(i) never stop improving

It is inevitable. Whenever Scott has a break, one of the two of us initiates some kind of home improvement project. I'll fess up and say it was me this time (It's probably always me). I have issues with being content with our house. It is ever changing and evolving... and I like it that way. The issue is, I don't always have the husband power available to make the changes I want. I'm all about DIY and if I could I would do it everything by myself. But less face it, I do not have the upper body strength to move a piece of furniture up or the down the stairs and if I tried I'd do more damage than good! Somethings you have to save for the beefier sex.

This break I want to rearrange our living room. Our living room is an awkward shape, at least to me. It's basically a rectangle and I cannot make it feel cozy. Our TV has dictated the layout because the cable hookup was on one wall. Now the cable is gone. (Scott is kind of mourning the loss because of football but he NEVER watches television, like ever. I guess he liked to know that he could if had time. Oh well!) I want to put the loveseat where the TV is and the TV where the amoire is, and use a chest for a coffee table, and use a bench from parents over where the loveseat was. Oh and don't get me started on the walls... I have big plans but I'm not sure when that will come to fruition. Also, I'm going to try my hand at making curtains. I can do all that without Scott's help, I have to make the most of his time off, i.e. move furniture.

As of today this is what the living room looks like...

 Hopefully, I'll be posting some after pictures soon.

Next item on the list will be fixing the hole in the drywall in our guest bathroom. It's been there for too long. It was there when we moved in over two years ago. The main reason we haven't tackled the bathroom is, EVERY -SINGLE -TIME Scott wants to just rip the whole thing out and make it all fancy. We a.) do no have the money for it or time (let me rephrase... he does not have time) and b.) I don't think we would get a great return on that investment for where we live. I think it would make the bathroom(s) too nice for the neighborhood. Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love that he is a dreamer but in this case I have to bring him down earth. The next house he can gut the bathrooms. Anyway, once we (fingers crossed) fix the hole I want to slap on a fresh coat of paint (leftover from our dining room/kitchen) and put some more flooring down (I think we have leftovers of what is there now).

On another note, we are staying in Virginia for Thanksgiving. Our first with Scott's family since we have been married. I'm looking forward to some down time (not sure how much we'll have if the above happens) but I'm definitely going to miss my family in Georgia. It helps to know I'll be down in a little more than a month. I'm going to make desserts for Thanksgiving. I'll hopefully post the finished products.

Oh and Mia says good night!

{2012} New Year - New Color

Happy New Year peeps!

Scott and I have been busy the past few days. I had yesterday and today off. (Thank you sweet baby Jesus!) Scott has been off as well. (Side note: He goes back to school tomorrow to start his third block of medical school. We're moving right along!) I've been wanting to update several things in our house. We moved in a year and half ago and I we painted every room in the house. We were in such a hurry to get everything done that I didn't put a whole lot of effort into the colors. We ended up with everything being the same color. Can we say BORING? I have wanted to roll up my sleeves and get busy for a while but Scott likes to be a part of these things. Outwardly he is this big ole jock but behind that facade is this little interior decorator. Scott loves HGTV and DIY network. He actually just realized today that we have those two on our cable lineup. The channel hasn't changed since he made this discovery. Anyway, this weekend was the perfect opportunity to check some things of my wish list. I wanted to paint our kitchen/dining room and master bedroom. Scott was not so eager. We compromised to an accent wall in our bedroom. (I did the majority of the compromising!)  Mr. Interior Decorator and I decided on a color called Blanket Brown from Home Depot. Scott painted the wall behind our bed Sunday afternoon while I cleaned. We loved it so much we painted the rest of the room yesterday. The only downside is Scott says it reminds him of chocolate milk which makes him hungry. Haha! Take a look at our handy work below.
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I have a few more things I want to buy to finish the room off like new curtains and lamps. It's a work in progress but that's more fun anyway. We started the New Year with a change and, fingers crossed, this year will continue to be full of them. 

What do you hope for out of 2012?

Katie graduates

This entry is somewhat about Scott and I, but it is mostly because of my sister, Katie.  Katie graduated from Virginia Tech on May 14th!!! Her degree is in communications with a concentration in public policy as well as a minor in political science. All this and she graduated with honors! Needless to say, my family was beyond proud. To celebrate such a huge milestone in her life, I wanted to throw her a party at our place. This is where we come into the picture. I had other, more selfish, motives for throwing her a party. First off, I wanted Scott to clean off the patio, which we never got around to last summer when we fixed up the rest of the place. It was a nasty mess with a broken rusted grill and an even more broken and rusty fire pit along with leaves, an old hose and a tarp that had, well I assume had, creepy crawlers in it. I was not a part of the removal process for that reason. I also wanted to get a patio set from my parents' house. Scott's dad generously gave us his old patio set when we were first married, but we lived in an apartment and had no place to put it. So I let my family use it until we got a place that had a patio. Well, they got attached to it. My family knew it was ours but didn't want to see it go. I felt guilty, but as Katie so wisely put, not guilty enough. (See why she graduated with honors?) I thought having a party would be the perfect excuse to commandeer the patio set since we would need more seating. We borrowed my Dad's truck and loaded it up. Scott and I got the patio looking fabulous. I even planted some plants! (I wasn't born with a green thumb, I'm forcing it.) Guess what happens after we do all this work? That's right, it rains on Katie's graduation day. It was all for nothing or at least in the immediate sense. We had to have it all inside. Which I feel like the rain is partly because of my selfish motivation for throwing the party. We ended up having a really good time, rain or not. Katie's boyfriend Prabhaav (who "secretly" reads my blog) came down from the Washington D.C. area. My grandparents were able to come all the way from Georgia thanks to my Aunt Wanda and Uncle Randy bringing them half way and my Uncle Mark for taking them back. We had the essentials, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, green beans, pasta salad, and Katie's favorite, poppy seed cake. Oh, and of course, some sweet tea. A nap soon followed.

Pomp and Circumstancing

There was no air conditioning...

The Gang

Love Birds

Southern essential

More essentials

Nehi... so retro

Grubbin' it up as Scott would say

Opening the spoils of the day

Proof