Oh Blackwater

My sister J is pretty thankful for all we do to help out with her kiddo. She showed her thanks by getting the "Original Four" tickets to the Doobie Brothers & Chicago concert at Starlight. She got amazing tickets (5th row!) for 1/3 of the price at an fund-raising auction. It was a great show but VERY HOT!

Just one of the perks

Unemployment has a few advantages: Sleeping in, catching up on entirely too much T.V., figuring out what you what to do with your life, etc. The BEST thing is getting to see my nephew a lot more than I used to.

J & D were out on vacation a few weeks ago. Our parents kept B-dub the whole time but I saw him three days in a row. Then I got an entire day with him a few days later! We had a blast... IHOP, the library, indoor play area in Zona Rosa, and of course play time with Rocky & Duke.


The next day J had a dentist appointment. The dentist suggested that B-dub start coming so that he becomes more comfortable with he idea. I came along to "assist" so J could actually get her teeth cleaned. B-dub took awhile to warm up but he really enjoyed it in the end!

Jekyll Crane

So, we completed this project MONTHS ago but I never got around to posting. We painted over the yellow faux paint with Valspar's Jekyll Crane (for those who don't speak 'paint colors' that is green). We also finally removed the ugly plaid and button valance with a simpler green abstract floral fabric. It was actually a shower curtain that my fabulous Mother helped me sew into curtains. Ok... so maybe I 'assisted her' more than she 'helped me' because she rocks at sewing stuff.

BEFORE:
(please excuse the mess.... this was literally days after we moved in)

AFTER:

The blue tile back-splash and off-white, chipped, stained countertops are still on the dream list! We opted for the carpet before the countertops.

Have I mentioned I don't like brass?

This was one of my favorite 'brass to black' projects. This is because it only cost about $5.00! Black high-heat spray paint is my new favorite fix.

BEFORE:

AFTER:


We also painted the brown walls because it needed touch up and we didn't have the exact color. It is virtually impossible to tell from the above two photos but below you can see the difference. We went with the color on the left. We wanted just a slightly richer/darker color.

Busy... Busy

Who knew that unemployment could be more time consuming than working full-time? NOT being tied to a cube for about 40 hours a week has actually made me much more productive. It is true. I got laid off about 2 months ago from a multi-disciplinary engineering firm that I worked at for about 5 years. It was rather anticipated and I have some exciting long-term plans up my sleeve!

We made some fun updates to the house this spring that I really should blog about... maybe after the fantastic vacation we are about embark upon!

To help you make it through any anticipation-anxiety for the future posts, I shall share a few photos. (HA! like anyone really reads this nonsense)

Joe and I went to the Sugarland concert mid June. Joe wasn't exactly thrilled about this event but sacrifices are what marriage is about... right? He admitted that she puts on a pretty good show, and I fully agree! This is a pic of us waiting for the show to start...


This is a 2nd year picture of my nephew "B." I love this kid to death but yet he only acknowledges me as the owner of Rocky & Duke. I won't hold it against him... for now.

More than the Mudd's can handle

In February, Joe was the groomsman in the wonderful Jones wedding! New Orleans proved to be a bit more than I (Stacy) could handle. I pretty much felt like I was drinking or sleeping for the 36 hours I spent in NOLA (except for the actually ceremony, of course). Here are a few pictures from the trip but, like I said, I was only there for about 36 hours so there aren't many!

The Bride & Groom enjoying speeches... Isn't that dress amazing?!?!?!

After the reception everyone went down to Bourbon Street. We weren't exactly sober...

Stingray City

We finally got the old school film camera developed. Here are a few pictures of us swimming with the stingrays on a sandbar off the coast of Grand Cayman Island! (FYI.. underwater cameras still suck.)

A picture of Joe with a stingray in his arms. Our guide is to the right of him and in the background you can see the catamaran we sailed there on. It was a great day!