Weekend & St. Patty's Day

Thanks for all the sweet comments on our new bathroom. We love it more and more everyday. A big thank you to Chris and our talented family members for making it happen for us.

Friday night we went out to eat with our daddy and mommy-to-be friends to catch up on life. I couldn't miss an opportunity to capture a picture of Rachel, Georgia Grace & baby Roman. He will be here in 7 weeks and we are showering his mommy this weekend. I just love this picture so much.

Saturday was a gorgeous day and we haven't had too many of those here lately so we took to the outdoors. I pulled out Georgia's pink jeep from my Papaw. Wouldn't he think she was a dandy seeing her riding in it? She also played in the rocks in our landscaping which would have been fun for hours if I would have allowed it.

And then she learned how to climb up on our bench and stood up to reach for Owen's leash. The bench is now off limits to Georgia Grace and she was all kinds of mad when we broke the news :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day from AKK Preschool!

Look who snuck in the picture this year :) She thinks she is just as big as the rest of them. St. Patrick's Day is a HUGE holiday at AKK because a leprechaun comes every year and wrecks havoc on their school. Green footprints, gold coins, green milk and a note from the leprechaun telling them they didn't catch him this year are some of the usual occurrences. The kids are as excited for this day as they are Halloween and Christmas!

All the sweet leprechauns, including my stubborn one who would not smile for anything :)

Last night we had our traditional Monday night meal at Grandmommas irish style. Corned beef, cabbage, soda bread, corn o'brien, apple & smoked ham salad, green lemonade and irish coffee. It was so delicious!! A great change of pace from our normal foods and seasonings.

After a disappointing weekend of the Cats losing in the SEC Championship game and finding out a house we really wanted was sold to someone else, I was ready for a new week. We are trusting God's plan and purpose for why things happen the way they do and moving on to our plan B (that we did not have ha!). I know this plan will be even better than we could imagine!

“You will make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Psalm 16: 11

DIY Bathroom Reveal

My #TBT did not happen yesterday, for some reason I thought I was wonder woman this week and could work, start a MBA program, help plan a baby shower, get moved back into our house and blog regularly.

I am not wonder woman :) I sacrificed blog time which is fine with me because everything else had to come first. I've had a very productive week and can't help to get excited about what could be on the horizon.

In other exciting news this beautiful bouquet was delivered to my office Wednesday from my Mom, Mamaw, Paige & Georgia Grace for National Dietitian Day! It was just the pick me up I needed. So so thoughtful!

Now on to the bathroom.

Our bathroom remodel is complete and I'm so happy to share the finished product. It is so bright and clean and sparkly, it has definitely jumped in ranking for my favorite room in the house. This was a DIY project that our friend Chris, Papaw, and Granddad helped us with. They led and we followed :) Actually I just picked out the flooring and shower curtain and cleaned up messes but someone had to do it.

We did a complete renovation with only the toilet and sink/vanity staying from the old bathroom. Go big or go home!

Since everyone loves a good before picture here was our bathroom when we first bought our house in 2009. I forgot to take a before picture prior to renovation but not much has changed except the shower curtain.

And here's the new bathroom!

We painted the walls white, replaced the shower and tub and replaced the floors. The tile work that was in our bathroom was not laid well and had to go. We settled for an insert this time and I'm completely happy with that decision. You'll also notice we covered the window that was once in the shower. Best decision ever.

I took these before we had really moved back in so none of our things (baskets, towel racks) are in place. It looks much more lived in now :) The pedestal sink is a great space saver for our bathroom while still providing under the sink storage. Our medicine cabinet also gives us an extra spot to store things without taking up valuable real estate.

The shower curtain is from good ol' Tar-jay. My sister received one as a wedding gift and I fell in love with it when I saw it in their bathroom. It's even more amazing in person. I love it! We put white wainscotting around the whole shower area. I love the added texture to the room.

And our new tub! As I mentioned our previous tub cracked a few months ago so you can imagine how fun that has been to deal with when you have an one year old. Chris couldn't say enough good things about how well built the new tub is. I also love the built-in shelves which are great for our bottled products.

There are a few more pictures I took that somehow didn't make it off my good camera, I'll try to upload those over the weekend (If I can get our wireless internet back, just found out last night the storm knocked it out too. Geez.)

This was a nice little treat to come home to and Georgia Grace has already taken several baths since that is her new favorite thing along with brushing her teeth. She has turned into little miss hygiene this week :)

Happy weekend!

Some Purpose & Perspective

We've got some big news at the Harrison House. I have been accepted into a MBA program and I began classes this week! It has all happened rather quickly which is what I wanted because I intend to bear down and get it completed as quickly as possible. In order to pursue my long-term career goals a Master's degree is crucial and there is no better time than the present. All of my classes are online and I hope to be finished by next Spring (I was able to transfer graduate credit hours from Utah State). I have moments I think I am half crazy but then there are moments of clarity that help me realize this is what I am suppose to be doing right now. Lots of prayers and petition went into this decision and I'm confident I made the right one. Now it only there were more hours in the day...:)

• Speaking of hours and days, we are all out of sorts following springing forward this weekend. This is our third time change since we brought Georgia Grace into the world and it hasn't gotten any easier yet. I'm hoping by the weekend our night routine will be more recognizable. Until then, please ignore my appearance.
• The second coat of paint went on the bathroom walls yesterday and we are set to move back in tonight. I will post pictures once the paint dries and we get everything in place. I'm proud of the finished product and we are going to enjoy our new space as long as time allows.

• We have reached the climbing stage and we have a little dare devil on our hands. Poor Grandmomma has had to rearrange her whole bedroom in order to keep GGH from climbing onto her settee to use it as a stepping stool to get on her dresser to play in her jewelry box. Yes she has done that!! Everything looks like a jungle gym to her. We are in desperate need of warm weather so this little monkey can take her action outdoors!
  

  
  
• I am helping host two showers this month. One is for a family friend and the other is for Rachel! Roman will be here next month!! I think she has had the fastest pregnancy ever. I love love love Spring showers to celebrate new life in marriage and babies.
• I don't talk much about my work on here because of a little something called HIPAA but I just had to document how great of a week I have had. I was awarded a grant for a childhood obesity prevention program that myself and our therapy department developed where we work with children greater than the 95th percentile BMI-for-age. This week our kids are trying new fruits and vegetables, reducing their BMI, participating in the "three bite club" and basically changing their lifestyles. It's been a great opportunity for me to reflect on how I have purpose in my workplace and that I'm making a difference. This is why I do what I do!

That's all the diarrhea from the mouth for now. Tomorrow is another #TBT and Friday is hopefully a new bathroom reveal! It's so white and shiny and clean. Now I'm wanting everything to be white...

Weekend: Blogged

Monday already? Say it isn't so.

This weekend went by extra fast since we were so busy getting our house ready to move back into. The vacation to Grandmomma's is almost over ha!

You've probably realized this since I am a blogger but I thought I would mention. I am an open book. I hesitated on putting our bathroom reno stuff on here but I realized this is information we would tell potential buyers anyway so why not document the journey? Our home is the cutest most perfect little bungalow but the bathroom needed some work. We lived with it but decided when it came close to time to put the For Sale sign in the yard that we should fix what needed to be fixed. Now the bathroom will be perfect too! We may never want to leave now ;)

Thursday was my day off like usual but I volunteered and worked at a charity consignment sale called Lil Angel's Attic. This is my 2nd year volunteering and shopping their sale and it never disappoints! Mom and Stan kept Georgia Grace for me and we all met at CFA for lunch. She had to show us her "shake dance" which she inherited from her Aunt Paigey. She is the life of our party!

They took her to the mall for her first carousel ride while I shopped the sale. It was also her first trip to Greenwood Mall. We were laughing because when my sister and I were little girls mom would take us almost every weekend. Times sure have changed!

Georgia Grace came home with some new clothes and....a baby grand piano!! I have been wanting to get her a piano for a while now but couldn't bring myself to pay retail for it. When i saw a pink one at a steal price at the sale I knew I had to take it home. She absolutely loves it! I would love for her to learn to play the piano and become a pianist. I'm hoping early exposure will do the trick.

Saturday was work day. The floor was finished, tub installed, wainscotting nailed down and all the other stuff that goes along with renovating a bathroom. It was production at its finest. Georgia Grace had to come down to check the progress and deliver a pizza to Chris, Papaw, and Daddy. She can't wait to take baths in her new tub!

Daddy started the painting Sunday afternoon. Everything is going to be white and I'm so excited about it. The room already feels bigger and cleaner. 

We hope to be back to home sweet home by the middle of the week. I don't know if we will miss our grandparents or if they will miss us the most :)

#TBT New Orleans 2012

When I think of March I think of March Madness. Living in basketball country all of my life I have always associated the beginning of spring as also the conclusion of basketball season.

My mom and grandparents have attended the SEC tournament for as long as I can remember. When I was a little girl they would bring us home tshirts and memorabilia from the Fan Fare events. I never got to go to the tournament because of school but I always said when I was older and out of college that I wanted to make the trip.

So Marcus and I decided to go to the 2012 SEC tournament in New Orleans! Neither of us had ever been to an SEC tournament or New Orleans so it sounded like the perfect one to attend.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites-Carondelet Street. It was super nice and in walking distance to the arena and tourist hot spots.

A great view of the downtown area

The tournament was held in the New Orleans Arena where the New Orleans Pelicans (Read: Anthony Davis' team) plays. And fun fact-I just read that it is now the "Smoothie King Center" as of last month. That is...different!?

The Superdome was right beside the arena so a photo-op could not be passed up. The Final Four and Superbowl were all held at the Superdome in 2012 so New Orleans was the place to be in the sporting world.

If you are familiar with UK basketball you know they have the best fan base in the nation and they travel all over the country to watch them play. It was a sea of blue everywhere we went.

I would guess 80% of the fans were UK and the other 20% made up the rest of the SEC!

A beautiful hotel in the French Quarter that caught my eye every time we passed

Such a tourist photo :)

I care too much about my money to gamble but I had to take a picture of the famous Harrah's Casino.

Riverwalk on the banks of the Mississippi

Taking a trolley to save some steps and wearing some bunny ears :)

We met some of our friends from back home at Drago's Restaurant one night for dinner. There are usually 20-30 people that we know that attend the tournament so it feels like home away from home.

My UK basketball lovin' family. I'll always cherish this picture of us with my Papaw from his last SEC tournament trip.

The famous Jackson Square, a historic park in the French Quarter. There was actually a wedding taking place the day we walked to it.

This picture just represents New Orleans to me.

Bourbon Street-I will keep it PG rated per Bourbon Street standards. I'm glad I can say I've experienced Bourbon Street but I was definitely out of my comfort zone!

It's not a trip to Nola without an authentic mask.

Cafe Du Monde was on the must-do list. Absolutely delicious. That's my kind of comfort food!

We also attended a few ballgames while we were there ha! It was a full week because when we weren't watching games we were out exploring.

UK ready to take on Florida in the semi-finals

My husband Mr. SEC

Our Cats made it to the championship game and lost to Vanderbilt :( We were bummed at the time but they went on to win the NCAA Championship a few weeks later so we got over it. We were just thankful they made it to the final game and we were able to watch them play the whole way through (since we bought books of tickets).

And another reason that this trip is extra special is because this was when we told my Mom, Stan, and grandparents that we were expecting! We put a pair of UK baby booties on our bed so that my mom would see them when she came in our room. We totally caught her off guard which is what we were hoping to do! I was 7 weeks pregnant so I was very tired by the end of each day (and dressed slouchier and had horrible roots ha!) but I didn't let it slow me down.

 Another crazy thing that happened while we were there is we ran into my Ob-Gyn on the streets of New Orleans! I had met him because I work with him but Marcus never had so it was neat that their first meeting took place 600 miles from home :) It was an instant connection.

New Orleans was a great trip and a unique place to visit. I'm glad I can say I've experienced The Big Easy. We were able to see the side of town that has not been rebuilt since Hurricane Katrina. It was unbelievable. We were able to see the Mississippi River and experience the true deep south. It's a vacation I will never forget!

Running Out Of Cute Snowy Titles

We are enjoying another winter wonderland scene in our neck of the woods this week. As beautiful as it is and as much as I love living in seasonal weather, I really hope this is our last snow for the season. Spring needs its turn :)

About 3 1/2 inches of snow and a 1/2-3/4 inch layer of ice underneath that. Not too shabby!

We couldn't let the opportunity to let Georgia Grace play in the snow get away from us. And she had a ball! Watching her little feet sink into the snow and waddle around in her snowsuit was the cutest. She really enjoyed playing in it and eating it.

Doggy brother Owen joined us for the snow party and ended up knocking her down with his tail from the excitement. And then while she was laying there he proceeded to give her some kisses in the snow. She didn't mind that.

My sweet snow angel (braced for doggy loves)

She got her first taste of snow balls and snow cream too. Loved them both. Look at that pucker from the cold!

I was able to stay home and enjoy a snow day with my favorite people so that was extra sweet. I don't mind the snow when it's enough that we are all snowed in :) It's suppose to warm up above freezing today and the snow should be gone by the weekend. And maybe just maybe Spring will arrive after that.

I'm thankful for our last little taste of winter and one more snow day with my baby. These days are special and fleeting and I'm savoring every second.

Weekend Warrior

This weekend was dedicated to remodeling our bathroom and getting our house back up and running following the havoc from the lightning that struck our house. This winter has been a dozy. As I'm typing this we are covered in about an inch of ice with a projected 7-10 inches of snow falling on top of that! Snow, ice, rain, lightning-we have battled it all.

Our favorite handyman Chris is the brains behind the whole bathroom redo. Papaw, Marcus and Granddad also chipped in to help so they were able to get a lot done this weekend. As you can tell it's a complete demo so the work is not done yet but hopefully we will be moving back in next weekend. Marcus joked that our rent is about due at the grandparents ha!

A whole new bathroom means a new tub. I had to try it on for size (in our living room) before we installed it. It gets my approval. Anything is better than a cracked tub!

Sunday can be summed up in this picture. It was a crazy day with this girl from start to finish. A chocolate donut mess, spilling vinegar, playing in a cat food bowl, and climbing on top of a dresser were the highlights. I think our crazy weather caused some of her extra spunkiness. 

But despite the manic morning we somehow managed to get ourselves cleaned up (twice) and put together to make it to church on time. It would have been an easy Sunday to give in and let the devil claim victory but we didn't and I was proud of us for that. Aunt Shanna came with us since Jake is out of town on storm duty so it was an extra treat having her on the pew with us. Doesn't this girl just have mischief written all over her? :)

And here's what we have to look forward to this week. We are in the darkest purple section. School has already been canceled for Marcus and I don't foresee my car making it out of the driveway tomorrow. I'm hoping it doesn't get as bad as they are projecting. 2009 is still very fresh and no one wants to relive it.

Be safe local friends and anyone effected by this storm.

17 days until Spring!