Half Bathroom Makeover- Part 1 (Painting)

We have lived in our house for about 6 months. Our house hasn't changed much, it changed from the empty look when we first moved in to having furniture and a few wall decorations. Yup, that is it! Our walls are plain white through out the whole house. I've been itching to paint but was unsure of what colors and afraid since we've never painted before. I told Eddie I wanted to start painting and we decided to aim for one of the smaller rooms in the house, our downstairs half bathroom.


I was searching through bathroom ideas online and ran into a picture that gave me the idea of doing a two tone color wall with a border all around to divide the colors. I mentioned it to Eddie and he liked the idea. That night we originally went to Walmart for book shopping and ended up in the paint section, which led us to Lowe's and purchasing a border and paint for our project. We didn't buy two colors after all but we might go back for the other color some other time. Maybe I'll keep it in one color, we will see.


We came home and I was so excited to get started. Although Eddie wasn't looking forward to start that night since it was close to bed time, I still convinced him to paint one wall. I was nervous about taping the borders and corners because if you mess up with the tape then it can ruin the project. Our first attempt was okay. The hubby was not careful and maybe too excited that his hand slipped a bit. No big deal though, it will be covered once we place the border. 


Here it is, plain jane:

Before

 Starting to paint our first wall.

Today (Saturday) I decided to not be lazy and woke up to finish off the rest of the walls. Eddie had to work but I didn't want to wait on him so I started taping and painting all by myself. I sent him a picture to show him while he was at work. He was so proud of me! :) Once he got home from work, he started working on the border. The below is our finished project, for now that is. 

After:

I'm thinking of changing the mirror. It was already in the restroom when we moved in. Since it's only a mirror with no frame, I'm wanting to do a DIY remodel or just buy a new mirror. Oh and also the light fixture has got to go. For now, this is how it came out. I'm liking it. I'm hoping to fully finish this project soon. Part 2 coming soon. Let me know your thoughts! 

Forgot to mention: Check this website out, it's a virtual painter where you can upload your own picture of the room you want to paint and you can get an idea of what your room will look like in ANY color. Pretty neat!!! http://www.valsparpaint.com/en/explore-colors/color-selector/index.html?screen=painterScreen

Love, Jeddie 8A

Turkey Meatloaf - Delicious!

Tonight my husband decided to cook and he was really looking forward to it. He found this new turkey recipe and tried it last week. It was delicious! Since we had some more ground turkey in the freezer, he decided he would make turkey meatloaf again since we both enjoyed it so much last time. I wanted to share this great recipe with you all, so here it is with a couple of pictures. 


Here is the simple recipe:
1 lb of lean ground turkey
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
1/3 cup of Italian dressing
1/4 cup of any kind of BBQ sauce
1 egg
1/2 cup 2% shredded Monterey Jack cheese





In bowl combine all ingredients and blend together. Place 90% of turkey in bread loaf pan and make an indention across (long ways) down the center with a spoon. Then pour the shredded cheese in the indention. Place the remaining turkey on top. Bake in oven at 350°F for one hour.


Note: You can also add onions, green peppers, carrots, sweet pickles, seasoning etc.


My husband is a meatloaf lover and when he found this recipe with turkey, he HAD to try it. We are trying to eat a little healthier and had added turkey to our grocery list. Now I don't know how healthy this recipe really is but I assumed it couldn't be that bad. We also made mashed potatoes (small moderation) and corn on the side. We hadn't made it out to the grocery for the week and decided to cook dinner with what we already had in the house. I would of had a side salad with it to make it healthier.


Here is a quick picture of our dinner meal before we tore it up. Left overs will be taken to lunch. Yum! 

If you get a chance to try this recipe, let me know your thoughts. I hope someone tries it. Can't wait to hear your responses. 


Love, 
Judy 8A

One Year Anniversary- On the road to Florida

I am a couple of months late in posting this but it took me awhile because it was a lot of information and I had to remember a few things. hehe! I finally finished this blog posting. Enjoy. 


We wanted to take a trip for our one year anniversary but time flew by so quick. Next thing I knew, we were a few months away from our anniversary and started throwing ideas of where we could go. Somewhere affordable! So we decided on........ *drum roll please* Beautiful DESTIN, FLORIDA!!!! *I mentioned it on my last post* We had heard many good things about this location, we wanted to see for ourself.


Eddie really wanted to drive to Florida. I was NOT looking forward to it but I agreed to it. It was a 9 hour drive but it took us a little longer because I wanted to hit up two restaurants that were featured on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives w/Guy Fieri.


Our first stop was Louie and the Red Head Lady in Mandeville, Louisiana. It was delicious! We arrive around brunch time & decided to eat breakfast. I ordered the Bayou Benedict and Eddie ordered Grits & Grillades. They had a map on the wall where all out of town visitors marked their spot. It was a cute idea! Ever since they were featured on the show, they started having visitors from ALL over the world.

Our waitress was sweet enough to run outside to take a picture of us both by the sign.

Delicious but Im just not a fan of grits though.

Even visitors from out of the country!

Our second stop was at Manci's Antique Club in Daphne, Alabama. Eddie ordered the signature dish Shrimp Po-Boy and I ordered their delicious Jazzy Burger. Yum Yum!!!

Then we finally made it to Destin, Florida..... Gorgeous blue water, white sand, great weather and relaxation! Our first night we wanted to rest after our long drive. We drove around the area and called it a night.


Friday we took a stroll on the beach. I was amazed at how soft the sand was and how clear and blue the water looked.

We hung out most of the day at the beach and finally decided to go back to the hotel and get ready for dinner. We were told to try out Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co., so that's where we headed for dinner. Eddie ordered Lt. Dan's Drunken Shrimp, I ordered their Scampi Linguini and their Frizzled Onion Rings as an appetizer. Oh my god! It was delicious! We were so full! Our waitress had a few Forrest Gump trivia every time she visited our table. Here are a couple I remember, try to answer them if you think you can without google. 1) What war did Forrest Gump fight in? 2) What was Forrest's favorite part of being in the hospital? 3) Name at least two people he Forrest saved in the war? 4) What was Forrest's favorite soda pop? 5) What color shoes did Jenny wear at their wedding?  

After dinner, we decided to take a drive over to Ft. Walton which isn't too far from Destin. We stopped at a beach which had a big outdoors building with shops and restaurants. They also had "Howl at the Moon" and we decided to return later that evening once they opened. We had a good time although we were a little disappointed that our song request was not sung correctly by the performers. Since we were celebrating our 1 year wedding anniversary, we asked them to sing our first song which is "I cross my heart" by George Strait. They sang the first couple of lyrics and after that they ruined the whole song & didn't even finish it. They went on to the next one. Other than that, the night was fun but I have to admit Pete's Piano here in Houston is a whole lot better. We weren't too impressed with their performers. 

At Howl at the Moon

Saturday, we were driving around and found many places that kept advertising dolphin tours, parasailing, jet ski rentals, pontoon rentals etc. I've done parasailing before & I felt a bit nauseous right after we got down. I didn't want to ruin our day and we decided to keep it safe by taking their Dolphin Tour. We enjoyed ourselves so much! We got a chance to ride on a big boat and saw many dolphins. Every time we saw their heads peak up out of the water, we all ran to the side with our cameras like little children. I was able to capture pictures of them. They were so cute! After our boat ride, we took a walk through their shops (I can't remember the name of the place) and took a few photos. We later got hungry & made a stop at Fudpucker's. The food was ok, I wasn't crazy about it. Afterwards, we walked outside and they had small alligators in a pond and a few reptiles. We later called it a night. 

                                                                      Dolphins!!

                                                     This looked like so much fun.

I believe this was called Turtle Beach (I think). Everyone with their boats hung out in this area. The water was not deep at all.

Polly want a cracker??

                                             @ Fudpucker's

                                 Writing was all over their walls. I had to do the same! ;)

 Sunday, we took it easy & went by the beach our last day to hang out. It was a windy day so it wasn't as enjoyable as the first few days. For lunch we ate at McGuire's Irish Pub. I had their Philly Cheesesteak and Eddie had the Reuben sandwich. They were both so tasty!! This place looked pretty neat inside, they had dollar bills ALL over the restaurant. I had to make sure to leave our dollar with our names on it in case we ever returned. I believe their website mentioned they have about a million dollars from all the dollars their guests have hung. WOW!!  

The bus behind us was a little scary looking LoL

 

 We truly had a relaxing weekend in Destin, FL and would love to return. My family has mentioned they would like to plan a family trip and Destin is definitely on the list. Destin, it was fun and hope to visit again!! Thank you for a great weekend! I'd recommend this place to everyone. 

Love, Judy 8A

The beginning to a new routine

I've mentioned it before on my blog but if you didn't know yet or seen it, I am a part of a running group called Tutu Runners. A few of my friends came up with this great idea to start a running group with friends and family to get us out and running to get fit. We have women from all ages and all kind of body types.
I present to you, the Tutu Runners. This was at our first official run. Monster Mash in October 2011. I love our Tutus!


We started last year in June and still to this day I feel like I have not improved very much. Such a disappointment but I can only blame myself for that. By now I should of made some type of improvement. Well it looks like I needed a push to be able to get back on track. That push for me is a half marathon in New York. I was somehow convinced and encouraged to sign up for a half marathon. The Tutu Runners will be present at the Diva Run in Long Island, NY in October 2012. I'm excited because I have never visited NY but at the same time a little nervous and scared. Why you ask? A half marathon is 13.1 miles!! 13.1!! WHAT am I getting myself into??? We have started a training schedule which includes 4 days of running and 1 day of cross-training (zumba, kick boxing, cycling, swimming etc). We started the first week of June and I won't lie, I haven't been 100% committed but I have made it out to the park a few times. Baby steps! I am a little worried about pushing myself too hard in the beginning because of my knee but I hope that it wont get in my way of my training. My husband has decided to jump on the band wagon and has decided that he wants to run with me when I go to the park. Which is a motivation! I have also decided to start trying to eat healthy. I've tried so many times to lose weight but I always fail at it. I usually mess up after the first day and give up afterwards. I'm a sucker for food! So far, I am on week #2 and have lost 6 lbs. Woohoo!! I hope the pounds continue to drop. I have stopped drinking cokes and have started drinking water, which is a huge change for me. I'm not a water drinker but I know it's unhealthy to continue drinking cokes but so far so good.


Anyways, I've been googling healthy recipes to avoid eating the same ol' dishes and getting bored. I think that's the reason why I give up so easily when it comes to changing my eating habits. Well, I have found my favorite blog so far. .... Gina has some delicious recipes that are healthy! We have cooked the following recipes: Cuban Picadillo, Lasagna soup, Cheesy Jalapeno Popper Baked Stuffed Chicken and Chicken Rollatini with Spinach alla Parmigiana. 4 out 4 of these recipes have been so yummy! We have tried a few other recipes from other sites & recommendations from other people. I hope we continue to find new recipes, it makes it exciting when trying something new.


Wish me luck! I have 17 weeks left for our New York trip. My goal is to be able to run 13.1 miles but even if I only finish 10 miles, 8 miles or anything less I will be proud of myself. Well ok, I better do more than 3 miles at least. Some may think I am already doubting myself or setting myself up for failure but I don't care what anyone says. As long as I try, I'll be happy either way.


That's all for now. I hope this blog from tonight can be some sort of encouragement to someone to get back on track on their exercising or dieting. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again! Don't give up!!


Love,
Jeddie 8A