House Tour!!!

Hey Everyone!
We FINALLY closed on our house Wednesday at 2:00, and I must say, we are VERY excited!!!  Right after we closed, I took some pictures of the house to use as our "before" pictures for all of the transformations that will be taking place in the coming months!

How about a little tour, so you can see what we are working with :)?



(So...I've been working on this post for about 3 days, and my computer keeps overheating and passing out, so this is not the whole tour!  Sorry!  Hopefully, I can start working with just a few pictures at a time!!)



The outside is definitely not very exciting.  I have been known to say it is the ugliest house in the neighborhood:)  Not because it's so ugly, but our neighborhood is sooo stinkin' cute!!!




Front Porch.  It's a tad bit lopsided right now, and we don't know exactly what we are going to do with it as far as making it beautiful, but I love that it's so big!  I think some fabulous seating is definitely a necessity!!




Living room




Beautifully wallpapered formal dining....NOT!




We have big plans for this room! :)

 

Lovely office/future nursery.  One of my FAVORITE rooms in the house!  My mother-in-law and I actually hugged the first time we walked into this room together....lol.  And that is how I knew, this house was "the one."




Master Bedroom




Master Bathroom.  Imagine all of those walls knocked out (along with the lovely murals)!  I hope we get to do it, as it is in our long term plan, but not necessarily in the 3 month plan:)  Hopefully we have leftover funds, so we can do it!!!  Even if we don't knock the walls out, we are still painting...so don't worry!




The island getaway that's in our very own basement!  Don't worry, it is coming down!  This is the wet bar and the dining area in the basement.



Basement Living Area




Jack and Jill Bathroom...in basement.  It is connected to two bedrooms and the hall.  Also, each bedroom has it's own vanity area.  How fortunate for our future children!!  :)




One example of a basement bedroom.  I just love all of the light!  It doesn't even feel like a basement!




The Backyard:)

 Like I said, this isn't every angle and room of the house, but it's a nice teaser!  As you can see, there is a lot of work that needs to be done!  We see definite potential in the place, and I hope, that as time goes on, you can see it too!

Have a great day!

Annoyed Yet?

We are buying a house...promise!  If you're not annoyed with my meaningless updates, you can be assured that I am!  Sorry.  I feel like I'm "leading you on!"

I've been hesitating to update on the house because everytime I open my mouth, something changes!!  I don't think this is a false alarm, though.  At least, I hope not:)

Earlier this week we were given the appraised value of the house (after renovations), which determines how much our loan for construction will be, and is one step closer to closing.  It was good...real good, and we are thrilled:)  Now that the bank has this bit of information, they have all they need to finalize the loan.  We are supposed to close next Wednesday!  I was about to say it is only 2 weeks later than our first closing date, but that is not true, is it?  It is months later, because of that silly little hold! (I'm going to stalk my own blog, because I don't remember when our original date was.  I knew this thing would come in handy!  Ha!)

When I think about it, it could sound like the process to get this house was a real pain in the rear, but it was actually the opposite!  We were definitely a bit anxious to get the house (still are) but it has definitely been bearable, and we see so many benefits to the way things worked/are working out!  Don't you just love looking back at life and realizing that YOUR plan was definitely not the BEST plan?  I do!  I also love how everything just falls into place.  De-lightful!

I can't help but wonder why I am so blessed when I am sooo completely undeserving.  Every time Wes and I receive news on the house, we are just amazed and humbled (because, for some reason, the news just keeps getting better and better).  It's really a rare opportunity, and we have not doubt that it is God given!  We feel like all along the way we have been getting His confirmation that we are following Him with these decisions.  His timing and His plans are perfect, and we thank and praise Him for that!!

WhoooowhooooWednesday!

I'll be relaxing until then:) Ha!  (I'm affffffffraid of all that work!!!)

I hope your eyes are opened to see the goodness and the grace of the Lord today!!!

Easiest Dessert Ever!

I think it is so funny that people think I cook frequently and immaculately.  I rarely try new recipes (I love it when I do, though!).  I often make up my own, non-gourmet concoctions with whatever I can find in our freezer and pantry...and a lot of the time, I don't even like my own creations.  Also, most of the foods Wes and I eat at home come from a box.  Tonight was jambalaya night.  Let me tell you, we LOVE our jambalaya...and tuna helper:)

If I try a new recipe, I am cooking because I want to.  Every once in a while, when I'm cooking because I want to, I come across a super easy and inexpensive recipe.  I commit those recipes to memory for emergencies, like unexpected company...or over-procrastination:)

This is one such recipe.  I made it after my freshman year in college for my dad and I when my mom was visiting Korea for the summer.  It is sooo good!

Peach Cobbler Dump Cake

2 (16 ounce) cans of peaches in heavy syrup
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter
ground cinnamon.

Preheat the oven to 375.  I sprayed a 9x13 inch pan with PAM, but I don't know that you really need to.  Pour both cans of peaches into the pan.  In a separate bowl, melt the butter.  Mix the cake mix and the butter until the butter is evenly incorporated (you want it to be very crumbly).  Spread the cake mix-mixture evenly over the peaches, and sprinkle with cinnamon to taste.  If you struggle with the whole "to taste" thing, I would recommend about 1/2 teaspoon.  Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is a bit browned.

Note:  I've seen recipes that say to spread the cake mix over the peaches, then cut the butter into small pieces and spread the pieces evenly over the cake mix.  I'm sure that works great too, I just do it the other way:)  Also, you can use cans of pie filling instead of peaches.
Eat it warm with a big scoop of ice cream!  It is so delicious and homey, and takes 5 minutes or less to prep!  Also, I almost always have the ingredients on hand!  Can't beat that! 

So there you go!  Now go buy yourself some peaches and a cake mix!  It will pull you through in a bind, or warm you up on a cold day!  You won't regret it...I promise!  (unless you're on a diet, or are extremely healthy...then you might!  ha!)

Have a great day!

Happy Birthday, Tiffany!

Today is my sister-in-law's birthday.  (Here's a picture of her and her precious family)

Pre-cious.  As you can see, she has her hands full!!

She is a wonderful friend, and a graceful mother.  I know graceful is an interesting way to describe motherhood, but I know that raising 3 boys 3 and under is not an easy thing.  She does such a great job with them, and makes it look like a piece of cake! 

Speaking of cake...



I made her one...



It was a tiramisu cake, so I made it into a giant coffee cup:)

I had an absolute blast making it.  It had been so long since I have had the opportunity to make a cake, and I really missed it.  I seriously smiled the whole time I was decorating it, despite the fact that I started it at midnight!  Ha!  I got the recipe here.  I was trying to make it semi-healthy/low-cal, so I made the sponge cake with splenda (with fiber.woot!), and bought low fat and fat free cream cheese (I doubled the recipe).  However, on my iphone, the measurements and the ingredients didn't line up.  I thought there were only 4 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream.  When I started making it, I realized I needed 2 cups!  Ahhhhh!  There goes any hope of being healthy!  Oh well, I guess it was better than it could have been!  The whipped, creamy filling was to die for!  I would totally make this cake again (it turned out fine with all of the lower fat/calorie changes I made).    If I were to do it again, I would make a change.  In case you want to make it, here it is;  the recipe says not to soak the cake in the coffee mixture.  It says to brush it.  I was afraid the cake would fall apart when I decorated it, so I did just brush it.  Next time, I will use the most possible without drowning it, or use a more moist cake. Also, for the coffee liqueur, I used really, really strong instant coffee.  It worked great!

Because the cake had caffiene in it, Wes and I bought some non-caffienated cupcakes for the boys, so they would actually fall asleep at nap time:)  (You're welcome, Tif!)  It was great because they thought I made them, and they loved me for it!  I know I'm totally taking credit for Price Cutter's creations, but it makes me feel special, so I don't really care:). 

Jaxon, the cutie pie middle child, LOVES cupcakes!

He melted me today.  I don't have pictures of everything that happened because I couldn't get my camera ready fast enough, but it was so adorable.  We looked over, and he had stuffed his mouth with a whole lot of cupcake.  It was on his hands and face and all over the floor.  BaBa (grandpa) rushed to fix the messy situation, created by his abandoned love for cupcakes.  It drew too much attention to the poor little guy.

 He got SOOOO embarrassed to be caught in that situation.  And everyone was laughing because of his absolute cuteness.  He kept squeezing his eyes shut...because kiddos that young think the world can't see them when they can't see the world.

 Look at him!  (I'm dying inside with compassion and love for this precious kid!)  He's like, "I can't believe this is happening..."

 Poor, sweet child couldn't handle it anymore.  The second he was clean enough, he fell into BaBa's arms...

He needed a huuuuug!

I talked about that little incident all afternoon.  My fabulous husband listens to me when I share my re-occurring thoughts to him over and over and over again.  :)  He's great.

I know I write about my nephews all of the time, but I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!!  They are CUUUUUTE!  :) 

And for the birthday gal:

Tiffany,

I hope you had a fabulous Birthday!  You are a great friend, and I'm so glad I've gotten to know you!  Your family is precious to Wes and I, and I am inspired by the way you mother your babies!  (As you know, mothering babies is intimidating to me right now...and you, my friend, impress me!)  I hope someday to be as compassionate and loving to my kiddos!  :)

Love Ya!!

P.S.  If you know Tiffany, she has a blog too!  It can be found here.  Eric, her husband (my husband's brother) writes some entries.  They have a crazy full life, as you could  imagine with 3 boys, so they have lots of entertaining things to write about.  AND if you read it, you might fall in love with my little nephews too!  I am NOT a partial aunt.  At least, I don't think I am...  :)

Have a great week!!

So. Close.

The holiday season is over!  I look so forward to the holidays every year, but this year I am thankful they are over!  Don't get me wrong, I had a blast, but this traveler is weary.  This shopper is spent.  This party goer is pooped.

I came...

My mom and my sis at Grandpa and Grandma Woemmel's house for Thanksgiving

 I saw...

Sunset on Venice Beach in Florida.  (Stewart Family Vacation)

I conquered...


I had my Christmas decorations up and down in a timely manner!

 (And there you have the only 3 pictures I have of myself the whole season....well...not quite.  But close!  It's the downside to being the camera girl!) 

Since Thanksgiving, we have visited my parents twice, gone to Florida and Texas.  I feel like all I do is pack, drive, PARTY, drive, unpack, ridiculous laundry, re-pack, drive, PARTY, drive, etc....with the occasional stressful shopping trip and mini-party at my place. 

I'm tired.  I miss my routine...

Sigh...

teheheehee...

Actually...

Those aren't the real reason why I am excited the crazy festivities have come to an end.  They aren't the real reasons at all.  If you know me at all,  I bet you can guess why I'm glad.  I mean, if you have been around me even once since...say...October, you know what's on this chick's mind.

WE CLOSE ON THE HOUSE NEXT WEEK!!!

Let me tell you, I am beyond excited for the day to get here! It's like I am in some sort of purgatory-in between 2 crazy great things!  The excitement from the holidays has left me feeling a tad bit antsy.  I'm sure I could find things, but I don't really want to start new projects either.  Mostly because I fear I won't be able to finish them before we get the house.  Basically, I'm trying my hardest to just rest because life is about to get very hectic...for several  months.

I will say, Wes and I have been doing a few things to prepare here and there.  For example, we picked out our kitchen appliances (JOY!!!) and I refinished these chairs for the kitchen:

If you look closely you will see stains on the fabric, and the wood is just a little worn and sticky looking.


I got the chairs and a table from my parents for free.  I think my dad bought them off of craigslist for about $75 for my parents' temporary home.  I don't think my mom liked them.  I like the style, but they were icky.



LOVE IT!!  I know the transformation isn't that dramatic.  In person it is a bit more noticeable.  The chairs are darker and shinier.  It looks fresh!




Lovely fabric!  I wish I could get more!  I bought a remnant at the FM store for $5.  It was just BARELY enough to finish all four chairs!  I'm so glad I had enough!


Now she wants them back!  I simply sanded them a bit and added a couple coats of tinted glossssssy polyurethane and new fabric to the cushions.  I love them!  I almost feel like it is unfair to show them in a corner rather than the fabulous kitchen that is in my head.  Haha!  Someday you will see what I see.  Someday.  I wanted them to be really dark, but after 2 coats and not a lot of change in color, I decided I am good with  them the way they are! The table has a few more imperfections than the chairs did (which is why the momma disliked them so!)  I plan on filling the scratches and sanding it this weekend.  Then, it will be painted the same cream color as the trim and the cabinets.  We will actually paint the table at the same time we paint the cabinets, to save time and effort.

The time is coming.  I am excited.  Until that time comes, I am going to relax and get as much alone time with my hubby as I can!  He's a very focused man, so, though we will be together a lot when we are making the not so beautiful house into a gem, I have a feeling it won't really feel like we're spending tons of time together.  I will definitely miss our Saturdays when we sleep in until 10:00, and lay on the couch watching house flipping shows until noon.  However, it's kind of neat because instead of watching other people's projects and dreaming of our own, we will actually be doing it for ourselves!

8 Days!!!  (unless the bank needs more time...which it might:)) Yay!!!

Have a lovely day!!!

Pictures from this week that make me smile...

I must admit, I am dissappointed in several things related to photo taking and the new camera.  First of all, I am dissappointed that I haven't been taking advantage of opportunities to take good pictures because I'm too busy enjoying myself (which...I guess can be a good thing.)  Secondly, I still don't know how to use my camera very well.  There is a learning curve, I hear, but I haven't tried very hard to learn.  bleh!  And thirdly, I can't find an easy to use editing program.  Every one I have found so far is awful and slow!!  The program the camera came with doesn't open jpeg files, and if you take the pictures in RAW format, you can't see thumbnails on the computer, so you are just guessing when choosing a picture to edit.  Also, the RAW pictures won't open in my photo viewer on my computer because Canon hasn't developed a codec for Windows 7 yet.  I just can't win!!!  grrr!  (update:  and now my computer overheats about every 15 minutes and shuts down! yippee!!) 

Anyway!  Enough with the complaining!  I have taken a few I like this week...they make me feel all warm and cozy!  Honestly, they have personal sentiment and will probably mean nothing to you, but I will share them anyway!  (Most are completely unedited because I am nearly completely out of patience!  Photographers, don't judge!)



My shoes. Wes's shoes.  :)



Zane's first Christmas program!  Look at that little tongue sticking out.  Ahhh...what a cutie!!  and that girl to the right of him is the essence of precious.  I think she should be a kid super model:)



Most delicious chicken pot pie.  It is a snap to make and Wes and I cannot get enough of it (so I always make a double batch for just the two of us!  The recipe can be found here.  Don't forget the velveeta!!



Last night we had a Christmas Party for the high school girls at church.  We had a lovely spread of snacks and drinks thanks to Amber, Chelsey and Chloe:)  They made beautiful, fancy things!!! 



This is the girls playing mafia.  We had a gift exchanging game, and Amber gave a short, but wonderful message about the condition of our hearts and our attitudes towards God using a portion of the Christmas story:)

I love this season!  Something about the cold weather and focus on Jesus absolutely melts my insides and makes me want to hug people:)

House Update!

Hey People!

First of all, I must say, I have SO MUCH to write about!  hopefully I can get to it all eventually!  Life has been crazy (and looks like it will stay that way for as far into the future as I care to look!)   I've been computer-less for a while, so now that I have it back I hope to blog like mad! 

Anyway.  I thought I'd get this crazy good news out of the way.  We are (once again...lol) under contract for that house.  A while back I wrote about how the house was on hold because of the new forclosure laws that congress passed.  Sometime last week the hold on our future home was lifted!  When the process was halted, we had just gotten a home inspection with some not so great news.  Because of that, when we were able to resume the process, we lowered our offer to reflect the additional repairs that needed to be made...and they accepted!  How simple!  I've never been through this whole home buying process before, but it was far less intense than I expected!  (I give you permission to laugh...all I had to do was daydream and fall in love with the house and sign a few papers...my husband is the man and did all of the mathy calculations and loan stuff.  He's so great at that!)  We close January 13th!

In the end, I'm thrilled and so thankful how everything worked out.  We truly believe God had is hand in it for so many reasons, but I won't ramble about them on here.  I know how wordy I can get, so I will spare you!  However, I will say, we are ridiculously blessed in so many ways.  It is humbling because we are so undeserving.  Why is God so good to us!?  I don't get it...but we are genuinely grateful, and continuously in awe.

We are now praying:
1.  We are able to sell our new house by April.  I hope around April (I'm sure Wes hopes sooner), so we don't have to move to a "temporary home."  oh how that would suck!
2.  Everything with the loan goes smoothly.
3.  We devise a great plan that is most cost effective and efficient to get the house refinished.
4.  The refinishing process is peaceful and exciting instead of stressful and torturous.  (you know...things run smoothly...Wes and I don't kill each other, etc.)
5.  The ministries we are involved in don't get the shaft when we are so busy.
6.  That we can use all of the space in the new place for God's glory alone!  We have so many dreams about how we can use it to reach out to others, and share the love of Christ with them! 
If you feel moved to join us in prayer, we'd love it!  :)

I am so excited to share the progress on our house with you, and I can't wait to see the before and after pictures!  They are sure to be intense!  haha!

Have sweet dreams tonight.  I know I will! 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!