Birthday Celebration!

Last night a group of our friends went to John Phillip's for dinner to celebrate our friend Brooke's birthday! Dinner was delicious (even though we all spent more than anticipated...it was worth it). Mandi and I split the spinach dip and a pound of King crab legs (best part...they are served cracked so you don't have to work for your food)! It was so good! Brooke received lots of fun gifts from everyone, and we all had a really nice time celebrating with her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKE!

Finishing Crafts and Basements!

As promised, I am posting pictures of my finished crafts! I love them so much that I have decided to make several more for family and friends. I would love to post pictures of the other one's I have made, but I don't want them to see the pictures before I give them their gift! Here is the one I made for Matt...



And the one I made for myself...



I think they are adorable! Thanks Southernhospitalityblog.com!

Now for our basement. We are in the very slow process of finishing our downstairs. We are basically taking baby steps. We had it framed a few months ago and we had insulation installed on Tuesday. We should be dry walling in the next couple of weeks. It's exciting but expensive! I think I'm most excited about getting the basement finished so we can re-do our office upstairs and make it the way I really wanted it when we moved in a few years ago. Here are some insulation pictures. Not too exciting right now, but it's starting to look more like a home!






Can't wait until we are finished!

Crafts...

After reading someones really neat blog, I decided I would try to make some of my own "crafts". Actually, I can't claim them my own because I got the idea from southernhospitalityblog.com. I thought her wooden letter idea was so stinkin cute. I have been working on a couple for our house today and I have to say it is not turning out so well. Actually, I have done two of them (one with a J for me and one with a M for Matt)...of course the one I have done for Matt looks great and mine looks awful, LOL. I guess I can learn from the experience and try to re-do mine!



At this point, things are still going good. It's not until I start applying the decoupage that things get "messy". My paper started bubbling up and Matt's is just fine and dandy!



My table still looks like this. I decided to take a breather from crafting to share my experience :). Hopefully things will turn out wonderfully and I will have some finished products to post tomorrow. Wish me luck!



Here is the wonderful blog you all need to visit!

BOATS!

We are going to a boat show with our friends and neighbors on Saturday and I'm so excited! It has of course got me thinking about how I hope we have a boat one day. My Dad has always used the old saying "The second best day of your life is the day you buy your boat, the very best day of your life is the day you sell your boat". LOL. I have heard many people talk about huge issues they have had with their boat, but I have also heard people who have had minimal trouble and absolutely love theirs! With that being said, we don't have the extra cash lying around to purchase one anyway so for now I will just dream about what type I would like to have one day! If I could go out and purchase a boat tonight here is what I would buy...HAPPY BOATING!

Zadeh aka "Momma" and Rupp

Tonight I got a few really good pictures of our new puppy Rupp (yes...named after Rupp Arena in Lexington). It's actually been very hard to get a good picture of him because he is so black! He is about 9 1/2 weeks old now and looks just like Zadeh did at that age (but a different color of course).

Most of you know that Zadeh has had many surgeries. She really loved eating metal objects there for a while. Lets see...she has eaten her own collar (buckle and all), an open safety pin, and a picture frame (metal and all). She is now in her cage at all times when we are gone. We don't like doing that, but we have to for her own safety. Lets hope Rupp doesn't have a taste for metal!

Zadeh as a Baby and Now

Baby Rupp

First Post!

I'm super excited to write my first post! I created this blog (with the help of my creative husband) a few days ago but couldn't decide what to write. I finally decided a fun introduction would probably be the way to go. I thought I would write about a few of my favorite things as a way to "get to know me". If you already know me, you probably won't be too surprised about the things you see here! I would love to hear about some of YOUR favorite things if you have time to comment! Thanks for reading...I promise not to bore you :)

University of Kentucky

UK! As an alumni I LOVE our KY Wildcats. This is a picture of our almost finished cork board (a wonderful birthday gift from our friends/neighbors). As you can see my creative husband has helped me collect corks for about five months and he made the UK symbol and spray painted the corks blue. I think it's so cute! I can't wait to hang it up. Oh...NO we didnt drink all that wine...I had friends, family, my co-workers and a local wine store helping me collect!

Cooking. I love to attempt to cook. My Mom has never enjoyed cooking so most are surprised that I do! Here is the recent recipe I can't wait to make and enjoy. My cousin in-law made it for the Salyers family Christmas party on Sunday and it was sooo good!

Frish's Big Boy Pizza:

1 (one) BOBOLI Pizza Dough

1/2 Jar (16 oz.) of Frisch's Tartar Sauce (do not substitute)

About 20 Dill Pickles (cover the entire top)

1 pound Ground Beef or Ground Chuck (Browned & Drained)

1/2 Bag Shredded Lettuce

1/2 Bag Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese

DIRECTIONS: Assemble in the above order on a round baking sheet and bake in an oven at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

Bath and Body Works

Almost anything from Bath & Body Works. I love their wallflowers (I use them at home and at the office), their candles, body splash, self tanner...I could go on and on. This is my recent favorite...it smells so yummy!

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga! I'm still bummed about missing her concert in Chicago and IN, but tickets were WAY too expensive. Darn scalpers! If you don't have her new CD and enjoy her songs you should definitely buy it!

Monogrammed Items

Anything monogrammed! This is a new "love" for me and it has come from seeing all of the cute monogrammed things on other people's blogs! This is adorable stationary that can be ordered from www.swoozies.com

My Pets

My pets (Zadeh, Rupp and Yikes)

I have two dogs (goldendoodles) and one black cat (a rescue). They are a handful at times, but I love them very much! How could you not?

Red Wine

Red wine - Cabernet

I love a good glass of Red Wine. I'm super excited to try this one I got for Christmas from my Mom & Dad. My Dad ordered it from a friend of his in California...I love homemade wine!