RECIPE: Chicken Florenetine

Johnny was talking about how Olive Garden used to have a Chicken Florentine dish that he really liked. So I did some poking around and, as usual, I came up with my own recipe. It was a little difficult since I'd never had Olive Garden's Chicken Florentine so I didn't really have anything to compare it to. And Johnny said he couldn't even remember what it tastes like...just that it was good. :P So I was totally winging it...but Johnny said it was delicious. :)

Chicken Florentine

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs chicken tenderloins

3 tbs flour

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp Italian seasoning

2 tbs olive oil

2 tbs butter

2 tsp fresh minced garlic

1/2 cup dry white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)

1/4 cup chicken broth

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup grated parmesan & romano cheese

2 cups baby spinach 

16oz fettucine noodles, cooked according to package 

 Directions:

1. Whisk together flour, garlic salt, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and Italian seasoning.  

2. Cut each of the chicken tenderloins into 3-4 equal pieces. 

3. Coat each of the pieces of chicken completely with the flour mixture. 

4. Heat a large skillet on medium-high eat. Add olive oil. Once hot, add chicken. Cook the chicken until brown and internal temperature is 165 degrees. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. 

5. Melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté about 1 minute. 

6. Add wine and scrape the pan to remove any browned bits. Then add chicken broth and cream. Add the grated cheese gradually while stirring. 

7. Reduce the heat to simmer, stirring or whisking often. 

8. Once the sauce has thickened and is smooth, add spinach. Cook about 2 minutes until spinach is wilted into the sauce. 

9. Add chicken back to the pan and stir. Simmer until heated through. 

10. Serve over fettucine noodles. 

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Johnny is finally home!

This post has been open in my browser since Sunday and I just keep adjusting and adding to it without finishing it. LOL. It's now Thursday...and hopefully I'm posting this without changing that day again. :P 

I'm so happy that my husband is back home safe and sound. Mom and I took Johnny to the airport Saturday, May 16th and we picked him up on Sunday, May 24th. It was a day longer than his trip to Seattle over Labor Day last year. We had to play around with the dates to get the best price...the tickets were quite a bit higher this year. But Johnny was still able to fly first class in his favorite seat, so he really liked that. He was able to spend quite a bit of time with his mom plus do a few things with his brother like going to the Seattle Market and exploring different areas by the water. He was pretty sore when he got home from all the miles of walking they did. With the way my back and joints have been lately...there would've been no way I could've done it! There are days when my back seizes up just walking past the neighbor's house to the mailbox! 

I didn't do a whole lot while Johnny was gone other than work and get some stuff done around the house. Last time he was gone, my mom and I cut our king size adjustable bed in half, but I didn't really have a big project this time. A lot of my time was spent going outside with the dogs. :P I don't think they knew what to do with themselves having their routine disrupted. I played Sims4 a bit on the weekends since I hadn't played in awhile. Of course when I say that I "played" I mean that I just worked on building our Sims house. ;) It's AMAZING and if we decide to build a house in the future, it's definitely going to inspire our real house. ;) I also watched Scandal again on Netflix (mostly just for background noise) and made it from Season 1 to Season 6...then finished the series (it has 7 seasons total) yesterday. It's been so long since I'd watched it that I'd forgotten most of what happened in that show.

Neither one of us got much sleep while he was gone. Luckily Johnny was off work on Monday for the holiday so he could unwind and get some much needed rest before starting the workweek again. We lounged around watching some YouTube in the living room together. Johnny has lots of channels he subscribes to...plus we enjoy watching funny animal clips and funny "fails" videos where people fall down. It's our guilty pleasure. lol. Most of our messenger conversations consist of just sending funny video clips back and forth. ;) 

This past year I discovered Celina Spooky and her sleepwalking videos. The first clip of hers that I saw was when she had been sleepwalking in a hotel and woke up naked in the hallway. I think what I love most is the way she reminds me so much of Aubry! Her mannerisms, gestures, and the way she throws her head back when she laughs...Aubry does the same thing! Aubry also likes old, eclectic things and even had a skeleton (which she named Boner) riding in her car for several years. Anyway...I kind of went off on a tangent there. :P  

Work is going well. I passed 4350 sales on Sunday in my CandiMakerStickers shop. I started the year at 3695 sales (my goal last year was 3500). I feel like I've been setting some pretty "easy" goals, so my goal for this year is to hit 6000 in that shop. So...we'll see! While we were watching TV on Monday, I was going back and forth printing and cutting stickers, magnets, and sticker sheets. I had 20 orders that I packaged to put in the mail Monday night. I had two eBay orders, two sticker sheet orders, and the rest were from my regular sticker and magnet shop. My custom name label sticker sheets have already started selling this year. Last year I sold one custom name sticker sheet in January then didn't sell another one until I sold four at the end of June. This year I've sold at least one (and as many as six sheets!) every month from January through April. This month, I've sold 11 of the name label sticker sheets just since May 19th. Last July I sold 209 individual custom name label sticker sheets (then August was a bit less with 157 before it tapered back down to single digits). So I'm really interested to see how many I sell this July. My goal in my CandiMakerPlanners shop this year is to get to 1500 (I am currently at 576 sales). 

Since I was all caught up on orders, I took a break on Tuesday to play the new Paralives that was released on Monday (this is not a compensated review at all). It's a new life simulation game that is being compared to Sims. I decided to get it while they currently have a 10% discounted Early Access price. The good news is that's all you have to pay...ever. They've vowed not to put any new content behind paywalls...it'll all be delivered for free through game updates. 

So far, I really love the ways that it's different from Sims. It has an open world which was removed in the evolution from Sims 3 to Sims 4. It has color wheels so you can recolor pretty much everything. It has sliders for almost everything...height, every body part, many of the build items (like sliding furniture to make it shorter or longer), etc. One thing I really love is that not only is building not limited to a grid, everything is still completely usable. For example, I purchased an existing lot and completely remodeled it...but everything was a very odd shape. I wanted to add a staircase to a rooftop loft (because building a roof is still pretty basic and clunky...so with such odd shapes, I didn't have the patience to keep trying) so I wanted to add a staircase and make a rooftop patio area. The space for the stairs to the rooftop really wasn't big enough for a door to open...but it still let me put it there and the people use it as normal without a problem. So that's definitely an improvement. And it gives you a lot more freedom to clutter desktops, counters and everything because you're not limited to 1-4 "slots" to place things like in the Sims. The graphics are completely different from Sims, but I don't think they're bad. It's just a different aesthetic. And a lot of people are complaining about lack of options...but this is an *Early Release* of a *base* game. Sims 4 base game was pretty lacking as well when it was first released. I don't think Paralives will stop me from playing Sims, but I think it will be another game I enjoy.  

Tuesday ended up being a pretty good day for me to take a break from work...because I've been surviving on very little sleep and feeling really uncomfortable and irritated. TMI...but perimenopause is horrible. I've been dealing with it since late summer 2020. My cycles haven't gone away, but they'd gotten a lot shorter and lighter. Well...I didn't have my period at all in April so I was starting to get excited...until I'm now apparently having two periods in one. I've never had such heavy bleeding from a period. I'm talking...having to set a timer for 50 minutes because 60 minutes is too late to change my S+ tampon (hey, I warned you it was TMI!). It started late Monday night and continued until about 8am yesterday. It's still here today but not heavy anymore. The last time I bled like that was when I had a miscarriage at 12 weeks in April 2007. I only got lightheaded when I was standing too long trying to cut the vegetables for dinner on Tuesday. I was standing too long and got too hot. So I ended up postponing fajitas for dinner and ended up going to bed (only to wake up four hours later wide awake until 7am). Last night I was finally feeling better and finished making fajitas for dinner. Mmmm! 

Alright...gonna eat some leftovers for lunch and then gonna work on orders to put in the mail tonight. :)

I never know what to write for a title...

It takes a lot more effort than necessary to think of titles for my blog posts that aren't the same thing all the time. :P I know it's a trivial thing...but my brain gets hung up on things like that. I mean...my essays in school always took just a little bit longer because I couldn't use the same words in close proximity to each other. I don't know...it's a thing. lol. But...at least I have a lot to update this time instead of just droning on about the same ol' things all the time. :P 

The last week of April and into the first couple days of May, I had a really bad migraine. Several days it was so bad it even woke me up early in the morning. It had been awhile since I've had a migraine last that long and be that intense. Since I have hemiplegic migraines, I'm not supposed to take the triptans that are commonly used as rescue meds for migraines due to an increased risk of stroke. Basically all I can do is take 4 ibuprofen, a Benadryl, a promethazine, and put an ice back on my head or neck. Some days that just doesn't cut it. I've been taking nortriptyline for 13 years now as a migraine preventative for my hemiplegic migraines. While I've only had two hemiplegic migraines since then (one was NYE 2013 and the other was after I had a scratched cornea in 2019 and the ER doctor shined a light for too long in my scratched eyeball), I still get regular migraines pretty frequently. My doctor prescribed me topiramate as a preventative a few years ago, but that didn't make much difference. 

Johnny had a phlebotomy appointment on May 1st and since he needed to make a regular doctor appointment to refill his prescriptions, I went ahead and made appointments for both of us with our family doctor the same day (so he only had to take off work one day instead of two). I was going to get an allergy shot while we were there, but I totally forgot about it. I talked to our doctor (who is amazing) about the migraines and we decided to try Aimovig as a migraine preventative. It's a CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide) monoclonal antibody that is a receptor blocker. Previously, my doctor had given me samples of CGRP receptor antagonists to use as rescue meds. Ubelvy isn't covered on our insurance, and Nurtec is $150/month (my doctor also gave me a few samples of Nurtec in case I need any rescue meds, though.). Meanwhile, Aimovig is only $100 a month and we have a copay card from the company which takes it down to $50 a month. And I don't mind doing injections...needles don't bother me at all. 

It took forever to actually be able to get my prescription for the Aimovig. It requires prior authorization with our insurance...and that took awhile. Then when the prior authorization finally came through, the pharmacy didn't have it in stock. In fact, none of the area locations had it available. But we were finally able to get it Monday night. Johnny picked it up at about 8:30pm and I waited half an hour (it's kept refrigerated and it's recommended to wait until it's room temperature so it doesn't sting as much). It's a SureClick Autoinjector which was really simple. Prep the area with rubbing alcohol, remove the white cap, pinch the skin on my thigh, push the pen all the way down, press the button (it'll click) and hold it down for about 15 seconds until the window is completely yellow (and it clicked again). Then dispense then pen in a sharps container (I used an empty detergent bottle that I already had) and that's it. 

Honestly, I wondered if I did it right at first because I felt absolutely nothing. But after I tossed the pen, there was a dot of blood so obviously it worked. A little while later I could feel where I'd done the injection...but it wasn't what I'd describe as painful. However, the next day I started feeling kinda crappy. I thought it was allergies (especially since I'd forgotten to get my allergy shot) but after four Benadryl and two Sudafed and it didn't really make a difference on my runny nose and sneezing. Then when my throat started hurting and I just felt kinda blah and achy...I realized it was probably the "flu-like" symptoms that can sometimes be side-effects. I felt a lot better by the next day, though. 

I also talked to my doctor about my issues with pelvic adhesive disease and the possibly of surgery for a total hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, adhesiolysis, and possible colporrhaphy if necessary. I've had horrible pain that has just gotten worse over the last 16 years. I had to have a rectopexy and colon resection in 2010 that had to be done via open surgery. Then when I tried to get my tubes tied a year later, the surgeon couldn't even find one of my fallopian tubes because there was so much scar tissue from my previous surgery that has attached all of my pelvic organs together. So my doctor referred me to a urogynecologist and I'll have that appointment in a couple months to see what my options are. It shows he specializes in pelvic reconstruction surgery and I found that he was also recommended in the local Ehlers-Danlos FB group...so hopefully it'll all work out well.  

In other news, we took the dogs to the groomer a few weeks ago. They had some major grinch toes goin' on! We had the groomer use a hypoallergenic shampoo for Nova, but she's still been having allergy issues. I'm thinking it might be the doggy perfume. We made their next appointment while we were there, so I'll have to remember to talk to her about it then. We also need to make their appointment for their vaccines and Nova's allergy shot. 

I finally got around to printing my planner. I haven't had a paper planner in years...but I've been missing it. Especially now that I can print my own stickers! I also still have a lot of Happy Planner stickers to use, too. 

Work has been going well. April was a bit slow, but still better than it was in April 2025. I need to finish listing products on my website. I'm also thinking about giving TikTok shop another try, but we'll see. I was able to create the shop this time without any problems (as opposed to last time when it was a nightmare), so I suppose that's at least progress. 

We've also been getting ready for Johnny's trip out to Seattle. His mom had another stroke last month and isn't recovering like she had with the strokes she'd had before. He'll be staying with his brother again. I'm glad he'll get to spend the time with his family, but the doggies and I will definitely miss him! 

RECIPE: Chocolate Melt Vanilla Pudding Cookies

After the lemon pudding cookies turned out so well...I decided to come up with another pudding cookie recipe. I'm not a huge fan of chocolate and I don't really like chocolate chips in my cookies because they either get melty chocolate everywhere or they're harder than the cookie. So...I decided to use a semi-sweet chocolate baking bar and hiding it in the middle of the cookie...melty goodness without getting chocolate all over your hand! They turned out amaaaazing. Aubry's boyfriend said it's finally a cookie that tastes like cookie dough. ;) 

Chocolate Melt Vanilla Pudding Cookies

Ingredients:

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3.4 oz vanilla pudding mix

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups of flour

Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Bar, broken into pieces (mine ranged in size from 1/2 inch to 1 inch)

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease the cookie sheet(s). 

2. Mix together eggs, butter, shortening, vanilla extract, both sugars, and pudding mix. 

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking power, baking soda, and salt. 

4. Carefully add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients 1 cup at a time and mix well. 

5. I used a 1tbs measuring spoon to scoop out my cookie dough and then I wrapped it around a piece of chocolate and rolled it into a ball then flattened it just slightly when I put it on the cookie sheet. 

6. Bake the cookies for approximately 10 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for 3 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. 

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Office Update!

I thought about just updating my last post with the new stuff like my desk...but I decided to keep that one the way it is for posterity and just make a new post with everything updated...and a little more detailed about the materials I use in case anyone is interested. :) I posted a video on my Instagram, so I'll just add everything in order of the video. 

Here's what my office looks like now: 

Right next to my office door is Johnny's old desk. I used to have just the top hutch sitting on the floor as a bookcase, but when I got my new desk, I moved the hutch back on top of Johnny's desk. Everything on the hutch is personal stuff...our cookbooks, my art and writing books, decorations from our wedding, etc. I have my paper cutter on the desk. I didn't have it when I took this photo, but I also have one of these LED light strips attached to the bottom of the first shelf on the hutch so I have more light when I'm using the paper cutter. Then I have some random stuff in the drawers on the left...tissue paper, corrugated cardboard sheets that I use to make sure rigid packages are more than .25" thick, etc. I've also been keeping the sticker sheets I've made in the right drawer for lack of a better place to put them right now. And under that drawer, I have two white plastic drawers...one to store legal-size paper and another that just holds mail and documents that I need to file or scan and shred. Next to the drawers are some plastic boxes that have cords and stuff in them. Those are really just there for lack of a better place to put them right now. And next to the desk is the top to my old art desk...which I haven't figured out what to do with yet, either. At some point I hope to clean out and reorganize the office closet...so they mind end up there. 

 

Next to that desk is an armoire entertainment center that we got from Johnny's sister-in-law. On top are a whole lot of shipping boxes in different sizes (which I don't go through very fast). In the main cabinet, I have my cold roll laminator. I have it attached with command strips so it doesn't move around while I'm using it. You can see the LED light strip in this photo...it's definitely too dark in there without it. On the little shelf at the top of the cabinet holds the Oraguard 215 Matte and Glossy laminate that I use for my stickers and magnets. I have felt squeegees (which I run over the page after laminating) in a holder kind of like this one, attached with command strips. I also have a command strip hook to hang scissors. And you can't see it in this photo, but I use this Slice tool to cut a strip of laminate backing to stick the laminate to the page before running it through the cold roll laminator. Then I use the cabinet below for storage...mostly shipping supplies like rigid cardboard mailers, less rigid mailers, larger envelopes, Priority Mail envelopes, shipping boxes, some acrylic display trays that I rarely use, etc. 

On the wall next to the armoire I have this hanging file organizer with some miscellaneous laminating sheets...mostly different styles of holographic laminate that I pretty much never use anymore. And in front of the armoire, I have a bunch of white plastic storage drawers. The ones I bought back in 2011 have been discontinued, but they're similar to these. I have a lot of miscellaneous stuff stored in them...tape, post-it notes, all the Happy Planner stickers I'd collected over the years, and stuff like that. I also store my 11x17 matte and glossy sticker paper and 12x16 magnets in the first large drawer. There are two drawers that I'm actually able to turn and face toward my desk which is really convenient. In the middle-size drawer, I have a few rigid mailers, small Priority Mail envelopes, and my little label maker. A small drawer on the top holds some measuring tapes and rulers, my digital caliper, and some other miscellaneous things. Oh and on top of those drawers, I have this dehumidifier that we previously had in the basement (it wasn't big enough for downstairs). Sticker paper has a habit of curling when it's humid and our house tends to have high humidity after we got our new HVAC system. 

 

My printer stand is next to the plastic drawers and faces toward my desk. I needed one that is sturdy enough to hold my heavy Epson ET-16650 printer but is compact enough not to take up much space...and this one works perfectly. It has two shelves that I use to hold extra reams of paper and extra envelopes when I need to replenish the ones on my desk (I prefer to have them on the printer stand instead of the armoire cabinet because I go through them pretty quick and it's easier to see when I need to reorder when I can see them easily). I have a small paper shredder kind of like this one on the roll-out shelf and this small trashcan for the tiny strips I cut off of the laminate. There's a little cubby on the end of the printer stand that I don't really know what to do with...so I have extra bottles of printer ink in it for now. On top of my printer, I have my 12" sticker storage binder. For my die-cut stickers, I use these 9x9 pages. I have 2", 3", and 4" size options for reach design, so the 3 columns of 4"x4" pockets works great. I have another one with sheets that have (6) 4x6 pockets that I'd planned to keep my sticker sheets in, but the pockets are just a bit too tight to be useful.  

Then there's my desk...which I've had since my mom got it for me for my birthday in 2004. The drawers on the left have small post-it notes and tabs in the top, miscellaneous stuff (like command strips, spare parts to furniture, index cards, etc) in the middle drawer, and then hanging file folders are in the bottom drawer. The cabinet on the bottom right of the desk has computer stuff in there...replacement screws and stuff for repairs, dvds and software, old hard drives, etc. On the shelf just above that I have a drawer organizer like this one that has paperclips, binder clips, rubber bands, etc. The cabinet on the top left has miscellaneous art supplies. There's a shelf just below it...I usually just toss my packing slips there after I've printed on both sides. Previously I would use my phone, but I've found I make less mistakes when I'm working from paper. And it's easy to toss them up there when I'm in the middle of packaging. On the upper right shelf I have a washi tape organizer with my clipboard and miscellaneous things I've printed on top of it. Below that is my container that I put my oopsie stickers and magnets in. I like taking it to family gatherings and letting everyone go through it to see if there's anything they want. On both sides at the bottom of the hutch I have these clear acrylic drawers. On the left side I have all my door sign sticker and magnets. The right side has some magnets (I don't keep many of them in stock) and some of my oopsie stickers that I was using for mystery grab bags (although I haven't been selling those for awhile). On top of the drawers, I keep my postage meter for calculating postage. With the postage meter, I have both sizes of my envelopes with my packaging inside and stickers/label outside so that I can just add my stickers or magnets with the sample envelope to know how much postage it needs before actually packaging the order.  

There's also a set of the acrylic drawers in the middle section of my desk where I keep some extra postage stamps and different labels for my label maker. I have this monitor stand which I use for a little more vertical organization. I actually removed the drawers and they fit perfectly underneath. I use it to store my order packaging supplies...the glassine envelopes, the cardstock cards I print and include with my orders, etc. I have two sets of plastic drawers on top of the monitor stand kind of like this 5-drawer one and this 3-drawer one. I keep pens and pencils in them...I have lots of different kinds. My favorite pens include Inkjoy gel pens and ballpoint pens (including the mini ones), RSVP, iBayam, Tombow, FriXion Markers and Pens, and several different kinds of Sakura Gelly Roll pens. And I prefer to use Bic pencils. I also have the envelopes that I package most of my Etsy orders in. I use these A9 envelopes for half-letter size and these A6 envelopes for quarter-letter size (or similar depending on what's available and the price). Oh and I have an Amazon Echo Dot that I listen to music on while I'm packaging orders. We actually have the old 3rd generation model that they don't sell anymore...we got it for free several years ago as a bundle with the Ring cameras we bought. 

I have these hanging organizers attached to each side of the open middle space to hold my packaging stickers, sheets of stamps, and other little miscellaneous things that I use while packaging orders. I also have a Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite with this case hanging on the wall with this wall mount. There's another LED light strip because it can get dark at my desk at night...which is usually when I package orders. Oh and on the very top shelf of my desk, I have white plastic storage drawers. It's where I keep a lot of different papers. I have my three different packaging stickers (round, 2.5x1.563, and 2.625x1), shipping labels, regular cardstock, thick cardstock, and glossy cardstock. And then the rest of the papers are different kinds and brands of sticker paper (holographic, transparent, etc).

Next to my desk, I have my light grip and strong grip cutting mats hanging on the wall. I use white curtains on the window so it still lets natural light in when I'm taking photographs. And I have this awesome set of folding shelf brackets that I put a piece of plywood on and then it's covered with a piece of 12x18 cardstock that I printed, laminated with matte laminate, and attached to the shelf. Then I have my ring light to provide a little extra light when I'm taking product photos on the shelf. I love that I can store the shelf down against the wall so it doesn't take up any room (like the first picture in the post), and then just lift it up when I'm taking photos. Plus it makes use of that short wall under the window that I wouldn't be using for anything else.

  

And now to my new desk which is making a HUGE difference in my office. I bought this one because it checked off all my boxes. I wanted one that was just the right size to fit my large Siser Romeo 24" cutter and my new Epson Workforce Pro WF-4833 printer (which is also greatly improving my workflow) printer without much extra space. The size couldn't be more perfect. And I also wanted one that had an upper shelf that went all the way across the desk but didn't have a support bar in the middle (so it wouldn't get in the way of the cutting mat on the Romeo). It also had to be high enough so that I could put my Cricut Maker 4 on the shelf without the Romeo being in the way of the cutting mat for the Cricut. And as a bonus, the height is perfect enough that the cutting mat for the Cricut actually rests on the Romeo to help prevent the mat from bending...so I don't have to use my mat extender anymore. The desk also has a very large fabric drawer with a shelf above it. I keep my bubble mailers in the drawer and store my old lightbox and thermal laminator on the shelf. I have room underneath the desk to store my old laptop desk that I can pull out to stabilize my 12x24" cutting mats for the Romeo so they don't bend (curved mats tend to cause random cuts as it moves across the sheet because the page hits the blade when it isn't flat). Next to it I have two 10 gallon trash cans (one for trash and one for recycle). This desk also has a fabric cubby on the end that I don't really know what to do with...right now it just has an extra maintenance box for my ET-16650 printer and extra print cartridges for my WF-4833 printer. 

Next to that desk I have a tall set of plastic storage drawers that Johnny has had for, like, 20 years. They're kind of like this set (with 4 short drawers and 3 taller drawers) but it doesn't have the organizer on top. I store my thin paper that I use for packing slips and regular printing, thicker paper that I use when I'm printing planner paper because it doesn't bleed, my adhesive magnetic sheets, two drawers that have scrap paper/laminate and magnetic sheets that I use for smaller stickers and magnets, and then a drawer for random papers. On top of the drawers, I have these four storage bins. I bought them to store the sticker vinyl that I use most often because I was hoping they would help with curling. They're okay, but I was hoping they'd be airtight. 

Behind those plastic drawers I have a wooden shelf that I got at a garage sale, like, 15 years ago. It's about the size of this bookshelf. It fits perfectly in the small space that is behind the closet door when opened. I have a lot of my grandma's hardback books that I got after she died and some non-fiction books. On top I have a couple little stuffed animals that I've collected (like a tiger from the community college I went to, a stuffed Eeyore that I got a long time ago. etc). And then the closet is stuffed full of stuff we've been storing for the last almost 10 years...which I hope to clean out sometime in the near future.  

And...I think that's about it! :) Here's the video I took:

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A month later...

It's been a whole month since I posted an actual update. I've actually had a post open in a tab of my browser with a home office update...but I haven't finished that, either. :P But I really love the layout of my office right now...it's working out so well. The new desk has made a huge difference.  

April has started out pretty slow...but about the same as last year. Last April I had 59 orders after the end of the first three weeks (through the 19th), and this year I have 65 orders through the 19th. I keep track of my sales and revenue from all my shops and compare them to the previous year...and so far I've done the same or better each month. I also watch a few of my competitors through eRank and my sales are pretty much on par with them (and they've been selling years longer than I have). When my competitors are also having a slower week as well...it tends to be more of an economy/market thing than an individual shop thing. 

As always, when sales are a bit slower I try to get some administrative stuff done or work on new designs and products. I finished my website last month (although I do have some more products that I need to add). I got my CandiMakerDesigns Etsy shop back up and added a graduation cap sticker sheet...which I've already had a sale for. I'm also adding some more custom name designs this weekend and last week I had a request for some specific political stickers, so I added those to my CandiMakerStickers shop. I also added a couple new sticker sheets in my CandiMakerPlanners shop. I keep telling myself that I'm going to take a break from work...but then I find other work stuff to do. :P

I'm also thinking about getting a TikTok shop up and going again. I haven't decided for sure yet, though. The last time I set up a TikTok shop and it was "suspended" the next day because they wanted a lot of paperwork that wasn't relevant. So far I haven't had that problem this time. I got everything set up this weekend, I just haven't added any products yet. I might wait and do that next weekend. 

I did take a short break last weekend to make some lemon cookies. I was craving some soft lemon cookies but the ones we got from the store were more chewy than soft...they just didn't satisfy my craving at all. So I did what I do and looked up a whole bunch of recipes online and put together my own recipe using lemon pudding mix...and they were SO yummy and soft. I'm going to make a similar recipe with vanilla pudding and chocolate bar pieces (which melt better than chocolate chips so the whole cookie will still be soft). I'll probably make them sometime this week. I need to come up with some more dinner recipes, too. But this week I'm making crackpot chicken and chicken fajitas. 

But...for now I think I'm going to package orders so I can get them mailed out for tomorrow and I might go to bed early. I have a horrible headache tonight. :-/  

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RECIPE: Lemon Pudding Cookies

These are super soft, super yummy lemon cookies. The lemon pudding mix gives it a very nice, sweet lemon flavor. 

Lemon Pudding Cookies

Ingredients:

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp lemon juice concentrate

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3.4 oz lemon pudding mix

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 to 3 cups of flour (they'll spread slightly with 2 1/2 cups and hold their shape with 3 cups).

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease the cookie sheet(s). 

2. Mix together eggs, butter, shortening, vanilla extract, lemon juice, both sugars, and the pudding mix. 

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together , flour, baking power, baking soda, and salt. 

4. Carefully add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients 1 cup at a time. 

5. I use a 1tbs measuring spoon to scoop the dough and place it on the greased baking sheet then repeat with the rest of the dough.

6. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for 3 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. 

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A Productive Weekend!

I got a LOT of stuff done this weekend! And...Johnny and I got some new desks! :)

Friday morning I decided to start working on my office right after I woke up. I needed to empty everything off of the hutch bookcase so I could move Johnny's old desk (the one that my Romeo was on) to that spot and then put the hutch bookcase on top of the desk where it belongs. That bookcase holds all my cookbooks, art books, some writing books, and then I have all of our wedding decorations on top (which I'm very glad still fit up there when we moved the hutch onto the desk).  

Friday afternoon my mom and grandma stopped by so I could fix Grandma's phone. She had inadvertently turned off the full-screen notification of when she's getting a call...so the phone was ringing with just a black screen and she couldn't tell who was calling. We had some Taco Tico for lunch and chatted for a bit. The dogs definitely liked having company. :) 

After mom and grandma left, Johnny's new desk arrived (an hour later than FedEx originally estimated). I got the top and the bottom of the desk put together and then I took a break so we could have some Casey's pizza for dinner. After we ate, Johnny helped me move both pieces of his desk into the bedroom and I attached them together. Then all I had to do was put the LED light strip up (which was not designed well because it lays flat so it can't go around the corner and still be flat against the board). But other than that, it really looks great. It'll definitely be better than the old, slanted art desk of his mom's that he was using before. 

I went to bed around 12:45am. Unfortunately...I woke up to Milo puking on the bed at my feet about two hours later. :P  I didn't want to wake Johnny, so I decided to just go ahead and get up. I didn't do a whole lot during the night...just kinda played around on my phone and the computer. But after Johnny woke up, I started washing the bedding and then got to work in my office. Apparently only two hours of sleep leads to productivity! :P 

Last month I started scanning some of the documents in the file cabinets that we have in the closet in my office...and I decided that I wanted to get those shredded before I put my new desk in the office. My desk ended up getting here around 9:30am (5 hours earlier than FedEx originally estimated) but I wanted to finish scanning first so I could get the box of paper out of the office. It seemed to take FOREVER...but I got the entire box done (which filled almost five 13gal trash bags). Then I vacuumed and moved some things around...and finally put my new desk together. It went pretty quick and it fits perfectly. I really like how my office is coming together. It's a pretty small room, but I'm trying to make the most of the space that I have. Later I'll update my office collection post with all my new stuff. :) 

I made creamy chicken enchiladas for dinner on Sunday night. They're SO yummy...but it makes my back hurt from standing so long. Usually I get my orders that I got over the weekend done on Sunday, but I needed a break after putting the desks together and reorganizing my office. I didn't have any orders due until the 17th, so I took a break on Sunday and then got back at it on Monday. I had a LOT of magnets to print and cut. I'm so glad that I started selling magnets as well as stickers, because it has really helped my business grow. The new layout of my office also helped a lot with my workflow. 

Ooh and I figured out how to create a playlist on Amazon Prime to play music while I'm packing orders. I had been playing shows on Netflix or Hulu on my tablet while working in the office, but I feel like I'm more productive and efficient when listing to music instead. I don't really want to pay for Amazon Music Unlimited every month, but I wanted to play music on the Echo dot that we got forever ago. So I figured out that I could add songs to "My Likes" playlist and then just have Alexa play that list to shuffle all the songs I actually like. I liked having my shows playing in the background, but playing music is more motivating and productive. ;) 

I also made some adjustments to the settings for my cardstock cards. Since my ET-16650 prints so fast, I'd completely forgotten how much slower other printers are...including my new WF-4833. But instead of printing high quality, I went ahead and bumped it down to standard, turned on bidirectional printing, and increased the contrast, saturation, and density. So now it looks pretty much the same, but it prints a lot faster. I like it when things are efficient. 

Oh and I finished the new season of Virgin River on Friday. The last few seasons feel pretty slow a lot of the time, but it wasn't too bad. And every season ends on a cliffhanger...which I never like. It's just a tool to make sure people come back and watch the next season to see what happens...which feels manipulative. But I still come back to see what happens. :P Well...most of the time. There are some shows that I completely lost interest in and don't even care to see what else happens. 

Well...I'm going to get back to work. 

What a mess!

So...my Epson ET-16650 has been having some issues. It still prints my stickers and sticker sheets beautifully, but the rollers seem to be having some issues with auto duplexing and recognizing that there is paper in the lower two cassettes unless they're full. I've opened it up multiple times and tried cleaning the rollers and everything...but it's still having issues. But the only things I've been having issues with are when I'm printing my packaging inserts and packing slips...so I don't want to replace the entire printer when it's still printing my actual products without any problems. 

I decided I would go ahead and get a cheaper printer for regular office printing. Since I don't need it to be pigment, I was looking at the regular Epson Ecotank printers. They had a "certified renew" Epson ET-3853 which was the cheapest ($179)...so I went ahead and got that one. It arrived yesterday and it was HORRIBLE. The very first print...there were black smudges all over the page. These weren't smears like the ink I printed hadn't dried or the paper was curled and it hit the printhead or anything. It honestly looked like someone took the paper and stepped on it with their dirty shoe. Just random smudges. I did paper guide cleaning, printhead cleaning, print quality adjustment, printhead alignment...all of it. I even cleaned the rollers off with a cotton swab as explained in the user manual which helped a bit until I had to do another printhead cleaning because there were missing spots in the nozzle check pattern...then it all came right back. I spent HOURS trying to get this damn printer to not make shitty prints to no avail. And I tried to print auto duplex (since that was one of the main reasons for getting a new printer) and the back of the page shifted while printing every time. I was so excited...just to waste the day on a defective printer. 

I've had THREE Epson Ecotank printers...an ET-16650 that I'd converted to sublimation (my sister has that now since I'm not doing sublimation anymore), an ET-5800 that I'd purchased from Epson's refurbished eBay store (that my mom is now using), and another Epson ET-16650 that I have been using for almost three years to print my stickers and sticker sheets. All three of them worked perfectly right out of the box including the refurbished ET-5800. I'd get another ET-5800-series printer if they weren't so dang expensive ($600-800) especially considering it's just for office printing and not products. 

The Epson store customer service line you have to call for returns (because, unfortunately, you can't just do it online) is only open from 7am-4pm PST...which means they close at 2pm my time. The first time I called was at 12:14pm. I explain the issue...and they say that I have to go through tech support to be approved for a return label and refund. So they transfer me and I explain every single thing I've already done. She wanted me to go through it all again...uh, no. I've already followed EVERY troubleshooting step and packaged the damn thing back up last night. So she just goes with it and says that she'll send me an email with the reference number...never got an email. So at 12:39pm I call the return number back. They said that they see no record of tech authorizing the return and they don't know why she would send an email anyway...so I'm transferred and have to explain ALL the things I already did AGAIN. This time I get a ticket/reference number saying it's a hardware failure and told that I have to call the return line back again. So now I call the return number again at 12:58pm. I give the guy the reference number I was given...and he says that there is no mention of a hardware failure, only troubleshooting. So I am transferred AGAIN and have to explain ALL the things I did AGAIN. She assured me that the hardware failure was now attached to the reference number and tried to transfer me back to the return number, but it wouldn't work so I had to call the return number again. FINALLY when I call back at 1:13pm I end up with an email for a return label. Now I just have to get it dropped off for FedEx. UGH. SO frustrating. 

So...I decided to go a different route. We had an Epson Workforce printer before I started my business. It worked fine for awhile, but we didn't print very often and it just went downhill after a few years. It was also a cartridge printer and went through cartridges pretty quick. That's why I originally wasn't going to get another Workforce printer...but I don't want to spend a lot of money on a printer just for my office stuff. So I decided to reexamine the Workforce printers. And after the headache dealing with Epson, I decided I didn't want to go through them directly. I actually found a pretty nice option at our local Walmart that could be delivered same day. Ideally I wanted a printer that could handle auto duplexing cardstock and even better if it had two dedicated paper trays so I could have one for plain paper and another for cardstock like I've had in my ET-16650. The Workforce Pro WF-4833 is actually a lot like my old ET-5800. The only thing it doesn't have that I would've liked is a rear feed paper tray...but that's a pretty minor thing. And, of course, I wish it was a tank printer instead of cartridges. But since the printer is only $129, getting cartridges aren't that bad at this point. 

I got the WF-4833 all set up...and it worked beautifully right out of the box. I printed my double-sided cards that are printed on cardstock...and it had no problem auto duplexing the cardstock from the paper cassette. It does print quite a bit lighter than my ET-16650...but I don't know how much changing I'll do because I don't want to use more of the ink than I really have to on things that a lot of my customers probably throw away anyway. And we'll see how long the cartridges last. But so far I'm pleased with my purchase. :) 

And...I'm really running out of desk space for all my stuff...especially with the new printer. So I found a cheap desk on Amazon that I think will work well for my small office. I'm going to move Johnny's old desk (the one my Romeo has been on) over next to the armoire where the hutch (more like a bookcase) that goes on top of that desk already is. On the hutch I just have my cookbooks, art and writing books, and then all the stuff from our wedding displayed on it. I used to have all my planners and everyone's yearbooks and stuff on it too, but I took all those downstairs when preparing for one of the storms that they were saying would basically take out our town (it barely stormed at all, of course). I decided to go ahead and just leave them in the basement instead of bringing them downstairs every time there might be a tornado warning. 

Anyway...the new desk I got should fit where Johnny's old desk had been. If it all works out, it should fit my new printer, the Romeo, and my Cricut on the new desk. Then I can move a few random things (like my paper cutter) onto Johnny's old desk. Right now it's just sitting on the end of my desk and I have to keep moving it to use it or when I need more space on my desk. I'm really excited to be making a little better use of the space in my small office. :) I'm all caught up on orders and my desk is supposed to be delivered on Saturday...so I'm going to use the next few days to clean up and rearrange in my office. That way I'll be all ready to put the desk together and move it to its new home. :)

We also got a new desk for Johnny to use for work. He's been using his mom's art desk that's set up in a corner of our bedroom. It has a slightly slanted top which really isn't suitable to use as a computer desk. So it's definitely time we got him an upgrade to something that has much more of an "office" feel to it. I found a perfect corner desk that I think he will love. It's supposed to be delivered on Friday, so I'll put it together when it arrives and then he can get it all set up the way he wants over the weekend so he can have a fresh start to his work week on Monday. :) 

Right now I'm waiting for the new season of Virgin River to start. The new episodes are supposed to drop on Netflix at 2am...so I'm going to wait up for it. I'm only going to watch the first episode tonight...I'll finish the rest tomorrow. Season 6 ended on a cliffhanger...the very last scene is Jack walking into the twins' bedroom at Charmaine's (after Charmaine was a no-show at the wedding and no one could get a hold of her) and he has a shocked look on his face after he opens the door...and that's it. That's where they ended it. I just want to know what the hell he saw! :P lol. 

And that's about all that's going on around here. I lead a super exciting life. ;) 

March?!

Well...I ended February with 97 orders...so didn't make it over 100, but hopefully it'll be the only month with less than 100 orders just like it was last year. And I still had almost 20 more orders this February than I did last year and my revenue was also quite a bit higher. It did pick up more in the last few days. I had 20 orders from over the weekend that I made and packaged last night before I went to bed so they'd be in the mail today. 

Since I worked on my website all day Friday and Saturday then worked on orders Sunday, I decided I'm going to take a break from work today. I've also had a horrible migraine for most of the day, so I haven't really felt like doing much anyway. I even laid down to take a nap for about two hours with an ice pack hoping it would help...but it didn't. I just found an old sumatriptan in the cabinet so I'm hoping that will kick in and make the migraine go away. 

Johnny had surgery this morning to remove the stitches from his surgery last week and to remove another spot of skin cancer. Last week we were home by 9:30am, but it was a bit busier today. We'd been talking all morning about getting McDonalds breakfast since we were out and about. We ended up having to order Door Dash to have breakfast delivered...it got there about 10 minutes before we did. ;) So we enjoyed some breakfast sandwiches and burritos while we watched Playdate. Honestly...I like Alan Ritchson (LOVE watching Reacher) and he was funny in this movie...but the movie itself was not great. It was more corny than funny, and those aren't really my type of comedies. My favorite genre is action movies with funny one-liners...like Reacher! lol.  

Out of  the seven skin cancer surgeries Johnny has had now, this is the only one where he had any issues after we got home. He'd been sitting for awhile but then when he stood up, quite a bit of blood started coming from under the pressure bandage which was no longer secured at the bottom. He has to keep the pressure bandage on for 48 hours after surgery, so I'm wondering if that was part of the problem as far as why it had started bleeding. I went ahead and took the bandage the rest of the way off and there was a small spot about a quarter inch long that had a little bit of blood seeping through the incision (so it was already no longer dripping). We were out of butterfly bandages, so I used a regular Band-Aid across the incision to hopefully hold it closed a little better and then put a new pressure bandage on. He went in the bedroom to lay down a couple hours ago and so far it seems to be doing fine and there hasn't been more bleeding. 

I finally got around to making a groomer appointment for Boz and Nova. They reeeeeally need a spaw day. Unfortunately we couldn't get in until April, but I did see that she posted on FB that they're not taking on any new dogs so the wait doesn't get even longer for their existing customers. She's been our only groomer since Bozley's first groom and with his anxiety, we try not to change things up very often unless we have to. I also need to make their vet appointment so they can get their shots. Nova already has a scab on her head so we'll get her an allergy shot, too. We have to remember to have the vet look at a lump on her chest while we're there. Bozley has had one for years and the vet said it seems to just be a lipoma, so we're hoping that's the case with Nova, too. 

Well...the migraine meds kicked in and helped the pain, but now I have the uncomfortable tightness feeling, so I think I'm actually gonna go to bed early. Goodnight! 

Keeping busy!

Well...I'm glad I didn't spend too much more time working on my "website" at GoImagine...because they're shutting down next month. Honestly, I can't say that I'm surprised at all that they're shutting down. It seemed like they spent a lot more effort attracting sellers than buyers. A lot of sellers talked about how they liked that it wasn't Etsy and it focused more on sellers...but Etsy actually has traffic, and GoImagine doesn't. It doesn't really matter how they treat sellers if the sellers don't have any buyers. That's why I was just using it as a "website" instead of a marketplace...because you still have to drive the traffic yourself anyway. Their UI was really clunky and their analytics left a lot to be desired as well. 

So anyway...I decided that I still want to build my own website, so I'm utilizing Shopify's $1/mo intro offer to see how I like things there. I went through all the settings to get my account and everything set up yesterday. Then today I finished up the theme and editing the design. Now it's just a matter of getting all my products added. Luckily there is an Etsy integration where I can import all my Etsy listings, so that helps a lot. I just have to go through and tweak a few things like changing the prices. My prices on Etsy include not only the fees that Etsy charges, but also the cost for First Class letter mail labels on Etsy. I'll only be doing tracked shipping on orders from my website, so the item price won't include shipping anymore. I'll be charging for shipping, but I'll be offering free shipping for orders over $35. I'm hoping to have my website completely finished by the end of this weekend. :) 

It's hard to believe it's almost March! February is always my slowest month...but this February has already been better than February 2025, so that's good. I'm not sure that I'll break 100 orders this February, but hopefully it'll be like last year and it'll be the only month that doesn't break 100. And the slower pace has given me time to work on my website anyway. 

Johnny has been off work because he had another skin cancer surgery earlier this week. He has another one next week and hopefully that'll be the last one for awhile. We watched The Wrecking Crew last night and it was SO good. It's definitely the best movie we've watched in awhile. It's my favorite genre...funny action movies. Then today Aubry and her boyfriend stopped by to drop something off and ended up staying awhile. It was a nice time...lots of laughing, so that's always good. :) 

Well...I think I'm actually getting tired. My allergies have been terrible today so I think I might take some more Benadryl and go to bed. :P