Wedding Time!

This girl with my sister and me* is getting married TODAY!!! What?!

 
*Yes, this is from my more youthful days. I'm in a slight rush and found some pics quickly through Facebook. Whatta good website that FB turned out to be.

Katie is one of my sister's best friends and one of my favorite people. She's been a part of our lives for many years now, as she has been on several family vacations, shared big life-events, deeply loved our family dog (RIP, Maddie), lives (or "lived" after tonight) with Rachel in Columbia,  and has just been a great friend to us all.

Finn and I (Jeremy is helping out with a kayak & camping trip this weekend, so unfortunately he can't make the wedding) are about to pack up and head to Columbia for this big celebration. And celebrate, we will!

With us during a vacation and our engagement.

Baby time!

Bridge Run. She smoked us.

 

Letting them practice for their own.

I'll post pictures later of the awesome couple!

Two Confessions

Confession #1: I've eaten like a million more of these than Finn. They are becoming not only his snack of choice, but mine as well. I love them! Below is my favorite brand and flavor. Yum yum.

Confession #2: I always thought our dog was from another planet. I believe that assumption has now been proven true. Scaaaaary.

Yum!

I wanted to share one of Jeremy and my very favorite dips. I had it at one of my wedding showers almost four years ago (what?! four years?!) and had to get the recipe. Since then, we've often made it for ourselves and get-togethers.

It's super easy and super great.

Bean, Corn, Feta Concoction
1/3 cup EVOO
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
Mix together well

Combine:
4 oz. feta cheese
1 bunch chopped green onions
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can shoepeg corn (drained)
dash garlic powder
dash salt & pepper

Add the two mixtures together, let it sit in the fridge for an hour and wa-la...

Excuuuuse Me!

I'm so sorry my hand was in your way.

This boy does love those computer keys though.

Brighter Days Ahead...

...for our kitchen! Don't worry. I wasn't going to do a melancholy post. Instead, I'm joining some good friends (and college roommates), Natalie and Maury, in sharing home projects.

Originally I was going to call this one "It is Finished" because our kitchen project has been 3+ years in the making. After we moved in, I wanted to paint the cabinets to brighten and open up the space. So my wonderful husband began working on them. Since it wasn't the most fun project and we had a few others to do, he decided to put the top cabinets on pause. In the meantime, he:

created a backsplash
put shelves in the sunroom
built & stained a deck
tiled our floors in the kitchen, bathrooms and sunroom
re-did the backyard 
assembled furniture and painted nursery
shaped a surfboard (not home-related, but I think it's cool)

So my man has been busy making some awesome improvements.

Fast forward three years later. I decided to stop bugging him and I'd push play on the top cabinets. It took a little longer than I planned, but I'm happy with the completion. Plus, I got to use power tools for the first time. Here's the progression.

Before's

Kitchen when we moved in

 
 

 

My husband starting the backsplash. Notice the two color cabinets we were rocking.

After's

While I'm at it, here are a few others I've done over the last few months. Looks like I like white.

Dresser in bedroom

Kitchen butcher block converted to our computer desk

Headboard for guest room

 


Finally, I can't leave without putting our best creation ever.
And in the spirit of before's and after's...

Muscle man/farmer's tan man

Beach boy

Making granddaddy happy with the basketball

Romans 8:28

God knows when something glorious in the future necessitates something difficult in the present. Because He knows the glory will be worth it, God will risk being misunderstood. - Beth Moore

What a gracious Father we have. He allows us to question, wrestle and struggle through our present situations, knowing that when we get to the other side of them we will see that all things truly do work for the good of those who love Him.