easy way to make my day

Becca is the sweetest friend!!

best weekend ever

Ok, I know I give all you blog readers (HI KP! I didn't know you were a reader!) a bunch of weekend-in-review posts, but this should be the post to top all others. Why, you ask? Because this weekend was the best!!!

I know I'm a little over-excited, but David and I had the most fun weekend we've had since we've been married. To start it off, Hannah Pechan and Sara Zimmer have known David for a long, long time. They all grew up in Sunday School together and they have some fun stories! They arrived in Friday night (after only a few wrong turns), and we headed out! We ate by candlelight at Tony's where we talked and laughed until it was dark (hence the candlelight). Back at home, we stayed up (late for us, early for Hannah) and continued the fun. I haven't laughed as much as I did this weekend in a long, long time. My abs are still hurting. Thank you, HP.

Saturday got off to an early start. Hannah & Sara almost didn't believe us when we told them we needed to be leaving the house at 8am. We drove up to the Bryant's lake house and rode with them (on the boat) to pick Hayden up from CVP! This was awesome for lots of reasons: 1) new lake house. 2) early morning boat ride in sweatshirts. 3) the merging of some of our favorite people on the planet. 4) showing S&H CVP. 5) being at CVP and seeing some fun friends. Need I go on?

So after we collected a sleepy HayHay, we went back to the house, made and ate breakfast with the whole gang and headed outside. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to spend outside and on the water. It was absolutely gorgeous. So we spent the rest of the day

laying on the dock,

floating in the water,

riding the weenie,

napping,

learning to slalom,

learning about high school boys and their love lives (and vowing to never have children),

snacking,

changing our clothes (oh wait, that was just Hannah),

talking to the 25+ friends and family members around,

and loving every moment of it!

Saturday night we came back to the house and let Hannah & Sara clean out our fridge. No, really. We ate leftovers! haha... we're great hosts. Though David did make a quick grocery run, only to return with exactly what each of us desired (Sara's exact ice cream request- mint with some brownies/chocolate, my bananas, his Digiorno, Hannah's favorite Popsicles- even though she didn't tell him which kind she wanted! what a guy!). One of the best aspects of our time together was the fact that I felt so comfortable with these friends. The three of them have known each other for nearly 20 years, but I'm the new kid on the block. Regardless, they treated me as if I had been there with them at OBF for all of those years.

Sunday we were blessed by an awesome time of worship and teaching at church together, and then home for some killer pancakes a la David. [David is the bomb. He is the best host, ever!] The girls packed up and got on the road after lunch, and we were so sad to see them go. We had the perfect weekend of catching up, reminiscing and loving having friends like each other. I still can't believe God has blessed me with David -- who came with such fabulous friends :). I'm overwhelmed by the blessing of these two girls and can't wait for our next reunion!!

Sunday afternoon we went back out to the lake house for a more low-key afternoon. We literally just lounged around, and it was so nice. I imagine we'll be spending lots of our free time at that little getaway (especially since the Bryants are going to live out there for the next month and during every summer).

Pictures to go with the previous post:

Fabric covered buttons! They really add a lot to the bedding.

My mom & dad delivered this desk to us last weekend. It was mine from... middle school? It is a perfect fit for my sewing machine, and we recovered the bench to match the bedding.

Blueberry jam (-1 jar already delivered). I need some toast.

sorry I've been boring

... I am terrible at coming up with witty blog titles. I mean, I know my blog isn't full of witty banter as it is, but at least the titles should be good! I'm sorry for failing you, blog land. I'll try to be better!

Monday night I had dinner with Mary Shelton at a new restaurant in town, The Terminal Brewhouse. When they opened a few months ago David was still working for Gordon Biersch and they were seen as competitors so we felt bad checking it out, but no longer! It was fabulous. I had a chicken sandwich with brie and sliced pears on it! mmm... I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Not to mention, my time with MS was so great. I love that girl like she's my own sister and love watching her learn new things and mature. She's awesome. Oh, and speaking of the Bryants- they closed on their brand new [to them] LAKE HOUSE yesterday! Yep, a lake house. Obviously I'm thrilled for them, but [and probably also obviously] David and I are pretty excited selfishly too :). They've given us an open invitation, and we're planning on enjoying it with them! We're starting this weekend when we take Hannah & Sara out for the day.

Tuesday David got out of class early so we were able to get a lot of stuff done! I've been trying to get a lot cleaned, cooked and organized so there's plenty to do. Several things that have gotten accomplished this week so far: made and jarred blueberry jam, made brownies, my special rice crispie treats, and 7-layer bean dip (that I really hope doesn't spoil before Saturday...), sewed some button holes & fabric covered buttons onto the pillows upstairs (I can't wait to show you a picture, they look SO cute. but I've only done one pillow, so the reveal will have to wait), done about 4 loads of laundry and made some pencil holders.

Last night was a lot of fun helping Sarah get packed for her big move (into her new house with her husband!). I seriously think I have a sickness. I love organizing/cleaning out other people's stuff. Love. It. We got a ton accomplished in a mere 2 hours, and I think Sarah felt better about the next couple of weeks because she could see an end in sight.

And now, things to look forward to:

• Tomorrow is Friday. Amen.
• Hannah & Sara coming tomorrow
• A day on the lake Saturday
• Next week is David's last of 4 nights of class! Then he has finals (2 tests, a paper and a presentation. yuck) and a week off! Woo hoo! This time next year he'll be done!
• August is just around the corner, and is full of lots of fun occasions: our 1st anniversary, David's birthday, my birthday and Ashley's birthday!

Happy Thursday, everyone!

question of the day

What do you think is the coolest invention ever?

This weekend...

Mom & Dad came to visit!
They brought Bella.

Harley & Bella played.

See?

We also:

ate at Blue Plate

enjoyed the most beautiful Friday night... ever

shopped at McKays (got just what we all needed- more books!)

shopped at the Harley store (got just what Dad needed- another Harley t-shirt!)

learned how to sew buttonholes

talked, talked and talked

loved spending time with my parents

They left Saturday evening, and we met up with special camp friends who were in town. Gill, Cate & I ate dinner together and David, Sarah & Jason joined us for Clumpies afterwards. It was so great to catch up with our sweet friends!

And now... another week. Seriously?? I think this week is going to drag on because I'm so looking forward to the weekend! Two of David's childhood friends, Hannah and Sara, are coming to visit! We can.not.wait.

my old room

When I was in 7th grade my family moved to a new house.
I got the best room in the house.
It was downstairs. The rest were upstairs.
I had my own bathroom (and my sister had to share a toilet with my stanky little brother for 8 years... muahahaha).
I had a walk-in closet (far larger than the closet that I share with my husband now).
I had a huge beautiful window (that allowed for easy in-out access late at night. totally innocent though, promise!)


And the best part of all were my walls.


Yep, walls. My parents [for some crazy, unknown reason] gave me permission to write, paint, draw all over them. Why, you ask? The world may never know. Regardless, I loved it. I went through a phase of being obsessed with quotes, song lyrics, Bible verses, etc. and this just fanned the flame. I have many journal pages covered in the above (thanks in part to just such a journal my friend Paula's sweet sister Francina [aka- Pantina] gave me in 10th grade. No lie, Paula. I still have it. A "jimmy book" perhaps?)

After I moved away to college, my parents decided to rearrange some rooms in the house and the first thing to go was the decorated walls. They actually added on to my room and made it a fabulous master suite for my 'rents (so now when David and I go visit we get to stay in the previous, fabulous master suite upstairs. Oh and Ash, we're planning on having kids before you get married so we'll always get the good room :) sorry.)


My dad labored through repainting that room. He likes reminding me that he had to sand it, and sand it, and prime it and prime it and prime it and paint it like four times to cover all my crap. I like to remind him that he let me do it :).


So, in cleaning up and out all kinds of stuff lately, I came across these pictures of parts of my old walls. Mementos of my former middle- and high-school self. Reminders of what I was thinking about and what I learned.

Next to my mirror. Oh, and with a swirly stamp (yeah, it was actually a stamp).
Jimi Hendrix quote compliments of David Carr.

Sonja Metcalf quote written by Ashley, but enjoyed by all.

Framed bear with balloons. ????

Creepy dolls?

Ok, let's talk about this one. I don't think I had ever read that verse in context. I think I liked the thought of being carefree... or something (what was I thinking??). However... that isn't even the right verse! Here ya go:

15 A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day;
16 restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.

OOPS.

I think the one on the far right is "We can do no great things. We can only do small things with great love. " -- Mother Teresa

Again... not sure I really understood what this one meant. I'm confident I didn't know what abdication meant.

Oh, and to the right... that's an airplane. Looks like a pickle. I think the quote is something about being friends but being far apart... I was so full of wisdom.

Whew. You're probably thinking about how you would not have been my friend back then. You're probably right. I was weird. And unfortunately, this isn't the first of it. There was a whole hallway of Superchic[k] and Reliant K lyrics scribbled all over the place.

So when we spent a weekend painting the man room, my dad reminded me of all this. His sage advice was, "Now consider letting your first born and any of her friends come over and write (with Sharpies, no less) and paint all over those freshly painted walls. Yeah, I think that would be a great idea."

I do appreciate my parents letting me explore my creativity -- albeit at the expense of formerly white walls.

man room update

Last night we installed David's favorite part of the new room: tv and and fathead (read: giant, removable sticker of the Ohio State logo).

(commercial on tv, not more MJ craziness. We were watching SYTYCD.)

Instead of buying another tv and/or putting any hideous tv larger than the one we currently have in our home, we moved this one from downstairs. We hope to seriously decrease our tv watching, and make this room a place for watching movies and sports with family and friends!

The fathead is his early anniversary present (it's paper, it counts) , and well-earned reward for the hard work he put into this fabulous room.

Also, just to brag on my boy for a bit (hey, it's my blog, remember?)...

When David first started talking about this project he got a professional to quote out the whole job. It was going to cost $9,000. Yikes! Obviously that was when David stepped in and said "thanks, but no thanks" and did it himself. We just tallied up the receipts and I checked and double checked it because I could not believe what it said... the entire room (from insulation to paint and carpet) was completed for $2,741.11. That's $9.14/ sq. foot. That's $6,258.89 less than it could have cost! Granted, we made 32 trips to Lowe's or Home Depot between 1/10-7/4/09 (and those are just the ones where something was purchased... there were many 'research' trips too) but I'd say that it was all worth-while!

David rocks. I am so thankful for his hard work! Love you, Dave!! Thank you for this marvelous addition to our home.

roller skating babies

I'm Emily, Cathy's son David's wife

Our trip to Ohio, though way too short, was a great one. We got in late Friday night, and started seeing folks first thing Saturday morning. We had breakfast with the wonderful Becca Hart and SO enjoyed visiting with her. Our dogs loved it too!

After Becca's, the Johnsons came over to hang out and we all joined up with Mike for lunch at Skyline (a must when we are in town) and some ice cream. We squeezed in an afternoon nap before heading to David's grandparents' house for a pre-reunion reunion. David's great uncle Oty and great aunt Lois were in town from Westport, Connecticut. David loves Uncle Oty, and I hadn't met them before, so we were really looking forward to their visit.

Sunday was the reunion. Ah, family reunions! Cathy helped me understand who was who by drawing out the family tree, but I'm not sure I have them all figured out. This reunion was of all the family from David's grandpa's parents (the Crawfords & Pikens). Cathy was tired of only seeing people at funerals, so she herded the bunch together. It was a beautiful day with lots of family and tons of food!

cutest Grandma ever award!

And now... on to another week...

this weekend...

+

+

+

=

family reunion, here we come!

Grace.

15 years old.

Sophomore at Baylor.

Aspiring movie star.

Wise, mature and brilliant beyond her years.

A fashion show model for this weekend's She expo.

B-e-a-utiful inside and out.

SO much fun!!

ah, the lake

3-day weekends are the best. Period.

3-day weekends spent with awesome friends- even better (priceless, even).

We spent our day off work enjoying Chickamauga Lake with the Rochas, Lambs and Sarah. The weather was perfect, the water was perfect and well, we had a blast. David was the best boat driver/host/chauffeur, and he ensured our safety and fun factors. We tubed, skiied, knee-boarded and lounged around snacking.

Many thanks to the Bryants for the use of their oh-so-fabulous boat and to America for having a birthday!

hats off to you

The last time we were in Oxford, David brought back a few boxes of his old stuff. It's been fun going through keepsakes for the past few nights! One of the boxes was full of David's hat collection- all 26 of them! We had some good laughs looking through them all, so I thought I'd share some gems we found.

I was going to put captions, but I think the pictures speak for themselves. Haha! We kept them all, don't worry.