Tackle It on Tuesday

February 4, 2014

Sometimes I feel as a stay at home, homeschool mom, there are things I don't take care of at home because, after all, I don't have a boss that I need to be accountable to or they are just 'not that important'. But I do have a responsibility to my family and to myself to take the time to handle certain things, otherwise my family wouldn't eat or have clean clothes to wear! Today, I am not talking about the daily items.

I am talking about the things and projects I would like to tackle, so I have come up with a plan and I am inviting you to join in! And I want you to help me be accountable, which is why I am sharing this here on my blog. You see, I like to work on projects and to be honest, sometimes I get them started, and then I don't complete them. Or, there could be an area of my home that is driving me nuts with clutter! But then I get some overwhelmed with the task of tackling that project, then I just don't tackle it at all.

So here is my plan: each Tuesday, I am going to share a photo with you of a project that I would like to tackle over the next week. Then, the following Tuesday, I will share the progress with you and possibly introduce the next project that I would like to tackle. And if you all like this idea, I will start a link up so you can share on your blog your own Tackle It on Tuesday projects!

First up, my messy desk! I really need to tackle this, too much clutter! A flat surface in a home is a dangerous place, it is like a magnet, attracting every stray piece of paper that I just am not sure what to do with. Over the next week, I need to look at what ends up here, and see if I can come up with a better system of filing paper (and a whole bunch of other stuff it looks like!)

Do you have projects around your home you would like to make some progress on? Maybe it is a sewing project, maybe it is an area of clutter, maybe it is a book you would like to finish reading? Whatever project it is, I would love to know if you are interested in joining me for Tackle It on Tuesday. Let me know in the comments, and maybe, just maybe, we can have a link up next week to tackle these projects together!

Photo Treasure Hunt - Baking

December 3, 2013

I love to bake! And this time of the year, I love spending the day in a warm kitchen, trying new holiday recipes. Here is a glimpse at what was baking in my kitchen this past week:

Did you do any baking this past week? Be sure to post your photos on your blog and link up with us! Here are the rules:

Link up by posting your blog post URL- not just blog URL
Link back to one of us (grab button if desired, I hope to have the button in my side bar soon!)
Visit other blogs and leave comment love.
Be sure to take note of next theme and start collecting more photos. Jill always has a fun transition photo, so be sure to visit her blog to see what the theme is for next week!
We reserve the right to remove any links that don’t fit the link up theme or that we find inappropriate

Next week's theme is....Red and Green! From where I am sitting, there are a few red and green items I will be able to share next week...stay tuned!

Photo Treasure Hunt - Orange

October 22, 2013

Since we are in October, a lot of people around the country are already seeing some great fall color. But here in Central California….not so much. However, I was able to find a few orange treasures to share with you.

Are you ready to join in on our weekly Photo Treasure Hunt? Here is what you need to know:

Link up by posting your blog post URL- not just blog URL

Link back to one of us (grab button if desired)

Visit other blogs and leave comment love.

Be sure to take note of next theme and start collecting more photos. Jill always has a fun transition photo, so be sure to visit

her blog

to see what the theme is for next week!

We reserve the right to remove any links that don’t fit the link up theme or that we find inappropriate

So over the last few weeks, we have been selecting colors as our theme. But this week, since Jill and I are both Compassion Advocates, we thought it would be fun to join in with a special photo treasure hunt that is going on right now on the Compassion blog!!

Just a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about One Meal One Day, which is the focus of the photo scavenger hunt announced on the Compassion blog. We will be searching for photos which focus on blessings, waste, need, and advocacy.

Like this photo which shows the inside of my refrigerator.

So the Photo Treasure Hunt theme for next week is….One Meal One Day!! Be sure to hop on over to the Compassion blog to get all of the details (and if you post a link to your photos in the widget on the Compassion blog, you will be entered in a contest for prizes from Compassion!) This next link up will start on Tuesday, October 29th.

In the meantime, come back and share the blog link with your orange photo treasures below:

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Treats, Tortellini, and Chicken

October 11, 2013

This week, since the weather has started feeling more like fall here, I decided it was time to start working through my Recipes I would love to try board on Pinterest.

First up was Scarecrow Treats! Candy corns are one of my favorite fall treats, so combining them with some of these other yummy ingredients sounded like a hit to me. And it was! The original recipe calls for using a 15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan though. Guess I read over that part, because I made these in a 13x9-inch pan. This will work as long as you bake the cake part of the recipe just a little longer than the recipe calls for. Oh, and I did add just a few more candy corns than the recipe called for, just couldn’t resist…

Next, was Chili Tortellini! I just love making soups for dinner in the fall and winter. Soups always make the best leftovers for lunch the next day. This recipe came together so quickly and was so filling! I did change it up a bit. Since I wanted this to be more chili-like than soup-like, I did not add any chicken broth. Instead I added a can of water. Also, I used tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, as well as black beans and white beans. Since I doubled this recipe, I used pasta shells and cheese tortellini. My husband gave this recipe 5 stars!! It was that good!!

This last recipe took a little more effort than the other two combined (and used every counter available in my kitchen!)! One of the very first recipes I pinned on Pinterest (2 years ago!) was a recipe for Lemon Chicken. We all love the Orange Chicken at Panda Express, so I thought I would finally give this one a try. The flavors on this one were really good, but without help from my kids, there would have been no way I could have gotten this all together myself, unless I had eight arms. Oh well, at least I gave it a try, right?

Have you found any good Pinterest recipes lately?

Capture Your 365

September 18, 2013

Time for another week of Capture Your 365 photos!

ISO 100, 18mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec

Day 250 – Black and White: If you know me and/or have been following my blog for some time, you know that I love to go on day trips to Yosemite. Having this amazing gem of a place within driving distance is such a blessing. There is so much beauty there, and each season has something special to offer its visitors. On this particular trip, my husband and I spent the day bike riding around the valley, something neither one of us had done before. We both enjoyed it so much!

ISO 100, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/20 sec

Day 251 – Simple: My husband and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary this month. Anniversaries come and go, but it is the simple (and sometimes not so simple), day to day stuff that we each work on together that keeps a marriage together.

ISO 800, 34mm, f/5.0, 1/8 sec

Day 252 – Routine: Welcome to Monday! Monday around here usually means laundry day. Not the most beautiful photo I have ever taken, but just a small part of my routine.

ISO 800, 55mm, f/5.6, 1/15 sec

Day 253 – Around the House: Most week day mornings, you will find my daughter in her room, up on her new loft bed, diligently working on her school work.

ISO 800, 55mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec

Day 254 – On The Schedule: I know there are so many gadgets and apps to help you stay on task with your to-do list these days, but I seem to always fall back to a simple, written out, to-do list on a post it note. This helps me keep my to-do list somewhat reasonable for the day, and I don’t know about you, but there is satisfaction in actually checking items off of a list.

ISO 800, 48mm, f/5.6, 1/20 sec

Day 255 – Details of the Day: We like to have breakfast for dinner around here every now and then. I had purchased some strawberries at the local farmer’s market the night before, so waffles with strawberries sounded like the perfect dinner for this night. And a little whipped cream just makes it all a little bit more special!

ISO 800, 52mm, f/5.6, 1/15 sec

Day 256 – On The Table: It is not my intent to have food related photos in almost every Capture Your 365 blog post, but when the prompt fits, you just have to go with it! Anyway, I do enjoy using our cloth napkins at dinner. It has been a simple way to make our dinner table just a little more special, and we don’t go through near as many paper napkins any more. There are plenty of tutorials out there to follow to make your own set or two.

So there you have it! A full week of Capture Your 365 photos! What photos are you capturing during your week? I would love to see them!