Thursday, January 7, 2016

Friday Favorites!

Hey everyone!  I've been slacking with my Friday posts (well, all posts really....), but hoping to get back at it!  Jumping right in with five things happening here this week:
 
[one]
 
Our Laundry Room is finally getting finished!!  Yay!!
 
We had our flood back in September and the last of the clean-up/restoring is finally happening.  Yay!!  I plan on doing a full before/after post once it's all back together and organized (ha!), but for now, here's a little teaser of my new floor:
 

 
I LOVE it!!
 
[two]
 
Since part of our laundry room redo is getting a brand new boiler system, we've been without heat for the week.  We have space heaters that have helped take the chill off during the day, but we've been spending our nights at my in-laws to stay warm.  I think Oliver thinks we're on vacation...
 
 
[three]
 
Have you checked out this month's The Monthly Meet Up?  My girl Marie and I host it once a month and it's a great place to set monthly goals!  Do you have any New Year's resolutions or any goals you have for the month?  You should come join and link up with us!!
 
 

[four]
 
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my post of this new cookbook I got, Fermentation for Beginners.  I'm soooo excited about this book, y'all!  I've done a little fermenting already - sauerkraut, kimchi, honey garlic, and of course my beloved Kombucha.  I'm anxious to experiment more.  My family has a history of stomach issues and I want them far away from me.  Probiotics are good for gut health and fermented foods are full of probiotics.  #probioticsforthewin
 
 
 
[five]
 
I don't want to brag or anything, but.....
 
I've kind of got my own ninja turtle up in here.
 

 
Bring it, Shredder!
 
 
Hope you all had a great holiday and are adjusting back to your normal....whatever that may be ;)

~ Sara :)

I'm linking up with, Darci, AprilNatasha, and Christina for the Five on Friday link-up Party!
I'm linking up with A Little Bit of EverythingMomfessionals, and Grace and Love for my Friday Favorites!
I'm linking up with September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for the Oh Hey Friday linky party!
I'm also linking up with The Diary of a Real Housewife for Friday Favorites!
Also, I'm linking with Caitlin, Della, Tif and Katie for High Five for Friday! 


Friday, January 1, 2016

The Monthly Meet Up

Happy New Year, y'all!!!

It's a new month, and you know what that means - it's time for the Monthly Meet Up, y'all!!

Having a New Year's Resolution can be daunting to some - let's just take it one month at a time!

My girl Marie , over at Family and the Lake House, and I get together every month to host a fun link-up party.  We want to know - what are your goals for the month of January?  Big, small, it doesn't matter.  Your goals could be any and everything.  Maybe you want to cut out fast food, keep a clean kitchen, exercise more, not go shopping, organize your pantry, etc.  The possibilities are endless!

You can be as ambitious as you like - maybe you only have one goal for the month, maybe you have 10.  Just join us and have fun!

Not only do we want this to be a great opportunity for you to gain some awesome, creative ideas from other bloggers, but we also want this to be a great networking tool as well.  So please, grab a cup of coffee, tea, water, vodka (we won't judge) or whatever you fancy and party with us.  It will be fun!!

First thing is first.  Just like anything fun, we've gotta have some rules.  Ours are short and sweet:
  • Link back to us - copy and paste our linky button on your post - we want your friends to join in the fun too!
  • Follow us!  We'd love to connect with you, and you to connect with each other!
  • We challenge you - visit, comment and follow at least four other partiers.  Are you up for the challenge?
  • By posting, you give us permission to feature an image or post on our blog(s).  We'll always give you credit and post links back, don't you worry!
Easy enough, right!?  So, grab our button, link up, and par-tay!!!


This is where I would normally do a 're-cap' of my goals from the previous month......

Yeah, not so much this time :)  I'm not exactly sure what happened or where December went, but I seriously feel like I blinked and it was gone, y'all.  We were so busy with the holidays and family visiting....we had such a great month, but it was gone in a blur.  So, without further excuses ado, I'm ready to start this year off right!  Here are my goals for January:

[one]
 
Tackle the Guest Room.
Our guest room is such a mess!  We're hosting a party later this month and we will definitely be having guests staying overnight.  I need to get it in order.  I have piles and piles of kids clothes to sort/sell/donate (yes, this was one of last month's goals...) and we're going to relocate my sewing machine to the living room.  I'm excited for it to be finished...just not quite as excited getting it done!
Stay tuned for before/after pics!
 
[two]
 
Finish/Organize the Laundry Room.
We are getting our new flooring, boiler and water heater installed next week in our laundry room.  Holla!!!!!
I'm soooo excited to be getting this done finally!  I'm looking forward to getting more shelves up, having more space and figuring out some organization/storage solutions. 
 
[three]
 
Toning and Stretching.
I need to start focusing my workouts more on toning and stretching my body.  I've got the cardio down - running, spinning, elliptical, etc., but I need to be doing more squats, lunges, ab work, etc.  Also, my flexibility s.u.c.k.s.  I really need to be stretching my muscles more.
 
[four]

Keep Learning and Researching Essential Oils.
Thanks to my amazing hubby, I'm now a Young Living Oils member and distributor!  I've dabbled in oils for the past few years off and on, but have started really getting more interested in them lately.  Jason got me the starter pack for Christmas and I'm beginning to get hooked!  Please let me know if you have any questions about any oil :)

[five]
 
Throw a kick ass party.
This year will be our sixth Annual Hayes White Elephant Party.  I've already started planning the menu and just know that this party is always amazing.  It gets better and better every year.  And, it takes longer and longer to recover from it every year ;)
 
So, there we have it - four measly, little goals for the month of January.  Let's hope I have more luck and focus than I did in December!
 
Happy New Year's everyone!!!
 
~ Sara :)