Never Forget

I came across this posting on one of my favorite blogs - Thrifty Decor Chick - and had to share. It made me cry and feel everything I felt 9 years ago. None of us will forget where we were. My daughter was 4 days old and I was almost late to her first dr's appt because I couldn't tear myself away from the tv.

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2010/09/remember.html#links

Mayeb someday I'll figure out how to link to another blog so it looks nice. Until then, just click on the link above.

Fan-tastic: Dyed Chevron Rug

I saw this post on Centsational Girl, who posted it from another diy blogger, and LOVED it. Had to share.

Fan-tastic: Dyed Chevron Rug

Projects Galore

We have so many projects around the house to work on and complete, but right now we decided that our Sanford & Son front yard/porch area HAS to be a priority. Six years ago we built this huge addition onto the back of our house and the front part of the house was ignored. It looks awful! The landscaping is out of control, the front porch is rotting away and there is actual mold growing out there! YUK!! I can't believe we let it go this long. And the photo above isn't even as bad as it looks right now!! I knew owning a house is a constant work in progress but it feels so overwhelming at times. Okay, so before my date night with hubby tonight, I am going to try and go out there and pressure wash the front to get started on this project. I figured if I can get an hour's worth of work each day, it will be some progress. Ugghhh - not looking forward to this. Basically, I hate spiders and that is my biggest fear of encountering too many! Hahaha. Wish me luck!

The Wright Stuff

I recently came across a great silver polish at Walmart - Wright's Silver Cream - for around $3 and have been searching out every last tarnished piece of jewelry and silver in the house to use it on!
Here are a few things I worked on – jewelry I hadn’t worn in years looked new again!





I LOVE THIS STUFF!! It is amazing and I can’t stop using it. I even bought a REALLY badly tarnished silver tea set from Goodwill just to see how nice it would look once I used the Wright’s silver polish on it. Later post about that but it looks great in my dining room.

Back to business

Okay, I have been out of the blogosphere for awhile and am ready to get back to it! The sun is shining, the weather is warming up and it feels so nice just to be outside in the green! No more snow and freezing temps!! Life feels good.

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

I love my crockpot. I don't use it nearly as often as I should, but when I do it always amazes me how good and easy the meals turn out to be. The latest meal we made was Chicken and Dumplings. This was incredibly easy and SO delicious I just had to share. Hubby and all three kids RAVED over it at dinner that night. I had to admit it was one of my favorites too.

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I used 3 because it's what I had)
2 Tablespoons butter
2 (10.75 oz) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth
1 onion, finely diced
1 cup frozen veggies
1 packages refrigerated biscuit dough (like Pillsbury Grands)
Salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning to taste

Place the chicken in the crockpot. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning to taste. Put butter on chicken.

Add onions. Pour cans of cream of chicken soup and chicken broth over the chicken, add 1/2 can of water to make sure chicken is covered. Cover crockpot and cook for 5 hours on high.

About 1 hour before serving, take the chicken breasts out and shred then into small pieces. Put the chicken back in and then add the frozen veggies and tear the biscuit dough apart for the dumplings. I used frozen peas and corn because it's what I had on hand and I knew the kids wouldn't object TOO strongly. You can also try adding the veggies at the beginning but I wasn't sure if they would be too mushy. Then place the torn biscuit dough in the crockpot. Be sure to push the dough into the water to make sure it gets wet. Cover and cook until the biscuits start to brown. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product before hubby started serving, so I took one of my bowl. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and tweaked a bit after reading some of the reviews. It is even better the next day for leftovers, if you have any! Enjoy!!

The Most Amazing Bargain EVER!

My talented husband and I have been working on the addition to our home for the past 5 years. One of the big projects that has taken a back seat is our Master Bathroom. Now, there is still some finish work yet to be done, but the Master Bath has been at the bottom of the list. And that's been okay. We have the kids full bathroom upstairs to shower and get ready in. However, every so often we do work on it a little and make some progress. Last February we decided to install the vanity. We had purchased a vanity (no top) at Home Depot for $200 in the clearance section. We were thrilled with our score. Then it sat for a few years while other rooms were finished. When we went back to look for a top, it was amazing how expensive it all was when money was now a issue, meaning we didn't have much. So, we decided to use some marble tiles friends had given us that were leftover from their bathroom project. The plan was to tile the top and sides with marble and drop in two sinks. We already had the faucets so all we needed were the sinks...

Off to Home Depot we went. We knew we wanted plain white, cast iron. Cheap enough was good enough. So in the sink aisle we came across two white, Kohler, cast iron sinks that were marked down to $50 each. They were perfect. They had originally been almost $100 a piece, so it was a great bargain. We took each of them out of the box to inspect and found nothing wrong.


When we reached the register, I was trying to keep the kids from mutiny while Hubby checked out. I heard this conversation:

Cashier "Huh, the sinks rang up for 1 penny."
Hubby "I knew they were on clearance, but I didn't think they were that cheap!"
Me "SOLD! Hahaha..."
Cashier "Let me try it again. They rang up for 1 penny. I can't get into trouble because that's the price they are scanning at."
Hubby "Uh, I guess I should pay you now" At this, he takes a quarter out of his pocket and hands it to the cashier. At this point, he is a little in shock and I am not believing what I am hearing.
Cashier "Here's twenty-three cents change and your receipt. Have a great day."
Me as we're walking out "Did we just buy two sinks for two cents?"
Hubby "Ssshhhh, let's get to the truck and load them in before they change their mind."





I kid you not. If I didn't have the receipt I wouldn't believe me either. Now, if you can just imagine the amount of money we have spent at Home Depot and Lowe's over the past five years, blowing our original budget by three times what we estimated, we call that day a blessing. The cashier was willing to let us have the sinks at the price they rang up and we were not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. So we installed the sinks about three months later and I framed the receipt, which sits between them on the counter.

I am definitely a bargain shopper. I use coupons and am always on the lookout for the best deal. But this is, by far, the best bargain I have EVER gotten. We bought $200 worth of brand new Kohler sinks for $.02!! So, what is YOUR best bargain ever??

Welcome!

I have been wanting to start a blog for some time. I finally got the push I needed from my awesome friend, Brandy. I have known her for 30 years - man, can we possibly be that old? We decided to both start a blog and journal our lives with family and friends, plus the many crafting and decorating projects we love to try. I promised her my first post would be about the Most Amazing Bargain Ever, so after this welcome I will post that. Welcome to my humble blog.