Redoing the kitchen...

BEFORE















AFTER

Well the first step was painting after looking at paint samples for a year and a half :) Yep, that's how I do things sometimes. Tyson and I had been looking at this big spoon and fork forever, saying how cool they'd look in the kitchen, BUT we should paint first. Well we painted, so I got my utensils. These are a few shots of the new kitchen. We also got a sign for over the pantry that says 'groceries' We thought that was fitting, AND best of all a new light fixture. WOW the old one was SOOO ugly!! All our RED Kitchen Aid and accecories accent the kitchen great! The only thing possibly left if before we move a new stove and dishwasher and we're looking at some stone to create a backsplash above the oven and sink. So here are some shots, before and after... Nothing fancy or huge, but a big deal to us. We've saved a little money and are doing one thing at a time, by the time we get ready to move in 4 more years, I'm sure it will be perfect :)

J-O-B

Tyson has a new JOB!! Yeah, we're super excited and so so blessed! Tyson will be working for D R Horton starting Friday as their AP Supervisor in Birmingham!! He's very excited about this new opportunity and so I am I!! YEAH!! Go Tyson!! He has a new office, with real walls, for picture hanging! Thanks to everyone who helped, passed his resume along, made contacts, or PRAYED!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Painting...

Ummmfffhhh! Tyson gave me the money at Christmas to get my kitchen painted, well after it took me a year and a half to pick a color I was ready to paint.... BUT due to the job situation we 'were' in I thought we could do it ourselves. We're both off and stuck at home... Can't be that hard right... Ha Ha Ha, oh but wait it's not funny it stinks!! I hate it! So I begin to paint and Tyson gets a job offer, so I didn't have to save money afteralllll. Jeeeeeess. But it's been kind of fun and definitely a once in a lifetime experience :) Never Again!

It's a Boy! (puppy, boy puppy!)

Ha Ha, probably got a few of you... Well we've been in contact with a wonderful woman for several months about a malti-poo (toy breed, maltese/toy poodle mix) They are a special breed and Jessica Simpson, Blake Lively, etc. have one. I am not a fan of small dogs, but when I saw this one I knew that's the kind I wanted.... So, we seeked out the best breeders around and Mrs. Donna Corely was the best! We wanted a tanish/brown girl, but this was her last litter for a while she thought, so we took what we could get.

We had a pick of 3 boys. One, is a fat one! with a brown and silver color coat. She thought he would lighten the most and be a silvery color with brown undertone but have curly hair. The next one was the same type but with straight hair it seems. The last was the smallest and much darker. His undertone didn't seem to be as silver and looks black right now, so we're thinking if he lightens it won't be as much.... and he's curly too! We picked the last one! They are 2 1/2 weeks old today when we went to visit. They all had their eyes open and were so sweet. Just as happy and calm. They fit in the palm of your hand, so sweet!

We are so excited we don't care that he's a boy, or if his hair ends up green! We are however, debating on names, so lets us know what you think. We are down to 3 choices, we started with over 20...

Choices: Barker (aka Jay Barker); Bear (you know why); Luke ( b/c we love Gilmore Girls :)

We should be able to pick him up April 24th!!

Soo... I haven't posted in FOREVER!! But it's SNOWING in ALABAMA in MARCH!! Take that Al Gore and Global Warming :) A few pictures from our home.

Classroom Work..

Well, the entire week of the 4th I spent A LOT of time in my new classroom! #1 the drive to 'work' is already 100 times better!! YEAH!! #2 it was not spotless, :) but is now! (kind of and yes, I know it won't last long) #3 BIG, HUGE, thanks to my mom and dad. They came down half way through the week to help. It was great to have them down and mostly have extra hands. We got so much done and a lot that I couldn't have manage alone. They cleaned, cut, taped, hot glued, built and bought shelves, BIG HELP! These are a few pictures of the progress, it's getting there.

This week, I've been work-shop'n it! ARI, Reading, Comprehension, Fluency, Vocab, Phonics, FUN STUFF!! Thankfully I had Carrie Beth to hang out with at lunch and through the week (She's a very good college friend, who happens to be a Kind. teacher at my new school!! YEAH!) I got to spend a little bit more time after class every day, so it's just about there. I volunteered for registration night, so it was a great chance for Tyson to come see everything and help.. yep he got almost all my computers and printers connected. (Thanks babe!)

Next week is AMSTI!! Math and Science, for those non-teachers! Wish me luck, my mind is almost full of teacher-teacher talk.

More Changes...

The HAIR CUT!! I finally did it!! YEAH!! Ever since my hair has been long and I spent so much time in Children's Hospital, I've always wanted to cut my hair for locks of love. At first, I always wanted my hair long to cover my back and scars from surgery. In college I started wanting a change and thinking more and more about locks of love. I was ready to do it last year and backed out because of Tyson. I had a feeling he was the one and wanted my hair long for the wedding. Now, there was no excuses and no holding back!! EMILY, my favorite hair person and really just fav PERSON, did the honors! My hair is so thick we had to make pig tails and cut it rather than one pony tail. I've always had great hair any way I fix it, one blessing I got from above, but I was afraid it might go A-wall being so thick and short. Thankfully it didn't and has been great! It's not super short but it's about 14-16" shorter than before. Emily cut about 10 1/2, 11 inches off for locks of love and styled it from there, which got the other 3 or 4 inches. It's about shoulder length with layers, so I can make it straight, flipped out, curled under, rolled, and even curly. Should be fun, I'll have to work with it and learn.

MOSTLY, I love it! I needed a change and it was for a great cause! Hope everyone else likes it, and if not it will grow back :) That's my thoughts, but I like it this way and plan to keep it up!

Final Day :(

Just a few shots of me being sad :( I miss my John.... and my friend Judy, and... a lot of people. Excited about my new start but still miss all the friends I made. John's desk and mine has NEVER been so clean and empty!! It's amazing it was even possible, many people doubted.

LAST DAY... :(

John was shocked and really excited about his generous gift card to Bass Pro Shop, and I was trilled to get my gift card to the Parent- Teacher store, my new home:) My gift card was truly needed and will go to GREAT use!! THANKS!!

John and I were both lucky enough to work with an amazing group of people at Compass, especially our group on 17. It was a crazy week and very emotional! The office had me a cake on my final day, which was very appropriate :) see picture. And John and I even ended up with the same Good Bye card, bought by separate people at different places, funny! I'm excited about my new direction and I know John is too, but we'll always miss our wonderful friends at the bank! (EVEN though we'll stay in touch, PROMISE, JUDY!!:)

Oh the places you'll go... (hit "View Full" and it will get you there, sorry few kinks)

Compass night out...

I tried below to do this new collage, scrap book thing, but couldn't get it to work like I thought, so I went back to my old methods... Hopefully it will work for others because it's super cute! I couldn't imagine working with out John, so I'm leaving too!! :) The office and Compass have been great to both John and I!! THANKS!!

Retirement...

Thanks to everyone who came out for John's little gathering. It was nice to have a drink and share some snacks with everyone. John truly enjoyed himself, I think and I know I enjoyed seeing everyone one last time in a more casual sense. I'll miss everyone at Compass, myself and I know John feels the same about many.

BIG CHANGES!!!

The BIG News: I'm going back to TEACHING!!! I got a job at Calera Elementary teaching 2nd grade!! I'm very excited and it's all worked out in perfect timing. I'm going to be leaving the office at the end of the month with my boss who is retiring at the end of the month. I'm so happy we'll be walking out the door together, just makes everything easier :)

I'm super excited, scared, nervous, eager, stressed, everything!! I get the week of the 4th off to prepare and then it's off the development, training, work shops, ARI, AMSTI, Orientation!! All fun stuff, but will be very busy in July! Our house has suddenly been turned upside down again!! Tyson's been a big help, punching letters and loading books. I can't wait to get in my new room next week!! Wish me luck and keep me in your prayers!

Every Day China!!

All of our friends and family in Clanton were amazing and so generous!! We received a lot of wonderful gifts and a big part of those were pieces of our every day from Wright's. Wright's was sincerely helpful and got all our dishes in quickly! We were so excited and ran the dishwasher all day Sat and Sun. It's Butler's Pantry, Gourmet. Very nice and I've got most the serving pieces and extras. THANKS to everyone who gave us something, we'll think of you daily!!

NEW A/C!!!

YEAH!! We have air, COLD air!! Apparently we've basically been without a A/C - Heating Unit since we bought this house... XPress Heating and A/C had to replace EVERYTHING!! the unit, coils, thermostat, heat pump, pad, and so on and so on... It was a big hassle, but a huge blessing!! The new Unit is GREAT!! And it has a 5 year warranty, which is awesome!! We're so happy! Pop came and waited for the A/C people and stayed half the day while they worked. Luckily I got off a bit early to relive him. The rest of our weekend was so nice, we mostly stayed home and cleaned and did things around the house!! SO NICE to be home sometimes! After the A/C craziness, we went to run errands, and came home to all my clothes on the floor... my side of the closet fell, the later we were half way into a movie... power went out... We went to bed! It was funny, or at least my dad got a big kick out of all our troubles.

Bad Daughter/ Daughter-In-Law

So, I didn't take any pictures over the Father's Day... We did sen our dad's cards and We did give gifts, but just no pics. I got my dad one card with a John Deere tractor sitting in the middle of a football field (my dad's two fav. things) and another that we gave him that day that sang "Sweet Home Alabama" His third fav. thing :) Tyson dad got two cards, both about construction and working, since he's our handy-man. His singing card sang "Takin' Care of Business" It was a lot of fun.
THE reason for no pictures and updates is very exciting and nerve-wrecking!! I'll post about it soon!

If you weren't tired of wedding pictures, here are some more...

Tyson and I wanted to get a few more fun pictures we missed, plus I never had my bridal portraits due to the weather. We went to Guntersville this past weekend and the Lecroy's took our pictures on the lake at sunset. It was actually nice doing it after, so Tyson could be in the pictures with me. My mom also took a few shots of us at the church, fields, and my Great-Great Grandfather's house (log cabin) close to where our farm is. I think they all turned out great! MY MOM'S GOOD!! BIG THANKS to Mom and Tyson for wearing a black suit in June now... :) Much love! (Hope to get everyone some hard pictures soon! OR many of you may want to visit the Lecroy website and order professional pictures.)