Encouragement for the day

"The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."  Zephaniah 3:17 

Front Door Before and After

Brian and I have been taking on mini-projects on the weekends.  Our front door before - I didn't mind our front door before, but I didn't like the gold

After- we changed the paint color and hardware (like I really need to explain that) and added the welcome sign - just a simple change, but we like it

Before and Afters

We moved into our house a little over 3 years ago, but we did not start working on it until about a year and a half ago.  We love taking on projects, but I get bored quickly and am ready to jump to the next project, but thankfully Brian stays on track.  

Here are some Before pictures of our living room - this is the way the old owner's had it set-up - we did not like the dark brown color on the walls, plus there was this terrible faux leather texture which I hated, and we did not like the off-white trim - there was also a lot of gold accents (light fixtures, door knobs,...), which we replaced with brushed nickel

 

 

 Brian working on the built-ins for our living room

 

 

Here are the After pictures- I'm really happy with all of our work - we lightened the paint color, painted all the trim white (that took forever), added the built-ins and fireplace, and added curtains

 I loved decorating our fireplace at Christmas time last year

Here is a before of our dining room -light brown walls and gold and cream curtains- not bad, just not our style

 

After of our Dining room - we repainted the the upper part of the walls blue and the bottom white, then we added wainscoting (we did that this weekend), and removed the old curtains.  You can't see it very well, but I absolutely love the clock in the left side of the picture, it's one of my favorite accent pieces in our house- I should have adjusted the lighting of the camera, but oh well.  Eventually we plan on getting a dining room table and adding hardwood floors, but that won't happen anytime soon

 

Before of our Breakfast nook

 

After of our Breakfast nook - we left the paint alone, but removed the country style curtains, changed the trim paint to white, and added a hanging light fixture

Babysitting Hannah

Last night Brian and I got to watch sweet baby Hannah while Matt and Sarah went on  date.  We had such a fun time.  We were a little paranoid and kept checking on her while she was sleeping, even though she has an angel care monitor that will alarm if she stops breathing and we could hear her breathing on the monitor, we still kept checking on her.  She's such an easy, lovable baby.

A PSA

A Public Service Announcement:  Get your yearly skin evaluation.  I had my skin checked a few weeks ago and ended getting a call back about the mole I had removed.  The results showed moderately to severe atypical cancerous cells, so I had to go back and get a chunk cut out of me.  I ended up with 6 stitches -2 internal and 4 external.  My first stitch experience and it's pretty lame, no cool story.   Excuse the poor picture, I took the bandage off this morning and my skin had a slight reaction to the tape.

Sorry if anyone has a queasy stomach and this made them sick.

Happy Birthday, Kristin

Kristin, We wish you a very Happy 26th Birthday!  We hope you have had an awesome day and that this next year is the best, yet.  You're a lovely person and have become a dear friend of mine.  You're one of the reasons I love Kentucky.  I love your sweet easy-going spirit and your caring heart.  

3 of the 5 of us girls on our Gatlinburg trip -I wish I had a group picture

Here we all were at some dog costume contest last year - Me, Amanda, Julia (and Charlotte), Kristin, and Erin

Halloween last year - What a fun night! Kristin, Me, Amanda, Jennifer, and Jessica

Kristin and Todd on their mission trip in China -I'm so thankful you had that wonderful opportunity to be Jesus to so many children. - Such a gorgeous picture!

Happy Birthday!  

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"  Jeremiah 29:11

Shawn's Going Away Party/New Job Celebration

Last night we met at Old Chicago pizza to wish Shawn well with his new job in Florida with the Orlando Magic.  Micki and Shawn have become dear friends of ours and we will miss them terribly, but we're so happy for them.  The job is a great opportunity and thankfully close to Shawn's sister, so they'll be near some family. We're so thankful they joined our life group last year.  They fit in perfectly with all of us.  We look forward to visiting them.  We have nothing but best wishes for you.  Sorry for the poor quality pictures. 

The Cute Couple

Shawn we pray that you will  "Commit to the Lord in all you do, and your plans will be successful."  Proverbs 16:3

To the Love of My Life

Happy Birthday, Brian! 

I love this picture, especially the sweaters with their names on it.  Too Cute!   Makes me really want twin boys -And...Happy Birthday, Chris!

Can you tell which one is which?  I'm not even sure, but I think Brian is on the left.  Brian doesn't ever remember being dressed alike, but these two pictures say otherwise. -Brian's mom made both of those cakes, that's crazy impressive!

 

A while later I came along.

  

This picture cracks me up!  Dave and Brian at the Miller's luau- Dave is one of Brian's best buds, it's sad we live so far away

We love our little Peyty girl- Brian never had a dog before Peyton, now he is in love with all dogs and has a soft spot for animals. 

Charlie Magoo (don't ask me why we started calling him Magoo) is always stuck to Brian's side- it's so cute, Charlie really is Brian's little shadow, he just adores him

One of our favorite places- Glacier National Park 09/08 - that was possibly the best trip we've taken- we highly recommend it to anyone that likes nature, hiking, mountains

Brian, I can't even tell you how much I've enjoyed these past 4 1/2 years together.  I love your servant heart, positive attitude, humor, intelligence, your ability to build anything, and I even love your geek Star Trek, Sci-fi and Star Wars knowledge.  I love car rides with you, talking to you,watching the Colts with you, cooking dinner with you, hanging out with you,...  Some of my favorite memories have been:  skiing Jan 06, hearing you tell me you love me 04/06, our engagement 08/06, our wedding 12/06, finding Southland 12/06 (how in awe we were the very 1st service), getting Peyt 08/07, Texas 10/07, driving in a blizzard to get to Florida 04/08, Montana 09/08 (esp me diving in the freezing cold water after white water rafting), cave tubing in Belize 04/09 (yes, I'm glad I did it and it is a great memory, but I will never do that again), fixing up our house all of 2009 and 2010 (I don't particularly like doing it, but I like hanging out with you), camping with our life group 10/09, Italy 05/10.  I am so thankful for you.  I hope you have an awesome birthday and that the next 34 years are even better.  One of my prayers for you is: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  Romans 15:13.  You are a great joy in my life!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!  I LOVE YOU!

"I have found the one my soul loves."  Song of Solomon 3:4

Matt's Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Matt's 30th birthday at the Equestrian Wood Country Club.  It's a beautiful facility and we had a really nice brunch.  I didn't realize I had only taken 3 pictures-that's kind of disappointing.  There was a nice turn out -around 20 people or so.  Matt was genuinely surprised.

Amanda and Chris, Micki and Shawn, and Brian and me were at the same table.  Todd and Kristin were at the table next to us.  Everyone else was Matt's friends from Asbury, I think. 

Happy Birthday, Matt!

Applebee's Park

Last night the physician I work for treated us all to a night at the ballpark to watch the Lexington Legends.  It was great hanging out with everyone and be able to let loose.  Dr. C rented a big box and bought us lots of great baseball foods.  I wish I had taken a picture of the hot dog I ate, it was gigantic and delicious.  Brian and I usually go to a game once a year and the Legends have always lost, but not tonight, it was nice seeing them win one.  After the game was over, there was a really nice fireworks display.

We started the night off at 73 degrees.  That's heaven to me!

 

Our nice big box!

 

 Nova and Lauren - Nova's daughter was being a little camera shy, she's hiding behind Lauren

 

 

We had great seats

My date for the evening - Vicki --I am in desperate need of a tan

Lane, Tonya and Cheryl -3 of our sonographers

 

Dr C and his daughter Lauren - she's so cute

Thanks Dr. C for a fun evening!!