The Back Splash

Finally the back splash is done! We may add a knife rails but the tiling is done!

Before:

After:

The only thing we have left to do is seal the grout which is not necessary but Brian and I think we should give ourselves that extra protection with me cooking :)

We love it! The blues and the gray tie in with our tile and the black and the silver tie in with the appliances. We think this one job makes our kitchen look so much nicer and more finished.

I just wish it didn't take so long :-\

So close yet so far....

My parents are moving down this weekend and I am so excited! It cannot come soon enough! But we have a lot of cleaning to do!

Still working on getting back splash pictures for you. Unfortunately the project is still not done. We are waiting on our "friend" to come back and finish the final touches which should only take about 30 minutes at most but he hasnt shown up yet. As soon as he comes I will get those pictures up.

Still going to the gym but only at lunch. The extra hour at home is great. I can a chance to relax and get everything done. I haven't noticed a change in my weight which is good.

It is going to be 100 degrees this weekend! Ugh! Not ready for that to start.

I am doing pretty good at this comment challenge but it takes a long time to comment on ten blogs. I do not want to just say "hi" which makes my comments a little lengthy! But I am having a blast and finding even more blogs to follow.

Chicken Paprikash and Oven Rice

I haven't posted a recipe in awhile and I needed to post something for all those commenters so what better then one of our favorite recipes.

My mom found this either in a magazine or newspaper back when I was in High School I think and it has been a family favorite ever since.

It has two parts, the Chicken Paprikash and then the Oven Rice

Chicken Paprikash

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon Hungarian paprika

12 pieces chicken (thighs, legs, breasts) about 6 pounds, trimmed

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 cup homemade or low sodium canned chicken stock

½ cup sour cream

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1) Heat the oil in a very large, deep skillet over medium-high heat

2) Add the onion and cook, stirring until tender

3) Add the paprika

4) Sprinkle the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt

5) Place in skillet with the onion

6) Add stock, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes

7) Turn the chicken and simmer until tender, another 40 minutes

8) It is cooked when the meat starts to fall off the bone

9) Put the sour cream into a bowl and stir in ½ cup broth from the skillet

10) Stir mixture back in to the skillet

11) Dissolve cornstarch in 1 tablespoon cold water

12) Stir cornstarch mixture into the skillet and cook for 3 minutes

13) Season to taste with salt and serve with oven rice

 Oven Rice:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1.5 cups white rice, rinsed

1 small onion, peeled and chopped

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 stalks celery with leaves, diced

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

3 cups homemade or low-sodium chicken stock

1) Preheat oven to 350F

2) Heat the butter in a medium pan over medium high heat

3) Add the onion, celery, parsley and cook stirring until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes

4) Spread the rice over the bottom of an 8X8 baking dish

5) Sprinkle with salt and pepper and spread the onion mixture on top

6) Put the stock in the same pan used to cook the onion and bring to a boil

7) Pour it over the rice

8) Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake in the bottom half of the oven for 40-45 minutes until all liquid is absorbed

9) It can sit on the stove top until the chicken is finished

 I usually start the getting the rice together to put in the oven after I get the chicken simmering for the first 40 minutes. I am a slow poke so by the time I get the rice ready to be put in the oven it is time to flip the chicken. If you can get the rice in the oven at the same time as you flip the chicken the in the rice and chicken finish at about the same time.

No pictures because I am exhausted but it is yummy

The Dream Honeymoon....

That has turned into the dream 5 year anniversary trip

A couple Saturdays ago I got online and planned what I wanted to be our honeymoon. It was great, I loved it. But it was expensive.

I was still trying hard to not give up on my dream/idea of a "proper" honeymoon which had two major components: Out of country and at least a week or so. So I had been looking at Canada and had narrowed it down to Nova Scotia.

Down side? Spirit Air does not fly to Halifax and through my parents generosity and a deal Spirit was doing, if we used Spirit we wouldn't have to pay for the air plane tickets. We could fly to Toronto, Montreal or even Maine but those are 8-13 hour flights themselves and then we would have to drive 9-10 hours just to get there. And for us it is not worth that. There are plenty of Airlines that do fly to Halifax but those tickets are expensive.

But I decided to plan it anyway just to see what I would end up with. I was working with your vacation time over Labor Day. With only taking 4 days off we can be out of work for 9. Perfect opportunity!

Our Itinerary:

September 1: Halifax Metro
-Fly in and stay at A Paddle and Ponder Guest House

September 2: Halifax Metro and South Shore
-Tour Alexander Keith's Nova Scotia Brewery
-Check out Bedford Institute of Oceanography
-Spend the night at Atlantica Hotel & Marina Oak Island

September 3: Yarmouth and South Shore
-See Cape Forchu Lightstation
-Stay at 1775 Solomon House

September 4: Fundy Shore
-Take a cruise with Brier Island Whale & Seabird Cruises
-Go on a graveyard tour with Candlelight Graveyard Tours 
-Stay at Admiral Digby Inn

September 5: Fundy Shore
-Go visit the Avondale Sky Winery
-Stay at A Seafairing Maiden 

September 6: Fundy Shore
-Go see Blomidon Inn Gardens 
-Drink more wine at Blomidon Inn Gardens
-Stay at Annapolis Royal Inn 

September 7: Eastern Shore, Northumberland, Fleur De Lis
-Visit the Canso Museum: Whitman House 
-Visit the Arisaig Lighthouse
-Stay at Annfield Manor

September 8: Halifax Metro
-Take a tour with Tattle Tours
-Visit Cole Harbour Heritage Farm Museum 
-Stay at A Paddle & Ponder Guest House

September 9:
-Fly home :(

We are basically seeing Nova Scotia in a circle starting and ending in Halifax. If/When we go on this trip we may tweak where were are staying but that is pretty much the foundation of the trip. I tried to plan fun things to do but leave time to relax or do something else we hadn't heard about.

What are we currently thinking about for the Honeymoon? Vegas! No gambling (maybe a quarter to say we have done it) but day trips like visiting the Hoover Dam, visiting Bonnie Ranch, etc. I will post on that once we narrow things down.

3rd Annual Comment Challenge

Hi Everyone!

This is a quick post because I have to leave for work in about 5 minutes but I wanted to make sure I had something up for today. You may even get 2 posts ;).

I am doing the 3rd Annual Comment Challenge again where I am going to try and post everyday and comment on at least 10 other blogs each day. I had a blast last year so I was looking forward to it again this year but it caught me by surprise. (seems to be a pattern going on here....)

This week is pretty hectic with work and my parents moving down (YAYAYAYYAYAY!!!!!) so I will do my best!

Today's topic is about me:

My name is Rachel and I am a newly wed. My husband Brian and I just got married on March 3, 2012. We bought a house New Years Eve 2011 and moved in January 1st 2012. We did not have the best building experience. We are doing our honeymoon in March with friends from the way it looks like now. We hopefully will have a little one on his/her way relatively soon.

Currently we are just working, trying to relax and get some house projects done.

So that is us in about 5 minutes time!

Show Us Your Life: Dining Room

I am late again but this time with a good excuse!

Our dining room was being painted this weekend so I thought I should at least weight till it was done being painted! The dining room can't be called finished until next weekend or so when our dining room set comes down so I will post a finished finished picture later next week. But this is as close to finished as we have ever seen it. And yes I know I haven't posted the back splash...I will we are just waiting on one small thing to be finished before it is all put together. If it makes you feel any better until we get that one small thing done our kitchen can't be put back completely.

So on to the Dining Room:

Before:

Our dining room is in a great central location which made moving really easy. Everything that didn't have an obvious home went into the dining room and we have since been working on getting everything out of the dining room. It has also been the area for big pieces of trash and where we keep the paint/tile/things we need for the project. Before we painted it was the emptiest it had ever been.

During:

We have had some set backs with who was going to paint it. The person we were originally going to use got called into work so my friend Andy who used to work at the hotel offered to do it! He found out Friday at about 10am and was here Saturday at about 9:30 am. He also did the will be nursery which I love but that is another post ;)

After in the early evening with lights on:

Yes, house is a mess but this shows how the room blends with the other rooms

After the next morning, no light:

I absolutely love it! The color is Icy Teal by Glidden but we used Behr Paint. It is a very soft blue green color. While we have that large window and could get away with a darker color, Brian is very sensitive to the light and we have the blinds closed all the time. Also, all the other rooms will have such light colors I didn't want to go so dark that it would look odd. The socket covers are off, those are being put back on tomorrow night but otherwise it is done :) Next stop furniture!!!

Carley!

This past Wednesday I got to babysit Carley for a few hours in the afternoon while her parents said good bye to a friend and workmate. Of course I took a ton of pictures!

She has gotten so tall and has so much hair! Blondish too which is surprising to me. Apparently her mom was once blonde like me (now a very pretty brunette) so they think that is where the light hair is coming from.

Just look at those cheeks and curls!

"Yes, Rachel we share the love of Penguins!"

"I want to say cheese!"

We read stories....

Played dress up...

"But I want the camera!"

Don't worry Daddy! Her Daddy is raising her right! Cutest little Giant's fan!

First outfit change

She wanted me to put the hat on..

Getting sleepy!

At this point the night got interesting. Put her down, she was quiet and laying down so all was good. Then I noticed on the video machine she had taken off her diaper. I go into put diaper on and it was then PARTY time. Could not get her to quiet down until about 10:30ish. I kept trying to put her back but she would scream and cry and I couldn't let her do that and they have neighbors and I am not sure what her parents do so I kept hanging out with her

She is so not sleeping

Notice the different pj pants

"I will scream if you put me back in my crib"

I did get her back down at 10:30. She didn't go to sleep at 10:30 but she was content to be quiet in her crib and take her diaper off again. At that point I had decided that I wasn't going back in, she was fine and I would just let her parents know about the diaper. I did not want her to be awake when her parents got home. We had a good laugh about her taking off her diaper. I thought this was the first time she did this but it wasn't which did make me feel better. I thought I had somehow taught her bad trick

She was so sweet and so much fun. She was perfect! The only issue of the night is the one I caused. It was a late night but I did enjoy my Carley time!

Show Us Your Life: Bedrooms

I am late as usual linking up with Kelly Korner's Show Us Your Life. This week has been very busy so even though I had less work to do getting the bedrooms prepped I did not have time during the week like I thought I would.

This week is Bedrooms. You have seen the Master before but I took more recent pictures. You have also seen our guest bedroom but I am going to re-post those as well. I was going to include what will be the nursery but will be another guest room until then but it just isn't ready so I will wait on that one.

Oh, I should also point out that my nice, newly cleaned kitchen is in shambles at the moment. The back splash is being finished as I type this and while it looks wonderful I realize I have become more like my Mom like I thought because the mess is driving me nuts.

Okay onto the rooms that are actually neat and clean...for the most part:

The Master Bedroom:

This is what you see walking into the Master Bedroom area. To the right is the living room and the wall on the left is the stairs to the upstairs.

This is what I have on the bookcase. The top picture is my brother and I, the picture on the second frame is Gamma, me and Dad at my 8th grade graduation, third shelf has random photo's of Brian and the 4th shelf is my dad and me in Ireland and my and my high school best friend Kristen. The yellow ducky on the second shelf will move into the nursery. There is also a basset hound ornament next to the yellow ducky.

This is a close up of the picture of Gamma, me and Dad. The frame is a wedding present from my brother.

And then you turn around and you see the main entry of the Master Bedroom

Our bed, we don't need the box springs but they were put on when the bed was set up and Brian loves the height. I don't mind the height but I don't like how it looks. The wall decoration is a bridal shower gift from my mom. The left side of the bed is Brian's

 Please forgive the paint chip, we are going to at some point paint this room as well. The dresser is Brian's and the chest with the TV is my dresser. The painting on the wall was done by Gamma.

Looking from the main window out. The closed doors will lead to the Master bathroom and walk in closet. I couldn't get Brian to put away his clothes so those are hidden in the closet/bathroom so no pictures of those yet!

A close up of what we have on our bed. From the left: Squishable Pekin Duck, Squishable Mallard, Baby, Squishable Penguin, "get well" duck, and Squishable Cow,. The squishable animals will be what I will use to measure how big our babies will be in their monthly photo's.. They are big and fluffy, we sleep in a king size bed to help show how big they are.

The Guest Room:

I am recycling photo's but you will get the idea :)

These curtains are no longer like this, we have blind and trim like we have in the rest of the house

The above is what you see when you first walk in to the room

Looking from the bed to the wall. And the only reason I have so many PINK dogs is because I used to work for VS. Since the above picture we found more books and the book shelf is now fuller.

This painting was also done by Gamma. Looks a bit high here but doesn't seem this high in person. The chest to the left of the bed is also no longer there. It is in my master closet.

View looking from right front wall diagonally back before the picture was put up

The next two photo's are of the bathroom that the guest room and nursery will share. There is a small hall way connecting the two rooms. To the left would be the nursery, the middle door is bathroom and to the right is the guest room.

Old picture o me as well :)

So there you have it! The master bedroom and guest room. The Master Bedroom will have some work done to it but not much. No immediate plans for the guest room.

Next week is Dining Rooms which will be interesting because the next day the dining room will be painted and our dining room furniture comes at the end of June so I will do another post when then dining room is finished as well. I should be able to do the "before" pictures on time though :)

Personal To Do list update

I am ahead of myself in my personal To Do list. This month is June so I had done finishing Xavier's First Birthday book.

I use Shutterfly. I have tried Webshots and had to fire them after they switched companies and lost 19 photobooks I had made and was waiting to order. I have tried Snapfish and I liked them except for whatever reason I could not upload pictures to their site and they charged to send them a CD of pictures so I had to switch companies. I then found Shutterfly. I have never had an issue uploading my pictures but even if I did I can send them a CD and they will upload them for me at no additional cost. Shutterfly is very pleased that I switched to them. I use them for everything. All of my photo books, my prints and photo cards.

Anyway, Shutterfly was having a great sale back in early May. Shutterfly is always having discounts so I always feel like I have saved money. I had seen this sale before so I knew they were going to have it again but would they do it again in June? I wasn't sure so I opted to do Xavier's book then.

As always, it was an easy and fun process and three days later I had Xavier's book! Delivered it to Jenn on Memorial Day and she loved it! She was so surprised (that can happen when you give someone a birthday gift 9 months late) and loved the book just as much as the first one.

Next month is July which I am to print all of my wedding photo's so I can create my own, old fashioned photo albums!. Stay tuned for that story

Show Us Your Life: Kitchens

This is late because I misread the schedule. Oops! I was all prepared to do bedrooms and then I saw everyone's kitchen!

My kitchen needed major organization before I could really show it to the world so I spent all morning working in it. I know Kelly said she wanted it real but I couldn't show it the way it was. Plus I was feeling all domestic for some reason.

 Good news though! All of the wedding presents (except the Kitchenaid Mixer, that is waiting on a project) have found a home in the kitchen! They are no longer sitting on the floor of our Master Bedroom closet! Things will be moved around when my parents move down due to the furniture they are bringing us but they have found a temporary home at least that is not a closet floor!

So on to the kitchen!

Looking in from the dining room

View from the breakfast nook to the dining room

Over all I like our kitchen. Doesn't have a lot of counter space but it suits us well. 

The view from the living room

The view from the stove out

Where we keep important papers and the home phone that doesnt work :)

The incredibly unorganized pantry, Mom HELP!

Closer look at the stove area

The following pictures are a close up of the breakfast nook. The table we have in there now is the table we used to use as a dining room table in the apartment. We thought we would use it as a dining room table here but it was WAY too small so in the kitchen it went. This is with the leaf out and it still shockingly works. I do wish it was round, a round table would work better aesthetically but for now this works.

The kitchen itself isn't done quite yet so there will be another post about the kitchen within the next few weeks. Next weekend we are tiling the back splash so I don't ruin the walls with my cooking ;). We are also creating a desk where the trash can is. The top will be made of butchers block and the bottom will either have shelves for cookie sheets, etc or a hinged drawer where we will keep the kitchen aid mixer.