A Whole Lotta’ Backtracking…

Wow, it’s been a long time! It seems as though whenever I come back from vacation I always get lazy with the blog…sorry.

Let’s start with mine and Shane’s trip to the Dominican Republic. It was fantastic. Eight days, seven nights of paradise. But to be honest, by the last day I was ready to come home…I wasn’t ready to go back to work but I was ready to see the boys and sleep in my own bed. One highlight from the trip was Shane turned 31! Can you believe it?!? Old man. And he isn’t even married!!! (hint, hint, hint, hint, hint) Also, when we arrived in the DR, I turned on my camera to find out that my LCD screen had broken so I am now on the prowl for a new camera. Ugh. Here are a few more pics from our trip:

WILLLLSONNNN! Ha Ha - Get it?

Coming back to work during Thanksgiving week was pretty sweet. It was quiet so I was able to catch up and it was a short week which was even better! For Thanksgiving, Shane and I, my mom and brothers went to my aunt’s house in South Carolina. It’s pretty much a tradition and it was good to see the fam! The remainder of Thanksgiving weekend was pretty uneventful. I. Absolutely. Hate. Black. Friday – so I wasn’t shopping, fo sho. We went to our friend, Lindsay’s, to watch Georgia kick Georgia Tech’s dorky asses on Saturday night and then stopped by Monica and Andy’s (NEW SMYRNA NEIGHBORS – YAY!) on our way home. Stayed up way too late but had a great time!

This week hasn’t been too bad. I took Monday off (I love PTO time) and decorated for Christmas! I did a few things differently with my inside decorations and Shane and I rigged up some outside lighting that I think will remain up all year round. Take a look:The Christmas lights won’t be staying up all year round, but the spotlights probably will. I think they make the house look so dramatic. What do you think? And timers…those are the best things ever. We’ve never put our Christmas lights on timers, but in an effort to be environmentally-conscious this year we opted for automatic timers. Just kidding, this was more like an effort to allow Shane and me to be more lazy and thoughtless with our Christmas decorations. Score.

I am also working on a Christmas decoration project that I found on my new favorite blog. I hope to wrap that up soon and I’ll definitely share pics.

This weekend is the annual Ugly Sweater Christmas Party, so Shane and I are on the lookout for the ugliest Christmas sweaters/vests/turtlenecks/dickies…again, will share those pics.

AND – I have finally purchased the paint for my bathroom! I actually got two gallons of it – not intentionally, but because the guy made two gallons on accident and sold me the extra gallon for $5. I’ll buy anything for $5!

Have a great Thursday!

We're Back!

We're back and trying to get caught up on work and home stuff...don't really have much to say right now, but I'll share a few pics from our trip. Enjoy!

I'll share more later...Adios!

Freshly Painted Doors

I have finally painted the interior of our new side and back doors!

Before:

After:

Dramatic difference, I know. And sorry again for the bad pic...I still don't have my camera back.

A few things to keep in mind when painting aluminum doors:

• Don't tape anything. This is more of my golden rule for painting anything as it makes a bigger mess than it's worth!
• Do the third coat, just to be safe.
• Use a paint that is a primer/paint combination...it definitely saves time!
• Give the paint a couple of days to dry and then apply an even coat of polyurethane. I haven't done this yet, but it will keep the paint from scratching off the surface.

I still need to paint the exterior, but as I mentioned yesterday, Ida has made her way through and left everything soaking wet. I cannot bear the thought of painting and then watching it peel due to moisture in the air, so I'll wait until we are home from vacation.

Speaking of vacation...3 DAYS!!!!

Bad Weather = Crock Pot

Hurricane Ida is making her way through Atlanta, and doing it very slowly since it has been steadily raining ALL day. At about 4:30 p.m., I was kicking myself for not watching the weather channel to know that rain was coming so that I could plan a Crock Pot meal. I'm obsessed with that godly little machine this fall. Since I had to miss out, I thought I would share my favorite Crock Pot chili recipe with you...enjoy!

Classic Beef Chili - 6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 2 green peppers, chopped
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 28 ounces pinto beans, canned, drained
• 14 ounces diced tomatoes, canned
• 2 green chilies, chopped
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons green onions, sliced

Directions

1. Brown the meat in a skillet.
2. Add meat and remaining ingredients to slow cooker.
3. Cover; cook on Low 10-12 hours or High 5-6 hours.

Manic Monday

What a weekend! Here's the abridged version...

Friday: Shane got back from being out of town the whole entire week and we hung out with our friend, Kirn (who had only been to our house once - by the way :)), at a local place. It was fun, from what I remember.

Saturday: Recovery. TV watching. Napping. Then got ready for our friends Austin and Kelly to come over. We hung out for a while and then headed out for a night on the town. Lots of fun and so nice to show them our neck of the woods!

Sunday: Shopping. Shopping. Shopping. Got lots of good stuff for projects and activities...more to come.

And Monday, blah. However, my team at work volunteered with the Atlanta Children's Shelter this afternoon. I was really NOT excited about it, but once I got there and saw the faces of those little children...it was totally worth it and I actually had fun!

P.S. We have only six short days until we depart for the Dominican Republic. I.Can't.Wait.

Seems Broken...Most Likely

I was in training, again, today in downtown Atlanta. During my lunch break, I grabbed my PB&J and headed down to the Ballard Backroom off of Howell Mill Road. This is the outlet version of the popular Ballard Designs and I had heard rave reviews. so I had to check it out for myself.

I walk in and veer to the right but then notice signs that say 'FULL PRICE ITEMS' and then quickly veer to the left where I see the randomly arranged and broken stuff. That's more in my price range. I am mosey-ing through and notice a lamp with a burlap lamp shade...beeline...so cute, but you are $200- outrageous! No thanks. I continue mosey-ing and see the same lamp in green but the shade is a little crooked. I walk over to straighten it up, naturally, and see that it is broken. And only $20! I then have a flash of DIY confidence and pick that puppy up, while holding the top of the lamp so that it doesn't fall completely off, as it is only attached with Scotch tape.

Here is the little beauty that I plan on nursing back to health (sorry for bad pics, had to use my phone):

The base is a little off center...looks like it was repaired with hot glue at one point.

Check that price! Original Price: $199.99; Sale Price $19.99. Holla!

What a steal! I have no idea where it will go, but I had to have it...don't you just love getting stuff like this?!?

The Librarian Yelled at Me

I was in a training class today and got out a little early, so on my way home I decided to stop by the library and drop off a book I had checked out and pick up the next in the series (yes, it's still the Karin Slaughter series and I'm obsessed). I find my book, as well as this month's book club book (yes, I'm just now getting started and our meeting is next week), and proceed to the checkout counter.

I'm greeted by a mousy little guy. I hand him my library card, he scans it and then lets out a really heavy sigh. 'Uh, you have several late fees here that will need to be paid before you can check out another book. It looks like the book you just returned was 43 days late and the two that you returned a few weeks ago were 23 days late...AND, you put an audio book in the night drop.' I am a little taken back by this TOTALLY RANDOM attack so I respond with 'Okay, well how much are the fees, and where should I return audio books in the future?' He informs me that my late fees total a whopping $9.70 and the audio books go in the drop box at the front of the building - DUH!


I get out my check card and go to ask some more questions about the deadlines on my new books, but before I can get my question out he tells me they only accept cash or check. Okkkkaaaayyyyy.....I had cash, but didn't want to break a $20 (yeah, I'm not sure why either...they are sacred, I guess) so I write him a check.


He finally lets me ask about the deadlines and the process around checking books out, since I wasn't properly informed during my last visit, and I swear he was talking so loud as he explained it! Almost like he was showing off in front of the other librarians! I have no problem copping an attitude in a situation like this, but I honestly had no idea what to do...so I thanked him (for the embarassing verbal lashing), tucked my tail between my legs and left the building. The walk from the desk to the exit felt like a mile long.


I have thus learned my lesson and swear to never be late ever again. I put my book due dates on my Outlook calendar at work and on my Google calendar.

I'm sorry....so sorry...I'll never do it again. Swear.

Chill Weekend, Getting Things Done, Movie Review

I hope that everyone had a great Halloween weekend! Shane and I took it easy this weekend...

Friday: Had dinner with the family...lots of wine and good conversation! We didn't quite make it to the movie though. Instead, we headed home and crashed around midnight.

Saturday: Hung out with friend's all day for Halloween and the Ga. v. Florida game...eating, drinking, chatting... It was good to catch up with Dave and Jennie and to see their little boy, Asher, in his very first Halloween costume - so cute! Unfortunately, Georgia lost...but that's not hard to do when you play a bunch of cheating thugs. :) Right, Shane?

Sunday: Cleaned the house and got a lot of housework done! I cleaned out my closet and went through all my clothes and got rid of a huge trash bag full of clothes and shoes. We also cleaned out the hallway closet as well. Now that all of the landscaping is complete, Shane sprayed off the driveway where the fill dirt was and we now have a clean place to park! Afterwards, we finally made it to see 'Paranormal Activity.' The movie was pretty scary and reminded me a lot of 'The Blair Witch Project.' My only complaint is that the ending was a little 'off.' They could have made a small change and it would have kept me up at night. I think that Shane was a little more terrified, seeing that he wanted to sleep with the lights and TV on all night.

This week has been pretty busy so far - I'm in training all day tomorrow and Thursday and Shane is out of town for work. However, I promise to post pics of the landscaping clean up sometime this week. Adios!

Halloween Weekend and Getting Back on Track

Octobers are always very busy months with events, birthdays, Halloween, etc., etc., etc. This weekend will conclude the glorious month of my birth and I am planning to seriously get back on track with house projects and organization. Here is the pl-zan:

House Projects:

• First and foremost, get the remnants of fill dirt off the driveway. My brother has finished the landscape clean up (pictures to come) and now we just need to spray the driveway off.
  Finish my house-related goals that have rolled over for three or more months…so, all of them. Notice how I never recapped September? Totally intentional.
• Rethink the sitting room and guest bedroom but do NOT add this to the goal list or it will never get done.
• Get rugs for the master and guest bedroom. I have a special project that I’m working on for this…thanks to Kel’s sis, Devon!

Get Organized:

• I’ve contacted Closets by Design to come out for an in-home consultation on reorganizing and maximizing space in my closet. Based on price, we can look at doing Shane’s closets as well, but he actually has two closets so I don’t feel so bad. (I have the closet in our bedroom and Shane has the closet in the office and guest room.)
• Clean out the remainder of the closets in the house that have been packed with crap since we had our first party. (Rushing to get the place cleaned up and had crap stuck in EVERY closet and crevice.)
• Clean out the kitchen cabinets and get rid of non-matching or non-used dishes. Why do I need 13 flower vases?
• Go through clothes and donate what I won’t wear.
• Make Shane do the same thing.

While it isn’t a completely fleshed out plan, it is at least a starting point. We’ll see how it goes…

As far as this weekend, tonight Shane and I are having dinner with the fam and then going to see ‘Paranormal Activity.’ I’m not really sure about this movie as I’ve heard really mixed reviews…some said that it was overrated and others said they couldn’t sleep for days. I’ll let you know my thoughts.
Saturday is the big Georgia v. Florida football game, and Halloween!, and we are heading to a friends’ house to hang out and watch the game. And Sunday is housework day – fun.

Does anyone have any big Halloween plans? Have a great weekend!

Birthday Weekend, Landscaping Progress, A Trip to the Mountains, Loss of a Loved One

It’s been a while! Last Thursday was my 26th birthday so this past weekend was quite the whirlwind!

Thursday: You saw my new ‘do that I sported on Thursday. Everyone seemed to like it and I LOVE it. It is so much easier and I feel like it fits me a lot better than the long hair.

My ladies at work got me a fantastic birthday present that I was surprised with when I got in – a gift certificate to my fave boutique, Fabrik. Shane and I went to dinner that evening at a seafood place in Atlanta, Six Feet Under, and then came to a local bar by our house for cocktails and live music.

Friday: Friday morning I received some really sad news that my Uncle Gary had passed away. He was a great uncle and a great man and will be very sorely missed.

Moving to a more positive note, Shane took me shopping for some new shoes. I have a pair of gold flats that I wear with everything, so he insisted that I find a new pair of flats…

And some new boots…
And some new tights…
Friday evening, Shane had arranged a surprise dinner with friends. Thanks Dave, Jennie, Mike, Mandy, Mel, Jon, Lindsay and Tyler for being there! And thanks to my sweet Shane for putting it all together. :) After dinner, me, Shane, Lindsay and Tyler went out in the Highlands and met up with our friend, Patrick. We shut it down (per usual).

Saturday: Touch and go in the morning as we were a little sluggish. We laid around, watched TV, caught up on some shows and then got ready for a night in the Georgia mountains for our friend, Quint’s, birthday party. Another late night, but we had a good time! My brother was also over working on the landscape cleanup and made some really good progress! Gutters were cleaned out, fill dirt was moved and spread, most of the pine straw was spread, and a lot of the rock has been moved under the deck. He should be done in the next week and has done a FANTASTIC job!

Andrea and I with the birthday boy...

Sunday we got up and headed home for another birthday event – family lunch at P.F. Chang’s. I love that place! But sorry, no pics – we completely forgot to get the camera out!

Monday: We left early Monday morning for my uncle’s funeral in South Carolina. I don’t really know how to deal with death, so I’ll just say that I loved my uncle and will miss him greatly. My thoughts and prayers are with my aunt Cindy and my cousins, Jesse and Jonathan.

We are now half way through the week and Halloween is this weekend! Then November…this month is flying by!

New 'Do...

It's all gone...and I love it! (I also look a little sleepy in this pic, but don't mind that...focus on the hair.)

Landscaping Day 1 and Chopping

My brother made really good progress on the yard yesterday. He was able to:

• RoundUp under the deck
• Lay the landscaping fabric under the deck
• Lay the pinestraw around the deck and next to the house

He also got creative and created a landscaping border with the busted up rock. It isn't going to win 'Yard of the Month' or anything but it actually looks pretty good to be functional and FREE!

He's going to come back on Friday and Saturday to finish the rest of the work.

What's the chopping about? Well, I have chopped all of my hair off! What was once this...

Is now MUCH shorter! I'll post a pic tomorrow!

Landscaping By Toph

Well, it's not really landscaping, but my brother (Christopher - who often goes by Topher) has agreed to come over and do our dirty work...literally.

SUCKA!!!! (And I swear he isn't as ghetto as he looks in this pic...:)Love you, brother!) This week, he will take on the following tasks:

• Move the rest of the fill dirt to the back yard and fill in against the house and under the deck
• RoundUp under the deck and lay landscaping fabric
• Move rock (from the concrete pad that we busted up) underneath deck
• Lay pinestraw on top of all fill dirt in the backyard, including where the old concrete pad was and against the house
• Lay pinestraw under azaleas by property line
• Clean gutters
• Pressure wash driveway and back of the house
• Mow, weedeat, edge entire yard

Our hopes are to at least have everything squared away before it gets cold outside because, CLEARLY, Shane and I aren't going to do it. Once these things are taken care of, we can start a new landscaping plan (with a professional) in the spring and there won't be any clean up needed. I'm so excited! Excited to finally have my driveway back without sharing it with a six-month old pile of fill dirt, to stop making excuses for the 40 bales of pinestraw in my side yard, and to stop cleaning the red mud off Beau and Brother's paws when they run straight to the mud after a rain storm.

I'll post pics this week!

It’s Always Something: Tires Edition

It’s always something, right? Shane and I were getting ready last night to go meet a friend that is town for the weekend. Before we hit the interstate, we had to stop by the QT to put air in my tires. My tires are low profile and when the weather changes drastically my tire pressure fluctuates and releases air. It so nicely tells me this by screaming “LOW TIRE” on my screen, dinging every time I get in the car and displaying a hazard symbol. You’d think that it was trying to tell me there was a bomb under my seat, but no…just alerting me that additional air pressure is needed.

We stop to fill up the tire, take the cap off of the valve stem and air just starts shooting out. We try to keep putting air in (not sure why) but it was forcibly shooting out of the valve. Naturally, my first instinct is to assign blame, and let’s just say that I wasn’t putting air in the tires. J We are already running late, but now have to go back home, get Shane’s car, go to Kauffman tire and then head to our destination. So frustrating! I indicate on the form that I am going to call for my car first thing the next morning because I obviously have to go to work. I start freaking out a little, but Shane took me to work this morning, so that all worked out.

Kauffman called me first thing this morning:

Me: Hello?
Kauffman: Hey, this is Wesley at Kauffman.
Me: Hello.
Kauffman: So, we looked at your tires and you need to go ahead and replace the front two. They are almost bald on the inside and that means that more than likely the alignment is off.
Me: Okay, how much is that?
Kauffman: No dialogue needed here…he names off two ridiculously expensive prices.
Me: Uhhhh….okay, well I wasn’t really expecting that. What about the back left tire that had the valve stem issue? (YOU KNOW, THE THING I BROUGHT IT IN FOR!!!!!)
Kauffman: Oh, that’s fine. It’s covered under your warranty, so they’ll replace that stem and if they can’t they’ll just go ahead and replace the tire. You wanna go ahead and do the front two?
Me: I’m going to need to think about that for a bit. I’ll talk to my boyfriend and will call you back.

I was trying to get a valve stem fixed as a warranty item and pretty much got sucked into said ridiculously expensive price for two front tires. Was I looking to spend that money? Nope. Am I looking forward to getting my car fixed and spending money to ensure my safety? Nope. Did God make that valve stem break so that I would know my tires and alignment needed to be addressed? I’m not 100 percent sure, so I’ll say Nope.

On the real, can you convert low profile tires to normal tires?

The Hardware is ON!

The new door hardware was finally installed yesterday! Woo! The doors, besides painting, are finally complete. However, we got off to a shaky start when the installers first arrived…

They knock on the door and before they enter I stop them to ask what they brought with them – I need to ensure that you aren’t coming in here with some brass or another set of silver. They had the bronze and were thus allowed entrance to begin their work.

Everything is smooth sailing until they go to change the hinges and the guys says ‘Um, ma’am? These hinges are the wrong size.’ I just laugh and say, ‘I’m not surprised. They can’t seem to do anything right the first time…’ I believe that the installer had already gotten the scoop on what a pain in the ass my project was because he immediately apologized and volunteered to go to Home Depot. Long story short, he went, they had them, he came back an hour later and installed them. Completion.

Wedding Weekend, Fall Front Stoop, Landscaping Decisions...

Busy weekend this past weekend! Friday night I had dinner with Gretch while Shane had a few drinks with our friend, the groom-to-be, Alan. I came home right as it was starting to pour down rain and attempted to watch a movie, but fell asleep in like 10 minutes.

Saturday, Shane and I got up early to go back out to the Farmers Market for some mums as no fall decor is complete without some mums! I dropped Shane off at home so that he could watch the Georgia v. Tennessee game (and OUCH! is all I have to say...what a tough game) and I went shopping for a while. For me, for clothes and stuff - nothing house-related. I got home, ate a late lunch and started getting ready for Alan and Lindsey's wedding! It was a very intimate wedding, but very sweet. AND - I caught the bouquet...however, I was told before it was thrown that it would be aimed right at me. Nothing like reinforcement from your friends! :) Very pretty bouquet too:

The wedding was over at 10:30, so Shane and I headed back down our way and met up with some friends at a local spot. We had a fun time and were home around 2, which isn't too bad!

Sunday we got up and ate brunch at our fave spot, J. Christopher's. We then went home and started to set up our fall front stoop. First, we had to clean this black junk off of our front steps...not sure what it was but it smelled like mildew. So, it was probably mildew. We then set up our punkins and mums:

We also set some Georgia pumpkins and another mum over by the side door:

After this 1.5 hour project, we got ready to head to a friend's parents anniversary soiree and then over to see our friend's, Mike and Mandy's new house. It was very nice and we are super proud of them!

And on to landscaping decisions...I've decided that we are not going to continue to DIY the landscaping. It's impossible. And we have some things that HAVE to be done before it gets cold outside. Stay tuned for more information on this one...