Some New House Stuff and Decorating!

Finally some pictures! These are some pictures of two walls that I recently redid in our house and of two great craft show buys!

This beautiful cross I bought at a local church craft show. I have been eying crosses made like these for some time now and finally came across one that I fell in love with and for a reasonable price. The empty frame I already had; I bought it at Hobby Lobby 8 months or so back for 70% off in the clearance aisle! I also already had the two side sconce scrolls from Kirklands. I just love the way this wall turned out. This is the same wall where I originally had our wedding photo gallery which has now been moved to a more appropriate area in our extended hall.

This is our new wedding photo gallery wall in the extended hallway! I am so happy with their new location and display and feel this is a better showcase for all our wedding memories. I also plan for cute baby photo's to adore these walls sometime in our near future; not pregnant yet, but sure still trying and praying!
At the first big craft show of the year that was held back in September at the Berry Center in Cypress, TX, I came across a booth called 'Tin Lizzies Photos'! I have seen this done in catalogs for pretty expensive prices and was so happy to find a family in our area who makes these from their home. I had our last name put into this beautiful matte and frame. Talk about some fun customization! This family takes black and white photographs from all of their vacations and travels of the alphabet letters from different signs and of unique objects that look like letters of the alphabet. They have so many options for all 26 letters of the alphabet for people to customize whatever they want spelled out. I love how this turned out and am still debating where I am going to hang it. I also plan for this to be a big hit for Christmas for a couple of family members!
This is not new to me, but new to my blog. This is our small, walk through laundry room. I just had to do something with this room to give it some personality. People walk in and out through this room all the time to get from the garage to in our home. I was tired of it being a boring room with white, plain walls. I still want to paint, but it's not a huge priority. I wanted to make it fun, classy and rustic all at the same time. I love the look of the old timing tin signs and Hobby Lobby sells a lot of them. I started collecting a few and before I knew it I had a whole slew of them. That's when it hit me that I should put them in this room as I thought it was the most fitting. They all have different sayings and are just so inviting. I add this wall as well when I come across other tin signs that fret my fancy. I have a neat laundry sign on the door side wall that is not in this picture and another tin sign above the inner door to our home.

A Little More About Me

I came across this and thought it was neat!

A - Age: 26

B - Bed size: Queen

C - Chore you hate: Laundry

D - Dog's name: Dakota

E - Essential start your day item: Vitamin C tablet and a Diet Dr. Pepper

F - Favorite color: Chocolate Brown

G - Gold or Silver: Silver

H - Height: 5’2"

I - Instruments you play: I wish I could play the piano, does that count?...

J - Job title: Inside Sales for a Construction Company

K - Kid(s): none yet, but hoping to be preggo by the end of 2009!

L - Living arrangements: Our new home (4 bed, 2 bath, 2,250 SF) in Cypress, TX

M - Mom's name: Lynn

N - Nicknames: No nicknames, just the sweet names the hubs calls me

O - Overnight hospital stay: None for me, yet...

P - Pet Peeve: Messy houses, clutter, having no organization

Q - Quote from a movie: ....i'll get back to you on that...

R - Right or left handed: Right

S - Siblings: 1 younger brother, Garrett

T - Time you wake up: 6:00am, too early for my liking!

U - Underwear: Thongs fromVS

V - Vegetable you dislike: Squash & green peas. Broccoli is my absolute favorite!

W - Ways/Reasons you run late: Love to sleep in or hungover

X - X-rays you've had: Teeth and my hands and wrist (I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of 23)

Y - Yummy food you make: My family's Chicken Fried Steak and Chicken/Veal Parmigiana

Z - Zoo animals you like: Elephants and Giraffes

Now its your turn! Copy and paste to your blog so everyone gets to know a little bit more about you!

Everything Loved in March

Ohh March, where did you go? It was a very busy month for the Jacobs and we continued to get a lot done around the homestead including finally finishing painting the kitchen and breakfast room; color is Whole Wheat by Sherwin Williams.

March brought me one of my favorite things all year long.....Daylight Savings Time Begins, which began on Sunday, March 8th this year! I was so happy to turn those clocks ahead one hour and enjoy the sun in the evening for another hour longer! Daylight Savings does not phase me a bit when it comes to sleep or 'loosing an hour'. My motto is, 'you can sleep when your dead or go to bed an hour earlier, but quit your bitching'! I am loving being able to come home when the sun is still out, shinning with all it's brightness and glory. It is so nice to come home and be able to do some yard work, grill in the backyard, or go for a long walk, in the light, not the dark! I truly feel like I get so much more done around the house or when running errands when the sun doesn't go down until 9pm! I am completely in love with Daylight Savings!
We finally decided on our bar stools for the bar. I picked up two of these lovelies, Black 29" Saddle Stool, from Garden Ridge Pottery, buy-one-get-one-half-off, for a total of $60 bucks. I had been debating now for sometime what kind of stool I wanted for the space that we have under the bar. At first I wanted something that had a back on it and could swivel, a little more fancy. But with much consideration of the space there and our future with kiddos, I decided on these and I am very happy with my decision. They are casual, comfortable, and stylish in a rustic kind of way. I might go back and get a third, but for now, two is great! **05/20/09 I did go back and buy a third; Garden Ridge had them on sale for 25% off, so I got one more for $25.00 instead of $40.00! I love having three there!**
We also finally bought five Queen Palms for our backyard at Home Depot. We bought the 7 gallon size when they had them on sale and have planted them along the backside of our fence in the backyard. Right after we moved into our house last year, I had a vision of what I wanted and I am so pleased that a year later I got my palms and we have them planted! I am so glad the hubbs let me have my way with these and he too now loves the look of them. And I want to THANK him so much for digging those huge holes in our hard as wood ground so we could get them planted. They look great, will grow fast, produce some shade, have a great feather like look to them and will really make a statement when they get bigger. I will post pics of them in our yard soon!

25 Random Things

I was tagged on Facebook, so I thought I could also post this on here. Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 5 people to be tagged. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you. I am tagging these ladies: Karen, Katie, G&D, Courtney, Abby.

1. I truly believe that my husband has made me a better person; I love being his wife!
2. I still don't 100% feel like I am an adult in my mid 20's.....until I see the mortgage note every month.
3. I look forward and am so anxious about having kids and starting a family, but at the same time I am not in a huge rush to do so.
4. My mom and dad are the most wonderful and generous parents I have ever known; my life is so blessed because of them.
5. I have the best girlfriends in the whole world; my old girl besties and my new girl besties, I do not know how my life would be without them in it.
6. I am so happy and proud to say I am from Texas and live in this great state.
7. My brother and I are completely opposite but have so many things in common.
8. I am still completely in love with George Strait!
9. I love milk! I drink at least one glass every night.
10. I really want to learn how to play the piano someday.
11. My beer of choice is Bud Light Lime; best beer ever!
12. Fishing is one of my favorite past times and I wish I went more often.
13. I did not get my first dog, Dakota, until I was 20 and since then my life has just been that much better.
14. My husband broke his ankle playing softball 4 weeks after we got married; so glad it happened after the wedding!
15. Scott and I got engaged on the Kemah Boardwalk which is also where we took our first official 'Big Date' 5 years previous.
16. I love to clean and organize but I absolutely hate to fold and hang up laundry!
17. Decorating is one of my true passions in life; I am obsessed with it and would love to do it for a living someday.
18. I really enjoy entertaining and having friends and family over at our house! The more the merrier.
19. Kirklands, Hobby Lobby, Target and Bed Bath and Beyond are some of my absolute favorite stores to shop at.
20. My grandpa Myron is my hero. I miss him everyday and our family farm is not the same without him.
21. I can spend countless hours looking at houses on HAR.com even though I live in a new house; I love looking all the different floorplans and such.
22. I enjoy to cook but don't do it as often as I should; I am usually very hesitant to cooking new recipes because of the uncertainty of how it taste and I hate wasting food and money if it turns out 'not so great'.
23. I really don't like cold weather, brrrrr.
24. I love wearing high heels!
25. I hate riding in cars, especially 2 door cars--I get all claustrophobic. So glad we have an SUV and truck in our family.

The Joys of Being a Patient Wifey...101

How to get candle wax out of carpet.....? Ohhh, this is the magic question that I was asking myself this past Sunday evening after my sweet, sweet husband accidentally knocked over our WoodWick candle that sits on the bar, onto the carpet in the living room. I tried my best to keep my composure.....but I still had 'that look' in my eyes (all of us women have 'that look', you know what I am talking about) that inside I was furious. I had been burning this candle for atleast 6 or 7 hours, so there was a lot of wax to say the least that was slowing sticking itself to the (what I still consider fairly new) carpet. The first thing that came to my mouth to say, well...I kept my mouth shut, then came the "Are you serious? How in the heck did you manage to do that? Ughhhh, you have got to be kidding me, you have had too many beers... and so on" speech. The hubs of course at this point was trying very diligently to get candle wax off of his hand and wedding ring, while I at the time am having not much remorse. Several minutes later came the guilt from my hubbs and the "I am so sorry, it's ok, I will clean it up, not sure how, but I will take care of it babe, don't worry". Yeah, I have heard that line before. So being the patient wife that I am, I know I have got to figure out how to get this wax out of the carpet. I tried to think back at my teenage years when I know this has happened before while having an all night chat sessions with the girls. Nothing came to mind...except the wonderful world of the internet and google. Here's what I learned and did: It worked too!

1. Let the wax harden (this should not take long). If you can, scrap off the excess wax with a dull knife.
2. Place part of a paper bag (any kind--shopping, grocery, sandwich) over the wax area. You can also use paper towels, a clean cloth or newspaper ( I used the paper bag method).
3. Using a warm iron (on low to medium heat) press gently on the paper bag. Be careful not to leave the iron in one place too long or you may burn the carpet fibers. Rub the area where the wax is and you will notice that the wax begins to melt and soak up onto the paper bag.
4. Continue to do step 3 until all the wax is melted up. You may use several paper bags depending on how much wax is spilled.
5. Rub your fingers over the spot where the wax was and if you still feel some wax on the carpet continue to do step 3 until it is all melted up.

To remove stains left from colored wax, try gently dabbing the stain with a rag dampened with rubbing alcohol. If the alcohol doesn't seem to work, try using dry cleaning solvent.

The hubs was very impressed with me getting the wax out of the carpet and was also very apologetic. I really was not mad at him just re-iterated to him to be just a little more aware, LOL! It's times like these when I think both spouses can appreciate the roles of husband and wife!

Christmas in January!

Take a look at our new beauty that now stands up perfectly on our huge, blank canvas of a wall in our living room; Our much anticipated entertainment center!!! This was our big Christmas present this past year and we finally got it delivered. And get this, it's from Sams of all places and is about half the price of what you would pay at Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel. We purchased it online, never seeing it in the store, just hoping that it would look as great in person as it does online! And to our excitement, it is even better than what we ever imagined. I did do my research on this piece of furniture though; I read many reviews on it and others like it from Sams and we did go to our local Sams to check out the quality of all their furniture. It came in three huge boxes already put together and was packaged very, very well. All we had to do was un-wrap, wipe down and re-run all the wires for the TV in the corrct spot. The picture below is from the Sams website. Pics from our home to come soon.

We have also been very busy this past week and half doing alot of paiting... in our living room, hallway, entryway, dining room and kitchen. The walls look amazing now, so much warmth and color!!! It still amazes me how paint can make such a huge difference on how a room looks and feels! We used Sherwin Williams paint for all rooms. Pics to come soon on that too!

Ahh and before I forget, I have to brag about my wonderful hubby; he did put together for me my beautiful wine buffet from Target last week. He put it together the same day I brought it home. He was occupied doing that (which I find difficult for me, reading instructions and all) while I was painting. We have been very productive this past week and half... and it feels so good!

Our House, Our Home

So since this blog is also suppose to be about our house, I figured I needed to get some pics up on here to show it to all and share a little bit about our home buying experience.

It was the end of October 2007 when the hubs and I were driving around newer neighborhoods looking at houses and trying to determine what area of the Houston suburbs we wanted to settle down in. We visited the Neighborhood of The Villages of Cypress Lakes because of new houses that I saw were for sale on har.com. I was pretty impressed with the whole 'what you get for the money' aspect of all the homes in this neighborhood and the upgrades that were available really appealed to the hubs and me both. We walked through the model home and loved what we saw, talked to the home sales man who then showed us a couple of inventory homes available and liked what we saw in those too. We then became immediately interested in the possibility of building a house of our own! We got all the information we needed on all the floor plans, the lots available, the upgrade options and the pre-approval application. Two weeks later we put down our earnest money to hold the lot of our choice, the week after that we were pre-approved, the following week we decided on the floor plan and on November 26th we decided on all our upgrade options, had our contract typed up and signed the dotted lines! We had just made the biggest decision in our new married life together and in our young adult lives. We were excited and scared all at the same time! Ninety days later our house would be built and complete! We did our walk through on a Tuesday and we would close on Thursday, February 28th, 2008! It was so exciting to be handed the keys to our new house and to turn the page to this chapter in our life! With the help of my amazing parents, the hubs and I were all moved in by the weekend! Everyday since has been a total blessing and we are so fortunate for all that we have and have been given. Four bedrooms, 2 baths and 2,250SF later, here we are! Click here to view our floorplan.

House Browsing, Floor Plans and Paint

I absolutely love to look online at Har.com (Houston Association of Realtors) and spend countless hours browsing at houses for sale...especially the houses that are way out of my price range and are just gorgeous to dream about. I know, this is silly, I do live in a brand new house, but there is just something about seeing others peoples homes that is fun and intriguing, the way they decorate or lack of decorating, the 'what you get for the money' aspect and all the different types of floor plans...my mind just wonders off into real estate la-la land. I also very much enjoy going to new neighborhoods and walking through the model homes, taking pictures of all the beautiful rooms inside. It is just such a passion of mine to decorate, help others decorate, see others home decore' and get great ideas to try in my own home. I will soon be posting pictures of our home and they are going to be considered the before pictures. Because we do live in a new house, the walls are all the same color, an off white cream color with white base boards and white crown molding, way too bland/blah for my taste. I can not wait to put color on my walls and give my house the 'warmth' it deserves. In the next couple of weeks, my hopes are to be painting warm Tuscan colors throughout our home. I am attaching a drawing of our floor plan, so that it will be easier to interpret our house layout when I do post pictures of our home in the future...and floor plans are just fun to look at as well! Our house is 2,250SF for reference.

A Clean and Cozy Home makes for Happy Guest

You will soon come to notice and realize (once I post pictures--coming soon) that I am a complete neat freak, very clean and organized; everything has a place where it belongs kind of gal, it’s my OCD, I was born like that. So for me, it is very easy to keep a clean, organized and cozy home. There are just certain things that I do everyday in my home to keep it that way. For instance the bed is always made, the living room is always picked up and the kitchen is clean and clutter free. It really only takes a few minutes, fifteen minutes at most, each day do these easy task. I always want my home to be open and cozy to any and all family and friends that come to stay on a planned visit or just drop by un-announced. Here are some things that I do to make it a non-stressful time when company does comes over.

1. Don’t just clean your home for company

The title says it all. Don't wait to clean your home until you have company coming over. Come on now, you live there and you should be proud of your home, the way it looks and the way it feels. You are worth living in a clean environment; just do a room at a time if that is what works best for you. Then when your guest does come over, you are not running around mad crazy trying to clean the entire house at one time.

2. Leave a room picked up and clutter free

Pretty much put things back where they belong and leave a room as if it were a room in a model home. Don’t get me wrong, the hubs and I do get comfy in our home and ‘veg’ out on the couches with blankets, couch pillows, food and drinks scattered around the living room. We too want to enjoy our home as much as any guest. But I make it a priority to fold back blankets, pick up couch pillows and return all drink and dinnerware items to the kitchen before I go to bed at night. It makes me feel good to walk into a picked up room in my home and enjoy the way it looks. If we take just a few minutes to put everything back where it goes when we leave, we are not only ready for company but we should also be less stressed out.

3. Leave unused rooms "ready"

Most people have rooms in their home that aren't used daily also known as guest rooms. It seems that a lot of people use these rooms as extra storage space or ‘catch alls’. Designate a closet in the house for all ‘catch all’ items and keep your guest room, a Guest Room. This is actually one of the simplest things you can do to keep these rooms guest ready. Make sure the beds are made, have extra clean sheets, towels on the dresser or in guest bathroom, clear closet for guests hanging items, and have a place to lay luggage down on. When this is all done, you can be sure your guest rooms are ready with confidence!

4. Make a cleaning schedule

Now, I will admit, I am not as good at this as others are, but I do try. I do clean all living parts of my house every week, but I do not necessarily clean them on the same day every week. Try and make some type of schedule that is going to work for you. For instance, have a schedule Monday-Friday or even Saturday and do one room each day, or do certain tasks in each room on certain days and laundry on certain days. By doing this you are making cleaning not so much of a hassle and a drawn out process but instead a small daily task which ensures that your home does stay clean day end and day out.

5. Keep a stock of ‘Inventory’ items

There are just certain items that I make sure that I have on hand at all times. The most common stuff that comes to mind for me in our home are, toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, straws, bottled water, wine, guest toiletrie items in bathroom, extra candles, tea lights and the certain foods that I cook with all the time or easy meals. By having these inventory items, you never have to worry about having to rush to the store at the last minute or make your guest feel uncomfortable, non the less yourself.

6. Follow the 15min rule

I love this rule. Never have anything in your house that has to be done, cleaned or organized that is going to take more than fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes is just enough time to vacuum or wipe counter tops down or dust certain areas or make the bed, etc. Hopefully you will also have at least fifteen minutes notice before any guest arrives and if not, just simply say, “I was just finishing up tidying up this room…”

7. The Extras!

Fresh flowers, light candles, homemade goods or cooking are always a plus for any guest that comes to visit. If you get a chance, do any or all of them and your guest will be sure to feel very welcomed and happy!

8. Enjoy your guest

Be a happy hostess and enjoy the time you do have with your family and friends and be thankful that you have a home that people want to come to. And always make sure your guest are happy as well!

So is this what jumping from a plane feels like…?

So is this what jumping from a plane feels like…? Well, I mean, not so much that exhilarating, but…I guess what I am try to say is jumping into ‘The Blog World’! Letting it all out there; your personal life, your thoughts, your opinions, your comments and suggestions. If so, I am jumping! Here I am!

“It’s about time!” That is what I am thinking to myself. I have had this blog for some time now, over a year to be exact and am just now publishing my first post. To tell you the truth, I was not quit sure how to go about this whole blog thing. I love reading other peoples blogs and find it very, very entertaining. I wasn’t sure if MY blog would be entertaining in the least and if what I wanted to write about really mattered to other people. But what the hell, here goes nothing. I do feel myself personally connected to some of my favorite blogs and can’t wait to see what they post next. And of course I have not dared to comment on their pages… yet…well because I haven’t even posted until now, how boring, I know!

So, “Hi”, my name is Amber (the Mrs.) and I have a wonderfully, handsome hubby named Scott (the hubs) and we have a 5 year old blue heeler girl dog named Dakota. We live in the great state of TEXAS! This blog is going to be about us…OUR LIFE (our house, decorating, organizing, cleaning, shopping, cooking, entertaining and renovating). And although we are a team, I will be doing all of the posting. The hubs isn’t so much into the blogging world, yet. So welcome to OUR LIFE! I have officially jumped! J