What makes my heart happy...

It's been a sweet forever since I've updated this blog of mine. I'm a horrible blogger... I rarely post and when I do it's just a random assortment of thoughts. That's okay though because every now and then updating this piece of the world wide web makes my heart happy! :)

I like to occasionally update with products/things that make my heart happy! It's fun to look back on and see different things that I obsess over at different times of the year/seasons of life. Here's what is currently making my heart smile right now...

1. These flats! I mean, they are seriously one of the prettiest shoes I've ever seen. I can't wait to pair them with casual outfits..

2. I've been trying to do my nails at home more and save some $. This is THE best stuff ever. It works wonders on hands. I try to use it about twice a week in the shower. I just keep it next to my shower gel so I don't forget. Love, love, love it!! 

3. A couple of weeks ago I was ready for some spring bath goodies! I read about this on a blog and decided to give it a whirl. Holy smokes! Lemon Escape is my new favorite smell EVER! I have it in scrub, shower gel, lotion and spray.. Yep, I'm obsessed! This stuff is good for my soul...

4. These soft cargo pants from Target have changed my life. God really does want me to be happy! I bought these in green and black and I'm considering buying a second pair in each color... I want to live in these and I kind of have been. They look awesome paired with a cute wedge.. 

5. Bamboo's Smooth Kendi Oil is some great stuff! I'm loving this brand for hair products! I've been a Wella girl for almost 3 years, but Bamboo is becoming my favorite lately! I have the oil, shine brilliance cream, powder texture and the shine mist spray... Love, love, love it all.. so much!

What's making your heart smile lately? I'm heading into a six day school week. Yep, you read that right. We have school this coming Saturday. Here's to hoping for a lot of patience and laughter this week... Have a great week!

2014 Goals

Happy 2014! We had an amazing Christmas filled with a lot of family time + down time. It was so nice! I'd be lying if I said I was ready to go back to work. I've seriously only worked 10 days in the last six weeks.. It all started with a week off at Thanksgiving, 5 snow days and 2 weeks off for Christmas break. I feel out of my routine and even though I'm not ready... It's time for reality again.

Our big tree and fireplace this season. I will never tire of this view and you better believe that tree is staying up until the end of January!

Our New Years was great too. We spent the evening eating Mexican food and playing games with some of our friends. It was a great way to ring in the new year. I usually don't make any real resolutions that I remember and work on throughout the year. This year I have a few things that I've been thinking about and I know there are some changes to be made! I'd like to think of them as my goals for 2014...

+ Stop. Stressing. Out. I tend to stress over a lot of things in my life... I want to work on having peace with every aspect of my life. I need to let things go and realize at the end of the day I did the best I could with what I have and let. it. go.

+ Read my Jesus Calling book each day. I love this book and I read some of it last year but my reading was very spotty. Sometimes I read it, sometimes I didn't. When I went through spells of reading it each day, what I mentioned above improved. Funny how that works.

+Spend less money on clothes/shoes and save more for house projects, school, etc. I LOVE to shop. And I won't ever quit shopping. :) With that said though, I have A LOT of clothes/shoes. I want to be content with what I have and try to be more creative with my closet. Ty and I have a few projects up our sleeve for our house and the more we save.. the faster we can do those projects!

+Start a master's program. I'd love to start this in the Fall. Part of me dreads the idea of going back to school.. but, it's now or never! I choose now!

+Remember to always count my blessings and savor time with my family. I feel like the last couple of months my heart has learned a lot about being content and positive. I've learned how good I have it and I hope I always remember to stop and be thankful for the amazing people/things I have in my life.

So, there ya have it. My hopes and dreams for 2014!

Wish List

I'm on my sixth snow day and to say that cabin fever has set in would be an understatement. Yikes! I won't deny that the down time has been very nice. I very rarely spend a whole day at home.. I almost can't do it.. But when roads are covered in ice, I have no choice. It's been a nice change but the thought of all that's waiting to be done at school is taking over and I'm ready to go back. 

This year I've been doing most of my Christmas shopping online. There's nothing better than being in your pjs, wrapped in a blanket, watching a Christmas movie and shopping away! I used to hate online shopping, but now it's quickly becoming my favorite way to shop. 

I've put together a wish list of all things I'd love to give (all found online) this year! 

Let's do this...

1. Winter Hats

Nothing says happy winter like a beanie. Beanies make great stocking stuffers for the hat lover in your life! Click here for some of my favorite options! If they are embellished.. even better!!

2. Faux Fur Throws

Target has some great options that are affordable. Fur throws are chic and will add a perfect touch to most any room! I'd squeal this Christmas if I opened up a faux fur throw. 

3. Bath and Body Works Candles

These make my heart happy! I burn through them in about a week.. It's a problem. The first thing I do when I get home from work during the holiday season is 1. turn on the Christmas trees and 2. light a candle and turn on my scentsy. It instantly makes my house cozier. These make PERFECT gifts and they run them 2 for $22 always. An $11 gift? Yes please! 

4. Scarves

Gap's cozy scarves are the softest things you've ever felt. I put one on my list and I'm hoping it finds a way under the tree! If I'm buying for someone that's not my immediate family, I prefer to stick to stores that make things easy to return in case the person wants to exchange. Also, plaid is pretty safe because who doesn't love a little plaid in their life?

5. Pajamas

Every year I put a pair of VS flannel pjs on my list. In my opinion, you can't beat em! They are so very comfy, soft and hold up great! I have pairs from years ago that I still wear.. I actually put the pair in the picture above on my list. They come in precious prints and a variety of sizes/lengths. And at $50 a set... it's a great, affordable gift! They are also running a deal where you get a free pair of slippers with your pjs.. perfection!

6. Personalized Totes

I've never had a Thirty-One tote but I've seen them and they are great! Plus, everyone loves opening up something that's personalized. Get it monogrammed and it instantly adds a little something special! 

7. Bath and Body Works: Bath Products

This stuff seriously makes my heart happy! Even though it's a Christmas scent... this will be perfect all the way until March.. It's yummy, warm and cozy! Everybody would love to open up shower gel and body creme in Vanilla Bean Noel this Christmas. I keep a bottle on my desk and if I use it throughout the day, I'm guaranteed a FABULOUS day... 

8. Necklace

Please look at this Juicy Couture Pave ID necklace!! It comes in silver, gold and rose gold. This is the perfect necklace to layer or wear by itself. Juicy has all of their necklaces on sale and who wouldn't love a little juicy under their tree this year?

Happy shopping!!!

Updates + My Classroom Tour

Wow! I'm not even sure where to begin. Today we started our second week of school and to say that it's been crazy would be an understatement. Last week was chaotic and A LOT of teaching procedures but today I felt a sense of normalcy and calmness in our room, like we knew what was expected of us. Can I say that going from summer into the first week of school is BRUTAL. Even though it's brutal, we survived, we're standing on our feet and we will have a good year.

I thought it would be fun to give a tour of my classroom. I snapped these pictures on open house a little over a week ago. I was very pleased with how my room turned out this year.

I love for my class to be a welcoming, homey and safe place for my kids. On rough days, a happy, bright class makes all the difference in the world for my sanity (and the kids' sanity too, I'm sure). :)

Have a HAPPY week.. Only 4 more days until the weekend.

Favorite Recipe for the Grill

Happy Friday! Ty and I have a fun weekend ahead of us. My Nana and Pa will be arriving this morning and we will have them with us for the next few days. I'm excited to spend some time with them.. We always have a great time together. Nana and I are going to look at hardware for our cabinets and I hope we find something that we like!

Today I'm linking up with Kelly at Kelly's Korner for SUYL- Favorite Grilling Recipe! This was really easy for me.. We discovered these Green Chile Cheeseburgers a few months ago and have already made them several times! They are SO DELICIOUS.. you must make them! MUST!

Find where I first mentioned them here. We always have our green chile burgers with this!

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Now for a cabinet update- I have two coats of paint on the peninsula and I think they will only need two coats which is the best news ever. Up next, taking doors off and pulling drawers out... Here's where I start to lose my religion per the painter man at Lowe's. 

I'm planning on doing a post Monday or Tuesday with all of the products I am using... Stay tuned!

On another note, I go back to my classroom Monday to begin prepping for the school year. I am looking forward to seeing my sweet co-workers and meeting my new babies (okay, so not babies, but 2nd graders). I've been thinking about my class this year and I can't wait to see those precious faces.

I've gotten too used to summer and I hope the transition back into reality is a smooth one...

I hope you all have a great weekend and spend it with those who mean the most!

love, Darian

I started...

...painting the cabinets. Yesterday I decided that any day was as good as the other for starting the project. I jumped in the car and made a stop by Sherwin William's before beginning. I decided to paint the peninsula as a trial run. This way if we are unhappy with how it looks we haven't taken drawers/cabinet doors apart and we can call in a professional. Good idea, right?

Yesterday I sanded/deglossed and primed. I sanded part of it and then I deglossed part of it.. I'm going to compare which I like better.. but I don't think I will even be able to notice a difference. Deglossing is much easier!

Here's a picture of the primed peninsula ...

Ty and I also decided yesterday that wooden countertops are what we'd like to have eventually...

How pretty are those countertops? Do any of you have wooden countertops and what is your experience with them? I'd love to know!

Wish me luck as I'm off to paint the first coat...

love, Darian

P.S. Stay tuned for a post on which materials I chose to use!

Our Kitchen: Planning Phase

When Ty and I bought our first home we knew that updating the kitchen would be high on our to do list... Thankfully, all we really need/want to do is paint the cabinets and add hardware to them. Ideally we'd love to replace the countertops but that's not as high on the list. 

I originally thought we'd hire someone to paint the cabinets, but Ty has done several projects around the house that are much more difficult than painting cabinets... So, here we go, diving head first into a huge project that we will most likely wonder what in the world were we thinking... BUT.. It's fun working on your house together and there's nothing like accomplishing a big project DIY style...

First up, let me show you what our kitchen currently looks like...

(view from the living room)

There's really nothing wrong with it at all.. and, in fact, some people may prefer the oak/orange color but I have always wanted white cabinets.. always. The cabinets are in great shape. I really don't even dislike the countertops. I'd rather have granite but I think the light countertops and the white cabinets would look perfectly fine together.

Here are a few more pictures of our kitchen...

(our eat-in area of the kitchen)

Now for the inspiration pictures.. I tried to find pictures of kitchens that seemed similar to ours...

via

I love this kitchen tutorial.. It's a great one and I learned a lot of good information from this site.

via

I love the open cabinet concept... I think I want to leave a few cabinets open...

The cabinets labeled 1, 2 and 3 are the cabinets I'd like to leave the doors off.

I went to Lowe's yesterday and talked to one of the painter guys who offered up a TON of tips and ideas that encouraged me to tackle this project. He suggested that we use this instead of sanding the cabinets...

I've used this when I painted an end table, but I've never used it on such a large project like kitchen cabinets. Have any of you ever used this? Do we sand or use the deglosser? We have a sander so that's no problem to sand instead if we needed to.

I also found this hardware that I think would look amazing on the white cabinets. We kind of have a rustic feel going on in our eat-in kitchen and I think these knobs would look so cool and unexpected...

I love all of the options in the set except I wouldn't use the drop down pull for the kitchen.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has painted kitchen cabinets or has any tips to offer! What do you think of the ideas we have so far? I'd love to know! 

love, Darian

Rosemary Recap: Part II

Where to stay? You cannot go wrong in Rosemary Beach. Rosemary mainly consists of houses, carriage houses (these are smaller), and apartment like condos. Everything we have seen is very nice. We've stayed in a house, carriage house and two different condos... They all were fabby!

Where to eat? We always eat breakfast and lunch in the house... We buy groceries and find it makes things much simpler. We make it easy too... cereal, sandwiches, chips/dips, etc. This way everyone can eat when they get hungry and it's fast which is nice because we don't want to miss any beach time! For dinners we usually go out or get take out. BUT.. we go a little later than usual. We do not want to miss sunset so this puts us eating around 9 pm... My favorite place to eat in Rosemary is Cowgirl Kitchen. 

What to do? I'm really not kidding when I say we go to the beach everyday, all day. We get the beach service chairs which is something I highly recommend... It may seem pricey, but we LOVE having the chairs set up for us each day plus an umbrella- you just can't sit in the sun all day, all week.. we love having the shade of the umbrellas!

There are other things to do in Rosie too... Rent bikes, kayak, shop, get ice cream..... It's just the sweetest little place. 

What are your favorite places to vacation and what do you like to do there?

Rosemary Recap: Part I

Today I'm linking up with Sami from Sami's Shenanigans for a weekend/vacay recap!

Good morning, sweet readers! It feels great to be home, settling back into routine and writing on my blog. I never realize how much I've missed my home until I am back in it... there really is nothing like home. I also missed my sweet puppy so much.. He was so excited to see mommy and daddy. 

Ty and I spent the majority of our weekend in the car.. 22 hours to be exact. Yes, 22 hours! Are we crazy? I really think so. What should have been a 12 hour car trip turned into 18 hours.. I thought I would lose my sanity but I survived and that's a story for another day.

Instead of just a weekend recap, I thought I'd share part one of our vacation recap this morning. I cannot even tell you how much I loved, loved, loved our trip to Rosemary Beach, FL this summer. I know I've talked about this trip so much lately but it just is one of the best weeks for us.

Something about being at the beach makes me feel closer to God.. the ocean is so big and so powerful and it makes me feel so small.. in a good way. I love the reminder of how microscopic I am in comparison to the world... and how BIG our God is. The ocean also makes me reflect on what I've accomplished so far in life and causes me to think about where I want to be in the future... It's almost like I find myself at the beach each year.. Does anyone else feel the same way or am I crazy? Maybe it was that long car ride...

Anyways, I got to start my trip with this...

This would be a gift basket from my wonderful mom. She put these baskets together for us girls and it was the sweetest thing ever. She is the most thoughtful person ever and we LOVE her girly baskets! :)

We spent our days laying in the sun, eating yummy food, sipping pina colodas, watching the sunset and playing with my adorable first cousin who I love dearly...

  

Tell me, what would you like to know about Rosemary Beach/30-A in FL? 

Have a happy Monday! Come back tomorrow for Part II.

love, Darian

Checking In

Happy Friday!

What a week we have had... Beautiful days at the beach, delicious dinners and drinks, family time and simply relaxing all day long. Is there anything better than a week at the beach? I don't think so!

I had intended to post this week but that didn't happen. I will be back Monday with vacation recaps and a lot of pictures to show you all... I cannot wait...

For now, here's a picture of the moon on the water from this week.

Follow me HERE on Instagram to see more pictures from our trip.

Have a happy weekend and check back Monday for more vacation tidbits! 

SUYL - Freezer Meals

Today I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner for Show Us Your Life... This week is all about Freezer Meals.

I love, love, love freezer cooking. About a year ago, one of my best friends and I got really into freezer cooking. Every 6 weeks or so we would get together and cook all day long. We learned a lot of good techniques/recipes from doing this. Life got busy and we haven't had a freezer day in probably about a year... BUT.. life is so much simpler if you keep your freezer stocked with a few things. 

I think one of my favorite freezer ideas is simply cooking up meats. I would cook several pounds of ground beef and portion it into one pound servings (most recipes call for 1 lb.). This makes cooking so much faster if your meat is already cooked and it cuts down on dirty dishes.. just thaw your meat during the day and when you get home you can throw together your dinner.

I also liked to keep taco meat prepared in the freezer. Simply cook your ground beef like normal, add in taco seasoning, salsa and anything else that sounds good (black beans, green chilies, etc). When you have your meat finished, portion into 1 lb. servings. This makes for a super easy night... thaw your taco meat, grab some tortillas and make this guac!

Chicken is another great meat to freeze. I would either boil or bake chicken breast and shred  for casseroles, enchiladas, etc. I usually shredded about 3-4 breast and bagged them up to freeze. Tip: Pour a little bit of the chicken broth into the freezer bag of chicken and it will stay moist.

My next favorite thing to freeze is twice baked potatoes. I used this website for the twice baked potatoes and also tips for cooking meats. We baked our potatoes while cooking other meals and that saves time. When the potatoes are done, simply scoop the inside of the potato out and place in a large bowl. Once all potatoes are scooped, add in sour cream, cream cheese, butter, cheddar cheese ad mix. Fill each potato with the filing and wrap in saran wrap. I always stuck mine right into the oven frozen and baked them on 350 for about 20 minutes or so until they are warm.

A few of my favorite recipes that we cooked are MEAT LOAF MINI'S (which go great with a twice baked potato that I mentioned above), BLUEBERRY MUFFINS, Chili (just use your favorite chili recipe and freeze in containers) and CHICKEN ENCHILADA SOUP (just about any soup will freeze great).

One of the best things I learned was that SO many of my favorite recipes that I use regularly could be frozen.  Casseroles, soups, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, chili, twice baked potatoes, muffins, etc.... All of that can be frozen. 

I recommend this cookbook...

THIS website is a life saver!! It tells you how long you can store things in the freezer (it also tells you how long for the fridge as well). I have referred to this site many times.. Be sure and label your freezer meals/meats with the date.

I think that is about everything I know when it comes to freezer cooking.. Be sure and link up with Kelly at Kelly's Korner to share your favorite freezer recipes!

Have a great weekend!!

love, Darian

MAXI

Today has been filled with errands and last minute packing for our trip to Florida.

I ran into Old Navy to grab my Hubs a fedora for the beach (with no intentions of buying myself anything..none at all). BUT... I decided I would take a breeze through clothes and I was pleasantly surprised to find a maxi that I adore...

it's a little blurry, sorry!

I love the fit of this dress which is not usually the case for Old Navy dresses on me.. It's slim all the way down without being too fitted and it comes in five other patterns. I plan on wearing mine with nude sandals... possibly even nude flip flops for an ultra casual look at the beach.

I also see it it with my cropped, light denim jacket for a monochromatic look in early fall...

Grab yourself one of these maxi dresses before they are all gone!