Kitchen Renovation, kinda.

 As you can tell, our kitchen was tan with brown trim...not  bad, but very dark. So we painted the top a light blue.

 And the chair rail trim a ivory/white to match the crown molding.

 Excuse the mess!

And here's the table my dad made for us!

Everything together with the curtains I made, minus all the chairs.

Mini House Tour!

The front.

Here's our kitchen pre-painting.

Our guest room. Still looks the same. :-)

Here's our mantle at Christmas. 

 I need to take some better quality, updated pictures of each room since we're settled in and everything has a place now. We love it here! It's close to the interstate but in a great spot that feels quiet, private and cozy. The last couple of weekends we have been working on the yard and planting our garden. Keeping up with a yard is hard work for two busy, young people! I'm pretty sure the flowers I've planted are slowly dying...ugh.

Home Sweet Home

Alex and I are homeowners! Its crazy and weird and exciting! I'm not sure the weight of a mortgage has hit me yet, and that's ok! I hope it never does. I'm just thinking of it as a more serious rent payment, I guess. Our lease is up on Sunday. I've spent the last two days playing Cinderella in our apartment so it's nice and clean when the manager walks through. I think I'll feel so much better once all our things are at the house and we're not split between the two anymore.

We are working on putting everything away and getting into a groove at the house. Right now, we're sleeping in what will be the guest room since we just bought new bedroom furniture for the master. Unfortunately it will be two to four weeks until our bedroom furniture comes in so right as we're getting used to being in the house, we'll jump rooms!

When we first looked at the house, we thought we wouldn't need to paint anything. It's all colors we like, very neutral and tasteful. The more I'm in the house though the more I think, "Yeah, I'd like to paint the master, and the hallway and the master bath and the living room." I just want to make it our space. We may end up painting the master since we have no furniture in there and we've got a couple of weeks, but we'll see. Furniture was our number one priority, so we'll have to consult the budget. Luckily, paint isn't too expensive. I'll have to think about curtains in there too if we paint...oh man! Maybe I'll get adventurous and DIY it up!

We have a new couch coming soon, hopefully it will be in next week! And we're in the process of finding a TV cabinet. The previous owners had a giant mirror on one of the walls in the living room, which Alex really liked. It definitely made the room feel bigger. Maybe if we can find a good deal we'll get that as well.

Next on our list of things to get is a dining room table. Man, are they expensive or what?! For just a table and chairs. We're just using what we had right now which looks fine. It's a cute little breakfast nook. I think I'll eventually spray paint some frames we had at the apartment and change out the art that's in them, but I'll get to that later. I was hoping to get some landscaping done this fall since it's the perfect time for it! But since we just bought furniture, that's going to have to wait til next year. The yard is fine the way it is anyway. I can't wait to plant some hydrangeas! They're going to be everywhere!

I'll have to wait to post some pictures.

Meet Chandler!

Can you tell she has gotten bigger? This is Chandler! She is a cocker spaniel-labrador mix, also known as a spanador. She is 12 weeks old and growing like a weed! Her first visit to the vet at 8 weeks she weighed 5.6 pounds. Yesterday at her 12 week visit she weighed 10.5 pounds. She is all legs!

A few days before we got her, we bought all the necessities: leash, collar, food and water bowls, puppy pads, food, crate, etc. We overestimated how big she was going to be because the collar and leash were much too big for our tiny pup! In another month or two we may need them though, since she's growing so fast.We also overestimated how fast it would take to house train her. I think we used four puppy pads out of the 50 or so giant pack that we bought. But that's a good thing! She never really peed in the house until we started her in the crate. Thankfully she hasn't ever gone in her crate, but if she's in it for several hours sometimes she just can't hold it until we get her outside.

She is doing really well on the leash-she loves going for walks. She loves playing with her tennis balls and her cow toys. She also loves biting ankles and fingers, but we're trying to curb that habit. I can't wait until she's big enough to go to a dog park and I can't wait to find some time for her to meet our friends' dog Sampson, who is also a playful lab that she will love!

I have to give credit to my mom for teaching Chandler her tricks. My parents have been a huge help while Alex and I have been in the process of looking for a house and moving, by taking care of Chandler and letting us keep her there. She loves her grandparents and they keep her in line! Chandler sure has learned to sit pretty!

*Note: We are moving next week!!!!! More on that to come. I've been too nervous I would jinx something by saying anything to early, but the time is coming quickly! SO excited!*

Tea Time

I'm really into Jenny Hobick's blog/website. She is a mom, wife, ex-caterer, and her blog is about food, decorating, and party planning. It's my getaway website at work. I dream about planning brunches and parties with fun finger foods. I have scoured the website and yesterday morning I remembered her recipe for scones. It basically calls for flour, sugar, cream, eggs, and any mix-in you want, which I already had. I had also pinned this really simple recipe for lemon curd, which I've only had at the English Rose tea room in downtown Chattanooga served with scones. I always thought it was really fancy, but the recipe made it seem really easy to make.

Cranberry Scones with an Orange Glaze
from Jenny Hobick

2 cups plus 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

**I would use regular table salt. The sea salt pieces are too big.**

12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced

2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup cold heavy cream

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

4 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice

In a mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt using the paddle attachment. Cut the cold butter into 1/2 inch pieces. Add the butter to the dry ingredients and mix on low until the butter is mixed in and is the size of peas. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs and whipping cream with a fork. Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the cream and egg mixture. Turn off the mixer once added. Fold in cranberries.


Put some flour on the counter. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Add some flour onto the top of the dough, then pat it out into a disk - about 8-9 inches in diameter.

Cut the disk into 6 pieces like a pie. Separate the pieces and put them on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-17 minutes. 

To make the glaze, stir together orange juice, zest and powdered sugar. Generously drizzle the glaze over warm scones.



Lemon Curd
from Big Flavors from a Small Kitchen

3 lemons

2 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

4 tablespoons butter

Zest the lemons with a microplane grater. Cut each lemon in half and juice the lemons. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, eggs and sugar. Whisk constantly and make sure the mixture does not come to a boil (or the eggs will curdle). When the mixture is hot, turn the heat to low and whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue cooking on low for 6 minutes until the lemon glaze has thickened. Remove from heat and let cool.

With a big pot of tea, this was one of the best breakfasts I've had since I went to the English Rose Tea Room.

Flower Shop

When I was a little girl, I was always creating something. I was a huge fan of the American Girl magazine that regularly had articles about creating a product and then teaching how to market it and sell your product at things like yard sales and to neighbors. I remember making these "natural" (peanut butter, oatmeal, etc.) dog treats and stamping my "brand" (a stamp from Michael's and my name!) on paper bags to bag them up. I walked around to my neighbors that had dogs and sold them, then gave the rest to my dog. I loved creating and the idea of having my own business. Why I didn't pursue that in college is beyond me. I think God knew what he was doing when he put nursing on my heart, but I lately I have been yearning to create and make that my job. It doesn't help that that's the "thing" for moms and young women to do today, and many of my facebook friends bombard my newsfeed with their own Etsy shops and craft websites.

When I got married, I really wanted to do my own flowers, but that's almost impossible when you're the bride. Since then the idea of a flower shop has really stuck in my head. I think about it all the time. I have a Pinterest board just for pictures of flower arrangements, bouquets, boutonnieres, and any wedding decor consisting of flowers.

All of that to explain why I did what I did this past Tuesday. I went to Fresh Market and bought about 6 different bundles of flowers to try my hand at making bouquets and centerpieces. It actually turned out alright, if I don't say so myself.

Drew and Addie's Wedding

The weekend got started for me on Thursday afternoon, running a lot of errands (i.e. buying hot rollers, and some goodies for the honeymoon). Friday began with helping set up for the reception at the church. Lots of chair ties and vases and candles and jade green galore! The afternoon flew by and we all had to make ourselves leave, including the bride, so we could go get ready for the rehearsal, entrusting her awesome aunts with finishing the reception area. We flew through the rehearsal, with only one bridesmaid tripping! We were soon off to Big River Grille to eat an awesome buffet dinner, including their incredible chocolate cake and some awkward but really fun conversation! The girls and the guys split off for the night. While the guys were getting their crazy on, us girls had a nice, calm, and restful evening, except that Molly and I ended up staying awake til 3 am!

Saturday began at 7 am for the girls. We had brunch at the Choo Choo, then back to the church to get ready. Addie had kept her dress a secret from everyone but her mom, which made it so special when we saw her in her dress. She was so pretty! Her dress was very delicate and just made her look lovely. We took some cute pictures and then we waited...My favorite part of the day I think was when all the bridesmaids gathered around Addie about 20 minutes before the wedding and we all prayed over her. I of course boo-hoo'ed the whole time! Then I cried when I saw Drew and the groomsmen walk out for the ceremony. Then I cried more when I heard the song "Beautiful" by Phil Wickam start playing. And then Drew had tears running down his face when he saw Addie! It was so sweet, but I'm not sure I've ever cried that much at a wedding...not even at my own! The ceremony was perfect and the reception was fun! It was cut a little short due to rainy weather, but fortunately we got everyone outside with bubbles in hand, and wished them off in their antique get-away car before the sky literally fell out and rain and hail poured! It was beautiful and we had a really good time.

5 Things I learned from this weekend:

1) Weddings bring out all types of inappropriateness from everyone (especially me! ;-) )

2) I am SO glad my wedding has already happened and that it was perfect!

3) My cute, black, pretty pretty princess shoes give me ugly, bubbly blisters when worn for 6+ hours.

4) Our little family of friends needs to get dressed up more...we're HOT!

5) Alex is really good at being the best man and I am so lucky to have married him.

I'm not sure what I would do without our family of friends...I love that we're honest and open, loving and accepting, funny and sometimes crude, but we always strive to glorify God through each other and our times together. This wedding really proved that. I'm about to cry just writing this...I need sleep!

Addie and Drew-I hope you are enjoying your honeymoon in Jamaica and that you get much needed rest and relaxation. Enjoy your first week of marriage!