The Chalkboard Project

I would like to start off by saying - I love our house!  We both do!  I don't think a day goes by that one or the both of us doesn't make that statement.

1. We love living closer to church.  We feel that we have more freedom and opportunities to get involved in ministry and grow relationships now.
2.  We love our new town.  Seriously, everything we need is so close!  (Which may turn out to be a bad thing if these late night McDonald's ice cream trips don't stop) :)
3.  We love decorating and making this space our own.

• So far, the kitchen and living room have been painted and are almost complete.  We ordered a rug for the living room last week and are just waiting on it to come in.  (Hopefully it matches!)
• Right now, I'm working on the upstairs - turning the bonus room into an office for Lester.  It's his birthday present from me.  He knows I'm working on it, but doesn't know all the surprises I have in store for it, yet.

Decorating is definitely a time consuming part of buying a home.  We're taking it slowly, waiting until we find just the right idea or piece for a space.  But, we are having a lot of fun doing it and know that our house will be just lovely once it is all finished!

Here is our most recent decorating endeavor, and - may I add - we are very proud of this one!

 

We built a chalkboard!  

The inspiration:

1.  The Brady Bunch - They had a mini chalkboard in their kitchen.  I have always thought that was awesome.

2.  Design shows on TV - I love, love, love watching design shows on TV and have always been fascinated by the creative use of chalkboard paint in rooms.

3.  Pinterest - Yes, I admit it...I have been sucked in to the wonderful world of Pinterest.  It was because of the DIY ideas section that I finally worked up the courage to construct a chalkboard for our kitchen.

How we did it:

Lester helped me out a ton on this project.  Because, let's just face it, I'm really good at coming up with ideas but I need someone to help me accomplish them.  (I don't always think those parts through) Lester comes in very handy in those situations! :)

1.  We bought a super cheesy, cheap-o painting at Old Time Pottery that had a decent frame.

2.  We went to the new homeowner's favorite store - The Home Depot - and purchased a pint of chalkboard paint, a small tester can of white paint, a drawer pull, and some wood screws.

3.  Once home, we ripped the painting out of the frame.  Lester flipped it over and painted the cheap wood backing to create our chalkboard.  (FYI - A little chalkboard paint goes a long, LONG way.  We have plenty left over!)  I painted the frame white.

4.  Once both pieces were dry, we re-attached the chalkboard to the frame, added the drawer pull as a chalk holder, and drilled our chalkboard into the wall.

We're super excited about this project.  As you can see above, we placed it next to the refrigerator and pantry.  It will help when making grocery lists, reminding each other of stuff going on, or just writing notes.

I had to test it out this morning to see how it works.

I think it works just fine. :)

Puffy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies...and, why running has become very important to me.

I have another confession to make.

I love food.  I mean, I REALLY love food.  But, I think you already knew that :)
I also love reading food blogs.  I get so much inspiration to try new cuisines, techniques, etc.  The problem with this love for food combined wonderful inspiration (and a brand new giant kitchen!) results in lots and lots of food being cooked and baked.  Delicious food.  (Sometimes healthy, sometimes not) :)
This is where running comes in.  I run so that I can eat :)  That's pretty much the only reason.  I also love running because it is something Lester and I can do together, but mostly I love it because I can eat something scrumptiously bad for me without feeling guilty. :)

Enter the Puffy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie.

I made these last night at the request of my sweet husband.  Of course, I most willingly submitted.  In no time at all I had these baked up.  Then we consumed them, and they were GOOD.  Really, how can you go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate?  It is the most perfect food combination in the world.

What did I love about these cookies?  What didn't I love about these cookies? They were super soft and chewy - like a chocolate chip cookie - without the sometimes tough, grainy texture (but with all of the flavor!) of a peanut butter cookie. 
I will definitely be making these again and again...and again.

Puffy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

from How Sweet It Is

makes about 18 (large) or 36 (small) cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
8 tablespoons of salted butter, melted and cooled
6 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter, melted and cooled
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Add butter and peanut butter to a microwave safe bowl, and heat in 30 second increments until melted. Let cool completely.

Mix the flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, mix the cooled butter/peanut butter and sugars until they are combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until mixed.
Gradually add flour and mix until a dough forms.  It is a pretty firm dough.  Fold in chocolate chips.
Shape the dough into balls and place on a baking sheet two inches apart.  (If you are feeling really brave - which you are - sprinkle a little sea salt on the cookies before baking.  YUM!!!)
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown. The centers should be soft and puffy.
Cool completely and enjoy!

Notes:

• During the process of making the cookies, I realized that I didn't have a full 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips.  But, I did have some peanut butter chips.  So I used 1 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup peanut butter chips.  It was a great substitution in my opinion!
• The dough for these cookies is very firm.  I ended up using my hands to mix the chocolate/peanut butter chips in with the dough - almost as if I was kneading them in.
• Do not over bake the cookies!  The cookies will not look like they are done when the timer goes off.  Take them out of the oven anyway.  They settle as they cool, and the puffiness is what makes these cookies wonderfully chewy on the outside while still soft and gooey on the inside. :) 

 

There's No Place Like Home

It's official.  We are homeowners!  We signed the papers on August 4th and were completely moved in to our adorable, little house by Saturday afternoon.  May many blessings be on the heads of my parents, my sister Lori, and my grandma for all the hard work they did in helping us move.

We are beyond thrilled to finally be living in our new home and working to make it just the way we want it!  We give God all the praise and glory for what He is doing in our lives.

I've promised so many people pictures, so I am including a few in this post.  These are just pictures of the downstairs.  Upstairs pictures will be taken and posted later, but we currently have a guest staying with us whom we have given free reign of the entire upstairs for the next week or so. :)

Disclaimer:  The pictures in this post will be horrible because -
a: I am not a photographer.  I don't take pictures of...well...anything.  I'm told that will bother me someday, but right now I don't care. :)
b: I don't even own a camera.  (well, I did....but it died, and I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet)  Yay for iPhone cameras though!

This is our adorable, little house!  

We are currently in the process of taming the jungle that is the front and back yards. 

Silly me opening our front door for the first time.

View from the front door.  

We LOVE the open floor plan.

Disclaimer #2 - Ignore all the unpacking and painting that's still going on.  It's a process. :)

Living room

Kitchen

My favorite, favorite, favorite room in the whole house!

Disclaimer #3 - The wine cooler came with the house.  It will soon be replaced with more shelving/storage.  Thank you. :)

Master Bedroom

Another view of the Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Yay for double sinks!!

 

Disclaimer #4 - Ignore random girl standing in giant bathtub to take a picture.  You do what you have to do to get a good shot apparently :P

Another Master Bath view

The bathroom is long....I couldn't get a good picture of the whole thing.  Sorry.

God is good. All the time.