le menu de cette semaine

I have been all over some Pinterest over the past two weeks.  This week's menu is full of recipes found on Pinterest.  Here's what's for dinner:

• Friday - (going to the grocery store) Parmesan Crusted Salmon with Asparagus Fries

• Saturday - Beef Stew... can't find the link, but I'll update it soon

• Sunday/Monday - (going to Mom and Dad's so Marcus is on his own lol)

• Tuesday - Chicken and Black Bean, Cheesy Rice Bake

• Wednesday - Prosciutto Olive Parmesan Pasta

• Thursday - Fajita Style Quesadillas and Corn Cakes with Avocado Salsa

Yum...  One of the best things about school being out is that I'm not too tired or making excuses not to cook.  Here's to a summer of new recipes!

Student Gift Bags (for the end of the year party)

On Teachers Pay Teachers, I found this really cute gift tag and I thought to myself "Hmmm... I can do that.  Cheap, easy, cute, funny..."  

So I got tie-dye party bags, white paper filler (although I should've just used paper from the shredder), iridescent white ribbon, kool-aid packs, and silly straws in coordinating colors.  I packed it all up with a cute summer to do list (above, and also found on Teachers Pay Teachers).  See the finished product below.  I have to admit, I'm kinda proud of this one...

But guess what!!! Only two and a half more days with students and two days of post-planning after Memorial Day.  :)

New look

Seeing as though Marcus and I will have been together a total of nine years in August and married for three years in December, I thought newlyweds didn't really apply anymore.  So, a new look with a new name was in order.

newlyweds at last is now www.lovinglifeinallmyroles.blogspot.com
Sorry it's so long, but blogger wouldn't accept any of my more concise name choices.

A Productive Weekend

I learned the wonders of Modge Podge this weekend.  Having never tried it, but seen the awesome things people did with this magical potion I obviously wanted to try it out.  I've really gotten into making my own household cleaners and other things to have something unique and to save money.  What better way to try out modge podge than with something as simple as cute labels for my creations.  Check it out...

First I made some modge podge: (yes it's in a jelly jar) empty one bottle of school glue into your container, then fill the school glue bottle halfway up with warm water, add that to your jar/container, and SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE!  Voila... modge podge!

Then I started using it on all of my homemade house cleaners.  Below you'll see my Vinegar Spray Bottle which I used on weeds this morning, the linen spray I posted about before, and homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaner which I'm still testing out.

I think these are probably the basic directions for modge podge, but I just painted the surface I wanted the label to go on with my glue solution, applied my label, and painted more glue solution over the top to seal it all in.  I'm extremely pleased with the results.  The paper is just from a pad of scrapbook paper I had from an old project.

I also made my menu and grocery list for the week, went to the Kroger, and prepped some things for cooking later.  Here's what's for dinner:

Saturday: Thai Quinoa Salad (this pic is from last night... it was freaking delicious!)

Sunday: Chicken Ranch Pasta with a salad

Monday: Fava Bean Italian Salad

Tuesday: my Momma's Pasta with Lemon Cream Sauce and topped with salmon (one of my favorites)

Wednesday: Beef and Beer Crockpot Stew

Thursday: leftovers (we're leaving for Memorial Weekend the next day, and my husband works late on Thursdays)

 And we shaved the dog... hilarious amount of hair... My dad said "Did all that pine-straw and the pink ball fall out of her hair???" LOL Ladybird is oh so much happier!

Great quote...

Marcus and I have always liked this quote.  Now I've found a cuter version which I will immediately print and put on our fridge.   :)

Happy anniversary Mom and Dad!

I forgot to add that today is my parents 30th wedding anniversary!!!  So proud of my Momma and Daddy for sticking it out all these years and showing their kids what real love and hard work can do for a happy and long marriage.  I love them both SO SO SO much.

crochet projects

So I couldn't remember if I ever explained how I got into crochet... I don't think I did, so here goes
Marcus' favorite memories of his grandmother (who now lives with his mom) include a basket of yarn nearby and constantly moving crochet needles.  She would crochet on the plane as they flew to visit family... she would crochet at work... she would crochet as she watched the news... you get the picture.  Anyway, as we cleared out the house and began renovating we found TONS of yarn in every color you can imagine.  When I say TONS, I mean two walk-in closets FULL of yarn!  At first it just seemed kind of strange that someone could enjoy their hobby so much that they would need so much yarn, but now I understand.  You can literally crochet (almost) anything you need.
After my first school year in Augusta, I was a little stressed and needed an outlet (something that I could learn to do over the summer and continue as a hobby during upcoming school years). I just happened to have all this yarn lying around, so I walked around Hobby Lobby one afternoon and came across a crochet book.  It included several nice crochet hooks and plenty of patterns to start with so for only $10 I have a new lifelong hobby.
Here are some of the things I've made so far (all beginner patterns... now I'm on the "easy" patterns):

A small purse for Marcus' niece, Jenna

A bright pillowcase for my classroom

An Irish flag coozie for my hubbie

A "Le Sac" type purse for my Mom

and an iPad case for my sister.

 My goal is to keep improving and continue with different projects.  Marcus' grandmother is known for her afghans and they are absolutely gorgeous... we're lucky to have several of them.  So I'm hoping this summer I'll be talented enough to try one.   :)

Yummy new candles make my world go round ;)

Just got this new candle and lit it for the first time... it smells uh-mazing!  I highly recommend it for summer:

Yankee Candle Co.  Black Coconut

I bought this candle to jumpstart my new cleaning schedule.  I may not have mentioned it before, but I really don't like to clean because I prefer relaxing to pretty much anything else (some might call this lazy).

After lots of arguments with my perfectionist/OCD husband and honestly some soul-searching, I made the decision that some type of schedule needed to be created in order for me to get on top of the cleaning and organization needed in our home.  So... I did some blog surfing and found some really good checklists and schedules.  Here are some of the ones I hope will be really helpful:


This one is labeled as a "Spring Cleaning List" but I probably won't get down and dirty with this deep of a clean until school's out.  So for me, it's more of a "Summer Cleaning List".  I really like home it's broken down into different sections, but it still seems a little overwhelming.

This one is labeled as a "Weekly Cleaning Schedule".  I like it so much that it's already printed and posted on  the refrigerator.  After my deeper clean is done today, I'll be trying this as a strategy for keeping on top of it all.  But to be more realistic... when I get home from work, I'm tired!  So the stuff to the right will more than likely still get done on the weekend.  

This is a speed cleaning schedule and it's the one I'll be trying out today.  I promise I'll post about how it goes.  It's from the FLY Lady (FLY stands for Finally Loving Yourself... following her schedule is supposed to give you more time with the family and her theory is sort of "clean house, clean mind, clean life."

So, like the document says... it's time for me to get off the computer and get to work!