Home Improvements

We bought our first house, and we abosolutley love being home owners. The most exciting part for me, is being able to put work into our house, and start seeing the results we want. We haven't done any dramatic renovations, or anything like that, but we have made a few changes here and there to get our house just how we want it. Here are some of the BEFORE & AFTER photos. Hopefully you can get some fun design ideas, or pass along some suggestions for the future.

New Appliances
--When we moved into our house one of the first things we did was replace all of the black kitchen appliances with matching stainless steel appliances. We also replaced the old washer and dryer with a new set.

Before

After

Even more recent, with the new floors below..

Dining Room

--Our small "dining room table" just wasn't cutting it, especially because we love having people over. We decided to double our seating, and purchased a large dining room table that can seat up to 8 from Crate & Barrel. Luckily around the same time our table arrived, my Boumpa was in town and installed a new light fixture from Lowes, above the table. Ryan added the finishing touches to the room by haging window curtains and some wall decor.

Before

After

Man Cave

--I already posted a seperate blog about Ryan's man cave I redid while he was away for work, but here are a few more pictures.

Before

After

Bye Bye Blinds

-- We decided it was time to get rid of the 80's style vertical blinds haning from the sliding glass door that leads out to the screened in porch. I would have loved to replace the sliding door altogether, however we decided to go with a more economical quick fix.

Before

After

New Floors

-- I also already posted in a seperate blog about the floors we recently put in throughout the first level of our house. We went through Floor Trader in Indianapolis who did a wonderful job. This upgrade made a huge difference in the look of our house.

Before

After

Super Bowl Party

I know I am a little late posting this, but we had a Super Bowl Party last month. We had all of our friends over for great food, drinks, and of course the game. It was so good to see everyone, and we had a fun time.

Watching the Game

FUNDIES

Beer Goggles

Chocolate Fondue

Our seating arrangements all in one room.

Taylor & Tiff

Fresh Floors

This past week Ryan and I had new floors installed throughout the entire first floor of our house. We are so happy with how they turned out! Before we had carpet and horrible laminate everywhere. We went through Floor Trader, and purchased Tarkett wood laminate floors. They were very professional, and they'll match any competitors' pricing. Their installers were also on time every day, and explained things really well.

Carpet all torn up

New Rug

The Weekend

I had a really great time this past weekend! Friday night I got caught up on a lot of things around the house (not so fun), but Saturday got better. My parents came down to do lunch. We ate at Chatham Tap in Fishers, so my Dad and Kyle could watch the Purdue game. Later that afternoon Taryn came in to town to stay with me. I hadn't seen her in 4 months, since the wedding! Tiffany and Amber came over too and we got to catch-up and get ready for the night. We had a girls' dinner at Cooper's Hawk Winery, one of my favorites! It was the four of us, and Alicia and Stephanie as well. We had great food and drinks, and enjoyed catching-up with each other. Next we went to Amber's house in Broad Ripple for some cocktails and drinking games, before we headed to the bars. We went to Brothers for a few drinks, and then ended our night at Rock Lobster. I had so much fun with the girls, and can't wait to plan our next weekend : )

Sunday morning we all woke up and went breakfast at Le Peep, to see Ryan May. Breakfast hit the spot, and afterward we went home to enjoy a lazy Sunday. Bentley stopped by, and Taylor and I took him for a long walk around the neighborhood, because it was actually nice out.

Love a Lazy Sunday with BentDog

I'm looking forward to next weekend just as much. John Reese is coming to stay with us, and we have a lot things planned, including our Super Bowl Party!

BeNtLeY

Bentley is still growing, and he keeps getting cuter and cuter! Here are a few recent pictures. Love him!

He found some of our socks haha

Healthy Dinner Ideas

Here are a couple more dinner ideas...

Mexican Casserole:

In a baking dish (not something too deep, but probably a 5x7) layer the following ingredients:
1st Layer- Uncle Ben's 90 second white rice, mixed with fresh cilantro
2nd Layer- 1 - 2 Fully cooked shredded chicken breasts
3rd Layer- Sauted green pepper, red pepper, and onion
4th Layer- Salsa
5th Layer- Sauted can/frozen corn (saute in pan with salt, pepper, and half spoonful of sugar)
6th Layer- Shredded Mexican cheese

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Chicken Stir-Fry:

2 Chicken Breasts
Sliced Portobello - 1 package
Sliced Carrotts - 20 baby carrots (I usually have these on hand)
1 Diced Onion
1 Chopped up Red Pepper
1 Chopped up Yellow Pepper
Hot Sauce
Brown Sugar - 3 Spoonfuls
Olive Oil
Soy Sauce - 4 Spoonfuls
Low Sodium Chicken Broth - 1/4 cup
Salt & Pepper
Uncle Ben's 90 Second Ready Rice (White or Brown)

First cut up all veggies and chicken into bite-size pieces or smaller (this way they will cook up faster for you). In a hot pan brown the pieces of chicken in olive oil. Once the chicken is cooked add in all of the veggies, season with salt and pepper, and cook until they begin to brown. Then stir in the brown sugar, soy sauce, and about 10 glugs of hot sauce. Next add the chicken broth and use to scrape up any brown bits in the pan. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Microwave the rice, and then serve stir-fry on top of rice.
** You can add any vegetables you would like to this dish. I usually put in whatever I have on hand.

Veggie Pizza:

Olive Oil
1 sliced yellow onion - cut into long thin strips
1 sliced red bell pepper - cut into long thin strips

1 sliced fennel bulb - cut into long this strips

Fresh Spinach - 3 or 4 handfuls

Sliced Portobello Mushrooms - half a package

Cherry Tomatoes Halved - about 10

Store-bought Pizza Dough

3 Minced Garlic Cloves

2 Handfuls of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Salt & Pepper

Preheat the oven to 425°F.
In a sauté pan cook the veggies until they are tender, but add the spinach at the end and cook until it begins to wilt down. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool while you roll out the crust.
Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and roll out your crust.
In a bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the garlic. Scrape the mixture over the crust. Spread the crust evenly withSprinkle on the rest of the cheese and bake until the crust is cooked through and the cheese is melted, 18 to 20 minutes.

The Holidays 2010

I am just now getting to post some pictures from the Holidays. This year I spent my first Christmas away from home. Ryan and I went to Lafayette on the 23rd for the annual Beer Tasting Contest at my parents house, and the next morning we traveled to Cleveland to spend Christmas with Ryan's family. We had a great long weekend, and the following weekend we rang in the New Year with friends in Indy at Bartini. We also went to the last regular season Colts game, and the following weekend we went to the Colts Playoff Game. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the past couple of weeks : )

Fear NO Beer Club

Christmas Day

Cleaned up on Christmas Day Before Dinner

Our Table on NYE at Bartini

Happy New Year!

Amber & Tiff ringing in the New Year

Ryan & Ryan

Tiff & I

Ryan & JB

We saw Bam & Steph at the Colts vs Titans Game

Ryan & I at the Game

At Bartini "tailgating" before the Colts Playoff Game

Kyle, Me, & Taylor at Bartini

Hahaha

DK!

All of us at the Colts vs Jets Playoff Game