Parade of Homes

I absolutely love going into open houses or newly built houses, etc. Mainly just to get decorating ideas!! From where I live they have a Parade of Homes event every year where new builders showcase their homes for sale. I’ve gone to this event for the past 3 years and love it!! We normally go to one of the most expensive neighborhoods around and go into the big houses there, the way they stage them is amazing. Here are just some of the pictures I took at this year’s Parade of Homes. Great date idea too, since it’s free to attend J

Love this backsplash

 

 

It’s a bookcase with a storm shelter!! Brilliant, especially here in Oklahoma

Outdoor Kitchen which I love and have been begging hubs to build one. Oh and my mom who went with me since hubby doesn’t like to go to these things (Party pooper)

I’m so in love with these sliding barn doors, I wish I saw them when we were building our house

And this is just clever, a rack in the laundry room to hang your clothes

To look up an event in your area go to your areas Homes Builders Association website to check it out

Salsa

We absolutely love growing a garden every year and this year was no different. I wanted to do a salsa garden and then can the salsa. Well, the canning part never happened because my husband ate all of the salsa before I could get around to canning it. Maybe next year!

Recipe here

Wedding Wednesday: What to wear when dress shopping

Wedding dress shopping can be tiring and stressful all in one. I mean it is more than likely the most expensive item of clothing you’ll ever wear and it is all you’ve been thinking about is “the dress” ever since you got engaged (or before, I think I dreamed about it as soon as I met my husband). I mean it’s not like everyone will be watching you walk down the aisle or anything.  So you are at the moment where you have invited everyone you want to be there, done your research on which dress you want and you are ready to go. But come the morning of shopping you are at a loss on what to wear and bring to go shopping for that ONE dress.

My advice, take it for what it’s worth, is to wear as little layers as possible. You don’t want to be wearing jeans, a tank top, a shirt, cardigan, and the whole nine yards just be taking it on and off. I wore a maxi dress to my appointments and I thanked myself later for that decision. It was so easy to take on and off when traveling to different stores trying on lots of dresses.

Also, my top things to bring when you are trying on your dress is deodorant, trust me you will sweat. Hair tie, if you haven’t thought about how you want your hair on your wedding day a hair tie is great to have so you can look at yourself with it up, down, half-up half-down, etc. Makeup, you always look different when you have makeup on then if you just go with eye-liner and mascara(my typical makeup on the everyday). Water and snacks, yes you will get hungry it’s a work-out trying on thousands of dresses. Undergarments, bring an appropriate bra and underwear don’t go with bright pink underwear when you’ll be trying on a white dress. And a camera, take picture of this special moment and pictures of the people who took the time out to come with you(I missed this one and wish I would had gotten one)

I started my search knowing I wanted a mermaid lace dress, well what came out with was a triumph plain stain dress. Be open to options, and try on as many dresses as you want! This is your day.

I skipped the chain stores and went to the local bridal boutiques in my area. I loved the person that was helping me; she was amazing and made me feel so comfortable. 

I didn’t want a lot of people coming along due to a bunch of opinions so I invited my mom, my soon-to-be mother-in-law and my sister. My mother-in-law loved that I invited her since she has all boys and never had the opportunity to do something like this.

Weekend Recap

This past week was a rough one for our household between Karl getting hurt at the groomers, work being crazy busy, and the weather being extremely hot. We hardly had time to do our weekly workout routines or household chores. So I was in desperate need of a girl’s night by the weekend. All of us girls have been busy with everything going on this summer that we had hardly seen each other. It was so nice to cut loose and get dolled up to enjoy some girl time. And my amazing husband even took time out of his evening to drive me to and from so I could have some fun!

On Saturday I whipped out my sewing machine that I got for Christmas last year and tested it out for the first time. My first go was with some head bows and after my second attempt I’ll have to say I'm liking this domesticated thing. 

We finally hung my chalkboard frame that I cannot wait to use and also started on a project for a very special 1 year old that I cannot wait to share.

Sunday we spent the day relaxing and watching the “Who do you think you are” marathon on TLC. It was a perfect ending to our crazy past week.

Graduation Party

My absolute favorite party I have done up to this point would have to be my husband’s graduation party from college. After 5 ½ years of college I knew I had to do something special for him, since he (finally) reached this milestone in his life and join the wonderful life of a working adult, ok that might be a little sarcastic. It was also the first get-to-together/party we had in our new home together so it was a chance to show off our new house as well. Since he graduated in December, I went with a Chili themed party, and let me tell you I made way too much chili that I don’t think we ate chili again for a year after this party.  We did a build your own chili bar, which was a huge hit because it catered to everyone. We had hotdogs, baked potatoes, fries, Fritos, corn bread, chips, and toppings for everyone to indulge in whatever their little hearts desired.

 I put the crock-pot full of chili on an upside down wooden crate, and then made the “chili” sign with a frame from our local craft store and then bought fabric, black paint, and stencils. I love the way it turned out.

His favorite dessert is cheesecake so I made cheesecake cookie bars and then my mom brought cookies. (See recipe below)

 

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

 

Ingredients

1package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated chocolate chip cookies

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and egg until smooth

 

In ungreased, 9 or 8-inch square pan, break up half of cookie dough. With floured fingers, press dough evenly in the bottom of the pan to form crust. Spread cream cheese mixture over dough. Crumble and sprinkle remaining half of dough over cream cheese mixture

 

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Cool 30 minute. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until chilled. For bars, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows. Store in refrigerator. 

Weekend Recap

This past Friday my sister and her husband came into town from Florida. Since my husband and I both work in the same town my parents live in, we decide to try out a little roof top bar before dinner. Lucky for us it was happy hour when we got there. It was such a fun little place. One of our favorite things to do is try out new food joints we haven't been to or just discover what our state has to offer on the weekends.

Isn't he smokin'

 

On Saturday I made a cinnamon roll casserole (recipe here). It is also a delicious breakfast recipe for Christmas morning.



 

 

Then we went to our first 1st birthday party, this is just going to be a domino effect though since all of our friends decided to get pregnant at the same time. But I am sure loving this now that I get to spoil everyone else's kids. :)





Happy Birthday sweet Desinty!

 

Saturday night we tried a new hibachi grill and sushi restaurant with Chad's family and man was it fun. I am so excited that we got a new sushi place close to us instead of driving 30 minutes. We then tried our hand at some karoke, well not me but the guys did.

 

Sunday we spent the morning relaxing and resting, later we did our usual cleaning and getting ready for the week ahead. I don’t know about you but meal planning is getting harder and harder, I am so ready for fall and all the soups, stews, and pumpkin I can handle!

 

 

 



Wedding Wednesday

How I asked my Bridesmaids

I found this idea on Pinterest and was dying to do it. Seriously, I got engaged on the 22^nd and went shopping to make these on the 23^rd, no joke!

Supplies:

Box (Found at our local craft store in the cake decorating aisle)
Scrapbook paper
Double-sided tape
Ring pops
Tissue filler
Stickers (Get the ones with the templates you can use on your computer, found mine at Office Depot)

Print your labels off the computer. Measure the scrapbook paper and cut accordingly, then tape the paper to the top lid of the box. Put the sticker where you want it and fill box with tissue filler, then put the ring pop in the middle.

Aren’t they cute!?!

Karl's Birthday

Our puppy’s birthday was a few days ago and although I really wanted to have a birthday party for him, we opted to just do a birthday cake, presents, and a chicken dinner!!

I ordered a Peanut Butter Puppy Cake a while ago from Amazon and was so excited to make it for him that it had been staring at me from the pantry for 2 months!

 I made him a chicken dinner,a change from his boring puppy food, and then he took to the cake and LOVED it! It was so cute watching him get it all over him (and on the floor).

 We ended up taking it away from him because we didn’t want to chance a belly ache on his special day J. This was the aftermath.

After cake came presents! My parents got him his favorite treats, the pup-peroni’s and also he got a Nylabone!

I would say that was one good birthday!!

My First Blog Post(I think it was a sign)

My husband and I tried out a new Chinese restaurant and then took our food home and watched the movie “Julie and Julia”. I’ve been talking about starting a blog for a while now but I think this was a huge sign to get it started. My fortune read “Be tactful: do not overlook your own opportunity.” and then, we watched the movie “Julie and Julia” that’s about a girl who starts writing a blog about challenging herself to try all of Julia Child’s recipes in a year. If you haven’t seen it it’s definitely one to put on the Netflix! So anyways here is the start of my blog, hope you enjoy J

About me:

 My name is Bethany, I’m a 20-something year old newly married wife to my amazing husband!!! I love to cook, bake, entertain, decorate, create financials(I know I’m weird but I love budgeting), do crafts, go on dates with my husband, play with our precious goldendoodle, and love this fabulous life!

 My husband and I got married March of 2014 in our home state of Oklahoma. We had a beautiful outdoor rustic wedding and although it did rain a little bit on our wedding day, we are hopeful that it will only bring us good luck in the years to come

 In 2012, we built our first home together. Even with us being in our home for almost 2 years, we are still trying to make it our own.

 In 2013, our family grew by a little fur ball we call Karl. He is a ball of energy that loves the attention and of course we give it to him.