A Little Visit

Last weekend I was super blessed to go to Denver to visit my wonderful friend A.  We've been friends since high school and in an unexpected turn of events, on the 26th of September, I married in to her family.  So now not only is she one of my dearest and longest friends, but she is now a cousin my marriage.  So blessed am I!!!

The same weekend her sister, her niece, and her little brother were also in town visiting.  Here are some pictures from our weekend, but I didn't take all that many.

 From the Denver Children's Museum

 At the Mall

 Picture Time

 At Ceramics in the City

Thanks A for a super wonderful visit.  I love you, friend!

My First Award

I received my first blog award from Aledia over at Plum Perfect.  Basically I was totally excited, one cause it means there is one more awesome person reads my ramblings about my life.  Two because that awesome person thinks that I'm kinda cool too!

The award comes with a few rules.  No worries, nothing too crazy.

1. You must link back to the person who gave you the award to let them know you accept;

2. You must share 7 things about yourself; and

3. Pass the award on to 15 recently discovered bloggers and let them know about the award.

Now without further ado, here are seven awesome things you may or may not have known about me.

1.  I have lived in three foreign countries (Germany, Turkey, and England)

2.  My favorite cookie is white chocolate macadamia nut

3.  I was 22 when I discovered I was allergic to kiwis.

4.  I declared 4 different majors in college, and still somehow managed to graduate in 4 years.

5.  My dream job is to be a youth pastor.  Or an ambassador.

6.  I knew my husband's family for years before we ever met.

7.  When I retire I want to own a bed & breakfast.  I've wanted to since I was about 6 years old.

Hmm, that was kinda fun.  Anyways, here's another fun part of the award: sharing other awesome blogs with you.

1.  Huckleberry Prairie
2.  This and That
3.  Domestic Diva at Work
4.  That's My Letter
5.  Too Much Time on My Hands
6.  The 2 Seasons
7.  New England Home & Garden
8.  My Creative Escapes
9.  Senseless Sophistication
10.  Signal Hill Interiors
11.  Life on Lyford
12.  My Thoughts and Treasures
13.  Life as a Wife
14.  Life of Perks
15.  Priester's Peace

These are certified awesome blogs by me, so go check them out!

Our First Craig's List Sale

Last weekend we sold our very first item on Craig's List (or six items).

 

We posted it shortly after New Year's.  Almost immediately we had a few inqueries, but nothing too exciting.  Then about two weeks ago, a women text Husband asking if they were still available, which they were.  So Sunday afternoon, the woman came over to pick them up.  We didn't make as much as we had posted them, but it was still an extra $180 and we finally got rid of the patio furniture we were no longer interested in.

I'll be back soon with another Craig's List First!

February Photog Challenge

I'm trying another photography challenge, since sadly I haven't spent a lot of good quality time with my new camera.  Here's what's on the list for the month:

1. Best from 2/19 or 2/20
2. Black History Month
3. Canned Food Month
4. Everyday
5. Hearts
6. Macro
7. Numbers
8. Something cozy
9. Something furry
10. Something red
11. Something white
12. The view from above

I'll post my results at the end of the month.  Wish me luck!!! 

Super Late Valentine's Post II

Still sharing our Valentine's super late.  But better late than never, right?

Our dinner date was at home this year.  We made fondue, cause we love The Melting Pot, but don't love the prices.  So I'm gonna share our recipes with you.  It was actually pretty easy, and obviously much cheaper!


Cheese Fondue
* 1 cup white wine
* 1 tbsp buttter
* 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
* 7 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded
* 7 oz Cheddar cheese, shredded
* 7 oz Emmentaler cheese, shredded

(We couldn't find Gruyere cheese at our local grocery store, so just doubled the cheddar)

1.  In a small saucepan, bring wine to a boil
2.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter on medium heat.  Add flour and whisk together, stirring constantly to avoid sticking or burning.
3.  Once flour is cooked, add boiling wine.  Whisk together till smooth, then add cheese slowly, stirring till all cheese is melted.  Transfer cheese mixture to fondue pot and keep over low heat.

(And being the super planner I am, I didn't have the candle for our fondue pot, so we used the Little Dipper that came with our Crock Pot)

Super Late Valentine's Post

And over a week later, I'm telling you about our Valentine's day.  Oops!  But it was super great!
Husband had these delivered to work.

These are the same flowers from my wedding bouquet as well as my sorority's flower.  I think they are beautiful and are so special to me.

 This was my gift to Husband. 

  

The tag says "I'll love you to a galaxy far far away and back".  Anyone wanna guess the movie that's from? ;-)

This was his card.

 

It was originally for a grandson.  Apparently Hallmark doesn't think that big boys would like a Valentine's card from their wives.  So I did some modifications to it.  

 These are the goodies that were inside his basket.

  

A Darth Vader pen and R2-D2 key chain both from the Lego store.

 And outer-space themed candy and goodies.

Milky Ways- our galaxy

Orbit gum- like planets orbit

Zero bar- zero gravity

Starbursts- stars are in outer space

Sky bar- Luke Skywalker

Here's last year's V-day gift for the Hubs with more detail on assembling and wrapping the gift.

Got any cool gift ideas to share?

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope you are all having a great day celebrating all the wonderful people in your life that you love.

Husband and I had a nice night at home (more details to come), but for now I'm going to continue enjoying our night together.

Happy Valentine's Day!  I love you for reading my blog!!

January Challenge Complete!

Our challenge for the last month was to get rid of 111 things in 1/11.  We started on New Year's Day and it seemed so easy.  We got rid of about 60 things in about 30 minutes.  And then it stopped being easy.  Here was my first post on the project.  Around 10:30pm on January 31, Husband and I went through the closets in the house looking for the last few items to help us meet our goal.  I was quite pleased!

I was gonna catch you up on the remaining items we took to Goodwill, but I can't find our list.  It's quite possible that Husband threw it away as item number 112.  But I was a little better about taking pictures, so I'll share those with you.

It was definitely a challenge but also definitely worth it.  What a great way to start the year by getting rid of stuff we were holding on to for no apparent reason.

My Latest Favorite Color Combo

Husband doesn't really like Valentine's Day.  We'll call it the romantic in him ;-)  It's usually a low key day for us, which is totally fine by me, cause I've never been a huge fan myself.  Anyways, the decorator in me has really been wanting to decorate for V-day, even if it's just the slightest bit.  So I did up our table and I'm loving the way it turned out.  And the colors--love em!  Turquoise and red.  It's Valentine-sy without being overly mushy and disgusting.

Tablecloth: HomeGoods 12.99 (I think...)
Placemats: Target 1.79 (I think...)
White Plates: Husbands from pre-marriage so who knows where they came from
Red Polka Dot plates: Target 1.79
Napkins: Ross 4.99 for four
Silverware: my Grandma's
Wine glasses: Mikasa from Bed Bath & Beyond as a wedding gift

The cupcake stand I did in this project and the cupcake on top is a little jewelry box gifted from my MIL.  The glass heart votive I got in a goodie bag at a bridal shower a few years ago.

 

Linking to Tablescape Thursday

Proud to Present...

I got a call from my Big Brother today to announce the arrival of this beauty

 

She arrived around 12:30 pm in San Francisco weighing in a 7 lbs 12 oz and 21inches long.  My niece and her momma are doing great, and here is her proud Big Brother.  

One Twelfth Complete!

My goal for the year was to read the Bible, the entire way through.  I've tried several times and for whatever reason I have always struggled to complete it.  But not this time.  This time I will persevere!  I've got God on my side, so there's no reason why I can't do this!!!

And I've gotten into a nice routine.  Tuesdays after work I head to a coffee shop not far from work and I read for about two hours.  I learned quickly that I focus better on what I'm reading if I take notes.  I'm keeping them in a journal and I think it'll be cool to have that down the road to remember what passages really spoke to me at this time in my life and what I took away from the readings.

I do have a Bible Through the Year book that I had initially intended on using, but after looking at it, it wasn't really what I needed for this endeavor.  So instead I've printing the classic reading plan from Bible Study Tools.  It is exactly what I need.

And as of today I have completed 1/12 of the Bible.  Ok, not a huge accomplishment, but I am well pleased with myself.  And I'm also looking forward to my coffee date tomorrow after work.