Weekend Review

1. I took Friday off of work, it was a much needed personal day.  I got to have lunch with this little cutie, so it really started off the weekend right.  Unfortunately as I was saying goodbye she decided to spit up on me L, just a little parting gift. 

 2. While at home, I found a great picture of my sisters and I at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.  Check out my hair!  Unfortunatly I did not use a hair straightener until later in life. We did have a lot of fun when the Olympics were here.  We were lucky enough to go to several events and had a lot of fun. 

3. Ryan has been dying to see The Dark Knight Rises.  He begged to see it at the IMAX theatre at the Mall of Georgia, but seeing how tickets were $17.50 a pop and we are on a strict budget, I refused.  He settled for a 10:30am matinee. We loved it, I’m sure he is already trying to find to go see it again.

4. Our 10 year high school reunion was this weekend.  We did not go.  I had been on the fence about going, it was going to cost $100 (yes, I know, it’s not that much) but Ryan really didn’t want to go.  It was held at Sweetwater Brewery from 4pm-7pm and we both felt it was such an odd time.  We have also been to the brewery and not many classmates were going.  From a class of 800+ only about 80-100 went.  Plus, Ryan was not interested in the same questions you hear every time you run into someone you haven’t seen in a while.  He joked that he was embarrassed to be married to me, (I was the shy, quiet type, he was not) but we all know that’s not true!

5. Instead of heading to the reunion, we chose to meet up with some of my close girlfriends and their husbands after at Front Page News.  So much has changed since high school, so it was nice to catch up.  Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures.

6.  Sunday we took our moms to see the house.  We didn’t show the house to anyone before we put an offer on it, and only told family that we had.  We’ve been burned in the past and didn’t want to take our chances.  Of course having plenty of time in the house has us already planning millions of projects.  I have to keep reminding myself, one at a time.

7. Speaking of projects, we spent a good hour and a half walking around Home Depot pricing things out and getting ideas.  This was extremely dangerous!  We also stopped at Brands Mart because Ryan assured me that our TV is not big enough to mount over the mantel and we will need a bigger TV.  Ha!

8.  We ended the weekend with a little bit of a scare.  Miles started choking on a rawhide bone.  Unfortunately, I could not get it out,  but instead he swallowed it.  I did some research, and turns out, you really aren’t supposed to give dogs rawhide bones.  I don’t give them to him often, but I didn’t know any of the issues that they can cause.  We have watched him closely for the last two days and he isn’t experiencing any of the symptoms that would indicate he is having trouble.  Needless to say, we won’t be giving him bones anymore!

Things I've Learned From House Hunting

As most of our friends and family know, we have been searching for the right house for some time.  Some may say we are picky, I say we are meticulous.  I thought I would share some of the things I have learned about house hunting/selling a house.

1. Make sure your house smells good.  This is key.  We have walked into some pretty nasty smelling houses.  This could mean one of many things, you are dirty, smelly people, you have pets that you do not clean up after, you smoke or you have mold issues.  Making a home smell nice is inviting (Scentsy products do wonders to a home :) ).
2. Clean up.  It's unbelievable to me how messy some people are.  If you are selling your home, make sure it's appealing, first impressions are everything.  If nothing else, run a vacuum to make sure there are not dead bugs laying all over the place.
3. Price your home right.  It's been our experience, if the home is priced right, it sells quickly.  In our experience we find the ones that are overpriced for the market (or our budget :/) sit on the market longer and the seller becomes unwilling to negotiate.
4. Staging.  This goes back to cleaning up.  If the home is staged right, it gives the buyer an idea of what the home will look like with their stuff.  If you have too much or too little, sometimes it's hard for they buyer to get a feel for the size of the home.  *Side note: we have walked into homes that people clearly need to be nominated for the hoarders show. 
5. Information.  Realtors that leave disclosures, maps and neighborhood information for the potential buyers have a much better chance selling the home.  All of that information is helpful to the buyer, especially if they are new to the neighborhood.  Plus it shows that the seller is up front and honest about the condition of the home.

Clearly I am no expert, but I find these small things helpful.

Summer Reading

I always dreaded the summer reading assignments when I was in school. I was never a very strong reader and the books they chose were boring. Since I have graduated college though, I enjoy reading a lot more! I have been reading a lot this summer so I thought I would share some of the books I chose!

I started with Kisses from Katie.  I could hardly put the book down.  I think I finished it in just a few days.  Katie's heart for God and the children/people of Uganda is awe inspiring.  She says yes.  She says yes to some of the most devastating circumstances and God always provides.  It’s truly an amazing testament of God’s faithfulness and the power of love.  I strongly recommend this book.  You can read more about her journey on her blog.

The next book I started on was One Thousand Gifts.  I started this book but found it hard to finish.  I actually have not finished the book.  At first I really enjoyed her message and story, however I felt the book became repetitive.  I truly think I took some great insight into finding joy in the midst of chaos. 

Lastly, I've had a hard time finding things to read so I've resorted back to some books I have read previously.  I started cleaning out our guest bedroom, because I thought we would be moving soon and because the room is just full of junk, and found my collection of Stephanie Plum books.  It's been awhile since I read most of them and they are laugh out loud funny.  I am now on book six and get some funny looks when out at lunch reading because I can't stop laughing.  Stephanie is a bounty hunter and isn't very good at her job which winds up in some ridiculous situations.  It's a great, easy summer read! By the way, since I was reading the books again, I tried watching the movie, I had to turn it off.  It was terrible!


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On the go...

May and June have been somewhat of a whirlwind. Every month I have plans to blog more, to craft more, cook more and the list could go on and on. May and June every year seem to be our busiest months. Between both of our families we have seven birthdays, mother’s day, father’s day and then of course memorial day. Not to mention we are shopping for a house in our spare time, which isn’t going so well but that’s another story for another day. While all of these celebrations have been wonderful and time with family has been great it’s left little for anything else. I feel like I’m swimming in things I need to get done. But this past week has reminded me that none of those things are important.

Lainey and Wade were baptized on Father's Day.  It was a very special morning. My mom made Lainey's baptism dress and blanket, she looked like an angel! Later that night we received a call about my grandmother. 

My grandmother was admitted to the ICU Sunday afternoon with little to no chance of survival. She has a DNR and the doctors had done everything they could but because of the DNR they couldn’t do any more. Since it was 7pm on a Sunday night and there were no flights available our only option was to drive. We didn’t want to wait around for a flight the next day because we probably wouldn’t make it either way but at least we weren’t sitting around waiting. I truly believe us starting to drive is what helped my grandmother. She had not met my niece and told my aunt she wasn’t going anywhere until she met the baby. That truly gave us comfort to know that there was a small chance we could make it in time to say goodbye. Thankfully we got that chance, and thankfully we didn’t have to say our final goodbyes. She was able to meet Lainey and was able to go home. I thank God that we were able to have that moment with her, I know it’s a moment my family will treasure forever.

While it was very stressful being in Chicago away from work, away from home, worrying about my grandmother, it was also a breath of fresh air. I didn’t have deadlines to meet, I didn’t have to worry about whether the laundry was done, or the bathroom was clean or the list could go on and on. The only thing that mattered was being with family, enjoying each other. And it’s those moments that I treasure.