3 good things

It has been a rough week so far over here.  Between the crazy snow and the crazy kids it has been exhausting at some moments.  Enter Jess from IROCKSOWHAT.  She is doing a 3 good things linky.  All you have to do is post 3 good things that have happened.  I am pretty sure I can come up with three good things from today.  I appreciate the reminder.  I definitely needed some perspective!  

So.....

1. The snow has stopped finally.  No shoveling today.  W00t!  My back and wrists can get a chance to heal up.

2. The kids didn't wake up screaming.  Yeah that is totally normal in our house.  I think that I have figured out Lola finally.  About time since she is freaking 4.  That girl needs time after she wakes up to wake slowly and quietly.  She needs extra time to be calm.  Since trying that out our mornings have been so much smoother.  Good thing because she and I were on the verge of a breakdown!  She be cray!

3.  I finally got my knitting in the round to not be twisted.  4th times the charm.  And I am loving it!   

Foggy

We had some lovely foggy weather last week.  It was awesome!!  We get a lot of smog in Utah but not a whole lot fog.  So we were a little overly-excited.  Nick went on a walk up to our corner store and took the Canon along just in case.

I love the ethereal feeling you get looking at foggy pictures.

Pretty fog!

I love that you can't see the end of the street.  Fog makes everything so mysterious.  Like another world is on the other side as opposed to a stop sign.

Oh and some birds.  Did you know I hate birds?  I love pictures, sculptures, songs and art that depicts birds but being around them?  Not so much.

Two bite cheater brownies

I have started making at least one treat a week.  Really I should keep it to one treat a week.  But some weeks just call for a second treat!  Doing a treat a week has been fun because it is easy to have the kids help with baking.  They can do everything but get them in and out of the oven.  These two bite brownies were our first one.  

I would post a recipe except for the fact that they were a box brownie mix.  Oh and I did add half a bag of peanut butter chips.  Ritzy!  They are cheater cheater baking.  Sometimes that is my favorite.  I really enjoy baking from scratch.  I love the super sensory experience of measuring out all the ingredients.  That being said there is something great about tossing the ingredients in and throwing it in the oven.  The fact that there is no sifting or forgetting ingredients involved is nice.

They don't list on the box the bake time for mini muffin size brownies.  I baked them for 20 minutes and they came out great!  I will also spray the cups with Pam the next time since they stuck real bad to the cups.

They were surprisingly good.  I am starting to dream up all the different things you can add to mix it up. How about chopped Andes mints?  Or nuts and carmel pieces?  Yum!

Sunday Song

Barely made it for Sunday Song!  Passion Pit is an awesome Indie band.  They are coming to my town but it is totally sold out already.  BOO!!

Weekend Links

Picture taken by Nick.  He is so talented!

We have been sick at our house this week.  Nicco missed the entire week of school!  No good.  But it has actually been pretty great having him home.  He is funny and freaking cute.  Lola has been a huge helper.  As per usual.  She is so so rad!  Even being sick she is always willing to help me.  Nick and I are working to get out of some debt and we set up some auto bill pays this week to get our finances under control.  It is a simple thing but I am so proud of us!  One step of many.  It is one of our new years resolutions and we are really working on it.  Any advice anyone can give us would be fantastic!  We aren't going about it totally blind but we are always open to other ideas.  

Lets move on shall we?

This pendulum lamp is totally cool.  I love the look of the twirled yarn.  Plus the tutorial looks simple.  My favorite type of tutorial!

Between the freezing temps and horrible inversion we have been spending a lot of time inside.  We are all going a little nuts!  Time for some kids crafts.  This link has a couple for different age groups.  Every one of those crafts were created by Merilee who is the lady behind MerMag blog.  One of my all time favorites!

I love Valentines Day!  All things Valentines Day!  Which is totally weird because I usually hate hearts.  But I want these sweet heart gloves!

Sweet heart bookmarks.  Perfect for someone who loves to read.  HA!  Pun totally intended.

Tulle skirts are so great!  I have always wanted one but wonder if I can really pull off a super puffy skirt.  No need to worry anymore!  Tulle skirt that is sleek.  Woot!

Ever wonder what the mystery flavor of Dum-Dums actually is?  You will never know for sure!  Which I basically love.

Best Pesto.  Need I say more?

ZELDA!!

I have to figure out better ways to "style" my pictures.  Or really style them at all for that matter.  HA!  Anywho... 

Any nerds out there?  Recognize that symbol?  It is the tri-force from Zelda.  Nick grew up playing it as a kid.  Old 8-bit Zelda.  Geek!  I love it!  I wanted to make him something for Christmas this year.  And he loves Zelda- hence the pillow.  I love the idea of having things things that we make with our own hands in our home.  I am getting super sentimental as the years go by.  The triforce is actually gold but I went with white and black since that will blend with any decor we choose in the future.  Plus it is everywhere right now.     

 I hand painted the symbol on.  I wanted to have a messy look so I pretty much just painted the lines on and filled them in.  It would be pretty easy to piece for anyone who quilts. 

I was going for a crazy stripe back but I am thinking it needs to be more crazy!  It looks a little bit like I just slapped it together.  I am telling you that it was actually intentional.

out with the old and in with the new

Nicco went back to school today.  I think that might be my signal that the holidays are officially over.  Time to put away all the decorations and get back into a routine.  Sad face.  Now is the time for New Years resolutions!  Do you set resolutions?  I do but usually fail miserably.  Like 2012!  I think that I did one and almost a second on that list.  I have great intentions!  However, I think that I set myself up for failure.  I set these WAY lofty goals.  So this year I am only going to set a couple of goals.  Here they are:

1. Lose the sarcasm!  

Nick and I are setting this one together.  We are very happy in our marriage but I think that if we aren't moving forward then we are moving backwards.  So we are working on making our marriage that much more solid.  We are going to work on not being sarcastic with each other.  It is biting and hurts.  It has no place in our home.

2. Stop procrastinating!

I am the worlds best procrastinator.  All that procrastinating does is add more stress to my life.  Out with the stress and in with the calm.

3.  Work on finances!

This includes continuing working on savings and getting as much debt paid down as possible.  We are wanting to buy a house within the next five years and we need to get our credit repaired and our debt down.  I feel like an adult typing that out.

That is that!  I do have a mantra that I am chanting to myself all day long.  That is  "Find the Joy".  It gets me through some days where the joy is hard to find.  It has become purposeful.  And something I am resolved to do!  

  If you will notice I did not set a weight loss goal.  Weird for me but I have come to the conclusion that that is a life goal.  Not one that will be done within a year.  It feels good to finally come to that realization.     

Sunday Songs

I mostly love this song because of the line "Never let your fear decide your fate".  It has been a good reminder for me.