Weekend Highlights

So, those of you who have been following for awhile may remember this post, where I shared that on the way to work one day a deer came out of no where and ran straight into the side of our car.

Well, over the weekend we were headed out to our nephew's birthday party and in pretty much the exact same spot, we were rear-ended.

We were all fine.  We had stopped at a red light- had been there for probably 30 seconds or so, then boom.  Hit from behind.  NO. WAY.  What is with this stretch of road by our house?  It's like there is a curse on it/us! And it's not like we can avoid this stretch of road either - it's pretty much the only way I can get to work.  UGH!

Anyway, again - just as I was last time, I am very grateful and thankful that it wasn't any worse that it was.  Really, I don't think there was any damage.  We can't really tell yet because the car is covered in snow and salt, etc.  So tomorrow we'll probably take her through a car wash so we can see better if there was damage or not.


Other than that....

There aren't too many highlights.  I've been having fun curling my hair since I got it cut a few days ago.  I mentioned that I might share a picture, so I had the husband take one for me quick.

I've had this cut for a few months now and love it...I just had it cut a little shorter than normal...and I love it even more :)



We spent some time outside this weekend.  It was nice to get some fresh air.  We actually had some snow to play in!  This winter weather (or lack there of) has been some of the strangest of my life!  Last winter we had record snowfall amounts (we were on the national news!) but this winter...total opposite.

So it was a change to actually have snow!

Peaches and I made our 1st snowman...we made snow angels...we sat by the creek and threw snowballs in and watched them get carried away in the current.  It was great!

(please ignore my camo pants - seems I'm in need of some real snow pants 

so I don't have to use the husbands from his Air Force years!)

Happy Monday!
(back to work today...but I've planned well and we'll be watching GATTACA today and tomorrow.  One of my favorite days of the year is the discussion we have after and students realize all the genetics stuff they've been learning could be come their reality some day)

Kristin

Targ Barg

I just love when I see those red price tags on cute things at one of my fav stores - Target!  It seems that it's not very often when you see those little beauties, but when you do it's usually something good - or at least it was for  me the other day.

A while back the husband and I took down the hideousness that was behind our stove and replaced it with some DIY tile backsplash (another post possibly) and then I decided I wanted to change the accent colors in our kitchen to a light blue.  I hadn't done much to actually bring in some light blue other than the backsplash, but while I was shopping at target I saw some of those beautiful red stickers on some blue items.

Score.

Even in modern prints!

What a targ barg!!!

(AKA target bargain)

Even found a matching spatula with the chevron! (price = $2.08)

So of course, my demented shopping mind immediately thinks that because I found such great bargains (I mean, 2 towels and a spatula for $5.04!) that I have more money to spend on other things...and then proceeded to spend way more than I saved...but it was all stuff we needed...or at least thats what my demented shopping mind tells myself!

So if you find yourself at Target soon - keep your eyes open for those red stickers...they have more than usual right now :)

Happy Shopping,

Kristin

High 5 For Friday

This is one week that I'm not so excited for Friday to be here already...with no work this week, spending every minute with my adorable daughter and no set schedule to follow, who would want it to end!?! Not me!

It was really hard for me to pick my top 5 highs from this week because there were a lot more than usual, but here they are (I apologize ahead of time if there are several involving Peaches, but I can't help it!)

one
Slow, lazy, cuddly mornings catching some "sows" (shows...aka cartoons or Lion King) with this beauty

{completely entranced watching Simba & Nala}

two
Our trip to the zoo this week.  So fun now that she knows the names of a lot of the animals.  She was on the hunt for elephants the whole time - she'd go up to look at something and turn around .25 seconds later and say elephant?  Nothing was good enough for her!  (and it totally figures that the elephants were inside and we could only see one through the window)

{Checking out the Tigers}

I took some pics from the parking lot overlooking the city

three
Found a new fabulous and amazing way to do my nails - CND Shallac - supposed to last 2 weeks!

Definitely not perfect, but good enough for me!

(I'm totally not a hand model!)

four

Haircut yesterday and I had my stylist cut it a little shorter than normal.  Can't wait to curl it up today and see how it looks...no, we haven't showered yet (see one above!)  Possibly pictures later

five

I've gained some new readers this week!!  I'm definitely not in any competition to get as many 'followers' as I can, but it's a really good feeling to know that people are reading what I'm putting out there into the blogosphere!  I totally loved this Bobble Bobble post from Holly this week.  I appreciate each and every one of you!!

I hope you all had a fabulous week...and here's to an even better weekend!

Kristin

Linking up with Lauren today:

Outback's Cyclone Pasta

*Update:* After a few readers trying this recipe, it has been suggested to use less oregano!

The other night I made a pasta dish that I think may have to become a regular in our house.  It was from a copycat recipe type book but I've modified it just a touch to make it more healthier.

In college...and I've attended several - another day, another post...I worked at Outback Steakhouse - again several.  While I was working there they didn't have the Cyclone Pasta on the menu, but they are known for their big, bold flavors and this recipe sounded pretty good so I thought I'd give it a go.

It was pretty easy.  The most difficult tasks were chopping and boiling up some chicken.  I measured everything out to show you all the goodies:

In the little dishes we've got chicken, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, ham, mushrooms and garlic

All you do is boil and drain the pasta, then dump everything in the pot and mix it up. 

Before sauce & mixing

Then put everything in a pan, top with Parmesan cheese and bake for 20 minutes.  Super.Easy.

Yum Yum!  The three of us only ate about 1/3 of it so it's going to make good lunch leftovers and a whole second night dinner too :)

So here's the recipe:  

Outback Steakhouse Cyclone Pasta

1 cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes

1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms

1 medium onion, chopped

16oz jar of Alfredo sauce (I used Classico Light Alfredo Sauce - and next time I would add more than 1 jar)

1 cup chopped cooked chicken breast

1 cup chopped ham (I bought 2 thick slices of deli meat and cubed them)

1 pound cooked penne pasta (I used whole wheat)

1 tablespoon dried oregano (readers who have made the recipe suggest using less)

1 tablespoon dried thyme (couldn't find mine so I left it out)

1/4 cup minced garlic (seemed a bit much to me so I probably used 1/8 cup- you may want the full 1/4)

1+ cup(s) shredded Parmesan cheese

• Preheat oven to 375 and spray a 13'x9' pan with cooking spray.
• Combine all of the ingredients, except for the Parmesan cheese, and pour into the pan.
• Top with Parmesan cheese
• Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until the top begins to brown

I served it with a garden salad.

Easy, weeknight dinner that will leave you with leftovers!

Kristin

DIY House Projects Part 2

Yesterday I posted about seven projects we'd like to do to our house.  You can read about them here.  I am very grateful for all that we've been blessed with and our house is one of those blessings.  Although there are things we'd like to fix/change about it, it really is a great house - especially seeing that it's our first one!

 Today I'm going to show you one more DIY project.  It's been a running joke in our family.  We've lived in our house over two years - and we've never once used our family room for anything other than a large messy storage area.  It's wasteful.  We've talked about re-doing the room so it's a nice, organized, usable space since the day we moved in.  I think one major reason that it's sat as a disaster-mess for two years is because Eric usually works 7 days a week and on his one day off we go to church for half of the day...and, our house does not have an attic, and most of the basement is finished so there is   no very little storage area. (Last winter Eric built these shelves so we'd have some storage area - they are fantastic - but pretty much full already - if our daughter didn't have 17 million totes of clothes we'd have tons more space)

 So anytime family come over they ask about the progress of the family room - there usually has never been any progress and it sits as wasted space (a large wasted space).

But...this past fall we had new windows put in about half of the house.  This was fantastic because the windows were original to the house (1960) and some were even missing one of the two panes of glass.  No where near energy efficient.  Also, they were crank out windows and many didn't latch and lock correctly anymore.  I LOVE how the new windows looks so much better!

I looked for a before pic and couldn't find a good one, but they were basically 3 small windows and only the two outside ones opened.  Here's what they look like now:

Much more modern :)

We also had new windows put in the family room.  This is what they were before (missing panes on end windows):

These were taken the day of our home inspection (pre-disastermess)

You can see what they are now in the pics below.  But having new windows put in meant Eric wanted to paint and put on new trim.  He's currently working on the family room.

 Here's the disaster-mess as it looks today:

Entrance from the hallway I posted about yesterday.

Total disaster, right!?!

 Oh wait, there's my tiny area for crafts - tucked back in the corner I can't get to!

New window that Eric is working on now

 The room has these 3 storage cubbies (can you even see them??).  I have several ideas for them but need to decide which would be the best use of space.

So the plan is that Eric is going to finish the large window soon, and then he needs to trim up the small window (which apparently will be much quicker than all the steps it took to do the large window),

 then CLEAN OUT THE ROOM (goodwill is going to love us!),
and then finally paint, organize & decorate!

I'm still debating how to set the room up {read: suggestions welcome!}  There are several things we want this room to accomplish: craft area {insert ecstatic face here}, play area, couch/tv, toy storage...if only I had a design backgound....

Oh well, we still have some time to figure it out...


Kristin

DIY House Projects Part 1

For some odd reason I felt like it would be a good idea to show you the house projects we currently have going on and ones that we'd like to do in the near future.

Why do I think this is a good idea?  I have no idea!  Maybe because I think it will help us become more motivated.  Maybe I think I will hold us accountable.  Maybe I'm crazy.  Who knows - I'd guess the latter.
If nothing else you should find humor in all we've gotten ourselves into.

This is going to be must be a multi-part post due to the vast number of projects!

I would like to preface the rest of this post by saying that our house is old - it was built in 1960 and has had some updating - not as much as I would like.  We have lived here two years this past August - 6 months after we moved in, our daughter was born and we spent a long time enjoying her and adjusting to parenthood. We are pretty much perfectionists when it comes to projects and they tend to take us significantly longer than the average person.

Okay now that I have gotten my "excuses" out of the way, here goes - not in any specific order:

1.  The bathtub in our main upstairs bath needs some lovin.  It was resurfaced before we moved in, and it's peeling off.  I deem it unusable as a tub and only for showers.  Peaches still uses that large blue baby tub because of this mess.

 Mauve tub = hideous!  But the tile job is great :) 

2. Our master bath needs some updating.  It's pretty small and there's no way to expand it or change the layout, so the only option is to update.  I'd like to update the cabinet (or at least paint), fixtures, toilet, flooring (and add a heated floor element!) and add some color - it's so blah!

3. In our living room (main floor) we have a wood fireplace.  We're still going back and forth on converting to a gas insert.  There are pros & cons to each.  I would like to replace the mantel though with whichever option we decide.  I've never liked the braided trim piece on it and know it could look so much better re-done.

4. Our house is what the realtor called a 4-level split.  Basically it's two floors, but their cut in halves and on different levels.  So, one level down from the main floor, we have a family room (you'll see tomorrow) and a hallway to a half bath.  We updated the hallway floor a while back (that's a post in and of itself) from stick down tiles to ceramic tile.  I love how it turned out:

So now I want to finally decorate the hallway.  We need to paint the top half of the wall (it's too shiny for me) 

If you're thinking that the wall looks crooked - you're not seeing things, it is.  The home inspector said he's not sure why but it isn't an issue, just doesn't look the best. 

My decorating plans include this piece from Hobby Lobby and lots of frames.  When I get to it I'm sure I'll post about it. 

5. So the floor project then created two more projects, which is always how it seems to work for us.  Across from the plain wall is a fairly large closet.  We never really did much with it other than pack stuff in it.  The goal it to transform it into a much more useful space.  And because we don't have a lot of storage in our house (i.e. no attic and mostly small closets) we need all the organized space we can get. 

The doors haven't made their way back on since we updated the floor - same with all the junk that was in the bottom half of the space.

6. The second project the floor re-do created was to re-finish the stairs from this level to the main level.  They were covered in carpet when we moved in and I despise carpet covered stairs in an entry way (from the garage).  There is no way to keep the carpet clean and so one day I had had it and pulled up the carpet.  I really should have taken pictures and/or video because I'm sure it was a hilarious sight.  Whomever put the carpet down went WAY  overboard with the staples and it was absolutely ridiculous trying to get them all out.  It took days - and help from the husband.  

But...the wood under the carpet is red oak and will be gorgeous when they're re-finished.  They've been sanded down some, but need more before we stain them a dark brown.  Here's a close up of the tile.  I want a stain that is similar to the dark flecks in the tile. 

7. Here's the last one for today.  It's an outdoor project.  In all honesty, our yard and landscaping are in pretty good shape.  (I do want to re-side/paint the house, but other than that)  The two things I would like to do are around the pool.  I want to replace the chain-link fence with an iron fence, maybe something like this:

 Here's a pic from today - because of the snow you can't see as well but you can get the idea.

And also re-do the area surrounding the pool.  Right now there are pavers that are a pain in the booty.  Every year we have to spray them so we don't get weeds growing in the cracks, and then about twice throughout the summer we have to spray with ant killer or the ants will overtake everything.  So it would be awesome to replace those with solid cement slabs. 

Tomorrow I'll show you what we're currently working on - it's been a looong time coming! And we're finally getting to a point where I can see the light at the end of the loooong tunnel.  

Kristin

February Birchbox & Weekend Highlights

**Please excuse the mess today - I'm in the process of changing things around here**

I'm late this month sharing my February Birchbox.  This month's the theme was 'spotlight' and the products are 'designed to highlight your awesomeness.'

This was my box:

It included:

A glow and go travel puff - I need to actually go somewhere to be able to try this one!

A hair oil from Orofluido

A luminizing tinted moisturizer from Jouer - I've heard good things about this one & might try it today!

A Spicy Maya dark chocolate bar - a little nervous to try this-the spicy worries me!

Chinese Rose Foaming Cleanser from WEI - need to try this one today too! 

It also included some downloads from Green River Ordinance - unfortunately the link wouldn't work for me!?!  birch.ly/GRO   And what the heck is a bitly??  I'm SO not tech saavy!



Weekend Highlights

Highlights were that we did nothing.  Nothing!  The only place we went on Saturday was to take my in-laws to the airport (so they could jet off to a week & a half of sun, fun, and family in Florida and a cruise to the Carribean, while we're stuck up here in the middle of cold, snowy/rainy, winter)

Whatever!

Sunday's higlight was the Glo-Dance Party we had with Peaches before bed.

This is Peaches dancing with the glo-sticks on her wrists, ankles, neck and in her hand.

{My lack of camera skills is clearly evident}

This week proves to be fun because Peaches and I will be home :) 

If you subscribe to Birchbox, what goods did you get?

Have you tried the link for the downloads - any suggestions?  

What's a Bitly?

Happy Monday!

Kristin

High 5 For Friday

Linking up today with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk

5 Highs from this week were:

1. Spending Valentine's Day with my loves.

LOTS of chocolate for this sweet tooth! In a sugar coma here.

2. My Surprise Valentine's Date Night - completely planned and orchestrated by my husband :)

    We went to a quick dinner at Ruby Tuesday's then to see The Vow (my choice) and it was just what I was craving - a predictable, romantic, girly movie.  I think I love these movies so much because it makes me stop and remember back to how amazing it was falling in love with Eric.  Does this happen to you?  Well not  falling in love with Eric, but with whomever is in your life???

{I love how much he loved her!}

3. I've really been working to straighten up my disaster-mess at work.  I'm teaching in three different rooms this year, and my desk and filing cabinet are in yet another place.  It's chaotic to say the least!  I've finally found some time over the last few days to file, clean, tidy, re-vamp, etc my "areas."  I'll hopefully show you soon ;)

4. We're having a special lunch tomorrow at work.  I love when we do this.  We each bring in something to contribute.  Tomorrow we're going to make quesadilla's and then have a desert. Yum!

5. My car is fixed!!!!  No more smelly, dirty rental car.  I felt so low to the ground driving it and like I needed to shower after getting out of it (I'm really grossed out by dirty, dusty cars that strangers have been in).  I love LOVE driving my car - no more taking it for granted!  I kind of want to plan a mini "road trip" just to drive her around :)

I had a lot of highs this week.  I hope you did too!!

I definitely feel like I've neglected the blog some this week.  I hope to make up for that next week - along with some other bloggy changes - because I am OFF next week!!  YAHOOOOOO!!!!  No alarms (for the most part) for 8 days :)

Enjoy your weekend!

Kristin 

Better Than Brand New

Sorry for the late post today...this week has been busier than I had thought it would be.  

I wanted to share with you about our experience getting my car fixed.  It went from a travesty - read about it here - to better than brand new! 

    {The damage doesn't look as bad as it was in this pic}

The reason I share this with you is because of the one guy who made this happen.  His name is Butch.  He is the sole body shop guy at a place we've used before.  He does the absolute best work.  His reputation precedes him.  We've taken cars to him before and were impressed, and this time did not disappoint!

What I love most about him is that he doesn't see his job as being a "job."  It's his passion.  He loves fixing cars, and more than that he tries to improve his skills and workmanship with every car he works on.  He stays late and comes in on weekends.  He puts everything he has into his work.  

I respect him for that.  

He seems to be an all around nice, genuine person.  He was telling my husband that he always wants to make cars look better than they were before the accident.  He only sees them for a short time but we will be driving them for much, much longer.  They need to be safe and perfect.  

It seems to me that there are less and less people who carry his same work ethic.  I admire him.  I will be the first to admit that I don't always have this same mentality while I'm at work.  I do try my best and have a passion for what I do, but it's easy to lose sight of why we are doing what we do.

I know I've been deeply touched from our experience with Butch.  I plan to write a letter of appreciation to him to let him know just how much all of his time, patience, effort and enthusiasm have meant to me and my family.  Seriously, the car looks better that it did the day we bought it.  The pictures don't do it justice.  And to top it all off, they completely detailed the inside as well!  Now, I've never had body work done anywhere else, but I was completely shocked and happy that they cleaned her down from head to toe! 

  (This was me trying to capture the cleanliness of the inside - didn't work too well)

Have you had an experience with someone where you recognized something different about them and it made you want to make yourself better?

Kristin