A little bit of Sunshine

I am on a quest to find Gloria Jean French Vanilla K-Cups.

I am in love with this coffee.  

It is like a little bit of sunshine to get my day started at 5 am!

However, I have not been able to find it anywhere!

I have looked at Target, Walmart, Macys,  Costco and Wegmans.  

So on Saturday I was running some errands and I decided to stop to look for my K cups at Bed Bath and Beyond when I spotted the most perfect pillows to go into our new guestroom down stairs.  

We ended up ordering a gray coverlett and decided to use white sheets and then to find some pillows to add some color.  These pillows were perfect and with my 20% coupons (I bought two so used two coupons) + a gift card I recieved for my birthday.  They were the perfect price.  

I brought them home and they matched perfectly to the yellow chair which Joe painted last week.

So while I am still on the hunt for Gloria Jean French Vanilla K-cups, 

I at least found some pillows to let some sunshine in. 

Color of Summer!

Joe has been doing alot of projects for me lately which I love.

Now that we have a new rocking chair in our bedroom,
the old green wicker chair needed to find a new home.  

I had the perfect space, the additional guestroom we are working on in the basement. 
We already have a guestroom upstairs but decided to make the little room downstairs into another one. 
The color scheme will be gray and yellow!  

The walls are already gray so I thought it would be fun to add a pop of yellow coloring with the chair.

Of course, Joe was very hestistant because we tend to not have that many bright things in our house.  

So I went to Home Depot and picked up Rust-Oleum 2X Painter's Touch 12 oz. Satin Sun Yellow.

I decided to test it out on a little pot that I was also planning on putting in the room.  

 I put it in the room and had Joe think about it.  

We decided we liked it if we kept most of the room with themes of gray with maybe some yellow pillows on the bed.  So Saturday I went off for a girl date with my friend and her two year old and came home to a finished chair!

 Just for the record, I am becoming a spray paint lover!!!

Making Chores Less Hassel

One of my jobs around the house is laundry.  

I normally do it every Tuesday or Wednesday night.  

Joe's job is to bring everything down for me, and then when I am done bring it all up.

(In our dream house, our laundry room will be on the same level as our bedroom!)

However, lately Joe has been helping with the laundry in order to let me workout in the evening, which I totally appreciate.  That being said I came upon two products that are making our life easier, more organized and less cluttered, and also less messy.  

Product 1:  Bounce Dryer Bar

Instead of buying dryer sheets and having to put one in each time and the have to take it out before Clemson eats it because for some reason he loves them.  You just placed the the bar in the dryer and in our experience it last about 3-4 months. It also means I do not have to store the dryer sheets.  

Of note you can also get coupons online for them =0)

It is about 50cents more expensive when you do the math but one less thing we both have to think about!  That and I love the smell. 

 Dryer bar holder

 Dryer bar.  

Product 2:  Tide Pods

I HATE how washing machine detergent is sticky and always makes a mess and that you have to measure it.  So I got a major coupon for these Tide Pods and decided to give them a whirl.  

Basically it is the same concept as our dishwashing soap- one package, one load. 

This product is still in the experimental phase so right now I am loving it.  

It is cost effective if purchased on sale or with a coupon.  And now they carry it at COSTCO!!!  I need to compare their prices though. 

Fun Storage Idea

So I was given a beautiful hydragea by my hubby that came in a cute little pale. 

After we enjoyed the hydrangea inside for a while,

 I decided to place it outside with our other hydrangeas to help it come back each year.    

This left me with a pretty blue pale and nothing to use it for!

Then my sister-in-law and some other friends gave me bath products for my brithday because they know I loves baths and anything girlie.  

That being said with it being so hot lately, I am not in a bath mood.  

Blue pale comes into the picture as a cute way to store all these products in our bathroom next to our bath until I am ready to use them!

And yes those are birthday cupcakes bath salts!  

=0)

Mid-Year Review

You may remember that I published some 2012 life goals for myself in January.  

Well since it is now July, I thought it would be a good time to reflect upon them and see how I was doing.

New Year 2012 Goals

1. Embrace a healthier lifestyle
1. Eliminate sweets
2. Limit to 1 alcohol drink a week- At first this was hard but now but now piece of cake!
3. Increase vegetables and fruits We have pretty much cut out as much processed foods as we can and are eating more fruits and veggies
4. Decrease carbs and increase protein
5. Continue to take multivitamin and calcium supplements
6. Lose 5 pounds. -  So far I have lost 3 1/2 which is great!
2. Exercise more
1. Participate either in a Marathon or a Tri- I was entered to run a Marathon a couple week prior to my getting in to an accident and being re-ended and having a lumbar strain.  So following doctors orders I did not... well there is always this fall?
2. Make time for exercise at least 4 times a week  Pretty much running 3-5 miles 3-4 times a week and walking Clemson at least two miles a day
3. Try to incorporate stretching and yoga into running routine. -  Attempted Yoga and failed- I hated it, but I do regular core and stretching exercises now.
3. Broaden my cooking
1. Attempt 1 new recipe ever 2 weeks.   We are trying 1 new recipe every week!
2. Update recipe book
4. Broaden my knowledge
1. Read at least 3 books a month- trying to pick 1 fiction, 1 non-fiction, and 1 medical.
2. Keep a spread sheet of books you have read
5. Spend more time with others
1. Keep date night regularly with hubby
2. See friends and family as much as possible  We have been so busy this year that I am actually looking forward to the month of July when we don't have much scheduled. 
6. Be financial smart
1. You the want vs need system to help eliminate unnecessary purchases
2. Decreasing eating out
3. Use gift cards- We have used most of them but still have some left over
4. Put $X to savings each month
5. Put $X each month into investments
7. Travel
1. ENJOY LIFE!!!!! 

Now some Goals that I have added since then:
8.  Mangage Work Life better.
9.  Say NO to Drama!   
10.  Stop worrying about thing that can't change
11.  Be yourself.  

Now these goals are more personal stuff that is not measurable like the ones above but I have found since both Joe and I have started encorporating these into our lives, we feel better.   


Have you met all your goals?

The color of Green!!!

Last summer was the first summer I planted veggies and we hit the jackpot when it came to tomatoes but for some reason nothing else did well.  

So when it came to plant again this year, I planted the following

3 tomato plants

1 squash

2 cucumber

3 basil

1 Oregano

We love gazpacho so that is why we did the cucumbers this year.

At first I was not optimistic but over the last two weeks it is amazing...

The plans are starting to take over my backyard!

So far we have a couple of cucumber that are almost ready to be picked

Squash that needs a couple for days, and lots of green tomatoes!

 

The herbs are also out of control =0)

Home made basil will be added to my list of recipes I will be trying

 

Day 6th

After the best day ever,  I was on a high which continued on our 6th day.  We decided to sleep in because we did not get back from the Luau the previous night until midnight.  So we woke up worked out, had an early lunch and decided to do some shopping for a couple of little gifts I had to get people. 

We then headed to Black Rock, another beach in Ka'appalia and saw an amazing sea turtle while snorkeling. 

It was bigger than Joe!!

So cool!!!!

That night we decided to end our trip with a dinner at Mama's Fish House for our anniversary. 

We always do something for our anniversary, each year we have a nice dinner

Napa- Anjela

Greece- Dinner Cruise

So Hawaii was Mama's.  

Mama's is in Paia and is world renown for their food. 

We were seated next to Joakin Noah at dinner, who Joe immediately recognized while I was completely clueless other than that fact he was two of me tall.  

To say the food was excellent would be an understatement. 

  Lobster Crab Guacamole

 Joe had the Fish

 I had the Fish Stew

 Chocolate Pearl for dessert!

Happy Last Night in Hawaii!