Joy Experiment Day 5

1.  The hubs yummie breakfast-french toast made with homemade bread

2.  Sleeping in

3.  Rediscovering Tetris

4.  Going to my brothers for a couple of days to spend time with two of my adorable nieces.

5.  A $3 crystal cake plate from biggest thrift store in NJ

Joy Experiment Day 4

1.  Folding that last load of laundry.

2.  That first sip of coffee in the morning

3.  Finding out that the biggest thrift store in NJ is about 10 minutes away.

4.  Last night was a great night with the hubs and it was just going to the library, love that simplicity.

5.  The new way the living room is arranged

Bonus

Freshly vacuumed floors :)

Joy Experiment-Day 3

1.the smell of fresh cleaned sheets and blankets
2.Cooking this for dinner
3.Making some sauce to freeze.  (freezer meals make things just soo much easier)
4.Answered Prayers
5.Dreaming of a new little niece or nephew coming this September. Oh you know I love me some baby cuddling :)

Joy Experiment Day 2

1. Spending days with good friends
2. They lady singing "Say My Name" in broken english in Sams
3. The way my hair feels when I wash it with this soap
4. playing with henna

5.  Spending time being creative and creating things

Spring Garden Journal

So you know I'm a newbie gardiner.  Last year was my first year gardening. So I learned some things and I'm excited to apply that knowledge this year. I've kept some plants alive in my house all winter which is amazing in itself. Checking my blogs today I found a Spring Garden Planner at Little House in the Suburbs that will really help my endeavors. Go, download, and plant... it will grow

Blog Header

 So check it out, I changed the look of my blog.  This is a picture of a sunrise I took on Memorial Day of this year down the Jersey Shore.  Let me know what you think :)

Focusing on the good

It seems like there are a good amount of people struggling right now and coming up against something that they just can't change.  Talking to friends and reading my favorite bloggers it seems as if they've hit a wall.  Things have changed over in the Dirkey household and its not all bad but it is different than what was the norm.  I don't know about you but when I'm forced to make a leap of faith I get a bit anxious, thankfully, I do have a belief in God and have a knowledge that He cares for me that helps curb that anxiousness.  

I'm going to start something called the Joy Experiment here.  Every day I'm going to post 5 things that give me joy.  I'm going to try to do this every morning so that it helps me to focus on what I do have and how blessed I really am.  I think this would probably be the best way to start out the day feel free to join in.  

5 things that bring me joy:

1. waking up to a hug, what a nice way to start the day.

2. walking downstairs to coffee already made, sawheet!

3.  Irish oatmeal with cinnamon and a little bit of molasses YUM!!!

4.  Freshly made bed

5.  my kitty cat sleeping in the sunlight.

Exciting stuff

So I've been working hard at getting my Doula business going.  I'm going to be partnering with a good friend of mine so we spent today hammering out some details; deciding on names, getting a website going, getting a work email set up.  I'm really excited to start marketing our services and getting serious with this.  I also have an interview to be a substitute for the local school district tomorrow which will be wonderful.  I'm getting really excited for this next chapter of my life.  I kind of feel the need to pinch myself that I'm able to do this stuff.  I love being home more and feeling like I have more time to get the house in order and do the little things that need to get done.  I love having the laundry, dishes and all that stuff done before the hubs gets in so we can just enjoy our time together.  

Once we get our website completed and up and running, I'll make sure to post a link up here. :)

My bread looks like an old man

So I made some fresh bread to compliment last nights dinner and to just have on hand.  I was comfronted with something I'm not too used to.  I usually let it rise twice in the oven then after it has risen the second time (in the loaf pan)  I'll set it on the stove while I preheat the oven. This time the second I took it out of the second rise it deflated about an inch and had lots of wrinkles.  It tastes fine but the looks definitely aren't there.  Anyone ever have this happen?

Tips?

My theories are:

-the difference in temp between the oven and the house as the heat is on low

-not enough flour in the mix

Raw Smoothie Week

So I've been catching up on some books that I've wanted to read lately.  I just finished Green for Life and I'm about midway through Gorgeously Green. Between those two books and some conversations with Mama K I'm inspired to try going Raw for up until dinner this week.  Being the ridiculously supportive husband that he is the hubs is jumping on the bandwagon to help me.  I just spent about an hour blending all the smoothies for us for tomorrow.  We have a Chia Seed, Apple, Lemon, Kale blend; a Blueberry, Banana, Celery Blend and a simple Banana, Spinach blend.  I tasted them all and they are pretty good.  We'll see how filling they are as the week goes on but I'm excited to try it at least.  

Its been pretty interesting reading in depth in Green for Life on some of the points brought up in the book about PH levels in your stomach and stomach acid in regards to how you absorb nutrients.  Also the comparison to a typical American diet to that of the closest animal to us in genetic composition the Chimpanzee, was pretty intriguing.  Gorgeously Green has some great tips on finding health and beauty items that are good for you, some great tips on getting my body moving and I'm sure alot more but I'm only halfway through that one.  Being a part of a local coop has really helped me switch most of our bath and body products over to healthy choices but there are some holdouts (deodorant is the big one) that we just haven't found a good alternative for.  Its been inspiring me to examine that a bit more. 

As far as getting moving I got my butt kicked by Leslie Sansone's Walk and Fit which tells me that I need to do it some more. I threw in some pilates beforehand but only got ten minutes in before I had to call it quits on that.  The hubs and I have made a promise to each other to do some type of workout three times a week together as I realize I'm less likely to quit doing it if he's doing it with me and he feels the same. 

I literally feel like a page is turning in my life and there is a gorgeously blank slate set before me.  Everything in my life has changed recently but for the first time in weeks I'm kind of seeing some good come out of it.  

All Is Quiet

As you are probably realizing this blog has been pretty quiet.  I've been holding my cards close to my chest as it seems to be the best thing to do right now.  Things are turning around though and I'm feeling a bit better.  I signed up for a cake decorating class that I'm really excited about.  As you probably know I love baking cakes and I think my imagination is great as far as that goes but my skill level is what holds me back.  I can't wait getting some technical skill to throw in with my crazy imagination, Ace of Cakes better watch his back!  I am also starting the process to be a substitute teacher.  I was toying with babysitting but this seems like a better choice for us right now.

I also joined Spark People to work on my weight. Thankfully I have a friend for the journey. I'll keep you updated every once in awhile on the progress.

Today involved:

Tying our tree to the wall.

the end..

Lol it actually wasn't that bad, it did fall down some ornaments did break.  The hubs and I took everything off the tree and redecorated with some Christmas music.  If it was too bad I would have broken out some nog and it would have looked alot worse, lol!

Just another Sat Night

So the hubs and I were sitting around yesterday when we hear a CRASH from the next room; as you probably guessed, it was our Christmas tree.  My heart sunk because we have so many ornaments on there that mean so much to us.  I have ornaments from so many of my trips and important places to us; Ireland, Paris, Switzerland, Germany, our honeymoon, where we got engaged, etc.  We raced in and there was broken glass all over but only 4 ornaments really broke and out of those 4 only 1 was an important one so it was way better than it could have been.  The important one that broke was a blown egg ornament that I purchased for the hubs in Germany but I did buy two different ones so it wasn't even that bad.  I do want to try to make a replacement for it at some point though because it was really pretty.  I'm still breathing a sigh of relief that it wasn't that bad.  

Huh speaking of our trip to Germany I just found out (watching the food channel) that the choir master at the Cologne Cathedral was the person who invented Candy Canes.  Hey, we were there!

Anyway I'm wrapping up our Christmas presents now and getting ready for the big day.  We made peanut butter cups last night.  I'm making mints, caramel-chocolate covered pretzel sticks, muddy buddys, and of course cookies this week.  I have about thirty thousand more things to crochet and knit but I still feel pretty good about having everything done on time.  

Christmas time is here

So the house is decorated, presents are ready for wrapping, all sorts of sweet treats are getting ready to be made. Christmas is upon us. I had a few good friends over last night for our homemade Christmas party. We started last year with two rules; whatever we gave each other had to be either handmade or secondhand and it had to be $5 or less. Sometimes this gets a bit tricky when you try to figure out what to get for people but we always have a good time with it. I got an amazing set of fingerless gloves, a jar mix for Chocolate Chip Bars, an ornament and also will be receiving a crocheted Christmas ornament this week. I love knowing the thought and effort that went into making the gifts, it really makes me feel special and treasured. This year I made some cold processed soap to give away and wrapped it with a crocheted washcloth that I made and tied it with a bow. I'll blog about the soap making later this week. I made most of my gifts for everyone else as well (except the kids, I got their stuff from Non Toxic Tots).  

Today we're going to be doing some Christmas chocolates, watching some Christmas movies then going to a good friends house for some caroling.  I'm excited to get into the swing of the holidays now. :)

Twin Update

The twins are back in the care of the mama.
It was odd waking up and not getting to see their gorgeous little faces and hear one year old laughs but the experience did give us a small glimpse into what it will be as a parent and I want that. I'm going to be taking it slow at home just focusing on making Christmas gifts for now then after the holidays I'll be doing things around the house that we just haven't gotten around to (painting, grouting, putting in a new sink, etc.). When all of that is done I'll be figuring out ways to make an income. I have a few ideas floating around in my brain.

Join the club

So being the frugal, green maven that I am of course I decided that we should use cloth diapers on the twins while they are with us. Yes, you read that right cloth diapers on twins. I never said I was entirely sane. Well this was all going along swimmingly I usually change about 4x a day in cloth then overnight use the disposables. I even told my sister in law today how amazing it was going and how much money we were saving. I should have known. Today after nap Willow woke up with the most monster poo that had me doing the dreaded toilet swish. While doing this horrible little dance things got a bit messy. Needless to say the soap we got from Hershey thats brown and scented like chocolate didn't amuse me as much as it normally does.

Yes its still way cheaper and we will continue but I'm not opening my trap on how easy it is anymore!!!

New Look

So I updated the look here, let me know what you think :)

Wordless Wednesday

TWINS

So yes, we have the twins. We got them last Sunday so its been just over a week now. The first few days were hard as they were getting to know us and we were getting to know them. They are completely adorable and it is a joy to have them around. Its so different though so we are still getting used to it. I am starting to get used to this whole deal of having two extra squirmy appendages with me all the time. The hubs had to learn how to change diapers on a one year old, I know poor guy they are the worst squirmers!! He is doing great and is a wonderful help to me! He even took care of the two of their morning routines today so I could make my nephews pirate birthday cake, which turned out AMAZING! We're taking things as slow as we can and staying around the house as much as we can. Today we went down the shore to my nephews bowling party then to his family party afterwards, which was a LONG day for two little one year olds!! They are both snoozing now and me thinks that they will be sleeping a little later tomorrow (crossing fingers!). They play the most amazing game where I sit on the floor and they walk to the farthest edge of the room that we are in, turn around, and "run" as fast as they can back to me laughing and giggling the whole way, when they get back to me I lift them up and cover them with kisses then the game starts again.
We are extremely blessed to have the support system that we have in friends and family. I don't know how people get by without some amazing people to stand behind them. My parents came over to babysit last night so we could celebrate our first date/engagment anniversary at Hershey Park. We got halfway out and the roads got so bad we decided to eat dinner (Shady Maple YUM!! I love me some Amish food!) and headed back.
Anyway I'm tired but felt bad for not sharing whats up!! I will post pics tomorrow of twins and also cake :)

Busy Busy

Things have been hopping around here but I just wanted to share