Merry Christmas Eve

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. Cheers to a lovely time with family on Christmas and a fresh New Year.

Rachel May

Things I Like: Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Why I like it:
- It's sheer deliciousness.
- Like eating cookie dough, only people don't give you funny looks.
- Put it in a mug for ultimate portability
-This brand rocks-cookie dough in every bite. I like a 50/50 ratio for ice cream/dough.

Rachel May

Canning Peaches: A Sticky Adventure

The boy's father came up a while back and taught us how to can peaches! Now we have like a dozen jars of peaches...and they sure are yummy!


the peaches before! They look so innocent...


The stove with tons of peachy canniness on it...it's a messy, sticky area.


Washing the peaches...very important.


Sanitizing jars and removing the peach skin...


I'm very focused in my work, as you can tell by this picture...


Success! Peaches in jars!



I'm obviously extremely photogenic...which is why you see so many pictures of me. like in this one, I must be explaining the definition of botulism to the boy when he took this. The boy's dad is in the background (doesn't really like his picture taken).

Scissors: A Mystical Craft Anomaly

The other day, I couldn't for the life of me, find scissors. Then I got up and looked around. This is what I found around our house.



over the couch pillows...


and through the cushions...


to the dining room table we go!


They're hiding in bins...


jars, cans and tins!

I know I have plenty of scissors in my home, but why are they the one crucial thing you cannot find right when you need them? Also, you have to have different scissors for different things-you don't use paper scissors to cut fabric, or fabric scissors to cut paper! You have to keep decorative scissors because who knows when you'll need a scallop edge on something, and you need those junk scissors that you got glue on once, so you don't really care if you let the boy use them:)

Enjoy!

Rachel May

Bedroom Shelving: After Move-In

Ta Da! Here is our bedroom shelving (strategically staged by myself. I promise you we are not this organized in our daily life).



Boy's side. (Notice the color coding)


Didn't notice? Here's an up-close of it!


The middle-TV/DVD Player, DVDS, socks and undies.


My side. (the red piggy bank is named Cashew:)

Enjoy!

Rachel May

Bedroom Shelving

Here's the sketch of what I wanted...


Here's the boy scaring me with the saw....i told him I wanted to take a picture, so he gave me the crazy face.


I'm also positive I told him these were going on the blog...but he insisted on silliness.


Okay, when looking at these pictures, you need to know some things about our room-It wasn't actually meant to be a bedroom, hence no closet. It's just this random room at the end of the basement stairs. It's tiny, but immediately when I saw it, I envisioned the shelving unit, so I couldn't pass it up. We gave the larger upstairs bedroom to our roommate and opted for a "cozier" and more private basement room.


Here it is fully assembled. This was the first thing we did when we moved in, so I was super proud.

Next Post: Bedroom shelving after we moved in:)

Enjoy!
Rachel May

Things I Like: Used Books

Why I like them:
They're inexpensive.
You're reusing (one step better than recycling).
The thrill of the hunt.
Surprises (I bought the Rachel Papers just because it had my name in it-5 bucks? Why not?).

Rachel May

Clean Up Your Act

Waking up this morning to a clean house was wonderful. Today is Monday, and my Sunday goals are usually to get back on track. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case lately. We went out of town for Thanksgiving and got back last Sunday-I did 5 loads of laundry, but it wasn't enough...the dishes were piled up, the kitchen was a disaster, and I didn't have enough time (or energy) to get everything all done. But this Sunday was different! I rearranged furniture, organized a bit, did dishes, put away dishes, baked cookies, and finished some projects. I feel so much more excited and ready for the week now!
So this morning I woke up, got ready for week, made some coffee (and grabbed a biscotti)....and ran out of things to do! Trust me-there's plenty of cleaning left to do, but the basic stuff is done...and it feels good!
What's your cleaning schedule like? Do you get caught up on the weekends, like me or are you good at keeping up with it? Whatever your schedule, I hope it works for you! Feel free to share:)

Rachel May

Introspection

As the season changes and it starts to get colder, my moods start to change. I start thinking more-about life, family, work, home and everything in between.
Lately I've been thinking about life- about the people in my life and how they've impacted it. So many people have been in my life and impacted me in a positive way, and I think it's important to acknowledge that.
For all the people that have impacted your life, I hope you've done what you can to impact theirs-whether through helping them, loving them, or sharing with them. Make sure to tell your family and significant other that you love them, to tell your friends that you're glad to have them around, and to treat everyone as you would like to be treated.
It truly makes a difference.

That's enough for one day:)

Enjoy!
Rachel May