Mission Project Generation -- Step 1: Sort/Organize Photos

After many months of discussions/begging my grandmother, she finally agreed to a little family history project!  She has so many stories of growing up and about her 50+ years of marriage to my grandpa that I really want to get these stories captured for future generations to enjoy and cherish.  I put her to task of collecting pictures from all over her house and bringing those down when they came for Thanksgiving!

She arrived with 4 small and 1 large box of pictures.  The pictures include my grandma's family (parents, 2 siblings and herself, their children/grandchildren; my grandpa's family (parents, 8 siblings and himself, their children/grandchildren; my grandparent's married years and my mom, my mom's family (my dad, brother and I) and now my brother's and my families.  So, the sorting began!!!   

First, we sorted out by "family" -- my grandpas, grandmas, their life together and then my mom's.

 Many, many stacks were created! 

 Once we got the pictures into their right stacks, we sorted those by family member.  So for my grandma's pictures we started with:
1) Her parents or their families
2) My grandmas years from birth-marriage
3) Grandma/Pa married  (mom's birth-marriage became another stack/section)
4) Section for her sister and her family (husband, kids, grandkids)
5) Section for her brother and his family (wife, kids, grandkids)

Each of these stacks were put into chronological order and then re-stacked. 

We had stacks EVERYWHERE!!!  It started getting overwhelming so we made a list of what order made sense to us and where things should fall and then we had a reference point whenever we started veering off course.  

All of the stacks/boxes have relocated to one of the spare bedrooms until they're able to come back down and work some more on our family history project.  My goal is to create a mini- family Tree at the beginning of each section and then include whatever stories my grandma remembers as we go.  I've explained that we are going with simple pages/minimal embellishments for several reasons... a) volume of pictures b) I believe the stories/history/memories are more important at this point c) a lot of the pictures are too aged/small to do much with d) a lot of the pics from when Chip and I were born (1980s) are already scrapbooked!

What's your tips and tricks for recording the past??  Do you have boxes of pictures around the house like we started with??

Memory Charms for Wedding

One of the most bittersweet things about everything to do with my wedding was the fact that my grandpa's wouldn't be there with us to celebrate.  I am so happy that Adam got to meet both of my grandfather's before they passed and I know they both really liked him.  There's so many things about Adam that remind me of my mom's dad.  I wanted to honor my grandpas on our special day so I checked out several options.  I know a lot of people do the roses on chairs in memory of but I didn't want to see the empty chairs or have my grandmas sitting beside these empty chairs so that wasn't a good option for me.  Then, I came across memory charms that you can attach to your dress, bouquet, etc.  Perfect!  These were actually one of the first things I ordered last summer.  I found them on etsy and the vendor is Designs by Tami.  Love the final result.  

  

  

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #174 -- Camping Theme

When I first read the challenge for this week over at the Fantabulous Cricut, I was stumped.  I AM not a "camping" type of gal.  I don't camp, I don't hunt, I don't fish... HOWEVER, I DO have a previous baby niece who just went camping/fishing last weekend!!  I had some adorable pics of her on my iPhone that my family sent so I had them printed at Walgreens while I was at work today and threw together this layout when I got home.  LOVE how it turned out!!!  I facetimed my niece and showed her and got her approval as well.  She said when she's older she's going to draw things and I'll create the scrapbooks :-)  sounds like a game plan to me!

I used 3 Cricut cartridges for this layout:  Everyday Paper Dolls for the fish, Simply Charmed for the fishing rod and "Just Because" cards for the phrase.  I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder in my cuttlebug on "catch" and "later" and stamped the date with my new "Smash" date stamp.  My favorite part (other than the pics) is the fishing line!  Hope you enjoy! 

Something Blue, Borrowed and Old

The only thing that could have made my wedding day beyond perfect would have been to have my grandpa there with us.  While he wasn't physically present, I know he was smiling down from Heaven.  I know he approved of Adam and would wish nothing but the best (and lots of babies) for us.  I asked my Grandma if I could have one of his blue dress shirts and then she and my mom made me a heart to sew in my dress.  It was the perfect reminder of my pa paw and my something blue, old and borrowed, all in one.

  

We are engaged!!!

Note:  We got engaged 5/20 but I waited to post this so we could get a hold of friends/family before they read it on here!

Wow -- what a day!  Adam started things off with a bang this morning!  He woke me up from a dead sleep at 7am to pop the question!  I said... YES! :)

Let's back up... Tuesday was Adam's 28th birthday.  We had plans to go to dinner pretty much right after work at PF Changs (his fav).  He got home before I did to let Henderson out and then we were going to head on once I got home (a few minutes later).  I was getting off our exit and he calls to tell me he's going to FedEx (quite a ways away and towards the restaurant) to pick up his new "mouse" for his computer.  I was like I'm almost home?!  Why don't we just get it after dinner?!  So he reluctantly agreed.  I'm thinking we've lived at our house for over a year and had probably 50 packages delivered and they've never required a signature -- this must be some computer mouse!  Little did I know, the ring was what we picked up! 

After we finished dinner, our fortune cookies came!  They could not have been more perfect! 

Adam's said:

"You are about to embark on a most delightful journey!"

Mine said:

"An exciting opportunity lies ahead of you."

Pretty good fortunes!  Actually, mine was reversed when I opened it and it said "moustache" in Chinese and I was like what kind of fortune is this?!?

So, we finished up, grabbed some blizzards from DQ for dessert and headed to the FedEx pick up center.  He ran in, got the package and we headed home.  

Fast forward to Thursday... Adam hadn't said anything about this super-duper mouse that had to be signed for so I'm like how's your new mouse?!  Why did you need a new one?!  You just got one a month ago!  He gave me some story about how the new computer game needed a new mouse and blah blah blah... so I bought it.  Then, I was in the basement putting something away and I look over at his computer and I'm like well that's strange.. looks like the old mouse to me!  

My parents and grandma came down to see us Friday.  We had a nice weekend hanging out around the house, going to some yard sales, eattin' some good meals, chatting with the neighbors, etc.  While mom, grandma and I were out at the yard sales Saturday morning, Adam and my dad had gone to the shooting range.  After they finished up, Adam asked my dad for his blessing for us to marry.  We've had fun teasing Adam about asking my dad while they were at a shooting range!  I guess they were back home though and Adam said he said to my dad "Since you're out of ammo, I wanted to ask you something..."

We went to dinner last night, came home, watched some TV and headed to bed.  Fast forward to this morning...

Adam always gets up early with Henderson to take him out, feed him, etc while I'm still sleeping.  I heard Adam come back in the room and then heard him brushing his teeth and fixing his hair in the bathroom.  I thought well that's weird, why is he getting ready so early in the morning...usually he comes back to snuggle me until I wake up.  Then, he shut the bedroom door (which we NEVER do because the cats don't like to be shut out!  Trixie was on the bed and Mason was shut out when this happened so Mason proceeded to rattle the door the whole time).  He said "I have to talk to you."  In my half asleep state, my first thought was Wow.. he's really serious.  Then, I thought, oh no, he's going to tell me my Japanese maple is dead out front!  (It's been looking pretty rough all weekend and it's kinda become a joke because Adam confessed to spraying it with weed killer, so I assumed he was preparing me for what I was going to see when I did get up.)  He kept asking me if I was awake and then proceeded to tell me how much he loves me, that he always wants to see me happy, that he wants to have a family with me and that he wants to marry me!  

I was so caught off guard (not to mention looking like what the cat drug out of the woods probably!) the first words out of my mouth were.... Are you serious?!  Followed up with .... "Did you ask my dad..."  Adam goes... Are you going to say yes or not?!  I said of course I will marry you!!  

Such a great way to start the day :)  

Our first call was to his mom and then we ran upstairs to wake up my parents and grandma.  They are all so excited and happy for us.  It took a while to call all of Adam's siblings and the rest of our friends/family but everyone has been so excited for us.  We don't have a clue when -- I'm thinking Spring 2013 at this point.  

I couldn't be happier to spend my life with Adam and I love him more than I ever thought possible.  Not only am I marrying my best friend, I am gaining so many wonderful family members.  I love his siblings like they are my own and feel like I'm getting the sisters I never had and didn't know I wanted :)

Now, let's talk about the ring!!!  We literally ring shopped from Louisiana to Michigan over the past 14ish months.  As you may have come to realize, I'm a pretty picky girl!  When we first started looking, I thought I wanted the rings that have "wavy bands" but then I never liked the way the band and engagement ring "fit" together.  Then, I was really liking halo mounted rings... then.. around October I saw MY ring.  I think it was love at first sight (kinda like with Adam!!).  It's a round solitaire with 6 shared prong diamonds mounted on either side of the band.  It's such a classic and the diamond he got is BIG and GORGEOUS!!!  I remember he told one of the jewelers somewhere that I was too beautiful to have a simple mounting (how sweet is he?!).  I can't stop staring at the ring!  I told him I'm going to have such an unproductive week!  We are heading to his parents house this weekend for Memorial Day and are looking forward to celebrating with everyone.  I guess next up, we will have to figure out this whole wedding planning thing!  We all know there's going to be lots of pink!!!

And now.. some pictures!!   

First time I've been early to work in a while!  So excited to share the good news with my co-workers and friends!

Hippity Hop -- Right thru April

 

It’s hard to believe that this was the 3^rd year Adam has gone home for Easter with me (Henderson’s second).  It’s funny to compare the past 3 years of Easters – see below.  I guess we haven’t really changed that much, the biggest change has been our zip codes over the last 3 years!  I love that Adam tolerates my need for us to match on Easter Sunday J

 

 

Adam was wearing my grandpa's tie in the middle picture and one of his white dress shirts this year (bottom pic).  Funny thing is, he didn't try on the shirt prior to Easter morning and the sleeves were a little on the short side!  Lesson learned about not trying things on in advance!

 

We had a nice visit at home and got to spend time with Abs.  That little tyke has soooo much energy!  She can wear out 5 adults and still keep going and going and going!  She loves to wrestle Adam.

 

   

Telling Adam what to do - wonder who she learned that from??

 

 

We also celebrated Granny, Chip and my birthday while we were all there together.  I can't believe I'm 26!  When did I get this old?!?  I still feel like I'm 18.



Family pic for my birthday minus the cats



The April Birthday Babies and our official "candle blower outer"

  

 

 

We ended Easter weekend with what's becoming our traditional Easter egg hunt with Miss Abbie.  I remember in 2009, when we "hid" the eggs for her by laying them in the grass.  Now, she will race you to get them in her basket before you can and loves to decorate them ahead of time with paint, stickers, dye, markers and sometimes even rocks.  

 

     

Catch up

So I haven’t done very well at keeping up with my blog lately.  Ever since I was gone for September it seems like life has been a blur.  Now, here we are almost at Thanksgiving and Black Friday!!

Adam and I had a nice October at home (for the most part).  We had free tickets to the UT/LSU football game in Knoxville so we made our first trip to the UT campus to watch the game.  I was so impressed with the stadium and fans.  The campus is really pretty as well.  We had decent seats (again, Free!) in the end zone that were covered and had padded cushions.  Unfortunately, LSU beat the Volunteers, just like they did the Mountaineers.  Nonetheless, we had a good time.  Check us out in our orange gear.  (Disclaimer:  I will always be a WV girl and Mountaineer fan, but if I’m going to live in TN I can cheer for the Volunteers as long as there’s not a conflict of interest) :p

I had to go to Baton Rouge for a week for a division wide HR meeting.  It feels so weird to be back down there.  After being around the people and the traffic for a week, I’m reminded again how happy I am to be out of that place!

In other big news, we finally got a dining room table!  It took me soo long to pick one but then we finally ended up with one from Ashley (great name!).  It has a big leaf so we can add it or not depending on how many people we’re having over.  We got 2 arm chairs and 6 side chairs.  I love it J  Only thing I’m concerned about is I don’t know if I’m going to have room for a china cabinet now.. and I can definitely use the extra storage space as the kitchen doesn’t have a pantry or many cabinets.  We got the table just in time for our HUGE first family Thanksgiving dinner.  We are having my parents, both grandmas, Adam’s parents, his sisters and their husbands, his 2 nieces, and his dog nephew which is also Henderson’s brother.  Full house!!  Everyone is staying with us except his parents and they are staying at a very nearby hotel.  This will be the first time our families have met, so we are hoping for the best and are excited for everyone to finally meet.

The biggest news of all though is my NEW car.  After almost 10 years and 105k miles, I finally traded my car for a 2012 Limited Highlander.  I just got it Friday and so far I love it.  It’s black with black leather interior and has Navigation, 4 wheel drive, and lots of other bells and whistles.  I’m sure I will love it as much as my Escape.

I also broke tradition and did something I said I’d never do (never say never, right?).  We bought a new 9’ Christmas tree over the weekend and I decorated it last night.  (As well as a 6’ tree for the dining room that’s all decked out in WVU ornaments.)  I just thought with everyone coming it’d be nice for them to see my trees because let’s face it, it’s a lot of work!!  So, there’s still a ton to do before Wednesday when everyone comes here, so Happy Thanksgiving to all!  Enjoy your families and hope you get lots of great deals on Black Friday/Thursday.    



Visitors Galore!

July turned out to be a very very busy month with lots of visitors.  After our week in Michigan, we had a quiet weekend in TN.  The following week Adam was off to AL for work and came back on Friday to my parents, grandma and Miss Abbie visiting.  We had SO much fun.  I was so happy we were able to have everyone down, especially Abbie.  I love getting to spend time with that little munchkin – she is just growing up way too fast.

I wanted to have a little birthday party for her since I wasn’t going to be able to go up to Chip’s house for her “real” party the next weekend so I bought some Toy Story decorations and got her a Dairy Queen ice cream cake to go with her presents.  

Saturday morning we got up early and went over to the Discovery Museum in downtown Chattanooga.  There wasn’t hardly any information available online about the museum so I was worried it wouldn’t be fun for Abbie but I think she was the perfect age for just about everything there.  Some of the exhibits were a little overwhelming for her but she found plenty to keep herself entertained.  

Saturday afternoon we had some visitors lined up to come meet and play with Abbie.  Anne brought over her adorable twin boys.  That was the first time I’d seen the twins in about a year, they are definitely mamma’s boys!  They were cute playing with Abbie and our animals – I don’t think they knew what to make of Henderson – their dog is much smaller!  Plus, I think Anne said that was the first time they were around cats so they squealed over Mason because he was checking them out nonstop.  One of our Olin co-workers, Jason, brought his wife and 2 kids over as well.  At one point we had 5 kids under 5 at the house!  Anne and the boys had to leave but then Abbie and Jason’s kids got to play in our little pool and slip-n-slide.  Jason’s little girl, Lily, and Abbie were so cute together and played so well.  Abbie is used to being around all boys at her daycare so it was a nice change of pace for her to be around Lily.  We had tacos for dinner and then topped off the evening with Abbie’s cake – so hard to believe she is already 3!!!  Which means, it’s also been 3 years since Lauren and I took over Europe and I started working at Olin!  Wow, I’m getting old…

The following weekend brought even more visitors.  Adam’s mom, sister Ashleigh and 2 nieces (Brooklyn and Sydney) along with Henderson’s brother DUKE – Ashleigh’s dog – came to see us from Thursday-Monday.  His family usually isn’t able to stay but a night or two with us so it was good getting to spend that much time together plus we were able to get out and do some things.  Friday night we had a yummy dinner at the Chop House and then Saturday it was up bright and early for some sight-seeing (and to beat the record high temps we have been having this summer)!  First stop – Rock City. 

It worked out really well because Adam and I had been trying to figure out when we were going to go see the attractions that Chattanooga has to offer so we got to see everything with his family.  I didn’t know what to expect of Rock City.. the name makes you think of a bunch of rock formations that look like a city.. I have to say I think we were all pleasantly surprised by what it actually was/is.  It sits at the top of Lookout Mountain and from the top you can “see” 7 states!  Rock City is a maze of massive ancient rock formations and gardens with over 400 native plant species.  There are gorgeous views from pretty much every step you take along the way.  Adam and I are planning a trip back at Christmas to see how it looks decked out in Christmas lights.    

From Rock City we drove around the mountain and rode the Incline Railway.  This was probably the biggest flop of the weekend.  For all the publicity it gets it really isn't worth it, especially when you have to wait in the sun to ride the non-air conditioned cable car back up.  It's a mile long railtrack that takes you to the top/bottom of the mountain and you get to enjoy the views along the way.  The best part was getting ice cream at the bottom while we waited to go back up.

After the Incline Railway we were attemping to hit the last attraction for the day - Ruby Falls.  However, we got to the attraction and there was a very very long line out in the sun to get in... so we scratched that and put it at the top of the "to do" list for Sunday morning.

We headed back to the house, played outside with the dogs, rested, showered and headed to Cleveland for a nice dinner at the Bald Headed Bistro. 

Sunday morning we headed back to Ruby Falls in order to beat the crowd.  It's so funny to think that people are coming to where we live for summer vacation!  Ruby Falls is America's highest, largest and deepest underground waterfall.  I think the story about the discovery of the falls is one of the best stories I've heard in a while.  I won't ruin it for you.. you have to go hear it for yourself :-)

After the tour at Ruby Falls, it was back to Peppertree.  Sunday afternoon Jason's family came over again to play out in the yard, this time with Adam's nieces.  We had hamburgers and hotdogs.. and a birthday party for Henderson and Duke since their big days are coming up.  I found a dog friendly recipe for a birthday cake online and Sydney and Brooklyn helped me mix and bake it.  I was afraid after all that effort the dogs wouldn't touch it but they ate every last crumb of it.  I even have a new favorite picture of Henderson... and don't they look handome in their birthday crowns???

Decorating for the dog birthday bash

My new favorite picture of Henderson - look at the cake crumbs on his nose

   

Another exciting adventure we/I took on was letting Sydney and Brooklyn each make some scrapbook pages for their "own" scrapbooks.  I had already ordered some pictures from when they were here in February and then some from over the 4th in Michigan and they each ended up making 7 8x8 pages for their scrapbooks.  We had a lot of fun making them and they really enjoyed it - plus it will be something we can add to each time they come visit.