A Centerpiece!

A few months ago, for my birthday, my mother-in-law Terri gave me such a cool present. One of her friends has an interior design business, and Terri asked her to come over and make me a centerpiece for my dining room. I had a few ideas of what I wanted, but it was so nice to have someone who could take what was in my head and make it happen!

And here is the finished product!

I knew I wanted a square or rectangle centerpiece, and then we were able to utilize candlesticks I already had to incorporate different heights. 

I love the variety of flowers, vines, twigs and greenery. And everything looks realistic, not anything like something I could throw together. 

Love how it caps off the room! Just a few more pieces to go on the china cabinet and this room will be done!

Finishing Touches

The deck was done a few weeks ago, but now we are starting to put all of those finishing touches on it that will make it so much more fun and functional to use. Since picking up the deck furniture, we have already been out there a lot more, and it will just keep getting better as it warms up!

We looked around for furniture for several weeks, from places like Home Depot and Lowe's to consignment stores to craigslist. We got several recommendations to look at Sam's and Costco, so I took to calling Costco every Friday to see if they got in any deck furniture, and last Friday they got their first pieces in. We were there Saturday morning, and all we had to do was load it up. (And by load it up I mean wrangle three huge boxes onto a pallet that kept wanting to move, drive that thing through the store without hitting anyone, and muscle it into the truck bed. And since there weren't any cart guys available to help us load it in the car, Will and I beasted the boxes into the truck bed ourselves. Thanks Crossfit!)

Later that weekend, we picked up this cool firepit from Home Depot. We had our first fire the night of the Superbowl, but I know we will use this a lot more to extend the amount of time we can spend on the deck. 

I love our new setup, we even had dinner on the deck one night last week by the light of our one working spotlight. It was a little chilly, but I was so excited I didn't care!

Now all we need is an umbrella and some lighting upgrades and we done!

Basketball and Little Ones

Last night, we went over to the high school for Dad's last regular season home game. It was senior night so there was a big crowd!

Pre-game player intros

Our typical cheering section had a new visitor as well! My friend and college roomie Kristi came and brought a few people, along with her sweet niece Kate! It was so nice to be able to see her because it had been several months since I had been able to hang out with Kate. Kate's mom (and Kristi's sister) Kelley writes about Kate growing up here on her blog, so I get to see frequent pictures and updates, but it's not the same as interacting with them in different phases. It was so fun to see Kate's reactions. The first time there was a big cheer, she jumped in Kristi's lap and looked startled. Then, she got the idea that every time we were clapping, something good happened and she started clapping. She was pretty enthralled with all the activity until about 5 minutes left in the game, and by then she was pretty much over the basketball (I feel ya, Kate) :)

Kate was obsessed with this gate thing. For some reason, watching the game through these slats was much preferred to sitting in someones lap for a while. 

Playing on the bleachers!

Kate is a very friendly baby. Case in point: shortly after meeting Sam, she held out her arms to be held by her. Then, she didn't want to go back to Kristi or Nicole. She loved the front row seat she had on Sam's lap!

 

That's some angry coach body language. Probably after a particularly bad call.

Getting tickled by Nicole!

I mean, basketball is fun and all, but it is a little more fun with you have a little one around to entertain you! Unfortunately  the home team lost, but there are still playoffs!

Just Because

Because some days just suck...

Because there is nothing you can do about it...

Because you just need a good laugh...

A few of my favorite things making me laugh. From funny workout t-shirts to funny TV shows. 

I want this t-shirt

Love it!

Classic Joey

Kevin from the office. One of my all time favorite characters.

One of my all time favorites....Apps and Zerts from Parks & Rec!

Si from Duck Dynasty

And Bobo, from Finding Bigfoot. Seriously. Watch this show. Serious belly laughter happening every episode.

First Winter Storm

We have had some crazy weather down here in the last few weeks. Beautiful weather, cold weather, tornado warnings, and even a bit of winter weather. 

A few Fridays ago we had some ice/snow/sleet weather and on my way home from work early, I realized I have never seen our house with any winter weather so I was actually kind of excited and snapped a few pics. 

Snow/sleet on the deck

Ice!

Backyard

Front yard

Ice on the railing. 

Now I cant wait to see the house with an awesome blanket of snow! Here's hoping for a snow day soon!

Blessing or a Curse?

So I can't decide this about my kitchen counters. 

I love them, and from a distance, they pretty much always look like this....which is great...

Except when you get down eye level with them...and it looks more like this...

or this. So, countertops that hide dirt and food...blessing or a curse?