Log Wall Christmas Tree

Here we are in the Christmas season and I'm loving every second of it!

During our last cooking class lab, our instructor put on Elf while we made candy - this is already starting out to be a great Christmas.

It started with a great Thanksgiving weekend too! A trip to the lake, seeing the new Mockingjay movie, and Tucanos were highlights for sure!

To finish the night off, we put up our Christmas tree and I think it's beautiful! 

We had a blast doing this tree and it's a great option for anyone who lives in a small apartment. Plus, there is little to no risk of fire without those pesky needles.

Merry Christmas Y'all!

15 Cheap (Or Free) Date Ideas!

Being young and married, Mike and I have found what we believe is the PERFECT balance between young, fun life and married, "boring" life. (Although I would never consider even our most "boring" moments, boring at all!) (But sometimes I do just want to come home and go to bed at 6pm.)

When I got married at 19, yes I said 19. I was so excited but I knew I was giving up the rest of my college years that otherwise would be filled with late night parties, group dates, girls nights, dances, and all of those other things that comes with being in your twenties and single.

Turns out I made the right choice. (I always knew I had but I think some people thought I was crazy.)

Now Mike and I get to do all of those things together. We go out with friends all the time and while sometimes it's our other married friends, other times it's our single friends. It's great because we get to re-live our dating time when we're out with them. It's not like we've been married for years to everyone else in the group. Some of them don't know us from Adam and they don't realize we're married until half way through the night.

Some of our favorite dates to keep things young, spontaneous, and fun are:

1. Urban Spoon: It's an app and you should really check it out. You shake it and it gives you a random restaurant in your area. You can set filters but how much money you want to spend, location, type of food, etc. Whatever it says you have to go to!
2. Arcade Night:  We have a nickle arcade here in town. Just buy $5 worth of nickles and you have a cheap, fun date night. Get competitive or find some hidden talents!
3. Dollar Theater: Show up at the dollar theater and buy two tickets to the next movie no matter what it is. You could end up in the latest thriller or action flick or see a re-run of Cinderella. Either way, it's random and you'll walk away laughing. 
4. Late Night Foodie Runs:  Sometimes just randomly going out for a milkshake right before closing is all you need. Who needs to go to bed right at 11? Stay up later and grab a greasy cheeseburger from your favorite fast food place. 
5. Pizza in the Park: $5 Little Caesar's Hot and Ready are a staple in our house. Sometimes we stop at the park on our way home and eat it under a tree. It's something to mix up the monotony of a dinner table. 
6. Late Night Drives: Mike and I used to go on drives all the time when we were dating. It was our escape from roommates. Now we like to go about once or twice a month. We drive up the canyon or just around down. Holding hands usually, jamming out and singing like crazy other times. 
7. Working Out: I never thought I would enjoy working out with Mike. Needless to say, my D-1 football player hubby out shines me in fitness. I decided to go with him once and it was amazing! I was more motivated and he gave me tons of encouragement and pointers! 
8. Sporting Events: We have a friend that plays rugby and we've been hitting those games regularly. It's so nice to be out in the sunshine and doing something different. It definitely beats cleaning the house and it's a good break!
9. Geocaching: If you haven't heard of it, you've got to check it out! Click here for details! It's basically the best, never ending scavenger hunt!
10. $10 Gourmet Dinner: We love heading to the grocery store with $10 and finding the most fancy, multiple course meal as possible. Up the amount if that seems too small that way you can add in dessert. It's fun to see how creative you can get. 
11. Dancing: This was something I had been wanting to do for a long time so Mike wrote and signed a contract promising me dancing! I love to dance and, while I wish I was better, it's just fun to get out there and make it up as you go along. We found a community rec center that offers a dance night with a lesson for the first 30 min to an hour. 
12. Swimming: I love to play in a pool! I'm no world record swimmer but I love to jump in and play. If you can find a place or hey, even an apartment complex that will let you in, then you are set! 
13. TV Series: Find a show you'll both love, or maybe convert him to one you love, and get lost in the story of the characters. Mike and I have done: Park & Rec, Lost, Walking Dead, Vampire Diaries (yes, I talked him into that one!) 
14. Park Games: Mike and I went out to a park near our house and played Frisbee for a couple of hours. We love throwing the football around or just walking around outside. You'll be surprised at how much you love doing this!
15. Rent a Puppy: This has become a really big thing where we live. You rent a puppy for a few hours. They drop them off and pick them up. No feeding, no commitment, etc. Mike did this for my birthday and we LOVED it! Read more about on my BIRTHDAY POST!
    

What do you enjoy to do when you're trying to save money and keep your love life thriving?

Messy Medicine Cabinet

Our medicine cabinet was the worst! We couldn't find anything and everything was falling out whenever we needed something. So we got a quick handle on that today.

I was a bit embarrassed to find that we had 3 gallon size baggies with just 1 or 2 things inside each. Not only could those be consolidated but we wanted something more manageable and easier to navigate than baggies.

Out came everything! A messy disaster.

I decided we needed one bin for cough and cold medicine. This includes: Organic Throat Coat (it really works wonders), cough drops, throat spray, OTC medicines for colds, etc.

Our next bins didn't have as large of contents so we transformed some drawers to do the trick.
One for prescriptions.
One for pain medicine.
One for any extra things/first aid stuff. This includes band aids, liquid medicine measuring cup, etc.

I have no idea why I was dreading this. It was so easy and quick. I'm glad I had everything lying around that I needed.

Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

I know I've talked before about how amazing our neighbor's are but I just have to throw it in again. We have some awesome people around us. This week alone, our nieghbors have managed to save out Harry Potter marathon by providing the 5th movie. In case you haven't checked this marathon has sparked some pretty great workouts.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone {WORKOUT} and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets {WORKOUT}
Next our other neighbors saved me from my cookie disaster by lending us some vanilla. I'll be posting more about those cookies later. I love that we just go back and forth on sharing things. We give them eggs and they give us vanilla. This week it was a trade with hair gel and vanilla. I'm sure next week will bring something too.

These sweet friends have invited us over for dinner along with a few other couples. It's always a blast to get together with other people who are in the same stage. Most still in school, relatively newlywed, and having a blast.

This dinner is going to be much like the Cafe Rio Salads, Burritos, etc. We always go our our direction but we always have to have the Creamy Tomatillo Dressing. It's to die for! And it's SUPER easy!
There are tons of recipes online but I liked this, it's exactly like the original.

1 (1 oz.) package Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayo
1 bunch cilantro (roughly chopped, just to remove the stems)
1 clove garlic (minced)
2 small (or 1 large) tomatillos
juice from 1 lime
1 jalapeno (seeds and rib removed)

Now I just put everything into my Ninja blender and went to town! It's super easy to mix up in a food processor or blender.  Check out the Ninja it's great! Ninja Kitchen System Blender And Food Processor

It already looks to good! This blends up really quick but it needs to set in to fridge for about 30 min before serving so the flavors can come together.

It looks cute in an empty jar and can be used later on!

Enjoy!

A Boise Weekend! {Lots of Pics and a RECIPE}

All we need is 2 days to have an amazing trip to Boise, Idaho!

We stumbled upon this place- clearly a classy place.

Our drive was great! We got away at a really good time and we were in Boise by 5:30.
My mom made my ultimate comfort food! Macaroni and Tomatoes. Most people would probably think it's crazy but it's always been a part of home. So here's the recipe:

Macaroni and Tomatoes

Large Shell Pasta

Home-bottled Whole Tomatoes

Dash of Sugar

Butter

Salt and Pepper to taste 

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
2. Heat bottle of tomatoes and lightly sugar. 
3. Add pasta.
4. Butter and salt and pepper to taste.

This is probably one of the most simple things to make but my mom will always make it better than me. It's weird and I'm pretty sure Mike thinks we're a little crazy but he's a good sport. It's always on the list for mom to make when we go home.

One of my best friends from high school got home from him mission about a month ago. I hadn't seen him in two years! So he came over on Friday night. It was a blast from the past!
In the past two years I got married and that's something he probably thought would never happen. I felt like we were back in high school again. Hanging in my basement. This is a pic from our sophomore year in high school. He could jump right over me. 6'4" me.

So Saturday came and we went to my sweet nieces basketball game. Watching 7 year old play is so fun!

Mike's been a little under the weather so we took him home to get some sleep. Here we are. Mike knocked out and me trying to sleep too - with no success! Poor guy, when he gets sick, he gets really sick! 

That night we went to my old high school for the dinner theater that I preformed in for 3 years. It was a blast!

My awesome parents got us tickets and made it all possible!

Love this guy and I love that I can share a piece of my past with him through these events!

It was a late night but so worth it! Sunday, before church, I was walking around our house and I found these pictures.

We had the first taken years ago. I'm pretty sure it was at a JCPenny photo gallery. Oh, how far we've come. The second was taken this summer in Boise. We were all laughing so hard! :)

We're kinda crazy sometimes during church. But I love that my mom will have tons of fun with me.
The girl in the car with us is Caitlin and she's kinda been another sister. We've gone to church together for a really long time and she's tons of fun!

We headed home and I joked about stopping to take a picture at this sign. To my surprise Mike pulled over. It was a bit windy and he looks 1 million times better than me! Sad day.

So now we're home and dreading the start of another week! Ugh!

Boise on Dwellable

Envelope Templates - Free Download!

Forever and a day ago, back when this blog was just a little flower I posted The Envelope Theory. This post is all about Dave Ramsey's method of handling money. You budget what you want to spend in each category and then put the money in envelopes in the beginning of the month. This eliminates cards and allows you to really know where your money is going.

Back when Mike and I started this we were just using envelopes from the bank but I wanted to use something better and something that would allow me to customize without having "FOOD" written on the front so the whole world knows there is a ton of money in there.

I give you my envelopes:

  

They are simple and easy to put together but they give your envelopes a bit of personality!
Cute right? You can download the template here!

As a bonus, I decided to give you the envelopes without the writing on the front. This way you can use it as a really fun gift. I would love the get an envelope with money and I printed this one on vellum so you can get an even better look at the contents.

  

This download can be found HERE!

I love having these around. Anytime I need to drop something off or keep something safe it's a great option. I have some snowflake vellum that I used for a Christmas basket I put together-It was adorable!

Home Decor Tutorial - {great gift idea}

My family stays connected through the holidays with our gift rotation. We don't draw names anymore, we just have a rotation so we always know who we have. This year I had my sister, Candi, who lives in Alabama. They are in a new house and I know she loves decorating so I ran with that idea. Check out what I came up with!

I love the way it turned out and how easy it was (it took me about 10 min). Here are the steps I used:

1. Pick a frame that is longer. I used one with different spots but you could put it all in one opening. 
2. Find paper that will fit the opening. This would be more difficult if you have a frame that is longer than the size of common paper. That's why my frame made it a bit easier. 
3. Print or write the words onto the paper.
4. Find maps of the areas you need. I went to AAA because if you're a member you can get free maps! 
5. Trace a heart shape around the cities you need and carefully cut out. I'm a bit OCD so this took me the longest. 
6. Paste the hearts only the paper. I used regular Elmers glue because mine is behind glass but you could use Mod Podge if you needed.
7. Place it all in the frame and you are set.

With finals, my birthday, and the bowl game I didn't have a chance to do this until I got to Boise. So sadly it did not make it to Alabama until after Christmas so I decided to give it to Candi via Skype. What would we do with out technology?

I miss her like crazy and I love that we got to spend a little bit of Christmas with her. Even if it was over the internet.

Homemade Pizza!

Today was a LAZY day! I think I stayed in bad all day. Between working on Sara's blog and thinking about how much I don't want to go back to school and the impending finals I was glued to that bed!

Michael was sweet enough to wait on me all day bringing me the best hot cocoa ever, taking care of the dog, and giving me a great back rub! How did I get so lucky?? He came and laid in bed with me to watch Parks and Recreation, Modern Family and even indulged me on The Vampire Diaries!

When 6:00 finally rolled around I decided I should probably get up and make that sweet man some dinner. I looked up a good recipe for pizza dough and realized I was a little short on flour so we had to come up with our own variation.

 

from Oven Love

Quick Pizza Dough

1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil (I use olive oil)
2 1/2 - 3 cups flour (I used half white flour and half wheat flour.)

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the rest of the ingredients in and mix. Dump onto a floured surface. Knead into a smooth dough (five minutes or so). Roll out and press down onto a greased pizza pan. Add toppings. Bake at 450 degrees F. for around 12-15 minutes until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned.

*Note- you can also make double or triple of the recipe, freeze it, and then pull it out in the morning to thaw in the fridge for an evening meal. Even simpler!

Try this one out! It's so good and I loved that we got to add some wheat flour for a bit of a healthier twist!

Fall Wreath

I know I should have done this about 3 weeks ago but it's been a bit crazy around here in the Yeck home.

This weekend is my project weekend, to find out why, click here!

This fall wreath cost me less than 4 dollars and took me less than 30 min. Now that is my kind of DIY.

Here is what you need:

Foam board (this will be where the poster board is at) Dollar Store!
Fake leaves - also from the Dollar Store!
Knife
Hot Glue Gun

Start my measuring how big you want it to be. Mine is 14" by 12". The smaller square is 2 inches smaller in every direction. So the wreath will be 2 inches wide.

Once you have your foam board cut out just start hot gluing on leaves in every direction!

I had to take a mid point picture becuase I was talking to Mike while gluing and I needed a good reason to have burned myself. He loves it!

excuse the awful pic, it was a mid-call snapshot.

Once you've made it around keep adding more on top so it looks full and there are NO white spots!

Soon enough, more like 10 min., you'll have your fun and easy fall wreath! You can add ribbon to hang it or just the wreath!


So go out and grab a few things to make a wreath and then head home, turn on the BYU vs. Notre Dame football game and get crafting!

Dining Chair Recover!

Here we are onto segment #3 of the furniture refurbish.

Check out segment the antique vanity and the desk to nightstands also!

I know I say this every time but this might be my FAVORITE!

*Dining Table*

 Just Kidding!

I was going to do the entire table and chairs in one post but I think I'm going to do them separately to avoid a picture overhaul! You can check out the table changes and the chair painting later.

For now you can see how to reupholster dining room chairs! 

We started with the seats of the chairs. I went to pick out some fabric, thinking I would get a neutral, not to WOW design. Then I fell in LOOOVE with this:

Holy dang - A little out of my comfort zone but I couldn't resist. 

Here is a really easy step by step for recovering chairs. 

This is for chairs with the removable pad. It simple unscrews from the bottom. 

As you can see there were a few other layers underneath. we chose to take off one layer but leave the other 3-4. It's completely up to you although I would recommend leaving some because if you take it all the way back to the pad it's harder to recover. The other layers holds the pad in place! 

Lay out the seat and cut your fabric to about 2-3 inches bigger than the seat. 

Start with the corners and pull the fabric over. Give it two good staples in each side. Do all 4 corners.

Pull the sides over, tucking any extra at the corners and staple about every 2 inches. Make sure it's very secure.

Cut off any extra fabric that may be getting in the way.

Check that out! You have reupholstered chairs!