Granite Countertops

We LOVE them! Here are some before and after pictures.

Kitchen Before

Sink Before

Sink After

Kitchen After

Next up is our tile backsplash. We think we have picked out the tile. We are installing it ourselves so it may take a while! We'll keep you posted. We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

31st Birthday

Yesterday was my 31st birthday. It was such a great one! My very favorite, of course, was 3 years ago when I had just gotten engaged the day before, but this was definitely up there with the best. I pretty much had a day of doing what I wanted to do, which is a rarity with so much to get done all the time. I started out by going to get a manicure and pedicure. It was so relaxing! I got black paint on my toenails just for fun. Then, my friend, Katie, treated me to lunch at a great restaurant called The Blue Plate. It was very unique and had a great atmosphere. It was so good to spend some time with her in person rather than just talking to her on the phone. She is due with her first baby in about a month, so I helped her organize her nursery after lunch. It looks great so far and it's pretty much ready, but she has been blessed and received lots of gifts so there is alot to organize. After that, I met Chad's family for a quick game of bowling. I did horrible and came in dead last on my team, but I didn't let that ruin my day (even though I'm really competitive). Chad was going to take me to dinner and we had a little time to kill so he took me to the mall!! He never goes shopping with me because he despises it, so it was quite a treat and I loved every minute of it. Then, Chad took me to a nice Mexican restaurant for dinner and we got to have a conversation without the TV on, it was so nice!! When we got back to Chad's grandparents house his family had a cookie cake waiting for me along with birthday presents. They spoil me and always make my birthday special! I got more of my china, stemware, and flatware, which I'm trying to collect. Chad got me a massage gift card and some beautiful pearl earrings that he picked out all on his own! It was so nice to have the day off and spend it with friends and family doing whatever I wanted.

Christmas Party

Tonight we had our Core Group over for a Christmas Celebration. We had such a good time visiting with them and we ate come yummy food from Zoe's. It is always so good to get together with them and just catch up with one another.

Chad and I are looking forward to only 5 more days of school and then being out for 2 weeks! We have been so busy lately and barely even get to see each other. We are looking forward to spending some time together over the break with no stress. We are both like 2 different people when we are not in school. It is always a great time for us.

I hope to update again soon because I have been so bad at posting lately. Until then, I hope you enjoy our new Christmas theme.

Friends..

We have so many good friends, but many of them don't live in Birmingham so we don't get to see them very often. Our friends Leah and Rick who live in Seattle were in Atlanta visiting family for Christmas. Our other friends Katie and Trey who live in Chattanooga were in the Atlanta area also visiting family for Christmas. We were all able to meet up and have lunch and visit for a few hours. It was so nice! All of them were a part of our wedding and they are very special to us! Thanks guys!

Rick, Chad, and Trey

Katie, me, and Leah

I'm 30!

Well, I can't believe it, I'm 30! Chad is very happy that he is not the only 30 year-old in our household now and he does not want me to forget it. For the last few years I have had the privilege of celebrating my birthday with Chad's family and my family so the celebration gets drawn out. It's fun to celebrate more than once! Thanks to everyone for going out of your way to make my birthday so special.

First celebration-Dec. 27th: Chad's uncle Mark's birthday is on Dec. 31st so we get to celebrate our birthday together. This year we each got our own ice cream cake. Yum!!

Second celebration-Dec. 29th: My very own homemade cookie cake-my favorite! Plus a gift bag with nothing in it. My mom wrapped a gift card in the small bag you see in the picture. When I went to open it there was nothing in it. We think the cats got to it!

Thanks for such a wonderful birthday! It is so nice to be able to celebrate with family.

A Wonderful Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year! Here are some pictures:

Our unsuccessful gingerbread house

Christmas morning with Chad's parents and grandparents.

My new pashmina scarf that Teah and Ryan bought me in Prague




Dustin and Shannon-the newly engaged couple

The Pickle Game-We started this last year. My mom hides a small pickle in the Christmas tree and we take turns trying to find it. The one who finds it gets a special gift. Chad found it last year and I found it this year. So far it's a James family sweep. In the picture Dustin is looking for the pickle.

Thanks to everyone for making our Christmas so special and enjoyable!

First Sewing Project...

Here it is! I made 2 pillows this size for my couch and a smaller one for my chair, with a little help of course. They turned out well and I'm very proud of them. I hope to tackle some more difficult items soon. We took a break with our sewing classes during the holidays since everyone is so busy. We hope to start up again in January and learn to make some children's clothes.

Merry Christmas!!

We hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas! We are so thankful for all God has provided for us in our lives. We are so blessed by wonderful friends and family who support and encourage us. We are having a great time in Chattanooga with Chad's family. We will be here a few more days and then we go to my mom's for a few days before heading back to Birmingham. Enjoy the holidays, spending time with family, and get some rest!

Our Christmas Tree

Wishing You a Merry Christmas...

The Christmas decorations are all up and we are about half way finished buying presents. Hopefully this week we will get all the presents bought and my goal is to wrap the ones I have this weekend. That way we can have a stress free week next week with not much to do.

We survived hosting our first Christmas party at our house this past Sunday for our Core Group at church. We spent most of the day on Saturday putting up our lights and decorations outside, which you can see here:

This year we added the wreaths, which I LOVE, and the lights on the small bushes. Chad did a great job cleaning up the yard and putting up most of the decorations outside. We also cleaned the house on Saturday. Secretly, I love having people over because it forces me to clean my house really well and I'm always so glad it's clean when I finish!!! Last, but not least, we decorated our tree on Saturday night and it looks so beautiful. We didn't take a picture yet, but we will try to post one later.

On Sunday I finished some last minute things in the house and made some appetizers for our party while Chad went to the Samford track Christmas party. We worked really hard on our table decor and really enjoyed using some of our wedding gifts that we have not used yet. Here is the table we set up in the study:

We also had our kitchen table set up, but we didn't get a good picture of it. We had a great time visiting with everyone and of course the guys played the Wii for a while. We would love to do it again some time soon.

We are going to Chattanooga for Christmas this year and then to my mom's afterwards for my birthday and New Year's. So, lots of traveling, but we are looking forward to seeing our family and hopefully some friends along the way.

We have officially received 5 Christmas cards as of today and we are looking forward to receiving alot more! We love seeing pictures of all those babies!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year...

I'm so happy that Christmas is so close. I just love this time of year! We are doing well with our decorating. I decorated the house before we left for Thanksgiving and we bought our tree when we got back. Now all we have to do is decorate the tree and put up the lights and decorations outside. We are hosting a Christmas party this weekend for our Core Group and I'm excited because I love having people over to our house! So, we must finish all our decorating by then. Also, our Christmas cards are just about ready to be mailed. Everyday I go to the mailbox hoping to get our first Christmas card in the mail and we have yet to receive one. Maybe tomorrow will be the lucky day. Now I've just got to start buying Christmas presents!! Better get started!