Nothing like Homemade...

I am convinced, nothing is better than home made bread. I like the fact that I know what ingredients are in my food, and even better, I get to decide what goes in! It had been a long time since I had enjoyed home made bread. I know my mom had a bread machine growing up, and I think we just took it for granted. Now that I am older, I am able to appreciate the little things in life! Here's to simplicity...

Happy Saturday! Make something today!

The things that spark your memory

This video is fabulous and reminds me of my childhood visits to the dentist...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soO0CMnU9Bo

making something other than babies...

This is what our table looked like last night....

Hot glue gun, velcro, scissors, tulle on one side, and soddering iorns, drills and electric guitar pedals on the other. One thing is sure, Marc and I both love to make stuff!

Thought I would share a few of my late night projects.

I have been in love with large hair ornaments lately, and I haven't quite found one that I absolutely loved, so I made my own. Feathers+flowers+tulle= explosion.

Tonight I also made a necklace... with black tassels at the ends!

And we can't forget a little touch of summer with this daisy chain headband!

Just a sneak peak, better photos tomorrow, when the sun comes up...

Now time for some beauty sleep...

xoxo

These are a few of my favorite things...

So what are some of your favorite things about your home? What to you makes it YOURS? I think that it is important to have something that you LOVE in the space that you call home. Look for the ways that you can express yourself within your home. Maybe it is just a centerpiece on the table, or maybe something more permeant, like a wall color, or mural.

When we first bought our house I had a fear of doing anything to it that would cause it 'not to sell.' So I didn't really do much to it for a while, and the entire time, I couldn't say I loved our home. I didn't think it had enough personality for my taste. Finally after about the first year, I thought to myself, If I make changes to the decor of the house, I will be happier living here because it will feel like it is mine. SO I started to do things here and there. Now, I feel like I am able to enjoy our cozy den, and it now has enough personality to make me come home and enjoy it! Here are a few of my favorite things....

Our fridge, Yes I said our fridge. I didn't like that it was plain white, and a focal point, because our kitchen is open to the dining room. So I changed it! I painted the fridge with black paint, and yes when I am done with it, it will wash off! So it is not permanent. I dare you to try it! If you don't like it, you can always wash it off. Also you can try vinyl wall decals too!

A little bit of this, and a little bit of that makes this wall clutter interesting to follow. I added the wall decal at the bottom of the collage. I love a lot of 'things' in one space, kind of pack rat style I guess, but my husband is a minimalist, so I have to compromise a lot. I think I like this wall, because it is anything but minimal.

I love my new curtains in the living room, it made a huge difference. I didn't care for the colors that I had before, they were basic and safe- so I decided to bring in a little bit of my favorite color into the dining room, where we spend most of our time with family and friends.

And last but not least, my tree mural on the wall. I was scared to paint on the wall, especially in the dining room, however with the light color, I can always paint over it if I get tired of it!

So your turn, what do you love about your space?

The 4th and 5th...

This year was the first year in a long time that we celebrated not only 4th of July but Marc's Birthday! For years in the past we spent the holidays typically engaged in our Summer Outreaches to Mexico, leaving no time to party. This Summer however, we celebrated both, which made for a fun weekend!

Call me a nerd, but I had always wanted to bring red, white and blue Jello to a BBQ, this year my dream came true! I wasn't sure how to layer the two different colors of Jello, but I figured it out, (you have to let one color set completely before you pour on the next layer on top) The Final product above was berry blue jello with Blueberries, Strawberry Jello with Strawberries and a homemade white whip cream ( mixed heavy whipping cream and sugar) toped with fresh strawberries and blueberries as well!

Jennifer and Zarina kept the entertainment coming at the table!

And this year Marc took advantage of his FIREWORKS! ( love this picture because he looks like a little kid- devious face!)

Caleb tried out his Pyro hand. Success.

Late into the night, and we were still having fun!

The next evening (July 5th) was another BBQ, Just for Marc!

I made him strawberry and cream cupcakes! Spice up any strawberry box cake mix, by adding sliced strawberries to the batter. Because Marc is not a fan of real sweet stuff, I used the homemade whip topping instead of frosting! They were good!

Huge thank you to everyone who showed up that night, it was a lot of fun!

Happy Summer!

Summer Time= Roadtrips

So our first 'real' adventure for the summer lead us on a roadtrip to Oklahoma City to visit some friends of ours. Here is the Ugly Truth: Marc and I both hate to drive. Let me say, the last time I tried to drive cross country with my mom, I only made it 200 miles before I got sleepy. Not a good track record in the road trip department.

To make matters worse... I started off the trip with a HeadCold... Yuck. But Marc, good thing he was determined, he Had his I-Phone locked and loaded and ready to navigate!

The drive up was 12 hours long, and I am proud to admit I was awake the entire time-With a little help from Chic-Filet and their Large Sweet Tea! It was hot the entire drive 104...107....109... Good thing our air conditioner worked like a charm! Along the way we were able to capture some beautiful moments.

And in the end, we were able to spend some quality time with our dear friends! It was well worth the drive. Would we do it again? Yes, I think we would. Maybe next time we will drive to California.... hmmmm. How many sweet tea's would it take me to get there....?

Happy Birthday My Love

This post is dedicated to my Birthday Boy!

You are older and wiser than I, and I am thankful every day for you. You are a wonderful example of what a husband and a friend should be. With every year I hope to become more like you, as we grow old together. You make me a better person. Thank you for that. Since this is turning into a brag post, let me add on...
Last Friday Marc VOLUNTEERED to make dinner for me. We had just gotten back from vacation that week visiting our friends Dustin and Leslie in Oklahoma City. We attended their wedding in February, and just last week got the opportunity to visit the newlyweds and stay with them at their apartment. One neat thing about the visit was that Dustin made dinner for us one night, to our shock, he expressed his newly found interest in cooking. This sparked Marc's interest.By the end of the visit Dustin had sold Marc on the idea that as long as you have a recipe, anyone can cook!
Enter I-phone App. Marc somehow found an iphone application that not only allowed him to look up meal recipe's, but it gave him a shopping list as well! So without fear he went to the grocery store ON HIS OWN, and came home with all the correct ingredients, and fired up the grill.
The end product was a new york strip steak with onions in a red wine sauce, garlic bread, salad, corn and my favorite... watermelon.
The evening was a success, everything was cooked to perfection! Hopefully there will be more nights like this one! Thank you Marc and Thank you I-phone!