we got curtains day.

and the picture of the day is...

our friends enjoying my salsa! yay!
(pre-curtains)

(i also just decided that this is going to be short because the computer is acting up)

but im now going to show you one of the things i found at the wonderful peddlers mall yesterday.

these lovely curtains!

they match so well! i couldnt believe it.

but please ignore the fact that i didnt iron these before i put them up.

my mother would be so disappointed.

(i had previously bought the sheers along with the other curtains below at a yard sale. 

i figured i would be able to use them somehow.)

so today, my lovely husband ventured out with me to use some of his gift cards he got at his "man shower" to buy curtain rods. and boy did we not know what we were in store for. shopping for them rods is hard, let me tell you! and he was getting semi restless. but after we found the curtain rods- home depot hides those suckers good!- and then picked them out- those suckers are expensive!- we went home so i could put them up. needless to say J was worried about his drill and he quickly took it away and put the rods up for me. but he told me it was my turn when he was done.

what is cost to "curtain" two 87 inch windows:

(just a money tally for those budget conscious people out there- aka J)

yard sale curtains (6 sheer panels and 2 linen panels)- $20

peddlers mall polka dot panels- $14.75

curtain rods-$74.14 (on a gift card= free)

for a grand total of 

$34.75

this is just to show you how much better it looks with curtains! 

i know you all agree.

once again- hope yall enjoyed sunday aka the last day of this very short weekend.
and i hope the word curtains doesnt look funny to you now, because it does to me.

i hope you rode with your windows down today.

instead of posting just one picture, i decided to post many and tell you what i did all day. well i didnt sleep in this morning and no it was not because the lady upstairs was vacuuming at 8 or her son was running a marathon in their two bedroom apartment... 

im really not sure why i woke up. 

but because i woke up early i got to enjoy the sunshine even longer.

and i finally got time to make myself a cute header.
ya see...
hope you like!

i decided that since j wasnt home i would take over his space.
this is also my grocery list.


after i got ready, i went adventuring to a place called peddlers mall. if you live in this area and have never been, i highly advise it. i was in there two hours today just walking around. it is basically a huge inside yard sale. and when i say huge i mean i wish i would have taken bread crumbs to mark the places i had already walked through. i called my mom to ask her some questions and she was highly jealous of my adventure.
i will post pictures later of what i got. its very exciting.


so i officially declared today mexican food day.


first on the menu... homemade salsa!
yes, i know many of you are shocked that i even attempted. but i did!

here is proof...
my official taste tester said it was dead on.


and for dinner we had enchiladas.
my dear friend kelly from louisville gave me the recipe.
(who also informed me about the peddlers mall)

here is the recipe in case you wanted it.


packet of enchilada mix
1 lb. ground beef
tortillas
cheese

make enchilada mix as instructed on package.
Ground beef.
(this part is messy but SO worth it)
Dip tortilla in enchilada mix
Spoon in ground beef and cheese. (be generous with cheese!)
Roll and place facedown in dish.
Repeat until pan is filled or ingredients gone.
Pour any remaining "sauce" over the enchiladas in pan.
Top with cheese.

Bake at 350 for 35 min.

Serve with tortilla chips and salsa, or mexican rice! Super yummy!


the official taste tester also approved these!
so now that we are well fed, we cashed in another redbox opportunity (we had to pay for this one) and its definitely girl movie night- we take turns to be fair- so we will be watching Morning Glory as soon as my lovely darling cleans the kitchen. 
"the one who cooks doesnt have to clean". 
it somehow always comes out in my favor. :)


dont forget to set your clocks forward tonight!
this means the "everyday warm weather" is right around the corner.
praise the Lord!


oh- and was anyone else bummed that greys was replaced with a game show! 
seriously? not cool ABC.


hope yall enjoyed your saturday as much as i did.


ps- any suggestions on making this thing cute?
im not very good at it.

date night

unfortunately this is a cheesy picture and this post is going to be very short, because it is date night and i have to get back to the movie... but i did promise you a picture so here it is.

and in case you were wondering...

 outback was delicious.

the redbox was free.

and i love my husband. 

hope you all are enjoying friday night!

day one.

here we go! 

are you excited? 

because i am!

and the picture of the day...

what does this picture mean to me you ask?

well this morning i had an appointment so i didn't go to work... also why i am posting this in the middle of the day- im going at 12:30... so i got up to go to the bathroom at 7:30 and i saw a flicker. normally being the chicken i am i would have gone and woke j up, but i just stuck my head around the corner and this is what i find. oh my! yes! a burning candle. when did we light it you ask. well we had company over last night and to make the apartment seem inviting and smell nice... oh i'd say around 5:30. 

so all these facts mean that this lovely candle was burning for over 12 hours. 

(now obviously i didnt take a picture of it at 7:30. this was staged.)

okay so what this really means is that our precious Lord had His hand on us and our home and i guess all our neighbors too. He protected us and kept us safe. this is so comforting because as i mentioned above, i am a chicken and anyone who knows me knows this. i am always terrified of a robber or a fire or just something that will harm me. and my dear Savior is the only one who can protect me from that. i know! its shocking that my handsome husband cant. well, he can, but by God' strength. so again it is ultimately God. i consider myself abundantly blessed to be covered in His grace and mercy. 

so today, i live my life to honor and glorify Him for the simple fact that i woke up this morning because of Him.

oh and a treat because this is the first day...

and because i really really want to.

maybe the candle didnt get blown out because i was taking pictures... ehh.
i dont really think we should place blame, should we?


happy thursday, friends!
enjoy greys anatomy tonight!

brilliant idea

i had a brilliant idea today... as you can tell. :)

in april one of my best friends lesley ann has asked me to be her second shooter for a wedding she is photographing, which im totally beyond excited about. i started thinking about this and how i could prepare. there is alot of emotion in weddings and important things to capture, right? well i have decided until the wedding i will post a picture a day of something that is very important, meaningful, or just stuck out to me that day.  it will help me capture small things and also things that i wouldnt normally think about, and it will help me to be more grateful. it will also help all of you get to know me more and see our everyday life. 

so starting tomorrow... haha... i will post a picture. 

i hope this inspires you to come back!

the official bachelor recap

i need to start this by saying i used to think this was somewhat lame, but i watched the bachelor by myself last night and im going to pretend that you are my sister in law and we are going to talk about it. 

(disclaimer though, this is not the official recap. 

it is not going to be detailed and is totally my opinion.)

for starters, whoa drama mama! have you ever... these girls are nut-sooo! you dont get an opinion if you didnt even get a one on one date orrrr if all you talked to him about was drama in the house. period. 

let me just tell you, the "new ash" looks amazing. i LOVE this look on her. she looks so sophisticated and grown up. and i do believe brad liked it too. i think she carried herself very well last night and had a lot of class. she did not participate in the "bashing" of the other women and she was kind. she never had anything to say that was negative.

did anyone else notice that shawntel never said anything? 

if she did, i missed it. but im pretty sure she didnt say anything. 

next, the show definitely would not have been the same without michelle and her "sarcasm" every week. i cannot say whether that was her or her being fake because obviously i dont know her, but the girls that had things to say about her last night were some of the ones who spent the least amount of time in the house. 

just sayin...

but you NEVER mess with someone's child. NEVER. no matter what kind of person she is and what she said, they had no right to comment on her parenting because a) they never got to know her on a deeper level as a friend and not as competition and b) they dont know her daughter. dont get me started.

i have thoroughly enjoyed this drama filled season and im not sure what im going to do on monday nights now. im sure i will find something though,

 like maybe sharing the tv with my husband. ehh...

so anyway, that was monday night,

i laughed, 

i cried... maybe,

and i said OMG!

but all in all im totally ready for next week 

when he proposes to emily to one of the two wonderful girls left. :)

ill leave you with the little side note of...

my husband is cleaning the kitchen and picking up the house while i blog. 

LOVE IT!

a special day for a special man.

this is the third time i am posting in a weeks time. ahh so exhilarating!

well today is my absolutely wonderful, amazing, and irreplaceable grandpa's birthday.

just a little background on this amazing man...

i have always been his "doll". he was the one that would sit on the floor and play barbies and pretty pretty princess with me- oh and believe you me, he wore the jewelry! my grandpa and grandma would take me to claires sometimes on sunday and let me get that magical basket that you could carry around. i came home with so much jewelry. this explains my love for costume jewelry. my grandparents would have done anything for me and they did almost everything i asked or wanted. 

yes, i will admit i was spoiled, but never a brat. 

last may, my wonderful grandma who i am named after passed away. it was sudden and not expected. it was also two months before my wedding, which i thought i would never get past. but God was glorified in it. you see, she was in the hospital for a biopsy. the morning she passed away they told her she had breast cancer, but it was totally treatable. a few hours later a blod clot dislodged and hit her heart. it was like a ticking clock and could have happened anywhere, thankfully she was under the care of doctors and nurses- see, a God thing. she had a heart attack. she had also been suffering from Alzheimer's for a couple years. it wasnt severe yet but she asked me the same questions alot and i answered every time. there was a few other serious illnesses that she was dealing with that they never knew. God knew and had a perfect plan because this amazing woman didnt suffer except for a few minutes of pain. she would have faced many hard times and painful years. He faithfully held her in His hands and protected her. because of this i grew closer to my family than i thought i would ever be. especially my grandpa. from that day on i had lunch with him every day of the week to make sure he wasnt lonely. i thought i loved him before but i had no clue. my grandpa is one of the most important people in my life and i thought when we moved i couldnt imagine not having lunch with him everyday. and yes, it has killed us both. i never knew how much i missed eating sandwiches. :) 

i miss my grandma so much, words cannot express how much, but i am so grateful for the awakening God provided me and how i have used these past months to strengthen this relationship with my grandpa. i cannot imagine the hurt he faces everyday knowing his wife of 58 years isnt with him. but he is so strong and i am so thankful for his example of a Godly man and husband. he took care of my grandma and answered her many questions too. he loved her and honored her. he treated her with kindness and respect. he was wonderful to her and everyone else.

he is just amazing. 

as simple as that.

so, happy birthday grandpa.

i pray you have many more.

i love you.