Lorman Drive

Pride, Love & Home....are the three new words I think of every time I drive by this house, but the not how I have always felt since Maggie's passing back in December.

This is the home of my Uncle Donny & Maggie that they lived in, and loved since the mid 90's. My Uncle LOVED his house and took so much pride in fixing it up...HIMSELF! He worked so hard to make his yard look 'yard of the month' perfect.  Flowers were incredible and bird feeders everywhere. Green plush grass & not a weed to be found.  It was not unusual to drive past his house on any given day and hear his "Polkies" as he referred to them, blaring out the windows while he washed his truck in his driveway, and as Maggie cooked her famous Pork & Sauerkraut dinner!

How I loved visiting this house. It was small. Very small. Not exactly up to date, and by no means perfect. But you just felt good every time you entered it. Everyone did. You couldn't help it. I don't ever remember a time ever walking into this house that I didn't come out feeling good. I can still hear to this day Donny saying " Hey Michella!" or Maggie saying " Heyyyy girl" when I would walk in the door.

But that has all changed. My Uncle passed back in 2007 and we lost Maggie last year. The house is empty, the weeds have sprouted up and little by little the house is changing from its happy, warm loving  home...to an empty shell. The first few times I went by it to get the mail...I couldn't even look at it. Every time I opened that mailbox and could see the background of the home in my view, I would get this huge lump in my throat. I told my husband I couldn't do it anymore. It was just too much.

I took this picture a couple of days ago, because I'm afraid if it gets any worse I might forget what it was at one time. It also reminds me to always appreciate the little things. Like they did.  A simple 30 minute visit, a simple hello like the one from my Uncle ...or the sounds of Maggie's sweet high pitched voice screeching with excitement from just a simple visit from me...is something I don't ever want to forget. Its a reminder to all of us the importance of family and our time that we give to each other.

Maggie taught me a lot. More than any school or college degree could ever give me. She loved unconditionally. Everyone. She could be sick, in pain, depressed or exhausted...and she still had a smile for everyone.  Even in her last days and heavily sedated, she smiled and waved as they wheeled her out of her room for more tests. This woman nearly never spoke an ill word about anyone. She welcomed the positive and avoided the negativity of family gossip & drama.  Like I said, she taught me a lot.

My Uncle Donny was so proud. He was proud of his house and how he made it a home. He was proud of how he moved from that little town Pittsburgh, Pa. to the big city of Jacksonville and made it work. He loved to show off his home to his close family. I only wish more family would have stopped by a little more often....it meant more to him than those close to him will ever know.

People leave us, and houses can change...but the memories left behind are whats most important. We can make the life we live now a heaven or  hell, but its up to each person to change to make it better. Live. Love & Laugh a little more every day...its how Don & Madge would have wanted it. :)

My little house thats full of BIG memories!

Over the past couple of months, I cant tell you how many times people have asked me why my husband and I just don't BUY a new house vs. all of the changes & remodeling we are currently doing to our 1977 home here in Jacksonville, Florida. Even in line the other day at Home Depot I had a woman start up a conversation with me, where she too made the comment that it is cheaper to buy a new home than to do all the intensive remodeling such as what are doing. "Out with the old!" i hear..."In with the new" they say. Really? 

The little "blue" house

I love my house. I love that it is small ( sometimes) and I love that my son can say that this is the house that he grew up in. I love sitting in my living room and remembering all the moments that happened there. Remembering our first night in our FIRST house, remembering calling my Mom and shrieking with joy as I told her "I'M PREGNANT! I remember my first Christmas here...my first party...I remember the first time I heard LB call me Mom. There are so many firsts that I could never leave.  Like sitting on my couch next to my husband, as we stared into the bassinet that held our son that we just brought home. All the while, wondering, what the heck do we do now? 

I get that bigger is better sometimes, and trading the time to update our house for a new one would surely be allot less work and possibly even money....but I just cant fathom walking away from a home that has brought me & my family so much happiness. 

So yeah, I guess I'm that crazy girl that keeps ticket stubs and candy wrappers from first dates ( Superman Movie 1988, Pizza Hut receipt & a Peppermint Patty wrapper in my keepsake box from my first date with my husband LOL)...and keeps little wood houses built in 1977 that are full of more love and joy than any mansion or new house could ever hold.  

Neglecting a blog: Guilty as charged!

I cannot believe its been over a year since I posted to my blog! OMG! I was doing so good with keeping up with it only to lose my posting momentum and fall behind! Thanks to some great friends ( and actual email requests to start doing it...again!) I am back! and hopefully going to be around for while. After all, Im a girl...and I have lots to say!!! :)

Creamy Spaghetti Bake!

This recipe was found on Pinterest and advertised as "Scooter's Spaghetti". Since this was purely to identify the persons name who made it, I renamed it & changed up a few things! This dish was awesome! WOW! So flavorful and in the top 5 for our house. Easy to make ahead and great with a great big salad! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 lb.  uncooked spaghetti
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 large can spaghetti sauce (26.5 ounces) + more if you like a saucier spaghetti
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 chopped green pepper.
• 1/2 cup chopped onions (1/2 of an onion)
• 1-2 blocks of cream cheese ( two for cheesier one for less. I used one and wish I had used two!)
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 grated mozzarella cheese
• French Fried Onions (small can)

Directions

1. Cook spaghetti according to directions on the package. Cook to al dente, drain and set aside.
2. Brown ground beef. Drain excess grease. Add spaghetti sauce to skillet and heat.
3. Combine onions, peppers and butter in small glass bowl. Cover and microwave 4 minutes on HIGH until soft.
4. Add cream cheese and milk to vegetables and stir well. (If cream cheese is not soft, nuke it for 20-30 seconds to make it easy to spread.)
5. Using a 9 x 13 glass dish, assemble in the following order:
6. Thin layer of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish.
7. Spaghetti
8. Cream cheese/vegetable mixture
9. Cover the cream cheese/veggie mixture with the Parmesan Cheese & Mozz cheese
10. Spaghetti/meat Sauce
11. If you have any extra cheese, you can sprinkle it on top of the sauce mixture.
12. French Fried Onions (added during last 5 minutes of cooking)

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Top with French Fried onion and continue baking 5 more minutes. (This is the secret ingredient–don’t let them burn.)

Notes

Make this ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze without the French Fried onions. Don’t forget to add them 5 minutes before casserole is finished cooking.

Marshmallow Fudge cake!

This cake was realllly good! So easy and inexpensive!

I just made a Betty Crocker Devils Food cake mix, according to the directions for the Bundt cake and then iced it with this amazing Marshmallow frosting recipe I found on Pinterest:

• 4 large egg whites
• 1 Cup ordinary sugar (white or brown)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Place all ingredients except the vanilla essence into a bowl which you can place over a pot of simmering water.

{You could use a double boiler here instead}

Whisk the egg white mixture constantly over simmering water until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot to the touch. {It takes around 5 minutes}.

Pour the mixture into a bigger bowl, take off the heat, and beat with an electric mixer for 8 minutes. {Add the vanilla while beating}. After 5 minutes, the mixture will be lovely and fluffy. Once it looks like you can frost something without it dripping? Its done.

I love using disposable piping bags – {or you could even use a plastic bag, which is what I did} without a nozzle, I simply piped straight out the end of the piping bag directly onto the cake.

Hope you try this recipe. It sounds like a bit of work, but really it takes very little time and effort and they are so easy to pipe as the icing is very soft and much easier to squirt out than buttercream.

Kindness.....

..as I was standing at my counter rolling dough for my pitas last night.....I was able to witness a pretty awesome thing that made me smile for the rest of the day...and most importantly made me proud to be called "Mom".

Brian has always been a good kid. He was a good baby too. Even gave me a good pregnancy!  Although sometimes hes been a little awkward with things. Always seems to be runnin' about 6 months to a year behind every one else his age, but never the less a good kid. As a new first time Mom worrying about how to raise your child, I always questioned where I could have done better. Im sure letting him keep his bottle till he was almost 4 wasnt the best idea LOL....and I still regret to this day not reading to him more! OH and not giving him a baby sister or brother when he was still little!!...But we did our best, and pulled from our own child hood the most important things that both my husband and I could remember. Respect & Kindness was two of the biggest.

Im sure some people, other kids in particular may view a sensitive child as a dork. Or worse..a NERD! But I think just like with anything else in life, if its done the right way, with the right balance..it works out perfectly and that it what i worked the hardest on with Brian.

There is so many things to be cautious about with our kids these days. Much more than when I was a child. Trying to balance self respect and morals, along with the idea of dealing with whats going on in the world around them can be so very hard.  I will never forget the time Brian told me that someone was hurt on the bus by another child, and that when the bus driver asked who did it, Brian told him...but yet was given several dirty looks by the rest of the kids for telling. He couldnt understand why doing the right thing was so wrong.  Teaching your kid to do the right thing vs. doing the socially right thing can be hard. But I think with allot of talking and teaching, we were able to get that balance just right.

Sunday afternoon Brian had a friend over from in the neighborhood that he goes to school with. Both of them have been working on fixing up an old lawn tractor to use to cut grass with, and make money. Brian, just like his Daddy, has always loved tinkering with engines & building things.  Since as far back as 4 years old I can remember him trying to work on his cars and tractors with pretend tools. He loved it!

His buddy that came over isnt really all that experienced when it comes to this sort of thing though. Probably never touched a wrench until he started hanging around with Brian. Good kid, kind, but more of a book smart, artsy kind of kid with allot of talent. Just not much of a grease monkey, but his excitement and thrill when working on this tractor is insane and fun to watch!

Finally, after weeks of the both of them working on this thing..they finally ( With Dads help of course!) got it running and it was time to drive it!! I had my kitchen window open and could hear Brian talking to his buddy about driving it. I could see the concern in his buddy's eyes, the worry and basically the "Oh shit I dont know how to do this, so I just will say no" look. I heard Brian telling him and reassuring him he can do it and that he will teach him and to not be scared. That alone almost made me cry, but then when he said "Ill walk right next to you"...it really made me see the type of kid I raised.

                 (I snuck a picture through the window. I knew if I came out there they wouldnt let me! )

He never laughed at him or made fun of him cause he was scared, even though he knew he was...and he never thought twice about what to do , to ease his fears. He just knew. He knew the right thing to do and he knew what to do to ease that fear, which is exactly what I have taught Brian all these years in everything. Ive taught him that you only fear things your not sure of, and doing the right thing is never wrong.

                          (Then I snuck out and took another picture...and yes they saw me! LOL)

He made me so proud of him on Sunday, not just because I'm the one he calls Mom, but because he took a situation and figured out how to do not just the right thing, but the kind thing too. Probably a lesson some adults could learn from too. I love this kid, and I cant wait to see the wonderful adult that he is going to grow into one day...and probably the amazing Father hes going to be to his own children too.

Be kind to someone today. You never know just how far that kindness will & can go.

My simple ways to pinch pennies in 2012

I absolutely love January. Its the start of the new year. A fresh clean slate that could be the start of wonderful things. Whether its budgeting your money or a change in your diet to start eating healthy...its the beginning of many good things for many people. What I see most in the blogs I follow is people wanting to save. Or, at least find ways to get the most for their dollar. What a better time to start than now!

My passion for pinching pennies over the years has always been one of my favorite things to do. Finding ways to stretch a dollar as far as I can, to me? is fun. Five years ago, I decided to seriously look into all this couponing talk that I was reading about online and seeing on TV. I read allot of blogs, and taught myself how to do it. Binder in hand and 6 newspaper a week I started my venture into the world of clipping coupons and saving. I remember my first trip with my binder and lists of deals. I saved 62% ( yes, I kept a log) on my grocery bill! I couldn't believe it! It was from that point on, that it became almost a game to me. A challenge to see how much I could get for the smallest amount of money. Within a few months, I had a stock pile of enough razors, shampoo, deodorant, shampoo, toilet paper, detergent, cleaners, pasta, sauce, cereal & breakfast bars to last me at least 6 months...all while cutting my bill in half if not more. I recall a few trips where the cashier actually had to pay ME! It cant get any better than that!

I think sometimes people are embarrassed to use coupons..almost as if that is just admitting your "cheap" or poor. Or worse, I hear people say "I just don't have the time".  Using coupons to me , simply put..IS SMART! Why pay more for something if you don't have to? It doesn't matter if your rich, poor or middle class..saving money just makes sense. Its not a matter if you HAVE to.

Over the years, I have found so many ways to cut my expenses other than just couponing. From eating out, to car repairs, to doing things differently home. Here are some of my ideas on how to S-T-R-E-T-C-H a dollar without a whole lot of work!

• NEVER buy anything online without looking for a coupon code first. www.retailmenot.com is the BEST place for codes. If your ordering something online and it has a space that says "Enter coupon code here"? ..then that means there is one. Go find it!
• If  you shop allot online consider joining Ebates (www.ebates.com ). Its free to join and so simple to use. I joined them last year just prior to doing allot of online shopping for Christmas. I will be getting my second Ebates check in the mail in February for $48.54! How awesome is that? That is close to being my weekly spending for groceries. Taking this a step farther, also look for deals on things like optical or health needs. I paid only 
• Plan your meals around sales. If chicken is on sale this week for $1.99 lb..but ground beef is $4.29 a lb. this week? Guess what? Chicken it is. I just makes sense. Keep a watch too for the best season for fruits and veggies. Whatever is being harvested that month, is most likely going to be your best deal at the grocery store.
• Take about 10 minutes out of your day to figure out where the bulk of your expenses are going. Whether its going out to dinner, or entertainment like movies or bowling...look for coupons or special savings for those events on certain days. Mondays and Tuesdays are great days to go out to dinner if you have kids. Allot of places have "kids eat free days" on those days. Eating out for less is also pretty easy. Take time to flip through those magazines you get in the mail, or just google for your favorite place to eat for coupons. Saving as much as 1/2 off your bill, if not free meals is NOT uncommon.
• Make meals that can stretch into a different meal the next day. BE CREATIVE! A roast with veggies and potatoes one night can be creatively turned into a stir fry the next day. ( veggies cut up, meat sliced thin or chunked, and tossed in your favorite Asian sauce over rice) Voila, one dinner turned into two! You can do this with SO many different dishes. Just takes a bit of thought!
• No matter what you are getting ready to buy? Check Amazon FIRST! I cannot tell you how many purchases that I was getting ready to make in a brick and mortar store that I found for sooo much less on Amazon. 
• Have family nights on Friday nights instead of going out. Find a great pizza deal in your local area ($5 pizzas here in Florida @ Little Caesar's), rent a couple $1 movies from Redbox, get some $1 candy & munchies from your local Dollar Store, turn out the lights and get out the sleeping bags! Done. Fun night and cheap!
• Did you know that rinsing out your detergent bottles can give you at least 2-3 EXTRA loads of wash? With the price of Tide these days, this is a must!
• Is Milk a huge expense in your house? Buy a gallon of Whole Milk, pour half of the gallon into a empty gallon and dilute it with 1/2 water in each. Tadah! 1 gallon is now 2 and tastes pretty much the same as 2 % or 1%!
• Use your plastic grocery sacks as mini garbage bags in your kitchen sink and in your bathrooms. While cooking dinner or cleaning out your fridge, place one of these bags in your sink and open up. Place all your trash or scraps in this bag and take directly to the outside cans when you done. Garbage bags are expensive! This cuts down on how many big garbage bags you use a week! I can get by with only 1 a week sometimes. This could be stretching a box of 20 garbage bags into 5 months!
• Don't throw out over ripe fruit! Make a quick bread or cake! Apples & Bananas are great for this, as is Peaches or Pears. A quick crust or a few eggs & flour and voila! You have a great cheap dessert!
• Re-cycle your clothes. Kids clothes sell at Garage Sales for maybe 50 cents...and adult clothes? maybe a few pennies more..Consider selling them on Craigslist or Ebay instead and then use that money to rebuy clothes from the same source! I hated buying NEW play clothes for my son when he was smaller and was outside getting them tour up all the time. Buying a lot of jeans for $10 or shorts for the summer was so much less expensive than buying new! Shop Thrift stores too!
• Turn off the A/C and use fans. Don't turn on the heat and wear socks! We bought two of those in/out fans and put one at each ends of our home. Pulls out the heat..pulls in the cool air. No A/C needed and  we cut our electric bill by 47% for the past 3 months. When its cold? Open your blinds. Use mother natures heat to warm your rooms! Put on an extra blanket and trade in the Florida flip flops ( Florida's state shoe!) for some warm fluffy socks or covered toe slippers! Got a fireplace? Use it! and reverse all your ceiling fans to pull that heat throughout your home!

Saving money can be fun and quite an adventure. Keeping a log of how much you spend is also pretty exciting and a great way to reward yourself with something extravagant like a manicure or pedicure! Or in my case, MODS FOR MY CAR! lol. Always keep a sharp eye on the big picture, and not "just" saving 50 cents on a loaf of bread. Remember: Saving just .50 cents on ten items..equals $5. Do this just 4 times a month? its a $20 savings per month or $240 a year!!. Add in all the other ways to save and you will be on your way to a better and FATTER wallet. Now, if I only could do the opposite with my waist!!!!