Five on Friday...

1. I think its safe to say that I've totally given up Diet Coke and Orange Juice. The OJ did help me to break my Diet Coke habit but it has alot of sugar and in the end I've decided that its not good for me either. This week instead of drinking OJ I'm eating an orange first thing in the morning, followed by a breakfast bar a couple of hours later and I've been drinking lemon water. And the best thing about all this is that I've cut out almost all snacking. I also seem to have more energy at the end of the work day so maybe I'm on the right track...Finally! Long time habits are hard to break but so far I've broken two, one being nail biting and the other being Diet Coke. Yea Me! : )
2. About that Sleep Number bed that we purchased a couple of months ago. I LOVE it, however I do wish we would have bought a king instead of a queen. Before sleeping in the new bed I was having some hip pain and I thought that I might have RLS but after a few nights in the new bed my hips and legs totally quit hurting. The husband, well he's never gonna be happy with any bed and I'll just leave it at that!
3. Here's a website with alot of good fashion advice, not that I'm a fashionista or anything but I think anyone the slight bit interested in fashion will enjoy it. Here's another good one. Enjoy!
4. I've been scrapping an album for a friends son this week. I plan to ship it out on Monday. I forgot how much I enjoy scrapping so I need to set aside some time to do so, we all know I have plenty of unfinished project to complete. : )
5. Looks like we will FINALLY be starting the remodeling around here. The drywall guy stopped by today to give us a price on replacing our bedroom ceiling. At this time it is wood with ceiling tiles in the center and I've grown tired of it so we are just putting up new drywall and painting to lighten it up a bit. We will also be removing the chair rail, painting the walls and trim and installing new carpet. : )  We are doing one room at a time so this place is going to be total chaos for awhile and yet, I'm so excited!

Have A Great Weekend,
Love & Hugs,
Susi

Five on Friday...

1. My daughter introduced me to a new food site. Take a look. Lots of good for you yummies.
2. I've started exercising again...I really shouldn't talk about it because I will probably jinx myself.
3. I'm trying to be excited about NOT moving but the husband is being ho-hum about everything these days. We have drywall work and painting that he needs to take care of before I purchase new furniture.  At this point I'm just frustrated with it all!
4. I have plans to visit an Ikea store very soon but I have to go to another state to do so. I've considered ordering some items on line but their shipping costs are outrageous and some items cannot be shipped. BOO!
5. Mothers Day is this weekend. The kids are coming over to cookout. All I have to do is make a Texas sheet cake. : )   I wish you all a Happy Mothers Day!

Have A Great Weekend,
Love & Hugs,
Susi

Five on Friday...

1. I love the quote that Ali had on her blog today. So I thought I'd share it with you.

To be a photographer,
one must Photograph.
No amount of book learning,
no checklist of seminars attended,
can substitute for the
Simple Act of Making Pictures.
Experience is the best teacher
of all. And for that,
there is no guarantee that
one will become an artist.
Only The Journey Matters.
~Harry Callahan~

2.We have our Sleep Number bed set up but I still need to pick up brackets for the footboard. I love it! The husband not so much but he is slowly getting used to it. It is a bit smaller than our last bed but there is plenty of room for the three of us (my husband, our dog and I) and it is very comfortable.

3. Guess what? He changed his mind about moving. : ( Surprise, surprise, I knew he would. Now he is talking about looking for a condo in St. Augustine, FL. We shall see.
So it is on with the redecorating which I'm very excited about. My sister and I went shopping last Friday and we found this furniture store. OMG... I fell in love with practically everything in the store. So on Sunday I took the husband there to look around. He was very impressed and I know he loves it as much as I do. Lookout checkbook!

4. I've been using homemade cleaners for three weeks now. I love that I can choose the scent by adding my choice of essential oil, plus they are much less expensive than the commercial ones and I am very happy with the results. No more commercial cleaners for me. What will I do with all that extra money. (See #3). : )

5. I have been on the hunt for some good fitting jeans. For several years now I've purchased pretty much all of mine from the Gap. The last ones I purchased fit good at first but after wearing them for a few hours they start sagging in the rear and trust me this is NOT a good look. So after trying on a few pair that the clerk suggested I broke down and purchased this pair of Lucky Brand jeans. I have yet to wear them so we shall see who is Lucky...the buyer or the seller. Hopefully, both! Do you have a favorite brand of jeans? If so, please share.

Have A Great Weekend,
Love & Hugs,
Susi

Hello...

Anyone there? I seem to have lost track of time and haven't posted anything in awhile. 
Last week my dog grabbed something off the ground during his walk and ate half of it before the husband could get it away from him which resulted in a call to the vet. Two pills and 24 hours later hes just fine. Flat worms gone!

The husband and I purchased a new bed. We should receive it next week. Good sleep is on the way. However, we downsized to a queen and I need to get a new sheets, pillow cases and a headboard. I'll be shopping for the sheets and pillow cases this weekend.

The weather has been great this week. Temps in the 80's.





The flowering trees are Beautiful.



And while out shopping with my daughter this week. She suggested I eat something other than candy in the afternoon when I get tired. She suggested protein bars, I love them and they seem to do the trick.



I'm giving the homemade cleaners that are all over the internet a try this weekend. My daughter uses them and tells me they work well. Anyone else?

Have A Great Weekend,

Love & Hugs,

Susi

Holy Hail and Other News...

We had a bit of a hail storm about an hour ago. The husband and I rushed out to move our vehicles inside the warehouse. I also received a call from our home alarm company telling me that our glass break alarm went off and that dispatch was on its way. I immediately called them back to stop the dispatch as I'm pretty sure the hail storm was the problem.
This was the view out the front door of our office.

I hear it was much worse at home. I will see when I get home a little later today. Fingers crossed!

In other news...
After talking to the husband about some home improvements that I'd like to do we (his idea and it was a brief discussion) have decided to look around for a new house. We have lived in the same house for about 27 years. I've mentioned moving before and I received a flat out "NO" from him!!! The plan is to start looking around by the end of the month. Hopefully, he doesn't change his mind. I'm SUPER excited but first we have to sell our house which means I have alot to do to get it market ready. In the meantime, I may still shop around for new furniture and such.
I have my Granddaughter for the weekend so I'll be busy playing store, watching movies, bouncing at MonkeyJoes and going out to dinner.

Have A Great Weekend,
Love & Hugs,
Susi

Hanging In There...

Remember this post. I have actually been working on those 5 things for the last couple of months. Here's a little recap.
1. Passports...no progress yet but I still have plenty of time and I will get them this year.
2. Purging the entire house. One room ( my craft room) and one closet (coat closet) left to go. The coat closet will probably take 15 minutes tops. I just haven't got around to it yet. The craft room, well that will probably take a couple of days. But my dear daughter did remind me that I have 20+ years of crafty stuff in there and that it really isnt' all that bad. Thanks Charlie!
3. Changes around the house. My husband totally agrees with me on this and has suggested new carpeting, new living room furniture and a new washer and dryer. I was thinking smaller changes but I may just have to take him up on all of the above. I still have plans to recover our dining room chairs, get new lamps, new bedding for both bedrooms and a few other small items.
4. Working on me. I pulled something in my back, so no exercising for the last 3 weeks and even though our winter hasn't been bad I've still had a case of the Winter Blues. You'd think after all these years of living in the same place I'd be used to it but that is just not the case. My back is better now so I'll start exercising again this week, the sun has been shining a bit, the days are getting longer and I couldn't be happier. : )
5. Four new things...taking a photo a day (mostly with iphone), I got frustrated with my camera at the beginning of the year, all my photos were real dark. I finally figured it out, I somehow changed a setting in my menu to underexpose by -2 but I have no idea how I changed it or how I figured out what I did and how to fix it. But it is fixed now and I plan to start using it again. I am also doing Project Life, I've uploaded photos for January and sent them to print, I should receive them early next week. My daughter and I are getting together next Sunday to work on our albums together. I sort of forced her into it and now I must follow through. Maybe one or both these will make my list of four new things next January, we'll just have to wait and see.

Other News...
My daughter and I have moved back into our newly remodeled office. As soon as we get everything unpacked I'll share a few pictures.

Also, I'd like to take a digital scrapbooking class (I have PSE10) but have no idea where to start. If any of you know of a good starting place, please share. TIA.

Happy Valentines Day...

I hope your day is filled with Love!
I received some beautiful flowers from the husband. I struggle so he will be receiving the usual, a card and some chocolates. What do you get your man for this special day?