The Vacation Is Almost Over

So if you haven't figured it out already, I've been taking a little vacation from blogging. I haven't done it intentionally, the summer has just been much busier than expected. There are quite a few things to blog about and I have some good pictures waiting on my camera so no one worry! Hahaha but seriously after we get back from H-Town (Houston, TX that is) I should be back to my regular blogging self. Cherry pie is coming up soon...

Cake Mix Cookies

So I don't honestly know if this even counts as recipe, but it was too easy and too tasty not to share. This weekend my friend Colby came over b/c she wanted to bake cookies with me. She asked me if you could make cake like cookies using cake mixes and I told her that I didn't know but I would look into it. After a quick Internet search I found that this was a quite well known thing. So Sunday afternoon we went to work making cake mix cookies. I chose cherry chip cake mix adding white chocolate chips and Colby chose chocolate adding semisweet chocolate chips. They were the easiest thing and they really have a cake-like texture. Perfect if you are really in a bind, or just want quick cookies! Below is the recipe and some photos. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 boxed cake mix

Oil

Eggs

Any additional mix ins

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix cake mix according to directions on box minus any water. Add anything extra such as chocolate chips or nuts. Scoop onto cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes or until edges are slightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet before moving cookies to cooling rack. Enjoy!

It's finished! (almost)

The guest room is finished! I actually can say almost because we are waiting on two things, shelves to be bought and the cable to be rerouted from the ceiling. Yes, that's right. Our previous owners have the cable coming out of the ceiling. I'm sure most homeowners notice weird things that the previous occupants did, but I think we have more than usual. Anyhoo, everything is in place. The painting went well, and let me now say, Benjamin Moore paint is the way to go! We did have to end up using two coats in order to cover marks on the wall, but it went on so smoothly I didn't mind at all. With my dad's assistance, we painted the room in 6 hours, including some prep and cleanup. I'm very happy with the overall results. Here are a few reasons why I suggest painting for a easy new look.

1. Paint cleans up the dingy factor a room might have. You might not realize how dirty your walls really are until you have a new coat of paint.
2. Its relatively cheap. My one room used 1 gallon of paint, costing me a whole $33. I'd say budget $50 if you need supplies as well.
3. You can change it! If you don't like the color, its the easiest thing to change about a room.

The cost ended up being a little higher than I wanted because of all the frames I had to buy, but thankfully a gift card came the day I need to buy the last of the frames. The total cost is below.

1. Paint - $33
2. Frames - $80
3. Pegboard Items - $12
4. Grand Total - $125

Below are some photos of the process. Now it's on to the rest of the house!

The token "before" photo. We are ready to paint after taping off everything.

See what I mean about the cable outlet!

One view of the room.

My favorite corner!