My new front porch!!

I finally got around to doing a project I have been waiting years to do! We moved into our house several years ago and from the moment I saw the front porch I hated it. I knew that eventually I would change it out, but life happened and now it has been years. I guess though it is better late than never! This is the before picture of what it looked like. Pretty plain and ugly isn't it! That is not one of the prettiest browns I have ever seen. It really made the porch feel tiny, dark and closed off.

It took me about 8 hours on a Saturday to paint everything. I had to do 2 coats of paint on the walls to cover the brown. Initially I was going to paint the door black just like the trim around it, but my husband said no. So, off I ran to the paint store to look for a color that would go well, and he would like. I came back with about 20 different choices and he picked this beautiful gray/blue! I LOVE it!! I am so glad now that I didn't go with black!

After redoing everything on Saturday my husband thought I was done. I guess he was hoping I was done. Anyone who knows me knows I probably wasn't done. Hehehehe! So, yesterday I pulled out the wood I had bought a few weeks ago and I cut, sanded, stained and built myself a screen door!! I have been wanting one FOREVER and I figured now was a great time to build one. I did look at buying one, but either I couldn't find what I wanted, or what I wanted was too much money. So, for about $45 I built one. I still haven't put a latch in. I am debating either adding a hook or a magnetic latch. I do need something though....and soon!

So, there you have it! My new front porch. I just love, LOVE, LOVE it!!

Yummy simple dinner

Last night I was not in the mood to make dinner, plus I forgot to pull meat out to thaw the night before so I had to come up with something quick AND easy. I riffled through my freezer to see what I could find and then I went to my pantry. I found frozen chicken tenderloins, artichoke hearts in a jar, fresh asparagus and garlic. So I turned my stove on to med-low and started to heat up the pan. Then I thawed my chicken (about 4 pounds) on the counter for about 15 minutes until the ice started to melt. Once it was mostly melted I placed it in the pan and cooked it for about 3 minutes per side. I added the whole Costco sized jar of artichoke hearts with the oil to the pan and then I let it cook for 15ish minutes stirring occasionally  In another pan I melted 3 Tbs of butter and then added about 3 cloves of garlic. I let it simmer for a few minutes then I added the whole Costco sized bag of asparagus and covered it with a lid. I let it cook for about 10 minutes until it was soft. My kids and husband LOVED it! They ate it all up and asked for more. I usually don't get a response like that so I know this is a winner. Sorry I don't have any pictures this time...by the time I realized I should blog about this it was all gobbled up. I guess I could have taken a picture of the empty plates but my kids did the dishes so fast that wasn't really a possibility either. Next time.