New Home New Decor

Hello and Happy Monday sweet friends! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was filled with packing, packing, and more packing. I had dinner with my sister and a sweet friend, ran some errands, and spent time around a bonfire with great friends. But mostly I packed and got organized for my upcoming move. Speaking of my move I am so excited to decorate my new place! My roommates and I are pinning away at ideas and decor. I wanted to share with you some of my idea's for my space in the house!

 

 

1. We for sure want a coffee bar in our place and I thing this one looks so inviting and cute.

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This painting is from World Market  I love the colors and the city skyline. I think this is definitely something I need for the living space. 

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How cozy does this look! I am thinking candles and throw pillows are a MUST! 

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I love this bookcase and how it's styled

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How CUTE is this little table and the shoe print? I think this would be perfect in my room

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I love these labels for our pantry. Needing to find them ASAP!

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You all know how much I love a gallery wall and I love how this frames the TV.

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I can't wait to create an inspiring and relaxing space! If you want more home ideas follow you can follow me on Pinterest !

I hope you have the BEST Monday!

 

Krista

Confessional Thursday

Anybody else want to bust out Usher's "These are my Confessions......" on Confessional Thursday!? Hello and Happy Thursday sweet friends! I hope that I am finding you in the midst of a great week. I cannot believe how fast it is flying by. My week has been busy I've been packing, packing, and packing. I cannot wait to move into this new place. I want to also say THANK YOU for all of you that reached out after yesterday's post. All of the emails and messages on social media made my heart full. Your kindness and sweet words mean more to me then you will ever know so Thank you!

I am excited to be linking up with Jessica over at The Newly Blog for another week of confessions. Let’s jump right in!

 

 

I Confess:

~ I may be slightly obsessed with the Real Housewives of Dallas already. I haven't been this excited about a premier since Real Housewives of New Jersey came out. I am really pumped to see how this season will unfold! #JesusJuice

~Speaking of television anyone else so sad that The People Vs. OJ is over. What will I do on Tuesday nights?!?!

~ I may or may not have had Starbucks WAY to much this week. The weather here is warming up so I have been obsessed with the Strawberry Acai Refresher. It's the perfect spring/summer drink. Little secret I like to add 2 pumps of Mango to mine. So So SO Good!

~ Why is it that moving makes you want to redecorate EVERYTHING. I am thinking of updating my bedroom and this speaks to me with maybe some leopard pillows? I am feeling a little adventurist.

~ The Cookie Dough Lara bars are HEAVENLY. They are my go to if I am craving something sweet. If you haven't tried them you need to.

~ Summer is almost upon us and I have been dreaming of lying by the pool and I think these sunglasses and these wedges need to be with me.

Well these are my confessions for this week! What are you confessing? I would love to hear them in the comments below. Also if you have any moving tips or tricks I would love to know those as well!!

Have the BEST day sweet friends!

Krista

 

 

 

 

Foster to Adopt

What is your purpose? Everyone here on earth has a purpose. Something that they are called to do. Some of you may not know what your purpose is yet and that's okay. God will unfold it when the timing is right but you do have purpose. This is something that has been on my heart recently, I feel like God is working in me and unfolding plans and purpose He has for me in my life. Let me tell you, some of it lines up with what I thought and had planned for my life. But some of it doesn't, God is showing me his plan for me and taking me out of my comfort zone to bring me into HIS purpose.

Something that I don't share with too many people is that when I was 15 I was diagnosed with endometriosis. It's a disease that grows tissue where it's not supposed to. One of the main risks of endometriosis is infertility. In fact over 50% of women who have endometriosis have a very hard time getting pregnant. Now I am nowhere near ready to have a baby but when I was 15 and those words were spoken to me my heart broke. If there is anything I want more in this world it's to be a mother. When I was a little girl and I was asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?" it was always a mom. I know that God has placed me on this earth to love his children and to be told that I may never have the chance to have children of my own was unbearable.

I do believe that God gives us the desires of our heart. He is the one who placed that desire in me to be a mom and I know that one day I will have a child of my own despite what the world and statistics have told me. But in the last few months God has been working on my heart and showing me that being a mom can come in more ways than one I received this card one night a young adult’s event with my church. We each picked a card and read aloud all the beautiful words and encouragement to the group. These cards are picked at random and the point is that the card you get is a message from God that shares encouragement and speaks life. Every card that everyone else got made me so emotional because it was so spot on. What they were reading was exactly who they were. I got mine and this is what it said.

The Revolution Paper

 

If I'm being honest when I read this I was kind of annoyed. I didn't understand it. Like I said before everyone else's was SPOT ON to who they were and what they were doing. And this just didn't make sense to me. But you know what sometimes God doesn't reveal what something is or what it means until His timing. Weeks went by and I didn't even think twice about this card or its meaning until I read a blog post that changed my life. Shay over at Mix and Match Family shared a post on her friends foster to adopt story. Now before I read this I had thought about adoption but never felt called to adopt. When I read this and then saw that they would be doing a follow up post I immediately wrote a sticky note to check back and read it. After reading her follow up post my heart was pounding. I got online and read everything that I could on fostering to adopt children. I still didn't really know why I was doing this but I had the urge in my heart to.

Over the next few days I kept researching, thinking about, and praying about fostering to adopt. Then one morning while I was at work God said to me "Look at that card from Young Adults" I honestly couldn't remember where I put it. I got home found the card re read it and immediately started crying. It said: "You have been handed a purpose to pursue righteousness on behalf of those that are forgotten" 'The Lord has great and mighty things He will work through you to free children from bondage" " You are special and God trust's you to move forward with what is right"

Immediately I knew that fostering to adopt was something that I was put on this earth for. That despite my fear and sense of being overwhelmed I knew that God wanted me to do this one day. I will be a mother to my own children but I will also be a mother to kids that need to see and feel God's love for them.

You see sometimes God's purpose and plan for our lives looks NOTHING like we would expect or have ever thought of. I never in a million years would think that one day I would foster to adopt. But God's plan is far greater than anything I can ever imagine. I pray for this child or children every day. I may not be ready to meet them yet but one day I will. For now God is continuing to work in me and prepare me for this calling in life. I pray that no matter where you are in life that you would feel God's love and know that right now you may feel lost and uncertain of your purpose but God has something special just for you and in His timing it will come to be.

 

Have the best day sweet friends

Krista  

Beef Stew

Happy Monday sweet friends! Did you all have a good weekend? Mine was full of cleaning, relaxing and PACKING. Yup, you read that right! At the end of May I will be moving into a beautiful new townhome with my sweet roommates! I cannot wait! We found out Friday that everything was approved and we were good to move in. I already have been pinning away deciding how I want to decorate. I am so excited and I have such a peace from God that this is the right decision. I can't wait to show you pictures and get a House Tour all set up once we have everything unpacked and I am settled so stay tuned for that.

Today I want to share with you a comfort food recipe that I love. There is honestly nothing better to me then cozy comfort food and making it for people to enjoy. I truly love to cook and I love to find new recipes to try. But there is always something about those traditional comfort foods that are tried and true and today this is one of those.

 

 

 

Beef Stew :

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs. boneless beef chuck
• 2 Tbs. canola oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, cut into chunks
• 3 stalks celery, cut into 1/2-inch lengths
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 6 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 4 cups beef stock or broth
• 2 Tbs. tomato paste
• 1 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
• 1 tsp. minced fresh thyme
• 1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/4 lbs. red-skinned potatoes

 


Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 325°F. Cut the beef into 1 1/2-inch cubes and set aside. Season the beef cubes with salt and pepper. Heat large Dutch oven of medium heat in batches to avoid crowding, add the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer the beef to a plate.

Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the butter and let it melt. Sprinkle with the flour and stir well. Gradually stir in the stock, and then stir in the tomato paste, the 1 Tbs. parsley and the thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Return the beef to the pot and bring to a boil. Cover, place in the oven, and cook for 1 1/2 hours.

Cut the unpeeled potatoes into 1-inch cubes, add them to the pot, stir, re-cover and continue cooking until both the meat and potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes more. Season the stew with salt and pepper. Serve at once, garnished with parsley Serves 6.


I love to use a variation of this recipe. This is the perfect thing to make for a rainy April day. I make it a lot in the fall and winter because it's so nice to have these leftovers in the fridge and easy to warm up for a quick dinner.

Do you have one recipe that you love and always go back too? I would love to hear about it in the comments below! I always enjoy trying new recipes so please share!!

Have the best day sweet friends!

Krista

Pinspiration: Home Office

Happy Wednesday Sweet Friends! We are here middle of the week! Friday is a step closer. How has your week been so far? For me... Work has been CRAZY busy but in a good way. I am looking forward to the weekend for sure.

Today I want to share with you a little Pinspiration. I have wanted to add a little "office space" to my current home and I have been pinning away ideas that I love so I can get a feel and idea of what I want. I don't have a full room to designate office space but I want to add a little spot in my bedroom for a desk and what not. One thing I know I love is gold, so most of these photos have some sort of gold detail in them. I also want to make it feminine, well organized, and functional. Let’s take a look at what I found!

Pinspiration: Office Space's

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Aren't these office spaces swoon worthy! I want to run to Home Goods right now and start decorating. I love all the gold details and feminine touches. I love the mix of pattern in some and the gallery walls in others. I can't wait to come up with a design for my space and share it with you.

What are some things you look for in an office space?

 

Have the Best day!

 

Krista

 

Top Five: Closet Essentials

Hello and Happy Monday beautiful friends! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was wonderful, filled with lots of relaxing and fun times with the people I love the most. I got to run a few errands, do a little window shopping, spent time outside in the beautiful weather, and watched a movie with my sweet family. I love weekends like that I feel so refreshed and ready for the week!

As I was home this weekend I was looking at my closet and realized I had a few of the same things in there. When it comes to fashion there are trends and then there is style. I love to incorporate trendy things into my wardrobe but I believe that every closet should be stocked with the essentials. Now you may be wondering what exactly the essentials everyone should have are. They are tons of articles that explain the top things every girl should have in their wardrobe. Mine is close to what they say to have but also a little different. I think that with anyone depending on your style it can change. But the five things I am going to share with you are things that are so versatile that no matter your style you can find these to fit your needs.






 

One// A grey or white T-shirt. These are the easiest to find and can be purchased at a reasonable price. I like to find one with a relaxed fit. It's easy to pair this with jeans and flats for weekend errands or shopping with friends. Or you can throw a blazer or jacket over it and wear it with dress slacks to work.

Two// Leopard Flats are a great way to add a little fun pattern into your everyday wardrobe. I love that they are so classic and go with just about anything. They are essential to me and I wear them at least once a week.

Three// A structured handbag in a neutral color. I would say spend a little more money on this. This is the bag that will last you the longest and the bag that can be used and goes with everything. I would get it in a color that is neutral black, tan, and grey. There are lots of options for this bag in every budget.

Four// Straight leg dark wash demin jean, this is the quintessential must have. They can be paired with anything and everything. Make sure you get a good fit and if needed get it tailored. It does not cost that much extra to get something that will fit you well and last a long long time.

Five// This is another piece that I think every girl should own. I love to pair this with that basic tee and jeans for a quick trip to the mall or dinner with family. But you can also throw it over a fun LBD and rock it out with girlfriends or on a date. A good leather jacket is both fun and practical.



So these are my Top Five Closet essentials. What are some things you think would need to be added? I would love to hear them in the comments below.

 

Have the very best day

Krista

Five on Friday

It's FRIDAY!!!!! Cue the hallelujah chorus and insert the praise hands emoji! This week has gone by so fast but I am unbelievably happy it is Friday! How was your week? Anything fun or exciting happen? I have been soaking in as much time with my sweet nephew as I can and I am telling you baby snuggles..... there is NOTHING better.




Today we are linking up here and here for another Five on Friday and Friday Favorites! I cannot wait to share with you what I have so lets get started!!!

One//  Again my Sweet sweet nephew Benjamin was born on Easter Sunday. He is perfect in every way and my heart just can't get enough of him.

Be still my heart!!!

 

 

Two// I made a super easy and delicious meal for my family the other night and share it with you on the blog! Meatball subs are the bomb.com in my opinion. You can fine the recipe here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three// This weekend my 2 of my sisters and I are going to see this movie and I CANNOT WAIT. This first one is one of my all time favorites and when I heard they were making a second my heart skipped a beat!

 

 

 

 

Four// How cute are these pumps from Target? I love the color and the tassel is perfect. At only $32.99 I think these will be coming home with me very soon!

 

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Five//  Do you guys read The Every Girl ? If you don't I highly recommend you start. I love all the articles they have. We all know how much I love make-up and beauty products. Sometimes it can get expensive but the every girl just posted an article about Luxurious beauty products with single digit prices!!! Let me tell you I was ALL over that! You can find the article here and if you fall in love like I did here is a another article that I loved here.

Well thats' all folks. How was your week? Any fun plans for your weekend?

 

Krista