Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Busy, Busy, Busy

I haven't been on to blog for almost a week because my life has been pretty busy. I've missed it!

Here's what's been happening in our BUSY life lately:
* We are counting down the days until Florida. Only 4 more (counting today) until we leave for vacation! We are super excited!!! One of the things that has kept me really busy lately is making sure we have everything we need for the trip. Flip flops, shorts, tanks, swimsuits, etc...I
think we've got it all (at least my bank statement is saying so). I am still looking for a good book to read on the beach, so if you have any suggestions, let me know.

We're spending 6 nights here-Hammock Beach Resort
and we're going here for a day!

* Our babysitting arrangements have been changed drastically. My mom-in-law has been watching Parker for us while we are at school/work, but due to some changes at Dad's office, she is now the new receptionist. So, we no longer have her to help. Thanks to my dad and Grandpa P's willingness to watch Parker occassionally and Brad's work schedule, I think we might have it all covered.

* It snowed here Sunday. It was a HUGE bummer to see huge flakes of snow falling and sticking to the ground. It wasn't a whole lot, just enough to cover the ground with a blanket of white. Thankfully, it melted the next day and is slowly starting to warm up again, but we were really wishing for spring to get here sooner rather than later.

* My to-do list this week is growing longer and longer. Instead of blogging, I should be organizing my time and list. (oh well)

* I am LOVING my Ipod Touch!! I use it all the time!!

* We are back to having church at home with the family. We aren't totally ruling out Davison Community Church, but we aren't sure if that's where our family is supposed to be. After vacation, we have a few other churches we are going to try. We miss Carmel (our church in NC) a lot!!! We still listen to the pastor's messages online, but I miss the opportunities Halle and Parker had at that church.

* Halle has picked her piano recital songs for this year. Her teacher doesn't care if she plays two songs because they are shorter, so we have picked 2. She is going to play "Holy, Holy, Holy" as a duet with me and a another song in her lesson book. So, she has begun working on those songs.



* We need to find another car soon. Brad is starting to get a few jobs lined up for the summer and he is going to need a truck or car with a hitch to haul materials around. So, I guess that is next on our "Stuff we need to buy" list. Hopefully, we can find a decent one cheap enough for our poor pocketbook.

Here's what we'd like to buy...

Here's what we can afford... (haha!)

* Our other car is getting worked on right now. I'm scared to know how much that is going to cost us. I hate car problems!

So, that's our life in a nutshell. It's been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The New Bathroom

Well, I finished the girl's bathroom (I mentioned we were redoing it a few posts ago). Actually, it has been done since last Saturday, but my weekend was filled with other cool things I had to post on, so I am now getting around to it.

Here's the front room. It connects between Halle and Jessica's room. It used to be a darker gray color. The mirrors are the same, but the faucets and towel hooks are new. We made these. I actually saw this idea on another blog, just can't remember which one. We just took normal soap bottles, peeled off the stickers, and put on scrapbooking stickers and a bow.The new towel bar and towelsClose up of the details on the towelsWe got a couple of these cute frames from Hobby Lobby, my new favorite store.The toliet/shower room. I painted it light pink (used to be dark gray).I stole the picture from Jessica's room. It matches her room too, but I thought it looked better in the bathroom.


The rug

The shower curtain. It's a little wrinkly now, but we're hoping the steam from the shower will iron it out. Otherwise, we will be steaming it ourselves. It has fur and diamonds on it!!! Very chic!


These are the curtain hooks. Lipsticks, shoes, and purses!! Very cute!
We haven't tackled painting the inside of the tub yet. Mom D still needs to get a valance for the window and a small cupboard for towels, and we are looking for an elegant looking tall vase to put on the counter.


Project #2 accomplished (for the most part). Everyone keeps saying I should be an interior designer. Actually, that was my original plan after high school. I just enjoy working on rooms in my house or my in-laws house (for now). :0)

Now the question is, which room will be next??

Monday, March 23, 2009

The Lion King:The Musical

One of my birthday gifts from Brad was tickets to see The Lion King: The Musical (isn't he the BEST gift-giver?). We went yesterday to The Wharton Center (on MSU's campus) to see it. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants beforehand- P.F. Changs. We split the lettuce wraps and sweet and sour chicken. We got a little worried when we first got to the restaurant because it seemed that everyone else had the same idea as us. It was 4pm and the place was PACKED!! We had to wait 30 min-thankfully it was only the 2 of us, because our wait would have been A LOT longer otherwise. Here we are before we left!You were strictly prohibited to take any pictures during the show, so I wasn't able to get any cool pics. I grabbed these off of the internet!! If you have never seen The Lion King (the Broadway show, not the movie), you MUST see it!!! It is SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER GOOD!!! The singing is great, the acting/dancing is awesome, and the costumes are unbelievable!!!! The characters come down into the audience, and Brad and I were lucky enough to sit 4 rows from the front and on the aisle, so we saw the costumes really up close!!!

The lady who played the older Nala had a really nice voice!

The lady who played "Rafiki" in our show had an AMAZING voice!!!


The guy who played the bird, Zazu, was SO talented.

Every animal, plant, and even the grass, were actually actors. Those guys were on stilts for the giraffes.

If The Lion King comes to your town, I would definitely recommend you go and see it. Even if you weren't into the movie, this is a totally different experience. Kids would love it too! It's the BEST Broadway show I have seen (and I've seen a few).

Sunday, March 22, 2009

My Birthday

Happy Birthday to me!!
Saturday, March 21, was my birthday! I got to relax all day long because Brad nor his mom would let me do anything to help get ready for my party. I am so used to cooking food, cleaning, decorating, and planning activities for everyone esle's birthdays, it felt weird to not have to do anything.
My family all came over in the evening and we celebrated together.
The colors were purple and green- very pretty
Halle bought me those flowers on the table

Here's Hal and Parker playing before the party. Halle wouldn't smile and Parker's laughing..Go figure. My sweet boy
Gotta love that sweet face


My sisters, Allyson and Jessica- the coolest girls in town!
My sweet girl- she really worked hard to make my birthday special.
Parker eating his dinner- I think he likes it!

I LOVE IT!!! Mom D. made me my favorite meal of all time- Chicken Broccoli. I really appreciated her doing it because she had never made it before (usually my mom makes it). It tasted great!!

Opening presents Halle videoed the party My big gift from Brad- an Ipod Touch!! Now I will be cool like everyone else
Brad also got me a bathing suit and tickets to The Lion King:The Musical!!
The rest of the family got me some clothes, jewelry, Itunes gift cards, money, and a gift certificate to get my nails done
I was SPOILED!!!!
My super-cute cake
It tasted good too!!!

I made my wish and blew out the candles.

The rest of the evening, the guys watched college bball and the rest of us played "Take Two"- it's a game played with Scrabble pieces.

I had an extremely blessed birthday!! Everyone worked hard to make my day special and it was! I am truly blessed with a family who loves me a lot!!

Friday, March 20, 2009

My New Hair

Yesterday after work, I had an appointment to get my hair done. It's been FOREVER since I have gone to the salon. I usually wait until I can't stand what my hair looks like any longer or until we have something special coming up in our life that I want to look good at (birthday and Florida this time). I always love when I get my hair done, I just hate dishing out the moo-lah for it to happen.
I like my hair dresser alot. Her name is Kim and she's the owner of Innovations Hair Salon. It's a really upscale looking salon with really nice workers, but decent prices. I once got my hair done in Charlotte and spent over double what I spend here.


I have been debating getting my hair chopped for quite a while. I LOVE long hair, but felt that I have always had long hair and needed a new look. I always think about the make-overs you see on tv and how they take someone with straight long hair, chop it, and they look 100 times better. What if that was me?? I was definitely going to get my hair highlighted blonde for the spring/summer (which I always do), but I was really undecided about getting it cut. If any of you have ever had long hair and thought about chopping it, it's not an easy decision. Brad kept texting me throughout the whole day encouraging me to cut it. He really wanted a change in my hair. I had seen this picture a while ago and thought it was cute.



When I got to the salon, Kim asked me what I wanted done. Before I even had a chance to say anything, Kim suggested I chop my hair to the middle of my neck!!!!! She said it would be SUPER cute! I hadn't even shown her the picture or said anything about cutting it yet!! I took it as a sign that I should just go for it, showed her this picture, and prayed I would love it. My heart was beating so fast. Before I knew it, all my long hair was gone!!! For the next two hours, I sat there debating whether I had made the right decision.

My Hair Before- and it is curled in this pic, so it was really a little longer


My Hair after- LOTS shorter and blonder


Brad absolutely LOVES my new hair. Everyone says I look more "sophisicated". I LOVE the color and am getting used to the cut. I have never had my hair this short, ever!

First Day of Spring

Happy First Day of Spring!!! For all my friends down south, this means nothing to you, as you have been blessed with nice weather for a while now. For us stuck in the north, it brings a little excitement, as we hope spring really is on it's way here. I will admit I was quite disappointed this morning to see frost all over my car. I'm just praying for no more snow!!
To celebrate this great day, I wanted to share some of my favorite things about spring.

My birthday is during it! March 21st (the 2nd day of spring)

Everything starts blooming

We get to spend more time outside on nice days



We celebrate Easter


We get a Spring Break

We begin to grill out- the best food is made on the grill

We get to wear bright, spring-y clothes! No more drab, dark sweaters!

Happy Spring !