Two For One Wells: Lately....

Happy February!!! Crazy that it's February right!? And the END of February for that fact! The Mr.'s birthday is coming up at the end of the week already! Life is going well in the Big D; contrary to the pictures below, we've had a touch of Spring this past week which makes me CRAZY for some sunshine and warm weather! Although we haven't had near a brutal winter as other parts of the country, it has still been a tough one. I like it just cold enough to warrant a fire, but let's face it, at the end of the day, I'm from Mississippi.

A few weeks ago we did get a legitimate snow flurry (as opposed to ice storm) and Manny and I had ourselves a good ole time. He loved the fluffy snow!

Valentine's has come and gone as well and we had a good one. We spent that day and the following at the Linger Conference at our church which was filled with amazing speakers and worship leaders about how to "linger/abide" with God constantly. (A concept that blows our human "to-do-list-loving" minds!) It was an incredible conference! We squeezed in some Shipley's donuts for Valentine's breakfast and ate homemade strawberry cake when we got back at night.

This cake has been a monkey on my back for years. About 7 years ago, when J and I were dating, I decided I would make him this cake which has been perfected by my mom and grandmother for years. (I should have realized a loooong time that good cooking is NOT genetic.) I went to a mixin' and bakin' and ran out of a couple [key] ingredients but decided it wouldn't make a big difference to substitute them with something else. Another false concept. The layers of the cake were literally sliding off one another and the icing wouldn't even stick! It looked like the cake on Sleeping Beauty that the Fairy Godmothers tried to make!!! Remember this?

J has messed with me for so long about my failed attempt that I was always scared to try it again. But, hey.....the boy married me now, so what's he gonna do? Plus...my cooking skills have come a LOOOONG way since 2007 when my one hit wonder was a corn casserole. The cake turned out delish and J's words were "one of the best strawberry cakes I've ever had." That's right! Boom!

Another noteable accomplishment this month has been my pantry renovation. I'm almost embarrassed to post the before picture, but I'm trying to be authentic here. Our pantry is long and narrow, so everything is just right there in front of you. Thirty-One came out with some great organizing bins, so I took advantage and got to work......

BEFORE: