Let's Be Thankful Swap

Hey! I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving.  I can't wait to share about how it was here in Oklahoma tomorrow.

But today, I am so happy to share about the Let's Be Thankful Swap that Meg at Borrowed Heaven and Alex at Radiating Sunshine actually hosted.  It was so fun!

Here is what I sent Alex:

She is from a much colder place than Oklahoma {when she is at school and home}, so I took this opportunity to send cold-weather items that would be more of a lucky treat than a necessity here.  I hope she likes it! If you haven't been over to her blog, here is her reveal and more details on what I sent her.  

So first, I was excited to get paired with Alex.  She is good friends with Meg, who I was paired with for September Foodie Pen Pals - which made this extra special to me.  I already knew she was great! Alex and I had some similar interests, with an obvious one being Target {I never come out empty handed!}

My catch from Alex!

How cute is that little card? I am a sucker for "geometric-not-so-geometric" prints {and yes, I just made that up}.  

First up: the hand cream.

This stuff is awesome.  Andrew thinks it kind of smells like sopapillas.  I kind of agree in a "smells so good you could eat this" kind of way.  It is so thick and creamy, and will hopefully help me with my Christmas-light-hanging hands and with my goal to stop biting my fingernails {don't say I never told you anything about my bag habits!}

She also sent me these fantastic coasters that we put out in the house immediately! Funny story about them: when I was shopping for Alex's gift, I actually spotted these {and bought them}.  I took them home and told Andrew that we could gift them {both of our origin family's last names are "E"} or we could keep them but I think we should keep them.  {Nothing like giving your husband the choice, ya know?} We actually kept them and I told him that meant we needed to go back and get a few more so we could have at least as many as we usually have guests {6 is typical regardless of which side of the family we are hosting}.  I got Alex's package a week or so later and I gasped, and giggled.  Not only did it save me a trip, BUT it shows just how well she got to know me in just a few e-mails!

Needless to say, I am in love.  

And great minds think alike. 

And I can't wait to do this again! 

And no family, I am no longer gifting these coasters - they are staying! {Too bad, so sad}

I am so blessed and honored to be a part of such a lovely blogging community.  Now I have two friends who I have met through this community and in such a short time.  It has been so fun getting to know both of them, learn about their experiences, and join up with them for swaps like these.  It has been an awesome experience!

Thanks for hosting the swap ladies!

Weekend Review - and Feel {Great} Monday

WOW! Last week flew by - so quickly I didn't even realize it was time to feel great.  I was technically feeling great, I just didn't write about it.  So here are some updates!

Feel {Great} Anyday - including Friday

This Last week, I felt really great about the to-do list.  We got a lot done.  Which was perfect timing.  In my mind, it was time to start fresh and turn a new leaf.  I sat down an caught up on my "In Everything Give Thanks" plan with She Reads Truth and the subject was giving thanks in stress.

The Big Kitchen Remodel {and reading the end of the book before the beginning}

Here is to reading the end of the book before the beginning...

Preface: We have tutorials coming on most of this kitchen {as we did about 85% of it ourselves in some way shape or form}.  However, I keep posting "sneak peeks" due to no other way about it and I can't wait to share with everyone anyway.  So without further ado...

Get ready for a LOT of pictures!

We bought the house because of this which proved to be a huge undertaking.

DIY House Remodel - Lay Your Own Wood {or bamboo} Floor - Tips and Tricks and General Instructions

If this is new to you and you want to see all of the other steps we took: prep work and supplies and Elastilon.   Hope you find them helpful as well!

This post may seem scattered, because we learned things as we went - and this post will probably look the same way.  However, we hope you can learn from other people's mistakes experiences. It will mix your general instructions with our tips - because ultimately we winged it {as much as a control freak can "wing" anything}.  Here goes nothin'! *Sorry for all of the words and less pictures, these are more brain tricks and tips and unfortunately, we couldn't snap pictures from inside there!

Patterns and Execution

Tip #1: Turn the last board in the row around so the groove is up next to the groove {length wise}, mark where the cut should go to make it shorter {should light up with the board you lay immediately prior to this step - make sure to leave room for the gap!}, and cut there.  Instead of measuring, marking, etc. we found this method to end up in an extremely low error rate and made the process go much faster.  The majority of the time, if there was a "miscut", we were usually making it too long instead of too short which meant we could correct the error. Yardsticks really help when you made an ut-oh cut. {If you would like pictures or further explanation of this, just let us know in the comments, after much searching for a picture, we couldn't find one.  But we could definitely stage the situation for you if you would like!}

Weekend Review

This weekend was pretty uneventful in the A+K terms.  So, unlike my usual weekend reviews, I am not going to break it out by day - it was all a blur anyway!

Weather
We did brave the cold {pre-snow} for the OSU game, which we unfortunately lost, but the temperature wasn't as bad as even we thought it would be! Mid-November in Oklahoma does NOT usually mean snow.  However, Sunday, we got a good {early for Oklahoma} dose of it.  Not too bad in our area, but it did make you want to cuddle in a blanket and do nothing {or in our case, finish a few house projects and THEN cuddle up and do nothing}.

This is November? Really?!

Feel {Great} Friday!

There are a lot of things I am feeling great about on this Friday {one of which is NOT the weather}.  But here is what I am feeling particularly GRATEFUL about this Friday - which is, technically, the same thing because it translates into feeling great!

Bucket List {almost} Accomplished!
I have two concerts left of my concert bucket list, and I bought tickets for one of them today! YAY!
However, I did get this halfway through my purchasing experience - it started at 1 minute, went to 6, and then took this screenshot almost there - and it made me extremely nervous.

Weekend Review

Wow! What a weekend?  We were extremely productive.  And be prepared for a LOT of pictures!

Friday Night

We were pretty lazy.  We knew we had a very busy weekend ahead of us because Lizzie ate her crate {yes, ATE her crate}.  So after dropping the dogs off at "Doggy Day Care" {a.k.a. Papa and Lala's house}, we went out and treated ourselves to a dinner at a restaurant.  Then we struggled with what time it had to be to be acceptable to go to bed. We settled on whenever before 10 works.

Feel {Great} Friday & Monthly Goals - November 2014

Just like last month, I want to keep myself accountable.  Well, here is where we stand after October:

Not bad {in my world}!  I would say finishing 3.5 of 5 projects {and for the record, my car did spend 2 weeks in the garage} and finishing 4 Project Elephant items is a success! 

{Never too late for a} Weekend Review

Here is the crazy weekend as it was!

I took a few days off of work so I had some extra time in my weekend {very gratefully}.  So this update is a little bit past due, but it was technically still my weekend!

Thursday and Friday {day}

I started on this:

DIY House Remodel - Lay Your Own Wood {or bamboo} Floor - Our friend Elastilon

To make sure everyone is on the same page:

• Yes, we decided to lay our own flooring.
• No, we didn't regret it {for any longer than you usually regret any manual labor}.
• Yes, people thought we were crazy.
• Prepwork takes a looooong time {much longer than my very scheduled brain could comprehend}

We left off somewhere around here:

 So far we have:

• Taken out staples and removed glue residue from the subfloor.
• Removed baseboards.
• Swept, and swept, and swept some more.  
• Laid the moisture barrier.
• Had Dad simultaneously doing other seemingly important tasks {in Kelcie's mind, they were very urgent, hindsight says they probably weren't quite as urgent as originally thought}

So now we are ready to lay some wood {or bamboo} floors - right?

Not for us! 

Feel {Great} Friday!

This Friday I am appreciative of the chance to soak up this view for as long as I wish: 

For this growing girl being the sweetest 110 lb fur-baby possible: 

And for this one being a cuddle buddy convincing me that the things on my to do list aren't as important as growing relationships with humans and canines alike: 

This Friday is a great and grounding one. So here are my reasons to Feel {Great} this Friday. Hopefully yours are just as wonderful! 

October Lessons

{Source: a pair & a spare}

October has been a full month - unexpectedly.  Of course, I expected our weekends and to-do's to be full but there were a lot of unexpected things that have happened that have really caused me to reflect on my expectations for myself.

Weekend Review

Hello Friends!

We had an awesome weekend in Stillwater, and a very productive Sunday {unexpectedly}!

Friday Evening/Night

On our way to Stillwater, we were welcomed to God's Country with a gorgeous sunset {filled with orange}.  We knew it was going to be a great evening from the very first second!

OSU Homecoming 2014 "House Dec" winner

Feel {Great} Friday!

Today is a Friday that is definitely worth having (what Friday isn't?).

Go Pokes! 

This weekend is Homecoming in Stillwater - the greatest Homecoming celebration in America {no, but really}. Keelie has been working long and hard on a "house dec" all semester and today is judgement day - and the sign that pomping is over! I will try to grab some pictures of all of the great decs, maybe some examples of pomping if I can dig some up, and all of that goodness for the weekend review on Monday. 

This Friday is great because it is another day to be thankful for: for the lessons learned, the prayers answered, and comfort sought and received. 

And because I can't resist the nephew already sporting his orange:

I hope you see reasons to Feel {Great} on this Friday too! 

DIY House Remodel - Lay Your Own Wood {or bamboo} Floor - Prepwork

Here is your slight background story.  But if you are just here for how we approached this humongous and screaming project, feel free to skip a paragraph or two.

We got married at the end of May 2014.  It was beautiful, wonderful, and absolutely perfect for both of us.  We had spend an entire 5 months preparing (we got engaged on Christmas Eve of 2013) and saving money by doing most everything ourselves.  In April before we got married, we decided it would be a good idea to buy a house.  This house was in various stages of disrepair or antiquity.  So while we Andrew did some demolition before the wedding, we Kelcie said absolutely no work on the house during the month of May.  

Weekend Review

Hello Friends!

Here is a small weekend update for you on our very hodge-podge weekend! {Friday night was date night and lay on the couch for a good catch-up binge TV show watching.  No pictures of that because I don't want to bore you to death.}

Saturday!

We decided to start cleaning out the attic - which means after 1 week of my car in the garage, it is booted back to the driveway {for now}.  It is a much larger project than we anticipated - including a new dumpster and thorough sweep.  We finished about 25% of it and found some nice treasures that we think someone, somewhere will enjoy {read: too special to throw in the dumpster but not something we personally want to hoard}.  So we plan on selling it in some kind of Etsy or Garage Sale fashion (maybe both?)

Feel {Great} Friday!

So I want to start out with what I wanted Feel {Great} Fridays to be about on the first one last week:

I have this belief that Fridays should be focused on the positive, no matter what the situation you are in or the prayers on your mind at the moment.  Especially if you are naturally pessimistic the rest of the week or have had a few really bad days or days filled with not so great news.  God gave us a chance to have hope in our lives, and Friday is just as good as any to express it!

Here is the thing: I didn't expect God to test my faith in that very stated belief so quickly.  So even though I am struggling with a heavy heart today and this week (which I may or may not feel comfortable sharing more about later), here is Feel {Great} Friday in a slightly different form than last week.

My #1 reason to Feel {Great} on this Friday:

No Work Tortilla Soup

I mentioned last Monday we freezer cooked for ourselves and some lovely recipients.

But I have a confession: we picked practically the easiest recipes in the box. 

You know, those recipes that people fawn over but you take the compliments gracefully and say to your husband after the guests leave, "if they only knew that the most work we did was open a can!" 

Kidding {sort of}. 

I get asked time and time again what my recipe for tortilla soup is (we frequently freeze and take to ill family members like it was really hard work). But we are letting the cat out of the bag, here is it!

He is {finally} here!

After 10 p.m. after 2 nights in the hospital, lots of anxious visitors, several good football games, and Maggie's hair pulling.... 

Weekend Review

So here is how our weekend went... It felt like it actually went pretty slow (how many times in your life do you get to claim a weekend went slow?) but at the same time like it flew by.  We both lived in the moment this weekend, and I think that helped!

Be warned: there are a lot of "in the moment" pictures in this post! {And quite a few sneak peeks for the new house - which the process and steps are going to start coming in November!}

Friday Night

We had our "niece" {my 9 month older cousin's child} over for a sleepover.  Goodness was she excited! We started off by reading some of Andrew's childhood books (thank you to a great MIL who kept them intact, around, and passed them down!), making Aubrie's favorite meal, and baking dessert.   There may, or may not, have been toenail painting in the color of Aubrie's choice.  Who knew sparkly purple would have been picked?

Awful painting job, but you try to paint a wiggling 4 year old playing tug of war with Lizzie {the 100+ lb dog!}

Feel {Great} Friday!

It has been an absolutely crazy week.  And while I still have intentions of getting recipes for the freezer cooking we did over the weekend, and have actually already almost finished but haven't added pictures, I still wanted to get in on Feel {Great} Friday.

I have this belief that Fridays should be focused on the positive, no matter what the situation you are in or the prayers on your mind at the moment.  Especially if you are naturally pessimistic the rest of the week or have had a few really bad days or days filled with not so great news.  God gave us a chance to have hope in our lives, and Friday is just as good as any to express it!

Weekend Review

So.... We didn't exactly get to a lot of the things on our October Goals List but we did accomplish some really productive fun things.

Friday, my lovely MIL and I volunteered with Junior Achievement.  It was the first time I have ever gotten to share the experience with someone in the room with me - I usually sign people up to volunteer and send them off on their own (with some training of course!).  So it was a great experience!

Then, Andrew and I headed off to OKC to spend the evening celebrating a dear friend's birthday.  We had so much fun that I didn't take a single picture (oops!)

Saturday, we got to go to my favorite place in the world: Stillwater, Oklahoma. I promise the air is fresher, the sun is brighter, and the world is cheerier there. We cheered on the Pokes for a win against Iowa State and got to share the experience with several great friends. It was definitely a perfect day.

Wonderful day full of ORANGE.

Monthly Goals - October 2014

In an effort to keep myself accountable and realistic about our house and life goals, I am going to attempt to document my  our goals each month.  I want to really see how much progress I made and see if I am being honest with myself.  I am also going to have a little Project Elephant {as inspired by Abbie at M is for Mama's Project Elephant} that will be nice to bite a bit off of each project each month, but if necessary can be pushed - but progress on that is important!

This month we have the following happening: our new nephew will be arriving {sorry Maggie, September birthday is no longer an option!}, there will be a new puppy to the pack {my parents' new puppy, don't get excited}, Aubrie's birthday, two days of JA, and plenty of OSU Cowboys football. It is a packed and extremely monumental month.

Foodie Pen Pals - Take 1 (September)

Being a long time blog reader, I have read about people having Foodie Pen Pals over and over again. However, in September, once Andrew and I slowed down on the house for {what seemed like only} 10 minutes, we decided to finally participate.

So this month, we were so excited to be paired with Meg from My Borrowed Heaven (who actually was getting married the week she was receiving my package - more on that later). She is originally from the Northeast and such a doll!  Now she is living in Charleston and focused her package on that - which we LOVED.

How awesome does this place look?!

Can't you just see it?!

So I mentioned that there were two main areas that we actually bought the house for. But first, we want to know if you can envision it.

The Living Room

Goose had to make a cameo appearance.  {He was actually waiting for Lizzie to pop around that corner - they loved playing chase when the house was empty!}

The house "as is"

So... we bought a house.  

Here is a picture from Day 1:

As you can tell, Andrew was really excited.  It was in the middle of April, it was actually cold, and those shrubs were beyond dead.  It was a great day.

Let's start at the VERY beginning

{because it's a very good place to start...}

At one point in our lives, not that long ago, we decided it was a fantastic idea to buy a house while being 6 weeks away from our wedding date.  We proceeded to purchase said house and then completely tear it apart - while also DIY-ing practically our entire wedding.  

We wanted a way to document this process and make it available to answer quite a few questions that everyone else had for us along the way.   We considered making an album and holding everyone hostage to come see it (this is still a HIGH possibility) and then we considered doing an online album share of some kind.  However, at the time of this post, we are not on social media (once again, OH the horror!).  But it has been a longtime dream of ours mine to start a blog.  Not for the "I think people care what I have to say" sort of thing, but for the "I would maybe like to know what I was thinking back then" sort of way.  

So here's to you - and to keeping you in OUR loop!