Five on Friday

One
So thankful that even though we are sinners, God still sent His Son down to die on the cross to save us from our sins. Even though Jesus died on Good Friday, He didn't stay in the grave!

Two
I took a risk (actually not a huge risk since the store is down the street lol) and ordered a maternity swim suit for our upcoming beach trip and summer and I have to say, I love it! It's my first one piece since I was a kid - it's very slimming and classy. I am going to have to get over my self-consciousness about my thighs but it happens lol I was able to get it $10 off with the online discounts which made it even better!

Three
I was gifted a set of Essie gel kit in exchange for a review and finally tried it out last Thursday. First, I am not a nail model... these pictures are awkward lol Second, this stuff was amazing! I have a competitor brand and the Essie polishes are hands down so much better. I was shocked at the fact that the color went on smooth and flawlessly, it looked like I had a professional manicure and it lasted for over a week (minus 1 nail). I hope it's easy to remove because I have all of it on soon and need to redo them for Easter tonight - I need a bright pink. Highly recommend!

Four
If y'all missed it Wednesday, I shared some delicious and quick weeknight recipes

Five
I have found a new show and am completely hooked! It's called Dynasty and it's on the CW. There are so many twists and turns - something catchy at the end of basically every episode and I'm always on the edge of my seat dying to see what happens next! I also love the fact that it's focused around the energy business which is the industry I work in.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter - celebrating Jesus' resurrection and spending time with family :) We are heading to my in-laws tomorrow but not before stopping at the Restoration Hardware outlet store ;)

New Recipe Wins

Since I wasn't actually sick, just felt horrible at night, during the first trimester I tried to keep up with quick meals for Stephen. I would pick at my food or just eat a tiny bit to get by (won't mention the night I ate a bagel for dinner... or french dip and chips ;)) but now that the nausea is pretty much behind me #praisetheLord, I've been trying to make regular meals again.

I wanted to share some winners that are quick, easy meals to make on a weeknight.

Cold Sesame Noodle Bowls
I'm not going to lie, this one was a complete shocker at how delicious it was and I was surprised that Stephen loved it too! It was so quick to make and was very light and refreshing. We did saute the zucchini noodles for a few minutes but then let them cool before eating.

Minute Rice with Teriyaki Chicken
The chicken was a little bit of a fail for this meal because I wasn't feeling well and didn't want the house to smell... I didn't cook it according to the instructions. It wasn't bad but it would be really good if you made it according to the recipe.

I was sent the Minute Rice quinoa and brown rice to review and it was delicious! Definitely the perfect side for this meal, especially with my night nausea. The flavors were great, without being overbearing and it was super easy to make. One bowl made 2 servings which was perfect for Stephen and I.

Sweet Chili Salmon
This one isn't totally new to us but is definitely our go-to for when we want salmon. It's super delicious and has the perfect amount of flavor too; not to mention it's a breeze to cook in the oven!

We usually pair it with quinoa or brown rice and roasted broccoli.

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Buffalo Chicken Sweet Potatoes

Last night, we tried out Christina's crock pot hack with our buffalo chicken sweet potatoes. It never really looked appetizing to me, but everyone says they're amazing so I took a chance. I did use a shortcut and just used buffalo sauce without adding anything else to the chicken. It turned out so delicious and I was shocked that Stephen loved it! Definitely a re-do, especially since it was basically the easiest recipe ever.

I hope these few recipes helped out with week night meal planning! I always look for quick recipes during the week and love mixing things up. Linking up with Jessi

Weekending

We had a wonderful weekend that was super productive which is great since we will be at my in-laws for Easter next weekend and then working on the house and nursery the month of April. During work on Friday, a few of my co-workers and I threw a "diapers and desserts" party for one of our co-workers due in April. It turned out really well and Chelsea left with lots of diapers :)

My friend made these adorable elephant cookies and they were delicious!

And our other co-worker is basically a gourmet baker and made these amazing lemon trifles

Later that evening, Stephen and I decided to watch What to Expect When You're Expecting and it was so precious. We saw it when it first came out but man, it definitely hit home now that we're pregnant. 

Saturday, we had a leisurely morning before meeting our friends for brunch. We loved getting to catch up with everyone over a delicious meal and I totally failed getting a picture... Once we got home, Stephen got to work on the taxes and I worked on finishing up a big bridal robe order. I didn't have anything planned for dinner so we decided to finally try one of the nearby Mexican restaurants. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as we were hoping and I'm thinking it was more traditional food whereas we wanted Tex Mex. After dinner, Stephen watched Dr. Strange (it was very strange) while I fell asleep and slept through most of the movie. 

Sunday, we went to church and since it was Palm Sunday, they had some mini horses there (the 2 horses were cheaper than a donkey ;)). We had to grab a picture with them before heading in since the service had already started so no one was outside. The rest of the day was spent on chores, laundry, more PPE orders and starting to purge my office for the nursery. 

It was a wonderful, restful weekend and I hope everyone else had a great weekend as well!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday friends! We are so ready for a weekend at home, even if it's filled with taxes (poor Stephen) and lots of orders for PPE. We do have a fun brunch planned tomorrow with friends and can't wait to catch up about their Italy trip!

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One
Our friends were so sweet and gifted us with a Date Box when we shared with them that we were pregnant and Stephen got a new job at the end of last year. We thought it was such a sweet and thoughtful gift (one we might have to steal ;)) and we finally got to use it after work one day this week! With being nauseous and wanting to go to sleep early, I wanted to make sure we really got to enjoy our time together and I'm so glad we waited to do it.

Our box had an escape room-esque game with ingredients to make homemade kettle popcorn, apple cider and caramel covered apples. Since we had recently eaten dinner, we decided on the game first which was so much fun for both of us and thankfully, we succeeded in escaping ;) Then we moved on to the popcorn - it was kind of a fail and then an even bigger fail for Stephen due to remembering a bad experience he had with homemade popcorn as a kid, but we did enjoy the cider with an episode of The Office - successful date night!

Two
Um, how excited is everyone for the new season of Southern Charm!? I was super late to the game because I didn't start the show until the end of season 4 but oh man, did I binge watch that show. Can't wait for it to come back in a few weeks!

Three
A few weeks ago, I was gifted an Olly  smoothie packet and after getting approval from my Dr, I tested it out. I usually like to make a smoothie to take with me on the drive into work and this made it so much easier - just add a liquid! I chose to add almond milk and thought it tasted really good - it did have a little powdery taste to it but it was still delicious and convenient.

Four
Because the blog world is so helpful and informative, I wanted to reach out and see what y'alls baby registry must haves are! I feel like we're pretty much done with the registry (other than a crib mattress) but I want to make sure I'm not missing any of your must haves :)

Five
This past weekend Stephen and I babysat our niece and nephew for the evening while my BIL & SIL went to a wedding. We had so much fun and the kids did so well! Siena is getting so big and is so much fun right now! We are in constant amazement at the fact she's getting so big so quickly.

Trying to show off his onsie - Luke's not impressed

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Our Painted Master Bedroom

I am so excited to share our newly painted master bedroom! When we moved into our house, it had been flipped but the wall colors weren't necessarily to my liking - they weren't horrible, I just would've chosen something different. We have a light yellow and dark tan/brown color throughout the whole house and while the darker color isn't bad in the main rooms with a lot of light, it's pretty rough in bedrooms where there's only one window. It took me a while but I finally convinced Stephen to paint our room to make it brighter and with the help of our friends, it was so much easier than anticipated and it looks amazing!

We decided to go with Sherman Williams' Agreeable Grey because I've seen it used in so many other houses where it looks amazing (Shelby, April) and this meant we didn't have to sample a ton of colors. You can check out our room before we painted it, here in our house tour after we moved in (almost 3 years ago!! What!?)

Before

Before

After (The lighting is still kind of dark)

We still have the TV but Stephen's working on it

We seriously love it so much! The room went from dark and shiny (horrible, cheap paint) to bright and "normal" looking. Now we want to paint the whole house - kidding, but we are going to use this paint in the nursery and our new combined office since that room is the brown color too (and maybe the guest bath that has the brown if I can convince Stephen). And if it wasn't for the help and knowledge of our friends, this wouldn't have happened so smoothly and I'm pretty sure there would have been some arguments between Stephen and I ;)

Happy Friday!