24 more days until school's out!!!

As you know, I teach elementary school and while working in the classroom is amazing there are certain times of the year when the students seem to lose their minds... i.e. right before Winter Break, Spring Break, and Summer Break.  So this is when the light and warmth of summer is so close the teachers start to get a little giddy.  For example, I went out to eat with my team mates tonight and had a great time.  We laughed and joked and tried to lessen the stress we're feeling about paperwork (more on that later).  We had a great time but didn't discuss any fun plans we have for this summer, and that got me thinking... what do I want to do this summer?

Well, there are things that must be done and then there are things that I want to do.  Last year I taught myself to crochet so either I'll be crocheting all summer or maybe I can get other stuff done.  Here goes:

MUST DO

• Marcus and I must paint the upstairs trim... we've put it off for 2 years now!
• We need to repaint the spots where our dry-wall was repaired (once from when we re-insulated the attic ourselves and once from a crazy lightning strike that took out an ancient pine tree and destroyed our entertainment system electrically).
• I need to clean the house top to bottom: fans, baseboards, windows, vacuuming furniture, sweep, mop, wiping/cleaning surfaces, etc.
• We need to repair and repaint the furniture spots that puppy-Birdie chewed.
• I need to go through all my clothes, shoes, accessories, and other stuff for Goodwill (I do this once or twice a year).
• I'm sure there's more...

WANT TO DO

• I want to crochet pillow cases for our sofa pillows in the den.
• I need to finish crocheting the large blanket I've been working on.
• I want to learn how to use crochet thread and take over my Grandmama's tradition of making baby blankets for the family (and my friends).
• Again, I'm sure there's more... maybe I can update later.

Homemaker Tips and DIY

For most of this afternoon, I surfed the internet for cool homemaking and DIY tips.  There are so many great ideas out there!  You can find a homemade recipe for pretty much anything you need.  Some of my favorite blogs and sites are:
DIY: Home Sweet Home
Carolina Charm
I Heart Organizing
Here are the two I tried today:

DIY Salt Scrub (found through a link on Carolina Charm's Blog)

5 Tablespoons of Sea Salt
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
Juice of 1 lemon

Mix Sea Salt and Olive Oil together first (this way lemon juice isn't just soaked up into salt).  Then mix in lemon juice.  Voila!
I tried it out this afternoon... works and smells great!


DIY Linen Spray (another one from Carolina Charm's Blog)

1/2 teaspoon of your favorite scented oil (she suggests lavender, I used "love" from a hippie store)
1 oz vodka or rubbing alcohol
2 cups distilled water (I used tap water and it was fine)

Combine in a spray bottle and enjoy!

Updated pics of Ladybird...

I have never felt this way about any animal.  This puppy is my baby, and probably the reason why I haven't written in over a year (sorry!!!).  Here are some new(ish) pictures of her...

  I know... she's gorgeous!

  love the lighting in this photo

  Bat dog, lol

  Her first experience at the beach, Hilton Head Island

  This dog LOVES to swim in Aunt Tiffany's pool!

Are we still considered "newlyweds" if we've been married for two and a half years?

I don't know, but I feel like it's more a state of mind and less an amount of time...  Speaking of state of mind, here's how I see our marriage:

• We've got our issues, like any couple, but with open communication we will get through anything.
• Although it drives me nuts sometimes, we spend a lot of time alone.  I cook, work on school stuff (teach elementary school), and surf the internet.  He reads, studies, and plays video games.
• We also spend time together.  My husband and I like the same kinds of shows so we have a set time together almost everyday... a lot of times we end up eating dinner in front of the TV though (bad habit!!!).
• My parents will be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks.  I am so proud of them!  Congratulations Momma and Daddy!!!  We have learned so much from them.  Mostly what TO do but honestly also some things NOT to do.  The key is, some things that work for other couples (even your parents) may not necessarily work for you.

We need a fence... desperately.

Our current fence is chain-link and has a couple of large gaps and holes where Ladybird could get out.  I want to leave her out on these really pretty days, but she's scared of the big dogs next door (all five of them!).
We want our new fence to provide privacy, a property boundary, and protection for the dog and our future kids.  I'm really interested in the shadow-box and stockade fencing.  Marcus says we should probably go with the six-foot tall planks but Ladybird isn't going to be able to jump a four foot fence and I think it looks friendlier...

Here's an example of the shadow-box at 6 ft tall.


















Dog-eared Stockade Privacy at 6 ft Tall

Here's the four foot tall dog-ear stockade privacy.
What to do...

Ladybird has arrived!

So it's official... I have the sweetest husband on the planet.  After what feels like years of planning and begging for a puppy, Marcus surprised me with one of Carey's Boykins.  She is eight weeks old and already so smart and so pretty.  Pictures below...

Obviously I'm smitten...

So I still need to post side-by-side befores and afters...

I realize that I still need to post my before pictures alongside the afters to show the work that we've done to the house.  I'm just really particular about wanting everything to be 100% done and looking great for the pictures.  So, I'm going to post a couple now and the rest after my small-scale Holiday Housewarming party coming up in a couple of weeks.
Here is a before picture of our kitchen.  The house was built in 1972 and everything in the house was original when we inherited it... these are the original cabinets, counters, and appliances.

             

And this is our new kitchen after all the hard work and our choices for Corian counters, the paint/stain kit by Rustoleum for the cabinets, and stainless Whirlpool Gold appliances.

This is the family bath before... 70s wallpaper, yellow tiled ceramic bath, plain white vanity which had rotted due to a leak, and an old-fashioned, framed medicine cabinet which I love.

Now the new paint, granite counters, new white vanity, but the same wonderful old medicine cabinet

This doesn't show my pretty shower curtain though.