What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: Instagram

I am an in love with IG…..ok maybe an extreme exaggeration, but I really do love the ease at which I can take pictures and quickly document what’s going on in the Hawley house.  (Check us out here!)  It’s so easy and convenient, and quite frankly, really fun. 

Lot’s of puppy love, fun, food, DIY, and random every day things.

Here is what’s been going the last month around these parts:

If you don’t keep up with us already on IG, you can follow along with the fun here.

Don’t Quit

You know, life is hard sometimes.

No, really.  Sometimes life is tough! 

Storms come and go, but occasionally it seems like the storm is lingering. Like a cloud is following you around, taunting you.  You know what I mean?

I was reminded of this poem (by one of my favorite football players no less) and it just reenergized me and was a great source of encouragement. 

If you’re lingering in a storm right now, don’t worry, this too shall pass (2 Corinthians 4:17-18; Ecclesiastes 3; Psalms 40)

Be patient and persevere; there is joy in the mundane.  Don’t quit.

Don’t Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than

It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -

The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It might be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

-Unknown Author

So hello Monday!  We’re ready to tackle this week!

Oreo Dessert

My mom used to make this as a special dessert when we were kids.  I don't know what it was really called but we called it Oreo Dessert....because it was made with Oreos and we ate it for dessert.  Simple enough right?  So I adapted the recipe and made it into an Oreo pie....and I've got to say it's pretty delicious.  It might even be a life changer ;-)

Ingredients:
For the pie crust: 
1.5 sleeves of crushed Oreos
1/2 stick of melted butter.

For the pie:
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 medium tub cool whip
3 oz. box instant chocolate pudding
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1/2 sleeve crushed Oreo Cookies to sprinkle on top

Directions:
1. To make the crust, crush up 1.5 sleeves of Oreos and mix with melted butter.  Then deeply press into a pie pan.
2.  For the pie, mix together the cream cheese and the butter until smooth. Carefully add in the powdered sugar and half of the cool whip. Then pour over the Oreo crust, and set aside.
3. Now you're ready for the next layer of the pie.  To make the pudding, whisk together the chocolate pudding mix and the milk and let it sit for a few minutes (it should start to thicken fairly quickly).  Then pour it over the first layer.
4.  Spread the remaining cool whip over the top.
5. Sprinkle crushed Oreos over the pie. Refrigerate for one hour or until ready to serve.
DIG IN!!!!
Now friends go forth into your weekend with this sweet treat :-) image 

Kitchen Color Help

If you follow me on Instagram you know that I've been looking at various shades of white for our kitchen cabinets.  Y’all I’ve been so anxious about this, which I know is completely irrational, over the top, & a first world problem, but I just can't pick a color.  I found a website where I could upload a picture of our kitchen and “paint” with our color choices.  Can you help me narrow it down? Now keep in mind that the counter tops will stay but the back splash is changing to a light shade of white as well.  The wall colors are gray.

What do you think?

What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: Day Dreaming

Y’all it is HOTT!

H-O-T-T hot!

I don’t do hot very well at all.  So why do I live in Texas?!  God is growing my patience I think….that is the only explanation I can come up with.  See, my brain doesn’t even work in this heat!  My brain is melting!
To get me through the heat, I am spending some time today day dreaming of cooler days. 

I am SO looking forward to fall this year.  For cooler weather, yes, but for other reasons as well.  Last fall I was teaching my first semester at my new university and we were house hunting.  This took up every “extra” minute we had away from work and it was exhausting and stressful.  We didn’t get to enjoy a lot of the fall activities.  So this year I’m really looking forward to enjoy fall-y things in our new house.

I’m looking forward to:

chili, slippers, pumpkins, decorating the new house for the first time,

football and everything that comes with football: smack talk, fantasy football, good food, lots of friends, cheering, and even putting the pups in their jerseys.  Football is just a way of life around here

leaves & acorns (though we probably wont get that in Houston until January), festive crafts and recipes, fall fashion (especially boots, scarves, & sweaters), hot cider, walks around the neighborhood after work, crisp cool mornings, Pumpkin Spice lattes from Starbucks, snuggling under blankets, apples, oh and the list could go on forever right about now

Doesn’t this sound heavenly right about now?!?!

Ok I’m going to have an ice cream sundae and think about these things while I crank up the a/c and wait for fall :-)

Happy Hump Day y’all

images here & here

My Handwriting Stinks {{Chalkboard Art}}

I will never win an award for my handwriting. Never.  Many times I’ve received negative comments on my handwriting.  In fact, on multiple occasions in graduate school my advisor mocked my handwriting.  She had every write right too; it is horrible.

Anyways, knowing how horrible my handwriting is always makes me so envious when I scroll through Pinterest looking at all of the beautiful chalkboard art designs.  I decided to take matters into my own hands (actually completely opposite; I should never try to draw free-handed lol), and call on my dear friend Louisa (my Silhouette Cameo).  Her writing will always be better than mine!  I needed her help to jazz up my new chalkboard that I bought from the gypsies.
Using the Silhouette Cameo software, and some downloaded fonts, I drew designed the chalkboard art I wanted.  Typically when I print out a saying using adhesive vinyl, I want the actual letters, but this time I wanted the outside….kind of like a stencil.

This is how I typically use my vinyl (like I did here for the monogram I added to my mixer).  I peeled off the extra stuff (edges & insides of loops), so that I was left with the actual image.

But this time I did it backwards.  I left all of the edges & loops, but peeled off the actual letters so I was left with a stencil of my design.

I applied the transfer paper and stuck the image directly onto the chalkboard.  Using my chalk, I just went over the image to “draw” my design onto the chalkboard.

Once I colored everything in, I peeled off the vinyl & was left with my design.  

I think it looks pretty good, but next time I think I will make it a little bigger.  What do you think? 

Can you draw well directly onto a chalkboard?

What tips do you have for me?

Summer Pasta for Ladies

The Mr. was out of town a couple weekends ago so I had a girl night!

I controlled the remote, watched Les Misérables, and ate some girly pasta :-)

I think what makes this pasta girly is that there isn’t any meat.  If I served this to the Mr. I know he would ask, “uh….where is the meat?”

I know he wouldn’t enjoy this pasta as much as I would so I took advantage of him being away and made some girly summer pasta.

Ingredients/Directions:
This isn’t a complex recipe and there is plenty of room for being creative & tailoring the recipe to your own taste, but I will tell you how I made mine.  I mixed together diced tomatoes (I used cherry, heirloom, & Heinz tomatoes because that is just what I had), pepper, salt, garlic powder, pinch of sugar, fresh oregano & basil, & EVOO.  I let this sit on the counter for 4-5 hours to marinate.  It made the kitchen smell amazing!  I boiled & drained tri-colored tortellini and mixed in the tomato mixture.  I topped it with an aged Irish cheddar cheese and some more basil.

Have a great weekend & stay cool sweet friends!

What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: 6 Months :-)

As of June 22nd we have been in our new house for 6 months.  I can still call it “new” right?  I can’t believe how fast time has gone by, how much we have accomplished, and how much money we have spent!  For reals!  Lots of money has gone into this place and we haven't even had major renovations!  I can’t imagine how much more we would have spent if that were the case. 

Just to review, here are some of the projects we have accomplished:

Installed surround sound, updated the garage, added shutters, painted the shed, living room and dining room, added shelving in the office closets, updated the front door, repurposed an armoire, fixed the canopy in the backyard, lots of yard work, repurposed the guest room headboard, organized e-v-e-r-y-thing, and lots of cooking in my new kitchen (I am in love with my new appliances).

And here, oh heavens, here is everything we have purchased in the last 6 months (I should start praying for my wallet lol):

a king sized bed & mattress, bar stools, couch & ottoman, rugs, lamps, nightstands, washer and dryer, a truck, 2 refrigerators, outdoor furniture, a smoker (in May we the Mr. smoked 41 lbs of brisket for our Sunday School class and it was amazing!), gardening tools galore (including a lawn mower & weed whacker)

I had a hard time finding pictures of all of these things so just use you imagination lol

We’ve also hosted a few parties here, which have been super fun:

Superbowl Sunday, the Janurary blogger meet-up (I was quite impressed with this one since we’d only been here for about 20 days—I hid everything I could in the dishwasher and closets), our first house guest (my bestie Joy), and a few parties with our Smallgroup from church.

Time has passed by so fast…maybe all of these things have kept us busy?  It’s been a lot of fun and we’re loving every minute.  We so frequently look at each other and say, “I love our home.”  It’s finally more than a house to us, and a place where we call home.

Here’s to the next 6 months of projects, parties, and purchases!!!

Sweet or Scary?

I read this stat in this month’s issue of the Food Network magazine:

This has NEVER happened in our house!

I just might look reeeeeeeaaaaaallllyyyy guilty right now, thanks to Tomlin. ;-)

Nutella French Toast Sandwiches

I always get bread for dinner and I always have left-overs.

It never fails!

So I have to get creative with ways to reinvent the left-over bread so that I’m not being wasteful.

Last Sunday I decided to turn my left-over artisan bread into french toast.

It was so yummy that I had to share the recipe with you. 

This recipe is for 2 but you can easily make more by doubling/tripling the recipe. 

I hope this french toast sweetens up your morning :-)

Ingredients:
Left-over bread, can be artisan, ciabatta, sourdough, or even sandwich bread
1 egg
1 tbs milk
1 tbs powdered sugar, plus extra for sprinkling on top
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
nutella

Directions:

1. Thinly slice up your bread, and whisk together the egg, milk, powdered sugar, vanilla, & cinnamon.
2. Spread nutella over one of your pieces of sliced bread and then top with another slice of bread so that it looks like a nutella sandwich.  Then dip the sandwich into the egg mixture, being sure to coat both sides.
3. Toast your sandwich over medium heat in a nonstick skillet, on both sides, for 3-5 minutes.
4. Before serving, pour yourself a delicious cup of coffee & top your french toast with some powdered sugar.

Have a sweet morning :-)