The Bathroom Remodel...

Normally when you remodel a room in your house, it is because you have saved your pennies and are ready to change how that room looks.  Well, I have been ready to do a few small things to change my bathroom, but had not save enough pennies yet.  I also didn't really plan for the Master Bathroom to be the first room to get a fresh coat of paint and such.  However, that is what is about to happen!!

I was putting my makeup on the other morning and stepped closer to the mirror and the floor was 'squishy'.  Of course, Stephen was at work, but later that evening when he stepped on it, you could hear the boards squeaking.  We decided this was definitely a bad sign and called our insurance agent the next day.  They gave us another number to call, they said they would have someone call us back in a couple days (meanwhile I'm hoping my bathroom lasts that long!).  While waiting, I do not like standing on the 'squishy' floor, so thankfully we have a second (smaller) bathroom, which all of my 'get ready' things have been moved to.

So, a couple WEEKS later after an insurance adjuster and a contractor have looked at our bathroom and conversed about the details we learn that we have a leak in the wall behind the vanity (which backs up the Master Bedroom closet) and they will have to tear our the vanity, toilet and part of the wall and sub flooring.  However, insurance will cover the majority of the work (for which I am very grateful).  I will have to remove everything from the bathroom and Master closet...YIKES!  Due to the dust from the the drywall and the fact that Stephen sleeps during the day, we will also have to move ourselves to the guest room and cover the bed and furniture in the Master bedroom to protect it from the dust!

I decided, since the bathroom was going to be taken completely apart, I might as well do a few projects I have seen on pinterest, as well as paint the bathroom!  Right now it is has lavender walls and a floral border (that is peeling off) from the previous owner. I am also thinking about painting/staining the vanity and painting the cabinet pulls to match the towel bar and shelf we got at Wal-Mart (all ideas from Pinterest!  We will also be getting new vinyl flooring!

I will go ahead and post the 'before' pictures....don't really know how long it will take the contractors to fit us into their schedule, and then how long it will take for them to pull everything out and let the leak dry out, and then replace it all.  So, as things progress I will post more 'in progress' pictures!

Please excuse any dirt you may see...I didn't really see the need to clean and mop since the floor is about to be torn up!!

Mini Lasagna!

I do my best to make a weekly menu each weekend for the following week.  I also do my best to have a variety of meals.  I try to include chicken, deer, pork and fish each week...which only covers 4 meals.  I am also working to try to make my meals healthier! 

While scrolling through my Cooking Board on Pinterest I ran across a recipe for 'mini' lasagna!  I thought...well, why not!  You can find the original recipe here. 

I (of course) modified this recipe! :)

You will need:

• Marinara Sauce (I used the Wal-Mart brand 'pasta' sauce)
• Ricotta Cheese (will be near the cottage cheese...learned that after walking through the whole grocery side of the store a couple times)
• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• Won Ton wraps (near the healthy stuff in the fresh produce section)
• Deer mean (or meat of choice) - Optional

Spray your pan well.  Place one won ton wrapper in each muffin space.  Add a spoon full of marinara sauce, a spoon full of deer meat and a spoon of ricotta cheese.  I then placed another won ton wrapper on top of the ricotta cheese and sprinkled the very top with mozzarella (the original recipe added a full 2nd layer of everything). 

Bake at 375 for about 18 minutes and Enjoy!!! I served mine with a small Caesar salad and sweet tea!!

Breakfast on the Run...

I am absolutely not a morning person and therefore am not a big fan of breakfast (unless it is for dinner!).  However, my husband works nights and gets off work at breakfast time!  He doesn't usually want a big meal when he gets home from work (and I am usually on my way out the door, or already on my way to work by this time) so, in the interest of saving money and being healthy, I made my own freezer breakfast meals for him!  Honestly, my Mom and Dad have made these for quite sometime, but they don't usually make them in bulk and freeze them. 

You will need:

• English Muffins
• Eggs
• Sliced Cheese
• Canadian Bacon
• Storage Bags
• (I bought enough of everything to make a dozen at a time)

Get a small bowl (the bottom of the bowl should be about the size of the muffin) and break one egg into the bowl.  Season as you prefer and microwave for 1 minute.  You can also cook the egg on the stove if you would rather.

While the egg is cooking open a muffin, add one slice of cheese and one slice of canadian bacon.

Remove the egg from the microwave and use a fork/spoon to release the egg from the bowl.

Add egg to sandwich and there you go!!  Better than McDonald's could ever dream of! Healthier too!!  Then, if  you choose to freeze them, simply place one in a bag and place it in the freezer. When you reheat it it usually takes about a minute or a minute and half!  Enjoy!!

And so the School year begins...

It has been way too long since I have written anything and I have certainly missed blogging!!  However, a week of working to get my classroom ready and the first week of school proved to be exceptionally exhausting! Hopefully, I will soon get adjusted to my new schedule and get back to my creative fun!  :)  I have worked on a couple project and gathered supplies for some more...so stay tuned for some really neat ideas! I am realizing my projects may not happen daily through the school year, but hopefully I can manage a two or three projects a week (depending on what all is going on in First Grade).  Also, some of my projects may start to include some pretty great ideas I have pinned for my classroom! My paper tree is definitely going to make it to the blog...whenever I can remember to take a finished picture...as well as some other cute ideas!!

I did do some baking this weekend and made my first chocolate chip cookie cake!  We had fellowship dinner at church tonight, so this was my contribution!

I was so excited about how it turned out!  The cookie was soft (but done) all the way through and stayed that way!!  There was not much left after the dinner and now that it has been discovered at the house, I don't think there will be any left by tomorrow!  Check out Simply Sweet on Facebook if you are interested in seeing more of my cakes!

Attn: Couponers!!

So, I was going through Wal-Mart this afternoon on a quick trip to get some things for school and ran across a clearance section in Office Supplies. I love Office Supplies!!  I noticed the Pop Up tape things were on clearance...I didn't get any, just noticed.

Then, after working in my classroom today, I went back to Wal-Mart (with my coupon book) to get groceries).  I had failed to research the sales, so I pulled my little Wal-Mart cart into a corner to browse through my coupons real quick and pulled a few I wanted to check on...as I was doing that I came across $1 off Pop Up Tape...hmmm.... So, after grabbing some free razors, cheap feminine products, and energy bars I headed back to office supplies...

 Sure enough, I saw:

Pop-Up Tape refill:  $0.75!!

Do the math? 

That's right!!

(Don't know how to turn this the right way...)

I made $0.25 for each one!!!  Woohoo!! I was so excited! I love to use this when wrapping gifts, but rarely buy it because regular tape is cheaper, and I prefer to take the cheapest (but still nice) way possible.

I did notice that a couple aisles over the same thing was listed at $1.97, but I double checked with the Wal-Mart person working that section, and they were truly $0.75.  So, find your coupon and go check your Wal-Mart!!

Laying Floor...

First of all, I am most certainly not a floor expert...but, when someone asks you to help and you are a person like me - someone who has not acquired the ability to say 'no'...you help!  So...I helped lay new floor in our church nursery.  It was a kind of flooring I was not aware of.  I have had laminate flooring and have seen hardwood, and of course carpet...but this was vinyl strips that looked like laminate flooring...it was called a floating floor.

Our first step was to pull up the existing carpet and fill in any holes/large spaces of different height than the rest of the floor...

You cannot really tell from the picture, but this floor is very uneven!  However, the flooring covered over it just fine!   Each strip of flooring had a sticky edge all around it and it overlapped the pieces around it.

We cut the pieces of vinyl using just a box cutter type tool.  I was very surprised at how easy it was to cut and size.  The door frame was probably the most tricky part, which I think can be true with any floor project. 

This is the finished product!  We were very proud of ourselves....two ladies who had never done this before and some help we recruited for the door and final edge..and it looks great!!

This can be purchased at Lowes or Home Depot for a little less than $2 a square foot.  A bonus about the vinyl is that it is more waterproof than the laminate or hardwood.

Pinterest Project of the Day - Day 18

Awhile back I saw a crockpot dinner idea on another blog and I decided to try it.  It was a success!  Stephen even said I needed to put that recipe on the 'reuse' list!  :) However, the blog where I found it was not very detailed, so I decided to post my more detailed version...

You will need:
1 can Cream of Chick Soup
1 pkg Onion Soup Mix
Garlic
Pork
Potatoes
Corn on the Cob

The first thing I did was to spray the crock pot!! I have been meaning to pick up some of those disposable crockpot bags, but keep forgetting...

Second, I seared the pork

While the pork is being seared I mixed the onion soup and water, then added the cream of mushroom...just add enough to water to make it the consistency of a thick gravy... I used somewhere between 1 and 2 cups of water (I forgot to measure exactly!).

Then, layer the pork into the bottom of the crock pot...

and pour the gravy mixture over the top. 

The next thing I did was to wash four potatoes, poke them with a knife and wrap them in foil.  Layer them on top of the gravy/pork (they will get a little messy!).

After that I wrapped four small ears of corn with a small square of butter for each ear and layer them on top of the potatoes.

Place the lid on top, turn the crock-pot to Low and walk away!!!

Let me know if you have a different variation...I love crock pot ideas!!

Pinterest Project of the Day - Day 17

Today, I had a fun and busy day!!  I spent part of the day at Opry Mills with my family! That was the first time I have been since the flood - the mall looked very nice!  Before I left I finished crocheting all the flowers for an order of hair bows.  This evening, I put the hair bows together and also completed today's project!!  I decided to try and make one of those 'stay-put' bookmarks.  It was SO simple and very quick.  If you do not have any of the supplies on hand you can make this for less than $7 (and you will have enough materials to make more than one).  I didn't even get out the sewing machine for this! I simply hand sewed one end of the ribbon around a small hair tie, then folded over the edge of the other end and sewed it and added the button.  It was perfect!!  Usually the button side would go on the outside of the book, but for the sake of the picture you will see my bookmark on the inside!

Of course, if you don't want to make one, I'll be glad to do it for you!  Simply message me for details!

FREE - THIS SATURDAY!!!

So, today was a run around town and do errands kind of day.  Including standing in line 45 minutes waiting to order at Chick-fil-A (I think it is wonderful when someone stands up for what they believe in...wish more people would stand up for their beliefs)!  Therefore, I did not do any project in its entirety...However, I did do small parts of various projects! :)  Keep checking back to see some pretty neat things I've been working on!!   I did find an amazing coupon that I wanted to share.  This Saturday (August 4th) you can get a free quart of pain at your local Ace Hardware.  Simply print the coupon, fill it out, and take to your store! 

I will definitely be using this!  I have two projects in mind, so if I can get my sweet, thoughtful, loving, wonderful (just in case he reads this) husband to stay awake long enough after he gets off work, I will print a coupon for him too!  I am trying to do a few projects to give our house a little 'cheap' face lift and FREE paint will most certainly help with that!! We have a front door, hand rail, and 6 shutters that NEED paint!  Check back for pictures of how I use my free paint and please let me know how you use yours!