Friday Favorites

I spent the last two days at New Teacher Orientation being fed an abundance of information about the new district in which I would be teaching. Because I am not brand new to teaching, I was not required to attend the third day of NTO today. Instead, I took my time getting up and getting ready this morning. I went to Target and then to Office Depot to pick up a few things for my classroom--won't be the last trip, that's for sure! Once I found most of what I wanted, I headed to my classroom to work for a little while. I got quite a bit done today, but I still have lots to do next week during Staff Development. So, no pictures of the classroom today, but instead, I am going to share some of my current favorite things.

[one]

We have lived in our new house for a little over a month now, and we are finished decorating for the most part. My first room to completely finish, our dining room, ended up being my favorite.

I am already looking forward to breaking bread many times with many different people in this room. The mirror on the wall makes the space look double its actual size. You may remember this mirror makeover from here. We found these curtains at World Market. Matt didn't want us to buy curtains in our old apartment, because he knew it was very temporary, so I could not wait to get curtains in our new place! These have hints of sky blue that match our chairs. 

         

          

















I searched long and hard for the perfect metal chairs to go with my $20 table. I finally found the kind I was wanting at a great price from Cymax. They even shipped free (and super quick!). 

The picture on the left is one of my favorite pieces of furniture. It's our little mini-bar. It was the first piece of furniture Matt and I picked out together. We got it at an antique store while we were in Gruene for our first married Christmas. The picture in the middle is of the wall between our dining room and our kitchen. This chalk board was actually already there, and I have loved getting to write (and menu plan) on it. The picture on the right is another one of my favorite pieces. It is a butcher block that was given to me by my grandparents, and I vividly remember my grandmother using it in her kitchen when I was a child. 

Everything in our dining room has a story. Each piece brings back a fun memory. I LOVE our dining room! 

[two]

I am loving our new welcome mat! I threw out our old one before we moved, because it needed replacing. However, I couldn't find a welcome mat that I really liked. It was important to me because it is one of the first impressions of someone walking into your home, so I wanted it to actually serve the purpose of being welcoming. Well, I found one, and I am obsessed! I saw it online at Target, but shipping is not available and when I first saw it, you couldn't pick up at any of the stores nearest me. BUT, on my latest journey to Target, the welcome mat and I locked eyes. It was love at second sight! Do you love it as much as me?!? It's really okay if you don't... but HELLO, it's so stinkin' cute!!

[three]

I love watching The Today Show in the mornings, and because it's summer, I have been able to watch it more than just until 7:15am. It has been wonderful! They have these recipe segments, and one morning, they were talking all about zucchini. We have been really into zucchini lately (along with the rest of the world, apparently). They shared this recipe for Zucchini Boat Pizzas a couple of weeks ago, and I finally made it, and WOW-EE it's delicious!! I may have to share the recipe on a later post, because it is definitely one to try!

[four]

Last, but absolutely not least, my favorite thing right now is my sweet girl, Avery. While Matt has been at school, she has been there with me. We've gotten to spend lots of time together, and I know she will be just as sad as me to see me go back to work. 

Oh good grief, that face! How am I supposed to get anything done around here?! 

Happy Friday, friends! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

DIY | Dining Table Makeover

Before we moved to North Carolina, I printed out the floor plan of our new place and began sketching in where all of our furniture would go. Knowing that we would have a legitimate dining room for the first time, I was set on I getting a new dining room table to fit the space better than our breakfast table could. There was only one small problem... a new dining room table was just not in the budget. I mentioned in this post that I found this $20 library table on an online trading site. T-W-E-N-T-Y dollars, folks!

I had researched exactly what I wanted to do with the table before starting the project. My plan was to strip/sand down the table top to its bare wood, and then choose a stain and sealer, no paint. Then, I wanted to paint/wax the sides and legs of the table to look distressed. I have posted about some of my previous DIY furniture pieces before here and here, and in both projects, I used Annie Sloan chalk paint and waxes.

One morning, before Matt left for work, I asked him to get out the electric sander for me, because I was going to start on the table. Once he left, I got to work. I sanded the entire top of the table, and the color was definitely not what I was expecting. I loved it! It was then that I decided I did not want to stain the top anymore, and instead, I would just seal it.

Here are all of the products I ended up using for my table. On the left, the water-based, clear protective finish (sealer). I didn't want anything glossy, so this "Clear Satin" was perfect. On the right, you see I actually chose not to do an Annie Sloan brand of paint, but instead, I used a similar chalk paint that matched the color I was going for a little better. It was also cheaper. And, of course, I already had my trusty soft and dark waxes from Annie Sloan. (<-- game changers)

                         

         

      
















I coated the table top three (or four) times with the sealer, and in between each coat, it needed time to dry. So, the first thing I did after sanding the top was brush my first coat of sealer on the top. While that was drying, I painted the legs and sides of the table with the Vintage White paint. Notice, I did not strip or sand these parts of the table. This is by far my favorite part about using this chalk paint--not an insane amount of work.

After allowing both the sealer and the paint to dry, I went in for another coat of each. The paint dries very fast, so pretty soon after that, I was able to start waxing the sides and edges with the soft wax, followed by the dark, followed by a rag to brush strokes in the direction of the grain. This is what creates that distressed look that is so popular right now.

After allowing that to dry, and after another coat or two of the protective finish over the entire table, there was a finished product, and I couldn't be happier. It is exactly what I had envisioned before beginning the project, and even better, I did it myself.

If you think it looks good in our old space, just wait until I give you a peek into our new home with a picture-tour of our dining room.. coming soon!

Our Move

Well, we made it! We are officially residents of North Carolina, and after today, I will have a new state driver's license, which may be a little hard for me to swallow, but at least people won't inspect my ID like it's fake every time they ask to see it.

We have been here for about three weeks (minus a week for a family vacation we took), but I want to go back to pre-move to document some of our last days in Houston.

When we first decided on coming to NC, my mind already started worrying about how in the world we were going to get all of our stuff here. On the other hand, Matt's mind started planning the best roadtrip ever! After much persuasion, I talked him into NOT driving a 28-foot UHaul truck with our entire house in the back, our dog in the passenger seat, and my car being pulled behind by a trailer (making the entire ensemble about 40 feet long! Did I mention HE wanted to be driving the thing? Ya, all of that terrified me and gave me nightmares (and I am not exaggerating about the nightmares).

I knew that in order to ruin his "best roadtrip ever" plan, I had to come up with something good, so I did my research, and I found some companies, and one in particular that matched our budget, that would send our stuff across the country to let us meet it there. The company we used was called U-Pack, and it was exactly what it sounds like... YOU (us) PACK. Here's the deal: you pack everything you own in boxes, and then a driver comes to your house, drops off a trailer and then leaves. You then pack all of your boxes/stuff in that trailer as best you can (crossing your fingers that it makes the 1,200 mile journey without being completely destroyed). Then, for a small fee, you can actually choose the day your stuff is delivered to your new house. So, this is what we chose to do.

I wasn't aware at first, but I apparently married a master-packer, which is awesome. Single ladies, add that quality to your "Must Haves" for your future hubby. Seriously, he worked so hard to get all of our things packed and packed well. I owe our stuff not getting destroyed to him. Just check out some of our furniture items... #saranwrapisyourbestfriendwhenmoving <-- that hashtag should be trending.

Once we had everything pretty much packed, we took a quick trip to visit as much of our family as possible. Since my family all lives in Houston, the trip was really to see Matt's family. We got to visit both of his grandmothers, both of his parents, and his brother and our new sister-in-law. We also got to do two Texas-things that we hadn't done before. While we were in Waco visiting his brother, Sam and Sam's wife, Shannon, we went to Magnolia Market (the Texas "landmark" made famous by the hit show Fixer Upper. We also went to the Fort Worth Stockyards with Matt's mom while we were in Fort Worth.

We got back on a Saturday, and the trailer and movers came on Monday. We ended up hiring two men from a small moving company to help us load all of the boxes and furniture into the trailer. They were clutch, because they were speedy and knowledgeable about how best to pack everything in the truck. Here we are right before closing up the trailer. And below that, what our house looked like afterward. 

A very confused golden retriever and three tennis balls. Crazy, Since everything was now packed, we had planned to stay a couple of nights at my parents' house before going to the bayhouse for the Fourth of July. During our last couple of nights in Houston, some of our amazing friends threw us a Texas farewell party. We left some dear friends back in Texas and can't wait for them to come out to NC! 

After leaving Houston, we went to Galveston to stay for the Fourth of July holiday. We were there for five wonderful days, and got to spend some quality time with my family before leaving Texas. 

We came back to Houston Sunday evening, and here we are bright and early Monday morning to start our journey east. 

We drove all day on Monday, leaving at about 5:30am from Houston, stopping a few times for gas, bathroom breaks, and food, and we arrived in Atlanta, where we were staying for the night at about 8:00pm after the time change. We checked into our hotel, and immediately left to go get dinner. When we got back, we cleaned up and went to bed in an attempt to get some much-needed rest. The following morning, Tuesday, Matt woke up at about 3:30am to get on the road to meet our moving truck which got to our house at about 11am. My mom and I left at about 7:30am to make the 5 hour drive to our new home. After three days, we had every box unpacked and all pictures hung on the walls.

We left for a family vacation on that Saturday, so having everything mostly finished was a priority of mine. It felt great to be able to leave knowing that we wouldn't have a ton of work to do when we got back. We loved getting to spend eight days in Palm Springs playing golf and hanging out by the pool without any unpacking looming ahead. I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted, but here are a few from the golf course on the day of our family tournament and from the pool (with Matt's lifeproof-cased iPhone).

We got back to North Carolina on the 18th, and we hit the ground running. Matt is already in his second day of official orientation, but he has been working and studying for a couple of weeks now, and I have been working in my classroom for a couple of days, but mostly enjoying being in our new home with the dog, running errands, and exploring this new city.


Will update more soon! Happy Thursday, friends! I'm off to get my new driver's license! Fingers crossed they let me! ;)

A Change of Heart

This post is hard for me, but it is important. I recently shared that my husband has decided to pursue graduate school, and that we are moving to another state to make that dream a reality.

I remember sitting, criss-cross-apple-sauce, on my bed one night in February of 2013. I must have been working on my computer or something... I can't remember exactly. I had remembered passing conversations where Matt had mentioned grad-school before, but I didn't think much of it any of those times. I actually had our life planned out already, and it did not include graduate school, and it definitely did not include leaving Houston, much less Texas. I remember that night, because it was the first night I cried about grad-school. I mean, the ugly kind of cry... sobs, really. Pretty selfish, huh? My sweet, gentle, but also very ambitious, love-of-my-life husband made his intentions about graduate school clear to me. He wanted more for our family than my little thought-up plan. And my reaction was to cry? I see now how selfish I was being, thinking about MY job, MY family, MY home, etc. But, his dream, I now know with all of my heart, was straight from God. I just needed a little quite a bit of convincing. The Lord took care of that, and I am so glad He did.

In January of 2014, I heard a song for the first time that I know God had planned for me to hear. "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)" by Hillsong was that song. Since then, I have probably listened to it about 450 times. Each morning when I would get to school, I played a Christian Spotify station, and when this song would come on, I would just play it on repeat. Every time I listened to it, I felt God's presence and was calmed.

You call me out upon the waters

The great unknown where feet may fail

And there I find You in the mystery

In oceans deep

My faith will stand

When I listen to that verse, I know God knows what He is doing. It may sound silly to some people that I was so upset, but uprooting our life here in Houston was just not what I had planned. And, it was unknown, and I was unsure. It made me sad and scared.

Your grace abounds in deepest waters

Your sovereign hand

Will be my guide

Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me

You've never failed and You won't start now

I was selfish, and I did not want to leave "home," but the Lord changed my heart. Who am I to think that God did not have a plan? I think God knew what he was doing when he brought together a boy who loved risk and a girl who liked to plan. I prayed a lot. Matt prayed a lot. He didn't want this to just be his adventure--he wanted it to be our adventure. Over time, my prayer changed from "Lord, change Matt's mind," to "Lord, change my heart." And He did. He absolutely did.

And so, more than two years since the process began, I am sitting here on my bed, criss-cross-apple-sauce, writing a blog post about it all. As I look around right now, I see bare walls, a lot of saran-wrapped furniture, and packed boxes for days, but what I feel is a lot of things. Anxiety? Of course. Fear? A little. But, I am so eager to start this adventure with my college-sweetheart. The Lord has taught me so many things since we got married in 2012, and I know He has a lot more to teach me.

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders

Let me walk upon the waters

Wherever You would call me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger

In the presence of my Savior

For now, though, I choose to fully enjoy this next chapter of our life as the Bormanns, and I promise to blog about it along the way!

Life Lately

There have been so many things going on around here, so it's been difficult to keep up the blog. We have some very exciting news that we've been keeping in for a while, so blog world, here it is... we are moving!! Just after getting married three years ago, hubby decided he wanted to pursue getting his MBA at some point.

Well, it is finally here. We will be leaving Houston at the end of the month and headed to Durham, North Carolina. Matt will begin classes at Duke University at the end of July! Everything has been all set for our move since March, except for one important thing... a job for me. We had so many close family and friends praying for God to open the right door for me. And, as of Tuesday, I was offered and have accepted a job as a 7th grade math teacher in Durham! I'm in awe of our Lord's faithfulness.

        

        
















In other news, my sister graduated from college. Man, if that doesn't make me feel old, I'm not sure what will! She has moved back to Houston, and she starts her real-world job on Monday. You go girl!

I also had my last day of work, which was WAY more bittersweet than any other last school day. My sweet teacher friends helped me celebrate by all going to lunch one day before finals started. And after the last final, after the last student left the building, all of a sudden, my classroom was completely packed up in boxes and was empty. Pretty surreal. 

After the end of school last week, my first weekend of summer was spent celebrating the beautiful marriage of my brother-in-law and my new sister-in-law! The wedding was perfect, and their love for each other perfectly depicts Christ's love for the church. Congratulations, Bormanns!

Now that it is officially summer, I've had some time to really relax. Avery has loved me being home. We went to the bay for some much needed R&R with my mom. It was the perfect way to start summer.

Last but not least, to bring us up to the present, my latest project... About a week ago I purchased an old library table from an online trading site for $20. It was in very good shape for its age, but needed a lot of TLC. I was immediately drawn to it, and I made it my first project of the summer. Here is the before... (on the left, with our old chairs and on the right, with our new chairs!)

       

       

Stay tuned for the "during" and "after" pictures! Happy Summer, friends!

Chicken Salad

Y'all, my husband speaks the language of food. Thankfully, I have learned to speak that same language. One of his F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E foods/snacks is chicken salad, but I always cringe at buying the pre-made, grocery store chicken salad, because it's a little container that costs about $9. With hubs, that whole container may last about 9 minutes. So, whenever I find new recipes for chicken salad that are clean, or at least somewhat clean, I like to give them a try! I'm know I've said this before, but this recipe really is a new favorite! It tastes so refreshing. Here's the recipe:

Chicken Salad
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1 large green apple, diced
1 large red apple, diced
1 1/4 cups red seedless grapes, halved
2 celery stalks, diced
1/2 cup walnut pieces (I used pecans because that's what I had)
2 tablespoons litem mayo
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons plain greek yogurt
1 teaspoon honey
Salt and pepper to taste
Lettuce leaves for serving

Directions:
Mix all ingredients chicken through the walnuts in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the lite mayo, dijon mustard, greek yogurt, and honey. Pour the mixture into the bowl with the chicken and fruit and toss until evenly coated. Serve on lettuce leaves.

Enjoy!

Summery Chicken Tostadas

Since this recipe was shared with me about a month ago, I have made this dinner twice. It is definitely a hubby-approved fave! A friend of mine over at Fit Foodie Fam blogged this recipe and shared it with one of our 21-Day Fix groups. And let me just tell you, SO yummy, SO colorful, and SO easy to put together. Here's the recipe:

Summery Chicken Tostadas
Ingredients:
-1-2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (my fave crockpot shredded chicken recipe below)
-1 teaspoon EVOO (or other oil of your choice)
-1 zucchini, diced
-1 red onion, diced
-4 whole wheat tortillas (my fave are the Mission Artisan brand)
-1 cup corn kernels (I use frozen, but fresh is fine!)
-1 teaspoon ground cumin
-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
-3-4 tablespoons salsa verde
-3/4 cup shredded cheese (I use Monterrey Jack if I have it, but anything is fine!)

Directions:
Preheat over to 400 degrees.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini and red onion, stirring often. Continue to sauté these ingredients for about 8 minutes or until the onions are soft.

While the zucchini and onion are cooking, lightly spray both sides of your tortillas with cooking -spray, and lay on a baking sheet. Bake these in the oven for about 8 minutes or until they begin turning a golden color. (Be careful not to burn them.)

After the onion and zucchini are soft, add in the corn and stir. Let the corn heat all the way through, and then add in the spices and salsa. Stir all ingredients together. Then, add in the chicken to the vegetable mixture and stir to combine.

By this time, your tortillas should be done. Take them out of the oven, and top each tortilla with about 1/2 cup of the chicken/veggie mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top and return to oven to allow cheese to melt.

Serve with desired toppings, such as avocado, cilantro, or more salsa verde.
Let me know if you try this recipe! Would love to know how you like it!


Also, here's the shredded chicken recipe I use...

SkinnyTaste Convenient Slow-Cooker Shredded Chicken
Ingredients:
-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of all fat (about 1.5 pounds)
-3 cups Swanson 33% less sodium chicken broth
-1 onion, quartered (optional)
-1 celery stalk (optional)
-1 sprig of fresh parsley (optional)

Directions:
Combine chicken breasts, just enough broth to cover the chicken and onion, celery and parsley (if using) into the slow-cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.

Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Discard the remaining liquid and veggies. You can use the shredded chicken in any recipe that calls for it, or refrigerate it for up to 3 days.