Cozumel Mexico

Just a few from Cozumel... I really didnt take alot of pics this trip! I was just soooo into relaxing and taking it all in. Me and my Love in front of the Big Boat as Ella calls it! ha ha!

We rented scooters this day... there are big signs EVERYWHERE that says dont rent scooters because you can get very hurt on them blah blah blah! ha ha! Seriously they are all over the areas where you get off the ship.. so we went to rent scooters! ha ha! Sooo boys! I had never been on something like that and it took a bit to get use to it but after that it was sooo much fun. So we just started driving down the road and came to this resort. You could use their beach for free.. and just buy something to eat from them. It was really neat. So pretty much for the whole day we just laid in the sun here! And these were all our views from our chairs! Well the Jason and another guy took their scooters and went and explored the island and had a ton of fun! Glad they go to go do that!

Then after we (I) was burnt to a crisp ha ha... this is our view back to the boat! ha ha! I was happy to see her! The hot hot sun was the reason for the hat purchase in the first picture! To quote a line from one of my fav movies... "The white people are melting out here!" ha ha ha Soooo true! But the hat helped alot! We had soooooooooo much fun.. I would stay for a few days on Cozumel. We have enjoyed it each time we have gone!! OH I forgot too... if we ever went back Id go back to their mega mart stores... I wanted a barrette for my hair.. OMW I got three really nice goody ones and jason got a couple of candy bars and we paid like 2.18!!! I was like OMW I should of stocked up! ha ha!Anyways... FUN! Love it there!

More Vacation Pics... Misc Ones =)

We like to go down and have a full day in the area before we set sail just to relax and go see the sights! I had never been to Orlando before and was pleasantly surprised with how nice it really is. We went to Miami last year and some of it is just not that pretty but we found alot we really liked in Orlando.. including our hotel! I looooooooove JW Marriott hotels! Probably my favs! This is the lobby of our hotel. I wish we had had one more day in Orlando cuz our hotel had this big lazy inner tube river out the back of it. Would of LOVED to have gone on it!

This was in the town of Celebration... Used to be an all owned by Disney Town. It is sooooooooooooooooo nice there! We almost stayed at this hotel. Its a Marriott property but it was a tad out of the way. But we went to just check out the hotel... soooo pretty! And the houses in Celebration were just sooo nice!

Then we went surfing! ha ha ha! We went to Universal and walked around for a bit! I had never been and it was a blast!!

Jason and Tom having a battle with their Harry Potter wands! LOL! Just too cute!

My Love and I by the Universal Sign.. Jason looks photoshopped in for some reason! LOL!

Just a few things we saw! Thought this was so cute!

THEN we went to the Harry Potter World! Was sooooo neat how they did it all! Was soooo real looking like you were in that town!

One of the Eating hang outs in the movie

And Pumpkin Juice! Was really neat but at either 5.95 or 9.95 cant remember which I didnt feel the need to try it! ha ha! They did have ButterBeer like in the movies. We tried that... settle down its not BEER! ha ha! Its like Rootbeer except it is Butterscotch Flavored. Was really good!

This was the BIG ride and it was sooooooo neat. It was really a very long line to get in.. but you would of never and known it because you walked through the buildings! Sooo much detail just sooo cool! They had the pictures on the walls that talk to you and other pictures.. they had dumbledores office and he comes in and talks to you (in a movie but looks really neat) another room where Harry, Hermione and Ron talk to you at a balcony and then all of a sudden it starts snowing on you! Sooo neat! And the ride was great.. it was kinda like a virtual ride! Loved it!

Then here is the unimpressive view of being in our room waiting to set sail out of Cape Canaveral! This was Saturday .. we went to Universal on Friday. We had sooo much fun Friday... The guys went on a helicopter ride, we saw the largest McDs in the world, we went to an All you can eat Lobster Buffet! Crazy! I got the BEST pedicure of my life! Amazing, hot stones, paraffin booties.. just amazing! Went to Islands of Adventure.. wow, I know there is more we just jammed packed that day in! I LOVE vacation days like that! Go, Go, Go!!

My Pinspiration .. Storage/Crate Seats

 I saw this idea on Pinterest and just thought it was soooo cute! So wanted to try to recreate it! I will be making some of these for my kids rooms... but these two were a baby shower gift for a lady at church. I heard her mention that she didnt have alot of storage or seating. I was trying to think what I could do for her. I was even thinking of a dresser... I have one I really wanted refinish but I was afraid it would just take too much time. So then these popped into my mind! I went to Joanns fabric with my trusty coupon in hand but found this CUTE fabric on sale .. it was normally 6.99 a yard but was on sale for 2.79 a yard! It is funny how things work out.. I was just gonna get a yard and split it thinking it was PLENTY of fabric. But it just so happened that the piece she was measuring was already cut to a yard and a half. So she asked if I just wanted it all and I was all for that price sure why not and you know .. ha ha.. just in case! =) Which Im soooo glad I did because I split the 1.5 yards in half and that size was PERFECT for one of these seats. I had enough extra fabric to completely cover the bottom of the board. Not that you have to but it just is alot prettier to see fabric on the bottom instead of ugly board.

 Then I went to Lowes.. yay home improvement stores, love looking around them!! I found this big sheet of this board. No idea what it is called but this is what it looks like. I got a big sheet of it for only 6.47!! AND drum roll please... Lowes will cut it for you for FREE! I was very happy to hear this! And Im sure my fingers thank me too! Not sure Im very handy with the skill saws! ha ha! You just measure your crate (the inside of that little lip that you would normally hang your file folders on dont measure the outer area because it wont fit down properly in the crate) and let the Lowes guy know what your measurement is. You can get at least 12 boards out of that one sheet... maybe even 15 I cant remember how many long sheets he was able to cut.. it was definitely 4 and maybe 5... So if you think about it... That is .54 CENTS a board for this project!! (using 12 as the # of them you can get out of one large sheet!)

 Just went to Walmart and got one of those file plastic crates in the home office aisle! You know that look like posh milk crates! =) I believe they were 6.74 a crate. Not too bad! Didnt check Target but wanted to check there too to see if they had better color choices.. Im assuming they do!

 Now for the "stuffing" part of this project .. the Blog I saw this on she used a mattress egg crate thing you can buy from walmart. I looked and the twin size was 9.97. Which isnt bad because you can probably get a few out of it. But I like BIG cushions and started thing Hmmm hope it isnt a pain to double up on that filler and have it be easy to wrap and all that with the fabric. So I started looking around to see what else I could us. THEN I saw the pillows! oooh what a great thing I thought to be able to just lay on the board! No cutting.. not trying to keep all the pieces together. Well the first pillow I saw was 5 something.. didnt think tooo bad... but kept searching cuz I knew I could find something cheaper! =) So I found the above pillow for 3.47.

 Here is a side view of the seat/crate. I have tissue paper in the bottom cuz this was a shower gift.. I put the things I bought her in the bottom of the crate.

And here at the two side by side that I finished for her. I had never tried to upholster anything ha ha.. so it was a tad of trial and error.. I just pulled shorter sides around the board first and stapled those with a heavy duty stapler first... then used the longer sides and pulled tightly and stapled the first side and then with the second side tried to make it look nice enough to cover the board on the underneath. The corners were done alot like hospital bed corners.. just pulling tight and placing a nice fold all the side. (should of taken a couple of pics of that! next time I will) Then when you are done getting the fabric just right the seat should snuggly just snap into place. Cant wait to make some for the kids room!!

Some Vaca Pics...

My love and I on our flight down to Orlando! He treated me to flying in First Class. First time I had ever done that. He flies so much he gets bumped to FC all the time but I hadnt ever been. I use to think What is all the fuss?! ha ha! Ahh yeah, its called Pampering! ha ha! Im all for it! ha ha! Not that I think it is worth the price of FC tickets! But with his free miles and perks like that.. totally worth it! Was so fun!

Jason and Tom.. A friend of the family. We went in a big group on our trip and he is the son of one of our good friends. So he wanted to come down early with us and spend some time in Orlando. We had alot of fun all together!!

Okay, if you are EVER at the Atlanta airport... take a stop by Concourse B and this lovely place!! Buckhead Books... Right by the Food Court. They have the BEST cheesecake EVER! Waaaaay better than Cheesecake Factory! We got to go on our way there and back! I squealed when we got off our flight back and we were in Concourse B! ha ha! I know I have issues!!! =)

Me and Ellie's Sunday

So Jason got asked to fill in for a Sunday at a local church that doesnt have a Pastor right now. I have to work Sunday Afternoons so I wasnt able to go with. So Ethan was MOOOORE than happy to get to go spend the Day with Dad and the whooooole day and all by himself! So me and Ellie got to have a Girls Day. We went to Church together and then after we went to our faaaaaaaavorite Mexican Restaurant! It is sooo yum. Ella LOVES Mexican Food!

 Ella looking at her menu... as if she is getting ANYTHING different that she normally gets! ha ha! She loooves the cheese dip!

 Thought this was sooo sweet. We normally sit on a side together when we all go together.. So we sat on opposite sides. Then half way through she was like Mom can I please just come sit beside of you?? ha ha too cute! and OF COURSE you can!!! So we took some pics and ate some food. One thing about Ella is she is BIG on smells... believe me she is not above telling you you stink if you do! ha ha! Cracks me up! Anyways.. so we are sitting there and she said I love the smell of your breath! ha ha! I just laughed and laughed and I suppose so much better than hearin your breath smells awful! ha ha!

And I know, I know... Terribly not attractive ha ha.. but Ella wanted to do a crazy picture! She just laughed and laughed when she saw it.. so I had to include it!

We had a FUN day. We went to Church, We went to our fav place to Eat and we went shopping! Got some really good deals and picked up a few more things to make some crafts!!! LOVE Crafting!!

Granola Energy Bites

 Me and Ellie!

 She has to be RIGHT up where the "action" is! LOL!

Granola Enery Bites Recipe

A couple of weekends ago Ella and I did a tad bit of cooking. She loooooooves to help! So Im trying to encourage it. I have been wanting to make this recipes for awhile now. It has sooo many good things for you and some just yummy things.. like choco chips! =) I used all the ingredients that she calls for pretty much like they are .. well except for the natural and local stuff... Just used normal PB and honey! =) But I made them smaller than they called (which I like them more just a couple of bites.. bite sized) And this recipes I was able to get 36 each out of! Ella thought they were okay =) she is a trip!! But Ethan and I LOVED them! So much so he asked for them in his lunch for snacks each day and for my boy that is saying alot!! =) Oh and another perk about this recipe... All you do is throw it all in your mixing bowl or kitchenaid mixing bowl and mix!! That is it.. then you roll into little balls and keep in the fridge! LOVE those kind of recipes!!

A Deep Cleaning Mood!! =)

Ive been in such a deep cleaning, get rid of the clutter, either sell it or donate it mood lately! Im thinking it has alot to due with the fact that it is SPRING in March here it seems! Its been in the 70 & 80's for the last week or so! Sooo Nice!

This week I did the kitchen and even touched up paint in there.. have lots more I want to do as far as painting. Then Saturday it was our bedroom.. tired of all the clutter just accumulating! Time to look like a bedroom again and get rid of stuff I just dont love. I took stuff down off the walls and am gonna donate alot of it! I scrubbed every inch of that places.. walls, floors, dressers, under everything, decorations! EVERYTHING! Do I love having my Saturday taken up with scrubbing.. not really but man I laid in bed last night thing OMW this room being deep cleaned and rearranged a little and old decorations repurposed was such an amazing feeling!!!

One of my next projects is going to be painting my dressers and putting on new hardware. I really want all need bedroom furniture but since I want pieces that will give a large fit man a hernia to move .. ha ha... Ill have to wait a tad longer.. cuz that stuff is expensive! =) But It hit me the other day there is no reason why I can make what I have alot prettier! And now Im soooo excited about getting them done! Amazing what a little rethinking and perspective can do for ones self!! And since Im getting all excited about our dressers I think Im gonna get new hardware for Ellas furniture. I LOVE her furniture she has beautiful pieces but am thinking pink/rose colored glass pull knobs would be amazing on hers... So that is another project! Found some on ebay! Love them! And well Love Ebay!! =) OH funny ebay story.... I was getting my hair done the other day and my hairdresser said, "Oh, I love your flip flops ... they look really comfy!" To which I said, "Oh Thanks, I got them on Ebay!" She just got this horrified look on her face and said, "Where they used?!" ha ha ha ha! Ummm, No! ha ha! You can get new items on ebay! Apparently she hasnt shopped there much! ha ha! Again.. Perspective!!! =)

An Earring Holder

This is an earring holder I made for a friend. Got this frame from goodwill for maybe 1.50.. Spray painted it cream. It is such a NICE heavy wood frame! Distressed the sides to make it look more country. I love that look. Went to Lowe's and bought a roll of Chicken Wire.. This is #1 Chicken Wire. Did you know there are different kinds? ha ha! There is a #2 I know and that is farther apart. Love how many you could fit on in the #1 kind though. Just took my heavy duty stapler and stapled it to the back. Then tied ribbon on the top and made a hanger with it! Then went to Joann's and got the little flower decals and hot glued them on in the corners.. just to add a little color to it.

Since I have so much chicken wire left.. ha ha... Ill be making more! =)

My Goodwill Finds!

So with Spring in the air I just got the urge to go to the GoodWill and see what treasures I could find! ha ha! Which is kinda a funny statement. Because I have never been a huge huge fan of them! But Im a sucker now with Pinterest and all the possibilities of stuff to make and treasures to find!! This was one... Easter Eggs and Easter Basket Grass. Was excited cuz there is this 12 Days to Easter thing I want to do with my kids! Ill post pics of it another day! Ella needs Jesus! ha ha!

 Im in in LOVE with this purse... Was just looking through them and found this one. It is a leather like purse. I loved the tall lines of it .. something so different and cute! Love it. It is an Estee Lauder bag.. thinking must of been one of those buy a product get it free or something from them. But for 2.99 and the amazing shape it was in.. Im SOLD! ha ha! (Its a darker red but the flash kinda made it look candy apple red)

 This is not very pretty! ha ha! But it is a board that is probably an 8x10 size.. there were five of them for 1.99 a piece... and the pic below shows they all have the picture hangy thing all on there! Thinking of painted them and maybe finding some CUTE vinyl either letters or maybe some pic decals to put on them. Maybe for Ethans room to have different dinos on it or something like that... we will see! But Im excited about the options!

 Okay I Looooooooooooooove this frame! Not the picture but that is okay because for 2.99 Im sooo happy with the frame... probably a 16x20 size and very rustic boards... Gonna paint and distress and then thinking of doing one of those "I love you because..." that are all over Pinterest to put in my bedroom. Gonna look for cute fabric and cover the picture and then place it back under the glass... then put the words on the outside of the glass at the top in cute lettering .. then have a dry erase marker so I can write different things to Jason. Love the idea!

 See really rustic! Love it!

 Found this really nice heavy frame.. love the lines .. will look really cute painted and gonna make another earrings holder for a friend!

And an awful picture.. its a true black and it was new from Target for Ella for school and only 99 cents!

Was very excited about my deals! And finds! Other things Im looking for.... old vintage hard case suitcases. Want to make a pet bed and then a electronic charging station. Will keep looking!! =)