My 10 Favorite Things Countdown: Number 7 Cherry Blossoms

Hello my name is Jeny and I am a Cherry Blossom Addict. . .

It all started when I was expecting Ballerina, all I wanted for her bedding was cherry blossoms, but they were no where to be found. . . After much searching I did find some fabric and my talented Mother-In-Law came for a hot summer week and sewed in my dark sweltering house while my Beloved and I worked. It was a great visit and I am forever thankful to her for the bedding, curtains, and dust ruffle she created for our nursery. Then mere months after the birth of our baby, cherry blossom nurseries were popping up everywhere. . . .I was appalled.

Here is my Mother-In-Law with the top to the quilt, she took that and the curtains home with her at the end of the week to finish up and then she mailed them over when they were done.

Here's our little girls room all ready for her, minus the quilt and curtains.

Incidentally Here is a picture of what our bedroom looked like at the time. . . not much different.

Anywho, back to my obsession. It happened that when I was expecting Beloise I didn't really change my mind on what to do in the girls room since they would be sharing but my insane brain added birds to the branches of the cherry blossoms so now my obsession is cherry blossom branches with birds on them. . . 

And because misery loves company, I am giving away this cute little journal with cherry blossoms and birds on the cover so that you can be obsessed too.

All you have to do is leave a comment about your obsession I will pick one at random and announce the winner in one of Friday's posts.

~And So That's What She Did.

Favorite Thing Number 8 & Bedroom Redo Week 3: Inspiration

Alright so I am cheating here I know, but this pillow, or really this sample curtain I pulled over a pillow until my sewing machine is fixed, is my new favorite thing.

This is the inspiration for our bedroom.

I haven't done much with the room the last few weeks because all of my attention has been diverted to the guest room to prep for my Mom's visit the end of the month. So here is my plan. . . 

I still have a lot of indecision wrapped up in this and the lamp shade is really misleading since I am no good at paint and completely illiterate about any other program that may garnish similar results. 

I would like to get two large Euro Shams for behind our pillows, purchase light brown-bronze-gold sheets to match the leaves, and, here's the indecision, should we paint the walls to match the background color of the pillow or just paint them a warmer yellow to keep things light in this room that doesn't get much sunlight or at least not while we are in it? And either way do we do curtains in the same color as the walls or contrast? Hmmm, I did however find these fabrics that I love for curtains.

Check out my next post for a little giveaway . . . .

~And So That's What She Did.

My 10 Favorite Things Countdown: Number 9 The Pond

 One of my favorite things about our yard is the pond. It wasn't originally my favorite but I have grown to love it. So here is a little glimpse at the transformation of our pond.

 

Two years ago, just before we had a wedding in our backyard, we did A LOT of yard work to prepare. I had fixed this flower bed up just how I wanted it and I loved it.

 

My Beloved had a different idea.

 

 

He came home from work and said " I would love to put a pond in the backyard."

Silly me I thought he meant someday. I came out of the house and he had begun digging.

 

This is the flower bed this past summer. My hydrangea is still in there somewhere, at least I hope it is.

My Beloved searched Craigslist tirelessly to find a pond liner since the dogs (this was when we had two Pointers) were constantly causing cave-ins with the rock sides and killing the fish. I can't tell you how many fish we have gone through with this pond. Every year my Beloved adds more to replace the ones we have lost throughout the winter.

 The pond is an area of our yard that is continually changing. New plants and new animals keep things interesting.

One of Mr. Frog's favorite hiding places was under the long grass next to the water, he made a nice little bed there. I thought perhaps he would stay around a while but as soon as winter hit he was gone. 


It seems that the key to happy pond life is plenty of hiding places. Especially with two curious kids and a hunting dog. The creatures need plenty of places to hide in order to feel safe. My Beloved is constantly shifting things to create more secret locations for frogs or whatever he brings home next.


It really is a tranquil place to stare into and creates such a beautiful sound all summer long.


~And So That's What She Did.

My 10 Favorite Things Countdown: Number 10

Here we are 10 posts before the big 1-0-0! The truth of the matter is, I thought I was at 100 last week so I saved my post about my bedroom and spoke to a friend about doing a give-away of her beautiful creations and then realized that I was actually at 90. So I are trying to catch up so I can get to the win-it-before-anyone-can-buy-it giveaway post.
I am endeavoring to create two posts a day, each about one of my favorite things. Some will be simple giveaways, some just informative, such as recipes, pictures, Bible verses etc. So here's hoping I can keep up with this.

The first thing I would like to share with you here is. . . . . drum roll . . . .

Paula Dean's The Ultimate Lady's Macaroni and Cheese Recipe. 

I LOVE this recipe, my girls LOVE this recipe and if I load the top with bacon my Beloved LOVES this recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried elbow macaroni (4 cups cooked)
• 1/3 cup grated Cheddar
• 1/3 cup grated Swiss
• 1/3 cup grated Jack
• 1/3 cup grated colby
• 1/3 cup grated Muenster
• 1/3 cup grated Gouda
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup milk
• Nonstick spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot, bring water to boil. Season water with salt and cook macaroni until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain pasta and place in a large bowl and while pasta is still hot add all the cheese. In a separate medium bowl, using a whisk, combine the sour cream, butter, eggs, salt, pepper, and milk and add to the macaroni mixture. Spray casserole dish with nonstick and pour macaroni mixture into the dish. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Top with additional cheese, if desired.

Yummy, yummy, yummy!!

~And So That's What She Did.

Hawaii Trip-Days 6-9

Okay here is a catch up post. I found this the other day and thought "BLAST, I never finished that!" So here it is. I started in again about halfway through, so it is a bit more vague than the other Hawaii posts. I wrote down a lot of details while on the trip but I seem to have missed a few here in the last days of the trip.

Day 6

We kayaked across Kealakekua Bay. This bay is loaded with history including the bones of the man who discovered the islands for the Western world, Captain Cook.

Now, everytime someone would say Captain Cook I immediately thought of Captain Hook and was very confused because I had always thought him to be fictional.

The giant hole in the side of the hill is apparently due to some drunk sailors shooting a canon ball at the hill side.

Look out a shark . .. just kidding we didn't see any sharks while we were in the water. But apparently they are becoming a problem due to the rampant number of turtles this year.

Crazy spider with a zipper net.

Captain Cook memorial, British soil.

The supposed spot Captain Cook was last seen.

Or was it here? I'm not sure what this X is for but it's right near the memorial stone. No explanation was given.

Day 7

This was the day we decided to do some things around the property . . . I thought they meant projects. . . turns out they meant naps. But in the evening we went to the end of the world for some cliff diving.

I did not do any jumping here. I'm not that kind of girl. I'm the stand-on-the-other-cliff-at-a-safe-distance-from-the-edge-and-ensure-that-at-least-one-parent-survives-to-continue-raising-the-children, kind of girl.

I was really irritated with my camera on this little part of our trip. I was trying to get it to take several pictures at a time but I couldn't find the setting so the only pictures I got were just as they jumped and just after nothing in mid-air. Bummer. . .

Day 8

Here I am jumping back into this post and it has been months since our trip but I still wanted to share these last few pictures with you. So I really don't remember what we did on the 8th or the 9th days but I'll tell ya what the pictures are.

This is on the property just to the left of this is the house and to the right is the carport.

Here we are trying a local drink that I don't recall the name of, but it is supposed to have a very calming effect on you. Tastes just like drinking out of a muddy puddle. . .sounds great doesn't it? Well the fruit helps and that's part of the reason I shared one with my Beloved.

The men pondering life and our tiny existence.

And a farewell kiss to the Island.

A dolphin, shark, whale or marlin jumping the setting sun. We have a cow jumping over the moon they have a giant fish. . . makes sense.

One last stop at Kaya's before heading to the airport in the morning. Delicious coffee, one of the things I really wish I would have brought home, and such a welcoming and happy atmosphere in there too.

And then we were home. We got home around 11 at night and did our best to wait until morning to go get our girls from my Dad's. We seriously considered just driving out and climbing into bed with them but in the end we figured that they would never get back to sleep and so we waited until morning. They were so cute, Beloise clapped her hand over her mouth while Ballerina screamed and hopped up and down. Oh sweet babies. Vacations are great but coming home to our sweet little girls is even better.

A big giant thank you to Nickle the Island Barbarian who was such a wonderful tour guide, author of our nightly serenades, and a welcoming and gracious host. We can't wait to come visit again! After you put up the shower curtain ; ) .

~And So That's What She Did.

Things That Melt This Momma's Heart

Ballerina's first crawl

Ballerina always had the hic-ups. Before birth it was daily.

Sisters. . .

Master Bedroom Week 2: Ahoy Matey & The Peacock

I started this week with the stripped sheets and then lifted the curtains from the guest room. Since they are both stripes and stripes make me think of sailing I ran to the garage and took the ship gifted to my Beloved by his brother, Half, and put it on his shelf.

Please excuse Penny's messy bed, she hasn't made it yet this morning.

I still had the sheers up and although I would really like to have sheers on this window, I'm not loving the red ones.

Then I found this little boat painting by my Granny, this is one of my Beloved's favorites but it wasn't Granny's favorite, she didn't even sign it. . . come to think of it, it might have been done by someone else entirely but from what I have been told if she didn't like it, she didn't sign it. 

The lantern deal was one of those things I fell in love with at Ross and although I had no place to put it bought it anyway and figured I would find a place later. It just occurred to me that I might have some sand someplace that would look much better in the bottom of it to anchor the candles.

I added a few books to my nightstand to give my picture of Baby Beloise some lift and an antique tobacco tin for a few of my favorite love notes from my beloved as well as some eye drops and lip balm.

This is the painting that has been over our bed for years and you know what I just decided that although I love this painting, it needs a new home and after looking at the pictures of my bedroom this way I snapped . . . I pulled the pictures off the walls, undid most of what I had just done and started over. Looking at the pictures now they aren't so bad. I think it was just the stresses around me at the moment. 

So I found the Peacock. My cousin remembers Granny painting this one while he and I played in her side yard. I loved playing at her house we had so much fun. So even though I don't remember her painting it the fact that he does brings back fond memories.

I found this idea on Pinterest, they had the binder clip on the edge of the table but my table is too thick so this works even better for me since for the most part the cords are hidden.

Perhaps it wasn't the bedding or the red sheers, which I removed, that threw me this morning, perhaps it was just the Paris picture. I found about a half gallon of the yellow paint in the garage but as I couldn't find any putty to fill the holes from the pictures I will have to wait to do some touch up.

In other household news I made some English Muffin Bread that turned out amazing. It was so simple, mix ingredients place in pans, let rise, bake. No kneading!!

So what do you like? What do you hate? Be honest I can take it, I'm a big girl. . . most of the time.

~And So That's What She Did.