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Inspired @ Home

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Guess What?

Well, I am officially a new Willow House Design Consultant. This means I got a new blog, too! So, I will probably use this one for my swaps & family stuff.....Please check out the new blog and subscribe. You'll find my new cheescake recipe...Mmmmm...sooo yummy!

Inspired At Home Blog

Happy Valentine's Day!

Swaps & Stuff

YOE is going so great and ending so soon! Thanks, girls for all the fun & goodies! *smooches*
With thanksgiving being just next week means the rush is on....I will be entertaining the kids and my Granny the latter part of the week and Dinner is at out house on Thanksgiving day. The menu includes: Turkey, ham, cranberry sauce, spicy corn (recipe below), I stole the image from Sweet Pea @ her blog. She calls it corn dip and adds a few other ingredients that I don't, but mine looks just like hers......Ok, back to the menu, cornbread & rice dressing, sweet potatoe casserole, brown sugar julienned carrots, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pies ( made by jon) and I'm gonna do cornbread & banana bread loafs! :) Mmmm...I'm hungry now! LOL

Spicy Corn 

1 - 29oz. can of whole kernel corn

1 - 8oz. pck of cream cheese sofened

1 -  sm. 4oz. can of chopped green chiles

Completely drain corn and excess of green chiles. Combine all incredients in bowl and mix until completed mixed together. (it's that easy)

OOhh! Karen @ Sew Many Ways is hosting a Recipe Party beginning Nov. 28th. You should come!!




Sew Many Ways Recipe Party!

And I forgot to attach a pic of Ty Pennington from Market yesterday!
Enjoy your weekend!!

Told ya it was paparazzi (hee hee)

 

Wow....

Wow, I can't believe how long its been! Halloween has come and gone and Thanksgiving is just NEXT WEEK!
I went to Houston Quilt Market last month! It was so much fun! I think I spent more time socializing, than shopping for ideas and new products, but that's ok!! I don't get to see Ellen Medlock, Keri Beyer, Ty Pennington and Pat Sloan on a regular basis! Yeah so, I "had" a pic of me & Ty but somehow dont anymore....I still got some more paparazzi pics of him though..I was too shy to go back and ask for another :) It was a good time, though! Here are some of the pics!

From top to bottom - 2 of  the 3 Dudes Quilting trio in Arizona, Ellen Medlock & I, Pat Sloan & I, Keri Beyer & I, and Gene our Moda Rep & I!  I had so much fun! I'll have to get all my quilt pictures edited to share from the museum part of the show! There are some absolutely breath taking quilts in there and some that will just make you cry. Just beautiful!

Special K Challenge: Day 4

Well, I must admit this is more of a challenge than I thought....I allowed myself to eat something bad and I can't say that I'm all that thrilled about this plan, but it has encouraged me to pay attention to what I'm eating, record what I am eating and then really think about how I can continue to eat healthier...Really, after the 14 days, its unrealistic to think I will continue to eat cereal , cereal bars and protein shakes...I just won't and not many people will...That's unreasonable to think someone will limit themselves to that and then only have one meal with "real" food....At least for me it isnt, ya know to get down a dress size, but those temporary diets arent good for you...
 Dieting isn't to lose weight as much as it is to feel better and make better food choices, for me.  I've decided that I really need to imply the saying "eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar".  I usually skip breakfast, snack until lunch, then snack after lunch and over eat at dinner, just to go to bed afterward.  So, here's my plan...I will eat a good breakfast, not just a cereal bar or 3/4 cup of cereal, snack on fruit or almonds (yummy), drink my lunch or have something kinda light, dinner, limit my portions to about 1/2 of what I would usually eat.  I think this can work...we'll see...
 Fun fact: (interesting, actually) I was getting ready to have cereal for dinner last night when I decided to label compare with my kids' cereal. The special K cereal that I was going to eat had, more calories, fat, carbs and sugar than my kids' Lucky Charms!! Can you beleive that??  I will be doing a lot more label comparisons now...Its actually kinda fun & interesting!
9/21 beginning weight - 183lbs
Goal Weight - 150lbs

So, I may have a new view tomorrow, but thought I would tell someone...:P

I'm Special .....K that is

Yes, I saw the commercial and instantly knew I wanted to take the challenge..Like seriously, who doesn't want to lose a dress size in two weeks!?
So, I actual began my 14 day challenge yesterday. I went to the store picked up some Special K cereal, cereal bars, granola bars....and wheat bread....ordinarily I eat white bread...Now, I can see h ow you can lose the weight and inches, because you're not eating anything...You're eating Special K products and then a meal once a day...I can see myself turning this into a new way of eating...but with substitutions...I did really well only consuming 1300 calories yesterday...I didn't realize how much I usually ate until I began my diary of everything I put into my mouth...Just to see, I made up a list of stuff I might throw into my mouth on a "normal" day and Holy Schmoly I was consuming about 6000 calories or more a day....We constantly have cookies or pies or cakes sitting out around work and then I eat out at lunch and then dinner and snacks and then at least once on the weekends...I had no idea...no wonder I'm gaining weight...
So, day two, I'm already at about 1320, so this means, I'll probably have a protein shake or something for dinner...yikes! When I did the calculations for how many calories you should consume to maintain my desired weight it was 1800, Im trying to stay at about 1300-1500 the first couple weeks and as I lose and am more active physically, increase my calories...this isn't easy, guys!
Wish me at least 2 dress sizes less and a ton of energy! That's all... lol

New House

Holy Schmoly I havent posted in here in a while...well, Im not even gonna promise that I will post more often...I need to just do it LOL

Well, I love the idea of our YOE swap creature being a mouse this month! I can finally put a little more into this month, now that we arent in the middle of moving!

 But, since last time....We've closed on our house...Aug.30th to be exact and a week later I had everything unpacked and the house decorated!! Seriously, you know when you really want something so bad or there is something you are so excited about that you can't help but think about it and want to do it all the time...Well, thats what it was with our new..ahem...First House!! I couldnt wait to make it "mine" and I didnt! LOL
 Here is a pic of when you first walk in the front door..A little fuzzy, my camera is dying on me, I think...But isnt it cute??!! We did a major downsize, but I can't say that I miss anything about the big house or the big mess there always was to clean...The girls are super excited too....They even keep their rooms clean (hope I dont jynx myself for writing that)

 I'll be hosting a Virtual Open House Warming party the first weekend in October, so you guys have to be sure to come back and check it out...So many people ask to see the house...I'm gonna walk through and video & post to You tube for a short while! Will have "refreshments" on the blog that day, including some of my favorite recipes and anything else I can think to share that someone other than me might like!

Well, good talking to ya again!

New Name

So, since I started my blog I have continued to struggle with a name...I've gone from Nikistitch to Niki's Adventure's in Bagging & Stuff....But, I think I've got it..I'm back to NikiStitch....after all, it is the name in my URL...(duh)
I have seriously been neglecting, which seems to be a mention I make in most of my posts...But, I promise its not that I don't care...Ive been making sure I keep real busy and.......We're buying a house!!! Yeppers, its technically our very first house!! We're so excited!! We had inspections yesterday and thats the last of what needed to be done. Hope to have the report back tomorrow and that nothing major is wrong so we can still close by the end of the month! Wish us luck!

I'm also working on a huge project at work to support Breat Cancer awareness, research and support. Note the button on my nav bar. Please check it our and grab the button for your blog too!! I hope to have enough time to make a bra for the cause.

Um, what else? Not much, really...School starts on Aug. 23rd...We are all excited about this day! LOL Working on my octopus for the YOE swap this weekend, so will try to get that pic posted.

Still missing my dad....

YOE June Doorprize!

Wow, it's my turn, already! I've got June's door prize as this cute handbag I made! But, that's not all! I have a mystery goodie bag, too! (I'll post that the day of the drawing) I'll announce the winner June 30th!  Sorry, only open for the Year of Enchantment swappers! Hope you guys like!

Summer is Almost Here

Weds. officially marks summer at my house. The girls will be out of school for the summer!! So many projects to get together for them to work on!! Probably some pillowcases and maybe doll clothes..OUr Gorgeous Voo Doo Lillies Bloomed, but died fast..I think there about 8 of them. Gorgeous, aren't they?

Still missing my Dad....

Since last time...

Wow, so much is going on and has been keeping me busy. From the Cha Cha Challenge I'm hosting at Stitchin' Heaven and much more serious things, my blogcrastination is getting worse.

Last week (May 11th, to be exact), I was on my way short notice to NY to see my father who has been fighting cancer for over a year. I arrived, but was still too late. As I landed, my father passed. Like my step mother said, people pick when they die. She said he knew I had arrived and I really think he knew I didnt want my last memory of him to be that way....It's weird now, I won't be getting those Sunday phone calls or hear silly messages on my machine saying "it's dear old Dad..pick up the phone you shit bird" . LOL My father had a way with words. It was priceless hearing all his friends & family recalling "Joeisms". The tribute at the funeral on Powerpoint we watched, made by his long time neighbor & good friend, Rory, was right. We all laughed...And that's how it usually is...I'm gonna miss him... <3

But, with such a sad thing, was also one that brought us together and was so nice to see family we hadnt seen in years. Thank God for Facebook, too! Here's some pics of the scenery along Mattituck to Greenport on Long Island.. Enjoy.

How Many Hours In My Day?

I am force to wonder. I have picked up another couple of projects.  I picked up another part time project from work and remember the tease from my last post?? Well, I'm not even sure if Ive ever mentioned I write the blog for Stitchin' Heaven? Well, I do and am officially the Monday Blogger for Quilter's Daily Blog Along! Woo Hoo! Ya me! I'm going to be doing product reviews. My first post when up today so be sure you go and check it out and comment & feel free to blog about the topics yourself. Just click on the Quiter's Daily Blog Along button.

Oh, right, there's more....I am also have taken on the task of wedding planner for a friend at work. Its going to be a  quaint little wedding, so I plan to blog about the great deals and inexpensive ways to have a great wedding. Whaddya think?

For those of you who don't know, Hobby Lobby now has an online store and they have so really great FREE project sheets.

I'm Such a Tease

Ooh, ooh! I get do something exciting beginning Monday! Yay! What is it you ask? Well......I'm not telling.....yet!
In the meantime join in on the Quiter's Daily Blog Along!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
PS...Oooooohhhh...I'm almost finished reading Dear John....ooohhhh, I'm such a baby, Ive been crying and heartbroken lol