Shopping, Birthdays, and Camping...Oh MY!!!

A lot has happened since my last post.

I went shopping Saturday, March 3rd, with my sister-in-law, Tovah.  We had fun perusing Target and Hobby Lobby. We also got to eat at Cowboy Chicken.  Plus, I got to spend time with my cute nephew.  Good way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  After shopping, I headed back to Pittsburg and Nick and I ate dinner with the Maybens.  The Maybens came to our house for chicken Alfredo and dancing on the Kinect.  It was a BLAST.  Kenlie had Casey and I dancing the night away.  She even got Nick and Mitchell to dance one song with her.  It was priceless. :)

Oh, the things a cute, four-year old can make grown men do. :) 

"Jump on it, jump on it, jump on it!"

Love it. :)

Isn't he the cutest? :)

And we're done!

Friday, March 9th, my parents and sister came in and we went to eat at Mt Pleasant Burger & Fries.  We also went to get some ice cream at Braum's afterwards.  Good time just to sit and visit.

Saturday, March 10th, Nick and I had breakfast with the Maybens, then headed to Tyler to do a little shopping.  We spent most of the time there at Academy and a little bit at Bed Bath and Beyond.  After shopping, we met up with Nick's parents, brother, sister-in-law and nephew at Chuy's for Alan's birthday.  We did a good job and got him a Baylor Tervis.  I think he liked it.

Sunday, March 11th, Nick and I headed out to Buckhorn Creek on Lake O' The Pines where Joe & Melanie were spending their spring break camping.  We spent most of the evening with them.  We cooked hot dogs and watched the pretty lake.  We also roasted marshmallows.  LOVE those things. :)  Wished we could have spent the week with them.  It was so relaxing there.  But Nick and I decided we would fulfill my Sister's Christmas present and take her camping there at the end of the month.  I cannot wait for March 29th!!!!

I was so fortunate and excited to get my phone upgrade and get a brand new iPhone 4S.  I've been having so much fun with it.  Love getting to play with Siri.

Tuesday, March 13th, Nick and I got to spend some time with some of our dear friends.  Larry, Jess & Adam all came over to visit.  The boys talked while Jess and I worked on some of her wedding stuff.  We picked out their first dance song.  Then Jess and I played Just Dance 3 on the Kinect.  We definitely enjoyed our time with them.

Friday, March 16th, Nick and I took off work at noon and headed back out to Buckhorn Creek again to spend the rest of the day with Joe & Melanie.  Nick and Joe fished the afternoon away.  Melanie, Satchel, and I spent the afternoon talking and getting dinner ready.  Alan, Tovah & Owen came for dinner as well.  Melanie made some baked potatoes and steaks.  I made some of my Mom's baked beans.  Then we all made s'mores after dinner.  We had a very enjoyable time.

Satchel being cute at the campsite.

Husband checking our steaks

Husband relaxing. ;)

Melanie's awesome cooking!

Can't deny who this kid belongs too. :)

The boat next to Joe & Melanie's campsite.  "Choot 'em Liz!"

Isn't he precious?

Melanie working on the potatoes.

Awww...cute little nephew.

Satchel thinking this was his seat... :)

Owen giving Uncle Nick a leg workout. :)

Saturday, March 17th, I had breakfast with the Maybens while Nick went to help his boss with some work at his house.  Then Nick and I headed to New Boston to celebrate my Dad's birthday.  My Sister found an awesome deal a few months back on Groupon.  We were able to get my Dad two original stadium seats for Texas Stadium in Iriving.  Dad was completely surprised!  He didn't suspect a thing!  After surprising him with his chairs, we went to shop at Academy (for our upcoming camping trip), and then we went to eat at Dad's favorite, Cracker Barrel.  Then we went home and ate some cake.  Dad had also recorded the "Ring Ceremony" for me for when the Mavs received their championship rings.  Not gonna lie, I teared up a bit when Mark gave Dirk his ring.

Certificate that came with the chairs. 

The chairs!

"Come on out Dad!"

"Are you serious?!  Are you kidding me?!"  He was so excited. :)

Sister explaining about all the sneakiness that had gone on for his present. 

He loves them. :)

My mom sent back a bunch of my Barbie stuff with me from when I was little.  We were wanting some toys for Kenlie to play with when she is over.  We got home Saturday night and I pulled the house out to see if I could still set it up.  Apparently I'm still a kid at heart.  So many memories tied to all of those toys. :)

My amazingly, awesome Barbie doll house.  It folds up into a suitcase for easy travel. :)  I put this together in about 4 minutes flat.  I still got it. :)

Sunday, March 18th, Nick and I had dinner with the Maybens.  We grilled hot dogs, then made s'mores redneck style...on the grill. :)  We had a fun time getting to relax with them.

Reclaimed Window = New Mantle Decor...Oh MY!

I got an idea from pinterest, and ran with it.  :)  As I've talked about previously, I was given 15 old windows!  I just needed one.  Well, of course, I went to pinterest, and found a few ideas of what I could do with a few of the others.  I came across this pin, and decided I NEEDED to do this.  I had a failed attempt the first time...  I tried to take a short cut, but it didn't work.  So, I peeled the first attempt off and tried again.  It worked this time. :)

The old window frame.  Clean it well to get as much residue off as possible, or you may end up with some imperfections... I did because I was too impatient to clean it again. :)

Love the details on this window. :)

What you'll need.  I sized the photo I chose in Photoshop then cropped each of them.  You'll also need gel medium, Mod Podge, and a paint brush.

I used Mod Podge to glue the picture to the window, then coated the top with gel medium.  Gel medium is super expensive, so I wanted to use as little as possible.  However, it has a great finish, so that's why it's on top of the photo.

Lay your squares out to ensure you put them on the frames in the correct order.

After I've Mod Podged and gel mediumed... yes, I just made those words verbs. :)

Finished product after it dried!  I LOVE it. :)

The NEWER Painted Kitchen...Oh My!

So, I just realized I've never post pictures of the second repaint of our kitchen.  May/June of 2011, we painted our kitchen this awesome "Electric Lime" color.  You can see that here.  I really loved that color, and it was super happy.  However, I didn't feel like it really fit in our home.  So, I convinced Nick in November that we needed to paint it "Clary Sage."  It's still green, just a bit more tame.  :)  I think this color compliments our home so much better. :)  We've also added a china cabinet that Casey and Mitchell gave us.  I painted it this color called "Cordovan" from Sherwin Williams.  The original color was a green, and I didn't feel like we needed that much green in one room.  However, I did do a crackle with the Cordovan, so you can still the green showing through.  LOVE IT!  That's all we changed up, but it's made a HUGE difference.  Here's the new(ish) kitchen.

Going into the kitchen from the living room.

Looking to the left.

Looking towards the table from the china cabinet.

Looking towards the garage door.

Inside the kitchen.

Right side of the kitchen.

Left side of the kitchen.

China cabinet.

The new china cabinet.

The finish. :)