I Want To Be Friends With...

Nate Berkus. So for real, has anyone watched his show? Since I am currently unemployed I have had the wonderful opportunity to watch morning shows. Great, right? Most of the time I go work out in the mornings, but sometimes I get to catch some of the shows that are on and Nate Berkus is by far my favorite right now. Im sure my parents will be happy to know that's how I'm spending my mornings, but it is what it is.

Anyways, he is awesome. First of all, he seems like the nicest person. In most of the segments of his show he is always doing things for other people. I know that sounds stupid, but if you watch the show you would understand what I'm getting at, maybe. But he just seems like a really nice person. Second, he has the BEST ideas. Anything he looks at can either be used in some setting of your home, wardrobe, or it is cheap! He is always bringing other creative people on the show to share their cheap, creative ideas as well. Almost anything you give to him, he could transform into the prettiest piece ever! People will bring random finds from yard sales and thrift stores to him to be transformed and they all end up looking so expensive and unique. I know he has a team of people helping him as well, but I'm just enthralled every time I watch the show.

It makes me so excited to eventually have our own home and be able to try some of his tricks. We're about at our max for anything to come into this little duplex of ours! Like I said in the last post, I am not super creative but want to start trying things because it can potentially save a lot of money in decorating and give your home a unique looks that really no one else has.

He is always offering budget-friendly ideas. This was a segment he did with a couple on a budget and how he re-did their bedroom. The headboard is literally plywood covered with fabric. And the side tables are off eBay that he repainted. How cute is that?

Ok, so enough of my rant and rave about Nate Berkus. I just wanted to share some of his awesome ideas!  I know that I'll definitely keep up on his ideas and hopefully be able to actually use some of them within the next few years! For now, I may just try little ones. :)

Testing My Creative Side

I have seen so many blogs lately where people have some of the most creative, crafty ideas. Of course I get so jealous when I see them cause I think to myself that I could never do anything that cute. Ever. So this weekend I decided to test myself and see what I can do. So I dragged Alex to Hobby Lobby with me, one of his least favorite places to be, to pick up what I "think" I might need to make my new home decor. Like any project, you always have this perfect idea in your head and what you will need to get the flawless, finished project. As I was going through Hobby Lobby I really didn't know exactly what I needed so I grabbed a blank canvas, 3 colored paints that I liked, some cheap paint brushes, and a stencil I thought would look pretty.

After checking out I was a little apprehensive to see how this would all turn out. Usually when I try to be crafty it turns out to be an ultimate fail. So needless to say I was a little nervous. I got started by just painting the entire canvas and then painting the stencil where I wanted it. I surprised myself because I loved it at this stage in the process. 

Last week at church Psalm 90:14 came up on the screen during communion and I just thought it was such a great verse to be reminded of everyday. So I decided I wanted to put that verse on here. Originally I was going to put it above our dresser in the bedroom so that we would see it when we wake up in the morning, but the color blue I painted it with clashed with our bedding so I moved it to our kitchen. 

Today I added the words and I wasn't as excited about the way it looked painting it on. I almost wish I would have had some sort of pen or a stencil, which would have been a ton of work, but I think it would have looked better. I do like it a lot and I think it will be a great reminder everyday, but just not as happy with the writing.

Here is the finished product! I am going to add some pictures underneath it but for now it's just over our kitchen table. So I would encourage you, if you aren't necessarily the crafty type, to branch out and try something! You might be pleased with the end result :)

Yummy in my Tummy

Recently Alex and I were with our good friends, the Rexfords, and they asked about how the cooking has been going since we've been married. Of course, I looked at him to answer, and he just smiled and said it's been good. Now I know he was just trying to be a good husband, but I knew he was getting a little bored with my "go-to" meals. He has been so sweet and really hasn't said a word about it, but I knew how he really felt!

I really didn't cook a whole lot at home, well really at all. I started cooking more when I lived in an apartment, but during school we always had the caf so I didn't cook all that much. But now, it's something I have to get used to! I actually enjoy it for the most part, but I needed to expand my menu to say the least. 

So I got online and started looking for relatively easy recipes. I think I'm going to try at least 1 new recipe a week. This week I tried a 7-Layer Mexican Pie and Capellini with Asparagus and Bacon. The Capellini actually called for pancetta, but I couldn't find any at the store so it said I could use bacon instead. Alex didn't like the pasta as much as I did, but he loved the Mexican Pie. So I thought I would share the recipes for that.

7-Layer Mexican Pie

2 cans pinto beans - rinsed and drained

1 cup Pace Picante Sause

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1 can black beans- rinsed and drained

1 small tomato - chopped

7 flour tortillas

8 oz. Shredded Cheese

Also have 2 medium sized bowls out to mix in, a cooking sheet, and set the oven to 400 degrees. 

1. In bowl 1, mash the pinto beans with a fork. Stir in 3/4 cup of picante sauce and the minced garlic.

2.  In bowl 2, mix the picante sauce, cilantro, black beans, and tomato. I also added some cooked ground beef into the mixture. 

3. Put one tortilla down on a cooking sheet. Spread an even layer of the pinto bean mixture on the tortilla within 1/2 in of the edge. Top with cheese. Add another tortilla and a layer of the black bean mixture and add some cheese. Repeat 2 more times and top the last tortilla with the rest of the pinto bean mixture.

4. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degree for about 35-40 minutes. Uncover and top with cheese. Cut into 6 wedges and serve with some extra sauce, sour cream, and some tortilla chips!

It's pretty easy to make and I think it's one of Alex's new favorites! Hope you all try it out and enjoy!

Just wanted to add this picture of a pretty sunset we had here on our way home one night. Hope it brightens your day and reminds you of how awesome our God is. 

1 Month Down.

So I know this is a small mile marker, but Alex and I have officially been married one month! (2 days ago actually)

And today we got the wedding albums in that I put together after we got our wedding pictures from the wonderful Cat Satre. I wish I would have put them all in one book, but I was worried I was going to burst the seams with all the pages I was adding! Anyways, I am so excited to actually have tangible pictures. I don't want it to come off vain, but I absolutely LOVE our pictures. So if anyone is looking so an amazing photographer, this is my shout out to Cat. She is awesome and so fun to have photograph your wedding! 

Here are a few of my favorites...

(This barely puts a dent into how many great shots we have)

When I got these pictures, I was able to actually reflect on everything this day meant to me. I'm sure any married couple would say the same, but the day of the wedding goes by so fast and there are so many moments you miss. If I could, I would go back and do it over, and over, and over again just to relive those moments with so many people I love. We didn't get a videographer, but my uncle used a video camera to capture those moments in motion, and I loved being able to watch those. It was kind of life watching everything happen as a fly on the wall. I know that sounds weird, but it was fun to just see what everybody was doing and all their reactions even when I was focused on something else. It is such a blessing to look at those pictures and watch the video clips and see how many people we have around us that support us in our marriage. We are so blessed with such amazing friends and family and to have them all support us and encourage us through this time in our lives together.

Life has been so fun to go through this with Alex. I had quite a few people tell me the first year of marriage is the hardest. And I know we aren't very far into that year, but it really has been so much easier than I expected. And I don't mean easy like we don't have to work at it, but the transition has been so smooth. I was worried it would be hard for me to get used to seeing boy stuff everywhere, and that we would have trouble figuring out how each other lives and does things. We do a lot of things differently and we are both very stubborn and want to do it our way, but we have learned to be patient and work with each other a lot. Even when we disagree it's easier for us to talk about and work through. I have just loved watching him and noticing all his quirks and the funny things he does. He already makes fun of me for doing this blog, so I won't share too much of that stuff about him cause he'll probably just make even more fun of me. But needless to say, he keeps life fun and interesting. It's easy for me to get too focused and stressed about things, but he just enjoys life and that slows me down some time. So he balances me out pretty well.

All that to say, I've realized that everything in life doesn't have to be perfect, but having the ones I love around me is most important. And if you're reading this you're probably one of them. So if I haven't gotten the chance to talk to you recently, or if I saw you yesterday, I hope you know how much I love you and feel so lucky to have you in my life.

The End. 

Count Me In

So I guess I am adding myself to the list of people who have a blog. I am totally not one of those really creative people who will be writing posts that everyone is dying to read, but I figured I would give it a try. Thinking about this time in my life where everything is new and exciting, I think it would be fun to be able to share it. I used to think it was worthless to blog, but I have really loved reading other peoples blogs, especially friends who I don't see very often and I get to keep up to date on what is going on in their lives. I feel like so many people start blogs when they start a new chapter of their life to share with others, so I guess you can count me in with that group!

Just for a little tid bit of information, Alex & I just recently got married on June 5th, 2011. Tomorrow will mark our first married month together! He is a head swim coach for Asbury and I am currently looking for jobs, but in the meantime get to help him out and nanny a family. We met on our college swim team, became best friends, and now I get to spend every day with him! He has brought so much laughter and joy to my life I can't explain it. I keep telling him he has gotten funnier since we got married cause lately he always has me laughing! Well anyways, I'll spare you all the mushy details, but I have LOVED being married to him and can't wait for the years to come.

Hopefully the posts after this one will be more interesting and you'll enjoy keeping up to date on the Keysers!