Slowly becoming {"H.O.M.E.Y"}

I've been hard at work lately to make our house a bit more "homey." All the bare walls are driving me crazy and so is not having any Fall decorations to make our house complete for the season :) I am working on several projects as we speak, but more about the incomplete ones later ;)

 

Project #1

I LOVED the D.I. in Twin Falls, and for those of you that don't know what D.I. is, it is an AWESOME thrift store that is sooo much better than your "average" thrift store. D.I. is full of clean, brand name items at steal prices! When we moved to Lewiston I was super sad that I couldn't find a decent thrift store that passed my expectations of being clean and not junky. I love to find thrift store finds and craft it to perfection! I finally passed by a thrift store that turned out to be a good one :) One day, I found this unfinished cabinet! It screamed "Craft me" all over it! We had been looking for a DVD cabinet for a while, but didn't wanna pay an arm and a leg for a cheapy one. Low and behold, I found and purchased this cabinet that I was sure I could make super cute with some stain!

 

So I took it home and bought the stain and supplies. Needless to say, this cabinet got the best of me in the staining phase! It was the worst thing EVER! When I was done, I had it all over my arms and legs and face and hair :( I was not a happy camper! After a little distressing and another stain on the edges, the final product was finished! It didn't turn out near what I expected or wanted, but for all the work I did, I wasn't about ready to just get rid of it. After a little rearranging of our living room and dressing it up with some decor, I have learned to love it :) Here is the finished product complete with some fall decor :) It works!

 

 

Project #2

We have a small nook in between our kitchen and living room. When we moved in, I aspired to have a long entryway table and to decorate all above it. We looked and looked for a decent table that was somewhat resonable in price and just couldn't find one that we were crazy about! I was getting impatient beings that that wall was bare and constantly staring at us. I was in ShopKo one day and despite hating that store, I found the best steal!! I went in looking for a bike tire and when I didn't find what I was looking for, I started leaving the store. On my way out, I noticed that they were clearancing out a BUNCH of furniture!!....and LOW AND BEHOLD our entry way table for a steal of $50 :) I was estatic!! Jordan was such a sweetie and put it together for me that night and I spent the next few days putting the wall together. Here is the completed "nook!!"

 

I am in the middle of a wall in our bedroom and the main wall in our kitchen. Those will take some time, but I will post pics when completed. There is just something about personalizing your own space that makes you feel so accomplished! I love it!

 

Good News of this week is....... I had a job interview FINALLY!!! It is super hard to find work out here that isn't fast food or retail, but thankfully I can be super picky to find something that I really want due to Jordan having such a good job to support us :) When we first moved to Lewiston, we went into Wells Fargo to combine all of our accounts. The Store Manager helped us and said they would have a teller position coming open soon and that I should apply. I applied and haven't heard for a long time in between running into him at the branch and at our ward. Coincidence? I think not! The position was finally posted and I had a phone interview with a recruiter on Thursday who passed me along to the formal interview at the branch! I was so happy! Everytime I go into the branch, all the tellers say "when you startin work here?" lol Nice to know they are rooting for me :) Haven't heard on the formal interview date, but I am being patient :)

 

I am going through serious photography withdrawals, especially after getting a job interview! I have always wanted to have a photography business doing what I love and someday that WILL be the case. Right now I take one day at a time, and be grateful for all that I have :) It has been super hard going from a huge group of clients in Twin Falls to none here in the Lewiston Valley! It makes it hard to even keep up as a hobby without sessions to shoot and edit :( I miss photography and hopefully I can get some sessions soon to cure this little girl's woes..... In the meantime, a girl can dream right?

 

Jordan's job is going pretty good as he is getting used to his new territory here in Lewiston. He has got some serious recognition lately from his district boss for his sales, installs, new customers, and territory coverage! Way to go babe :) The customers out here love him and are really happy to have him as their rep! That makes the transition ALOT easier and his hours not so off the wall. That makes for a happy wife :) :)

 

For Labor Day, we had sooo much fun here in Lewiston! Our ward had a big activity at a local park and we played softball and stuffed our face :) We met several young couples that we had fun visiting with and overall had a great day! After the activity, we went over to one of the couple's houses and played games with 3 other couples. We had a blast playing a game similar to charades :) All in all, it was a good day off and we made some friends while we were at it! Yay for us!

 

Well its official.... WE ARE GOING HOME TO TWIN FALLS FOR CHRISTMAS!!! I am so excited for our first Christmas together as a married couple and be able to spend it with both sets of families! We were debating whether to fly or drive and after much debate, we will be driving. It will be tough, but all in all it will be better to haul presents to and from and our mounds of luggage :) Yay for Christmas!

 

Until then, we are enjoying nightly sunsets like this one and everday joys & blessings :) :)

Date night & a FUN weekend

This past week brought some blog worthy events! It has been another busy week, but we were able to have some fun!

 

Jordan was servicing the University of Idaho campus in Moscow for work on Thursday and come to find out, it was opening game night for football! Jordan got talking to the head of concessions while he was doing his inspection, and Jordan started asking him about how much tickets were. The guy ended up offering him 2 free tickets to the game that night! Jordan surprised me with "date night" and didn't tell me where we were going :) We ended up eating at my favorite chinese restaurant, shopping at the mall, and then topped the night off with the Vandals game! I had never been to a college football game so it was very fun! We ended up losing, but it was all about the experience :) We were only a few rows from front row so the seats were awesome.

 

Here is the view!!! :) :)

 

In the stands :) Always fun to dress up cute and have "date night!!"

 

So.....after moving to Lewiston, I kind of went into shock due to not having hardly any stores. Well I had forgot that I would now need to find a new hairdresser too! While living in Twin Falls, I would always drive to Idaho Falls and have my super amazing cousin, Tenille, do my hair and color it. She always did a great job and so I have been spoiled for several years :) I really needed my highlights touched up at the roots... like BAD. It came down that I hadn't straightened my hair for weeks because it looked so bad. So I found a salon that looked credible in Clarkston and decided to wing it. It is hard to find people that understand how to cut and color SUPER curly hair! I was really scared how it would turn out beings that the girl that I ended up with acted like she was fresh out of beauty school! I was texting Jordan the whole time freaking out that it was gonna be bad. Out of some miracle is came out great and I just needed to relax even though I was out of my comfort zone.

 

I was seriously scared and took a pic while waiting for the finished product. Enough foil ya think?? I always laugh when they mix the product, get halfway through, and then run out and say ,"Dang you got alot of hair!" I chuckle silently and smile :) :)

 

The finished product!!! Not too shabby huh?!

 

Once every 5 weekends, Jordan is on call for the entire district. During the week, everyone is responsible for their own territory and then everyone in the district rotates covering weekends so everyone can have time off. This last weekend, it was Jordan's turn to be on call. This included covering the entire district and the majority of the calls are usually in the Spokane/Cour d'Alene area. Good thing those areas are only about 20 min apart! We decided to go up and spend the weekend up there since he would have to head up there anyway for emergency calls. We got to eat yummy food at Olive Garden and Red Robin, our FAVORITES! In between his work calls, we shopped at the huge malls and got to see all kinds of places :) Good weekend well spent!

 

 

 Me, being a supportive wife, waiting in the car for him to do his quick fix :)

 

I had been wanting a really cute Fossil watch for a while, but was holding out for the perfect purchase or maybe one for Christmas. We went into Kohl's and saw this one :) It was almost everything I had picked out, minus a few minor details. Looked at the pricetag. IT WAS 80% OFF!! You can't beat $15 for a ceramic Relic watch! So Jordan was a sweetie and bought it for me just cuz :) I love it!!!

 

After an exciting week, we are enjoying just relaxing tonight :) Tomorrow is Labor Day and we plan to have some fun playing baseball and having a picnic with some friends! Should be tons of fun! Then its back to work for Jordan and back to my many projects :) Between applying for the few jobs I can find, and decorating blank walls in our house, I'm keeping busy! We are so blessed <3

Living in Lewiston & 1 amazing recipe :) :)

 Hi!!! Long time no talk yes I know! We are still alive in this little town Lewiston and somewhat getting adjusted :)

 

At first glance at moving here, I wanted to cry with our lack of stores, specifically Target or any type of craft store. I admit I have gone through my fair share of withdrawals because of this and it isn't enjoyable! BUT!... the GOOD NEWS is that yesterday, I snuck away to Spokane for the day with a friend to go to Hobby Lobby!! I was in heaven for a few hours and that was a good fix.... for a few days :) ha ha :) Being new in town and not knowing anyone, it was so great to get away with Courtney and have some real "girl" time. I knew Courtney and her husband from Twin Falls where we all worked at Walmart together, and now they live about 25 min away from us in Moscow :) We can't get together as often as we would like, but its nice to keep in touch! It's hard to find good friends that are genuine :) I seem to have bad luck with ending up with "part time" friends and I promised myself that I will no longer put up with that. Thanks Courtney for a day getaway!

 

As far as the settling in process goes, we are FULLY unpacked and getting decorated a little! We are slowly aquiring furniture and switching out old stuff and all I have to say is WHAT A PROCESS! Speaking of process also, I am OFFICIALLY a Martitz! Everything has finally been changed over and man I wouldn't do that again if someone paid me to!

 

On the newlywed list of "firsts", we are having our first Garage Sale this weekend! Between wedding duplicates and swapping out old stuff, we have lots to get rid of :) Excited to see it all go so we can get new things for our house! We are loving our house and most of all, we love the view from our backyard! Every night there is a gorgeous sunset that is right outside our porch :) The pic below was from last night :) :)

 

Jordan's job has been busy busy these past few weeks with his new territory and I couldn't be more grateful for his hard work and dedication! Last week he pushed through several 12 hour days and I didn't see alot of him, but come Friday night, I was so happy to get some cuddling and relaxing in <3 This territory has been great so far as far as emergency calls go! In Montana he would get several emergency calls daily that consumed alot of his schedule. Here in Lewiston, his customers are alot more independent and only call him if there is an extreme emergency which means more smooth work days and more time with me :) :) I've never been more happy with life and being married :) It is the little things that mean so much! Making homecooked meals, having a clean house for him to come home to, and feeling accomplished as a good wife :) Can't wait to see what else comes our way!

 

So as you all know, we live in a senior community and LOVE the quietness of our culdesac :) Recently, our neighbor on the right side was put in a care home and we have been without a neighbor for a couple weeks! Today we saw moving trucks and come to find out, a sweet older lady moved in next door! I was so excited to introduce ourselves, so I decided to bake some sweet treats to take over there :) Pinterest came to the rescue and I found a recipe for Brown Butter Banana Bars. I ended up making them tonight, and needless to say, THEY ARE AMAZINGLY GOOD & EASY!!!! I was so impressed that I have to share the recipe with all of you!! I promise these will melt in your mouth and make your taste buds throw a party :) Eat your heart out!! P.S. From experience, this recipe is even EASIER if you whip it up in your kitchenaid!

 

Brown Butter Banana Bars

 



 

Ingredients:

 

Banana Bread Bars:

1-1/2 c. sugar

1 c. sour cream

1/2 c. butter, softened

2 eggs

1-3/4 (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

 

 

Brown Butter Frosting:

1/2 c. butter

4 c. powdered sugar

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 tbsp. milk

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375F. Grease and flour 15x10-inch jelly roll pan(aka a regular cookie sheet with sides). For the bars, in a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, salt, and blend for 1 minute.

2. Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Meanwhile, for frosting, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat immediately.

 

4. Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Whisk together until smooth (it should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting). Using a spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm bars (the frosting will be easier to spread while the bars are still warm).

 

Well there you have it! Now run to the nearest grocery store and get what you need for these yummy squares of goodness! They will knock your socks off!!

 

<3 Good night!

{{Pinterest}} Projects

So.... most all of you know that I have a craft/scrapbook addiction :) It comes in handy to make cute personalized stuff for our house and make it "homey!"

Pinterest is pretty much an addiction ALSO! I seriously don't know what I did BEFORE pinterest was discovered! I love all the crafty, creative, out-of-the-box ideas that it has! I had a crafting itch the past few days and ended up completing 2 awesome pinterest projects :) Happy looking!

Project #1: Recipe Binder

I got sick and tired of all my recipes all over and the printed ones that didn't fit in my recipe box! So when I saw this idea on pinterest, I knew I had to make it and it would solve all my problems! I personalized the binder cover and tab cover pages in photoshop and bought tabs to put on the sides! I love that I could personalize it for my specific categories and the page protectors will protect them from food splatters while cooking :)

Project #2: "I love you because...." Dry Erase Frame

I have looked at this idea for sooooo long on pinterest and today, I broke down and made it! With a cute 8x10 frame, photoshop, and a dry erase marker this is now in our bathroom :) I love the fact that you can write on the glass with a dry erase marker and change it whenever you want to! Its all about the little things!

{P.S. the printable image is below if you would like to use it for yourself and make one too! Click on the image so it will enlarge, save it to your hardrive, and PRINT! Make sure to print a size that is a little smaller than your frame opening, otherwise the outer edge will be cut off by the frame :) My frame is an 8x10 and I printed the image size to be a 7X9 to make sure it would fit!}



Our home in Lewiston & recent happenings :)

I'm on blog overload right now! Trying to stay caught up while I can because I know that at one point, I will be too busy to stay caught up!

So unfortunately, I had to get glasses to wear one day a week :( I needed them anyway as a backup if I tear a contact or for driving, but when I went in for my exam renewal, the doc said that my contacts were wearing out my eyes and so I need to wear them one day a week. BOOO!!! Oh well... They don't look too bad, but they will definitely take some getting used to.

So I've had some people asking what our house looks like and to take some pics!... So once we got somewhat settled, I snapped a few pics and here is our home in Lewiston!

This is the view from our backyard. It overlooks Sunset Park. Jordan loves to pop down there and join in basketball games with the guys on the court.

 Our porch in the backyard :) It now has Jordan's BBQ on the porch and as of this morning, a patio set to eat outside!

 Kitchen Corner; Gotta have the music!!

 Kitchen! I love it so much! It was on our list to have a large kitchen with lots of storage and a pantry. We were lucky enough to find exactly that :)

 Pantry and Fridge

 Dining area with my lovely red painted kitchen that was quite the project!

 Living Room (Hopefully we will be getting updated couches soon)

 Guest bathroom across from the guest bedroom

 Office/Scrapbook Room

 Master Bathroom

 Our Bedroom

 Our Association :)

 Our House!!!!

 We live in Lewiston,ID and right across the Snake River is Clarkston,WA. That is where all our big stores are like Walmart and Costco. We visit washington regularly needless to say :)

Well there ya go! Our home sweet home :) We are still in the process of getting things on the walls,but are waiting to get some furniture upgrades so everything matches! Can't wait to get our house that "homey" feel :)

A weekend in Bear Lake

We got to sneak away this past weekend for a fun filled weekend in Bear Lake! The cool thing about it was that it was our first vacation as a married couple AND we got to spend it with BOTH of our families TOGETHER! It was way fun and the lake was beautiful!!! We got to eat our "Bear Lake Monster Burger" on Friday night and get raspberry shakes at Merlin's too! YUM!!!!

There was 12 of us total that stayed in the cabin in Bloomington :) Us, Jordan's mom and sister, My parents and 2 brothers, and the Reynolds family. All of us had so much fun together playing in the lake and jetskiing and playing games :) It was such a blast and every year we are reminded why Bear Lake is our favoritest place EVER! Check out all the fun pics below! I had tons, but tried to narrow it down to only a few.........

The view of the beach

Kerin, Rita, and My mom headed out to tube

The usual of Justin being buried in the sand :)

Mom and Dad

The Reynolds Family

The guys

Jordan, my mom, and Jordan's mom takin a spin on the jet skiis

The whole family! We've changed a bit ;)

Reynold's little boy Paxton.... I was all over takin pics of him! What a stinkin cutie!

Yeah we're sisters now... its ok to be jealous of us hotties lol

Love this pic :) Thank you pinterest!

Us :) Sooo happy :)

Jordan's mom Rita and sister Kerin

Yes Justin loves the mud and playin in the sand!

Everyone was skipping rocks in the lake, so Paxton decided he didn't want to miss out, yet this is the rock he picked up to go skip :) I couldn't resist the excitement on his face though!

 Driving back to Lewiston on Sunday evening, we drove through Grangeville and looked back, and the sun was blood orange and illuminated the whole valley! Jordan was sweet enough to stop at a turnout so I could snap a pic! It was such a sight to see :)

We had so much fun together at Bear Lake and its a bummer to have to come home and get back in to reality! For me that means job hunting and unpacking, and for Jordan its back to work in the new EcoLab Territory. We are adjusting slowly, but surely and are excited for fall coming up!!! Much love to everyone and keep in touch!