A Fun Weekend

Last Thursday night, I went to the TCU Volleyball game, where they played No. 25 Colorado State. And WON! It was a blast - the Frogs won in 3 in front of a record crowd of 1,850. Fellow alums Ally, Tori, and Little Miss Sami met me at the game.



Then Jay agreed to paint some festive mini pumpkins for Halloween. I did Harry Potter and Frankenstein (which is hard to see because it's so dark). Jay did a TCU Football one and Hobbes (from his favorite cartoon Calvin & Hobbes).







I hope everyone has a fun Halloween! This will be our first one in a house, so we are excited to hand out candy to all the little Trick or Treaters!

On A Roll...

Our kitchen walls are officially finished! Here are a few pictures of the process...
1. Tearing off wallpaper
2. Texturing walls
3. Priming
4. Painting!

Gross.

My husband decided to grow a beard for a few weeks. I think it was just so he could do THIS on his way to shaving it all off.
Does this picture creep anyone else out?
(For the record, the bottom picture is what normal looks like...)

Guest Bathroom Makeover

I am ashamed to say I never took any "before" pictures of the room, but just imagine bright blue sponge-painted walls, a chipped 1980's seashell sink, and yeehaw western rope towel bars. This is the first room we have officially finished, and I'm rather proud of our effort =)

We managed to:
-Remove the old countertop and install a new one
-Add a new faucet
-Texture and paint the walls
-Replace all of the hardware (towel bars, toilet paper holder, etc.)

We decided to go with charcoal gray for the walls, so nothing too girly for Jay! I think the end result is MILES from where we started!

Decadent Caramel Sauce

I have combined a few recipes for caramel sauce and came up with one that I really like. I think it would be great for lots of uses: popcorn coating, ice cream topping, apple dipping, or dessert fondue! =)

It only takes about 20 minutes and makes 4 cups.


2 cups brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar and corn syrup and cook on medium-low until heated through.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and heat on medium until gently boiling for about 30 seconds.
3. Remove from heat and let cool.
4. Store in air tight container.

The Story of Oliver

When we moved into our house this April, we found a note from the previous owners that went something like this:

"Welcome to your new home, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did! You may be wondering why we left a bag of cat food on the counter... there is a stray cat living under the deck who "adopted" our house about 11 years ago, and he's been there ever since. His name is Oliver and all the neighbors know him by name. He will never step foot in the house, but likes to lounge around on the deck and keep the squirrels away. Please continue to feed him if you don't mind."

So now we have a gray cat living in our backyard! Jay is not a big fan of cats, but decided to take this video to introduce everyone to Oliver.

Kitchen Project

For those of you who have not gotten the chance to see our home yet, we have just finished scraping off the yellow wallpaper in our kitchen. (NOT a recommended activity, but thankfully THAT'S over!)

Our next step is to do a trowel texture over the drywall, then prime and paint. This is our first attempt at anything like this, but we are excited to try it... it's just like frosting a cake, right? =)

We are still undecided on the wall color, so we're open to suggestions! Our cabinets and countertops are white with black appliances. We are possible leaning towards a light sage green, or something light and calming. I'll be sure to post any progress in the future!

Here are a few BEFORE pictures...

Pineapple Upside Down Cake (yum!)

Last week at work was my first attempt at making this (or tasting it, for that matter!) and everyone at the station requested it again... the very next shift! So here is the recipe I was fortunate enough to find:

PINEAPPLE UPDISDE DOWN CAKE

6 Tbsp. butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
pineapple rings (about 7)

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk

- Preheat oven to 375.
- Melt 6 Tbsp. butter and brown sugar together, and pour into bottom of a greased 9" cake pan. - Arrange pineapple slices on bottom of pan in a circle, with one in the center.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, then add sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg.
- Add dry ingredients alternately with milk until smooth.
- Pour into pan.
- Bake for 35 minutes, then let cool 5 minutes before turning over and serving. *Try to give it a few minutes to absorb the sauce once it is turned over. Maraschino cherries are optional (see picture) and they would go on after it is baked, but I'm not a huge fan of those.

Enjoy! (We did with vanilla ice cream =)

My Talented Husband

Jay has agreed to play a song for a friend's wedding in a few weeks, and he is a little nervous about it. I think he sounds great (along with everyone else who has heard him), but I guess playing at a wedding is different from leading worship for college students...


I stole this video off his blog where he basically did a test run so he could hear it himself - what do you think? (other than the fact that his head is cut off in the video ;)


I could be a little biased, but I wouldn't mind hearing this at a wedding! The song is "O Praise Him" by David Crowder.

San Antonio Trip

Four days of much needed rest and relaxation. It was a good trip. We spent a lot of time on the hotel grounds floating on the lazy river, laying in the hammocks, playing on the waterslides, and talking by the firepits at night. We managed to make it to Sea World, which was not the least bit crowded... so it was perfect for the rides and shows. In my opinion, the sea lions were more entertaining than Shamu. But it was all a lot of fun!

Now we are looking forward to settling into the new house, painting, and doing a little decorating. It's going to take some time, but we are ready to start making it OUR home!