emma's 4th birthday!

on saturday we had emma's 4th birthday party. this year i was all about easy and booked the party at the blackfoot community center. it has an indoor playland and all sorts of other fun gymnastics mats and things to play on. unfortunately somehow they booked our party at the wrong time and when i showed up the party room was occupied by someone else food and party. 

thankfully the boy running things quickly set us up a couple tables in the lounge area and we just made it all work!

emma now thinks that she is 4, even though her birthday isn't until september 1st. and she keeps telling everyone that she is 4 now!  

so i'm just going with it and letting her think that : )

 the toppers are just dum dum suckers dipped in water and then dipped in sprinkles!

 remember my easy motto? ya these were in place of goodie bags. ha.

 after cupcakes the girls decided to get the cheerleading dress up stuff out. it was hilarious!

she is SO my daughter.

i'm thinking i like easy, don't have to clean your house, type of parties. 

DIY Painted Piano {part 1}

 a little over a month ago a family from church was moving and when i was over there helping out they were talking about how they didn't want to move their piano. so they planned to sell it. 

at that point i was bummed because trevor knew i wanted it but was already reluctant because the thing had seen better days and i knew he would be up for paying any money for it. that's when the best plan ever was formulated...

i had already been talking to the husband about selling him my clarinet for the high school band (he is the band director) and decided to ask him for a trade. honestly i hadn't played my clarinet but maybe twice since 9th grade and it always drove me crazy that it was in the key of b flat. but the piano is an instrument that everyone should learn to play and although i'm not the best, i plan on becoming better.

luck for me there is another guy from our church that builds and tunes and fixes pianos as his retired hobby. he came over and told me that it really was a good trade and he would help me get this thing in perfect condition...for free. can't beat that. 

 so here's what went down.

 the thing was kind of a mess.

 they had 5 kids and you wouldn't believe the things i found inside that piano as i was taking it apart. 

you can tell from above that a few things had been spilled in there too. but the pictures below are after i washed and vacuumed it out.

first i sanded it with fine sand paper to smooth it out and wiped it down again. 

then i used Behr paint plus primer and got to painting. 

here's where i got myself into a little bit of extra work and annoyance.

i chose a tan paint color and once i finished the second coat i hated it. awesome. 

so i decided to go with white. since i figured i already painted 2 coats with primer i just bought regular "antique white" paint with no primer. 

therefor i had to paint 3 more coats to cover the original color. if i would have got paint plus primer white i probably would of only had to do two.

so choose your paint color wisely and don't go cheap by getting paint without primer unless you want more work. 

oh and another tip....DO NOT buy cheap brushes. they make it streaky and you just have to go get more expensive ones anyways. learned that the hard way too. 

but at last here it is!!!

it's still not completely put together...the part that covers the keys isn't screw back on {thus the space}because i am waiting for the piano fix-it guy to come back to fix a key and tune it.

while i was painting with white i also decided to paint/distress my bookshelf which used to be completely wood like the top part. 

oh and that part of my living room has the WORST lighting ever.

 i am still having a seriously hard time deciding if i want to give it a little bit of distressing. 

what do you think?

next up....Part 2: painting and upholstering the piano bench. 

oh and i liked reading these tutorials before i started

pin 1

pin 2

what's for dinner?

i LOVE pasta and would eat it for most meals if i wouldn't gain 10 pounds in a week. these stuffed shells are a favorite in our house. i love the use of fresh spinach and their flavor is amazing. 

i use just one box of shells although some of them are unusable after cooking. 

{it is the perfect amount for 2 people and leftovers} 

then i freeze half the filling for an easy future meal where i only have to cook and stuff the shells. 

just add a salad and bread sticks and you have an olive garden worthy meal : )

Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells

Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients

·         1 (12-ounce) box uncooked jumbo pasta shells (if all of yours survive the boil this is enough, to be safe you may want 1 1/2 boxes)

·         2 cups chopped cooked chicken

·         2 cups fresh chopped spinach

·         1 onion, chopped

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 (15oz) container ricotta cheese

·         2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened (I think you could get away with one package)

·         1 (5oz) package shredded Parmesan cheese (about 1 2/3 cups)

·         1 large egg, lightly beaten

·         1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes

·         1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1/2 teaspoon pepper

·         2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

·         1 (26oz) jar prepared spaghetti sauce (this was just enough. If you like it saucier use more)

Instructions

1.      Cook shells according to package directions. Be careful not to overcook them or they will tear easily when trying to fill them. Drain and set shells out individually on a cutting board or baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.

2.      Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease two 9x13 baking dishes.

3.      In a large bowl, combine chicken and all the rest of the ingredients except mozzarella and spaghetti sauce. Stir in 1 cup mozzarella. Spoon into shells. *Tip: For easier filling, fill a gallon ziplock baggie with the filling and snip a quarter size hole off the corner of the bag. Then you can just pipe the filling into the shells.

4.      Spread half of spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dishes. Arrange shells over sauce; top with remaining sauce. Cover tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. If you are freezing one of the 9x13 prepared pans, freeze it after this step. Include a baggy of the remaining mozzarella for when you cook it.

5.      Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella. Bake for 5 to 10 more minutes.

6.      Makes 8-10 servings.

recipe & picture via "the girl who ate everything"

finally a fashion change, after 12 years.

when i was turning 12 i made a huge deal of the fact that i wanted "flared" jeans more than anything else. my mom was SO against them and called them bell bottoms saying they were just a fad and will go out of style before i knew it. 

well i did get those jeans and let me tell you, they were probably the most worn thing in my closet. 

{i'm talking daily people. i was obsessed} 

funny thing is 12 years later, i just cut up my last and only pair of "flared" jeans today.

i don't think i even wore them once last winter.

it's interesting how things change and we are back to the "skinny" jean trend that i swore up and down i would NEVER in my entire life wear because they were "mom" jeans.  

but i guess if american eagle carries them {and that's my favorite jean store} then i have to admit they are in style and have been for a while now. 

so ta-ta to the flared jeans...maybe i'll buy some again in another 12 years. 

don't cry over spilled milk...or powerade

today i had a big, fat, realization...and not a good one. 

i am a mean mom. 

okay, we'll i don't mean all the time {at least i hope not} but the past few days i have caught myself countless times losing it over the silliest things like emma spilling an entire cup of powerade on the floor{that i just mopped yesterday} because in my brain i am like, "what the heck. you are almost four. can't you sit still and eat your lunch like a big kid?!" 

and after my anger gets out and she feels beyond awful then i realize, "no, you mean mom. she is four. not ten." 

just another ah-ha moment to remind me that kids are kids and they are supposed to make messes and mistakes because that's how they learn. 

more importantly that's how we learn.

we're all just mom's, dad's, co-workers, husbands, wives, students, children, etc.

making one mistake after another all for the purpose of learning. 

now i am prying that the next time something happens i can say to myself, "cool it. you're twenty-four. act like an adult instead of freaking out." because in all reality my reaction is teaching her how to react when things happen. 

so here's to being a better mom and better example, one step at a time. 

hi-low shirt refashioned

i am actually a fan of the hi-low shirt trend but after i brought this one home i realized the length of the back and the side slits combined didn't really work well for me. i have worn this outfit before and just tucked it in but that is a lot of shirt to keep tucked in your behind smoothly with the constant moving all day long.

so today i did a little thinking and came up with a new idea....a side knot! i think this fits my personal style a little better and there's nothing to fuss with all day!

july's favorite things {link up}

july is pretty much my favorite month of the year. it has my birthday, a holiday, summer vacations, and all things summer jam packed into it! 

in honor of the end of my favorite month here were some of the best parts. 

via instagram pics, of course. 

my birthday

emma insisted on buying me an icecream cake although i was stuffed from dinner. 

it was an awesome spoiled day for me. 

lake powell

this was our first family vacation and my first time to lake powell. 

if you haven't been you are seriously missing out. 

projects

my house is kind of a work in progress this month with TONS of projects going on.

the plan is to have everything back in order in the next few weeks. 

my piano

although this is a project too{and probably the biggest} my new-to-me piano is looking pretty good these days with its new face lift. 

the picture above is the very beginning stages of the project.