Friday Wrap (Insta-Friday)

Here we are at another Friday. The last one in November. And my last "thankful for:" pics.

This week I'm Thankful for:

1.  Messy paint fingers (means I've been getting some play time in).

2.  My  family (I know this kiddo shows up a lot, but she is the only one willing to pose).

3.  My i-phone (love all my camera pics and how I see little things in my everyday life, like the reflection in the window below).

4.  My husband (who is such a great dad).

5.  Break time at work (it's my time to socialize or catch up on some reading).
 

6.  Girlfriend time (shopping on Black Friday).

7.  Rainbow colors (they just make me happy).

8.  Seeing the little things (like this NyQuil heart on my bathroom counter).

9.  Another day on this Earth (morning sun trying to peek out).

Now it's your turn to share. Click on a button below and join in the fun.  See you next week.

Laters

Spread Too Thin

Ever get the feeling that you are trying to do too much. Like you're stretched too thin?

I sure do. I totally want to try everything. But then might not have time to finish what I start.

Yikes. No bueno (as a certain 16 yr old of mine likes to say).

So here are some updates on a few projects I've been working on.

1. Thankful journal.
     I hate to say it, but I've lost interest. I really like the way my pages turned out, but I'm just done with the idea and ready to move on to Christmas. Will have to wrap up with a few more photos and call it done.

2. Walk a mile a day.
     OK. I'm failing bad on this one too. Day 1 was Thanksgiving and I took the dogs and the hubby out for a walk before the family arrived for breakfast. Day 2 was Black Friday, and while I did not officially go on a walk, I did walk around the mall lots of times and figured it must have been well over a mile. Then, no more. I know. I feel bad. I haven't felt well. But I'm starting to get better, so I will continue on.

3.  December Daily.
     This is one of the projects I'm super excited to start on. This will be my 4th year doing this journal, and I've really enjoyed looking back on past years, plus it helps me stay focused on our family traditions and not let the time fly by too quickly. But....I need to get busy and get the "framework" done now, so I can just print photos and add words throughout December. I don't want to get bored before I complete the album and just quit like the Thankful journal.

4.  Black Friday shopping
     Went shopping. Had fun. Did not spend too much money, but rather used the day to gather ideas and make plans. Then took the little one out for some desperately needed  new clothes, at 60 to 70% off. Yeah me! And dinner and a movie (Rise of the Guardians). Turned out to be rather a nice day!

5.  Future Projects
     So I'd like to sew a quilt, sew some shopping bags. learn to knit, learn to sketch, continue to paint, learn more about blogging, continue working on photography, restart Project Life.........

I know. It's too much. But it does keep my days interesting!

What would you like to learn how to do?

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Right Now

Right now I'm:

Eating: sourdough pretzels

Drinking: vitamin water zero squeezed lemonade

Avoiding: everything. (I seem to not feel like doing anything lately, just lounge around)

Wearing: my comfy old lady bath robe

Feeling: weird......(not wanting to do anything, being cranky, being emotional)

Reading: Gone Girl (have Life of Pi and Dead Witch Walking waiting to be read next)
Thankful: to be cooking more meals at home, and not having it feel like a chore (pot roast in crock pot right now)

Watching: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (hated the first half, loved the second half. makes you think about what you would do with your last 3 weeks on earth, which then left me feeling sad, but happy. happy that I have someone/many someones to be with and just love.

Weather: 79 high and 46 low, partly cloudy (not feeling as wintery as I would like)

Playing: reading blogs today (skipped the past 3 days)

Needing: some husband love (he's on a work trip to Dallas until Saturday)

Thinking: I really need to get off my butt and do something before the kids need to be picked up in 1 hr

Dreaming: of Christmas (the bug hit last night when I saw all the houses already lit up with lights)

Loving: looking at magazines for Christmas decorating ideas (now I just need to get off my butt and do something)

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I Spy....Beach Greenery

Hello everyone.

This is my last post from our beach house vacation over Fall Break. I just wanted to share some pictures of plants that I spied with my little eye.....during a walk around the beach house.

Enjoy!

Sunday Inspirations

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And who wants to live with "eh"?

 

Happy Sunday everyone!

Lazy Cake Cookies

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Saw the Pin and tried it.

Just bought chocolate chips today at Costco and had the 3 other ingredients.

Super simple.

But I added 2-3 tablespoons of water to help thin out the batter a bit.

And only added 1-1/2 cups of chips (rather than 2 cups).

I used the same 13x9 glass pan, but did not spread the mixture out across the entire pan. Maybe used 10x9 of the pan.

Baked 20 min. Plus 10 min. Plus 5 min.

Perfect golden brown on top and cooked in the middle.

Try to be patient while waiting for the cookies to cool.

This is what mine looked like.

 

Sliced into 9 decent sized bars. Could easily make 12 bars, but come on, it's my family and we think bigger is better.

Yummy. More moist than a traditional cookie bar. Very, very sweet between the yellow cake flavor and all the chips.

One is enough!

Now it's your turn. Go find a pin and try it at home. Any pin.

Black Friday

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Too true. And yet, I will be out shopping today too. But really it's just glorified girlfriend time for me. I'm not going to start the real shopping until after Dec. 1st.

Be safe today. And have a plan. For gifting and for how much you are spending.

And let me know if you score any good deals!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to your family from mine. May you have a day to enjoy with your loved ones!

A Mile a Day

Hello everyone. I read this post over at enJOY it and thought this might be a good way for me to get in the routine of moving my body everyday. It's something I plan to do.....someday. And I'm full of excuses. Just trust me on that one.

So, I'm jumping in and committing to walk a mile everyday from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day.

Even if this cold is not gone by tomorrow, I'm still going to walk.

Even though I don't know exactly where I'm walking to.

I don't know a 1 mile route.

I don't have a pedometer.

Even though I have family coming for breakfast.

And I have to go to work in the afternoon.

It's only 30 minutes, right?

I CAN DO IT!

Wanna join me?

5 Pins I Love

1. Pitbull love in a photobooth.

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2.  Pitbull art

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3.  Swimming pitbull (I think I may officially be in love with my pitbull Daisy)

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4.  Need this for movie nights

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5. Love me some Walking Dead!

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Peeps

I saw my firstborn last night. He and his fiancee made a turkey dinner for us, since I will be working on Thanksgiving. We had a really nice time.

But then it was time to go home. And I'm not sure why it hit me so hard, but I got a little emotional. There may have been tears.

I just miss him. I know that he has his own life, and can't be around all the time. In fact, I'm thinking too much together time would just start up some arguing (between everyone in the family). But I feel like I'm leaving a piece of my heart behind when I say goodbye to him.

He is one of my peeps. And as the mother hen, I want to wrap my wings around all 4 of them and keep them very close.

But, truth is, it is not just the moments that we say goodbye. It is lots of other moments too.

Like how when I make cinnamon rolls, we have 2 too many. There are 8 in a roll, or 2 each for my kids. Now there are 2 leftover.

And this makes me think of him. And a million other things.

And I hate that hole in my heart.

If You Speak to the Lake.......

Happy Monday everyone.

Remember when I mentioned that we were heading to the zoo on Saturday? Well, it turns out that if you take your sweet time and find a million other things to do first, you might not make if farther than the zoo parking lot.

Yeah, we got there 15 minutes before the zoo closed. I was so bummed! I really wanted to spend some time outdoors enjoying the beautiful weather and moving our bodies a bit.

Then Mark came up with the idea to go take a walk around the Tempe Town Lake.

Ooh, good idea smart hubby of mine!

Here are a few photos from the day.

Hope you took some time to enjoy yourselves this past weekend. Now go have a productive Monday!

Sunday Inspirations

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Happy Sunday to all my peeps. Hope you are having a fabulous weekend and your upcoming week will be equally fabulous.
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And remember to stay focused on being thankful!

Fall in the Desert

A few images to share from my visit to the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens a few weeks back.

It may not be the golden yellows, reds, and browns from other parts of the country, but there is definitely beauty here too!

Gotta go now. We're supposed to go to the zoo today, but it's already 2:54 pm. Yikes. Need to get some butts moving!

Hope your weekend is going great!