Thankful Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know, I forgot last week so I will play catch up today.  I hope you all are enjoying the holiday and quality time with family.  I plan to eat lots of yummy goodness and shop til I drop!

Day 15...my health
Day 16...time to scrapbook, especially with friends!
Day 17...my church family & friends
Day 18...my blog & connections I have made
Day 19...Tuesday lunches with co-workers
Day 20...yummy treats, like salted caramel hot chocolate ;)
Day 21...half days of school & special time with my girl
Day 22...craft time with my girl
Day 23...fun nights with friends & free babysitting!
Day 24...lazy Sunday afternoons & fun family time
Day 25...holiday decorations & gingerbread cookies
Day 26...spending time in the kitchen cooking & baking with my girl
Day 27...for God's protection
Day 28...good eats & time with family

winners....

Thanks to all who entered the Wake Up Your Walls giveaway!  I used random number generator to pick the winners and they are...

Dana M
freebiequeen15
Lisa Newman

Please contact me with your name and address so we can get your gift cards sent out!

Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I will give the winners until Sunday to contact me with their info.  New winners will be picked if I haven't heard anything.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and make lots of memories!

wake up your walls {Meijer gift card giveaway!}

The holidays are right around the corner and what perfect time to reflect on those who mean the most.  With Meijer's HP 1 hour and next day photo services, you can create wall decor and gifts that share photos of your most cherished memories.  You can create photo books, holiday cards, photo canvases, mounted photos and much more.

Thanks to Meijer and HP, I was able to try out these services and share some of the products I created with you! 

And let me tell you...it was super easy!  I went into the store, used one of the computer stations and my USB drive loaded with my pictures.  I just selected what format I wanted, size and picture...that's it!  They are ready in an hour or next day, depending on what format you choose.

I chose to create 2 mounted photos, a 5"x7" and an 8"x10".  This format comes with a stand, so it can be displayed either table top or hung on the wall.  These are very reasonably priced as well and would make awesome gifts!!!  Plus they are ready in about an hour.

I also created an 11"x14" wrapped photo canvas.  These come in a variety of sizes from 8"x8" up to 20"x24".  These are usually ready the next day.  I love the quality and I just used a simple picture {of one cute girl!} from my personal camera!  I just have it propped on a shelf, but you could also hang it on the wall. 

These would make great additions to a photo wall collage as well!

Now....how would you like the chance to win a $50 Meijer gift card to create some wonderful wall decor or photo gifts of your own?!  I have 3 of them to giveaway...so get entering!!!  Just leave a comment letting me know which product you would like to create.  I will draw a winner on Wednesday, November 27th...you will have until 2pm that day to enter! 

Better yet...here are some Meijer coupons to make your photo purchases an even better deal!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ chicken & spinach lasagna, salad, garlic bread

Tuesday ~ parmesan tilapia, green beans, mashed potatoes

Wednesday ~ mushroom & pesto cavatappi, salad, bread

Thursday ~ chicken ceasar burgers, tater tots, apple slices

Friday ~ creamy mushroom & chicken soup, salad, bread

Linking up with Org Junkie...check them out for more recipes.

Thankful Thursday

We are into week 2 of November!  Only 40 days til Christmas....the years seem to go by faster and faster.  So much more reason to be intentional about what we are thankful for!

 

I shared this photo on Facebook, but thought I'd share again here on the blog.  We took a quick family trip to the Wisconsin Dells over this past weekend.  Even though I was sickly...battling a sinus infection, blah...it was a great trip!  So thankful for making memories like these!

Day 8...my siblings...especially reconnecting with my half sister and her family!

Day 9...trips with my family {as mentioned above!}

Day 10...shopping time at the outlet mall in the Dell's...Christmas shopping and a little me time!

Day 11...snuggle time with my girl!

Day 12...my friends...there's just something about girl lunches and texting shopping deals that makes me smile!

Day 13...afternoon naps...especially when I'm not feeling the best

Day 14...my local library and the wonderful staff

{family dinner} paninis...

A panini can be made lots of different ways...so this is just how we made ours!

I started by gathering up our ingredients...bread, butter, several options of deli meat {we used ham & turkey), slice cheese {colby jack & provolone}, pesto and other toppings as desired. 

Little Bit and the hubs started out by buttering the outsides of our bread.  I know traditional paninis aren't made with slice bread, but we used some fresh think slices from the bakery.

Then we layered cheese and several kinds of meat in between two buttered slices of bread.  

Don't have a panini press...no problem.  We used our Foreman grill!  I just put 2 sandwiches on at a time, close the lid and let cook for a minute or 2.  I didn't time it, I just checked every so often and took out when they were golden brown.  Or you can use a skillet on the stove and just put another skillet on top of the sandwiches to press them. 

The nice thing is we could all customize what we wanted on our sandwiches.  Little Bit just wanted ham and colby jack cheese.  The hubs had ham, turkey and provolone.  I had ham, turkey, provolone and some pesto!  Yummo!

Thankful Thursday

Well we are one week into November and I am so enjoying writing in my gratitude journal!  I hope many of you are remembering to be thankful and maybe even keeping a journal as well.  Here is a pic of my journal that I shared on instagram...
 

I included a bible verse on the first page as a wonderful reminder of why we are to be thankful. 

"Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I am also enjoying that Little Bit is keeping a journal right along with me!  She was so excited to get started and has really impressed me with what she is writing so far.  Just love that girl so much!!!

I took this picture on day 2...my man and my girl!  We were playing ping pong together and laughing SO MUCH!  I am very grateful to have them both in my life and love every minute with them.

The planner in my really wants to just sit down and make a giant list of what I'm thankful for.  But I'm really trying to just live in each day and let what I'm experiencing in those daily moments help me express each thankfulness I jot down in my journal.  I'm even leaving room for pictures when I have them to include....that is totally the scrapbooker in me!  ;) 

Day 1...my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ
Day 2...my man and my girl...we share so many fun moments together I can't even count them all!
Day 3...my parents and their love and support they've always given me...it was my mom's birthday this day!
Day 4...yummy Starbucks coffee treats
Day 5...my in-laws and their love and acceptance of me into their family
Day 6...the job the Lord has blessed me with and my wonderful coworkers I am proud to call my friends
Day 7...the beautiful fall weather and colors...i love to just drive and admire all the changing leaves

I'm so looking forward to what lies ahead in the next week!

lather, rinse, repeat...

The Meijer Kids 2&1 has a new look!  It now has the same packaging as the Meijer Kids bubble bath and body wash.  It comes in several scents...coconut banana, orange, strawberry and watermelon.  They are reasonably priced at $1.79.   But November 9th - 23rd you can save $.50 off 1 Meijer Kids Shampoo & Conditioner.  Just log into your mPerks account and enter the code “meijerkids” and clip the coupon.

Meijer graciously sent us the strawberry scent to try and it sure does smell yummy!  Little Bit loved the smell and was super excited to try a bubble bath, we don't do those very often! 

I filled up the tub and put in a few squirts of the bubbles....you just can't have too many bubbles!  I know this pic is a little blurry but I liked it, so it's here anyways!  Little Bit couldn't get enough of the bubble beards...lol! 

I was a little worried about using the body wash and bubble bath because we usually stick to sensitive skin products.  The label did say "gentle cleansing" so I figured I'd give it a try.  We have used them all 3 times now and haven't had any issues with her skin.  Yay!

The shampoo works wonderfully...lots of great lather and smells yummy too!

Thanks again to Meijer for letting us give these products a try!  I hope you take advantage of the coupon offer and pick some up for your kiddos.  We will definitely be trying out the other scents available....Little Bit thinks watermelon would be good and I'm leaning towards coconut banana.  Let us know what you think!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ zucchini pasta, bread

Tuesday ~ slow cooker pot roast, mashed potatoes, salad

Wednesday ~ Veteran's program & spaghetti dinner

Thursday ~ dinner out for hubby's birthday

Friday ~ meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread

Linking up with Org Junkie...check them out for more recipes.

30 Days of Thankful!

Can you believe that today is the 1st of November?!  Where has this year gone?  I was talking to my kids at school today about the month of November and how Thanksgiving was coming up.  It is a time to be remember what we have to be thankful for.  Ashley over at The Creative Place posted her 30 Days of Thankful project today and I decided to jump on board.  It is a month long journey of documenting a gratitude each day.  I try to at least be aware of things I'm thankful for each day but I really like the idea of keeping a journal and actually taking the time to write them down. 

My bible study group just finished up Beth Moore's James: Mercy Triumphs study.  Once of the things I took away from this is living in each moment and not worrying about tomorrow.  God is in control...not me!  As I read James 4:13-17 again this afternoon, the idea of this gratitude journal for the month stuck out to me even more.  I so want to be aware of ALL of God's blessings and enjoy the journey.

So, I am going to take Thursdays throughout the month of November to share some things I've documented in my gratitude journal.  I hope you will join in and take a few moments each day to reflect on what you have to be thankful for and the blessings God has given in your life.