Leavenworth, Washington in the Spring

Over spring break, our family decided to drive a few hours across the mountain pass to enjoy a long weekend in Leavenworth, Washington. Leavenworth is an adorable Bavarian town in the Cascade Mountains. It used to be a struggling logging town but an idea by two Seattle businessmen to turn it into a themed town in the 60's ended up working out quite well and the rest is history! People travel to Leavenworth in the fall for Oktoberfest, in the winter for holiday lights and sleigh rides and in the summer for wine tastings and festivals but what is there to do in the spring? We found some things to keep our family busy and maybe you can include Leavenworth in your spring plans too!

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DIY Personalized Wedding Gift Tray

The invitations have already started arriving in my mailbox for this summer. It's wedding season! I love creating fun easy personalized gifts for the bride and groom. The trick is to make something they are going to actually use too, not just something that will take up space. When I saw this blank tray at my local Goodwill, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it! Come see how I took this boring tray and created a fun personalized wedding gift that the couple is sure to enjoy.

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Free 30 Day Bible Journal Notebook Pages

I'm so excited to share with you guys something fun for spring. A few years ago I got started with Bible journaling and it's changed the way I think about Bible study. It blends my creative side with my spiritual side and allows me to dig in deeper and see verses I've known since my youth in a new way. Each month I get a new Illustrated Faith devotional kit and every month I do the same thing with it. But not this month. This month I decided to try something new and I really like it. I think you will too, so I have a fun freebie just for you! You can print off this free "all things new" 30-day journal and use it with the coordinating devotional kit {or not! You do you my friend!} so that you can give Bible journaling a try. If you've tried Bible journaling, maybe this is a new way you can illustrate your faith. Come get the free download and see what I did with it!

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Dutch Baby German Pancake Recipe with Cinnamon Apple Topping

Everything I love is in this Dutch Baby German Pancake recipe. Everything. Well, except maybe chocolate but after you make this one time, you can swap out the cinnamon apple filling for just about anything. You can't go wrong with this yummy pancake. It's more like a dessert but if we call it a pancake we can eat it for breakfast and that's winning if you ask me. I'm sharing this delicious recipe with you because I know you will love it as much as I do. And not to worry, if you don't have a cast iron skillet, you can use a glass baking dish. I'll tell you how!

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Peanut Butter Cup S'more Brownie Bars Recipe

I'm not sure if I'm saving the best for last or not. I'll let you decide, but I'm not sure you can get a better combination than chocolate and peanut butter. This whole week, I've been sharing easy to make S'more recipes with you and I'm ending with this amazingly delicious peanut butter cup s'more brownie recipe. I am pretty sure you would be everyone's favorite if you showed up with this at a summer pot luck, so feel free to pin it and tell me how it goes!

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Easy S'mores Brownie Recipe with a Hack!

Welcome back to S'mores week. I've got a whole week of delicious s'more recipes just in case you love s'mores as much as I do. In case you missed it, I shared a cheesecake s'more recipe in a mason jar. Yep, it was as cute and delicious as it sounds. Today, I've got a really easy s'more brownie. Best part, there is a fun and easy hack using a box brownie mix so that you can whip these up in no time!

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No Bake S'mores Cheesecake in Mason Jars

I'm a sucker for a s'more. One of the greatest downfalls in my adult life was learning how to make s'mores in the microwave. It's dangerous I tell ya! I'm not even going to share it with you my dear sisters because of that verse in the Bible that says "do not cause another to stumble and fall." Yep, it's that serious. All that to say, I love S'mores so much that I want to have a whole S'mores week. Yep. a whole week of s'mores recipes just for you! So buckle up and put your stretchy pants on! 

The first one we are going to start with is one you can serve up in a mason jar. They are the cutest things ever and they look like you slaved over them for days, but really, they are super easy to make. If you love s'mores, you are going to love these no bake s'more cheesecake in their cute little individual serving sized mason jars. 

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Easy Homemade Cajun Chicken Soup Recipe in the Crockpot

I could eat soup every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of it. No joke. It's funny because making soup from scratch is a skill I only learned about a ten years ago. Sure I'd heated up those cans that you add a cup full of water to, but never anything where I sliced, diced and seasoned anything from scratch. I had a fabulous neighbor who could not go without seeing you and feeding you. If I ran into her at the mailbox, I swear she had a fresh hot muffin in her hands just in case she happened to bump into you. She found out that I liked soup and the next time I saw her she held a bowl in her hands for me to try.

I heard one time to never give a dish back empty, so when I returned a yummy chicken soup she had made for me, the tradition was started. This little glass dish went back and forth between us for years. She taught me how to cook soup and use up what you had in your refrigerator. I've got a yummy soup recipe that you can try if you like a little spice. It's a good variation on a traditional chicken soup and you can make it in your crockpot or instant pot.

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A Beginners Guide to Booking a VRBO Vacation Rental

We have three kids, which is apparently the mark of a "large" family. We love to travel, but it can sometimes be difficult to find hotel accommodations that will work for our whole family. Especially now that kids older than 12 {which all of mine are} are considered adults. We are often renting two hotel rooms and it can get pricey! Plus, space is limited. It's why VRBO rentals have been a game-changer for us. I only wish we had found them sooner.
Sometimes we get limited in our hotel options but not anymore! VRBO allows you to find exactly what you are looking for and lets you live like a local when you travel. You can choose from a fun downtown condo in the city, a sprawling house in the country or something in between. There are more than two million unique properties in 190 countries so you are sure to find something for everyone in every budget. 
Our family has used it countless times and I'm excited to show you how you can book your first VRBO rental so you can live like a local anywhere your travels take you. Before you know it, VRBO will be the first place you check for lodging. The accommodations will make you forget all about overpriced cramped hotels!

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Fixer Upper is Over. Now What?

Last Tuesday was the end of a good run. HGTV Fixer Upper fans are sad to see that the series is over. We understand, but it's still hard to see a good thing come to an end. Joanna Gaines has made the hard decision of walking away from a good thing before when she closed her "little shop on Bosque", the first Magnolia Market, after the birth of her first two children. The shop was near and dear to her heart and Joanna continued to sell architecture, greenery and unique pieces out of her home {the flip that made them famous!}, a few times a year. Closing the shop on Bosque Blvd. wasn't an ending, it was the beginning of something greater. If you've ever visited the Magnolia Silos in Waco, Texas you will know that.

Molly Winn Photography So what does that mean about the ending of the hit show Fixer Upper? Is it really the end of us seeing Chip and Joanna Gaines on TV?

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Why I'm a Fixer Upper Fan Not Because of the HGTV Show but because of Chip and Joanna Gaines

If you search my blog for even a second, you will see tons of HGTV Fixer Upper posts. You might think I'm a super fan. I am, but I'm a fan accidentally. You see, before the Fixer Upper Mania started, my oldest son was looking for colleges. He knew he wanted to be away from the rain of the Pacific Northwest and with careful consideration, he narrowed down a few schools in California and Texas. We started our due diligence of college research and sought out alumni of the universities he was interested in and then planned a trip to Texas after the applications were sent in.  Baylor University in Waco, Texas was the very first college acceptance letter my boy got. Friends of friends started connecting me to Baylor alumni because I'd never stepped foot in the great Nation of Texas before and I wanted to make sure I wasn't sending my kid off to a bunch of people like I remember seeing from the Branch Dividian. 

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Grey and Glam Teen Bedroom Makeover DIY

Am I the only one that slowly transforms a room? Please tell me I'm not. I guess they say slowly and surely wins the race right, so if there were a decorating race I'd be coming out ahead maybe. Here's hoping! When we purchased our home nearly eight years ago, there is one of the bedrooms that is quite a bit bigger than the others. Each of our three kids were told that they could take a turn in the big bedroom, with our oldest son having first dibs. He moved out two years ago, and in came my daughter who was ready to make some changes. Once you see the before and after you will see why. It's been a slow transformation over time, but I think the latest update pulls it all together. Come see what we did in this grey and glam teen girl bedroom makeover.

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How to Host Your Own Canvas Paint Night

One of my very favorite things that I do every week is get together with a group of college-aged international students from all over the world. The kids come from the ends of the earth to attend school at a local community college and a group of us shares life with them every Friday night. This girl who grew up in the least diverse small town is learning all about different cultures and countries and spending time with some pretty cool humans. I get to plan activities for them, and one of the ones that was a hit was our very own canvas painting night. We don't have the budget to pile into a trendy art studio, so I thought of a way that I could bring a paint studio to them. And I left them with a little piece of Seattle that they could bring back home with them too. Come see how easy it is to host your own canvas paint night for your friends, family, or for a party.

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