DOMESTIC BLISS!!!

note: this post is being typed with the smell of homemade chocolate cookies with chocolate/caramel pieces being baked....not to make anyone jealous or anything ;)

first, i wanna say a huge THANK YOU to all those who sent their recovery vibes to my hubby. that means A LOT to me!!! he's doing better today and getting better on the crutches. its been a long three days (for both him and me!!!).

okay, on to the domestic bliss.

ya know, in the past two weeks, i have been off an additional five days (sick two days, memorial day holiday, and then mike's surgery). in that time i have been busting my ass getting stuff done. stuff that really should have already been done, but none the less.

this is a break down of some of the things i have gotten done in the past week. (seeing it in print always makes me feel oh so accomplished!):

*paid bills (finally!)
*did about seven loads of laundry
*swept the kitchen floors
*made sure that a not a dish lurked in the kitchen sink
*cleaned my shower
*organized my scrapbooking stickers (as best as possible)
*cleaned off my dresser (boy was this a feat!)
*organized my jewelry by designating two of my dresser drawers as "jewelry boxes". i put lil organizers in there and have everything nice and tidy.
*cleaned my bedroom (still have to work on my scrap corner
*cleaned off the computer desk
*made sure that the kiddos kept their rooms clean (yaaayyy!)
*vacuumed the floor
*returned some overdue (by a week) books to the library. i even took them inside so i could pay the fines.
*finally made it to the post office to mail off v's pkg.
*deposited some moola into the bank.

there are still a ton of things that need to be done, but that feels oh so good to look at.

i've also been thinking alot, and i mean alot, on how we spend our money. me and michael are very much "if you want it, buy it kinda people". we have got to stop being these kind of build.

we are building a new house folks (which i have got to get pictures off. i went today and started to cry when i stepped foot on my new, huge, beautiful porch. this house is already amazing). but anywho....

so, i've been scouring the web and blogs for ideas on saving money (if anyone is interested in some of these blogs, lemme know...they're full of great information). i've thought of things we could cut to save money. now i'm not talking crazy things like satellite tv or anything, i'm talking more the eating out all the time, tanning, and spending on foolish items. these are some of the things that i have started to do:

*i'm going to see how long i can go without going to the grocery (cept for milk and bread). i have enough food in my house to feed a small country. this is not an exaggeration. i have a stand up freezer, the freezer next to the fridge, and a huge pantry filled to the brim. its so not neccesary for me to go to the grocery store again.

*i've contacted my phone company and got a better deal on my monthly bill and got $10 off my directv bill. i am also getting a $25 visa gift card.

*sent off for a few rebates. i mean i actually got them in the mail and not let them just sit around and expire.

*i've decided that money saved from coupons, rebates, etc. will automatically go in the savings acct.

*packing lunch is a must

*whenever possible, a gift will be made, not store bought (i mean c'mon, hobby lobby resides in my bedroom :)

*learn new things to cook

these are just a few of the things and i am super excited about it. i think i am going to make it a challenge to me. turn it into a game, and i'm a playa.

okay, onto the cooking. i've been cooking like ca-razy!



this is a loaf of oatmeal molasses batter bread. thanks to nic for the recipe. this is a very quick and delicious bread. good with butter or even a sandwich. i was very nervous about making this as anything that involves getting yeast and lukewarm water right is a struggle for me. this is a must try.



now these i made on my own. i don't know how i feel about them. they are pot stickers filled with cherry pie filling. now the reasons i made these are as follows: i had to use up these pot sticker things and i had some great fried cherry pie thing at the gas station up the street. these prolly would have turned out better if i used a dough instead of a pasta. i both fried and baked some of these. i hate frying for the smell it leaves in the house so i only did one batch.

i ended up throwing a bunch away. not b/c they weren't good, but b/c they got soggy. so i will def. try again with a dough and see how that goes. they were better right outta the oven with powder sugar on top.

i don't have a picture of the zucchini muffins or the banana walnut muffins i made.
i found a recipe on the weight watchers message boards. they are a low fat recipe of course and they are super duper good. if anyone is interested, let me know and i'll email/post the recipe. but right now i think this post is long enough now.

oh, and i also made these great italian stuffed zucchini (can't ya tell i had a few laying around that needed to be eaten?). i was sceptical but these were so farkin' good. seriously. you can find the recipe here.

cannot wait to move into the new house and have a garden to make plenty of that.

well, i guess that's it for now. sorry for the long post about nothing, but i have been so happy in my domestic bliss despite the fact that i have been non-stop since tuesday.

again, thanks to everyone for your wonderful words regarding michael!!!!