Ever since Justin and I have been married there is a corner in our living room that I have hated…the corner that was always “off,” the corner that made the rest of the room look strange…the big, ugly corner of our living room.  A couple months ago I was scouring craigslist hoping to find the corner cabinet I had been looking for for three years…so I searched “corner cabinet.”  I called the number on the post to see what the cost might be.  I assumed it would be at least $100. The lady answered on the other end and told me it was $30.  She needed to sell it asap as she was about to move and could I come today and pick it up…5 minutes later I was driving to her house.

On my way I called her to ask what the cabinet looked like.  She was very sweet and so confident I would adore her “girly cabinet with butterflies and flowers…you sound girly, I know you’ll love it!”  My heart began to sink…butterflies and flowers???  How am I going to tell this woman that this cabinet is not going home with me…I pulled up to her house and met her and her 4 lovely children.  She showed me the cabinet.  It was girly…or maybe a better word would be tacky.  For some reason I handed her the $30 and we stuffed it in the Escape.

Here she is in all her former glory:

Complete with a nature scene…oh, and see the butterflies?  Lots and lots of butterflies.

After a few coats of paint and the screen ripped off the door…this is what she looks like now.

And the best part is, it makes the whole room work.  No more funky corner!

Yesterday Cora and I had nothing to do.  The house was clean, the laundry was done, we had already done the weekly grocery trip…and I just didn’t feel like going anywhere.  So I got really “creative”. (note the sarcasm)

Here are the ingredients to a successful afternoon of fun:

1 mixing bowl

1 measuring cup

2 Gerber baby bowls

And one large towel

Allow child to sit, splash, scream and giggle for 30-45 minutes.

And you will have one very soaked but happy baby.

Three years ago today,I was nervously driving to the hair salon to get my hair twisted into an up-do.  I kept double…triple checking to make sure I had everything…my makeup, shoes, jewelry…my  dress was on its way to the church with one of my bridesmaids.  I sat down at the salon and could see that I had the “bridal glow.”  I was excited….so very excited and  I was scared…so very scared.  Today was the day I became a wife.  The day my last name changed. This was the day I vowed before a church full of people “For better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health; from this day forward til death do us part.”  And vow I did…My nervousness changed to joy, pure joy.

Wedding Day

As I sit and reflect on the past 3 years I can see all the work God has done in our marriage.  We fought a lot our first year of marriage.  Maybe I should pretend it was all fairy tales and romance…but it wasn’t.  We loved each other and we had so much fun…but the immaturity was unbelievable.

1st Anniversary

Our second year of marriage was much easier.   I believe we both had the realization that we needed to grow up and their was a lot of growth.  Nothing causes maturity like a baby on the way!  Our 2nd anniversary was 2 weeks before Cora was born.

2nd Anniversary

Major Baby Belly

My mom always says, “marriage is not for the faint of heart.” She is right. For a marriage to prosper it takes a lot of hard work.  I am still new at learning this lesson. Much growth and many challenges face me in the years ahead.  One thing I do know.  I love Justin more than I loved him on August 11, 2007…more than I loved him August 11, 2008…more than I loved him August 11, 2009…more than I loved him yesterday.  I will love him more tomorrow than I did today. He is a part of me.  He is my other half.  He is my best friend.  He challenges me to be a better wife and a better mommy.  He challenges me with his character…maybe some day I will have half the patience he has and half of the good attitude he has…and half his servants heart.  After all…after three years of marriage his character should be rubbing off on me, right?

3rd Anniversary

A great Martin Luther quote I found: “God has set the type of marriage everywhere throughout the creation.  Every creature seeks its perfection in another. The very heavens and earth picture it to us.”

We are far from perfect…so very, very far!  If you even knew the ogre of a wife I can be.  He gets to see the true ugliness of who I am. The fact that Justin still loves me is proof that God ordained this marriage.   I do hope and pray that as we continue to live on this earth and  as our family grows…as we age, that together we will be refined…conquering our biggest sins.  That together we will become sanctified.  That we will raise our children to love Him. That we will love others well and that we will love each other well.

Justin, I love you.  Thank you for working hard to provide for our little family, thank you for making this house ring with laughter, thank you for being the best husband and daddy.  Happy Anniversary!

“When I have learned to love God better than my earthly dearest, then I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now.”-C.S. Lewis

A certain little miss is an avid music lover.  It calms her, it keeps her happy…so Pandora plays all day long in our home. But when Pandora is not with us mommy becomes a human juke box.  Songs swirl around in my head…I belt them out as necessary.  The best song for keeping her awake in the car is “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.”  I sing it over and over again…one hand on the steering wheel and one hand acting out the song.  I sing the ABC’s…in order to get her to eat her peas. I sing “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” when she is fussy.  Did you know there is a beautiful rendition of “Baa Baa Black Sheep” by a woman named Sophie Barker?  And that Jewel has a song called “Lullaby”?  I am becoming quite the expert on children’s music.

What amazes me is the calming and soothing effect music has on Cora.  I played piano for years and loved it. (despite my laziness with practicing)  I grew up exposed to a lot of music.. classical, folk, christian, bag pipes, blue grass and all sorts of bizarreness played in our home.  Now I do the same thing…sometimes pop…sometimes rap… sometimes Latin music…sometimes classical…sometimes Bhangra.   I almost always have music playing. It never  crossed my mind that soon my house and ears would be bombarded with lullabies.  But thanks to Pandora I find myself singing along and actually enjoying many of the songs!

Anyhow, it’s really cool because the station plays your mainstream children’s songs but also has folk music, Latin music and even African music.  The latter really gets baby grooving.  She starts bouncing her little behind up and down…so cute.  If you don’t already have a Pandora account you should get one.  They play such a variety…we definitely enjoy it!

**Warning**   This will be a long post with lots of pictures…bare with me.

This weekend we accomplished a lot around the house.  My mom was gracious enough to keep Cora for two nights and one full day.  During this time not only did we go out for two dinners. (one for our anniversary on August 11th) but we also tackled many projects that we had not finished.  Justin painted the window boxes and I painted Cora’s dresser…and a couple other things.

Here’s what our front yard looked like on Saturday.

Justin was smart enough to put himself in the shade with a chair…

Cora’s room used to be her room/guest room and looked like this:

Now it looks like this:

Unfortunately I did not have the best light for these pictures.  I am so happy with the new room other than the rug…it’ll need to be replaced but that won’t be any time soon!

I made a little reading corner for Cora.  Obviously she cannot use it yet…but some day.

A couple years ago I bought these little tin stars.  I have always loved them but didn’t know what to use them for…I decided to string them on the ribbon and love the way it looks.

I tore these little pictures from an old book that a child had marked with crayon…

Nothing is hung near Cora’s bed as she would try to pull it down.

I painted the dresser white and am going to keep the old hardware until I can afford to replace it.

Details.

I’m so glad I bought the tin table…

Of course I cannot forget the beautiful built-ins and all the pretty things they hold.

And one final view. My favorite $8 yard sale curtains.

It has been so much fun decorating Cora’s room…so much color and imagination can be poured into a child’s room.  I just hope she’ll learn to love it as well!

Lately I have been very inspired by this blog.  Jessica not only has two beautiful children but cooks/bakes the most delicious looking food…Her blog make me hungry but also makes me want to try new recipes!

Yesterday I decided to make Rosemary Balsamic Chicken (a favorite of mine).  I wanted some biscuits to go along with our meal.  A while ago I blogged about my grandmothers recipe box.   I decided to bake her Cheese Drop Biscuits…looked easy and sounded delicious.

Preheat oven to 400.

First you add 1 cup of flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 4 tbsp softened butter.  Mix them together like pastry.

Grate 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese.  Add to bowl. Then mix in 1/2 C cold water.

Spoon the biscuits on to a greased cookie sheet.

The recipe says to bake for 8-10 minutes however for me it was about 20 minutes…

They are so simple to bake and so yummy.  I highly recommend them!

My next attempt will be a combination of these scones.  I’ll let you know how they turn out!

You will lose your baby teeth,

At times you will lose your faith in me.

You will lose a lot of things

But you cannot lose my love.

You may lose your appetite,

Your guiding sense of wrong and right,

You may lose your will to fight,

but you cannot lose my love.

You will lose your confidence,

In times of trial your common sense.

You may lose your innocence,

But you cannot lose my love.

-Sarah Groves

Cora turns one on August 20th.  We’ll be celebrating her big day with family and friends on August 21st.  Justin already designed her invites and they are so adorable.  It is such a blessing being married to such a talented guy…It is not going to be extravagant but hopefully very pretty because I just like pretty things. And you only turn 1 once, right?

I can’t wait to celebrate our little girl.

This past weekend we headed to Birmingham to spend some time with Justin’s cousin (or 2nd cousin, or 3rd cousin????) and his wife Betty.  We always have so much fun spending time with them.  They are a very sweet, kind and generous couple.  Not only did they allow Cora to play with and drool on their soon-to-be-born little boy’s toys but they had her sleeping in his pack-and-play, using his towels and bath toys…it was as easy as being at home.

Matt was able to get us tickets to the Birmingham zoo and so all 5 (well really 6) of us went.

Cora really enjoyed looking at the animals…especially the monkeys and the kangaroos.  The Gorillas were also intriguing but so were the other children at the zoo…

You see Mr Gorilla in the background?

We were all too hot, sweaty and tired to see the zebras…maybe next time…when Levi is born and old enough to enjoy it.

Thanks for having us Matt and Betty!  We had a blast!

Over the past few weeks I have been fixing up our living room.  Here is a little peek at one of the tables.

Before it was red and looked like this.

Now it’s in another part of the room and looks like this.

Almost finished with the entire room…just taking it a day at a time as I have so little time to get it done.