april in review.

is it really time for april in review? didnt i just do the march one? 

at least april was a little less crazy than march. actually that was a lie. april was pretty intense, but a totally good kind of intense because things are finally turning around for the meyers family. 

really, the most exciting thing going on right now for me is that james has for the most part been working full-time ALL MONTH LONG. and holy predictable paycheck, batman! well, the final dollar amount of the paycheck isnt always predictable but goodness gracious i am NOT used to this whole more-money-in-the-bank-account-every-week business that weve got going on. in the best way possible. 

what else went on in april? well, alice turned two and a half, and weve officially declared half-birthdays as a thing. 

and shortly after that, I QUIT MY STUPID JOB AT JOANNS! partly because it got to the point where it was truly causing more harm than good and really school is a more productive use of my evenings/free time, but also because (surprise!) im actually making money with jamberry. so, that was awesome. 

oh, i also got back on instagram, which has been a lot more fun and a lot less soul-sucking than last time. 

not working at joanns anymore quickly became even MORE awesome, since i actually had some time and energy to, you know, take alice to go do fun kid things. like going to a doctor who craft fair. and taking a field trip to centennial farm, where alice got kissed by a goat:

and was particularly enamored with the beehive. and i really, really didnt have the heart to tell her that people dont normally love bees:

 and going on a park date with our friends:

also, im starting to get used to this whole not working and going to school thing thing. plus, i might even be able to pull a 4.0 this semester, which would be a total dream come true (even if i am only taking two units, ive NEVER pulled a 4.0, ever). i know i havent been talking much about whats been going on at school, but i promise i will later, when i finish up my big projects. 

oh, and i painted slices fingernails for the first time:

(yes, she picked those colors, her exact words were "pink and black and pink and black on my nails please mommy", i mean, how can you say no to that?)

the last couple weeks have been crazy busy though, last weekend we went to san deigo for easter, then this weekend was jamess birthday. and now i need a nap. or three. or as many as i can squeeze in before i have to leave for class at 5. 

so that was our april, how was yours?

jamess birthday surprises.

funny story: a few days ago, when i was writing saturdays post, james looked over my shoulder, saw the tiny little sentence about it being his birthday, and said "thats really all youre going to say about my birthday? gee, thanks", which, on the one hand made me feel kind of bad that i wasnt making a big deal about our birthday plans, BUT on the other hand, i really couldnt say too much because, they were surprises. and i can NEVER pull off surprising james. 

now, long time readers (and i mean REALLY long time readers) may know that while im a big fan of birthdays, theyre not as big of a deal to james. you also may have read about how last year was the first time ive ever been able to take james out for birthday dinner, AND the first time id ever gotten to throw him a birthday party. well this year i miraculously managed to pull of something that i never thought id be able to do. i SURPRISED him. 

with a WHOLE DAY chock full of surprises with the express purpose of spoiling him and making a huge deal about it being his birthday. this only made him really uncomfortable, but i think he warmed up to it in the end. 

we started the morning at our churchs pancake breakfast (it was a fundraiser to help some of our kids go on short term missions):

which wasnt really so much of a surprise for james as much as he forgot that it was on his birthday so he was surprised on friday night when i told him we had to get up early to go. also, i never actually cook breakfast, so james and alice were pretty stoked on having pancakes. then alice went over to my moms for the day so that the REAL surprises could get started. 

and by that i mean, we went home to our suspiciously clean apartment (james later told me he noticed that it was REALLY weird how clean the house was on friday), where i made james help me move ALL THE FURNITURE because i had booked us a couples massage from soothe (which would ordinarily be WAY beyond what im willing to spend on something frivolous BUT i had gotten a half price coupon a couple months ago), because on the list of "things james wants to do that i always say we cant do", "couples massage" is probably #2. 

obviously (if you know me at all) the #1 thing on that list is "steak dinner". so, obviously, that was the next surprise:

(everybody please notice that james ordered steak and steak alone, giggling about his order was probably the highlight of the day for me)

now, OF COURSE in my post-massage stupor (in case youve never had a deep tissue massage, the first day or so after feels like youve been hit by a truck) i forgot to get any pictures of the two of us together. but if i had one, this is where id put it. 

and right when james thought the party was over because it was time to pick up alice, there was dessert and friends waiting at my moms house:

and, since i dont have any cute pictures of james and i together, heres alice and her bestie sharing a sundae instead:

so, happy birthday to my dearest james. alice and i love you so much and are so glad you enjoyed your birthday surprises. and im sorry i didnt make a big deal about it beforehand, i just really, REALLY didnt want to ruin the surprise. 

why i LOVE working for jamberry.

today is jamess birthday. happy birthday james. hope you enjoy all of the special surprises that i have planned today (and that you havent figured them all out yet....)!

so obviously were going to be out of the house all day. so instead of whatever it was i had originally put on the blog calendar for today. im just going to take a minute to rave about how much i LOVE working for jamberry. 

i mean really. 

after a less-than-satisfying run as an avon rep when i was in college, i was pretty sure that direct sales wasnt for me. 

but jamberry is different. jamberry is a single, straightforward product (that happens to be AWESOME) at one price point, that basically sells itself once people try it. oh, and once you sign up, there is tons and tons and TONS of help and support and encouragement, not only from jamberry directly, but also from the other consultants. seriously, theres no territorial competition to out sell all the other consultants, instead, theres a genuine, helpful support from all the other ladies that are doing the same thing. its amazing. 

now, i started my first jamberry party about a month ago, and ive ALREADY: 

1. made about the same amount of money id have made from my teaching position at joanns (from home, in my spare time, no less). im not consistently making a full blown part time income, but, ive only just started. 

2. earned $177 in free product from my launch party AND a $75 product credit for completing my first fast start goal, so basically i never have to pay for jamberries ever again. 

3. added my first team member (the lovely jessica from the reinvention of jessica). 

4. completed two parties AND booked three more (with a couple maybes for the future).

5. was able to quit my dead-end job and pursue something with the potential to make more money in the future (and you know, not be super stressed out about spending all my free time making no money at a job i hate, thats a plus). 

6. completely paid back my WHOLE initial investment with my first party alone (consultant kit, business cards, and the ENTIRE book of stamps i used to mail out samples), so its ALL profit from here. 

and 7. gotten a promotion! in all the jobs ive had, I've NEVER gotten a promotion, so this one was particularly exciting. 

but im not sharing all of this to brag.  im sharing all of this because spent YEARS trying to figure out a way to legitimately work from home so that i could stay home with alice and not be stressed out and gone every saturday and be able to take things slow when my fibro is flaring up. its only been a month and jamberry has ALREADY been a HUGE help in this department. 

im sharing this because i want to help. jamberry has been a dream come true for us in so many ways, and i can not just sit on it by myself when i know there are lots and lots of ladies out there in blog land that really could use an opportunity like this. 

so if you, like me, have been looking for a completely legitimate way to work from home, thats totally fun and doesnt take a large up-front investment (i know, it sounds too good to be true, but i SWEAR its not, id never lie to you about this, actually, i was really hesitant to even write about my experience with jamberry until i was SURE that it was worth it), jamberry might be worth your consideration. i mean, theres really not a whole lot to lose. 

and id love to help you get started. 

because who wouldnt want to get paid for talking about nails on facebook? i mean, dont we all do that for free anyway?

meet the sponsors: april edition!

hello everyone! hope youve been having a great week so far! today its time for one of my favorite posts of the month, meet the sponsors! as always, i am so, SO happy to introduce you to all the lovely ladies that have been hanging out on my sidebar for april! i hope that youll enjoy getting to know them as much as i have! so without any further ado, lets meet my april ladies:

first up we have kristin, she blogs over at the awesome redhead:

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tell us more about you, kristen:

Hi! My name is Kristin of "The Awesome Redhead" - a little space on the internet to talk about my quirky life. I'm a graphic designer by profession and a fashionista by passion. Since I was young, I always knew that fashion would have a special place in my heart. My mom always gave me the push to try things that seemed bold and unique, and that's transitioned into my adult life with my love of sequins! The more sequins the better! 

My boyfriend and I recently moved down to Charleston South Carolina from New Jersey and are LOVING every step we are taking in this new journey together. I'm excited to showcase new (to us) places to go and see and eat at, and am so glad that I have my blog to share that with everyone. It's been fun so far seeing how it is to drop northerners into the most quintessential southern city. Thanks again for reading, and I hope you all stop by The Awesome Redhead!

my theme for april is "learn", what new skill would you most like to learn (if money and/or time were not an issue)?

If I had all the time and money in the world, I would LOVE to take cooking classes or go back to culinary school. I love to try new food and experiment with different cooking methods in my own kitchen, it would just be an amazing experience to have the proper techniques and teachings behind it.

top posts: What makes Mad Men's Christina Hendricks blush?, Oatmeal Cookies with a Cookie Butter Glaze, The redhead has returned!

next up we have jenny, of dancin with a dolly: 

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hi jenny! why dont you take a minute to introduce yourself?

Hi! My name is Jenny and I am a wife, mom to 2 year old Olivia, photographer, jewelry designer, blogger, Etsy shop owner, all around entrepreneur. I love to take in all the little things that make life worth living and live each moment as if it's my last.

and what would you most like to learn?

If I had the time and opportunity I would love to learn to masterfully sew and be able to design clothing to hopefully start my own clothing line. 

read more: Beauty Lovers Giveaway!, Am I A Hoarder?!, The Sad Truth I Learned While Working In Customer Service

now its time to meet cady of enjoy essential:

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so, cady, what do my readers need to know about you?

First of all, I am the queen of the clearance rack! I love supporting small businesses, but I refuse to spend $35 on a tank top, no matter how much I love it. One day I came up with the idea to start a one-stop shop, a small business collective featuring only products sold by small shops, handmade by wives and mamas. Enjoy Essential was created with your budget in mind! Instead of $35 tees, our are $15. Instead of $60 moccs, ours start at $15 (and we do have the pricier ones too for those of you with expensive taste!).

We have everything from women's tanks to kids tees, leggings and moccasins, to jewelry and home decor. It really is a one stop shop- with low shipping prices! Know that with every purchase, you're supporting a woman's dream, and giving back to their communities. Be sure to follow us on Instagram (@enjoy_essential) and Facebook for specials, sales and exclusive designs!

and what new skill would you love to learn? 

Given more time and money, I would love to take a class in photography. I am obsessed with those gorgeous, white photos with bright pops of color that are so trendy right now! Bloggers have such an awesome talent for staging simple items to look like a million bucks!

top picks: Don't Kill My Vibe Women's Tank, For Charity: Because I'm Worth It Tee Or Tank, Killin It Tee

now its time to meet allie, the brains behind call me sassafras:

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why dont you tell us mores bout yourself, allie?

Hey y'all! I'm Allie and I blog at Call Me Sassafras. I like whale sharks, folk music, science and graphic design. I started my blog because I wanted a place to celebrate andown my own quirks and hopefully inspire other women to radically embrace themselves in the same way. When you visit Call Me Sassafras, expect to find that science isn't scary (even if you're not a "science person"), a happy + productive life is your choice + that pretty things are oh-so-important. And you better believe there will be plenty of sass along the way. 

and what would you like to learn?

I would most like to learn how to do my own website and blog coding. As a blogger, I hate having to hire someone to tweak my blog every time I want to change it (aka approximately twice a day)--especially when I feel like it's something I should be able to do myself!

get reading: It's Hard to Be a Multipassionate Blogger, Missing Links: a big dose of science, Finding Inspiration for Your Blog Posts

and last, but certainly not least, we have laura, of side street style: 

twitter // instagram // bloglovin // pinterest

tell us about your adorable family, laura:

We are a creative couple who also happen to be parents to an awesome little man. We love to travel, eat good food, enjoy the outdoors and indulge in our passion for fashion and interiors while attempting to be great hands-on parents. John is a traditional barber and Laura is a snap happy girl and South Africa Expat living the Wales, UK

and what do you want to learn?

Laura would love to train as a forest school teacher as well as have the time to write a illustrate a children's book.

good reads: TRAVEL INSPIRATION AND SIMPLE PLEASURES, THE CONSCIOUS COLLECTION, BEACH ADVENTURES PART 1

hope you had a great time meeting all my sponsor ladies! want to get in on next months meet the sponsors post? check out my sponsor page for details!

spaghetti squash and creamy pesto recipe. a guest post by jessica of jess loves this life.

i have a special treat for you guys today! my friend jessica (who i met through the AWESOME bloggers giving back group) is here to show you how to make an AMAZING looking spaghetti squash and pesto! take it away jessica:

Hey there! I'm Jess, and I blog over at Jess Loves This Life-a blog about my every day life, my love for Disneyland, my pup, crafts, and food! Today I'm sharing one of my favorite meals with you: spaghetti squash with creamy pesto sauce & roasted tomatoes. Yummmm! I won't bore you with a long intro, because really, you need to get to making this asap!

For the squash...

1. Preheat your oven to 375 F.
2. Pierce the squash a few times with a sharp knife (confession: this part freaked me out, I thought I was going to chop my hand off at any moment, so I had my fiancé help me!)
3. Sit your squash directly on the oven rack for an hour
4. When done, cut open the squash, remove the seeds and pulp, and separate strands with a fork. The squash will be REALLY hot, so make sure you use an oven mitt to hold it down while you do this!

For the pesto... 

You'll need:
-2 cups of fresh basil leaves
-1/2 cup of paremsan cheese
-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
-1/3 cup of walnuts (or pine nuts, though I had a hard time finding those)
-3 garlic cloves, minced
-heavy cream

1. Combine the basil and the walnuts together, and blend. Ideally you should do this in a food processor to make everything easier, but I don't have one. My blender worked just fine, it just left my pesto the slightest bit chunky, which I think made it really tast!
2. Add the garlic and cheese to the blender, and slowly add in the olive oil.
3. In a small pan over medium heat, slowly mix the pesto with a few splashes of heavy cream. This will make everything smoother and taste even better!

While the squash is cooking, lightly coat 4 to 5 mini heirloom tomatoes, cut in half, with olive oil and bake for 10-15 minutes. Top your squash with the pesto and tomatoes. Enjoy!

This is one of my favorite meals because not only is it simple to make, it's hearty and savory too! The possibilities with spaghetti squash are endless! What's your favorite way to have it??

Thanks so much to Victoria for letting me hang out here today! Don't forget to come say hello all around the internet!

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easter fun + taking a break from weekly wishes

happy monday everyone! i hope everyone had a great easter weekend!

we did things a little backwards as far as easter/jamess birthday are concerned this year. normally for easter, wed go to church, and then if someone in the family (either my moms side or my dads) was throwing a party, wed go to that, and then wed spend jamess birthday (which is also his grandmas birthday) in san diego with his family. 

well this year, easter happened to fall on my brother in laws birthday, so we spent easter in san diego and did birthdays at the same time (meaning, well get to stay in town for jamess birthday). which, despite the fact that driving two-three hours (depending on traffic, which happened to be bad BOTH saturday and sunday) to stay the night at somebody elses house (not one of my favorite activities) totally stresses me out, the weekend turned out to be a very nice change of pace. 

obviously there was egg dying on saturday (which alice had never done before because she was too little last year):

and apparently alice LOVES hard boiled eggs if theyve been dyed first (i dont even REMEMBER the last time i offered her hard boiled eggs without her throwing them back at me). 

then sunday we had easter brunch (and i only pouted a little about not getting to go to church) and after that jamess grandma put together a little egg hunt for alice and her cousin:

then it was time for cake and birthdays:

(the 120 on the cake was my idea, jamess grandma only had number candles but didnt have everyones ages, so we added them all together and got 120. conveniently, she did have candles for that)

and later, since it was the hottest day ever and great-grandma and great-grandpa have a pool, and grandma (jamess mom) got alice a new swimsuit and life vest, there was swimming:

finally, when alice was just too cranky to function, we packed up the car for the LONGEST DRIVE HOME EVER. seriously. bumper to bumper traffic for over an hour THROUGH CAMP PENDLETON WHERE WE COULDNT EVEN GET OFF THE FREEWAY. and to make matters worse, it was easter sunday, and all in n outs were closed. 

but really, everything was fine. we had a nice easter, and now its time to get ready for jamess birthday. and my color theory class starting right after that. and then school week the next week. and then finals and my cousins graduation right after that. and then more birthdays for my brother and cousin after that. and then a quick trip to santa barbara and a wedding (unrelated) the weekend after that. 

so, um... what im getting at here is that ive kind of got a LOT going on right now, and weekly wishes? well, i dont really have the time (or energy) to work on new small goals every week. so, for the rest of april, and may, and possibly even the rest of the summer, the only goals ill be talking about are my big monthly goals. 

and im really looking forward to that. 

how to make a fitted sheet (out of that flat sheet that you werent using anyway)

embarrassing confession time: i am a violently fitful sleeper. to the point where i WEAR GIANT GAPING HOLES in my sheets. im not kidding. i wish i was kidding, because a few months ago, i finally wore out the super fancy sheets we got on clearance right after we got married. and i dont mean that the sheet finally wore out, i mean that there was a distinct, obvious, victoria-sized hole on my side of the bed and the rest of the sheet was perfect.

at the time this happened, we had NO money for new sheets. not even crappy ones, given that our (hand-me-down) mattress is a king sized extra thick pillow top and the cheapest cheap sheets i could find were $40 +.  i knew we couldnt get crappy sheets because one time i had crappy sheets and i wore them to ribbons in like a year. so i started researching options and i found a few tutorials on how to make a fitted sheet. 

and i was like, "great! i totally have the flat sheet that came with our set because theres nothing i hate more than flat sheets and i have a matching one hanging out in the linen closet wasting space so ill use that! problem solved!"

but just about all of these tutorials involved measuring your mattress and doing all this complicated math (i guess its not that complicated, but please remember that im HORRIBLE at math), measuring the dimensions of the mattress and adding various amounts to account for hems, elastic casing, and seam allowances. 

i started taking measurements and trying to work out the math but it got too complicated and i wasnt sure the flat sheet would be big enough and my enthusiasm for making a fitted sheet waned all the way down to "oh well, thats too much work, ill just pull out the ugly flannel sheet that i hate and hope we have enough money for nice sheets when that one eventually wears out". 

then one day a couple weeks ago, it hit me that flat sheets are specifically designed to wrap all the way around the mattress and that OF COURSE it was enough fabric and the only measurement i even needed was the mattress height and i didnt even have to do ANY hems or casings. 

awesome. 

so, i finally made our fitted sheet. and because i know that i am certainly not the only person out there that HATES sleeping with a flat sheet (they make me claustrophobic, ok), i thought that all you kind folks would appreciate this little tutorial, because whats better than getting a free extra fitted sheet in your sheet set?

heres what you need:

flat sheet in the same size as your mattress
measuring tape
rotary mat + clear ruler
marking pen of some kind
scissors or rotary cutter
pins
lots and lots of elastic (enough to go ALL THE WAY around your mattress, my king sized sheet used about 8.5 yards)
sewing maching (not pictured)

and heres what you do:

step one: fold your flat sheet in quarters with all four corners exactly together (this makes it so you only have to cut and measure once):

step two: measure the overall height of your mattress, and add about an inch or so to account for the seam allowances (my mattress was about 13 inches high, so i did 14 inches):

step three: mark a square using that measurement on the corner of your sheet (so, in my case, 14x14 inches):

and cut it out, cutting through all four layers at the same time:

step four: pin each corner together right sides together (and dont mess this up like i did):

this is what makes the "pockets" for your mattress)

step five: sew each corner shut, using a short straight stitch for extra durability:

step six: finish your seam allowances with a zigzag stitch (this is important to prevent fraying, since sheets get washed a lot, you dont want the seams to wear out):

step seven: heres where things get tricky, set your sewing machine to a stretch stitch (like the one thats a zigzag/running stitch combination, and place one end of your elastic under the presser foot like so:

and sew a few stitches back and forth to secure the end. next pull your elastic TIGHT and hold it right up against the edge of the sheet (just like in the picture) sew ALL THE WAY around your sheet, keeping the elastic pulled as tightly as possible. 

it should look like this on the inside:

and this on the outside:

step eight: when you get all the way back to where you started, keep sewing the elastic until it overlaps the beginning by about an inch, and then back stitch a few times to make sure its EXTRA secure:

step nine: clip any threads you have left, and then youre done! go enjoy your brand spanking new custom fitted sheet!

but after telling a few people about this project, i noticed that flat sheets are a pretty polarizing issue. people either love them or hate them. what are your thoughts on flat sheets? necessary, or unpleasant? 

oven fried potato recipe.

ok, so i kind of teased this post on instagram (did i mention im back on instagram? you can follow me @povertyluxe if you like cats and food), and it was supposed to go up later in the week, but school starting has resulted in a lot of brain farts and wibbly-wobbly scheduling. 

also, this is one of those recipes that i just. cant. stop. eating. 

so im posting it today. 

today im going to show you how to make these AMAZING oven-fried potato... disks?

theyre not really fries, and theyre not really chips. honestly, im not sure what to call them, other than delicious:

ok, so an old friend of mine from high school contributes to this lovely blog called the happy hunters. and recently she posted this potato recipe and i was like "OMG I HAVE TO TRY THAT RIGHT NOW". but then i realized, i am way, WAY too lazy to fry anything. 

but i still wanted the yummy potatoes. 

so i came up with a brilliant solution: i oven fried them. 

as you can clearly see, problem SOLVED:

not only is this recipe the PERFECT salty/carby side dish/snack, its also CHEAP, since, you know, potatoes regularly go on sale at sprouts 3 pounds for a dollar. meaning, these are actually WAY CHEAPER than buying potato chips. just saying. 

anyway, back to the recipe. 

ingredients:

(note: i wrote this recipe for one potato, which makes like, a two person amount, feel free to double/triple/quadruple this recipe as necessary)

1 of those freakishly large russet baking potatoes

olive oil

seasonings of your choice (i did salt, garlic powder, and black pepper)

instructions:

start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees and liberally oiling a rimmed baking sheet or jelly roll pan (this part is especially important). 

next, while the ovens preheating, slice up your potato(es) into approximately 1/8 inch slices (this would be an especially helpful time to own a mandoline. unfortunately, we do not). 

now place your sliced potatoes onto the oily baking sheet in a single layer (again, important) and coat to tops with olive oil using a pastry brush. 

bake for about 20 minutes, flip over, return to oven and bake for another 5-10 or so minutes until browned and crispy. 

top with your preferred seasonings. 

eat immediately.