a HoUsE iNtO a HoMe...

Mike and I have officially been home owners for a year! Again....WHERE HAS TIME GONE?!?! ...annnnd where did all the EXTRA room go?!?!

I had no idea how I would ever fill the house with what little we had from our apartment. For the first couple of months, our house echoed! Well, thanks to sales at Kirkland's, randomness from Ross, frames from all over, and my gracious family....it is really starting to feel "homey"! It is neat to look back at the pictures that were taken when we first moved...our home has taken on a theme and a color scheme that I never really planned for!

Anyway- a few of the majors.....the kitchen/dining room is no longer mint green (or whatever that was). I decided, after 15 hours of shopping on black friday, that I wanted to paint the kitchen. With Cathy's (Mike's mom) help, we knocked it out in approximately 4 or so hours! I also painted the laundry room a deep red....it was that mint green too. We got a new dining room table and a rug to go under it and fancied up the entry way and walls a bit. :0)

before: (so ugly looking back! haha!)

and to the left of the pic, you can see there was nothing in the "entry way"....

after:

the entry way after:

this is in our laundry room...before:

after:

the plant shelf & walls before:

after:

our dining area before:

and after:

LoOk WhO iT iS!!

Remember the shower I threw for Bryan & Jennifer Stiverson back in July?!?

The little blessing has finally arrived!

Jason Paul Stiverson

Born Thursday August 12th at 8:27 am

7 pounds 9 ounces

(How cute and BIG is that yawn?!?)

The Stiverson Family of FOUR!

....I WAS IN HEAVEN! HE IS SO STINKIN' ADORABLE!

Ellie celebrates her birthday next Sunday, August 22nd. She will be a whopping TWO! I made a bag and adorned it with her name and stuffed it with a pair of SUPER COOL lion sunglasses and a bouncy ball! She, too, is so STINKIN' CUTE!

Ellie shares her shades with Dixie! :)

Ellie loving on Jason....

hAnDs DoWn....

THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE...AUGUST 16th, 2008!

I can recall the day's events like it was yesterday! For breakfast I had a chocolate peanut butter protein bar and watermelon....for lunch I had McDonald's chicken nugget meal (say what you want, I STILL LOVE it!)....and for dinner I had a bottle of Riesling Relax and a bite of wedding cake.....oh, and the 2am snack with most of the groomsmen...wait fooor it....WAFFLE HOUSE! Of course, that isn't all I recall.....

I was just ECSTATIC to marry Mike...I TRULY was the HAPPIEST girl EVER!

It amazes me to look back on our journey and see just how much God has had His hand in our relationship. I LOVED when Dean Inserra, our officiant (Pastor at The Well), said in our ceremony that it was no coincidence that Mike decided to attend college in Tallahassee or that we both (by different people) were led to First Baptist Church of Tallahassee....it was no coincidence that when I graduated radiation therapy school the only job openings were in central Florida...where Mike was born and raised and where he had just accepted into the police academy.

Now, two years later....I feel the exact same. Now, don't get me wrong, LiFe has happened, but it has been through those times that Mike and I have grown closer together. It seems like the funks most often arise when we both are slipping spiritually. I LOVE the triangle illustration when dealing with relationships and God. Mike and I (or any two people or groups) being the 2 points at the bottom of the triangle and God being the point at the top.....as each of us grow closer to God, we ultimately grow closer together. So far, it hasn't failed.

Second to #1 in our life (baby Jesus), Mike and I have surrounded ourselves with amazing counsel from friends (namely, our incredible small group) and family! Without these people in our life......well, I don't want to think about that. :)

Happy two years to the incredible man that loves me through and through!

ps- I am STILL OBSESSED with my INCREDIBLE wedding photographer!

(obviously, I rotate her pics of us as my profile pic on fb...even 2 years later!)

...and how could I EVER forget my trash the dress session?!?

visit her at:

www.foreverbykylene.com

Day 5 & 6 ::: DESTIN, FL

I know, I know! You are ITCHING to know what we have been up to these past two days! Wednesday, Megan and I hit the beach pretty early. I rented an umbrella, as I was still a little pink from Mr. Sun! There was a storm a brewing in the Gulf, so the winds were high, the current was strong, and the waves were HUGE...AND it was BeAuTiFuL ALL day!

For dinner, Mike and I went to dinner to celebrate our two year wedding anniversary (early).....he even got me flowers! :) We had to put them in this pitcher because there wasn't a vase to be found! Hehe. While we were eating...well, all we could think about was where we were going to get dessert. We called Megan and Mike and told them we were picking them up, we had reservations at the Melting Pot for dessert ONLY! :D It was SO FRIGGIN' delicious! (I cannot BELIEVE I didn't take pictures) :(

Thursday....the weather man had his predictions all wrong. We mentally prepared ourselves to be inside all day due to the stormy conditions the tropical storm would bring....so, we slept in. Meg made and AMAZING breakfast and we headed out to do some shopping. We went to Old Time Pottery....never been there, but I would LOVE to go back! If you recall, we only could buy something if we could wear it home! Haha! When we got back to the penthouse (i giggle when I write that) we ate lunch and then dove into our books (Meg and I). ANNNNND.....it only rained approximately 10 minutes. But, it was nice to truly relax in the AC!

After our taco dinner, we relaxed in the hot tub for a while, cleaned up and went to AJ's (my most favorite place). They are located on the water.....live band...dancing....GOOD TIMES! And we had just that! A good time! We stayed out waaaaaay after bedtime!

Day 4 ::: DESTIN, FL

Since I got a little too toasty on Monday, we spent MOST of the day out of the sun. There is a restaurant in Tallahassee that I never got the chance to eat at, but always wanted to, called Another Broken Egg Cafe. There is one at Baytowne, so we started our day off with a hearty breakfast there.

Mike and I split the Floridian...it had cream cheese, real crab, and scallions. It was good, but I just couldn't get my mind wrapped around seafood for breakfast. The potatoes that came with it however....THOSE were delish! We also ordered a belgian waffle on the side that was also great!

Mike Blicher ordered a crab stack that he said was REALLY yummy.

Meg ordered a veggie style omlet.

Their coffee cups and creamer jars I LOVED! I wanted one, but I couldn't bring myself to pay what they wanted for them.

We walked over to the infamous, over sized, Baytowne Wharf chair.

....where there are fish, there is Mike!

We hit the outlets after breakfast and when we got back to our place we made our way down to the beach....only this time, I brought an umbrella. Hahaha, I was the ole lady under the umbrella on the beach.....I CLEARLY was afraid to let the sun touch me, as I was barely in the shade!

Random birds....on the beach....they looked out of place....like, snowbirds.

Random BeAcHnEsS.......

We made fajitas for dinner and then went in search of go carts and mini golf.....found both, but the line for golf was rediculous, so we rode go carts on the wooden track. For dessert, we grabbed starbucks and took a walk on the beach.