Tuesday, October 30
Picture Perfect Tuesday
Here's a little secret... I didn't take this picture. Gasp! I know right, shocking. But I do really love the feel of it. I want to be here, wandering down the road, no responsibilities, maybe no other person. Just wandering, taking in the colors, the smells, the crispness in the air, the moisture. Just wandering...
Sunday, October 28
Verse of the Week:
Spirits aren't exactly crushed, more like exhausted. Praying He hears my calls and rescues me from what I think are my "troubles." Because honestly, I have a warm roof over my head, a wonderful husband, fantastic parents, food in our cabinets, and more than enough to make it by... what do I really know about troubles?
Looking forward to this shortish week at school and then a much needed relaxing weekend with my favorite man. ( Yes, I'm already looking forward to next weekend... don't judge.)
Tuesday, October 23
Picture Perfect Tuesday
This is what I love about fall. Everything is just so colorful and clean. I need more of that, lot's more of that.
While my Tuesday wasn't exactly "Picture perfect," I'm super glad it's over. And I hope yours was much better! On to Wednesday!
While my Tuesday wasn't exactly "Picture perfect," I'm super glad it's over. And I hope yours was much better! On to Wednesday!
Sunday, October 21
The new line-up
When I first started this blog i wasn't sure exactly what direction I wanted it to go, and to be honest I'm still not. One thing I have noticed over the year I've been blogging is that I am way more interested in the pictures in posts than I am the actual content. Now don't get me wrong, there are a certain few blogs that I follow that I like to read, but for the most part I just scroll through the pictures. With that being said, I'm going to start modeling my blog off of what I like or find interesting in other blogs. (Genius right?!)
When I started blogging I had way more time to sit and think up posts or to actually write things that were happening in my life. Since I'm left with less free time in my day and the need to blog more regularly for my creative outlet I've decided to revamp my content and try to do a few regular weekly posts that will be short and sweet, and hopefully still encouraging and inspirational!
Here's the line-up so far!
>Sunday-Verse of the week where I get to find just the right verse to help me stay strong for the week ahead
>Tuesday- Picture perfect Tuesday where I get to exercise/challenge my creativity via photography
>Friday- Friday lovin' where I get to celebrate my favorite day of the week and all the things I'm loving or find inspirational
>MISC- "Coffee dates" where I get to pour out my heart
"Snapshot" posts where I get to overwhelm you with photos
So, as you can see, nothing too fancy or special. Just some things to keep me blogging, creating, and on track. ( I'm a list person so if it's not on a list... it just doesn't get done!)
Happy Sunday!
When I started blogging I had way more time to sit and think up posts or to actually write things that were happening in my life. Since I'm left with less free time in my day and the need to blog more regularly for my creative outlet I've decided to revamp my content and try to do a few regular weekly posts that will be short and sweet, and hopefully still encouraging and inspirational!
Here's the line-up so far!
>Sunday-Verse of the week where I get to find just the right verse to help me stay strong for the week ahead
>Tuesday- Picture perfect Tuesday where I get to exercise/challenge my creativity via photography
>Friday- Friday lovin' where I get to celebrate my favorite day of the week and all the things I'm loving or find inspirational
>MISC- "Coffee dates" where I get to pour out my heart
"Snapshot" posts where I get to overwhelm you with photos
So, as you can see, nothing too fancy or special. Just some things to keep me blogging, creating, and on track. ( I'm a list person so if it's not on a list... it just doesn't get done!)
Happy Sunday!
Saturday, October 13
Falling for Fall
It's officially my favorite season of all time.
Fall!!
( Now, if someone would tell the weather that and we can all get on the same page)
I love fall and we are embracing this season with open arms here at the Stone house. Lot's of chainsawing and limb-lopping going on to get ready for our first bon fire at our new home. We have quite the wood pile stacking up!
Our house is also starting to get quite festive! Steven let's me buy one fall/halloweenish thing per outing. I think it's a good compromise, because otherwise we would have owls up to our eyeballs!
We have recently rearranged some things in our living room and added this long shelf to our decor. ( But you wouldn't know if it was new or not, since I've never given you a sneak peak into our humble abode) But anyways, this shelf, I've decided, is going to act kind of as our "mantle" area.
We don't have a fire place and I needed somewhere to decorate for the holidays without our whole house looking like hobby lobby or north pole city.So this little shelf is where I will try to keep most of our holiday/seasonal decorating. I'm pretty excited about it and I have some great ideas for Christmas! This will be a place to hang stockings, show holiday art, and display our Christmas cards!
Since we have our annual Halloween party every year I've started setting just a few little things out, but after our party I'll switch to Thanksgiving things.
I'm also completely excited about our front porch. It's not a massive porch or anything you'd see in Country Living or Martha Stewart, but I think it fits us just right. It makes coming home even better because I get so happy when I see our owl and pumpkins greeting me.
I also actually had some crafting time this week while Steven was having drinks with some guys he used to work with. After pinteresting a little bit and vegging out on the couch I decided it was time to tackle our door wreath. We had recently bought a couple plain ones from Target that I was going to use for Autumn and Christmas. Since it's officially October I thought it was time.
I don't have all of my art supplies here from my parents yet ( because out office/art room needs serious help.) So I just had to make do with what I could scrounge up, when you need to craft, you just need to craft! But I am really loving what came of my scrounging!
That little green guy will only stay for Halloween, I'm hoping to buy him a friend soon.
Saturday, September 22
A very special Happy Birthday
Today is the first day of autumn and my sweet momma's birthday! Of course I have to do a quick shout out to the most amazing momma and friend anyone could ever ask for. I always wondered what those quotes were talking about when they said "my mother, my friend" or "if I didn't have you for a mom, I"d pick you for a friend." But as I get older and start living my "grown up life" I know exactly what they mean. Next to my husband, she is absolutely my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, and she definitely has my back, every. single. day. I want to be able to give to her and bless her like she has given and blessed me. She has sacrificed so much for me and I understand now how difficult it is to give up the things you want and provide for someone else's dreams. Even if it's someone you love with all your heart. I know that now because I have trouble sacrificing myself for Steven and I know for a fact that I am not completely ready to give up things for a child. But she did, and does every single day. Such love! She has showed how to be a great wife and a great momma. She has taught me how to look at the big picture and to understand that bad things are rarely ever final or permanent, and if they are then there's a way to look on the bright side. She is the one I complain to, the one I celebrate with, the one I want to call to just see what she's up to, the one I want to go thrifting and antiquing with, and the best mother I could ever ask for. Happy birthday momma! I love you with all my heart!
Also, on another happy note, this is the first official day of Autumn! I am celebrating by sitting on our back porch and ejoying the first of many cups of apple cider.
This is by far my favorite season and I am very excited for cooler weather, bon fires, and random date nights with my love. I am also hoping to get back on the blogging wagon and have some special monthly posts (because let's face it, weekly posts just are not realistic right now.) But I hope everyone has a wonderful fall weekend! We have plans to go to the fair on this beautiful day!
Wednesday, September 5
Well, hello there!
Oh man, I just realized I haven't posted in... well, quite some time. Things have been bat shee cray around here!
Update:
We are officially Home owners! This means that we bought a house renovated it in two weeks and had all of our stuff moved in and sleeping there by the time school started. This was just the beginning my friends...
I am also officially a High school and middle school art teacher (Go me!) at a charter school on OKC. With this being said it has literally taken all of my free time for the past two weeks.
So 2 weeks of buying a house/renovating + 4 weeks of in service and school officially starting (these are overlapping mind you) + husband still being in a boot/crutches = no personal time whatsoever. I thought I was busy me senior year of college... ha! Ha, I say! I've only had two small breakdowns since school has started so I think I'm doing good. (We won't talk about how many breakdowns have happened during the whole house-capades)
I absolutely LOVE our house though! I will definitely be posting pictures later (if anyone still reads this thing!) And I'm still trying to determine how I feel about teaching. I'm going to be honest, I"m not very good at it. But I am trying to plan a whole lot during the day so this may be the first weekend I don't have to bring work home! (this is also why I am able to FINALLY update this little guy) It has taken so much more out of me than I had thought it would. Waking up at 5:40, being at school at 7:00 and not getting home until 6:00 ish is getting old, fo sho. But hopefully I will get better and I will know what I am doing one day... I did get to come home before 5:00 today, so that was exciting!
I am definitely ready for some times with friends and to see my family more. Fall is my absolute favorite season and I"m really glad me and Steven get to spend it in our very own home. I can't believe this is the place where we will have our first child! Eee!
Life has been so crazy these past few months, but I know it's all a part of God's plan. There hasn't been one morning drive to school that I don't tear up and feel like God is talking to me through
K-Love. I guess that's one good thing about a 35 minute drive to work.
But it feels so good to be back! I have really missed blogging and I'm hoping to update it at least twice a week, we shall see!
Happy almost weekend friends! I hope it's a grand one!
And I am definitely feeling like a super hero.
Tuesday, July 24
Strawberry Banana Muffins
I haven't done a Pinterest recipe in a while because honestly, I haven't cooked in a while. Lame house wife I know. But I did manage to whip these bad boys up a few weeks ago for Saturday morning breakfast. Let me just tell you, they are wonderful! I made them twice in one week! Granted I made the second batch without strawberries and with a whole lot more chocolate chips. (They're still healthier than a donut, right?)
Her recipe:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 large bananas, mashed
1/2 cup diced strawberries, plus 1 strawberry very thinly sliced
**Chocolate chips for a wonderful surprise!
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line or spray a muffin tin. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the butter browns and begins to smell nutty. Pour into a bowl and set aside to cool slightly.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla extract and yogurt. Whisk in the mashed bananas. Pour the butter in a very slow stream to temper the eggs and be sure they don’t curdle.
Pour the dry ingredients over the wet and incorporate with a spatula.
Fold in the strawberries until just combined.
Using an ice cream scoop, portion the batter evenly into 12 muffin tins and place a sliced strawberry on top. (I did not slice a strawberry on top)
Bake for 18-20 minutes.
Makes 12 muffins
And BAM! Yummy deliciousness for a great breakfast or lunch or after dinner snack. I 'm a little obsessed to say the least. And this is a great way to use up those mushy bananas!
Her recipe:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 large bananas, mashed
1/2 cup diced strawberries, plus 1 strawberry very thinly sliced
**Chocolate chips for a wonderful surprise!
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line or spray a muffin tin. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the butter browns and begins to smell nutty. Pour into a bowl and set aside to cool slightly.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla extract and yogurt. Whisk in the mashed bananas. Pour the butter in a very slow stream to temper the eggs and be sure they don’t curdle.
Pour the dry ingredients over the wet and incorporate with a spatula.
Fold in the strawberries until just combined.
Using an ice cream scoop, portion the batter evenly into 12 muffin tins and place a sliced strawberry on top. (I did not slice a strawberry on top)
Bake for 18-20 minutes.
Makes 12 muffins
And BAM! Yummy deliciousness for a great breakfast or lunch or after dinner snack. I 'm a little obsessed to say the least. And this is a great way to use up those mushy bananas!
Wednesday, July 18
House Love
Ever since we officially signed our second contract for a house my mind has been in design overdrive. This house will be a bit smaller than the first one we tried to buy, so decorating will be a little more challenging, but I'm so up for it! Here are some ideas I've been swooning over. ( Thanks Pinterest for helping me design my dream home right from the comfort of my parents' couch.)


This definently isn't all of my ideas, I didn't want to overload you! I am counting down the days until I can give you a sneak peak of our new little home.
We will have a half bath in our master bedroom and we have decided to make Steven a little pub/man inspired bathroom.
Things it will for sure include: navy paint, funky light, wire baskets, bronze accessories.
After much discussion we have decided to paint our kitchen a light, happy yellow ( I think). I am absolutely in love with the mix of industrial/warehouse and eclectic chic...I don't even know if that's a thing, but I am obsessed! Do you see that cart? And those pendant lights? Heaven!

If someone could tell me where to get one of those bad boys for my TV stand, I would love you forever. I am a sucker for almost anything mid century modern! Also, I have been oogling over that doorknob curtain holder for probably a year now. I have not figured out how to make them, so I will most likely break down and buy them. Thanks urbanoutfitters for being awesome!

I am so excited to have a guest bedroom in our house. I am dreaming about the perfect combination of the two pictures above. Maybe with a few other colors besides yellow. I just love the clean,
breezy-ness of them both!
Oh, the great outdoors... I am going to need all the help I can get with this! Contrary to popular belief I am not good at everything. I suck at plants and landscaping. If it's not yelling at me to feed and water it, it tends to get forgotten (oops). I am going to try so much harder though! ( Luckily fall is right around the corner and I can put off planting until the spring. I don't want to embarrass myself right from the beginning!)
This definently isn't all of my ideas, I didn't want to overload you! I am counting down the days until I can give you a sneak peak of our new little home.
Happy Wednesday friends!
Monday, July 16
Hello, stranger
I just realized I have not blogged in almost a month.... What!? Where has the time gone? Seriously, if anyone knows of something strange that has happened and has made time go by two times faster please let me know. I find it even crazier that I'm off for the summer and am still having trouble fitting everything in. What am I going to do when I go back to work? Sheesh!
I guess I'll fill you in on what's been going on around here since my last post:
Working on school plans and trying to decide what I want my classroom to feel like. It's actually really hard to plan a space you've only been in once... who knew! Also, this is my "office" set up in my parents living room with all the essentials. Hopefully we won't be there much longer!
Injured husband and sadness. Steven decided he was going to train for the NBA and ended up chipping off a bone and severely dislocating his ankle... Needless to say our routine looks a little bit different now than usual. Poor guy. I have kind of loved being the caregiver, though. That is, when he's not being an awful patient. Luckily, that doesn't happen too often! He's had lots of doctor appointments which means he's also had a few days off. This has been a great excuse for me to do absolutely nothing and watch movies and read all day with him. I guess it could be worse!
Another thrifting birthday adventure with my best friend! She's the only one who loves old rusty, dusty junk as much as I do. Give us a pile of wire baskets, old glass bottles, and some tarnished jewelry and we're like two kids in a candy store! I really love and cherish our adventures!
Get Excited!
I guess I'll fill you in on what's been going on around here since my last post:
Thrifting with my mama! She has Friday's off and we like to try to spend some time together doing things we never get to do.
Working on school plans and trying to decide what I want my classroom to feel like. It's actually really hard to plan a space you've only been in once... who knew! Also, this is my "office" set up in my parents living room with all the essentials. Hopefully we won't be there much longer!
River birthday trip with some of my loves! (Double birthday celebration at its finest) We were out there for 8 hours and we didn't even get burnt! I'd like to take a minute to thank that silly hat and our spf 70. No skin cancer for us! Also, super glad I left my real wedding bling at home and took those super blingy rings instead! No worries about loosing the real deal!

Family birthday Day-O-Fun! I am really into birthdays so I try to make mine last as long as possible. I even got a "birthday" hair cut! haha. But this day we went to church, ate brunch at Ingrids. ( They have a killer buffet on Sundays!), drove around looking at old houses (one of my all time favorites!), Watched a movie with my parents and Steven, took a nap, and had a small gathering that night for snacks and cookie cake!
23 was pretty awesome, but I know 24 will be even better!!
Fourth of July celebration with smores, family and great friends.
Another thrifting birthday adventure with my best friend! She's the only one who loves old rusty, dusty junk as much as I do. Give us a pile of wire baskets, old glass bottles, and some tarnished jewelry and we're like two kids in a candy store! I really love and cherish our adventures!
And now we are just waiting to close on our cute little house, do some updating/personalizing, and move on in right in time for me to report to school! With that being said, these next few weeks and into August are going to be a circus around here. I am going to keep blogging regularly but most likely not everyday until things settle down. I do have a fabulous muffin recipe to share with you sometime this week! Get Excited!
Labels:
Birthday Shenanigans,
catching up,
house,
summer 2012
Thursday, June 21
Floral Filing
So I had been seeing these amazing filing cabinet transformations around Pinterest lately and have been dying to create one of my own. Now that I have a classroom to prepare my parents have been on the look out for cheap office furniture and since I'm basically starting from the ground up in my classroom they snagged this beauty for me at a church sale!
Oh, the ideas were flowing, my mind was racing! Of, course I had to pick out my classroom colors first and then design around those. (I'll save that story for another day. Just picture me sitting on the bed with paint swatches all around me discussing with my husband which pink he thought looked best... he's such a trooper!)
But after I finalized my thoughts, off to the craft store I went! Primer? Check! Spray paint? Check! just the right paper? Check! (little did I know these cabinet fronts were a wonky shape so I had to get crafty with my paper)
First I used what was left of my primer from my lamp. I knew I should've gotten another can because I ran out. But ideally you'll only be able to see a little bit of left side of it in my classroom, so I just primered the important parts. Let dry..... now the fun part! I settled for watermelon because I wanted it to be a darker, more sophisticated, hot pink. Right? Luckily, I bought two cans of this and had just enough to cover all the areas that would be showing. ( a.k.a. not the back)
Let me tell you. Spray painting large surfaces is not for weak hands! After I let my fingers and thumb rest for a good while and I had control over those muscles again It was back to work. Since my paper wasn't big enough to cover the surface in one piece ( and I couldn't figure out how to get the hardware off the front.) I decided the best way would be to cut it into 3 inch, 2 inch, and 1.5 inch strips and Mod Podge it around everything. Thank the Lord for Mod Podge! The first one took the longest because after I had all my notches figured out and cut I could then make the templates for the other drawers.
At this point it was about 1:00 in the afternoon and I was stinking hot! I decided to move my operation inside. After I did that, got everything set up and the wind wasn't threatening to take my dainty little templates away, it was smooth sailing.
Ta Da!! I apologize for the picture quality, there's only so much I can do with hallway lights. I'm glad we moved it inside though, because it is raining like crazy now! But I still think it's beautiful! I get too excited everytime I look at it.
Gosh, I am chomping at the bit to get her into my classroom and jazz things up a little! I hope you have a lovely day filled with floral productivity!
Wednesday, June 20
Little Lasagna Love
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| (pinterest picture)(source) |
Ok, I made these little lovelies a couple of weeks back for my family and I have been dying to share them with you! They are so much fun and pretty easy to make. The best part? You don't feel like you have to take a heaping spoonful out and the leftovers are super easy to save and reheat! No messy scooping and plopping. (I bet you didn't know normal lasagna was that messy, huh?)
Note: My pictures are not nearly as pretty as hers, but you'll get the point!
Ingredients
12 oz raw ground turkey
¼ tsp salt, divided ( I used garlic salt)
¼ tsp pepper
14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes, or tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp dried oregano, divided ( I used Italian seasoning instead of oregano and basil)
½ tsp dried basil
1 ½ cups part skim ricotta cheese
24 small square won ton wrappers (the kind near the tofu in the refrigerated section of the produce dept)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
I must confess that I did not follow the measurements exactly. I used more turkey, tomato sauce, mozzarella and ricotta cheese. I also just seasoned to my hearts content. I omitted the onion and mushrooms because I despise mushrooms, but I'm sure if you like them then they would taste wonderful!
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the turkey,
Add the crushed tomatoes and 2 tsp of oregano. Bring the pan to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, a pinch of salt and pepper, the remaining teaspoon of oregano, and the basil. Stir to mix well. Set aside.

Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. (I just used Crisco to coat the insides of my pan. If you do this make sure to put some around the edge of the opening so your won ton doesn't stick to it. If you're using a spray just make sure and spray the top as well)
Place 1 won ton wrapper into each of the 12 cups, pressing firmly in the bottom of the cup and up the sides.
Using half of the ricotta mixture, divide it among the 12 muffin cups. Next, using half of the turkey tomato sauce, spoon it evenly over each of the ricotta filled cups. Sprinkle with 2 tsp of mozzarella.Gently press another won ton wrapper on top of the mozzarella layer.
Repeat the process by distributing the remaining ricotta, then the remaining tomato sauce, and finally the rest of the shredded mozzarella.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
Let the cups cool, remove them from the pan, and serve!
Mine definitely did not turn out as pretty as hers, but they were super delicious! I was a little nervous about the won tons and the ricotta cheese but they tasted exactly like little lasagnas! And they packed up nicely to be put in the refrigerator for lunch. Just wonderful!
Tuesday, June 19
Conversation piece
Operation "Decorate Classroom" is officially underway! I went yesterday and found an old lamp that I thought would look marvelous spray painted.I also got the materials to have a file cabinet overhaul. Hopefully I will get to that tomorrow!
But for now, feast your eyes on project numero uno! ( I started out small just to get myself going. Don't judge!)
Poor little thing just wasn't very attractive. I didn't even realize it was supposed to look like a cactus until the cashier said something about my "cactus lamp." I instantly felt like an old lady with an addiction to southwestern decor. I quickly let him know that I would be spray painting it.
Lamp
But for now, feast your eyes on project numero uno! ( I started out small just to get myself going. Don't judge!)
Poor little thing just wasn't very attractive. I didn't even realize it was supposed to look like a cactus until the cashier said something about my "cactus lamp." I instantly felt like an old lady with an addiction to southwestern decor. I quickly let him know that I would be spray painting it.
Little did I know that I would fall in love with the "Olive Bright" spray paint at Michael's... womp, womp. Maybe it looks even more like a cactus now. A very bright, festive cactus though! I honestly just thought it was a funky, cool lamp that I could buy for $3. I can hear the students now, "Have you met the new art teacher? The one with that kooky cactus lamp on her desk?" Hopefully they'll trow in there how awesome I am and how art is their all time favorite class. ( I can hope, right?!)
Project list so far:
Scrap paper holder
Desk
Cork Boards- 4
Chalkboard-2
Bunting
Monday, June 18
What a week last week was! It was filled to the max! I'm sad and glad it's over at the same time. Luckily we'll be having another art camp in July. I can't wait to see what that week has in store. We really did have a blast. There weren't very many kids, but since this was the very first time we had put this on, that was perfectly OK! The kids were so creative and not scared at all to just jump right in!
I also got a chance to go see the classroom I will be working in next year! It's pretty plain right now, but I honestly don't mind working from the ground up. At least I don't have to scrape funkyness off of everything, right?
I get to paint and decorate to my little hearts content! You can imagine as soon as I left the school my head was swirling with ideas, I even made a pit stop by Michael's on the way home! I can not wait to do a before an after reveal soon. Now I just have to get started...
For Father's day I told my dad that we could do absolutely anything he wanted. He decided we needed a road trip to Okmulgee to eat at Ike's!
If you're ever in the Okmulgee area I definitely suggest you stop in! It's the cutest (or manliest) pub right downtown. I wish I would've gotten pictures of the inside but it was quite dark in there and I didn't want to embarrass my family. I did manage to snap some pictures of our wonderful lunch!
If this doesn't say Father's day, I don't know what would!
We had a great weekend filled with family and food. What better way to end a super hectic week!
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