Zari's Tea Party

Woah! Seeing as how it's October 10th, and my last post was the middle of JULY! to say that I have a lot to catch up on is an understatement, haha. However, to honor my Mama, I'll start with one of our most recent family events...Zari Torijan's (soon-to-be Hunter;) ) Bridal Shower!

Rewind to about mid-March for a brief catch-up on how Eric met Zari...While on a mission trip with VMI cadets in NYC, Eric heard Zari give her testimony at Brooklyn Tabernacle. Enthralled by her beauty (inside and out;) ), he couldn't leave without trying to get in touch with her somehow...needless to say, she got his message and 4 months or so later they're engaged:) God works in incredible ways, doesn't he? There is so much more to the story that I'm leaving out, but this is a post about the Tea Party:) You can find out more about them at their website http://www.zohraanderic.ourwedding.com/.

With very little family of her own in the area, or even in the states for that matter, it was absolutely our pleasure to "shower" the Bride-to-be with love and gifts for their new life together. Mom had her hands pretty full with the wedding itself, so I assembled the Dream Team to make some magic happen for this special day. It consisted of my Aunt Gaynell, Emily and myself:D So fun to stay so connected for a month or so.

After we decided on it being a "Tea Party", I did a little searching around on Pinterest for some creative ideas and the rest of the fun just began to flow! We found an idea for a "Biscuit Bar". Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures after we put the biscuits out, but I've got some of the accessories for the table:)

We had honey, applebutter, honey butter, and

Mom even made little heart-shaped butter pads! Adorable:)

The Sweets table was delectable with delicious Lemon Squares

that I could have eaten every single one of (yum, Sissy!)...

Petite quiche and fresh fruits for pops of rich color and flavor! Wedding photos of family from us to great-grandparents really added a fun element to the bridal decor.

Mom and Zari posing by the Tea Table. I found the elegant silken sachets

of Strawberry Vanilla Green Tea and Lavender Grey Tea at Tuesday Morning,

and what is a "Tea" without sugar cubes!

We had an eclectic feel with the china settings, some care of my Mama, my Granny Lenise and others from Denise our Mary Kay Director (awesome past Star Consultant Prize;) )

The beautiful Torijan sisters, Zari and Deborah.

Ok, so this is one of my very favorite parts...since no one at the shower really knew Zari very well (most had actually never even met her), it was silly to play a "who knows the bride the best" kind of game, but I felt like this would be the best, most intimate occasion for all of us to get to know her better. So! We played a game fondly named "Zari or Sorry!", haha. I had Zari give me answers to a bunch of Zari-Trivia questions, then I twisted some putting each one on an individual card. For the game, each guest read aloud the "fact" on the card, then guessed whether or not they thought it was true of Zari or if "Sorry" it was indeed false:)

I think everyone enjoyed it!

As a parting gift, I found some "Green Tea" hard candies at Tuesday Morning, and put them in cute little treat cones I made from coffee filters. I made handles by stringing ribbon (and yarn, when I ran out of ribbon) through with a little tag I printed on some gorgeous pearly paper (used in their wedding invitations) saying "Thank You! Romans 8:28". The cupcake tree was the perfect little display on the way out the door, too!

And here are a couple of cuties awaiting the arrival of our guests:)

Sweet cousins!

The First Review...

After deciding a couple months back to stopping fooling myself into thinking that "I didn't have time to read a book", and to actually use the bits and pieces of time I found throughout the day to actually complete something, the first one I picked up was Dr. Dobson's (of Focus on the Family) Bringing Up Boys. I obviously chose this book because I, # 1, am not a boy, and therefore have no personal experience in this area, and #2, want to learn more about what makes my sweet baby Trey do the things he does. Because, well frankly, sometimes he can be crazy with a capital C!! (Although, Shaun says that he gets that from me, so who knows;) )

I really enjoyed reading the book, and though, when I first started it, I thought it would be a step-by-step model of how to discipline and make sure my child didn't turn out completely dysfunctional (disappointment there), it turned out to be very helpful in a more general sense. There were a lot of "I need to write this down!" moments that I obviously didn't (hence the generalized review), but my big take-away is that God simply made boys different, down to the chemistry of their body that makes them do things that we (or at least me) as mommies just don't understand. Also, he made every boy so very different! Parents of boys can certainly relate in many areas, but my job is to focus in on my Trey (and his baby brother) and work closely enough with him to unwrap all the gifts that God has given him. They are in such a raw form right now that it can be hard to see at times, but I know that this kid is destined for greatness and if we do all our parenting from our knees (bloody and bruised, perhaps) then we may just complete the task God has set before us with the victory being all His.

I finished a book!

I've never been a "reader" per se, but whenever I have actually completed a book I get such a sense of accomplishment. Every now and then I'd pick up a book, but usually never make it all the way through. With shelves full of fantastic reads that contain bookmark after bookmark, I'm reminded of my lack of "finitiative". (This word was coined by our dear Aletheia friend Brandon Kiracofe--I've loved it ever since he used it in our Wednesday night Bible study of Joshua back in the day:) Thanks, Brandon!) I have loads of initiative, more than I can handle at times, but what is the point of having initiative without finitiative?! I want more "finitiative" in my life.

I've often fed myself the lie of "I'm too busy" or "I don't have enough time" (for much more than reading a book, I must say.), but I'm taking a stance and saying "I'M COMPLETELY OVER THAT EXCUSE! I'M OVER HEARING IT FROM OTHER PEOPLE AND I'M TIRED OF USING IT!" We're all busy! And that's a whole nother can of worms that we'll not open today, but when it comes down to it, these excuses are just dodging the reality that we simply haven't prioritized whatever it is we're just "too busy" for. This may or may not be a bad thing depending on what's important to you, but I hear myself (and so many others) say, "I'd love to read that, but I just don't have time." "Wouldn't it be nice to just have free time to sit and relax for a minute? I'm just too busy."

While I'm sitting there saying this to myself, my precious husband is knocking books out left and right. How is he doing that?! He's a quick reader, but seriously, this is a man that doesn't sit around. I have to MAKE him relax most of the time! He has a theory that 15 minutes is all it takes to make a lot of changes in your life. (This man is a genius, seriously!) I love his names for it, "Power Blocking" "15 min. of Power" "Power Quarter Hours" hehe...I think he should right a book, but for now we're making changes here and there with his approach to "getting things done and making things happen." He doesn't sit down for an hour and read a book, nor does he complain that he doesn't have an hour to sit down and read a book, but he has 10 or 15 min. And so do I! How often throughout my day do I just spend 10-15 min. here and there doing absolutely nothing at all, or at least nothing productive? A LOT!!

So I decided that I wanted to start reading! There are so many fantastic books out there and I have so much in this life I can learn especially being a wife and mother, where I'm faced with my shortcomings daily.

To keep me accountable I'm going to be using the new "I finished a book!" segments of my blog to write a quick little review of what I've just read and my thoughts about it. I'd love if you all would comment as well if you've read it too!

The most current book I've been reading is a bio on John MacArthur, and I loved a quote that he had made that emphasizes the very things about books that I'd never have been able to come up with...

"Unlike television, books freeze thoughts on the printed page, forcing us to argue, and judge ideas using our active, engaged minds. Books are permanent, requiring a response from the mind. They help us raise our thoughts and think outside ourselves and our everyday lives. It's no accident God's chosen vehicle for his special revelation was a book!"

Beautiful!

And we think that it was Dave Ramsey that said this, but not 100%, though quite thought provoking in itself...

"From year to year, the only things that will change a person are the people that you've met and books that you've read."

To be continued...with the first review:)

Oh, the things they say...

Trey loves his little animals so much and last night we were rocking in his chair reading his bedtime stories when he so sweetly stated, "My bear, he's so cute." Shaun and I just looked at each other and giggled. Then again today when he and I were settling down to read before his nap, he was holding another one of his bears and said, "He's beautiful."

I wish I could have a recording of his voice. It's the most precious sound. I never want to forget it:) I love you so much, Baby Boy!

The Big "Baby" Reveal

The Results are in...

Thursday was our anatomy ultrasound appointment, and most importantly, we are so thankful that God gave us a very healthy report, thus far! It's amazing to me what they can "rule out" disorder-wise with all the measurements that they take. Technology can be a beautiful thing:) I'm totally one of those patients that quizzes the tech the entire way through. "Did you see this? Was there anything wrong with that? How's the heart?" But then after all of that, we found out what our beautiful baby is...boy or girl. Except that we didn't find out:) We know but we don't know! We had her tell us when it was coming then to have us look away so that she could write it down on a note card and put it in an envelope for us. Trey is getting dedicated at church on Sunday and many of our family members are coming to celebrate, so we thought it would be a fun way to include them, by having them surprise us with the results!

After much thought about "the perfect" way to find out (without copying exactly some of the very cute ideas I'd heard), we decided that we'd pick out two outfits, and they will wrap the appropriate one for us to open after lunch. The thrill of the surprise has been so fun, and having this envelope sitting right here is so tempting, but I love surprises WAY too much to spoil it:) We had a fun little family outing today to target to find a couple of sweet little outfits for the "Big Reveal".

We did have a serious close call yesterday when Trey was opening some mail and I heard him open a second envelope, and out of the corner of my eye I saw that he had busted into "The Surprise Envelope"! I freaked out and shouted, "NOOOOOOOO!!!" So I ran upstairs and closed my eyes the entire time I shoved the card back into the new envelope--haha, phew, that was close! Anyway, we'll be sure to let you know!

Garden Update

I just finished this entire post and it didn't save anything-grrr. So, let's try this again.

We had the most fun this weekend building our new Square Foot Garden! We've been researching and reading up on it for the past several weeks and have continued to be inspired by Emily and GW's very successful gardening over the last couple of years, so we've been very eager to get started. Takes a little bit of prep to get your SFG going, but it's supposed to pay off big time in the long run:)

All our supplies ready to go!

Our "power" drill is a P.O.P (Piece of POOP!) so my big, strong man hand-drilled the whole thing! We constructed a 4 x 4 box out of untreated wood because treated wood will mess with your soil and crops. We also used 1x8" boards, but I think 1x6" would have been good too. Maybe next time.

We covered the bottom of our box with weed fabric to cut back on the upkeep.

Next is the lattice top to divide out each square foot section for the different crops.

Here we are combining our Mel's Mix soil composed of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite. Can you tell that we had to wait till after Trey went down for this part?:)

And Walah! Project Complete:)

I forgot to take a picture after we'd planted our veggies the next day, so I'll just tell you what's in each square. Can't wait to show you the results (and see them for myself!). We've got oregano, basil, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, red leaf lettuce, roma tomatoes, celebrity tomatoes, lavender, zucchini, squash, cantaloupe, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, and watermelon!

I go out to check out the progress multiple times a day, but I haven't seen anything yet;) A watched pot never boils, I suppose;)

Going Green

It's funny how our interests change season to season. Using the Barnes & Noble magazine stand as my indicator of change, I can remember each transition. In college, I dreamed of my perfect man and that perfect wedding day (no need waiting till the last minute to get the details in order, right?), so I poured myself over every wedding magazine. I still love a good wedding spread, but my thoughts moved to design and decor after Shaun and I had a house of our own. What's our style? How can we make it ours on a shoestring? The challenge is so fun:)

My latest focus has become our garden--or my visions of our garden, so far. This one hasn't been as natural of a transition for me. Mom has the green thumb in our family, and for some reason I have managed to kill every living plant I've every owned. But I'm determined that this will change. I'm excited about gorgeous blooming flowers, but I'm more excited about getting our vegetable garden up and running. Fueled by my desire to grow delicious food that we planted and harvested with our own two hands, but even more so by my increasing disgust at the fact that I feel like we have to choose between eating fresh and healthy or on target with our budget. ugh!

So...last year, I got a roma tomato plant and a basil plant. Loved having both, but the summer heat burned them up and I harvested one lone tomato and eventually lost my herbs:(

With even more enthusiasm this year to get multiple crops going, I had to pull back my zeal. As of now, I have gotten some red leaf lettuce, which experimentally I planted in a window box, and SUCCESS!!

The First Harvest!

Our lettuce has been the most productive so far, but we have a small basil plant with several more seedlings trying their hardest to grow, cherry tomatoes in the works, and a neighbor just brought up a green bean plant:) We're on our way!

We are in the process of researching the Square-Foot Gardening method, so we'll be sure to update you on that as it comes together.

Master Bath Mini-Makeover

A couple weeks ago, Shaun and I had the hankerin' to do a little home decorating. The challenge was to pick a space that we could see a noticeable update with a very small budget. Our goal was $50, we went over a bit, but with only $75 we gave our master bath a "Spa-inspired" mini-makeover:)

Our vision for our bathroom is the relaxed and luxurious feeling we get from "the Vitality Room" at the Ritz Carlton in Charlotte. I just love walking into a spa. I don't even need to be having any treatments, and I feel so relaxed. This is our hope at some point.

Thanks to good ol' Garden Ridge we stretched our $75 and were able to get a great hanging shower caddy that tidied up our shower space, a faux-wood shower rod and curtain hooks, a botanical print celadon curtain, a cozy bath rug (that kinda reminds me of a sea anemone), a beautiful impressionistic painting of a willow tree, and last but not least, my little potted moss creations:) Super simple, but I couldn't find anything like it for the price I wanted to pay in the "floral" section at the store, so I thought it would be easy enough to just add our own natural element to the countertop.

We've got some bigger, more dramatic ideas for this space, but this was a fun Saturday project.

One of my favorite people from my college days is Mrs. Sara-Beth Noll. It makes me smile just to think of her and all of her sweetness. I have truly loved getting "reacquainted" with the Noll family through their blog the last several months, and I just wanted to share one of her most recent posts and thoughts that I had while reading. Well, I can't take credit. I'm sure that the Spirit put them there, so, perhaps He'll use this to make you think about it too:)

Just in time you don't get a chance to read her post (which you should), then I'll tell you that they have been going thru the process of adoption, and Sara-Beth has been generous enough to share her thoughts and feelings throughout. It has certainly opened my eyes to the world of adoption, and I'm so thankful for her openness. This particular post is about their family Easter and the joys of the day, yet the ache in her heart knowing that she is missing her boys. The waiting is very hard. A dear friend (and veteran of adoption) of hers gives some amazing counsel. Part of which she directs SB's attention to the direct parallel to OUR adoption into Christ's family. Wow! So what follows are my thoughts and comments to Sara-Beth in response...

"Thank you, Sara-Beth, for always being so honest and open with your heart thru this whole process. Never knowing anyone personally who has gone thru the process, I have never really understood everything that surrounds it. Thank you.

I also wanted to thank you for making me think about OUR adoption into God's family. What a beautiful and heartbreaking picture of God's heart yearning for me to turn to Him completely. Though He knew that I'd come running back to Him (and the role you would play;) ), each day of waiting and watching His daughter make mistake after mistake without Him must have been so hard for Him. I am in such need of these reminders because as intimate of a relationship that I know God wants with us, I think that in my mind I have such a hard time believing that He would feel that way about me."

Now being a mom, God has been more than gracious, in the insight He's given me to the Father-daughter relationship I have with Him. I am tearing up thinking of the intense love I have for Trey and for baby #2, and am then in awe and disbelief that I can't even comprehend how much greater God's love is for me.

Nesting?

I remember reading all about nesting and all the preparations that you go through to get ready for the new arrival (conscious or unconscious, I suppose), but I seriously thought that wasn't supposed to happen until they were about to arrive. Perhaps it's not nesting if it's not really "baby" related, but I sure have gotten a domestic bug in me--and for once this long winter, it's a good bug that I've caught;). Any TV-aholic like me knows that there is nothing worthy of watching between the hours of 12 and 3 (unless you have gotten sucked into the world of "stories", then I suppose this is your happy hour(s) ). During my "downtime" after I put Trey down, I usually curl up on the couch with my lunch to watch a good PBS show. I love Cooke's Country and America's Test Kitchen! But they've also got some really creative craft and baking shows on. Between the PBS cake show and Cake Boss on Netflix, I apparently think that I can create any cake creation, just give me some fondant and some modeling chocolate and I'm set;) And thanks to all my very creative friends out there, I'm led to blog after blog of fun crafts! So my inspiration for the wreath below came from Mrs. Priss via the prompting of the very talented and creative Ashlee Proffitt--Thanks, Ashlee!

If it's not obvious, the circle is covered in yarn, and if you're a wanna-be knitter like me, then you have tons hanging around from past/unfinished/future projects:) It's a nice shoulder toning workout too to wrap all that yarn around.

The flowers are made from felt and Mrs. Priss gives super easy tutorials on her blog. Ashlee will lead you to it too on hers. They are sooo cute, and I think that I could make 1,000 of them and just toss them in every corner of the house!

When I was in Michael's getting the supplies I was looking for something that may help me to make the large yarn covered letters that she has on her etsy site, and I didn't see anything, but I did find this cute little star, and I thought it was cheap enough to experiment with. I think it turned out super cute! Can't wait to make a bundle of these. Perhaps they will be perfect for a new nursery;) Oh, that will have to be a post for another day! I can spend all day searching online for bedding and fabric. It's funny that all I keep looking at is girl stuff. haha. I guess we'll see, won't we.

Trey's Announcement!

The Big Man's BIG Announcement...

"I'M GONNA BE A..."

Congratulations, Trey! You're gonna be the best big brother ever! You already love your little brother/sister soooo much:) It's so sweet to hear you talk to the baby through my belly button:) (That's where you say the baby is "in my button". So cute!)

We can't wait to see what you teach this sweet baby!

Here's our first family viewing of the new baby.

It was so fun to have Trey there with us as we point out to him where the baby is, it's head, it's little bottom. Such a different experience the second time around, but just as exciting in it's own new way:) We're expecting the wee one in October, so it will be nice not to be too enormous during the dog days of this North Carolina summer.

Where to begin...

Phew! It's a good thing I denounced the ol' resolution to have a weekly post before I went AWOL for the last month and a half:) One would think that I've taken a posting hiatus due to us digging a ditch and taking up residence for a few weeks, hence having nothing to talk about--though I'm sure we'd have MANY "stories from the ditch". Anyway, I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore, but I feel like there has been so much to post on that I've gotten a little overwhelmed and haven't been able to find a good place to start. I think that sometimes I'm afraid to post without pictures because what if my ramblings on and on aren't thrilling enough to have my 13 precious followers come back to "see" us, or "read" us, as it may be (haha, that is making the bold assumption that our pictures are thrilling, haha, so perhaps I should just decide that you visit because you love us despite the "thrill" of the post;) ). So I'll partially blame it on the fear of word-only posts and link it to my growing technological disgust for the archaic rituals I must perform to get pictures from my camera to the blog. Seems like it would be a cinch "these days", well, in the Redgate house, think again! For starters, I've probably taken 50% less pictures since I can hardly open the velcro flap to the camera case without Trey racing over, saying "CHEEEESE!!" So cute, right?! Well, until he's then demanding to take the pictures himself and this just isn't a "toy" I'm willing to allow him to destroy. So we then have a meltdown, until the next distraction has been successful. Once I have actually been able to take a few shots, it's time to take out the memory card, grab the laptop, head upstairs into the abyss, I mean, the office, plug the card into the printer, plug the printer into the computer...we're almost there...oh woops, the computer is too old and we have WAY too much stored in iphoto for this process to take any less than an hour. Well, I think you're getting the picture. It's quite the process. We dream of the day that we'll have a new computer with many timesaving capabilities:)

So, since you've last gotten any updates, here's a quick review and HOPEFULLY we get a little bit more in depth over the next couple of days (no promises) with each. We've celebrated Shaun's 30th Birthday, Valentine's Day, of course, a weekend trip to the Ritz in Charlotte (Thanks BofA!), a bridal shower, a baby shower, small decor additions, a new living room purchase! (delayed delivery, so you won't see that until mid-April:) )...oh, and there's so much more, but I'll wait till I get a picture up for the best part!

See you soon:)

Dance Party

One of our favorite things is to watch Trey explore and discover some of his favorite things, and for sure, one of his greatest joys in life so far is dancing. All day long he'll say, "dance party! have dance party!" He will turn on Shaun's alarm clock to nothing but static and start bustin' a groove. And you better watch out because when he really gets into the rhythm he'll start beatboxin'--it's hilarious, and awesome!

He does love a good dance party, but especially when his partner is Ellen. I'm hoping when I send this video to her that she'll put it on the air, she seems to love things like this. Even if we don't make the big-time, it will definitely go down in our "Cutest Ever!" book:)

Maaaann! I can't believe it's been two and a half weeks since my last post...that's SO unlike me;) haha. Does this mean that my new year's resolution is busted?

NEW Resolution...don't beat myself up about everything and be psyched about second chances! I like this one a lot:)

At least I can say that for me, this one was worth the wait...I got some pretty "thrilling" finds from good ol' Thrill of the Hunt. I've got awesome news, but sad news about my new favorite store--I'll need to find another:( They're no longer gonna be selling furniture, just jewelry. Now how am I gonna decorate my house with costume jewelry?--actually, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I could find some good use for a little bling from Preen;)

Ok, on to the finds, and the awesome news--because they're no longer selling furniture, that means that they needed to get rid of everything in two weeks = STEALS!!!

This little beaut started as $80, but when I went in for round 1 she was willing to go to $50 if I bought it with a couple other items I was looking at. Well, after some unexpected car expenses (perfect timing, huh?;) ) I went back for round 2 with the hopes of being able to possibly just get the stool for $50 alone, and to my pure delight she was willing to come up off this thing for 20 bones!!!

I had a hard time capturing the color and texture, but it's just a lovely blue velvet, and it's refreshing to have the slim, spindle legs, when I feel like all I've selected furniture-wise for so long is chunky and straight. I still love the clean lines, but I love adding a little "spice" , something unexpected, here and there:) It's the perfect height for the desk between the shelves. AND that means that now my beloved damask chair from TJ's can be seen in all it's glory:) (Have I mentioned how much I love this chair?)

This great little side table was the second great deal during round 2. After saying she'd do 20 for the stool, we walked over to the table, which was originally $75, and she says, "I'll do this one for 25." Woo hoo! I said, "DONE AND DONE!"

So I got them both for less than I was hoping to get the stool for--woo!

And now, the mantle...

Many of you know that Anthropologie is my very favorite store, does this baby not scream "Antropologie"?! The moment I saw this mantle I could envision it in our "Master Suite":)

I have a vision for a sitting area at the opposite end of our room from the bed. complete with an upholstered "fire screen", comfy yet stylish reading chair, and a delicate chandelier to light our morning readings, oh and of course, it's all pulled together by the perfect rustic mantle;) One piece complete!

I've been eyeing this bad boy for months! Every time I'd go in the store I was so excited to still see it there, as if always whispering, "Brett, take me home". The original price was 165--not too bad to begin with if you ask me--but it wasn't until round 3 when I called midway through their final week to see if by some wild chance it was still there...well, it was, and for a mere $50 this old mantle had a new home! We did offer $15 to have them deliver it which saved us a whole lot of hassle, and basically made the decision for us.

So here we are, coming together, piece by piece...

Casual Elegance on a Budget. part deux

I'm excited to say that we're making a little headway into our decorating "to-do" list! And I'm even more excited to say that we made it out of Pier 1 before the cops showed up, cause we straight-up stole 4 of their dining chairs!

But first, here are a few NEW additions to the dining room--only a few more accessories to add before the BIG REVEAL, yay!

A huge thank you to Auntie Gay and Uncle Dennis for their awesome Christmas gift used for our rug! Loving it! Picture's a little dark, but you get the feel--dark chocolatey-brown base with a bold botanical design. After getting it home, I couldn't decide which room to put it in...it was perfect for all of them! I'm also just realizing that I never posted our gorgeous new dining table that was a fun find from a great store in town called "Thrill of the Hunt".

Got these great picture hangers in my stocking from the Redgates--always wanted to add a touch of the pineapple motif in our home, symbol of southern welcome and hospitality:)--so I was so excited to get them and had an itch the first day we were home to pop them up, seems to fill the space on that empty wall nicely.

Ok...back to the kitchen. Though we don't have tons of space in that area, we knew that the bar area would be the perfect place to get some extra seating when we have a larger crowd. Think these barstools we found at Garden Ridge are the perfect solution--no backs keep from cluttering the space, and the stained tops pull in the cabinetry in the kitchen, while the black legs tie in the darker woods we have in other areas. And, this exact same style of stool was at Target for $79, but only $29 at Garden Ridge!

And last but not least, our new chairs!!! After searching and searching we realized that there was no way around spending WAY more than we'd like for a nice set of chairs that wouldn't be wobbling 6 months from now, so we're seeking out deals left and right, but not finding anything. We received a gift card for Christmas to a great shopping center in town, so we figured we'd find some chairs at Pier 1, hopefully on sale, and put the card toward them, and get them to a more palatable price for our checkbook. So off we go, and after scoping out the options and not finding anything we like under $99, we decided that wouldn't be terrible...and then, as if divinely led, our eyes fall upon one lonesome chair sitting along the upper display that was only $69! We find out that the High Point store 30 min. away has 4 of them!!! Jackpot:) (It'd be a bit of a drive, but worth the savings.) And then the angel in a Pier 1 apron, says the most glorious words to a furniture shopper..."and they're marked down..."

...wait for it...

"Waahhooo!" And the choir sings "Hallelujah!"

And our fabulous chair model shows the extreme comfort of the cushion--look at that face...hi, cutie!!! I glanced over it multiple times in the store, but it couldn't be more perfect for the space--the wood stain matches the new stools and the cabinets, the soft sage of the upholstery pulls in the lighter leaves from the rug, and the curved, solid wood back really streamlines the whole area and takes it up a couple of notches;) Exactly the find we were hoping for!

Stay tuned for more...

New Year's Resolutions...or not.

Ahh, I love a good New Year's resolution! For the perfectionist in me I love nothing more than a "clean slate", a fresh start. One of my favorite promises from the Lord, "that His mercies are new each morning"--yes! Each new week, a new turn of a page in my "Month-at-a-Glance"...Gets me giddy! But man, a whole new year! What could be a better place to start all those things that I put off every other day. So needless to say, my list of resolutions is usually about a mile long. For the past couple of years, Shaun and I have made lists that consist of our resolutions/goals for the year in all areas of life, spiritual, physical, relational...We'd post the list to keep it in front of us, then without fail, I'd find the list 6 months later stuffed between papers in the office. But at least we wrote it down, right?

Oh, and how I love a good list! Sometimes the need for lists is so great that it demands a "list of lists". So, this year I made a new resolution...No resolutions, just one grand "To Do" List! Weee! I have a feeling this will be a pretty dynamic list, growing as the month goes on, but here's for starters...

*Grow closer to my Lord and Savior and get to know Him more

*Be a better wife

*Be a better mommy

*Fix healthier meals and snacks for my men and myself

*More Fruits and Veggies

*More Water!

*Read 6 books

*Streamline business systems for more productive "work time"

*exercise 3-4 x week

*Run a 5K

*Less daytime TV (blasted 5 hour long Today show!)

*Connect with friends and family more

*Find glitzy sheer drapes for dining room

*Find a few accents for dining room--FINISHING TOUCH--yay!

*Put fabric behind glass on cabinet in office

*New knobs on cabinet in office

*Redo/organize closet

*Let go of clothes I've been hanging onto for who knows why! "Let it go, Brett"

*Transform master bath into a spa escape

*New reading chair for Master

*Finish decor in Trey's room to complete look

*Start a veggie garden

*Organize garage before it gets out of control!

*Pretty much just organize every drawer and closet in house;)

I guess that will do for now. Can't wait to start scratching these babies off!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Wow, how is it already 2011?! Were we supposed to be flying around in spaceship cars and wearing silver jumpsuits by now? I suppose if you're a true GaGa fan, then you've got half of that down.

2011 is the year that the love of my life turns 30!! My baby boy turns 2, I thankfully will still be a youthful 28, and holy cow, it will be my 10 year high school reunion!!! yikes! I can remember hanging out with Brookie after cheerleading practice talking about our latest edition to the "saga" that was high school. oh the shananigans, haha, so ridiculous! I'd love to tell that "high-school me" a few things--I don't think I ever dreamed that I'd be where I am in the next 10 years--married to the most incredible man that loves the Lord with all his heart, my very best friend and man that I adore living life with, parenting with, and becoming a better "us", AND Mommy to the most precious, adventurous, best-sense of humor little 18 month old boy ever, sweet baby Trey:)

And without further ado, here are some pics of the big guy...

My two favorite men looking so festive in front of one of my favorite Christmas trees yet! We did a little family photo shoot care of Mom and the camera timer. It was quite the adventure trying to get Trey to say "cheese!" without lunging forward to grab the camera before the timer went off.

Christmas card contender from the first snow of winter...we took about 15 of these, and I changed like 5 times. Shaun looked perfect (and the exact same) in every one of them:) It eventually didn't make the cut, but totally blog-worthy though, I think!

haha, can we get this kid a snowsuit or at least a winter coat that fits?