Spring Break Adventures

Spring break was pretty exciting.  I wish I could have come back with a tan, but the Florida weather wasn't in the mood to cooperate.  I had a wonderful visit with Ryan and Bailey.  I loved seeing how they have settled in as newlyweds and being able to explore the Clearwater area. 

The sun greeted me the day I arrived, so we took advantage of the day and layed by the pool for a bit, then headed down to John's Pass to walk around and grab a bite to eat.  John's Pass is a cozy little walk with fun colored buildings and every kind of tourist shop you could imagine.  Only in Florida could you paint building like this and get away with it.

John's Pass

Out on the board walk headed to dinner.  I always feel so short around my extremely tall brother! :)

Bailey and I.  I couldn't have asked for a better sister-in-law!

The 3 of us.

The restaurant we ate at.  I love the fresh seafood!

Due to the rainy weathe Bailey and I took a day trip down to the Tampa Aquarium, we weren't the only ones who had this idea.  They had some great exhibits and this litte guy was our favorite.

Before heading home I checked out where Ryan works and the plane that he works on.  Oh my gosh, it is one of the biggest things I have ever seen!  His plane is huge.  I am amazed that something this big can actually lift off the ground.

Talk about feeling short!

The seat Ryan sits in during flights.  You should see/hear about some of the other stuff that he has to do....I don't think you could pay me enough to do them.

One of the rescue helicopters.

Don't think they'd actually let me do this.... I probably wouldn't make it out to rescue anyone.

Aren't they cute?

I fell in love with this little guy too!  He was a lot of fun.

In other news, last Sunday Stinson and I brought home Mia.  She has been such a wonderful addition to our family.  We both love her to death, and Maggie is adjusting well to having another dog around.  Stinson took her to Dallas with him to visit Sara and Kennedy, and she and Elvis became best friends.  Maggie has definitely missed her.  She brings me her toy that they like to play tug-of-war with her because her new friend isn't here to play with her.  Here are a few pictures of our new little pup.

Mia in her little red dress!

Here they are playing their new favorite game. 

I am sorry if I bored you to death with pictures and my not so exciting life, maybe next time I write there will be more exciting things to write I about! 

Expanding

Expanding, adding, growing, etc.  And no I don't mean my waistline or pant size ( I am working hard to shrink that right now!)  I think that is what we will be doing in our humble family of two, well three with Maggie, to four.  While many of you wish the word I am going to say next is baby, it is not, it is a puppy! We orginally thought that we would be a loan family, but the opportunity has presented itself to be the proud parents of this precious one!

Meet Mica Don't you just love her?!

We are going to go meet her next Sunday.  She is a 9 month old miniature dachshund whose orginal owner no longer has time for.  She is from the same breeder of the puppies.  Want to know the best part?!  She is already potty trained, crate trained, well socialized, and on her way to learning tricks!  Stinson is excited to not have to do the puppy thing, and to be honest, so am I. 

Sunday will be the first time we meet her, but I have a feeling that we are going to fall in love with her and bring her right on home.  You just have to look at her sweet face, and then you want her to be cuddled up with you!  I'll be sure to let you know what we decide.  I think it is safe to say that she will be ours very soon!

Finishing Touches

I was hoping to post the pictures of the finishing touches of the house decorating sooner, but I never brought myself to sit down and just write or post pictures. My last post I left you hanging.  I know you have been losinng sleep over the reveal of my snow day project #2.  Without further ado here it is!

Snow Day Project #2

Don't you just love it?!  I sure do.  I have envisioned this in my head, and as I was slaving away over it I was praying it would turn out as awesome as I had dreamed.  The whole project cost less than $25.  Here is what I did:

1. Went to Goodwill and purchased thses 8 frames for a grand total of $11.

2. Went and purchased 3 different spools of ribbon and 3 cans of spray pait (with gloss finish) for $12.

3. I arranged the frames on the floor how I thought I wanted to hang them. I took out the glass in each frame and wiped them off with a damp cloth.  Then I decided witch color each one would be.

4. I coated each frame with several layers of spray paint, then let them dry over night.

5. I cut ribbon, (I just estimated, if you are a perfectionist you could measure) varring witch kind went on the various frames.

6. To attach the ribbons I just used hot glue, it may be more secure to use a staple gun, but I don't own one and the hot glue has worked perfectly.

7.  I used pin head nails to hang them on the wall.  I love how it turned out and it really adds some fun and color to the empty space on the wall.

Last week one of the teachers on my team helped me sew drapes for the kitchen window and valences for the laundry room.  Both rooms feel finished and look exactly how I imagined them. 

Kitchen Window

Kitchen Wall

Laundry Room Valences

In other news, it is spring break.  It could not have come at a more perfect time.  I think I was in desperate need of some time away from the classroom.  With our state test coming closer each day, the pressure of things to get in and review continues to build.  For those of you who are teachers, you know what I am talking about and all of the pressure that comes with state tests.  I am doing my best to not let it get the best of me, but I so desperately want to push my studnets thinking and ensure that I am preparing them for not only the test, but for the challenges that will come throughout the rest of their academic careers. 

In order to fully enjoy my week off I am going to be heading to Florida on Wednesday to visit my brother Ryan and his wife Bailey.  I am so excited not only to go to warm place, but also to see them. I have not seen them since July when they passed through on their way to Florida.  Ryan is planning things for us to.  Hopefully the weather will change its mind a bit and the sun will shine so I can get just a little bit of color to my pale skin! :)

Stinson and I will be adding to our family this May!  No not a child adding, but adding a puppy!  We will be an loan adoption family for a local miniature dachshund breeder.  The litter of puppies was born on Sunday.  We will picking out our puppy very soon.  Our puppy will be breed by the breeder 2-3 times, and then it will be forever ours.  It is a really neat program and her dogs are wonderful!  Here is a link to the litter if you are interested in checking them out.  I will be sure to keep you updated about which one we pick, names, etc. 

Snow Day....No It's a Project Day!

Today marked the sixth snow day of the year, some of you may think I am lucky until I tell you that we now get out six days later than planned.  Instead of wasting my day, I decided it was time to complete some "art" projects to help spice up some walls in the house.

I headed out the door on a mission to collect my supplies, and for once I ame home with everything I needed! 

The first project is one that I got from my clever siter-in-law Sara.  If you don't already, you should check out her blog because she is always up to some nifty home-improvement project.  Anyway back to my project. To start you need some foam board, and scrapbooking paper.  I used 12"x12" and 8.5"x11" (which I cut into 8.5" squares for the 8.5"x11"), acrylic paint and a glue stick.

For more detailed how to insturctions visit Sara's blog.

Here is the foam bord ready to be beautified!

Here is the paper I selected

Then I glued the paper to the foam board and just like that they were breath-taking.  Then I used those sticky wall hanging strips to hang them.  I love the red board, I think it really makes the paper pop!

I made these to help spruce up the laundry room.  This Wednesday, I will be sewing curtains for the kitchen and valences for the laundry room that will really set these little beauties off.  I know the anticipation is going to kill you! :)

Here is the finished product!

These are the 12" squares

And the 8.5" Squares

The whole project was complete for a cost of $12 dollars! Sara did hers for less but I had to buy paint and foam board.  Still pretty cheap though!

On to project number two.  This project unfortunately was not completed today due to the layers of spray paint not being completely dry.  I will show you the before picture, and let you use your imagination for the after picture until its revealed later this week!

You should know the whole thing costs me less than $20!

Recently I decided that I need to learn how to sew.  So, the first step in doing so is buying a sewing machine.  Last night I found the perfect one on Craig's List!  Of course it was a steal of a deal, and no it is not fancy or brand new, but it works and is in good condition.  So, tonight to top off my very crafty day I went to pick up and pay for this little beauty:

Of course I will be using this a ton!

Well, that is all of my crafts and deals for today.  I promise to reveal project number two and the new window treatmens ASAP!  Until then....

 

I'M BACK!

Lately I have gotten into this habit of disappearing for a while, but this should change now that we have internet at our new house!   I am so excited to keep you all up to date on the home projects and life in general!  The bummer thing about not blogging for so long is there is so much to tell.  The long-winded girl is going to try to bullet point life the last two months.

• We are moved in. We have rearranged furniture and decorations 1,000 times we finally found the ideal look.
• The plumber probably hates us because he has had to come back 3 times to fix our kitchen sink, but it seems that everything has been fixed, fingers crossed.
• The new house has enjoyed having lots of friends over for meals and hang out time.  Our limit is about 4 people at a time! :)
• Stinson is full time in the football office now.  He comes home on cloud nine every night, we get to go to church together and eat dinner together!!!!
• I will be learning how to sew on Wednesday. One of the teachers I teach with is helping make drapes for the kitchen window and the laundry room windows.  Be looking for pictures at the end of next week.  
• Owning a house has given me the desire to own my own sewing machine.  Craig's list will be my new best friend until I find the best buy.  I am sure that I will be finding lots of projects for the house and my classroom as soon as I have a sewing machine in my possession.
• I am currently doing the Esther bible study by Beth Moore.   God is speaking to my heart in some amazing ways.  Some of the words she writes seem like they were written just for my heart.  The book of Esther holds truths that I never took the time to look closely for, and God is knocking my socks off with the things He is revealing.

• Yesterday, I got my first truly fancy cell phone.  Thanks to the mom of the boys I watched last summer, and will watch again this summer, Stinson and I were able to change to an incredible cell phone plan where we pay for both of us what we would have paid for one.  (Hurray for saving money!)  The plan includes internet access and a world of widgets I never could have imagined! 

• My darling sister is coming to visit Brady (and me) next weekend!  I can't wait to see her and do a few wedding things.  She will be our first out of town visitor to stay at the house.
• Spring break is quickly approaching......need I say more?!
• We are doing a biggest loser competition at school and I am excited.  I am looking forward to shedding the extra pounds and inches I managed to put on this winter......

I think that is all for now.  Sorry if you're totally bored, I promise to have a much more exciting, project oriented post later this week!

Our 1st Place

I know that so many of you have been waiting so long for these.  So here they are FINALLY!!!!  I don't have time to type or update much because I have to run off to boot camp in about 30 minutes, so the pictures will do the talking.  I promise one day when we get internet or I have a connection longer than 30 seconds to write about our incredibly exciting lives!


Here is the final unvailing of our first house.  We love it and are so enjoying call it home.

Living Room

Master Bedroom

Guest Room

Bathroom

Kitchen

There may be more to come later.  Thanks to Sara for my new look!  Hope you like it too.