Weekend Recap

We had a fun weekend! Friday night, we babysat for some friends here that included the girls painting Joe's toenails pink. The stipulation was that no photo were to be taken! He found the nail polish remover quickly after we got home much to my disappointment!

Saturday we were lazy getting up and then we took the dogs to Petsmart. It was packed! Annie I think enjoyed it but we didn't stay very long because there were too many dogs. That night we went to see some of the Juniors and Seniors and they had a college presentation. Brought back some high school memories.

Sunday after church we had our Mount Pleasant Family Picnic. It was predicted to rain the whole day but we only had some pop up showers and then rained after we left.  Great time connecting with our church family and meeting new people.  

I also brought Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes. They were a huge success. But took some work to make the cookie dough, cupcake batter, and the frosting but definitely will keep this recipe!


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Inspired by Julia

Ever since since seeing Julie & Julia, I have been wanting to make Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon. I watched it last week and then decided that I needed Mastering the Art of French Cooking!

I had the day off so off to the grocery store I went. 

It did take a lot of time and effort but I didn't think it was too hard to make. We both thought it was delicious and it gave us a good excuse to eat outside. The only bad thing was it left a lot of dirty dishes! If you are feeling adventurous you can find the recipe here.

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Sewing

Last weekend, I finally took my sewing machine out of the box. Sadly, it had not been used since I received at Christmas.

One of my friends is an avid sewer so I went to her house for lessons. I learned how to thread my machine, sewing in straight lines, and I made an oven mitt!

So now I am practicing with my sewing machine on the kitchen table, making straight lines, and slowly becoming a sewer or is it seamstress?

I even offered Joe to hem one his suit pants but he politely declined!

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Guest Bedroom

Here is the guest bedroom before with the previous owners. Here is the guest bedroom after! We painted (two coats of primer and two coats of paint) and changed the overhead lighting. We also got new bedding because our critters ruined our old bedding. I still need to get a second curtain panel and we need bedside tables.

What do you think?

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Our Herb Garden

A few coworkers at work surprised me with a herb garden. Many of them have overflowing gardens and I decided once we got our new house that I wanted a garden.

Before when recipes called for fresh herbs I had to buy a packet from the grocery store.



We have basil, rosemary, parsley, thyme, and oregano.






Complete with a blue ribbon!



My plan next year is to start a veggie garden on the side of our house.


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New House, New Rules

One of my goals in moving to our new house was doing a better job keeping it clean. A lady at work told me about Flylady and the little steps you do to keep your house clean. At our old house, we had CHAOS (can't have anyone every syndrome).

The first step is to keep your kitchen sink shining. There is this long process to getting your sink clean. My goal is have my sink clean and free of dishes every night before I go to bed. Now I cannot say this has happened every night but I am doing pretty good!

This has moved over into other areas of our house. Hubby is doing a good job of making the bed every morning (because I get up before him). But this morning, Joe gets up way before me on Sundays and I came back into the bedroom and thought 'Joe didn't make the bed this morning!' I forgot that I was the last one up!

Our house is staying a lot nicer! No dogs are allowed on our new couch! So with our new house, we have new rules! Do you have any rules for your house?

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Bathroom Makeovers!

The bathrooms did not take a whole lot to change. We painted, replaced the cabinet hardware, and installed new towel fixtures.

Here is the half bath before: it was sponge painted that texture on the wall.




And here is the half bathroom after! When we were buying towel racks, Joe did not understand why we needed one for the half bathroom. Boys....

This is the full bathroom before. I still can't fully describe the color.

And after! It's pretty similar to our bathroom before.

We still need to get new bathroom lights and I have a michevous idea to paint the bathroom cabinet black in the half bathroom..but a certain someone doesn't think that is a good idea.






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Our Bedroom

Here is our bedroom before....

And our bedroom after!

We painted and hung a new ceiling fan. It does look similar to our bedroom before. Do you see a Joe in this picture?

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Living Room

The living room was also fun to decorate! Here are the before pictures when we looked at the house.

And here is the after! We painted, got a new chaise sectional and our new TV!








We still have some transformations up our sleeve but we love our new living room!




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Kitchen!

It's slowly starting to feel like a home!

One of the first things we unpacked was the kitchen. The kitchen in the house we were renting was kind of small so we are excited for more cabinet and counter space.

Here is a couple of pictures of the before.

And here is the transformation after!


We painted, put new appliances in, changed the lights, and changed the cabinet hardware.


One of my favorite additions is our new stainless steel appliances! I even made Joe dinner tonight and baked cookies!

I still need to add some homey decorations but I really like it! What do you think?

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M.I.A

If you are wondering where I have been the last couple of weeks, I have packing, procrastinating on packing, taping, painting, moving, and unpacking!

We got our house on Wednesday and after 2 1/2 furious days of painting, new appliances, fixing holes, changing lights, we are officially moved in! I will not say that we are completely unpacked but some major things are done!

Major pictures to come!

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Packing Up

We close Monday on our house. That means that it time to pack (gross)

I have never been a great packer. I think all the moving back and forth between school gave me a bad taste for it. During my senior year, I was excited to stay put somewhere. That lasted for about 10 months! :)

I have decided this time that I am going to do my best to be much more organized this time around.

But what keeps me moving is our cute little house!

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Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

My favorite recipe I found off of Kraft was Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups multigrain penne pasta, uncooked
1 pkg. (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 jar (14-1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained
2 oz. (1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, cubed
1 cup 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
2 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese

HEAT oven to 375ºF. Cook pasta as directed on package, adding spinach to the boiling water for the last 1 min.

COOK and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 3 min. Add spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil. Simmer 3 min. or until chicken is done. Stir in Cream cheese.

DRAIN pasta mixture; return to pan. Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Spoon into 2-qt. or 8-inch square baking dish.

BAKE 20 min. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake 3 min.

YUMMY!!

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