The Big Cheese

Sept. 1st was a fantastic labor day weekend.  Matt and I celebrated in the great state of Wisconsin, witnessing and participating in dear friends exchanging vows!  The food was great and the memories were better :)

 Someone forgot a jacket for the chilly plane ride, 

so someone had to purchase this fashionable SA find.

 tray tables are for eating, not sleeping Mateo

 The Black Sheep!

 The blushing bride!

... True Story

 So glad the Ratcliff's made the trip

Nursing school BFF's

Ba-Buy Brown Thumb

With the help of my lovely friend Gayle, our yard is being transformed. Unfortunately, I am Brown-Thumb-Betty and have no gardening skills whatsoever. At work I help save lives. And now at home I am helping to keep these guys alive...

Our sad little corner

before Gayle worked her magic

Some new friends to compliment our

beautiful ivy growing up the fence :)

Presenting our deck, hanging basket,

lime tree, marigolds and more!

Trist and I enjoying the fruits of our labor.

After all, He did help by trying to eat

the Jasmine ivy I pulled from the garden.

Thanks Gayle for a lovely house warming present! I appreciate your efforts in teaching me to have a green thumb. And I am taking so much pride in our new yard (and watering frequently, don't worry).

How you like them handles?

"Well, I'm gonna paint my front door red and change my name to Elizabeth Arden"... so in spirit of channeling my favorite movie Steel Magnolias, I created some curb appeal. I am not a huge fan of the color red, but I do love our red door. And while the door was already painted red when we moved in, I wanted to make some further changes. I used the advice of these great folks to refinish the front door hardware and ordered vinyl numbers from Etsy to replace the ones on the side of our house.

Here's before (numbers on the side

of the house and ignore the fact that I already

removed the old hardware from the front door)

Another Before shot

My weapons of choice

The old brass hardware

(I pierced the hardware through an old box

and it made the painting way easier. Plus, put

a housekey in the knob to keep it from getting

clogged with paint junk)

Loving the dark hardware against the red door

Our new address

*Disclaimer (Our door was cleaned and the surface

was probably too slick for the vinyl numbers.

I plan on trying to apply another vinyl set or

just painting the address

on the door to make the address last longer.

**Putting the locks back together was a task in itself.

Matt and I felt pretty clueless.

When I was taking the hardware off at the beginning,

it quickly came apart...

so I wasn't sure what pieces went where.

Ta-DAAAAA!

Home sweet Home

It's hard to believe we have already been in our home for 2 months. And thanks to Pinterest our house is really starting to feel like a home. We have really been trying to take our time decorating and allowing ourselves to get a feel for the space. Plus, we are no millionaires and decorating can be an expensive endeavor. Here's what we got so far...

Finished painting the guest bath and...

Ta-Daaaaaa!

Entry way.

We are still trying to decide on

window treatments.

I modeled the guest bedroom based off the color

scheme of this...

Thanks Pinterest!

I fell in love with this Nate Berkus lamp

So I made 2 for the master for less than the

price of 1 Nate B design!

The original kitchen

Updated with an above range micro and new

knobs for the cabinets. It's getting there!

Owning a home has been such an incredible experience so far and we feel so blessed for this space! Decorating is fun and all, but we truly want God to use us and this space for his glory.

God is gooooood

It's only the 16th of January and God has already done so much in the new year. We are in the process of finalizing the paper work on our first home, which literally blows my mind. Our offer was accepted, inspection is done, and now we just have to have the sellers accept the amendments from the inspection.

We fell in love with this home from the moment we walked in. It was a little more than we wanted to spend, but after much prayer God opened some BIG doors to make it happen. Thru God's grace and some family member's blessings we are able to put down 20% and have cash to cover closing costs, inspection fees, appraisal fees, and get a few things we need (fridge, washer/dryer, additional couch, etc.). I have truly been blown away by our friends and family being so willing to help by offering furniture, advice, prayers, etc. Thank you, you know who you are :)

We are set to close on Feb. 2nd and I cannot wait to move in and start this new adventure...

And I guess reading those design blogs all these years is going to pay off. Thankfully I come from a long-line of crafty, DIY ladies so vamping up this home with be a piece of gluten-free cake.

New Year, New Adventures

Happy New Year!

Matt and I rang in the new year watching Friends episodes and going to bed promptly after a midnight kiss :)

2011 was amazing...

-We celebrated 2 years of marriage

-I graduated a BSN program (in 15 months)

-I passed the NCLEX

-I started my job in SICU

-Our pup turned 2

And we are confident 2012 will be equally as amazing. Here's what we have on our hearts for this next year...

-Matt starting a graduate program for his Master's in Education at Our Lady of the Lake University

-Moving into our first house (we have been financially pre-approved and our realtor is in the works of finding a casa perfect for us).

-Matt turning the big 3-0

-Matt's truck being paid off...Holla!

God is good and we know 2012 will be full of blessings!

Tatted up

I-heart-tattoos

Don't ask me why, but i do. Done the right way i think they are such a beautiful expression of art. I have 2, both on my foot and if i were more wild and had a higher threshold for pain i would totally get a 1/2 sleeve. i don't see myself getting anymore any time soon, but if i had kids i would have to think about something like this...

Here's my swollen willow tree the night I got it.

(My maiden name in Spanish means willow tree)

My hubs also likes tattoos. He has a B-wing ship from Star Wars on the right side of his ribcage, Ezer Kenegdo on his ring finger and this on the left side of his ribs...

I just Can't do it Captain

First I just wanted to show this screen shot I saved...

I was reading a craft blog this am and came across this ad from Nordstrom. I laughed out loud because I recently bought both of the above items (except my poncho is in hunter green). Way to go Nordstrom advertising!

Anyways, early this am I got to thinking about things I can't do, but wish I could...

1. I can't sleep through the night without getting up for a potty break (this point started the mental list at around 630am).

2. I can't speak more than one language fluently (this is sad because my dad is bilingual!!!)

3. I can't eat wheat (sometimes a girl just wants a hamburger...with the bun)

4. I don' t think I can still zip my wedding dress (to be fair, this might not be my fault. Thanks to undiagnosed Celiac Disease I was Skele-tor at my wedding)

5. I can't really get any volume to my hair (my hair is so fine and I just wish there was more of it)

6. I can't run a marathon (my joints are real bad...again, thank you to Celiac disease)

7. I can't play a musical instrument (Matt plays the guitar so beautifully and both his parents play piano. Such a beautiful gift)

8. I can't pass a sale without stopping to buy something (this one I am working on)

9. I can't deny my sweet tooth (I'm an absolute sucker for sweets, ba-dum-shhh)

10. I can't name all the capitals in the good 'ol USA (but I can do all the states in alphabetical order)

Catch-up

Soooo I passed my nursing boards, holla! And I started working where I externed during school. Shout out to SICU at Main Methodist Hospital. I am scared every second of my shift at work, but a good scared. I know I have an important job having people's lives in my hands. And even in the "not-so-fun" moments I am loving my job and feel so honored and blessed to be in this place in my career.

Also, Thanksgiving has come and gone... How did that happen so fast? I love the food and family combination and I ate my little heart out. Matt and I took Trist for a Thanksgiving morning jog-walk and discussed all that we were thankful for. And there is a LOT we are thankful for this season. He is our portion and we are MORE than blessed.

Okay now some Random-ness...

Remember when this girl got engaged?

Well, she moved back to Cheese-ville and

I miss her like crazy.

But, I will be visiting her next Sept...

for her WEDDING...

bc I am a BRIDESMAID!!!

My dad bought me an awesome Michael Kors

black leather jacket for Christmas. And I plan

on wearing it like this :)

Matt's mom has also been wanting to make us

a quilt for quite some time. I am thinking

something like this!

One person I am especially thankful for is this man.

He is my best friend, my hubs and my leader.

Thank you Jesus for Mateo!

What's on the Menu?

Enjoy...

Caprese Pizza

(Fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil)

Green Chicken Enchiladas

with homemade rice

I've deemed these "brookies" (cookie dough

dal-loped in brownie mix).

Thanks http://www.hastenhaus.com/

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding

YUM!

And a doggy treat for Tristen as well!

What's on the Menu?

It's been a while since I've posted anything about food. Yes, our kitchen is working. And yes, we have been eating.

The Waite's love us some Fish Tacos.

This time I added shredded cabbage

and a sauce (avocado, lime, cilantro

and greek yogurt in a food processor)

with homemade rice and beans!

Corn fritters with dill and feta,

topped with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

These accompanied chicken cilantro burgers,

but I forgot to take a pic.

French Onion soup with a homemade

cheesy crouton. Yum!

GF Strawberry Shortcake cookies!

SO SO SO good!

Well, I don't know how those got into the cart

but I can tell you they made clinical

a lot more manageable!

Oh. My. Fluff. This was amazing

PB ice cream with caramel clusters,

swirls of PB and marshmallow fluff.

Here's to You Dad

Consider this a Father's Day post, with a twist. My father and his girlfriend came over last night for dinner. I made pulled BBQ beef sandwiches, topped with coleslaw and homemade french fries. While we were finishing up Tristen, being the hyper-being he is, jumped up to catch his toy and instead knocked a burning candle off a piece of furniture. WAX WAS EVERYWHERE!!! It splattered all over our carpet, melted down my antique piece of furniture, dripped down our wall, and all over my sandals and Justin's new pair of shoes. What a mess!

But, oh wait... Here comes Dad to the rescue (MacGyver himself fails in comparison to my Dad's bank of knowledge). Apparently in his Catholic alter boy days he would frequently get candle wax on his church robes and would use an iron, with a piece of cloth in between, to soak up the wax from his robes. Who knew?

Part of the disaster

Putting the hot iron and paper towel method

to the test!

Ta-da! Seriously, this blows my mind.

Apparently Dad knows best!

I'm thankful I have been the recipient of a plethora of his knowledge over the years. My dad has also supported and encouraged me in whatever I am doing. I'm a true believer that women can get a better or worse picture of who God is based on the impact their fathers have had on their lives. I know how much my Heavenly Father loves and cares for me because I first felt that from my earthly father. He has always treated me like a princess and always tells me I am the biggest and best thing he has ever been a part of. I love that even as an adult both of my parents are so quick to take off from work to accompany me to a doctor's appointment. I'll never forget that ways they have both sacrificed for me, and I hope I am able to do the same for my children. Love you Dad, and Happy Father's Day.