Casa de Mayes

I've been meaning to post photos of our first home for a while, but just never got around to it. So, finally, here are some photos! We live in a two-story townhouse that is southwest of Downtown Fort Worth. We love it!



Living room!

Another angle of the living room, looking into the kitchen.

I love our fireplace! And that huge clock!




My cross wall. There are still a few that we haven't hung yet.



This buffet is an antique that has been in my family for a long time. I love it! It's in the cutout under our stairs.



Our dining room!!!



Half of our tiny kitchen. I love everything about it except for the size.



The other half of the kitchen. And I promise those two frames on the wall are straight, the angle that I took the photo was weird.



Guest Bathroom

Guest Bedroom - We've gone for a Texas theme!

Dresser in the guest room that Corby and I redid

Still to come... Master bedroom and bathroom. But we are in the process of redecorating!!

Baked Chicken Tenders

My cooking has been really lacking lately. Since Corby has been gone for the majority of the last 4 weeks, I haven't cooked very many meals. Cooking for myself is no fun.

Well, last night I wanted something different for dinner. Not fast food or tuna or sandwhiches. I wanted to make something. Something simple. And delicious. I found a recipe for baked chicken tenders which was just what I was looking for! Easy, soo good and relatively healthy! (Baked not fried!)

Baked Chicken Tenders

Grocery List:
1 1/2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch strips
2 cups of panko bread crumbs (I used Italian seasoned)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
3 large egg whites
1 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 475° F. In a large skillet, toss the panko with the oil. Toast over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown (about 6-8 minutes). Transfer crumbs to pie plate or shallow dish.

In a second shallow dish, whisk together flour, salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. In a bowl whisk together egg whites, water, dijon mustard and thyme.

Spray a wire rack lightly with cooking spray and place over a rimmed baking sheet. Working in batches, dredge chicken strips in flour mixture, then egg whites and finally the breadcrumbs to coat, shaking off excess between each step. Lay coated pieces on the prepared wire rack and repeat with remaining chicken.

Spray tops of chicken lightly with cooking spray. Bake until chicken is cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy with some honey mustard or ranch for dipping!

Recipe courtesy of Annie's Eats

Heavy Heart

Recently, I've had a heavy heart. Just a lot on my mind, I guess. In times of need, I have to remember to place my thoughts, my worries, my struggles in God's hands. I sat down and prayed for wisdom and peace. And He is always faithful in guiding me to His Word. Yesterday, out of nowhere, I got an email of a devotional that I am not even a part of. Just a random email sent my way. But this devotional focused on a verse that I knew was God speaking directly to me...

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give
you the desires of you heart.
Psalm 37:4

Isn't our Savior amazing? I was so down yesterday and this verse completely turned my day around. I am so thankful for the ways that He speaks and pours out His love to His children. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean
not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He
will make your path straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is a day of love. To celebrate our love for our special someone and for our family and friends who mean so much to us. Most importantly today is a great day to celebrate the unconditional love of our Savior! We are His children and I am so thankful for His unconditional love!

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life
for us. And we ought to lay
down our lives for our brothers. 1 John 3:16

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down
his life for his friends. John 15:13

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers
over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8

I hope each of you have a very lovely day with your special someone! Corby left for Dallas again last night so we celebrated our very first Valentine's Day as Mr. & Mrs. on Saturday night with a nice dinner at Tillman's Roadhouse (veryyy good by the way!) in Fort Worth and then went to Billy Bob's to see Robert Earl Keen play. He's one of our very favorites! We actually danced to his song "I'll be Here for You" as our first dance at our wedding! It was a very special night with the love of my life!

Here are some pictures from our Valentine's Day date!



Beautiful tulips that Corby gave me!



My hot Valentine!

Robert Earl Keen

Happy Valentine's Day!

Operation: Redecorate Master Bedroom!

If you couldn't tell by the title of this blog post, Corby and I are redecorating our bedroom. YAY!

It all started with my sweet, sweet cousin wanting to get rid of her king-sized temperpedic mattress because she thinks it's too soft. She offered to sell us her almost brand new mattress and box springs for a VERY low price! So we jumped on it! A king-sized temperpedic for about 1/3 of the original price? Heck yes!

Well, neither Corby nor myself have ever had a king-sized bed. So you know what that means... All new bedding and an excuse to redecorate! So fun! I love all things decorating/design related! It's been so fun to pick out new things! And once it's all put together, I promise to take pictures and post them. But for now, it's a work in progress!

To give you an idea of what I'm going for:

This is our new bedding! Thank you Pottery Barn!

More to come :)

I've been tagged!

My friend, Noel - who I have known since kindergarten, tagged me to share seven things about myself and then tag others to do the same! A great idea! I will just share seven things about myself since I'm new to the blogging world and have only 2 followers (one of which is Noel). Therefore, I won't be tagging anyone! But it can still be fun just to share!

1) I love to cook! I am thankful to have a husband that will try anything that I put together in the kitchen without asking questions. I really love to cook for anyone other than me, it's no fun to cook for just myself! It brings me great joy when others love something that I made. It's gives me a sense of pride! A few of mine and Corby's favorite meals: shrimp enchiladas, homemade pizza, chicken spaghetti, baked potato soup, fish tacos, white chicken chili... The list could go on! If you like to be adventurous in the kitchen, Annie's Eats is a fabulous blog for inspiration and ideas! I also love to bake special treats. Some of my favorites include: homemade chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin butterscotch cookies, strawberry cupcakes, red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing (really any type of cupcake), snickerdoodle cookies, pumpkin cream cheese muffins, etc.

 

I LOVE this book!

2) Corby and I have been going to First Baptist Euless for over a year now and we LOVE it! We have been involved in a Newlywed Sunday school class that started out as an 8 week marriage prep class and has evolved into nearly-wed and now to newlywed! We love it and have made so many wonderful and Godly friends! It's been fun to watch everyone grow as couples and go from engaged to married and for some to becoming parents! What a huge blessing it's been! Our Sunday school instructors are so amazing. Their love for the Lord is evident in all they do. God is so good!

3) I'm slightly OCD. It absolutely drives me crazy when things aren't in their place. Our closet is organized by type of clothing and then by color. Call me crazy, but I know where everything is! If we had more space in our townhome, all of our other closets would be much more organized too. But, unfortunately, I don't have enough space for everything. :( I love having baskets or containers to put things in. They make me happy! I LOVE the Container Store! It's kind of my happy place!

4) I have recently deemed myself to be a semi-artistic and creative person. I have started painting signs for gifts and I've actually started selling them. So far, I've sold 8! I've made name signs for babies' rooms and for teachers' classrooms. It's been so much fun and I love it! It's so fun experimenting with colors and designs. I really enjoy having an outlet to express my creativity. I have also started making jewelry. One day, I will have my very own craft room so I don't have to take over our dining room table any more. A craft room will also help me keep all of my paints and brushes and everything organized! YAY! Here are a few signs I've painted:

5) In November, I started a new job as the Membership and Communications Coordinator with the Fort Worth Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs. (It's a mouthful, I know!) I absolutely love my job! I honestly never thought I'd be able to say that. But again, God is good and He answers prayers! I plan monthly members' meetings, social events and various service opportunities; I head up 3 committees; and I also write, edit and design our bi-monthly print newsletter and our bi-weekly e-newsletter. It's such a great feeling to see your work in print! I'm actually using my degree!! Who would have thought?!? And I have my own office, with windows and all! It's a wonderful job and a great opportunity!

6) I love to shop. Currently most of my shopping is for things for our home. I love decorating and making our townhouse feel like a home -- putting my creative touches in all rooms of our casa! I spend a lot of time at Hobby Lobby, Pier 1, Kirkland's, Pottery Barn (my fav!), Target and Bed Bath & Beyond! Corby and I just got a new king sized mattress so we had to get all new bedding! YAY! That means I get to completely redecorate our bedroom! So much fun! Even though most of my time and shopping "budget" have been spent decorating our home, don't worry, I'll always LOVE shopping for clothes, shoes, purses, etc.!!

7) Last but certainly not least, I love my husband! He's makes me laugh and always knows how to put a smile on my face. He is the best part of everyday. I love doing things to please him. He makes me want to be the best person that I can be and constantly encourages me and my faith. He is my life. He's my best friend and I am so thankful that God put us together.


Wow. That was a long blog post. And I seriously doubt anyone reads this. Whatever, it was fun!

Texas Blizzard 2011

So my snow day on Tuesday has turned into 4 snow days. I'm about to lose my mind. Right now there is about 6 inches of snow on the ground and about 2-3 inches of ice under it. And it's STILL snowing!! Ugh! Snow is pretty and all, but seriously.. I've had enough!

I've NEVER been more ready for summer and some sunshine!

Tomorrow we are finally supposed to have temperatures above freezing for the first time all week. YAY!

Corby survived the icy drive from Dallas back to Fort Worth last night and I am SOO happy to have him home! (the drive that should have taken about an hour took over 2 hours) It's been such a lonely week being stuck at home all alone!

I'm going to go ahead and blame the Packers and the Steelers for bringing their stupid cold snowy weather down to DFW with them! Hmph!

That is all for now.

Snow Day!

Today, I am experiencing the COLDEST weather I have ever seen in Texas! The high today was 23° F and the low is 11° F. There is snow and ice covering the ground with all sorts of winter storm and hard freeze warnings! The high tomorrow is 18° F. RIDICULOUS!

Needless to say, all of the school districts in D/FW are closed today and my office was closed! YAY for a snow day! Now if only Corby was here to snuggle and keep me warm!

If you also had a snow day today, I hope you are enjoying it!!