I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I got a big surprise last week when I found out my mom was going to be able to make it to our home for the holiday. Then on Thanksgiving an even bigger surprise that my dad was assigned to fly to our area and could spend the Friday after with us. So my thankful list was pretty long this year. Here it goes....

    I am Thankful for:

• My wonderful and loving husband who I can always count on, he is by far the sweetest person I have ever met.
• My wonderful mom and dad. They have given me so much in my life, I could never thank them enough for all the opportunities they have given me. Cannot wait to move near them in the coolest town ever!
• For all of my amazing friends and family who I can always chat their ear off when I am feeling stressed or ecstatic.
• For my beautiful home that I share with my hubs, two dogs, and my turtle. That I get to decorate, demolish, and paint to my wits end, and they still put up with me.
• And last but not least for the children that are out there waiting to come into our lives, and us for them. I am thankful for the day I will get to hear the news and the day we will meet them. No matter how it happens, just for when it does. 

My Thanksgiving Mantle

The table on Thanksgiving day. Gold & Red.

YUM! The food!

And of course the Christmas tree. We always set it up either on Thanksgiving or a little before.

    You know those awesome candles that are so beautiful and have glitter with those little beads all over them? Yes, those same candles that every time you go to look at the price you are hoping that once maybe they are only a dollar or on clearance. Just to be disappointed every time when they end up being 14.99.  Well thanks to pinterest I found a way around that hefty price tag with a little elbow grease.

   Instead of using candles on this project I used some ornaments. The perks of working in retail is getting to take home those awesome ornaments and such things. Well these ornaments from last year where a little TOO shiny for my liking and way more colorful than I wanted to use this year.


   Super cool, huh? These a pretty good size ornaments. In fact I saw similar ones at a department store and for six of them it was eighteen bucks?! I can't fathom covering a tree with them if I have to pay that much. This is where the experiment comes in. What you need:

Epsom Salt
Glitter of your choice
Mod Podge
Paintbrushes
Acrylic paints



 
     For this project I used some little diamond looking stones instead of glitter. Also I am going with a cream and gold theme this year for Christmas, so I used a metallic gold and silver paint for under colors. Though first to get my desired effect I had to paint over the ornaments with a matte color so the metallic would go on properly.

After we painted all of them I let them dry for about half an hour or until the paint was dry to the touch.

Then once they were dry I painted half gold and half silver. As well then we laid them to the side to dry. They dried stacked on a large plate since if a little color got on one another it wouldn't matter. Once dry I covered each one in Mod Podge with a paint brush. A small layer is all that is needed.  Then immediately rolled them each into the epsom salt mixed with the diamond stones. Then each one was set out to dry. This took about 45 minutes to completely dry.



     Then once dry I put hooks on them and tah-dah! Pretty awesome huh? So now on your next craft day you can try this out on anything you'd like to get that same effect on.

     I made something super delicious this weekend, and for the first time. I made pot roast, and it was oh so yummy! This was the very first time really making a big meal in the crock-pot. And it was very much on a whim. I think I owe it to Paula Deen's furniture I saw in the store earlier in the day that made me want it. Except I use Coconut Oil instead of butter.

   So I bought what I thought I needed, with some good help from a friend about the meat choice. Along with a second trip to the grocery store after I realized I needed some extra things. I can tell you one thing, my hubs was so excited to be eating a big ol meaty dinner. I used the recipe by The Pioneer Woman, she's pretty awesome and she is from Oklahoma. I have used her recipes for many different things and they never fail me.

  Here's the ingredients I used, they differ slightly from hers. Also because of what I have on hand and what I use on a daily basis.


     There is also carrots but they were frying and I decided to take a photo after the fact. Go me! I used some awesome poultry mix I have had for a few years. It is just dried rosemary, thyme, and basil. Then I used my favorite, coconut oil. It cooks so much better than anything I have ever used. And it is so good for you, especially me since I have an immune deficiency. I will do a post about all the good things it does soon.

  Anywho we also got a 3.5 lb bottom round roast from Sams Club. We love us some green bell peppers too, so we decided to add it in. As the pioneer woman did, we made mashed potatoes on the side instead of adding them in, which made it heavenly.

   So first I heated our skillet with two tbsp of coconut oil.  In which I seared the onions, carrots, and green peppers in.



    I didn't use her directions to sear the meat though. We weren't having it that night so We put it straight into the crock pot raw. Thank goodness I have the hubs around, because I don't like touching red meats very much. I don't know why, but I have a weird panic attack when I have to. It's just not for me, but he doesn't care either way. So he used some of the salt and paper and rubbed it into the meat.

    We added the broth after this, the whole little containers was right at 3 cups. Then we added in the poultry seasoning and mixed it around. Then on top of that was the veggies. We cooked it overnight since I don't like leaving appliances on when I am not home. I think all those episodes of Rescue 911 when I was little put the fear of electrical fires in me. (Does anyone else remember that show?).

   So the next morning my hubs took the crock out and onto a cookie sheet and into the fridge it went. When we got home from work we put the crock back into the pot and heated it one high for about and hour and half. Just enough for all the fat to be re-dissolved and for everything to come back to food safe temp. I made some mashed potatoes while we waited. The meat literally just fell apart with the fork. It was so delicious. I poured some of the wonderful juices on the potatoes and put a little A1 sauce on the meat.

   Forever I was intimidated by this meal, I don't know why. But I love it and it is gonna stick around for as long as I can turn a switch on and off. Have you ever made anything that intimidated you? Did it turn out better than you perceived?

     We went window shopping today, which is so hard for me. When I love something, I want it, need it, right then. I know how to be patient, I am not saying it is easy to do. So we traveled to our local furniture stores and had some looksies. There are a few things we are looking for, but first thing on the list is a new sofa, er, sectional. With the possibility of kiddo's soon, we need something family friendly and large!

   Also our current sofa is sinking in somehow, we have only had it for 4 1/2 years. I guess 300 only goes so far for quality? Well I have a TON of things I look for in a couch, and so does the hubs. Seat depth is the number one thing on my list. I have very long legs for my body, and I don't like hanging halfway off the couch. Also style is another big thing, I want it to look pretty but not tooooo fancy. Like you would be okay with sitting on it and the curling-up ability is high on the list. Can the WHOLE family fit mostly comfortably? Then of course the durability with children is a big one too. Can we easily get stains out, and will the frame hold up well. I know I am out of my stupid mind to want a cream couch. But what can I say? I love them, and always have. We can always set some rules about no food or drink unless it is movie night and everyone leans over the coffee table while sitting on an inch of space to eat color less, oil less food; i.e. popcorn. Well we found the one we want, way out of our price range we had our hearts set on. Yet if we want it to last for 10 years, we may have to spend a little extra to get what we really want. We also saw a leather one, but when I laid my eyes on this one, it was love at first sight. I kept going back just falling into it. The picture does it no justice, this sucker is huge and deep, and comfy. And my true love as far as couches go.

Paula Deen

   It is part of Paula Deen's new furniture line. I am pretty sure she got right into my brain and saw everything I loved and made this line. I know, it's silly, but that's how I feel! I LOVE LOVE LOVE everything in her line, as well as her cooking. We are hoping to get this for Christmas for our "family". This is not just for us, but for any children we are lucky enough to get chosen for. This will make it our home for everyone!

    I never meant to go this long without posting anything, but so much has been going on in the past few weeks that I literally have had no time. We had to get ready for our home re-assessment. Got it done, and felt great about it afterwards. Then worked, and worked, and worked some more. After working a whole lot my poor hubby got very sick and we had doctor appointments as well. In between all of this we had Halloween to celebrate as well.

   I ended up being Rosie the Riveter. I have always been in love with the era she was modeled after. And I think this hit my personality straight on. I am independent, helpful, and strong. Who wouldn't want to be Rosie?

   Anywho, I should be getting back to straight blogging this weekend! I will update quite a bit of things . Thanks for reading!