Our 'Mini remodel'

My husband was lucky enough to get two weeks off for the 4th of July, ok well the plant he works out did a shut down for two weeks.  So I did what any other wife would do.. Made a honey do list lol. Don't worry, he hasn't been working the whole time he's been off. 

First off the kitchen, our kitchen is a decent size, but not very open. There is a door that goes in to our bedroom and a door to come in from the dining room and another door for the back yard/ basement. Our kitchen gets hot when we cook or run hot water for a long time to do dishes, so we found a great deal on a ceiling fan and my husband installed it. It was a long process due to the wiring from the previous owners.. But it's made a HUGE difference in the kitchen. 

It took us 3 days to do a mini remod on our bathroom. 

The toilet had a seat that was too small for the bowl, the previous owners put primer over the tan tiles to make them white, trust me.. You could tell. They also put primer over the white wood in the bathroom. The shower doors weren't sealed properly wich in time meant water under the doors and a mold and mildew growth. I hated those doors, no matter how much I cleaned them it wasn't enough and half of the time the doors were hard to slide. I didn't want J taking his baths in there and putting his hands near the nasty-ness. 

The first thing I did when we moved in to this house was frost the bottom window so my neighbors don't have to see our booties and I could take down the nasty blinds. 

So, we primed the walls and tiles properly, and painted. We didn't want to shell out a whole lot of money to rip the walls down and re drywall.. So we did a 'mini' remodel. 

It's made a huge difference! The dark blue wall is now yellow, and the tiles are grey. We put in a new shower head, a curved double shower rod,new toilet seat, took down the towel bar, put in towel hooks and added storage to our random nook area. 

The shower head was geared a little more towards Joseph, it will make baths easier and J loves his own little shower head. 

It's still a little weird to see our bathroom. It feels bigger, brighter and I just love the way it turned out! We spent around $450 for paint, supplies, the kitchen ceiling fan, shower curtain, liner, shower head, toilet seat, fancy curtain rod , storage area and a few things for my husband.  

I can't wait to start our next project, but for now.. Were getting things ready to do a garage sale. We've moved A LOT with the military and just in these last few years. It's nice to be able to actually get rid of stuff and get permanent items, instead of items that if we break in a move it "won't matter". 

-Nicole

Summer so far

Our Summer so far:: 

I've been eating better, counting calories and working my way to being healthy and of course trying to lose some weight. 

I've been at it for 20 days straight, logging all of my meals with the 'My Fitness Pal' app and I've been taking walks with some girls from work as well as bike rides with J and more! 

I keep track of my journey with the apps  My Fitness Pal, Run Keeper and I just got myself a Fit Bit! If you would like to help keep me motivated and share any tips, advice and POSITIVE feedback I would love it! 

I've been trying to keep J busy, trips to the park, neighborhood pool, the library, flour painting and more 

J got his FIRST HAIRCUT! Adam needed one and well, J was looking a bit girly haha. He wasn't very excited about it but was happy to get a sucker at the end. 

Chomping on some apples!  He has a mouth full of teeth at just 18months! Whoa man. 

After 15days of counting calories and working out.. I felt horrible because I wasn't seeing results on the scale.. It all changed when I saw a lower number! Woo hoo! 

If you've been watching the news you know about the storms in Nebraska.. We had a scare Friday and well sadly our Car didn't take the baseball sized hail too well! Adam had gone to run an errand and couldn't get the car under anything. Luckily he wasn't in the car or driving when the hail hit. 

My husbands company has a Company Picnic every year. This year J was able to enjoy some of the activities! We didn't win anything at the drawings but J enjoyed a few rides. Don't worry, he is buckled up nice and tight. 

I'm still going strong keeping my self on track and trying to eat better! 

I allow myself a cheat day during the week and my husband has been helping to keep me motivated. I can already tell a difference in my skin, my mood, my energy levels and some of my clothes are fitting better! 

I LOVE grapefruit, sadly with all the acidic fruits I've been eating my mouth has been hurting! Ouch! 

We've been to the pool a few times, it's about a 15 minute walk from my house. J  doesn't know a stranger and will play with all of the kids and sit for a chat with anyone who is willing to listen to him babble. What a sweet boy. 

I bought a front bike seat called the ' Wee ride' we've gone on a few bike rides and J loves it! It's nice to change the exercise up a bit. 

 This was before his haircut of course. Uncle Jeff requested a Mohawk.. Js hair was pretty long and he just got a curly Mohawk instead haha. 

We've been keeping busy around here, I've been trying to 'disconnect' from social media and such and focus on spending my days with J and having family time. That's why I've been slacking on the posts as well.. 

Thanks for catching up with us! 

-Nicole 

25 years

{{ I started this June 12th, lol when life gets busy you just put your words in to a draft :: Enjoy }} 

Well, I made it to 25. 

I would like to first thank everyone for the love and sweet words y'all showered me with on my Birthday. 

It's a beautiful reminder that I am indeed loved. 

Thank you! 

At midnight, my husband and I were still awake finishing season 2 of Orange Is The New Black. 

Oh. My. Goodness. 

Season 3 needs to hurry on up. 

Anywho, when we finished the last episode and just took a deep breath, my husband asks what I have planned for my birthday. "Do you wanna go to Island Oasis?" I replied with "it just depends on when you get off work, I'll prob take J to the park." 

A- "well, I don't work tomorrow, I took a personal day for your birthday."

I kid you not y'all, my heart fluttered like the day he asked me to be his girlfriend. 

I couldn't get to sleep last night (this morning) I was too excited to spend the day with my guys. Just me and my guys! 

We ended up getting up early and heading out to the zoo! 

Zonked. Gotta get more energy for the zoo! 

Man I wish I could sleep like that with people watching me and banging on the glass. 

Anyways, I didn't take very many pictures because well, we were just soaking up the time together as a family.. And watching J get so excited to see the animals, brush the goats and try to kiss the donkey. 

We ended up leaving with a big stuffed over priced monkey for Joseph and some of those squished pennies for us. 

 After the two hour drive home we relaxed with some friends of ours, ate some delicious ice cream cake and watched a little TV. 

It was a good & simple day. 

I'm excited to see what this year will bring. 

If you aren't following me on Instagram, you are welcome to do so! 

I'm taking a Health Journey and I love sharing it with y'all! 

:: @NWebb820 ::

Sorry this post is so late, lol honestly I have a few Drafts. Life happens, ya know. 

-Nicole 

Peace of mind with Dropcam

We bought our first home back in December, shortly after we moved in our next door neighbors home was broken in to. 

The day my neighbor came over to let us know what happened and see if we had seen anything suspicious, my heart sank. 

Naturally, I began to worry.. Things are replaceable but my family is not. 

Even though I'm home most of the day or someone is always here, I still needed to know that we would be ok. 

Our Home was built in 1923, It has all of the original doors and locks. 

We have these nifty "night locks"  that lock the access from the outside of the house, but you're able to still open the door from inside in case of emergency. And of course we have the option of the dead bolt. 

Anyone else see The door knob from Alice In Wonderland? 

We have Two dogs that yes, bark at anything and everything. Of course I do feel secure with them in the house. You just never know.

However, with two dogs and our nifty locks I still felt like we needed something else. Paying for a monthly security system was a little out of our price range.

I wanted something affordable, easy to set up and manage as well as the piece of mind knowing I could see the inside of my home.. 

I asked around and started looking at The Dropcam. It turns out our neighbor purchased one and is now able to check in on her house from her smart phone and tablet at any time with the Dropcam App! 

Photo from Amazon.com

Recently My sister and Brother In law installed a Dropcam in their home. My sister informed me that the set up is easy, they can monitor their home from their phones and tablets and the Dropcam is surprisingly small! No big bulky security cameras sticking out of your walls and crazy wires to run through the walls! 

I love the idea of easy installation and something that will almost blend in with my home decor! 

It was great to be able to have two people recommend the Dropcam, I know many people may be concerned about the Wi-Fi monitoring due to the stories of people hacking baby monitors. However,keep in mind if you keep a lock on your wireless internet it can be avoided. 

The Dropcam will be a great addition to our home, basement (when the kiddos get older and play downstairs) and even our Garage! 

Check out their website for more information and even videos from Dropcams that the public can access! You'll find some pretty cool ones! 

https://www.dropcam.com/home-security

-Nicole 

:: I was not paid for this post, all opinions in this post are my own. :: 

Summer lovin

As I sit on my front porch with a book, the cool breeze and an ice cold Popsicle in hand, I enter in to a zen like moment. 

I'm relaxed. 

J is taking his nap and I'm soaking up this moment. 

We moved in to our home late December, the trees were empty and the snow was covering the ground.

This is our first summer in our own home.  

As I glance over at the children playing around our neighborhood with their water guns and blow up pools, I realize that we've moved to a pretty good area. 

We got lucky, not knowing much about the street or the people, there are plenty children for J to grow up and play with. A park and a pool just a short walk too, I've also noticed that we picked a good home with lots of trees covering the house and yard.  My front porch is shaded and I can sit out here while reading. 

There are bunnies running around and squirrels chasing each other up the trees. 

Man, I've missed summer. 

I've been trying to get out daily by either taking a walk or biking around with J. 

Today we hit up the neighborhood park for a little dip in their kiddie pool. 

J was more concerned with chasing the big kids around and checking out their water guns. He loved it though, and the best part is, it's an easy walk from my house as well as it's free to get in. 

When I was younger you could always find me at our neighborhood pool. No joke. I was ALWAYS there. 

I plan on getting J to the park and pool at least 2-3 times a week. 

Let's just hope that the rest of the summer isn't super hot and humid. 

What is your favorite thing about summer? 

-Nicole 

Give Me Strength

It's been a while. 

I'm sitting here typing this as my 16month old is screaming.. Like ear piercing screaming. Why? No clue. J has also decided that when we tell him 'No' or he doesn't get his way he will grab his face and squish it..or he will throw his head in to something or hit something ( like the wall or chair).

He has tried to bite me a few times and has pinched me a few times.. We're working on that.

Is this the "Terrible Twos?"

Lord give me strength.

Seriously though,The screaming is bad..and yes of course I'm worried about him throwing himself down or head in to things.. It's like a 'trust fall'. I don't get it. 

-- Any advice on this and how to get through it would be wonderful.-- 

Don't get me wrong, I still love love love this crazy bratty child.. ( even though as I let him down from his high chair he went straight to my kitchen and broke my silverware drawer) And I know this is only a small glimps of what we will deal with helooooo teenaged years.. But really y'all, I'm worn out. Straight up.

Yesterday I did NOTHING. I didn't clean the house or worry about laundry, I let Joseph climb and crawl all over me as I stayed sitting on my butt and we watched TV all day long. I didn't eat a legit meal we just snacked.

J won't eat anything right now anyways due to some teeth making their way through, so we shared some Greek yogurt and some snacks and just had a lazy Monday. 

I'm ok with it.

I needed that lazy day. With all of the recent events.. It was wonderful.

What I feel like I need more right now, is just a 'ME' day. 

Not saying that I don't enjoy time with J, but seriously y'all.. It's me and him 24/7, chasing him around..watching him climb on EVERYTHING ( is a 16 month old supposed to climb on everything?) and get in to everything! 

Well except the little bit of time that I'm at work and c'mon, that's not a 'me' time.

I've looked in to Care.com for some babysitters, I may have to just stick with that. We also joined the YMCA here but the child care hours to even get a work out in don't work with our schedule.. I don't really understand why they aren't available all day long, but that's for another time. Perhaps I'll just take J to the pool and work on his swimming. 

Forgive me for this post, I'm just a it'd bit stressed out. 

-Nicole 

Easy Ritz Cracker Chicken

What you'll need : 

• 4 boneless chicken breasts 

• two packages of Ritz Crackers 

( one package if you don't want a lot of crunch) 

• 1stick of UnSalted butter 

• minced onions 

•salt

•pepper

•zip lock bag

Preheat your oven to 350

While the oven is pre heating, Melt your stick of butter and slice up your chicken to tenders. ( you are welcome to keep them whole as well, however we made tenders)

Put your Ritz crackers in the zip lock bag and crunch them up. 

Add you chicken to the zip lock bag as well as your melted butter. 

Throw in a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper and a pinch of minced Onions. 

Shake the chicken up until covered in the crackers. 

Don't forget to spray your baking pan! 

Cook your chicken for 35minutes 

And enjoy! 

These pair great with some steamed veggies :: a favorite between J and myself

-Nicole