Balsamic Ginger Steaks!

I came up with a great new recipe last night and just wanted to share!
So last night the husband and I decided to pick up some steaks at the commissary, but when we got them home I realized that we really didn't have a steak rub or marinade on hand. He ended up having the idea to soak them in balsamic vinegar while we baked some potatoes, probably about 30 minutes.
After some prowling through my spice rack, I finally emerged with ground ginger. We only made two steaks, so I used a teaspoon of the ground ginger and then added salt and pepper, just enough to taste.
We took the steaks out of the balsamic and then rubbed them down with the ground ginger mixture and into the frying pan they went! And they were DELICIOUS!!!

Nothing to it, and lots of flavor. I have plans to do similar things to beef tips in the crock pot soon.:)

Crock Pot Rice- Pinterest Challenge

I tried my best to be productive today, and one thing that helped me was that I made dinner completely in the crock pot! I made one of my husbands favorites, Pot Roast.(tip- don't leave out the carrots. I didn't have any for some unknown reason, and it left the potatoes with a really spicy flavor. My picky hubby did not approve, of course) I saw this as the perfect opportunity to try a recipe I saw on Pinterest for perfect rice in the crock pot. It really couldn't have been easier. You will need:

• about a TBSP of butter.( I used tub butter as needed since it's only to grease the stoneware)
• one cup of white rice. I think you could use any rice
• 2 cups of water
• a dash of salt

I cooked it for about two hours and fifteen minutes, and this is what happened: 

Oops. What I am thinking went wrong is that I left it alone too long. I checked it after about 45 minutes like the instructions said, but I think next time I will keep up with the time a little better and check right at the two hour mark as well and hopefully it will go smoother next time! But even though the bottom scorched, guess what? 

 What wasn't scorched was delicious, and perfect. I have NEVER been able to cook rice, until now!

You can find the original recipe here.

Pinterest Challenge!- It Don't Mean a Thing if You're Shower Won't Drain!

I was thinking about all of the really cool things that I see on Pinterest and I was really wanting to share my attempts at all of the recipes, cleaning/organizing tips, and other fun stuff on here. But I want to do that without ripping off the idea. And so, when my posts say 'Pinterest Challenge", it means I nabbed the idea from Pinterest(duh, lol), and I will do everything I can to make sure to give credit where it is due. :)

I have naturally curly hair that is, in fact, getting pretty long(inward happy dance. this has taken me years!), and so, it is ALWAYS falling out. By the hand full. It's really amazing that I am not bald by now. Nope, I look like this:

 My poor husband finds it everywhere, except his food. So of course, it comes out in the shower. I try and keep most of it from going down the drain, but it doesn't always work. What I am left with is an occasionally clogged shower drain. Yuck. You know what this means. Nasty, standing water. No one wants that when they are trying to bathe!
Whilst perusing Pinterest recently, I came across this post for a DIY drain cleaner. BINGO!! No one likes spending money on Draino. And since this has only two ingredients that most housewives have on hand, how could I say no to trying it?
You can click on the link above for the recipe, but here is what I did.
 I started out with maybe half a cup of baking powder and probably about that much white vinegar because my drain was so clogged there was no way I was getting a cup of each in there. Plus the plumbing is super old. I was kind of scared to mess it up. But onward I marched.

It fizzes up really fast, so have your plug on hand.
After the first try, I ended up clearing out some of the clog by hand(yay) because it was close to the surface. And then I repeated the process.

I have now cleaned out my shower(the mess was not pretty) and all seems to be well!

Tomorrows shower will reveal all, but for now I deeming this one a success!

I plan to clean my drains about once a month with this solution so I can avoid spending all evening in the bathroom in the future. :)

Had a lovely evening with my sweet husband! I had dinner waiting when he got home from work so that we could go shopping for a few things. One of my best friends wedding is only a few days away and I had to go to Michael's to pick up a few things to finish up my surprises for her! I can't wait to blog all about them, but since her wedding is on April 7th, I'll be waiting until then.
My husband really surprised me tonight. While we were out I decided that we needed to find something to wear since we will be home on Easter Sunday. He told me to find what I wanted and then he would match me(typical, lol). So after shopping around, I found a really cute mint green dress at my favorite new store, Vanity, and picked out a cute belt and necklace to go with. We were checkout counter bound when I noticed the wall of cowboy boots, and they were lovely. Now we all know cowboy boots have been a trend for years now, and they are a staple in most girls closets, but somehow I have been missing out on them. I spotted a chocolate colored pair that went gorgeously with my ensemble, and excitedly informed him that they were what I wanted the next time we got paid.
Now, you have to know my husband. When we (re)met, he was enjoying the single life and spending money like it came out of a Monopoly box! But pretty soon after we became engaged and started sharing the bank account to get use to it, he somehow became a tightwad. Then again, it just really depends. Like most men, he can find logic in buying a new TV, but spending major money on things like clothes bewilders him.
And so, lovely was my surprise when he smiled and said, " Well, I guess we could get them now"
My first pair of cowboy boots, and I was so happy I needed to blog about it!
Retail therapy is something that I believe in, as long as it is not being done in harmful amounts. Right now we are in the process of making a tough decision that will affect the rest of our lives, and the lives of our future children. I don't want to say what it is yet because I have a serious complex about jinxing things, but hopefully we will hear some news soon, because I am full to bursting. I've actually been avoiding my blog so I won't talk about it. But, as you can see, my darling gave me a lovely distraction tonight.
Even so, all of the stress lately has kept me from sleeping. I am tired, but my brain will not stop. So, I have been spending my time crafting and looking up new recipes. Tonight I am making the dough for Black and White Butter Cookies, recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart's website. She had a Black and White show the other day and these were on there. The dough is better if it sits for about a day, and since I am awake, why the heck not? Time to go and check to see if my butter is room temperature yet! :)

Perfectly Patterned

Right now my husband and I are living in an apartment off base. Our landlady told us that we could paint the walls as long as we didn't paint in bold colors. However, since my husband will be getting out of the Army in roughly six months, we really didn't see the point in investing time and money into paint. So we are left to cover our drab, white walls with what we can. Now, my kitchen is teeny-tiny. Seriously. Not a lot of wall space. And the biggest section of wall I have in there was blank.

See what I mean. It's just screaming " I'M NAKED!!" I've looked at different places, and all of the decor that I have found was either too big to fit or too expensive for our current budget. Cheap is what I like. So, one day while I was washing dishes (by hand, no dishwasher) I noticed how much I really like the pattern on my cereal bowls. My everyday china is an awesome collection of hand painted pieces that have the same colors and similar patterns but each "piece"(ie dinner plates, salad plates) has its own take on the design. I really like the bowls. Check it:

Pretty cute huh? So, I thought, duh! I'll paint that! Now I have to admit, I was a little wary of this. I am no artist by the worlds standards. But the more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that I needed to do this. So I set to work. I used acrylic paint because it is usually what I always have on hand. Its cheap and it dries super quick. 

A trick I learned in a painting class is that you can usually trace what you are painting with yellow because all of the other colors you will use will cover it. Like so.

[got excited and painted the middle cross before I even realized. haha]

Then I got to work:

And then finally, it was done!

I am pretty darn happy with it. It's not perfect. The lines are no completely straight, and somethings aren't the exact same size. But it's mine.

Now to get my husband to hang it...

Becoming a new wife has opened up a new world to me. One that is exciting and terrifying all at the same time. Learning to balance a new household is a super hard adjustment, for myself and my wonderful husband. So, I am really learning to enjoy the simple pleasures in life right now. And one way that  I know how to do that is to create. God has blessed us all with two hands and an imagination to create amazing things. It's like putting little pieces of myself out into the world. This blog is about all the things that I love: writing, painting, DIYing, reading, shopping, and just life in general. Join me on my journey as a crafty wife! :)

[It's kind of amazing how much I look like my mother.<3]

[My favorites of one of our engagement shoots]