New York Or Bust

Well maybe...Dennis and I received an invitation to our youngest nephew's First Communion this morning. It will be held on Long Island the first weekend in May. I have found some pretty cheap plane tickets but I am not sure if we can swing it for both of us, since we will be going on vacation the first week in June.

If not there is no telling what I might purchase while Dennis is away if he decides to go by himself. The last time he was gone, I bought a slab of granite. This was a total impulse buy that I have never ever regretted. About a month after painting the counter tops, I saw signs around town for a granite store going out of business. This just happen to be around the time that Dennis left to go watch the PGA Championship at Bethpage in New York.

I have to be honest about this trip...Dennis and I had planned on going to the golf tournament together almost the entire time we had been dating. Unfortunately when it came time to buy the plane tickets my grandmother had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Dennis debated on leaving me or not that weekend because my grandmother wasn't expected to make it through Monday. She passed away four days after he got back.

Didn't mean to get so depressing there, so back to my granite. I followed the signs and discovered that it was the same place that my parents had purchased theirs from about three years earlier when they redid their kitchen. I found the most gorgeous piece of granite and purchase it on the spot. No discussion with Dennis or anyone. No this is not something I would normally do. The whole piece cost me $600 and would fit my kitchen perfectly. I actually have a ton of counter space and a bar so I felt like it was a great deal. There of course was an additional charge for the cutting and finishing. The installation was done by someone the granite guy recommended. They were much cheaper than I expected and did a great job. (Also the same guys who did my parents.)

There were a few problems though. Dealing with someone who is going out of business is a pain. If he had not done my parents I may have steered clear. The day the granite was supposed to be installed the installer could not reach the granite guy to pick the pieces up. After a very nice/nasty text message from me he finally contacted the installer. (Nothing like telling someone you feel like they are taking your money and advantage of you.) The install was supposed to begin at 12:00 pm. It didn't start until 4:00 and didn't end until 9:30 that night. (Nothing like the granite installer singing songs from Grease along with the movie at 9:00 at night.)

There was a ton of work that I did in between the painting of the counter tops and the granite getting installed and I will get more into that tomorrow. The picture attached is Wolife sitting on one of the counter tops, (please ignore the mess). No our dogs don't normally get on the counter tops, but someone left a chair next to it and Wolfie can't resist looking out windows.

I hope to get those curtain rods today. Yea!!!!

Have a great day and I hope this week moves faster!!

A Crazy Weekend

Wow!! What a Crazy Weekend. I hope that your Easter weekend wasn't as eventful as mine:)

My friend Dustie got married Saturday afternoon on a very tight budget so we all pitched in to help. The catering was done by my good friend Brandi and her wonderful husband Frank and Brandi's sister Nicci. (Some of the best wedding food I have ever had.) Decorating was done by myself, Dustie's sisters and Nicci's husband Ray. Final setup was completed by our friends Laleh, Kevin and the wonderful Dennis. Cleanup was a mass effort of everyone named above and Nicci and Ray's daughter Hanna Grace.

This is a picture of us from Dustie's Bachelorette Party in New Orleans

The wedding events took all day Friday and Saturday, but I did get in a quick visit with my family Saturday afternoon. My family has their Easter celebration a day early since my uncle is an Episcopalian priest and is just a tiny bit busy on Easter Sunday (imagine that). I only spent 30 minutes with them but I am glad that I did. My grandparents are getting older and it nice to be able to see them as often as I can.

My little sister was in town from Alabama but I think I saw her for a total of an hour. She has a track meet this coming weekend so I may make the trek to Oxford, MS to watch. I had a quick breakfast Sunday morning with her and my parents.

After breakfast Dennis and I headed across the bay to visit with his family. I made everyone's favorite cheese dip. (The recipe is at the end of the post.) I also made a broccoli casserole that I have made several time before for my family but not for Dennis'. Everyone seemed to love it so I am sure I will be making it again. We had great weather for the adult Easter Egg Hunt. (Think Money Eggs!!!) Unfortunately I only found one, but since Dennis is such a good husband he gave me three of his:)

To say the least it was a Crazy Busy Weekend...and I have the blisters to prove it. I also have a note to self.....Never Ever run in high heels that are too tight!!!

I am hoping that this week that I can get into my new sewing machine and make some pillows. I also have found some curtain rods...Cheap, Cheap. So I might get those up along with some curtains. Dennis has recruited his brother Michael to put up our new lights in the foyer, dining area, kitchen and hall bath. I am ready for yet another Crazy Week!!

Have a Great Monday!!

Cheese Dip
2 Cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
2 Cups Shredded Velveeta Cheese
Half an Onion (Diced)
3 Jalapeños (Chopped)
1 Cup Mayo
Garlic Powder to Taste

Mix all ingredients together chill and serve with either Frito Scoops or chips or crackers of your choice.

Are You Wearing Blue?

Are you wearing blue today......because it Autism Awareness day? I know I am. I will be wearing it in honor of our 13 year old nephew Reed who has Autism. I also am wearing blue in honor of Reed's family because Autism doesn't just affect the child it affects the whole family. Reed's mom, Dinnean, is super mom. Reed and his younger sister Claire could not have gotten a better mom and are very lucky. Their dad Kevin is pretty great too. Claire is two and half years younger than Reed and she is amazing. This family pretty much takes everything in stride, yes there are tears, but there is more laughter than anything.

All right on to my kitchen renovation. I decided last May that I was sick of the way my kitchen looked. I heard of painting laminate counter tops. This process is actually not that hard. I started off with taping off our small counter top that our microwave is on.

I cleaned the laminate counter tops with a very strong cleaner. (I don't remember which one, but it was strong.) I painted two base coats with Killz to make sure that everything on the counter top was dead. After the Killz dried I then wrapped all of the cabinets in plastic, the upper cabinets and lower cabinets, and the refrigerator. Then I spray painted the counter with Krylon Make It Stone Obsidian Spray Paint.

Once the spray paint was done I lightly sanded it since it is a little bumpy. Then the tricky part began. Dennis' was very skeptical of the whole process anyway, but even more so once I brought out the blow torch. (Yes, I said a blow torch.) It is just a small hand held one. The blow torch was for the next step. I found a product called Envirotex, which would give the counter top a glossy sheen. I followed the directions on the bottle and pored it directly onto the counter top and help spread it over the counter top. Then you use the blow torch to get any air bubbles out. Unfortunately I got a little to close and torched a small area and had a nice little burn mark, which is easily fixable you just do all of the steps again. Luckily the microwave covered it. The Envirotex did give the counter top a nice glossy sheen.

I proceeded to do this with all of the counter tops in the kitchen, but I didn't stop there. Dennis should have never of gone out of town because I made a big purchase while he was away. More on that tomorrow.

Dennis and I have a very busy weekend. My good friend Dustie is getting married tomorrow, so we will be busy with that today and tomorrow. I hope the Easter bunny is good to you.

Have a great weekend!!

A Real Crazy Life

What makes our life real crazy.....Dennis and I have been married for a year and half, but have been together for almost six and half years. We live with our two fur-babies Shea and Wolfie (two rescue dogs.) Dennis and I both work full time jobs. We are extremely close to our families so we try to spend as much time with them as possible (but we never seem to be able to spend enough). We both have hobbies that take up a great deal of our spare time. Dennis is a very good golfer and plays four to five times a week and I am the Treasurer for the Animal Rescue Foundation. I also love to craft and want to get back into my cross stitching and sewing. I also love to cook but I don't get to do that as much as I would like. So to say the least we don't have much free time and are usually running around like crazy. So with what little time I have I am going to start blogging.

I am going to blame this blog completely and totally on my friend Miranda. She has gotten me addicted to a great blog that has really gotten me motivated to not only get my house updated, but decorated and organized. At the moment I want my blog to be about what is going on around our house. That could be just about anything...decorating, crafting (not so much of that), yard work, gardening, fixing problems that arise in a 30-year old house (more than I care to count). It also may be about cooking and who knows building furniture (yes, I want to do that too.) Also I am secretly hoping that I can get Miranda's house on here a couple of times. Okay so maybe that isn't such a secret.

Dennis and I live in a house built in 1979, which Dennis purchased in 2002 before we started dating. I wish I had pictures of the bachelor pad that was his and his brother's home before my furniture moved in. It wasn't pretty with all the hand me down furniture. There was a yellow couch that I actually never sat on in the three years that he kept it. The house had a little updating when they moved in but not a whole bunch. The floors were redone and every wall was freshly painted.
I haven't done much to the houses since Dennis and I started dating because first it wasn't mine and then once we were engaged the plan to get back from our honeymoon and find a new house to purchase. Well that all changed with the Great Recession and both of our jobs became unstable, so we decided to stay put.

Well that is all today, but I am going to leave you with a picture of our before kitchen. The kitchen is one room that I have started and perhaps tomorrow I will post some pictures of where it is today. It isn't a finished product, but it looks much better.

Have a great day!!!