Best Plants Ever

I had to mow the lawn last week because it's been so warm and beautiful here. It's been absolutely gorgeous which means Derrick and I have been doing a lot of playing outside. That and coaching 3+ times a week and there hasn't been much time for blogging. 

I have a new light fixture to hang over the kitchen table and I still need to finish the craft room shelves but I have zero motivation to do it. Anyone want to come over and kick me into gear???

Anyways, while I was mowing I realized our lambs ear around the mailbox are coming back. These are seriously the best plants ever. They have required zero maintenance. 

Their leaves get brown and soggy over the winter but I just pull those off and reveal new baby leaves growing beautifully. It's been almost 2 years with these guys and I love that they hardly require anything from me.

You can see here where some of the newer leaves are peaking through some of the older leaves. Give it a couple months and they'll be monstrous in size. 

Lambs ear! Get some!!

Silent Auction Buckets

My business has been sponsoring Triangle Ultimate for a few years now and I've been really happy with the business partnership we've created. I've seen my business grow and I'm also supporting an organization that I really love and that has offered me so much for the past 10 years. 

This year is their 20th anniversary and they are throwing a party over the weekend complete with a silent auction. They asked if I'd like to donate anything. At first I wasn't sure what I could possibly donate...real estate isn't exactly tangible and anything I could offer real estate related would really limit the buyer pool.  

But then I thought about what Derrick and I bid on at a silent auction last year... a dog goodie basket! I decided to make it a little more home related than dogs so I put together a crafting/diy basket and a home improvement basket. Here's a sneak peek!

The first one is the crafting basket. I tried not to get too specific and picked up a lot of items that I've found useful in my crafting arsenal. 

I picked up a lot of craft glues including a glue stick...you cannot craft without a glue gun!

Those markers were a great deal so I picked up a pack for myself too. I use those paint brushes for staining b/c they are cheap and there is no guilt to throw them away afterwards.

Chalkboards are in right now so I had to include one and I thought this little clipboard was just really adorable. It's got a tripod on the back so it can stand up if you want to use it for  a photo.

Last but not lease, a self-healing cutting board and a razor blade. This is awesome for cutting detailed paper and I've used mine for all sorts of things.

The other basket I did was a home improvement basket. I found a cute little Lowes bucket and stuffed it with all sorts of things I've found useful as a homeowner.

I didn't take individual photos because it took forever to stuff that bucket just right but here's some of the items you can find inside.

-tape measure
-level
-stud finder
-safety glasses
-hammer
-screw driver with 10 changeable heads
-WD40
-painters tape
-angled brush

And more..but you'll have to bid on it to find out what else!

If you're local and part of Triangle Ultimate, you should come to the anniversary party on Sunday! There are lots of other great auction items and there will be food, drinks, and music! Hope to see you there!

Galentines Day!

Galentines day is the most wonderful day of the year! It's a celebration of love for all of the great gals in your life!

I have some of the best gal pals a girl could ask for and I feel lucky to be surrounded by such amazing women all the time. My Mom set me up for success by showing me what amazing women are supposed to be like and I've since surrounded myself with the best. Happy Galentines Day Ladies! 

What's New??

Hey Guys!

Does the excuse that I've been busy even work anymore? I can answer that...no! It does not! It's been over a week since I posted and I think it's because we're busy and I've had a little bit of writers block. Not really sure what to post over here but I hate leaving the blog to develop cobwebs sooo...

Here's a quick run down of the quick highlights recently!

My dear and amazing friend Alison defended her dissertation last week and is now officially doctor Murray! She's been working so hard towards this goal and it is not an easy road. I am so happy for her. She's an amazing professor and is going to change so many lives!

My bookclub had a slumber party at our house last weekend. We're named Prose before Bros...duh. It's a really fun group of girls and I've really enjoyed getting to know the the girls that I didn't know before. I'm also committed to reading the book this next time!

I'm on the hunt for a new light fixture for over the kitchen table. It can't be too modern looking because of the chairs but I definitely can't wait to see the builder fixture gone. I'm thinking a simple drum shade....thoughts?

I totally snapped this photo at Walgreens as inspiration. It shows how they frame their canvases. That looks like a 1x3, a 1x2, and a square dowel to me! I'm definitely going to make my own for my Big Nose Kate painting!

Last week I dove headfirst into a nasty crawlspace with my work clothes on. And it was a CRAWL space. I was on my stomach climbing under HVAC ducts but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

My notecards are back in stock at Target! These aren't the exact ones I used to have but they are the same general design and they are perfect for work related note writing! I sold them out and I'm planning on checking for more every time I go to target!

Lastly...I'm joining Nikki in a 30 day bootcamp. She inspired me to get back into shape b/c Pickleball doesn't exactly cut it in the off season. It's hard but it's worth it! I'm only on day 4 but I have a satisfying soreness every time I move!

Coaching Wolfpack

Our high school team had our first tournament of the season last weekend and Derrick and I couldn't be prouder of our guys. This year looks a lot different than last year. We had tryouts, we made cuts, and we're running a lot tighter lines.

Coaching is exhausting! Derrick and I think it's just as exhausting as playing in a tournament. Maybe not physically...although we both woke up sore from being on our feet all weekend...but mentally you have to be ON the whole time. We care so much about these kids and we love being out there with them so we wouldn't have it any other way. They are all so NICE and hilarious. Derrick and I are constantly talking about them and their individuality. We feel lucky to get to coach them.

We came into the tournament as the 11th seed overall. On Saturday, we had two losses at the beginning of the day and then ended up ending the day with two wins which sent us into the championship bracket.

After a couple close losses on Sunday we still finished the tournament in 8th which means we broke seed by 3 places! We've got at least three more tournaments this year and we're practicing three days a week. I can't wait to see how the rest of the season goes for these guys!

Chalkboard Wall

Derrick and I set a goal for ourselves to eat in at least 3 times a week. Doesn't that sound crazy that we have to set that goal? Here's the problem though...it's so hard! It seems like we're always doing something from 6:30-10 at night so we either have to be super organized and know what we're making before that or be energized enough to cook at 10 PM. No one is that energized!

All this to say, I used this goal as an excuse for another house project! It's not one that I've been thinking about for a long time. It came to me one day and, now that it's done, I love it!

This wall on the side of our pantry is really only visible from the kitchen so it was the perfect wall for chalkboard paint. 

I picked up a quart of paint and did three coats. It didn't even use half the quart but, after some research, some people suggest painting another coat on every year or so to keep it working well.

I was even patient enough to patch the holes.

The other thing I learned about chalkboard paint is you have to condition it. It's porous so they suggest rubbing the entire wall with chalk and then rubbing that in. Then you can erase it. If you skip this step, the first thing you draw on it will never erase. You can't condition it for three days though so read the instructions!

This took 5 sticks of chalk and caused a huge mess.

Now that it's done, I love it! I love the black and I love the location. You can't see it from the living room which is perfect.

 If you write your menu in chalk, it's permanent right? No more forgetting to put the chicken in the crockpot?

Not So Helpful

Crosby has gotten into this very not helpful habit lately.

She goes to all of the beds after they are made and messes them up. She likes to burrow through the pillows and throw the covers around.

So now, all of our beds look like this on any given day.

She can't get under the quilt on this one but the pillows are free game.

Guard your eyes...the yellow is intense.

Thanks but no thanks Crosby!