Harrison Happenings

It's times like now when I have a full plate and no time left in my day to devote to blogging that I'm tempted to throw in the towel. And then I read a comment that I have inspired someone to start a personal blog and I'm motivated all over again (Yay Meredith!). Thanks to all of my readers for tuning in and supporting me. It's getting ready to get really exciting in the next few months as I blog about our building process. I hope I can be a resource to others who plan on building in the future. I know the bloggers I follow that have recently built homes have helped inspire me.

Here's what our week/weekend looked like from an iPhone lens. My camera lens has still not turned up since we moved. Am I really going to have to go through every box of storage?? :(

Georgia Grace in her Pa's '77 Camaro. She loves going to the garage with him and "riding" the car and motorcycle. Sixteen years is going to go by way too quickly.

This week was full of pool parties. We were able to make two out of three and she had the best time once she warmed up to the ginormous pool. Lola P was a great swim partner since Mommy had already put her clothes back on!

Another sweet one of GGH with the birthday girl. The grins say it all! 

Two-thirds of us smiling with our eyes open is a win :)

Aiden's birthday party was two nights later and although it was an unseasonably cool July day they still had a lot of fun. She has always been rather fond of Aiden. I think this picture depicts that ;)

Thursday we had a family day just hanging around the house and enjoying the pleasant non-July weather. We went on a family picnic and I captured a sweet moment of Georgia Grace eating her favorite food-corn. This child wants corn with every meal. And for snack. It's a good thing we have so many fresh corn growers in our area, I keep us well stocked.

Friday night was a big night. We met with our architect to pick up our finalized house plans! Two long months of planning, changing, adding, changing back to the original, and adding some more finally yielded the house of our dreams. It's going to be perfectly us. Can't wait to share the details with you soon.

On our way home we stopped at Cracker Barrel to celebrate with some southern comfort food. As we were leaving we had to try out the rocking chairs I took this picture which definitely tells a story. Notice the silhouette of the young man in the background, thus the cause of the dreamy expression. And also note her big toe peeping out of her baby Jacks ha! [baby Jacks from Gymboree but it appears they have been discontinued :(]

Yesterday we worked the church nursery and came home and rocked babies in our own nursery. She loves her "babies" which yesterday included a UK cheerleader doll, a wiener dog beanie baby, a build-a-bear bear and a tub baby. She's the best little mommy.

And then we spent some of the afternoon outside running and playing. I put her in dog ears just to try something different and they were an instant hit. She loved them too. This may be our 'do for the summer :)

Wifi is coming to my Dad's this week so maybe I will blog more regularly or maybe not. Everything else comes first and then if I have a spare 30 minutes I will crank out a post.

Happy Monday friends!

The house that built us

We have been moved for three weeks now and are slowly getting every box emptied and every closet stuffed full of our things. The transition to our temporary home has been seamless and we are enjoying the extra space, huge yard and panoramic views. I think I had forgot how much I enjoyed the outdoors.

Even though we are elated to build a larger home to grow our family into and to make new memories in our very first home will always hold a little place in my heart and remind me of home when I pass by. It holds the history of a sweet love story in between those walls.

We bought the house while we were engaged five years ago. It was the second house we had looked at and I was sold on the first house because it was more of a fixer upper and I thought since we were young and able it would be fun to take on. Thank you to everyone who kindly told me different :)

It didn't take long before I fell in love with the house too. Marcus moved in on New Years Day and I moved in after our wedding. Those days of making our house our home will be forever etched into my memory. Besides a dorm room neither of us had lived outside of our parent's homes so we didn't have much to fill up the space but we didn't realize that at the time nor did it matter. For our bedroom suite we used one that has been passed down in my family. Our dining room table was from Marcus' family. The recliner in the living room was handed down to us from my grandparents. It was like a patchwork quilt of all of our families in the form of a little, cozy, furnished house. 

We celebrated four Christmases, gave treats to over 1,000 trick-or-treaters, watched hometown parades from the front yard, brought home our first born, and entertained lots of family and friends (lots of outdoor grilling ha!). There was laughing, there was fighting, there were tears, and there were trials. We built our marriage and our family while living in that home.

It's with an anxious and humbled heart that we say our final goodbye to the place that holds endless memories. Even though there were several days I spent more time ready to be done with it than enjoying it for what it was I will always remember it for the love and happiness it brought. But I know that the people inside the house are what the memories are made around and home to me will always be wherever they are.

I'm thankful for this home and the new home I will share with them soon. We are closing one chapter of the story and beginning a new one.

A Smooth Move

Happy July! The dog days of summer are upon us and I've never been more ready for them.

We will always revolve around a school year calendar since we are both pretty fresh out of college and Marcus chose a career in education so July feels like the month to get out and make summer memories before the new school year rolls around.

This weekend we packed up every last thing we own and moved to our temporary home (my Dad's house). We had a few hiccups along the way but that didn't stop the moving train. We stayed our first night on Sunday and all four of us (including Owen of course) had a great night. This is the house I grew up in so there are lots of bedrooms and space for all of us with some to spare (that room is stacked floor to ceiling with our stuff!). GGH even has her own playroom which she has spent 90% of her time in so far. The other 10% she has wanted to spend on the steps. Thank you baby gates. Owen has enjoyed the wide open spaces. He hasn't ate since we moved (except a bone), he always does this for a few days and then his anxiety settles down and he's fine. Dogs are funny! I've mostly enjoyed double sinks in our bathroom ha! And reliving the days of my past.

Like I mentioned this is my childhood home so we're back in my childhood bedroom. Here is the view out of my bedroom window. I told my Dad I took this for granted for 22 years. You can see for miles. Wish I could give you a panaramic view. When I was a kid those houses were not there yet, all you could see were cornfields and rolling hills.

Our view will be pretty similar to this at our new house-not too shabby :) I'm looking forward to our outdoor living spaces to enjoy it on.

I'm so thankful for our family who helped us pack up, clean, launder and move every last box. This sounds cliche but we could not have done it without them. Impossible. No way no how.

I'm also thankful for my Dad who has opened up his door to us to live for who knows how long until our house is ready. We've also lived with Grandmomma and Granddad some this year as we prepped our house for selling it. You can't put a price tag on these gifts of their home.

We are adjusting well and settling into our new routine. I've measured my morning commute-just three extra miles and three extra minutes. I feel like we are exactly where we are suppose to be.

I'm welcoming July with open arms and can't wait to see what this month holds.

Father's Day Weekend 2014

We had a great weekend celebrating the fathers in our life. Marcus pretty much did whatever he wanted to do and we just tagged along :) We embraced the love language of quality time over gifts this year and I think we all preferred it.

We started the weekend Friday night by meeting with our architect to discuss the revisions to our house plan. We were at his house for FIVE hours. He showed us how a design plan would look from a certain angle, exteriorly, in 3D, etc. He was even able to put an average size person walking through the rooms to show spacing and room sizes. It was unbelievable! I'm anxious to make some final decisions soon. Geez louise there are so many decisions! And making decisions doesn't come easy for me.

Architect meetings and a wiggly 1 1/2 year old don't mix so my Dad kept Georgia Grace for us until the meeting was over. She helped him get ready for our lake day by exploring the boat. He said she played in his boat for 1-2 hours! Maybe we should just get a boat... :)

Saturday we spent the day at beautiful Lake Malone. Of all the lakes I have been to Lake Malone is my favorite. It's smaller and you can fish or do water sports. And the landscape is head and shoulders above the other lakes in my opinion.

"Ocean"
Ha!

For the past couple of years we have been going to the lake with our best buds Nathan and Rachel and staying in their family cabin. They weren't able to go this weekend but let us use it anyway. So we did :) They are the best! It's seriously the cutest little cabin ever.

Uncle "Erie" and GGH ready to hit the water


Georgia Grace's 1st time on the lake! She loved the water but wasn't crazy about the life jacket. Sorry but not sorry baby girl.

My Dad even let her "drive" the boat (we are idling). She thought she was big stuff of course. Love this picture of these two.

 I think we are looking at our crew in the other boat but I love how her little hand is on my Dad's leg and I'm holding her hand. Safe as can be!

After we went out in the boat for a while Mamaw, GGH and me came back to the cabin to sit on the porch while the rest of them went back out. She fell asleep in my arms while we were swinging. It was a perfect day at the lake.

Father's Day 2014

I didn't think I would ever know a man that was as good of a father as my Dad but I do. I'm blessed to have my husband and Dad leading our families. I'm so thankful for this man!

The way to my husband's heart is absolutely through his stomach. He is a foodie for sure so I made him a Father's Day breakfast of eggs over-easy, bacon, homemade buttermilk biscuits and fresh fruit to go with it. The biscuits are Grandmomma's recipe and he said they were good so I was proud of myself!

Sunday afternoon after church we were back to a body of water. This time my Uncle David's pond. As soon as we finished eating lunch at my Mamaw's we walked over to do a little fishing. We caught 20 fish in about an hour! Bluegill and bass. This is my first catch in many many years. I ended up holding the fish but didn't bait the hook. Rome wasn't built in a day :)

We went home and when Georgia Grace woke up from her nap she had a special Dad's Day card for Dada. She is reading it to him in the picture. Such a big shot! He loved it.

This was one of those weekends you never want to end.