We've Lost a Bedroom...

We're officially all moved in and yes, we've lost a bedroom. To the dog. Tank has officially declared one of the guest bedrooms as "his". He even sleeps on the bed in there at night. All night long. It's the only place he'll go these days. Even when J and I are in the den watching TV, he won't hang out with us anymore. He goes to his "room" and lays on the bed. I'm not sure if I should be alarmed at his sudden affection for this particular room or relieved that he doesn't sleep in our room and jump on and off the bed 50 times a night where we hear his little toenails every time he does it. Right now, I'm leaning towards relief since I'm getting more sleep.

Moving went great! It was a lot of hard work and we had so much wonderful help from our wonderful family and friends. We couldn't have done it without them! We're busy trying to do what I call "finishing touches" so I'll be sure to post some finished pictures in the next week or so as we get more done.

Best website ever!

So everyone does it, but every once in a while work just gets to you and you have to take a 5-minute mental break to make sure your head doesn't implode. Or at least I do. I love my job, but sometimes I get so overwhelmed and so stressed, that it's better for me to take a step back and take a small break so I can approach a task from a different angle. Admit it...you know what I mean! Anyway, I have found the greatest blog website to help me take that break and get a good laugh. Some of these pictures are hysterical and I find myself laughing out loud at them. Some, however, are cheesy. But usually those are few and far between. So here is the website and it is about the funnest thing you'll ever see! Tons of different people post on it and I've attached one of my favorite images from it here:

Yeah, so I know you're thinking what's with all the misspelled words and it's called "doggie speak" and it's how these people who post think their dog (or cat for this version) would type and talk if they could. Kind of like baby talk on steroiods a little. I already have my sister hooked. Try it for a week...people post almost continuously on it. Tell me you don't find yourself doubled over a time or two!
So there is your good cheer for the day!

The House...by popular demand...

So, my mom and Jarren are both harassing me to put up more current pictures of the house progression. It's not really so much a progression anymore as a "finalizing little details" process since we're moving in two days! So here they are with minor descriptions. You can see better "before-and-after" transformation pictures on my facebook page. So here they are (P.S. you can make each picture bigger by clicking on it - maybe this is a trick the seasoned bloggers know about, however, I did not so there you go!):

View of the finished den

Dining/Bar room (this is actually an old picture before the tile was grouted...I'll put a newer one up soon with no furniture eventually).

2 Kitchen pictures (see, there's the grouted tile!) with distressed cabinets and new knobs

Close-up of the kitchen cabinets

2 pictures of the master bedroom

New master bathroom! Probably the biggest transformation!

New guest bathroom (made out of an island closet and wasted hallway)

...and what a weekend it was!

We had such a great weekend! Friday we took off for Birmingham around 5:45 for my friend Margaret's Alphabet shower. I'm a bridesmaid in her wedding and couldn't be happier about it! We had such a blast catching up with friends of mine from the good old ADPi days - Alise, Shelley, Katie and more. A few too many glasses of wine made the car ride home a snap for me (I slept the WHOLE way) but poor J had to drive us home and we didn't leave until after 11:30 and didn't get home until after midnight. He's such a good hubby for taking care of me like that... : )
This is Alise and I catching up at The Wine Bar in Mountain Brook

And J and I! Blonde headed babies in our future...I can see it!
The ADPi's at the shower!

The sweet couple!
With the Bride-to-beSo all day Saturday and all day Sunday (we even had to miss church - sad!) we worked in the house because...we're moving THIS FRIDAY! We're finally going to be enjoying all of our hard work as of this Friday and we're thrilled. Hopefully the next time I post we will be living in the house with our furniture in there. No promise that boxes will be all the way unpacked by Monday, but you know me, I'll sure try! YEA!!!

Dancing with the Stars - GO MELISSA!

So tonight is Dancing with the Stars, which I follow every season! I'm a HUGE Melissa fan this season, too. Not just because of The Bachelor and the fact that she had her heart broken on national TV, but because she really is a great dancer. So to everyone who reads this...vote for Melissa!

So since my last post, things have changed on our move-in date. We're moving March 27th now and it's not changing because I've already asked off of work. So it's done! : ) Any and all help greatly appreciated.

Nothing new to report...until next time...

Rainy Day Friday...

Well, it's s nasty, rainy Friday afternoon. And I'm a terrible blogger. I don't ever remember to do an update. Here's what's going on in our lives right now:
1. Jarren has to work late for basketball season ONE MORE NIGHT (tonight) and I am so thrilled to finally be getting my husband back! Seriously, I leave for work at 7:30 (he doesn't get up until then) and then I get home at 5:30 usually, but he isn't home until 9:30 and I go to bed at 10:00 (anyone who knows me knows I have to have at least 8 hours of sleep per night to function). Add it up, that's 30 minutes a day I get to visit with him.
2. We will move into the house starting the weekend of March 14. At this point, I don't care if I have to work after work every night for the next two weeks, it's going to happen. I'm tired of not getting to relish in all of our hard work. I'll take some new pictures this weekend (if I can find my camera batter charger) and post them next week. It's coming along so well! But now we're down to the nitty gritty and I just want to move.
3. Tank I think is starting to really punish us for leaving him so much. I went to Arab with J last night for a city basketball tournament so we could FINALLY spend some time together. Well, we got home around 9:30 and I look through the window as I'm opening the door and he has taken our every single one of the leftover 'Bama and AU shakers from the wedding out of the pot we keep them in and has proceeded to shred all of them all over the downstairs. I'm talking millions of pieces of shaker strewn throughout. So that was fun.

That's pretty much the excitement of our lives right now. Pretty cool, huh? It's about to get crazy in a matter of two weeks so I'll try to keep everyone abreast with all of our fun to be had! We are hosting a shower for one of my dearest friends (and former roommate), Margaret, in Birmingham on March 20th and we're so excited to get to do this for her! She was one of my bridesmaids in our wedding and caught by bouquet - so fitting that she's the next of my besties to get married! : ) Then, April 17-19 I have Margaret's Bachelorette weekend at Lake Martin (YEA!!!) on Friday night and then that Saturday, we're going to Montgomery for one of my good friends from college, Trey's, wedding. But the BEST part of that weekend is my best friend, Lindsay Ann, who works as a designer for Brooks Brothers in NYC is coming that Thursday night before so we get to spend a whole weekend together!!!!!!!!! J's pumped about a 3.5 hour car ride one-way to the 'gump with two best friends who haven't seen each other since August. : ) Then May 2nd is Margaret's wedding (which I'm in) in Birmingham and I can't WAIT to be a part of her big day with her! Busy spring but we're so excited. Stay tuned...

~E

Stress levels through the roof...

OK, so I think my stress levels are going through the roof. I've been having for about a week now a constant "pressure" feeling in my upper abdomen just below my sternum. I can't decide if it's just stress or something more serious. Either way, I don't really like doctors so I'm avoiding going, much to Jarren's dismay. Poor guy...he doesn't understand that in my family, we don't go to the doctor unless vital organs are hanging out of our bodies. And even then, it's a stretch and we won't go by ambulance. And to top it all off, this afternoon, this random sharp, pinging pain developed in my neck where my jaw and ear sort of touch. OMG...I sound like a hypochondriac. NOT GOOD!!! : ) To everyone who reads - please say a prayer that it's just stress and I'll calm down. Stress is equated to the house that will never be finished and we won't be ready to move in until it's time to totally redecorate for a baby. Exaggeration, of course.

As I've learned with contractors/construction workers, whatever date they give you for when they'll be done with something, add about a week. Our bathrooms are supposedly going to be done this Monday the 16. From there, it's a countdown...trying to be moving in by March 6th so we'll have 17 days to finish. And 13 of those days are weekdays. Thank goodness my mom will be here the WHOLE WEEK of the 16 - 22 of February. God bless her!

I'm just ready for it all to be done and we have our wonderful friends and family over to visit! Please come...you'll have a GREAT new bathroom to use!

Here's a picture of our master bathroom during the demolition phase, then with the new walls and vanity that is the same angle as the first picture(the bathtub that will be tiled is on the other side of the wall across from the vanity...you can't really see it in the pictures). Also a close-up of our pretty new tile in there!