{more progress}

The kitchen is slowly starting to take shape, and I'm so excited to see it come together over the next week. Thanks to some mistakes by Lowe's, things have been slowed down...a couple cabinets were wrong and our counter was made too long. Thankfully our contractor has handled everything which has been a Godsend. We also had to have the sink plumbing and electrical wiring to the dishwasher and disposal redone yesterday...can't wait to see that bill! The previous owner was the king of poor DIY jobs, and obviously worked his "magic" on every surface of that kitchen. Here are a few more progress pictures...the windows have been finished with new trim and the cabinets are out of their boxes! Our contractor is starting to put them in place today.




What do you think of these cute bin pulls for our drawers?? Not sure what I would label them with...numbers...kitchen words. I know I've seen them in a magazine article on kitchen drawers...wish I could remember where!


Onto baby news...I'm 14 weeks along now. Hard to believe. With all of the kitchen mess we haven't been putting too much time into baby stuff right now, but once that is all over we'll have more time to think about furniture and all of the other things we're going to have to purchase over the next few months. It still seems very surreal that I will have two children in a matter of months. Ready or not! :)

{progress!}

The kitchen cabinets arrived yesterday!! So this is what our dining room looks like currently since we don't have a garage to store them in--->



Although I'm excited about the new kitchen I'll be soooo glad to get my house back in order. It is a mess right now!! Our contractor also removed the built-in yesterday and drywalled--->



And the new windows are in!!



It is so exciting to see some progress finally!

In other fun house news I ordered a new desk and chair for our office from Target. We'll finally have all matching furniture in there for a change!



I want to get the house looking as best as possible before the babies arrive, because God only knows how long it will take for things to happen after that!

I feel like I've been shopping way too much lately...with Christmas gifts, furniture, and maternity clothes which is such an anxiety inducer. I've yet to find dress pants for work which is really stressing me out. I'm still fitting into my regular pants, but I have a feeling it won't be long before they'll have to be put out of commission.

Hope everyone is having a great Friday!

{the fun has begun!}

I'm collecting as many nursery ideas as I can, and without knowing if we're having two boys, two girls, or one of each, I have to be prepared for three different scenarios! Of course if it is two girls the room will be totally shabby chic with pastel shades. I love this bedding from target for a girly room....


And this chandelier would be so perfect (from Target also)


If it is two boys I found the cutest bedding on Walmart.com of all places. It is a lot more modern, but I absolutely love the bird and tree pattern.



And wouldn't this lamp from Urban Outfitters be so cute?!


If we have one of each, I'm leaning toward a simple green bedding like this one with neutral accents....

So many decisions! I guess I'll have to wait a few more weeks until we can find out what we're having! Until then I'll be collecting tons of ideas. :)

{starting to show}

Maybe I feel bigger because I know there are two babies in there, but I'm definitely showing more. Here's a pic from last night at 12 weeks, 1 day. Not sure how much longer the regular pants are going to fit! Yikes!



Work officially begins on our kitchen today!!! The first thing he's doing in replacing our windows because they come down too low and interfere with the countertop. I'm hoping when I get home from work today I'll see a brand new window in there. So exciting!! I'll definitely be posting progress pics as we go along, so stay tuned. :)

Hope everyone is having a good Thursday!

{truly blessed}

Today has been one of the most amazing days of my life. It started out in despair, because I was bleeding and thought that we were losing the baby. I went to the doctor and was able to have an ultrasound at the hospital. To our amazement, not only was everything OK, but we're having twins! Seeing both of those little babies in there, moving around, with healthy heartbeats, was the most amazing sight God has ever blessed us with. Never did we expect twins, so we are both in shock, and I'm sure the next months are going to be a rollercoaster of emotions (and weight gain :)

Here is the ultrasound picture...aren't they already so adorable? Of course I'm a little biased. :)

Thanks for sharing in my joy and if anyone has twins, any advice?

{merry and bright}

The Christmas decorations are up and I just love how the house feels...so sparkly and warm. I had to leave some of my stuff in the boxes until after the kitchen renovation though...too risky to get knocked over or broken. Here are some pics!

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend...it went by way too fast as they always do.

{11 weeks}

So some of you who read my blog already know this, but I've decided that I can finally announce the biggest news Dan and I have ever had to share. I'm pregnant! I'm 11 weeks today and so far these 11 weeks have been the craziest, emotion filled, nauseous, tiring weeks of my life. LOL :)

We found out on October 3rd, a week before our 4 year anniversary. What a gift! It is still all very surreal to me, because we haven't gotten to see our little one or hear the heartbeat. God is definitely testing my patience more than ever because all I want is to see the baby and know that everything is progressing as it should be.

Our parents are over the moon excited, especially mine who will be grandparents for the first time. Here are a couple pictures from when we told them. I told them I wanted a new picture of the two of them together, and instead of "smile" I said "say we're going to be grandparents!" It took a few seconds for them to figure out what I said, but it obviously registered. I love the look on my Dad's face...priceless. :) My Mom, of course, got very emotional.




It has been a rough 6 or so weeks for me, as I've been so tired and nauseous most of the time. I do feel blessed to not have the kind of morning sickness that keeps you in the bathroom all day, but it is still hard to go about your daily activities when you feel so queasy. Dan has been the absolute best, going to the store to buy me whatever sounds good to eat at the moment, taking care of household chores that I don't have the energy for, and being so supportive of my ever changing emotional state. I am truly blessed to have him in my life, and he is going to be such an amazing father.

So that's the news that I've been dying to share, and why I really haven't been blogging much lately because this is the bulk of what I have to talk about. Once we know the sex, I'll be going crazy with nursery decor ideas so those will be coming before too long. :)

Oh...and here's a really bad quality 10 week self portrait. Next time I'll have someone else be the photographer.


Today is my Friday because I have the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving! Hope everyone is having a great week and has a wonderful holiday!

{so excited}

It is funny how each year I catch the Christmas spirit at a different time. There have been a few years when it never fully found me, and then times like this year when I'm already excited about decorating, gift wrapping, Christmas music, time with family, and everything that has to do with the holidays. I don't want to neglect Thanksgiving, because it is my favorite eating holiday LOL :), but December always passes by sooo quickly that I want to get a jumpstart this year. Here are a couple fun pictures to inspire...the presents were wrapped by Danielle Thompson..aren't they fabulous?!?! I just bought some of the pretty paper lace trim from altered abbey on Etsy to try my hand at something similar this year. I might even try to make a few of the yarn pom poms!

{8 years}

November 13th is a special day in our house...8 years ago today Dan and I had our first date. It was also the first time we had ever met in person, because we met online. It is hard to believe that we have been together that long...I don't feel old enough to have been doing anything for 8 years! LOL :)

A lot has happened in that time...we've gone from college students to struggling job seekers to newlyweds and home owners. Little did we know that day as we sat on the swings in the park with absolutely nothing to say to each other that we would end up where we are today. Well, I think we both knew we would still be together, but the rest of this was definitely a mystery.

Today has also been an emotional day for me because it is my Grandma's birthday. She would have been 94 today and this is the first year in quite a few that I don't get to celebrate an anniversary and a birthday all in the same day. I miss her and the holidays this year will be hard knowing that both of my Dad's parents are gone. I miss them.

On a happier note, I'm so looking forward to Thanksgiving next week. I can't wait for all of my Mom's yummy food...her stuffing especially. We switch each year who we have the main meal with, either my parents or Dan's family. It is always such a big contrast between the two because my family is just mom and dad, my sister and her husband, and Dan and I. With his family, if everyone is there, there is usually a group of about 15 packed into a tight space with a bunch of dogs and lots of noise. I've learned to appreciate both for different reasons. I'm sure everyone has these different family dynamics that keep life interesting.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

{a chill in the air}

Yep...it is definitely time for the holiday season! Now that October is over, I really feel ready for Thanksgiving and even...*gasp*...Christmas!!! Every year we end up struggling to find last minute gifts for people and this year I have sworn that won't happen. I already have three gifts bought...yay me! I even ordered my Christmas card kit today...it is so cute! I usually make them from scratch, but this year I want to simplify things and this kit was too cute and affordable to pass up! You can check it out HERE.

I feel like the house is finally getting in order. We ordered the cabinets and countertop for our kitchen remodel on Wednesday...what a relief to have that done! The cabinets are white with a beadboard inset and the counter is black formica. This picture was one of my inspirations...I love the black with the white--->


And this is my idea for the floor...gray and white tiles but in a diagonal pattern--->


In other house news my parents came over this week and finished painting our porch railing for us which was such a blessing. With Dan's work schedule it is hard for him to get these things done so their help was soooo appreciated. It is all sparkly white now and ready for winter. I also had a guy come out and rip out all of the overgrown plants around the house, so come spring we'll be ready to plant some new stuff and put down mulch.

Halloween was fun this year. Mom and Dad came over for pizza and we sat on the porch to hand out the candy. My favorite costume had to be the little girl dressed in a purple sequined jumper. When I asked her what she was she said "I'm a diva". How cute is that?! There were quite a few scary masks this year...my favorite (not really) being the one with fake blood spurting around inside of it. Not so appetizing when you're eating pizza. ;)

Looking forward to a quiet weekend. Dan has tonight off (yay!!) and we are planning on going to see the movie American Gangster. We are both big Denzel fans and this one looks really good.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

{reconnecting}

I really believe that God brings people back into our lives when we need them, no matter how long it has been since you last connected. Tuesday morning, Jenessa and I met at Cracker Barrel for breakfast and it was just the thing I needed. We hadn't seen each other since my wedding day 4 years ago! And while we still keep in touch through our blogs and email, face-to-face contact is worth so much more. We chatted non stop for 2 1/2 hours and when we realized it was nearing lunch time we both had to laugh at how much we obviously needed to catch up. We definitely can't let that much time go by again before we get together, especially since we still felt there were tons of things to talk about that we hadn't even gotten to yet. Thanks Jenessa for all of your wonderful advice about you know what...it really calmed my anxieties and lifted my spirits! :)

{fall splendor}

There is a tree in the parking lot where I work that is so gorgeous every fall. It turns the brightest shade of orange with some hints of red thrown in, and every year I marvel in it's beauty. This year, I get to park next to this lovely symbol of fall every day, and I had to take a few pictures of it this morning. It was very foggy and gave the tree even more of a presence. Sadly, it is already losing a lot of its leaves, and we are supposed to get a major storm tonight so by tomorrow it may be nearly bare. I might try to snap a few more when I leave work today. Nature always has a way of putting a smile on my face. :)

{MIA}

I just realized that I've been away from the blog world for 2 weeks now...shame on me! Things have been busy I guess, plus we were gone all last week for our anniversary. On Sunday the 7th we drove to Lexington with my parents to visit my grandparents. They just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary...aren't they cute?!


I made them a scrapbook of the years they have been together from their wedding to present day. They had so much fun looking at it. It was great to visit with them but the time passed by way too fast.

On Monday before we left for our trip we met with a kitchen contractor who works with and Amish man that makes the cabinets from solid wood, and for about half the price of store bought cabinets. We're waiting to get his quote and praying that it will work out.

We had a lot of fun during our week in Chicago...shopped a bunch and ate out more than I care to do again in such a short time span...but it was a lot of good food! Our first shopping trip was to IKEA and I finally got an Expedit bookshelf for my scrapbook room! I'm really excited about it...now if I can just get Dan to put it together. :) We passed on the kitchen cabinet idea after meeting with the contractor, and realizing that we were insane to think we could fit that much in our car. That decision definitely lowered my stress level by a ton. We watched a bunch of movies while we were there...Knocked Up being my favorite. I haven't laughed that hard in a looong time! Thursday was our anniversary and it was very low key...had our favorite Chicago style pizza from Giordano's and exchanged our gifts. Dan got me a cute purse and slippers from Old Navy and the new KT Tunstall CD. I got him a Red's sweatshirt.



By Sunday we were on our way home and I was so glad to be back in my cozy house with Melvin and Chloe. I hated leaving them for that long!

I do plan on getting some scrapbooking done soon, so I will be sure to share my creations. Hope everyone is having a great week!

{its the most wonderful time of the year}

OK, I know that is from a Christmas song, but I really think that October is the most wonderful, beautiful, cozy and lovely time of the year. I could probably blog every day during this month about how much I love it and never get tired of talking about it (although I would probably lose the few readers I already have out of sheer boredom) LOL :)

This year, Dan and I get to take a whole week of vacation together for our anniversary which is such a luxury for us. I finally have a job that isn't super busy in October and Dan was able to get his vacation time in which isn't always an easy thing. We're taking off to Chicago next week and I'm so excited. Not only will we be staying downtown to celebrate our 4 year anniversary, but we will also get to spend some time with Dan's aunt and uncle who are a blast to stay with, AND we will be buying our new kitchen cabinets at IKEA! I'm so nervous that we aren't going to get everything we need while we're there, but hopefully it will go smoothly and we'll get home with all the necessary bits and pieces (and they will all fit in our car! *fingers crossed*)

Dan was able to take 2 weeks of vacation so he is off this week too. It was much needed...he works the night shift and it is a very physically and mentally demanding job. We've been looking for a new job for him for some time now, so if you could send your positive thoughts and new job vibes our way, it would be much appreciated!

Hope everyone is having a good start to their week!

{turns out they come in 5's}

So I have two more headaches to add to my ever growing list...1. we have mice in the house. Thanks to Miss Chloe who had one hanging out of her mouth we discovered the little buggers. We caught one more tonight. I'm calling an exterminator asap in the morning! 2. The hubby got a ticket tonight on his way to work for running a red light (he swears it was yellow). Greeeaaaaat.

I seriously need some good luck and positive vibes sent my way.

{sweet dreams?}

I had the weirdest bunch of dreams last night. I'm used to having strange ones, but these were a bit over the top, even for me. It might have something to do with the fact that I stayed up until midnight cleaning the kitchen...probably not so smart.

I had three separate dreams which included 1. my old church and my high school boyfriend, 2. I was in jail and pregnant (this one gets the WTH? award), and 3. telling my ex best friend from high school about the jail dream and both laughing about it.

I think there is really something wrong with me. Seriously! I mean, who dreams about stuff like that, and all in the same night? I do see themes of my old church and my ex friend in a lot of my dreams though. Both bring back lots of bad memories and sadness so maybe that is what they are related to. I was feeling pretty sad yesterday, missing my grandparents who are both resting peacefully in heaven.

Now as for the jail thing...not sure where that came from! We are trying to get pregnant, so that part makes sense. LOL :)

Hope I've entertained you a bit on this Wednesday morning. Happy hump day!

{they come in threes}

You know how people always say that bad things come in threes? Well maybe that is true about good things also (I hope), but it has definitely been true for us the past month in a bad way. Last month was a big repair bill on Dan's car...last Friday we had to have all the brakes replaced on our newer car, and now we are without a refrigerator because the compressor died (this is a 3 year old fridge which is very frustrating). Luckily, it should still be under warranty, so all we'll be out is the service fee. But, we have to wait at least a week to get it fixed. One of my coworkers has been sweet enough to lend us her mini fridge so hopefully we can go pick that up tonight. It is crazy how much we take these appliances for granted!

I did some more scrapbooking last night also...pics from the Ben Harper concert we went to on the 7th. I hid the journaling under the top ticket...thought that was a fun way to use them and I also ran out of room to put it anywhere else! :)



"You put it on me" is one of his new songs and also one of my favorites. It was an amazing concert and I can't wait for the next one!

Hope everyone is having a happy Tuesday!

*sweet* ending

So I had a very tiring weekend...had to be at work from 2-7:30 on Saturday and 8-4 today for special meetings. It was good and I learned quite a bit, but still not fun to be doing on the weekend.

I did sneak in some fun though. Yesterday morning Joyce (my mother-in-law) and I checked out the Everrett Festival, which is a fairly new fall festival in our historic train depot neighborhood. It was a small fair, but tons of fun. I picked up a bunch of cute mini pumpkins, a hobnail milkglass lampshade ---that I turned upside down and used for a bowl--->


and a really cool tray thingy that used to be a part of a food drying rack. It has metal grating on it so I'm going to hang it in the kitchen or my scrapbook room and use it with mangnets as a memo board. :)

I also got some much needed scrapbook time in tonight and got two fall pages done with pics of the fun fall decor I have around the house. I can't put into words how much I love fall, and autumn themed scrapbook stuff. Scenic Route has some gorgeous papers/stickers/chipboard out this year that I used on these two pages. There is also a little Love, Elsie thrown in.




I did these two pages on the front and back of the same sheet of paper. I don't normally do that, but both sides were too pretty to waste one!

I'm wishing tomorrow wasn't Monday and the start of another work week, but trying to find the positives in the mundane everyday tasks of life. Hope everyone has a great start to their week!

feeling squirrely

Aside from cats, I would have to say that my favorite furry animal is the squirrel. I just love them. I think its a combination of the fluffy tail, the way they sit up to eat a nut or listen to the sounds around them, and their just darn adorable faces! The squirrel is the unofficial mascot of the school I work at, which is just perfect. They are all over the campus and every day I wish I had some nuts in my pocket so I could feed them on my way to and from my car.

Seriously.

Yeah, one day I'm going to be the old lady sitting on the park bench with a pocket full of nuts feeding the squirrels. I would really have one for a pet if I could. We have a nut tree right next to our front porch, and every year when it blooms the squirrels go crazy over those things. This year, there was one squirrel that I swear ate every single nut off of that tree, leaving the shells scattered all over our porch. After he was done, I caught him laying on the porch rail, his legs splayed out on either side...it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. I think he was drunk or high...whatever an OD on nuts does to a squirrel, he had a bad case.

Etsy has a huge assortment of adorable squirrel stuff...here are a few of my faves--->

squirrely sprinkle print

cute squirrel pendant

acorn earrings - in honor of my porch buddy

adorable greeting card

squirrel pocket mirror - so stinking cute!!

I could go on forever with the adorable squirrel stuff on Etsy!

If you are a squirrel hater...please reconsider...they are one of God's creatures and just want to be your friend! ;)

Oh *fall* how I love you :)

So I haven't blogged in forever, and any readers I did have probably lost all hope in me returning. But just in case anyone is reading I'm back! ;)

Not even sure where to start other than to say that I'm so in love with fall. Each year the hint of the fall season puts me in a good mood with the cool air, warm colors, pumpkins decorating doorsteps and leaves crunching under my feet (I can wait awhile for that last one). I don't know what it is about fall...I seriously would marry it if at all possible! (and if polygamy were legal.) The first two pics are ones I took in our park two years ago...others are from flickr.

Lots of house projects in the works...kitchen remodel is on schedule for October or November! Still need to refinish the stairs and finish painting our porch railing, install porch light and new front door handle, and get our landscaping under control. Looking at that list really freaks me out! Hopefully it will all get done so we can enjoy the season!