Have A Dandy Day

Hall Bathroom

2011-12-22T16:54:00.001-06:00

I'm way behind on posting this because we've been finished with this bathroom since my birthday (in October). Just like the other posts from our house, there are tons of pictures.

This is one of my favorite room transformations that we've done because this room was pretty rough to begin with. I know I say this in all my house posts, but I'm not really good at taking pictures of rooms and my camera washes things out a bit. Here's a picture of the color of the bathroom when we bought the house.

These pictures are taken from the hallway.

Just like our kitchen, the bottom half of the walls were stamped plaster. Because it was just a painted plaster wall the bath tub looked pretty bad.

And since an older lady lived here there were large handrails.

There was some nice wallpaper border around the room.

The floor tiles were rather loose and had yellowed with age.

Again, every little thing was painted peach.

Even the trim around the window.

And it was rather dark in the bathroom at night. Especially right when you walked in. Here a shot of the doorway to the hall.

Here's the only source of light.

We started out by painting the ceiling and the upper half of the wall. Then we took out the toilet and sink and things looked pretty bad.

I wanted to keep the old sink but it needed some cleaning up. We got a resurfacing paint for the sink which cleaned it up well. This is the before.

Here it is after.

After painting, installing three light fixtures, an exhaust fan, new floor tiles, and beadboard here she is:

The upper half of the wall looks white but is actually a very light gray. I chose Artic Cotton for the upper half and Slate Pebble for the bottom. It wasn't really rocket science on how I picked them either. I just picked out the top and bottom colors of this paint sample card.

Here's a shot of one of the lights Cory installed. It really brightens up the room and to me, makes it seems larger.

Here's a light Cory put in above the shower.

And the exhaust fan. Cory is so good. :)

Here's a shot of the vanity and toilet. We changed light fixtures.

Here's the medicine cabinet where you can see the difference of the colors. The back of the door is still the drabby peach color that once filled the bathroom.

The linen closet is now all white.

The bath tub is now patched up and painted with marine paint (paint for boats) so that the water will repel off of the walls and protect the plaster. Eventually we may tile around the tub but this was a cheap fix for now. Cory worked so hard by spackling all of the cracks and the grooves from the stamped plaster. He also did a great job at painting multiple coats of marine paint around the tub.

New shower head.

No more old lady handrails.

New toilet paper holder.

I guess I got influenced by the previous owners decorating style and decided to paint the window the same color as the beadboard. This may eventually be painted white, but I 'm trying it out for a while. Does it look too dull this way?

This next picture show the floor that Cory installed. My mother-in-law, Jeanne, was so sweet to give us some ceramic tiles she had bought a few years ago and didn't need. All we had to purchase was the backer board and the grout for the floors. Thanks Jeanne!

Here's an un-ironed shower curtain. It has small gray fleur de lis embroidered on it.

I made another Roman shade with some mini-blinds. I couldn't get a good shot of the colors but it's cream, gray, and light blue.

Here's a side-by -side before and after picture.

We still need some artwork and such for the bathroom but it's functional now and not an eyesore anymore. Cory is the true talent here. He amazes me daily at what he can do. I know his dad would have been so proud of the hard work he has done. I'm so grateful to have him and have truly enjoyed every minute of owning this house with him. It's been so much fun working on the house and making it our own. I'm very blessed.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a merry Christmas!!! God bless you.. :)

Christmas Cheer

2011-12-10T13:50:00.000-06:00

I've been waiting for this Christmas for a while. Not necessarily Christmas 2011, but a Christmas where I was a homeowner. It was even more fun decorating this year since last year we didn't decorate because we were moving. I didn't go all out and deck every hall or anything but I did enjoy putting up some of our decorations. Here's our tree in our still furniture-less living room.

I made a new tree topper this year.

I put the Nativity scene on the mantle this year but I have the perfect place for it whenever we find the piece of furniture I have in mind...maybe next year?

Our house from outside.

You can't really tell that we have bows on our wreaths, but we do. They're just light green.

I put some faux apples on a fir wreath that I ordered for a school fundraiser. Since the wreath is real it is a little harder to work with and my apples keep drooping.

I have a few more small items around the house in other rooms but didn't take any photos.

Random story:
The other day while I was buying the green apples for the wreath I thought I was going to see a real life flash mob (if you don't know what that is then check an example out here, here, or here). I was waiting in line behind a little old lady who was checking out and chatting with the cashier (who was another little old lady). While the cashier was waiting for the old lady to count out her change she began to sing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and looked up at me and smiled. Then before I knew it the little old lady stopped counting her change and started singing as well and smiled at me. I started looking around waiting for someone else to chime in but they didn't. I just got serenaded by two older women. I contemplated joining in but then I realized that they were trying to out sing each other. It was kind of like watching Divas Live (remember that show?) The song ended and nobody else witnessed it but me. They looked at me for approval and I said, "Good job. You sound really good together." I think I let them down by not singing. To make up for it I walked the little old lady out to her car. The end.

My goal is to one day participate in a flash mob. I've been talking it up to some of my students. ;)

Some More Changes

2011-11-30T22:57:00.000-06:00

I'm back with some more little changes that we've made in the past few weeks.

Here's our old porch light. It wasn't so bad, and I liked the seeded glass(you can't really tell by the picture) but I wasn't crazy about the yellow glow is cast at night. Also, it didn't provide too much light.

Here's our new, white, and very bright porch light. We still have to patch up the wall where the old light was mounted. We also bought a little device to screw into the light socket that will automatically turn the light on when it gets dark. You may already know about that product but Cory and I have just discovered it and we thought it was cool.

The next little change was that we FINALLY got curtains for our bedroom. I searched for a while and finally found some I liked and could afford.

Here they are closed.

I found these at Target for $20 a panel, which is on the low end for curtains. I call these curtains my "look for less" because I had been admiring the curtains in the picture below from Ballard Designs but they were $179 a panel.

The next change that has been made (and may not be a permanent one) is that we painted the front door blue.

We went through 3 different shades of blue and finally stayed with this one. I ordered a number decal for the door as well. We're eventually going to install a doorknocker when I find the right one. :) We also decided to take our screen door off for a while since it had been chewed up pretty badly by the squirrels. We may put it back up someday though.

I have wanted to put big numbers on my front door ever since I saw this cover of the 1st Blueprint magazine (RIP).

Another thing that has changed it that our house has been mostly painted on the exterior! Here's a shot of it before. Some of the paint had be scraped off. Also it shows you our house with the white door and the old porch light.

And here it is now. We stayed with gray since we knew we liked it already, just went a tad darker.

The last change that I didn't take a picture of is that we now have a doorbell. We actually bought our doorbell right before Halloween because I wanted to make sure that we heard our trick-or-treaters (we had TWO). We just bought a wireless doorbell system since it didn't really require installation and wiring the house. Eventually we will probably get a wired one but this one will work for now. For those of you who don't know, a wireless doorbell is just a device that plugs into an outlet and the doorbell is basically a remote control for the device to make a sound. The kit we bought had two doorbells so we have one at each front door. We were so pumped about having these doorbells that we would ring them constantly the first day we had them (childish, I know). That day and night we were working on the hall bathroom and were making frequent trips to the garage for supplies and each time Cory would enter the house he would ring the bell. This occurred throughout the day and until we were finished working which was about 1:30 AM.

Fast forward a few days and I hear our doorbell ring for the first time not by Cory or I ringing it, I was happy to go to the door but found out that nobody was there. This made me worry that our doorbell was faulty. This happened again the next day but this time when I answered the door I noticed that our neighbor from across the street was letting someone in....then I realized they may have a wireless doorbell system too. When Cory got home that evening I told him about my theory and we tested it. We rang the doorbell and watched our neighbor go and answer her door. This is not a huge problem but I totally feel awful for the first night of constant ringing of the doorbell. Hopefully, they just unplugged their device that night. Come to think of it, I did see a cop car drive by that night when I was going to and from the garage...I don't think I'll be sharing our situation with them anytime soon. :)

Kitchen

2011-11-06T00:46:00.001-05:00

WARNING: There are LOTS of pictures on this post.

Alright, now that you have been warned about the amount of pictures, I will proceed...Thanks for staying :)

I am finally posting another room. The kitchen has actually been done for months now but I've been either too busy to take pictures and post OR too lazy (aka resting from being too busy) to do it.

Here we go!

The next few pictures are right after Cory & I bought the house. This one is right when you walk in from outside.

Pantry

From the other side of the kitchen.

I fell in love with the cute shelves on either side of the window above the sink.

Here' a shot of the linoleum floor that was starting to peel up.

Vintage stove hood.

There was a rotary phone on the wall that I just loved.

The next picture is a close up of the walls in the kitchen. Below the chair rail that you may have noticed in other pictures, the wall was stamped plaster. The stamping made the wall look like it was made of tiles but it wasn't.

The light fixtures.

The first order of business was to clean the kitchen and to remove the retro shelf paper.

The second thing was to get a new refrigerator. I really liked the old one but it didn't really work well. Fortunately we got a new fridge for a great deal. Unfortunately the new fridge was a little too big to slide easily into the old spot. Cory had to remove the unusually thick chair rail and shaved a little counter top off to get it to fit.

After we installed the refrigerator we decided to install a dishwasher but we had to sacrifice some cabinet/drawer space.

This is the first time Cory blew my mind with fixing up our house. I thought we could get help from someone to install and reconstruct our cabinets but Cory said he could do it. So, with some hesitation on my part I sat back and watched him cut our cabinetry to pieces.

I shouldn't have worried a bit though because he installed it just fine. He even rigged up a nice drawer for our garbage can (pictured later). The dishwasher in this picture still had the protective film on it. Many people who came to see the house thought we had gotten a green dishwasher. It was pretty funny to hear the reactions. "Oh, that's a nice shade...."

I was content on keeping the floors "as is" for a while for money purposes but as we were cutting the cabinets out we noticed that there was nice enough sub-flooring underneath the linoleum that we could salvage until we found the perfect floor.
I'm not going to lie, tearing up the floor was a messy process. A BIG thanks to my mother-in-law, Jeanne, who helped Cory & me scrape up some of the nasty glue.

After the "gunk" was up Cory sanded the whole floor.

And then stained it to look like this:

Next, we painted the ceiling and the top half of the walls. Cory & I both swore that the kitchen was a cream color but as we painted we noticed it was more of a green. We painted the top half of the walls the same color as we painted our bathroom, Glidden's Misty Moonstone. It's a light blue-ish gray.

Then Cory impressed me again by installing new light fixtures. At this time he also moved a light switch that was in an awkward place but I didn't picture document it.

You can really see the color difference in the next picture. See how the bottom half looks green? At this time we took the cabinet doors off painted them white, moved the hardware placement, and replaced the hardware.

We put the cabinet doors back on and moved in at this point. Our kitchen had the half blue/half green look for a while. The reason we just painted the upper half was because the lower half had the stamped plaster tile look that could not be removed. In order to not have the stamped plaster look we would have had to replace the walls or cover it up. We chose the latter. Cory worked really hard to measure and cut the bead board. He did a great job installing it. Here's a picture of the swinging door to our dining room along with the pantry door.

Then, for a little while longer we lived with all the green walls covered except for the area around our sink.

Again, Cory gets the medal for being awesome. He did such a great job at installing our gray tile back splash. (this picture was taken during the installation)

And if you're still with me, here's our finished kitchen!

Our kitchen could technically be a small table eat-in kitchen but I couldn't sacrifice counter space for the microwave. Eventually we will probably get a microwave above the stove (and replace the stove with a stainless steel one). For now, it's on this cart that's been with me for a while. By doing this, though, I could hang on to my gray china cabinet a little longer.

Here's a better picture of the dishwasher with the garbage can drawer.

The drawer slides right out. I love having a large hidden trashcan!

You may have noticed a little silver tray above the stove. It serves two purposes: 1. cover up a small blemish in the bead board and 2. to serve as a recipe holder (magnet). I saw that idea in a Country Living catalog.

I'm probably crazy for getting such a light colored rug for the kitchen but I fell in love with this bathmat at West Elm this summer. I've scotch guarded it and praying that it stays pretty for a while.

This is a flashback to the "before" kitchen. As you can notice the silver back splash and hood are bigger than the actual stove. The stove was replaced a few years ago but the hood had cabinets built around it so the previous owner just left it as is. Instead of replacing the cabinets beside the stove she just moved them down closer to the new unit. This caused the upper cabinets to extend to the end of the wall with nothing underneath them, which looked disproportional.

So we bought a small, cheap-o book shelf at Wal-Mart to fill the void. It's a great place for all my cookbooks and provides some extra counter space too.

If you click on the picture it will enlarge. I tried to label the changes that we made.

And here's a few side-by-side before and after shots that will also enlarge if you click on them.

Wow, if you read to here then you are a true friend. :) You can see that Cory did SO much hard work for this room. I just picked things out and painted. He's so great and talented and I'm very lucky to have him in my life..and I guess he's pretty smart too, he did marry me after all ;) I kid, I kid.
Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Little Changes

2011-10-02T20:07:00.000-05:00

Today I'm posting some little changes we've made around the house. The first picture, though was one I found on my camera that gives a better view of the color of brown that our living room once was. This is a picture of the back of our front door before we painted it white. Now, imagine that color ALL over the walls and ceiling. Very depressing.

Another little change is that we got a new duvet cover! It's just plain white. Very simple, I know, but I've always loved clean, white beds. With it being white I can change out the throw pillow for different looks. And, I got the duvet cover for 50% off, so I can't complain. :)

The next little change that Cory took care of was to take up a ramp that went to our kitchen door. The little old lady that lived here before us had this ramp installed when her health started to decline. We kept it around for a while for moving in furniture and house renovating purposes but quickly were ready to kick it to the curb. Here it is before:

And after:

Another thing we changed was some shrubbery in our front yard. I will be the first one to admit that our house's exterior needs to be repainted and that our landscaping isn't quite up to par. Cory & I have been focusing on getting the inside completed and also have been waiting on some cooler weather to tackle those projects. We have made a small start, though. Here's a picture of our house with some shrubs in front of our porch.

We wanted to open up the front porch some so we took out two shrubs.

When we did that we exposed some squirrel damage. Apparently our house tastes delicious because squirrels are constantly chewing on it. It is REALLY frustrating and I have never wanted to harm a living creature until this has started happening. It is a little freaky when squirrels attack your house and will not run away when you try to scare them off....I'm getting angry just thinking about it. Anyway, we touched up some paint on the places they chewed and then planted some new Hawthorne shrubs in the old shrubs place.

And the last little change is only "little" by last name and size. It's a big change and a VERY happy one (and this change was not made by us). It's our new little nephew, Henry Randall Little. He was born on September 14th and he is a doll. I'm so happy that I get to call him my nephew and I can't wait to see him again.

I hope everyone has a happy week!

Random Tid-bits

2011-09-29T23:29:00.004-05:00

Well, I haven't posted in a while because I have been pretty busy. I will post more house pictures soon. Right now I'm procrastinating. I decided I would revisit a facebook note that I did a few years ago. It was one of those "tag 20 people with 20 random facts" kind of things. I'm going to post 20 new random things about myself. I'll warn you that this is pretty lame so if you want to leave now, I'll understand.
1. Many times when I'm texting somebody I type semi-"ghetto" and have to erase and rewrite messages before I send them. (ex: "Fo' show, girl! That would be dope.") sometimes this happens when I'm on facebook too.
2. I now like the bubble gum pop music that I hated in high school
3. I ruin my apologies with excuses.
4.I use to be friends with a guy who I believe thought he was in a movie by the way he talked. He was real big on the dramatic repeating a line (ex: I just don’t know…….(wait for a bit) I just don’t..know. (and then stare off into the distance)
5.I watch corny television shows and get embarrassed when the dialog is cheesy. I guess that’s because Cory can hear it and I think he’s judging me…which he should be doing.
6.Once someone told me that I could do a self-test to check if I had the West Nile virus by holding my head back (where I would be looking up to the ceiling). I would do many of these self-tests at different moments where others could probably see me and think I was crazy (like in my car at a traffic light). I later found out that this person had fooled me. Sometimes I still check, though.
7. I eat chocolate every day, even if it's just a chocolate chip.
8.Two things you can always find in my purse: lotion & gum.
9. As much as I love little puppies I don’t want to own one. It’s too hard to see them go and I really don’t want the responsibility…
10.I put CD's in my car and playlists on my ipod on random shuffle all the time. I like the surprise part of it. .Although, many times I will skip a lot of songs to get to one I want to hear.
11.I have clothes from high school and still wear them sometimes…lame!
12. I can’t stand the Journey song, "Don’t Stop Believing". I know people think I'm crazy for that.
13 Growing up I had a bad reoccurring dream about a character from the game "Guess Who"...It was Tom and it was scary.
14. II'm not really digging this getting older thing. I feel like I should still be in college still but I could have gone trough a 4 year college two times now!
15.Sometimes I feel sorry for Cory on road trips because I sing just about every song I hear on the radio. It's a lot like this clip from Heartbreak Kid.

16. I like to narrate animals and babies.
17 I stay up entirely too late on most nights.
18.On trips I put earplugs and eyeshades in my pillowcase in case of a sleep emergency (someone snoring)
19.I pick out random Independent films and they’re never good. Cory still lets me pick them out, though. :)
20. I’m really ready for Christmas time!

I guess I need to get back to work. If you read to here, then I hope you enjoy your weekend.

The Living Room

2011-09-02T22:38:00.001-05:00

Today I’m posting our living room pictures. I’ve been meaning to post other rooms but haven’t gotten around to it. Now, let me warn you, our living room does not have any furniture yet. We use our sunroom as our lounge area so we have a place to hang out. We aren’t in a huge hurry to fill the room up with furniture because we want to find pieces that will last for a while and not a “cheap fix”. I have an idea of what I would like to put in it and where it would go, but I’ll have to wait for a bit. The only thing we have in our living room is wall art which is funny to me because that’s usually the last thing you add to a room.

The living room is located at the front of the house and the front door opens right into the room.

Our living room started out ALL light brown. Like I’ve mentioned before every surface was brown: the blinds, the window edges, the baseboards, molding, and mantel. Again, the ceiling was a shade lighter but still in the brown family. It was very drabby to say the least. Here are some before pictures. This picture was taken from the front door. If you look closely you can see where there once where pictures were hung.

The door in this picture leads into the hall.

The doorway in the next picture leads to the dining room. You can also see the drabbiness of the wall color compared to the white door.

The night we bought the house we took the dingy curtains down and started patching up the cracks in the walls. There were quite a few but don't worry, our foundation was fine.

Did you see the brown painted window and blinds? Crazy! I guess the benefit of everything being so monochromatic and bland was that any color with a contrasting trim paint would look better no matter what. We painted it Olympic Blue Silk.

And took up the carpet.
Here's our non-furnished living room now!

We kept the cornice on the window (but not on the french doors) and Cory painted the wooden blinds. I'm so glad we could salvage the old ones.

We usually keep the doors to the dining room open but we have one more tweak to do in there until it's finished so I didn't want to show it yet. :)

The only picture that is hanging in the room is our house's architectural drawing that we found in a box. Cory & I were really excited to find this, along with the blueprints for the house. It's amazing to see the hand drawn details. We really wanted to preserve it and my parents were so kind and had it framed for us as a house warming gift.

Sorry about the flash spot. I still don't really know how to operate my camera. Here's the layout before the addition to the house.

Here's some (sort of) side by side pictures for the comparison. I hope you have a great Labor Day weekend!

Perks of a Yard Sale

2011-08-28T18:31:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I cleaned out my old bedroom at my parents' house. This room was lived in by me for about 14 years so it had accumulated quite a bit of things that never made the journey with me when I moved out. I cleaned out every nook & cranny and trashed quite a few items. I had tons of clothes, jewelry, toys, etc. that I didn't discard though. I usually donate my unwanted (still good condition) items to Good Will but this time I decided to try and make a buck or two. I had motivation for making some money because of an old window that I had found at an antique store a while back that cost more than Cory wanted me to pay for it. When I suggested that we have a yard sale he said if I made a good enough profit he wouldn't mind me purchasing the old window.
Our parents joined in on the sale to get rid of some things as well (we color coded the items so we knew where the money went to). We had a great turn-out and made out pretty well. I kind of wished I had priced my items a little higher but I put them pretty cheap because I wasn't sure if they would sell. We only had a few things left over that we took to the Salvation Army.
Now, on to the "perks" of this yard sale.
Now, don't be jealous but while I was cleaning and getting ready for the sale, I found my old Jem & the Holograms paper dolls! Does anyone else remember Jem?...I know you do, Ashley ;)

I remember playing with these dolls at the first house I lived in. I thought they were so cool. Do kids still play with paper dolls? Here were my favorite outfits.

And below are the few paper "earrings" that came with the dolls. They resembled the characters' earrings and had a hole cut in them that you could tie a string in and loop it around your ear. The pink star was like Jem's magical earring.

I was stoked to find those old dolls.
Another good thing from the yard sale was I got two new-to-me picture frames. Mom was getting rid of two rose prints that she had for a while and I wanted them. Since I'm her daughter she gave them to me for free:)
I really liked the frames because they matched a mirror hanging in my dining room.

I replaced the rose print and matting with new matting and some bird prints that I got from an old calendar. Here is one of the bird prints.

Now on to the main perk from the yard sale: the old, overpriced window (which we got the lady to come down on the price-whoo-hoo!)

I had been looking for something unique to go over my mantle since the day we bought our house. I searched online and many stores but never found anything that I really loved. Well, when I found this window in July I knew that it was exactly what I wanted. Last year I saw this blog where a lady turned a lead glass window into an antique looking mirror. I really liked it and looked for cool windows for a while but never had any luck until I ran into this one. I just love the circles!

I decided to try the blog's tutorial for my window.

I got this Looking Glass spray paint from Hobby Lobby. It's rather pricey for spray paint at $11.99 but is cheaper than replacing the glass from the window with a mirror.

After Cory & I cleaned the window we then taped the edges with painter's tape.

Then my handy, sweet husband spray painted it for me.

And here's what it looks like now.

The spray paint doesn't give a very clear mirror appearance but I wanted the look to be cloudy and old looking. If we ever get tired of the mirror look, then we can easily clean off the paint. It wiped off with some Windex when we had a little mishap. The window is only sprayed from behind so don't worry I can clean the front of the window/mirror without taking the paint off.
As for the wooden frame I decided to leave it alone for now. I cleaned it and scraped a little flakey paint off but thought it would look more "shabby chic" if I didn't paint it. Who knows, I may change my mind one day.
Anyway, those are a few of the good things that came about from our yard sale last week. It always feels good to get rid of things and to make a profit on it is even better. Although I am pleased with these results it will be a while before I have another sale. They can be a lot of work!
I hope everyone has a pleasant week. :)

Lamp Revisited

2011-08-08T17:25:00.008-05:00

Today I decided to change up the lamp that I painted a while back (here). Here's a picture of what it looked like before I did anything to it.

If you look closely (or maybe not that close) you can see that the lampshade is a little stained. This happened during "the flood". This shade was resting upside down on top of a box and the water started to work it's way up.
I thought we had thrown the shade away but I recently found it in boxes that were stored at my parents' house. We had been using the shadeless lamp while we've been working on the house and I was planning on getting a new shade for it sometime soon. I'm so glad that I found the old shade so I could try out covering it with some fabric.

First, I used painter's tape to cover some of the cord and the light bulb socket. I forgot to put tape on the switch, which is something that you probably would want to do if you paint a lamp.
I spray painted it "Peek-a-boo Blue".
As that was drying I started to work on the shade. Now, the process I used may not be the best, but it got the job done. Also, I didn't come up with the idea of how to do it. I've seen quite a few tutorials on other blogs and pulled different ideas together. I don't know the sources because it was a while ago when I saw them.

Here's what I did: I got some wrapping paper and rolled it out with the wrong side up so I could see better. I placed the lamp shade on its side and starting at the seam where the shade is glued together I marked the top and the bottom of the shade with an "x".
Then I slowly traced a line on the bottom edge while rolling the shade until I reached the seam again.
Then I lined up the seam with the top "x" and did the same thing with the top edge. It looked like this:
Then I used a magazine (was too lazy to get a ruler) to connect the x's to make a straight line.
Then I cut the pattern out of the paper and wrapped it around the shade to make sure it would work. Yes, I used Christmas wrapping paper. :)
Next I put the pinned the pattern to my fabric and cut it out.
I'm sure you could use various adhesives but I chose to use this Elmer's multi-purpose spray adhesive because that's what I had here.
Spray generously on the wrong side of the fabric.
Then roll you lamp shade onto the fabric. Make sure you smooth out the wrinkles quickly.
I rolled it all the way around and left a little fabric up.
I folded it over to create a clean line and then I hot glued it down.
Then I hot glued a ribbon starting at the seam and gluing as I went leaving half of the ribbon hanging over the edge.
After I glued the ribbon all the way around, I turned the "hanging" ribbon edge over to the inside of the shade and hot-glued it down.
In hindsight, I should have used a little thicker ribbon, but I had this ribbon already.
Here it is!
Since I already had the lamp, fabric, ribbon, and adhesive, this project only cost a little over $2, which was for the spray paint. It also took less than an hour. Not too bad. :)

Master Bedroom

2011-07-21T16:26:00.015-05:00

I've been meaning to post this room for a while but haven't for some reason. This room is not completely finished yet but I'll post any updates. There aren't any window treatments or artwork hanging yet. I am also going to get a new bedspread sometime soon. I'll warn you now that there a quite a few pictures. If you choose to leave now, I understand. :) Oh yeah, and another warning (if you stick around) is that I don't take good "before shots". I always think I have enough and then later regret not taking certain photos. Oh well, no going back.

Here we go! The first BEFORE picture that I'm posting is shot from where this little orange arrow is on the floor plan.

This is what you see when you're entering our room from the sunroom.
My girl Ruth Ann actually took that pic. ;) The room's walls, trim, and window lines were all painted light green. Much like the color below. The ceiling was a lighter shade of the green but like always, my camera's flash whitens things out.
The pictures don't always show what we could see in real life. In this room there were many smudgy, dirty places on the walls and faded paint where pictures hung for years. (These are all before)

This next picture was taken by me and I was oblivious to the fact that people were in the shot. I edited the picture a bit for privacy...and because Cory was midsentence.
The next picture is after we (Jeanne & me) painted the ceiling and primed the molding. It was amazing how much taller the room looked after we did that. This is also a picture of the light fixture. We took off the glass dome to make it brighter.
But it still didn't produce much light for the whole room.
I'm blurred out of this next picture because I was looking rough.
Here's a close up of the fan that Cory installed. We added a medallion to pretty it up a bit.

We had some help painting the bedroom. Much thanks goes to Ruth Ann, Jon, mom, and dad.

The paint I chose for the room was Glidden's Barely Jade.

In the store it looked blueish-green and was called Barely Jade so I thought it for sure was greenish but when we painted it on everyone commented how they loved the blueish-gray that I had chosen. Oh well, at least I like blueish gray!

Here's a shot of the room after it was painted.
The next one is a shot of our bathroom & closest doors. Please excuse the closet mess. We had our dinky stackable shelves and I had my work clothes from the day draped on them.
Now here's what you see when entering our room from the sunroom.

I tried to write on the next photo but it's pretty small font. Please excuse R2D2's cousin in the bottom left corner. He's our noisemaker that we've had since we've been married. Our first apartment's air conditioner didn't work well so we purchased a room air conditioner and we got used to it drowning out noises when we sleep. We just use it as a sound machine now.

Here are some side to side shots. These are the same photos from above.

That's about it. We are really enjoying our new bedroom and the space it provides. I'll try to post some more pictures when we make some changes. Also, as far as the no-blind situation, it's not that bad. I have some ideas of what I want but just haven't made the purchase yet. Our bedroom is at the back of the house and is actually higher off the ground so you can't peek into our windows. We are fortunate to have a very wooded area behind our backyard so only the birds and bugs are getting to see in at night. Also, since it's woody we don't have streetlights lighting our room up at night. Just the light of the moon. It's actually quite nice. And the morning sunlight is also filtered by the trees for those days you want to sleep in. Here's my view in the morning. (sorry I couldn't get the picture bigger for some reason)

There you have it. It's not an extreme makeover but it is a change. I can't wait till we complete more projects so I can actually focus on decorating the rooms. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a blessed day!

The End of an Era

2011-07-19T11:33:00.005-05:00

Last night for me was an end of an era. No, I didn't go see Harry Potter. I finally finished watching Beverly Hills 90210. I am talking about the old 90210 that came on television from 1990-2000. When I was younger I remember my mom not really wanting me to watch 90210. I didn't know her reasoning but I was in elementary school and I probably wouldn't have understood it anyway. When I got older when she wouldn't have cared if I watched it I wasn't really interested. Fast forward to the summer after Cory & I got married and I got hooked. That summer Cory was doing an internship in Muscle Shoals & Huntsville so we moved back (from Tuscaloosa) to the Shoals to stay with my parents for the summer. Since I was out of school I could sleep late in the morning which would make me not want to bed until later. Cory, on the other hand, was working and needed/wanted to go to bed rather early. At first I would hang out in the living room and then when I got tired I would make my way to the bedroom but would end up waking Cory up and then he didn't sleep well afterwards. This surprised me because Cory can sleep through LOTS of things but for some reason me getting into the bed did the trick. I then decided to go to bed at the same time and just watch tv until I got sleepy but that didn't work either. Cory (at the time) was used to going to sleep in total silence and the noise from the tv was distracting. I guess I should've changed my sleep schedule and got up earlier but I didn't. Instead I came up with the idea to watch Netflix Instantly on my laptop and use my ear buds so as not to wake up Cory. It worked like a charm! I watched a variety of shows and one night decided to try 90210. That night I got hooked. I watched season 1 in no time. Which a season was usually 24-30 episodes that were each at least 45 minutes long. By the time I was finishing season 1, season 2 became available on Netflix Instant watch. After I finished season 2 though, I had get the dvds sent to me. Yep, Cory was a dear and let me get a cheesy television show shipped to me each week. It worked out alright, though, because we get two discs at a time. I watched pretty regularly but had a few periods where I put it on hold. After three years I have finally completed the ten seasons!
It's been a good run. :) It kind of stinks that I watched this way past it's prime because MANY times I've wanted to talk with people about what was going on in Beverly Hills but couldn't because they wouldn't have a clue what I was talking about. I also would relate what was going on with the show with situations in real life with Cory quite a few times. I know he's probably celebrating the show's end. He was a sweetheart and took me to get ice cream for the last episode. I had to make him promise not to make fun of the cheesiness (because we would make fun of dialog throughout the seasons) and if I got emotional before I watched. Unfortunately something was wrong with my disc and it skipped two scenes! YouTube saved the day, though. It is done and I can move on now. I will have to restrain myself from getting sucked into anymore teen dramas that's available online. Sorry that this post was pretty boring and strange. I'm just dealing with my end of an era. :)

Table Side Project

2011-07-06T13:01:00.009-05:00

Warning: this post is rather lengthy and filled with pictures.

Cory & I interrupted our house painting with a side project. We really only have trim and doors to go but in my opinion, those are the worst things to have to paint. We needed a little break and we also ~~needed~~ wanted a new table for our dining room so that’s exactly what we did.

Here’s our table at our old apartment.

And in our house:

Nothing was wrong with our old table. In fact, I actually really liked it. Cory & I got an old sewing machine base from my grandfather right after we got married that we converted into a table. And when I say “we” I mean Cory and his dad. J David actually made a table top for us out of some wood that Cory had left over from a bookcase he had built. He also added some trim around the edge to make it look more finished. Cory attached the table to the base and all I did was paint it light blue. We loved that the table was rather large and have had up to ten people fitting around it before. When we moved it into our new dining room we realized that we would rather have a rectangular table instead of a square one.

I have been in love with farmhouse tables for a while now. I like the old rugged look to them. Here are some pictures I have collected over the years. I’m sorry I do not have sources to site these pics (I saved them before I found Pintrest). These are just a few of the photos that have been saved.

As soon as we decided to get a rectangle table I began searching for a farmhouse table. I checked furniture stores but the two that I found were VERY expensive, I searched on Craig’s list, and antique stores.(Side note, Cory & I just got back from visiting friends in Atlanta and there were farmhouse tables EVERYWHERE---I guess I should’ve checked there) I had no luck until one day I was reading Dream Book Design about how to make a farmhouse table. (if you haven't seen this blog, you should check it out. It rocks!) I showed Cory the tutorial (along with some others I found online) and he said he would make one. I really liked the one from Dream Book because they used a different base for the table as oppose to four table legs. That’s exactly what I wanted. I love pedestal tables because you can fit more people comfortably around them. I also really wanted to use our sewing machine base because I like the look of it. By using the base we also can keep our old table top and use it again if we ever want to.

Cory went to his mom’s house to look for wood from his dad. He found some Cypress planks (Cory’s favorite type of tree) to use. I love how our first table was constructed by Cory’s dad with leftover wood from Cory and this new table is constructed by Cory with left over wood from David. Although, I really wish David could be here to help construct this one. Using this wood does give the table special meaning though. I know David would be SO proud of Cory and his skills that he acquired from watching him. Anyway, before I get into full on crying, Cory got the wood and got to work. I was going to document each step but this is all I got.

Whoops! Anyway, Cory put the table together and it looked great! To get the old “farmhouse” look, though we had to beat it up a bit. If our neighbors saw us they probably thought we had anger management problems because we were hitting our table with blocks of wood, tools of all sorts, nailing screws and nails to make holes, and throwing things at it. It was actually pretty fun. After we banged it up we stained the table and then put a coat of polyurethane on it. We accidentally put a gloss polyurethane on it so it’s a bit more shiny than we had thought but I actually like it better because it protects the surface better.

Here it is.

And a close up.

And from the side. Please note that we’re in search for a large rug. This one is here for floor protection purposes.

Now for the chairs. Cory and I were so kindly offered a few tables and chairs when we moved into our house. One of those tables was from my sister who lives several hours away. We probably would’ve been fine with getting her old table but it would have been a while before we could’ve gotten it. My mom has actually taken her up on the table offer, which she was the one who bought it for her in the first place. Mom just wants the table to put in her sewing room so she said we could have the chairs. All but two of the chairs to her table are here in town. We actually had two of them at our house. There were four black chairs and two red ones. I didn’t really want too “matchy” of chairs and wanted them to look kind of worn like the table. Here’s an inspiration chair from Restoration Hardware and is about $350 a chair, actually it’s on sale for $229.

Here’s the black chair before. I recovered it back in the fall (here)

I’m usually painting furniture around here but this time I stripped the paint, which isn’t a fun process. Here’s what I used to do that. This stuff works really well. I recommend it if you’re stripping paint. You have to make sure to paint it on rather thick, though.

Here’s the chair after paint stripping, sanding, staining, and polyurethaning it. Oh, and covering the seat with a linen type fabric.

As you can see I left a few places with a little paint and imperfections. It was kind of like “distressing” furniture opposite way.

For the red chairs I decided to skip the paint stripping and just paint over. I really liked the red chairs and it was hard to paint over but they just didn’t fit in our home. Here they are before.

I tried to go with a puddy color but they ended up more blue than green. I also glazed them to get an antique look.

And here’s how it looks all together. I know it may look like junk picked up from side of the road but it’s exactly what I was going for. A little eclectic, if you will. We may add a bench for one side of the table because each side can actually hold three chairs. We'll see, and if we do, you know I'll post a picture.

I’m being stingy and not showing the whole room because there’s a little more tweaking before it’s picture worthy.

Wow, that was long. Thanks for stopping by. J

I've linked to:

Sort of a room

2011-06-30T01:16:00.004-05:00

Today I'm posting another picture from our house. I guess I'm a tease because it's not even a room but a closet. Our closet to be exact. I know that a closet is not that exciting but I'm really happy with what we've done with it. Also, it's the first room to be completely done. We do have rooms that are livable and to people may look completely finished but there are still some tweaks and such. Anyway, if you wish to humor me with this closet thing, here it is.

The closet in our bedroom is along the same wall as our bathroom.

It also has a pocket door like the bathroom. Again, my camera whitens things out quite a bit because this picture was taken when things were green. I promise. This is one side of the closet before we did anything to it.
The center of the closet. The metal thing on the wall was a tie rack that folded out.
Here's the left side of the closet before we moved in.
As you could see there were two racks for hanging clothes which may be enough for somebody but for Cory and I it was not enough. I like to hang the majority of our clothes because 1. the clothes don't get wrinkled as bad, 2. I can see the clothes better and they are more easily accessible when hanging and 3. I don't like folding too much.

Cory & I were also coming from living in two apartments that had pretty good closet space. Especially the last one we lived in (thank you Brink apartments). Our closet was huge!

The closet's first order of business was taking the shelves and rods down. My mother-in-law, Jeanne, and I struggled with a few shelves but eventually got them all down. After that, Cory spackled the holes left in the wall and then we sanded them down and primed the walls. Then we painted the closet Glidden's Misty Moonstone (just like our bathroom)

Next we installed four hanging rods. Two on each side.

By doing that we double the amount of clothes that could be hung up. When people have come over and seen the top rack they ask me if I can reach that high. I actually can reach the rack (on tip-toe) but don't really need to on a regular basis because the top rack holds my fall/winter clothing. I will switch it out when the seasons change. If any of you were interested in that. Cory on the other hand dresses from both racks but he can reach the top one with no problems.

After we hung the rods we actually moved in the house soon after so we moved our clothes into the closet and had plastic stackable shelves in the middle.

Recently we purchased much nicer shelves to go in the center of the closet which Cory quickly installed. Here they are:
And here's what they look like now. I didn't take a picture of our small plastic shelves, but it was pretty sloppy and crowded.
Oh yeah, and if you'll overlook the junk (ie: purses & suitcases) Cory installed some shelves above our clothes racks. He actually did this before we installed the center shelves but I never took a picture of that.
Here's the shelf over his clothes.
I know it's just a closet but it feels so good to have one space in the house completely done. I feel like we utilized the space fairly well which makes me glad. Unfortunately, I have to put my coats and jackets in another closet but we have the extra closets for now. :)

Thanks for stopping by and reading about our closet. I hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend. :)

I've lost my mind

2011-06-28T23:17:00.002-05:00

So, I totally think the paint fumes are getting to me. I guess I dreamed I posted this blog before but noticed that I had not tonight. Two weeks ago my family welcomed a new member. My sister, Angie, got married! Guys, for real I thought I wrote this blog before and I also thought it was a rather good post...I wish there was a recorder for your dreams. I also hope that whatever fumes are making me hallucinate won't have long term effects.

Anyway, on June 10th(a day after our anniversary) Angie married Brendan at a family friend's house on the lake. They were actually married on their deck while the sun was setting behind them. It was beautiful! Brendan & Angie chose to get married in front of very close family. It was just my parents, me, Cory, my grandparents, and Brendan's parents & brother. It was very intimate and really nice. I'm really glad they let me be a part of their big day. I'm very happy for them and their new life together. Now, I just need to figure out how to get them to move a little closer so I can see them more often :)

I present to you "The Gunn's" (cool last name, huh?)

Very Pinteresting

2011-06-25T09:30:00.001-05:00

I know that most people have known about and have used Pinterest for a while now but I am just getting hooked. If you have no clue what I am talking about then check it out here.

I am a very visual person and really appreciate pretty pictures. Since I was in middle school I would tear out magazine pictures that I liked. Usually they were pictures of interior decorating ideas,wedding inspirations, yummy looking foods & their recipes, funny advertisements, and of course, cute animals. The house and wedding pictures I would put into a folder for when I needed them (ha, my taste changed quite a bit by the time I did get married). The other pictures I would tape on my door or put on my bulletin board. Then in college I advanced to finding fun pictures on the Internet and instead of printing them out I would save them into folders on my computer. I still do that to this day. I actually have been pulling from some saved pictures for house ideas now.

A few months ago I read about Pinterest and saw that it was a website that you could save the pictures you liked on an online page. It seemed tempting but I thought I would just stay with what I had been doing. Then I realized that when you save or "pin" a picture that it would link back to the source where you saw it. When I saved pictures on my computer I wouldn't always write the website where I found it which caused frustration when I wanted to possibly see directions for how to make something or if I wanted to site my source. I also realized that if my computer crashed I would lose all of my saved photos. I try and back my computer up but you know how that goes...

So, last week I finally joined (it's free) and I L.O.V.E it! If you "follow" me on there I apologize for pinning like crazy! It's just so fun! I love that when you pin something it says, "Success". It makes me feel like I did a good job :) Anyway, if you're not on Pinterest, I encourage you to do so....and you can follow me so I'll know to follow you :) Oh, and if you check it out and see my page don't think that you have to just post pictures of house things and animals. You create your own categories. I've seen people who post books they love, childhood memories(tv shows & toys), cars they want, hair cuts they like, photography inspiration, music they love, wedding ideas, clothes for their kids, places they want to go, favorite movies, and so on and so on. It really is great!

Well, I'm off to go "pin" some more. I hope you enjoy your weekend and happy pinning!

I think that this will take you to my page (click here) if you want to check it out to see how it looks.

Mostly Finished Room

2011-06-24T09:17:00.003-05:00

Today I am finally posting a picture of a room. I’m starting out with a small room and it’s not a drastic “before & after” but it’s a start of sharing. This room is our master bathroom. Our house was originally built in 1941 as a two bedroom 1 bathroom home. In 1960 the owners added on which made the house 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It’s funny to us that with their new addition they chose to make a smaller bathroom than the first. The master bedroom is rather large for a room from the 60’s and the closet was (I am told) big for the time as well. I’m not really sure of the reasoning, but we’re making it just fine with the smaller bathroom.

Here’s a picture of the floor plan (please remember this is NOT to scale) to show where the location of the master bath is.

As you can see from the floor plan there is not a graphic of a door swinging open. The door that leads into the bathroom (as well as the closet) is a pocket door. Pocket doors have always been a favorite of mine so I was so happy to see that this house had some. Here’s a picture of the door BEFORE we painted anything.

My camera’s flash really whitens things out. The door and walls are actually painted a light pea green color. Kind of like this color:

I don’t think I’ve shared this tid bit of info on here before but every room in our house, with the exception of one, had a very monochromatic theme going on. Every room was basically assigned a color and every surface that could be painted in the room was painted that color. I kid you not. The walls, the base boards, the crown molding, the window pane dividers (don’t know the name for that), the wooden blinds….EVERYTHING! The ceilings were even painted a lighter shade of the chosen color. The bathroom was no exception. I’m not a great photographer and wish that I had taken better pictures of the before but here’s the left side of the bathroom (again, before we painted).

We were fortunate to have creamy white tiles in our bathroom, especially since it was added on in the 60’s. You can notice the green trim around the window.

This picture is to the right of the shower. The green stands out more in the bathroom. This is the color that the door was painted and also the bedroom attached.

Notice the cabinet is even the green color. Also, this picture was taken on our second viewing of the house which explains the "hasn't been flushed in 7 months toilet". I should have lowered the lid.

The first thing we did in the room was to paint the ceiling white. It’s amazing how just painting the ceiling a different color than the wall really opened the room up. We used white ceiling paint that was tinted pink while wet. It's a great product that I highly recommend. I took this picture while the paint was still drying so that explains the pinkish color.

We then painted over the pea green surfaces with a very light bluish gray. It’s Glidden’s Misty Moonstone...which Cory is still making fun of me for calling it Misty Moonshine to people who asked what color it was. Honest mistake :)

Next we got rid of the fluorescent light bulb fixture. Not only was the fixture not that cute but the light it gave made you feel like you were in a garage. It was really dark feeling at night.

Here's the old light:

And the new one:

Then we had to change the shower head because the old one leaked pretty bad which meant it sprayed the ceiling when it was turned on. Here's a picture of the old shower head:

The new one is a little bigger.

So here it is in full. There are still some things I would like to do, like add a hand towel rack closer to the sink, hang some pictures, and find a nice bathroom rug but it’s useable and that’s what counts.

Thanks for stopping by and if you read to this point, I’m sorry for being a rambler. J Enjoy your day!

Roman Shades

2011-06-22T23:40:00.001-05:00

The other day when I was looking at Apartment Therapy's blog I saw a link to a tutorial on making roman shades with mini blinds. I had been searching for some roman shades to go in the master bathroom but had not had any luck with finding what I had in mind. I had been looking for some neutral colored fabric that had a linen or burlap texture. I had looked into making my own but my sewing machine has been on the fritz and I have lots of other house projects going on to devote time to sewing and constructing my own. When we bought the house there were large slat aluminum blinds in the master bathroom. They were fairly dingy and I wasn't crazy about having blinds in the bathroom because I like to have the window exposed during the day. (I realize I could pull the blinds up, but then they're bunched up at the top). So when I saw this super simple tutorial I was stoked.

Here is the link to the tutorial on ScoutieGirl's blog. I'm not even going into all the steps (there were just 5) because she did a great job explaining.

All you need is a pair of mini blinds, or in my case, the large slat blinds that I had fortunately not thrown away yet, some fabric, and some fabric glue. Yes, that's right just glue, NO SEWING!!

(The picture makes the blinds look whiter than they really were)

Here's my new shade!
Rolled down:
The last picture was taken while some of the glue was still a little wet. There aren't any spots on them now.

Now I can bathe in privacy! Yes, we didn't have anything covering the window since we've moved in. Don't worry though, our bathroom window is too high to peak into and it's set back far enough on the house that anyone driving by can't see in.

If you're looking for some shades then I highly recommend making them this way. It took me about 45 minutes to make these and 30 minutes of that was the drying time.

House Layout

2011-06-22T00:17:00.004-05:00

I am finally getting to a place where I can post some house pictures. (I apologize to my friends who live out of town and have asked for photos). My hesitation with posting pictures is because I would like to have a room completely finished but have found that this house is a work in progress. That being said, I may post multiple pictures of the same room from time to time when something gets updated or maybe rearranged. Things are finally finding a place here and I'm excited to share it with you.

Before I begin posting some rooms I wanted to show a layout of our place. When I am teaching the Housing Unit at school I like to let my students use an online floor plan maker. In the past I would use SmallBluePrinter.com but this year I found another website that I like a little better which is Floorplanner.com. Both off these websites are free and very user friendly. The Floorplanner one actually renders your drawing to a 3D model, which is pretty neat.

Growing up I constantly drew floor plans of my dream house on paper. I remember one of my best friends, Lindsay, and I would stay up late drawing floor plans of mansions that we would want one day (and share with J.T.T. & Rider Strong, of course). :) I love that I can still make floor plans but now it's much easier online. Anyway, as soon as Cory & I bought our house I made a floor plan of it to help visualize furniture placement and color schemes. Now, the one I have made is not to scale. I know, I could measure each room and make an accurate to scale house plan but I am lazy AND I actually made this one night on my computer when we were living in the apartment and it was mainly from memory.

So, here it is! I will reference back to this picture when I eventually post pictures of a room (to explain where it is).

Now, it's no mansion with some former Tiger Beat hunk (remember that magazine?) but it IS my home that I share with the love of my life...and I'll take that over any mansion any day. :)

P.S. If you click on the picture it should enlarge it. Then you can see that we have quite a few doors.

It's come to my realization...

2011-06-15T23:52:00.002-05:00

I have realized that I post cute animals or animal related stories a little too much.

I have also realized that I compare many animals (mainly dogs) to Falkor from The Neverending Story.

I also have on many occasion compared very cheesy pizza to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pizza.

The pizza on that show always looked really cheesy and delicious to me. Which, why were turtles eating pizza anyway? And while I'm pondering about this show, isn't it a very specific title (teenage mutant ninja) and also strange that a city welcomed these "mutant" turtles and relied on them to save their city from Shredder (and BeBop and Rocksteady)?

Wow, I think the paint fumes have really gotten to me tonight. I hope everyone is doing well. :)

Totally Cute

2011-06-03T23:51:00.004-05:00

You may have seen this video already because apparently it's been on the news but I wanted to share it anyway. My sister, Angie, came in town tonight and showed this to me and I totally melted. Supposedly the kitten was having a nightmare and the mommy cat gave it a hug. People have negated this theory but you can't deny that this video isn't so sweet. Enjoy! (at around the 30 second mark is where the hug happens)

A Tale of Two Dogs

2011-05-31T23:55:00.005-05:00

Do you remember me gushing about this cute little fellow?

Well, today something sad happened to my little bud, Cocoa/Rascal. No, he's not hurt or worse(dead) but it's still gloomy. Today as I was leaving the house and after I gave Cocoa/Rascal a good pat on the head, I thought to myself, "Man, I love that dog. I'll be so sad when he's not around one day." Well, tonight as Cory & I pulled in the driveway from getting dinner I saw little Cocoa in his yard but with a collar on and he was chained up. I looked at Cory and told him what I saw and he said in a soft voice, "Yeah, the Animal Control people came for him today." I was shocked. Cory told me the sad tale of my little friend being in the back of the dog catcher truck today. He saw the people get him as he was leaving for work and went over to tell the people that he knew the owner and such. Cory said that Cocoa was just chilling in the back and looked up at him. He probably thought he was just going for a ride. He's so naive. The Animal people also had my neighbor's other dog that is always chained up in their truck. The man told Cory that dogs in this city have to be chained up and to be within walking distance of shelter and water or they take them. The dog that was chained up was momentarily in the front part of the yard (away from the dog house) at the time. My neighbor lets the dog sit in the front sometimes and it's perfectly fine....Anyway, I seriously got teared up when I saw little Cocoa/Rascal raise his head up and bark once when we walked up the path to our house. I guess I'll have to go and visit him from now on. :( I know this may sound silly, but having him roaming free was like having the benefits of owning a dog but not having to feed it or make sure it had a place to stay when we aren't around.

On a happy dog note, the other dog that I'm obsessed with is coming out with a book this summer! You can pre-order the book here. I can't wait to read about little Boo.

(Photo via Chronicle Books Blog)

School's Out for Summer!

2011-05-27T16:54:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I went to Hobby Lobby and got slightly disturbed when I saw workers putting out pumpkins and pilgrims. I know Hobby Lobby gets a head start on the seasons (and I totally appreciate that) but it’s May! It made me feel like they are trying to skip summer. My summer officially starts tomorrow. If you teach or have children you know that the end of summer is drawing near when loose leaf paper and pencils start filling up Wal-mart’s front aisle. When that time approaches it is very bittersweet. It’s always nice & exciting to start a new school year but it is so so sad to see the summer end. This feeling came to me when I saw those pilgrims looking at me. Sure, I was put slightly at ease at the nice smell of pumpkin spice candles but seeing the fall décor made me want to scream, “Let me enjoy the summer!” I then hurried out of the fall section to the clearance aisle and saw something else kind of disappointing: a painted rock. It was seriously a pet rock. It wasn’t even painted that nicely. I really wish I would have taken a picture of it although I’m sure it will still be there for the rest of the summer. There were quite a few in stock. In my opinion, if you want a rock to resemble the ones I saw, then go outside and get a stone and have a child paint it. It will save you $5….wow, I didn’t mean to rave and rant on the Hob’s. I love that store so I will stop my complaining.

Anyway, the reason I would love to have a long summer this year is to 1. Continue to work on the house and 2. Work on/in my new classroom! Yes, that’s right I got a new job. I’m sorry if I have not mentioned it to you but I am not even sure who knew my little situation. My current job at the junior high had to be closed because of funding. This is something I knew going into it though. Well, come April I knew for sure that the high school’s Family & Consumer Science teacher was retiring and that her job would be available. I interviewed for the position and waited for what seemed like forever to find out that I got the job! So, a big thanks for those of you who knew about my situation and prayed for me.

I hope everyone is doing well and hope you have a great summer!!!

Life Lately

2011-05-18T18:09:00.008-05:00

Wow, it feels like forever since I've blogged. We have been without the Internet (and cable) for almost a week and really not been "on it" for a month now. Cory & I have been with out because we've been working on the house. Even though I felt slightly disconnected from the world without the Internet (not being able to check email, read friends' blogs, browse facebook, and read the news) I have come to enjoy the time away. We have gotten so much done and have not been glued to our computers. It's been nice...

Here are some some small, random, & fun things that have made me smile in the past few weeks.

First, a little raccoon came in our home's backyard for a visit.

Cory & I were painting the sunroom and when I looked up I saw him just browsing around looking for some grub. I've seen a few raccoons in real life before, but they've always been running quickly and hard to see. This little fella was taking his time.
After a while he scooted up the fence and was gone.
But then he came back two more times that night. (It could have been two different ones but I think it was him)

Another thing that's been putting a smile on my face is my little dog friend neighbor that I have called "Rascal". I have found out his real name, which is Cocoa, but I'm still calling him Rascal. He has greeted me and Cory many times as we've gone to the house to work. He's so sweet and likes to lay in our yard sometimes. He's such a ham. He was looking at the street and every time I tried to take his picture he would turn around, as if to pose. To me it almost looks like he's smiling. He also does this little "scooting on his belly" trick that cracks me up every time.

Yesterday I finally made it out to the real world. I have not been out in public except to go to work, church, Lowes, and Wal-mart for the past month. As I went into Target yesterday I found Otter Pops!
I used to LOVE Otter Pops and even wrote a paper about my love for them before. I think I was more in love with the packaging because each pop had a little cartoon otter on it with a clever name such as "Alexander the Grape" and "Little Orphan Orange". I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff. I didn't purchase them because I was semi-afraid that they wouldn't live up to my fond memory of them and also I was in a hurry and the line was long. Maybe another day...

Oh, and by the way, as of Saturday Cory & I have officially moved into our house!!! We still have lots of work to do on the house and still have things boxed up but we're in and couldn't be happier! I seriously love waking up in our new room and coming home from work to it each day.
I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather. I promise I'll be posting some interior pictures soon. Also, if you're in the area feel free to stop by. :)

Heartbroken

2011-04-28T22:47:00.002-05:00

I'm am speechless. The pictures I have just seen of Tuscaloosa have left my jaw on the floor and have made me feel physically sick. Praying for our great state and for the victims in this disaster....sorry I just can't think of any more words..

A Few of My Favorite Things

2011-04-24T23:57:00.005-05:00

I have had a few people asking me to post pictures of the interior of our new home but I'm not quite there yet. I would love to post pictures of the rooms when we have an "after" shot to go with it. I promise we're working on it but it's taking a while....silly "paying jobs" that require us to go work everyday and not devote our full day to house projects.

Anyway, I have decided to post some of my favorite things about the house. Now, what I'm posting were not criteria for buying a house. We had a list of what we realistically needed/wanted in a house and they were met. The following items were icing on the cake. They are small details that made me fall a little more in love with the house.

First up: Every door has a little lock on it. With each lock there is a skeleton key. I absolutely love skeleton keys. They remind me of watching "The Secret Garden" and hidden treasures. You can even peep through the holes which I think is kind of fun too. :)

Second, there are three screen doors to our house. Since the weather has been so pleasant lately I've had the doors opened each day. I know when it gets warmer this summer we'll need to keep them closed during the day but I'm really enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine.
Next is an old school refrigerator. If you know me well, you know I love antiques/vintage stuff. This fridge is right up my alley. Unfortunately we're not keeping it in the kitchen because 1. we couldn't get it to cool and 2. it's rather small inside. We have installed a new refrigerator but I'm still hoping we can fix this one up and have it as a second fridge in the garage.
The next picture has two favorites in it. The picture has also been put in black and white because the walls look pretty shabby brown. I love that we have a fireplace and the two french doors on either side of it stole my heart. I think they're adorable.
On the other side of the wall (beside each french door) are built-in cabinets and shelves that I cannot wait to decorate. Each cabinet holds a speaker and in one of them there is a turn table and stereo system. Fingers crossed for it to work.
Now, on to a small door that is on the exterior of the house right beside an entrance door to our kitchen. We've been told that this door was used for either the milk man or the ice delivery guy. That may be totally made up, but I'll take it! What else would a little door be used for? (please note that this picture was taken before we bought the home. It has since been cleaned)
Now the next item is kind of silly but it sealed the deal for me. After our realtor showed us the house we chatted in the front yard for a while. As we were talking I noticed a little fury friend spying on us in one yard over. He was eager to run over but was restraining himself. I bent down to show him he could come over and he ran up to me and gave me a lick. I just had to have a house with such a cute and friendly dog neighbor.
He's had a haircut since this picture and I have yet to figure out where he lives. I found out that the yard he was chilling in had a dog tied up so I don't think he lives there. I've named him Rascal. I love that he just hangs out in the neighborhood and greets me when I go outside.

Warning: The next favorite thing about the house is sappy but true. It's that I get to share it with this guy.
After going through the house I could tell that Cory was totally in love with the house (even more than me). To see him so excited about fixing it up and calling it ours was so attractive to me, how could I not want it?

Sorry for the cheesy post. I promise I'll post inside pictures....sometime. :)

Here She Is!!!

2011-04-17T23:22:00.004-05:00

I don't really know why I have assigned a gender to our house, but apparently it's a girl. Anyway, here "she" is:

My best bud, Ruth Ann (who is a great photographer...check her out) took these pictures. She met Cory & I after we closed on the house and got some shots of us using our new keys.
We're home :)

Exciting News!!

2011-04-15T00:13:00.003-05:00

Cory and I are now homeowners! We've been going through buying this house process for a while now and it's been hard not to talk about it with folks. That's one reason I've been missing from the blog world lately. I didn't want to mention the house we were making offers on until we actually had the keys in our hands.

We are so super pumped about owning a house of our own. It's a cute little gray house and it has it's faults and warts, but we love it. It's a great starter home for us and it has some work to be done, which is one of the reasons we love it...you know how I (we) love a project ;)

The house was built in 1941 and had the same owners until last June when the 99 year old lady that lived there past away. The couple that built and owned the house was a lawyer and a homemaker who hosted fun gatherings. I think it is so neat that Cory & I are a modern day version of them. Instead of me being a homemaker (which would be cool) I teach kids basically the skills of one...maybe it's a stretch? Anyway, I've enjoyed learning about the past owners and the history of the house in the last few weeks. They kept the house in good condition, but it's somewhat outdated. Tonight as we were cleaning things out we kept finding small remnants of their lives. We found old recipes, keys, nice watches, and postcards that make me love the house even more. We also found a box with the blueprint of the house and a detailed sketch from the architect that is really neat. I can't wait to post pictures! I accidently left my camera at the house tonight. Speaking of pictures, this blog may turn into "house posting central" soon because I love before and after pictures.

Thanks for letting me ramble. I must go to bed now because I have some house work to do tomorrow.

P.S. Some other exciting news that we've had in our family is that Cory & I are going to have a nephew in the fall. Laura & Benjamin are expecting and we couldn't be happier for their family. :)

Home Sweet Home

2011-04-02T09:40:00.001-05:00

My posts have been pretty sparse the past few weeks. I have a few recipes that I've been meaning to blog about but they keep moving to the bottom of my "to-do" list. Today I'm just going to write about my thoughts/feelings lately.

Cory and I have been back home (together-since he moved a little earlier) for 3 months now and we couldn't be happier. I absolutely love living back in the Shoals. I've always had fond thoughts of the Shoals area and never intended on leaving until Cory decided to go to law school. I don't regret living in Tuscaloosa. I actually ended up liking it and do miss aspects of it and people from there but it was never "home" to us. Living there for 4 years (I moved before law school started and a few months after it ended) made me really appreciate my home town more. I guess the saying is true: "You've gotta get away, to want to come back home again."

I'm so glad that we're home again. I am constantly telling Cory, "Isn't it nice being here because...(insert some good thing). I love that I get to see my parents and mother-in-law on a weekly basis and get to have them over for dinner. I also enjoy seeing my grandparents at least once a week. I love that when my sister comes home or my other relatives come in town that I'll more than likely be here. I enjoy going to my home church and seeing people that I've grown up with. I love that I can see my best bud and not be hurried because I have to make it to all my relatives' houses before I head back to Tuscaloosa. I have also really liked catching up with old pals from high school and college. Just this week I had two dinner dates with some girlfriends and had a blast and I'm getting to meet up with another friend next week. I love it! I'm trying to soak up these times before everyone (including me) starts expanding their families because it's harder to shuffle things around to get together. Cory and I also REALLY like saving time and gas on the weekend not having to drive back and forth to Tuscaloosa. I love that after church we can go to our own place and just relax or enjoy going places and not having to rush back to Tuscaloosa. Sorry to ramble on and on but I really am happy to be back. Now, there is a list of some people that I would love to move here that would make me happier, but I'll settle with talking with them on the phone or seeing them on facebook.

If you've read to this point I hope you have a great weekend! Thanks for letting me ramble. :)

Maw Maw Cookies

2011-03-22T17:54:00.008-05:00

My grandmother, "Maw Maw", has been on my mind lately. She hasn't been feeling too well so I made some cookies in her honor. These cookies are really just chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, but in my (and my cousins') book, they're called "Maw Maw Cookies".

I loved helping Maw Maw make these cookies because she would let me sample along the way.

Here's what you need:

3/4 c. shortening

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1/4 c. water

1 tsp vanilla

3 c. oats

1 c. flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 bag chocolate chips (not pictured)

First cream the shortening and sugars together.
Maw Maw would always let me eat a little brown sugar. Does anyone else do this?
Next beat in the egg, water and vanilla. I always loved opening the vanilla bottle and smelling it.
Now mix in the flour, salt, and baking soda.
As a child I would get to eat a little spoonful at this point, but after some cooking classes and knowledge of raw eggs, I don't sample here anymore. :)
Now mix in the oats. I love the smell at this point.
Next, you stir in the whole bag of chocolate chips. Maw Maw was always sure to "drop" a few chocolate chips on a napkin for me to enjoy.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet.
My little trick (which most people probably do it this way) is to take two spoons and scoop batter into one and then scrape that spoon off with another one.
See? Nice, clean, and round.
Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for about 12-15 minutes.
When the cookies start to brown around the edges, then take them out. The centers may not look done but if you allow them to cool for 2 minutes on the pan then the sugars will still be hot and cook the cookie throughout. This is something that I'm sure you know but I always have to tell my students.
Now let them cool on a wire rack for a bit.
I always loved going out to play while the cookies were baking and then coming back in and smelling the yummy air. As a kid we could get two cookies and some milk. I wish someone would've controlled how many I ate after I made these yesterday. :)
I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather!

Feel Better, Little Buddy

2011-03-02T16:06:00.003-06:00

You all should know by now how much I love cute little puppies (or any animal-minus opossums or armadillos). Today I found this book at ModCloth and couldn't help but "awww".

The book features many animals wearing little casts. They also show some after photos of the recovery. It's weird because I don't like seeing animals suffer at all, but I do think they're ever-so-adorable with wee casts and helpless looks.

Look at this momma sloth chilling with her cast and taking care of her baby. So sweet!

I'm sorry if you feel like you have wasted moments of your life reading this. I'll try to come up with something better soon! :)

New Bookends

2011-02-23T20:50:00.004-06:00

As most of you know I have quite an obsession with white ceramic items. I have been in love with faux animal busts for a while now. Last year Z Gallerie started carrying deer, moose,horse, ram, and rhino busts and I have wanted one so bad. They have a small version that's about $50 and a large one that is $250. Both of which are out of my price range for some decor for our apartment. Maybe when I live in a house that I'll be in for a while I can venture out and buy one but for now I only gaze at them online.

Look how cute they are. No animals were harmed in making them either. :)

Well, today I was browsing a local antique store to price some things that I found last weekend when two little gems caught my eyes. They were brass gazelle bookends. They were on a rather dark shelf off to the side that I'm sure I've passed many times on my trips there but today they said, "hello, look at us and take us home." So I quickly picked them up and purchased them for the small price of $10. Now, you may think ten bucks is a lot for some bookends but I've been looking for some and the ones I've liked have been at least $10 a piece!

Since I love painting things white, I stopped by Lowes to grab some white, high gloss spray paint.

I first cleaned each piece and laid out some paper on the porch. Then I sprayed away.
Now I have a "fix" for my craving of a faux animal bust. I'm really excited to have these little guys. I'll probably move them into the "office" eventually but for now they greet you when you come into the apartment.

I just love what a little spray paint can do! :)

I hope all is well and wonderful with you today.

Has anyone seen or heard of this before?

2011-02-15T19:20:00.002-06:00

I just visited cuteoverload.com and saw an animal called Pudu. I've never seen this before but it's like a mini deer. It has stolen my heart. Seriously, how cute?!

Cake Dessert Balls

2011-02-13T22:37:00.005-06:00

Here's my strawberry-ish dessert I said I would post. This recipe is really easy and very tasty. There are different versions of this recipe too. I'll post them at the bottom.

Here's what you need:

Cake mix (and ingredients to make cake), 1 tub of icing, almond bark

First make the cake according to package directions. You can put it in any type of pan but I usually use a 9x13 pan.

After your cake has baked allow it to cool a bit. Then crumble the cake into a large bowl.
Now pour the full container of icing into the bowl.
And mix the cake and icing until well combined.
Now you will need to shape the mixture into small balls and place them on a baking sheet. I like to line my sheet with some wax paper. Stick the balls into the refrigerator for a while to cool. This will help keep the mixture together for the next step.
Melt the almond bark according to package directions.
Now dip the balls into the almond bark. I like to use a fork for this process.

After you have dipped all of the balls allow the coating to harden. Don't put these in the fridge or it will cause them to sweat. They can be stored at room temp.
I added a little color to make them look "Valentine-y".
I also dipped some Oreos in some chocolate and added some pink to them as well.
Then I boxed the dipped treats up and gave them to my grandparents for Valentine's Day and also sent some to Cory's work.
Like I said you can try this recipe in different ways: (basically any cake and icing combo works)

Chocolate cake mix & any chocolate frosting or coconut pecan frosting
Red velvet cake mix & cream cheese frosting (I like to make these at Christmas)
Butter recipe cake & coconut pecan frosting
Lemon or orange cake & vanilla frosting

I hope everyone has a happy Valentine's Day!

Found: Inside Out Bowl

2011-02-10T20:46:00.003-06:00

If you love Anthropologie dinnerware like me, then you need to go to T.J. Maxx now! For a while now I have pined over some Inside Out Bowls from Anthropologie but didn't feel like paying $8 per bowl.

Well tonight I went to T.J. Maxx and found some bowls very similar to the ones from Anthropologie and half the price! There were lots of colors to choose from and also some matching plates.
See? They're inside out because the print is on the inside too.
I only snagged two of them because we don't really need that many bowls. I have wanted some smaller bowls though because the ones we usually use are rather large. I'm excited to have some bowls to eat a small bowl of cereal or to put some dip in. I may even go back and get a few more.
I can't promise that these bowls will be at every T.J. Maxx (you know how that goes) but they are at the one in Florence right now. There were plenty when I left.

Chicken & Dumplings Casserole

2011-02-10T11:57:00.004-06:00

Here's a recipe that my grandmother gave me a while back. It's way easier than making old fashioned Chicken & Dumplings and it tastes just as good.

Here's what you need:

Chicken (I use three chicken breasts)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup milk

2 TBS margarine, melted

2 cups chicken broth

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

First cook the chicken until done and then cut it into bite-size pieces. Place the chicken into a lightly greased 11x7 inch baking dish. I had to use a larger one (Pyrex dish) because my other dish had some leftovers in it, and it worked just as well.

Whisk together the flour, milk, and margarine.
Then pour it over the chicken.
Now whisk the broth, cream of chicken, salt, and pepper together. You can use the same bowl you used for the flour mixture.
Now pour this mixture over the chicken and flour mixture.
Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

Yeah, so I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.... I'll warn you that it doesn't look "beautiful" but it tastes really good.

I hope everyone is staying warm. :)

Strawberries on the Knees

2011-02-08T21:34:00.002-06:00

So I'm posting this picture from Halloween a few years ago because I couldn't find any other picture of me with my knees in them except for beach pictures and I didn't feel like posting that on here. I'm sure if I looked longer I could find some more but don't really feel like it...

Anyway, I haven't blogged in a while so I thought I would tonight. I don't have any crafts to post or recipes to share right now so this will have to do.

Today we had monitors coming to our school to look around and I wanted to look extra nice/professional so I wore some my nicest pair of pants that I rarely wear because I have to wear taller shoes with. I picked out a favorite "teacher" shirt and headed out the door with my apple juice in hand. Do you know those days when you feel you look nice or important? Well, wearing this outfit made me feel pretty cool. As I walked down the steps of our apartment I felt like I was playing a part in a play, like a business woman. I noticed Mustang man (an older guy who smokes in the morning) propped on his car (as usual) and he looked up at me probably thinking that I was an important business lady and so I had to walk with a purpose and look cool all the way to my car. I made it all the way to the side view mirror when I found myself falling to the ground landing on both knees and my apple juice flying in the air. It happened so quickly that I'm not sure what caused me to fall. I don't think I tripped over anything. Well, off course I pop up quickly and check my pants, which are black on both knees, and pick up my empty apple juice cup and run back into the apartment...very non-businesslike. I run to the bedroom and that's when it hits me that my legs are throbbing. As I grab some new pants I see that both my knees have the skin scrapped on them. I put my new pants on and head out the door again, this time walking with a limp and my head held down. That is what I get for thinking I was "all that". I'm clearly not and got humbled very quickly this morning. I wish I could see a recording of how it all went down this morning because I'm sure it was hilarious.

Another thing that has happened lately that is slightly embarrassing and semi relates to the above picture is mistakingly buying a maternity dress. Right after Christmas, my friend Ruth Ann and I went on our traditional "shop for sales after the holidays" trip. I found the cutest dress at Target on the sale rack and when I tried it on I fell in love. Not only was it a nice color but it fit so well. It was actually a little past my knee length (which is hard to find now a-days) and was not clingy at all, which was surprising because it was a jersey knit. I bought it with no regrets or reservations...and apparently no knowledge. As I got dressed for church the next morning and ripped the tag off I noticed that it read "maternity". As soon as I saw the word I could tell there was a place for a pregnant belly to go. I asked Cory and my mom if it looked like I was suppose to be expecting and they both said I didn't so I kept it on. That day during lunch at my grandmother's house I let them in on my little mistake. I've worn the dress two other times since then because I haven't moved all my dresses to the apartment yet and also because it really is comfortable. I have also seen my sweet grandmother each time I've worn it and Sunday she made the comment that she thought I was going to make an announcement soon. I guess with wearing maternity dresses and gaining some weight because I have a huge sweet tooth has led my grandmother to think I'm expecting. I totally am NOT. I'm also totally not going to wear that dress for a while.

Oh well, I will stop for now. Sorry for the rambling. I will post a strawberry-ish dessert soon, though.

Blue Chest

2011-01-20T18:56:00.009-06:00

Since Cory and I have moved into our new apartment, I have found the need (or should I say want?) for some more furniture for our bedroom. In our old apartment I stored my jewelry in a small cabinet in our "office" which was where I would get ready in the morning because 1.it had a full length mirror there, 2. it was close to the bathroom, and 3. Cory was usually sleeping because his classes started later than 8:00. In our new place we now have the luxury of having a full length mirror in our bedroom, a bathroom attached to our room, and Cory gets up when I do to go to work. Therefore, I need a place to keep my jewelry in our bedroom.

Last Saturday Cory and I found this little dresser-ish thing at a local antique store.

It was labeled as an entertainment center, but it looks very similar to the bottom half of the china cabinet that I painted last year.

The first thing I did (or Cory did) was tear out the wooden spindles.

Then I took off all of the hardware. I already had some new pulls for the drawers that I had bought for the china cabinet but didn't work out. I was really excited to get to use them.
Next I sanded the whole thing and primed it.
The new pulls were a little wider than the old ones so we had to fill in the holes with wood filler and then sand that down.
After it was primed, I applied Valspar Aqua Mist paint to the chest. I was excited to use Valspar paint at first because it supposedly had a primer mixed in it. I thought since I had already primed the piece with primer that I would only have to paint one coat on the whole thing. Boy, was I wrong. I had to paint 3 coats on it and 4 in some places. I surely won't use that kind of paint again. I will stick to Glidden from now on.
After I painted it a few times I decided to distress it. I wanted to go for an antique/country cottage vibe. (also I took a poll--thanks, Josh & Heidi) . I distressed it by gently sanding the edges of the chest.
Then Cory put some chicken wire on the backs of the door for me. I really like the look of the doors with the wire, but I didn't want all of our junk to be exposed so I made some linen curtains to put behind the wire.

Ta-da! I know this look isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's right up my alley. I would love to put this in a (large) bathroom one day and take the curtains off and have this as a towel/toilet paper/other bathroom items holder.
But for now, it serves it's purpose wonderfully. It holds my earrings box in one drawer and my necklace box in the other drawer. On top I have my little bird jewelry holder that my sweet grandparents gave me for Christmas. Sadly, it doesn't hold all of them, but it sure is cute. It also holds Cory's "jewelry holder" aka men's vallet that the same grandparents gifted this year.
The pictures kind of make the cabinet look white. The actual color looks more like this:
Here's a before and after shot side by side. Thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone is doing well. :)

Caramel Pie

2011-01-18T20:52:00.004-06:00

Here's a recipe that I'm sure most of you know. If you don't know it then it may surprise you to see how it's made...or at least surprise your husband. It's really easy but it takes a while to make. I decided to make this pie one day last week when I was out of school for the snow because, like I said, it does take a while to make. The recipe calls for condensed milk which was a bad choice being a snow day because Wal-mart was completely out of it. I forgot that it's used in snow cream. I had the hankering for this pie though, so Cory so sweetly took me to a pretty sketchy grocery store close to our new place.

For this recipe you will need:

1 large graham pie crust

2 cans condensed milk

1 small tub Cool Whip

mini-chocolate chips *optional*

First you take the labels off of the cans of milk.
Then you place the cans in a large stock pot, preferably in a pot that doesn't have a Teflon coating because it may chip.
Now fill the pot with water cold water.
Make sure you fill the pot with water until it covers the cans about 2 inches over.
Now bring the water to a boil. This is what takes a while. Boil the cans for a total of 3 hours (or 3 1/2). Check on your cans every 30 minutes to turn them over and also to add more water to the pot. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that the cans are under water the whole time or they can explode!

This is also the "husband surprising" part because he looked in the pot and looked at me confused that I was boiling cans.
After about 3 hours your cans should feel a little heavier and bulgy. Take the cans out and make sure you are wearing oven mitts. Let them sit for a few minutes to cool a little bit and then carefully open the cans. I say carefully, because when I did, caramel squirted out on my head. It was quite funny. Anyway, it should look like this:
Pour both cans of caramel into the pie crust and sit in the fridge for about an hour or so, or until it has cooled. Then top the pie with some Cool Whip.
And then some chocolate chips if you like.
Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. I refrigerated it for 8 hours and it was perfect.

See? Very simple, but takes a while. It's definitely worth the time.

Change of Post

2011-01-14T21:54:00.006-06:00

I was going to post a recipe tonight but instead I'm going to post a prayer request (I seem to do that a lot on here---but it sure helps) In the past two weeks I have heard of so many families going through tough times and it truly breaks my heart. The year has just begun and I have heard of many deaths, sicknesses, and misfortunes. One bit of bad news that I just learned about yesterday was a dear friend of mine's dad has been diagnosed with leukemia. He is actually a close family friend and such a sweet, sweet man. He would honestly do anything for anyone and has treated me like one of his own daughters many times growing up. He is also a very strong man and I'm confident he will overcome this obstacle with the support of his family & friends and the healing power of God. Please pray for Jackie and his family as he goes through this process. Thanks.

Spaghetti a la Philly & Hitler Cat

2011-01-11T19:21:00.010-06:00

So since I've last posted, Cory & I have moved into a new apartment. We've been unpacking for a few days and enjoying the beautiful snow that God has given us.

Tonight I'm posting a super simple recipe that you've probably seen on the inside of a Philadelphia cream cheese box. It's called Spaghetti a la Philly and it's delicious. I confess, the first year Cory and I were married I made spaghetti quite often because it is inexpensive and quick. Now, we didn't eat it every week but often enough that we kind of got burned out on it (or at least I did). When I found the recipe I had to try it. When I did it blew Cory's socks off. He thought it was something fancy that took me a while to prepare, little did he know. :)

All you need for this tasty dish is:

1/2 lb spaghetti,uncooked

1 lb ground beef

1 jar spaghetti sauce

4 oz cream cheese, cubed (half a package)

2 TBS parmesan cheese (I left this out tonight)

Cook the noodles according to the package directions.

While the noodles are boiling, brown the meat.

After the meat has browned, drain it and return it to the pan.

Stir in the sauce and cream cheese and cook for about 3-5 minutes.
Or until it is heated through. The sauce will lighten up a bit and almost look orangey.
Drain your noodles and you are done! The next picture looks like Pac-Man going in for a bite. I didn't plan it that way.
And now for Hitler cat. While Cory and I were looking around for apartments/houses we met a little cat that I thought looked like Hitler. Therefore, for the brief moments that I knew this cat his name was Adolf.
Adolf didn't have a tail which made him pretty hard core.
Don't you see the resemblance?

Hello 2011

2011-01-02T22:31:00.002-06:00

I'm just writing to let you know that I am (and have been for 11 days) moved back to the Shoals area. Notice I said "moved back", not "moved in", because Cory & I are still searching for a place to rent. My parents are graciously hosting us until we find something. I have felt much love with multiple offers of places to stay in while we hunt, but living with mom and dad isn't bad. Hopefully we'll find something soon though so we don't overstay our welcome. Also, it would be nice to have everything unpacked and located. Tonight I have been searching for items and it's driving me nuts! Anyway, I'm here and with my man, so it's all good. ;)

I'm really excited about a new year. I'm hoping it is much better than 2010. While 2010 had it's ups it also had some pretty awful downs. Living here and having a job has started this year off well. Speaking of, my new job starts tomorrow so any prayers would be much appreciated. I'm excited and terrified at the same time. I'm not too sure what to expect but I'm going to take it on.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas time. Cory & I had a great Christmas catching up with family, old friends, and eating tons. We are so blessed to have such loving family & friends and received such incredible gifts. One gift that has brought smiles to my face this week is my new Boo calendar. (Thanks again, Ruth Ann!)

Another nice gift was a new camera. I can't wait to take some cool pictures for this old blog soon.

I hope everyone has a great week, especially my teacher friends who have to wake up early again. :)

My Rainbow after the Flood

2010-12-13T15:59:00.006-06:00

If you read my post yesterday I was a little more than disappointed. Although, by the end of the night Cory & I had our spirits up. This morning was rather difficult getting to school. Cory & I stayed really warm during the night. I actually perspired during the night because our room was so toasty. But the humidity in our apartment was awful. My clothes that were upstairs were damp this morning from all the moisture in the air. Our bread downstairs was rather soggified and I couldn't open the applejuice. I was running late and just kind of grumpy. Well, during first period I got my cell phone out to text Cory to see the progress of getting our heater replaced when I realized I had answered a call. I had no clue who was calling but said hello anyway. It was my angel for the day offering me a job for next semester! It's a semi-weird situation to describe but I'll be teaching an elective class for the Spring semester and I couldn't be happier. I really needed this great news today. After receiving the call I was so upbeat and excited. God is SO good! Last year I was disappointed in not getting some other positions but I never felt as good about the schools as I did with this one. I'm really excited to see what God has in store for me starting January 3rd. Thanks so much for all the prayers. I have totally been feeling them.

Flood with emotion...and water

2010-12-12T16:17:00.002-06:00

Moving has been more difficult than I had imagined. Besides the fact of the sentimental things, like this being our first home together, leaving great friends, and a wonderful job, we have had some big difficulties. To avoid the expense of renting a moving van and to make things easier for our family around Christmas, Cory & I have been taking loads of items home each weekend to a storage unit and my parents’ house. The past few weekends we have started moving furniture home. The first shipment of furniture made it home fairly well. We had a glass knob break off of a cabinet, but it can easily be replaced. Moving out of the apartment we also managed to damage a sleeper sofa, but it’s really old and we aren’t planning on it staying around forever. Last weekend when we moved things back it was VERY windy. We had a chair fall off on the highway and it ate the pavement pretty well. We also had some paint scratched off of the china cabinet that I painted last year. I was upset at first, but it made me realize not to put too much emphasis on worldly items…even if it was our nicer pieces of furniture. Well, this morning our complications with moving did not take a week off. I woke up to find our entire downstairs flooded with ankle deep water. Now keep in mind that since the majority of our furniture is gone, tons of our belongings are on the floor. (ie: laptop, cameras, Tivo, Christmas cards, packed boxes, etc.) I couldn’t believe it.

This is how it went down: Cory & I went to bed at about midnight and we left the living room nice and dry. At about 1:00 I thought I smelled something burning or at least abnormal. I then thought that the smell I smelled was chlorine and since it had been raining all evening I figured it was just water from outside. I tend to have a very sensitive sense of smell and Cory thought I was crazy because he didn’t smell anything. I should have gone downstairs to check on things but I just went to sleep. Well, this morning when I opened the bedroom door to start getting ready for church, I heard some water running. It sounded like the toilet running and I told Cory, who was still sleeping, that the toilet had been running all night. As I walked closer to the bathroom I noticed that the sound was coming from downstairs. It sounded like the washing machine was on. As I went to the staircase I saw the carpet at the bottom of the stairs soaked and had some water standing on it. I screamed that we were flooded and Cory jumped out of bed. We ran to the laundry room where water was spraying EVERYWHERE including the ceiling. Apparently the pipe that connects the washing machine to the water source burst. I can’t believe so much water accumulated. We immediately started picking up boxes and electronics and carried them upstairs. Boxes that were packed and ready to go were drenched, damaging books, cards, and memories. I started dumping things out and carried the boxes to the dumpster. Of course it starts snowing. Cory and I are in our pajamas soaked in water to our shins and it’s freezing. I’m so glad we were planning on going to the early church service so we stopped the water when we did. I called the maintenance people and they sent a man with a wet vac over. He clean up most of the water but things will be damp and hair will be frizzy here for a while. Just when I think that things couldn’t get worse, the heater doesn’t want to work. The heater is in the room where the water was spraying and a man has just informed us that the whole unit will need to be replaced. This will have to take place tomorrow. Yikes! Cory is such a sweetheart and is going to stay with me tonight to keep me warm and sane.

I’m sorry this is nothing but whining. The reason I’m writing this is to warn you that if you’re getting a Christmas present from us the package may be warped and non-returnable, that if we borrowed a book from you it’s probably going to be a little wrinkly, and that if you normally get a Christmas card from us, this year you won’t. That last statement is the hardest for me. We didn’t take a picture for this year’s card but I did buy some pretty (non-cheap) cards this year and wrote personal messages in each one. They were stamped and ready to go but not so much now. I used a felt tip pin so the cards are all smudged. There were also raised up parts to the cards that are messed up. I don’t think I can purchase and write on 35+ cards and stamp them again considering we’re probably going to have to pay for damages and the clean-up crew, the heater, a high water bill, and possibly damages to our neighbor’s apartment. Bah-humbug.

Here’s a picture of our cards. The camera was in my purse, which was on the floor, and got wet. It works but is very foggy right now. That’s why it looks the way it does.

I’m trying to look at the bright side though. Here are some positive thoughts:

We weren't hurt (not that we really could’ve been from water, but it wasn't a fire)
Cory is staying an extra night with me.
My laptop wasn't damaged. I have lots of important files on here.
A lot of our furniture and things have been moved so it made it easier to clean up the water.
I wanted to shampoo the carpet and mop really good before we left. Check!
Since the heat has temporarily gone out maybe the floors will freeze over and we can ice skate? ..yeah, I’m becoming a little sarcastic. I will end this post.

Sorry if this has put a damper (pun intended) on your day. Moral of the story: if you think you smell something strange in your home check it out.

On My Mind

2010-12-07T22:14:00.004-06:00

Warning: This post is totally random.

Since I'm by myself during the weeknights, I have a lot of time to think. Here are some of the things that have been on my mind lately that are not too stressful or depressing....

-Why do the songs that annoy you the most seem to get stuck in your head constantly? Right now, Pink's new song, "Raise Your Glass" is repeating over and over in my head and it won't leave. In this song she sings a line, "Don't be fancy, just get dancey" (which I think is pretty ridiculous) Now, at first when I was hearing this song I just shrugged my shoulders and let it slide because it rhymed, but then she sings that line again. Oh dear... I'll admit I would probably like it better if I had used the word "dancey" before. I'm a sucker for cheesiness in jokes & sayings. I used to say "no pockets to lock-its" when I would try to put my hands in my pockets and realize I didn't have any in the pants I was wearing. Granted, I was in 5th grade but I understand the need for rhyming in phrases. I don't know why I shared that tid-bit of info, but I know my bud, Ruth Ann will get a smile out of it ;)

-I think I have the skills to be a great lip sync-er. I wish there was a show like American Idol but for people who could lip sync and look believable. You would have to sing like you mean it and extra points would be given if you "air-instrumented" along with the song. My favorite air-instrument would be a toss up between the tambourine or the triangle (or whatever bell sound that is played in songs). Of course, the drums and guitar would be awesome to play but if I wanted it to be believable I would have to settle for the simple instruments. It just makes sense. The judges for the show would have to be Fab Morvan (from Milli Vanilli), Britney Spears, and Ashlee Simpson. I've had a lot of lip syncing practice from my pretend band with my pal and trying to impress Cory. I know deep down he loves it.

-I wish I had tons of money to buy presents for people all the time. I love giving gifts, especially when you know that person would enjoy what you've gotten them. While I have been Christmas shopping I keep seeing things that I wish I could get for people.

-Speaking of gifts, here is a nice little thought. Each year my coworkers buy Christmas gifts for a student who doesn't have much. The student is told by the counselor that they have been chosen to receive gifts from a group of people because they are a good student, or something along those lines. This year the child that was chosen was given a sheet to fill out clothes sizes and a wishlist. This child filled out their sizes and wrote down 4 fun items and then scratched out 2 of them and turned it in. When the counselor noticed that the child had done this she called him(or)her back in and asked why they scratched the things out and the student said it was because they didn't want to ask for too much. Wow. The items that were written down were very inexpensive things too. Most children want the biggest and best things and this kid was so grateful to be getting something as small as a little rubber bracelet.

-Dancing is really a fun little thing. I love seeing a small child dance because you have to wonder, "where did they get those moves?" I guess a lot of people imitate what they see others doing but I think it's so fun to see child start moving along to a beat. It's hard for me to sit still when I hear music. I have embarrassed myself (and Cory) numerous times dancing down the aisles in stores or in the car. Just last Saturday night Cory & I were in Wendy's drive-through and as we pulled up to the window to pay Nelly's song, "Hot in Here" came on and I just couldn't help myself. The dude at the window was amused...or totally weirded out. It was pretty funny. I guess Gloria Estefan was right, the "Rhythm IS going to get you". As I get embarrassed at getting caught busting a move, a child doesn't, and I love that! The morning announcements at my school begin with a song that a student picks out. In my class that the announcements are read I have a girl with Autism. She is such a sweetheart and she loves to dance. She will dance along with the music until it's off. She's so carefree and doesn't get embarrassed by it. By the way, the other students have grown up with her and don't make fun which is nice. It really inspires me to enjoy the little moments and not be afraid to be silly every once in a while.

-Why do I keep losing earrings? In the past few weeks I have lost two black earrings (one from two pairs) It really frustrates me because I'm not taking them off and losing them, they are falling out of my ear at some point. It's been my left ear the last two times. I have been looking through my jewelry box and I have tons of earrings that no longer have a match. I hold on to them hoping I will find the other but I rarely do. It always happens to my favorite earrings too. I guess I can hold on to the half so I can have something to remember them by. Oh well, maybe I can think up a craft for old earrings without a mate.

-Is it really Christmas time? I've been counting down the days for Christmas break because that's when I get to move back home with Cory and it's gotten here (thankfully) faster than I had imagined but it doesn't really feel like Christmas. I guess it doesn't feel like it as much because I don't have any decorations up since I'm moving. My mom doesn't even have decorations out yet because I usually put them up for her and I've been in Tuscaloosa packing each weekend. I love Christmas and all it holds but this year I am somewhat apprehensive about it. Or maybe it's moving that makes me feel this way. Things are different this year (from quite a few aspects) and it makes my heart sad. Being in Tuscaloosa, even though I'm lonely, is somewhat of an escape from the reality sometimes and makes things seem ok. Ok, now it's getting depressing over here so I'm going to stop typing now.

I hope everyone is keeping warm. :)

I'm really in love with this dog.

2010-12-01T17:28:00.005-06:00

I've posted a picture of this cute dog on here before and I'm doing it again. I seriously smile every time I see this little puppy's face. It's kind of embarrassing, but this picture is my computer's wallpaper. I just can't get enough!

I was uber-excited when I saw that there's a Boo calendar for 2011. If you're in love with him like I am, then I hope I just made your day. :)

Thanksgiving Wrap-up

2010-11-28T16:54:00.004-06:00

Well, I just got back to Tuscaloosa after a wonderful Thanksgiving break. I wish there were two Thanksgiving Days, though because then I feel like it would have been a little more wonderful. Since Cory and I have been married we've been alternating who's family's Thanksgiving dinner we'll go to. This year it was my family's turn. I really enjoyed seeing my extended family and catching up with them but I did miss seeing Cory's side of the family. Good thing that Christmas is just around the corner. :)

Thank you to anyone who said a prayer for me since my last post. I was really stressed that week but things have simmered down a little. Since it was such a stressful week at school I decided to take off the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (we had to go to school on Mon & Tues). I'm so glad that I did because I got to see my sister, Angie, an extra day. I had not seen her since March and I won't get to see her until probably June, since she'll be with her fiance's family during Christmas. I tried to spend as much time possible with her and we had a blast. I hate that I missed seeing some friends who were in town (or live in town) but I'm hoping I'll see them during Christmas time and after since I'm MOVING BACK :)

Driving back to Tuscaloosa is always a little hard, especially after being home for almost a whole week, but I had a few things that made me smile along the way:

1. Christmas music playing (I heard almost all of my favorite Christmas songs)

2. The weather was beautiful. The sun was shining so bright and there were plenty of trees that still had their pretty red, orange, and yellow leaves on them.

3.I saw a calf getting a drink from his mother.

4. The Cujo-looking dog was clean and not so scary....Here's the story on this one. Have you ever seen the Stephen King movie Cujo? If you haven't then you're probably better off. It's about a Saint Bernard who's got rabies and lives at an abandoned house and terrorizes this family and town. I don't know what made me watch it but I did and it freaked me out. Cujo is really bloody and dirty. Here's a pic of him.

Well, a few weeks ago as I was driving to the Shoals I saw a dog that looked like Cujo (dirty dog minus the blood) outside of an old, run-down house. I wanted to take a picture of him but feared a movie reenactment and went on my way. I had not seen Cujo the last two times I've made the drive from Tuscaloosa to Muscle Shoals, but today I did! And he was clean and not so scary. It made me happy that the dog was not rabid and had some owners who kept him clean....wow, sorry for the random rant. Back to my list...

5. This should be my last time having to drive back to Tuscaloosa to our apartment!!! (knock on wood) Cory will be coming here the next few weekends to load up our furniture. Whoo hoo!

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. :)

Stressed

2010-11-15T18:32:00.002-06:00

This is pretty much what I feel like right now. I've got "stressers" coming from many different angles and it makes me feel crazy! I would appreciate any prayers right now. I know things will be fine. Just needed to semi-vent.

On a happy note, I will be moving back home (with Cory) in 35 days! I can't wait!

Butterfinger Cake

2010-11-11T21:06:00.006-06:00

Sunday is my cutie-of-a-husband's birthday. I can't believe Cory will be 29. We really are knocking on 30's door. For Cory's birthday this year I have made him a Butterfinger cake. I have chosen this cake for two reasons: one being Butterfingers are delicious and two it's an easy cake to make and doesn't require a cake saver. I guess that could be three reasons? Anyway, Cory is sweet and will forgive me for not making him a decorated or layered cake this year because I don't have any cake savers at our apartment now. I have already started packing up our apartment (because I move in Decemeber!!!) and the cake savers are currently being stored away.

This cake is really yummy and as I said before very easy to make. I got this recipe from my home church's cookbook a few years ago. I just love church cookbooks because they have the best recipes that normal people have made.

Here's what you need for the whole thing: (you can notice that the outlet in our apartment is upside down)hehe

1 box Devil's Food cake mix (and ingredients to make cake---eggs, vegetable oil, water)

1 (8oz) cream cheese, softened

1 (12oz) tub Cool Whip, thawed

1 can condensed milk

8oz caramel topping (you can just buy the 8 oz jar but I like the squeeze bottle)

4 large Butterfinger candy bars, chopped

Directions:

Prepare the cake mix according to package directions. Pour the cake in a prepared 9x13 pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
While the cake is baking you can chop your Butterfingers.
When the cake is done take out of the oven and start poking holes in it with a straw. You can do this while the cake is still warm. I love not having to wait for the cake to cool off! No, there's not a ghost at my house who poked the cake for me...I guess I'm just that pale. eew
It's pretty fun poking the holes. Sometimes I get carried away.
Now mix the condensed milk and caramel together (if you're using the 8 oz jar save a tad bit of caramel to drizzle on top).
Pour this mixture over the entire cake. See what the holes are for now? To help the cake soak up the yummy goodness. :)
Next brush 2 chopped Butterfinger bars on top of the cake.
Now mix the cream cheese and Cool Whip together.
Spread the topping on the cake.
Top with the other 2 candy bars and drizzle some caramel on the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Tada!
And to make it birthday appropriate:
Happy Birthday, Buckshot! You are the best and I'm super blessed to get to spend the rest of my life with you.

Carrot Cake

2010-11-08T15:59:00.001-06:00

My mom’s birthday is today and I made her a Carrot Cake for our little celebration. For the past few years I have made mom a Carrot Cake because it’s one of her favorites. I’ve used different recipes for the cake but the one I’m sharing today is probably the easiest and very yummy. It’s easy because it uses a cake mix (mixed with other ingredients). I’ve made cakes from scratch plenty of times but I really like starting from a mix because you don’t have to worry if your baking soda is still good. :)

To make this cake you'll need:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 box vanilla instant pudding (3.4 oz)

2/3 cup orange juice

½ cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 tsp cinnamon

3 cups shredded carrots (about 5 carrots)

½ cup raisins

½ cup pecans or walnuts

Directions:

With an electric mixer combine the cake mix, pudding, orange juice, vegetable, eggs, and cinnamon together for about 3 minutes or until well blended. The smell of these ingredients combining is incredible. My mouth was watering as I was mixing.

Now fold in the raisins, carrots, and pecans.

Pour into two 9 inch greased cake pans.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool on a wire rack for about 35 minutes.

Now for the yummy cream cheese frosting:

2 (8 oz) cream cheese packages, room temp

1 stick butter, room temp

1 (16oz) box Confectioner sugar

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup pecans or walnuts (optional)

Mix the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until fluffy then gradually add the sugar.

Mix until well combined.

If you’re using pecans you can fold them in.

I like to save mine for the sides of my cake.

Now frost your cake!

I’m usually pretty reserved when frosting the first layer because I’m always afraid I’ll run out of frosting so this time I was fairly generous.

This caused me to run out of frosting for decorating the top of the cake though.

Whoops!

I just filled in the center with some leftover pecans.

Well, I’m sure mom doesn’t mind that it looks kind of goofy.

I hope you have a fabulous birthday, Mom. Love you!

Cabinet Makeover

2010-10-30T14:34:00.010-05:00

Today I'm posting a cabinet that I repainted this past week. I got this cabinet from my sister about 3 years ago when she was moving. It's a neat little cabinet that has been sitting at the top of our stairs in our apartment since we moved in. It has remained in the hallway mainly because of it's color. It was black with gold paint smeared on it and didn't really go with the decor in any of our rooms. I have been meaning to paint it for a long time but just recently actually decided to do it. Here it is before.

As I was inspecting the inside of the cabinet I found that the top of the inside had this little painting on it. It was a fun surprise. (This picture looks a little funky but it was the best I could get.)
First I took off the doors and knobs. Then I sanded the whole thing. I wanted to change the cabinet up a bit so I decided to take off the top panel's wood medallions and add a bigger swag decoration.

Then I glued the new wood piece to the door front with some wood glue. I also had to fill in the hole from the old knob with some wood filler.
After the glue dried, I primed the whole piece. It took me a while to figure out a paint color. My instincts kept telling me to paint it white but it seems like I already have a lot of white things in our home. I then wanted to try a bluish gray but couldn't find what I had in mind at the store. I then remembered that I had some leftover paint from the china cabinet I did a while back.
I mixed the leftover paint which helped save some money.
And here it is. I also got some new dropped pulls from Hobby Lobby.
I'm still playing with things to put on top of it now. Here's what I have right now though.
Here's a before and after picture side by side. Thanks for stopping by. :)

Lovin' Some Deals

2010-10-25T21:27:00.005-05:00

On a few visits to some antique stores I've seen some old milk glass carriers that I've really liked, that look like this:

I have seen items very similar to this that cost between $40-$60. I've even seen a few online that were $90! In my book, it's not worth that much. The weekend before last as Cory and I were browsing around Hobby Lobby I found something that looked like what I wanted. I was super excited but then I saw the price tag which read $27.99. That may not seem like that much but I have a hard time purchasing things(clothes & small home decor) over $25. I thought I may try to use a 40% coupon that they have online and get it one day. Well, last Thursday was my birthday and I received some birthday cash during the week. Since I'm here in Tuscaloosa alone I celebrated my birthday by shopping on Wednesday night. I thought it would be too pathetic walking around the mall by myself on my actual birthday**...weird, I know. I went to Hobby Lobby to actually get something for school when I decided to look at the milk carrier again. To my surprise the section it was in was marked off 50%. Happy Birthday to me! I got it with no reservations since I had a little extra cash for $14. I was so happy. Here it is.

During the fall and winter I think it will serve as candle holders. During the summer I can't wait to use the jars as vases.

This milk glass container was the only purchase I made that day. I thought I'd save the rest of my moolah for a rainy day....Well, today it rained! As I was shopping for groceries at Target I made a stop down the home decor ailse and saw that this large magnifying glass that I've been eyeballing for weeks was on sale for 50% off. I got it for the small price of $7.00 I have so many places I can put this but for now it's sitting on top of our bookshelf in the office. You should really check out Target because there were lots of home decor and clothes on sale.
**Don't feel too sorry for me because I wasn't alone on my birthday. My sweet husband and wonderful parents paid me a visit and we had a great time and yummy food. :)

Letters in a Jar

2010-10-17T13:53:00.002-05:00

The other day on Life in the Fun Lane I read about ceramic balls with letters on them on sale at Michael's. I really liked them for some reason and decided to grab a few. I got them for the low, low price of just $1 a ball. I bought eight of them and brought them home. I thought they would look great in a mason jar, because in my opinion, everything looks great in mason jars. :) I actually ended up only putting seven letters in the jar because all eight wouldn't fit. I didn't want to just have one jar standing alone so going along with the letter theme I put some Scrabble letters in a smaller jar. These now sit on top of my recently redone coffee table.

I'm really pleased with the look and this was an inexpensive way to add something new to the room. If you like the letters then hurry over to Michael's and get some.

German Chocolate Cake

2010-10-14T20:38:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was my wonderful father's birthday. To help celebrate this past weekend I made a German Chocolate Cake for him.

Here's what you need:

1 package German Chocolate cake mix

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

First you'll need to grease two 9 inch cake pans. You can do this by the old shortening & flour routine OR you can use a product I swear by: Cake Release.
I learned about this product back in 2003 when I took a cake decorating class. It always releases your cake beautifully from the cake pans. I love the stuff. You can find it at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and sometimes Walmart. It's with the cake decorating things. Anyway, back to the recipe.

Mix all of the cake ingredients for at least 3 minutes or until well combined. Pour into the 9 inch cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for about 32 minutes.

Allow cakes to cool completely before frosting (about 30 minutes)

Now for the yummy pecan-coconut frosting.

You'll need:
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1 package (7 oz) flaked coconut

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 sticks of butter

4 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

First you'll need to spread the pecans and coconut on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Next put the evaporated milk, sugar, butter, egg yolks, and vanilla in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, for about 10 to 12 minutes.
Remove from the heat. Stir in the toasted pecans & coconut.

Cool to room temperature which will make it spreading consistency. (for about 30 minutes)
To quicken the cooling process I pour the frosting into a metal bowl and sometimes emerge the bowl in a larger bowl of ice.

Now frost the top of one layer of cake. Place the other layer on top and then frost the top.
Typically German Chocolate Cakes are only frosted in the center and on top. I like to frost the sides though. I used some store bought chocolate frosting for the side of my cake.
In hindsight I should have frosted the sides of the cake before the top. :)
Then I topped the cake with some chocolate covered almonds that I bought.
Here's my sweet parents before partaking in the birthday cake.

Burlap Pillows

2010-10-07T16:04:00.001-05:00

After Cory & I redid the table for our "office" I wanted to change up the look of the room. An easy and inexpensive way to do that was to change the pillows for the sofa. I have been seeing burlap pillows around for a while now and I always really like them. Neiman Marcus has some beautiful ones right now as does Restoration Hardware but unfortunately they are pretty pricey. Here are some from Restoration Hardware.

Since I didn't feel like spending a lot of money on burlap pillows I decided to make some of my own. Instead of tossing the pillows that I already have and making all new ones I chose to make pillow slipcovers.

Here's what you'll need if you would like to make one yourself:

Burlap, thread, sewing machine, iron-on transfer paper, a computer/printer, and an iron.
You'll also need a pillow that you wish to cover.

First thing you'll need to do is measure your pillow form. Now add 1 inch to that measurement and cut out a piece of fabric that size. Ex: my pillow was 18 x 18 inches so I cut a piece of fabric that was 19X19. Then you'll need to cut out 2 pieces of fabric that is your width (in my case 19 in) and the length should be half of your width plus 2.5 inches (half of 19 is 9.5 plus 2.5 equals 12) So I cut two pieces of fabric that were 19x12. I hope that makes sense.
Now I did not surge around the edges of my fabric because I'm just using them temporarily but if you have the equipment you may want to do that. Next I took my two 19x12 pieces of fabric and along one side of the 19 inches edge, I folded the fabric over about 1/4 inch and pressed with an iron. I then folded the folded part another 1/4 inch and pressed & pinned it. I then stitched down the center of the fold to create a hem. I then did this to the other 19x12 piece.
Next lay the 19x19 piece down and lay one rectangle piece on it wrong side up and pin it together. Now take the second rectangle and do the same thing.

After you've pinned the pieces together you can sew around the entire square using whatever seam allowance you wish.
Now turn your pillow cover inside out and stuff your pillow into it.
Tada! Note: this pillow's iron on didn't turn out as well.
Now, for the print for your pillow. Find some clip art that you want to have on your pillow. I searched for "french burlap pillow" and found some cool things. I also used The Graphic Fairy which had tons of pictures to choose from. Print your graphics out on some iron on transfer paper and remember to flip the image so it will iron on correctly. After you print it then you'll need to cut it out.
Next, iron it on according to the paper's package directions.
Peal it off gently. And there you have it.
For these two pillows I used muslin instead of burlap.
Here are my burlap pillows. Like I said, the larger one didn't turn out as well, but I'm ok with it.
I think the bicycle one is my favorite.
I hope my instructions were clear enough for you. These pillows were so simple to make and very inexpensive. I'm glad I can change them out when I want to.

Third Time's a Charm

2010-10-05T19:20:00.005-05:00

Two weekends ago I had the urge to paint some furniture (weird, I know). Instead of going out and buying more furniture that we don't have room for I decided to change up a piece I already had. Cory was super sweet & helpful and joined right in.

Before we got married Cory received this table from my sister, Angie, during one of her moves. Here's a picture of it, minus the doors, right after he inherited it.

Cory & I decided to paint it his favorite color:green (a very light shade and a darker one). We were really excited because it was our first piece of furniture to paint. We even signed our names & date on the bottom of it when we were done. It made me smile to see it when we were redoing it. Here's a picture of it after the first paint job.
This time around we decided to strip the paint off of the top and stain it a darker color. We decided to paint the bottom half a creamy white. Here it is now.
Here's a close up of the new pulls. They're clear crystal looking with a stain brushed on them to look antique. I got them at Hobby Lobby for about $3.00.

I.just.can't.stop...

2010-10-02T18:42:00.005-05:00

looking at this ADORABLE puppy. OMW (oh my word)<---I'm trying to get that phrase to catch on, haha.

Look at the little puffball. His name is Boo. I found these pictures on cuteoverload.com. Have a happy weekend & Roll Tide :)

**UPDATE** Little Boo has a facebook page. Check it.

A Whole New World

2010-10-01T19:22:00.005-05:00

Lately I've been seeing globes in decorating magazines/design blogs and I like it. Here's a picture from Apartment Therapy that I like.

If you like the globe look too then you need to check out T.J. Maxx because they have TONS of vintage looking globes (or at least the Maxx in Tuscaloosa does). I snagged one at a reasonable price and I'm really excited about it. There were so many sizes, styles, and colors to choose from. I was torn between the golden color, the blue, and the black globes. I ended up settling on a smaller blue one.

On another note, my world is sadly changing. The "K Bug", aka my VW Beetle, is going on retirement...or at least on retirement from me. It's not as dependable as it once was and we are going to part ways. It was my dream car and I loved having it. I will miss it but I'm looking forward to having a more reliable car, one where I don't have to cross my fingers for it to start :) I hope you have a great weekend.

Buzzing Like A Bee

2010-09-27T21:35:00.003-05:00

Today was the first day of my sewing unit with my classes. To introduce the first lesson I always have various sewing tools/equipment numbered around the room and have the students try to figure out the names of each item (of course they have a word bank). After a few minutes I will go over each item and explain its use. One item on display is a pincushion. I know that this seems very elementary, but believe me, some middle schoolers have never seen one. Now, the pincushion did not have any pins or needles in it. I try to keep those sharp objects out of reach when kids will be moving around because for some reason it is very tempting for 12-14 year olds to take a needle and poke someone or to stick it in their finger (like they're the first one to think that up.) Anyway, I had an empty pincushion for the students to see and I had another one in my hand that had a few pins, needles, and safety pins in it so I could show the differences between pins and needles when I was explaining what each item was. Well, the kids were working hard at trying to name the items while I was sitting on my seat in the front of the room monitoring them with my "loaded" pincushion in hand. During this time one student came to me needing a pass to the counselor. Since everyone was doing their work I laid the pincushion in the chair that I was sitting in and went over to my desk (on the other side of the room) to get a pass. I went back to the chair at the front of the room and sat on the edge of the seat to sign the pass. I knew the pincushion was still in the chair, but I just sat in front of it. It soon became time for me to explain all the sewing items. I grabbed my pincushion and started explaining everything. Afterwards, as I was passing out worksheets, two boys started giggling when I walked by. Now, I really don't care what middle school kids think of me but it does start to kind of freak you out when there is laughing going on. I just kept walking when one of the boys said, "Mrs. King, you have a needle on your pants." I thought they had seen a large,blue plastic needle that was in my front pocket that I had used with my 6th graders earlier and pulled it out and said, "Yeah, it looks like a clown needle". The plastic needle is rather large and goofy looking. Then the boy said, "No, for real you have a needle sticking out of your pants." I started walking away because these two boys are notorious for trying to pull things over on teachers. At least once a week they'll make up some crazy story or say "Look at (insert name). Why are they (insert action)?" only to see that person just sitting their doing what they're supposed to be doing. They're tricksters, they are. As I walked away I thought that I should nonchalantly check my pants out. That's when I discovered a rather large needle sticking out from the center of my butt. It couldn't have been placed more perfectly if I had tried. I turned around and laughed and said thanks. Although I was kind of bothered by the fact that they were looking at my rear end. I'm glad they told me before I sat down because it would have hurt and been more embarrassing. The other students swore they didn't see it, but I wouldn't put it past them for letting it slide so I would sit on it. I probably looked like a bee walking around with a little stinger. It was pretty funny and it made it even funnier that the two "tricksters" were the ones who clued me in.

Sorry that was rather long. I'm trying to cheer myself up from watching Hoarders. Did you see it tonight? All I'll say about it is, "poor kittens". :(

I hope you have a great week. Cory & I are working on two crafty projects now so I'll post them soon. :)

Hip Hip Hooray!

2010-09-23T20:54:00.006-05:00

Today we found out that Cory, my brother-in-law, Benjamin, and our law school friends passed the Bar exam. I'm beyond thrilled for all of them. It is such a nice feeling to know that all their hard work paid off and that they are now officially lawyers.

Fortunately Cory got to come to Tuscaloosa last night so we got to celebrate the good news together tonight. We went out for a celebratory steak and some Yogurt Mountain goodness. We got to eat yogurt with Rachelle, who was the sweet friend who let us know the results were posted this morning. She's awesome. :)

I hope everyone has a happy weekend. :)

Cute Video

2010-09-20T20:47:00.003-05:00

Have you seen the new OK Go video? I can't stop watching it.

OK Go is the band that made a music video with treadmill choreography a few years ago. I posted it below as well. Check both videos out & be impressed.

By the way, can you tell I'm living alone now? haha. I've been posting more the past few weeks than I had in the last two months combined!

This needs no explanation...

2010-09-18T22:13:00.001-05:00

This image is brought to you by www.cuteoverload.com

Mississippi Mud

2010-09-16T21:45:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow is Birthday Celebration Lunch for my coworkers. Each month the faculty brings something to eat and we say it’s for that month’s birthdays. Even if there is not a birthday that month we still celebrate and I love it. Everyone always brings such yummy things and sometimes I gain a new recipe. Tomorrow I’m bringing Mississippi Mud Cake. I decided to make this cake because it calls for buttermilk and I just so happen to have some that I used for Banana Nut Bread earlier this week. I also had a lot of the other ingredients on hand so I guess it was a lazy decision. Even though the name of this cake sounds unappetizing it really is delicious. This is one of my dad’s favorite cakes that I make. The first time that I made it for him I was afraid I had messed it up. He reassured me that if you have chocolate, marshmallows, and pecans you can't really go wrong. He was right.

Here’s what you need for the cake

· 1 box Devil’s Food Cake

1 stick of butter, melted

2 eggs

1 ½ cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

(7 oz) Marshmallow cream OR mini marshmallows (I use both because it makes it extra yummy)

Mix the cake mix, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk together until well combined. I also add a few chocolate chips because that’s how I roll (I always add choc chips to chocolate cakes & brownies) Pour batter into greased 9x13 cake pan and bake at 350 for 42-ish minutes.

Let cake cool slightly. Next either spread the marshmallow cream on top of the cake OR pour on marshmallows. I will spread the cream and then sprinkle some marshmallows on top of that.

Now for the icing…

1 stick of butter

1/3 c. milk

4 TBS cocoa

4 c. confectioner sugar, sifted

In a saucepan heat the butter, milk, and cocoa until just boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in sugar. While the icing is still warm, pour on top of the marshmallows and spread. If it hardens then put back on the stove for a bit. I sometime will make an extra half batch of icing to cover the cake completely. I find when I do this the cake stays more moist.

Then sprinkle the top of the cake with some pecans. You could mix the pecans with the icing but I like to put them on top so people can pick them off, if needed.

Here it is. And it’s ok that it doesn't look too good because it’s named after mud. It’s not supposed to be pretty.

Hopefully everyone will enjoy it at the birthday lunch. Speaking of birthdays tomorrow is my sweet mother-in-law’s bday. Happy Birthday, Jeanne! I can’t wait to see her and my bros & sisters-in-laws, and little Kate this weekend. I hope you have a happy weekend.

Why?

2010-09-14T19:43:00.001-05:00

Why does that asthma attack commercial (the one with the gold fish flopping around) come on so much? It makes me sad to see it....just saying.

Candy Corn makes me happy :)

2010-09-13T20:15:00.005-05:00

Labor Day weekend had a hint of fall in the air. The temperature was cooler and there was that autumn smell going on. It got me really excited. My excitement quickly faded as the temperature went back up and I had to wear my "Summer/Spring teacher clothes" still. Well, just moments ago I got that exciting fall feeling again. As I was walking down the aisles of Target I smelled such a wonderful aroma that made me think of fall. I searched for the sweet smell and turned down the next aisle and there it was: bags and bags of beautiful candy corn! I'm telling you the whole side of one aisle was basically candy corn (the reason the scent was so strong). There were lots of varieties and shapes (you know the pumpkins, brown ones, bats, caramel flavored, etc.) I'm a fan of the original, Brach's brand. I know that stores sell candy corn year round but I don't feel it appropriate to eat it off season. I have different go-to candies for the seasons. This is something I'm just coming to the realization of. So during the fall I enjoy candy corn and Hershey kisses. During winter cinnamon candy is a fave like cinnamon discs, Hot Tamales (I'll eat these year round though), and red hots. I also enjoy candy canes & peppermints in the winter. During the spring I love to stock up on Cadbury Eggs and Peeps. Oh yeah, and Reese Cup Eggs. During the summer I like to eat sour watermelon candy. You know, the ones that are pink and green with little sour sugar on it?

Ok, enough with the candy. The point of me blogging tonight was because I'm excited fall approaching. I can't wait to see the leaves change colors, wear sweaters and jackets, watch new episodes of television shows, celebrate many family members' birthdays (including mine ;) and see fall decorations. Sadly, I won't be decorating for fall at my crib this year. All of my decorations are at my parents' house. Hmmm, maybe mom will let me decorate for her??

Oh well, I hope you're excited about fall too. If not, maybe something will trigger your "fall mode". May I suggest you walk down the Halloween candy aisle? :)

Stuff

2010-09-12T20:28:00.005-05:00

This past week was my first week without Cory here and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. It was even a short week, since I was with him on Labor Day and he surprised me and came to Tuscaloosa on Thursday. The whole time we dated we only saw each other on the weekends and we survived, but it's hard to be away from him now that I'm used to him being with me all the time. It was ultimately my decision to stay here until December so I can't sulk about it too much. I just can't wait till then so I can be with him and my family & friends back home.

Sorry this is kind of a lame post.

Here's a picture of a chair I recovered this weekend. Cory used to sit in the chair at the computer and as you can see the fabric started wearing away. ( you can also see Cory in the background, hehe. We were watching a movie)

Before

After
And here's a picture of the new oval tray that I got from Target tonight after Cory left. It's from the new John Derian collection at Target. I was fortunate to get the last one there. I love the vintage look of it and the message is pretty sweet. I can't wait to be "home sweet home" with my bud again. :)

I hope you have a great week.

Quick Post about a Monkey

2010-09-07T18:02:00.004-05:00

First of all, I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.

I had a great one. The weather was beautiful, I got to spend time with my family, meet my cousin's sweet little baby, spend time with some old pals, went to the movies, and saw a monkey at the grocery store...yes, that's right a monkey at the grocery store.

I went to the store with mom to pick up a few things and saw a lady with this little cutie on her back. I knew Cory wouldn't believe me unless I had proof so I asked the owner if I could take a picture. Apparently it is a service monkey (which is why it was allowed in the store). The owners said it helps with depression and gives head massages. The owner also has made a facebook page for the monkey. I think the name is Caralana Kinsey. Seeing this monkey really made my day. I told my kids about it today and mentioned that the monkey had a facebook page and one student honestly thought that the monkey typed it's profile page...oh dear.

Just so you know..

2010-08-24T20:41:00.002-05:00

Things I'm not liking right now:

-advertisements for that new exorcism movie. It seems like they come on every other commercial or pop up on my computer. They are creepy.

Things I am liking right now:

-our "friend" Antoine Dodson has his own website and has a Q&A video for his fans. Check it out

-A commercial with a cute little dog eating food off of piano keys. Once I find it online, I'll share it.

That's it. :)

Oh yeah...

2010-08-22T19:54:00.003-05:00

I finished my quilt a few weeks ago and forgot to post it on here. It really didn't take that long and I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Here's the lovely fabric before it was sewn together.

Here's the finished product.

I should have taken an closeup shot of the backing. It's a sea foam green with tiny yellow-green dots on it. I got the inspiration/pattern from this website . On this woman's website, she is instructing how to complete a quilt from a kit she sold on Etsy. I just cut my own pieces. I also enlarged the pattern pieces quite a bit to make a bigger quilt, since her's was for a little one.

Well, that's all for now. I'm sorry I've been slacking on the posts lately. I've been pretty busy with school starting back and saying goodbye to a few friends who are moving. I should get back to the swing of things soon. :) I hope you have a terrific week.

This makes me LOL for real

2010-08-03T22:01:00.003-05:00

Many of you have seen the Huntsville news clip from the "home intrusion". I thought only people from the Shoals were laughing at it, but today when I went to school (in Tuscaloosa) a coworker mentioned this to me. It's pretty funny. I'm impressed because it sounds like a real song.

Ha ha

2010-07-24T14:27:00.002-05:00

Ok, so apparently I'm addicted to looking up old television shows today. I have discovered that a lot of old Nick Jr. shows were originally in Japanese and just dubbed over. I vaguely remember the show "Rupert". Maybe it came on when I was too old to really appreciate it at the time or it just didn't interest me, but now it kind of cracks me up. What a "fancy" bear! Check out his clothing and his friends. Why does this make me laugh?

I used to watch this?

2010-07-24T09:05:00.000-05:00

You all know that I can easily get creeped out. I have always been this way... which makes me wonder how I ever watched David the Gnome. Check out the intro to the show. Those trolls and wizards are freaky. I got a little spooked seeing them today. I had forgotten all about this show until I saw it on the side bar of YouTube. I was searching for an old show I used to watch called "Maple Town". Does anyone else remember it? It was a cartoon about little animal families and I loved it. I just found out it was early Japanese anime so now I feel like I was a little weirdo for loving it.jk Anyway, just wanted to share this video.