postgram, my newest favorite app

I recently downloaded postgram app & have fallen in LOVE with it. I am definitely one for sending out lots of little notes, etc to friends/family. So when I could send a picture & message to someone for only 90cents & have it be personalized...I was hooked!  For example, sending pictures of the boys real quick from my phone to our great grandparents mailbox etc, had a friend take Tucker out on a pony ride & sent them a picture of Tucker riding the horse with the owners daughter as a thank you etc.  

So much fun, & SO DARN EASY. 

medifast

April 10th I started a diet called Medifast.

...since then I have lost 32.6 lbs, the equivalent of loosing my soon-to-be three year old son!

phew, it has been ALOT of work but I am LOVING the outcome...WAY more energy, only having 1 pair of pants that fit now(!)  (haley is going to help me with this problem this week!) going down 2-3 jean sizes(!) & so many other fun things I'm forgetting at the moment.  I am roughly at my half way point & feeling good/strong!  Its always encouraging to me when people comment & say how good your looking, so if you notice, PLEASE tell me! :-)  It really helps motivate me! ...and the COOLEST part of all of this? I've inspired 4 DIFFERENT people to start their journey in medifast.  HOW COOL. I hope to have a post soon on tips & tricks that have helped me with this diet.  Here's to better health & keeping up with my kiddos!

PHEW!

This month has been crrraaazzy busy! {but we're totally loving it!}

Started off with a vacation to Branson.  

we had a wonderful time & the boys did great.  Although Cy wasn't too found of the ride home! :-)  We went boating/tubing, sight seeing, go-cart riding, grilling & shopping.  Our whole family is HORRIBLE at remembering to take pictures so this is all I got so far :-) 

Cousins Reunion Weekend.

Once a year we get together with Ryan's cousins for a weekend.  This year was no exception.  We had a great time!  We met in Cedar Rapids this year at Jimmy's house.  This year we had family from St Louis & Chicago.  

Here is a picture of us girls after our massages...ahh!!

                                           While the us girls pampered ourselves the guys went golfing! I think I heard Ryan even won!

 This week we've been helping volunteer in the preschool room at VBS.  Which has been alot of fun & ohhhh so tiring!  :-)

 Boys:

our boys have been keeping us busy as well!  They have been loving this weather & eating out on our patio set almost daily!  Tucker is soaking up so much & its been fun to have little conversations with him. :-) In April we went to a TV FREE household during the day, and WE LOVE IT.  It has allowed Tucker to get super creative.  Every Sunday night we do have a movie night with popcorn & is the highlight to Tucker's week!  Cy is our little rockstar.  He is supper happy & has a smile that lights up a room!  It has been SO MUCH FUN seeing the boys interact & laugh at one another.  In the mornings before we go in & get the boys you hear them "talking/laughing" to one another.  I WISH i could be a bug on the wall & see what they are doing.  

That is a quick update for us! 

DIY

I was wondering if I was ever going to be bitten from the DIY bug again!

Since doing 2 major remodeling projects & 4-5 minor ones since we bought our first duplex in 2006 I was wondering if I had lost my love for it. 

Well, last week it returned!

We painted our bathroom...

& last night I started painting our hallway with 

Mineral Deposit from Sherwin Williams.

LOVE IT! 

Looking forward to posting our progress as we continue. 

 

Cy 4 months old

is super laid back & a chill baby (just the opposite of his older brother!)

has a smile that lights up a room!

is a full bore mommy's boy 

is eating 7 ounces every 4 hrs.

takes 2, two hour naps a day

he takes after his Mother & thrives off a routine! :-)

sleeps from 7-7 am 

loves his bumbo seat & eating outside with the family for lunchtime

favorite part of our day is going to get him in the morning to see his BIG smiles & moving feet

he loves to be entertained by his older brother.

he is our little cutie pie!

Tucker Update 2.5 yrs old

...wakes up @ 7:00 am like clockwork
is so sweet & gentle to Cy.
refers to Sunny Delight as "Boppa's apple jucie"
refers to Powerade as "riley's apple juice"
he sticks a little cow puzzle piece under our carpet at ALL times. 
he wants hot dogs or Mac & Cheese for every.single.meal
loves animals from a distance (not up close)
he loves popcorn & movie night Sunday evenings
loves his baby brother ALOT
he loves to be his daddy's little helper
his favorite song is PB & Jelly
He loves to help Mom with baking/cooking supper or projects
...he is our little ball of energy!

$10.00 Challenge weeks 3 & 4

Week 3:  Did not do any garage selling due to being too busy that weekend.

Week 4: I bough this... dehumidifier for $5.00 & sold it for $15.00. profit $10.00

{who would of thought we'd get 3 calls within the FIRST hr for this dinosaur!}

We pooled our "joint" profits & bought this snow blower for $40.00

We sold it today for $80.00.  Since Ryan had to "borrow" from me we are splitting the profits 70/30. 

Totals:

Me: $10.00  Profit from my item plus 12.00 from Ryan's item = $72.00 to use to spend

Ryan: $28.00 profit, $46.00 to spend.

TOTAL PROFIT:  $118.00  in 4 weekends.

 

Our next item is in transit, and we'll give you a hint...it doesn't run! 

 

 

my. latest.obsession.

i fully expect to sing this as a trio with my sisters in a few weeks...

CAN'T WAIT!

Carly, get crackin' cause you only have to catch up to  how many times Haley & I have listened to it...say  25 + times!  :-) 

What can I say, we're a family of loveable obsessive compulsive singers!

enjoy!

$10 Dollar Challenge, Week 2

This past weekend I went out garage selling & found NADA. 

NOTHING.

They were all duds.

However, on the way home from church Sunday we spotted this little drop leaf table with a sign labeled 'free' so we picked it up, took a picture, put up a 2 second ad on Craigslist & had it sold for $8.00!
In the spirit of good sportsmanship I have given this one to Ryan :-)

Week 2 Totals:

Me: $40.00 Profit, $50.00 total to spend

Ryan: $8.00 Profit, $18.00 to spend.

TOTAL PROFIT:  $48.00 in 2 weekends.

See You Next Week!

$10.00 Challenge

Ryan & I enjoy a good competition between us from time to time, so after reading this blog we got the idea to try this for ourselves.  We are EACH starting the garage sale season with $10.00 a piece.  The goal is to try to buy an item, sell it & see how much $$ we can build through the summer. We buy an item at a garage sale/Craigslist etc and then resell the said item. And whatever money we *potentially* profit we'll go on a date/weekend away etc. depending on the amount.   I will try my hardest to keep you up to date on how we are each doing.  I am ahead so far...yeah!

The Rules:

• Our Garage Sale season starts Saturday April 14th
• End of the competition  September 2nd
• You cannot go in "debt" buying an item
• you can borrow from the other person as long as they are okay with that
• we will tithe 10% of our end profits 
•  

FIRST WEEKEND OUT:

Not only do I love this, but it gets my husband EXCITED about wanting to go garage selling with me! (double bonus!)  We headed out Saturday morning & I spent my whole $10.00 all in one place and bought this...

 Now, nothing special but I was able to sell it today for $50.00!  One thing had caught Ryan's eye but it was in a little rougher condition than we thought we could resell it for.  {Check back for updates throughout the summer}

 

Week 1 standings:

Ashley: $40.00 profit

Ryan: 0.00

Let the Games Begin!

Bookmooch Review

I'll say it...

I've turned into a bookmooch junkie!

I loooooovvvveeeee this site! 

{so much better than paperbackswap.com}

Here is how it works:

BookMooch is a community for exchanging used books. BookMooch lets you give away books you no longer need in exchange for books you really want.

Give & receive: Every time you give someone a book, you earn a point and can get any book you want from anyone else at BookMooch. Once you've read a book, you can keep it forever or put it back into BookMooch for someone else, as you wish.

No cost: there is no cost to join or use this web site: your only cost is mailing your books to others.

Points for entering books: you receive a tenth-of-a-point for every book you type into our system, and one point each time you give a book away. In order to keep receiving books, you need to give away at least one book for every two you receive. 

Feedback score: each time you receive a book, you can leave feedback with the sender, just like how eBay does it. If you keep your feedback score up, people are most likely to help you out when you ask for a book. 

I have never paid more than $3.00 for shipping
I ship my books in good 'ole Kraft paper {way cheaper than bubble wrap}
wrap well with strong shipping tape
ship media mail {usually always cheaper than 1st class}
my local hy-vee can send them at the customer service desk so I don't have an added trip to the post office! {my personal favorite!}
I've already received a few books!
I've already been to a few garage sales already & bought a few books for .25cents & sent out 2 of them.

Three books which I am very passionate about are: The purpose driven life, babywise & Dave Ramsey's total money makeover.  My hope is to start collecting a few copies of each & given out when then time arrives.  For example, when delivering a meal to a new mom drop off a copy of babywise with it.  Even if they don't read it {any of them} I think it goes that extra mile to say you are loved.

Pretty sweet, huh?
 Click HERE to see what all the fuss is about!

How to cook ground beef in a crock pot

A few weeks ago I was chatting with our Pastors wife about tips on a whole bunch of different topics...

 Mainly, on staying sane as a mother of young children! 

{you mothers out there KNOW what i'm talking about!} 

:-)

Enter Dinner time craziness!  

She told me she cooks all  her ground beef in the crock pot.

  I was very intrigued & went home to try this method myself.

SUCESS!

HOW TO COOK GROUND BEEF IN A CROCK POT: 
put crock pot setting on high
put in raw, thawed meat (i used 4 lbs)
put in a few seasoning (all purpose seasoning & minced onions)
come back once an hour to stir well
drain once fully cooked (took about 4 hrs)
and ...
THAT IS IT 

i put my cooked meat in zip lock containers & put 'em in the freezer. 

Now, I can have quick meals...such as tacos, chili, hamburger helper meals, sloppy joe's, tator tot casserole's etc made SO quickly!  

Pretty neat.  

 

if only I had an iphone {red stamp app}

one of the coolest phone applications I've seen in awhile is this red stamp app. 

very cute way to send a message.  

 Hopefully android will get this soon...

best part?  it's FREE!

Click HERE

2 ingredient dessert

I found this recipe on pinterest & thought I'd give it a try.  They used blueberry pie filling & changed it out with cherry pie filling.  This was a HUGE hit with my boys. 

What You’ll Need:

1 box of angel food cake mix

1 can of cherry pie filling (approximately 22 ounces) {feel free to substitute any pie filling}

9 by 13 inch cake pan

What You’ll Do:

Mix powder cake mix and pie filling together…
{don’t add any other ingredients}

Place in 9×13 greased baking dish…

Bake at 350 degrees for 28 – 30 minutes.

that is it!
 serve with whip cream or ice cream.

**best served at room temperature**

ENJOY!

You had me at the first suck!

this thing had me at the first suck!

i love personal product endorsements of blogs I follow that they've found to be  neat, makes life a little easier or just plain cool!
So for the 100+ of you who read this blog a day, this one is for you!

So, from time to time I'm going to share some fun {or at least, fun to me!} products i've started to love.  You all know my love for the haan map {btw you can click that link & get it for $79.00 right now!}

Anyways, a few weeks ago we bought the ...

BISSELL Auto Care Pro Heat Compact Multipurpose Deep Cleaner

 as a mother of 2 little boys this has come in SUPER handy for milk spit ups, apple juice spills & so much more! The first day we bought it we deep cleaned both vehicles, cleaned up any stains on rugs, carpets & upholstery!  

amazing! 

And all you Ames moms that have stains...just borrow ours!  I'd love for it to get some good use!  

oh happy day!