Gold & Panini time

Today was a golden sort of day... 

and... well... I was stuck inside at work all day... therefore, no good stories really...

But I did get a chance to make paninis for dinner! Yummmmm

Some fresh baked bread from Kroger, cumcumber, tomato (not pictured) provolone cheese, pesto sauce, and turkey & ham for the boyfriend and his parents...

Grill it on the panini grill... and voila...

Deliciousness! 

and... that was my uneventful day! Step by step panini instructions to come... 

A little bit of sun, splash, shop, & BOOM

Couldn't have asked for a better 4th of July weekend!

Friday

Started the trip out bright and early Friday morning... we were supposed to leave at 6:00 AM and well... (like the typical me) I turned off my alarm in my sleep! I really dont know how I do it! So luckily Miss Jenna Wood texted me at 5:50 AM... so I woke up and the next 20 min were kind of a blur of rush packing all of my essentials, showering, getting the dog ready and put in her crate...

Loaded up the car, grabbed a brown cinnamon sugar Pop-Tart, and cracked open my Sugar-Free RedBull! And on the road we went! Chad, Ryan, and I hopped in the car to pick up Jenna.

The next 6 hours consisted of lots of singing,dancing, listening to Pandora, and Ryan getting mad at me b/c I couldnt stop playing Karmin's cover the the Lady Antebellum song "Just a Kiss" which can be found here
I LOVE THIS SONG!

And a 20 min detour so that Ryan could have hot Krispy Kreme donuts!

We finally made it to our destination of Clinton, TN (which is where Ryan's family is from).

We settled in and Ryan's cousin Bridget met us.

We decided to go shopping at Turkey Creek near Knoxville.

We went to ROSS and I found the inspiration for my bathroom...

It's and icey-blue/seafoam green-ish (excuse my lack of great words to describe the color) shower curtain. And I got these great shower hooks that give off a French country vibe.

 

Not the best picture... but... here it is!

And I plan on painting the walls like this that I found from Young House Love



Anyways... Back to the trip...

We went to Ryan's grandma's for dinner that night. There is nothing like a southern grandma's cookin! Especially when the green beans are fresh picked from the garden!

Saturday

We woke up the next morning and went out on Norris Lake.

The water was gorgeous, the sun was hot, and very exhausting.

That night we went to Mellow Mushroom pizza in Knoxville! mmmmmmm!

Sunday

We decided to wake up very early & head off to Gatlinburg so that we could eat at the Pancake Pantry for breakfast! yumm!

and then we headed home... we made a few little stops on the way home shopping...

Then we made it safe and sound back to Circleville! (and I got to see Kobe!)

Monday



July 4th

Didn't do much all morning... that was nice!

Then Jenna brought me a Scioto Valley Mocha frozen

and then we got ready for the evenings festivities...

we wanted Mexican food... but they were closed (I didnt know they celebrated the 4th) and so we went to Bdubs...

Then off to the Chillicothe fireworks we went!



And that... was an almost perfect weekend! :) Hope you enjoyed your 4th of July!

Table Painting. Worn Out to Worn In.

Went thrifting the other day at Volunteers of America [one of my favorite thrift stores in Circleville]. I purchased 2 wooden square side tables/coffee tables. They were.... Less than attractive.

Let the sanding begin!

I sanded them down completely to take off the glossy finish. 

Then I primed them with a white spray primer and let completely dry.

I picked a periwinkle-ish color for the tables. The paint name was actually called Jessica's Eyes.

I used a small paint roller and painted the entire table cutting in on the edges with a small paint brush. 

Once it was dry, I distressed the edges using sand paper. I took a sharp piece of metal and made some scratch marks on the table to make it seem like it had some wear. 

The finished product looked like this:

This is the before and after

I cannot wait to put them in my living room!

They will look good next to the color I'm going to paint my living room... Here is a pic of the color I am painting. This is taken from Young House Love

Gonna look sooooo good! :)

Grown Up Things & Spreading My Wings

This is the first of many blog adventures... 

Well... 5 years ago I went to college... I blinked then it was over. :(

Lucky me I got a job right out of school as a Kindergarten teacher! woot woot!

I looked at an apartment to rent...

(It's the one on the right)

But... the boyfriend talked to his dad and said I was looking at places to rent... and soo the real story here begins.

Ryan called me at work and told me that he and his dad discussed the fact that it would be better for me to consider buying a house since rent is almost just the the same as a mortgage. 

hmmm.... 

This thought was sort of terrifying! But as someone who LOVES to decorate and do DIY projects... I was totally on board!

That very night we went driving around the good old Round Town of Circleville and looked at houses for sale. 

There was one in particular that I had seen on the computer and I was getting anxious to see it... however it was the last one on our list. 

After driving by several houses it was finally time to go see the house I was super excited about... You see... I LOVE TO COOK! and this house had a beautiful kitchen (from what I had seen in the pictures).

We pulled up and saw the cutest little house. I instantly got butterflies... I was IN LOVE! That heart fluttering, stomach turning, I wanna make plans with this house kinda love.

We went back to Ryan's house and told his dad we think we may have found a prospect. 

We went back to the house and knocked on the door [no answer] so Ryan's dad [Mike] and his brother [Chad] figured no one was living there and they wanted to walk around the house. Ryan and I stayed in the car with our doggy [Kobe]. 

The guys came back around to the front of the house... On their backyard adventure they opened the gate only to have a few massive guard dogs [actually they were just little boston terriers] swarm the entrance. The owner heard and thought two men were intruding her property... Mike and Chad came back around the front and waved Ryan and I up to the porch. 

The owner came out of the house, and (to my surprise) I knew her! This house belonged to April and CJ Miller... Who I know from Ohio Christian University. She welcomed us into the living room and gave us some information. The next Monday we look a full tour with the real estate lady and BOOM just like that, we were sold on the house! 

Within the next couple of weeks everything just fell into place. 

And... now... I close on the house July 12th!!!!!!! Soooo crazy!

One of my best friend's [Brandon Ritchey] girlfriend [Richelle McCullough] is going to move into the spare bedroom! Could not be MORE excited! and she is bring her little puppy Fio... Kobe will have a friend! She will love little Fio!

Well... anyways... I will be letting you follow my house owning/teaching/growing up adventures... hope you enjoy! :)