New Kitchen Decor...for FREE!

Does anyone else LOVE spring/fall clean up days? You know, the days when everyone around town throws out their "trash" to picked up?  Last fall I found some great stuff laying on the side of the road!

One thing I saw was a perfectly weathered board. I knew it had some potential so brought it home with me! I couldn't decide what to do with it for the longest time until I started seeing rustic kitchens signs on pinterest. I saw this one and it was the perfect inspiration!

I got my board, stencils, white paint and sand paper...all stuff I already had at home! It took just a couple coats of paint, a little sanding and I was done. Super easy and FREE! My kind of project :)


                             


                              


                               

Bittersweet...

I had always planned on working full time until we started a family, but when I was offered a part time job a year ago I decided to take it. It has been so great getting to teach part time and also have time and energy to be the wife I feel God calls me to be. (Proverbs 31: 10-31)  It also gave me an opportunity to start Thrifty 31, a business I have on facebook where I sell antiques, vintage items and furniture I have fixed up.

As many of you already know, ever since I started working as a toddler teacher I have consistently been sick. It started as a cold and then turned into chronic bronchitis and now pneumonia.  No matter what I do, I just can't seem to get better. After talking with my doctor we both feel as though having an auto immune disorder already makes me more susceptible to illness and being around toddlers who constantly sneeze and cough on me all the time isn't really helping my situation. :) After talking with my husband and praying about it a lot, we have decided I am going to resign from my current teaching position at the end of May. It was a tough decision but hoping it will be worth it if I finally start feeling better!

I'm thankful everyday for the opportunities this job has given me. I'm thankful for the people I met and worked with, the kid's I got to know and love on each day and the families I got to serve. And who knows, I may even go back and sub every once in awhile! 

A few months ago I kept feeling a need to somehow expand my Thrifty 31 business. I wasn't sure why or how I was going to do it, but just felt like it was something I was suppose to do. I finally decided to launch Thrifty 31 Rentals in March. A vintage rentals company for weddings, photo shoots and special events!

I now know that it wasn't just a "feeling" I had to expand my business, but God making a new way for me to help provide for my family.  It's bittersweet knowing I will be leaving a job and people I have grown to love but exciting to start this new adventure! And hopefully once I start feeling better...we can start planning our family as well! 

I ask that the next few months that you continue praying for me to completely heal and recover and that we would trust God to provide during this time of transition. Thanks! :)

Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. - Psalm 37:4 

Birthday and a New Gift!

This past week we celebrated my 24th birthday! We went to the Giant City Lodge with our family for lunch and it was delicious as usual! Can't beat their chicken 'n dumplings and peach cobbler!

Most of my family gave me $$$ for my birthday. Great timing for new spring and summer clothes! Already did a little shopping! :)

 One of my best friends, Emily, got me such a perfect gift! She knows how much I love going to antique stores and finding one of a kind items to decorate my house! So here is what she found...

This beautiful blue-green vintage window screen! 

I added some wire across the middle so I could hang pictures and memos on it. 

 It's the perfect spot above the desk!

Can't wait until my twin sister comes home this weekend so we can celebrate our birthday again! 

Thankful for all the blessings God has given me these past 24 years! 

Signs of Spring....Around the House!

Spring is probably my favorite season for many reasons! Beautiful weather, flowers in bloom,  spring decorating, Easter, wineries, my birthday...the list goes on and on!  

Here are some signs of Spring around our house... 

Love this basket I got at the Cranberry Merchant during their retirement sale!

Shelf above TV..aqua mason jars filled with flowers! 

Pillow from TJ Maxx....and a sleepy puppy!

Still love the ladder Derrick got me for Christmas! Holds the quilts his grandma made for us.

Rusty antique scale holding some Spring flowers!

Used a curtain hook to hang this mason jar on the wall.

Antique pitcher on kitchen counter makes the perfect vase!

 

How cute is that bunny cookie cutter? Love it next to the plastic Easter eggs wrapped with twine.

These wood crates make the perfect shelves in our kitchen! As you can tell I like to fill pitchers with flowers :)

Our lavender tulips are finally blooming!

Peach tree is now blooming too!

Hope you enjoyed your little tour! What is your favorite thing about spring?

Your Love Is Never Failing

Loving this song lately! 

Higher than the mountains that I face
Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant in the trial and the change
This one thing remains

Your love never fails
It never gives up
It never runs out on me...

So often in life things don't go the way we want or the way we had planned. 

So often we think we know what's best for ourselves and God doesn't.

So often we get discouraged and forget .....

That God's LOVE never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out. 

My personal battle with being sick so long and yesterday finding out that I now have pneumonia is heartbreaking, discouraging, and frustrating.

It's so hard not to ask "Why God?", "Why me?" , "Why again?"

I have to believe that all this is happening for a reason, a reason I do not yet see, but trust that God will show me and I can then use it for His glory! 

Until then I am resting in the Lord and being thankful for great friends and family who are bringing us dinner this week, for beautiful weather and for an amazing husband who has been so patient and understanding through all of this.
 

...And on and on and on and on it goes
It overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I'll never ever have to be afraid
'Cause this one thing remains

Your love never fails
It never gives up
It never runs out on me

 

 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been trying to find a good recipe for oatmeal chocolate chips cookies and this is it! So yummy!!

Makes 36 cookies

Ingredients:

8 oz unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats
10 oz chocolate chips

Directions:
Combine the softened butter and brown sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Add the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder and slowly combine, making sure not to over-mix the batter. Add the oats and chocolate chips and combine. Refrigerate batter for 1 hour.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a 1 inch scoop, scoop cookies onto parchment lined baking sheets. Transfer sheets into oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies just slightly turn a golden brown color on the edges but are still soft and chewy in the middle. Remove from oven, transfer to cooling rack. 

*I cut this recipe in half when making them. You could easily make the whole batch and freeze some if you don't want them all right away.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Derrick and I have been trying to eat only whole wheat for the past couple of weeks.  It has a lot of health benefits and we have actually found that we often like the taste of it better that non whole wheat products. 

Here is a yummy banana bread recipe I made using whole wheat!

 

Ingredients:

1/3 cup  vegetable oil (I substituted applesauce)

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup mashed bananas (About 3 large bananas)

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 cup hot water

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In large bowl, beat oil (or applesauce) and honey together. Add eggs, and mix well. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter. Blend in chopped nuts, if using.  Spread batter into a greased 9x15 inch loaf pan.

3.  Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 1/2 hour before slicing.