new "outlook" on life...

Oh.my.word. Exactly 2 months since my last post...I didn't really have any idea it has been THAT long. I'm sorry, peeps. Those of you who still check the blog, anyway. God bless you for being faithful to check, even if I'm not faithful to post.

In my defense, though, there really hasn't been much going on with the house lately. We did make one small change, however, in our master bathroom. I haven't really shown any photos of that room of the house since we moved in, primarily because I really didn't know how I wanted to decorate it. We're just using a shower curtain we already had and "making do". I think I have an idea of how I want to decorate it now, but I haven't gone to see what's out there that will fit my decor idea. I promise I'll post photos when it's complete.

The recent small change that we made was to replace the mirror in there with another that has a cabinet built in. The mirror that came with the house was massive and really nice, but just flat on the wall. With the extreme lack of storage space in that bathroom (we don't have a nice closet like in the guest bathroom), Jeff decided that we needed to create some space ourselves by hanging a mirrored cabinet up in place of the flat mirror.

I would like to preface the photos by saying that he took care of this during the day one day while I was at work. So he's the one that took the before and after photos. The before photo is horrendous with all the stuff out on the counter, etc. (something I would've cleaned up before taking the photo) but Jeff says, "I was proving a point. We needed the cabinet." Point taken.

snow!

Let the records show that we have snow at the coast! Actually, we've had snow one other time that I can remember in the 7 years that we've been here. It was relatively soon after we moved here, I think, and we were really surprised then. Just as I am now. It's just not something you see when you live as close to the beach as we do. But I'm seeing it now, and I.am.loving.it.

I've always loved the sight of falling snow and maybe it's because I don't live somewhere like IL where they've had enough snow this season to last them until Jesus comes back, probably. Growing up in the piedmont of NC, getting snow was a treat and usually meant being out of school and getting to enjoy it from the comfort of my own home with my family. I know that's not the way it is up north...and I'm sure that has something to do with my attitude toward snow. But it is what it is. And I'm totally digging the fact that this all started about 10am today and has.not.stopped. It's now almost 5pm and it's still coming down. We had a few pockets where it eased up a little or trickled down to almost nothing briefly, but for the most part, it has dumped about 2.5 to 3 inches in our "neck of the woods". And counting!

It amazes me how different a town or neighborhood can look after snow has fallen. On the way home from work today around 2:30pm, I was noticing that. Things that ordinarily are dark and maybe not so noticeable suddenly catch your eye. That patch of woods that doesn't really look that big? The snow reveals just how far back it goes! And everything seems so quiet...the neighborhood is just tucked in tight by this clean, fresh blanket of snow. I took a short video of our backyard as the snow was falling...so quiet...

Of course, I took some pictures, too, because, after all, this is a "first" for our "new" house (that's not as new as before, but new nonetheless) and it has to be documented! :) Beautiful...

more progress!

I have more progress to report on my craft room! Jeff's been working here and there as he has time to get the corner unit ready to install on what I'm now calling "the lower level" of cabinets. On Tuesday, he got it all glued up before dinner so that it could dry while we ate. We actually had our friends, Joey & Amy, over for dinner Tuesday, so Joey was able to help Jeff get the corner unit in and then they went ahead and installed my L-shaped desktop! It.is.so.cool. See for yourself!

"crafty" countertop...

We're in the midst of a four-day holiday weekend (Jeff's actually had the whole week, the stinker) and as is usually the case, Jeff has been working out in his shop with this fairly big block of time to get stuff done. He's making progress on my craft room workspace and I thought I'd show you what's been happening.

As of now, the L-shaped desktop/workspace is cut and laminated with my cool "crafty"-looking countertop that I chose. Jeff's had a couple guys out here helping with different things (and I've even helped a few times). His buddy, Kenny, came out and helped him cut the countertops and get them all ready for the laminate.

Then his buddy, Grayson, has been here today helping him put the laminate down and getting the countertops fully ready for installation. Of course, he can't install the countertops until he has the corner-unit in and they're actually still out there right now, working on that. Things are coming along!

2008 Christmas decos...

I have been remiss in blogging lately...been a little bit busy with lots of things of the Christmas persuasion...

But I do have my Christmas decorations up (have had them up for about a week) and I wanted to show you a couple of photos I took. I didn't change things too much from last year, but I did do something different with the entertainment center:

After Christmas last year, I acquired these cool trees from Pier One -- my sister-in-law calls them my "Whoville trees"...I kinda like that! :)

measure twice, cut once...

Or in Jeff's case, go ahead and just draw out the plans...we've finally begun work on my cabinets for my craft room! Yay! This has been a long time coming and when I say that, I mean this all started back before we even moved into this new house almost a year and a half ago.

We took measurements of the room before it was even done and I began to (very roughly) sketch out what kind of layout I'd like to have in terms of workspace, drawers, cabinets, etc. We've tweaked it umpteen times since then and Jeff's gotten some "practice" building his own workspace, drawers, cabinets, etc. out in the shop (as you well know) and now it's begun -- the work that is the "wall 'o' cabinets" for my craft room.

I'm super-excited about this project and plan to help Jeff some as needed but I'm under no illusion that this will come to fruition very quickly. And you shouldn't be either. However, I will keep you updated as we make progress.

As I said, this will be a slow process...so here's what I've got so far:

I know it's hard to see what we've got here, but it's the left drawer and the right drawer on the lower part of the wall. I'm going to have an L-shaped desktop/workspace and these drawer shells are on the ends of the desktop/workspace as support (and storage, of course).

Stay tuned!

busy bee...

My husband was a busy bee over the long weekend (he took Monday off and had Tuesday off due to Veterans Day). My parents were here and while me and my mom worked on her first (ever) scrapbook, Daddy & Jeff hung out in the shop for the better part of the weekend "building stuff".

In this post from last October (2007), Jeff began a "wall 'o' cabinets" in his shop and gradually over the last year, he's piddled and puttered on them, getting it done little by little. This post from January (2008) showed a photo of another aspect to the "wall"; they were beginning to take shape. Well, he finished up the "wall" this weekend! That last thing to be done was to put the 3 long doors on the bigger cabinets and that's the last thing he did before going to bed last night.

I'm so proud of him! He's worked hard (pacing himself, of course :) and it's paid off. The cabinets really go a long way to organizing his shop and the way he designed them is really ingenius.

What I'm really excited about is that maybe he can get to the part of his "honey-do" list that has MY STUFF on it...I think his plan is to begin work on my craft room cabinets & desk area. Woo-hoo!

getting the word out...

This is just a shameless plug for my new blog that has been a long time coming...

http://www.cameralinz.blogspot.com/

And just so you're in the know, I am continuing this blog for most things dealing with the house...whenever we get around to doing more with the house...

weekend of sweetness...

Yes, I got a suh-weet dose of Cora Beth this weekend! I went to Lexington Friday mid-morning and tore myself away Sunday afternoon about 4pm.

She has changed so much in the last 2 months since I've seen her! She was 3 months old on Friday (Oct 25) and her little personality is starting to show. She's smiling a lot now, especially when you talk to her. Daniel (my brother) says she recognizes a smile on someone's face and usually will smile at you if you smile at her. I tested that theory. :) And that will absolutely melt your heart when they smile at you! What a connection you feel! At least I did.

I have to admit I was such a "hog" with her but I tried to give everyone a chance to hold her -- my family is so great about letting me have her to myself when I'm there because they know they can see her whenever. I know my mom & dad don't get to see her as much as they'd like and they're still so good about letting me have her. And that's not to mention how great my brother & sister-in-law are about being around whenever I'm in town so I can see her just as much as I can before I have to head back. They're absolutely wonderful.

I've been kind of undecided as to who she looked more like, my brother or Brandi. I was sort of leaning more toward my brother's features until I saw baby pictures of Brandi -- spitting.image. Looking at Brandi's baby pictures, and even her toddler pictures, is like looking at a photo of Cora Beth. I never would've guessed. But she's too stinkin' cute no matter who she looks like! :)

Our next trip will be in a month for Thanksgiving and I'm sure she will have changed even more by then. Counting the days...

little sweetheart...

I'm taking a road trip to Lexington (aka L-town) to see my little sweetheart of a niece, Cora Beth, this weekend! Leaving tomorrow between 10am and 11am with my good friend and former coworker, Cheryl (aka my mom's heart sister -- they really could BE sisters...) and I.can't.wait.

I've been one other time to see her since she was born and that was for Labor Day weekend at the beginning of September so it's been 2 months since I've seen her. But my dad & brother, God bless'em, have been pretty good about sending photos. This is one my dad took a couple weeks ago when he & my mom (aka Grandpa & Grammy) kept the little munchkin on Columbus Day. You know they loved that! :)

Do you know that this child will be 3 months in 2 days (10/25)?? That just blows me away...

Hope you guys have a great weekend...I KNOW I WILL! :D

new pinestraw...

This weekend we had absolutely beautiful weather -- sunny skies, a nice breeze, mid-70s for the high...it was a great time to work out in the yard. We weren't planning to work in the yard but it seemed like a good idea. I was sitting out on the porch with my bible study when Jeff got home from mentoring and the men's breakfast at church and we just got to talking and looking around at our neighbors' houses/yards (and feeling the gorgeous weather). Our neighbors to our left had just gotten brand new pinestraw laid down which made ours look really (REALLY) bad...

Pinestraw is not the ultimate goal in our yard (we'd like some sort of wood mulch or stone), but it's cheap and that works for now. We picked up 6 bales at a local hardware store and got to work. First, we had to weed and spray the weeds we couldn't pull. That wasn't too bad. Then we pulled the bales out of the back of the truck and started spreading. It actually went down pretty quickly. It still took us a few hours and we were bushed afterward, but the end result was very satisfying -- it makes my tight back & sore legs worth it! :)

Before & afters:

the big 3-0...

So I've lived for 3 decades...so what? I don't FEEL like I've lived that long. It's hard to believe I'm actually to this point in my life (I used to think 30 was so.far.away.). But your 30th birthday should really be celebrated in a big way...and celebrate, I did! Jeff and our sweet friends threw me a surprise party this past Saturday night in the youth building of our church, the Cross Point Center. I had no idea but was so pleased when I found out!

Jeff told me we were going to have dinner at a friend's house so that's where I thought we were headed. But we had to make a "pit stop" on the way at the Cross Point Center so Jeff could "help Adam lift something" before we went on to their house. Uh, huh. We get to the CPC and I ask Jeff, "Do I need to come in?" Ever so nonchalantly he says, "Yeah, why don't you come in?".

SURPRISE!!! Almost 50 people were there to wish me a happy birthday and help me celebrate. It was awesome -- the best birthday party I've had so far! And the CPC was a great place to throw a party. As you'll see in the photos, the kids were pretty well taken care of with video games, arcade games, air hockey, pool tables, a basketball court. And of course, we ate good! Jeff stepped outside his mind when he went to buy hot dogs & hamburgers (& buns) for this party -- we brought TONS of food home with us. But we had enough for everyone to eat hearty and that's the important thing. Our friends helped with setup and also brought side dishes like mac & cheese & scalloped potatoes, chips & condiments for the burgers & dogs, as well as brownies & such.

Then Jeff brought out this beautiful cake in my absolute favorite colors -- I bet he didn't even try to do that (I don't think he even knows what my favorite colors are! :). And it was sooo good! We took lots of that home, too. That's okay -- it just spreads the birthday celebration out a little longer (not so good for the diet, but waddya gonna do??).

It was a wonderful night of celebration and I'd like to thank everyone who was able to make it to my party to help me celebrate this milestone in my life. I love you all and call myself blessed to have you as my friends. I especially want to thank my heaven-sent husband who I'm so proud to call mine! You done good, babe! :)

good times & photoshop discoveries...

I don't typically title my posts in such "cryptic" fashion, but I just couldn't come up with anything clever for this one. But this post does serve 2 purposes: 1) to post photos of our short road trip to Wake Forest to see our friends, Matthew & Elizabeth and 2) to show you what I've been discovering in Photoshop...

We had a great time with Matthew & Elizabeth. They took us to a great pizza place downtown and we all shared a yummy crab dip appetizer and a scrumptious half-n-half pizza (girls side, boys side :). Saturday, we went to grab some lunch at a "hole in the wall" place called Shorty's -- fabulous hot dogs & cheese fries! Then Elizabeth and I walked around downtown to some really cute shops while the guys went off to TigerDirect or some such store as that. :) Elizabeth and I walked back to the Seerings house from downtown and were able to walk through the seminary campus where I got those great shots above. It was a gorgeous day! Good times with good friends...aren't they lovely?

fall is my fave...

And we're finally to fall -- it seems like summer lasted for.e.ver since it was so stinkin' hot. But it's begun to cool off rather quickly around here. We're enjoying highs in the mid to upper 70s with gusty winds (thought we'd somehow gotten into March today), sunshine...what could be better?! I love fall...

In honor of the first day of fall yesterday, I got my fall "tub" down from the attic and put out all my stuff last night. Aaahhh, much better.

road trip to Wake Forest...

We get to go see our sweet friends, the Seerings, tomorrow night! Matthew & Elizabeth used to be in our SS class at church until God called Matthew into ministry -- he's now at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. We miss them a lot but I'm able to keep up with them pretty well through Elizabeth's blog -- she's actually the one that inspired me to start this blog. And she keeps me in stitches reading hers...

She began blogging shortly after we found and started progress on our house. I realized that maybe blogging would be a really great way to keep our friends & family informed on how the house was coming along. Bingo! That's exactly what happened. My mom was thrilled to have the blog to "watch the house go up" -- she said she felt like she was here with us by being able to read the blog on a daily basis.

Anyway, we're heading to Wake Forest after work tomorrow and will stay overnight with 'WMD' & 'Lizzy' Friday. We'll head back sometime late Saturday afternoon. So looking forward to seeing them!