NYC

New York City is very dear to my heart. After Brian proposed on December 1, 2007, he immediately surprised me with a trip to NYC. The only catch? We were only going to be there for 12 hours so we could only pack what we could carry. And the reason for going? So I could ice skate in Central Park. As a little girl, I loved ice skating and I've always had this dream to ice skate in CP.

December 2, 2007

This was the first time either one of us had been to New York. That Christmas, Brian made me a promise that we would return to NYC before 2010 ended to spend more time discovering one of our favorite cities. If you know me and my love of traveling, well then you know I absolutely held him to that promise.

In 2010 we made plans for several trips, later coining it "The World Tour." NYC was the last stop of our world tour in December 2010. We agreed the trip would be our Christmas gift to one another.

December 7, 2010

Last October I had talked to our dear friend, Graham Yelton, about photographing our family. She kindly accepted and suggested a weekend in December, not knowing we would be in New York. I told her about our trip and asked if we could reschedule. Instead, she offered to come to NYC and photograph us running around the city. She'd developed this incredible story-line; we would literally be on the run in the city, hiding out. It was perfect. And so were her images.

Some of the images are featured in the current online issue of Modern Ink Mag. (Graham's beautiful home is featured as well.) Lyrics from Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues tie the images together perfectly. Check it out.
http://moderninkmag.com/issues/issue-2-fall-2011/

I would like to extend a huge "thank you" to Graham and Modern Ink!

365

Earlier this week, Brian encouraged me to start a 365 project. For those living under a rock (like myself), a 365 project is a photo a day for...you guessed it...365 days. I'm going to use this next year to really push myself creatively and learn more about my camera. It's convenient that yesterday started a new month. [It makes my OCD-heart happy to begin this project at the beginning of a month.]

My dad is the head football [and basketball] coach at a local junior-high school. He's going on 34 years of coaching at the school and he truly loves every minute of it. It makes me so happy seeing him in his element and I couldn't be more proud. Home games are played at the high-school stadium only a couple of miles from our house so I stopped by his game on Thursday night. Here he is talking to his 8th grade team before their game begins. To me this is one of those iconic coaching moments. When I think of him as a coach, this image comes to mind - standing tall above his team as a leader, yet in the middle of them all, relating to them because he's been in their shoes before. I couldn't think of a better image to begin this project than of my dad, my hero.

Taken with Instagram

Keeping it in the Fam

I fall head-over-heels for all things vintage and I completely lose my mind if it has a "story". This chair was my uncle's (my mom's brother) as a child. He used it for completing schoolwork in their home office. My mom somehow inherited it along the way. And I asked if I could have it when I moved away to college. I spray painted the original black, metal legs and seat-back an off-white and covered the seat in a hideous, red toile fabric. It's been hanging out in our basement for the last couple of years so I thought it was time to give it some new life.

I stumbled upon this fabric a couple weeks ago (while looking for fabric for curtains in the living room-update on this soon) and figured 1/2 yard would be plenty since the chair is so small. The legs and seat-back got a fresh coat of spray paint - satin Hunter's White by Valspar. Two thin coats was all it needed because the new color was so similar to the off-white from several years ago. I let it dry overnight and then applied a thin top coat of clear gloss to prevent any chipping.

I used a staple gun to attach a thick layer of batting around the entire seat. Looking back, I wish I would have put more layers for extra padding/comfort. It looks much better (and it's easier to add the fabric) if the batting is pulled really tight around the seat. Remember to pull taut before each staple.

Because the print on this fabric is so large (and the seat is so small), I wanted to center it on the chair. I had several different options to work with because there are also different color variations along the fabric. After deciding on the placement, I cut the fabric - about two inches outside the border of the seat. Before stapling, I made sure to center fabric and double check after the first couple of staples, pulling taut each time. The only issue I had when recovering was adjusting the fabric around the metal "arms" on the seat-back. I actually cut the fabric and split it down the middle of each arm. And folded the fabric in a way that you couldn't see the frayed/cut edge, pulled each side tight and then stapled in place.

Sadly, I didn't take any before photos OR progress photos. But here's the finished product! I chose this fabric because I knew it could end up in several different places in the house and still work well with items I already own.

Cost breakdown:

• Valspar spray paint (Lowe's): $4
• Clear gloss spray paint (already owned): $0
• Batting (borrowed from my mom): $0
• 1/2 yard of fabric (King Cotton): $12

Total: $16

Blessing in Disguise

As customary around here - it's been a while since my last post. As some of you know, we had an F-2 tornado whip through our neighborhood the morning of the April 27 tornadoes that touched down in Alabama. Brian was out of town for work and I woke around 545 that Wednesday morning to what sounded like rhinos running along the roof, for lack of better explanation. Our quaint neighborhood is heavily shaded by tons of hundred-foot pine trees and the smallest thunderstorm can sound like the world is falling down on our house with small limbs and branches constantly hitting the house. But this storm was different. I’ve been known to fall asleep just about anywhere and sleep through just about anything. I never heard the sirens that morning and it wasn’t until a couple days later I realized I may have actually slept through the storm. A couple of brief moments passed after jumping and sitting straight up in bed, and then I heard the loudest “BOOM” I’ve ever heard in my life. Panic and anxiety immediately rushed in. The twelve hours that followed were a complete whirlwind. While many neighbor’s homes were destroyed, no one was hurt and for that I’m very thankful.

When we purchased this home in February 2009, we wanted to renovate the hallway bathroom but knew it would be quite some time before we could do so. Four days before the tornado, we agreed to “bite the bullet” and proceed with the renovation. Ironically the only place (other than the roof) in the house that suffered the most damage was the bathroom. Because of the water damage behind the drywall and tile, we had to gut the entire bathroom, allowing us me the opportunity to design my dream bathroom. The bathroom is to be completed next Friday. And I’m so excited to share all the photos and details with you.

This view is from our garage door looking down our driveway. (Two HUGE pine trees were on the ground to the right of this photo. These are the limbs from one of those trees.)

This is our driveway after my dad and mom helped me clear it. Only took 10 hours.

This photo doesn't do it justice, but these pine trees are huge. These are the two I mentioned earlier. Our bedroom is the back window in the photo - where I was asleep.

The backyard

Brian's music trailer/storage completely crushed. None of his equipment was damaged.

I love this one of Solo playing on one of the trees.

Freezer Spring Cleaning

I've spent the afternoon going through our freezers. Yes, freezers! In addition to the freezer in our fridge, we also have a deep freezer that lives in the garage. It's great for storing TONS of food. I hate wasting food, so I've been going through everything. Throwing away things that have been in there for years (yikes!) and trying to come up with meals for the week using foods that are still acceptable. I had some questions about a couple of things, like how long is too long to freeze raw chicken? And I stumbled upon this article from RealSimple. It's a great reference to have when cleaning out your freezer. Enjoy!

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/shopping-storing/freezing/how-long-you-can-freeze-foods-10000001012124/index.html