Friday, December 30, 2011

More Organization





I also spent some time cleaning off my bathroom counter. You may remember that I had jewelry, nail polish, and make up all over my half. Well, you can see that now everything is under the sink. Not as convenient, but definitely nicer looking. Once again, I was able to throw away a bunch of stuff that I don't use.


One of my goals for this year is to own less. I'm going to go through my closet again and see what I can do without. Hopefully this will just be the beginning and I will try to post pictures of stuff I'm getting rid of.

New Year's Resolutions





I decided to follow Amy's lead and cleaned out my refrigerator. At first, I didn't think it was too bad, but by the time I got to the bottom of the refrigerator and saw all the crud that was in it, I was glad I did it. The only bad thing was that one of my pieces of glass shelving exploded into tiny pieces when I dipped it into the warm water. So, by the time I cleaned that up, I just decided to the refrigerator only, not the freezer. The best part truly was throwing away all the stuff we don't use or has gone out of date. Thanks, Amy, for the inspiration. Now to tackle the pantry.

Resolution: Cooking Dinners and Packing Lunches

My first resolution of the New Year is to do more cooking and pack my lunches for work more often. Ideally this leads to less eating fast food. So, even before my tree is put away, I was inspired to clean out my refrigerator.

Before:


I checked all my expiration dates, pulled out all my saved leftovers, and did a quick wipe down of my shelves. I'm embarrassed to say I never even opened that humus I bought last January. It just sat there. It feels weird throwing away expired items that still look okay, but I wanted a fresh start.

After:



To be honest I thought the pictures would be more dramatic. Look Kristen, your Christmas pic made the fridge along with my sponsored Alpha International child and my souvenir magnets. Then, to spur myself along in the cooking/lunch planning department, I signed up for e-mealz.com menu planning again and made a big shopping trip to Wal-Mart to restock.

Stocked:



I got lunch stuff, some breakfast stuff, and a lot more veggies. Even a bag of tangerines inspired by the Cuties we got in our stockings this year. I still have a chunk of Peppernut dough I need to make. That should satisfy my sweet tooth for a while. I'll have to figure out what the Weight Watchers point are on those, ha ha.

On the menu for this week:
  • Macaroni Sausage Stir Fry with Green Salad
  • Tomato-Sauced Pork Chops with Green Beans and Cantaloupe
  • Raisin Bread French Toast with Veggie Sausage and Cantaloupe
  • Crunchy Onion BBQ Chicken and Broccoli Salad
  • Tilapia Almandine with Rice Pilaf and Tossed Salad
  • Oven Bag Pork Tenderloin with Carrots and Green Beans
  • Spinach Fettuccine with Broccoli Salad
I'll check back in on the blog with an update of how things go! Good luck on all your New Year Resolutions, too!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Thrift Store Find



I figured the Methodist thrift store would be doing their Dollar Daze sale since it's the weekend before Christmas. I was right! I had collected all my finds when I decided to go look at the coats since they were included in the sale. Right in front was this black wool coat. It fit perfectly. Can't wait until the weather turns cold again.



Sunday, December 11, 2011

Oh, Replacements


Well, I think I've worn these to their end. I've been doing the frustrating shopping search. Looking for something when you have exactly what you want in your mind. But I think I had success. Check out the Replacements:
They're different, I swear. Does this mean I'm in a rut?

Saturday, December 10, 2011


The Adkison Christmas tree - 2011. No presents yet, but they're coming! Snickers likes the tree - and she likes getting her picture taken.

Friday, December 9, 2011

What I Want For Christmas

1.      TOMS (size 6)
2.      SPERRY’S (in sahara)
3.      Crazy Love by Francis Chan
4.      Phil Wickham CDs
5.      Justin Bieber CDs
6.      The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, and other princess movies
7.      Sweaters
8.      Nike Shorts
9.      Nice and Cute Backpack
Any kind of backpack will work, but just something I can take to college.
10.  Fun Nail Polish
11.  Denim button up shirt
12.  Money
13.  PINK sweats and shirts
14.  Gift cards to Target, Barnes & Noble, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, PINK, Ulta/Sephora, Mardel, Francesca’s, American Eagle, PacSun, and/or Sports Authority/Academy.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

A Vera Bradley Christmas


I finally pulled out my Christmas tree after deciding I had plenty of time in December for it to be worth it. I used some plain silver and plain gold ball ornaments to go with the Vera Bradley ones I've been collecting the past couple of years. It looks really nice with all the ornament boxes underneath too. I may add some more later but I like it pretty well for this year's tree. I also included the glass ornament I made on my Alaskan cruise earlier this year.

Post pictures of your trees this year!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Weekend 'Shower' in California


I was so excited to attend Kristen's first baby shower in California. The hostesses did a great job. The theme was 'little man' and woodsy. Jenn Walker's house looked great.
Everyone wrote notes of encouragement and advice to Kristen. A couple ladies shared about raising little boys. It was very sweet. Hostess Liz did a great job keeping everyone on track.

The food was yummy and Hostess Melinda gathered the wood decorations herself!



Then came the presents! Pretty sure Micah and Kristen are committed to the name Xavier now. Love it!



And here's Kristen (with baby Xavier) and all the Aunts: Jenn, Amy, and Katie.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Polish of the Day: Frock Star


This is my new manicure for Kristen's shower weekend! I used the Sally Hansen Salon Effects real nail polish strips. I was pretty impressed. They look good and went on fairly easily.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Polish of the Day: Veruschka

Reminds me of Christmas.

By Zoya

Kitchen After (ish)

So I've decided if I wait to post after pictures until I feel like a project is completely done I might never post. :) Here are pics of the kitchen now....mostly finished.

Inspiration reminder:



Before Reminder:






After:






I'm hoping to do a Craigslist post soon since approx. half the furnature in my home now were purchased off Craigslist, including my refrigerator and kitchen table.

Monday, November 7, 2011

New Shoes



I was wanting some red shoes to wear with my new black pants. I've been looking for something similar in style to Kristen's mustard ones she got at Target. I thought these were pretty good. Picked them up at Marshalls for $19. I would prefer them to be a little more red. They aren't real leather and I've kind of thought about spray painting them. Nevertheless, I like them a lot.

Skinnies!





My grandson is going to have a cool Grandmommy. Notice my necklace by Amy. I got so many compliments on it.

Babymoon 2011

babymoon: n. a planned period of calm spent together by parents without their baby; (hence) a vacation or holiday taken by a pregnant woman and her partner.

Micah and I had the chance to spend the weekend at the super cute cabin below in Twin Peaks (about 45 miles north of us near Lake Arrowhead) so I thought I'd post some pics.


While we were there, the view from our balcony looked like this:


And we were super grateful for the Jeep...first time we've actually needed the 4 wheel drive!


We got several inches of snow....not what I normally think when I think of Southern California!



Mattie loved it.


Sunday we went to the Belgian Waffle Works for brunch and this was our view:



Hot Chocolate. :)



Outside the restaurant:


I can't wait to go back and can't believe this is where we live now! So fun.