The Deck is DONE!!

That's right people! The deck is DONE! Will and his dad busted it all day today to finish up the spindles, some concrete work, and some final details. 

The day started with a trip to Home Depot to get the spindles.

Working out a plan. 

My handsome handy hubby!

Takes a lot of tools to do all this work!

On the final row of screws!

Will putting in the last screw.

And the "Thank the Lord this is done!" look right after :)

Gotta have a spot for the grill!

From the laundry room door. 

The whole deck! (With some forms to remove later from the concrete)

From the other perspective.

The innocent victims. Don't worry, they will bounce back!

So proud of all of his hard work!

Sawdust everywhere

So excited to start enjoying this deck with my husband!

I can't thank Will and his dad enough for working so hard on the deck for weekend after weekend. I can't wait to enjoy this deck for many years to come!

Hutch Ideas

If you have been to my house or seen the blog for very often, you know my hutch in my dining room looks like this.



When I first finished the dining room set, I wasn't sure what to put in the hutch and decided I would wait for a while and look around to see what I wanted. Over the Christmas holiday, it actually worked out great because I had some cute Christmas plates and stuff I could use to decorate it. Now that I have put all that decor away, I decided I really need to get serious about decorating it in some way.

My mother-in-law gave me a super cool present for my birthday and invited an interior decorator who is a friend of hers over to our house for me to pick her brain a bit about a few issues, several of which were in the dining room. We came up with a couple ideas for the hutch below.

Love the mix of a few books, some decorative items, and some greenery. 

Bright plates and cookbooks could be another option. 

Love the layered dishes in different colors! The animal heads not so much...

Another mix of pottery patterns. 

Now, I just need to be keeping my eyes open for cute pieces at places like Marshall's and TJ Maxx so I can get decor I want without breaking the budget! I'll update as soon as it's done!

Long Hair No More

Every couple of years, I get bored with my hair, decide to grow it out, get super frustrated with how long my hair is, and cut it all off to donate it. Usually, I convince my college roomie to join this adventure with me, but this time, Kristi put her foot down (very rare for her) and I got my sister to grow her hair with me to donate.

Sam - before

My super long (annoying) hair

Both of us with way too much hair!

Sam about to take the plunge!

And after!

I love being able to grow out my hair and donate it, even if it takes a long time and is a little scary before our stylist makes that first cut! I'm sure this won't be our last time cutting off all our hair!

2013 Goals

Last year, instead of resolutions, I decided to set out some specific goals for 2012. After looking back, I was able to accomplish all of my initial goals, so I wanted to start 2013 out right by making a list (what better way to start the year? - Somewhere my husband is rolling his eyes)

1) Continue to stay involved with our local church and small group. This is essential for building our relationship with Christ and spurring us on to a deeper understand of Scripture. This needs to be the most important focus of ours this year and every year. 

2) Get in better shape. This year, in addition to picking up my running again, I starting joining Will by going to Crossfit. This has definitely helped me start to get stronger over the last two months, but its hard to balance lifting and running. I want to get better at that balance. I charted that I worked out 105 times in 2012, and I want to hit at least 175 workouts in 2013.

3) Reading - In 2012, I set the initial goal of reading 40 books. Eventually, I bumped it up to 52 books, 1 book per week. In 2013, I still want to read the same or more books, but I want to be more varied in what I read. Instead of just reading fiction, I want to read non-fiction, historical books, biographies, and more Christian literature. I want to be more well rounded reader in 2013.

4) Finish some key house projects. Both Will and I feel like we are getting so close to this house being as perfect as it can be for us without semi-major renovation. There are a few things that we still need to work on, such as...

• Painting the hallway - I am almost there with a paint color, and then the hallway will be done!
• Finish the deck - Will and his dad can see the finish line. Then we just need furniture and lighting and we will have a great outdoor entertaining area. 
• Paint outdoor doors and shutters - This has been on my to-do list for a while, I am just afraid of the chain reaction that will virtually assure that I have to paint every piece of trim inside my whole house. It needs to be done, but I don't want to do it. 
• Hang art in the kitchen for a pop of color. More on this soon...I have some ideas :)
• Decorate hutch in dining room. Again, plans are in the works!
• Spruce up guest bathroom. This is on the back burner for now, but I want to get it done in 2013. 

Here is to a productive, happy, and healthy 2013! Happy New Year Y'all!

Hallway Update!

I have been wanting to decorate our hallway basically since we moved in, but as a homeowner, you just have to prioritize and take it one project at a time. Our hallway decorations have been on the back burner for a long time. Well, a few weeks before Christmas, I mentioned that I found a table at World Market that I really liked. I described it to Will, and told him I would show him a picture later to see if he liked it too. After that I kinda forgot about it, and figured I would show him after the holidays, especially if I got a gift card or had a coupon.  

Well, when I opened my Christmas presents from Will, turns out the boy was really listening! He picked out the exact table I wanted, and I was super excited about it! He wasn't crazy about the idea of a table in the hall anyway, so it meant a lot that he was willing to try it out. 

Hall table, some assembly required. 

Well, I figured Will would put the table together, but after a hard day's work on the deck, I knew the last thing he was going to want to do was assemble furniture, especially if it was anything like the last piece we got from Ikea. So....I decided to try to assemble it myself. It was super easy to put together, and the perfect fit for where I wanted it to go.

Then, I just needed to decide how to decorate it. I had the print of us made a few weeks ago and was hoping it would eventually go in the hallway. The candles and candlesticks I got from Pier 1 with a Christmas gift card from my MIL. I pulled the basket out of our unused decorations in the 3rd bedroom, and grabbed the pottery off another shelf. Then, I just needed something small in the middle. I tried this wedding gift from my dad (one of my favs!)....

then I tried this glass container with some colored rocks (also from Pier 1)....

but I think I decided I liked this "B" that was originally in Will's bachelor pad.

Then, my sweet husband hung this awesome mirror I picked up at TJ Maxx this week, and we are done!

I can't help but smile everytime I want through the hallway now. Up next in this space, a fresh coat of paint!

Christmas Recap

Will and I had a great time at our many Christmases this year and I wanted to post a recap! This year, we had 6 Christmases, which was a lot, but nothing compared to the 8 Christmases we had last year!

 Our Christmas adventures started on Sunday with a Christmas lunch with Will's mom's family. Almost the entire family was there! (1 grandmother, 5 siblings, and each of their families + 4 dogs makes for a busy and fun gathering) While I didn't bring my big camera, it was a great time to be able to see cousins/aunts/uncles/Granny we don't get to see often. And, aside from a minor ham-eating dog issue, it was a great lunch! 

 On Christmas Eve, we started with breakfast with my mom's family at my Nana's house.

 

Mom and Gatlin in their matching flannel!

Showing off his sister's purse

Ready to open some of those presents. 

Listening to the Christmas story....this is a must at Nana's house. Usually we do the Christmas story and a round of what we are thankful for before presents. This year it was torture for Campbell!

Guarding his pile of presents

So excited for her soccer ball!

Look! That dump truck can even haul Gatlin!

Future baller in the making!

Campbell's giant cardboard castle that can be colored however you want. 

On Christmas Eve night, we went to Will's parents house. We usually have a big dinner, do our presents, and then make cookies! They used to make cookies for Santa, and then to take to their grandmother's the next day, but now we just do it because it is fun! 

I'm not saying any of these cookies would win a 'best decorated' award, but they tasted good at least... :)



Christmas morning at our house! Will's stack of presents

A giant present for me that I couldn't figure out what the heck it was

Will opening his jeep stuff!

Finally! A hallway table! Another post coming about this soon!

Then, like always, I made a big breakfast at our house, which Will says is "almost better than the presents". Too bad this year I totally screwed up the biscuits, so Will had to wait until the next day for the sausage gravy and biscuits part of the breakfast. 

Then, we went to my parents to open presents. It's always a fun time to be back at my parents house, and this year, my sister Sam was patient enough to wait on us to open all of our presents together! Plus, then we got to watch Home Alone, one of my stocking stuffers from Mom.

Finally, we headed over to my Grandmothers for Christmas dinner. 

Sam showing off a new scarf.

And the beautiful painting that Grandmother did for me and for Samantha. She did one for our mom several years ago, and we both said we would fight over it when she was ready to give it away, but now we each have our own!

I hope your Christmas was wonderful! Now, just a few short days until my birthday!

Deck Progress

It occurred to me the other day that I haven't posted a good update on the deck since the deck demo. Will and his dad have been working hard on the deck every good weekend they have had. Like any good project, it's been taking a little longer at almost every step than they planned for. The good thing is, I think they can almost see an end!

Here is the deck a few weeks ago after a nice rain storm, all the boards have been put down, but need a few more screws in each board.

Now, Will and Dan are moving on to the handrail posts and stairs. Getting there!

Framed out stairs!

Hard at work putting in the last few handrail posts in. 

Good thing is, we have lots of wood for scrap projects, right?

We only have a few more steps before our new deck is ready to go!