Our Humble Abode Tour - Living Room

As you probably gathered from the previous post, our house needs a lot of love. It was built in 1991 and is perfect for us. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms. It also has an unfinished basement that we will finish...one day. Next on our tour is the living room. I have already put up some pictures of the living room, but here they are again for good measure!

The first thing my husband did in this area was close in the door to our master that was right in the middle of the living room. I'm not sure why the previous owners needed two doors to their room...but whatever! Oh and we also painted the mantel white. It was bad! We have chosen a yellow toned taupe for this area and will paint all the trim white - Chad is also going to continue the chair rail trim all the way around into the dining area. This is my favorite area of the house because it is so open, but unfortunately right now it is covered in plastic. I can't wait to finish painting!

Our Humble Abode Tour - Kitchen

We bought our house 6 months after we got married. We lived in a rental house until then. We love our house! It has so much potential. We feel so blessed to have found it when we did and to be able to get out of our lease on the rental.

We've been so busy with work and school that we didn't start any renovations until we'd been in the house for 1 year! Actually my husband and his brother did take out a second door to our master bedroom - it was right in the middle of our living room! But other than that, nothing big.

I have a lot of pictures of our house before we even moved in - before we even bought it. I guess these could be considered our "before" pictures with all the painting going on.

The set-up of our house is different than what we were used to - usually you walk right into the living room but in this house on the right is the kitchen and then the left is the office, pantry, bathroom and guest bedroom. I love that we have so much counter space and cabinets! I also like how open the space is and the window that over looks the living room - I know that will be especially beneficial to us when we have children, right now I use it to watch television while washing the dishes...whatever gets the job done right?!

We're not big fans of the cream cabinets that exactly match the wall paint. They had a brown and cream color platte going in this house...not very attractive! We plan to paint them white but keep the brushed bronze knobs and faucets. We will keep the counter top as long as possible but plan to remove the current backsplash and replace it with tile. As far as paint goes we've chosen a peachy color and will accent with green.

Stay tuned...

Just a few notes...

• First of all...Congratulations to my real-life best friends Justin and Caitlin! They are expecting their first child this October! Baby fever just reached a whole new level for me! Auntie Cheri can't wait to meet you!
• I am done with all this cold weather! I can't wait for it to warm up. Hopefully while I'm on Spring Break so I can actually enjoy it! Here's a picture from our recent trip to Gatlinburg with our family. Spring is in full bloom there!

• Speaking of Spring Break...I will be spending my working on some house renovations (more on that later) and finish my paper work for Student teaching (which will be complete on April 12th!!!) I was blessed to receive a substitute teacher position for a maternity leave! I will start on April 13! Oh and they all have iPads, which means I get one too! Here's a before picture of our house, like before we even moved in (YUCK)!

• I've been cooking up a storm lately. It's my way of de-stressing. That and sewing. So I have a lot of fun things to share in the coming weeks. 
• My students were "April Fooling" me all day. Here are a few of my favorites:
• Hey, Mrs. W you have bugs in your hair.
• What's that on your shirt?
• Your shoe is untied.
• I really have to go to the bathroom!
• Oh, the minds of 1st graders! I was able to play some jokes on them too! I told them we were going outside for snack...and when they got back from activity (PE, Music, or Art) I told them we were going home early...I know I'm so cruel! Their faces were priceless! 
• A teacher suggested that I "April Fool" my husband by telling him I'm pregnant...Not that he wouldn't be happy but he'd be a little stressed since I'm between jobs and he's trying to get his business up and running. I don't want to put him though any unnecessary stress! Although there's still time to prank my sister...
• I just want talk about my hard-working husband for a minute. He works for a landscaping company during the day and then after work he is doing things for his own lawn care company. That is why our house has looked like this since January:

That is all for today! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Buckeyes

The tasty treat, not the team.

As you can tell, with two food posts in a row, I've been cooking during my absence. Cooking is my stress outlet. I am student teaching right now and although I love it - it can be very stressful!

Every Christmas my Aunt Toey and cousin Polly make buckeyes. This Christmas, due to our vacation, I missed our family Christmas and the buckeyes. I started craving them and decided to try to make them myself. It's not very difficult to make but takes some time.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 cups confectioners' sugar
• 4 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl you need to mix together the peanut butter, butter, vanilla and confectioners' sugar. I used a natural peanut from Whole Foods - one where the oil sit on the top - and I found that it make this mixture very thin. I would recommend using a peanut butter that does not require you to stir.

Then, you will roll the dough into balls - whatever size you'd like - and place them on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Place a toothpick into the top of each ball - this will be used for dipping - and then put the cookie sheet into the freezer for 30 minutes. I would recommend making sure your cookie sheet fits into your freezer BEFORE you put the peanut butter balls on there...just a word of advice from someone whose cookie sheet did not fit.

Before you take out your peanut butter balls you will want to melt your chocolate. I've always been told a double broiler works best but I think melting the chocolate in the microwave works just fine. Then, all you have to do is take the balls out of the freezer and dip them in the chocolate. Leave a little peanut butter showing at the top so it looks like a buckeye. Let them cool of course before eating and I suggest storing them in the fridge.

I used white chocolate because my husband isn't supposed to have caffeine - and well milk chocolate has some caffeine in it. They taste good either way!

Crock-pot Cake

Have you ever heard of making a cake in the crock-pot? Well, I hadn't until a teacher at school had her 4th grade make some. Ohhhh boy is it good and easy!

Here's what you will need:

• 1 box of Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
• 8 ounces of sour cream
• 12 ounces of chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
• 1 package of chocolate pudding
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup of water
• 3/4 cup of vegetable oil

The first thing you want to do is spray your crock-pot with non-stick cooking spray. Then, you combine all of your ingredients in a mixing bowl. I used my stand mixer and would suggest mixing all the ingredients expect the chocolate chips together first and add those last. 

Then, all you have to do it put the mix in your crock-pot

And cook on low for 4 hours with the lid on - don't take the lid off if you can help it.

Once finished, serve with ice cream and enjoy! It's a very rich and tasty cake! My husband had a large bowl...

...and literally 5 minutes later it looked like this:

And then he asked for another!

I think next time I make this I'm going to try making a vanilla or strawberry cake - I'll let you know how it turns out!

Christmas Card

Family Frame Christmas Card

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12 Days of Christmas - Day 2

I'm excited to link up with Cait again today!

Christmas Traditions

The weekend before Christmas has always been spent with my Mom's side of the family and just recently started spending it with my Dad's father's side. We don't do presents on these two sides, only Grandparents, and the time is spent together eating and playing games.

My Dad and his wife are wanting to start a Christmas Eve tradition where the 6 of us get together and have a big meal, open presents and take a family photo in front of the tree. This will be our 4th year so I guess it counts.

 (Me, Chad, Clay, Cristen, Charm, Dad)

Christmas Day is hectic! We usually go over to my Mom's house first for a lunch with her and my grandparents. Santa fills our stockings and we open presents then eat lunch. And even though we don't go to their house anymore and are too big for Santa - my Meme and GrandGrand still put out a sign that says, "Santa Stop Here". They originally did this because we had to make sure Santa knew where we were. haha

(Cristen, Mom, Me)

After lunch, we go to my Dad's house to celebrate with his Mom's side of the family. The crazy tradition with this side of the family is having oyster stew at 10 in the morning. Yuck! I eat the broth with LOTS of oyster crackers. As my Uncle Frank says, in his loud, bellowing voice "You're not a Binford if you don't eat oyster stew on Christmas". We also draw names on Thanksgiving for the gift exchange. And we fill out the same wish list every year.

 (Me, Michelle, Cristen, Mamaw)

We meet with my husband's family at a different time each year. With 2 nurses and a physical therapist, there's no way to plan it the same day every year. This year we're meeting before Christmas. We don't really have any traditions beside doing a Dirty Santa gift exchange - we each buy a $50 gift for someone of the same gender and play the Dirty Santa gift game, have you heard of it? We usually play youngest to oldest, so the older members of the family have a chance to 'steal' from the younger ones. So the youngest chooses a gift - they open it and show it to everyone. The next person can either choose a gift or steal from someone (you can only steal gifts from people of your gender and a gift can only be stolen once). It's funny because the guys really get into it - their brothers - and the girls don't really steal anything.


My husband and I haven't really started any of our own traditions, but here are some of the things we do:

• Decorate the house after Thanksgiving
• Open our presents early - I can never keep a secret and Chad always pesters me to know what he's getting
• Sending out photo cards
• We'll hopefully start up our tradition of looking at Christmas light with ours best friends Justin and Caitlin (hint hint)
• Angel Tree Child 
• Candle light service at our church

We can't wait to start even more family traditions once we have children (or maybe even before!):

• I love the idea of baking Jesus a birthday cake  (my sister-in-law and I have already talked about that. Maybe I'll do it this year!) Or doing anything that would celebrate the birth of our Savior.
• Leaving cookies out for Santa (We did this when I was little)
• My great-grand mother is in an Assisted Living facility literally 2 houses down from where we live and I think it would be nice to go visit and sing Christmas Carols. 
• Stay at home Christmas morning - this will be hard to do but I don't want my children to be pulled in to the craziness that is my family's holidays. I don't want them to be stressed like I have been for so many years. I would love to be able to go to ONE place on Christmas day instead of running around like we usually do.

So that about sums it up. Sometimes it's hard to remember what Christmas is really about and I hope we will add some traditions to our list to help us remember that.

12 Days of Christmas - Day 1

I'm linking up with Cait today. Join in if you can!

What does Christmas mean to you?

First and foremost, it represents the Birth of my Savior Jesus Christ. It represents the love our God has for us, because He sent His ONLY Son to this Earth to save us from our sins. Think about that, He sacrificed His Son for US! It just amazes me to know that someone loves us that much!

Honestly, I enjoy the holidays but with my parents divorced and my dads parents divorced, holidays have always been very stressful. I am looking forward to having children so we can start our own traditions and hopefully focus more on what Christmas is all about. (if you've already forgotten read the first paragraph!)

Christmas Cards

You know from my previous post that I was planning to order our Christmas cards from Shutterfly. I took part in their Holiday promotion and received 50 free Christmas Cards! Here's what we chose:

I love them. It was the only one we both agreed on and I can't wait to see the finished product. I just checked the shipment progress and they are on their way from North Carolina - I'm like a little kid on Christmas morning - I can't wait to get them!

It's that time of year!

Don't you just love this time of year. It makes me realize how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family and great friends. I also love to give gifts. I love the reaction on everyone's face and how excited children get when opening presents.

I'm always looking for unique or personalized gifts. I think I've found the perfect place!

Shutterfly.com is a great place to find all kinds of personalized and unique gifts.

I told my parents that I would make them a Photobook of our wedding pictures and that has yet to happen, so maybe this is the year to do it! Here are a couple of my faves right now (I'm really into teal and orange):

Does anyone use a mouse pad anymore? I know my grandparents do, so I thought this would be a cute idea for them:

And who doesn't like to drink their coffee and see their favorite person? My sister would love these mugs personalized with pictures of us (she's a big coffee drinker like my dad)!

Now let's talk photo cards. I love the idea because you are able to send your friends and family a little bit of yourself in the mail - in the form of a photograph. I feel like it's a more personal way to send some Christmas cheer. And your hands will thank you too.

Here are some I like:

Woe is me, how will I ever choose!

If you were wondering where to go to purchase Christmas gifts or cards, I would suggest you start with Shutterfly! They have a lot of deals going on right now, so you better check them out while they last!

I've been tagged!

It's time to dust off the cobwebs from my blog and start it up again...I'm hoping that once I am finished with school and work (8 more work days!!) I will be able to blog more. Keep your fingers crossed!

Cait from theblessedlife has asked me these questions (sorry it took me so long to answer them!):

1. What are you looking forward to most about having children? If you already have children, what is the best thing about being a parent? If you aren't planning on having children, what is your favorite thing about a special kiddo in your life?
• Oh man! I'm just looking forward to having children! I'm really curious to know what our kids will look like and what their personalities will be. I've been around a lot of children (we both have big families) and really looking forward to having my own for once!
2. What is your favorite bible verse?
• We just talked about being God's beloved in Sunday School so I have this verse on my mind, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God" 1 John 4:7
• I like the verse because it reminds me to love others even when I don't want to. It is especially speaking to me now that Thanksgiving and Christmas are around the corner.
3. What is the most romantic thing your husband has done for you?
• The one thing that was probably the most romantic to me was finding our dogs. I was devastated when things fell through with getting a German Shepherd - but was pleasantly surprised when my husband woke me up one morning and told me we were going to get a puppy!
• He also buys me flowers for no reason and surprises me with fun outings.
4. I like this question....so I'm revising it a bit.  Where do you see yourself in just 5 years?
• I see myself as a teacher, hopefully at the same school as my sister-in-law. If it's God's plan we will have a couple kids and still be in our first house, but with a lot of much needed updates and at least a partially finished basement - I love that my husband is a builder and can do those things!
5. What is something you would do if you had more time on your hands?
•  I would sew more. My mom bought me a sewing machine and I haven't used it as much as I would like. I would fix my husband breakfast, I would take a nap! I would go grocery shopping during the day, maybe hit up Whole Foods!
6. What is the best thing about the town in which you live?
• It's small and comfortable. We have a historic district with fun little shops and a farmer's market on the court house lawn every Saturday during the season. It's just fun.
7. What is the last random act of kindness you showed toward someone or someone else showed to you? 
• I feel weird talking about this because I feel like I'm bragging, so just know that is not what I'm doing! The other day I was in line at the store and a woman was short some cash and I offered to give her some money, but she ended up sending her son out to the car to get what she needed. I don't know if that counts but at least I tried!
8. What is you and your hubby's "typical" date night? Your staple time together that you love? The kind of date night that you both love but maybe you think others might not "get". 
• My husband and I don't like to spend a lot of/any money to spend time together so our date nights are usually spent watching movies on Netflix. We occasionally go out to eat at a restaurant but it doesn't take much to satisfy us.

Miscellany Monday

one. My husband and I made the second biggest purchase of our lives...we bought a car! (we bought our house in January) Mine was about 13 years old and we were tired of putting money into it. It wasn't by any means a junker or anything - just an old car. So...we sold it and then bought the car of my dreams...a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I have been swooning over them since the new body style came out (the not so boxy one). The one we got had EVERYTHING we wanted and still came it only $11 over the monthly price we had budgeted. I couldn't be happier especially because we plan to keep this through a couple kids and pay it off way before the amount of time we have.

two. I'm making a blanket. For my nephew. He requested it. I've made one blanket as a test run and I think after I make this one for nephew #3 I will have to make one of the other 4 and my niece.

three. Speaking of my nephews and niece....March 13th is when #7 is due! Lucky number 7! I am beyond excited! I can't wait! I kinda hope it's a girl but would be okay with either (with 5 nephews already, what's another?)

four. After all my excitement about being able to finally quit my job, I am now second guessing it. Last week our best writer broke the news that her husband was getting a job with the FBI and they would be moving to VA and she was offered a full-time job...So my boss was very disappointed and it doesn't feel right to break the news so soon or at all. Why do I have to be such a nice girl. Even though I want to quit - so bad - I feel guilty. Why? Not really sure, but I do. And I feel like when the time would be more appropriate, I might as well just stay anyways. There's also not a lot of work to be done - because we've finished everything with our current clients - so if she doesn't get any new clients I can't see me being there much longer anyways (I can hope right?)

five. I start my last semester of my Masters! I can't believe how fast it has gone by! This one is on Math and Science and then in January I will be student teaching! I'm kinda nervous to Student teach but I think it's because I haven't been in the classroom much and just feel out of shape in that area.

Well, that's it for today! Hope everyone is doing well and has had a great start to the week!

Picture of the Week

Found this little guy yesterday. This is fresh from the camera!

Miscellany Monday

{one} We went to a family reunion in West Virgina this past weekend. Actually, my husband left on Thursday but because of the job situation I decided it would be best to wait and come up Saturday. Well, it wasn't my choice to come up Saturday, that was made by my brother-in-law and his wife. It was a great reunion but there weren't very many people there - usually there's over 50 and this year, there were about 30 of us. My favorite part of the trip was riding there and back with my BIL and SIL (brother-in-law & sister-in-law) and the cutting board I got from my Uncle Jim =] He owns a construction company just like my father-in-law (his brother) and when they put in new counter tops they have to cut the hole out for the sink...well instead of throwing that piece away, they use it to make cutting boards! He's awesome and I love him!

 Uncle Jim

My BIL A-Dub (he's goofy like my husband & no his hair isn't normally like this!)

Chad and I

{two} You all may know that Cait from theblessedlife is my real life best friend...yeah I know her! Well her and her husband are running a 5k in October and now it's got me itching to do one. My husband has run several in the 5 years we've been together but me...nope, never. I just watch on the sidelines. I've always had the desire to run one with him and I know he wants me to...so I guess now is my chance. I started training today and it was the first day I've ran in like 6 months. I.am.tired. But I feel good! My husband probably won't train unless I beg him to run with me but he doesn't really need to unless he wants to improve his time. A few weeks ago he ran in a 5k that started at our church and well, without any training he got 10th or 11th place overall and 1st in his age group. Seriously! I wish I could do that! We might try and drag our oldest nephew out there with us, he seemed interested. I'll let you know how it goes!

That's all for me! I've got some homework to do before my final summer class on Thursday! Yay! Catch ya later!

I'm Back!

Did ya miss me?

I wish I could say I've been on a fabulous vacation, but sadly that is not the case for me. Here's what I've been up to:

1. School: My two summer classes have been keeping me busy. Thanks goodness I only have one class left and then a 3 week break before my final set of classes! Then, student teaching in the spring! Yay! 
2. Job: So you all might know that I'm not a fan of my current job. I'll leave it at that. So after much deliberation and budgeting we've decided that I can quit my job and start subbing when school starts. That means I've been working my booty off to get job applications into all the surrounding counties and a couple private schools nearby. I won't be able to start some until September including the county I live in, which stinks but there are a couple I will be on the list for as soon as school starts, so that's a relief. The only thing keeping my at my job now is my husband...he won't let me put in my two weeks yet, not really sure why...but I'm still working on him. I am ready to be done!
3. Home: A hose to our dishwasher is leaking...like big time! So I am not allowed to use it and am forced to use my blog time to wash our dishes. You might not think that's a lot of dishes, but it is! I cook every night, like really cook not just warm up food or leftovers and we all know how much it takes to cook food. Pots, utensils, cups, plates, bowls, etc. Yeah, I'm seriously considering ordering in every night. 

In other news, I found an cool no-sew tote that I am going to try to make. It's meant to be used for groceries. I just need to get the fabric! I'll share all the details when I get around to making it. Which will hopefully be next week.

I'm going to leave you with this picture of my sweet, little niece. Have a great weekend ya'll!

To Be Organic or Not To Be, That is the Question...

The big "thing" now is to be "green". A lot of people are switching to organic and natural products. I am quite interested in this movement and have done lots of research on it.

It all started during my undergrad when I had to write a paper on a topic of my choosing. It had to do something with consumers and the products we buy. I chose to research BPA in plastics. Wow. When I first started researching I found a lot of stuff that said the amount of BPA that leaches out into your food is insignificant...but then I hit the jackpot and found research linking BPA to cancer and other diseases. No thanks! I'd rather not risk my life and switch to BPA free plastics and glass containers.

I was like a little kid testing out the water with my toes, but the water wasn't warm enough for me yet. I still wasn't convinced that organic was what I needed to be eating and that my "footprint" actually mattered. I was actually one of those people who thought it was silly to be green and natural. I wasn't about to give up the things I was comfortable with.

It wasn't until I watched the documentary Food Inc. that the water was warm enough for me to jump in! I would highly suggest you watch this film. It's about how animals are treated prior to being cooked in our kitchens. Now, I'm not a member of PETA or anything but I don't think animals should be treated poorly just because they are going to end up as food. And I believe that those farmers who are doing the right thing (in my eyes) should be people I support.

In the weeks following I did a lot of research on organic foods and how to be green. Now, I'm no expert but I know if I have any questions I can easily look something up on the internet.

My plan is to move towards becoming 100% organic and be at that point when my husband and I have children. Okay, okay, that's a huge task in such little time (I'm thinking a couple years) I know! I'm not sure if we'll be 100% organic but I'm going to be very critical about what we eat - especially our children.

Here's the plan:

1. Antibiotic and hormone free meats
2. USDA organic foods when available
3. Farmer's Market during that season
4. Cage free/free range, USDA Organic eggs
5. 100% whole wheat grains

There are so many things I could put on this list but for now, those are the top five.

I'm working on starting a page to track my progress at fulfilling my big goal. So be on the look-out for that!

Does anyone have any ideas on things I could do/change? I have so many ideas in my head it's hard to remember them all and actually put them into practice. I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Have a great rest of the week. I might not be around until Monday - in a wedding Friday! Peace out!

Picture of the Week

I've been going to our local farmer's market and love it. (More on that in another post)

Enjoy this eye candy because I'm going to enjoy eating this (everything except the flowers of course)!

White Out

A while back my husband and I were furniture shopping (bedroom and dining room) and we happened upon a sale at one of the stores. And no, it wasn't a furniture sale (that would have been nice). They were selling their old decorations - you know the things they use to make the sets look more homey - everything was 75% off! It was every girls dream.

We got about 13 items for $27. They even gave us a couple items for free because they needed to get rid of it. Here's a rundown of what we purchased:

• 4 tall vases - 2 came with flowers and they are supposed to charge for those but the guy gave them to us for free (I like how that sounds coming out of my mouth!)
• 3 clocks (I don't what it is but suddenly we have a thing for vintage clocks - I say vintage because it sounds cooler)
• 3 square picture frames
• 1 candle
• 1 candle holder
• 1 short and stout red vase thingy (probably my favorite thing we purchased)

Most of these things we will keep as-is. But some of them, the 3 matching vases and 3 matching frames, are getting a much needed makeover! 

Here's the picture of the vases, up close and personal before their makeover.

Yes, they are ugly. But I saw their potential and wanted to give them a new life! And that's exactly what I did. 

It was so easy to give them a make over my 3 year-old nephew could have done it (or a caveman). I laid out an old drop cloth - my husband works construction so we have plenty laying around - on our driveway and grabbed a can of white gloss spray pain that I already had on hand and got to it! I got the spray paint from Walmart for $1? I can't remember exactly how much, I just know it was cheap.

I didn't do anything to "prep" the vases, just spayed 3 coats of spray paint - over the course of several days - and let it dry in-between coats. This was probably the easiest thing I've spray painted! Here are my pretty vases, fresh from their makeover.

I love them! I like them here by the fireplace but since it's kinda crowded over there with the TV I moved them here, until we mount the TV above the fireplace.

I love how the white can totally transform just about anything! I have more white-out transformations coming - I'm still working on the trim but now I'll have my husband to help me!

I hope everyone had a great Independence Day. I'm enjoying my day off - haven't had one in a long time! I'm so thankful we live in the land of the free and the home of the brave!