You Live & Ya Learn

First time home owners make mistakes. We've made a few. Probably the first few mistakes I've ever made in my life. Ok, kidding. Maybe I've made a few more than that, but who's counting? First it was the wrong color paint for the porch, but thank goodness it's a color that blends in enough that you can't tell. But our second mistake? Doing all that landscaping design, planting everything, and then deciding to get a sprinkler system. Oops.

Now we have trampled hydrangeas, uprooted shrubs, and our driveway was demolished to get the two front yards attached (thankfully they patched it right up!). We've learned our lesson...

sprinkler system first, planting second.

Trust me, we have no problem admitting the errors we've made already. Yes, I know. It seems like step one and two would be a no brainer, but obviously we had a case of "excited homeowners" to get the yard nice looking that we jumped the gun a bit too soon. Things happen. 

We live, we learn, we move on. Now you get to learn from us.

And here's where we're at for the moment. Excited to see these guys up and running later tonight!

these poor hydrangeas and shrubs were looking much perkier before the digging

began. Now we've got flower petals and limp plants.

I'm super excited to have the sprinkler system connected to the raised bed garden area

as well as run right by the chicken coop. Life is getting way to easy for all our

watering needs!

eventually we want to put in a flower garden specifically for cut flowers on the side of the

house. Our guy is hooking us up with a mini drainage system to water the flower garden!

With the amount of yard we have, it will pay for itself in saving not just our time but

the amount of time we're spending watering. And did I mention how many times I've already

forgotten about the sprinkler in the backyard and soaked one area more than another?

I'm pretty sure it will cut down our water bill as well as be a little more earth friendly.

Stay tuned for our next adventures of the first time home buyers in the next couple months.

There's always something to share, something to learn, and fun projects to come out

of it all!

♥The Stanleys

Treat In The Mornin', Treat In The Evenin'

I like easy. I like on-the-go. I LOVE anything that reminds me of dessert. I'm obsessed with this easy, on-the-go recipe that can be purposed for breakfast and then repurposed as a dessert with the leftovers. And since I was challenged to another whole30 for 30 days for a friend's 30th year being alive (Happy early B-day Melanie!), I can't keep away from this. Fair enough, right?

As promised, I said a few days ago I'd get around to posting the goodies that go into this but be sure to test out your own version...if you're feeling like some dairy free chocolate chips, throw some in to spruce up the dessert. If you've got some other fresh fruit, dump a handful into the bowl. I'll leave the "goodies" in the bowl for your cravings, but below is what I've done as my go-to.

The Treat In The Mornin' & The Treat In The Evenin'

What's In It?

1 C full fat (canned) coconut milk, kept in the fridge overnight

1/2 banana, chopped

1 handful of fresh picked raspberries

1 handful of unsweetened shredded coconut

1 handful nuts of choice

1 dash of flax or chia seeds

1 dash of cocoa protein powder 

(protein powder is not whole30 approved, but I'm doing my own version this time around ;-))

And for those of you not on whole30...add things such as:

1 drizzle of honey

1 small handful of Enjoy Life chocolate chips

1 dash of chocolate protein powder (mix well with coconut milk)

1 (or 2) paleo cookie(s) to scoop up your treat in a bowl

Place all ingredients into your bowl. Eat it like cereal for your breakfast (don't forget to add a side of protein in the morning as well). For dessert, throw your bowl in the freezer until hardened

(at your preference of hardness) for a dessert. Or be lazy like me and just do the easy cereal way. It makes life that much easier. Enjoy!

♡Cori

PS-always remember to keep a can of coconut milk and coconut cream on hand in the fridge.
I was once given that advice and it's saved me a million!

Landscaping Design

Remember when I was trying to find some ideas for our front yard? I searched and searched, downloaded app after app for landscape designing, and I even took it as far as downloading an app all about plants. That actually happened accidentally. I didn't read the fine print or was it the large print? I don't even know. But if you have questions, I have answers...and if I don't have an answer, I have about 10 apps you can look through to see what you can find. I also have the best piece of information you could ever wish for as a homeowner wanting to redo your landscaping design....

After all those late nights and long days of research I came across a local, family run nursery who guess what??? They do FREE landscaping! Even though I did all that research I'm pretty sure I would've ended up with the wrong plants, wrong ideas, wrong look for the house, and all around wrong.
But FREE?! You don't have to tell me twice!

What I will tell you is that they have a giant selection, great service, and are very opinionated for the right reasons (they know what they're talking about and most of us don't, let's be honest). Now is your chance to pinch those pennies by heading to the nursery for your free landscaping design. We purchased all our plants, trees, and shrubs from them and why not? Their prices are fairly comparable and why not give them the business after all their hard work in designing your yard?

I mean, look at this place...it's huge. And this is only the back half of the nursery.

 All the employees know me now considering I go there about three times a week for more plant education, tips, tricks, and design. In fact, I kinda like to think I'm friends with them now...
I mean, I did get a personal drive by for exact tips at the house, spray painted lines for exact places
to plant everything, and at the end he even started planning out the backyard. And again...
did I mention it was fo' FREE?! I think this guy deserve a big present for all his work, don't ya think?

Now is the time to get your landscaping dialed in. Head to Yard 'N Garden Land in Vancouver (NOW) before all the others beat you to it! Tell Tim that Cori sent you...and he may hate you for a minute or I guess maybe hate me for a minute if he gets a million people in line for his work. It will

be worth the wait and worth every penny you spend on the best looking plants, shrubs, and flowers!

Happy landscaping!

♡T&C

Deal Of The Day: Porch Addition

Slow and steady is how everything is coming. I get all these days off from work, but it becomes a little difficult when it's a two to three man project....and nobody is around except me. That's the real issue. Just me and me as a new homeowner. I don't exactly know what I'm doing. I'll be completely honest. So instead, I am constantly finding more things to do around the house and coming up with more projects that could happen over the summer. Heaven forbid I continue to think of any more projects
or we'll die doing projects. Seriously.

I was telling my patient at work the other day that I'm constantly learning patience as I have about 50 projects on the to-do list (ok, maybe not that many) that I want to accomplish like now.
Her response was this...

"I always told my husband that if I wanted to order it to be done two weeks from now, I would've ordered it two weeks from now. But I want it now, so I'm ordering it now!"

I like the way she thinks.
Ty told me in this very slow voice, "We'll get all those projects done......(long pause).....
in the next thirty years." You can only imagine I about died. I'm too much like my mom
when it comes to this stuff. Come up with a project and we've got to get it done. Soon, real soon.

Anyway, the porch is coming along. One thing at a time. First the paint job for a temporary fix until we decide what the heck we want to do with it. Then came planting a few shrubs and some of my favorite lavender. And now we've come to the decor, which is the "deal of the day":

adirondack chairs!

In all that time I've had on my hands, unable to do a two man project, I searched and searched the world wide web for various chairs....all of which I loved seem to cost nearly $400 for two chairs. A bit on the pricey side, but of course, they are well worth the money when a woodworker is making them. But Home Depot pulled through. 2 chairs made of nice, new cedar wood, each $39!   That leaves it up to the chair owners for the stain or paint color to make them unique.
How cool, right? And what a steal!

If you're in the market for a good deal on adirondack chairs made of cedar and are willing

to put them together on your own, hit up Home Depot on your next outing before their gone!

♡T&C

Transformation Tuesday & A How To

Can't beat a quick transformation, right? Sometimes we just need that quick fix (and not like the illegal quick fix unless that's what you're into). That quick fix for a home project. Duh. It definitely comes
into play when your porch was once blue astroturf, then it was ripped off, and then it was left
with red, white, and blue cement. It's a job that later down the road we may want to
make a nice wood porch or redo it in some other way. But until that
day comes, we did this for the time being.

BEFORE

HOW TO

1 gallon Behr bonding primer

1 gallon Behr concrete/garage floor paint

paint supplies

(if you want to use a roller, be sure to get the 3/4in so it reaches all the crevices in the cement)

Day 1. pressure wash the area you plan on painting.

Day 2. paint the area with your bonding primer.

(allow to dry for at least 4-6 hours on a warm day, up to 8 hours, or over night to be safe)

Day 2-3. paint the area with the concrete floor paint.

Day 4. put your furniture on the porch and decorate the area.

Day 4 evening. have dinner and a drink while you relax on your new porch. 

Isn't it amazing what a quick paint job can do for the home? And how easy, right?

Quick to paint, quick to dry, quick enough project to enjoy your new view from the front porch.

Have fun making your porch your own!

♥T&C

Gimme S'more!

I have nothing to say at the moment about these because I'm still cleaning my drool up from all

the mouth watering that's been ongoing since I last ate one of these. They are a graham cracker

that tastes like a cookie that are better than real grahams that everybody should buy and then

eat all of them in one sitting. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. And that was a run on sentence.

I hate when people don't use punctuation and I just did it.

This company also makes two kinds of donuts that I've only seen at Chucks here in Vancouver.

Both are again, something you'll want to eat the entire box of. Thanks goodness we only buy these

things on special occasions or we'd be 1) broke and 2) overweight.

That's all I've got for ya today. Go get yourself a box of grahams and two boxes of donuts 

because it's that time of year for BBQs, s'mores, and campfires. Kinnikinnick 

donuts and Kinnikinnick grahams is where it's at. 

You won't be mad.

♥T&C

Take A Moment

I've been sitting in front of the computer wondering where to start such a post after the tragedy that occurred at Reynolds High School yesterday. I believe that all the personal posts on Facebook yesterday were well said and very heartfelt coming from both individuals who went to Reynolds as well as those who felt some sort of impact. It's truly amazing how a community of people come together after such an event, but many of us can walk away and praise the Lord it wasn't us and that our family all came home safely tonight.

In fact, I selfishly had those exact thoughts. When calling to make sure my brother wasn't teaching up at the high school today and there was no response, the fear and panic set in. Was he subbing there today? Could my Dad have been up at the high school for any reason rather than the middle school? Who was "the teacher" that was wounded? Could it possibly be a teacher I personally know? The thoughts and fear, the sickening feeling, and the wondering....all to find out my family would still be around last night and future nights. Again, I thank the Lord for the future days I get to have with both my dad 

and brother.

But last night and all upcoming nights, the family of Emilio won't have him home ever again. They will remember and cherish those memories of him. Friends will remember who he was and all will grieve the loss. No parent expects to lose a child. They don't expect to live many, many years longer than their child. They don't expect to never again have them at home and in their bed. Prayers to Emilio's family tonight and forever as they grieve their loss and move through a future that does not contain their son here on Earth.

(For those interested, the link below will take you a website where you can donate to the funeral expenses)

http://www.gofundme.com/Funds-for-Shot-Student

Time and time again, we will thank Todd Rispler, our teacher and our family friend, for risking his life to save the 2,000 plus kids and teachers. By racing to the main office in a completely different building and taking a gun shot that wounded him, he saved what possibly could have turned into something much bigger. And while all those websites come out with "the top facts about Todd Rispler", I think they continue to miss the most important things about him....he's not only a great teacher, a wonderful coach, at one time was an athlete himself....but he is also a father, a husband, a brother, a friend to many, and a wonderful man.

I can most likely speak for everybody out there when I say "Thank you" to that man and we are happy to hear your wife and your kids get to be with you for many more days to come.

I ask that today and in future days, we all take a moment of silence to send those prayers to Emilio's family, to thank the Lord you have another day with your family, and that there will not be a 75th

school added to that school shooting list.

#prayersforreynolds