My new family room...

and I must say that I LOVE it. The paint color turned out just how I envisioned it and the bead board is so cute. Douglas did a great job on it. I need to play around with the picture arrangement a bit, but that takes time.

Now on to the kitchen walls.



 
  

This is the life.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all go out on a scorching summer day, strip down and run around in the yard and play with the hose?? The best part was his little swimsuit tan. Such a cutie if I do say so myself.



 
  

Hot, hot, hot.

It is so hot in St. George, UT. The heat makes me crabby and feel like never leaving the house. Then I get cabin fever. It is a vicious cycle :).

And, I am the pickiest painter. I have purchased so many sample colors for my family room wall and there are stripes all across it. One is too yellow, one too blue, one to dark, one too...hey wait, this sounds like a kids book. Anyway, I finally, after five days and numerous trips to the paint store have decided on a color--at least for the present moment.

 
 
  

a cute one with Grandma Dee

  

we love picture time.

  

  

the beginning stages....

  

so what do you think??

one or neither. this color would go through my eating area and part of the kitchen.


  

the beginning stages.

this is the start of putting up the beadboard.

  

did i mention...

that my house is a disaster? we had to move all the books out of the bookshelf and all the furniture. I feel like we are moving in all over again. A little too chaotic for me!!

Home improvement project

so we are in the middle of a big project--bead board and a crown molding shelf in the family room. It will look soooo cool when it gets done. All we have left is the painting part.

And the biggest miracle of all--Douglas and I are still on friendly terms :). Haha, but seriously, whenever we do projects we usually get upset with each other and even without much sleep (late nights learning to cut crown molding) and frustrating moments we have been fairly pleasant with each other. Of course I was just sort of helper girl through all of this and now with the painting it is my turn.

I am also trying to decide on the color for my kitchen. I should post the two options. One Douglas really likes, but I am not so sure if I like it the best. I will also take a picture of the shelf and post it soon.

looking at the cat.

  

atlanta zoo in front of the elefantes

  

back in high school??

why is it, that no matter how old you get, there are experiences in life that make you feel like you are still in hs? Why at almost 28 am I still worrying about saying the right thing, being "cool", having people like me? Why can't I just have the confidence that hey, their loss? I know that I am a great friend to people. I am thoughtful and loyal. Then why am I the one that always has to initiate. I tell ya, I try so hard to call, invite, participate, be happy, friendly, etc. etc. and to what end?? Do people call me to do things? rare. Do people seek me out in a crowd? rare. Do people respond when I make the initiative? rare. Or do I have unrealistic expectations? Are people responding like normal people do? Am I abnormal to expect this? Am I really weird and it is no wonder that no one wants to hang out? Are there many others at home wishing someone would call and invite them to do something? Do other people not feel the need to be social and get out? It just really annoys me and I feel like not even trying anymore. I know it is hard because most people my age around here have 8 year olds and 4 kids, but come on.

Hmmm. and you know what the most annoying part really is? Why do I have to even care?

Am I the only one that feels this way?

True boyhood.

We were up at the cabin this weekend. Does Jackson not look like a total boy--messy face and all. I was taking some pictures of our friends and turned around to find him with the blade of grass in his mouth just chillin. He is such a crack up. Oh, and you can see where he smacked his face in these pictures. Poor little guy.

 
  

a little too big??

I babysat the twins of some friends and when Jackson saw the bouncy seat out the next morning, the first things he did was climb right into it. He is so funny.

  

Big Fat Lip

I took Jackson swimming today. When we were done I wrapped him up really tight in his towel to dry off. When I went to dry off he tried to walk away, tripped on the towel and with no hands to catch him, fell flat on his face on the cement. We were really lucky because, although it bled a ton, his teeth were fine and it wasn't cut wide open. He will definitely have a fat lip, but hopefully nothing more than that.

take time to smell the roses...

  

Back in the canyons

So, for anyone that hasn't been to southern utah, it is one of the most beautiful places. The big red mountains and rock formations are awesome. Today I finally got to go canyoneering with Douglas again. This is his passion and since last year I was nursing and the year before pregnant, it was finally my chance. We did a canyon called Pine Creek. It is relatively short and easy and I was amazed that I didn't get freaked with some of the long repels. It was great spending time with Douglas doing what he loves to do the most.

try this one.

style

this is the style...

http://www.patemeadows.com/cufftop.htm

window treatment fabric

Just found this in Georgia. This will be the fabric for the window treatments in my kitchen, eating area and family room. I love it.

 
 
  

Hello from Georgia!

Hi! I am on my last big trip of the summer. It has been a crazy month with Christian's wedding, gma's 90th birthday and this trip. I feel like I have been traveling in one sort or another for two months. As much fun as I have had, I will be glad to be home again and able to get on a normal schedule.

We are out visiting Douglas' parents. Actually D stayed home to continue working so we can live the life we have become accostomed to :), but Jackson and I got here on Thursday and will stay until Wednesday. We had a bunch of family in town until Thursday to celebrate my gmas 90th birthday. It was great to have all of my siblings (except Greg who is on a mission in Spain) here to visit for that. We have so much fun when we get together.

Here in Georgia Douglas' sisters and my nephew are in town as well. We went to the Georgia Aquarium today which was amazing...the largest aquarioum in the world. They had one tank with 5 Ballooga whales in it--HUGE!! It was really cool. Jackson liked it a lot, although at every tank I had to make him touch it so he would realize that it was glass and nothing would get him. He was a real trooper and crashed in the car on the way home. He is still taking two naps a day so missing one really throws him off.

We went shopping yesterday and as the sucker that I am, bought too much and have buyers remorse. I will have to return some stuff today. I wouldn't be so worried except that when I was in CA two weeks again I spent a ton on clothes and truth be told Jackson is pretty set until next summer.

They have this fabric remnant shop here in Atlanta and you can find some great fabric for drapes if you hit it at the right time. I will go and hopefully find some good stuff for my house. I really need to make some curtains for Jackson's room and my great room. They have nada like that in St. George, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Well, I think I am going to go take a nap--I am on vacation, so I should take advantage of it.

Happy Fourth

Happy fourth one and all. Hope you have a fun day.