Meal planning

Back when we lived in a house, I'd cook whatever I felt like at the time, pulling from the shelves, cupboards, pantry, big fridge, or two freezers.  Now with our small home, even smaller kitchen, cooler-size fridge, and shoebox-size freezer, we have to be more intentional.  We do weekly meal planning and shop only for those meals.  (And we save a lot of money not buying the extras!) 
Each week, I used to sit down and ask for meal suggestions, then grab the recipes and write out a list, then try to remember what else we might need, but that got old quickly.  Now I've done all that work in advance.  I have 5 weeks of our favorite meals and their shopping lists printed, and I keep them nearby with my recipes.  We just choose a week that sounds good, grab that list, and go shop!  If we get bored of these menus, we'll just add more.  But it's so convenient to have these menus AND the shopping lists already printed.  Now we're happy campers (literally)! 
I wanted a pretty way to display our menu and saw many on Pinterest, but they were too elaborate or had too many parts.  I just needed to see the week's menu and have a place to note things we ran out of that weren't on the shopping list.  So, being a good digital scrapbooker, I figured I'd do it myself, digitally!  And it was even easier than I thought.  I created this in Photoshop, printed at 8x10 on photo paper, taped it to the cabinet, and just added real sticky notes and this week's menu!

I used the Recipe Book Megakit (which is on sale for $5.99 Wednesday 5/16 only!) and the Urban Grunge Megakit from DSP. Super easy and such a fun project! (If you need help with digital scrapbooking, DSP's your place!)

Something really cool is we have an actual cookie sheet close to this on the cabinet to hold magnets and recipes, so it fits right in.  It's so pretty I may have to put it on the outside of the cabinet door instead of the inside! 

This was my lame system before.  Just printed straight from Excel and I'd use stickies to cover other weeks, mark off meals, and write down any "extras" that I needed to add to our list. 

I wanted to get a picture from the side so you can see how it's really flat except for the sticky notes, but this Recipe Book kit is so good it still looks like a real cookie sheet!  It's just photo paper.

I used a chalk type font (pencilpete) in bright colors, printed all 5 menus at once, then cut out.  I used small dots of poster putty to adhere the menu so it's easily removable.  I just swap these out each week, picking whichever looks good to us at the time. 

Here's the spreadsheet for the menu plan, with the shopping list for each week, plus an "always check" list of things we'll probably need.  I just double check before I go and mark off what we don't need.  Then when I start shopping, I already have a head start. :) 

Ready to make your own menu plan?
Want to win the Recipe Book Megakit to create one (or great scrapbook pages or recipe cards)?
What about a printable blank page like this that's ready for your menu?
Okay!  Share this post on Pinterest (or repin this), Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or your blog and leave a comment here for each (with your email).  Use the links below this post for easy sharing.  Each share will count as an entry for the random drawing!  The first winner will receive the megakit and the second will receive the printable menu page.  I'll draw next week on May 23rd.  Good luck!

Do you do meal planning?  Please share any tried and true tips, especially for menu planning for RVs!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and their grandmom!  We love you and miss you already. So glad we got to see you more this winter and spring!

I used this lovely Hundred Percent Gorgeous plopper from DSP's We Are Family CD.

2 year nomadiversary

Happy Nomadiversary to us! We've been on the road for two years today!  How better to celebrate that (or really anything) than cake?! The Grands came to visit and even brought Uncle Ryan, who drove down from Pensacola.  Our cakes so far have been themed and this year we chose the Arizona desert where we like to take drives.  The kids say you have to use your imagination (and pretend this truck is a Chevy instead of a Ford).  Last year it was our truck & RV in the Mojave Desert!

 

So after two years, are we tired? Ready to settle down? No way!  No end in sight for this traveling family!

Free book! Blue Moon Bay by Lisa Wingate

**Nook is now $7.99 (Sunday) and Kindle is now $6.59 (Monday).
*This book is free NOW on Friday AND Saturday. Go look!

I just got this awesome tip about a FREE book in my email from one of my favorite authors, Lisa Wingate.  ❤  I was so excited I actually leaned in to block my monitor so no one else would see it!  (Yes, I felt silly when I realized there was no one here.)  But then I read please share this with your friends!  So,  my friends, I'm sharing this with you...
Blue Moon Bay is FREE on Kindle or Nook on SATURDAY May 5th only!

I know! And you're welcome.  Why she'd want to give away her work I don't know, but shhh, let's not say anything people. Who are we to question the creative mind of a writer?  Just go get your book on Saturday!  (If it's not free, check your calendar.)  Today's only Thursday. Yes, I had to look.
 

$0.00 Blue Moon Bay   FREE on Kindle and Nook  Saturday May 5th! At Amazon.com / Barnesandnoble.com

** Download yours this SATURDAY, May 5th. Word is that the free book giveaway begins and ends at midnight PST and is only for 24 hours. For that time, the price on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com will be $0.00. No coupon code required. Anyone can download. **
If you miss the FREE day, all is not lost! The ebook will be selling at a special discount price for a limited time afterward.

Yes, if you receive her newsletter, you got this tip too. But hush up, I just want to feel special for a little while.  If you read Blue Moon Bay, let me know what you think!

Circle Trilogy deal at Amazon

There's a great deal at Amazon right now on Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy books.  I personally enjoyed this fascinating Christian fiction trilogy and wanted to pass along this deal.  You can get the first book for only $3.40 or all three books for $11.99.  I don't know how long the deal is, so watch the price if you order.
If you do get them, let me know if you enjoy them!

Black - The Circle Trilogy, Book 1 (The Books of History Chronicles) by Ted Dekker
$3.40 Kindle Edition for Book 1  (It's now $7.63 today, May 5.)



Or get all three books in the Circle Trilogy for a low price!

Black, Red, AND White - The Circle Trilogy, Books 1-3 (The Books of History Chronicles) by Ted Dekker
$11.99  Kindle Edition for the whole trilogy



Enjoy!

RV cat palace

RVing cat owners, check this out!  An outdoor cat playland for your RV.  This was so brilliant I had to stop and ask this couple if I could take pictures.  It's genius!  He took a wire storage cube bookshelf, zip-tied the pieces together, then hung it outside the window.  Instant cat door to a tri-level cat palace. 

Their cats were lounging like they owned the place.  And they're cats, so we all know they do. 

Fresh air, sunshine, lofty view, protection from the dogs, snakes, squirrels, lizards, & birds (who are in turn protected from the cats!)  I hope our dog Jack doesn't see this.  He might not think being tied to a picnic table is so awesome anymore.  Of course he does like the first few yards of chasing those squirrels... maybe not the abrupt ending through... He might learn, if he weren't so busy watching for another squirrel... 

Our glorious site

It's all about perspective, and mine has changed considerably as we've been on the road.  When we pulled up to this campsite, my eyes lit up!  I mean just look at this peaceful, glorious, beautiful... well... patch of dirt.  I seriously stopped to take a picture before Allen backed in.  Um, he was not super happy to wait.  But I had to take it because, look!  This is all it takes to make me happy.  No mansion, log home, plush hotel room.  No pool, hot tub, nearby park.  Not even a level, landscaped, concrete site.  Just some dirt, surrounded by bushes, and maybe some shade trees.

While this site makes me happy, the fact that it does makes me even happier.  Yeah, life is good.

Hoop skirt

I got a new skirt, but not just any skirt, a twirly rainbow skirt! My friend Brenda gave me this Hip Mountain Mama rainbow spinner skirt and I love it! (So sorry though, I don't think it's available anymore!)
So what did I do first? Well yeah, I had to spin!!! But it was too windy!
Then I needed a new profile pic, but this was too boring.
So I pulled out a hoop and Lizzy took pics. Apparently I make horrible, scary faces when I hoop! So this one had to do. But it was too boring too.
So a quick Topaz Adjust filter in Photoshop, and done.
Still boring, but I just need to work on not making stupid faces when I hoop.
And fyi, totally not a good skirt to hoop in if you plan to hop through it. Just sayin'.

RV thingamajig, aka clothespine!

I want to tell you about this thingamajig, but I don't know what to call it. So I need your help! Please leave a name in the comments if you can think of one. Thanks! :)
Allen made this thingamajig for us today. It's a 2x4 that hangs off our RV ladder on the back and it has holes to hang clothes to dry on hangers (or we can just throw towels over the board, etc). Clothesline, clothes board, drying board, hanger board, laundry board, 2x4 laundry drying assisting utility, see? I have no idea. It'll be handy though! It'll store inside the bumper. It'll be painted white. It'll be great for pool towels. It just needs a name!
What would you call it?? And yes, we have a back door, in the back bathroom. And yes, it is bright turquoise. :)

Update: Current name contenders... clothespine and the Lundry stick. :)

Update #2: I think we all like clothespine best! Just descriptive enough and just redneck enough... So clothespine it is! And now, if you find yourself in need of a clothespine (because who doesn't need a clothespine?!), I know who makes them. ;)

LED hooping at night

Fun LED hooping at night! The next thing we need to work on is night LED photography, followed closely by not making weird faces when we hoop!
So pretty. At night no one can tell how awkward you are, they just see the pretty lights. :)

Happy Easter!

We enjoyed a quiet Easter, just hanging out together. We had a very yummy brunch, complete with initial pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Mmmm, bacon.
The kids chose baskets from on top of our shelves (yep, just un-Velcro and tada, Easter baskets!) which the Easter Bunny filled (and then hid) much to their delight.
Then we visited the Grands to do some laundry spend some quality time. Instead of a traditional egg hunt, we thought we'd try a scavenger hunt and they loved it! They worked as a team and ran all over the house and yard. We had to do it again and make it much harder for these clever kids. Then they designed one for the adults and did a very impressive job with their clues!
We had a yummy dinner and headed home after the laundy was finished after a great day. I tried to take our traditional pic of the kids on the stairs, but they're a bit too big! Of course our stairs now are much smaller than those in our old house. We hope you had a happy Easter too and took time in the midst of the silly fun to seriously celebrate what Jesus did for us. Matthew 28:6

More families

We're still in Florida and have enjoyed hanging out with other RVing families, although most of us are finally pulling out and heading north. This (third) stop in Orlando, we reconnected with the Hensons, Sparks, Shriers, DeMichiels, Sommers, Perkins and were so glad to meet the Andersons and Hartogs. We also met some fulltime families at the pool that we didn't even know online, Tammy & John Harker & their 6 kids and Katie & Erica. We're hoping to run into many of these families again somewhere up north!
We had some fun potlucks, lunches, breakfasts, snacks... wow, our lives really do revolve around food eh?! There were also ballgames, swimming, hot tubs, and great conversations. Of course the kids got to play, play, and play some more! They can't wait to see their old & new friends again. It's great to have fun, caring, helpful neighbors, if only for a season. Even better to know we'll see them somewhere down the road.
This was a breakfast at the Hensons one morning.

Weavers

At Thousand Trails Orlando, we got know to know (and love) the Weaver family. They're a traveling family band with 8 kids (ages 11-23) and they're awesome! They "only" have 7 kids with them now though because Jimmy left for a job in Pigeon Forge (*sniff*). We heard another RVing family called Weaver Believer Survival Revival was playing a bluegrass gospel concert at the campground clubhouse and we figured we'd go support them. We didn't realize how good they'd be or how nice!The kids spent quite a bit of time together over the weeks we were in Orlando and Wauchula. Trips to the pool, hanging out, Stevie leading my kids down the dark road of airsoft wars...
We also caught four concerts AND the bug for playing bluegrass. They're all learning guitar and mandolin and we're keeping an eye out for a banjo and fiddle. I might even learn bass. (Watch out!)

Here's our favorite song, Dueling Banjos. Jimmy & Sam are amazing!



Unclouded Day. Jimmy & Sam again.



Jimmy is just amazing! He'll definitely be missed, but we look forward to seeing Stevie playing lead next time we see them.



The best part is they're traveling too, so we'll catch them again down the road!

Peace River

We spent a week at Peace River that was well, peaceful. Catching up on work, airsoft wars, movies, hooping, kayaking, scootering? scooting?
Oh, and bartering. Lizzy traded for this hat and barely takes it off!
And picnics. Yes on the ground.
We got to see the Nims again and met two more RVing families, Krystal Showalter and Rayven Perkins. Allen took the kids hunting for shark teeth and they found a LOT. (Watch for these on an RV wall near you.)

Family Rules

I wanted to print out our family rules as a reminder to them (okay, mostly me!) So I whipped this up in Photoshop and used some DSP pretties graphics! I put it on the freezer door (with velcro) so it's front and center.
I used Lauren Bavin's Torn Strips Quick Click, Tina Chambers' Spring Sorbet Kit, and lots of fonts by Suzanne Walker! DSP Sticky Keyboard, DSP Gogo Girl, DSP Adorable, DSP Lark, DSP Byrd Scratches and DSP Bees Knees.