I've been up to......

Hello my faithful friends.

I know it has been a while since I have posted but we have been so busy lately.

We have had dances, volunteer work, house repairs.

We have been super busy.

-----------------------------------------------

You know, I love this time of year. One, Spring training in baseball begins. That means that spring and gardening season is right around the corner. Two and three, my birthday and Valentine's day. Four, TAX TIME.

I think we are really fortunate because we get a decent amount of money back at tax time.

We have enough to pay for our house payments, property taxes, and house insurance for an entire year.

Once we do that, we can spend the rest however we wish.

I do believe this is the very first year we haven't had to pay a ton of behind bills. 

We really stuck to our budget last year and it payed off.

So we have put a good bit of our tax money in savings and have spent the rest.

Wanna see our purchases?

First, I wanna show you some things we have done for the house.

We got put a new updated and less noisy ceiling fan in our living room

We took out the horrible chandelier thing in the kitchen and replaced it with a flush mount light.

We also updated the ceiling fan in our kitchen. The fixtures complement each other nicely.

We finally put on a new storm door. Our old one was missing an upper window because it got broken in a wind storm. We found out that our door jam is very crooked.

We replaced the faucet on the bathroom sink. 

(my boys just finished brushing their teeth..please excuse the toothpaste splatters)

And we have updated the shower head in our downstairs bathroom.

We have several projects left to do. Hubby got himself a pressure washer.

Once it warms up a bit we will be cleaning and re-vamping our deck using Restore deck restorer on the floor of our deck, front porch, and gazebo. We will be using a color matched water seal on the railings of our deck, porch and gazebo.

We also plan on painting our ceilings and our kitchen, dining room, and bathroom.

We will replace the tub faucet downstairs.

I will redo my garden beds.

And we plan on painting our house.

Sounds like we will be busy.

-----------------------------

Valentine's day was just a few days ago.

My hubby got me this lovely red vase full of these beautiful salmon colored roses and the red card.

My youngest child made me the blue card.

I picked up these teeny mini rose bushes and their cute little pots at wal-mart. 

They bring me lots of joy while I do the dishes.

---------------------------------------

My girls, my hubby, and I also upgraded our phones.

Hubby and I got the Samsung Galaxy S III. It is A-mazing.

---------------------------------

My birthday was the first of February.

I picked up a few things for myself.

One is this very cute sweater dress outfit.

I also got some jewelry.

I spent less than $40 for everything at the mall.

(I love sales)

I picked up a new makeup bag because mine was way too small.

( I also got a little new makeup....don't tell hubby)

I picked up the black Coach wristlet for super cheap.

It was 50% off plus the store was having an extra 30% off. 

Making this wristlet DIRT CHEAP.

I also bought this sleep pillow mist from Bath and Body works. It is lavender vanilla scented.

I have to say...it does help me sleep at night.

Oh and I got it dirt cheap as well with a coupon.

At one of the kitchen stores in the mall I picked up this spice rack. It fits perfectly by my stove.

And I picked up this cupcake decorating kit

BUT

My favorite gift of all is something I have wanted for seven years.

This KitchenAid Artisan mixer.

I also got this mixer on sale. I also used a 30% off coupon and a shipping coupon.

 I absolutely LOVE this mixer!!

I have made brownies, mashed potatoes, and even shredded chicken in it.

I use it every chance I get and I ADORE it.

Def worth the splurge.

--------------------------------------------

Finally, I have been garden planning and starting my early spring seeds.

Here is my dining room table as we speak.

My hands, body, everything is itching to get out there to smell and feel the cool, musky earth.

I love this time of year.

This year I will be growing 50 or so different plants in my little yard!!!!

I cannot wait!!!

Well, I know this is a LONG post.

It has been a long time coming.

Until I post again.

Be Blessed.