Dayspring Customized Signs

You know I LOVE The Nester.  So when she told us about Dayspring's new customizable signs you know I had to go over and play with them.

Like everyone else, I'm obsessed with seeing my name on everything.

And monogram

Or how about the last verse and chorus from my favorite hymn?

Lovely.

Looks like the signs are all $39.97 and customizable enough to be unique but not so customizable that you have to come up with a design completely on your own.  I like that.  I like being creative without necessarily having to be creative.

New Chandelier

Here's my first "crystal chandelier".  I have to use the quotes because she came from IKEA for $39.99.  I somehow don't know that she counts as a real crystal chandelier.  I don't hold that against her, though, because to me she is beautiful and just perfect for our new downstairs entry!

Check her out here at IKEA's website.

Kitchen Organization Plan

I'm been reading up on the best way to organize kitchens and here's the best advice I've found.  It came from Real Simple's website:

• Take inventory. Pull all items out of the cupboards and place on a large table. Put things into groups, creating a loose hierarchy based on how often you use the pieces.
• Let usage dictate storage. Keep frequently used cookware immediately on hand. Stow things you use every now and then, like muffin tins and cookie sheets, in a less accessible cabinet. Move items you use only once a year, like the roasting pan for the turkey, out of the kitchen altogether.
• Organize cupboards with access in mind. Position heavy things below the counters, lighter things above them. 
• Organize items by type. Pots and pans should be grouped by kind and placed one inside the other, from smallest to largest. If you have room, it’s best to keep lids atop their pots or pans; otherwise, arrange them from smallest to largest and keep their partners close by. Put all the bowls in one cabinet and all the baking pans in another to ensure that you’ll always go to the right place
• Put walls to work. Hang up racks or pegs to keep favorite utensils, pot holders, and dish towels in plain sight. 

They have a lot more tips in the article, these are just the ones that were more relevant to me.

I also found something to do with all my white pitchers!

 

Mission: Kitchen Organization

I've really had my kitchen on my mind lately.  One of my New Year's resolutions was to wash all the dishes every night before I go to bed.  I really hope this resolution sticks and turns into habit!

Last week I cleaned my refrigerator.  This week I want to tackle this:

Drawers

Lower cabinets

Pantry

 

I MUST deal with this before I go crazy.  I also keep telling myself that having a clean and organized kitchen will make me like cooking more.  I don't know if it's true, but I think it is.  

I got drawer dividers today and am planning on repurposing some baskets I have for the pantry.  Any ideas/tips are welcome.

Favorite Things Friday

Welcome to Favorite Things Friday.  I like to take Fridays to look around my house and appreciate the things I have.  I seem to spend a lot of time in I-wish-I-had and so Fridays I take a step back and go to I'm-so-glad-I-have.

This is definitely a work-in-progress.  Shane got this frame free from someone who was moving.  I'm not sure why they gave it away.  It could be the fact that the frame is almost entirely plaster that is chipping away.  And it's hideous.

So one day I had Shane lug it outside so I could Heirloom White the frame.  (What do you mean that's not a verb?  I just made it one!)  It turned out pretty nice and worked well in our den during Christmas.

But then it looked too blah after the decorations came down a few days ago.  So I've started to do a light glaze on it.  It's a light gold-silver kind of color. I started at the bottom of the frame since that's what I could reach easier.  You can see where I stopped, just about in line with the flash from the camera. 

I meant to finish it last night, but I had to fix dinner and just never got back around to finish it.  It's nothing fancy, but it gives it just enough shimmer to add a little something special.  And something special sounds nice right now.

Clean Fridge

I cleaned my refrigerator today.  I took out the shelves and scrubbed them down.  It was super easy and took me about an hour.  Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and I are best buds now.  After I cleaned everything the food applauded.  The pickles were especially happy to have such a clean home.

Linked 01/08/10 to Design-Aholic for VOTW.

Dinner

THIS is what we had for dinner last night.  It looked so pretty coming out of the oven I took a picture.

And then I opened the oven and took a picture of the bread.  Because I'm cool, that's why.

And then I took a picture of my half-iced cake.  Sorry you don't get to see the final product.  We started eating it pretty much right away.

Since I'm sure you're dying to know it, here's the recipe for the Ziti Pasta:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound dry ziti pasta
• 1 onion, chopped (I usually leave this off because we don’t like onions)
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce (something seasoned with lots of flavor—I like garlic & mushroom best)
• 6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
• 1 ½ cups sour cream (I tried ricotta and cottage cheese, too but we liked the sour cream in it the best)
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (I use more, to cover the whole top--like, 2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (I usually leave this off, it doesn’t really add anything in my opinion)
• Breadsticks!

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, 7 minutes; drain (don’t worry if it’s not cooked completely, it will finish cooking in the oven).
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes (I usually am too impatient to wait that long and it turns out fine).
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter/spray a 9x13 inch baking dish.
4. Mix ziti pasta with spaghetti and ground been to let sauce get into the noodles.  Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti and sauce mixture, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 of the ziti and sauce mixture, mozzarella cheese.  Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
5. Cover and bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted. (I like to uncover it about 28 minutes in and put on high broil so the cheese on top will melt and turn a little brown).
6. Don't forget the breadsticks!

The bread I used last night was the Great Value cheese and garlic Texas Toast.  I should have just made my own garlic bread.  Oh well.  The cake is Duncan Hines extra moist yellow and their whipped chocolate frosting. 

A Favorite Picture

For some reason I love this picture Shane took of me while we were in Savannah.  Not because I think I'm a supermodel or anything.  Just because I rarely see a picture of myself and automatically think "I like that".  Maybe because I'm a girl, or because I'm American, or because part of Generation X or whatever. I'm self-conscious.  I worry that I'm not pretty enough.

Anyway, it's refreshing to be satisfied with how I look, however temporary it is.  I don't want to be someone who obsesses with looks, but in all honesty I am.  But not today.  And maybe not the rest of the week.  And the rest of the month.  In fact, I'm going to declare January my "don't worry about my looks" month.  I'm going to still shower and stuff, don't worry.  But I won't spend extra time getting ready or staring in the mirror or (this one's especially important to me) complaining to Shane.

Sound cheesy?  Oh well.

Favorite Reads of '09

Currently Reading: The Priest by Francine Rivers

This reads a lot like her series on the women in the lineage of Jesus.  The Priest is about Aaron, Moses' brother.

My Favorite Reads of '09

Christian - Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

Christian Fiction - Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers

Fiction - Good Grief by Lolly Winston (Chick-Lit)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

 

Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya

Young Adult - Maximum Ride series by James Patterson

Literature - The African Queen by C.S. Forester

Linked to J. Kaye's Book Blog

The Week After Christmas

Time with my mom and dad, my brother Victor and sister-in-law Courtney, and my Aunt Ouida.  You know Shane and me. 

We had Christmas #2 once Victor and Courtney got into town Saturday night.  Here they are in their various stages of expectation.

Mom picked them up from the airport Saturday afternoon (Shane and I worked at our store Saturday) and they stopped by the Byron store on the way to our house.  Victor found a set of preaching books he liked but didn't buy them right then.  Mom told me as soon as they got home, and I caught Shane at the store just before he left to come home.  He brought the books and I got them wrapped up just before we opened gifts.

We all pitched in and got Dad the Star Trek Voyager complete series.

I made these for Victor and Courtney.  I made some for myself, too, so I'll show you those soon.

Victor used to do these electronic kits with our grandpa before he died.  I found a couple several months ago and couldn't wait to give them to Victor!

A snowball fight broke out soon after we finished opening presents.  I believe my mom started it.  (Check out that piece flying mid-air above the couch.)

Sunday we went to church together, in the morning to our church and then a Spanish church we work at (usually on Sunday nights, but we went to the morning service).  Sunday night Dad preached at our church and Victor and Courtney sang.  They are awesome!!!

We ALWAYS play Scrabble when we get together.  I think this was a game we played between morning and evening church.

We spent Sunday night-Tuesday afternoon in Savannah.  We mostly walked around the historic district.

 

We stood in line for a while (an hour? two? I lost count) to eat at The Wilkes Boardinghouse.  It was amazing!

 

The wait had made Victor mad, Courtney sad, and Shane apparently turned gangster.

We also ate at a gelato  (gellato?) place.  YUM!

Then Shane and I got a cheese platter at a little coffee shop. 

 

We got back home Tuesday evening.  Wednesday morning/lunch (time gets so confusing when you get to sleep in late!) we went bowling.  Here's the beginning of the third game.  I wish I'd quit right then while I was ahead!

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas/week after and certainly hope yours was great as well.  Now I need a week to recover and get back into my "normal" routine.