how did we get here?

Our baby boy is two. Two years old. I feel the need to be retrospective.


Cooper's birthday, December 16, 2007...

 Two years ago today, the nurse handed us this precious little one. Ours?!

He's been the center of attention from Day 1. It's not our fault.

How could he not be?

 Last year, on December 16, 2008:

We couldn't believe it had been a whole year.

The face was a little less peaceful, but just as precious.

And the attention... it didn't stop.

Birthday number two, December 16, 2009. How did we get here?

Our little one is not so little anymore!

 

He's "two" actually (as he is so obviously demonstrating for you in the picture).

Surrounded by love and attention once again...

...and eating up every bit it.

His little face gets more precious every day,

and he brings us more joy than we could have ever imagined!

Almost as much joy as Mickey and the "Hot Dog Song" bring to him.

Side note:

Tar Heel basketball, 2026

checkmarks

This pretty much sums up our life right now. And these are just the lists that we haven't lost.

Things have been crazy around here. Crazy. Curtis accepted a job offer in Greensboro, NC a few weeks ago. Since then, we have been constantly (and frantically?) trying to get the house ready to put on the market. Full days and short nights... one thing to the next.

Just tonight, we compiled all of our unchecked down to this list. Things are getting better. More manageable.

I realized, though, that this is the way I live my life... as a giant checklist, just trying to get from one box to the next. Sure, there is something so satisfying in marking each little square and moving forward. What is lost, though, is the life that's lived in between the boxes. The moments that don't achieve a checkmark but whose experience would fulfill me in a much deeper way. Laughing with my little boy. Sitting with my husband on the couch and simply enjoying being together. Calling my sister just to say "hi". Taking time to be still and know that He is God.

Today was a big day, and not just because of the surprise snow. Finally, we were able to put a sign in our yard. Our house is on the market.

My mentality lately is that "once the house is ready", or "once the house sells", or "once Christmas is over", I will be able to be more present in life. I will be able to breathe and enjoy the air. But will I? Or will I just create a new list?

A lot of life exists between the list items. If I can figure out a way to live it right now, in the midst of this season, I should be able to do it at anytime. If...

transformations: the laundry room

We're just going to knock out a few rooms tonight... hope you don't mind!

The laundry room is actually more of an area, since it is really just a nook in between the kitchen and rest of the hallway. The functionality is great, though, and I actually like the fact that it's so open and easily accessible. Anyway, here's where we began:

 Pantry (closet on the left) and cabinets. I think we were trying to clean and air them out!

 Directly across were washer and dryer hook-ups and a precious/dirty ironing board built into the wall.

 Just in case you wanted to see the ironing board in action. This was probably the last action it ever saw!

Right after we moved in, we tore out the lineoleum floor (covering up the hardwood!) and primed the walls.

Then, we did nothing. For over 3 years.

Last year, we finally decided to tackle this space, after we got a great idea/vision from my mom. We hated the fact that the pantry took up the one hall closet, and that there was no storage around the washer and dryer.

 So, we ripped out the existing cabinetry and the shelves in the closet, headed to the salvage store, and bought a bunch of unfinished cabinetry.

 We had to improvise a few times. We used the set of drawers from the old cabinetry to save money, but changed the hardware and added some leftover beadboard to the side. Then Curtis ingeniously used an extra piece of kitchen countertop to keep us from having to buy any! He added wood trim around the edges, which I painted. It turned out looking incredible.

After lots of sanding, painting, and installing, we ended up with a fabulous laundry/pantry space!

The closet is now a real coat closet, which is unbelievably nice to have. The tall pantry cabinet is, as the name suggests, our food pantry. The drawers/counter space are super functional as well.

The wall cabinets above the washer and dryer are perfect for all of our laundry needs, with extra space for other random stuff. We even built shelves in between to provide easy-access space for the detergent and such. It's so handy!

The second tall pantry cabinet is filled with serving dishes, pans, small appliances... basically, everything that used to take up all the room in my kitchen cabinets. I love it!

 As great as it all was, there was still the matter of these random peeling sections of the ceiling. Just last month, Curtis took care of those. I pulled the "I'm pregnant" card and got out of it. :)

Lots of scraping.

Lots of mess.

 He definitely got the job done! Unfortunately, he then had to sand it, put drywall mud on it, sand it, repeat the process, and then paint it. Whew.

But in the end... beautifully done. And, finally, it's all REALLY done.

Even doing laundry is tolerable in a room like this!

transformations: the dining room

Want to see the downstairs? Let's begin in the dining room!

In the beginning... or at least in the 1960's...

I know. You can't tell anything from this picture. But, I just think it's so cool that we even have it! This is during the previous owners' remodel of the house (in 1963), looking in from the kitchen. Apparently, there used to be a cool swinging door there!

Slightly more recent, circa 2005:

 Not too bad... in comparison to some of the other "befores".

You like that chandelier, though, don't you??

I don't have any of the "process" pictures, but this room hasn't been TOO much of a hastle for us. Just the "basics":  hardwood floors refinished, walls/ceiling/trimwork were primed and then painted, new chandelier and window blinds hung, crown molding added, etc. And, voila!

 Our dining room, as seen through the wide entryway from the living room.

 The furniture is a combined product of my parents' attic, some friends' generosity, and craigslist! I love the randomness.

 We framed black & white pictures of our families (both old and new photos) to hang on this wall. I love how it turned out, and can't wait to add to the collection!

Come over and have a meal with us! In the next few weeks, that is.  :(

transformations: our bedroom

It's been awhile since I've posted our room renovations. Well, I guess it's just been awhile since I've posted at all. Things have been a little crazy around here. With a little motivation coming from our now upcoming move, I'm back on track and will try to finish documenting the rest of the house... though it will surely not be in as much detail. You're probably grateful for that! :)

Our bedroom, as it looked before we bought the house:

 You'll notice the familiar sights of horrid drapery.

 Every. Single. Window.

Removing the curtains didn't help much, except to highlight the lovely carpet.

We really were pretty excited about the walk-in closet, especially with it's pegboard walls and homemade pipe hanging system!

 

In order to make the room/upstairs liveable, we had to rip up the carpet, prime both the walls and ceiling, and then get new carpet installed. We gratefully accepted some help from friends (including smiley Seth!) to make the priming part happen!

If I remember correctly, these two were more excited about posing than about painting!

Katie looked way too cute to be doing manual labor, don't you think?? And no, I'm not speaking of myself in the third person.

Fast forward 4 long years of carpet installation, wallcolor-choosing, furniture-searching, painting, and rearranging...

Our room in all it's glory.

Side note: I've been putting this post off because we haven't had bedside tables. Seriously. We've been using TV tray tables and hoping that Cooper didn't pull a lamp down on his head while I searched craigslist every day. Well, we finally bit the bullet yesterday and bought two from Walmart's "Canopy" line.

So far, we are really impressed! No particle board, easily assembled... really solid pieces of furniture. I'll let you know if we change our minds, but as of right now we would definitely give them our recommendation!

Okay, back to the room:

I love the dormers in this house.

I also love my closet...

even the pegboard walls!

Who would've thought?

make new friends, but keep the old…

There is nothing quite so wonderful as an old friend. Someone who knows what you would want for breakfast and that you hate feet. Someone who asks about the things closest to your heart and challenges you even when it hurts. Someone who has loved you through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
 I am blessed to have 7 of those friends… my roommates from college. We live all over the southeast, don’t talk every day or even every week, and each have separate lives in new communities of people. Yet, when we get together, it is one of the sweetest comforts I know. Old friends truly are golden.
Last month, we were all able to gather at the beach with only one dear friend missing- our sweet Amy. It was a precious few days to be together. And so much fun. We even invited our “significant others” for the first time! At one point, we had 15 people in the 4 bedroom condo. There were some huge sacrifices made to be a part of this weekend, which made me even more grateful for every person there.
Allow me to introduce my dear ones and their dear ones….
(disclaimer: These pictures are not good. They were mostly taken at a dark restaurant, and I am just not a good enough photographer to make that work well without a flash. But I tried, because I hate the flash. Needless to say, they then required quite a bit of photoshopping, in which I am also no expert. So… I’m asking for your grace. It’s more about the people in the picture, anyway. Right?)

This is Kara. We sometimes call her “Parker” after the cruise ship director from our senior year cruise. She is a fabulous encourager and gatherer of friends, making everyone feel included and cared for. Hence, this trip... it was her idea.

 
Kara married Peter almost two years ago, and apparently they’ve been dressing alike every since. :) Peter is a native Floridian, an obnoxious Gator fan (at least that’s what they call them in Knoxville), and a tender-hearted man.

 
My beautiful friend Lauren was there, with a special glow about her. She is a free-spirit who never ceases to surprise us with both her random comments and her brilliant successes.

 
We had our first encounter with Matt, the reason for Lauren’s sweet smile. We understood- he seems like a keeper for sure, which is good thing since they got engaged a few weeks ago!! I am so excited for them!

Tiffany, who I lived with for all four years of college, is the Anne Shirley to my Diana Barry. Her strength and grace are amazing and I am so thankful for her long-time presence in my life.
P.S. She did not want me to take her picture.

Tiffany’s husband, Will, wasn’t planning on coming for the weekend. At the last minute, he drove all the way from Nashville, on his motorcycle, to be at the beach for about 12 hours. That certainly shows a lot about his heart and character.

Though looking a little frightened in this picture, I think Meredith looks gorgeous as well. Her wisdom and conviction have been a steady stream for all of us. She’s even a real counselor now! And she has great hair.

Scott, Meredith’s husband, did an excellent job repeatedly posing as I tried to take a decent picture. That’s the kind of guy he is- fun, confident, and carefree. The kind of guy you want in any group.

One of the best stories of the weekend: Ross (Amy’s hubby) came to spend time with us, even though she couldn’t be there! He is one of the most genuinely kindhearted men I’ve met, and almost filled the void that Amy left.

Claire, strong and lovely, was a joy to be with as always. She has a fabulous way of knowing every person in a room and making each of them feel important.

 
James, a great match for Claire, really added to our weekend and fit in so well. Intelligent, easy to be around, and so good to our precious friend… I am definitely a fan. I think we all are.

Look at that face- don’t you just love her already? This is my dear friend Julie and she’s just as fun as she looks. It is always a gift to me to be with her, especially since she lives forever away under the big city lights of DC. She’s so cosmopolitan.


This is Mac, the man lucky enough to get a ring on Julie’s finger. Mac has a good heart and a great laugh. I’ve told Julie that he and Curtis would/should be BFFs if they lived in the same town. He’s just a good one.


Scott decided to take my camera and try it out for a few minutes. This is one of the results… I actually like it, which says a lot coming from me! The biggest reason? I think it shows how happy these people make me. Happy makes beautiful.


Last but certainly not least in my world… Curtis. I feel so blessed that he went to school with all of these girls because he knows and loves them all already. He understands where we’ve been and is a part of where we are going. What a joy! And he’s cute. :)

To bring it all together for you:


and, just in case you need a refresher on the relational ties:
Ha ha ha. I just think that’s funny.
If you made it this far, thanks for getting to know my sweet friends. In learning about them, in a way you are learning about me too. So thanks.