Everything Loved in April

Rain, and a lot of it! April Showers bring May flowers has sure been the case for us this past April! We have gotten so much rain this past month and it was very much needed. We got about 10" of rain in the middle of April and about 12" of rain at the end of April. The rain was appreciated but the flooding during the end of month was un-expected and devastating to those whose homes and/or cars were flooded. Our grass and trees are so green and full of life because of all this rain. On a downfall, all this water is bringing on lots of misquotes and bugs.....ewww. I will be calling the exterminator soon!

Finally, my Chesnut Brown Antique Pinch Pleated Curtains from JC Penney. I ordered them when they were on sale (and they hardly ever go on sale) and they arrived in just a couple of days. I paid only $69.99 a pair compared to $119.00 a pair and bought two pairs for a total of $150.00 including tax. They turned out fabulous!!! Even my sweet hubs likes them a lot. I love the way curtains make a room feel and they bring such elegance to this room. I stained the rod and bought all other accessories from Loews. I will post details on this great and easy DIY project next.

Oh and we can not forget about my Birthday present. My new Signature Medium Zoe Coach Purse. I had been on the hunt for a new nice purse and my love for Coach was calling my name. I found this beauty on the sale rack at Macy's; I took a look at it, feel in love with red, the size of this purse is just perfect, it has great inside pockets and zipper enclosure and I love how it hangs on the shoulder. And did I mention that it was on sale, from $348.00 to $261.00 and I used a $50.00 Macy's gift card. I will get so much great use out of my new Coach!

Lastly, Vacations!!! Our 5 day get-a-way cruise vacation was much needed and very relaxing! We had a great time with our very close friends and made wonderful and funny memories! Vacations are a must for us at least 2 to 3 times a year. Our last one was last October, 5 days in Vegas for my cousin's wedding! I can post pics on that soon too.

Back to the Daily Grind

Ahhh, we are back from our little vacation, back to reality and life as we know it compared to being on a ship in the middle of the ocean and having no worries in the world. We had fantastic time on the cruise with our friends. The weather was absolutely beautiful and breezy, the water was the most turquoise blue I have ever seen and the sand in Cozumel was pure white!

We left the beautiful Carribean to come home to gross, overcast skys and an afternoon/night filled with lightening, severe thunderstorms, wind, flooding and over 10" of rain in one night. But, the hubs and I did both come home with lovely dark tans and a very relaxed body and mind, so the rain really wasn't too bad, in fact it was pretty relaxing until nightfall when the weather got really bad. If you live in Houston, you know that it floods very easily and I myself have been in my share of floods throughout my young life and let me tell you, they are no fun! I have been through three floods in only four years growing up from being a freshman in highschool to freshman in college; But that is another whole story...

So, when it rains for over 12 hours straight and it becomes daylight again, it leads to a morning of chaos, flooded streets, feeder roads, bayous and cars. We were fortunate and our house and vehicles are fine. But there are thousands who homes and cars did flood. I got to work at 8:45am and it was slow pretty much the whole day but great for me to play catch up from being gone. Ahhh, to be back sitting on the beautiful beaches of Mexico...

Pics from our trip will be posted soon!

Out with 25 and In with 26!

You read it right, today is my birthday. Out with 25 and in with 26! I love birthdays; Birthdays are the reason we get to celebrate individually the important family and friends in our lives and I feel it is a big deal to make people feel very special on their birthday!

I don't feel any older, mentally I mean, I never do. Physically, well that is another story. There are days that I have a hard time realizing that I am not 18 years old anymore. Crazy, I know. It still amazes me that I am an adult, out of college with a business degree, working for the same company for 7 years now, married to a wonderful man that I call my husband, living in a beautiful new home with a mortgage payment that makes it all worth it and the talk of having babies in the very, very near future. This is my life! Wow, I still get tickled sometimes to think this is where I am. I am so very happy of where I am and am truly blessed.

So, back to my birthday. I am working half a day, then heading to Galveston, TX with our best friends Mark and Jenny. The rest of our whole group of friends is meeting down there as well for dinner at the Fisherman's Wharf on the water. We are staying the night at the Harbor House Hotel and the next day we are all sailing off on a 5 day Cruise (Thurs-Mon) to Cozumel, Mexico for a our other friends wedding who are getting married on the ship! Fun times to come with all of our great friends! When we return, we will celebrate my birthday with my family that following weekend.

I will post pics when we return and also a pic of my birthday present from the hubs, my new Coach purse! Bon Voyage!

Easter Blessings

The hubs and I had a great Easter Sunday with my family at my parents house. Great food, great company and an adult Easter egg hunt that is funnier than watching the 'Charlie don't bite my finger' clip on you tube. Scott and I made out very well with money and giftcards and are very thankful to have such a giving family. We then headed to Blockbuster, our favorite place to buy movies, bought a couple on the great deals they always have, you know the buy four for $20 dollars, and then reneted two, 'Marley and Me' and 'Seven Pounds'. We got home, put up our leftovers, of course the hubs made another plate, he can eat for three people and I swear he has a tape worm in his belly, LOL, then got comfortable on the couch and watched/cried 'Marley and Me'. Wow, such a great movie and such a wonderful story!!! I can't wait to watch it over again. Hope everyone else had a wonderful and blessed Easter!

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!

Chocolate Confession...and the Weekend

I eat chocolate everyday! A piece here, a piece there, that's all. I just thought I would get that out of the way and in the air now. Chocolate and Peanut Butter combined together are my ultimate favorite! Yep, that just about sums it up.
Oh, and on a side note, I am so happy to have my hubs back home. He was out of town in Appleton, WI all last week, Monday-Friday for work and classes and he came back home this past Friday night at 11pm. We spent the whole next day at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo; seeing all the animals, seeing two baby calf's be born, shopping, eating great BBQ, drinking cold beer and watching the Rodeo Finals where they gave $50,000 each to the Cowboys and Cowgirl who won in each of the 7 categories! Brooks and Dunn performed and had a great show as always. Afterwords, we went to a late night Crawfish Boil at some friends of ours house. Sunday we worked around the house and yard all day! It was such a great weekend!

Everything Loved in February

I have been looking for a facial highlighting pen and concealer for under the eyes for a good while now and I have finally found one that I am completely in love with; Lorac Double Feature, Concealer and Highlighter found at Sephora. This concealer/highlighter duo comes with an unusual hygienic blender ball and this baby does it all! The concealer goes on so smooth and creates that very awake, full of life look under the eye and top of the cheekbone that will last all day while the highlighter feature adds that bit of shimmer for when ever you want it. The ball’s rolling motion works quickly and gently to smooth and blend the concealer and / highlighter so you do not have to use your finger tips. It is probably some of the best $24.00 I have ever spent.

Can We Say...It's RODEO time again in Houston!?!

Wahoo! It is exactly that time of year again; where people from all over the state and country come to Houston, TX to celebrate the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo!

RODEOHOUSTON is ranked as the world’s largest rodeo and invites only the top cowboys and cowgirls in the sport to compete. Reliant Stadium, the home of RODEOHOUSTON, is the only stadium of its kind built specifically for rodeo and football. This event is HUGE in Houston and last approximately 3 weeks and contains something for everyone; Rodeo, Livestock animals, Petting Zoo, Calf Scramble, BBQ Cookoff, Carnival, Food, Shopping, Dancing, Scholarships, Fireworks, auctions, and much more. Each year, champion cowboys and cowgirls compete in the world’s richest regular-season PRCA rodeo. In 2008, contestants competed for a total purse of more than $1.3 million. The stakes get higher in 2009, where contestants will be riding and roping for more than $1.4 million in prize money. Winning a RODEOHOUSTON champion title is a big stride toward earning a paycheck that will lead a contestant to the NFR.

The Lone Star State hosts a colossal, Texas-sized picnic to launch the annual event; The World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest is three days of cooking, competition, eating and dancing. The judging is all business as teams vie for the coveted title of World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest Grand Champion. Trophies are awarded to teams preparing the best dish in each category (brisket, chicken and spare ribs) as well as an overall winner. 209,313 guests joined the feast in 2008 and it is always a party to remember!



The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's educational program is a significant part of the Show's mission — benefiting youth, supporting education, and facilitating better agricultural practices through exhibitions and presentation. Since that first scholarship in 1957, the Show has committed more than $130 million in direct educational program support.

Shopping is also a big deal! In this gigantic, one-of-a-kind Western shopping mall (Reliant Center) show patrons can purchase everything from Western clothes, fashion clothes, furniture, horse trailers, hot-tub spa's, gourmet food, unique arts and crafts, custom monogramming and agricultural machinery. All types of food can be found as well, from traditional barbecue to fine cuisine.

The carnival is Texas sized as-well and has a ride for everyone. You won’t want to miss a ride on La Grande Wheel — the Western Hemisphere’s largest portable Ferris wheel! The views are beautiful when sitting at the top of this giant Ferris wheel.

Oh, and I can not forget the talented line-up of country entertainers that that perform each night after the rodeo! The concerts are like non-of it's kind with a round rotating stage in the middle of the rodeo arena. Talk about 73,000 screaming fans in the audience; the sound is incredible!

Sproost Sytle Quiz

I checked out this website, sproost.com found from Katie's blog at Bower Power and took the same quiz to see how accurate it was with my personal decorating style. I must admit, it was pretty accurate and neat to see the results it came up with. I even took the quiz a couple of more times for fun, because they do show a couple of different room choices to vote on. My results were pretty much the same give or take a couple of points on one style or the other.

My personal style is a mix of 3 specific styles, and I totally agree on them:

69% Wine Country Style
15% Classic Style
16% Classic Country Style

Wine Country Style
Tuscan sun, here we come! The Wine Country style reflects the feelings evoked by the seaside regions of Europe such as the South of France, Spain, Italy and Greece. The style manages to be both refined and casual, such that you can mix beautiful antiques with more rustic wrought iron or wood and the result is both sophisticated and cozy.

Furniture is large and comfortable, colors are bright and cheery, and regardless of the color palette the spaces almost always feel warm. You can easily translate the style into the perfect family environment but you can just as easily emphasize the more formal pieces and make your room the perfect adult getaway.

Classic
What's old is new again! The beauty of Classic style is how well it takes all of the beautiful forms, colors and textures of the past and reinvents them in a way that feels both fresh and inspired.

The style itself is a mix of European influences and French, English and Italian antiques and replicas are often used together. Furniture is well proportioned and comfortable and the rooms give off an air of sophistication and grace. Oil paintings depicting still-life or nature scenes and emphasizing symmetry of pairs helps maintain the traditional nature of the room. Windows are often covered with opulent fabric shades and/or drapery.

Traditional rooms give off an air of history that seems to say "I was here long before you, and will remain long after you've gone." And yet, even with this level of sophistication, the rooms are soft and inviting.

Traditional Country
Even if your backyard isn't acres of farmland and you don't actually have a cow out in the barn, your house sure brings you back to a time when that was the case for many.

You love spaces that feel casual and lived in. Furniture is practical and comfortable, and yet at the same time its very stylish. The best part of country style is how much it highlights collection and found objects. Antiques here, garage sale finds there and Aunt Milly's hand-me-downs throughout. Unique items that used to serve very practical purposes are now on display, and their history seems to permeate the home. Each space in the home seems to invite friends and family to come in and stay a while. There is a true sense of home felt throughout.

So take your personal style quiz and and share your results!

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.

Everything Loved in January

These are my new favorite shoes for the year, Mossimo's Vassie Snip Toe Pump. I have them in black and in the tan/brown color. I love the snake like print that the leather is made of. They are so cute and pretty comfortable for a heel. I got them at Target, love that store!!! I might just have to go buy another pair in the black because I have been wearing the heck out of them, LOL! Sorry the picture is blurry.

So we have been painting like crazy in our house these past several weeks and this product has saved my sanity, Premium XL Painting Accessory Pad. It is great! I got it at Sherwin Williams but they are sold at most other places that sell paint. It does wonders when painting the walls, around base boards, crown molding, bull nose edges, straight edges, corners and around nails. It is very smooth to use and easy to handle. I have hardly had to tape anything off because of this handy dandy rolling paint device.

My mom told about this glass cleaner and naturally I had to try it out for myself because my mom usually knows what she is talking about. It is wonderful!!! Hope's Perfect Glass Cleaner has a no-reside formula, is ammonia-free and 100% streak-free. It cleans glass and mirrors crystal clear and leaves my oven and microwave spotless! It can be bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond.And we can not forget about mine wonderful Wine Buffet that I scored on Sale this month and our awesome new Entertainment Center in our living room!

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!

Better Late Than Never

My New Years Resolutions.....I know, I know...we are already 23 days into the New Year and I am just now getting around to posting these. I tell myself each year I need to be more realistic about my resolutions and goals and actually stick to them; easier said than done in my case... So I decided this year I was going to take my time when making my list in the hopes of being more serious about them.

• Stay optimistic with our Country and our new President
• Eat healthier (more fruits and veggies on a daily basis; I am good when it comes to protein and fiber)
• Drink more water each day (and no this does not mean 8 glasses a day...who made that up anyways?...)
• Seriously loose 20lbs to 25lbs (ohh how badly I need to make this happen)
  
• Workout more - in anyway or form, atleast 4 days a week for a minimum of 30 minutes a day
  
• Take clothes out of the dryer and immediately fold them and put them away (this is going to take a lot of effort...I hate putting clothes away)
• Do one house project a month (this is also considered working out; projects are exhausting)
  
• Cook something new at least twice a month
• Really watch un-necessary spending
  
• Create a feasible budget for the hubs and myself

Have a Little Bit of Respect, Please

I was not going to post about the recent election or inauguration of our new President but I feel I really want to since this is however a place for all of my thoughts, opinions, suggestions, concerns, etc...and I will try to be as brief as possible.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009, I was completely engrossed in watching all the Inauguration events that I could while still being at work and doing my job. I have enjoyed watching previous inaugurations for our former Presidents backing up to being in elementary school and all the way through college. I was fortunate to grow up in an outstanding school district that knew the importance of exposing and teaching us 'kids' about these historic events.

I am a proud American and feel very blessed to live in this wonderful country with all the freedoms we have from which many hundreds of thousands of men and women have lost their lives fighting for. I did not vote for Obama nor am I a Obama supporter, but I was anxious as he too took the oath of office to become our 44th President of America. With this said and yes I know we all have the freedom of speech, but I was appalled and saddened though at this Inauguration when Former President Bush was announced during the ceremony and when he went off in the helicopter at all the booing, negative and rude remarks that were made. Have a little respect please!!! Come on now, grow up and show some decency and have some class. Any and all people who live in this country should have respect for the President and any Former President no matter who they are. People do not have to like Bush or agree with his stance and policies, but have respect for the title in which he held. I would never boo or stoop that low to our President whether it be Obama or someone else. President Bush has had a rough past couple of years with all that is going on in this country and the world. He has been faced with a lot of very tough decisions to make especially with the terrible tragedy of September 11, 2001 when our country was so viciously attacked. I believe to the best of my knowledge that everything Bush has done has been for the greater good of this country, our lives, safety and well being. I hope and pray too that Obama has the same, good intentions of keeping this Country on it's feet. Any person who becomes President and takes on the responsibilities and stress of that job should have their country's respect if anything. I respect President Obama because he is my President.

And being the Proud Texan that I am and always will be, a very heartfelt Welcome Back Home to Texas former President Bush.