Really???? almost 20 days since my last post!

What the?!?!? No updates, no pictures.. no nothing! Bad Blogger!

Ok ok.. now that I have gotten on myself about it.. let me post about what's going on so far in our lives..

well #1 - today is hubby's bday! Happy Birthday Hubby!! He turns 31 today and we are going to dinner with my inlaws(his mom and his brother) to a mexican restaurant called Gringos... YUM!

#2 - tithing is still active and moving quite along. Hubby and I have been talking (and praying) about giving a little more each week - ESPECIALLY because a great group of people are going on a mission trip to Belize!!! I sooo wish we could go, but right now GOD has other plans for us - so we will wait patiently until we can go later on a different trip. GOD is good!!!

#3 - spring cleaning has started (at full force - well ok, maybe not FULL force - but at a small pace) Anyway.. it's funny how I started this spring cleaning as I didn't quite intentionally come up with the plan, but somehow I am starting right at the front door and working my way around. The reason I say I am starting at the front door is because I started with the coat closet which is right next to the front. So because of this, I will probably go to through the house from the front to the back, then upstairs, then I'll be done!

So here is the update on the front closet - the befores: (praying for a new camera - one day!)

HOLY SHOES BATMAN!!!!!

MAN.. ARE THERE REALLY COATS IN THERE???

UM.... WHY ARE THERE PURSES IN THE 'COAT' CLOSET????

MAN I DON'T KNOW HOW WE FOUND STUFF IN HERE....
YUP... THOSE ARE APPROXIMATELY 502 PAIRS OF SHOES... IN THE COAT CLOSET...

ok.. so now that I have completely embarrassed myself by showing the internet blog world my coat closet mayhem... here is what I used to tackle the shoe issue. I bought two shoe racks at WalMart - each was $3 and some change. It only allows 9 pairs of shoes on each, so that means, no more than 9 pairs for either myself or my hubby. The funny thing is that we only wear the same 3 pairs each week (with the occasional, random pair here and there) so why there were 502 pairs in the coat closet is beyond me!

So I should have taken a picture of a) the 10 pairs of shoes that we donated to the Goodwill, b) the number of purses that I took upstairs to the purse storage area. c) the scarves and extra stuff that was in the closet that shouldn't have been.. but hey.. what can you do?? So below, you have the VOILA! moment. How nice the shoes look in there... wow!!!

You can actually see that this is a coat closet!! Awesome! Well it's kind of a late (seeing as how it is SPRING and folks won't be needing to use our coat closet... hopefully it will stay that way until fall/winter)

ahhhh.. look at the space!!!

Good times!!! Now on to tackle the front entry area (btw.. the coat closet is the little door handle there to the right of the front door)... It seems that this is the catch all as well as mail central - but it is also MAGAZINE central. I don't know that I have read more than 3 of those magazines... I need to come up with a better idea for this. On the plus, do you see the key holder. I got that from Pottery Barn - it's engraved with our last name! I LOVE it and it only cost me $10!!! Score one for me! I got it in 07 for Christmas and ended up getting one for every sub family in my family (you know aunt/uncles) It was a hit!! Oh and the oval above the front door says Faz Family Established 2006 (the year we got married). I got it on Etsy from seller elephannie - she is wonderful and will work with you to get exactly what you want (and her prices are not bad either!!)

Hey!! There is a shoe escaping the organized closet... do you see it???

Well stay tuned for more pics of spring cleaning to come!!!

Hasta!
Adri.

Say hello to my new bff...

Ok.. so for a while now - even before I became a domestic goddess - I lusted after one of these but couldn't justify the price of getting it... You are probably thinking, what could she be talking about?

Well, this my friends is what I am talking about -

That's right... this is exactly what I have wanted!!! Now more than ever as since we moved into our house, we have had little tumbleweeds floating around on the new carpet. (it always happens with new carpet) So anyway.. there are several versions of the Dyson... we got the DC14 with complete kit... basically its a super charged old school style vacuum. The newest Dysons come with ONE ball in the back and mine is old school and has 2 small ones... which is mighty fine with me as I am not paying extra for a fancy ball that lets you pivot a little better when vacuuming! LOL.. anyway - we got a great price and I am happy that Hubby let me get it!
anyway.. here is the whole thing outside of the box:

Isn't it beautiful?!?!?

Here are the attachments close up:

WHOA!!! Look at all that fun stuff! It has a stair brush (the top left) an extra filter (top middle) hard floor sweeper (right top) and the bottom three are small are vacuum pieces. I already tried the stair brush last night and now my stairs are clean, with lines, fluffed to it's beautiful fullness!

I am in love and will forever have a great, clean carpet... ahhhhhhh....

Love it!

Hasta!

Adri

One more post and them I'm out... for today..

So.. the hubbs and I are constantly thinking of ways to save some money - ok maybe not constantly, but right now - we have hit the ground running in the debt demolishing game!!! It's definitely gonna be fun to see that debt just start disappearing!!! :)

Anyway... one of the ways that I have 'cut back' is my morning coffee routine. Every morning I would pick up a bottled coffee drink (either in the deli downstairs or a the convenience store) and it would set us back between $2.00 - $2.50 per bottle - AND sometimes hubby would get in on the action - so that could possibly mean $5.00 that day.
Anyway.. when you add up $2.50 per day (M-F) that's $12.50 a week - add in another $5.00 because hubby will get in atleast 2 days a week... so total (per week) is $17.50 (yowza)

So I had to start thinking of ways to 'get my coffee fix' for less moola! So since I like cold coffee, I started to think about how I could make my own coffee at home and came up with a 'recipe' First I tried it by making regular strength coffee, letting it cool off, adding half/half, sweetener, ice, and voila! Milk with coffee flavored water! -- It did not taste good... So I thought about how could I change it up. Well while shopping at my favorite couture grocery store (WalMart) I walked down the coffee aisle only to find that they had BIG bottles of flavored syrup. So I thought.. how about if I make the coffee double strength and add a little bit of flavored syrup....maybe then it won't taste so watered down??? so I did and YUMMY!!!! It was great! So I wanted to share how I made the yummy drink:


The way I do it is brew half a pot at full pot strength.

Sorry about all the coffee pot pictures - I Love my coffee pot!!! - Ok... so when it's all brewed up and ready to go, pour it in a Tupperware pouring type container, but dont close it (as it will still be super hot - see the steam n the bottle on right??)

Once it is cooled, close it up and put it in the fridge for the next day! (or later on that night) When it is nice and cooled, get your glass ready for the mix. I usually put in my sweetener and syrup in the glass first - I like that it flavors the milk (or cream) for you before you get the coffee in there. I don't know if it makes a huge difference to pour in the coffee first and then the sweetener??... but I like it! see here:
Ok.. so let's be honest here. I actually like coffee in my milk <-- if you get what I am saying, so I will pour in half/half about a third of the way into the glass - you do not have to use 1/2 & 1/2, but I like the creaminess of it, so I go with it. Sometimes I do mix it up with 2% milk. It's whatev! See below:
Now it's time to add the cooled coffee. With this I usually go another third of the way up the glass... see below: YUM!
Now just add the ice...
Seriously! This is so not my glass... look how small it is! The one below is my glass! Oh Yeah!

So there you have it.

Here is how I figure I would save money in the long run.

Buying bottled coffee everyday (M-F) = $17.50 per week (remember the numbers from above?)so $17.50 X let's say 40 weeks, cause lets face it, I may not work some of those weeks or maybe I'll skip a day here or there... etc. = $700.00
WHOA NELLY!!!!!

ok. ok.. calm down... let's see how the savings will add up...
1 Big can container of coffee - $6.98 - will last about 2 mths
1 Carton of half & half - $1.27 (WalMart brand) - will last about 2 weeks if I mix in 2% so I usually buy two for the month - so $2.54
1 bottle of Vanilla Syrup -$5.86 - will last about 1 mth
1 box of equal (500) - hubby got it, so I am not sure how much it was - prob $8.00? - will last about 4 months

Ok... so let's do the savings math... ok.. let's talk about the same time frame - so 40 weeks... so 10 mths...

coffee - $6.98X5 = $34.90 (each container lasted 2 mths, so 2X5 = 10 mths)
1/2 &1/2 = $2.54 X 10 = $25.40 ( two cartons cost $2.54 and last 1 mth, so 2.54X10 mths)
vanilla = $5.86 X $58.60 (1 bottle lasts a month, so $5.86X10)
Equal = $8.00 X 2.5 = $20.00 (one box lasts 4 months.. so to get to 10 mths.. you would multiply by the amount by 2.5)
ok.. so the grand total of it all is: $ 138.90!!!!

Which means that by making my own yummy beverage en casa I am saving my little family $700-$138.90 = $561.10!!!!!! hmmm I wonder what I can buy with that... LOL.. J/K!!!

Don't get me wrong. I will still go out every once in a while when I am hanging out with my girls to get a cup o joe from one of those fancy places!! You know which one...

Hasta!
Adri.

Spring is in the air!!!

Ok.. so the Hurricane left our garden in shambles and we just havent had time (or the motivation) to fix it up. But you know what they say, when your neighbors yard starts to look good, there is no other motivation than good ol' get your but in gear!

So my neighbor HOOKED IT UP in her garden/yard and I just couldn't stand it! I asked her to please tell me who did it and did they possibly give her a good break on the price. She said he did, so she gav me his number and I called him up. I told him I only had xx amount of $$ to do the job and if he could do it, he was hired.

So he said yes and three days later - woohoo!! New garden... Here are the pictures that can tell you exactly how it started, how it looked during the set up and after!!! Enjoy!!

Here are the befores: (yikes!)

During:

after: (please excuse the lighting as it was overcast)

so how do you turn pics around?? In anycase.. check out the flowers around our one little tree!

aaaaahhhhhhh... looking goodddddd!

Hasta!

Adri

Three Years Ago Today....

So it's been a while since I have posted on the blog, but hey.. Life gets in the way.

Anyway back to my post message. Three years ago today is when the hubby and I got married! Awwww.. how cute, you say! Well I let me post a few pictures of before, during and present time of our married life! Love you hubby!!

This is us at our wedding reception at the sweetheart table that was set up for us.This is us cutting the wedding cake that my Grandma made for us. Yum.. I got the cake topper in Mexico and now it sits on our mantle (see next pic)
See our cake topper on the mantle (kind of hard to see) anyway.. this is how I decorated for Valentines... super cute! Here we are at my hubby's 29th birthday partay... We are soo cute! LOL...

And then here we are, this year, celebrating my 29th birthday... um.. jean jacket much?

So we have had a great time through the years... I love you hubby and can't wait to spend many years with you!!

Oh and just for good measure, here is another picture from the wedding, but this is with my MOH (my little sister) and now she is getting married this year and I am her MOH! Cool beans!!!

Hasta!

Adri