Tuesday, September 27, 2011

lamps

I have had these lamps sitting around since last fall. I purchased them for $3 at my church yard sale. And they have been sitting in a closet ever since.


The color was a blah blue and the finish was crackle.
Yes, crackle.

But I loved the shape and knew they had potential. And, lets be honest I would rather spend money on other things than lamps, so the $3 price tag was very appealing.

A can of yellow spray paint and two new shades later, I have new lamps.

I think they look cute!
(and yes, I am aware the buffet needs to be refinished)

Saturday, September 24, 2011

week by week (15, 16, 17)

Since about week 10 of my pregnancy, I have been taking pictures of my belly growth.
Its fun to look back and think "Ha! I thought I had a belly THEN?!?"

My, how quickly things change.

{disclaimer: I am not naive and I fully realize my belly is not THAT big. Yet. And I will only get bigger from here on out.}


I also like to see the fruit/vegetable size comparison.
From a poppyseed to a pumpkin. Amazing.
Although I must say, things like a blueberry, lime, or peach are much cuter than a hairy root vegetable. Turnip? No thanks.

Here are some pictures so far.





Tuesday, September 20, 2011

pins and bread

So by now, I am sure everyone has heard of Pinterest.
If not....where have you been?
I personally love it. It is such a nice way to organize the good ideas we all find on the internets. Admittedly, most of my pins revolve around baby room inspiration (seriously, I can think about this all day) and food (again, I can think about this all day).

I have been trying to actually MAKE the recipes I have been pinning. Instead of, you know, just looking at them. So this breadstick is from my pins to you.

Olive Garden Knock-off Breadsticks
(not sure if they are just like Olive Garden...but they are good. And easy. And you can make some after work before dinner and not have to eat at like, 9 pm)
..............
1 1/2 cups warm water (between 110 - 120 degrees F)
1 package active dry yeast
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt

In a large bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water and allow to sit for 10 minutes, covered. Mixture should be frothy.

In separate bowl, combine flour and salt. Add to yeast mixture. Add melted butter. Mix with paddle attachment of stand mixer or wooden spoon until fully combined.

Knead dough for a few minutes

(this is when I split the dough and freeze half for later)

Grease a cookie sheet. Pull off pieces of dough and roll out into strips.
Cover the dough and let sit in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and once heated, pop in the bread sticks. In microwave, combine the following:

2 T unsalted butter
1 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoons salt

After 6 or 7 minutes, brush the bread sticks with half the butter mixture.
Then continue to bake for another 6 or 7 minutes.

Enjoy!

Monday, September 12, 2011

new project

This little bloggy space of mine has been pretty quiet all summer.
But that does not mean I have not been busy.

In fact, I have been working on the most important project of my life....

baby Frantz at 11 weeks

I am currently 17 weeks and feeling great. The exhaustion is here to stay, it seems, but the other first trimester symptoms thankfully disappeared a few weeks ago. In their place came a growing belly, tighter pants, and leg pains.

But I could not be more thankful. Peter and I are thrilled and so blessed to have a healthy, growing baby. We constantly talk about our little baby girl or baby boy (the gender will remain a surprise till birth) and are so excited to become a family of three. (plus Scully, of course)

First trimester thoughts:
*Keeping baby a secret for 10 weeks was easier than I thought
*Plane rides will make me throw up. Pray for understanding seat mates.
*Telling our parents (especially my mom) AFTER we came back from Costa Rica was a smart idea (...are you sure you should have ziplined?!?!)
*Growing a garden full of cucumbers and zucchini is rather sad when the thought of vegetables makes me want to die
*It is absolutley necessary to sleep for hours after coming home from work everyday
*When you pin countless amounts of nursery ideas to your Pinterest, people will assume you are pregnant
*Jolly Ranchers and life saver mints will literally save your life
*Sonic happy hour limeade and tots are a perfectly acceptable snack
*I have never been more happy, excited, worried, and scared in my life

This baby is already such a blessing to Peter and I and our families. We cant wait for the adventure that is to come!