Happy Anniversary to our Home!

As I am sitting here waiting for supper to finish, I realize, we have been in our home for a year now!

WHAT?!

Where did the time go?!

It seems like only yesterday we were moving into our first home.

For the first few months I was pretty convinced our house was built on an ancient burial ground, considering all the bad luck we had.

BUT...

I am ONLY going to focus on the GOOD as I toast to our ONE YEAR of home ownership!

Let's see...

Ok, I have to admit, I took little to NO pictures when we first bought this house (and still don't).

Lucky for me, everything can be found on the internet.

I do regret not having something to show me just how much we have really done.

I am always so focused on what more needs to be done.

Sooooo I thought I would post what before and afters that I DO have!

Before

After!

Moved the fan, updated baseboards and painted!

Want to learn how to make the "Family" sign? Click here

(semi) Before. This was during reno when our shower was leaking into the kitchen wall...ugh!

Again ancient burial ground.

After.

Matt installed those sconces, built the bench and painted. The bench serves as storage too :)

(he also put in two recessed lights where the fan was)

Now for the main attraction.

The dreadful yard.

Bless Matt's heart, really.

He knew this was going to be a MAJOR project home and he knew our one and only contractor was going to be Ashworth's and Sons

But he knew this is what I wanted and he was ready to make it everything I had dreamed of.

Before...

      

After...

Matt put in a hitching post and made it a wash rack.

Got our first (Charlie Brown) Christmas tree...and planted it.

We later got another baby tree

got rid of our completely unreliable gate and fence...

and replaced with an iron gate and new wall and installed sprinklers for the arena.

aaaand for the icing on the cake....

Grass :) aaaahh my favorite part!

WOW!

I can't believe how much really has been done.

What's on the list for the next year?

Well if you remember from my post back in...MARCH?! ugh... We had to rip out our master shower.

Click here to read about that awful day

So since March me, my fiance and future brother-in-law have ALL been sharing ONE shower.

Luckily for our schedules, it really hasn't imposed a problem on anyone.

BUT I DO have some exciting things to post on that, but that will come at a later time.

Let's just say...I should be posting on the master shower oh so soon!

I can't wait to see what fun project we...well I come up with ;) luckily Matt enjoys them all...so he says!

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Need help with DIY's? Have questions on HOW TO's?!

Feel free to reach out to us!

Anywhere from: bugets, to upgrading ideas and how to save the most money and get the most done... we have become experts!

XO,

Dana

2 Years Going on 32

Happy anniversary to my handsome cowboy hubby to be!!

Well, it was on October 3rd :)

 

That's a picture of our VERY first trail ride together.

Who knew we would be choosing to walk hand in hand on many trail rides to come.

I can't believe it's only been 2 years!

Seriously!

I feel like we are an old married couple.

Man can a year fly by.

I remember this same time last year I came home to a candlelit dinner with his homemade lasagna in the oven, him greeting me with the most amazing smile, flowers and our favorite bottle of wine and the first thing out of my mouth was "I put an offer in on a house"!

Needless to say, Matt wasn't too enthusiastic about the news considering I didn't even consult with him.

We did not get that home; however, I decided to include Matt on my next potential purchase.

Which, is the house that we currently have now!

(Speaking of, that one year will be here October 30! Say What?!)

I was given a pretty nice anniversary present!

yep! My very own Hoyt bow!

Watch out Katniss Everdean!

We changed our cable company and now have the hunting channel; and since I forfeited the rights to the remote, I haven't really watched anything other than shows on the latest and greatest hunting gear

And thus...a new archer was born.

I plan to venture on my first hunting trip next year. Eeek!

I have never met a person that I butt heads with so much, but I also never found anyone who truly understands me, loves my unconditionally and will go to the moon and back if that is what would make me happy

Thank you for loving me every single day Matt and for always telling me you love me.

I love you!! xo

 

Zoey's 35th brithday! Plus Doggie Cupcake Recipe!

Well....5th birthday, but she's 35 in people years ;)

I can't believe this little piggie is all grown up.

What a 5 years it has been.

Full of laughs, playing, snuggling...and yelling...lots of yelling.

Zoey has been anything but an easy dog.

Have you seen the movie "Marley & Me"? Well the sequel should be called "Zoey & I"

Everything that dog did in that movie I have experienced with this Puggle.

Including the jumping out the car window WHILE the car was moving.

Aside from her not so found memories, I thought I would capture my favorite qualities of my little sausage link.

Her famous under bite,

Her love for car rides,

enjoys relaxing on hot summer afternoons,

appreciates the toys I buy her (not)

relaxing by the pool,

respects the no dogs on the bed rule by impersonating a person, you have to give her props for that.

Steelers fan! (Bens Rothlis-dog-bone everyone)

enjoys being pushed in the swing

whip cream connoisseur

Shot-gun rider (even if there is already a shot-gun rider)

Fetch advocate

lover of lake days

Ed from the "Lion King" look-a-like

        

Master of the puppy face.

Miss Piggy, Puggles, Puggles-worth, sir piggies-ton, sausage, Piggie Robinson, Bean...Zoey has been a handful, but such a blessing.

It has been joked about that Zoey will do your taxes for food, and there is a lot of truth behind that.

So in honor of her favorite thing in the world (eating) I decided to bake her Doggie Cupcakes for her birthday!

Apple Vanilla Doggie Cakes

Ingredients

½ cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

⅓ cup vegetable oil

1 Motts Applesauce

1 egg

2 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons plain yogurt

1½ tablespoons peanut butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, vegetable oil, applesauce, egg, vanilla extract, and honey until well combined.

Insert cupcake liners into a muffin or cupcake pan. Spoon mixture into cupcake liners, filling each about halfway.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Allow cupcakes to cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, stir yogurt and peanut butter until mixture is smooth and creamy. Use a small spatula or butter knife to smooth a thin layer of the peanut butter frosting over each cupcake.

Happy Birthday Princess Piggie!

xo

Harvest Festival-tivities!

Happy Saturday!

Weather has been AMAZING in the desert!

Overcast and rain for the past several days means cool summer nights.

Maybe the cooling down in weather is just a little teaser for us for autumn’s arrival!

Every year at this time Las Vegas is greeted by the Harvest Festival

(Don’t forget to bring canned goods for $2 off your ticket)

And every year I try to make it out to it!

I love all the homemade crafts and goodies!

Check out my finds this year...

                       

The Soap Dishes strawberries & cream! MMMM smells OH SOOOOO GOOD! These products are "made with 100% vegetable glycerin soap, cosmetic grade colorants and fragrance oils, and the highest quality essential oils."

These make a GREAT stocking stuffer for the upcoming holidays.

Whatcha Got Cookin is a business that specializes "in creating and packing seasoning blends to make home cooking quick and easy"

But here's something even MOREFab about this company, they use NO added preservatives, MSG, or stabilizers. And most of their mixes are Gluten Free!!

I low slow cooker meals during the chilly weather, plus, they are easy peasy.

Check out all their products, they offer SO much more than just slow cooker meals!

Tanks Bloody Mary Mix So living in a home with two boys that have a love for camping, hunting and golf, means lots and lots of bloody marys.

We usually wait till December when Cowboy Christmas gets here for the NFR rodeo, but luckily for Matt, Christmas came early.

We ended up walking out with 2 64 oz of bloody mary mix AND Tanks's rimmer seasoning.

Tank, you have a serious fan!

And this was my little gift to myself. Halloween is my favorite holiday and my house is usually decked out in decorations.

Last Halloween the only decor I had up was a fall wreath and some garland. Since we moved into our home on Oct 30 and had NO water for three days (nightmare) decorating was the farthest thing on my mine, so this year I plan on really enjoying my favorite holiday so make up for last year’s fiasco

So that's it!

Those are my amazing harvest festival finds!

Today is one of my DEAREST friends baby shower and tomorrow is Zoey's birthday!

Lots of friends and family time this weekend!

Stay tuned for probably an emotional blog for Meghan and some laugh's as the Rockin' MAD Ranch celebrates the Queen Bee's 5th birthday!

xo

Fantasy Football Draft

Happy Labor Day!!

Ah, fall is quickly approaching...

Aside from all my favorite colors and decorations being dusted off, fall also means....

FOOTBALL!!!

I love all things social so I decided to piggy back on our Fantasy football draft that we had going on at work.

Wings, beer and good friends!

Can't get any better.

I came prepared and did some homework...not.

I used a cheat sheet list : )

Doesn't everyone?!

Ray Rice RB-Baltimore Ravens

Payton Manning QB- Denver Broncos (I'm super stoked about this draft)

Stevan Ridley RB-NE Patriots

Roddy White WR- Atl Falcons

Kyle Rudolph TE-MIN Vikings

San Fransisco as my defense...woo!

We had 16 rounds so since I was in the middle my choices were limited. But those are the few that I am excited about!

Since today was a holiday I decided to be apart of a photo shoot!

eeek!

Here is a preview!!

The two photographers that I spent my morning with were absolutely amazing and I can't wait to share more of my shoot!!

Stay tuned!!

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