Not me :)

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. For those of your unfamiliar with the idea, Not Me! Monday was born out of a desire to admit some of our imperfections and reveal a few moments we'd rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to

join in and do the same thing!

Too many things happened this week for me

not to post a Not Me :) Enjoy!

First off, after seeing this adorable indoor violet-wine-glass masterpiece on designsponge, I surely didn't get inspired to recreate the look. Upon attempting and failing miserably, I did not decide to go ahead and display them in our living room anyways. I would not be so stubborn as to decorate with wilted, dying weeds just so that I wouldn't have to admit that I couldn't recreate the look. Oh, and said decor would not still be upstairs as we speak, even more wilt-y and dead. Not me!!

And it wasn't me that you could have found camped out in the laundry room all weekend. There is no way that 2 people could possibly let laundry get out of hand to the point of needing to do 11 loads just to catch up. Seriously, that's disgusting. These are not my piles of laundry spread out around the basement floor!

And, if I did happen to have had some laundry to do, I would have checked to make sure that I had enough laundry detergent to do all of the loads. So, it definitely wasn't me who only made it through 2 loads before realizing that we were completely tapped dry on soap. I am always prepared and never get in over my head. Ugh, not me :)

Furthermore, had I realized that I was out of soap, I definitely would not have decided to make some soap (That's right, you read correctly, make some soap) instead of driving the mile to the nearest Walgreens and picking some up. Nope, I would not have searched recipes online and found one that I happened to have all the ingredients for. So of course it wasn't me who spent 45 minutes making detergent and (in the process of grating the bar soap) cut my hand numerous times with the zester. I would not have gone through all of this when the Walgreens is seriously minutes away. Not me!!

And to top it all off, while at church yesterday, it was not me who, after quickly teaching the preschool church lesson, let the kids get out the box of "Musical Instruments." I did not let them go hog wild, oh and I certainly did NOT join in. I would never grab a set of castanets and march right along side 6 screaming kids while there were other classes going on around me. Not me, seriously, not me...

So, tell me please, what did you not do this week?

The view from here...

And yep, I'm working...

Happy Birthday!

Bryan and I had a great time celebrating our niece's first birthday this weekend with family and friends up in Chicago. I'm super tired so I will just let the pictures tell the story :)

Happy Birthday Charlotte!!

Surely

Alright, I'll do it again. After yesterday's lack of motivation, I decided to give it another go.

Only because last week went well. And I mean really well. Bryan told me that since I cooked (yes, actually cooked) 3 good (not just edible) meals in a row, that I was officially the new cook of the house. I don't know that I wanna go that far, but I guess it was nice to hear. I like cooking, I do. But don't get me wrong, it's very nice to have a husband that can cook just as well, if not better, when I just don't fee like it.

(I just had a genius idea - I should make one night a week "Bryan Night" where he cooks. Seriously, why did I not think of this before. Done. No discussion. Wait...Bryan has track practice till 6 every night. I won't eat till 9 if it's up to him. Plus he's grumpy if he doesn't eat around 6:30. Which now that I think about it is why this whole thing started. Ugh, scratch that. Moving on...)

So, week one went well. So here's to week 2:

Monday - Spaghetti w/ cheesy meat sauce (my own special recipe...ha!) :)

Tuesday - Grilled Marinated Rib-eye steaks, Asparagus & Potatoes (That's how we roll)

Wednesday - Stuffed Shells (from freezer)

Thursday - Bible Study Night

Friday - Leftovers

So, really, tonight is the only night that I have left to cook this week. I rock at this.

Oh, and whilst I'm well aware that it's Tuesday, but here is my Not-Me-Monday moment of the week:

It was not me who, upon whipping together a spaghetti dinner last night, took our large bag of burger meat out of the freezer, took out the pound that I needed, and forgot to put the other 5 pounds back in the freezer. I definitely did not leave 5 perfectly good pounds of hamburger meat out on the counter all night long. Surely I would have seen it. Surely I didn't ruin 5 pounds of meat. Surely.

Again?

A scene from the Throckmorton Kitchen, take 2:

Bryan: What's for dinner tonight?

Kendahl: I dunno, what do you want...?

Bryan: Ummm well I thought you were "meal planning"?

Kendahl: Crap, you mean I have to do it again?

Bryan: you're joking, right?

Food News and Great NEWS!

Kendahl's Adventure in Meal Planning : Take 1:

Monday: Stuffed Shells (F*)

Tuesday: Pulled Pork BBQ

Wednesday: Skillet Chicken & Vegetable Parmesan

Thursday: Bible Study Night

(students decide, we cook in bulk from Sams)

Friday: Leftover Buffet

*this is a freezer meal, meaning I will cook a full double

batch (40-50 shells) and freeze the leftovers for future meals.

With just 2 of us, we can get about 4 dinners and even

some lunches out of this! Talk about saving money and time!!!

After planning this week, I guess is wasn't that hard.

If anything, it's hard because we only have 3 real nights to cook.

I don't feel like planning a big meal for Fridays, because being

the party animals that we are, we never know what we

will be doing on a friday night :)

Riiiiiighhhttt....speaking of which, anyone looking

for friends? We are a pretty cool couple and have some openings...

Moving on (yes I did just publicly ask for friends,

but we are moving on, remember...?)

So, that's the plan. I will keep you updated.

No, I won't post every night for 3 very important reasons.

1. I won't remember.

2. Those who still read my blog despite all my forgetfulness would be bored to death reading about my dinner every night.

3. Though I don't always mind the public humiliation that comes as a

result of my cooking skills, that might just be asking too much of me.

I have a little dignity and this week may not go well...

Oh and now for the GREAT NEWS! Brace yourself. This is big.

HUGE.

I was up googling coupons last night and fed UP TO HERE

(imagine "here" wherever you see fit)

with not finding anyone who does coupon tracking

for Springfield, IL grocery stores. I have a few friends here and there that will post

a couple good sales, but nothing like www.moneysavingmom.com

or www.southernsavers.com. They are AMAZING but aren't in

our area. They have grocery stores like Piggly Giggly Wiggley

and Tom Thumbalina. That is not helpful for little ole me.

But, at long last search, I found it. I finally freaking found it:

Meet my new best friend: Her name is Margie.

You can be her friend too, and I encourage it.

www.myspringfieldmommy.com

She has taught me so much already. Did you know that

Dollar General accepts manufacturers coupons?

THAT'S HUGE.

If you are not even a little excited about that,

we havesome talking to do. Seriously, go check her out.

Be amazed.

Here's to Monday, a new day, a new week... Make sure you don't miss the moments.

Menu Planning??

I don't know about this...

I mean I thought menu planning was what my grandma did and went out of style with my mom. Not to mention I don't cook. I mean I cook, but I don't cook well. So, why would I want to plan out my whole week, or even month, of meals at one time and have to stick to recipes every night? Sounds like someone is trying to put me in a box.

That someone is my husband. Well, my husband with the influence of Dave Ramsey. I love me some Dave, but meal planning? Haven't I done enough for you Dave? Budgets, coupons, saving, getting rid of credit cards, not borrowing money...this is just crossing the line :)

(of course I'm kidding, I do all those things happy and willing, I seriously do...)

But meal planning? I can't wrap my mind around it. I coupon. I save serious money on groceries already. Ask me how much I spend, I dare you ;) But then comes dinner time comes in the Throckmorton household and this is what you will hear...

B: What should we do for dinner?

K: I dunno...

B: What did you get at the store? (looking in cabinets)

K: A lot!

B: Why in the world do we have 18 boxes of hamburger helper?

K: THEY WERE FREE!! Seriously, I was at Shop N Save and they were 10 for 10 and I had (8) $2/3 and then I had these other coupons...blah blah blah...but they were free!

B: THis is disgusting. What else did you get?

K: 6 boxes of cereal, some cans of soup, oh and a bag of chicken breasts and hamburger meat. I dunno some random things like cream cheese, chips, celery, bread and yogurt. Oh and 6 coffee creamers. And I only spent like $22.00 - It was amazing.

B: This is not going to work.

K: oh...

This conversation has happened too many times. Bryan is sick of it :) So, I've been challenged to a month of meal planning. I'm not going to pay for the E-mealz plan that Dave suggests, sorry. I'm all about saving money and I have the time to find meals myself. So, here goes nothing. For the first week, I found this "1 bag, 5 meals" on Kraftfoods.com that I am going to try. It all looks good, plus we have just about everything we need to get started. So, check back later for my first edition of:

"Kendahl tries to meal plan: Week 1"

I will update and let you know how it goes. ugh. I'm super (not) pumped. But I will try.

Happy Sunday! :)

A glorious night

The makings of a lovely night:

1. General Tso's, Sweet & Sour Chicken, crab rangoon and sushi at Hunan Restaurant

2. Watching Apollo Anton Ohno skate his way to a silver metal only to get it taken away and laughing while attempting to say "Evgeni Plushenko"

3. Attempted sewing projects

4. Chocolate Chip Cookies & cold glass of milk (for Bryan) A cup of hot pomegranate tea (for me)

5. A heated game of Skip-Bo

6. Off to fall asleep reading a good book.

correction: The making of a glorious night.

Thanks B :)

Getting Things Done

Is exactly what I have been doing.

Go, go, go, go. Do, do, do, do.

Or have I?

Does it count at "getting things done" when you cross off 5 things on your to-do list, but add 17 more. You know, one step forward, 2 steps back?

Well, it's more like 1 step forward, 14 steps back. Okay, okay, maybe only 7 steps back.

Seriously though, I don't think I'm taking on too much. I mean yes, I do a lot. But do I do too much? I don't think so in the least. I don't even have kids for crying out loud, so I for sure am not on here saying that I have too much to do, lest you mothers out there would murder me.

No, what I am saying is that I am doing too much the wrong way. And I have let old habits bring me down. Waaaaaay down. I'm in total 1st quadrant mode.

I address immediate needs, but let not-so-immediate things pile and pile until they are completely out of site. I let things that were little tasks turn huge because I dilly dally and pawn it off on others. I let simple phone calls go unreturned to the point where people question my existence. (and most of this is personal life - Kyle please don't fire me...)

I have 4,346, 872 things on my to do list and my brain can only hold about 3 things before I forget #4....and that's on a good day. So, what happens to items 4 thru 4,346,872? Well, I'm not really sure.

But, I am trying something new. I am going to start getting things done, David Allen style.

Dear David Allen,

Don't fail me now. Seriously.

I mean it.

"Stress-free productivity" is what you promise - and I will hold you to it.

If I end up adding "fail the art of getting things done" to my accomplished list, I will be hacked off.

Well, but then again, I would at least have accomplished something.

So, can I really lose? Win-Win here I come.

Love, Kendahl

A little reminder...

Never look ahead to the changes and challenges of this life in fear. Instead, as they arise look at them with the full assurance that God, whose you are, will deliver you out of them. Hasn't He kept you safe up to now? So hold His loving hand tightly and He will lead you safely through all things. And when you cannot stand, He will carry you in His arms.

Do not look ahead to what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you His unwavering strength that you may bear it. Be at peace, then, and set aside all anxious thoughts and worries.

Francis de Sales