bruises, recipes & sneak peek

Pole dancing bruises:

Thought I'd share my dip recipes that I whipped up for snacks while Chelsie opened her lingerie gifts.

Creamy Salsa

Mix & Serve w/ Frito Scoops

1 cup real mayo

1 cup light sour cream

1 cup chopped green onions (mostly for the chives)

1 can of fiesta corn (drained)

2 cups shredded cheese

1 can of rotel (drained)

Fruit Dip

Whipped Cream Cheese

Honey (I like a lot of honey...)

Cheese Ball

Mix & Serve w/ Cracker Preference...I like Wheat Thins

1 pkg of cream cheese

1 pkg of Hidden Valley Ranch mix

1 1/2 cup shredded cheese

1 cup of chopped pecan

*This is fun to make in various shapes for parties. Turkey for Thanksgiving, gingerbread man for Christmas, boy or girl shape for baby shower...

Last night I snapped a few pictures for a project I'm doing and sharing with you soon.

Can't get anymore typical than this. Normal night at our house. Me resting my head on Coop's booty while he sleeps and I read my House Beautiful magazines.

weekend deets

I hosted Chelsie's bachelorette party on Saturday. Taylor picked up Cooper after her hot yoga class Saturday morning so I wouldn't have to worry about him that evening. Such a relief to have good friends that take good care of your fur babies. It does my heart a world of good to know that Cooper will be loved on and cuddled when he's not at home. I'm a nervous ninny when I have to leave him at the kennel and after my last experience with the kennel I was eternally grateful that Taylor and Jake were available to keep Coop. Coop loves playing with their goldens. He thinks he's a big as they are and they are like gentle giants and let him rough house all day long. Tay sends me playful pictures for reassurance too. LOVE that.

I picked up cupcakes for the shower and check into the hotel to get everything setup for after our class. Our pole dancing class...

Ha! It was so hard and I was (and still am) incredibly sore the next day. Holy cow. It was different and fun. Such a workout. We twirled, learned to go upside down on the pole and danced with chairs. It was a great idea for a bachelorette party and I may have had selfish intentions to prep for Lee's homecoming too... 

We scurried back to the hotel afterwards and snacked while Chelsie opened lingerie gifts and we got gussied-up for dinner.

Nothing too fancy because I knew we would be going to dinner but I assumed everyone would be hungry after our workout. I figured we would want something to munch on while we got ready and opened gifts. Our suite had a fridge so I was able to prepare a variety:

French Onion Dip & Ruffles

Honey Mustard "tie the knot" Pretzels

Cheese Ball & Wheat Thins

Cupcakes

Fruit & Dip

Creamy Salsa & Frito's

Ice Chest Full of Drinks

I'm glad I had thought of snacks because it was almost 10pm when we left the hotel for dinner.

The music festival was happening outside our restaurant so it was def a fun scene for the evening.

Dinner was really great. I'm already thinking about when I get to have shrimp shriracha again.

Oh! I got our travel documents in the mail! I cannot wait for Lee to get home. I'm really looking forward to reconnecting with him on white sandy beaches. I liked the presentation in which the documents were delivered.

Back to yoga. Taylor talked so highly about her hot yoga class. She had discovered the new place near my house by seeing their Groupon online so she thought she would try it out. She talked so highly about it that I bought the Groupon too! I went to my first yoga class ever yesterday. I did a "warm" class though. I plan on trying the hot class but thought I would step before I leap, ya know? I REALLY liked the class and I'm looking forward to my next one. I got a month of unlimited classes but I don't think I'm going back today. I'll go Tuesday for sure. I'm almost too sore to pull my pants up right now. Ha! I think I'm going to give myself a break after the weekend I had.

new old mirror hung

I hung one of my thrift finds finally. I posted about it HERE.
I removed the tiny mirror that was attached to the vanity and replaced it with this heavy beauty. Now I need to style it!

something fun

I'm feeling very uninspired. Honestly? I just want my husband home now. It's hard to readjust over the phone but I'm thankful that we at least have the phone as an option now.
I put the letters in the neighbor's mailboxes last night to give them a heads up about my plans to decorate our street. I hope no one has any issues with it.
Today I'm focusing on our trip this Summer and what type of things I plan to take with us. Something fun to think about instead of thinking about the weeks I still have left to welcome him home.

humongous news

Lee is stateside.

Can you believe it? We did it!

Excited does not begin to describe how I am feeling right now. I slept like a rock for the first time in months last night. I felt so much more at ease knowing my hubby is out of a combat zone.

    (Deployment Ceremony 2012)

I haven't been able to tell too many people that he's been traveling for security reasons and it has been eating me alive. Seriously. I've been like the cat that swallowed the canary at work. I brought cupcakes to work on Monday and just told everyone that it's going to be a really good week. They didn't think twice about it because I randomly bring baked goods to work but this week I was screaming with good news in my head.  

This good news is also another reason why I have been somewhat distant from blog world as of late. He was supposed to leave Afghanistan a couple of weeks ago and then the departure date was postponed. I have done so well by not getting my hopes up because I now know that with the Army nothing is set in stone until it happens. And it's happening!!!

Fingers crossed demobilization goes super fast so we can welcome him home sooner than later!

more updates

More phenomenal stuff to tell you...

I killed my 1st wasp. Ha!

I left the door open to the back patio to get some fresh air while Coop did his business in the backyard and a wasp buzzed into the house! I hate bugs and this wasp was no exception. I know I looked ridiculous squishing him 500 times just in case he might still be moving:)

A birdie made a nest in one of the new hanging baskets on the front porch!

I met Jacob, Taylor, Nick, Dave & Kristie for dinner downtown the other night. The Art Council has fun stuff going on the 2nd Friday of every month and our favorite food truck participated. So we did too...

I met Kimberly and Kristin for dinner recently too. Kristin accepted an amazing job opportunity a few states away so we celebrated that one more time before she left. She took off down the interstate with her Uhaul this past Saturday! I see a road trip in my future!

I'm putting letters in our neighbors' mailboxes to prepare them for my street decorating soon. Can you believe we've come this far?!

new week

Where do I start?

I dodged a tornado and spent a little time in the closet hiding out last week. The sirens went off and I had no time to take shelter in a safer place. We were only under a watch and the news wasn't saying anything about a storm in my pathway anytime soon! I had my rain boots on and my "tornado bag" (that includes a bowl and water bottle for Coop, of course) packed to drive to a shelter ready for the word so I was completely caught off guard when the sirens suddenly went off.

 Luckily the severity of storm wasn't in my backyard when the sirens started screaming. Apparently this is a shell cloud that someone captured from in their car that night! Scary!

Coop and I were wired full of energy but when we finally crawled in bed he stayed close. He tucked himself behind my pillow so I could be in his view and even kept one paw on me just in case. Cutie patootie.

I've been doing some major crafting for Chelsie's bridal shower. I'll have better pix for you from the shower but here's what I took from my phone because it was handy.

A tissue backdrop that took 3 hours to make!

 Super easy tassel banner:

 Pendant:

Her wedding colorsI made some super cute guest favors too but I'll share those with you when I show you the shower pictures. I changed the labels since taking the phone pic of them. I spelt the groom's last name incorrectly (oops) and I didn't like the way I cut them out.

See you back here soon!

checking in

Just letting you know that I'm OK. I haven't blogged in awhile. I've been too busy at work to debug the firewall they put up against blogger in my office, too busy at home to blog in the evenings and I've missed typing and staring at my screen. A lot!

I have a lot to share that I haven't yet. From crafting to Lee but for today it seems more appropriate to focus on what today is.

If you're ever in OKC you really should take a peek at our Memorial. Seeing all the chairs representing the lives lost in the Oklahoma City bombing is a sobering feeling.

I hope and pray for those in and linked to Boston as well. My heart aches for everyone involved. I hope this manhunt ends in our favor soon.

Have a good weekend, friends. I'll be back on Monday with lots to share.

xoxo

phone home

Can you believe it's already Wednesday?

Last Friday Kristin and Kimberly came over to celebrate Kristin's new job. She's moving states, y'all! OMG. She was offered a great opportunity that she can't resist but we're going to miss that redhead so much. Kimberly spent the night too. That's gotta make 1,023,638,498+ slumber parties for us since 3rd grade. 

Saturday morning my mom, grandma, MIL and niece arrived to help me spiff up the flowerbeds for spring. We worked our tails off and earned a frozen custard break. Once we got our sugar fixed we went back to work in the yard until dark and then ordered takeout from Chili's. The work continued early Sunday morning too! Needless to say I went to bed early that evening.

I ordered a new phone cover from Bando and I'm obsessed.

Lee and I are finally to the point of getting serious about finding land to build a house. Wahoo! This is our latest image we're pouring over ever since learning of the new development. I know there are about 25 lots still available...I just don't know which ones until the realtor gets back to me! And then we will decide to snag it or not. Can you imagine me buying land without Lee home to see it first?! Baffles me. I don't know if I want to literally LOL at the thought or shy away from the idea and risk losing it waiting for him to get home. What would you do?!

room to bloom

I'd love to have a room in the house inspired by this one:

 And this one:

One day I hope to have a studio type room. One I can leave backdrops up for photography that's full of natural light. I want a large countertop for wrapping presents, sewing projects and crafting. And of course a comfty space for blogging and inspiration.

I've got fun plans this weekend to get dirty in the yard and enjoy the sunshine. It's game time to get the yard looking great for Lee's return home! Yay! I dream of lush front yards like this:

HAPPY FRIDAY!

bachelorette party

I did invitations myself for a bachelorette party I'm planning and I really like how the invites turned out. Saved me a lot of money too. I have easily spent $80+ at places like polkadotdesign.com and tinyprints.com in the past but delivery time was suddenly an issue and it got me thinking about my other options.

I bought some heavy card stock, 5x7 envelopes, a paper slicer and small diamond gems at Hobby Lobby to get the job done for $20. I removed some details for obvious reasons but you get the idea!

Before I pat myself on the back, I must tell you that it wasn't until I uploaded this picture that I realized I didn't include the date of the dang party on the dang invitation. Mercy. I bet I get some phone calls...but at least that's one way to get a firm RSVP I guess??? Ha!

Man I feel dumb. I need a vacation like yesterday.

pretty nifty

I've been hoarding a beautiful image of wallpaper I like. I hope to install it in our laundry room when we leave our current home. I thought I'd start making my must-have list a little more attainable by creating a source and price list to go with each item so when the time comes to purchase said item, I won't be frantic and settle for something I love less if I can't find or budget for my must-have.  

I couldn't for the life of me find this gem I saved in my inspire file:

 AND then a light bulb went off in my head and I did a reverse Google image search and found the source! Apparently I had saved it from Made By Girl's blog over a year ago! Jen says it's a dressing room at Bloomingdale's. Crikey. This wallpaper source challenge has lots of obstacles. But isn't Google amaze balls!?

I want that paper to go on the ceiling...

bows and tea sets

I had some major dental work done on Friday and I'm still recovering. I'll go into more detail when I feel like it. No really. I'm puny right now.

In other news, checkout these fab bows my MIL and I did during my last visit with Nana. I have them secured to a hanger hanging from a ceiling fan right now. I can't imagine squishing them into a closet.

Lee has been sending a bunch of heavy tubs full of crap home. They're always full of surprises. I never know if I'm going to be sent extra t-shirts and socks or a gorgeous marble tea set!!! How sweet?!

I have it on a silver tray I inherited from my grandmother. It's in need of a good polish and shine but the tea set really is gorgeous. Can't wait to make tea in my new tea kettle and use this tea set! If I learned anything from Nana, she never passed up a chance to use her china and pretty silver.  She'd say, "Why save it to only display?! You can't take it with you when you're dead!" Oh Nana...haha