Fun And Balanced Friday~ Valentines Craft

I know that Fun And Balanced Friday has been kind of in hiding these past few weeks, but I intend on getting back in the swing of things. When I created my new Day Planners I was kind of preoccupied with that, then I was trying to figure out how I was going to go about the whole thing. As you've noticed I'm not posting the meal plans anymore on here. I'm still making them, just now offering them with the planners instead. So what I think I'm going to do now is feature certain recipes, and craft and activities for kids each week. Also I'll be back to featuring people who inspire me and posting those here and there too.

This week I wanted to show you a fun activity Lily and I did together to begin the Valentines festivities. I got the idea out of the wonderful Family Fun magazine.

Paper Plate Hearts

What you'll need:

• Two paper plates
• construction paper
• Stapler
• Hole puncher
• Ribbon
• Glitter glue
• Scissors
• Glue stick

Master Bedroom Pics!!!

If you'd like to see other pics of my house click HERE.

Here is a picture of what it looked like when we moved in.

Then I spiced it up with a little wall color and some blue and brown accents.

I got the bedding from Bed Bath and Beyond.

We even had Lily's bed in there for a while too, but that's a whole different story which I'm sure I'll tell you about one of these days.




So after a few years of that I was ready for a change. Here are the pictures of what it currently looks like. I decided on green and black for the colors and I'm really lovin it.

We got the furniture from Eway Furniture

I got the black blanket and pillow cases from Target.

Then dressed up the shades a little with some ribbon  and a hanging ornament.

I took off the closet doors and added these drapes instead. I just wanted to add a little more color to the room.

And this is where the magic happens.

Meaning, where I blog, watch Grays Anatomy, Glee and Modern Family. 

What were you thinking?

A Little of This a Little of That

So, how many bachelor fans do we have out there?
ME   ME   ME
Okay,  I'm curious, what do you all think about Brad Womack being back for another chance? Is he sincere? Or does he just want to mac with a bunch of girls again.

And what do you think of Michelle? I'm not trying to gossip or anything, but did you know that my husband grew up with her?  I actually met her once a couple years ago at the zoo. She was so nice too!  I have to admit though, I was a little jealous of how pretty she was.  When my husband and I ran into her that day and he introduced us, I was thinking to myself, wow, she's gorgeous. When we walked away my first question to Sean was, "so did you date her "?  The answer was no, which to be honest was what I wanted to hear :) I'm sorry, when it comes to my husband,  I get a little... how do you say...
POSSESSIVE
Thankfully my husband never looks twice at another girl and always makes me feel like I'm the most beautiful women to him, which fulfills a major need of mine :)
Speaking of the Bachelor and how great my husband is, the other night I actually felt like I was on one of those amazing dates from the show. Sean planned an elaborate date for us over the weekend, could have even been a scene from the movie Pretty Women. Okay I'm exaggerating a bit, but I do like to pretend I'm Vivian sometimes.
We always have a weekly date night, but Sean decided he wanted to surprise me with an extra special night out on the town. He made reservations for us at the Melting Pot.  It's a restaurant down town Salt Lake City that specializes in Fondue entrees and desserts.  I was so excited because I've never been there before and the food was to die for!!!!

THEN, as if that wasn't enough, he bought us some great seats to the Opera! Seriously!!! What kind of husband does that... 

MINE :) 

Don't mean to brag, but I just LOVE him :) He hates to go to plays, and musicals too, so it really meant a lot to me.  The cool thing about this show is that it was Hansel and Gretel in GERMAN!!! There was a screen above with subtitles, but I was so excited to get to hear it all in German ( I learned German from serving and LDS mission in Germany).

It was so good I almost peed my pants!!! 

I mean... it was better than Pirates of Penzance.

You all know I'm quoting Pretty Women right?

So anyway, if you're new here you may not have seen the interview I posted of Kyla Dickerson from season two. You should check it out, it was so interesting to hear what really goes on behind the scenes.
The post is called Kyla Tells All.

On another note, I got some new boots and jeans, yay!!!

I got them at Buckle, and right now all their boots are on sale!!! I couldn't find these boots on their website, but I did find them somewhere else. You can click HERE to see them. The jeans are a pair of their BKE skinny jeans, which I absolutely LOVE, probably because I LOVE wearing boots so much and skinny jeans look awesome with boots!

So as you all know, I'm a stickler to the "out with the old in with the new" rule. Each time I get anything new I get rid of something old. So, I would like to give away a pair of boots and a pair of jeans to the first person who tells me they want them, and will also be willing to pay for the shipping. Just leave a comment with your email and we'll discuss the details that way.
These boots are a size 8.5 and I got them from Nordstroms for around $100. I actually don't know what brand the jeans are and can't remember where I even bought them. They are a size 5.

So let me know if somebody wants them.

Have fun watching The Bachelor this week!!!

DRAMA...

Who needs it anyway?

Apparently we all love it. We read about it in the gossip magazines, which we all know is never true. 
We thrive on those reality shows like The Bachelor, okay maybe not ALL of us, but definitely the majority of us, myself included:) 


But then of course when it's happening in our own lives we despise it!

... or do we? Have you ever thought that maybe we create the drama in our lives?
Yes, we absolutely do. We can't control others, but we can ALWAYS control how we react to others.
Nobody's exempt from dealing with life's difficulties. We all have drama at some point in our lives.  With family members, friends, spouses, children. It's inevitable and it SUCKS, excuse my word choice, but it just does. As frustrating as it can be, we have to remember that it's all part of Gods plan. We're here to be tested. Which means, God wants us to learn how to deal with these things in a positive manner. I love the Carrie Underwoods song, "So Small".

I know it's hard on a rainy day, you wanna shut the world out and just be left alone
But don't run out on your faith
Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing is just a grain of sand
And what you've been out there searching for forever, is in your hands
And when you figure out, love is all that matters after all
sure makes everything else seem so small


It's so easy to get lost inside
a problem that seems so big at the time
It's like a river thats so wide
It swallows you whole
While you're sitting around thinking bout what you can't change
and worrying about all the wrong things
Time's flyin by
movin so fast
better make it count cause you can't get it back


It's such an inspirational song and reminds me that sometimes the things that I'm worried most about are so insignificant. It's easy to fall into a pity me party, but the best way to deal with those kinds of situations is to focus on solutions. Solutions meaning what YOU can do to fix it. Easier said than done, but it's something I'm working on.


Cheers to less drama and more meaningful time spent with the people that matter most.

Wordless Wednesday...well...almost

I just couldn't resist sharing this picture with you. Oliver just randomly decided he wanted to bite his dads toes. He's got such a fun personality, always making us laugh :)

I also wanted to thank you all for being so supportive of my new planners. I saw that so many of you shared the link, and I really appreciate it. I was a little nervous about the whole idea, because I forked out a lot of money up front for all the printing and supplies to make 50 planners. I was so worried it was going to be a huge waste and nobody was going to buy them. Well, thanks to all of you for helping me spread the word, so far I've sold 24!!! I'm pretty excited about it :)

Also I wanted to announce the winner of the Impel Dress!!! The lucky number was 27 which happens to be Megan!!! Congratulations!!!

The Planners Are HERE!!!

This is a handmade specialty day planner, that is a must have organizational tool when trying to balance your life as a mom.

It is a 1" Capacity binder (Holds Paper Size 8-1/2"x5-1/2"), covered in a variety of different designs of fabric (see below)  that is perfect for every mom. It includes essential to do lists and planning tools for keeping your house organized, making healthy meals, and spending quality time with your family. Comes complete with 3 months of meal plans and laminated grocery list organized by category making meals and grocery shopping less stressful. It also includes tabs, pockets to store receipts or notes, and two pen holders. You'll get two complimentary markers, one permanent sharpie, and one wet erase to use on the laminated pages.

So far customers have raved about these new planners. It's the perfect tool for the busy mom trying to balance it all. 

You will also get 52 weekly overviews, a laminated house projects list, a laminated daily routine schedule.

You can buy a list of activities to do with your kids for $6 or each additional month of meals for $8.

Watch this video for details on how to use it!

 I've been working hard trying to make these even better and more cost effective. So I went to my mom for help. She is an INCREDIBLE seamstress and helped me come up with a better idea for the binder covers, which didn't require any glue. Look how much nicer they look!!!  Also I got some bids from a couple of different printing companies trying to find the best price. Turns out that the laminating is what's killing me in cost. So these new binders are priced at $45 but it doesn't include the activities. If you'd like to add the activities in your binder, you can do that for an extra $3 (printed on card stock), or $6 if you want them laminated. Then the shipping will be $10.  More details HERE.

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BROWN AND PINK ZEBRA

$45.00

If you'd like to see another pink and brown zebra with a different flower, you can buy it HERE on etsy.
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PINK AND BLACK DAMASK

$45.00

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FLOWERS

$45.00

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PINK DAMASK

$45.00

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Green and Pink Damask

$45.00

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Activities (printed on card stock) $ 3.00

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Activities (laminated) $6.00

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Month #4 of Meal Plans (laminated) $8.00

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Month #5 of Meal Plans  (laminated) $8.00