Reclaimed Wood Side Table

What do you think about this new table in our living room set up? This little guy is metal and reclaimed wood, and is actually a table that is designed to fit under a regular sized coffee table. We only got this size, and initially we felt like it was strangely sized for either a small coffee table, or for a big and low side table. But it's kind of growing on me as a short side table. What do you think? Keep, use somewhere else, or sell?

Re-done Nightstands

Happy weekend everyone. Check out our newest project. We've been married a year now, and finally just got some nightstands at Hume Lake's annual Country Fair for $10 each. We repainted them black with gray drawers, laquered the tops, and kept the original hardware. I'm thinking I may starch some fun fabric into the drawers. 

Soakin' Up the Hawaiian Sun

Vacation. Ahhhh. I kind of wish I could be on vacation forever. Especially if it's with this guy . . . the location doesn't even matter. We celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary on the North Shore of Oahu, soaking up the sun, hiking, reading, sleeping in, snorkeling, and watching sunsets. Then we did a couple of stay-cation days at home, and that was just as fun. More to come on that! Today was our first day back at work, and we were reminded of how important it is to take a break, slow down, and just enjoy the important things. Plus, it makes work not so bad after a break. 

You may be wondering, how to do two newly married, non-profit employees, both with degrees from a private university who hate debt, pay for a Hawaiian vacation? Here's how:

1. Pay off college first.

2. Take the new flight from Fresno, CA to Honolulu at only $150 each way.

3. Stay in a home rental instead of a resort (about $100 per day).

4. Make our own food and don't eat out.

5. Get a rental car through Costco ($86 for the week!)

We hiked to Hidden Beach, and had it all to ourselves. 

Sunset at Sunset Beach

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

A few weeks ago I made some homemade ice cream sandwiches for Nathan's birthday. There was homemade lemon ice cream with molasses/ginger cookies (which seems to be our favorite flavor combo lately) and Tillamook vanilla ice cream with oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Here's a few tips I learned while making these in case you want to make some too:

1. Melt the butter in the cookies before it's mixed with the sugar. The warm butter will help make the cookies flatter.

2. Freeze the cookies prior to making the sandwich part. They aren't as fragile then.

3. Scoop the ice cream (not too melty, but not too hard either) with a small cookie dough scoop. It's easy to control the portion and the sandwiches end up with about an inch of ice cream.

4. Press both cookies and ice cream together slightly so it all sticks. Then refereeze till your ready to eat!

Missing My Mac

You'll have to excuse me if this post doesn't look too great. It's really just a test. My MacBook Pro decided this week that it was time to quit unless I'm willing to do a $300 fix. Insert sad face. So until I figure out a new computer situation I will have to settle with the Blogger App for the iPad, which so far, is not awesome. I will gladly be accepting any Apple computer donations. I'm the mean time, let's see how this app does with pictures. Although, blogging by an outdoor fire is pretty great on a holiday weekend. Insert happy face.