Thursday, November 10, 2011

life update

Well, it's no surprise that I've been MIA on my blog (and probably yours, too) for a few weeks now. I suppose it really hasn't been that long of a span, but it feels like it.

I can't make any guarantees I am back for a normal batch of postings.

My goal is to keep up the Tuesday Readings posts and possibly projects that might come along.

It's been days since I've even been able to get myself to the "new post" page. I'm not sure why, but I'm just not feeling a draw to blogging right now. I can't seem to understand what's on my heart and in my head right now, let alone try to type cohesive sentences about it.

I wish I could keep up to date with you all. My Google reader is over 1000 posts at the moment and I'm a little overwhelmed with life in general. I'm sure I'll hit the "mark all as read" soon and maybe then I can catch back up.

I'm appreciative if you've stuck with me, for those new friends I've met this last year and I apologize for not getting around to reading all of your lovely posts.

I hope to be back...not sure how soon, but I'll be around.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Tuesday Readings - Oct-25 [Recap]

Whoops...missed two weeks. More on that later.


Reading for October 25 was Isaiah 50-52, 1 Thessalonians 5.

Isaiah 50-52:
Finally - some good news for Israel!
  • The "Servant Songs" - songs about the listening servant who will comfort the listening people, songs leading to the Messiah and his being beaten for our transgressions. (52 and 53)
  • The Lord comforts Zion - reminder of the passing of the Red Sea and the exodus, reminds them that He laid the foundation of the earth, that "You are my people," the time has come for the "cup of staggering" to be put into the hands of Israel's tormentors (chapter 51)
  • The defeat of God's people "has brought shame upon his name," "therefore he will vindicate Himself with unmistakable clarity, for His own glory." (52:5-6 - notes)
 1 Thessalonians 5
  •  Starts off speaking about Jesus' second coming - like a thief in the night. In the Bible's notes, it talks about how Paul is probably saying this to comfort the Thessalonians who may be concerned that they will not be ready for the second coming. Though the time may come unknowingly we are not "in darkness," so this should not be a surprise for those of us who know the truth, anticipate it and live in the light.
  • Paul's final instructions - to respect, speak well of one another, do not let evil become you, help those who are weak, be patient, do not despise prophecy but do not blindly accept it, either. These are good instructions for all Christians, for all of the church.
 
Reading for November 15, 2011 
Jeremiah 43-45, Hebrews 5

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

current obsessions: October

Hey folks! I promise to [try to] be back later this evening with a Tuesday readings post. As I discussed yesterday, I've been so busy with so many things my reading got away from me this week. And yesterday we had some students visit the office and I didn't get home till after 8, then we didn't finish dinner till after 9 and I was asleep around 10 and it just slipped my mind.

Anyway...here's what I've been loving this October...
  • Fall - cider & doughnuts with my hubby @ Fuhrman's
  • Salted caramel mochas from Starbucks
  • New nail polishes thanks to Joy the Baker!
  • New projects! I'm currently working on some design projects for a friend - living room, dining room, family room, basement and laundry room makeovers! Can't wait to share the before and afters!
  • These chocolate cupcakes. Ah-may-zing.
  • Halloween times means MONSTER CEREALS ARE BACK. Count Chocula has been a favorite of mine (and Josh's) since I was little. I don't care how old I am, it always will be!
  • Not having a cracked iPhone screen. YES!!!  
  • Boots and scarves! Actually, I haven't broken out my boots yet - they are too "snowy" - I need some nice fall short boots...I think I hear Marshall's calling me...
  • My adorable niece learning new words! She can say both "Josh" and "Amy" and she seems to LOVE saying Josh! We watched her at our townhouse the other day and she just kept pointing at him and saying his name! She also was loving watching stuff on the big TV and kept saying "Whoa!!!!" whenever anything crazy was on the screen.

 




What are you currently loving?

Monday, October 24, 2011

weekend update: Oct 21-23

I apologize for being a little MIA on the blog-reading-commenting front the past few weeks. Things have been fairly busy at work and the majority of my free time at home has been spent either on the computer working on an [exciting!] interiors project with a friend or staying off the computer doing other things.

Anyway, this weekend I [again] spent a lot of working on this interiors project! On Friday I stopped at Andrea's Kitchens in Erie and Pier 1 for some inspiration for the project. Here's it all summed up in a little mood board for you all:

Dining Inspiration


On Saturday I went with said project friend to look and possibly purchase some of the above items. We went to Padden's paints to look for more options for one of the rooms and searched - and found [we  think]! - the drapery fabric for the dining room. I worked more on the project in the evening and hung out with the hubby, of course!



On Sunday after church Josh and I went to Best Buy where I picked up this sweet new case for my phone. I'm a klutz and fear for my poor phone screen's life now that I've cracked it once, so I knew I wanted something heavy duty. Loving it so far!!



In the evening we hung out and I made cupcakes for the Mercyhurst Interior Design student visitors we have coming tonight. Recipe later this week! Spice cupcakes [made with applesauce] and caramel butter cream frosting! They are pretty amazing.


Anyway, hope I'll be able to get back to reading your lovely blogs this week! Thanks for sticking with me and reading and commenting on mine!! Happy Monday! Have a great week, folks!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Tuesday Readings - Oct 18-11 [recap]

The reading for today was Isaiah 34-36 and Colossians 2. I wasn't as prompt with this reading - I finished it up right before I started this post!

The reading from Isaiah was another weird one and the first two chapters a little hard to get through. I did enjoy the last chapter more though, hearing about how the Israelites were challenged by the Assyrian king on their trust in God. They stood firm and did not respond to the Assyrians, even when they were promised food and their own land (while they were starving, waiting for God to deliver them). One thing the notes in my ESV Bible pointed out was how the Assyrian king continually put God on the same level as the gods of the other nations, saying their gods didn't deliver them, why would your God deliver you? You have to go on to read chapter 37 to know that God does in fact deliver the Israelites by killing almost two hundred Assyrians, and later on the Assyrian king is killed by his own sons!

The reading in Colossians reminded me to always be on guard, even if you are doing well spiritual (probably more so!). The Colossians were being told by some of their leaders that certain rituals, traditions, etc. from before Jesus came were still to be upheld and that they must need to be done to be complete in their spiritual well-being. Paul warns against this that Jesus's death and resurrection was enough for us - we do not need anything else! I also identified with verses 12-13 on baptism - that the rite of baptism is identification w/ Christ's death and resurrection. We had a few people get baptized in church on Sunday who spoke about how they were excited to show everyone they believe in Christ as their Savior and that this baptism was THEIR choice.

I also wanted to share a song that we did on Sunday as a special. We just finished up a series called "Can Smart People Believe in God?" The song is by Sara Groves and is called Maybe There's a Loving God. It resonated with me so hard during the first service that I broke into tears and couldn't finish the last few lines of the song! I held it together more during the second service, but I just love the words the song ends with. Please check out the video.



These were the words that got me - nearly every time I listened to and practiced the song:
    Maybe this was made for me...
    For lying on my back in the middle of a field.
    Maybe that's a selfish thought...
    Maybe there's a loving God.
    Maybe I was made this way -
    To think and to reason and to question and to pray
    And I have never prayed a lot
    But maybe there's a loving God.
    And that may be a foolish thought -
    But maybe there is a God.



Let me know if you read this week as well!


Reading for October 25, 2011  
Isaiah 50-52, 1 Thessalonians 5

Monday, October 17, 2011

weekend update: Oct 14-16 [in pictures]

Celebrating Josh's brother Dan's birthday Friday night @ Hibachi

Saturday breakfast

Cupcakes :)

Birthday Cupcakes!

Recipe here: Milk Chocolate Cupcakes by How Sweet Eats



No pics from Sunday. Lazy day and we picked up a filter for the furnace. Happy Monday, folks!

Friday, October 14, 2011

[My] Friday's Fancies #2

Yeah! Two weeks in a row!

This week's theme is FALL! I love fall! The colors, the smells, the temperature [usually], the recipes!

I think this outfit encompasses fall in Erie, PA perfectly. The last three days have been cooler, rainy and not very bright. This outfit - for me - would be a nice work outfit or out for a night with the girls. It's comfy, cute and you're prepared just in case there is a rainstorm...

Forgot to mention [still new to this] I'm linking up over at Friday's Fancies on Long Distance Loving!

FF #2 - Fall Flavors



Have a great weekend, friends!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

style obsessions: splayed leg furniture

I suppose this goes along with my love for mid-century modern furniture and anything Knoll, but here are some other favorites around the web of "splayed-leg" furniture. Enjoy!

"Splay-Leg Table and Tray" [coffee table] by George Nakashima for KnollStudio. (image via Knoll.com)

Scissors Chair | Knoll Studio Museum

Mantis Chair | Designed by Craig Bassam for BassamFellows | Design Within Reach

Prouve EM Table | Designed by Jean Prouvé produced by Vitra| Design Within Reach

Eames Plastic Side Chair | Designed by Charles + Ray Eames | Hive Modern

Adams Nightstand | West Elm

Kingstown Bar Stools | Studio Dunn

Studio Desk | Blue Lounge
(this desk is pretty cool - very tech-oriented / cable-friendly! click the link above to see more about it!)


Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Tuesday Readings - Oct 11-11 [recap]

This past week's reading was Isaiah 17-19, Ephesians 5:17-33

I'm proud to say I got this week's reading all done by Wednesday! 


I love reading from my ESV Study Bible. Half the pages are notes or maps regarding the passages. It really gives you a different look at the scriptures that I often times miss.


The reading from Isaiah was a hard one to get through as is a lot of the Old Testament I find. It always seems difficult to find something to relate to. With the study Bible, there were a few notes that sparked my interest in the passage:
  • 19:12 - "Human expertise, however brilliant, fails before the overruling purpose of God." Something I need to be daily reminded of - whatever intelligence or wisdom I have in life is always surpassed by God's perfect will and purpose for me.
The reading from Ephesians (I'm going to just write these down as bullets like how I had written them in my notes)
  • 5:17 - Understand the "will" of God - is saying we must understand general guidelines, not that we should try to understand his hidden will that we cannot know.
  • 5:20 - Giving thanks always and for everything.
  • 5:22 - Wives submit to your husbands - means submitting to the "ultimate leadership of the husband for the health and harmonious working of the marriage relationship." [From the notes.] This gives a different perspective on the often "sexist" view that some people get from this passage.
  • 5:25 - Husband's love - "husband is bound by love to ensure the wife finds their marriage a source of rich fulfillment and joyful service to the Lord."  [From the notes.] I like this perspective! Sometimes I think in this day and age we think it's wrong to believe your husband should be your provider and protector. Although I think that many things in a marriage should be equal - a partnership - I am happy to say my husband is the head of our household - though we are still early in our marriage years, we haven't crossed every mountain yet!
  • 5:26-27 - Husbands cannot sanctify wives (only Christ can), but they should promote holiness.

Hope you did the reading along with me! Let me know if you did! I'm looking forward to next week's reading!

Reading for October 18, 2011  
Isaiah 34-36, Colossians 2

Monday, October 10, 2011

Weekend Update: October 7-9, 2011

I cannot believe how GORGEOUS it was in Erie all weekend! Mid 70's, beautiful breezes and gorgeous colors. Fall has hit Erie hard and the colors are unbelieveable.

Friday on had to drop off some books at the library so I picked up FIVE new ones! I was lucky enough to find five of the books on my Pinterest book club reading list, so that was pretty exciting! In the evening we had a worship team meeting where we talked about the upcoming year - the schedule, new praise & worship and prayer nights and ways to connect our three "venues" together (we currently host two contemporary services on Sunday mornings  as well as one traditional service at our McKean location. There is a third contemporary service hosted about 25-30 minutes east in Harbor Creek). We had a great time of food & fellowship with one another and prayed for the new year and over my brother-in-law, who is our worship pastor. It was a fun night!

The last two Saturdays have rocked because I've been able to sleep in past 10 am! Josh heads off to work and I have the house to myself to do whatever...or nothing. Mostly nothing happened this past weekend. Catching up on blogs, enjoying the breeze and just plain old laying around. We hung out after Josh got back from work doing the norm - catching up on the week's TV shows we missed (Fringe, The Office) and just spending time together.

Sunday church involved a life story video by my amazing husband about his coming to Grace Church that had tears in my family's eyes in the end! We hung around for a little watching my adorable niece Chloe run around the church yelling "Josh!" "Mamma!" "Dadda!" and "Oh nooo." Then my parents took us out for lunch at Applebee's!

We finally got to enjoy some of that gorgeous weather as we went up to Fuhrman's Cider Mill for some donuts and cider and a quick scenic drive back to our house.


We spent the rest of the evening lounging around until we went out at 930 pm [past my bedtime] to Josh's friend Katie's to watch the season finale of Breaking Bad. I don't normally watch it - I can't take it! It's too suspenseful! -  but I wasn't going to miss out on hanging out!

Hope you all had fantastic weekends! Was the weather as lovely for you as it was for us up here?

Just wanted to point out for any of you who may have been new commenters/viewers last week: I switched back to the standard Blogger comment form as I did not like the one I was previously viewing. If you see your comments are deleted - they really haven't been [by my choice] but that is what happens when you try that stuff out! So I want to make sure you're aware I appreciate your comments and saw them! Thanks!

Friday, October 7, 2011

[My] Friday's Fancies #1

Oh my gosh! Two posts in one day!! What the what!?

I decided to give it a try and link up with Long Distance Loving for my first Friday's Fancies!

This weekend I'm hoping to hop in the car with the hubby and get out there with this gorgeous fall weather, beautiful colors and yummy cider. I thought I would base my Friday's Fancies today on the perfect outfit for fun fall activities! (It's supposed to be mid 60s - low 70s and sunny this weekend, so we are totally lucking out!) So necessities include: scarf, blazer and sweater to kill the chill, messenger bag so I'm hands free, boots to trek through the woods, sunglasses (since it's supposed to be sunny!) and a camera to capture the memories!

Friday's Fancies #1 - Blazers!



Featuring...



Have fun and safe weekends, friends! 

fabric friday: Oct 7, 2011: Duralee Fabrics

Another feature on to-the-trade fabrics for homes: Duralee Fabrics.



Duralee was founded in 1952 and is a family owned and operated company. They are one of the fastest growing decorative fabrics companies in the interior design industry. In 2001 they introduced a luxury brand - Highland Court - offering the finest in design and quality. Recently they created Trimmings to enhance their fabrics and furniture, and their contract division has earned a high standing in the hospitality market. They are headquartered in Bay Shore, NY

42179-5 from the Classic Prints & Wovens Collection - book #2819

51014-113 from Sheer Encyclopedia Volume IV - book #2768

90861-66 from Raspberry/Strawberry/Pomegranate - book #2800

90870-181 from Raspberry/Strawberry/Pomegranate - book #2800

73016-619 from Oakdale Collection - book #2775

In 2003 they started making furniture!

Tribeca  Sofa / comes in three widths: 72W / 84W / 96W

Park Avenue Occasional Chair / 28W x 29D x 34H

Park Ave Sofa / comes in three widths: 72W / 84W / 96W

Soho Round Coffee Table / two sizes: 36Dia / 42Dia


All images and information from www.duralee.com.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies


[Check out the recipe from How Sweet Eats.] You think you don't want to add all that cinnamon, but trust me, you do. It's amazing.


They are like granola bars. Chocolate chip, cinnamony granola bars...in cookie form. With more butter.


Totally acceptable (and delicious) for breakfast with your morning coffee.


I'm sad these only made about 20 cookies, because they lasted two days. Well, three days, but one cookie left over thanks to my hubby and brother-in-law doesn't count.

I had been craving chocolate chips and oatmeal in some combination and this satisfied that. Or, I mean, made me want more. These are so good. Make them!!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Tuesday Readings - Oct 4-11

Okay! So it took weeks, but I've finally figured out how to get this blog + Bible reading thing going. It is going to be called "Tuesday Readings."

I will probably be getting my passages from BibleGateway.com under their "Reading Plans" section. I've chosen the Old/New Testament to pick readings from. They post them daily, sections from both the Old and New Testament, and it's technically a one-year study on the entire Bible. I'm not going to lie - I'm no good at reading and studying the Bible, so we're going to work up slow - one section of a few passages per week.

On Tuesdays I'll post about the past week's passage and I'll post what the next week's reading will be (I'm going to try to be consistent and put this at the end of each Tuesday post). If you want, feel free to follow along with me and link up (except I'm not quite sure how this works - I think you just click the "Links to this Post" on the bottom and enter your info? Someone who knows more about this - HELP!!). You can do whatever you want here - write a whole post dedicated to the reading, link up and mention you're doing this with me, or just stop by my blog on Tuesdays and tell me about your thoughts on the passage!

As there was no reading last week, there is no "about the passage" for this week. Some days the "about the passage" might be a lot. Might be in-depth and hard to work through. Other times it will be quick, short and it might not feel like much.

The point of this study is for me and a few of my blogging fellow lady friends out there to keep ourselves accountable and get reading! As I've explained before, I want this to be geared towards young women bloggers, specifically married without children. Again, I'm not trying to exclude anyone, just trying to reach out to ladies out there like me!

These are the friends of mine who have expressed interest!
Alisun from the In-between
Bethany from lee & bethany
Hannah from Unraveling Perfection
Meg from henning love
Staci from SuperYay!
if I missed you - let me know!


So. Let's do this!

Reading for October 11, 2011 
Isaiah 17-19, Ephesians 5:17-33

Monday, October 3, 2011

Weekend Update: Sept 30-Oct 2, 2011

Really, I don't have much to share about this weekend.

Friday afternoon/night Rachel + I shot our cousin's wedding (well, our mom's cousin's son...) and it was cold, rainy, gorgeous and so much fun. We danced, hung out with our family and stayed for the whole reception (that doesn't always happen). Can't wait to see the pics!

Saturday I slept in, had a horrible headache almost all day and did lots of laundry. Seriously, that's it. Oh and I tried getting caught up on some blog reading and I made chili for dinner. It was yummy. Josh and I finally got to spend more than 40 minutes together that night as well, since we had been pretty busy the rest of the week. It was nice just spending time lounging with him.

Sunday Josh and I were on band duty at church, then we had lunch, took a way long nap, and now it's almost 730 and we're just waiting for our Pizza Hut to get here.

The last three days have been cold (in the 40's - 50's), rainy, gloomy, kinda fall-ish, and fairly lazy (except for Friday). It's supposed to clear up this week in Erie and get warmer again, but I mean, let's face it. It's October. It's fall.

I'm looking forward to a not crazy week at work. No bids due, just time to get caught up on projects and get a lot of stuff out the door!

Hope you had fun and relaxing weekends!!! Next weekend will hopefully have some better weather so maybe we can get some fall fun in!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Blackened Chicken Alfredo

I planned our weeknight meals this past weekend and chicken w/ pasta in Alfredo Sauce was on the list. But when it came time to make it, I was craving something a little different. I've had "blackened" chicken before, but never knew what it took to make it.


I found a bunch of recipes online, but took my measurements and ideas from this recipe. I used 1 tsp of almost everything but paprika. Then I covered my chicken breast in it. The whole thing. On one breast of chicken. TOO. MUCH. FLAVOR.


It was tasty, but way too much seasoning for the amount of chicken I had. I suggest using enough chicken for 3-4 servings (at least 2 chicken breasts) and don't feel like you need to use up all the seasoning!

Blackened Chicken Seasoning

~ingredients~
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground pepper (white or black)
1/2 tsp cayenne or chili powder (or more if you like spicier. we don't)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried or fresh thyme, chopped fine
1 tsp dried oregano
2-3 chicken breasts

~instructions~
  1. Combine seasoning ingredients.
  2. Pound out chicken breasts, coat with seasoning mixture.
  3. Melt about 1 T butter over medium/low heat, add chicken breasts, cooking 1-2 minutes on each side. Finish off in the oven (5-10 minutes in 350 preheated oven) or keep cooking on the stove (that's what I did), until juices run clear. 


Tuesday, September 27, 2011

current obsessions: September


  • Macintosh apples! That's right baby - I love when my faves go back in season!
  • Even cooler temps than August! I've even brought my slippers out on a few occasions!
  • Family time - we've seen Josh's family two weekends in a row! I've enjoyed spending time with them. I've also been visiting my parents on the weekends, and it's been fun catching up.
  • New shows back on! FRINGE was back this past Friday and this past weekend our favorite cartoons were back up (American Dad, Family Guy, The Simpsons).
  • Leaves changing - I love this time of year! Hopefully I'll be able to get out with Josh to take a walk with all the leaves changing!
  • WINNING! I've been winning a lot of things this month...nail polish from Joy the Baker (okay, so that was in August but I'm still waiting on the package so it gets thrown into this month too), dress from Shabby Apple via Michelle's giveaway (hoping to get it this week!) and a new office chair from our rep group KMA & Associates in Pittsburgh!


(Dress JUST came in! YAY!)

Side Note: I can't believe September is almost over!!! It feels like just yesterday I was posting about how I couldn't believe it was September 1 and now we're in the last week of it!! Craziness. Holidays will be here before you know it!!!!

Monday, September 26, 2011

weekend update: Sept 23-25, 2011

This weekend wasn't that busy, but I'm still exhausted from it!

Friday after work I visited my parents who were babysitting my little niece Chloe. I hung out with them for a while then headed home to make dinner for Josh & I, but worked in a quick run (walk) in before he got home. We were excited about the series premiere of FRINGE but remembered 15 minutes after it started that we were going to attempt to watch it live (we only have 5 channels that don't come in very well, no DVR, no cable).

Saturday I slept in late (awesome), caught up on some blogs, made some meal plans for next week, did some quick exercise, went grocery shopping, made lunch for Josh and went out for dinner with Staci, Kristen and Nicole. We went to The Plymouth Tavern (free popcorn and yummy food) then stopped by Sluggers to play some pool. When 11PM hit I immediately said I had to go home and fell asleep almost immediately when my head hit the pillow.




Sunday was another lounge-y day after church. Josh is currently working on another one of his video game theme song recreations on guitar (you can check out his previous ones on his YouTube channel) and I'm laying around because I'm SO SORE from the pathetic amount of exercise I did this weekend.

I've got two bids due for work this week and not much else going on other than that!

Hope you all had fun and (more) exciting weekends! What are you looking forward to this week??

Friday, September 23, 2011

fabric friday: 09-23-11: Clarence House

Because I work on mainly commercial projects, most of my Fabric Friday posts are filled with the great commercial or healthcare fabrics I get to work with every day. However, residential fabrics should have their spotlight as well!

I'm going to start to highlight a few residential fabric and wallcovering companies that I'm seeing around the web and in magazines.

Today's spotlight is on Clarence House.


Clarence House was founded in 1961 and came up as number 1 in a Google search for "residential textiles." They have been featured in many interior design magazines including, but not limited to, Architectural Digest and Elle Decor. Clarence House is headquartered in New York City and is open to the trade only. Their line includes woven fabrics for indoor and outdoor use, sheers, velvets, tapestries and wallpapers.


Alnus: Sabbia

Sea Thistle / Neisha Crosland collection

Juno (woven fabric)

Cosette / from Fall 2010 Collection

Arboles color #1 / Velvet Collection

Arboles color #2 / Velvet Collection

Vase wallpaper / photo by Michel Arnaud from Elle Decor

Bed and armchairs in Clarence House fabric / photo by Eric Piasecki for Elle Decor


Check out their website for more fun fabrics!


information and images all from www.clarencehouse.com
swatches from Elle Decor design center/Clarence House