red truck, blue truck, old truck, new truck

thats right, i said NEW TRUCK! my sweet husband has been so patient, he's needed a new truck for a while now and has tried to just "fix everything" with the red one, rather than make a major purchase... but the time has come, and i'm so happy for him to finally get a brand new truck!

this has been a huge deal, because well...

we are Ford people

and husband bought a "not ford" - Chevy

whatever.

he loves it & it was a good deal.

bye bye big red :(

i've been freakishly emotional about the red truck being gone, and i have no idea why. i didnt think i'd care so much, but there are so many memories. he had that truck for 8 years... its just so different. i'm sure i'll get over it soon, once i'm used to seeing the new one. he more than deserves it!

the salesman even took a picture for me,

what a great guy.

understanding that i need to document this for the blog, and fb. haha!

(excuse the fact that i'm way overdressed for car shopping, i'd been at our junior league provisional retreat all morning/afternoon)

anyway, woohoo!

ALS-- i'm so thrilled you got yourself something new,

you work so hard and you always put me first,

 thanks for being so patient,

and i'm so happy you're happy!

-- love you --

-AND-

happy birthday to G

y'all jump over and wish my dear sweet cousin a happy birthday,

i think she's wonderful :)

happy monday!

i LOVE this website

i'm sure many of you may already visit Houzz quite often, but if you don't .... oh my goodness, you must go check it out asap! i LOVE getting ideas, and just browsing decorating styles that arent necessarily my taste, but i still enjoy looking at. here are some that i might never do, but i think are beautiful:

anyway, i know there is something for everyone at houzz.com,

so go get some ideas friends!!!

Happy Friday!

bagels arent just for breakfast

so, its summer... and thick heavy meals are just not what i'm interested in for now.... but i got awfully tired of eating sandwiches. i mean, its the same thing every day.... wheat bread, miracle whip, dijon mustard, turkey, swiss cheese, pickle, chips. delicious, but.... i NEED a change.
 and then, it came to me.....

throw it on a bagel :)

oh happy day!

and

to really spice things up, i switched to provolone cheese

and added genoa salami and pepperoni too!

even husband is thrilled with my new sandwich idea

and i'm totally not gonna lie, after i took this picture i gave myself another pickle. i thought two pickles made me look like a porker, but i always eat two. dont hate.

hope the bagel saves someone else

from sandwich monotony too!

happy tuesday!

take me out to the ballgame

last tuesday night Coach Tuberville (we are Texas Tech people) was throwing the first pitch at the Ranger's game. so, of course, drew HAD to get tickets!

we ended up getting stuck in traffic and missed the first pitch, which was a bummer... but the game was great. i much prefer baseball in person rather than on tv.

it was either cut off drew's head, or

the top of my dress...

obviously i wouldnt go naked to a baseball game,

but still....

it was a cute dress,

i should have gotten a better pic of us, sorry friends.

and

for those who care

i took a picture of the game

i even learned a few of the players names,

but honestly i really like

Frisco Roughriders games much better

(way less traffic)

it was a fun date night!

and the Rangers won--always a +

did you know?

so, after making my lemonade pie, i realized that i have some pretty insane information sitting in my freezer, just waiting to be shared with everyone....

L-R: paintbrushes, turkey, almond ice cream

what???!!!???

{paintbrushes}

i know, right!

so, here's the scoop (hahaa, scoop, get it...

ice cream.... lame. dont hate)

i bought this gallon of black oil based, high gloss paint

and needless to say, its been well used

i've painted our kitchen cabinets

before

and after

and the guest bathroom cabinets

after

and our master bathroom cabinets

(pretty much same before pic as other cabinets)

and the stair banister

after

and my desk

after

and my grandmother's antique chest of drawers

and a few other things here and there,

so,

what you should know

is that instead of washing out

brushes between each use,

you can pop them in the freezer!?!

hello, life made easier!

then, when you're ready to paint again, just take them out, give them a couple minutes to thaw out, and you're ready to go!!! its much less complicated than having to wash brushes out with paint thinner (for oil based paint) after every single use. obviously, if you want to change colors, you'd have to buy a new brush or wash one... but if you plan to paint lots of things one color

(like touching up woodwork, or molding)

... you're in business.

so, after you finish your next project,

wrap that brush up in foil, and pop it

right into the freezer!

happy sunday!

a delicious oops!

our sweet Aunt B broke her leg a couple weeks ago,

so drew and i have been taking dinner over

every week to help out.

i was running around getting groceries to take

for this week's meal (tacos!!!)

and i thought to myself,

"self, what is a deliciously-yummy-summer-y

-fresh dessert that would be delightful to take?"

then, i passed the cake/sweets isle...

and there they were

{graham cracker crusts}

 lemonade pie!!!

its so perfect for summer anytime!

so, even though everyone

and their cousin's brother's friend

knows how to make lemonade pie,

i've decided to blog about it anyways, it was my first. 

don't worry, the oops is coming!

1. ingredients: graham cracker crusts, cream cheese,

whipped topping, and pink lemonade

(one can makes 2 pies,

 you can substitute limeade too)

2. use pink mixing bowls to combine ingredients

3. okay, i guess the mixing bowls don't have to be pink

but i promise, it will taste better if you

use the color you LOVE

4. a pink spatula never hurt, either

add 1/2 can of pink lemonade

5. mix, preferably with pink kitchen-aid mixer,

or color of choice

(yes, those are pink straws in the background,

i prefer to drink from a pink straw when possible)

6. is my obsession with PINK getting scary?!?

pour into pie crust

7. lookie there, even the pie is a pinkish color

put that dainty little piece of heaven

right into the freezer to "set up"

8. get an e-mail from you mom telling you the recipe,

after you've already made 2 pies

1 small can frozen lemonade

1 tub cool whip

1 can eagle brand milk

1 tsp lemon juice

OOOOPS!

i totally used cream cheese

instead of eagle brand milk

ugh-oh.

i told drew what i'd done and he said

"oh that's why it was so rich,

but it was awesome, i liked the tiny bits of cream cheese"

me: "that's because i didn't mix it long enough"

drew: "oh, well it was my favorite part"

well, good to know it works either way

what recipe do you use???

Happy Thursday!

tour de laundry room

relatively soon after we moved into this house, i painted the laundry room a pretty light (but bright) turquoise blue, before and after's below

much better, don't you think?

but....

still not quite right.

so, in my thrift-ing endeavors i began collecting these

antique jello molds!

i have no idea why i was so fascinated with them,

but i think they're great

so, here they are friends, my jello mold room!!!

(above)walking into the laundry room,

(below) then the left wall

(i've got a thing for pigs.... don't ask)

(below) the right wall

i just need one more to finish it

and the back wall (below)

and back around to the left wall

i love the look of the metallic tins on the bright wall,

i totally believe in making rooms fun

 if at all possible!!!

i even caved, originally i refused to

 purchase any jello mold

that was a creature of the sea (lobster, fish, etc....)

but then i saw this guy

and i don't know why, but he was cute...

so, now i have 2 fish and a lobster.

chalk it up to being allowed to change your mind,

 i guess

this is my favorite, its a bit pinkish

and a ring of roses... i just think its dainty and frilly

i think they're great,

and i'm having so much fun finding them!!!

happy wednesday

 (which also happens to be

laundry day at the swoff-house)