A Very Merry IKEA Christmas

Since Andrew and I decided to purchase a brand new computer a month before Christmas, we agreed that this would just be our Christmas present to each other....along with a trip to IKEA!

You see, our whole bedroom set is from IKEA and there was one more dresser piece that we were missing. Our last two apartment bedrooms would not have been able to fit this 3rd piece, but in our current townhouse, there was not only plenty of space, but the PERFECT space for it in our new bedroom. So on Veterans day, Andrew and I used our glorious day off of work to make a day trip to IKEA. Seriously...if you have never been to an IKEA, you for real need an entire day. That store is amazing. And I would say we had a very successful day trip...despite Andrews face (pictured below), extra long receipt, and a clearly blown budget.

When we got home, Andrew got to work right away putting together our new dresser

but it wasn't all work and no play :) ha!

Oh, what did I do while Andrew played handyman and goofball?

Why, I supervised of course!

And maybe watched a couple of episodes of this

And maybe played with this sweet girl

As things started going up on the walls, we started getting excited about how it was turning out!

...almost there...

All done!

We LOVE our new addition to our bedroom. And we couldn't have accomplished this look without some help from IKEA. Okay, maybe a LOT of help from IKEA since everything pictured came from that store.

Oh, and we can't forget about our new desk for our new computer! Love this new set up too...again, thanks to IKEA :)

So (Early) Merry Christmas, babe. Hope you enjoy the new computer, dresser and desk! (And when did we become old enough for furniture to be exciting Christmas presents?)

Kitchen Bonding

My kitchen and I have been spending a lot of time together lately. Particularly this past weekend. Saturday through Monday were packed with so many fun events that involved food...and of course, I can't help but make a contribution to ANYTHING involving food.

So here's a little recap of what my kitchen and I have whipped up since Saturday evening:

Pumpkin Scones with Spiced Glaze. Made these for hospitality at church on Sunday morning...

Image from Browneyedbaker.com

...which were accompanied by these Blueberry Muffins.

Image from Browneyedbaker.com

And a girl's gotta eat dinner while she bakes. So this Goulash was our Saturday night dinner.

Image from Budget Bytes

Sunday night we celebrated my Grandma's birthday. She requested this awesome Carrot Cake.

Image from The Pioneer Woman

...which was also accompanied by Chocolate Sheet Cake. Who says you can't have two cakes for your birthday?

Image from The Pioneer Woman

And of course, me being me, baking two whole cakes for my Grandma's birthday wasn't enough. I felt compelled to make and appetizer too. And what better appetizer to make than these extremely addiciting Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos.

Image from The Pioneer Woman

Last night we had a yummy Pre-Thanksgiving feast with our church kingdom group. Yet again, do I offer to bring just one thing? Of course not!

Broccoli Casserole (which is a family recipe and my favorite Thanksgiving dish that my mom makes) was the side item of my choosing...

Image from myrecipes.com

...along with Brown Sugar Cookies....

Image from joythebaker.com

and Pumpkin Pie Dip

Image from tablespoon.com

Every single thing turned out absolutely delicious and I absolutely recommend them all.

With all that said, I now need to go spend some quality bonding time with the gym.

Upgrade

Well, Ladies and Gents...considering how long it has been since we've posted anything on here, Andrew and I should just get our blogging rights revoked. I wouldn't be surprised if no one even reads this. We're sorry for being so lame. But there is a reason! Sort of. You see...we both have our trusty Apple MacBooks that we use at home. Love them. They've been so good to us over the years. Until recently. Nowadays, neither of us can use the CD drive as all CD's that enter now get jammed, which leads to a trip to the Apple Store to get them removed (thanks Erin for your help with that!). And as for pictures...umm, we have about 700+ of those just sitting in our lovely Cannon Rebel waiting ever so patiently to be downloaded. But we can't. Both MacBooks are pretty much maxed out in storage, along with our external hard drives, and not to mention is seems to take about 34587987 years for the pictures to download IF they decide they want to. It's all very frustrating. And actually, I'm probably describing it all wrong and Andrew will probably correct me later...but point is, our beloved MacBooks just aren't really cutting it anymore beyond surfing the web. As for why this has affected my lack of blogposts? Well, I've discovered I'm sort of a picture snob about them and only want to make a post if I have pictures to include. Sorry. It's the visual person in me. SO, with all that said...we ultimately felt it was time to upgrade to solve all these problems. This afternoon, my sweet husband will be picking up this BEAUTY! (Again, thank you Erin for your help! FYI for anyone reading - this Erin I keep thanking is our lovely cousin who lives in the gorgeous city of Charleston and works at Apple. She's basically the best.)

I am soooo excited about this pretty piece of technology, I can hardley contain it! I almost feel bad for our poor little MacBooks now as they will probably become severly neglected. Andrew and I will probably even argue like little kids over who gets to use the computer since we will both no-doubt want to play on it at the same time (remember the episode of Friends when Monica and Phoebe fight over playing on the Pac-Man Machine? yea, something like that). So no more empty promises this time when I say I'll be posting more soon! So if you haven't given up on us yet, THANKS...if you have, understandable.

New Job

Forgive me for leaving y'all hanging for so long. We just moved. We went to 2 more (BEAUTIFUL) weddings. We've been unpacking. I've been sick. I'm week 3 into the new job. crazy.

BUT, the new job. Oh.My.Gosh. Awesome.

I recently became employed by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. For those of you not familiar with this place, you can learn more here. For those who do know about ColonialWilliamsburg, you know what I mean when I say this place is awesome. And, well, I have only been obsessed with Colonial Williamsburg for ..hmm, all my life. So to be able to work for them is crazy cool.

My new title is Merchandise Analyst. I support the Buyers that buy all of the gifts, home goods, furniture, souvenirs, collectibles, jewelry, etc. for all of the Williamsburg shops. Go here to see our world. To get another picture/idea of our world, below is the fabulous book I was given the day I picked up my offer letter. (yes please!) oh, and p.s. - One of the PM's in our office contributed to the text of this book...she's a rock star.

So praise Him, for answering my prayers, for providing, for working out His wonderful plan, for opening my heart to listen and follow this perfect plan, and for delighting in our work and allowing me to delight in it and in Him. It was all His doing that I got this job, and for that I am overflowing with thanks.

And thankful for such a cute office and beautiful scenery as I stroll into work.

Thanks for reading, y'all!

The "Lately List"

We've been terrible about blogging. Seriously...the last time we blogged was Valentine's day. In February. It's now June. Ridiculous.
So I felt like the best way to quickly and effeciently update ya'll on what's been going on with us lately would be to write it out in list. And because I'm obssesed with lists :)

So here's our "Lately List":


1) We're moving!! yes, again. But no, not far away or out of Virginia this time! Our lease was about to be up so we went back and forth between buying or renting again. We decided we wanted a little while longer before buying so we found this great townhouse to rent...want to know the kicker though? (There's 2 actually) First Kicker: It's in the same neighborhood that I grew up in, and that my mom and Patrick currently still live in. Hey, we did say that part of the reason we wanted to move back home from Milwaukee was to be "closer to family" again, right? HA! Second Kicker: The townhouse has pink shutters and a matching pink garage door. Yes, pink (more like "salmon" actually. But still...in the pink family). Trust me, we're not thrilled with this at all. BUT the inside (and the sweet 2 tiered deck with a WATER VIEW) trumps the outside paint color in our opinion. So that's why we've agreed to deal with the pink. Plus, we're just renting so it's not like we have to put up with it for forever!

2)It's wedding season for The White's! 2011 so far has been the year of weddings for all our friends/family and we LOVE IT! We've already been to 3 and have 5 more to go!? Talk about a year of celebrations! We are so grateful and so excited to be able to attend all of these fabulous weddings and to take part in such a special day for the people we love the most.

3) May 22 marked 1 year since we got Kenzie! So sad I didn't get to give our sweet girl her own special post on that day (shame on me, I know). But you bet when her Birthday comes up on July 13th, our sweet girl will get her well deserved birthday shout out on here! But it's been an amazing year with our sweet pup, and we still can't beleive how lucky we are to have found such a great dog, And she's been great practice for the "real child" one day ;) ha. ONE DAY.


4) We got rid of cable. Yes, nothing crazy exciting. But ya'll don't understand how huge of a deal this was for me at first. I even think I had a slight anxiety attack that night I came home and saw that Andrew got rid of the cable box. I'm ridiculous, I know. But now that it's gone, I honestly wish we had gotten rid of it sooner! It's been so freeing not having that distraction anymore. Which is one of the main reasons why we decided to get rid of it in the first place. We were noticing our evenings/time together was becoming consumed by that tv, so it was time for it to go. And It's be so great so far! We've definitely been spending some more quality time together in the evenings now, and are overall more productive around the house and with our time.

5) Andrew turned 26! I'll have a separate post just for this...don't you worry.

6) I got a new job! oh, and this is getting it's own separate post too :)


Now that I've got your interest again after our 4 month hiatus from blogging, stay tuned for the posts on Andrew's birthday and my new job!

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

I know most people hate Valentine's day. Some think it's silly. Some might not even care if this day existed.

But I'm glad it exists. I love Valentine's day. I love that on this day 8 years ago, Andrew and I went on our very FIRST date. I was a sophomore in high school. He was a senior. We went to Second Street, ordered chicken fingers and french fries and saw Minority Report at the Regal Cinema. As he dropped me off at my doorstep that night, he asked if I would "be his girlfriend". :) (oh, those beloved, awkward high school days!)

This special day, 8 years ago, is where it all began. And that's why Valentine's Day holds such a sweet memory for us.

And this is how we celebrated our 2nd February 14th as Mr. and Mrs. White:

We exchanged these

My sweet Andrew gave me these

We enjoyed a glass of this

Instead of fighting overcrowded restaurants, we opted for an intimate candlelit table for 2 like this

And we feasted on Pasta Bolognese , Lemon-Butter Green Beans with Pine Nuts, Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Heart Shaped Brownie Sundaes for dessert. Oh.my.gosh...SO good.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day. Hope ya'll enjoyed this special day to show a little extra love.

8 reasons why this past weekend was great...

Of course, every weekend is great because...well....it's the weekend! But this past weekend was REALLY great. Here's 8 reason's why:

1) Kenzie got a haircut! I may be weird for saying this, but I LOVE when she gets haircuts. She always looks like a completely different dog, and it usually makes me giggle when I see her right after getting groomed...because she's always so fluffy and sweet! This time before getting groomed, she REALLY needed it because of this.....

Why yes, that is a black GREASE spot on top of her head. She decided to sniff way to close to a dirty car outside, and this is what happened. Andrew and I could not stop laughing at how ridiculous this looked. Fortunately, this happened right before her grooming appt. Oh the joys of a WHITE haired dog. But we love it.

And ta-da! No more black grease spot! Isn't she just so sweet with her little bows, and fluffy white fur?!? We think so.

Love this little girl. Yes, we may be slightly obsessed with this dog. Don't judge.

2) Friday night was date night with dinner at Bonefish Grill followed by the Blue Man Group! (My Christmas present to Andrew)

And yes, that is Bang-Bang Shrimp pictured. DELISH! Along with everything else we had that night. This is definitely a new favorite restaurant, and we will definitely go back.

Quick snapshot before heading into the show.

Can I just say, this show was by far one of the best shows I have ever seen! If you have never seen a Blue Man Group show, you should. Promise you won't regret it. I mean, does this not look awesome?

They had me mesmerized.

The end! So cool.

3) Saturday we decided to make a trip to the driving range. So fun. And so cold. I told Andrew I want to get better at golf so that I can EVENTUALLY work my way up to being able to actually play a round. Ambitious...yes. It will definitely be a while before that happens, but it's a goal. Something to work towards. And something for us to continue to do together :) Best part.

(Don't judge my form too much. Remember I'm learning)

He's really good.

And really cute :)

Love this face

It was great to spend time with my man while doing something that he loves.

4) Saturday night we joined our dear friends , Krystle and Steven, for dinner and an Admirals Hockey game!

They played the Tigers I think? Not really sure. Awful at these details. But it was a great time and the Admirals won!

Krystle and I go way back. She was even one of my bridesmaids. I dearly cherish our friendship and love when we get to hang out!

5) Sunday morning we went to a new church recommended to us by our dear friend Tripp Purks. And we are so glad he did, because we loved it! The message was awesome, and the people were so friendly and so welcoming! One sweet couple even invited us to dinner at their house this Thursday...awesome! So we are excited for this opportunity to explore a new church and meet some great new people.

6) Sunday afternoon, Andrew went to battle my Stepfather, Patrick, on the golf course while mom and I spent a leisurely afternoon at the nail spa. (Thanks Patrick for treating us to this with the gift cards for Christmas!) What girl doesn't love a day being pampered, spent with mom, and getting fun new nail polish!?

Our fun, freshly manicured nails! Let me also just add, this nail polish is apparently some new kind of polish "gel" that is supposed to last for about 3-4 weeks WITHOUT chipping! We'll see if it's true. So far so good.

7) Sunday night, we had dinner at my Mee Maw and Pee Paw's house. For those who didn't know, my Pee Paw is Mexican, and therefore, you will find the absolute BEST Mexican food at their house. Seriously, the best. My favorite thing....my Mee Maw's spanish rice. She learned this recipe from my Pee Paw's mother and it is the most delicious thing ever. She sent me the recipe while I was in Milwaukee, which I attempted but failed. Multiple times. So Sunday night she coached me through it and I finally had success! Doesn't this just look yummy?! And it was in fact...very yummy.

I love spending time with Mee Maw and Pee Paw. They're so fun to be around and time spent with them is always full of GREAT food, good laughs, and awesome conversation.

8) Monday evening (yes I'm including Monday as part of the weekend because "technically" it was a holiday!...so I'm counting it) was spent in Va Beach...mainly to shop for some new snowboard pants for me. The shopping trip was unsuccessful. boo. But we did get to have dinner at Dad and Sandy's house! We enjoyed delicious homemade lasagna, and spent the rest of the evening chatting and catching up. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures (boo again), but it was definitely necessary to include this as part of what made this long weekend so great.

Hope ya'll had a great weekend also! :)