Trying to decide on furniture fabric over lunch = Frustrating (but glad my mommy was there to help!)
Stiff neck turning into one nasty headache during a REALLY LOOOOONG meeting = Awful
Coming home to a wonderful husband who picked up the house and made the brownies for small group = PRICELESS!!!
Sometimes, it's the little things that matter the most! I love you, honey!
I just might have the scent of autumn leaves in my house all year round! This is a must-buy candle if you like a warm, homey smell, take my word for it!
While we were out, we stopped by the furniture store where I've been shopping for furniture. The sales associate who greeted us said "Oh, hi - are you back to look again?" - I was so embarrassed! They probably think that I'm never going to make a purchase. However, I did find some fabric today that I think just might be perfect for the couch below (which is the one I've decided on). It is green, but not too green and has some texture and a slight pattern. Now, I just need to find a good coordinating fabric and I might be set :)
It was cold and rainy and dreary today. The wind was blowing, the clouds were thick and there was a constant mist in the air. What I really wanted to do was crawl back in bed, but since I had to work, I decided I would pretend we had been home all day, snuggled in our sweats. So, I made chicken and rice soup, caesar salad and cheesy biscuits for dinner and it was perfect!! So, in honor of a cold day meal, here is my chicken and rice soup (I actually stole it from my aunt Sharon!):
1 package chicken breasts
3 carrots, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
3 chicken boullion cubes
2 c. water
1 box Uncle Ben's wild rice, 5-minute version
Place chicken in stock pot and cover with water. Add boullion cubes and celery leaves (my bunch was dwendling, so I used the hearts of the celery). Cook until chicken is done, approximately 20 minutes. In the meantime, chop your vegetables. When chicken is cooked, strain the liquid and return to the pot and chop your chicken. Add vegetables and 2 cups of water and cook until crisp tender. Add rice and seasoning packet and cook for 5-minutes. Add chicken back to the pot and cook an additional 5 - 10 minutes.
Enjoy! And, stay warm!! It's finally November!!!
So, here's my theory... If I can accomplish one major task on the weekend and focus on one smaller task each day of the week, the house will seem to be in order and I won't dread a major cleaning day! I also discovered another clever idea to cut down on clutter by taking a pre-determined amount of time (60 seconds, 5 mintues, etc.) to attack one area and then stop when the time is up. I tried it out earlier this week when I realized my car was locked in the garage (long story, but we had to get the garage fixed professionally) and I felt much better leaving the house knowing I wasn't coming home to a messy kitchen :)
Now, I should give Brandon some props because he does help. He did all of the laundry today. But, it was a negotiated deal. He didn't want to help clean, because he thought I was doing a major cleaning day, so he said "If you do ALL of the cleaning, then I will do ALL of the laundry" and I said "Deal!". He later told me I was being tricky... :)
I must say, I'm glad this election is over. While things didn't exactly go the way I wanted, there isn't anything I can do to change the outcome. I guess I just pray that our new President will cross party lines and really do something to unite this country. And, I hope that the Republicans will pull together and really figure out how they are going to handle the next 4 years.
On the local front, I hope our new County Commissioner will try to understand the concept of progression and that Wichita needs to continue to make strides by attracting and retaining businesses and jobs and attracting and retaining young talent and workers.
Those are my 2 cents today.
Today, we woke up at 5:30 a.m., threw on some clothes and made our way to our election site. We stood in line for 20-30 minutes waiting to cast our vote and we voted! Today, I am thankful we have the opportunity to have a voice in our government and I'm proud that we took advantage of that opportunity. I hope anyone who is reading this made the same decision to vote today!
Oh yeah, and I am also thankful for a warm Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks!
This is the shelving in our closet. It was stuffed full of stuff. And, you see how all of those shoes down there are sitting nicely in their spot, they all used to be scattered all over the floor :(
And, since I was on such a kick, I moved down to the storage room. Before I began, there wasn't much walking space, but I did a lot of condensing and some tossing and now it is managable again. There is still a lot of work to be done down there, but we need to buy something to store our china in before I can do the real work. A larger kitchen would also help, but that is obviously not an option (most of the stuff in the storage room is kitchen stuff that doesn't fit in my kitchen).
Needless to say, I feel rather productive today!
* Read a good book
* Try a new recipe at least twice a month (I already try to do this, but I want to be more conscious of it)
* Develop a better strategy to manage our house
* Be more intentional with friends
* Plan date nights regularly
* Redo the living room (this one should be starting soon!)
* Save money for our NYC trip
* Exercise more (it's tough for me to be specific about this one - it's a struggle!)
* Weed through my old clothes and shoes and donate them to Goodwill
This is all I am coming up with now, but I know there are more! However, I would like to know what some of your goals are? What is something you would like to accomplish before your next birthday?
