Miscellaneous Friday

What an amazing day! I had so much fun and got so much accomplished, whew! It feels good! So I've got a little bit of Miscellaneous Friday for you (I know it's lacking alliteration, but it's a miscellaneous post, so it'll have to do!).

• Baby pictures!!! I realized that I hadn't posted pictures of the babies lately, so I thought I'd give you all a dose of the cute chaos living in our house right now...

This is Oliver's infamous, "I can't believe you're taking my picture. I HATE having my picture taken, and yet you do it over and over again. Are you stupid?"

And my little Dudders, just being cute, as usual. Who can deny that face and that look of utter longing just for a lap to cuddle in? Well, I'm a sucker for it, at least.

And finally, not-so-little Sadie. She is officially bigger than Oliver and well on her way to being a big little Daddy's girl. Isn't she pretty?

• We also went to the dress shop today to get the girls measured for their dresses for the wedding. I'm so happy with how they look in their dresses! It was so good to have Kate and Jessie in town with their mom, Fran (she's so graciously doing our flowers). So Mom, Fran, Kate, Jessie, Valerie (our future neighbor!!!), Ashley, and I all piled into a couple of cars, got some lunch and did fun girlie stuff. It was a blast! Okay, okay, on to the pictures...

Check out Kate modeling the dress. She looks great in it!

Okay, seriously Kate, you have a GREAT smile! And you look fabulous in the dress!

Dearest Valerie showing off her amazing figure and gorgeous hair!! You are so beautiful!

• My second favorite part of the day... check out these adorable flower girl dresses. I was originally going to let them go find one themselves, but when I saw this, I melted. Little Camille and Sophia will look SO cute in it. It's like a little flower! The sash on the dress will be about the same color green as the bridesmaid's dresses and ordered in light ivory to match my diamond white dress, not pink like in the picture... So SWEET!

And the back complete with pearl buttons, bow, and all. I can't wait to see it in the right color!

• Finally, we have a garage door!! We went to the house so Fran, Kate, and Jessie could see it. Not only was it great to see in the daylight (I love the brick), but they have the garage door on! Every day is something new and exciting, and, for the billionth time, I can't wait to see it done! Oh, and another reason God is good.... Rob and I didn't get soffit and fascia for the house because we figured Dad and Andy could do it cheaper after the house was done. Well, they made a mistake when framing and forgot to put the bird blocks in to keep the birds out of the attic. So, instead of doing the extra work to get them up there now, they are doing soffit and fascia for free! Sweet!
  

Our garage door!!! It makes the house look so much more complete! Oh, and check out our AMAZING driveway! It's got an awesome swirl pattern and is framed. I am really happy with it.

The girls modeling at the front door. We couldn't get inside because there was a propane tank for the heater behind it to keep it closed. So, Kate "broke in" by climbing through the window... we're so mischievous :o)

Brick, Concrete, and House numbers. Oh, My!

We went out to the house today to check on things as we do several times a week and were surprised to find our driveway poured, the brick finished, and our house number up! WHOA!! SO EXCITED!!!


Sorry about the dark pictures, but by the time I got out of work and over there, I didn't have much light to work with. The brick looks great! My favorite part, though is the driveway! I wasn't expecting such a nice pattern! It really adds a lot to the house, I think.

The front displaying the new brickwork

Our house number actually incorporated into the brick! It's funny how the little details can add so much! I love this!

Our siding color... Vintage Wicker

Another shot of the brick color. I really want to see it in daylight...

A final shot... I can't wait until I get to go home to it. I'm finding it harder and harder to leave!

I'm so excited to be seeing the finishing touches! The siding up with the brick and the trim painted. Then the flooring coordinating with the cabinets and counter tops.... I'm sooo excited!!!

On a Mission

After working so hard on my DIY wedding projects, one still is not quite complete. I would like to add a little something to my Unity Candle.

I want to put some sort of label or something above the ribbon that has our names or monogram and our wedding date.

Like this:

If anyone knows how I can do this myself, let me know! Thanks!

DIY Wedding Part 2 (aka Part the last)

I finished up my DIY projects (for now at least) tonight. This included my guest book and pen as well as the flower girl baskets. I am SO excited about these last ones! They turned out so good! On with the show!

Project 1: Guest Book Pen Before

And After! Ta-da! Not much, but it adds a lot, I think.

Sorry, no before picture on this one. I forgot. But, you may be able to imagine it... Anyway, we just did the same thing with this as we did with the pen. Nice, eh?

Finally, my pride and joy... the flower girl baskets for sweet little Camille and Sophia (sorry no pics of them either - epic fail, as Rob would so lovingly say).
Before:

AFTER!! I am so happy with how they turned out! Trust me, they look so much better in person! They were a LOT of work, but totally worth it! Not bad for $10 baskets from Michaels...

Okay, I've now drained every ounce of creative juice in my body. I mean really, people have said I'm creative, but I don't consider following explicit directions and copying scrapbook pages creative, that's being intuitive :o)

Now, it's 11:00pm and I have to work tomorrow... so, enjoy a little glimpse of wedding fun and have a good night!

Careers

I've been going through a bit of a rough patch regarding my career choices. I am currently attending Lindenwood University to get my degree in Elementary Education and Middle School Math Education, but now I'm second guessing myself.... I think a lot of it is coming from this horrible feeling of dread I had as far as going back to work is concerned.

I'm not one to sit around the house doing nothing for any length of time. I tend to get bored and am ready to go back to work/school. But, this time around, it was different. I kept dreading the phone calls from Subfinder and thinking, you knew it was coming! I desperately need the money, too. Maybe it's because of my EXTREMELY stressful life right now. I mean, how many people carry an 18 hour school load, plan a wedding (the last six months at that), build a house, take care of a new puppy, and work all at the same time? I really don't think I can stretch myself any thinner and still hold on to my beloved family/fiance/friends time. I am just exhausted! Christmas break has been amazing!!! No school, no work, I could focus on the wedding and actually spend time with my new puppy and family. Oh, and go to the gym!!! Yet, I still felt like I was constantly going, going, going.

And, now I have to add the school/work load back on? Ugh.... I don't want to! And, as much as I enjoy subbing as a job, I'm really starting to hate some aspects of it. I mean, it's flexible - I can make myself unavailable whenever I choose (this can be dangerous) - and the pay is good. I can get experience and its something new and different every day (well, almost everyday). But, it's really starting to annoy me that I constantly feel like the new girl, you know? You start a new job and for the first 6 months you're the new girl. With substitute teaching, I feel like it's my first day on a new job EVERYDAY. I don't know anyone, and as much as I try to, I feel as though I'm not making any progress. Some schools are worse than others, where I go to the work room for lunch and nobody acknowledges my presence and as much as I try to insert myself into a conversation, they don't want anything to do with me. Others are better and will at least talk to me and ask me my name. Ugh... I'm just confused right now.

And then, those thoughts are constantly creeping into my head, "What if I'm a horrible teacher?" "What if I can't find a job?" I am so afraid of teaching. It's not like it's a job where if I'm bad at it I hurt myself or get fired from a huge corporation. When you're a teacher, the future lives of the children in your class are at stake. That's a really big burden to bear. What if I, as a teacher, ruin a little kid's life? Obviously, I want to make a difference and be that "favorite teacher" that gets invited to the kid's wedding when he grows up, but what if I fail? I'm so scared. I'm more scared of this than getting married and buying a house. Becoming a teacher is a daunting task. If there's any teachers out there reading this, please give me some encouragement. Tell me I'm not alone in my little world of confusion.

Sorry, everyone, no pictures for this one.

DIY Wedding Part 1

I spent a lot of the afternoon today working on some DIY projects for the wedding. And, as promised earlier, here is part one of my big before and after post.

First, my serving set. I may try and take it to get it engraved, but we'll see. I'm not too concerned. This was my simplest project, but I still love it.

Before:

After!

Next, is my unity candle set. I just bought a set of plain pearlized white unity candles from Hobby Lobby and dressed them up with ribbon using straight pins. The little pearl in the middle of the big candle is actually a hat pin!

Before:

After! You'll have to excuse the lopsided candle, I have some adjusting to do with the stand - as well as some decorating

My last project of the day, was James' ring bearer pillow.

Before:

After! I got this from Michael's, cut the rings off of it and wrapped it in ribbon, then put the rings back on using a small purple ribbon. I love it!

More to come in the near future! I'll be doing the flower girl baskets, guest book, and guest book pen!

Spots?

The last few days I've noticed these spots on Dudley's head. I thought they were Sadie slobber or he got something dripped on him from somewhere (Oliver has this issue when we're BBQing). I gave him a bath yesterday and scrubbed extra hard on his head (not too hard though!) to see if I could get whatever it is out.

It's still there! But the more I look at it, the more it looks like it is part of his fur! I'm beginning to think Dudley has spots emerging!

If you look really closely at the top of his head, you can see three little spots by his right ear, and a big on by his left... hmm. I'm not sure.






I've never heard of a Dachshund getting spots after not being born with them. It could be his fur changing I guess. Interesting...

I WANT ONE!!!

NOW!!! If I had $550 I would purchase it online, right now, no questions asked. I have been obsessing about it since the moment I saw it and I know I will one day break down if I don't get some serious help, people.

There has been one big thing I've wanted for the house since the very beginning. It ranks above brand new furniture, decorations, even a KitchenAid Mixer. It is an Oreck vacuum cleaner. I LOVE my mom's Oreck and I desperately want one of my own! This 9 lb. beauty (only the base model is 8 lbs. but heck, compared to some of the 50 lb. suckers out there, I'll take it) is amazing! I love how light it is and easy to vacuum with. I tried the infamous Dyson once and let me tell you, I don't want one. Too heavy, too bulky. Second, I'm probably the only one on the planet who doesn't want a canister vacuum. Why? Because of Oreck's amazing system for changing the bag! When you pull the full bag off, it seals the hole so you don't get dust everywhere like you do when you carry the canister out to the trash to shake it out. Yuck!

Also, they have an amazing warranty. Every year for up to 21 years (depends on which model) they will do a tune-up. Change the belts, put a new bag on for free, clean the thing inside out, oil it, etc. It's like getting a brand new vacuum every year!

But, when I saw this, I went over the edge. Drum roll, please... it's a PINK Oreck vacuum cleaner!!!

As in Breast Cancer Awareness Pink!

For those of you who don't know me, my maternal grandmother died from Breast Cancer before I was born, my paternal grandmother is a survivor, as well as my aunt. I'm a Pink freak. If it's pink (and I can afford it) I buy it. I have a Pink apron, Pink spatulas, Pink chip clips, Pink cookie sheet liners, Pink socks, Pink shoes, Pink everywhere!! Rob hates it, but hey, it all goes to a good and worthy cause. But now, I HAVE to have this. Not only is it my beloved Oreck, but it's PINK!!! Okay, enough said. I will own this at some point if it has to break me. Well, even more...

Good night!!

Progress!!

Now the inside of my house is looking like a real house! Rob, Andy, and Dad all spent day yesterday screwing our subfloor down to keep it from squeaking. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the boys working because mom and I were too busy touring the houses going up around us and talking to our sales lady, Brooke. But, I did remember to get pictures of the drywall that is now up inside and the front of the house (which I don't believe has changed much since the last picture I posted). Anywho, on to the important part!

The front - the driveway is formed and ready to pour

Our front porch and door

Looking into the breakfast room standing in the great room (with my beloved breakfast bar - can you imagine if it wasn't there? Yuck!)

The kitchen standing on the other side of the great room looking over the breakfast bar again

The great room standing in the breakfast room (I LOVE our nine foot vaulted ceilings!)

Looking into the master bedroom

The master closet (left) and master bath (right) standing in the master bedroom

Looking down the entryway at the front door from the great room (the door on the right in the hall is the second bathroom)

Now it's really starting to get exciting! I am so nervous about seeing our color choices come together. I'm really not good at seeing the finished product and I really hope they work! They are going to start siding this week so we'll begin to see the outside come together and the cabinets should be here this week too (or was it next week?). I'm just ready to see the finished product!