Summer Lovin'

After some online browsing, magazine flipping, and people watching I have decided I am ready for summer. I am ready to sport some form of a tan while wearing shorts, wedges and a cute top. Well if you are in Houston you know that summer is knocking on the door and before we know it it will be 90 outside accompanied with the grueling  humidity.

I also can't wait to be entertaining as much as possible this summer. We have been hard at work trying to get everything back in shape and looking pretty. So far so good. Like everyone else we are battling weeds and trying to figure out how to best defeat them. There are a few things I would love to add to our backyard for a little extra color. But all we need to accomplish in the backyard before our first event at the Lenz Casa is plant a few more items..which are TBD and mulch. Those are the biggies to check off the list.

This week we are planning on tackling the kitchen ceiling..it needs to be re-textured, kilzed, and re-painted before I can paint the walls. So I am crossing my fingers that it all goes well and I can paint the following weekend. I am very ready for the white walls with spots of different paint samples to be one lovely shade of terracotta.

Thankfully this week should be less stressful with only 1 ARD on the books, I should be able to have a productive week. Again I am going to cross my fingers..as the weeks dwell down I am noticing that I am stressing a bit more each week..which is typical since I am trying to close out my first year successfully.

After a long day in the yard I am headed to nice relaxing evening with the hubs and crashing early...

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. I know we did. And since a post is not a post without a picture...

Isn't he just precious! This is one of friends kids who requests my presence about 3 times a week. I babysat him about two weeks ago and love him so much! I mean how can you say "no" to that face?!?! I know I can't and don't most of the time..that's why I get to spoil him and then give him back to his parents!

My How the Time Flies...

It is has been a solid week since I last posted...funny thing is that I have wanted to post, but haven't had much to say or had the energy after work. But here we are on a rainy Saturday morning and I am feeling the itch after reading everyone else's posts to get to it.

Several of my closest friends have been going through trying times the past few weeks and even months. I lift them up in my prayers every night hoping that He will ease their minds. One of them it seems God has been working very hard in her life and has been easing her and her families prayers and all I can say is..thank you! Sometimes God says "no," and as much as we want Him to say "yes" we have to trust in His plan for us. I have come to realize through their trials that prayer is a powerful thing. There is no prayer that is to small for Him. So I will continue to pray for these lovely ladies and watch Him work in their lives.

Easter weekend was a bit hectic, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. We spent Saturday with my family and some long-time family friends. We went to church around 3 and then headed into town for an evening of delicious food and wine and even an Easter Egg Hunt. I know you are thinking.."how old are you guys" well lets just say the youngest "kid" there was 21! We grew up with these families for years having egg hunts for about 10 years...so it was nostalgic and brought back several wonderful childhood memories. On Sunday we drove to Port Arthur to spend the day with Jonathan's family. It turned out to be a beautiful day and once again Grandma cooked a delicious meal. She never disappoints.

This past week has been a hectic one. I had 8 yes 8 ARDs this past week. Needless to say the paperwork alone was enough to make my eyes tired. So after a long week of ARDs and meetings..I needed to relax. Jenn and I with the addition of JJ for a bit had a very early dinner because none of us had lunch and then she and I went over to Town Center to walk around for a bit. We definately needed to after the amount of food that we consumed!

So here we are on Saturday and I am hoping the rain will pass, so we can enjoy the crawfish boil christopher & danielle have planned for this afternoon.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Only 7 more weeks of school..guess I better get to finding a summer job..yikes!

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