Oops! Has it really been over a month since I posted.... Bad, bad me! I was doing so good there for a while. Lol! 

I will try to do better! I just got a bit busy there for a while. I have a few things to post, clothes I have made for some babies from the store, the tutorial on the ribbon crosses, the update on the Harry Potter quilt and I am sure there are other things that are not coming to mind right now. It is almost 1 AM and I have to earn a living tomorrow, so that means I won't be going into any thing right now.

I am trying to figure out the best way to post (possibly, in a perfect world lol) at least 3 times a week. So if everyone can bear with me, I will kick it back into gear and start posting more. 

I can give an update to the "salad in a jar". OMG! It works wonders! The second batch I did had the carrot match sticks and the celery already in the jar with the lettuce. I can't remember if I posted about the first batch and the last jar I had. I didn't open it till almost 3 weeks after I sealed it and it was just as good as the day I did it! I really need to make some more, only problem is I am either busy or sleeping on Sundays! It's my one day to catch up on sleep lol. I usually stay up all night on Saturday sewing and end up crashing Sunday! 

Speaking of passing out.... I am starting to get a bit heavy eyed... so instead of nodding off on here, I am going to close for now. Sorry for the short post but I will do better!

'Til my next post..... Have a good one.....

And another week has passed... Well, the "salad in a jar" is a success! I even still have 2 jars left! I will have to figure out the "portion" part of it to make it easier for me. The quart size jar makes just over 2 salads for me. I was shocked when I opened the first one at lunch. 

First, let me say that those sealers do the job! I was doing every thing I could do to get that lid off! It was SEALED tighter than, well, tight! LOL! I was doing everything I could do to pop that seal with out messing up the lid so I could reuse it but it was being as stubborn as all get out. Any way... I finally got it open and started pouring it out and WOW, way to much.... still had another quarter left in the jar. Still packed down. So, I am thinking a smaller jar packed may be best. 

I opened the avocado on Monday morning to take at least one with me. I thought, hmmmm wonder what it would look like if I seal it as well. So I did lol. Along with the carrot sticks on top of it. By lunch, it was still looking good. The 3 that were left got put into another jar and sealed as well. They looked great even into the next day.

So, in conclusion.... I will be sure to continue to do these for my lunches as it will be a perfect meal. I will also make the pint jars for the "fixings" to go with them. In researching, I will use the carrot sticks as a "separater" between any thing that is wet and may cause sogginess for something else. I.E. cucumbers on the bottom, carrot sticks, avocado, possible hard boiled egg, possible some kind of meat. I will continue to post any trials and errors.

I have made some new bows and need to really sit down and make a "how to" post on the blog for the crosses I made. 

One of the bows is the cupcake bow that I tried once and was NOT happy with the coloring. But then I am great at doing "tests" and "tweaking" what I think needs to be "tweaked"! LOL!

  

The first one is the black/red/white one. It's cute but too busy. I also had really small dows to do the curls and I needed them bigger. I also decided that I should make it solid/print instead of all print. So that's when I decided to try the other ones. I will actually be giving one of them to one of my coworkers tomorrow for her birthday. 

I actually got the "how to" from one of the bow sites I found from Pinterest and thought these would be cute! This is a wonderful site that has all different "how tos" for bows on it. The site is called Girly Things Bows. I actually made the Calla Lily from that site but don't have the picture on the netbook yet, only on my phone lol. I know... how typical of me!

The other bow is the Cross I did. One of my coworkers asked if I could make a cross for Easter for her. So I decided I needed to see if I could put my "creative mind" to work and come up with a cross. It was easier than I thought lol! I only had two "prototypes". The first cross I did wasn't a winner but did help me with the "final" product!

As you can tell, I don't seem to be able to make just one! LOL. When I find a bow I like to make I have a tendency to make a lot ... so much easier than just one or two and then having to make more when everyone decides they want one! I actually wore the purple/silver/white one to church last Sunday and Father Bob commented on it. So this morning I whipped up 4 real quick for church. I wore one, gave one to Robyne (a coworker) and the other 2 I gave to Father Bob and his wife.

They are simple but then that's how I wanted them to be. I will TRY to make a "how to" on them in the next few days. 

I know I seem to just ramble on when I do finally sit down with these post and I am going to try my best to stop that lol. I doubt I will but I will TRY! LOL!

So to avoid this being a rambling one even more than it is.... I will stop it for now. I will try to post again tomorrow as I have a lot of things to ramble about! LOL! Until next time.....

What a good week! I worked, of course! But I am thankful for having a job! So I am good! LOL! 

 I got 4 goodies in the mail! Yippeeeee! 

I got both of my jar sealers for my FoodSaver. I went ahead and got the standard size sealer and the wide mouth sealer! Could not wait to do my "Salad in a Jar"! Thank you so much Paula for posting this and making it possible to have my "salad bar" in my refrigerator! I so can not wait to see how the last jar looks on Friday!

Now, she suggests Romaine lettuce. I got regular Iceberg out of habit. But it still will work for this week. Payday is Friday and I will get the Romaine and try that one. Any way, 2 regular sized heads make 6 jars! I have lunch for every day this week and 1 to spare, sort of! LOL! I have been informed by my "daughter", Laura, that I will need to bring her a jar on Tuesday. 

 

I purchased a salad spinner to dry out the washed salad since she suggested that as well. So I had a few new toys to play with today. It took me about 20 minutes, start to finish. (Not counting the washing of the jars and such.) 

 

Now, If you look closely at the 2 pictures of the "sealing of the jars" you will see something isn't right in one of them.... me and my dorkness! I "think" I do every thing right. Hit the sealer button and wait for it to kick off. Now, mind you, when I do use my sealer I usually can't get it to work because I completely forget to "lock" the unit. It's really sad... It reminds me to do it right there in black and white on the top of the machine. Does that remind me? No... I just get frustrated until it finally clicks! LOL! This time I remembered the minute I plugged it in! Yay me! LOL! So I wait for it to kick off... It does and I pull off the sealer.... AND THE LID!!!! I am thinking "did I do this wrong? Is there something I missed?" I put it back on and doing it again.... same results! 

 

Now, look closely at the above picture..... then at the next picture. Act like it's one of those "find the difference" pictures... LOL! Do you see it? Yes, that's it... I didn't have the tube plugged it! It's amazing how fast this thing works when it's installed right! Some days I am amazed I know how to walk! LOL! This of course has made me love my FoodSaver all that much more and tell even more people to GET ONE! It's worth it!

Well, I can't just have lettuce so I had to get some extra goodies to toss into the salad!

I am missing cucumber, celery, cheese and tomatoes but that's okay. I will get more goodies this weekend. I am also going to play with making "combo" jars of extras. Hence why I got the regular sealer. I can put the cucumber, celery, carrot sticks and avocado into a small jar and see how it last. If it works well, I will make a set of small jars to go with each of the big ones. I will post the results either way so if that is something someone may want to do, they will know before hand if they should even bother. 

My other 2 goodies were Scentsy goodies!

This was the one that I had ordered and have been patiently waiting on. The Warmer is called Heartfelt. It is the "cause" warmer for this session. I always get the cause warmer (or buddy like last session) because I want to support the cause. This one is in support for the American Heart Association. A portion of each warmer goes to the AHA.

Also pictured are the new products that Scentsy has come out with called Layers. From left to right... Hand cream, body butter, solid perfume, body lotion and body spray. This is just part of the new line. I plan to get the other couple of pieces next week. There is still the shower gel, shower cream, dryer disks and washer whiffs.

The other Scentsy box was my Warmer of the Month (or WOTM). I look forward to these each month as they are always like a little present sent out in the middle of the month. I usually peek ahead on the first to see what it will be because I am impatient! LOL! 

This WOTM is perfect for Mother's day and is perfectly named! It's hard to see that it has a light lavender tint to the warmer but it is very elegant and pretty! So if anyone is looking for a Mother's day present... These can be ordered as of April 1st. 

Wellington is the "WOTM" for this month if you are looking for something whimsical! He is absolutely adorable and has a lot of huggability! Right now he is 10% off so if you would like a new "pet" let me know. 

I have done more over the weekend but will stop for now and post again, probably tomorrow. I actually made a new ribbon goodie and will actually do "instructions" so that I can add it to Pinterest. 

Until next time......

*Sigh* So.... I didn't get any thing done I should have this weekend. I pretty much just vegged out instead. Been a while since I didn't have something to do and since it just rained heavily all weekend, I just watched T.V. and slept.

I did get a lot accomplished today at work though. I actually got all my ordering done so I can work on other nitpicking crap the rest of the week. 

I did go by the store and get the fixin's for something from Pintrest.com. It's "Salad in a Jar". Of course, I get home and realize I don't have the wide mouth jar sealer for my FoodSaver. So I spend 30 minutes on the phone with, shall we say "Wally World", just trying to get an answer on whether they sell it or not. (FYI - NOT!) Then another 20 on the phone with the BEST place to BUY something. They do not carry it in store but offered to order it for me and have it shipped to my place free of charge. So I have it ordered. I also ordered one of the smaller ones from FoodSaver directly. Now I just have to wait to get the dang things. Fingers crossed the lettuce lasts by the time they get here! LOL!

I have always said that if I could have a salad bar in my house, I would be happy! This will be the next best thing. This will help me for the next couple of weeks as I made a commitment for Lent. 

Speaking of Lent... let me tell you... when you make a decision to give something up for Lent.... BE SPECIFIC! I learned quick that making that general statement of giving something up is DANGEROUS! 

I gave up "fast food" for lent. I was not specific. This has come back to haunt me in a big way! LOL! I was thinking ... no Whataburgers (this was NOT easy) or anything from Sonic. Since I am living the single life again, these have been my mainstays. I haven't really wanted to cook as the things that I would normally cook were for more than one and they were his favorites. So, yeah, I don't cook at home. Any way... due to not being specific, I have had some major struggles. LOL!

My co-workers, who are also my wonderful friends, have tried to help me "differentiate" what is considered fast food and what isn't. The general consensus is that if it has a drive thru then it's fast food. But then I question things like... is Subway one? Some have drive thru's but not all of them, so does that mean only some of them are fast food? Then I was told that they do fast sandwiches. Um, helloooo.... aren't all sandwiches fast?  I was told that Firehouse Subs is NOT fast food because they do not have a drive thru and you order and sit down at a table to have it brought to you. See how confusing it can get!

Then I questioned Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yes, they have a drive thru, but it's FRIED CHICKEN! And I usually get the mashed potatoes and cole slaw!  I was then told that it was still fast food because I can get it fast! See what I mean about being specific! And then add to the fact that one of my favorite restaurants lately is Taqueria Cancun which is a sit down restaurant WITH A DRIVE THRU!!!!! I am so confused because I am told it's not fast food! ACK!!!! I am SO rethinking Lent next year!!!!!! LOL!

Well, it is later than I thought (Mondays and Tuesdays are my early days at work) so it's time for me to stop my pondering on what is fast food and what isn't... or was that ranting? LOL!

Until the next installment......   

 

Okay... I am doing good.... only 3 days since my last post. LOL! I will definitely be updating alot this weekend with pictures of the things I have been working on. 

This will be a trying weekend as it will be 2 years on Sunday that my world blew apart. So I will be either sleeping or doing every thing I can to NOT think about it.

Any way... on to today's post.... will deal with Sunday when it gets here. 

Right now I am over at my mom's helping her set up brand new netbook. This is her very 1st computer that she is the 1st owner of. Usually, the  computers she gets are hand-me-downs! This is a brand spanking new puter for her!  Needless to say... it has been one of THOSE evenings! She is impatient and demanding! I love her but next time (if I ever do a next time) I will take it home and do it with out her "assistance"! LOL!

Then add to this... we go get mexican food from the restaurant that I love. They have a drive thru. I will NEVER do the drive thru there with her again! She questioned what did the tostadas looked like. Then what was on them! Then after I told them 3 shrimp tacos.... she decided she was taking one! Had to order 3 more so mine were safe! Then she wanted to know if they were the hard ones! She is sooooo white! LOL! 

Anyhoooo.... I will also start updating all my pictures on my photobucket account so that I can get all the pictures of the things I have been doing posted! I have gotten into doing bows for work and have just started doing little animals out of ribbon (gee thanks pinterest!). I have pictures but not on my puters as of right now. That will be one of the things I need to do this weekend. 

Hmmm.... wonder if I should start a list......

Okay... I guess I should end this for now. Gotta drive home, get to bed and plan for "freight" day at work tomorrow. Some times I hate Fridays...... LOL!

'Til my next installment...... (it's time for you to wake up and go do something useful after the small catnap this blog has induced! Lol!)

 

Okay... I've already posted once today but am testing sending a post with my phone. This will be easier since I do a lot with my phone lol.

Okay... I said I was going to be posting on here now and so I begin....

Catch up... There has been a great upheaval in my life and I am slowly getting through the changes it caused. Some GREAT, some I don't think about if at all possible!

I have decided 2012 will be my year! It has started out with a bang! 

In September of 2010, I became a Scentsy Independent Consultant. I fell in love with this product so much that I decided to sell it. Any one that has talked to me in the last year and a half knows I am always up to talking about Scentsy! I think He place my recruiter in my path when I needed it most!

In early January 2011, I got my first recruit. Again, I think He was there to teach me a lesson with that recruit. I was so excited about her that I was going a bit over board. My cousin, who wanted to be my first recruit, signed up at the end of January. Again, I was ecstatic to share my love of this product! The lesson I learned was that I should not be too excited as my first recruit ended up doing nothing at all. My cousin on the other hand.... GANG BUSTER! LOL! 

I have met some wonderful people through Scentsy and as of last month, February I now have 6 people, including me, on my team. 3 are my direct recruits and my cousin has 2 under her belt. With any luck, she will become a Lead Consulting, like I am, this month. That all happened at the start of 2012. If interested in checking them out, go to: https://steffinid.scentsy.us

I also started working at Hobby Lobby in May of 2010. Another God send! I have met some wonderful people there and they have become wonderful friends! They have been there for me in my darkest times and I am forever thankful for their friendship and support. 

My manager has my undying gratitude and loyalty! He hired me in spite of my demanding an interview and then crying in the interview. He then helped my self esteem and confidence even more by moving me from being the Department Head of Cards and Party to a bigger department. I became the Department Head of Fabrics. I know... dangerous! LOL! I have had a great time making the department mine! I am very proud of my department and the ladies that work in it. It, almost, keeps me sane... I have some CRAZY stories about customers that I think anyone in the retail industry can believe!

In January of this year I added to my life, Dove Chocolate Discoveries. I have been a consultant for just over 1 month and already have my first recruit. As I said, 2012 will be my year! If your interested in this product, got to: www.dovechocolatediscoveries.com/steffinidsweets

I have slowly, but surely, started back into my crafting. It all started with making bows for people at work to wear on our vest. It's sad that my vest is going to start looking like a Bennigan's vest (does that show my age or what) eventually. Now it is expected for me to have a bow or "ribbon" pin for each holiday! LOL. The demand is so much that I am seriously thinking about selling them as well. (Every penny counts!) They are also the reason I am starting this back up. I am now a Pinterest addict and found a lot of the new "bows" I do on there. For those that do not know about Pinterest... go to www.pinterest.com and sign up... but be warned! It is ADDICTING!!!!! I am happy to say that I have actually made things and not just "pinned" them. I will start posting the things I have made and how to make them soon. (See this is why I decided that I needed to restart my blogging! Lol!)

Okay... enough for now.... I will be back! I promise! And it won't take 2 years!