House Projects

Ahh the lovely experiences of homeownership.  We have been in our 1st home for 3 1/2 years now.  It's crazy how time flies.  We have already gotten some of the big and little projects off of our my our list, but I think when you own a home there is always the next project that is on the honey-do list either because you want to or because you have to.  Here's a re-cap of some things we've done already...this list is surprising me with how long it actually is:

DOWNSTAIRS

Initial House painting:
Living Room accent wall and Dining Room Faux Finishing, man cave

Thermostat Replacement

Living Room Draperies

The year-long kitchen remodel which included:
Cabinets
Hardware
Granite
Backsplash
Sink
Faucet
Peninsula Chandelier
Accent Wall
Patio Doors

Kitchen artwork


UPSTAIRS

Guest Bath Refresh included painting & over-toilet towel rack

Master Bedroom Remodel included:
Painting
Artwork
New Furniture (when we moved into our house)
Flooring
Rug
Bedding
Draperies

Upstairs Hallway Nightlight Receptacle

Closet Door Giftwrap Organizer

Of course the Nursery/Bedroom3 Remodel which included:
Flooring
Painting
Furniture & décor
Ceiling Fan
 
Then there was the Flood which prompted:
New Washer & Dryer
Ceiling patching & painting
New flooring downstairs
Replacement carpet on 2nd floor hallway and staircase
Replacement Vinyl floor in laundry closet

Hallway art project

Hanging our Photo collage frame on the staircase


 GENERAL

Getting things on the walls always seems to take forever.  We still don't have this completely done.

Having my own space for art/crafting/sewing.  This is a work in progress and my "art corner" from this post actually no longer exists.  Thanks Pack & Play.

Landscaping will be the death of me.  We haven't really done anything in the past couple years.  Probably should get on that.




 ...I've been itching to tackle some projects lately.  I feel like so many rooms are halfway how I want them, or we have things partially done.  Instead of doing a little here and a little there, I think I want to start tackling one thing at a time to completely get it done.  So, look for that list tomorrow and I will of course slowly update as things get checked off the list!

 

Country Song Inspiration

As promised, here are some prints to get your home festive for the summer!  Inspired by a few of my current favorite songs...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Sneak Peek

If you have been to our house, you know that a lot of the photos/artwork revolve around our wedding.  Well, as we approach our 2nd anniversary [holy cow, that's gone fast!] and our vacation, I had the thought to start a fun collage wall upstairs that would be a unique reminder of celebrating us.  Not just our wedding day, but the fun experiences we have had since that day.  Mostly trips that we have taken and memories from them.  I was inspired by things like this:

City Heart Map

City, State Print

 

and then one day browsing online, I found this:

Vinyl Wall Quote
Can we take a minute to recognize what a great deal this was?!  The font of mine was a little different.
 

That quote just really stuck with me.  Maybe it's because of moving around while growing up, or maybe it's because of the unexpected tracks that Jake's and my life took individually before we met, or maybe it's my love of travelling.  But whatever it is, I love feeling I get and the message of it every time I read it.  So, from there, the idea was born.  It's not done yet, but here's your sneak peek...

On the long wall upstairs

5x7 size, Wedding outfits, rings, and Flowers



7x5 size, Smoky mountains, Cabin, and Moonshine [of course]

I still need to get frames.  The wall quote is black lettering, so I'm thinking something dark brown/black.  I want the frames low profile and simple so that the color of the drawings stands out.  I have more to do [Phoenix/Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Athens GA], but I think it will be really neat to start filling up the wall.  It's something we will continually add to as we go on vacations each  year. 

Hopefully we will get them up on the walls soon.  I'll share updated pictures once we do :)


 
 

Photo Ordeal.

Well...it has not been fun the past two days trying to order some items from Shutterfly.  It all started because I had a coupon code for a free 8"x8" custom photo book from Shutterfly because my parents bought something from Best Buy and they were doing a promotion that you would get this coupon.  Well, my parents did not have a need for the photo book so they gave it to me.  I've held on to it for months, saying that I would make the photo book when I had more time.  I was really looking forward to it because after our wedding, I made a custom photo book of all of our wedding photos and it turned out very well!

So, fast forward to last night around 10pm, I wasn't tired and I was catching up on some DVRed shows, so I decided to make the book.  I spend over two hours on the Shutterfly website, making my custom photo book of all of our honeymoon pictures, and then uploading other photos to use for the redecorated shelves in our living room.   So of course, what happens when I click the little "place order" button?  All these messages pop up saying that it couldn't save my pictures and I couldn't order until the pictures were saved...blah, blah, blah...After about 5 minutes of frustration, I just decided to close out of it, shut down my laptop, head to bed and say a prayer for the best.  When I revisited the site this evening, no photo book to be found.  So, I patiently re-made the book and placed the order.  What was different this time?  Last night, I used Shutterfly's "Import from Facebook" option and imported about half of the photos.  For whatever reason, that function must not be working properly and it doesn't fully import the photo information so it won't let you process the order.  Tonight, I went on Facebook and saved all of the photos I wanted to a file on my computer, then uploaded from my computer documents.  There were no issues with that and everything was good to go!  I just had to pay about $8 shipping, which I thought was pretty good.

I decided that the price of the prints & shipping for the photos I was going to get for the living room was a little excessive, so I went to the Snapfish website (since I need some larger scale prints) and ordered those through them instead.  They are doing a promotion right now for large scale [5x7 and 8x10] that if you use the code BIGPRINTS you get half off!

I also decided that I'm going to do a mixture of photos and artwork instead of just photos like I had originally planned.  I think it will be a good way to incorporate my new chalkboard too.  Yes, I decided to join that craze.  I thought it would be cute to have little messages that I could change for whatever season, occasion, etc, was going on.  We already had a small photo easel that is perfect size to hold the chalkboard :)


Have a wonderful first weekend of 2013!

Storypeople

Early on in college one of my sorority sisters introduced me to Storypeople.  They are little quotes or philosophies on different topics, accompanied by little eccentric sketches.  I stumbled across this one today and it has always been one of my favorites...

   

Very Thankful

 

I apologize for being such a slacker with my blog lately.  I feel like this year is flying by before my very eyes and it seems like the time to get on here can never be found.  But alas, I thought I would get into the spirit of Thanksgiving week and join in on the Thankful posts. The daily thing on facebook is a bit much for me but I thought I would compile my list here.  I'll tackle a few a day throughout the week..

Sometimes we get so complacent throughout the year and around the holidays it really gives us time to sit down and think about all of the wonderful people and experiences that we have in our lives. Sitting here thinking about everything now honestly just puts a smile on my face because I do feel so blessed and happy...People always say that they don't want to get older but I am having the best time with this phase in my life.  I feel like for myself and my friends...we've all made it to that point where we are settled into our adulthood.  We're not the "fresh out of college" group anymore.  We've settled into our careers and our routines, we're getting established and promoted.  We've bought houses and cars; taken big vacations that we've actually paid for.  We've had real life struggles and slowly but surely made it through.  We've "paid our dues" and are now on the upside.  It makes me so proud to see the growth and success.  Will we have more hard times, undoubtedly!  But we've proven that we have what it takes.  Two weeks ago Winthrop had it's homecoming basketball game and a bunch of my college friends came into town for our annual girls weekend.  I love that we have that one weekend a year that we know we can count on to get all of our schedules aligned and get together.  It was our first year having our own alumni tailgate.  We learned about a few things that we will change for next year but it was definitely a great decision and we really enjoyed it.  Now, if only Winthrop's basketball team would get back to the greatness of our Freshman and Sophomore years at Winthrop!   It was so funny to see how much things have changed, but how happy we are with that.  Looking at the groups of friends and WU Alumni who are in their 30's, all meeting up with their little kids and tailgating...realizing that in what seems like a few short years that will be us.  It doesn't make me scared for the future, it makes me excited for it! 

So I guess with all of that in mind, here's my list...

1.  I am thankful for Jake.  I am thankful for who he is as a person and who he is as a partner.   I am thankful for the way that he balances me and the way that we work together.  I'm thankful for our differences and our similarities.  While we both thought that we were headed down different paths in life, I'm so thankful for God's greater plan helping us find our way to each other.  I'm sure that you are thinking "Duh" right now, but it's a feeling of thankfulness that I never knew existed until we got married.  While we were dating of course I was thankful and felt so lucky to have found someone who I thought was so perfect for me, but after getting married small things just started adding up and made me find this whole new level of appreciation.  Even though we had been together for almost five years by the time we got married, and even though we were already living together, there is something that changes.  I guess it's because "forever" actually becomes reality and for the first time that actually sinks in.    

2.  I'm thankful for my big family.  The one that I was born into and the one that I married into.  As a kid I remember doing a project in school where we were writing down the number of siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. in our families.  My Mom has a big Italian Catholic family and my Dad was adopted, and later in life he found his birth parents so that makes for a huge family.  I remember writing down that I have over 20 first cousins, and how some of the kids in my class only had one or two, or none at all.  While it can get crazy trying to coordinate schedules, especially around the holidays, I can't imgaine not having a house full of people celebrating together.  

3.  and 4.  Reece and Kona.  You just do not even understand how much I love my furbabies.  They are my first and second children, they are spoiled rotten, and I would not have it any other way.  While I know dogs are nothing like real children, they have definitely helped prepare us for our future little ones by giving us responsibility and letting us know that the world does not operate on our own personal schedules. 

5.  Friendships.  Old and new.  I've always been the "social butterfly" as my parents called it.  Maybe it comes from moving a few times growing up or maybe that's just me.  Yes, I was one of those crazy people who had a ton of bridesmaids in my wedding.  I've never been the type of person who had only one best friend.  Each one of my friends "gets me" in a different but completely perfect way and I'm so grateful that I have those people who know everything I want to say with just a look.

6.  Our church.  After buying our house we found Allison Creek Presbyterian Church and it could not be a more perfect fit for us.  I've never felt more welcome or at home in a church, and Jake and I laugh about it because honestly we are probably the youngest couple in the small congregation by about 10 years, with the exception of one or two others.  

7.  Art.  For my ability to do it and for the way that it allows me to express myself and connect with people.

8.  Our country and our military.  For freedom, pride, and patriotism.

9.  Education and teachers.  Especially for the teachers who have had a great impact on my life, encouraged me and inspired me. 

10.  My job.  For doing something that I enjoy with co-workers that are fun to be around.  I definitely learned through previous jobs that this is not always the case and it is such a blessing when you find it!

11.  The medical field.  For the advances that it has made and for the talented doctors working towards cures for cancers and diseases.  For the technology that they have developed that makes things like my Lasik surgery possible :)

....that's all for now, more to come!

Project Updates

Here is an update on the first project I worked on before this past weekend. Jake's cousin, Lauren, is having a little girl who should be making her appearance into the world in about a week or so! As part of her baby shower gift, I made this to go in her nursery,which they are decorating in black & baby pink...

The quote says "Sent with love from the Lord above"

Jennings is going to be her middle name.

Then, for the second project I made some classroom artwork for my friend Kelsey.  Her school chose an "Under the Sea" theme for the coming school year so she is doing lots of nautical decorations...

The color in this one is kind of off...It's in a distressed wood frame.

I think my next couple of projects are going to be more with organizing.  I love our huge closet in the 4th bedroom/"man cave" because we can fit a ton it in and it doubles as my linen closet since we don't have one.  However, between sheets and gift wrap and a bunch of Jake's stuff it gets cluttered.  I found an idea on an organizing blog for the gift wrap, and then I have some ideas of my own for the linens.  Once I get around to doing those, I'll post some pictures!

Updates!

How fun is this?  I came across ImageChef on a friend's blog and thought it was so fun!  It's completely free and you can customize shapes and colors.  You type in whatever words or numbers you want on there.  I can see this being something really cute to put all of a baby's birth information on and have it scrambled to hang up in a nursery.

 

Golf Update:

Sunday at the driving range went very well (for the most part)...I went to a range in Fort Mill with Karen, Shanti, Derrick, and Reina--who has her own very adorable fleece golf bag complete with driver and putter, haha.  I finally figured out my stance and how I need to set up with the ball for my irons and woods.  There wasn't a chipping or putting green so that will still take some practice.  I was feeling really good about my hitting though.  I'm between 100-160yds from my 9 iron up to my driver.   I'm happy with that, but I think it will continue to get better as I practice and get those muscles back.  I was hitting straight for the majority of them, but I have a tendency to hook to the left (I golf right-handed although I'm a lefty).  I also bought a new Callaway Big Bertha driver that was on a VERY good sale at Dick's Sporting Goods (which has a MUCH better selection than our Academy for golf), along with some new balls, high tees, golf glove, and hat. I thought that my golf bag was still in good condition, but Karen realized as we were loading our bags back into my car that the bottom of my bag is about to fall completely off.  Looks like I will be in the market for a good, cheap bag soon so I will keep you updated!

 

We had a great night for our anniversary on Monday.  We met after work at Outback for dinner, which is always good although we don't typically go there.  We had a gift card for it from Christmas so I figured we would put it to good use!  My hubby got me some beautiful roses

After that we went to go see this movie:

which was hilarious!  It was funny how they connected it to what is popular right now, with everything from TV shows to baby names.  There were some interesting baby names in the movie--Henry, Emerson, Theo, and I can't remember the others. I am all for going with names that are not too common, but I wasn't a fan of any of those.  I don't really like the trend of naming girls a boy name at all. And before you get ahead of yourselves, NO we are not expecting and don't plan to be for a while.  However, like probably every other couple we still like to joke and "plan" our future kids' names.  

I also realized today that we forgot to eat our wedding cake so we will have to do that tonight and I'll let you know if it actually still tastes good!

Better Luck Next Time

So, apparently my photos were "not what the juror was looking for."  Oh well!  The photo competition was judged by one person so you never know what style she prefers.  When I dropped my pictures off I saw that there was a lot of black & white photography so mine were very different being in full, bold colors.   I'm excited to pick up the photos, paint the frames, and get them hung up in our house though!  I think that they will look really good in the dining room and bring some more bright colors in there.



As I said, better luck next time.  At the end of the summer, I believe in August, they are holding an art competition that I am really looking forward to.  Drawing is something I am MUCH more familiar with and have had many years of formal training, plus a degree in fine art.  I will have to read their requirement sheet, but I am definitely planning to enter my drawing of Jake and my wedding picture.  It will be sad to take it off of our wall while it's being entered in the competition though, I've fallen so in love with seeing it every time I walk in or out of our bedroom...makes me think of our wedding day each time :)

 

 

Side note---can you believe our wedding was almost a whole YEAR ago?!  Our first year as husband & wife has flown by, with so many wonderful memories...

Aside from that...I am looking forward to a very fun weekend.  Tonight we are going to finally see The Avengers!  I hope it lives up to all of the hype.  I'm worried it's more of a guy movie, but I really like a lot of the actors in it.  Tomorrow my parent's are coming up to visit and Jake has a softball tournament.  Sunday we have church and are going to the driving range with some friends in the afternoon. 

I am LOVING getting back into golf already.  We went and played 9 holes last weekend and I thought it went pretty decent for not having golfed in about 7 or 8 years (with the exception of the occasional putt-putt course).  I had wanted to just spend lots of time on the driving range to remember my swing and get the feel for everything again, but the boys (Jake, Todd, TC) wanted to play the course so I only got to hit a little bit before jumping right in.  As TC said, as long as I was moving the ball forward it was progress!  I wasn't getting the ball in the air as much as I would have liked, but I was making some fairways, staying out of sand traps, and didn't lose a single ball until the 8th hole!  I see that as a nice accomplishment :)  Hopefully this weekend will go better and I will start to get my swing down again.  It's frustrating knowing how much better I was at one point and trying to get my body to remember how to do everything properly.  I kept bringing in habits from my softball swing like lifting up my front foot during my back-swing.  That was the whole reason my parents had me choose during high school--softball or golf, because if you continue to do both your swings are going to blend together and you won't be good at either one. Now I'm having to deal with my choice of picking to play softball!



That's all for now, have a great weekend!


 

Leap of Faith!

Well, my photos are ready to go for the competition and I turn them in tomorrow morning.  I was pretty impressed with the print quality of Staples for the large format photographs.  The color came out very well, which was my main concern going into it.  They are also very quick! I chose simple, wide black frames that really make the color pop.  I think this is as good of an effort as I could be making for this competition, so it will be fun to see how this all plays out.  Even if nothing comes of it, I still enjoy getting my artwork out there and have it viewed in a public forum. 

Aside from that we have a busy day tomorrow with a birthday party and a wedding.  I haven't been to a wedding since our own, almost a year ago!! We have four that we are going to this summer so tomorrow is officially the start of wedding season :)

I am really hoping to get out to a driving range on Sunday afternoon since we didn't get to last weekend.  I am really trying to get back into golfing like I used to. 

Off to bed in a few, have a great weekend!

Artsy Ideas

I've decided to enter in a photography contest in Rock Hill.  I have never really had any formal photography training but I think I have a bit of a natural eye for composition when I try.  I have several photos from my trip to Greece that I love and so I've decided to pick two of those to enter.  I would enter four but I think that the two I have chosen work well to be submitted together, and plus since it's my first time doing a photography contest I don't want to pay extra for two additional photos when I don't know what to expect.  I am looking for a good place to get them printed out fairly larger (I'm thinking at least 11"x14" format), anybody have any suggestions?  I know that places like CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid all have photo centers but the print quality is what I am apprehensive about.  The deadline is June 2nd to have them turned in, and then they notify all of the selected competitors by June 8th.  The winners and awards will be announced June 21st.  Hopefully I will make the cut!  We shall see...it will be fun and it's not too much to enter.  The top 3 places get significant monetary prizes so that would be exciting!  If I make the cut they also keep your artwork hanging up for about a month and anyone who visits has the opportunity to purchase it, so that is a possibility also.  Either way, we still need to get some stuff up on our walls at home so these could maybe go in the hall upstairs or in our dining room.  I'm going to try to find a coupon to get frames at Michaels or Hobby Lobby, and hopefully can find a printer at a decent price, maybe even with an online promo code!

There is also an art contest in August for any type of artwork to be submitted in a general contest.  I think I might submit the charcoal drawing I did of one of our wedding photos (shown here).  That one I am much more confident in, it will just be interesting since all of the different types of artwork will be judged against one another and not knowing what the judges may favor.


I will update with how everything goes. 

And yes, I know I haven't updated on Las Vegas yet...It was awesome and exhausting.  I will load pictures and summarize this weekend when I have more free time! (Long weekend, woo hoo!!)

New Portrait

Most recent portrait work....Mother's Day present for my mom

I also added a line from their wedding dance song, "Always and Forever"...

We gave it to her this past weekend because Jake and I are leaving for Las Vegas this weekend.


 

Portraits

So, lately I have been thinking about commissioning portraits. This blog may take a turn down art-nerd lane, but bear with me. If you are an artist, you know that although you can draw just about anything better than the average person, every artist has their knack. Their thing that they are more exceptional at. What they love to draw because it amazes even them when they are finished. For some people it is nature, for some it is architecture, and for me it is people. In a high school art class we had a project to draw human hands in various positions. I was fascinated. Paying attention to the curves and shadows, the tiny details of creases and texture. This turned into drawing more portraits. In my spare time I would draw the models on the Abercombie and Fitch shopping bags, or people in magazines. I would draw pictures of family for presents or projects. I am definitely my worst critic, and finally after more than ten previous tries, in my senior year of high school I drew a self-portrait that I was pleased with.

After I set up my art nook I sat down one night to draw and figured I would try things out with drawing a picture from Jake and my wedding album.

We ended up hanging this in our bedroom. We have a little "nook" where our door is, so this is the first thing you see when you walk in. A nice way to start and end the day :)


I have also drawn a couple of other portraits but I have to wait to post pictures. I also need to fix something and take a picture of one that I drew for Jake of him and Reece. I drew it a couple of years ago and it now hangs in our man cave.

So back to commissioning portraits. I have thought about starting an Etsy page or something for it. All I would need is a photo, which people could send by email. I could include the price of the frame and matting.



That's all for my random ramblings of the evening....

Sudden Inspiration...

I don't quite know why, but I have felt so inspired lately. Not for any one thing in particular, it has been for many things actually. I can not pin-point what it is that makes me feel this way, and I think that is part of what I like about it. Maybe it's the holidays, being so happy at my job, or being a "lovey-dovey newlywed"...whatever it is, I haven't felt like this in a while and it just makes me smile. I am loving that I am getting back into so many of my hobbies that I didn't have time for before (art, reading, exercising)...

I have been wanting to really get back into working out lately. It stinks that this is the first time in the past almost 6 years that I don't have a free gym at my finger tips. I had the awesome West Center at Winthrop and then lived in apartments with gyms for two years. Working 6 days a week at my old job, it did not leave me with enough time or energy to try to go to a gym, but now that I have settled in with my new job I definitely want to get a gym membership. I am trying out one that is right on the way home every day so that I will not be tempted to skip it (convenience is a big factor to keep up with a routine).

I have never been one to diet. In high school, I was working out more than 2-3 hours a day between the 4 sports teams that I was on (two winter/spring and two summer/fall). I was in fantastic shape and would eat anything that I wanted. In general, I have always tried to eat healthy but it has to be something that I also like. Fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, and veggies are always staples for me. However, so are breads, pastas, and ice cream! I have been collecting lots of recipes for quick and easy breakfasts and lunches that I can grab on the go in the mornings and take to work so that I don't wind up eating out at fast food restaurants all the time (I am not a sandwich person so it can be challenging). Here is one that I am really excited about and plan on making for next week:

--Freeze & Go Breakfast Smoothie Packs--

Buy a quart of your favorite low-fat yogurt and whichever fruits you prefer.

Use ice cube trays or mini muffin pans and fill with yogurt. Put in the freezer to harden.

Cut up your fruit (as needed) and lay flat on a cutting board or cookie sheet in your freezer. The fruit will need to be frozen individually before putting it into your baggies.

Once frozen, place approx 3 cubes of yogurt and 1.5 cups of fruit into individual sandwich baggies, then put back in the freezer until you use them.

THEN, in the morning empty a smoothie pack into your blender, add milk or sugar free juice. You can also add almonds or oatmeal if you would like. It will take just a minute, then pour into a travel cup and head out the door to work! ALSO, since you know I love a good deal, this should average around $1.60 per smoothie instead of the $3.50 you would pay elsewhere!

I LOVE a good smoothie, especially because I think that it tricks my brain into thinking that it's ice cream :)

And this website has TONS of great low-calorie recipes that look fabulous. I will check into some of these for lunches.

http://under400.tumblr.com/

Off to bed now, goodnight!

Plans for a New Year...

Quickly before I get into the New Year, I realized that I forgot to re-cap Christmas...we had a great weekend with our family. Saturday my parents came up to stay with us, and we went to the 11pm service at our church, then woke up Sunday to open presents and had our traditional family meal, lasagna. After that, we went to see Jake's family and had their traditional meal at his Aunt Teri's house for dinner. Jake loves his new golf clubs that I got him, my parents got him a golf bag, and my brother got him a matching golf accessory set. All in Georgia black & red, of course :) Jake wanted to get me a piece of jewelry to have and always remember our first married Christmas together, and got me a beautiful pair of diamond earrings!

Well, 2011 went by in a flash! I can't believe how much has happened over the past 12 months. A lot of first-time experiences for us--buying a home, getting married, going on our first big vacation (honeymoon), buying a new car, getting a new dog, remodeling our kitchen, getting a new job...also, for the first time, Jake's company now has its very own warehouse! I am so proud of him.

So, what is in store for next year? Learning how to file taxes as a married couple & our vacation to Las Vegas in May! I have also decided to start drawing more, and I went out last night and got some great deals on the makings for my new art corner. I am really excited and I have already got my first couple projects in mind...

What makes it better is that I got everything on sale! The storage tower is from Ross, and I got it 25% off because the feet aren't level (something my hubby can fix very easily). The easel is a French sketch-box style that can fold up and be portable, and has a center drawer for storage. I got it from Hobby Lobby, and I used their 40% off coupon this week to get it for $59 instead of $99. I also got a new sketchbook for 30% off. The canson drawing pads were B1G1 Free at Michael's, where I also picked up some packs of drawing pencils and charcoals for 40% off. The drawing board I already had from my freshman year at Winthrop. Now, I just need to find a stool and clip-on light. I also want to get some wall shelves or something to decorate that corner.


We are going to have fun this weekend! We are driving down to Mount Pleasant tonight for a late Christmas celebration with my grandfather, and then coming back up to Rock Hill tomorrow for New Years/Jake's 24th birthday festivities. We also have off work on Monday so it will be another nice long weekend!


Happy New Year :)

Inspired!

I love our house, and when we moved in we got some new furniture and accessories to decorate but did not spend time hanging a bunch of things up on the walls. Unfortunately, the hanging of pictures and photos was put on the back burner due to busy work schedules and wedding planning, so our walls are still pretty darn bare! Well, now that wedding planning craziness is over I have a little bit of free time and I have gotten really inspired for some paintings that I want to do. I am torn between doing this idea in our master bedroom, or for our dining room. I think I am leaning towards the dining room. I need to make a trip to Michael's to get some supplies, which I will hopefully be able to do this weekend so that I can get it done and post some pictures of the finished product!

I am also super excited about what my brother and I are planning for my parent's 30th wedding anniversary next year. When they got married, they were only able to do a day trip for their honeymoon since they were having to pay for everything on their own. We want to send them on a vacation to get the honeymoon they never had. It's our way to show them how much we appreciate all they have done for us over the years, and for the times they went without so that we got everything we wanted. They know that we are sending them somewhere but do not know the location, which is a huge surprise being revealed to them this year on their anniversary in September. They have no idea, so it's fun to hear them(or mostly my Mom) guess :) I am bursting at the seams trying to keep this secret because we are having so much fun planning the trip and the "reveal" for them. I just have to stick it out 3 more months! Stay Tuned! haha