Saw it. Pinned it. Did it. - Cucumber Cups

First things first, kids. A HUGE thank you to all of your compliments on our home yesterday!! Holy WHOA. Y'all really know how to make a girl blush! We had a very rustic/chic/Pottery Barn-ish vision going into the whole homebuilding thing so I'm happy to see that y'all all approve of our selections! ;) As I get more stuffz on the walls, I promise to post more pics!

Next topic at hand: mine & Katie's Saw it. Pinned it. Did it. link up is today! For those of you newbies, feel free to link up (every Thursday!), include the button we created (at the bottom of this post), as well as the original pin from where you got your inspiration from and show us what you come up with! Whether it's a recipe you've been wanting to try, a craft of some sort, a new hairstyle, a fashion idea, or even the inevitable...a Pinterest fail (because we ALL know they happen!) Afterall, isn't it time you get to tackling your Pinterest boards! I think yes!

Moving right along...

So last week's Pinterest project was an outfit post. This week it's a recipe. Who am I?! Ok don't answer that. Hopefully one of these days I can turn one of these tropical island pins into a reality. (Beau-DID YOU READ THAT??) Oh! Where was I? Oh ya...this week, I bring you healthy tuna salad cucumber cups! I made these for a recent baby shower  I hosted and then again for a company party and they were a HUGE hit! They make such a great appetizer for ANY party really (ahem...Super Bowl?!) and are SO stinkin' easy!

Original pin:

via

Here's what you'll need:

3 cucumbers | 1/2 red onion | 6 eggs | 6 Kosher pickle slices | Veganaise (or mayonnaise) | canned tuna or chicken

Veganaise may not look familiar to many of you so I'm here to tell you it's just a healthy version of mayonnaise that doesn't contain all the crap (vinegar, sugar, starch, preservatives, etc...) yet it tastes JUST like mayo. (Even Beau likes it!) If you're a Texas girl, they carry it at most HEB's and possibly at Whole Foods. If you're not, you can find it online here. (You're welcome.)

Let's get started. K?!

1. Boil your eggs.

2. While your eggs are boiling, slice cucumbers in 3/4 inch slices.

3. Using a melon baller, scoop out the top portion of your cucumber slice but be careful! You don't want to not scrape too deep or you'll have a hole in the bottom of your cup! Not that I would know from experience or anything... ;)

4. Continue scooping your cukes until all of your "cups" are created.

5. Chop your onion and pickles.
6. In a large mixing bowl, combine onion, pickles, tuna/chicken, veganaise and salt/pepper to taste.
7. Mix well.
8. Once your eggs are done boiling, chop them up and toss 'em around too.

Scoop your tuna/chicken salad into your cup & voila!

Chill for 30-45 minutes before serving & enjoy! Easy freakin' peasy, y'all! And healthy, too! #winning

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On Becoming a Homeowner...

Some of you may or may not know that just one short month ago, Beau and I finally moved into our first "dream" home. I say "first dream home" because I know this won't be our final dream house but darn it, so much thought and preparation and stress went into this baby that I'd by lying if I said we weren't extremely proud of our purchase!

When the idea of buying a home came up, we tossed around the idea of buying a pre-existing home or building. I've always wanted to build. My parents built their house and it was such a fun process to see it all come to reality and I, too, have always wanted to experience that. Beau, on the other hand, wanted to just buy a home. We looked at quite a few pre-existing homes and quickly realized that while we liked some of the houses, we didn't love any of them and chances are, we'd be spending tens of thousands of dollars to change the floors, cabinets, etc...to get it exactly the way we wanted it. Err-I wanted it. Beau knew I wasn't going to stop looking until I was 100% satisfied and I think he quickly realized the only way to get what I wanted was to build it ourselves. ("What baby wants, baby gets." -The Break Up)

Is building a home more expensive? In my opinion, no. It actually ends up being about the same. Like I said, if we would have bought a pre-existing home, I would have wanted to spend the same amount of money upgrading it and changing it to be what I wanted it to be so for us, it was a wash and a no-brainer so we paid the exact amount to build as we would have had we bought a pre-existing house. (Plus, we got to choose every single little thing from the floors and the light fixtures to the appliances and the door handles...and it's all brand new! Win/win!)

May 23, 2012 we signed that dotted line and were on our way to becoming homeowners. Little did we know it would take 4...yes-FOUR, months for them to even break ground. Talk about testing a girl's patience...

September 20, 2012 (our 7 year anniversary!) we drove up to find that there was no longer just a big empty lot...they had finally broken ground and I'll be honest...I've never been so happy in my LIFE to see a pile of dirt.

Our builder (Grand View) swore UP and DOWN we would close before Christmas while I, in the meantime, rolled my eyes in disgust thinking "There's no possible way this house will be done that quick!"

Lo and behold...we closed on December 21, 2012 and since then, it's been a huge work in progress! A very fun work in progress, but definitely WORK, nonetheless! I know I have all the time in the world to hang stuff on the walls and get it the way I want it but we're getting there. One day my fear of putting a hole in my brand new walls will go away and soon enough, we'll actually have something like a picture or a mirror take up residence those big blank walls.

In the meantime, I'm really enjoying the simplicity of it all!

Anywho...without further adieu...welcome to our home! :)

"A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams." -Unknown

Now come back, ya heard! ;)

Good News. Bad News. {+ This Whole New Craze}

The good news is that I am not only alive, but am willing and able enough to be typing something today without puking my guts up all over my keyboard. TMI? Sorry. (Food poisoning: 1 Stephanie: 0)

The bad news is that I have nothing prophetic or compelling for you today because to be perfectly honest, this is taking up just about all the energy I have left. I am zapped, my friends.

That being said, a glimpse at my weekend:

one. yep. This happened. No big deal.
two. poolside in January and lovin' every second of it!
three. what seemed to be the start to a perfect Saturday afternoon.
four. new arm candiez.
five. more of what "seemed" to be a perfect Saturday afternoon.
six. the results of your husband doing the laundry. #ihatemismatchedsocks #atleasthetried
seven. date night attire. Nothing short of boots, bling and a glass of white wine. :)
eight. what became my best friends all day Sunday. Take THAT food poisoning. (Y'all, I thought I was dying.)
nine. arriving in Pittsburgh late Sunday night, finally feeling like myself again, and welcomed with a fresh blanket of snow.

Snow & hills. Some new concept? Texas is a little behind...

Hope your weekend was as equally fab (minus the puking rally mine consisted of)! I'm off to take in all this fresh Pennsylvania snow during my short 24-hour stay! Later this week...I may or may not be finally posting house pics! ;) Better late than never, right?

PS: what's this whole "VineApp" craze!? Have you joined?! Am I missing out?! Isn't blogging, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram enough?! I'm not sure I can keep up with yet another form of social media!

Le sigh. #socialmediaproblems

Saw it. Pinned it. Did it. - That ONE time I was a fashion blogger

Today we're moving mountains people. Pigs are flying, hell is freezing over, money is growing on trees and there's snow falling in Texas.

Ok so none of these are true but what you're about to see may lead one to believe they are because today's pinspiration for Saw it. Pinned it. Did it. is straight up fashion-related...and you already know...I ain't no fashion blogger.

But before I show off my incredible modeling skillz and my husband's phenomenal knack for photography, I'm gonna go ahead and state my honest opinion(s) on fashion blogging:

1. It is, without a doubt, the most awkward thing. Ever. To sit there in front of a camera snapping pics of yourself is not particularly how I prefer to spend my Saturday afternoons.

2. These poses? Wha? Where do I look? What about my hands? Do I cross my feet? How's my hair? I'm so bad at this...aw screw it!

3. It takes a LOT of effort! First of all, you have to actually get dressed for the day and no, I'm not talking yoga pants and pink zip-up. (That's for you, Katie.) I'm talking hair, makeup, jewelry, scarf and a fancy outfit. The whole enchilada. If you're anything like me, stuff like this rarely happens. AND THEN...on top of all that...you have to find somewhere to take pictures of yourself!

Moral of the story: too awkward and too much work so enjoy this post because it's not going to happen very often...if ever again.

Original pin:

via


aaand how I made it my own:

 

Top: F21 | Jeans: OCJ | Boots: Steve Madden | Boot socks: Kohl's | Scarf: Gifted

There.
That's the only fashion post you're getting so eat your little hearts out.



Okay don't because takings these pics was the most ridiculous thing I think I've ever participated in.

What you CAN do is link up with us!

Link up using the linky tool below so everyone else can see what you've created!

Link back to Katie and I's blogs in your post so other people can know about the link up!

Include the button below by pasting the HTML into your post. Pwetty please?

And if you haven't linked up with us yet, what the HAY are you waiting for?!

All the cool kids are doing it! ;)

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On Starting a Family...

When I say everyone I know is pregnant these days, I'm not kidding.

Let's see...

• My sister-in-law...with triplets
• Three of Beau's cousin's wives
• Three co-workers
• And even a few of you blogger ladies (Ahem...Kate, Kelle Hampton, etc...)

Fact: if you can list the number of women you know are pregnant in bullet form, you should probably not drink the water.

Anywho-naturally, what comes with this is a ton of people looking my way saying "You've been married for a couple years now. You've got a steady job, a loving husband and a brand new home. Isn't it your turn?"

What do you mean "my turn"? I'm not standing in line at a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. This is a life-changing event, people! I'm not here to join the morning sickness club as soon as possible, or run to the nearest maternity clothes store or jump right into taking care of another human being for the rest of my life without thinking long and hard about it.

I'm pretty sure my mother is convinced my uterus is infested with cobwebs since she had me at the ripe old age of 23 and here I am, 26 and at grandma status in her book. Meh-whatevs, mom. At 23, having children was the absolute last thing on my mind. Trust me.

It's definitely an internal battle I feel every woman at the child-bearing age goes through so here we go.

The devil on my shoulder:

First of all, I'm only 26! I know some woman are all about having their babies young, and don't get me wrong, I want to have them "young" too but then again I still feel like I'm a child! I mean, I made my first mortgage payment today and still feel like I'm not old enough to even have a house to call my own, nonetheless a real life 30-year mortgage, a husband, utility bills, car notes, and a puppy on the way. Other women like to get married and pop out babies 9 months after the honeymoon. Not that there is anything against that but it's just not my style. Beau and I have completely and utterly enjoyed ourselves for the past year and a half. Just the two of us.

Second, the thought of being fat and sick for 9 months terrifies me. I just got rid of my freshman 15 a couple years ago. Why the heck would I want to go back to that and then have to work so hard to get rid of it all over again? (Wow.Vain much, Stephanie?)

Third, I'm the worst patient ever. In the 3 surgeries I've ever had, every single one of them left me with some type of weird reaction which leaves me terrified of anything medical related. Lord only knows what's going to happen when I have something growing inside my stomach and it's only means of exiting my belly is via my crotch.

Fourth, along with being the worst patient ever, I'm THE most impatient soul you will ever know. The fact that I would have to wait 3+ months just to know the sex of my child and another 6 months to actually SEE the bun that's been cooking in my oven for 9 months gives me more anxiety than anyone will ever know. I'm stressed just thinking about that!

Bottom line: sometimes I just feel like I'm not ready. Like we're not ready.

But all that to be said...I have this sweet little angel on the other shoulder that screams,"You're never going to be ready! Just do it!". And I know she's right. I mean, who's ever "ready" to be sick, fat and jobless for months on end? No one. Who's ever "ready" to learn all about breastfeeding, diaper changing and what the color of your child's poop means?

That's right. 

No one.

When am I ever going to have 9 months to do absolutely nothing, have no weddings/parties to attend, no booze to drink, no vacations to go on, no bikinis to be in, no big work projects to stress about?

That's right.

Never.

It's a fact of life. We never really "feel ready" for any of the big events that happen in our lives, whether it's getting married, buying a house, getting a dog or making this huge decision of starting a family. While we'd all like to "think" we're ready for things like this, when push comes to shove, we aren't. But we just do it, and it just works, and we figure it out and at the end of the day, everything is always O.K.

Sure we could sit here and analyze every little thing and every little situation to try to find "the right time" but all we're really doing is driving ourselves bat sh*t crazy. While right now is not the time for Beau and I to go reproducing and I'm not dying of baby fever over here, it's not to say I'm not opening up to the idea of it a little more and more each day.

I mean, I think he looks pretty damn good holding babies. Don't you? ;)

That's all I gots, folks. Take it for what it's worth.

Weekend Happnin's + {A Smokin' Hot 50-Year Old}

Happy Monday. (Said no one. Ever.)

 

Ok so I'm k.i.n.d.a. getting used to this whole "Monday thing"...I mean, it's only taken 26 years for me to figure out they're not that bad. One more Monday means one more day closer to the weekend and one more day closer to the weekend means one more day closer to no alarm clock. (Plus, what would I blog about on Mondays if we didn't have weekends?) Speaking of...mine looked a little like so:

one. Beau's birthday shenans @ Top Golf. (Not pictured: 13 empty buckets of beer)

two. Sun flare, don't care!

three. Friday night lights & a very intoxicated Brian singing his heart out to the lead singer.

four. 11am wake up call. #oops

five. Saturday morning recovery.

six. Getting my green thumb on! (orange, lime, grapefruit & avocado trees planted + a couple strawberry plants)

seven. Baby strawberry. Grow, baby, GROW!

eight. Gifties for our new neighbors (Guess who already got invited to join the neighborhood bunco group?! Holla!)

nine. A very spotless, and happy Howard home. #rare

 

Link up & join the fun, duh!



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And finally, a very special birthday shoutout to my Mother Goose! One can only HOPE to look this smokin' hot on her 50th birthday!

 

Want in on a little secret? She got her very first tattoo for her 50th birthday.

Baller status, I know.

 Love you, mom!

Tonight on the dinner menu: mom's favorite, breakfast + The Bachelor

So basically, waffles and Sean. Hope you're okay with that! ;)

(Yes, she loves Sean as much as the rest of us do.)

 

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How was your weekend? Do any of you kids know anything about growing fruit trees because though I currently have FOUR residing in my yard, I know not the first thing about them!