It's Wednesday!

My sister in law (over at A Day in the Life) links up with someone every Wed for "What I'm loving Wednesday". While I'm not linking up, I think it's a cute idea. So here are some of the things I'm loving right now. I decided to put one thing for everything we're dedicated to (since that is the theme of this blog!)

1. God - I'm loving Proverbs 3:5-6 right now. There are a lot of "unknowns" for me in my life right now, and all I can do is trust in the Lord and know that He is in control, He is the Lord of my life, and He does know everything.

2. My husband - I'm loving that our dog Vance (aka my child for right now) watches out the window as Paul leave every morning for work. Paul and Vance have a special relationship and it makes me smile.

3. Our family - I'm loving that we get to meet our nephew, Henry, who was born May 3 for the first time this weekend! We're going to Nashville to celebrate July 4th, and we finally get to hold him and love on him and spoil him rotten. What else are aunts and uncles for? (PS - I also love how my aunts are the best aunts in the whole world who spoiled my sisters and me when we were young!! LOVE YOU!)

4. Healthy Eating - I'm loving this new "lentil loaf" recipe I tried. I know it sounds gross, and for some of you, it may be. But since I'm a vegetarian, and Paul likes meatloaf (PS - mom, I tried a new recipe and he said it wasn't as good as yours- why mess with the best?), so I had to find a recipe for one that I could eat. I thought it was good! But you have to like lentils. Vegan Lentil Walnut Loaf. (I'd add a picture, but it's copyrighted, and I don't want to get in trouble and I forgot to take one myself.)

5. Our interests - I'm loving the new parks I've found to go run in. I'm loving P90X again, although I won't be able to walk tomorrow (I did legs this morning) because I'm SO out of shape once again! I'm loving The Potluck Club series, which I started reading a couple of weeks ago.

6. I'm loving Jason Aldean's rendition of "Dirt Road Anthem" (this version has Ludacris in it too! country and rap - who woulda thunk it!)

7. I'm loving all our friends (old and new) and family who mean so much to us. I know it's cheesy to say, but I mean it from the bottom of my heart.


God Bless!

to microwave....or not to microwave

When I first stepped into our new kitchen, initially, I thought really cute, but "small" and "cramped" (we have the fridge, oven/stove, dish washer, and clothes washer and dryer in there). However, I'm actually enjoying it and discovering how to make the best use of the space provided. It doesn't feel so small anymore. The one thing we are missing - in cased you missed noticing - is a microwave. We looked at getting a small one at Best Buy or WalMart, but so far, we just haven't. And honestly, it's been fun having to figure out how to cook and prepare things that I'm so used to having the microwave do. For example - oatmeal, frozen veggies, fresh veggies, and reheating tea/coffee or pizza. So far, I've been able to do everything without the microwave! And, it's probably healthier in some way, sort, or fashion. Then came Vance's favorite - popcorn. This is where it gets interesting. We have 2 and 1/2 boxes of microwave popcorn to use, and buying the stove top kernels isn't expensive, but not cheap either. What to do? What to do? Here's what - take the popcorn out of the bag, put in a big, ol' pot, cover with the lid, turn to med-high heat, and wait for it to pop! And it does! The kernels aren't as big and fluffy, but it still worked, and we still enjoyed our popcorn during our movie! Life without a microwave isn't all that bad.

Silhouettew

Check this out...you could win a Silhouette from Funky Junk Interiors. AWESOME!
I would love to have one of these little machines. It can do so many cool things...the possibilities are endless...and so much fun!

Check out the give-away here: Funky Junk Interiors. But hurry, the give away ends June 27. 

Here are some images of what it can do. Basically it can cut out images, letters, words, etc. on practically any type of material (paper, vinyl, cloth, etc) and then you use it to create whatever.

 sticky letters to put on the wall

Cloth images to go on pillows or clothing.

Pretty cool - huh!? If you want one, go enter!

God Bless,

Book Shelf

I love reading, and right now I'm reading some really good books. If you need something to read check these out.
1. King's Cross by Timothy Keller. I'm reading this as part of my quiet time each morning. It's a commentary going through the book of Mark and explaining the life of Jesus, first as King, and then after the cross. It's an amazing book that has really taught me a lot about Jesus and his life on Earth. I would highly recommend it.

2. Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. This is a short daily devotional book that speaks volumes. It's written from the prospective of Jesus, so it's like Jesus is speaking to you each day with something He wants you to know. And each day it's like Jesus is speaking to me and knows what I need to hear.

3. The Potluck Club by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson. This is my fun book right now, and it's great! It's about the lives of an exclusive pot luck prayer group of women. It's been a fun, light read for the summer. Plus, it's a series, so I've got my next two books already planned out!

God bless!

Oops...

Ok, please be patient with the design layout. I was playing around with the template and something happened, and I don't know how to fix it quite yet. There's now a big blue block at the top where the cute background should be, and the title has disappeared. And there's no undo button!!

Oh! And, now if you would like to post a comment, anyone can. I figured out how to change the settings so even if you aren't a follower (but you certainly can become one quickly and easily! just click the "sign in" under the pictures my current followers), you can make comments if you want - which I do like! :)

I hope all my wonderful family and friends had a GREAT Monday! Tomorrow's the first day of summer - officially that is!

God Bless!

a couple simple projects

During the school year I'm waiting for summer so I can have all day free to do whatever I want. Now, I have all day to do whatever I want, and low and behold, I miss my structured school days. I'm having to learn to be content in whatever situation I'm in, and to use my time wisely and to it's fullest. Like...no TV or aimless computer browsing during the day; going for walks; having my quiet times; reading; trying to be crafty. And sometime this week I do plan on going out around town and looking for a job. Hopefully that will help with the structure I need.

With that being said, I had a few easy projects I wanted to do last week. Two of them are done, which I can share! One is in progress, and a couple other ones I still need to get supplies for. Nothing big or drastic, just for fun! :)

1. White canisters: I used black paint and letter stickers to label them.

2. A Parking Change Can: Since we live so close to downtown, we'll to be going more often to eat, walk around, shop, etc. And we have to pay at the meters every time (luckily, a quarter can you at least an hour, if not more some places!). So I decided to make a "parking change can" to collect our loose change. I started with an empty oatmeal container, scrapbook paper, letter stickers, mod podge, and some ribbon, and wa-la, a pretty can!

Happy Monday!

God Bless!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

I love you, Daddy!

my first redo!

Before we moved, Paul's mom found us a great bedside nightstand with the intent of us being able to refurnish it. It was a great little piece to start off with, and to figure out how this whole process of refurnishing happens. Paul bought us an electric sander and did the first round of sanding. After having tried to stain the stand, and realizing that it wasn't going to work, we decided to re-sand it and paint it black. I think it turned out great!

The "before"

After I re-sanded it using our cool electric sander. :)

The "after" - all done! Painted black with new hardware.

Even Vance likes it!

What to do next...there are endless possibilities.

God Bless

Antique finds!

Like I mentioned, decorating is going to be a work in progress. Today was our first trip out to find some additional decorative furniture pieces! While Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware are great stores and have beautiful pieces, they are expensive (like whoa...) and not quite what I was looking for (remember that episode of Friends with Phoebe and Rachel's PB apothecary table?!). Yesterday while Paul and I were out driving around I saw a sign for Hanna's Antique Mall and knew I wanted to visit. We went today, and it was AWESOME! Yes....I do get excited looking at antique stores! :) There were so many beautiful things...but we were on a mission with a couple of things we knew we needed to get. I'll go back another day and just have fun finding random things! So here's what we got.

A magazine rack side table for Paul...love it!

A small side table for our reading nook in the living room. This is the up-close picture; it's only like 3 feet tall if that.

The full view of the area.

I will definitely be going back to this antique mall to find more great things!

God Bless.

Birmingham!

We are here and made it!!

On Monday, Paul, my mom, my dad, and I packed up the truck with our things from Charleston. Paul and I had everything already boxed up so all we had to do was put it all in the 24 foot box truck. Charleston will always be a special place for us. It was our first home as a married couple. Leaving it was hard, but I know we will be back a lot to visit!! (enter tears here).
We then drove to Greenville to pack up some furniture and boxes that had been stored in a storage unit. The truck was packed full. ALL. THE. WAY! That evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Paul's mom, dad, brother, sister, and brother in law at BRiOSO. It was fun to have a dinner all together one last time before moving. Then, the next morning we left bright and early for Birmingham (enter round two of tears). Greenville will also hold a special place in our hearts, because it's where we met, fell in love, and got married. Again, we know we will be back to visit!
And now...(drum roll please) our new home!! We LOVE our new apartment. It has two bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, and a sun room that we are using as an "office". Moving in was not easy. We're on the second floor with no elevator, a lot of boxes, some big furniture pieces, and 95 degree weather. Needlesstosay, we all worked hard to get everything in here! We are grateful to have had my parents here with us to help move everything in. Having to say goodbye to them on Wednesday was extremely hard (enter rounds three, four, and probably five of tears here).
It is now Day 3 in the new place, and we've got a lot put away, set out, displayed, and arranged. However, since this place is bigger than our last, decorating is a work in progress. We've been able to do a lot with what we had and some new pieces we got (we are blessed to have wonderful family members who have generously shared things). Plus, we can finally pull out some art work and decorations that were wedding gifts that we hadn't been able to use yet. It's all coming together!! SO EXCITING!
But that's enough of me sharing...here are the pictures that can say more...

Moving day at the condo.

After packing up the storage unit in Greenville...we had to practice pulling the door down just to make sure it all fit

The kitchen - open shelves on the left, closed cabinets on the right. And yes, the washer and drier are in the kitchen. I love the black and white checker tile floor.

This is the butler's pantry connecting the kitchen to the dining

Our living room with Paul's new recliner!

The coat rack Paul designed, built, and painted!

Bookshelf in living room with my grandparent's mantel grandfather clock.

Master bedroom with new, vintage dresser and bed

The bed and night stand, and our beautiful new quilt matches amazingly!

The sun room office. My shelves are on the left, Paul's on the right.

This is what we have done so far...still more to do, but we're happy with what we've got started! I'll keep you posted as we continue to add to all this!

Thank you to all our friends and family who have really supported and encouraged us through this whole process and move. And please remember, you can come visit any time! We will have the guest room ready for you!

God Bless

Celebrating 3 years

While our anniversary isn't till next Tuesday, the 14th, we will actually be moving into our new apartment on that day, so hubby and I decided to celebrate a little early. The past two years we went to B&Bs and really enjoyed them, so we decided to look for one this year. We found The Hoyt House on Amelia Island, and really liked it. The house was built in the 1905 and was converted into a B&B in the early 90's. Amelia Island is a small, beautiful, quaint island in Florida, near Jacksonville, and was great. We were able to walk into town to shop, browse, and eat. We spent one morning at Fort Clinch and hiking on trails in a state park, and the afternoons either relaxing, or walking around in town.

Happy 3 years!

The Hoyt House Bed and Breakfast. Each morning started with homemade sticky buns (to die for), a fresh fruit dish, and then either an egg or a grain dish (pancakes, waffles).

Photo-op at Fort Clinch. The short hair cut was cool in the heat!

The inside of Fort Clinch. It was a union fort during the Civil War.

Reading the history of the Fort

Dinner Monday night was at a cute courtyard cafe.

Dinner Tuesday night was a really cute French restaurant - Le Clos.

After realizing how much we enjoy these weekend getaways at B&Bs, we've decided to make it a 50 year adventure! Unplanned, we have been to three different B&Bs in three different states- so our new goal is to go to a B&B in every state to celebrate our anniversaries. So far we've been to South Carolina, Georgia, and now Florida. Kinda cool to start thinking about and planning for!

Ahh...

Day 3 of Summer....and still LOVING it!

3rd Year Anniversary post will be coming soon! We just got back, and first things first - unpack, laundry, grocery shopping, etc.

God Bless!

In the words of my sister...

Go big or go Home...

On Tuesday, I was all set ready to go to the salon. I had my inspiration pictures of cuts I liked, and was ready. My mom and I drove out to the salon and.... it was CLOSED! Big let down! So then I had to hype myself up all over again for Friday. But for some reason this time I was more nervous about it. The extra few days to think about how short or not short I wanted to cut my hair took their toll on me and I started over thinking it all. When I finally met the young lady who was going to cut my hair (yes... as in meet for the first time) I told her what I was thinking - Locks of Love, stacking, thin hair, heart shaped face - and asked her opinion. She helped me figure out what would work with my type of hair, and then the big decision - how short!? Locks of Love requires 10 inches, which would be short! Well you know what...I can add , and scratch off, this to my "Bucket List". I donated the back portion of my hair - all 10 inches - to Locks of Love.
My wonderful mother came with me and took some pictures to document it all for me. The before pictures are actually from Tuesday and the after pictures are from Friday.

Before - I can see more clearly now how long it was...wow!

Yah - it was looking straggly and not very clean cut.

This is the "big cut" - 2 small ponytails each measuring 10 inches!

It's SHORT! But I think I like it!

You can kinda see it's stacked a little in the back. Thank you to all who voted and helped me make my decision. I took it all into consideration. The only thing I won't be able to do is pull it up in a pony tail - which I debate about for a long time. But I know there are running head bands out there that I can use to hold it all back.

God bless!