Monday 14 September 2015

CURB APPEAL - POST SIX

Do you remember my series of curb appeal posts last summer/fall? If not, let me remind you what our house looked like before.


Recap: brown paint, crumbling concrete steps (that we attempted to paint but then the paint crumbled off as well), old rusty house number, unruly spiria plants, and red bricks lining the flower beds.

Now for the excitement. This is as good as it's going to get, people. Photo credit below to Jordan and Judith Photo/Film. 

 
Recap: green paint, new wooden front steps, new adorable house number, window boxes, hostias (that unfortunately did not really grow this summer), and new stones lining the flower beds.

So there you have it! We spent the better part of last fall and this summer painting that baby - mostly waiting for good, dry painting days!! In the end we had to hire someone to paint the back side because it's a walk out basement and we didn't have the equipment to do it ourselves. The rest of the job wasn't all that bad.
It's never going to happen but the last of my to do list would be: stain the front steps and cut down the pine trees (to the left of this photo).

Looking forward to the Trick or Treaters that will be stopping by in a month and a half. :) It's such a good neighbourhood for that!! We love our sweet little first home.

Thursday 10 September 2015

THINGS THAT LAST FOR SEVEN YEARS

All photo credit in this post to Jordan and Judith Photo/Film

Hubby and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary last month and every time we reach a new year I always think about what I've learned about marriage since we wed in 2008. I was nineteen when we got married which is just shocking to me now but thankfully I would do it again a hundred times over. Even more thankfully God must have really guided that decision because holy - nineteen!! I don't like anything that I liked when I was nineteen!

I certainly am no marriage expert - heaven knows I lose my temper far too often and to be honest I don't think anyone ever accused me of being low maintenance (oops!) - but I do feel like we have learned a lot together over seven years of marriage (three of those being long distance).


We think the most important thing is to keep God at the center. If both people focus on their relationship with God and being more Godly themselves you will be a better partner. And we believe that being focused on God (and spreading His love) is what is most important in life.

Though one can be overpowered , two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:12

Don't get me wrong - marriage can be really hard. We have had difficult days and difficult months/years, to be honest. Thankfully we always get back to good days eventually but at times that takes a lot of work. Once we were at a wedding and a groomsman said, "Most people say marriage is easy." At that point we had been married for a few years and maybe only just began to live together. The two of us looked at each other incredulously as if to say, "We must be doing this all wrong." HA! Hubby and I still laugh about that.


So to take a totally different direction (I'll quit while I'm ahead sounding very sage and wise and hope you skimmed over the temper and high maintenance part - hehe), this anniversary has got me thinking... what are things that last for seven years? I know you've been wondering the same thing. :)

1. A high quality vacuum - we spent almost all of our wedding money on an Electrolux Oxygen vacuum. We bought the Oxygen 3 at the time - the link is for the Oxygen 12. Worth every penny.
2. Santa's Solution Tree Stand - we have this baby which was created and fabricated near my hometown. It's called Santa's Solution and we swear by it. It holds more water than any other tree stand by far and your tree will not fall over. It is literally THE BEST. Made in Canada. (Just like me!)
3. Books - some of my best friends are books! Books will stand the test of time, I tell you. They are beastly to move though. (My apologies to all of our friends who have ever helped us pack!)
4. Hubby's free tshirts - I actually typed this last week and then tonight got hubby to cut back to max ten free tshirts. After we counted them I realized he had less than I had thought...I would have been better off to ask him to keep five... :)
5. Childhood stuffed animals - Dumbo and Theodore (mine and his) are still sitting beside each other on our dresser. Besties. Dumbo is far better looking.

And of course to complete the list, things that do not last seven years!

1. Sheets/towels - I followed someone's advice when we first got married and I only used some of our towels so those ones are pretty much worn out and now we can move onto the stack of unused wedding towels. My mom bought us really nice sheets and we used them exclusively for three or four years. I threw them out about a month ago - just shy of seven years.
2. A futon - the bane of my existence. We watch TV while sitting on the futon in the basement literally every night. I mean, it doesn't owe us anything but let's just say one of the supports has been held together with butter knives and duct tape for many, many years now. It will not be making the next move with us.
3. Drinkware/coffee carafe - we broke all of those suckers in the first year or two of marriage. Glass cups? One by one we slowly whittled them away. Coffee carafe? Lasted less than a year.
4. Unity candle - this momento from our wedding survived three moves. The fourth time we moved (ugh) was one month after the third move (ugh). Strangest life decision yet. Sorry unity candle. I hope this doesn't mean we're not unified anymore.
5. A coffee table - it would have held up for seven years (and it's just from Zellers or Wal Mart!) but unfortunately I was talking to my best friend on the phone and spilled nail polish remover on it. Better days, better days.

Wednesday 9 September 2015

SUMMER MEALS POST THREE: TACO SALAD

This taco salad is something my aunt has made forever and we have adapted it as a regular meal in the last couple of years. It's so fast to make, feels relatively healthy (if you go light on the chips and dressing), and really inexpensive. The best thing is it only takes a few ingredients and we basically have all of them on hand all the time anyway.

This post is for my friend K who sent out a request on facebook today for some new meals to add to her meal rotation. :) We all end up cooking the same thing all the time, don't we?

I fry up some ground beef with taco seasoning and then put it in the freezer to cool down while I prepare the veggies. I like meat in my salad to be room temp so it doesn't wilt the lettuce. So then I cut up romaine lettuce, a bell pepper, a tomato, and shred some cheddar cheese. At the end I throw in the ground beef and some tostitos chips, then drizzle with catalina dressing. It's soooo good. This is seriously my favourite at home supper right now.