lately...

the other day james and i were talking about how fast time goes by (yea, we're quite exciting) anyway i said

"i feel like i just graduated college yesterday but i've actually been out of college for as long as i was in!"

james said "i'll be fifty before i can say that"

and it's pretty close to true...

what can we say...we value education :)


we're headed to chicago tomorrow for interviews and apt hunting, so start praying now!
and i reeeally hope it doesn't look like this anymore...

amazing

it's the little things...

before...

after!

huuuggge difference i know!!

ok, so it's not the biggest difference ever but just look at those curved corners. i do love them. and all it takes is a few little punches with this little thingy-majig. $6 plus 40% coupon makes me happy.

it's the little things, you know :)

mary brooke's birthday

a couple weekends ago, james and i headed home and got to celebrate MB's first birthday party! she is the cutest. thing. ever. james says i say that about every one of her pictures, but she's the smiliest baby ever. too cute.

so emily is one of those natural party planners. anything she does ends up gor-geous. put her and grace together and they're ready for a magazine shoot. seriously. they can throw stuff together and it turn out perfect. and mary brooke's bunny birthday party was nothing short of picture perfect.

perfect tablescape and party favors

i love the tissue paper pompoms in the tree! so whimsical



homemade strawberry cake was amazing and how cute is that cake topper?!


bunny marshmellows!


this was one of my favorite things - the picture tree. em printed out pictures from mary brooke's first year and grace threaded them onto string to hang in the tree. at the bottom, grace added these awesome hanging vases to weigh it down a bit. it was so pretty! and so fun to look back and see how much she's changed.

MB loved the tractor! (although she didn't ride by herself :)
i wish i'd gotten a better picture of this quilt that sabrina made for her - it's absolutely precious! you've got to have a good friend that will make a quilt for you. that's big.

her first bit of sugar!!

definitely a big hit

and sweet family came all the way to see her

aren't emily and grace impressive? and we couldn't have asked for a prettier day. everything was perfect and we were so glad we got to be there to celebrate mary brooke!

so little time...

good news - we've found the best mexican food ever

bad news - we only have 7 weeks to try everything on the menu

the perfect day...

for a bike ride.
raccoon mountain is definitely one of our favorite places in chattanooga


i didn't even bust it today!


being silly

finish it off with some sonic

and you've got a perfect day

little happies

last weekend, we had one of those fun crazy weekends with wedding showers and birthday parties and suppers with awesome friends all in one day. it was great. last minute (of course) i whipped up some of my stand-by favorite projects.

i love { made's } hobo bag pattern. i've based several bags and purses on this pattern. it doesn't take long to make and (hopefully) it useful


all filled up with lots of activities to keep little boys occupied on road trips


for the wedding shower, i went with the ruffly dishtowels. super easy project that'a fast and fun. i love grouping lots of patterns. add some utensils and all done!


we're soaking up our time with sweet friends here in chattanooga and loving our crazy weekends.

i forgot...

a friend of a friend emailed her friend in chicago about teaching jobs and last night i read her response -
she said she hoped maybe we had connections or knew the mayor because suburb jobs are hard to come by. she has a masters and 15 years experience teaching internationally and here and she's been trying for years to get a job in the suburbs.

and just like that i forgot.

I started imagining working at mcdonalds or taco bell or shoveling snow with no coat in chicago blizzards.


i forgot how faithful God has been to us.

how he blessed me with 2 interviews in one day after nothing for months.

how he gave me a job at an amazing school with awesome 2nd graders.

how we have never, ever, not-for-once, gone without anything we have ever needed or even wanted.


so after sleeping bad and having horrible dreams all night, i read psalm 94:19 this morning

'when the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul'

i won't forget again because the Lord has an amazing plan for us and i'll rest in Him until we get to see what it is.

a book for mary brooke

our little niece, mary brooke, turned one this week so i had to make a little sumthin' sumthin'. she loves books, so i made a little book with pictures of her sweet family that's totally baby proof and slobber-proof. perfect for a one year old (hopefully!)

so i printed out some pics of the fam

backed them with a a file folder so they won't bend

and glued them back to back

added some labels with names (and adjectives because it's never too early to learn, right :)
then laminated them with these awesome little sheets that you don't even need a laminator to use!

hole punched them

added a little cover and some cute ribbon and
all done!

slipcover accomplished!!!

so we have this chair.
it's a lazy boy
i have a love/hate relationship with it.

but i definitely love it more than hate it. it's the perfect place to take a nap or curl up and it's sooo comfortable. it's a lazy boy, right?

but it's not the prettiest thing because, well, it's a lazy boy.

but when you're young and married and in school, any free furniture is pretty much beautiful in my eyes, if you know what i mean.

so anyway, when we got married 4 years ago, my mil and sister in laws wrestled an awesome red slipcover on it to make it match the barn and it looked great (have you ever tried to put a lazy boy slipcover on? i was wrestling just trying to get it off!) but i was ready for a change.

i've looked everywhere for a slipcover that's straight on the bottom, like not elastic, but no such luck. so last summer when dirt cheap got a huge shipment of target linens, i picked up 2 thick cotton tablecloths for just a couple bucks (total steal!) thinking i'd try to sew one. well, i'm a total dork when it comes to trying new projects and read and read and think about it and plan it but get totally scared to actually cut into the fabric. i even bought { pink and polk dot's } 'the lazy girl's guide to custom slipcovers' e-book and it was awesome with step by step directions and lots of pictures but i was still scared. and then spring break came and i finished all my other projects and got bored enough to finally try it out and - you know what -

it wasn't that bad!!!

it's sooo far from perfect but it's covered and it's bright and a good change and it was a great learning experience.
you can see the seams in one of the corners but it's nothing a throw pillow can't fix if-you-know-what-i'm-sayin
and i can take it off and throw it in the wash with some bleach anytime it needs it.

whooo that was a lot of words. on to the pictures -

before -


but really this is the before because this is what it looked like most of the time...


and after -


woohoo for one more thing off my list and fabric out of my pile!