Spring Showers

It wouldn't be spring without a shower or two right?! Which is exactly why Emily and I decided to plan an oh-so-fun shower for our prego friend Mary. See her cute baby bumb...

There is a baby in there...seriously, crazy stuff to me! I'm glad she is having kiddos first. I will learn everything I need to know from her ; )

We invited her closest friends and family and reserved some chocolate fondue at the Melting Pot. Delicious, melted chocolate. What more could a group of girls ask for?

Sorry ladies, I apparently only took action shots...

I wish I had more pics to share of all the fun shower details, but alas my phone (with which I take 90% of my pics) decided to die that very morning, after I took pictures of all the games, decorations, and favors the night before. Thank goodness I had the shower to cheer me up after that devestation! I just love these two ladies to pieces...

Can't wait to meet Baby Murphy in June; 2 months and counting!

Whoops!

I skipped a whole month of blogging! I can't beleive its been that long. I guess its all that March Madness buzz everyone's talking about...wait does that only refer to basketball? I feel like it refers to my life.

It's never my intention to leave for long periods of time, but I spent half of my month in other states. I figured I'd start witha short recap of my first trip. After rotations ended I spent some time down in Texas visiting Gpa and Gma Daugherty (this is how they sign things--Gpa and Gma--I'm not being a lazy typer). They live all the way down in Rio Hondo. It's further south than South Padre Island. They live off the River. This is them on their porch. My Gma wears her hair in a pony tail with about 10 clips holding back her shorter hairs. It makes me smile everytime I see it. I wish I had a close-up to show you just how cute it is.

Gpa has been declining in health and Gma has been busy taking care of Gpa, so we spent some time helping clean up their place. See me raking off broken limbs from their carport left from the last hurricane...

We also rebuilt their porch overhang that was taken off by a hurricane. We like to be extra safe. This is why he have 2 people holding on to my brother Aaron while he screws in the ceiling piece ; )

It wasn't all work and no play though. We got to feed their fish donut seeds everyday (this is what Gma calls cheerios). They know all their fish by name. It's really quite impressive, because there is a lot of fish in their pond.

We got a group shot on their bridge over their pond. Doesn't it make you want to break out the power washer?! We wanted to, but Gpa said it would just get dirty again.

Visiting the grandparents is kind of one of those bitter sweet experiences. It is always sad leaving, because you never know if they will make it till the next time you see them. My Gpa acutally just called yesterday to tell me he wouldn't be able to make it to my graduation; he's back on the oxygen tank almost 24/7. He brought tears to my eyes telling me how much it meant to him for me to be getting my degree; it's the sweetest thing he has ever said to me.

Hope we get to make some more memories, and cherishing the ones we have.

Dreaming of Sunshine

I must be dreaming of sunshine, cuz I keep picking out things in yellow...

That's my new $10 lunch bag & $13 pair of flip-flops. I LOVE Target!

Don't forget to get your flip-flops early before sizes start selling out ; )

This Can't Be Safe

I think they put warnings like this....

on ladders for a purpose.
Unfortunately, my husband still decided to do this...

Hummm...definitely not safe ; )
Oh well, the stairway is finally painted!

Here is our color scheme for downstairs...

The stairwell is "Smooth Stone"  by Glidden (behind the other colors)
The downstairs walls are "Silver City" by Ralph Lauren in the Suede finish (the smaller square- its textured)
& The ceiling is sprayed with "It's Getting Late" by Dutch Boy (the dark gray color)
Yes, we like to mix things up-- Thank you Home Depot for having Ralph Lauren paint on sale!

And on a really exciting note, the pallet project is making progress!!! Check out out our fireplace wall...

This wall makes me smile from ear-to-ear...now that's a big smile : )
Can't wait for the other two walls by the stairs to be covered in pallets as well....eek!

Pallet Power

Yes, pallet power. It's our new basement endeavor. I blame it all on Katie and her "boyfriend" over at BOWER POWER. See their new amazing nursery wall in all its rustic gloriousness...

Apparently Katie and me share a thing for old wood ; ) Sincere apologies to our husbands boyfriends...ha!

So, the pallets have taken power. See our garage...

See our basement floor...

Hear the sound of the nail gun in the background...
Oh wait, only I can hear that.

Oh well. Happy President's Day on ya!

LOVE

Valentine's is the perfect time to reflect on the LOVE God has for us. Thank you Clary for posting this link sharing images that trully capture your heart and the beauty of God's creation.

Love your God. Love your neighbor as yourself. Simply simple, yet we make it so complicated.

May you feel LOVED today and EVERYDAY....

And the Armoir!

Yes, the almost final piece (we still have a $25 Craig's List desk to paint black) to my sister's room makeover is looking oh-so-pretty with a fresh coat of gray paint. See...

But that's not all this lovely armoir is adorned with. Looks what's hiding inside...

Gray, floral, wrapping-paper-covered back walls (yes, the patterns are turned opposite directions, but it was easier to do it that way!). Did you notice the new knobs that I first mentioned here?

But seriously, the most important question regarding this armior is, "How did the chalkboard doors turn out?" Well, I am pleased to anounce that with a little bit of this...

(a $2.50 bottle of unsanded grout- pretty exciting huh?)
You too can have custom color chalkboard surfaces that work wonderfully!!!

Just to prove it, I had my sister send me a picture text of what she has written on them now (sorry, camera phone's aren't the greatest quality). If you look really close though you can see a Thank You Debra written; what a sweet sis!

In case you are wanting to make your own personalized color chalkboard, here is exactly what to do.

1. Pick a fun paint color and buy semi-gloss paint (satin may work too, but I was going for wipeable)
2. Go to local hardware store and purchase white, non-sanded gout (I found mine at ACE Hardware)
3. Mix 1 cup paint and 2 Tbsp non-sanded grout in old bowl (like on old cottage cheese container) until grout is pretty much smooth (mine still had small lumps but this came out while I was brushing it on)
***I only used a little less than half of this amoutn to paint all 4 doors of this armior***
4. Paint the surface you want painted with a nice thick layer (I used a sponge brush)
5. Wait 3 days for paint to dry (this may be more than necessary, but I didn't want to sand too soon)
6. Lightly sand surface with 150 grit sand paper for nice smooth look
7. Condition chalkboard by rubbing side of chalk all across surface then wiping it clean
(Thank you Martha Stewart for the recipe)

All in all, this project was QUICK, CHEAP, and WORKED GREAT.
So great, that I already bought a new color of paint for my own chalkboard painting addition to my own house...let the fun begin again...ha!