Celebrate Good Times...COLESLAW!

How to Make Coleslaw.
I made this today to bring to a SURPRISE Graduation party for a friend!
We had pulled pork sandwiches, so coleslaw is an essential side.

INGREDIENTS

1 head green cabbage, finely shredded
2 large carrots, finely shredded
3/4 mayo
2 tablespoons mayo
1/4 grated onion
2 tablespoons sugar or to taste
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons celery salt
salt and freshly ground pepper

THE STEPS

1. If you are not bald, do something to keep your hair from falling out into the food you are preparing. Some suggestions are, bandana, hair-net, shower cap, tuque, pony-tail, bun or hat.

2. Wash Hands. That is a given, so make sure you do.

3. In a large bowl, add all ingredients except the cabbage, carrots and onion

3/4 cup Mayonnaise

2 tablespoons ish Sour Cream

2 tablespoons White Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Sugar

2 teaspoons Celery Seed

Some Salt N Peppa (Preferably Freshly Ground, but work with what you got)

I used a couple squirts of Dijon Mustard instead of Dry Mustard.

Mixy-Moo it all together.

4. Find a sharp chopping knife (sorry for the blurry photos. I will use a different camera next time)

                                        

5. Chop up that Lettuce

6. Chop up the onion

7. Finely chop some carrots, or cheat and buy a bag like this!

8. Add them all to the bowl with the dressing in the bottom.

9. Mixy-Moo it all together, making sure it is all evenly coated, I used a rubber spatula to do this.

10. Cover, let chill out in the fridge for a couple hours.

Ta-Da! You Did it!

The Bees Are Back.

Helloooooo out there!
After a lengthy hiatus, I have returned to the beautiful world of blogging! Why you ask?
Well, after reading some old posts, I began to laugh. So many memories that I had forgotten until I read the old posts. I want to record my memories and this to me is a lot more fun than a boring old journal that I have to actually write in BY HAND. ( I honestly do get writer's cramp easily, I think it's because I refused to hold a pencil "correctly" since Kindergarten, I am paying for it now.)
I am a speedy typer, so that means, BAM, when a thought enters my mind, it comes out through my fingertips with much ease and therefore creates a very random blog. You will get used to my "style" of blogging (if you can call it that). I don't worry about my writing being, in any shape or form, correct. I am somewhat a rule breaker when it comes to blogging, and really no one can stop me...! I overuse exclamation points! but that's because I find a lot of things exciting and needing that extra exclamation. :) I also tend to forget to put some paragraphs in where the belong, I will try to be better at that one.

Now, things have changed a lot since my last post. For instance, we have added a new bee to our hive..lol. For the sake of sticking with my bee theme, BuzzBee (hubby) and I had a little "Bumble of Joy", his name shall be Bumble Bee. He's one and tons of fun.

Real men stand in fields of daffodils.

 The little Bumble Bee is napping right now, which is my now dedicated time to blog. I think I will do two posts a week to start, and go from there. The sleeping one is now awake so I  must be off!
Next post, how to make coleslaw and look cool doing it.

Sunday Social.

1. My favourite New Year's EVE to date would have to be an awesome night with my best girl friends minus a few. Thanks to Beast (really should come up with a more suitable nickname someday) who filmed the events of the night, it's an easy New Year's eve to reminisce.
2. Are you doing anything for NYE and if so what?
Hubby and I are heading to the in-laws for a baked potato bar and probably some games.
3.A book we should all read come January?
I haven't read it but I hope to next month, J.K Rowling's The Casual Vacancy.
4. What are your New Year's Resolutions?
Get in shape, read the bible chronologically, teach piano full time, blog and decorate the house/organize.

I love every cat

Good Morning/Almost Afternoon, Friends!

I was awaken this morning, as most mornings with a little orange cat trying to eat my hair. Keith the cat is still a little kitten in my eyes but as most people have pointed out recently after he turned one last month, he is a "BIG cat". I still don't see it. This is how I still see him....

Keith one year ago

Keith Today.

And because I can't leave his brother out, here is Pierre a year ago...

And Pierre today. I cannot get a picture of this cat with his eyes open for the life of me.

And as most of you owned by cats know, cats definitely have their quirks. I already mentioned Keith chewing on my hair. Does your cat have the munchies for hair? or maybe something else? Pierre has a litter box problem, which we have been and currently are looking for solutions. If you have ANY suggestions or have had a similar problem, let me know please!
Keith is the life of the party and enjoys throngs of people moving about the house. We had a few Christmas parties and Keith loves to be right where the action is. Meanwhile, his brother Pierre is hidden under the blankets and coats on our bed, refusing to let people even catch a glimpse of him.

So let me know, what are your cats weird habits. I could go on and on with some of them. At this moment Pierre is trying to pry open the air vent. He does this mostly at night while we are sleeping but he seems disturbed by perhaps the snow, or who knows what.

It's a Brand New Year!

Hello again! It's been quite a while since the last time I blogged but it's almost the start of a new year and having just bought a new desktop computer, I am looking forward to start blogging again! So if you are still with me, Thank you for following!

I have big aspirations for the year 2013. I think blogging is going to help me with bringing some of these goals to fruition. Here is my list of "resolutions" for this year!

1. Read the Bible in chronological order with BuzzBee
2. Organize and decorate our home
3.Get healthy and fit
4. Learn to cook and do more of it
5. Blog
6. Sew more and do sewing tutorials
7. Have more piano students

Looking at the list, I know that these seven things are very broad and of course I will have to have a plan and more specific goals. So, if you stay tuned I will tell you more of how I am going to organize my life and get the most out of 2013!

A Thursday Holiday with Hubby.

Today Buzzbee and I had the day off so we planned a fun day without any plans! We slept in. Woke up and had breakfast which consisted of hashbrowns, and that's about it. Buzzbee was going to make eggs to go with but ended up using all the hashbrowns so we would have been to full with eggs as well, which was fine with me. We then went downtown since we hardly ever venture that way. We visited the toy house and laughed at our reflections in the fun house mirrors, played some games that were set out on display, picked out toys that we thought were pretty cool and sat in those comfy nursery chairs. We then walked around downtown a bit and peeked in a couple stores. The michigan theatre was playing We Bought a Zoo, and since it was only 1$ a ticket, we decided why not. We needed a cool relief from the crazy heat anyways. After the movie we kept on walking and wanted to go to Buz n bee cafe, (i think that is what it was called) but it was closed. The crazy cowboy was next to it so we decided to go there. We shared fajita nachos, which were very tasty! We went home and went for a refreshing swim in the pool. Buzzbee had soccer and by this time I had a headache I think from the heat. I stayed home and rested my eyes in hopes that the headache would go away. After the game we went and met Buzz Bee's parents at Culver's for a bite to eat. Angie was there and we got to hang out for a little while. Now we are back home relaxing. I had a fun day today and thought i would blog about it so I will remember it better. I find writing things down helps me solidify them into memories.
I am so blessed. I love my cute, loving hubby more and more every day.
sweet dreams!

Journaling

     As a child and teenager, I always kept some sort of journal or diary. I miss that. I decided today that I must start to keep a journal again as I find it helps keep memories fresh and gives some perspective whether its initially or when reading it years later.
I bought an inexpensive journal the other day, which I hope to decorate tomorrow to write in each day or as often as I can. I am thinking writing while I have a bubble bath sounds appealing, only I wish the book was water proof.
Blogging is a type of journaling and perhaps once I start journaling again it will give me ideas on what to blog about. I am on a mission to find my camera charger tomorrow so I hope to post a picture of my finished journal as well as a couple other projects I am working on.
I leave you with this quote I found that has inspired me to keep on journaling.

" How truly does this journal contain

my real and undisguised thoughts--

I always write it according to the humour

I am in, and if a stranger was to think it 

worth reading, how capricious--insolent

and whimsical I must appear!--one moment 

flighty and half mad,--the

next sad and melancholy. No matter!

Its truth and simplicity are its sole

recommendations."

     -Frances Burney(1752-1840) 

                     British Author

Feeling Crafty.

Hello friends!
Today is so gorgeous. I have the windows open to air out the apartment and enjoying my tea as I write this post. I just wanted to ask you my followers to please be patient with me over the next couple weeks as it is going to take a few weeks for my new blog and Etsy store to take off (hopefully). 

I have been working on some projects today and would have them finished if I didn't have to go to work.

I will let you in on the projects I have been working on today. 

I have always enjoyed painting and therefore decided I needed to be creative in that area. I am painting two 10x10 nursery or toddler acrylic paintings on canvas. One is of a mermaid and the other an owl. I hopefully will finish the mermaid one tonight and will post it as soon as I can. 

On a side note, I think I may have lost our camera charger :(. That being said, I may not be able to post pictures right away but I will look for it tonight. 

Well, it's time for me to get ready for work. Have a wonderful day!

-Melissa

Melissa Made : My Etsy Shop!

Hey all!
Please check out my new Etsy shop. I was just so excited to open it, even though I only have one item listed right now, I had to open it! I made the banner myself for now, but I am going to get hubby to make me a nice one.
Please stop by and heart my shop! More things are to come within the next couple weeks so please check back!
check it out at Melissa Made.

It's tomorrow already!

Tomorrow is here and I have so much to do today! Including getting in 8 hours of sleep, which is what I am going to do very shortly. One of the big things I have to do tomorrow is LAUNDRY.
I dislike doing laundry mainly because I never seem to have enough quarters. It will be very nice to one day have a laundry room of my own. :) I hope I won't take it for granted when that time comes. I don't think I will. I just love the smell of fresh, clean laundry. It is definitely in my top 5 fav. smells.
My other favourite smells would include, lemon, pool (chlorine), and laundry again because I really do think that might be my favourite. I can't think of other smells that I enjoy. I am sure there are some food smells that I enjoy but at the moment I am feeling rather full and do not wish to think of food. Hubby also always smells very good. So back to laundry, I am attempting to make my own laundry detergent. I have gotten the supplies and if time allows tomorrow I plan to make it! Check back tomorrow for a tutorial and to see how the soap turns out!
Well, I am about to have a tea and settle down for the night. Hubby and I have been reading the Bible through a year, although I must be honest and say that I think it will take longer than that for us. It is one of my favourite times of day though and I encourage everyone to read and reread the Bible each day, even if it's a verse or two. Good night all.

I'm back!

HEY ALL!
Oh how I have missed the blogging world! I am making a comeback with a fresh idea. I never could find exactly what I wanted to blog about but in a week I will start a whole new, very focused blog and I am sooo excited about it. Actually, I am hoping to start on Wednesday so please stay tuned!
I will give you a few timbits to chew on while I prepare for my new blog. Crafts, faith, and some other thoughts. my goal is to grow spiritually and explore creativity through my blog. I have found a devotional book that I might use to help me along this journey.

Also! Wanna win FREE Wendy's? Vote for my Wendy's T-shirt design and enter to win a $50 gift card. Click HERE.

Thanks for voting!!

I start this post off with a big YAWWN, as I did yesterday. Where is all my energy? It's gone.. Early mornings are taking their toll on me and stressss of work.

Today I had half a seafood sub, an orange, water for lunch. I failed at breakfast AGAIN, eating a chewy dip bar thing. I had chili for supper at Angie's house and that was really yum! I also had a dreamsicle.

I already had my bath, drank my tea and read more of my book so now I am about to go to bed. I need to get rested for the weekend :)
Jake and I are going to work together to get our place in order tomorrow and work to keep it that way. We are both NOT organized and good at cleaning in our home. I think it's because we have to do it so much at work.. but that's not an excuse. We are not naturally inclined to want to clean.. but then again.. is anyone really? I think there may be a few who do enjoy or at least don't mind housekeeping, I really do wish I liked it.

I'm going to bed in a couple minutes so i will say Goodnight.

YAWN.. I am still tired.
I went to bed around 7pm last night and STILL was sleepy today. Oh well.. soon it will be the weekend.
So far today I have done alright. Still did not get up in time for breakfast..gotta work on that.. but 5:45 is early enough!! I used to eat in the car on my way to work when it took like 20 minutes, but now I don't have time. I suppose I should just get up that extra 20 minutes early.. I will try tomorrow.

I am going to walk home from work tomorrow.

On a sidenote, Jake brought me home flowers and subway today after soccer practice! SO SWEET! it's funny though, I KNEW he bought me flowers. He brought in some of the subway and was like, oh i gotta go the rest in the car.. and I was like "the rest?" ok.. and he came back with the drinks and flowers which I kinda guessed was what he was doing! I know him too well.

Well, I have a headache and I think I am going to have a bath and maybe read for a little while, drink some tea of course.
Good night!!

Day One

Day One:

Today I did not eat my healthy breakfast like I had planned. Instead I slept in the extra 20 mins because I simply could not fall asleep last night! It was obnoxious! I think I got an hour of sleep between 4&5 this morning and I got up at 5:45am for work. I feel...sleeeepy right now but still, I will post. I'm trying to stay awake as long as possible anyways.
As I was saying, the healthy breakfast was a no go. I grabbed a chocolate covered chewy dip and called it good. I had my break at 9am and ate yogurt, an orange and water. :) I am proud when I eat fruit because I am not good at it.
I walked home from work as exhausted as I was. It took about an hour at moderate-fast pace so I burned about 200 cals. that is my workout for today. I am just too dizzy and sleepy to do anything more.
I finished up the homemade lasagna I made a couple nights ago and snuck in a few cookies with my tea. I also somehow finished up the chips that were sitting out.. oh dear.
When all is said and done, I am below my calorie intake for the day and I will just have another tea probably before I go to bed. Which is going to be sooon.
Good night!

Goals into Habits -Blog and Fitness

Let's face it. Blogging regularly isn't something I am good at, but it is something that I enjoy doing. Therefore for the month of September I am going to do two things. Commit to blogging something each day as well as being health minded for this month. I need to have a short goal but also am hoping that by achieving this goal I will be motivated to make more goals in other areas of my life and make them become habits. I just need the confidence that I can do it, with the help first and foremost from God as well as encouragement from friends and family.
I go back and forth, back and forth with being happy with the way I look/feel. Somedays I want to be thin, and other days I am completely happy with myself. I have come to realize that I am content but I also want to do my best and part of that comes from taking better care of myself. I need to exercise and eat healthy.

For the month of September I will post daily of my goal to a fitter me. If I miss a day of blogging, I would appreciate someone reprimanding me. I may also post a couple crafts as I have done a few this weekend that I want to share.

Okay, getting ready for bed now. See ya tomorrow!

Organizing my life: Getting Priorities Straight

I got to sleep in this morning since I work at 1pm today. I went to bed about 11:30 although I fell asleep on the couch about an hour earlier because I had a headache.
I woke up this morning still with this headache.
I went to the kitchen to look for something for breakfast. I opened the freezer and thought about eating an ice cream sandwich. WHAT?! It hit me, I was like "what am I doing? haha, eating ice cream for breakfast?"
I did my devotions and took some aspirin with my tea to help with my headache.
I realized then that I really need to get healthy... I REALLY do. How many times have I said it? a MILLION. Instead of sleeping in this morning, I should have gotten up and do some sort of exercise or even cleaning. I did end up making oatmeal with strawberries for breakfast.. which after eating I noticed my headache was gone and I felt very awake!

So, all that to say. Day 1: Healthy Lifestyle Change.

• Eat breakfast every morning- oatmeal with some sort of fruit. I rarely get enough fruit. In fact I NEVER get enough fruit. Jake eats fruit and so it shouldn't be too hard since there is fruit in the fridge. 
• Light exercise each morning. Swimming or walk. 

There you have it. Only two, but two I am going to stick to until I have made it a habit or at least stick to it for a few days and feel like I can add some more challenges to the mix.

Well I am going to get ready for work and go for a quick walk.

A Week of Organization: Day 1

Now that I have folded the laundry, yes I got it before it wrinkled.. whoo hoo! (Not that I mind ironing but the problem is we don't own an iron or ironing board as of yet), and now that my tummy is full of french toast and sausages I can plan how I want to organize this week! (plan and organize in the same sentence, I'm starting to scare myself)


Here is what I have done so far to start in my week long organization extravaganza:

• I just finished sorting my coupons into envelopes. It was quite the job since I have been saving coupons for about a month but I am sure that it will be worth it when I score the big deals coming up!
• Started making a master list of meals that Jake and I like to eat and make so meal planning will be a little easier
• Aaaaand... that's about all. 

Tomorrow, as I have just been informed by my husband, one of our couple friends are coming over tomorrow after work. I still have to dedicate a little time to organize SOMETHING.

Here is a tentative schedule to my week of organization.

Monday: Coffee Table. We have a very large coffee table that collects stuff daily. Tomorrow I will sort the stuff and place in piles and find a home for everything that currently resides on our under the table. 

Tuesday: Clothes and Closet. As I am typing this I just got a call about babysitting my nephew on Tuesday, but I should still have some time to sort out some clothes. If I don't get time to do clothes and closet or am too tired. I shall do a meal plan for the next couple weeks and grocery list.

Wednesday: Bathroom. I need to find containers to put toiletries and blowdryer/straightener etc in. I also need to do a thorough cleaning and perhaps find a better plug to plug that bathtub since I love having bubble baths so much.

Thursday: Bedroom. Rearrange the bedroom. Set up the stereo, change the bedding, add some window treatments, put some dividers in the drawers. 

Friday: Extra stuff, probably the bedroom, that didn't get done. Oh I know, my craft area or lack there of. So far, my craft stuff..is everywhere.

I still have to think of something to do on Saturday, but if it's all done by then I will be happy. 

I will keep you posted and keep me accountable to this please. 

i shall take pictures of the after and perhaps before. and any tips I come across to help with this organization process. 

That's all for now. I am tired just thinking about what is to come this week. This organizing is going to take place AFTER work, which I am usually always tired from. 

A Week of Organization...Look Out!

My mind has been swimming with ideas of how to make our home work more effectively and efficiently so Jake and I have more time to do the things we actually want to do. I had difficulty sleeping last night due to all these organizational and decorating ideas so today is the day I start to actually do them and hopefully I have a more restful slumber.

Today..I must admit.. I was more interested in decorating.. so. oh no! I just remembered.. I meant to fold my laundry before it gets all wrinkled!!! I hope its not too late. oh boy. I will be back after I fold laundry and make a tea.

Any tips for organizing our home would be appreciated. ANY tips THANKS!

A Business Endeavor.

All things BABIES.

My first project completed is this adorable, durable, soft and practical froggy baby bib!

Made from flannelette and backed with soft blue fleece. Great for a boy or girl! Preshrunk so machine washable. Fastens with your choice of velcro or snaps. O/S unless otherwise specified.

$4.00 plus S&H.

Email me at melissa.barney10@gmail.com if interested.

Practicing Patience

Maybe God is teaching us patience said my wise husband this morning. We have had a financially stressful time as of late but I know God is teaching us patience and faithfulness through it all. It's funny that Buzzbee said that this morning because I had thought the same thing last night and this morning as I returned back to work.

Working with children, young children, requires PATIENCE. If you are not a patient person  or  you are not willing to become patient, than do not, I repeat, DO NOT work with children.

Today I prayed for patience as one boy took off his pants and another boy followed suit by taking off his shirt. I mean, it was kinda funny but I had my hands full with feeding two younger babies, a bottle in one hand and spooning baby food in the other. Parents were coming any moment to pick up their children and I wanted to make sure they all were fed AND clothed. I managed to finish feeding the babies and found the clothes the boys had strewn over the cribs and dressed them. It didn't matter though because one boy took off his shirt two seconds later and I had put it on him about 6  more times after that. I changed a diaper and one boy decided he was going to knock over the garbage can. I just cleaned. Ugh. A parent comes to take one of the boys as I am running over to get them off each other. They were about to wrestle. As the parent was looking over the daily sheet her boy and the other boy seize the opportunity to escape and bolt out the door. I still have a baby girl so the mother runs after them and I grab the girl and go and get the other boy. who keeps shedding his shirt.

This all happens in the last 45 minutes of my day. It's okay though because God is teaching me patience. I can't wait until I've mastered it.

How I feel after work today.

waiting for Buzzbee at Mcdonald's

Yes I am taking these pictures in Mcdonald's 

and don't really care if people are thinking strangely of me

Sometimes I feel like pulling my hair out.

I do really have a headache though.