2015

2015.... Well, it was a crazy year. I took a break from blogging, mainly because I just didn't have the time or the technology to do really anything. The computer died, my phone died, the iPad died.... It was like the world was telling me to give it a rest for a while. So I did. Instead, I focused on my pregnancy and staying fit and healthy. Oh and creating a super cute nursery for our little man!    Speaking of pregnancy, I am thankful to say I had a great experience. I never had morning sickness and I was able to Crossfit up until two weeks before my due date. I probably could have kept going, but it was the middle of Summer and way too hot for me to do anything more than lay around and eat ice cream. Which I did on a regular basis at that point. No judging.   We did a number of projects around the house in preparation for our baby boy to arrive, specifically the nursery. We also swapped out some glass furniture for softer items, rearranged the front room to hide some of his toys, finished the guest bedroom since we knew Gramma and Grandad would be coming down more often to visit, redid the laundry room... the list goes on. We did so much before he was born because we knew as soon as he was here, all bets were off! I'm hopeful to get some pictures up soon to show you all the progress we have made on the house.   Then we had our little guy, Deacon Alexander, on July 8th, FIVE days past my due date. Yea, that was fun. I envy those women who go just a little early, or who wind up at the hospital on their due date because man was I a mess! Every passing day I said, this is it, this is the day. And sure enough, it wasn't. Talk about frustrating.    I am happy to say that even though D was late to the party, he came out with all ten fingers and toes. A happy, healthy little boy! If I am ever feeling up to it, I would like to share his birth story and about my triumphs and struggles in those first months, but this my friends, it not the time or place.   Since he was born, a lot has changed and a lot hasn't at the same time. The first few months were a total blur, but after a while we got the hang of things and started to get our lives back to 'normal' or as close to it as possible. We've had our fair share of ups and downs, but through it all we had each other. I know, super cheesy, but it's true. My hat goes off to all the single parents out there because if I didn't have my husband, I would be lost.    So here I am now, a mother. A mother.   It's crazy and amazing at the same time. Adding 'mother' to my list of trades - Wife. Home owner. Crossfitter. Total nerd. Wanna be foodie. Puppy parent. Scientist. Self proclaimed interior designer. And now, Mother.    An eclectic assortment of titles, but all me 😊   Well, that's a really short run-down of everything that has been going on since 2015. I'm back to work, back at Crossfit, back to cooking (albeit less frequently now) and still trying to make this house a home. And Pepper, well she just loves her baby brother. Sometimes a little too much, but she is still at the center of our home. She just turned three this week! Three!! Man, where has the time gone? Something tells me that time will be going by faster and faster as Deacon grows and learns new things too.    Crazy. Busy. Life.  JP 

It's been a while...

I can't believe it has been over a year since I posted on this site! So much has happened in that year but I am thankful that I took some time off. I just felt like I was forcing myself to post and wasn't really enjoying it anymore. That in combination with having a computer that wasn't working and a camera that was holding my photos hostage, I just felt kind of womp womp.

I'm not going to promise that I will post all the time, or that am I going to have amazing photos to document everything, but I will try to post more often as I have found myself missing this outlet. And yes, there will be spelling mistakes #sorrynotsorry.

With that being said, soon after posting last year in October, H and I found out we were pregnant! The whole pregnancy, working out (yes I still did Crossfit while pregnant), eating right, managing a home, working full time, and prepping for baby got me a little overwhelmed and blogging became a thing of the past. 

So much has happened in the past year, especially with the house! We finally finished the gallery wall, created a beautiful nursery for our baby boy and added some new touches to our living room - including an awesome IKEA hack! 

Anyway, over the next few month (if I can find the time) I'm hoping to do some posts with updates of everything that has been going on in my life as a new mom. It's a whole new world for me and juggling everything has definitely gotten harder but also more fun at the same time!

Here's to new beginnings and (hopefully) new blog posts too!

Cheers!

JP

Cannoli Spider Ball - A Halloween Favorite!

So this was one of the crowd favorites from last year's Halloween Party. I mean really, who doesn't love cannoli dip? This is a super easy dessert that anyone can make, very few ingredients, and tastes delish. That's my kind of dessert.

Ingredients:

- 1 8oz. brick of cream cheese, room temp.

- 1 stick of unsalted butter, room temp.

- 3/4 cup powdered sugar

- 2 tbs brown sugar

- 1/2 tsp vanilla

- A handful of mini chocolate chips

- 1/2 bag of Oreos, crushed - plus two whole cookies for the eyes

- 2 hershey kisses

- 1 box of cannoli chips (or) sweet pita chips

- 8 black pipe cleaners

Directions:

- Cream together the cream cheese and butter

- Add in both sugars and vanilla, mix until well blended

- Fold in the mini chocolate chips

- Place cream cheese mixture in the freezer for an hour

- Once frozen, shape into a 1/2 sphere onto a plate

- Top ball with the crushed Oreos

- Open the two Oreos making sure that the white cream part is still attached to one side

- Use this side of both Oreos as eyes - just push the cookies slightly into the ball, they should stick on their own, or you could save a bit of the cream cheese mixture and use that as glue to stick them on

- Cut the pointed tops off of two Hershey Kisses with a knife (be careful, this is the only tough part - I cut my finger pretty bad last year which wasn't fun) and push them into the whites of the Oreo eyes

- Bend the pipe cleaners 3/4 of the way up, cut them if need be to fit on the plate you are using

- Add the 8 pipe cleaners to the cheese ball, 4 on each side 

- Then just surround the ball with your chips and you are done!

Easy right?!

Here's what is looked like before I added the chips, just so you can see the size. 

Happy Halloween Everyone!

JP

Year Two in Review

Two years in the house! I'd say this is a landmark for H and I. We have never lived in the same place for more than a year, maybe year and a half TOPS! And that is dating all the way back to Freshman year of College. Each of us has moved at least once a year since then, if not twice a year. I can honestly say it feels so good to finally set down some roots.

This time last year I made a list of all the things H and I completed in the house so I thought it would be a good idea to continue the tradition. It's great to look back on everything we have accomplished and check some things off our Whole House List. I update that list at the very beginning of the year and post about the things I would like to accomplish next. Now, some of the things on this list I didn't get a chance to post about here on the Blog, but that is only because the photos are being held captive on my Nikon and with the computer working on a day by day basis, it has been a challenge. One day, they will get here, I promise.

This year we have ...

1 - Finished painting the Kitchen
2 - Painted the Family Room
3 - Put up crown molding in the Family Room to hide the speaker wires, check that out here
4 - Updated the Breakfast Nook with new chairs and rug, see it here - we also got a new light fixture not shown in this post
5 - Installed an electric fence for Pepper - money well spent if I do say so myself
6 - Installed shelving/decor to the Butler's Pantry area, check it out here

7 - Purchased a large sectional for the Family Room, posted here but later had lots of added drama
8 - Painted and decorated the front room, see it here
9 - Selected a paint color for the foyer and powder room, check those out here
10 - And had the painter in to paint these spaces
11 - Painted the guest bathroom and added a new shower curtain/towels
12 - Decorated the powder room - photos coming soon
13 - Hired a professional to design and install a huge patio for our backyard - I have before and after pictures just waiting to share
14 - Purchased and installed frames for a gallery wall in the upstairs hallway, see it here - though the frames aren't totally filled yet
15 - Started to decorate the entry way with new rugs/tables/a bench - photos coming soon
16 - Added seating to our front patio, check it out here
17 - Installed curtains and hardware for the bay window in the breakfast nook - though I still need to hem them

Then just this past weekend we...

18 - Planted some mature boxwoods up front to hide the lattice of our porch as well as two arborvitae to add some landscaping to the patio - post coming soon
19 - Purchased a new light fixture for the dining room, it's still in the box but it will be up by the end of the week

It is amazing to see what we have done in just this last year. That, combined with the first year in our home shows that this house is starting to come together. I can definitely say that it is feeling a lot like our home now and not just some house we live in. It's a great feeling! Now I just need to find the time to update my Home Tour Page to reflect all those great changes!

Sorry again that I haven't been able to post about all the changes we have done this year. A lot has happened in our lives that have kept us busy and the technology meltdowns we've had haven't helped. Hopefully I can get some of those photos off the camera one project at a time and post as I go. I have so much to share, I just hope that the computer holds out long enough to get the job done.

Until next time,
JP

A Spook-tacular Halloween!

It's hard to believe that Halloween is only a week and a half away! Where did the time go? For those of you on Pinterest, I am sure that your feed is blowing up with different Halloween-themed treats and different decor ideas. Well, I realized the other day that I never posted pictures from our Halloween party last year so I figured I would post about it now before Halloween so hopefully it will inspire those of you trying to throw your own Spook-tacular Bash and give you a few more ideas that might not be on Pinterest. Or at least not yet : )

Last year H and I threw a big party for our friends and co-workers to celebrate and yes, everyone came in costume! H was Dexter and I was one of his victims wrapped in plastic. We also wrapped the entire garage in plastic to act as a kill room - very Dexter like - and this space doubled as a beer pong area for the party. For those who have never seen Dexter, sorry you are seriously missing out. I think it might be on Netflix so I would recommend checking it out. But, for those who have seen the show,.. great costume idea right?!

Anyway, here is what we made and what a few people brought to the party:

1 - Monster Fingers - I am a HUGE fan of chocolate covered pretzels; there is just something about that salty/sweet combo that gets me every time! Thank's Kim for bringing those!

2 - A Mouse Infested Cheese Plate - brie, cranberry goat cheese, garlic herb, cheddar, and H's favorite pepper jack, all complete with some pepperoni, olives, and dried fruit - yum!

3 - Mummy Cake Pops - A huge crowd pleaser! Though I cannot take credit for these, a co-worker and friend of mine makes pops for every occasion and these were perfect.

4 - Homemade Pizza Jack O'Lantern and Eye Ball - Yea, these were creepy looking, but oh so delicious. Get the dough recipe here!

5 - Mini Mummy Dogs - can't go wrong with pigs-in-a-blanket, or as we call it in my family - Piggin's.

6 - Buffalo Chicken Throw Up - Ugh, now this was seriously gross looking, but wow, was it tasty! My girlfriend from college makes this dip and after getting the recipe from her and botching it on New Years I tried it again and I think it turned out pretty good!

7 - Deviled Egg Eyeballs and Spiders - Another co-worker of mine brought these. They were all gone by the end of the night!

8 - Cannoli Dip Spider Ball - Now this was a crowd pleaser! I will post the recipe for this amazing dip at some point this week though I don't have any other pictures. It is soooo unhealthy, but oh so good! And even better as a creepy spider!

There you have it, everything you need to make one awesome Halloween party spread. There were a handful of other things that people brought and a few things I made, but over all, these were my favs. Hopefully these ideas have given you an idea of how to create a memorable Halloween Bash!

Happy Haunting!

JP