April Highlights

Another month has passed us by, I can't believe April is over and we are in May! --To get to know us as a family a little better and get a little "behind the camera/blog posts" I decided to share our highlights of the month. April was a very busy month for us. It started with a nice vacation in the sunshine state and ended with hard labor on our house.

We took Luke to the beach for the first time and we all had a blast. The water was to cold for him  but he loved the soothing sound of the ocean and slept like a baby! I was a little nervous abut this trip because I've never been on vacation with a 4 month old BUT it was a lot easier that I expected.

 On our way back from Florida, we got a little surprise from our transmission on our SUV and had to get a new car. You might be wondering, "why a van for one kid?" Well, since we needed to get a new car we decided to buy a van now because Luke will eventually have more brothers or sisters to play with. We also wanted a van because I'm pretty short and I had a hard time getting Luke in and out of a big SUV. The van is WAY easier and I love the automatic doors. 

I remember saying, "I am NEVER going to drive a van...Well my friends never say never.

 Our little peanut turned 4 months and started rolling over. We were so excited when he did it for the first time and now he won't stay still for one second.

 We have been working on replacing all our regular light bulbs to LED High efficiency ones and we finally finished -- we would buy a few at a time because they aren't cheap.

 I am working on redecorating our diniing area in our house and this is what I have so far. I'm still working on the bottom half of the wall, it needs to be painted white. And I'm still not sure if I want to put anything in the corner. I'll update on that soon.

 

I started going to garage sales and here is what I found.

-Garden bench for my parents backyard -- My dad is going to pressure wash it and repaint it.

- All-wood framed mirror that I'm going to re-finish for my parents' entry.

- Found some all-wood frames that I'm going to re-do *all-wood frames is something you dont want to pass.. there are endless things you can make with them.**

- Last but not least I found a brand new lamp that I'm going to re-do (I'm really excited about this one)

 Aaaand here is where the hard labor comes in. For the past week John and my dad have been working on putting french drains along our house. So yes, my yard is full of holes and trenches in it BUT it will be worth it in the end because they are getting all the drains to empty out deep into our backyard instead of near the house. This will give us a GREAT excuse to re-do our landscaping!! 

So there you have it folks, the highlights of our month... exicting right? 

I hope you all have a lovely month of May!!

Pottery Barn Knock-Off Clock

 I absolutely adore Pottery Barn but to be honest I cannot see myself buying a $300 clock from there no matter how much I love it.

Our Wedding

 

On August 20, 2011 John and I tied the knot & our wedding was everything I wanted and more. Beside the day I became a mom-- our wedding day will always be my favorite day. We have known each other for quite some time, since we were in the same church. I never thought we would ever be together because we were always friends, until December 9, 2009 when he asked me to be his girlfriend (it was so sweet and he was really nervous and I was screaming like a little girl in my head). I'm 110% sure God put us together--a few months later he asked me to marry him, and a tied the knot a year after that. 

Black Bean & Corn Ranch Dip

Did I ever mention dips are huge in my house? Well, they are. This is one of my many favorites because it's so easy and super fast to make, and best of all it's delicious. I made this for the guys during football season and they all asked me how to make it, so here it is.

HOW TO SPRAY PAINT GLASS

I've always had a love/hate relationship with my dining room walls -- I could never get them to look just right. They were either to plain or to crowded. It took about one year for me to find the idea of putting plates on the wall. Duh! A few weeks ago, I saw this post on a favorite blog of mine and I knew with a few trips to the thrift store I could pull this off. So I went to goodwill a few times and found the plates I liked. I didn't care so much about what color they were as long as they had a nice shape to them. Oh and of course, best of all this only cost me $20.

Thrifty Coffee Table Tray

I've been on the lookout for a tray to add on my coffee table and while I was at my local Goodwill I saw this tray, and it was what I've been looking for. You want to know the story behind it? Sure you do! While browsing the aisles I saw a lady examining this tray and in my head I was going, "please put it back, PLEASE put it back!"-- I really wanted that tray as you can tell. I hung around that aisle for a little bit and I saw her put it back!!! YAY! I quickly ran to grab it and I knew with a little paint this would make the perfect tray for my coffee table! Best of all this project cost me $3! Now that my friends, is a bargain.

Easy French Macaroons

I always thought macaroons were way overrated until I tried one and let me tell you I was BLOWN AWAY! I loved everything about them, from the crunchy yet chewy texture to the deliciously sweet flavor. Although they are really amazing, the price on these little suckers are scary, I paid $5 for 3!!! Yes, you saw it right FIVE DOLLARS for THREE!!! Do you know what I can do with 5 dollars? A whole lot more than buy 3 little macaroons. So I did a little research on how to make these bad boys and I found the easiest recipe here. I filled mine with Nutella because I didn't want to spend time making a filling if the cookies didn't turn out right. (and let me tell you... I was literally doing my happy dance after I pulled them out of the oven.)