Extraordinary Ordinary Life

Menu Plan - and a winner

2012-01-24T20:26:00.000-05:00

I am behind on posting this because my computer has been kind of broken. It is now fixed and I am now posting my menu plan just because I can't function if I don't have a menu plan and I like to link to the recipes. I also was behind on announcing my winner for the Money Saving Mom's Budget book. It is Barb! Barb, I need your e-mail address so please leave me a comment with it.

Computer Issues

2012-01-23T16:57:00.002-05:00

Hey - I just popped on here to say I have been having some computer issues which should be fixed soon but in the meantime I am sorry if I haven't responded to your comment but I will soon. And I will be back to blogging more regularly when everything is fixed. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Azure Standard comes to Central Indiana

2012-01-18T10:59:00.000-05:00

I have been wanting to order from Azure Standard ever since I started reading about it from other blogs but it never delivered this far east until now! Many of my friends have not heard of it so I wanted to let you all know a little about it if you haven't. Laura at Heavenly Homemakers has an explanation about how Azure Standard works. She explains what Azure Standard is: Azure Standard is

Sometimes I call myself a recovering fundamentalist

2012-01-17T00:09:00.000-05:00

Which is the reason I love this video. You really should watch it all.

Menu Plan & A Give-a-way - Money Saving Mom's Budget

2012-01-15T19:10:00.000-05:00

I had the opportunity to review Money Saving Mom's Budget book last month. You can read that review here. Today I will be giving away a copy to one of you! From my review of the book: Overall I wasn't sure I would learn anything new from this book (because I have been reading Money Saving Mom's blog for a long time), but I definitely did. It also reminded me of how important it is to set

Bible Memory Update - Colossians

2012-01-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

Just a reminder that my plan is to memorize Colossians this year. If you wanted to join here is the link to a print out that shows you the break down of verses. So far I have memorized Col. 1:1-3. I need to get 4 down so I can memorize 5 & 6 this week. 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in

School Report - January 13, 2012

2012-01-13T17:47:00.000-05:00

I haven't done a school update in a while because I just haven't done it but I am going to try to do better at that especially because since at the end of the year I would like to make each of the kids their own Shutterfly book about how their year went. I also apologize in advance for the poor picture quality. I just snapped the shots with my phone so they are not the best. You aren't

Grocery Budgets and Giving

2012-01-12T21:41:00.001-05:00

Some of you might know that I am slightly obsessed with menu planning. I love it. I love to do it. I love to talk about it. I love to think about it. I don't know why. I guess I'm weird right? Well, I think it was this love of menu planning that caused my friend Rachel to call text me and ask me if we could get together and I could help her with her grocery budget. And my response was of

Just Wanted to Share

2012-01-11T22:08:00.000-05:00

Our Smoothies

2012-01-11T09:44:00.000-05:00

My husband purchased a Vitamix a while back and I am so glad he did. Lately we have been having lots of smoothies. Because I have been a little nauseous with this pregnancy, cooked vegetables just didn't smell good or taste good so we have been uping our smoothie consumptions. We have been trying to get in at least two servings of fruits and veggies with each smoothie. We have been using

Two Things I am trying to be consistent about

2012-01-10T09:34:00.000-05:00

Money Saving Mom had a little Q & A about keeping her kitchen counters cleared off and clean. I read it a while back but it inspired me to take pretty much clean everything off of my counter and put it away. This included my Kitchenaid mixer and you probably know how heavy those things are. Even though my counters were pretty much cleared off it is still a constant battle to keep them that way

Do you want to memorize Colossians?

2012-01-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

I saw that Money Saving Mom had posted that she wanted to memorize Colossians as one of her goals this year. I am not going to make a huge list of goals this year because I am pregnant and I just hope to get through these next several months with my sanity in tact but I am making this one goal. I am going to memorize Colossians, two verses a week for the rest of the year. Want to join me?

Menu Plan - 1.8.12

2012-01-08T11:58:00.002-05:00

I guess it is time to get back to getting our family life in some sort of order. I am finally feeling half way normal again (after weeks of evening not morning sickness and being really, really tired). This week will be hopefully pretty easy since I plan on using the Crock pot a lot. We have been having cereal and milk for breakfast a lot lately and I am so tired of it. I am ready for some

The Beans and Cornbread Controversy

2012-01-07T11:14:00.002-05:00

Beans and cornbread have been a staple in our house for years. Growing up it was one of my favorite meals that my grandma cooked. She usually served it with fried potatoes which made it even better. For those that don't know the beans are usually brown beans (pinto beans) cooked with a ham bone or if you don't have a ham bone I use bacon grease. You can do them from dried beans - soak and

One of the best things you can do in the New Year (or anytime) to keep the goals you set

2012-01-04T10:57:00.000-05:00

This is a re-post that I posted on my other blog. It is a good way to make sure those goals you have set for the New Year actually get accomplished. We ALL need accountability. We need someone to hold us to a higher standard. We need that someone to be like minded and loving. Today what I would like to share with you is how to find an accountability partner. We do need to set goals,

Short and Sweet - 2011 Christmas Food Gifts

2011-12-27T13:26:00.000-05:00

The food gifts I made this year was not a lot. I just did not have the energy this year, but I did make things I knew my family loved and did not get very often. Apple Butter and Pear Jam (and my homemade vanilla hiding in the back) My Apple Peel Candy Jelly My Grandma Betty's Fudge - we all love it! PW's Cinnamon Rolls - my sister once told me to bring these to her every time I

Menu Plan - 12.26.11

2011-12-26T15:29:00.000-05:00

I suppose I must make a menu for the week If I don't we won't be eating anything good and I will be scrambling to figure out what to make at about 4:30 each day - things I hate to do! We did not have any traditional Christmas dinner. We had taco fixins at my Dad's and appetizers and desserts at my Mamaw's. I made a big breakfast for us after we opened our presents to include homemade

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T14:15:00.000-05:00

Book Review: The Money Saving Mom's Budget

2011-12-20T14:23:00.000-05:00

I have been reading Crystal's blog Money Saving Mom since at least 2008. I was a big Dave Ramsey fan and her financial principles are much like his. Although what is great about Crystal's blog is that you see an actual person living out those principles. The book is well organized and uses real life examples. She starts out with her 7 rules for financial success. These are great because it

Christmas Cookie Decorating Party

2011-12-18T17:01:00.000-05:00

Last year, my cousins got together and had a Christmas cookie decorating party. I saw the pictures and knew I wanted to learn how she made such pretty cookies. So this year, I asked her if I could come and even just watch but she told me to make some dough and we would all decorate them together. My cousin is a cake decorator and she has worked at a professional bakery so she did 1500

Homemade Christmas Card that kids can make

2011-12-16T09:36:00.002-05:00

We decided to make a few homemade Christmas cards last night and I looked up some things for inspiration. I finally decided on a design and I used the extra ribbon and buttons I had in my sewing closet. If you would like to make these with your kids I will tell you how we did it. Older kids could probably do this on their own but younger ones need some guidance. You will need: Ribbon or

3 + 1 = 4

2011-12-14T22:35:00.000-05:00

You wanna hear a story? Years ago when I was filling out my senior book (way back in the dark ages) it had a page that says "Where I'll Be in 10 Years". It had several lines such as "where you will be living", "what you will be doing", "how many kids you will have". I filled out that I would have 7-10 kids - yes, in 10 years. This was before I knew anything about the Duggar's. The reason I

Worth a Listen

2011-12-13T22:41:00.000-05:00

I posted this last year but it is so good I must post it again. I hope if I am at the mall (which I don't plan on being until after Christmas) I would love it if a flash mob sang the Halleluiah chorus!

Why I Am Not a Big Fan of Beth Moore - Don't Hate Me

2011-12-13T15:10:00.001-05:00

Beth Moore, have you heard of her? She is a Souther Baptist teacher whose Bible studies are in churches ranging from Baptist to Methodist to Lutherans. She's huge in the Evangelical crowd. Nonetheless, here I am, Miss Disagreeable, finding myself disagreeing with her teaching or maybe more her method of teaching. She is entertaining. I mean who does not love a cute, southern speaking Texas

A Christmas Tradition - My Grandma Betty's Fudge

2011-12-12T22:16:00.000-05:00

I just feel like I should post this every year. I hope you don't mind. Since we lost my Grandma last year, this post just makes me happy. Plus you have to try this recipe. It will melt in your mouth. * * * * * Tonight I asked my Grandma to walk me through how to make her fudge. It immediately brought back very good memories. This is why I wanted to share the recipe