a little housekeeping

call it nesting if you must, but i call it having lots of extra free time. we have definitely put this second half of summer to good use.

after a major hardwood floor cleaning overhaul, we decided to try our hand one more time at an IKEA purchase we attempted a few weeks ago. this time the piece we wanted was in stock so we brought it home and set it up. now, our coffee table can serve as a coffee table again and not as a tv stand!

i took some before and after shots. several pieces were moved around in the living room giving it a new feel.

fireplace before:

shot of fireplace after:

TV and bookshelf before:

TV with new stand after:

last set of unpacked boxes plus table before:

bookshelf relocated & books shelved (some also went to 1/2 price books) after:

relocated table and mirror hung beside front entryway after:

the transformation is not quite complete just yet. in a couple of months, i hope to order a big canvas print to go over the fireplace. i also want a little clock or some sort of trinket to go to the left of the tv (and i secretly just want a clock in here because i got so addicted to having the clock on our DVR box, but we got rid of cable so no more clock...ha). i also want to get a tray to put on the coffee table...any suggestions on where to get one? lee has mentioned putting a rug down as well...at least in time for when our little guy becomes mobile...but i have NO idea what kind or color would look best so suggestions are welcomed here as well.

lastly, i also FINALLY did some decorating in our bedroom. i put together a project i first saw on pinterest and also painted a $7.99 white IKEA table to use as my bedside table so i no longer have to put everything on the floor.

before/what our room looks like on a typical day (plus an unmade pack n' play):

after:

nature

all summer long, lee has worked so hard to make sure our grass and plants do not die off in this miserable houston heat. almost every single night for weeks, lee would turn on the sprinklers in the front and back yard, move them to different spots to make sure every part of the yard was being watered, and check everyday for any remote hint of growth. we even purchased some "weed and feed" (if that's even the correct name for it) for the more difficult areas, as well as rosebush food for the plants in the backyard.

lo and behold, we have finally received some summer showers over the past week or so to quench the thirst of our yard. last thursday, we looked into our backyard and saw this wonderful site. multiple blooms at the same time on our rosebush and deeper pink blooms on the plant beside it! (that's right, i don't have a clue what kind of flower it is)we were perfectly content with God showing off in such an amazing way, but He decided to one-up Himself and really give us a show on friday. with the beginning of what seemed to be a simple summer thunderstorm upon us, lee ran out to grab us an afternoon snack. no big deal...just some rain and a little rolling thunder. or so we thought... while he was away, i was trying to make sure a project i had been working on was staying dry from the rain under its cover when lightning popped right in our backyard and sent pieces of bark flying across our deck. from my view point, i could only see the tip of the tree that received the powerful blow but was still amazed at what had happened. the sound, the wind, and the lack of cable/internet in our house were plenty shocking for me.

however, once lee got home and the rain died down, we decided to venture outside to get a better look at the yard. remember, i assumed only the top of the tree had been affected. but i was wrong...thankfully, we have some wonderful neighbors who not only came to check on us but also assisted lee in cutting down most of the mangled limbs. we are so grateful for their help as well as God's provision that none of it touched the house or messed up the fence.

pinterest: a new found love

*update* - i totally did not copycat my sister-in-law and post on the same subject on the same day she did. however, as you will see, i do credit her with my addiction :).

once i finally tried the wonderful site known as pinterest that my sister-in-law had been raving about for weeks, i was hooked. i love all of the ideas that people share through this site...the crafty side of me that i did not even know existed has been brought out and is dying to try new projects.

a couple of posts ago i showed these off but did not credit the source of inspiration. thanks go to the person who first introduced them to the internet and pinterest. they were a huge hit...i just need to better master the art of applying the sprinkles after dipping the strawberries into the white chocolate.the more recent project i have attempted is a little DIY project that can show someone how much you care. when i first saw this project, i honestly thought about doing it for lee at some point in the future. however, i thought about it a little longer and realized with a little bit of a twist, it could be a really cute gift for my dad's 52nd birthday. i mentioned the idea to my mom, sister, and brother of us all compiling a list of things we love about my dad. they liked the idea as well so i bought the supplies and it all came together. the best part about this gift was that the four of us made our lists separately yet shared several of the same characteristics as things we love most about my dad. i think this could be a fun gift for anyone, for any occasion and it's super easy to do!

isn't my mom the sweetest?! :)

anyone else have any projects or new recipes they have completed or tried out lately? if you're interested, go to pinterest and request an invite or let me know and i will send you one myself!

a beach getaway

for our last "hoorah" before brendan's arrival, we decided to get out of town for a few days and just relax together. lee knew my most favorite place to relax is the beach and chose corpus christi as our destination locale (since destin, fl is just a little too far away for just a few days).

he chose the perfect place and time of the week to go because our quiet condo was just outside of the main part of the city and the beach was never packed. i loved it! the jellyfish were slightly overwhelming the first day and covering much of the beach, but we found some space away from them to soak in the sun.we found several local restaurants to try for dinner and a local cupcake shop...that we frequented more than once :).by the second full day, the jellyfish had mostly subsided to the point where we could put our chairs close enough to the water for the waves to hit our feet. lee even braved the waters for a while...until he found out that some jellyfish were still around after all and very quickly swam back to shore.i do not often post pictures of just me but i knew lee would not be ok with me just posting one of him. so, for all of you who enjoy baby bump pictures, i guess this one is for you.we also discovered a couple of interesting elements to corpus christi while in town. whataburger was founded in corpus which makes it home to the only two-story whataburger...supposedly if you dine on the second floor, waiters bring you your food and serve you at your table instead of at the counter. also, a methodist church that looks out onto the bay is known for their statue of jesus calming the seas. lastly, corpus christi bay is home to the uss lexington which apparently had quite the lengthy career before retiring here. what you cannot see in this shot is all of the pretty amazing jets on the top deck, but the only way i could have gotten a shot of those was while driving on the bridge that overlooks the ship...and that just was not going to happen.our last night, we took in a corpus christi hooks baseball game. the hooks are one of the astros' minor league teams, and they were playing the tulsa drillers who had a former aggie as their left-fielder. following the game, we were surprised by one of the best fireworks shows we have ever seen off of the uss lexington from the luxury of our balcony.beach, baseball, food, and even a little golf for lee made our beach trip a wonderful and relaxing finish to our summer travels. feel free to come see us anytime...before or after august 18...because this is where we will be for a while :)

fun with friends and family (even without fireworks)

even though most of texas is currently under a burn ban and fireworks are pretty much banned in most cities, we still found many reasons to have a great Independence Day weekend.

last friday, we headed to college station and enjoyed a dinner at wings n' more with the garretts, benolkens, and katy. after dinner, we played some intense rounds of four square and scooter races. although lee saw him a few weeks ago, i had not seen little wyatt benolken since he was only two weeks old. he is quite the chunky cutie now!saturday was our big party day. we had a delicious lunch at the garretts and i contributed my fruit cookie pie which seems like its becoming a yearly tradition. we swam lunch off for several hours that included jump contests, several rounds of "categories", sharks & minnows, boogie board balancing, and more until we all wore ourselves out. we topped off the day with burgers by phillip and ben & jerry's.sunday, we finished up our college station visit and headed home. with a pretty packed weekend, our actual 4th of july was pretty low key. i tried another patriotic dessert that turned out to be quite a hit. we also took erin & joe to crave cupcakes for one last visit before they head home to louisiana. joe loves crave as much as his mom and aunt...especially the icing. after the cupcakes, we got in some good snuggle time with will. the morrows were kind enough to include us in their dinner plans so we hung around for a some pappasito's to-go and sprinkler-bounce house-bubble fun from the kids.who needs fireworks when you can have great times with friends and family without them?!