Well, the first week went really well. We stuck to the meal plan and had delicious meals at home.

Mark didn't care for the potato soup too much, so I'm afraid that is not going to be finished. That recipe makes a lot of soup. If we were going to eat it, I was going to freeze the extra. That's what I'm going to do with the chili. Mark is the one who makes chili at our house, and he always makes a lot. He makes it different every time, but it's always delicious.

Next week, we have some special events going on. On Monday, we are meeting up with some good friends for tacos. Wednesday is community group, as usual, but it's also my birthday. Sunday will mark 10 years since Mark and I began dating. We've been married almost 4 years now :) Anyway, the meal plan is a little easier this week.

Here it is:
Monday: Tacos at K & R's
Tuesday: Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, peas
Wednesday: Pot Luck at Community Group- bring birthday cake
Thursday: Left over meat loaf & potatoes
Friday: Enchiladas
Saturday: Date Night
Sunday: Easy Chicken Bake

I started meal planning fairly regularly last year. I've tried a couple of different methods and think I've found some good ideas to help me get organized pretty quickly. The biggest help for me is the spreadsheet I created for meal planning. It lists a bunch of our favorite meals along with a side, the main ingredient, and a note of where to find the recipe (link included for internet recipes). When it's time to start planning, I can open it up and pick out some ideas based on what I know I have on hand and what we feel like eating that week.

Ok, so... I'm considering this as my practice blog until I actually get the hang of it. I've been reading lots of blogs and learning what I like, so maybe someday I'll know what I want to really do with a blog. For now though... I though it would be fun to share a fun date Mark & I went on.

There's a website called The Dating Divas that has a lot of great ideas for dating your spouse. I found one called "Choose Your Own Destiny" and thought it would be fun to try. I wanted to do dinner, an activity, and possibly dessert. I chose three options in each of these categories and printed off pictures as "clues" for each option. My clues weren't really helpful in any way, but Mark was a good sport and took his chances.

What would you choose?

We went to Grub's for dinner. Neither of us had eaten there before. Mark thought his burger was good, so we were off to a great start. Of course, I forgot my camera, so we stopped back at the apartment to pick it up (like I said, Mark was being a good sport!). Mark chose the picture that represented Go Karts, but we weren't sure we were really up for that. So, we broke the "rules" and decided to go to Gator Golf instead.

The rejected Go Kart Card

It was Mark's idea of a perfect night as far as weather goes: warm (not hot) temps, slight breeze, & cloudy. We played one of our worst games of mini-golf ever, but had a lot of laughs.

Gator Golf

One of the dessert clue cards was "Home Sweet Home". Mark's not much of a dessert guy, so he liked the idea of heading home which was fine with me. It was a great night, and I'm hoping we'll have a lot more like it this summer.

What are some of your favorite date ideas?

Mark & I have not been able to go home to Minnesota for Thanksgiving or Christmas since moving to AR. It would be wonderful to be with family for the holidays, but God has blessed us with good friends to help make these days special.

The last three years, Travis & Tabitha & Zedekiah have been coming to see us for Thanksgiving.  We have a lot of fun together and are starting some special traditions now that this is getting to be a habit. Last year, we took T, T, & Z to the Square to see the Christmas lights for the first time. That outing has made it to the list of "must do's" while they are here.
We decided on two new traditions to add this year. For the first one, we are going to use the same tablecloth each year and have whoever is with us write what they are thankful for on the tablecloth. Then, they can sign and date what they wrote.  Even with only one Thanksgiving's worth of notes on the cloth, it was fun to read what everyone had to say. I look forward to filling the cloth with many years worth of names & blessings.

Writing on our table cloth.

Our other idea didn't quite come together this year.  We want to play a game with each other each year and have a traveling trophy that stays with the winners.  We got as far as the playing games portion, but did not find a suitable trophy or white elephant prize.  It's a goal for next year :)

What are your Thanksgiving Traditions?  Any ideas on a good traveling trophy?

Grosgrain: ANOTHER SILHOUETTE MACHINE GIVEAWAY!!!!

This machine would be so much fun. Check out the link. On Monday, Nov. 29th there will be a big sale if any of you would like to have the machine and don't win it.

I'm on Thanksgiving break this week!  I got off work at my normal time (1pm) on Friday and immediately went into vacation mode. Nap time!  When I woke up, it was time to work on some more of my craft projects. I decided to make everyone's Christmas presents this year.  It has been a lot of fun, and I'm learning a lot.

My friend, Nichole, and I decided to have a craft day every month. We've invited several other girls to join us, but so far it's just been us. We have a great time spending the day together, but it seems that we don't usually get very much work done.  It's alright though; we just enjoy hanging out together.  Last Saturday, we were at her new apartment. I was actually able to almost finish the jewelry box that I covered with scrapbook paper, but Nichole was busy trying to get her internet hooked up. Why are those things always so time consuming?

When I got home, I kept working on the box. What should have been an easy project became quite complicated when I got up the next morning and realized that the spray adhesive was not holding properly.  Maybe I put the mod podge on too soon.  I tried respraying, then I put something on it to hold it all together. When that had set for several hours, it was sticking to the box. It peeled off leaving a bumpy mess.  I fixed that and added another coat of mod podge to seal everything. I thought it was dry, so I set the lid on top of the bottom. Then, I discovered the lid was sticking to the box!  Needless to say, this jewelry box is not perfect. However, I still like the way it turned out.  I just hope that it will work well for the person I'm giving it to:)




Here are a couple of other things I've been working on:

Hi, I'm made from a pair of gloves.

I do my own hair.

These will have clips for hair or headbands with the option to add a pin.

A couple of weeks ago, Emily & Rick came for a visit. Their time here was far too short, but it was wonderful to spend time with them. We tried a local pizza place for dinner the first night.
On Saturday, Emily & I left the boys to watch the Razorbacks while we visited the farmers market.
Rick had some friends at another church in the area, so they went there for church on their way back to MN on Sunday.  When he got there, he found out that some of the people he knew from working at a small camp in Tennessee are now leading the Student Ministry at my church. It was fun to tell them that "Big Rick" married one of my best friends and had been in town with us.

Here are links to the tutorials I used from other blogs:

Doll: http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2008/12/handcrafted-doll-tutorial.html
Flowers: http://www.simplyvintagegirl.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/29/tutorial-how-to-make-lovely-fabric-flowers

Thanks to Grosgrain & Simply Vintage Girl!

Shabby Apple All That Jazz Dress Guest Giveaway

These dresses are gorgeous. I would love wearing them, wouldn't you?