[Picture Thursday] Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the littlest horse I know!!  Paladin you are adorable.  Over the years since I moved out, I have forgotten how cute you are and what a good horse you are.  Now that you are living on our farm (and got a haircut!!) and I get to spend time with you...I love you.  You are a wonderful reminder of my Momala!!  I can't believe that you are 22 years old today!!


Do you celebrate your pet's birthdays?

♥ Ashley

Remember today is the LAST day to enter my giveaway...click here to enter!!

Wednesday Decor Wants

So I get an email maybe once a week from HGTV for "Inspiration" and it has links where I can look at room photo's and then read a little bit about them.  The following pictures are ones that really stuck out to me.  Its from their Summer Color Story and Weekend DIY Story.  I am noticing a lot of blues in these photos...I might be leaning that way but GREEN will always have my heart!!

not too sure about the two mirrors...maybe just one would do it for me, but I love the blue pillows and the orange pops with the yellow tulips!

I would love to bathe in here!  Wouldn't you?

 

Again with the blue and coral/orange.  I love this pic, I also pinned it on one of my pinterest boards.

how bold is this wallpaper?  not in my house but I love it!

Cute storage for a baby room or playroom

  

and more blue...I think its growing on me!

♥ Ashley

remember that tomorrow is the last day to enter my giveaway click HERE to enter

[recipe] Pizza

remember to enter my giveaway here

So Thomas and I have been talking about making pizza for a while now.  We were going to make it yesterday for the holiday but we ended up going out for dinner with his family.

We were texting today and decided that today would be the day.

I got home from work and started the dough (after searching for a recipe)  I finally decided upon the PW's recipe for dough but of course in true fashion I changed it up a little bit and went with some tips I learned from the chef/owner of Co. in NYC for how to "knead and rise" the dough.

Here is the recipe adapted from Ree Drummond:

Ingredients:

2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 c warm water (90-110 degrees)
1 tsp sugar
4 c A/P flour
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
6 T olive oil

Directions:

1. Combine the yeast, sugar and warm water in a small bowl...set aside to proof for 10 minutes

2. Add flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.  Turn it on low and slowly add the olive oil.

3. Once incorporated add in the yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.

4.  Knead slightly to incorporate the remaining flour and form into a ball.  Set into an oiled bowl and set aside covered in plastic wrap for an hour or more. (in a warm draft-free place)

5.  After dough has doubled in size, coat hands in bench flour and generously coat work surface with flour.  Divide dough into 4-6 rounds.  Coat wooden board with plenty of flour and place dough balls on it, coat with flour and cover with a warm damp tea towel for another 30 minutes or so.

I made two different kinds of pizza (because I forgot the peppers on the first)

Pre-heat the oven to 500 or as high as it will go (did this as I was making the dough).

Take a ball of dough and pinch around the edge and slowly work your way to the middle pulling and stretching (no rolling!!) to your desired size and thickness.  Place dough into a cast iron skillet, add a T or two of pizza sauce and spread around the dough.  Add some shredded mozzarella, pepperoni, goat cheese, mushrooms, and bell peppers.  Crack some pepper on top and cook on the the stove top over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes to crisp up the bottom of the crust.  Then place in the oven for about 10 minutes.  Remove and set on a cutting board for about 3 minutes to cool and then slice and serve!  YUM!!

 

I hope you enjoy this!!

Remember to enter my giveaway for a signed copy of the PW's new cookbook "Food From My Frontier" here  only 2 more days until it closes!!

Linked to: Tasty Tuesdays

What I Whipped Up Wednesday

♥ Ashley

Memorial Day Weekend [Friday Fancies]

Memorial Day Weekend by lifeonthefarm featuring flip flop shoes

  


I love this Fat Face zip hoody so I had to base my whole outfit around it!  I love the colour of it and it looks like the fit is really nice and cozy for a night by the fire maybe making s'mores!

I love these Madewell shorts and I think they compliment the tank and hoody. And you can go anywhere with this great Guess bag.  I love Guess.  They are my fave bags and wallets.

I am really starting to get into the gold accessories.  I remember 10 years ago (while I was in High School) I wouldn't be caught dead with anything Gold hued, it HAD to be Silver or Platinum or White Gold in hue.  Since I started working at Fabri Fine Jewelry, I acquired a taste for yellow gold and it has really grown on me.  I love these gold bracelets from J. Crew and they go well with the Red Herring flip flops and the watch.

I love these aviators by Michael Kors.  I have been attracted to these style of shades lately so I think I am on the lookout for a pair like this.  Hopefully I can find a cheap knock-off pair at like BP or something.  Living in Seattle, its hard to justify paying more than $20 for a pair of sunglasses that you are only going to use for the 25 days of sunshine we get a year and then promptly lose the next day. 

So here are my Friday Fancies for this lovely 3 day weekend!!

Linked to:  Friday Fancies

♥ Ashley

Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE

Thoughts for Thursday

I think I might be going crazy!

I recognize that I had a tough week.

I really missed my mom and several of her little songs she used to sing came back to me.

I know that Thomas and I have made the decision to adopt and we are so grateful for this opportunity, but I can't help but feel disappointed and let down by my own body sometimes.

I also decided that since no one was stepping up from my graduating High School class to organize our 10 year reunion - I can't believe its already been 10 years - I took the job on.  So now I have to figure out how to organize and plan a 10 year reunion for my classmates.  Its a huge undertaking and I guess I am up for the job. It might be nice to keep my mind off things, like getting laid off.

Sorry this was a weird post.  It made a lot more sense when I was thinking about it in my head at work today....actually I wanted to post some of it on Tuesday...but I posted it today.

So that is what I have for today/tonight.

Weird.

Hope you all had a great day and an Excellent Friday!!

Yes!! Tomorrow is Friday.  I get to help judge High School Cheer Tryouts for a friend of mine tomorrow night.

♥ Ashley

Wedding [Picture Thursday]

Two of our wedding photo's are displayed in our Dining Room.  

I love the little one of us smiling at each other.  For some reason the colour of the frame is not represented correctly - its the perfect chartreuse green colour.  I got the frame about 3 years ago at Nordstrom.

The large photo was a birthday present from last year.  I had requested that my mom keep the photo safe and then pick out a frame for us.  I had NO idea what I wanted the frame to look like so all creative was left up to her.  She picked out this simple (but heavy) frame from Pottery Barn.  The matting that she got was not cut correctly, and she wanted me to approve it before she made it final.  Unfortunately she was unable to take it to the framer's to have the matting cut and installed (is that the right word?).  So this February, I took it into Michaels.  They said that it would be easier if they cut a new matting so I picked out one that was the closest in colour of white that my mom chose.  Had them cut it and then put it all together.

We are still trying to figure out where we want to hang it (and how since the frame is challenging) so it is just chillin' on one of my tea carts that I picked up at the Junk Salvation.

So nearly 4 years after we tied the knot we finally have our wedding photo up and displayed!

♥ Ashley

don't forget to enter my giveaway here

[recipe] Chicken Katsu

For dinner last night, I made "chicken katsu" and potstickers.  I wish I could say that I made the potsticker myself but they are frozen ones from costco but oh so good.(ling ling brand).

I made pretend chicken katsu because I was out of panko bread crumbs.  I also forgot to take pictures.  So the chicken katsu I made were just chicken fingers.  But I made a delicious dipping sauce for it too!

For the Chicken:

2 chicken boobs
2 eggs
1/3 c flour
salt and pepper
1/4 c veg oil

1. cut the chicken into strips. 
2. beat the eggs into a shallow bowl
3. in an additional shallow bowl mix together the flour, salt and pepper. (lots of pepper) *optional add a little cayenne pepper.
4.  in a large skillet heat oil over medium - medium high
5. dredge chicken in the flour mixture, then dip in the egg and back into the flour.  Place gently in the hot oil.  cook chicken about 3-4 minutes before turning over.  cook another 3-4 minutes.  take of heat and place on a paper towel lined plate to soak up extra grease.

For the dipping sauce:

1/2 c ketchup
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp Sriracha sauce

1. mix ingredients together and serve with the chicken!  YUM

Linked to: Tasty Tuesdays

be sure to enter my giveaway for Ree's new cookbook here

♥ Ashley

Giveaway from the Farm!

Wow!! Thank you lovely readers for taking the leap to become a follower of my blog.  I cannot express my gratitude enough so I am offering a Giveaway.  

I have actually had it planned for a while.

Back in April, I attended Ree's book signing, for more on that story click here, in the Seattle area for her new cookbook:
 

"The Pioneer Woman Cooks Food From My Frontier" 

I picked up an extra copy and had her sign it (just for you!)

For your very own signed copy of Ree's new cookbook do the following:

1. Become a follower (mandatory)

2. leave a comment in the comments section answering: What is your favorite food? (mandatory)

3. you can get an extra entry for blogging about THIS giveaway (and posting a link back to here)
4. post about THIS giveaway on Facebook and then let me know!

The last day to enter is May 31st Winner will be announced on Friday June 1st!!

good luck and "May the odds be ever in your favor!"

♥ Ashley

Sneak Peak

Maybe this will give a little more incentive.







 

Could be yours...I just need to have 25 followers!!

♥ Ashley

DIY Spring

I love alphabet blocks!  and I love to make words with them - I am pretty sure that is the point.  So I make them in large size and put them on my mantle for the holidays or seasons.  So far I have them for Valentines, Easter, Thanksgiving and "pretend" ones for Christmas - they are actually word blocks instead of letter blocks.   And I finally got my butt to make my "SPRING" mantle blocks.  I decided to be "green" and reuse my Easter blocks, I just flipped them to use the other side - since the colours were great - and wrote out a letter each for SPRING.  I realize that I could have re-used one or two of the letters but I wanted to change the color order.

I still want some for St. Patricks Day, Winter and Summer but those will just have to come later.

So here is what they look like.  The nest and eggs are from Pottery Barn, and my special Glassy Baby from Deanna's friend Debbie - I received it at my Momala's memorial.

Here is the other side view.  The little pink bunny is from an antique store in Sumner.

So what do you think? let me know in the comments section below!

♥ Ashley

Remember to become a follower, once I hit 25 I am doing a giveaway!!

Project Review [Picture Thursday]

Hey lovely readers!! I am linking up to Jennifer Rizzo's "My Painted Project" linky party with a project I did almost a year ago.  You can find the original post here.  

The Before a Goodwill find

The After with two cans of blue spray paint.

I still love it and is one of the best additions to our living room -- totally beats what it replaced TEN FOLD!

SO what do you think?

Linked to:  My Painted Project

♥ Ashley

Good News!! PTL

God is good, He is so good.

After getting the email on Friday last week that our Home Study was complete and that we could begin making our portfolio.  I had NO IDEA how long we would have to wait to get into our Adoption Agency's Seminar.  [When I spoke to our contact in January there she said that there were about 12-14 couples ahead of us and that they were unsure of when they would be having any seminars...the only allow 4-6 couples into each seminar.  It is a two day, 8 hours each day information, counseling and getting to know you weekend...but we were assured to get into a seminar in the 2012 calendar year]  In the email she said we were close to the top of the list for getting into a seminar but no dates were available yet.  We got a call yesterday.  Letting us know of the date of the next seminar and we made the list!!!!!!!  OH Happy Day! PTL.  And the best part is the Seminar is in ONE month!!!  One day will be on Thomas's birthday and then its Father's Day.

We are just thrilled to be moving along in this process so quickly!! at least I think its been quick. 

What's next you ask?  

Well since our Home Study is complete we can begin applying for Adoption Grants.  We found a couple of sources online...they all say that you cannot start applying until AFTER your Home Study is complete and approved.  Well we have both so starting this process we go.  In addition we are sending in our registration for our Seminar and creating our Portfolio.  It is our goal to have a complete "rough draft" of our portfolio prior to attending the seminar.  So I better get my camera ready! (and get that darn usb cord too)  

After we attend the Seminar we will then be on the list to get onto the "Waiting Pool List"  lots of waiting and patience...good thing I learned that Patience is a Virtue in my early years because I am exercising in greatly.  Then once we get on the Waiting Pool List our portfolio will be shown to prospective Birth Mothers who fit our criteria and we fit hers...then we will be chosen by her to raise her child as our own.  Oh and PAY for it all.  So we need to get on those Grants and look into personal loans if necessary.

To help us out please sign the petition on my blog for the Change.org adoption tax credit to help families like us adopt children and provide forever homes for all children.

If you know of any grants or scholarships to help with adoption costs please let me know in the comments below.

Thank you lovely readers!!  and thank you for letting my share our journey.

♥ Ashley

Mary Mary Quite Contrary....

 Well I realized that I haven't yet posted any pictures or updates on this years garden...I have been working diligently on it so maybe thats why...to busy?

 Here is what our veg garden looks like this year.  We moved some things around and decided to forgo a few of our usual choices to try some new things.  I still need to get rid of the grass growing between the rocks...I am thinking of getting some sort of edging for that issue.

Here you can see some of the sunflowers I randomly threw around in the garden are making an appearance as well as the Cukes and Zucchinis! (our new adventure).  Looking forward to making some zuke fritters and bread!

Our tomatoes...don't seem to be doing great but I am holding out for them!!  I think we are going to be able to make some great Greek Salads this year!

The golden raspberry bush...I hope we get something from it this year...we learned these like TONS of water! so we will see what happens.

 The strawberries had taken over a good portion of our garden.  I am slowly in the process of digging them up to transplant into some planters as well as sell them at our garage sale (if we ever have one) 

Even though we have not had much luck with our corn, I decided since my peas were so pitiful last year we might as well plant some corn and see what happens.  Hopefully if nothing else the peas will do better and maybe we will be rewarded with at least 2 ears of corn!

Our new Blueberry bush this year...its a "Pink Lemonade" blueberry meaning that it is supposed to bear pink fruit!

Our other blueberry bush from last year.  SO many blooms and buds on it...excited for harvest.  It is a "Chandler" blueberry.  We picked this guy up at a blueberry farm and got to sample all the varieties and this was our fave.

Our Huckleberries...no flowers yet but I am sure they will be coming. This bore its fruit late in the season so I think that might be why.

the Snow Peas are shooting up....and some of the Snap Peas are starting....I think Thomas did a better job planting the snows than I did with the snaps.

Walla Walla onions and a few red/purple onions.  

Our two apple trees.  We learned this year that our one apple tree (in the front) really needs a pollinator to produce more fruit so we finally jumped on board and got a second one (in the back) which is a Pink Lady apple tree.  I think it might be too young yet to get much if any fruit but it sure did have a ton of blooms.

My Snowball trees....LOVE these.  One of the only good things that the previous owners planted in this yard!

All the plants made it through the winter and are starting to bloom and grow back!! No need to replace - the joys of perennials!

My first attempt at creating a hanging basket.  Never made one before and I don't think my mom ever really had them at her house except one or two with pink geraniums throughout the years.  We will see how it goes..but this was a wonderful vintage find.  There is a pink geranium in here in honor of my mom as well as that white bacopa.

One of the two flower pots flanking the garage.  Marigolds and Alyssum.  I thought that Marigolds fended off slugs so I was going to plant them with the veggies...but after reading up they actually ATTRACT them! UGH at least I have planters!

You can just see it behind the water pump but one of my roses that died a couple years ago (that I pulled out) seems to have made a come back this year!  Also in this bed; iris's, pansies, and daffs.

This planter still has a surviving pink geranium in it that my mom planted at her house last year!! I am hoping that I can keep it going and have it bloom again this year.  ILY Momala!!

This is just a portion of our front yard.  Will get more coming soon.  And I still need to let y'all know and see the little back yard!

So how is your garden growing?  What things have you planted?

♥ Ashley

Remember to become a follower of my blog.  Once I hit 25 I am hosting a great giveaway!!  I PROMISE!