Feburary....the month of LOVE!

February was a fun month for us. I celebrated my 29th birthday which means next year will be a big one! This year I have decided not to sweat the small stuff and just enjoy what ever life brings. This year a few of my friends and I were planning to take a girls trip for my birthday to Hermann, MO. We planned on staying at a B&B there and have a spa/wine tasting retreat but when the "storm of the century" came through the week before it left us stranded in KC. So my friend Nicole and I decided to have a girls weekend "KC style". We stayed in an amazing hotel off the Plaza called "The Raphael". We stayed in the corner suite which was amazing.

The view was amazing!!

The view of the Plaza from our room.

After we checked into the hotel we headed to Shine Spa in Westport http://www.shinespakc.com/, an unknown gem to me, for a day of pampering. The day ended with shopping and eating at one of my favorite restaurant Brio. The weekend was a much needed break from motherhood for both of us. It was so great to sleep without a baby monitor next to my bed. I couldn't ask for a better person to get away with either. Nicole is one of my bestests friends in the world. Her and I grew up together. The funny thing is is that we actually didn't like each other at one point, which is a really funny story. Nicole is someone who will always be apart of my life. Its crazy to think about all we have been through together. Crazy boy talk, to college visits, nights out on the town, marriage, and now motherhood. I'm way off track here sorry, well ......now I have to share a few photos, (Nicole I hope you don't mind). There are tons more!!

So now where was I, oh, my birthday.....all my boys surprised me with this fabulous locket with both Jase and Joel's picture inside, both 8 months old. On the front their names are engraved.

                                         

Valentines Day.....well Jase and I had planned to have a Valentine's Day party and were planning on decorating and making cupcakes but unfortunately he came down with some sort of virus so plans were changed. Since I wasn't able to get out to shop for our party we made our own Valentines.

That night I was surprised with 3 roses from each of the boys....

as well as this pretty little jewelry box....

         I love love, in fact a little extra info.... my name means "to be loved" ... and I sure felt like it this February.  









Domestic Diva..............

So after I had my first child I knew I needed to learn about organization, planning, and making lists. So I took part in this study at church called, Becoming A Woman Who Pleases God. This study was completely and utterly overwhelming....planning menus....having a cleaning schedule.....being prepared...what??? There were plenty more but I wont go into details. If you know, or should I say knew me ,you know that I was far from any of these....I'm more of a "go with the flow" kinda girl. Boy did I learn quick after having a baby that that sort of mentality does not work so well. So I took what I learned and applied them to my day and boy did I see a difference. First I began with my menu planning....I typed out on excel all my recipes and began planning for the month. Then I took my list to the store, which was very different because before I would go up and down every isle contemplating on what to get. I usually would come home and realize that I forgot several items I needed for certain recipes. I learned that my old way of shopping was #1 more time consuming and #2 more expensive because I would always buy stuff I really didn't need or already had at home. I have come a long way since my study 4 years ago. I now have a menu planning site http://allrecipes.com/Cook/adm5337I have also learned that Aldi is a great place to shop. I once thought I was too good to shop there (don't judge me I'm much more humble now), but it actually has really good food and has saved me $150 a month because I do shop there. There are things I buy at Hyvee because they don't stock certain things at Aldi. What I have learned to do is to make my shopping list and head to Aldi and what I don't find at Aldi I go to Hyvee. But.... if normally shop at  Whole Foods, and I once did due to my crazy diet change to have a baby, you probably wont appreciate Aldi.

Another thing I learned is a cleaning schedule........I hate to clean.....and I hate schedules....... so this is and will always be hard to follow 100% but its amazing and very helpful to stay on top of your cleaning.

I have had several requests about my meal planning as well as my cleaning schedule. I can tell you that it has really helped me be a better mom because I am more prepared, and in more ways than one, turned me into a domestic diva.