San Francisco Fun!

So Hubby and I got the opportunity to go to San Francisco the last weekend in February, and BOY, was it fun!!!! We both had never been, so we were super excited to sight see and just spend the weekend in a beautiful city kid free!

 We spent Friday night through Monday morning there, and we STILL didn't get to see everything that we wanted to see! But we can visit again, and totally plan to--WITH the kids! 

Here's some fun pictures we took from our wonderful weekend away :)

Pier 39

Alcatraz

 Prison Yard (yes that's the golden gate bridge back there!)

The great escape!

Golden Gate Park

The "Full House" house! It's a little different now :)

Palace Of The Fine Arts

 If you're going to San Francisco, here's my recommendations:

 Must DO-

Golden Gate Park- This park is AMAZING. We were staying right down the street from it, so we were able to just walk there. It's just a gorgeous park that stretches for 3 miles, with a botanical garden, a carousel, paddle boats (that I would HIGHLY recommend renting, just 19 an hour and so fun) and amazing scenery. It's no surprise that this is rated one of the most beautiful parks in the states.

Alcatraz Tour- Hands down the best part of our trip! I had bought my tickets on their website weeks in advance (it is recommended by the website that you do this, and was so glad I did..when we went to check in, they were sold out of tickets for the next two days! So if you're wanting to do the tour, buy the tickets in advance online!), so we were amped up to go see the world famous Alcatraz Island! It was surreal--so beautiful, and yet really sad. There were amazing views of the city of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, but I'd rather not be a resident there--LOL! The self guided audio tour was awesome and so rich with history told by old prison guards and inmates. We will definitely be going back to S.F. specifically to take this tour again only with our boys in tow!

Golden Gate Bridge- It was so incredible driving across the actual bridge that I've seen time and time again in the movies! It is MUCH bigger in person, and just constructed so beautifully. My favorite picture is the one that my Husband took of the bridge with the sun setting on the rolling hills. Amazing.

Palace Of The Fine Arts- This was free, and I definitely recommend checking it out at night-it's lit up and just takes your breath away. That's all I can say on it--you gotta see it for yourself. GOR-GEE-OUS!

 There is probably 21093473847562435 other things that can be seen and enjoyed in S.F., but there wasn't enough time! So if you can stay longer than 3 days, DO IT! 

 Oh San Francisco, how I love you! I will come back again and we can continue our love affair, I promise ;-) 

Oh Disneyland, how we love thee!

March already?! Are you kidding me?! I honestly can't believe it.

 So if you haven't noticed. I talk about Disneyland. Alot. And that's because we GO. Alot.

 We have had annual passes since March 2012 (so we're coming up on our expiration date in a few weeks). It was kind of expensive, but we have never had them before and so we went for it.

 And let me tell you, it was THE BEST investment we have EVER made. Our children enjoyed every visit, and I know we'll forever cherish the year of 2012 when we got to go to Disneyland 23094834059743986 times. Well, at least it SEEMED like we went that often.

 Every.Single.Time we went was like it was the first time for our toddler girls, age 3 and 2. They light up the second we get on the tram, and the light doesn't seem to flicker until we are leaving the park to go home. 

 Their favorite thing seemed to be the parades. Our boys never cared for the parades (now 13 and 9), but the girls squeal and shout at each princess passing by, elated that they got to see their beloved princesses! 

We celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, and the holidays--boy, did we have a blast!

Tired Girl

Our Anniversary visit

Love this one! She was NOT crazy about the ferris wheel at California Adventure. With her Auntie!

So thank you, Disneyland. Thank you for the great fun and memories! 

All opinions are my own; I was not compensated by Disneyland for this post in any way.

When Sinners Say I Do for $1.99!

Friends!

When Sinners Say I Do by Dave Harvey

 I just saw on Amazon that this AMAZING book is on sale for $1.99 (kindle edition)!

 I can personally recommend this book, we're going through it right now and it is AWESOME! Whether you're engaged, newly married or have been married for 20 years, this book is for you!

 Not sure how long it will be on sale for, so pick it up NOW!

Rainy Day DIY Necklace!

Hi friends!

 Today it's been raining, which isn't too common here in Southern California. So I took advantage of the indoor weather, and decided to make a necklace inspired by a gorgeous piece I saw on Pinterest!

My oh-so-cute FREE Fabric Rose Necklace

Ok, so here's how to make it!

First, you start by making some Fabric Roses. I use a glue gun, twirl strips of fabric around the bud, gluing a couple of times here and there.

I then placed the roses how I wanted them to lay on a piece of felt and traced around them. After tracing, I cut on the inside of my line, so the felt would be slightly smaller than the actual rose necklace.

 I hot glued them onto the felt, and added two pieces of ribbon to the felt.

I made two cute little bows, and hot glued them on the ribbon (note--I originally was going to tie them onto the ribbon, but I couldn't get them to "sit straight" so I decided to just hot glue them on!)

 And there you have it! A super cheap, super easy fabric rose necklace!

 Seriously, I made it with materials I already had on hand, so it was basically FREE!!! WOOOHOOO!!!

 Happy Friday!!!

Valentine Burlap Banner

Hellllooooo everyone! How is the New Year going for you? 

 We're doing great! I'm excited to see what this year holds for our family--new years are always so much fun!

 So today I want to share with you this cute, simple banner I made. 

 My mantle was looking so pitiful after I took down my Christmas decorations. So I threw some stuff together, and left it alone. But the more I looked at it, the more I kept thinking that it needed SOMETHING extra....

 Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I thought this would be PERFECT!

 I printed out letters I found over at the delightful Shanty 2 Chic blog, and found some burlap remnants.

I cut out my letter triangles, traced the triangle with a slight overlap onto the burlap and cut out burlap triangles.

Using some twine, clothespins and my letters, I put this sweet banner up and BAM! Just what my mantle needed.

I noticed after taking these pictures that the bottom of the triangles were separating from the burlap, so I fixed that with my little ole glue gun.

 Lovin' it!

It's a New Year-2013

I don't make new year's resolutions. Simply because, I KNOW I'll never keep them. Lose weight, stop drinking Diet Coke (who would even WANT to do this?!), 32498732985723 projects for the house--you know, THOSE ones. I just don't go down that road.

 We rang in the new year watching a redbox movie and listening to illegal fireworks going off around our neighborhood (FANTASTIC, I KNOW!). I really wasn't feeling the new year vibe. 

Probably because this has been the hardest year of my life.

 So as I laid in bed at 1am, trying to fall asleep, I decided to make a "commitment" for this new year. No resolution; no goal--a commitment. 

I am going to commit 2013 to PRAYING FOR OTHERS MORE. I was totally convicted by the fact that I pray so much for myself or my current circumstances. But I'm not faithfully praying for others. And I NEED TO. Prayer is SO powerful, and definitely meant to be used for others. So there it is! I'm excited for the challenge, and look forward to seeing what God is going to do around me in other's lives!

Like I said, 2012 was by far the hardest year filled with a horribly painful trial. God has been refining me, and shaping me through it--most of the time, I've been struggling against it. But over the last month or so, I've actually been THANKFUL for the refining. It is helping me to see that I so needed to be walking a totally different pace in my walk--the way I was walking just wasn't cutting it. One area I'm working on is just living DAY BY DAY.....any more than that overwhelms me. That's just how I am. 

Yesterday morning, I was reading 2 verses that really stuck out to me--

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No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Philippians 3:13-14

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WOW! This totally hit home for me. It applies to many areas in my life, and circumstances that occurred in 2012. 

So this will be my verse for 2013. Oh Lord, help me live for you and allow this verse to penetrate me to the very depths of my soul! 

 Happy New Year, my friends! 

May the Lord bless you abundantly this year, and may this be the year you grow closer to Him more than EVER!

DIY Gift Bags

Almost Christmas! So excited! :)

 Here's some gift bags I put together for different family gifts! They were super easy--I picked up a few two pack of bags at the Dollar Tree, and came up with some ideas for the front. 

Cute Cute Cute!

I used scrapbooking paper, construction paper, jewels, dyed doilies and sticks--everything I already had!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Laffa Bread Recipe

Howdy! 

Today I want to share with you a DELICIOUS recipe I found for Laffa Bread. 

Laffa Bread is a thick, soft flatbread. It is usually used to dip in and eat hummus. I absolutely LOVE hummus, and Laffa Bread is the perfect bread to eat it with!

 So here's the recipe!

Laffa Bread  

*7 cups unbleached bread flour plus another ½ cup in case the dough is little too sticky

*1 package dry rapid rise yeast

*2 tablespoons sugar

*1 teaspoon salt

*4 tablespoons olive oil

*3 cups of warm water

 Combine the dry ingredients.  Add the oil and water. If using a mixer, mix with the dough hook until the dough is very smooth, soft and elastic.  If making by hand; after you add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, mix by hand in the bowl for a few moments until well combined and coming together.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about ten minutes until smooth and elastic.

In all cases after the kneading, place the dough in an oiled bowl and loosely cover with plastic wrap.  Then cover the bowl with a tea towel and place it in a draft free warm corner so the dough may rise.  In about an hour, when the dough has doubled or more, punch the dough down.  Divide the dough into 10-12 equal balls, and then roll the balls until smooth.  Place the balls on an oiled cookie sheet.  Cover them with a damp tea towel and let the dough balls rest for about ten minutes.  Resting makes the dough easier to roll out.

Pre-heat a grill pan to medium. I found that the large non stick grill pan was the easiest to work with.  Take a ball of dough in your hands and flatten it out on an oiled wood surface.  Roll it out with a rolling pin or use your hands.  Make a circle about 12 inches in diameter and place the Laffa on the hot grill surface.  When you see the edges looking dry and the bread is poofing up turn it over.  Laffa only takes a few minutes to grill.  Place the finished Laffas in between some kitchen towels to keep warm.  

YUM YUM YUM!!

Christmas Card Door

So our house isn't the biggest. Sure, there's smaller houses. But it's a hair under 1500 square feet. So most of the time, I'm trying to come up with creative ideas on how to store and display things without taking up too much room.

 That's when I came up with my Christmas Card Door idea! 

 I wrapped my entryway closet door in a cute wrapping paper found at Target, and then hot glued twine on the inside of the door. Add some clothespins, and WOOHOO! You have a perfect spot to display your Christmas cards.

 Now if I could just get a few more, I could fill up my whole door!

SUPER easy fabric ruffled flower REFASHION!

Hey friends!

 Almost Christmas....16 days to be exact! Can you believe it?! Have you got your Christmas shopping done? Cuz I SURE haven't! YIKES!

 So today, I want to share with you this cute little revamp I did on my 2 year old's shoes.

 It began like this.

 Went out to pick up a few things at the stores. Crowded as HECK. Went to Target to look for tennis shoes for her, because she's growing out of all her converse (side note--we like our kiddos to have fashionable shoes--doesn't need to be expensive, just cute. I mean, cute kids need cute shoes right?!), so we took a looksie. Target didn't have ANY cute girl tennis shoes. They DID, however, have some cute BOY tennis shoes. When my husband showed me a pair, my first thought was NO!!! Then, I considered for a moment--If I got these shoes, I wouldn't have to go to....dun dun dun.....THE MALL on a Saturday afternoon. I would be done looking for tennis shoes for her, if only until I have the strength and energy to put in another round of shopping to find some cuter ones. And THEN, the thought crossed my mind....I could REFASHION these and make them CUTE! So we bought them. 

  Holy Moly, aren't these CUTE or WHAT?!

 Let's do a before and after:

Here they are. In all their "boy glory". Although super cute pattern. But very BOY.

ANNNNDDDDDD....

AFTER!

SQUEAL!!!!

 Look at these sweet little toddler tootsies! Oh, how I love them!

The tutorial I followed for the flowers is this one from Ruffles and Stuff (Disney, HOLLA!)

Only I added a small pink circle in the center and a pink button :)

Very cute, chic and just plain AWESOME!

 Do you agree?

Do you Advent? We DO!

We have never officially celebrated Advent before. But this year, when I came across this advent focused book Good News For Great Joy by John Piper, I was DELIGHTED to download it and start the advent tradition!

 So each day starting tomorrow leading up to Christmas Eve, we will be reading from this book! The layout is super simple, dating and titling the chapters for a daily devotional reading.

 You can download it onto you computer as a PDF, or you can download it as a  EPUB file which is formatted for readers like the Nook, Sony Reader, and Apple iBooks (iPad, iPhone, iPod).

It's also available for us kindle users in a MOBI file. 

How to transfer EPUB file to Nook

How to transfer MOBI file to kindle

PLEASE join us as we start this tradition tomorrow! We are so excited to see what Jesus is going to do in ALL of our hearts these next 23 days! 

 So, you in?! 

LET'S DO THIS THING!