A Big Day of Celebration

On this day three years ago, I married my very best friend, and I love him more now than I did then. Our love has certainly grown over these past three years, and our lives have changed a lot since then.

I got a teaching job and finished my Master’s Degree. Colby became an Advanced EMT and went to more classes {near and far} than I could have ever imagined. We got a dog and bought a house.

Now, three years later to the date, we celebrated the coming of our first little bundle of joy with my first ever baby shower in my honor at school. Did I mention that we only have two days of school left?!?! Can you sing “School’s Out For Summer”? You know you sang that like Alice Cooper. If you didn’t, you should be ashamed.

Anyhow, the ladies of my grade level hosted an amazing shower that left me with a bundle of gifts that we are counting our blessings for. We are so thankful for so many people that have taken the time to make this baby transition as easy as possible.

The décor and food was way more than one would expect in the school library. The lovely ladies in my grade level can take all of the credit for that. Absolutely lovely and delicious!

And how fitting that my favorite flower was chosen to be a part of the décor as well!

Then, there was the cake….french vanilla…..and it was decadent. Super moist!

Thanks to everyone who made my day today! For a week with a rough start, this sure did turn it around!

10 Bits of Randomness

{One}

It’s finally set in that this baby is coming and is coming soon. We’re three months away! I can’t believe how quickly all of this has gone by. I’ve been busy planning out the nursery, getting things ordered, and making plenty of lists of all the things that need to be done in there before I’m fully satisfied.

The fabric for the curtains came this weekend, so now it’s up to me to hand them over for someone to make them for me. One step closer! My mom is ordering the crib this week, and I’m hoping for a sale to come up at PB Kids before I order the bedding. That might be like asking for a miracle!

{Two}

Zeb turned one! It seems like we were just getting picture of him and trying to decide which one we wanted. Of course, we pretty much knew he was the one for us right away. Sometimes he makes us question our sanity, but we love him anyway. Luckily, he’s slowly but surely getting better behaved. I just hope this is a trend that continues.

{Three}

Colby has been hard at work in the yard lately. That horrible stump is now gone thanks to Colby and one of our dear and generous friends. Colby’s new stump grinder is awesome! It’s easier to convince your wife that you need a stump grinder for the business when the big, ugly stump in the backyard can be made to disappear!

And the stump now….

Now, we just need to plant a tree and give some organization to the plants around it. I don’t know if we’ll ever get this giant flowerbed landscaped!

{Four}

Colby and a few friends around to help have been trying to get the posts ready for our new privacy fence! When that thing is done, I might be doing a little dance. For once, we’ll actually have some privacy and not be giving passers by the opportunity to sneak a peek inside our house from the street. Not to mention the fact that our neighbors will finally get some peace and quiet! Hallelujah!

{Five}

Colby also cut down the azaleas alongside the fence by the road, so our yard is kind of looking like a train wreck. Hopefully, the end is near and things will be better than ever! In the mean time, it may stress me out in this in-between stage.

{Six}

This week is Teacher Appreciation week. As a teacher, I can definitely say that it is a nice little pick-me-up when people just do something thoughtful to say thank-you for taking care of their children during the day and for teaching them and preparing them for the future. Don’t forget to thank your child’s teacher! A simple thank-you note does the trick!

I must give a big shout-out to our PTO and the 4th grade parents! Today, we had an awesome food spread of yummy finger foods….right up a teacher’s alley!

Yesterday, we got this bottle of smell-good soap.

We are certainly not complaining, and I must say that the consensus is the same for all of the teachers I’ve spoken to.

{Seven}

My first baby shower is this month! What?!?!?! I can’t believe it is already time for that. I totally can’t wait though! Showers just make it that much more real! Especially since he’ll actually have things at our house and in his room finally!

And we even had a baby gift surprise this week that totally made my day!

{Eight}

I had my first hydrangea bloom….little bitty or not…it still counts!

{Nine}

I have had a good run in this pregnancy so far, but I believe I’m finally entering the uncomfortable stage. Some days I feel great and could easily forget that the little guy is in there, but others like today really take a toll on me. The months of being semi-skinny are over, and the baby bump is making its appearance. No pictures….sorry. You’ll be lucky if you see too many of those. With the ever-growing baby bump, there comes the pains of stretching and making room for the little guy to hang out for another three months.

{Ten}

We have picked a name! And it is…..

Something I’m going to keep a secret until the very day he is born!

Since I haven’t got to share news about the little man in the way I planned thus far, I figured I could have some reign over that.

His initials, however, are LRL {first, middle, last}. 

Have fun guessing until then!

Just a Swingin’

And just putting that as the title made me think of this…

John Anderson- Swingin’

Colby and I have this lovely area in our yard beneath a giant oak tree that was used by the previous owners as a place to swing. Luckily, my mom donated a nice wooden swing to us to put there.

For the past week or two, Colby and I have spent more and more time out in the yard….swinging, playing with the dog, talking about future plans for the yard and for life. It really is a lovely spot that I’m sure will hold lots of memories in the future.

The problem is that it’s not very easy on the eye. As a matter of fact, all of the flower beds in the back will be getting some attention very soon to spruce the place up. Thanks to an amazing BIL we got the great idea to move the flower beds out further and make it surround the swing area more on that side of the yard. Otherwise, it looks like we just stuck a swing in the middle of the yard. 

I still haven’t been happy though. The swing is being held up by three posts. It serves the purpose, but it’s not appealing at all.

And what can remedy that? Anything that resembles this…

Click on any of the pictures to be led to the original sources.

A painted or stained pergola with some type of vine growing up and above it. The second and fourth examples are my favorites.

Now, if I can just talk the husband into creating it….

What do you think?

Spring is finally here!

And it actually looks like it might be here to stay! Seriously, that makes my eyes light up. When spring comes, the flowers bloom, and the flowers are definitely blooming around here.

And my favorite oak tree has beautiful green leaves again! I love looking up into it when it’s so green and lush.

I wish spring could be the permanent season. I think I might be able to sacrifice some other miserable seasons if it could be just like it is now all the time. But then again, we probably wouldn’t appreciate it like we do if we didn’t have the other seasons too.

Like I shared with you in my last post, we made a quick visit {because I could stay there all day} to Lowe’s to stock up on some flowers for my front porch containers. They’re still in the growing stage since I always buy my flowers when they’re smaller since they are cheaper and grow rather quickly. Patience with this can go a long way.

For my {now} white pots by the front door, I went with a purple, pink, and white color scheme with a hint of light green thrown in within the darker green leaves.

The flowers are as follows:

1. Kalanchoe   2. Celosia   3. Petunia   4. Coleus

Then, I filled the containers are my front steps with another color scheme of flowers. In hindsight, I might should have just went with the same thing, but I still like it, and I think it will look even better once the plants fill out and get some height on them.

With this planter, I went with a red, white, and somewhat blue theme since I thought it fit the classic structure of our home {and our standard American flag hanging in the front}.

And the flowers that grace this planter include a little bit of Salvia {see below}….

A baby Ageratum…..

And some begonias {red and white} on either side of the Ageratum…

Here’s a couple of tips when shopping for plants for containers:

• Keep the plants together in the buggy when choosing your plants. It makes it easier to see what you actually have and how well they will look together.
• If you want to buy smaller plants to save money like I do, look around at the plants in their full grown state that will probably be around the garden center. This will help you see what it will be once it is grown.

And you might not believe me, but that list tip definitely helped me decide where in the containers I was going to place my plants because I could actually tell how big they would get and what they do when they are bigger. You need to know if they grow taller or cascade over the side of a pot. For instance, you sure wouldn’t want to put salvia in the front of a container because it grows straight up and pretty tall.

I hope these tips are helpful to you and that you are enjoying this wonderful weather as much as I am!

And I almost forgot….this checks another item off of my 101 list! Goodbye, number 75!

A Check-Up & Check-In

This week has been fairly busy, but relatively uneventful. Meetings and a doctor’s appointment pretty much sums up my week. Even though it’s been rather uneventful, I am absolutely beat. I guess I was spoiled from a week of rest called spring break.

Colby and I went to the doctor on Tuesday, which always gives an excuse to stop by somewhere to shop while we are down there. Living in a small town definitely has perks {like a laid back lifestyle}. However, the downside is that you can’t just run to Lowe’s or T.J. Maxx or any decent clothing store {or any store} with a wide selection of whatever it is I’m looking for.

As far as the doctor goes, I checked out just fine. I’ve gained a total of two pounds since my first weigh-in. While I’m sure some people think I’m watching what I eat and such, it couldn’t be more from the truth. I haven’t changed a thing from how I usually am {pregnancy or no pregnancy} other than increase that vitamin and water intake. Even though I’ve only gained two pounds, the bump is becoming a little more pronounced as of this week.

He was pleased with me though since all of my tests are showing up great. I’ve never been a gal to go to the doctor, so this experience has had me poked and prodded more than any time I’ve been my whole life. It’s all worth it for the little guy though. He also told me that my due date will not be pushed back like we thought it might. My due date will remain as we first thought….August 10th. Woohoo!

Afterwards, we did what I really wanted to do and that was to go to Lowe’s to check out the flower selection.

Pure heaven!

We stocked up on plenty of flowers for my front containers that sit on the steps and by the front door for now. There will be a reveal and details about all of that once the weather starts looking a bit cheerier. Rain and dampness doesn’t allow for decent pictures, so I’ll hold off for now.

We also looked around for good options for the backyard. Trees, of course. We have an ugly stump from what I’m sure was a gorgeous tree at one time. Now I’m in the market for something that will provide shade and be a nice focal point.

In other randomness…..

We are looking at finishing off the privacy fence in our yard. Hallelujah!

General Hospital {the soap I have watched nearly my whole life…..mom and grandmother both watched it} celebrated 50 years this week! I loved every minute of the classic characters who built the show coming back.

I can’t wait to go to the beach! Warm weather is definitely my friend.

The airboat is hopefully sold as of tomorrow!

And I’m so glad tomorrow is Friday! I will be resting and relaxing this weekend! Be back soon!

A Week of Rest and a Weekend of None

I was on spring break this past week. It’s one of the perks of teaching school. From day one of spring break, my time off kind of looked like this….

Weekend……….busy!

Week……………lazy!

Weekend……….busy again!

But back to work today!

On the first weekend I was off, Colby and I completed some of those chores around the house that just need to be done after the winter season is finally done rearing its ugly head. When the weekend was over though, the rest of the world went back to work {including my lovely husband}.

No vacation for us this year! And the weather wasn’t warm enough for this chick to go to the beach….typical spring break weather {a sudden couple of days of cold}.

But when the weekend rolled back around, the weather perked up, and we were out and about again. Colby’s brother and SIL came to town to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord! As always, we went to the farm to enjoy the scenery and some good cooking.

The chef for the night was my BIL, and shrimp, potatoes, mushrooms, and corn on the cob were on the menu {and some bread, of course}.

These were some of the biggest shrimp I had ever seen! I had to enlist Colby’s help in shelling the darn things. I was a bit intimidated by their size. I’m not going to lie.

The food did not disappoint. And my father-in-law wasn’t disappointed in his catches of the evening either.

 

And what’s Easter without an Easter basket? A big thanks to Dot, my MIL, for our lovely filled baskets full of goodies for us and the baby.

And I can’t forget Aunt Abby and Uncle Judd either! The Velveteen Rabbit will now be gracing the bookshelves for Baby Langham.

The following day we got up early to celebrate our risen Lord! Hearing the Lord’s word, beautiful traditional Easter songs, and fellowship among others really does the soul good. I can’t imagine not living my life without the Lord! And I’m beyond grateful for the most abundant blessing anyone could ever receive {the forgiveness of our sins through dying on the cross}.

And for those of you who are wondering….I’m 20 weeks now! Half way there!

Afterwards, we indulged in a traditional Easter lunch and headed out to my grandparents’ for the egg hung {which almost wasn’t}. Apparently, we all need to pitch in next year and buy eggs for the kids. And maybe enlist some different egg hiders….haha!

In the end though, it was a real success! Despite its busyness, it was a terrific weekend! I can’t wait for the time when we’ll have our little one to chase after and help find Easter eggs with. Our day will come though.

How do you spend Easter? About the same way? Either way I hope you had as blessed a day and weekend as we did!

House Goal Number Five- Check!

I can’t believe it, but I’ve been doing a superb job in accomplishing these house goals that I set for myself this year. I told myself that if I could at least accomplish one goal a month that I would be satisfied and so far, so good!

We’ve gotten our living room furniture {two couches and side tables}; we’ve gotten rid of the disgusting blue carpet and replaced it with neutral, plush carpet {major accomplishment}; and now we’ve gotten a large rug for the house.

Now I’m going to be completely honest with you. This is not the rug of my dreams or perfect quality, but when it became available it was hard for me to pass it up for $50, especially since it was going in the den where it will get the most traffic and the dirtiest.

You see, my sister bought this rug at the good ole Dirty Chicken {known to most around our town as Dirt Cheap}. If you walked in there, you would understand why we call it the Dirty Chicken. At times, you can find some terrific things, but you have to sort through the gigantic mess that is thrown up on the shelves in a very messy, unorganized fashion. Sadly, the customers do not help the situation either. That’s beside the point though.

She bought the rug, brought it home, lived with it for a little while, and decided it didn’t go with the colors in her house. She offered it to me, I was wishy washy, and she {and her lovely husband} brought it over to the house to let me see if I would like how it looked. I was pleased and couldn’t pass up the deal.

Since it was so cheap, I haven’t totally freaked out when my husband brings in wood or walks on it with dirty shoes. I have spot cleaned it, and you wouldn’t believe how easy the stains came out. I basically just gave it a squirt of OxyClean and wiped it with a damp rag. Gone! Just like that!

Since we put the rug down, I have become a freak about the floors staying clean. I can’t stand to see tid bits of junk on it. It was harder to see on the brick floor, but trash shines like glitter now that we have this new addition.

The Before {with Christmas décor}:

The After:

Now, we just need to get some new chairs! And figure out what to do with that mantle!