Florida Keys

We took a short trip down to the Florida Keys. 

 It was a nice break from the cold winter we have been having here in Maryland. 

Here are some highlights.

The view from the top!



Sunset at the seven mile bridge.



Fort Zachery

Sunset in Key Largo

Key West Lighthouse

Roosters are all around the keys

Stuff Stuff Stuff...

It is week #7 over at:

I have been busy with work so I only had time to organize my junk drawer.

I may not have a lot of stuff but I am a stuffer!  I hate to see things on the counters, tables, chairs…. So I stuff things!  My new goal is to put stuff back to where it belongs,  Ha! I will let you know how that works out.

So after paring down the tools and office supplies

and putting things back to where they belong, we have THIS!

Not too shabby!

So the questions to ponder this week are:  
 1.   Let’s talk stuff!  What have you tossed out this week?  I haven’t tossed too much out this week, just a broken flashlight.  My junk drawer was full of misplaced items.  So they all went back to the homes!
2.  Have you ever regretted something you’ve gotten rid of? I am not a big STUFF person so NO I really don’t miss anything I have gotten rid of. 
Why? N/A
3. How tempted are you to rush out and pick up pretty organizing containers first?  I have learned to go through my area I am organizing and THEN look around the house to see if I can use anything I already have to contain it.  If I don’t then I go to the dollar store (great place) to get the containers I need.  I am trying to make this organizing adventure cost as little as possible!

I will be away from my computer next week so

I wanted to leave you a little hint as to what I am working on. 

Do any of you have old frames?  I have a storage tub full of them. 

So I thought, do I love them? NO

Do I use them? NO

So will I throw them out or donate them? NO

Stay tuned to see what I am going to do with them.

On My Nightstand

I have been trying to get off the computer and do more crafts and READ. 

I don't have a favorite genre,

just books that people recommend, books I find at Ollies (best place for cheap books)

and of course my favorite place, the library. 

I love books on travel, cooking, photography, organization, devotionals.... 

Clutter Rehab  and Organized Simplicity are about organizing not only your things but also how we can live a more simple life.
One Thousand Gifts is a Day Spring Bookclub book. 
Cure For the Common Life I'm going to find my "sweet spot"!!
Walking with God in America and New England Coast (Ollie finds!)  Are picture books with wonderful captions.

What are you reading right now?



More Doodling and Tangling

So here is what I have been working on

for the past week.  I am really into the tangles. 

They are really relaxing. 

 I want to work on a 12x12 one next. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Meet my new friends.  I can't see the tip on the 005

but it makes awesome tiny details! 

 I have discovered the joys of doodling.  I follow Stephanie's Blog   

and started doodling but then my friend

 Jay said, “If you like to doodle, you should check out Zentangle "

So I googled it and I love what I found. 

Yes doodling has been around since the caveman days,

 but I was intrigued by all the design (tangles).

  So I combined Stephanie’s doodle

style and added some tangles and I came up with this:

Here is a peek at what I am working on now.



Games

Do you play games???? 

 Like we play games…… 

We love to gather around the table and battle

it out with our favorite games. 

We play at least two games a day. 

Playing game is so much better than TV. 

 I love spending time with my family. 

So what is your favorite game? 

 Here is a picture of our most played at the moment.

Spring Is In The Air

Spring was in the air today. 

So we took advantage of the sunny skies and hit the trails. 

We are fortunate to have a great trail system right outside our front door.

This deer was keeping an eye on Blue!



Our cat took advantage of the warm sunshine today too. 

She spent the afternoon sunning herself on the deck railing.

"Sunshine! Wonderful Sunshine!"




Our snowman took a beating from the sun today.

"I'm MELTING!"

Have a blessed Sunday!

Every season brings a reason to rejoice.

What's For Dinner Tonight....

The family favorite, Pizza Casserole is a popular meal

 in this household.  I learned to make this when I was

17 and living with my brother. 

 It is a very economical meal.  I pair it with

Bisquick Cheese-Garlic Biscuits add a salad to round out the meal.

My recipe isn’t exact. I kind off just toss the four ingredients in a casserole dish. Here is my closest guess:

¾ lb. ground beef

¾ bag Egg Noodles

1 can Contadina Pizza Sauce

1 8oz bag of Mozzarella Cheese (add more if you like it cheesy)

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Take out casserole. 

Then turn up your oven to 425 and  put in your biscuits for 9 minutes.



Pantry

This is week #5 over at

This week I chose to organize my pantry

Twirly Thing!

PANTRY, YIKES! 

Man, I didn't know I had so much food!

First thing I did was take everything OUT of all my food storage shelves.

This still looks crowded but I placed

BAKING on top and BREAKFAST on the bottom. 

So at least I know what is on the shelves.

Each shelf has a purpose!  No more diggingfor stuff!

A couple questions to ponder:

1. Name ONE reason you want to get organized. It will be neat to see the variety of answers. I organize to make our lives function more easily.

2. What did you organize last week & were you happy with the way it turnout?

I organized my pantry and Now I can SEE what I have to use.

It makes for easy menu planning!

Then I sorted them into categories.  

After that I placed things back on the shelves according to the categories. 

 I then made cute tags to place on the shelves. 

So now it looks like this:

See the cute tags I doodled!

I gathered all my sprinkles in one basket!

I emptied boxes an filled this basket!

and my “twirly” cabinet. 

You know the one in the corner that you spin. 

 I have spun this thing

around and around looking for stuff I knew I bought but couldn’t find. 

So frustrating!    

Doodle Doodle

I finished my doodle lesson for the week. 

 I went a little crazy practicing to make letters. 

I made labels for my pantry (you will see those tomorrow). 

The word Stephanie had us doodle was LOVE.

 I did a couple Bible verses with love in them too.

This one is a bit busy for my eyes but I had fun making it!

Something New

I began a new BLOG.  It is all about photography. 

I love taking pictures and I always have a camera handy. 

If you would like to learn a bit more about taking pictures,

please come and join me. 

I will be having technique "lessons" and

 themes that you can sumbit your pictures to the gallery

(a work in progress) 

The Lord's beauty is all around us and in EVERYTHING we see & do. 

We just have to slow down and take a look. 

Join me on my journey!