Roadtrip: Day 2

Today seemed to drag on FOREVER. There were many city skylines, restaurants with Cow wallpaper, yet amazing BBQ, and the classic Texas sign at the rest stop just over the border. I'll be glad when we are finally done driving for a bit. 

Roadtrip: Day 1

We are finally on the road to see the rest of the family all the way down in Texas. Getting me through this long trip? Re runs of OTH of course, homemade caramel corn, and warm blankets. 

One good thing about this drive is that the further we drive, the higher the temp gets! Looking forward to that warmer Texas air. 

Hot Dishes and Final Products

Another cold day meant a perfect day to try a new hot dish for lunch and probably again for supper with all the leftovers!

Cheesy Chicken (turkey) Broccoli Rice Hot Dish

So since we cooked a whole turkey last weekend I thought I would use that instead of chicken. Very easy and quick meal!

Ingredients

2 cups cooked rice
2 cups chicken (turkey)
2 cups Broccoli
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
1/2 cup mayo
1 can cream of chicken

Crushed corn flakes (I used Fritos chips)
2 tsp butter (melted)

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees
2. Mix all the ingredients except chips and butter together in a bowl
3. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan
4. Sprinkle crushed chips or corn flakes on top and spread the melted butter over chips
5. Cook for 40 min 

Told ya it was easy! If you like more ingredients more than others then you can change it up. I like a lot of broccoli and Tyler likes a lot of meat so I added a lot of turkey and broccoli. It made a big pan and we will have plenty for leftovers!

My Mail Organizer is finally finished and hung up! It turned out great and leaves so much more room on my shelf for more attractive things than opened mail and papers everywhere.

Magnolia Market

If none of you have watched the show Fixer Upper on HGTV, I suggest you do immediately! Joanna and Chip Gaines host the show in Texas and fix up old homes and make them amazing. I would move to Texas just so they could remodel a home for me. 

Not only do they have their own show, but she also has her own amazing store with a lot of stuff that she uses on the show. Magnolia Market is the place in Waco, TX and guess who will be driving right through there on the way to visit the family in Round Rock and Borne? THIS GIRL! I have been a fan of the show forever and getting the chance to go to this amazing place is kind of like a dream come true for me! 

Here are some of my favorite things from the online store that I hope to snag while I'm down there, unless we don't have enough room, then I can still order them online. So convenient!

Distressed Vase Holder

Metal Flower Bunch

Wire Wine Holder

Locker Baskets

Metal Letters

AND She has her own jewelry line

Feather Necklace

Radiant Necklace

She's got the same style that I love and wish I could fill my house with! Slowly, but surely it will get there! I will hopefully be adding to that collection while I am at the store. I'm so glad I get the opportunity to go and check the place out! Wouldn't that be cool if they were there!? I think I would die. :) See you next weekend Magnolia Market!

Makeover

I thought that it was time the blog got a new facelift. I like the simple layout and colors, less busy than the green checkerboard look. I can't wait to continue blogging and sharing!

This is Really Happening

CABO! Monday was a crazy day. We had a meeting with our professors and we were finally able to get the right codes to register for our FINAL class of our undergrad career. 

That night we booked our one way ticket to paradise… I mean students teaching. Myself and  another girl will be spending the three coldest months in Minnesota in one of the warmest places one could find in the winter, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. 

Buying the non refundable ticket seemed to seal the deal for me and make this experience and trip of a lifetime seem so real. 

It will be scary, exciting, fun, hectic, relaxing, sad to leave and be down there for that long! I’m sure after a week I will be missing home (minus the sub zero temps) and especially Tyler, but I was given this opportunity to study in another country and learn a completely different culture and I am going to take full advantage of this opportunity! See you in the spring, I’ll be the nice and tan one ;) 

I’ll be sharing all my Cabo teaching and adventures here so be sure to check back in a couple months!


Here are some flashbacks from the last time we were in Cabo and the school that we will be at again!

 

Home Edition

Yesterday just seemed like the perfect day to leave work early and finally get things done around the house to make it feel a bit more like home. 

I’ve had frames of various sizes all painted black and pictures to put in them to make a gallery wall. They were all just sitting on the ground waiting for a nail to get put in the wall. I am so happy with the finished product and makes my dining room much more inviting. 

I love the contrast of the black and white pictures in the black frames against that deep red wall! Don't mind my mess. It still looks a little bare and lonely, but it's getting there!

• Project 1: Gallery Wall

When we first moved in I knew I wanted a chalkboard in the kitchen to write different holiday greeting, inspirational quotes, and bible verses on. I was at my parents house one day and saw a frame out in the shed and told my mom I was going to take it. It was so cool looking and big that it would be perfect! So I asked my dad who is very handy in his wood shop if he could cut a board to fit the frame and I could paint it with chalkboard paint. I finally went and picked up the finished product yesterday and Tyler hung it up for me last night. 

 

Who would have thought that a $1 from could turn into such a great addition for the kitchen! I’m going to need to do some more digging out in the shed for some other finds.

• Project 2: Chalkboard

I’ve got two more projects that will be in the works shortly. 

The first one is a mail and key holder for the kitchen. We have this area where an old telephone used to hang, but now it is just a space in the wall with a small shelf that all the mail, keys, pens, and other miscellaneous things get thrown. I like more organization and didn’t want to spend $100 for one from Kohls. So I took one of the many cupboard doors I have from the Habitat for Humanity Restore, ordered a mail/key organizer for $13 from amazon, adding a small chalkboard and there ya go! Organization!

I’m still waiting for the mail organizer part to arrive, but for now I will paint it the red of the dining room and distress it to make it look more rustic and my style. I can’t wait for the finished product and not to have such a mess on that small counter. 

The last project I hope to get done soon is to move an old ice chest from my parents house into mine. It was in my grandma Norma’s grove for many years and it has been sitting in my moms shed for many years. Mom asked me if I would be interested in it because I’m still trying to fill the many blank spaces in our large house with decor. I think that it would be perfect and can use it ask storage and display decorations on top. It’s old, but still looks awesome and I think that it would fit in great with the rest of the house. 

Until next time…