1. 2. 3. Lindsey's Journey: Catching the DYI Bug 4. 12. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 23. 24.

25. 26. Catching the DYI Bug 27. 28.

29.
When I was single and lived in an apartment complex I always called the maintenance man.  For everything.  Slow draining sink, filter changes, light bulb changes, A/C not cold enough, heat not hot enough...everything.  When I met the hubs, he used to tease me saying stuff like, "just go buy some Drano and do it yourself".  Not this girl.  Not that I couldn't, just felt like letting someone else do it, that's the benefit of living in an apartment/rental right?  Well it's a good thing I married my maintenance man :)

The hubs is very handy. He grew up in a house where construction/maintenance was life.  His dad was an electrician for homes, buildings, remodels, etc.  He worked for a building framer while in college and has a degree in Construction Science, and works as a project manager currently.  As I said, very handy.  He has slowly inspired me to believe in myself a tiny bit at a time and this has lead to me taking on little projects here and there.  I was just on Pinterest (addicted) and came across this DIY headboard.  And now I'm ready to tackle my own! It looks soooo easy and is so much cheaper than purchasing an entire bed.  The only concern is that I don't want it to look cheap.  What do you think of upholstered headboards?

I'm also branching out on my cooking skills.  So far the only thing I have managed to screw up (over and over again) are breakfast biscuits...other than that I'm pretty good.  Now that we live in H-town, I've volunteered to host Christmas dinner.  I'm looking to branch out and try new things instead of the staple mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and since I'm a blogger I Google recipes.  This is what I've found and I'm thinking of conquering:

Fried Turkey - the men in the fam handle this one...
Peppercorn Pork loin
Butternut Squash Risotto
Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Garlic Green Beans

Allen Family Recipe Dressing
Sweet Potato Cheesecake

Borrowed illustration from MerelyMarie - not a pic of the recipe link

I'm sure Mom will want to bring mashed potatoes or something boring classic but I told her she has to at least try and new recipe that she's never done before..it's called branching out.  I've also been working on my table setting and I really like it...pics soon but it's winter inspired with silver, blue, and white - not so typical red and green. 

Do you do a special meal/table setting for Christmas? Do you have a tradition that you'd be willing to deviate from?

13 Days till Christmas!
30. 31. 32.