the joys of cooking. and baking.

another one of my goals for this year is to cook more at home. d and i actually made this resolution a few months back while looking over the budget. i knew we were wasting a bunch of money every month on eating out, but didn't really want to acknowledge it. well, we've been doing pretty good for these few months, but it's getting harder and harder to decide what to cook. i have a few make-ahead meals that get started in the crock-pot before i leave in the morning, but i try to limit that to once a week so we don't get tired of those recipes. i have found a few new and wonderful blogs, though, that will hopefully help me out this year. not only do these gals take amazing photos of their food, but they always have stories that are amusing and fun to read... here are a few of my favorite new food sites...

(all photos from their respective websites)

The Pioneer Woman Cooks. ree is amazing. she recently released her own cookbook but she shares lots of recipes on her website. like this chicken parmigiana. which i made last night. which is amazing! so tasty and it wasn't that hard to put together. AND she gives you lots of direction and photos of pretty much every step. i did change it up a little to reflect stuff we already had in the pantry and our own likes and dislikes... but d said i could keep making this (this is always a big deal, my friends) !! i have already printed a few other recipes from her website that i can't wait to try out...

Bakerella. this is more for those who want to make sweet treats. i haven't made these cute little 'cake pops' yet, but i have an upcoming 'event' i'd really like to try them out for... yes, one that does involve babies. but it does not directly involve me... i honestly don't bake a lot, other than for special occasions, because... well... i tend to want to eat sweets constantly if they are in the house. but, this chick has a great sense of humor and beautifully styled photos.

Kiss My Spatula. this girl is a do-it-yourself-er. from goat cheese (above) to soy milk, she isn't afraid to try making something herself. and... she pairs her recipes with songs for the perfect setting. while there aren't tons of recipes on there that i will likely try myself (lets just say i can barely get d to eat cheddar cheese...) her stories and photos are enough to keep me coming back.

a new year.

i know everyone else is posting or has already posted about their new year's resolutions, but i kind of feel like putting it out there for everyone to read would be good for me. please note this is my watered down, condensed list. i didn't want to bore you all to death.

become a more healthy eater. i'll admit, i probably eat fast food hamburgers and corn dogs way more often than is recommended. i'm not saying you shouldn't enjoy a little grease every once in a while, but moderation is the key to everything, right?

grow my own veggies. i got about 3 teeny tiny tomatoes from my efforts last year and i'm not too happy about it. this year, i should have a little more time on my hands to take care of the garden, so i'm going to focus on veggies and herbs more and flowers less.

be a better housekeeper. not only in keeping the house looking nice, but keeping clutter from taking over. i have gone to several estate sales this year that i thought as i looked around... this is going to be me... with just STUFF that i have collected over a lifetime that nobody wants. i don't want to be that person. so i am getting rid of all the things i really don't need in my life and just holding onto the stuff that we use and that really means something. a really great quote that i need to engrave in my mind... "have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" (william morris) i actually prefer my things to be both... but that doesn't always happen.

take more photos. i want to keep improving my photography skills, and the only way to do that is to get out there and shoot. i have a few folks who are willing to be my guinea pigs... now if it will just warm up outside... i guess i will just have to be content taking pictures of the dogs (that's right, we have a new little critter now... photos soon to come) all snuggly on the blankets for now.

i also wanted to take some time to let you all know that i will not longer be selling my books on etsy. it has been a great run, but i knew from the beginning that this wasn't going to be a permanent gig on my part and i think the time has come. my husband has found a great full-time job that he loves and now that we both work 'normal' hours i feel like my time should be spent pursuing more of my own interests and hobbies as well as spending more time with loved ones. please know that i will still be making books as well as invitations, announcements, etc. for friends and family...

almost here...

it's almost that time! i am so excited to be having friends and family in town soon... now i just need to get the house in order. i would love to be living in that room above right now... found via the someday blog and house to home. i hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday!!

diy ornaments.

after seeing this on design*sponge awhile back, i decided to try my hand at some terrarium ornaments. i even bought the little butterflies and tiny birds... but they were too big to fit in the whole at the top. with only a day before i wanted to hand them out to my friends, i didn't have a whole lot of options. so, i stuffed the glass orbs with two colors of moss, sticks and bark from our backyard, and some floral filler balls (for vases).

i really love the way they turned out. simple. (and green. i love green.) if you are wanting to try your hand at putting butterflies in ornaments though, i would suggest getting the largest ornaments you can find, or the plastic ones that come apart. these are really great for small, personalized gifts... tons of stuff you could put in them. small toys, glitter, bits of colored paper or fabric, candy...

christmas inspiration.

design*sponge

so much christmas inspiration and diy projects all around the internet. have i mentioned that we haven't put up a tree yet? right now one of my thrift store lamps is acting as a stand-in. i've even considered hanging ornaments off of it...

i guess i need to pull out one of our now 3 trees and get it decorated. we inherited a huge one that i don't think will even fit in our house right now. so... it will probably be living in the garage until we get a house with higher ceilings. we have another small one that i've been putting up the last couple of years, i think it's around 4 feet tall? i also have a goldish/silverish tinsel tree that's even smaller that i got on sale at the hodgepodge last year. it would be cute sitting on an old trunk or side table.

i thought i would post some of the projects i've found online that i'd really like to try out. it probably won't happen until next summer though! i don't have the extra time right now to be making wreaths and ornaments...

ruffly wreath from domestifluff

pompom wreath from bleubirdvintage

no-sew tree skirt from thepaperpony

ribbon garland from marthastewart

glittery candles from marthastewart

doily ornaments from marthastewart

it's been one of those weeks...

all i have to say is that i am glad things are calming down. at least for a day or two.

on top of all the normal stresses around xmas time, my computer decided to go bonkers on me last week. luckily, i was able to get the larger jobs saved to another computer and actually finish up two of them before i stopped touching my computer :) i thought all was well... until monday when it wouldn't even let me send an email... with no other programs open, the computer had been on for 2 minutes... i don't know.

lots of phone calls, fingers crossed and a call to applecare... i now have a new video card and we installed a larger hard drive. just how much larger, you ask? i have a whole terabyte on my computer now. i have over 800 gigs of available space...

thank-you, wonderful boss.... thank-you!

it's back to work...

we had a wonderful thanksgiving with both sides of the family (well, except scottie... he hates to travel!) but, we managed to get a little work done as well. remember last week, when i said i had photos of the tiled countertop?

here it is. this is what it looked like after we got done building a plywood and cement-board base, cutting out the hole for the sink and laying tile. then it has to set for awhile before you can grout.

the tile got grouted on saturday morning before we headed off to amarillo. i couldn't believe the transformation and i can't wait to get our sink and faucet in there! we still have a ton of work to do after this though. as you can see, our walls aren't exactly ready for the wallpaper and i still have to finish up painting the trim and cabinet.

the whole process wasn't as hard as i thought it would be, but we couldn't have done it without doug's parents. they have done quite a bit of tiling before this and they had all the tools already!