By Request

Here are some more pictures, by request. The kitchen....




The office. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my grey walls. It doesn't feel "institutional". It is actually quite soothing in there, except for the mess! I never imagined there would be so much paperwork associated with the Lowe's jobs and a small business.



The spare bedroom. I think I will turn this into my piano room. I will put my piano in there and a chair and maybe a bookcase or something. I am going to paint this room again sometime in the future. I don't really care for this color much. It doesn't look like the swatch.



The hall bathroom. This was a project! This is actually the bathroom we made out of 2 closets. We closed in the other one and made it part of the master bathroom, and moved the hall bathroom down the hall. We started from scratch with this one. We had to run new plumbing, electrical, and heating/air. It turned out great. Troy did a beautiful job on all the tile.

O Christmas Tree

Just a few pictures before I go to bed. I have been really bad about taking pictures lately, but I finally took a couple tonight. I will post more later.

Our first Christmas Tree-- I was so excited for this. We got a real tree and it is so beautiful. It also smells great. The picture didn't really turn out well, but it's the best I could do. This was before I got the tree skirt--I will post pictures of the final product later.

A sneak peek at the kitchen. I am still working on decorating it and we haven't done a back splash yet to cover everything on the walls. I loooooove my kitchen and all my appliances. I got a screaming deal on my appliances. I was able to get them through work and actually paid less than what the fridge alone costs at Lowe's. I got a french door fridge, double oven range, microwave, dishwasher, front load steam washer and steam dryer and pedestals to go with them. I also love my kitchen sink. It is a composite granite sink that is brown. I think it goes great with everything.


The dining room and table. I love this table! It has a leaf so it can be for 4 people or 6. I just leave the leaf in. I will post more pictures later.

Finally!!!! Let's Celebrate!

Ok, I know I have a lot to catch up on, and I will, but right now I just want to run around screaming and jumping for joy.......Lowe's is finally set up and will start sending jobs to Troy TOMORROW!! (He is going to be an installer for Lowes now. He will start on floors and then move in the other departments in a few months.) We have only been getting this set up and waiting and sending in paperwork and more paperwork since May. It has been stressful--we have had to put out a ton of money up front for certifications, general liability insurance, worker's comp, phone/fax/internet, etc. Sometimes we wondered if it was worth it, but we also knew Troy was SUPPOSE to do this---it is just amazing how it was placed in his hands. We are both really excited about this. Troy has a crew of 5-6 people so he can have multiple jobs going on at the same time, which is great. Anyways, I was so excited I just had to let everyone know right away! I'll catch up with more posts soon.

Fruit Pizza

For July 4th, I decided to make a fruit pizza. I have made them before, but it has been years. It was so delicious and has become one of our favorite things. Troy talks about it all the time and always asks me to make another one! They are super easy too---just roll out sugar cookie dough into a big circle and bake. Make the "sauce" from cream cheese (I used fat free and it tasted just as good) mixed with sugar and vanilla to taste, and then top with your favorite fruit. Chill for a few hours until it is cold and then enjoy!

Greenville

Troy and I were able to go to Greenville a few weeks ago. We have been a few times before, and I have to say this is one of my favorite cities. I love everything about it! Troy had a certification class on a Saturday from 8-5, so we went up Friday night. We got a great deal on a hotel that was super nice with a separate "living area" (I love staying in hotels--I'm a little weird like that!)

The next day I dropped him off and went exploring by myself. I went downtown to hang out. They have such a beautiful downtown--lots of trees and pretty architecture, and lots of family friendly stores and restaurants. I went to the Farmer's Market they had that morning and got a few things. I got blueberries, corn, beans, and a loaf of Great Harvest bread (the best bread in the world. I wish they had one here). I was really excited to have a great meal, but sadly, the beans were awful and the corn was just okay. Oh well. They had 3 girls playing music in the middle of the market. I sat down for a while and listened and just enjoyed the atmosphere.

Then I wandered over to the park in the middle of downtown. It is beautiful! I could have spent all day at the park. We had a great time and I can't wait until we can go back to Greenville.

Spray Paint is My New Best Friend

So I just recently discovered my love of spray paint--especially oil rubbed bronze spray paint. I have used it before to paint shelves, frames, etc., but you can use it on so much more. I am using it all over my house. Here are 2 of my projects. I will post more projects later. When we put in our chandelier, the ceiling was damaged around the hole and the top did not cover it. We went to Lowes and picked up a small, white ceiling medallion. I spray painted it with my oil rubbed bronze and then we put it up. I think it looks great--it blends in well and you don't even know it is not part of the chandelier.

Another project is my outdoor lights. The ones I really wanted were about $50. I need 6 lights, so that was not gonna happen! I found these lights that were $12.50 each--a much better option. I don't like them near as much, but they still look nice. When I bought them they were this cheap looking aluminum things. I spray painted them, again with my oil rubbed bronze, and they turned out great. Here is the before and after:

Much Needed Before and After Photos

It has been way to long since I have put any pictures of the house on here. This is one of the most exciting transformations. We got new siding on the house! We had to do it--not only because it was this hideous blue color, but the old wood was rotting.

Here is the before:

And the after: (note: this was taken right after the siding was finished, so the garage doors are still blue here...they will not stay like that! Also notice the beautiful new front porch my dad built....love it!)

California

At the end of March, Troy and I were able to go out to California. Becky and Darren bought a house and they are trying to fix it up, so Troy went out to help them with hardwood floors. They turned out awesome. Their house is very spacious and is really nice. They also have great outdoor space. They had a few different decks and patios, as well as some nice garden space. Becky has a few fruit trees, including an orange tree. It had delicious fruit. California has such a nice climate, that you can grow a wide variety of fruits and veggies. Also this time of year was so green and lush. They whole place was beautiful. Troy and I went to San Francisco one day and it was soooo busy! I was sad to see most of the sea lions were gone. Normally there are hundreds hanging around and they are very entertaining. For a few months this year most of them disappeared, but I hear they are all back now. While we were out there, most of my family was able to come to Becky's house. Only Paul and his family were missing and we missed them. We had such a great time just being together and of course taking the boys to the parks--they had a blast!

October 2009--Just a little late!

So, I know these are a little bit late--only about 5 months or so! I was looking through my pictures today and have never put these up, but they are so fun. We went with the Lerch's to pick apples in Ellijay in October. We had such a good time. It was a little rainy that weekend, but that didn't stop us. We stopped in Dahlonega and walked around the town. It was adorable! They had a cute little town square and the best shops ever.

After we left, we stopped at this great pumpkin farm. It was huge and had tons of pumpkins of all sizes. They had itty bitty ones all the way up to huge monsters. They also had a lot of activities and food. It was fun to spend a little time here looking at everything they had.

We finally got to Ellijay and went to Hillcrest farms. They had a big festival going on, which included pig races. Of course we had to stop and watch the pig races! That was interesting, but kind of funny. We finally went out to the fields to get some apples. They were so juciy and delicious. We didn't get a ton of them, but we got enough to make delicious apple pie and apple cider. I had such a good time. I am definitely going back this fall.