LUCKY LIME FLOATS {St. Patrick's Day Preparedness}

One of the side effects

 of being gifted with so many glorious 

 snow days

 is the unenviable event ...

...of having to return to school.

Boo say the school kids....

Hooray say the moms and dads....

It was truly like a second Christmas vacation...

right smack in the middle of February... 

Except with this "vacation" we didn't have anything BIG to look forward to...

... except  for maybe venturing out of the house...  

Now that all the snowy, frigid mess is behind us (for now)

And ...to ease the kiddos back into the swing of things... 

... homework

...reading....

...timed-tests...

...early bedtimes...

I presented them with a fun after-school snack... 

much different than the usual 'health' food I try to push...

No organic green apples... not today...

No popcorn...no glasses of wholesome milk....

20 Inspiring Backyard Garden Ideas!

I'm officially, 100% ready for spring.  

I think this feeling may have happened

oh, ...somewhere during the kiddos 7th or 8th day off...

...in a row  ...from school last week.

We finally got the long awaited "big" snowfall...

...and finally...with temperatures that made it safe to play outdoors...

From the look of the snow piled up in our yard...

...it may be a few weeks until we thaw out.

While I wait for the snow to melt, I have something to daydream about... 

...the backyard garden.

 Our garden may be covered in snow, and frozen... for now...

but, not too much longer, and it will be buzzing with activity.

ha... (Get it?  I thought you might like my photo-pun)

I did a blog post last February about how we built our backyard garden...
...and how it's grown over the years.  

It was quite the DIY event...

We used a tool I nicknamed "the team builder"...

It was a loooong afternoon in the heat....to say the least...

It's a good story and one of my favorite blog-posts to date.

If you'd like to learn about the "team builder"... and

see some sunny and warm garden 'how-to' photos...

just visit the earlier post here: Growing A Garden 

As I get ready for this years garden,

I found mountains of inspiration over on Hometalk.com

I curated a board of inspiring garden ideas...

...Some of which I hope to create for our garden, this March.

So many great ideas for all types of gardens,

flower gardens, vegetable gardens,

water and fairy gardens and so much more.

I even included a few garden planter ideas for the yard.

If you would like to see some of the creative 20 garden inspired ideas I chose,
visit: 20 Inspiring Garden Ideas. 

You can also visit the BlueRibbonKitchen Hometalk Page...to view some of my other projects.
(I'm new there..so there are just a few to look at...)  

Or ...to see just the Backyard Garden post, 

visit: How to Build a Fenced Backyard Garden at Hometalk.com

This week I am thinking warm thoughts...

...putting on some Jimmy Buffet music ...

... I might even make a make a frozen tropical drink... you just never know...

But I am certainly going to be "Thinking Spring"

....and flowers and homegrown tomatoes...  warmer days are just ahead!

I just know it....

Disclaimer: 

 Anytime you dig...whether it be for a fence post of a swimming pool,

 be sure you are free and clear of all utilities.  Check before you dig.

Linking to these Parties:

Inspiration Monday via I Should Be Mopping the Floor

The Scoop via Stone Gable

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

50 Shades of Gray Paint

I think I've figured it out...

I'm pretty sure I now know how I end up knee-deep 

in so many projects at one time.

Really.

My sense of 'how long' a project is going to take 

is always, always, always...

way....too short.

I underestimate how long I'm going to really need

and before you know it...

I've half-way started on the next project....

For instance,

I planned to repaint the foyer... and then the paint was too gray.  

I know, right? How can the paint be too gray?  But it was.

Instead of a good gray, it reminded me of the color of unpainted drywall...

Much too gray...and even though I checked with Pinterest a million times, 

...it wasn't the 'perfect' gray for our lighting and in our particular room....

So you know what that means... 

Back to the hardware store... more samples and more paint chips...

Like finding the 'right' house, or the 'right' Mr. Right...or Mrs. Right... 

You just know it when you see it...

And like life, sometimes it takes more than a few trips to the proverbial hardware store and sometimes you get home only to find out you bought the wrong stuff... in the wrong style...

... but, eventually you get it right...

And when you do... the results can be amazing...

Baked Sausage and Asparagus Alfredo

This has been a busy few days...

Have you ever been knee-deep in a project...and you cringed at the thought of having to stop...to make dinner...

I think it might be a symptom of a DIYer...on overdrive...

This week I've been painting our entryway (more to come on that tomorrow)

So...as I was busily painting away, sanding and cutting-in... I knew at some point someone was going to be hungry...

The family needs to eat... and this quick meal is always delicious and no one ever complains...

I would call it a one pot dish...but actually it's more like three...

...but its' still quick and easy and super delicious.

This Sausage & Asparagus Pasta Bake is good enough for company... I'm not exaggerating...

Paired with a salad and some crusty bread and you're good to go....

Since it was just us... we skipped the frills...and it was just as good...

Here's how to make it:

Can't Buy Me Love | Valentine Savings

My heart skips a beat for a few certain things in life...

It goes without saying... my husband and sweet children top the list....

In addition to my sweethearts....

I love a good bargain.... LOVE...as in...

...be still my beating heart.

So, perhaps that is why I have a special and sometimes

 'unhealthy' relationship with the thrift store...

It's the thrift-store, bargain-seeking gene in my DNA... and yes...

--from time to time I must admit...

My heart skips a beat when I see a deal...

A too-good-to-be-true sale or a make-over waiting to happen...

(exhibit A: See the hutch...?  It was a thrift store make-over)

There is so much potential...just waiting to bloom...there is also a lot of really gross junk at the thrift store....

Don't buy that....(the gross junk)

Stick to the things that make your creative juices flow and make you excited...Keep an open mind about how deals can work in your favor...and save you some money too.

Here are a few Valentine-friendly ideas that won't break the bank and hopefully set your heart all aflutter.

Tiramisu Tartlet

When my husband and I first started dating we lived in different cities...

...Well,

...you know what they say about distance making the heart grow fonder...

I think there may be something to that...  

...Or... it might have something to do with dessert...  

You'll have to be the judge...

Back when I first met him...never-ever, had I believed or ever bought into any of that "love at first sight" stuff... it sounded like a bunch of far-fetched mumbo jumbo...

never...  

I thought people who talked about "love at first sight" were a little bit crazy... maybe overstating it... 

...a little...

or more like... a whole lot....  

Surely... these people were mistaken about this phenomenon.

Then... it happened to me.

Yes... it sure did.
 (Because that's how most things work... when you least expect it...that's when the thing you never think is or could possibly, ever in a million years happen...totally happens...it keeps us on our toes...always guessing...)

One April evening, in a church...attending a mutual friend's wedding...

....I spied my prince charming.

It was just like all that silly mumbo jumbo I had heard all those "crazy" love-struck fools going on
and on about..."love at first sight"  ...really??  ...happening to me??  really.

Yep.

It really happened....

... I was smitten from the moment I laid my eyes on him.

It certainly helped (quite by coincidence...) that he was wearing a black tuxedo....

A prince charming always looks best wearing a tuxedo...  

At the time... he lived three hours away from where I was living ...

It was not ideal... it's hard to really get to know someone from a distance...  but we managed...

What worked out especially well, was his new home, also happened to be my hometown... so I had plenty of reasons to visit...

Our dates were always special and he would always take me to the best restaurants...

...My very favorite part of every dinner date (which became a tradition)...was this...