Blessed to be His

This morning, I was sneaky... sort of :c) When I was packing Matt's lunch, I slipped in a dark chocolate heart sucker instead of the usual cookie. Then, I hurried up while he was in the shower to find the perfect "hiding spot" for my ever-so-clever card (I have a giddy, school girl smile thinking about it); in his briefcase of course!! Just those two little things to tell the man God's blessed me with that he's special to me and my heart has been warm and fuzzy all day.

Today, I am also so thankful to know I am truly and deeply loved, pursued, and sought after by the most amazing heavenly father. No bouquet of flowers or decadent chocolate can rival His love for me. No vacation or pampering session or special dinner can compare to His sacrifice. Nothing from this world could measure up, because nothing even comes close. He is LOVE. He is JOY. He is GOODNESS. Galatians 5:22 & 23 On this day, nothing else matters except maybe being in love with this man...

On this day of candies and flowers, take a look at what Katie has to say at From Passys to Parties. Such a fabulous picture of what true love for a spouse really is!

I finally listed a few items on etsy:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/LizzieLeen

what do you think??

Dinner, crafting, and something that worked!!

Just a few things that I've been up to lately:

One dinner option last week was the tomato, onion, brie galette (I added shredded chicken) I found online, but I can't remember where. It was SUPER good and very easy! 

 easy way to shred cooked chicken, put it in your whoop dee doo (or Cuisinart food processor if you're not Pam's daughter). Easy Peasy!

After taking my bag into work, Cindy feel in love and asked me to make her one. I was a bit skeptical because I've yet to make something for anyone who is not family. What if she didn't like it? What if she showed it to others and they didn't like it? What if I messed up?? After I got rid of the doubts, I asked her for preferred colors, went to Jo-Anns with my Christmas gift card (thanks Mom & Dad) to search for sale fabric and ended with this:

what do you think?

It's a little bit different than mine. A bit smaller as she's not used to bit purses and I reinforced the bow.

As she was moving everything from her old purse into the new one, she utters "Oh, I'll have to buy a new zippered pouch  to match the black." I noticed her old one was brown, it got me thinking. After work, I ran to Jo-Anns to pick up a zipper. Two hours later, I was done with this:

a little bit lopsided, I know. But, not bad being my first time working with a zipper, right? 

I did need to scour the web for tutorials and ended up using one from see kate sew and twelve22. 

*I really need to find my camera! So sorry for the blurry pictures again*

One other thing that I wanted to share with you is Jilliee's website. IT IS AWESOME!! Her solutions for ring around the collar and yellow armpit stains are so easy and work so well. Check her out!

overcoming the urge...

Bad Habits... hard to break FOR SURE. Today after I added up (ahem, subtracted really) the lines of check ledger I didn't have a small breakdown, like I normally do. I starred at it for a bit longer than normal, probably hoping it would magically increase, but then I just went on to the next task.

Throughout the day I did get derailed a few times. While taking a break from work, it may have taken a lot to convince myself not to buy the cute, magnetic MuchAdoAboutYou calendar for our fridge. We are in need of one and I like her stuff. She's a small business and it's not expensive... see, now I'm trying to convince YOU to buy it. I need H-E-L-P.

Normally, after I've reconciled the books and pick my jaw up off the desk, I get a "I'll just get tighter at the grocery" attitude and go on my merry way. This merry way does normally include many peeks at the sale pages on my favorite websites, an occasional coffee because they just sent me a coupon, and lunch with a friend to "catch up." Let's be honest, this does not work. I'm not paying attention to the budget and end up scrounging for pennies and not looking when I hand over my credit card; because, you know, it's best not to look. That way, you can say it didn't happen. Oui!

Not today... I actually saw the amount left in the checking (this never changes by the way) and was calm. After my minor derailment, I did something out of the ordinary... I told my partner in crime, the somewhat miserly, handsome man I live with. I emailed him that we had two unexpected purchases and we need to be tight with our purse strings when we go out this weekend. After I sent it, I wanted to recall it. You can't do that via gmail, I looked. I was so expecting a "WHAT DID YOU DO???" email or phone call, or the look when he got home tonight. I even prayed, really hard, that I wouldn't feel bad when it came. But all he said at dinner was "no steak night Thursday. Eh, we'll live!" (with a shrug and smile)

And, just like that, the fear of failure and rejection was gone. I didn't disappoint anyone. I didn't screw up. I didn't not live up to an expectation. Do you know how amazing that feels?? Cloud nine... I have arrived.  

Hard habit... but in order to live financially free and not run this family's budget into the ground, I know that I need to work hard. I will have more days like today. Tomorrow, it's back to square one. I'm going to have to work hard NOT to make the coffee run at 2:00. My urges to scan the sale pages are going to fight back. The want to shop will be creeping, I just know it. But, I also know that I'm not alone in this fight.  

Side Note: This week, I won The MoneySavingMom's Budget book from Maggie's fabulous website (check her out) and I am seriously SOOOOO excited!

Word-FILLED Wednesday

Today was my first day back in the gym and I have a feeling that I’m going to be paying for it tomorrow. Amanda is still enjoying her vacation; her husband took her to New Orleans for new years!! So, it was just me in the gym getting rocked by Jillian. Although she’s tough, it was a great workout. I feel awesome and I even ran a little bit (teeny, tiny bit) on the treadmill before I showered and went back to work.

Tomorrow, I’m going to try Katie’s upper body workout (#1) with a 10 minute run. If I’m going to get my butt into shape for this half marathon, I’ve got work to do!

Dinner is going to be either honey lime chicken enchiladas or chicken bacon apple quesadillas. Fingers crossed that Cassie’s recipe turns out better than last nights.

I’m going to get our new salt and pepper grinders from Williams-Sonoma after work and couldn’t be more thrilled! A while ago we bought these because they look nice and practical, or so we thought. 

UGH… so not the case. We had to exchange the pepper a few weeks after our purchase because it just stopped grinding! W-H-A-T!?!? Of course, the ladies at W-S exchanged it for us, no problem at all. Oh, they are so stinkin’ nice there. *We try to purchase from there before anywhere else because they have fabulous exchange / return policies and have always treated us so well.* I digress. Today, I’ll be picking up these beauties. 

Not much to look at compared to the Peugeots, I know. But, they do all of the work! I was a bit leery, especially because of the price difference, but  as I was explaining to the gal behind the cash wrap another customer came up behind me and she just raved about them. In fact, she was coming back to get a second set for her other kitchen (yes, she has TWO in her home). She actually had the same dilemma we did; bought the Peugeots because they looked nice and had to return them. Anyway, I’m excited… can you tell? No longer will I hear “the cook” curse and mumble when he’s getting the steaks ready on Thursday nights. Yep, this is going to be a great addition to the household!

Oh, and I had a credit at Groupon so I picked up Matt Whiskey-Stones (no idea, but someone had them at New years Eve and he knew what they were. I figured he'd like a little gift) and I got a pedometer. Sort of excited!

31.3 JUMP

• 31 days • 3 commitments • Jumpstart your year •

This year I'm actually sticking to it. Three commitments isn't that hard; I can do this!

#1: finances - I totally stink at this goal. I need to get a handle on things and B-U-D-G-E-T. Any advice?

#2: fitness - I'm doing much better at this one :c) third day of burpees down, we've gone on a few walks and tomorrow I'll be back in the gym with Jillian's Ripped in 30 or Katies's new workout and will be starting my training for the half marathon. I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine.

#3: food - I made this chicken recipe tonight; found on pinterest. We weren't wild about it so I think it'll be a one hit wonder. 

Day 3 of no sweets and it's no fun. Tonight, Matt had left over birthday cake and ice cream after our sub-par dinner. Um, did I mention that it was chocolate, peanut butter birthday cake and my favorite Handel's ice cream?? Yeah, torture but it's almost bed time and no sweets were had today

New year, New goals

At the end of my workout last week, I got on the treadmill and ending up running for the last few minutes of my "cool down jog." After that I had a moment of insanity and I emailed two girlfriends I thought we should start running together. Well, they took me seriously and now we are going to train for a half marathon in April...  

YIKES!

The gal I workout with at work, Amanda, and I started the 100 day burpee challenge. Yesterday we started; one burpee isn't bad at all. Can you imagine doing 100 in a row??

I also have decided to give up sweets. Not forever, mind you, but at least until I can get a hold on my sweet tooth. It is definitely an addiction that needs to stop before it completely takes over and I get diabetes or something. 

After our pork and sauerkraut, which was so yummy, they laid out the spread: chocolate pecan pie, cream cheese strawberry dessert, buckeyes, gingerbread cookies, cut outs, oreo truffles and more! (see, a PROBLEM!) There it sat, right in front of me and I didn't touch any of it. I for sure wanted some of it. Even reasoned why one piece wasn't necessarily 'cheating.' Yep, I need to get a handle on this. 

So, day one of the burpee / dessert challenge down and it felt great!!