I am Giving Up Coffee!

Hey everyone, call me crazy...AGAIN! Now I am giving up COFFEE!!!! I have several reasons why I am making this choice...and believe me it is a hard choice to make! I used to work in a coffee shop, and have a love for Starbucks! 

Reasons I am giving it up

1. I put 6 Tablespoons in 16 oz every day! 

2. If I do not drink it every day I get head aches and feel sick 

3. My Keurig is not brewing hot enough

4. My Keurig is not brewing the proper amount (oz) 

I have done so many things to try and fix the brewing problem on my Keurig, and it is still not brewing hot enough or the right amount in oz. It is 2 1/2 years old, and has been used every day since I got it! I started thinking, maybe now is the "time" to give up my coffee ADDICTION! I mean who really needs 6 TABLESPOONS of sugar every morning?? And I really hate days when I am out of milk, or cream, because I won't make coffee till I have it, which means I usually start to have a head ache! I woke up this morning and tried one more time to make a cup of good ole Joe and it just was not as yummy as I had hoped. I keep trying to find every reason to keep this machine and keep making coffee...and I think its just time to give it up! Anyone else give up their morning coffee? Any tips or suggestions on an easy transition off the addiction? I know in the long run this will save us a few $, because I will not be buying sugar as often, or coffee or milk/cream! At Starbucks it is cheaper for me to get a tea then it is to order one of those blended fraps with several shots of espresso! This will free up some space on the counter! And the best part, after a few days without coffee my head aches and "need" for the drink will be gone! I plan on drinking some teas with honey, and also getting into smoothies and "fruit" type drinks! I think this will be so much better for my health and something I can share with the kids too!

Cleaning the Ninja Blender

Hey everyone! How has your summer been? It is very HOT here in Colorado! I have been so busy the last few weeks I have been super behind on sharing all the things I am doing on the blog! My son starts school on August 5th, so we have been buying school supplies while trying to squeeze in a few last minute fun days! Any who, I was cooking dinner the other night and had to use my ninja blender to blend up some chilies! If you own a Ninja than you must know how difficult it can be to clean all the hidden spots on the lid! Well...maybe if you don't have a dish washer that is! Since I wash by hand (for now) I always dread cleaning the ninja after we use it! Plus it kind of scares me...cause one time when we first bought it I almost cut my finger off ( well not off, but I cut pretty deep). I decided to try something out, and boy am I glad that I did! After you get it all dirty and gross, put some hot water and a few drops of dish soap in it...put the lid on and BLEND it up! Then rinse it and let it dry! That has been the easiest way for me to get that thing clean and now I do not mind cleaning it! It was one of those moments when I asked myself..."Why didn't I think of this sooner??"

Christmas In July

Ever hear of a "Christmas In July" Sale?? The last few days I have got several emails about these sales...so I figured why not join in on this craziness! I found a bunch of Christmas village sets in a box of stuff I had planned on selling on eBay this weekend. I was so happy when I found them because anybody that has sold stuff before knows that Christmas stuff sells all year long! It is amazing what people will buy in the middle of summer, because they are always looking for good deals or sets that are not easily found! I have a great post coming soon of an update on my office! And maybe even a sneak peak of some progress on my basement organization! 

If you List it...It will Sell

You know that movie "Field of Dreams" when Kevin Costner (or someone in the movie) says "If you build it they will come" Well call this my "Field of Dreams" Saying for the day... "IF YOU LIST IT, IT WILL SELL"!! Cheesy ...I know...but it is motivation. If you sell on eBay you might understand what I am saying! I have so many things to list every day...and sometimes I have no clue where to begin! Or I feel super overwhelmed and end up not listing anything! Truth is ...if I don't list it...I don't make any money! We all like money right?? So lately I have been trying to list 5 or more items a day in my store...and guess what...people are buying! The more I have listed and available...the more sales I have! Check out my Saturday packages! That box was full! Happy dance on my end!

Baby Shower Time

Is it just me....or does everyone else always feel like someone you know is always pregnant?? I am always going to baby showers...and before I know it...Birthday parties! That's okay with me, I love babies and kids! I have a friend who is expecting her first baby...its a boy! I am going to surprise her today with a hand made blanket. I had my mom sew it for her "Thanks Mom"! It took me an hour to find the fabric...I had a few other choices and I narrowed it down to the cute fabric you see there! She was doing a safari/ animal/ owl theme in "little man's" room! Then I found the growth chart you see to the left and thought this is so perfect to match everything! I hope she loves it as much as I do!

$5 Fill A Bag Sale

See how big that bag is...and how much stuff is inside of it??? I paid $5.57 (including tax) for all of it! Today was my first time going to a "Fill a Bag" Sale at a local consignment store! I was even more excited when I went to pay because the lady told me I had some money in my account from some of the stuff I had dropped off to sell! I ended up walking out with that bag and only paying $3.57!!! Talk about a deal! The best part is that I was super picky with what I put in my bag, I did not want any of the Walmart brands (nothing against Walmart, but if I am going to fill this bag I want some excellent brands)! I got a bunch of Ralph Lauren, Baby Gap and Boutique brand clothing for my little girl! They did not have much in my son's size (boys 8) so he did not get anything but that is a-ok! Next time you hear of a "Fill a Bag" Sale I would totally say
"Go Check it out"! See what you can find and stuff that bag till it is ready to bust open! ;)

Garden

Hey everyone, hope your having a great week! I am so excited to share this post with you all! We eat a ton of avocados in our house, and we usually throw away the pit! Until one weekend when I decided I wanted to try and grow an avocado tree from the pit! I have never done this before but I have seen my grandma start the seeds before and figured I would give it a try...I mean what am I going to loose if it doesn't work since I was going to throw it away anyways! In the photo up above the top right is how I started them, I stuck three tooth picks in one pit and sat it on top of a jar or glass in the window. I kept the water level to the rim of the jar/glass and waited...and waited...and waited! I literally waited like 3 months before I finally saw it change! It split down the middle and started growing some roots and then eventually it sprouted out the top! I still have three that are growing and not quite ready to be planted in soil but the one on the bottom right in the photo is growing so big! I took it outside so it would be in the sun and heat and it just keeps getting bigger! So exciting for me, especially since hubby thought I was crazy and did not think you could grow an avocado pit! The photo on the left is of one of our tomato plants....we are going to have a lot of fresh tomatoes really soon! We did not plant much this year, but its okay because my dad has a huge garden and always sends me home with bag fulls! I will have to go take pictures of his garden and share what he is doing! Did you plant anything this year? Would love to hear how your garden is doing if you have one!

July Book Club Pick

Does anyone else find it hard to believe that it is already JULY??? I can not believe how fast the first half of this year has come and gone....I have been keeping up with the book club reading and this month the winning vote was for Divergent by Veronica Roth. I am one chapter in so I really do not have any info about how I like it! I love that I have been making some me time and finding things I enjoy doing. I have been reading for a few months now and I just picked up RUNNING! In fact I just got home from a 5AM run and have so much energy for the start of my day! I hope that my new addictions (running and reading) encourage you to find something you enjoy or join in on the fun I am having with these two things!

FIRST 5K RUN

 Hey everyone, hope you all had a great 4th of July! Yesterday was a big day for me! I ran my first ever 5K run! My son did it with me and we had a blast, even though I thought I might die! Notice anything different in that photo up above ??? That's right this mama won a medal! I was happy to have even finished the race, let alone win something! My son and I both placed in our age division!

 

 My son is 7 and when we first got to the race he was so mad that I was making him run with me....once we got going he was so happy, and he kept saying we better not loose to everyone mom...Talk about motivation! We did a lot of walking and running and the best part was when we got to a drink station and poured our cup all over our head! We did not do any training before this race, we kind of wanted to...and then never got around to waking up to go run....so we kind of just showed up and said we are totally doing this if it means we are the last people to cross the finish line! I was super happy when we finished under an hour, considering we did not train and have really never ran like this before I think we did great! When we realized we placed we were excited! My son was so happy when they called his name for a 1st place medal! I used an app called Map My Run and was able to track our time and how far we had went while we were running! Does anyone have any suggestions for an arm band that holds an I Phone?? I had to hold mine the whole race which was no fun!

 

This beautiful view was the 1/2 way point of the race! We had to run up 3-4 hills and that was horrible, but we forgot all about them when we saw this view and realized it was going to be all down hill the whole second half! It was such an amazing feeling finishing the race and the energy from all the other runners was so happy and great! I am so excited to get into running and do a few more of these runs!

DIY AMERICAN FLAG SHIRT

Does anyone have any fun plans to celebrate the 4th of July tomorrow?? I do! I have my first ever 5K walk/run...that I did not train for ...Yeah I have no idea if I will run with my friends son, or walk with my mom and kids! Then we have a super fun wet/dry parade...you better believe we are always in the WET section of this parade! I am sure sometime after that we will head to my mom's house and BBQ....I am kind of sad because this is the second year in a row that hubby has to work....He is a mechanic....and my question to all of you is....who gets their car worked on, on the 4th of July??? Not sure how many of you have seen the news, but here in Colorado ....there are quite a few fires right now....so we are on a fire ban which means no fireworks at home for the kids :( My daughter has never got to see them in the driveway, or play with a sparkler....So in the evening we will have to go down town for the "BIG SHOW"! Well this year I wanted to have something patriotic to wear...so I made us some shirts!! I followed the instructions over on I Live Life Better Than You blog! It was such a cheap and easy craft for me....Purchase the white shirts...acrylic paint (hobby lobby), find some packing tape and use your computer to print some stars! They came out super cute and I can not wait to wear it tomorrow! I will try to take some pictures of the run and everything we do tomorrow to share with all of you!

Directions for shirts: Slide a big piece of cardboard inside the shirt, this will prevent it from bleeding to the back side. Tape of the stripes...then paint the open area red, except do not paint the side you are doing the stars...then I pulled the tape off once it was dry....and used my cut out stars I printed and held them down and painted around them. I kind of painted over them so it would get all the white space covered with blue around the stars....little bit messy, but not big deal since it was just on my fingers! Let it dry, then wash it and dry it...I washed them all together (made 4) on a regular cycle...I believe on warm...then dry them...and wear them!