Two Awards! Wow!!

This post finds me behind in the blogging world because I should have seen this weeks ago; however, for some reason, I didn't realize I had been given an award until my blogging friend Allison clued me in! I even read her post and STILL missed it! Aaahh I feel sooo bad!

So to Allison... first of all, I'm sorry for not seeing sooner; second, THANK YOU for the award; and third, I'm glad you didn't decide to take it back because I didn't accept it in the first place. ;) If you haven't chekced out Allison's blog, A Glimpse Inside, you should definitely make time to do that! Let me tell ya, she is one talented girl! I started following her when she first started her blog and look how many fans she has now!! Yay for Allison!

Alright, so on to the award:



As I've said, Allison at A Glimpse Inside gave this to me. I now have to share 10 interesting facts about myself. I am "stealing" some from an award that I just posted about yesterday, and I will add a few new ones.

1 - I am the oldest girl in a family of nine children! I have six brothers and two sisters: three older brothers, three younger brothers, and two younger sisters.

2 - I love going to the gym and exercising, but I hate to be there alone. I get bored!

3 - I'm married to a man who helps with the dishes. Isn't that awesome?!

4 - I only went to public school for about six weeks in the 7th grade; the rest of my education was through homeschooling (til 2nd grade) and private schools.

5 - I'm a Military baby. My dad was in the Army for 13 years.

6 - If I could meet one person, it would be Nascar driver Jimmie Johnson... hands down!

7 - I love to shop! There's nothing else to add; that says exactly what I want it to. :)

8 - Pizza and spaghetti are two of my favorite meals!

9 - I can't stand not having all the pieces to Caden's toy sets in their "homes" (all the balls to his crawl and cruise jungle, all the tools to his Handy Manny book in place, all the shapes to his cookie jar shape sorter, all the monkeys in their barrel... everything has a place.). My husband says I'm OCD. :}

10 - I regret not going to college right out of high school... but am happy that I did finally go!

And now to pass this award to some blogging friends of mine:

Jaimee at The Accidental Crafter
Kathy at Mimi's Mini Tales
Jane at Designing Lady Jane
Donene at Easy Peasy Grandma
The Unorganized Housewife
Rox at Everything Else I Love

Working, Painting, VBS, Painting, Vacation, Painting....

You get the picture! Those are the reasons--well some of them anyway--that I've been MIA posting since my shelf redo over a week ago! I'm happy to say that my kitchen is coming along, slowly but surely, and I have reason to believe I am going to LOVE it when it's finished! :}

Also added to that list is the sudden death of a friend/practically-family-member's mother. :( It breaks my heart to see her hurting. I can't even imagine what she and her family are going through! Please keep this family in your prayers.

Hopefully, I will be back posting more often in the next week or so! Thanks for sticking around!

I Got an Award!!

I received this award a few days ago, and I am sooo happy to accept it!! My mother-in-law gave it to me from her blog, Mimi's Mini Tales, which is about her two grandchildren (my son Caden being one of them and her daughter's daughter being the other). She's been blogging for over a year now, and I don't think she'll be running out of post ideas any time soon with these two!

Madison and Caden


Go check out her blog when you get a minute!


There are a few rules that come with receiving this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person that gave you the award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass the award to at least 4 fellow bloggers who inspire you.

4. Let them know about the award.

My seven things are:

1 - I am the oldest girl in a family of nine children! I have six brothers and two sisters: three older brothers, three younger brothers, and two younger sisters.

2 - I love going to the gym and exercising, but I hate to be there alone. I get bored!

3 - I'm married to a man who helps with the dishes. Isn't that awesome?!

4 - I only went to public school for about six weeks in the 7th grade; the rest of my education was through homeschooling (til 2nd grade) and private schools.

5 - I'm a Military baby. My dad was in the Army for 13 years.

6 - If I could meet one person, it would be Nascar driver Jimmie Johnson... hands down!

7 - I love to shop! There's nothing else to add; that says exactly what I want it to. :)

And these are fellow bloggers that I'm passing this award to:

Brook at Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Lori at Nitty Gritty Pretty

Danielle at Hookable Designs

Ginger at SSB

Karie at Karie's Chic Creations

Before and After Yard Sale Shelf

I picked this shelf up a few weeks ago when I was driving through town and saw it at a yard sale. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with it but actually thought to myself, "This will make a great before and after project!" That's what blogging has done to me. Lol. I paid $4 for it. When I got home, I saw the Pottery Barn sticker on the back with an original price of $29.99, so I think I definitely got a good deal! It needed to be cleaned and even had a few scratches but nothing major... and nothing spray paint couldn't fix. ;)

So here is the before:

I'm in the process of redoing my kitchen, so it didn't take long to decide that's where it's going. I cleaned it, sanded it lightly to rough it up a little, and then painted it black. It looked tons better but was still kinda plain so I measured and cut squares of scrapbooking paper then Mod Podged them to the back.

And here is the finished product:

And a close-up of the paper I found at Hobbly Lobby:

I looove the way it turned out! And it's going to look even better hanging on the wall with a few red pieces I have to display on it (I'm waiting until the kitchen is done before I show that).

Thanks to the ladies hosting the parties I'm going to link to:

Super Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

I haven't had a whole lot of time to blog this last week. Besides "normal, everyday" life, I was out of town with family and have now begun painting and redoing my kitchen.

For the Fourth of July, my husband (Brett) and son (Caden) and I, Brett's sister and her husband and daughter, and Brett's brother and his girlfriend all joined his parents for an overnight stay at the beach that is about an hour and half from where we live. We left Saturday morning and met them at a park on the island; we played games and grilled out til check-in time at the condo. We all took different foods (meat to grill, bread, condiments, chips, desserts, and drinks) to share. I made some brownies, cupcakes, and cookies. The cupcakes, I'll probably blog about later so that I can tell all of you about my new--and, yes, awesome!--cupcake carrier! =) Anyway, these cookies were THE easiest batch of homemade cookies I've ever made! The recipe called for a total of three ingredients!!

Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

Mix all ingredients together. Shape into balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until done.

These pictures are actually of the very first batch that I made (before our beach trip for a going away party). I'll admit that I was doubtful with only those three ingredients--no flour or baking soda, no butter, nothing else. But I was pleasantly surprised! For the second batch, I pressed a chocolate Hershey's Kiss into the center of each cookie right when I took the pan out of the oven. I liked them plain too, but the Kiss made them that much better! And I didn't take a picture. :(

Next time, I think I'll try them with chocolate chips, chocolate drizzled over them, or half dipped in chocolate. Any other ideas besides or in addition to chocolate?? What else goes so good with peanut butter though?! :)

Thanks for reading!
I'm linking to these parties:

Menu Plan Monday

I always try to plan my weekly dinner menu--now that doesn't mean it always goes according to plan!--and shop around it, but now I've decided that I want to display it, too. Only problem is, I don't have anywhere to display it right now considering my kitchen is TotAL dIsArRaY since beginning the redo last week (but yay for making progess!). I've seen so many cuuute ideas for menu boards! Now I have to figure out which idea I'll go with in my NEW kitchen. So no menu board officially, but I'm still going to participate in Menu Plan Monday. When I fix my board up, I'll be sure to post a picture; it just may not be until after my kitchen is finished. :}

Monday – broccoli beef stir fry over rice, egg rolls
Tuesday – smothered pork cubed steak, mashed potatoes, green beans
Wednesday – (trying a new recipe today) chicken casserole, lima beans, macaroni and cheese
Thursday – jambalaya, green beans
Friday – sloppy joe sandwiches and fries

Thanks to Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie for hosting!

*Cute* Baby Wipes

Just wanted to share a little project I finished today...

I got the idea from the tubs of baby wipes that now come with designs on them--from polka dots to stripes to Winnie the Pooh--but I wanted something to match Caden's room. I mixed some scrapbooking papers together and Mod Podged them onto the tub then added Caden's name in another coordinating design. I do love the way it turned out!

Doesn't it match nicely?! It is setting on his changing table mat here.

I'm thinking a "decorated" and personalized container of wipes along with some diapers and other baby changing essentials would make a cuuute--and useful--shower gift!

Linking to a few parties:

As always, thank you so much for taking time to read and for any comments you leave!

Happy 4th of July!