My Etsy Store

Like I said in the last post, I am super busy!! My life is consumed with school and this home process (which I am enjoying) but there is another big piece to the puzzle. A few months back a friend of mine and I decided to get crafty. I have never really been a big crafter but I loved the way our first project turned out and it just took off from there. I few weeks later, I decided to open an etsy store. I had been on the site a few times to order items for our wedding but I never thought I would open my own.

After giving it some thought, I decided that I would open the store and sell some of the coasters that I had made. I sold a few sets and it was fun but then found some other fun crafty things to make.

If you are interested in checking out my store, here is the link:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/sewell11?ref=si_shop

Here are some of the items for sale in my store. If you see anything you like or may want, leave a comment or send me a message on etsy saying that you found my shop through my blog. I will give you a 15% discount on as many items as you would like!!

Coasters:

Personalized Shirts:

Moss Covered Monogram Letters:

Hope everyone is having a great week. Look for me to come back in full swing soon. This school year has been the hardest to get settled in (which doesn't make any sense because the past 2 I have had grad school & the wedding to balance out).

House Hunting Continued...

I am really trying to keep up with my blog but it is easier said than done. I have been so busy with life and school but there is something else that is consuming a lot of my husband and I's time....

We have decided to build a home!!!

We currently live in an awesome town home. It is actually an apartment complex but I wouldn't really call our home an apartment. It is a 3 story, 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment but does not have the apartment feel. Each unit has its own garage and space in front like a town home would. We have made so many amazing memories here so leaving will be very emotional.

Now, on to the new home...

THIS IS SUPER STRESSFUL!! We have found the house of our dreams (we think) and are trying to work out the details so that we can sign a contract. We really feel like we are ready for this next step and have worked out a budget and timeline to save the money that we would need. We changed the floorplan from the last time I posted about house hunting. Here is the new floorplan. It is perfect for us... 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, study, gameroom, dining room, casual dining, and 2 car garage.

We took the first step to making this real last week. We gave the builders a check for the amount necessary to hold the lot we have chosen. I am not good at taking pictures but this may change if we go through this process. I have already taken many pictures of the lot that we have reserved.

We love that our lot is a corner lot. We had a few to choose between and after a lot of thinking, chose this one above.

Next up in the process is getting pre-approved which will be done this week. The following week we will begin putting a contract together.

Obviously this is an overwhelming process. If any of my amazing followers have been through this process and have some advice, I would love to hear it!

I hope everyone has had an amazing weekend. I am now off to finish lesson plans and then go to bed early!!!

P.S.- Weekly menu is not happening this week because my husband is out of town again :-( and I have something after school almost everyday this week!

Weekly Menu

Hello Ladies! I hope everyone had a great weekend. We had an awesome weekend but they are so short. We went to the A&M football game. I love going to the games but I am ready for a relaxing weekend at home.

My weekly menu is pretty boring this week because we have a lot going on.

Sunday night we had pizza from Pizza Hut. They are having a special, any pizza, any size, and toppings for $10. We got home sorta late from College Station so I did not feel like going to the store (or making my meal plan).

Tonight we had the breakfast casserole that I had planned for last week. We ended up going to dinner with some friends last week on breakfast night so I moved it to tonight.

Tomorrow we are going to meet with the builder salesperson and then will have dinner at Texas Roadhouse. TR is one of my favorite restaurants and hopefully we will be celebrating good news that we receive at our meeting!

Wednesday we are celebrating a great friends birthday. I think the plans are to go somewhere in midtown. Hubby is on his own.

Thursday I am making crock-pot Swiss Chicken.

I know this meal plan is lacking in pictures and content but it is what it is this week!

I will post an update on the home-front tomorrow or Wednesday.

WILW

It's Wednesday already?!?! I am glad this week is going by quickly. We have an exciting weekend planned. I am ready for bed but wanted to post what I am loving so far this week.

I am loving that we have started the house search and have found the perfect neighborhood. Chris and I plan to go look again next week and talk to the builder about $$. This is the house we are interested in!

I am loving that one of my best friends and bridesmaids is finally engaged!! He popped the question 2 weeks ago and I could not be more happy and excited for them! She surprised me by asking me to be her Matron of Honor. Wedding here we come!!

I am loving that our friends Maddy and Tim got a new puppy. His name is Walker and he is half lab half retriever. Acey has a new friend and the boys have a hunting buddy!

I am loving that I get to see my crazy sister again this weekend. I miss living close to them but it makes seeing her that much more special.

I am loving my co-workers. God blessed with me by bringing these amazing ladies (and gentleman) into my life.

As always, I am loving my sweet, caring husband.

Hopefully more news on the house hunt in the near future. I love the neighborhood that we are looking at. My dream is to build our first home. & it is an exciting time. With that, I am not going to let myself get consumed in the process only to get let down. I have to remind myself...one day at a time!! Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!!

Meals for the week

Yay!! I am back to meal planning now that my husband is back home. I am no longer going to add our breakfast and lunch options because they are normally the same each week. In case you forgot, for breakfast I have two pieces of toast with strawberry jam and my hubby doesn't really eat breakfast. For lunch, we have left overs or sandwiches.

Dinners for this week:

Sunday- Chris has been out of town this weekend so I figured I would have a home cook meal ready for him when he got home. This is one of the easiest meals I will ever make. I will probably serve it over rice instead of pasta.

Crockpot Italian Chicken

Monday- I planned to make this a few weeks ago and never had time to make it.

Mexi Mac Skillet

Tuesday- Homemade Fried Chicken Tenders w/ mashed potatoes & green beans MMM!!! I do not have a picture or really even a recipe for these. I kinda just put it together. Let me know if you want it & I will write it up for you. They are amazing!!!

Wednesday- Breakfast Casserole. This was one of the best breakfast casseroles I have made. MMM!

Thursday- Carmalized Pork Chops with Onions & Apples. This meal takes a long time to cook but supposedly is amazing! I will let you know how they turn out!

Friday- We are heading to College Station to watch the Aggies beat the hell outta Iowa St. We will probably stop at our usual, Whataburger in Ennis.

Saturday- Who knows!!

Remember that most of my recipes come from Pinterest. I am obsessed with this site & am in the process of reorganizing my food boards. If you are not a follower, you can follow me HERE.

What are your dinner plans for this week?

10 years ago

I was a sophomore in high school. I was sitting in 2nd period band class when I found out about the attack. My heart is heavy today. I can't believe it has been 10 years. I am praying for those that were taken or affected from this awful tragedy. I will never forget the events that occurred on 9/11/01.

Do you remember where you were?

MIA last week

I was MIA last week for no good reasons! I was in a funk last week. I don't know if I am overwhelmed with school, life, or what but I hope to post a lot more this week than last (which shouldn't be hard)!

I wanted to do a recap post for last weekend because it was so amazing! Getting back to College Station & Kyle Field was awesome! We had so much fun! I have a few pictures so I will post those as well.

Friday night was my birthday. We went out to dinner with 2 other couples & it was a nice relaxing night.

Saturday, we woke up around 9. We packed & loaded up the truck and headed to College Station. Saturday night we went to North Gate. If you have never heard or been to College Station, North Gate is the popular strip of bars. This was the first weekend for all of the students to be back so it was insane crowded!

Sunday was GAME DAY!!! We have a super fun tailgate and it has grown a lot over the past 2 years. We got there around 9 in the morning for a 6:30 game. It was a VERY long day & really windy but so much fun. Here are some pictures from the game.

My hubby & I at the tailgate

Some of the guys

At the game

Fly over during the game

Our wedding photographer shoots the Aggie games

Looking forward to going back a week from today for Iowa St. vs. A&M.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Meal Plans for the week

We had the best weekend! I am so happy to have my husband back home. I will do a weekend recap post tomorrow. All I will say for now is WHOOP! GIG EM' AGGIES!! Now on to our plans for eating this week:

Breakfast: For the past two weeks, I have been eating 2 pieces of toast with strawberry jam. It is the perfect amount of food to hold me over till lunch. I will stick with it!

Lunch: Hopefully this week we will have left overs. If no leftovers, I will eat a sandwich.

Dinner-

Monday- We had poppy seed chicken with corn & toast. It is amazing! If you have never had it, I definitely recommend trying it.

Tuesday- Chicken Enchilada Bake

Wednesday- Taco Stuffed Shells

Thursday- I am not sure what we will be having for dinner this night. My family is coming up for the night so we maybe going out to dinner.

Friday- Saturday- I am babysitting my little brother & sister so who knows what or when we will eat.

What are your plans for dinner this week?

5 Question Friday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

I feel like this is the theme of my recent Friday posts but THIS WAS THE LONGEST WEEK EVER!!! I am so happy to have my husband home. I missed him so much the past two weeks! Tonight we are going to have a laid back night which will include going to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner & then maybe watch a movie. The perfect way to spend my birthday!

Before I answer the questions, I want to post about a Scentsy party that Jennifer @ Perfectly Imperfect is hosting. Her grandmother is battling cancer & as many of you know, cancer treatment is not cheap. The earnings from her scentsy party will all be put towards the cost of her sweet grandma's treatment. Please go check out her blog HERE & help spread the word on your blog.

I am participating in 5 Question Friday for the first time in a long time (& maybe first time on my not so knew blog).

1. Shoes in the house - yay or nay?
Yes, but I have a habit of slipping mine of before going up the stairs. We are currently renting our townhome which is almost all carpet so we are cautious. When we buy our own house, I hope to have wood in most of the house so it shouldn't be that big of a deal.

2. What do you call them- flip flops, slippers, thongs, etc?
Flip flops! Slippers, to me, are the things you wear with pajamas & thongs, I have never heard shoes referred to as thongs.

3. What song are you almost embarrassed to admit you know all the lyrics to?
"I like big butts" :-) Not really embarrassed but I do know every word!

4. What is the best quality to have in a friend?
My friends have a lot of good qualities but the most important one is probably loyalty. I also think honesty & respect are important.

5. Do you know what you want for Christmas?
Seeing how I have recently come up with a birthday list, I am not yet working on my Christmas list. I'm sure I will not have a problem though!

This will be an amazing, relaxing, exciting day (after work of course). Here's to being a quarter of a century!

September Goals

Leah @ Happily Hitched does a monthly post about her goals for that month. I think this is an awesome idea and I have been following her goal post & follow up post for 2 months now. I am going to give it a shot. I am going to start with 5 goals a month & see how they go.

1) Cook at home at least 3 times a week- I have started meal planning. I have only really been able to do one week because my husband went out of town for 2 weeks but he is coming home tonight & it will start back up next week. (I post my weekly meal plans every Sunday night.)

2) Stay at school till at least 4 o'clock 3 times a week- This may sound like a silly goal but I am in a funk & leave as soon as possible. Therefore, I am not keeping up with everything that I need to do and in turn cause myself a lot of unnecessary stress.

3) Keep to a budget- I have tried this multiple times and have failed. I allow myself X amount for eating out during the week, X amount for shopping, and X amount for crafting (my new found hobby) and always spend more than I mean to. I really need to look into a budget sheet/format and layout everything. If you use something that works for you (& your family), please let me know, I will gladly use it!

4) Work out- I am not sure how I want to accomplish this but I want to start something. I feel like I have gained a little bit of wait since the wedding. Even if I haven't, I want to tone up and make myself feel better. I really think working out will give me some energy that I am lacking. I may do this through running on the treadmill or yoga. How can I motivate myself!?!?

5) Limit myself to 2 soft drinks a day- This is HUGE for me. I have a very unhealthy habit. I think this may be the hardest goal of them all. I drink one on the way to work (a must), at lunch, and most of the time with dinner. I would like to cut out the lunch or dinner one. Eventually, I would like to only have one but that would not be achievable at this point.

Do you set goals for yourself? If so, how often do you look back to them & how do you hold yourself accountable?

I may post about my progress throughout the month but will definitely post at the beginning of October.