Christmas!

I am so excited it's Christmastime-I almost can't stand it! 

I've been listening to Christmas music since Halloween...yes, I am THAT girl.

It's especially fun when you have a new decorating palate...like a house!  I still have a few things to do outside..but inside it more fun anyway.

We'll hang lights this weekend...

Enjoy our Christmas-filled home!

And here are a few special ornaments that I love:

1. Penny's paw print.  I sure miss her. ;(

 Every year, my girlfriends and I do an ornament exchange and this is what my friend Elizabeth made for me last year! I love it!

 And we hafta represent those Aggies! ;)

Also, hubby and I do an ornament exchange on December 1 and a couple years ago he got me this picnic backet ornament.  When he proposed to me, we were on a picnic...And I am obsessed with picnics.  So sweet, right?

And i'll leave you with one more photo from Instagram...Darla looks SO happy to be a reindeer.

NOT.

A little TREAT for you.

Happy Monday, friends!

Things have been busy around these parts..if you couldn't tell. I am finally slowing down at work because we hired a new supervisor and I had been doing all the responsibilites that they are going to have so I am relieved to be back to normal this week.

I have a master bath reveal/ guest bedroom reveal in the works...I am excited to show you!

I do have a small treat for you though in the meantime..

Have you heard of Treat.?  It's a "sister" company to Shutterfly, Tiny Prints, and Wedding Paper Divas. Except it's a little different...

You go online, pick out a card, personalize it, and they mail it for you!

 You can pick the occasion (birthday, just because, Christmas, other Holidays..etc) and also the day you want it mailed out!  So if you know of some birthdays coming up, go ahead and order a card and it'll be sent to them on their birthday!  If you're anything like me, I always send birthday cards late. :(  I think it's weaved into my being to somehow mail those suckers late.

With Treat. you don't have to worry.  It's a pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. And super easy! 

And today I am giving you a coupon code to try it for yourself! The only catch is it's only good for today and tomorrow.  So be sure and use it!

Head on over to Treat.com and pick out a card!

Use this code to get one free card:  TREATBLOGR

Happy Shopping and I hope by you sending a card it'll bring a smile!

-Kait

Our Kitchen

We've now been living in our new home for just over two months.  

During that time, I've been working extremely hard to get my house in order and uncluttered.  To be honest, I had every box unpacked within three weeks of moving in (except seasonal decor) but have been tweaking and moving things around since then. Go me!

Funny how that works though...now that I own my home, I have a list of projects that keeps getting longer.  But I love it.  :)  

So, today you'll get a look into our kitchen/dining room. Is it finished? No.  Will it ever be "finished?" That's debatable.  But for now, I am happy.  And I hope you enjoy. 

Here's one before photo of our house before we moved in:

 

 And here's our kitchen today:

This is the farmhouse table my grandpa and I made. I got the chairs from Goodwill (didn't pay more than $30 for all of them combined!)  and I spraypainted them my favorite color from Rustoeleum "Heirloom White". 

A kitchen's not complete without a pup. ;)

The barstools were a gift from my aunt (Thanks Aunt Neecie!!)  And they were red.  I painted them a lovely mint green color from Sherwin Williams.  It's called Cool Cucumber.

(Don't mind the pile of laundry in the chair...pretend you didn't see it)

This antique buffet is from my mom.  The branches are going to be "Our Thankful Tree" which you can read more about on Emily's blog, Jones Design Company.  Just haven't gotten around to hanging our tags on the tree yet. 

We got really lucky when we bought our house.  It didn't have many cosmetic issues at all.  I have ALWAYS dreamed of a kitchen with white cabinets..and I was fully prepared to paint them if they were not white.  But I didn't have to do that here.  The only thing we had to do when we moved in was paint the walls, and that wasn't even necessary.  It was just our choice.  The wall color is Valspar but I color matched it to Sherwin Williams' Beach House.  I LOVE THE COLOR.  I painted our whole downstairs in this color (except for our bedroom and bathroom).  And just for fun, here are a few future projects I have up my sleeve. Honey, get ready!

On to the next project! 

A small note of thanks...

Today is Veteran's Day.  It is one of the most important holidays, in my opinion, because it's our chance to say THANK YOU for all of the men and women who have fought and are fighting four our freedom.

 

Shutterfly is doing something so wonderful and I want to share it with you.  If you go to their facebook page, you can make a card for the troops who are serving and they will print it out and mail it to them.  AT NOT COST TO YOU!  What a great way to show our troops how much we appreciate them.  I know some troops may not ever get a "Thank You" or "I appreciate your service" and this is such a great and easy way to say that.

There is still time to send a card!  Go here to send one. 

Thank you, men and women, who are fighting for our country.  It is because of you, that we are free. 

White Chicken Chili

WHAT?  I'm posting a recipe?  That hasn't happened in like, oh, a LONG time.

But I couldn't go through my day knowing I haven't shared it because this is one heck of a recipe.  

Three reasons why I love it:

1. It's fast
2. It's cheap
3. It's yummy

Those are good enough, right?

I adapted this recipe from allrecipes.com to make it a little less spicy and a little more yummy. ;)

White Chicken Chili 

Ingredients:

- 1 onion

- 2 cloves garlic (or just sprinkle some garlic powder)

- 1/4 cup diced jalapeno peppers

- 1 4 oz can chopped green chile peppers

-2 teaspoons ground cumin

-1 teaspoon dried oregano

- 3/4 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

-2 14.5 oz chicken broth (I made my own)

-3 cups chopped chicken breasts

-3 cans white beans (I used two cans of northern beans, and one can of cannellini beans)

-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

-sour cream for topping

Cook the chicken, shred the chicken, then pour all ingredients into a crockpot set on low for a few hours OR throw into a pot over the stove on low until heated. 

Seriously, it's that easy!

And so delicious.  I ate it for leftovers for three days straight. 

Serve with Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay biscuits! You won't be disappointed.

 

In our new house...

Lots has happened in the Jones household!

My boss quit at work very unexpectedly and so I've been working extra hours doing her job.  Let me tell you, that's NOT easy.  The first week she was gone, I would come home from work, eat a hotdog for dinner, and go to bed! I was that tired.

Now that I've gotten used to the extra workload (and they've hired someone to replace her, PTL!) I hope to post more often.  I've missed this creative outlet for myself.  And plus, I gotta keep up with what's going on.  This is my way of telling our story and I don't want to let myself or my future kiddos down when they read this in ten years (at least that's what I *hope* will happen).  ;)

Usually when the first inkling of fall weather hits, I break out the pumpkins, fall scented candles, and burlap...but this year with us moving in September and having a lot on my plate at work, I've not blogged about it! Shame on me!

I had this itch to get everything done in our new house...and we've only been here a month and a half! I have to remember it's a process and that not everything has to be done by Christmas. But I will say I've been working extremely hard to make it homey.  One of my friends gave me a huge compliment last weekend- she said "Man, it looks like you've been here for years!"  YAY!!  I love having a home that looks lived in.

ANYWAY,

I snapped a few quick photos with my iphone and I know the quality is not that great, but let's face it: it's a HECK of a lot easier than getting out my camera.

::sigh::  I love fall.  The pumpkins, the oranges, yellows, and reds..the smells..  I wish it would be fall all year around.  Well okay, not really.  I love Christmas more.  And Spring.

Here is a photo dump of the past few weeks with our new pup, Darla. 

Let me just say she is the SWEETEST dog we've ever had (Penny was just as sweet in her own way)

She is constantly learning new things and is so stinkin' smart!  She has not once had an accident inside, and when someone comes up to the door, she barks-i love that. hehe!

 

I had blocked her in the kitchen because this was when she still had a few fleas and I did NOT want them getting in the living room...like that was really helping...but she was trying to get out and it was adorable.

 Anytime I'm on my computer and not paying attention to her, she'll put her paw up on the couch.  Makes me melt!

 On an unrelated note,  we went and saw Scotty McCreery in concert a couple weeks ago.  It was wonderful.  If you didn't know- I have a major celeb crush on him.  He used to live a couple blocks down from our rental house and I would see him around town.  I even asked him to sing me a song once..he just laughed and said "next time." :)

 And this past weekend, we had a handful of friends over.  It made me SO super happy that we fit TEN adults around my farmhouse table...seriously made me so joyful.

I can't wait to fill it up with kiddos one day.  Maybe not ten...but several. 

 Hope your weekend was fabulous!  I'm hoping to post photos of our kitchen and the rest of our dining room this week.

Xoxo,

Kait