Leaving on a jet plane...

I may have mentioned a time or two that I love to travel. I've shared my trip to Key West, and our amazing California Coast vacation with you all over the last few months. Well friends, I've got a big vacation coming up reeeaallly soon. I can't disclose when or where I'm going just yet, but I'll fill you in on this much: it's a multi- country trip, I get to see my hubs, and it's good...real good.

I'm super excited for this adventure, but I have to tell ya- I'm having difficulty keeping my cool. Care if a vent a little? For starters, I am taking off the last two weeks of the school year. Closing out the school year is a pain in the patoot and leaving my kiddos before summer arrives gets me a little worked up. Worse than leaving my kiddos, however, is leaving my beloved pups. It's almost too much for my heart to bear. Yes, I know dogs have no concept of time, and yes, they are in great hands, but I'm crazy. Plain and simple.

Lastly, preparation. Oh, the horror...

Would you agree that successfully packing the right about of clothes, toiletries, shoes, other trip necessities all while leaving room for souvenirs should qualify for some sort of prize? Oh right, this is all while keeping things under 50lbs. Clearly a man has set this weight. As of right now, my bag is confidently weighing in at 36lbs without shoes and toiletries. Can I get a 'heck yea' for small sundresses?

I'm doing my best to pull myself together and stay solely excited for this trip and to see my love, but my stress ball self is roaring it's crazy head! Breathe, Trish, just breathe...

Do any of you have any great vacation plans coming up? How about any great packing tips? Does this post give you the urge to sing John Denver?

                                                              All my bags are packed...I'm ready to go...

long overdue

I've been off the blog scene for quite a bit. With working full time and preparing for that dear hubs of mine to leave for a long deployment, life got busy. For the months leading up to Paul's deployment, I wanted to dedicate every single second to my husband and living our life (and completing house projects!). The blog got kicked to the curb.

But, I missed chronicling our life and house projects, and I missed  you, my blog friends. So, here I am. Truth be told, I actually had many people asked why I stopped blogging. The idea that people actually read this and wanted me to continue was a very happy surprise.

It's been a few weeks since Paul left for deployment and I am back to acting as a "single" mom to my adorable pups. The responsibility of caring for the the house, yard, and life are left for me. And, to be honest, I don't really mind. I actually like having everything in my control- it's the type A in me. But, Paul leaving wasn't all sunshine and roses. I spent the first two days of deployment a little weepy and on edge. Being separated from my husband for over half a year is a daunting idea to carry around.

On day three I woke and said myself, "Trish, you have to get through these next seven plus months whether you want to or not, you may as well live and enjoy this time." Since then, I ended the one person pity party, pulled on my big girl panties, and have faced deployment with a positive attitude. With the school year coming to an end, lots of girlfriends, and an upcoming two week European vacation (more on that later), life is pretty darn good.

I look forward to sharing my life and house with you again, and hope you'll stick around to read about it!

My new hobby

The lack of posts lately is quite reflective of my current state. When it comes to our house, I've been uninspired, lazy, and have no motivation to take on any projects. Lord knows there's plenty to do! I've been focused on myself lately. Daily workouts and staying on top of my eating habits have been eating up all of my time...pun intended :)

Though I haven't done much in the house, I've still been a bit crafty. I had an idea that I wanted to make felt flowers. Sometimes a girl just has a need to use a glue gun. After research and finding some tutorials and inspiration here, here, and here, I was ready to make some flowers of my own. I decided to put them on a little girl's headband and give them to my neighbor (who is also student in my class). After an hour, and a 2nd degree glue gun burn- oops, here is my final product. Please disregard the Droid pics that were taken in my classroom:

And there they are! They're fun, cute and super easy to make. I just wish I was young enough to pull them off :)

Puppy love

 Check out my sweet puppies this morning.

This just warms my heart. Wishing you a fabulous Sunday!

What's Cookin' Wednesday'? Skinny Girl Edition

Hello Friends and a happy Groundhog's Day to you all! Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow today so here's to an early spring arrival. Can I get a heck yeah?

It's my favorite time of the week again and I can't wait to see what you're all cooking up, so with no further ado...

http://enjoythislifeofours.blogspot.com/

What's Cookin' Wednesday is my blog hop that mixes two of my favorite things: Cooking and gaining new followers. I get so tired of making the same recipes over and over again and I am looking to you, bloggy friends, to help spice up my kitchen. Here's how it works:

1) Must be a "This Life of Ours" follower to join
 

2) Blog about what's for dinner in your house or share an old post with a recipe that you love!

3) Scroll down to the bottom of this blog post and click on the link to enter.

4) Post your recipe (with the title of your blog) and you're ready to go!

5) Every Sunday night I will (try to) make one of the entered recipes and blog about it.
(entries must be in by 12:00pm on Saturday)

And here's what I'm cooking up this week:

California Style Scallop Quesadilla

(serves 1 really hungry girl)

This is a recipe that I made up this week that stays in program with Weight Watchers (remember my muffin top?). I started the program about two weeks ago and I can't tell you enough about how much I LOVE it! I hardly feel as if I'm dieting at all. This recipe is 10 points but is super filling, tasty and easy to make!

Ingredients:

1/4 red bell pepper chopped

1/3 small avocado chopped

1/8 red onion chopped

1 small mango chopped

2 tbs cilantro chopped

1 la tortilla factory tortilla

1/4lb scallops

lime juice (to taste)

1tbsp fat free sour cream

How to:

1. Put all veggies and fruit (minus avocado) and lime juice in a pan and cook until heated through

2. Cook scallops on a skillet (about 2 minutes per side

3. Put tortilla on pan and cook until slightly golden, flip and put cheese on top

4. Add scallops cooked veggies and avocado to tortilla. Close and cut

5. Use remaining veggie mix for the side dish.

6. Top with sour cream

Delicious and easy!

So, what are you cooking up this week?

Ready for rest, relaxation and romance

I have probably shared that the hubs will deploy for seven months later this year. Before he goes, we want to take a vacation. We love to travel and think vacations are very important for a marriage. In August we vacationed down the California coast, and while it was an incredible trip , it wasn't relaxing. This time around, we want to go the all inclusive route and trade our sightseeing shoes for flip flops and bathing suits. We want to eat, drink, relax, and spend quality time until our hearts and bellies swell. Kinda like this...

 

All photos via weheartit

I can feel the sun already. 

We're not quite sure where we want to travel this time around, so I'm asking for help from you, my lovely blog friends. Costa Rica seems to be calling my name, but we are open to other destinations. We've already visited The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Aruba, and Mexico so we would like to travel somewhere new. My only requirement is that the hotel is an incredible all inclusive resort, with amazing food, beaches, rooms, and pools. Please, please, please, share all of you wonderful vacation knowledge- we need it!

PS- Don't forget to visit my girl Meg over at Life of Meg and join in on her Mingle Monday. You won't be sorry!

What a find!

I've never won the lottery, or any major prize for that matter, but, after this weekend, I think I know how those lucky ducks feel.

Ever since we bought our Sumner table a few months back, I've been vying for a white bench in lieu of two chairs. I love the concept of a dining table with a bench. It tones down the whole "formal" eating vibe and brings a casual, welcoming feel to the table. The problem with benches is that they're expensive. I'd had no lucking finding anything I remotely liked for under $500 smackaroos.

Prior to this weekend, our seating situation consisted of  curbside treasures and local thrift shop finds for $10 and $15 a piece. They are all ladder back chairs and are white and different shades of natural wood. I love the idea of chairs that go together, but aren't part of a set. The eclectic look adds interest, texture and variety to what can be just a "blah" table set. Never mind the fact that the chairs that go with our table are over $300 a pop! No, thank you.

I mentioned last week that I was looking for new throw pillows to match my new living room shades. I headed over to TJ Maxx (have I mentioned how much I LOVE that store?) in the search of some pillows but, came up with nothing. As I was walking out of the store, in the corner of my eye I spotted something. When I realized what it was, my jaw dropped.

As though it was sent from the decorating gods themselves, there, in the middle of the furniture section, was a bench that was EXACTLY what I'd been looking for over the last four months. Rush top, white, distressed, seats two. Literally, the most perfect bench that anyone I had ever seen. The pricetag? $130. I could not believe it and used all of my might to quickly carry the bench to the cashier.

Don't you just love those finds where you don't even have to hesitate to purchase because it's so perfectly and exactly what you need? It doesn't happen often, but when it does...sweet, sweet victory.

I brought my glorious find home and placed her at the dining room table. She is perfect, gorgeous, and everything I ever wanted. Kinda what the hubs thinks of me :)

And here she is:

What do you think? Have you ever had a purchase that was so perfectly perfect that you just couldn't believe it? I'd love to hear!

The Real Slim Shadey

A few months back, the hubs and I decided that our living room needed an update. It was a bit too neutral and needed a new hue. Ever since the addition of H2Ahhh (dontcha just love that name?) to our living room, something has just been off. For a while, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, and then it hit me. The curtains that had once complimented our oh so neutral living room, were now detracting from the new color and the new windows that were installed back in November.

For the last two months, I lived with the curtains, but they were slowly wearing me down. They needed to go. I wasn't quite sure  exactly what I was looking for, but just like I found my sweet husband, I knew that when I stumbled upon "the one" I would just know. Can you tell I'm missing him these days?

Last weekend, in search of the perfect fabric, I headed to the local fabric shop to peruse the aisles and came up with zilch. I was feeling defeated until I headed to the rear of the store to the higher end fabric that I can't really afford. And this is where I got lucky. I nearly squealed with excitement when I found "the one" for $22.99/yard and found that it was 50% off. I was sold. Hook, line and sinker. Sure $11 a yard was still a little more than I wanted to spend, but I was too head over heals in love with this fabric, I just had to have it.

I'm such a sucker for florals...

At the register checking out, Lady Luck struck again. When the cashier rang up my five yards of floral gorgeousness, I thought the total seemed a little low. What should have been around a $65 purchase was $33. I figured everything was just on super sale. It wasn't until later that I realized the cashier had only charged me for two of my five yards of fabric. Score!

Sidenote, when this happens to you, do you speak up, or just get super excited inside and pray they don't notice? My rule of thumb is:

If it's a big chain store, I get super excited inside. If it's a mom and pop shop, I speak up. 

Don't judge.

Anywho, I got the fabric home and quickly began to iron my new shades...

Yes you heard me, iron. I'm a girl that owns a sewing machine but I don't know how to sew. At all. Here is the tutorial on how to make them, and the inspiration is from Thrifty Decor Chick.

It took about three episodes of Dexter hours to make and hang my new window treatments, but I now have three gorgeous shades in our living room that cost a mere $6.20 each. Amazing! What do you think?

And for those of you that like the side by side before and after, this is for you:

Now that these shades are up, I realize how heavy looking the old curtains were. I had no idea that they were pulling down the whole room! These new shades are just what I needed to brighten up and give the living room a face lift. I just love the open and airy feel. I can't wait to accessorize the room to match the new curtains! I'm on the hunt for a new throw, and throw pillows.

What do you think? Are you a fan of shades or did your prefer the old curtains? Have you ever gotten free merchandise due to cashier error? Did you speak up or take the money and run?.

Bathroom Renovation Part Four: Womp, Womp, Womp

Well hey there strangers! It's been nearly a week since I've posted anything. Please excuse me. With report cards due Friday, my new workout routine plus Macie's dog training class (we'll touch on those another day) and the fact that I'm hosting nearly 20 people for our monthly OSC (Officer's Spouse Club) meeting on Saturday, I'm wiped. Oh yeah, I've also taken on making new shades for the living room, felting headbands, and some other general redecorating and crafts. I'm exhausted just typing it all...

But, my dear bloggy friends, I have some bad news... 

Our bathroom is not yet complete. And the hubs is gone for a month. I could cry. Cue the violins.

Due to a last minute broken tile saw, and the wrong sized nipple (the faucet's not mine thankyouverymuch!) we've been delayed. I could probably finish it alone but I want to do it with the hubs. We started this together, and will finish it together. Plus, I think I'm just a smidge over this project. However, I do have some updates to show you. Care to see?

The last time I showed you the bathroom, it looked a little something like this. No lighting besides our floor lamp, no sink, and, most importantly, no commode.

These days, we have a mostly functional restroom and a complete floor. I have to tell you, I am LOVING it. The vanity is about 6 inches narrower than the one we took out and it makes our teeny tiny bathroom feel so much larger. A wise choice on our parts, if I do say so myself.

As for the shower, we have two of the three walls tiled. They're simple and classic. We're very happy with the results. If you take a look at our unfinished third wall, here's what's holding up our entire bathroom remodel.

The pipe that sticks out of the wall and into the faucet is called a nipple. This stinkin' nipple has made it very difficult for us as our faucet will not fit onto it. We have to get some expert help to advise us and, luckily, I have a friend coming over tomorrow to help. Once this problem is solved, we will be able to tile around it. Don't you just hate uncooperative nipples?

So there you have it, the progress that's been made in the bathroom. Luckily, we have two showers so our out of commission shower has not been too big of an issue. 

Next update you get will be the final reveal. Let's hope it's much sooner than later!

What's Cookin' Wednesday'? Lazy Girl Edition

How's it going lovely friends? If you haven't noticed, I've revamped What's Cookin' Good Lookin' a bit. I have a new title and a brand spankin' new button that I made (Thanks Ms. Meg for teaching me how!) I hope you are cooking something great up this week- I sure am... well kinda! 

<center><a href="<a href="http://enjoythislifeofours.blogspot.com/">http://enjoythislifeofours.blogspot.com/</a>"> <br> <img src=" http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b364/gonavypr4/apron-1-1.jpg " border="0" alt="Mingle 240"/></a></center>

What's Cookin' Wednesday is my newly developed blog hop that mixes two of my favorite things: Cooking and gaining new followers. I get so tired of making the same recipes over and over again and I am looking to you, bloggy friends, to help spice up my kitchen. Here's how it works:

1) Must be a "This Life of Ours" follower to join
 

2) Blog about what's for dinner in your house or share an old post with a recipe that you love!

3) Scroll down to the bottom of this blog post and click on the link to enter.

4) Post your recipe (with the title of your blog) and you're ready to go!

5) Every Sunday night I will (try to) make one of the entered recipes and blog about it.
(entries must be in by 12:00pm on Saturday)

Here's what I "cooked" up tonight...

Banana Fluffernutter (BFN)

via

I understand that a BFN is not exactly cooking, but we're looking for delicious recipes right? No one ever set the rule that you have to use an oven, microwave, stove etc. for it to count. Don't judge me. If you've never tried a BFN, you really have no idea what you're missing. Please hop on the bandwagon now. 

Here's what you need...

Peanut butter (I prefer creamy)
Marshmallow Fluff
1/2 banana
2 pieces of bread to your liking (We use honey wheat).

Here's what you do...


1. Smear your desired amount of PB on one side of the bread
2. Smear your desired amount of Fluff on the other
3. Slice the banana fairly thin and put pieces on sandwich
4. Close sandwich and cut (I prefer diagonal :)
5. Eat, and wonder how you've lived this long without a BFN.

Do you have any favorite lazy yet delicious meals? I'd love to hear them! Can't wait to see what you're cooking up this week!

PS- Please grab my button if you participate to try and bring new friends. Let's make this recipe swap grow!

Three Little Birds...

Somewhere in the midst of our bathroom renovation, traveling to New Jersey and a big snowstorm, my keys have gone a missin'. We searched for weeks but, with each passing day, the hope of recovering my keys dwindled. It was time to take action. It was time to make a new set of keys.

Coming to terms with the fact that my keys are gone proves quite sad for me. You see, I have an attachment to an enormous diamond key ring that my mom gave to me when I got engaged. Tacky? Yes. Sentimental?  You betcha. Though the hubs and I have celebrated three wedding anniversaries, I’m still attached to that rock. But it’s not only the sentimental loss that I’m feeling. I also lost my jump drive that contains the contents of my career (it’s backed up in three other spots so that’s not a huge issue) and the extra clicker to my car; an $80+ value. 

I don’t have much experience when it comes to getting keys cut. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had a key made. So when I went to Home Depot to get the key made, I was pleasantly surprised. Did you know that you can keys made in all different shapes and sizes? Keys come in more variety than just plain old silver and gold. I could not resist the temptation and made the $4.78 splurge on this:

How stinkin’ cute? The three little birds remind me of the Bob Marley classic and the bling pays homage to my long lost “diamond” key ring. I smile every time that I look down at my keys. It’s funny how something so silly can brighten my day and I can’t help but sing in my head “don’t worry, ‘bout a thing…cause everything little thing is gonna be alright…”

Isn't it ironic?

Oh bloggy friends, I need help. I had a whole post ready to go about cleaning tonight, but I've had to change directions because of this:

I'll explain...

You see, with the bathroom renovation (I know, I'm over it too) our house is a mess. No, let's take it a step further, our house is a dis.as.ter! I couldn't take it any longer and, since the hubs is flying late tonight, I decided to forgo tiling and grouting for sweeping and dusting.

For two hours this evening, I deep cleaned the downstairs of our home. Baseboards, chair rails, microwave, everything. It sparkles! I was just getting ready to sit down, eat my lean cuisine and relax, when the unthinkable happened.

As I was removing my gourmet dinner from the microwave, I spilled a good amount of the sauce on the stove top and down the front of the oven. It was rather annoying, but I quickly began to wipe it, until I realized it wouldn't come off. The sauce somehow managed to spill in between the two glass doors. Oh, the horror....

I can't figure out how to remove the glass, or if it's even possible. Help! Have any of you ever been in the situation? Any ideas? Or do you just find it ironic that I had a whole post about cleaning prepared and now I'm begging for tips...irony at it's finest!

Speaking of cooking, have you participated in What's Cookin' Good Lookin' this week?  I can't wait to see what you're cooking up! Feel free to bring a friend or two!

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

Hello lovely bloggers! Are you snowed in like much of the country? Perfect time to get cooking on a brand new recipe don'tcha think?

What's Cookin' Good Lookin' is my attempt at a blog recipe exchange. I get tired of making the same things over and over again, and am looking to my blog friends to help spice up my life...in the kitchen. So please participate in this recipe exchange in return for some great recipes and new followers!

<center><a href="<a href="http://enjoythislifeofours.blogspot.com/">http://enjoythislifeofours.blogspot.com/</a>"> <br> <img src=" http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b364/gonavypr4/blogbutton.jpg " border="0" alt="Mingle 240"/></a></center>

Here's how to join:

1) Must be a "This Life of Ours" follower to join

You can follow by clicking on the "follow" button over there ------>
 

2) Blog about what's for dinner in your house or share an old post with a recipe that you love!

3) Scroll down to the bottom of this blog post and click on the link to enter.

4) Post your recipe (with the title of your blog) and you're ready to go!

5) Every Sunday night I will make one of the entered recipes and blog about it.
(entries must be in by 12:00pm on Saturday)

***For extra super cool bonus points, please put a link to What's Cookin' Good Lookin' in your blog post to help get more bloggers and recipes to join! Our kitchen's are about to get a lot more fun!***

*** If you try a recipe, please comment and let us know how it was *** 

Thank you for your participation and sorry I didn't make one of your delicious recipes this week. I hope you forgive me. This bathroom has us booked up the wazoo. We are at work until 5ish each day, come home, and work until 10-11 on the bathroom. I kid you not. I'm exhausted!

We took a break Saturday night and I had the chance to make a delicious meal which was inspired by Many Waters Pot Pie. I'm going to go as far as to say that this is one of the best meals I've ever made. For reals... 

So, with no further ado...

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuit Crust

This recipe is from www.food.com (my favorite site ever). I made it as is except I substituted the carrots for peas and mushrooms. This isn't a very healthy recipe, but for a once in a while winter meal, it hit the spot.

What are you cooking up this week? 

 

"That's what she said"

Being a kindergarten teacher, it's not often I get to write "like a grownup." When I began this blog, an objective I set was to use this blog as an outlet to write in a grown up fashion. This post does not reflect that goal.

One of the hubs and my favorite TV shows is The Office. We own every season and have watched each episode countless times. Often, we use Michael Scott's (a main character of the show) coined phrase "that's what she said," when referring to something of sexual or ridiculous nature. This proves no differently for our bathroom renovation. Over the last two weeks, the hubs and I have spent approximately 50 or more hours locked in our 5 x 8ft closet of a bathroom. We've needed some comic relief.

The following are actual instances to which we've added Michael Scott's famous quote. If you're easily offended, I would stop reading right about now. If you're open to crass and childish humor, get on it (that's what she said):

" It's too big."   (that's what she said)
" I swear it fit last time." (that's what she said)
" I can't get a good grip on this." (that's what she said)
" Why do I feel like the hole changed sizes?" (that's what she said)
" Oh my gosh, it's spraying all over me." (that's what she said)
" Come on, give it a good whack." (that's what she said)
" If you want it to work you have to do it harder than that." (that's what she said)
" That's not straight at all." (that's what she said)
" I can't get it in." (that's what she said)
" It's so hard to screw this. " (that's what she said)
" It's still too soft." (that's what she said) 
" I'm so tired of being on my knees." (that's what she said) 

And, our personal favorite... 

" Just get on top of it and push really hard." (that's what she said)

I hope you get a kick out of these as much as we did. I know it's silly, childish, and immature, but it has kept us entertained over the last two weeks. Plus, I know we're not the only ones there tossing out the ole' "That's what she said." Are you guilty as well?