A glimpse of the Easter Decor....

I am sure JJ can't wait for Easter to be over! The house isn't bursting with Easter decor, but there is some in all the common areas...is that a bad thing?!?!?

I have to admit that since moving into our home I have thoroughly enjoyed borrowing and buying decor for every season and holiday! But the way I see it is...these pieces are investments..you only have to buy them once and they last for several years. I also will only buy things if they are on sale or very reasonably priced..I do have a limit set on things. I mean I am talking I have spent as little as 1 dollar to as much as 15 bucks...nothing outrageous.

So here are a few pics of the decor....

a birdcage and a few glass birds sitting inside..this will stay until Spring is over.

apothecary jars on the dining room table filled with grass, eggs, and a chick.

I will have to say that finding these apothecary jars for under 15 bucks was quite the challenge, but i was patient and found all 3 at various Home Goods and Marshalls. I told you I was bargain shopping....

I am happy to say that I am very very very content with the inside of the house..I am sure JJ is grinning! But honestly it is so easy to get wrapped up in "we need this, and this and this and this..." But as long as you are bargain shopper minded you can find great deals out there!

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The last thing I want to do with this blog is to post pictures of new items and for it to come across as bragging...that is not the point and I hope you fellow bloggers realize this. I simply post the pics to show the few readers I have the changes that are happening at the Lenz casa...so I do hope that is how it is perceived in blogland. Enough on that soapbox.

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A few new recipes that we tried over the weekend coming up in tomorrow's post!

Things That Make Me Happy...

The Lovely Mrs. Hesson gave me the Happy 101 award last week. Thank you Mrs. H. If you are not currently reading her blog you should be.

the rules:

1.) When you have received this award you must thank the person that awarded you this in the new post.

2.) Name the 10 things that make you happy

3.) Pass this award on to 10 other bloggers and inform the winners

 

1. JJ

2. my family

3. wine nights with the girls

4. fresh flowers

5. a sunny day

6. watching sports with the hubs

7. gardening

8. the beach

9. my kiddos at school making progress...

10. a clean home.

 

The 10 lovely ladies I am passing this onto are:

 

1. Jenn

2. Danielle

3. Meredith

4. Kim B.

5. Jen

6. Heather

7. Kim R.

8. Lindsey

9. Julianne K.

10. Jenn W.

 

I hope everyone was able to enjoy the fabulous weather this past weekend! I am desperately hoping it lasts for a few weeks! It's a short work week for most of us...thank goodness! The school year is winding down and it is time to start making decisions for summer work and next year...life is crazy, but a good crazy.

 

Pics to come later this week.

 

Tomorrow is Wednesday!!!

 

Bag Lady...

yep that's right I am a bag lady. I LOVE bags...I use my LL Bean tote to tote around my therapy session materials, I have a bag that I take with me to and from school to carry my agenda and any paperwork that needs to be addressed, I have a bag specifically for dry cleaning...see the pattern??

well after I just looked over my weekley OKL email with shopping deals..I found the most adorable bags from the brand saltbox...i am in LOVE. Here are the two I am l.o.v.i.n.g.

I am dying over this orange one that they are calling "market & beach tote"

and this tote & and matching cosmetic bag is to.die.for!

Now if I could just get the hubs on board with this purchase I would be ordering right now!!

Come to think of it I don't have a "beach bag/bag for the river house"....I might be onto something here!

Hope everyone has amazing weather like we are having right now in Houston! It is in the upper 60's and simply gorgeous!

Happy Friday Bloggers!

Spring Forward

As I previously mentioned JJ and I have been slaves to yardwork the past few weekends. We are getting closer everyday. Luckily the weather is cooperating and Houston is hanging in the upper 60's and low 70's, which is a nice change from the weekend where the highs were in the low 50's with wind gusts of up to 30mph..yes you read that right...30 mph! So bad that on Sunday a gust moved me and the heavily loaded cart in the Garden Center at Home Depot...

So here are some pictures of our progress we have made:

a new hanging basket that I can see from the window above our kitchen sink.

we added geraniums and marigolds to pots around our patio.

we planted 4 knock-out roses under our bedroom window as well as some more marigolds. There are already some blooms that are about to open! I'm excited.

JJ picked these out all on his own. I turned my back for one second and the cart was loaded up at Houston Garden Center....

and this was a last minute addition to the cart two weekends ago...we shall see.

AND this one is just for grins...we have 10 stems of asparagus growing under our kitchen window. The previous owners loved to cook, so we are assuming they planted the seeds...

they are kind of hard to see, but they are there...not sure about cooking them and eating them just yet.

tomorrow I will post an project that had planned on doing tonight, but I ran out of soil, so I need JJ to stop and get a couple more bags.

also stayed tuned for a spring giveaway later this week.

Crossing Things Off...

i LOVE LOVE LOVE To-Do Lists for the sheer fact of crossing things off. There is such a sense of accomplishment when you do get to take that pen and cross something off of the list....sheer satisfaction.

We have several to-do lists...short term, long term, before the crawfish boil we are planning on having in May and so on....

i am not so sure that the hubs loves them as much as i do...but i do believe they are growing on him.

our list may or may not have about 10 things "to-do" before the crawfish boil but we have checked off some big items...

• we planted flowers in backyard and cut down the banana trees
• we chose a paint color FINALLY for the kitchen
• we hung the calendars and corkboards in the office...

i could not be more happy with the fact that we are one more box away from being organized! i can feel the productivity happening now...

• and i did find some pretty perfect candles for the mantle..it is complete!

Easter/Spring decor is also in full force at the Lenz casa, but with the kitchen being a wreck due to kilzing and working on the ceiling the decor is now scattered across the house until we are finished.

Hoping to post pictures of the yard this week..weather permitting!

Just hoping now that it is officially Spring..we will have some more gorgeous weather before the 95 degree heat heads our way.

Happy Spring.

peace.love.family

Rodeo Round-Up

This post is LONG overdue, but better late than never..right...

On Monday (the 8th) I went to the Rodeo with Tina and her friend Monica to see Tim McGraw and boy did he look nice...ha!

Tina's dad scored up great tickets right behind all of the bullriders..nice seats if you know what I mean....

I haven't seen Tim McGraw live in about 8 or 9 years, so needless to say I was excited. And let me tell you he did not disappoint. He not only walked around the entire arena while singing..he also sang for over an hour which is not typical for the rodeo. What was even better was that we knew all but ONE song the whole night. Here are a few pictures of Mr. McGraw...

The next night JJ and I went with some friends to see Darius Rucker..aka former lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish. He indeed sang 2 Hootie songs which was great. I am such a Hootie fan and apparently so was the rest of the crowd because everyone was belting out those two songs.

So by Wednesday afternoon the Hubs and I were beat! We ordered pizza and crashed early that night.

We love going to the rodeo and the cook-off...it is always a great time.

I am hoping to be better with blogging now that Spring is here (although you would not have known it this weekend) and there are several fun activities planned for the upcoming months.

Spring Break is over and I am quite sad about it...but that means only 9 more weeks of school until summer! YAY!

peace.love.family

Time for a change...

that's right ladies..it is time to chop off the locks! i ALWAYS had above the shoulder hair...then we got engaged, so I HAD to grow it out...well we have been married for almost a year and surprisingly it is still here.

well after tomorrow morning the long locks will be no more! and i honestly i am so ready for a short new do for spring and summer.

here is a picture from a few summers ago that i am leaning towards...

we shall see what tracine whips up tomorrow! so ready for shorter healthier hair!

here's the deal...

i planned on taking pictures of the yard and posting them..well its raining plus it has been a VERY annoying day so far...so I am going to sit on the couch and relax from this headache and hopefully will post later.

hope everyone had a great weekend AND I promise to post pics soon!

ps thanks to all our friends and family for coming over sunday and kicking off spring with us! it was a blast!

Let's Make a Deal...

I promise to update soon, but in the mean time. I will share the upcoming plans for the weekend!

JJ and I are planning to finish ridding our yard of weeds and mulching the flowerbeds. I am also planning on planting flowers and and some knock-out roses as well.

We love our backyard..dont get me wrong..but it needs a bit more color! So that is the plan.

My sweet husband told me last night that if I would let him play in a golf tournament this afternoon that I could go buy the roses I had been eyeing for a few months now..and the rest of the flowers for the flowerbeds and pots...so sweet right??? In all honesty I would MUCH rather him play golf then softball. He gives 100% to all hobbies, but softball is a bit more abusive on the body than golf is...

So Saturday we will spend in the yard and then Sunday we are grilling out for some friends and kicking off it the spring! Thank you for gorgeous clear blue skies!

So here's to my spring break fastly approaching and starting the weekend off at Home Depot and Houston Garden Center.

Updates coming soon....

I am hoping to get to the updates tonight! it has been super busy in the lenz casa the past few weeks and now is starting to slow down a bit...yard work, rodeo, house projects...you name it we have been wrapped up in the hussle and bussle of being homeowners! we are loving it..to know we are the ones doing it all is really rewarding.

only one more day then spring break! yay!!! we can do it fellow public ed workers!

Happy Birthday to my Buffer!

Sending some birthday love to one of my very best friends..Jenn! She is amazing...I have blogged about her before..she recently got engaged! She is turning the BIG 2-5 today! So hop over to her blog and wish her some birthday love.

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to Jenn

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful mother!

Today is my mom's birthday! I am so glad it was a gorgeous day to celebrate! She had lunch with some friends at a fabulous place in town. Apparently it is amazing..she raved about it all day. She was showered with love. I don't want to go on and on about how great she is..because well simply put: she is. She is the best mother I could have ever imagined. I tell her and my dad weekly that Ben and I are so blessed...She loves her family unconditionally. She is and will always be the mom I hope I am when we have our own kiddos. So in a nutshell she is pretty stinkin amazing...

With two of her best friends last year.

At one of my bridal showers.

Mom and Ben at our wedding...

Mom and Dad dancing the night away. Aren't they just precious?!?

Happy Birthday mom...hope you had a fabulous day!