midweek ramblings

 Hey y'all! I hope you're having a great week so far. All's well over here except for the fact that the weather can't make up its mind...shocker! Last week we were enjoying perfect, sunny weather, and today we're cooped up inside with temps in the 30s and rain...BOO. I guess that just how it goes this time of year, isn't it? I definitely have some Spring Fever though!

I wanted to pop in and share some randomness with y'all. Basically the state of my mind as of late!

TL: Jaqs has been hauling "meow" with her everywhere lately! She had him in the car the other day, and I overheard her saying, "I lahve yew, meow!" Sweetness.

TR: My world has been rocked! Red Robin officially has gluten free buns. I haven't had a REAL burger since going GF in 2009, so this is revolutionary!! ;) It passed the test...I felt great after eating it. Well, except for normal cheeseburger fatiness, of course.

BL: Jaqs was hamming it up for some selfies...silly girl! Her smile is my favorite.

BR: As most of you know, we're at my parents' house right now while we're in between houses, and I think it's safe to say J is eating up. Girlfriend is going to be bored to tears when it's back to dear ol' mom & dad.

I bought this inexpensive, laminate dresser in college, and we didn't have room for it at our last house; it will serve as a TV console in our next home, so I wanted to give it a little makeover. I combed Pinterest in search of how to redo laminate furniture and decided chalk paint was the way to go. It's kind of intimidating if you've never used it, so I followed these tips and went for it!

I'll admit that I was super unsure while I was painting, but once I distressed & waxed it, I loved it!! I used Amy Howard's chalk paint in French Blue and used the light wax on top. SUPER easy to use! I'm curious if any of you have worked with the homemade chalk paints that are all over Pinterest? The store-bought is pretty pricey at $30 a quart, but when you consider no sanding or priming? Worth it.

In other furniture news, we bought this bad boy over the weekend:

It's going to be finished in an antique white and is going to have a vintage feel. I'm trying to decide what I want to do with the pulls and knobs. What do y'all think??

I am kind of loving this look with the card catalog style pulls...

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Help me!! There are 8 drawers that need pulls and 6 cabinets that will need knobs.

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This really isn't that big of a deal, but SERIOUSLY! The Hobby Lobby hardware aisle is overwhelming ;)

Happy Wednesday!

22 months

I haven't done an update on Jaqs lately, so I thought I'd share a little of what she's up to (and in to!) lately so I'd have it to look back on. I love looking back and seeing how much my baby girl has grown and changed! Cannot believe how close we're getting to her SECOND birthday. What?!

-constantly talking up a storm & parroting everything

-we can understand much of what you say, but of course, we have to translate for others

-you prefer veggies to fruit but prefer carbs to anything else ;)

-total milk-aholic, side note: milk="noke" no idea why, but it's cute!
-you LOVE smoothies & think it's ice cream.

-insist we pray before each meal
-we're in the middle of a move & you've been asking for "home??" fairly often

-RUNNING everywhere

-mickey mouse rocks your world

-very particular about the placement and order of things
-HATE having your hair brushed & refuse anything but having it clipped back with a bow

-you make us put our drinks on coasters ;)

-you announce whoever walks in the door. ie: "daddy's home!" "mommy's here!"

-you give the very best hugs and kisses. we'll never get enough!

-suddenly love to be rocked (mostly for stalling purposes, i presume)

-sleeping 11-12 hour nights & taking a 2-3 hour nap

-extremely shy with people you're not around regularly
-love to "help" with everything from laundry to loading/unloading the dishwasher
-if you hear me doing something, you come running saying "baby help!"

-love reading & can be found doing so in your closet several times a day

-you know some shapes: heart, square, circle, star, moon (crescent)

-you also can identify all basic colors & quite a few letters of the alphabet

-you are quite the wild child & love to do anything dangerous

-love trucks, tractors & motorcycles
-coloring is your favorite

-you have excellent manners :) almost always say "thank you," "please," and "no thank you"

-finally started referring to yourself as Jaqs instead of "baby" most of the time

-obsessed with shoes & can be heard saying "I like your shoes!" to everyone

-totally addicted to the paci--it's only allowed at nap/bedtime

-love playing mommy to your baby dolls & stuffed animals
-started going to the church nursery regularly

-wearing mostly 2T stuff, but tops are starting to get short again

-size 7 shoes

-size 4 diapers

-25 pounds, almost 34 inches...long & lean as always!

Five on Friday

Two posts in a row! Look at me go!! ;) I think I might be getting back in the saddle after all! I've been missing "seeing" all of you for Five on Friday. In addition to my writing hiatus, I've also been missing out on reading all of your blogs. Hope you'll forgive me?

{one} My Temple girls had a little "going away" party for me the weekend before we left, and it was SO FUN!! Roxanne hosted a dinner and painting party in her adorable new home, and I had a blast spending quality time with my friends. We painted until ONE in the morning, and I'm so thrilled with the pieces we created! I've only painted a handful of times, most of which have been under the guidance of Roxy, but it is so relaxing and enjoyable. Maybe I'll have the courage to keep creating!

In the midst of our painting party, we decided shopping was definitely in order for the following day, so we made the trek to Ikea for even more fun! I didn't get a ton since I'd only have to pack it all up, but I did get matted frames to create a gallery with my freshly painted pieces which will go in J's next room. EEEEEK! Cannot wait to hang them up.

Thank you again, my friends, for making me feel so loved! I miss you already.

{two} I made this Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken this week, and it was SO YUM! Incredibly easy to put together, and you probably have everything you need in your fridge/pantry! I served ours with coconut rice & stir-fried veggies.

{three} West Texas welcomed us home with a snow storm! Schools were closed yesterday, and we've got another snow day to enjoy today! Truth be told, the roads were really not that bad yesterday, but hey, we'll take it. Jaqs had so much fun playing in the powdery goodness and was not thrilled when it was time to come in. Luckily some hot chocolate remedied that little meltdown quickly.

Our little lady had to work from home yesterday! Her phone conversations are SO ANIMATED. It cracks us up.

Ohh, my little OCD child...here she is dusting the snow off the bushes. Y'all, I'm not even kidding. She is so my kid: she can't stand for things to be out of order! I love it.

{four} Whew. I came across this little quote on Pinterest, and I have to say, it totally made me feel better about myself. Is that pathetic? That I'm getting my life advice from Pinterest?? Actually, don't answer that...

ANYWAY...sometimes I feel like I'm supposed to have everything "figured out" now that I'm a mom, but the truth is that I don't have a clue what I'm doing with myself. Some days I can't imagine doing anything other than what I'm doing right now while others I feel like I'm supposed to chase after some (hypothetical) dream job/career. So, if I'm allowed to be a mess in my twenties, then I have 4 years to figure it out. What happens when I'm 30? Ha!

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{five} How can it be that Valentine's Day is in a week?? Obviously since we don't exactly have a house right now I haven't done any decorating or crafting (tear), but I can still totally get down with some Valentine food! Here's what I'm thinking for breakfast...

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend! Stay warm!

life.

I'm not sure what happened to my desire to blog, but it has totally vanished in the last few weeks (months). I still want to have our little lives recorded, but I've been struggling to prioritize the time...it seems like there's always something else that trumps sitting down and cranking out a post. So much has been happening lately, so here's to hoping I can get it into gear over here!

The biggest thing happening in our lives right now is a MOVE!!

Yep, our family of three has relocated back home in Abilene! Rob and I have been throwing this idea around for a little while, and we decided to take a leap of faith. We had planned to let Rob finish his school year in Temple and move this summer, but a job opportunity presented itself, he interviewed & started a week later. It's been a complete and total whirlwind, but it's been amazing, too. Our house went on the market mid-January and is now under contract which is nothing short of a miracle, quite frankly. Temple is the last town in Texas still considered a "Buyer's Market" it seems, so we feel blessed to be where we are with the sale of our home & are praying all goes as "planned" now.

My parents have graciously opened their home to us until we can get into something of our own, and I think it's safe to say that Jaqs is enjoying living at GG-Pop's for the time being! We're on the house hunt here, but we're grateful to not have to rush to get into something immediately. Rob and I keep referring to ourselves as "boomerang kids," my parents only THOUGHT they got rid of us...mwahaha ;)

I'm so excited about finding our next home and making it our own, so y'all don't mind me blowing up your Pinterest feeds with home inspiration! This will be our FOURTH home in almost six years of marriage, so yeah, we're hoping this next one has some longevity to it! 

Exciting times, my friends! God is so good. All the time.