Sad.

It's been a while since I posted. I've been in a funk for the past month and just haven't had much happiness in my heart to post anything. It's a sad story and I'm not emotionally ready to post what happened yet, but the short version - my sweet pitbull, Ali (Ah-Lee) of 9 years passed away a month ago. I've been a wreck without him. He was more than a pet to me and I'm taking his loss hard. He was my partner, my furry soul-mate...so my heart is hurting without him. When I'm ready I want to post some really great stories of him, of us and just express how much he meant to me. For now though, I'm just not ready. Animals leave paw prints on our hearts and when they leave they can leave such an empty space in our hearts..

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of ones soul remains unawakened"

I hope to get back into some posts soon...in spite of the sad news in our household we've also had some good news lately =)

Spring fever.

This happens to me every January...Christmas is over, New Years has passed and January is almost over. I'm growing tired of the cold weather and dark evenings and I'm daydreaming about Spring during my days cooped up in the house. I look outside and think about all the fun we'll have outside this Spring and Summer. I think about the plants I'll plant in my yard, the little section of the backyard I'll set up for the birds and of course the fun stuff for me and my son to enjoy! We wanna get him a play set and a trampoline this year. I wouldn't mind a pool too...but that may have to wait til next summer. We'll see! I know we still have to finish out this month and then wait out the month of February, which is a short month but always seems so LOOONG to me, but hopefully the Spring weather will hit in March this year just like it did last year! That is when I planted these pretty flowers last Spring. Winter, you've been fun but we sure do miss Spring!

Food!

One thing I looove to do is EAT & cook too =) Since I love to cook, I'm going to add more to my blog about cooking, recipes and food/drink ideas! One thing I've been eating alot of lately (for lunch) is personal pizza's! I've been addicted to one lately topped with alfredo sauce, a little ricotta cheese, sliced tomatoes, fresh garlic, mozerella cheese, cooked chicken, a little extra virgin olive oil and oregano! It's sooooo yummy! I was out of ricotta and didn't have chicken ready so I made up a new one today! It was pretty darn YUMMY!

I started off by preheating my oven to 425 and assembled my pizza on these yummy little flat breads. They're good for sandwhiches too!

For the sauce I used this pesto...soooo flavorful!

Then I tossed on some spinach....gotta make it healthy =)

Then I sliced one garlic clove and a few slices off of a fresh tomato...

...layered it all on the pizza, added cheese, drizzled with EVOO and sprinkled on some oregano and baked til the cheese was golden! Seriously...this pizza was so yummy and not too fattening either! My son even ate 2 pieces of it!

For my drink...I was craving an iced coffee, so I made one with my AWESOME Keurig coffee maker! My Hubby got me this for xmas and I am beyond impressed with it. I get an EXCELLENT cup of coffee every morning!!! I used the Green Mountain, Nantucket blend, Medium roast K-cup and filled my cup with ice...

Once it was done I filled a shaker with ice and the amount of creamer I like..I used Coffee mate's French Vanilla! I gave it a good shake and poured it over a glass of ice!

It made a perfect glass of Vanilla Iced Coffee and hit the spot for me!

My love bug.

It's after midnight & I am beyond tired but I just wanted to share this...I have the absolute best Husband ever! He just amazes me every single day. No lie. Something as little as him working from 4am til 6pm and coming in the door smiling ear to ear and giving me and little man (& the dog, of course!) tons of kisses & just being in a GREAT mood, just makes me feel so blessed! I can't say I'd be so happy after working that schedule every day. My Hubby is just a sweet heart, in so many ways. He's my other half and after 5 yrs of marriage I am proud to say that we've still never had a fight, he's still my best friend and I am absolutely, postively so deep in love with him! When I first met him I prayed SOOO hard asking God to make him mine...well he did, and not a day goes by where that man is not appreciated by me! I love you Dennis!!!! XOXO

& I can't forget to mention that I love watching him be such a great Daddy...

...to this little cutie of ours.

I have to have him!

Is this little guy adorable or what?! I've decided that I have to have him in my bedroom! Right now our bedroom is still pretty empty. When we moved out of our old house we sold the bedroom furnitre that we had because, well, it was just ugly and I didn't want to put such ugly furniture in our pretty new home! Ha! Anyways, I've got big plans in store for our bedroom and I'm collecting things slowy...slowy, because we've got a zillion other things to put money in to. Furnishing my Husbands office/man cave, curtains and blinds for almost 15 windows, rain gutters, landscaping, furniture for the front and back porch...the list goes on, lol. I can't wait to tackle our bedroom though! Back to the owl now, I found him on Anthropologie and I can't wait to order him! Hope everyone has a great night. XOXO http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?subCategoryId=&id=973385&catId=HOME-HARDWARE-SWITCHPLATES&pushId=HOME-HARDWARE-SWITCHPLATES&popId=HOME-HARDWARE&sortProperties=&navCount=255&navAction=middle&fromCategoryPage=true&selectedProductSize=&selectedProductSize1=&color=010&isSubcategory=&isProduct=true&isBigImage=&templateType=D

Magazine Inspiration

I subscribe to a few home magazines and I must say I'm pretty addicted to them! I loove flipping through the pages of these magazines and catching glimpses of beautiful homes and decorating ideas! Every now and then I try some of the crafty ideas myself...sometimes they turn out not so good but sometimes I'm glad I tried! Here are 2 of the idea's I've tried lately.

I've always had a love for old mason jars. I remember being a kid, finding some in my grandmothers basement and using them to hold hydrengea's (my favorite flower ever!) from her yard. I still collect them. I use them as candy jars, to hold sea shells, wine bottle corks and etc. A few months back I saw the cutest idea of turning a mason jar into a soap dispenser. I looved the idea and made one instantly. All I did was get my Husband to put a pocket knife through the top of the lid and I used the pump from an old dispenser that I haven't used in a while and BAM! I've got one cute dispenser that I love to look at and use everyday! Thanks Better Homes & Garden =))

Here's an idea I found in Country Living. I took major shortcuts here but it suites me and I'm pretty happy with it. Keep in mind, this isn't my "final result". This is just a first try that I did with a piece of computer paper, a pencil and a black fabric marker! Next time I will use a thin piece of fabric, and black paint.

The basic idea was to "trace" a photo and this lady actually stitched what she traced into the fabric and framed it for a beautiful piece of art! I have no idea to sew but I loved the idea so I figured I'd trace a picture that I love. All I did for this was tape my pic to the back door window with the light shining through, and traced! When I was finished I used a black fabric marker and gave it the stiched effect by drawing black dotted lines.


Here's the photo I chose. I'm absolutely in love with this picture of my son. He was about 11 months old, playing out in the front yard of our old home. This was just a couple of weeks before he learned to walk.

Here's is my tracing job! Some of the details I couldn't see, like his little foot back there, so I didn't even attempt it!

Here is what it looks like with the matting and frame. Once I do a final one, I will use a white frame and white matitng like they did in the magazine. It's just so simple & pretty that way.

So there's a few of my attempts! Now I'm off to finish painting my hallway which I started weeks ago! Hope everyone has a great week!

So today was a productive day! I am NOT a morning person but I set my alarm for 6:45 to wake up, get showered, read the paper and drink a cup of coffee before my little tornado woke up. Once he got up and I fed him we were off to get groceries. I spent way too much but we have a fully stocked fridge and pantry. Something is so gratifying about being well stocked with food! After a little playtime at home and some lunch we checked out a couple of antique shops just down the road from me that I've been curious about since we moved here a couple of months ago. So happy I went! I picked up a few great things and I soooo wanna go back to get a few more things! I got a solid teal stool, an awesome pale yellow vase, a vintage floral apron and a blue mason jar..I looove mason jars! They're cute empty, with flowers in them, filled with seashells and sharks teeth I've found on the beach, cotton balls in the bathroom...I just love them <3>

For now the stool is just sitting in the livingroom til I find the right spot for it or until I find a chair to go with it =) I filled the jar with seashells and sharks teeth...I have tons! I love walking the beaches here in NC. Isn't the vase gorgeous??? I looove it & the best part, it was on $12! What a steal! Our bedroom is pretty much a blank canvas right now. White walls and no furniture! YIKES! (we just moved in 2 months ago!) My plan is to paint the walls a pretty antique gray and I found a pretty quilt from Marshalls with a pale yellow in it. I'll have to post pic's once I start the room. Anyways, here is the vase against a sham from the quilt.

Oh, and Dennis wanted bubbles for the bath at the store today. He's never had a real bubble bath, so he asked for a bath this afternoon because he was so excited for the bubbles! He loved it!