Do you ever?

Do you ever have those ridiculously annoying conversations with people- you know- the ones where you aren't seeing eye to eye and neither of you can get through to the other person? Yeah, me too.

I know the saying "we agree to disagree" but sometimes that too is difficult to do. Typically it's even harder when it's someone you are close to.

Do you ever get told a secret- that you can totally keep- but are still so excited you just want to share the news with someone? Yeah, me too.

But the loyalty of me and my friendship with the other person does bind the secret and I do keep it.

Do you ever have a rough day and feel that the world is against you? Yeah, me too

But then I try to think of all the positive things in my life and it helps boost my mood.

Do you ever wish you could complete everything on your to-do list before the day is done? Yeah, me too

Although this doesn't happen often for me. Does it for you?

Do you ever make a decision and then later regret it? Yeah, me too

Decisions aren't taken lightly for some, but they allow us to learn and to grow. Decide on friends.

What are other things that tend to be a wall for you? Feel free to share :)

What you don't learn at school

For those of you who are unaware we had a huge storm over the weekend and lost our power just after 3 pm on Saturday April 12th. Our power was finally restored last night, April 14th just after 9 pm. This was a tough run without electricity. I thought you might enjoy hearing about the things thy don't teach you at school!

1) how to disengage your garage door during a power outage (yes, I now know how to do this!)
2) how often you take for granted electricity
3) how to flush the toilet if you don't have city water (after of course you get water from the Culligan man (aka dad))
4) how to balance a book and a flashlight to read while trying to stay warm under blankets
5) how many layers to wear to keep your body temperature normal
6) where to go to plug in your cell phone long enough to get a full charge

Other things that I've learned during the power outage
- my friends/family are awesome and have all reached out to help where they can (I already knew they were awesome- but I appreciate it so much that I'm still mentioning it :))
- my headlight (typically used for camping) proved to be super useful in getting around the house...and even easier than trying to hold the flashlight to read!

- someone should invite a non electricity based heated toilet seat so my butt doesn't freeze off just to pee
- my husband now wishes he had a smart phone
- when it's dark and 8 pm, it seems later, and with nothing else to do you get more sleep by going to bed early
- small generators are really convenient- even if it's just to run the refrigerator so you don't loose hundreds of dollars on the food
- eating out gets old- really fast!
- 5 gallon buckets and water pitchers come in handy to collect water from the Culligan man

A special thanks to my dad and mother-in-law for all their help- with water assistance, access to showers and laundry facilities, as well as a generator, we couldn't have done it without you! Thanks :)

Little updates

For the past 16 days I've been participating in the happy challenge. Every day I take a picture of something that makes me happy and share it on facebook. I love this challenge. It truly has made me approach my day a bit different- looking closer at the little things in my day. Things that sometimes go unnoticed, but more importantly- still make me happy!

Just a few of my happy posts!

In other news we bought a new refrigerator was delivered yesterday, we can FINALLY take down the Christmas lights outside since the snow is (mostly) gone, and I'm hosting a game night tonight. All exciting (and happy) things too! Life in my little lively life is good :)

Cooking yummies!

I love cooking. Both old recipes and new ones too. Now the clean up part- that I don't love! But who does really?!? Pinterest has been a great site to get connected with multiple recipes to try- and I've done just that- tried and LOVED most of the things that I've tried.

Not from Pinterest, however a beloved recipe indeed. This recipe also gave me my happy day #2- remembering my mom making this delicious recipe. So basic and quick, yet I would often ask for it for my birthday dinner! Go figure. Try it out. Let me know what you think!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1 onion, chopped

¾ teaspoon seasoned salt

1 (10 ¾ oz) can tomato soup

3 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 lb ground beef

1 (13 ¼ oz) can pineapple chunks, drained

Combine onion, salt, soup, lemon juice and brown sugar in glass dish. Microwave 3-5 minutes or until simmering- stirring halfway through cooking time.

Roll ground beef into 1-inch diameter meatballs. Place meatballs in above sauce. Spoon some sauce mixture over meatballs. Microwave 6-7 minutes or until meat is cooked through.

Stir in pineapple. Microwave for 1 minute.

Serve with rice.

Enjoy :)

100 Days of Happy

Thanks to the awesomeness of social media, I learned about the 100 days of happy! I went to the website to see what it is all about. Check it out here!  Basically you submit a picture a day- for a total of 100 days- of something that makes you happy. I LOVE this idea! I think it will really make people stop and view their day (and world surroundings) differently.

You can share your happy moments via facebook, twitter, or instagram, or you can even submit via email. My choice was to use facebook. I will admit, this is the first time I've ever used the hashtag in my facebook post before!

Day #1
I'm happy that I successfully finished my BBBS display board for The Family Expo this weekend in Newaygo.

My display board that I used last year- was just on tri-fold cardboard- this display is much sturdier and more professional. So happy to use it this weekend. 

What are some things that make you happy? Feel free to share in the comments- or better yet- join in the 100 days with me! Have a happy day everyone!

Terrific Tuesday

Although it's now Wednesday, I want to share some awesome things that happened yesterday!

First, we had another class of Cheerobix! St. Patty's style. I loved seeing everyone decked out in their green attire! For those of you who aren't familiar with Cheerobix it's an amazing workout that is a combination of zumba, and aerobics- but with pom poms, kicks and jumps! It's totally fun. And the even better part- we get to dress up in fun attire too!

These gems are from last night!

After the workout we went to The Station for some yummy food- and even better company :)

The cool part- 15% of our meal went to The Hope Project as a fundraiser to help support their cause- raising awareness of sex trafficking and bring restoration to those healing.

In addition to all this fun- I got a surprise in the mail! I won a facebook contest from Pam's Pantry  and got these for free!!!

Some of them I'll be trying for the first time and am excited for! Others are good old favorites! If you are interested in checking them out- they visit a TON of craft fairs throughout the state, and are featured at many local specialty stores too! All in all- not a bad Tuesday!

Saving Sites

For those of you (most of you) that know me well, you know that I'm very much a bargain shopping and love to save money. I figured I should share with you my top 3 favorite savings sites. Some of these might be a bit different than the typical saving sites.

1. Twice
This site allows you to purchase name brand clothing for a fraction of the original cost. It is previously owned, however they have strict guidelines on what they accept to sell. All of the things I've purchased has been in top-notch condition. The other awesome thing- you can also 'sell' your name brand items to them and receive money or store credit for your sale. What could be better? The fact that the shipping to send them your items is free! Neat, right?!? The website is super user friendly too. Love it! I'm pretty sure that since I referred you, you will receive a free $10 to get your started. If you load the app you will get more credit and once you do a 'sell' to them you will get credit again! They often have coupon codes to let you save 10 or 20% too. A great go to place when you need something new. Check it out when you get a chance.

2. Shopgoodwill
Who loves a great thrift score?!? This girl! If you are like me- you enjoy hunting and searching for a great find. Guess what--Goodwill has an online site that let's you do that too! AWESOME! I've been loving it! The set-up is very similar to ebay as far as bidding is concerned. Pay attention to additional shipping and/or handling charges. Some items can be a bit pricey to ship- however bids tend to be lower than that of ebay. An additional awesome thing about this site- they allow local pickup. So for anyone in Muskegon, you can do a specific search and only view items that are located in Muskegon. Then you are dodging the shipping costs. Pretty neat! The search function works great and allows consumers to use a keyword search or a category search. You will be able to find what you are looking for in no time!

3. MyPoints
I believe I've shared this site before- but I love the fact that you can earn free gift cards. On this site you earn points for completing surveys, clicking on email ads, and/or online shopping. Instead of going directly to the site you plan to purchase from- do so through MyPoints first. Each dollar spent will equal points that are distributed into your account. Once you have enough points you can redeem them for gift cards to your favorite store. Sweet, right?!?