Little Things

It's Friday!  I thought I'd share these little images that caught my eye. I love the colors and fun texts.  I hope you have a great weekend.

Our Last Patio Pics

As I've been saying, we have been looking for a house to buy and I think we may have found one!  I'll let you know when we find out for sure.   We are so truly blessed to have been able to live here for the past few years.  We love this little farm house, but are looking forward to having our own place.  I wanted to spruce up our front porch one last time before we left.  I will miss sitting out there watching the rain or the sunrise...or the cows=)   It is truly beautiful in the country! The house we found does have a nice back yard and there is a big open field beyond it. We're so hoping it works out.  So glad it's all in God's hands.  Here are some pics of our porch and some other cute things I came across.

Paper Crane

I came across these pictures of paper cranes that I just loved.  They are so simple, yet super fun.  I hope you enjoy making as many paper cranes as you can possible stand!  I found these really nice step by step picture instructions. Have fun...

The Seamstress

Recently our elderly neighbor passed away.  I am so sad that I was never able to get to know her.  We went to a yard sale at her home and all her family was there. There were several other elderly women full of life and jokes.  They were such fun people.  I loved talking with them.  I know this might all sound shallow and weird, but I loved looking through this woman's home.  She was one talented gal.  She had a whole room full of old vintage fabrics, books, thread, everything a crafty gal would have.  She even had dress and shirt samples hanging up that she had made.  I'm sad she is gone and I wasn't able to learn from her.  She did have great taste and I hope she would be happy to know that her things are going to be put to good use.  Here are some finds from her craft room.

Cream Cheese Manicotti

I hope you all had a good weekend! We had a really great time with family this weekend.  We both have big families so there's always lots of activities taking place. I'm so thankful for our families.

Here is your recipe for the week...

Cream Cheese Manicotti:

It's super yummy. Very similar to lasagna, it just feels a little fancier=) Hope you enjoy...

You'll need:

Oven at 350 until cheese is melted/golden

1 lb. Hamburger meat
1-2 Fresh Cloves of Garlic
1 Jar Spaghetti sauce (your favorite kind)
Manicotti
Mozzarella cheese
Feta Cheese
Grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 block cream cheese
Cottage Cheese
2 eggs
Oregano
salt

I'll be honest, this is not a quick meal...at least for me! Lots of ingredients usually means lots of time... BUT... it is good and I think you'll be happy you made it.

Step 1: Oil pan on stove and add the garlic to pan. Sautee garlic and add meat and salt. Brown Meat.

 

Urban Windows

Justin and I had a great time in KC this past weekend.  We decided we needed to take a random fun trip.  We went to a freezing cold Royals game. It was buck night.  We bought four, yes four dollar hot dogs.  I felt so gross after.  I won't say who at how many...   We got to sleep in and then went shopping most of the day on Saturday at the Plaza.  I always said I would never be that girl who made her husband go shopping with her for that long.   Justin was so great and never complained and we had lots of fun.

He found this really neat store, Restoration Hardware, where he found some really neat furniture. Here's a pic of the desk he would love in his office someday.

April Showers

I've been wanting to get a fun new shower curtain to brighten up our bathroom for a while now.  I have a really hard time deciding on which one though.  I always do this.  Too many choices...or too expensive.  So I've decided to make one.  I putting it off until we buy our house though.  Until then, I'm loving these!

Paper Wreath

Hey all. I hope you're ready to get a little messy with this fun project.  Messy as in paper everywhere!   I was unpacking some boxes today at work and really liked the shredded paper they used to pack in.  I got this random idea to make a wreath from it for Easter.  Here's what you need:

Dainty Vintage Bowls

So my sister-in-law and I went out flea marketing the other day.  I had so much fun going with her.  She pointed out things that I would never have looked at.  I love going with people to see what grabs their eye!  She pointed out these darling little bowls that I couldn't resist. Thanks Emily!

Strawberry Soup

Happy Monday to you! I'm so excited to share this recipe with you today. It's not some secret family recipe...but I hadn't heard of it until a few weeks ago when my mom and sisters and I hit up a local tea bar. After trying it, I had to look up a recipe. It's kinda like a smoothie but you get to eat it in a cute bowl with a spoon. Way more fun! Hope you enjoy!

Strawberry Soup with Cinnamon Sugar Croutons:

Soup:
1 quart strawberries, halved
1 cup apple juice
1 cup pineapple juice
1 plain yogurt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
3 tablespoons orange juice

Rainy Weekends

It's Friday!  I hope you all had a good week.  They have been calling for storms this weekend.  I wish it was nice and sunny, but lets not let that ruin our fun. Here are some fun things you can do this weekend!

#1...Get in your comfy clothes.

Wood Floor Dream

Justin and I are still looking for our first home to buy.  We are having a hard time deciding on THE ONE.  I'm sure any of you who have gone through the first time home-buyer thing know what that's all about.  People say it's good to be picky...but I feel like we might be a little too picky.
Some people have suggested that writing lists of our top "wants" in a house might help.  I guess we've both done that...sorta.  For both of us, location is huge.  I have some wants that are purely that...wants.  But if we have the option of choosing our home, why not?

One of my tops on my list are WOOD FLOORS! I don't know why, but I have just always loved them. I think they just feel like a blank canvas for everything else in the room. Things just seem to pop on a wood floor.  Here are some fun wood floor pics to inspire.

Fab Chalk Bag

Hey Friends...

Here is a fun, QUICK, project for you! Seriously...this took me fifteen minutes from start to finish. I know lots of you probably have a chalk board at home. I thought we all needed a cute bag to store our chalk in since it can get pretty messy. Follow these easy steps to make your own!

Milk Glass Mugs

I wanted to share these cute vintage mugs we found at DAV Thrift store. I love how simple they are. They have such a pretty little silhouette. We have used them for smoothie glasses several times...they hold just the right amount.

Tomato Mozzarella Salad

It's monday once again.  I'm looking forward to this weekend already because my husband and I are going on a mini trip to KC.  We are planning on seeing a Royals game if it's not too stormy.  Then we're gonna hit up the Plaza.  Looking forward to Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie!  Until then...

Here is your Recipe of the day...

I love this salad.  It's super easy, and super tasty.  It is a great spring salad, light and delish.  Justin and I had this last week as an appetizer and it was so perfect.  Not too much.  ( I know it's nothing new...just a reminder that you should make one!)

Tomato Mozzarella Salad with Basil:

Family Love

It's Friday!  I hope you all had a good week.  It's been so gorgeous outside, hopefully we can all do something outside this weekend. I went to Justin's first softball game of the season tonight...it always makes me excited for summer being there.  Soon...

So I edited a few of the pictures that Justin and I took of my brother and sister in law.  We had so much fun hanging out with them on Saturday. Thanks you guys for being such awesome friends!

Pillow Fest

So like I've told you before, I have had the honor of working with Sharon Taylor of Sharon Taylor Designs.   She recently opened her own shop (Pickwick House) on a cute little street near downtown Springfield.  I've been making lots of things for her shop.  I've never made so many pillows in my life!  I'm loving it though, and learning lots.  Check out her shop...there's lots of great stuff!  I am so inspired by her style.

Here are some pics of some of the pillows I've made so far.

Paper Lantern Lights

I saw this really fun springy project that I want to try soon. It looks simple enough. I found it on oncewed.com.  They were created by Anna Bond.  Here are a few pictures. Go to their site to see all the details.
 

1964 Betty Crocker Parties

So Justin has become really interested in books lately.  He discovered some really amazing old books over at his Meme and Papas house last week.  The books have always been sitting on the wall to wall shelves in the living room, but I guess we were just never that interested.  So... we found lots of really neat books, some dating back over one hundred years.

I loved this 1964 Edition of Betty Crocker's PARTIES FOR CHILDREN book I found.  Meme let me borrow it to share with you.  Check out how cute the artwork is!  The party ideas are so fun and simple too.

Orange Orzo Pasta

Hello all and happy Monday to you!  I hope you enjoyed your weekend.  The weather was beautiful!  Justin and I got to take Derek, Becky and Nolan's family pics Sat. and we had lots of fun.  I will try and have some pics up by Friday for you to look at.  They are a gorgeous family.  We love them lots.

Well...here is your first recipe of many for your LonieMae Cookbook.  I was watching Rachel Ray the other day and wanted to try this Orzo Pasta she made.  Hers was a little different than what I have here.  I had never used Orzo before, but I really love it.  I quickly learned that you can use it in many different ways.  It is a great cold summer pasta.  I kinda went crazy with ingredients!

Here are a few pics of how it turned out.

Family Photos

Hey all.  Hope you're enjoying this awesome weather!  We have been wanting to take My Brother and Sis-in-Law's Family photos for a while now.  Their son, my nephew, Nolan just turned one, and we decided it was about time.  So... weather permitting, we are gonna have fun with some family photos.  I was just looking at some ideas and wanted to share.  And I must say...Photography has come a long way!