Life Lately

So, I've been writing posts in my head the last few weeks, but just haven't had the motivation to write them out when I've been at my computer! I'll try and get there tonight, I promise.

I'm still in settling mode that's for sure {I know Eric could kind of care less about that stuff ;)}. And that's a project, let me tell you...well, at least when you're OCD like me. I'm trying to still get things organized and put away, purge, decorate, etc. It's amazing how much stuff we still have after 6+ trips to Goodwill since packing to move...ok, so maybe my house purchases aren't helping the matter, but I still feel like we need to purge! purge! purge! Our guest room has become the overflow room for stuff that maybe I'll muster up the motivation to organize for a garage sale.

I've always looked forward to "back to school time" since it was always a fresh slate to get organized with everything. I still feel the need to do so every August now even being out of school. This year I kicked off the "school year" with a new planner in hopes to tackle some goals a little better (this week isn't proving to be working well though because I'm just so tired and worn out after work!). I've heard a lot of talk about these Erin Condren Life Planners, so I ordered one for myself a few weeks ago. I've only had it a few days, so I'll have to get back to you on how I end up liking it.

I've also been trying to organize household stuff a little more, too. (This is where my OCD mentality REALLY comes out) I've started on a home management binder (goal is to have it complete by the end of the week) with everything from general information/emergency info, Lily's information, chore and cleaning schedules, meal planning (something we've been TERRIBLE at lately) budget and bills, shopping lists, you name it. I'll share some more of that soon. We've also been really bad about sticking with a good budget since we've moved in (hello, furniture purchases!), so our goal for September is to get back on the Dave Ramsey plan, complete with our cash envelopes again. And, to encourage that a little more, I even sewed these cute little fabric envelopes -

Trying to get a little ahead on toiletry purchases and certain foods has also been a goal, too (Eric sure goes through cereal and deodorant like lightning!) I'm learning a little more here and there about couponing, and taking advantage of sales with coupon matches as much as possible. (No, you don't need to turn me into TLC...I'm not that bad and crazy!) I haven't been too great about keeping track of all the numbers, but I know we're saving a little more here and there by stocking up on sales. We're in fairly good shape now - enough shampoo and body wash to last us awhile!

And speaking of small stockpiles, I've also been making sure our emergency kits are updated. All the crazy natural disasters that have happened this year scare the bageebies out of me (A friend who is now in NC texted me today saying "I just lived through your worst nightmare!" Ha! - Yeah, I'm paranoid about earthquakes, and I was definitely curled up in the closet several nights this year because of storms and torrential rains pounding on our bedroom windows). I ordered some emergency kits off of Amazon back in the spring, and then made a few of our own to fill in some of the gaps. (Yeah, I think my mom thought I was a little crazy when I shipped them a large box full during tornado season!) I pray we never have to use them, but it doesn't hurt to have them around.
We've done a few little projects here and there around the house. We cleaned out the entire garage a few weekends ago and Eric re-hung our pegboard.

I'm also attempting round 2 of container gardening this year. I doubt I'll have much luck, but we'll see.

Lily has also been her usual energetic self. I've been getting up at 5:30 AM three days a week to go walk/jog around the neighborhood, and she's always up and pulling me the entire way. I wish I were that much of a morning person. Here are a few cute photos from her recently:

Spoiled dog, let me tell you.

And, lastly for tonight (but not least!) this girl {my sister} is away in Ireland right now. Off to Austria on Sunday to spend the rest of the semester! It was a bittersweet goodbye when I left Arkansas a few weeks ago, but I know she's going to have a blast.

More updates soon!

Futon Complete!

I finished the futon last night! Can you believe it only took me only 3 evenings?! The zippers aren't perfect, but they're in the back so that doesn't matter. ;) My poor sewing machine is probably burnt out from all of it's use this week! I can definitely tell that I'm getting better though.

Our Weekend in Photos...

We did our usual Friday night Wal-Mart run. At least we tried to make it a little fun...would you buy him? ;)

Stopped by a flea market and Goodwill on Saturday. I got some frames to make this little necklace board (see my art blog for full "tutorial!"):

We did a little spring cleaning...

And I organized all my shoes. (From left to right I've got sandals, work flats, heels, causal/non-work shoes, and tennis shoes...Hopefully, that'll make getting dressed for work a little easier in the mornings)

Then we went to go see Alice in Wonderland (in 3-D of course!)

For dinner, we tried a new slow cooker recipe - orange chicken! It was a little too orange-y, so perhaps the 4oz vs. 8 oz of orange juice will work better in the future. The recipe is below with the tweaked / less amount of OJ.

2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1/2 cup flour
olive oil, for browning the chicken
1 tablespoon kosher salt
4 ounces (1/2 can) frozen orange juice concentrate (no pulp), thawed
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons ketchup

Use a 4 quart slow cooker for best results. Dredge the chicken pieces with the flour, and shake off the excess. Go ahead and throw away any remaining flour, we won't need it. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on the stove and brown the chicken on all sides. There is no need to fully cook it, just sear it enough for the flour to stick and get a nice coating.

Plop the chicken pieces into your slow cooker. In a small mixing bowl, combine the orange juice concentrate, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt, and ketchup. Taste. If you'd like the chicken to be a bit sweeter, add a touch more sugar. Pour sauce mixture evenly over the chicken, and toss gingerly to coat.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or on high for 3 to 4. Serve over white or brown rice.

And went to church on Sunday. Of course, I had to go pick up the paper for coupons afterwards!

Then we went to the park! Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good photo of the two of us to document that fun run, but it's FINALLY warming up outside!!! :)

Hope you had a great weekend!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Another weekend come and gone - I'm jealous of everyone in Arkansas that got either a 3 or 4-day weekend! Thankfully the ice storm wasn't near as bad there as it was last year. I don't think it can get much worse than this:

{Ice Storm 2009}

Let's hope not at least.

Friday night we expanded our Columbia cuisine by trying a local Chinese restaurant that was delicious! I think our count of local restaurants that we've tried is up to about 4 or 5. Pathetic considering we've been here 7 months and go out to eat at least once a week. :) We just can't get away from the Ruby Tuesday coupons, McAlisters, and Panera.

Despite the temperatures in the upper 20's, we went out to the park Saturday afternoon for the first time in months. Thankfully the sun was out so it wasn't too unbearable. I downloaded the "Couch to 5K" iPhone app a few weeks ago so we gave it a try. It's a 3 times a week, 9 week program that trains you up to run a full 5K. (It's been YEARS since I've done that, so I'm definitely out of shape!) Our workout Saturday was a 5 minute warmup, and then 20 minutes of alternating 60 second runs with 90 second walks, followed by a 5 minute cooldown. I was able to do it, but I couldn't walk hardly at all yesterday my legs were so sore! Time to hit the gym again tomorrow I guess!

Eric and Clayton picked up the infamous chair on Friday, so I started to rip it apart on Saturday. Eric jumped in immediately and basically took over the whole project. :) After him giving me such a hard time about the thing, he was actually super excited about it.

It took us 3.5 hours with 2 tool sets to rip apart most of the upholstery.

And the smell wasn't too great once we got to the stuffing. Good thing I just got my new vacuum filters in.

Sunday we set out to town to get fabric and a staple gun. With the two of us going we were able to use double coupons so we saved about $25. It took us forever to find the upholstery fabric section at Joann, and then another 10 minutes for me just to pick something out, but I ended up going with a print of slate blues with a hint of gold. Thankfully, they had some weekly ads at the front of the store that we were able to snatch two 40% off coupons from. Then we took off to Michael's to use their weekly coupons (and Hobby Lobby will be hit tonight!).

We got the back and the sides stapled on last night, and as we were flipping the chair around, out flew 3 pens, a guitar pick, a used bandaid (eww!), and 31 cents. Who knows what else we'll find in there this week. A $100 bill would be nice. :)

I painted the legs a mustard yellow, and I'm going back to get some gray fabric to do the other parts of the chair. I need to find some trim or tubing at some point, too. But here's the progress (hopefully it'll be done next weekend!)

And as if that's not enough going on, I've got 7 canvases to do this week, too! I got a huge order over the weekend thanks to Etsy, so I'll have plenty to keep me busy for the next week and a half. Eric also got my chalkboard and antique frame hung over the weekend in our office, too!

And, as if this entry isn't long enough, I found out on Friday that I've been accepted to join the ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) blogging team on Healthcare Design Magazine's website. So, beginning in March, I'll have an entry every 4-6 weeks on this website! I'm super excited!

Have a great Monday!

Weekend Update

I really wish that weekends would stop flying by! :)

Friday night Eric and I went to a get-together for the health admin students which was a nice little break from staying at home. Unfortunately though, staying out late messed up my sleep schedule and I couldn't fall asleep last night. I've decided I just need to stick to the 10:00 bedtime even on weekends now. :) I'm too old for staying out late. I got to meet some of his friends that I've heard about and it was nice being around people our own age since we don't know many here.

Saturday we took out in the pouring rain to go antique shopping. I was on a mission for a desk or small table and a large picture frame. We checked out a newer place outside of town where I found this amazing "slipper chair":

It was love at first sight (from a designer's standpoint). Only $28 but unfortunately it needs a lot of help. If only I knew how to reupholster! After looking around on Google, I'm afraid it's going to be upwards of $100 to get it professionally done. I didn't buy it {yet}, but I may just have to go back. Surely I can get some tips online to learn how to reupholster it, right?! ;) Any suggestions?! Should I get it?!

I've actually got Eric hooked on antique shopping, too. I was trying to move quickly since I was on the lookout for just large furniture items, but he was wanting to go slower to look at everything. Here are some goofy pictures from the day:

 

Creepy troll doll anyone?

 

Anna-Marie, this one is for you - fake bird and all! :)

Then we went out to Artichoke Annie's antique store which is by far one of the best I've ever been to. The place is HUGE, and there's furniture galore (my favorite thing to shop for!) Unfortunately, it can be quite pricey. Eric however did find a frame for me though (he's getting so good at picking out my style!).

I've got it repainted (here's a sneak peek), but I've still got a little more work to do. Hopefully our trip to Michael's tonight will help me finish it...

I'm in the process of rearranging our office a bit to make a little "studio" area, so that's where it's going when it's all done. More on that later this week!

In other news, my little sister Kim is going on a big college visit this week with my parents. Hopefully we'll have a final decision on where she's going by the weekend. I can't believe she's already that old!
They're going to Steubenville, Ohio (15 hours away from home (11 hours from us in Columbia), just outside of Pittsburgh!) to see the Franciscan University of Steubenville. It would be a wonderful opportunity for her if she ends up liking it. We'll see how it goes! It's between there or Arkansas and she wants to major in social work. I personally think she needs to go to Arkansas since everyone else in the family graduated from there. ;)

And, how could I forget?! I gave in this weekend (I'm probably going to regret posting this later, too)...

Of course, as soon as I got it I wasn't even cold in the apartment all weekend long! I had to settle with the pink because it was pink/blue/or red at Wal-Mart and we had already ran 5 errands on Saturday so we didn't feel like going anywhere else. Now I can handle the thermostat at 65! :)

And lastly, our "Sunday evening fun" was making homemade french bread pizzas. Nothing fancy, but they were really good...

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients:
-1 pack of 2 French bread loaves (we chose Sara Lee, I think)
-3 tablespoons olive oil
-1 small can pizza sauce (Ragu pizza sauce is really good!)
-1 pack of mozarella cheese
-1 pack pepperoni (or whatever toppings you choose)

Directions:
Heat oven to 350. Cut loaves in half and spread olive oil on the top (acts as a barrier so the sauce doesn't soak through the bread). Spread pizza sauce over olive oil. Add cheese and any other desired toppings (don't get the cheese too close to the edges since it will melt). Cook for 15 minutes.

Enjoy! Hope you have a good week!

Handmade Gifts

Each year, I try and do a batch of handmade ornaments as Christmas gifts. In the past I've done canvases and knitted scarves, so this year I decided to try out ornaments and wreaths. The wreaths of course being inspired by Anna-Marie after the one she made for us in October!

Check out some of the final products...

Thanksgiving Break in Pictures

Our break has been a BLUR - it's hard to believe we'll be back to work/school in less than 48 hours!

We left Saturday for Fayetteville to see my family for a few days...


Our dog, Drake


We got to go see the lights on the square with Emily, Drew, Anna-Marie, and Michael




And then us girls had an ornament-making party (Robyn was there earlier in the night, too!)



I actually got Eric to go antique shopping again while we stopped in Prairie Grove!




And then Wednesday we hit the road to Memphis!


Thanksgiving lunch was delicious!




And Friday we hit the bargains at the mall (after sleeping in of course - we can't do the 5am stuff! :) I managed to survive my first Black Friday experience, and actually got a lot of my presents taken care of! - I'm usually pretty last-minute :)

Hope your break was great!!