Words To Inspire...

{beautiful thought}

Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

PS Printables In Use

It's been fun seeing pictures of my family rules and menu planners all framed, hung and in use. Here are a few pictures that have been sent my way.

{Loving them on Amy's bright green wall: So fun!}

{check out that super cute use of chalkboard paint!

And I just realized Tonya's got a diy up on the same type of thing.}

{She asked for the recipe section to be added... such organization!}

{This neat arrangement as seen here.}

Two of these are custom sets, using their own personal rules. I took the one with the Bible verses , modified it to go along with the standard set, and made it available in my shop. I've just got four printables available over there right now, but there are lots more in my head (just have to find the time to actualize them). Leave a comment here if you'd like your choice of a menu planner, calendar, or a set of family rules. I'll randomly pick someone and email your choice straight to you.

So I guess this little post turned into a giveaway:

Leave a comment as to which printable you'd choose if you were to win.

Who knows, maybe I'll giveaway a couple.

I'll let you know on Monday!

Spending Hiatus: Revisiting the Exclusions

Remember back when I started this Spending Hiatus and I made the exclusions list? We went on hiatus out necessity because our income what mostly cut out due to a layoff. It was a rough go there, but I really think we benefited from the back to the basics mentality.

Then, 6 months later, in July we entered into what I deemed Addendum~Possible Added Exclusions for when hubby gets a job. We were still very careful with our money, trying to play catch-up. We actually didn't add many of the exclusions to the budget, but did loosen up on our spending, especially in the grocery department.

Well, we're now so thankfully entering Addendum 2~ If the new J-O-B is really good (benefits: YAY!). We're currently assessing where we are going to spend the "extra" money... We are trying not to slip into the we've-scrimped-and-saved-so-much-that-we-deserve-to-spend-wildly phase, but we are going to add some exclusions/extras in... Even the thought of it sounds extravagant, but I'm sure we'll adjust.

I wanted to get that out there so you didn't think I have completely fallen off the spending hiatus wagon, as it's technically going on until the end of the calendar year. But we're working in some "exclusions", so I'm sure you'll be hearing me talk (and helping me to make :-) decisions about some purchases and home updates. The kitchen in on the "to do" list... And I'm already hankering for a new sofa... And some new duds... And... And... See, we really do need to be careful. It's about keeping it simple, focusing on family, and not accumulating stuff. Keep reminding me of that.

I love this quote. It will be a good one to keep in mind.

Feel free to keep reminding me!

Treasure Revealed

I took pictures of my General's Desk/Chest a few months back and put it up on Craig's List for $40, as that's what I paid for it. We were brainstorming ways to make some money and we decided to try to sell some of our "extra" furniture. I've always thought it was a cool piece, but it's pretty worn and it's barely seen being used currently as bedside table. Luckily it didn't sell because I just ran across this Vintage Collapsable Army Field Desk available for a whopping $750:

Wow! Not sure why I all the sudden feel richer, but it was like being on Antique's Roadshow! Wonder what else I've got laying around...

Meal Plan Monday

{Maybe one of these is in the plans??}

It's a weird week over here in our household... We've got birthdays galore (nephew, brother-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and mine) going on... My hubby has his last day at his job and first day on a new one, so there's potential happy hours... There are just a lot of possible eating-out opportunities and unknowns that could pop up. And it being bithday week for me (we celebrate in weeks :-), I'm not planning to spend all that much time in the kitchen. I don't not want to have a plan, yet I don't want to over buy and potentially waste groceries/money.

What I've decided to do is to plan for a few stand by meals to float over the whole week. They're easy ones that can easily be prepared by someone else and ones that will last until next week if we don't get to them:

Breakfast taquitos

Soft tacos

Spaghetti

That'll do it. I thought about not planning, but I've gotten so used to having a plan that I think I'd be too stressed to not. Wow: I've come quite a ways since I first begain meal planning!!

Love Me Some Packages!

I love getting mail... the mailman and the UPS guy are two of my favorite visitors. They make me so happy when they stop by my house. The squeaky brakes of that big, brown truck instantly brighten my day. The hubby has even eluded (jokingly, of course) as to why exactly I love them so very much. This week was a particularly nice week because four packages were delivered to my house... 2 purchases, 1 giveaway win, and a surprise:

Something I couldn't pass up from Little Byrd Vintage (Those litle green and red birds were too perfect to pass on):

A purchase for my little biz from Shoestring Home (Remember I've loved this store for sometime now):

The spoils from Kasey's shop LolaB's Boutique (I'm so lucky!! I can't believe it!):

A sweet surprise from sweet Joyce (DELICIOUS!):

Their sites and stores are full of good stuff!! Thank you ladies! You brightened my week! And I haven't forgotten about some recent tags, so if you've tagged me I'll be catching up on those soon. You know how I love a game of tag!

Have a wonderful weekend!

My Aha! Moment

My short term memory stinks. I used to blame it on "baby brain" when I was first pregnant (6.5 years ago!), but it never really came back. It's seriously bad: I can think of something while in the family room and forget it before I reach the back of the house, and we're not talking heading to the west wing or anything. We live in 1500 square feet. Not good.

So a few weeks, I'm in the bathroom getting ready for the day and realize that I'm low on deodorant. I make a mental not that I need to add it to the grocery list before heading to the grocery store. Well, guess who got dangerously low on deodorant? (Kinda scary when we were still close to 100 degree heat.)

Then the "Aha!" moment came: I need a list in the back of the house too. So before I could forget my brilliant idea, I cranked out this for the back of the house using a garage sale frame and leftover spray paint and chalkboard paint:

I'm thinking it's going to help me out in the short-term memory department. I don't know why I didn't think of it a while ago (or perhaps I did and just forgot). I just love it, and so do the kids! I'm a late bloomer in the chalkboard painting department, but after creating two I'm wanting to cover everything in it. Any chalkboard project ideas to share?

Words To Inspire...

{found at this awesome blog}

I'm going to breathe this thought in and try to keep it in my inner workings.

Such goodness in the one simple statement.

Park It

While I was taking my little timeout last week, I coincidentally came across these fun little mats. We use "timeout" in our family as a way of disciplining. My little guy still takes his timeout in his crib. I'm dreading teaching him to stay in a designated spot. Not sure if these would help speed up the process, but they sure are cute (and portable)! What do you think?

Monday Meal Plan

{Remember you can download a set of these recipe cards!}

With a couple of pounds of frozen ground turkey meat needing to be used, here's our plan for the week:

Monday/Tuesday:

soft tacos

black beans

guacamole

Wednesday:

pasta with pink sauce

salad

Thursday:

picnic dinner at school function

Friday:

pasta (again)

Saturday/Sunday:

white bean chili

cornbread

What's in the plans at your place?

Hold Please

I'm pressing the pause button for a couple of days... See you soon!

Digging on this House

There are so many aspects of this house that I love... the rustic charm... the cozy, family feel... the mixture of dark brown with bright white.... and the kitchen (you know me and my habit of dreaming about kitchens)...

You can see even more goodness here. What do you think?

Monday Meal Plan

We had an awesome weekend, with me and little guy flying solo at the house while the other half of the family was away at a daddy/daughter camping trip. Their little trip helped me to plan our week: We'll be having a lot of potatoes...

As I'm helping to unpack the vehicle, I notice a giant bag of potatoes. Apparently after the daughters are all safely tucked in their bunks, the dads do a little bonding around the fire, which this time included shooting off potato guns. Good times! I'll be cooking up the remaining spuds. This is what I'm thinking:

Monday/Tuesday:

baked potato soup

Wednesday:

b for d

scrambled eggs

home fries

fruit salad

Thursday:

school function

Friday:

out

Saturday/Sunday:

grilled chicken

steamed broccoli

garlic mashed potatoes

We were so random with our meals last week (except for one night when a sweet friend brought us this meal. It was fabulous!) that I'm looking forward to cooking this week. How's your week looking?

End of the Week Links & a WINNER!

Some fun stuff I'd like to pass along:

My friend Molly sent me a link to this little shop because she knew I wouldn't be able to resist the cuteness of those custom pet doodles. Then I perused more and found a series of bicycles. It's as if she had us in mind. So very sweet of her!

Remember these chairs that I want? Well thanks to several helpful gals, I now know that they are called Tolix chairs and have been located here, here, here, here and here. Unfortunately none of them are quite the steal I had in mind, but I've got my estate-sale-ing mama on it. I'll let you know.

Love me some shoes... And shoes for less than $30? Bonus. There are a few on this website that I'd like to sport.

I recently won a necklace from this shop. It's chockfull of creative goodness!

So I thought it was Wednesday all day yesterday. That's my explanation as to why I'm just now announcing the lucky pair of earlobes. I've been off on my days all week, but TGIF it is! The winner of those adorable earrings is #17 Your Favorite, Kristen (via random.org)! Yay you! And thank you so much to Andrea for hosting this giveaway! We love your jewelry!

So this isn't the vision that normal strikes me to save and share, but I've kind of been feeling a bit rough around the edges as of late, and this little gal made me smile:

{image via here}

Ha! My hubby probably will like this one. Hear's to the start of the weekend!

My big plan as of now is to wake up (hopefully late) and have a big, fat cup of coffee.

We'll see how it develops from there.

Have a good one!

Virtual Makeover

Have you tried out InStyle's online makeover? You upload a photo, adjust it a bit, and then try on different stars' styles. You can even play around with color and highlights. Oh yeah, I gave it a try. Me and the little gal "tried on hair styles". Okay, so we look a little weird, but it was some good, clean fun.

I think my little gal could totally pull of the Katie Holmes look. What do you think? Oh, and that 'do on the bottom right was what I was hoping for this past haircut. We'll shoot for that next go 'round, as soon as my locks have some time to grow.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a sweet pair of earrings. Be sure to take advantage of her sale and special offer to PS friends! I'll announce the lucky lobes tomorrow.

I want these chairs!

{via Country Living}

Do you remember my table issue? Well, my sweet blog friend Paige called me out yesterday. She asked what I ever decided on doing to it....

Uh, er, well...

Nothing. That's right. It's still sitting there sueded and spotted and not-so-pretty. I have new visions for it. I either want to chop off some of the pedestal part and make it my new coffee table (still thinking on green... or not) or I'm going to go black (again) and get new chairs to go with it. Specifically these chairs:

That top picture really could be my breakfast area...

Anyone know where I can score 4-6 of these guys for a steal?

Meal Plan Monday (not-so-much)

Considering this is how my kitchen looks at this current moment in time (not very appetizing, I know), there's not going to be much cooking going on. I'm stocked up on sandwich fixings and quick meals, but I don't think there's going to be anything more complicated than that happening until our new tile (yay!) goes down. We're working on when/how that's going to happen. Any ideas for no cook/easy meals? If I'm scarcely around here this week, you'll know what I'm doing. Happy Monday!

Thank You

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lovely Little Giveaway

Do you recognize that ring in the top center? I fell in love with it last week while perusing etsy. I just love chunky, statement rings and this one is so unique and cool and sweet, as are these other fabric covered pretties.

These are all created by Andrea over at Your Every Color. This creative lady is offering up a pair of her lovely little earrings to one lucky PS reader! All you have to do is just hop over to her shop and leave a comment here letting us know what you think.

Oh, and here's a bonus: If you purchase something from Your Every Color and mention Perfect Sentiment in your notes to seller, she's throwing in one of her hairslides for free! How cool is that?! Andrea's also running a sale right now: when you purchase three items you get a fourth one at no cost. It seems to be the perfect time to start holiday shopping...

I'll announce the winner in a week from today! Good luck!