Falalalalalalalala

I am so glad that the holiday season is here (it's going by too quick as usual). We had our annual friends-giving in November. It was Sooo much fun. I love getting together with friends and eating a bunch of delish food! It was a night full of wine, food, trivia and great friends that I wish I saw more often.

We got to spend thanksgiving with my side of the family this year. I got to see cousins I haven't seen in over a year and it was great catching up with them. I love spending time with family (I also love the good food.. Shhh). As usual, my 4 day weekend flew by in the blink of an eye.... And I was back to the daily grind all too soon.

Black Friday shopping was left up to the husband, as usual, while I stayed in the comfort of my home, not fighting crazy people in the malls, stores...etc. God bless ya if you are brave enough to fight the crowds, I am not. He was able to get a couple good deals, but mostly I think he ENJOYS watching all those crazy people I just referred to (himself included) run around shopping for deals. He left at approximately 4:30 A.M. (WAY before I ever think about getting up!) and got home about 11 and immediately crashed on the couch for 2+ hours. I proceeded to clean the house around him as quietly as possible (not an easy task!)

I was determined this year (as with every year) to get all my Christmas shopping done early so I can relax and enjoy the season. I love this time of year, it comes with a sense of optimism and love that fills the air and no one is immune. (Well almost no one, Scrooges!) Anyways, I was determined, so I went out one fine Saturday, with my list in hand and a plan in my head to accomplish as much as I could. Something was in the water this day because I did my hair, put on cute clothes and wore high heels, which took all of 20 mins at the mall to realize was the worst decision ever. (Scratch that -Second worst, never go kayaking in the ocean). Anywho, 5 hours and 2 very very sore feet later I had accomplished ALL of my Xmas shopping. You heard me, DONE! I will say we did buy several things online, but my shopping was done! Woohoo. I got everything wrapped as soon as I could and I have been enjoying my christmas tree with the gifts under it ever since. It's beautiful! Love!

Fall: Back to School (and work)

After we returned from Florida, it was back to school (and work) for the Blackburn's! We both had a big year ahead of us. Chad and I had both recently accepted new jobs and we both were starting on the same day! While adjusting to the new settings and responsibilities took some time we are both SO happy with our new jobs. Loving what you do really makes all the difference!

I really can't believe that it is October (nearly November) already. I don't know where the past year has gone. We get to celebrate 3 of our friends getting married this fall! I can't wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas, which I know will be here before I know it!

I am trying to get more decorations up this year for all the seasons! We got a couple more things for Halloween/fall and I can't wait til it's time for Christmas lights. We didn't get to put any up last year, but if I have any say in it we will be hanging lights this year!

Most of all I'm going to try to sit back and enjoy the holidays, time is going by so quickly sometimes I forget to just sit back and enjoy the company I'm surrounded by!

Currently, I'm trying not to eat all the Halloween candy that we are stocked up on for the trick-or-treaters! I'll keep you updated!

Summer Vacation 2012: Florida

This summer, Chad and I took a trip to Florida. Along with our friends Steve and Shannon, we ventured over 15 hours in the car, to the sunshine state. First we stayed in St. Pete Beach, where all that was on the agenda was laying on the beach and swimming in the pool. 

The hotel was awesome and the beach was beautiful. My favorite part was sitting under our canopy reading!

After 3 days in St. Pete, we made our way to the greatest place on earth. You guessed it, DISNEY WORLD! We spent 5 of our 7 days in the Disney parks, riding rides, eating deliciously bad for you park food and walking, lots of walking! My favorite park by far was Magic Kingdom. I was suddenly 8 years old again. Seeing all of characters, the castles and the costumes, it was all amazing and overwhelming at the same time. There is truly too much to see in one day. That's why we spend two days there. The first day we got there when it opened and were worn out by 3:00 and called it a day. The second day we went to Magic Kingdom, we got a later start and stayed for the electric light parade at night!  

Epcot was fun in it's own way. There were definitely not many rides there and we spent most of our time in "France" eating pastries! We loved seeing all the different countries and talking to the people from those countries. The architecture was amazing and the food was the best part of Epcot. We also visited this park twice (we couldn't get enough pastries the first time!) The first day we went in the morning and ate to our hearts content. The second day we came later and stayed for the fireworks and laser show at night. (We also ate again... imagine that).

Lastly, we visited MGM studios. This was my least favorite park overall, but it contained my FAVORITE roller coaster. Enter, The Rocking Roller Coaster. We ended up riding this probably 5 times. I was amazing and I couldn't get enough. (This coming from a girl that does not particularly care for roller coasters at all). The only thing I wish is that it was longer. It couldn't have lasted for more than 45 seconds. Other than the rockin' roller coaster, we did a back lot tour, visited the "Honey I shrunk the kids" playground and saw a couple shows: The Little Mermaid live, Muppets 3D live and Chad's personal favorite and probably his favorite thing the entire week, a live performance of Beauty and the Beast!

Disney World was so much fun, but extremely exhausting! I needed a vacation after my vacation to recover! It was so nice to experience the parks and all they had to offer WITHOUT kids. I can't wait to go back WITH kids but I definitely have some insight and tips now on how to travel to Disney with kids just from watching other people and their kids, if anything now I know what NOT to do! =)

Our First Anniversary!

In June Chad and I celebrated our 1st anniversary! We are extremely surprised at the ease at which we adjusted to married life. We both have said that this first year of marriage has been wonderful and it went by VERY fast. We have taken survey of our married friends and asked what they thought of the first year of marriage. While most agreed with us that it was great, others said "The first year of marriage is hardest". Come to think of it I've heard that a lot. I think what helped Chad and I out is that we lived together before marriage, we knew each other's quirks and bad habits. We had been together so long that there were no real "surprises" once we were married. We kind of just went on living like we did before marriage.

Back to the survey, most that we spoke with (that didn't say the first year was the hardest) said that the first year with a new baby was the hardest! We will have to cross that bridge when it comes!

I decided to start a tradition of taking our picture at each anniversary to document what we look like/where we are in our lives. Year One:

So for our first anniversary, Chad had several surprises lined up for me! The first of which was dinner at an amazing steakhouse: Tony's steak and seafood! It was the most amazing steak I have every had in my life. The atmosphere was romantic, the serves were awesome and we even got complimentary dessert for our anniversary! I wish I would have taken some pictures of the food, but I was too busy stuffing my face! =)

After dinner we went back home to enjoy the top tier of our wedding cake. 

A little back story: I hard been extremely worried about the year-old wedding cake we have had in our freezer. I couldn't imagine that anything, let alone a cake, could be even remotely good after being frozen for a year! So true to character, I complained and worried aloud and my amazing husband reassured me it would be fine. Here is what our year-old cake looked like after being unwrapped and taken out of hibernation

Fast forward to our anniversary night: So we got home from the restaurant and to my surprise my wonderful husband had bought a brand new cake just like the one if the freezer, down the the frosting and decoration. The same bakery used the same cake and frosting and even used the ribbon from our original cake to make this new and FRESH cake. I was sooo very excited! 

I went ahead and tasted the year old cake, I had to spit it out. It was terrible! I was so thankful for the new and DELICIOUS cake!

After cake we exchanged gifts. Traditionally first anniversary gifts are supposed to be "paper" and Chad and I tried to stay true to tradition (plus paper is pretty cheap so it fit in the budget!!).

I got the final two books of the Hunger Games series. (Which is amazing by the way)

And Chad got some awesome Science books for his classroom. He can now learn how to blow things up, but in a scientific way =).

Overall, our first year of marriage was amazing! I can't wait to experience all life has to throw at me as long as I have my wonderful husband by my side! Here's to 80 more anniversaries! I hope they are all as easy as this first one!

Renovations Part 2: Kitchen

So as mentioned, back in February we decided to renovate our kitchen. It started with a little idea to get new counter tops and turned in to a full on, everything-must-go, renovation. With the help of my very handy dad (who am I kidding, he did nearly everything) we replaced cabinets, ran new electric, laid new flooring and much, much more. Soooo with out further ado, here are the photos along with my commentary.

First, a before picture. Our white appliances, linoleum floors, stock cabinets, TERRIBLE lighting and peeling, wooden counter tops.

First thing to go was the stove that we sold on Craigslist for $50! score!

Then went the cabinets, and my dad started running the new lighting/electric (notice the new cans lights in the ceiling! yay now I can see what I'm chopping and cooking!

 Once everything was ripped out, next went the flooring!

 After a fresh coat of paint, it was time to lay our nice, new hard wood floors. This was super hard work and I was sore for 5 days after laying this (I really only helped lay 1/2 of the flooring, if that, I'm a wimp)

 Here's Chad hard at work!

 Then it needed cleaned about 4 times to get up all the dirt and dust etc.

Then the cabinets were delivered and oh are they amazing and beautiful. I love them!! Adding the island was single handedly the best decision we made. It is amazing to have that much more cabinet and counter top space! The cabinets had built in garbage/recycling bins and they are "soft closers" so the doors and drawers don't slam shut. Did I mention they are amazing??

After the cabinets were in the counter tops were delievered. Our beautiful granite counter tops! We got a great deal at a wholesaler. Granite is so much better than the wooden counters we had before. You can chop on them with out a cutting board (I still use one, but I could if I wanted) and you never need a hot plate!

Our appliances were delivered and our backsplash was put on. It took a while to get all the dirt and dust out but once we did we had a beautiful new kitchen that we LOVE! (We are still looking for a window treatment)

 Here is another angle, you can see the appliances and backsplash better here. The backsplash is a mixture of glass tile and stone tile. It is one of my favorite parts as well. (who am I kidding, it's all my favorite)

Well it took me 8 months to post but better late them never I always say! =)
It is amazing how much more efficient having a nice, updated kitchen is. From the updated appliances to the granite counters, to the added counter/cabinet space with the island even the stainless steal sink and faucet make such a difference!
We owe a HUGE thank you to my mom and dad that helped us conquer this huge project! We DEFINITELY could not have done this with out you!

Now to conquer our next project! What will it be??

The disaster that is my yard!

Our yard has fallen to the bottom of our renovations list. I am looking forward to this summer when I can try to spruce it up a little bit. To our credit, we were kinda left with a mess from the previous owners and as we moved in the middle of the summer there wasn't much we could do! 

This is the back of the house and is shaded in the afternoon/evening. This used to be a strawberry garden when the previous owners lived here but last summer it was just a weed pit!

This is along out fence line, if you can see the mulch there. This used to be a L-shaped row of trees against the fence. The trees apparently got worms and the previous owners had to remove them. This is in the sun nearly all day since its in the middle of the yard! I kind of wish we still had the trees =(

This is the other side of the patio in the back yard, these are our rose bushes that actually get pretty and big and they require NO maintenance which is awesome! Chad just trimmed them down at the beginning of winter.

This is our side walk to the front door/front yard. On the left against the garage is a bunch of weeds, nothing was there last summer. I'm sure something used to be there but now it's just ugly! On the corner is a big green/purple bush, straight ahead is three more of those rose bushes and on the right are some green hairy things! Clearly I have a green thumb =) 

This is our front yard. Those bushes are nice, chad just has to trim them occasionally throughout the spring/summer/fall. Don't ask me what any of the other plants are though! I have no idea! 

Hopefully this spring I will have a lot of time to garden! We plan to eventually put in a deck in the back along with the concrete patio that we already have now. But these are plans for the WAY future, many other projects on the list first. I think that just a little gardening will go a long way and make it look a lot better. I did get gardening tools, bag and gloves for Christmas! So I'm ready, just waiting on Spring now =)

Before and After

So we have lived in our house for 8 months now and we have done a lot to our house since then. We have decided to tackle one of the last remaining things, the KITCHEN! I cannot wait, this is the one room since we bought the house that I've wanted to renovate. We still have 3 weeks until the cabinets come in and we can't do much until then. So while I'm anxiously waiting, I decided to post before and after pictures of our house so far!

I mentioned before that we had to paint every wall in the house when we moved in, and I mean EVERY wall! We have also done a lot of decorating, there are more wedding pictures than anyone cares to see in our house now! Also, we have bought a lot of new furniture and renovated our master bathroom. Okay I'll just start with the before and after photos and explain as I go =)

The before pictures are from our walk-through while the previous owners still lived there.

Before - Front Room

After - Front Room
We painted, bought a new couch, end tables, shelving and bookcase

Again After Front Room

Before - Downstairs Bathroom

After - Downstairs Bathroom
New Vanity, Toilet seat, mirror, light fixture, paint and  towel/toilet paper holders

Before Master

After - Master Bedroom
New furniture, flat screen, decor, curtains and paint

Before Family Room

After Family Room
Paint, furniture, curtains, decor

Again After Family Room

Before - Eat in Kitchen/Family Room

After- Eat in Kitchen/Family Room
New table/Bench

With the kitchen renovation this floor will be all new hardwood and the light fixture above the table will be changed

Before Dining Room

After Dining Room
Paint, cabinet, decor

With the kitchen renovation this will also be hardwood and we still have to buckle down and buy a dining room table. Although I like our make shift card table/dining room table!

Before- Master Bathroom

After - Master Bathroom
This was completely gutted and re done. Everything you see is new except the vanity (which was stained) and the lighting and mirror, which we plan to change asap

Before - Master Bathroom

After - Master Bathroom

After - Master Bathroom

Before - Guest Bathroom

After - Guest Bathroom
This looks a lot different but we really didn't do much. This is the last room on our list we will renovate (new floors, vanity, mirror and lighting)

Before - Spare Room #1

After - Spare Room #1
new Paint, Furniture

Before -Spare Room #2

After - Spare Room #2
Paint, furniture (we are also going to be adding fans/ceiling lights to all the spare rooms)

Before - Office

After - Office
Paint and furniture

Now I will show you pictures of our kitchen as is and in a month or so once the kitchen is complete I will show you after pictures! Nothing has been done to the kitchen since we moved in except a coat of paint!

I am so excited for new floors, new cabinets, new appliances, new countertops, new lighting, new backsplash, plus our ISLAND! I hope the next month goes quickly so I can start enjoying our new kitchen!