Sticks & Stones...Yard Facelift Part 1

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! Our little family has a standing tradition of taking Easter pics out in the yard every Easter Sunday (and they turned out so well this year!),

so I'll post on those soon.

Now, this is a post totally full of bragging on my sweetie.

He has worked his tail off the past couple of weeks.

He completely built our new stone landscape wall himself. He plans to start on the border structure next. (I myself just wasn't brave enough to help with this task. I did a little work here & there with the mulch around the islands & picked up a few sticks,
but the wall was all him.)

He started with removing the old wooden planks (some were even rotted out) and shoveling out the dirt- those pics are the Befores shown below. He then packed sand atop the dirt to create a level foundation for the stone. He then began building up the stones, using a level along the way to make sure it was all even. It was a slow process, but it had to be to make it right.
And, wow, did it turn out beautifully!!

The entire project wasn't really as pricey as I thought it would be. We got the materials (sand, stone blocks & stone pavers) from Lowes. We also got two HUGE loads of mulch while there, so when you take the cost of that out, it's not that bad. A few hundred bucks & LOTS of time and hard work was totally worth it to completely transform our front yard into what it is becoming.

To show you what it used to look like, for the full effect...

BEFORE

Yuck...

Now, here's our "new" yard!!...

AFTER

Beautiful!

BEFORE

Gaps & rotting wood...

AFTER

Perfection!

And some pics of steps along the way...

This shows after the wood was removed, and after Zach dug out the area for the stones to be placed...

Stacking it up...

Leveling it out...

Some stones were still wet, so that's why they look darker here...

Coming right along...

Starting on the supporting wall...

Done!...

He wants to tackle this area next- that will be Part Deux. We have already had the stone pavers delivered to the house, so they're ready to go. He plans to just lay the pavers, one single row,
all along the way. I can't wait to see it!!

This shows the Before of the wooden plank wall that was once there. I'll post this pic again in my next post once the new stone border is complete.

Because of the stone wall, it looks like an entirely different yard. I'm so proud of him!!

I also wanted to include some pics of our beautiful azaleas...

I love to enjoy God's beautiful creation, and especially when it's in our own front yard.

Hope you all have a great week!

In Christ Alone

Just wanted to share some powerful lyrics to a song I absolutely love. It is so very true & beautiful, and the part in bold is what I'm hoping to focus on this weekend. We should all remember these words today- Good Friday- on Easter Sunday,

and throughout the year...

"In Christ Alone"

"In Christ alone my hope is found-

He is my light, my strength, my song.

This cornerstone, this solid ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease-

My Comforter, my All in All

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, who took on flesh,

Fullness of God in helpless babe.

This gift of love and righteousness,

Scorned by the ones He came to save.

'Til on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied.

For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground, His body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain.

Then bursting forth in glorious day,

Up from the grave He rose again.

And as He stands in victory,

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me.

For I am His ,and He is mine-

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death-

This is the power of Christ in me.

From life's first cry, to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man

Can ever pluck me from His hand.

'Til He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand."

Happy Easter!! He is risen!!

Sheena's Shower!

Wow! What a great weekend this was!! My sweetie finished our landscape wall, and I can't wait to post about it and show off his hard work! I caught up on house work (including organizing some cabinets- yay!), and I watched Gone With the Wind for the first time ever. It took up about 4 hours of my life, which is crazy, but it was good. I'm not gonna' lie though- I don't think it lived up to the hype (sorry, any fans out there), but I'm glad I got to watch it.

Also, this past Saturday, I went to a bridal shower for one of my sweet friends, Sheena. I am so very excited to be a bridesmaid in her upcoming wedding!! I so enjoyed getting to meet some new people, including another bridesmaid, Sally, and eating some yummy food. I "borrowed" a few pics from Sheena
to share with you all. :)

Sally, Sheena & me

The beautiful cake...

The three of us again...

...and again... :)



This was during Sheena's prayer. I'm smiling because she thanked God for sending her a man that could put up with her Filipino temper. :)



Enjoying the yummy food...



The beautiful bride-to-be...


 
The whole gang...



This was my present to Sheena (I also got me & Zach one too)...



Oh, and look...the three of us again. :)



Us with Sheena's sweet mom...



Can't wait for her big day!! What a stunning bride she will be! :)

Another Award...For Me?!

You fellow bloggers really know how to make a girl happy, don't you? I was reading over my blog list the other day, catching up on things, and went to a blogger friend's site, Grateful Belly (yummy, yummy recipes!) to check out a recipe she recently posted. I was scrolling down, and lo & behold, there was my little blog's name, under her winners for the Versatile Blogger Award. (I'm including her post here.)

Thank you so much for awarding me!! First, the Liebster Blog Award last week, and now this. I've really gotta' step up my
project posts!!

So now, it's my turn to pass on this award. The rule is to pass it on to 15 wonderful blogs that you regularly follow, so here goes...

1.) http://4you-withlove.blogspot.com/

2.) http://amblogdesign.com/

3.) http://www.howsweeteats.com/

4.) http://sunnyvanilla.blogspot.com/

5.) http://buttonbirddesigns.blogspot.com/

6.) http://4theluvofwriting.blogspot.com/

7.) http://michelleslittlepieceofheaven.blogspot.com/

8.) http://itsjustcalledspicy.blogspot.com/

9.) http://thebrownabode.blogspot.com/

10.) http://www.eccentricleopard.com/

11.) http://werenotmommyblogs.blogspot.com/

12.) http://www.vixenmade.com/

13.) http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com/

14.) http://mrscamerahappy.blogspot.com/

15.) http://lucasandmahina.com

******

The next step is for me to share 7 random things about myself...
(I love this kind of thing!)...

1.) Zach (my husband) and I were both voted Most Likely to Succeed by our Senior class in high school. He graduated in '02, and I graduated in '03.

2.) To me, there is not much that a little retail therapy can't fix. I can instantly get in a good mood when I go shopping- and especially when I bring home a purchase. And, when I go into a store (pretty much any kind of store), I am drawn to the clearance section. I rarely pay retail for anything.

3.) Speaking of shopping, one of my favorite things to do is to hand out coupons. It's a weird thing that I did by chance one time, and have been doing it ever since. Try it some time- go in a shop where you have a coupon, and pass it on to someone else in the check-out line. It's fun to put a smile on someone else's face,
and your own too. :)

4.) Zach & I do want children some day, but can I just confess that we are really loving our life right now? Currently, for both of us, work is really good; home is even better. We love the time we have now, traveling & really working to get things done at home. We want to check some things off of our list before babies are added to it, and that's perfectly fine with us.
(So stop asking!...haha, just kidding...or am I?) :)

5.) One of my favorite places to be is in our choir at church on Sunday mornings. I feel at home. :)

6.) I miss my dad every day. EVERY SINGLE DAY.

7.) My first name, Ashley, was my mom's maiden name.

******

Thanks again to Grateful Belly for nominating us for this award!
If you were nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award please follow these rules:

1. Thank the person that gave you the award in a blog post.
2. Include a link to their blog in your post.
3. Pass the award on to 15 bloggers you follow.
4. Include 7 random things about yourself in your post.
5. Notify your nominees by leaving a comment on their blog.

Easter Egg Wreath

Um, I guess I'm a little behind in creating an Easter wreath, but I haven't really gotten around to it until now. I actually finished this up last night (no more excuses), but I'm enjoying it now!

This is just a simple, shabby Easter egg wreath. I'll break down the materials I used...(this was so cheap!)...

- one wreath form ($1 at the lovely Dollar Tree)

- Spanish moss (one bag is $1, also from Dollar Tree)

- plastic Easter eggs (just under $2  for a dozen at Wal-Mart)

- hot glue

I was going to just buy a bag of Easter eggs at the DT, but I found these at Wal-Mart first. These eggs were so cute, I just couldn't pass them up! And bonus, they were already painted!

I started by putting small spots of hot glue on the wreath, and attaching small picks of Spanish moss. This gave the wreath

a little covering.

I then grabbed up the eggs & put a big dab of glue on the backs...

...then attached them to the moss-covered wreath.

Simple, simple, and the cost was under 5 bucks. :)

 Love it!

I hope you are all enjoying your week. We're still using all of our daylight at the end of the day to work in our yard. I picked these yesterday from one of the trees in our back yard...

Our front yard is transforming into a beautiful place right now, thanks to my sweet, hard-working hubby! I am so happy to be marking things off of our to-do list, and making our house our home. We are so blessed to have the home that we do.

We just love it!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I am excited to be going to my best friend Sheena's bridal shower!!
Love catching up with friends!

No Peek Chicken

I hope you're all doing well & enjoying the beautiful weather! My sweetie & I definitely have been...well, not really enjoying it, but working out in it. I hope to post very soon on our little big yard project we've been working on. We have re-mulched our islands (which makes a world of difference already), and Zach bought a huge load of stones and pavers. He's in the process of creating a new garden wall bordering the plants around our house. It will be beautiful when it's done, and I am so proud of him & the hard work he has put into it! It is so much more rewarding to do projects like this ourselves! I can't wait to share the before & afters!! Hopefully just a few more days, so stay tuned...

Also, more exciting news- my little blog has been given yet another award by a fellow blogger!! That's two within a week. Crazy!! I will post on that soon. :)

So, I tried a new recipe a couple weeks ago that we both loved, so naturally, I thought I would share!

This was mentioned on another blog (and for the life of me, can't find which one) long ago, but this recipe, and many variations of it, can be found with a simple Google search. Also, Nikki @ Thrifty Decorating posted her version of the recipe on her blog here.

This is my version...

Ingredients:

- chicken breasts
- one box Uncle Ben's long grain & wild rice- original recipe
- one can cream of mushroom soup
- one can cream of celery soup
- 2 cans water
- one envelope dry onion soup mix

Mix together two cans of soup, 1/2 envelope of onion soup mix and box of rice with seasoning mix. I also added a little bit of chicken broth, just to make it more soupy...

Put in a greased 9 X 13...

Place chicken on top, then sprinkle second 1/2 half of onion soup mix envelope on top of chicken...

Cover with foil, and bake at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours. DO NOT PEEK! My sweetie put ours in the oven, since I wanted it to be done when I got home from work. It would be great for a Saturday at home too. (It did seem a little crazy, just the long time to cook & not peeking during the entire cooking process, but it turned out beautifully!)...

Stir the rice a little before you serve, and it's ready to eat! Yum!!

My Daisy Girl

Ok, going to be an "annoying doggy mom" & post a few pics of my girlie. Zach took some really cute ones while he was in the floor playing ball with her a few nights ago...

Then, I was able to snap a couple of pics of her while she was asleep the other day. So cute!

Just a short little post to show off her cuteness! I love to keep recent photos of her & Cosmo. They'll always be our first little babies, even when a little one comes along some day. :)