3 years, 7 months...4 homes

Tomorrow Joseph and I will have been married for 3 years and 7 months (I know, that sounds like a long time right!?)  We are currently packing to move to our 5th home in less than 4 years.  If marriage is a vocation, it is also a journey, and our journey has led to us to many wonderful places.  I thought I would take a few minutes tonight to reflect on the places we have lived.

The Arbors

The day before Joseph and I flew to Orlando to get married, Joseph and his friend Scott (how did you get conned into this?) threw all my belongings into trash bags and dropped it off in Joseph's apartment.  This was a big task.  I didn't really pack because I was 3.5 months into my first year of teaching, planning a wedding, and going to graduate school at night! 

During the first year or two of our married life, our social life revolved around The Arbors.  All of my friends lived in apartments there.  We had supper club, pool parties, Bachelorette nights, and game time after dinner at La Fogata. 

My friends Vanessa and Kristin threw a lovely bridal shower and organized a bachelorette party at The Arbors. 

Two of my favorite nights at the Arbors were murder mystery dinners.  Here's a picture of Joseph and me at one of them! (Don't worry we're just playing!)

Don't The Arbors sound fun?  If you want to live there, click here!

The Greer House

Our first home.  We moved in October 31 after 11 months together in our apartment.  We were beyond excited!  This was our dream home - I didn't think we would ever leave!  My grandparents gave us a Willow Tree because I had always wanted to have one in my back yard.  It reminded me of Grandmother Willow from Pocahontas.  I wrote the first 4 chapters of a children's novel about people that traveled through that willow tree.  Maybe I'll finish it some day. 

We redid the landscaping.  I repainted most of the downstairs.  There were lots of fun memories here, like the Sock War Birthday Party, Vanessa's bridal shower, and the infamous Snow Week of 2011.

Here are a few pictures!

First Stop in O-Town!

We could not stay in Greenville.  I was homesick and restless, so Joseph being the wonderful, kind, and loving man that he is agreed to move Orlando.  We stayed with my parents for a few months during the summer before figuring out where to live.  The coolest thing that happened there (other than nightly walks with Henry, cooking with Mom, and trying unsuccessfuly to play board games with Dad) was the potato gun.

The Triplex

Now we live in our triplex unit.  In the last 8 months, we have had lots of friends over, had picnics in the front yard, and learned how to live in a much smaller space.  I didn't spend too much time decorating because we knew this was temporary.  My favorite thing about our unit is the bookshelves.  The living room used to lead out to a patio, but at some point in the last 60 years (it was built a long time ago) the owner closed it in.  The two middle doors are still there, dividing the living room and sunroom.  The windows that used to be on either side of the doors were filled in and turned into bookshelves.  I married a double English and Political Science Major, so we have A LOT of books.  I love that we had a place to tastefully display them in our little home.

The Adventure Continues!

Keep checking back with us to see how the adventure continues.  There will be a house update post soon!  Until then, you can look back at this one!

Fabulous Frappuccinos!

Let's be honest, the school year is winding down, and getting up in the mornings is getting just a little bit harder each day... BUT homemade frappuccinos make it just that much easier (thinking of all the sweet faces I'll see at 8:35 is helpful, too). 

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c coffee
• 1/4 c milk (I use 1%)
• Splenda, Sugar, Stevia, Equal - whatever you normally add to your coffee
• 10 ice cubes
• Magic Bullet
• Straw

Directions:
Brew coffee, but make it a little stronger than you normally do.  I generally make a whole pot and put it in the fridge for the next day!
Pour 3/4 c coffee and 1/4 c milk into Magic Bullet cup.  Add the same amount of Splenda you normally use in coffee.  Then carefully drop in about 10 ice cubes.  (I use coffee cubes when I remember to make them).
Blend until there are not any large chunks of ice cube left.
Pop in your straw and enjoy it!

**You could double this recipe if you wanted to, but it won't all fit in one of the Magic Bullet cups - you would need to use a blender**

The Norts' New Nook!

On Friday afternoon, we bought our home in Orlando!  We are both beyond excited for the adventures of home ownership!  The adventures began promptly with a trip to Home Depot to buy yard equipment and new light fixtures :)

We will be doing some work to the house before moving in, but here's a quick peak at the "before."

I am obsessed with the front door - isn't it beautiful?  We won't be changing this part!

You enter into the living room.

To the right of the living room, is the dining room.  We'll be making some changes here, too.  I brought our 1940s chandelier from Greenville, which I think will look perfect!

The next room is the kitchen.  We'll be making some big changes here!

There are 3 bedrooms in the house right now.  Here is the master.

We will be turning one of the three bedrooms into an office, so stay tuned for that!

The Secret of Zoom by Lynne Jonell

A young girl.  A missing mother.  A nerdy, scientist dad.  An orphanage full of kidnapped, singing children forced to mine Zoom by an evil man.  What could be better?

I read this book aloud to my class this year, and they couldn't get enough!  Christina is a 10-year-old girl who is not allowed to leave her home because her mother died in a terrible explosion when she was very small.  She looks through her telescope all the time to watch the Happy Orphans next door.  Eventually, she discovers a secret passageway out of her home and meets one of the orphans - a boy named Taft.  Taft tells her that Lenny Loompski owns the orphanage and treats all the children horribly!  They go on a crazy, life-threatening, suspenseful, and funny adventure to save the orphans from the Masher!

A note of caution:  this book is not for the faint of heart.  I don't anyone younger than 3rd grade should read it without an adult to talk to!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loved: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle or Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan.

You can buy it here.

Mounds Cake

My mom's birthday was earlier this week, and I wanted to do something special for her.  She goes out of her way to help so many other people!  My brother, my husband, and I collaborated to get her some new books for her Kindle: The Lifeboat: a novel by Charlotte Rogan and Lifeboat No. 8 by Elizabeth Kaye. 

We had Positano's Pizza for dinner, and I made a Mounds Cake for dessert.  I got the recipe here. 

I followed the recipe exactly with just a few changes. 

• I used Duncan Hines Butter Fudge cake mix to make the chocolate cake. 
• I used butter instead of Oleo margarine in the topping.

The marshmallow-coconut filling does not spread because it is pretty liquidy, so I just poured it all over.   I also just poured the chocolate topping all over the cake, too.  It was a major hit!  Everyone at the party loved it (and so did my team at school the next day!)

4th of July for Mother's Day

Last weekend I came across a few 4th of July wreaths on Pinterest, and I though that Gramcracker might really like to have one.  So I made one that I will give her on Mother's Day.

I made it following the directions posted here: http://naptimecrafting.blogspot.com/2011/06/another-patriotic-wreath.html  (Serena's blog is wonderful - she makes all these cool crafts while her children are napping and then shares them with everyone!)

The only difference between our wreaths is that I used buttons instead of stars.  I thought they were cuter!

The same weekend I made this wreath, I also crafted another Mother's Day present - but I'll have to keep it a secret until I give it away!

Loving Lunch?

I'm not!  Turkey sandwich, PBJ, turkey sandwich, PBJ, leftovers, PBJ, PBJ, cheese and crackers, yuck!  I get so tired of eating the same thing over and over! 

I'll keep updating this list as I come up with new ideas, but here's what I have right now:

Main Course

Pita bread stuffed with taboule and hummus
Pita Pocket (or sandwich thins) with chicken salad and lettuce
Wrap bread with turkey, lettuce, mayo, and cheddar
Wrap bread with turkey, lettuce, tomato, and veggie cream cheese

My Favorite Sides

Reducted Fat Cheez-Its
Sun chips
Pretzels with peanut butter or hummus
Grapes
Strawberries
Salad with Dressing
Green peppers with hummus
Cucumber slices with hummus

Do you have any ideas?  Leave a comment!

Fluffy Wreath

Do you ever have crafty days?  Sometimes I wake up in the morning, and I just really want to make something - a new recipe, a craft for the house, a painting.  I'm not sure what to make, but I know I'm going to have to use up some creative energy before I fall asleep that night.  Thank goodness for Pinterest!  It gave me the BEST idea yesterday!

For the last month I've been thinking, "I really need a new wreath for the door."  I put up an adorable sign with snowmen and our names on it in January.  Clearly, it's not winter anymore.  I found a pin and then the blogpost featuring this wreath.  It was incredibly easy to make!  Here's what I did:

Materials:
7 sheets of felt (I used 2 light blue, 2 ivory, 2 pirate green, 1 navy)
Styrofoam wreath form
Ball point pins
Ribbon

1. Trace the ribbon spool onto the felt.  Cut out circles.

2.  Fold each circle in half.  Then fold it again, so it looks like a pie piece.
3.  Put a pin through the point of the triangle, and then shove the pin into the styrofoam.  Pull the felt piece apart a little bit so it looks like a flower.
4.  After you've attached as many felt pie pieces as you can, pin a piece of ribbon to the back of your wreath to use as a hanger.
5.  Voila!  Fluffy Felt Wreath!

Gooey Monkey Bread

The first time I remember having monkey bread was in Greer, SC at this cute diner called Janet's on Brushy Creek Rd.  It tasted like fluffy honey, gooey, wonderfulness in your mouth.  So when I saw this recipe for Monkey Bread on Pillsbury's website, I had to try it out!  I've made it a few times in the last month or so, and each time it is equally as delicious!  Last night I made it for my grandparents and took it over to their house piping hot, right out of the oven!  I halved the recipe, and it worked just fine (yay!)  However, this meant  that Joseph didn't get any Monkey Bread...he was a little bit sad...Also, Pillsbury recommends decorating this bread with gummy worms and the letters R.I.P...I skipped this, but someone should be expecting a pretty amazing Halloween surprise next November!

I followed the recipe exactly, and it turned out amazingly well. 

You start with simple ingredients: 1/2 c butter, 3/4 c brown sugar, 3/4 c granulated sugar, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 4 cans of Grands biscuits, a giant Ziploc bag, and 2 loaf pans.

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Grease both loaf pans.  Put granulated sugar and cinnamon into the Ziploc bag. 
2.  Open the cans of Grands biscuits (this is my second favorite part - pop!) and cut each biscuit into 4 pieces.
3.  Put the biscuit pieces into the Ziploc bag.  I recommend doing 1/2 the biscuits at a time.
4.  This is my favorite part!  Shake the bag so all the dough gets covered in yummy cinnamon sugar!
5.  Put all the biscuit pieces into the loaf pans.  Make sure you don't fill them too full because they'll spill over in the oven!
6.  Melt the butter and mix it with the brown sugar.  Pour this mixture on top.  Put both loaf pans in the oven.  I recommend putting a cookie sheet on the rack below them - just in case!  Bake for 30-35 minutes, let it cool, and  then enjoy your gooey batch of deliciousness!

Celebrations

February has been an exciting month for us!

Celebration #1



On the 7th, we celebrated Granddaddy's 88th birthday at his favorite restaurant, Linda's La Cantina.  According to everyone in my family, it's the best steak in town.  I don't eat steak, so I had ravioli - it was pretty good, too.  Joseph and I got there a few minutes early to decorate with beads, balloons, and those blow-out things.  We set up a game where everyone got a door prize for coming.  The door prizes were things like: a punching Leprechaun pen, bubbles, child size football, Cinderella Pez dispenser, etc.

We had a great time catching up with family and finding out how everyone's doing!  I think Granddaddy had a good time, too!

At the end of the party, we had a delicious chocolate cake with chocolate icing between the layers and marshmallow fondant decorations on the outside.  It looked like Gramcracker and Granddaddy's dog, Daisy.  If you want a cake like this one, I suggest you check out The Flour Shop!

Celebration #2

Now if you know me, you should know that St. Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays - chocolate, flowers, pink, purple, love, friendship - who could ask for a better day in the middle of February?  Knowing that the actual V-Day would be WAY too busy for a fun date, Joseph and I celebrated on the Saturday before.  We hopped on our bicycles and rode all the way to Park Ave. to have a picnic in the park.  Now, I realize that this is only about 5 miles, but I'm not really in great shape, so this was a major accomplishment.  We stopped on our way at Jimmy Johns for subs (Turkey Toms with provolone and mayo!) on the way there. 

After lunch, we played Gin Rummy in the park and enjoyed the beautiful day.  Then, we came home, where I proceeded to take a nap until Joseph woke me up and said we could watch Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part I :)  Best day ever...





Happy!

Mexican food...watching Latte run laps and popcorn around her cage...diet coke with crushed ice...listening to the rain...organizing things...Muppets rendition of Pressure...singing loudly in the car...helping others...a struggling student aced today's math test...reading a great book...watching a movie with Joseph...holymolies...feeling loved...greeting cards...

Tasty Tilapia

Growing up, we didn't have a lot of seafood at our house.  My mom's not a big fan.  Joseph's family LOVES fish - I mean, they love fish!  Sometimes Joseph just gets tired of my usual cooking (baked chicken or pasta) and wants something else.  This week I ventured out of my comfort zone and made baked tilapia.

Ingredients:
1 pound tilapia
Butter
Bread Crumbs

First, preheat the oven to 425 F.  Line a baking dish with tin foil, and place the tilapia inside.

Next, I used about 3 tablespoons of bread crumbs to cover the fish.  These are the bread crumbs I used:

Next, I cut 5 slices of butter and arranged them around the pan.  I think I put 4 of them on the fish and 1 in between.

The fish baked for 15 minutes.  While it was baking, I added Sister Schubuert Dinner Yeast Rolls to the oven for about 5 minutes.  I love these because they taste like the famous yeast rolls, but you don't need to make a whole tray at one time.  I also made a salad with Butter Romaine lettuce and honey roasted almond slivers.

The entire meal took about 20 minutes to make, and it was delicous!

You can see it here:

What's Really Important?

Everyone sets New Year’s Resolution, but I think it’s imporant that before we look at changing ourselves supposedly for the better that we look at what is important to us. Here are some things that are most important to me:

• having a loving relationship with my husband
• following God’s will through relationship with Him
• being healthy
• investing time in friendships

These aren’t my “resolutions” for the new year. These are things I would like to accomplish during the next 10 years.

• owning our own home
• starting a family
• go on a mission trip
• find a way to regularly volunteer with homeless children
• go on a vacation, just Joseph and me
• buy a new car for Joseph (and by new, I mean that slightly used is ok)
• publish a picture book
• become skilled with fondant
• perform in a musical
• be fluent in Spanish

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Last week I read about 12 Things You Should Stop Paying for in 2012, which you can read here, too! Most of the ways were either impractical or thins we were already doing.
However, it makes me really mad when I go to the grocery store to buy more laundry detergent and have to shell out big bucks just to wash my clothes. Really!? I think. Why does this have to cost so much? I already hate laundry because I do it like a college student – wait until I have no clothes left and then clean ALL THE THINGS!
So I decided to follow their easy recipe and make my own!
First I got all the ingredients:

Bar of soap, baking soda, water, and grater

Then I grated the bar of soap. I think it looks kind of like a container of white chocolate, which made me hungry…

Afterwards, I boiled some water, and added the soap shavings. I heated 2 gallons of water in a giant pot on the stove as well. Once the soap melted, I poured it and 2 cups of baking soda into the hot water.
I’m storing it in the empty Tide bottle I had just finished up.
My kitchen smells amazing, and I’m hoping my clothes will too! I’ve got a load of towels in the wash right now – so we’ll how it goes!