Jenn Tries...

I really enjoyed how in the past two months, how I've explored different spice mixes. The only problem is that they were both seasonal and both were used to add a little flavor to my coffee. And whenever I try to find a new mix for the rest of the year, I come up empty. (Hence why January is almost over and I'm still using gingerbread spice mix in my coffee) So since I'm (apparently) out of coffee spice mixes to try, I thought I would try out another type of spice blend that's near and dear to my heart. Oh yeah, I'm talking out a home made (and most definitely Americanized) taco spice mix! The Project Make Taco Seasoning Blend from The Recipe Critic Results You know why I love making my own spice mixes? Because I already have most of the spices on hand. (Especially after all these taco slow cooker meals I've been making lately) So its only a matter of mixing them together. As you can see the recipe doesn't make very much (But in al

You know why Mom's are so great, right? Because they can always find the one gift you need, that you never knew you needed. Case in point, this past Christmas, I just asked my mom for money. I had a bunch of miscellaneous things I wanted (and really I'm so indecisive that even I wasn't sure what I really wanted until after Christmas). So my mom happily got me a gift card... but she also got me this: That's right a whole book committed to Pokemon Felties. And I'll admit it, at first I thought it was a little silly. I did like Pokemon in my youth and I do plan on taking Lion to make a Charmander once I get my tax money back. But it didn't mean that I wanted to make little felt Pokemon. And then I started reading the instructions (which if you've read any of my blog posts to this point, you would know I'm really bad at) and I realized that this was actually a solid manual for working with felt in general. And so I knew I had myself a new mini

So if you recall, a couple weeks ago, I stated that my personal New Year's Resolution was to finally get my finances in order. I think I've actually made this resolution every year for the past couple years and just haven't stuck to it. But this year I'm committed and I know if I don't do this now, I'm never do this. In the past, I've tried tracking my financials on Google Slides (Google's version of excel). I found it was really easy, but it was hard to manage properly with everything being on the computer. (And having two little boys that always want to help when I'm on the computer). So for this year I decided to keep it simple and just use a journal. So to kickoff the new year, I bought myself a Mara Mi Slipcover Journal . I love that in the slip cover has a little pocket that I can store reciepts or pens or whatever else I need. And there's also zipper pocket along the side that I store bigger items in (or the little bit o

I'm going to keep things short and sweet tonight. Mainly because I have no idea what 'to write about, but also because its late and I really need to get to bed. So here we go... There are not enough words to express how good it feels to start crafting again. I got so busy over those two weeks, that I just didn't have time to find a project I liked let alone start one. And it wasn't a terrible two weeks, but I hate how that slothly feeling takes over so quickly. And it makes it that much harder to get back to doing anything. So I'm happy to be back to crafting and back to be looking for new crafts. And I'm also happy to be posting again!  (And I'm also happy to be posting again! And I think I might be on the right track with the past couple of blog posts. I'm starting to write the backstory to how I ended up with the project I did. Which apparently is necessary on ever other blog I read. I guess its good because then you get to know me and my t

After a November and December filled with cooking and baking, I really was at a loss of what to cook for January. I honestly thought I start the year off with a pot roast, but then got too busy and forgot to buy the supplies. (I really am a mess sometimes!). So I decided to just move. But move on to what? So I did what I always do: start looking on Pinterest for ideas. I was pretty sure I wanted to make something in my crock pot and knew I wanted it to be fairly easy. (I really want to ease myself back into cooking.) And I was actually shock at not only the number of recipes there were, but also the different types of recipes. They ranged from tex mex to chili to well... pot roasts. It definitely was a little overwhelming. (And I may have pretended like it didn't exist for a little while).  In the end I settled on a taco chicken recipe, that was easy enough to make (and similar to a couple of things I've already cooked) and was something that hopefully by the end of the ye

(All links as affiliated. So if you like it please buy it. The blog gets a little kickback at no expense to you) My favorite item I bought (and learned to use!) during 2016 is my Crock Pot . It was my first appliance I bought and really started to use last year. Its the appliance that helped me get into cooking. (And yes I realize its not really cooking!). And really I could go on and on about how much I love much crock pot! However my one complaint is that when I bought it, Target only have plain silver ones left. (I was hoping for the honeycomb pattern one linked above!). So I settled and I was content with the silver one. Until towards the end of the year, I stumbled upon a project to give a crock pot a chalkboard makeover. I knew I had to do it. The Project Give the Crock Pot A Chalkboard Makover Instructions from One Good Thing by Jillee Results So before I began, I used an alcohol pad to clean the the outside and then used painters tape to seal off the

All right, I'll admit it, over the past month I've got really into crochet. There's just something about it that I've found really calming and therapeutic. (Which is great considering how chaotic the past month has been and how chaotic the next month is shaping up to be!).  And since its now January (and winter should be in full swing!), I decided it was time I tried making a scarf. My original idea was to make a Buckeye helmet stripe so my mom and I would have a matching set for the national championship game. And well I was about halfway through when they lost to Clemson! So I in a fit of total despair I pulled it all apart (and in all fairness, it wasn't quite working out the way I thought it would) So I went back to the drawing board and decided that maybe for this winter instead of making a buckeye scarf maybe I would instead make a New England Patriots colored scarf. (And while I was searching for a buckeye infinity scarf to make, I actually stumb

For the first post of 2017, I thought I would pick it up where I left off, by sharing the next page to my activity book. I actually liked the idea of making 'I is for Ice Cream' for a while now, but I just felt like it was a too simple for the book. So I decided to search Pinterest to see what others had made. And I stumbled upon this page: Photo from All The Quiet Things It instantly assured me that an ice cream page could work in the activity book. And it also gave me an idea on how to make my own as well. Here's What You Need: Assorted Felt Fabric Glue Needle and Embroidery Thread Scissors Here's How You Do It: Step 1: Setting Up The Page I kept the set up for this page very simple. I cut out a capital letter I out of felt and sewed it on the bottom left hand corner of my page. Next I cut out a felt ice cream cone; sewed it into the middle of my page. And to complete the ice cream theme, I added an ice cream container to the right h

Happy Monday All! Apparently I missed the memo and instead of telling you my resolutions for 2017, I instead was supposed to pick a word to inspire me for the next year! So here we go... Photo from Kenspeckle Letterpress All right, I just learned that word and thought it would be fun throw it in there... (But it actually is a really useful word for my life... if it wasn't so strange and funny sounding that is) Actually my one word is: photo from Penned By Bren 2017 is the year that I turn 30, Mike turns 40, Blue starts preschool in the fall, and Lyon will finally get to experience what life is like as an only child. I will also be switching to a new restaurant by the end of the month. So overall as a family we'll be having a lot of adventures And the blog itself is in for an adventure over the next 12 months. Things are already starting to change and I'm hoping to get things up and fully running by March. (I want to say February, but

And here we are in 2017! To kick off 2017 I thought I would share my new year's resolution: I actually started this resolution somewhere in the middle of 2016. (That was when I decided to stop being afraid of breaking all my expensive machinery and to start actually learning how to use it properly!) And if I could add to this list, it would be to actually learn how to take care of my finances! (I'm a spender and not a saver! Its terrible! So with my 30th birthday looming, I really need to learn to be better with my finances and start saving for retirement and start paying down all my debt!) So this year along with setting up my new planner (I found this really nice one at Target that took care of all my bullet points I wanted from my bullet journal. So yes I'm back to a planner for 2017), I decided to get a blank notebook so I can track my spending in it. I spent a little bit of last night setting both of them up! So they should be ready for the new yea