east family

Published!

2012-02-17T14:47:00.005-08:00

21 months and multiple rounds of revision later, my thesis is finally going to be published in the Journal of Genetic Counseling. Happy Day!

Just a little excited to get that acceptance email. : )

Low Key Weekend

2012-02-14T06:36:00.004-08:00

This past weekend was pretty low key which was nice. Andrew had to work most of it, but we were able to get out and have some fun too. Friday night I got to go out for dinner and some shopping with Dedra since Andrew was at work and Dedra's husband Mike was out of town. Saturday morning, I headed to Calhoun with some co-workers to extract DNA from strawberries with about 25 5th-12th grade boys through the 100 Black Men program.

Then after an afternoon of clinic prep and dictations, Andrew got off work and we went to the Havoc Hockey game with some friends, Jay and Reagan!

Love this girl!

After church on Sunday the Gibson family gathered for lunch to celebrate Mommyteen's birthday. It was nice to catch up with everyone and spend time with the birthday girl.

Siesta Scripture Memory Team Celebration

2012-01-27T16:18:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Dedra and I had the opportunity to go to Houston for some time of bible study, worship, scripture memory and girl time. Living Proof Ministries (aka Beth Moore) challenged blog followers to memorize scripture throughout the year of 2011. Those that participated are called the Siesta Scripture Memory Team. On the 1st and 15th of each month we posted a verse on the blog that we were going to memorize over the next two-or-so weeks. We also kept the verses in a little SSMT notebook so that we could carry them, and meditate on them, through the year.

It was an awesome weekend. The event was at Houston's First Baptist Church on friday night and saturday morning. We flew out of Huntsville at o-dark-thirty friday morning...but it was worth it since we could spend most of the day in Houston.

The first stop once we dropped off our luggage at the hotel was Berryhill's fish tacos. I got to take advantage of the fact that Dedra is from Houston and knew exactly where to go to get great food!

It was awesome to get to worship with Travis and hear from Beth in a smaller venue than a huge arena. I am not sure what the final head count was for the event...but I think it was less than 1,000. I also got to meet, eat and worship with at ton of amazing women from all over the country.

"Wow..."

Early Morning Goofiness

In front of the scripture wall. My favorite photo from the weekend!

The rest of the weekend we spent eating, window shopping and driving around seeing where Dedra grew up and lived before she came to Huntsville. My how places can change. : )

We ate at so many yummy places while we were there. One of the last stops we made before we left was this cute little cupcake place called "Crave." OMGoodness it was amazing.

I am so infinitely grateful to have been able to be at SSMTC. It was a much needed weekend of worship, refreshment, and time in the Word. I pray that the verses I have learned and the words that I heard over the celebration weekend will stay on my heart throughout 2012.

I will finish up with the verse I wrote on the Scripture Wall:

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

NYC Day Six

2012-01-18T06:36:00.000-08:00

I promise, one day I will finish talking about our new york trip. But I also promise that it is way more exciting than what is going on in our lives this week...which is pretty much just work and sleep.

Monday morning we got up and took a stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge.

This is pretty much as close as we came to the Statue since she was closed for renovation.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Notice that Andrew isn't even wearing his lightweight jacket. I think it made it up to about 70 degrees.

One of our favorite parts of the whole trip was the walking food tour we went on. It was a NYC living social deal a few months back. PS - its a great way to get sightseeing and food deals...sign up for the livingsocial and groupons for the city you are visiting a few months before you go. The company was Sidewalks of New York and they do food tours in several parts of the city. We decided to do the lower east side food tour. We had a tour guide walk us around the area for 2-3 hours and along the way we stopped for a snack at about 6 different places. The tour and food was all included in the price. Plus we got to meet a bunch of new people. There were 8 of us on our tour - and we were the only non-locals.

Here we are at our first stop: Yonah Schimmel Knishes. We each got to sample a potato knish which was very yummy!

Next it was off to Katz Delicatessen for pastrami. It was seriously amazing.

We also went to this little hole in the wall (literally...i think only about 5 people could even stand inside the "restaurant") dumpling house. But apparently it is so good that this is where the celebs come for their dumplings.

The pickle guys pickle anything and everything. The store is full of barrels of different fruits and veggies getting pickled. We got to try some of their pickled cucumbers and pickled pineapple. The pineapple was actually really good...it gave it a nice spicy flavor.

Here is our awesome tour guide explaining the different varieties of picked cucumbers.

I skipped a couple places that I didn't take pictures of. Our last stop of the day was the Doughnut Plant for dessert.

I can't remember what the two kinds of doughnuts were that we sampled, but they were very yummy.

Later that day we had some time to kill before the show and we had no dinner reservations...so we decided to go check out the restaurant and bar inside Dylan's Candy Shop. I use the word restaurant loosely as it was not much more than a snack shop (pizza, pretzels, etc) but it was just what we wanted. The exotic part was the bar...where they made all kinds of different cocktails with candy in/on them. Here is my strawberry NERD mojito. Yes those are nerds sprinkled on top. It was quite good.

Monday night we finally got to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. We had been looking forward to this the whole trip. We saw the traveling group perform in Winston Salem a few years ago which was nice...but it was a million times better in Radio City.

The end of the show really is spectacular. It gives you chills to see everyone gather around the nativity...and it is so refreshing to see Jesus celebrated.

In other news, I am heading to Houston this weekend with my coworker, and best friend, Dedra to celebrate a year of memorizing scripture with Beth Moore, Travis Cottrell and friends. It will be a fabulous and refreshing weekend. Can't wait to blog about it next week.

Happy Wednesday All!

NYC Day Five

2012-01-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

Day five - getting close to the end. We started our Sunday at one of the bazillions of starbucks in the city...because some sweet friend send us an electronic gift card the morning we left on our trip. Thanks Kristen! : ) It was amazing.

Then it was off to the upper west side to go to the museum of natural history. We got there early in the day so it was not too crowded.

One of my favorite parts was this awesome origami christmas tree. Someone had made origami creatures of all the museum exhibits and placed them on the tree. I can't imagine how long that took to put together.

The far out picture just doesn't do the origami justice. Check out the dinosaurs and blue whale.

Speaking of the blue whale...here's the real thing.

After seeing the Night at the Museum we just had to go see this guy. He did not ask us for gum.

I think Andrew's favorite part was the dinosaur area...which took up pretty much an entire floor of the museum.

After spending the entire morning at the museum we were a bit hungry. Lucky for us the Levain Bakery was just a few blocks away. Apparently they make some of the best cookies in the world. Bobby Flay even had a cookie throw-down here. The cookies were amazing and warm because they were fresh from the oven. However they were so big we both agreed we should have just split one.

Sunday afternoon we had made reservations to have tea...at the plaza. We picked the plaza because 1) It is one of the quintessential places to do tea and 2) They actually had 4 different tea menus to pick from.

I got the "New Yorker" which had several different kinds of tiny sandwiches, scones, and desserts.

Andrew got the "Chocolate Tea" which was exactly what it sounds like...lots of chocolate. There was even a mini fondue pot of chocolate with a pile of things to dip.

After we had our fill of tea and "girly food" we got to go see the NYC Ballet perform the Nutcracker. Yes, I admit it was a pretty girly kind of day...don't worry though...day 6 was much more Andrew's style. The Nutcracker was amazing. Not to knock Huntsville's annual production...but seeing the NYC ballet perform it at Lincoln Center was definitely superior.

Then we were hungry again...you know it had been like 3-4 hours since we last ate. We had no reservations for this night so we decided to take a chance and see if there were any openings at Bar Americain...one of Bobby Flay's NYC restaurants. We got in, and had a really nice unexpected dinner. Then we headed home to rest up for another busy day.

Tale of Two Christmases

2012-01-04T16:27:00.000-08:00

One.

Christmas morning we got up early and exchanged christmas presents with each other, put the breakfast casserole in the oven, and got ready for Moreland Family Christmas. Daddy, Aunt T, Aunt Kay, and Uncle Freddie came over about 10:30 for our annual Christmas celebration. It is always a blast and this year was no exception.

The Moreland clan...minus Freddie who was behind the camera.

Georgia Bulldawgs was a theme among many of the presents this year. Here are Aunt T and Aunt Kay with their new UGA wreaths.

And Daddy with his new UGA corn hole boards

All the boys got new hats...Andrew and Daddy got matching camouflage Auburn/Georgia hats and Freddie got a super useful 2-in-1 hat/glove combo that turns his head into an elephant. They look thrilled right?

Here is Sadie in her usual spot around Christmas...lounging under the Christmas tree.

We all agreed to pare down on the number of gifts this year...don't get me wrong there were still a goodly plenty...and lots of small goofy gifts...but we wanted to be able to spend more on helping those in need at Christmas. While we were opening gifts, we went around and all told how we helped others during the holiday season. It is true...it is better to give than to receive.

Every year we celebrate my birthday alongside Christmas. Any one who knows me knows how much I love cookie cakes. This one was a double layered cookie cake covered in frosting...yum.

Two.

Christmas afternoon and evening we headed to Andrews parent's house for East Family Christmas. It is always such a sweet time of family fun. Ann made the traditional lasagna which was super yummy and we shared gifts. Here are some of the highlights:

Andrew got a super awesome nesting doll made of Auburn football players. Its a funny story...we saw one of these randomly in a shop in Alaska back in May. Two problems though: it was from 2006 i think...so not auburns best year or best players...and it was $80. So we left it there. Apparently not long after that Andrew's dad's coworker had recently been to Russia and had run into them and bought a few (at a much more reasonable price) to bring home. And even better it is from 2004...you know...Campbell, Cadillac, Brown, etc. Andrew was excited!

Ben was marveling at his tower of presents. Kids gifts take up a ton of space.

Kate loved her new tutu. She knew exactly what to do with it on...twirl.

For a trip down memory lane...check out what we got for Emily...the Mall Madness board game. Several months ago we were discussing as a family things we wished we had as a child but never got...hers was Mall Madness. So we went on a hunt for a copy, and you can find anything on the internet. Score.

Ben got a new bike from Granna and Granddaddy

It was a wonderful holiday season. Now it is time for a fresh start and a new year. I hope everyone had a restful holiday and spent time remembering the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

Goodbye 2011. Hello 2012.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2012-01-03T19:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas is our favorite season...and it lasts longer in our house than probably any other house on earth. Our tree generally goes up in early November and stays up through new years. Don't call us crazy...we just want to savor everything that the Christmas season has to offer.

This year we planned a tacky christmas party and cookie swap with our church life group. It was such fun...I wish I had taken more pictures of us in our tacky attire...think red vest with trees and teddy bears and a musical tie. But here is a picture of the cookie spread. Lucky for us, our life group is full of awesome bakers.
Christmas Eve Eve: 2 days before Christmas, for the last couple of years, we have had dinner and opened presentas at my grandmothers. This year we had a wonderful dinner of King Ranch Casserole from Victorias. We opened presents and then helped her get the last minute things in order for my Aunt, Uncle and cousins from Texas to arrive.
Spending time with family is one of the best things about the holidays. And this christmas was extra special because we had more family around. My Aunt Karen, Uncle Randy and their 4 girls came in and spent a whole week with us in Huntsville. It was a great getting to spend time with them. This is one very rare instance captured on camera...grandma with all 5 of her granddaughters.

Me and my four sweet cousins.

O Christmas Tree

NYC Day Four

2012-01-03T19:35:00.000-08:00

Day four: Saturday.

We got up at a much more reasonable hour and grabbed a NYC bagel at Ess-a-Bagel. Then we hopped the subway to the upper east side to spend the day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The museum was great...but overwhelming. We didn't come close to seeing everything. One of my favorite parts was this awesome christmas tree. I kind of got yelled at for taking this picture...oops...i didn't see the sign ahead of time.

For lunch we grabbed some food to-go from Dean and Deluca, this trendy, specialty grocery store and deli and ate it in Central Park. It was absolutely beautiful day in the city. I think everyone in the city was outside running, biking and enjoying the sunshine.

Saturday after thanksgiving means one thing: the iron bowl. We were sporting our orange and blue proudly all day. New York City has everything...including a bar and grill devoted to Auburn football: Hudson Station. It was like a little auburn haven in the big city. All the waiters were decked out in orange and blue and all the items on the menu were named for our alma mater.

We all know how the game went...doesn't need to be brought up here. We left a little before half time and paid a visit to the Empire State Building. It was dark by this point and the city was beautiful from way up there.

For dinner we went to S'Mac, which stands for Sarita's Mac and Cheese. This is a place we first learned about on a Food Network show devoted to the best eats in NYC. All they serve is macaroni and cheese...but in about a dozen varieties.

We split the sampler, a divided skillet filled with 8 different kinds of mac and cheese. They were each unique...and almost all of them were really yummy.

NYC Day Three

2011-12-18T09:40:00.000-08:00

Day three was black friday. We ventured out early...not midnight..more like 5 am...to check out what it is like to be in manhattan on black friday.

Coffee was a necessary thing.

First stop: Macy's. Didn't buy a thing...but it was fun to browse and watch people. The store was massive and had something like 3 different starbucks inside.

We walked and shopped most of the morning and then went back to the hotel to drop off the bags and rest for a few minutes.

Speaking of hotel...her is a look part of the lobby...beautiful!

For lunch we went to the Burger Joint. A hole in the wall (literally) burger place in Le Parker Meridien hotel. If it weren't for google and travel books we would have never found it because this is it's only sign - a small neon burger logo.

The restaurant itself is behind a curtain. Very no frills...burgers, fries, and coke is about it...but it was yummy. And welcomed after a long morning of shopping

For dinner that night, we went to Nobu 57 - a nice, trendy asian restaurant. It was really good and all the menu items were meant to be shared...so we got to try several different things.

From dinner, we took a cab to times square...well we took a cab until we got stuck in traffic in times square and decided it would be faster on foot from that point. We got to see The Lion King on broadway. The costumes and music were amazing! This is some of the decor inside the Minscoff theatre, a giant lions mask on the wall over the escalators.

Times Square

NYC Day 2

2011-12-04T18:27:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Day. Most thanksgivings we spend the morning cooking at home and watching the Macy's parade on tv. This year we got to be in New York City and see the parade in-person. It was amazing. The weather could not have been better...we are talking 65 and sunny.

We headed out at 5:30 am and found ourselves a nice patch of sidewalk on the upper west side, close to where the parade starts. It was great because we didn't have to wait as long for the parade to "get to us" and we knew there was no chance of getting anywhere close to herald square. We were surrounded with some really nice folks that it was fun getting to know in those hours waiting for the parade to start.

The infamous NYPD balloon. Don't mind the pencil sitting in front...he was having some technical difficulties with his stilts.

These guys were a little scary...

Even the new york garbage men get a shout-out

I think I took about a hundred pictures at the parade...I will spare you all the details. But last but not least...here's the guy were were really all there to see. Santa!

After the parade, we switched hotels to the New York Palace where we spent the rest of our trip. This is the quintessential new york city hotel that we really wanted to stay at, and got really lucky with a really good rate since we booked months ago. Originally we were not going to get to nyc until thanksgiving day because of andrew's work schedule...so when we changed plans to get there on wednesday the rates at the Palace had sky-rocketed and we decided to find a cheaper place to stay that first night.

Our room

Our view = pretty awesome. That is St. Patricks cathedral right in front.

Thanksgiving evening we had dinner at Park Avenue Autumn. It was very festive and yummy...Andrew had the filet...I had to go with the traditional turkey.

Our hotel was of course all decked out for Christmas. This is the courtyard at night.

New York City Day 1

2011-12-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

We got back this afternoon from a weeklong vacation to new york city. It was wonderful to get away for a while and spend time together. The week was filled with sites and sounds of the city and christmas, good food, shows, and new people.

We left last wednesday...thanksgiving eve. I think we were both a little nervous going into it...having heard how awful air travel can be that day of the year...but it really was not that bad. Perhaps it would have been a lot worse flying out of a bigger airport. Gotta love the security lines and number of gates at hsv.

We got to nyc just after dark and took a taxi to our first hotel, St. Giles the Tuscany. We only stayed here one night, and moved to the NY Palace for the rest of the trip. More on that later.

After we got settled we headed out to go see the parade balloons being inflated in the upper west side. It was crowded...but very cool to see them up close and personal.

Lastly, we went and grabbed a late dinner at Gray's Papaya...a hole-in-the-wall hot dog place. With the recession special you get two hot dogs and a drink (soda or the infamous papaya juice) for under $5.

Then it was early to bed...so we could get up early thursday morning and head to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. : )

A promise

2011-11-22T13:48:00.000-08:00

I promise...another post is forthcoming. Life has been all together pretty boring as of late. But that all changes tomorrow morning when we board an airplane to NYC where we will spend the next week. So excited! And so ready for a vacation! Will post details and photos once we get back Dec 1st.

Happy Turkey Day everyone! Watch for us at the parade...i'm sure you will find us...no probably not.

Autumn in Montreal

2011-10-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a bit since the last post...things have been really crazy. Ok thats an understatement. I started a second (and really third) job in late July and work has pretty much taken over much of my life. It is a good thing I really love my jobs or else I don't think I could get through it. On top of being at HudsonAlpha 4 days a week, I am now doing clinical genetics at Clearview Cancer Institute. It is really wonderful being a a clinical setting and working with patients some each week.

I got to spend this past week in Montreal, Quebec for the International Congress of Human Genetics (ICHG) meeting. It was a very fun, albeit very nerdy week. I learned a bunch of new things, but also got to explore the city and eat some really good food.

Here are a few pictures taken with the iphone from Montreal. I wish I had taken a better camera.

The leaves were absolutely beautiful!

Notre Dame

There were so many beautiful historic churches!

Crepes for Breakfast! Yummy!

Canadian Customs on Canadian Thanksgiving...we were there a while

I am home for a few days and then off to San Diego next week for another meeting. Did I mention that October is busy?

Its a ??? Baby Shower

2011-09-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from a very special baby shower I helped host back in the spring for Phillip and Dayana Nivens. No one knew what gender the baby was...so the color palate for the party was gender neutral greens, yellows and browns. And the party was co-ed, so we had to tone down the estrogen and fru-fru. I had a blast decorating and prepping this party...hope you enjoy.

Ribbon topiaries. Really simple to put together...but takes some time and thumb work.

Scrapbook paper napkin rings.

Diaper wreath. Under the diapers is a simple wire wreath frame. Hanging off the wreath are just a few baby rattles and teething rings.

At the front door, we had the traditional "diaper cake" and a plate of pink and blue clothes pins. Guests were instructed to take a pin representing what they thought the gender of the baby was. Made for some good conversation.
Reserved seating.

The spread, consisting of lots of great appetizers, desserts, and petite fours.

Onesie and burp cloth decorating station.

Admiring all the custom, hand-painted onesies.

DIY coasters

2011-09-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

Did you know you could make your own coasters? For less than 25 cents a piece? Yeah. You can.

Here's how.

Supplies:

Ceramic tiles (from home depot or lowes....don't pay more than about $.13 for them.

Scrapbook paper (whatever pattern makes you happy)

Modge Podge

Clear spray sealant

Felt adhesive circles (small ones)

1. Cut 4x4 inch scrapbook paper squares (or whatever size your tiles are)

2. Paint a layer of modge podge directly on the tile, then place the scrapbook paper square on top

3. Paint a layer of modge podge over the scrapbook paper, make sure you get it totally covered. Let dry.

4. Spray a layer of clear sealant over the tiles. Let dry.

5. Attach felt circles to the tile bottom corners.

Done and done.

Toomers Forever

2011-09-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

"Toomers Forever." That is what the gameday button read for the first Auburn game of the season against Utah State. It was a sad reminder of the likely fate of our beloved oak trees...but also a wonderful reminder of just how unique and special Auburn is.

After comparing the 2011 Auburn football schedule to both of our crazy work schedules...we were disappointed to find out that we could only make it down to the "loveliest village on the plains" once this year for a game. So we decided to make the most of it...get some really good tickets...even if we were just playing utah state.

It was a fantastic weekend despite the crack of dawn kickoff time and heat advisory. We got to eat at most of our favorite restaurants (it would take much longer than a weekend to make it to them all), say hello our favorite dean (Dr. Wit), watch a surprisingly exciting football game, and roll Toomers Corner.

And we got to spend the weekend with some of our best friends! Here are some pictures from our trip to the plains. We are planing to head to Athens for the AU/UGA game in November...it we can find reasonable tickets.

War Eagle.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2011-09-12T19:29:00.001-07:00

This weekend we celebrated my grandmother's 75th birthday party. She may get on to me for putting her age on the internet...but it is a big milestone and deserves to be celebrated!

The first glimpses of cool, crisp air and the return of pumpkin spice lattes at starbucks can only mean one thing...that autumn is just around the corner. Fall is one of my favorite times of the year and it makes a great party theme.

I made the invitations with some cardstock and puff paint. I don't think I have played with puff paint since I was about 8...so that was a fun trip down memory lane... I copied the tree image from some a set of really cute cookies featured on HWTM (hostess with the mostess blog).

Cookies to match. The recipe for these cookies is amazing...it is a spiced sugar cookie...great for autumn. You can find the recipe here.

I usually cheat and make cupcakes because they are simpler to decorate...so I was rather stressed over how grandma's cake would turn out. But I am pleased. It was chocolate fudge cake (from a box mix) with homemade peanut butter buttercream frosting. Yum.

I can't remember where I saw this edible acorn idea...but it is super cute. All you need is hershey kisses, small cookies (i used 100 calorie pack shortbread cookies), and some icing (to stick it together and give it its stem).

Leftover cake batter = cupcakes.

The dessert table. For the centerpiece I took branches and hung pictures of grandma when she was little, as well as pictures of other members of the family. It is our family tree. : )

Food table centerpiece

Favors. Another HWTM idea and very simple to put together. The party mix is just made of chex mix, chocolate covered pretzels, and reeses pieces, but it perfectly matched the colors of the party.

Place settings. It was a great chance to use the beautiful silver that grandma bought for me several years back. Thank you grandma! And who needs expensive placecard holders when you can use fresh fruit and straight pins?

Happy Birthday to You!

It was a great party! And most importantly it was a great chance to celebrate my wonderful grandmother and all she means to me! I love you grandma!

Game Night

2011-09-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite things to do with our families is get together and play games. So when I found a "family game night" party theme in a magazine a few months back, we just had to test it out. All the food was super simple to make, but fit the "game" theme. Who needs an official holiday to get together and have a party?

Here's the table. Very casual.

Centerpiece. Square glass vase covered in construction paper to look like dice.

The spread.

Sandwiches, veggies, chex-mix, pigs-in-a-blanket, meatballs, and chocolate covered strawberries.

Chicken salad, pimento cheese, and PB&J sandwiches. Used cookie cutters to make the sandwiches into hearts, spades, diamonds, and clubs.

Chocolate-dipped strawberry "dice"

Last but not least a milkshake bar for dessert.

I need to start learning to take pictures with people in them. Next time.

Carousels and DNA

2011-08-19T19:08:00.001-07:00

My aunt, Karen, and cousins, Joanna and Elenya, have been visiting for the last couple of weeks from Texas. Karen came to help get grandma transitioned home from from assisted living after having knee and leg surgery. While they were here, I had the pleasure of hanging out with two very cool kids. We shopped, went to the pool, and I got to introduce them to spa pedicures.

Tuesday I got to show them where I work, and we spend most of the day doing hands-on science activities in the lab. I had a blast showing them what I do and teaching them about DNA and genetics.

Elenya matching up a patient's chromosomes to make a karyotype.

Joanna and her K'Nex DNA model

Check out those pipette skills!

I am so glad to have gotten the chance to get to know these girls better!

DIY wall art

2011-08-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

A year after moving into the house, we have things pretty well decorated...but one thing we still have a lot of is wall space. In particular we had a whole wall in our living room that had nothing on it. Several months back I saw these canvases in a catalog and thought they would look good in our living room...but I definitely did not want to pay the $350 that the company wanted for the set.

So last week we set about to make our own. The great part of doing it yourself is you can pick out exactly what colors you want. We found 18x18 canvases at hobby lobby (1/2 off) and painted them in coordinating, solid colors.

Here is the finished product...it is far from perfect...but I am still really happy with how it came out. I think it ties the room together nicely.

Robots and Rhinos

2011-08-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

For Ann's birthday party Saturday night, I made Key Lime cupcakes (see last blog post) and S'mores cupcakes.

At the party we asked our nephew Ben what the cupcakes looked like. Emily and Matt apparently don't expose him to enough campouts and campfires...because he took one look at the S'mores cupcakes and said they looked like "robots." Then he looked at the Key Lime cupcakes and said they looked like "Rhinos." Not exactly the look I was going for...but ok.

Here are my S'mores/Robot cupcakes:

There is a graham cracker crust in the bottom...

and a chocolate cupcake middle...

And a marshmallow creme on top. I even got to have fun with a kitchen torch...

I think they turned out super cute and really did taste like a campfire s'more.

~Kelly

Key Lime Cupcakes

2011-08-08T06:27:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was seriously busy. Friday night we had Andrew's parents over for dinner...Andrew made some really yummy chicken kabobs on the grill. And we hung some more pictures in the house. We are slowly getting rid of all the empty walls....more on that later.

Saturday morning I headed to Guntersville to hang out with the Montevallo DG's. The Huntsville alumni group took them lunch and helped out with some rush prep. It was a lot of fun to hang out with college kids and sing DG songs again. : )

Saturday night we went over to Emily and Matt's to celebrate Andrew's mom's birthday. Emily and Matt made some awesome fajitas and guacamole.

Sunday we went out to the lake for a surprise party celebrate my dad's birthday. We had great food and a great time hanging out with family. Then I headed to the airport to pick up my Aunt Karen who is in town from Texas. It was so great to see her...it has been way too long.

I was charged with making the desserts for Ann's party. The summer "Southern Lady" magazine had some darling key lime cupcakes on the cover that I decided to try. I was a little nervous as I had not ever tried to make cupcakes or icing from scratch...

But in the end they turned out really cute and delicious.

Key Lime Cupcakes from scratch

Key Lime Buttercream Ice Cream

The Finished Product

A cute trick I learned this weekend was using scrapbook paper as cupcake wrappers. I used basic white cupcake liners for baking and then slipped scrapbook paper ones around it before serving. You can find simple patterns online....just print and cut out the pattern, trace onto scrapbook paper and cut out the wrapper. Using decorative scissors on the top makes it really cute and tailored. No more searching for the perfect cupcake liners for every occasion...just make your own.

I also had an adventure with S'mores Cupcakes, and a kitchen torch, this weekend...but I will save that for another blog post.

Happy Monday!

So ready for football season

2011-08-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that fall, and football season, are just around the corner. We are sooo ready for some cooler weather....but it is a little hard to start getting in the mood for pumpkins, cornucopias, and fallen leaves.

Back in the spring, Emily and I were out yardsale-ing and we saw the cutest Auburn wreath on some random family's front door. We decided then that we would try to make ourselves one for this fall.

It turned out to be easier than I imagined. Here is the finished product:

Supplies needed:

Vine Wreath (medium sized)

Light weight unfinished wooden letters

Wooden footballs

Ribbon

Florist wire

Paint and paint brushes

Hot glue gun

I got all the supplies at Hobby Lobby (gotta love that store), but it took a couple of trips to get all the letters I needed. In the future I will try to plan ahead better and just have them order them for me.

How to make it:

1. Paint the wooden letters a solid color, for my wreath I painted "WAR EAGLE" orange.

2. Paint dots on the letters, I used white, but it could be any color. Note - I found that sponge "dobber" paint brushes work really well for this.

3. While the paint is drying, make your bow. I used three types of ribbon in three different widths. Ribbon with a wire edge works best (especially for the biggest ribbon width). The bow should be pretty big. Attach bow to wreath with either florist wire or hot glue.

4. Attach your letters and footballs to wreath with hot glue.

5. Wrap some additional ribbon around the wreath and secure with hot glue.

So simple. But so cute.

Patriotic Parties

2011-08-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

It is a month over due, but I thought I would share some pictures from our Fourth of July parties. It was a busy...but very fun weekend. Andrew was off on Monday, the 4th, but had to work the rest of the weekend...So that meant we had to get a little creative to get all the parties in in a short amount of time. Sunday night we spent out in Union Grove. We love to spend the 4th of July out there in the country where shooting off fireworks is completely legal. Monday morning we went to Lake Guntersville and then Monday afternoon/evening we hosted a 4th of July party at our house. Here are some photos of our party-filled 4th of July.

I decided to make an attempt at cake pops for the occasion. I used patriotic funfetti cake mix, vanilla frosting for the inside and white and milk dipping chocolate to coat. I think they turned out really cute...and yummy too! I am looking forward to playing with more flavor combinations.

I also found these super cute printable cupcake toppers from the Phyllis Hoffman Celebrate Magazine's website here (Fourth of July Party Circles). I just printed them out and glued them on a colored paper background and then glued it on a lollipop stick.

I can't brag too much on the cupcakes...they were straight from a box...but still good.

Here are the cupcake toppers up close : )

Pretzel stick "sparklers." Just dipped large pretzel sticks in chocolate. Then dyed white chocolate red and blue and drizzled it over the top or added sprinkles.

One easy way to decorate a drink table is to take off water bottles' labels and wrap a strip of scrapbook paper around them. Seriously takes no time at all.

Table centerpiece. Can't tell in the picture but I just bought a flower pot, painted it blue and filled it with red and white flowers.

Ann made this amazing fruit bowl, inside a watermelon, and made super cute fruit kabobs.

I hear cutting watermelon into small shapes like stars is a bit difficult...but it turned out super cute anyway!

The 4th of July spread. Yummy!

Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and salsa, pasta salad, grilled corn on the cob, deviled eggs, etc.

If you haven't been to Pier 1 recently, they have a really cute line of "tasting party" dishes out right now...like these mini parfait cups.

I made these mini-dirt cups for the kids (and secretly for me) Just 5 minute jello pudding, crumbled up oreo cookies and gummy worms. : )

We went a little over board on the desserts...but they were all so good!

We had dirt cups, cake pops, sugar cookies, dipped pretzel sticks, chocolate covered strawberries, and red white and blue fruit parfaits.

Emily did an awesome job with the cookies (they turned out just like Martha Stewart's) and the patriotic strawberries.

A blog resurrected...

2011-07-31T22:36:00.000-07:00

Wow...so it has been a long time (ok, an entire year) since I have even thought about blogging. Partly because life is busy and partly because I feel like our lives are typically not all that exciting or interesting.

But I have been wanting to find a way to chronicle some of the house decorating and party projects I have been working on...so I figured I would give the blog another go.

Here are just a couple of pictures from past year. More to come!

Last fall we added a new family member. Her name is Sadie.

We think she is just about the cutest cat ever.

It snowed...a lot!

And Auburn won the National Championship!

War Eagle!

Speaking of being cold...

We recently got back from a fabulous trip to Alaska with Andrew's family!

We cruised from Vancouver, BC to Seward, AK, stopping in Ketchikan, Icy Straight Point, Juneau and Skagway.

This picture is of us in front of the Mendenhall Glacier!

We had a fantastic sermon this morning about the importance of faith and rest. I am going to try to keep Matthew 11:28 in mind this week as I go about my work and to-do lists...

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Love,

Kelly

Finished product

2010-04-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Friday April 23rd. The house is done...except for the finishing touches and a couple more rounds of cleaning. Closing in three weeks. It all looks so good in pictures...we can't wait to see it in person.

Finished kitchen...the backsplash is awesome!

Our favorite nephew...we hear he has already picked out his room : )

Pantry...may have to start shoping at Costco to fill it

Class Pictures

2010-04-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share some of the pictures from the GC class of 2010 photo shoot. It has been an awesome two years and I am so grateful for the 7 amazing girls I got to share it with. I love you all and will miss you so much!
~K

April 17, 2010

2010-04-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

Closing is exactly one month from today - May 17, 2010. We can't believe how fast it is coming. But we are ready. We are just working on getting our final ducks in a row for the move and closing.

Landscaping!

Stairs are stained...they look great!

Carpet (upstairs bedroom)

Kitchen sink and backsplash

Backsplash and appliances

Things are really coming together. We love how everything looks. There was a minor set back in the last couple of weeks when a pipe leaked and soaked most of the master bedroom and bathroom. But all is well...everything that got wet is being replaced (carpet, hardwood, walls, etc) and will be good as new. We are so appreciative at how great everyone at Benton has been at addressing our questions and conerns.

In other news: Andrew passed his Alabama pharmacy law test so he can legally practice in the state of AL. So congrats to him....those tests are not easy. He is taking a week off for the move, then will start working back at CVS in Huntsville the next week.

Can't wait to get back home and have everyone over to visit! Hope y'all are having a wonderful spring!

Love,

Kelly and Andrew

Let there be light

2010-03-26T12:12:00.001-07:00

Happy Spring Everyone! It is really starting to look like a house! All the lights are now installed and look great. They are also finished with the wood floors and tile (see tile shower picture). Bathroom cabinets are in and the appliances are delivered. Countdown to close: 55 days!

Side "friends entrance"...still not completely sure what the purpose of it is, but I am sure we will use it since it is there.

Study

Master bathroom vanity

Foyer

Master bathroom shower

Lots of cabinet space! No more keeping our china in the guest bedroom closet!
Living room and breakfast room

We love, love our dining room fixture. You cannot imagine how much we agonized over it in the lighting store. We just couldn't find anything we liked, and wound up ordering out of one of their catalogs (which is scary considering you can't see it in person, or return it if you don't like it). But we are so glad we went with it, cause it looks great!

Granite, cabinets, and floors oh my!

2010-03-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

Tons of new things appearing in our house! The concrete has been poured for the driveway, walkways, and porches. Cabinets have been installed in the kitchen and bathrooms and the granite has been installed in the kitchen. They are working on the tile in the bathrooms, laundry, and around the fireplace. They are also working on the enormous amounts of hardwood in the house. It all looks so good! You can also see from the pictures that they are working on the pool at the end of the cul-de-sac. That will be so fun this summer!

We are 60 days out from closing and that means we were able to get our mortgage rate locked in this past week! It is awesome that the rates have stayed down these past few months! Benton says that everything is still on track and that May 20th is a firm date for closing! Yay!!!

The East's were in town last weekend and we had the most productive weekend ever shopping for the house. We made a day trip down to Gaffney for the pottery barn outlet and to say we hit the motherload is an understatement. We even had to rent a penske truck to get all the stuff back to greensboro. We loaded up on furniture at pottery barn and then hit IKEA for some great decorating and organizing stuff. Our apartment is now full of furniture...but moving in is going to be such fun!

3/7/10

2010-03-12T21:01:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I last posted so I thought I would put up some new pictures. They have put down the gravel to pour the driveway, sidewalk, and back porch. The permanent stairs are in place as well as the cubby. The cubby is super cute...and we were so glad that we were "talked into" getting it. Someday there might even be little backpacks hanging on it. : )

Andrew's parents are heading up here to NC this weekend. It will be so nice to get to visit with them and get some good shopping done for the house. Monday we are going to visit the pottery barn outlet and IKEA and hopefully we will find some good stuff. : )

March 3, 2010

2010-03-03T20:12:00.000-08:00

Brick and siding are done outside! Inside the builders are busy working on the fireplace (see below), trim, and doors. We also hear that the cubby is in place, but we have not seen proof of that yet. : )
We are so happy with the progress and are falling more in love with our house every time we see it! We can't wait to close in May and move in!!

Bricks!

2010-02-20T23:02:00.000-08:00

SNOW...in Alabama?

2010-02-14T22:40:00.000-08:00

We have had our share of snow this winter in NC. It seems like every weekend we get some more of that white stuff falling from the sky. So we are more than happy to share a little with you guys back in Alabama...we are sick of it.
Aunt Kay and uncle Freddie got out in the Huntsville "blizzard" Sunday to take some pictures of our house in the snow. Who knows when the house will see snow again... : )
Thanks Aunt Kay!

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

Framing walk-through occured on thursday and went smoothly. Everyone is singing the praises of our construction manager and crew. Dry wall was then delivered friday afternoon and they have already made huge progress installing it. The report is that they are currently two weeks ahead of schedule!

Luckily, Gary and Ann were able to sneak out there this weekend and get some verses written on the door frames before everything got closed in. : )

Happy Valentines Day!
Love, Kelly and Andrew

Kitchen

Living room

an update...finally

2010-02-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since we have updated the blog, not because nothing has been happening with the house. We have just been super busy these last couple of weeks, time is going by so quickly.
The doors and windows have been installed (see pictures below). The front door is only primed right now, it will be dark brown in the end. Also the electricians, plumbers, and air conditioning guys have all come and gone. The house next door is only a couple of days ahead of our house, so we can always look at it to see what the next step will be. They are bricking that house right now. We can't wait to see the our brick.
They are estimating the frame walkthrough to occur sometime in the next couple of weeks. It will be great to have the framing checked off and approved.
As always we are so so grateful for everyone who is keeping an eye on our house for us by proxy. We get so excited everytime we get pictures emailed, or phone calls from people standing in our future house. We love you all!

This is the side door, that goes into the mudroom (aka "the drop zone")

Lots and lots of wires...

The fireplace and logs are installed. That will be so nice come next winter!

Snowday

2010-01-31T07:11:00.001-08:00

In other news it snowed yesterday in North Carolina! Surprisingly, NC really doesn't get that much more snow than Huntsville. So when they threaten snow, everyone goes a little crazy, hits the grocery store, and then the city pretty much shuts down.

It was a respectable snow, 6-8 inches maybe, you can see in the picture below that our boots are completely covered. We had fun playing in the snow, and being forced to stay inside for the day.

The road in front of our apartments, completely covered in snow

shingles and a/c

2010-01-27T18:41:00.000-08:00

Our wonderful real estate agents went out to the lot yesterday and took us some new pictures! The shingles are laid, and the air conditioning guys were there working.

We're pretty sure this is a view from standing in our bedroom looking into our bathroom/closet

Upstairs

1/26/10

2010-01-26T11:03:00.001-08:00

What a beautiful day!

1/23/10 update

2010-01-23T16:19:00.000-08:00

We have a roof!

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." Psalm 91:1

1/22/10 update

2010-01-23T12:52:00.000-08:00

The house is coming right along!! Heres some pictures from Friday (1/22).

Front view:

back view:

1/19/10 update

2010-01-19T18:28:00.000-08:00

Workers were hard at work again today!

what a difference five days can make

2010-01-18T18:01:00.000-08:00

Five days ago, this lot just had a gravel foundation...today they were putting up walls. It will be May before we know it! A huge thank you to everyone who is keeping an eye on things and sending us pictures. It is almost as good as seeing it in person. Here are some pictures from today (1/18/10).

Ben showing us our house : )

1-13-10 update

2010-01-14T06:58:00.000-08:00

We have plumbing and electrical!

the construction has commenced

2010-01-10T18:00:00.000-08:00

We have not been in Alabama this week, but we have heard that it has been a tad cold (ok, very cold) and snowy. It has been a cold one up here in NC too...but we have had no snow to show for it. However, we are proud to announce that even admidst the winter weather, they have started on our house!

View from the front

View from the back corner

Our little piece of dirt

2010-01-06T11:23:00.001-08:00

Pictures of our lot...pre-construction

so here goes nothing...

2010-01-06T08:44:00.000-08:00

Until now, our online communication has pretty much revolved around email and facebook. However, with the turn of 2010 and the start to what will likely be one of the biggest years of our lives we have decided to embrace the blogging trend. Kind of like putting our college days behind us and joining the ranks of young married couples. Here's a look at our year ahead:

Graduation for Kelly - May 13th - we will both finally be done with school!
Moving back to Huntsville - May 15th - 2 days later
Building our first house (and hopefully the house we will live in for many years to come)...tentative closing date - May 20th
New jobs for both of us (well Andrew's is more like a continuation of his current job, but in a new place)

We figured that we would start blogging as our house began construction...aside from that our lives are not all that entertaining at the moment. And with any luck the blog will continue as our family moves back to Huntsville and begins a new chapter in our lives.

House status - 1.6.09 - The house was to be released for construction today with plans to begin construction next week. Can't wait to see some progress! We are praying for good weather and no issues! Benton is supposed to be hassle-free right? : ) Pictures to come...