101 in 1001 Update

I promised I'd be checking in and so, here I am!  =)

*~*Day 47 of 1001 *~*

So far the following has been accomplished...

 33. Pay off Mark's Loans

January 30, 2011

Mark's return bonus came in from our time in Texas and we were able to make one big final payment -- Praise the Lord!

44. Establish a family calendar

January 18, 2011

Mom gave us a calendar for Christmas (tradition) so I sat down and filled it with birthdays and our regular schedules so that we can both more successfully keep track what's going on in our life together.  Yay organization!

45. Complete 'vows' project

February 14, 2011

While I was sick in bed with the plague, I was motivated to finish editing our photos and put this project together just in time to give to my hubby for Valentine's Day.  Ultimately I want to put them in custom 8x10 frames with a mat, but this is going to make due until we have extra money floating around to make that happen.  =)

48. Groom our dogs at home

January 23, 2011

This was less scary than I thought!  I did cut a few nails into the quick on Skylar, for which I felt horrible about and spent the evening coddling him to make up for it.  But all in all, I thought his hair cut {which I was most nervous about} turned out adorable!

69. Get the house rekeyed

February 9, 2011

For an affordable $170 The Lock Doctor put all eight of our door locks back on one key {as opposed to 5 separate keys -- praise the Lord!}, even fixed the lock on our storm door and adjusted our strike plate so we don't have to body slam the front door to close it anymore.  =D  The Lock Doctor comes highly recommended from the Young household!

91. Make chicken and dumplings

January 18, 2011

Okay, they weren't good, but I made them.  This item is going to remain in the 'take another swing at it if time allows' pile.  ;)

...and the following are works in progress...

9. Make a T-shirt quilt from GAL shirts

I've got all of my shirts cut to size, filler/backing material and thread purchased.  Now I've just got to get brave enough to start sewing!  {I'm nervous about having my quilt turn out crooked.}

24. Complete 5 crafts in my "Whit's Projects" folder

I have completed my first two projects of five.  The first was ribbon covered baby clips.  I gave these to my dear friend Britney for her little Piglet who is due any day now!  The second was making sweater wrist warmers, which I am in love with.

25. Complete a 5k

I am signed up for a race on April 9th and started training today.  

Here is the training schedule I'm following.

51. Paint the interior of our home

Paint samples and supplies are purchased and we're gearing up!  I am still wrestling with finding the correct shade for a "robin's egg blue" ...I'm sure you'll see a post on that soon.  ;)

55. Complete our landscaping project

Back in January we ran back and forth with three truck/trailer loads of FREE landscaping rock from a friend who wanted to get rid of theirs.  Praise the Lord for free provision!  Now we wait for warmer weather to start digging trenches where we will build our natural rock wall.

62. Put pictures in all our empty frames

I decided to work one room at a time with this and, again while sick with the plague, printed off some cute pictures to fill the frames in our bedroom first. 

66. Create a gift-wrapping/crafting organization station

I found this awesome gift wrap organization bag at Big Lots a few weeks back for $3!  Yes please.  So that area is finally contained and just the other day I had a few brilliant ideas for the crafting organization... it will be happening soon!

And that's what I've been up to lately!

Already I'm so surprised by how much I've accomplished and how many of the items in progress are coming along so quickly!  This is definitely a fun way to keep track and stay motivated...

If you would like to check out the original "101 in 1001" post you can click here.  I'll be updating it with completion dates and links to update posts {such as this one} as I go.

Chicken Quesadilla Salad

Some have requested the recipe for my chicken quesadilla salad so lucky you, I've decided to share!  ;)

My initial motivation to pursue this tasty meal stemmed from my all-time favorite salad at Chili's: The Quesadilla Explosion Salad.

I was craving this fav salad of mine for dinner one night while we were in Texas, an hour away from the nearest Chili's and too cheap to pay to eat out even if it had been in our back yard.  So I started racking my brain for what I could remember in the salad that I loved oh so much... and this is what I created!

Ingredients:

chicken breast

onion

garlic

salt

pepper

crushed red pepper

garlic salt

corn

bell peppers

beans of choice

cilantro

lettuce

shredded cheddar cheese

sour cream

vinaigrette salad dressing

taco seasoning

tortilla strips

I know, seems like a long ingredient list, but it's truly a simple and tasty meal to prepare!

Instructions:

Dice chicken (bite size), onion and garlic and saute in skillet.  Season with salt, pepper, red pepper and garlic salt.  When chicken is cooked through, reduce heat to simmer and add corn, bell peppers (diced) and beans (I'm not a bean fan, but I added it to the recipe because there are beans on my fav salad at Chili's so, you know, if you're a bean person...).  Let simmer until veggies are tender.

{Portions and chicken:veggie ratio is really up to what you prefer... if you like more chicken or more veggies... whatever!}

Meanwhile, mix 2-3 tablespoons (or to taste preference) taco seasoning into vinaigrette salad dressing. {I've tried a few different options and my absolute favorite dressing to use for this is Kraft Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette}

Top shredded lettuce with chicken & veggies then add toppings as desired {cheese, sour cream, dressing, tortilla strips}... Slice a cheese quesadilla into fourths and lay them around the sides of the salad.

Enjoy!

PS, My hubby's grandma has the most amazing recipe for taco seasoning which is what I use, but I can't find the recipe card right now so I linked a rather generic taco seasoning recipe that I've also used before -- it's still good, just not as good as grandma's, of course.  ;)  If there are any specific requests for it, I can post it separately another time.

Once upon a Saturday...

So I mentioned that Saturday was a super fabulous day, right?

Now I want to show you why!

First of all, a little background knowledge...

You see, when we bought our home in December of 2008 I was SO excited to pick out paint colors and get to work, but life seems to have thrown us one curve ball after another.  First, our stack of Lowe's giftcards from our wedding were stolen out of my vehicle.  Then we moved to Texas and all nesting was delayed for another year.  Well we're finally back but I've had a hay-day trying to choose my colors!

A couple of weeks ago hubs and I headed off to the farm to visit his Grandma and Grandpa Young.  I took with me a Better Homes and Gardens magazine (which I later found out my hubby's other grandmother, Meema, signed me up for, YAY!)  Well while Mark was borrowing his grandpa's welding equipment, grandma and I sat inside discussing paint colors... and she helped me make my decision!

This is the basic color pallet I ended up deciding on for the main level of the house...

{Substitute the "Robin's Egg" blue shade shown in the picture of the wall to the right in place of the "Jamaican Aqua."}

The "Robin's Egg" blue is going to go in the kitchen and across the back wall of our house which spans into the dining room.  The light yellow/cream color is for the rest of the main level, stairway and landing on the second floor.  The other colors pictured, plus a few extra rich tones, will be implemented through accessories such as throws, curtains, pillows, etc.

And this "Safari Beige" is what I am painting the interior of the front/back/garage doors as well as an accent wall at the top of our stairs where I hope to hang a beautiful piece of artwork {yet to be found}.

Now, fast forward back to Saturday.

In some discussion about what to do with our day, my wonderful husband suggested an impromptu trip to Lowe's to pick up some paint supplies and samples of the colors I've finally settled on.  

Yippee!!!

Based on the color of the cards I'm pretty sure the front three are the swatches I want.  But I grabbed a back up cream and blue for samples just in case.  We'll see if these match what I have in mind and then go from there...

Due to a rather eventful remainder of the weekend, we've not yet streaked our walls with these beautiful colors, but it sounds like tomorrow is the day and I am pumped!

{I'm sure I'll be posting pictures.}

So at this point I am in painting, decorating and nesting heaven, right?  

Then my hubby suggests we take a walk to the newly opened ReStore by our home.  I wasn't nearly as pumped about this as I had been about the paint chip trip, but he's been bugging me since the store opened to go check it out.  Besides, I too was curious enough about what kinds of deals we might find there.  So we donned our coats and headed out on a walk.

We'd only been in the store maybe 15 minutes when I spotted the triple dresser of my dreams and these beauties to match it.

{Excuse the poor quality pictures, these were taken with my phone.}

Solid oak; the dresser and armoire were $60 a piece and the nightstands $20 a piece bringing the grand total to $160 for the lot of 'em.

After several minutes of deliberation and a picture text/phone call to my mother for another woman's opinion {though I LOVE ornate furniture, I'm actually quite the weenie about diving into it myself} I finally convinced myself that this is the furniture I've been scouring craigslist in search of for months.

We bought it.

An hour later the moving party arrived {thanks mom, dad & sara!} and our new furniture came home!

A bit of TLC...

...and three containers of disinfecting wipes later...

...and Voila!

The hubs loves the beautiful armoire and quickly claimed it as his own.

Which was fine by me...
because I am in love with this beautiful piece...

...and I have claimed this gorgeous triple dresser as my very own.  

The night stands won't be finding a home in our bedroom as they're rather bulky and our room isn't too terribly big.  We're certain we'll use them somewhere though and for $20 a pop, what a deal!

TLC yet to be given will include a fresh coat of paint {the previous owners appear to have rather hastily coated the set with black spray paint...}, a little sanding around the edges and "antique-ifying" as well as finding new hardware and a really, really large mirror to sit atop the triple dresser.

I can visualize the finished product and I can't wait!

I'm thinking a cream paint with a rich brown glaze... 
Opinions?
Suggestions?

Today was a super fabulous day.

My Saturday started out directionless. 

Thanks to my loving and spontaneous hubs, it turned out awesome.

We made trips to Lowe's and the ReStore and scored some major finds at both places!

I have progress pictures coming soon and more explanation in the future {like future tomorrow}, but for now, I just really need to sleep.  =)

I'll be sleeping peacefully with visions of taping, painting and antiquing dancing in my head!

PS, I feel it is necessary to emphasize at this moment that my hubby is quite the catch.  I love him so dearly and am so blessed that he loves me dearly as well -- so much that he gives up a Saturday tinkering in his garage to nurture my long suppressed nesting compulsions.   =D

Thanks, babe.

Xoxoxo

A good "rainy day" post...

It's a dreary day outside.

I'm not sure "rainy" {in the title} is fitting as it's been hopping between rain, sleet and snow all day, so we'll just leave it at dreary.

Well it's been a few days so I figure it's time for a new post.

Sometimes I get these great ideas for posts that I get really excited about and spend an hour or two thinking through, editing photos and putting together... other times {like now} a random idea just pops into my head and I like it.

Today, I've decided to tell you some tid bits about myself...
and since it's always more fun with pictures... =)

I just bought my first Coach purse... and clearly I love it.

I'll take flats to heels, ANY day.

Love snow, prefer the beach... by a long shot. 

Berries are like their own separate food group to me... LOVE them.

Love this guy... our wedding was practically themed around him!

I have an unhealthy obsession with chocolate.

LOVE my babies, Bayley and Skylar, even if they are a pain every now and then.  =)

It's a good thing my husband is mature, because I'm definitely the child in the relationship.

Love Glee (when it's appropriate) and believe my life would be darn near perfect if we all randomly broke out into song and dance.

I've gone Mac... and I'll never go back.  =D

I love to take pictures.  Didn't say I was good at it, but I love it just the same.

FAV coffee joint.

Favorite shows of the moment...

Human Target

Lie to Me

Castle

Big fan of Mr. Sparks right now... loving his works and relaxing opportunities to curl up on the couch with some of his writings.


I guess that's about all for now!

Also, I'm getting frustrated with the formatting of this blog post... for some reason it's not playing nice.

So there you have it folks.  A bit of random nonsense about myself... and now you know me just a teensy bit better.  =)

Happy dreary "wintery mix" day... I'm off to curl up with my current novel of Mr. Sparks... True Believer.  =)