The weekend is almost over?!

I'm sad that the weekend is almost over. Johnny declined overtime today so I slept in a little bit and then had a fairly relaxing day. I did get a little bit done here and there but I've just kinda been in a funk. I think it's the prednisone. I've been on it several times in the past but it's been awhile and I always forget how it makes me feel until I take it again. The first couple days on the high dose I have a lot of energy which makes it hard to sleep. But it does increase my heartrate quite a bit which I notice a lot in the evenings...which also makes it hard to sleep. I just feel kinda jittery and lightheaded. I noticed it more today so that's probably why I wasn't really in the mood to do much. I cleaned up a little bit in the office and worked on organizing my new graphics into folders but that's about it. And Johnny replaced some of the weather-stripping on our front door. It's been needing it for awhile so I'm glad we got that out of the way.

Tomorrow I want to start going through the bags of old clothes we have and sort them into plastic bins that I got for Christmas so we can put them out in the garage to get them out of the way until we (hopefully) have our garage sale in May-ish when they have the citywide garage sales around here. We had a huge multi-family garage sale with my mom, sister, Johnny's mom, and my stepdaughter in 2014 but we haven't had one since. We keep adding to our piles of "garage sale stuff" and our basement is a complete disaster with everything that we plan to get rid of just kinda strewn about down there. I literally have to climb over stuff to get from one end of the basement to the other. :P And a lot of that is just bags of clothes that the girls have piled down there as they go through their stuff. 

I need to go through my closet too and pack up all the clothes that I've outgrown. It's so weird...because I'd basically been wearing the same clothes that I'd had since high school 20 years ago because I was the same size from the age of 14 on. It was super convenient, of course, because I rarely needed to buy new clothes...I would wear them until they literally wore out. I never fluctuated outside of the 95-105lbs range (except while pregnant) until I was about 33 years old and I had to start taking a new medication for migraines. It caused a whole lot of issues...but it definitely controlled my hemiplegic migraines (basically a migraine that causes one side of your body to be temporarily weak, numb, and/or paralyzed). I used to get them more frequently, but I've only had two since I started taking the medication in 2013. And I'm sure getting older hasn't helped, either. I told Johnny the other day that we should have a funeral for my metabolism. LOL. 

We also got our new air purifiers set up. Johnny has been talking about wanting one for awhile now. We received money from my grandparents in addition to our Christmas presents so we spent quite a bit of time researching them and I was really sold on the Winix HR900. Originally we were going to get one for the bedroom first and then see how it works but the HR900 seemed too big for the bedroom and we thought it would be even more beneficial in the living room...especially since it was rated for a much larger room than our bedroom. We ordered the HR900 on Amazon and got it all set up. We were really impressed with it. So then we decided to go ahead and get one of the smaller Winix models for the bedroom. We went with the Winix A231 and we've been happy with it as well. The HR900 is super quiet so we don't have any problem hearing the TV or anything. The A231 runs just a bit louder...but that works out because I really need white noise to sleep and it's perfect for that. One thing I've noticed is that every time we'd open the front door and the sun would shine through and show all the dust and dog hair and whatever else was floating around...but now you can't see much at all. We usually just keep them on the auto setting. There's a light on each of them that show the air quality as either blue (good), yellow (fair), and red (poor)...and the fan speeds up more for each one until it goes back to blue. The HR900 actually has five stages of filtration. The "Ultimate Pet" pre-filters need to be changed at least once a month...but it's only like $20 for 12 of them. Then it has a fine mesh pre-filter that is washable and doesn't have to be replaced. Then the carbon filter is also washable but need to be replaced about once a year as does the True HEPA filter. They're sold as a set for about $60. The unit alerts you when the filters need to be replaced.I'm sure the more they have to filter out of the air, the more frequently you have to change them. So we'll see how long they last. Oh and both models have "Plasmawave" setting but we don't really use that. The A231 is round and has 4 stages of filtration (it just doesn't' have the Ultimate Pet pre-filter like the HR900). So far I'm pleased with our purchases. :) (Disclaimer: this was not a compensated review...we purchased these items). 

And now I'm gonna get back to organizing my graphics while I'm still awake. :)

RECIPE: Beef and Mashed Potato Bake

I made another recipe last night and we're having leftovers tonight for dinner. :) As usual, it's a super easy recipe. Johnny actually had two big helpings of it. He said it's a lot like his tator tot casserole...just with mashed potatoes. Needless to say, he loved it. Ashlyn didn't even try it. :P Oh and I made this all in my Copper Chef pan because I could just use one pan for the stovetop and oven. 

Beef and Mashed Potato Bake

Ingredients:

2 lb ground hamburger
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 can mixed vegetables, drained

2 24oz packages of Bob Evans Original mashed potatoes 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Brown hamburger and drain. 

3. Open a corner of both Bob Evans mashed potatoes. Heat them both at the same time (side by side) in the microwave for 5 minutes. Remove film and stir. 

4. In an oven-safe dish, combine ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, cream of celery soup, garlic salt, and mixed vegetables. Stir well then flatten and smooth the top with the back of the spoon. 

5. Top the mixture with the mashed potatoes in a single layer. I also smoothed the top of the mashed potatoes. 

6. Heat in the oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. 

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Week three!

We're halfway through week three of the new year and I've been busy making lots of designs for my CandiMaker Etsy shop. Since Friday, I've gotten at least one new design made and uploaded each day...and at least two designs a day since Monday. :) Right now I've been focused on a lot of love, Valentine, and even quite a few anti-Valentine's day designs. I have at least a few more of those designs I want to get uploaded and then I'll work on a couple St Patrick's Day and Easter designs. 

I also ordered some free Priority Mail envelopes and boxes because I'm going to start selling transfer prints of my designs as well and need to test out how I'm going to ship them. The 8 1/2x11 size prints are easy to mail in the envelopes but I'll have to see what I can do about shipping the 11x17 and 13x19 print sizes. My printer/ink/paper set-up puts out amazing color prints and they look great when pressed. I'm still working with substrates on my heat press to offer actual sublimated products. I have a certain spot where my pressed shirts aren't quite as sharp and detailed as the rest of the shirt. I ordered a larger pressing pillow to see if that will help. Otherwise, it might be the heat press itself. So we'll see how it goes. I really wish I would've saved up a bit more for a larger heat press. The 15x15 works for a lot of things, but it'd be nice to have a larger one for the bigger designs that I print as well. 

I also want to design and build a wall-to-wall desk/shelving unit for the office to make even better use of the space. I don't know when that will actually happen...but I've been daydreaming about it a lot. I still have to get the exact measurements of the room and lay it all out and come up with what I need and want. I do know I want to make it in a way that is versatile if things need to be rearranged around a bit if I get new equipment or anything like that. But...I want to focus on more designs right now before I take on that challenge. 

Johnny and I had doctor appointments on Monday for the refills of our prescriptions. I really love our family care doctor. I saw him as a teenager and then started seeing him again at the beginning of my pregnancy with Aubry when he moved to a small town nearby. And then a few years before we got married, Johnny started seeing him as well. He's just everything that you want in a primary care physician. He's very personable and never makes you feel rushed. We sat there and chatted about Covid, king-size beds, and dogs for much of our appointment. I never mind waiting to see the doctor, because I expect others are getting the same attentive and personable care that I appreciate so much. He also keeps track of ALL the many health issues that we've had over the years...which is really helpful when new things come up or anything changes in our health. I can't say enough good things about him. I've been having a lot of issues with my back lately...so he started me on a short course of steroids to hopefully calm down my sciatica. Plus despite the nasty bitter taste that I hate...they've been great for my energy and being productive! That first day I took them that evening after we picked them up at the pharmacy...I ended up not being able to get to sleep until 4:30am but I did get quite a lot of designs done! :P I take them in the morning now so that helps me a little more with getting to sleep at night. I go to bed at 2:30 instead of 4:30 so that's progress. ;) 

Now I'm going to get back to designing. :)

RECIPE: Grandma's Chicken Salad

When my Grandma Ina was alive, I always loved when she made chicken salad sandwiches. There was always a mountain of quartered chicken salad sandwiches for Christmas Eve at their house. She made some for me for both of my weddings. It's delicious! Unfortunately, I never got the recipe from her before she died in 2020. And as it turns out...she never actually wrote down the recipe. But between my grandpa and my aunt, I did get a list of the ingredients...so I just had to kind of wing it as far as how much to use. Grandma also boiled the chicken, but I decided to use my Instant Pot to poach the chicken. So...here's what I ended up coming up with. While it'll never be the same as grandma making it for me...it tastes the same and reminds me of her. <3 Also, zucchini relish is what gives the chicken salad *her* flavor. I found a really good zucchini relish on Etsy that I used for this recipe.

Grandma's Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

4 cups water 

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic salt 

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp dill weed

1/2 tsp lemon pepper 

1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce 

1 tsp celery seed, divided

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 1/2 cup Miracle Whip 

1 cup zucchini relish

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 pepper  

Directions: 

1. Pour water in pressure cooker. Add dill weed, garlic salt, onion powder, lemon pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/2 tsp of celery seed to water and stir. 

2. Place chicken in the pressure cooker. 

3. Lock the lid and cook on high pressure for 7 minutes. 

4. Allow pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes before quick releasing the rest of the pressure. 

5. Allow the chicken to cool then shred (I use my KitchenAid mixer).  

6. Combine the shredded chicken with the miracle whip, yellow onion, zucchini relish, 1/2 tsp celery seed, salt and pepper. Stir until mixed well. 

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RECIPE: Easy Marzetti

I am a huge fan of easy recipes and shortcuts when I'm making dinner. I have a recipe for Marzetti that requires cutting up a lot of vegetables...but my back has been hurting a lot lately and I just don't wanna stand that long if I don't have to. So...we have Prego to save the day! ;) I actually doubled the recipe below so we'd have leftovers. :) 

Easy Marzetti

Ingredients:

1 lb ground hamburger
1 jar Prego Garden Harvest Chunky Combo Italian Sauce
1/2 tbs Worcestershire sauce  

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella and parmesan blend cheese
8 oz penne pasta, prepared according to package

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Brown hamburger and drain. 

3. Combine all ingredients in an oven-safe dish. 

4. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until cheese is all melted. 

Serve with garlic bread. 

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Week Two!

Here we are into the second full week of the new year. I think it's been a fairly productive start so far...if you don't count the fact that a lot of things I've been getting done were actually distractions from the other things I planned to get done. LOL. I'd planned to jump right into getting some designs done...but I still have yet to actually get a single new design done so far this year. :P However, I did get all of our bills organized by payday for 2022. Then I wanted to get my new fonts unzipped and organized. But I realized that the free version of the font manager program I've been using only allows for 2500 fonts...and I have a lot more than that. :P So then I decided to buy the paid version of the program. When I went to enter the expense into my CandiMaker spreadsheet, I realized I needed to finalize all my income and expenses for 2021 and set up for 2022. Then I figured I should go through my transcription spreadsheet as well so that I'll be completely ready to do our taxes...which led me to actually logging in to input the tax information I have so far just to get an idea of what we're looking at. Then I finally circled back to organizing my fonts into folders. Plus I've still gotten distracted with everyday things like doing dishes, laundry, vacuuming the never-ending amount of golden retriever hair, making dinner, etc. Plus Thursday night/Friday I was sick and didn't get much of anything done aside from taking anti-nausea medicine and sleeping. :P 

Oh and Sunday the dogs had their groomer appointment. They hadn't been since September. Samantha -- who has been grooming Bozley since he was 4 months old at Doggie Style Salon -- just started her own grooming business -- The Pawsh Pug -- out of her home. So we decided to follow her to her new place even though it's a little bit further to drive. With Bozley's anxiety, I think it's better to stay with the same groomer as long as we can...and she's wonderful with them! I let her know Sunday that Bozley has been a little more anxious lately after the fireworks on New Years, going to Petco, and rearranging our bedroom. When we went to pick the dogs up after they were done, she said that Boz was a little more anxious than normal...but she just held his paw while she was blow-drying him and that seemed to make it better. LOL. Bozley is a bit high-maintenance, that's for sure. :P She sent me pictures as soon as she got done with them and I can't get over how cute they are! 

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We finally finished getting the bedroom all squared away after rearranging everything. I think the dogs have gotten used to the change now and Milo finally started sleeping on "his" pillow on the bed again last night. And now I have a (temporary) bedside table! I'm not sure I'll have one after we get the larger king-size bed...but for now I do. And we were able to put a couple things on my side of the bed (my Allay lamp from my grandparents, the space heater/fan, etc) so now there's room on Johnny's bedside table for his jellyfish lamp (which the girls and I got him for Christmas in 2019) and the new "docking station" that I gave him for Christmas this year. I found it on Etsy and it turned out really nice! I picked out a Cherry wood color and the design with his name. It was well made and even had black leather lining each of the cutouts on the base as well as the piece that the phone sits on. I'm pleased with my purchase and Johnny really likes it. :) 

  

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Today Ashlyn gets her booster Covid vaccine. Her age group wasn't available when Johnny and I got ours last month. So we're gonna get that done today. Then we have to drop off some packages for the kids, grandkids, and Johnny's mom. Since it didn't work to get together with everyone for Christmas, we decided to go ahead and mail all the gifts. So I got everything boxed up and addressed and I'll have Ashlyn with me to help get all four boxes inside at once. Then we have to run by Petco to pick up Bozley's dehydrated wet food. We ran out yesterday but they haven't had the 7lb or 10lb boxes in stock. Well...he didn't eat his dinner last night and didn't eat breakfast this morning so...I went ahead and got a couple of the 2lb boxes for now. I swear...that dog is the pickiest ever! Oh...the bag of treats that we picked out from the "buffet" at Petco for Nova's birthday...Bozley doesn't like any of them! What dog doesn't like treats?! Most of them he'll just turn his nose up at and walk away, then some he'll take it in his mouth and then leave it on the floor and walk away. There are some treats he likes, though. The Three Dog Bakery Assorted Mutt Trio cookies...he loves those. They were out the other day when I placed our grocery order so we got their sandwich cookies instead (kind of like Oreos for dogs). I asked if they wanted a cookie and he came over all excited...then when it wasn't the "cookie" that he usually gets, he just walked away. I've never known a dog as picky as Bozley. :P Nova definitely isn't that picky. She'll eat anything!

All right...I need to finish up the last of my fonts and get to designing! :)  

Starting the new year!

I can't believe it's already 2022! The years just keep going by so fast. It's hard to believe that this year Johnny and I will celebrate TEN YEARS back together (and five years married). It seems like a long time...but at the same time, it doesn't. Time flies when you're having fun! ;) 

We ended/started the year with a nice weekend at home. I cooked that frozen turkey breast that we didn't end up using for Thanksgiving in the pressure cooker. So the night of New Years Eve we had turkey, mashed potatoes, noodles, corn, and gravy for dinner. We still have quite a bit of turkey left so we've been making sandwiches too. :) We finally finished watching the last season of The Magicians on NYE...but we realized that it's been so long in between that we'd forgotten a lot that's happened. So since then we've started over from the beginning since new episodes of our regular shows still haven't come back yet. 

Aubry came over on Saturday to start cleaning out her room. She has been living at XH's parents' house since shortly after she turned 18 but most of her stuff has still been in her room. So she got a box of stuff to take with her, another box of stuff that she's planning to take with her when she gets her own place, and then separated out some garage sale stuff and things to throw away. She still has more to go through but at least she's been making progress. Her bed is actually one that Johnny had previously bought for big Ashlyn so we'll probably ask her if she wants that back. If not, then we will probably just tear it down to store for when Aubry finds her own place or when someone else needs a bed or something. With the bed out of there, we'll have more room for storage. :) 

Speaking of beds...we're supposed to get an adjustable king-size bed from my grandma this spring so we got a head start on making room for it in our bedroom. Yesterday we turned our bed around so the headboard is on the opposite wall from where it was...and the dresser and Johnny's desk is now where the bed was. Our solid oak bedframe is HEAVY. I do all my own heavy lifting...but man I'm feeling it today! When we moved it from downstairs up to our room I'd taken the bed apart since I was doing it myself while Johnny was working. But about halfway through moving the bed just across the room I'd wished we'd taken it apart again. LOL! :P But now we should just be able to swap out our bed for the new bed without moving anything else in the room. 

It's funny how the dogs reacted to our room being different. Bozley was scared while we were moving everything, of course. And he really didn't seem to like the room being changed around, either. Every time he got up on the bed, he acted nervous. And apparently Nova's inner compass was set to the bed itself and not its position in the room. With the bed flipped around, Johnny and I are on different sides of the bed now (back to the way it was when our bed was downstairs). Well, Nova used to lay her head across Johnny's legs facing the edge of the bed...last night she was laying on mine. But this morning I woke up and Novee was sleeping in the dog bed and Boz was laying on the floor. Milo didn't sleep on his pillow last night either...but after we got the bed moved he was having a blast running back and forth under the bed. It's always been up against the wall so this is the first time he was able to come out from under the bed on both sides...so he thought that was pretty cool. :P lol.

I decided not to work at all over the holiday weekend...so I'm going to focus on making some more designs to put up in my Etsy shop. :) But first I need to go through my spreadsheets and change everything to 2022. I like to get all of our bills set up at the beginning of the year so that each payday I just pay all the bills that are due before the next payday. I've found it's much more efficient that way than paying each of them on the date they are due (which is what Johnny used to do). I like knowing exactly how much money we have left after bills until the next payday. I also keep trach of annual bills (like Amazon Prime, our security cameras, car tags, etc) and add medical bills and school expenses as they come up. I also have spreadsheets to track all my transcription work as well as business expenses, home office deductions, and income for my CandiMaker business. I track all that throughout the year so I'm ready whenever it's time to file our taxes...which I've always done myself. I really like spreadsheets, if you can't tell. ;)  

So...I better get back to work! :) 

Welcome to 2022!

I thought I'd do another "year in review" post this year like I did last year. :) 

1. What age did you turn in 2021? I turned 40 this year!  

2. What was your relationship status in 2021? We celebrated 9 years back together and 4 years of marriage.

3. Did you move in 2021? Nope! Nobody moved in or out in 2021. That's actually a first since I moved in with Johnny back in 2013. Every single year we had someone either moving in with us or moving out...but not last year! 

4. Did you purchase a new vehicle in 2021? Nope. Still have the same car we bought in January 2019. 

5. Did you add any new family members in 2021? Yes! Our second golden retriever -- 6 month old Nova Lee -- joined us in July. She has been a wonderful addition and she seamlessly blended with our family. :)  

6. Did you lose any family members in 2021? Thankfully, no.  

7. Did you have any school or work changes in 2021? I actually started my new CandiMaker business in June. I'm loving it! 

8. Did you travel anywhere in 2021? Nope. We really need a vacation! :P 

9. Did you make any big purchases in 2021? I made quite a few big purchases for my CandiMaker business: printer, heat press, Cricut, etc. 

10. What was the best gift you received in 2021? It was actually a 40th birthday shopping trip with my mom and grandma. I got some craft storage and supplies, new shoes, new jeans, new bras, and a new sweater. But mostly it was really, really nice being able to spend the day with them. :) 

11. Did you learn any new skills in 2021? Yes! Sublimation and design. I'm loving it! 

12. Did you redecorate in 2021? Ooh yes! I repainted the living room, dining room, kitchen, and the walls along the stairs. We also got new lighting for the kitchen, dining room, and the stairs. There are still some things we'd like to work on this year, too. :) 

13. Did you read any good books in 2021? I actually didn't make much time for reading this year. I spent all of my spare time working on CandiMaker stuff. But I'm hoping to set aside some time in 2022 to read through the books that I got from my grandma after she died in 2020. 

14. Did you see any good movies in 2021? I think my two favorites of all the movies we watched were Going in Style and Sweet Girl. :) Oh and we really liked Enola Holmes too!  

15. What TV shows were your favorite in 2021? We watch a lot of TV shows! I've been watching SVU for over 20 years but Organized Crime started in 2021 and we've really liked it. We're still watching NCIS and Blacklist as well. We finished Hanna...and I'm sad that they canceled it because it was really interesting. I really liked Rebel but they canceled that too. :( We've also been watching Manifest and In The Dark...I'm excited for those to come back this year too. We also finally finished the Magicians. 

16. What things did you do in 2021 that you'd never done before? Sublimation! And I opened an Etsy store that I'm actually using! :) I had an old one back in 2009...but I never really did anything with it.

17. What do you wish you'd done more of in 2021? Probably reading and writing...but there just didn't seem to be enough time for all the things I want to do and working took priority.  

18. What were you proud of in 2021? Starting a new business. :) 

19. What was the one defining moment of 2021? Probably deciding to start my own business. :)

20. How would you describe 2021 in three words? Low-Key, Productive, and Loving! 

And now for some 2022 questions... 

1. What did you NOT have in 2021 that you would like to have in 2022? Definitely a vacation! 

2. What skills do you want to learn or improve in 2021? All my arts and crafts skills. :) 

3. What do you want to do more of in 2022? Walking the dogs together, working on arts and crafts, and setting aside time for reading and writing. 

4. What do you want to buy in 2022? Most of the things I'd like to buy are all centered around CandiMaker/arts and crafts supplies. But...I may need to be purchasing a new laptop soon. I've had this one since 2013 and I'm not sure how much longer it will last. :P 

5. What is your number one goal for 2022? Be even more creative. And maybe more active. ;)