Thankful v8

 Lately I've been thankful...

[+] for warm afternoons spent with friends on dog-dates

[+] for post-bath pups who have crimped hair and are sweet smelling

[+] for new freckles and the start of tanned skin

[+] for stripes on baby bumps

[+] for celebratory dinners with family and being stuffed to the brim

[+] for dates with my husband especially when they include ultrasounds of the babe

[+] for learning how to be an outdoor dog

[+] for signs of spring in the form of green leaves and little buds

[+] for thunder and lightning in the evenings

[+] for shadow dogs who never leave your side

[+] for future best friends

[+] for maxis that feel like pajamas but make you appear dressed up

[+] for homemade pizzas on the smoker

[+] for birthday celebrations with your hubs

[+] for the anticipation of what the next year will bring

[+] for nursery room prints that take you back to being a kid

[+] for carpet and paint samples for someone's new room

[+] for a clean house and open windows

[+] for mornings spent at home with the time to make breakfast

[+] for ear plugs and face masks to make sleep come easier

[+] for weekends filled with celebration of moms

Feeling so thankful recently!

Five on Friday v5

Today I'm linking up with Christina from Carolina Charm for "Five on Friday" 

Check out the link up below.

[one] It's only two weeks and two days away until we find out the gender of the little babe growing in my belly and I can't believe how time is passing so quickly. It seemed like forever ago that we originally scheduled our anatomy scan and now the day is fast approaching. J and I both have our opinions about who this little one is going to be and we've gotten guesses from a handful of our friends too and as it stands right now, we're basically split equally for team pink and team blue. Anyone else want to take a guess?

[two] Spring weather has definitely made it's presence known the last week or so and even though the evenings still get quite cool, I'm happy the seasons are starting to change. We've been working in the yard prepping for the summer and I hope that our efforts will pay off. Last year the previous homeowners stopped taking care of the yard once the house went under contract so we were left scrambling trying to revive brown grass with basically no landscaping. We made some major improvements last year putting in lots of new shrubs and perennials as well as a flag stone patio so this year is already off to a better start. Now if only we can get the grass growing so we have a beautiful, lush lawn then we'll be all set!

[three] Believe it or not, there was nothing on my schedule on Tuesday related to school so a few of my favorite med ladies and I took the opportunity along with the gorgeous weather to spend some time outside being "normal people" for a day. We headed west, back towards where I grew up, and went for a hike at Red Rocks. In all the years I've lived here I've actually never hiked there which surprises me. I've been for concerts, it's where we did our engagement pictures and we've taken guests just to look around but I didn't realize there were such great trails throughout too. After our hike (where I only asked for a break for my growing belly once!) we headed into the little town of Morrison and enjoyed Mexican food on the rooftop patio of The Morrison Inn. It was a fabulous day indeed!

[four] J is taking his first business trip back to San Diego since we moved almost a year ago. He's going to be gone for a whole week and I'll definitely miss him like crazy. Thankfully my mom lives so close and has offered to feed me while he's away. Somehow medical school has made everyone think I can't cook anymore and I'll starve without him here but hey, I can't complain. We have a whole slew of meals lined up that J never wants to eat/make and I'm looking forward to spending some time with my momma in the evenings.

[five] I've started brainstorming nursery ideas for a little while now and I think J and I are officially on the same page. We both believe so strongly in education and want the baby's room to be a place that's not only fun but also a place we can teach numbers, sit down to read and enrich our first born's life as much as possible. We're still working on all the details but I'm envisioning a big map on the wall (possibly as the centerpiece behind the crib), shelves and shelves of books that little hands can reach, science themed art prints, an adorable numbers mobile or a big abacus on the wall and lots of bright colors.

Happy Friday!

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

Time off from med school is hard to come by so this last weekend was spent soaking in as much time with my husband, relaxing, seeing our families, and getting things ready for Christmas. 

Following a lovely exam on Wednesday morning and brunch with my favorite soon-to-be-doc ladies it was Christmas-galore at our house. Outside the lights were hung, inside the tree was trimmed and even Ollie joined in on the festivities. Later in the evening J and I even went on a date and saw Catching Fire in the theaters (movies never happen around these parts). We spent Thanksgiving up north with J's mom's side of the family complete with so much laughing, maybe a bit too much wine and some fantastic conversation. A little bit of Black Friday shopping (without any fighting) followed by a Nuggets game (and win) and Friday turned out fantastic as well. Med school always seems to poke it's pesky head up and my exam on Monday was calling which meant some good study time was in order before the weekend was up. Throw in a bunch of holiday coffees, a bit of Netflix watching and some holiday crafting too. End with a birthday celebration downtown at a Brazilian steakhouse and more meat than you could possibly shove down and I'd chalk up Thanksgiving weekend to be pretty dang wonderful.

Homeowners: The Office

The office has become one of the most used rooms in our house and just so happened to be one of the first places I tackled once we moved in. Since J is working from home and I'm in school, we both knew we needed to have specific places to work instead of just spreading out on the kitchen table or somewhere else in the house. 

After a paint transformation from pastel-pink with sparkle to a soothing sage green plus the addition of two new desks and some decor we already had, here's a peak into where we've been spending a lot of time lately. 

We decided to take the closet doors off and put my desk snuggled into the space. It worked out perfect because there's an overhead light inside all our closets and it helps the room not seem too crowded with two big desks.

This is the usual state of my desk... covered with Basis of Disease books or lab manuals, tons of notes and colored pens and of course, coffee! I reused the frame that held our table-settings at the wedding to hold some of my favorite pictures from that day. As much as I hate how much time I spend sitting here, at least I've got my own little set-up to make me smile.

We bought two bookcases from Target that now hold both "for fun" books as well as all my textbooks. Our diplomas are finally hung and I made a few prints of encouragement to lighten things up. I have to say my current favorite shelf is the one that holds all my new med school equipment, purple stethoscope and all!

The office window faces to the front of the house and lets us know who's coming and going throughout the day/evening. And there are always signs of Ollie in the form of dog hair, toys and sometimes even his silly self making the office that much better.

Now if only I wasn't spending hours upon hours up here ;-)

Currently [v6]

Currently I am:

+ excited about heading up to the lake tomorrow morning for some good old 4th of July fun. J and I have been going there for so many summers now and we have great memories of days spent in the sun. 

+ amazed that this will be J and my 7th Fourth of July together! Holy cow where has the time gone! Our dating anniversary was on Monday so this holiday is always special to me because of that. 

+ prepping our food for the weekend away and attempting to not have to use the grill while we're there. I tried a new pasta salad recipe that I modified with some protein to make it a meal and I can't wait to enjoy many a few adult beverages as well. 

+ shocked at the size of these marshmallows from Walmart. They are seriously enormous, like the size of 3 regular marshmallows. Hello, s'mores!

+ loving our new canvas prints from Costco in our family room. The quality is absolutely stunning, they are so well made and they give such an impact on our large wall. (we went with the 16x48" size) They were definitely more expensive than just doing prints in a frame but I think they are so worth it. Plus it's an awesome way to relive our honeymoon every once in a while by looking up at these canvases.

+ obsessed with French Press coffee after reading this post about how to make iced coffee with it. While we were waiting for our stuff (and more specifically my espresso maker) from the moving company I got a cheap french press and have been loving using it ever since. Plus it's a joy to have coffee already made when I wake up instead of having to fuss with the machine each morning.

+ thrilled with how our biggest home improvement project to date went over the past weekend! Our entire downstairs is getting new flooring and the first step was the hardwood. I promise to do a more detailed post with before and afters once the entire project is finished (carpet is going in next week) but here's a sneak peak anyways. This flooring is just gorgeous! 

Hope everyone has a fun, warm and safe 4th of July weekend! 

Homeowners: An Adult Guest Bath

Updating the guest bathroom upstairs was pretty high on the to-do list once we moved in and since we still don't have our stuff from the moving company (also read, the horrible nightmare where we just hope we get our stuff someday) I decided to tackle this project to keep me (and my mind) busy. 

Incase you didn't believe me that this bathroom was in serious need of an update let's take a look at the before.  

Yep. It was seriously that color. I understand that the previous owners had 3 young kids but really? We found the paint can in the basement and it's literally "Alien Green". Why any company would actually choose to make such a color is beyond me but regardless, it needed to go!

The color in the "After" picture is the most accurate to the true color in the room. Bathrooms and their lack of natural light are always tricky to photograph. And the best part of this project? It was basically free. The can of paint we used was completely full in our basement which equals free. The shower curtain, rod and liner were extras from my mom's house after she moved, free again! The towel rods and such were already there and the white frame was a Goodwill purchase for around $4. Add in a few bucks for painters tape and I am thrilled with our guest bath!

On to another project in the new home!

Tying the Knot: Post-Wedding Bouquet

I absolutely loved my bouquet for the wedding and knew I wanted to do something with it post-wedding instead of just tossing it in the trash. Especially since J and I decided not to use flowers in any of our wedding decor, the personal flowers we did get were that much more special. 

After the wedding was over my mom went to the venue the next day to pick up all our "stuff" and included in it was my bouquet that had kindly been placed in water overnight. For the rest of our stay at home it stayed in water in the fridge to keep it fresh. Once it made the trip back to San Diego I decided to hang it from fishing line in our coat closet to let it dry. It stayed in there quite a long time, mostly due to the fact that I forgot it was up there. Oops :-) 

Once it was completely dried I started on the project I was envisioning. I made a quick trip to Bed Bath & Beyond to get a pretty vase as well as some potpourri scents to mix in. I carefully untied the ribbon from around the stems and clipped both flowers and greens into a big bowl. I left some of the roses intact and separated others into individual petals. When I had enough to fill the vase I added about 20 drops of the lavender oil and gave it a quick, careful mix. 

I filled the vase, strategically placing certain items along the edges to be featured and then placed it on a shelf above our entertainment center along with our cake topper and lots of my favorite photos. The lavender oil makes it smell fabulous and now I have a memory from our wedding that I can see every day.

So tell me, what did you do with your bouquet after the wedding? Toss it? Save it? 

Amazing Savings at Goodwill

When it comes to spending money I'm on the fence. You can't really call me a thrift-er because I only buy new clothes, there are certain beauty related products that I have to use and sometimes certain things just have to be more expensive than name-brand. But then on the other hand I don't go on shopping sprees really ever, I'm all for finding sales and I won't turn down a deal for something that saves me a bunch of moneys! (But then again, who wouldn't!)

Because I am part thrift-er I make occasional stops at Goodwill to see if there is anything to snatch up. I typically stay away from the clothes (unless it's to cut up and use as a craft project!) and shoes and sports equipment and our location doesn't have much furniture at all but I have found some pretty sweet deals and I wanted to show you how a little searching can save you so much. 

Counter-top Wine Rack: 

We typically don't buy wine if we're not planning on drinking it soon but occasionally we do have a few bottles and I wanted a way to show them off. 

Price for a similar @ Target: $20

Price from GW: $3

Savings: $17

Large Wicker Basket: 

When we built our shelving unit in the family room we had an awkward space between the bottom shelf and the floor that we didn't know what to do with but I didn't want it to be a big hole either. This basket is the perfect size to fit with our speaker and holds our spare blankets when we're not using them. 

Price for a similar @ Michael's: $40+

Price from GW: $6

Savings: $34

Paperback Books: 

Even though I have a Nook from Barne's & Noble as well as an iPad with a reader app I still love having actual books for a good price. And at our Goodwill, all large paperback books are the same price regardless of the title. 

Price on back of 3 books: $41

Price from GW: $6 ($1.99 each)

Savings: $35

Fiskers Paper Cutter:

I am planning on doing a lot of the stationary for our wedding myself and if I wanted to try to accomplish Save the Dates, invites, place cards, menus, thank yous, etc etc etc I knew I would have to get a big, fancy paper cutter to make everything crisp. I'm still in awe of the savings from this one!

Price for similar @ Michael's: $60+

Price from GW: $8

Savings: $52

Blue Ceramic Vases/Bowls: 

Now that we have an office/craft space in our house I have accumulated a lot more supplies and have the space to keep them accessible at all times. Gone are the days of keeping things in boxes unless I need them. The decor in this room is still in the process but I knew I wanted blues and I use these two jars almost every time I'm in that room. 

Price for similar @ IKEA: $16

Price from GW: $5

Savings: $11

Totals

Price I could have paid: $177

Price I actually paid: $28

That's a grand total savings of $149!!!

I might even make a trip there this afternoon after work just because I'm motivated to save more awesome money! 

2011 In Review

2011 has been one of those years that I will remember for the rest of my life. I am so happy I decided to do this post because it made me look back at all the pictures, stories and memories I've created in the past year and how special each and every moment was. 

So take a look back with me....

+ Our after-Christmas/New Years vacation to Waikiki on Oahu, HI. I feel so blessed to be able to go to such a beautiful place with someone I love so much. 

 + I celebrated my 22nd birthday (the 4th one celebrated with J) and was spoiled rotten! 

 + Our poor Ollie got horrible blisters on his feet but did so well as they healed and

+ We spent far too long without furniture waiting for the new stuff to arrive

 + J's birthday was spent with friends from out of town, lots of margaritas and days spent relaxing by the pool. 

 + We graduated! It was a long four years with lots of stress, studying, and wondering when it was going to end but I finished my bachelors degree and J finished his masters. 

 + We spent lots of time taking our pup swimming in the ocean. He loves it so much it's hard to get him out. 

+ J and I celebrated our 4 year dating anniversary! I cannot believe how quickly the time has past and how many amazing memories we've created together. I love that man!

 + We got to spend some time back in CO this summer to celebrate the wedding of two of our great friends. While the drive from SD to CO is never fun we wouldn't miss trips like this for anything.

 + After a lot of stressful paperwork, specific deadlines and lots of finger crossing we finally bought and moved into our first house! We have loved being able to do whatever we wanted in the new house and there's nothing quite like home. 

 + We've done lots of work since we moved but it is all so worth it. A yard for our pup to play in and a guest room to host family and friends.

+ Now that we have this amazing new house we decided to host Thanksgiving for my mom and sister. Our turkey was a big success, I made homemade gravy for the first time ever and we spent some time at the beach. Noting says Thanksgiving like the sun and the sand!

+ The holidays are definitely my favorite time of the year and I was so excited to finally be able to decorate outside as well as inside wherever and however I wanted. I can't wait to make holiday traditions in our new home. 

+ And last but definitely far from least.... J and I got engaged on Christmas Day 2011. I promise that I will do a post soon specific to the details about this but lets just say I have never been happier in my whole entire life. I cannot wait to start planning this wedding and continue to grow our lives together!

Thanks 2011.... 

for an amazing, spectacular, whirlwind year that I'll never forget.