Google Sketch Up

Last week we were hanging out with our friend Damien and he told us about this super neat program called Google Sketch Up. Since John and I are big Google fans, we went right home and started playing around. Let me tell you, this program is pretty dang cool. It's pretty user friendly, although it does take a little getting used to. For our first sketch....our master closet.

For months now, we have been living with half a closet. Our master closet is a pretty substantial walk in. We took down the wire shelves when we moved in so I could paint. Then we hung two of the shelves back up on the left wall and it turned out that all of our hanging clothes fit on those two shelves. But we still have the whole right side with nothing. No place for shoes, no mirror, no hooks, no nothing.

One of the hardest things for John and I is trying to figure out what will be most useful in the closet and then picturing what it's going to look like. That's where Google Sketch Up comes in. We took some quick measurements of the walls on the right side of the closet and started sketching. Then we started brainstorming different options. We don't need any more hanging space, so we started thinking about shelves. I didn't want to use dressers and I really wanted to utilize the vertical space in the closet. That led me to Expedit from Ikea. Now here's the cool part...Google Sketch Up allows you to search for an item and then import in into your sketch. It was so easy! We imported different Expedit shelves into our sketch and started playing around. Since the Expedit shelves were imported to size, we could move them around the space and see what fit and what we liked.

After many different scenarios, we decided upon 4 Expedit shelves with four boxes each. We are going to mount them to the wall so we can utilize the space underneath for our shoes. Some of the shelves will hold baskets and some will hold folded shirts and pants. We are going to hang a mirror on the wall to the left of the shelves and hooks on the small wall to the right. It turned out pretty simple but I think it will be just what we need. We decided to go with 4, 2x2 shelves instead of 2, 2x4 shelves because we think they will be more versatile in the future. If we ever move, we could use them in other rooms for other functions.

Now we just need to go get the shelves, put them together and hang them on the wall :)

Coming Soon to Orlando...

It opens September 10th! Woo Hoo! So exciting!

Anyone want to come check it out with me?

Banana Bread Muffins

This is the perfect solution for those mushy, ripe bananas sitting on the counter. Delicious!

Banana Bread Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 mashed, overripe bananas (5-6 large bananas)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin tin. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into muffin tin. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the muffins comes out clean. Let muffins cool for a few minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack. Yields 12 large muffins.

John and I added a bit of sweetness to the top of the muffins after we took them out of the oven. Mix 1 tablespoon water and 3 tablespoons brown sugar in a small bowl. Brush on top of the muffins for a sweet crunch!

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Last week, John and I took on home-made chicken alfredo pizza. We were craving the creamy alfredo sauce but wanted to make something new and fresh. This pizza absolutely satisfied our craving! I made the dough with wheat flour and it turned out good. However it was a little too much wheat for my taste, so next time I'm going to do half wheat flour and half white flour. We added red peppers and green onions to the chicken and it gave this pizza just the right amount of color and flavor. We hope you enjoy this pizza just as much as we did!

Pizza Dough
1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast (2 1/2 tsp)
1 cup warm water
2 tsp white sugar
2 cups bread flour (or 2 cups wheat flour, or 1 cup bread flour and 1 cup wheat flour)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp salt

Alfredo Sauce
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 dash ground black pepper
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
3/4 cup grated Romano (or parmesan or Mozarella) cheese

Toppings
2 boneless chicken breasts, cooked
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 red pepper, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, chopped


1. To make pizza dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and white sugar in warm water. Let stand for 5-10 minutes until creamy. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, olive oil, salt and yeast mixture; stir well to combine. Beat well until a stiff dough is formed. Cover and rise until doubled in volume (about 30 min - 1 hour). Turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Roll out into a pizza crust shape. (Dough will make 1 extra large pizza or 2 medium pizzas if split in half.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pizza dough only for 6-8 minutes to help set crust.

2. To make alfredo: Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Blend salt, pepper and flour, then stir in the milk and the cheese. Simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat, cover and set aside. (Note: This sauce should be thicker than regular alfredo sauce. If you'd prefer your sauce to be a bit thinner, add more milk 1 tablespoon at a time.)

3. To make topping: Shred cooked chicken into small bite sized pieces. Mix chicken, chopped pepper and green onions and spices in a small bowl.

4. Spread alfredo sauce onto the pizza crust. Sprinkle chicken mixture on top of the sauce. Optional: Sprinkle additional cheese on top of chicken mixture.

5. Bake pizza until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Snug as a Bug

Much Needed Wall Decor

Ribba frames from Ikea + pictures taken on our 1 year anniversary trips = fabulous decor in our bedroom!

San Diego, CA

Atlanta, GA

Hilton Head, SC

Ball Ground, GA

Orange County Friends

The last stop on our week-long, California excursion was Irvine and boy, was I excited!! You may remember that before we made it to Irvine, we threw my sister a graduation party, we watched my rock- star sister graduate from high school, we were tourists in Hollywood for 3 hours, and we went sight-seeing in San Diego with my mom and my aunt. But we weren't quite done with So Cal yet.

I hadn't visited Irvine (all my lovely friends) since 2007. Granted, a few of these lovelies travelled to Orlando for our wedding, but that's not the same as getting to spend quality time with them and their significant others in the place where we all met. I was stoked, pumped, thrilled, jumping-for-joy happy to be back with my Orange County friends!

I moved to Orange County in 2005, after joining staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. After a few short jaunts in random places, I settled into an apartment in Costa Mesa with this girl (minus the boys)...


Of course when Rachael and I moved in together we didn't have those handsome men at our sides. We were single and ready to mingle. Or something like that. Living with Rachael was an abosulte blast...when we saw each other. We both had crazy work schedules and they constantly seemed to be completely opposite. I was home for a month while she was in San Fransico, then I was gone and she was home. It was like this a lot, but nonetheless we built a great friendship.


We both attended Rock Harbor Church and loved it! It was through Rock Harbor that I met the lovely Jenni....





and the lovely Angela....





We hung out in this thing called a Life Group for about 2 years with lots of other cool people. It was probably the best small group that I've been a part of in my whole life. We were young and single and seriously laughed until our faces hurt, all the time. There was the occassional drama (as there always is when boys and girls are friends) but somehow we all made it through. It was awesome!


I was really sad to be leaving these lovely friends when I decided to move to Orlando. I secretly wished that I could shove them all into my suitcase and force them to move with me. But I live in reality, most of the time.


So when John and I found out that we would be down in Southern California, I was elated to be able to visit my friends in Irvine. Remember how I said we were all single back in 2007, well thas since changed. Such good looking people aren't going to stay single for very long. Anglea met Jason and they got married in January 2010. Rachael met Noah and they got married in October 2009. Brad married Ashley, Dan married Jen, Katie's engaged to Ben, Jenni's dating Steve, Ryan's dating Hillary...it was so fun to see all the couples while we were there. (Except for Brad and Ryan who are lame because they were out of town. You were totally missed, guys!)

Those two days in Irvine were probably my two favorite of the whole trip! I had so much fun catching up with everyone, and getting to know all the significant others better. I hope we get to see you guys more often. Once every 3 years just isn't enough for me.

Ang and Jason, thanks for letting us crash at your place. Jenni, Steve, Rachael, Noah, Ashley, Katie, Ben....thanks for coming by and spending time with us. It was such a blast and I'm so glad we got to see all of you! Hopefully we'll be out that way again soon. And if any of you happen to wind up in Florida, give us a call. :)

(bear hug with the boys)

Weekend News

Friday night at about 11pm, we became proud owners of a 2008 Nissan Sentra. We were thrilled, exhausted but thrilled! Here's how it went down.

John and I have been looking for a replacement car for him for the past few weeks. His car was pretty old and quickly running out of life. We had been saving our pennies for about a year and the time finally came when we were able to begin seriously searching for John's new car. John started scouring the internet, calling dealers and researching vehicles. We looked at so many different cars and it was difficult to narrow down our search criteria. We eventually decided on our must-haves:

• 4 door sedan
• under 50k miles
• 2007 or newer
• A/C
• CD player
• under $10,000

We didn't need a lot of frills or a luxury package, but because we live in Orlando, A/C was probably our highest priority. We quickly narrowed down our search to Hyundai's and Nissan's. I know there are other vehicles that fit our criteria but for a variety of reasons, we couldn't agree on any of those, so we stuck with Hyundai's and Nissan's. Our search was looking bleak as everything we looked at was out of our price range.

But all that changed on Friday night. I got home from work and John asked if we could look for cars on the internet again. I said yes and we started going through all the dealerships in town, looking for Hyundai's and Nissan's. On the third or fourth website we spotted a gray 2008 Nissan in our price range. I couldn't believe it! I immediately grabbed the phone and called the dealership to see if it was still on the lot. The salesman that I talked to actually thought that it had already been sold, so he told me that he was going to see if he could find it and touch it before he gave me a definite yes or no. We were on pins and needles as we waited for him to call us back. Had it been sold?? Was that the real price?? Could this be the car?? And just when I thought I was going to die of anticipation, the phone rang. The salesman told me that the car was still on the lot!! And the price had just been reduced the night before! That's why the salesman thought the car had been sold. But it hadn't!

John and I were originally planning on going around to dealerships the next day, but with the deal of the year at our fingertips, I couldn't wait until the next day. I told John to grab the keys and we told the salesman we were on our way. It was 8:30pm and the dealership closed at 9pm but I didn't care. We raced across town (driving safely and within posted speed limits) and arrived at the dealership at 9:05pm. The salesman showed us the car with all it's features, told John all about the engine, and even let us test drive it...all afterhours. We talked it over and decided that this was a deal we just couldn't pass up!

After another hour of signing paperwork, the Nissan was ours! And it even met all our criteria. It has 45,000 miles, blows very cold A/C and sports a CD player. It also has an auxiliary jack so we can plug our ipods directly into the car stereo system, which was a major plus! :) And it came in at $9900.

You may be wondering, as I did, why it was marked down by the dealership. The reason was not because it was damaged in any way, it was because it had been sitting on the lot for 30 days. Apparently this dealership has a policy that if a car sits on their lot for 30 days, they mark it down to the wholesale price just to move the car off the lot. If the car doesn't sell after a few days at the wholesale price, they send it back to the auction and sell it for whatever they can get for it.

We feel so blessed to have found this car. It's so beautiful and exactly what we were looking for.

Bye-bye Cavalier...

Hello Nissan :)