WEEKEND RECAP: FRIEND EDITION

Our weekend started with some pizza and Netflix as soon as work was over on Friday. Later that night I decided to get majority of the cleaning knocked out so I could focus on prepping the food and rooms for everyone to stay in once they got to our house.

Saturday I was awake by 5:30 because I was so excited for everyone to get there. I finished the last little bit of cleaning and then started on getting out sheets, blanket and pillows for everyone. Matthew pumped up the air mattresses and I put the other beds together, and made sure the guest bathroom was stocked and ready for our guests. I made these breakfast muffins and this bread for our breakfast on Sunday morning. 

This was my first time making bread, and I don't know why but I was so nervous it wasn't going to turn out well. Since there was only a piece or two left I'll take it that everyone liked it and approved!

I knew we needed something quick and easy before since we would be headed out the door to church, and those were perfect for a quick breakfast! While those were baking I put this Caprese pasta salad 

together and prepped our burger toppings. Matthew ran to our local butcher shop and got meat for the hamburgers, and hot dogs. Can I just say how nice is it to have a good butcher shop about 5 minutes away from where you live? Hello, fresh meat!

My sister came over for a little bit to bring us this adorable basket! She and my mom put together a "sunshine basket" for us since we had a rough week a little bit ago. Isn't it just too cute?! Everything from house products to some yellow golf balls for Matthew. Also, you can't really see them but the two small bowls by the loofah are SO cute. I should have made a separate picture of them. They are the perfect size and shade of yellow for summer coming up! I used them Saturday at dinner to serve lemons in for water.

Everyone got there Saturday afternoon and we all sat around talking and the boys played frisbee out back. I asked Rachel to make her delicious strawberry pies for us since the last time I tried to make it was such a huge fail. Matthew started the grill up and got started on the burgers and hot dogs and I got everything else ready to eat. I didn't get a picture of our dinner but just know there was a ton of food! With Rachel's pies and Sarah's cookies we were all stuffed. After dinner we got our jackets and headed to the game.

The weather was very chilly, like I was afraid of, but we bundled up and survived. ;) I think at one point it was around 45 degrees at the game...brrr!

After the game was over we came back to the house and played some games and then called it a night! Rachel and Trisha took our guest room that has our old bed in it and all the guys got blow up mattresses. We had blow up mattresses in our other guest bedroom, dining room, and study. I should have taken a picture to look back on in the future when we have furniture in there lol.

We decided to go to late service at church on Sunday since there were so many of us that needed to get ready that morning. Here is our breakfast spread on Sunday morning, I did remember to take a picture of that!

Matthew and I haven't been to late service since we first got married so it was really weird going to church later than normal lol but it was good to see that group of people again.

After church was over we went to lunch at one of Matthew's favorite places...Wasabi. They have lunch prices on the weekends too, thank goodness! I made a panorama picture and they were moving so that's why a couple of them look a little funny lol. Matthew's arm is looking extra funny ;)

After lunch everyone headed home, and Matthew and I took a nap! We had such a good time with everyone and can't wait to have everyone over again!! I am already planning out our next weekend together. :)

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WEEKEND RECAP: FRIEND EDITION

HOW I DO IT: CLEANING SCHEDULE

Once we moved into our new house I knew I would need to create a cleaning schedule. I spent a good bit of time researching how often you should clean things and that's how I came up with this list. I'll be honest and say that I didn't even think of cleaning some of the things listed below as often as recommended...glad I did my research!

I just printed this out and posted it inside of my planner and in our laundry room so I can see it often.

• Honestly some of the weekly stuff doesn't get done each week. Things come up and plans change, and sometimes that is just out of our control.

If this is the case I get to it as soon as I can. One of my biggest pet peeves is having a dirty and cluttered bathroom counter, and about 99% of the mess comes from me. I get makeup on the counter and I leave hair products and styling tools out. I try my best to put stuff up when I'm finished, but if I'm in a rush it gets left out and I will put it up later, I try to not let the little things stress me out ;)

• My 15 minute power clean on the daily checklist...aka I like going to bed with everything straightened up and put in it's place. 

That means, remote controls put in their basket, coffee table straightened up (magazines, candles, etc.), kitchen counters cleaned off (mail sorted and put up, breakfast/lunchboxes laid out and ready for the next morning, etc.), our shoes and jackets put up in their place, any throw blankets folded and put back in the crates under our coffee table, and pillows straightened up and in their place. I love being able to come downstairs in the morning and seeing everything in it's place and organized! If you don't do this, try it a couple of times and see how much of a difference is makes the next morning! Also, please note: it does not take me 15 minutes each and every day. Some days it takes 2 minutes and sometimes it takes all 15. Either way, it's 15 minutes or less!

• As far as the monthly, quarterly section I just take a chore or two, depending on how much time I have, and work on it during the weekend, or if I'm feeling up to it and have time during the week.

For example, if I see the weather is going to be nice and I have some extra time I will clean the front and back door windows and outside windows. Other things can be done even when I'm not there, such as cleaning our pillows. Just throw them in the washer that morning when I wake up and then throw them in the dryer as soon as I get back home. 

• Bigger chores such as purging closets or organizing the garage will take a good chunk of time, so when I see we have weekend with no plans I will try to plan on doing a bigger chore then.

Like I said in my meal planning post,  I used to dread cleaning our home, but now I look at it as a way to serve my husband, respect and take care our home. It's all about what kind of attitude you have towards things, and when I think of cleaning our house in those ways I am able to enjoy it a little more now. Don't get me wrong, I'm not jumping for joy to clean, but thinking about these things makes the mundane tasks bearable. 

Here are some verses that I have read that help me keep a positive attitude on this:
Proverbs 31:27
She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Proverbs 14:1
The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.


I also have a cleaning playlist on my Spotify that helps pass the time while I'm cleaning. There is a little bit of everything on that playlist...don't judge!

You can download the cleaning schedule here.

Other How I Do It posts:
How I Do It: Meal planning for 2
How I Do It: Grocery shopping (online)

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HOW I DO IT: CLEANING SCHEDULE

FRIDAY NO. 13

Happy Friday, everyone. I have been working some longer hours this week and it has made the week d-r-a-g. Thankfully it'll be the weekend in T-6 hours!

Last weekend we had Matthew's parents over for lunch and to see the house. The last time they were at our house was the day we moved in, so we wanted to show them how it looked now! Matthew grilled some pork chops and zucchini and I made carrots, green beans and mashed potatoes. They brought me these beautiful roses and Murphy along to visit! We sat out on the back patio and watched Murphy explore our backyard and then we made a trip to Home Goods. We found some stuff we liked but the checkout lines were ridiculously long so we decided not to get anything. After his parents left we watched a movie and then decided to go to Panera for an early dinner and we tried Home Goods again and the lines were down, so we were able to get what we wanted.  

Wednesday night around 8:30 Matthew decided he wanted to make a breakfast casserole for breakfast for the rest of the week, so off we went to Kroger to get some breakfast sausage lol. I told him I really love this season of life we're in right now, no kids or pets to be responsible for and we can just up and go whenever and wherever we want to. I love being married to Matthew, it's so fun!

 We had a friend stay with us Wednesday night because he had an interview in Nashville the next morning so it was good to catch up with him a little bit before we went to bed. He'll be back this weekend with everyone else!


I washed and bagged grapes and apples for our snacks, since our snack container was getting low, while Matthew was making the breakfast casserole. I love having them ready to just throw in our lunchboxes in the morning or when we get home and want a snack before dinner. These containers are GREAT. I love the way they look and keep everything organized in our refrigerator. I found mine a few dollars cheaper at Home Goods, but Amazon is always a good place to look too. Our Home Goods usually always has them and I love the various sizes you can choose from.

Last night we pulled into the driveway and I spotted this bush on the side of our house. We have lived there a little over two months and I just found this bush....in my defense, there is another bush on the front side of the house that covers this so you can't really see it unless you walk over past the other bush. Anyway, I had no idea what kind it was so I took a picture and sent to my dad and he said it is an azalea bush! I think it is just too cute. We decided not to do anything to our landscape this year to see what all comes up and blooms. I'm hoping we have some pretty little things pop up over the next few months. I still would like to get some cute planters and put on both sides of our front door, but I haven't really looked too much into it yet since we are still having some cool spells. 

I think it was planted there to cover those up!

Our Fitbits came in last night!! I'm wearing the teal one today, and I am just tickled it matches my shirt I had planned on wearing today.

Tomorrow morning our friends are all coming over and staying the rest of the weekend with us. I am just so excited and I can't wait to hangout with everyone!! We are grilling out Saturday for an early dinner and then going to the Sounds game! Last night was opening night for them and I am so pumped to go to some of the games this summer. Hands down one of my favorite things to do in the summer. I love the atmosphere there and the new stadium is a fun bonus. Fingers crossed it doesn't get too cold on Saturday. Every time I check the weather for Saturday I do believe the temperature goes down another degree or two, but it is supposed to be really sunny so hopefully that will keep us somewhat warm during the day. I will definitely be bringing a jacket to the game! Tonight I am picking up our groceries after work so I can prep everything early tomorrow morning, and we'll get everything ready for them to arrive. So excited!

Blog posts from this week:

Matthew's Health Scare

Easter 2016

DIY Backyard Drive In Date

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FRIDAY NO. 13

DIY BACKYARD DRIVE IN DATE

Now that it's starting to warm up and summer is getting closer I wanted to share one of my older, but most viewed blog posts I have ever written. Back in May of 2013 Matthew and I celebrated our three year dating anniversary. I love celebrating and I love surprises so I decided to surprise Matthew with a homemade drive in at my parents house.

You can read the whole post here, but I'm going to share some of my favorite images from that post now!

The whole set up!

I made a concession stand for us by using an old desk we had growing up and stocked it with some drive in treats.

I also made some "tickets" for the movie and handed them to him when he got there. So cheesy, but it made it even more exciting ;)

I borrowed my dad's truck and stuff the back with a small twin mattress, pillows and blankets to make it extra comfy!

And here is our DIY screen!

Watching our movie

I shared all about how we made the screen in this post, and here are a few pictures from that post!

My dad working on the screen.

By far one of my many favorite memories with Matthew and I was actually able to pull of a surprise without him knowing anything! We had perfect weather and enjoyed the movie together celebrating our 3 year anniversary! I would love to do this again, but I don't think our backyard is fit for something like this right now lol. Maybe one day we'll be able to pull this off again!

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DIY BACKYARD DRIVE IN DATE