Weekend Puttering

There was nothing on the calendar this weekend and it was heavenly! I feel like I've been on the go to much and this was a much needed break. I went to pick up a few groceries. I love to see others grocery hauls, so I thought I'd share what I purchased with you.

The items on the left are from Aldi and the things on the right from Meijer.  I spent a total of $47.66 ($19.16/Aldi and $28.50/Meijer.  I did really well at Meijer getting fresh items, boneless chicken breast, chicken drumsticks and milk.  Chuck and Megan were with me at Aldi and few extras made it into the cart.  *smile*  

I threw all the cold items into the frig and this mess greeted me in the morning. 

I don't know about you, but I don't feel very inspired when things aren't tidy, organized, and in their proper places.  I knew that taking care of this business would need to be a top priority.

The first thing I did was take things out of the refrigerator one shelf at a time.  I wiped the shelf off and then sorted the items.  I had things that needed to be washed and prepped.  I also had items that were almost past their prime.  Those items were set aside to go into the freezer. 

Once that was complete I tackled the items that needed washed and prepped.  

Once that was done the refrigerator was complete. 

Awe... much better. I then packaged up a few things for the freezer and wiped down the counters  

There were a few things still on the table from my shopping trip.  I took a few minutes to put them away.  I tend to take things out of packages and place into glass containers.  Not only does it look pretty, but prevents anything from getting into the containers.  

Next I went to the garage.  The items I had prepared for the freezer were added to the big freezer and then I needed to make room in the freezer above the garage frig.  I generally keep baking items in there.  I purchased 25 lbs of flour that had been in the freezer for a while.  I always do this as I want to kill anything that might turn into a creepy crawly.  *shudder*

This allowed me to make room for the 18 lbs of butter I had previously purchased on sale at Aldi.  

Then it was time to sit down with a glass of tea and work on the weekly menu.

One of the best ways to tighten the purse strings is in the kitchen.  As I mentioned last week we had to purchase a new furnace.  We also purchased a new air conditioner.  We debated and debated on doing this.  They offered us a great deal if we purchased both.  Since they were both the same age and we had the air conditioner repaired last summer we did both.  Our neighbor did the repair and said it most likely couldn't be repaired again.

It's a good thing we did as the installer said that one of the items needed to make the air cold was down to zero pounds.  This particular gas/liquid, whatever it was, isn't available any more.  So we would have had no air conditioning and would have been told we had to purchase a new unit this summer  Amazing how God looks out for us and meets our needs!

Anyway,  with making this large purchase we are really pinching pennies.  I found that when I have my food organized that I am more willing to jump into the kitchen and get something delicious and nutritious cooking.  This time spent in the kitchen will have a huge pay off.

I also tackled laundry.  I was able to get all of the laundry washed, ironed/folded, and put away.  A great feeling that will last until we get into our night clothes. *smile*

I also started my spring cleaning.  Megan helped me to wash down the laundry area. When we were done Chuck used the shop vac to vacuum the dust from behind the washer and dryer.  I then mopped and vacuumed the runner in front of the washer and dryer.  I love it when an area is spotless!

It's been crazy weather around here.  It's been cold with snow.  Then we had a warm day that caused flooding.  Now we're back to cold and I hear there could be some light snow overnight.

Now that I've started spring cleaning maybe Spring will actually come. Ha!  

I'm feeling refreshed and ready to enjoy a new week. 

May your day be filled with joy in the journey!

An Easter Glimpse

We took some time off of school the week before Easter. That enabled us to to a few fun things.

Megan slept over with her cousins and then the next day I meet up with them, at my parents, to color eggs. 

I had grand plans to make cupcakes for our Sunday gathering.  Things didn't go quite as planned.  In part due our furnace breaking Thursday evening.   We received the bad news on Friday that the control panel had been fried.  After looking at it we are thankful that we didn't have a fire.  They were suppose to install the new one on Saturday.  It was cancelled and it was installed today. Yeah!  

Anyway, I decided to show myself some grace and certainly needed less stress after Friday.  I purchased cupcakes from Sam's Club.  I changed out some of the butterflies for Peep bunnies.  The best part is that they tasted great and saved me a ton of additional aggravation. 

Sunday morning found us making our traditional breakfast of cinnamon biscuit bunnies.

We stopped for a quick picture before heading home.  

I needed to make a quick mac and cheese before it was time to hit the road again.  

This year we went my father-in-law's.  After dinner, eggs were hidden and then they were off!

We had a wonderful time celebrating our risen Savior.

May your day be filled with joy in the journey!