Wine

It took me a long time to appreciate wine.

My MIL first introduced it to be a few years back.

I choked it down with a smile.

You see, I come from a line of beer drinkers. I can name the favorite beer brand of most my aunts and uncles. Now, I'm not saying we are a bunch of alcoholics, we just appreciate an ice cold bottle/can/mug/pint of a perfectly brewed beer after a long day.

Then I went on a wine tasting tour for my husband's cousin's wife's (did you follow that?) bachelorette party.

I was skeptical, but I like the girl, and she was soon to be family, so why not?

That's when I began to appreciate wine.

I don't love every type. I like white more than red. Something sweet with high residual sugars.

I like a Riesling.

I hate a Cabernet.

I began fine-tuning my love for wine.

I began researching doo-dads, gadgets, and what-nots for wine.

Take, for example, a vacuum sealing wine preserver.



While interesting in thought, I think it's a waste of money.

Maybe because, in my house, the wine bottle gets emptied before the end of the night.

(Which, to me, means the party was a success!)

One product that I am glad that I purchased is an aerator, similar to this one:

from Younkers.

This isn't the model that I own. The one I have twists onto the end of the wine bottle so that it aerates as you pour it.

Nifty.

It actually changes ("blossoms" as the product packaging says.........sure....) the taste of the wine.

I've tried it.

It works.

I'm going on a "Girls Night In" at my good friend's house tonight. We have to bring a bottle of our favorite wine to pass around and everyone samples.

Fun hey?

It was my idea.

;)

Is there any wine do-dad that you swear by? Any fun tricks (such as "trilling") to drink the wine?

Please share your insight!

The Master Bedroom is Done!

I worked extra-special hard to get the 4 doors painted in the master bedroom.

I can finally happily say that my master bedroom is complete!

This is how my masterpiece looks today:

?????

I think maybe I should explain myself....

You see, almost instantly after completing this room, I received a very important phone call from some contractors that need to do some very important improvements to my home.

I had only 45 minutes to clear all the junk out of my closets so that they could come over and install some drywall, tape it up, and mud them.

Hence all the junk ended up on my bed, under my bed, all over the floor....etc.

The thought popped into my head that I should ask them to wait so I could snap some oh-so-important photos for my personal blog, but the Hubs didn't really go for it, haha.

So the closets are done, and since everything's out of them anyways, I'm going to finish up the flooring in them.

I have decided to not yet prime and paint.

1. Because I need to re-route some wiring. I don't like cables/wires just tacked to a wall. I think they should be hidden.

;)

2. I think you all have waited too long already to see the master bedroom reveal.

The contractors will be here for the remainder of the week. I'm going to finish up the closet flooring tonight and start putting everything back in, so that hopefully I can snap some photos for everyone!

I also noticed that my Followers are dropping off like flies, no doubt from my failure to deliver some promising projects.

I really appreciate everyone's patience with me. This whole thing took me by surprise, and I know it's frustrating to keep waiting. I also delete many blogs from my Following list if I get bored with it, so I know how it is.

However, this is a personal blog for me. I don't use this as a source of income, but just to keep people updated on what's going on in my life, and possibly a few tips/tricks around the house, so if nothing exciting is happening, then I don't write, ya know?

;)

BUT I'm extremely happy that you are reading this, because that means YOU haven't given up on me!

Thank you so much!

Anyways, today the contractors finished up putting up drywall, taping, and mudding 4 kneewall closets.

They also blew in some insulation in our attic, which was desperately needed.

William got a brand new aluminum double-pane window today.

Tomorrow's "hopefully" agenda:

Patching a bad section of the roof.

Honey Glazed Ham

I haven't shared a recipe in such a long time!

Honey Glazed Ham

• Thinly sliced ham. (I buy 2-3 pounds of the lean kind)
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbs mustard
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 orange, skin left on, sliced thin

1. Stagger the ham slices in a shallow baking dish. (Refer to picture to see what I'm talking about.)
2. In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients and stir well.
3. Pour the mixture over the ham.
4. Place the orange slices on top of the ham.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.
6. Take off the orange slices before eating!

I like to baste it like a turkey, just to make sure that it gets full flavor.

On another note, the master bedroom is close to being done. I put up the rest of the baseboard, primed all doors, and gave each 1 coat of paint. I ran out of paint, so I can't finish it until I go buy some more.


I'm really sorry for the delay in this project. Trust me, I want this done more than you do, haha!
Unfortunately, I'm having contractors over tomorrow to discuss insulating my house, so it might not get done tomorrow. I'll let you know about the progress on that, and maybe even shoot some "before" pictures.
Does anyone else have drop-ceiling tiles used as attic insulation? You'll have to see it to believe it...

I'm so excited, aren't you?!

A Bedroom Update

I'm almost done with the master bedroom, and I absolutely adore it!

I just need to install a double rod support, finish the rest of the baseboard, and paint 4 doors, and I'm all done!

I want to show you the progress I've made over the past couple weeks.

After moving out all the old furniture and giving the room a good vacuuming, this is what I had:

The carpet was ugly. As you can see, there's also no baseboard in the room. That's a reoccurring problem in my house.

What house doesn't have baseboard?

Mine.

There's also a shelf/curtain rod combo above the window.

While I liked the display space, it's really not my style.

It had to go.

The squares on either side of the window were framed.

I actually sort of liked it.

Then I started ripping out the carpet and laying the planks.

This is after day 1:

The shelf was taken out, the bamboo blinds were ready to be cut and hung, and the flooring was 1/4 done.

I bought one dresser from a Christmas gift card (thanks Ma!), and started installing the bamboo roman shades.

In one corner, I had to strip the wall and re-mud the corner due to some water damage.

The roof near the chimney sprung a leak this past summer, and it caused a lot of paper bubbling.

Thank goodness there was no mold!

The room then received a fresh coat of paint (Foaming Waters from Dutch Boy).

The curtains were hung (using two old curtain rods). The inside curtain is short, I know. It's a thermal/light blocking curtain, and since it's behind the bed, I knew it wouldn't really matter.

The outside curtain is a drop cloth.

I can see why people love drop cloth curtains so much!

The price and texture are amazing!

Then I bought the other dresser and added two lamps from Younkers.

My husband really digs the lamps.

=D



However, once I put the bed back in with the new bedding from West Elm...

...I realized that the lamp shades and duvet cover don't match the drop cloth curtains.

They clash terribly.

The duvet cover and lamps have more of a yellow tint.

The drop cloth curtains have more of a brown/gray tint.

Since the bedding was darned expensive, and since my husband really liked the lamps, I knew the curtains had to go.

And that's where I am today. I picked up some more curtains that I think would go better with the room. It's not a loss, really, since I can always use the drop cloths for their intended purpose....painting.

Haha.

So within the next few days, I'll show you the results. It's going to be major! The room is so bright and airy! It feels luxurious and cozy.

P.S. I promise to have better quality "after" photos. I wasn't worried about snapping perfect pictures while I (and my camera) was covered in drywall dust.

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Years, everyone!

Did anyone do anything fun for the New Year?

It's time again to make resolutions, but before I do, I want to reflect on how well I did from last year's resolutions.

You can find the original post here.



1. I will fit into my old wedding dress.
Done! I tried it on a month ago, and I even had spare room! Would it be weird to ever have my old wedding dress altered? Haha....

2. Complete my first ever half marathon with my mom and family.

Never even tried. I think it was a combination of being too busy and not being fit enough. During the past year, however, I have doubled my stamina, so maybe I'll give it a whirl this year.

3. Learn how to sew.
Nope. Still never learned. However, I do have a sewing machine now. I just have to find the time...

4. Be proficient at using my new Cricut.
I'm now a pro.   ;)

5. And lastly, but most importantly to me, maintain (or heighten!) my 3.5 GPA.
I brought it up to a 3.658. I feel so proud of myself for keeping that resolution.

My 2011 Resolutions

1. Complete a marathon with my family. Do you think I'll make it this year? I hope so!

2. Potty train Hailey. I'm really getting tired of changing diapers. So is my wallet...

3. Get my LPN license. I will be able to become a Licensed Practical Nurse after a year into my degree.

4. Visit family more often. I see my husband's family quite often, but I don't get to see my side much at all. My family is huge (one grandma had 10 children, the other had 5), and I know it's impossible to stay in touch with everyone, but it would still be nice to see the family that is around the area.

5. Learn to sew. Maybe. Hopefully. I really wish that I had my craft room set up.

I can't wait to see what the new year brings!

What are some of your New Year's Resolutions??

I would love to hear them!