Crafters Pay it Forward

I've mentioned before that I took part of a Facebook thing where crafters make something for people who comment on their post.  A few weeks ago, I dropped off an Avon order and my friend had a bag on the porch with my name on it.  This is what I found:

It was packaged so nicely!

Aren't these flower magnets awesome?  They match my kitchen perfectly!

See, they already have a home on my fridge!

Thank you Karen!  To see more of what she makes, check out her Etsy shop!

Garden

The weather was beautiful last week!  I took advantage of the weather and borrowed a rototiller from Mike's cousin and got to work!  I decided that I wanted to do a garden this year.  Half the garden was super easy to put in, but the other half was a lot more challenging.  We think that some of the area we used had been previously tilled but then grown over but the other half I was starting from scratch.  I needed some help from my strong husband to get that half done...I think I need to work out my arms more!  This picture is before I cleaned up the grass and dirt, but you get the picture...it's about 10x14'.

A couple days after I tilled the garden, I was able to plant!  My first row is strawberry plants, then Carson Yellow beans (from the seed), cucumber plants, lettuce and watermelon (not planted when the picture was taken), and then tomanto plants.

Most of my plants will start producing in about 60 days, I can't wait for fresh veggies!!!

Growing Up!

Our baby birds sure are fun to watch!  I was looking through all my pictures the other day and I am just amazed at how quickly these babies have grown.

This is when they were (we're guessing) 2 days old.  

The babies went from being covered in fuzz to having feathers literally overnight!

Mama bird feeding the babies (I have a neat video of this I'm trying to upload)

I took this picture last Wednesday, so the babies were about 10 days old.

I wish our windows at work weren't so dirty so the pictures would be more clear, unfortunately I can't do anything about it now that the babies are there!  Last Thursday, the babies were flapping their wings like crazy, they looked like huge hummingbirds.  I think they might start to fly pretty soon.  I know we'll all miss watching them grow up!

Tulip Time

Holland, MI is well known for their annual Tulip Time Festival in May.  I grew up going to this festival and my high school marching band was even in the big parade one year.  Last week, Mike and I went downtown with some friends to participate in the festivities.

Every year hundreds of thousands of tulips bloom in various gorgeous colors!

You can't go downtown and not get junk food!  We had corn dogs, French fries, and raspberry lemonade for dinner.  Then we walked a bit and saw a sign for chocolate covered bacon.  It wasn't quite what we expected, but we all really liked it.  Then we walked a bit more and got an elephant ear with Bavarian cream! I think we all had a bit of a stomach ache by the end of the night!

Perfect setting for a picture!

Good deals!

I realized it's been a long time since I last talked about couponing and great deals!  Honestly, that's mostly because I haven't gotten that many great deals lately.  I don't know if it's the lack of coupons (a few weeks ago there were no coupon fliers in the paper!) or the lack of good sales.  Due to both, I haven't done much stockpiling and we've just been buying what we need for the week, mostly fruits, vegetables, lunch items, and milk.  But this week was finally a good coupon week!  I went to Meijer last night and got all this:

$100.74 worth of groceries for $57.65!!!  I saved 43%...not bad, but not by best trip either.

Some of the "highlights" of this shopping trip:

-Kraft Pasta Salad: 67 cents/box

-Super Pretzels: 81 cents/box

-24 pack Mountain Dew: $4 (plus deposit, so $12.80 of my cost was for pop!)

-Oscar Mayer lunch combos: 48 cents

Have you gotten any good deals lately?

Babies!!!

At work on Monday, I noticed that our mama bird was acting kind of strange.  It was a busy workday so I didn't pay much attention to her. Then on Tuesday, she happened to move a little bit and I caught a glimpse of some little bitty babies!  They were about the size of a half-dollar on Tuesday, so we're guessing they hatched already on Monday. It wasn't until Wednesday that she actually got off the nest enough for me to snap a few pictures of these adorable babies!

We have had so much fun watching these babies.  I can't believe how quickly they have grown already.  Really, every day they are significantly larger. What surprises me most is that the mama bird sits on her babies all day.  You would think that she would suffocate them, but I think she is keeping them warm.  The first day or two she didn't feed them and she never left the nest.  But later in the week I saw her feeding the babies, it was really fascinating, I'll post some pictures later!

It's so interesting how the birds know exactly what to do for the babies.  As humans, we are usually taught how to care for our babies, but these birds instinctively know what to do.  It really shows how God plans everything, even down to having birds know how to care for their young!

Presenting...

...the newest member of our "family"!  If you'd seen me driving lately, you'd noticed something a little different.  That's right, we have a new vehicle!

It's a 2003 Saturn Vue.  As you know, we've been in the market for a new vehicle for a while now.  A couple weeks ago I found a vehicle we both liked.  Mike made a few phone calls and we arranged for a test drive.  We both loved it and before we knew it we had a new vehicle!  I love it!  It's so nice to be a little higher up on the road.  Plus, it gets about the same gas mileage (actually about 1 mpg more) than the Status, so that's not bad!

I put my car up on Craigslist the day that we got the Vue, and we sold it the next day.  Praise God! 

Painted Wine Glasses

A friend from high-school saw my wine glasses on facebook and asked me to paint a set for her one year anniversary with her boyfriend.  These were fun to do and I love the quote she chose!

"It's just the beginning...
...of our beautiful adventure"

Just Tell Me!

Have you ever walked by someone on the street and noticed something potentially embarrassing about that person, and thought "oh, I hope someone tells them that __________" (fill in the blank).  I know I have!  I've also been on the opposite end, and been told, "oh by the way, you have something in your teeth" after walking around like that for hours!  Yeah, it can be embarrassing to find out stuff like that, but I'd much rather be told than walk around not knowing.  Of course, it can be uncomfortable for the person who notices also, as they don't know how the other person will react.  For the record, set aside your embarrassment and let me know if:

-I have a huge chunk of spinach (or other food) stuck in my teeth.  I'd rather know before I smile at people and gross them out!

-I have the unsightly foundation line around my face.  I recently spent time with someone whose face didn't match the color of her jaw and neck; I chose not to say anything because of the situation we were in, but please tell me!

-I sit in something that looks quite disgusting from behind.  I'd prefer for people not to think I forgot where the bathroom is!

-I have a wad of toilet paper stuck to my shoe.  Not something I want to drag around all day.

-I have a hole in the seat of my pants.  Please tell me so I'm not flashing people all day!!!

-My fly is undone.  (See previous)

-My shirt is tucked into my underwear.  We see this waaayyyy to much on TV, does it even happen to people in real life?

-I continually call you by the wrong name.  You wouldn't want me to call you Matilda if you name's really Martha would you?

-My mascara/eyeshadow/lipstick is smeared all over.  Just tell me so I don't look like a clown!

Thankfully, I haven't had many of these happen to me, but I want to make sure that if they do, I have my bases covered!  Have you ever had something embarrassing happen that people did/didn't tell you about?  Care to share your story?  Or what are some things you'd like to add to my list?

Friend Makin' Mondays: Are You a Bookworm?

This weekend went by entirely too fast! I spent all day Saturday in Michigan City at the outlets, I got some nice deals!  Sunday was a mixture of busy and relaxing, but it was over far to quickly.  And now it's Monday....and it's May!  Can you believe that it's already May?  Me neither!  Anyway, Mondays mean...

Friend Makin' Mondays: Are You A Bookworm?

1) How often do you read?  Not very often.  Before I got engaged, I was always reading; I would read probably 2-3 books a week.  Now I just don't have time anymore.  I do spend a lot of time reading blogs and a few magazines I subscribe to...does that count? :)

2) What's the last book you read and loved? I don't even remember.  I know that I last re-read the Baxter family series by Karen Kingsbury.  I absolutely loved them, I loved how I felt like I knew the whole family.  I think I'll have to read them again soon!

3) What book(s) are you currently reading?  None...I started one on our honeymoon but I never finished it.  I don't even know where it is (shame on me, I know!)

4) Share a few of your favorite authors.  I do have a lot of favorites, but my top 2 are Karen Kingsbury and Mary Higgins Clark.

5) What's next on your list of must-reads?  Nothing...any good suggestions for me?

Bird Update

Our bird friends at work had a surprise for me the other day!

I read online that the eggs take about 12-14 days to incubate, so we could have some baby birds pretty soon!