Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

The holiday season seemed to sneak up on me this year and before I realized, Thanksgiving was here!

I have so much to be thankful for…Renewing relationships with some of my extended family, making some very positive changes to myself and my life, my loving parents and boyfriend, my home, and this blog and all the people it has brought into my life!

I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday, full of family, friends, some delicious food and lots of laughs!

How are you celebrating Thanksgiving? What are some things you are thankful for this year?

Sara (1)

Sunday Meal Prep

Welcome to this week’s meal prep!

This week is all about veggies and comfort foods, featuring Pot Roast and Sausage and Veggie Bake. I gotta say though, the Pot Roast definitely was the star this week!

But more on that in a bit. First we start off with our treats and sweets for the week! Along with a call for ideas: As I’m sure you’ve noticed, we have our favorites that we make every week. I would really love some new ideas if you have some great treat and snack recipes! I’ve been wanting to switch things up recently, but am stuck on ideas. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

And our salads! As you can see, I had some extra greens this time, so I ended up making some sides salads to go with my dinners. I think they turned out great!

Out of all of the wonderful things that are related to meal prep, these salads are pretty much my favorite! I love having a tasty salad every day for lunch and it is healthier too 🙂

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On to the main dishes!

I love love love how this pot roast turned out! With the weather getting more winter-like, all I crave lately is stews and roasts, and this hit the spot…Vegetable-laden and filling, with the meat just falling apart!

The other main dish is much lighter, but no less filling. I used turkey polish sausage this time around and I love how it turned out!

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That’s it for this week! What are you cooking this week? Does the change in seasons influence your meals at all? I’d love to know your thoughts!

Sara (1)

Want to get started meal prepping yourself? Check out these posts for my top tips and my staple recipes!

Need some extra inspiration? Check out last week’s meal prep for other recipes and ideas!

My Journey to Happiness and What I’ve Learned Along the Way (Plus 50 Things that Make me Happy!)

Happiness. That elusive feeling that we search for, strive for, wait for. According to the Merriam-Webster, happiness is defined as

: the state of being happy

: an experience that makes you happy

Full Definition of HAPPINESS

obsolete :  good fortune :  prosperity

a :  a state of well-being and contentment :  joy

   b :  a pleasurable or satisfying experience
For the purposes of this post, I am focusing on the regular definition, along with part 2 of the full definition.
Happiness is a topic that has been coming up a lot in my life lately, from many different sources. There was a replay of a podcast on TEDRadioHour focusing on happiness and a few from OnBeing that were very happiness-centric. Then of course there are the upcoming holidays, which definitely get me thinking about happiness and the quality of my life. A post that first really got me thinking about happiness both in life and in myself came from this Instagram post and is what really got the idea for this post going.
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This is a lesson I have really learned over the past few years. When I was in my younger 20s, a lot of my plans for life…well, they didn’t go exactly as planned. Not even close. It took a long time for me to pull myself out of the emotional hole that I had found myself in, had allowed myself to wallow in. Even longer for me to realize that not only could I be happy again someday, but I could be happy now.
I didn’t have to wait for a new plan or figure all of the pieces beforehand. I could figure out how this new life was going to look and take joy in the life that I had. Building this new life on the basis of joy, of contentment, has been one of the most difficult and rewarding things that I have ever done. And I’m not even close to done or ever really will be done. Building this life is a journey, one of discovery and exploration. I look back at that unhappy, confused and lost girl and don’t even recognize her. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that girl was ever me.
My life may not look anywhere close to what I expected it to at 28, but I am so much happier for that fact than I ever could have imagined. And so, with that, here are some things I have learned about happiness along the way:
  • Don’t wait for happiness to find you. You can find happiness in small things and those things do add up.
  • Along that same line of thought, don’t put your focus on someone else making you happy. That feeling is fleeting if it comes from external sources. I know we have heard it all before, but happiness, at least lasting happiness, comes from within.
  • Make small, manageable goals for yourself. Then go out an achieve them! The feeling from meeting those goals is awesome and can help a lot, especially if you have been having a hard time finding any happiness lately.
    • This is something I did frequently and still do on a regular basis. Large long terms goals are great, but when you are at a place in your life where you are struggling, they can feel more crushing than uplifting. For myself, I had to take myself out of those big goals that were overwhelming me and focus on small things I could do that day. There was a point where those goals were just as simple as shower and cook myself an actual meal.
  • Routines can help a lot! My daily routines center me, give me some normalcy and security, and help me to at least accomplish basic things each day. They also allow me to adapt better to sudden changes and be more spontaneous!
    • If you have a really hard time setting up daily routines, check out FlyLady! I know that some of her early baby steps can seem silly or unimportant, but they really do work! This site and community helped me to graduate college and to keep myself together when my life was falling apart. I don’t follow my routines as strictly as I did then, but the ones I learned there still form the backbone of my daily routines now. And whenever I feel like I need to reset my routines I go back through the baby steps!
  • Make time for yourself! I know, we all have heard this before, but it really holds true and can be so difficult to do. This can be taking the time to workout, read a book, or really anything.
    • Tip: Think of a few things you really enjoy and set aside time to do at least one of them on a regular basis. I’m not talking about the things we do almost out of habit that are enjoyable…I’m talking about the things that really brighten your day, make your week, etc. The things you love!

The list above is just a few things that I have learned over the past few years. While I know none of them are particularly new ideas, they are ones that I had a really hard time fully understanding or internalizing. Sometimes we can here those “life lessons” so many times but they don’t really click until much later. That was how these lessons were for me.

Now, to finish this post off, my 50 things (in no particular order) that make me happy. This is inspired by this post from Brey over at Ordinary Adventures. If you haven’t checked out her blog before, you should definitely head over there! She has so many awesome posts!

  1. Date nights with Boyfriend
  2. Getting greeted by our dogs when we get home
  3. Cooking a new recipe
  4. Spending time with my parents and extended familyDSCN0224_picmonkeyed
  5. Creating a new mosaicDSCN0051
  6. Making a new piece of decor for our houseDSCN0453
  7. Working with my dad on the house remodel (he does most of the work, but I like to pretend I’m a help :-P)
  8. Curling up with a favorite book
  9. Reading a new book
  10. When I’m writing a blog post and it’s just flowing wonderfully
  11. When I get a like or comment on one of my posts or pictures
  12. Working with my camera
  13. The smell of Lemon Garlic Chicken cooking (This smell just takes me back to my childhood)
  14. Watching our dogs play
  15. Seeing the house slowly coming together
  16. Watching a favorite TV show
  17. Watching Disney and Pixar movies
  18. Listening to jazz
  19. Horseback riding
  20. Hiking in the woodsDSCN0640_picmonkeyed
  21. Seeing a play liveIMG_2202
  22. Pretty much any time I’m hanging out with my momDSCN0420_picmonkeyed_picmonkeyed
  23. Cuddling with Boyfriend watching movies
  24. Making fused glass jewelryDSCN0480_picmonkeyed
  25. Going to bed with freshly washed sheets
  26. Listening to podcasts
  27. My workouts DSCN1222_picmonkeyed
  28. The BBG community on Instagram
  29. When I get a new hairstyle down
  30. Getting a haircut and style
  31. Doing hennaDSCN0281_picmonkeyed
  32. Watching my flowers growDSCN0931_picmonkeyed
  33. Growing my own vegetablesDSCN0590_picmonkeyed
  34. Cooking with vegetables and herbs from my garden
  35. My new craft space
  36. Watching the leaves turn in the fallDSCN1208_picmonkeyed
  37. Petting my dogs
  38. Cleaning my house
  39. New workout clothes
  40. Changing out decorations as the seasons changeDSCN0841_picmonkeyed
  41. Taking a walk with the dogs and BoyfriendIMG_2170
  42. Playing MarioKart
  43. Trying new foods
  44. Seeing friends I haven’t seen in a long time
  45. Making new friends (made even more exciting because I’m not great at this)
  46. Seeing my physical capabilities improve as I work on my fitness
  47. Wearing my favorite pieces of jewelry
  48. Dressing up for a date night with Boyfriend
  49. Traveling
  50. Yoga practice

What lessons or truths have you learned about happiness so far in your life? What things make you happy?

Sunday Meal Prep

Hey everyone! Welcome to this week’s meal prep! As you’ve noticed, I’ve been trying to keep things pretty simple, healthy and inexpensive. This week I succeeded in all three!

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Shredded Buffalo Chicken salads, a favorite no matter how many times we have them!
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Two week’s worth of breakfast burritos and some leftover shredded chicken for the freezer. Our breakfast burritos have Italian turkey sausage, bell pepper, onion, eggs, cheese and plenty of seasonings. They are delicious!
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As always, our regular favorite snacks!
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Red Curry Lentils with rice, chicken to go with the curry and my new recipe-in-testing Cabbage and Sausage Skillet. I think this curry may end up becoming a staple in our house 🙂
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This dish turned out good, great even, but it’s not quite ready to be shared yet. I still have some tweaking to do, but I am really enjoying exploring the recipe-creation side of things.

That’s it! I hope you all enjoyed this week, and stay tuned for some new recipes soon!

What are you cooking this week? Trying out any new recipes?

Sara (1)

Want to get started meal prepping yourself? Check out these posts for my top tips and my staple recipes!

Need some extra inspiration? Check out last week’s meal prep for other recipes and ideas!

Creating a Craft Room: DIY Upcycled Cabinets and Using What You Have

I’m sure you have all seen beautiful, light-filled craft rooms on Pinterest and blogs, colorful and just waiting to inspire creativity. I have this dream craft room…second-story room, windows with a beautiful view, waist high island with lots of cubbies for storage, colorful and organized. Sadly that room is still a far off dream, but sometimes you have to make due with what you have!

For years I have hidden away materials, only dragging things out to the living room when I had a project (or five) that I was working on. I had a card table permanently overflowing with those materials…it was an eyesore. Finally, a few months back, I decided that was enough!

Now, our basement is not nice, or pretty. But it definitely will work for a craft space.

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I started off clearing out most of the stuff out of the back room and painting the walls. While these are not drywall or anything, the paint helped a lot! Then I upcycled a dresser for some extra storage. If you are interested in what I did for that and missed it, check out this post.

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I moved around some of the furniture and then started on these cabinets! My goal for this room was to use storage items that I already had around the house. Saving extra money is definitely something I’m aiming towards!

These cabinets have been hanging around the basement for YEARS….they were an ugly yellow color, beat up, stained and just overall icky.

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I wiped them down with a cleaning solution, lightly sanded them and painted them with primer. Then started on the white paint.

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Once these were all painted white, doors included, I started on the design I wanted on the top cabinet doors. This is where I had….a bit of a learning experience.

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See these doors? These almost done doors with the pretty fleur de lis? These doors were a learning experience. When painting a design on cabinet doors, it is very important to check which way is up! These doors are upside down. I’m sure you can imagine my disappointment when I went to hang my finished doors and realized I painted them upside down. So on went the primer and the white paint again, followed by repainting the fleur de lis the CORRECT way! I may have triple checked that they were the right way before I started repainting them.

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Finally, the cabinets are finished!

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As for the rest of the room, here is how the dresser is looking now.

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Don’t get me wrong, I still have a lot of work to do in this room. But it is so much better than it was! I have a space that I can work in, all my materials easily accessible, and now that I’m in the basement I don’t have to worry about glass shards and puppy paws!

Where do you do your crafting? Do you have a dedicated space for it? If so, how did you put it together? I would love to hear your thoughts!

DIY Fall Decor: “Thankful” Flag Banner

How many of you love to decorate for the seasons, but don’t have much extra to spend on decor? Or maybe would just rather add that personal touch and make them yourself? I know I definitely fall into the first category, and usually into the second as well. I would love to have that wonderfully decorated, Pintrest-ready home, but I definitely don’t have the funds for that!

I try to get inspiration from a lot of places, and I’ve seen DIY burlap banners many times. When I wanted to make a fall banner like the ones I had seen, I didn’t have any burlap, but those are definitely what inspired this piece.

Continue on to see how I created a beautiful fall banner with only materials I had on hand!

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On the top, I measured out a dot every 4 inches. On the bottom, I first measured 2 inches in, then followed by measuring every 4 inches again. This allowed for roughly the same size and nice looking triangles.
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My 8 triangles after I cut them!
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Using a hot glue gun, I stretched deep purple fabric over the triangles. I glued down the long sides first and finished with the top. trimming the backs once I was done.
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Stencils were used to create the letters in bright red scrapbooking paper. I found another piece of scrapping paper that had a fall-colored lined design for the circles. I think they look pretty nice together! I was thrilled when I refound that circle cutter in my scrapbooking supplies too! I had completely forgot about it and it made cutting the circles so much easier!
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After lining them all up, I glued each set one by one. It took me a bit to figure out how to make sure the lines stayed where I wanted. I ended up holding the paper steady, turning them over and then tracing the triangle on the back of the circle. This allowed me to glue along the drawn lines, which kept the lines where I wanted them on the triangles!
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After tying a loop on the end of the twine, I glued it on to each corner of the triangle. This was probably the quickest part of this process!

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The finished product!

I really like how this turned out! I think I’m going to make a smaller one for the doorway, but I’m not sure what I want it to say yet. Any ideas?

Have you made any of your decor this year? Tried any new projects?

Lessons in Gardening: The Conclusion

This year has been a year of exploration for me…one of trying new things and pushing my boundaries. One of those things I pushed myself on was learning to garden. Something that I’ve always wanted to do but never tried. Gardening intimidated me. It still does.

That being said, I am super excited about how this first foray into gardening went! I still have a HUGE amount to learn, but I did manage to grow some tasty veggies and herbs in the backyard and some pretty impatiens in the front.

Here is how they are looking now:

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There are a few little tomatoes still growing, but overall the plants seem done. That’s ok though. We did get some veggies out of them (like the ones pictured below!) and it was a fun experience!

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Just for some perspective, here is how the garden progressed over the summer:

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I do need to do some more research between now and when we plant next year. Things like when to harvest, how often to water, etc were all things that were beyond my knowledge this year. For example, I really struggled with getting the impatiens to grow originally. Thankfully I have a very patient dad who dealt with my calls asking if my plants were dying (they weren’t) and if the veggies were ready to harvest (they were actually past due on that one 🙂 )

With this initial experiment in gardening a success, I can’t wait to plan out our garden for next year! We are tentatively planning on one raised garden bed instead of the pots for the veggies and herbs. In the front, I am hoping to find some more shade-lovin’ plants to put up there and really overhaul patchy yard.

Oh, and check out this little guy I found crawling around when I took these last photographs! Anyone know what type of caterpillar it is? It’s pretty cute and fluffy!

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What about you? How is your garden growing? Are you a first-timer like me, or more experienced? If you are a first-timer, are you planning on doing it again next year? I would love to hear about your experiences and any tips you might have for me!