Day 4: Shortest post ever in life!!

I have literally been at the computer most of the day! No time for pictures or anything! This is what happens when you have to confirm with the caterers, finish the guest table list, verify tickets sold, finalize decorations and programs!! If I wasn't in front of my laptop at home I've been in front of the desk computer at church! And Nicki and I still have to work on the the final part of the video presentation!! I've been so busy I almost forgot to eat and none I've my usual housework had been done but that's a given the week of an event. And this event is extra special because its honoring my hubby!

So I'm not sure what I will actually blog the next few days but I guarantee I will blog something!! Even if its just a picture of the program!!! lol 

It's been freezing cold since I got back home and Marc is working late so I decided a bowl of smashed potatoes with cheese would be my reward for the day!! 

The only plans I have for the rest of the evening is snuggling up under my blanket and watching YouTube and some TV! 

Day 3

With the change in time last night you would think I would enjoy an extra hour of sleep! Umm no!! I ended up waking up when Marc did at the crack of dawn!

He gets up early on Sunday mornings to study and prepare for service. 

So since I'm up as well might as well make good use of time and read a few chapters from the latest book I'm reading. I've let my love of books fall by the sidelines sort of like my scrapbooks (which I'm really starting to miss doing).

Of course I had to get my Sunday morning praise on! 

I figured if I ate fruit for breakfast it would make up for the Krispie Kreme donut I knew I would eat from the cafe at church!! lol That and very sweet, very dark cup of black tea made in hubby's Keurig! Would now be a good time to say how much I want one of those for our kitchen at home?? lol

After service Marc and I headed to IHop for dinner. It's been a while since we ate out on Sunday. And definitely a while since we had been to IHop. The funny thing is we are so well known at IHop that several of the servers came up to say hi! lol My husband has never met a person he couldn't hold a conversation with. 

I'm still in anniversary preparation mode even on Sunday afternoon. Picked up glasses and plates for the head table! I keep telling y'all...the Dollar Tree is this event planners best friend!! 

Right now Marc and I are just chillin and watching tv. Well actually he's watching tv. I'm just chillin! lol 

November Daily Blog: Day 1 and 2

So I've decided to blog each day during the month of November. My original plan was to start yesterday but unfortunately I was traveling yesterday to my moms to be with family for the home going of my Godfather which took place this morning. So I'm combining a bit of yesterday and today.

Next week Marc and I will celebrate 5 years at WABC so I also went home early to collect some flowers from my cousin that we used at the wedding this summer. I spent most of last night transforming the centerpieces from wedding flowers to the color scheme of our banquet luncheon which will take place on Saturday. 

This morning my mom, my cousins and I left early for the funeral which took place at 11 am at my godfathers home church. 

My godfather was a very special man. He not only baptized me as a child but officiated at our wedding. He also traveled with our family on our first ever trip to WDW. Please keep my godmother in your prayers. They were married over 50 plus years. 

I came back home with my aunt and uncle after the funeral. Marc would have been there but he's in class in weekends and with our anniversary coming up next weekend he is just not able to skip out on to many classes. He is a sweet man though because he sent me a text several times asking if I was ok. I was surrounded by many of my family members including my mom so he knew I was in good hands. The fact that he checked on me anyhow makes him even more special to me. 

I didn't want to sit around the rest of the afternoon so I decided to attend the Breast Cancer Awareness program that was bring held at WABC. Earlier in the week I had stated I probably wouldn't be there because of the funeral but at the last minute I changed my mind. 

Although breast cancer is a hard subject for me ( I have had and still have a girlfriend at this moment who is dealing with this) I am glad I went. There is nothing like hearing others testimony and stories to remind you that life is worth celebrating and that you should never take it for granted. Here are a few pics from the event. 

The young lady that spoke had a powerful testimony to share about how this event in her life instead of taking her out brought her closer to God. Like I said it was a reminder of just how important it is to live life, love on people and count each day you get to live on this earth as a blessing and an opportunity to give back in some capacity. 

Organized sink and additional projects down the pike!

With the exception of a tweak here or there I am finally finished with my under kitchen sink makeover!! 

Remember the before?

I kept waiting for the sun to come out so I could take a better picture (hence the reason this post is sooo late...lol). Other then a caddy for the items in the front I am very pleased with my new set up. I purged so many items from this cabinet that its ridiculous. I would show you the box but its slightly embarrassing! I will say that most of the items were purchased by my hubby who is always looking for a bargain and tends to buy it in bulk if he can get a great deal (remember the Shout?). I love that about him most of the time but it does make keeping the clutter at bay a challenge. He's been told to only buy my top favorite cleaners from now on. I will do a post on them very soon. 

We also tend to but the large bottles of products and I have strategically placed them in the very back since they are only needed when I refill a bottle. My "extras are in a medal container behind that strip in the middle of the cabinet. To the right are floor related products and in the middle are my daily grab items. The stacked blue boxes are from Target (my new best friend) and were only 3 bucks a piece. They hold a lot of misc. items (wipes, extra cloths, scrubbies and sponges). Right now I have newspaper down on the cabinet bottom but I hope to get peal and stick tiles in the future. I must say its a lot less creepy looking under there and I know right where I need to go when I'm looking for something.

I also utilized the inside door area with hooks and a towel rack I picked up a while ago at Marshall's in their home section. Other then the caddy and the tiles for the cabinet bottom I am done with this project!! On to the next cluttered space!!! LOL

Which in my case is the Laundry room!! Need I say more?

But thanks to Targets big home sale this is going to be a breeze! Pinterest has been a great source of inspiration for tackling this room...finally! Now to just get motivated to pull out all of that stuff, purge and organize it. 

The next project will take me into the new year as I try to convert my oldest daughters room into our guestroom, Thanks to Target's big sale I snagged a comforter for $13 and a set of sheets for less then $7! The color theme is gray, aqua and yellow. I hope to paint most of the room a smoky gray and accent one wall with the aqua blue. I have my eye on a yellow chair at Target but the price would have to go way down for me to buy it so I'm looking at other options.

Umm, yah...way down! LOL

I did less Fall decorating that I thought I would do but that will be posted in an upcoming blog post. I skipped September favorites but I have every intention of getting back on track next month and next week I will post my thoughts on my October Ipsy bag! Anybody else have any household projects in the works? Care to share?

Fall Cooking!

I'm still working on the organization under my kitchen sink. I'm taking my time and really thinking about what I want to keep under there and how and what products I want to use to organize with. Hopefully after living with a few more weeks I will have something to show you all!

It's been almost a year since I reorganized our pantry. It still looks pretty good but I do think its time to edit out some stuff that may have passed their time/expiration period. I think if I had done this from the start my pantry would never have gotten into the condition it did.

I finally broke down and created a house management binder! I fought this tooth and nail, especially doing a weekly meal plan. I'm so glad I changed my mind because this has made cooking a lot more fun. Now if I only felt that way about cleaning! lol

All jokes aside. Having a plan has made it less stressful when it comes to cooking. I plan a week out the actual meal (just dinner in our case) and at the start of that week I pull out my grocery list and buy only the items I need for that week. Hopefully this will eventually cut down on waste and the mess that is my refrigerator some time! This is becoming increasingly more important now that I'm actually only creating meals for Marc and myself. 

My mom came into town this weekend. I don't know what got into me but I caught the cooking bug and went a tad crazy! By the way this was my families first time having Sriracha! 

Starting with baking my second ever batch of banana bread. Now I'm not throwing away those ripe bananas! lol

Having this baking basket in my pantry has been a godsend! I just pull the while basket down and when I'm done it all goes back in and is put away in a jiffy! 

Next to Pinterest YouTube is the best place to get recipe ideas. I picked up this guacamole recipe after watching it on Benjimantv .

Not bad if I say so myself! 

Have you ever had frozen grapes? Don't ask me why but this has become a favorite snack! My family doesn't agree! lol

I also made homemade lasagna. With sauce from scratch! And I used the lasagna that you can just bake without boiling it first. I don't think I will ever go back to using the other version again. I use to make lasagna more often but that was the one step I hated the most! I also made mom breakfast every morning (including Sunday which I never do). Yes, it's officially fall if I'm baking and cooking! lol

Especially if it includes making homemade hot soup!

The only thing I haven't mastered is baking cakes and pies! So when I'm craving pies ( my favorites are sweet potato, pecan, key lime and lemon meringue). I like pies so much I've been known to ask for a pie for my birthday instead of a cake! So what's your favorite things about fall? For me its the weather, decorating, fall attire and of course the food! 

Fall organizational projects

Now that Fall is officially here its time to break out the fall decor ( which also means Christmas decor is not far behind). So in order to get ready for all of the holidays ahead I'm trying to tackle a few projects that I've had to put off do to my injuries. Of course you all know I just finished the upstairs linen closet and now I've started in on the dreaded sink!

Lets face facts...this is a scrabbled hot mess! I started by pulling everything out! And I do mean everything!! The next step was to sort, purge and clean!

So far so good! I may still purge a few more items and I need to find new homes for the things I took out but still would like to keep. The next step is to figure out what type of containers to use in order to give it a more cohesive look without compromising on the organizational aspects of the area. Y'all know me..it's no fun if I can't make it look pretty! lol 

I did find a solution for one problem I was having. I love that my make-up and jewelry has a more defined space but I found my jewelry would end up all over the house when I would come back from church, an errand or a trip. The past two weeks I have been at a conference ( one week) and we just wrapped up a week long of events at WABC. So needless to say my stuff was everywhere! I had baskets left over from our women's workshop this summer that I got from the dollar store. One is going to my moms house so that I have something to tote my toiletries in when I stay with her. One is under my island in the kitchen and is holding the tops for my glassware. The third one now is the "dumping" ground for my jewelry each night with the understanding that at the end of the week I return the pieces to my jewelry cabinet. 

Ministry Wrap Up (September)

Thought I would try a new format for my ministry updates. Welcome to my monthly wrap ups! September was a crazy busy month and our schedule is not any lighter over the next few months.

Last month we announced the 5th year celebration of Marc and I being at WABC! I can't believe its been 5 years! Your all welcome to come join us! LOL

A group of our ladies attended a Women's conference at the start of September. We spent three nights getting our tank filled back up! It was great preparation for our Fall Revival the following week! LOL

Marc with some of his fellow VUU mates the week of revival. 

One of Marc's favorite things is dedicating babies back to God. We seem to have a baby explosion going on at WABC at the moment! Not a problem for my hubby. Its not like we have any grands of our own yet! LOL

The church held a fashion show/talent competition a few weeks ago. The hit of the night was apparently one of our deacons who dawned a wig and fancy shirt for the occasion! Love that our folks don't mind having a bit of fun.

This is my Auntie. Apparently she was the fashion diva of the evening in her all leather suit! Wonder if she will let me rock that suit for a special occasion somewhere? 

My daughter Quisha is in the middle. She along with her church and Pastor were our guest last weekend for our annual Homecoming service.

This weekend Marc did his second favorite thing to do at WABC. And that was to baptise one of our youth! Jayla was so excited about making a commitment to Christ that she got in the pool before Marc even realized. And when she came up out of the water she gave him a big hug! 

Ministry can be tough and its definitely not all Roses and Chocolate but when things like this happen you forget all of that and remember why you do what you do!!!! I'll be back next month with highlights from October including our 75th Church Anniversary.