happiness.

Since school is back in full swing for me, and Patrick has been traveling quite a bit for work, we haven't gotten to work on our house too much lately...hence the long pause in my blog posts. There's still quite a bit going on at the Rockwell residence, however...so I thought I'd write about a few things (and people) that have been making me super happy lately.

1. Working out.   Patrick and I joined the Y in January, and have been (pretty much) faithful about working out regularly ever since. I had forgotten how great it feels! I ran 2 miles (without stopping) last week for the first time in...forever? Probably since high school. I don't aspire to be a marathon runner by any means (I don't have the long legs or the motivation), but I would like to be able to run a 5k in 30 minutes. My goal is to be able to do that for the Color Run, which is coming to Nashville in October.

2. My husband.   Patrick and I are not very mushy over Valentine's Day, but any holiday that includes an opportunity for a good meal and and sweets is alright by me! We've gone out to dinner in years past, but every restaurant is always so crowded...so this year we opted to make a nice dinner at home.

Steak, asparagus, and potatoes au gratin (along with some Sister Shubert rolls)...yum! I was going to make a dessert, but since no two people need an entire batch of red velvet brownies at their disposal, we opted to just get a couple of pretty cupcakes from Fresh Market...which I forgot to take a picture of...sad day. They were extra delicious.

3. Baking. Speaking of red velvet brownies and cooking, I have really been on a baking kick lately. No one is complaining (other than MyFitnessPal...yes I feel like I am being judged by my phone app). Here's one of my favorite new creations:

This is a Funfetti Blondie. It is AMAZING. It's the consistency of a brownie, but made with funfetti cake mix and white chocolate chips. And home-made frosting. Here's the recipe.

4. The Hunger Games.  Oh my goodness, I cannot WAIT til the first movie comes out in March. This is probably the best series I've read since Harry Potter. It's infinitely better than Twilight. You should read them. I also cannot stop listening to the song "Safe and Sound" (by Taylor Swift, featuring the Civil Wars) that will be on the movie's soundtrack - it's so beautiful and sad (and so is the video)...and in my opinion could not be more perfect for the Hunger Games. Well done, T. Swift.

5. Thoughts of graduation.  Even though I won't graduate until May 2013 (which is still approximately 14 months away, but who's counting), I will soon be finishing my LAST semester of class. Ever. Starting in June, I will have a rotation - at a hospital, community pharmacy, or specialty practice - each month (except December) through April 2013 (10 rotations total). This makes me so happy. I mean, I like school alright and all, but I've been in school for nearly 20 years. It's time. Though, I'm also kind of nervous...I have no idea where I'll be working when I graduate. Or if I'll do a residency. I'm so glad the sermon at church today was about trusting and doing God's will...very applicable to this situation.

6. Trader Joe's.  Trader Joe's is the best. It's this fun little quirky grocery store that sells mostly their own brand of products. Everything is all natural, and often organic...but it's super affordable. Their prices are quite often less than a regular grocery store's. And everything I've had from there is delicious! They don't have the widest selection, per se...like, if you want 15 varieties of alfredo sauce to choose from, this is not your place...but they have the most fun little odd items that you don't see other places. Some of my favorite items so far are:
    - Olive oil and salt popcorn (only 130 calories for 2 cups!) = $2/bag
    - Vanilla Clusters cereal = normal cereal price, like $2-3
    - Steak burritos (frozen) = 2 burritos for about $3
    - Mandarin Chicken (frozen) = $5 for a bag that serves about 4 people
    - Coffee ice cream = $4 for a quart (the cookies & cream kind is delicious, too!)

      They also have really pretty flowers for super cheap :)

7. Ava Clayton (and my Australian family as a whole). My beautiful cousin Lindsey (who is about 5 years older than me) moved to Australia to marry the love of her life, Danny, about the time I graduated high school. Lindsey and I grew up very close, and I am SO happy that she has found the one whom her soul loves (and whom we all love too!) ... it's just hard for her to live half the world away :( . In July, Linny gave birth to sweet Ava - and this week, we finally got to meet her! She is the first baby on our side of the family in more than 20 years...so you can imagine how excited I was!

Sweet Ava

Ava with her great great grandmother, Mama Mac (who is my great grandmother)

Ava with my mom, whom all babies automatically love

Ava and me :)

She is absolutely beautiful. She's so sweet and calm and smart - and Linny and Danny are such good parents. I (selfishly) want her to live in Tennessee. And to spoil her and hold her and love on her every day that I can. Looks like Patrick and I will just have to make a trip to Australia sooner rather than later!

Linny and me at my wedding

easy cheesy spinach artichoke dip.

I just love appetizers. It's always nice to have a tasty, quick recipe that you can take to a friend's house to help out with dinner, or to serve at your own house when you have company, like we did this week for the LSU-Bama game. This spinach artichoke dip is sort of our "MVP" appetizer. Patrick and I may or may not have even made this for ourselves for dinner before. It's that good.

We've been asked for this recipe multiple times, so I thought I'd just go ahead and post it on here for all. I think it's just as good, if not better than spinach dips I've had at restaurants. It's also super convenient, since you can make it the day before, put it in the fridge, and just bake it right before you eat it. Enjoy! :)

E + P’s Easy Cheesy Spinach Dip

• 1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 6 oz (3/4 package) cream cheese, softened
• 10 oz Alfredo sauce (we use Bertolli’s – 2/3 of a 15 oz jar)
• 1 (14 oz) can/jar of artichoke hearts (they can be marinated or not), drained and chopped 
• 4 cloves minced garlic (I just use the jarred kind, because it's easy)
• 1 to 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
•  a dash of cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix them up (the cream cheese is difficult to mix, but don't worry about that yet).

Drain the spinach by squeezing it with a paper towel. 

I don't like big chunks of artichoke, so I chop them pretty small. 

Made this batch the day before, put the lid on my bowl, and stored it in the fridge 

Spread into an 8 x 8 baking dish, cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Uncover and check consistency. You will need to stir it to mix the cream cheese in well. Add more cayenne pepper if you so desire. I put it back in the oven for a couple minutes (without the aluminum foil), just to make sure it's hot and bubbly.

Serve with tortilla chips or toasty bread!

p.s. - We got the basic recipe for this (then tweaked it a bit) from allrecipes.com, which is our absolute favorite cooking website. We have an account, so we can save our favorite recipes and ones that we want to try (by category). You can also search for recipes by ingredients that you already have. The best part is all of the recipes are rated and reviewed, so you can read the changes other people made to make it even better. You should check it out!

the great closet clean-out.

If you read my post last week, you know that one of my main goals for 2012 is to have a more simplified and organized house (and life). Clutter annoys me, and I hate not being able to find things. The older I get, the more I realize that the "everything has a place" frame of mind makes life soooo much easier in the long run.

Organizing my whole house is a daunting task. We don't have a huge house, but we do have a LOT of stuff. That's why I like the idea my friend Bailey had about having monthly resolutions - it breaks your "New Year's Resolutions" down into manageable goals that you're more likely to accomplish (you can read her post about that here). I may try to choose about 2 to 5 projects for my house each month (depending on how expensive/involved they are).

This month, my first organizational task was organizing my Christmas decorations as we put them away. I like to leave them out to enjoy the week after Christmas, but the first week of January I am ready for them to be in storage. 

My mom bought me this great binder a while ago for organizing everything that involves Christmas. I like how this page of the binder has a place for describing what the box looks like, what's in it, and where it's located. Everything was such a mess this year, so it will be nice to have it all sorted out for 2012 :)

Once everything was boxed up, it went to the top shelf of our bedroom closet (which you really need a ladder to reach, so it's good for things that are only needed once a year).  

Speaking of the bedroom closet...

Since I'm going back to school next week (boooo) and I have had a couple days off this week, I decided it would be a great time to move onto organizational project #2: my closet. I've been dreading this since we moved in, so I decided I might as well just go on and get it over with.

Here's a picture of it as of Monday. Please try not to judge me too much. 

Oh the horror. It's shameful. I'm so embarrassed. But I needed you to see what a disaster it was, because now it looks like....

THIS.

Boom! Take that, closet! I feel so accomplished. Here's some more "before & afters" of the details: 

BEFORE

Even though I already had these shoe racks (from Target), my shoes were still a sloppy mess.

AFTER

I sorted out all my summery shoes that I definitely won't be wearing for the next few months, put them in a clear box (it's meant to roll under a bed), then put one of my shoe racks on top of it. I can still access my sandals pretty easily, but they're not cluttering up my space. 

BEFORE

This shelf was still cluttered with all my purses, tote bags, swimsuits, and whatever else I threw up there when we were moving last summer.

AFTER

 Now everything is sorted into containers - swimsuits, summer clothes, hats, and tote bags. I leave the black duffel bag and the canvas tote sitting out on the shelf since that's what I usually take on weekend trips to Knoxville and/or Carthage :)

BEFORE

I have no excuse for this. It's a disaster. 

AFTER

I bought this Elfa shelving unit at the Container Store (everything Elfa is 30% off now through the middle of February!). 

The drawers are the perfect size for my sweaters, t-shirts, jeans, and workout clothes (that I hope to be using when we join a gym..ahem...) 

It's also nice that I can store my jewelry on top of the shelf...thereby de-cluttering my dresser in the bedroom. 

I made the sharpie word art just for fun. I chose this Bible verse to remind me of what my Heavenly Father considers beautiful...for those mornings I reeeallly don't want to get ready, and don't feel pretty, and actually just want to get back into bed in my pajamas.

Tips + Tidbits 

• The necklace holder on the back wall was an idea from Pinterest - it's just a towel bar + shower curtain hooks
• Put rolled up magazines in your boots to help them keep their shape
• We use 2 hampers, each with 2 compartments, to sort clothes as we put them in the hamper. It really makes doing laundry easier when they're already sorted! 

Whew. I'm glad that task is (mostly) finished. Patrick's side of the closet needs a bit more attention, but I will give him credit in that the vast majority of the mess was mine. I need to keep working on getting rid of clothes I don't wear anymore (I still have a ridiculous amount of clothes from high school), but it's a process. I think I'm going to start giving them a quick go-through at the beginning of each month. How do you keep your closet organized?

beginnings + endings.

I've always thought the week between Christmas and New Year's is sort of an awkward week. While I am thoroughly enjoying the days off from school and trying to be productive at home, I do find December 26-31 sort of a weird "limbo" between the old and the new. I'm finding that a good use of this week is to plan. It's a great time to reflect on the past year, be thankful for blessings, move on from the disappointments, and decide what you want to accomplish during the next year.

Patrick and I had a very interesting, and overall amazing year in 2011. Patrick got a new job in March (praise the Lord!!), we bought our townhouse in July, and we took some awesome trips with friends and family. I made it through yet another year of pharmacy school. We had a wonderful Christmas, and feel blessed we were able to celebrate with both families on Christmas Day :)

The last few days, we've been trying to set some goals for 2012. Of course, we need to get in shape. Our hectic schedules have not encouraged an active lifestyle, so we're planning to join a gym ASAP. We have also set some financial goals, which are challenging but encouraging at the same time. And finally, probably the most daunting goal of all: to get organized.

Now, don't get me wrong. We are not complete slobs. We're both fairly tidy people, and given the right circumstances can be quite clean and neat. I think once we set up some organizational systems, we'll be able to maintain them pretty easily. The hard part is going to be getting everything organized initially, and figuring out a system that works for us. One nice thing is that we're sort of starting from scratch, since we've only been living in this house for about 5 months, and we're still not "settled". I expect this to be an ongoing process, but I really hope that by this time next year, we will have made significant progress.

I've decided to start with organizing Christmas. This may sound silly, since it's over for this year, but I thought while everything is fresh in my mind and we're going to be putting all the Christmas stuff in storage next week, it's actually a great time to get everything ready for next year.

My mom bought me this book awhile ago, and I'm finally understanding how helpful it is. It's a binder that walks you through the Christmas season - when to buy gifts, organizing your Christmas recipes, putting your decorations in storage, and planning events. It will be so nice to get this out in early November next year, and already have my Christmas season mostly planned out! 

Speaking of a week in limbo, all of our projects seem to be that way, too. Lots of things have been started, but are nowhere close to being finished. 

I'm working on creating my own craft space in the basement. It's going to make our dining room much less cluttered, since I've been using the dining room table as my workspace. The "craft room", as I've been calling it, is a serious mess right now. I'm sort of embarrassed by it. But I'll show you anyway. It's a work in progress. 

Also, we've decided to go ahead and tackle the kitchen island project. We placed our order at Lowe's a couple of days ago, and should have our island by the end of January. We have our old kitchen table sitting about where the island will be so that we can get used to the space. Once we have the island, the table will be moved to my craft space. 

The bad news is, we're going to have to paint everything. Since we couldn't match the cabinets exactly, and they are dingy and need to be repainted anyway, we ordered the island unfinished and we're painting it and the cabinets a pretty, clean white. I think the walls are going to be light brown. Fun times ahead. 

One last thing. Here's a craft I made as a Christmas present :)

I made this for my brother-in-law's girlfriend, Rachel. She's a creative and crafty person herself, so I thought she would enjoy it.

Here it is!

To make it, I painted a canvas a dark charcoal color, then glued leaves I had cut out from scrapbook paper onto it. I painted a center for the flower with gold craft paint, then used Mod-Podge to cover the whole thing. That's it!

Yay! Rachel really liked it :) I like the way it turned out too, and may even make something similar for my own house.

Not yet, though...I've got a few things to finish before I start yet another project!

christmas morning for two.

Last year, which was our first Christmas to be married, Patrick and I started what we think is a great tradition. We decided to have our own little "Christmas morning" together before seeing our families and entering into all the craziness and hustle and bustle. It's really special, and gives us a chance to start our own little family traditions that we'll hopefully continue even when we have kids. Last year, we did this on Christmas Eve, since we were going to my family's house later in the day and they only live about an hour away. This year, we're spending a few days in Knoxville first (Patrick's family lives there), so "Christmas morning" for us was on Thursday the 22nd.

First, we opened our stockings. Patrick went all out this year:

I got craft supplies, hand warmers (I'm always cold), a pretty scarf, earrings, a coffee mug, and some Yankee candle stuff for my car.

Here's the contents of Patrick's stocking:

 He got boxers, a Buckyball, an iTunes gift card, and candy (including some chocolate-covered candy cane "coal" that I got at Trader Joe's, hehe).

After stockings, we made our traditional (does it count as a tradition if we've done it two years in a row?) french toast and bacon breakfast. We like this tradition because it's very adaptable. We made regular french toast the last couple years with a little vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, but we're thinking we may mix it up and try stuffed french toast next year. We may even try making some different sauces, since I don't like maple syrup.

After stuffing ourselves, we opened our main presents.

Mine was the softest, fluffiest robe ever! :)

Sorry I look super gross here, but I wanted to get a picture. 

I got Patrick a non-blue dress shirt. He loves blue, but nearly all his shirts are that color so this is my attempt to incorporate some grey. 

 I also painted this:

 "It is Well" is one of mine and Patrick's favorite hymns. I painted these to hang in our bedroom. They look more green in this picture that they actually are (thanks, yucky yellow walls) but I was going for a water look. Which I think was quite successful in real life. 

This shows the color a little better: 

Well, there you have it. Our Christmas morning for two. Now it's time to have fun with our families for the next few days! :)

counter clutter.

The bathroom counter. Easily one of the most clutter-prone places in my household (other than the dining room table). Lotion, contact solution, toothpaste, my retainer (yeah, I still wear it, don't judge), hairbands, hairspray, you name it...it's laying around. So gross. We have a cute little linen closet, but the problem is that I want the things I use the most to be more accessible. 

Here's what it looked like before: 

I saw a shelf on Pinterest with tin pails sitting on it, which was originally what I was going for. But when I found this little 3-pegged beauty at Hobby Lobby (purchased with a 40% off coupon), I knew those pails could do so much more.

The little apothecary bottle was 99 cents at Michael's, and is filled with buttons. I don't know about you, but buttons end up everywhere in my house...so this was a good way to corral them. The shell was actually my first gift from Patrick. He found it for me on the beach in Jamaica, where we met (on a mission trip in college). 

I think he already liked me ;) 

Now the counter looks like this: 

Ahhhh, a clutter-free bathroom counter. So nice and easy to clean.

This bathroom still needs loads of work, though. We plan to replace the faucets and knobs (ASAP) with oil-rubbed bronze ones, which will then match the soap dispensers and clock I have in here and tie into the rustic-y look we're going for with the house as a whole. I would eventually like to replace the counters as well, but that involves more cash than my other projects...so it won't be anytime soon. They'll look better with the new paint, anyway, so I can wait.  :)  

We actually have the paint for the walls (see? they're the weird pinky-beige color, ew). The new paint is called Morning Fog by Olympic (you get it at Lowe's). I find it very refreshing and calming. Here's a pic of my shower curtain that it will match. It has a light aqua, grey, and white design. I got it at Target.  

This bathroom is attached to our master bedroom, which has similar colors. Can you tell I really like blue? 

Since we have a SUPER busy couple weeks coming up with Christmas and New Year's, I'm not sure when the painting will get done. Hopefully sooner rather than later! In the meantime, I'm working on making a craft area in our basement... I know, it sounds super dorky, but our house is currently littered with scrapbook paper, canvases, paint, and glitter. Gotta have somewhere to let the creative juices flow, right?

Speaking of crafts, I made a couple things as gifts, but I obviously can't post them on here til next week in case it ruins the surprise. I really like how they turned out though :)  Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

you have to start somewhere.

Finally, at long last, the downstairs half bath is nearing completion! We picked a grand time to start it - right before Thanksgiving / my finals - so it's taken a bit longer than we expected. Patrick also ran into more snags than he anticipated by removing the giant wall mirror, which was attached to the wall by some super adhesive - so that resulted in LOTS of spackling, sanding, and extra painting. But it's nearly done! 

Here are the "before" pics again: 

aaaaand after: 

The walls are now a soft grey. It makes it a bit darker than before, but I like it because this isn't a bathroom where anyone will be putting on make-up or anything like that. I think it looks much softer and more comfortable now. 

 The faucet, knobs, and light fixtures - which were all brass - are now brushed nickel. I think the framed mirror (which I bought at Kirkland's a year or so ago for about $30) looks much prettier than the big, impersonal wall mirror. The light switches and plates are also new - I know it sounds like a small detail, but they were gross and paint-covered before, so this looks so much cleaner and more modern.

This has maps of where we met (Jamaica), where we married (Tennessee), and where we honeymooned (Mexico). I know it's a bit cheesy, but I think it's kind of fun, especially since it's in a place that guests are likely to see. I've had that frame since high school, and I think it works well for this purpose. I printed the maps from pictures I found online, used burlap as a border, and wrote the captions below it with a sharpie pen.

I plan to do more with this wall in the future (probably put some sort of pictures around or on either side of this painting), but for now I just wanted to get this off the floor and onto the wall. If you want to see how I painted this, here's the post.

I also want to make the sink area look a little nicer - I'll probably put a basket or apothecary jar with some soaps or something in the corner. This Woodwick diffuser smells awesome, by the way (it's Sunset Beach, I think). It's nice because it's spill-proof. I'm also on the look-out for a cute soap dispenser (I have plans to make my own gallon of Meyer's lemon soap for about $4). 

So, it's not completely finished. But it's definitely an improvement! You have to start somewhere, right? We've bought the paint for the bathroom adjacent to our bedroom, and we're hoping to get that project finished over the holidays as well. I'm super excited about the color...you'll have to wait and see ;)