Storage Organization

I wanted to share a great idea with everyone! Since I started couponing I have struggled with the storage of the many, many canned goods I have purchased. I saw this on Facebook and checked out the blog (http://www.notjustahousewife.net/2011/12/what-does-your-pantry-look-like.html). It is a great inexpensive way to store canned goods and I will be buying several! Thanks "Not Just A Housewife"!

Coupons, Coupons, Coupons

I love to coupon! It began when I watched that show "Extreme Couponing" this summer. I thought that doesn't look that hard. I started out with a binder, but that didn't work for me. I ended up with two boxes of coupons - one for food and one for everything else!

I also have my daughter, Clarissa, hooked on couponing! I think she enjoys the thrill more than me! Our motto is $1 or less, FREE is the best! We go couponing together every Tuesday (double coupons at Walmart) and price match on Fridays with coupons that can't be doubled!

John didn't like the couponing so much at first! All he saw was me buying soap! The funny thing is I have never bought soap - body wash, yes! dish washing detergent, yes! toothpaste, yes! - NO SOAP! So, I stopped buying those items and concentrated on food! After having to put four more shelves in my garage (that are already full) and filling a freezer and extra refrigerator, John has started to see the value of couponing! He even thinks I should get some more toothbrushes now!

This week had great coupons, but no great sales!

Back on the blog again....

So its been awhile since I have last written but my life has been super hectic....not that I'm making excuses ok I am. Anyways to catch you up on whats been going on lets refer back to my older blogs. In my blog titled "Quilting and Death" I mentioned that I had over 2o quilts to make. Well to this day I have made over 12 of the 20 mentioned and I even made up my own kind of quilts called peek-a-boo quilts. I'll have to post some pictures later of them....
Another thing that has happened is "Working Out" well shortly after that post I stopped working out because I had to plan 2 weddings within 3 months of each other. TALK ABOUT STRESSFUL! Well after the weddings were over I just wanted to relax and I kept saying oh I'll workout later. Well later started in May of this year! I work out almost everyday now with my husband John and I have one of the best trainers (Liz). I watch what I eat and I am making a better change for myself.
Clarissa and Jed also got married on March 13, 2010. It was a beautiful wedding and we all had a great time. The other wedding I had mentioned was my daughter Caitlin's. She married Jacob David Ewell on June 12, 2010. It rained like cats and dogs on her big day but we still had a great reception. Now I have 3 daughters gone and married and 1 more still at home. I keep telling my youngest Candace to hold off for a few more years, I could use a break from all this wedding business.
Let's see what happened next? Oh yes Candace went off to college. She moved down in the middle of August to Ephraim, it is a beautiful little town by the way. So she finished her year there at the end of April and is now home for the summer. She'll go back to finish her associates degree in August. SHE LOVES COLLEGE...Hmmm I wonder why?
Well if I talk about my family a lot specifically my children its because all I ever do is work, workout and see my family. Nothing ever too exciting. And since I am a lawyer I don't have the privilege to talk about my work online, or anywhere for that matter. Also who wants to hear about me working out constantly? I sure wouldn't...So I will mostly talk about my family because they are a riot! They are some of the strangest, creepiest, and funniest people you will ever meet!
I was browsing through some blogs that my daughter follows and I came across this one and on this blog there was a girl who had mid year goals. Now the goals we make in January at New Years are mostly forgotten the moment we write them down. So we need a refresher at the mid-year point. So here are some of my goals for the rest of the year.

Goals for The 2nd half

1. Update my blog at least once a month
2.Post lots and lots of pictures because sometimes words are just too much
3. Reach my weight-loss goal by December.

There will be more goals I'm sure...but for now this is what I want.

Clarissa's Engagement Pics

Spent the afternoon taking Clarissa's engagement pictures. Laughed so hard I peed my pants. Jed has this habit of opening his mouth during his pictures. Cassandra was the main photography, I was just shooting as I saw something. Of the 75+ pictures I took, these are the only ones I somewhat like. I know Cassandra has much better pictures and we will be using those for the official pictures. Enjoy!!!


Trying to get the amazing sunset, but you can tell that Clarissa is totally looking at Cassandra.

Nan wanted a piggy-back ride picture, but Clarissa was afraid to jump on Jed's back, so we used the trees to help her get on his back. It was hilarious!!! But the picture turned out cute!

Our title for this one is "Jed and Clarissa - one kick-ass couple!"

Jed looks like he has something devious on his mind!

This is a good one, except Clarissa's hair is a little funky!

This is a really beautiful picture of Clarissa!

My First Quilt

I have finally finished sewing my first quilt. It is a rag quilt that is about 45" x 45". More of a baby size quilt, so I told the girls that it would go to my first grandbaby. The pictures show it before I finished the edges with green binding. I am also working on embroidering green and blue dragonflies on the black squares.

RAG SIDE

REGULAR SIDE

My next quilt is a pieced cowboy boot quilt. I have the top done, I just need to put it together. Then I plan on hand-quilting around the cowboy boots. I will then start a couple of rag quilts that I have planned (one for Cassandra & Patrick and one that Cait has already claimed). I am also working on the Palmer quilt for the reunion.

Working Out

I don't know how many of you know this, but in April, 2004, just before we moved to Utah, I crashed my Honda Shadow motorcycle. I had to get about 15 stitches in my elbow and I totally tore all the muscles in my lower back. Since then I have had severe back pain every day. At times it is difficult to walk. I went to the doctor in 2006 and they told me the only thing I could do for my back was exercise and rebuild the muscles. At the time I thought, "Yeah, right! Cristie Roach and exercise in the same sentence doesn't compute." Anyway, in May, 2008, I tore the meniscus in my left knee. It took about 6 months to heal where walking wasn't painful. In March, 2009, I tore the meniscus in my right knee. It is just now healed, although, high heels are still painful and I only where them on special occasions. Again, exercise was mentioned to strengthen the muscles in my knees. Yeah, right! Anyway, about three weeks ago, I finally joined the gym a block away from my work. It costs $10 a month and it has an amazing amount of workout machines. I went three times last week. I am walking a mile a day and working on my core muscles and knee muscles. I actually enjoy it. I plan on working out four days this next week. I am meeting with the trainer there to make sure the exercises I am doing are correct. It should be interesting.

I have to share my first day experience with you. So here I am walking on the treadmill with an incline of 2.0 and a speed of 3.0/mph. Working up a sweat. This lady gets on the treadmill next to me and starts running. Not jogging. Running. She runs for a good 15 minutes at this pace. I would have been dying. A guy walks up to her and starts talking and she can actually carry on a conversation. Not breathless or anything. It was truly amazing. Then I hear the guy ask her about any marathons she has run lately. That explained it. I finished my mile and she was still running. My hat is off to her. Maybe one day I can get to that point ... maybe not.

I will keep you posted on my progress.

QUILTING and DEATH

There have been a lot of recent deaths around me (a 38-year old coworker, a 28-year old parent of a client) and close calls with loved ones (Tara's stroke and Mr. Roach's heart attack), so I have been thinking alot about death and dying and what is after and what is left behind. I have thought alot about what we leave behind. There are memories, but they can fade. There are pictures, but unless you are vigilant, sometimes they are just pictures, nothing more. There are children and what an amazing legacy that can be. But what about my grandkids, yet to be born. And their children? If I was to pass, would they know me? So, I came up with the idea to make quilts. A tangible object that my family could wrap themselves in and talk about Gammy Roach and how much she loved them.

This led to my obsessive behavior and I have now "planned" about 20 quilts. Crazy, I know. Planning involves creating the pattern, purchasing the material and cutting the squares. I still need to buy a sewing machine, but I am almost ready to start. I have some baby quilts, some really pretty adult quilts, some rag quilts, a variety.

I have also decided to do a memory/family tree quilt for the Palmer family reunion next year. I have the quilt design planned and have asked Donna to set aside some of Grandma's clothes to use as quilting squares. It should be pretty cool. I also have some baby quilts planned for all the wee ones that will be there next year. And possibly one adult rag quilt with a cowboy theme.

Has anyone else ever felt this way?