John & Melanie

True That!!

2012-01-27T13:53:00.001-06:00

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Small Group Sleepover :)

2012-01-26T16:48:00.002-06:00

I had so much fun having my small group over last weekend! We cooked a yummy supper, played games and watched a movie! FUN!!

Our yummy Italian meal!!!

Our crazyyyyy dessert!

Bathroom Project

2012-01-24T12:55:00.001-06:00

We have a bathroom project going on and I'm excited!!

Updates to follow....

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Some pics from New Orleans

2012-01-20T14:54:00.001-06:00

John, Seth, Mr. Gossett and Kyle at the National Championship in New Orleans.

And this is a picture of when I went to Dicks at midnight after we won!! Crazy!!

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John David's Basketball Games

2012-01-20T14:49:00.001-06:00

We have enjoyed going to some of John David's basketball games!

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Some new stuff around the house...

2012-01-17T18:15:00.005-06:00

I finally hung up curtains in the kitchen. That bay window stumped me for a long time, but I think I finally like what I came up with. I (well, John :) hung the curtains really high to try and make the room feel open.

Before:

After with blinds closed:

Opened blinds:

I also "winterized" the mantle...I needed to take down the Christmas stuff but wasn't ready for spring quite yet :).

This picture is from Pottery Barn:

At Target in the Christmas clearance, I found some twig balls just like this! I even found lights to go in them, but haven't put it all together yet. I did hang them on the mantle though!

Christmas Highlights

2012-01-07T18:43:00.005-06:00

The Christmas holidays flew by for us this year!! WOW!! Here are some pics of things we did...

Celebrating with the Gossetts

Christmas with my fam....

We even got to go to Disney!!

We are so blessed! Can't believe its 2012!!

2011 States

2011-12-30T19:25:00.001-06:00

I can't believe another year has passed! Wow!! It has been a blessed year for us! I always love reflecting back and remembering where all we have traveled....here are our 2011 states lists...

Melanie:
Alabama
Tennessee
Georgia
South Carolina
North Carolina
Virginia
Florida
Nevada
Arizona
California

John:
Alabama
Tennessee
Georgia
South Carolina
North Carolina
Virginia
Florida
Mississippi

Excited to ring in 2012!!!!

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Some Christmas Concert Pics

2011-12-16T17:11:00.003-06:00

I am so proud of our how well our students did at the Elementary Christmas Concert!! It was wonderful!! Here are a few pics...

Sneak Peak!

2011-12-09T10:36:00.001-06:00

Here is a little sneak peak of our elementary Christmas play that is going to be on Tuesday! My 5th graders are doing a great job! I'm so excited!!

My narrators

Shepherd

Angel

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Christmas Decorations

2011-12-06T20:55:00.004-06:00

I wish I could leave up Christmas decorations all year!! I love having a tree with lights in our house!! Here are some pics!

The Fireplace

2011-12-03T14:23:00.002-06:00

John did a project on our fireplace! He added stone around it. There was previously white tile. He did an awesome job! It looks great!

Here is the before:

John working hard!

Almost done!

After:

Thanksgiving

2011-12-01T21:11:00.006-06:00

We were so excited to go to Charlotte this year for Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful time! We are thankful the Lord protected us while traveling! Here are some pics....

We got to volunteer at Operation Christmas Child! It was awesome! We were sent to work at the "Shoebox Hospital" where we fixed boxes that were broken in shipment! It was fun!

Lindsey and John ran the Turkey Trot in Charlotte on Thanksgiving morning.

We had Thanksgiving at our Great Aunt Ruth's house in Bamburg, South Carolina!

Life is crazy right now getting everything ready for the Christmas and our program at school! Praying for strength to make it through!!

Flag Football Champions

2011-11-20T20:49:00.004-06:00

John's church flag football team won the city championship today! It was quite exciting. They had to win the semi-final game to make it to the final. In the semi-final game they scored a touchdown to win with 30 seconds to go, and the championship they scored a touchdown to win with 8 seconds left!

Tuscaloosa Turkey Trot & Bama Game

2011-11-19T17:56:00.001-06:00

John ran the 2 mile Tuscaloosa Turkey Trot this morning! He did awesome! Got second in his age group!

Seth ran too!

Roll Tide!

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Alabama-LSU

2011-11-07T19:58:00.004-06:00

It was so neat to be able to go to this game! And with Brittany and Michael!!! We had so much fun with them this weekend!!! We loved seeing family from Charlotte, too! And Seth!!

Fall Festival

2011-10-31T20:41:00.004-05:00

Our church had a Fall Festival last night! There were so many people that came! It was exciting! John Parker and I were in charge of the Football Toss Game :)

The Red Farm Table

2011-10-29T18:30:00.007-05:00

So...back during the summer I found a steal at a local thrift store......

This 6-Foot Farm Table...for....$9.95

The top-coat of the table was peeling off, but I knew it had potential. You can see in the picture above the before and after of when I started sanding.

And here is a closer look....

And this is what it looked like when I had it sanded down.

Now, I had an idea to paint it red---which is big for me, because I am not usually a color-kind-of-girl. But, I went with it....

It was not exactly what I had planned in my mind, so I added a dark stain and it went on beautifully!! The stain seemed to fall right in the grooves of the wood! I was so happy with the look of it!

I stained the whole thing, then I ended up sanding down and distressing the edges and corners. I finished it off with some polyurethane!

My plan was to use this table in the office as a craft table. There was a minute when I thought that plan would not work....it was nearly impossible to fit that huge table down our hallway into the office. It took a LOT of shoving and hammering it through the door, but we did get it in there. Needless to say, I don't think it is EVER coming out of that room!

Here it is in the office. I thought the red would be a nice touch to the distressed black we have going on in that room.

I knew I wanted to be able to use underneath the table to store my craft stuff, so I decided to make a curtain-like thing with burlap! I love how it turned out!!

Until next time.....

Carving Pumpkins

2011-10-27T19:59:00.002-05:00

We have been so busy this fall!! Sorry for the lack of posting! I'm gonna try and get better!! Here are some pics of carving pumpkins we did the other night!!

Disney World and Katie and Jake's Wedding!!

2011-10-15T08:22:00.005-05:00

Disney/Wedding Fall Break

2011-10-10T14:55:00.001-05:00

Here are some pics I had on my phone...I will post more later! We had so much fun!!

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"Fallin" it Up around Here :)

2011-10-01T23:20:00.002-05:00

Here are some pics of the fall decorations I put up!

Joyce's Visit!!

2011-09-28T21:50:00.006-05:00

My Grandma Joyce got to come visit me in Alabama!! We had SO much fun!! I was so so excited to have her here!! Here are a whole bunch of pictures from everything we did during her visit...we did alot!!

First stop- Rosies!!

Joyce got to be at school on Grandparents Day! It was so exciting! Here are some of my fourth graders!

2nd Grade...

Kindergarten...

At the WCA football game Friday night..it was cold!

At Denny Chimes- In Tuscaloosa for the Bama-Arkansas Game!

Walking around the quad

Right before we left the apartment for the game

Eating lunch...Seth came to town for the game and brought his friend from Concord, NC- Caleb

In front of the stadium

Joyce loved it!

At the game

Joyce and Marty's house when they lived in Alabama. She said she remembers playing with my mom on that long porch on the side :) So cool!

There is a sign in the front that has her landlord's name on it!

Joyce's church when she lived here!

Friends from church :)

Sunday lunch at the Gossett's

What a fun time we had!!! I am so blessed she got to come!!

Lynchburg Trip

2011-09-18T20:00:00.001-05:00

We had such a fun weekend at Liberty! I always love visiting and seeing everyone!!

Sunday lunch at Sam's

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Labor Day Weekend!

2011-09-06T20:12:00.004-05:00

My wonderful family got to come visit this Labor Day Weekend!(minus Linds:( ) We had so much fun! Even got to go to a Bama game!!! Thanks Mama and Papa Ward!! Here are some pics :)

Kitchen Wall

2011-09-05T13:47:00.006-05:00

I have been trying for a while now to come up with something to do to this blank wall in our kitchen....

Recently I was in Pottery Barn and really liked this idea...

So I gave it a shot and this is what I came up with...

I really like it and it was relatively inexpensive! Not sure what I'm going to put in the frames yet...we shall see!

Middle School Football and a New App

2011-08-30T19:27:00.001-05:00

We are at the middle school football game tonight and I am so enjoying this because I taught a lot of these kids at the end of last year!!

And I found this app called diptic that let's you collage pictures like this! It is on sale in the app store for .99 until tomorrow!

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Some things never change...

2011-08-30T11:25:00.001-05:00

I don't think I'll ever be able to talk John into eating cooked carrots.....haha

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Friday Night Football is Back!

2011-08-30T11:22:00.001-05:00

Excited for football season and to cheer on the Wildcats!

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Bragging on John

2011-08-21T09:43:00.001-05:00

John made a workbench for the garage from scratch!! It looks awesome!!

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School Stuff

2011-08-21T09:41:00.001-05:00

My bulletin board....

My classroom

Kyle and I eating lunch

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At the Westminster Scrimage

2011-08-20T20:07:00.001-05:00

Graham and Papa Ward

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Hillsong Concert

2011-08-20T12:19:00.002-05:00

This was an amazing concert!! It was all about Christ and glorifying Him! One song I heard for the first time was called You, on the Hillsong Beautiful Exchange CD. Here are some of the lyrics from this song...loved it...
Invading all my weakness
You wrapped me up in grace
The worst of me succeeded by the best of You
My heart is overtaken
My soul is overwhelmed
The worst of me succeeded by the best of You
My dreams have found their purpose
My future in Your hands
This life would have no meaning if it weren't for You
So I lay me down
For Kingdom come
Steal all that is within me
Cause all I want in this world is more of You
And the less of me it is You
Increasing as I fade away
Your light for all the world to see
God It is You who breaks the chains
It is You who lights the way
And everything I am cries out for You

Here are some pics and some video clips!

YouTube Video

New School Year

2011-08-15T21:24:00.003-05:00

School has officially begun! I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be teaching at Westminster Christian Academy as the elementary music teacher! I am so excited for all this year holds! So if I am lacking in posting- it's probably because this first year teacher is learning the ropes of elementary school all over again :)!! but I will try and keep everyone updated as much as possible and still every now and then get around to some fun house projects!! Maybe I will even have some good stories to tell about my school days!

Fun Sister Visit!

2011-08-06T08:20:00.003-05:00

Linds and Lori got to visit us for a few days! We had so much fun!

On our way!

Eating subs at Publix!

Linds and Lori in the back seat

Eating lunch in the taco bus :)

Hanging out at David and Emily's!

Linds practicing driving the Bama Van!

Eating some frozen yogurt!

Wedding Week :)

2011-08-03T21:34:00.005-05:00

One of my dearest friends got married on Saturday! Yay! I have known Emilie since 6th grade! She has been such a wonderful friend to me! I was so excited to share in her special day!!

I happened to be in Charlotte the day Miles Ward Renstrom was born! Me and Lori got to go visit him, and Adam and Nat in the hospital! Fun!!

Lingerie Shower...

Rehearsal

Headed to the chapel.....

Me and Britt with the beautiful bride!!

Love you Em! Thanks for letting me be a part of your day!!

Better Late Than Never........

2011-07-20T21:29:00.005-05:00

......For a summer mantel!!! HaHa I am a few months behind :) But I still had fun giving our house some "beachiness"!! It has been forever since I have done any house projects so I really enjoyed this! I looked around on some blogs and got some ideas, went to Hobby Lobby and got some beachy stuff, and then I pulled out some things I already had! And I used the beautiful driftwood I got in Gulf Shores last month!

The blue "G" is cardboard that I got at Hobby Lobby and painted blue. The driftwood I found at the beach! The starfish, net, and shells I got at Hobby Lobby.

I wrapped some old glass jars I had with jute and filled them with some sand and shells.

This picture was taken of us this summer at the beach! I got the frame at a thrift store and painted it the same color as the "G"!

Everything else I pretty much already had and just tried to make it all tie together! I'm super happy with how it turned out!

Mom- I also wanted you to see the frame I got for the dining room! I found it at Hobby Lobby and it matches the hutch we have the dishes in!!

Its on the wall on the left!

Also stay tuned for the post on this table I found!! I'm so excited about how it turned out!!

Happy Birthday John!!

2011-07-13T10:58:00.004-05:00

John celebrated his 26th birthday on July 5! We celebrated with his fam on July 4 and I cooked him the meal of his choice on his bday!

Grilling out!

Opening presents

Watching Fireworks!

Grahambo

Pops put on his own firework show!

His meal choice---chicken and rice

And strawberry shortcake :)

Happy birthday John! I love you!!

Happy 25th Birthday To Me!!

2011-07-08T10:15:00.002-05:00

I got to be in Charlotte and Alabama on my 25th birthday! I had lunch with my family and then drove to Alabama and had dinner with John!! It was a great day!

Chick Fil A!

2011-07-06T21:54:00.003-05:00

Linds and I did a Chick Fil A grand opening in Charlotte! I am so thankful we both got Chick-fil-a for a year!!!

Our set up

Playing a game- won a chair!

Brittany worked the grand opening and got to come see us!!

Good Times!

Trip Out West...

2011-07-04T17:06:00.000-05:00

I so enjoyed spending time with my family the past few weeks! We traveled to Las Vegas, The Grand Canyon and California! Here are some pics...

The Grand Canyon

Las Vegas!

The Grove- where all the celebrities shop

Hollywood Bowl

Santa Monica Pier

Riding David's Harley

With Nana

The family playing Words With Friends :)

What a fun fun trip!!!

Ward Family Vacation

2011-07-04T16:58:00.005-05:00

We had a wonderful time spending time with the Ward family in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Here are some pics....

Thank you Mama and Papa Ward! We had a blast!

1 Year Anniversary

2011-06-11T16:59:00.005-05:00

John and I celebrated our one year anniversary on June 5! John took me out to dinner to Ruth's Chris!

He also bought me a beautiful pearl necklace!

This is a scrapbook I made him of our 1st year...

We also enjoyed eating our wedding cake! And we had fun watching our wedding video!

So thankful and blessed that I got to marry John one year ago!!!

Congrats Micah & Amber!

2011-05-30T21:44:00.002-05:00

We had fun attending our friends Micah and Amber's wedding Saturday!

Seth's Graduation!

2011-05-28T22:12:00.005-05:00

We are so proud of you Seth!!

Since I am a teacher at Westminster, I got to walk at graduation!

Hudson having fun with Uncle John!! They had matching shirts!!

So Proud Of The Liberty Grads!!!

2011-05-19T18:58:00.005-05:00

This past weekend we headed up to Lynchburg, VA to see my sister, Lindsey, and cousins Katie, Jake and Leigh Anna graduate from Liberty University!! We had such a fun weekend! We are so proud of you all!!

Getting ready to march in! They got great seats!

The Sisters

John and Graham

Us with the happy grad!!

Linds and Joyce!

Friends...

Linds with the shirt we got her!

So excited for your next step!!

While The Power Was Out...

2011-05-02T20:08:00.005-05:00

After the terrible tornados came through Huntsville on Wednesday, the power in the entire city was off. Ours came back on today around 11:00 AM! It was really interesting learning to live without power for 5 days!!! We made do though--grilled out and used lots of candles!! And most everyone else around us was doing the same things! I've never seen so many of our neighbors outside before! It was very very dark at night and very quiet. The city has been on a strictly enforced curfew of 8:00. Because of having no power, many people struggled to find food. Also, people struggled to find gas- if their car wasn't full before the tornados, they were looking at having to drive at least an hour to find any gas. Our church has a gas stove, so we served the community by handing out hot meals on Friday, Saturday and Sunday- it was such a blessing to be a part of that!!

Here is a picture of some trees down outside our neighbrohood.

Here are a few other pictures I got of us grilling out and me washing dishes with a flashlight on my head :).

While we tried to make the best out of our situation, I can not shake the images we saw yesterday of the devastation 10 minutes away from our house in an area called Harvest. John, Seth, Emily and I went up there to help a family who has lost everything. The father was killed during the storm. Here is a picture of their home. What you see still standing is the 2nd story of the home that was carried several feet from the foundation. The bottom floor of the home was completely destroyed.

Please please pray for this family. I can not imagine going through any thing like this. I have never seen devastation like that. We were helping the daughter look through all of the debris for anything she could salvage. From where we were standing at their house, as far as the eye could see, all of the houses were demolished. Cars were crushed. Debris was everywhere. All of these people's possessions were destroyed. It was an unbelievable sight. Please keep all of the families in your prayers that have lost everything. The work that needs to be done will take months. So many people have to start their lives over again. I am praying that our family is used to do whatever God would have us do in these situations to further the Gospel and to minister to those in need.

Tornado Pictures

2011-04-29T15:45:00.005-05:00

Can't describe how thankful we are to be alive and to still have a home. Praying so much for those who have lost everything.

The storm after it passed our house. You can see our neighbors tree down.

Baseball Dinner

2011-04-22T16:27:00.004-05:00

We had the Westminster baseball team over for dinner at our house last night. The state baseball playoffs start today. I had so much fun having them over and cooking for them....10 pounds of hamburger meat and 70 taco shells later...I hope they had fun, too!

They had an intense game of wiffle ball in the back yard :)

Seth's Senior Prom

2011-04-18T16:20:00.004-05:00

Seth is only a few weeks away from graduating High School!!! Crazy!!! Here are some pics from his prom :) He let John and I come and take some pics...thanks Seth!

We have a nest!!

2011-04-17T16:13:00.003-05:00

A little robin built a beautiful nest in the wreath on our front door! There are two blue-speckled robin eggs inside! The coolest part is that the nest is right in front of the peep-hole on our door and we can watch the bird in the nest without scaring her away!

The nest is right on top...

Can you see the two eggs??

I'm not sure if you can tell what this is, but I took a picture out the peep-hole. The nest is on the bottom right.

The Kitchen Table

2011-04-14T18:45:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, I found a guy on craigslist who builds custom farm tables for an incredible price! He is in Nashville, TN. After emailing him, and talking it over with John, we decided to go ahead and get a table with a matching bench! I could not be more happy with it! This is just want I wanted in our kitchen nook. Emily drove with me to Nashville to get the table a few weekends ago----the trip was not without its adventures :) Here it is in the kitchen!!

The bench is on the window side of the table. I decided to accent with black chairs...found these at Dirt Cheap! They are on Target's website for $180 and I got them for $40! Praise the Lord!! Still on the hunt for two more...

This old milk carrier I got from a lady's home at church. These bottles were old Starbucks Frappachino bottles. I painted the inside of them white!

The bench!

I really love this table! The guy whom we bought it from said "enjoy making history around that table"! We will!!

The Dining Room Shelves

2011-04-11T21:57:00.003-05:00

A couple weeks ago, Emily came over to help me hang some shelves in the dining room....she also painted something for my bathroom which is amazing and I will post about later...back to the shelves. She had some extra wood she didn't need, so we made them in to some shelves. After some trial and error :)...we finally got them up! And I love how they look!!

This centerpiece was very easy...the sticks I got from the yard. Then I got some streamer from Hobby Lobby, and hot glued it on to the edges. I think it gives it a more spring look.

Emily also found this neat shutter...we found the perfect place for it! She also came up with the idea of stacking the baskets filled with burlap which I love!

Thanks Em for coming over to help me!! I had so much fun!!

John's Hair

2011-04-10T22:18:00.002-05:00

John really needs a haircut before he starts resorting to this style....haha!!

The Piano

2011-04-09T21:08:00.006-05:00

Wow! Alot of things have been going on around here lately!! Crazy!! So I am just now getting around to posting stuff! A few months ago, we were given a PIANO!!! What an answer to prayer!!! I love having one in our home and I am able to prepare for stuff I am doing at church so much easier now! So thankful!!
The piano fits against this wall perfectly!! I really enjoyed decorating the top of the piano....and one night, Emily came over and helped me decorate (which I will be posting about soon :) and we put the finishing touches on this!

The old music books were by great grandmother's. The scrolled up hymns were free copies I printed from the internet....I burned the edges, then stained them with tea, then blow-dried them to give them that "old" look.

The Psalm 7:17 sign is also something I made. That was a frame I got that did not have the glass. I covered the cardboard with burlap. I printed the verse from my computer, and again I burned the edges and stained it with tea. Then I glued it on to the burlap! Mom- do you remember when you got me that tea light holder??

So thankful to have a piano!!

Spring Mantel

2011-04-07T20:20:00.004-05:00

Finally posting pictures of my spring mantel! I love all of the colors of spring! I love how "Fresh" everything feels!

Weekend

2011-03-28T20:11:00.007-05:00

This weekend was our friends Madison and Jordan's wedding!! I was able to go up to Charlotte for it!

Madison was such a beautiful bride!!
(I stole this off someones facebook :)

Me and Britt- Madison's sister

Me and Linds

In other news....Lindsey found out she got accepted to The University of North Carolina School of Law!!! Saturday she got her letter in the mail!! We couldn't be more proud!!!

(Not sure why this is turned like this)

Book Review

2011-03-23T12:53:00.004-05:00

Have you ever heard of Precept Ministries? I was not familiar with it until I moved to Huntsville. This is the Bible study program the womens ministry uses at our church. It was founded by Jack & Kay Arthur in 1970. They write several different types of studies, but the one I have been involved with is Precept upon Precept- John. It has opened up my eyes to a whole new way of studying the Bible! I love it! I would encourage any one to find a class in your area!

This is a book Kay Arthur wrote on how to study your Bible.

This book gives you a step by step guide on how to inductively study the Bible. Many things explained in the book are things we specifically do in the Precept study, but it can be applied to anyone who is desiring to learn how to effectively study the Bible. It has changed the way I study the Bible, and has allowed me to learn and see things I have never seen before! So exciting!!

Weekend Fun

2011-03-22T21:23:00.003-05:00

This past weekend, Mandy and Jackie came to visit John and I!! What a treat!! It was SOOOO sweet of them to come!! I had so much fun!!! I only got one pic of us---but I think it was because we were too busy having fun :) We went to eat at Rosies, hit up Dirt Cheap, and several other stores!! Miss Ya'll! Thank you again for coming!! Hope to see you soon!!!

P.S. Please ignore the lamp in the background with no shade...working on that...and it just happens to be sitting on a PIANO!! YEA!! I will be posting about that soon!!

The Bathroom Countertop

2011-03-19T20:33:00.010-05:00

So I endeavored upon a little project, something I had seen on a few other blogs, painting the bathroom counter top. Lowes carries a product called Counter top Coating.

There are several different colors you can get it stained to. I got it stained to what I thought was a dark chocolate brown. When I started painting, I realized it was going to be lighter, almost the color of the walls, which was a little disappointing. It was very difficult to paint it on smoothly. I used foam brushes, but it showed every streak, so I ended up painting in circles, trying to make it look "textured:". HA! In the end, I like it a lot more than the blue :) but I am also glad I didn't attempt to do anything more than my small bathroom countertop.
Before

After

During my painting...I got a little careless and accidently did this on one of the cabinets.....

So I did some unplanned cabinet distressing...but I like how it turned out!

All in all, I probably wouldn't use the countertop coating again unless it was just a temporary fix to something I really didn't like. It gets the job done, but it did turn out a little differently than I thought! But hey, not all projects are going to go perfect! But that's the fun of it!!

Book Reviews

2011-03-18T08:05:00.006-05:00

One of my New Years Resolutions was to read more. I have really enjoyed the two books I have read so far. I wanted to give a sort of a book review, in case any of you are looking for a good read! :)

"The Man Whisperer"- Rick Johnson

I heard about this book when I was in Columbia, SC. On a Worship Radio Station I listened to, they would sometimes have an "Encouragement Segment" and read a small portion of a book. I don't remember exactly what part of this book they read, but I remember liking it and thinking I should get that book. I always get books used online through DealOz. I think this book cost me $2. It was a great read on how to relate to/understand/encourage/your husband. My favorite chapter in the whole book was Chapter 7. It talks in depth about girls relationships to their dads, and how that directly plays in to the relationship women have with their spouses. I cried reading it, just so thankful for the relationship I have with my dad, and sad for those who may not have had as good of a relationship. This would be an awesome chapter for John to read if someday we happen to have a Gossett Girl. :)

"The Power of a Praying Wife"

What a great reminder of the importance to daily lift our husbands up in prayer, and an awesome guide on how to do that. This book lays out I believe 29 different areas in our husbands life that we can pray about, and demonstrates a prayer for each thing.

Both great books I would encourage anyone to read!!

Congrats Sean & Carmen

2011-03-13T13:58:00.001-05:00

Sean and Carmen got married!!

Congrats!! We Are Excited For Ya'll!!!

The Mr. & Mrs. Pillows

2011-03-10T21:34:00.008-06:00

I have seen this done on a few other blogs and I loved it! I had to give it a try! I am so excited about how they turned out. The original company to come out with these pillows was Ballard Designs. For just the inserts, they are $59 each!! I think I paid a total of $20 for both, insert and all! So here is a little tutorial on how I did it...

After reading how people have done it, I decided I would make my own stencil.
I printed the letters off of my computer.

Then I traced them on to some heavy duty cardstock.

Then I cut them out with an exacto knife. They were no where near perfect, but that ended up not mattering.

I bought black acryllic paint and that little round foam brush you see in the picture. I made sure to hold the stencil real still and I put the paint on pretty thick. I did practice on the piece of paper first :)

I was so nervouse to pull back the stencil, but I was pleasantly surprised when I did! I thought it looked great! Ecspecially for a homemade stencil!!

I then sewed the pillows right sides facing each other, leaving a small hole to put the insert in.

If you notice in the picture on the Ballard Designs website, the pillows look a little more tapered around the edges, and I really wanted to get that look. After I sewed the pillows right sides together, turned them inside out, and stuffed them, I then went and sewed around the entire outside of the pillow.

If you can tell by this picture, the pillow has a more tapered look, rather than a "normal" looking one with a straight sew.

I love how these turned out! It adds a little more character to our bedroom and it was a fun project!

Our Little House Guest

2011-02-23T21:52:00.004-06:00

Last Friday, our nephew Hudson spent the night with us!! We had so much fun having him over! He is such a blessing and brings so much joy in our lives...We missed John David...he wasn't feeling well...and Graham...we missed him, too, but he is not quite old enough to spend the night with us...but maybe one day soon! :)

John and Hud having a night night snack...

I love this! That is my old toy box and those our my old toys! Hud likes playing with them! Even if they are girl toys :)

Mom- remember this old camera??

Major Updates to the Cotton Room

2011-02-22T21:54:00.008-06:00

I am so excited about how this room has come together! It feels so cozy!!
Here is the before:

And here we are now!!

Since the last picture, I found a new duvet cover (at my new favorite Target clearance store for $10!!), I added the chair which I loveee and found at a thrift store for $12, the blanket, the mirror which was another $8 thrift store find, and the SHUTTER HEADBOARD! I am most excited about that! I got all four old shutter doors at a thrift store for $15..thanks to my friend Lindsay who talked them down for me :) My favorite blog writer, Layla Plamer of The Lettered Cottage wrote an article for HGTV on making a headboard out of shutter doors...if you are interested in seeing how I did it, check it out HERE!

The mirror I painted with white paint...it was a goldy color before.

You can't tell very well in this picture, but I found the curtains at my Target clearance store for $3 each! They are long white linen curtains and look really great in the room! I also found the bedskirt for $5 at the same store :)

The last few things I want to change are still the light fixture, and I plan on doing some letters above the headboard, similar to what Layla did in hers. Overall, I am so excited about how this room is coming along!!

Basketball Ends...Baseball Begins!

2011-02-20T21:38:00.005-06:00

We really enjoyed watching Seth play basketball this year at Westminster. He had a great Senior season!
Here he is on Senior Night

Their season ended last weekend, and now it is on to Baseball!! Here is the poster for the Westminster baseball team...

John is assistant coaching for the Varsity team, so we have a very busy schedule right now! The first game is Monday! We are ready for an exciting season!

Everything

2011-02-17T22:27:00.011-06:00

The youth group at our church did this skit on Sunday. It is so powerful. What an awesome reminder of what God has done for us...Praise Him!!!

Happy Valentines Day!!

2011-02-13T20:52:00.004-06:00

We went out for Valentines Dinner last night with Wayne and Leslie and had a great time! We went to Connors Steakhouse and it was so good!! That is the place John's family took us all after we got engaged!!

Having fun getting ready :)

And Us! Happy Valentines Day!

Getting Crafty

2011-02-06T21:53:00.003-06:00

Here are a few things I have been working on lately :)

The Globe Bowl

I saw this in a picture awhile back and always wanted to try it. I was at Ross and saw they had a broken globe, and I knew it would be perfect for this project! They even gave me a discount because it was broken :)

So here is my globe half....

And the inside of it....

I painted the inside with what is called "crackle" paint...it gives it an old wood finish.

I ended up hot gluing burlap around the top, and then gluing jute around that...

I am pretty excited about how it turned out!

The Empty Frame Collage.....

I saw this idea in pictures, as well. I wanted something for my hallway wall but didn't want to spend a lot of money. This was perfect and I LOVE how it turned out!!

I found some frames...all different sizes and textures..at a thrift store for $.25. I set them all out on my floor in a way that I thought would look good on the wall.

Then I painted them with some acrylic paint I had picked up at Hobby Lobby.

Ta Da!! The empty frame collage!!!

I love how it looks going down that hallway!

The Sign in the Bathroom

2011-01-29T15:53:00.005-06:00

I made the sign in the Bathroom Post below. It was really simple...That was an old piece of wood with rope that I painted lightly white. Then I printed part of Colossians 3:16 out just on regular paper. Then I cut out the words. Then I modge-podged it on the wood! I am really excited about how it turned out! It was really simple and the project was basically free!!

Guest Bathroom Update

2011-01-29T15:36:00.005-06:00

Well we have come a long way from this!!

Thanks to Emily for some decorating ideas and John's handywork...we have a pretty bathroom!!

The new light was a wedding present from Nat and Adam :)

John did awesome hanging all of these white shelves!!

We added this towell rack, a towell hook, and a toilet paper holder.

There are still a few more things to change, like the counter top and I am working on something to put on the wall above the towell rack...but I think we have made some good improvements! It was fun, too!

New Stuff

2011-01-19T15:11:00.008-06:00

John has gotten pretty handy around here! His latest project has been installing our new fan! So excited about this!! He did so good!

Also, he has installed new hallway and closet lights and new door hardware!

And here is a sneak peak of our other guest bedroom...John calls this the "Cotton Room"...I still have a lot of work to do....looking for a duvet cover, curtains, light fixture, and some old doors for a headboard...we shall see! :)

Snow Day!!

2011-01-11T08:49:00.002-06:00

We loved our first snow and being able to stay home and play!! It was full of adventure---the night when the storm started, John and I got stuck coming home and Seth had to come rescue us! We didn't have jackets or anything and John said we had to start walking home! Crazy! So glad Seth saved us!!

Our House

Our Snowman

John's Jeep After We Rescued It:)

Our Backyard

Us!!

Florida!

2011-01-03T16:19:00.006-06:00

The day after Christmas, we all headed down to Miami to visit Joyce and Marty! It was a good time!

We found snowcones!

We got a VIP tour of the Miami Heat Arena

The locker room- we didn't get to go in because it was a gameday

The puzzle we did

The Girl Cousins

Sparklers on New Years Eve

Christmas Snow

2011-01-03T16:12:00.003-06:00

Well, we waited all day on Christmas for SNOW! When we woke up the next morning--we had about 4 inches!! So beautiful!

Beanie wasn't sure about the snow...

Christmas in Charlotte

2011-01-03T15:35:00.006-06:00

John and I were able to be in Charlotte on Christmas morning with my family. It was so much fun!

Christmas Eve...Beanie loved the tree and presents!

Lori's gift to us was Ritas!! She had bought it 2 months ago (when it closed for the winter) and had it waiting on us!

John was so excited- he ate it all day! Even for breakfast! Ha!

We just hung out and relaxed the rest of the day

Thanks mom and dad for such a wonderful Christmas! We are blessed!!

Ward Christmas in Gatlinburg

2011-01-03T15:28:00.004-06:00

This year, Mama and Papa Ward got their family a log cabin in Gatlinburg, TN for the Christmas holidays! It was so much fun and we really enjoyed our time! We had lots of good food, went to Dollywood, and spent time with family.

Mama and Papa Ward and Gigi made all of these baskets- one for every person in the family! So neat!

Thank you Mama and Papa Ward for treating us all to this vacation!!

The End of 2010

2011-01-03T15:14:00.008-06:00

John and I were both a little sad to see 2010 go...it was an amazing year- the best of our lives!! Some big, big things happened...graduating from grad school..purchasing our first home...MARRIAGE!! It has been awesome! I know I personally have learned so much and am so excited about the future, and spending my life with John. I am more excited about it now than I was 6 months ago!! I am also excited about what the Lord has in store for our future. One of my goals this year is to be very intentional about my quiet time, growing in the Word, and obeying exactly what the Lord wants me to be doing. I don't want to take any of that lightly. I don't want to miss opportunities to be used by Him. Life is too short to be waisting time on things of the world- even though it is so easy to be distracted. I want to be of things of the Lord- for His glory! I want to read more and take every opportutnity to learn. One thing the Lord has been pressing my heart about lately is that I must be faithful to Him in the little things. I must obey what He is asking me to do now with a cheerful attitude, even if I don't think it is important or if I don't neccesarily want to do it. That is why I am going to try my best to be very intentional in these things.

Looking back on this year, John and I have been able to do a lot of things and travel to a lot of places! I love doing this every year---so here is our states list of 2010!

Alabama
Tennessee
Georgia
South Carolina
North Carolina
Nevada- John- National Championship
California- John- National Championship
Texas- Honeymoon
Hawaii- Honeymoon
Virginia- Liberty University!
Louisiana- LSU Game
Mississippi- LSU Game
District Of Columbia- Visiting Lindsey!
Florida- Christmas

We are so blessed...looking forward to 2011 and all the Lord has in store!

Our First Christmas

2010-12-21T22:51:00.006-06:00

We had such a wonderful time tonight celebrating our first Christmas together. I am so thankful to have such an amazing husband. We loved starting our own traditions and enjoyed giving gifts to each other!

Getting Ready To Open Presents

Stockings!!

John got me some awesome presents!!

And my surprise present was 6 new lights for our house!! Yea!!

John also got me the sweetest ornament to remember our first Christmas together- so sweet.

Here is some stuff I got for John...but his surprise present awaits him in Charlotte :)

John has kept every ticket from every bama game he has been to- over 100..so I found him these ticket albums to keep them in :)

It was so much fun and so special! Loved it!

A Project Finished Before 2011!!

2010-12-21T22:43:00.007-06:00

I Finished the Cabinets!! WhooHOO!!! I am so excited about them...so here are the final pictures.
The Before...

The AFTER!!

Next Kitchen Project: Painting and possibly a backsplash...we shall see!

The Joy of Christmas Is Giving

2010-12-21T09:12:00.006-06:00

The joy of Christmas is giving- to others in need, and especially to those you love. God gave us the perfect example of the perfect gift. He is the ultimate gift-giver. He gave His only son to the WORLD...for everyone..to show His love for all mankind. Last night we celebrated Gossett Christmas. We had such a wonderful time. John and I are both blessed to have amazing families, and last night we received so many wonderful gifts. I have to say though, the highlight of John and my night was seeing our nephews, John David, Hudson and Graham, open up the gift we gave them--Toy Story 3 DVD and Figurines :). The look on their faces- especially Hudson's- was priceless!!

They loved it!! We felt such joy being able to give someone we loved so much something that they loved!! It was just another reminder of God's love to us, when He gave us something so precious, so priceless, because He loved us!! We have received the greatest gift of all, and Christmas is the time to celebrate and remember that perfect gift, but my greatest desire is that each and every day, I would wake up with excitement and anticipation of this gift God has given us, and enjoy His love and fellowship in my life.

Lindsey's Visit & The 5K

2010-12-18T20:43:00.004-06:00

My sister Lindsey got to come visit us this week! We had so much fun!! We did a lot of shopping and baking :) This morning, her, John and our other friend John ran a
5K! They all did awesome and placed 5th in their age groups! Here are some pics!

I have the SWEETEST husband :)

2010-12-06T08:12:00.004-06:00

I was able to attend an amazing womens conference called "Deeper Still" this weekend. When I got home, John had wrapped presents for me under the tree...so sweet.

Love him :)

Christmas Mantel and House Decorations

2010-12-01T14:16:00.009-06:00

I LOVEDDDD decorating our house for Christmas!! I have been saving all of these decorations forever it seems like and it was so fun to get everything out! It's also so fun and special because it is our first Christmas!

So...Here is the Family Room...

The Tree...

The Mantel...

The Dining Room...

And some pics with the lights off...

Thanksgiving Festivities

2010-12-01T13:43:00.008-06:00

This whole week we had Kyle in town for Thanksgiving and had alot of fun! We all went to the Iron Bowl on Friday. And on Saturday, John and I went and got our very first Christmas Tree!
These are some fun donuts I found

At the "Walk of Champions"

John & Paul Finebaum

SO SAD WE LOST :(

We also got our Christmas Tree! We went and cut it down and it was so fun!!
On our way...

I loved all of the trees!!

This is the one!!

And got Starbucks Carmel Apple Spice on the way home!

Liberty Weekend

2010-11-22T09:57:00.005-06:00

This past weekend, Mama and Papa Ward and John and I traveled up to Lynchburg to see Kyle play his Senior game at Liberty. We had an awesome time! Kyle played great!! He had a 40 yard catch right in front of us! After the game, we went over to Katie and Leighanna's apartment for an awesome Thanksgiving meal! Fun weekend!

Coach Rocco talked about Kyle in his press conference!

Weekend

2010-11-15T19:32:00.005-06:00

This weekend we had a lot of football going on!! We could not be any more proud of Seth Gossett..the Westminster football team finished their season on Friday night. Seth had such a great Senior season...I am so sad that he is graduating and I won't see him play football anymore :(..but he has so many more exciting things ahead of him!! Here are some pics from Friday night.

Right after Seth's game, we headed to Tuscaloosa! Roll Tide!!

Megan's Maternity Photos

2010-11-14T14:38:00.005-06:00

My beautiful friend Megan is due in January with a little boy!! We went out the other day and had so much fun taking maternity photos! She has to be the cutest pregnant woman ever!!! These are some of my favs...

Almost Christmas Time!!!

2010-11-12T10:55:00.005-06:00

I am so excited to decorate for Christmas this year!! You only have your "First Christmas Together" ONCE!! Last year, I purchased most of my decorations on sale after the Holiday season...and I can not WAIT to unpack them and decorate! Here are some pictures that are kindof my theme/inspirations....

LSU Weekend

2010-11-09T17:00:00.004-06:00

What a crazy weekend! It started off with Seth's High School football game winning their first round of play-offs!! SO exciting!! After that on Friday night, John and I started making our way to Baton Rouge...We got there Saturday morning and everything was crazy! It took us 2 hours to park!! We finally made it to the stadium and it was so sad that we lost....but the fun part was being able to see my cousins and hang out with them for a little while--I forgot to take pics though...
At the game...

Here we are on the top row!!

This is the real tiger they have on campus!

Southeastern Salvage

2010-11-08T13:43:00.005-06:00

I love Southeastern Salvage. It is where we found our dining room table back in September. Well last week, I drove up there to get 4 other chairs we have been waiting on for a few months to get in. While there, I found these barstools!! I love them!

I also found this light fixture for $12! It will be going in our kitchen! Yea!

D.C.

2010-11-04T20:50:00.004-05:00

John and I were able to go up to Washington D.C. this past weekend to visit my sister Lindsey who is doing an internshinp for Newt Ginchrich. We had so much fun! We brought bikes, which was the best decision ever. Never again will I tour D.C. without a bike...we got to do so many things, and we weren't terribly exhausted at the end of the day. The first day, we did the monuments, White House, Smithsonians, National Archives, and Arlington Cemetery. The second day we did the Library of Congress, Capitol, Nationals Stadium, and Georgetown! Here are some of my favorite pics!

1/2 Way Done!!

2010-10-25T09:16:00.004-05:00

I am 1/2 way done with the kitchen cabinets...here are some pics...I really am so happy with how they turned out...I'm not sure if the pictures do them justice...
What I basically did was sand them down, paint them, then I sanded down the edges/distressed them, then put poly-acrylic on them. :)

And you can see in the background what I still have left to do :)

LTNP!!

2010-10-16T18:04:00.007-05:00

Long Time No Post!!!
It is because...I have been busy busy with the kitchen cabinets...which are taking me FOREVER!! But it is so worth the time...I love how they are looking...I will give yall a sneak peek...

In other news...here are some pics from the Bama vs. Florida game--

And then last week, John and I headed to Charlotte for the Bama vs. USC game...what a game!! I got to stay the rest of the week and hang with my fam and friends and I had so much fun!!

More to come soon!!

Flea Market Finds

2010-09-24T16:39:00.004-05:00

Today GiGi and I headed out to the Tennessee Flea Market! It was huge with so much cool stuff! I walked away with...
This small china cabinet made out of old barn wood and the tree thing on top--this hilarious old man made them himself and it was funny talking with him!

And here it is with my dishes in it!!

I also got this pitcher

And this ladder---trying to decide to do a book shelf or old quilts...maybe both

And this is a neat old trunk I was able to get from a lady in the church who no longer needed it! I love it!!

Just another night at the Gossett's

2010-09-24T16:36:00.004-05:00

Watching football....
John is sleepy...

John is crazy...

John is normal...

Never know which John he is going to be but I love them all! HAHA

The collage in the bathroom

2010-09-23T17:12:00.008-05:00

I am so excited about how this turned out...John had a fun idea to blow up some pictures from our honeymoon to hang up and I had been collecting some frames and had been loving pottery barn's wall/picture collages like this one...

and I had my eye on this wall in our bathroom...

So..the new pottery barn inspired collage...

The monogram is letters we used at our wedding..I spray painted them. Now I just need the price tags off and the pictures in!

My $3.00 Steal!!!

2010-09-22T21:28:00.005-05:00

We have been searching for a filing cabinet for some time now---and to buy a wood filing cabinet, what we have found is that they will cost anywhere from $150-$250. Well, I have been praying that the Lord would provide one....and today I happened on in to my favorite thrift store and saw this guy sitting there...

So....I asked the owner what the price was, and he said $3.00!! I couldn't believe it!! So, after a little paint and some distressing....our new filing cabinet!

It matches our desk and chair perfectly! I still need to add the hardware...I'm going to get some spray paint, and then re-attach them. We are so thankful for this!!

Seth's Senior Pics

2010-09-20T21:15:00.007-05:00

John and I had fun with Seth this weekend taking some Senior pictures!! These are some of my favs-----

Football Weekend- Seth's FIRST TD Reception!!!

2010-09-13T08:45:00.008-05:00

We traveled about 2 hours for Seth's game this week...he got to be captain! And he caught his first touchdown reception in the end zone!! Very exciting!!!

Here we are at game day in Tuscaloosa

Rainy, hot weather!

Saban, Bowden, Paterno