Back in Action

Hi there friends, if anyone is still out there.  It's been a long time.  I just needed a break and as my dad said I had "blogger block".  During my little hiatus, I've been focusing a lot on life in general.  We have been super busy with life.  Nothing too exciting, just go go go.  

One of my main focuses has been choosing a healthier lifestyle.  After the new year, I vowed to get back in shape.  After going through some rough things I realized that I had put on at least 20 pounds since we got married.  20 pounds!  That is not me at all.  I've always been active and I've loved working out, but over the last couple of years that has slipped away.  My motivation was gone.  As I've written about before I went through a rough time with certain people in my life and I truly think that had a big impact on how I cared for myself and my self-confidence.  Well friends, I am happy to report that that person is not here anymore.  The new improved me is here with a new body!  I started this huge feat with Shaun T and Insanity at my side.  If you have not heard of Insanity, it is a 60 day workout program that whoops your butt into shape.  Seriously, the hardest workouts I've ever done, but I loved it!  It was so rewarding to complete it.  I can officially say that with Insanity I lost 15 lbs. and since I finished it I've lost a grand total of 21 lbs.  

    
So that's not all I've been up to, but it is a major part of where I've been.  I'm hoping to make my way back into the blogging world.  Hope you all are doing well. 

Ikea Hack

We have been wanting to add a pop of aqua in our living room as well as add a new cabinet to replace the old bookshelf we had, so off to Ikea we went.  We love Ikea!  I mean how can you not love Ikea?  It's cheap, modern, functional, and they have the #1 combo at the snack bar!  We often make a day of it when we go to Ikea.  I knew we could find a cabinet that would work; however, the old black-brown color was getting old and then inspiration hit!  Let's do an Ikea hack!  If you know me at all, you know that teal/aqua/blue-green is my favorite color in the whole world and that was the automatic thought for this cabinet.  We found the cabinet we loved and then it was on with the creative juices.  So here it is, our first Ikea hack, along with step by step instructions in case you get inspired :)

Materials:
Piece of laminate furniture
Plastic covering for floor
Zinser primer 
Paint color of your choice (we got lucky and found an "oops" paint in the exact color we wanted)
Brushes and mini rollers
Sandpaper
Minwax Polycrylic 
A handy hubby

1. Find the piece of furniture you love.  Consider the size, shape, functionality, etc.  Don't worry about the aesthetics because that's what you are going to change.  

2. Prime the bookshelf all over.  No sanding required!  Let the first coat completely dry then recoat with a second.

3. Once the primer is dry you can paint!  

4. Let the paint dry completely.  If you want to you can add some texture and distress the piece.  We used sandpaper along the edges to give it a shabby-chic look.  

5. Polyurethane the entire piece.  This will seal the look.  I recommend using a sponge instead of brush, this will avoid air bubbles.  

6. Let the poly dry and voila, you have a beautiful customized piece of furniture!!  I think it came out great!

Pinned It. Did It.

Today, Brandon and I were cleaning out our fridge before going grocery shopping.  Needless to say out fridge shelves were disgusting.  There was crud that had leaked and sticky stuff all over.  It was gross!  With a wrinkled nose I tried to think of a way to avoid this happening again.  Then I remembered this fun little pin I pinned on Pinterest.  It was for DIY shelf mats that are easily washable.  YAY!  I went and found the pin and it was so easy!  All you need are plastic place mats.  Target sells cute patterned ones, so off to Target we went.  All you have to do is cut the mat to size using regular scissors and voila!  You have a cute and functional fridge shelf again.  You can put the mats in the dishwasher and it saves you the headache of removing all the shelves and cleaning them by hand.  I'm all for less dish washing!

2012- A Look Back

2012 was a great year.  It wasn't filled with major life transitions or monumental events, but it was filled with the people I love.  

January: We went to 12 straight nights of Code Orange Revival at church and it was an amazing way to start the new year.

February: We celebrated Love Week at church.

March: We went to the NeedtoBreathe concert.

April: We traveled to Atlanta for a few days during Spring Break.

May: We traveled a lot.  We went to Wilmington for my sister's graduation and then to Edisto for Brandon's cousin's wedding.

June: We went to San Diego and I volunteered at Camp 658 with some amazing kids.  Oh yeah, and Brandon broke his ankle.

July: I watched one of my closest friends get married. We celebrated the Olympics and were glued to the t.v. for the next month.

August: We celebrated our second wedding anniversary!  Oh and school started back.

September: We went to Myrtle Beach for Labor Day and my cousin got married.

October: We went to Raleigh for our annual Wolfpack football game and we got tickets to the Panthers game that same weekend.  Brandon began traveling for work and was in Florida for two weeks, so I went to visit!

November: We ran the Color Run!

December:  We went to the Panthers game, celebrated Christmas, and prepared to ring in the new year.  

                           Bring it on 2013!!  I know it will be great!!!

13 in 13

Resolutions, I've tried them.  I am filled with good intentions, but I don't follow through.  Why is that?  Routine is so much easier than change and transition.  It takes much less effort.  This year I am not looking at it as a resolution because clearly that does not work.  I want to be more intentional in some areas of my life and that is where I am going to focus.  Instead of setting unrealistic resolutions, I'm going to pick 13 things I hope to do in 2013.  Some may be similar to resolutions, but I am going to be intentional about them, more realistic.  So here is my 13 in 2013.

1. Be more intentional in my personal relationship with Christ.  I want to read the Bible more and focus on quiet time with Him each day.

2. Focus more on being healthy.  I want to make working out a part of my weekly routine.  It's not just about working out, but taking better care of my body and making time to build my confidence.  My goal is to lose 20 lbs. and maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle. 

3. Try to keep my house cleaner.  It's no secret, men are slobs.  I want to try to make it a priority to clean up after myself and encourage him to do the same.  I want to take more pride in my home.

4. Try to cook at least three times a week.  Yes, I know 3 is low, but I struggle to even hit one night nowadays, so I figure three is realistic.

5. Paint the master bathroom and guest bedroom.

6. Use the old window I bought and frame a photo.

7. Try 10 new restaurants around our city.

8.  Start couponing.

9. Learn more about photography and take time to build a hobby of it.  Less lazy time, more learning.

10. Be more intentional on doing small things that honor my husband and show him I care.

11. Be intentional in my friendships.  Keeping in contact and making effort to build these relationships with women who build me up.

12.  Make a budget and stick to it.

13. Run a 10k.  Hopefully, the Cooper River Bridge run. 

December Cara Box Reveal

Okay, it's that time for the Cara Box reveal over at Wifessionals!  This month's theme was "Holiday Sparkle".  So fun!  This month was a little different because you did not swap with the person who sent you your box.  You had one person send to you and a different girl to send a box to.  That way you get to know two amazing women!  I had the pleasure of sending my box to Nicole and this month the lovely Katy was my sender.  She sent me such a cute and thoughtful box.  I loved it!  Both of their blogs are adorable and you should go check them out.  Katy sent me such a thoughtful box and it truly brightened my holiday spirit.  Here are the cute goodies she sent. Thanks Katy!!

 

Christmas Recap

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas yesterday.  I know we sure did.  It started Christmas Eve when we spent the afternoon with my Grandma.  She has Alzheimer's and we were blessed to be able to spend the afternoon with her at her assisted living center.  Following lunch with her, we headed to Christmas Eve service at church.  This year's theme was Timeless Christmas.  The message of salvation was preached and after the weekend was done over 2200 people proclaimed new life in Christ!!  Glory!! The service was amazing and the message was timeless.  They also did this really amazing video involving a piano which you can see HERE. 

 We woke up Christmas morning and shared our traditional breakfast just the two of us.  Brandon always makes his famous french toast, which almost didn't happen this year because at 11:00 Christmas Eve I realized we didn't have any syrup,but being the loving husband that he is, Brandon ran out to the only store that was open (Walgreens) and bought some syrup.  Love him!  Anyways, so we had our delicious french toast breakfast and then it was on to our presents.  We always swap gifts Christmas morning before heading to our families' houses for lunch and dinner.  This year, Brandon was way too good to me.  Y'all!  I got a Canon T3i!!!  I'm so pumped.  It is intimidating because I know nothing about photography, but I am eager to learn.  I also got tickets to see the Lion King when it comes to town, which happens to be the night before our anniversary, how perfect is that?!  He seriously is the best!  I made Brandon do a scavenger hunt around the house to find his big Christmas gift and he finally found out that we are going to see Jeff Dunham's comedy show in a few weeks!  Of course we couldn't leave out of furbabies and they each got some fun treats as well.   

Sheldon Cooper Quote mug, we are huge Big Bang Theory Fans

After Christmas morning, we headed to Brandon's mom's house for lunch.  We got some pretty sweet gifts there as well, including a new Keurig!  Also, I get to go see Wiked!!!!!  Tickets to see two shows!  2013 is going to be the best.  Following lunch, we went to my parents' house for our annual steak dinner.  I got lots of clothes and oh yeah, my mom got me tickets to see Taylor Swift, who is in concert the night before my birthday!!  Seriously 2013 is the year of shows. 
 

Christmas was an amazing time to spend time with family and to receive lots of fun gifts, but the most amazing gift of all was sent by way of our Heavenly Father.  Time stood still as a little baby cried in a manger and it was announced that our Savior had come.  I am so thankful that Christ was born and that He died to redeem us.  What an amazing Christmas gift!!