I HATE killing roaches.

I used to think that I hated roaches. I was wrong. What I hate more is killing roaches. If I know one is running around, I can ignore it...pretend it's not there. But when I have to kill it...and then clean it up...oh, my stomach turns...it's nasty...HATE. I just had to kill one. It made the mistake of crawling on my child's clean laundry. I beat it to a pulp. With my shoe. I've found that my sandal is the best for the job because it doesn't have grooves in the bottom. It's much easier to clean that way. Anyway...back to beating a roach to a pulp. Yeah, so I beat the roach to a pulp. The problem with that, though, is that it left a nasty mess on my carpet. So now I'm off to clean it up with the Resolve that's been soaking in. I know you wanted to know.

So...what do you hate?

the fourth...er...third

On July 3rd, there was a concert and fireworks at the stadium in W.R. Our festivities are never on the 4th because the Air Force Reserve Band plays every year...and they are always booked somewhere else on the 4th. Anyway, this year, Matt wasn't able to go because he was sick. The kids and I met up with my parents. Since it was so packed (Lonestar was playing), we decided to find a seat outside of the stadium. And I'm so glad we did. Things got really behind and the fireworks (that were supposed to be around 9:30) didn't start until almost 11:00. If we had been in the stadium, the kids wouldn't have lasted. As it was, they had plenty of room to run and play (this means the very important option of freedom). Plus, the music wasn't so loud that you couldn't hear anything...like it would have been inside. I didn't take too many pictures (I didn't even take "my" camera), but here are a couple.

Grandma and Caroline were all dressed up in their patriotic wear!


This helicopter (which you can see was very close to us) took off directly over our heads. It was really cool. Plus...the pilot waved at us as they flew over. This is one of those things that just doesn't happen every day.

being tagged

So...way back in April, I was tagged...twice. I just never got around to posting. The two that I received were different, but I figure that answering this one will cover them both. So, here goes...

Four jobs I've had:
1. Receptionist at an Accounting Firm
2. Food Fixer / Table Cleaner / Wait Staff Helper at a Mexican Restaurant
3. Project Manager (co-op) for Relocation of Business Offices
4. Assistant Project Manager for a Small Construction Company

Four movies I've watched more than once:
1. ET
2. Mary Poppins
3. The Princess Bride
4. Star Wars (all three original episodes)

Four places I've lived:
1. Warner Robins
2. Bonaire
3. Atlanta - Ga Tech
4. Atlanta - Other

Four TV Shows I watch:
1. Lost
2. Survivor
3. So You Think You Can Dance
4. NCIS

Four places I've been:
1. New Zealand
2. Scotland
3. Malta
4. Poland

Four people who email me regularly:
1. Matt
2. that's it...I take too long to respond
3.
4.

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Quizno's Mesquite Chicken Sandwich
2. Longhorn's Ribeye
3. a good Chicken Parmesan with Spaghetti
4. Chocolate Chip Cookies (at least recently)

Four places I would like to visit:
1. Italy
2. Israel
3. Poland (again)
4. Northwest US States

Four things I'm looking forward to in the coming year:
1. Nathan starting school (but nervous as well)
2. Caroline talking (I think)
3. Nathan playing soccer
4. going to the mountains


I'm not tagging anybody. If I can't get around to answering for three months, then I certainly ought not ask anybody else to do it!

b&a - master bathroom

The last "major" project left after the shed was master bathroom. It is only a half bath, but it had some ugly stuff! The bottom half of the walls were covered in a lovely gold squiggly board. The sink had the same gold design to match. In addition, it was plastic. Yep...that's right...a plastic sink. We removed all of that as well as the very dated and very NOT pretty light. Some drywall work had to be done and the walls were painted. A new vanity, sink, and faucet were installed my by handy husband. He also put up a new light and added and outlet. In addition, he made me a frame out of molding to put on the medicine cabinet mirror. The bathroom isn't gorgeous or anything, but at least it isn't ugly anymore! Oh yeah...and we replaced the existing vinyl with vinyl that matches the other bathroom.

a boy towel

I never put up pictures of Nathan's completed towel. Here are a couple:

dining room wall

Here is the wall of our dining room. Well, that's what we call it anyway. It's really an eat-in kitchen. But that's beside the point. The point is...this wall never quite felt right to me. Beside the fact that one of the frames never got a picture, it just felt empty. Cold. I wasn't sure what to do about it.


A couple months ago, I spotted a mirror at Hobby Lobby that I liked. It was on sale, but was still a little more than I wanted to pay (I'm cheap). So, I passed. Well...recently I was in the store again and wondered through that section. To my delight, the mirror was still there and had been marked down. Yay! Now it felt like a deal! I was still a little hesitant because I didn't think that Matt would like it. However, I bought it anyway. And I knew just where it needed to go...in the dining room.


Now that it's up, I feel so much better! Really. When I look at that wall, things feel friendly...homey...not empty. It makes me smile. I like when something that simple can bring a smile!

a couple aprons

June is a month with several family birthdays. As you may have noticed, I am kinda on a crafty kick. So, I made a couple aprons for a couple sister-in-laws. The first two pictures belong to one apron. I forgot to take pictures of the second, but I found the recipient to be a great model! The reverse of hers is also the same green fabric as is found on the first one.




This pattern came from Sew Liberated (formerly Montessori by Hand) and the pattern can be found here.

Nathan's curtains

In May, we finally got Nathan some new curtains. When we first moved into the house, he had the curtains that were already hanging in the room. Then, I decided to try to dye them red because we had planned to get red curtains. Well, not only did the process tear holes in the fragile fabric, but it left the curtains pink. The pink I could have fixed, but the holes were just too much. Well, eventually, we replaced the pink curtains with the beige ones (seen below) that originally hung in the living room. The reason that this process took so long is that Nathan really liked the traverse rod. He liked being able to open and close the curtains himself. So, we were trying to find some curtains that were pinch pleat for the traverse rod. They also had to have a white backing because we do not have blinds. In addition, they needed to look masculine (which is rare in pinch pleated curtains). Oh yeah...and we didn't want to spend an arm and a leg. We found some that we decided would work back in the fall, but we kept waiting for them to go on sale. Well, they finally did...in May. So, Nathan finally has some curtains (drapes) that go in his room. Oh yeah, we decided to go with blue when we checked out the red version and the blue version of this fabric. The blue just seemed to work better.

a late birthday present

Although it was a month late, this present finally made it to its intended recipient last week. This was an interesting project. It was a quick one, though, which is how I like them. I am finding that I am not very good at picking out fabric or figuring out where to put each fabric. It takes me forever! In this case, I bought several fabrics that were sold together so that they would all coordinate. That at least cut down on one of my difficult steps. The other took a little time, but I think that the finished product turned out looking nice.



This pattern comes from Pink Chalk Studio and you can buy it here.