A Simple But Lovely Project

When I am browsing the Internet or out walking through stores, the thrifty part of me sees an item and exclaims "I can make that for a lot less money." I have been seeing Family Established signs at various places for quite some time and have always admired the proclamation of family pride. Yesterday, I decided it was time for our little family to have a sign.



A quick stop at Lowe's and AC Moore was all it took to acquire the appropriate materials for the grand total of $10. I used a 50% coupon at AC Moore and scored the stencils for $4 (woohoo). I used black paint and leftover stain from my growing paint collection and a $2 stencil brush.



The finished product. I went for a more rustic look because I hate super clean artwork...for some reason it always looks fake to me. I did not center the lettering for the same reason. Hard to believe we have been married for over three (wonderful) years. They have been some crazy-filled years but I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

Three Minutes in the Panic Room

This afternoon, while Clay was still a busy beaver at work; we (Lucy, Desi and myself) experienced our first tornado in North Carolina. I was watching the television enjoying the thunderstorms when the emergency notification system alerted viewers of a tornado touchdown 20 miles east of our town. I ran outside to admire the cloud formations and golf ball size hail before ushering Lucy and Desi into the downstairs bathroom (panic room) for safety. The sound of the hail hitting our house was defining and the windows shook from the tree bending wind. After three minutes the hail stopped and wind calmed. Luckily we did not have any damage other than a couple of down plants and chairs. It was exciting!


Five minutes before the tornado.


Three minutes before the tornado.


Lucy and Desi in the panic room.

*Fixed - Orange Office

A tropic gold two-foot stripe flanked by one-inch white stripes (Jack and Meg not included). This weekend I refinished a desk I found at a thrift store for $31 and I am on the look out for a chair to refurbish. The goal is to finish my "Paradise Office Oasis" this upcoming weekend, just in time for summer semester and (hopefully) a new job.

Cheers and Crashes...

This afternoon we put on our best blue bull gear and went to our first (of many) Durham Bull's game of the season. Nothing beats cold beer, hot dogs and cotton candy at the ballpark on a hot soon-to-be summer day. The Bulls beat the Charlotte Knights 8-4 for their sixth straight victory. Our seats were wonderful and we can't wait to attend the next game.



The highlight of the game is depicted below. The mascot was racing around the field in a PowerWheel vehicle, pumping up the crowd during the seventh inning stretch when things took a turn...a bad turn. I heard Clay state with admiration "Wow, he is really going fast," as the Bull zoomed by our section and crashed the motorized mini-car behind the Charlotte Knight right fielder. Smoke filled the air as our furry costumed friend lay sideways, waiting for assistance, unable to get up without revealing his human alter-ego (bruised ego we're sure) sans Bull head. Exciting indeed...maybe we can begin to appreciate the sport(?) of Nascar...nah!  Did you see any crashes Meredith and Harry?



Our next assignment, watch the movie Bull Durham.

It is a Bit Much...

One of the perks of having a separate office from your husband is that you can paint your retreat/workspace whatever color tickles your imagination. I wanted orange so I painted my office orange...vintage orange to be exact. It is loud and a bit obtrusive. I am trying to adapt to the new color but I am afraid that I bit off more than I can chew. How to fix the design faux pas without losing the orange? Maybe a block pattern with various reds and oranges? Stripes? Lots of artwork? Hmmmm...off to comb through design catalogues for inspiration.

Happy Mother's Day

Clay, Mom, Meredith and Martha


Karen and Mom
WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Before and After...The Kitchen Edition

We're slowly putting our house together room by room. Mom and Bandit were up earlier this week to help finish painting the downstairs and I finally feel comfortable enough to post evidence of our efforts.


Before


After
Of course we still have work to do on the room, starting with replacing that wretched builder's grade light fixture over the kitchen table...yuck!


View from our kitchen door leading to the backyard. The lush green backdrop is what made us fall in love with the house. Off to do more work!

A Sign of the Times...

This morning while eating a bowl of Rice Krispies (Karen) and Honey Bunches of Oats w/ Strawberries (Clay) we checked our online bank account, a common practice because of our massive spending spree as of late. Well, some heathen stole our checking account number from a piece of mail that was never delivered, made a duplicate card and purchased $200 worth of gas in Bronx, New York yesterday evening. Our bank is taking care of everything but we're lucky that we check our account on a daily basis or this scum would have continued to purchase gas with our money. We're huge fans of online banking because it gives us the opportunity to keep an eye on our hard earned money regardless of place or time. Check your statements to make sure the same thing has not happened to you, apparently it is becoming more common as the gas prices continue to rise.

Officially North Carolina Residents...

Clay passed his written (computerized?) driving test with flying colors, answering all questions correctly. I barely passed the test, with four wrong answers. Apparently I don't believe in giving pedestrians the right of way; I have no idea what a leaky exhaust does to a vehicle and I am unable to make sane decisions involving emergency lights, a slippery road and fog. But, I can correctly identify a railroad crossing sign and I know what to do when I encounter a blinking red light so it is all good.