Outdoor Sectional

Ever since we built the fire pit we were also wanting to get some outdoor furniture to go around it. It has been a couple years and we never really found anything we loved, so Trevor decided he was going to built it. I'd say it turned out amazing!

I told Trevor he wasn't allowed to start on this project until we got a barn door, so that definitely sped up the process! ;)

A neighbor of ours build one very similar a few weeks before we did ours. He found a blog that had step by step instructions, so we were glad he shared that information. If you are wanting to build one, look up Ana White's blog.  She has plans for about everything! This is the picture/instructions we were following:

We went to Lowes and got all of the pieces and luckily Lowes cuts all of your wood for free, you just tell them the dimensions. 

It honestly didn't take but an hour or so to build. 

I had initially planned to make the cushions, but after pricing everything out and really thinking about how much work/time sewing all of that would be, we decided to just purchase the cushions. I got mine at At Home. 

The part that took the longest was the staining! Luckily, Trevor did all of that! 

We used the same stain that is on our barn door and outdoor bar. 

And the last thing we did once the stain was dry was put Thompson Water Seal on it. I absolutely LOVE how it turned out!

Barn Door

I literally have 1 million things I could be doing right now, but I decided I wanted to write a blog post instead of getting all of my todo list done.

I was so excited because on Monday we officially got my barn door hung! We ordered it mid summer and it arrived awhile ago, but we have been so busy that we just now got it finished!

I love it!!!

We put together the unfinished wood flooring...

Put the brackets around it...which honestly was the hardest part. 

I stained and painted it!

Ebony colored stain from Lowes

Aquarium colored paint from Sherwin Williams (I also used this color in our pantry and laundry room)

Then got it hung!

I LOVE IT!!!

Even though our home was brand new and we built it, I still love adding our own special touches to it!! 

I posted this on Tuesday as #transformationtuesday

I have a few more of these to posts from our summer projects. I can't wait to share them all! 

Random Summer Shananigans

I cannot believe how fast this summer has flown by! This is my last Friday of freedom/sleeping in/lounging with puppies/binge tv watching/clean clean house/shopping/spending way too much money/you get the point! To be completely honest, I am SUPER excited about this coming year! I already know most of my students and I can't wait to hear about their summer + I am working with some of the most amazing people! Bring it on Thursday!

There were a few things over the summer that we did that I never wrote a whole post about, so I decided to just combine them all here!

Here we go..........
Back in May my brother and his girlfriend came in town for Memorial Day weekend and since my parents are still in their apartment and don't have a spare bedroom, they ended up staying with us a couple nights. They spent most of the weekend at the lake, but I always enjoy the time that we spend together!

On May 26th our sweet pup had to have surgery. When we first got him we were told that his dewclaws were removed. We quickly realized that one was not completely removed but we weren't going to deal with it unless it became a problem. Well, it became a problem. He must have caught it on something because we noticed that it was looking like an open wound and it was swollen and possibly infected. So we had to take him in to have surgery on it. It didn't keep him down for long though.

On June 6th our neighbors and really good friends tied the knot!...seriously they.are.the.cutest!

 

 

What a fun wedding!! They wrote their own vows which seriously made you want to laugh and cry all at the same time. They were just perfect! And then we danced the night away! We are just so happy for these two and wish them the happiest of years to come!

Are you still with me??? I told you this post was random!!

On June 26th my friend Andrea and her husband Matt had a baby shower. And I'm so excited to announce that she had her baby yesterday, August 13th! What a perfect gift on the perfect day!

This woman is seriously going to be the best mom!!! She is so patient, kind, loving, selfless, creative, fun, the list goes on and on! She had a baby girl named Zoey and I cannot wait to meet her!

On July 11th we made a trip to the lake with our friends Katie and Andrew. Katie's dad has a boat that he lent them for a little while, so we were happy they invited us out for a day. Trevor got to do some skiing and wake boarding. I just enjoyed relaxing on the boat and getting a little sunburn tan!

Love these people!

This summer Trevor and I have been obsessed with Chicago Fire. I've always watched Chicago PD and since they cross over occasionally, I thought I needed to go ahead and get addicted to that show too. Luckily, after I watched a few episodes Trevor decided that he liked it too, so we were committed and watched all 3 seasons this summer. We had the brilliant idea to watch an episode in the hot tub one evening! Trevor had just started working out and he was a bit sore, plus it was one of the cooler evenings, so it was perfect. So excited for the next season to start!

Speaking of working out, about 5 weeks ago Trevor and our neighbor Randy started doing Insanity every morning in our garage at 5am. We kind of joked about it only lasting a couple weeks, but I am super proud of them! They are still at it every morning. I tried to snatch a photo of them, but it was really dark.

Since Trevor was making good decisions every morning, I decided that I needed to get with it too! I decided that I wanted to do the Race for the Cure again, so it was time to start running again to prepare. I have mentioned before that I basically suck at running, but I'm still trying! I like to take Whiskey with me because it makes it a little more exciting, plus I get distracted watching him that I forget that I am running.

Last week I decided that I needed a change, so I chopped off all of my hair and I am LOVING it! It's my back to school haircut!

 

For those of you that are still with me on this post, this is the last thing that we have been up to! :)

 

A friend and I decided to go to the Shania Twain concert this past Wednesday in OKC. When we got to OKC we ate some dinner at Bricktown Brewery and then headed to the concert. We were so excited when we go there because we realized Gavin DeGraw was opening for Shania Twain and we had no idea! I was SO EXCITED because he is seriously one of my favorite artists! It was such a good concert! Of course the music was amazing, I loved all of her outfits and the lighting was really good! What a fun night with an AMAZING friend!!

 

 

 

Obviously our seats were in the nosebleed section but we didn't care!

 

WHAT AN AMAZING SUMMER IT HAS BEEN!! It has definitely gone quickly, but I am ready to get back in the swing of things!

Strawberry Brownie Dessert

I wish I had a more interesting name for this delicious dessert, but I don't. Awhile back when I wrote about mine and Trevor's anniversary I said that I would share the dessert that I made for that...so here is goes!

Basically you will have 3 different things going on.
1. You will need to buy a package of strawberries and cut them up into whatever size strawberry slices that you want.
2. You will need to make a batch of brownies. I just did them from a box, but knock yourself out if you want to make homemade ones!
3. The filling: mix together one can of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk, 1 pkg of instant vanilla pudding, and 1/2 cup water. Mix it well and then let it sit in the refrigerator about 5 minutes. Take out of the refrigerator and fold in about 4 oz of cool whip.

Once the brownies have cooled and you have everything prepared, just layer them in individual size jars or containers - brownie, then filling, then strawberries. This made 8 large serving sizes.

YUM!

Cute Little Bag

I saw this idea on Pinterest and wanted to give it a try. Plus, I'm just obsessed with sewing, especially over summer break. I am loving trying new things and plus I get a cute outcome! Look at this CUTE bag!!

It honestly was super easy. It took about an hour, but I think when I do it again it will go faster. (Most of the time I blog about these just so I will remember how I made stuff!...but seriously, if you like sewing then give it a try!)

You will need:

1/2 yard of 2 different fabrics (I used Printed Duck since it's a thick fabric. It just seemed more durable to me!)

2 yards coordinating webbing

1/4 yard batting

Cute the fabric to these measurements:

2 pieces of batting 15 x 10

2 bag pieces 15 x 20.5 (make sure your fabric is going to right way if it matters. The 15" side will go from left to right.)

2 pocket pieces 15 x 16.5 (again make sure your fabric is going the right way, the 15" side wide will go from left to right.)

Webbing - cut into 2 equal pieces, each 1 yard

Now that everything is cut, let's begin!

Fold your pocket piece in half and press. Then layer your pieces batting on bottom, bag piece and then the folded pocket piece. 

You should have two sets of these. 

Now pin the straps to the fabric. Start at the bottom and the straps need to be centered and about 4" from each other. 

Do this to both

Now it's time to sew! You are going to sew the webbing to all 3 layers. Starting at one cut end of the webbing, sew along the edge of the strap. You will stitch past the pocket and all the way up to where the batting ends. Pivot your fabric with the needle down and sew along the other side of the webbing. Do this to the other side and then to the other piece. 

Now place your two sides right sides facing each other and pin along the edge. (Watch out for the straps)

Sew along the edge. You will need to leave about a 5" opening at the top (the bag fabric, the thinnest part that you are sewing right now, right in the center.)

After you sew all around, leaving the 5" opening at the top, it is time to do the corners. Take each corner and press it down. Pin it so it is 2" from the corner and 4" aross. 

Do this to all 4 corners. 

Then sew along where you pinned it. After you sew, you can then cut the excess fabric from the corners. 

Then take your fabric and make it right side out. 

You will then need to top stitch just the top of the bag! 

You will also want to close the 5" opening in the inside. Look how cute the inside is!!

The bag didn't turn out as big as I thought it would. It's about 9&1/2" tall and 14" wide. I think tomorrow I'm going to try another one but double the size of everything!

Happy Sewing!!