Dining Room Complete with Molding and Paint

 

 

This will be another quick post just updating everyone on our new dining room wall color, SW Universal Khaki, and the molding we installed a week and a half ago.

 

I really love the new paint color and even though it is a darker shade than the rest of the house, you really can't tell at all because we get so much natural light in the dining room- so it works out perfectly!! :)

 

Here are the pictures I promised of another finished room in the house!

 

 

And here is a picture of our chalkboard wall we did a few months back. I wrote down a line of the lyrics from our wedding song by Sting- love Fields of Gold!!

 

 

So....what do ya think??

 

We love it and so do guests when they come over for a visit! YAY!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great Wednesday!



More sneak-peek pictures!!

 

 

Hello again, friends!

 

So I have another post about some of the painted we did last night after our daugther went to bed and we read a little bit together. :)

 

I know they will be pictures that tease, but I will try and post all of the finished pictures tomorrow so you can see the new dining room with our new wall color up.

The wall color is by Sherwin Williams and it is called Universal Khaki- a shade darker than Relaxed Khaki which is in the family room and kitchen.

 

 

Here you go!!

 

 

 

 

So the first few pictures are of the preparation process before actually painting. Then, you can see in the pictures after that the difference in the old paint from the new paint. Love!

 

Stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow of the room a little more put together. :)

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!



Framed Out Painted Picture

....is almost done!!

 

So I know I said I would post pictures last week of our framed out hand painted wall picture in the dining room, but our daughter came down with a fever and needed much attention and rest. Thankfully she is much better and the fever has gone! Praise the Lord!!

It is hard to see a young one go through something like that, but she did really well- even during the long doctor's visits. She is such a trooper!! Handles fevers better than me, too, that's for sure!

 

 

Okay, well without further ado, here are just a few pictures of the molding we put up last week. And I still have yet to repaint the room, but hopefully (and that is a big hopefully) I can get it done sometime this week! Ack...I can get so far behind on projects these days.

 

 

 

 

I love, love, LOVE it!!! And to keep the molding onto the wall, we just used some left over caulk with our caulk gun to kind of "glue" it to the wall. We didn't want to use to much, just enough on the corners of the molding so it stayed up. That way, if we ever want to remove it in the future, it won't leave crazy marks or anything like that and should be fairly easy to remove.

 

What do you all think? Have you put up any crown molding or the like in your house lately?

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!



Framing Out a Painted Picture

Hello, hello there! I hope today is a great day for everyone. :)

I am excited about today's post because we finally got something crossed off the list in our home. We finally put up some molding in our dining room (and not the kind that goes up to the ceiling, but the kind that frames out a picture).

Still confused? I have some pictures to show you the progress and will upload more tomorrow.

But this is a project I have been wanting to do for a few months now and it is finally done. Next up would be to repaint the dining room a shade darker than the kitchen and family room. Who knows when I will get around to doing that!  ;)

Okay, now for some pictures of what we were up to this weekend.

So...just a warning...these are a bit of a tease because tomorrow I will have pictures up of the actual molding around my painted picture on the wall. Sorry, but just wanted to get them ready to post for tomorrow!!   :)

This molding cost us about $.41 a foot!!! Talk about a good deal. It's not really a wood molding and that is why it is cheap, but once we put it up on the wall, you would never know.

Stay tuned for the details tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by!  :)



Pork Tenderloin with Rosemary Buttered Plums

Good morning everyone!

I am here today with a post about another delicious dish I tried with my family last week. It is a pork tenderloin roast with rosemary buttered plums! Yum!!

Let me know if you try it out and what you think!

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons maple syrup, divided

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

2 6-ounce pork tenderloins

2 1/2 teaspoons butter

6 plums, pitted and thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of maple syrup with mustard, rosemary, salt and hot red pepper flakes.

Trim fat from pork. Place tenderloins on a foil-lined baking sheet; coat with maple syrup mixture. Roast pork in oven until inside is rosy and cooked through (about 10 minutes per side). While pork cooks, heat butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add plums and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in remaining maple syrup; saute over low heat for 5 more minutes. Season with salt to taste. Cut pork into thin slices and serve with plums.

Again, I tweaked this recipe a little bit and used pork ribs and pork chops instead of a loin. I also added a little bit of Paprika and Chili Powder to the dish. And instead of maple syrup (since that can be a little pricy, I used regular syrup).

Enjoy!!

:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Mexican Rice Main Dish

Good morning, everyone!

Today's post is about a quick and easy recipe I made yesterday for my family that turned out delicious! I do have to say that it wasn't a creation of my own, but it did come from a neat website I will give later if you want to check it out.

Anyways, here are the instructions on how to make your own Mexican rice.

2 tablespoons olive oil (or lard if you have it)
2 cups long-grain white rice
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 1/2 cups chicken stock (or equivalent water and chicken bouillon)
½ cup tomato sauce
1 cup chopped green beans (or frozen peas added with corn)
1 bay leaf
½ cup corn kernels
Salt and pepper, to taste
Hot sauce, for serving (optional)

1. In a large, heavy pot, warm the oil. Add the rice and fry until the grains begin to color. Add the onion, carrot and garlic and continue frying until the onion begins to soften, 4 minutes.
2. Stir in the stock, tomato sauce, green beans and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer gently until the rice is just tender, about 15 minutes.
3. Stir in the corn and continue to cook, covered, until the corn is warm and the rice is tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with hot sauce if desired.

This site even has it's own blog, so check it out!
 Mom Appetit's blog.

Let me know if you try this recipe.

Thanks for stopping by!

New Lamp for Guest Room

Hi everyone and happy Tuesday!! Man, the weeks really fly by. I know some people are getting ready to send their kids of to school, if they haven't started already, which means summer is over. But.......fall is around the corner!!! I seriously cannot wait! There are so many things I love about fall, but more on that next month.

Anyways, remember that guest room lamp I wanted to replace? Well, I finally did it and am ready to show you our new lamp!

There is a reason why I didn't do a close-up shot of the old lamp...haha. Thankfully, we are able to use it in another spot of the house so it won't be much of an eye-sore anymore.  :)

Isn't she pretty?!?!

I purchased this beauty at either a Ross or a TJMaxx (hey! it was a while back when I bought it so I don't exactly remember which store....anywho) for a pretty good price and knew it would fit the guest room perfectly.

Another quick photo of the lamp sitting on the painted nightstand I did a long time ago. It was actually one of my first DIY projects around the house. Spray paint can do some amazing things.

So what do think? Isn't it amazing what a simple change to a room can do?

Thanks for stopping by!



Dragging My Feet...

Hi everyone! I hope you all are having a good Monday!  :)

I know I haven't been posting many projects lately, but that is because I have really been dragging my feet. I've just been feeling so tired lately and find myself needing naps when my little one does!

Source

I thought this online image was adorable and had to post it. We don't have a cat, but this one is soooo cute!

Anyways, I apologize for not having many DIY projects up and for not posting as often, but I do have projects in the "works" and hope to post about them soon (which I know I've said before, but it will happen, people!)  :)

Right now, I'm just going to spend the rest of the day hanging out with my family and listening to some jams on the radio (or TV I should say). What can I say, we love music around here and our little one especially loves to dance around the house to it. It is the cutest thing everrrrr!!!

Thanks for stopping by!



Dear Stay-at-Home Mom article

Good morning, friends!

Today I wanted to share with you an article a friend of mine posted recently that I thought was very encouraging. :) It is taken from The Gospel Coalition website and is a very good read.

Enjoy!

Dear Stay-at-Home Mom,

You are a gift of God to your husband and your kids.

But you don't always feel that way, do you?

There's a low-level feeling of guilt that creeps into your heart from time to time. Sometimes it bubbles over into tears, usually on lonely, difficult days.

You scan blogs and read books about being a good mom. You find some helpful tidbits here and there, often from women who are grandmothers now. Women you can learn from but who seem to have forgotten the struggle. They seem to have it all together.

In your heart, you want to be the kind of mom who trains up kids to make a difference for the kingdom. You know it's an honor to be entrusted with these kids. You know you've only got one shot. You want to be the mom who teaches them the Bible, models how to pray, and trains them up in the fear of the Lord.

But most of the time you feel like you're barely holding it all together.

Your house cleaning can't keep up with your kids' mess-making.

The kids embarrass you by acting up right when your guests arrive.

Your husband doesn't get just how worn out you are by the end of the day.

You come to the end of your patience. You lose your temper. Then you feel worse.

The last thing you consider yourself to be is a "good mom." And you think to yourself, It'll be a miracle if my kids turn out okay.

And - surprisingly - that's right where God wants to meet you. The place where you admit your powerlessness and your need for Him.

It's only by God's grace that any kid grows up to be a force for the kingdom.

You see, there are no perfect kids and no perfect mothers. No matter what you read in blogs, see in magazines, and learn in books. There are sinful kids and sinful moms and dads.

And the only thing greater than both is the grace of God. The God who says "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." The God who loves to forgive, to transform, and empower.

God loves you - not because you are a good mother but just because you are His precious child.

God loves you - not because you've mastered all the skills of parenting but because He has.

It's divine grace that will transform your parenting - not guilt.

It's grace that will keep you going and serving and scrubbing when you're exhausted and worn out.

It's grace that will conquer your feelings of inadequacy and remind you of God's love for you in Christ.

It's grace that goes for the heart of your kids, not just their behavior.

God has demonstrated the fullness of His love for you through the cross of His Son, even while you were still a sinner.

He has promised you His presence.

He has spoken His approval over you in Christ.

He is the perfect Father who delights in you as a daughter.

Find in Him your Treasure and Joy. Be to others what He is to you.

So walk in freedom. Let Him hold you together when everything seems to be falling apart.

Bask in His unfailing love for you. And rest in His promise of power. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Park Fun & Weekend

Hi there! How was your weekend?

I hope it was great!

Our weekend was pretty good and relaxing overall. We spent much of it outdoors (even though it was pretty hot out here). Whenever we go places with our daughter, especially if it is outside somewhere, she always takes wonderful naps afterwards- sometimes for 2 1/2 to 3 hours!! :) How glorious!

Haha, don't you just love this picture! I think it's so cute.

Anyways, this morning my daughter and I are meeting up with some friends at a park and we are going to have a blast! I always love taking our little one places to see new things and explore around. She loves to run around these days and can't get enough of it. I guess that is what to expect with a 1 year old though. I do have to say it is fun to watch her look at new things and see places she is either not familiar with or is familiar with, like the park. It's funny though, because sometimes her interests lie more in playing with leaves or grass blades from the ground and she loves to pick them up and give them to me or anyone else who is around her. What can I say? She is a giver! :)

I plan on having some other DIY project posts up this week. Things that are on the list include painting (or repainting) the dining room, converting a storage ottoman to a coffee table (and adding new fabric to it), and rearranging the family room some more. There are other things on the to-do list such as putting up some wall shelves for our daughter's books in our loft. I am excited about that project to be done, but know it may take a while. The plans are still in my head so we haven't really executed anything out just yet. But when we do, it should be fantastic!! And I will be sure to post pictures of all of the steps and the before and after.

That's it for now, folks! Have a great rest of the day!

Thanks for stopping by!