Wall Art Love

I've found that I get easily discouraged when attempting to hang art in my home. I have these ideas of how I want them to look but they rarely end up looking the way I want and I just end up never finishing it... I wasn't going to let it get me this time, though. When we moved, I knew I wanted to create a look that I would want to look at and that was easy to change up/add to. Right away I ran into problems. I had this idea that I would leave the living room fairly free of photos and create my main wall above the dinning room table but (just my luck...) the wall over the table is concrete! So, the living room wall it was and I'm ok with how it turned out, though I'm continuously changing things already...

I think I may enter it in this Wall Art Love contest.

Friday Jules and I decided to head to the playground. Our usual playground was overrun with playgroup moms so we headed to the only playground in town that we've never been to and it was a total hit! 

It rained a bit while we were there but we managed to get through the day without any problems. By evening the sky was getting dark. Andrew got home from work with minutes to spare. The winds picked up and before it even started raining our electricity was out and then the rain came.

Torrential downpour of sheets and sheets of rain and just as quickly as it came on it was over. After a few hours in our smoldering house we decided to take a drive. We had no idea that the storm was so bad until we started driving. Our electricity went out before everyone else's because a tree had fallen on a moving car, taking the power line down with it. There were trees, power lines and almost anything movable blown all over the place. We drove around town, shocked by the aftermath and later found out that we were in a state of emergency and shouldn't have been driving. (oops..)

That was a couple hot nights. And the next day was even hotter, but despite all the craziness going on, it was one of the best days we'd had in a while. We spent time with family, cooked out and spent some time in the car, enjoying the AC. The news stations projected 5-7 days without power, which sent everyone into a panic. There were miles of cars trying to get to Walmart. We nixed that idea quick...

Thankfully we were only without power for a little over a day. There are many still without power, including the in-laws so we've had one of Andrew's sisters staying with us. We've enjoyed having her here. Julien absolutely loves it and I really like being able to use the bathroom alone! (and having her here, too... ) 

In Instagrams

We've finally found a new place but still don't have internet. It's a pretty big disaster right now but it feels fantastic to at least know that in the next couple weeks we'll be able to get back to some level of normalcy.  

Father's Day Gift Roundup

I've already been trying to come up with the perfect gifts for Father's Day for a couple weeks now and thought I'd share a few things that I've come up with...

Completely FREE and completely personalized (or premade) Father's Day card from cardstore and the best part is that it ships to dad completely free too!  Just use the code "LUVDAD2" at check out. 

Love this card from JulieAnnArt. So funny. Find it on ETSY.

and this one from Monkeymindesign is so sweet. Find this one ETSY too.

For the geek dad... I think these are so cool! You can have one made in a lovely design at Colorelish on ETSY.

You could also make your own. I found THIS site and whipped one up pretty easily and there are tons of other sites out there that do the same thing.

I really love these paracord survival bracelets. Stylish and if your guy is an adventurer he'll appreciate that it unravels to be used in emergencies.  This and some other awesome pieces can be found at Jessyfreebird on ETSY. 

If you're crafty you can find a great tutorial to make your own HERE.

I love personalized gifts. This guitar pick with leather pouch from RiverValleyJewelry is perfect for the music making dad. 

Kelly at Local Honey does beautiful family portraits that any dad would love. Lots of other lovely things in her shop too. Check her out.

Hubs has had his eye one some TOMS shades since they started making them and for such a good cause, this would be a great gift!

( 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 )

My guy is a lover of books and movies, so some books and movies coming out just in time for dad's special day...

Also- canvaspeople is offering a free 8x10 (or $50 toward any size) canvas. You just pay shipping, which is around $15.

Photo A Day May

I really enjoyed this and I'm excited for June! (You can find June @FATMUMSLIM on Instagram)

Zucchini Parm Dip

We've been trying to eat healthier lately. Less (to no) meat and other junk and more veggies, fruits and just healthier things. I wont lie, it has definitely been hard. Half of the time I feel like NOTHING is truly healthy and the other half of the time I feel like it's just too expensive to eat healthy. Here's a little recipe that's pretty inexpensive (we usually have most of these things on hand) and pretty healthy. 

1 Zucchini

1/2 Onion

3 Garlic Cloves

1/2 Green Pepper

Oregano

Thyme

Salt

Pepper

Parmesan Cheese

Olive Oil

Heat olive oil in hot iron skillet until shiny. Next, on medium heat, cook onion for 2 minutes then add garlic, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper cook 2-3 minutes. Add green pepper cook another 2 minutes then grate in zucchini and cook until zucchini is soft and ingredients come together (about 3 minutes). Grate parmesan cheese on top and place under broiler until browned.

Serve with crackers, tortillas or toast.  (It's really good on Ritz crackers!)

I'm sure there are a ton of different varieties you can come up with for this dish. I'd love to hear your recipes and see pictures! :)

Remember...

Yesterday as I was leaving for work Julien kept telling me I was pretty. He gave me 2 kisses as I was walking for the door and when we got to the door he pushed me out and closed the door behind me. He cracks me up doing funny things like that all the time and every time I think about how I want to remember it forever.

Today we picnicked at the park. It was beautiful out but HOT. Then we went to Lowes and Julien and I walked around the garden section planning our imaginary garden. 

Things I don't want to remember are how up in the air things still are but days like today make it bearable...