October has come and gone...on to November

Hello friends!

Hope October treated everyone well!!! It was definitely the longest month for me. We were SO busy. And I don't really have anything to show for it.

Work has been CRAZY. October began the first month of our fiscal year (our fiscal year is October 1 to September 30). So since 2012 was a hard year for us meeting goals, they are pushing us HARD, right off the bat, to succeed in 2013. So needless to say, we've been stressed at work and trying hard to get a good push into 2013.

At home it's been a little crazy as well. October was full of hospital visits....luckily not for me. I had FOUR friends have babies in the month of October, so loved going to see the little babies (all girls) and "ooh" and "aah" over those beautiful little faces, and get to see them change so much in only a month.  (Note: no, Ted and I are still not ready to create a little one of our own. Rainey is handful enough for us at the moment...I mean look at how spoiled she is). :-)

Rainey and her duck (she brings that thing with her everywhere)

My grandmother also suffered a stroke at the end of October, but luckily, all is well with her. It was quite the shock, as she is such a strong woman. She is the only grandmother I have left (my mother's mom passed away in the summer of 1995 and I still miss her terribly), so I'm definitely not ready to be left in this world without her. She has so much knowledge and is the best person I know. She is so kind and caring and one of the best cooks I know!!! Her strawberry pie is To. Die. For!!! I was glad I was able to go to the hospital and be there for her, and I know she greatly appreciated it as well. So I'm really looking forward to the holdiays coming up to spend more time with that wonderful lady. (ugh, I'm tearing up just writing it).

This is a picture of my grandparents: Esther (my father's mother) and Rollie (my mother's father).

Ted and I had a little get-together in mid-October to celebrate being DONE with the major renovations. All that is left is painting trim and doors. I can handle that :) The get together was so much fun...maybe a little too much fun since I didn't go to bed until after 3 am. And that is LATE for this girl...I'm no spring chicken anymore, that is for sure. We love our friends and were so glad they came to celebrate with us.

October also was the start of my Weight Watchers journey. I am happy to announce that I am 7 pounds lighter than I was when I started the month of October. My goal was 5 pounds, so the extra 2 was a terrific bonus. My goal for November is another 5 pounds and to increase my workouts to at least 3 times a week (since I'm doing next to nothing right now).

I've been actively trying to get our house decluttered. It is amazing how much junk you accumulate after four years (and the junk you bring in your house that you accumulated before that). So weekly I'm taking hauls to the garbage or Goodwill. Slowly, we are getting closer and closer on getting the house on the market. Now if we could only agree on where we wanted to go to next. :)

Hope you had a wonderful October and an even better November. We are now in the holiday season (as I just heard Christmas music at the mall yesterday), so I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season as well!!

Blog Face-lift

Good afternoon, friends!

I've decided to give the blog a minor face-lift. "The little lessons in life" name just wasn't working for me, so after alot of trial and error, I decided something a little more simple, and a little more me. So the "Kayla May's Journey" was born. Hopefully I won't change my mind again (it has been known to happen...I have terrible buyer's remorse on more things than I should).
Kayla May was a nickname used by many friends growing up. It was probably my favorite nickname I had (and believe me, there were some really unattractive nicknames people came up with. And no...I'm not going to say them here).

This blog is about...well everything really. From food to crafts, from travel to marriage and just about anything in between.

Currently, I'm in the process of refinishing end tables for our living room. They were ugly pieces of furniture, but very sturdy, and in need of some TLC. So I got them dirt cheap (one piece was $8 and the other was $4). I'm sanding off the finish, priming them and going to paint them black. I will make sure to update you all on the progress and the finished result.

Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful fall weather. This is my favorite time of year...it means boots, scarves and football parties!

My start to eating clean

Hello friends! It's been a while since I last posted, I apologize! Where does the time go?

We have been busy with the house, so I guess that is my excuse. We finally got the stairs and entryway tiled! Yay! And the entryway into the kitchen is finally finished! Yay! The only thing left for us to do on our house is put up new trim in the kitchen, paint the interior doors (they were painted an off-white so do not match the white trim in the house). Getting so close to being finished and that is a great feeling!

Back to the post at hand. I am trying to eat better. I have been horrible lately with nutrition. Papa Johns and Chinese food are my weakness. I'm hoping this eating healthier will also help with the pocketbook!!! I want to attempt to give up more wheat and this is my first step in attempting that. I found the following recipe on Pinterst (don't you just love that site...not sure what I did in my spare time before that site was invented). Flour-less banana muffins!

Surprisingly, they were not bad at all (Ted did not care for them).

What you need:
2 bananas (the riper the better)
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking power
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 single serving greek yogurt (I use honey or vanilla greek yogurt for more flavor)
2 1/2 cups of oatmeal
**You can either use 3/4 cup of sugar, but I chose to put honey in it instead of sugar.
**I think next time I'm going to try applesauce instead of yogurt so that it's more of a Paleo recipe.

What you do:
Set oven at 400 degrees.

Then you need to: blend, blend, blend!
I threw everything in my Ninja blender (absolutely love this thing...I use it all the time....obviously the label is being rubbed off from the use).

After you have everything blended together, scoop the mixture into a muffin pan. I opted to spray the pan with cooking spray instead of using liners. It worked out well.

 

Bake the muffins at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Enjoy!!!!

Junk into Treasure

I love projects. I tend to have a problem with starting TOO many projects at the same time and get overwhelmed!

So the invention of Pinterest definitely hasn't helped me in this department!

There are so many projects I want to do! I have become a pinning fool in the last year! Pinterest took over my life the way wedding planning did (Note: I really, REALLY wish I would have known about Pinterest when I was planning my wedding....it would have made things a lot easier!) When I got my iPhone in February and saw that there was a Pinterest app, I was doomed!

The past few months I made myself get away from Pinterest. I needed a breather. I was pinning too many things and not working on any of them. (Yes I am that person that has a ton of pins and slack off actually DOING them).

Well now that the kitchen remodel is complete (I'm saving that for another post on another day), I decided I needed to start working on some pins. Enter "Old Window Project".

Two years ago I discovered a hidden gem in my town. It is a store, called EcoStore, that sells used building materials. The first time I walked into this place I was a little shocked, a little awed, and a little grossed out. The place was over-loaded with stuff...mostly junk! You definitely are going to get your hands dirty digging into piles upon piles of materials, trying to find that hidden treasure.

Well I found my treasure, old windows!!

The best thing about these old windows? They. Were. FREE!! Yep, free! I was giddy with excitement, I was like a small child finding out they were going to Disney World (okay, probably not that excited - but you get the point).

Being the nice sister that I am, I shared my treasured find with my two sisters, Kara and Laura. So I only had the one to work with. And this little beauty sat in our garage. For two whole years!

Fast forward to this past weekend. Ted was in Kansas City and I had the house to myself. I decided I was bored after he was gone for only an hour and decided I was going to start decorating our kitchen. So off to Hobby Lobby I went. There I found a cute little piece that I loved, but wasn't loving the price of $49.99 (even if I did have that 40% coupon, I wasn't loving the near $30 price tag either). So I decided to make it myself. I bought a wrought-iron scroll and off to the EcoStore I went to see if I could find a piece of lumber that would fit (Call me a tease, but I'll post this project once I complete it :))

At the EcoStore, I found some lumber that I needed. Since I had time to kill, I started snooping at the windows they had, in hopes they might have some more of those treasures. No such luck. But I did find some old doors that would be great for a Pinterest project. Since I didn't think they would fit in my Altima, I decided I'd wait on those for another day when I could persuade my hubby to come with me!

I decided I wanted to paint the window I had, so I looked around at their used paint (weird I know), but then I found this Heirloom White paint for a whooping dollar. That's right $1...a whole George Washington.

I drove home and got to work. I went out to our garage (that is still a mess from our house remodel since we threw everything in there) and set up the saw horses and placed the window on it. I decided to work with the stained side of the window instead of stripping the white paint off since it's hard telling how old it is. Plus I knew I wanted to distress the window, so I wanted that stain to show through.

First: I sanded the wood down to get the varnish off.

Second: I taped the glass so I didn't get paint on it.

Third: I took off the hardware (probably should have done this first)

Fourth: I started painting. I did two coats of paint.

Fifth: I let the paint dry overnight. The next morning I took my sandpaper and put some elbow grease into it. (Note: It was 106 outside, probably hotter with the heat index, so I was a hot mess working in the garage. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was crazy).

Then I took off the tape and wiped it down and took it into the house. I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to do with it and how I wanted it displayed. I found some decor that I was actually thinking about getting rid of that I decided I'd hang from the window.

Remember that hardware I took off? Well I decided to use it as a hanger instead of tossing it (it looks old like the window so I wanted to keep that theme going).

I went and bought brackets and nailed them to the back of the window for easy hanging.

Here is the finished project (all I have to do now is hang it up).

So how much did I spend on this project? Here is the breakdown (Note: I rounded to the nearest dollar):

Window - Free

Paint - $1 (EcoStore)

Hanging Brackets - $2 (Michael's)

Decor - Free (already had it)

Twine (to hang decor) - $2 (Michael's)

Painters Tape - free (already had it)

Sandpaper - free (already had it)

Grand total - $5!!!

So what do you think? I'm pretty happy with it. Just need to hang it up in our dining room!!

A year ago today

I married my best friend!

I can't believe it's been a year already. Time has flown by this past year. We've overcome so many obstacles this past year: home remodeling, losing loved ones, me leaving for two months to go to training through work, to name a few. But we also had some incredible times as well: traveling to Mexico twice for vacation, welcoming my newest nephew, Hayes, and just loving life with each other.

A year ago today we said "I Do" to each other in a beautiful outdoor ceremony surrounded by our family and friends. Our officiant is a good friend of Ted's from high school and he did a wonderful job.

Our ceremony took place on a small "island" at a local golf course. We couldn't have asked for a better day. It was sunny, slight breeze and around 75 degrees. It was a perfect day for the second weekend in June in Nebraska (in Nebraska, you never know what you're going to get). We had five amazing family and friends stand up for us. Our parents and family were all there to share our special day with us as well. We chose to have a small ceremony because it is such an intimate occassion, that we wanted to share it with those that were close to our hearts ~ not to mention the seating was limited at our venue.

After the ceremony, we hopped on a bus and drove around Lincoln, snapping pictures at different places. I loved our photographer, a friend named Jason. He took incredible pictures.  

Our reception was at Courtside Banquet Hall, and the night went pretty flawlessly, minus the fact the air conditioner broke and they didn't get it fixed in time. So it was a little warm, but when the booze is flowing, no one seemed to mind :)

Our first dance was to "I'll Be" by Edwain McCain. We both love that song and it was the perfect fit for us.

All-in-all, it was a perfect day. I couldn't have asked for better. I'm so honored to be a part of Ted's life and I can not wait to see what the years to come have to offer. If the last year has been any indication of the rest of our lives, I can honestly say we will be in for the ride of our lives :)



Bathroom remodel is complete!!!

And I love how it turned out!!! The hubby and I decided to tackle the bathroom this year. We were tired of our small bathroom and tiny vanity with no space. Since it is the only full bathroom in our house (we have a "bathroom" downstairs in our unfinished basement that consists of a toilet and no walls....we call it the "throne") we wanted it to reflect our modern style that we've been trying to create throughout our home remodeling projects.

Gone is the nasty stick-on vinyl tile that I would trip over on a daily basis because the corners were curling up. Gone is the cheap vanity that did not allow for any room for anything. I've lost count of how many times my straightner or curling iron would fall into the sink or onto the floor because there was no room on the vanity for it.

Here is the before picture. I apologize that the vanity is not in the picture. My hubby ripped it out and took it downstairs and then I realized I didn't get a before picture. Oops!!!

Here is another before picture.

Here is a picture of the old vanity, medicine cabinet and light fixure that we took out of the bathroom. The hubby put it downstairs in our unfinished basement, so I still had a spot to get ready in the mornings.

The bathroom remodeling process took us about 5 weeks. A lot LONGER than I anticipated. One thing I've learned in all the remodeling projects we have done, is that I am terrible at anticipating the time it will take to complete a project. I figured the bathroom would take us a couple weeks tops. Not so much.

But that's okay...I love, love, LOVE my new bathroom now. Here it is:

Another view (please don't mind the tape measurer on the toilet)

I don't know what I'd do without my husband. He did everything in the bathroom. I helped tile and paint, but the rest was all him. And I love him dearly for all his hard work.

Of course we leave no time to sit back and relax. We no sooner got done with this project and we started ripping out walls and cabinets in our kitchen to start that project. Updates on that project to come!!!

What I love

Because I know I'll have multiple posts about the loves in my life, I figured it was a good idea to introduce you all to them!!

This is my husband, Ted:

Ted and I met at a wedding on July 21, 2007. He was an usher and I was a guest. We didn't meet until that evening when we both happened to be at the reception at the bar (of all places to meet!). He was trying to be cool and bounce a quarter into my friend, Jessica's, drink (she was also in the wedding so they knew each other) but he failed. Jessica in turn tried to bounce the quarter into Ted's drink, she missed and hit the personal attendant, who LAUNCHED the quarter in our direction. The quarter hit me in the chest and I shrieked like a typical girl. Ted made a comment about it (which I won't repeat as it was a little rude). So me, being the smart a*$ I am, I bounce the quarter on the table and where does it land but right smack dab in his drink!

The look on his face was priceless!!!

After this, he was following me around the reception, trying to get this quarter into my drink. This led to flirting, dancing, and when the reception was over, an invitation to go to a local bar where the wedding party was going to be. The bar happened to be in the hotel I was staying at so I said yes.

We talked the night away into the wee hours of the morning. He was a perfect gentleman the entire time. Before long, it was 4 am and we both were getting tired, so he asked if I had a pen and paper. I handed them to him and he laughs and said "I asked because I wanted to get your number." I scribbled down my number and we bid each other a good night.

Ted called me a week later. We talked on the phone for a few weeks before we went out on our first date on August 17, 2007. Ted showed up in his '97 Cavalier (I must admit I was a little turned off when I saw what he drove) and he took me to a dinner and a movie.

Dinner took place at:

The movie was:

Dinner was great. The movie, not so much. I wasn't a fan of the movie, probably because it was our first date and there was some twisted, raunty stuff in that movie. But overall, the night was great! (obviously, since we are married today)

This is Rainey:

We rescued Rainey from our local humane society in September 2008, when she was 3 months old. She is a border-collie mix (mixed with what you ask - we aren't sure). She is spoiled and she is stubborn - she is like our child. And we couldn't imagine life without her. She can make a bad day good again with her excited wag of the tail when you walk in the door. And how couldn't you love that adorable face?

These two are my life right now. They keep me sane and happy. Someday we'll give Rainey a brother or sister, however, we just aren't there yet!