Introducing our newest family member....

 Chloe! 

We have been talking about adding a pup to our family for awhile now and were planning on just looking this weekend. We went into Petsmart on Friday to look at prices for every different thing a dog could need. As we were leaving we saw a woman walking in with Chloe and heard her say something about her being returned. We stopped in our tracks and turned right back around. We asked 1 million questions about her and fell in love in under 30 seconds. I have had many dogs in my life, but I have never been around one that is genuinely excited to see anyone who approaches her. She is easily the happiest dog I have ever been around. The people at Petsmart could not have been anymore helpful and were almost throwing things at us for sweet Chloe. They were so excited for her and that she wouldn't have to know that she was given up. She fits in with our little family perfectly. We can't wait for the days of hikes and more walks. Sweet Chloe can only last for about a mile right now, but she loves a good walk! 

Y'all will be seeing her around here more. We look forward to sharing our many adventures with our new sidekick with all of you! Happy Sunday!

Five on Friday

Darci, April, Christina, Natasha 

ONE- RAIN

I am sucker for a good rain storm. I love the thunder that rumbles, and I love the rain that washes away the pollen. The thunder reminds me of being a child and an adult always telling me it's the angels bowling in heaven. There is something so peaceful about rain, and I can't even begin to describe how excited I am to fall asleep to rain tonight. Perfect Friday night! Side note: When did that become my perfect Friday night, and when did I get old?

TWO- PROTECTION AND PEACE

Pat had a scary run in yesterday that left us freaked out/paranoid about our home for the rest of the day. I am so thankful we serve a God who gives us peace and comfort in a time of stress. I love that I know I can always pray to the Lord and he will calm my fears and anxiety. He not only calmed our fears but gave us the protection that we felt we so desperately needed. He always will be the one constant in our lives and will be there at all times. How wonderful is that?!

THREE- FUR BABIES

Doing her best Puss in Boots impersonation

I am not a cat person by any means, but I cannot deny how much joy our fur babies bring me. I love their little personalities and crazy antics that they each have. Fluff (pictured above) is the dramatic one. She's always starving (She does always have dry food out. She's not literally starving) and will flop down in the most dramatic ways possible to get your attention. Above was my view this morning as I was getting ready. Drama. Queen.

FOUR- NO PLANS

I love that our weekend consists of exactly zero plans. No planned dinners or anything! I'm looking forward to grilling out and just hanging out on our back porch. Annnnnnnnd maybe finishing the 4th book in the Game of Thrones series so I can start watching the next season right when it starts on April 6th.

FIVE- NEW JOB

This week was my first full week in my new position at work. I am loving it so far. I have more responsibilities and I get to move around more. My old job kept me tied to a desk, and I couldn't get up and walk around. I may be a little more tired this week, but it's a good kind of tired.

Happy Friday! I hope you all have an amazingly relaxing weekend.

DIY state of mind

How many of you ladies out there always seem to come up with another DIY project that will be just right for your husband to help out on right as he has started to believe you have no more in mind? Just me? Poor Pat ;)

Pat is finishing up school so I am the main bread winner of our family. He'll be finished in about 40ish days (I swear I'm not counting down) and then he'll be out in the real world. Prayers for a great job opportunity for him would be greatly appreciated!

One full-time income + one part-time income = not whole lot of money. 

B + Pottery Barn catalog + Anthropologie = a whole lot of money.

I think it's pretty safe to say that I have champagne taste on a beer salary. I'm always that person who walks into a store and goes "Ooooh, that's pretty!!" and it's the most expensive thing in the store. Every single time. It's a talent.

Learning this about myself has allowed us to get creative with making our house into a home on a small budget. We know to go check out the Rooms to Go Outlet early on Saturday, and I've learned to Pinterest/Google great furniture making websites. Y'all, I am about to give you a gift because the website I am about to share is one that has single handily given us the building plans for almost all of the furniture in the main room in our house. http://ana-white.com/ - bookmark, star, favorite, whatever that website. You will not regret it!

So far we have made two things, and Pat now has two more on his to-do list... I'll be breaking that news to him when he gets home from coaching tonight :)

What we've made:

I cannot brag on Pat and his building skills enough. Even our landlord has asked him to build him a TV stand. I also can't brag on how much of a money saver those two pieces of furniture are. A similar table at Pottery Barn costs almost $2,000. That just was not going to happen. Our table cost us just a little over $100. You can't beat that!

On our to-do list:

Source

This coffee table would match our console table. The only changes we would make would be taking the "X" accent and metal features off.

Source

We would make the same changes to the two end tables we will eventually make. The coffee table is a priority for me right now so two of those pretties will just have to wait.

DIY has been so great for both Pat and I. We get to build together, tell people we built the furniture in our house and save money! Those are all wins in my book.

Do you have any DIY projects lined up? I would love to hear about them!

#55- Go on a date to the Atlanta Food Truck Park

If you can't tell by now, I am one of those people who needs to write things down for them to get done. My 101 in 1001 list has been such an inspiration for me. There is just something about having things written out that really gives me a kick in the butt. I have been inspired to get things done that I have been saying I would do for years in some cases.

Today's post is not something that I have been wanting to do for years, but I knew that it was something that I would keep putting off unless I wrote it down to hold myself accountable. The Atlanta Food Truck Park is fairly new to the city. I have heard so many amazing things about the park that I just knew it would be a place that Pat and I would both like. I kept hearing about how amazing the weather was supposed to be this past Saturday, and I just knew we couldn't stay inside the whole day. It was the perfect day for us to head to the food truck park.

I think it's safe to say that like was an understatement, we both loved it! So much so that we are already planning our next trip there.

That picture is a very small snapshot of the actual setup. There are around 15 trucks in the park at a time and they are all so drastically different. While we were there the trucks were turning out Croatian food, French food, Italian ice, Vietnamese food, Jamaican food, Japanese food, Indian food, BBQ, a sandwich truck, every different combination of hot dog that you can imagine truck, and I know I am missing some. There was no way we could have gone to every truck so we only went to three trucks on this trip.

A few years ago Pat had the amazing opportunity to live out one of his life dreams and play professional soccer. He lived and played in Croatia for a couple of years. While he was there he fell in love with the local cuisine. When we walked into the park and saw the truck above, he almost started doing a happy dance right on the spot. He got to have one of the foods he always talks about, Cevapi-

Gone in about 10 seconds

I was not so adventurous, but I finally got to try a BBQ place that I have been hearing about for awhile now. I am pretty picky about my BBQ, and I have not been able to find a place in Atlanta that just knocks my socks off. Well that all changed when I tried Sweet Auburn BBQ on Saturday. I was fighting Pat off of my plate the whole time. I will definitely be making a visit to their physical location in the near future.

Lord knows there was no way I was going to leave the food truck park without hitting up the French truck. Crêpes are quintessential French, and I am never one to turn down crêpe made by a French person.  Homemade chocolate and whipped creme?! Be still my heart.

This is what happens when a boy takes your pictures...

In heaven.

I definitely think that this is a must see place in Atlanta. Atlanta is never really known for it's food community, but the city has such a large international community that there is always a new place to try. The park is a great place to try out so many different types of food in one go. Sadly, King of Pops wasn't there on Saturday so we didn't get to indulge in one of the favorite ATL hotspots.

I can't wait for our next visit!

What do you think of food trucks or food truck parks? Are they a place that you would love to visit and hangout for an afternoon?

#31- make an album of our wedding photos

Y'all. I know you heard me brag about Artifact Uprising in my post about our album of our honeymoon pictures. Well they not only knocked it out of the park again, they hit a freaking grand slam!! I swear they aren't paying me to write this or giving me free goodies. I really just love them this much.

I knew I wanted to print off our wedding pictures into an album, but I also knew that I didn't want to spend $400+ on a quality album. I researched the crap out of places to complete this little project of mine. I knew once I found Artifact Uprising that I would be crossing off #31 on my 101 in 1001 list.

Please ignore the poor quality of the pictures I am about to share. I am currently in the process of saving up for my camera, so my phone will have to do for now. :)

Here is a peek into our album-

Of course Pat and some of his besties reenacted Gangnam Style. Of course.

I can't wait to make other albums from big events/trips in our lives! I really hope y'all check them out if you need an album of some photos. You will not be disappointed!

What do y'all think?

Taking my closet back!

I have always struggled with having a nice and organized closet. As a kid my closet became the place where I would stuff every thing to show my mom that I had "cleaned" my room. Thankfully, I have grown out of that phase.

I am a lover of old homes. I think they have so much charm and the little quirks that you would never be able to find in a newer home. I am a sucker for an old creaky hardwood floor. Oh, and glass door knobs. One of the things that will always come with an older home is smaller closets. We are currently renting an older home, and I knew I would have to get creative on  how to optimize the space I had in my closet.

I had registered for a shoe rack when we got married, but it ended up being way too big for the closets in our home. So after staring at an open closet door (it couldn't close with the shoe rack) for months, I finally went to Bed, Bath & Beyond last week and got myself a more compact shoe rack.

Here is a before picture-

My tiny little closet was a hot mess and needed some help ASAP.

After-

It is amazing to me how much a new shoe rack and hangers can make such a big difference in my little closet. I wanted to use every nook and cranny that I had available in my closet so I put my boots and scarves in the little corners. They were the perfect fit!

I really just feel so much better and lighter when I see my closet now. I love how easy it is to find everything, and I especially love that I now have all of my spring/summer clothes and shoes at the forefront!

Have you had to find different ways to maximize a small space? Please share if you have! Lord knows I need plenty more suggestions to get this house completely organized.

Five on Friday

I am linking up with the lovely ladies who bring us 5 on Friday every week :)

Darci, April, Christina, Natasha

ONE- SPRING IS HERE!!!!!!!!!

Spring time is easily my favorite time of year. The hydrangeas and magnolias are blooming. It's finally crawfish season. We get to grill out almost every night. The days are longer and I can run outside without freezing. It's time for the farmers market to be overflowing with fresh produce. It's time to start going to Braves games. Time to go on hikes and not freeze once you get to the top of the mountain. I think y'all get the picture... I LOVE SPRING!!!

TWO- Saturday lunch dates

I'm super excited that Pat and I will be breaking our normal routine and will be going on a Saturday lunch date. Stay tuned for a post on our exciting adventure next week. We'll be visiting something that looks like a bunch of these all next to each other-

Link

THREE- Big meals to celebrate the little things. Like Friday eve!!

FOUR- Fresh Pico de Gallo made by my hubs. 

Pat and I both love to cook, but he always manages to surprise me with the new things that he can do. The fresh pico de gallo he made was the perfect addition to our homemade fajitas!

FIVE- Receiving this in the mail-

I already have a post planned for our wedding album. Then I will be able to officially cross it off my 101 in 1001 list!

I hope you all have amazing weekends to relax and do all that fun stuff you just can't seem to find the energy for during the week! TGIF!!

#32- Make a book of our honeymoon pictures

As I mentioned yesterday, I love pictures. I feel like I am always taking a million pictures, but then I never do anything with them. 

I had been toying with the idea of making picture books for big events/trips for awhile now. I looked at so many different companies and websites, but I always felt that the books were just too cheesy. I didn't want extra designs on the pages and the plain layouts were so difficult to work with. Then I found Artifact Uprising, and I fell in love. I couldn't figure out why I loved their simple yet elegant design until a coworker said a few magical words- "That looks like something that would come from Anthropologie!" Duh! That is most definitely why I loved their simple yet elegant style. After I figured out why I loved them so much, I got to making our book and now get to cross #32 off of my 101 in 1001 list. Score!

While their design most definitely looked like something straight out of Anthro, their prices did not live up to Anthro's infamous high price tags. Hallelujah!
I can not recommend them enough. Their website is super easy to use, and the turn around on orders that are put in are super fast!

Here is a little peek into the book of our honeymoon pictures-

 That's just a little taste of our book. I love it more each time I look at it.

What do y'all like to do with the pictures you take? Do you have any other ideas on how to display them?

Canon, Nikon, Pentax ... Help!

As I mentioned on my 101 in 1001 list, I have really been coveting a nice camera for at least 5 years now. I think it really might be more like 7 years. All this time has allowed me to put some serious research into that huge purchase, but I am still insanely overwhelmed!

Pat has a hard time discussing this subject with me because he just doesn't understand the point of spending that kind of money on a camera. He's not a big picture person (which is the strangest thing in the world to me). Then there is me ... I love pictures. Love. Them. So much so that when I start planning a trip, party, dinner I always think out ahead of time what will look best in pictures. I guess you could say that's in my blood. My uncle has been a professional photographer since the 80s and was voted the best wedding photographer in Florida (when he still did weddings) for about 5 years. Also, to add to it being in my blood I am named after my photographer uncle. It was destiny!

I have always leaned more towards a Canon, but I wanted to research the different brands to learn more. I think I have just overwhelmed myself even more. I don't understand all of the technical terms and just get lost when I'm trying to learn more about the cameras.

What are your suggestions? Do you have a nice camera? What brand takes the best quality picture in your mind?

I don't want to spend $1000 on a camera right now. I would love to not go above $800, but I want a quality camera that will last for years to come.

HELP!!

Recipe: Bubble Bread

I told y'all last week that I was thinking about making this breakfast bread last week, and I couldn't get it out of my head after I started thinking about it. I used the excuse that we had people staying over to indulge myself and I am excited to say the Bubble Bread was a huge hit!

Bubble Bread*Make this recipe the night before you are going to eat it*
Ingredients

- Bag of frozen round rolls
- 1 package of butterscotch pudding (NOT instant)
- 3/4 cup of brown sugar
- 1 cup of chopped pecans

- 1 stick of melted butter

Bag of frozen rolls is not pictured

Step 1- Spray your bundt pan with a cooking spray and then place your rolls around the pan

Step 2- Mix together the pudding, brown sugar and pecans and sprinkle it over the rolls

Step 3- Pour the butter over the rolls and dry mix

Step 4- Let the Bubble Bread sit in a cold oven over night

Step 5- Take your bread out and heat your oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes.

Step 6- Enjoy!!