What’s Your Inspiration for February?

A Winter Walk

As I said last weekend, I am definitely in need of some inspiration.  Everything from our daily routine (which has flown out the window lately), to my meal planning, my organization and even my wardrobe just seems like it needs refreshing, a swift kick in the pants if you will, this time of year.

I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s because I’m feeling like spring will never come, because we got our second big snowfall in a month and were snowed in and trying to dig out the past few days, because I’ve been battling a cold this week, or because my daughter decided to stop taking a nap after we took away our kiddos pacis last weekend (as I’m listening to her sing Mary Had a Little Lamb over and over, followed by a made up song that goes, “I’m so good at that soooong” while I’m writing this).  She is cute, but how’s a mama supposed to get a little peace and quiet?

Well, at least the sun is shining today, even though it’s only 10 degrees outside, it looks beautiful, and the sun always makes me feel better. We even got outside and went for a little walk.

So today I thought I’d combine my monthly inspiration post with other links that I hope will give you some inspiration this weekend.

What I’m Reading, And Want to Read

I started reading Prodigal God since it is on my reading list for the year, and my hubs called dibs on Generous Justice. It’s a pretty quick and easy read, but has made me look at and think about the meaning behind the Parable of the Prodigal Son in a whole new way.

Also, we finished reading Radical with our small group for church and now are moving onto The Hole in Our Gospel.  I’ve already read it, but I’m excited for the great conversations that will come from reading it together with our group.

I just purchased a copy of the ebook Parenting with Positive Guidance and am so ready to dive into it.  I haven’t done a great job of reading any parenting books since the “How to Take Care of Your Newborn” type books, and I am desperately in need of some advice/guidance/tools for parenting my two independent and strong-willed children.

Here’s some other inspirations for great books to read:

Green Living Books to Read @ Green…Your Way

Page Turning Tuesday @ Sorta Crunchy

24 Books to Read in 2011 @ Money Saving Mom

Photo by mayeesherr

What I’m Listening To

So, after selling a $150 restaurant gift card on ebay for $142 (can you believe people pay almost face value for gifts cards on ebay?! If you have a gift card you’re not going to use, sell it on ebay and turn it into cash!), my hubs decided he’d like to have a Blu-ray DVD player.  We’ve been talking about this for awhile because you can stream movies and TV shows from Netflix on your Blu-ray, and since we don’t have cable – it made sense for us.

Anyway, back to what I’m listening to, when we got the Blu-ray player my hubs informed me that you could also stream Pandora stations through the player.  Oh, I was hooked.  I heart Pandora – I think it is one of the most genius ways to listen to music without having to hear the same thing over and over, or having to purchase all of the music yourself.

So, I’ve been listening to all my Pandora stations to my little hearts content, but my very favorite station right now is my Sara Bareilles station. Such a great mix of music including Colbie Calliat, Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson, Coldplay and of course Sara.  It makes me so happy. 🙂

In the Kitchen

My meal planning has been majorly lacking lately.  It has not been fun. I know I need to get back in the routine of meal planning, for my own sanity, my family’s health, and our budget. Meal planning just makes sense, and when I don’t meal plan it seems like my whole routine just seems to fall apart.  Not sure why that is, but I do know that I just don’t like it.

Part of the reason I’ve been having a little trouble is because at the beginning of January my old beloved Macbook died and along with it all of my bookmarks for many of my favorite recipes.  Now of course there are hundreds, maybe even millions, of great blogs overflowing with amazing recipes, but I’ve just felt a little lost without my lists.

So, I’ve been on a mission to build up my bookmarks (and back them up) with lots of new yummy recipes to try. But I still need some more inspiration.  So, if you have great recipes you’d like to share – please leave a link in the comments!

Here’s a few on my “To Make List”:

Curried Cream of Chicken Soup

Layered Taco Bake (And How to sneak more veggies into meals, which is something I’m trying to do too.)

The Bathroom Floor

Around the House

As I told you last month, my hubs started putting in a new floor in our bathroom between Christmas and New Years while the kids and I were at my parent’s house.  Well, it is almost finished.  This week the tile and grout went in, and I think that he did such a great job.  Now he just needs to finish up the trim and make the transition piece and we will have a bathroom to be proud of instead of one with really ugly, broken 70’s tile.  Oh, except for the really ugly 80’s tile around the bathtub.  I guess we’ll just keep the shower curtain closed.

Here are some other crafty home projects I would love to do (but probably actually won’t, I just like to pretend that maybe one day I will).

Latch Hook Rug Tutorial

DIY Sweater Pillows

MYO Pottery Barn Knock Off Script Lamp Shade

What inspiring you this month?  What do you do to beat the winter blues?

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*Just a note to say that my monthly inspiration posts are inspired by Megan at Sorta Crunchy – she shares what she’s into each month, and that inspired me to share as well.

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