Vacation Photo Dump!

We have officially been through half of our vacation. So I thought it would be a perfect time for a phone dump! :) We have hit up the beach for a few days and shopping of course. The past few days it has been a girl's trip-- myself, my mom, aunt, two cousins, and new addition to our family Haddy (4months).  As of tonight, our girl trip is over for Grant is joining us after work tonight for the rest of the week. I'm so excited. We haven't been apart overnight since we got married, and we've been apart for four nights. :(

But here's a look at our girl's vacation before the hubby joins us!  Be on the look out for the next half of vacation! :)

(Sorry for the unaligned pictures & captions-the iPad didn't want to cooperate)

                                                                        {Beach Time with Haddy}

                                                                         {Heaven}

{We are the Champions}

{Ref for the Beach Tennis}

{Chilling on the Beach}

{Beach Tennis}

{Golf Cart Ride to Pedicures}

{Guest to our Party}

{Morning Walks}

Beach Packing List

So the Kirkendohl's are heading to the beach for a week! We're so exciting to have our first vacation as a married couple. We are going with my family for the 3rd annual trip. It's such a nice week to relax, and enjoy the beach! :) honestly, we do nothing all week and its fabulous!! :) so it got me thinking of what to pack? Being the planner I am, I have to have a list! So I thought I would share some of the best list I have found, and any add ons that we would need! 

My Beach Bag Essentials:

- "Wipe able" Bag

-Towel

-Sunscreen 

-Chair clips

-Small bag to hold cash, cosmetics, phone, etc.

-electronic zip bags! ( Absolutely love my new Echo zip cases for IPhone & IPad.) 

-Portable Speakers with music source (iPod, phone, etc.)

-waterproof case on all electronics

-Magazines and Book

-Koozies

-Brush & Detangling Spray

-trail Mix

-Wet Wipes

-Cooler 

Phone Dump!

                     

Aubrey's School Performance & Elfie on a date with Ken! He brought her flowers! 

Tacky Sweater!

! 

Penny at the Christmas Parade & 

Lights in the South!

 

Visiting Santa

Elfie enjoying some coffee in her hammock!

Christmas Eve & Penny & her huge bone!

Christmas Morning & 

Enjoying Christmas break!

Goal for 2013!

So 2012 has come and gone QUICKLY! I don't think a year has flown by quicker than 2012. It was definitely a year to remember for the Kirkendohl's. We became Mr. & Mrs. and have officially started our lives together. To kick off 2013, our goal is to save, save, save! We want to buy a house & start to plan for our future. I recently heard of this 52-Week Challenge to save money & thought what a perfect way to start 2013. So I did some researching, and found it on the Stuck At Home Mom Blog! You save one dollar for the first week, two dollars the second week, & continue from there until all 52 weeks of the year are done. After a year, you will have saved $1378. The most you will have to put aside is $52, which is great for us!

                                                        {Courtesy: Stuck At Home Mom}

Hopefully you will find this helpful & can start saving with us! Let me know if you have any saving plans or tips for 2013!

Elf's Welcome Dinner

Tonight was the arrival of our elf, Elfie. Aubrey was so excited! When she got home, Elfie had set the table in Christmas tableware and brought her a letter from Santa! It's a tradition that we have breakfast the evening that our elf arrives. So the menu included waffles, grits in the crockpot, eggs, bacon, & hot chocolate! Along with the letter, Elfie brought a letter for Aubrey to write back to Santa with special North Pole envelopes & stamps! We had a great dinner with Elfie & so excited to see what the rest of December holds for us!

Pantry Overhaul

I've been wanting to do some organizing to our pantry for some time now! Finally, the day has arrived! :) I wish I would have taken some pictures of the Before look, but I definitely got some After pictures! This project was so simple and inexpensive, everyone should give it a try. I've had the baskets and containers for awhile now which I purchased at Dollar Tree! I printed out these adorable labels from DomestiFluff, you can print them here.  They came out great, and have tons of color options to chose from.

I printed the labels, created my categories, wrote out the labels, used packaging tape to cover the labels, & attached to each container!

The basket categories are: Bread, Snacks, Breakfast, Potatoes & Onions, Snacks to Go, and Baking.

The closed containers are: Grits, Powered Sugar, Sugar, Brown Sugar, Gluten Free Flour, Beans, Rice, Flour,and Pasta.  

The shelves are categorized as: Condiments, Canned Goods, Packets, and Dog Food.

P.S. I'm sorry for the fuzziness on the photos?

Here are some of the AFTER pictures:

 

{The printable labels in red.}

 

{Categories for our pantry.}

  

{Our finished pantry}

 

{Some of the containers from Dollar Tree.}

 

{The shelves all organized.}

Weekly Menu

Monday: Chili & Sandwiches

2 cans of tomatoes

1 can of pinto beans

1 can of chili beans

1 medium onion diced

1 green pepper diced

chili seasoning packet

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker on low for 5 hours. 

Tuesday: Leftovers

 

Wednesday: Grilled Chicken, Stuffing, & Green Beans

 

Thursday: Taco Salad & Brown Rice

I use tortilla shells and place them in a upside down cupcake pan to create a taco bowl. Place them in the oven at 350 degrees until light brown.

Then place all ingredients in taco bowl. Ex. ground beef, refried beans, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cheese!

Friday: Shrimp Creole

{recipe}