A New Nephew!!

Ronnie's brother James and his wife were expecting their 2nd little girl. Well it was a bit of a surprise when they had their baby last night and it was a boy!!!

I finally got a picture of this sweet boy. Introducing Calvin James Slaven at 8lbs and some ounces (Ronnie took the call...hehe).

Garden Update

Well Ronnie has been working 12-15 hour days. Last night he walked in the door at 10pm.  Lame. Someday maybe we'll see some fruit from his labors.  Until then I'm poor and lonely....


Well ...hopefully we'll see some fruit of my labors in the garden. Literally. :) I'm just excited to see things growing. It makes me happy. So please excuse another boring post!!



Here we have basil and a pepper plant, zucchini, and a lemon tree.

 Full view of our garden plot...laughably small.

We've planted tomatoes and peppers here. Previously planted blueberry bushes,

spinach, lettuce and violas are still there.

Remember my spinach...it's still growing!

I haven't killed anything yet. We'll see how long that lasts.... How is your garden doing?

Floating Shelves

I had a vision of floating shelves....

They said it couldn't be done. Floating shelves cannot hold books.

But they can and they do! A little brain power from my dad and Ronnie and we've got floating shelves that CAN hold books!!

My dad showed us how to build the first shelf and we did the second.

Ronnie is cutting the metal that holds the shelves up.

 Screwing the metal into the wall.

Measuring and building...

 Skip ahead a little and we've got shelves!

Materials: MDF board, metal, big screws, Particle board, wood filler, paint.

Price: 2 MDF boards $20

Wood filler $3

Big screws: already had

Particle board: Donated by dad

Metal: Donated by dad

Paint: already had

Total: $23!!

The second bedroom is sl...oooww..llyy.. coming along. But we're working on it bit by bit.

Hope everyone is having a beautiful spring Sunday...we sure are!!

A Cake to Celebrate

My mom's birthday is this week and I made her a cake on Sunday.

It was funny...she kept saying she couldn't believe she was turning 27...MOM! I'm 27!! haha!

I made a southern classic...Humming Bird cake.

I used this recipe: Humming Bird cake. The recipe is for cupcakes but I just baked it for 30 minutes and it worked out great.

Happy Birthday Ma!!!

Saving the Moola

Ronnie and I have really been trying to cut back spending all around. Seems like there is always a new bill to pay! So I thought it might be fun to share some of the ways we save money and then in the comments section you can share yours! Maybe we can all learn from each other.

Here are my top 5.

1. Couponing! Back in September, I found the world of couponing. I got into it pretty quick. The first month I started I halved our grocery bill. Since then, I have probably halved it again. That even includes toiletries, laundry, personal care items, etc. If you want to learn about couponing, there are lots of blogs out there to help you on your way.

2. Movies. We get free redbox or blockbuster express movies. There are often free codes. We got a bunch of free redbox rental codes in Orville Reddenbocker popcorn boxes that I got for free - 50 cents! Now that's what I call cheap entertainment! :)

3. Fresh Produce. Last year was my first attempt at a garden. It went okay...I need to find a solution for those squirrels! This year I was able to start a little earlier (see previous post). I paid a couple dollars for some seeds and hopefully we'll have a good crop of lettuce and spinach. Then I have enough left over to plant again in the fall. We'll plant different vegis in April. Seems like the price of fresh produce keeps going up so this helps with the food I can't get with couponing.

4. House Repairs/Furnishings. Luckily, I have a handy husband that is willing to tackle the house repairs and fix ups with me. And what makes that better is my dad lives close and he lets us borrow tools and his wisdom. When I am looking for decor or furniture for the house, I check craigslist first. I've gotten a free couch that is going in our spare bedroom off there. I've also gotten other furniture on there for a really good price. For other items that I can't get on craigslist, I wait for it to be on clearance. I've also referbished a couple of Ronnie's furniture pieces from his bachelor days. This has helped us decorate our new home in our budget. Not to say I haven't splurged on an item or two...oops...

5. Non-necessities. We try to cut out some of the things that aren't neccessary. Like we don't have cable or a landline. Although, there is always room for improvement in this area....

Now, what are the ways your family saves money?

In this economy, we could all afford to save a penny or two, right?!

Early Plantings

I've had a bit of spring fever lately. I planted some spinach, lettuce and strawberries a couple weeks ago. A few days ago, I planted some basil. I'm really excited to see my spinach and lettuce sprouting!

Spinach

Strawberries

I can't wait to eat some garden fresh salads! :)



Dandelion

Already have dandelions in the yard!

Not sure I'm happy about the weed part but I sure am happy about it getting closer to spring!