For Billie :)

Some picture updates of "Busy Izzy" for Billie & Frissen! This is my favorite new name for her because she is ALWAYS busy! If she is awake she is constantly playing, pretending, giggling, dancing, singing, hiding, seeking, jumping, reading, hugging, kissing, helping, cleaning, rolling like a log, talking, swimming, skipping, story-telling (not lying, literally telling stories), laughing, POTTYING and being Izzy! She is such a good-natured, sweet, loving, well-behaved, adorable child! I'm not just saying that because she's mine (I have a hundred and sixty others right now and I know a good one when I see one)! We are so blessed!

While My Computer Was Away; I Turned 30!!

On May 26, 2010 I hit a milestone in my life...I turned 30 years old! Of course, I don't feel any older...or really look any older (or so I hope), but it is a whole other sense of being, especially since I mostly work with teenagers and early twenty-somethings. It's crazy how that one extra little digit puts an entirely different perspective on things. There's a whole other set of health risks that I never had to worry about in my twenties; new anti-aging and skin-care regimens to consider and of course the reality that I'm not getting any younger and I want to have another baby, coupled with the fact that we are not as financially stable as I had hoped to be at this point in my life, is always at the forefront of my thoughts. Overall though, I try to stay as positive as possible and take comfort in the fact that I am healthy and happy and more importantly, so is my family. With that knowledge in hand, nothing else really matters!

I did have a wonderful birthday! Izzy & Clark and My Mama & Daddy got me a Wii, which I LOVE! Kaylee & Marshall got me a draped vest that I had been eyeing, Robin gave a pretty potted flower & balloons, tank and word magnets (which are the hit of the YMCA), Joe gave me a Wal-Mart gift card, K & Trista, Clark & Norma, Trinnie & Mike, Stinker & Skye all gave me money, Candi, Travis & the Boys gave me a Hobby Lobby gift card & some Simply Tasteful goodies, Kristi sent me a package with some Bath & Body Works soap & lotion in a decorative holder & a candle, and Frissen, Brooks & Carter sent me an oil-rubbed bronze iron-work bowl, a new potholder and candle for my new kitchen! My Daddy showed-up in the afternoon and took Izzy to his house to spend the night and Clark told me to get ready we were going somewhere. So I did what I was told and we headed towards Greensboro (he had directions, so I knew he didn't quite know where we were going and he let it slip that we were meeting people, he just didn't say who)! We finally found the place and a parking space nearby, but as we were walking in I turned my ankle over on a rock on the sidewalk and fell on my left knee! Thank goodness I was holding Clark's hand or probably would have landed on my face! I ripped two holes in my brand-new jeans and my knee is still skint-up, over a month later! Regardless, when we got inside Robin, Joe & his girlfriend, Derek, Felix, Karen & Trista where there to surprise me! I am very blessed to have such wonderful friends & family to give me such a very happy birthday!

Kitchen Reno Round 3

So, while my computer has been in the shop, yet again...we've been hard at work on the kitchen. In fact we are for real, almost done!

Before: Old school scroll work with mis-sized baskets (we have added primer though).
During: Removed scroll work painted cabinets "Whitewashed Oak" and we have added wood accent pieces to the plain fronts of the "fake" drawers under the sink.

After: We got a new semi-flushmount pendant light to go over the sink instead of the ugly fluorescent one that was there. Also, I found these darker baskets, that actually fit in the space at Wal-Mart in Charleston (Goose Creek) when we went down for Kristi's baby shower at the beginning of May. We added simple 2 in fascia board for the trim. I am also going to replace the blind with some sort of shade or curtain, I just haven't quite found what I am looking for yet.
Next: We filled the holes the old hardware made on the drawers, painted them and added these new oil rubbed bronze pulls (the color looks a little darker than the actual cabinets, b/c the drawers are sealed and the cabinets are not yet).
Then: We painted all 34 cabinet doors and added colonial molding to all of them to give them some definition and a custom look. Well worth all the work and effort, as you can see!