Our livingroom is very small. The kitchen, dining, and living rooms are basically all one big room. You can see the corner of the kitchen counter in the above photo. Oh, and ignore the bird on the back of the door--it's a rental, remember?
The stairs leading to the loft and a little sneak peak towards the basement- which is up next!
Spring Break 2002 my family, friend Sara, and I spent a couple of days in Nashville, on our way to Florida- where we met this guy shortly after he was signed to Dreamworks Records:
We became fast friends, and kept in touch over the next several years. I would often travel to another Michigan town to watch him perform and support his growing music career. We even lived in the same city for a while (Nashville). Fast forward nine years later....
We had been out of contact for about 3 years, he'd been busy performing and walking all over the country, while I've been busy getting married and stuff like that:) I heard on the radio that Jimmy Wayne would be performing in Traverse City friday night. Sara and I decided we should go.
We pushed our way to the front of the crowd, elbowing a lot of females out of our way. I told Sara I didn't want to act like a crazed fan and she was like "Who cares?! Get up there!" haha. It's not easy to get someone's attention when their eyes are closed 90% of the time! It took a couple of songs before he realized we were in the front row. We had officially surprised him, so we figured we could go sit back down and be civilized again:)
After the show, and a long line of picture-takers and autograph-getters, we caught up with Jimmy, and headed onto his tour bus to chat for a while. I hadn't seen or talked to him in about 3 years, so as you know, a lot's changed--the biggest shock being my new marriage:) I had to remind him that I'm not 15 anymore.
(please ignore this awful picture of me and focus on the other two!)
There were a lot of laughs as anyone who's ever been around Jimmy knows. We reminisced about the day we met, my mom's "sweet, conniving, southern girl" accent, his ex-girlfriends, and one heated phone conversation. In three years, he hasn't changed a bit. Isn't it comforting to see an old friend and feel like no time has passed at all? That's how it was. Until next time, buddy!
Aunt Lorie, Mom's little sis, was given a surprise party by my Gram. (You don't look a day over 35:) The whole family and some friends got together to celebrate! Plenty of singing and dancing took place.
And I got to spend some quality time with my Monkey, which is always good.
The ladies of the family. Great time, everyone!
My little cousin, Lyss:)
Brother & Husband a.k.a. Girlfriends
Sisters & Cousins
Brother and Sister-in-law
Our lovely Matriarch
Brother with Mom and Dad. Right after my uncle punched Dale in the lip. It was a friendly punch right, Uncle Mike?
Hopefully one day I'll have a cabin of my own to design and decorate. There's nothing better than curling up with a good book in the peace and quiet of a "no service" zone, and escaping for a couple of days to completely recharge. Here's some inspiration for my future cabin/ cottage!
Who says a cabin can't be chic?
That is exactly the dining table I long for.
And that view isn't bad either.
Loving the patterned floor in this one!
Am totally at a loss for where I found these. Help?
Ok, somebody please tell me if I am being totally irrational. Someone I know, and use to go to school with just had a baby girl. And she totally stole my baby's name. Its my maternal grandmother's middle name, and I've had my heart set on it. Of course, she doesn't know she stole it, because clearly I have no children yet. But I'm still a bit heartbroken over this little name situation. I have yet to congratulate her.
(Seriously, don't you just want to push that piece of hair over?? Oh well, I suppose it's the memory I'm after, bad hair or not.)
I had so much fun Friday night hanging out with Ashley and Andrea. At the Holiday Inn patio we were accused of being members of the "Jersey Shore" cast by The Situation himself! He sure was a good dancer.
Saturday Mom and I drove 3 hours to attend a bridal shower for my cousin's fiance. The shower was nice and it's always good to see family you haven't seen in a while:)
(Houghton, 18 months)
This afternoon we went to the big brother's to celebrate the little brother's birthday. Houghton showed us his new big boy car bed! He looks like a little midget lying in it:)
(Singing Happy Birthday to my little big brother.)
Kody turned 20 on Saturday--hard to believe. When asked what he wanted for his birthday he simply replied, "An Envoy." Go figure. He is recovering quite well from his back surgery, hence the black brace. He goes to the doc tomorrow for a check up, so we'll know more then!
Having been a nanny for over a year a now, I have been to every park in town. Just recently one opened up at the newly renovated Elmwood Marina, across the street from where we use to live. Now I have an excuse to frequent the west side again:)
I've missed this view.
The pirate ship park. There were "Ahoy Matey!"s everywhere you turned.
Paige- Is there anything better than toddler rolls?
Molly, always in a dress.
Finn- probably yelling at Molly.
Great views, HOT day. To put it lightly, we were melting.
Now, these people had the right idea.
She really was not loving getting her picture taken.
Check out Paigey's new flipped-out-bob-haircut.
No, I did not get to enjoy my magazine. I sat down long enough to take this picture. I envisioned what the next hour would look like, and yet again, I was wrong. I sweated it out with the best of 'em. Needless to say, we are ready for fall weather and ready to get back to school! :)
During my time off work I tackled the shoe storage project I've been planning since moving into our little log house. Upstairs in the loft, which is also our master bedroom, there are three built-in cubbies. I'm not sure what the original plan for these were, but seeing how we have only ONE closet in this house, we needed to make use of every square inch. Jake and I each have our fair share of shoes. We were able to fit the majority of them in the cubbies.
Now of course we have more shoes hidden under the bed, in our closet, and near the front door, but I tend to rotate according to the seasons. We try and keep the shoes looking organized, but I know I'd rather not see them everyday- this happens to be the wall on MY side of the bed!
Using a few 84" black curtains and tension rods that I had from the last rental, I figured I could make some custom curtains to hide the shoes--No sewing required!
I cut the curtains to size, ironed the bottom flap back to create a nice, clean, straight line, and used fabric glue to adhere the jagged flap!
I'm a 20 something wife and mother who use to write about foreign missions, women's ministry and interior decor musings. Now I pretty much just write about my baby. Thank God for the internet because I have yet to buy a baby book.
