Birthday Part 1

I work with a great group of people.... =)

Stay Tuned...

For the big reveal......we are so close to being done with our main "phase 1" remodeling projects. The kitchen is DONE (with the exception of minor things like needing new blinds or curtains), and we pained our dining room, (Thanks Jen for your help!!!) and all we have left to do is for Caleb to install the bead-board aka waynes coating on the lower half of the dining room wall.

I don't want to post pictures of it yet since we are so close to a final outcome. So check back next week for (hopefully) finished photos!

On another note.....T-minus 2 days until I am officially a quarter of a century old. Kind of weird, considering I still feel like I'm a dorky high school kid. But, instead, I find that I am an (almost) 25 year old woman who has been married over 4 years, bought and remodeled a house, has a professional job, is tired by 9 and goes to bed by 10 (even on weekends, gasp!), and whos favorite channels include HGTV and Food Network, and who has an overall adult life. Go figure! ;-)

Is it Halloween? Or Valetines Day?

This year my office decided to have everyone (who wanted to participate) dress up for Halloween as a different holiday of the year. Can you guess what I drew? =) Here are some shots of some of my costume.

Pumpkins

Last night we had my parents over for dinner and a little pumpkin carving fun. Here are some of the highlights.


Mom, Dad & Caleb getting started


Mom with her, um, special pumpkin


Caleb, having fun.... =) And making a funny face...


Dad enjoying getting to stick a knife in something to releive his stress of the day...


The end result!!! Though we realized it's a week before Halloween so hopefully the pumpkins don't rot before we can put them back out next Saturday.

=)

We've never handed out candy to kids before as a married couple, no one really trick or treated in the condos we lived in before. We're looking forward to hanging out at home and seeing all the cute kids in our neighborhood!

Flooring & Other Decorations/Updates

So, I'll finally post some pics of the flooring! Keep in mind it's still a work in progress. We are putting up some of our baseboards this weekend, and still have to attach the carpet into the floor. We also have paint to put up in the dining room and our backsplash is coming in 2 weeks for our kitchen. But all that aside, it's so nice to see these things coming together!

Post Carpet/Tile - Pre Flooring

Hallway, part way done

Dining Room/Kitchen, getting there....

Dining Room as of tonight, 10/6. Found a rug to put under out table, but we're saving for it. "Bead Board" painted white is going to go on the bottom half of the walls in this room and the top half will be painted a blue/grey (lighter than the patch on the wall). The built-in hutch will be painted to match our cabinets in the kitchen, white. Can you see the vision? :)

The kitchen as of tonight, 10/6. Still a bit cluttered, and missing the backsplash. We now have the money for it so next week we're going to buy it and then the week after that, install it. Once the backsplash is in, we can put our stainless over the range microwave in and get rid of the old on cluttering up the counter. Can't wait for that!

Over our mantel in our living room. This is still a work in progress, too much stuff up there for me still. (see my mini pumpkins for fall) :-) Any-who, the flowers are a new addition. They're fake. I was trying to introduce a new color to the room. Today I bought a pack of 6, 12x12 mirrored tiles to hang on the wall and I am going to put them with a couple inches apart almost like a grid, on this wall. I think it'll create a good look and a different element to the room. When those go up, I'll edit my accessories a bit to simplify it.

See I take my decorating very seriously! =) It's a stress reliever. I am in control of it so it makes me feel better. There's probably some phycological reason for that, LoL.


This is in my home office. Recently painted and this is my first decorative piece I added. It's my inspiration piece, I love it!

Hallway, more floooring....minus baseboards, etc. You get the idea =)

A good look at our granite/cabinet/flooring combination. It's all coming out exactly as Caleb & I wanted it to, I'm so glad that we both have the same decorating taste!

Stay tuned for more updates =)

Missing Them

Can I just say, I miss them SO MUCH. They have been overseas now for over a year and I can't beleive how big they are getting. =(

xoxo to Sam & Abigail!

More Kitchen Updates

Well, another step is just about completed! We have white cabinets now.....we just have to finish painting the doors which Caleb should be able to get all attached next weekend when he doesn't work. We love it.....
After we get the doors on, we'll put in our flooring!

Granite

So thanks to the help of many friends & family, we have our granite in! Here's a picture. Though keep in mind, we still need to install backsplash, and re-finish/paint the cabinets white. THEN our wood floor!

Step by step, we're getting there =)

Don't mind the light reflecting from the ceiling!

I can't wait for the cabinets to be white, it'll look so much better!

Mango Salsa

This is from my recipe book Delicious Dips by Diane Morgan. It's such a great resource for all kinds of dips, great for a party. I have made this recipe quite a few times and it seems to be a hit!

Hint: If mangoes aren't in season, peaches & nectarines work well. OR I only used fresh mangoes once, and realized that you can buy the frozed cubed mangoes and they work just as well. Make sure you thaw them out the night before and cut them up a bit smaller.

Ingredients

• 2 mangoes, diced


• 1/2 of small red onion, diced


• 4 green onions, diced


• 2 tomatoes (seeded), diced


• 1 jalapeno chile (seeded), diced (I use anaheim chiles because they are more mild)


• 1 cup fresh chopped cilantro


• Juice of 1 large lemon


• Juice of 1 lime


• 2 tbl olive oil


• 1 tsp kosher salt

In a bowl, mix all veggie ingredients together. In separate small bowl, stir together the lemon juice, lime juice, olive oil and salt until salt disolves. Pour liquid over mango mixture. Stir gently, cover, and set aside for at least 1 hour (even overnight works) before serving.

I have made this so many times that I've adjusted it to my taste. For instance, I am not huge on raw red onion or anything spicy. So, I use just a little bit of the red onion and make sure it's diced very small. Also like I mentioned I use an Anaheim Chile instead of a jalapeno because of the more mild flavor, and again, I dice this very small and sometimes only use 1/2 of the chile depending on how big it is.

This is the kind of recipe that is better the longer it sits, and can last about a week in the fridge. I dont just use it to dip chips in either. I have put it on top of grilled fish or chicken, or just eaten it plain. It's so good!

Also - I sometimes will dice up the ingredients and keep them in the fridge until I'm ready to make it, that way a lot of the prep work is already done and you just combine it and whisk up the dressing.

Creamy Couscous Breakfast Pudding

I made this for the first time this morning for breakfast, I thought I'd try something new. =) Caleb & I both enjoyed it so I figured I'd post the recipe.
Time Saver Hint: I made the couscous the night before, and the next morning I just put it back into the saucepan to finish the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup whole-wheat couscous
• Pinch of salt
• 3 cups fat free milk
• 2 tbl brown sugar (**Caleb & I like things a little more sweet so I put an extra tbl in and then sprinkled some on top when served**)
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/4 cup fat free egg substitute
• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ(**don't let this ingredient scare you off. It's actually pretty common. You can find it at most grocery stores, it's about $5 for a big container and should last a very long time**)
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)

1. Cook couscous according to package directions. (basically you boil water & salt, then pour the couscous in and immediately cover it and turn off the heat. 5 minutes later, you take the lid off and poof! It soaked up all the water and you just fluff it with a fork and it's done)

At this point I put the couscous in the fridge 'till the next morning, or you can continue.

2. Whisk the milk, brown sugar and orange zest into the couscous. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking frequently to break up any lumps. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently until mixture is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from the heat.

3. Whisk together 1/2 cup of the couscous mixture and the egg substitute in a small bowl. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring until pudding is thick and creamy. (about 5 more minutes)

4. Stir in wheat germ & vanilla. Serve topped with almonds if you like (sliced thinly) and fresh fruit even if you want to add more flavor.

I am going to add the nutritional value to this because it's good for you, very filling, and a good alternative to just same ol' oatmeal.

Generous 3/4 cup serving (without almonds or additional brown sugar) = 152 cal, 1 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 2 mg chol, 123 mg sod, 28 g carb, 3 g fiber, 9 g protein.