Beauty

I have a pencil sketch of the beautiful Marilyn Monroe in my closet. It is one of the best decorations in my house! What a perfect and normal body role model. 5'5'' and 120-140 pounds. Current size 8, yet thought of as one of the most beautiful women. Why are models now a size 2?

Our Secret Garden

Trevor has taken up gardening in the last year. When we bought our little yellow house, the yard was definitely a "fixer upper!" There was not a blade of Bermuda grass. It was entirely taken over by weeds and crab grass. There were 4 diseased rose bushes in need of lots of care. The one positive was the trees. We have a very established Bradford pear and 4 nice oaks. Our first summer was very busy with the wedding and honeymoon and Trevor's trip to England. He really started his new hobby this spring. He has spent countless hours on his hands and knees pulling crab grass, digging up unknown scrubby plants and bushes, and shopping at Home Depot. He is known by name in the garden department. I am so happy to report that the yard is almost completely crab grass free. We have the best and greenest yard on our street! We were even nominated for Plum Creek Yard of the Month! I have posted a few pictures from the past few months. I am amazed at the transformation and I can't wait to see it in another year! Trevor says the garden is a gift for me... Thank you Trevor from the bottom of my heart!


We have 4 new hibiscus plants. They literally grow like weeds. The flowers are gigantic and seem to bloom almost every day!

The rose on the left is a heritage rose from the Natural Gardener. The floating blooms are from our new Gardenia. They smell so amazing. They smell like my childhood! :)

Our Bradford Pear tree has grown so much over the past year. The picture on the left is of the special week in March when it blooms.

The 2 red rose bushes were at the house originally. When we moved in, they had black spot and were a tenth of the size they are now. The Yellow climbing bush is one of my favorites. It would not be good if you are afraid of bees.

These pictures are of the same rose bush at different times. The color changes throughout the season. It goes from almost all pink to yellow with pink tips to purely yellow.

We have one purple rose bush, one yellow and countless pink and red!

Heart Rolls

Dish: Heart shaped rolls
Website: Pinterest
Pajamas: pink boxers and a brown tshirt
Meal: Dinner
Eaters: Trevor and me

The idea on pinterest was with cinnamon rolls. I made a delicious casserole and needed a side dish. We love Pillsbury crescent rounds. I put them on the pan and realized they were spiral rolls just like cinnamon rolls. I unwrapped them and re-wrapped from both ends and they turned into precious hearts. They were shaped better before baking. Next time, I will make a sharp point at the bottom. The casserole was a success. I used a bunch of leftover ingredients from the week. I was a bit worried because I had no recipe at all to go off of. I used fat free sour cream, a bit of 2% cheese, a can of cream of chicken soup, onion, skim milk, boiled chicken breast, bread crumbs, and hash brown potatoes. I will definitely make it again!

Making a house a home part 2

This week I added dishes to the walls above the kitchen windows. They make it bright and cheerful! I love the little touches of color. The living room is looking better with a new shabby chic vase.
We just bought a new dresser for the bedroom. It matches our bedroom set very almost perfectly. I put in some puff curtains in our bedroom I LOVE how they transform the window! Trevor also bought me a beautiful teal coverlet that we use daily when we have the comforter put away.

Strawberry Cheesecake

Dish: Strawberry Cheesecake
Website: Pinterest
Pajamas: Tshirt nightgown with teal and white stripes
Meal: Dessert for mom's birthday
Eaters: Mom, Mam, Pap, Brian, Carol, Will, Teri, Trevor, and me

I posted a month ago about Pinterest. At the time, I didn't quite understand the point of the website. Since then, I have gotten so many craft, recipe, and decorating ideas! I have tried a few. These cute little strawberry cheesecakes were one of my successes. They were pretty easy. I hollowed out the strawberries with a potato peeler. I then used the no bake Jello cheesecake for the filling. I dipped some in graham cracker crust and some in mini chocolate chips. I think they are super cute and they tasted great! They are a perfect dessert to take to a party!

Painting with a Twist

A friend from school has a hobby that I admire. She paints canvases. I tried it for a week or so back in college. I just don't have the ideas needed to create new paintings. This teacher paints at a shop in Austin called Painting with a Twist. You sign up for a certain painting and a teacher walks you through the process. We found a few studios in Dallas and decided to do it with sis! Mom, me, Sis and Reid all showed up at a teeny messy studio in Frisco. There were mostly women and a few guys. The walls were covered with beautiful semi/amateur paintings. The floor, chairs and tables were covered with messy paint (my kind of place!) You can bring food, wine, anything. We brought Starbucks! Our barefooted, long haired, dirty, awkward teacher began. He informed us that he had never painted The Green Door (our painting of the night.) There were 3 or 4 cute girls walking around to help. We started with about 5 colors and a blank canvas. The teacher walked us through mixing colors, brush size and stroke, and layering. In the end we all had our own version of The Green Door. My favorite part was how similar yet how different all of our paintings turned out. I will definitely Paint with a Twist again!

My Birthday

I am so loving getting older! I feel like I haven't reached my best years yet! Bring on 30!! With all of that said, this year was weird. I was really excited for my month long birthday (like always), but something was off. I couldn't figure it out. The day before my first birthday celebration, the odd feelings started. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. I just felt off and a bit worried. I'm sure it means nothing. I don't like odd numbers or sevens. Who knows... Here are a few pictures from my birthday.