End of an Era

For as long as I've been around, my Dad has been a basketball coach. In fact, my Dad was prepared to accept a college assistant coach position at a small college when my parents found out they were having me. And, since I was in 4th grade, my Dad has worked at Wade Hampton High School. He has been the basketball coach there seemingly forever.

I grew up going to Dad's games for as far back as I can remember. In the early days, that meant sitting in the opposite side so I couldn't hear what my Dad was screaming at the refs (and mostly reading a book or something equally nerdy during the game). As Dad mellowed and I grew older, I got to sit behind the bench, then in the student section during high school, then back to my trusty place two rows up behind Dad.

However, things are about to change in the Nance household. My Dad is going to transition from the A.D. and basketball coach at WHHS, to the Greenville County Athletic Director. It's undoubtedly going to be a big change, but it's a great opportunity for Dad and I am so happy for him. 

I know Dad (and the rest of the family) is going to seriously miss this.

Miss the boys on the team.
Miss the atmosphere in the gym.
Miss the hugs I run down to get from Dad after the teams shake hands.
Miss the horrible things Sammy says to the refs.
Miss the fact that my mom has to wear a black and white striped shirt to keep the books and hates looking like a ref.
Miss hanging out in the gym/Dad's office until everyone has left the school.
Miss the late night meals after a win.
Miss the routine of the Tuesday and Friday nights
Miss having an excuse to go back to our high school.
But mostly, miss the entire package of basketball season and Wade Hampton.

However, I know this is the right move for Dad and the family. It's bittersweet, but it's the right time. So, I put together some of my favorite pictures from this season, including several from our last home game at WHHS.

Sammy and I with Lewis, the security guard for the basketball games for as long as I can remember.

Mom and Dad at center court :)

The Nance ladies

This family has a ton of great memories in this gym. :)

I am so proud of you Dad. I love you and am so excited for your next adventure!

So. Many. Projects.

Friends, we are T-minus 3 weeks away from me being done with a major work project that has basically consumed my life for the last 8 months. So, I guess I am starting to prematurely celebrate by planning a hundred projects around the house. Here are a few quick sneak peaks to the fun new projects coming to the Blackmon home. 

Giant crack in our front door...

Suburb paint job :)

The coolest barn door around...

Old barn wood and my partner in crime (and craft)

On the Backburner

So, as of November, we have been in the Blackmon abode for 3 years! That seems crazy to me! One of the first major projects we took on was the dining room. This was the very first room we painted, just a day or two after we moved in. Then, we sanded and painted all the dining room furniture and moved it in (total pain). You can see the progress here, here and here. And yes, I realize the last post was from 2012 and I am just now finalizing what to put in my hutch. What can I say, I put it on the backburner? 

Here was my clean slate quite a while back. 

I started with some plates my mother in law gave me to see if they would work in the space. I love them! 

Add in some cookbooks, some Mason jars, some TJ Maxx finds, some 'oldie but goodie' decorations, and some new presents, and its finally done!

My MIL just gave me this for my birthday. It says "And we know that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord". I love this sweet reminder in our dining room. 

This is one of my favorite little decor pieces because of the story behind it. My dad gave this to me before Will and I got married. He thought that this verse captured what we were going through and how we felt about each other. 

A recent birthday present from Aunt Marcia! "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." - Hebrews 11:6 

And this awesome frame that my sweet boss Abby gave me for Christmas. I thought surely I had a spare 5x7 of Will and I to put in that, but apparently not. So...off to shutterfly I go to get one ordered! :)

Much better!

It feels so good to finally have this project completed! (minus the picture haha!)

Christmas Recap!

Christmas is always busy around the Blackmon house. This year, we had 8 separate Christmas family events we attended! One of my favorite times around Christmas (and maybe the only one that I remembered my camera for this year...) is spending time with my cousins at Nana and Papa's house. We typically do a Christmas Eve brunch and then open presents and play!

First, Papa always reads the Christmas story. 

Then, the present opening begins!

Dad watching the kiddos.

Mom with her annual cousin Christmas calendar that Carey makes us each year. 

Macrae with the keyboard. 

Sweet Macrae opening presents with "un-ca daw-wa"

G putting on a concert for us with his new drums and microphone. 

Unknowingly, almost everyone gave Gatlin or Macrae some sort of musical instrument for Christmas. They got drums, a microphone, a keyboard, a tambourine, and a recorder. It was quite a musical Christmas!

I was shocked that Gatlin knew exactly what to do with the drums. He would even start off his song by hitting his drumsticks together and kept tapping his foot like he was using a foot pedal. 

Macrae rocking out!

And Campbell getting in a set on the drums!

Then come the concerts!

Love this little man!

Of course Campbell knows how to really get into a performance :)

It's always so fun to see these kiddos, and even more fun during Christmas where we can spoil them just a little and see Christmas through their eyes. 

2015 Goals

Yup, the beginning of the year is the perfect time for goal setting, and I love a good list :) Like I said, 2014 was just a crazy crazy year in my life, and a lot of aspects of my life have been on the back burner, so I look at 2015 as a 'getting back on track' kinda year. So, here we go!

Projects in the Blackmon Home

• Get new attic stairs and new front door. Let's not even talk about how feeble our current attic stairs are. I feel like I'm rolling the dice every time I need to store something in the attic.
• Paint shutters (oh my goodness even I am tired of seeing this goal year after year...I have to do this in 2015)
• Keep on keeping on with painting the trim. I have two bedrooms and 1 bathroom done....and seemingly a million more square inches of stupid trim in my house.
• Paint and (finally) finish the 3rd bedroom.  This will require selecting a paint color,  so it's likely to take forever.
• Finish off our master bed. We got a king sized bed at the end of last year, and we have sheets, a comforter, and a lot of pillows. We even got some new euro pillows and shams for Christmas this year that are a perfect match with the other decor. We do not, however, have things like a bed skirt or a headboard.
• Finish some super cute crafts I have planned with some awesome old windows I got from one of my co-workers

Life Stuff

• Continue to be more engaged in our local church. We still host small group at our house weekly, so I want to continue doing that and being involved at TCC.  
• Read more! I only read like 5-6 books last year, which is horrible for me! I'm looking to get back to the 40-50 that I was at in previous years. 
• Better work-life balance. This is such a struggle for me. I love my job, and I love my co-workers, and I honestly have fun at work, so it is difficult to set that aside after work time, but I have to.
• Cook more! I do love cooking, just not the cleaning up part. We have eaten out entirely too much this year, and I need to get back in the kitchen more and try some new recipes. 
• Spend more time with this guy. He's pretty awesome if you didn't know. :)

What about you friends?  

2014

So....absolutely no blogging in 2014. Not exactly what I had planned, but it ended up working out. For a variety of reasons (mostly work related, but some computer issues as well), I just needed to simplify, so I didn't do it.

Now, that's not to say that 2014 didn't have its highlights. It was a great year!

I had TONS of fun with my co-workers

The winning team at the Professional retreat!

A look my boss probably gives Daniel a lot :) 

My sweet best friend Kristi got married in May! :)

College roomies!

All the roomies and all their husbands!

And, the whole Blackmon clan took a vacation to the Pacific Northwest. It was a one of a kind trip to a beautiful part of the country!

The family at Mt. Hood

Will and I at Hurricane Ridge :)

One of my many goals for 2015 is to do a better job documenting it. So, back to blogging I go! 

Christmas Cousins

This year, I will admit, I did a pretty poor job remembering my camera for most of the Christmas functions. But, one of the places I remembered was at my Nana's house, because the cousins were there! I have 3 sweet little cousins that I love so so much and this year was so fun!



Since Campbell is obsessed with my sister, and Gatlin loves me and Uncle Keith, my mom has 'claimed' Macrae for herself. So they hang out a lot :)



Campbell was ready for the gifts!!



Me, Sammy, and Macrae were trying to recreate a photo we took with Campbell when she was a baby. Someone told Campbell to get in the picture and she was not having it! hahaha! :)



Macrae cuddling with Nana



Campbell feeding Macrae



Being with them this year was even sweeter than normal because my middle cousin, Gatlin, came straight to Christmas from the hospital. (He was battling a nasty infection that seems to have turned the corner). At first, he was still a little shy and sleepy, but that boy sure did turn it on by the end of the day!



I mean, who can resist that face?!?



Hanging out with mom



And, since we just got out of the hospital, now is a perfect time to get a scooter! Stitches anyone?



Luckily, for now, he just thinks you are supposed to jump off of it...



...and onto a nearby chair.



Campbell playing with her new puppy toy



Us with her new puppy!



But the best moment of all was with this little guy. Will and I were leaving and I asked him for a hug. He turned around and hugged me and then I went to leave. He ran over to me and said "kiss? kiss?" with this puppy dog look on his face. It felt like my heart exploded with rainbows and sunshine. I went over and kissed this sweetheart, and we went to leave. Then, he looked at Will and went "kiss? kiss?", so Will kissed him, and then he said "hug? hug?" and Will had to hug him. I mean, seriously?? That's like the sweetest thing ever!



What a precious child. We are so lucky to have these three kiddos in our family :)