Menu Planning Monday, maybe Tuesday + furloughed. :o/

So a couple of weeks ago, I won this really cool Really Crafty Studio meal planner download from Linda over at Craftaholics Anonymous!

It's so easy to stay organized & on top of the week's meals with this planner! It's only $5 in Kim's Etsy Shop & it's totally worth it! I haven't quite nailed down everything I'm going to make this week, which maybe defeats the purpose a bit, but I'm going to try & stay organized & plan this out every Sunday from now on. I usually try to make new dish each week, then a few classics that I always make - spaghetti, pork chops, baked ground turkey & ziti, stir fry, etc. We also usually have an "every man for himself night", a left overs night & usually end up eating out 1-2 days per week. The eating out thing will likely change once we have kids, but since it's just the two of us now, we can afford to still eat out a couple times a week - that & I'm not too fond of cooking on weekends, lol. I am going to attempt to take photos of the meals I make & do a re-cap at the end of the week. Hopefully this will give some of you ladies in search of new meal ideas some good ones! I'll be working on this week's plan tonight & hope to have it up by tomorrow morning.

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Also, IDK if any of you know about the funding stuff going on with parts of the US Department of Transportation, but some craziness has been going down in Congress. The basic gist is - several Federal DOT sub-agencies were funded by the Highway Trust Fund Legislation & it basically expired last night at Midnight. Congress attempted to pass an extension, but it was blocked by Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY), so the funding for my agency lapsed & all non-essential employees (ahem...me) are being furloughed until Congress can reach a decision (read full story here & here). This means that several important state & federal highway projects have been halted across the country; just an example of how "politicking" affects regular people every day. I have heard that in the past, when the government has furloughed employees, Congress usually passes some measure to pay employees retroactively, so I'm hoping that's what happens in this case. For now, I am going to stay optimistic & just look at this as a few extra days to sleep in, clean my house, run some errands & maybe get a St. Patrick's Day craft done...maybe one from the Craftaholics Anonymous St. Patty's Day link party!

Here are a few beauties from Linda's party:

Linda's own "Lucky" Pillow:

Unfortunately, I CAN'T sew anything that requires a sewing machine, but that's on my list of things to try this year. :oP

Traci's really cute "Lucky" Blocks:

Patricia's adorable DIY gift tags:

Michelle's c-u-t-e Lucky Clover:

Head over to the party to see all the other very creative St. Patty's Day projects - so cute! And a perfect distraction since I'm not working for the next couple of days!

My very 1st blog award!! :o)

Yay, yay, yay! I am so thrilled to have won my *first ever* blog award - given to me by Lisa over at mrs. messi's musings! Lisa has become a great Nestie friend & fellow NOVA girl!  I started following her blog once she set it up - she blogs about lots of great stuff, including books recs & her upcoming little bundle of joy!! Thanks so much for giving me this award Lisa - it means so much to me! :o)

The Sunshine Award is given to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world. I am now going to pass along the sunshine and present this award to some of my favorite bloggers who make my day "A Sunshine Day!"

The rules, once this award is received, are as follows:

1. Post the logo on blog

2. Pass the award on to 12 fellow bloggers

3. Link the nominees blogs so other can get to know them

4. Let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog

5. Share the love and link to the person who received this award from.

Thanks again Lisa for nominating me!

I follow sooo many amazing blogs of women (and a couple men too!) from all walks of life - it was so difficult to pick just 12! Some of them I have been following for a while, some I just discovered. But they all have one thing is common - they are all positive and uplifting ladies! BTW, to anyone I did not list, please know that if i follow your blog, i def get something out of it, so thanks for doing what you do!

1. Making Lemonade

2. Craftaholics Anonymous
3. Good Food, Good Friends, Good Life
4. Our Dream Come True
5. A Day in the Life of Karen
6. Life Happens When You're Making Other Plans
7. Nolan's Story
8. The Webb Family
9. A Life in Progress
10. Beneath My Heart
11. Conceive This
12. Domestically Speaking

Congrats to all my Sunshine Award Winners! Pass it along!

My [ReDeemed] Unique Art prize!!!

I am admittedly late in posting this, but I wanted to receive my prize & take a picture before posting about it.

Over the holidays, an awesome blog friend - Steph, over at Somewhat Simple hosted a really great  giveaway...and I'm a sucker for a good giveaway, so I played along!  It was called the 12 Giveaways of Christmas (I had the button up on my blog side bar for a while) & she was giving away multiple prizes every day for 12 days straight!! She posted the list of winners on Christmas Day!! And what a Christmas gift it was to see that I won a $25 gift certificate to the very talented Noel's [ReDeemed] Unique Art web store!! Noel creates beautiful pieces out of recycled or re-purposed materials - so everything is environmentally friendly in addition to being beautiful! It was so hard picking just one item, but I did it & lay your eyes on my lovely prize:

It's beautiful right?!?!?! Ok, no jumping to conclusions, but I got it to put in my child's future nursery...one day! Noel even included a pretty necklace free as an additional gift!! :o)

I love them both sooo much! Thanks Steph for holding the giveaway & thank you Noel for creating the lovely "green" art that you do & for my free gift! If you haven't checked out Somewhat Simple or Noel's [ReDeemed] Unique Art shop, then click on the links above - they are both awesome sites!

Packages on my doorstep make me happy!

Sorry this is a little delayed. I got home last week & saw a nice shiny (okay, not so shiny...but definitely exciting) package on my doorstep! I love getting packages - even when I order it & know what it is. But this was different, I wasn't expecting any packages.

It was packed up sooo pretty & even came with a cute little note from Danielson Designs...

 
It's even better when it's a prize I won (my first ever!!) from a blog friend's giveaway!! The sign came out so beautifully & I have the perfect spot for it...

It's actually going right above my entryway table on the wall - now, if I could only get my hubby to actually hang it up! We are working on some finishing touches for our newly decorated LR. I just brightened it up a bit, but it's looking awesome & I can't wait to show you guys the difference!

Woo hoo, I'm a winner!!

I follow a lot of amazing blogs, but one of my favorites (and I'm not just saying that because I won ;o) is Making Lemonade. Carrie is so creative & has the most adorable little girl!

At the beginning of this month, she posted about an awesome giveaway from Danielson Designs. And guess what...I WON!!!!!!!!!! Yippie!! I have never won a blog giveaway before & I'm so excited that I won this one - I really wanted one of the beautiful plaques over at Danielson Designs. So here is what I picked (the quote is what I will get, but that is not my last name):

I can't wait to get my prize - I have the perfect place for it in my house! Danielson Designs has a lot of beautiful plaques, frames & other decorative stuff for your house, it was sooo hard for me to pick just one thing, but I will probably be ordering more stuff from them in the future! You should definitely check them out too, I bet you will also find something you love! Thanks again Carrie for the awesome giveaway & if you have never visited Making Lemonade, head on over & check it out!