Vacation

I will be gone for the next week as our family takes our summer vacation.  I will be back to posting the following Monday.  Have a blessed week everyone!

Feminine Friday – 07/16/10

It’s time once again for Feminine Friday over at Buildeth Her House.  This is what I wore today.

This is a dress I bought a few years ago at a garage sale for $2.  It’s a cute khaki colored linen jumper with flowers embroidered on the hem.  I just love this dress because it’s so cool and comfortable!  The t-shirt is one I bought at Walmart this year, I think it was $5 new.  You can’t really tell from the picture, but the neckline is gathered and it looks so nice with this jumper.  I’m wearing my white leather walking shoes because it’s errand day.

I won’t be participating in Feminine Friday next week because we’ll be gone on vacation.  But the following week, I’m going to try to make my Feminine Friday post about dressing feminine even while on a camping vacation

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Fix-It Friday #62

It’s time once again for another Fix-It Friday over at i heart faces!  Today we’ll be working with a photo of Amy’s cute little girl that was taken while they were visiting Grandma last week.

I thought this was such a sweet photo of this cute little girl.  The colors are so nice together.  I decided that the photo needed just a bit of a pop and a little muting, just to give it that “summery” feeling.   This week I have 2 fixes, 1 color and 1 Black & White This is how I edited the photo in Photoshop Elements 7:

Color Fix:

1. Ran Amy McMasters “Squeaky Clean” action (flattened)
2. Pioneer Woman’s “Boost” action (flattened)
3. Pioneer Woman’s “Lovely” action (flattened)
4. Pioneer Woman’s “Slight Light” action (flattened)
5. Paint the Moon’s “Sugar Cookies” action (flattened)
6. Cropped using the Rule of Thirds
7. Coffee Shop “Vignette” action (flattened)
8. Re-sized and prepared for the web

I think my edits did just what I planned on.  The photo is still colorful, but the muting gives it a summery feel.  Here’s my color edit:

Black & White Edit:

1. Amy McMasters “Squeaky Clean” action (flattened)
2. Pioneer Woman’s “Boost” action (flattened)
3. Pioneer Woman’s “Lovely” action (flattened)
4. Pioneer Woman’s “Slight Light” action (flattened)
5. PIoneer Woman’s “BW Beauty” action (flattened)
6. Paint the Moon’s “Sunny Days” action (flattened)
7. Cropped using the rule of thirds
8. Resized and prepared for the web

Here’s my B&W edit:

Here’s a side-by-side comparison:

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Frugal Friday – Saving Time and Money on Dinner

I often have several months worth of meat in my freezer.   I purchase things when their on sale.  I stock up on turkeys, bags of chicken leg quarters (often going for around $0.30 per pound, hamburger meat, etc.  This saves me money.  BUT, to save time, I often cook it before hand.  I’ll take and boil a turkey or a bag of leg quarters, saving the broth to use later. I take all the meat off the bones and then freeze them in 2 cup portions for later use in casseroles and meals.  I then even take the bones and cook them in my crockpot with some more water to make a nice, healthy bone stock.  Since I use meat broths to cook all my rice and as needed in recipes I use it alot and this saves me a lot of money.  I put the broth and bone stock in 2 cup portions in zip-lock bags and freeze.  All I have to do it thaw and use.  I also will pre-cook my hamburger meat.  I add a bit of onion and garlic when I brown it and then freeze it in 2 cup portions to use in later meals such as tacos.  This saves a step and make meal-time a breeze.  Anyway, this is what works for me and it’s both frugal and time saving!

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