Creative Juices Decor

My in-laws are my neighbors and yes, it's a GREAT thing :-)   They have been gone for 2 months in Ireland.  While they were away, one of their closest friends  heavily encouraged me to do their entry in American Clay before they came back.  I had talked about it forever with my mother in law and I knew she would be very blessed so I buckled down and began the project. So, instead of reading my great novel (ha, I don't have time to read!) I got all the stuff out of my garage and walked over their house and got right to it. Here are the BEFORE shots. Upon walking in the door. And magically after many days and many hours - this appeared! Before: AFTER! OK so I'll go back a few steps :-)  Step one:  Initiate a helper....a willing child is a great choice :-) Apply one coat of American Clay Earth Plaster.  Tell me that looks good enough to eat. :-) After it dries, skip...

I have had so much fun working with with the Sleep Number company.  They asked if I would like to review their newest innovation the DualTemp Layer . My first thought was,  Are you saying I don't have to get into a FREEZING cold bed every night!!?  And my husband's first thought was, You mean I don't have to get into a HOT bed every night!!?   Yes yes, my husband and I get along VERY well but when it comes to the climate zone.....we have issues ;-)   I am always freezing and he is always hot.  We have the battle of the thermostat daily. So off we went to our local Sleep Number store to check out the DualTemp Layer. As you can see, I'm trying to do my very best Vanna White impression. :-) After talking to our Sleep Number rep Barb, what amazed me the most was that the product works by AIR circulating, not electricity.....no electrical currents covering my body like electric blankets do!  The goal is for the DualTem...

Alright, you guys can probably tell I have been on a protein kick lately (see the chia chocolate pudding recipe !)  On the health plan I have been following, eating protein is VITAL!  (to build muscle!)  In fact, I pretty much eat some kind of protein every three hours. So this next recipe is one of my FAVORITES, as in I start to panic when I only see one left in the freezer.   It's quite an easy recipe too, I will warn you though, it's sticky! Looks good - huh ;-)   If you're not a coconut fan, just roll it in something else....how about chocolate flakes? RECIPE: (12 bars) 10 dates (or any favorite dried fruit) chopped 2 Tbsp chia seeds 1/3 c Almond (or any nut) butter 3/4 c milk (or any "milk", my personal favorite is FLAX milk!) 1 1/2 c oat flour (which is just 2 c oatmeal ground up) 160 grams of any protein powder.   (I used NOW vanilla whey protein isolate @ 5 scoops) 1 c shredded unsweetened coconut ...

Last year I was introduced to the television series Downton Abbey.  I was HOOKED (and so was my husband, and that's saying something!)  Honestly, it just puts you in another world.  So, when my in laws sent me some photos of THEIR castle stay in Ireland I knew I MUST show my readers. You can RENT this castle out!  Ya, you can sleep and eat there!  My in law's friends had a big family reunion and rented out the castle for all of them.  It just so happened that it was at the same time my in laws were up there too (they were there for 2 months!) so they stopped over for a night.  Really, if you have enough people staying there and divide up the cost, it is NOT all that bad.  You can see the owners website for rates. His name is Zane and my inlaws said he's a super nice guy :-)  He and his wife were the ones that had to vision to restore it.   Lisheen Castle Here they are - my wonderful in laws......they are also my neighbor...

An amazing thing has happened -  We bought and planted some TREES !! Honestly, after building the house, there was just no extra $ to do this!  So, I'm excited :-) Those three plants from Left to Right are: Wolf Eyed (Kousa) Dogwood (known as a slow grower - hence the fact I am excited to get it in the ground!) I also found out that you can EAT the berries it produces ! Multi Stemmed River Birch (I am so in love with that peeling bark!!!) source Dwarf Globe Blue Spruce (a little cutie) source So overall we bought 15 trees - pretty much all the trees that will be in our front yard.  No bushes or shrubs yet and we haven't barked or rocked the area either.... all in time!   I'll wait till October when the trees are turning color and snap a shot for you guys!!!!   I had a lot of fun with my window boxes this year.  In June I had stopped by a fruit stand and they had these fil...

It's SEPTEMBER!! I can hardly believe it! (This was yesterday,  once again, striking a pose for her first day of school shot! :-) I hope you all had a fantastic summer. Some of my long time readers will remember me saying that this summer I was going to focus on my health , getting in shape and being outside more.  (hence the lower occurrence posts June - August) Let me tell you, I DID!  I learned how to eat right, lift weights and run ;-)  It was a HUGE learning curb but after TONS of studying and applying my new knowledge I am down 24 lbs! This was the program I followed: Before: I bought the dress below for $3.00 from the thrift store - hee,hee! After: But now, I can focus more on the blog and get back to my regular weekly postings. (-:  Of course, I'll continue with my workouts, but it's just a habit now and I don't have to spend hours trying to figure it all out. :-)  And no, I'm not starting up a fitness b...