I'm Baaaaaaack!

Well, after the longest break ever...I've finally started thinking about the blog again. I really, very desperately need to get pictures of Emy up on the blog! My last post is from right before she was born! So crazy. And now she's 17 months old. And Tobias is 3 and a half. For shame. On me. Well here's a couple of pictures to tide you over. 

I'm hopefully going to be updating the other pages as well as posting a little bit more frequently. We'll see what the posts will be about though :-)

Summer is here!

I have been so excited for summer this year. For many reasons. And I will list them all right now. Just kidding. But I am going to tell you about a few.

#1: Tobias is now old enough to run around and actually enjoy the outdoors. And he seriously does love it. He never wants to come in. He even likes playing in the rain. It's truly adorable. Plus I am determined to take him to the pool. We have an awesome aquatic center that have some toddler-friendly spots that we need to take advantage of. If anyone wants a pool buddy, you let us know!

Tobias playing in the rain with his Mimi :-)

#2. We have big vacations/family reunions planned for this summer. A lot of Trey's extended family have not met Tobias yet (they live on the east coast) so we're super excited to introduce them all to each other :-) Plus my mom's side of the family is having a reunion this summer. They have all met Tobias (except for 2 cousins) but it's been about a year since most last saw him. So we are excited to see lots of family!!!

Tobias with my Grandpa and Mom on our way back from a family vacation in Kentucky last year.

Hanging out with Trey's fam at a beach house in North Carolina about 4 years ago...I think?

#3. I'm finally in my second trimester. Yes, I'm preggers (17ish weeks) and due November 2nd!!! We're super excited but also very humbled as well. We have friends who have gone through miscarriages and infertility issues and it just reminds us what a blessing and miracle pregnancy and children are. Having gone through similar situations ourselves, we can definitely empathize and grieve with our friends. Its never easy having to go through those trials. And many times there's nothing anyone can say to help. We just want them to know that we're here for them. We're praying for them and we understand if you need your space and distance. We love you so much! And know that God is right by your side.

Me 6ish months pregnant with Tobias.

#4. One of my bestest friends in the whole world is getting married!!! I am super giddy about this if you can't tell :-) I am anticipating this wedding so much that I have dreams about it (seriously Jenna, it's true). I am the Matron of Honor and am so proud :-) Jenna is a world traveler, history buff and Harry Potter fanatic and I sometimes live vicariously through her. She is currently living in New York but I am begging her to move back to Iowa. She can't live in New York forever...but I'm patient ;-) Love you sweetie!

Jenna and I at an annual Christmas cookie party a couple of years ago.

So that is our summer plans. What are you guys up to this summer? Anything exciting or special going on? Or just goals to get some things done? We have those too...but that's another post :-)

Complete Ramblings

Whoever invented Pinterest is a genius. Seriously. That thing is extremely addictive. And it makes you feel like you're hugely talented and highly sophisticated by "pinning" all of these amazing pictures onto your boards. Let me tell you folks, I always feel like I'm brilliant when other people pin things from my boards. I'm such a genius, I know. No, stop applauding for my amazing pins. Really, you're making me blush.

One of my all time favorite shows is The Dick Van Dyke Show. It is soooo good. Dick Van Dyke has always been one of my favorite actors and he definitely doesn't disappoint in this show. If you love some slap-stick comedy and good ol' fashion black & white shows, you'll love this. Here are two of my favorite scenes: The Drunken Uncle and Rob Drunk at the Office. For some reason they're both with Rob pretending to be drunk...no idea why. But Dick Van Dyke does such a good job of switching back and forth between the two personas, it's absolutely hilarious.

Tobias and I have dance sessions at our house. Our latest dance song selection: Alvin and the Chipmunks-Funkytown. It is so much fun to watch Tobias dance. Here is a video of him dancing to a song from the movie Hercules: http://youtu.be/HupTZmqhgBA. It is quite adorable :-)

Did anyone else's credit card get scammed from the Target security breach? I did...sadface. I was impressed with Target's response to it. They sent out a letter to everyone who did and offered them free credit card monitoring for a year. Oh, Target. No matter what happens I will always shop there. It is just way too pretty to not.

Trey and I talk a lot. Which means we can over-do the "how was your day honey?". So, to keep conversation interesting, we have been going through Gary Chapman's "Love Talks for Couples" (he's the author of "The Five Love Languages"). It's been fun to answer questions that we didn't know about each other. We went to a marriage conference led by Gary Chapman a couple of years ago and it was awesome. He's quite funny and has a great perspective on how to keep your marriage strong through your relationship with God. If you ever have an opportunity to attend one of his conferences, definitely go.

Anybody seen the movie "What's Up Doc" with Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neal? Soooooo goooooood. Serious bidness peeps. Here is one of the best scenes from the whole movie. I love to watch it with my Grandpa because it's his favorite movie and he's watched it so many times he starts laughing before things happen :-) Heehee, so great!

I saw this clip the other day of a boy named Elias on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. He's a 7-year-old piano prodigy. Make sure to watch the clip to the end. He does play and it is A-Ma-Zing! Wow. And I love how he constantly hugs Ellen. So cute. It will make you smile :-)

Hope you have a great weekend!

Updated Pages

Hey everyone! I've been trying to update the different pages I have on the blog. So far the "About Us" and "Project To-Do's" have gotten updated. Nothing super exciting but it definitely needed to get done. My next goal is to get better pictures of what our house looks like currently. And get some pictures up of Tobias' nursery! Because it is awesome, if I do say so myself :-) Tobias is 10 months old and I still love it every time I walk into his room. 

Have a wonderful weekend! I'm so excited it's here :-)

Still Kickin'

I am so sorry for the terrible posting...as in not posting at all for over 3 months. Sad, I know. So here is an update:

Tobias is now 6 months old. Crazy! The time has flown by fast but at the same time it feels like he's been in our lives forever. He is now 19.5 lbs and 27 inches long. He loves to sit-up, roll over (and over and over) and cackle. He doesn't giggle, he cackles. It's quite hilarious. We have a great video of it, I'll try to upload it once I figure out how. 

Tobias at 2, 3, 4 and 5 months old.

Trey and I are doing great. I am now back to work 3 days a week, about 2 1/2 hours each day. Not too shabby :-) It's great to have an excuse to get out of the house for a couple of hours and it gives Tobias some play time with people other then his mommy (which I'm sure can get boring). One day a week, he goes to a friends house who has a little boy that is 3 1/2 weeks older then Tobias, so they have a great time playing and checking out each other's toes. 

Tobias sitting up with Mimi (Kim).

 I still have a mile long list of projects I would like to get done...and it keeps growing. But our big goal this summer is to completely finish the kitchen. It's been usable for 2 1/2 years, but it's about time the finishing touches got done. We still have to install backsplash, caulk and paint window and door trim, finish installing base molding and shoe and paint the doors to the basement and mud room. So nothing extremely complicated or scary...just can be time consuming! 

Tobias all ready for the morning to get started.

I'll hopefully be better at posting. I would like to have at least one post a week. I think that's attainable. Hope you all have a wonderful week and don't get too wet! 

I'm lame, I know...

So after that big 2012 goal list post...I petered out on you guys...I think I took relaxing and socializing too seriously. Haha. In other words, I haven't gotten much done. Ah, the shame. But hopefully not for long. I do have a couple of things I need to share, some small "clean-ups" we did, etc. Hopefully those will be coming soon! I promise! So don't run away on me yet! And spring is fast approaching, which I'm uber excited about! I am so ready for slightly warmer weather...but not too warm...like 60's is perfect :-) And I need to start doing "Inspiration Mondays" again...I like those...even if no one else does. It's my blog, I can do whatever I want! Alright, on that note, peace out ;-) Have a wonderful Monday! And I will be back!


Kristin

Here Comes 2012...

**Warning: I think this is the most text I have ever typed for a blog post...just beware!**


So 2012 is finally here...well, it's been here for a little while now...but oh well. It's still fairly new. I know lots of people do the "let's look back at what we did in 2011"...I don't know if I'm that organized...but I'll think about it :-) It would be fun to see if I really did accomplished things in 2011. As for 2012, here are my "plans" (haha, MY plans...God is probably laughing at that right now...but it never hurts to have a plan with the expectations that they'll always change...hopefully for the better). 


p.s. I understand this is very text heavy...I just might add some pictures later for some eye candy. But only if I find good pictures :-)


12 House Resolutions for 2012:


1. Hang new bathroom hardware!!! I'm hoping to get this done asap...but I want to make sure I'm putting it in the correct spot...who knew I could get this excited about a toilet paper holder?!? I guess when you've gone without one for 2 years it gets ya :-)


2. Get our back room heated. Some of our plumbing to the upstairs goes through a wall in that room...last year, one of the pipes froze (and again this year). Yeah, not fun. Thankfully nothing burst...but there's always the chance. So this room definitely needs to get heated. Plus, it'll be nicer to do laundry with heat then without :-) This should definitely get done by January (even though we were hoping to have it done by November 2011...obviously that didn't happen). 


3. Finish painting the stairway!!! Seriously, that has sat half painted for way too long. It's embarrassing. I need to put a second coat of our wood paint (Dover White by Sherwin Williams) on the stair risers, finish priming the walls and the trim, painting the trim with wood paint and then finish painting the walls. Woah! I'm hoping to get this all done by mid-February...but let's be realistic...it'll probably be the end of March. 


4. Finish painting the trim in the kitchen. I need to caulk a bunch of the spaces (not a fan of caulking...but it works well, so can't complain). And then prime and paint. Definitely want to get this done by January. I could get all of this done in a weekend if I really tried. 


5. Make hard backers for the chalkboard squares that are in the kitchen. This should be simple. Famous last words. 


6. Put up the backsplash in our kitchen. We have had this for over a year and a half, but have never actually installed it! We still need to get the top "nose" thing...I can't remember the exact termage...but it'll look pretty :-) I'm hoping to get all of the backsplash fully installed by the summer.


 7. Start working on the back room (which will become a mud room/half bath). We definitely won't be able to start this until student loans are paid off (which will hopefully be in April - yay!). And this project will be quite a process. First we have to tear out all of the gross dry-wall that looks like wood paneling. Then we need to demo a window and replace some rotting studs. We will probably have to hire a contractor for that part. Replace the exterior siding where the window used to be. Build walls for a half bath. Add plumbing for bathroom fixtures. Dry-wall everything. Install new tile flooring to match the kitchen. Build new trim. Replace the door to bathroom so people can't peak in (wouldn't that be scandalous). I'm definitely not expecting this to get done by the end of the summer (although, that would be nice). But hopefully we can get it done by the end of 2012. If we can't, it's not the end of the world :-)


8. Finish making my curtains. I made 2 sets last year - one for the living room and one for the dining room...then got busy (or lazy...whichever you would like to pick). So, it's time for our downstairs windows to not be lopsided anymore. I have 3 more windows to cover in the living room and 1 window in the hallway.  


9. Actually reupholster my wing-back chair that I've had for 2 years. I am deathly afraid of starting...but when is a better time to start then now, right? Ok, we'll see...


10. Re-organize my office. Yeah, RE-organize. Obviously the first time didn't work. I bet I could throw away half of the stuff that has accumulated there. And it's one of the first things people see when they enter our house. So this is definitely a top priority project. I'm hoping by February it will be in tip-top shape. 


11. Organize and decorate Trey's office. That space is a pit. It's gross (not because of Trey...although.........just kidding :-) It's because of all the pet hair and papers and random junk sitting around). We bought furniture for it when he first started his job in August of 2010 and never really have organized it since then. So I think it's about time. Plus our dog sleeps in there at night (that's where her kennel stays), so all of her stuff needs to find a good place too. As for the decorating, yeah, I'm mostly leaving that up to Trey...and by mostly I mean I approve everything first...haha. But it's his man cave. And I want him to love it :-) As long as it's not too hideous. 


12. Re-decorate our guest bedroom. I have the paint, a new bedspread, some accessories...now I just need to put it all together. Plus clean the place out. Right now it is our "spare" room...meaning when people come over and we need a place to throw stuff, that's where we put it. Now you know. So don't you dare open that door if you come over ;-) Oh, and that's where our cats liter box is right now...because the back room isn't heated. Oh, it's a vicious cycle. 


12 Personal Resolutions for 2012: (and these are not in any certain order)


1. Finish paying off my student loans! I seriously cannot wait for this to be done. We should be finished in April...that'll be such a HUGE weight off of our shoulders. Ahhhh!!!


2. Be better at tracking our monthly expenses. We do a decent job, but we would like to know where every penny is going...that way, in the words of Dave Ramsey, "Live like no one else so you can live like no one else". I think that's right...


3. Be more active. I play volleyball once a week, but I really should do more. I could join a zumba class, or get a membership to our community gym (which is super cheap)...something. I will do something.


4. To be more purposeful in our ministries through Church. We lead a young married couples life group. And let me tell you: it-is-a-blast! We love it. The couples in our group are amazing. But I still want to be more purposeful in how we approach this group. I mean, it is about "life", which is a pretty deep subject. 


5. An item for an item: meaning when I buy new clothes, however many items I have bought is how many items I must throw out of my closet. We don't have a lot of closet space in our house and whatever closet space we do have is stuffed. So I'm hoping this will help me keep it under control. And to help me not get greedy about clothes. 


6. Be better at reading the Bible everyday. I always have good intentions...and I read a devotion almost everyday...but I need to just read the Bible. I know it will do wonders for my soul. 


7. Eat healthier. We signed up to participate in a farm share with some friends, which means sometime starting in the May or June we will get a weekly share of vegetables and some fruits (I think...). They're all home grown and organic. Plus it'll force us to eat more vegetables! Which I definitely need help with. I'm a fruit girl. Trey is a veggie guy. So we even each other out :-) Isn't that how it works?


8. Get to work on time. I'm terrible at that. Thankfully I have a boss who is somewhat flexible. So as long as I get my 8 hours in I'm good. But I really should get there by 8am. Especially since my office is really close to my house. 


9. Make my bed every morning. I am terrible at this. Trey is normally the last one out of bed (Since he works at home he doesn't have to get up and get ready for the day. He just wakes up, turns his computer on and he's ready. So not fair). But when Trey makes the bed...let's just say it's not right. Am I O.C.D.? Probably. Do I care? No. It is just so nice to walk into the room later in the day and see a clean bed instead of jumbled sheets. 


10. Take more photos of everyday life. I have lots of pictures of birthdays, Christmases, etc. But not a lot of just us. I'm anticipating that Trey will say I'm silly...but when he's old, he'll thank me...I hope! 


11. Be more positive about my day job. I admit it, I sometimes get frustrated with my work environment and complain about it. I know I'm not going to work there forever, but I need to remember to be very thankful that I actually have a job...and it's in the field that I went to college for. I get to design buildings, make decisions, argue about what is more sophisticated, etc. But it does get frustrating...I just need to remember how blessed I am. Very blessed.


12. Give all of my worries to God. There are certain things in my life that have not gone like I expected. Of course, that's life...I just have to not worry about them and remind myself that God has a much better plan for me then I do for myself. And everything will work out fine. 


There you have it! My goals...we'll see how well I do. What are your goals and/or aspirations? Please do share :-) Now onto projects and self-motivation! Have a great week!


Kristin

Lazy...again

This seems to be a reoccurring title...but it's true sometimes. I haven't posted anything for a long time...and I'm sorry. With the craziness of the Christmas/New Year's season and being gone for a little bit, I just haven't had the time to get projects done. And haven't been the best about taking pictures of what I've been up to. So I promise I'll try to get better. Remember, I'm still new at this! But I do have a major long post coming up and then hopefully that will be followed by a bunch of regular posts. Hope you're all enjoying the newly fallen snow!


Kristin

Getting Lazy...

I'm still here...and I have lots of things to post about...but I haven't downloaded any of the pictures. So once I've downloaded a bunch of stuff, there will be a wave of posts :-) I promise. In the mean time, I hope you're enjoying this week before Christmas! Remember to listen to lots of Christmas music!


Kristin

Holiday Slacking and Awesome Virtual House Tour

Sorry I haven't published much lately...I have been busy and haven't downloaded any pictures from my camera yet. And I think a post without pictures is kind of boring...so, once I delegate some time to downloading pictures, I promise I will get some real posts out. 


And, since I need pictures in order to make a post interesting, I thought I would share something I have become obsessed with.  I bumped across this house virtually via...well, I don't remember where, but it was probably pinterest...and I fell in love.  Being the residential-architecture obsessed person I am, I constantly think of house plans to build someday.  And this house is definitely going on my list as one of my top inspirations.  So here are pictures (and link) to this amazing house:

The stunning exterior.

Look at that amazing background...yeah, I think I could live with that everyday.

Awesome living room...love the exposed beams.

Other side of the living room. Trey would definitely love the animal head above the fireplace.

Sa-weet dining room. I love me some bookcases too!

Straight through the doors of the dining room is the kitchen. Look at the size of that island!

This is my favorite detail of the whole house - the farmhouse sink with windows above and sconces flanking the windows. Seriously cannot get any better then that.

Butler's pantry...just off to the right on the big kitchen picture above.

Family room with an eat-in banquette in the background. And I love the desk by the fireplace with the windows above. So quaint. 

The eat-in banquette. I would definitely sit down and eat breakfast every morning if I had this.

Cozy bedroom. Love the sitting chairs in there.

Awesome bathroom. The lighting in here is insane! Love it!

My guess is this is the owner. Sitting in part of the mud room.

The other side of the mud room. Ummm...yes please!

Home office. I would definitely work more often if I had this office.

I would definitely allow this kind of man room in my house.

Love the masculine lights above the pool table.

Gorgeous and manly bathroom. Yes, those 2 words can be in the same sentence.

I would definitely read here. Or take a nap. You pick.

Another bathroom. Love it!!! Those sconces just rock!

The entry. Sa-weet door! This would work well with our dog. So she can't lick people to death when they come to the door.

We'll end on this one. Yup, this would definitely be relaxing.

The designers for this house are m.elle design, a mother and daughters trio.  Kudos, ladies, for designing such a comforting house that definitely is not lacking in beautifulness. Yes, that is a word.  Have a happy Friday everyone!


Kristin

What's Happenin' Around Here

Today, I thought I would post about random things that have been going on.  So I decided number them all...not in any certain order.


1. First off, I forgot to wish my sister a Happy Birthday on Wednesday!!! She had to work on her birthday, so we haven't been able to celebrate yet. But I still hope she had a wonderful day :-) Love you sweetie!!!

2. We had our first snow on Wednesday. It wasn't a lot, but it still counts. Too bad it melted in about 3 hours...but it was pretty while it lasted.

3. Trey and I have been trying to improvise simple meals. Our first: homemade mac and cheese (my grandma's recipe) with sausage (that was leftover from another meal and we needed to use it up) and crackers. It was delish.  If you are a part of my family, it sounds a lot like macaroni casserole...which is similar, but not quite the same :-)

4.  Trey and I also made some italian herb chicken with wheat penne pasta and tomato basil sauce. Let's just say that it was A-MAZ-ZING! So good. We are definitely going to make that one again. 

5. I "manage" (I use that word loosely) a volleyball team that is in our city league sports.  It is made up of wonderful women from church and friends that we know through other things.  It is such a blast.  This coming Monday is our first night of our tournament play and we are ranked first place for our bracket! We are super pumped and can't wait to play!!! (This is a picture of last years team...so not all of the girls are the same...I will get a picture of the current team). 

I have a fun weekend ahead, so I will definitely be sharing pictures! Plus I had a fun craft night with some cool ladies, so will be sharing those pictures too. Have a wonderful Friday!!!


Kristin

Book Worm

Sorry I have not posted anything lately...still getting used to the whole blogging thing.  But I thought I could still post about what I'm doing...which isn't exactly exciting...but, eh, that's life.  So lately I've been reading books.  Fun books that I don't have to take a test on later, which has been a nice switch since getting done with school. The problem is, now that I actually enjoy the books I'm reading it's hard to put them down.  I'll read until about 1 am in the morning...and then have to get up for work...bad idea. Makes me super tired and normally late. Anywho (side tracking here...) the book I'm reading now is "The Help".  

I had a friend recommend it a while back and then the movie came out and it looked a-mazing! My mom and sister saw the movie and loved it! So I decided to read the book first and then I'll watch the movie. And let me tell you, the book is outstanding. Seriously. Kathryn Stockett is a genius. It is so emotional and interesting. It is such a different perspective of the 60's. I'm about 2/3 of the way through and cannot wait to finish. So if anyone has been looking for something to read lately, definitely pick this up. 


That's all the exciting stuff I have for now :-) Have a wonderful Thursday!


Kristin

The weekend

Sorry I haven't been posting lately...I need to finish some projects so I can actually post about them! and that is my goal for this weekend...some painting, hanging pictures, some more painting, putting away summer clothes, more painting, spending time with family...and probably more painting. My goal is to get most of the hallway/stairs finished...at least the parts that I can reach...and then to prime, caulk and paint the door and window trim in the kitchen that my husband and dad built. I'm hoping to be a maniac and get it all done on Saturday...so we'll see! I think that's a little optimistic, but I always try to hope for the best :-) or most efficient.  But I'll try to take pictures and post them next week of the (hopefully) finished products. Thanks for being patient!

Kristin

I'm Clumsy...

Sorry I didn't post yesterday...but I have a good excuse!  I burnt myself.  Seriously.  And it was because I am just ridiculously clumsy.  I was at work and heated up some water in our electric tea kettle.  I made some fake cappuccino stuff and was heading back to my desk when I knocked into some files on my coworkers desk.  I was trying to catch it before it hit the floor, but in doing so, forgot I had a hot cup of liquid in my other hand and spilled it all over my upper right arm.  About an hour later, I ended up going to the ER and found out I have 1st and 2nd degree burns.  Great.  So they gave me some ointment, Vicodin and told me I couldn't go back to work.  So I went home and slept almost all afternoon.  Vicodin really knocks you out!  So here I am now, still slightly on Vicodin, arm all wrapped up (it itches like crazy!) and a little loopy!  But I still have my arm (they didn't cut it off thank goodness...haha) and the doctor said it shouldn't scar.  


I will be back later with a tutorial of something I've always wanted to try!  Hope everyone had a wonderful Tuesday!


Kristin 

Fall Laziness

Sorry, I have been lazy lately.  This might be more challenging then I thought to come up with post ideas...I'll think of stuff this weekend and come up with something.  In the mean time...fun announcement (no, I'm not pregnant). My husband got his first deer of the season last weekend! So we now have 25 pounds of ground venison in our freezer :-) And last night we had some delicious venison steaks and roasted red potatoes. Mmmm, it was delicious.  I should have taken a picture.  Of the steaks and potatoes, not the deer.  It is quite an interesting process though. Trey cuts and grinds all of his own meat (so our kitchen gets quite messy).  It's fun to watch  him get so excited about it all.  Wow, total side tangent.  Alright, I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and I promise next time I'll have an actual post. 


Kristin

Away...

I will be away from my computer for the next two days...sorry! I have an architecture convention all day...so sorry! Thanks for understanding :-)


Kristin

the beginning

So...let's see how this goes...my first post of my first blog. Hopefully I can make sense of it all...my goal for this blog is to be able to have some sort of record of this stage in my life. A record of my faith-walk, my marriage, my house renovations and design style...and maybe some little architectural advice...we'll see :-) Anywho, I will try to be consistent!

God Bless,
Kristin