So Crazy

 Life really never seems to slow down for even a second around here and I find myself looking back and thinking “there was a month between November and January"?  We'll, the good news is that we have moved! It’s not a permanent place but with a cheaper rent, more room to grow, and lots of charm, it’s hard not to feel right at home. It’s a little crazy to think that this is just the beginning of My Darling's and my life together. I sit huddled under a bundle of blankets in bed as I type this because it turns out, a log cabin built by an amateur (i.e. no insulation in the roofing, walls, cracks in the sealant between the wood walls that you can see light though, and wood floors that you can see the sub floor though) and the combination of propane to heat the place equals a hefty monthly cost. So, as for now, we run the heat just until its warm enough not to start feeling numb and then shut it off and run electric space heaters here and there though the little house. But there's loads of charm to make up for the heat and sometimes I find myself actually getting some work done and unpacking. It makes me wonder how on earth we kept all this stuff in a one bedroom apartment and how on earth half of it hasn't been thrown out yet! With all the commotion it’s easy to forget the most important holiday of the year. Luckily, we actually did get our tree set up (and it is STILL set up) and I even found the time to make Christmas gifts for everyone. Unfortunately, though I was bright enough NOT to pack away my camera, I found out later that the battery had been charging when we moved and I DID pack it along with the charger. So no Christmas photos :(.

 While my Sweet and I stayed at my grandparents place over new year’s weekend, we even had a bit of time to enjoy the break and get a little DIYing in and crafting in ... but I think those deserve posts all to their own. Oh, and while all this has been going on, dare I say it? We're trying for a baby. Yeah so like I said before, crazy. It’s not the ideal life for everyone, shoot, its sometimes not even the idea life for me, but I can't help thinking that one day, when Hubby and I are all old and raisinesc, we will look back and think " man those were good days"... well, we might actually thing "where did we get all that energy from"! But I'd like to think we'd think the first. lol. I will try my best to get a post done for each thing we got done and are getting done shortly and it should have lots of photos because I found the box with my camera charger in it. Haza!

Being Thankful Part 2.

So now that the water works are all done and out in the open, I'd like to share with all of you the fun Hubby and I had with our family over the holiday weekend. Our Thanks giving was spent hanging out with family and chowing down on some great food and though not everyone could be there (we missed you Shannon and John) we sure did have a good time!

I even got a few recipes share with you all because my family is nothing if not fans of a family potluck.

This year for thanks giving I made some pumpkin cupcakes like I did for Halloween. But this time I left the bugs off and opted for a swirled color effect with orange food coloring, a little edible shimmer dust, and an edible pear on top. I thought that was a bit better for the setting then bugs: P.

I also made apple sauce, which I didn't get a photo for but can add the recipe here if anyone asks, and a jello salad.

This was actually the best photo of it that I could get. I know it looks a little mangled but it was really good. You can tell because half of it is missing! XD. Well... that's my excuse. Anyways, I found the recipe on pinterest but I thought I'd cut out the middle man for you all... here's the link to the recipe.

Of course, I wasn't the only one to make some great grubs; my cousin Melissa made the most amazing trifle that was so good I almost stole the left overs and took them home... no joke. She was so sweet she even gave me the recipe!

Its called Pumpkin Cream Trifle and here's the recipe -

 You will need : a 9x 13 baking dish, large mixing bowl, medium mixing bowl whisk, rubber spatula, a trifle hurricane, or a clear glass bowl.

Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25 oz) packaged spice cake mix
• 1 (3.4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding
• 1 Cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 Cup water
• 1/2 Cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 T spoons Pumpkin pie spice ( or use your own with ginger, all spice (or cloves), and nutmeg to taste; used only 2T spoons for this recipe and save the rest! )
• 2 Cups cold milk
• 2 (3.4 oz) packs cheese cake flavored instant pudding and pie filling
• 2 Cup whipped topping ( you can make your own with heavy whipping cream,sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat heavy whipping cream with an electric mixer until its firm but not yellowish. Add in about half a cup of sugar and about a 1/2 T spoon of vanilla extract and vuala! It makes more and is cheaper and taste better!)
• 1 Cup chopped toasted pecans
• 1 Cup English toffee bits.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease the baking pan.
2. combine the cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, pumpkin puree, water, oil, eggs, and pie spices in the large mixing bowl. Pore into the prepared baking dish.
3. bake in the oven for 45- 50 minutes. When done, let cool completely to room temperature.
4. Once cooled, cut the cake into 1 inch cubes.
5. In your medium mixing bowl, whisk together the milk and cheese cake pudding mix. Allow to set (about 2 minutes).
6. In the trifle hurricane or clear bowl, layer on 1/3 of the cake cubes. On top  of the cake, layer on the c1/3 of the cream mix. top with 1/3 of the pecans and toffee bits. Repeat this until all the ingredients are used. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

I'm thankful for all the wonderful food me and my family got to enjoy and the awesome conversations we got to share and talk about. Really though, they are some of the most vocal people I know and I just love it! Thanks for having us everyone (if any of your family memebers are reading this) and I hope every one enjoys having a bit of trifle for themselves!

Being thankful part 1.

Alright, I didn't fall off the face of the earth, or have some sort or tragedy for to account for my tardiness. No, it was sheer exhaustion. BUT, I'm back and with a slew of updates and fun stuff. I think we've all been there, were we  feel like you just need a break from the same retrain and just feel like everything is going in the same circle; like some sort of cruel marry-go-round and if you stepped off the whole thing would come crashing down?

 Well that's sort'a were I was at. Well, that's sort of where I'm STILL at. You see, I'm going to keep it real here. After all, this is a story about my life and all the ups along with all the down. I think this is going to have to be broken up into parts and possibly need a bit of back story and defiantly more than one post. So if you care, please bear with me. As all of my family knows, My Hubby and I have been working on trying to get our credit good enough to where we can get a loan.... for that last year! Despite the inability to get a credit card (even to places like target!) we decided to try and call a loan place and find out if we are able to get a home loan. Mind you, we weren't going in with an amount we wanted. We just wanted to see what kind of budget we would be dealing with.

That's when we found out that our credit is so crazy that we aren't unable to get a loan... of any kind that I know of. This takes a lot for me to say, maybe because of my want to be normal, or my fear of being looked down on, or even the disapproval of my family and friends. Unfortunately, the only way to heal and to grow it to talk about it. If no one reads this but me, at least I said it and I was being honest to all of you. I don't think it would be right to tell people we are looking for a house when we no longer are or tell people we are waiting because of some other reason. No, this is it. The cold hard truth. Though, it feels like I'm jumping off a cliff into a pool of piranhas that I call my family, I know that they shouldn't be left out of the loop or even you readers and friends of ours. That would be shellfish and dishonest of me. And, while all this craziness goes on in our lives, I debate with myself the wisdom of trying for a child as well.

If there is one thing I want more than anything in the world, apart from being my amazing husbands wife, it’s to be a mother to his children. It may seem unconventional but I want a big family and to be a house wife. Being as head strong as I am, and an almost-neurotic planer, I want to space them out wisely and plan their bedrooms and silly things like that.

This is where the dilemma comes in. I simply can't wait to have children unless I want their father to be like 70 when they move out. This is what I get for marring someone 10 years older than myself. : P

So here I am stuck. Do I put aside my dreams of planning a baby room and having a perfect family in a wonderful home and everything as planed? For a life were I'm pregnant in a one bedroom apartment and rushing to find a home somewhere around eight or nine months and have nothing planned in way of design or functionality but am blessed with the life of another and the opportunity to pursue my dreams as a mother? I honestly don't know. For once in my life I'm not as sure in myself of what path in life I should take.  The only thing I can think of is how grateful I am now to have a roof over my head, a husband that comes home with a smile and greets me every day, and the people who build me up and support us along these changing times. After all, thanks giving aren’t the only time of year we should be blessed for what the lord has given us.

Paper Work

Things are running a bit slow here at the Blanton house. We are currently working on getting stuff paid off, filling out loan work, and getting paper work together to take with us to a lender. Hopefully house tours will be up on the blog within a week. I know it’s not glamorous or hardly blog worthy but paper work is part of the process. In the meantime, I'll try to keep up with some small posts about a few projects we are trying to get done. So thanks for being patent with us. I might also post some recipes from past meals that I never posted... you never know. Whatever the cast, thing are going to be going a little slower than recently. I love posting every day and hope to start up again as soon as this house stuff is behind us. I'll also fill you guys in (like an open diary) on the process. Post might have fewer photos because we can't show legal documents and things like that just for safety reasons, but they will be chalking full of what were up to in the home searching process. Today, were paying off a few more bills (so our credit looks a little bit better) and hopefully seeing what we qualify for. Thank you again for sticking with us though this crazy process you guys is the best and we love you all! <3

A Jaring Situation

After months of cleaning and stocking up on glass jars from all the spaghetti sauce, salsa, and such we eat, I finally had enough to finish a project with them!

I decided to up cycle them and use them to store goods in my pantry so I have less messy bagged items and more pretty/ smaller glass jars of stuff.

I found this cute label online and, just like with my porcelain plates, I traced it from my computer (still no ink in the printer :P ) and cut it out on some paper to make a stencil.

 I actually wanted to use a smaller version for the smaller containers and a larger one for the bigger ones so I just zoomed in on my computer and traces a bigger version of the same label. (so they all match in my cupboard).
Then, I duck taped the entirety of my jars. Using the stencil, I cut out my labels from the duck tap with and x-acto blade.

Then I just primed it all. The lids of the salsa jars had writing on them that I didn't want to show, so I decided to forgo taping them up and opted for them to stay primed. I might use some red spray paint on the lids sometime later, but for now, I like them just the way they are.

After waiting a few minutes between thin coat of primer, I used one of these little sponge applicators (I have no idea what the real name of them are) that I picked up at Michel's for like 80 cents a pop to paint the stenciled area of the jars in chalk paint.

You can get chalk paint at any hardware store or make you own in any color using this tutorial from prudent baby that I found. Just before the paint is completely dry, I peeled the duck tap off and vuala!

The best part is that when something runs out I can just clean out the jar, fill it with something different, and change the label with chalk! I love it!

So what projects have you guys been up to lately? Anyone have any super handy storage ideas to share? are you excited for the weekend?

Just Treats

For Halloween this year I decide to do something a little special for the kids.

I made cupcakes! I know not all parents would agree with their child getting a cupcake as a treat (and I wouldn't want them to look like the bad guys for not letting them have one) so that is why I also decided to give out candy on the side so that parents have the option.
All in all I only gave out 10 cupcakes out of 9 kids. Which is actually a lot for an apartment complex.It might have been due to the fact that I sat out by the entrance of the apartments and my hubby adorned me in "ambiance", but I like to think that its was simply for these amazing cupcakes.

 So, I thought it would be nice to share the recipe with you all so you can have a Halloween treat yourselves ;) . Enjoy!

You will need: an electric mixer,one small bowl, two medium mixing bowls, one large mixing bowl, a spoon, two cupcake pans,and cup cake sleeves (two dozen).

• 2 cups flour
• 1 T spoon baking soda
• 1 T spoon baking powder
• 1 T spoon sat
• 1T spoon cinnamon
• 1 T spoon ground ginger (or 1/8 T spoon fresh grated ginger)
• 1/4 T spoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 T spoon all-spice
• 1 Cup packed light brown sugar (de-clumped)
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted, melted butter
• 4 eggs lightly beated
• 1 can (15 oz ) pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. line cupcake pans with cupcake sleeves.
2. melt butter in the small bowl in the microwave.
3. meanwhile, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices in a medium mixing bowl.
4. In the large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, both sugars, and melted butter.
5. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until its smooth. Add in the pumpkin puree and mix again, until smooth.
6. Divide batter in the cupcake pans and bake for 20-25 minuets.

For Cream cheese Icing:

• 2 Sticks of butter
• 2 packs of cream cheese (16 oz)
• 3-4 Cups powdered sugar
• 1/8 T spoon vanilla extract

1. Mix in the other medium mixing bowl, with the electric mixer, on medium, the butter and cream cheese until smooth and has no lumps.
2. add in the vanilla and mix again until combined. Then add in the sugar and mix until icing is formed.

Pretty Pinings

Oh my goodness! I am so excited to share with you all what I did for the Pinterest challenge!I feel like a little girl telling her mommy about a preschool crush and OH am I crushing on these!

I found my inspiration from this Pin

Source: ashleyannphotography.com via Erika on Pinterest

Isn't Ashley so creative!? And she got the idea from Martha Stewart! Oh what an amazing, creative world we live in!  I can't wait to see what everyone else has come up with. Today's going to be a juice stake of creativity, DIY, crafting bit of eye candy for sure! So are you ready to find out how to make your own bit of eye candy?

To make these all you need is a porcelain plate, a porcelain paint pin (you can find these at Michel's in a lot of colors or any arts and crafts store), an oven, and a stencil.

Instead of buying a stencil I actually made one by finding one off of the Internet and then tracing it off my computer screen (because my printer was out of ink).

I then used an x-acto blade to cut out the shape.

I actually only used the larger stencil because I didn't like the way the smaller one looked on the plates.
Once I got the stencil cut out I taped it down to the plate and then colored over it with the porcelain pin ( you can also use porcelain paint that they sell in a jar). When I was done I peeled off the stencil and did a little bit of touch ups. Then I have to let then sit and dry over night which is according the the packaging on the pin. (what ever brand you get it may be different then that).
After waiting a day (which felt like a year) I baked them in the oven at 300F (this also may vary) for 20 minutes. During this time you can pace back and forth, color in a coloring book, watch a show, or just sit impatiently. :) When the 30 minutes are up you just take them out and let them cool. At this point I did a little freak out dance at how awesome I was and how good they look. I also may or may not have koodod my self a few times and gloated at that hubby about my awesomeness.

So thank you Ashley and Pinterest and I can't wait to see what Kate, Sherry, Ane White, and House of Earnest have created for their challenge.