My mailbox got a facelift.

Here's a mini-makeover for you.

Our mailbox is kind of sad looking.  He has scratches all over him and is really faded from the sun.

and he really wanted a facelift.

So I didn't waste time...

Here he is before:

 Tons of scratches...and long long ago it used to be black. 

 Someone scratched "karma" on the back...this was here when we moved in.  Interesting...

See? There is proof he used to be black.  This was taken after I removed the old faded house numbers.

All I did was remove the mailbox part from the stand, give him a good cleaning and a nice new coat of black spray paint.

Then I got my little kid rubber stamps out:

And stamped "Jones" on the front and freehanded the house numbers on each side!

I love the finished look and he is so glad that he got a makeover too!

 I will probably add another coat of yellow to brighten it up a bit.

This was such an easy project and makes a huge difference- now get out there and give your old mailboxes a facelift!


Linking up here.

A few good reads...and other stuff.

Happy Monday everyone!!!!

Just a tiny warning: this post is extremely diverse...a little of this, and a little of that, if you will.

I just have a lot of say about a whole lot of things.  Let's start with the weekly menu, shall we?

So in my quest to become more organized, I am going to be posting my weekly menu on here.  Not only does that help me, but hopefully I'll share some YUMMY recipes for y'all to try!

Meal Planning Monday

Monday-  Breakfast for Dinner

Tuesday- Crockpot Ribs, baked potatoes, green beans (recipe to come!)

Wednesday- Bake Tilapia ,veggies, and rice

Thursday- Sour Cream Enchiladas, refried beans

Friday- Crockpot Lasagna (recipe also to come!)

Saturday- Leftovers

Sunday- Meatloaf, rolls, and corn

Now I just have to get the "cleaning the house" part of staying organized perfected.  For some reason, the bed doesn't make itself in the mornings!?

Can you believe it's almost FALL?!  Ohmygosh, I can NOT wait for cool weather, cardigans, scarves, and PUMPKINS.

Yipee!!

Since the summer is almost over, I am going to share a few books that I enjoyed while vegging out.

1.  The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  Of course, this is on everyone's book list and for good reason.  I loved loved loved this book.  It's a must read for everyone.  The movie is also wonderful, but of course nothing beats the book.

2. The Hunger Games Trilogy.  I never thought I would like a science fiction type book, but man was it sooo engaging! I could not put them down.  I am working on the last book right now-the first two were wonderful.  They are also making movies out of these books and filming them here in NC!  Maybe hubby and I will make a trek to the mountains to try to see it being filmed. haha!

And that's all.  It felt like I read 15 books, but really only 3.5 .  Darn!  I still have a few on my list so I will share them as I go.

Now do tell, do you have any great books to suggest?  I always love to have several on my life.

And lastly, a few photographs for you to enjoy.

We celebrated our Pup's 10th birthday tonight! I made her a doggie cupcake (complete with yogurt and honey icing) and she GOBBLED it up.  We sang Happy Birthday and she just smiled and wagged her tail the whole time.  It was so stinkin' cute.

Penny has on her thundershirt-it is storming here.  To read more about what that is, go here.  It really does work!



Remember how my bestie is preggers?  Well I finally got around to mailing her some goodies and now I'll share!

 Not the best photo, but I made a burpcloth with that fabric.  One side is terrycloth and the other is that cute purple paisley! Now baby B can spit up in style!

Some applique onesies that I made.  Pretty cute if you ask me!  Now onto bows and tutu's!

Alright..i guess it's time to go clean or something.  Be looking for some yummy recipes, a before/after of my PANTRY, and perhaps a craft!!

Have a happy week, friends!

P.S.  In response to a lovely readers comment about where I get my magazine subscriptions for so cheap, tanga.com and eversave.com usually have great deals every month or so.  I just have to wait and keep checking back.  Right now, eversave has a  2 year subscription to Parent magazine for $5 under the Raleigh Durham area.  It's good for all US residents.  Tanga.com has a year subscription to Gun and Garden for $3...so yeah, you just have to keep checking back and hopefully there will be something great for you!

Just call me a photographer.

I am becoming quite the photographer.

Okay, not really.  But I am going to share with y'all an assortment of photos taken from my blackberry and hubby's iPhone.  I am OBSESSED (just a little) with instagram on his phone..and just the upgrade in quality compared to my blackberry.  In other words, I REALLY want an iPhone.

 I found this bunny hopping around our neighbors yard.  It's been outside for about a month, and my dad and I decided to catch it!  We kept him in the cat cage, but I forgot to lock it and he got out.  I still see him hopping around. He's a cutie! (And obviously was someone's pet)  I  think I'll try to catch him again soon.

 Sweet Claire Kitty.  And a new headband that I made.

 Coleus.  This plant LOVES the shade and it's so pretty!

 Aren't these colors retro!?  I picked these up at the thrift store for $1.

 LAZY.

 Devotional from my mother-in-law!

 We were watching Little League Softball the other night and this popped up.  I thought it was really funny that her dream was "to meet Justin Beiber"

 My dad, brother and I at Krispy Kreme on his birthday.

 Messsssyy...

 Penny LOVES to lay behind our chair in the living room and on the vent.  She will put her nose over it and let the cool air run through her nostrils, I guess.  haha! This is her go-to spot.

 Hubby studying for class! 

Sun rays poking through the clouds.

Our new Appalachian State flag!

How's that for an assortment of photos?

Here in my neck of the woods, we have hurricane Irene knocking on our door sometime soon.  I hope it doesn't hit us hard here in Raleigh!

The blue dot is where we are...  it's about 500 miles from us right now.

We are definitely praying for the East Coast of NC!  Scary stuff, people. 

Organizing my life.

Lately I've been inspired to become more organized.  I want to "have it all together."  You know, not really, but yes really.  Doesn't that make perfect sense?

In the past, I have tried to make a weekly menu, do all my shopping on Sunday for the week, and not have to go grocery shopping but that one time. 


It didn't work out so well...but now I am giving it a second chance.  Thanks to this fun printable that I found, I think I will have better luck!

 What I do is just fill this out every week, and then erase it and start over for the next week! I love it already.  If you'd like to get one of your own, just visit www.mommytracked.com

Easy, right?!  I am really excited to not be sitting on the couch at 6:30 thinking "What the HECK do I cook for dinner?"

I also downloaded a free cleaning checklist from marthstewart.com

Notice only three items are checked off so far...hehe...

it's a start though!


I've also got a "week at a glance," "to-do list," and a "bill payment checklist" sheet. 

And they will go into my cute little binder and hopefully will keep me more organized!

I know it's just hubby and I right now but the sooner I get organized, the easier it'll be once kiddos come around.. (in several years)

I'm also hoping to get started on an exercise regimen (because once I got hitched, that went DOWN the drain! hehe) as well as a daily devotional.  My mother in law bought me this book, and I already LOVE it! Thanks, Kim!

So yep, here is my stand to be organized and be better at life.  Hope it lasts!

Be sure to grab those free printables at marthstewart.com and mommytracked.com!

On a different note, I finally have a solution to my weird wall that houses the television.  You can read about that here.  I just needed SOMETHING to make it feel more cohesive..and here is what my mom came up with.


Well, here is the Before shot:

And the after:

 We just added our bench that we had in the dining room (all of the guests at our wedding signed it on our wedding days!) and added some pillows to the top. I really like how it anchors the wall, and the painting that sits above it.  And now on the other side of the wall, where the rose chair is, I will add a trio of photos to "symetric-ize" the wall.  Don't you like how I just made up that word?

 The best part about this mini-makeover is that I didn't spend a dime! It's funny how rearranging things can make a room look way better!  Now I have to choose the prints for the other side of the wall...hmmmm...

Here's to being organized!

My obsessions...

Everyone has something(s) they are obsessed with ,right?  I'm not the only one am I?

I am obsessed with magazines.  I love them. And what's even better is that I get them for really cheap.  Like two years for $5 or something crazy like that.  I just scour online couponing sites for redemption codes and I think that's what started my obsession with magazines.


Take a look at what I currently subscribe to:

 

 yikes.  That is a lot... but I promise I've never paid full price for any of them! ;)  I think the most expensive one was Southern Living @ $20 for two years.  I got Cosmo for free through recyclebank.com, Allyou was around $16 for two years, Country Living was $10 a year..and I can't remember the others. 

Now...my question to you is this:  Do you subscribe to any magazine that you LOVE?

I am always looking for new reads!!