My Favorite Guacamole

Last month when I went home to California I was blessed to get some avocados from my in laws. They have the BEST avocados!!! We have avocados from California shipped here, but they don't taste as great. My in laws taste like butter! Amazing flavored butter! They ripened quickly here like most things do and so I had a large amount that were ripe at the same time. We made guacamole after church one day and ate the whole batch right then.

Aren't these beautiful? 

My Favorite Guacamole

4 or 5 avocados

tomato, chopped

Cilantro, at least half the batch

limes juice from 2 or 3 limes

Red onion, chopped

Garlic Salt

Scoop out the avocado goodness into a bowl. Mash it with a fork or potato masher. I don't like my avocados all the way mashed. It's good to have some lumps. Add chopped onion, tomato, and cilantro and stir that in. Now I always eye how much to add. You want it to be colorful, like your eating a rainbow. Then using my juicing tool from Pampered Chef I add quite a bit of lime (we don't want to waste any juice.) . Now add quite a bit of seasoning. Then grab a spoon and sample. If you can't taste the lime or garlic add more as needed. Stir well and throw some pits back in there to keep it from going brown. Although you might just eat it all in one sitting like we did as we played Book of Mormon Who that Sunday afternoon.

We ended up using a white onion because it is what we had and it was the Sabbath. And since we forgot to buy chips the day before we cut up corn tortillas with a pizza cutter and fried and salted them. They were awesome. 

I also wanted to share this fun new addition to our family room. 

I love it our new space!

Before we moved my hubby got a new to us TV off a friend. We were super thankful it fit in the space we have available in our family room. I was bummed our Entertainment center didn't work in this house but we found a way to make the best of it. But our TV left this giant hole that I really didn't like. I tried to find a piece to buy to put it in there but wasn't happy with anything.

Then I thought I could make something but as I was figuring out the wood costs it didn't seem worth it as we are hoping to buy a new place in year or so. I didn't want to make something that might not work in our next place. Then I got an idea. I was about to post a picture of an old desk hutch from my hubby's old desk on a garage sale page. It was sturdy and a great piece of wood. Then I realized it was perfect for this spot.

I painted it white and we were all set to only to realize it was about two inches too tall. My hubby said our little cutting tool wouldn't be able to cut it. So we used it as a shelf next to our couch. It has been serving as a perfect storage for baby girls toys. And for therapy we have been using it to help her bend and reach objects. It was the perfect height for her to be on her knees and play and then to help her stand and put toys on the top. My intent was to find someone with a better saw to help us cut a little shorter, but I am thankful it worked as a good resource for physical therapy.

Now that she has moved on to trying to stand on her own and I feel more comfortable cutting wood with our tool thanks to my wood map sign, I tried last week to cut shorter. It ended up working out great, I just had to go really slow. I love that we were able to reuse something we already had to fix a problem. I love saving money and making my home more beautiful. 

New Gallery Wall

I'm so excited and happy to finally have pictures in my front room. Pictures make my heart happy! Especially pictures taken by my favorite photographer Shari Hanson.She has been taking our photos since 2008 which means I have a nice selection from her through the years. All the pictures shown are her work.

It's always hard for me to know what pictures to keep up and which ones to switch out. I love the one from Gandalf's baptism and I cant imagine not having that one up. Maybe when he turns twelve and gets the priesthood. Or maybe his mission picture might replace it. My good friend Julie (I have like at least 5 amazing friends named Julie) taught be you can't just decorate with all pictures. You need a variety of textures and a variety of types of decor. It made me a little sad, but I do love the look it gives. She actually gave me those cute bird plates on the top. I have been trying to the past 5 years to add variety to my walls and shelves. 

family time is the funnest!

I also chose different prints form our 2012 family shoot with Shari because I planned our photo color schme around the yellow in my home. And I love the large family print even though it doesn't have baby girl because it's such a great shot.  It shows our family un-posed. Shari told everyone to tickle each other in this shot. I thought we were just suppose to tickle the kids. 

The large black and white photo of Hubby and I kissing is from 2008. I love the brick and wood and denim in this black and white picture.  Shari chooses such fun places to shoot. We told her we were up for anything. This shot is from an alley in Huntington Beach beside a dumpster. The image above is in Balboa. Plus this picture of us is good for my kids to grow up with pictures of mom and dad kissing.

I am more in love with him than ever!

I was really excited to get this side table for only $3!!! After a little grey chalk paint it looks so great next to my favorite chair. My dear friend Wayne gave me this amazing yellow chair in 2008. It's gorgeous and one of my favorite pieces. (He has also given me two dressers that my kids use in their bedroom. He has great taste. We worked together in Orange County and he does amazing hair if you are looking for a stylist check him out here) I love the books I was able to find and my little succulents that I hopefully won't kill.

This dresser I received from a dear friend Omera in 2012. It was outside and getting thrashed and I tried to persuaded my friend who is a bit older than me to bring it in. She told me she has been trying to get rid of that old thing. I told her I would take it off her hands if her grandson who was living with her didn't want it. He didn't. And even said he would bring it over to my house (which my husband loved). I painted it yellow because it's a happy cheerful color. I love this piece. And even more because it's from my dear friend. I am always uplifted when I spend time with her.   

This gorgeous wall piece came from my husband's grandmother. She was a lover of all things gold leafed. I didn't think she would mind the color change but I took a photo so we could remember her and her style. She wasn't able to meet my kids in this life, but I am sure she is watching over them now. My mother in law was happy to pass it on to me. My husband was a bit bummed when I brought it home, but I know he loves having something of hers in our home.

I replaces some pictures of baby Gandalf to make room for the baby girl. I decided to make them black and white.  Below is an image from Baby girls 1st birthday shoot. Baby girl loves this picture of her kissing Grandma Tang's puppy. She loves dogs! When she sees this picture it makes her happy.

Baby girl with Grandma's puppy

Baby Girl's blessing day

I love this picture of baby girl's blessing day. I made her dress from the leftover material from my wedding dress. I was so happy to get a picture with my Grandmother, my mom, and my sister. Baby girl loves this picture because she loves these women in her life and she loves babies. She hasn't registered that it is her yet. 

Newborn shoot with Shari

I couldn't wait to get newborn shots of my baby girl. Shari was so patient with baby girl, who took forever to fall asleep. 

I love how clean and cheerful our place looks now. You can see it bare here.

Right in our entry way was the perfect place to put our Christmas cards. It's about time I take them down and put them in albums. I can't stand the idea of throwing away pictures. I love looking back on how my friends kids and my nieces and nephews have changed. I still need to put up a new family picture over my yellow dresser. For my Harry Potter closet makeover you can click here.

This frame use to be burgundy. I painted it white thanks to my friend Shari. She was so great when I texted her late at night to give me a second opinion on my layout. I love this saying "No empty chairs". I heard it while I was in my youth and it has really stuck with me. 

"God intended the family to be eternal. With all my soul, I testify to the truth of that declaration. May He bless us to strengthen our homes and the lives of each family member so that in due time we can report to our Heavenly Father in His celestial home that we are all there—father, mother, sister, brother, all who hold each other dear. Each chair is filled. We are all back home.”

The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson (1988), 493

I love the idea of wanting every member of our family to be together in Heaven. And the idea that we are all in this together. I am trying to teach my children that my greatest desire is for us to be a family forever. That is why we have family prayers, read the scriptures, and honor the Sabbath day. Because I want to help bring my children unto Christ. I want them to become more converted, as I too need to continually strive to follow my Savior.

Each family prayer, each episode of family scripture study, and each family home evening is a brushstroke on the canvas of our souls. No one event may appear to be very impressive or memorable. But just as the yellow and gold and brown strokes of paint complement each other and produce an impressive masterpiece, so our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results. 

David A Bednar

I love this reminder for our family about what is most important on this earth. Our faith, our testimony, and our family. My children know how crucial it is they get married in the temple. We believe in eternal marriage and families. And when you are married in a temple you aren't married "till death do you part". You are married for time and all eternity. I know as we strive to improve our families and teach them from the scriptures our lives will be blessed. I know as we show our family they are important to us by our words and actions it will bring us closer together.

I love how cheerful and clean it looks here. You can see pictures of our home here before I hung up frames. I do need to get some storage boxes for the Ikea piece I scored for free on a Monday treasure hunt. It will be perfect for holding shoes. You can find a USA Map Tutorial here. Below you can see my chalkboard frame that I made from a garage sale find. I love reusing things and making them better. Right now we have a scripture that we are trying to memorize as a family. You can see the before for the frame here.

Thanks for checking out my new Gallery Wall! I love how a little spray paint and new pictures can make a place feel so new. Happy Monday!!!

My Favorite Monday

My favorite Monday of the month is the first Monday.

I drop off my two oldest boys at school. Then Yoda, baby girl, and I drive around looking for treasures. It's kinda like Christmas. The first Monday of the month you can put out items to be picked up by our city. And people throw away perfectly wonderful things.

I love it!!!

We drive around looking for something we might need. I try to be follow the Spirit. When I find something I'll get out and Yoda will yell and ask me what we found. I lower the back seats (another reason I am glad the boys are gone) and we load up with our treasures. I love teaching my kids that we can re-make or fix something up. It drives my husband crazy but he was happy about this find.

Last month I found this great bookcase. It needed some minor repairs and a new paint job, but look how pretty she is now!!! I decided to paint her white. A little simple, but that's okay. And I knew just where I wanted to put her.

This is our Harry Potter closet. We told Yoda it was his room when we first moved to our new home. It's a pretty good sized closet. He was kinda bummed when he found out we were joking. Our layout is naturally different from our old house and we didn't really have a place to put our DVDs because we were using furniture differently as well. I have kept them in boxes in our HP closet along with tons of other things. It's kinda our downstairs catch all. I took everything out and reorganized. I asked myself if each object really needed to be in there. Some items were better placed in our garage or my upstairs closet. 

Our new bookcase was perfect for our DVDs. When things have a home it's so much easier to put them away. I also used baskets to organize and I have a large bag on a hanger holding smaller bags. It looks so much better. You can actually walk inside it now. 

I am so thankful for my new bookcase. It's real wood and real lovely. January is the perfect time to clean our closets. I really need to tack the upstairs linen one soon. 

Can't wait to see what I can find on the next garage day Monday!!!

We Love our New Home...

I love our new home. I love the extra space. I love the extra storage. 

And I love the way this dresser Omera gave me looks next to our "Harry Potter" closet. Gavin was kinda bummed when we told him it wasn't really his room.

Even though our home looks different from these pictures a took a couple weeks ago, I wanted to share our home. Here is our front entrance. I am still working on a project that I have to finish before I can hang up those pictures. And I have since then printed up updated photos of my kids. {yay!}

 I love having lots of space in my kitchen. I feel like I will use everything more because I don't have to pull it out of obscure places. I love having things accessible. Also I am trying hard to have flat surfaces and things put away and out of sight.

Here is our beautiful table my friend Jeff built for us. Along with a Lego cup, an essential in our home. And the kids favorite part of our house: the computer desk. I think they thought screen time would be endless here. Life can be hard sometimes...

Here is our family room. I love having high ceilings and large walls. And I feel so much better now that we have frames up. We have still yet to find a piano teacher. It's going to hard to top Julie Matthews. It's fun finding places to hang things and changing up your furniture. 

 Here is the other side of our family room. I scored that table for $10. I was pretty excited, especially because I left my old one behind. Also I was able to get a great rug at a fun store called At Home. It's essential because the baby girl has fallen down on those floors and it's not fun.

Here are my two little helpers while the older boys are at school. I have been trying to work on my talents and take pictures in manual mode. It's so not my strength. But pictures make my heart happy so I am thinking I need to work on it.
I love little Yoda's smile is this one. We currently have about 7 light sabers out right now. His current obsession is light saber battles. Especially when Dad comes home. The baby girl's favorite thing is her tea set she got from her Grandma for her birthday.

Life is pretty grand. I love my new home. But I am missing my dear friends. I know this is where The Lord wants me to be. What a blessing I was asked to move to such a lovely place. I love driving by farms and cows and horses, without it smelling like cows and horses. I love our wonderful school. I love seeing the temple every day when I am driving about. I love the clouds and red rock. I love the great shopping and selection. And I really love the air conditioning.