These cookies are incredible! Although all I tasted was the dough (hehe, yes I know there are raw eggs in there), I can already tell they are going to be delish once cooked. I did the same thing I did for the meatballs in order to package these guys.



I made 2 of these lasagnas and I mean to tell you, they look INCREDIBLE. I didn't have mozzarella cheese, so I just used whatever I had on hand. I also didn't use any of the wine it recommend, but I am sure that would have been good (just didn't have and on hand which is WEIRD).

I lined this baking dish with foil before I filled it. That way I can freezer it and then pop it out of the dish once it is solid and put it into a ziploc. This makes all of my pans available and not stuck in the freezer!



Finally, I made two batches of my own banana bread. Yum! We have this for breakfast, or even in place of dessert at night. A little butter or cream cheese on top and you are set! After this cooled, I popped it out and wrapped it in foil before I packaged it in a ziploc for the freezer.



I plan to make 2 chicken dishes tomorrow and that is ALL! It really only took me 2 hours today to make all of this and it will last us quite a while. Good luck with your own freezer cooking...it really is easy!

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Freezer Cooking Day Part 1

Well, today I woke up and was going to make freezer meals, paint my kitchen,and get some sun. But, first I had to take my husband's car to the dealer to change out the flat tire. Unfortunately, I only got 100 yards from my house before the spare also popped because he put it on BACKWARDS! So, now the breaks may be damaged and we need a new tire and a new spare. Isn't life lovley? So, because the job was going to take them most of the day, I walked 3 miles home because I didn't have anyone who could leave work and pick me up.

Anyway, I got home and did start on my freezer cooking. First, I made Brown Bag Burritos. They were so easy. I cut the recipe in half and only made 10, but that will be 5 meals for hubs and I. I had most of the ingredients on hand, so this only cost me $4 in meat. I also added in a can of rotel.

Here is the mixture...doesn't look like much, but it is delicious!



Then, I rolled them up and wrapped them in paper towel. This will make them easier to heat up later and keep them moist.



Then, I wrapped them in foil.



Finally, I put all 10 back in the tortilla wrap bag--perfect for storage!



I also bought chicken this week and when I got home I just threw it in freezer bags with marinade and put them in the freezer. This way, they will be ready to go after thawing. This is a trick I will use for the rest of my life. No more waiting for the meat to marinade!





Tomorrow I am making a chicken dish for the freezer. I am also going to make a big batch of meatballs. I'm off to paint, but I hope you got some good ideas on how to make dinner easier for you!

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Freezer Cooking

Have any of you all ever tried a Freezer Cooking Day? I have heard a lot about it through Money Saving Mom and other frugal bloggers, and I am very interested to try it. I obviously work during the day, but this summer I will be home! I think this would be a great time to try it and I will have to let you know how it goes. But, I did want to ask if any of you have tried it and what you thought/how it worked for you.

Well, my Spring Break has officially begun! I'm off to Atlanta tomorrow morning to spend the weekend with good friends and family. I will be back on Tuesday ready to update you on my weekend. Happy Easter to all of you!

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Bathroom Part 2

Well, I am a quarter of the way there. I painted last week and I am so glad that part is done! It is so much warmer and cozier in there.

Before...



After!



I decided on the first (big flowers) shower curtain so I need to order that and a decorative hand towel to match. (Part 3)

Part 4 will be replacing the vanity/toilet/laying tile this summer. That should be LOADS of fun...insert sarcasm. Don't get me wrong, I love picking it all out and the end product, but I don't like messy men in my house.

I won't be blogging much this week/weekend. I am going to visit friends and family in Atlanta Friday-Monday. My Spring Break starts on Thursday at NOON (almost there!) so next week I will be catching up on lots of blogs!


I also got ORB happy and spray painted this mirror my parents passed on to us a while ago.

I have been looking for something for our guest room (this mirror was originally gold framed) and this is perfect because there is a window across from it and the light just bounces all over the room now!



Pretty details...



I also took the trunk from the living room and put it in here. It is so much more useful in here storing the extra towels and sheets for this room.



All in all, it was a very successful weekend of painting!

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Spring is in FULL Bloom!

This weekend we attended Greenfest, which is this HUGE garden show with 90+ vendors at the University of Tampa.

There were thousand of people and we were on the lookout for the perfect bougainvillea.







It was a beautiful day and we came home with some gorgeous things!

These flowers I HAD to have. They look and feel like velvet and are so rich in color. They have sprouted up like crazy since I potted them on Saturday.






We picked out this bougainvillea and plan to plant it against the side of the ugly, large obstruction shed against a trellis.



I am also loving my front pot by the door. It makes me happy every time I come home.



I cannot wait to start planting sod and having REAL grass! We are halfway there...can't wait to share the finished product!

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