Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Husbandly Duty

My wife told me I had to write something on this blog since she is on vacation.

So, all the crafts you see on this site usually involve me drilling something, smelling paint in my house, cleaning up Abbey's mess when she leaves a table and cardboard for her projects outside our house so that all the neighbors can see and think we don't maintain our property, rolling my eyes when she buys $40 worth of knobs just so she can bring them all home to inspect, or putting up with lines like, "Isn't this cuuuuute?!?!"

I have no interest in her projects, but I have plenty of interest in her. She's pretty and fixes me dinner.

In personal news, I fell off the bed two nights ago. I dropped pretty hard and knocked all the glasses and gum off my nightstand. I thought I broke my back.
I think I fell because my wife wasn't in the bed with me, so I lost perspective. I probably would have just slept on the floor, but I didn't want a cockroach to crawl into my mouth again while I was asleep (it happened a couple of years ago).

In conclusion, I am half-useless without my wife around.
I hope I get some brownies or something when she gets back. I surely don't know how to make any of that stuff.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Undecided

A couple months back I turned this:

into this: 



At least most of them.  I got the knobs from Hobby Lobby for $2.99 (before 50% off)


And now that they're mostly replaced, I'm not sure that I'm crazy about them.  Since I spent almost $20.00 on the knobs, I want to be sure I love them if I'm going to keep them.  


What do you think?  Love the new knobs, hate the new knobs, don't care about the new knobs???

Monday, June 28, 2010

Little Trip

I'm taking a little trip this week:

Thanks Google Maps!

I'm going to my brother and sister-in-law's house in Texas for a few days--many thanks to Shane for letting me go!  I have a post lined up for tomorrow and then Shane's going to post about a project going on at our house and who knows what else on Wednesday.  

Be back soon!

 

Friday, June 25, 2010

Adorable-ness


There aren't many things more precious to me than watching my husband play with kids.  We don't have any of our own yet, but we get plenty of playtime with Ari, my best friend's eight month old cutie-patootie daughter.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Ecuador

I've been to Ecuador four times and the last time I was there we spent a couple nights at Hotel Real Audiencia in Quito.  It's a gorgeous hotel and when you eat in their restaurant, this is what you see:


That's the Plaza de Santo Domingo, complete with the cathedral that's over 400 years old.  The mountains bordering the city are covered in houses.  It's hard to tell in the picture, but all those little specks are houses--it's incredible!  

My parents and my brother are spending time here this summer with a team of other missionaries.  They'll be teaching classes, working with kids, and most importantly, spreading the Gospel.  Please pray for them.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Kitchen Update 7 {pictures of my refrigerator}

I cleaned off the outside of my refrigerator.  Amazing, right?  Well, actually it is!  Look at the difference:


Tell me that's not exciting!  No?  OK, fine.  Pictures of refrigerators are not interesting...I get it.  Let me just say that it makes a huge difference to have a cleaned off fridge. 

If you're like me, your refrigerator is another surface of your house filled with cultter!  I use(d) mine to put up pictures, memo pads, recipe planners, missionary prayer cards, coupons (mostly expired), birth announcements, Hebrew letters (yes, magnetic Hebrew letters...I'm awesome), the lock-up schedule for church...what else is on there?....oh yeah, my easy-peasy recipe for granola bars and my cheater-pants conversion chart (because who can ever rember how many ounces are in a pint and all that?).  Whew.  Exhausting just to think about!

I didn't want to throw everything away, so I took everything down.  I sorted through and made three stacks: things to keep on the refrigerator, things to keep somewhere else, and things to throw away.

On the left side of the fridge I put up cooking stuff...my conversion chart, my granola recipe, etc.  I can see this side from the pantry and stove.  On the right side I put up the missionary prayer cards and other pictures I wanted to be able to see every day.  That's it.  So easy!  So exciting!...ok fine, it's still not exciting.

IN OTHER KITCHEN NEWS (if you're not asleep by now) I'm so close to finishing up.  I have to paint a few more doors and the drawers.  Hopefully sometime in the next week Shane will put the hardware on (I can't wait to show you the hardware I picked out!) and hang up the doors and we'll have a we-finally-finished-the-kitchen party! 

Monday, June 21, 2010

Friday, June 18, 2010

Kitchen Update 6

The tape may never come off the windows.  I think the heat glued the tape onto them...do you think anyone will notice only two of the bottom panes are tape-less?

And I finally got started on the doors...hello, entryway:

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Books Brought = Trade Credit

We take most books in trade at our store.  
Most. Books.


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Kitchen Update 5

More progress!  It's slow but it's getting there...touch ups and drawers and doors next. 

Before:
During:
During-er:

Today:

I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and bought several knobs to try out.  I'll put up pictures of them soon...I know you want to help me pick!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Friday, June 11, 2010

Happy Birthday, BLOG!

Today is my first birthday on this blog.  Thanks to everyone who reads and encourages me!  It's been fun!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Busy Week

We've been swamped the last couple weeks.  I have the afternoon off today and hope to finish, or at least get close to finishing, the kitchen cabinets.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Happy Anniversary!

This is the picture that hangs above our bed.  A big 16x20 print.  It's what four happy years together looks like!


Happy anniversary to my one and only Shane!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Happy Anniversary Eve!

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary.  Four years ago I married my amazing Shane.  I don't think either of us realized when we got married exactly how perfect we were going to be together.  I honestly can say that I don't think we could be a better match.

In honor of our anniversary, I took a picture of a picture my mom just mailed me.  Apparently she was a little slow in getting some pictures developed...


...like four and a half years slow.  This is me in September 2005 (sometime over Labor Day weekend).  It's the first time ever I tried on my wedding dress.  I think it was the third or fourth dress I tried on.

Here's a quick time line for you--this is in 2005.
May - my brother graduates from Mercer University (where I was going to college, too)
July - my dad, mom, and grandma move from Cordele (about an hour away from me) to Mount Airy, North Carolina (about 7 hours away from me)
August - Shane FINALLY proposes the week before school starts and Victor (my brother) moves from North Carolina (he moved with my parents) to Texas
September (Labor Day weekend) - I drive up to NC to see my parents for the first time since I got engaged and go wedding dress shopping with my mom (where she took pictures in secret and horded them for years)

So basically all in one summer my family all moved away.  And I got engaged.  And started my senior year of college.  And started going to church with my fiance instead of my brother.  It was a pretty crazy time in my life.

And here we are four years later with our house, our dog, three bookstores, and a crazy-good life.

Read my 6 1/2 favorite things about Shane.