LOVE IS IN THE AIR

We do not have a fireplace in the main living room, and I like to decorate this shelf as if it was a mantle.
I put this LOVE vignette together with items I already had around the house and a few additions that were purchased at the dollar store!
The LOVE banner was made from a roll of 9 inch burlap, aqua thread, pink fabric scraps, fusable interfacing and a piece of twine. I marked off 5 inches to make the individual pennants. The new serger I got for Christmas made edging each pennant a breeze! As you can see, I used an aqua thread for some contrast and the fact that I am obsessed with this color.  I used my letter drawing skill, that was perfected throughout high school, to draw hearts and L-O-V-E onto my pink fabric. I did apply light-weight fusable interfacing to add some bulk before sewing the letters and hearts to the burlap with a zig zag stitch.  Next fold the top edge of the pennant over a piece of twine and stitch closed.  Super easy and super cute!
The small frames were made from sheet music, a small heart punch and a larger hand drawn heart from card stock. Put them in simple black frames and voilà!
The red water pail was in the closet and the only purchase I made was at Dollar Tree for the pink heart piks that I placed in the pail.

WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

It is a cold rainy day here in Texas and that makes it time for comfort food in this home!

One of our all time family favorite comfort meals is Mexican Lasagna, so I though it would be nice to share. This meal is quick, easy and enough to have left overs for tomorrow's lunch...always a bonus.

Ingredients:

Approximately 8-10 flour tortillas, depends on how overlapped you lay them

1 pound ground meat

1 small/medium onion

1 can Rotel

1 can Ranch Style Beans

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

Velvetta cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

I use my handy, dandy Pampered Chef pizza cutter to cut the flour tortillas into about 1" strips.

Brown the onion and ground meat, drain off any liquid/fat.  Combine meat/onion, Rotel, Ranch Style Beans and soup and mix well.  (I normally use the smaller can of Ranch Style Beans but this is what I had...it will just have more beans this time!)

Spray 9x13 pan with nonstick spray...or 2 8x8 pans if you want to have a make one/freeze one meal. Place one layer of tortilla strips, half of the meat mixture, and slices of velvetta. Repeat layers.  We are a family of 3 and this meal goes a long way, so I did the make one/freeze one version tonight.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until bubbly around the edges. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving...mostly so that you don't burn the roof of your mouth.

Sliced avacado, tomato, sour cream, jalapeños or pico de gallo are nice additions if I have them on hand. Tortilla chips and salsa are a must!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

After a fun filled evening of Just Dance 4 and our tradition of sushi dinner, we were a little late to rise. Having a less than 60 degree day also means I was quick to get a fire going, but that is about as far as I have made it :)

In starting a new year, I tend to look back at the past one first. 

• The first quarter of 2012 was fairly quiet. I began officially "couponing". I became a student of Coupon Divas, created a binder and got serious about saving money.  I finally got to see Wicked with one of my besties! I helped chaperone a choir trip to Chicago. We got to see the river turned green for St.Patricks Day, so cool. My prayers were answered for this trip and we had no boy/girl issues and unseasonably warm weather.  I convinced my husband that we needed chickens! He built an awesome coop and we purchased 6 chicks from Farm and Tractor Supply.  I met more neighbors over the next few months than I have met in 8 years of living in this neighborhood. Everybody wanted to know what the heck we were up to...haha  I think I am officially the "Crazy Lady" of the neighborhood now.

• The second quarter involved cutting my work schedule from 3 days a week to 2 days. I was starting to contemplate home schooling as an option for our daughter. Said daughter then qualified for the State Gymnastic meet in vault, which made me hesitant to take her out of public school. I had my hubby on a roll and he built 5 raised beds for gardening.  My husband and I took a 5 day cruise and reconnected on a whole new level thanks to E.L. James and 50 Shades of Grey.

• Third quarter my daughter got her driving permit and I did not have to go to jail over it! The quintessential government employee almost felt the wrath of my East Texas roots...my blood pressure raises just typing about it now!!!  She also started her sophomore year of high school. I took my last trip to Six Flags Over Texas....in July anyway. Crazy hot and crowds of people are not my idea of fun and happiness. Our family adopted a dog from the local animal shelter, named him Gunner and let the fun begin!! Last but not least, we celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary.

• Fourth quarter, I TURNED THE BIG 4-0!  I planned a 6 day trip to Broken Bow,OK with the intent to reflect, read, hike and be one with nature. Well, 3 days into the trip and I had read my book, read all the magazines I had brought, took a 6 hour driving trip along the Talimena Scenic Drive, reflected and I was ready to come home. My loving man is so understanding and we came home on day 4. Through a series of events at work, I started working just one day a week...wonderful!  I lost my patience and did take my daughter out of public school and started the homeschooling process. It has been a lot of work, but well worth every minute.  Learned many things from YouTube including making apple butter in the crock pot, homemade bread, woodburning techniques and how to work my new serger.  I did save a total of $2011.55! I wish I would have looked at that total before today....I would have saved .45 on something to make it 2012...oh well. (Yes, I am that person that had a tally of all the savings I had accumulated.)

In review, I find that this was a year of learning how to adapt. Life is constantly changing and I have had to step out of my comfort zone often. Some of those steps were not as graceful as I would have liked, but nonetheless I survived.

I hope 2013 is balanced, happy and productive. Happy New Year's to you and yours!