Our Kitchen Makeover

It's amazing what just a $25 can of paint can do to change the look of a room! The first image shows our kitchen the way it looked up until about a week ago. I really wanted a fresh, bright look for our kitchen. I love spending time in this part of the house and I find this cheery look both calming and welcoming. We went with the withering moss color from Lowes and could not be happier with the finished product! I'm pretty sure we'll end up painting the entire interior of our home and now we're just one room closer :)

Ice Hits Houston

Last week, most of the country was affected by the huge arctic blast! Houston was no exception. Of course, snow was predicted but never happened. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the few cold, cozy days! Thankfully, our little home stood up to its' first ice storm. Tyler took a few photos in our backyard and I thought I'd share!

Here's our sweet boy in his backyard. This is his little spot, right under the magnolia tree. He really enjoyed all the chilly weather!

I love all these photos! Brrr, was it cold. Hope everyone is staying warm!

Kabobs

Well I don't know about you, but my taste buds get quite bored with the same types of meals over and over. I was ready to break out of the mold of fish, chicken or pork (and repeat) this week. So, we tried our hands at making shish kabobs. Of course, I chose the coldest night so far this winter for grilling, but it was well worth it. Before putting the kabobs together, I was sure to soak the skewers for at least 20 minutes in water. These are delicious and easy, and would be great to serve at a cookout!

Teriyaki Sirloin Kabobs
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 T honey
1 T minced crystallized ginger (I used ground)
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 1/2 lbs sirloin beef, cubed
1 fresh pineapple. peeled and cubed (I used 1 can of pineapple chunks)
2 Gala or Golden Delicious apples, cubed
(We also added chunks of yellow onion)
3 cups steamed rice

Combine soy sauce, vinegar, oil, honey, ginger and garlic in a blender (I just hand mixed). Pour into a sealable plastic bag. Add beef and marinate at room temperature 30 minutes or in refrigerator overnight. (I suggest marinating overnight--the flavor was delicious)

Drain beef, reserving marinade. Skewer beef alternatively with pineapple and apple cubes (we also added the onion). Brush kabobs with marinade and grill 15 to 20 minutes, depending on desired doneness. Baste often with marinade. Serve with steamed rice.

Serves 6. Yum!

My Weekend Project

This weekend I took on the project of refinishing this headboard I found at Home Goods a while back! I wanted the headboard to go well with these fabulous frames I got from Pottery Barn for my birthday. The first 2 photos show the headboard before I refinished it. It looked great but wasn't as clean, white and antique looking as I wanted.

This process was very easy and can give a facelift to any piece of furniture. First, I sanded the headboard and removed any dust with tack cloth. Then I applied 2 generous coats of paint and let it dry completely. Finally, I used coarse-grit sandpaper to sand the edges and face of the headboard to give it more of a worn, antique look. It was nice to find this piece for a great price and turn it into exactly what I wanted :) Aside from waiting for the paint to dry, the whole project probably took an hour. Fun stuff! I love the finished product and can't wait to feature all the pieces together in one of the bedrooms!

Yes!!

2 years ago today, Tyler popped the big question! Through our 10 month engagement and now year of marriage, I have learned so much and have been richly blessed through my relationship with him. It is fun to think back on all the exciting milestones we've experienced together!

Tyler and I looked at rings for our one year anniversary in November. I thought for sure he would propose on Christmas, only my favorite day of the entire year. Of course I should have known by then that Tyler isn't entirely predictable. Once the holiday passed, I was really dumbfounded and didn't know exactly what to expect. The end of January was approaching and Tyler told me that he wanted to take me out for a date on Saturday night. He was very secretive and of our friends, only told Whit his plans. She then created a great story to keep our close friends from making plans that evening. She told me her mom was coming in and wanted to do dinner with all the girls. This was a brilliant story but it almost backfired! I just about begged Tyler to just switch our date night by one night so that I could partake in the activities while Whit's mom was in town. Tyler had to fight hard and finally convinced me to keep our plans as is (so funny now!)

The evening started with dinner at Square One, a charming little restaurant in Downtown Bryan. This is also where we went on our first date. Dinner was great and the wine and conversation were flowing as usual. Afterwards, we were very quiet in the car (unlike us) and Tyler drove straight to Research Park (also where we spent our first date). We got out of the car and casually walked to a bridge where we'd shared many important talks before and while we were dating. Tyler told me that ever since our first talk there, if we were to have a relationship, it would be the forever kind. He told me he knew God put me in his life and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Then he said "Will you marry me" and "can I put this on your finger?" (a very valid concern since we were standing on a bridge over water) I cried and cried and finally blurted out "YES!"

We headed from there back to my precious college house (shared with the best girls) and into a huge surprise! Everyone I loved most dearly was there and it was so touching. I will never forget the feeling! We rang in the celebration with champagne, hugs and good times. I knew from the second Tyler and I started dating that I wanted to marry him, and my dream was coming true :) Such a sweet memory!

The Cake from Hell Continued...

The cake was actually delicious and made Tyler's birthday dinner festive and fun! Maybe it wasn't such a disaster after all :)

The cake from hell and Happy Birthday Tyler!

Well today is my sweet hubby's 26th birthday! It's hard to believe we met when he was 23. Time flies! So, as a sweet gesture, I thought I would give Tyler 3 choices for his homemade birthday dessert. I also needed to redeem myself for a birthday dessert gone wrong last year (there seems to be a trend developing). Tyler loves lime and lemon desserts and so he went with Paula Deen's lemon cake. I have made a few of her desserts before and felt up to the challenge. To start, the recipe calls for creamed butter. Naturally (after much effort) I was able to pull out our stand mixer (the thing weighs 50 pounds). I put the butter in and what do you know? The stand mixer won't work. I tried everything I could manage, and no luck. Keep in mind this appliance was a wedding gift, and is therefore just over a year old. I then moved on to our hand mixer. I quickly realized I was in way over my head with this recipe. The recipe has three different parts which each have their own ingredients (for example: 2 egg whites and 8 egg yokes.) When it was all said and done, one of the cake layers wasn't done all the way, the frosting wasn't thickening and the filling was too runny. Ah, perfect!

So, sweet Tyler came home to a very distraught me and had to attempt to rescue the day. I'm pretty sure all of the cake parts were finally done and ready by 11pm. One small problem. The cake itself is supposed to be cooled by the time everything gets assembled. I said the heck with that and had the cake assembled at close to midnight. I wasn't quite sure if I needed to laugh hysterically or cry. Hopefully the old saying stands true; 'it's the thought that counts.'

I'm so glad I live in a modern age where I'm not always expected to be perfect and put together. I'm also thankful that I have a very patient and understanding husband in Tyler. Needless to say, I won't be attempting a recipe quite like this one any time soon!

And finally, here is what the cake should look like and here's how it turned out:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!!