Wednesday Ramblings

- House is going good as well as my commute to work. Even though my commute is rather lengthy, it's a good way for me to unwind from work on the way home.
- Finally swept my garage out last night so I could park my car back in there. There was just too many nails here and there to even thinking about parking in there.
- This Friday, we're going to a concert in Columbia to see Jason Aldean, Eric Church and JaneDear Girls. Can't wait!
- I don't know what is wrong with me, but I've had the same purse for over a year now. I haven't been able to find a purse I like enough to buy. I'm off Friday so just maybe I will be able to find a new one. Getting so tired of the purse I have, plus it's starting to fall apart!
- My cousin is expecting a baby, due next Fall. This will make the fifteenth great grandchild for my grandparents.

Antique Hutch

I'm finally getting around to posting about my antique hutch like I promised. Have I mentioned how I love this thing?

I have admired this piece of furniture for a couple of years at the restaurant I used to work at, known as Connie's Restaurant in Vienna. I absolutely loved working there and I think if Albert (co-owner with his wife Connie, and he was my mom's first cousin) was still alive, I would still be working there some Saturday mornings. I always had fun and loved everyone I worked with and the customers. I have to say that is the ONLY job I've had that I can honestly say I loved my job. Having cash on hand at all times was a plus too! :) I worked there for almost five years. After Albert died of a heart attack, it just wasn't the same. It became too much for his wife, Connie to keep up with so she sold it. The new owners were great, but again it just wasn't the same. You could always tell something was missing... Albert, Connie and their daughter, Nicole. Thanks to one of my co-workers, Sarah (or little white girl, as Albert used to call us) she helped me get to know my distant relatives in a way I could have never done without her.

Now getting on to the hutch... When Connie sold the restaurant, she kept some of her antiques including the two hutch's that was there. A few months later after work I came home one night to this hutch in my basement. I was completely shocked! Wasn't sure if I was shocked at the fact this beaut was actually mine or that my parents could actually surprise me. Either way I am so thankful this is in my possession and now it's part of my new house and life.

Weekend Recap

Friday I came home to my driveway and walk way cleaned off thanks to a great neighbor and a freezer full of meat. Mike and I just stayed in and watched movies since Saturday he would be bowling in a tournament about all day and evening.

Saturday Mike went to bowl, so I spent the morning cleaning the house and doing laundry. I was so spoiled with my washer at dryer at mom's house. It held double what mine does now. Very hard to get used to smaller loads. Finished spray painting the last of the knobs, hopefully that is the last of the GOLD. Plus I plan to clean my garage tonight so I can have it back. It's so nice to have a garage and not have to worry about starting your car in the mornings. Later I got ready and headed to the bowling alley to watch Mike bowl again that evening.

Sunday we went to Mike's mom and dads for dinner. Spent the rest of the afternoon being lazy until my mom showed up with my cousin Ashlyne. They brought over the rest of my dishes. I should have taken a picture of the cleaning process before I put them in my hutch. It completely covered all of my counter space. I told Mike we needed a bigger house just for my antique dishes. :) Just kidding of course! I think now mom believes me when I've been telling her I have way too many DISHES! They were my grandma Elrod's pride and joy. Wish I wasn't such a clean freak, otherwise I would clutter the tops of my cabinets with them. Cooked steak that we received on Friday, fried potatoes and cooked peas. I didn't really care a whole lot for the steak, but Mike loved it.

Another Sappy Post

This post is a little sappy as well, but a good one! :)

Just when I think I've not really done anything with my life just yet... I get a little reminder like this. My little cousin, Ashlyne wrote a post about me. I'm very honored to be the one she looks up to and hope she will continue to look up to me for guidance through the rest of her life. Here is her post about me:

January 20, 2011
Wow, I haven't been on here in forever!!
My grandmas computer had been acting up lately, and wouldn't let us get on it!! Well, today is a snow day. Which isn't a bad thing I'd just rather be at school with all my friends then stuck at home with nothing to do. Today I'm going to right about my cousin April Lee Elrod.

April is the cousin I look up to. I really love her and how she treats everyone.. April just bought a new house! Even though I haven't been over to see it in person, I know shes doing a GREAT job with it. She's a great designer, so she'll know where to put what to make it look amazing. April has always been a good person, shes there to make you laugh when you're having a bad day.
Everyone asks you who you look up to, or who you want to be like? And my answer is April Lee Elrod!!(:
I love you April, and I hope your house is going great!!!

Wednesday Ramblings

It has taken me several years to accept certain things in life. To not dwell on the what ifs! As I get older I tend to be more and more sad due to loved ones not here to experience new things in my life. Like what if I took off work that last day grandpa was live, then he wouldn't have died alone? Or what if I skipped school on December 5th, 2003 to see my grandma's last smile before she passed away on the 14th?

I think everyone is full of what ifs, if not then you're just not human. I have accepted their death along with others, even though I'm sure my readers may be thinking differently after reading this post. It's part of life and the part no one really cares to talk about because lets face it, it's sad and scary all at the same time. But it always helps to know they're in a better place and now our guardian angels watching over us.

Well I guess I did just lie, I'm not fully over all of them. No one can understand until they actually go through the same thing of losing close ones due to someone else taking their life. It's SO different from a car accident, illness, freak accident, etc. Those are things that no one can control unlike a murder, where someone holds your life in the palm of their hands. To me, after almost 13 years you never get those images/memories/details out of your head. Never! Each day does get a little easier, but the pain will always be there. Just one of those things you have to live with and try to accept in order to go on with your life.

Sorry for such a sappy blog, just needed to get if off my chest. I'm sure a lot of that has to due with the anniversary of the friends' death coming up very soon.

House

Here is a few pictures of the house. I'll have more pictures tomorrow or later this week when I get time.

Living Room

This is one of the many items I've painted with the hammered spray paint. So much better than gold. The gold is slowly diminishing from the house. ;)

The main bathroom room.

The spare bedroom. I was a little hesitant on this color I let mom pick out. It's slowly growing on me.

Weekend Recap

Friday Mike and I headed to Jeff to go out to eat. Planned on watching the movie, Little Fockers, time didn't allow this to happen. We waited a long time to eat at Chili's, which was probably a good thing since we were both too tired to go anyway. Got groceries and headed home. It was nice to get out for once since we've been cooped up in the house with getting it finished.

Saturday was a day of deep cleaning. Went over the carpets again with the shampooer to make sure I got all the soap out. Looks like new! Started removing more paint off the hardwood floors when I got a big surprise. White dust everywhere! Apparently the dust from my dad cutting our new bathroom sink was too much in the garage so he opened the door. Why he didn't open the garage door to the outside, beats me. Spent the rest of the morning cleaning the floors really good. Since they were all clean I decided to go ahead and unroll our rug. Looks good with our furniture and it's so soft. It was a good accomplishment to get all this done by noon. Spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the house, baking cookies and making katie-dids. I'm no Betty Crocker, cookies were bought all ready to go and all I had to do was pop them in the oven. Makes for an easier clean up. :) I thought I would be smart and set the timer two minutes before the actual time it calls for since I'm not used to this oven. Well in 8 minutes I managed to burn them. They weren't too bad and still tasted fine. Must have since they are all gone, Mike finished them off last night. On to the katie-dids, it's a tradition that my grandma has these little appetizers for Christmas at her house. It's thin slices of ham rolled around cream cheese and cut in half. I made these to take to my friends house where we had our better-late-than-never Christmas party. We had a good time and exchanged gifts. I ended up with lots of items to make my house smell good and not smelling like paint. We ended the evening by going to the local pub.

Sunday Mike and I headed to my parent's house (Wow! That will take a while getting used to instead of saying my house). Loaded up everything except for all my antique dishes. There wasn't much room left in the trailer and Mike's truck so we didn't risk moving them. Always another time to get them. To my surprise everything is put in it's place all except for one box and a few miscellaneous items in the spare room. I was too pooped to cook an actual supper so I cheated with hamburger helper, beef pasta. It actually wasn't too bad. I did add spices to it and onions to make it taste better. Mike ate three helpings, so that's a plus. He's a picky eater, but I'm slowly trying to break that. Ended the evening watching Desperate Housewives.

Our weekend was filled with anticipation, excitement and accomplishment. We couldn't have done this without the help of our family. We're very blessed and so grateful to have each and every one of them in our life.

Wednesday Ramblings

- At the end of this month we're going to see Jason Aldean. I'm super excited about it. Last year we had the chance to see him in concert. It ended up being on the same day that we had not one, but two weddings to attend in one day. Maybe next time I will have to take Mr. Blake to go see him. Since Big Green Tractor is "his and his April's song".
- Speaking of Mr. Blake, I feel deprived from him and his little brother Nathan. Getting anxious to get the house completely done and the first free weekend I have I am kidnapping them.
- The canvas picture of the boys turned out way better than I thought it would. I love it! I will try to remember and post a picture of it next week.
- It's going to take me awhile to get use to Dish channels and it's features. So far I like DirectTV way better, it has more options with using the DVR to record/delete shows to make your life more easier. Don't get me wrong, Dish does have those options just not near as many like deleting a whole group off your list, instead you have to go show by show. But then again, I haven't really had too much time to mess with it.
- Well I've been a little hesitant to post this in hopes of it turning up. I've lost my favorite necklace! Not only was it my favorite, it was the necklace that Mike gave me last year on Valentine's. They say you lose items during the moving process, well that is the ONLY item that is lost. Last time I saw it was when I took it off at the new house before I went to bed on Christmas Eve. I'm hoping it will turn up soon. Crossing my fingers!

Weekend Recap

Friday I headed to the house. Unpacked my car and enjoyed the rest of the evening sipping on hot chocolate while watching tv. It was nice to not to a darn thing at the house for once, although there was still plenty to do.

Saturday Mike and I woke up early. He went to help with moving their cows all morning while I did laundry and started in on touching up paint. Our neighbors were trimming trees all day, I was half tempted to see if they would trim ours. Heck it was only two trees, so why not! My friend, Danielle stopped by to see the house. Got me out of house cleaning for a bit. :) We're finally getting in the home stretch of having the house finished.

Mom and dad came over around noon to help us as well. I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up Mike's bathroom. Funny how a small room takes up more time than painting a larger room. So much to trim out. There was about 3" gap between the vanity and the wall. Well you could see the gold paint in there plain as day. As my mom has always told me, if you're going to do a job, do it right! So I was bound and determined to get it done. Dad was going to move the vanity out so I could finish it. Well... it was nail on so good that when he went to move it, he ended up breaking it. I think Mike was glad, he said he hated that vanity. I think with this housing process, Mom and I have turned Mike into a house flipping freak! Ha, not literally, but he is noticing more and more he wants to change. In the beginning he didn't want to change a thing in the house besides the gold paint. If our pockets would let us, I think he would change everything! Ended the evening playing pitch.

Sunday we headed to my grandma and grandpa's for dinner. Food was delicious as always, grandma really out does herself anymore with her Sunday dinners by going all out. Had a good visit, then we headed to Rolla. We picked up a new vanity and sink. I was really wanting a black or dark brown vanity. But I left it all up to Mike on this one. He didn't care too much for the dark vanity's (Darn the luck!), and stated that we should probably go with the same type of cabinets that are already in the house. Which he is right, we should and we did! I think the HGTV shows are sinking into his brain. Got home and finished up my bathroom before leaving yet again. Wasn't sure how the weather was going to be on Monday morning, so I went ahead and stayed at mom and dads house. Better safe than sorry, plus this week isn't a good week for me to miss work. Lots of deadlines! Crossing my fingers the weather allows me to work in the morning because I HAVE to be here.

2011 Purchases

This goes against one of my new year's resolutions already, but I have made a few purchases online that I have to say I am pretty proud of.

Thanks to a great friend who commented on my blog yesterday about Bath & Body having a sale - including my FAVORITE lotion, Winter Candy Apple. I stocked up since it won't be out until next year. I bought 3 bottles of lotion and 8 bottles of hand soap, all for $35! Can you say obsessed? I think so!


My second purchase was from walmart.com, an 11x14 black and white canvas of Blake and Nathan. Can't wait to get it in the mail so I can see it in person. I had planned to put it in my bathroom, but it's just too cute it keep it hidden away. May have to put it in the living until I get my huge print of my grandpa Feeler working in the cane field that my uncle Wayne painted. It's my all time favorite painting of Waynes, captures grandpa to a T.

Wednesday Ramblings

This Wednesday Ramblings is going to be a list of New Year's resolutions I will try my best to keep for 2011.
- Eat more healthy. Or at least avoid the drive thru's for lunch.
- Drink more water. I love water, but tend to not make that my number one drink of choice when thirsty.
- Try not to use the dryer as much and rely more on my basement to hang our clothes etc.
- Think more positively.
- Save money for rainy days. 18¢ in the savings account just isn't cutting it, but buying a house will do that to ya! ;)
- Get up early for work. I tend to snooze as long as possible in the mornings, therefore, resulting in my hair always being curly. Which most days I'm not too fond of it being gelled especially on these cold winter days.
- Go to church more, whether it's with Mike's church or mine.

What's your New Year's resolution(s)?

New Year's Weekend Recap

Friday
Mike and I got up early and started getting everything ready to go for yet another day filled with painting and cleaning. Dad brought over a guy he works with to help us paint as well. Those two combined sure got a lot done in a short amount of time. Mom had came over early as well. Due to the weather, the power went out at their house so she had to bring everything over to make lasagna for us at my house. Made my house smell good and the paint smell gone for a short while! I was so happy we were able to get our cable hooked up on Friday as well for the weekend. The guy that hooked the DishTV up for us is actually a previous homeowner (2nd homeowner, I believe). It was nice to hear his stories of the house, their paint colors they used, and how the house used to look. Thanks to him and his wife for a major overhaul on updating the house when they had it. That evening Mike and I got ready to head to his friends' house to bring in the new year. The guys played cards while the girls chatted and played with the kiddos.

Saturday
Spent the day painting, again!

Sunday
More painting. Both my brothers came over along with my mom and dad to help us paint the doors. Dad had recently bought a paint sprayer to use on his garage this spring. It worked so much better spraying our doors then to do them all by hand in Mike's shed. I got to spray four of the doors, it was actually fun and only took me about 5-10 minutes. Later I decide to clean my carpets with mom's shampooer she just bought. Put it together and as soon as I started to shampoo the carpets, it had an awful burning smell. First I thought we maybe I assembled it wrong or left something on there I shouldn't have. Double checked everything and it was all in the right place. Dad decided it was fine since it had a heating system in it and thought it was a normal smell for the first time being used. Well we knew better than that and he should have listened. He tried it out to prove us wrong. Little did he know the first strip of carpet he did, it left a LONG black streak! The carpets are very new, but luckily I think we're able to get it all out. Lets just hope!