It's not supposed to rain on your Birthday...

Hey y'all! Happy Monday!  How was your weekend?

Paisley's first birthday was Friday! So, we had a busy weekend!  Paisley and I ran errands for the big party on Friday, while Charlie and his parents worked on some last minute things around the house (like putting together her Birthday gifts!).  Friday night we went to a benefit for some friends which was held at one of our local wineries.  Yep, Paisley spent her birthday at a winery!  That's what all 1 year olds do, right???

She is so close to walking but still has a little wobble in her step.  So of course, being held for two hours straight in a crowded room with music is not what she had in mind.  I let her stand up next to me and hold onto a chair just to give her a break from being held.  She decided it was time to dance.  Before I know it, her dance moves got the best of her and she hit the floor.  Forehead to concrete.  She's a tough little girl and only cried for about two minutes.  But, we were left with a pretty red bump.  Best way to start the birthday festivities!  I should have known it would only go downhill from there!

Do you follow me on Instagram?  If so, you probably seen the prep work for her big Carnival/Country Fair party.  

I worked with a cute little Etsy Shop and had all of these adorable invitations, signs, carnival games, and decorations.  

Then Saturday morning came.  The day of the big event.  

And...

it rained.

and rained.

and rained.

Can you feel the gloom here????

Let me just say our local weather people got this one wrong!  I knew it was supposed to rain. But it was supposed to be done early morning which would be fine for her 3:00 party! Not so much.  And it wasn't like a heavy down pour.  It was that annoying continuous sprinkle ALL DAY LONG!

So, we ended up with about 50 people inside our house.  About 10 of them being under the age of 5!  Let's just say it was a little crazy!  

But even though it rained on our parade (carnival), we had a pretty great day.  We crammed everyone in the house and garage, served our crescent dogs, pretzels and nachos, watched Paisley devour a smash cake, and witnessed our family and friends completely spoil Paisley to death with so many wonderful gifts!  Saying we are blessed is a complete understatement.  We are beyond blessed and grateful to have so many family and friends who love Paisley just as much as we do!

I think she may have liked climbing on all the boxes more than what was inside!!!

After that eventful party...Paisley spent the next day like this...

She was completely tuckered out!  Tattoo wearin' off, moose man in hand!  

Make sure you stay tuned.... I'll be back with more details on our Carnival Party Fail, but that's how just a sneak peek of how we spent our weekend!  Bustin' our butts to pull off a backyard carnival that got completely rained out!  

At the end of the day, we're nothing but grateful.  

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping by!

Livin' Paycheck to Paycheck - Free Printable Budget Form

Hey guys!  How was your weekend!  We had an awesome weekend with friends and finally had some beautiful weather!  However, it's supposed to storm today!  Not awesome!

Anyways, today I'm going to tell you about how we're so rich, we don't even have to worry about a budget or saving money.

YEAH RIGHT!!!!!

Let's be honest....

We live like most other Americans out there, paycheck to paycheck.  Right now, we're working on paying down debt and attempting to save while doing it.  BORING and NO FUN, right?!?! :) 

I'd love to spend my whole paycheck every week at Target, but we all know that won't get me anywhere but a street corner with a cardboard sign begging for money....so budgeting it is!!!

We started using an envelope budgeting system, which really helps! And, we also follow the Debt Snowball Plan made popular by Dave Ramsey.  Both great systems and procedures to get used to using.  Both are strict, but prove to show great results!

As for the actual budgeting, monthly budgets just don't work for me.  We have bills due at random times throughout the entire month.  I need to know exactly where each of our paychecks is going and when it needs to go there.  So, I decided I needed to make a form that would work for US!

I get paid weekly and Charlie gets paid bi-weekly, so there's several sections on this form.  I made it front and back so that I could still keep everything on one sheet of paper.  

Just right click and save each of the pictures or If you want the file sent to you in an editable document so you can make your own adjustments, just let me know!

Hope this helps you guys like it has me!  I'm making some debt pay-down forms right now too, so as soon as they're done I'll post that for you also!

What budgeting method works best for you?  Do you have a plan that is easy to stick to?  I'd love to hear your thoughts and tips!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Make sure you're following along! 

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Finally Friday {Take 6}

Hey y'all!  It's FINALLY FRIDAY!!!  

This week seems to have flown by, actually!  My partner in crime, Autumn, returned back to work this week from her maternity leave.  She had a sweet little baby boy, named Rylyn!  Since we spent most of the week getting her caught up with work and catching up as friends, the work week flew by!  

We're bringing you our Friday Fives today as usual, but I'm also going to show you a little project I completed last Spring!  I planned to do a separate tutorial post for you, but apparently someone snuck into my house, grabbed my camera and deleted my "before" and "during" pictures from last year.  (because obviously, I wouldn't have deleted them myself... :/ )

anyways...

We finally have some spring weather showing up here and we jumped at the opportunity to work outside and plant some flowers.

One of our favorite places to be is outside, so we spend a lot of time on our back patio!  I picked up these planter boxes last year on clearance.  I think they were like 2 or 3 bucks each.  They were a silverish/grayish color.  Remember our Mr. and Mrs. Signs?  I used the same concept here to personalize the planters.  I used my Cricut machine and cut my letters out in vinyl.  I stuck them to the planter and then spray painted them brown.  I removed the vinyl stickers and........ VOILA!!!!  

I like that it adds a little flair to the patio! (P.S. - lots of patio/outdoor DIY posts coming soon!)

Alright, onto our Friday Fives!!!

Emily

1)  Paisley give kisses now. . . enough said.  (seriously, melt my heart RIGHT NOW)

2)  This past weekend Charlie and I went to an Anniversary Party for some family friends.  We were talking to a group of people and one of our friend's mom started telling her sister about our blog.  She was telling her all about it and how she should check it out and then proceeds to tell her how AMAZING Charlie is!  It went something like this..."no really, you have got to check it out.  It will make you want to marry Charlie!"  (Charlie smiles and nudges my arm)  "Their bathroom makeover is enough to make you LUST for him!"  (Charlie smiles even bigger and again, nudges me {to make sure I'm hearing this}).  So, Rebecka I'd just like to thank you for giving my oh-so-talented hubby such a big ego!!!! haha!  Randomly all week, he has reminded me that women all over the world want to marry him and that they are all 'lusting' over him! Back to reality, Charlie!!! :) (disclaimer: I also think he is pretty amazing...just don't tell him!)

3)  Autumn and I are getting pedicures today! WOO to the HOO!!! I am in need of one in a really bad way!

4)  I hate it when my favorite T.V. shows don't have a new episode every week! 

5)  I made some upgrades to the blog this week!  A new header and page tabs, new social media icons and an instagram feed!  And a new "about us" page!  What do you think???

Charlie

1) I know we as humans are supposed to forgive others for their wrong doings........but, I think that when they find the SOB's who did the Boston Marathon Bombing, they should let the Father of the little boy who died, and the other family members of those who also passed, do what they so please.  I cannot imagine the emotions one would have dealing with the loss of a child, family member, etc in such a way.

2) For awhile now Paisley has been shaking her head "yes" to every question you would ask her.  Well, Emily's friend Jen came to the house the other day and taught Paisley to shake her head "no".....Now Paisley has become confused on how to shake her head when asked a question so she makes a circle motion.  What goes around comes around Jen!!!

3) We get to spend the weekend with some great friends this weekend so we're excited about that.

4)  My home town of Ottawa, IL is having some major flooding.....there are 2 rivers (Fox and Illinois) that meet in the middle of town and are causing some major damage.  They have been evacuating people from their homes and have shut the high school down.  Please send a prayer out to these people who have been effected that they stay safe and don't lose their homes and belongings.

5) How much wood could a woodchuck, chuck.  If a woodchuck, could chuck wood?  I'm not real sure but if a woodchuck is any good at making some furniture I could sure use a hand. (and for those of you who just started clapping, we're not friends anymore).  Have a great weekend y'all.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Make sure you're following along!  See you next week!

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DIY Plank Wall

Hey guys!  So we're back with another one of our bathroom DIY projects.  Y'all have seen the bathroom remodel, right?  You can check it out HERE if you missed it.  

The biggest transformation was obviously the plank wall! Who isn't obsessed with a plank wall right now, anyways???  They're everywhere you look.  It's no surprise that we love working with barnwood and pallets, so a plank wall was destined to be in our future!  

First off, no good remodel takes place without some amazing inspiration (from Pinterest of course).  Before we take you through each step of our version of the plank wall, check out our inspiration...

Creative Little Daisy

Simplicity in the South

East Coast Creative

Then we came across this blog...

Life, Crafts & Whatever

and we decided a multi-colored wall was most definitely happening.  

We took all of those sites and all of our inspiration and decided on the best plan for our space, and more importantly, our BUDGET!  Let me start by saying, we aren't new to the whole pallet thing.  Our laundry room is an awesome pallet wall work of art (thanks, Charlie).  It was also his least favorite project.  Have you ever taken apart pallets?  One pallet - not so bad.  A zillion pallets in order to cover the bottom half of a good sized laundry room?  Not fun.  Especially not fun in the heat of the summer.  It's safe to say that using the most budget friendly option, pallets, was out of the question!

We also couldn't afford to use actual wood planks for this project.  And, we also knew we wanted our wood to look old, knotty, imperfect and rustic.  So, we went with Jen's idea from Life, Crafts & Whatever and we used 4' x 8',  1/2" thick sheets of plywood.  

Here's my plans....

You got that?

HAHA!  Charlie laughed in my face when I showed him my plans!  They may not make sense to anyone but me, but I highly recommend jotting down the crazy numbers and plans that you run through your head!  Even if they only make sense to YOU!

So anyways....

Start by measuring your space.  We knew that 3 sheets would be enough for us.  That's 12 foot wide.  Our wall is 14 foot wide, but we have the bathtub up against that wall and we didn't use planks behind the vanity which left enough for the extra width of our wall. 

We cut our plywood sheets into 4" wide strips.  

We sanded down the edges just a bit to take off the rough splinters.  We didn't mind the red lines.  We wanted the knotty, distressed, reclaimed look. 

There's four different paint treatments going on here.  We painted first, cut our different lengths second.

We went with a walnut stain, natural/burned, white-wash, and blue-washed (is that a thing?).  

For the walnut, we applied it straight onto the planks using an old rag.

For the white-wash planks, we applied the walnut stain, same as above.  Then, used a watered down white primer and dry brushed it on.  Meaning barely put any paint on your brush (scrape most of it off on the side of the paint can) and lightly and quickly brush it on unevenly!

For the blue planks, we used the same method as the white wash, except first, we painted the board solid white.  Then dry brushed on the blue paint.  

The natural planks were the easiest! We just cut them to size and used a map gas torch to burn the wood and add a little dimension.  

Here's a look at all of our different treatments.

We chose to pick a few lengths we were happy with and cut several board to those sizes, then use the off-cuts to fill in the holes.  We left several at 48" inches long, cut some at 36" and some at 30" long.  Then we cut our scraps to fit in the empty spaces.  

Start in the top corner and work your way across.  Use a level every once in awhile and make sure you aren't way off.  No house is totally square and chances are your ceiling isn't really the best leveling device.  You may have to cheat a board up or down a bit, just to make it level.  

We used our nail gun to attach our planks. Mark your studs as you go so you can attempt to attach each piece into a stud.  

Before you know it, you've got a plank wall! Woop Woop!!!!

Before

After

Holy transformation, right!?

Click on the picture above, for the full bathroom post and lots more pictures of this transformed space! 

Are you ready to work on your plank wall yet????

This was a very budget friendly, fairly easy, way to completely transform the look of this room!  We love it and are very happy with how it turned out!

Hope y'all have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

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Finally Friday {Take 5}

Hey guys!  It's Finally Friday!  Woooo Hoooo!!!!

We didn't have a Friday post last week since we were hanging out at the beach! :)

But, we've been back this week with our Beach vacation photo's and our Faucet Face Lift.  We're going to keep the bathroom DIY projects comin' so stay tuned! 

Here's are Friday Five's....

Emily

1)  I won't even try to lie.  I could have handled another week at the beach...

2)  We're having a huge yard sale tomorrow at my mom's house.  We have so much stuff it's kinda crazy.     Charlie says I'm a hoarder.  I just think I see potential in everything.... (did I mention I hate yard sale pricing?..ugghhhh)

3)  Paisley is soooo close to walking!  She's taking a few steps at a time and I'm pretty sure she'll be on the move by her birthday!

4)  Speaking of her birthday, we are of course having fun planning her first birthday party!  I've partnered up with this adorable ETSY shop and have the cutest theme in the works!  Can't wait to show you!

5)  Again, speaking of birthdays, I just had one.  Once you're over 21, they just aren't that fun anymore.  I don't want to grow up!!! :)

Charlie

1) I'm not much of a beach person, something about sharks and sand doesn't do it for me like deer and woods do......but I'm not gonna lie, I could have stayed for another week too.

2) My wife is a hoarder....no questions, she doesn't see potential she thinks, Oh...I can put this into a storage tote and Charlie can move it around in the garage for all of eternity.

3) The new song "Boys Round Here" by Blake Shelton is one of my favorite songs out right now.  Paisley really likes it too and has been learning to dance as she tries to walk.

4)  Some of you may know that I am an Under Armour freak.....if they make it, I want it.  Well, recently I had a couple items that needed to be returned due to use/defect.  I've got to say they have some of the best customer service and return policies. If you are not satisfied with the product they will replace or give you your money back guaranteed.  Now, that is how all companies should run their business. Jack!!!   

5)  While going through all of the yard sale stuff, I came across a tote that had a bunch of items from my best friend who passed away in 2007.  It never gets easier not being able to call and catch up on the phone, or stop and have a beer with him, but as I get older I can look back at the times I got to spend with him and realize life is short so cherish the moments you get to spend with family and friends.



Our favorite new recipe of the week were Mama Laughlin's (one of my favorite bloggers) awesome Stuffed Peppers!  We've been eating healthy lately and choosing low calorie, low carb recipes and this one was a really tasty change from what we're used to! We are P.I.C.K.Y eaters...like really picky.  So, we really just used the peppers as a little added spice and only ate the stuffing! But, hey..at least we tried it! We've gotta start somewhere!

You can find the recipe HERE!  Let us know what you think!  Thanks for stopping by!

Now excuse us while we drown in yard sale tubs...

Wish us luck....

Faucet Face Lift - Spray Paint to the Rescue

Hey there! Happy Wednesday!  We're slowly getting back in the swing of things after our amazing, relaxing trip to the beach!

We're back with more bathroom DIY projects!  Woo Hoo!  Raise your hand if you're excited!!! (me, me, me!!!....I'm still excited and in love with my new bathroom.  you can't tell, right?)

How about a little faucet face lift to brighten up your day???

Take a look at this BEFORE pic...

It's just your basic cheap-o faucet.  You know, the kind you buy for like 25 bucks because you spend your house budget elsewhere, and all the cute, pretty, fancy ones stare at you as you grab the plain, tacky, shiny one.  Ya, that's the one.  

This is what happens to the cheap-o's...  (at least in my house)

So, since we were giving our bathroom a major makeover ON A BUDGET, I needed to come up with a cheap way to fix this nastiness.  

Enter -----------> Spray Paint

What doesn't spray paint fix anyways!?!?

We lightly sanded the surface of the faucet with our grinder equipped with a wire wheel.  Then, gave it a quick coat of primer  (all we had was tractor enamel? You work with what you got when you live on a farm.)

Did you check out that hint???

Then, we used our favorite Rust-Oleum Metallic spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze and gave it two coats, letting it fully dry in between.

HELLLLOOOO!!! Lookin' better already, right???

So, this transformation was enough for me to jump up and down...twice!

Plus, we already had the spray paint and the primer.  That means this face lift was FREE!

How about a before and after...?

This is my first time spray painting a faucet.  That means I'm not sure how long this is going to last.  For all I know, my rust will sneak back to the surface after awhile.  But until then, I'm going to enjoy my FREE faucet face lift for as long as it lasts.  I'll take FREE any day!

It's been a little over a month and it's still looks great!  I'll keep you posted...

Thanks for stopping by today!  See you Friday for Finally Friday!  Have a great day!

Check out the entire bathroom transformation HERE! 

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We've been M.I.A. ...

Hey y'all!  I know, I know...It's been awhile.  Allow me to explain myself....

We took these cute little fingers and toes to the BEACH!!!  {And yes, this picture melts my heart.}

This was the most unplanned, unexpected, last minute trip you could imagine.  We booked a condo on Thursday and left on Friday!  This isn't really like us.  Don't get me wrong.  We're pretty laid back, go with the flow, relaxed people.  But, this is extreme even for us.  I just finished a huge install at work and Charlie is having surgery in a few weeks so we felt like there was no better time.  And, I'm so glad we did.  We had such a great time and it was so fun seeing Paisley experience swimming and sand for the first time!

We spent the week in Panama City Beach, Florida.  Most of the Spring Breakers were gone (thank God!) and we stayed at the Emerald Beach Resort.  My parents go to PCB every summer, but Charlie and I hadn't been in several years.  It's changed so much.  Pier Park is amazing and has so many cute and unique shops and places to eat.

I got this adorable bracelet at this little boutique called "French Charmed".  It was the cutest little store ever and had the most amazing jewelry, clothes and accessories EVER!  Which is why I limited myself to 10 minutes in the store! (I can't find a website or Facebook page for them or I'd share it with you guys...this may actually be a good thing...we'd all be broke :) ...)

Another reason we were M.I.A. on the blog this past week is because this keeps happening...

We took our computer with us assuming we would post a few things while we were away, but this blue screen has been getting in my way a whole lot lately.  Like, A LOT.  It's not cool.  It says something about crash dump and then shuts off.  It will do this about 12 times before finally allowing us to use it for an unknown amount of time before it does it again!  Apparently it's a hard drive issue.  I'm no computer whiz.  But, "crash dump" and "hard drive issue" don't sound good to me....

We're thinking about a new computer.  Obviously.  

We currently have an HP.  Help us out guys.  Should we invest in a Mac?

I should probably mention ----> I have a really bad track record with electronics.  I break them.  A lot.  And, I don't know how.  I've heard Apple's are a lot harder to screw up!?!?  

Let me know what you think!

Luckily, as in all times of need, my mama came to the rescue and shared her awesome Potato Corn Chowder Recipe while we were away.  Did you check it out!?!?

Ok, that's all for today!  We'll be back soon with more bathroom DIY details for you!  So, stay tuned! 

Now, let me hear your computer recommendations PLEASE!!!!........ 

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{Quick & Simple} Potato Corn Chowder

Hope you had a wonderful Easter this past weekend.  Ours couldn’t have been more perfect—started the morning off with church, some quality family time, and some beautiful Spring weather!  It was so nice to see the sun finally shining!  While Charlie, Emily, and Paisley are enjoying some family time, Emily asked if I would post our favorite potato soup recipe on their blog.  So this week, you get me, Emily’s mama, for a guest post!  I have big shoes to fill, but I couldn’t imagine an easier thing to blog about then “semi-homemade” potato corn chowder!  Hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as we have.  

As a full-time working mother, I always look for quick and easy recipes to keep on hand for quick dinners and always love a good warm soup on cold days or to fix when we go camping.  One day I stumbled across this great potato corn chowder recipe from Taste of Home (see link below).   Their website is a great tool for searching for new recipes.    

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Quick-Corn-Chowder-2

This recipe that started as a quick, working mom’s dinner that could easily be made because I usually had all the ingredients on hand.  From there, I started fixing it for family get-togethers, then I began fixing it when we went camping.  From there, it has now become a family tradition to have this delicious chowder at our annual Halloween celebrations—a quick warm dinner before heading out into the cool night air for some trick-or-treating!    Here are the ingredients you need to get started:

Quick Corn Chowder

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of potato soup, undiluted
• 1 can (14-3/4 ounces) cream-style corn
• 2 cups milk
• 1 package (3 ounces) Philadelphia® Cream Cheese, cubed
• Pepper to taste
• Prep/Total Time: 20 min.
• Yield: 4-6 Servings

Our family adds the following ingredients to make this an even better chowder:

·         Shredded cheese 2 cups (we prefer Velveeta Shredded Cheese; use half of package in soup, melt until dissolved and creamy.  Use remaining half on top of soup.)

·         Top with crumbled bacon and more shredded cheese

·         We also use 4 cans of potato soup and double the milk to make it go farther and basically makes enough for 8-12 people.

·         I have also used the light cream cheese, light butter, and skim milk to make a lighter version that still tastes great.

Now that you have your ingredients ready, let’s get started: 

• In a large saucepan, sauté the following:

o    green pepper (In our family, we leave this out because Em and Charlie are not big green pepper fans!  Celery would also be good here.)

o    chopped onion (again, Em not a big fan of onions, so I chop them up real small and sneak them in for some great added flavor.  Em uses onion powder or dried onion flakes when she makes it), and

o    lastly, sauté garlic (I use the minced garlic if I don’t have fresh on hand) in butter (real butter adds a great homemade flavor) until tender. 

• Stir in the soup, corn, milk, cream cheese and pepper.  

• Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until cream cheese is melted. 

Here’s what the delicious chowder looks like once ready—creamy and delicious!  Top with crumbled bacon, green onions, extra shredded cheese, or soup crackers as you wish.

Hope you and your family love this quick and easy chowder as much as we have and may it now become a part of your family traditions!  Enjoy!