yard crashers

this post is primarily for my mom (gotta love Pam Bram!)...a couple of weeks ago we hired some people to get our yard back to neutral...a HUGE project since our house was not lived in for quite a while before we bought it. it was hard to find the motivation to start since it was so overwhelming, but maintenance sounds a lot more doable!



the front yard, the grass seeds are starting to sprout now



side yard, we can see the gate for the first time ever! and yes, our hydrangea is massive!



backyard, a major improvement! and hi penny!

slowly but surely we're getting there!

new (old) buys

i don't know why, but for some reason i have been intimidated to check out local antique stores/flea markets. but i had a vacation day i had to use or lose, so i finally bit the bullet, and i'm so glad i did! here are my finds from a classy flea in marietta, great store!

i've been wanting a china cabinet since we moved to our house, and i got a great deal on this one!! not too big, not too small. the finish is really cool but i'm thinking about painting it a light sage green. can't wait to fill it with mama jo's china!

great deals on these too, the white will look great in our bedroom!

i had a couple of other places on my list to check out, but i decided it was too dangerous to my wallet, one stop was enough for today!

improvements

quick home update! here's a couple things we've accomplished in the last few weeks:

bathroom lighting went from something like this:

to this:

i have no understanding of photography/lighting, but this was the best shot i got! and we're finally out of the 80's :)

and our bedroom went from this:

to this:

eventually we'll get curtains...but for now i'm loving "cinderella's castle"!

recent happenings

bad blogger, my b! libs inspired me to post again! we've had lots going on lately, here's the rundown:

doggie update: penny is getting big & bad! she only has a few puppy teeth now, and double sets of canines until the puppy ones go, she looks like a crazy woman! but she acts like one too. she woke us up at 5:45 this morning running around our room. she sleeps in her crate...not a good wake up call! so she now gets twistie tied into her "home". we also have a third lab hanging out with us this month! murdock stayed with us last year when his parents were on yl assignment and again this year, i don't think i can give him back! i'm in love! minus the fact that he & penny bite each others faces and leave marks and scabs. hunter is enjoying the break from playing that murdock has given him. he's as sweet as ever! i gave him his summer buzz last weekend...major dog fail! sorry for the bald spots & patchiness buddy! but all in all, we LOVE having labs in our lives!

job update: my summer is crazy! we have no interns this summer and my boss is on sabbatical, so there are two of us getting the job done & i'm having a blast! i'm loving the challenge of more responsibility. and i've already gone to camp (amazing trip!), played whirlyball, and enjoyed chick-fil-a spicy chicken & fro yo with some awesome middle schoolers. do i really get paid for this? tomorrow is a scorching day at six flags & our dallas mission trip is in less than a month! oh yeah, and my pastor just got elected president of the southern baptist convention. he's a pretty big deal. and has a pretty big vision for missions, so awesome.

ricky's at an interesting transition right now. his position won't exist by the end of june, but apparently he is amazing (well duh) and has already interviewed & has his sights set on a couple of great gigs! the hope is to get him out from behind he desk and on site more and to have a new challenge since he already has this decorating thing down. :)

house update: we've been here a year and are loving it! lately it's been lots of yard work, but it is HOT in Georgia so the work is moving inside. ricky crossed a $30 mirror project off our list & we have some repainting on the agenda...

we've got some fun family stuff ahead with the royals-braves showdown on friday, maureen's wedding next weekend, and bram fam vacation the week after that, woohoo! life is good!

macdonald update!

WOW! it's been quite a while since we updated! between email, facebook, twitter, skype, and all the different means of communicating through technology, it gets hard to keep up!  so the people who read this blog have probably been updated on our lives in some other way already, but i will post on!

ricky and i are homeowners!! here are a few pics of the house...minus any of our stuff (the furniture/accessories in the pics were staged)

we never thought we'd be able to buy a house so soon, but among the housing market, some really good timing, and God clearly showing up, it happened!  we placed an offer right when i got back from the spring break middle school choir mission trip and closed on the house right after we got back from libby's graduation (and engagement...so exciting!  now ricky and i have all our siblings engaged/married within two years!)  then we moved in right before i went to student life camp with our middle school students.  busy times!  we love our house and are starting to feel more at home and hunter loves his new yard.  we also now have an endless list of projects, but it's been so fun!  and it's such a good feeling to know that we'll be staying put for a few years...we're ready to slow down on the big life changes for a while and just enjoy where we are.  this summer we'll get to go to the ozarks with the bram fam, see ricky's best bud josh get married, i'll go to dallas for a mission trip with our students, visit libs in raleigh, and hopefully we'll get to sneak away to a beach for a few days!  a fun summer ahead, but we'll always miss serving at lost canyon, especially this time of year!  we definitely have lived & continue to live blessed lives!