Tuesday, July 3, 2012

house projects

I saw on the Nester's blog awhile back that she refinished several pieces of old furniture in fur. I thought it looked so quirky and chic and unique and I LOVED it. I've been feeling super crafty lately, and decided that I wanted to build a bench for the end of our bed and cover it in faux fur.

I headed to Home Depot and bought four 14 inch legs and a board about 4 feet long. I went to JoAnns to get quilt batting and foam for the cushion, and I also bought 2 yards of fur (which was WAY too much - I could have easily done it with just one yard).
The first thing I did was spray paint the wooden legs in a shiny gold. I knew the wood would still show up pretty matte, so that's why I got the metallic.
Once the legs dried (after 3 coats), I got Danny to help me attach them to the board. There are tons of ways to do this, but the easiest for us was to use a screw driver and screw a nail through the top of the board into the legs.
Next was the cushion. I first cut the foam to the correct size of the bench. Once the foam was in place on top of the bench, I wrapped the batting around to hold it in place and stapled it under the bench.
You want to make sure the batting is pulled tight...and I used tons of staples.
Now its the fun part - the fur!! I picked out a chocolate brown color (looks a little different in person) that I thought would go well with our white comforter and dark furniture. Drape the fur over the bench and cut it (leaving about 3 inches hanging on all sides). Then staple the fur under the bench just like the batting.
And the final product!!!
I really love how it turned out - all for under $60! Doesn't Danny look excited about our new bench?!
I can't believe we've gone this long without a place to sit in our bedroom. It really makes such a difference (and yes- it's sturdy!).
Those curtains? My mom sewed them for me. She did an awesome job! The wreath above the bed was a quick project because I needed a temporary space filler until I find something I love.
It's a book page wreath and it was so easy. Just buy a small wreath form and tear pages out of an old book. Roll the pages into cones and hot glue them around the wreath. Cute and simple!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

lately

Well, hello, those of you that are still around! This is my first time seeing this new blogger set-up and I LOVE it!

As always, alot has happened since I last posted. We had fun at St. Paddy's Day...
floated the Bogue Chitto River....
went to a slip-n-slide party...
went to the beach!...
had girls' nights...
went to Atlanta with our sweet friends...
and enjoyed time with our sweet BABY!!
Primo is 5 months old and wild and crazy....  
and sweet and gentle... 
and we just love him SO much!

I've been on a  decorating kick the last few weeks and can't wait to post some before & afters soon. Lots of fun little house projects going on around here! My sister and her boyfriend are flying in town from San Fran this weekend and I can't wait to see them! :)

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

photography

I recently made over my photography website and I love how it turned out! Take a peek if you get a chance (not compatible on iPhones or Macs):


precious baby

Our sweet Luca passed away on January 12th. We were NOT planning on getting another dog anytime soon. Everyone kept telling us it would help the healing process and we should get a new dog immediately. We just weren't ready. We put away all of her things and just wanted time to process what happened.

God really does know exactly what He's doing.

On Thursday, March 22nd, our friend Morgan told Danny about a little boxer puppy she was buying from a breeder in Meridian. She sent us some pictures and said he had several more puppies available. They were all sooo cute in the pictures! Danny and I didn't really even talk about - we both knew we wanted one. He called the breeder and he said he had a male brindle puppy left available! Morgan and her boyfriend drove to Merdian Friday after work to pick up the puppies....
and we met our sweet baby Primo for the first time at 10:30pm on Friday.
We are so in LOVE! He was 8 weeks old and weighed 8lbs when we got him. He is so sweet and playful.
He has already gained one pound in one week! His parents were huge so we think he is going to be 75-80lbs!
He reminds us so much of Luca :)
My grandmother's brother was named Primo (they were Italian) and it is also a word in Spanish - so we both loved it!
We love you Primo!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

refinishing antique furniture

We've been in our house 2.5 years now, so I'm starting to get the itch to redecorate.
This is my grandmother's china cabinet that I inherited when she passed away in 2009. I cherish it so much! My kitchen has white cabinetry and light granite countertops, so the dark wood did not really match the room.
It was alot of work. And it took me forever!
I was so happy with the finished product! I painted the whole thing with 2 coats of white, then I put a wood stain over it once it dried, then wiped that off for an "antique" look. It looks darker (more of a cream) in person.
Before and After :)

it's been awhile

So....it's been awhile. Two months, to be exact. Not only have we been the busiest we've been in a very long time over the last few months, but I also needed a break from blogging. It was turning into a chore for me - always hanging over my head if I didn't post one week or if I forgot to document something important. From the beginning (back in 2009) I wanted this to be fun; I also wanted a way to document our lives as newlyweds. After two years of blogging it began to feel more like a burden than anything else. So I took a break.

I really LOVE my blog because there are so many things I wouldn't remember otherwise. I'm going to start blogging again but I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I may post every couple of days, once a week or once a month - but I'm not going to let it stress me out anymore! :)

On January 12th we were forced to put down our sweet baby Luca. We'd only had her for one month. She had an infectious blood disease that was incurable and causing her tremendous pain, and the vet said it was our only option. We found out that morning, and we both took off work to spend the rest of the day with her. I cried and cried and cried. It was so hard. Danny cried, too. We took her home and buried her in our backyard. I just could not stop crying. It was the saddest thing we've been through as a couple and we both miss her so much :(

 I drove to Birmingham one Saturday for a one-on-one newborn photography mentoring session with the super talented Stephanie Fisher. Her studio is AMAZING and she is wealth of knowledge! I learned so much from her. She is seriously a newborn guru. We had the sweetest little baby as our model and she was precious. I had to drive down there in some pretty nasty weather but it was so worth it.

























My photography was really keeping me busy in February, and Danny began studying for the GMAT which took up alot of his time. We went down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and stayed with my good friend Ruth at her house in uptown. We had so much fun! The only thing that could have made it better was if we could have stayed longer. We went to a parade right when we got there on Friday night and stayed out pretty late. The whole weekend was super fun! I also had to drive to Pensacola for work this month.

March has been great so far! Except for the fact that Danny broke his ankle playing soccer last weekend :(   I feel so sorry for him! He is on crutches and can't drive or anything. Hope he gets better soon! We're going to the St. Paddy's parade this weekend and I'm super excited! Talk to yall soon! :)

Monday, January 9, 2012

2011- our year

I know I say this every year, but 2011 was seriously one of the best yet. I'm loving life with my sweet husband so much. I'm treasuring the time while it's just the two of us because I know it won't be like that forever. And I love spending every day and night with him.

If I only had one word to describe 2011, it would be laughter. Full of laughter :)
To start the year off right in January, we spent a fun New Year's Eve at Kevin & Beth's house. The next day we drove to New Orleans with Christian & Jack and ran into some of my good friends from bama while we were there. We had so much fun!
We also volunteered again at the Mississippi Blues Marathon & spent time with friends :)
I went to San Francisco for a week for work and had so much fun. My sister had just moved out there so we got to spend some time together too!

The first week in February I went to Memphis for work, and we also had our first snow of the year.
 We cooked meals at home and enjoyed things slowing down for a little bit.
I also took our good friends, Sarah & Derrick, engagement pictures :)

March was super busy and super fun! We went to the annual St. Paddy's Day Parade...
I photographed my first wedding, and we spent some time getting our house ready for spring!

In April we bought a new car...
...I had some girls nights out...
...and took our big vacation to HAWAII!


It was amazing.

It really started to feel like summer in May. My sister and her boyfriend, Darin, flew in town from San Fran right when we got back from Hawaii. We took a boat out on the reservoir...
...got massages and hung out by my parent's pool.  We went on the boat later in the month with friends...
and then again for Memorial Day weekend! It was a HOT (but fun) southern summer.

June flew by - before I knew it, it was already over!
I had a couple of photography sessions and business really started picking up. The first weekend of June we drove to Nashville for my best friend from high school's wedding. It was beautiful.
Right when we got back Danny's mom flew in town from Costa Rica!
She stayed with us for 10 days and it was amazing having her in Mississippi. We had two different BBQ parties while she was here too!
We spent alot of the summer hanging out by my parent's pool. I had a party there one Saturday and it was so fun - margaritas, music & friends!

July came and went before I could even blink:  we were shocked to learn that Casey Anthony was found not guilty, went to Kevin & Beth's for 4th of July (we shot fireworks and enjoyed the humid summer night)...
spent time with friends...

 and enjoyed the last few weeks of summer.

We started cooking at home a little bit more in August and took advantage of grilling out while the weather was still warm.
We continued our small group with our church that we began in February, and it profoundly impacted both of us. We went to BBQs and had fun with friends.

On September 11th the entire country mourned and remembered the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  An ambulance took my dad to the ER on September 12th and we spent 2 nights with him in the hospital. I was really scared and was reminded once again how precious life is.
I felt really craft this month and did several projects for our house. We went to dinner with friends and started getting ready for fall!

October is always one of my favorite months of the year. We went to the MS State Fair with some friends...
 ...Danny and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary on October 12th
 and my mom & I took a girls trip to Disney World on October 14th!
We carved pumpkins with friends...
and went to our friends wedding. It was a fun month!

On November 5th we flew to Costa Rica for a 10 day vacation!
Danny's whole family still lives there and it was so amazing being able to spend time with them. We went to four different beaches...
stayed at an amazing boutique hotel...
and enjoyed quality time with his sweet family. It was one of the best trips we've ever been on!

I felt like we were so busy in December, but we loved every second! We had our 3rd annual Christmas party at our house on December 10th. It was tacky Christmas and so fun!

We went to our small group Christmas party and I had several photography sessions. My siblings flew in town the week of December 22nd and Ashley and I took a trip to the Delta to McCarty & Peters Pottery...
and we enjoyed one of the best family Christmases we've ever had!
We also celebrated my birthday, as I turned 25 years old on December 25th!
Which means that this is my "golden year"! We celebrated NYE at our friends house and brought in the new year with lots of dancing :)

I'm really looking forward to 2012. I just really believe that it's going to be a good year! And I'm so thankful for our church family. So thankful and so in awe of a powerful Father whose grace saves me day after day...after day. I am so unworthy but so grateful for His unending love. I want to be more intentional about sharing the Gospel to others in 2012. And I want to be more free with my praise and worship. Thank you Lord, for giving us the precious gift of life!

"So come lay down the burdens you have carried,
for in the sanctuary God is here."