Bump, Bump

Well, I guess I officially have a recognizable baby bump!  I'm pretty excited that I've graduated from the "maybe it's a beer gut?" stage and a stranger knew I was pregnant today! 

I had a client come in to our showroom to buy a chair, and when we were discussing getting it into her car she said "Well, will the guy up front help? Because I can't lift it and I can tell you're pregnant so I don't want you lifting anything!" 

I still feel like I haven't officially "popped" yet, but maybe that's coming soon? I'm just over 18 weeks now and I feel like other pregnant girl's I've seen end up having their bellies pop around 20 weeks.



In other exciting news...

TOMORROW

 

is the day!  It's so crazy and I am really trying to wrap my head around the momentous significance of tomorrow.  We will find out if our first child will be a son or daughter.  The eldest child of our family.  Our future children's big brother or big sister.  I know tomorrow's appointment will be an emotional one, for sure.  I'm also still hoping to get a glimpse of his or her little face :)

 

Please pray that Baby W's anatomy ultrasound goes well and that all those little organs are developing properly! Please also pray that we get a good view so that we can find out gender!

 

 

I've learned I need to take more photos...

It has become so clear to me that I really suck at remembering to take photos.  I get so caught up in the fun time that we're having that I always forget to whip out the camera or my phone.  So, unfortunately you don't get to see any cute pics of the holidays, but we have had such a great time!  So, where to begin...

I guess the first of our festivities started with April & Jeremy's annual tacky Christmas sweater party.  It was so much fun again, just like last year!  Although this year ended up staying a little bit more sane than last year which was nice, and we took the party to the bar instead of staying at their house the whole time, which I know must have worked out a bazillion times better for them!  Entertaining at home is so much fun but there's always that one person who has to break something sometimes the cleanup can be excruciating.

Following that came my company's Christmas Dinner which was at Del Frisco's in Charlotte.  Jake and I had never been there before and the food was amazing!  I got the crab cakes and Jake got one of the steak specials.  They also have the BEST calamari I've ever tasted.  It's seriously like heaven in your mouth.  Instead of serving it with marinara sauce like most places I've been, albeit they were Italian restaurants, Del Frisco's serves theirs covered in an Asian glaze, similar to what comes on Orange Chicken or General Tso's.  YUM.  I also had my first ever Celebrity sighting.  After narrowly missing Vince Vaughn and Kevin James on the elevator in Chicago and not seeing a single celebrity in Las Vegas for a week, who knew that I'd see my first celeb sighting in good ol' Charlotte.  Who?  Ric Flair.  Don't recognize the name?  He's this guy...

From the great world of WWE.  I recognized him but never knew his name because my family was never big into wrestling.  He still pretty much looks the same.  He's no Vince Vaughn, but it was pretty cool to be standing less than a foot away from him at the bar in Del Frisco's.

After that comes our Christmas visit to see my Grandpop and some others from my Dad's side of the family down in Mount Pleasant.  We don't get down there a lot so it was nice to see them, and my Aunt Kerri was home visiting from India.  We watched the new Bourne movie, which I really enjoyed, then exchanged gifts and had a nice traditional holiday meal--ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, wine, etc.

On Christmas Eve, we just slept in and relaxed, then went to church and dinner with Jake's mom, sister, and brother.  His stepdad was sick with a stomach virus the whole week so he didn't get to participate in anything :(  We went to their church in Lake Wylie, and I always enjoy getting to see different churches, especially when they are all beautifully decorated at Christmas.  It was a neat candlelight service but visiting other churches always makes Jake and I really realize how much we love our church, Allison Creek Presbyterian.  It's technically in York I guess but it's only about 10 minutes down the road from us since we're out here on the edge of Rock Hill.  Churches are so personal and everyone has different tastes, but we really love the community within our church and especially the delivery of the sermons.  I don't like feeling like I'm getting yelled at by the preacher if they have a harsh, excited delivery.  And I don't like being bored to tears by someone who is monotone.  We feel like our Pastor has the perfect balance and neither one of us ever gets bored or zones out during the sermon so we always feel like we really get something out of what he shares.  

On Christmas day we had Jake's side of the family and my friend Karen over for a brunch of waffles, fruit, casseroles, eggs, bacon, cinnamon rolls, etc.  TONS of food.  We exchanged gifts and just got to hang out for a while having some good conversation.  Then, we got to relax for a little bit and clean up before my side of the family arrived for Christmas dinner.  We had glazed ham with pineapple, seasoned green beans, steamed corn, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, and then desserts.  It was a good thing that we only ate two meals all day because holy cow was it a lot of food.  I did the ham and the mac & cheese both in crock pots, which was nice and easy for me so that I could sit and enjoy socializing instead of cooking in the kitchen all day.  It worked out extremely well for the ham, and the mac & cheese was good but I think I would use a different recipe next time.  I found one recipe that uses evaporated milk, which I thought I had but it turned out that I had sweetened condensed milk, both are from Eagle Brand and I didn't pay attention to the label.  So, last minute I had to switch to a  different recipe that only used 2% milk and I think it would have been nicer and creamier with the other recipe.  For dessert, I made a cherry crumb pie and some "brooksters" which are a combo of chocolate chip cookies & brownies.  The cherry crumb pie tasted really good, but good Lord did it make a mess in my oven.  I would highly suggest that if you attempt one of these pies, put a cookie sheet on the rack underneath your pie because that nice filling will just bubble out over the edge and create a huge puddle of burnt mess in your oven.  Thank God our oven is self-cleaning, but that makes such a smoky mess that I haven't done it yet.  I did cook dinner in the oven two nights ago and some of the cherry mess burnt off but that is a headache that I'll be dealing with for a couple more weeks I expect...However, the brooksters, or as I always mix up and call them, "Brewsters," are like the best combination in the world.  Here is the super easy recipe:

"Brewsters"

--Prepare chocolate chip cookie mix from scratch as directed on bag of chocolate chips.

--Prepare brownies as directed on box of brownie mix.

Put paper liners in cupcake trays and fill 1/3-1/2 of the way with brownie batter.  Top with one scoop in each of the cookie batter.  

Bake as directed following the Chocolate Chip cookie recipe.  You may need to add 5-10 minutes to the time since brownies take longer to cook.  You will know they are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  

Easy and seriously delish!  These were definitely a crowd pleaser.  

..And what have we been doing since Christmas?  Well, I enjoyed the after Christmas sales and picked up some adorable wrapping paper for next year (so prepared, I know!) and decided to re-decorate our bookshelves in the living room.  I got tons of new frames and decorations from Hobby Lobby, TJMaxx, and Ross.  I cleaned off the bookshelves and have figured out the new frame placement, but now I just need to get the correct size and orientation of photos printed.  So, pictures of that to come!  We also celebrated New Years/Jake's 25th Birthday!  He has not been feeling too hot following the celebration but we did it up right at the Longbranch last night!  He is also very excited about his birthday gift, a new propane grill for on our boat!  With all of the time we are going to be spending out there now that we have the boat, I figured we would get tired of pb&j's or turkey sandwiches REAL quick.  Now we can do burgers, hot dogs, chicken, steaks, kabobs, you name it!  Now, if only this weather would get back into the 70's..........

Have a great day back at work tomorrow!

<3 Stacey

Santa's Cure Hot Chocolate

I was trying to come up with ideas for co-worker Christmas gifts this year and stumbled upon this for inspiration:

SANTA'S CURE:  Mason Jars of Hot Cocoa, Mini Marshmellows, and a mini bottle of Bailey's Original Crème.

So after brainstorming and getting my supplies, here's the final product:

I added some Christmas fabric to the mason jar lid, got some clear cellophane paper with holly leaves printed on it, and put everything in an oversized ceramic mug.  I also got Bailey's Caramel Crème instead to add some more flavor.



Here's a picture without the mug.  I also used some of the cellophane paper to wrap the mini marshmellows, so that it could be separated and scooped easier. 

Super cute and affordable; perfect for co-workers, neighbors, hostess gifts, etc!

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!

Busy Bees

It's only Tuesday and this week feels so busy already!  Lots going on with work for Jake and I because the big project that my company sold a few months ago is starting installation--where Jake's company comes in.  It's a fun new experience going to all of the weekly construction meetings and seeing the updates.  Things have just started but I'm looking forward to seeing it all come together--especially their custom reception desk that I designed.

I'm looking forward to the weekend!  Not sure of our plans Friday night, but Saturday Jake has a softball tournament, we have a friend's Luau, and then Sunday will be church and I'm hoping some golf.



Insanity Update:
Day 1 is completed!  It was the 1st Fitness Test, and I was satisfied with how I did on it.  DEFINITELY a long way to go--I felt like my endurance was pathetic.  Not too much muscle soreness today, but I can already tell tomorrow will be a different story.  Tonight will be the first actual workout-wish me luck!

Crazy Week Ahead!

So much going on this week! Tonight Jake had a softball game and I'm watching my current fav TV show, The Voice :) I'm loving Erin Willett, Ashley De La Rosa, and Lindsay Pavao. I probably spelled all of their names wrong.

Tomorrow we will be busy at work finalizing plans for our networking event that we are hosting on Wednesday afternoon, and then coming home to work on fixing our garbage disposal with the help of my Dad, and hopefully making it to Jenna's soccer game at Northwestern! After that I will be coming home to make pasta salad and fruit salad for Wednesday's lunch event.

Then Wednesday, obviously is the networking lunch, then meeting with our insurance agent to finalize our Life Insurance (blah--the joys of being a grown up!), and Jake's softball game later that night.

Thursday is work, meeting with the ADPi alumni group that I am volunteering with to help get donations for the Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte's Girl's Night Out event Silent Auction, and then coming home to tidy the house up a bit and cooking dinner with Karen!

And then Friday (TGIF!!) will be work and the IIDA DesignWorks awards gala at Mez. After that I will be meeting up with all my college girls who are coming in to town this weekend :) It has been forever and I am so excited to see them again.

If only I can make it to Saturday!!

Easter Weekend!

I am so looking forward to this weekend! I think we are going to have so much fun. My bosses are awesome and decided to add Friday as a vacation day so tomorrow is my "Friday" :)

I am looking forward to relaxing, sleeping in on Friday morning, getting my hair cut, and all of the Easter/Brody's birthday celebrations! Our church does a sunrise Easter service at a house of one of our member's on the lake, and as beautiful as I know it will be I doubt we will make it. We had all intentions of going last year and couldn't force ourselves out of bed that early (7:30am service). This year I'm sure will be no different, but that is okay because we will be in the regular service with our friends and will get to see Miss Reina on her 1st Easter! After church on Sunday we are celebrating our "nephew" (really 2nd cousin) Brody's 1st birthday, which is really on the 13th. What a lucky little boy to have his first birthday on a Friday the 13th :) People laugh, but ever since Jake and I started dating I have always loved Friday the 13ths and thought of them as lucky since that is when he asked me to be his girlfriend <3 and as we all know that has turned out quite well!!

In other updates...we got our flowers planted in the front yard. We have a few large weeds that I would like to do something about but I do not have the energy to try to tackle right now, haha...Truth is, I am not really a plant person or yardwork person. However, I can do well with flowers. I just prefer to stay out of the dirt/bugs that live in it.

That's all for now, off to bed to have a productive day tomorrow.

Goodnight!

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 :)

Holy cow!!

It has been ridiculously long since my last blog, sorry for that! So, what is new since October? I have started a new job and settled in really nicely. I love my bosses and coworkers, and it is so amazing to be working in a positive, happy environment. I have also really enjoyed not working on Saturdays and being able to enjoy my weekends and more time with Jake and friends.

The kitchen is also finished and looks great. We still need to patch the walls from where the backsplash laminate was pulled off, and put up a tiled backsplash. I am not in a hurry to get that done, although it will make it look more complete. I think I just got burnt out because even when I wasn't working on Saturdays I was still so busy and always had something to do. I like not planning out every moment of my weekend and just hanging out.

A little celebration this week, our adorable Kona is one year old. I can't believe how little he was when we first got him. Such a cutie, even though he is so mischievous. It's funny that I talk about him and Reece so much like they are my children, but they are! At least until a few years from now...but let's not rush that!!!

We have a half day of work tomorrow and are off on Monday for Christmas. I Am really looking forward to this weekend and getting to see all of our family for the holidays. We are going to the midnight service at our church on Saturday evening, and having Christmas lunch with my parents. Then we are going to jakes moms house to do gifts with the before going out to his aunt Teri's for Christmas dinner.

Jake got a deal on promotional tickets for the Charlotte Bobcats so we are going to four of their games this season. Two of them happen to be next week, Monday and Wednesday. The others aren't until sometime in February.

Well, enough for now, can't wait to update later this weekend after we see what Santa brings ;)

Kiss the Cook :)

So...A lot has been accomplished with our kitchen remodel...The cabinets have been ordered and should be coming in this week! They are going to be installed Halloween weekend (hopefully) and the granite should go in the week after that. I am still trying to figure out the design and materials for the backsplash.

Here is a peek:

Cabinetry Style, Crimson Shaker

New kitchen faucet, love this! The one we have now is terrible.

We are not going to use the soap dispenser or the base plate, it will just be the faucet straight on the countertop. At work we used the single-hole faucets all the time and it is such a nice, clean look on granite countertops. It is also a pull-out sprayer style which is going to be very nice!

Our Granite...Love this! The picture doesn't do it justice...

I am so excited because Jake and I did not think that we would be able to get everything done before Thanksgiving, but it is looking like we will :) We are hoping to host some family holiday gatherings so it will be nice to have the extra counter space with the peninsula we are adding.

I will post more updates as the project goes on.

For other updates...We had a really fun Oktoberfest get-together this weekend and it was so nice to get to see our friends from out of town. The food was great too! I had some help from my mom and our friend, April, and we ended up with a lot of really yummy stuff! I can't wait for Winthrop's homecoming weekend when everyone is coming back into town.

I have this week off as I am transitioning between my old and new job, and it is going to be FANTASTIC to get so much done and have a chance to relax for once.

We also had a meeting at church tonight to become official members of the church. We have been going there since shortly after we moved into our house at the end of January and are excited to be an official part of the church, even though we feel like we are already.

I will leave you with some pictures of the cuties...

Okay, Finally an Update!

Soo much to update on, where to begin.....

Sunday School:

I can't remember if I ever wrote about how Jake and I teach the 3-4yr old Sunday school class at our church, but we do. We started in August, and the kids are so sweet. They are so innocent and happy. We have really been enjoying it.

Mom & Dad's 30th Anniversary Trip:

We are sending my parents to CAPE COD! It is somewhere that we always remembered them wanting to visit but have never had the chance. I can't wait for them to be able to take the trip, for the big honeymoon trip that they were never able to take 30 years ago. I don't think they will ever quite know how much I admire them, and the way that they have been such a testament to their vows. They definitely deserve this :) They are staying at a very cute B&B in the mid-cape, the Captain Kelley House.

Kitchen Remodel:

I am hoping to go in the morning to finalize our cabinet choice for the kitchen. I am really hoping that these are the solution we have been looking for, because I would hate to have to go back to square 1. Once I have the cabinets chosen and a door sample, I need to visit the slab yard to choose our granite counters. I am excited that we are getting closer! We didn't think that we would be able to have it done before Thanksgiving, but the cabinets do not have a long lead time so it may be able to happen after all!

Work:

I GOT A NEW JOB!! I am so excited about all of the new possibilities and having a much more normal schedule. I am really looking forward to the change of pace, not working Saturdays, attending industry events and networking, and getting back into Commercial. I can't wait to start in a couple of weeks.

Fall Plans:

With my weekends opening up, I am packing my schedule full! I can't wait for haunted houses, Halloween, visiting friends, Winthrop Homecoming, going to a Georgia game, Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping, the Lady Antebellum concert, etc!

That is all for now, goodnight!

House a Home

I am loving my new car! I ended up getting the Kia Soul "!" model, in the metallic black ("Shadow") color. It is really cool because the metallic in it is actually red. I got a heck of a deal! We definitely went at the right time. It has upgraded hounds-tooth interior and a sunroof, which is awesome. In the past I have not really been a 'driving with the windows down' kind of girl, I mean let's be honest that doesn't work well with long hair. However, the sunroof adds a new dynamic and I love it. It is so nice and relaxing to ride around town. It's also got bluetooth which is a feature I am surprised that I use so much. I hate the bluetooth ear pieces and have always thought it was weird, but the car version is really nice to be hands-free even though I probably look weird talking to myself.

So, as I have mentioned before, Jake and I have pretty much been very slack with decorating our house since we have moved in. We didn't have as much time as we would have liked to get things ready before we moved in. Lately I have really been wanting to do more with the house. I would love to paint the bathrooms, and put up framed mirrors instead of the builder mirror sheets. We also need to get up lots of artwork, and I am hoping to slowly but surely do that.

The other big project that Jake and I want to do is to remodel our kitchen. You would think that since it is what I do for a living, this would be easy. To an extent it is, however it really challenging to find good premade cabinets. I do not deal with premade cabinets at work, and ones that I have found at Lowe's and Home Depot really do not impress me. Here is something similar to the look we are going for:

We have a similar kitchen layout and coloring. We have the glass slider on the right wall, and door to the garage where this one is. Instead of an island, we have a peninsula that we are going to add coming off of the left wall. Our flooring is light laminate hardwood like this, and we want some sort of dark (not necessarily cherry) cabinets. The countertops are going to be light/medium tone quartz, and a light onyx backsplash (these were easy to choose from work!).

The new Martha Stewart line at Home Depot has some really nice character to it, and it is so new that they do not have any kitchen displays, only the sample boards. From reading reviews online, as much as these cabinets have in design details, they lack in structural integrity and quality. They are already more expensive than they should be just because they have the MS name, and they are built standard with 3/8" particle board instead of 3/4" plywood (which you have to pay even more to upgrade to). There are also horror stories of everything coming in wrong or damaged, and taking forever to replace. Lots of extra time to deal with other people's mistakes is something that I do not have, working 6 days a week. After lots of research, a new store called Cabinets To Go is opening up in 2 weeks in Charlotte and I think that is seeming like the most promising thing so far. Of course, that could change when I go there and see the quality of their products, but from the information on their website I am keeping my fingers crossed! Jake wants to get this remodel done sooner rather than later to get all of the wedding gifts that we have piled up in the dining room into the additional kitchen storage, and I am not complaining! We are just hoping to keep a good budget so that we can still do the back patio this fall. I love being an interior designer, and feel so blessed that we will get great discounts to allow us to get these projects completed.

Aside from that, we are looking forward to a fun night tomorrow going to Thirsty Thursday at the Charlotte Knights stadium. We are going with some friends from church, and I am using a voucher that I bought off of Living Social a few weeks ago :) I haven't been able to do a whole lot of couponing lately but at least I am still on the lookout for bargains! We bought the "Voucher for 2 field box tickets and one appetizer from the Budweiser Brewhouse from Charlotte Knights" for $15, a 59% savings. www.LivingSocial.com

Goodnight!

Mr. & Mrs.

We're Married!

And it has been over a week now...crazy how fast things go by. We had an amazing honeymoon, and now it's back to the daily grind...work, work, work. We have been having fun getting all of our new things set up in the house and using some of our new small appliances (Jake's favorite is my new Sweet Tea maker). The dogs are definitely glad we are back! Kona, who is usually a pretty energetic guy, has been a sleepy ball of fur lately. I think he is so relieved that we are home and worn out from being upset while we were gone.


It's only Tuesday and I am already worn out. My first day back to work yesterday was an 11hr day, NOT fun to say the least. Things are really busy right now because we are moving from our current showroom location to a new, much larger one. It needs some significant renovating before we move in and start daily operations there on Sept. 1st. I am hoping that the rest of the week I get to leave at least close to on time at 6pm.

That's all for now!