February in retrospect, was like a blink of an eye. However, in that blink of an eye we experienced quite a surreal decision. The process of this decision was both educating and exciting. Without further suspense, we would like to announce....we're buying a house!!! The place in which we will call our new home is located 3 minutes from our current residence, and is still about 5-10 minutes away from both of our jobs! That convenience alone is such a blessing. It will be a done deal come March 31st. We have learned a whole bunch about the home buying process and the loan process. We've signed our names and will continue to sign our names on a slue of documents when we close on the house. Making a huge choice like this doesn't come lightly, and after looking at over a dozen homes, we fell in love with this one. Granted, questions were posed, negotiations were made, and wisdom as well as excitement from family and friends came with no hesitation. I really do have to give credit to our real estate agent, Allison Vencil, who is a part of Real Estate Resource Group that caters to St. Tammany parish. She deserves the credit for being honest and efficient and as well as having maintained great communication with us through this entire process. Prayers are much appreciated for the closing on the 31st of this month as well for the whole moving process. Stay tuned for more on this new adventure!!
And after one amazing event, comes two more awesome bits of news to share! We received a new little niece into this world. She is cuter than a button and was love at first sight for all of us.
Ellie Rose Mercier, born on February 12th, 7lbs, 12oz and 20 inches of pure cuteness! Being that this is baby number two in the Mercier family for Lance and Kristina, Cole is now the big bro who I'm sure will grow to love and protect this darling sister of his.
Ellie Rose Mercier, born on February 12th, 7lbs, 12oz and 20 inches of pure cuteness! Being that this is baby number two in the Mercier family for Lance and Kristina, Cole is now the big bro who I'm sure will grow to love and protect this darling sister of his.
Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, my sister Anna and brother-in-law Chris are expecting a new little one this summer. It was much anticipated to know the gender of the baby as well as to see if people's predictions were correct or not. Just recently we received the news that... da da da DAAAAAH... it's a boy! Just for the record, my prediction was right ;)
And also my brother Jonah and Sister-in-law Deborah are expecting their third child, which we found out is ....A BOY! It's baby fever on the Nelson side of the family as far as I can see.. but be forewarned, our plans for a baby aren't anytime soon. We will not hesitate to revel in the joy of nieces and nephews though!
And also my brother Jonah and Sister-in-law Deborah are expecting their third child, which we found out is ....A BOY! It's baby fever on the Nelson side of the family as far as I can see.. but be forewarned, our plans for a baby aren't anytime soon. We will not hesitate to revel in the joy of nieces and nephews though!
Our February post wouldn't be complete without telling of our Valentine's Day weekend. Although, everyday is like Valentine's Day, now isn't it? That's the goal at least. :)
I had a surprise waiting for Ryan on that friday afternoon at the apartment, with balloons attached to photos along with words of love to show how each month of marriage has been so amazing.
I had a surprise waiting for Ryan on that friday afternoon at the apartment, with balloons attached to photos along with words of love to show how each month of marriage has been so amazing.
I must say Ryan had a super creative idea, and his was truly original, mine was creative, although only creatively taken from Pinterest...lol. He had a bunch of white roses hidden around the apartment, each rose with a word on a piece of paper tucked into the petals. It was up to me to search them out in the apartment and then arrange the words that would express a riddle as to where my present was located in the apartment. I loved my present! Keeping home close to my heart always!
After grabbing some Starbucks, we were on our way to continue with some Valentine's Day fun. As promised we returned to Slidell Rocks, where I joined Ryan on the wall this time. If you haven't ever been rock climbing indoor or outdoor.. you gotta try it! So fun!!
That Saturday was beautiful weather. So we made it out to the lake front as well as feeding the duckies, so I got my duck fix. ;)
Rounding out our weekend, we indulged in the italian cuisine of Macaroni Grill. Ryan knows me well in that you can't go wrong with Italian food :D Oh, and even though I am the young age of 23, I instantly felt old when a student of Ryan's was at the restaurant and stopped by to say hi. She said "So y'all are doing the PVD thing?" ... I had NO IDEA what that meant. I suddenly had been faced with an acronym that I didn't know was common knowledge. Hahaha. PVD = Post Valentine's Day. My bad.
Last weekend, we virtually had no plans and found ourselves in Mandeville touring around the local consignment shops to see if we might find any treasures for our new home. Plenty of unique items, but nothing that quite caught our eye enough to purchase. Exceeeeept, a little birdy caught Ryan's eye and it brought him back to his childhood parakeet, Chico. While I'm on one side spouting out the cons of buying this bird, Ryan is on the other side confidently reminding me of the cute positives of a parakeet. To Ryan's disappointment, no bird was bought. Maybe next time Chico.
The old saying one man's trash is another man's treasure proved true yesterday. While Ryan threw away our trash we came across a dresser that was 'well loved' on the inside and a bit on the outside. We took the little orphan dresser in the truck and decided we'd take it on as an upcycle project. In storage til we move into the house, it was a treasure indeed. Can't wait to show you the after when it's done!!
The exuberant youth of Northlake Christian nominated Ryan for a celebrity look alike in the school newspaper. Ryan says he needs to work on his smolder, but I say superman, Brandon Routh, doesn't have anything on my hubby ;)
Now on to the foodie portion of our month.
There were some fails, some laborious meals, but over all happy to have tried new things :)
Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict.
Sounds fancy right? Yeah, but homemade, at least our homemade... is BLECK! We at least salvaged the biscuits and jellied them up for a sweet escape from the fishy goopy mess we made :( You could try the recipe and see if it's just our incompetence, by all means!
There were some fails, some laborious meals, but over all happy to have tried new things :)
Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict.
Sounds fancy right? Yeah, but homemade, at least our homemade... is BLECK! We at least salvaged the biscuits and jellied them up for a sweet escape from the fishy goopy mess we made :( You could try the recipe and see if it's just our incompetence, by all means!
Chicken Enchilada Pizza.
So yummy!! I used a Pillsbury Pizza dough to save time, but it was super flavorful and mounded with avocado on top was the best!!!
So yummy!! I used a Pillsbury Pizza dough to save time, but it was super flavorful and mounded with avocado on top was the best!!!
Homemade Breakfast Sandwiches
No distinct recipe for this, but it was so much better tasting having used the Tennessee Pride sausage to cook our own sausage instead of buying frozen sausage patties. Highly recommended!
No distinct recipe for this, but it was so much better tasting having used the Tennessee Pride sausage to cook our own sausage instead of buying frozen sausage patties. Highly recommended!
Chocolate Magic Cake.
I made the original 'Magic Cake' and I think I like that better than this chocolate version. Still a fairly simple recipe with a twist of chocolate to mix it up a bit :)
I made the original 'Magic Cake' and I think I like that better than this chocolate version. Still a fairly simple recipe with a twist of chocolate to mix it up a bit :)
Lemon Chicken with Artichokes.
This was a personal favorite of mine. Very fresh and easy to make. I loved the combo of these two complimenting ingredients that made this chicken super good!
This was a personal favorite of mine. Very fresh and easy to make. I loved the combo of these two complimenting ingredients that made this chicken super good!
Crockpot Tex-Mex Chicken Wraps.
This recipe made a huge batch that went a long way and was great for freezing the extras. Ryan and I both agreed Mexican food should be a staple every week!
This recipe made a huge batch that went a long way and was great for freezing the extras. Ryan and I both agreed Mexican food should be a staple every week!
General Tso's Chicken with Fried Rice.
What an ordeal to make this meal! It was like preparing a 5 course meal; there was so much time involved! It seemed like 5 millions dishes were dirtied in the process of making this because they were piled so high in our sink. Preparing the dish + eating it + cleaning the dishes = 3.5 hrs! Gah.. You wanna know the best part though?? It tasted amazing!!! Super authentic, and had that spice that General Tso's is known for.
What an ordeal to make this meal! It was like preparing a 5 course meal; there was so much time involved! It seemed like 5 millions dishes were dirtied in the process of making this because they were piled so high in our sink. Preparing the dish + eating it + cleaning the dishes = 3.5 hrs! Gah.. You wanna know the best part though?? It tasted amazing!!! Super authentic, and had that spice that General Tso's is known for.
To end february with a little fun... we want to share a video Ryan and I made.... it was part of a texting dance off that occurred one night... safe to say... we won ;)
Love,
Audrey & Ryan
Audrey & Ryan