...never a dull moment...

One of our main goals for the next few months is to save as much money as we can in preparation for little Madelyn. Last year we successfully paid off all consumer debts so all that remains now is Matt's Tahoe and the house, and we also managed to save up a nice little emergency fund for ourselves. Granted, this process was never fun, looking back now we are very proud of ourselves. Well, we are always reminded why you should have an emergency fund, as witnessed by the events of this past week.

First, as you know, we re-did our kitchen. We wanted to pay cash for everything so this was certainly a worthy use of our savings.
In the midst of re-doing the kitchen our refridgerator broke. For about 4 days we had all of our frozen goods in a cooler in the garage (being refreshed with new ice daily since it was of course warm at the time). In addition to the fridge, my car had to go into the shop. All in all, major crisis was averted, Thank Goodness, but had we not had the savings we would have been in serious trouble. We managed to keep the damage under $500 which was nothing short of a miracle, but it sure was nice to pay for that on our own and not with a credit card.
We now have a re-opened leak in the dining room ceiling from our master shower that Matt will be working to fix this week...like I said, never a dull moment. Aaah the joys of home ownership:)

On a good note, sweet, patient Matt was kind enough to get the nursery all set up with Maddy's furniture and it is so cute!!! (I swear he has been working non-stop on the house)
I've attached a few pictures so that you can see. We still have a bit of actual decorating to do, but it's nice to have the main pieces up in there and WOAH is it a reality check everytime we walk by that room!! It's so hard to imagine that in appx. 100 days there will be a little baby in that crib:) (*Note, that ottoman to the left of the hutch is being recovered)

This week is actually fairly quiet for us which should be nice. I'm planning to re-do our budget which I realize doesn't sound exciting to most people but to a type-A excel-driven person like myself it's actually a way I de-stress. I'm also booking our baby-moon which I'll post more details on later, and then Sunday celebrating my 27th birthday up at Matt's parent's house!

Who says you can't look cute while giving birth?

I mean, it's bad enough that you're sequestered under horribly unflattering flourescent lights for days on end. And if your daughter's birth isn't a reason to dress up, I don't know what is :) Check out these totally adorable hospital gowns.

This first one is from InStyleMoms.com:


These next few are from DearJohnnies.com:

A Few of My Favorite Things II

In the grand holiday wind-down, I thought I'd share a few of my very favorite little indulgences with you all, since I received some of them in the form of Christmas gifts:)

1. Bliss Foaming Face Wash- I absolutely love this face wash. I have always been very lucky to have been blessed with my mother's great skin, so I never had to worry much about my complexion...until I got pregnant. I noticed my skin becoming somewhat blotchy and definitely subject to the occasional (more like weekly) breakout. I've been using this face wash for a few weeks and my skin looks 100% better. It has a gentle exfoliant and a great smell. Matty was sweet enough to stick some of this in my stocking for me, along with Bliss' amazing lemon sage body butter- I highly recommend both.

2. Votivo Candles- my mom found these several years ago and we have been devoted fans ever since. They are the kind of candles that can smell up an entire floor of your house and the scents are fresh and clean. My personal favorites are red currant and black berry basil. They aren't cheap at around $20/candle, but they do last a while.
3. Beech Cotton Sateen Sheets- I am a bit of a linens snob. I really appreciate having good, soft sheets and linens, as well as towels, washcloths, etc...My dad discovered these at Bed Bath & Beyond about a year ago and I could not believe how soft they are. They are 100% beech cotton which is similar to bamboo cotton in that it is a renewable resource and environmentally friendly, and they really feel like silk when you slip into bed.

4. Lancome Kohl Eye Liner- I am a bit of an eye liner novice in that I have a long ways to go until I have the art perfected. My sister introduced me to this eye liner over Thanksgiving and it is the easiest eye liner to apply I have ever tried. It even gives beginners like me hope.
5. And for any other pregos out there, Gap Maternity! My mom was sweet enough to raid the Gap Maternity in Orlando before she came up for Christmas before she came up to visit, and along with the pieces I picked up at the after Christmas sale, my maternity wardrobe is pretty much set! Here are a few of my favorite pieces.





I also picked up this little number from Ann Taylor Loft Maternity on eBay for $14 (new with tags)!:

6. And lastly, my Florida Gators!! Be sure to watch tonight as we take on Oklahoma for the National Championship! This is really one of the ONLY things that could keep me up past 10 p.m. these days :)

The Food You Crave: Balsamic Chicken with Spinach and Cous Cous

I love watching Ellie Krieger on the Food Network. Ok, I like watching anything on that channel, but I particularly appreciate her healthy yet non-restrictive approach to cooking and eating. So, I decided to get her cookbook. I have a compulsive disease that drives me to buy cookbooks when I barely even use those I already have! It's terrible! My new years resolution is to scour my existing collection for recipes and quit buying new ones! Anyways, I digress...

I cooked this for dinner tonight in our new kitchen while listening to the "Somethings Gotta Give" soundtrack (mostly French music) and felt very gourmet :) Below is the recipe. This probably took me 20 minutes to prepare and is a great, healthy way to kick off the new year :) Apologies in advance for the lack of a picture...

Enjoy!


Ingredients:

3 T. olive oil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1/4 t. salt, plus more to taste

pepper to taste

3 cloves garlic, chopped

8 oz. baby spinach

2 T. balsamic vinegar

1/2 C. low sodium chicken broth

1 cup canned diced tomatoes, with their juices

2 cups hot cooked cous cous (preferably whole wheat) *I added pine nuts to mine- it was delish



1. Heat 1T. oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Cook until browned and just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Remove to a plate.

2. Add 2T. oil to the pan and add the garlic. Cook for one minute. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl.

3. Add the vinegar, broth, and tomatoes to the pan and stir, scraping any browned bits off the bottom. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce is slightly thickened.

4. Divide the cous cous between 4 serving plates. Top with some of the spinach, then a piece of chicken and the balsamic-tomato sauce and serve.

The Kitchen is Done!...well, almost...

As I shared earlier, we have slowly been working to renovate our kitchen. As we've learned, with home ownership, there is Always something to be done!
First we painted the cabinets white from an aged brown color, painted the walls, and this weekend Matt replaced our countertops, and installed a new sink faucet and backsplash, and I am SO happy with the results! I wish I had a better true "before" pictures to share with you, but this will have to do for now. The walls used to be a purple-ish color (with a border), cabinets used to be brown, the countertops were an off-white formica and the backsplash was an off-white plastic backing that matched the countertops.

Countertops before this weekend:


Old cabinet color:


Old wall color:

Behold the after!

We replaced the existing countertops with a black speckled formica called black nebula (our cabinets would not support granite and we didn't meet the square footage minimum for corian, so formica seemed like the way to go), added the previously mentioned new faucet, and installed thermoplastic paneling for the backsplash.

We had a hard time deciding what to do for the backsplash as I originally wanted marble, but my mom discovered this paneling at Lowe's that was really cool and super easy to install- well, seemingly at least. Matt has been working nonstop for two days to do all of this and I know he's glad it's over. All we have left is touch up painting and the kitchen will officially be done.

Now onto Madelyn's room!! :)

Merry Christmas and Happy (impending) New Year!! We had a wonderful Christmas and were both very spoiled. We got to spend lots of time with Matt's family, and my mom drove up from Florida to spend the weekend with us which was so nice. We had so much fun and did lots of prep work for little Madelyn :)

We finally ordered Maddy's nursery furniture and it should be here within 10 days- I am SO excited to get it into her room. My mom also bought her the cutest chandelier I've ever seen for her room and Matt was sweet enough to hang it up for us before she left town. This picture does not do it justice, and it really made it start to look like a little girl's room:)
As you can see in the above picture, the belly is growing every day! We can actually watch it move now when she really gets going which totally freaks Matt out. I am of course completely fascinated by it.

We are so looking forward to the craziness that 2009 has in store for us and can't believe it's only a few months until little Madelyn will be here!!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and have a safe New Years!

Too Cute

I absolutely love these personalized recipe cards at Monogram Chick.com! At just over a dollar a piece, they would make an excellent hostess gift for someone. Or for those of you trying to be more organized in the new year, some inspiration to write all of your recipes down!