She is Two

With today being the last day day of February there is only one thing on my mind…
…celebrating my little Tomlin’s second birthday!!!!  Yes, I am one of those people that whole-heartedly celebrates their pet’s birthday.  I don’t care if she has four legs, she will always be my first baby.  So today I am celebrating all things Tomlin.  Here is when we first got Tomlin, if you need to be caught up.
Now, since we ALL love pictures, I’m happy to bombard you with all things Tomlin.  I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Let’s scroll!

Yes, there are definitely way more picture of her on my hard drive than there are of anything (or anyone) else.  Clearly, we love this pup!
Happy Birthday Tomlin!

What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: The New Nest

Happy Wednesday friends!!!!

uuuuuuuhhhhh….do you notice anything different around here?! :-)

I am so excited for the new LWTH design to go live today.  I have been about to explode with excitement since I started working with the talented Kristen at From Kristen with Love.  She totally “got me” and knew what I was going for, even when I was too scared to switch to a new design. 

Please stop by Kristen’s piece of blogland and tell her how talented she is.  While you’re there, make sure you click around and check out her amazing blog.  She is getting ready to get married and has some fabulous DIY wedding ideas.

Today this, THIS, is what I’m lovin’.  I love all of the friendships that blogging has brought me and I’m excited to open this next chapter here at LWTH.

And as my sister said, “New look, but same great blog”

I couldn’t agree more!

Thank you Kristen!!!

Lost Dog

When I say lost, I don’t mean physically.  I repeat, all pups are present and accounted for.

A couple weeks ago I stayed home from work to work (Sometimes I can be more productive without interruptions. Know what I’m saying?)  The pups love when I stay home; I think it reminds them of the good old days when I was home a lot more.

While I was home I watched how they spent their days…mentally lost and completely checked-out.

Rooney likes to spend the day passed out on the couch.

Tomlin finally discovered the built-in windows seats in the office (only took her a month and a half lol)  She now spends her days lost in the wonderful world of watching runners, squirrels, and birds.

Don’t you wish that this was how you were spending your Monday?
It’s a dog’s life I tell ya!
Happy Monday friends!

Whatchamacall-it Cookies

The Mr calls them Dog Food Cookies.
I call them Drop Cookies.
Others call them No-Bake Cookies.
Does it matter what you call them?
No way!
They’re delicious and the name just doesn’t matter!

The Mr and I had a craving for these whatchamacall-it cookies one night at 11:30pm.  Not a problem because we’ve always got the minimal ingredients on hand and they don’t even need to bake.  Fast and Sweet Cookies is what they should be called.

I posted that I was making these cookies on twitter and the recipe was requested, so here is the first recipe tutorial from the new kitchen!

Bring 2 cups sugar, 1 stick unsalted butter, 1/4 cup cocoa, and 3/4 cup milk to a boil; stirring frequently.

After boiling for a minute, mix in 3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter, 3 cups quick oats, and 2 tbs vanilla.

Line the counter top with aluminum foil and plop cookies on the foil.

If you can wait, let them cool...but to be honest I love them hot best.
But I also like them cold in the fridge....

And if I’m being really honest, I also like them for breakfast the next day lol
.......Oh who am I kidding?! I like them every way

Have you had these cookies before? What do you call them?

Linking up with:

and linking up at Liz Marie's Hop To It Party

What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: Spork

The admin in my office surprised me one morning with this gift “just because”**.  This is a spoon, fork, knife utensil combo. A-maz-ing!!!!!  It’s called a spork, but it really is a lot more than that because it also has a knife.  I love this because now I can leave all of my regular utensils at home and have my all-in-one utensil at work.  It’s so perfect.  If you know someone who brings their lunch to work everyday, I recommend surprising them with one of these; they will L-O-V-E it, and L-O-V-E you for thinking of them :-)

Light My Fire Spork Utensil

**Seriously, I work with the best people; such a blessing!

I was not paid for this review; everything written is of my own opinion.

A Finished Front {paint + spring wreath}

I think the front of the house is done.  For now ;-)

We have added shutters and carriage accessories to the garage.  The last thing I wanted to do was update the front door.  At first I really hated the door; it looked weird to me….too unique or something.  But with time I think it started to grow on me and I liked that it was weird.  Maybe it became charming to me? I don’t know, but instead of buying a new door, I decided just the paint the front door.

After scrolling through Pinterest I found my inspiration (and seriously this is no easy task since Pinterest inspires me to be a dynamic chef, over-achieving supermom to my hypothetical children, and the next Julian Michaels; it's too hard to stay focused!).
But, I just loved the classic look of this door. 

I purchased some semi-gloss black interior/exterior paint.  After cleaning the door I applied two coats and that was that.

Here is the door, before & after.
By the way, I've got to thank Joy again for the fabulous door mat for a housewarming gift! It's so perfect for us!

Just a couple layers of paint is a super easy way to make a big impression, and we all know I’m all about that lol

With the door done it was time to update my wreath.  I swear this wreath just keeps showing up! You have seen this monogrammed wreath for fall…

...and when we moved in

…and now you’re about it see it for spring. lol  I never hot glue anything to it, I just switch out the flowers or ribbons for each season because I’m cheap frugal like that.  For the spring I bought 3 white hydrangeas, 3 blue hydrangeas, and a roll of burlap.  Everything was at least 40% off at Hobby Lobby and I used a coupon off of the website for another 60% off.  That is a bargain people!  I trimmed the stems and stuffed them into the left side of the wreath.  I wrapped the burlap around the wreath and used some to tie on the monogram.  That’s it.

How do you think it looks on my “new” front door?

Totally different, right?

We’ve now updated the front of the house with several finishing touches: shutters, garage accessories, painted front door, and new wreath.  Now it’s time for me to start sharing some of the updates from inside. Are you ready?

We love all of our Team Hawley projects! 

Do you like to do projects around your home too? Is there a project that you think we should try next?

Happy Monday y’all!

Linking up with:

and at Liz Marie's Hop To It Party Linked up with Huckleberry Love- Much Ado About Monday Link Party The Dedicated House- Make it Pretty Monday

Post-Season Blues

You know how most people get the post-holiday blues in January?  Well the Mr and I are the same way following the conclusion of football season.  The season just goes so fast and we hate having to wait until September for more football.  We tend to re-watch the games we recorded during the season to “hold us over”. 

One of our friends sent us this video and it had us rolling, so of course I have to share it with my besties (YOU!) so you can have a nice laugh in case you’ve got a bad case of the Post-Season Blues.

Favorite parts:

“Sting ray and double-sided Scooby snack”

“I want it now. I want cake nowwwwwwwww”

“I found Fido, Hey I found Fido. I found Fido.”

“I got 13 steaks over here!”

“I brought you a potion and it’s gunna work great”

“You got an orange peanut for me? Wow, well I accept you”

HILARIOUS!!!!

Can you hear me cackling?!
Have a great weekend sweet friends!

A Hawley Valentine’s Day {Newlywed Game Style}

We’ve had a lot of new friends join us lately, so we thought we would take an opportunity to play a version of the Newlywed Game for Valentine’s Day. We laughed at each other as we answered these questions because either we couldn’t remember or we had very similar answers.

Where was your first date?
{MR} A party in college
{MRS} The Ukrop’s Folk Festival in Richmond, VA.  Then we went to the Tobacco Company and Havanna 59 for dinner and then dancing.

Where was your first kiss?
{MR} A party
{MRS} At a graduation party in the spring of 2005

Who said "I Love You” first?
{MR} D said it first probably
{MRS} Me ;-)

Which of the following breakfast cereals best describes your wife's family's opinion of you when they first met you: Crazy Flakes, Just Right, Frosted Flakes, Lucky Charms, or Fruit Loops?
{MR} Lucky Charms…because they’re Irish
{MRS} Lucky Charms, because I got the full package an attractive, strong, kind, loving, Christ-focus man.  I am the lucky one to have him.

Your wife is waiting at the doctor's office. Which magazine will she read? Good Housekeeping, People, Glamour, or Coastal Living?
{MR} Some kind of gossip so definitely Good Housekeeping
{MRS} People

Which of these does your husband have the most of: sense of humor, sense of time, or sense of adventure?
{MR} Sense of time
{MRS} Sense of time, he is never late and always helping me to be on time

How many pairs of shoes does your wife have in the closet right now?
{MR} 32
{MRS} 45 (and I just took 3 full 13 gallon bags to Goodwill when we moved; It’s official, I have a shoe problem)

What is your husband's ultimate favorite movie?
{MR} Pulp Fiction
{MRS} Pulp Fiction

What is your husband's ultimate favorite meal?
{MR} BBQ- my favorite is a good brisket, but fried chicken is a close second
{MRS} Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn

If your wife were a character from the sitcom "Friends", who would she be?
{MR} Monica, a little uptight.  And I would be Tom Selleck (Monica’s boyfriend) because he has a great mustache
{MRS} Monica

Which one of you hogs the bed covers at night?
{MR} D!
{MRS} Guilty

Who is better at handling money?
{MR} Me!
{MRS} The Mr by far!  Did you read my answer to the shoe question above?!?!

If you could have a second honeymoon, where would your wife want you to take her?
{MR} Paris, I think…or Montreal again
{MRS} On a Mediterranean cruise

What is the messiest room in your house?
{MR} I guess the bedroom
{MRS} Garage, but that is kind of tricky because we just moved in so nothing is really dirty yet.

What did you have for dinner the night you got married?
{MR} Italian, and then when we went to the hotel we got something terrible for 40 bucks…like chicken fingers or something.
{MRS} At our reception we served roast beef, salmon, chicken cordon bleu and rigatoni and some sides to our guests, but I don’t think we had any.  When we left for our honeymoon we ordered room service and had quesadillas and watched Superbad lol

How long does your husband spend in the shower?
{MR} 10 minutes
{MRS} 6 minutes

Which of the following Valentine's Gifts would your wife prefer the most: a beautiful bouquet of two dozen red roses, you offering to clean the house for a month, or a one hour massage given by you?
{MR} Massage, that one was easy. I know she doesn’t even like roses and loves to clean.
{MRS} Massage!

Who is the most patient in your marriage?
{MR} It’s probably me
{MRS} Definitely NOT me!  Now let’s hurry up to the next question ;-)

What is your husband's favorite breakfast food?
{MR} French toast & sausage
{MRS} Dippy eggs (runny eggs that you can dip your toast in)

On average, how long does it take your wife to get ready to go out?
{MR} Too dag on long
{MRS} An hour and a half

If your husband could only have one of the following desserts, which would he choose: cheesecake, apple pie, ice cream, chocolate pie?
{MR} Cheesecake (just so you know he interrupted me while I was reading the options to say this lol)
{MRS} Cheesecake

On average, how much does your wife spend at the grocery store a week?
{MR} $120
{MRS} $120

Who gets along better with the in-laws?
{MR} She does
{MRS} I don’t think either of us has a problem with this, but I guess I would have to say I get along better with his side simply because we see them more.

Who was the first person you told about your engagement?
{MR} My parents
{MRS} Phil’s family, since they were kind of in on the engagement, and then my sister.

I'm linking up with Joy today so hop over and see the other Valentine’s Day Newlywed Game questions!

And of course, Happy Valentine’s Day from the Hawleys!!!!

Hope your day is filled with love

….and lots of chocolate ;-)

What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: Heart-y Food

I am all about hearts this week. I’m putting them all over my students assignments (so they know I love ‘em of course!), hanging them all over the house, and putting them in every meal.  Seriously, how can you not love hearts, right?!

Let me just show you how easily you can incorporate some Valentine’s Day into your food.  Here is a loveable lunch for ya: tasty and something to stick to your ribs.

Butter up some bread and put it on a griddle, then top with some cheese (we prefer cheddar).  Then use a cookie cutter to make your grilled cheese into little hearts.

I always like to serve grilled cheese with tomato bisque, because I’ve got to dip my grilled cheese into something, right?

I’m a dipper; I’ve got to dip my food lol

See? So easy and festive!

For dessert I made Red Velvet Hot Chocolate. Sounds complicated but it really isn’t, and I bet you already have the ingredients on hand.

Mix 2 cups of milk over medium heat.  Add in 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips stirring frequently as it melts.  Then add in drops of red food coloring until you get the desired color (I did about 20 drops).

Don’t forget to add a jumbo marshmellow on top.  

Now go snuggle up with your sweetie!

Happy Valentine’s Day Eve!!!!