Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Top 13 Posts in 2013

I thought I would jump in on the bandwagon to do a quick "Top 13 in 2013" post.

13. Coming in at the 13th most viewed post is:  Puppy-sitting. Pole Competition. Apple Picking. Friend Making Monday. Looking back, that was a really fun weekend. I started getting back into pole dancing and that weekend even inspired and motivated me to train harder and enter in my first competition.

12. Ranking in at 12th most viewed post was one of my favorite recipes: maple Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Bisque. Yum

11. And in eleventh place is one of my other favorite recipes: Homemade Ravioli. I seriously love the convenience of these! Too bad they aren't the healthiest option

10. In tenth position is my post about Unforgettable Moments where I had so much fun announcing our engagement. (I have been working on my "how we met" series which will lead into the "how we got engaged" story)

9. My Dance Room is the ninth most viewed post and gives a tour of my dream room. Well, having a pole wasn't always in my childhood dreams but a room/area that is specifically made for dancing always was.

8. Friend Making Monday-10 Things That Make Me Happy. The title is as obvious as it gets.

7. "I'd Like To Quit The Gym" and Ten Things Tuesday In the seventh most viewed post, I discussed my anxiety over quitting the gym as well as some other tasks that had to get accomplished.

6. My neurosis was in clear view when I explained my Thanksgiving Menu in the sixth most viewed post.

5. In the fifth most viewed post, I showed a bunch of pictures from a weekend of brewing beer and other fun activities. I'm Clearly A Few Days Late On This One...Brewing Beer and Friend Making Monday

4. The fourth most viewed post was on my decision making process for living painting the living room. Debate of the day: Smoky Olive or Mark Twain Olive.

3. Crossing things off my list was the third most viewed post and helped me get a handle on the multiple to-do items going on at that time.

2. The Before Tour was the second most viewed post and probably the hardest/most complicated one for me to figure out. I had the hardest time posting the pictures and formatting them! But the post was really important to me so that I have a record of what this house looked like and all the progress we have made with it.

1. 100 Things About Me is the most viewed post and it is pretty self-explanatory!


Tonight is New Years Eve and we have hosted it for five+ years now for our group of friends. I'll be making bacon wrapped dates and a chocolate-y treat that's super easy. Ryan is making a large pork shoulder for some pulled pork sandwiches.
For the most part, everyone will bring an appetizer or chip/dip as well as their own drinks.

What are you doing for New Years Eve?


PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not drink and drive.

Monday, December 30, 2013

Master Bathroom Plans

Our master bathroom is really outdated.

The wallpaper makes me cringe and the mustard yellow tub and sinks is very authentic to the 1970's.



 

Although Ryan loves the wallpaper and wants to keep it, I ripped a small piece of it on a whim to get me going on re-doing the bathroom.


Unfortunately, it isn't in our  budget at this time to do a major renovation so we are stuck with the outdated vanity and mustard yellow bathtub for now. The tile is in great condition and I don't hate it so we are keeping that for the time being. My mission for this house is to never see mustard yellow ever again!

The plan is to work with the existing shower curtain and matching accessories so we will stick with a darker neutral color for the walls but have a cranberry color on the mirror wall and use some orange accessories around the room. Also, I have to pay homage to the original wallpaper and will find some way to re-purpose a small piece of it.
 
Phase 1: Strip wallpaper
Phase 2: Paint wall behind mirror and exposed medicine cabinet a cranberry color.
Phase 3: Paint walls (slightly darker color than what is in the bedroom)
Phase 4: Paint all trim (deep rich espresso-like brown)
Phase 5: Decorate with a few orange accessories
 
 

Saturday, December 21, 2013

School Vacation

I'm pretty sure I could speak for nearly every teacher and say we get just as excited for school vacations as the studetns do.

My break officially started as of 3:00 yesterday afternoon. Last night,  I worked on organizing my articulation cards -a process I have been working on since the end of the last school year- while we had a movie on in the background.

I have a lot of projects that I want to do over the next week and a half while I am on vacation-looking at two potential wedding venues, organizing my office, and hopefully peeling the wallpaper in the bathroom.
I brought home some school related items too-some paperwork that must get done and some projects (like the articulation cards).

Hopefully now that I have some time in the next week, I can start posting more too.

Do you have this week off? What have you been up to?

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Traditions

Rebecca at My Little Devils with wings asked me to be a guest blogger and I eagerly accepted.

Check out our Christmas Traditions.



What are some of your holiday traditions?

Monday, December 9, 2013

Bacon Wrapped Dates

Happy Monday!

I've been so caught up in the excitement between Thanksgiving, the holidays, and a very happy event, blogging has sort of taken a back seat. Oh well.

Other than the initial excitement of being engaged and realizing planning a real wedding is not nearly as fun as planning a pinterest wedding, this past week had been relatively normal. This past weekend, Ryan and I went to look at a potential venue and spent the day together feeling very engaged. Later that evening, we had an impromptu double date followed by a Sunday of errands and house cleaning. It was actually one of the best weekend's in a while.

friend makin mondays
 
If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Share Your Favorite Holiday Recipe
 
Anyways, this week's Friends Making Monday is all about exchanging a holiday recipe and since I still have to share the bacon-wrapped date recipe from Thanksgiving, this turned out to be perfect time. Love when that stuff happens!

And to be honest, I cant really call it a recipe. The name of it says it all. These fall into that category of pathetically easy.

Three ingredients and you're done.

You need:
  • Pre-pitted dates
  • Bacon
  • Pecans

I've noticed that the quality of bacon makes a HUGE difference. So far , I've used maple bacon and apple-cured bacon. Holy delicious-ness

So easy:
1. Line a baking sheet with rim with tin foil for easy clean -up.  Place a cookie sheet on top.

2. Stuff a pecan in the date
 

3. Cut a piece of bacon to fit around the date.

 
4. Cook until bacon is crisp. It can go in at 350 for 15-20 minutes, 400 for 10-15 minutes, or 450 for 7-10 minutes. Just really keep your eye on it to make sure the bacon doesn't burn.


If you want, they can be stuffed and wrapped the day before. Just keep covered in the fridge until ready to bake.


I've made these for a few different get together's and they have always turned out to impress the crowd. (Except for the time when I forgot about them in the oven and burnt them. Woops)

What's your favorite holiday recipe?

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s question!  Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments!

 

Monday, December 2, 2013

Unforgettable Moments

I swear this week's questions could not have been more perfect.

Keep reading to find out why...
 
If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!
 Unforgettable Moments
 
1. Share the details of your first kiss.
  • First kiss ever: Summer before 7th grade, behind the baseball field at camp
  • First kiss with Ryan: The end of our first date. We were sitting in the parking lot of the restaurant, getting ready to leave. The clock changed from 11:59 to 12:00, which turned the date to May 1st. I looked over at Ryan, said "Happy May" at which point, he leaned over, tilted my chin, and in that moment right before the kiss, I got those butterflies. I still get butterflies when he tilts my chin like that.
2. Did you put your foot in your mouth in 2013? If so, tell us about it.
  • No comment. 
3. Share the story of one of your most embarrassing moments.
  • I actually don't get that embarrassed too easily. While I definitely have mortifying  moments, nothing major sticks out. 
4. Tell us what it was like when you traveled outside of your home state or country for the first time.
  • When I was 15, I went to Israel for five weeks with 57 other people from my camp. We were all the same age and had practically grown up together, summer after summer. It was such an unforgettable experience. I recently found my journal from that summer and got such a kick out of re-reading it.
Dead Sea, 1999
5. Share something that forced you outside of your comfort zone in 2013.
  • I left my job for a new position working with a different age group. It didn't work out, which is absolutely okay because I ended up in a way better position. It's funny how things just seem to work out.
6. Tell us about a gift that you received that meant a lot to you.
  • I know it's so silly, but Ryan went to the store and came home with "my juice".  I am slightly obsessed with having juice in the house, specifically Ocean Spray's cran-grape lite. A few weeks ago, he saw that I was out and without asking him, he went to the store to get some. Little things like that are great. 
  • Another amazing gift was from my parents. My father and I both have a thing for clocks, especially grandfather clocks. For years, he had been saying how he wanted to get a grandfather clock for his office. A few weeks before we closed on our house, he asked me if I would go help him pick out a clock at my favorite store, The Country Store. When we got there, we went through a bunch of the clocks and decided we both like the same one the best. When we went to pay and deal with the delivery aspect of it, he told me it was being delivered to our new house-and not his office, as a housewarming gift. It is one of the most special gifts. 
7. Share the details of the best date that you’ve been on in the last year.
  • Actually, Ryan took me to a Slayer concert over the weekend with another couple. While the music and heavy metal is not necessarily my thing, I had a wonderful time with him (and the other couple we went with). We went for a nice dinner beforehand and spent the night at a hotel which always makes things more fun. The actual concert was an experience and I am glad I went to share it with Ryan. Now, I get to hold it over his head until he comes to see a musical theater show with me. 
8.  Describe one beautiful moment that was not captured by a photo.
  • Ryan and I went for a walk on some of the trails behind our house yesterday afternoon. It was lightly raining and Mulder had a great time on the trails. We spent the entire walk giggling and laughing and cracking jokes. When we got to the top where the abandoned ski lift, we were both acting giddy....is this the moment we get engaged??? He was thinking the same thing but told me he didnt have the ring with him and this wasn't it. The whole rest of the day, we joked about it. 
 
9.  Share one important thing that you hope to accomplish before the end of the year.
  • Perfecting the layback on the pole
10.  Tell us about one defining moment of 2013.
  • Yesterday, in the early evening, Ryan and I got engaged. It was spontaneous and perfect and SO US. I can't wait to share the proposal story later this week (no, it didn't happen during the walk)
 
 
Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions. Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments. Happy Monday, friends!
 
I'm still on cloud-nine and don't plan on coming down any time soon.
So.....how was your weekend??