Home Sweet Home!!!!!

This is my first official blog post in our new house!! YAY!!! Brad and I are so glad that it is over and that everything went smoothly. Last Friday we closed on both houses. We turned over our townhouse keys to the new owners, and we picked up the keys to our new house. The whole thing was pretty nerve-racking to me, but it went really well. I don't think it could have gone any smoother. I pretty much danced all the way to the car after we walked out of the attorney's office.
The rest of the weekend was really busy. Thank goodness we had family and friends to help us. We got quite a bit done for our first weekend. All of the big furniture is where it needs to be. We put everything away in the kitchen. We bought and installed blinds for over half of the windows...the only ones left are upstairs. We hung the TV on the wall above the fireplace. (This was Brad's first priority, of course.) I wasn't so sure about it at first, but it does look pretty good. Although we got a lot done, I'm sure we will be unpacking and getting settled in for a while. I can't believe it's been a week already. I've posted some pictures below. A lot of these were taken before we moved in, so the house is empty. I see many blog posts in the near future...lots of decorating!!! I can't wait!!

OUR NEW HOUSE!!!! :)


The entryway. The dining room is to the right, office to the left, and living room straight ahead. This was a few weeks before we moved in.


Looking back at the front door. Dining room to the left, office and stairs to the right.


The living room with some furniture in it.


The kitchen. I've already tried it out...those are made from scratch blueberry muffins on the island. (That's another blog post.)


Another view of the kitchen. This is before we moved in.


I have a pantry now!!! I don't know what to do with all of this space. The townhouse didn't have a pantry at all.


A view of the master bedroom from the sitting area.


The bedroom and sitting area again.


My...I mean, OUR closet. Haha. I'm in love!!!


Brad's making plans to turn the bonus room into the man cave...


It's great to be home!!! :)

CMT Music Awards

Brad and I went to the CMT Music Awards a few weeks ago. I really had a great time, and Brad even said that he liked it better than he thought he would. (And he hates awards shows!!)

The walk to Bridgestone Arena was entertaining in itself. Downtown Nashville was crowded already as CMA Fest was starting that same night. Oh the people of CMA Fest....where do they come from?? I have some pictures from the show, but oh how I wish I had some pictures of the people walking the streets of Nashville. Of course cowboy hats were everywhere. So were wife beaters, daisy dukes, full body tattoos, and mullets of every sort. It was "quite peculiar!!" (As said in the drugged out wisdom teeth girl voice.)If you don't know what I'm talking about, please search youtube for "wisdom teeth unicorn." It should be the first video listed, and it's hilarious!!

Anyhow, back to the awards show. Once we made it to the Arena, I was really excited. We watched all of the singers/performers walk to their seats. I have to admit that I was a starstruck dork!! Some performances were better than others. Some of my faves were Zac Brown, Lady A, Keith Urban, and Miranda Lambert. The worst part of the whole show had to be the two people from Jersey Shore...what were they doing there anyway?? The worst performance was Toby Keith...way off key!! Most of it was great though. It was a really awesome birthday gift, and I was so glad that Brad went with me even though he wasn't too excited at first. We had a great time!! Here are some snapshots from the night.

So...What About This New House I Keep Mentioning??

Yes, it's true, Brad and I sold our townhouse, and we have purchased a new home. So, where are all of the pictures?? I'm sure some of you are wondering why I haven't posted any...I know Amber is anyways. ha! :) I can assure you that I will be posting the many pictures that I have, as soon as we close on both houses on June 25th. Seeing as how we had our hearts broken last year, I will admit that I am a little hesitant to talk about our new place until it is absolutely, completely, no doubt about it, OURS!! Everything has gone very smoothly so far. All of the paperwork is done...we are just waiting on the closing date to get here. I can't believe it's only 18 days away!! Mom, Brandi, and Adam came up to help pack this weekend. We packed clothes, home decor, dishes, and Brad even let me pack up the XBox. So, hopefully, we are well on our way to moving into our new house!!

In the meantime, I can at least share a little bit about the house. It's in Hendersonville, close to the lake. We are really excited about that...pretty soon we will be saving up for some jet skis!! :) It will be somewhat of a long commute to work for both of us, but we have considered that, of course, and we feel that it is definitely worth it. The house is in a new neighborhood. We liked it because it has the country feel, but we are really close to shopping, restaurants, the movie theater, etc. It has four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. Brad has his own office, and a nice rec room, better know as the "man cave." And I have a nice big kitchen, a huge closet, and many options for a craft room!! Needless to say, we both fell in love with it as soon as we saw it. We can't wait to move in!! June 25th will be here very soon, and after everything is settled, I will be sure to post pictures!!!

Daughtry, Lifehouse, and a Great Time

Just a few pictures from the Daughtry and Lifehouse concert last week. Abigail and I bought tickets a long time ago, and it was worth the wait!! Bailey and Kim went too, and they sat in the section right next to us. Kelly Clarkson showed up, and so did the lead singer of Three Doors Down, I can't remember his name though. Whoops!! Anyways, it was a great show, and we had a great time!!

Belated Birthday Blog Post

Even though our birthdays were two weeks ago, Brad and I just wrapped up the celebration this past weekend. I have always been really good at that somehow...stretching my birthday out, that is. Now that I have to share my day with the hubby, he just follows suit.
We kicked off the two week long party with dinner with friends at Boundry. It was delicious!!! A little out of our everyday price range, but hey, it was our birthday! We had big juicy steaks, potatoes and we even tried caviar as a part of an appetizer...it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Overall, great food and pretty cool atmosphere.

As my birthday celebration continued, the ladies at work showered me with adorable gifts!! Sweet Stella decorated my hygiene room with flowers and gave me these pretty serving trays and necklace pendant.



Sweet Carol gave me the cutest set of stationary. It includes a journal, stickers, and different sizes of note cards...just adorable!!!



And finally, my secret pal at work gave me this cute slate to put up at our new house!!!

So, I know what you are thinking by now...and it's ok because I'm thinking it too...I am REALLY spoiled!!! But I am also really grateful for the sweet gifts, thoughts and birthday wishes!!
Brad and I both received many gift cards from his family and mine. We are sooooo excited and can't wait to use them on things for the house!!! Bailey also gave us gift cards for a date night...dinner at Olive Garden and dessert at Cold Stone = DELICIOUS!!! Brad got a Cardinals hat and koozie from Adam, tools from Brandi and a Titans rug from mom and Sam. Adam gave me a purse...I love it!!!! Brandi took me to get a pedicure. It was awesome!!! And mom and Sam gave me the Sookie Stackhouse series. I've already started the first book. We topped it off with a yummy ice cream cake. Unfortunately, I left my camera in Nashville this weekend, so I don't have any pictures, but we had a great time!!
And how could I forget my amazing present from Brad??? Tickets to the CMT awards at Bridgestone arena June 9th. YAY!!!! Still don't really know what to wear yet, but I guess I will have to figure it out soon. It's only one week away!!!
We both had a super birthday with wonderful friends and family. However, our younger siblings didn't hesitate to remind us that, as 26 year olds, we are now closer to 30 than we are to 20. Ugh!! :) Gotta love 'em though. You are only as old as you feel, right??!! We have a busy and exciting year ahead and we are ready to get it started!!

Cupcake anyone??

It looks like a cupcake, but it's really a chocolate dipped ball of red velvet cake and cream cheese icing topped with sprinkles and an M&M. Yum!!! I'm glad I found a good reason to try these sweet cupcakes!!

I decided to make some Mother's Day treats for the ladies at work since I'm the only "non-mom" there. It gave me the perfect chance to try a recipe from Bakerella. Originally, I was going to make cupcake pops, but I waited until the last second to go get ingredients, (imagine that!!) and I couldn't find all of the supplies at Walmart. So, instead, I made cupcake bites...almost the same thing, just not on a stick. They were a lot of fun to make, and I think they turned out okay for my first attempt!!

These cupcake bites were fairly simple to make. First, I baked a red velvet cake in a 13 x 9 pan. I just followed the directions on the box, and I used Duncan Hines for the cake and the frosting.



When the cake was done baking, I let it cool completely. Then, I crumbled it up into a fine, fluffy texture. Next, I emptied the can of frosting into the crumbled cake and mixed it together. I used the back of a wooden spoon and it worked fine.




Then, I rolled the cake and frosting mixture into balls. I put them in the freezer for a little while, not until they were frozen, but until they were a little more firm and easier to work with.



Then, I melted chocolate bark and spooned it into cupcake wrapper molds. I dropped a cake ball into each mold and put them into the freezer for 1 or 2 minutes...just long enough for the chocolate bark to harden. After a couple of minutes, they popped right out of the mold and they were ready to dip into tinted candy melts.




For the colorful cupcake "icing" I used white candy melts and tinted them with food coloring. Time for a dip...



Now for the final step...decorating!! I, like Bakerella, used sprinkles and an M&M on top. It only took a few minutes for the candy melts to set, and then they were ready to eat!!





These cupcake bites are not only delicious, but really cute, too. Mine didn't turn out as perfect as Bakerella's, but after a couple of tries, I hope to get the hang of it. I took these in to the office yesterday, and there are only four or five left. At least they were edible...and so much fun to make!!!

Mother's Day

I know that Mother's Day was yesterday, but it's never too late to recognize great mothers!! I have definitely been blessed with wonderful women in my family. I've been surrounded by them my whole life. I hope they all know how much they are loved and admired and missed, not only on Mother's Day, but every day!! Here are the special ladies!!

My amazing mom and me


My awesome step mom, Sherie and my dad


Brad and precious Memaw...Love and miss her soooo much!!


Me with my sweet grandma and pop pop


My wonderful mother-in-law and me


Brad's sweet grandma and me


All of these ladies hold a very special place in my heart and in our family. I am certainly blessed to have them in my life, and I hope they had a wonderful Mother's Day!!