Umm...Random

So, all I can say is I feel obligated to update this blog since it's been a while. But nothin' much has been going on. So I will go back in time to update you on a few things that didn't make it on the blog the first time around.

My FABULOUS AND WONDERFUL AND AMAZING realtor gave me a BBQ as a house warming present. I didn't think I'd be able to indulge in that kind of expense for a LONG time but I had hoped to be able to have a BBQ soon since I used to use it all the time when I lived at home year round. Needless to say, getting one as a gift made me hugely grateful and it's a gift that just keeps on giving. I adore it and use it all the time. I must give credit to Steve for putting it together for me the same night I got it. I left him to working and ran to fill the propane tank and buy some hot dogs for dinner. Here is the proof of how wonderful he is for putting it together. If I had tried, it would for sure have ended in tears and frustration and fear it would blow up the first time I turned it on.


My worker bee working away.


I was a little nervous the first time it was turned on. In the end all went well and Steve finally had a source of warmth outside where he was working!


Me getting in some tummy time with my nephew. I think he thinks I'm the crazy Auntie. It's fun to get to hang out with my sister too on my days off. They even came to my house to practice going on outings this week! We had fun and I'd say the outing was a success!


At the beginning of October I had another wedding to attend of a dear friend and fellow Chi Omega sister. We had so so much fun celebrating with her at the Octagonal Barn at the Cornelius Pass McMenamins :) Such a cute little place for a wedding. Here are Cory and Bridget being welcomed to the reception as Mr. and Mrs. Cory Bradley :)


My cute date for the evening.



A pic of the Chi O girls with the bride :)

So yeah, that's what I've been up to lately. I am loving the Fall being here and the leaves changing. I even got to enjoy the first thunder and lightening storm this morning with torental rain pouring down. LOVED IT! Give me a fire, hot chocolate and a good book and it's very close to perfect.

Can't wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas:) My goodness this year has gone by fast!

My New Nephew :)

He's here! He was excited to come meet us all too :) My sister wasn't due until Sept 14, but Brayden Michael Kelly decided to arrive Sept 10th at 6:59pm, weighing 6 pounds 8 ounces and measuring 19 inches long. He is such a cutie pie. Here are his pictures and I'll let his cuteness speak for itself.

Hi, my name is Brayden. I'm new here!

Oh, I don't know if I like it out here yet!

Proud Papa

Proud (but oh so tired) Mama.

Getting to meet Great Grandma Faye for the first time!

¹³People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." ¹⁶And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Mark 10: 13-16

Chrissy and Adam's Wedding

In August I road tripped it down to Sebastopol, CA for a dear friend's wedding. On our way we stayed in a gross hotel, and endured the craziest winding road ever created on the face of the planet. I barely was able to keep breakfast down... ugh. I get sick just thinking back to it. But when we made it to Sebastopol Jessica and I wasted no time in checking out the local wineries. It was so much fun and we learned a lot about wine and each bought a bottle to bring home with us. Then we took mom and dad to the brewery before we all freshened up to go to the Rehersal dinner at The Union Hotel.

The next day we took of to the beach and lazed around soaking up some sun before the wedding that evening. Devoto Gardens (Chrissy's home) was gorgeous! The bride and groom had smiles all night long and everyone had a GREAT time enjoying good music and good food!


On the trip down. I just don't feel these pictures do this road justice. It is a cruel road and an unusual kind of punishment when you are just trying to make it to a friend's wedding! Can you tell I'm still not quite over the torture of it? I've never been so carsick in my life! These are two different pictures, they just look very similar as that is what the whole road looked like.

























Jess and I enjoying the tour of some wineries in the California sunshine!


























Some of the views we enjoyed as we relaxed on the beach pre-wedding.


























Now the good stuff. Here are just a few but some of my favorites from the wedding :)

Home Sweet Home

This is another blog where it is mostly pictures. They say a picture is worth 1000 words, so I will spare you most of mine this time:)






Another picture from of the front of the house, but I have added a few more plants out there now.


Picture of the family/living room.


I am standing in the same spot from the picture before for this one of the front entry way, but just angled the other direction from the family room.


Again, I have just rotated my position slightly to get a picture of the kitchen. It's all pretty much one big open space in my little home. It's nice and cozy.

Here is the view of the dining room and the open area I took the previous pictures from.


Bathroom in the hallway.


Master bedroom.


Master bath. Not my dream master bath, but I'm not complaining either!


The little green room. It's like a re-creation of my childhood bedroom. Ha ha, I'm sure my guests will love it! Soon it can be a baby's room for my little nephew that will be here soon (I'm sure he'll appreciate the girlie pastels)! I can't wait to meet him and get to babysit and have him over to play:)

One corner of the blue room... aka the office/overflow area housing lots of pictures to hang, or maybe not if I decide I don't want them all up on the walls.


Bill paying area. I have been spending much time here lately.


Small corner of the patio and back yard.


Looking back and the house and the patio along with the door to the garage.



Other end of the house and yard.


Last angle of the back yard with the setting sun.

Painting

Well initially I was telling people that I didn't think I'd need to paint the interior of the house at all. It turns out the more I was there, the more the tan neutral colors were boring me and the house seemed to dark and bland. So I went from not thinking I wanted to paint, to painting every room in the house a new color except for the 2 bathrooms and I didn't need to paint the ceilings. It's much brighter in there now and I must thank my Mom and Grandma for their good eye for color and helping me pick out such beautiful colors. Dad, Uncle Mike and Steve all helped to make it happen. Mom cleaned my kitchen for me and Laura kept us all well fed. It was definitely a group effort! Here are a few snapshots of the new colors and the work it took to get there:)

Here is Steve using creative means to be able to reach the edges at the top of the wall.


A nice snap shot of random junk that is collecting at the house. This is also the new color up on the walls that replaced a light colored tan and a more chocolate color of brown. The paint changes color depending on the light and the shadows... it can look tan, green or almost yellow but it works and I like it!



Me concentrating hard on not dripping paint on the woodwork or floor. But as you can see, I always manage to end up with lots of paint on ME rather than on the wall.



I thought Steve was on to something, so later in the day I found myself up on top of the fridge in order to do some touch up work.


Here is a little bit of an overall view of our work. I love color! SOOOO much better than tan.

Well that is it for now. Maybe next weekend or the week after I will actually move into the house! Lots of long hours getting the house cleaned up and painted so far, but I think I will be happy later that I took the time to do it all. Monday we'll hopefully get the carpets clean and then I can move on to being the happy home owner and slow down on how much of my income I donate to Home Depot on the weekend. We'll see. That's it until my next adventure! Stay tuned:)