Well that happened.

Oops. I think I can probably go down as the worst person with a blog in history. In my defense, the past 2 months have been so busy. I'm going to try to do a quick catch up of the past couple months and what we've been up to!

-The biggest change around here (and the main reason I've been neglecting this thing) is that I got into the Speech Language Pathology program I applied to and started classes June 2nd! It has been great, and I'm loving my classes, but it takes up all my free time. Thankfully I can study during the day at work while the girls nap, but I still have some work to do once I get home. It's going great though, and I couldn't be happier to be in the program!

-Bumper is doing great! He's so smart, and he just got his last round of shots two weeks ago and went to the dog park for the first time. He is still driving Cricket crazy, and whines like he's dying when she leaves his sight. But they're best buds and play all day which is what we wanted! 

-The twins I nanny had their first birthday which I helped make a lot of the decorations for! I have spent just about every day with those two little girls for the past 6 months and just love them so so much. I can't believe they're 1 and had so much fun celebrating! This is the chalkboard sign I made, and I'm pretty in love with it. 

-We are probably about to get pretty busy again here in the next couple of weeks/months. Hopefully I'll be able to share some more on that later, but for now were doing great!

-We spent the 4th of July down in College Station and had a lot of fun! We met some of our friends there and had a great weekend!

We are staying so busy, but we are loving it. It seems to crazy to me that we've been married for 8.5 months. The time is just flying by so quickly but this first year has been the best year and I can't wait to see what else is in store for us the next couple of months! Hopefully it won't be another 2 months until you hear from me again!

DIY colorful gallery wall!

One of my favorites parts of the home to decorate is the mantle. I was so happy when we found out our apartment had a fireplace. Since we moved in right before Christmas I threw something together and was pretty happy with our little Christmas set up. But then when it was time to actually decorate it for the long run, I was stuck. I found a couple things I liked on pinterest, but knew that I wanted some serious color. As you saw from the pillows I made, I'm not afraid of using color, and just love how happy your home is when its bright and colorful! I finally decided on a gallery wall with frames of all shapes, sizes, and colors with the fingerprint tree (the place I ordered from was AMAZING and I would absolutely recommend them!) from our wedding as the focal point. My parents got the tree framed for us, and it is one of my favorite things we own. Sometimes I'll just look at all the fingerprints and remember everyone who was there for our special day!

I knew I didn't want to spend a lot on this project, so we went to the thrift store and got a pile of frames all for under $25. We didn't worry about the color of them, I just wanted a variety of shapes, textures, and sizes and knew I could paint anything if I didn't like the color. We even got an awesome mirror that turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the wall for $3.

After we had all the frames we taped off a rectangle on the ground so we knew how much room we were working with and then laid them all out. And then we moved them all around. And then I changed my mind and we moved them around again. And then I finally decided that I was happy with how it was laid out. (I actually rearranged it a couple more times before it made its way to the wall).

We picked our paint colors and decided which colors would go where. And then we got a puppy and the project was put on hold, because when you have a dog who things the world is his chew toy, you don't want your DIY pride and joy on the ground.

It took a little longer than expected, but I finally finished painting the frames and was ready to get them on the wall. This part was the trickiest-we used a combination of nails and command strips to hang all of the pictures which worked great. For this part I recommend a level, a step stool, and a very patient husband who won't mind when you want to move a frame a half of a centimeter to the left. I know I'm new to this marriage thing, but I strongly believe that few things test the strength of a marriage more than hanging things on the wall. But I'm so glad I did move that frame to the left because the end result is seriously perfect. Every time I walk through the door its the first thing I see and I just smile. Some of the frames are from our engagement pictures. Some are from our wedding. Some cost $.25 at a thrift store. But I love all of them and am SO happy with how it turned out! Maybe eventually I would think about adding a couple small things, but for now, I wouldn't change a thing!

The Newest DeBoom!

As I mentioned briefly before, we added a fluffy new family member a couple of weeks ago and we couldn't be happier! 

Meet Bumper!

He's a border collie and is about 9 weeks old-we got him when he was 6 weeks old and its crazy how much he's grown the past few weeks!

He is a ball of energy and is either going 100 miles an hour, or asleep.  

His favorite past time is driving Cricket crazy-they run laps around the apartment, wrestle, and play until they both pass out

He's getting much better with the house training, and is figuring everything out! 

We are so glad that Bumper and Cricket get along so great and although it gets pretty rowdy when they start going at it, we are so glad we added the crazy little guy to the family!

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom's birthday is April 3rd, and my sister and I knew we wanted to do something special for her, after all you only turn 29 once, right Mom? Sharlee and I got to scheming and the first plan was for her to fly in and surprise my mom with a girls weekend at First Monday Trade Days in Canton, TX. If you have never been to First Monday, you HAVE to go. My mom loves it and has always talked about wanting to stay at a bed and breakfast so that you have more time for shopping, so we knew that was what we wanted to do. We also thought it would be so much fun to fly in my aunt and have her surprise my mom with us. So the Friday of my mom's birthday we picked up my aunt from the airport, got some lunch, and picked up a coffee for my mom and surprised her at her school where her students were taking a test. I wish I had a picture of her reaction when she saw us standing at the door, but it was pretty great. We had a quiet first night with pedicures and pizza and hit the road early on Saturday to start shopping. We didn't end up buying too much-scarves because it ended up being cold and a couple other small things, but it really was the perfect girls weekend. We checked in to the bed and breakfast and it was a super cute little house called the Azaela House. It had a beautiful backyard with a pool, and hot tub that we enjoyed until the thunder and lightning chased us out. Then we spent the night drinking wine, playing games, and just having the best time. The next morning, the weather turned out to be pretty crummy-pouring rain and storms-but we didn't let that stop us and we headed back out to check out the second half of the shops. The second half of the shops happened to include the puppy area, where breeders come to sell the puppies they have. Ross and I had been talking about getting a second dog for awhile-Cricket LOVES to play with other dogs, and since we both work during the day we liked the idea of there being another dog there during the day. So when we got to the puppy area, and I saw this sweet little face staring back at me

well, I made the biggest purchase of the weekend which deserves a whole post of its own. But it was definitely a wonderful way to round out the best weekend ever. My sister and I just wanted to make sure my mom had the birthday she deserves and I think we did that. We had a perfect weekend full of laughing, celebrating, and I can't wait for the next trip we take together!

12 Dates A Year-March

This weekend ended up being absolutely beautiful and really was the perfect weekend to spend outside at the Dallas Arboretum. We started the day at Torchys tacos, which was delicious-seriously the best breakfast tacos ever, and then headed to the Arboretum around noon.

The Arboretum just happens to be on the very same lake we got married at. It was so fun to drive by and see the very place we started our life together! Crazy to think that was 5 months ago!

If you live in the DFW area, and haven't been to the Dallas Arboretum, you really need to go. It's absolutely beautiful, and because it's so huge it doesn't feel crowded at all, even though the parking lot told a different story. I took a couple pictures, but for the most part I put my camera up and just enjoyed the company!

We had a great time walking around, looking at all the flowers

taking breaks to sit on the benches,

and just taking the time to stop and smell the roses-or other flowers that I don't know the name of. Clearly I should have paid more attention in Floral Design in college. 

We couldn't have asked for better weather, and will definitely be back. And what better way to finish a beautiful day than with cupcakes outside?

 

I know I sound like a broken record but I just can't thank my brother and sister enough for this gift. We have had the BEST times on the dates so far and have gotten to do things we never would have thought to do. And as of today I have been married to this guy for 5 months, and there is absolutely no one I'd rather do life with!

For April we get to head to the Fort Worth Zoo! We can't wait!

A whole lot of nothing

Our last two weekends have been so different from every other weekend since we moved to Fort Worth. For the first two months that we lived here we were BUSY. Friends coming to visit weekend after weekend, trips to Austin, and just exploring the new city we live in kept our weekends full. It has been SO nice these past two weekends when our biggest event was a trip to Ikea-where we got nothing that we needed but plenty of things we didn't. We've had lunch with our parents, checked out some antique stores, cleaned the apartment, did some laundry, gone to the store, watched some movies and done a little bit of sewing. I never thought I could enjoy weekends of nothing so much, but sometimes it is so nice to just recharge after a long week. This weekend we're planning a trip to the Dallas Arboretum thanks to my brother and sister for our March date and I'm so excited and hoping the weather cooperates so we don't have to reschedule. Our weekends of nothing are coming to an end in April but I'm excited for our plans and am ready to get busy again! My moms birthday and Ross's birthday are both in early April and I'm sure we'll find something fun to do for both of those, then it's Easter, and then my very best friend and her husband are coming to visit and I'm SO excited to see them! Until then, I plan on enjoying our last low key weekend, and maybe even finishing up the latest sewing project I've been working on! Here's a little sneak peak! I know 2 little babies who will look quite adorable in these Easter onesies when they're done.

That time we went to 6 grocery stores to make dinner

Typically on Sunday nights we will plan out dinner for the week and go to the grocery store to get stuff for the week. I had found a recipe for shrimp coconut curry and was super excited to try it Monday night. I've made quite a few things from the website and they've all been delicious. We went to albertsons and got everything that we needed except for fish sauce. It wasn't a big deal, I could stop by a different store on my way home from work and pick it up. I had to go to Target on Monday anyway to pick up a few things and figured I'd just pick some up there-NOPE. No big deal, there was a World Market right next door so I could just run in there and get it. I was sure they would have it-after all it's called WORLD market and fish sauce is one of the most common Thai cooking ingredients. Again-NOPE. Now don't get me wrong-I know fish sauce isn't exactly a household staple, but as far as Asian ingredients go, it's a relatively common one that I have used before and Ross had atleast heard of it and I did not at all expect this many issues trying to find it. I decided to try Walmart where this conversation happened

And just incase you're in the market for some disgusting giant snail shells-walmart is your place! Who knew?!

Also, take note of two things from this conversation: 1- Ross is the best. Clearly I was very much over this cooking dinner thing, so he suggests I pick up Chinese food. Winner. 2- I was so desperate/stubborn that I was willing to buy fish sauce from AMAZON. We are now at a total of 4 grocery stores and I am not willing to admit defeat by this point. Ross looked around online and it looked like Trader Joes carried it, so it was perfect! He could pick it up on his way home on Tuesday, the curry was saved! Well fast forward to Tuesday when I get the dreaded text that Trader Joes had let us down-words I never thought I'd say. Fortunately there was a Central Market right around the corner who I called before sending my husband to another grocery store. And although I tried not to get too excited based on our past experiences, they said they carried it. I was half way home from work and hadn't heard from him yet when this happened

I never thought I'd be so excited about fish sauce. But I was. And the curry was delicious. And because it only took two teaspoons of the GIANT bottle, we shouldn't be having a repeat of the Fish Sauce Hunt of 2014 anytime soon. This is the recipe we used and I would absolutely recommend it, just make sure to place your amazon order for fish sauce ahead of time. 

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/03/thai-coconut-curry-shrimp.html?m=1