Turning Over a New Leaf

The art of gardening and the classic green thumb have been handed down for generations in my family. Both my grandmother and mother (not to mention all of my aunts) have both acquired it, spending countless hours in the spring, summer, and fall pruning their beautiful gardens. So with that said, you would think that art would have been passed on down to me, right? Sadly mistaken. From the time I entered college, my luck with plants has been nonexistent. Maybe it is my lack of really trying or the fact I forget they are even there, but every single time a live plant enters my home, it ends up dead.

Now that Bryan and I have purchased our new home, I seem to have taken on this "Suzie Homemaker" mentality that has sprouted a new desire to try my hand at gardening again! I have already planted my herb garden, and I'm in the midst of landscaping our front yard! Crape Myrtle (Be proud of me people. Knowing the name of a plant is a huge step for me!) and several other bushes and plants are in place, now we just have to wait for the river rock of my choice to arrive next week! Thanks to my handy hubby, the landscaping project came together quite quickly. Poor guy was so full of dirt and soil from pulling up sod along our driveway, that I literally made him shower outside with a sprinkler and hose (shorts on of course:)).

Along with all of our outside projects going on (Did I mention we are building a fence too?), we have gotten several inside projects done since we moved in. Painting Brody's room and the hallway is my next project. You would love our living room. It is my favorite room of the house. Take a peek.

Living Room (All the windows have bamboo shades.)

Isn't it wonderful?! I love the green I selected! Seriously made this open floor plan pop! To add to the look, I placed paint sample cards inside the spaces up on the clock with shades of color to coincide with the green hue on the wall. Quite clever, if I do say so myself. The rest of the house is a work in progress as far as painting goes, but this is some of our home so far.

The Dining Room

The Master Bedroom

The Foyer (I need to paint and add bamboo to the pot.)

The Kitchen (We want to add tile to the wall.)

I now realize what people mean when they say owning a home is a never-ending project! Oh the plans we have! Now if we just had the time and a little extra cash :) I think my creativity is wayyyy bigger than the budget. Oh well, in time it will come along!

Brody

Before Brody was born, Bryan and I opted not to post images of our son on Facebook (And after reading some frightening new info about child predators and that sort of thing, I'm glad we haven't!). So if you haven't seen pictures of him via email, or if you haven't had the joy of meeting him in person, he now has his own YouTube channel for friends and family to view (click view to jump to the page).

I don't even know where to begin describing and talking about Brody! He makes me smile just thinking about his precious face and mannerisms. You will be able to see just a few of those if you scroll down a little. It's funny how I could have never imagined what it would be like having a child of my own and being a mother, and now I can't imagine being anything but a mom. I love watching him as he discovers what grass in the lawn feels like and the facial expressions he has as he accomplishes walking from one end of the furniture to the other. Like I said, I could go on and on about him, but you will hear more than an ear full as this blog gets rolling. So I will leave it at that for now. Like I said, check out the video clips and photos of my little monkey. At 10 months, he has changed a lot since he was first born.

The Color in My World

Consider this my official warm welcome for you all! While I LOVE to write, I've always been a little bit hesitant about starting a blog. For the most part, it has been a privacy issue. I just think in today's world of technology that term has completely flown out the window. So with the few things that are left in life to be private, I wanted to keep them that way. If I wanted close friends and family to know something, I would tell them face to face or voice to voice. Well, you can see where I am going with this, can't you?

Since I graduated college, I've moved from one end of the country to the other and back again, bouncing from my home state of Minnesota, to Wisconsin, to Alabama, to Iowa, and NOW over to North Carolina! And after marrying my wonderful husband, stepping into the Marine Corps world, I know that this is only the beginning of my crazy lifestyle. Considering we will be stationed somewhere new every 3 years until he retires, the joy of speaking to and keeping up with everyone of my dear friends that I have made in each location on a REGULAR basis is becoming almost impossible. Between running after and caring for Brody (my adorable little boy that puts the color in my world:)) and working on projects, I was spending more time making lists of the string of people I had to remember to get a hold of or email, than actually speaking with them!

That's when I realized I had to put a stop to this madness and start a blog. Genius, right? I mean, now I can actually get my thoughts out to everyone, and still keep the conversational, casual tone I would have if y'all were sitting down in front of me sipping a cup of coffee like the good ole days!

So on that note, consider this our first of many little coffee visits (as I like to put it:)), where you can see what sorts of new shades and colors of paint God is putting on my life's canvas. Trust me, it will be just as exciting for me as it will be for you to see what sort of colorful artwork He is painting!