BEACH VACATION

I am headed to the beach with Ty's family. I have a new swimsuit and have been spray tanned. Trust me I need it! We are all packed up and ready to head to my hometown to drop Nuts off where he will spend the week with my sister and her new dog Zoey. My parents bought LeAnn this dog for her birthday. I got to help pick her out. I loved her right away because the lady brought her out and as soon as she saw me and mom her tail started wagging. Nuts loved having her at our house for one night. I love this pic because the same leg on both of them is raised up--they were walking in synch.

See what I mean about needing a spray tan!

It didn't help that the other bridesmaids and the flower girl were extremely tan! I didn't mind being so pale for my sister's wedding, but since I will be in a bikini I figured I needed some tan skin to help hide all those imperfections. Okay, and this picture seems to make me glow....I'm pale but not quite as pale as this picture portrays!

Ty's parents are renting a house right on the beach for the whole week. I'm not sure if it has internet, so I will probably not be blogging again until the first week in August. I hope you all have a great week!

Ciao Bellas!

Discovery of the Best Invention Ever

I have discovered the best invention ever. Okay, maybe not the best invention ever but pretty close. I would say this ranks right up there with the wheel, printing press, telephone, etc.

It is this little hook thingy on my dress. See the picture because I'm not quite sure how to describe it. I discovered this yesterday after I have worn this dress several times. I noticed something hanging out of my dress around the shoulder strap that looked like a little snap. It is this piece of ribbon that is underneath the strap of my dress that snaps to the inside of the dress. I'm not sure why it is really there but I am assuming and using it to hold my bra strap and camisole strap in place. I don't know about you but my straps are always sliding off my shoulders. I hooked my straps into place with this new little invention and it worked! I was amazed by this little contraption! I think I might need to sew this into all my dresses. I'm glad I discovered it! Maybe it is already in some of my other dresses and I just don't know it. I'm definitely going to start looking for this when I buy sleeveless clothing. Did you know that this existed??

My Husband, The Work Slave

Ty has worked so hard this summer on our house. I know, I know he isn't doing anything else this summer so why is it a big deal?? But if it was me with the whole summer off I would spend it laying on the couch watching t.v. Not Ty. He has made some major improvements to our home. Our backyard was void of any landscaping unless you count overgrown bamboo. He has pulled up most of the roots, which is no easy task. I tried pulling on one once and I just gave up. That stuff is tough! There is also an old cellar out in that corner. It was exempt from the home inspection and had a lock on it. The guy we bought our house from only owned the house for 7 months. He had just bought it to fix it up and then sell. He didn't have a key for the lock, so on our moving day Ty cut off the lock. It was an exciting moment. Everyone gathered around it to see what was inside. It was full of huge rocks (that we managed to use later) and water. The doors were old and rusty so we decided to cover it up and make it a flowerbed.

Ty is looking good in his work boots!

Almost complete...

At last some color!

We are going to put a shed in that back corner. You can see a pile of bamboo roots that haven't made it to the trash yet. The rocks surrounding everything are the ones that were in the cellar.


Beautiful Hydrangea bush, although this bloom is looking a little dead. :)

This is Ty's current project: pulling up 3 layers of flooring to make way for new wood floors. It looks like way too much hard work for me! I can't help it that I am delicate! ;)

Our house was built in the late '50s so I'm guessing that the yellow floor is original, but I'm not sure. Can you picture all the different families that have lived in this house with those floors? If they walked in today everything would look so different to them.

So as you can see Ty is a very hardworker and I am lucky to have him! We have a couple of more projects to complete before he heads back to school. We only have a privacy fence on two sides so he is going to complete that and we need a shed. His brother and brother-in-law are going to come up to help him build the privacy fence. Thank goodness! I'm just not the best little helper! But I can fix you the best ice cold glass of water you've ever tasted to cool you off while you work!

Dinner Party

Last night we had our Sunday school class over for dinner. We decided in class to make it a Hawaiian themed dinner. There were around 20 of us total. It was a great night. Our food wasn't exactly hawaiian themed, but we did grill pineapple. I tried a grilled slice on my hamburger--it was fantastic! I am going to have to do that more often! Ty was upset because he has two hideous hawaiian shirts at his parents house and he forgot to bring them back home with us the last time we were down there. I didn't get a picture of him because he was outside most of the time grilling but his swim trunks look hawaiian. I love having people over for dinner. I am going to have to cram in a few more dinner parties before school starts. I mean, I guess I could break out the good stuff for Ty and Chesley! :) Everytime Chesley is over, she and I sit on the floor and eat at the coffee table like it is the dinner table. But, hey we like it!

Surprise, Surprise my Hawaiian themed plates and napkins were pink!

The big pile of leis after the party was over. I guess everyone thought they had to give them back. I don't know what we are going to do with all of them....

This dress belonged to Sara's aunt decades ago.

David loved Nuts!

Cute Desserts

I have been looking for some individual tart/torte pans to make a strawberry torte. They have some at Williams-Sonoma that are going on my wish list. While I was there I found the cutest cake pan and now it is on my wish list as well. Isn't it the cutest!?! Don't you just want to run out and buy it and then bake a huge cupcake cake??? I DO!

Maybe Ty will buy it for me as my back to school present...wink, wink. I deserve a back to school, I'll never see you again, so you should bake your little heart out present. :)

A Fun Girls Weekend

This past weekend was spent catching up with old friends. I had a mini Alpha Chi reunion Friday night. This was our first year to attempt doing this and although it was small we had a lot of fun. Hopefully next year more people can come and we can decide on a date before everyone's summer plans get underway.
Lacey and Julie came in Friday night. We went out to eat and they got to see my new house and Chesley's new house. We had so much fun just hanging out. Lacey stayed the night with me, so Ty had to endure a lot of girl talk. The next morning Chesley, Lacey and I went antiquing. It was so much fun!
Saturday afternoon Ty and I went to Home Depot to buy plants for our backyard. We spent several hours out there planting. It has made a huge difference. That night we went to Chesley's for our date night. The three of us have great date nights! Sunday we went back to Home Depot to finish off our project. I didn't take a picture of the final result, but I will do that soon. All in all my weekend was very relaxing and I am already counting down the days until next Friday.

I love that Julie can just wrap her arms around Chesley and I at the same time!

Lacey!

She told me that her grandma loves my blog! Hi Lacey's Grandma!

No AXO weekend is complete without an angel and a lyre!

Some of our findings from the antique shops.

These chairs were $3,000. I love them!

Housework

I did laundry last night! This may not seem like an exciting statement to you, but when you haven't been able to do laundry in your own house for 2 months it is pretty exciting! Our pipe problems have been fixed. The plumbers had to make the hole in my kitchen even bigger yesterday, but they got it done. Sort of. They are supposed to be at my house right now filling in the holes, thats right I said holes--plural. Then we have to get an estimate to replace the flooring. But who cares, because I can do laundry! And I can cook in my kitchen again! I have a couple of new recipes to try so I have been itching to get back in there.

I am so excited that it is Friday! I am hosting a mini- Alpha Chi reunion at my house! It is so hard to get everyone together during these busy summer months. I am going to miss those of you who can't join us!

A Few of My Favorite Things

You know that question, "If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have three things with you, what would they be?" And you can't answer with a boat, cellphone, or anything else that would almost guarantee rescue. I would have to have an endless supply of sunscreen, because I burn so easily. I would also have to have mascara. Sounds silly, right? But you would be amazed what makeup can do to a girl!

Mascara is the one thing that I cannot live without. And there is only one kind that does the job right: DIOR blackout mascara, sold only at Sephora. The best store ever. Last year for my birthday they held a VIP night. Okay, so it wasn't held in honor of my b-day; it was just a coincidence. Mom and I went and it was the best birthday ever. They handed out cute tote bags, $25 gift cards, samples, hors d'oeuvres, and champagne. It was amazing! It was every girls dream!

The other thing that I love from Sephora is Urban Decay Primer Potion. This stuff makes my eyeshadow stay on all day. You know how sometimes your eyeshadow fades during the course of the day? Well, not with this stuff on first! I think I should say right now that I am not being paid to do advertising for anything mentioned in the post. I just really love makeup and makeup tips! You can also wear this primer under your lipstick and it makes it last for hours and hours.

I also love Bare Minerals. Almost everyone I know uses this foundation. Really, everyone I know: my mom, sister, aunt, two sister-in-laws, almost all of my closest friends, my boss, two other ladies I work with, the list goes on and on. What would piece of makeup could you not live without? Let me know what you use I would love to check it out!

On a side note, my kitchen is still a mess (see the post below). They are making the hole bigger today! Crazy, crazy!

A Huge Mess

We moved into our house on May 24. We bought a brand new washer and dryer. A few days later we discovered that there were some electrical problems with the dryer plug in. After a couple of weeks without doing laundry we finally broke down and decided to wash our clothes at our house and then take them to the laundry mat to be dried. I washed one load and discovered that the washing machine was leaking water. In fact it came underneath the wall into our kitchen. Ty called a plumber to come check things out the next day. The plumber discovered that our drain pipe was broken. Thank goodness we have insurance! But due to all the storms Tulsa had been having it took forever for an adjustor to contact us. After several long weeks, the plumbers are back at our house fixing the problem. We have done laundry at a laundry mat, Chesley's house, and our parents' houses. Luckily, I am used to going longs periods of time without doing laundry. I hated doing laundry in college and would always wait until I went home to do it.

In order to fix the drain pipe the plumbers had to jackhammer my kitchen floor. Ty said it was the loudest noise ever! The plumbers will be back this afternoon. JCPenney's had an emergency yesterday afternoon and our plumbers were called away to work all night over there. My dad fixed the dryer problem the last time he was here. So hopefully in a few days our washing machine will be working and we can do laundry for the first time in our new house. I have never been so excited to do laundry in my whole life!

Here is what my kitchen looks like right now:

Nuts is so curious! He wanted to know what was going on!

Viva Las Vegas

I'm back! Vegas was a lot of fun. Ty and I had a good time together. I don't think either of us has a desire to go back. It was very crowded, hot, and expensive. It wasn't quite our cup of tea. BUT, we had a good time! We walked around a lot, spent a lot of dollars at the slot machines, and ate even more. Ty was on his own for two days while I was at my conference. He visited a lot of different casinos, rode the bus from place to place, and made enough money off the slot machines to buy his own lunches. He can entertain himself and have fun anywhere! He made the whole trip very fun! Even at the Dallas airport he was ready to explore. I'm glad he got to go with me. My conference was great! I met some interesting people and learned a lot. In my downtime, we went to an outlet mall, where I only bought one thing! :( We went to this great Italian restaurant called, Battista's. It was a great hole in the wall place. You ordered your main entree and no matter what you ordered you also got salad, bread, all you can drink house wine, and a cappuccino. The cappuccino was the best I have ever had. I would give anything to find a place here that sells cappuccinos like that! We went to the old part of Vegas and had .99 cents shrimp cocktails. All in all it was a good trip!
Nuts stayed with my friend Rebecca. She has a little pomeranian, Tatum. They had such a good time together. Nuts was so sad on Sunday, because he was all by himself again. He laid around all day, acting depressed. He missed Tatum!

Yummy Grilled Bruschetta Chicken

I make this Grilled Bruschetta Chicken all the time. Ty hates tomatoes, but will eat them on this chicken. This isn't my picture. I can never seem to take pictures of the food I make. Probably because by the time it is done all I can think about is eating it!

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup KRAFT Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette Dressing
4 small skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1/4 cup basil

DIRECTIONS
Preheat grill to medium heat.


Pour 2 Tbsp. of the dressing over chicken in resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Turn bag over several times to evenly coat chicken with the dressing. Refrigerate 10 min. to marinate. Remove chicken from marinade; discard bag and marinade.

Grill chicken on uncovered side of grill 6 min.


Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, cheese, basil and remaining 2 Tbsp. dressing.

Turn chicken over; place, cooked-side up, on foil on grill. Top evenly with tomato mixture. Close lid. Grill an additional 8 min. or until chicken is cooked through.

As always feel free to leave me a comment with your favorite recipe! I can't wait to try the Pioneer Woman's Lasagna that so many people talk about!

ENJOY!

Weekend Celebration

This past weekend Ty and I headed to Elgin to celebrate the 4th of July. On our way we got stuck on I-44 for 35 minutes due to a wreck. Everyone had turned off their cars and lots of people were walking around. Nuts was very upset that he couldn't get out and meet everyone. He stared out the window the whole time we were stopped.

Thursday night we celebrated Derek's 19th Birthday a week early. Derek will be at Camp Cowboy on his real birthday. We ate cookie cake and played a crazy game of dominoes. LeAnn accused Derek and I of cheating throughout the whole game. I don't know why she would do that, we are so sweet and innocent!!
We spent Friday with Ty's family. I ate a lot of food. In fact I think that is all I did all day was eat, eat , eat. Here are some pictures of the day:

Beverly and Lillian

Heather and Lucas.

I held him over the fountain and let him play in the water, after that he was very fascinated by it.

Trace and Lucas

Trace and Sarah just found out they are having a little boy of their own. I'm so excited for them!

Ty and I are headed to Las Vegas bright and early tomorrow morning. I will probably not be on here much this week, but I will be back with lots of stories. I am so excited for a vacation with my husby! (Even if I will be attending a conference half the time!)

Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore!

Ty and I had a real eye opening experience yesterday. Let me start from the beginning....

We only have one garage door opener. This isn't that big of a deal for us because Ty's jeep has little button that you can program to open up a garage door or apt. gates. The only problem is we haven't done that yet for the garage. So, everytime we go somewhere we have to get the garage door opener out of the car that we aren't taking.

When I leave for work in the morning I just leave the garage door up and Ty shuts it down when he gets up. Only yesterday he left it open all day. He was going in and out all day working on stuff. When I came home from work I noticed all of the stuff from his glove compartment was sitting in his passenger seat. I didn't think much of it. I thought he had gotten the owner's manual out to read about how to program his little button to raise the garage door.

It is time to leave for church and Ty goes out into the garage and comes back in to tell me that someone has been in our garage searching through his car. I thought he was joking! It turns out that sometime yesterday afternoon between noon and 5 pm someone was in our garage, probably looking for car keys. Isn't that scary!?! Ty was in the house while someone was out there. I started frantically looking around to see if anything else in the garage had been taken--nothing to our knowledge had been. Then we think about the garage door opener. It was missing! We just knew that they had taken it and were going to come back. So we back my car out to take to church and lock the garage door so that it can't be raised. As we are backing out of the garage I see the opener on my passenger side mirror...just where we put it last. Thank Goodness!

We realize that we are not in Elgin or Stillwater anymore and that we need to be more careful. The garage door will not be left open all day. I need to stop leaving my keys in the car (even though it is locked in the garage.) It is not like we live in a horrible neighborhood. This could happen anywhere in a big city or small town--you just never know. My friend, Chelsea, had her jeep stolen out of a really nice, gated community in OKC. You just never know. Ty and I will definitely start being more careful.


So much for having a guard dog! This is probably what those two were doing yesterday when this all took place! :)

In The Raw

In the Raw is a tiny restaurant. Last night was my first time to eat there. The Chesler is obsessed with the place so we went there for her b-day dinner. I'm not a huge sushi person because I am really picky. After scouring over the menu and asking lots of questions, Kelsey and I split the restless ribbon roll: shrimp, salmon, crab, avocado, rolled in sesame seeds. I loved it! I also ate the cabo tacos which were fantastic. So if you are looking to take a break from your usual restaurants, go to In the Raw. Although, I would recommend going with someone that can give you suggestions on what kind of sushi to order. It can be very confusing! Oh and I can't use chopsticks worth a flip so I was just using my fingers--real classy!

We were taking pictures last night (you know just being girls!) and Chesley and Kelsey were giggling saying, "Is this going to go on the blog?" They are such jokesters. But I know that deep down they were secretly hoping it would, because they love reading about my boring, little life!

Slowly Getting it Together

A few glimpses into my house:

The guest bedroom

New curtains and my huge window that I love

Before

After, sort of. We are still debating on how to decorate the fireplace.

Suggestions are welcome!

I hate wood panelling, so painting it was one of our first projects. In the before picture you can see the dining area with all the white lines. We filled all the grooves in and made it a smooth wall. It took forever but the results are amazing. I will post pictures of that area soon. If you need tips on how to paint or cover up wood panelling let me know!

Apronista

I gave up on sewing for a while. It takes forever and I have to set up my machine on the dining room table. Oh, and I am really bad at cleaning up after myself so it will sit out for days and days along with all of my fabric, the ironing board, scissors, etc.

For some reason today I decided that I am going to drag it all out to make another apron. (When I say another apron, I mean a second apron. I have only made one!) I found this great tutorial online. I really want to make a ruffled apron and I hope to finish it before I head home for the 4th of July. We will see if that happens. Considering I am going home Thursday after work. (Home meaning my parents house.) And I have the Chesler's b-day dinner tonight and church tomorrow. But I am determined!

Happy Birthday, Chesley! The big 23!