GOODBYE SUMMER 2016

Tomorrow is the first day of fall, so I thought it would be fun to recap our summer! We had a great summer, of course there were some ups and downs but we made the most of every situation. Now that we aren't in school, and we don't have any kids in school- summer started for us when May rolled around. The warmer temperatures and the pool in our neighborhood opening confirmed that very quickly!

We started May off with a Cinco de Mayo dinner at our house. Delicious food and hockey kept us  busy all night!

I shared our summer bucket list. Sadly we didn't get to cross everything off, but we still did a lot this summer!

We made a trip to Johnson City over Memorial Day Weekend and got to see my BIL & SIL! We also did our first Escape game while we were there!

We bought some new furniture, that we absolutely LOVE.

We hosted our first annual Summer Soiree, to officially kick off summer, and we had a blast with everyone! Hot dog bar and cornhole...can't get more "summerish" than that!

My parents adopted a new puppy, Ellie! We puppy sat for them a couple of times this summer...so fun and spiked our puppy fever!

We went night swimming a lot with our best friends, Ethan and Rachel!

I went on a girls trip with my best friends to Hilton Head and had the best time soaking up all that vitamin D and exploring new places! I also just realized I only recapped the first 2 days of our trip..oops!

We celebrated 4th of July in Murfreesboro with our families! 

My in-laws hosted a murder mystery dinner party that was absolutely incredible!

We hosted our Red, White, & Blue BBQ.

Celebrated the sweetest year of marriage in Cookeville, and recapped our 1st year of marriage!

We worked on our home projects, a lot! Painting, pulling out bushes, planting flowers, added some cuteness to our mailbox, 

Had my sisters over for the weekend a couple of times. Swimming and pizza making happened!

Sold our first table and chairs that we ever had. I will admit, it was a little more emotional than I thought lol. We spent our first dinners at home as husband and wife around that table and then spent a whole weekend giving it a makeover. I was a little sad to see it go!

We had my BIL and his girlfriend over for the weekend to help us do some house projects. We watched the Olympics and painted the weekend away! I shared the before and after of our dining room!

Had our 1 year anniversary pictures made!

Over Labor Day Weekend we painted our front door and love it, my sisters also spent the long weekend with us and we had a lot of fun!

And to end the summer, Matthew had sinus surgery! Recovery was rough, but I think we are starting to see the light! And we celebrated his grandmother's 90th birthday, my dad's 52nd birthday and my 24th birthday!

Our summer was full of fun summer activities, cookouts, spending time with family and friends, summer date nights, working on home projects, and much more. Now we are ready for fall and definitely some cooler weather. I shared our Fall bucket List here, and I am excited to start crossing things off with my man!

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GOODBYE SUMMER 2016

AUGUST | GOALS

It's that time again, time for monthly goals! I was kinda sad to see July go to be honest, the end of our "wedding month" as I like to call it, and the end of summer schedules for almost everyone since school starts back around the beginning of August. Although I am getting a little more excited each day for fall...which is weird for me, since I would love for it to be summer 95% of the year lol. I think it's because I know that we will still have warm weather until late September/early October.

Here are my July goals:

1. Celebrate 365 days of sweet, sweet marriage with my handsome HUSBAND!

You can read all about how we celebrated 1 year of marriage in Cookeville/at home here!

2. Have 1 year anniversary pictures made. 

We did! I have only shared two on here, but the rest are coming tomorrow!

3. Do a 6 months update on being in our home.

Definitely didn't do this one, but working on it still!

4. Get a treadmill workout nailed down!

We are enjoying our treadmill and loving the fact that we don't have to run/walk in the heat and humidity!

5. Try 3 new recipes & share.

We tried three new ones, but I only shared one so far! No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream.

6. Create a Christmas binder.

DONE! So glad I made one and I plan on sharing it soon! You can never be too prepared lol.

7. DO VIDEO TOUR.

Nope. Too busy and then we started more painting this past weekend. Maybe this month??

1. Do video tour

I still definitely want to do this one so we can look back on it one day and see all the changes. Pictures are great but and actual video would be fun to do!

2. Do a 6 month update on being in our home.

I still want to do this one too!

3. Go through our guest bedroom closets and pull out all of the totes and decorations and organize it all. 

We moved in our home back in January so we just put all holiday decorations in guest bedroom closets. Well next month I'll be decorating for fall and then Christmas will follow shortly after that so I need to go through and organize all of that so it's not a big mess when it does come time to decorate!

4. Finish painting the whole downstairs of our home.

We are getting somewhat close to this and I would LOVE to finish the downstairs this month! So far we have the first coat on the kitchen, dining room, and the study, which I love, but we need to get the second coat on those and do the hallway, powder room, entryway, and living room!

5. Start Christmas shopping.

Not for everyone, but if I see a good deal on something I want to grab it!

6. Go to the pool a few more times this month!

I have used our neighborhood pool a good bit this summer, and LOVE it being less than two minutes from our house. I know they will more than likely close it after Labor Day Weekend so I need to take advantage of it this month!

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AUGUST | GOALS

FRIDAY NO. 27

I can't believe I am almost to 30 of these Friday posts!! So crazy and I can't believe how quick the year is going by.

This past weekend we started cleaning our our garage and we decided to take pictures of some things to sell. One of those things was our old table that we used at our apartment and fixed up. I wrote this post on our dining room table makeover last fall and we used it for a couple of months after we moved into our new home, but decided a round table would look best in that space. So it's been sitting in our garage every since. Matthew wanted to to just throw it away, but I knew we would be able to sell it. So I finally posted it yesterday morning to my Facebook and Instagram just to see if any of our friends would be interested. We honestly didn't think anyone would be interested and that we would eventually put it on craigslist or something. Well after an hour of posting it I had NINE people messaging me and asking to buy it. To say I was shocked would be an understatement! The first girl to message me about it decided to buy it and will hopefully pick it up this weekend! If anything falls through with them still wanting it, then we have 8 other girls interested in it lol. Matthew was just as shocked as I was. I do have to say, I am a little sad to see it go. I remember picking out this table, addressing and stamping our wedding invitations at it, eating our first cooked meal as a married couple at it just days after we got back from our honeymoon, and then spending ALL of Labor Day weekend last year giving it a makeover. The best times around this table with my sweet man!

As you all know, Instagram is now doing Instagram Stories. I thought it was a little weird at first but didn't freak out about it like a lot of people that I follow on Instagram did lol. I'm definitely still using Snap Chat (mrsshelbycoats), but I'm interested to see if people start using Instagram Stories more or not.

My BIL, Andrew, and his girlfriend are coming to stay with us this weekend and we plan on doing house projects all weekend long!!!! So excited to cross some things off of our list...our farmhouse table being one of them!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO! While the guys are working on building stuff I think Christina and I are going to paint. 

I know November is still a couple of months away, but I am really excited about hosting Friendsgiving again this year! I think I am pretty sure I know what our tablescape is going to look like, or at least what I want it to look like lol, and I designed the invitations last week! We created a Facebook event this week, just to go on and put the date on everyone's calendar and I'll send the invitations our closer to time. We are doing it potluck style again, so I'm excited to see what everyone brings! You can read about our Friendsgiving last year, here!

My two youngest sisters have their first half day of school today, so I am anxious to get a call from them this afternoon to hear who they got and all about their half day. My youngest sister is starting middle school today...sniff sniff. The youngest Kelly baby is growing up!

We had a gift card burning a hole in our pocket, so we decided to have a date night last night. I will always LOVE dating my man! Unfortunately his food wasn't too good, but we made up for it with a skillet cookie for dessert...so delicious!

Happy weekend!!

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FRIDAY NO. 27

NO-CHURN VANILLA ICE CREAM | DESSERT

This ice cream recipe has been a hit at our house lately. It's soft and creamy and absolutely delicious. The best part about it is that it's only three ingredients and doesn't take a whole lot of effort. 

Ingredients

- 1 pint (2 cups) heavy cream

- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

- 2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Add the vanilla extract and sweetened condensed milk to a small bowl and mix well.

2. Add the heavy cream to a separate bowl (I used our stand mixer!) and whip on high for 3-4 minutes until stiff peaks form. Once that happens turn the mixer on low and slowly add in the vanilla extract/sweetened condensed milk mixture. Let that mix on low for 2 minutes, or until mixed together well.

3. Once mixed well, pour into a freeze-safe container (I put mine in a small bread loaf pan, and it worked like a charm!) and let it freeze for at least 6 hours to overnight. 

We let ours freeze overnight and then I set it out about 5 minutes before we served it, and it was easy to scoop and tasted delicious! 

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NO-CHURN VANILLA ICE CREAM | DESSERT

FRIDAY NO. 26

Happy Friday, friends! I am so happy that it is almost the weekend. This week has actually flown by for me and I'm not complaining one bit. I am also in a bit of shock that this is the last Friday of July. Summer is flying by, and although I LOVE summer weather and just about everything summer has to offer, I am getting the fall/Christmas decorating itch. If you follow me on Pinterest then you already know that lol.

This afternoon my two youngest sisters are coming over and staying the night for the first time at our new house, and I'm very excited! I have been getting the cutest texts from them all week with a countdown to today and about how excited they are. Samantha is going into the 7th grade and Macy is starting middle school this year!! I honestly can't believe how old they are getting, and whenever Facebook or TimeHop shares a memory from when they were little it makes me want to cry for hours lol. I mean just look at these doll babies....

and now they are all grown up (insert crying emoji...)

And that's my other younger sister, Mady, she blogs here! She came over this past Wednesday and went to church with us. We made a Sonic run after that and then we watched Friends until it was time for bed lol. I just love my sisters!!

It has been a very stormy week here in Nashville. It has stormed/rained at least once each day this week, and it has brought the temperatures down a bit! I am hoping the rain and storms hold off this weekend though so we can make it to the pool tomorrow and so that I can pull some weeds!!

I have finally found an iced coffee recipe that I like and it is actually not that bad for you! I'll share more on that next week, but just know, I've been enjoying one every morning this week!

Monday night I was just exhausted and wanted to relax so I decided to take a hot bath....and then I remembered how much I love them. I am going to start taking full advantage of our big soaker tub, it's the best way to relax right before bed!

We have downloaded a new app that we listen to each night as we are falling asleep, and we are loving it! It is called Relax Melodies, and you can listen to just about any sound that you can imagine. What we love about it is that you can listen to different sounds at the same time. So we listen to a thunderstorm and hard rain pretty much every night. Matthew's dad got us a small bluetooth speaker a few weeks ago and we listen to it on that every night, it's the best, and the app is free!

Speaking of sleeping well, I have been looking into some oils to diffuse while we are sleeping to help us sleep better, and there are SO many! I am also looking for some oils that help with headaches. I have zero knowledge on any oils so if you know of some that are good for those two things and don't break the bank, please let me know! 

Blog Posts From This Week:

Weekending

#TheCoatsHome: Guest Bedroom Ideas

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FRIDAY NO. 26

FRIDAY NO. 24

Happy Friday, friends!!!! Just-a-wee-bit excited over here because we get a four day weekend and we are PUMPED. This week was a long one that I never thought would end, so I am hoping today flies by!

I posted this picture on Instagram the other day and mentioned it here, and I had a lot of question about it, and even a few emails. I looked at some Christmas binder ideas on Pinterest and then just put my own together since I can't justify paying for one on Etsy. If anyone is interested I'd be happy to share the printables I made so you can make you own Christmas binder.

We were out on a summer night drive the other day and got to see a beautiful sunset. We also found a really nice golf course really close to our house that Matthew is pretty excited about.

 and this is what the sky looked like by time we got back home. So many pretty colors!

I found this comforter the other day at Target and just fell in love with it. I think it looks just like Rifle Paper Co. products and we all know how much I love all their products. Well I showed Matthew a picture of it and told him this would look great on the twin bed in my office, and that next time we are in Target we should check it out. We have a few Target gift cards left so we could just get it with one of those. Well my sweet husband surprised me with it earlier this week, and just as I expected, it looks SO good in there!!!! We had a navy comforter from Matthew's college apartment in there, but I think this one helps brighten up the room even more. He is the sweetest and I love the new comforter!!

We had plans to go to Murfreesboro and eat dinner with my in-laws last night so Matthew called me right as I was getting off and told me not to leave that he was going to pick me up and we could just head straight to their house. We absolutely LOVE riding to work together in the morning so any chance we get, we will carpool together! We envy those couples that work in the same office together and get to ride to work together lol. I finally got him to come up to my office and was able to give him a really quick tour of where I work before we headed to his parents house for dinner. He was probably telling me not to take a picture lol.

Blog Posts From This Week:

Our Red, White, & Blue BBQ | 2016

Printing By Proxy | Etsy Review

Texas Faith Designs | Etsy Review

July | Goals 

The Marriage Diaries Vol. 11

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FRIDAY NO. 24

HILTON HEAD GIRLS TRIP | DAY 1 & 2

2 weeks ago we were beach bound. We left bright and early to make it there by lunch time. We made good timing and didn't have any trouble, thankfully! We left from Murfreesboro, ate breakfast in Chattanooga, and then stopped in Atlanta for gas.

 Other than that we didn't stop anywhere else on the way there. We ate a later lunch at Dairy Queen soon after arriving in Hilton Head though.

None of us had been to South Carolina before so it was pretty exciting to visit a new place.

We checked into our hotel, changed, headed to lunch and then to the grocery store to get a few things for the long weekend. We got pop tarts, stuff for sandwiches, cokes and water.

After all that we headed to the beach! It was around 4 so we didn't get a whole lot of sun, but I think we all took a good nap lol.

After a few hours at the beach we packed up and headed back to the room to unload our stuff and to change into some comfy clothes. Our hotel came with two full size beds so I brought an air mattress to sleep on so we wouldn't be cramped. It was a tight fit but worked like a charm!

We stayed at this hotel and it was perfect for our time there! It was located right on the beach, came with two bike rentals, had a nice sit down restaurant and a tiki hut attached to it. The Tiki hut had live music at most times throughout the day and night and provided great entertainment. There were 4 volleyball courts right off the walk way, and a large pool. 

Bad picture of the pool, but this was when we first got there. The pool wrapped around the other side of that small building to the left. They served concession type food and drinks out of there. One thing we LOVED about this area...the waitresses from the restaurant attached to the hotel would walk around the pool and take orders. So our last beach day we came up to the pool around lunch time and ordered lunch from our pool chairs. It was great, and the service was fast!

That afternoon we went walking down the beach for about a mile just checking it all out and drooling over some of the GORGEOUS beach houses.

Once it was dark we headed back up to our hotel and found out they play movies every night at the pool. Such a great idea. 

Here is a picture of the tiki hut area, a little blurry.

We headed back to the room and all crashed pretty hard. Surprisingly we went to bed every night between 10-11. Which is weird for us as we always stay up late on vacations but not this time!

We woke up Friday morning and ate pop tarts and then headed out to the beach around 10. We got good seats and spent most of the day at the beach, towards the afternoon we came up to the pool and stayed there until it was time to go back to our room to change for the night. That afternoon Mady and Jordan rode bikes on the beach. Sarah. Kathleen, and I drove around to see what all was close to our hotel. 

Our hotel was in a great location as we could walk/ride our bike to pretty much everything!  We found a cute shopping center and checked it out. They had a dance off that night in the middle of the outdoor area and it was funny watching the kids dance. We also found a good ice cream place!

We all met back up on the volleyball courts and they girls played volleyball. I sat that one out so I didn't get sand in my eyes and mess up my contacts lol. Mady and Jordan found starfish on their bike ride that night too!!

And that was our first two days! We watched shark week on Netflix almost every night and sat around and talked a good bit. We rented our bikes through Hilton Head Bicycle Company from the recommendation of Erin! I would definitely recommend them to anyone as well.

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HILTON HEAD GIRLS TRIP | DAY 1 & 2