2 pounds down last week, only 8 more to go...

I'm just putting it out there.

This past week our neighborhood pool opened up and I poured myself into my trusty black one-piece. I thought it was slimming when I bought it last year, you know being black and all, but a winter full of deep fried Southern food, soups, and holidays begs to differ. Yuck.

As my husband and I were sitting on the edge of the pool this past weekend, my cover up still on and his belly bulging a bit, we decided it's time to do something for sure. I go to the gym most days, but it's not really doing the trick. I have to start watching what I eat, there's no doubt about it.

We go to the beach June 13, and my goal is to lose 8 (preferably 10) by that point. My ultimate goal is at least 10 (preferably 15) pounds. Monday we started dieting (good old weight watchers) and my dear, sweet, husband has lost 6, yes, 6 pounds already. I have lost a grand total of...wait for it... nothing. In fact, the scale shows I've gained a pound!

Encourage me, people. My trusty swimsuit can't take it anymore!

And the streak continues

As I've said before, I'm on a DIY kick, so I'm milking it for all its worth until my fuel runs out. Today I finished my latest project - a framed fabric bulletin board. My refrigerator was getting a bit ridiculous and little hands managed to pull everything off of it at least a few times each day, so I made this. -

At Hobby Lobby I found a 24x36 inch cork panel and 2 yards of fabric that were in the "cheap" bin where they throw everything that has been cut and abandoned ($3 -score!). I then covered the cork in the fabric and stapled it to the back. Then I went back to Hobby Lobby and found a perfectly sized ready made open back frame and tada! I hung it in our hallway off of the kitchen and am so excited to have a clean looking fridge once again.

My next project - make these hand me down chairs look somewhat presentable at each end of my breakfast room table. The constant brown throughout my kitchen and breakfast room is driving me nuts. I bought some red spray paint today, so stay tuned! It could likely be a disaster!

And, by the way, baby girl did great in her big girl bed. The first night she woke up screaming at 4:30 because she didn't know where she was, the second night was the same and last night, she stayed asleep until 7:30 this morning.

My baby...

Is not a baby anymore. Tonight will be her first night in her big girl bed, sharing a room with her sister. Geez, when did this happen? She's growing up so fast! She has always been a baby that LOVES her baby bed up until the last month. She doesn't want to go anywhere near it, so we're giving this a whirl. I'll let you know how it goes.
Although I'm a little sad about the new sleeping situation, I am pretty excited about the nursery becoming an office. As of now our office and playroom are one in the same, not a good idea, by the way. Now I have two new decorating projects - the girls' room (which was just my oldest's and the beds were bunked) and the new office. Exciting or daunting? I can't decide quite yet.

It's hot, y'all...

So we broke out the slip and slide. Summer's here and the girls are enjoying every second of it, as you can see. Last year, my baby was still a baby and just sat around and watched the other kids play, but this year, oh this year... it's no holds barred.



I'm trying to break my oldest of this weird "Disney channel/High School Musical/I think I'm a teenager" pose she strikes each time I take a picture, so this is the only one where she still looks four. Lordy, Lordy, we are in t.r.o.u.b.l.e.

And the sassiness doesn't stop there. She's passing it down to her baby sister. I got out of the shower tonight and found them rummaging through my closet. I was told they were getting ready for their "runway show." What can I say? They get their love of heels honest.

I've had a terribly exhausting day today and my kids are of course the main reason, but as draining as they can be sometimes, they are so much stinking fun!

Happy splashing!

Bill Daves

So apparently I'm on a tear posting today. That's weird.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down and interview Bill Daves and his daughter Diana. Mr. Daves is a 84 year old practicing pharmacist in Byram and such a delight. He is the most polite, gracious man with an incredible story. Check it out here.

I swear I'm done for the day...

Why gum and four year olds shouldn't mix...

At least it wasn't the carpet this time...

My DIY Kick...

If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you've probably gathered that I'm completely obsessive compulsive. Yeah, trying to work on that. The main thing I'm OCD about is my house. I'm a clean freak and my blood pressure rises when my house is out of order (not that that keeps it from getting out of order - it's more of a let it go until I freak out type thing).

Anyway, I also am OCD about decorating my house. I know in my head exactly what I want things to look like and therefore my rooms stay sort of bare because I have a hard time finding exactly what I want. Also, I have a hard time spending gobs of money on my house. (Ok, well, my husband has a hard time being ok with me spending gobs of money on the house.)

March marked a year that we've been in our house and it's still pretty bare. My latest project has been our bedroom. Previous posts on the headboard and built in entertainment center. The one thing that's been driving me crazy are the cheap looking lamps that have graced our nightstands. So, for quite some time I've been on the lookout for lamps to no avail. Everything is so expensive!

My friend Mandy recently sent me a link to this blog. I love it. This chick is super woman for sure. She does the neatest stuff in her house. Check it out.

So this got me on one of my "do it yourself" kicks. I'll go at it and then poop out, so I should enjoy it while it's here. For my birthday, I found some $30 lamps at TJ Maxx that were adorable wood painted white. The shades were not so great. They had this horrible navy blue tropical/nautical/gross pattern on them. I figured I could always buy new shades, but the shape of these are exactly what I was looking for. So I painted them. The paint job is messy (I'm not too great with painter's tape on a slightly sloping surface), but will do for now. All in all, I'm pleased!

Also, this is my great grandmother's chifferobe that has been in my bedroom since I was a baby in a crib, so when I got married, it moved in with us. The only thing is, we've never had tall ceilings until now, so I got a bunch of junk from Hobby Lobby (love it!) to go on top. It's amazing what some dried sticks can do.

I'm looking for a good seamstress in Jackson to make some pillows and curtains. If you know of anyone, please let me know!

Nashville

I mentioned before that we were leaving for Nashville on my birthday. For the past few months we have been helping out with the college ministry at our church and we went for a collegiate ministry conference with our friends the Braddys. We both felt led to work with college students. I know for me, it was because if ever there were a time where I needed that support system, it was in college. The opportunity kind of fell in our laps and it has been such a blessing in our lives and our marriage.

So on my birthday God decided to slap me around a little bit. You know when someone's sleeping and you slap them in the face and yell, "WAKE UP!" ? Yeah, it was just like that - a divine rude awakening.

David Platt brought the message Thursday night and he didn't hold back a bit. He "brought" it in every sense of the word. He began by talking about how ministry is often sugarcoated. In one part he said we often talk about how God loves the sinner, but hates the sin. That's simply not the case. He mentioned Psalm 5:5: "The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You HATE all who do wrong." So my bubble was burst. We often underestimate God. We view him as a loving teddy bear that is there when we need Him when in fact, although he is loving and gracious, He is also a powerful, angry God with an enormous wrath. He is angry and our sinful nature needed someone to come and make us right with God. And He did.

Throughout the Bible, God's wrath is often referred to as in a "cup." The very cup Jesus prayed would be taken from him the night he was crucified. I guess my feeble mind always assumed that Jesus sweat blood because he was scared of dying and the torture that it would entail. But Platt talked about the cup and it became clear. God's wrath, his anger towards all of us sinful people, was poured out like a torrent on Jesus. Platt said, "He turned the cup of God's wrath up, swallowed every last drop, and threw it down and cried out, 'It is finished.'" That blew me away. I needed to be reminded about the gift that Jesus gave. He made us right with God by taking on our sins, our wrongdoings and I owe Him every aspect of my life and nothing less.