When the boys are away...

... the girls will PAINT!!!

After visiting the beautifully decorated home of Liz, I decided it was time to get off my bum and grab a paint brush. As you know, that's been one of my goals from day one ("Can't wait to get a house so that I can paint some walls" if I had to directly quote myself). It worked out perfectly that KJ had an out of town boys' weekend and Colleen's husband John had to work. She drove down late friday evening and we were in Walmart by 11:30 letting Ms. Pat mix up a few colors.

I'm such a spaz! I never wanted to have white walls, but when it came time to throw on some color, I must admit, my feet got a little chilly. Had Colleen not been there, I might have scrapped the whole project. But with her cheering us both on, we whipped out those brushes and started adding a little color to my world.

Tahdah! After a weekend of no boys but lots of paint I present the not quite finished but definitely going somewhere...
Guest Bath and Guest Bedroom

Before


After


Before


After

Liz suggested teal and I accepted the challenge. She's soooo good at these things. :-)

Colleen getting us started at midnight...seriously midnight...


Me in the accidental Desert Storm/Deer brown bathroom that got an immediate color change as soon as Lowes opened in the morning... Colleen never lost hope, but I was ready to grab the never failing Eggshell and undo the wrong...

Four things...

Okay, I'm a blog junkie and I saw this on someone's post, so I thought it would make for something interesting on mine:

4 jobs:
Sweetest Cookie Company girl the Dec's ever seen
AU Fin Aid Office (and I still put myself into tons of debt...)
Copy Works designer/typesetter (was sooo pumped to make more than min. wage)
Dillard's jewelry counter girl (didn't last long. accessories are not my thing ;-) )

4 movies:
I am Sam (talk about crying a river!)
Family Stone (thx tricey!)
In her shoes (thx liz!)
Shawshank Redemption (gotta love triumph over obstacles!)

4 homes:
Good ole Castleman!
1121? Rddbud Ave. Apt 7 - The most ghetto on campus apart, but the most loving community
Apt F - The best! Liz was a roomate like no other. She left huge shoes to fill!
View Drive - sniffles, so many memories from my mountain

4 TV shows:
Cosby Show (I've probably seen every episode twice)
Grey's Anatomy (it's addictive and I love when tv makes you go- sigh... ahhhhh!)
That's so Raven (i don't care that I'm not 10 she's hilarious!)
Lost (almost finished with the season 1 dvds)

4 Vacations
Ummm
Egypt (although my uncle says that there are huge frogs in the desert. go figure)
Tahiti (doesn't that just sound nice?)
Switzerland (I'm going to learn how to ski one day...)
North Carolina (will always be home away from home)

4 Websites Every Day
A million blogs - shameful
google
getty images.com (for work... really!)
mail.yahoo

4 Favorite foods
Any Mexican food
Lamb (kj's is superb!!!)
Spinch Dip
Crab legs

4 places I'd rather be right now
Painting a wall (home decorating waits for no one!) hehehe
In a good belly dancing class (love the thought of jiggling my jelly)
On the couch reading a good book as KJ plays playstation (it's romantic... really!)
Car dancing on my way home!

Happy Thursday!

My Liz

This weekend I went to visit My Liz and oh, how overdue that visit was! It gave me a sense of normality to get to someone who has known me near forever, and remembers my life better than I remember my own. We're way too far apart (in miles) but after spending even 30 sec with her I forget that we're not roomates anymore. She's my comfort zone.

So we visited her neice and nephew (who are hilarious) and then went to see the lions. Only there were no lions (we must have got there around bedtime) so we just took pics with everything around their cage. I'm suppose to photshop some lions in later. ;-)

Great Trip. Best Friend. Wonderful weekend!

Back tracking

Okay here are photos to back up my #2 and #3 reasons of why FL's not sooooo bad...

#2- Highway Watermelons: It wasn't an old woman, but just as good, and old man. Everyone at work says he's really friendly and that he's got the best tomatoes.

#3- Crab lunches: Lunch on Friday was wonderful. It's good to get away. Here was our view from the lil "crab shack" that we ate at. Makes it hard to go back to work and give 4 more hours...

Our home/My project

A few have asked, and I thought I should share. I think it'll be a while before we get some more visitors (with the exception of my Tricey possibly coming to town... Whooo-hoooo!), so I'm trying to knock out some major things and give our home some personality. I've finally hung a few things on the wall!!! I'm so backwards, b/c there is definitely some painting on the horizon but the blank canvas was about to kill me! So I took to the master bath with a hammer and a few nails. KJ is still surprised that my "eyeball center, lick finger, mark spot" method isn't disasterous. ;-)

So here is our little FL home, my Project In The Works.




Yep, ole big brown is GONE! Here's our new man/woman combo. We both LOVE it!


The kitchen is my intended area of unlimited color. I'm not quite sure what lies in the future for this, but I can promise that it will be bright!


Nothing on the walls yet, but you can kind of see where I'm going. The big puppy was a gift from my daddy on the day I was born and he's decided that it should stay with me. I'm sooo glad he sent it. Funny, I don't think in all 26 years that I've named my pooch. I'll work on that one...


Trying to add a little pizazz.





That's it. Episode 1 of our own lil HGTV.

oh yes- Reason #3 Why Florida is Not Soooo Bad
Crab lunches by the bay. That's the game plan for today for me and my coworkers. It's been a tough week, we've worked hard and we deserve some crab dog-gone it!

Happy Friday. Lots of love!!!

Been waiting...

...for a chance to take some pics of the house so I could show all who haven't had a chance to visit... wink, wink. But I'm slow as molasses and I always think, I'll take pics in the morn before work... it hasn't happened yet.

So rest assured, the house is coming along well. I stumbled upon a new home decor project last night (it's a surprise, so I'm not giving any details...) and reason #102 of why I love kj is that in the middle of cooking dinner, when my epiphany hit, he watched the stove for me while I ran to Big Lots before all of my craft items got bought up. Backtracking: Reason #101 of why I love kj is that having decided to skip pilates (I forgot my cover up t-shirt and I'm just not comfortable flaunting my jelly roll around in just a sports bra.), i made a quick run to Publix to grab some dinner items and completely expected to bust in on my husband and his other wife (Miss Playstation), but SURPRISE he was doing LAUNDRY while playing with Miss Playstation... Ahhh, sometimes I could just smother him with love. :)

So, I've been thinking that instead of just bidding my time here in FL, I should find things to love about where God has stationed us so I will now begin my list of: Why Florida's Not Soooooo Bad

#1 - Office Pets
I work in an office where everyone (except for me... okay, and sandy and wayne, but everyone else ;-) ) has a pet and office policy is that dogs can come to work with you. No cats, but I'm not a cat person anyway so I'm not lobbying for that right, but I digress.
Anyway, I introduce to you Norah! She's my coworker, Bryan's dog by day and nite, but my office pet whenever he lets her make the journey.
So here's to Florida and Office Pets!

(the Bonnet was Kristen and Bryan's idea, I prefer her in all her natural beauty.)

Love this Surprise...

So Florida has made me a true believer of the the term "home sick". Don't get me wrong. I love KJ and this is where the Lord wanted our life together to begin, but it's also no secret that I miss closer to my love ones. Even the airport is larger so to travel to relatives further out is less expensive, but I digress...

Anywho, we returned from the fam reunion on Monday nite and we were exhausted! So after taking a shower I was pretty much passed out by 7 something. I woke up Tuesday morning to discover that I'd missed SEVERAL calls from Lisa and Cindy (friends of mine). I kind of panic and call them first thing not caring if I'm waking them from a deep slumber and plotting how I can be in there in 4 hrs (3.5 if I push the petal all the way to the floor). Lisa answers nonchalantly with "Hey Girl." Hey?!?!?! Then she says, "has Connie called you?" Well, there's no 911 and no I haven't heard from Connie. "If she calls answer your phone, she's got something important to tell you." Okay... so immediately I think, yep, they're pregnant.

The day goes on and still no word from Connie. I've decided to call them after work and one-up them with my knowledge of their joyful news. Around lunch, Lisa, our receptionist, tells me not to go to lunch, a surprise lunch date is on his/her way. Have I mentioned how I don't really know a soul out here? So of course I KNOW it's KJ.

Typing it up, it seems like I should have started putting some things together. I didn't. At 12:45 Connie and Larry are standing in my office and I'm surprised, ecstatic, and yes, tearful. I Love My Friends! They took time out of their anniversary trip to drive out to my job to surprise me for lunch.

To make matters even better, they're here until Friday so last nite we all went to church and dinner. It gives me an old familiar feeling and reminds me how the Lord blessed me with wonderful pep and how in time, some more wonderful pep will start to surface here in Florida. Until they do: Thank you Connie and Larry for loving me (and kj) enough to take our friendship to the highway and deliver the wonderful care package of your company.

Oh yeah - they're not pregnant just sneaky. :-)

In a Family Way

Family Reunion Time!!!!
My family is ridiculously wonderful! On my mom's side all of my grandfather's brothers and sisters (those surviving) and their decendants all gather on the second weekend of July. It's been this way since I was a little girl and the tradition is continuing strong! Talk about having a good time!
There's food (my cousin Anthony fries up the best fish I've EVER had), stories (that go back generations and generations), laughter, dancing, etc. It's one full weekend! We generally party from sun up to sun set, only to do it again the next day.

There's a lot of love in my family and these reunions just make you feel all cozy inside. I like knowing where I've come from. I think the highlight of the trip was when I visited my cousin Tasha's gmom (my 4th or 5th cousin, tasha and i have no idea what number cousin we actually are, but she's always been the closest cousin to me, she's 2 day's older need i say any more), and she told me that I remind her of my Grandma Gracie. Grandma passed when I was 8 so I don't remember a lot about her other than a few scattered details from a few month stay with her and Granddaddy. She was a wonderful woman, that much I know and remember and I'm proud that genetically I remind pep of her and also in my mannerisms. Looks like Grandma Gracie passed things down to Mom Gracie, who passed things down to me. Isn't that the way it's suppose to be????

Ahhh... Family...

Here are some of my favorite pics from the weekend.

Long weekend - July 4th

I love long weekends!!!! We had so much going on this weekend, that when I look back it feels like we were on a mini vacation. Here's the play by play so you see what I mean:

Kj's parents came to visit on Friday and after dinner we went to visit some more family.

On Saturday Mama Katie and I went to the outlets and tried to shopped til we dropped, but it doesn't fare well to leave the men folk alone for long b/c they only proceeded to call us every 30 min to ask when we were coming back ;-). So we went home, had a quick lunch, and everyone took off in different directions. Katie and John headed back to AL, KJ went over to a friends to play a new soccer playstation game (you all know I'm married to a playstation addict right???), and I proceeded to clean and get things straight so that I wouldn't have to worry about the house for the rest of the weekend.

Sun was church and a lazy dinner of KJ's reknown lamb (it's reknown in our house, but it hasn't hit the public yet) and after evening service I was able to empty out a box of candles and candle holders (I should have taken a pic of kj's face! We agreed that he should stay in another room and only come check on me if I called him.). Our house is finally taking on the shape of a home! The 2 bathrooms are almost kindof finished. ;-)

Mon we went to Fort Walton so that I could do a long over due TJ Maxx run and then we crashed a friend's pool at her apt complex. KJ tried to drown me and I tried to swim laps (both, to no avail). And yes, I've reverted back to my wild hair college days, but only b/c I was too tired to do more then wash the chlorine out. ;-) I think the ponytail it's in now makes it work friendly...

Finally Tues we drove over to Nina and Oneal's in Fort Rucker and spent most of the day with them and the kids. I've got the funniest niece and nephews. They're just a trip! They are a constant reminder of how fun it is to be 8, 6, and 4. From balloon animals (I successfully created an anteater and a whale, sorry no pics), to popsicle blue tongues, to swimming in 1 foot of water like you're going for a gold medal (goggles and all). And G was actually my favorite this time around (I'm not a bad aunt, my favorite changes daily so that they all have ample time in the spot light.), he let me take a million and two pics of him and I don't think I've ever had such an animated model. A welcome change from Kj's normal cries of "Girl put that camera down" when I try to use him as my muse.

Anywho here are a few pics of the kids. Easy to see how they can grow on you like kudzu, huh?

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th!

Lunch with a gator

I really enjoy my job. Wait, to be more specific, I really enjoy my co-workers. :-)
On Wednesday, Sandy, Bryan and I decided to venture off to a little Greek cafe. I wished I had taken pics of the place b/c it was adorable and the owner looked like a perfect little Greek granddaddy. We get our lunch and decide to eat out on the porch by the pond. That's when Sandy and Bryan say, "I wonder if he's still got that alligator?" Pause. I'm an Alabamian at heart and I take all the news reports of gator attacks very seriously. I'm not trying to lose a limb, just eat a gyro. So Bryan climbs over the little deck and goes in search of the gator. Then the owner comes out smiling and pointing and climbs over the deck to find the grizzly creature. Out of sheer curiousity, I stand but don't see a thing. I figure a baby alligator may not kill you, but it will take a hand or foot and I was not dressed in preparation for a gator search.

Well, the boys found it and the photographer that I'm trying to be I took it's picture. It really wasn't studdin us, but I like to think of it as a very adventurous lunch.

Good Ole Six Flags

Nina, KJ's sister, has been putting this trip together for forever! Last year we all kind of backed out, so this year we were committed hook, line and sinker. KJ has deemed 6 Flags the most ghetto of all amusement parks. And he's right! I hadn't been in years, apprx 5 or 6 years I guess. It is now more of a hootchie momma paradise then I remember! hehehe Near the Superman ride they've set up a dance station where the dj plays hits from the Cha-Cha Slide to MC Hammer's Can't Touch This and pep come out the woodworks to shake their booties. Young and old, and I think the old are the scariest... We didn't dance, but Nina, Oneal, and myself watched them from the Superman line and I must say that the hour and a half wait was quite entertaining!

There were 7 of us total. 6 adults (Nina, Oneal, Rance, Shea, KJ, and me) and Desmond (who's 9) and we had a blast! It was the true Six Flags experience with broken rides, $8 hamburgers, $9 sippy cups (with 99¢ refills), and 2hr lines. :-) Let's just say that the people made the trip. We laughed, sweated, screamed and banded together against horrible service at an Applebee's later. I love this group of people, days like this are what being an adult should be about!

Umm... we should have measured

So, we've been on a really good kick furnishing this home and not measuring a thing. Washer and dryer, check - fit like a charm. Fridge, check fits in its little spot all nice and cozy. Couch... yeah... we met our match with this one. Seriously, we were on a roll just buying things we liked and KNOWING that it would ease into its allotted space with no problem. Dog-gone that couch. :-)

First let me explain that furniture shopping turned out to be more of a task than anticipated. KJ had opinions. Plain and simple. It threw me for a loop. Many of our conversations when we browsed the web were "What do you mean you think it's tacky?! and No, all seats in the sectional do not need to recline..." and so on. All of a sudden my dear husband wanted to help me "handle the inside stuff". (Yes, we foolishly agreed that KJ would do the outside of the house and I would do the inside. He didn't stick to his end of the deal, so I'm now rallying hard for hydrangea bushes... that's a whole other post...)
Anywho, our taste is generally like night and day, so when we walked into the furniture store and saw this couch that we BOTH LIKED, we knew we had to jump on it. All four caramel pieces of the sectional were coming home with us. Did we think to measure??? We didn't. Quite frankly, I think we overestimated our living space. And, although I had some question about the color, I was convinced that I could make it work. I'm all about painting a wall or two.

So the couch is delivered and the first 2 pieces come in giving a good indication that we could have stopped with them and been fine. But noooo, our eyes were bigger than our living room and we opted for the chaise and the bumper. So the delivery men look at each other and then us as if to ask "Are you serious?!?!?!" Well, good ole pride kicked in and I said, "Yea! This is looking just right, if you'll bring in the other pieces, we'll set it up just like we planned." So that's what they did. Brought in the last two pieces, stuffed them in our living room, and left with questions in their eyes. That's about when I looked at KJ giggling and asked if we should just stop them at the end of the street or call them the next day to come pick up our lovely 90ft brown space hog. Seriously, I watch enough HGTV that I should have known better!

Well, don't fret, we called the next day and decided to switch out for our then 2nd, now 1st choice. A lovely man/woman compromise I like to call it. (It's leather on the bottom but plush on top. Sounds funky, but I promise, it's more chic then tacky- KJ's new adjective of choice. hehehe) Here's the kicker. We get to keep the elephant in our living room until the other is in stock and delivered (about another week or so). So we've been scooting around our living room and I must say that Snuffaluffagus (big bird's large brown elephant friend aka our new temp. sofa) is kind of growing on me. KJ and I can both stretch out from head to toe and still be no where near one another (good for playstation/reading time), or meet in the middle for movie cuddling. So I've been thinking that I should probably host a gathering of 50 or so pep to put this thing to full use before it goes back to the store. ;-)

In conclusion I've learned that I probably should measure large items of furniture to avoid any future hassle, but I'm not going to lie, the rebel in me still smiles and says "Who needs a tape measurer, just eyeball it and run with it!" Yep, that's my method of choice. I think of this couch as one freak incident...

starting off

So if you spend a good bit of your time commenting on the blogs of others, it only makes sense for you to get one of your own don't you think?
It's not that I'm that interesting (really...) it's simply that 1) so many of the people I love aren't located near me anymore 2) I'm horrible with the phone (when will the cell phone pep get a plan that let's you choose when your free hours will be?? sheesh!) and 3) I sit in front of a computer for over 8 hours a day... seriously it was only a matter of time. So tah-dah! An instant way to check in and see what's going on with me rather than chasing me down by reading the posts I leave for others. ;-)