351. family
352. a happy kitty
353. quality time
354. mid-day naps
355. Bocce ball
356. endless leftovers
357. dominoes
358. a warm home
359. planning Bible Studies
360. movies on DVD from the library
Monday, November 28, 2011
Our Thanksgiving
This year was really special in our celebration of Thanksgiving for several reasons. First off, I'm not normally very enthused about these winter holidays. This is most-likely due to my growing up without any solid family traditions, but this go around was awesome: J.'s parents planned to come up, my mom was coming up, and at last minute, my grandparents drove down from Virginia! In addition to all of the guests we were to host, my in-laws have been recently eaten mostly-vegan meals so I challenged myself to a full-on vegan dinner. (Not everything turned out 100% without animal product, but most were, and overall everything was absolutely delicious. I will probably make some of these dishes for future years!) It was such a blessing to have our family here and to be able to host them comfortably in our new home. Their stay even motivated us to complete some decorating/painting projects! On top of all that, I had a wonderful and restful five days off in a row (after working Thanksgiving Eve night shift and celebrating with my coworkers!). Let me just say, some serious naps were had.
Main Entree
Butternut Squash with Cornbread-Cranberry Stuffing [Vegan]
Sides
Creamy Mashed Potatoes [Vegan]
Green Bean Casserole [Vegan]
Butternut Squash Macaroni & Cheese [Vegetarian]
Corn on the cob
Sweet Potato Casserole [Vegan]
Fresh Sugar-free Cranberry Sauce
NOMNOM!
Main Entree
Butternut Squash with Cornbread-Cranberry Stuffing [Vegan]
Sides
Creamy Mashed Potatoes [Vegan]
Green Bean Casserole [Vegan]
Butternut Squash Macaroni & Cheese [Vegetarian]
Corn on the cob
Sweet Potato Casserole [Vegan]
Fresh Sugar-free Cranberry Sauce
NOMNOM!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Multitude Mondays, Week XXXI
339. lovely people to work with
340. cuddling up with my husband on a Saturday night
341. field day
342. checking off lists
343. planning for holidays
344. vegan/vegetarian Thanksgiving meal!
345. health
346. my mom
347. new recipes
348. a helpful and willing husband (groceries, dishes, laundry, back scratchin'...need I ask for more?)
349. crackling wood in the fireplace
350. the book of Ecclesiastes
340. cuddling up with my husband on a Saturday night
341. field day
342. checking off lists
343. planning for holidays
344. vegan/vegetarian Thanksgiving meal!
345. health
346. my mom
347. new recipes
348. a helpful and willing husband (groceries, dishes, laundry, back scratchin'...need I ask for more?)
349. crackling wood in the fireplace
350. the book of Ecclesiastes
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Multitude Mondays, Week XXX
331. everyday miracles
332. our special group of friends
333. Gilly the Explorer
334. date nights with Jonathan
335. friends helping friends pick out glasses
336. foreign films
337. the color grey
338. celebrating an upcoming birth!
P.S. Should this feature be renamed Terrific Tuesdays?
332. our special group of friends
333. Gilly the Explorer
334. date nights with Jonathan
335. friends helping friends pick out glasses
336. foreign films
337. the color grey
338. celebrating an upcoming birth!
P.S. Should this feature be renamed Terrific Tuesdays?
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
House Update: Kitchen
Okay so I have showed you the new bathroom and dining room, but let me tell you, the kitchen, by far, has been the biggest improvement. At first we thought we might like the pea-green color, I mean our old bathroom was a greyish green version of it. But no, it's not true, and I hated it. Whenever I would wash dishes, instead of happily gazing out the window at our beautiful tree-lined backyard, I would just grumble angry thoughts to myself about how much I despised the color and make a mental list of all the thing I would change. It was quite a negative process, and I am so happy that we have fixed a huge part of it! As always, the before and after shorts:
BEFORE
As with our dining room, we had a few unexpected issues along the way, like multiple coats of primer, the tedious job of painting brick, and incorrect colors. The time with the color, though, it was mostly my fault. I envisioned super soft mint green walls, so chose Valspar Belle Grove Sorbet. Almost immediately after putting it on the walls, though, I knew it was on the extreme end of super soft and would not provide the contrast to the white brick/crown molding/white ceiling that I wanted. I stomped my feet and pouted, succumbing to this barely-noticeable green color...until my ever-patient and loving husband reminded me that we can easily choose a different color. Isn't he wise? (: We ventured back to Lowes, and after scouring over all of the super soft mint green colors they had to offer, we settled on Valspar Pillow Mint, which sounded just delectable. And it is. I love our new kitchen! We painted the wall of the stove Valspar Du Jour white (that looks pinkish on my screen?), because we plan to put some white tile backsplash behind the counters.
AFTER:
Other things on the to-do list for this room include:
- removing that awful blue hanging light over the sink
- installing a pot rack to the left of the stove
- attaching a magnetic knife holder to the wall (place to be determined)
- hanging a shelf to the breakfast nook area to place our iHome, along with cookbooks
- attaching plant-hanging hooks to breakfast nook wall
- creating a chalk board for the wall
BEFORE
As with our dining room, we had a few unexpected issues along the way, like multiple coats of primer, the tedious job of painting brick, and incorrect colors. The time with the color, though, it was mostly my fault. I envisioned super soft mint green walls, so chose Valspar Belle Grove Sorbet. Almost immediately after putting it on the walls, though, I knew it was on the extreme end of super soft and would not provide the contrast to the white brick/crown molding/white ceiling that I wanted. I stomped my feet and pouted, succumbing to this barely-noticeable green color...until my ever-patient and loving husband reminded me that we can easily choose a different color. Isn't he wise? (: We ventured back to Lowes, and after scouring over all of the super soft mint green colors they had to offer, we settled on Valspar Pillow Mint, which sounded just delectable. And it is. I love our new kitchen! We painted the wall of the stove Valspar Du Jour white (that looks pinkish on my screen?), because we plan to put some white tile backsplash behind the counters.
AFTER:
Other things on the to-do list for this room include:
- removing that awful blue hanging light over the sink
- installing a pot rack to the left of the stove
- attaching a magnetic knife holder to the wall (place to be determined)
- hanging a shelf to the breakfast nook area to place our iHome, along with cookbooks
- attaching plant-hanging hooks to breakfast nook wall
- creating a chalk board for the wall
Multitude Monday, Week XXIX
321. verse memorization
322. safe travels
323. a Gator victory!
324. catching up with old friends
325. reminiscing
326. beautiful Florida
327. windy weather
328. wonderful friends
329. celebrating and enjoying my best friends' birthdays
330. a finally-fixed plumbing situation
322. safe travels
323. a Gator victory!
324. catching up with old friends
325. reminiscing
326. beautiful Florida
327. windy weather
328. wonderful friends
329. celebrating and enjoying my best friends' birthdays
330. a finally-fixed plumbing situation
House Update: Dining Room
We've been busy little bees and the past few months have just flown by! After tackling the downstairs bathroom on very little sleep, our next painting project was the dining room. If you remember from our introductory photos the dining room was a very bold reddish orange (more on the red side than the photos show):
While my in-laws declared they love the color (and I did too at one point -- my bedroom at the age of 16 was a very similar color), I've realized that my personality as-of-late has been leaning toward the "colder" colors: blues, greys, whites. This, of course, has started many-a-hot debate in our household, as my husband still enjoys yellows and browns. Anyway, I digress. One Saturday afternoon a little over a month ago, J. primed (three coats!) and started painting our red dining room a deep blue color. Naturally, not much comes easy to us, and after several runs to Lowes (a certain paint-mixer incorrectly mixed our lovely Valspar Belle Grove Victory Blue in the wrong base which produced a peachy orange, resemblant of our new bathroom color), along with arm aches, stained clothing, and much complaining, we have our new dining room color:
Isn't it wonderful? Please ignore the strange shadows on the walls; rest assured that we do, indeed, have even paint strokes (after two or three coats...). Aside from the paint, we also purchased a new craftsman dining room table from World Market (and we love it!). Our families will be in town for Thanksgiving and I'm excited to serve the meal on a proper piece of wood. You might also notice that the electrical outlet covers are no longer the garish gold plates of yesteryear; I used a textured brass-hammered spray paint (that I purchased last December in hopes of recovering some old ornaments..with no luck). We both like the look so much that I will probably spray paint the rest of the covers from the hallway and bathroom with the same color. And today I removed those lampshades off of the chandelier. I have a few ideas for it, but this was my first step toward a more stylistically-pleasing piece. What do you think? We still have a curtain to hang on that window -- just haven't had the time yet -- so I will be sure to update with that. We've been scouring the internet for possible and appropriate prints for our dining room (again, my husband and I can't come to an agreement on what is appropriate...), but we haven't found anything yet to suit us. And lastly, on our long list of "wants"/projects is a breakfast hutch for the corner, where we can store our mix-matched plates that we have from our wedding!
While my in-laws declared they love the color (and I did too at one point -- my bedroom at the age of 16 was a very similar color), I've realized that my personality as-of-late has been leaning toward the "colder" colors: blues, greys, whites. This, of course, has started many-a-hot debate in our household, as my husband still enjoys yellows and browns. Anyway, I digress. One Saturday afternoon a little over a month ago, J. primed (three coats!) and started painting our red dining room a deep blue color. Naturally, not much comes easy to us, and after several runs to Lowes (a certain paint-mixer incorrectly mixed our lovely Valspar Belle Grove Victory Blue in the wrong base which produced a peachy orange, resemblant of our new bathroom color), along with arm aches, stained clothing, and much complaining, we have our new dining room color:
Isn't it wonderful? Please ignore the strange shadows on the walls; rest assured that we do, indeed, have even paint strokes (after two or three coats...). Aside from the paint, we also purchased a new craftsman dining room table from World Market (and we love it!). Our families will be in town for Thanksgiving and I'm excited to serve the meal on a proper piece of wood. You might also notice that the electrical outlet covers are no longer the garish gold plates of yesteryear; I used a textured brass-hammered spray paint (that I purchased last December in hopes of recovering some old ornaments..with no luck). We both like the look so much that I will probably spray paint the rest of the covers from the hallway and bathroom with the same color. And today I removed those lampshades off of the chandelier. I have a few ideas for it, but this was my first step toward a more stylistically-pleasing piece. What do you think? We still have a curtain to hang on that window -- just haven't had the time yet -- so I will be sure to update with that. We've been scouring the internet for possible and appropriate prints for our dining room (again, my husband and I can't come to an agreement on what is appropriate...), but we haven't found anything yet to suit us. And lastly, on our long list of "wants"/projects is a breakfast hutch for the corner, where we can store our mix-matched plates that we have from our wedding!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Multitude Monday, Week XXVIII
311. seeing friends happy
312. catching up with Kathleen, if even only shortly
313. good-news doctor appointments
314. working with the best coworkers ever over the weekend
315. learning
316. developing relationships
317. being taken care of, forever, no matter what, by the Lord
318. challenging myself
319. cooking for others
320. creative writers that produce quality television shows (those with humanity)
312. catching up with Kathleen, if even only shortly
313. good-news doctor appointments
314. working with the best coworkers ever over the weekend
315. learning
316. developing relationships
317. being taken care of, forever, no matter what, by the Lord
318. challenging myself
319. cooking for others
320. creative writers that produce quality television shows (those with humanity)
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