Home away from home and other happenings...

So I have a new home away from home...it's Birmingham! Over the past several weeks I have spent the majority of my off days in this lovely city with some lovely people! :) My sister's house is really coming along...yesterday we finished painting and started moving the kitchen stuff over! Here is a terrible picture of me doing my thing! :) This was definitely the hardest room to paint...it's the office and it has tongue and groove paneling. I had to use a paintbrush to paint every "groove" before we could roll it! 

While I was in Birmingham, I got to attend a little baby shower that some of Ivey's friends threw for her! I met some really sweet ladies and enjoyed some WONDERFUL food!

 Here we are with some of the cute little outfits she got:

 In my busy life of going back and forth to B-ham, I forgot to mention last weekend....One of our dear family friends hosted a kitchen shower for Laura...it was a sweet time of yummy food and fellowship!

 I had to leave the shower early to head to work and show a TV super star around the hospital. She is on a show on Nickelodeon, and apparently kids love her show! She was really sweet and I enjoyed introducing her to some of our sick patients! Of course, I had my picture with her too!

Easy Meal

I needed a quick and easy meal to take to work this week. This literally took about 15 minutes--super fast! I just boiled and drained some whole wheat penne pasta, steamed some asparagus (cut it up into pieces once it was tender), mixed in a jar of basil pesto, added some grape tomatoes and feta cheese, and there you have it! It was really tasty!

More Painting!

In the past 6 days I have been to Birmingham twice to help out with sister's new house! It's amazing what you find out that you can do when you set your mind to it...my sweet mama went with me on Monday and helped paint as well. So far we have painted the entire kitchen (including cabinets), 3 bedrooms, a hallway, and 3 closets. It's coming along nicely! Here is a before and after of Thomas' bedroom. His is one of the only ones that you can see a clear difference in the colors due to the lighting when I took the pictures:

The main color in the house is Benjamin Moore "Hazy Skies" Here's what they had to say about it: This subtle, delicate gray-green envelops a space with quiet, misty color. Hazy Skies is evocative of early mornings in mid-summer. 

Sounds delightful doesn't it?!

Before:

 After--Hazy Skies:

The Master bedroom is painted Benjamin Moore "Elephant Tusk" and is a great neutral! The baby's room is appropriately painted "Lullaby."

Can't wait to help them start moving in to show some real before/after shots!

Baking and Painting!

It's been a busy week! Sunday night I baked my very first cheesecake! I was a little nervous going into it...I knew that a lot could go wrong as cheesecakes can be a little finicky, and I didn't have time for things to go wrong, so I googled "no fail cheesecake!" Well, it cracked...but did you know you can repair cracks?! Thanks again google! :) In the end, it wasn't so bad...I made it for a friend at work who celebrated a birthday on Monday, and there were several cheesecake fans working who said it was great! So, maybe I will try it again sometime!

 Monday morning I woke up and made some chocolate cupcakes with homemade chocolate icing (one of the best recipes I have found is on the back of Hershey's Cocoa powder). They were quite a hit at work!

 Tuesday morning I hit the road bright and early and headed for Birmingham! My sister and her husband just closed on a house, and I helped with some of the projects they needed done before they move in...we took all of the kitchen cabinet doors off and painted them, painted the walls in the kitchen, painted the nursery, and painted a hallway. Tuesday and Wednesday were BUSY days!
Before:

 Before:

I didn't get any of the after pictures, but I am heading back on Monday, and will try to take more pictures then! I loved hanging out with my little buddy while we were working! I didn't get any pictures of him, but I got a precious video of him (which if I knew how to do it, would put it here, but I have no idea how to do that!). Tom went to med school in Augusta, GA, and that is where Ivey and Tom met, so watching the Masters is always special for their family. Apparently Thomas was watching too, because when you ask him "who won the golf game?" He says "Bubba!" :) Pretty good to know about sports at 19 months!

Easter Weekend 2012!

What a glorious day it was celebrating the Resurrection! My only comfort in life and death rests in the fact that Jesus accomplished the work of salvation for ME!!! Hallelujah, what a Savior!!

Good Friday, I enjoyed having breakfast with a friend I haven't seen in a while. It just made me so thankful for the friends in my life who provide community for me. Even though I hadn't seen her recently, we just picked up right where we left off! Later, I attended my church's Good Friday service at noon, and was reminded of the depth of my sin and the abundant grace of the Lord! Friday night, my roommate and I met up with a friend and her mother to go and hear Allison Krauss in concert! Her voice is amazing and the concert did not disappoint!
Here we are enjoying a little pre-show bite with a glass of wine!

Today was a beautiful day, and so we ate lunch together on the front porch! We were missing half of the family (thanks to UAB's resident schedules and Nathan's work schedule...he had to work today, not only is it Easter...it's his Birthday!!! Happy Birthday, Nathan!). It's a shame the rest of the family was not here to participate in the annual after Easter service pictures! :)

 Unfortunately, Daddy had to go finish rounds at the hospital right after service, so he missed the first photo shoot, so we did another one after lunch (when he had already taken his tie off! :)

 This picture cracks me up! Jonathan is showcasing the retro look! The pants belonged to our Granddaddy, and the jacket was our dads (from the 70's!). Paired with the thin bow-tie, this outfit is totally retro, but is making a comeback!

 In honor of the Masters, we had our own Bubba out on the greens!

 Here is a little candid behind the scenes look at the joy we all have taking these yearly pictures! ;) Here we are trying to gather together in the right lighting for the following picture....getting there...

 ....Oh yes, now that's better!

 Didn't have the tripod, so we just switched out photographers!

 The men-folk:

 We needed some comic relief after the photo shoot, so we just had some fun:

 Recreating our own version of "Awkward Family Photos!" If you haven't seen any of the ones online, they are hilarious!

Fun day together as a family celebrating the goodness of God!

Catching Up...

Life has been a little busy since my trip to the beach...came back from the beach late Wednesday night, worked all day Thursday, left again on Saturday for a little weekend trip to Atlanta, worked again Monday and Tuesday, and went to Birmingham for the day on Wednesday! A lot of traveling and many happy memories (not so many pictures, though!)...so let's catch up!

First, the beach trip was very relaxing! Kathryn and I enjoyed the sun and some reading too! I read the Hunger Games series...three books in three days! :) View from a restaurant where we enjoyed some seafood:

 She-crab soup:

 Fresh fish:

 On our way out of town, we toured the historic area of Fernandina Beach. Such a quaint little town.

 Kathryn by the fountain:

 Me at the wishing well...tossing my penny along with my wish...we'll see if it comes true! :)

 On our way through Macon, GA, we stopped to see my dear friend Dorothy! She and her husband have the cutest little historic home on a lovely street! I loved seeing how she decorated it! Dorothy is having a little girl in May and I can't wait to meet this new addition!

 Last weekend, after returning from the beach on Wednesday, took off to Atlanta to visit my dear friends who I met in Trinidad! David and Barbara Foote are an amazing couple! They are such an example of a couple who love serving the Lord together! They are a perfect team and compliment each other well! They were such hospitable hosts, and I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with them!

 On Sunday at church, we met up with Betsy, our team leader from Trinidad, and were planning on going to Atlantic Station to have lunch together. Little did I know that they had planned for several others from the Trinidad team to meet us there to surprise me! What a sweet reunion as we reflected on our time together and caught up with each other! We missed our other team members, though!

 In other news...have I mentioned that my younger brother Nathan is getting married? He and Laura have dated since highschool, and we are so excited about having her "officially" in the family! :) They are getting married May 19th, and then heading off later this summer for Nathan to begin law school! We are so happy for them!

Two of my aunts hosted a shower at my parent's house on Saturday. It was a sweet time getting to know some of Laura's family! I did not do a very good job taking pictures! I didn't even get one of Laura! oops!

 My mom, sister and me!

Well, I think that brings us up to date for now!