Almost Gypsy Soul

We've all seen the iconic windmills of the eastern plains providing water for livestock and families alike. I grew up in a house which water was provided by a windmill. Luckily the wind blew enough that we were not frequently without water, but it did happen. Not a good way to start off the day....needing a shower and no water because the wind hadn't blown enough. Boo. Last summer Assistant Pack Leader and I went to a farm sale (and we didn't tell Mike). We were the proud owners of a 6 foot windmill and a 8 foot windmill.....driving a Ford Danger. Let me tell you, that just doesn't work. So with little regard to our pride, we called Mike to come rescue us...with a 1 ton flatbed pickup. This is what we envisioned   And thanks to John and Mom visiting and being agreeable to home improvement projects, I ended up with this Nailed it!

and the best thing in the world. I've never lived someplace where I can "just go shopping" and that is ok with me. Actually its more than ok with me. I have a Wal-Mart now and I just despise the place. I usually choose spending more on groceries just for the opportunity to forego Wal-Mart, which I lovingly refer to as Hell. Since I turned off my tv for the summer, I browse on the interweb alot more. And the other day browsing turned into buying. damnit. but I got some pretty cute things. Etsy and Amazon....pure evil I tell you! This is my first accidental purchase of last week. I've lately become obsessed with arrows and feathers and this is just so dang cute! $20 at MDspark's Etsy shop, I just couldn't pass it up! And then my feather AND arrow purchase. I bought Loretta back in February and we are still sporting the cheesy plastic tab key ring. I thought to myself I could make that...I'll just run to the craft store until I ...

so my dirty clothes baskets sit behind the door in my closet therefore, I throw piles of clothes on the floor in my room and that is not conducive to trying to keep a clean room. (I'm trying to keep a clean room for some odd reason). So, I get this bright idea to buy a nice (and cute) laundry hamper for out IN my room, so I pull out the Google machine and get to shopping. I found TONS of  a few cute laundry hampers that I would love to have be ok with in my room. Except they carried a price tag of $60-100 bucks! After I ranted about how I would never, ever spend $100 bucks on a laundry hamper, I decided that Pinterest would probably better fit my needs....... where I found this...... and proceeded to spend $100 "making" my own laundry hamper. Strangely enough, I'm ok with my $100 laundry hamper....because its a badass laundry hamper...and I'm officially old because I'm excited about a badass laundry hamper.

If you remember my table dilemma you can only imagine the anguish of trying to pick out dining room chairs. Of course most people pick one chair and get 6 of them. Lucky for me my table is not big enough for 6 chairs.....so that was on my side. However, I thought tables were expensive....try buying chairs. So I ended up with the hodge podge of chairs and I'm happy with that. It matches me, it matches my life, it lets me not have to make one big decision on what chairs to buy.  I bought a set of parsons chairs from Target....of which I cant' find a picture of online. So maybe with my final post of dining room chairs I'll show you them (whenever I get the last one done). But on to the ones that I made over......with a little pintrispriation. Pinterest inspiration This chair from Pinterest inspired the makeover for my 2 chairs that I found at Serendipity in Limon while I was home for Memorial Day, and yes that would be Memorial Day 2013. I may or may not have a prob...

Well I wanted to link up today....ya know go back to this blogging thing in full force....BBBUUUUUTTTTTT it seems that this link up is no longer. I'm getting old. I've been gone too long. Who knows, but since its my blog and I'll do what I want, I will pretend there is still a link up and I'm linking....I'm linking....I'm linking. My new house has a backyard that looks like this. Well, that's a bummer. So before the papers were even signed, I was pinning away. This is what it should resemble when I someone I hire gets done with it! Landscaping just really isn't my forte. And of course mine will be a scaled down version of this because I'm a cheapskate. But my plans do include splurging for the hot tub.

They say catchy titles is one of the most important parts of blogging, so even though I do not even begin to pretend that my little large sewing project is anywhere near the same ballpark as Betsy Ross's accomplishment, it is still pretty darn good for this non-sewer. Catchy title? or no? Did you want to find out what in the heck I did to think I might be Betsy Ross? Do you know who Betsy Ross is? Colorado Transplant Friend has two of the most adorable kiddos ever, Little Boy and Miller Baby. Oh and those cute Bronco outfits, yeah I picked those out. Little Boy and Miller Baby Colorado Transplant Friend wanted to make them quiet books for quite a while. She decided that she just didn't have time to spend on sewing so I got this great idea that I would make quiet books  for Christmas . Luckily, I started in plenty of time because even though I have a sewing machine, I'm a sewing disaster and this project is way out of my league. I figure they are kids, they won...

........but I tried to eat the whole crock pot by myself of this recipe! It is fackin' AMAZING and EASY! The crafty mom with scattered thoughts got it together on this one! I copied her recipe from here blog here to make it easy on you guys, but it might be a good idea to swing by her blog and check out some of her other stuff! Slow Cooker Creamy Green Chile Enchilada Soup Ingredients: 32 oz chicken both 24 oz chicken breasts 2 cans of Green Chili enchilada sauce 4 oz can of diced green chilies (I might have used more than 4oz. Ok I did, I used more than 4 oz) 3/4 cup of water (As I'm editing this blog, I realized I didn't use any water) 2 tbsp of ground cumin 1 tbsp of chile powder 1 tsp of onion powder 1 tsp of garlic powder 1 cup of frozen corn (defrosted) (I used canned, drained because I needed cans for a crafty project I'm getting ready to start) 1 block of PHILADELPHIA cream cheese (cut up into a few pieces) (I used neufchatel cheese because its...

Well here I go again, changing recipes before I've even tried them the way whoever invented them wrote them. This is supposed to use ground turkey, but I think that is really expensive and when we processed my antelope we didn't add anything to it, so its very lean! I bet its even better for you than turkey! Click here for the recipe that I changed with the meat type and I substituted pizza sauce for spaghetti sauce that I make from a packet and tomato sauce (jar sauce is too expensive I think so I don't buy it) and I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta (hey I was unemployed for a while, cottage cheese is cheaper)....maybe I'm just cheap, no I do not think that is possible....anyway,  I think I followed the rest of the recipe.

#betterthanamacdouble #skinnymightnotbesobad #dietdoesnthavetobeawful This recipe is yummy! like really yummy. and super easy, I think it maybe took 15 minutes from beginning to the first forkful. I got the recipe from Zahlmann Zoo Crew blog and I didn't even change it, I actually followed a recipe, that is pretty good.

I can't believe that this recipe is even remotely healthy or lower calorie because it is super, super yummy!!!!! I was so hungry cooking it that I forgot to take a picture of my own, so I'll be stealing one off of Pinterest for you to look at (you are getting hungry, very, very hungry!). Click here for the full recipe from Hope or take your chances with my abbreviated version. #aren'tyouhungrynow Ingredients 1/2 lb whole wheat pasta (just use whatever you got in the cupboard) 4 slices bacon 1 large chicken breast (or 2 smaller ones),  cut into bite-sized pieces, salt & pepper those babies 1 Tbsp flour 1/2 pkg ranch dressing mix 1 cup lowfat milk 1/2 lowfat shredded cheese Directions 1. Cook the pasta, follow the directions or just cook it however you want 2. Fry the bacon, drain with papertowels, keep 1/2 Tbsp of bacon grease  in the pan 3. Add chicken  and cook until its not pink anymore 4. Sprinkle flour and ranch dressing mix over cooked chicke...

[Linking up with Michelle at The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday] When all else fails where do you turn..... duck tape and baling wire Pinterest! So when words are failing me for my blog, I link-up with Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday . So here goes some of my oldie but goodies, some new finds and Pinterest isn't Pinterest without some quotes. Some images had to be censored for blogland. Don't hate me. Click here to follow me on Pinterest. Oldie but Goodies New finds No, I am not pregnant, note the wine pic is bigger thus more important Quotes  I need reminded of (or just love)

Take this recipe, go to the grocery store and treat yourself.....TONIGHT! best.chicken.ever. Go on over to Pip&Ebby for the step by step picture tutorial recipe from the genius lady who came up with this recipe! If you want the quick version, read on! Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. In each of 6 defrosted chicken breast halves, cut a slit horizontally into the breast without going all the way through to the other side. Step 2: Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add: 2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Step 3: Add: 8-oz. package of cream cheese 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded Stir until the cheese is melted. Step 4: Divide the mixture between the 6 breasts and spoon into the openings. Seal the ends and secure with toothpicks. Place the chicken in the prepared baking dish. I propped the breasts on t...

Music man made me pine stools to match my coffee table that I got for Christmas. It probably nearly killed him to do OSU on here....he's a die hard Wyoming fan. So I decided that there were a few Pinterest projects that I wanted to give a try with hair-on hide. I was warned by several friends that hair-on hide stools weren't as good as they seem as the hair will all rub off. I went ahead and did it anyway....I still have enough hide I can recover when it all rubs off. So here is the finished product of my cowhide bar stools. And a project for the rest of my hide?......Can I master this one? Thoughts?

NASCOE is our employees association. At each area or national meeting a scholarship auction is held to keep funding in the various scholarship funds that are available to NASCOE member's children. Each state in attendance is asked to donate items to the scholarship auction. I volunteered to do our scholarship item when we went to San Fransisco for the All-West Area Rally. After cruising Pinterest to decide what could fit in a suitcase (mine to get out there and someone else's on the way back), I settled on this cute horseshoe windchime. My horseshoe windchime even has authentic Wyoming horse poo in it :) I don't do things halfway ya know..... And another little side note....that JB Weld was one bad A!!!!! Here is my finished chime......now to get to work on one for my little homestead.

Two enthusiastic thumbs up! This recipe from the Budget Savvy Diva is awesome! and easy! Comfort in a Dish is how she describes it and I couldn't agree more! Ingredients 14 oz of Orecchiette Pasta (I don't know what that is so I just used penne) 1 Tbsp Olive Oil 1 Cup of Chopped Onion 3 Cloves of Garlic ( Minced) 1 Cup of Sour Cream 4 oz of Cream Cheese ( Room Temperature) ¾ Cup of Parmesan Cheese 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice + Zest 10 Oz of Spinach ( Make sure to squeeze excess moisture, after it has been thawed of course) 13.5 Can of Artichoke Hearts rinsed and chopped 1 Cup of Mozzarella ½ Teaspoon of Salt 1 Teaspoon of Pepper Instructions Preheat Oven To 425 Cook pasta according to the box. Keep ¼ Cup of the Pasta Water before you drain the cooked pasta. Heat oil in pan and cook onions for 8 – 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one minute. In a large bowl – Mix Sour Cream, Cream Cheese, Parmesan, Lemon (juice and zest), onions, and garlic. Add Past...

I'm supposed to be on a diet because I'm chunky. I'm an awful dieter and the worse I lose, the harder it is to stick with it, so I try to find ways I can still have a "guilty pleasure" here and there and still not completely fall off the bandwagon (unlike the half box of girl scout cookies I just ate, dang those cute kids asking me to please buy some cookies!) I snagged these little dandies off of Sally's Baking Addiction via Pinterest. I thought I would give these brownies (my guiltiest pleasure) a whirl and see if they stand a chance at replacing brownies filled with oil, flour and sugar. Skinny Blender Brownies Ingredients 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter 6 oz. low fat vanilla greek yogurt (I used honey because I like it plain too, so the rest of the container won't be thrown out) 1/4 cup skim milk 1 large egg (or 2 egg whites WHAT?! You need to use the whole egg! That is where all the nutrients are!) 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 1 cu...

I've been to Idaho so naturally I felt like I should try out the recipe. And The Retired Guy's wife has chickens. Chickens that lay approximately 28 eggs per day. Yes folks, per day. Everyone that knows Retired Guy and his wife, they have high cholesterol. But this recipe is ideal for folks that have been to Idaho and have an over abundance of eggs in the fridge. I'll warn you that scooping out those taters was not as easy as I thought it would be.....maybe its because I'm not a real Idahoan? Anyway that little bit of info explains the aluminum foil boats that my taters are cooking in. via Our Best Bites blog Yup! I NAILED it! Well maybe I need to practice one more time.

Hands down the best chicken I have EVER had! I've made several recipes from Six Sisters and they are golden. They got this cooking thing DOWN! I managed to find this one on a post called 100 Healthy Dinner Recipes , so I'm just taking their word for it,  you should too. I mean seriously go to the grocery store right now ( even   especially if you have to leave work early). Amazingly enough, there is only 1 ingredient that I didn't have (molasses) so I mostly followed this recipe! Ingredients: 6 boneless/skinless chicken breasts 12 slices deli ham (thin) 6 slices canned pineapple 6 slices Swiss cheese 1/2 cup pineapple juice (I just used the juice drained from my canned pineapple) 4 Tbl. unsalted butter, melted 2 Tbl. BBQ seasoning 1 Tbl. plain yellow mustard 1 Tbl. honey 1 Tbl. molasses 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp chili powder Directions: Put a breast in a gallon zip-top bag and pound the thick end until the entire breast is uniform in thickness,...

This is pretty much the most amazing theme care packages ever (I might be a little biased, but lets just ignore that for now while I revel in my genius). I present to you..........  Y OU TOLD ME TO BRING STUFF. STUFF IS A VERY BROAD TERM. ~SI I covered the in side of the boxes with camo duck tape and filled it to the top with some wicked awesome goodies like "Duck Dynasty makes me HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY" ~Phil, Duck Dynasty Season 1 "If you put camouflage on anything it automatically makes it cool" ~Jace, camo cupcakes "Fear the Beard" costume beards "Help me! I falled and I dropped my tea" ~Si, tea bags "Eatin' squirrel brains is where you get your smarts" ~Miss Kay, "squirrel" summer sausage "If you are too busy to hunt ducks, then you are too busy" ~Jace, nerf guns with rubber duck targets "So now that I have my permit, I know I can't eat a donut and keep my hands at 10 & 2...

If you can pin it, you can do it! If you know me at all you know I'm not a big fan of veggies. I'm getting better, but I need me some meat! That being said, I pinned this recipe from The Garden Grazer's blog and its a vegetarian recipe that is delicious! I did make a few adjustments.....like I have about 10 lbs of yellow onions from Little Sister's new job in Utah and I don't like olives so I didn't waste any money on those. And here is my masterpiece, but I will say that rolling corn tortillas is ridiculously impossible! Ingredients {For the sauce} 3 cups organic low sodium vegetable broth 1/4 cup tomato paste 1/4 cup all purpose flour 2 Tbsp. olive oil 2 tsp. cumin 1/4 tsp. garlic powder 1/4 tsp. onion powder 1/4 tsp. chili powder Salt/pepper {For the enchiladas} 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained 1 1/2 cups corn (I used frozen, thawed) 6 oz. fresh baby spinach 6 green onions, thinly sliced 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped 2 ts...