Home Sweet Home

If my OCD schedules, lists, and notebooks are accurate, we are in Columbia for good as of this weekend! I will miss Greenville terribly, but I am so thankful to be "home" for an extended amount of time. For the past month, we have been packing and unpacking multiple times per week as we go back and forth. While I enjoy traveling, I'm okay with not seeing a suitcase again for a few weeks. We're exhausted. (So exhausted in fact that I fell the other day while trying to step out of my shorts. True story.) At the same time, I am so thankful to have in-laws loves that have put up with us living with them for the past month so Wes could finish up work.

We're getting settled in for good and have to keep reminding ourselves that we are just renting this house and we can't do projects like we're used to. We poured every single bit of ourselves for the past two years into our old house, our first house turned home. Here is a little glimpse of our first home sweet home that we are still missing.

It is so amazing to look back at these pictures and see the before and after because you just don't see it when you are always looking at it and working on it. Before I show you some of the projects, I must give credit where credit is due. I worked on the house too but I can't say I did half as much as what Wes and our parents did.

Here is the picture on the brochure when we bought the house. I laugh everytime I look at it because we thought it was just the cutest thing.



This is the picture that went on the brochure when we went to sell the house.


I think most of what we did to the front is pretty obvious (landscaping, gutters, front porch overhang, etc) but what you can't see is that Wes and my dad put in a sprinkler system. OH it was glorious!

Since the kitchen is where we spent a lot time, that's where we'll start.
Before



We were very lucky to move into a house with a semi updated kitchen. The granite and appliances were only a month old when we moved in. We still felt like there was plenty to do and we did it.



We repainted all of the cabinets so they were off white and not stark white, replaced all of the hardware on the cabinets, removed the scalloping on the cabinets (you can kind of see the scalloping on the before picture above the sink), painted, added an island (which we loved but sold with the house), added pendant lighting above the sink, and pulled up the linoleum to add tile. The tile was gorgeous! 20x20 laid on the diagonal. It is my understanding that large tile on the diagonal is one of the most difficult tile projects. Here is a close up of the floor.



Another place we spent a lot of time was the den. It was such an awkward layout and took us months (and a little professional help) to figure out.

Before



After


In this room, the center overhead light was removed and recessed lighting was added by Wes and his dad. There were three different sets of recessed lights each on their own dimmer. Of course we painted the room, trim and all. Mom made the perfect curtains. Behind the recliner in the right bottom corner of the picture are bookshelves...made by Wes and his father. Here is what the corner looked like before...eeek.


After


That picture reminds me that we also painted the ceiling in the den a very light blue. I loved the way it turned out because it didn't stand out but it made you look at it and wonder if it was blue or if it was your mind playing tricks on you. There are so many more projects that we did to the house along the way but those were the major ones. Although I'm sure there is something that I'm leaving out that I will be reminded of shortly.

While the projects were fun and memories were made, I think taking a break from house renovations is going to be nice. We're off to make our new house a home (sans renovations)!

*all projects seen and mentioned were done by Wes and wonderful family.

Pawley's Front Porch

As you can tell from my previous posts, I enjoy food and think about it often. I very often plan out my meals in advance. Without a doubt, at breakfast or before I'm thinking about lunch, dinner, and snacks in between.

We eat at home a lot. When we do eat out, we carefully pick the place. This time we went with Pawley's Front Porch since we were craving a laid back dinner and a beer.

We try to eat somewhat decent at home (that excludes my complete lack of self control for sweets and carbs) and let loose when we go out. By trying to eat decent at home, I mean we stock up on whole wheat pasta instead of regular, fruits and veggies for snacks, and whole fruit frozen treats instead of the loaded desserts. Okay, let me be honest. You will find me stuffing my face with popcorn and raisinets after eating a big fat burger at Pawley's or running to the cabinet and having Triscuits and string cheese while cleaning up dinner. My recent favorite indulgence, pink lemonade cake! Oh my! There is a bakery in Greenville that makes a three tier pink lemonade cake and that was a birthday request. I am pretty sure I ate 3/4 of the cake myself, literally, within three days. I just couldn't resist. If anyone has a recipe for pink lemonade cake, please send it my way. This one consists of pink cake, custard-like filling in between each layer with a tang to it, and whipped icing. Unfortunately, it didn't last long enough to take a picture.

Back to the restaurant. We couldn't resist trying this place as I knew it was featured on Food Network. Check out the video.

It was a great place to have a beer and relax on a warm, ok miserably hot, day in Columbia. I got the Kiawah burger. It came with portabella mushrooms, brie cheese, and roasted red peppers. I went with sweet potato fries as the side. You can never go wrong with sweet potato fries. They were delicious. The burger, eh, I won't pick it again. It wasn't the taste I was going for. The brie was too strong.

Wes went with the special which was the South Beach Burger. Oh. my. goodness. I wish he would have switched with me. Side note: We do not like to share our food (if we enjoy it). For us, sharing good food comes with great hesitation! Back to the burger, oh my. The "fixins" were pepper jack cheese, jalapeno bacon, and chipotle ranch. Wes went with the onion rings for his side. I must say, he out ordered me on this one. Although, I would stick with the sweet potato fries.

Wish I had pictures of the deliciousness but I'm still not used to taking pics of everything to share via blog. Next time we cook burgers at home, we're going to get creative. Any favorite burger creations you suggest?

Happy eating!
Ashley

"This Must Be The Place"

This past week was a week we spent at home. We cooked, worked on the house and hiked. It's been really nice to start feeling somewhat settled and "home." Home is where you make it, right? Well then, this must be the place.

We've officially finished our first room. It's the main bathroom on the main floor. As I've mentioned before, this house looks like it hasn't been touched in about 30 or 40 years.

Here's a pic of the before:

And...drumroll....the after:

Yeah, modern day!

Along with working on the inside, we have been spending some time on the outside. The raspberries are rockin. I've frozen some so that when you peeps come visit, you can enjoy them!

One evening while picking, we caught a nice view.

The grapes are going strong, slow and steady.

I've recently become addicted to unsweet tea. I know...I can hear you from Utah yelling "Traitor!" I can't help it...I'm obsessed. James gave me an idea of an easy, homemade way to get my daily fix. Sun tea! Directions: water in glass jar, add tea bags, add whatever else you like in your tea (lavender sprigs, lemon slices, mint sprigs, etc), and place outside in direct sun for 1-8 hours, whatever works best in your schedule. We are currently sucking down about 1 pitcher every 2 days.

We've also spent some time exploring our area. A hike after work last week hit the spot.

And today, we took it easy along the river. Not a bad Monday.

Ash has inspired me to write more about our meals at home. Tonight, we filled our bellies with a mushroom, pea, proscuitto, white wine sauce over spinach fettichini. Some red wine and I'm fat, happy and sleepy....perfect.

Weekend

The weekend was filled with getting things down at/for the house. Oh, I also managed to cook some. Although it was nothing fancy (I don't really do in-depth, fancy recipes), it was so easy and yummy. The recipe is officially called "Skillet Barbecue Shrimp," however, there was no bbq sauce or grill involved so I prefer to call it "Skillet Shrimp".

With the shrimp, we had grilled peaches (yum, peaches are so good right now) and a cold salad. The salad was so easy and something great to keep around for a snack. For the salad, grab a bag of broccoli slaw, a can of garbanzo beans/chickpeas, and Italian dressing. Rinse the beans and mix the ingredients together...voila! Serve it cold.



I also planted my first pots of herbs. I hate buying herbs from the grocery and never using all of them so I'm determined to grow my own. Determined is the key word because I do not have the green thumb in the family as is evident by not being the one living on a farm! I will admit that I had to make multiple phone calls to Brit when buying the pots and soil.

Pork Chops

No, that is not the hubs' nickname for me.

With the craziness this past month, I haven't had much time to cook. However, I was so anxious to try this recipe that I made it for dinner at the in-laws recently.

The reviews are right...this was delicious and super easy! The hubs and I have actually never cooked pork chops, but he cooked them perfectly on the grill. I did add rice to the menu as two men were in attendance. It is a fabulous summer meal. In fact, my father in-law said a few times that it was so refreshing. Perhaps he was trying to make me feel good since I forgot the pitas and had to improvise with Triscuits and Wheat Thins!

To comment on Brit's last post, her lavender is ah-mazing! I got a wonderful birthday package in the mail from her and it contained some of the lavender accompanied with recipes. I can't wait to try some of the recipes soon and post reviews.

Stay tuned as my next post should be about my custom-made desk! Yes, the hubs spoils me rotten!

H-O-A-R-D...yeah, you know me

Have you seen the show "Hoarders"? It's another one of those reality shows. Exposing the big, bad, ugly world of people who hoard to the point where they can't sleep in their bed or get out of their front door. A friend of mine, Jessica, lovingly commented that right now my house could probably be on that show. Okay, so I can at least get to and sleep in my bed, but I will not hide the fact that I cannot get out of my front door right now due to a pile of empty boxes that we have finally begun to unpack.So, when the claustrophobic feeling gets to be too much, I go outside.

Last week, we harvested cherries! As I picked, I did some taste testing. Fresh picked, sun ripened cherries....yum! I also picked some fresh lavender to hang dry and use in tea, baths, and anything else I can think of.

I love the idea of drying out herbs, flowers or even garlic in order to use later. Yarrow is next on the list of things to hang dry. I plan to do that this week.

Grapes and raspberries should be ripe for the picking soon!

This weekend we made it out to Park City for an outdoor concert. We sat back, listened to music, enjoyed the view of the mountains, and sipped wine. Perfect ending to a crazy week!

As we begin our new week, I am happy to report that our kitchen is unpacked, I have caught up in my last three weeks of emails, and I get my car in a few days! It's going to be a good week.

Happy Dog Days....

Brit

The Move Has Just Begun

Big news! We finally got our stuff! The PackRat man came today and delivered my life in a metal container that sits in my driveway. It's been there since 9:30 this morning (that's 11:30 to you east coasters). I went to open it up and make sure it was my life in there and not someone else's. Yup, it's definitely mine. I took one look, closed it back up and haven't touched it since. For all the excitement I felt upon it's arrival, that excitement has turned into exhaustion. I took an hour long nap after contemplating the effort it will take to unpack that sucker!

Along with anticipating our "stuff" arrival, we have been painting like fools lately. This house looks like it hasn't been touched in about 50 years. How people have lived in this old house with dark paneling or a pepto pink tile/wall bathroom for the past 50 without so much as new paint is hard to imagine. We're dressing this old girl up! I can't wait to show you before and after pictures, but you will have to wait...furniture first. I want you guys to get the full effect. Is the suspense killing you?

While the inside of the house needs a lot of work, thankfully, the outside doesn't. It seems as though someone has loved and cared for this land for a long time. This past weekend we discovered an apple tree and a cherry tree. The cherry tree is rockin! It's a day or two away from picking time. I can't wait to climb up that tree as high as my guts can stand to play a real life game of Hi-Ho Cherry-O!

So, while we pick the paint out of our hair and clean the 1960s from our house, I leave you with this...

You're going to come a long way baby.

Brit

There's No Denying It

It is nice to be back in Columbia, I must admit. Don't get me wrong though, Greenville still has my heart and I look forward to getting back there one day. Back to Columbia, home will always be home.

Here are a few of the things that I'm loving about Columbia (of course in list form):

• Our cute rental home for the next three years
• Being able to keep my job and work from home which allows me to enjoy this guy's company all day
  
  
  
• The cork floor in our kitchen...amazing! If you are looking to put floor down in your kitchen, laundry room, etc, you should check out cork flooring. Since we didn't put it in, I don't know how difficult it is or any other details. However, I do know that it can withstand (when sealed) buckets of water being dumped on it hourly from the dog trying to drink water.
  

• Family! I got to have a daddy-daughter lunch date Friday followed up with seeing more family that evening and the following day. This week I'm looking forward to dinner at my aunt and uncle's with all of their kiddos!
  
  
• Being closer to Mom and Dad which means we will get to see a lot more of them. I have already been able to see both of them while living here. Thank goodness for Mom coming to help us unpack the other weekend. We look forward to many weekend beach trips now that it is a quick drive.
  
  
• Cucumbers and Feta. This is not just a Columbia thing but there's no denying I can throw back some food so I had to include this in my list. I am eating it by itself, on a cracker, in a wrap, and any other way (good with a little vinegar too). I also read recently that cucumbers are good to grab for a quick pick-me-up as they are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbs.

Can't wait to show you pictures of the awesome desk my husband

and father in law are building for me!

Happy Monday!

Ashley

Blogging

Because I'm feeling frisky and need a break from work, I decided to blog about blogging. I love lists so here are my thoughts so far (it has been 24 hours) on blogging in list form:

• I love to blog stalk read random blogs which involves finding blogs and checking them frequently but not becoming a follower. I do not encourage that with this blog because we want to know who is reading it as a motivator to continue on so be sure to follow us.
  
  
• Blogging is intimidating. I love to read about a person's everyday life such as what cleaning product they used today or how much their baby belly has grown in a week (yes I am admitting it), but I feel my everyday life would be boring for others. For instance, who wants to hear that I am sitting at my in laws for 8 hours a day straight "working from home" while also living here. (Not complaining one bit as I am thankful my in laws have allowed us to invade their lives and not be homeless while Wes finishes up his last days of work here in Greenville)
  
  
• From one blog post I have discovered that my sister is an unbelievable writer. I have never heard words like that in my birthday cards from her. I guess "happy birthday brat" is comparable.
  
  
• If you start a blog with your sister, it will make your mother's day and you will receive emails from her saying things such as "OMG it is my new 'favorite' on my computer." She really is the cutest! (Love you, Mom)
  
  
• The first 24 hours of blogging you will think constantly about what is interesting enough to post about and do I really want to do this...or at least I have.
  

Bear with us as we feel out the blog world and post random thoughts and maybe a recipe, how to's (build your own desk from an old door), or gardening tip or two.

Timidly,

Ashley

Background

Ashley here! Realizing that my life is not as entertaining as Brit describes her's below with deer in the backyard and eating from the neighbor's garden, I figured I would tackle the background duty (in case anyone reads) on the blog and its name.

We're two sisters, two years apart, married months apart two years ago, and always seem to be going through similar things in life at the same time.

Basically we're twins, but I just incubated for an additional two years in the womb. Moving on to the blog, we seem to go through similar things in life around the same time. This summer we are both taking on a new adventure of moving from our first homes and joining our husbands in new cities as they head back to school. Mine in law school and Brit's is off to get his PhD. Brit headed out to Utah and I'm slowly (currently living with the in-laws) making my way back to our hometown of Columbia, SC.

We both thought a blog sounded fun but were too intimidated to start one on our own. After Brit's (or maybe it was mine) brilliant idea, here we are at two sisters and their misters. Enjoy reading about the adventurous life of Utah-living with wildlife in the backyard and eating from one's own garden, and I will try my best to make our Columbia life entertaining!

Thanks for reading!

Ashley

First Post - First Weekend

We just had our first weekend in our new home out west! And while my southern roots are reaching extra deep for good friends and cocktails, I have been so thrilled with what we have found here. The people, scenery and weather are nothing to complain about. Although my southern skin is not quite sure what to make of this dry air, the rest of me is living it up! We have already made great friends and continue to meet other friendly folks. While we haven't gotten our "stuff" (read - everything but one mattress, computer, and a suitcase of clothes), we have made it work and it's been quite fun. In our first weekend, we got the garden ready, went on a hike and cooked some meals at home....finally!

James and I got down and dirty digging trenches and mounding up dirt for eight large garden rows. It was hard work!! We have the blisters and sore muscles to prove it! The irrigation is in, and now it is just time to seed. Just as we finished up the garden and got inside to clean up, we noticed we had new neighbors. Four doe were strolling through our new garden and wanting to know what was for dinner. We sized each other up and without much thought, I think we all agreed, they win! Now, the challenge is how to feed them and us at the same time.

We spent the last day of our 3 day weekend hiking. The word that comes to mind...perfect. It was a challenging, 8 mile hike in gorgeous weather that ended at a secluded lake. While I napped on a rock and the dogs swam in the lake, I thought...."yeah, it doesn't get much better." Okay, so it does....if everyone we just left in the Carolinas could have been there, it would get much better.

We have been trying to eat more healthy and more at home. A new friend down the street brought us oodles of lettuce out of his garden. Right now the challenge is to found out how many ways you can get creative with lettuce. Tonight's dinner: beets, goat cheese and salmon on....you guessed it...Lettuce!!

We miss everyone reading this blog terribly! Please stay in touch, emails, phone calls and snail mail.

Love to you,

Brit