The First Order of Business

One of the first things Will and I did when we moved back to Greenville was make a list. You know my love of the list. Well, this list was important. It contained the churches that we wanted to visit upon coming back to Greenville.

We loved our church (Buckhead Church) and our small group that we got plugged into in Atlanta. We knew that no church in the Greenville area would be quite as big or technically impressive as Buckhead. But, multiple times while attending Newspring or Buckhead, Will and I had talked about how cool it must be for people that were on the front lines of the growth of those churches. It must have been so exciting to watch a small, committed group of believers blossom into a congregation of thousands.

Over the first few months, we visited 4-5 churches on our lists. We wanted to move toward a more contemporary church that incorporated the use of small groups. We got recommendations from friends as well.

Ultimately, we began visiting Renewal Church consistently. Will and I prayed and felt the Lord was leading us to join there. After visiting, trying a few small groups, going through a membership class, and talking with a pastor, we were ready to become a partner (Renewal Member).

Two weekends ago, we had a couples retreat with the church. We enjoyed fellowship and teaching, as well as participated in practical conversations about the goals of our marriage.

And of course, we played games.

And of course, our team won! These minute to win it games were so fun and everyone was awesome at their game! Special props go to the Kemp's, for racking up points on this broom-launching-marshmallow-catching game. 

Lyndsey and Nick rocked this strange pencil M&M elevator game.

Tyler and Jen's ping pong backboard game that they dominated. 

And Hugh and Hollie rounded out the team by playing a ping pong soccer type game.

Will should also get a honorable mention for winning our game. He had to stack blocks on my head and I had to stand still enough for it to balence for 3 seconds. 

We ended the retreat with a dinner date and headed back down to Greenville. The next day, Will and I, along with 19 other people, were presented as Renewal partners. We look forward to growing in Christ and  growing with our church body. If anyone is looking for a church home, we would love to introduce you to Renewal. I am certain it will be a blessing for our family. This was our first goal on my 2012 list and I couldn't be happier that it is complete!

Master Bedroom Inspiration

Every since I knew we were going to buy a house, I have been thinking about how I want our master bedroom to look. I already knew that we were going to have wood furniture that blends with each other from our respective childhood bedrooms. What I wanted was to create a serene room that wasn't too masculine or too feminine.

Here was some of my inspiration, courtesy of my favorite website, Pinterest!

Love the wall color

So simple and beautiful

Lots of mixing of pattern and color

love the high ceilings in this room!

Love the rug, the color, the bedding

The paneling behind the headboard is awesome

If you notice, they all have some common themes. A blue/gray/green wall color, beautiful neutral bedding and some pattern thrown in there. So far, I have the wall color I want, and most of the bedding that I want. I just have some curtains to find and some accessorizing to do. I can't wait to show you all what we end up with!

Antiquing

Now, if you would have asked me a few years ago who went into antiques shops, I would have said pretty much just little old ladies, and occasionally little old men.

I believe that this was an excellent observation especially because I used to 'work' at my Nana and Papa's antiques shop - Papa's Book Haven. The store was half books, and half consignment/antiques, plus dolls and Ty Beanie Babies. So basically, for a nerdy kid like me, I spent most of my time there reading and working on my math skills by helping with customers. However, I also observed the type of people that came into the store...thus my little old lady bias.

Well then, call me a little old lady cause I am a convert.

Will and I had been discussing a need for some additional furniture in our bedroom. Specifically, we were looking for an armoire to hold some additional clothes. Since our lovely house was built in the 50's, the closets aren't exactly walk-in's. Will has been keeping his clothes in the guest bedroom and I keep mine in our bedroom. However, we thought that might be a little awkward when we invite people up to visit.

We have been casually keeping our eyes open for a wardrobe actually meant to store hanging clothes, not just built to put a TV in. Do you know how hard those things are to find?

So, when Will sent me a picture of one that his mom's friend found in a shop on Augusta Rd, we decided to go look at it Friday at lunch.

The store, Greystone Antiques actually had two armoires in stock. One of which looked like it would perfectly blend with the pieced together bedroom suite we already have. So, we made a big impulse purchase. But I love it!

When they delivered it to the house, the man let Will know that the armoire was made in London in the 1930's. It apparently breaks down to 4 pieces for easier transportation, which is good because otherwise it would be impossible to move. 

One door opens for shelves and the other two open have space for hanging clothes. We have to install a hanging rod and we will be good to go!

I love the detailing on this piece of furniture!

I am so close to being done with the master bedroom. I pretty much just need curtains, a throw, and a new hamper and trash can. I can feel everything coming together, which is such a relief. I want this room to be a serene escape for Will and I, and I think we are almost there.

I guess sometimes it feels good to be a little old lady.

Paint, Paint, and more Paint

Oh, I have ideas, and goals, and all of that. At the rate I am going (in my head), I think I am going to paint every surface inside and outside this home in the next year.

I can't wait til spring/summer. Our doors and shutters are kind of a hideous super dark dull hunter green. And our garage door is dull white and needs to be cleaned or painted (or both) badly. I am painting the doors and shutters a glossy black, that is, whenever I get around to it.

Of course, all this thinking about painting the doors got me to actually look at our doors. And keep looking at them, and to realize that the inside of the doors really need to be painted too. And if we are going to go down that road, then all of the trim will need to be systematically painted throughout the entire house.

And that made me dizzy just thinking about it.

Plus, I need to find a color for the hallway, and maybe the living room. And there is that spare bedroom we still haven't decided quite how to use yet. And that brings on the dizziness again.

Here's to finding some inspiration, spare time, and warm weather..

Welcome Guests!

I mentioned on my last post that the Superbowl party was the perfect excuse/deadline to get some things around the house taken care of. Well, as much as my awesome husband is super helpful and handy around the house, painting is not something he loves to do. Give him a hammer and some nails or a wrench and watch him go. But somehow, a paintbrush and roller just don't do it for him. On the other hand, I love to paint, provided I have some company. So...last weekend I invited my mom over for a painting weekend.

I decided that the guest room had to be painted. This is the room when we moved in.

Don't get me wrong, this pale green was ok. Especially for the previous owners, who had a boy and a girl in this room. But, it really wasn't working for me. 

At first, my thought was to paint the room a beautiful creamy yellow with our white iron bed. I thought it would be peaceful and a good guest room palette. However, after looking at all the things we had to decorate the room with already, we decided to go a different way. I didn't really feel like buying all new bedding, decor, and accessories, so we picked another color. 

Behr Mountain Elk

We loved the natural tone, and on the wall it looked even deeper and greener. Here are some samples.

Mom and I wrapped up the painting in a few hours, and we let it dry overnight. We put the room together about 2 hours before the party, and so far we love the way it looks. I think Will likes the color even better than our bedroom.

We still have a few finishing touches for this room. We have to hang curtains and some additional artwork. I also want to change those end tables. My idea is to sand them, paint them a creamy white, and distress them slightly. Will would prefer to strip and re-stain them to match the dresser in the room. I also want Will to make some shelves for this room that I could paint to match the end tables (if we go that way).

Overall, we still have a few things to tweak, but guests are now welcome at the Blackmon home! Hopefully we will have our first guests shortly!

Superbowl Time!

So, last night Will and I had some people over for a birthday party/Superbowl party. It was our first chance to have more than 5 or 6 people over, and we got to see how the house accommodated a bigger group.

At first, our plan was to set up our bedroom TV outside on the deck so people could mingle inside or outside. While it was nice weather, we ended up setting it up in the kitchen so people could snack and watch the game at the same time.

At first, I was disappointed in myself for not taking any pictures of the party, but then I figured if I was having so much fun that I didn't have to stop and document it, it was a pretty good party.

I was really pleased at how the house accommodated a group, and even wish more people had come! This party was a great motivating factor to get some things done with the house that I will be posting about soon! Things are really starting to come together!

Last night, we were too tired to move everything back where it went, which has made us think that maybe a TV in the kitchen isn't such a bad idea :) Plus, that would mean I can't do as many dishes for fear of splashing. Sounds good to me!

Distracted

So, on a Friday night during basketball season, you already know that a girl like me is likely to be in the gym, watching my dad's basketball team. Last year, the team went undefeated and won the state title. It was incredibly exciting, but this year is a different team. I think the team is starting to really come into their stride.

Tonight was a key game against Southside. If they won by more than 2 points in regulation, they would take 3rd place in the region. They still have two more games to play to continue to move up.

While this was a critical game for the boys, I found myself a bit distracted. And I wouldn't have it any other way :)

You see, my cousins were in town. They live up the mountain about an hour away, and while it doesn't seem like a long drive, I don't get to see them as much as I would like to. This was only about the 3rd or 4th time I have seen Gatlin since he has been born, and those chubby cheeks were just calling my name. 

I got to eat dinner with Campbell and then hang out with her the first half. At the beginning of the second half, Allen, Carey, and Gatlin came by. At first, they were afraid that the kids would be too tired and fussy to  hang in for the rest of the game, and didn't know how Gatlin would handle the noise. Luckily, the kid isn't fazed by anything. The game was pretty heated for the 2nd half, as WHHS mounted a comeback. Even with the entire gym screaming around him, the little dude just sat there. 

I'm seriously obsessed with Gatlin's cheeks. They are adorable!

Sam and Braxton were there too, and luckily Sam toned things down a little around Campbell. However there were some awful calls and things got pretty heated in the game. The Southside coach got a technical foul and was thrown out or "put in timeout" as Campbell calls it. 

Ultimately, the boys pulled out a big victory tonight and we are pulling for them to keep it up! Unfortunately, I was just paying attention to a few other things during this game :)

Sneak Peek!

Here are a few quick pictures of our dining room furniture in progress. We still have so much left to do, but now that we are painting/priming instead of sanding, it seems to be going a little faster. Of course, the weather has to be right on the weekends for us to be able to work on it, but we are still making good progress. 

I think I am going to LOVE when our dining room is all put together. Hopefully I will be able to show you that in a few weeks!