how pinteresting. home decor. wall art.

I linked up again this week with the Oh, How Pinteresting blog link up. This week, I am focusing on the REAL purpose of the link up and highlighting all things home decor – wall art in picture form. part of my “house fever” is staring at pretty things on pinterest that I want and need. to decorate the walls of our house.

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I want this “you have my whole heart for my whole life” thing for over our bed. I have been looking on Etsy, but have not found one that I love and looks as good as this one. I am pretty sure Kyle would HATE it, but he is not our interior designer, I am. :)

I love the Song of Solomon 3:4 scripture verse wooden plaque thing. I actually wanted it on our wedding program, but it somehow got left off. I found it on Etsy for not a bad price, my only reservations are (1) where would I put it. (2) I don’t want our house to have too much lovey dovey stuff on the walls.  ...I feel like it would have to go in our bedroom but then we may have too much going on on the walls OR it could go around/near where we hang wedding pictures, but we both don’t want a million and one pictures of US hanging around on our walls. meaning: this will probably never grace our walls, but I can/could live with that.

I picture this monogram over and entrance table by our front door. painted the same color as the baseboard trim of our walls. I am pretty sure this is another thing kyle would absolutely hate.

I LOVE this sign for our laundry room. My dream laundry room will be an actual room rather than in the mudroom and will be upstairs. obviously, it doesn’t have to be a BIG room – but big enough to hang this on the wall that you see as you walk in.

I cannot wait to actually start house hunting {rather than internet browsing like I am doing} and looking at houses and blogging about our house hunt. and then buy a house and decorate our house and then blog about our house and blog about decorating our house. oh to be an almost 30 something married lady. the things in life that make you happy and excited change so much the older you get. it is crazy.

but, I hope everyone is having a good week! it is FLYING by!!!

oh. how pinteresting. killer workout.

I am notorious for pinning workout ideas on pinterest and then NEVER EVER EVER doing anything with them. I decided to change that this past weekend and pulled out what appeared to be a workout that would make me sweat and Holy Moses it did.

I just took a screenshot of this picture on my phone and toted it around the gym with me so I knew what I needed to do and when.

Blond Moment: When I looked at the cardio plan, I thought hey that won’t be SO bad ... and then I realized {while at the gym mind you} that I was doing 60 minutes – 1 HOUR – of cardio before having to do anything else.

Hi. Hello. I workout for like a hour max and then I am dunzo. So this workout was a step up from my normal workouts.

I ended up modifying the cardio bit because I really HATE the elliptical. So, I did 30 minutes on the tread and then 20 on the elliptical and then 20 on the bike. By the time I hit the bike I was sweating and ready to quit. But, I still had arms. Oh arms.

When I moved onto the arms I was tired. But I figured I had not yet used my arms so how bad can it be. Well, they started hurting near the end of the bicep curls because I ever ever use my arms. Some were easier than others {easier: rows, bicep curls. harder: triceps kickbacks and bench press} needless to say – I was happy that bit ended.

The Legs + Booty part made my want to SCREAM after all that cardio. The lunges and squats and then calf raises. Goodness. Me. The words I could have said. hated.this.part.wanted.to.die.wanted.to.puke.wanted.to.die.

And I was TIRED when I had to lay my butt down for abs. So tired that I wanted to just lay there. And I did, for a bit and then I crunched and crunched some more.

And, I did not do that cool down – I cannot stand on my head for 30 seconds, let alone 5 minutes. And... wouldn’t all the blood rush to your head after like 3 minutes?!  My cool down consisted of some stretching, refilling my water, breathing, and getting the heck out of that gym.

Overall Review: Killer. Awesome. Totally felt it the next day. Will do again. But it will be a weekend workout since it takes so much time. I totally had to Google some of the workouts to figure out what they were and how to do them. But since I am working to get back to how I looked BEFORE my wedding I think this is an excellent addition to my FlyWheel and Blast900 obsessions and the treadmill runs that I suffer through! :)

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.this is totally not the point of the Oh, how Pinteresting Link up that I am linking up with but I don’t care. I found the workout on Pinterest (like many girls do) and decided to actually for real try it. So, rather than just positing pretty pictures, I posted a picture and reviewed it. BAM. that is my version of Oh, How Pinteresting for the week.

:: weekend wrap up ::

This weekend was JAM PACKED. Correction – this whole week was a little overwhelming.

Saturday morning started at 3:00 AM when we had a really bad storm come through and our big, ferocious dog started barking out of fear. {He may be 90 pounds and look scary but he isn’t} It was annoying. But then I legit had to be up at 6:00 AM for a 10k. I had a free entry to the Button Down Dash and ran the 10k. It was miserable. Hilly. Humid. I prayed the dark skies would release rain, but not so much.  But truthfully, for it being the 1st year it was pretty well run. Some water issues on the 10k {aka not water at all the advertised water stops}. I survived. I was slow. And my legs and hips KILL. But 6.2 miles done and done before 9:00 AM.

I then had a few errands to run and then headed back home to get Kyle J out of bed. We were making a trip to the bank to talk about mortgages and buying a house and everything we needed to know about closing costs and pre-approvals. Since Kyle and I are throwing around the idea of buying a house here in Georgia we wanted to talk the financials through before making any big life decisions. We wanted to know how much we would need to save for closing costs and monthly mortgages. {Him and I are a little over the top when it comes to making decisions – we want to be very educated}. We learned that we don’t need to start looking till like 60 days out {since that is when your pre-approved rate “expires”} and we learned that Navy Federal has this really cool “buy a house using us cash back option” ... we still have a lot of talking to do.

Sunday I was up early to hit FlyWheel with my buddy Afton.  We have seriously become addicted to this place and our lunch dates afterwards. It is really nice to have a workout buddy on the weekends and FlyWheel is a killer spin class. I know it is kind of pricey, but it really is a great workout. Surprisingly, after running 6.2 miles, my legs were okay and not too dead. I biked 22 miles and ended up improving A LOT of my stats {which is awesome}.

I came home and had my first Pinterest failure. I took one of those dish scrubby brushes and filled it with vinegar and dawn soap – sounds brilliant, but how do you get all the suds off the wall and how do you not get a bubbly waterlogged mixture of cleaning supplies.  Ever since conquering meal planning {4 weeks going strong and we’re LOVING it} I decided I want to put our house on a cleaning rotation. Which is a shocker if you know me {I hate cleaning}. But, all the recommendations are definitely directed at stay at home moms and I am not that person. So, I will take any and all suggestions. And I don’t want to spend my whole weekend cleaning.

Of course, I have a fabulous Pinterest meal on the menu for tonight. Cheesy, Bacon, Baked potatoes and Flank Steak with this soy sauce, hot pepper, garlic marinade thing.  Long Story Short – You can just name me wife of the year”!

And now... I am just going to sit on the couch relaxing my legs while Kyle cuts the grass.

Meal Planning!

When Kyle and I got married and merged our bank accounts together we put ourselves on a budget and we budgeted $400 per month for groceries.  And yeah - that probably does seem like A LOT for 2 people ... but my husband can put away some food.

But. Overtime I began to realize that we were buying A LOT of things that we probably didn't need and won't ever use. So, I saw this on pinterest and thought why not apply it to our real life. And now we're on week 1 of meal planning.

The big changes: (1) Rather than 2 grocery shopping trips per month I have to make 1 small trip per week. Which is good. We can get fresh veggies and fruit. And fish! (2) Hopefully we will save time rather than hmming and hawwing over what to make for dinner.  And, I will be able to pull chicken out of the freezer the night before or ground beef. Again. Saving time. And time is something we don't have a lot of at night between dog walks and Kyle doing P90X and me half marathon training.

I got the print out HERE and I build my grocery list on the right and list our dinner options on the left.  And we don't have to cook the meal on the day that it is associated with but we have all our dinners planned and Kyle is locked into 1 meal per week.

So far it is going pretty well and I think this is something we will continue doing. It for sure will keep us from going out for dinner.  It is too soon to see if we're saving any money on groceries but I am hoping we do.  Less money on groceries means more money for other things like vacations or our future 1st house.

Do you meal plan? Have you thought about meal planning?!

Friday's Letters

I have had some free time on my hands now that I am not planning a wedding. Probably too much free time. So, I have started exploring other blogs and have found some pretty cool things.  One of those "cool things" is this "Friday Letters" link up.  Granted, I don't know the full who.what.where.when.why. but I think I got the jist down good enough to participate. So, with that introduction, today I am linking up with Ashley over at Adventures of Newlyweds for my very first Fridays Letters. :)

 

Dear Husband: I feel like a total dork, but I am really excited for our movie marathon this weekend.  If we thought merging bank accounts and starting a budget was a test to our marriage, just wait till we have to decide on movie after movie and TV series after TV series.  That my love will be the real test.  Chick Flicks please? Annie? xoxo, the sun will come out tomorrow.

Dear Dad:  HAPPY FATHERS DAY!! :)  I hope you have a super fabulous weekend and remember that you're LOVED by your two crazy kids in Atlanta.  Thank you for always being the best father a girl could ask for and thank you for standing by my side on the biggest and best day of my life.  You really are pretty great and Sam and I really are pretty lucky!  Talk to you on Sunday, don't forget to answer the phone!!  xoxo.

Dear Weekend: I am so forever grateful for you.  I cannot wait to lounge around and wear my PJs for days and eat lots of food and not worry about anything but the next movie or TV show to watch.  Treat me well.

Dear The University of Alabama: Are you serious about life?! Raising out of state tuition to $11,475 per semester.  That is $22,950 per year.  Like, I want my children to go to Alabama and be little Roll Tide babies, but that is like $100K+ for just 4.5 years(you know the average amount of time it takes a kid to graduate).  And that is just in 2012-2013. In 20, 21 years what will it cost Kyle and me?!  Thank goodness we already have a kids college fund.  xoxo - a December '06 graduate/Alabama legacy who wants her kids to be students too!

Dear Mom & Dad: For real.  Thanks for paying for my college tuition.

Dear Heather my bestie: I am so grateful for you, our long on the way to work chats, your words of wisdom, and ability to always make me laugh. I hope you have an AMAZING birthday weekend and beach trip and get all the Tory in the world one could handle. :) I hope your birthday card came and it wasn't too warped and wacky from the rainstorm. {Reminder: check the weather before mailing cards} I cannot wait to see your pretty face 2 times in July.  xoxo happy birthday - enjoy the back slide into 30!

Dear Face: Why are you covered in big ugly unattractive zits?  Sure I may have gotten married, but I still need to be pretty. sheesh!

Dear Mulligan and Kennesaw: No more paw issues please.  No more issues at all please.  If we could stick to our 1 vet visit per year schedule that would fabulous.  Think about it for 2013.  K.  Thanks.

Dear Spa at Evergreen: I cannot wait to be spoiled and pampered  this Saturday morning.  I am in total need of a good massage and I hope your excellent facial ladies can fix my gross face.  See above.  It needs help.  Signed, hopeful zitty girl!

Dear Pinterest: Weee I am gonna do so much baking and cooking this weekend!  Thanks for all the ideas!! :)

Dear Runners and Walkers:  My buddy Elizabeth is hosting a giveaway for a free entry for the Atlanta 13.1 race.  You can enter HERE ... but don't enter too many times because I want to win!

my new project– pinterest recipes

So!  The day after Kyle and my wedding we were talking to his step-mom Cory and she mentioned that since the wedding was over I would have so much more time on my hands and I needed to find a new project.  ….well attacking the wedding room would for sure be a project in itself {and yeah. I am still working on that.} but I decided to take take my LOVE for Pinterest and make that into a project.

And well, Kyle and I were spending a lot of money eating out on the weekends and we want to get our spending under control so we can start saving more and saving for our first house.  So… Sundays are now “Pinterest Recipe Day” in our house.

Last weekend was kind of a dud.  But tonight – oh so good.  I made a Spicy Chicken Rigatoni dish and is was delish!  So delish I wanted to share the recipe with the few readers I have – because it was quick and easy and can for sure be a weeknight meal. And the best part is that most of the ingredients are things that are very common in houses. 

 

…The Ingredients….

• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 Tbs crushed red pepper
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 Tbs chopped garlic {I didn’t chop – I just used our press thing and it worked just as well}
• 6 oz chicken, sliced  {I used 2 chicken breasts … it was easier for me}
• 3/4 cup. Marinara sauce
• 1/2 cup Alfredo sauce
• 2 tsp butter
• 1/4 cup peas {…and I did like 1/2 cup of peas}
• 1 lb Rigatoni pasta, cooked according to package directions

…Directions…

1. In a sauté pan {I actually used our big huge wok pan thing … made it really easy to make the sauce}, heat oil over medium heat. Add crushed red pepper, salt, black pepper and garlic and sauté just long enough for garlic to caramelize and red pepper to release flavor into the oil. Add sliced chicken and sauté briefly to coat in spices and garlic.
2. Add Marinara Sauce first and then Alfredo Sauce and bring to a simmer. Cook until sauce esthickens slightly and chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165°. Turn off flame, add butter and peas and incorporate into sauce.
3. Drop cooked pasta in boiling water for 3 seconds. Let drain for 15 seconds. Toss with the sauce. Place pasta and sauce in pasta bowl, reserving the majority of the chicken to be placed on top of the pasta. Using a rubber spatula, scrape any remaining sauce from the pan to the pasta. Garnish with crushed red pepper and serve.

Total Disclaimer so I don’t get sued or anything scary like that {remember… we’re trying to save money} This recipe & the picture above came from Tastebook … but I for real do recommend this dish.  It does have a little kick to it so if you’re not a fan of spicy things then you may want to pass.  But, this will be made in our house again.

Foto Friday :: Wedding Picture Ideas

Thanks to Pinterest I have been stalking wedding pictures and collecting ideas for pictures I want of my own wedding.  I need to print all them out and then send them to Justin and say yeah… can you make this happen?  Please and thank you?

I love this one for so so so many reasons.  The only hard part I see is that there are 5 bridesmaids and I have 6 total in my line up of lovely ladies.  Maybe a heart on each side of the word love?  I do not know, but I do know I love this picture.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture and I feel like it would only work if it was of my Dad and me before the ceremony.  How sweet and sentimental would that be – and I do have to walk down some scary old timey stairs.

This is overdone but still so cute and amazing.  Since I am not going to see Kyle before the ceremony we can at least say hello and calm each other’s nerves through the door right?  Honestly, we probably won’t do this but it is still such a sweet sweet photo.

Our venue has an amazing balcony over the front of the house.  We will recreate this picture. No options.  I may need some flip flops if I have to go up and down those stairs over and over again!

Another pre-wedding picture of Kyle and me – or it can be done after the wedding.  ….I would have to figure out if it can even be done at our venue.  I want to say something similar can be done but don’t quote me on that.

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It is a good thing I LOVE our photographer and stalk his blog and Facebook page and melt over a lot of his wedding pictures.