2012 Home Goals: Part One

I've been reading everyone's posts on what their resolutions are for the new year, which naturally got me thinking about I would like to accomplish this year....specifically in our home. 2012 will be full of buy-ness and HUGE (and great) changes, but I think we can cross some of these off our to-do list without crossing that fine line into insanity. :)

And so, here is Part One of our 2012 Home Goals:

1. Make the dining room more  "finished".

I discussed this a few weeks ago in this post. The dining room (or dining "corner" as I like to call it) is the first thing we hope to tackle this year. I made several changes to it in 2011, including adding a new pedestal table and bamboo dining chairs, but we still needed a new rug and a few more touches to make it complete. In fact....I'll tell you right now that we've spent this past week working on it.... and you may get to see a few more updated pictures of this space in the near future!


2. Update or buy a new dining room light.

Bleh. It's just so "builder" to me. I'm debating whether or not to make it over or just buy a new fixture....decisions, decisions.


3. Paint the inside of the front and back doors.

I'm thinking something in the green family....we will see.


4. Do SOMETHING interesting in the kitchen.

Say hello to our kitchen! I actually really love how light and bright it is, and we've done a ton of work on it since we moved in, including changing the backsplash (love me some bead board), putting in new counters, a new sink, putting a microwave above the range, putting in a new dishwasher (the old one was siiiiiick), and replacing the nasty florescent light with recessed lighting. (Seriously, why do florescent lights even exist? They do nothing for no one.)

BUT.....it's missing something. I think it's color and accessories. Something "fun". Oh, and FYI, white cabinets are totally, absolutely, impossible to keep clean when you live in a dirty, dusty town. SO annoying....but it makes for pretty pictures, right?



5. Style and "pretty up" our front patio.

Last summer we gave our front door a makeover with some sleek black paint and cute house numbers. I LOVE our front door. It makes the whole outside of the house seem so much more welcoming. But the rest of the patio is a different story. It's just an awkward little space that I usually throw a couple of flower pots on and call it good. No more, I say! I have a plan to make this space into a charming little nook. Can't wait till it warms up!

That's all I'm going to go over today, but I'll post the other half of my list later this week. I tend to get a little long-winded, and didn't want to put you through a rambling fest. ;)

Oh, and just to hold myself accountable, here are my personal resolutions for the the year 2012:

1. Learn how to cut Bryan's hair. (Did it! Boom.)
2. Stay on top of our budget each month. Update it daily (so far so good!)
3. Be on time to work and church.
4. Finally start my Etsy business. (Big things ahead, friends!)
5. Run a half marathon (I dropped out of the first one due to the fact that I got pregnant....but I WILL complete one this year! I was up to 6 miles and really enjoyed it.)
6. Find a routine.
7. Pay off my student loan by next January.....
8. Live life with intention. Read more books, watch less TV. Spend more time with family and friends than sitting at home. Do what makes me happy and energized.
9. Send birthday cards ON TIME. (I am completely horrible at this!)
10. Call my family more often.
11. Go deeper in my faith. Strive to be the woman, wife, MOTHER, daughter, sister, etc. that God wants me to be.



I love the new year. Here's to 2012! Part Two of our 2012 Home Goals will be posted soon. :)

Oh, and P.S. Thank you all for your sweet comments to my first baby letter on Friday! I got a little tear-eyed reading several of them. :) Your excitement for our little one sure makes me happy!

23 Weeks.

To our sweet baby boy,

Hi there, little one! This is my first ever letter to you. It's taken me 23 weeks to finally sit down and write all of the thoughts that have been bouncing around my head that are purely dedicated to YOU. I think about you all the time, every day. Sometimes I miss you when I'm at work, so I pull out my phone and look at your ultrasound pictures just to see that you are real, which is completely crazy because you are with me all the time! My absolute favorite thing about having you in my belly is getting to feel you kick and punch (even in the middle of the night, which is apparently when you like to party!). The first time I felt you kick I just about peed my pants and ran into the bedroom to tell your dad. Your daddy and I love to sit and watch my belly pop around. He tries to get you to kick his hand, but I guess you're stubborn like me and don't want to give in. 

We also spend our evenings talking about you. Whose nose you will have, whether you will like vegetables, what books will be your favorite, if you will be embarrassed by my random need to bust out in song and dance at any given moment (I'm thinking yes). We talk about whether you'll be a pacy fanatic like both of us were, if you'll chase Louie around the house the way we imagine, what you'll want to be when you grow up, what you'll actually end up being when you grow up, and of course, we talk about the girl you'll marry. We wonder about her a lot, but we are trusting that God's got a good one in mind; a girl that was made or will be made just for you :).

This past Wednesday, we were able to see your little face for the first time at our big ultrasound and anatomy scan. I have never seen your dad smile so big (besides when he found out that you are a boy!). We were able to see you rubbing your eyes and stretching your legs and a head full of DARK hair surrounding the cutest little face I've ever seen, and it just made me so happy that you are REAL. The doctor kept saying that you have such a "pretty heart" and I have a good feeling that he is right in more ways than one. I just know that you will be such a good little man with a genuine heart and it makes me so proud of you already.

I love you so much,

Your mom

P.S. I'm sorry that you don't have a name yet. We tried so hard to pick one before Christmas vacation with our family, but just couldn't do it. You ended up being called a different name every 10 minutes, depending on what each family member's favorite name was. I figure that this will be a good story someday, right?

Recipe: Santa Fe Soup

Hello, hello!

I really need to get more on a schedule with blogging....I totally meant to post this yesterday, but alas...here I am.

Do any of you have that one recipe that you truly love? You know, that good old fall-back that always tastes great and is easy to make? (If you do, please, please share! I need more recipes like that.)

Well, today I'm going to be sharing my good ole' Santa Fe Soup recipe. Actually, it's not mine....it's my mom's, but I stole it and make it WAY too often. This soup just makes my heart happy. It's inexpensive to make, and serves a ton of people (we probably eat it for 3-4 days as leftovers). AND it reheats incredibly well, which is hard to come by in recipe world!

(Excuse the awful night lighting....ah winter, why do you terrorize me with your lack of natural light?)

Anywho...here is the what and how for the one and only, my beloved, Santa Fe Soup:

Ingredients:
-1 pound ground beef or turkey
-2 cans of pinto beans
-1 can of black beans
-1 can of mexi-corn
-1 taco seasoning packet (I use Old El Paso)
-1 Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning packet


Directions:


1. Brown ground beef or turkey in a skillet and add taco seasoning to make taco meat. Just follow the instuctions on the back of the packet.
2. In a large saucepan or soup pot, combine the pinto beans, black beans, and mexi-corn and warm at medium heat.
3. Add taco meat to soup mixture.
4. Add ranch packet to soup mixture and stir. It should be pretty thick--in fact, it's more of a chili, but we still call it a soup in my family :).
5. Let simmer 20-30 minutes or longer to let all of the flavors mix. Throw on some shredded cheese or sour cream if you so desire. And you're done! How easy is that?

This soup is best with some good old tortilla chips. I use them as a spoon--they just make it so tasty. Please eat it with tortilla chips. For me. (Yes, I bolded that last sentence. Which should prove to you how important this command request is.)

If you're not a fan of chips, my mom always makes cornbread to go with this soup and that's great as well.



Well, that's about it for today. I can't believe I am posting this recipe. I've been considering it for about a year....but I'm selfish and wanted it for myself :). And be warned--if you know me personally, I call dibs to make this for any event or potluck that I can...just so you know!

Have a great Thursday!


I may be remember to post this at a few link parties, which can be found here. (:

The Office in a Closet

Hello, friends! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years! We had the best time with my family and I didn't want it to end, but I guess we all have to get back to reality at some point, right? We just finished putting away the Christmas decorations, and while I'm sad to see them go, I'm happy that the house is back to normal.

Today, I thought I'd share our first house project of 2012! This one has been a LONG time coming.

With our baby boy on the way, we decided to make what we currently call "the gray room" (or, more often than not, "the junk room") into the new guest bedroom to make way for the baby's nursery in the old guest bedroom. I know, it's confusing. On top of that, I really wanted to have a craft room/office to put all of my junk in. Unfortunately, we ran out of space to have a designated craft room, so it was decided that the teeny tiny closet in the guest bedroom ("junk room"/ "gray room") would have to do.

Here is what we started out with:

And here is what we came up with a few days later!

I LOVE this little space. SO much. I was kind of obsessed with putting it all together with stuff we already had, so I'm happy to say that with the exception of the board that we used for the desktop and a couple of baskets that I picked up at Ross, everything you see had been lying around our house or garage.

We even painted the closet with some leftover paint from our Master Bedroom makeover. It looks really light in the pictures, but I promise it's there!

This office is a holder of many things. I wanted to be able to store my sewing machine, sewing supplies, fabric, gift wrap, scrapbooking supplies, printer, stationery and cardstock, tools, ribbon, crafting and bow-making supplies, and general office supplies in this teeny tiny space. And luckily, we got it all in there! I even have a few empty baskets, which makes me happy :).

I stacked all of my Better Homes and Gardens magazines (my magazine subscription of choice) underneath a few of the baskets. The magazine holders are pretty little linen things from Ikea and they have printer paper and cardstock in them. You can see my absolute favorite wedding picture displayed in a frame that had been hiding under our guest bed for some time :).

All of the stuff I use the most often is on the main desk. It's amazing what little jars and glasses can do for your organizational skills.

The top shelf was already in the closet--we just removed the clothing rack that used to reside underneath it. The second shelf is from Ikea--I bought it over a year ago but hadn't used it. Bryan trimmed the sides up so that it fits perfectly. The desktop is particle board that we got at Home Depot. Bryan cut it to match the width of the top two shelves. The paint looks a little uneven in these pictures, and that would be due to the fact that I jumped the gun and took pictures before we put the polyurethane on top :). It looks much smoother now, though!

I've had the fabric that I used for the skirt for a little over a year. I've always loved it, but didn't know where to put it. I sewed a very basic curtain and hung it on a tension rod (that we already had) to cover the printer and other storage bins that are underneath the desk (which is where you can find all of my scrapbooking and wrapping supplies).

And here are a few pictures with the light on, just for fun:

So there you have it! We are kicking off the year in a very organized fashion....which is very exciting to my dorky OCD self.

Have a great week!

I may be remember to post this at a few link parties, which can be found here. (:

The Christmas Story

This is adorable. That's all.

I love the baby wise man. And the sheep. :)

We are leaving to visit family bright and early tomorrow morning. Have a very Merry Christmas! Talk to you all in a few days!

Nursery Love.

Hello, friends!

Things have been looking a little "rounder" for me as of late and it's really gotten me thinking:

What in the heck am I going to do for this nursery?

 I've been a pinning machine on the good old Pinterest lately and thought I would share a few of my favorites.

There are not enough words to describe how obsessed I am with this nursery from The Painted Hive. Especially that crib color. It is PERFECT.

Source: thepaintedhive.blogspot.com via Katy on Pinterest

As you all know, I am a big fan of stripes and there's a pretty good chance that they'll either end up in the nursery, guest bedroom, or guest bathroom. I really love the thin, vertical lines in this one and the framed animal prints. When Bryan's parents moved, they gave us some vintage airplane prints that have hung in Bryan's bedroom pretty much his whole life. I think that they were originally his grandpa's, so I'm wanting hang them in the nursery in a similar fashion.

Source: lh5.ggpht.com via Katy on Pinterest

A great Sarah Richardson nursery. She is one of my absolute favorite designers. I really love the high chair rail that she did in this one.

Source: itsgreattobehome.net via Katy on Pinterest

Since wallpaper is officially "back", I've given a little bit of thought to putting it in the nursery. A tree print would be fun...

Source: alamodemaven.com via Katy on Pinterest

This color scheme is really great. Very soft with a pop of coral. And of course, I love the stripes. And the picture frame molding. Really, it's all great.

Source: dwellstudio.com via Katy on Pinterest

Surprise, surprise! More stripes. I just can't get away from them! I really love the storage underneath the crib instead of a bed skirt. Our nursery will be pretty small, so we'll need all the storage space we can get.

Source: pinterest.com via Katy on Pinterest

I know this one is too frilly for a boy, but I LOVE the overall feel of it. And the mirrored dresser....be still my heart.

Source: houzz.com via Katy on Pinterest

Oh, the book wall. I have loved this picture for several years now. Such a great idea and has so much visual interest. My only hesitation with doing something like this is the amount of bright colors it would bring into the room, and I'm not so sure I want that. I might save this one for his big boy room or play room, but I still love it!

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Katy on Pinterest

I apologize for my obsession with stripes. This is getting a little ridiculous. Again, this one is too girly, but I love all of the pattern and texture!

Source: saragilbaneinteriors.com via Katy on Pinterest

Same goes for this one. Although I honestly didn't realize this was a nursery when I first saw it, I still think it's pretty. Maybe too grown up for a nursery, but the colors and overall feel of the room are great and very unique!

Source: idesignlove.com via Katy on Pinterest

Last but not least is this cute little room. The bright pop of color in the dresser and that huge cut out "M" are to die for! Love, love.

Source: dwellinggawker.com via Katy on Pinterest

So that's where my thoughts are at the moment as far as the nursery goes....really, they are kind of all over the place, but I guess that's what pregnancy brain does to you. (Did I mention that I found some of my clothes in my bathroom drawer this week? I didn't? Hmm....)

I also wanted to thank you all for your sweet comments and advice on decorating our little boy nursery a few posts ago! I have definitely taken your ideas to the drawing boards!

Have a great Monday!

Paint Colors and Christmas Card

Hello, blog friends!

Just wanted to drop in and share our Christmas Card for this year. I had a lot of fun designing it....maybe by this time next year I will have mustered up enough motivation to design even more holiday cards to fill my (currently empty) Etsy shop! Creativity just hasn't struck yet...sigh.

Also, I wanted to give a shout out to sweet Jena at Involving Color for featuring our home on her blog! She has added all of our rooms to her Paint Color Galleries and Room Galleries (which are SO fun to look through, by the way) so if you've ever wondered what colors are on our walls, just head over there!

Have a great weekend!