Easy Peasy Dinner

Don't feel like cooking tonight? Like me? Here's a little secret.


Voila! frozen family-size meals. Easy (10 minutes). Cheap ($4.49 per bag). And even healthy (lots of veggies, grilled chicken). Callie even likes it! It sounds too good to be true!

I like to add sliced yellow summer squash (or zucchini) and some fresh spinach on top. And maybe a little mozzarella cheese.

How's that for semi-homemade? :) Or, barely-homemade?

Better After

I always love a good before-and-after story. What is it about makeovers that are so much fun?

You may remember this post about our fireplace re-vamp. It was featured on the blog Better After, click here to see. Funny part is, the mantel is different already. I took the lamps down and replaced them with big candle sticks, and also have a different mirror up.

I have a few more before-and-after's of things around the house I'll share soon. Starting with our powder room...the only room in the house that's now completely finished (and probably the smallest room in the house), thanks to my dad and Kyle installing this faucet this weekend.

I didn't know it was possible to be in love with a bathroom faucet! :) It's almost the same as this one, except it says "hot" and "cold" on the handles.

Birthday Girl & Pom-Poms

S tay tuned for more of this...



Callie's first birthday party was a success! She had so much fun and we are so thankful for family that made such a big effort to come.

We'll leave you with an easy and inexpensive party decoration:



Tissue pom-poms. This is all you need {8 sheets of tissue paper or 1 small package, scissors, and a twisty-tie}.



Take the eight sheets of tissue paper, 20x30 or your choice of size, stack together and starting from the narrower side, fold accordion-style.



After folding, secure together in center with a twisty-tie.



With scissors, cut to round the two ends {or your shape of choice, rounded or jagged}.



Now pull the sheets a part on each side to make a large pom-pom.



Be careful not to rip!



And hang from the ceiling!

Walking Before Her Birthday!

She's been taking her first few little steps from furniture to furniture for the last week or two, but last night, she started WALKING! We were just hanging out in the kitchen, and she started walking torward me! I caught it on camera...it's VERY EXCITING!!!




Hope you all are having a nice weekend. We are celebrating a VERY SPECIAL first birthday! Happy Birthday, baby girl!!!

♥ Nealy

Six Years (and seven days)

Has it really been that long? Time sure does fly by when you're having fun! A few of our highlights from over the years:

2003 ~ engaged - on top of le tour eiffel, planned a wedding, graduated from college

2004 ~ tied the knot, honeymooned in acapulco, moved up north, started real jobs

2005 ~ bought a house, met some great friends, lived in the philippines, went snorkeling, started business school

2006 ~ booked a spontaneous trip to the British Isles, started a business

2007 ~ went on our dream trip to the Greek Isles, finally finished b-school, went to some fun concerts :)

2008 ~ Baby on the way (picture taken the night before Callie was born...that was exactly one year ago TODAY)


2009 ~ the birth of our wonderful baby girl and joy of our life, Callie Christine (picture generously taken by bri)

2010 ~ Hopefully many more memories to make!

Happy Anniversary, Baby! You're the best husband, best friend, and travel partner that I could ask for. God has truly blessed me. I love you!

10 Ways to Beautify Your Blog: Day One

Finally, it's here! Ten Ways to Beautify Your Blog.

Sorry it's taken me forever. And thank you to everyone for your encouragement. Things have been busy lately, and then our laundry room flooded. So some guys came {restoration company} and ripped out our floors among other things. We have huge fans blowing 24-7, and I can't even hear my phone when it rings. Or the baby when she cries. Or the doorbell. But we're surviving! As if I didn't have enough house projects going on!

Oh, and did I mention that someone's turning ONE on Sunday?!?!



Okay. Ready? Day one.

Disclaimer: I'm no expert and hope I do this justice, so let's just say I'll just tell you everything I know. I've learned through trial and error, and from just playing around. And if anyone wants to add to more ideas via comments, feel free!

1. Find a layout you love.

This may seem easy and pretty self-explanatory, but the reason I am making this DAY ONE is because oftentimes changing the layout will cause you to lose EVERYTHING ELSE, so make sure you have a great layout that you will want to use for awhile before moving on to day two {if I ever get there}. Keep in mind that colors, fonts, and background designs can all be easily changed without changing your layout. I will show you more of that stuff coming soon.

Some great free layout sites (for Blogger) that I know of are:

• Our Blog Templates* {the one I am currently using is called Newspaper II}
• B Templates**
• Blogger {standard templates, but you can actually do some custom changes with it AND add a linkbar}
• The Cutest Blog on the Block
• Shabby Blogs
• Aqua Poppy Designs
• Made by Madeline
  
• If you know of any more good ones I can add to this list, please let me know

These layouts have options such as one, two, three, and multiple column design. However, choosing a three-column layout will cause your center column to be smaller. Wide center columns are nice because then you can post BIG pictures (how to post big pictures coming soon). :) On the other hand, a one-column template would be great if you are into photography and want to display super large pictures.

How to Get a Link Bar
I've gotten some questions about how I got the links on the top of my blog. There are a few ways to do this. First, you can choose a layout that has links as part of the design {that's what I did}. Second, you can actually add your own links to any blogger layout {thanks, Lena} by following these directions:

1. Go to layouts, then page elements, then Add a Gadget {the gadget under your header that's super wide}.
2. Choose HTML/JavaScript
3. Paste this for each link you want to add
<a href="http://www.yourlink.com">LinkName </a>
4. Fill in "yourlink" with the website you want your link to take you to, and LinkName is the name
5. View it in rich text to play around and make it look pur-ty

Hopefully this has given you a few ideas that you can play around with. If you're afraid to dive in and try a whole new layout because you don't want to lose your old one, you can always start a new "test blog" that you can try new stuff out on first. Just a thought.

Let me know if any of this is helpful! I would love to hear your feedback.

Lots of fun stuff coming soon!
♥Nealy


*Our Blog Templates can be tricky to download. Here are the steps I did that worked for me with this website:
1. Choose a layout, then click download
2. When the window opens where you must decide to "save file" or "open with," choose"open with," and then find WORDPAD.EXE, and click "ok." A wordpad document will open up.
3. Copy and cut this whole document.
4. On blogger, go to the "layout" tab, then "edit HTML, and paste the entire wordpad page
5. Make sure to preview before saving and if you don't like your changes, click "clear edits"

**As for BTemplates, downloading this worked better if I saved it to my computer, then used the browse/upload feather from blogger. However, you you will have to back-up your old template first if you don't want to lose it (I don't think the "clear edits" option works this way).

Banana Cakes

Was my last post really our Christmas post? I think my whole life is running a few weeks behind!


I want to share with you a fabulous (super healthy) recipe for Banana Cakes. Since I made them yesterday, I happen to be a little obsessed. Thanks to Jenny for this great idea. After I read about them on her blog, I couldn't wait to run to the store and buy some bananas.

And Callie loves them, too! I love baby-friendly food. For all you carb-watchers out there, they are definitely high protein and low carb, and also gluten-free.

The ingredients: everything you see here. No flour. No sugar. Amazing!



Add them to a blender or Magic Bullet (pardon my flash, it was too early for natural light pictures).



And cook like you would normal pancakes. You can make mini pancakes...




Or regular size...



Ta-da!



I bet they would be good with peanut butter in the batter, or as a topping. Or you could top with syrup, honey, or powdered sugar. Or you could get really crazy and put a little Nutella on them. We are eating them plain; they have a subtle banana flavor that is yummy. Just make sure not to overcook them...my first batch turned out a little on the foamy side.

Stop by my house. I will make you some hot banana cakes. Bring the kids. :)

Banana Cakes
3 eggs
1 banana
1/2 t cinnamon (optional)

Blend ingredients, then cook in skillet.