30th Burkday

This past Friday we celebrated Grant's 30th birthday with the Grizzlies, no doubt. Thanks to one generous friend, we were given a party suite at the Forum and 14 tickets, for free. All we had to do was take care of the food!

Believe it or not, Grant used pliers to turn this:


into this:

and with my help, this:




MVP's with Z-Bo in the starting line-up

another gb creation for everyone to enjoy and take home


To my sweet, hilarious and immensely talented husband, I wish you (again)
Happy 30th Birthday!
Love you.

{In other unrelated news, someone hacked into my facebook account over the weekend, told everyone grant and I were in London, mugged and needed money. So, I dont exist right now on FB, as they shut me down. not sure when that will be worked out!}

so many projects...

most of which have involved me spending time in the kitchen with my trusty 1970 whirlpool oven. As you know, this time of year is filled with all kind of festive gatherings which require a baked good or two. And most of the time, I can't just sign up for one thing. I can't help it. I LOVE potlucks.

But as much as I love potlucks, I'd have to say that the annual cookie exchange with our Sunday school class is by far my favorite gathering. There's just something about the anticipation of each girl's cookie, the overwhelming nauseous feeling after tasting 23 cookies, the lovely fellowship and the oh-so friendly competition! I mean, this thing is serious, people. And this year was no disappointment. This is my third year to participate and still without a solid win, but its all about the process, right?!

I'm a sucker for cookies with frosting, so I guess it's only fitting that this is what made the exchange this year:

packaged like this:

I knew Grant's endless supply of CD cases would come in handy one day.

I didn't take any pictures of the winning cookies (there were five categories) but they were all delicious! Thank you, Stacey for opening your home once again!

When I haven't been in the kitchen, I've been in the bathroom trying to complete the project we started before our vacation a couple months ago. We are two months late from my personal deadline, but it is finally done. Thanks to my wonderful husband for all the time spent in design and manual labor!

Let me remind you of the bathroom when we bought the house.


And after a little TLC


we removed the closet for more open storage

and added a few pictures of Italy to always remind of us our trip

We are officially on break from home projects for awhile and ready to enjoy the holiday season!

As busy as we've been lately with projects and such, there's always time for this sweet friend

Jim and Maria's golden, Maisy. Oh my I love this puppy.

Grant and I recently returned from our Italian adventure to Rome and Florence where we walked along the fabulous cobblestone streets admiring this...

And indulging in a daily cappuccino and cup of gelato


We've both traveled to Italy before, but never together and so we celebrated Christmas, our next anniversary and set of birthdays a little early! Grant took about 500 pictures every day, so I tried to narrow it down for you.
Some of our loves in Rome...

Coliseum by day

...and by night


Our room was on top of this beautiful gem, which I guess you could say is really my love. But I didn't allow myself to step foot inside and honestly never saw one person in there in 4 days!
(I'd say not, seeing as how the cardigan in the window was $250! What?!)


Grant loves to hold my hand, hug and kiss me in public :)

Roman Forum


we sat here with our gelato every night...

No coins thrown this time. We thought the legend can only work once, right?

Vatican City

I found these beauties in the Campo Dei Fiori piazza and wished so much that I could buy a bundle and put in my house, thousands of miles away!

Last dinner in Piazza Navona

Part of our hotel and the doors leading to our room upstairs... love these doors!

We trained to Florence for more fun...

the famous view from the top of the hill

Duomo

a little fun with the camera...

View from the roof of our hotel.

Lovely piazza

It's been 2 weeks since we've returned and I think about Italy pretty much everyday. No real agenda, no TV [except right before bed :) ], quality time with Grant and walking everywhere we wanted to go. Which made my daily gelato trips (sometimes 2!) okay.

As much as I love Italy and frankly, Europe in general, here are a few things we learned to appreciate about our beloved U.S.A.
1. Smoke-free restaurants
2. Going to Swanky's Taco Shop and eating for $15, for both of us.
3.Flat ground (cobblestone is beautiful, but only for a short time ;)
4. Walking around Memphis with only 5-6 other people in your personal space.

I love Italy, but I really love Memphis.

sweet babies

Despite Grant's rule of "no babies allowed", I've had a lot of time with some cute babies lately and I have loved every minute of it!

My good friend, Jennifer from OT school had her sweet baby boy (over 9lbs!) April 6th.

Reid Luke McMahan

Look at that hair!

Somehow, Jennifer and I never got a picture together with Reid! But both are doing great and I look forward to holding him again soon!

Not too long after Reid's birth, another one made her way into the world. I took off work this past Friday and headed to Pleasant Plains, AR to visit my dearest friend, Emily and her sweet baby girl, Sadie Belle Smith!

She's already got jewelry on! I love it!

She was such a dream... slept the entire time and barely fussy. My kind of baby! Thank you Em for a great lunch and for allowing me to "steal" your sweet one from you for awhile! It was so good to see you and your wonderful family.

Grant met me in Pleasant Plains and we headed to Heber for some R&R. While there, we met up with our friends, Joe and Chanda along with their family and yes, there was more baby time with their precious girl, Mia Murphy.

How adorable is she?!

Oh sweet Mia, you can fall asleep on me anytime!

We also enjoyed the Jerkins' company on the boat with plenty of baked cheetos, swimming with turtles and good music... all without a baby. :)

Truly the best of both worlds this weekend.

A lovely find

I know, I know, we don't need another project! But I could not let this beauty pass through my hands and to the garbage (because that's where it was going!). Grant snagged a nice card catalog very similar to this from the MUS Library as they were cleaning house which I hope will turn into a great functional piece for our house. And the best part about it, it was FREE!

I haven't decided what do with it yet, but I like these ideas so far...


for the office?

add some legs to it for the dining room?

paint it (any color)

create a distressed look?

What do you think? Any other ideas come to mind?