Mixing Things Up

I am getting so tired of having the same things every week for dinner, the menu rarely changes. it has gotten to the point where I don't even enjoy cooking anymore. Do you have a favorite meal you would like to share? It can be a quick meal or one that takes all day to prepare, I just want to mix things up a bit.

Color Inspiration

So I have finally gotten a solid plan for one room in my house, Brooke's. As with every other room, I was having trouble figuring out what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted it to be her retreat and something a little larger than life. I want her to enjoy playing in her room so that our living room doesn't become the toy room. Right after Tammy's shower mom mentioned having a quilt made for Brooke out of the left over fabric from the sugar and spice table cloths, this gave me the colors for her room. Although I love pink and I love chocolate brown I couldn't figure out how I was going to paint the walls without either color overpowering the room... Tammy took the chair rail idea and I am not a copy cat, lol! So this is what I ended up with...

The pink chair was one of her Christmas presents that we will put in her reading corner.


I found these two pillows at Home Goods today in the clearance aisle. I had already decided on green for the wall color but needed a way to bring it in, I think these will work nicely. The big green pillow has piping similar to the front pillow. These will probably lay on the floor with a few others that have not been found yet.

These are two HUGE baskets we will be using as toy boxes. I was a little worried about it being overkill on the patterns since the quilt will have several different ones, but I am hoping these stay nice and organized in the closet so it shouldn't matter anyway.

This is a REALLY rough draft of a wall mural for her back wall, the background color will be green and the pink blooms will be a lighter pink (I didn't have the right color pencil). Now I need to find a projector to shoot it up on the wall, I don't think I can draw free hand. The tree also won't look so sparse, my hand got tired by the time I got to the bottom branches. I think I will get creamy white sheets and silky curtains. I am still debating if I will keep her doll house book shelf or put a low one under her window to make use of the space. Here is my big question, I really want to put one of those round tree swings hanging from the ceiling like it is hanging from the tree (we won't have any trees big enough for a swing until Brooke is too big for them), what do you think? I would put those big pillows under it to keep her from falling and hang it really low to the ground, but this is where the bigger than life part would come in. Thanks in advance for your input, I am sure some of you are thinking I am crazy.

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to my two men. Matt turns 24 today, I have been calling him an old man, he says he feels like one. Never in a million years did he think he would be married with 2 kids and be a police officer at this age. I guess I changed his plans! Maddux will be 5 months old tomorrow, time sure does fly! I love you two very much!

Looking Back

At this very time 3 years ago I was sitting at Chili's with my parents and siblings enjoying my last meal as a single woman and a Goode. Since then it has been a whirlwind. Matt and I went into our marriage too young to even get a hotel room for our honeymoon, Matt's mom had to make the reservations. We were both pretty much unemployed. Matt was tutoring and going to school and I was a nanny making $200 a week. Soon after we got back from our honeymoon God blessed me with a job that would provide Matt the opportunity to continue school and not have to work full time. Like most marriages there were still times when all we had left in the pantry was tuna and top raman, but I cherish those days. The only thing we could afford was to pick up Chick-fil-a and cuddle on the couch. In August we got our fur baby, Jessie. Matt got her for me so I would quit asking for a baby, but sure enough in February I found out I was pregnant with Brooke. We had always planned to have me stay home with our children so Matt set out to find a new job. In April he started the application process with HPD and it wasn't until October when he finally started the academy. Just after our first anniversary we welcomed our nephew in to the world. Mom and Dad made the move out to Waller which shook my world, I cried like a baby cause we couldn't just pop in for dinner anymore. It was a lesson in independence that I desperately needed. October 29th, 2007 Brooke was born, I had never felt such a outpouring of love deep inside until I saw her face. WE as a couple became WE as a family. We moved to our bigger apartment in December and things only got crazier from there. Matt's schedule was ever changing and the academy took a toll on us all. I suffered from postpartum depression for a few months but thankfully we all made it out sane. Almost exactly 6 months after Brooke was born we got pregnant with Maddux. We knew we were going to need even more space so at the end of our lease we moved into mom and dads old house. What a blessing it has been, we have been able to save money and are now in the process of building our dream home. Maddux completed our "typical american family" on February 11, 2009. They say that having a baby, a change in careers or building/remodeling a home is the most stressful things on a marriage, Matt and I have done all of these things before we have even gotten out of our newlywed stage. It hasn't always been easy but having such a loving and thoughtful man by my side has made it all worth fighting for. I look forward to the decades of married life I have ahead of me. I hope things do slow down a bit once we get settled but I know that God will never give us more than we can handle.

Matt,

You are the love of my life, I have known that from the first date. I can't imagine going through any of this without you. Everything great in my life has been with you and because of you. I look forward to growing old with you. Big kisses! I love you!!!

Happy Birthday Mom

Hope you had a great day today... We love you so much! Enjoy the rest of the week at the beach.