{Office sorta before & After}

I found out a few days ago that I have bronchitis and that's why I haven't been able to fully function as a human being let alone "super mom" but got a surprising call today to find out on top of bronchitis I also have strep throat. YAY ME! But regardless of my illnesses this year I got around to finally getting my office slash guest room somewhat functional yesterday.

Mind you my office still has a bit to go but at least it's getting closer to finished. My office also combines as a guest room when company comes. It's kinda been my "everything that doesn't have a home store room" for so long that it was driving me nuts to not be able to find the things because the box they were in was buried.

I mean by no means is my office done - I still want to put up a few more shelves and organize my file cabinet and figure out what I am going to be putting in the hope chest (which is under boxes right now) but it is coming together nicely and can now be used to welcome guests and has become a bit more functional. Plus, I got to put up my artwork all over my room - I have more to put up but at least it feels like MY room and not just a storage room with my computer in it.

Below are some pictures taken the day before the "big clean" and a few taken after.

see the pile of laundry & boxes covering the couch - plus a chair I am going to redo this summer

it's just a mess

view from the door - the couch has storage under the seat and folds down into a bed

the white dresser holds extra linens

yes there are still boxes and YES that is a christmas tree but at least I am getting somewhere

{Potluck and Gaming}

William's meetup group had a potluck at Phoenix Fire Games and they had a great turnout. I made sure there were subs but I couldn't stay because I have been sick with some nasty little bug (found out today it's bronchitis) and I left Aaron to help William and William put him in charge of snapping a few pictures of the event while I took Sam, Ruth and Myrna home with me to cough in privacy. Below are the images Aaron captured of the night and the last two images are ones I took when we came to pick them up.

I really should leave Aaron with William more often because he captured a lot of fun moments, especially of himself! Enjoy!

I took this image obviously since Aaron's in the picture

and I took this one too 'cause I wasn't sure what William or Aaron had captured

{No Bake Cheese Cake}

I just adore I am baker's cheese cake in a jar and I just had to try her recipe for "no bake cheese cake in a jar"  mind you I didn't do cheese cake in a jar but a whole cheese cake and I did modify the recipe just a bit to fit what I had at home.

No Bake Cheese Cake

1 pkg 8oz cream cheese (room temp - or put in microwave for 45 seconds to soften)

1 - 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

juice from a large whole lemon (you can use as little or as much as you like - start with a little then add more if you want)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract (if you want the cheese cake to be as light as possible use clear vanilla - I had regular and it worked just fine)

Directions: Combine ingredients and mix until smooth and creamy. Add to pie plate lined with graham cracker crust (I used a box of graham cracker crumbs and followed the recipe) and add whatever topping you would like (I used cherry pie filling). Be sure to refrigerate for at least 3 hours, I didn't wait and it was softer then I would have liked but we just couldn't wait for it to set properly. This is a good recipe to do the night before.

Next time I make this I am going to try and make a homemade topping and see about finding some clear vanilla & some vanilla bean, not to mention making my graham cracker crust from scratch and not from a box. As you can tell from the above picture it was hit and there is only a little bit left despite it not being refrigerated 'til firm.

I am going to try and do them in a jar for gifts this summer and I bet that will be a big hit with friends and family.

{Garden - Check}

Ruth and I went to Walmart and picked up plants, dirt and tools to create a small garden - which ended up being a bit bigger then we had planned but it all worked out - just take a look below.

Ruth helping me to get the soil de-weeded and ready

Isn't she just too cute!

As you see we have one large box to the left and one smaller one off to the right

Ruth helped me mix in the soil mixture but when it came to adding the cow poo, she said nope

This is the bigger box, it holds zucchini, summer squash, watermelon & honeydew

Ruth changed to her swimsuit to turn off the sprinkler

as you can see we added two new sections to the left, one holding pumpkin and the other housing spaghetti squash. The smaller box holds pear tomatoes, sugar peas & strawberries and off to the right of it is a smaller almost non existent onion patch.

She's daddy's girl and was tickled pink to see that daddy loved her garden 'cause it's hers now, at least in her mind it is...lol

Ruth wanted to show Myrna the dandelion puffs

MJ loved 'em

And then Ruth was done and telling me to get her 'cause she wanted to go eat ice cream...lol
BTW we have basil & mint right outside the back door of the house too.

{In my Yard}

I photographed the plant life in my yard and captured a bee or two as well....enjoy!