Thursday, April 26, 2012

Deliciousness

This is what happens when strawberries are on sale at Hy-Vee.

Red Velvet Strawberry Shortcake.



Perfect for these warm spring days!

Check out the recipe here!
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Saturday, April 14, 2012

Crochet

I consider myself a crafty person. I like to make things, create, (even though I don't think of myself as creative) and personalize the things around me. My mom was crafty, so I think that's where I picked it up. The hobby that I'm the most thankful for learning, is crocheting. It's a cheap, fun, relaxing hobby in which I can make adorable handmade gifts for friends and family. A friend from college taught me back when I was a junior, starting with a basic scarf. That scarf sat half-way finished for a long time. That same friend re-taught me just a couple of weeks after Anna was born. This time, she taught me how to make adorable baby beanie hats. Since I now had an adorable baby to wear these adorable hats, it was easy to stay motivated to finish! :)


(Oh my goodness. Check out that little face. It's hard to believe Anna was ever that small!)

I've branched out a bit, making scarves and cowls and different kinds of hats, and am in the process of making my first afghan. This afternoon, I'm heading to a baby shower, so it was a perfect reason to make one of those adorable hats.

The baby is a boy, and his daddy is a HUGE Kansas Jayhawk fan.


Rock Chalk Jayhawk! 
(I have no clue what that means, but it's their team's chant)

Anyway, I found those colors in my favorite, Vanna's Choice soft yarn.


Changing color in every row, here's what I ended up with.


I LOVE it. It might be one of my favorites that I've made. Hopefully it will fit the little guy this fall. He's due at the end of May. Hopefully, his Mom and especially his Dad will love it, too!
 
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Thursday, April 12, 2012

I don't like the looks of this.

I'm not sure what is going on back there, but I don't like it. All day, this truck has been tearing  down the trees and bushes along the side of the field behind our house. Now, you can very clearly see the busy road.



This is what that view used to look like. No road in sight. I sure hope they aren't planning to build houses back there. I really love this field behind our house, depsite the rodents and insects it brings. I would be okay with cows crazing, but I doubt that is the plan. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
 
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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Grandma Frey's Spaghetti Sauce

A friend from our church just had a baby girl on Thursday. She has two very active little boys already, so I'm sure she was happy to hear, "It's a girl!" Some members of our church offer meals to help out that first week. Tonight is my night to take dinner to them, so I am bringing a favorite of ours, Grandma Frey's spaghetti sauce. This is super yummy, and even better, really easy to make.



Here's the recipe:

1 lb ground beef
Add one large onion chopped
-cook until meat is done, drain.

Add: Garlic powder to taste
1 large can of tomato paste
 1 large can of whole tomatoes--puree in blender
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1-2 tsp. oregano
1 can mushrooms

Let simmer.


Easy peasy and oh sooo yummy!
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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Daddy and Daughter

I love watching moments like this.



Daddy and daughter.


Mowing the lawn on a warm hot March afternoon.


Anna was working hard to keep up with dad.



I love how they have the same expression on their face in this picture. :)


This is the second time Dan has mowed this spring. This was our warmest March on record. Today it was in the mid 80s. Tomorrow is supposed to get up to 88. I'm just praying that this isn't an indicator of how the summer is going to be. :P
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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The "New" computer desk

When we were getting ready to welcome Molly into our family, we needed to do a little rearranging in our house. The "office" became Anna's room, so everything in there needed a place to go. Unfortunately, we don't have many places to put our things, except our basement. That was fine for some of the stuff we didn't use regularly, but we knew that our computer needed to be upstairs. The only place to go with it was our bedroom. Not the most ideal spot, but it works. I got this computer armoire right after I graduated from college. It worked well for me, but because of the way it had to be in our room, we couldn't close the doors, so everything was always out in the open.

This is a picture of the airmoire in the "office" shortly after we moved in.


Seeing the computer and clutter around it in our room was driving me nuts. I knew I would much prefer a desk with drawers that I could hide some of that stuff.

Here's a couple more shots that I took when we sold it on Craigslist. (I HEART Craigslist)


I knew we couldn't afford to buy a new computer desk. But we had this desk sitting in our basement, collecting dust, literally. It was a desk that I inherited (like most of my furniture) from my dad when he and Peggy got married and consolidated homes. It was in a little bit rough shape, but I knew a little paint and love could fix that.

I'm really bad about taking before pictures, so this is the only one I have. This is in the room that is now the nursery, shortly after we moved in.


I gave it a light sanding, spray primed it with


and then gave it a couple coats of Rustoleum's Heirloom White.

I also gave it a light coat of spray clear acrylic, just to add some protection. 
 I also soaked the part of the handles in Brasso and gave them a good scrub and spray painted the inner plastic piece black. There were a few bumps in the road, (bubbles... grr) but overall, I'm really happy with the way it turned out. 

It so nice and refreshing and clean.


We also sold the black and chrome computer chair along with the armoire. It wasn't that nice of a chair and annoyed me as well. We have a couple of these chairs sitting in the garage, once again collecting dust and bugs, literally. I plan to recover the seat and paint the chair, but that will have to wait a bit. 


I love this little detail on the bottom of the desk. Too bad the carpet makes it hard to see. 


I have a few more plans for our room. I want to paint, and put some things on the wall. There are few things up right now,  but I never moved them when we rearranged the furniture, and now they look like they are just hung randomly on the wall. I would love to get rid of these polished brass vanity lights and the 7 foot generic mirror. Seriously, who needs a mirror that large? But this is a parsonage, so anything we do that major needs to be approved and paid for by the church. Who knows if that will happen while we are still living here. :)

One thing that I hope to remedy while my dad is here over Easter is this border.



I can't believe I've lived with it for almost 4 years.


Anyway, I'm loving my "new" computer desk. Especially, when I can open the window on a beautiful day and sip my coffee while listening to Pandora and reading my favorite blogs. :)
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Saturday, March 24, 2012

Hand-picked with Love

I got my first bunch of hand-picked dandelions from Anna today. :)

 
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