New Layout

Well it happened again, I have a new layout. Over the weekend I got that new layout itch and decided to spend entirely way to much time sitting in front of my computer making it. Because we work from our computers I have recently been trying to not spend as much time in front of it during the weekends, but I'm pretty in love with how it came out so I guess the extra computer hours are ok, haha. 

Along with the new layout I updated/added some new pages. "What was added?" you are probably asking yourself, hehe, allow me to share.

1. About Page - Updated
2. New Reader Page - I put together all of the most commonly asked questions and answered them.
3. Popular Posts side widget - Which shares, as you probably already guessed, the most popular posts over the last couple of months hehe. 

Hope you guys enjoy the new look as much as I do because I have a feeling it will be sticking around for a while! 

x's and o's

I'm One Lucky Lady

If you follow my Instagram you might have already seen the amazing illustration Will made for me yesterday. He is such a fantastic illustrator, constantly coming up with fun stuff, and bringing my silly ideas to life! I thought I would showcase all the ones he made for me yesterday while he had some down time from work. 

Click to see larger version

It's no surprise that I'm kind of obsessed with my cats, which is why this little series Will has started might just be my favorite ever! Sylvester is constantly making muffins, so we have started to call him our little muffin man, and having him dressed up as a little baker is perfection. And Wigs loves sitting like a child in your lap because she is a big old weirdo. We affectionately refer to this position as the car seat as it is her favorite way to travel in the car haha.

This one makes me laugh so hard! Anytime Wigs comes into greet you she makes this noise that sounds like "kikirk" so I  always joke that she is Captain Kikirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise, haha. I do love me some Star Trek, and the idea of having my cats involved in it makes me so happy it's almost sad, haha. I also love the fact that Will changed the name of the ship to USS Fluffernutter because that's another little nickname we have for her. I can hardly wait for the house to be done so I can frame and get them up on the walls!

He also made this absurdly adorable birthday card for our friend featuring her cat! I mean come on who the heck doesn't want a birthday card featuring your animal on it?! It's absolutely perfect!

Happy Thursday.

x's and o's

Kitchen : Before and Middle

As I mentioned in my first post about the house we began remodeling pretty much as soon as we signed the paperwork and got the keys. I thought it would be fun to share some progress photos, and the prefect room to start in is the kitchen because it's had the most changes so far.

Before we began demolition, the front door opened into a small hallway and a pocket door going into the kitchen. The wall continued around the corner with another pocket door, both of which really chopped up the space. I don't know about you guys, but pocket doors always seem to be such a pain in the butt. I'm not sure why anyone would want even one, much less two! But I guess when our place was built in the 60's they were all the rage (or something like that haha). Aside from that, it completely closed off the kitchen making it feel so much smaller and the entry way so dark and uninviting. With that in mind, the wall and doors were the first things to go. 

My dad has been helping us some which is great because there are certain things my little chicken arms can't do like holding wooden beams above my head for extended periods of time. However, I would like to point out that I am able to help a little more since going to the gym and working on my arm fitness. 

I'm so in love with how it looks so far, and I can only imagine how much better it will look once we close the ceiling back up haha. Of course, I've been spending countless hours pinning kitchens onto Pinterest boards. There are so many amazing kitchens out there, hopefully I will be able to transform our little kitchen into something as adorable as some of my favorite finds below.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

You can't tell me those kitchens aren't some of the most beautiful kitchens you have ever seen. Ugh, I'm seriously drooling over these. I know we can make ours just as cute, it just might be a little while before we get there.

x's and o's

Getting to Know You (Err Me)

Man oh man guys where the heck did this week go? I guess being sick in bed for several kind of makes the week feel shorter. Thankfully, I'm feeling much better now so I thought it would be fun to continue my series of sharing random facts about myself with you all, so let's just jump right in. 

1. My dad and I are big movie fans. In fact, since we have been out here we've gone to one almost every week. While we've seen many horrible movies we've only ever walked out of one movie, and that was the remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I love horror movies, but that one was too much for me and I still haven't see it. 

2. Sometimes I get a case of the giggle and just laugh until I am crying hysterically. Thankfully this has never happened in public, yet. 

3. Will recently changed his email notification sound to a cat meow, so now anytime he gets an email I jump up to make sure the cats are ok. I swear one day I will finally realize it's not our cats.

4. Speaking of the cats, every morning Sylvester is a ball of energy until one of us (almost always Will) runs around the house with his feather toy in tow for him to chase. He loses his mind over it and will go until he literally falls down tired, haha. Oh, my silly little guy.

5. When I'm having a particularly bad day I'll look at all the yummy food on Pinterest and for some weird reason it makes me happy. Also a little hungry, haha. 

6. Wigs isn't much of a snuggler so when she is being particularly affectionate I seriously will drop everything and give her all of the loves. Will says I am a total push over, but I don't care haha. I mean come on, look at that face how can you not just give her all the pets when she wants them?!

7. I randomly get Teen Vogue and Seventeen magazine in the mail. I have no clue why I get them or why it appears I will be getting them until 2015, but at least I can stay up to date on all my twee fashion (or something like that haha). Is it silly that I read all the articles? I feel like it's the least I can being that I'm getting these magazines for free.

If you guys have ever done one of these random facts posts on your blog share the link or share a random fact or two about yourself in the comments. I would love to get to know you guys a little better!

x's and o's

June Is Looking Up

So while May did start off pretty horrible, one very fun and amazing thing happened: we bought a little townhouse in Phoenix, and we couldn't be more excited! Now, if you've been reading this blog for a while you might be thinking "Hey wait a second, what about the house in West Virginia?" Fear not, we will still be spending time back in West Virginia. 

For the past two years we've been splitting our time between Arizona and West Virginia in order to be close to both sides of the family. It has been a pretty great routine, both personally and for our business. While living out on the mountain in the middle of nowhere is wonderful, the lack or reliable internet most certainly is not. Last summer we had speeds slower than dial up for over three months, THREE MONTHS, and had to drive over an hour each way to a Star bucks located in another state for faster internet on several occasions! That is something that is not acceptable, especially when you rely on the internet for your livelihood. Thankfully, summer tends to be a little slower for us with work then picks back up in the fall, so being in Arizona with high speed internet for the fall/winter just makes scenes. Plus, we get to spend tons of time with my family includes one adorable little nephew. 

Through the past two years we've stayed with my dad when we are out her,e and it has worked out wonderfully. I know he likes having some company in the house for at least part of the year. However, even though it has been a pretty sweet situation, we couldn't help but think that we would like our own little place so we wouldn't have to worry about ever wearing out our welcome. With that in mind, we've been keeping an eye on websites like Redfin and Zillow, but until now we hadn't had much luck. We weren't looking for anything huge, or with a huge price tag, so our search was pretty limited. Then about a month an half ago I came across a little townhouse literally down the street for my dad's neighborhood, and on a whim Will and I walked over and took a look at it. The little community was very well taken care of and cute, but we weren't totally sold right away.  After two looks inside, however, we knew this was the perfect deal for us. The price was right, the location couldn't be better, and it was in a little community where we wouldn't have to worry about our things when we are gone. Having made our decision, we began dreaming about all the things we could do to fix and update it.

After a lot of agonizing Will and I put down an offer and it was (thankfully) quickly accepted. We couldn't be happier about it! Of course, once we got the keys the sledge hammers immediately came out. Now it's time to changing up the place, haha. We basically took an move in ready place and made it a not so move in ready place, haha. What can I say? We've got building in our blood, or at least he does, hehe. Of course, I will be documenting our progress to share with you all!

Happy Thursday.

x's and o's

Hello Mr. Fox

Ever since writing my last post I've really started getting the blogging itch again. It's funny how sometimes when you write or talk about a problem it helps to reduce it. So here I am back to blogging and pretty thrilled! I figured the best kind of post to share with this new found blogging spirit was one having to do with an adorable animal. I mean everyone loves a cute animal, and that's doubly true on a Monday right?!

If you follow me on Instagram you already know that there is a little fox living under my dad's deck, but now I've finally got a couple actual photos of him. Just look how freaking adorable that little face is! He is a very stealthy little guy so it took quite a few evenings of me staring out the window every couple of minutes hoping he would show his head before it got too dark.

As you can see he is pretty tiny and full of the adorableness. The first time I saw him I looked up what kind of fox he could possibly be and have narrowed it down to either a grey fox or a kit fox. Both type of foxes eat rodents, bugs, and even snacks, so it I think Dad is pretty happy to have him hanging out, hehe. We really have no idea how long he's been living under the deck being that we just spotted him for the first time about a week ago. For all we know he could have been living there for months. 

I'm really hoping one of these evenings to get even better photos of him, but until that happens I will have the camera all set up and ready. Have you guys ever spotted any fun animals in your own backyard? 

Happy Monday guys!

x's and o's

Little Thoughts

source

I decided to skip May's month in review mainly because I didn't post all that much in May. Truth be told after the accident with our camper I felt kind of lost when it came to this little blog of mine. Prior to the accident I had put together a little calendar of posts for May and was so excited about them, but the majority of them were going to be about our travels with the camper. 

1. Mondays - Outfit posts/working with a limited wardrobe 
2. Tuesdays - Easy recipes that could be made in the camper
3. Wednesday- Our travels, campgrounds we stayed in, things we saw
4. Thursdays - TV shows or Movies I love
5. Fridays- Good old Fancies

I was so excited about my little schedule as this was the first time I really sat down and made one for my blog. It was fun to think about each weeks posts, but then the accident knocked me down before I even got up, and I've been trying my hardest to pick the pieces back up. I know almost all the posts could be easily revamped to being camperless back in Phoenix but it has just been hard. 

Here's hoping June will allow for those pieces to fall back into their rightful place. I've really missed actually working on this little blog of mine. 

x's and o's