introducing...princess paisley!

this is the newest addition to the alley house...paisley alley. we picked her up yesterday and have had so much fun with her so far!! she's a great puppy...very sweet, playful, and loving. she slept 7 hours last night with no crying or whining!! i couldn't believe it! we're so excited and we love her so much already!

fun contest and an amazing worship album

boo mama is having a little contest on her giveaways page to give away 20 copies of travis cottrell's newest worship album. oh. my. word. it's amazing...i've spent the afternoon working and just listening to the clips play over and over on his website.

so, go visit boo mama if you'd like to enter and while i'm being bossy, i think you should also go to travis' website and listen to the preview of his cd. and get ready to do some worshipping. for real.

completely and totally random

1. Where was the very last place you went besides your house?
firebirds for dinner with hubs and marissa

2. What are you doing tonight?
hmm...well, i'll tell you what i did. i watched hubs install our new kitchen faucet (it broke last night...water everywhere...not a good scene), had dinner with ris and joel, caught up on the facebook/twitter/blogging world and am headed to bed very soon.

3. Who last texted you?
marissa

4. Do you have a secret that you’ve never told anyone?
probably...

5. Do you get mad easily?
no it takes A LOT to make me mad but once you've gone there...watch out ;0)

6. Do you talk about your feelings or hide them?
oh my goodness i'm such a talker. just ask joel :0)

7. Do you prefer warm or cold weather?
hmm. i prefer spring/fall weather to be outside but i will admit that my winter clothes are my favorite (so i'd go with cold weather for the outfit options).

8. Who was the last person you were in a car with?
joel and marissa

9. What color are your eyes?
blue!

10. Have you ever given up on someone but then went back to them later?
ugh. unfortunately and in my experience, those decisions don't usually end with a happy ending.

11. Have you ever thrown your cell phone in anger?
not thrown it but have had to beat it against my steering wheel to get the battery out. (i don't have that phone anymore...i wonder why ;0)

12. Has anyone told you a secret lately that you aren’t allowed to tell anyone?
ummmm...yes.

13. Honestly, if you could go back six months and change something, would you?
nope, not at all. the last 6 months have been amazing.

14. Are you wearing any clothes that don’t belong to you?
nope. all mine!

15. Do you have a lot on your mind at the moment?
only that i'm super tired and WHY am i doing a blog survery when i have to wake up at 5:30?

16. What side of the bed do you sleep on?
well, i would say MY side which is the left side of the bed but hubs would tell you that i travel between his side and my side. he's totally making that up, though. totally.

17. What is your favorite thing to shop for?
hmm...well, i enjoy shopping in general but i really love going with people to shop and help them pick out clothes, accessories, etc. i really think i'd love to be a personal shopper.

18. Who knows you better than you know yourself?
obviously besides Jesus (who knows me way better than anyone) i would say joel. he's quite an amazing man!

19. What are you doing this summer?
training our new puppy, paisley and working (hello summertime is a busy time in children's ministry!)

20. Do you miss your past?
i do occasionally miss being a little kid and i miss people from my past that have passed away...sometimes i would just give anything to get to sit down with them again and talk.

21. Did you ever have tea parties when you were younger?
yes...with my grandma. she would sit with me and we would pretend to be ladies who were having lunch. she was precious...i would even try to "gossip" with her at lunch. (see #20...i miss her so much!)

22. What is your favorite line from a movie?
ohh. there are too many! i don't know right now.

23. Would you rather be the opposite sex?
NO!

24. What would you never name one of your children?
gertrude (or horace)...sorry, hubs. i just can't do it.

25. What is the coolest restaurant you’ve ever been to?
well, one of my favs and it's a pretty cool place is chuy's in dallas

26. Where do you go when you want to get a really good sub sandwich?
hmm. i guess subway. i don't really eat sub sandwiches that much...i ate them a lot in college and have been burned out on them since then.

27. What style of house would you like to live in?
i love old, cottage style houses.

28. Do you flip the channel when commercials come on?
ha. no but i do mute the tv.

29. Have you seen any of the Saw movies?
umm. no way and i never will.

30. What was your favorite book as a child?
oh gosh...so many! charlotte's web was up there but then there were my sister's old nancy drew books and then the babysitter's club (my friends in 3rd grade started a babysitter's club. i got to be mary ann but i really wanted to be stacy. can you believe i remembered that ;0).

show us where you live: guest rooms

so i'm joining kelly's tour of homes each week. i meant to join in the last two weeks but somehow, it just didn't happen. so, this week we're supposed to show our guest room. we've done a little work to this room but there's still more than can be done. trust me when i tell you there are big plans for this room in the future but for now....here's our guest room :).

this bed was joel's bed since he was a little boy. i love this furniture...how cool to have his bedroom suit from childhood!

you can't see it well from this pic but there i love the "old fashioned" alarm clock on one of the side tables and the vase of pink flowers on the other...

LOVE the plaque above the pictures...also, we framed one of our engagement pictures and had the mat available at our rehearsal dinner for friends and family to sign.

simple, classic white pear; also, the frame is clear glass (hard to see in the dark background) but i framed one of my favorite verses: "the LORD has done great things for us and we are filled with joy."

guest bathroom (a door in the guestroom goes straight in the bathroom...so, technically, it's part of the guest room ;). don't know what's up with the lighting in this pic...

not me! monday

so, i've been reading mckmama's blog for a while now and have wanted to participate in the not me! monday posts but just haven't until now. so, here's my attempt at...

• this past week i did not cry at almost every stinking thing...commercials on tv, stories about my friend's kids, etc. nope, i was not a cry baby at all.


• last week during triple coupons at harris teeter, i most certainly did not have hubs go with me but pretend like he didn't know me so that we could use all of our coupons without having to make two separate trips (you're limited to 20 coupons/person). no way would i ever do that. not me!


• i did not start a new workout program (dvd) called the shred and i most certainly did not injure my knee because i unknowingly started the advanced dvd instead of the beginner. nope, not me...AND i absolutely did not ignore my knee injury until it was swollen like a softball forcing me to stay home from work today with it iced and elevated. nope, not me!


• since i didn't injure my knee, then i didn't spend most of today propped up on the couch catching up on recordings of old beverly hills 90210 episodes (the good ones...when brenda and the gang were in high school). no way, not me!


• last sunday, i didn't ask hubs to go buy a fourth paper (we buy 3 anyway, for the coupons) because one of our papers was missing the entire coupon section (seriously, who steals coupons?!) nope, not me.


• i planned to make a pound cake (family recipe) for dessert for mother's day yesterday and i most certainly did not forget to add the sugar. when i tasted it, i didn't want to spit it out because it was so nasty. then, i did not bake another cake later on to make up for the sugar-free, dense mess that i didn't mess up early that day. nope, not me!

  

  ( here's the picture of the 2nd cake i didn't make saturday evening ;)

girl's day...

one of my favorite ways to give a gift is not just to hand someone a present but to actually make celebrating that person an experience. in our premarital counseling, j and i completed the love language quiz and my two primary love languages (they were tied) are gifts and quality time. so, it makes sense that when i give a gift, it's more than just a package and i want the person to know exactly how much i love them.

the last three out of the four years, i've taken my mom to daniel stowe botanical gardens for mother's day. we always have the best time and this year was no exception. my sister and niece joined us and we had a fabulous girl's day! we enjoyed an incredible picnic lunch catered by something classic, enjoyed the beautiful flowers, sunshine, and being together.

the entrance...

our yummy lunch...

my awesome mom...

my sweet sister...

adorable anna...

i'm such a goof

the path leading up to the fountains...

outside the orchid conservatory (where joel proposed)...

inside the orchid conservatory...

three generations :)

happy mother's day, mom...i love you!

ch ch ch changes

i've always been open to change when it comes to my hair because after all, it does grow back :). so friday when i had my hair appointment, i decided to let my hair wizard (aka cindy) make some changes. i will admit that it was more of a drastic change than i expected but it's growing on me. (and btw--the color really is the same...i've had some people say it looks darker but it's not supposed to ;)

i know these pics look goofy but it's hard to take a picture of yourself ;). yay for changes and different hair styles (and growing hair ;).

the best ever.

yes, he is. he truly is the best ever...in fact, i think he rocks :). i am so often reminded of the amazing gift God has given me in this man and i can truly say that i am overflowing with thankfulness that he is my beloved. not only does he love me well but he loves his family and my family in remarkable ways.