sopapilla cheesecake

oh heavens. boy do i have some sinful yumminess to share with you! first let me start off by saying that i cannot take credit for this recipe. when i was an RA our RD Lindsay used to make this for us. she totally won my heart by doing so :) this recipe is so good and bad for you at the same time that i only make it once a year. typically at Thanksgiving or Christmas. this year i couldn't hold off for another 6 months so i broke down and made it early!

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla
2 packs of cream cheese
3/4 cup of sugar
2 cans of crescent rolls

first lay out 1 can of crescent rolls in a 9x13 pan

mix together the cream cheese, vanilla and sugar

im a hand mixer girl- only in the case that i can't
 use a spoon. i want to feel the consistency!

dont judge- a girl can always lick the spoon! 

spread the mixture on top of the crescent rolls then lay
 out the other can of rolls on top. that easy!
like my piggy spatula?! :)

yep! licking the spoon AGAIN- You only live once 

does anyone else the living crap scared out of them by the loud
POP of the crescent package?! it is typically the mister's job to
open these- but he wasn't home in time today :( 

before putting it in the oven, melt some butter and
 pour over the top. paula deen would be so proud 

then sprinkle  drown that puppy in cinnamon sugar!

bake at 350 for 30 minutes

YUMMY!




go ahead, i dare you. try this awesomeness out. its quick, easy and delicious! i try to convince the hubs that it is even breakfast material considering it is crescent rolls and cream cheese. he's not buying it.

let me know your thoughts once you've tried it!

sprucing up the place part 2

this weekend we continued with some of the projects we had started last weekend and FINALLY finished a project that was started er.... about 3 months ago. :/ its about dang time. lets start with the project from 3 months ago and go ahead and get it off my chest. we finished painting the walls in our stairway. the reason this took so long is because it was way more complicated than we i originally thought. you see... our walls in our stairway are probably about 15 or so feet high- quiet possibly higher. now that requires a big climb in order to cut in. i'm a weenie- i'll be the first to say it. so... i patiently waited until my super awesomely brave hubs decided it was time to make the climb. :) all that said- our stairway is now finished! now to find something to put on that huge wall.... ideas are more than welcome! ;) we are also debating continuing this color into our living room and kitchen, which is currently a creamy/yellow. thoughts?! 

almost done! 3 months ago this wall was still white

finished! decor ideas anyone?!

we also ALMOST completely finished our bathroom. just waiting on the towels and few more small decor pieces. and possibly a small country/chic chandelier to replace the  lighting we currently have :) i was inspired by the shower curtain below. {so that is how we picked the paint color. for those who know me- i FEAR color. its so bold... but the hubs said its time to branch out- so i trusted that man and boy was he right!} anywho-  i loved that shower curtain so much that i couldn't put it in the guest bath. it had to be in ours- but we have a glass shower. so instead, i installed that sucker above our glass shower doors to fill in the high ceiling above it. after a couple of corner shelves, a new hobby lobby clock {80% off!!}, staining the cabinets and installing that mirror {which i promise isn't crooked- the previous home owner replaced the lighting and didn't exactly line it up with the sink- insert annoyed laugh} it is finished! or almost... close enough to post though!

ps- i found these awesome lamps for the living room at marshalls for $30/piece!! 

i love home ownership! if i could stay home all day every day and decorate, update, redo, etc. my heart would be so happy :) btw- please forgive my awful picture taking skills. majority of pics will be blurry or crooked. i just can't help it! haha and... i need blogging 101! can't figure out my font! :/

enough about our updates.... tell me about yours! 

sprucing up the place

this weekend we did a little of what i like to call sprucing up our home. one of the biggest things i heard when buying our house was people saying how there is always something to do to your home. this is proving to be very true! there is always a new idea, project or decor piece that seems to come up. we have a running sheet of home projects. thanks to the awesome website i heart organizing for the super cute home project printable! some of our to-do's are big some are little and just take a little thought and effort. and oh yea... $$$ :)

this weekend's to-do consisted of:
~ replace bathroom mirror (halfway done)
~ buy {comfy} rug for living room (done!)
~ start pulling up rocks in backyard (done!)
~ make and hang a diy scripture sign above laundry doors (done!)
~ get bedside tables (postponed until this weekend)

i'd say it was a pretty successful weekend. below are some pics of the progress!

our carpet and new mirror for bathroom!

about to remove the old mirror... thats another story!

my handsome man putting down the comfy stuff

done! Lucy approves :)

scripture sign i made from old fence pieces- thanks again Rach for the inspiration! 

heres to blogging.

well.... i've said it over and over, "i won't get a blog", and here i am writing my first post! i'm not sure what all this blog will entail but through it my hopes are to encourage, inspire and challenge those who stumble upon this thing. :) the plan is to touch on topics like recipes, diy projects, things the Lord is teaching me in my walk, home updates and whatever else comes to mind.  

btw- i have no idea what i am doing, so please forgive me as i learn this template and layout thingy. 

lets start with some lessons the good Lord has been wrecking my heart with...

sunday we visited city church international with some friends. it was wonderful. very, very different than the structured, picture perfect church i've known my whole life. m and i walked away with alot for our heart to reflect on as far as our view of church and what church is supposed to look like biblically. the speaker was a student from dts and the words the Lord laid on his heart to speak came at me like a huge spotlight was shining down! for those who don't know me well, failure is something that i have been blessed not to have experienced very much this far in life. until lately.... {now i am being very raw/vulnerable/transparent, whatever you want to call it and i am finding it tough to type this} anyways, i graduated college in may 2011. for whatever reason i changed my degree to psychology my sophomore year. so upon graduation i could do nothing, zilch, zap with my degree. wahoo!! {intense sarcasm!} so i kept working at the place and i was and tried a new position. needless to say, i wasn't feeling it. i moved on and nannyed for a few months, that wasn't fulfilling my gifts either. then i got this wonderful teaching job at a mdo program so close to my house. i have loved every second of it!!! however, it is only two days a week. this would be perfect if we had kids, but we don't. common sense tells me that while we don't have kids i should work as hard as possible {meaning a full time job} until the day comes that we start a family. this is where failure has come in and hit me like a ton of bricks. never did i think i would be the college grad that couldn't find a full time job in a field that i like. so this has been a tough, guilty filled journey lately. all that to say.... here are a couple of quotes and passages that the lord used to wake me and shake me on sunday. i hope they encourage you as they have me!

"our worst fear should be not failure, but succeeding at something that doesn't matter."      Dwight L. Moody

"patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. then you will receive all that he has promised." hebrews 10:36 

moving from a small arkansas town 5 years ago to a big city definitely has changed my view on several things- both good and not so good. living in dallas has opened the doors to way more distractions. i have never seen more focus on cars, houses, business titles, clothes etc. than i do now. boy does that quote from Moody come to mind. success will be measured by our heavenly father, not by staying up to date on the latest fad or the largest fortune 500 company. my challenge to you and myself is to stop and examine what you are seeking out to accomplish. is it ultimately for further the kingdom of Christ? will this success make an impact on individuals lives for the better? 

and lastly- the verse from hebrews talks about patient endurance. personally i feel like this is much easier said than done. endurance can be tough, especially when you aren't faced with failure often. join me in praying for more patient endurance...