My Online purchases in January

I love to shop online especially when i'm stuck inside on a freezing day. There were some necessities that needed to be bought then of course the fun purchases. I am a huge fan of Ebay but my husband favors Amazon.

I didn't get a calendar for Christmas this year, truth is I am super funny about which ones I like, so I think they were scared to pick one out for me. Being that I live by my calendar and love snow, I thought this one would be perfect! The kids think its weird that its winter all year one it but oh well I like it!

I was stressed and bored while Taylor spent four days at the beginning of January in the hospital, I went online shopping and found this jewel! Our family loves grilled cheese and I love Snoopy so this was a must for us! Who doesn't need a Snoopy Grilled Cheese maker! 

Since we had such a mild fall we never tried Mitchell's winter coat on until the day before single digits temps. Well, of course, it was TO SMALL! I hurried and got online thinking this would be an easy purchase but NO, I forgot i'm dealing with a super particular little boy who is very sporty and has to look cool. After, NO KIDDING, days upon days of looking we finally found a coat that we agreed on that would be warm enough. (he hates big puffy ones) He really really wanted a soccer Manchester United one but that was almost $300!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For Christmas I got a Yankee Candle centerpiece warmer that you melt these type of melts in. They hardly have any selection at the store but I found just about any scent on Ebay so I ordered a bunch for about half price of what they would cost in the store! They smell great and last a lot longer than the melt types.

Taylor is going to Snow coming this year which is a informal dance Valentine's Day weekend. She fell in love with this dress online and so we ordered it. (anything to not have to go running around town from store to store to not find a thing!)

I saw these and thought they would be so pretty on my bed to complete the look i'm going for. I couldn't find them anywhere in the stores so again ebay came through! I can't wait to get them.

The last thing I bought online was this beautiful Hunter fan to replace the old one in our master bedroom. I love the look of it and think it will match perfect! The best part about this purchase is that it didn't cost me a penny! I like to sell things on ebay so the money I made went to buy this because I couldn't justify spending $180 right after Christmas when I just redid a lot in our room already.(NOTE, I didn't know this when I purchased it, but my daughter has the exact same one in her family room)

So that's my purchases for January! I'm trying to not do many for Febuary but we will see how that goes. Stay tuned for that at the beginning of March.

Snaz up your master bedroom for under $150

Unfortunately, my diet didn't get off to a very good start. I ended up getting the stomach virus the day I started along with several other family members! I recovered fairly quickly but it lingered for a long time for Mitchell. Between me being sick and the stress involved, I decided to restart it this week...

The virus was quite violent and when it was all said and done I felt like the house was a germ zone, especially my master bedroom where the sick congregated and things literally got thrown up on! YUK!!!!

After it was over I went into overdrive and cleaned the house and the bedrooms. I tossed out some things and scrubbed and sanitized others. I decided this was a good time to spruce up things a little in our bedroom. So I went on the hunt.

I was NOT looking for new nightstands but ended up finding two cherry ones on our local yard sale site.  They are from Bombay Company and in almost perfect condition plus they match the other furniture in there! The lady only wanted $30 for both!!! SCORE!

Next since I have these new table my old lamps just would NOT do. I wanted a matching set.  I decided to check out The Christmas Tree shop first. Immediately I found the ones I wanted and they had pineapples on them of which I love. They were reasonably priced at $30 a piece so I snatched them up as they were the last two. 

So now that I had them I just needed a new comforter and maybe a throw pillow to match. 

I wasn't even looking there but when I went food shopping at Walmart there was one I LOVED on the end cap and ONLY $34.99. SCORE!!!!  On the way home I stopped at Home Goods and found a cute throw pillow to match the room and bed for $20. I do have white pillow shams ordered to complete the bed.

Now I would like to get some type of throw for the bottom of the bed and also a new fan as ours is old and does not match. This last minute master bedroom update is thanks to the stomach bug but I love the new look! 

New Years Resolutions...better late than never

I can not believe January is almost over, It seems like it just begun! This year I made some New Years  resolutions a couple weeks late! I always make more than one that way if I fail, I can focus on
 another one. LOL

 

Loose weight:

I think every single person in the World makes this a resolution. After the week I have had this one is not going well at all! No need to explain. 

Be more like Jesus:

I preach and preach and preach this but so many times I don't follow it myself! If we could all do this the world would certainly be a better place. 

Be More Social: 

As people who know me know, I am not the most social person in the world. I love spending time with my family and close friends but beyond that I could take it or leave it.
Appreciate the small things more:
If there is one thing that I have realized is that its hard to appreciate the things in our life, especially the little ones, until we no longer have them. I really want to implement this resolution!

My hope is that I can be successful in at least a few of these. If not there is always next year!

My diet plan

During the cold months of winter I always tend to gain weight, and I always have! I think my metabolism just simply slows down because there is nothing I really do different. This year I am seriously trying to nip it in the bud now because if I wait till spring I will just be depressed! I also don't need extra weight with health risks and all.

This week I am implementing the plan I know works for me, its not going to be easy but with me its the only way to loose weight!

I have found with me its not as much what I eat as much as how much and when. Yes, there are things I stay away from but its not a cold turkey thing. My diet has to be a realistic one and one that I can live by when i'm not trying so hard to loose. I also have low blood sugar issues so I can NOT skip meals! I already know the first several weeks will not be easy and I may get a little mean at times but that will pass. LOL

Please realize this is my way of loosing and has been approved by my doctor who has known me for almost 9 years. 

OK, now that my disclosure is out of the way, here is my diet plan. 

My Goal is 25 lbs to start. (its important for me to make my goal realistic.)

1,000 to 1,200 calories a day on average but I can go as high as 1,500 on occasion.

Its important to have an app. to help you keep track of your daily calories and such. I like to use the Livestrong website. Its a free great way of keeping track and it has lots of built in meals already with calories, fat, etc. It also has an exercise calculator to help figure how many you have burned and tons more helpful things as well.

 You will set how many pounds you want to loose in a week. I think the max is 2 pounds that you can choose. I have always found the slower it comes off the longer you keep it off because its not just water weight. I usually loose more than that the first weeks then I slow down a lot! 

My biggest hurdles will be:
My coffee and creamer intake

My sweet tooth

My love for eating out
My hate for exercising


So tomorrow is my start date! I will give you an update on my progress once a week although don't be surprised if I bitch about it more than that!!! If anyone wants to join me or has any questions please feel free to ask! 

The Blizzard of 2016 in Pa

Well, as my earlier post said on Saturday, pa was having a blizzard. We ended up with, the news said, an official reading of 37''. I don't know how you correctly measure it because of the blowing and drifting snow but I have no doubt we got that much. Whats crazy about this area is that by tomorrow everyone will be back to work like it never happened. See i'm use to Maryland, where we lived before, even though its only one hour north, somehow they are way more equipped here to handle a big snow!

We don't own a snowblower as Jim never wanted to have one. He liked the idea of getting a workout while shoveling. This is the last year he will be without one of those! He is in super shape but being now in his 50's I worry myself to much and with the size of the driveway and sidewalks even with help from the kids its TO MUCH WORK and worry.



Saturday during the snow we made homemade hot chocolate in the crock pot, apple crisp, and a pot roast. We also played family games by the fire and just hung out together watching the snow. By around 10 pm it stopped and Jim and Cory did some shoveling.

Sunday we woke up to the sun shinning and 15 degrees with a lot of work ahead of us digging out!
Its amazing how even at 15 degrees the sun starts melting things.

The kids made a tobogganing path down our back yard and everyone has had a ball on it. Mitchell is working on an igloo and we just got the call that school is off today.

I love the snow because there is just something about everyone being snowed in together that brings a family together to do the simple fun things.

 Hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as we did!

Thankful in the blizzard

As I woke up this morning and looked out the window I wasn't surprised at the 15 inches that fell overnight as the Blizzard of 2016 is in full swing! After its all said and done we are suppose to have 2 to 3 feet!

As I sit here in the warmth of my home I realize there are policemen, firefighters, nurses, paramedics, doctors etc. that have to be out in these conditions. There are also people in the hospitals alone because their loved ones can't get there to be with them.

Being in the PICU with Taylor last February during a snow storm, to them it was business as usual. I was amazed that there was NO talk of the weather or how the nurses and doctors got there, they were just there doing there job. I believe these are the people who SHOULD be making the big money, the ones that risk their lives to be at work and put your mother, father, sister, brother, or child as the focus not the weather. If you have ever had to rely on any of these people for you or your family you know what i'm talking about.

I pray none of us ever have get help from these people in a bad situation, but if we do its so nice to have them and know they are there. Please keep all of these people in your thoughts and prayers during these times as you never know when you will be relying on them!

Keep safe everyone!

Snow snow snow

Blizzard of 2010 in our front yard. 

The forecast is predicting a blizzard here in central PA starting this evening through Sunday! I am so excited, I'm like a kid! I love being snowed in, the more snow the merrier! I can say that because I'm not the one who shovels the driveway and I don't have to be anywhere. I know it's late but I will be running out this morning searching for boots for Mitchell who has just informed me that his are too small. I'm sure every other person in our town will be out doing the same or just buying milk, bread, and toilet paper! LOL

We have a built-in sleigh ride hill on the side of our backyard that was made just for that. When the house was built, the people who built it built one side of the backyard up higher for sledding as they had four kids themselves who loved to sled (coincidentally they had a son named Mitchell too who is exactly the same age as our Mitchell). All our kids, even the older ones that still live at home, love to sleigh, tube, and snowboard down our hill. I'm excited to see Jaxson going down this year, I know he will love it!

So our shelves are stocked, our outside is blizzard proofed. and we are ready for this storm! Now to have the shovels ready to keep a path shoveled for the dachshunds who HATE the snow!