$5 at Goodwill to Wedding Fabulous

I was recently on a search for a new file cabinet at Goodwill and stumbled on this beauty.

For $5 I had to snatch it up.  The bottom opens up and is secured with magnets.  It came with several of the white tipped pins and I knew I could find a fabulous use for a shadow box!

This birdcage cardbox has been sitting in our living room since our wedding.  I have kept every single card we received from our engagement, my bridal shower, bachelorette weekend and the wedding.  Every card and random memento has lived here for almost two years.  It was high time for a change!

Que the thought lightbulb

 After playing with a couple variations, this is what I decided to display.   I love how it turned out!  I may add a few more things.  What do you think? I don't want it to be too crowded.

 For now it lives next to our sand frame but I think once we move I will hang it up, our rental house is so old and I don't trust the walls to hang heavier items.

I am also thinking about doing this with the cards:

source: Pinterest

One Year Anniversary Cake Smash

I am a huge fan of traditions, both old and creating our own.  September was our 1 year wedding Anniversary, so it was time to come up with something fun for our 1st Anniversary and something to carry on for years to come. 

I absolutely LOVED our wedding cake, CakeAlicious Design Studio is a dear family friend of Corey's and very talented!  Thanks to our top layer being on the larger side we had more than enough to eat a couple slices on our wedding anniversary and have enough leftover for 5 other people!

Like most brides I had spent a good amount of money and time on getting my makeup done for our wedding so I threatened Corey's life if he smashed cake on my face.  (Thank you Tzeira for the below photo).

 

So why not have fun with it on our anniversary?  Enter my fabulous new idea!  A One Year Anniversary Cake Smash! Babies do it on their 1-year Birthday, so why not?

 

  

Crystal Reins Photography captured it perfectly!   She is amazing and we will definitely be using her for years and life events to come (our wedding photos were taken by a photographer who is now out of business).

 

 

 The Cake Smash was a blast, but obviously not something we can carry on for years to come.  So we also decided to start taking a photo at the same spot as our favorite Engament photo every year, holding the last years photo.  (Thanks to my sister for the gorgeous frame!)  Eventually it will look like a neato-freato (yes, new word) wormhole (as apposed to a creepy one). It was inspired by this Pinterest Pin.

Do you have an Anniversary Tradition or a planned one?

Thanks for reading! Joanna

Quick Tip for Tackling a Mountain of Paper

I have a slight organization problem obsession.  My office at home and work are both color-coded, labeled and everything has their spot.  Seriously even our linen closet has spots labeled for everything.  My best friend gave me a label maker for my Birthday a few years back and there has been no turning back.

During a recent trip to visit the in-laws, I got tired of watching golf a burst of energy and ended up organizing their  kitchen.  It is working really well for them, so my Mother-In-Law, Paula, asked for my tips to help her tackle the rest of the house. 

Paula decided to start with her desk, thanks to a laptop she doesn't really use it anymore and it has just become a landing spot for all things paper.

Anyone else feel like that when you clean? 

To tackle a big project, like the desk, I recommend the box method.  Have a box for shredding, trash, donate, file, and other rooms.  If you don't have boxes available, piles are fine as well, I like boxes because you can move them around easier.

I am happy to report that throwing to-be-shredded items in the a box instead of trying to shred them all at once is working great for my MIL.  Our local credit union has free shredding events every so often, so she doesn't even have to worry about actually shredding the items.

What quick and easy organization method do you use?

Thanks for reading!  

Joanna

Corey's Turkey Meatballs

Finally a delicious meatball with no egg or rice!  Since we like spicy food even the meatballs have a little spice, but just omit the Red Pepper Flakes if you prefer milder tastes.  These are perfect for Meatball Subs, Spaghetti and Meatballs, or Meatball Stuffed Buns.  I also love to snack on them by themselves.  We will be posting Corey's marinara recipe shortly that we used with these.

Ingredients:
1lb Lean Ground Turkey
2 Small cloves Garlic, chopped
1/2 Teaspoon Hot Sauce
1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
2 Teaspoons A1
2 Teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (omit if you do not want them spicy)
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 Dashes Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon Cumin
1/4 Teaspoon Dried Ground Mustard
1/2 Cup Italian Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup Milk
2 Dashes Montreal Steak seasoning

Heat oven to 400 Degrees.

Chop Garlic finely, make sure to remove the skin.  We love the taste of garlic in this so you may want to cutback the 2 cloves to your taste.  

Combine Turkey, Garlic, and all remaining ingredients.  

Mix by hand until well combined.

Lightly grease cookie sheet.  Roll into 1-1/2inch balls.

Yields 20 about Meatballs.

Cook until golden brown, 20-25 minutes.

Super Easy Spinach Dip

This recipe is super easy and great for potlucks!  Plus it is low calorie, Score!

Ingredients:

8oz Fat Free Cream cheese

9oz Frozen Chopped Spinach

1/2  Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

1/2 Teaspoon Garlic

Dash of Salt

Cook Spinach for 10 minutes in boiling water.  Drain and squeeze out water.  Microwave cream cheese for one minute.  Mix in all ingredients.  Enjoy on crackers or chips.

Makes about 10 servings, 1 Weight Watcher point each!

Thanks for Reading!  Joanna and Corey

Spicy Fried Turkey Focaccia

This was super filling, which was great for  lunch to keep us full until Super Bowl time.  This recipe yields about 4 sandwiches, but could be easy to increased using fresh Turkey.

Ingredients:
1 package Carving Board Turkey (chunks of Turkey)
1/2 cup egg
1/2 cup Italian Bread Crumbs
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (omit if you do not want it spicy)
1/8 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 Jar Jalapeno Jelly
Sliced Swiss Cheese

Whisk Egg & milk until blended.

Mix together Bread Crumbs, Cumin, Red Pepper Flakes, and Parmesan cheese.

Coat the bottom of your frying pan with Virgin Olive Oil and heat until sizzling.

Coat Turkey in Egg mixture.

 Then coat in the bread crumb mixture

Once your oil is heated (sizzling), drop turkey in pan. 

Cook until golden brown on each side.

Place each piece of Turkey on a plate lined with paper towels and let cool for a few minutes.  In the meantime, slice your Focaccia in half, spread each side with the Jalapeño Jelly.  Once Turkey is cool enough to handle, add Turkey and Slice of Swiss Cheese.  You may want to warm it for a few seconds to melt the cheese.  Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!  Joanna and Corey

Humpback Rock

We did our very first Hike in January.  It was beautiful but definitely hard work.  I do admit it was a little easier to begin this Hiking Hobby than I originally thought. 

Humpback Rock is a trail on the Shenandoah National Park and also connects to the Appalachian Trail.   Since the trail is comprised of two parks, we had two choices of routes, we took the Shenandoah trail up and the Appalachian down.  

The trail up was only 1 mile, but they are not kidding with the quick elevation gain.  Once you reach the top there are two rocks to choose to climb for the view, hence the "Humpback" name.  

We choose the harder one first, by accident.

  

We had packed Subs and decided to break for lunch before attempting the other rock, which was easy enough for dogs to climb, there were a handful of pups that day.

The hike down, on the Appalachian, was much easier but also longer at 2.7 miles.

The Hike down did not have benches like the first leg, but plenty of trees, if you choose to collapse take a break.

The rocks from the parking area.

All in all it was a great first hike and one I would recommend.   Make sure to bring lunch and lots of water.  This hike definitely sealed the deal on me agreeing to Corey's idea of Hiking as our new Hobby.  

The view was worth it and I was stretched afterwards so I wasn't sore the next day.  #score!  Corey decided to not stretch afterwards, since he is in better shape, but paid the price the next day, am I a bad wife for being happy eh was a little sore?

Thanks for Reading!

The Bells