My house is somewhat secluded.  I jokingly refer to it as the "haunted house at the end of the cul-de-sac" because it has little-to-no curb appeal from the street. In return, I have loads of privacy.  Unfortunately, the first, and pretty much only, feature you notice from the road is the mailbox. This is what it looked like when I moved in:

The first thing I did was give the poor mailbox a much needed haircut.  I went with a clean shave.

Progress:

And.......... *drumroll*

So, so much better.  However, I think anything would have been an improvement.

New Webpage

I've been working away on my new web-page to showcase my illustrations and designs.  By "working away" I actually mean working away, back tracking, and then working away again.  I keep discovering new web templates I like better which results in having to start completely over.

Luckily, I think I've picked the real winner and I'll hopefully be able to start using it.

Food! Finally!

You know you need to go to the grocery store when you finish off your milk and cereal at the same time and have to eat peanut butter on Ritz crackers for lunch.

Not pictured: 8 piece fried chicken dinner, 2 sides, and rolls which was $10.49 + tax.

Total: $84.03
Paid: $50.39

Not too bad, but not great either.  Given, I got 2 bags of potatoes, 5 boxes of breakfast bars, and splurged somewhat on the paper towels (I was out) and canned coke (It's for visitors mostly). I still feel like I could have done better. :)

Dear Deer,

I bought this house a little while ago and I'm trying to clean up the neglect from the previous owners and make the exterior stand out.  Please stop eating my newly planted plants.  I left these out (way too long, I might add) for 2 weeks in their containers. Not one nibble.

The second I plant them, they get devoured in the night.

RIP Hibiscus.  You will be remembered and replaced with something deer resistant.

(who thought a hibiscus would be so appetizing?)

I'll make updates as they happen with my new house.

Crazy Couponer?

I know that Crazy Coupon show has gained populatritiy on TLC, but I've been doing the coupon thing for quite awhile.. just not to the degree of some of the people on that show.  No one needs 72 bottles of mustard.  Plus, I'm allergic. :)

My goal is just to use coupons on items I need, or will need, and only buy a few if I'm buying multiples.  My process is to buy Sunday newspapers every week, keep the inserts based on date, and then use Southern Savers to figure out the sales per week and where the coupons are located.  Easy.

The total was $68.70 and I paid $32.57. Not too shabby.

Hodgepodge of Thoughts

 I've neglected this blog for entirely way too long.  Time to change!

I originally created this blog to only be about me creating art.  However, I believe at this point in time I'm going to make it a blog about my life, my art, recipes, my adventures, and whatever else comes up.  I was going to make two blogs, one strictly for art and this one, but I think that would be too time consuming at the moment.  It could be a possibility later.

So, after reading a really inspiring article by Holli Conger about becoming an illustrator, I've decided to give it a go.  I figure, why not me?  I can try and the worst possible result is that I don't succeed, but that has to be better than the "what if's".   The only subject that has really grabbed me in life is art.  In college, my peers would ask me if I was an Art Major.  Well, kind of.  I was a Film Major.. which actually surprised them.  I think they were expecting to hear something illustration/graphic related due to my constant doodling throughout Spanish class.

So now it begins.  That, and I'm finally determined enough to finish a Children's book I started last year.  There might be some mentions of it from time to time as I trek through the process.  We'll see how that one goes...