Spring Cleaning...... Outside

Our pretty yard... reseeded and fertilized.... ready for Spring!


Only you'll notice all this dirt to the side and around our trees:


We have big plans to grow a bit more grass to the back fence and mulch around the trees and edges. I'd like to do that this weekend but who knows if that will happen or not. We have lots to get done before Lucas's parents come to visit.... one week from Friday!! They will be here for a little over a month! Who knows... maybe they'll help us seed and mulch. Lucky them!

In order to get all that dirt looking so pristine (yes, that is pristine compared to how it was before our yard work initially started), we had to bag leaves. Lots and lots of leaves....

See....

What? That's not impressive enough? How about all these leaves.............


That's 38 BAGS OF LEAVES!!!! And we had more but ran out of bags. We raked leaves for a good 4 or 5 hours on Saturday.. gathering them all out of the side yard and many from the back yard, as well. Yes, after we finish up the front yard we have several back yard projects to get started on. Our work is never done....

Lily was so good while we worked. She sat in her swing on the porch, swinging away, enjoying the warm weather, sleeping, and watching us work. We are hoping to finish up many of these projects so she'll have a nice yard to play in next Spring. It's all for you, little girl! (Okay, and I like having a nice looking house and yard....)

While we're outside, take a look at the wreath still on our front door and Lily's little announcement sign.....


I've taken down the pinwheels and garland around the mailbox already. Think I need to take these down, as well? Naaaahhhh.... they are fine for a little while longer!

Bathroom Update

I know you are all dieing to know....

I took a shower in our master bathroom this morning!

The room is not complete but it is fully functioning. Only a few more finishing touches and it will be ready for its blog debut!

Alabama's Winter Wonderland

First of all, I have to say.....

ROLL TIDE!!!

2010 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

AND 4 IN A ROW for the BEST Conference in the Nation!



Now on to the other exciting event in Alabama.....

SNOW!!!!

On my way to work Thursday morning:

Playing with the puppy in the snow Thursday evening:

On my way to work this morning:

And flurries are falling! At 17 degrees with a windchill of 6 degrees, I'm sure it'll stick!

Schools are closed and some roads are shut down, but we're still working (which is good because I have quite a bit to get done). Hopefully I'll scoot out a little early so the roads won't be too bad.

I'm ready to get this weekend started! We are doing lots of fun stuff like more work on the bathroom and final baby preparations!!

P.S. Another bonus of pregnancy: I always have the upperhand in a snowball fight! I got the husband good, but he didn't return fire. Instead, he got the puppy good! Seeing an 8 pound dog get pelted by a snowball is quite hilarious! Poor puppy! Rafa didn't know what to do with the white stuff but he enjoyed chasing his tennis ball around in it!
P.P.S. I left my camera at work so these were taken on my iPhone... not the best quality but they get the job done.

P.P.P.S. Please ignore the Christmas decorations. They are coming down tomorrow, regardless of how cold it is.

Fall can now officially begin..

because I have finally hung my fall wreath.

I bought this great Fall garland last year on mega discount from Hobby Lobby (think 90% off). It has been hanging in the garage, waiting for its time to shine, since then. Mom brought over a grapevine wreath last night, and we went to work. A few minutes later, we had this masterpiece:

(pregnant belly reflection)

Okay, I don't know if I'd go that far. But it is pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself.


Now all that is missing is pumpkins to put by the door. Maybe some hay bales?


I also did some awesome baby crafts this weekend but they might be for a certain special present, so I will have to show you that next week just in case we have some wandering eyes. ;)

Grass ~ We've Got It!

Remember this?


Well Goodbye, Dirt! Helloooooo, Grass!

Yes, that's right - We've Got Grass! And not this kind either.


It isn't perfect just yet. We are waiting for it to mature and spread a little more before we overseed spots we may have missed. This weekend we are going to fertilize it to give it an extra boost! I just couldn't wait, though. Maybe we have a future in horticulture if our current careers don't work out. Okay ~ let's not push it! I'll keep my day job.

Sewing Seeds

That's what we did this weekend. You see, when we bought our home almost two years ago we fell in love with the big trees and crawling ivy.


What we didn't realize is that ivy keeps growing and growing and growing and eventually kills the big trees we first fell in love with. Also, these big trees mean lots of leaves during the Fall and getting leaves out of thirty years worth of ivy growth is not easy. Big trees also mean very sparse grass, which is probably why the ivy was put there in the first place.

So, for the past year we have been ripping out ivy..... little..... by..... little. We still have some ivy growth in the side lawn, but we have finally won the battle against ivy in our front yard! Late August / Early September is the best time to sow grass seed in the South so that is what we did on our Labor Day!

We tilled the yard and started with some fresh dirt.


Then Lucas took our grass seed made specifically for shady lawns in our area and spread them with our new handy, dandy seed spreader.


Then we spread the wheat straw over the lawn and started the sprinkling.

We're going to put mulch and a border around the trees for the time being. Eventually we'll plant some shade plants around the trees. For now, we are focused on eradicating what is left of the ivy on the side and growing some nice fescue!

Grow, Grass, Grow!!!

(Ahhh! Just to remember those days when home
ownership was a fun and exciting new adventure.
So glad we got rid of that orange, by the way!)

We Have Babies!

No, no. It is not quite time for me and when that time comes I hope it is still a singular baby...

But we do have baby birdies!

I water my ferns every morning and have noticed a nest with eggs in one for a few weeks. I started my morning ritual off this morning and was about to move to the chosen fern when I saw fur! No more eggs! These babies had hatched. I was so surprised they weren't chirping. I had to check and make sure they were actually alive.... you know, without touching them or getting too close. Then I saw one of the little cuties blink and also noticed their little bodies moving up and down breathing. It was a wonderful way to start my day off.... even though when I woke up today I thought it was Saturday and it is actually only Tuesday. Uhm, just a little off! Anyway, I watered 'around' the fern and hope that is enough for it to survive until the chickies can fly.

The miracle of life
is alive and well at our household!

Check Us Out @ NEWLYWEDS!

Hello to everyone coming over from NEWLYWEDS!

We are the featured couple today on Jenna's Meet the Newlyweds segment!

We've been married for over two years now, but I still feel like a Newlywed! :)

I am usually a very regular blogger, but this week has been a wild one and blogging has fallen off quite drastically. Hopefully things will slow down a bit and my blogging will pick back up soon. Blogging is my tool to reflect on what is going on in our lives, and I desperately need it now.

Several of my regulars have asked about my mom, so I thought I'd give you a quick update. The previous diagnosis of immunodeficiency disorder - while it may be correct - did in no way help her situation. So we are still looking for answers on why she is so sick and how we can make her better. But good news - we went to Vanderbilt on Tuesday to see a specialist. He has pinpointed the problem in her nose and sinuses. She will have surgery in August and hopefully put an end to all this crazy sickness. Her new doctor there is crazy smart and feels confident he can take care of her problems. Thank you!

Also going on in our lives right now - a major bathroom renovation. The shower pan in our master bathroom shower was leaking so now we have to take out all of the tile. So we are completely renovating our shower with new tile and fixtures (and plumbing), replacing our toilet, replacing our sink and faucet, replacing all the fixtures in the bathroom, and freshening it up with a nice coat of paint (color still undetermined). Then, I think we'll need new blinds and window treatments. Why not?

If you didn't think that was enough - I'm currently enrolled in my first semester of graduate school. I'll be taking two courses a semester so I can finish my MBA in about a year! However, I didn't take into consideration that summer courses cover the same material in half the time. So my first semester of school includes two courses with 16 weeks of material crammed into 8. Oh, and I am getting all the hard stuff out of the way first. So that 8 weeks is crammed full of Accounting and Finance! Blah!

So now I have to get back to my Finance. I have so much work due by Midnight tonight and still haven't finished. Oh, yea.... and I have to work, too!

Sorry, enough moaning and complaining. But we have lots of exciting things going on!

Welcome to our crazy life!

Our 'NEW' Kitchen....

One drawback of our house is the small kitchen. When we bought the house it was painted an awful "salmon" color with horrible curtains and fake ivy running down ugly shelving. Cabinets were stark white with cheapo hardware. The stove and oven were updated and black but the stove hood and dishwasher were white. We painted the walls when we first moved in (definitely a priority to get rid of that color), but painting the cabinets has been on my to-do list for quite some time. I was honestly scared of the project. Luckily being a small kitchen means fewer cabinets to paint. We worked from Sunday to Sunday every single night (or at least I worked everyday - Lucas was out of town with business for a few days).

The BEFORE (previous owner's furnishings):





The AFTER:
Lots of paint and new hardware... even the white appliances were painted....
Say hello to our 'new' kitchen!!


We used our trim color for the cabinets: Benjamin Moore Navajo White. No, this is not white. It is a creamy white and so much better than the stark white of previous days. I tried an 'antique' finish but wasn't getting the results I wanted. I ended up making my own glaze and painting the cabinet details by hand. It isn't exactly what I had envisioned but I think it is nice. Better than it was and MUCH better than the cost of completely replacing it all.

The blank cabinet back (remember we took down that shelving) seen here.....


is going to feature a special treat. (If I had my way we would completely get rid of this and just install a stand alone hood but we are just redecorating now... not remodeling.) Here's a big hint:
I'm so excited about our 'new' kitchen and finally getting rid of the awful white cabinets and appliances. Next up - tile backsplash!!!

Lucas...... LUCAS??? Where did he go?!?

What I Just Bought....

Do you know what that means? I am repainting our kitchen cabinets. We have almost all of the painting done. Next I am going to apply a little 'technique' and see how it comes out. Then I (or really Lucas) will add these beauties and we'll have brand new (like new - but really old) kitchen cabinets!!

I can't wait to see the finished results myself and share them with you. I've also got a master bedroom re-design to finish up and show you. We've been quite busy lately.

New Addition to our Household

This little guy!The Nester was having a ' Perfectly Beautiful' Tassel Sale and I scored big time! I am working on gathering items for a zebra room that I am planning for the future. This is going to work great!

I also wanted this little guy but he was scooped up before I got him. Oh, well.

Thank you, Nester!

Cleaning Out My Closet

For some reason this world has treated me cruely and my husband has the Master closet. It is bigger and has a light. I am currently fighting to get it. I'm not sure how he got it in the first place.

Anyway, I use a closet in one of the guest bedrooms. It is smaller and there is no light. I don't help this problem. Every week I get my work clothes dry cleaned. When I bring them home I put the clothes back into the closet - plastic bags and all. This bad habit has gotten worse and I drastically need to correct it.

So, my good friend Candice is coming to stay with us this weekend and will be in the guest bedroom. I was mortified of this closet so thought now is a good time to clean it out.

I started by removing my shoes pair by pair so that I could organize them better. Suddenly, there was a room of shoes. I counted.

85 Pairs!!

Lined up one one side of the bed....

and the other.....and the other....Rafa was quite intrigued by this process."Can I have one, mommy? You have 170."

Unfortunately I have no before picture but - trust me - the change is dramatic.

***UPDATE: No I do not wear them all. Truth be told: there are quite a few that I should donate and quite a few that I should just throw out. But I have a hard time parting with shoes.

P.S. I also have another guest room closet that holds all my dresses and suits.