the handy-man can!

Fact: I'm horrible at visualizing things! That's why when Matt first started talking about remodeling our kitchen and telling me all the ideas he had, I {kinda} freaked out! At that time, I was still living in Salt Lake so it made it that much more difficult to visualize things the way they could be. That's why he had to draw me this picture:

But before I get too far ahead in the story, let me start from the beginning. Matt bought our house about four years ago from some {very dear} friends. The house was built in the 70s, so it needed {a lot of} updating! He started by putting in harwood floors in the master bedroom, re-doing the entry way, knocking out a wall to open up the dining room and the living room and tearing out the {flourescent]} lights in the kitchen {thank goodness!!}. All that stuff was done B.M. {Before Marcie...me}.  When I came into the picture, all of the remodeling energies were directed at the kitchen. This was mainly for the fact that

{sometimes} we sing {songs} and ihave {favorite} things

My favorite part about being married? I'm glad you asked. That would be singing {made up songs} while driving.cleaning.doing laundry.cooking.texting.feeding the dogs.turning on the lights...pretty much anything that requires energy {or no energy at all}. Matt is quite fond of all my made up songs, although he may not always admit it!  He humors me {me and my tone-deaf voice} sweetly! Even though I may not sound that great singing {my made-up songs, or any song at all for that matter}, I think it adds to the awesomeness of it all! And yes, I just said awesomeness. Right at this moment, both of us {we} are singing along to Glee. So.much.fun!!!! But I will admit, he sounds much better than I do! It's part of his husband-appeal! Not many people know this, but Matt has a great voice! It's one of the things that hooked me when we first started dating!! But my husband is modest when it comes to his creative {painting, singing, playing the guitar, && any hand-man needs} talents. I admire that about him, because quite honestly, I wouldn't be so modest! :)

In between the singing {fever}, I was scrolling through a few of my favorite blogs when I found what could be my newest favorite place to visit! Here's a list of that and my seven favorite things {for the moment}.

1. Shabby Apple....ah heck, just look here! :)

2. This one kind of goes along with #1....I love all of Shabby Apple's dresses! I always tell Matt that I was

{so long}, exotica...

It happened. Finally. After all I've done to avoid the situation, I had to go through the dreaded undertaking of getting a new phone number. {Bleh!} This was a sad occasion for many reasons, a few of which I will discuss in detail as I mourn my old phone number.

Reason #1: My new phone number begins with an area code other than 801. {tear}. Pathetic as this may be, I loved having a phone number with an area code different than the place I was living. Not only was it a

delectable {delightful} italian parmesan rolls

Last week we had a big banquet for our high school and mid-high leaders at The Mix to honor them and to introduce the new name of our youth leadership group, "Catalyst". It turned out to be a huge success! We wanted to make the night really special for the parents and teenagers, but we also wanted to keep the cost down. Luckily, we had one of our amazing moms {who is an amazing cook} volunteer to make spaghetti {for 90 people}! And just a sidenote, youth ministry honestly couldn't survive without the help of parents and adults like that!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU if you are one of those people!! Anyway, back to the story....I was in charge of making rolls to go along with the spaghetti. They turned out to be such a huge hit that I had tons of people asking me for the recipe {more like concoction} so I decided to post it here for everyone to enjoy!

Italian Parmesan Rolls

Ingredients:

Rhodes dough frozen rolls {I usually use wheat, but I used white at the banquet}

Butter

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Italian Style Seasoning {In the past, I've also used a sundried tomato&garlic seasoning}

Directions:

Let the frozen rolls thaw. {I put them in the refrigerator the night before I used them.}

Once they've thawed, melt butter {about 1/4 c. for 1 dozen rolls} in a bowl and put the parmesan cheese {about 1/2 - 1 c.} in a seperate bowl.

Roll the thawed dough first in the butter then in the parmesan cheese. Place roll on non-stick pan. Do this with each roll until the pan is full. Then, sprinkle each roll with Italian seasoning.

Let rise for 3-5 hours or until rolls double in size.

Cook for 15-20 min. @ 350 degrees.

Special thanks to Heather Williams {a phenomenal wife, mom, pastor, friend and mentor}, who first showed me how to make these rolls! {Coincidentally, it was at another youth spaghetti dinner!} These rolls are GUARANTEED to be the point of many {delicious} compliments! Let me know if you make them and how they turn out! :) Enjoy!

{engagement} anniversary

One year ago {two days ago}, I told the most {incredible.creative.handsome.Godly.} man that I would marry him! By far, it's been one of the best decision I've ever made!

Truthfully, we both had to be reminded {of the anniversary} on the day of by one of our friends who helped him plan everything out for the proposal! Haha we're both so horrible at remembering dates! I can still remember waking up {actually, not sleeping} the morning after we got engaged and being so ecstatic that we were actually going to be able to spend the rest of our lives together! The ring added quite a bit of excitement as well..hehe! :) I think I stared at my hand for about two weeks {plus one month} straight! Fun, fun, fun!! Now I loveeeee just being able to wake up next to him every morning! I love my man!

Read how much effort my honey put in to proposing @

http://marcieandmatt.blogspot.com/2010/03/engagement.html

my {love} affair with mod {podge}

Being a new wifey has introduced me to a whole new world of craftiness and cooking! And over Christmas, our house was invaded with a lovely little bottle of modge podge. So in honor of that glorious event, this post will be dedicated to a couple of my favorite projects! :)

Project #1: Mod Podge Mantle

Inspiration: Pottery Barn

Supplies:

Old Window Frame

Wooden letters

Scrapbook Paper

Scissors
Tape

I already told you that Matt and I's first Christmas was very simple and {extremely} special! All of our decorations were either lent to us by friends or homemade by our own two hands {my favorite kind!}. When Matt and I were down with his family over Thanksgiving, he let me drag him on an adventure to Restore, which is a store under the umbrella of Habitat for Humanity. All of the houses that Habitat for Humanity restores have to first be "gutted" out. All of the old windows, doors, molding, tile, stoves, toilets {ewwww!} and anything else you can imagine that gets torn out of house, all gets sent to Restore. Donations may also be made there, as well. Anyway, it doesn't sound that interesting, but let me tell you, the store is a craft lover's dream!

So Matt drove me to Restore and after getting over my initial "awe," I found some of the most incredible window frames that became the foundation for my project. The frame that I used for this project was only $5....gasp! I know, right?! I'm totally the girl that has to tell everyone when I get a good deal! Haha! So I found the frame, we headed home and I headed to Hobby Lobby where I found wooden letter cut-outs, scrapbook paper and mod podge. Then, I traced the letters on to scrapbook paper, mod podged the scrapbook paper onto the letters and after they were dry, used scotch tape to stick them to the window. If you wanted the letters to stick on the window permanently, you could use mod podge to stick them to the windows. I used tape so I can switch out the letters for different seasons! So fun! And here's the final reveal....

TA-DA!

Project #2: Mod Podge Coasters

Inspiration: Mumsy Girl

Supplies:

4"x4" Tiles

Felt
Scrapbook Paper

Ceramic Craft Paint

Mod Podge

One of my friends recently got married and I wanted to do something a little more personalized for her than just the typical gift card. Her whole kitchen was going to be decorated in turqoise and brown, so I used that as a starting place. I went to Hobby Lobby and found three different patterns of turqoise and brown scrapbook paper, grabbed some brown ceramic paint and felt and headed to Home Depot to pick up some 4"x4" tiles.

Once I had all the supplies, I went home and started in on the coasters!

Step 1: Paint the outside edges of the tiles with the ceramic paint. I only paint the parts that won't be covered by the scrapbook paper. Let dry.

Step 2: After the paint has dried, I mod podge the scrapbook paper on to the tile. Depending on the size and style of the tile you use, I pre-cut the scrapbook paper small enough to leave about 1/4" outside border. Let dry.

Step 3: Once the mod podged has dried, apply a layer of mod podge all over the tile, covering both the scrapbook paper and tile. Let dry and apply a second coat. Let dry.

Step 4: After both coats of mod podge have dried, use a glue gun to glue the pre-cut felt on to the bottom of the tile. Let dry.

You're done! Here's one of my finished products!

These were so fun to make and easy to personalize! I made some a few sets and gave them as Christmas gifts! And who doesn't love something homemade?!

my {♥s}

"The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose."

- Richard R. Grant