- 6:23 AM
- 0 Comments
Summer is in full swing! The summer solstice has declared the official start of summer, the barbecues & pool days are flowing, and I'm ready for a margarita (or two)! I love a pitcher glass of sangria, but my go-to summer drink is a good ole margarita on the rocks. Lucky for me, my husband has created the greatest homemade marg recipe!
All you need:
- 1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (the number of limes will depend on the size - 12-14 smaller limes, but if you can find the big juicy ones you'll only need 9 or 10)
- 1 cutie/halo, whatever you call your tiny oranges, juiced - Brandon swears this is what makes the recipe
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup tequila
- 1/2 cup triple sec
Look at those beauts! And those hunky hands ;)
Mix 'em all together in a pitcher, salt the rim, pour over ice & enjoy! It is so easy, and so good. This makes 4-5 margaritas. Make a few batches for your next get together, but be warned, they are strong! Pair these with some chips & guac (recipe for that a few posts down) and you have the perfect summer snack! What's your go-to summer drank? Have an even better marg recipe? Share with me in the comments!
-Breezy
-Breezy
- 6:47 PM
- 0 Comments
Spring has sprung, everyone! Baseball is back, the trees are in bloom, and I am wanting to cover every spare inch of our home with florals! If you're feeling the spring fever and are looking to add some blooms to your home, then these simple DIY mason jar wall planters are just what you need.
What you'll need:
- two pieces of wood, sized to your preference
- 2 mason jars - either two small (pint) jars or two large (quart) wide mouth jars - it's important to use the wide mouth jars for the quart size because the regular mouth quart jars won't sit properly on the wood because their backs are too large
- 2 pipe clamps (size depends on what size mason jar you use)
- small screw eyes
- power drill & screws
- twine or metal wire - whatever you prefer to use to hang the planters on the wall
What to do:
First, you'll need to cut your piece of wood into two pieces. I used a piece of wood we had saved when flipping the house, but if you don't have spare wood lying around, you could easily stain and cut a piece of wood from your local home improvement store! To give you an idea for sizing, for large wide mouth jars, I cut my wood into 10 inch x 11 inch pieces.
Next, add the small screw eyes to the top corners of the wood pieces. At first you can twist them in by hand, but then you will have to use needle nose pliers to screw them in the rest of the way.
Next you'll add the pipe clamp to the wood. First, use a drill bit to drill a hole through the pipe clamp. Once you have a hole in the clamp, you'll be able to screw the clamp to the wood.
Then you're ready to add your mason jar! Just use a screw driver to tighten the pipe clamp around the mouth of the mason jar.
You're almost there! Twist your twine or metal wire in the eye hooks, pick a spot on the wall, hang your adorable planters up & add some springy blooms!
How fun are the billy balls?!
That's all there is to it! This project should take 45 minutes tops, from start to hanging them up on the wall - super easy! For now I have some fake stems from Hobby Lobby, but once spring is full swing, I'll have to cut some fresh flowers for them. These would also be perfect for planting herbs in the kitchen!
What do you guys think? How do you use florals around the house for spring?
Happy spring & happy opening day!
-Breezy
- 2:15 PM
- 0 Comments
"It is not a scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism, that in our day and in this land is likely to quench the light of the gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity."
- Frederic D. Huntington (qtd. in Francis Chan)
I know I'm a little late on the "Crazy Love" train, but holy cow this book is just plain amazing.
I just finished chapter four, "profile of the lukewarm" hence the quote above, and I cannot stop thinking about it. Each page, I learn something new about myself and about God, my mind is completely blown and I find the way I view my life and my world being challenged. It is the perfect balance of feel good God loves you so insanely much you just have no idea and the slap in the face of wake the heck up and do something about it.
It's the kind of book that makes you stop often to process and meditate on what you just read. It makes you examine your life and ask yourself hard questions. It makes you stop to pray and even to praise God.
If you are in a place where you are feeling lukewarm, if you're wanting to looka little a lot deeper at God's love for you, if you feel that in America our churches are missing something, that American Christianity does not reflect the Christianity that Jesus intended for us to live out, and you're ready to be challenged, read this book.
And that's just up to chapter four!
Have you read "Crazy Love"? What are your thoughts? Want to know more? Let's get coffee.
-Breezy
- Frederic D. Huntington (qtd. in Francis Chan)
I know I'm a little late on the "Crazy Love" train, but holy cow this book is just plain amazing.
I just finished chapter four, "profile of the lukewarm" hence the quote above, and I cannot stop thinking about it. Each page, I learn something new about myself and about God, my mind is completely blown and I find the way I view my life and my world being challenged. It is the perfect balance of feel good God loves you so insanely much you just have no idea and the slap in the face of wake the heck up and do something about it.
It's the kind of book that makes you stop often to process and meditate on what you just read. It makes you examine your life and ask yourself hard questions. It makes you stop to pray and even to praise God.
If you are in a place where you are feeling lukewarm, if you're wanting to look
And that's just up to chapter four!
Have you read "Crazy Love"? What are your thoughts? Want to know more? Let's get coffee.
-Breezy
- 9:26 AM
- 0 Comments
Now that Brandon & I are really settled into our house, we've been itching to do a new project. With our excitement obsession with the new season of Fixer Upper, a shiplap wall only seemed fitting! We love Joanna Gaines' farmhouse style and are looking to incorporate some more of those elements into our home.
It's definitely not perfect, but for our first project like this, we are so happy with it! The bright white planks are gorgeous in our papaya mud room.
We followed this tutorial from Stone Gable - an awesome blog for farmhouse living.
We had to invest in a few tools for the project, the nail gun & jig saw, but these could also be borrowed or rented if you didn't want to buy them. The tutorial says you can use a hammer or a nail gun to hammer the boards into the wall, but using the nail gun is so much faster & easier. We tried just using a hammer at first, and it only took us trying to get one nail in the wall to go out and get the nail gun. One more useful tool that the tutorial doesn't mention is a mallet. When "snapping" the tongue-in-groove boards together, it definitely takes more than just pushing them together with your hands. Using a mallet to hammer the the tongue-in-groove boards together is much more practical, especially when the boards are different sizes to begin with.
We made the project a bit harder on ourselves by cutting the boards all different lengths to get a not so clean-cut look, but it was worth the extra time! It took us longer and made it harder to fit the boards together, but we both love the character this gives the wall. If you're not up for the extra work, just leave the boards as they are!
This project took us about four days - getting all of the materials, measuring & cutting the boards, nailing them to the wall, filling nail holes and adding two coats of paint. I didn't think I'd be able to contribute much at first, having never usedpower tools any kind of tools before, but after a quick power saw and nail gun lesson, I was able to do as much as Brandon! So if you're intimidated by using the power tools, trust me if I can do it, you can! (My parents were terrified when I sent them a picture of me using the power saw, if that tells you anything).
It can get tedious at times, especially if you tackle a big wall like we did, but overall we had a lot of fun doing this project! Is there a wall on your home that could use some shiplap? Maybe a whole room? Send us pictures of your shiplap space if you try this!
-Breezy
We followed this tutorial from Stone Gable - an awesome blog for farmhouse living.
Feelin' like a BA with the power saw
before the paint
We had to invest in a few tools for the project, the nail gun & jig saw, but these could also be borrowed or rented if you didn't want to buy them. The tutorial says you can use a hammer or a nail gun to hammer the boards into the wall, but using the nail gun is so much faster & easier. We tried just using a hammer at first, and it only took us trying to get one nail in the wall to go out and get the nail gun. One more useful tool that the tutorial doesn't mention is a mallet. When "snapping" the tongue-in-groove boards together, it definitely takes more than just pushing them together with your hands. Using a mallet to hammer the the tongue-in-groove boards together is much more practical, especially when the boards are different sizes to begin with.
We made the project a bit harder on ourselves by cutting the boards all different lengths to get a not so clean-cut look, but it was worth the extra time! It took us longer and made it harder to fit the boards together, but we both love the character this gives the wall. If you're not up for the extra work, just leave the boards as they are!
This project took us about four days - getting all of the materials, measuring & cutting the boards, nailing them to the wall, filling nail holes and adding two coats of paint. I didn't think I'd be able to contribute much at first, having never used
It can get tedious at times, especially if you tackle a big wall like we did, but overall we had a lot of fun doing this project! Is there a wall on your home that could use some shiplap? Maybe a whole room? Send us pictures of your shiplap space if you try this!
-Breezy
- 12:13 PM
- 2 Comments
After searching through food blogs, reading too many guacamole recipes to count and then combining them all together, several batches later I have finally found the perfect guacamole recipe! It's been approved by the foodies (and the people who just like to eat) in my life, and I have had many ask for the recipe, so here it is!
What you'll need:
- 6 ripe avocados
- 2 limes juiced
- 2 Roma tomatoes
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 - 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt (depending on how salty you like things)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tsp hot sauce (I use Cholula)
How to make the deliciousness:
- Mash your peeled & pitted avocados, fresh squeezed lime juice, garlic powder, and sea salt together.
- Tip: The mashing is easiest and the guac will taste better when you use ripe avocados! Not sure how to pick the ripe ones? First, check the color- they should be very dark, almost black. Second, push down near the stem of the avocado, it should give a little. If it's too hard, it still has awhile to go before it's ripe. If it squishes too easily, it's no good! You can always buy avocados a few days before you plan on using them and put them in a paper bag on the counter to speed up ripening. Once they're ripe, put them in the fridge until you're ready to use them.
- Tip: You can peel & pit avocados using a sharp knife, but I have found it so much easier (and faster) using an avocado tool! I love this one from OXO.
- Stir in chopped Romas, onion, cilantro, and hot sauce.
- Store in an air tight container, let sit in the fridge for a few hours, then enjoy!
It's as easy as that! Have a recipe or a secret ingredient that you think is even better? Please share with me!
-Breezy
-Breezy
- 2:19 PM
- 0 Comments
With the wedding only fifteen days away, I've been thinking a lot about the engagement & wedding planning process amidst all of the craziness. And even though it may seem too soon to start giving out tips to other brides-to-be, I am confident that I have one that all brides should keep in mind. Besides the most important (and at times most difficult) reminder to enjoy being engaged and wedding planning, at this point I believe the second most important thing to remember is to share it.
At the beginning of wedding planning, I was set on doing nearly everything myself. If I could have found a way to plant my own flowers to use I would have. (I was am pretty psycho when it comes to this stuff). I had been looking forward to planning my wedding for pretty much forever, so when the time came, I got a little too excited, and this insane-control-freak beast came erupting out of me. It took me a bit, but after realizing how much work a wedding of nearly 300 guests takes, I had no choice but to ask for help from anyone who I could get it from! Now I've realized that it's all of the people involved in my big day that are what make this incredible day even more special.
Brandon made me this cute little sign for Christmas this year
Glad to see my craftiness rubbing off on him ;)
I may just be lucky when it comes to wedding vendors, but I have a lot of special people in my life providing some big things & some sweet little details for the wedding.
The cake and cupcakes are being made with deliciousness & crazy Buhs family love by my mom's cousins who recently opened a bakery. The tree stumps for the "altar" are from where I grew up camping with my family. My garter is being made by my dad's cousin. Small details like the shutters to hold the place cards are from the house Brandon & I just bought. Crafting sessions with my mom & Brandon have been a weekly occurrence since I came back from Spain. Even my dad has helped with some of the more intimidating projects like carving our tree stump cake stand. And now that some of my bridesmaids are back from school, it's been fun having them help me make a few things (over margaritas of course).
And I do have to give Brandon a special shout out for being the greatest groom ever. He has been so patient with me through everything and done way more than most grooms normally do, I'm sure. It's been so much fun planning every detail and making them all with him.
You may not have a loved one providing every service for the big day, but the ones who do & the ones who help with the little things will make that part of the day so much more special. Maybe I'm just super sentimental, but having so many things made with love for my wedding has been my favorite part of planning. So whether you have a whole squad helping you with every single detail or just a few close family & friends helping plan the basics, soak up this fun time with them! And always let them know how much you appreciate them working to make your special day one of the best days of your life.
-Breezy
My whole vision came together with the help of a family friend with an insane mind for decor design, so all of the little details from the popcorn bar with its apple baskets to the tree stump "altar" came to be with her generous help. And she gave me a good reference to a floral designer... Her daughter! With the flowers being the main element of the decor, it has made everything so much less stressful and way more fun having someone so talented & sweet to help me.
Our photographer is a dear friend who I met through my church at school and who led a bible study for some college aged girls in our church group. So not only do we have an extremely talented photographer, but we have one who knows our personality & style and isn't afraid to make suggestions.
Our photographer is a dear friend who I met through my church at school and who led a bible study for some college aged girls in our church group. So not only do we have an extremely talented photographer, but we have one who knows our personality & style and isn't afraid to make suggestions.
One of our engagement photos from our amazing photographer
Check her out at MK Loeffler Photography
And I do have to give Brandon a special shout out for being the greatest groom ever. He has been so patient with me through everything and done way more than most grooms normally do, I'm sure. It's been so much fun planning every detail and making them all with him.
My papa bear working on the tree stump cake stand
This is one of my favorite little details of the wedding!
-Breezy
- 7:26 PM
- 0 Comments
