Spring is Here!

Once again, I'm sorry I have not posted in so long!!

We really haven't had much going on, just the usual. Chad's track meets started in the beginning of March so that is keeping him very busy on Saturdays. I have to say that it is very nice that his meets are all here in Birmingham because I get to see him on Friday night and Saturday night after the meet. Plus, he gets to sleep at home instead of in a hotel!! It's now 7:00pm on Saturday and he just got home from his meet. It's so much better than when he had to travel!

We recently had Spring Break and did quite a few things to our house. It has been fun, but ALOT of hard work. I know Home Depot and Lowe's are loving us right now. I think we went every day over Spring Break and some days we went twice. Our big project was refinishing our deck. Well, that turned out to take much longer than expected and we are still not done. There was a red stain on it before so we are still trying to get it all off in order to restain it. We also cleaned the wood really well and it looks GREAT so far. As soon as we can get all the stain off we will restain it. Don't worry, we will post pictures when we are finished. We were also hoping to do a little painting to the front of our house over Spring Break, but we ran out of time because of how time consuming the deck was. So, that is what I worked on yesterday and today. I painted the wood around our garage door and our front door. They all need another coat, but they look so much better already. It's amazing what a difference it can make!

I'm just dying to plant some flowers and get all my hanging baskets out of the garage. I love all the pretty colors of the flowers in spring. I also can't wait for our grass to turn green. I fertilized it today so it should start looking better soon.

We have 9 more weeks of school and we are definitely ready for summer!

New and Improved Front Yard

Here is what we did last weekend:

First we (meaning Chad) tilled the soil. It was so funny watching him because the tiller was so powerful that it nearly pulled him across the yard at first. He did a great job!

I forgot to take a real before picture, but this shows mostly what it looked like before.

This is after all the tilling took place. We found some wires that ran right along the driveway so we dug them up, dug a trench, and reburied them deeper in the soil.

Chad the tiller man.

Chad decided that I was a better raker. Since he did the tilling my job was raking. That sure did make my back sore!

We finally got all the soil evened out and had a mess to clean up.

This picture shows what the yard looked like after we laid the sod and trimmed the edges. As you can see we also made a small flowerbed around the mailbox. We thought it would give our house a little more curb appeal.

The final product a week later and after lots of rain.

Here is our yard now. We are very proud of all the work we have put into it. I planted flowers around the mailbox, but we are still looking for something to line it with. We are thinking maybe some small rocks. Also, we can't wait for our grass to turn green, it is still dormant right now. We still need to plant some annuals in the flowerbed by the house and that will give it some more color. Even though it was hard work and took a long time, we enjoyed doing it together and learning as we went!

Sewing Project

I thought I would share my latest sewing project. I made some burp cloths for a friend in our Core Group that just had a baby. Actually, I bought the actual burp cloths and then decorated them. The green one with brown polka dots is made with ribbon and then piping on each side of the ribbon. The piping was a little difficult to work with, but it turned our really cute. The one in the middle is made with polka dot fabric with rick rack around all the edges. I used stitch witchery to make the fabric stick to the burp cloth. That one was the easiest to make in my opinion, but it was also the last one I made so I felt like I had the hang of it. The blue striped one is the first one I made with a little help from a friend and I really like it as well.

It was difficult to find cute ribbon and fabric for boys! I didn't want it to look too girly. I already have some very cute things for some girl burp cloths so I'm looking forward to making some soon.

I have moved everything up to my new sewing room, which is just an old desk in one of our guest bedrooms. It is already much easier to get in there and sew since it's already set up. Before, I had to pull the sewing machine out and set it up everytime I wanted to sew. It should be much easier now. I just need to organize all my things so I can find them easily.

Hopefully, my next project will be a little girl's jumper. I'm a little scared about making clothes, but I'm going to give it a try. I'll post a picture when I do it!

Just a little spring break update...this afternoon Chad and I worked a little in the yard. We sprayed something to kill all our grass/weeds in the front and backyard. Our plan is to till the soil on Friday and then lay sod on Sat. We'll see how it goes! I also pruned all our plants in the front yard, watered them really well, and pulled our potted plants out of the garage. It already looks so much better! I'll update this weekend on what all we were able to accomplish.

Spring Break

This week Chad and I are both on Spring Break! While he will still have to work, we are hoping we will be able to enjoy a few days at home working around the house and on our yard. Since he is away so much on the weekends we don't have much time to work together around the house. Our yard is still in need of some serious attention!

Chad had a track meet today at Birmingham Southern College, here in Birmingham. It rained ALL day long! I went out there for about 6 hours and had to leave before it was over. They were running really behind the schedule and I just couldn't sit out in the rain any longer. I have been home for about 2 hours and he just called and he is still at the meet and the last field event is just starting! I think I may take a nap while I wait for him.

Hopefully we will be able to relax a little and get some much needed rest this week, but also be able to get some work done. It's always nice to have time to spend with him since he is gone so much on the weekends.

On a side note...we finally got our wedding album last week! We are so excited to finally have it and be able to show it to friends and family.

Costa Rica Here We Come...

After researching for over a month and for at least 40 hours we have booked our vacation for this summer to Costa Rica! We will be there for our 2 year anniversary in June. We are really excited about getting away and having time to enjoy each other without the distractions of daily life. Check out our hotel at: http://www.paradisus-playa-conchal.com/
While we are there we are planning on doing a zipline through the rain forest, hiking up a volcano, relaxing at the pool and beach, enjoying the spa and golf course, and possibly some other fun excursions!

Spring Break

Chad and I were both on spring break this past week. It was much needed and at just the right time. Although Chad still had to work throughout the week, we were able to get alot of work done around the house and manage to relax some, sleep alot (OK, I did this more than Chad), and spend some quality time together before the athletes come back and track meets start up again. In the beginning of the week my mom and Roland came to visit. We ran some errands on Saturday while Chad was at a track meet. On Sunday we took them to church, went shopping a little, and prepped the kitchen for painting. Yes, I said painting! On Monday we painted the kitchen a beautiful green color. They left on Tuesday morning and Chad and I painted our "sitting room" which we are turning into our study. I could not have gotten that much done without mom and Rolands help! Thanks! Here are some before and after pictures:


The kitchen before painting. Check out the lovely diamond pattern. While someone spent alot of time on it, it was just not us!

Another picture of the kitchen before painting. The eat-in kitchen area is a gold/tan color if you can't tell.

This is our "sitting room" before painting. As you can see it is a lovely DARK burgandy. While it might be nice for an A&M fan, it was not for us and much too dark for that small of a room.

Mom an I are painting a coat of Kilz on the sitting room walls before painting them.

Chad decided he would help us. He is taping the walls up before painting.

The "sitting room" with a coat of Kilz on the walls. A work in progress.

Here is the kitchen after painting, but still a mess. Looks much better!

The final product in the kitchen-a dark sage green.
The eat-in kitchen. How lovely!

The sitting room. It is a little lighter than the kitchen, but you cannot tell here. Now we notice other changes that we need to make because of the beautiful wall color. We'll start with the couch, it has to go! We will turn this room into our study and are currently looking for a black desk to go in it's place. That beautiful plant and lamp need to go too!

Wow! What a difference. Now we just need to find another place for the exercise ball.

While the painting really lasted until Friday after we did all the touch-ups and got everything picked up and put back in place, it was well worth it to see the difference it made.

The rest of the week was filled with doing taxes, running errands, going to doctor's appointments, and working (for Chad). Chad's parents are coming into town tomorrow and we are planning on cleaning our siding and pressure washing while they are here. Look for that update soon! I will try to take lots of pictures.

Tara

Busy, Busy, Busy

I'm sorry it has been so long since I have blogged. We have had alot going on lately and there is just not enough time in each day. Here are some of the things that have been keeping us busy:

1. Crown Financial Ministries
We are taking at class at our church called "Crown Financial Ministries." It is a 10 week class that looks at what scripture says about money and being a good steward of God's money. Along with each week's Bible study there are also worksheets to complete about debts, budgeting, life insurance, ect. Although the class hs not gone as in depth about finances as we thought it would, it has been very beneficial in teaching us that it is not our money, but God's money and we must been good stewards with what He has given us.

2. House Improvements
Although our house was built in 2000, we are trying to make some small improvements in hopes of increasing the value when we try to sell it. We are extremely SLOW at this because our opinions seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. While this can be very frustrating at times, God is teaching us patience and how to compromise.

3. TRACK SEASON
Track season is here! Samford had their first outdoor track meet last Saturday and will have one almost every weekend until the middle of May. It will be a very long few months, but I hope it goes by quickly. Needless to say, Chad is VERY busy and spends lots of time working in his office or at home. That leaves me to take care of most things around the house on my own. While it is very tough, God knows what we can handle and He seems to give us time to spend together just when I don't think I can take it any longer.

I'm going to try hard to blog more regulary, even if nothing exciting is going on in our lives.

Tara