Back to Black

I had every intention to wake up this morning and go to church, clean house, do some laundry and enjoy a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon. That is before I hit snooze a few too many times and didn't get up in time to go to Church. So instead of letting the day go by without being productive, I decided to tackle my noticeable project that I have done in a while.... another paint job. This time one that the entire neighborhood will see! 


I love the brick my house is made out of; however, the color of the shutters and front door was clearly the neighborhood paint special from 1970. I have counted at least 10 different houses within a block of my abode with the same blue accent colors on their house...

not a fan of the screen door... that will be changing at some point!

I thought I would be able to take the shutters off, but they are super glued to the house. THen I thought I would be able to put a piece of newspaper behind the shutters and spray paint them... wrong. So I ended up having to paint each one with a 2-inch brush and make sure I got under each piece of wood. So after picking up Pure Black Behr Premium Plus Exterior paint (pre-mixed so I didn't have to stand in line at Home Depot with the other 50 folks deciding to do a paint project this weekend)

After washing the door and shutters with some Murphy Oil (Thanks fiance for helping me!), I started the paint project. THe front door has 3 coats on it and the shutters took just 1! The gloss paint makes it a little more challenging to paint and is a lot glossier than the blue. BUT I love it!

The current screen door makes the front door look really dark, so I hope to change this soon. And get some new lights!

Spring is in the air (and so is wedding season!)

I am really looking forward to working on the exterior of my house this year. There is a lot of random plants growing in random places and I know it just needs a good days worth of clearing and trimming. Now if I can only find a money tree to plan in every corner I will be good to go! 


I am blessed to celebrate the 7 weddings this year.. plus mine! However, that means cash is going to be a little tight to do some of the projects that are on the list. In the meantime, take a look at the beautiful Hsu/Roser wedding this weekend at Lake Lanier. Beautiful bride! Beautiful weather! Beautiful location! A start to a beautiful marriage.... she had some amazing personal details at the ceremony that I am not going to share because I am borrowing some of the ideas for my big day :) 

Puppy love

My fur-child, Snyder...

is loving his (our) new house... especially the big backyard..

so when I thought about how to decorate my guest room, I thought the lil guy needed a little recognition.. he is my pup :) 


so I decided what to do with this cute painting I got in Rhode Island, while visiting my bestie, Mrs. Ruby Red Slippers. 

I found this frame at Goodwill (x2) for only $5 bucks...

and with a little black spray paint, fabric to recover the photo mat, I ended up with this..

I decided it would go perfectly in my guest room...

I know..it is not the entire room... just wait, I am doing a few other things. Still deciding on what to do with the identical frame that I bought with this one.. maybe a picture of my lil guy? I am having fun bringing some Black lab love to the guest room!!


I mean... look at this guy...how can you not love him?

Prayer- it's a powerful thing!

Wow... so I didn't realize that my last post was more than a month ago until my best friend pointed it out yesterday! Life has been crazy! It has been 30+ days that have proven how powerful prayer can be in your life.

In February, my Grandma lost her battle to Alzheimer's. She had battled with this terrible disease for 4+ years. I know that she is in the arms of God right now.

In February, my fiance's parents battled health issues and spent time in the hospital. Again, the power of prayer was amazing!

In the same month, my future brother and sister-in-law welcomed a baby girl into the world. I am so excited to be Ava's Aunt and see her grow up!

It is times like this that make me stop and evaluate what I prioritize in life. In the next 5 months Eric and I will celebrating the amazing thing called love as we attend 7 weddings, not to mention our very own big day in August!

It is times like this that you realize how amazing God is-- no matter what the situation is!

I-20 East = paradise!

Well I had a few projects planned for the weekend until my wonderful fiance surprised me with a weekend get away to Reynolds Plantation in GA, only an hour and fifteen minutes away!


After a LONG day at work on Friday, he e-mailed me on Friday at 4:00 p.m. saying his company had a free weekend certificate that expired on Monday and if anyone wanted to go last minute they could! So we took them up on it!

Beautiful Lake Oconee! Grass isn't green this time of year, but still beautiful!

Outside the Ritz! So pretty!

picture from the pool... the lake is in the background! It was 70 degrees! It's Jan. 30!

Playing a game of golf!

First time EVER playing on a golf course. I had best ball a few times... i know this swing isn' t pretty!

Think we found a new hobby we both enjoy.. GOLFING!

Nothing like golfing on a Top 100 Course!

putt-putt golf anyone?


We had a great weekend! Maybe next weekend we will do somethings around the house :)
We did get a wonderful new sofa for the third bedroom from a friend... stay tuned to see how that is coming along!

All you need is love, love!

My first day of freedom I hit up the craft stores to get the materials for a lot of projects I came up with over the 2011 ice storm! 

Now that I own a house I am so excited about decorating for each holiday. For some reason I am super excited Valentine's Day! I bought some cute Valentine's Day kitchen towels last year and wanted to add to my decorations for the upcoming holiday. So... i attempted a wreath.

I just wrapped the ribbon around the wreath and used a glue gun to put the extras on it!

Nothing fancy, but adds an extra touch of love to the house :)

Ice, Ice baby...

Alright... just got word that tomorrow will be snow day number 5. Before you read anymore, please know that I am not complaining about 5 extra "vacation" days... but if I would have realized that it would be 5 days before I could leave my house I would have prepared a little more.


I started the week (Sunday night) behind on laundry and needing to clean the house. So when I got word of a snow day on Monday I was super excited that I had a chance to catch up on my life (and not on a weekend day where I could be watching basketball, running fun errands or going to the dog park).


Well I tell you, I got caught up. And after 5 days I am back to a full laundry basket and probably need to sweep the floor again and do dishes again. 


I attempted to venture out today... but the sheet of ice at the end of my driveway was too much..

I know..it doesn't look like much... but its all ice :(

that's right.. my car is stuck on the other side of the road... i can't it back up that little incline and onto my drive way.

So... while I have been sitting at home the past 5 days I have come up with the following projects I would like to complete this year:

• curtains for the kitchen window and door
• Valentine's day wreath/decorations
• wall collage of family portraits/wedding pictures (most likely for my family room)
• renovate guest bathroom- new mirror and paint book shelf
• paint 3 coat of spiced plum in the office/yoga room
• replace light fixtures in extra bedrooms and hallway
• paint shutters and front door
• re-landscape front yard (back yard in 2012)

Those are only a few--- but that should keep me busy :) I thought days off were supposed to be productive and not make longer to-do lists :(

I know one guy who is ready for me to go back to work..... i think he likes sleeping all day and not having to follow me around the house :) he is not amused :(