3-day Weekend

This past weekend was so fun and laid back! I was excited to have a 3-day weekend. Saturday, I went with my sister-in-law, Laura, to Jacksonville to go shopping! My main reason in going was to try and find some ski clothes. We went to Gander Mountain and Dick's Sporting Goods. When I asked where the women's ski clothes were, the attendants looked at me like I was crazy - I guess I should have assumed that sporting good stores in Florida would have a limited supply of ski attire! It was about 80 degrees outside on Friday, so we ended up buying more spring and summer type clothes than anything else!

Saturday evening we drove from Jacksonville to Blackshear to meet up with Jay and Johnathan. We had a low key night of cooking out and watching TV. Sunday morning we got up and went for a ride on Jay and Laura's new ranger! We took it over to the property where they hunt and drove all around. Here are some pictures of Jack and T.G.!

T.G. loved his lemonade - and making funny faces for the camera!

Jack and Johnathan picked pine cone seeds

The boys loved running around and playing in the field!

Johnathan and I left Blackshear early in the afternoon and came back to the island. Monday was a fun, relaxing day of eating lunch at Barbara Jeans, then going to the beach and the pool at the King and Prince! It was warm enough to lay out in our bathing suits for a couple of hours - it was so nice to get some sun! It is going to be a hard adjustment going from such warm weather to Jackson Hole in a couple of weeks!

{Recipes} - Apple and Pear Crisp

For Johnathan's birthday, I decided to make him a little something different since we had already had birthday cake with his family on Sunday. He loves apple pie, so I did a rendition of that and made an apple and pear crisp!


Ingredients:

• 4 ripe pears
• 6 firm apples
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the topping:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats 
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel, core and cut the pears and apples into large chunks. Place the fruit in a large bowl and add the zests, juices, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour into a 9x13 baking dish.

For the topping:

Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oats and butter in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 minute, until the mixture is in large crumbles. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit, covering the fruit completely. 

Place the baking dish on a sheet pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm.

A Great Day

Yesterday was the first glimpse of warm weather - I am hoping it is here to stay! We took advantage of the beautiful day and headed to the beach after work. We took Lucy and went for a run from the Coast Guard Station to the King and Prince. Below are a few pics of the absolutely picturesque sunset we got to see! 

We headed home and got ready for dinner. Johnathan told me we needed to be dressed up and ready to leave by 7 p.m. After we got in the car and before we even left the driveway Johnathan said, "Oh no, I forgot something inside - I'll be right back!" - well, a few minutes passed and I started to get worried, so I headed inside to find our dining room table set with candles, our fine china, crystal and sterling silver. I was so surprised and he totally had me tricked into thinking we were going somewhere! Johnathan made dinner and it was so nice! I have such a sweet husband!

{Guest Bedroom} - Updated

A few weekends ago I decided it was time to update our downstairs guest bedroom! 

To be honest, when Johnathan and I first got married and I was updating the house, this was on the top of my to-do list. I really hated the wallpaper border in the room (it reminded me of a doctor's office for some reason!), and there were huge holes in the walls where shelves used to be (see pictures below!)

Wallpaper border = not cool

Ginormous holes in the wall = really not cool

Removing the border was a tedious task and it took at least half of a day to do, but thankfully I had this great stuff called "Chomp!" that helps remove wallpaper. 

I think I had about 10 piles of paper just like this one!

Midway through painting - showing the difference in paint colors, and the holes on the wall are filled. 

After pictures! 

The colors in these pictures were my inspiration for the room. She may not remember this, but when I lived with Lauren and Renee in the apartment, Mrs. Muller gave me these prints (they are actually wrapping paper!) and I loved them so much I decided to frame them!

The room still needs a few more updates - curtains and accent pillows. Here is a glimpse of some fabric ideas I have in mind. 

Hopefully I will have more updates soon!

Wall Decor

Now that Johnathan and I have a fresh coat of paint throughout most of the house, it is time to get some pictures up on the walls! Over the past couple of weeks I have been searching for frames and deciding on what pictures to hang. I still have a lot to do, but this definitely adds a personal touch to the house!

First - here is our hallway leading to the two bedrooms downstairs. I took inspiration from Maggie's post on photo gallery hallways. I think this is a good start, but I may want to add more! 

Finally, some wedding pictures!

 This is a wedding picture collage that Johnathan gave me for Christmas - he did such a good job!

 This is the other collage that Johnathan gave me for Christmas of our Honeymoon pictures

  New prints in the guest bedroom (more on this room update tomorrow!)

 Prints in our bedroom are from TJ Maxx - the colors coordinate perfectly and I love how they give height to our room!

{Recipes} Peanut Butter Granola Bars

• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup crisp rice cereal
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
• 1/4 cup dried fruit (cranberries & raisins)

In a small saucepan over medium, heat  honey, peanut butter & butter. Stir until loosened and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cereal, oats and dried fruit.

Drop mixture by the tablespoon into mini paper cupcake wrappers. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

These are such a great snack to have on hand, and they are so easy to make!  Next time I am going to double the recipe and spread the mixture in a 9x13 dish to make bars for a slightly larger snack!