...And I want a brick back splash...

I'm pretty sure my husband thought I was crazy when I said this.  We were planning out our kitchen remodel.  We had just uncovered the back of our fireplace in the dining room and decided to leave it open to the room - which you can see from the kitchen.  How cool would it be to have a brick back splash to coordinate??  VERY.

We talked about several ways to do this - cutting the faces off of brick seemed to be the best option, so that we could then set it like tile in the back splash area. There isn't room for a full brick - it would take up too much of the counter space and wouldn't fit behind the faucet.  So, something had to be done to make it work better.

Enter "thinbrick."  It's brick veneer basically.  5/8" thick slices of bricks designed to face a wall.  PERFECT.

Bryan had the morning off last Friday and set out to work on the back splash.  By the time I got home, he had finished setting basically half of the bigger section.  Oh my goodness.  It looks FABULOUS.  I could not be happier.  It's absolutely wonderful.

We worked together to finish putting up the bricks on Sunday.  Bryan used dowels for spacers to make sure we had a good distance between each brick.  We again had to fight our non-square house by splitting the differences between the counter tops and the walls to make it LOOK like everything was lined up.  Levels don't do a whole lot of good around here except to tell you just how off things are :).

Let's talk a little bit about tile saws - wet saws.  They are MESSY.  They leave you covered in cakey dirt and apparently make your left shoulder wet and your hair feel like a brillo pad.  I was in charge of making the cuts on Sunday afternoon and, well, a picture says a thousand words!

After letting them set up for a couple of days, it was time for mortar.  This stuff is a little tricky - especially when you're using it on a porous surface like brick.  Any that gets where you don't want it and dries is basically there for good, so you have to be a stickler for wiping messes up as they happen or you're stuck forever!

So, it still lacks the electrical outlet plates, but otherwise, it's DONE!  Love love love it.  Love my fantastic husband for entertaining my crazy ideas.  It turned out perfectly!

Freezing Veggies - Brrrr...it's cold in here!

Freezing Veggies.

A couple of nights ago, we had tacos for dinner.  I like to add a little onion and green pepper to ground beef as it cooks for tacos.  Usually, when I chop onions, they make me cry, though, so I don't like doing it.  It doesn't really sting too badly, but I just get SUPER watery eyes - like dripping on the floor cannot stop the flow watery eyes.

Also, I don't use a whole onion very often in one night - and it might be a while until I need a little more, etc.  So, here's my solution:  ICE CUBE TRAYS.  That is right - the ones I use now came in packs of 2 from the dollar tree.  Here's the process I use:

1.  Peel the onion/seed the pepper/peel the carrot, or whatever veggie it is.
2.  Put it in the food processor (by the way, I got an awesome hand blender that doubles as a food processor...fabulous).
3.  Dump the pureed/diced veggie in an ice cube tray and flash freeze (just overnight usually for me).  They'll freeze in their own juice.  No need to add water.
4.  Put the cubes into labeled zip lock baggies - "sweet onions" "green bell peppers" - you get the drill.

5.  When making taco meat or spaghetti sauce or whatever it is that needs a little umph, add a cube or two or three and avoid crying all over everything.

YAY!  Eating better tasting, better for you, less preserved food.  Can't go wrong, right?

February Goals and January Recap

So, last month, I started posting monthly goals.  Here's the goal posting for this month!

January Recap:

1.  Send Thank You Notes for all Christmas presents.

Sort of!  I made a list of everything we were so generously given, wrote 3 of the notes still have about 10 more to go.  So, I'm working in the right direction, but didn't quite finish this one.

2.  Pick up new furniture from the Insyde Outsyde Shop and do any refinishing work.

DONE!  Bryan helped me pick up the furniture on Saturday, January 12.  After one failed hardware set, I was able to find some other handles that would fit the vintage sized holes in our "coat closet."  I ordered them from Hobby Lobby, but they aren't in yet.  A stain marker touched up all of the nicks, and, after installing, wood puttying, caulking, and painting base boards and crown molding in the living room where this piece needed to land, it is officially where it belongs!  I'm so very excited.  Check it OUT!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Get estimates for a built-in cabinet by the fireplace, fireplace repair/brick, and backsplash brick installation.

mmmmm...sort of.  This one took a LOT of phone calls.  Our cabinet guy has been sick most of the month of January, but we finally got him scheduled to come out on February 18.  Bryan did a fabulous job of finding the brick we need for the backsplash.  We've decided (surprise) to do this ourselves, so it's just a matter of putting in the order now.

4.  Hang family photos and artwork back on the walls. (as opposed to in stacks on the floor)

Started!  I hung our European art in the living room and the house is looking a little more like home.  I have some others leaning against the walls where they will go respectively, but havent gotten out the picture hanging supplies just yet.

 

5.  Plan meals for each week and stick to the schedule.

DONE!  I joined a website - www.howdoesshedoit.com - which has a free menu planner and shopping list builder.  It took a while to get our "standard" recipes in there, and I found a few from her other users to try out in the last 2 weeks of the month.  I purchased her iphone app (plan shop eat) for $3 so that I would have my shopping lists with me and could do this on the go from wherever I was.  I usually don't pay for apps.  Definitely worth it.  I ended up sticking with the plan at some point during the week, but didn't necessarily have the meals on the days I originally planned.  Like I said, I'm not going to let the little stuff get me messed up!  All in all, success!

6.  Stick to the New Testament Bible reading plan that friends from Sunday School are doing (we're reading through Mark right now).

DONE!  I'm still getting into a habit for DAILY reading, but I've been able to successfully read 3 or 4 days a week playing catch up when I need to.  I'm still on track to read the whole New Testament this year, and that is exciting to me!  I'm working into a more regular, daily routine, but getting in the Word 3 or 4 times a week on my own is really an improvement for me.  I'm encouraged!

7.  Get registries set up for Little Guy.

DONE!  I had the one at Target mostly done before Christmas, but I've tweaked it based on some suggestions from seasoned mommies.  I've added a registry to Amazon, babyli.st.com (you can register for anything online here - Etsy, etc...yes I went crazy).  The Target and Amazon registries my main ones, though, as I cannot seem to stay away from Target EVER.  It's my favorite store, and Amazon is just so easy to update and has a great selection. 

So, that's January!  Not too shabby!  I am really excited with my progress on the goal thing.  Coming up next - February goals.

February Goals:

1. Stick to the New Testament Bible reading plan.
2. Finish thank you notes from Christmas.
3. Plan meals for each week and stick to the schedule.
4. Get rid of the pile of stuff that has no home currently living in the baby room and on every flat surface in our home.
5. Install coat hooks in the new "coat closet."
6. Get the full estimate for the built-in cabinet next to the fireplace.
7. Order and install the backsplash for the kitchen.
8. Find a rug for the Dining Room and Living Room.
9. Taxes

Hopefully, this month will be even better than last month!