“When I know you’re nesting.... and I hear hammering….. it scares me”

“When I know you’re nesting.... and I hear hammering….. it scares me”
My favorite quote from this weekend. Um… thanks hun.

I’m hoping all of you had a FANTASTIC Labor Day weekend!! We certainly did….and it all centered around NESTING! LOL!!

Friday night Boz had a game… so I went to the grocery store and picked up a number of items, because I was determined to cook. I don’t say that much. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever said those words out loud before. But I was a woman on a mission that evening. By the time Boz got home, I was half way through making my first batch of HOME MADE SPAGHETTI SAUCE!! That’s right. I made my own sauce. WHO DOES THAT?!?! Okay, I’m guessing MANY people do… but I’m still quite excited about that. :-) HA HA HA!!! Oh, and guess what ~ it was phenomenal.


I have to tell ya, after that success, I was on a bit of a ‘cooking high’ – so it was on to the next. My next attempt was going to be making CHICKEN WINGS. This is where I have to be honest, I don’t do bones. In fact, the past 2yrs or so I’ve been slowly getting away from meat altogether. But like I said, I was a girl on a mission. So I marched into the store, actually bought a thingie of chicken wings and left. I did, however, shed a tear in the car. I know, right? Kind of a dork. But that’s how I roll.

ANYWAY. I made up (read: found online) a marinade and got those puppies soaking (after having Boz take them out of the package and put them in my Ziploc of marinade) ~ baby steps, right?

After that it was time to relax for the night.

Saturday morning we slept in then headed out to our local farmer’s market. I *heart* farmer’s markets. Swung by my sister’s place, ran a bunch of fun errands, enjoyed an INCREDIBLE storm and headed home. It was the moment of truth. I was about to grill up the wings. First I cooked them in the oven for a bit while I made the glaze, then I tossed (yes, *i* tossed) them on the grill and waited for them to crisp up a bit. But I was so excited, that I called one of my sisters to tell them what I was doing (dork), and forgot what I was doing until I smelled the wings burning a bit – my bad! So I hung up the phone, and paid more attention to what I was doing. Oh, and let’s not forget this whole time I’m wearing the cutest apron my sister made and taking pictures of each step ~ you know, should someone want me to do a food blog. HA HA HA HA HA!!!!


How did they turn out? They. Were. Incredible. I’m not one to brag on myself, but boy-oh-boy were they good! I don’t know that I can stomach making wings again, but I’m thinking of trying the marinade and glaze when we do chicken breast next time!

For dinner I made ribs ~ if there was a doubt on how we gained 14 pounds this weekend….now you know. ;-) I thought they were just okay, but Boz really liked ‘em. So it’s a toss up. Maybe if I had bought the correct ribs it would have made a difference?? Who knows.

By this time I am DONE with cooking. On to my next project. I was going to tackle the kitchen. We’re talking pulling everything out of the fridge/freezer/pantry/drawers (including drawer liners) and cabinets and starting fresh. I was ready for a change. No more storing this and that over there b/c that’s where so and so had them. No way. I was going to make this kitchen mine. We even checked on Craigslist for a storage unit of some kind to give us more space. I’m in love with Hoosier Cabinets, but the ones I like we can’t really afford right now, so we found a few suitable units that we checked out on Sunday. While they were nice, they weren’t perfect. So we kept looking. Boz suggested we run to this little resale shop near our house, so we went. We walked in the door, glanced around, saw no furniture, and was about to leave when we decided to look around anyway (we had nothing else going on that day). I’m glad we did. I’m not sure who noticed it but there in the corner, under all the purses/shoes/scarves/other stuff, was my half painted, diamond in the rough. I instantly fell in love and had to bring her home. Best part? She was only $35 – that totally works with our budget! HA!

So we brought her home, Boz painted up the areas that weren’t painted, and I filled her up. The kitchen took many, many hours but I’m so happy to say that it is finally done… and i think it looks amazing. Oh, and we had our friend come out a few weeks ago to replace our floor (after my dad fixed the icky spot), and I think it looks really great. The only downside in all of this - we had to replace our pub table/2 chairs and bring up the table that had been there previously, you know, now that we’ll have to fit four people in the coming months. It doesn’t look fabulous (wood is the wrong color) but with a tablecloth it totally works. But seriously, if that’s the ONLY downside… I think we’re doing pretty good, don’t you!? I’m just thankful we have a table. :-)

(Dierks showing off the new floor)

i am so stinkin in love with this piece!! And it gives us so much more room in the cabinets!

As you can see, it was a BUSY, busy weekend, but so much fun knowing that we’re another weekend closer to A&Z. And it wasn’t all work. Yesterday some of Boz’s friends came by to play some sand volleyball. So while the guys got the court ready I hung out with some of the girls, but once they were ready to play, that was my cue to hide in the house. Nobody wants me on their team – and I don’t blame them! So I chilled out while Boz played some ball. It was such a perfect end to our weekend.