A Revelation

My work's dress code won't let us wear flip-flops. I get it, completely, and don't argue but man are there days I wish I could throw a pair of flip-flops or a cute pair of sandles on with a skirt or dress.

My boss and I were talking about this and she shared a wonderful revelation she had becaues of another co-worker's "flip-flops" one day. The co-worker was wearing sandles that my boss considered flip-flops and teased her that she was breaking the rules. The co-worker stated that they were "dressy flip-flops" and therefore didn't break the rules. They consulted with someone in HR and she concurred that they were, in fact, "dressy flip-flops" and were within the dress code guidelines. 

So, here I am, having worked so hard to stay within the guidelines and now I have this news. I'm pumped. I saw these on sale at the Gap the other day and didn't get them because I didn't think they'd be work appropriate but I'm going for it now. YAY!

Since I missed it...

I missed putting my dining room up on Kelly's Korner Friday so, here it is!

From the front door. The rocking chair is in the living room area. It took Mike quite awhile to convince me to get the big clock but I'm really glad he did. :-)

From the other side, right before dinner!

The shelf in the back corner, next to the deck doors.

Thanks for coming.

Catching Up

Whew. It has been a busy few days. Mike and I headed to the mountains of Colorado with some friends this weekend and had a great time. Here are some pictures of the highlights.

At Bishop's Castle on the way up. Very cool, very interesting, VERY shaky in some places.

Us in the giant chair outside of the castle.

Fun on the 4-wheelers.

The girls on the 4-wheelers.

Mike and me at the top of the mountain.

We had a great time but we're glad to be home!

The Graduates

Yesterday, Mike and I drove to Missouri's campus to watch my brothers graduate. Andrew didn't want to walk so we enjoyed spending time with him in the stands and watching Jordan watch across the stage. (also the first and last time I plan on ever being on Mizzou's campus - KU fans just don't go there) ;-)

It was fun to see some of the tops of the gradutes hats that had been decorated so they'd stand out - my favorite was a girl who took red, black and clear jewels and a heart and the word "ya'll" on it but I couldn't get a good picture of it. 

This is a video from the end of the ceremony - the speaker was a General from a nearby Army base and the other guy leading the shout is a graduate from the football team. After I stopped filming, they bumped chests.

After graduation, we took pictures at a nearby park and then grabbed a quick bite to eat at Macaroni Grill before Mike and I drove back home. All of those pictures, aka, all of the good ones, are on my Mom's camera.

You would have thought we had been gone for ages by the way Lily reacted when we walked through the door - it was hilarous. (and nice to know that the pup missed us) :-)

Guest Rooms Galore

Guest Bedrooms are the main event on Kelly's blog this week - here's mine!

This is the upstairs room - the comforter has been mine since I was about 12 and I think it's beautiful (despite not thinking so as a 12 year old girl when my Mom picked it out) :-)

This is the little corner at the foot of the bed. The red table was in our living room until I found something else that worked. I wasn't sure the red would work in this room and thought I'd have to paint it but I'm not so sure now. The painting was a wedding gift from my dear friend, Jaime, isn't she talented!

This is the other corner - a little unfinished but who cares. My grandpa made the little table and chairs for my dolls when I was little. The closet is to the right of the picture.

This is the bed - my grandpa refinished it when I was little and made the sideboards longer since they figured I'd be tall with such tall parents (and I'm so glad he did because I am!)

This is the bedroom downstairs. It's our 'baseball room' where we display Mike's college baseball stuff. Eventually, I'm going to add my Cardinals stuff, too. The room doesn't get used very much, probably because the bed is an air mattress, but I like it and we'll eventually get a real bed for it.

And, since I didn't add this last week to the living room post (I forget that not everyone has a basement... here's our basement/casual living area)

We got the entertainment center from Ballard Designs. I saw the couch a few years ago when Mike was looking for a couch for his apartment but it was too big - I was so excited to find it again when we were ready to buy a house - it's super deep and long which is great for us! You can see a coordinating ottoman that also has a chair in the bottom right corner of the picture.

Mike's computer area is in the back corner. There are lots of "trinkets" on the entertainment center that family members have brought us from their travels around the world, a few I got while I was in Europe and there's still space for anything Mike and I get when we go to Europe - now if only we knew when that would be...

This is at the bottom of the stairs - the table and chairs were my maternal grandparents and are yet another addition to our home that are so special to me.

Hope you enjoyed!

Stress relief via M&Ms

If you haven't already heard, the company Mike and I work for is going through some significant layoffs. We have been blessed to still have our jobs and pray that it says that way but trust that God will provide should that not be His plan. (We would greatly appreciate your prayers that we will continue to have jobs, the power of prayer is an incredible thing!)

Anyway, since the layoffs began, I started keeping a mug of M&Ms on my desk as "stress relief" and it has become a great indicator as to how bad of a day it's going to be based on how early M&M consumption starts and then how rough of a day it truly was based on how many M&Ms were devoured. The M&Ms have truly become a great stress relief and the "indicator levels" a great source of laughter in my office, especially with the plastic fork that serves as a 'dispenser' in hopes of contaminating each other with the unkown. I've told my parents all about the M&Ms and today, I got this in the mail from them:

I now have my very own M&M dispenser for my desk. One that matches the ones my parents have at their desks! Thank you Mom and Dad for the sweet thought and a dispenser way better than a plastic fork, for the laughter I know it will bring tomorrow and in the coming weeks, and for all of your prayers as Mike and I weather these rough waters. Love you guys!

My First Flower Garden

We had a great time with my mother-in-law in town this weekend. She helped us pick out flowers for the little garden next to our front steps. I think it turned out fairly well. Now, if I can just keep them alive... :-)  (if you look closely in the first picture, you can see Lily at the door!)

Happy Mother's Day!

My beautiful Mom and me on my wedding day (she made her dress and did all of the flowers, among about a million other things - she's pretty good, huh?)

Mom, there aren't words to describe how much you mean to me. I'll leave it at God has blessed me so richly with you as my Mom. I owe so much of what I am to you and hope that I become even half of the woman you are.

I LOVE YOU!

Looking forward to hot summer nights...

We got an umbrella for our patio set today. I'm so excited for breakfast on the deck and dinner and ice cream with friends while enjoying a warm (just not too warm) summer night.

We planted flowers in our front yard this weekend as well. We need some more mulch around everything but as soon as we finish that - I'll post pictures. Right now, enjoy my new red umbrella - I sure am! :-)

Show Us Where You Live: Living Room

Today, Kelly's Korner is hosting 'Show Us Where You Live' and is covering living rooms. So, here's ours!

This is our living room from our front door. It's simple, still needs work, but I like it. (Here are my sky-is-the-limit dreams and plans for the room) My grandpa made the coffee table from an old pedestal breakfast table and used to be in their formal living area - it is so special to me. The rocker also used to be my grandparents. My Mom made our curtains and they are wonderful (so is she!) We got the lamp next to the couch with a gift certificate we got as a wedding gift - Mike married us and he and his wife, Janie, have a cabin in the same little New Mexico town my family does and I think of them and the mountains every time I see the lamp.

This is the view from the dining area. The wall with the mirror frustrated me to no end for the longest time because I couldn't find anything I liked enough to put there. I finally put this together, and I think we hung it too high, but oh well. :-)

Here's the table I've been working on for a few weeks - it's not perfect but I'm pretty proud of it considering this is the first piece of furniture I've "refinished". For anyone reading this who does this kind of thing more often - I'm open to suggestions on making it just right. :-)

The coasters on the table are M.A. Hadley - my parents have the entire dish set and I've grown up eating off of them. My MIL bought these for us, along with the Christmas platter you saw in the kitchen post and they coordinate with our green, blue and white dishes perfectly.

All of the toys - those are the dog and cat's. :-) 

Hope you enjoyed - can't wait to see where everyone else lives!

Blessed be HIS name

My heart is still aching for a friend who I know is aching no more. For friends who I know are hurting more than me. For two families whose lives are forever changed. 

I am thankful for a God who heals. For a God who loves without condition. For a God full of grace.

I'm praying for a peace that passes all understanding.

Kitchen Tour

Kelly's Korner is doing a "house tour" every Friday. This week - it was kitchens. I'm a little late but here is our kitchen!

The dining area with the kitchen on the left.



The kitchen





You know you're married to an Engineer when you have a computer in your kitchen. Not gonna lie though, I really enjoy it! It's great for the times that I'm following a new recipe that I found online. (Please disregard the Christmas plate, it fit when I took the picture but has been exchanged for something different until November.) :-)

Our dishes are Pottery Barn's Sausolito - we have blue, green and white sets that are so fun together!

Hope you enjoyed our kitchen. Next week - it's the living room!

On My Knees

Heaven gained an incredible angel today. Please pray for Micah's family.




I learned this morning that a friend from school is missing. She went for a walk last night and didn't come home.

Please pray that she returns home safely.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=92471745070