April Goals - How'd I Do?

Fun:
*Read HP6, HP7 and finish So Long Insecurity by Beth Moore - loved these books! and maybe someday I'll finish SLI...
*Host a fabulous friend and actually do something fun this time! - we had a blast! :)

DIY/Crafting:
*Take ~10 springtime photos - here
*Play with the PW Actions for Elements - Snookie was my test subject
*Build boxes for a patio garden - WHOO HOO!!
*Plant veggies in our garden!

Home:
*Share our plans for the kitchen update - consider them shared as of about 5 minutes ago
*Create and install curtains in the horse room {FAIL... again.}

Cooking:
*Meal plan for at least 2 weeks
*One new recipe - yummy zucchini pizza

Wellness:
*Spend as much time outside as possible! - We've been doing a lot of this lately...

What a fantastic month - even though it felt waaaaaaay too short!

Check back tomorrow for my May goals!

Kitchen: It Has Begun

Druuuuuuuuuumroll please...

We are about to update our kitchen!

We started with this...

Improved to this...

And as of right this very moment... we have this:

Hehe.

It has begun. :)

Our kitchen update is going to consist of:

*Adding shaker style trim (like this) to the cabinet doors:

*Painting the cabinets white (!!!)
*New silver hardware for doors
*New stove/oven (no more tiny wall oven or beautiful stovetop)
*New lighting TBD (no more wagon wheels, that's for sure...)
*New countertops TBD (possibly granite if we can get a good deal)
*New sink, faucet, and garbage disposal (PTL!)
*Painting the walls (maybe NewlyWoodwards' Silver Sage or YHL's Dune Grass or something else entirely different???)

Over the next month or two, we will be working on this EXCITING project and I seriously. can't. wait.

:)

Zucchini Pizza

Last night we had Zucchini Pizza and it was really good!!

This was only like the second time we've used our food processor, but I think now that I know how to use the shredder/slicer disc, I'm going to use it more! {Let me rephrase that: now that Jason figured out how to use the shredder/slicer disc.}

Here is the shredded zucchini, brown rice, and cheese mixture...

...that you put in a 9x13 and bake for 20-25 minutes. I think we did 23 and I should have done 28-30 to get it a little crisper.

Then you add the cooked beef and spaghetti sauce mixture over the "crust" and bake for another 15 minutes.

It turned out more like a casserole instead of a crust with sauce, but we reeeeeeeeeally liked it! This will definitely be added to the rotation - especially since we will (hopefully) have zucchini coming out of our ears this summer!!

MPM: April Week 4

Time to hunker down and have a real plan this week. :) As always with a new recipe I am nervous about tonight's meal... I will be sure to let you know how it goes!

Sunday: pork chops, baked beans, corn

Monday: zucchini pizza {this will be my new recipe this month}
Tuesday: chicken piccata {so yummy, so easy}
Wednesday: meat balls w/gravy
Thursday: eat out at Lily Mae's :)

Check out OrgJunkie.com for more menu plans!

Our Funny Weekend Discovery

This weekend we discovered a funny thing.

In the WHOLE time I've lived in our house, there have only been two working burners on our beautiful stove - the front two. So I've got a small and a big, and I can cook our main dish and one side, then cook the other side after that. I've gotten used to it, but it makes our kitchen remodel all the more exciting knowing that I'll be able to cook everything at once!

So Jason was helping me clean up the kitchen Saturday night and he accidentally spilled something the big eye - my good eye, if you will. So we decided it was time to really deep clean the burners (no matter that it was around 11:45pm at this time...).

After we were done cleaning everything and he was putting it all back in it's place, I reminded him that isn't it such a shame the back two burners don't work, and he was like "Yes, they do." And I'm all, "No, they don't."

But now they do.

I think they were too dirty and had gone on strike until someone cleaned them thoroughly.

That's my story... and I'm stickin' to it.

Book Worm

Well, I am happy (and sad) to say that I finished the last Harry Potter book last night! As everyone said, they were very addicting. I could hardly wait to read everyday! I hate that it's over, but I really loved the way the series ended, so I have closure and all. :)

I think I'm going to take a week off or so from reading (haha) and then it's back to the Chronicles of Narnia and Denise Hunter "New Heights" series!

I have to say that I'm very proud to have become such a book worm lately! I read 8 books (some pretty big!) in 3 1/2 months, so there's no telling how many I will read in 2010. Again - this is all coming from a professed non-reader. :)

Have you read anything good lately that I should add to my Good Reads list?

How Does MY Garden Grow?

I am so excited to say that we have FINALLY started our garden! :)

First thing was first - it was time to make the boxes. As I said here, we decided to start small this year and do two 2x3 boxes. We got the supplies from Home Depot and I sent my hubby off to work. :)

Then we set up the boxes on the patio:

THEN it was time to plant!!!

Dude, I'm so excited.

I will definitely keep you updated on this new and scary exciting world of gardening!

Nashville Rewind

Last week I was in Nashville for 24 hours. :)

It was really fun but I wish I had been able to stay longer!

I was there for a work meeting:

And got to eat here (Merchant's) for dinner!

Didn't go out afterwards (because I was pooped!) but look at the fun downtown strip - even on a Monday night!

My comfortable room... ahhh.

And a random shot on our way out of town. I just thought this was a beautiful building!

Unfortunately I wasn't able to meet up with Blair or anyone else in the area, but I will definitely be back this summer and we will have to hang out! :)

Whoops...

April obviously hasn't been my best blogging month so far.

Check back this weekend for some updates! :)

Wonderful Weekend

Missy was here this weekend and we has such a great time! Friday night we grabbed dinner at the University Pizza and Deli before meeting Emily and Becca at a play called "The Pajama Game". It was pretty cute and we enjoyed getting to go!

Saturday morning we went to Lily Mae's for breakfast (of course) then it was off to the downtown area to enjoy the beautiful sunshine!

Missy got her VERY FIRST PAIR of Chaco's!

There was a lot going on downtown, so we had plenty to do!

We played tic-tac-toe on Frasier, but no one won...

Wait, Jason, what are you doing?

Don't let this fool you, he didn't win. :-P

I was momentarily sidetracked as we passed Julie Darling Donuts, and I think I found my new favorite... mmmmmmmm...

Missy got a mint chocolate chip shake at Clumpies and said it totally hit the spot.

Missy - we loved having you and wish you could have stayed longer!! Come back soon!! :)

The Power of Flowers

Everyday on my way home from work, I pass this adorable flower shop called "The Daily Flower". Well, yesterday I happened to see that they had roses for $0.50 each! So I decided that today at lunch I would run over there and get a little bunch to put a few places in our house since Missy's staying with us this weekend(!!!!!).

Aren't they gorgeous?!

The best part was that it was even cheaper than I expected - $5 for a dozen! :)

Have a fantastic Friday!!!