tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22455928218115626392024-03-13T16:42:36.295-04:00A Taste of LifeReneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-5945572600420488932011-04-03T17:46:00.008-04:002011-04-03T20:15:09.173-04:00Basement Update<div>Our winter break project was to replace the carpet in our finished basement. We decided to replace the main living space, half bath, and laundry room with laminate. Our garage door is off of our basement so a lot of dirt/grass gets tracked in. I really wanted a solid surface for ease of cleaning. We want to use this as another living space or potentially a future playroom. It looks kind of blank right now except for cat stuff and exercise equipment, but we'll get there! </div><div><br /></div><div>I kind of forgot to take before pictures until after we had started ripping out carpet so a lot of these are more like 'during' pictures. We changed out a few lights, replaced smoke detectors, updated the electrical outlets and switches, and painted too.</div><br /><div><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zl3R3tVMJuI/TZjsHhikk3I/AAAAAAAAA4k/LgV-E7skt4E/s400/DSCN6038.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591478551387083634" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I did find this picture from a friend's album that showed her dog on our treadmill haha. You can see the blue carpet under the treadmill. Nothing exciting.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QWtOQMyIHfo/TZjtuipkSaI/AAAAAAAAA5c/I-5jz2_Be4w/s400/25452_774307060359_7820447_44479328_7617004_n.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 360px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591480321211386274" /><br /></div><div>More 'during' pictures. You can see the laminate and Quiet Walk in the corner, ready to get put down! We'd also started edging at this point. We painted the main room, hall, and half bath a greige color (Revere Pewter - Benjamin Moore). We wanted to keep things pretty neutral.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1izMt9i1TBQ/TZjtuXQDJFI/AAAAAAAAA5U/C7P0bdVbcCo/s400/DSCN6044.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591480318151566418" /><br /></div><div>Here are some after shots. I took pictures at a bad time of the day so the brightness from the windows was hard to work around. We purchased our laminate from Lumber Liquidators and the color was a light mahogany.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lmQPCByw2Rs/TZjy2VUhH-I/AAAAAAAAA68/_L-US33hZNE/s400/DSCN6226.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591485952630530018" /><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jFdQ_j8WEsU/TZjyJvmTHKI/AAAAAAAAA60/U9OVV69_lU0/s400/DSCN6225.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591485186590317730" /><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zmst2vwO71k/TZjyJffV5sI/AAAAAAAAA6s/sXgs1J5qqTQ/s400/DSCN6224.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591485182266173122" /><br /></div><div>Well at least this shows the color of the floor!</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-otExuk5DQMI/TZjtuz6grbI/AAAAAAAAA5k/HMqUS3gnqiY/s400/DSCN6214.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591480325845855666" /><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hZh5Dv5MB7E/TZjyIzEialI/AAAAAAAAA6k/8AkNrGR30nE/s400/DSCN6223.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591485170342586962" /><br /></div><div>This is the half bath off of the hallway. We need to update the pull string light at some point. We left everything else. The mirror, toilet, and pedestal were in good shape.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qSeR857z670/TZjtuAPhZiI/AAAAAAAAA5E/XyBRKAEZ8UY/s400/DSCN6041.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591480311975339554" /><br /></div><div>For some odd reason this was the way the builders decided to utilize the storage under the stairs. Weird.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X5g3QfgtByQ/TZjtuTqm8-I/AAAAAAAAA5M/DWL4b_V7_N4/s400/DSCN6042.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591480317189223394" /><br /></div><div>After!</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zx437GXXz1c/TZjut6OGixI/AAAAAAAAA5s/mUdbGJ2-AfY/s400/DSCN6216.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591481409870400274" /><br /></div><div>In the before pictures you could see exposed pipes that were tacked to the baseboard. I think this bathroom was added at a later point. We found some white moulding that fit over top of the piping. That way it will still be pretty easy to access if we ever need to get to the pipes.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9D24rCaVQdQ/TZjuuRzP0KI/AAAAAAAAA58/BhJaejgppGc/s400/DSCN6218.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591481416200212642" /><br /></div><div>I got my mother-in-law to sew some curtains for behind the toilet. I found this martini fabric on Etsy and they do a good job of concealing the gigantic hole behind the toilet.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PVzATbb-ucU/TZjuuC9vKfI/AAAAAAAAA50/JaO0hDlJyQk/s400/DSCN6217.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591481412217678322" /><br /></div><div>Here's another before looking down the hallway. The half bath is on the door to the left and straight forward is my laundry room.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_jVc5UlVpvY/TZjsHzNWStI/AAAAAAAAA4s/yPKq2EUnvtY/s400/DSCN6039.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591478556129905362" /><br /></div><div>Here was our before of our laundry room. I had started to call to get quotes to see if we could get drywall put up over the concrete walls and to conceal all of the piping. This room is a pretty tight space and our washer and dryer <i>just</i> fit. I was afraid that adding drywall was going to make the room too small. I also realized this was going to be more money than I felt like putting into a laundry room by hiring a contractor.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V4Igt-TgyZY/TZjsILEOvcI/AAAAAAAAA40/qAPl5d92SFA/s400/DSCN6040.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591478562534112706" /></div><div><br /></div><div>After. I figured this was a good place to let a little color show :) That's a dog proof litterbox on the rug in case you were wondering what that box was haha.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6dsDSQ-Nojg/TZjuuab7CUI/AAAAAAAAA6E/YlTJJClklLc/s400/DSCN6219.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591481418518300994" /><br /></div><div>I decided to put some $9.99 curtains from Target up with a tension rod to hide all of the piping. I added a decal and painted the exposed concrete walls. We've never had water issues so our local Lowes recommended we used DryLok Fast Plug to fill any large holes and we primed with a concrete filler/primer. I think it was Olympic brand. The paint color was Jalapeno Jelly (Valspar).</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RWb24hnDcXg/TZjuuglCAlI/AAAAAAAAA6M/vAU7e05I5Xg/s400/DSCN6220.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591481420167119442" /><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mY-qv9nWHqU/TZjyIZ7PuGI/AAAAAAAAA6U/LUG4O-kpVzo/s400/DSCN6221.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591485163592726626" /><br /></div><div>Looking back down the hallway. My dog is being a photobomber around the corner.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CWddKlT02Vo/TZjyIncVRmI/AAAAAAAAA6c/76qNII3hUeI/s400/DSCN6222.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591485167221163618" /><br /></div><div>My husband thought this would be a good accessory to slap every time we walked down to the basement :) You can see the color difference in this picture too.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2gidMwiZZNA/TZjy2nGkdfI/AAAAAAAAA7E/4EG8sqcq_jQ/s400/DSCN6227.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591485957403866610" /><br /></div><div>I also decided to replace our lights beside the door today. This is the only picture I could find of the outside of our home. This was our "We just bought a house!" picture.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y989wR4Mt2I/TZjsHaItd_I/AAAAAAAAA4c/azyFgcemisA/s400/DSCN4822.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591478549399566322" /><br />Here are the new lights and you can also see our new screen door that we added last Fall as well. Another shih tzu photo bomb for ya.<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0ek5jZtSNsM/TZjy27YRBVI/AAAAAAAAA7M/mcLHttt9ArQ/s1600/DSCN6228.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0ek5jZtSNsM/TZjy27YRBVI/AAAAAAAAA7M/mcLHttt9ArQ/s1600/DSCN6228.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0ek5jZtSNsM/TZjy27YRBVI/AAAAAAAAA7M/mcLHttt9ArQ/s400/DSCN6228.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591485962846799186" /></a><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Thanks for looking!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div>Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-8604982772549463952010-07-01T21:07:00.009-04:002010-07-01T22:27:00.984-04:00Grilled PizzaThis has become one of our favorite meals and we've slowly perfected it to where we can at least get a square pizza now. This takes a little more skill then just popping it in the oven but the grilled taste is so worth it. I've heard other bloggers say this before, but this is the only way I prefer homemade pizza to a restaurant. I took pictures of the steps tonight while we were cooking so that I could relay back our experience in case anyone is interested in trying this out.<br /><br />I usually make veggie pizzas so while I'm stretching out the dough I get Casey to carmelize onions and peppers in a grill pan on the grill. I use a few turns of olive oil and grill whatever veggies we're using on high until they have good marks and have softened up a little bit.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1B44lVMKI/AAAAAAAAA38/Nxrgwf_4Azw/s1600/DSCN5741.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1B44lVMKI/AAAAAAAAA38/Nxrgwf_4Azw/s400/DSCN5741.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489115966351945890" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC0_PQGll6I/AAAAAAAAA2k/DQlDMkkGiHM/s1600/DSCN5759.JPG"><br /></a>Brush olive oil on the pizza before placing it on the grill. I like to add a little flavor so I make a spicy garlic oil. This is super simple. Mince 2-3 cloves of garlic and throw it in a saucepan with about 1/3 c. of extra virgin olive oil. Add a few shakes of crushed red pepper if you like it and turn the heat up to medium. Once the garlic starts sizzling, cook for about 1 minute and then remove from the heat.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1B4TG_awI/AAAAAAAAA30/BvWIgzflBgI/s1600/DSCN5744.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1B4TG_awI/AAAAAAAAA30/BvWIgzflBgI/s400/DSCN5744.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489115956292578050" border="0" /></a><br />Use enough dough for one pizza. I use <a href="http://annies-eats.com/2008/08/15/perfect-pizza-crust/">Annie's recipe</a> over at Annie's Eats which makes two pizzas. You can make this recipe and freeze half of the dough for later which is what we had done. If you're freezing the other half just wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in a freezer bag. Place it in the refrigerator the morning you plan to use it and it will be ready by dinner time. Divide your dough (half of Annie's recipe) into two balls. It's much easier to work with small circles on the grill.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1A_mOd-uI/AAAAAAAAA3s/erhCfA_rV6o/s1600/DSCN5745.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1A_mOd-uI/AAAAAAAAA3s/erhCfA_rV6o/s400/DSCN5745.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489114982171671266" border="0" /></a><br />Stretch out the dough to form a circle (use a little bit of flour to keep the dough from sticking) and brush the top with the olive oil/garlic mixture. It's definitely easier if you make your individual circles smaller but I got a little carried away with a big circle and it might be why I end up with square pizzas.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1ErZO6VOI/AAAAAAAAA4E/kSUmDYElZxc/s1600/DSCN5746.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1ErZO6VOI/AAAAAAAAA4E/kSUmDYElZxc/s400/DSCN5746.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489119033132995810" border="0" /></a><br />Now you'll want to grill the side of the pizza with your oil on it so that it won't stick to the grates. We keep the grill on medium high to high during this process. How you want to get the dough from the counter top to the grill is a personal choice. I've figured out that I like to make my dough on a pizza peel and carry it out to the grill and flip it over with my hands stretching the dough across the grates. You can use tongs, spatulas, etc. Whatever makes things easier. It probably won't look pretty, but that's ok!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1A-5HDy9I/AAAAAAAAA3c/sVUzakAGgWI/s1600/DSCN5747.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1A-5HDy9I/AAAAAAAAA3c/sVUzakAGgWI/s400/DSCN5747.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489114970060999634" border="0" /></a><br />Now brush the top with the garlic oil while it's on the grill.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1A-j34vnI/AAAAAAAAA3U/o2EGRknQzhE/s1600/DSCN5748.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1A-j34vnI/AAAAAAAAA3U/o2EGRknQzhE/s400/DSCN5748.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489114964360216178" border="0" /></a><br />This cooks really quickly (within a few minutes) so keep an eye on the bottom of your pizza. Once it starts to cook on the bottom it's easier to shift it around so that you can keep spots from burning. Once the bottom is cooked, use your tongs and place the pizza on a pizza peel or cutting board with the oil side down and the cooked side up.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1A-Icyb5I/AAAAAAAAA3M/bYAJxANcM7U/s1600/DSCN5750.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC1A-Icyb5I/AAAAAAAAA3M/bYAJxANcM7U/s400/DSCN5750.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489114956998799250" border="0" /></a><br />Use whatever toppings make you happy and load up your pizza. I use marinara (I love Muir Glen's Cabernet Marinara), grilled veggies, and grated mozzarella.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC0_Q5XxzaI/AAAAAAAAA3E/TMAjk1PH2Kg/s1600/DSCN5751.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC0_Q5XxzaI/AAAAAAAAA3E/TMAjk1PH2Kg/s400/DSCN5751.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489113080345513378" border="0" /></a><br />Once your pizza is ready to go, take it back out to the grill and slide it on so that we can cook the bottom. The pizza is much easier to work with once you've grilled one side.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC0_QYhjJgI/AAAAAAAAA28/Tb-YZJNkiUc/s1600/DSCN5752.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC0_QYhjJgI/AAAAAAAAA28/Tb-YZJNkiUc/s400/DSCN5752.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489113071528125954" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC0_QAg3hsI/AAAAAAAAA20/xWaSyMBJeYk/s1600/DSCN5753.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC0_QAg3hsI/AAAAAAAAA20/xWaSyMBJeYk/s400/DSCN5753.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489113065082816194" border="0" /></a><br />Grill on high for a few minutes to get the bottom crispy and then move the pizza to the other side of the grill which I put on medium low. Shut the lid for around 4-5 minutes to melt the cheese. You can start the process for the second pizza whenever you have the time. I start stretching out the second one while I'm waiting on the cheese to melt on the first one.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC0_PpHswFI/AAAAAAAAA2s/K5av_xbxlJQ/s1600/DSCN5754.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC0_PpHswFI/AAAAAAAAA2s/K5av_xbxlJQ/s400/DSCN5754.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489113058803236946" border="0" /></a><br />Yum!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC0_PQGll6I/AAAAAAAAA2k/DQlDMkkGiHM/s1600/DSCN5759.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/TC0_PQGll6I/AAAAAAAAA2k/DQlDMkkGiHM/s400/DSCN5759.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489113052087687074" border="0" /></a>It sounds complicated but after you've done it once it seems much easier. The transfer of the dough to the grill is the hardest part b/c the dough is so soft but once you have that part down you're good to go. My biggest advice is to work with small circles and keep an eye on your crust! Enjoy!<br /><br />**I'm also aware I haven't blogged in 3 months. I figure by now that if you people still read my blog you know I'm kind of like that friend that you see every now and then and you don't really expect to contact you every week. I'm glad we understand our relationship with each other.Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-20398790582226188282010-03-13T12:01:00.007-05:002010-03-13T13:03:12.397-05:00Completed Bathroom!Just in case you forgot what we were working with here. This honestly all started b/c the toilet needed replacing. I casually mentioned that while we had the toilet up maybe we should replace the lovely blue linoleum. Well, and while we had to rip everything out maybe we should just replace the vanity and so on. You know, when you give a mouse a cookie.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vKC2JmzBI/AAAAAAAAA2c/wg_GCmDj9AQ/s1600-h/DSCN5475.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vKC2JmzBI/AAAAAAAAA2c/wg_GCmDj9AQ/s400/DSCN5475.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448170324479101970" border="0" /></a><br />Here's the picture of the other wall again. I was a little too excited to pull the medicine cabinet out of the wall so I don't have any before pictures of it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vKCRvTCbI/AAAAAAAAA2U/EqM7JDLWBkk/s1600-h/DSCN5477.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vKCRvTCbI/AAAAAAAAA2U/EqM7JDLWBkk/s400/DSCN5477.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448170314705078706" border="0" /></a><br />Here's the after!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vJSUU6LZI/AAAAAAAAA2M/7CccwWFEplc/s1600-h/DSCN5533.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vJSUU6LZI/AAAAAAAAA2M/7CccwWFEplc/s400/DSCN5533.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448169490765983122" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here is a close up of the pictures of Tuck above the toilet. I got inspired by these <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/annadala/pippin-s-palace/the-palace/guest-bathroom">shih tzu bath pictures</a> and gave Casey the job of photographer during one of Tuck's baths.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vJRujUMoI/AAAAAAAAA2E/U8pnEa_KMus/s1600-h/DSCN5531.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vJRujUMoI/AAAAAAAAA2E/U8pnEa_KMus/s400/DSCN5531.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448169480625861250" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vJRDiDlMI/AAAAAAAAA18/9X5D2hHsDY0/s1600-h/DSCN5532.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vJRDiDlMI/AAAAAAAAA18/9X5D2hHsDY0/s400/DSCN5532.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448169469077853378" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here's a better look at the sink area. No hole in the wall anymore!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vJQvwq3uI/AAAAAAAAA10/1_joG_hGkac/s1600-h/DSCN5534.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vJQvwq3uI/AAAAAAAAA10/1_joG_hGkac/s400/DSCN5534.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448169463770439394" border="0" /></a><br />This is one of my favorite parts of the bathroom. We had a faucet like this at our hotel in Maui on our honeymoon and I think of that every time I see it. We ended up purchasing the sink and vanity set separate b/c there were no combos that looked that great in this room. It's kind of hard to see but our tile has reddish tones to it and there's a little bit of that reddish tone in the granite.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vJP5HahxI/AAAAAAAAA1s/6Hz4fNReQi4/s1600-h/DSCN5539.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vJP5HahxI/AAAAAAAAA1s/6Hz4fNReQi4/s400/DSCN5539.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448169449101887250" border="0" /></a><br /><br />New working toilet! This toilet has actual given us trouble from the get go as far as the installation but I think it's finally ok now. I think we'll definitely be replacing the toilet downstairs in the powder room with the one we have in our master bath b/c we've been really happy with that one so far and the installation went much smoother.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vHKSmqqkI/AAAAAAAAA1k/jckrDZRjl3U/s1600-h/DSCN5540.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vHKSmqqkI/AAAAAAAAA1k/jckrDZRjl3U/s400/DSCN5540.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448167153841384002" border="0" /></a><br /><br />There were fixtures that matched the bamboo faucet but they were really more than I wanted to pay. I just could not fathom paying $50 for a toilet paper holder. I found these at Home Depot and the edges actually resemble the bamboo fixtures that we originally wanted but the price was much better.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vHJmfIylI/AAAAAAAAA1c/HyPEAHC1mJA/s1600-h/DSCN5541.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vHJmfIylI/AAAAAAAAA1c/HyPEAHC1mJA/s400/DSCN5541.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448167141998643794" border="0" /></a><br />We're lucky to have linen closets in the guest bath and in our master. I keep all of the towels in here and we have cleaning supplies and medicine cabinet items in our linen closet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vHJPRbayI/AAAAAAAAA1U/mFwOvXCF5rY/s1600-h/DSCN5543.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vHJPRbayI/AAAAAAAAA1U/mFwOvXCF5rY/s400/DSCN5543.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448167135767128866" border="0" /></a><br />Here's a close up of the floor and our new floor register.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vHIhKi4NI/AAAAAAAAA1M/33jA_f9sYiQ/s1600-h/DSCN5544.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vHIhKi4NI/AAAAAAAAA1M/33jA_f9sYiQ/s400/DSCN5544.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448167123390226642" border="0" /></a><br />One last shot just because!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vHIGdcjKI/AAAAAAAAA1E/qcyqoWP7dwQ/s1600-h/DSCN5545.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S5vHIGdcjKI/AAAAAAAAA1E/qcyqoWP7dwQ/s400/DSCN5545.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448167116221746338" border="0" /></a><br />The hardest part of this whole project was all of the patch work on the walls. Getting rid of the sexy vanity bulb strip and smoothing the wall to move down to a smaller vanity and mirror was very tedious. Patching the medicine cabinet hole was also tedious b/c there was a lot of applying joint compound, sanding, waiting, and repeating. I purchased a little DeWalt electric sander halfway through this project and I wish I would've had it from the get go. We've already used it again to sand down the doors to accommodate the new floor level. I was worried about going from a 47" vanity to a 30" but I think it gives the room more space and it's just not as overwhelming.<br /><br />The tile was the easiest part ironically enough b/c that's what we were the most nervous about. Measuring to make sure the tiles were even and cutting was the hardest part of tiling but it was a relatively quick process once we got started.<br /><br />This was our first big DIY renovating project and it went pretty well. We learned a lot and we got our hands wet in a little bit of plumbing, a lot of tiling, and a little bit of drywall work. Everything always seems much more daunting when you're trying something new but I'm glad we've attempted some of the things we have since we've lived here. It's allowed us to save money and it's given us confidence when it comes to doing other projects.<br /><br />This has also become a hobby that we really enjoy doing together. Sometimes there are some tense "..but HONEY, I don't think you have the clamp down hard enough", "Well, HONEY if you think you can fit your hand in this space then maybe you should do it" hahaha, but we worked in a tiny space together for weeks and we worked well together.<br /><br />Thanks for looking!Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-73814266723282975742010-02-25T21:22:00.005-05:002010-02-25T21:50:39.676-05:00Oh DearFirst we had this which was a little out of date. Nice blue flowered linoleum, old sink, broken toilet, 90's bulbs and builder grade mirror.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4czSPR1jVI/AAAAAAAAA04/Hl_ttwO33zk/s1600-h/DSCN5475.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4czSPR1jVI/AAAAAAAAA04/Hl_ttwO33zk/s400/DSCN5475.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442375063132540242" border="0" /></a><br />There was also a medicine cabinet randomly in the side of the wall. They are in both full baths and both of the full baths have vanities and linen closets so the medicine cabinet seemed a little overkill so we jerked it out of the wall. In case you were wondering, Sookie definitely inhabited this room before we started on this project. We want to move her stuff to the basement when it gets warmer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4czRQsDhyI/AAAAAAAAA0w/cYM5JLC8_KY/s1600-h/DSCN5477.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4czRQsDhyI/AAAAAAAAA0w/cYM5JLC8_KY/s400/DSCN5477.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442375046331074338" border="0" /></a><br />Then this happened and we noticed there was no junction box where our light was. That sounded safe! But look, the medicine cabinet hole is gone!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4czQtZXN1I/AAAAAAAAA0o/UmV98yipPZA/s1600-h/DSCN5478.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4czQtZXN1I/AAAAAAAAA0o/UmV98yipPZA/s400/DSCN5478.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442375036857431890" border="0" /></a><br />I remedied the junction box issue and we put up a new light.<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4cyJtaFhMI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/41JEVDBiKcw/s1600-h/DSCN5486.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4cyJtaFhMI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/41JEVDBiKcw/s400/DSCN5486.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442373817089754306" border="0" /></a><br />Oh hey, this is what I look like when I'm working on the bathroom or when I'm going out the door to my niece's birthday party when Casey is taking pictures.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4cyJFsy1BI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/JhaqT7-T0Zw/s1600-h/DSCN5487.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4cyJFsy1BI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/JhaqT7-T0Zw/s400/DSCN5487.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442373806430802962" border="0" /></a><br />Tuck appreciates the sink hole in the wall.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4cyIn74cpI/AAAAAAAAA0I/_0pmZp8HyXI/s1600-h/DSCN5489.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4cyIn74cpI/AAAAAAAAA0I/_0pmZp8HyXI/s400/DSCN5489.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442373798441022098" border="0" /></a><br />Now the toilet is gone, the linoleum is ripped up, the tiling is done, the painting is done, and the grouting is finished. We need to caulk and put up baseboards and of course the new toilet and vanity. This is a guest bath that we don't use so we're really taking our time and working on it when we can so that we don't get burnt out from the project. I'll show plenty of pics when we're done, don't worry :)Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-22392718842886062782010-02-23T21:28:00.009-05:002010-02-23T22:36:22.190-05:00Lil's BirthdayWe helped Lillian celebrate her 2nd birthday a few weeks ago and it's so amazing to see how much she has grown <a href="http://reneestasteoflife.blogspot.com/2009/02/lillians-first-birthday.html">since last year</a>.<br /><br />I love this little girl.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SY3n-8JwI/AAAAAAAAAz4/xz_Ma6-XhSE/s1600-h/DSCN5496.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SY3n-8JwI/AAAAAAAAAz4/xz_Ma6-XhSE/s400/DSCN5496.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441642331163600642" border="0" /></a><br />My sister and Lil<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SegYbR6hI/AAAAAAAAA0A/HlYkTLUX834/s1600-h/DSC01472.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SegYbR6hI/AAAAAAAAA0A/HlYkTLUX834/s400/DSC01472.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441648528920275474" border="0" /></a><br />I made her cake this year and I'm not a skilled decorator so don't judge me :) She had a farm animal theme so I decorated farm animal sugar cookies w/ royal icing and stacked them around the cake with coconut grass. The cake was a three layer <a href="http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=184">Hershey's perfectly chocolate cake</a> and the middle layers were white chocolate buttercream and the outer layer was just plain ol' vanilla buttercream. It turned out really well and I got a couple of requests for cakes with those particular flavors again so, yay!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSZgvS-YI/AAAAAAAAAx4/RmGO8cb_kgU/s1600-h/DSC01469.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSZgvS-YI/AAAAAAAAAx4/RmGO8cb_kgU/s400/DSC01469.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441635216753097090" border="0" /></a><br />Before Casey wrote on the cookies.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSYaTgV5I/AAAAAAAAAxo/xEL_qMkCb1M/s1600-h/DSC01463.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSYaTgV5I/AAAAAAAAAxo/xEL_qMkCb1M/s400/DSC01463.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441635197846050706" border="0" /></a><br />Duck sugar cookie favors.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSZNntbuI/AAAAAAAAAxw/bavq0E-Ira0/s1600-h/DSC01464.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSZNntbuI/AAAAAAAAAxw/bavq0E-Ira0/s400/DSC01464.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441635211621002978" border="0" /></a><br />Waiting so patiently for her cake.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSarDKPhI/AAAAAAAAAyA/OrJn-nleMKE/s1600-h/DSC01488.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSarDKPhI/AAAAAAAAAyA/OrJn-nleMKE/s400/DSC01488.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441635236700634642" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSvNbB1QI/AAAAAAAAAyY/rBhNXa3oZDo/s1600-h/DSC01491.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSvNbB1QI/AAAAAAAAAyY/rBhNXa3oZDo/s400/DSC01491.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441635589524935938" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSuYh8_XI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/8jVSoBdOhOI/s1600-h/DSC01490.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSuYh8_XI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/8jVSoBdOhOI/s400/DSC01490.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441635575326899570" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSvvjI86I/AAAAAAAAAyg/BvgqTDS7gQ4/s1600-h/DSC01493.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSvvjI86I/AAAAAAAAAyg/BvgqTDS7gQ4/s400/DSC01493.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441635598685762466" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSwBLG7WI/AAAAAAAAAyo/9vscP0dyeQA/s1600-h/DSC01499.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SSwBLG7WI/AAAAAAAAAyo/9vscP0dyeQA/s400/DSC01499.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441635603416804706" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Present time!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SW8jOPRBI/AAAAAAAAAzI/Uat26RPF0a0/s1600-h/DSC01534.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SW8jOPRBI/AAAAAAAAAzI/Uat26RPF0a0/s400/DSC01534.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441640216761680914" border="0" /></a><br /><br />One of the outfits we got for her. I might kind of want it in my size.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SXx_YPmrI/AAAAAAAAAzo/irbrhjVSPx4/s1600-h/DSC01553.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SXx_YPmrI/AAAAAAAAAzo/irbrhjVSPx4/s400/DSC01553.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441641134852905650" border="0" /></a><br />Her baby Stella doll and carrier. This is such a cuuuuute doll if you need a gift for a little girl. She has a little magnetic pacifer and she's so soft.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SXyOOybII/AAAAAAAAAzw/KlmDE1_0ORk/s1600-h/DSC01555.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SXyOOybII/AAAAAAAAAzw/KlmDE1_0ORk/s400/DSC01555.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441641138839776386" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This picture cracks me up b/c I feel like Tuck is plotting how to take her down in the background. He wants to be a princess for the day too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SW-N4GU-I/AAAAAAAAAzg/0GdtLzOhmmg/s1600-h/DSC01605.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SW-N4GU-I/AAAAAAAAAzg/0GdtLzOhmmg/s400/DSC01605.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441640245391414242" border="0" /></a><br />We also got to babysit her for the first time this past week. My sister left her here while she was sleeping so she kind of freaked out when she woke up but we made up for it and played with jewelry, jumped on the bed, and made sugar cookies.<br /><br />Casey and Lil playing with sugar cookie dough (and eating some of it).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SUTm2nPPI/AAAAAAAAAzA/EkPPphKUiO4/s1600-h/DSCN5522.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SUTm2nPPI/AAAAAAAAAzA/EkPPphKUiO4/s400/DSCN5522.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441637314338438386" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Telling Tuck Tuck that it was all gone. She has always been able to say Tuck Tuck really easily but she has trouble with Sookie. She was "Cookie" or "Wookie", but close enough.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SUS3s2vpI/AAAAAAAAAy4/rDeqIb6eFUI/s1600-h/DSCN5521.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S4SUS3s2vpI/AAAAAAAAAy4/rDeqIb6eFUI/s400/DSCN5521.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441637301681045138" border="0" /></a><br />We topped off the night with some Wall-E snuggled up on the couch. We're so lucky to have her in our lives :)Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-71624782008581788542010-01-19T20:33:00.004-05:002010-01-19T20:43:27.088-05:00Out with the old...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S1Ze-e-S11I/AAAAAAAAAxg/MRLWC_6ij_M/s1600-h/DSCN5435.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S1Ze-e-S11I/AAAAAAAAAxg/MRLWC_6ij_M/s400/DSCN5435.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428630828400957266" border="0" /></a><br />... and in with the new!<br /><br />We got our door hardware that we ordered for all 17 of our doors today and we installed all of the ones on the first floor and it's a huge improvement and the handles are really smooth. I'm pricing hinges but that will be our next project.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S1Ze98LaRmI/AAAAAAAAAxY/DJkgrDkx5k8/s1600-h/DSCN5430.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S1Ze98LaRmI/AAAAAAAAAxY/DJkgrDkx5k8/s400/DSCN5430.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428630819060729442" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S1Ze9h5Wx6I/AAAAAAAAAxQ/9hyz4U-ByvE/s1600-h/DSCN5432.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S1Ze9h5Wx6I/AAAAAAAAAxQ/9hyz4U-ByvE/s400/DSCN5432.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428630812005681058" border="0" /></a>Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-45495005105903889412010-01-11T22:40:00.003-05:002010-01-11T22:49:40.850-05:00Quick Healthy Chicken Noodle SoupThis was from my most recent Cooking Light magazine and it really took no time to put together. This is a great weeknight meal that I'm going to add to our rotation.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0vvhuw0QXI/AAAAAAAAAxE/RHba0LrQntU/s1600-h/DSCN5424.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0vvhuw0QXI/AAAAAAAAAxE/RHba0LrQntU/s400/DSCN5424.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425693538865398130" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Servings: 6<br />(Source: Cooking Light)<br /><br />2 cups of water<br />1 (32 oz) carton fat-free, less sodium chicken broth (I used a little more than called for)<br />1 tbsp. olive oil<br />1/2 cup chopped onion<br />1/2 cup chopped celery<br />1/2 tsp. salt<br />1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper<br />1 medium carrot, chopped<br />6 oz. fusilli pasta (I used mini fusilli)<br />2 1/2 c. shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast<br />2 tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley<br /><br />Combine 2 cups of water and chicken broth and heat on medium until hot. While broth mixture heats, heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion, celery, salt, pepper, and carrot, saute 3 minutes or until almost tender, stirring frequently.<br /><br />Add vegetables and pasta to hot broth mixture and bring to a boil. Cook 7 minutes or until pasta is almost al dente. Stir in chicken; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Stir in parsley.<br /><br />Calories: 237<br />Fat: 4.8g<br />Protein: 22.9g<br />Carb: 23.9g<br />Fiber: 1.7g<br />Chol: 50mg<br />Iron 1.8mg<br />Sodium: 589mg<br />Calc: 28mgReneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-28957767296591210212010-01-11T22:34:00.002-05:002010-01-11T22:40:05.633-05:00Small UpdateThis was the most recent picture of our fireplace from Christmas. We can't add tile surround b/c it will be too close to the entertainment center and we intend to replace the black tile when we replace the flooring so I just did a quick update to get rid of the brass and the wooden handles.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0vuoJKfM2I/AAAAAAAAAw8/p72D6RWeBWc/s1600-h/DSCN5251.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0vuoJKfM2I/AAAAAAAAAw8/p72D6RWeBWc/s400/DSCN5251.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425692549519979362" border="0" /></a><br />Much better!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0vunkAYkVI/AAAAAAAAAw0/_KSozWNu1Lw/s1600-h/DSCN5420.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0vunkAYkVI/AAAAAAAAAw0/_KSozWNu1Lw/s400/DSCN5420.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425692539545489746" border="0" /></a>Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-57751490322509642082010-01-03T20:59:00.006-05:002010-01-03T21:59:20.061-05:00Merry Christmas/Happy New Year!I thought I would start with a few Christmas pictures that I managed to take.<br /><br />Case and Tuck on Christmas morning at my parent's house. We stay there Christmas Eve and then get up to head to Casey's parent's house first thing that morning and then we head back to my house. We go back and forth a little but we're lucky that they're only about 5 minutes apart.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FN7LGboKI/AAAAAAAAAvk/zpzGGpdblNo/s1600-h/DSCN5379.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FN7LGboKI/AAAAAAAAAvk/zpzGGpdblNo/s400/DSCN5379.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422701105318174882" border="0" /></a><br /><br />All of us in our pjs and ready to go.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FN7mub31I/AAAAAAAAAvs/DEfo7Bgs4Bc/s1600-h/DSCN5381.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FN7mub31I/AAAAAAAAAvs/DEfo7Bgs4Bc/s400/DSCN5381.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422701112733720402" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Casey and Tuck at his parent's house. Tuck does like us despite his poses in these pictures.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FN8ZkzF4I/AAAAAAAAAv8/YmNXS-1dR6A/s1600-h/DSCN5387.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FN8ZkzF4I/AAAAAAAAAv8/YmNXS-1dR6A/s400/DSCN5387.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422701126383507330" border="0" /></a><br /><br />My mother-in-law and father-in-law on Christmas morning :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FN8J3hKcI/AAAAAAAAAv0/mDTAz4Vr5ZE/s1600-h/DSCN5385.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FN8J3hKcI/AAAAAAAAAv0/mDTAz4Vr5ZE/s400/DSCN5385.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422701122167056834" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Then we headed back to my house to open presents with my family. That's my mom, dad, Casey, my sister, and my brother-in-law and Lil is in the middle somewhere.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FN80J8TrI/AAAAAAAAAwE/4Sb6atYRLGU/s1600-h/DSCN5388.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FN80J8TrI/AAAAAAAAAwE/4Sb6atYRLGU/s400/DSCN5388.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422701133518622386" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I managed to get this picture as Casey was opening his blu-ray player. I told him we weren't getting one for awhile.. and I lied :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FPm8ZCHNI/AAAAAAAAAwM/-znWS7lVZDY/s1600-h/DSCN5389.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FPm8ZCHNI/AAAAAAAAAwM/-znWS7lVZDY/s400/DSCN5389.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422702956795534546" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Miss Lillian who was more interested in bubble wrap and opening other people's presents. We got her the turtleneck and little wool skirt she is wearing. She did have a better understanding of things this year so that was fun to experience and we even got to do a craft with her on Christmas Eve. It's actually the same one that <a href="http://heatherdrive.blogspot.com/2009/12/five-snowmen-ornament.html">Heather posted about a few days ago</a> but we didn't get any pictures b/c we were all covered in paint.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FPnWROoDI/AAAAAAAAAwU/gJmSV7Hr0UQ/s1600-h/DSCN5393.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FPnWROoDI/AAAAAAAAAwU/gJmSV7Hr0UQ/s400/DSCN5393.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422702963742122034" border="0" /></a><br /><br />For New Years we ended up having people over at the last minute and ordering pizza for a pajama party... what better way to ring in the New Year!<br /><br />All of the girls rocking our pjs. Our husbands/significant others were there but I realized I didn't get any pictures of them or me and Casey. Hm.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FPoIJaTyI/AAAAAAAAAwk/esNzWXTYwGU/s1600-h/DSCN5407.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FPoIJaTyI/AAAAAAAAAwk/esNzWXTYwGU/s400/DSCN5407.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422702977131106082" border="0" /></a><br /><br />But I did manage to get a picture of me with one of the boys, of course.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FPnixMdDI/AAAAAAAAAwc/NIfkOrC6Gww/s1600-h/DSCN5403.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FPnixMdDI/AAAAAAAAAwc/NIfkOrC6Gww/s400/DSCN5403.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422702967097422898" border="0" /></a><br />I took a look at my blog to see what I was doing this time last year and <a href="http://reneestasteoflife.blogspot.com/2009/01/happy-new-year-day-late.html">what my resolutions were</a>. I thought I wrote a big list of resolutions but it turns out it was just to make bigger progress on an issue that tends to sneak up on my life. I'm proud to say that I only ever make progress on said issue so I can say that I kicked that resolution in the face BAH BAH.<br /><br />I also saw irony in the <a href="http://reneestasteoflife.blogspot.com/2009/01/garlic-knots.html">form of garlic knots</a>. I haven't made them in awhile and it turns out that the last time I made them was around this time last year and what do you know, we had garlic knots tonight. That wasn't really relevant to anything, but there it is.<br /><br />It's weird to look back and see that I was really curious about what 2009 was going to bring b/c 2008 was such a hectic year. We didn't really have a hectic year honestly. We purchased our first home together and that will be the biggest and fondest memory that I have of this year but otherwise it was just a year of working on our home and honestly just enjoying being married and hanging out with each other and our family and friends. It really was a calm and content year.<br /><br />Sooo... resolutions for this year.<br /><br />1. Continue enjoying this content feeling that I have with my life, my marriage, and our home.<br /><br />2. Continue to make this home our own by making a dent in some of the home improvement projects that we have on our list.<br /><br />3. Travel more! We didn't do any traveling at all in 2008. We didn't have much time off from the wedding and then it was into save mode for the home and then afterwards for all of the fun little stuff that pops up when you have a home (like a snow shovel when there's 18 inches of snow outside).<br /><br />I think all of these are obtainable goals and I really do try to set 'resolutions' that can be met. Weight loss is never on there but I do always kick myself around the first to get back into shape. It's not that I let myself go over the course of the year, it's that I let myself go during the months of November/December. I have carrots and cauliflower pre-packaged for snacks this week and Cooking Light oatmeal in tupperware for breakfast every morning. No more of the binging on fun food for weeks at a time. It's back to just the weekends for that.<br /><br />I should make a resolution to blog more but I know how sporadic I am and I know that if I don't have a lot going on then I don't blog so we'll see how interesting my life is. The hoseband and I are attending a tiling class next Saturday to attempt redoing our guest bathroom so I'm sure there will be posts once we get started on that.<br /><br />I hope everyone had a great holiday and a good New Year!<br /><br /><br />Oh! Oh! Oh!<br /><br />I forgot to introduce you to someone.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FXOKXce5I/AAAAAAAAAws/PS5rpd0y-qo/s1600-h/AAAADFmAgvYAAAAAACB8Sw.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 280px; height: 280px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/S0FXOKXce5I/AAAAAAAAAws/PS5rpd0y-qo/s400/AAAADFmAgvYAAAAAACB8Sw.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422711327143263122" border="0" /></a>She's real pretty isn't she. She's just something special. My husband thought I needed one for Christmas after asking for the past 2 years and he was right! I made the above mentioned garlic knots with her today and I've also made chocolate chip cookies and a birthday cake so far.<br /><br />Ok, that's all now.Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-78632958490959121302009-12-20T11:17:00.010-05:002009-12-20T13:44:14.984-05:00Why Hello AgainI'm embarrassed that the last time I posted was Halloween and now Christmas is less than a week away. I guess you must know by now that I go in spurts. Sometimes I get a wild hair in my butt and blog frequently for weeks at a time and sometimes you'll see me blog about Halloween and then Valentine's Day. If you stick around you must be used to this so that at least comforts me.<br /><br />I'm doing a ton of baking and more activities that I could blog about, so I really have no excuse. This past week we had dinner for Casey's Birthday on Wednesday with his parents and we had sleepover guests (my family) on his actual birthday on Thursday. I'm doing a lot of baking/cooking for Holiday parties and pot lucks and I'm about to gear up for my annual Holiday baking. I don't know if I'll actually get around to blogging these recipes but I'll link the recipes which is kind of close.<br /><br /><a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/10/chocolate-truffles-with-sea-salt/">Sea Salt Truffles</a><br /><a href="http://goodthingscatered.blogspot.com/2008/12/soft-and-spicy-gingerbread-cookies.html">Gingerbread Cookies</a><br /><a href="http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=8275&page=1&per=25&keyword=peanut%20butter%20blossom&omnituresearch=true&rectypecat=">Peanut butter Blossoms</a><br />and Fudge (I use the recipe on the back of the marshmallow fluff I think)<br /><br />I actually made <a href="http://heatherdrive.blogspot.com/2008/12/santas-surprise-cookies.html">Heather's Santa Surprise cookies</a> last night b/c I was snowed in and I have a ton of baking supplies right now. I don't know if there's much I need to catch you up on. We've been preparing for the holidays, going to plays, parades, looking at Christmas lights, watching Christmas movies, shopping, wrapping, decorating... and we're having such a good time doing it in our first home.<br /><br />In case you're not from this area, we do have a ton of snow outside right now! We've been home-bound since noon on Friday so I guess I have no excuse to not put up a catch-up blog post. Casey and I are surely spending a lot of quality time together right now if anything else haha! I made <a href="http://www.google.com/reader/view/?tab=my#search/crack%20dip/34">crack dip</a> that I was going to make for a party on Friday night and we munched off of that and leftover food from his birthday party and played the new Mario game for Wii which is so much fun if you don't have it! If you're like me and have an Xbox or PS3 husband you'll appreciate a game that you can both play together. Yesterday I became acquainted with my new BFF the huge shopvac we got on Black Friday and literally went around and sucked up everything I could find in the house. We did laundry, cleaned a little bit, put a ham in the crockpot, watched Christmas movies and rented Four Christmases.<br /><br />Here's some snow pictures. This was Friday night right when it started. I loved the way our LED lights looked underneath the snow.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5ZdnnmpFI/AAAAAAAAAus/rWSN15ehyhQ/s1600-h/DSCN5345.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5ZdnnmpFI/AAAAAAAAAus/rWSN15ehyhQ/s400/DSCN5345.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417365767159456850" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This was our neighborhood last night. There was a lot of snow, but even more fell over night.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5ZdC0vuZI/AAAAAAAAAuk/fQWPM7HTyAw/s1600-h/DSCN5344.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5ZdC0vuZI/AAAAAAAAAuk/fQWPM7HTyAw/s400/DSCN5344.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417365757282466194" border="0" /></a><br />I don't think we'l be able to see our lights now. This was Saturday morning.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5r0OuvUBI/AAAAAAAAAvc/tBTc3oZJnLU/s1600-h/DSCN5363.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5r0OuvUBI/AAAAAAAAAvc/tBTc3oZJnLU/s400/DSCN5363.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417385946824790034" border="0" /></a><br />I opened the sliding door and Sookie and Tuck both took a big leap into a snow drift and disappeared. I dug him out and her (she's not even supposed to go outside and has never tried before then). She figured out she could walk on top of it if she ran really fast. You can see that when she's walking on top of it she's almost in line with the seat of our patio chairs.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5ZeWQVsuI/AAAAAAAAAu8/y3iZeOzjXzE/s1600-h/DSCN5361.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5ZeWQVsuI/AAAAAAAAAu8/y3iZeOzjXzE/s400/DSCN5361.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417365779678343906" border="0" /></a><br />Casey digging Tuck a potty circle. That's our gigantic holly tree in the background.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5amVKaoaI/AAAAAAAAAvM/u7jj1zvVAos/s1600-h/DSCN5362.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5amVKaoaI/AAAAAAAAAvM/u7jj1zvVAos/s400/DSCN5362.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417367016335647138" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here's our deck again. Check out the mountains in the background.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5Zd00wAlI/AAAAAAAAAu0/Zt-eDYQgQgQ/s1600-h/DSCN5354.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5Zd00wAlI/AAAAAAAAAu0/Zt-eDYQgQgQ/s400/DSCN5354.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417365770704257618" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5U5MMdBwI/AAAAAAAAAuM/g7Xszxi-7E4/s1600-h/DSCN5312.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5U5MMdBwI/AAAAAAAAAuM/g7Xszxi-7E4/s400/DSCN5312.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417360743276021506" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Yes, Sookie is still here. She even made it into our Christmas card picture this year. This might be her last appearance seeing as how she wanted to pretend to be a dead corpse in the pictures. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a dead cat!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5U3y-Z17I/AAAAAAAAAt0/D8ihJeAbiW4/s1600-h/DSCN5309.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5U3y-Z17I/AAAAAAAAAt0/D8ihJeAbiW4/s400/DSCN5309.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417360719326336946" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Tuck does love here though, so we keep her around :) I seriously don't remember kittens being this hard to control. Maybe Tuck was easier b/c he was short and was never a chewer. I didn't have trouble keeping him out of things (and I still don't). I do have to watch out for her jumping on things as she currently swings from my roman blinds. I swear her water bottle gets refilled twice a day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5U5T-G77I/AAAAAAAAAuU/RhCy_bhUKSM/s1600-h/DSCN5296.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5U5T-G77I/AAAAAAAAAuU/RhCy_bhUKSM/s400/DSCN5296.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417360745363337138" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5U4JyES5I/AAAAAAAAAt8/hIqtPVuv4Jw/s1600-h/DSCN5251.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sy5U4JyES5I/AAAAAAAAAt8/hIqtPVuv4Jw/s400/DSCN5251.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417360725448608658" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />She makes me do crazy things like sling all of my sheers over the top of the curtain rods (in the background). Mom asked me if that was a style I was going for. Yes, if the style involves keeping her from swinging like Tarzan from sheer to sheer.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Merry Christmas!Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-5005038142444942572009-10-30T22:42:00.005-04:002009-10-30T23:03:57.105-04:00Happy Halloween!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398590946235301666" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Suul3NX-vyI/AAAAAAAAAto/sRL7ChmYzQw/s400/DSCN5168.JPG" border="0" />In case you don't remember, <a href="http://reneestasteoflife.blogspot.com/2008/10/halloween-and-more-pictures.html">we take pumpkin carving pretty serious around here</a>. This year we actually had a stoop to put pumpkins on so we decided to fill it out. The other side didn't turn out as well in pictures but Casey carved another pumpkin on the other side and I painted a white pumpkin with our house # (not very well, but it got painted). I might try to take a picture tomorrow during the day if I remember. I'm sure you can probably tell who did the face and who did the transformers pumpkin, but just in case you can't, I did the face. We're pretty excited about our first year in our house at Halloween and getting to hand out candy. We would get a handful of trick or treaters at the apartment but nothing overly exciting. Our neighbors have already warned us to come prepared with lots of candy. We live in a pretty family friendly cul de sac and there are a ton of kids in the surrounding neighborhoods, so I'm pretty excited.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I wanted to add these two pictures that I took with my phone. They're shots I snapped on my lunch break behind our house (that's our driveway in the picture). We have a gorgeous shelf of mountains behind our home that provide a great view from our deck. I was so excited to see the colors change and you can kind of see it in these pictures.<br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398589491940250642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SuukijtBVBI/AAAAAAAAAtY/Mtfe5h9CWLg/s400/downsized_1025091508.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398589498686093170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Suuki81Wt3I/AAAAAAAAAtg/buQk2SvuLnQ/s400/downsized_1025091508a.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>I can't wait until they're covered in snow, but I won't get ahead of myself. Everyone have a safe and Happy Halloween!</p>Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-45840261489500542682009-10-24T11:39:00.004-04:002009-10-24T12:17:46.367-04:00Dining RoomI've hesitated posting my dining room as finished b/c I have two sets of blinds on backorder for one set of the windows. I know, I know.. I have issues.<br /><br />Anyway, we didn't have to do much to this room at all. It got the outlet overhaul and we didn't mind the light fixture so it was just a matter of paint, window treatments, and furniture.<br /><br />Here's a picture from the listing<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396195534361259890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 224px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SuMjP4wm73I/AAAAAAAAAsw/Xh160khVqow/s400/20080923020611840311000000.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Here's afterwards<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396195547993040258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SuMjQrirZYI/AAAAAAAAAtA/IHQJoudJ30k/s400/DSCN5110.JPG" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SuMjRRyKZ-I/AAAAAAAAAtQ/-Y3lxFekuH0/s1600-h/DSCN5113.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396195558258534370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SuMjRRyKZ-I/AAAAAAAAAtQ/-Y3lxFekuH0/s400/DSCN5113.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SuMjQ6BjF4I/AAAAAAAAAtI/elmLZYbOfig/s1600-h/DSCN5112.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396195551880615810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SuMjQ6BjF4I/AAAAAAAAAtI/elmLZYbOfig/s400/DSCN5112.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Bamboo Blinds - JCP</div><div>Sheers - Bed Bath and Beyond</div><div>Black wooden curtain rod - Lowes</div><div>Dining room furniture - Havertys</div><div>Runner - Etsy</div><div>Paint - SW Humble Gold<br /><br />It was really important when we were looking at houses to have a dining room. We've lived in apartments for a long time that have always had an open concept and not really a designated place for a table. Having a space like this is one thing that actually makes me feel like I have a home, if that makes sense. It's good for entertaining or when we have family over and we actually have a space to lay stuff out now if it's needed.<br /><br />I'm getting close to calling my closet finished as well but we still have to patch and paint the ceiling so that will be coming up soon!</div></div>Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-57105413465126195892009-10-20T22:38:00.005-04:002009-10-20T23:02:46.974-04:00Hello Kitty.Hello Kitty.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394878700645469634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/St51mE5LTcI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/eeWjJpfyJvE/s400/downsized_1013092157.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />We had no intentions of keeping you.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/St51m0qg9WI/AAAAAAAAAso/Nnex9k1Utqs/s1600-h/IMG00059-20091014-2035.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394878713468876130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/St51m0qg9WI/AAAAAAAAAso/Nnex9k1Utqs/s400/IMG00059-20091014-2035.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />But then you found a friend.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394877859435910914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/St501HJMFwI/AAAAAAAAAsA/4Z-A3G2ipKI/s400/DSCN5080.JPG" border="0" /><br />And now you're almost inseparable.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/St51mrhLFTI/AAAAAAAAAsg/XxPTLmE1wvM/s1600-h/downsized_1017092251.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394878711013774642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/St51mrhLFTI/AAAAAAAAAsg/XxPTLmE1wvM/s400/downsized_1017092251.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Even though you fight sometimes.<br /><br /><div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/St501nYClkI/AAAAAAAAAsI/VCvrz9cdrPU/s1600-h/DSCN5091.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394877868088137282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/St501nYClkI/AAAAAAAAAsI/VCvrz9cdrPU/s400/DSCN5091.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /> You're a part of our family.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/St50zjIbqtI/AAAAAAAAArw/BkMKklasRBg/s1600-h/DSCN5078.JPG"></a> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394878705011531682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/St51mVKIH6I/AAAAAAAAAsY/Xsy1GBetRE0/s400/IMG00058-20091014-2035.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div><br /><p>Meet Pineapple/Sookie. My sister found her outside of her hom and she was *tiny* (She was 1 lb and 5 ounces at the vet last Wednesday). She was going to take her to the SPCA, but I told her to give me a week and I would keep her and try to find her a home and then she could take her to the SPCA. That week has passed and she's still here and we think she's here to stay. Tuck is entertained by her and she's already figured out how to outsmart him at the ripe age of 7 weeks. We weren't really looking for a cat and still had our hands full with Tuck but I think you can kind of tell when something has found you.</p><p>My niece named her Pineapple (although I think she calls everything a 'pooabble') but we never call her that. It's almost always Kitty, but we're trying Sookie on for size and that seems to fit her more. Tuck scratches the door to her bathroom (where she stays at night and during the day) every day when we get home to see her and he plays well with her but his 'playing' sometimes can be a little rough, but she seems to hold her own. She can certainly serve it as well and it's funny to see her hop sideways down the stairs and do crazy martial arts moves in front of him and then take off with a ball in her mouth. There will be a day where she's his size and he will get what's coming to him. Hah. I forgot how funny cats were...</p>Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-58947301956141569582009-10-13T18:36:00.004-04:002009-10-13T18:54:18.164-04:00Simple Sesame NoodlesP-dub came through with another win. We really like any kind of pasta with sauce and we love anything asian so I knew we would like these. You could easily add shrimp or chicken in for some protein!<br /><br />I also apologize for the horrible lighting. Casey and I eat pretty late and my lighting is starting to suffer with the change of season. I'm really starting to long for a DSLR and a lightbox but we've got other financial focuses right now, sooo maybe one day.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/StUBnVAqtUI/AAAAAAAAAro/rYnu7eUKJic/s1600-h/DSCN4991.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392217904012506434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/StUBnVAqtUI/AAAAAAAAAro/rYnu7eUKJic/s400/DSCN4991.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div>Simple Sesame Noodles</div><div>(Source: <a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/09/simple-sesame-noodles/">Pioneer Woman</a>)<br /><br />12 ounces thin noodles, cooked and drained (angel hair, thin spaghetti, or Asian style)<br />1/4 cup soy sauce<br />2 tablespoons sugar<br />3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced<br />2 tablespoons rice vinegar<br />2 to 3 tablespoons pure sesame oil<br />1/2 teaspoon hot chile oil (more to taste)<br />4 to 5 tablespoons canola oil<br />2 tablespoons hot water<br />3 to 4 green onions, sliced thin<br /><br />Whisk all ingredients (except noodles and green onions) together in a bowl. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed. Pour sauce over warm noodles and toss to coat. Sprinkle with green onions and toss. Serve in a bowl with chopsticks. Yummy!</div>Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-36102681205261809502009-10-12T21:59:00.003-04:002009-10-12T22:19:14.267-04:00Chicken Gyros<p align="center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/StPfsZbOpzI/AAAAAAAAArg/NbYCfTjFPVU/s1600-h/DSCN4985.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391899132724946738" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/StPfsZbOpzI/AAAAAAAAArg/NbYCfTjFPVU/s400/DSCN4985.JPG" border="0" /></a></p><br />This recipes has been floating around in my Googlereader on a ton of blogs so I figured it was worth checking out and we both really enjoyed it. I really debate on whether to post recipes that I kind of like so I always stick to recipes that I intend to make again so I'm not a liar when I tell you guys I enjoy everything that I post :) This recipe is actually healthy too so it's a win/win and I ended up using the leftover chicken the next day on pitas with salsa and sour cream and it worked pretty good with both but the tzatziki sauce definitely gives it a little something different!<br /><br /><br />Chicken Gyros<br />(Source: <a href="http://ellysaysopa.com/2009/03/09/chicken-gyros/">Ella Says Opa!</a>)<br />Servings: 4<br /><br />1.25 lbs. chicken pieces (I used breasts)<br />4 cloves garlic, smashed<br />juice of 1 lemon<br />2 tsp. red wine vinegar<br />2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil<br />2 heaping Tbsp. plain yogurt<br />1 Tbsp. dried oregano<br />salt and pepper<br />1/2 batch of tzatziki<br />sliced tomatoes<br />sliced onions<br />4 (pocketless) pitas<br /><br />Whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, yogurt, and oregano in a bowl. Add the chicken and rub the marinade in. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.<br /><br />Preheat the broiler (we used the grill). Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides, and then broil until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side, depending what size/type chicken you are using. Allow the chicken to rest for a few minutes before slicing into strips.<br /><br />Meanwhile, heat your pitas. We just heated up a skillet on medium-high and heated the pitas on both sides to soften them up a little bit. Top the pita with the chicken, tzatziki, tomatoes, onions. Roll up and enjoy.<br /><br />Tzatziki - I copied these instructions straight from Ella Says Opa since she seems to know the ways of tzatziki :) 1/2 of this recipe is pretty sufficient and I think we only did 1/4 and it was good for us.<br /><br />1 32oz. container of plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt which you don't have to strain)<br />1 hothouse cucumber or 2 regular cucumbers, seeded<br />3-5 cloves garlic–depending how garlicky you like it, crushed<br />1-2 tsp white wine vinegar<br />salt and a little pepper<br />squeeze of fresh lemon juice (optional)<br />drizzle of extra virgin olive oil<br /><br />Strain yogurt using a cheesecloth over a bowl (if you don’t have that, a strainer lined with a coffee filter will work) for several hours or overnight to get out as much moisture as possible.<br /><br />Peel and seed the cucumber. Shred the cucumbers and then squeeze the life out of them to get rid of as much excess moisture as possible. I use a towel to do this, and you will get a lot of liquid so don’t skip this step! Yes, there is a lot of straining and squeezing–and it’s all important! You don’t want a runny tzatziki<br /><br />Mix together the strained yogurt, shredded cucumbers, garlic, vinegar and lemon juice (if desired). Salt to taste. It’s best to refrigerate for 30 minutes or more before serving, so flavors can meld.<br /><br />Drizzle a little olive oil over the top.Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-81628601317014824692009-09-29T14:40:00.009-04:002009-09-29T15:17:42.576-04:00Meet My Nemesis<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386961597655459250" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 216px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 227px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SsJVCB7spbI/AAAAAAAAArI/q7ZCJbGl68s/s400/Stinkbug(web).JPG" border="0" />
<br />The stinkbug. Hideous little wench isn't it? They're hard and crunchy and huge and apparently they don't know how to fly b/c they always erratically dive into me causing me to freak out.
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<br />Stinkbug, I've tried to kill you many ways but you pushed me over the edge when I saw you on my curtain which caused me to chuck my dog's treats (my dog's expensive, organic, delicate, blueberry treats) at you and the entire bag crumbled, yet you stayed alive you little tank.
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<br />These little suckers have been invading the outside of our house and now they've taken to coming inside for a little bit. I swear I just thought I got rid of spiders and then I discover these.
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<br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SsJVExYbAUI/AAAAAAAAArQ/lNFqokrZ0xo/s1600-h/Stinkbug(web).JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386961644752142658" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 216px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 227px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SsJVExYbAUI/AAAAAAAAArQ/lNFqokrZ0xo/s400/Stinkbug(web).JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SsJVIBt20BI/AAAAAAAAArY/Y2UL63KfhOU/s1600-h/spider_brice_manor.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386961700676620306" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 230px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 226px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SsJVIBt20BI/AAAAAAAAArY/Y2UL63KfhOU/s400/spider_brice_manor.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div>New nemesis...</div><div></div><div>
<br /> ...meet old nemesis</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>
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<br />This bothered me enough to call the Orkin man last month. Our house is not conducive to being bug free. We have an attic, we have a basement that's attached to a garage, we don't have a storm door to seal the front door and our house set vacant for many moons before we moved in. I used to *never* see bugs in my apartment with only one entrance and few windows. Now I feel like I've stepped into a safari (I'm probably being dramatic, but it happens).
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<br />Anyway, so I called Orkin and I really just couldn't justify the price seeing as how we aren't facing scary things like roaches or termites. Someone suggested Terminix had better prices so I had a nice conversation with the Terminix Man (TM) on my lunch break today:
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<br /></div><div></div><div><em>Terminix man gives me the rundown on the way the business run, yeah yeah, heard this all with Orkin.</em></div><div><em></em></div><div><em>
<br />Then he breaks down the service prices, which still seem expensive but are certainly better.</em></div><div><em></em></div><div>
<br />TM: ...so this is the way our service operates on a quarterly basis, unless you have termites. Do you have termites?
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<br />Me: I don't think so, should I see wood falling down or something like that?
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<br />TM: ... you would probably know if you had termites. What kind of bugs are you dealing with?
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<br />Me: Well first off, spiders, but they kind of tapered off and now I'm seeing stinkbugs.
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<br />TM: Your spiders didn't taper off, they're hiding in your home probably preparing to hibernate. I'm sure the stinkbugs are also not fun, and that's certainly not a pleasant smell.
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<br />Me: For some reason mine don't smell. I think they're defective.
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<br />TM: Right, so do you think, this is a service you'll be interested in?
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<br />Me: I really don't know.. the price is still high and we don't really have detrimental bugs, just annoying ones...
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<br />TM: Do you want to know what the stinkbugs are doing in your home?
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<br />Me: No, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me.
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<br />TM: They're laying eggs, and for every one you see in your home there will a hundred more to that one bug. Thanks for calling and let me know if you change your mind, have a nice day!
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<br />Now that sir, is effective salesmanship.
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<br />That is also why I'll probably get an annual membership set up. I'm a pansy and I really don't like bugs and I don't want them in my house. I know they were here first and that's awesome for them and everything but they have trees, land, jungles, mountains, and woods to live in, do they really need to live in my home to? Don't you think that's just a little selfish and a little creepy that they're trying to invade my home?
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<br />I sat down the other night and talked to Casey about this and I told him that I feel like it was something that we should set up until we can get a storm door and possibly an energy audit to see where the cracks are in our home. He seemed to agree and said the spiders didn't really bother him. I told him it was enough to make me not want to go in the basement more or less the garage. He agreed and said he didn't like going in the garage either because he had a fear of opening the door and seeing a 10 foot spider just staring at him.
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<br />I don't really know what to say about that, but hopefully Terminix covers those too.
<br />Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-75690251831553496322009-09-27T19:52:00.005-04:002009-09-27T20:22:10.718-04:00Baking Gals<div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sr_7GPU2BPI/AAAAAAAAAqw/sLeur-RynAI/s1600-h/img02.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386299763970147570" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 183px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sr_7GPU2BPI/AAAAAAAAAqw/sLeur-RynAI/s400/img02.jpg" border="0" /></a>I saw that two of the lady bloggers that I follow (<a href="http://www.beantownbaker.com/">Beantown Baker</a> and <a href="http://heatherdrive.blogspot.com/">Heather Drive</a>) were heading up a team for this round so I read up to see what was involved and signed up.</div><br /><div></div><div>Baking gals was started as a way to help give soldiers overseas a little taste of home that they can share with their buddies and hopefully it lets them know that there are people over here thinking about them. I'll be baking as much as I can to fill up a large flat rate box and I'll be shipping it over to Afghanistan between Oct 1st and Oct 12th. If you're interested in joining a team or you just want information, take a look at the <a href="http://www.bakinggals.com/">Baking Gals</a> website and check it out.</div><br /><div></div><div>I actually did a little baking today and tried out Bakerella's recipe for pumpkin pecan chocolate chunk cookies. The batter tasted amazing! I'm a firm believer in firm dough and this was definitely a softer dough so I'm going to let the batter rest overnight and try the cookies again tomorrow. My first batch was definitely cakey (which is normal when you use pumpkin in a cookie recipe) but they were still too crumbly for my liking so I'm hoping if I firm them up and let them bake a little longer that it'll iron my problems out. I also made a batch of crockpot chili today too. I just threw Fall into our faces today in the form of chili and pumpkin. The weather was perfect and we were able to get some yardwork done that we've been putting off because of rain.</div><div></div><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SsAAUzZ-RII/AAAAAAAAAq4/pIzqHPje_Zw/s1600-h/680519_fpx.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386305511731643522" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 208px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 229px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SsAAUzZ-RII/AAAAAAAAAq4/pIzqHPje_Zw/s400/680519_fpx.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div>We didn't do a whole lot on Friday or Saturday. The weather was kind of blah so we used Saturday to do some shopping and I *finally* found a pair of red flats. You would think that it would be a simple request but I could never find exactly what I was looking for. They have a cute point to the toe and I know you can't tell from the picture but the red is kind of splotchy which gives them a different look. I'm totally a ballet flats person. I can swoon over heels all day long but if we're honest I don't really wear them that often. I only wear them when I go out which is a small portion of mylife. The time I spend going out to dinner, working, or running errands on the weekend far outweighs the time that I would actually wear pumps, so flats it is! Hope everyone had a great weekend!</div>Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-43192959779091392162009-09-24T20:12:00.005-04:002009-09-24T20:44:17.658-04:00Cajun Chicken PastaThis was a recipe that I had saved in my recipe box for awhile and I just got around to making it. It's a heavier dish but I used half and half to cut down a little on the fat and it was great. This recipe only serves 2 so keep that in mind if you're making this for a larger crowd. Although, there was plenty for me to have a serving, Casey to have a serving, and leftovers for him to take to work the next day. I took this picture on my new dining room table! I'm close to having that room finished so I can do before and afters, but that's another post :)<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrwLaI05sCI/AAAAAAAAAqg/Fz7kcElpsx4/s1600-h/DSCN4977.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385191798102143010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrwLaI05sCI/AAAAAAAAAqg/Fz7kcElpsx4/s400/DSCN4977.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>(Source: Allrecipes.com)</div><div>Servings: 2<br /><br /></div><div></div><div>4 ounces linguine pasta <span style="color:#ff0000;">(I used wheat)</span></div><div>2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves</div><div>2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning</div><div>2 tablespoons butter</div><div>1 red bell pepper, sliced</div><div>1 green bell pepper, sliced</div><div>4 fresh mushrooms, sliced <span style="color:#ff0000;">(I omitted since we don't like mushrooms)</span></div><div>1 green onion, sliced</div><div>1 cup heavy cream <span style="color:#ff0000;">(I used half and half)</span></div><div>1/4 teaspoon dried basil</div><div>1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper</div><div>1/4 teaspoon salt</div><div>1/8 teaspoon garlic powder</div><div>1/8 teaspoon ground pepper</div><div>1/4 cup grated parmesan<br /><br />Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.<br /><br />Place the chicken and the Cajun seasoning in a plastic bag. Shake to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the chicken in butter or margarine until almost tender (5 to 7 minutes).<br /><br />Add the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms and green onion. Saute and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat.<br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"><span style="color:#333333;">Add the cream, basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and ground black pepper.</span> I added a little bit of a water/cornstarch mixture to thicken the half and half and simmered for about 5 minutes until thick. </span><span style="color:#000000;">Heat through.<br /></span><br />Add the cooked linguine, toss and heat through. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve. </div>Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-76316533811239399012009-09-21T20:29:00.006-04:002009-09-21T20:54:14.436-04:00Light ProgressWe decided to change out our two hallway lights this afternoon.<br /><br /><br />Pretty huh?<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Srgb5OzlPGI/AAAAAAAAAqA/NRSHtIZhuX8/s1600-h/DSCN4946.JPG"></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384083600498070050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrgbgjCxkiI/AAAAAAAAApw/MsJgz16ACkM/s400/DSCN4956.JPG" border="0" /><br />One down...<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrgbhVfm53I/AAAAAAAAAp4/kYXAWxUe68M/s1600-h/DSCN4961.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384083614040778610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrgbhVfm53I/AAAAAAAAAp4/kYXAWxUe68M/s400/DSCN4961.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div>Fluffy puppy gets bored with home improvements. He protests by sitting in the middle of everything.<br /><br /></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrgbfwF4wQI/AAAAAAAAApo/a45QjzCzSz4/s1600-h/DSCN4965.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384083586820915458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrgbfwF4wQI/AAAAAAAAApo/a45QjzCzSz4/s400/DSCN4965.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div> </div><div>I do just as much as Casey. Don't be fooled. After he installed the first light and had to redo it I told him that behind every man with a tool is a woman with instructions.</div><div><br /> </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384084633992041586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrgcctG8FHI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/7qUMrn8j8sA/s400/DSCN4967.JPG" border="0" /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrgbfYNqdzI/AAAAAAAAApg/rct3IDK62u0/s1600-h/DSCN4968.JPG"></a><br />Both of them up and going. Much better!<br /><br /><p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Srgbe78ct_I/AAAAAAAAApY/PrdabsFZxz0/s1600-h/DSCN4974.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384083572822685682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Srgbe78ct_I/AAAAAAAAApY/PrdabsFZxz0/s400/DSCN4974.JPG" border="0" /></a> </p><p>I also came home to my candle exchange gift! I joined an online Fall exchange and we decided to do candles this year. I just mailed mine off today so I hope my receiver likes the ones I picked out. I got a great deal on soy candles that were being discontinued. My sender gave me a spiced cider candle and a harvest spice cake candle. They smell great and make me excited for the coming of Fall which is tomorrow ahhhhh....</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384084037075032514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Srgb59a1WcI/AAAAAAAAAqI/AJH67LYCLPE/s400/DSCN4951.JPG" border="0" /></p><p>Just one last picture from the Tech game on Saturday as we were leaving. We tailgated early and had a great time and we're heading back for the Boston College game in a couple of weeks. Most people know I'm not a big football fan, but I do like the socializing aspect of games ;)</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384084639704465266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrgcdCY4v3I/AAAAAAAAAqY/JrNL5GmLDvc/s400/DSCN4946.JPG" border="0" /></p><p>After the game we came home and crashed. We were dogsitting this past weekend so we just let the dogs play while we napped on and off. I managed to get motivated to put a roast on Sunday and I'm sure we'll have that again sometime this week. We just finished up an easy dinner (taco night) and I'm blogging inbetween the premiere of House tonight. Oh how I've missed you Fall tv.</p>Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-83138532502483285662009-09-16T19:13:00.007-04:002009-09-19T00:27:35.632-04:00New Layout and Playing Catchup!In case you have noticed I've had Mrs. LauraJean over at <a href="http://www.ljkcdesign.com/">LJKC Design </a>take a shot at helping my sad little blog become a little more personalized and I love it! She even worked around some quirky issues with my blog so I really appreciate all of the work that she put into it. If your blog needs a face lift, follow the link above to get more info about her pricing and to check out some more layouts she's done!
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<br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>I decided to do a running list of some of the things that we've done since we moved in since it's been such a long time since I last blogged. Some of these things are very small or seemed very small but certainly took a good amount of our time. We're really having a good time making this house our home and we look forward to future projects and DIY work b/c I think we're both really enjoying learning how to do some of these things together. It definitely doesn't hurt your marriage to take on a new task together or to learn to do something. The sense of accomplishment you feel together is pretty awesome! Anyway, back to my list:</div>
<br /><div>First thing before we even moved in was changing out the hideous appliances. We got a new Samsung refrigerator and a Whirpool Gold oven and dishwasher.</div>
<br /><div>Before (listing pic):
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<br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382210590192479554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 224px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrF0A_7ErUI/AAAAAAAAAm4/st2dLmGiFcE/s400/20080923020431200416000000.jpg" border="0" />
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<br />After:</div>
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<br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382215532416169138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrF4grJBdLI/AAAAAAAAAno/YZeY9K9Rdl8/s400/DSCN4902.JPG" border="0" />
<br />If you look at the before we had a white hood over the range and we wanted to try to maximize our counterspace until we can add cabinets so we had a custom cabinet company contract on the side to pop our cabinet out of the wall and cut about 6 inches off of it. The guy did really great work and you can't even tell the doors or the cabinet had been cut. He also stayed around and installed the microwave in about 30 minutes. You can tell he does a lot of those.
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<br />We've definitely been enjoying our deck that extends along the entire backside of the house. The previous owners left a white patio set that had a round table with 8 chairs and a side table. We wanted to take advantage of all of the pieces so we decided to give it a good cleaning and replace the cushions. I found a great deal at Plow & Hearth for replacement Sunbrella cushions. We intended to paint it black to update the set a bit but the white started to grow on us after we replaced the cushions so we'll see how we feel next year.</div>
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<br /><div>Before (another listing pic):
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<br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382210596756924754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 249px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrF0BYYKKVI/AAAAAAAAAnA/HYmNVF0qlgg/s400/20080829211229889428000000.jpg" border="0" /></div>
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<br /><div>After:
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<br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382210612872889666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrF0CUagRUI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/PiYbPhgrQAY/s400/DSCN4904.JPG" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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<br />Here's a shot from the other side of the deck and Tuck all up in the middle of the shot.</p>
<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382215543773750450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrF4hVc4ZLI/AAAAAAAAAnw/kWDx_zlde0M/s400/DSCN4906.JPG" border="0" /></p>
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<br />One of the first things we did was replace the locks on our doors so we just decided to replace the doorknobs and update the wonderful brass with nickel.</p>
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<br />Before:
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<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382218919563073890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrF7l1PxmWI/AAAAAAAAAoI/pAhH_Fa-Bdo/s400/DSCN4863.JPG" border="0" /></p>
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<br />Here's the after that I just took so you can see my Fall wreath too :)</p>
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<br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383012846341585010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrRNqc-N-HI/AAAAAAAAApQ/-Y5bWLwVGWE/s400/DSCN4939.JPG" border="0" /></p>
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<br />This next project was one that took the most 'learning'. We are not electricians and we haven't even replaced a light. When we moved in, our 3 bedrooms and living room had no light fixtures. We got a family friend to help us wire ceiling fans in our bedroom and the guest bedroom and a light fixture in the 3rd bedroom. It inspired me to learn more about it and tackle our lovely beige faceplates on our outlets and switches.</p><p>At first I honestly thought it was just all a faceplate and we could replace them for $.50 a piece. No problem. I realized that the actual switch and actual outlet would remain almond so we would have to figure out how to do some of the wiring. I did some reading online and it seemed easy. Black to Brass, White to Silver, Ground wire to the green screw. I figured we could handle three wires until we took out an outlet armed with our new supplies, Lowes knowledge, and wiring book and saw seven wires. We have so many due to our outlets being attached to light switches (and we actually know how to undo this in the bedrooms now that we don't need to have lamps anymore!).</p><p>It only took one call to the electrician at first and then we got into a rhythm, working a room at at a time. We've finished the entire downstairs (we even did a dimmer and a GFI) and now we have the upstairs to tackle.</p><p>Here's the old face plate compared to the new white ones. I know it's not a big thing but I've read that it's the little things like outlets and brass to nickel that can make your home seem newer and actual help your return out when you're trying to sell. These are the things that aren't that expensive to do so if it will help us out one day when it's time to sell then it's definitely worth looking into.</p>
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<br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383012803193154306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrRNn8O1KwI/AAAAAAAAAow/9zYXShTxQzc/s400/DSCN4909.JPG" border="0" /></p>
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<br /><p>This is the new dimmer switch (beside an old switchplate just to show the difference) that Casey installed. The dimmer slides along the side and then you can just flip the switch on and off and adjust the side to your preference.</p>
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<br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383012808882484642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrRNoRbRdaI/AAAAAAAAAo4/aeUIVzdqHs8/s400/DSCN4912.JPG" border="0" /></p>
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<br />Tuck loves his new home. Loves it. Our landing that leads to the upstairs has a window right at the landing level so he can just sit there all day and watch the activity in the cul de sac :) I usually attach him to a bush when I'm outside weeding and he's content to just lay outside. He also loves sitting on the back deck and watching the horses. There's much more activity here than watching the cars go by on our deck at the apartment haha</p><p>This first picture actually shows our new mulch. My wondeful mother in law actually helped me harness back some of the weeds and flowers that had overgrown while the house was vacant and I've tried to do pretty good with the upkeep. It looked like it had been awhile since all of the different beds had been mulched so 18 (eighteen!) bags of mulch later we (meaning casey) finished the front, the side, and even had extra to do a little landscaping around our mailbox. I'll take a picture of that in a separate blog post.</p>
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<br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383012830824932610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrRNpjKwpQI/AAAAAAAAApI/1v3EMFo1juU/s400/DSCN4926.JPG" border="0" /></p>
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<br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383012822736891410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrRNpFCa7hI/AAAAAAAAApA/IO_9rc5zDtA/s400/DSCN4922.JPG" border="0" /></p>
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<br />I've only had one casualty due to putting his tie out around the bushes in the front yard. I guess we didn't need that plant anyway</p>
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<br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382218963909778658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SrF7oac2nOI/AAAAAAAAAoo/NMfuiv7FV_c/s400/DSCN4919.JPG" border="0" /></p>
<br /><p>I feel accomplished now that I've shown you guys some of the things that we've been working on. We have a couple of small projects we want to tackle before the end of this year which are:</p>
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<br /><p>Finishing switching the outlets out</p><p>Installing a wall organization system in our garage</p><p>Replacing hopefully at least 2 of the toliets</p><p>Switching all of the brass knobs and hinges to new nickel levers like the ones below<img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 280px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 280px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/313Mq03y33L._SL500_AA280_.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>I'll keep you guys updated on our progress and you'll hopefully see me blogging more actively now that I have a spring in my step from my new layout and now that we're feeling much more 'settled' than we were in July. I've got some rooms to reveal as they get closer to being finished and more home projects and recipes coming up so hopefully I won't be at a loss of things to write about. </p><p>Have a great weekend!</p>
<br />Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-86886068750426014362009-07-18T11:07:00.008-04:002009-07-18T11:59:30.857-04:00Bedroom MakeoverI have definitely been MIA for awhile, but I figured my whole house buying post might explain a lot of the absence. We've definitely been busy the past couple of weeks, but it's a good kind of busy. Casey and I really enjoy doing stuff around the house and we're getting more and more settled. As I complete rooms I'll post pictures and so far the first completed room is our bedroom.<br /><br />A lot of these pictures were taken in awful lighting, but hopefully you can get the idea. These are the before pictures of the room. You can see the swatches on the wall. I've always wanted a dark gray room, but dark colors can be a slippery slope so we definitely took our time in the painting department and ironically enough didn't use any of those colors.<br /><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHpxMuMZOI/AAAAAAAAAmM/4XpaigQ-c_A/s1600-h/DSCN4852.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359822062985438434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHpxMuMZOI/AAAAAAAAAmM/4XpaigQ-c_A/s400/DSCN4852.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div>Another before picture facing the windows.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHpwhzHudI/AAAAAAAAAmE/YOJ4RcoKL4c/s1600-h/DSCN4853.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359822051463379410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHpwhzHudI/AAAAAAAAAmE/YOJ4RcoKL4c/s400/DSCN4853.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>An after picture. We had no lighting at all upstairs so we had to get lighting/ceilling fans wired in all of the bedrooms. We ended up going with Benjamin Moore's Timberwolf for the wall color and we finally upgraded our falling apart full bedroom suit to this one.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHn7iyNrhI/AAAAAAAAAk8/THG5vNbV61E/s1600-h/DSCN4873.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359820041683316242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHn7iyNrhI/AAAAAAAAAk8/THG5vNbV61E/s400/DSCN4873.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />This is facing the windows. We hung shelves up with a couple of black and white frames on the wall to the right and we ordered thermal white panels to go on the windows.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHn7eP4vuI/AAAAAAAAAk0/ND6aBMASviM/s1600-h/DSCN4874.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359820040465596130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHn7eP4vuI/AAAAAAAAAk0/ND6aBMASviM/s400/DSCN4874.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Facing the left wall. We hung an anniversary print to the left and to the right is a seaside print that I ordered from Etsy.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHn68TM9cI/AAAAAAAAAks/vwtjLB8XIN8/s1600-h/DSCN4875.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359820031352698306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHn68TM9cI/AAAAAAAAAks/vwtjLB8XIN8/s400/DSCN4875.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />This is facing the back of the room. Our close is to the right and our bathroom is to the left.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHmfJO3UdI/AAAAAAAAAkk/NZLpKf9KhTE/s1600-h/DSCN4876.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359818454276198866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHmfJO3UdI/AAAAAAAAAkk/NZLpKf9KhTE/s400/DSCN4876.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div> </div><div>I have before and afters of our closet as well. Apparently when this house was built boards were nailed to the drywall and these shelves were mounted to them and then painted over. We didn't feel like these shelves were utilizing the closet space very well so we ripped them out. Ripping out boards attached to the wall led to a bunch of holes in our wall, which led to a bunch of patching. Once we patched, we had to paint... When you give a mouse a cookie.<br /><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359822050124156210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHpwcz0zTI/AAAAAAAAAl8/ZJGpBpovvyM/s400/DSCN4855.JPG" border="0" /> </div><div>This is the closet painted and with the Rubbermaid shelving system that we installed.</div><div><br /> </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359821307017516610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHpFMhZVkI/AAAAAAAAAls/4eD9-IhWWhI/s400/DSCN4869.JPG" border="0" /><br />This is the closet with our clothes and shoe racks inside.<br /><div><div><div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359821294704181506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHpEepqwQI/AAAAAAAAAlc/SDxhTBH0DpE/s400/DSCN4877.JPG" border="0" /> </div><div> </div><div>We still are going to install a couple of shelves above the nook where our clothes hamper is to the left.</div><div><br /> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359821290240341122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SmHpEOBZ9II/AAAAAAAAAlU/qqSYVqRwntM/s400/DSCN4878.JPG" border="0" />Thanks for looking :)<br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-74194271570140855282009-06-07T21:58:00.003-04:002009-06-07T22:45:14.255-04:00Happy Anniversary to Us<p>At this time one year ago I was dancing with my husband and wrapping up the night at our reception. Some days it feels like it was just yesterday and some days it feels like it was forever ago.</p><p>I think we've had a lot of things pop up that have made this year interesting :) but we've made it through it and we're also going on our 8th year together. I'm thankful to have such a patient, loving person to spend the rest of my life with.</p><p> </p><p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwuZurAhPVyhbOq66yCsS6L7Mz1jP51MD3rp6jcFMypnkAQ1pL09qlPXpWrxGzR0xU-fuZX8Gsd0HocUkA2Yg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p>Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-91233349579327392732009-05-23T11:21:00.005-04:002009-05-23T11:36:00.782-04:00I'm cautiously saying...That we're going to be homeowners! and it's all moved along incredibly quick I might add. We were really wanting to wait until July/August to buy but we were still looking in case anything popped up that we loved and we saw this home once and made an offer.<br /><br />It almost didn't work out for us. I called our realtor to accept the seller's counteroffer (which we were very happy with) and the seller's realtor beeped in to say that another offer had just come in on the home. Apparently the home was priced very well to begin with but they decided to drop the price of the home $5k to move along the process. When they dropped the price it fell into our search criteria and people started showing a lot of interest in the home (including us).<br /><br />We formally put in an offer on Tuesday night and we had to wait until Wednesday to find out if the seller's accepted our offer or the other offer. We got the call at one o'clock on Wednesday telling us that we got the home! We're both so excited but we know that we still have a few hoops to jump through. We have the inspection on Tuesday and we'll feel a lot better after we get that over with.<br /><br />There are a few things we'd like to do, but the home is relatively new so it's definitely move in ready. We've had a really positive experience so far with the sellers, our realtor, and lender so I hope it continues to go well. I told Casey this all feels surprisingly non-stressful haha. We're set to close on June 30th but I know that's subject to change. Here are some pictures I was able to pull from the listing.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339042245102864706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 237px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWomwpCUI/AAAAAAAAAj8/LaBCYe7Xzek/s400/20080829194527729386000000.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWoiN5aKI/AAAAAAAAAj0/OTDjp6cEMLY/s1600-h/20080829210915624926000000.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339042243883395234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 224px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWoiN5aKI/AAAAAAAAAj0/OTDjp6cEMLY/s400/20080829210915624926000000.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWoUF0lbI/AAAAAAAAAjs/xClE4swjqO8/s1600-h/20080829211040345246000000.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339042240091428274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 224px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWoUF0lbI/AAAAAAAAAjs/xClE4swjqO8/s400/20080829211040345246000000.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWofQut2I/AAAAAAAAAjk/YiwQMlMCXlI/s1600-h/20080829211229889428000000.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339042243089971042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 249px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWofQut2I/AAAAAAAAAjk/YiwQMlMCXlI/s400/20080829211229889428000000.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWbSbZ1gI/AAAAAAAAAjc/jC0F7AurcQ8/s1600-h/20080829212252271726000000.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339042016306779650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 224px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWbSbZ1gI/AAAAAAAAAjc/jC0F7AurcQ8/s400/20080829212252271726000000.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWbEK4shI/AAAAAAAAAjU/QkivK-V29NY/s1600-h/20080829212735627757000000.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339042012479402514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 224px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWbEK4shI/AAAAAAAAAjU/QkivK-V29NY/s400/20080829212735627757000000.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWbDC5-eI/AAAAAAAAAjM/mkTqY99M-k0/s1600-h/20080923020431200416000000.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339042012177496546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 224px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWbDC5-eI/AAAAAAAAAjM/mkTqY99M-k0/s400/20080923020431200416000000.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWa1c0A2I/AAAAAAAAAjE/2NJBW21eZl4/s1600-h/20080923020541649014000000.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339042008528061282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 143px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 192px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWa1c0A2I/AAAAAAAAAjE/2NJBW21eZl4/s400/20080923020541649014000000.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWa0qSIAI/AAAAAAAAAi8/cC5W1xUhueU/s1600-h/20080923020611840311000000.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339042008316125186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 224px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/ShgWa0qSIAI/AAAAAAAAAi8/cC5W1xUhueU/s400/20080923020611840311000000.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-92212147582406202102009-04-08T17:13:00.014-04:002009-04-08T18:40:40.712-04:00Things I LoveI love when people can vouch for beauty products. I know everyone is different, but I'm more likely to try something if someone else has had luck with it. So I'm going to go through a list of products that I really like and maybe some things that I'm still searching for. So maybe that's where you guys can help out!
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<br />Speak of helping out, why oh why are my blogger columns all wonky? Any ideas, anyone, anyone??
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<br />Anyway, on to the fun stuff.
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<br /><div>Face Wash- I've been using <a href="http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P7109&categoryId=B70">Philosphy's Purity Made Simple</a> for the past year and I really like it and my face has only gotten better since I've used it. I know the price tag at $32 can be a little scary, but I bought an 8 oz container (for $20) last April and I just went to see how much I have left and I've only used 1/3 of the bottle since then and I wash my face every night. It may not last you that long, but it surely goes a long way and I think it's b/c the wash isn't thick in consistency.
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<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322434314429280786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sd0VzzvoMhI/AAAAAAAAAgs/lGv5rwaROu4/s200/P7109_hero.jpg" border="0" />
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<br />Moisturizer- Another Philosophy product here and it's <a href="http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P4633&categoryId=B70">Hope in a Jar</a>. They now have Hope in a Jar with SPF 20 which I plan to get next, but I put this on day and night and it makes my skin so smooth and it has a nice clean smell.
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<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322436529376291170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 199px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 197px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sd0X0vEJaWI/AAAAAAAAAhE/ZQFlpfnMLYk/s200/P4633_hero.jpg" border="0" />
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<br />Spot Treatment: I have tried everything to clear my face up. I've been on antibiotics, prescription face cream, Proactiv, etc.. You name it, I've tried it. A couple of years ago I just happened to switch my foundation and add a spot gel at night and miraculously my face has been clear since then. The spot gel that I still love and use is <a href="http://www.drugstore.com/qxp91232_333181_sespider/neutrogena/rapid_clear_acne_defense_lotion.htm">Neutrogena Rapid Clear Acne Defense Lotion</a> and I've had a lot of luck with this in the past and I still use it as needed.
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<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322438201510025762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sd0ZWEP5WiI/AAAAAAAAAhU/MEbxwwHCvp8/s200/200.jpg" border="0" />
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<br />Foundation- <a href="http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P61003&categoryId=B70">Bare Minerals</a>. I know there are a lot of people that don't have luck with Bare Escentuals, but I don't think I could ever go back to liquid now that I've gotten used to the light feeling of this makeup. As I said earlier, I really attribute my face clearing up to the switch over to the mineral makeup and I really encourage people to try it. I do wear a little bit of liquid concealer underneath if I feel like I need it in a specific area so I feel like I have plenty of coverage. Don't let the $25 price tag scare you away. I would think that for good liquid foundation you may pay the same amount, except that this large jar can last me almost a year and I use a decent amount each day.
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<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322439967186241266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sd0a8156RvI/AAAAAAAAAhc/5gvrccK_XZ0/s200/P61003_hero.jpg" border="0" />
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<br />Concealer- The concealer that I use underneath the powder if I feel too naked or if I just have a day where I need a little more coverage is <a href="http://www.almay.com/Pg/Main/CatProdDet.aspx?catid=31&catnm=Face&subid=229&subnm=Concealer&prd=28608&osubnm=Concealer">Almay's Clear Complexion Concealer</a>. It has a little bit of salicyclic acid in it as well which helps combat your face breaking out so that you don't feel so heavy from the liquid aspect. If I don't use this then I use <a href="http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P213227&categoryId=B70">Bare Mineral's Well Rested</a> powder to tone down anything that I need to. It says that it's for eyes, but it's great for blemishes or redness as well.
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<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322441405532291586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 105px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sd0cQkKVQgI/AAAAAAAAAhs/KwtLDciayOE/s200/28608_large.jpg" border="0" />
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<br />Blush- I'm not entirely sold on any blush right now. I love a <a href="http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P8530&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=3865">Stila</a> blush that I have that is in a ready made pallette but I have no clue what the actual color is. I also have a <a href="http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/spp.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CAT156&PRODUCT_ID=329">MAC</a> blush (Plum Foolery) that gives me good color, but not the shimmer that the Stila blush has.
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<br />Eyeshadow- I like <a href="http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/spp.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CAT154&PRODUCT_ID=363">MAC</a>'s colors. Grand Entrance, Flip, and 100 Strokes are all great together or you can wear Grand Entrance or Flip on their own. I do love <a href="http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P61012&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=5737">Bareminerals</a> (although the loose powder takes longer to apply), <a href="http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P8431&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=3865">Stila's</a> colors, and <a href="http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P36214&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=3990">Smashbox</a> (especially the trios). I don't have a must have color, but I would love any recommendations that people are drawn to. Eyeshadows are one of my most favorite things to play with.
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<br /><div>Eyeliner- This is a cheap one. I've always loved <a href="http://www.covergirl.com/products/product.jsp?productId=perfect_point_plus_eyeliner">Cover Girl's Perfect Point</a> eyeliner. I have tried more expensive brands and I still come back to this one. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322445223253341666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 176px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sd0fuyR9deI/AAAAAAAAAh0/3K2oWYCpKlM/s320/23574901-177x150-0-0.jpg" border="0" /></div>
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<br />Mascara- This is another one that I'm not entirely sold on. I'm using <a href="http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/spp.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CAT152&PRODUCT_ID=832">MAC's Zoom Lash</a> right now in combination with Maybeline's Lash Discovery (Love it!). I like this mascara ok, but I still feel a little clumpy.
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<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322447192443429042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 105px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sd0hhaFdoLI/AAAAAAAAAiE/-pRo-Rac68o/s200/M550.jpg" border="0" />
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<br /><p>Lipgloss: I love love love <a href="http://store.bareescentuals.com/Poof%20for%20Lips/42083,default,pd.html?cgid=BE_SUB_LIPGLOSS&deleteUUID=">Poof by Bare Escentuals</a>. You can put a dot in the middle of your lips and it makes your lips looks so much bigger or you can just wear it as a regular gloss the way I do, but I think it's the perfect color.
<br /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322448383740768786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/Sd0imwA4chI/AAAAAAAAAiM/SzqhdhL8u3g/s200/42083Blgls_poofforlips_D.jpg" border="0" /></p>
<br /><p>Eyelash Curler- I have a cheap one that is insanely gross and needs replacing, anyone have suggestions?
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<br />I may add some more products that I like in another post or add some colors as I find things that work but maybe some of you guys will be encouraged to try some of this stuff if you were on the fence. I also hope you'll have some suggestions for me. I'm truly a girly girl at heart. I love this stuff.</p>
<br />Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2245592821811562639.post-83619065741015263542009-04-05T19:32:00.004-04:002009-04-05T19:45:16.525-04:00Bananas + Chocolate = Yum!Jenny posted a recipe for Roasted Banana Brownie bites over on <a href="http://www.picky-palate.com/2009/03/roasted-banana-bread-brownie-bites.html">Picky Palate</a> the other day and I've just been eyeing a bunch of bananas that I've had waiting for them to ripen. They finally seemed good to go on Friday so I took off to Bed Bath and Beyond and got some mini muffin tins. If you've never used a mini muffin tin, they are so stinkin cute that I want to make everything into mini versions now.<br /><br />Anyway back to the actual recipe. These are absolutely amazing. I had plans to give these away and they've been very well received and gobbled down =) Go make these!<br /><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321356011841615122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n_8pDvsxU70/SdlBGVk1dRI/AAAAAAAAAgU/bo2w2Ncmi_c/s400/DSCN4593%5B1%5D" border="0" /></p><p></p><p>Roasted Banana Bread Brownie Bites<br />(Source: Picky Palate)</p>3 large ripe bananas, sliced into 1/2 inch slices<br />3 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces<br />3 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar<br /><br />1 brownie mix, 9x13 inch size<br />1/4 Cup water<br />3 eggs<br /><br />1/2 Cup chocolate chips<br />2-3 Tablespoons heavy cream<br /><br />1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place sliced bananas into a baking dish. Place butter evenly over bananas and sprinkle brown sugar on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.<br /><br />2. Reduce oven to 350 degrees F. Place brownie mix, water, eggs and bananas into a large mixing bowl. Mix until just combined. Scoop mixture into mini cupcake pan or mini cheesecake pan about 3/4 way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center.<br /><br />3. Melt chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. Stir to smooth then add heavy cream until glossy and smooth. Dip brownie bites into chocolate and place an M&M in the center. Serve warm or room temperature.Reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17363806997076292395noreply@blogger.com1