The Craig's List Queen!

So lately my mom has been calling me the Craig's list queen. I've been finding the coolest stuff on Craig's list and I thought I'd share a few of them with you.


Here's a HORRIBLE picture of my new favorite skirt!!!! Sorry it is such a bad picture, but it's such a cute skirt! I love it! I'll have to take a picture of it while I'm wearing it. I bought this skirt with the next item. They were both just $10!! I was so excited!

Here's my cute new jacket! I love it! Both the jacket and the skirt are the same brand, Tulle. I can't wait for Fall so I can wear it! :) Maybe it'll get cold enough at night and I can wear it sooner!

Here's my FAVORITE find so far!!!

MY BENCH! I wanted a sitting area on my *small* porch and I've been looking EVERYWHERE, but never found anything I liked. And there it was.... on Craig's list! It was 45 minutes away so I had to find sometime to get down there and get it. I MADE time for this bench! I was so excited! And it fit perfectly!

I love Craig's list and I can't wait to find my next treasure on it!

Happy Homemaker Monday!

Check out Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for more Happy Homemakers!

The weather in my neck of the woods:
It's nice and cool right now, but it's suppose to get up to the high 80s low 90s this week.


One of my simple pleasures:
Jumping on the tramp with the nieces and nephews! That's how we spent yesterday!


On my bedside table:
Church manual and my jewelry


On my TV:
The Bachelorette Finale's on tonight!!! But I'll be watching it first thing tomorrow, so don't tell me what happens!


On the menu for tonight:
Crap, I forgot about dinner.... I think we'll have BBQ because Luke has a softball game tonight


On my To Do List:
Go Visiting Teaching
Find some wedding presents.... It's getting closer to the wedding month!
Put together some recipes for our freezer meal group


New Recipe I tried last week:
I don't even remember if I cooked last week... Hummm....


In the craft basket:
Mil's quilt, half of a boarder, the quilting and binding left


Looking forward to:
Driving to Washington on the 13th for my friends wedding! And of course visiting family up there!


Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):
I just have to go with one of my own this week! Hope it makes you smile a little! Check out my last minute bridal shower idea here! It turned out to be such a hit at the party!!

Favorite photo from last week:
Here's the Ferris wheel from Lagoon that we rode on this weekend. I discovered that I really don't like riding them. I DON'T like them at all. :) But it turned out pretty in the picture!


Lesson learned the past few days:
If you go into a situation with a good attitude you will more then likely come out of it with a good attitude!


On my Prayer List:
My sister in law Haylee, after having a sick baby all week she caught the flu! Poor girl!
My family of course!

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
"A gentle hand may lead even an elephant by a hair" -- Iranian Proverb

Baseball Bra

See these happy couples? Well, one of them is getting married in August!!! (PS. It's the front couple! We're the second couple) Brenda and Riley are seriously my favorite couple to hang out with! Luke and Riley coached baseball together last summer and we had quite a few adventures!

(Brenda I know you didn't like this picture but the other one was WAY blurry. Sorry!)

Riley LOVES baseball as much as Luke does. This picture was taken July 4th at the Chuckar's baseball game we went to right before the fireworks. I love hanging out with these two! I can't wait for them to get married so we can have married buddies!

Anyway, Monday night I came home to find an invite to Brenda's bridal shower. No big deal, I normally go buy some fabric and *whip* out an apron that reflects the couples interests... Then I saw the date it was for Tuesday night!!!!! I didn't have much time to think of a present (Much less sew one...) so around 11:00 pm Luke and I found ourselves in Walmart trying to find the *perfect* gift.

After like an hour (No joke, it seemed like an hour, Luke HATES wondering around stores.) of wondering around Walmart I jokingly said, "What if I just bought a white bra and made it look like baseballs?" Luke was on the ground laughing. He loved the idea! haha And so our plan was set.

Here's how to make a Baseball Bra:

1. Buy the right size bra, the smaller the better (then it looks like real baseballs).
2. Make sure you have a red sharpie or another permanent or fabric maker
3. Use a cup to make the curves of the stitches (Luke held the cup; haha both cups technically, while I traced the shape)
4. Draw the stitches on the bra (PLEASE make sure you draw the stitches correctly; Luke will shoot me if you don't. He will notice, trust me.) One side of the stitches goes up and the other side goes down.
5. Stand back and admire!
   

So what do you think??? Doesn't look like baseballs????

I'll have to admit if you don't look to close it looks like I bought it that way!! Everybody kept asking where I bought it! haha


Here's the gift basket before the final stages. I forgot to take a picture of the final gift, sorry! I made a baseball watching basket, Trust me I know how much she's going to be watching baseball now that she's married to a baseball boy.

The card read:
Brenda:
Since you guys said you had everything for your home. I thought I'd help you out with
Baseball season.
Sunscreen: So you don't burn like I did last year (This is a BIG running joke with Riley's brother)
Lotion: So you can soothe Riley's sore muscle
Candy: A little treat for during the game
Everything else: A little treat for AFTER the game.

So in the basket I had sunscreen, lotion, candy (which included bubble gum, a must for us Mormons), the Baseball bra, panties, red and white socks and eye black. Luke said the eye black was a MUST.

The gift was a hit! I had everyone at the party laughing and saying how perfect it was for Riley! Like I said before they kept asking where I bought it!

So if you are ever looking for that perfect baseball bridal gift, come back and visit me!

Happy Homemaker Monday! Vol 2

The weather in my neck of the woods:
It's hot and I love it! I just wish I was outside!


One of my simple pleasures:
Going for a motorcycle ride with my husband.


On my bedside table:
My jewelry like normal... :) and my cell phone


On my TV:
Mental
Bachelorette (It's almost done!)


On the menu for tonight:
Ball park Cheeseburgers (We're going to the Chuckars baseball game!)


On my To Do List:
Finish the laundry
Update personal blog
Finish MIL's Quilt (I know I know, I'll finish it this week I promise!)


New Recipe I tried last week:
I tried a new lasagna recipe.... It's ok but I didn't LOVE it.


In the craft basket:
MIL's quilt


Looking forward to:
Next weekend's trip to Lagoon!


Homemaking Tip for this week:
Just do it.


Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):
I read how to bottle butter on The Singer Sentinel today; what a great idea! I really want to try it!

Favorite photo from last week:

Lesson learned the past few days:
Family is everything!

On my Prayer List:
My family
Luke's family

Salad tips

Haylee, one of my best friends, taught me this great trick for getting a chicken salad cheaper then normal:

First you order some chicken nuggets

Then you order your plain salad (you know without chicken):

Then once you get your meal you tear up the chicken and add to your salad!

This *should* only cost you about $2.00 (not including tax) whereas a chicken salad is around $5.00. What a great trick! It tastes great!

Another great tip that I've learned from some friends was if you put the dressing in the container then you close the lid and shake it up then the all lettuce is covered in dressing pretty evenly!

I love salads they tastes so good and they are good for you! Have fun and enjoy!

Fourth of July Feast!

For the Fourth of July Luke and I were trying to keep it simple! So we decided to BBQ with our friends before heading to the baseball game. Here's our menu:

Watermelon- lemonade (see below for recipe)
Ranch style steak kabobs (see below for recipe)
Luke's favorite potato salad (see below for recipe) (I need to come up with a better name...)
Snicker salad (Riley and Brenda brought this I'll have to share the recipe when I get it.)

Watermelon- Lemonade
4 cups seedless watermelon chunks (I just guessed)
1 1/2 cups lemonade (I just guessed)
Some sugar (I added it to taste)

Mix in a blender.

Yep that's it. You can add mint (like the leaves) but I couldn't find any. You can strain the drink to get the rind out, but I liked it with the rind. It added something to the drink. We really like this drink! The lemonade adds a zane to the watermelon! It's nice! While I had it in the blender I added some ice at the end so the ice was crunched perfectly.


I found this recipe on this blog If you want the original recipe please check out her blog (she got it from the Kraft website. I'm going to just post "our" recipe here. (Please remember that my family didn't really ever eat meat and Luke's family had meat EVERY night. I'm learning... slowly how to cook meat so Luke did most of this recipe, I just found it and told him I wanted it.)

Ranch style steak kabobs

Some red potatoes (I'm sure any potatoes would work)
Some (kind of) meat (I'm told it was steak. See I told you, I even made him go buy it so I didn't
mess it up!)
An onion
Some ranch

The night before you make these you can marinate the meat in your choice of juice (Is that what it's called?). If not just cut up the meat the next day (I just had a thought... maybe everybody marinates the meat the night before. I'm going to have to check this out.) Cut up the potatoes and boil them for like 5 min (You want to start the cooking process but you want them to stay on the kabob while on the grill). Cut the onion in fourths then break each layer off of the onion (Yes Ogres are like onions they have layers) Then alternate meat, potatoes, onions until all the kabobs you want are full. Brush ranch on to the potatoes and onions, I asked Luke to do all of it but he said since we marinated the meat it wouldn't taste as good. Grill until meat is cooked to your liking. You can continue to brush with ranch while grilling, I think the flavor sets in better.

Everybody gave it a big thumbs up! I do believe we'll do it again!

My friend Adri told me about this recipe during one of our daily drives (we car pool an hour a day together). I was sooo excited to try it! I'm surprized I hadn't posted the recipe yet! My in laws ask for it all the time, Luke asks for it all the time, it's a keeper! In fact Luke won't let me add anything to it! I would like to try celery or red onions, but I think he'd chop off my hand if I tried! He wouldn't of course! This salad is good either hot or cold, I can't decide which way I like better. I like I said before I really need to come up with a better name.

Luke's favorite potato salad

Dry ranch mix
Red potatoes
Mayo
Sour Cream
Bacon
Some of the bacon grease

Cook the bacon to your liking, but the crispier the better! While your bacon is cooking you can boil your potatoes, to speed up the process I cut them in half if not thirds. While your bacon and potatoes are cooking mix together the dry ranch mix, mayo and sour cream in a bowl large enough to hold all of the salad. I'm sorry I can't tell you the measurements. I like find a recipe that sounds good then put my own flare on it (If you couldn't tell from the two above recipes). I add the mayo and sour cream to taste, but I think it's about a cup and a half of each. You can change the ratio if you don't like one of those ingredients. I'm not sure what will finish first for you, the bacon or the potatoes, but I like to add the bacon as it comes out of the pan. Just crumble it up and add it to the ranch mix. Save some of the bacon grease! Once the potatoes are soft enough that when you stick a fork in them they fall apart you can drain the water. Cut up the potatoes and add to the ranch mix. I usually burn my fingers cutting up the potatoes, so please be careful. Add about a tablespoon of the bacon grease. Stir all the ingredents together. Either enjoy now or place in fridge until you serve it.

I've already told you that this is Luke's favorite potato salad, so of course it's a keeper! If you add anything to this recipe and it works out please let me know! I'd love to hear about it!

Sorry there aren't any pictures, I'll try to do better next time and take some! Hope you enjoy these recipes!

Happy Homemaker Monday! Vol 1

I'm going to start doing "Happy Homemaker Monday" with Sandra over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. I've always enjoyed reading her blog! I wouldn't mind being a mom just like her some day (of course like my mom too.)!!!!!!!!!

Even though I'm not a all day homemaker I do have a home and I can't wait until I can be in it all the time! So here goes!

The weather in my neck of the woods:
Beautiful blue skies and even better big white fluffy clouds! It's suppose to get up to 81 today! Woo Hoo! Good thing I grabbed a fan for the office today!


One of my simple pleasures:
Curling up with a nice thick book!


On my bedside table:
Book of Mormon and my DS. (I'm waiting for the 4th book in the Work and the Glory series to come! I bought it on half.com and it hasn't arrived yet.)


On my TV:
We don't have TV, but I'm watching the prison break series on line. I like the first season the best so far! Oh and we're heading to my Mother in Law's house tonight so **HOPEFULLY** we get to watch the Bachelorette! I hope She sees through Wes!! I really don't like him! I wish Michael had stayed... not sure about Ed being back... we'll have to see.


On the menu for tonight:
My sister in law is bringing dinner over to my in laws so I'm not sure.


On my To Do List:
Exercise (run at least 4 miles...), finish the binding on Mil's quilt, find out what's taking my book so long to get here, and maybe plan a Lia Sophia open house...


New Recipe I tried last week:
I was thinking nothing but I did try on Saturday Ranch style steak kabobs and watermelon-lemonade. (I'll post the recipe after this.)

In the craft basket:
Mil's quilt and Luke's jersey quilt


Looking forward to:
Trip to Las Vegas in Sept!!!!!!


Homemaking Tip for this week:
You can increase the hours in a day if you get up a few minutes early!


Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):
My cousin Jade's post for the fourth. Her brother did a tour in Iraq. It was hard on EVERYBODY! But we are very glad he's back! She posted some pictures of him coming home, my favorite is his daughter giving him their first hug in over a year! It's too sweet, she such a daddy's girl!


Favorite photo from last week:

My rose! I'm just so dang proud of it!!!!!!

Lesson learned the past few days:
You are the limit to the blessing you can receive!!!!!


On my Prayer List:
My Husband
My family
My mother in law as she goes through some health issues (Please let her continue to be positive!)
My father in law as he takes care of my mother in law.


Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
D&C 82:10 (I couldn't get this scripture out of my mind yesterday, everything reminded me of it!)
I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.

Yesterday's projects and happenings

Thought I'd give you a sneak peak of what I did yesterday after work... It was pretty eventful!

**I worked on the quilt I want to give to my mother in law. Here's my work station: my dinning room table.

Here's the first block completed!
**While stopped at a stop light yesterday heading home this mother duck and her chicks crossed the road! It reminded me of my sister Kailey, one time heading to a doctor's appointment they had to stop in the middle of the road because some ducks and chicks were crossing the road and some guy had decided to "help" them by walking along behind them waving his hands. Every time we pass that spot she says, "Remember the duckies??" Sorry they aren't in the road in this picture I couldn't get my phone out fast enough but they were CUTE!

**Luke bought me a rose plant at the beginning of spring. I've done some what of a good job keeping it alive... last week I noticed it had a bud on it!!!! I was so excited! So here are the pictures of it's growth!




I took this one yesterday! It's so big and pretty!
I had a lot of fun with my phone settings!

I'm so excited with the 4th of July being TOMORROW!!! All we have planned so far is having a BBQ with some friends then hitting up a baseball game at around 5 then watching the fireworks after that. It should be a good time! I just don't want last year story to happen again. I'll have to tell you about it later. :) It's a Fire Cracker story!

Have a great and safe 4th of July! God Bless America!!!!!!!!

Great news

So Monday at work my outlook informed me that I had a new message. All I needed to read in the little pop up window was, "This message is to inform you that Ibex Incorporated has been awarded...." and I knew that prayers had just been answered!!!!!!!!!

A few months ago the trucking company that I work for had to lay off about 11 guys. It was HEART BREAKING! We are a close knit family here! Right away we all started looking for other opportunities for our trucks. We contacted multiple road construction companies in multiple states, we contacted metal refinery companies, we contacted other oil field companies, we contacted EVERYONE we could think of.... with no luck. The owner then remembered that a few years ago we had hauled water for the forest service for one of the fires. He asked us to look into it. And so we did.

About a week later after a whirl wind of events Kirk, our safety and right hand guy, and I were sitting in a Forest Service building for a meeting about how to apply for the contract we wanted. Holy cow what a meeting! Not only was I one of the three girls in the room (other then the forest service ladies) but we were by far the youngest in the bunch... by like 20 years (Kirk is pretty close to 30). The guy on the front row kept repeating himself, "Well, last year when we went to California...." (We're in Idaho). He seriously said it at least once every ten minutes! Anyway, that meeting started at 7 and we sat there until 11, by that time Kirk and I decided to sneak out.... We had the information we needed.... Who knows how long we would have had to listen to "Well, last year when we went to California..." We had a lot of work to do! Lots of acronyms to learn like HUB Zone, SBA, FED BIZ OPPS, IBM, IRS, CCR, CPS, USDA, I-BPA, DUNS, DBE, CAGE, VIPR, TIN, TPIN, SIC, MPIN, etc. I was so lost.

Of course Kirk left, to go where I can't remember. So of course I "got to" (had to) figure it out myself. It was a fun filled week trying to figure out what forms we needed to fill out, what numbers I had to get, where to get the forms and numbers, and of course where to turn them in. This, of course, all fell on a payroll week! Oh the joys! After about a million calls, web searches and headaches I finally had it all completed.... Then I found out they changed the dead line! I had another week that I could have finished it!!!!!!!!!!! Oh well, it was done I was done.

Now the fun part... the waiting game! It wasn't that bad, I had other work to distract me (In fact I "might" have forgotten about it... shhh).

But then came that FANTASTIC email I"m sure you can gues what ended that sentance but let me tell ya what it said, "This message is to inform you that Ibex Incorporated has been awarded a contract for Forest Service Solicatation ###########." All I could do after reading that was smile and SCREAM "YES" (By the way I'm not a screamer. If you make me jump, that's all you get is a jump not a scream... people hate it)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Monday was awesome! I walked around all day with a big smile on my face! It was GREAT! All my hard work FINALLY paid off! (I do feel bad for all the other companies that tried to get the contract.) I'm sorry I haven't posted all week. I've been trying to get everything ready for the fire season, which we think will be big for two reasons: #1 we were told Colorado had a beetle problem so their trees are dying and #2 It's been raining here like made the last month and now it's supose to get REALLY hot, that's going to dry everything out!

So when you see this:

We'll be there with these guys:

I'm just so thankful that now we have the opportunity to help some families get back to work. Trust me those 11 families have been in ALL our prayers this whole time! Monday was really one of the best days I've had. Now we just need some fires (I won't pray for that... that would be sad if I did!!!)