I pinned, and then I did...

I crafted...

*Made my sweetie a card, using blackout poetry. (Sorry for the crappy photo.) Yes, the example of blackout poetry that I pinned was far better, but guys, this is so much freakin' harder than it looks! Or maybe it's just me. Care to guess what book this page came from? (Btw, don't shoot me--I did not purposefully destroy a book; the pages of this were just falling out all over. Figured giving it new life was better than the recycle bin.)

*Here is the image I pinned. It's from a shop called Googly Eye Art. I fell in love, and knew immediately that I wanted to make something like this for Maxidoodle's ornament this year. Every year, the kiddos get a new ornament for their own personal little Christmas trees. Sometimes store bought, sometimes homemade. Obviously, this year I'm going with homemade.





*And on the happy side, I crafted up two other pins as well, but on the sad side, I can't share them because recipients might see this.

And I kitchened...

*Another crappy picture, sorry. But oh my heavens, is this delicious! Pinned from BH&G, it a rice pudding recipe made in the crock pot. (I've made rice pudding many a time in my day, but never in a crock pot before this.) Like I said, so yummy! I think it's the dried cranberries that really have me swooning on this one. And it made such a big batch that we not only had it for dessert, but I had it warmed back up with milk for breakfast several mornings.

*And I finally got around to making homemade vegetable broth from A Year of Slow Cooking. This is so freakin' awesome--I just can't believe I haven't done this before. I will certainly never buy vegetable broth again! So damn easy. And essentially free, except for the electricity used by the crock pot. It just used vegetable ends and peelings destined for the compost pile. And after you make the broth, they can go into the compost pile anyway. The house smelled so good all day when this was cooking! So good that Rich threatened to just drink the broth straight from the slow cooker--ha! this coming from the guy who doubted it would work to start with. :P I froze some of it, and used some of it in my final pin...

*Which was this incredible soup, pinned from here, yep, from none other than Amanda of Fig and Thistle. I changed it up just a bit (to make it work for us vegetarians in the family), by using the veggie broth from above pin instead of the water and chicken bouillon granules and by eliminating the bacon. And as I don't have an immersion blender and I like chunks in my soup anyway, I just put about half of it in the blender and then added it back with the unblended portion. SOOOOOO YUMMY! Even Rich, who isn't a fan of creamy type soups, loved it! Heck, even Max ate some--and he *never* eats soup. Thank you, Amanda!!!

So yes, I'm counting this a successful Pin It and Do It for me--seven pins did (though I could only share five). Thanks again to our lovely hostess, Trish! You are so adored, lady!

changes...

I mentioned last week how inspired I was by my dear friend Kara's journey to simplify and balance her life. And I know this is a journey I need to begin. Not in the future, but now. Of course this will be an ongoing process, but I need to start. I need to.

I keep putting off doing the things I *want* to do, and focusing on all the "shoulds" instead. But I need to step back and take a look at those "shoulds"...because I have a feeling that when examined, I'll find that I've used some pretty faulty reasoning in sticking some things in that category to start with. And if I can learn to let go of some of that, it will hopefully leave more time for focusing on the things I truly want to spend my time on.

Ah, but there's another thing I've been pondering...what the hell is that I do want?!! Well, I'm currently working on that...sorting it all out is a little harder than it seems it ought to be. I find myself saying I want things, but then realizing that some of it is just stuff I think I should want, rather than things truly desired by my heart. I'm working on it.

There are, however, three things that keep screaming at me...and perhaps they shall end up being the basis of everything: 1. time spent with my immediate family, 2. time spent on my friends, and 3. time to create.

*****
I know that one of the changes I need to make is cutting down on my internet time. Well, maybe that's not quite accurate--I think what I really need to do is refocus much of that time. I need to weed down my reader considerably. Yes, it will mean giving up reading blogs that I do enjoy. But the return will be that I can spend more time online with the people I love, with the sites that bring me the most inspiration, with the projects that bring me happiness.

*****
It's no secret that I love projects. Truly truly love them. Anything just seems more fun when I relabel it as "A Project." :P But the self-induced stress that I often impose upon myself over a project--yeah, that I could like without. So if I find myself turning any project into something stressful as opposed to something fun, out it goes!

With that in mind, I'm joining in on Trish's latest round of Pin-It-and-Do-It. At the timid pinner level (1-3 pins). No stress. No stress. No stress. And hopefully a handful of fun things accomplished. :)

oops...

May is over. Gone. Not to arrive again for another eleven months. Which means that the lovely Trish's Pin It and Do It Challenge has come to an end. Scatterbrained me sort of lost track of time. I did "do" one more pin that I didn't post about. Really two. Well, actually two and a half. :P


Okay, here's the "one" pin:

So simple, but so cute! I eventually want to make a set of them, just waiting to have some more cute glass bottles to work with.

Hey, Chris, do you recognize any of that gorgeous tape? :D















Now, as for pin "two"...well, let's just say that one's best not shared. It was a recipe. It sucked. I'm sure the blame lies with my cooking, but nonetheless, I deleted that pin from my boards and I shall just not speak of it again.

And finally, the "half" pin:

Okay, technically, I guess I'm not even halfway done--I just have it halfway painted. We will then still need to put in a couple posts to actually put it up.

Sooooo...even if I only count the "one" pin from this post, when I add it to the three previous pins I done did, well, that's four pins. And that means I actually met my Pinterested goal. Yeah, no one's more shocked than I. :)

another pinned and did...

I'm not exactly moving out like some of the over-achievers participating in Trish's Pin It and Do It Challenge (yes, note the envy in my voice), but I am slowly chipping away at a few things. Seriously, I might even meet my goal. :)




Here are a couple pictures of #3, a pair of fingerless mittens for Annie for Christmas:

Thanks to my darling model Max (I couldn't well ask Annie to do it since they're going to be a present for her). Despite the unsmiling face there, he was really a good sport about it all. He just refuses to voluntarily smile for any pictures on general principle. What that principle is, I've no idea.

Anyway, they were quite an easy little project. Fun, too, in spite of the endless color changes and multiple ends to be buried. *ugh* And I really do think they came out super awesome. And obviously, so did Max, as he tried to con me into letting him keep them. Yep, I have a feeling there's another pair in my near future here, huh?

Thanks again, dear Trish, I'm ahead by one Christmas gift thanks to you. :)

a little of this, a little of that...

Two down! Yep, the "do it" part of pin number two has been done. Again, it was a ridiculously easy one. (To see the awesome things others are "DO-ing," do hop over to our lovely hostess, Trish's place.)

Homemade taco seasoning. Now it's not like I use taco seasoning every day, or even every week. But I do buy those little packets on a semi-regular basis. So why the heck did it never occur to me to make my own?!! It just seems so obvious in hindsight. Though, truth be told, even if I had thought of it, I'm not sure I would have had a clue where to start in trying to put together a good blend of spices. Ah, but here is where our good friend Pinterest comes in so handy! When during a journey of internet goofing off, I stumble across a recipe for taco seasoning--CLICK, pin it!

To be perfectly honest, I'm not really sure how it compares taste-wise to those prepackaged little packets, because I used it in a recipe I'd never made before. But I can say the recipe was a huge success (I figured it would be a battle to even get the boys to try it, but Max had three helpings!), so the seasoning couldn't have stunk, right? I do have the impression that this seasoning was a little hotter, spicy-wise, than the packaged stuff, and in this house, that's a good thing.

A happy aside: The taco casserole finished up my very first 50x50 list (#15--Try 50 new recipes)!!! Seriously, I can't believe I *finally* finished one!!! Now let's just hope it won't be another year and a half until the next one's completed, 'cause at that rate I'll be dead loooooong before I make it through.

*****
I went outside to take a few pictures of the new place yesterday afternoon. But then I got distracted and started taking pictures Max and Rich tossing the football instead. And then the camera battery died. So pictures of the house will just have to wait. Instead, here's a picture of Max.

I can't remember if I've mentioned before how much he'd been wanting to get a pink mohawk. There was much pleading. Unfortunately the "pink" part was just too pricey for our blood. :( But even after a couple of weeks, he's still loving his new look!
















And here's just a couple of shots of our peaceful little swamp.

Have a wonderful relaxing oh-so-happy weekend, everyone!!!!

Pin It and Do It...one down

So I finally got to the "Do It" part of my first Pin It and Do It entry. I'll get back to that in a sec. First though, I must tell you how utterly pathetic I realized I am. See, I was feeling absolutely giddy over the fact that I'd done something for the challenge. Giddy, just because I actually managed to do a small fraction of a challenge I'd signed up for. At this rate, I might just throw myself a party if I actually meet my goal of 4-7 pins. :P

What makes this oh-so-proud-of-myself-moment even more lame is how ridiculously easy a task I actually tackled. But hey, there were no rules about these pins having to tough, right? So anyway, here's what I did:

Super Easy Whole Wheat Biscuits

Mine don't look as good as hers...I'm pretending it's because hers are round and mine are square. Yeah, whatever. :P Important thing is that they probably taste the same, right?

And the verdict? Well, Max hated them (but then he's so not a bread person), Gray loved them, and Rich, Annie, and I all thought they were "okay." Not sure if I'll make them again, but I might.

I also get to count this cooking excursion as "another one down" for my 50x50, item 15--Try 50 new recipes. Tonight's supper actually added three to that list, as I made a new super-freakin' yummy recipe for baked ziti *and* a new dessert.

Said dessert, this decadent brownie pie, also made me think of our lovely Pin It and Do It challenge hostess, Trish. Any idea why, Trish? Yep, it's made in a springform pan.