Girls Weekend in San Antonio, TX!

I am FINALLY getting the chance to breathe and write a blog about our fabulous girls weekend in San Antonio, Texas! YEAH it was so much fun!! I know you are all just dying to hear about it ;) On Mothers Day of this past year our whole family including g-ma & g-pa pitched in to give mom a weekend with her girls to go hear Beth Moore in San Antonio. (If you missed see the post of us giving it to her click HERE -Tara posted a video of it!) We've all been waiting 3 months for it to come, and it went by so fast!

Friday morning mom & Tara got on their 6 am flight to meet me in Atlanta around 8. We all had breakfast together at Atlanta Bread Company then hopped on our plan to San Antonio. The plane ride was a little bumpy (being air tran!) but I think the best part was when the plane started leaking water on my head.... No joke I had to use my blanket as an umbrella. Thank heavens we arrived safely and hailed our first taxi... Which then brings us to "Mac". Now I know it's not normal to get the cell phone number of your taxi driver and call him all weekend anytime you have to go someplace, but that's what we did. He was SO nice and loved driving us around. He even came and saved us from walking in the rain one day... Sadly we never got a picture of him.
Once we arrived at the Marriott Riverwalk, we checked in to our gorgeous room on floor 26! (Kyle let us use his Marriott points and since he's a gold member we were upgraded to a suite with a private balcony overlooking the riverwalk).
It was our first time on the riverwalk so we immediately went to go walk around down there and found a cute tex-mex place to eat lunch called Rio-Rio. It was delicious and such a cool atmosphere being on the water like that. We walked around a couple shops then decided to take a boat ride through the river.

We also saw the ALAMO!

After that was finished we headed over to the Alamo Dome for MY FIRST Beth Moore Living Proof Live Conference to start. (the Living Proof Live Blog is THIS)

**Tara you know I would NOT leave out this story!**
SO since we were part of the "Siesta Fiesta" (a blogger group who got to meet Beth Moore & her daughters privately at the end) we were let in early through the back. Tara told us to follow her, so mom & I did as we were told. We see Tara walk straight past where we were supposed to sit (the upper level with the other siestas) and get this smirk on her face and keep walking. Down she goes to the floor level. Down she goes to the 1st section. Down she goes to the 2ND ROW!!!! And there she plops. Mom and I sit down next to her, totally ready to get busted trying to hide our bright yellow wrist bands that say "SIESTA FIESTA". Mom and I could not stop fidgeting out of nervousness... Tara got the biggest kick out of it. That's right there were 10,000 people at this event, and we were sitting in the second row. Praise the Lord no one kicked us out, but we sat directly behind some well known Christian ladies... Big Mama, Boo Mama, (bloggers) and Kelly Minter and Vicki Courtney (book authors). Not to mention once Beth Moore came out, she made eye contact with me SEVERAL times b/c we were right in front of her.... it was amazing. Anyways the music was so great- everyone in the worship team is so talented!
Once her teaching was over we headed back to the Riverwalk to eat some dinner at a well known Italian restaurant called Paesano's. It was absolutely delicious! Dad had given mom some money earlier to "treat all his girls with" and it was soooo good... thank you daddy! We waddled back to our hotel room and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow!

Saturday morning we woke up EARLY and after eating some room service for breakfast we headed on our way to the conference. We decided to let other people sit in the 2nd row this time and we sat back with the siestas. (Beth Moore got the name "siesta" when trying to write "sistas" on the blog but it always changed it to siesta... so she kept it!)
She finished teaching around 12 and we headed to the back area where we were to wait with the other siestas for our private time with Beth Moore & her girls. It was a really fun time where we could all ask questions and get to know their personalities a little better.
There is no right way to describe Beth Moore- she is just absolutely CRAZY, soooo southern, has the funniest sayings and is just a little spunky thing. I really enjoyed learning from her and loved the way she put everything into perspective for us.... proving over and over in different books the consistancy of Gods word.
Her message over the weekend was all about "Inheritance" from Psalm 16:5-6. "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance." Inheritance from God always involves His presence, His people, and His property. We are heirs of God and we have a beautiful inheritance.
As soon as we got out of the meet & greet, we were on our walk back to the hotel when it started pouring.... who did we call? MAC! He came and picked us up, we picked up our bags at the hotel then headed to the airport! We had one last Tex-Mex lunch at the airport and were on our plane back to Atlanta! It was such a short trip, but MAN was it jam packed. I had so much fun love you Mom & Tara!

If you want to see more pics click HERE and HERE

Pillowcase Bags

So my latest sewing project was one I found on Martha Stewart, and it's a pillow case bag that ties over your shoulder. Kelly, the organizer of "the 20 somethings" at our church asked me a couple weeks ago if I would mind heading up these sewing gatherings since she's about to have a baby soon. I jumped at the chance to host everyone over at our house, planning the project and providing some refreshments. We had about 5 girls rsvp saying they were going to come, but only 2 showed up tonight, Lacey & Ellie.

Oh well, we still had a great time!

I lined it pretty!

Instead of lining it the normal way, I pulled the liner on the outside and did a zigzag stitch.

Lacey and I goofing off like normal. Tonight was Lacey's first night sewing and now she's hooked!

Pimp This House

Well we have officially finished the downstairs hallway leading to our garage. I posted before how we wanted to dress it up since it's leading to our office now instead of just the garage, and we both feel like that was definitely accomplished! We chose to do judges paneling since that is also what is in our dining room, and it's pretty easy to do! The angles are the hardest part, but good thing I have a great man to do all that! Working like crazy this past week, ALL day today we have finally finished and are so happy with the outcome!!! Okay enough talking I know you guys want to see pictures!

Before:

Painted top of hallway:

New baseboard in:

Top cap done:

Vertical boards going in:

Painting started:
DONE:

We also put the hand rail back up as well! WOO HOO it's done!!

Busy little bees

I couldn't help but do another post because today has really been a miraculous day. Not only did we wake up naturally at 8:15 and had time to clean our entire house before we went to church at 11:15 BUT we did a ton more.

Kyle pimped out our garage even more... it's officially "Buck" now we think ;) (Sorry we are nerds and are referencing SYTYCD)

The latest changes in the garage... we had to add a spot for my bike and all of our snowboards:

Our special house project has officially begun. I was going to keep it a secret but it will be more fun updating on all of our changes. Our stairs leading from the garage to our kitchen (1st floor to 2nd floor) has needed work for a long time. We had yet to paint it or do anything to it. When we renovated the garage back last November we took out the carpeting down in that foyer and replaced it with hard woods. (Click HERE if you want to see all those posts!)
ANYWAYS Kyle and I were brainstorming last night and decided that we are going to do judges paneling leading downstairs to make that area more formal since it's where our nice office is. So I picked out the paint color today (same as upstairs) and painted the entire hallway.

Sorry this pic is during the middle of my painting...

We have marked where the judges paneling will come up to and will go buy the wood & start painting it all white tomorrow. We think it's going to look very nice and are super excited about it! I never was good at keeping secrets :)

Completing our Living Room

Well this weekend has been GREAT, but let me first start off by giving you some pics from this past week. Kyle ended up getting a new mountain bike, and had to pay $40 for it. It's a really long story, that involves fans, installation, remotes and Craigslist BUT in the end he only had to pay $40 out of pocket for this awesome bike. It is a 2005 Specialized Hard Rock with front suspension and disc brakes.... pretty sweet! Here is a pic of it...

Also this week at work we had a surprise baby shower for one of our co-workers, Tonya. She is due in October with boy so it was fun surprising her and getting to give her gifts and eat good food.

Friday night Kyle and I hung out watching the Olympics, and now we are both addicted to watching everything Michael Phelps does.... he's totally inspired us haha.

Saturday we slept in then went to Dawsonville where the North Georgia Premium Outlets are. I just LOVE this place. It has a Pottery Barn Outlet, Restoration Hardware Outlet, Gap, Banana, JCrew, Nike, etc etc etc. Anyways we spent the entire day there AND finally got a rug!! I've been looking for one for FOREVER and was almost convinced on getting an oriental red, green, blah blah blah rug b/c that's the only kind that I could find. I know the official rules of rugs are to not draw any attention to them and they are supposed to blend with the floor. Well all my interior design friends are going to hate me because I picked one just the opposite! (Sorry Molly & Lauren!) We found it at the Pottery Barn Outlet Store... 50 % off and we just love it. Our living room is SO bright because of all the windows and it just was lacking color since our walls and couches are so neutral. Lucky for us this rug matches all of the pillows I made perfectly, so I don't have to make new ones!

The other end of our living room:

We have majorly cleaned our whole house this weekend as well, so that is always a great feeling. This morning we went to church with Lacey and her bf, Adam then went out to O'Charleys for lunch. This afternoon Kyle is going swimming with Chris in a lake, to get ready for his race next weekend, and I'm working on a special house project that will HOPEFULLY be done in a week :) I'll post pictures soon!

Ankle Update

Well guys, the prayers worked and Brad is at home resting comfortably, but we are not out of the woods yet...When they got in there to survey the damage they realized that it was even more serious than they thought (I didn't know it got more serious than broken/dislocated and torn ligaments). Anyway, it turns out that his fibula had actually splintered into several pieces and the major ligament that attaches his foot to the rest of his body was torn. They had to put in a plate and six screws in order to repair it and now he starts the recovery process.

We are looking at a splint for 7 days, a hard cast for 4 weeks and then a boot for 2 to 4 weeks after that. After he gets the boot off, rehab will start so we will be hoping for the fastest recovery possible.

P.S. I think Brad will be the Nintendo Wii champion of the world by the time this is all said and done...his hand-eye coordination is pretty unbelievable anyway, but I am thinking about putting him on a strict Wii training regimen to see how far we can take this thing...

Hang in there Brad!!!! Wii World Championships or Bust!

Prayer Request

Hey guys...we need a quick favor from all of you... Most of you probably know that our brother-in-law Brad broke/dislocated/tore ligaments (basically exploded) his ankle playing hockey two weeks ago and he has been awaiting news as to whether he will need surgery or not. We found out yesterday that not only does he need surgery,but he is having it TODAY. If you guys could please pray that the surgery goes well and that Brad is at ease during this time we would greatly appreciate it. He has a tough road ahead of him, but is a VERY stong person and he has been here before so we have no doubt that he will bounce back quickly. Thanks!

Reunited and it feels so goooooood....

That's right folks, Lacey and I are back together again... SO WATCH OUT! haha I met Lacey, a sweet southern girl from Troy, Alabama back a year and a half ago when we both started working for City Publications. This was my first job in Atlanta that did not go so well... I think the day my boss called me in her office and told me that I was being a "trouble maker" I knew I would have to quit soon. ME a troublemaker?!? haha. ANYWAYS I quit and Lacey put on some tough skin and has been there for over a year!
Recently she's been wanting to find a new job and it couldn't have been better timing! My boss at KA had mentioned to me about hiring another graphic designer to help me out with all my work! SO I put the two together and got Lacey an interview! She did amazing in her interview with her cute southern accent and her great portfolio and was offered the job yesterday! We are both SO excited to be working together again that we went out tonight for a little celebration! Kyle loves Lacey too so the three of us went out to Papacitos, a great mexican place close to our house!

Lacey will be the Junior Graphic Designer, and I will become the Senior Graphic Designer. I am so excited about this opportunity because I really wanted to earn the senior title in less than a year... and it's actually coming true! I've only been there for 2 months, so they are going to watch me mentor Lacey for the next 6 months and then in March I will get the official title change and pay raise. I am so thrilled for this opportunity and the chance to bounce ideas around with a graphic designer again! (not to mention a good friend!)

WOO HOO!!! God works in wonderful ways!

Grandpa's 79th Birthday & Ky's Try-athlon!

This past weekend Kyle and I traveled home to Raleigh to 1) Celebrate Grandpa's 79th Birthday and 2) for Ky to compete in the Chapel Hill Try-athlon. Kyle dropped me off at my parents house when we arrived around midnight Friday night, and then headed on his way to his parents house. We both really wanted to see our families and help them out in different ways since we haven't been home in a while, so we chose to spend the weekend apart.
Kyle's parents house is for sale right now so Kyle spent all day Saturday helping get the house perfect for the new owners. He said the house looks great and hopefully they'll get it sold this week!
I spent Saturday morning painting my room back home. It's been driving my mom crazy, so I chose to knock it out this weekend while my parents were at Awana Training at the church. Nick helped me roll a couple walls and of course cracked me up the entire time.

Here we are with the entire room done! WOO HOO! (it's green)

Saturday night we celebrated grandpa's 79th Birthday! (which is actually today August 11th!) Him and grandma were in extra spunky moods and were cracking us up with stories of what they do around their house! They actually are heading up to Boone right now to spend the week there and relax since Grandpa doesn't have chemo this week. Anyways, we were SO surprised when in walked Kyle for dinner! Everyone was so excited to see him and I wish I had a picture of my moms face when he walked in!
He made it just in time to see the twins before they went to bed. It's incredible how big they are and they are just running around everywhere! They are both signing now to communicate and Natalie babbles like she's having conversations but we just don't understand the words :) haha SOOO cute!

We all sat down for a wonderful meal... meatloaf, mashed potatoes, watermelon, corn, rolls and more! We finished it off with a delicious goodberry's chocolate and heathbar cake with oreo crust! Man do we love goodberrys!

All the grandkids came home for his b-day!

Saturday night the guys all headed home and Tara, mom and I played scrabble while Jamie was finishing up his sermon. I actually won! Can you believe it?

Sunday morning Nick and I woke up at 5:30 and drove to meet Sara & Joe to carpool to watch Kyle's triathlon. Kyle and Kerry had signed up for this race in Chapel Hill a while ago, and it ended up being a lot of fun. This was Kerry's first race and she did SO GREAT! We were all so glad we were there to watch Kerry go! The weather unfortunately wasn't the best, so we were all soaked by the end of it, BUT we laughed it off like normal :) Thanks so much to Sara, Joe & Nick for coming to cheer Kyle & Kerry on in the rain!!

Sara & I:

Nick & Joe:

My hottie husband coming in the finish line:

Kerry in the transition from the swim to the bike:

Kerry going into the bike (Kyle started an hour before her, so he went on the bike again with her to make sure her bike wouldn't malfunction and to give her encouragement):

Kerry we were SO proud of you, you did such a great job and hopefully will do many more with Kyle!

We headed out of Raleigh around 2, then stopped in Charlotte to see Molly & Marshal and meet their best friends Mandy & Andy, who just got married in July. We had a wonderful time getting to know them... M&M they were just as sweet and genuine as you said they were! It was great to meet you both!
We are glad to be back in ATL, as we didn't get in until around midnight last night! Hope you guys had a great weekend too!

Bumps on logs... and we like it that way!

Friday night consisted of renting Batman Begins, making a fort with our couch & love seat, and eating pizza. It was wonderful! Saturday morning we slept in then went on a long bike ride on the Silver Comet Trail. It used to be a railroad track, so it's long flat and most of it's in the woods! Kyle actually biked there, which is about 9 miles from our house. We met at the trail and ended up going about 12 miles. It was a great workout, one which hopefully we'll do more often! (sorry we look disgusting, we know)

As we biked back to our car there was a big hill (*I hate hills). Kyle flew up it no problem and I was all alone at the bottom. I had two choices: 1) give up and walk my bike up the huge hill in the beating down sun OR 2) try my hardest make it up the hill and leave Kyle speechless. I chose the second :)
After we got home, Kyle, Chris & Tyson went to go play Frisbee golf and I worked on my pillows. I have officially made 7! Woo hoo!
Saturday night we went out to go see "The Dark Knight", and man was it good! We really enjoyed it, and would definitely recommend it.
Today Kyle actually woke up at 5:45 am to go wake boarding with our neighbors, Chris & Brent. Brent has a boat and Kyle drools every time we drive by their house. SO he finally got to go and had a blast. He successfully landed a wake-to-wake 180 and impressed the guys with his power slide and surface 360. The rest of the day we've spent laying around, running some errands and spending some time together watching the x-games. We are thoroughly enjoying it! Hope you all had a great weekend as well!