We moved to the Cape Cod the very last days of March 2013. That first week brought my husband's first days of work, Easter, my oldest son's first days at a new school, starting a new Cub Scouts Pack and racing in the Pinewood Derby, soccer practice, my youngest son's 4th birthday party, and lots of unpacking. Of course, we did our best to settle the boys into their bedrooms, their new environments, and our new routines. That said, it's not surprising that I didn't totally finish unpacking and decorating the first room until mid-April.
The last eighteen months have been a process of learning how we live
in our living room. I know my husband hopes this will be the final version. Following I'll share updated pictures of version four.
No reflection or big revelations today. I'm just changing it up here by rearranging... again. Well, I will self-disclose this one nugget: My husband thinks I have a strange fascination with changing up the furniture and decor. Honestly, I think I may. Aside from little changes in the boys' bedrooms, I've had one room in one house that I was able to rearrange one of two ways... until now! Honestly, this past year and a half I have really enjoyed rearranging and changing up our home, especially our living room.
{Check out the Arrange-a-Room program at Better Homes and Gardens if you love playing with floor plans too. That's how I created the four versions of our living room at left.}
Okay, one more bit of self-revelation: Time has changed me. It doesn't take great effort to change things around a bit. In the past I wanted to spend money to update and change our home. However, now I find it a fun challenge to use what he have around the house, borrowing from another room to rearrange and decorate around our home.
After living in a Bungalow, a Four-Square, and a Cape Cod, I have learned a great lesson: Love the home you have.
{You really should check out Melissa at her blog The Inspired Room or as guest blogger at Better Homes and Gardens for some decorating inspiration. She coined the phrase "Love The Home You Have" and has a new book out with that title.}
This year I've been
doing weekly meal planning, and I'm writing today to tell you it's
well worth the effort!
So, why bother with meal planning? It saves money and it saves time. I'd say that is a win, win!
Our family saves money because we plan meals based on what's in season and on sale. Also, planning ahead means we get all the food we need in one trip to the grocery store, instead of shopping multiple times a week. Well, sometimes I go to a few stores on my errand day, depending on who has the best deals. But, I have a list and stick to it.
Not only does it save time to be prepared when I'm out running errands, but it saves time each night to know what we are making for meals and to know we have all the necessary ingredients. I don't miss the talks a half an hour before supper is supposed to be ready, when everyone is hungry, and we're trying to decide who wants to eat what only to find out we don't have what we need anyway!
Everyone will have their own preference as too how much they want to
plan ahead. Simply do a Pinterest search for "weekly meal plan" to find a wide variety of meal planning methods,
menus, and free printables. I have included some of my favorites at left. {Click the number below in the "Credits" caption to link to the website for each form.}
Of course, I couldn't just decide right away which form would fit our family... It
was a process. I have seen a variety of ideas similar to #1 and just love them. Talk about cute and practical! {Some of them even listed the recipe or ingredients on the back of each meal card.} But, I had to be honest about whether I would actually take the time to get this system all together... Not at this stage in our busy life. Many people prefer a simple sheet with one column on the left for daily
supper ideas and one column on the right for a grocery list {see #2}. I did know that I wanted to plan for more than just supper, at least some days of the week. I liked the design of #3 {because it's pretty} and it serves the purpose just described, but I think you could also use it to list more than one meal for each day down the right column. In the end though, I figured that we would need something more like #4. I did use this format for a little while.
