14 on 14 - May

I almost got stalled at 4 this month.  My phone is having a "moment" and let's be real I am not hauling an SLR around everywhere all day.  But I used Dust's backup phone and managed to finish these off.  A theme I am noticing I visit the. Doctor a lot on the 14th, Dustin is usually gone, and I tend to do some sewing.  Anyhow here are my 14 snaps.

1 - homemade bread for breakfast

2 - my hairbrush

3 - #babyburf and I at the doctor 

4 - I need gas

5 - last week in scraps 

6 - my phone drying in rice

7 - spray painting the register for #babyburfs room

8 - old/new shelf now in the nursery

9 - organizing the babies books 

10 - shelving the books ( his library is bigger than mine but he only owns one pair of socks). 

11 - the baby bump

12 - quilting discard pile for my mm challenge quilt

13 - m&ms snack

14 - reading at bedtime

Bread #6 - Simple Honey Bread

I am still a little behind making bread so I chose a simple bread to make - I promise these will get more interesting eventually. This one was rather tasty but not so much sweetness from the honey as I thought it would have.  I also like that it made one loaf because we never go through more than two without freezing some.

Simple Honey Bread

Ingredients - 

1 cup warm water

1 package fast acting yeast

3 cups flour bread or fast rising (I used the later and originally this called for 2 3/4 cup but it was waaaaay to wet)

3 tblsp Honey + some to drizzle

1 tsp Salt

1 tblsp olive Oil (I used melted coconut oil instead)

Directions:

1. Mix yeast, water and 1/2 the honey in large bowl allow yeast about 2-3 minutes to activate.

2. Add in remaining honey, salt, oil and mix on low.

3. Gradually add in flour 1/2 cup at a time while mixing with the dough hook or spoon.

4. Knead together so it's all mixed and let rise in warm place about 20 minutes

5. Form into loaf and place in bread pan, drizzle honey on top.

6. bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool.

7. Slice and serve.

Book 34 - Lean In - Women, Work! And the Will to Lead

So I had really high hopes for this book Lean In - Women, Work! And the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg, however it was not my favorite book.  I found myself very disinterested in parts, although I did appreciate parts.  As a female also working in IT (a prodominately male field) I have seen similar situations.  I also liked the message about finding your partner.  I think some of what didn't resonate with me was I don't feel the need to always "lean in".  I also liked the Ted Talk better than book.  Anyhow crossed this one off onto the next book.

#3 Attend Jono and Lo's Wedding

Someone got married this weekend.  It was beautiful and magical and I am so happy for Jono and Lo. More details soon. 

Project Life April

Finished up Project Life for April waaaay early this month.  I didn't take very many good photos since life was mostly just ordinary stuff.  But we celebrated our 1st anniversary, went to the WWE Live, finished a quilt, made some bread, worked on baby's room, baseball, puzzles and celebrated Kathleen's birthday.  I used some PL cards, a few buttons and a smidge of ribbon and these were done.  Printed all the photos on my home printer too.  

WIP Wednesday - Quilts and Nursery

I started #babyburfs quilt last week sometime.  The top is all pieced now. It is not even close to my originally intended which was using a solid and making all the farfalles in the prints, but it's growing on me and I also found I did not have enough of the solid anyhow. I am working on finishing the back now.   Maybe I will finish this prior to #babyburf arriving.  (ps again sorry I didn't bother with ironing this.)

Last week I mentioned that floors and paint were done in the nursery.  Well I got the crib assembled (note was slightly less "ebony" than I wanted and was scratched several places when I took it from the box but I was not letting that slow progress).  I have also been bringing furniture back into his room as well. We decided he should have the blue velvet chair that once graced my living room although it will probably go in another spot even though we bought a rocker.  And I have been cleaning out some of the green baskets from the craft room to reuse on the shelf that will eventually move in here.

It's slowly coming together in here.  I found a few prints that I bought at an art fair like 5 years ago that match his room perfectly so I am going to hang them some place.  Won't that quilt be perfect for his room whenever I finish it?  

I also started my MQG Michael Miller challenge quilt but it's not really time to be sharing that just yet. So that's it for now.

Dear Blog - Happy 8 Years!

Dear Blog -  

I started this blogging adventure 8 years ago.  Well really 8 years + 6 days.  Since then you have been a constant journal and documentation place for me.  You literally were a"complaint" space for me to vent my tiny ridiculous complaints in the early days, but I discovered my voice and become more comfortable with sharing bits of my life.  You grew and I grew.

Since we met I have really learned more about living and cultivating the life I want to lead.  And while I am entirely sure that you my tiny little blog space are entirely responsible for every change in my life or that I figured it all out yet - but I think you helped me along the way.  I went on adventures I might not have gone on, I set goals, I broke goals, I made lists, I found things I loved, I found things I didn't love, I recorded moments, and all along I found my place, my strides, and I still enjoy typing up things to post on you.  Thanks.    

Anyhow happy belated anniversary blog here's to seeing where we are 8+ years from now.

- Katie   

White Trash Activity - WWE Live

This weekend we went on a mini road trip to fulfill our white trash activity of the year (sorry I am not trying to offend anyone with this statement it's just what we call these yearly events).  This year we selected professional wrestling as the event.  And it was quite the show.  We let Dustin buy the tickets and thus we got floor seats and it was also Kathleen's 25 birthday event so win win (#19 on the list).

We kicked off the event with a little BBQ at a place called Scotty Bubs BubbAQue or something like that.  The locals were very welcoming to us there and we had "fried corn" for the first time.  It wasn't my most favorite but the BBQ was good and they had Jeff Foxworthy on the wall.

Dustin's buddy Logan even got to meet us there.  

Then we headed to the Freedom Hall for the big event - WWE Live!  (ps we showed up knowing 2 wrestler names and none of us had seen wrestling easily since 10+ years ago).  Oh and I should also mention Kathleen and I had customized our very own wrestling shirts with supplies from my studio and goodwill $2 shirts they were very fashionable especially derby week in Louisville.  Nothing says awesome like some fringe.

The wrestling was hilarious!  From annoucing of wrestlers to seeing just how staged it is.  Oh and don't get me started on the cute little kids with their plastic gold belts and sweat bands screaming while standing on their chairs for their favorite picks.  My other personal favorite part was the "main event" tag team where the most popular wrestler let his tag team members get "all beat up" then he tagged in and two seconds later he had whooped up on all three of the other teams guys.

Anyhow I can now cross this off my list of things I never really wanted todo but did. ;)  and this might have even been my favorite activity outside the Demolition Derby it's way more fun than SuperCross and Monster Trucks and even the Rodeo.

#babyburf Nursery Paint and Floors Done

Feeling very acomplished to have finished painting and the floors in the babies room.  Dustin is much more on board with the hardwoods now that they are done (he actually asked if we could rip out the carpet in Troys room next).  

I originally was going to go with black and white only on the walls but then Dustin wanted Blue and we got to the store and green was added too.  

We had seen on Pinterest this technique for potato stamping and thought it looked cool.  Turns out it's waaaaay harder than it looks.   We ended up tossing the potatoes after like 8 imprints and just freehanding our circles.  It was a major Pinterest Fail, but we saved it.  However we stopped with one wall only.  

There is one blue, one green, and one white wall, and then the circle accent wall.  I love that it's not perfect.  

The floors are the original oak hardwoods.  I scraped off the old paint drips with an extacto knife. Then I cleaned them three times with ammonia. There wasn't any sealant on the floor so I didn't sand them.  Dustin then applied several coats of a high quality polyurethane letting it dry in between.  I think they look great for floors over 60 years old that have been hiding under carpet for the last 30+ years.  I found remenants of both a weird green carpet and a sexy red shag both such lovely options when I ripped out the carpet.  The room also has been a pastely Seafoam, a peach and yellow, plus our former colors tan and chive through the years. It's fun seeing the history of this house.  

Anyhow I am now excited to get his crib set up and move in his other furniture so the room is ready when he comes.  Oh and if you didn't notice I also need to replace the outlet covers and register - I'll get there.  

Bread #5 - Pretzel Bread

I am behind the game on breads, and Kathleen had been dying for me to make pretzel bread.  So since it was her birthday I made it.  The dough seemed to be waaaay to dry using the recipe I added about a 1/4 of a cup of extra milk to make it more dough like.  

And then when I boiled it - the boiling water was bubbling over.  

The bread seemed waaaay brown too.  

But you know what this was the best bread yet it was delicious!  

The recipe is so simple it's very forgiving, perfect for Easter.  

Everyone here tried different toppings with it and enjoyed it so much we have just a slice or two left.  I am pretty sure I will make this again maybe in bun form.

PS acceptable toppings include butter, ranch dressing, cream cheese, cream cheese and strawberries, and cheese.  Other toppings we wished for beer cheese, nacho cheese, honey butter, and garlic butter.

Here's the link to the recipe note I added the extra milk and used sea salt rather than regular salt.  

http://m.reviewjournal.com/life/food-and-cooking/pretzel-bread-twist-old-standard