Hey there amazing friends!

First, let me say "THANK YOU!!" for all the sweet, compassionate messages for our girl; Nikita.
She seems to be getting a little better every day since she's been home, but is still not out of the woods.  She's been doing lots of good sleeping.  So, today I decided to do some baking to keep myself from hovering over her.   I decided to make brownies.  Brownies make everything better, right??   Sorry about the pictures, I just grabbed my point and shoot.



Brownies:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• nuts (optional) I used pecans cause that's what I had.
• cho chips (optional) I used milk.

These silicon collapsible measuring cups are one of my favorites:



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.



In a bowl mix the oil, sugar and vanilla.



 Mix in the eggs.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.  Then ad gradually into the oil & sugar mixture until combined.



 Mix in the nuts and cho chips.


 Spread into a greased 8x8 baking dish.




 Bake for approx 30 mins or until the edges pull away and the center is set.

Cool, and pig out!  These got thumbs up all around.  Kita, did not have any.  :-P



Yummy, chocolatey, nutty, gooey goodness.



Do you guys like the edges or center brownies??  Drew likes edges and I like center... works out pretty well!

Hope you have a great weekend!!

XOXO

Hey there my super nutty friends.

Just a quick update to let you all know I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth.  

Our furry princess, Nikita has been in the hospital since Monday very, very sick.  We've been complete basketcases.  The jury is still out as to what exactly is causing this, tests are out currently.  She is well enough that we brought her home last night.  She is still pretty dang sick, but we want her at home. 

I will be taking a blog break so we can focus on getting her well again.  I hope you all understand and will hang in there with us.   I'm hoping to be able to pick up with Show Off Saturday next week. 

Pray for our girl to get better soon!



XOXO

Hope to share some good news soon!

Have a great weekend!!

Wow, what a crazy week huh?

So busy with the day job I havent seen you in a whole week!  I'm going through withdrawl. 

So sad.

Off to the vet again this weekend.  *stressful* After that, I hope to spend some time stalking your blogs.  What you guys doin?  Anything fun or exciting??

Here's some awesome stuff you all shared last week:


Look at these darling envelopes that Priscilla AKA Thrifty Crafty Girl made.  You guys are killing me with the amazing stuff you're making with your Silhouette and sewing machines.  I'm dying.



My girl Anne at Design Dreams By Anne has seriously mad painting skills.  Check out her coffee table paint job.  It's so gorgeous.  And her kitty Eloise is pretty stinkin cute, too.


My new-ish friend Jen at Four Marrs and One Venus turned these chairs into an amazing bench.  I die.  I love it so much.  How great would that look in my remodeled pantry??  *hint hint*

So, onto this weeks party.

No rules, just fun, fun, FUN!!


She looks like she's having fun.

I love you more than my luggage. 

Holy moly.  When I say I'm out of shape, I'm not kidding.  I'm not lazy, by any means... it's stress related.  Yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I will never, ever buy another house that isn't fully landscaped.  Ever again.  Yard work sucks, big time.  But, being OCD I can't just leave the yard to mother nature.  I'd love to let the weeds take over {since that is what seems to thrive in our neck of nowhere and thrives on being ignored} but it's not safe and freaks me out beyond, beyond.  And, since we aren't made of money... we have to do all the landscaping ourselves.  Bonus.

First thing we did in the yard when we moved in was fence it in.  Not the best idea.  Should have done all the tilling and sod BEFORE the fence.  But, I have privacy issues, so we needed a fence.  Our neighbor owns a vinyl fencing business and gave us a killer deal if we helped dig and set the posts.  Holy shit, schlepping 80lb bags of concrete is not our idea of fun.  But, with his help we got the fence done.  We left the yard for a couple years.  It was a safety hazard.  No joke.  We live in the wild west where those nasty tumble weeds thrive.  They grow huge and are rolling balls of prickers.  I HATE them!  So, after cleaning up the yard of weeds for the 2nd time, I wasn't going to do that again.  I decided we HAD to lay sod.  One of my very first post was about laying the sod in the back yard.  I still haven't forgotten how hard that was and how proud we were to get it finished.

So, since then I planted lots of flowers and bushes around the perimeter of the fence.  Most of them didn't come back this year.  But, a couple did.  After we laid the sod we planned on mulching the beds... but it got hot... I detest the heat.   I detest the weeds more.  So, this year we hired a youngster from the neighborhood to till the beds and help us lay mulch.  Our mess of a yard:






And this was AFTER I cleared a bin full of weeds.  *sigh*  I have such lofty goals for this little yard.

Today Drew, Jonathan and I tackled the flower beds.  Jonathan tilled and I followed with a rake to level it out and pick up any large rocks/weeds.  Then, they schelpped 20 bags of mulch {YES 20!!} from the front yard to the back.  We dumped them and I spread them out.  Things were looking SO much better!  I did things backwards.  While at Lowes picking up mulch, I got some plants that I have always wanted. I got a lilac bush, a crab apple tree and a few pretty flowers.  I planted them AFTER we laid the mulch.  In hindsight we should have done the planting before.  Duh!


Kita is pissed, she wants to be outside with us.  No Kita, you are a lucky INSIDE kitty!


Here is how it looks after:




I got these trellises on clearance a month ago at Home Depot for $7 for the set.  Growing Clematis on the big one.  




My little lilac bush... grow little lilac bush... grow!


We even got a little pot of Pansy's.  It hailed while we worked.  Spring in Utah.

I know it doesn't seem like much, but this was HARD work!  And not a good idea to do all of this on one BIG cup of ice coffee.  My head aches so bad my TEETH hurt!  You know how it goes... once you start a project like this you just want it finished!!

Drew made some panoramas for you:

Before:



After:



I plan on planting more once the weather is more predictable.  I'm going to try my very hardest to keep these ones alive.  Grow little plants... grow.

Pizza and ibuprofen for dinner. 

Love you much.

XOXO

Oh yay!  It's the weekend!  HAPPY DAY!!

Been a busy week here.  I've been a little overwhelmed at the thought of taking care of the yard this summer.  So, we hired a young boy in the neighborhood who is saving for Scout Camp to mow and care for the yard for us. What a relief.  It's a win-win!

Aaaaaaanyway... on to the super duper features!


Heidi at Loe La Loep made this adorable planter from old fence posts.  She is really making some darling outdoor decor.  I wish {see above} that I had a green thumb and loved the outdoors.



Tanya at Take Six shared this adorable children's Easter table.  So bright and Springy.  I love the forsythia in the little galoshes.  SO cute!



Bonnie at Revolutionaries made these super darling Easter eggs from embroidery hoops!  So easy and just darling!  

I want to take a minute to thank all of you for taking the time to link up to this little party.  I have vowed to not stalk anyone to join, and you all continue to amaze and inspire me!  I love, love, LOVE you!

On to this weeks party.  Lets see what cool stuff you've been up to!

• No rules, just fun!

Well hay hey there nutty friends!

How you doin??

80 degrees yesterday, crazy windy and rain today, chances of snow through the weekend.  Welcome to Spring in Utah!

I've missed a week {or two} of my happiness list.  Whoops

Here's a recap of my happy things:


My mudroom re-do.  This makes me all kinds of happy.  Bought and used a miter saw.  First time ever.  I have big plans for that saw!


I got this print from my baby sister for my birthday.  I finally found a frame that fits.  Isn't it AWESOME?!?!  This is one of my all-time favorite moves... ever. 


My boys.  Look how they look at each other.  Real men love cats.  I love these 2 so much.


I finally got a shelf up in the mudroom/pantry.  My facebook friends helped me stage it so it didn't look spastic.  I <3 you friends!

Hope you are all having a great week!

XOXO

Hey everyone!  Happy Monday!

I'm guest posting over at Hating Martha, sharing more of our Easter brunch.  HURRY OVER!!






XOXO

Hey, hay and Happy Easter!!  I hope you are all enjoying a lovely day with your families.

I wanted to share a new variation on an old favorite around our house.  Bread pudding.

This time instead of raisins or chocolate, I used a few 'Springy' add ins.



Apricot blueberry bread pudding:

The cast of characters:

2 cups milk
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
12 slices Texas toast
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp apple pie spice
handful of candied walnuts
handful of dried blueberries (could substitute fresh or frozen)
handful chopped dried apricots
whipped cream or cool whip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Cut the bread into cubes and toss into buttered baking dish:


Mix the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla and apple pie spice in a bowl, pour over the bread.  While the bread is soaking up the custard mixture, sprinkle the walnuts, apricots and blueberries over the top.
Bake for 40 minutes.


Serve warm or cooled.  We prefer a dollop of whipped cream.  A BIG dollop!


I think this is our new favorite version.   Enjoy your holiday!

Don't forget, I'm guest posting @ Hating Martha tomorrow and I hope you will all stop by for a visit!

Happy weekend babies!

So... I'm a weird duck. My tastes and interests run all over the place. Just for fun, I thought I'd share some of those with you. Cause I love ya and want to know ya'll better. So, I'll start:

• I love sharks.  Great White's in particular.  It's borderline creepy. 
• I'm fascinated by ancient Egypt.  
• I met Guns -N- Roses in 1987 and they were actually very nice guys. 
• I'm a huge advocate for animal rights. 
• I love Brussels Sprouts. 
• I could eat salad for every meal of every day.
• I'm an ice coffee freak.
• I have migraines.  Lots of them.  
• I would rather buy power tools than clothes. 
• I have a black thumb.  Gardening is not my thing. 
• I cut off the top third of my right pointer finger when I was 2.  They fixed it.  
• My favorite color is Blue. 
• My favorite scent is bread baking.  Too bad they can't replicate it in a candle. 
• I was the Statue of Liberty on a 4th of July float when I was a child. 
• I have never wanted children.  I think Mother's are very brave.  I don't have the patience. 
• I hate grocery shopping.   

I'm sure there are way more bizarre things about me, I will share them another time. 

Are we still friends??

XOXO

Hey, hey, hay!

What a week, huh?

We've got stomach flu going through our house.

We are dealing with sick kitties, again.  Mira may need to be nebulized.  Hoping that's easier than it sounds.  Kita is crappy.  Dont know if its chemo, cancer or a virus.  Joy.   No stress, right??

Super glad it's the weekend.  And Easter weekend at that!  Hope you and your families enjoy it!

I'm really loving this weeks link ups.  You guys are amazingly talented and creative.

Features this week are:


Anne at Design Dreams by Anne made over this Ikea buffet.  It was lovely to begin with, but now it's gorgeous!!



Karen at Somewhat Quirky made this stunning subway art.  I love everything about it.  Especially the quote.


mcvick at Center of Attention Deficit Disorder made these lemon kiss, no-bake cheesecake bites.  I. Freakin'. Die.  I need one, right now.  *slurp*


Hope you all have a great weekend!  I'm guest posting over at Hating Martha on Monday... be sure to come visit!!

Hey guys!

So, I have some bad news. 

I had so many of you ask me about the litter box concealer and how I made it... I feel really bad. 


I went online to Ikea.com to get all the info for you and... this is no longer available!  CRAP!!  I wanted to make more of these!  *sigh*

It's the Hol storage bench.  Just cut a small hole in one side, painted it white and threw a rubbermaid bin inside.  We have a cancer girl so sometimes things get worse than bad so we keep plastic mats just inside.  There is also enough room inside to store our scoop.  I'm sorry guys! 

But, there are lots of fun Ikea hacks to make litter boxes at Ikeahackers,net

This next one was easy peasy lemon squeezie.  And 100% of the credit for the idea goes to my little brother, Matt. 

I have OCD, I have issues with cords showing.  Can't help it.  Bugs me.  I re-did our sideboard into an entertainment center.  But, our electronics were a bit long and I had to take the backing off to make them fit.  The cords showing has driven me crazy! 


Ew!  Drives me nuts!!

The other weekend when they were here I was whining about it and he suggested putting up a piece of fabric on the back.  Genius! 

Took me a couple weeks, but tonight I stapled a piece up and it's AMAZING!! 


Holla!!  Holla!!  NO cords!!




Except underneath... but I moved that.  It's beautiful!  Thanks Matty Roo Baby Boo!!

What have you guys been up to?!?!  I'm off to stalk your blogs and find out!

XOXO