Breakfast for Dinner

We've been in our house for about 3 weeks now, and we are settling in, slowly but surely. On Friday night, my husband stayed up until 2:30 in the morning painting the kitchen. He was tired the next day, but I was so grateful because now the heart of our home can finally start to feel like such.

All of the decorating blue prints that used to only exist in my mind are now coming into fruition, and I'm finding that some things are looking exactly as I wanted them to, and some are just not working at all. So, needless to say, I'm constantly browsing the blogs of other people with beautifully decorated homes to get inspiration when I'm stumped.

Mainly, this blog was to announce that since the kitchen is now officially "open for business," we had some peeps over last night for breakfast for dinner. (Which, by the way, is in my top 5 favorite meals ever!) We had pancakes, turkey bacon and boiled eggs. It was the first meal at our dining table in the new house because prior to having the kitchen painted, the dining table was in the living room. (We have an eat-in kitchen.) As you can see from the pics, there is no decoration on the walls yet, but you can bet your bottom dollar I am working on it and will post pics asap!

Yesterday was also a good day in that hubby's parents came over and assembled the awesome grill they bought for us! Hubs is real excited and plans on buying propane today and probably hosting our first grill-out tonight!

A simple, informal, country-style breakfast for dinner.
Note to self: Next time, have double the amount of food. These men can eat!
The first meal at our table at the new house. With friends and family. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Best Giveaway EVER

You can actually enter to win this Pottery Barn quilt:

Just go here and become a follower of Alaina's blog (make sure to leave a comment letting her know) and you might win it! It's a $200 value... so why are you still reading this?

Go!!! GO NOW!!!

Loren King Photography

I have a really good friend who is an aspiring professional photographer. She has already built up quite the portfolio. She recently did a shoot of my brother and sis-in-law, with a country laundromat and charming ice cream shoppe as the backdrops. Here are a few of my favies!

Want Company?

...Just call your friends and tell them you have one of these...

...Believe me, they will come.

Hubs and I bought this yummy glazed lemon cake today on a spontaneous trip to Sam's Club after church. We invited the bro and sis-in-law over for a slice, and they came this evening. Mind you, they had spent all weekend in Kansas City, had just driven back to Arkansas on sleety/snowy roads and both have to get up for work early in the morning. Yet, they came.

No one can resist the lemon cake. I know I can't. I had 3 slices today! Oops! :-)

Feels Like Springtime...

It's partly cloudy and 55 degrees outside! It feels like a beautiful Spring day! Simon and I played outside, and he LOVES to play "catch me if you can." He also likes to antagonize the dogs next door who like to bark at them. He gets right up next to the fence where they can see him, and when they bark, he jukes and runs and gets them all stirred up. I caught this little fiasco on film to prove that my little pug is quite the character!

Inspiration...Pottery Barn Style

As you all may or may not know, I am now living in a new home. That to me = time to decorate like I've never gotten to before! I've been so inspired by the latest Pottery Barn catalog. Here are some of my favorite inspiration pieces. Oh, and the best part is, ALL of these looks are so easy to re-create...flea markets are like treasure mines for these kinds of things. Prices are a million times cheaper at flea markets too. That makes me very, very happy!

So maybe not this exact chalkboard, but I do want a framed chalkboard somewhere in my house...like maybe the kitchen. I know if I can't find one suitable to my taste I can easily MAKE ONE!

Weathered outdoor chairs used as plant holders = Yeah, I want to copy that.

Love the idea of putting old rulers in a class jar for the desk.

Baskets are like my new passion. You get to hide random junk in them or use them to display awesome decorative items, like these.

Old buckets, rulers, pencils...It speaks to me.

Look! It's baskets. Love the vintage books and yarn since I PLAN on taking up crocheting sometime in the near future.

Soap in a glass apothecary jar. I'm obsessed.

Valentine's Day

My Valentine's Day was jam-packed with goodness. Church. Flea market browsing. Fondu with family and friends. Spaghetti dinner at home. Oh, and lots and lots of sweets.

Love Day

I am back! We are all moved in, and about half-way unpacked. I have a lot to catch up on as far as blogging goes, but for now I'll leave you with this:

May your Valentine's Day be filled with genuine love and affection! What better love story to ponder on than the one of our Savior who died on the cross and sacrificed his life to take away our sins. There is no greater love than that.

Still Sick...Still Packing

Who knew a stomach bug could last a whole week? Did you know that? I sure didn't!

Packing a whole apartment up the day before a move is hard. Doing it while sick is even harder. But I'm thankful I'm actually able to get out of bed and move around a little bit today so that I can actually get something done. My parents came over to help too, so that has also been a blessing. Tomorrow is the big day. It still doesn't seem real.

Another Moving Date Bites the Dust

Yep, I should be typing this blog from the house, but I'm not. Thanks to the 6" of snow we got this past weekend, we are still in our apartment for another week...paying rent...and not moving. BUT! I am thankful we still have a place to live. And it's only a week. I never finished packing anyway, so it's probably a good thing the move didn't happen! Not to mention, I was sick as a dog this past weekend. Who knew I would be sicker than I've been in 6 years (Yes, I keep track of this stuff), and we would get more snow than any other Winter, ever, in the world, all on the weekend we were supposed to move!!!!

You know what, though? It's ok. Really, it is. Because in the meantime, I got to see my house completely covered in snow, watch my husband shovel the driveway of our first home, see our new carpet with my own eyes (not to mention, take a nap on it!), AND see our new honkin' beast of a fridge! Your guy may or may or not be a shopper, but I can promise you this: When it comes to buying the appliances for your first home, he WILL enjoy it, and he WILL make it his mission to get the biggest, baddest appliances he can. Well, at least mine did anyway. The fridge is a hoss. I'll just leave it at that. And leave you with these:

My snow-covered house!

My hubby working hard to shovel the snow!

"The Hoss"