House Made Home

thanksgiving 2010

admin — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 19:56:18 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving!

oops…

i guess i’m a little late ;)

I’ve got a thanksgiving recap, a holiday recipe, and some baby-lovin to share with you!!

We had such a wonderful thanksgiving this year. We had friends from both New York and Virginia drive 18 hours to spend the holiday with us, and we were so happy to have them here and grateful that they made the trip! We also had friends from Dallas and Arkansas, and two of Scott’s siblings and their families! It was so wonderful to spend time with people we love and to watch my baby girl experience her (almost) first taste of the holidays. It was a whirlwind of a weekend but so worth every moment!

We had big plans on Saturday for some serious Razorback tailgating, and it was a BLAST! But to start things out, on Wednesday we lit up the fire pit in the backyard and celebrated everyone’s arrival. The next day, the whirlwind of thanksgiving set in as cooking, cleaning, and impromptu trips to the grocery ensued. Dinner started at six, and my boys were such great helps getting everything ready.

We had 18 people total for dinner Thursday night, 10 adults and 8 kids…

We had to borrow a table from Scott’s work to fit everyone :)

Early the week of Thanksgiving, I posted a round-up of free printables you could use to make your holiday table a little more special.

Well, I have a confession to make….

I didn’t use any of them!

As cute as paper printables can be, I wanted to go for an elegant, more organic look…..

and I LOVE how it turned out!!

Another confession? I was short on napkins, so half of them are actually rolled up placemats….

nobody knew the difference!

I used the candles that normally sit in my fireplace.

They used to have antique embelishments on them and were used on the tables at our wedding.

sorry for the bad iphone pic!

These pictures don’t quite do the table justice, but take it from me that it was beautiful and the candles kept us all nice and toasty as we ate :)

oh, and the table cloth is a painters drop cloth from home depot! It’s an awesome color and has great texture. Plus it’s super durable!

Unfortunately, I don’t have any other pictures from Thanksgiving. We were too busy enjoying one another’s company and wrangling kids to take any! But I do have a fabulous holiday recipe to share with you. It’s perfect for thanksgiving, because it literally tastes like fall in your mouth, but it should be just as big of a hit at your next Christmas bash!

Butternut Squash Casserole

I found this recipe over at the fabulous imanimama.com when she posted it in her feature Make or Buy: Toddler Meals, but can I just say, “toddler meals, my butt”?!?! I have made this recipe, with some adaptions, five times now and it has always been A HIT! Here is the recipe as I make it.

4 cups (2 1/2 pounds) butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 lb spicy breakfast sausage (we like it HOT!)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 large yellow onions, chopped
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs, beaten
3 teaspoons allspice
3/4 cup bread crumbs
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 cups coarsely grated cheddar cheese
1- 10 oz bag fresh spinach

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9-x-13-inch baking dish or 4-quart casserole.

2. Place squash in large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook al dente (6- 10 minutes) or until they become somewhat softer and turn deeper in color. Drain it and set aside.

3. In the meantime, brown the sausage in a seperate skillet until well done and slightly browned. Drain.

3. Melt the butter in the stockpot and add oil. Add the onions and sauté over medium heat until translucent and limp, about 8 minutes. Add the warm squash and the buttermilk, eggs, allspice, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and 1 1/3 cups cheese. Blend until well combined. Add the sausage and spinach. Blend again.

4. Spread the mixture evenly in baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Turn up the oven to 415 and bake 15 minutes more. Serve.

picture via

Ladies, PLEASE make this recipe…

I promise it won’t dissapoint!

And I know I promsied you some baby-lovin….

Who can resist?!?!

I’m on a break from school and I’ve got lots of great posts coming for you!

Until then….

have a blessed day and enjoy this holiday season with people you love!

Click here to see the blog parties I am linking up with

Original recipe from here

homemaker must-have: free thanksgiving printables

admin — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:46:08 +0000

Hey ladies!

Raise your hand if you’re hosting Thanksgiving this year

….

Brutal.

Haha… just kidding, I am too!

And while Thanksgiving is about much more than cute decorations and a great table setting, sometimes the party planner within us all just can’t help but put forth a little extra effort to make it a special day.

But, as always, we’re on a budget. And around here, the Thanksgiving decorations budget is…

a big…

whopping…

ZERO.

But that doesn’t mean that the party can’t be fabulous!

So I went on a mission to find some cute, FREE, printables that I could use on my table this year without spending a dime.

Here’s the round-up:

Neutral and Elegant from Catch My Party

Cute and Festive from Catch My Party

Modern and Bold from Hostess with the Mostess

Kid Friendly from Paper and Glitter

Gobble Gobble themed from Dimple Prints

These printables are SO EASY. Just print, cut, and decorate.

It’s a little touch that will make it look like you want all out this year.

Even if your pumpkin pies are store bought.

I hope all of you have a safe, wonderful, blessed holiday with people you love!

must-have recipe: whole wheat pumkin pancakes

admin — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 19:05:27 +0000

Just like so many others out there, in our home we are constantly searching to find a balance between healthy, affordable, easy and delicious!

It wasn’t until after I was a mom that I realized how much of my adult life would be spent feeding my family. Planning, shopping for, cooking, eating, and cleaning up after three meals a day means that I spend an awful lot of time in the kitchen…So I’m always on the look out for fast, healthy and delicious ways to feed my family day after day!

We love having a hearty and delicious breakfast that starts our day out right nutritionally, and whole wheat pancakes made with fruit such as pumpkin or blueberry are definitely heart-healthy fan favorites around here.

But…. let’s be honest.

Who has time to make pancakes every morning???

Um, that’s right.

No one.

But the best part is that you don’t have to get out the mixing bowls and hot griddle every day to enjoy them! Make an extra large batch one Saturday morning and have enough for breakfasts for the next month! They are great frozen and reheated… just pop them in the toaster, hit the frozen button, and in minutes you have a hot and hearty breakfast with NO MESS. Pair them with organic yogurt or a scrambled egg for a well-balanced breakfast that will fill you up on a cold winter morning!

Oh, and while I was making these…

I also made a few batches of whole wheat blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes as well.

Because that’s how I roll.

Whip some of these up this weekend or serve them as breakfast on Thanksgiving morning.

It’ll tide them over until the feast!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

1 C. whole wheat flower

1/2 C. white flour
1 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t. allspice
1 C. buttermilk
1 C. canned pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 T. oil
1 t. vanilla
2 T. dark brown sugar

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and in a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.

2. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Batter will be thicker than most pancake batter because of the pumpkin. If you think it is TOO thick, thin it out with a little extra buttermilk.

3. Ladle pancakes onto a medium-hot griddle. If needed, use the back of a large spoon to quickly spread out the batter to desired thickness. Pancakes are ready to turn when the edges start to look a dry and begin to bubble on the surface.

And of course, you can always use 100% whole wheat flour instead of adding a little cake flour to the mix, but the pancakes with turn out more dense because of it.

And like I said before…. These are GREAT frozen and reheated (as are any pancakes). However, whatever you do, DO NOT just throw hot pancakes into a plastic bag and place in your freezer…. They will freeze together and be almost impossible to separate.

Not that I know from experience or anything.

….

To Freeze

Option 1: Lay out pancakes in single layer on a baking sheet small enough to fit in your freezer. Once the pancakes harden, toss into plastic bag. Repeat until all of your pancakes are frozen.

Option 2: Cut squares of wax paper or parchment paper. Stack your pancakes on top of one another with a square of paper in-between each pancake. Place in plastic bag or wrap with cellophane. Freeze.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Stay tuned this week for a post that will help you make your thanksgiving fabulous!

Madelyn Joelle: 10 months

admin — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 22:15:20 +0000

I know I haven’t posted in a very.

long.

time.

I’m so sorry!

But sometimes, when life is so busy and hectic, you want to make sure your busy LIVING life….

Not just writing about it.

But I have soooo many things that I want to share with you guys…. things I think you will really enjoy.

I hope you’ll stick around and give me a chance to show you :)

But before all of that fun craziness begins, I wanted to show you a big part of what’s been keeping me so busy these last few months…..

Her name is Madelyn Joelle Rockers.

Or…. Maddy Jo

Or…. MJ

And she and her daddy are pretty much the most awesome things to have ever happened to me.

I have loved everything about this last year so much. Everyday Madelyn is changing and growing and becoming less like the little baby she was and more like the little girl she is going to be.

And let me tell you…. I LOVE the little person that she is and that she is becoming.

Madelyn has such a sweet temperament and personality. I love that she is so charming and friendly. NOT ONCE have I handed her to a stranger, only to have her to cry and want to be back in the arms of someone more familiar. She loves everyone and is willing to give everyone a chance. What a wonderful quality. There is so much I can learn from her.

She’s learning new tricks every day. From doing WHOOOO… PIG SOOIE! with us to clapping her hands, from waving buh-bye to giving high-fives and kisses. She’s also recently learned how to shake her head ‘no’ at me. It is SO CUTE, but I know in a few months I’ll need to come back and read this post in order to remember the days when I thought her defiance was adorable.

;)

I love that when I am sitting on the floor, she’ll come up behind me, pull up on my back, and lie her head on my shoulder.

i. could. die.

These days are passing by too quickly. I find myself desperately trying to grab hold, but somehow time keeps getting away from me and soon my little baby will be a year old.

I know that it’s a gift…. my ability to see and constantly be aware of how precious and fleeting these days are. But it’s also painful.

I know that my days with her are limited.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Lord…. for entrusting this little soul to my care.

I’ll do everything I can not to let you down.

***PS: I’m back. As in, back to regularly scheduled posting! Stay tuned for some amazing makeovers, some awesome DIY’s, some TO DIE FOR recipes, and some great tips and tricks about how to make your house a home… from one homemaker to another :)

praying for madelyn

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 03:55:31 +0000

Prayer has a very special place in the hearts of both my husband and I. As two people whose lives have been drenched with examples of the power of prayer, we are so passionate about the need for us to come, both together and individually, to the feet of our Lord in prayer for our family.

It is one of my hearts greatest desires to spend time with the Lord in prayer, both in my personal prayer life and in the one that I share with my husband. I have seen the power of prayer do amazing things in my life, and as a mother it is so important for me to share that gift with my children.

Praying for Madelyn is something that I do constantly. I know that I fall so short as a mother in so many ways and that it is only through prayer and grace that I will raise the kind, virtuous, Holy children that I desire all of my kids (present and future) to be. Every night since we first began dating, Scott and I have brought our hopes, fears, dreams & intentions and laid them at the feet of Christ in search of His grace and mercy. Once the the idea of marriage became more real for us, we prayed intently for our vocations… both that we would know God’s will and for the strength, courage, and grace to live it fully. When we became engaged and knew that God was calling us to the vocations of marriage and parenthood (in whatever form that may take) we began praying for all of our future children and for their vocations as well.

We continued to do this throughout the two years of our engagement and the year and a half of our marriage before Madelyn’s conception, and still do for all of the children that we pray God blesses us with. Once we had become aware of Madelyn’s impeding arrival, we joyfully and gratefully began to pray for her specifically.

Every day I pray for sweet little Madelyn. For her life and vocation…. for her future husband if that’s what God has in store for her. I pray that God gives her a heart that burns with a desire to love and serve Him. That she would always have the wisdom to know and the courage to do God’s will…. in every aspect of her life. I pray that Madelyn will turn to Our Lady and the amazing example of womanhood, motherhood, and true feminism that she is to us. I pray that she will be kind and virtuous… that she will always stand up for the weak and serve others before she serves herself. I pray that she will have a heart that is filled with joy and and that she will have a genuine love for life, but always remember that it and this world that we live in is fleeting.

I pray that she will be a Saint.

But praying for Madelyn doesn’t just mean praying for her, it also means praying for myself and for my role as a mother and wife. It means praying for her daddy in his vocation to fatherhood and for our marriage as a whole. I want to be the kind of mother that teaches her children by example and I know that Madelyn is going to imitate everything that I do. Her imitation of Christ and of Our Lady will come through her imitation of me.

For and with my family… I just constantly pray.

a milestone!

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 03:03:41 +0000

A few days ago I was excited to learn that I had received my very first bog award from T. Bird over at Nestled in Rosenberg! I was definitely shocked and oh-so-flattered that someone would think enough of my little blog here to honor me out of all the wonderful and inspiring blogs out there in blogland.

Did I just say blogland?

Yep, pretty sure I did.

Anywayyyyy…. T. Bird is great and she has an incredibly inspiring blog….if you haven’t already, then I highly encourage you to go check her out. She did a fabulous makeover on her Craigslst hutch and I almost died when I read her tutorial for the antique spoons she laid on top of some burlap and hung in a small distressed window frame! Thanks so much for thinking of me T.bird… I am definitely honored!

here’s my award…. isn’t she pretty?

As the much-honored recipient that I am, I ‘ll play by the rules and list seven random things about myself….

1. When I am feeling really bad, and I mean reallyyyyy naughty, I like to pour heavy cream over my Death By Chocolate ice cream, there by insuring that I will almost certainly live up to it’s name.

2. Every day (except on weekends) I do a load of laundry from start to finish. In fact, the first thing that I do pretty much every morning is put a load of laundry in the wash…. how boring is that?

3. We planted onions in our little “garden” out back and I am pretty sure they are dying…. perhaps it would be a good idea to look up how to take care of them? hmmmm?

4. I am absolutely, 100% head-over-heals in love with my God, my husband, and my sweet baby girl. Sometimes I think my heart may burst with all that love. But at least Death By Love would be a better way to go than the Death By Chocolate option (which, come to think of it, wouldn’t be so bad) in number 1….

5. I was sooooo excited when I discovered blogland (there it is again). All of a sudden there was an entire world at my finger tips that had a love and passion for the same things that I did. Being a woman, a wife, and a mother are such beautiful and fulfilling vocations and I love the opportunity for creativity that they bring. All of you wonderful women out there have been such amazing inspirations to me and I am excited to get to know one another better and to learn from all of you!

6. We have two dogs in this wonderful bungalow of ours, Layla and Bowser. We got them while we were still in college and they are both 100% mutt and both 100% fabulous. It really is quite amazing how well behaved they are and how well they listen and we actually get compliments on it all the time. They follow me around all day long and you can always find them lying at my feet… whether I am nursing on the couch, switching the laundry, or making dinner in the kitchen.

7. I finally put aside that irrational fear of mine and clipped some Hydrangea to bring inside the house. I’m so glad that I did. I don’t think we’ll go a day without fresh flowers in our house for the rest of the summer!

Oh, and since we hung the chandelier redo we had an extra ceiling fan lying around, which we hung in our dining-room-turned-living-room this past holiday weekend. When we first moved into our house the layout was incredibly awkward. It made so much more sense when we switched some rooms around and turned our very over-sized dining room into our living room…. our house has a great flow now because of it. It’s not the most beautiful fan in the entire world… but it certainly beats the awkward dining room style chandelier we had hanging in there before. And the fact that it was free and that we no longer need to worry about guests banging their head on a wrought iron light fixture are definite bonuses!

And no… hanging it did not go near as smoothly as hanging the chandelier did (think more like 2 hrs and a few trips into the attic later).

almost forgot to take the before.

after.

Not the most fabulous project we’ve ever completed, but it definitely makes the room feel more like the living room it is, and it will be great for these hot Arkansas summers until we can switch it out for something more updated sometime down the road!

Oh and, for everyone’s sake, please divert your attention from the hideous leather couch (I’m dying for a white slip-covered sectional) and pillow (um, I need some Etsy in my life…. please?) in the above picture, and direct it instead to the incredibly detailed, eight inch thick crown molding that we have in this room and throughout our entire house.

Thank You.

;)

Anywayyyy….. I now have the privilege of passing this lovely award on to you, some of my fellow bloggers! Here are my picks for 15 other blogs that are must-haves on your reader! I tried to pick blogs that you may not know yet, so you should definitely check them out…. These ladies are awesome!

The Mannequin Memoirs

Decorica

Loft and Cottage

Chattafabulous

Frugal Fabulous Design

Less than Perfect Life of Bliss

Raggy Girl Vintage

Frugal with a Flourish

I am making a low-fat version of the Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Spaghetti for dinner tonight and have a few more chores to finish up before the weekend, but keep your eye out on Monday for a post that has been waiting on my dashboard for awhile now!

God Bless!

An early morning pick-me-up

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:38:32 +0000

Since this is the first spring that we have experienced in this house, we welcomed a few surprises in the garden this year.

A mini yellow rosebush.

Some, ummm, other kind of pink rose bush.

But my favorite, by FAR, is the hydrangea that we have growing on the side of the house.

Every morning I go outside and tend to it.

And by “tend to it” I mean that….

I water it a lot and will it not to die.

I had assumed (or maybe hoped) that it would be white….

So when it began to flower this year we were definitely surprised to see the pink and and purplish blue color of the blooms.

But since Hydrangea, or myfavoriteflowerinthewholeentireworld, are beautiful no matter what….

I’ll take what I can get.

Last night I was finally going to put aside the irrational fear I have, and cut a few blooms to bring inside the house….

But the hubby, ever the voice of reason, suggested that since I am leaving today that I should probably wait… Since surely they would die at his hand before I returned.

Definitely true.

I also thought maybe I would cut a few blooms to bring to my Grandmother, ya know… to freshen up her room at the nursing home.

But I am not sure how they’d fair on the plane while I juggle my bags and baby.

Anywayyyyy….

We’re off today for our short stint in Houston.

Prayers for a safe and Grace filled trip are always appreciated!

a must-have tutorial: How to Paint a Brass Chandelier

admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 21:49:38 +0000

Last Friday I gave you a sneak peak into my weekend project…

To tell you the truth, it’s a project that I have been day dreaming of and planning for a while now,

So I’m pretty excited to show it to you.

I won’t be revealing the entire room yet, so you’ll just have to wait to see the rest.

.

… Because I still want to do “just one more project”…..

Anywayyyyy… I love the look of a painted brass chandelier.

The bones of them are pretty and feminine, and if done right, they can be a great combination of a traditional elegance and bold modern color.

image via thepartydress.net

The best part is that since they are often considered so dated, even many of the less ambitious of us end up changing them out. Most of these end up in the trash or in a second hand shop, making them pretty easy to come by and pretty cheap too! I got mine at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store for fifteen bucks.

When I first brought this beauty home, I affectionately called it “my chandy”. But the hubby told me he’d vomit if I called it that one more time asked me very kindly not to call it that anymore, so I’ve been trying to show some restraint…

;)

Anywayyyyy…. The first thing you want to do is to make sure that your chandelier is well cleaned and free of any dust or particles. I just wiped mine down with a wet rag, paying special attention to all of those hard to reach places.

I used two different chemicals to prepare the metal for painting: Liquid Sander Deglosser and Acetone. They are pretty smelly and probably not too good for our planet, so make sure to be especially careful with them. You could probably substitute for these with different chemicals, but I already had both of them from a previous project and they both worked really well.

Use a clean dry rag and a little bit of elbow grease to rub the deglosser all over the fixture, being careful to frequently switch the portion of the rag you are using so you don’t redeposit grime back onto the chandelier.

Repeat if necessary.

(A quick tip that I have learned the hard way? If you are in doubt… it’s probably necessary. We are spending time and money on theses projects, ladies! It would be silly to skimp over a step because you are in a hurry to get things done, just to have the project turn out sub-par because of it!)

Using another clean dry rag rub the acetone onto the brass surface and into all of the little nooks and crannies.

Once everything is well cleaned, it’s time tape off. I knew I wanted the faux candle sticks to be white, so before I primed the piece I taped off only the light bulb sockets and the ends of the wire. I then sprayed the whole thing down with a primer made specifically for painting metal (Rustoleum’s Metal Primer ). I don’t know if it worked better than spray Kilz primer or not, but I can tell you that I didn’t have any problems with it and was happy with the results!

Because of all of those bitter-sweet nooks and crannies, it’s necessary to spray the chandelier from different angles, making sure to cover all surfaces and paying special attention to the bottom of the fixture, since that’s what people will be looking up at when it’s hanging over their heads. It took me 3 separate coats of primer sprayed from different angles to feel as though it was well covered.

You might want to do a little bit of light sanding with a fine grit sandpaper in between coats to get rid of any bumps or drip marks.I ran out of my high grit paper so I used a clean, gently used Brillo pad to get rid of any flecks or bumps, and then wiped it down again with a wet rag.

(Note: make sure each coat is completely dry before trying to sand or to move the chandelier in order to paint it from a different angle.)

…I have to admit that, at this point, I was reallyyyy loving the chandy (oops) already just in white. I love love LOVE just about anything in white and was almost tempted to cover the entire thing in a coat of glossy white spray paint and throw it up on the ceiling as-is…

Once the entire fixture was well primed (including the candlesticks, chain and ceiling medallion), I moved on to the top coat of the candle sticks, spraying them down with some of Rustoleum’s glossy White. It’s important to do this before painting the rest of the chandelier, because it’s waaaaay easier to tape off 6 candle sticks when painting your main color than it is to tape off the entire chandelier if you try to add the white later.

Anywayyyy…..

Wait until the candle sticks are COMPLETELY dry, then tape them of, making sure to press your tape down and to bring it as close to the bottom of the candle stick as possible.

Now your ready for your final color.

Oh, and at this point…. you’re going to start to get a little excited.

I think it’s definitely important to choose the right color of paint for your chandelier, so take your time and check out a couple of different brands and stores before you commit. I got lucky and found my color at The Home Depot, where I swiped up a can of Rustoleum’s Warm Yellow.

You’re going to have to do multiple coats again, so just take your time and make sure each coat covers well and is a smooth surface before moving on to the next one.

After I thought everything was well painted and dried, I carefully removed the tape from the candle sticks. This is when I noticed that the tape was pulling just a little bit of white paint off along with it and that I had missed a few spots which had been hiding from me on the actual fixture. I got out a pack of small, really cheap kids’ crafts brushes that I keep in my crafting crate (I use these when I am working with oil based paint so that I can just throw them away) and two paper plates. I sprayed my paint in a small puddle on the plate and used a brush to make the touch ups. It worked great.

Finally, I sprayed the entire thing down with a liberal application of crystal clear enamel (I keep this on hand instead of polyurethane because I paint so many things white and polyurethane tends to yellow and discolor over time… especially on white or light colored surfaces).

Here’s my finished product:

Are you going to stop reading my blog because of my bad iphone pics…hmmm??

Hanging the light was a little bit of an intimidating idea for us, because even though I have watched it a hundred times on all of my design shows, we have NEVER done any kind of electrical work at all. Plus one of the only downfalls of our our well-built 1930’s bungalow is that it has knob and tube wiring everywhere except for the kitchen, and we weren’t sure how that would effect the project.

The sunlight was fading and we had to shut off the power to our entire house… plus we had a fussy baby. We had the old ceiling fan down and the new chandelier up in under thirty minutes…. talk about teamwork!

Here she is hanging in her new home:

We still need to patch up the ceiling and switch out Madelyn’s nightlight bulbs… but its 98% done!

If you have any questions for me about this tutorial, or anything else you see on my blog, please to not hesitate to email me at lindsey@housemadehome.net!

We were busy with this and one other project this weekend, so needless to say a few of my chores have been neglected for the past few days. I have a mile long to-do list and am going out of town this Thursday… then classes start the following Tuesday!

Hope your having a great week!

Click HERE to see the fabulous days I am linking up to.

getting back in the groove, and a sneak peak!

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 20:06:24 +0000

Madelyn and I have safely arrived back in Little Rock, and while our trip was fantastic, we are definitely happy to be home.

Things are still insanely busy and it feels as though someone is holding down the fast forward button on my life. I suppose that busyness kind of goes with the territory when you are a wife, mom, student, short-order cook, laundry service, doggy day care provider, milk machine, and diy extraordinaire, and I am also sure that most of you know what I mean, but it’s still kinda new to me.

I swear it was just a few months ago when I spent my days in a state of slothful bliss lying around cuddling my baby and making dinners with lots of left overs so i only had to cook twice a week.

;)

I know you know what I mean.

Anyway…… I only have about a week and a half until a grueling summer’s worth of classes start up, and two days of that will be spent in Houston so that Madelyn can meet her adorable great grandmother.

Isn’t she fantastic?

I am so excited to get to spend some time with her, and I hope that her slightly faulty memory can hold up long enough to tell me some of her amazing stories.

Her brother-in-law (my grandfather’s brother) was the ambassador from Cuba to America during the time when Castro was overthrowing Batista’s regime. She bravely brought my dad’s family over from Cuba when he was 9 years old, while my grandfather was forced to stay behind as an insurance policy that my great uncle would behave in the United States. It was months before my grandfather was finally able to join her and their children, and they went on to faithfully and prayerfully raise their family in Littleton, Colorado. She left a world of wealth and privilege in Cuba for a world of poverty, struggle and freedom in the United States.

What an inspiration! I am so thankful that Madelyn will have the chance to meet her and we will definitely cherish the time we get to spend with her on this visit.

Until then I am going to be completing a lot of unfinished projects around here, starting a few new ones, and writing up lots of blog posts!

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to read about mine!

Here’s a sneak peak of something that I’ll be working on this weekend…..

hope to share the finished product soon!

Busy Busy

admin — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:16:53 +0000

We Rockers have been busy busy for the last few days preparing for our first trip with a little one!

I am a bridesmaid in my best friends wedding this Friday, which necessitated a 1600 mile treck across the country. We were originally going to brave the 16 hour car ride and make it a family trip, but at the last minute our plans changed… so Madelyn and I booked her first flight and jumped on a plane headed to DC.

Sorry about the horrible iphone pic.

ok ok OK…..I can’t blame it on the iphone. But I have already confessed my less-than-fabulous photgraphy skills, so you can’t say I didn’t warn ya.

Anywayyyy…. my extremely happy and fabulously behaved baby was true to character all day and we did not have one incident on either of our flights. I cannot say the same, however, for the incredibly kind gentleman of Chicago, who insisted on raising a big fuss durring boarding and refused to sit next to us on our flight.

Thankfully, my little Maddy girl proved all of the wayward looks we recieved from the people sitting around us wrong, and we graciously accepted compliments about her fabulous behavior and stunning good looks as people exited the aircraft.

;)

We’ll be pretty busy for the next week or so… enjoying Madelyn’s grandparents and trying to serve our very loved bride-to-be….. but we’ll be back with our regularly scheduled posts sometime next week!

God Bless!

a must-have recipe: marinated asparagus

admin — Sun, 09 May 2010 14:59:28 +0000

Every homemaker knows how important it is to have some tried and true recipes in their culinary arsenal. You know… for those times when one of your random kitchen experiments isn’t going to cut it ;) I definitely try to have a few go-to dishes for when I know I’ll need a crowd pleaser .

….Because not everybody is as sweet about being a taste tester as my hubby….

One of my favorite summer-time recipes is definitely one that comes from my mother’s kitchen. I always get great compliments on it and and I jump at the chance to bring a veggie to a spring or summer time get together…..you know, so I can show off my skills.

Marinated asparagus is super easy to make (almost fail proof…. which, to me, is a definite bonus). You could probably substitute some of the ingredients, but I never really have to because they are all things that I keep in my kitchen anyway.

That’s not my picture.

I forgot to take a picture of mine the last time I made it (Easter Sunday). It’s probably just as well because the one above does a much better job of showing you how delicious and pretty the dish really is.

You’ll know one of my pictures when you see it…. they’re not that pretty.

Anywayyyy…. here’s my mother’s recipe. I’m not sure where she got it from, but I do know that I find my hubby sneaking a few over the kitchen sink when I’ve had them marinating over night.

Marinated Asparagus

3 to 4 lbs asparagus 1 tbsp Accent

1 cup cider vinegar 1 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup oil 1 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp dill weed 1 tsp garlic salt

1 tbsp sugar

Set a pot of water to boil. While you are waiting, trim the ends off of the asparagus and rinse. Carefully drop your asparagus into the boiling water for 60 to 75 seconds. Drain immediately and then rinse them under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Set the asparagus onto a clean dish towel and pat dry.

Combine all the other ingredients in a gallon-size ziplock bag. Make sure it is closed (well!) and give it a good shake. Add the dried asparagus to the bag, make sure it is all well coated and let marinate in the fridge for AT LEAST 6 hours…. preferably over night.

Serve chilled!

Oh, and speaking of my mother’s kitchen…

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! And happy Mother’s Day to all you other fantastic momma’s out there!

I’ll be busy for the rest of the day enjoying my fist Mother’s Day with a baby in my arms instead of in my belly!

picture from here

How I Met My House: Part 1

admin — Sat, 08 May 2010 04:32:35 +0000

Since this little blog is brand-spankin new and we are all just getting to know one another, I thought I’d share some background information :)

A few weeks ago, AnNicole over at Our Suburban Cottage hosted a big blog party called How I Met My House. Of course I meant to link up, but I was so busy getting my rear kicked by finals at the time that the opportunity passed me by. I still think it is a good way for us to get to know one another a little better though, so I’m going to go ahead and share :)

After my handsome hubby and I got married, we moved to Little Rock, AR. I didn’t have a very good attitude about it at first, and we were both dead set on leaving Little Rock as soon as possible (we had grand visions of living in a beautiful historic home in downtown Charleston ;). At this point we were still a little delusional of the belief that our lives would go exactly as we had planned. As a result we spent a lot of time making our own plans instead of realizing how much better the ones that God had for us were. Because of this, our living situation was and felt very temporary….. We lived with a roommate while all of our stuff, our wedding gifts, and my car waited for us in Virginia while we job searched on the east coast. Brutal.

I did a lot of soul searching during this time and struggled with a slight depression in a place where I had no friends, no transportation, a crappy waitressing job, and was dealing with a very frustrating and disappointing job search. For a long time I refused to believe that I could ever be happy in Arkansas (I was definitely wrong). I prayed A LOT for patience, serenity, and the courage & wisdom to know, trust in and do God’s will.

My sweet husband was so wonderful and patient during the funk that I was in. One thing that he used to do to cheer me up was to drive us around to look at houses. He knew how much I am obsessed with love them, so we would go for long Sunday drives around town, looking at all of the homes and making all of those infamous plans.

Soon prayer and Grace began to work in our lives and we accepted that Little Rock was part of God’s plan for us. Of course everything then fell into place (um, duh). We found a BEAUTIFUL apartment that was part of a charming craftsman home in a historic neighborhood going through a huge revitalization and definitely on the up and up . We were finally on our own and, after a flight to Virginia and a long drive back with all of our belongings, we began to build our lives here. I got a job working with troubled youth while the hubby focused on life at the office and a growing freelance business….

I also set to work on our little apartment… life was good.

Fast forward one year and I had decided to go to nursing school while Scott began building his brand. Since we knew that nursing school meant a long(ish) term commitment (and since I had pretty much been waiting my ENTIRE LIFE to buy and start working on our first house) we decided to start looking.

Our realtor, Lael Foster, was our landlord’s wife so it worked out really well. Plus she was FANTASTIC and we really grew to love her (and her to two adorable daughters). Her and her hubby do some great renovations and own some really great rental properties (ie. our old apartment)….and are just all the way around real estate savvy :)

Shortly after we began our search, God threw in another one of His little curveballs

we were pregnant.

Cartoons vs. Cooking Shows

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:21:05 +0000

When I was little, my older sister and I used to argue every. saturday. morning. The never-changing topic of our squabbles? She wanted to watch Saturday morning cartoons, I wanted to watch Bob Villa’s Home Again. Can you believe it?? Or, if I had to throw in the white towel on that battle maybe I could squeeze in a cooking show or two? At that point I was, oh.. i don’t know…. about FIVE years old? Well, it’s close to twenty years later and I am still pretty much obsessed with anything that has to do with home. I love making my house a home for my family… cooking delicious meals, decorating beautiful rooms, hosting fabulous parties, and fantastic diy’s. Ok, well I love the idea of it. I’m new at this and am still working on the actual execution (especially with our i-just-quit-my-job-to-be-a-stay-at-home-mom, practically non-existent, budget).

But before my Martha Stewart/ Bree Van-De-Kamp (excuse the Desperate Housewives reference) aspirations, comes the need for me to be the absolute best wife and mother that I can be. Just like I said over there in the about me section, I am in love with my calling to the vocations of marriage and motherhood. And to me, that doesn’t just mean hosting awesome parties or beautiful thrift store finds, great diy’s or general craftiness. It means living a life of reflection and prayer, serving my husband, taking joy in my family, teaching by example and remembering that every decision I make effects the person that my kids (present and future) will become. It means forming my children’s character and calling my family on to holiness. It means living in the moment and appreciating the little things. It means living a life of holiness, joy, and love. And so that is what this blog is about.

Here at HMH, not only will you find recipes and diy projects, stories of our home renovations and decorating adventures, design inspiration and the tips and tricks of an obsessed homemaker…. You’ll also find insights about marriage & motherhood, the joys and struggles of running a household, and the musings of a girl who’s trying to figure out what it means to be a woman.

I hope you’ll join me for the ride :)