Janene's Refinishing Inc.

Ever since we moved into the 'Crossley Manor' with Aaron's parents I've heard all the major cautions... nasty resentment-causing issues, if you will. But you have to ask yourself, 'Is your cup half empty or half full?' We've really grown to enjoy living here.. and a sweet perk for me was mom giving me free reign with her furniture to decorate our 2 bedroom upstairs suite : ) 

Ps. Sorry in advance for for the picture overload!!!

Here's a bookshelf I found in a shed.

....Viola!

These are 2 blonde bookshelves over 25 years old...

Priming...

Brown gel stain...

Ta-da!

Cute, huh?

I forgot to snap a picture before but I went to town on this drawer set

I also forgot to snap a before pic! This was a medium brown chest

SO charming...I love it so much I can't stand it!

Last one!

I decided to 'two-tone' this kitchen table

A few days later...

I love it! I love it!

I have a love/hate relationship with this sort of hobby. I reached my limit with the 4th chair! Notice the picture is missing the other 4? I'll get to it soon...

Yours truly, Me

Our Favorite Fajita's

Fajitas are always our first choice at any Mexican restaurant! I could live off fajitas and Chili's chips & salsa w/ avocado ranch... forever. I'd be even happier if Coke Zero was in that picture. With that aside, this marinade makes the best fajitas EVER. Try these if you really want to impress your family and make a dish that will put all of those hole-in-the wall Tex-Mex shops to shame. 

Fajitas Marinade

1/4 C fresh lime juice
1/3 C water
2 T vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
3 t vinegar
2 t soy sauce
2 t liquid smoke
1 t salt
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/4 t onion powder
optional: minced jalapeños, depending on how hot you like it

For the Fajitas:
-Boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3 large ones). Steak is also great.
-Bell Peppers (about 3 large ones) I always use Red, Yellow, and Orange because they're the sweetest, but you can use whatever you like. 
-1 Onion. I prefer a red one just because the color looks so great in there.

Mango Salsa- mango, purple onion, jalapeno, lime, cilantro, salt, and garlic.

Pico de Gallo-tomatoes, purple onion, jalapeno, lime, cilantro, and salt.

Sincerely, Little Bakin' Blonde

Happily Unemployed

Isn't life funny sometimes? I mean, in the way that makes you want to role your eyes in the back of your head. We moved down to Texas nearly 2 months ago with great jobs lined up for each of us. I had 2 offers at orthodontic offices the day after I settled in. I picked the office where I would be needed to replace a gal that was moving. WELL, three weeks later, she decides not to move. OUCH. No big deal, right? 

Two days later, I can hear Aaron ending a conversation with his principal  "Okay, well I appreciated your time, thanks ." It turns out the principal at the high school where Aaron had planned on teaching found a more qualified science teacher. What were we doing wrong? Options and plans for our futures that felt so right were out the door.  The longer we are here and the more time we spend with our families and especially through meeting others I am realizing we are here for good reasons. I am learning how grateful I want to feel because of the blessings that never cease. I am learning how to see these blessings more easily when the solutions to my challenges seem far-fetched. I am so happy for the education and knowledge that helps me to find the peace I need to get past myself .

So, we've decided to be happily unemployed in the mean time : )

I think it really works for us, too.

Aaron's  entire family spent a week in San Antonio. I have loved, loved spending time with them. We wouldn't have moved to Texas as early as we did if Aaron hadn't had planned on teaching. We moved into Aaron's parent's new home. And it's been GOOD.  I have really fallen in love with my in-laws. Haha, I finally feel comfortable with saying "mom" and "dad." Isn't it the small things in life that reminds us how loved we are?

                      We went to Ripley's Believe it or Not and Madame Tussaurd's Wax Museum.

 

Sentimental moment. Baby Buddha meets Buddha.

This Rocky was legit.

Saltgrass at Riverwalk. Their mac n' cheese is Heavenly.

Have I mentioned that I've loved being home?

Yours truly,  me

Summer Happenings

Summer. Slow-paced. Relaxing... finding yourself bored kind of relaxing. Extra time to read really good books. Pondering time. Swimsuits and tan lines. Sigh...

This summer has been a busy one for us and I am craving some relaxing time like cu-razy!

These past few months have been incredibly fun for us. We went on our third cruise!

It's our favorite way to vacation. The only thing I'd change in the future is the cruise line, no offense Carnival! We have your menu memorized, your activities...we've done them all, destinations were all gorgeous in their entireties.

Aaron scored a Nikon camera for his birthday!! He kept sneaking away every chance he got (a.k.a. Every time I was laying out!) to play with his new toy. He was SO pouty when his precious zoom lens' motor died on the first day! But thanks to Nikon's amazing warranty that we didn't technically qualify for...his spirits have been restored!

Catalina Island's Finest: Get this...tow trucks for golf carts--their usual transportation. So rad.

Then we hiked the Provo "Y" with my sister and her hubby. 

Since we've moved to Texas...we've really really missed them.

I also miss these beautiful smiles : )

Aaron scored a teaching position for Vidor High School this coming school year .  Aaron submitted his dental school application(cross your fingers!) and he's always wanted to teach high school for his off year before grad school. Good thing we got his braces taken off last month before he starts teaching his chemistry class, ha! Maybe he should grow some facial hair , too...And how about I break it to the high school ladies now and decorate his classroom with pictures of me .  Hmm.. we'll see.

So we sold our things and packed our Malibu and hit the road to head back home to Texas. The drive went really well! Thanks to our Mac and a ton of redbox movies.  I kind of really like road trips. I LOVE love  talking with Aaron about everything on my mind and he has no where to go : ) Poor guy. What's the first thing we so happened to buy in Texas?

MMmm...Happy Tracks! It's a new one.

We really love being from the south. The pride is just ridiculous.

Home Sweet Home

Yours truly, Me

BOND: Fun shots!

My brother-in-law Keith got a sweet, new camera a while back and we decided to do these fun shots around Provo. We had a blast doing these shots, but I'm not gonna lie...I'm a horrible and embarrassing model!! 

                                               

Yours truly,  Me

So Long BYU...

Our memorable time here in freezing lovely Provo, Ut is drawing to a close. We've LOVED it here. Beautiful mountains and snowy slopes. Overabundance of young newlyweds. Weekend extended family get-togethers with activities.

Aaron graduated from BYU with his Bachelors in Exercise Science. He really enjoyed his last semester, he even pulled a 4.0 : ) Lately, Aaron has been really anxious as he finishes up his final essays and his 10 billion-hour-long dental school application. He’s applying to the only three Texas schools…San Antonio being number one in our hopeful hearts.

 I love LOVE love how academics come with ease for Aaron. He got an A in Nutrition..I got an A-. He got an A in Human Anatomy…I got an A-. He got and A in Physiology…I got a B+. Ect. Ect. Ect. Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally okay with this since his A’s will be his ticket into grad school and eventually buying a home, car, food, and super cute high heel shoes. 

Aaron was able to graduate with his older brother Keith! He received his Bachelors in Advertising. We were sad to find out their individual departments' graduations were at the SAME TIME in different locations across Provo. Funny, huh? Mama K. and Pops flew up to see their boys walk. I can imagine how accomplished and proud they must have felt watching their two sons graduate.

It was precious for Stephanie and I to watch our husbands graduate together in the same department.

When I heard the announcer call Aaron Michael Crossley to receive his diploma,  I lost it. I was just flooded with emotions of this his BYU experience and finally realized WOW, we're moving on. This chapter has closed and grad school is up next. Kids. Buying our first home. Non-made up callings (BYU joke..) We will have been married for two years this coming August and I smile at the progress we have made as a couple. Individually. FINALLY understanding how to resolve this and that. Learning how to apologize and love one another in the way the other can really feel it. Seeing time after time that the Lord blesses us with love enough to love. This life has been good to us.

Glancing back?

-Aaron managing to avoid ANY studying after 4pm or ANY time I was home. 

-Using our BYU ID's and "Starving Student cards" any chance we had to get discounts : )

-Long walk on campus. Sigh..

-Getting phone calls throughout each week from Aaron who needed my praise for his rockin' test score.

-Skipping our own classes to sneak into each other's classes just to hang out and hold hands.

-Sneaking into BYU stadium to explode a 2L soda bottle and hide from alarmed security and lay on the field to talk.

-Mac and Cheese cups for lunch EVERY day!

-Refueling by meeting up and making out between each class.

-Venting about my super liberal..athiest..pycho..manipulative socioloy teacher.

-Swapping religion class thoughts/notes/ideas

-Sometimes writing more texts to each other then notes in class.

-Aaron REGULARLY rolling over in the morning and saying he didn't have to go to class to sleep longer or spend the morning with me.

-Hi, my name is Janene and I'm a recipe junkie. 

-Failing my statistics class due to my obsession with food blogs and cookbooks.

So long BYU...            

Yours truly, Me

Chocolate Reese's Mousse Cake

I know ya'll will hate me for this, but this decadent cake is worth EVERY calorie!!
Peanut butter and chocolate is our favorite dessert combination. Aaron only has 2 birthday wishes each year and one of them is a gourmet dessert. Last year for his 23rd birthday I made him a GIANT Peanut Butter Cup that was heavenly!

I'm thinking Reese's will be a long-standing tradition for his birthday cake(which happens to fall on the week after my birthday, Reese's coincidentally being my favorite candy EVER!) So what better excuse to make a cake as gorgeous as the chocolate mousse with bits of toffee cake from Our Best Bites? Thank goodness, I couldn't think of one either.
I've also been dying to try the grooms cake I had our Aunt Mitzi make for our wedding. She's a baker--a fabulous one I might add-- not a decorator! My wedding cake was a 5-tiered beauty. Until it sunk in and toppled over itself a few minutes before the reception. It was THAT heavy and rich : ) Ask anyone there, it was the best cake they had ever tasted! We took home a bunch of leftover the grooms chocolate cake with a divine cream cheese peanut butter filling. This little heaven on earth became our midnight snack for the first few months of our newlywed life. Jealous? You should be. As long as you're not a chocolate hater you'll love this knock-out cake!

Chocolate Reese's Mousse Cake

1 package Devils Food cake mix

1 large pkg miniture Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

1/2 pkg cream cheese (4 oz. No fat free substitutions here!)

1 C. smooth peanut butter

2 C. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla

2 T. milk

1 1/2 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 C. heavy cream

3 T. peanut butter

1 t. vanilla

1/3 C. light karo syrup

Let's bake!
Start off with pouring the cake batter in 2 8" or 9" round cake pans. Bake and then cool to room temperature.

While the cake's are cooling you can begin working on this easy mousse. Well, it's not really a mousse. This is a heavier filling. It compliments the moist and light cake very nicely. Next time I give this a go or the next good excuse I can reason up to I plan on using William's Sonoma's Classic Chocolate Cake recipe. It is a bit more time-consuming to make, but it is guaranteed to be a pleaser. I'll let you know how it compares.

Cream together the softened cream cheese and peanut butter. Stir in the vanilla and milk. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar until smooth. You can double the recipe if you want to make a 4 layered torte instead of a 2 layered cake. Slice the each cake once horizontally with a cake leveler or serrated knife and this will use more filling a ganache. It may be too thick and fall over but you may be more adventurous then I am and give it a try.

Heat heavy cream just until boiling. Remove from heat. Add semi-sweet chocolate chips and peanut butter and allow to sit for a couple minutes. Stir until chocolate chips are completely melted. Add karo syrup and vanilla. It will thicken as it cools. I cooled my ganache for about an hour before pouring it on top of the cake.

You're ready to assemble your cake!
Carefully slice the dome-iest part of each cake layer off so the layers are level. Place one cake layer on a serving plate and spread the entire peanut butter mousse on top of the layer. Sprinkle with chopped Reese's. Place the second cake layer on top of the Reese's chunks. Spoon ganache over the top layer, allowing it to drip down the sides. Sprinkle with additional Reese's chunks and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Happy baking y'all!

Sincerely, Little Bakin' Blonde