ON YOUR LEFT!

Last night was a fun new adventure with some great friends and I can't wait to try it again! Murph, Jare, and I tagged along with our friends Kyle and Sarah for a bike ride to the Cumming Tap. Kyle and Sarah were amazing and hooked me and Murph up with bikes, lights, helmets, water bottles and showed us the ropes of their fairly regular Wednesday night ride. We began at 5:45 or so at Pal Joey's on 63rd, wound our way through Water Works Park and Willow Creek Golf Course before taking a quick beer break (where I took the picture above) at a covered picnic table just outside of Cumming. Then we hopped back on the bikes and headed to the Tap where we each grilled our own steak, had texas toast, baked potatoes & salad for just $10! We got our lights hooked onto our bikes and headed back to the city and I realized I was pretty cold, sore and a little tired but I plowed through and we made it back around 9:15. We put about 24 miles on the bikes and had a great time hanging out and meeting another rider Kyle and Sarah cruise with. We also got to hear all about Kyle's Ironman experience, and that made my 24 miles look like a warm up! Overall great time with great friends, I hope I can get a bike soon ;)

CURRENT OBSESSION

So, I needed a makeup change and I am loving tinted moisturizer! As a faithful wearer of mineral makeup for the last 5 years I began to feel chalky and dull looking and was tired of the mess it makes all over the bathroom. It was always to much effort for me as I am a 10 minute makeup kind of girl. I had received a sample of tinted moisturizer back in the Spring from Sephora and loved it. I was always worried tinted moisturizer wouldn't give me any coverage and that it was kind of a scam but the product was light and illuminating, pretty much 100% opposite of my mineral makeup. I also worried that my somewhat oily skin would get even oilier with a second moisturizer, but this oil free gem seems to be doing great even when I combine it with my regular skin care regimen. In fact it makes me wonder if my mineral makeup was actually drying me out and my skin was oily from trying to catch up! Anywho when I went back into Sephora on the hunt for the sample I used they ALL recommended Stila's Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 20  saying how blend-able it was. So I went for it am an in love. It's quick, easy lightweight coverage that is much lighter than typical liquid foundation and gives my skin a good even tone and texture. Acne is down too, bonus! Anywho, I am loving the stuff and just had to share. I recommend getting it at Sephora (talk about a easy place to drop $100), as they color matched me in a second, something I am always terrible at :)

PHEW, IT'S ALMOST FALL

Wow, this Summer was so busy. I thought after the wedding things would slow down, but I'm beginning to think things will never slow down! Cooler temps have arrived, AMEN, football is back on the TV and taking over some of our weekends, but the pace seems to be slowing and per Murph's advice I am learning to say, "no" every once in awhile. Here's what has been keeping us occupied!

New bedroom furniture!

In our quest to build our home we finally have received the bedroom furniture we purchased with the generous gift of money we received for our wedding. Combined with a beautiful big poppy print handed down from my friend Holly and we are on our way to furnishing the bedroom. We purchased a sleigh style bed and large dresser and I am now on the hunt for nightstands and lamps. I seriously love our new furniture especially since my clothing has a true home now.

Guest bathroom makeover!

Of course I forgot before pictures but I will do a home post shortly and give you the afters. This project started because our guest bathroom needed a new shower rod. Since we would be installing a curved rod that is a little more involved I decided we should paint too .... and get new fixtures ... and replace the mirror ... and spraypaint the other fixtures .... and get some frames ... and well that little project took up the whole weekend. Eeek! My hubs was a champ though and although he is not sold on the deep teal blue color we both can agree the room is much nicer for our guests to use and is looking  good with all of the accessories we registered for.

New light fixture in the laundry room!

Ok, I know some of you think I'm crazy for how much I love my laundry room, but it was the first room we started working on together and Murph snuck out to get a special ring from my parents while I was painting it so I guess it's a goofy reminder of the future that was to come for us. I finally, thanks so Stacy, was able to pin down a light fixture for this little space and let me tell you the cost, $17!! That's right World Market marked it down from $50something and we scored on the clearance table. Wooo Hoooo. Just a few finishing touches and we can check the laundry room off the list!

New buffet!

When my grandmother passed away I asked to keep her crystal collection. I will forever remember eating dinner in my grandparents dining room on their crystal, and the relish tray stocked with carrots, celery, cheese and green olives. I knew it would need a special place in our home so after seeing Holly's buffet I had to get it. This was another World Market purchase and it's on backorder but should settle into our front room around the 1st of October. I can't wait to fill it with a fantastic family heirloom.

Budgeting!

Now that we are Team Murphy around here I can't be as selfish with my money, damn. Kidding! Murph and I are working very hard to establish a budget and hope to become entirely debt free in the next 7 to 10 years (mortgage included!). We both have hopped on the Dave Ramsey train and start his Financial Peace class at our church next week. I love Dave's motto, "Live like no one else now, so you can live like no one else later!" Living within your means is something I think a lot of people our age have completely thrown to the wind. I watched my parents work hard, never have debt and I was always happy with what I had. Although I feel the crunch and get defeated every once and awhile right now I just have to look at what we've done so far to get excited. We paid off one of our vehicles and have knocked out almost 30% of my student loan debt! I can't wait for the day we get to do our debt free scream!

Menu planning!

It was clear early in our marriage that a point of stress would be dinner. Since I get home almost 2 hours after Murph does it is so helpful to know exactly what we are having for dinner. On Monday's we usually write our menu and shop for the week (avoiding the crazy weekend traffic at HyVee). This not only makes dinner a breeze, but Murph is always stepping up to the plate to help. Next step, coupon-ing :)

I think those are the big highlights. I told Murph we could stop with the home projects for awhile and enjoy some free time. Some painting and decorating will happen this winter and then we will tackle our yard and maybe the basement come Spring. We are truly enjoying this marriage thing and learning so much about each other along the way. We are so blessed to be making Hawthorn Drive our home.