I'm back!

I am finally ready to start blogging again. A lot has happened since I left off and my world got a little crazy. Here's a brief recap to catch us up to today:

We bought a house (actually in June, but I couldn't find a picture from back then)

With a pool :)

We had a baby in July, and she's beautiful :) 

 She grew really fast!

 Currently, she's almost 9 months old and is into EVERYTHING! 

Will this turn into a mommy blog?  While I'm sure there will be some adventures shared from my new life as a mom, I do still enjoy doing projects so my main focus here will be those. I'm excited go get back in the swing of things and start crafting/cooking/DIY-ing all over again.

What happened to the photos in the previous posts? During my hiatus, my blog domain expired and so did my hosting package. Unfortunately, all my photos were hosted on a different server and that's why you can't see the photos in the majority of my posts. I will slowly start trying to fix these broken links and re-upload the photos, but in the mean time, I had rather focus on posting fresh content. 

Welcome back! I look forward to hearing from you. 

...and then there were three

It's been a little while. I didn't even get a single Christmas post out. With our house STILL for sale, my Christmas decor was minimal so I didn't have much to post. This Christmas was a little different for us, I didn't break out any fancy recipes, actually, I hardly cooked at all. You see, I've been sick a lot lately, but not without good reason...

We are excited to announce that we will be welcoming our first child July 2014!

We are excited, nervous, and incredibly grateful all at the same time. If you read our story back in August, you will understand just how much of a miracle this little blessing is. (EDIT: I just noticed the date of this linked post, I didn't even know that I was actually pregnant while writing it!) In April of 2013 we were told that I didn't ovulate and began fertility treatment. After suffering from an ectopic pregnancy in August, we were going to wait six months until we started back with the treatment. To our surprise, two months later by the Grace of God, we conceived naturally. I've been sick a lot but it reminds me that baby Adams is still there, growing and with a strong heartbeat. Every passing day is a small victory and we can't wait to meet baby Adams in July!

DIY Metallic Pumpkins

On a recent trip to the mall, my friend Jen and I were drooling over the festive fall decor in Pottery Barn. I love the look of the metallic pumpkins that adorn their perfectly set tables, but I don't love the price tag. As beautiful as the mercury glass pumpkins are, we knew we could come up with a solution that gave us the look we were going for without the hefty price tag. We bought foam filled pumpkins and squash from Hobby Lobby, the Dollar Tree, and Walmart  and a few cans of metallic spray paint (we used Krylon).

I accidentally chipped one, oops! Don't worry, you can't even tell now.

We spread them all out on a drop cloth and had a spray paint party. We ended up doing two coats on most of them; one all over coat, and one light touch up coat.

I couldn't be more excited about how these turned out. They may be my favorite Fall decor. They are definitely the least expensive!  This is a huge improvement over the fake orange color they were before. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Apple Pie with Cinnamon Whipped Cream Topping

I love Fall. Here in Alabama, we don't get very many seasons. If you ask my husband, we only get two, football season and baseball season.  The seasons we do get aren't very consistent but we do get Fall and it's my favorite.  Alabama has a beautiful Fall. The leaves are pretty, the weather is nice, and the southern comfort food just can't be beat. One of my favorite comfort foods is apple pie. Nothing beats fresh apples, cinnamon and nutmeg all baked nicely in a crispy crust. This particular Apple Pie came from my  husband's great grandmother's recipe. I changed a few things to keep from giving away a sacred family secret ;) but the pie(s) turned out great!

This year, we spent Halloween (or Reformation Day in our family) with some dear friends over dinner and dessert. This pie topped with a dollop of cinnamon whipped cream was the perfect Fall dessert.   (CONFESSION: the whipped topping was actually supposed to be ice cream, but it never froze so we threw it in the Kitchen-aid and whipped it instead. Happy mistake. It was delish!)

I started out with a store bought crust. I'm sure back then, DH's great grandmother made her own pie crust. "Ain't nobody got time for that!" The Pillsbury pre-made crusts were still good. Next, I pealed and sliced 3 Granny Smith apples and tossed them in a dash of lemon juice. The lemon juice really seals in the flavor of the apples, but don't get too carried away. Then spread the slices evenly in the pie crust and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of sugar and drizzle with approximately  1/2 of the butter.

Next, mix the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter until it begins to crumble. Lightly pack the mixture on top of the apples, covering all the cracks.  Bake in the oven on 375 degrees for 35-40 mins or until the top is golden brown.Gather up a few friends, pour a glass of sweet tea, and serve warm with our awesome cinnamon whipped cream (recipe below)! Then sit back, relax on the back porch and enjoy the nice Fall weather, it will be gone before you know it.

Dutch Apple Pie

Ingredients:

3 tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp lemon juice
1 stick butter
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

Slice apples very thin and toss in lemon juice.
Place apples in pie shell and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar and half of the butter.
In a mixing bowl, combine remaining sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Work together until spread begins to crumble.
Pack spread evenly on top of apples, patting to cover all of the cracks.
Bake in 375 degrees for 35-45 mins (1 hour if you used a deep dish crust)
Serve hot

Cinnamon Nutmeg Whipped Cream

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup half ad half cream
1 egg yolk, beaten
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Instructions:
In a small bowl, beat the egg and set aside. In a saucepan, stir together sugar and half and half over medium to low heat until sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer. Remove the mixture from the heat and slowly whisk half the mixture into the eggs.  Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and stir in the heavy cream.  Return to medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Chill in the freezer until completely cooled. Using a mixer, whip on high until mixture becomes desired consistency. Refrigerate unused portion in a airtight container.

UPDATE: House for sale

A few months ago I mentioned that we were getting our house ready to go on the market.

We finally finished our to do list and it is officially for sale! So far we haven't had any viewings but we did list it just a few days before the government shut down. In a city like Huntsville, government problems really takes a toll on the economy.

Check out our progress! If you want to check out what it looked like before these updates. check out our home tour.

Outback: 

Some awesome guys from church came over and had a pressure washing party and really whipped the place into shape. It's amazing what a difference pressure washing can make

Family Room

Our Family Room was a bright yellow so we painted it a nice neutral. The pictures look two different colors, but in person it looks more like the first.  I do hate that our walls are so bare now but we didn't want to make new nail holes after it was freshly painted.

Dining Room

The Dining Room is definitely my favorite room. I love how it's come together. With the homemade curtains and the DIY trim, this room is really great.

Craft Room and Guest Bedroom:

The Craft Room and Guest Bedroom both were straightened up and made to look "livable". Nothing special here but considering they were both used for storage, they really do look much better.

Master Bedroom:

We updated the bedding and curtains in our Master Bedroom a few months ago to make it feel lighter and airy but no major changes in this room either.

We have loved our first home and really put a lot of hard work and made a lot of memories here but it is time to move on.  I can't wait for this one to sell so that I can start over with new projects in a new home!

Thanks for stopping by today.

John 1:3

In honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss awareness month, I'm finally publishing this post. 



"The pathway is broken, and the signs are unclear, and I don't know the reason, why you brought me here; but just because You love me, the way that You do, I'm going to walk through the valley, if You want me to."

In high school, I sang and played this song in church quite often. The thing is, in high school, I didn't know how dark the valley could be. Sometimes life isn't all cupcakes and corndogs and the sweeter side of life is a little hard to find. I promised when I started this blog, that I would always be real.

The first of August,  my husband and I found out that we were expecting our first child. We were very excited but we knew there were problems from the start. After my first appointment, we found out that my progesterone was at a critical level. A sustainable pregnancy must have a progesterone level of 12 or above. Mine was a 2. After taking supplements, we finally got it up to where it needed to be and we thought we were on the right track. We went for an  ultrasound at week 6 and the baby was no where to be found. As we waited in limbo for a few weeks, we began to sink further into a valley until our fear was finally confirmed, the pregnancy was ectopic.

As we prepared for surgery, we instantly began to see how blessed we are. Even though this is such a hard time for us, the love and support from our family, friends, and church body has been overwhelmingly helpful in our recovery, both my physical and our emotional. When I don't know what to pray, there is always a text or a call, someone praying for me, we will never be able to fully show our appreciation for you during this time.

As the days have passed and the weeks turn into months, it does get a little bit easier. The feeling of loss is replaced with comfort, knowing that we will one day see our child again in heaven. Feelings of despair are replaced with hope that comes from trusting that God has a plan that is better than we could imagine (this one is still harder to live than to say sometimes, but I'm getting there).

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month. I know that our lives will never be the same. Although we never saw our baby, we know that it was loved not only by us but by a host of family and friends, and for that, we are grateful.

"All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:3 ESV)

Football season is back! Alabama printable

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Football season is back in the South! Normally, I would have already had our home decked out in crimson and houndstooth, but since we are getting our house ready to put on the market, the Realtor has us "de-personalizing" our house.

I just couldn't go through football season without all the pomp and circumstance, so I packed some of it up and brought it to work. This is the first time that I can actually proudly display my school memorabilia because for the last 6 years I have worked for a different school. They don't really look too highly upon you hanging up other school's stuff in your office in the recruiting department.

I took a quick minute on my lunch break earlier this week to create this printable. It's formatted for an 8x10 frame. You can download it here.

More updates on project Sell This House soon!