bernards: November 2013

Content

There is always something more in life that I am always going to want.

When I was in high school I just couldn't wait until I was in college, when I was in college I just couldn't wait until I got married, when I got married I just couldn't wait until we graduated.... well you get my point. I am always one of those people who seem be looking for the next phase in life and keep saying, "if I could just have fill in the blank life would be perfect..." The funny thing is just yesterday Kelsey and I were talking about how we miss Rexburg and the simple life of college. Yet when we were there we couldn't wait until we could leave.

I watch my little puppies everyday wake up and pretty much do the same thing. Eat, play, sleep, cuddle, and sleep some more. They are so stinking happy with this lifestyle. In fact when we go somewhere (except my moms) they get scared and just want to go home. How simple of a life is this yet they are so happy and content. I have been thinking about this a lot lately and how I need to be more like this.

So a couple of weeks ago I decided I was going to make myself find a way to be happy with what I had and not long for the next step or phase. I will admit I didn't think it was going to work. I honestly have just told myself all my life it was just how I was and there was nothing I could do to change this. However day after day as I forced myself to focus on the now and stop thinking about later I found how much more content and happy I was. I am still working on it but each day it gets a little easier.

Yes there are always going to be things that I want. Yes I am always going to be striving to be better. I know that this is never something I am not going to have to work at but I know that it is important to enjoy what I have now. So I am going to sit here and watch my puppies sleep while watching a movie with Kelsey on the couch, in my new beautiful home and be content.

The House

We moved in about a month ago and I am just now getting pictures up.. time flies!!

Welcome to our home!

Here is our entry way! I made this bench out of our old TV stand.

This is a chair that I am re-upholstering. I will blog about when it is done. So far I LOVE it.

This is our living room. I love how open it is.

This is my favorite piece of furniture that I re-did. I love, love, love it!

This is the dining room that Kelsey and I re-did together. I LOVE it. It has a lot of character

This is my favorite wall of the house

Our Kitchen I re-did these bar stools too. They were our old table chairs

This is our office downstairs

Here is our bedroom. We just upgraded from a full size bed to a king. We got an amazing deal on it!

We also have 3 other bedrooms upstairs but they are boring right now. Here is our home! I am more than happy with the way that it turned out. We feel so blessed to have been able to buy this home, it is more than we could have ever imagined! I am just so in love with it! I am not the greatest at taking pictures and these pictures don't even do it justice. So if you want to see the rest of the house, feel free to stop by!

Quick Chicken Teriyaki

I have tried several chicken Teriyaki meals on Pinterest and haven't liked a single one of them. So I was really hesitant to give this recipe a try. But I went ahead and did it because I love Teriaki and hey it's just one meal if it's gross right and it can't hurt to try. That is my rule of thumb when baking or cooking. I must try it once and if it wasn't a good recipe then I can throw it out and look for something new. Anyways, we loved this version so it is a must try!

Quick Chicken Teriyaki:

2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast

5 1/2 cups of bean sprouts (I accidentally read over this and skipped this... Opps!)

2 cups green peppers

4 tbsp green onions

2 tsp fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup of soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

Step:

1. Place chicken in a pan.

2. mix garlic, half of the ginger, and soy sauce

3. pour over chicken, cover and refrigerate for an hour

4. preheat oven to 350 F.

5. remove chicken from marinade and bake uncovered for 15 minutes

6. turn over and bake another 15 minutes

7. boil marinade for 1 minute and set aside

8. saute green pepper in sesame oil & add the other half of the ginger

9. add sprouts and saute for 4 minutes

10. when the sprouts become tender, add the marinade and boil for another 2 minutes

11. slice the chicken breast and place over sprout mixture

A couple of things about this recipe. The first thing I changed was that I doubled the marinade recipe. When I saw it was going to become a sauce later, I knew I would want more. I am a sauce kind of girl so that is up to you. Also, once you add the marinade in with the veggies, it thickens really fast. Next time I won't leave the mixture on for 2 minutes. But again that is me and I like runny sauce. We had this over rice! We had this tonight for the first time and I can tell this is going to become a new favorite.

Savory Pork Chops & Mashed Cauliflower

Kelsey and I have been pretty decent about being healthy eaters but since about September we have had a goal to become even better at it. We found lots of really healthy meals and guess what? They are super good! This one is so yummy and is a frequent flyer on our meal list!

Savory Pork Chops:

1 tsp olive oil

2 pounds pork loin chops

ground pepper, to taste

1/4 chopped shallots ( I just used onions, they are just as good)

1 cup chicken stock

10 sliced baby bella mushrooms (or whatever you have on hand)

1 tbsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp fresh parsley (i used dried)

Steps:

1. heat oil in a large frying pan

2. season pork with salt and pepper

3. raise heat to medium and add chops. Saute for 7 minutes

4. turn and cook until chops are browned. (about 7 more minutes)

5. remove chops and place in a warm spot

6. add shallots to the pan and cook until soft

7. add the stock to deglaze the pan, stir in the mustard, 1 tbsp of parsley, and then add the mushrooms and cook until they are done

8. add the chops back in and mix all together!

I served this over mashed cauliflower. This is really simple to make but the first time I made it, I boiled the cauliflower and didn't steam it. Too much water got in the cauliflower and it didn't turn out. So the key is to steam! I also like to add a little bit of garlic to them to give some flavor. Enjoy!

Bella

We set Kirby up for failure. We brought him home to a house that had two dogs. He spend the first 6 months of his life being in a family with other dogs and learning what life was like with other play mates. Kelsey and I always knew that this was a temporary situation but Kirby had no idea of our plans. I knew it was going to be rough when we moved into our own house, but I didn't know how rough it was going to be.

Plan get Bella started at our Halloween party when Paula showed me a picture of the puppy they were getting and then proceeded to show me a picture of Bella. I fell in love and I just had to have her. I also knew Kirby would be miserable alone after spending his whole life with fellow play mates. I started begging Kelsey for her right away but at first he said Kirby would be fine and we didn't need Bella.

Plan get Bella continued but I let it go for a few days. As we started to get settled into our house, Kirby become more and more depressed and would mope and cry around the house all day long. It was heart breaking. This was starting to wear Kelsey down. The final straw happened on evening after Tucker and Emma were over here playing. When they left, Kirby sat at the door and cried for about 15 minutes. Nothing we did could get him to stop. So once Kelsey saw how sad he was, he caved! YAY!

Paula and I got sister puppies and we went to go pick them up last Saturday. I won't share all the gory details but, they were in bad shape when we got them. Bella had obviously been neglected and was a sad little puppy. We got her cleaned up. She is such a sweet addition to our family and we are so happy to have her! Since getting her, Kirby has perked up quite a bit and they are always playing. It is SO sweet.

We just LOVE her! Kirby got his male parts out today and is not a happy camper but I am sure he will perk up back to his old self her shortly. I love my spunky boy and my sweet girl!

DIY Galore

When we knew we were buying our house, I decided I needed some new furniture. I love love the shabby chic look but I didn't have the budget to buy all the new shabby furniture that I wanted. So I got myself on Pinterest and found some tutorials on ways that I could make this goal come true. Again I love Pinterest, it solves all my decorating problems. I found an awesome tutorial but I just needed some furniture. Our local thrift store, St. Vinney's, is my favorite and their prices are SO reasonable. I found some awesome furniture there and could just imagine it re-done. So last weekend Kelsey and I spent our weekend re-doing some of the furniture that I found. Don't worry I am still not done!!! The projects never end when you have a house:) But I will post my before and after's that I have so far. Here is the link to the tutorial I used.

I will say that at the step where she says apply Vaseline, I would not recommend doing this. Unless you know exactly every spot you want to distress you are going to end up with paint coming off in places that you don't want.
Sofa table before: