Saving Sanity

Owl Themed Baby Shower

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 23:24:00 +0000

My friend Sarah and I, hosted an owl themed, girl baby shower for our friend. Here's some of the pictures of the decorations and food! The color theme for this shower was pinks and light teal.

Linking up with House of Hepworths Sew Many Ways

DIY Fall Wreath

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 19:06:00 +0000

Since it's almost Thanksgiving, it's about time I get around to posting my fall wreath! I used the same wreath from Halloween (if you missed that, click here). I simply removed the Halloween flowers and made some new ones. I used fleece because Wal-Mart didn't have the fall colors in felt. I made two different types of flowers. Then I added a sparkly "D" with some fall ribbon. The letter was a cheap unfinished wood one that I painted and glitterfied (yep, I just made up a word!). The ribbon was a roll I got on clearance from Michaels for $1. All in all, this was a cheap wreath!

Wreath-already had
Flowers-4 colors of fleece
Ribbon-$1
Wooden "D"-already had, but it's less than $1 normally.

Halloween Mantle

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 18:41:00 +0000

It's been cooler around here, so I got out my Halloween decor. I love the colors for Halloween! I used three rolls of deco mesh (but still have leftovers), a big roll of black and purple from Hobby Lobby and a smaller roll of orange from Michael's. If you live around St. Louis, I highly suggest visiting the Michael's off of Brentwood...the store is two stories. I was in crafter's heaven!

Linking up with Sew Many Ways Flamingo Toes I Heart Naptime Centsational Girl

House of Hepworths Eighteen25

New Front Door & Fall Wreath

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 18:32:00 +0000

During the grueling, hot summer, my wooden front door warped and was no longer functional. I've wanted to paint the door for a long time, but getting a new door had never crossed my mind. Funny how those home repairs pop up unexpectedly! So to Lowes, I went. I found a beautiful door that was actually on clearance and in my price range. It only came in white, which meant I had to paint my new door. I chose a teal color from Lowes. I followed this tutorial with the one exception of adding Floetrol to my paint to reduce brush strokes. It turned out better than I had expected. Without further ado, here she is:

While I would love to only have the main door, it isn't feasible with my dogs. So, the next step is to get a full glass (with a screen) storm door. It will show off my new door a lot more! Here's a current shot with the storm door. Hey, it's progress!

In addition to the front door, I also made a new fall wreath. I love the colors together! I cannot take credit for the idea behind the wreath, I followed this tutorial .

I'm in love with Green Smoothies!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:55:00 +0000

In an effort to eat healthier, I've been making green smoothies every morning for breakfast. It sounds gross, but is actually so good! I love them. My favorite personal concoction is:

Fresh Spinach
2 tablespoons of Greek yogurt
Almond Milk
1 frozen banana (sliced into pieces)
Frozen strawberries
Frozen blueberries

The berries cover up the taste of the spinach! I've also heard carrots are a good addition, but I'm not sure I would like the texture. Carrot juice has also been recommended. I will definitely be picking up some of that next time I'm at the store!

You have to start somewhere!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:02:00 +0000

This week I've been using the 'my fitness pal' app and I love it! It's free and it allows you to track your calories. Most of the time, I just scan the barcode of what I'm eating and it pulls up all the nutrional info. So easy! I just weighed myself, and I've lost 4 pounds. Yay! I didn't have time to add any exercise but I watched what I ate and tracked E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. This week was motivation to keep up with eating healthy!

Coffee

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:33:00 +0000

In the morning, coffee wakes me up! I especially need it while I'm driving to work. I've noticed that people who work in a hospital drink way more coffee than any other job I've had! Some of my coworkers actually drink coffee A-L-L day long. Today, I had an afternoon cup (actually about 16 ounces) and I have so much more energy than I normally do after work. This may have to be my new drink of choice! And it doesn't matter the weather outside, I love my coffee iced! This probably makes me weird! What's your experience with coffee?

Hello blog, it's Sarah! Remember me?

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:01:00 +0000

Hi! I know it's been a while, but with the two jobs and the holidays, I just ran out of time! Now that it's a new year, I've been organizing and re-organizing. I finally got my Christmas stuff into tubs and labeled...how did I end up with so much? Here are some random updates:

~This past weekend, I went to my first Trivia night. It was a ton of fun even though I stink at current events.

~Wednesday night I met up with an old friend, Becky, and went to a Blues Fundraiser. It was fun! We gambled (with fake money of course!) with the Blues players. And it was western themed, so I came up with a quick impromptu outfits of a collared shirt, dark jeans, boots, braided pigtails and fake freckles! I kind of felt like I was back in high school because of all the butt-huggers there!

~I've wanted to lose some weight for a while now, but never followed through with my plans. Well, I've had enough! I was looking through my pictures of Facebook (old and new), and I cannot believe how chubby my face has become! I hardly even recognize myself anymore. Time for a change! Yesterday, Bella and I took a two mile walk. I just started using the my fitness pal app on my phone to track calories. I think this will definitely help!

~It's been unusually warm here the past week. I'm definitely not complaining! In fact, I would be alright if we just skipped the rest of winter anyway!

Hopefully, I'll pick back up on blog posting!

I Love My Gingerbread Man!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:04:00 +0000

Get your mind out of the gutters...haha! Here is my wreath that I made for Christmas! I'm in love! It was so simple to make!

Supplies needed to make a Christmas Rag Wreath:

18" wire wreath form (found in the floral section of a craft store)
Lots of fabric (I used about 8 yards for a wreath this size)
Ribbon to make a bow (or a pre-made bow)

I chose 8 different Christmas fabrics. I got the cheapest ones at Joann's fabric store ($2.99 a yard). I'm really loving the use of bronze and brown for Christmas this year, so I chose to repeat the gingerbread fabric on each of the four rings on the wreath. If you're looking closely at the fabrics, I did end up with a "Bah humbug" one, mainly because I liked the colors!

I began by cutting the fabric into 1" x 8" strips. This step does not need to be exact! Figure out which fabrics you want on which rings and start tying! I used a standard knot...I didn't want all my hard work to come undone. Keep tying! This is definitely a mindless activity, so turn on the TV and knot away.

I had a red bow that I found on clearance from fall. I simply tied it to the wire frame on the top. I wanted something for the middle. I tried several different Christmas shapes (in unfinished wood), but wasn't crazy about any of them. Then I saw a pack of foam gingerbread men that I had bought from the Target dollar spot. Perfect! I used the puffy fabric paint to decorate him. He needed a bow tie, so I made one out of green sparkly ribbon. Once he was decorated, I held him up and realized he needed some support (the foam was very thin). I used the thin cardboard from a 12-pack of soda and glued it to the back. I used some sparkly green ribbon looped over the bottom ring to suspend him.

This wreath was super easy to make and works perfect with my front door. There isn't much space between the door and the screen door.

Finally Friday: Savings Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 04:41:00 +0000

I went to Target tonight and got some great deals due to some great coupons! I had two transactions and saved a ton of money! Target had a great coupon on Facebook for a free $10 gift card with a $50 purchase. Sign me up! I knew I had a few coupons that I had been meaning to use, so I did a little planning. Here's what I ended up getting in the first transaction:

3 Coffee-Mate creamers
50 count Up & Up Ibuprofen
20 gallon Christmas storage tote
8 lb bag of Iams dry dog food
50 count box of ornaments
4 snowflake ornaments
2 miscellaneous ornaments
$10 Target gift card (from the above mentioned coupon)

All this for $22.32!!

Then I quickly completed a second transaction, buying only a large bag of Iams dry dog food. But, I was able to use the $10 gift card from the previous transaction to lower my out of pocket cost. The total for this transaction (after the gift card) was $11.87. And the bag of dog food contained a whole page of coupons! I love when this happens!

I had to share this because I'm really proud of this trip! I don't always do this good.

11.11.11

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 01:03:00 +0000

I love dates like today! Here's eleven things for you on 11.11.11.

My big project for the deck was staining it! And, I didn't get it completed before the cooler weather arrived! Guess what I'll be doing in the spring!
I'm going to Branson in December to see all the Christmas lights and just relax in general! I'm excited...I need a break! I've never been to Branson in the winter!!
I'm in the Christmas spirit and ready to decorate! I've already been working on some Christmas crafts.
It's radiology tech week, so we've gotten food all week at work...score!
I don't know what it is about towels, but Bella and Jackson love to play with them! They play tug of war and eventually rip them to shreds. At least they're having fun!
I'm horrible at fixing my hair! 90% of the time, it gets thrown in a pony tail. It's only when I'm going somewhere (besides work) that I actually take the time to blow dry it. My hair is thick and holds tons of water so it takes forever to dry.
I'm obsessed with the dollar spot at Target.
I've slacked off on reading since I started my second job. Hopefully, I'll have more time once it gets colder.
I fell off track with working out! But I hope to join a gym really soon!
The older I've gotten, the less I drink! Maybe it's the whole responsibility thing! Anymore, I would almost rather be the sober driver unless it involves staying out until 5am!
I love game nights...board games and group games (like Taboo and Catch Phrase)!

Happy Veteran's Day!!

My Best Couponing Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:07:00 +0000

I love to coupon...I think it's the thrill of the deal! But, I do NOT clear any shelves! I try to leave some for the next person. With that being said, here's some of my best tips:

I tried the coupon binder (complete with baseball card inserts), but found I couldn't keep up with it. My personal system is a big (3 inches), plain binder that I keep clear sheet protectors in. When I get the St. Louis Post Dispatch every weekend (I get Sunday delivery only), I take out all the coupon inserts. I label them with a Sharpie by the date and place them whole, in date order in the binder. Every insert gets a sheet protector. This way everything is clearly visible and organized.
For Missouri couponers, this is an awesome site: Clipping with Carie. She lives in the St. Louis area and posts deals for everywhere. She has grocery store match-ups every week. She also includes match-ups for Target, Walgreens, and CVS.
Wild for Wags is a good website for all deals involving Walgreens. I like the deals I get at Walgreens (cheap TP, deodorant, shampoo, and toothpaste), but I have learned a few tips along the way. If something is free, you need to get there early. Luckily I live by several Walgreens that are not open 24 hours a day. If I want a Walgreens deal, I try to get there when they open on Sunday.
Totally Target is another good site for all the Target deals. You can get good deals here because you can use a Target coupon and a manufacturer coupon per item. I get most of my Target coupons on Target's website, but they also randomly mail you some. Sometimes, they're included in the weekly inserts.
When I'm ready to shop or need something, I look for a coupon. Carie's coupon database is awesome to search for coupons. It will tell you what inserts they were in and if they're available online.
Another good deal is when Shop 'N Save does coupon Thursday. With this promotion, if you spend $50, the register automatically takes $10 off. It does get crazy when this promotion happens, so go early!

I'm linking up with Kelly's SUYL

Catching Up

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:08:00 +0000

Man, oh man! This blogging thing is harder to do than I thought! Last week was pretty routine...lots of work! Saturday, I made a quick trip (less than 24 hours including travel) to Cape. First stop was a bowling birthday party for my cousin's 5th birthday! It was fun, even though our bowling scores left a lot to be desired:) Later on, we headed to Scott City for another cousin's wedding reception. The food was homestyle and sooo good! It was good to see everyone. Early this morning, I headed back to St Charles to start my new job. I'm working part-time at a craft store as a cashier for a second job. I only had to work 4 1/2 hours, but it went by fast! The store was so busy.

This week is relatively short (paid work wise) for me, but I have lots planned for that deck of mine! Stay turned later this week to hopefully see some before and afters!

The Fur Babies!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 00:22:00 +0000

Today, I'm linking up with a fellow blogger for 'Show Us Your Pets' at Kelly's Korner. I saw this and couldn't resist!!

Jackson came first! I got him in August 2009, a short month after I had bought my house. He was 6 months old when he was brought into the Humane Society as a stray. So, his first 6 months are a mystery. If only he could talk! He's now 2 1/2 years old.

Right after coming home from the Humane Society in his cone. Man he hated that thing and so did my legs!

Oh the puppy stage! Destroying a huge pillow!

Such a smiley puppy

Playing in the fall

Helping mommy rake leaves! Or rather, jumping in my leaf pile!

Mr. Santa Dog

His first "short" haircut...he's actually pretty small

Jackson's 1st Birthday

Bella came along in July 2010. She was 6 months old and came from a family off of Craigslist. She was rescued from Animal Control in Marshall, Missouri. She is a pretty girl that loves to shred paper and eat her toys! Bella is my cuddle buddy!

Bella's 1st Christmas (2010)

1st Birthday

She always looks sad in her pictures!

Jackson trying to help mommy with crafts!

They say you take more pictures of your first born...this is definitely true in my case. Poor Bella! It's also harder to get a good picture of her, she moves fast!

Halloween Wreath

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:40:00 +0000

Sorry I've been MIA but I have done some crafting! Here's a Halloween wreath that I made recently! And the best part is that I can easily remove the orange and black flowers and put new embellishments on it. Without further ado, here's the beauty:

Supplies Needed:

1.5 yards light tan burlap
3/4 yard black burlap (more if you want more flowers)
3/4 yard orange burlap (more if you want more flowers)
Wreath form
Hot Glue
T pins

I kept the plastic on the wreath to keep the mess down. First, cut the tan burlap into 2" strips. To cut a straight line, follow these steps:

This leaves a straight line, just cut with scissors. Next, I began to wrap the wreath with the burlap strips. I've seen some blogs where hot glue is used to secure the ends. I was worried about the hot glue melting the plastic, so I used T-pins to secure the ends to the back of the wreath.

I cut the black and orange burlap into 1.5" strips using the same method as before. I made the rosettes of varying lengths of burlap (2 per strip and the shortest length I used was 15"). Craftaholics anonymous has a great tutorial on making burlap roses!

I played around with the arrangement before I decided on one I liked! And the most exciting part is that I will just replace the flowers after Halloween for a fall wreath!!

I got my inspiration/guidance from these two sites:
The colors from Just Sew Sassy and the re-usable wreath idea from Craftaholics Anonymous.

Linking up with

Obedience Class & Other Life Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:32:00 +0000

Bella's obedience class has been very trying for both her and I. The first class, I had an awful time trying to find the kennel! Apparently, my GPS needs an update so I was having trouble finding the correct road! Once I found the road, actually finding the kennel was still hard (and by now, it was dark!)! After driving the road (and paying attention to the mailbox numbers) several times, I saw a small (maybe 8x10) sign advertising obedience classes at the end of a gravel driveway. Low and behold, this was the kennel! I expected a bigger sign!

I take Bella into class (her pulling me the entire way), and about ten minutes later, the trainers strongly suggest a pinch collar to help control her. I oblige and pay $35 for this pinch collar! She does alright for the rest of the class, but mainly wanted to lay on the floor and not participate. For the next week (after the class), I worked diligently with Bella. She was doing great! We even managed to take some long, two mile walks (all 3 of us!) using Bella's pinch collar.

Fast forward to this past Tuesday, and we had class #2! We even arrived early and I was optimistic! In the beginning of the class, all the dogs and owners are squished together in a long row of chairs against a wall. About the time class was beginning, Bella decided she'd had enough! She kept growling and barking at the dogs on either side of us. The trainers noticed this and suggested to get rid of the pinch collar because it can cause aggression! Ugh (the one I just paid $35 for!)! They now suggested a Halti head collar. Thank goodness I had the one I've used on her before in my bag! She never would adjust to it. After fitting her with the new harness/head collar, we joined the others. Bella was so upset and only wanted to pout! The poor thing keeps getting a new collar sprung on her at the beginning of every class! With some tips from the trainers, I was able to get Bella to follow some commands and participate. After class, I spoke with the trainers about Bella's behavior during class. Apparently she's still shy (I thought she had outgrown this) and just very overwhelmed by the amount of strange dogs in a small place! So, we still have some work to do and only 4 more weeks of class...I can do this!

On a different note, I weighed myself this week and I am down 4.5 pounds. This isn't great (because it was over the course of a month), but it's a start!!! I have set a short term goal; I would like to lose another 10 pounds by Christmas.

Here's some pics of the pups after a long walk!

Weight Loss Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:34:00 +0000

Hopefully, this will be the first of many weight loss posts! Currently, I am doing the couch to 5K running program (I'm only on week 2) for exercise. I am not dieting (yet) but I am working to make better choices and eat more fruits and vegetables. I'm not going to post my starting weight (anytime soon), but I do hope to loss 40-50 pounds! I will keep you updated with the amount of weight lost. I also took some before pictures...I'll post them in about a month with some progress photos.

A Leather Fetish

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 02:01:00 +0000

No, it's not me!!

What's that you might ask...it's Bella's new leather leash that she HAS to have for obedience class!

And those are bite marks on said brand new leash!!

I went to orientation for her class on Sunday. The instructors were very adamant about having a four foot leather leash for the class. Since I didn't have one, I bought a new one at the kennel. I brought it home and put it on Bella (she goes crazy with excitement when I put a leash on her) so that hopefully she would learn to not associate going somewhere with the leash. For whatever reason, she didn't mind having the leash on and didn't act like a maniac! A short time later, I was on the computer when I heard one of them chewing on something. I turned around to see Jackson chewing on Bella's new leather leash!! Come to think of it, he's also chewed up several pairs of leather shoes (my own fault for leaving them out). I guess the guy has a leather fetish! But how could you not love these cute faces??

The Zoo?? Again?

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 23:46:00 +0000

My dating life leaves a little to be desired! Since last summer, I have been on, at least, 6 dates to the zoo. All with different people. St. Louis has so much to see and do, yet I get taken to the zoo. The first few times, it was fun! Now, it's kind of boring. But at least I'm getting some exercise! And it's always fun getting to see my favorite giraffes! I'll be back tomorrow with a recap of my weekend trip to Branson. Stay tuned!

Thankful Thursday!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:27:00 +0000

In an effort to be a cup is half full person, I present:

I am so blessed with a wonderful and very supportive family! They mean everything to me!
I am thankful for my dogs...they give me something to rush home to. Jackson and Bella provide me with entertainment in the evenings and they're awesome cuddle buddies.
My friends are awesome, even though we are spread out!
I am thankful for my job and house...both things seem like a luxury in this cruddy economy!
I am really looking forward to being in Cape for 5 days during Thanksgiving this fall!

P.S. What's up with this 100 degree weather again? I thought we were done with that!

Wordless Wednesday!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 02:26:00 +0000

Just What the Doctor Ordered!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 02:29:00 +0000

As it turns out, a weekend of relaxation is just what the doctor ordered! After work Friday, I headed to a campsite (Red Bluff) in Davisville, Missouri for a weekend of fun with some friends! About half of the drive was interstate and the rest was rural and curvy roads. It's definitely been a while since I've driven a substantial distance on those kind of roads...I can't handle the curves quite like I used to. I grew up in the country and used to drive roads like that all the time!

One of my friends and his wife have a camper...kind of nice because you still have a few amenities. I camped in my tent. There were a couple of other people so we had a total of three tents and the camper. After a slight mishap, they had to shut the water to camper off so we really were "roughing it". The weather was awesome! It was warm enough to go swimming during the day and cool enough at night to sleep in pants and under a fleece blanket! There were a total of three kids with us... a 3 year old, 2 year old and an 8 month old baby. They were so cute and fun...I heart these kids. Seriously! Especially since I don't have any nieces or nephews or small cousins.

It was dark Friday night by the time we made it to the campsite, so we set up in the dark. Thank goodness for headlights and flashlights! Saturday we went swimming in the river all day...I got pretty burnt (as usual). My poor pale skin! We played "Five Crowns"...it's a number game that has a special deck of cards. And the food was awesome...they always cook great meals!

Some of you may be wondering what I did with the dogs. My mom graciously agreed to watch them for the weekend. A big thank you to her, especially since they weren't on they're best behavior! Now that I'm home and unpacked, I hear a hot shower calling my name!

Roll the windows down...

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 20:09:00 +0000

"Roll the windows down, turn the radio up! Let the wind blow through our hair"

I love this song by Alabama and it explains the gorgeous weather today! I'm so glad it's beginning to cool off a little. Okay...I'm off for a QUICK trip to Cape to drop off the dogs!

Tuesday Tales

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:27:00 +0000

I finally have a day off! Woo hoo!! And here's an update on the past few days:

~I called the kennel where Bella is going to have her obedience classes, they highly recommend a flu shot but it is not required. Guess Bella is NOT getting a flu shot!

~I ordered a super cute lunch bag from thirty-one...hopefully this will inspire me to take my lunch to work more!

~I might go to New York for a family vacation next fall...something fun to look forward to! I've never been to New York.

~I don't have a green thumb like my mother...I think I killed my only living indoor plant!

~It's going to be a good weekend! I've got a camping trip planned!

I'm off to do all of my cleaning! Wish me luck!

Random Friday Musings

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 01:39:00 +0000

-You want me to spend how much for a set of knives??? You say $1,000...I could buy and do so much with a thousand dollars!!! Unless I start taking pointers from Dexter, I think I'll save my money for something else!

-Speaking of Dexter, I can't wait to watch the Season 5 DVDs that just came out this week! I started watching the show from the beginning and I was addicted by Season 2. The new season starts soon...I'll have to persuade someone to DVR it for me!

-I'm a MRI technologist...one of my patients today said it best...Cancer sucks!

-I'm enrolling Bella in an obedience class that starts in September...just got an email from the place today...She needs an influenza shot! So back to vet we go! And we were just there last week for the rest of her shots. Dang!

-I'm all for using coupons. But the show "Extreme Couponing" gives couponers a bad rap!

-I'm in the worst shape of my life...I'm going to attempt the couch to 5K running program. I've never been a runner but I'm going to try!

-Everyone is talking about the Erin Condren life planners. And they're so cute! But to be budget conscious, I bought a cute planner from Wal-Mart!