Lilypie First Birthday tickers
Daisypath Anniversary tickers

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Easily Amused

Sunday was spent getting things taken care of around the house. I'm a neat freak and go insane when things are not in their place. My closets have been a wreck since moving in, and it stresses me out to open the door every time I need to find something to wear. P.S. When I say closets, yes I have two. But combined, one could hardly say they even amount to a decent size of one closet. A perk of an older home. :)

I wish I had before pictures. Those that know me well would have been shocked by the disorder. Behold....Organization!

Not only did I organize, but I purged. And purged alot! Today I headed to Plato's Closet after work to see if I couldn't score some dough for my labor. I got some extra cheese from them which allowed me to buy these sweet little finds below. I am all about digging for deals and often hit up stores like Marshall's, TJ Maxx, and Ross in hopes a scoring a nice deal. Today was no different. Ross didn't disappoint.

My first find were these festive not-so-little mugs. They are HUGE and I am so excited that the weather is finally getting cold so I can fill these bad boys up with hot chocolate or cider.

And I must have been in need of some color in my life because while standing in line to pay for the mugs, this bright dress caught my eye. It was my size, was $20 (originally $214), and was in my hands in no less than 5 minutes. I didn't even try it on, figuring if it didn't fit I could always just take it back. Get it home. Try it on. Fit perfectly. Hard to tell from the picture, but there is a small bit of elastic that sits on the waist to make the top half of the dress fit a little looser and the bottom half more fitted. The lady checking me out pointed out that my dress matched my mugs.
Thirty bucks total. It's the small things.

Quick Crossville Visit

This past weekend, Kyle and I headed to Crossville so Kyle could play in his high school alumni baseball game. Yes, that's right. We are getting that old. And he FINALLY got a haircut! He really does have ears and eyebrows. I was getting a little nervous that he no longer had them.

The better part of Saturday was spent at the high school ball park. Kyle never got to play here while he was in high school. They broke ground his senior year. He was #1 and the lead off batter. This picture reminds me of little league :)
But not at as much as this picture does! haha...Kyles' mom and his brother Jonathan
Kyle's great parents, Bruce and Ramona
When the game got boring (sorry Kyle), I was okay because I got to admire this little sweet pea. This is Ty, one of Kyle's best friend David's new son. He is almost four weeks old! His daddy is in the secret service, and by the looks of it, Ty is going to be a thinker with brains as well.
And along with sweet Ty to play with was his big brother Garrett. Garrett was mine and Kyle's ring bearer. Isn't he handsome?
The losers...
The winners...Kyle's team, duh!
Kyle and some of his buddies, Aaron and Ryan
#1 Fan!
After the game, we headed to the Homestead Apple Festival. The festival was held in order to raise money to keep the homestead tower up and running. You can read about the historical homesteads here.

They make great fried apple pies! YUM!
And Big Lick BBQ was on hand. Big Lick is not just the name of the group, but Big Lick is the name of a nearby community. Imagine telling people you are from Big Lick, Tennessee (no offense Johnny and Portia).
They had HUGE mums on hand as well.
And lots of tents with local crafts. I managed not to spend on a dime.
The time flew while we were there but no worries, we are headed back this weekend!

Friday, September 24, 2010

PRAISE GOD!

So remember how in this post, I told you that Kyle and I had a couple of important, big days in front of us. Well, just to let you in on the know. He was retaking his boards two weeks ago. We didn't have such great luck in the beginning. But he busted his butt studying all over again, and it paid off! We got the letter today showing he PASSED! And not only did he pass, but his score went up 8 points!!! That's huge for their test.

Last night and this morning, Kyle and I had the privilege of being taught at DownLine by one of the greatest Bible teachers there is, Tom Nelson. He has a great marriage series of sermons, by the way. Anywho. Tom said this morning that often times God delivers answers to our prayers that are beyond measure of what we originally pray for. So true in this case! We just prayed for a passing score, and with the diligence of Kyle and the grace of the Lord, he upped his score EIGHT POINTS!

In case anyone doesn't know this, we serve a very, very powerful God. Whether you are a believer or not, it's truth. Just because you pray and don't immediately receive the answer you are looking for, does NOT mean that God is saying no. Sometimes, He is saying "Not now, just wait." Not only do we serve a powerful God, but a very very patient one. And if God has put up with me for 25 years, being patient and waiting on me to acknowledge Him and surrender to Him, how can we not be patient with Him as he is working out the perfect plan for our lives. We are human. Simple as that. But I promise you, it's in the midst of waiting and wondering where you can really have some awesome moments with your loving Father.

So...thank you to all who remember us in your thoughts and prayers. Words are not enough to express gratitude and the love felt.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Matzo Much

So last night I did not feeling like cooking anything wonderfully difficult to make. I instead decided to introduce Kyle to a little taste of the Jewish influence in my life. For those who read who don't know, my dad's side of the family is Jewish, and I have been benefiting from the delicious-ness of this since birth. Matzo ball soup. The easiest thing ever to make. One box. Two eggs. Two tablespoons vegetable oil.
Combine package 1 with two eggs and two tablespoons vegetable oil in a bowl. Mix until even. Put this in the fridge for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, boil some water in a 4-quart pot with the seasoning in package 2.
Once water is boiling and the mixture has been in the fridge for 15 min, wet your hands and roll the mixture into 1-inch diameter balls (think smaller than you would a cookie because these bad boys EXPAND!).
Once all the balls are in, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes.
Bless your food and you're ready to eat.
Kyle attempted. He pondered. He walked away. Not so much, or should I say matzo much. (I try, I try) First time he has ever not eaten something I cooked. Gigi will be so offended :) Props for trying babe. I'm proud that you even attempt to expand your palette!
So I had leftovers for lunch today, which was perfect since it was ugly and rainy outside!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Potpourri and Prayers

I've noticed people respond much quicker to Facebook posts than they do blog posts. That's okay though. I got some good recommendations regardless.

You ever notice how people's homes have "their scent." Like if someone were to blindfold you, take you to your mother's home, and walked you inside, you would automatically know just by smell that you were in your mother's house.

When I lived in the Phi Mu house in college, I had a scent. It was Hawaiian Breeze Glade plug-ins. Always.

We are having trouble establishing a scent in mine and Kyle's new home. For one, we have a wood-burning fireplace which keeps a constant smell of fire circulating through the living room. For two, the previous owners had dogs. And for three, the other week our air was out for several days.

My Glade plug-ins are way expensive and they do NOT last near long enough to make them worth the money.I have been searching for good smelling potpourri. So I first went to a store that I knew excelled in making homes smell good. Yankee Candle. ONE bag of potpourri. It didn't smell very good. I tried Target, Walmart, BBandB, etc and no such luck. I put the word out for some guidance. Thank you Macy's. I found some cinnamon spice scented goodness by Aromatique (thank you Kendall for the suggestion).
Now my house smells like fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and so on all rolled into one!

And for the prayer part of the post...Kyle and I have two very big, important days ahead of us. Without going into detail we just need prayer for God's hands to be over us and that whatever happens, that we will rejoice in the situation whether it be what we had planned for us or not. I'll give details at a later date.

Thank you all. Happy Fall! (only a few more weeks)

Headers

Does anyone have any insight/suggestions/advice on where to find headers or how to make your own?????

Sunday, September 5, 2010

New Name

From Wexercise Daily. To The McShans. To The Woman McShan.

Let's be honest. My husband will never once contribute to this blog, except for the stories I share about him. And this blog is not just about our life together. Because at times, there is nothing too exciting going on in our lives and I would rather just write about whatever is on my mind. Or my heart. Or whatever.

So here we are. Hear me roar :)

Happy Labor Day. Enjoy the rest.