Summer in Review

 

Ahem, Ahem. Check, Check. Anyone still out there?

Maybe?

Good enough!

How was the summer?? Good. Good. Isn't it odd it already feels like summer was a while ago. I blame that on retail pushing fall since July.

Anyway, we had a nice summer. It went by pretty quickly and for the most part I was just trying to keep up with my new work schedule (went from 2 12 hr shifts a week to 5 days a week, 8 hr days). I LOVE my new job in surgery recovery at my new hospital but this erry day of the week business is hard with little children. I feel sometimes like its just go go go. No matter, I'll be going back to part time in January, 3 days a week. Phew I look forward to that. But we had a nice summer of course and just loved our first summer with Evie! Ah she is such a wonderful baby and addition to the family. She is just kinda going through a screaming phase at meal times. It will pass. I think. I hope.

Since we were MIA from this space over the summer... here is like a real quick recap to retell the story of summer 17'.

As tradition, we will start with Evie's growth!... at  7, 8, 9 and 10 months!!! Yes, I forgot her "sign" 9 month picture.

                                                                              

        

 She eats so much table food, has tried formula (and likes!), still nurses and crawls to explore everything!! She is trying to pull up. She is such a little joy and light.

Ellie started 3K in June 3 days a week and so far so good.

 

In June we went to see Thomas the Train again, Ellie "ran" her first fun run (momma carried her most of the way), and celebrated family birthdays.

 

 

In July we had a visit from my best friends and traveled to NC for a very special baby shower!

 

 

 

August began with a very sweet wedding for John's cousin in Columbia before we headed to Edisto Beach. We also went to one of the hottest baseball games of the season ; ) In my opinion...

 

 

 

 They favor so much here. ALL the heart eyes.

 

 

There were more good times of little pool splashing the yard, water park visits and the like of good ole summer time fun! I look forward to next summer too where hopefully the girls will be able to play together more (Ellie will be 4 and Evie around 18 months!)

 

September it is hard to believe has already come and gone. We went to the NC Apple fest where Ellie loved the little rides and we celebrated my 32nd birthday.

 

 

 

This was a super abbreviated version of a review but you know, it's 10:30 PM and I got to be up at 5...

 

We (John and I) are looking to a quick get away to London next week (eeek! nerves and excitement!) so hopefully we will have a recap up at the end of the month. Until then!

A little spring decorating...

This post could also be labeled as "if you can dream it, my dad can built it". Truth. While some of this post does relate to my own cycle of continuously rearranging and redecorating, it has just as much to do with me showing off my dad's woodworking skills.

Remember when I posted my home tours from October? I think I even pulled some line like... the house is mostly the way I want it! Yes kinda true. But! I carried on with some new ideas this spring which I was eager to see through completion after we saw the whirlwind of newborn-ness and the holidays change to more content baby days and a new year! Needless to say I'm so happy with how it looks. How one's home "looks" or presents itself is not the most important thing by any means but its OK also to enjoy seeing pretty things in your own space and making it a cozy place for your family.

I'll start with the outside space. A cleaned and stained deck and fresh potted and planted flowers.

Here enters some of my dad's work! Our outside love seat! This couch is so great out here. We needed more seating and something comfortable so we got just that.

 

My dad helped me replace our old closet light fixture. We had a huge florescent light here and I was ready for it to go on day 1 of owning this house. After I took this picture I told John he had to move his bags at the top of the closet...OCD for life!!

Back in December, we got our Christmas gift from my parents: a new kitchen table with benches. Enough room for everyone!

 

I also decided to do something I've wanted to do since day 1 in our home and that was to paint the kitchen. It's the same color as the dining room and looks so much better. We also switched out the hardware for brushed nickel.

Our powder room. This one was by far the most time consuming but it turned out beautifully. I thought the bathroom too plain (so dramatic) but loved a certain ocean blue in bathrooms. Well I didn't want to just add dark paint in a small space so the board and batton idea came up as a way to break up the paint. We had previously changed out the light fixture to something more fitting of the space.

As some of you know, our living room shelves are insanely tall and at point I said I'm not worried about the top half! You have a have a much taller ladder to even reach them. Well apparently the time came to finally decorate them a little so I bought some (many) books from Habit for Humanity and turned them spine out so they all blend in. My dad made several bookends to hold them up as they previously kept crashing over. Not convenient to fix! But now they are all good. For the other shelves, I got a bouquet of wool ball flowers in put them in jars. Done. Now the top half of the shelves (which I never plan to touch again in the near future) are consistent looking and give the living room a more cozy atmosphere. Also a new wooden frame to rest on the mantel! Thanks dad! 

Also in the living room? My new cart! Yes.. my dad made it complete with galvanized shelves per my request!

In the playroom I added a rug under their table which helped with the overall layout of the room and hung some "new" wall art. These fairy tale prints are from a storybook I had from childhood.

Last but not least, is my little nook on the loft upstairs. I was at a lost for what else to do here (I had my desk set up in front of the windows since day one but that was it) but I finally got it. Cozy chair, side table, repainted lamp and open shelves all make for a nice reading nook. The chair is new but all else is recycled from what we had. My dad helped me cut and hang the shelves. I tell ya, natural wood is just so beautiful. After all these products, mostly all I like to see is stained wood. It's just lovely.  Anyway, with fresh flowers from our yard an knick knacks from my travels, I'd say this space is good to go. Happy reading and relaxing!

Weekendz and Landscaping

Hi all, how's Sunday sound as a time to reflect back over the past couple of weekends? Great.
I know it may not be the most intriguing subject, but I've always liked reading how other people spent their weekends. Spread the joy. or the reality. Anyways, we are very chill people around here and keep things pretty simple but we have a good time.

Now a few weekends back John and I decided to tackle the issue of our yard. It's nothing complicated but here were some things to fix: swap out (old, old) pine straw for mulch, remove small rock border and replace with large sized stones which actually make a border, cut back shrubbery, rose bushes and pull weeds out of the borders. My favorite.

The reason for this being A) it needed to be done B) we are hoping to put our house up for sale this winter and it needed to be a pinch more presentable. We worked really hard Sunday to get it all done and after picking up supplies on Saturday night (I slept most of Saturday after working Friday, my 5th night!) so we didn't do much then. Ellie was quite good and chilled out in the wagon most of the time. She went in for a nap and was back out again. She walked around some but hates walking in grass. Anyways, it was all done in a day (well 2 days as we didn't buy quite enough mulch the first time) and it looks so much better.

This is where we worked the most...

The weekend before last, things were pretty quiet around here. I worked on a special project which is moving slowly but surely. More on that later when it is a little more ironed out. We got cable installed Saturday lol. It's football season and john is ready to be able to watch some college games here and I'm in agreement. We might cancel it after football is over ; )

Saturday we took Ellie park hoppin'. The first one we went to was pretty crowded thanks to a birthday party. The second park is huge and was a little better. Ellie got to swing and go down slides and just walk around. To be honest she hasn't gotten to go much since she started walking because it has been SO HOT this summer. Needless to say she loved and so did we.

 

 

 

Sunday we went to a different church for a service. We were just curious so we went to a large, modern church kinda close by. We aren't moving or anything but it was fun for a change so we will see. Ellie , so I thought, would stay with us since it was all new to us but she wanted to "walk" after the music was over so she had to go to the nursery. She had a great time and managed to find an Elmo toy (her absolute favorite!) and also managed to come home with some other kids poop on her leggings. Yikes. It wasn't much so I'm guessing it was on a toy or something?? Other than that it was a good time.

Hope you all a good week and start to September. This weekends post is coming with a little early birthday celebration and special visit!!!

The Great American Pastime

I'm only here for the food. This is usually my thought process when I go to sporting events. Somehow over the past 5 years John and I have been together he has managed to turn me into a tried and true football fan! Not only do I actually follow the game but I like it! Esp. Clemson football...hmm, can't wait!! Yes, I'm stating this like its a miracle because it is! I used to have zero clue about following the sport.

This past weekend we were fortunate to snag some free tickets to the local baseball game here. We had some sweet!! seats just one row from the front, covered from the intense sun and at home plate! Work perks! Mind you this seating comes with a warning: fly balls ahead. As we were walking to our seats, we heard everyone yelling out WATCH OUT!!!! I ducked down like I was going into the trenches and the ball fell (what seemed like straight outta the sky) into the row in front of us. Thankfully no one was hurt but yikes. I should say there was a net but the ball managed to fall into the 3 ft crack that was open. After that excitement we found our seats and the rest is the game. The home team lost but it was still entertaining. Ellie actually did really good and I got up once with her to let her walk but otherwise she was fine to sit in the (open!) seat next to us, in my lap or standing up in front of us. Wonderful surprise as my expectations were kind of low that a 1 1/2 yr. old would honestly sit through 9 (?) innings at a baseball game.

This guy...all up in the way, j/k but seriously

At the end, we had the chance to get some ice cream as it was the only time the line somewhat died down. People love their ice cream, can't blame them.

John was sweet to add the sprinkles totally unprompted while ellie and I were sweating our souls out in the very un-air conditioned bathroom changing a diaper. (first world complaint I know!)

Trying to enjoy the turf while side-eyeing the attendant who was about to tell us to pack it up and move on (ah just like 2 am during the college days! Keep walking, don't stop until you get home!)

Ellie's face...totally captures her desperation at the thought of "I-ceam!!!!" being taken away

It was really great though, any time with these 2 people is time cherished over and over again.

Tr Farmer's Market

On Saturday morning Ellie and I headed out for time together. I try as often as I can to give John a few hours alone to focus on school work. I know how hard it is to do work when all you want to do is play with whoever is at the house. Sometimes we go to the early church service to give him time but it's better for us to go to church together. Back to the story, I had been meaning to visit the market since we all but actually live in Travelers Rest (tr). There are other markets in this area but the one in downtown Greenville, while nice, is big, crowded and slightly uppity? I'd like to go once this summer but it's a bit of a process to get there. But like I said it's pretty and supportive. I actually worked there 2 summers ago (3 months pregnant with Ellie!) at a friend's stand and it was so fun to people watch there! and to work of course ;) I just figured travelers rest would have a smaller crowd and be more laid back. Also, it's set at a park so there is room to walk, run and not be on someone's heels the whole time.

When we pulled up I thought there must have been a special event that day. SO many more people and vendors than I would have thought! but alas, no this is it! they have a designated wide open stall area for some vendors which was popping and then more tents on the parameter for other vendors. They were selling everything from vegetables, pottery, soap and jewelry to homemade popsicles and cooked food. The scenery there is just incredible too. TR is just a beautiful town. surrounded by mountains, its really beautiful. And for another fun fact, the market/park is where john's old high school was. its been torn down which is crazy to me. Nothing but the track exists from the whole campus. So anyway, We ended up buying some fresh shrimp, corn and local sausage. The shrimp and corn were so good and we look forward to trying some sausage soon. The seafood was a really good find. It's not easy to find local seafood here.

Ellie just sat in her stroller and watched everything and everyone. She truly enjoys just being out and about. Being outside is just a bonus. We bought ourselves a blueberry lemonade popsicle to share and wear (for Ellie at least :) before we had to head out. We couldn't stay too long after I bought shrimp for obvious reasons!

We came home to see John and had old bay shrimp, corn and potatoes. Even Ellie was loving shrimp which is great because there aren't many meats she likes.