Home Sweet Home

Alright folks, it's time for everybody's favorite... Before & After pictures!!! Now, while we're not entirely done, we have worked really hard so far to make our apartment feel like home, and I'm pretty pleased with the results!

Living Room

before:

& after:

Dining Area

before:

& after:

Kitchen
before:

& after:

Master Bedroom
before:

& after:

Master Bathroom
before:

& after:

Emma's Closet
before:

& after:

Guest Bedroom
before:

& after:

Guest Bathroom
before:

& after:

Patio

before:

& after:

There you have it! I hope you enjoyed the tour. In case you're wondering, almost everything we have came from ikea or was handed down from our parents. I'm so happy with the progress we've made and I definitely feel like this little space is truly a home. (P.S. how awesome is my closet???) 

Once again, thanks for stopping by and check back soon for a honeymoon recap! :)

My First Ever Recipe

I literally never thought this day would come. Anyone who knows me knows that the kitchen is definitely not one of my favorite rooms in the house. But, as of late, I have been dabbling in there and have actually been pleasantly surprised with the outcomes. Today I will be sharing with you all the recipe for "Bacon-Wrapped Cheez-Its" or, as I like to call them, "Bacon Bites".

These treats take no time at all to prepare, but do take a little while to bake.

Ingredients:
1 package of bacon
1 box of cheez-its
parmesan cheese

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 250 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with foil, and layering a metal rack on top (this is so that the bacon grease can drip down without making your oven messy). Begin cutting the bacon with scissors into either 3 or 4 pieces and wrapping it around a single cheez-it. Arrange the bacon-wrapped cheez-its neatly onto the tray and continue until you run out of room. Sprinkle a light layer of parmesan cheese over them, and bake for 2 hours.

Once they're done it will be very tempting to eat them all yourself, but if you have made them for a group of people (as I did) you must refrain. Let me know if you try these and how they turn out! :)

A Grateful Heart

Since moving to Austin, one of the things I've struggled with is being content with my life. I find myself more likely to focus on the negative things, instead of the positive.

I'm not entirely sure why this is, but I think it has mostly to do with loneliness. I am very much a people person and love being around others... I love having friends over, meeting people for coffee or lunch, cooking meals with friends, going out to dinner, etc. However, I am not always good at initiating these events when I'm first getting to know people.

Luckily, Andrew works with a great group of people that we have become very close with. We have also been blessed to join a bible study with 4 other newly married couples. While I'm so incredibly thankful for both of those things, it's still not quite the same as being home in Orlando with the friends I've known my whole life, or being at UGA where I got to live with some of my best friends.

Regardless, I still have so much to be grateful for, and that is what I try to remind myself everyday. I am married to the best man in the world, we are healthy and living in one of the coolest cities in the country, and I get to hang out with 2 precious kittens everyday... What more could a girl ask for? ;)

Job Searching

I'll be honest with you guys... Job searching is the worst.

We have been in Austin for almost 3 months now and I have nothing to show for it in the full-time job department. Now, I realize some people search for a job for much longer than 3 months, but for me it has felt like an eternity. I guess I had unrealistic expectations... For some reason I believed that I would find something within a matter of weeks. I thought, "Oh, I'll take a few weeks to settle in to the new apartment and everything, and then I'll find a job - no problem!" But I was wrong.

I have been lucky enough to find part-time work at Ann Taylor LOFT, which just so happens to be my favorite store, but the part-time paycheck is not my favorite. Most weeks I work less than 20 hours; which not only means less money, it also mean more free time. I know what you're thinking... "More free time? I wish I had some of that!" But after 3 months of free time, I've had more than my fair share.

So I guess it's time for my usual plea: if you know anyone in the Non-Profit or Human Resources world here in Austin who wants to hire a smart, professional young woman, please let me know and I will email you my resume immediately! Not kidding ;)

Surprise!

I am back in the blogging world. I honestly wasn't sure that this day would ever come! But I am so happy that it has, and I am SO completely, over-the-moon, in love with my new blog & design :) Thank you, Marquis, for reading my mind once again!!!

Anyway, this time around, I will be doing things a little differently around here. No "blog world" type stuff... No giveaways, link-ups, sponsorships, etc. Just pure, unadulterated writing about my life. If that sounds interesting to you, then I hope you'll stick around :)

As you may or may not know, a lot of things have changed for me in the past few months... I got married, honeymooned in Mexico, moved across the country, changed my name, adopted two adorable kittens, and got my first ever part-time job.

Don't worry, I will be elaborating on all of these things in due time (with pictures, of course), but for now, feel free to poke around and get acquainted with the new site. I'm so glad you stopped by!