Now where is my list?!

Girls!

Pay attention!

Your dreams have come true!

A very smart mommy over at List Mama Blog has created the ultimate LIST of LISTS!

Seriously, check out ListPlanIt!

For less than $10 every 3 months, you have full-access to over 350 lists!

I am tingling all over!

Best part?

Does Mommy Love It? reviewed it, loved it, and is now giving away a quarter subscription!



I can't wait to win!

Stacey

Keeping it real

Real ingredients, that is!!

Marcy at Stretching A Buck is having a fab Kiss My Face giveaway! Plus they are giving you a 30% discount off their products when you order using her discount code.

And before I forget! Again!

I won the yummiest fruit and nut bars


from Noelle at


We got Pecan Pie, Cherry Pie, Key Lime Pie, and Apple Pie! My son enjoyed them and I LOVED them! My picky husband and dtr are another story!

Each bar is JUST made of fruits and nuts, with 6 or less ingredients per bar!

YUM!

Stacey

Peeking!

Martie sent me this super fun tag!

That girl must know me better than she thinks because I love any excuse to post pictures!

And bless her heart! She tagged me right after I had just finished cleaning my house!

I kid you not!

Thank you Jesus!

And Martie!

The rules of the game are that you have to take pictures of the following things, just as they appear at the time of being tagged. No straightening, no cleaning, and no making your kids look cute! Then tag someone else (preferably more than one person).

1. Fridge


2. Closet (mine)


3. Kitchen Sink (FlyLady would be so proud!)


4. Bathroom (Kid's bathroom~ love the new animal print rug!)


5. Favorite Shoes


6. Favorite Room (This was a tough one! I chose my little alcove where I hung an unused curtain rod/clips to display kid stuff. I am going to add a chalkboard area on part of the opposite wall.)


7. Self-Portrait (Yes, I know the lighting is bad and I need to powder my nose, but I love my new haircut!)


The best part is tagging! OOOH, the voyeur in me is giddy! BTW, when I had to explain to my husband why I was running around the house taking pics, he quickly assumed that we're all just a bunch of nosey women.

Well, duh!

I tag:

Tanya
Jennifer
Jennifer
Jennifer
Jennifer
Jenn
Jennifer
Jenna
Cindy
Lori
Mudlark
Mommy Zabs
The Diaper Diaries
Bee
Kellie
Cyndy
Kimmy
Melissa
Mommy Cracked
Melissa
Someone Being Me
Rachel
Shannon

I know the list looks familiar, but I couldn't help myself!

I can't wait!

Stacey

Enough for everyone

Over the past several weeks, I have had all kinds of bloggy love sent my way!

And since I get to share, I couldn't think of a better way than to gather up all the love and toss it into the air with one big gesture of admiration!

If you end up keeping count, I get to share love with 27 people!

Thank goodness! I hate the pressure of choosing!

Sadly, I am sure I will still accidentally leave someone out that I adore!

Don't hate me! I love you too!

So, here goes all my admiration to 27 fellow bloggers I love!

And of course, these are in no particular order nor is anyone dedicated to a particular award other than that I went down my list and plugged you in line!

I love you all equally!

Just like my children! ;)

Tanya made me blush big time when she attached my name to THREE awards last week! Her words were so very kind and I ditto them back to her 10x10! It is so nice to develop friendship outside of the regular commenting we do.

She gave me this and I get to pass it along to 10 more people!


Chronicles of a Night Owl Jennifer is one I will talk some more about down below, but I wanted her included in the fun! Don't forget to check out her craft blog and little shop!
Gathering Grace Jennifer has been such an inspiration to me over this last year. Her thoughtful posts and encouraging words mean so much to me.
Gather at the River Jennifer is my dear friend who I miss so so much! Along with all my other girls back "home"!
Mom 2 Hudson and Cooper Jennifer loves to share pictures as much as I do! She tells great stories and shares good ideas!
The Wilson Six Jennifer is so talented and makes so many cute things. Check her out!

(Notice a pattern! I had to lump them all together because it was just too funny not to! I can always count on my "Jennifers"!!)

Life with 4 Boys Jenna is my friend and lives life with 4 boys! Five if you count her husband! Go have a girls' night out, friend!
Happy Chaps Cindy is a fellow Texas buddy and will be adding to our population in a few months! Yea!
Simple Life at Home Lori, well I can't say enough about her! She is kind and encouraging. She always shares wonderful thoughts about her life and her family. She is living in a far away land right now, so go give her some love!
The Big Yellow House Martie is my "Mom" hero! Seriously, she is a Super Mom! You can see and hear the joy she has for her family in every post!
Lots of Scotts J. is thoughtful, inspiring, and funny! Well, at least her 4 year old triplets are funny and that makes her funny! My son is the same age as hers, so it is always enlightening to share this time with her!





A Year of Crockpotting This woman is amazing! She is cooking out of her crock pots for 1 full year! Every meal! Plus they are healthy and gluten-free! Go find a good recipe to enjoy!
Ask Kari & Kijsa These sisters spread beauty to our homes and to our lives. They always have an idea to share!
The Lazy Organizer She always has an idea and a funny story to share!
Broomhuggers or Mudlark She spreads green-conscious ideas and good mom stories across her two blogs! I have saved lots of great ideas from her site!
Mommy Zabs Elizabeth is one of my favorite people that I have never met! She speaks straight from her heart, but with clarity from her head! When I visit Nashville, she is in my top 5 people to visit!




***These are the rules which must be posted:

This award was created by Memoirs of a Mommy. It’s a very special award that she created in Honor Of The Donor That Saved (her son) Noah’s Life. Noah received a heart transplant, and she hopes that by passing this award around the blogosphere everyone can help raise awareness of the need for Organ Donation.

The rules of this award are: SHARE THE LOVE!!! Share this award with all those blogs out there that you love. All the people who make you smile. All those that make you laugh. All those that make your day. All those that leave uplifting comments on your blog.

**All I ask, is that you include a link to this post with the award and ask your recipients to do the same**

The Diaper Diaries Funny stories, good ideas, inspiring words! You can't go wrong!
The Wooden Porch Lani makes me laugh! She always has a good story to share. I have enjoyed getting to know her better.
Will Blog for Shoes Bee's my girl! We seriously need to live closer together! Or maybe not-I can only imagine the trouble we might get into!
Busy Busy Mommy Kelli is always sharing her life with us. I so appreciate her honesty when sharing the ups and downs of raising a young man with some unique needs.
Family Faces Cyndy is one of my dear friend's mom! I actually get to see pics of the kids if I visit her ! ;) Plus she might even show you a great recipe!


Jennifer is another friend who loved on me several weeks ago! We have developed such a nice friendship outside of the standard commenting. I am blessed to know her!




The rules:

I have to pick 7 of my favorite blogs and…

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog

2. Link the person you received your award from

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the ones you’ve nominated.

Mission: Kim Possible Kimmy is a precious gal who I consider a friend. It doesn't matter that she lives in Canada and we have never met! And I doubt if the significance of why I stuck her down with this award is lost on her! Did you figure it out Kimmy?!!
Mel's World Melissa is just one of God's little, yet mighty, princess! She has blessed me so much with her many "talks" insired by God's Word!
Mommy Cracked This is one of my newer treats! She is always good for a funny tale or interesting thought!
Pink Peppermints Melissa is a creative soul! It is a hard fact to miss when you visit her! She hasn't posted in awhile, but she is so worth knowing!
Someone Being Me A fellow Texan who, despite never meeting, I just know would be a perfect companion for a pedicure and a margarita!!
As a parent, the days are long but the years are short Tanya could not be left out of the fun! I spoke of her at the beginning! I wouldn't blame her if she is too worn out to do this one too!
Sooner or Later Rachel is one of my dearest friends for over 20 years! I wouldn't even have adequate words to share what our friendship has meant to me over the years. She doesn't post much, but she is a must for my list!

I can't leave without mentioning a few hidden friends! Their blogs are private, so I can't link to them or reveal their true identity. Just know friends (and you know who you are!) that you deserve to be here also!

Stacey

Chow!

While I would love to be in Italy right now typing this post about food, I am not.

But I am still very excited about my new adventure!

Over the last two years, I have seen many fellow bloggers talk about the miracle of meal planning.

After our move, I knew I wanted to give a few new things a try.

Everyone has a system that works for them. Some do it weekly while others do it in groups of multiple weeks. Some just to dinner while others do every meal.

I have decided to start with dinners.

At first, I thought of the gobs of money it could save us. And it will in the long run, but after my first weekly shopping experience yesterday, I realized I am still spending money on other weekly basics that we will need for breakfasts, lunches, etc. So our totals will be the same for awhile.

Our habits will start to change in other areas that will save us money.

My husband will take his lunch every day based on left overs or sandwich stuff in the fridge. My kids have always taken their lunches and will continue to do so. It will keep us from those unplanned trips for fast food during the day.

And it will also mean that we will better plan for eating out as a family during the week.

When my husband was working out of town each week for those 7 months, running a disciplined meal schedule was a hard thing to accomplish. Many days, it was simply too easy to grab a bite for me and the kids several times a week. And when he was home on the weekends, eating out was like a special treat for the kids.

Unfortunately now, if we go more than a few days without eating outside the home, then my dtr laments how "we never get to eat out in forever!". Can't you just hear the agony?!!

Right now, I have 2 free days planned. One is for eating at church on Wednesdays. Our family of 4 can eat for $4. Our other free day is listed as Sunday, but we will be flexible. It could mean we eat on a Friday or Saturday, but just so we are having most of our meals at home. On the days I work, it will either be a crock pot meal or a very easy meal that I prepped the night before.

Before I share all this wonderful meal planning stuff, I must first give a big bloggy {{{{HUG}}}} to my sweet friend Lori!

She is truly the inspiration for my elaborate scheme!

She has graciously shared all her meal planning lists, shopping lists, and recipes with me! The work that girl has put into this for her own family is so amazing! She made my job a piece of cake (yum!) by sharing all her hard work.

Thank you friend!

What I am sharing with you today is my lists that I tweaked to fit our family, along with all the recipes I am going to be using for now.

Where it is appropriate, I have credited the person responsible for a recipe I am sharing. If you see something I missed, please let me know! I want to give everyone their due credit!

These last few weeks, I have been using up what we had to make meals. I had a chance to try a few meals from the plan and can say there are some darn good recipes in this batch!

Pulled beef, Cream Cheese Chicken, Easy Chicken Puffs just to name a few! Oh yum!

I am sharing my adventure with you in case you want to start along with me or just need a new recipe to try. Feel free to use what you need!

Here is the 8 Week Menu Plan.

Here are the 8 Week Menu Plan Shopping Lists.

(If you do use these shopping lists, let me know if something seems off. I used Lori's original lists, then rearranged/added/deleted according to my needs. I may have made a few mistakes that I haven't found myself yet.)

(Also, a number after a food item refers to the number of meals I need that item for.)

Here are the 8 Week Menu Plan Recipes.

Don't start getting all impressed with me yet! This will be my first week, and who knows, the whole thing could quickly unravel once I actually start.

But something tells me that this is a good thing!

Chow!

Stacey

Open a window because I am about to vent

I am feeling better.

Today, I think I finally rid myself of the crud that continued to refill the cavity behind my right eye socket all week. I continued to take a few drugs this week, but I owe it mostly to my trusty friend Neti! Some days I did it twice.

Thanks for your well wishes!

Too bad I am paying you back with griping.

But some of this I have saved up over the summer and the last straw happened today.

1. I have experienced very little of that great small town customer service since arriving.

Maybe it was the manager at Staples who stiffly agreed to accept my return of too many products that I had purchased. It is not my fault that they don't clearly (or at all) label the limited number of items one can purchase at a certain sale price. She was quite snarky.

Maybe it was the manager at Goody's who wanted to avoid my attempt at getting a good deal with her indignant attitude. True, I was attempting to purchase a 3-piece swimsuit for 60% off of its original $80 price tag. Which, btw, is completely overpriced! Why can't a girl who is generously endowed get a bathing suit top that does its job without paying ridiculous prices?! Anyway, the problem was actually that the 3rd piece of the suit was missing (the skirt) and I asked for an additional discount. Quite nicely, I might add. How dare I! She finally agreed to take it up to 75% off and her attitude was such that I should kiss her feet. And, btw, I totally know she thinks she pulled one over on me. She didn't take a true 75% off based on the prices. I checked the ticket sweetheart!

Maybe it was the lady at Wal-Mart that wouldn't let me write a check for a $8.78 purchase because I left my driver's license at home. Seriously?! I wouldn't even be writing a check if I had my license because it would mean that I would also have had my debit card on me. I understand policy. But I also understand having to explain to 2 upset children why we were leaving our stuff at the store AND vowing to never give Wal-Mart another dime!

Maybe it was the owner of the Goodwill today who has no business running a business. Between her and her 3 cackling cohorts, I was completely unimpressed. Oh excuse me, I misspoke. The fine ladies are sales clerks. See, while I was roaming the store today, I overheard a nice gentleman ask the owner if there were any job openings at the store. He was not poorly dressed and very polite. She couldn't have been ruder, saying if you don't have sales experience then there wasn't a job available. All this as her body completely ignored him. Sales experience? Is that what they call what they do there? I have been there several times, walking in to see several people behind the counter, yet not one bothering to say "hello", much less acknowledge I even entered the building. I managed to walk out of there with several potential costumes for Halloween and dress-up, but that was about it.

2. If this town wants me to buy more chicken and support the ever growing pocket book of their beloved resident Bo Pilgrim, they need to do two things.

Don't make me witness a truckload of overcrowded and dingy chickens being hauled to slaughter as I drive down the road.

And PLEASE do something about that awful smell that blows across town. I don't know if it is from the cleaning or the cooking, but I am about to boycott chicken again! And that puts a big wrench in my upcoming menu planning adventures!

3. Well, I had a #3, but that was yesterday and I have slept since attempting to finish this post today!

I guess it is a good thing. You didn't deserve my storm of emotions I had bottled up! :)

Good things are coming up for next week!

I am going to share my new menu planning adventure, tag a lot of people, talk about my job, and share some funny kid stories.

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Stacey

Well Snot!

Fought sinus yuck all day yesterday.

Tried to read/comment a few places, but doesn't work too well when your vision is blurred with pain and congestion.

Attempted to entertain yesterday.

We had brisket with a side of hay fever.

So sure our guests appreciated my sneezing and blowing my nose in between courses.

But my first attempt at oven-cooked brisket was dang good!

Have to find something positive about this.

I tried it all-antihistamines, decongestants, draining my sinuses.

By 7:00 last night, someone could have shot me in the head and I would have felt better than the feeling I had. As if someone was stomping on my head.

In bed by 8:00.

SERIOUSLY!

Being as how that is about 4 hours earlier than I usually make it to bed each night, you know something was wrong.

Mildly better today.

Enough that I worked a few hours and managed not to sneeze on anyone.

I might even try that early to bed thing a few more times this week.

Which really bums me because I have two tags and three blog blessings to respond to, plus all my other great wisdom I had stored up for this week. ;)

Oh well.

I will catch up when I can.

Now I have to go blow my nose.

Stacey