Wrapping up June: 2016

Hola amigos!

Yeah, I'm a couple days late with my monthly wrap-up. This summer, infinitely more than the past 3 summers, has been full of work. It seems like the longer we live in the house, the more work there is to do. I guess this makes sense. When we first moved in 3 years ago, we didn't even have grass. Now, we have landscaping times 100! The hubby and I were talking about how we had binged "Lost" back in the day, in 2009. I think one day we watched 15 episodes of the show. We got to talking about how in the world did we find that much time to watch the show, and we both came up with the fact that we lived in a rental whose yard consisted of an approximately 5 x 5 patch of grass. Not only were we not actively improving the property like people do with homes they own, but we had no yard. Of course we had oodles of time!

April, Abbreviated: 2016

It's May, you guys. How is it May? Almost half the year is gone already! On the plus side... it will be summer soon. Outside, the trees all have leaves or are actively growing new ones, the weeds have bloomed, the wasps are out *grumbles*, and we are on the cusp of humidity here in NE Kentucky. Yes, it is currently that short, maybe 2-week period we have here where the weather is warm and sunny, but the humidity is low. Because when the humidity kicks in, whew, it's tough to be outside in the afternoon. The garden is growing by leaps and bounds, to my delight. It also appears our bees have decided to stay. What I can I say? April kicked ass. Let's summarize the whirlwind that was last month-

March Musings: 2016

Holy April Batman!

Wow. My break went super-duper fast. Gone in the blink of an eye. I needed it badly. Truth be told, my expectations surrounding my back injury have really sent me straight through the ringer, and right back again. Back in January, I thought I'd be running by April. The timeline has not gone that smoothly in reality, and I'm in a bit of a holding pattern. I have no news to share on that front, and that's the problem. Right now, it feels like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, and that's been a hard thing to accept.

From New Construction to 3 Years

December 2012

3 years.

Well, technically it's been almost 3.5 years. But I digress. Can you believe it's been almost 3.5 years since I've done an update on the state of the homestead? Mercy. I thought we'd take some time today to remedy that. 

In case you were wondering, you can find the link to that old update here.

But for now, let's talk 3 years in!

November In A Nutshell: 2015

November is nearly gone. Unbelievable. This year has flown by. I'm sitting here in a bit of shock that the hubby and I are going to be putting away all my fall decor to make room for our Christmas stuff today. I feel like it was just yesterday that we were putting up last year's tree. I guess time flies when you're having fun, huh? 

The other night I found myself reading my old blog posts. Like, really, really old blog posts. Besides feeling a little sheepish at the quality of what I used to post, I found a blog theme that was left along the wayside at some point. And that theme was the end-of-month wrap-up. I found, for my memory purposes, that those monthly wrap-up's were some of my favorite posts to read. The hubby told me those were some of his favorites too. So, I think it's time to reinstate that tradition. Here's what the hubby and I got into this month:

Oh! And that top photo I took when the hubby and I took the nephews and niece to Buffalo Wild Wings on Black Friday. We had a grand time. The boys' expressions are priceless, aren't they? Haha.

Home Decor: Window Box Centerpiece

I thought I would take a quick break from food blogging today to share my new spring-y centerpiece. I mentioned (more than a month ago, BTW) that I'd purchased a new runner and I was planning on over-hauling my dining room table centerpiece. It's now complete, so I wanted to share it with everyone!

My 2015 Goals

It's time to talk change. Self-improvement. Growth. You know, all that stuff that we humans loathe to do. I, myself, am a highly self-motivated person. When I set a goal, I work hard to get there. As such, I thought before I laid out my 2015 goals that we would see how I did on last year's goals.

My first goal was to run a 10k. Accomplished! I ran my first 10k in August. It was extremely hilly and my time wasn't the best, but I did it.

Me and the hubby at the Cincinnati Beer Run in May 2014.

Donating To the Women's Shelter

Last Wednesday, I finally got everything organized enough to drop it off at the shelter. Truth be told, it was really just load after load of laundry. The finished product ended up being quite the haul, and included:

28 tank tops
43 long/short sleeve tees
34 sweaters/sweatshirts
20 pairs of pants/shorts/skirts
5 dresses
15 pairs of shoes
13 bottles of shampoo
14 bottles of conditioner
6 boxes of tampons
7 bottles of mouthwash
15 tubes of toothpaste
4 cans of hairspray
19 razors
8 deodorants
14 bottles of body wash
11 bottles of lotion
5 cans of shaving cream
17 sticks of lip balm

Whew! The lady who met me at the shelter was flabbergasted. She asked me if I'd held a fundraiser to gather the items. Nope, I told her, just my stuff and couponing pickups. She told me that a lot of people don't donate because they think they don't have enough to give to make a difference, and that couldn't be a bigger misconception. Everything little bit helps, she told me. She also told me that they are always collecting the following:

-women's clothing and shoes
-children's clothing and shoes
-children's toys
-personal items: shampoo, conditioner, oral hygiene products, deodorant, razors, etc.
-household items: cleaners, paper products
-food: canned goods and non-perishable items

So, to sum up. I cleared out space in the basement. I thinned out my stockpile. I donated items to women who can really use them. I will receive a tax deduction for my donation. It's a win-win-win-win situation.

I'm looking forward to growing my next 2 projects for charity. This week, I was able to add dental products, baby wipes, chicken noodle soup, and cat litter to my homeless shelter and animal shelter donation piles. This train is chugging along!

I hope everyone's having a great week, happy Hump Day!