My Favorite Things

1. Coffee Toffee Twisted Frosty. I never should have opened this can of worms...now I cannot stop thinking about how I need one around 2:30 every afternoon.
2. Sitting on the back porch in the evenings...watching the fireflies and listening to the crickets.

3. Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. I could tell you all the reasons I love this book and the ways it has changed my view of the world, but that would take more reading that you are willing to commit to. So, my suggestion - just read the book. You will not regret it. I GUARANTEE IT!
4. Roseanne. We have been watching this on TV Land at night lately. I forgot how funny this show is! Not to mention that it brings back lots of good memories of living at home when my Mommy cooked and cleaned for me and all I had to do was watch Roseanne after I did my homework in the evenings.

5. Shark. Makes cleaning up the many (and I do mean MANY) furballs my kitty leaves behind every few minutes from of the floors.6. Infusium 23 Shampoo & Conditioner. My newest shampoo addiction. I like to get the (colour)ologie formula in the shampoo and the (moisture)ologie formula in the conditioner.


7. Cascade 2-in-1 Action Pacs. So convenient.

8. Homemade Pizza. I buy the pre-made pizza crusts at the grocery, add some sauce and my favorite toppings. Bake until the cheese is melted and then switch to broil just long enough to crisp up the crust and brown the cheese.

9. Storage. After 2 years, we were finally able to empty our storage unit and quit paying someone to keep stuff for us that we obviously do not need. Our new house boasts 3 attics and lots of extra closets. I am predicting I will have all of them filled up in no time!

10.Parking in the garage. In the winter I am certain a frost-free windshield will prove to be to be just as nice as the cooler vehicle I am enjoying this summer due to my car's new abode.

Teaser...

Many projects coming this way...here are a couple of hints:

Decorating Deliberations

We ordered our couch this weekend. They are estimating that it will be in in 2 weeks. I am keeping my fingers crossed since my parents are coming in town and we have no living room furniture for them to sit on until it arrives.

In the meantime, we are working on getting their bedroom ready. Still need a bedskirt but once I am done with that, get the curtains hung and one of my projects (upcoming blog) completed for the room, they should be just about set.

We also found some rugs for the living room and dining room. We got home with this one and think it is a tad too small. It is 5x8 but I am afraid an 8x10 will be too big. Any thoughts?
I put the first holes in the walls...the kitchen was the victim this time.The man room is in transition. We need a red couch cover, leather chair and window treatments. But for now, I think it is suitable for Guitar Hero and napping.
We made a turn off of our original decorating path while at Pottery Barn Saturday. All this time I had been planning to have a traditional/cottage style living room with soft muted colors a la this pillow:
then we found this pillow and decided to take inspiration from it instead...
In case you can't tell there are still soft blues in it. We bought these to be used as a pop of color on the couch, but still plan to keep the rest of the room pretty neutral with blue and brown. Who knows what we will end up with when we are done!

Love this rug from Pottery Barn!
And this one from Mazer's for $200 less. Still trying to decide. Mazer's return policy isn't very friendly...so we may be rethinking things.

Lots of decision and purchases left to be made but it is fun seeing things come together!

Moving on up...

Two weeks ago Saturday, eight of our wonderful friends helped move us into our new home! We are so blessed to have such great (and muscular) friends that were willing to give up their Saturday morning. Because of all of their awesomeness we were able to finish in about 2 hours (driving included). Impressive, eh? I told you our friends are wonderful! Mike and Jessa pulled double duty by moving AND taking pictures. Here are a few photos of some the hard work being done...

(A picture form Mike's perspective.)

(Left to Right)
Lee & Laura Davis, Ben, Trey McKinney, Bret & Lanie Walters, Bethany Faucett, Jessa & Mike Mullen.

Thanks to everyone who helped!

Graduation Season

I've been working on announcements for some very special graduates. Check out The Paper Nest blog for more...My beautiful sister graduated this past weekend. It may have been my proudest moment yet. I adore her and was so proud to see her graduate from the greatest university in the country!

Her best friend (and my surrogate sister), Kacie, also graduated this past weekend. I did her announcements as well.
I am so proud of both of them and look forward to the many more accomplishments that are coming their way.

Zack Morris is Back!

Calling all Saved by the Bell fans!

After yesterday's story, I thought we could use a little cheering up around this blog. Check THIS out!
(You have to watch the video in the middle of the article.)

Dani Lierow

The first question I have when I get to heaven will be, "Why do children have to suffer?". Followed with, "How can Your grace be sufficient for the people who cause that suffering?". I am not doubting my Father's wisdom, but my human mind will never understand how this kind of thing happens:

The Girl In the Window is a story of unimaginable ignorance and amazing love and rescue. It reminds me of my story - of all of our stories. God saved me when I was filthy with sin and is showing me how to be loved every day.

Click on the link above or the picture below to find out what I am writing about or click here for audio coverage.

Ants in My Pants-ry

We woke up this morning to ants in our pantry!
Now this is frustrating for several reasons.
1) We aren't even all the way moved in yet.
2) We have been battling them all week and now they have invaded my sacred food haven.
3) My husband is a bug freak. He HATES them. It is his mission in life to kill them. All of them. He has been a little army man patrolling the house armed with a bottle of Windex (his weapon of choice) ever since he spotted the first one.

We are trying to determine our long term plan of action.

I have been given a list of household remedies to try:

• Sprinkle cinnamon where you see ants congregating to get them to back off speedily.
• Fill a squirt bottle with plain white vinegar or 50% apple cider vinegar and 50% water and spray down surfaces where you see ants a few times a day.
• Sprinkle black pepper wherever the ants are marching, taking care to find their entry/exit point and sprinkle pepper in that crack as well.
• Shaklee’s Basic H (a nontoxic soap made of soybeans) can be watered down and sprayed where ants are entering/exiting to keep them at bay (this formula may bubble paint so it’s best to use it on counters and other soap & water friendly surfaces).
• Placing bay leaves in corners and cracks where ants emerge can immediately run them off (and they can be left behind canisters and in corners for long-term ant repelling).
• Substituting garlic cloves for bay leaves is also said to work.
• Spray them with Windex. Kills them immediately but does not deter them from coming back.
• Spray exterior of house with Listerine. Do this around the foundation and it is said to keep them away for 2 weeks.

I called our local pest control company this morning and am getting an estimate on having them put a hit out on our little friends. One way or another we will be rid of these critters before the weekend. Mark my words!
I'll let you know how it all works out.

My Favorite Things

1. Bath & Body Works disinfectant wipes in Cotton Blossom. No more stealing wipes from Chick-fil-a for this girl. I have purchased my own and they smell great!

2. Lowe's. There are so many things for a new home owner to spend money on in that store it is ridiculous!

3. Coarse Microplane. I use it for many things, but my favorite is grating garlic. No more trying to finely chop a tiny littly nub of garlic. Just grate it straight into the dish you are preparing.

4. Diners, Drive-ins & Dives (Triple D) with Guy Fieri. Challenge: Try to watch it without drooling all over yourself.

5. Graph paper. Trying to find the right furniture is hard. Not only do you have to find the perfect fabric and shape but you also have to make sure the scale of the piece is right for your space. Solution: Graph paper. I measured all my rooms, drew them out on graph paper (one foot=2 squares) and then did the same thing for all my furniture options. I cut out the furniture and arranged them in the corresponding graph-paper-rooom. Now, I realize this is not a new concept and I certainly did not invent this strategy. But did I say I did? Nope - just that it is one of My Favorite Things.

6.Monogrammin' Momma. One of my very dearest friends, Martina Penter, has opened her own monogramming business. Her creations are totally adorable and super affordable! You must check out her blog!

7. Blue Bell Groom's Cake Ice Cream. As has been stated many a time on this blog, I do not like sweets. Yet they continue to keep appearing my MFT Lists. I think this is due to the fact that when I find one that I really like, I seem to find it to be a blog worthy discovery. Well Blue Bell ice cream is definitely worthy of another MFT list. In a previous MFT list, I mentioned their banana pudding flavor. This time I would like for all of my loyal fans (maybe I should warn local grocery stores of the onslaught of customers they will receive after this blog is published?) to try the Groom's Cake flavor as well. I could go on and on about the wonder that is Groom's Cake ice cream, but I will let it speak for itself. Now what are you waiting for? Go try some already! Speaking of ice cream...

8. Ice Cream Cones. Growing up, I was a strange kid (pause for the "Amen!"'s) and didn't like ice cream cones. (I also didn't like Kool-Aid and still don't, but we will save that and the drama of a kid who doesn't drink that stuff trying to find something to wash down their cookies at VBS for another time.) ANYWAY....I would always request my ice cream to come in a bowl (or cup if need be). But in my old age I have found the beauty in ice cream cones. 1) You can eat them with one hand. 2) They add a little something extra to the ice cream flavor. 3) No clean up - your ice cream container is edible!9. Waking up to a sunny room. We have a summer home. For the next month, we will be splitting our time between our house and our aparment. Hmmm...that doesn't sound as good as "summering" somewhere. In the meantime, we have our stuff spread between a storage unit in Vestavia, an apartment on 280 and a house in McCalla. Our bedroom curtains are still hanging in said apartment. Our dark-brown-velvet-keep-out-all-the-light-in-the-morning-curtains. So when we stay at the house we are naturally awoken by the sunlight streaming through the windows. I am actually growing to appreciate this. It is a much more natural and gradual way to wake up and seems to add a little extra spring to my step!

10. My neighbors. They are great. Love them. (knock on wood)

Our First Night in the New House

Friday night we spent our first night in our new home. We even took Marley with us to make sure our family enjoyed this special occasion together. Keep in mind we have no furniture or mattresses in the house. So we basically had a slumber party in our bedroom floor with some blankets, an old TV, our travel DVD player and a copy of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It was fun! Definitely not the best night's rest, but fun!

We tried out the pizza place down the street and were pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Admittedly, we were both anxious about moving farther away from our favorite pizzeria, Davenport's. But I would have to say that All Original Pizza in McCalla is a close second!

Marley hasn't quite figured out the new house yet. There were a lot of new sights, sounds and scents for him to take in. He is a scaredy cat in his own surroundings, so the new atmosphere made him extra jumpy. He was literally jumping at his own shadow.

Saturday morning, I woke up and couldn't find the little rat anywhere. I looked all over the house and then spotted these little pieces of fuzz traling from the hallway, through the dining room and up the stairs. I couldn't figure out where they had all came from but when I reached the stairs I looked up to find Marley standing at the top covered in them. Apparently he had found the small door in one of the bedrooms upstairs that leads to the attic. It looked like he had fun playing in there while we were sleeping. Note to self: Lock the attic access door.

I was finally able to get a picture of our finished house in the daylight. I took this picture while a pot of water was coming to a boil in the kitchen. I ran out, snapped this shot and ran back in. But I was too late, the water was already boiling over. Another note to self: Gas stoves boil water faster than electric stoves.

The lighting in this photo makes the house looks beige. It is gray with black shutters and has an American flag coming soon.