what would have been our our Christmas card & roast chicken

So I still don't have my images yet from our family photo session that we had done last November but I have seen them. This one is my fave. I just ordered a big ol' canvas of it for our bedroom, can't wait for it to arrive!


Photo
Last night I made Ina Garten's Perfect Roast Chicken. I had never made a whole chicken before (I have an aversion to eating meat on a bone) but gave it a whirl and it was pretty darn tasty! Brennan is the.pickiest.eater. but she ate both HUGE drumsticks and said "I'm so full I don't even want dessert!" (she typically eats the bare minimum just to get dessert so this was a huge deal!). And Adam loved it, so I will count it a success! Here are my 2 cents on the recipe: make more veggies than it suggests b/c they shrink so much and are SO delish. I would do away w/ the fennel and just do more carrots and onions (my personal opinion). I added a couple potatoes to the mix as well and thought that was a good idea. Okie dokie, that's all I have for today! Happy Tuesday! xo

January is almost over!!!

Is anyone else as excited as I am that January is almost done with for the year?!! I'm SO ready for a new month, bring on February! How was your weekend? Mine was very chill. I am still trying to get over this nasty cold but as of yesterday I think I'm finally on the mend!

One of the the questions I get asked a lot (around these here parts) is where is B going to school in the fall? I cringe a little each time I get asked this b/c it seems like an overwhelming choice to make. Adam and I narrowed it down to 2 private schools and are taking time to visit them both and ask lots of questions. Yesterday the 3 of us went and visited one and it was such a pleasant surprise to see a little girl from B's pre-school class also checking out the school with her parents. I would LOVE for B to have a friend before she even shows up! I remember my first day of kindergarten, I knew a gal in the class when I walked in but I was too nervous to go sit by her (so silly!) but I think just seeing her there made me instantly feel better. I felt so old walking into the school as a parent to find out about the quality of the education they offer, (yes, I'm aware I'm not as young as I feel). :) I came home and read booklets on private school tuition, uniforms/dress codes, fund raisers, stats on graduates from the high school (100% are going to college, thought that was pretty impressive!), etc. Ay yi yi, such a big decision! I remember when I was young hearing my mom say they picked our neighborhood b/c of the school district, I never really put much thought into what that really meant until now. Sigh. Sorry for that long-winded whatever that was, I think I'm just processing here on the ol' blog. Anyhoo, enough of my ramblings, head on over HERE to see more of this beauty. Happy Monday! xo

Attention Seniors!

It's the time of year for graduates to start booking their senior portrait sessions! Head on over here to get a chance at a discount off your session fee!

colds & cupcakes

Last week Adam had a nasty cold, he just recently passed it on to me. Ugh. I hate being all congested and only having 1 nostril to breath out of (which I guess is better than none). I spent most of yesterday in bed or on the couch feeling icky. I did make the cupcakes on Tuesday (the cupcakes a couple posts down), they were good but not good enough to justify the effort (in my opinion). In other {exciting} news I finally got to see our family photos that we had done in November! I would say they were worth the wait! I'll definitely show my favorites when I have them in my hot little hands. :) Okay, I'm gonna go blow my nose, laters. xo

sorry for the blog lull

I'm not sure what I've been up to but I haven't been blogging! Laaaaame I know. So, lets see what's been going on...

*we went to the most fabulous Star Wars birthday party for B's friend this weekend, SO cute! The mom went all out, each kid had a fun noodle that was made into a light saber, she made pretzel rods into light sabers for the favors, all the food was star wars-themed, the birthday boy and his siblings were all dressed up like star wars folks, she made this planet-type thing for the pinata, huge signs made to look just like the star wars signage, etc.. SO cute!

*we went to our friend's 35th birthday party and that was fun, fun to get a babysitter and hang with adults for an evening of sipping good wine, nibbling delicious cheese, and chatting with good friends.

*Mi Casa started back up last week so tonight will be the second of the semester. We're taking a break from doing dinner and meeting a little later so I'm looking forward to trying some desserts this semester instead. Mixing it up a bit over here!

*B is the "star student" at school this week. So today she got to take 2 show -and- tell items (not too shocking she picked 2 of her doggies). I had to send some photos of her to school, and fill out a questionnaire about her. I always feel kinda bad when they ask about her siblings and her pets...um, skip and skip! Not much to share on those fronts! (she told me again the other day how she really doesn't want a brother or a sister but she would like 1000 dogs).

*The weather here in Waco has been kind of awesome, low 70s, sunny, makes me glad I'm not snowed in like all my friends/family in Washington! Sorry guys! (but I'm sure some of you love it...right?)

* Speaking of Washington, I'm headed up there in 10 days! I'm not looking forward to the traveling aspect but am looking forward to being "home" for a few days and seeing some dear friends.

*I tried this new pasta with peas and ham recipe last week, Adam loved it, I thought it was just okay.

*I've got some little projects around the house I'm hoping to work on in the coming weeks. I really need to hang some stuff on the walls in B's room, I'd love to find a new light fixture for B's bathroom, and the fireplace needs a second coat of paint.

Okay, now I'm just rambling, I'm gonna stop. I hope you all have a lovely rest of your week, some photos of sweet senior girls are a comin'! xo

yes please!

So I'm thinking of making these cupcakes today:


(Happy Birthday Mer, if you come over I'll give you one). :)

The recipe doesn't specify how to get the filling in the middle, I'm thinking the "cupcake center remover" my mom got me for Christmas might just be the ticket!

In other news, this morning I painted the brick around the fireplace. It was an ugly creamish/slightly pinkish color, now its white. Much much better (and done before 11am, I'm feeling quite productive!).

Have a great weekend everyone! xo

my letter bracelets

"Mom, I know why you have such a big "B" bracelet, (pause) its because you love me so much."

Joanna's house is on designmom.com -CHECK IT OUT!!

Gabrielle of designmom.com is doing a feature called "living with kids" on her blog and today she is featuring my friend Joanna's house!! Go check it out HERE!! Congratulations Joanna!!! xo

inspired, uninspired, inspired, uninspired

I'm torn. I keep going back and forth between being super inspired, and then, totally uninspired. I don't like January (old news) but I do like fresh starts so I feel like I'm caught in this place of having ideas and being excited and then 2 seconds later being "blah" about it all. The other day I took some updated photos of Joanna's house for the Wacoan and her office space is particularly inspiring to me so I thought I'd share. Here's to getting some inspiration flowing and keeping the momentum going! Happy Monday! xo

sweet peas & snakes (installement #4? 5? 6?)

Ay yi yi, I'm not even sure what I've been doing but the blog has been quiet so lets fix that shall we?

I think its time for another installment of sweet peas and snakes since I feel like I have all kinds of things swirling around my noggin.

SWEET PEAS:

*my sweet girl. we have this little thing we do where I say "you are the sweetest goose" and she says "and you are the snuggliest mama!" I'm pretty smitten with her.

*having freshly painted fingernails, I'm particularly enjoying "skull and glossbones" (by OPI) these days.

*cookie dough. I made some cookies the other night but didn't want to bake them all so I put the dough in the fridge. Just seeing it in there makes me happy and its so convenient to grab a bite here and there. :)

*cute new shoes that were inexpensive but desperately needed!

*the fresh start that January brings. As much as I dislike January in general, I do love the newness of it all.

*impromptu dinners with friends.

*church. Our church took 2 weeks off (our church is mainly Baylor students so when Baylor is on break its a ghost town around here) and after a 2 week break it was sooo good to be back.

*BAYLOR WINNING THE ALAMO BOWL AND RGIII WINNING THE HEISMAN!!!!!!!!!!!! All the stereo types about Texas and football are true, it is a hard core football state and to be in/from a small town in central Texas and have the Heisman winner is a BIG DEAL! (and just so I sound uber cool (insert sarcastic tone), RGIII goes to our church -HOLLA!!). We are super proud of the Baylor Bears and its so fun to see the signs all.over.town. showing their pride and excitement. Sic 'em bears!

*Now that Baylor is back in session, Winn Mi Casa will be ON next Tuesday! Looking forward to seeing my darlings and hearing about their break!


*SNAKES

*my new calendar. For some reason Martha Stewart decided to put Monday in Sunday's place so when I glance at it, it totally throws me off. WHY WHY would she do such a thing?! Who's calendar starts on Monday for petesake?! Grrrr.

*holiday weight gain (and possibly cookie dough in the fridge weight gain). Boo.

*finally biting the bullet and ordering way.too.expensive. boots only to get them and not like them and return them. booooo!!

*WINDY cold nights that force Adam and I into the guest room (don't get me wrong, I love the guest room but it all of a sudden goes from looking pretty and calm to a disaster w/ pillows and sheets strewn about). Sigh. My analness likes one room in the house to be put together! :)

*January. 'Nuff said.

*STILL not seeing our family photos that we had taken in NOVEMBER!!

*quarterly business taxes. Sigh. the downfall to owning your own business, the taxes that seem to be due all.the.time.!! Jan. 20th is a comin'!! Ick!

And b/c it seems like bad mojo to end this post on a "snake," I made these pancakes the other day and it has turned out to be a great recipe to have on hand. Have a great weekend, all! xo

guest room

I don't have a "before" photo of the guest room b/c I didn't do anything in here. I didn't even paint so, not too much to show. I do love this room though, especially when the light pours through the window and into the hallway. I hate cluttered spaces so I wanted this room to feel cozy but also, somewhat minimalistic. It is a guest room after all so, didn't want it to be overly personal or have too much going on. The only things left to do in here are to get a window treatment and put a photo in that black frame! Adam and I sleep in this room pretty often when its cold b/c its the warmest room of the house (and in the summer its the coolest room). So visitors, come one, come all! We'd love to have you! xo

ugh...January

This is my 5th January of blogging (man I've been doing this a long time!) and so for those of you who have been reading all five, or maybe even one or two, you know January is my least favorite month of the year. So, here we are, January 9th -ugh. I was planning to blog today (like w/ photos, etc.) but ran out of time. I need to be somewhere soon and haven't showered so, more to come tomorrow!

In total randomness, I can't believe how LOUD Texas thunderstorms are! Last night Adam and I awoke to the loudest, most startling thunder crack I have ever heard!! It about gave me a heart attack! Texans...tell me, do you ever get used to this?! Unreal.

Today is Adam's first day back to school after break, boo. And of course, last night he started getting sick. In the middle of the night he was up putting on 10 layers of clothes b/c he was chilled. Lovely timing isn't it? (he's been off work for a month!)

B goes back to school tomorrow and I think we're both ready for that. :)

Anyhoo, tomorrow I'm going to post photos of the guest room that is now done so if you care, tune in for that! Have a good day, everyone! xo

peek-a-boo!

My last session of 2011 is blogged over here. Check it out! xo

always on the back burner

When Adam and I made the decision to move to Waco, we said we would make it our home for a minimum of 3 years unless the "perfect job" came along. We have purposefully not applied to several jobs that Adam could potentially get b/c in all honestly, we love it here so much that it really wasn't worth it at the end of the day. We sometimes talk about how crazy it would be if our first house ended up being our last house, and how we moved here kinda on a whim, but what if it all actually worked out in the long run? What if Waco, Texas is home for good?! Since we've moved around so much the past 4ish years its weird to think about, but the part of me that has longed to be home loves the idea. Well, the reality is, having a job is important, benefits are important, stability (eh) is nice. So, with that said, every once in a while a "perfect job" comes along and Adam applies. This process is sooooo long that I literally forget most of the time that he's even applied somewhere.

**switching gears**

Incase I don't mention it enough, I loooooooooooove my house, love, in a ridiculous way to love something made of wood, love. I tell myself all the time, its just a thing, it could burn to the ground tomorrow and I shouldn't hold onto an earthly possession so tightly, in the whole grand scheme, it doesn't mean a hill of beans. Thats all true, and I believe that, but just keepin' it real, I love my house! I often say (somewhat jokingly) that I hope/plan to be buried in it. :) Okay, point made yes? Anyhoo..........Adam has applied to a job in Alabama, again, I rarely even think about it. BUT, just for kicks, the other day I looked at housing in Alabama to see whats out there (the thought of leaving my house makes me throw up in my mouth a little) and VERY few houses made my heart skip a beat like mine does BUT, I did come across this beauty:


look at this porch!!



I'm not sure how I feel about these columns...

but I love this old fireplace



I LOVE exposed brick but am not a fan of this small island or these cabinents



look at that awesome staircase!

typical odd bathroom in an old home

another old fireplace and I love those windows!












Anyhoo, if you've been following my blog for a while you know I love to look online at old homes so its not like like I'm gearing up to move...just fun to browse. :) Happy Tuesday, ya'll! xo

Happy 2012 New Year!

I love a fresh start! I'm a total list maker and love to check things off, sometimes I make lists just to check things off. :) Anal much? Yes, yes I am. I actually haven't sat down and come up with goals for this year yet, I will though (my computer got a virus and then was in the shop, that threw me off for a couple days). Several of my goals will be the same as last year, some because they didn't happen and some just because I enjoyed them so much I want to do it again. Last night Adam and I were at a new years party and he looked at me and said "I wonder what this year holds for us?" Our life has been a bit of a question mark for the past 4, now going on 5 years- we really don't know where we are going to live long term, what Adam's job will look like, where our daughter will go to school in the fall, etc... Living this way used to make me crazy, I've learned to embrace it along the way but sometimes that is harder than others. What I do know for sure is that God is faithful, and really, that is all you need to know (even though I'd admittedly like to know much more!). So, what does 2012 hold for us? I don't have a clue, not even a little, but I look forward to finding out! Here's to new beginnings and embracing what comes our way! Happy New Year everyone! xo


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