The NEWER Painted Kitchen...Oh My!

So, I just realized I've never post pictures of the second repaint of our kitchen.  May/June of 2011, we painted our kitchen this awesome "Electric Lime" color.  You can see that here.  I really loved that color, and it was super happy.  However, I didn't feel like it really fit in our home.  So, I convinced Nick in November that we needed to paint it "Clary Sage."  It's still green, just a bit more tame.  :)  I think this color compliments our home so much better. :)  We've also added a china cabinet that Casey and Mitchell gave us.  I painted it this color called "Cordovan" from Sherwin Williams.  The original color was a green, and I didn't feel like we needed that much green in one room.  However, I did do a crackle with the Cordovan, so you can still the green showing through.  LOVE IT!  That's all we changed up, but it's made a HUGE difference.  Here's the new(ish) kitchen.

Going into the kitchen from the living room.

Looking to the left.

Looking towards the table from the china cabinet.

Looking towards the garage door.

Inside the kitchen.

Right side of the kitchen.

Left side of the kitchen.

China cabinet.

The new china cabinet.

The finish. :)

Rockwall, New Boston, and Texarkana...Oh MY!!!

This weekend was soooo much fun!  Of course, I traveled all over northeast Texas, but it was an absolute blast!

I left work on Friday and headed to Rockwall to spend the evening and half of Saturday with one of my best friends (Kathryn) and her sister (Aryn) and best friend (Christi). :)  We got all cute-sie and went to eat at a restaurant in Highland Park called Patrizio's.  It was SUPER yummy.  We all had to sample each other's plates. :)  Even though it was a tad cold, we ate on the patio.  They had big heaters.  It was delightful.  After dinner, we headed to Studio Movie Grill to see This Means War with Reese Witherspoon.  I loved it!  We had to split up and sit two and two, but it worked out well.  Kat was awesome and got Groupons for all of us, so the movie plus a coke cost only $5!  Kat and I split an order of the chocolate chip cookies (that were made after we ordered them so they were warm and chewy) to go with our cokes.  I think Aryn and Christi did the same.  After the movie we headed back to the Risner's apartment.  We took a short detour through Firewheel Mall to show Aryn and Christi what it looked like.  We got back to the apartment around 12:30 am, then we all sat and talked for an hour or so.  We finally all got into bed around 2:00 am.  We woke up around 8:30 am and went to eat breakfast at this awesome little restaurant called The Fatted Calf that Kat wanted to take us too.  They make their own strawberry jam in house and it is bright pink!  Kat and I were going to buy some, but they are rationing it because the store was running low.  I'll have to go back and buy some when they have plenty.  We then went shopping at Belk (and all bought new boots for a fraction of the cost), Half Priced Books (Kat got some records), and Charming Charlies (I'm quickly becoming addicted). :)  I then had to head back home to visit family.

Eating at Patrizio's. :)

Yay! :)

Leaving to go shopping!

We were getting good at using the self-timer and flat surfaces of Kat's apartment.  Taken by the bar.

Taken by the desk. :)

Good friends!

More good friends! :)

My aunt, uncle, and cousins from Mississippi came to visit this weekend.  I headed home from Rockwall, stopped in Pittsburg to throw some laundry in the washing machine and pick up Satchel, then headed to New Boston.  My cousin, Emily, and her four girls, Peyton, Jayden, Mady and Charly, were staying with my parents.  We played Wii (Zumba and Just Dance 3), ate pizza, and watched a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory.  I then headed home, but I got some super cute pictures of the two youngest cousins.

Mady kept carrying Satchel around all night. :)

Aren't those two precious?!

Sweet little Charly.

Mady's got the silly faces down.

Action shot!

Sunday, Nick and I went to church, then headed straight to Texarkana to go celebrate my Mom's birthday.  We were going to go to Olive Garden, but there was an hour wait.  Instead, we went to Amigo Juan's.  My Aunt Trisha and Uncle Tom plus Emily and the girls were all able to join us for this as well.  Emily told the server that it was Mom's birthday.  She had to wear a sombrero while the waitstaff sang a birthday song to her.  :)  After dinner, we had to run to JCPenny's then we went back to New Boston for cake and present opening.  We all pitched in and got Mom a Pandora bracelet.  Dad got her the bracelet and a palm tree charm with gold coconuts on it (for their trip to Hawaii last year).  My sister got two clips for the bracelet, and we got her an elephant charm since she's a Republican. :)  My sister made her a strawberry cake (that was pink, no different color surprises this time) that was yummy.  :)  We then watched a few more episodes of The Big Bang Theory, then Nick and I headed home.  I finished laundry and Nick cooked us some dinner.  We were going to continue with our Sunday night ritual and watch Once Upon a Time, but the Academy Awards were showing.  :(  We watched a bit of the awards, then went to bed.

What is this?

A wrapped box inside of a giftbag.

YAY!  A Pandora bracelet!

Showing off her new bracelet.

Happy Birthday Momma!!!

I need a weekend to recoop from my weekend!  Until next time...

Valentine's, Highlights, and NEEDTOBREATHE...Oh My!

We've been SUPER busy since the last post.  I don't think life will ever slow down.  But that's okay, who wants a slow life anyways? :)  To start, I did something a little more fun for Nick for Valentine's day this year than I normally do.  In the past, it's been a movie and card.  We've never been big Valentine's celebrators.  This year, I did something I found on Pinterest. :)  I gave him 14 gifts, one a day starting on February 1st.  They weren't huge gifts (i.e. fishing lure, candy, chex mix, cd, etc.), but it was a lot of fun.  I put them in different places every day, so Nick would find them at a random time.  He enjoyed it as well.  Check out Six Sisters' Stuff blog for more info.  You can get the tags and ideas.  I thoroughly had fun. :)

Saturady, the fourth, Nick and I spent a lot of the day with Joe & Melanie.  We went to Longview to go out to eat, shop for the doggies, and just hang-out.  We had a lot of fun.

I got a new hair color (ish) this last visit with Randa.  I'm wanting a brighter red for summer, so we are slowly transitioning my hair that way.  We're adding blonde highlights that will be able to be died a brighter red.  So far, I'm loving it. :)

Nick and I weren't able to go out for Valentine's day on the actual day because we both had Bible study.  But that's okay, after being a waitress, I hate going out when I know restaurants are going to be that full (especially with crabby people who are ticked that they have to wait for a table).  We went out the 16th instead.  We had a good dinner at Shogun's in Longview.  However, we won't be going back there again.  The waiter definitely charged us too much and wouldn't listen when we confronted him about it.  We'll drive to Texarkana next time we want Japanese.  And besides, Fugi in Texarkana is better anyways.  We went shopping and got my ring cleaned while we were out though and had a good time with just each other.

On Friday, the 17th, we got to attend a NEEDTOBREATHE concert!!!  It was absolutely amazing!  I went to another one of their concerts back in April 2010, but I only went because my sister wanted me to go.  Well, after that concert, I really started to like them.  I listen to them all the time now.  When my sister heard they were going to be back at the House of Blues in Dallas this month, we all jumped at the chance to go.  So Nick, myself, my parents, and my sister went there on Friday.  We ate at the House of Blues restaurant so we could "Pass the Line."  However, Sister and I got in a little before everyone else because she's in the fan club and bought the tickets on presale.  It was awesome because we were able to be on the front row!  Of course, we had to stand a long time, but that was fine.  We stood right in front of Seth, the bass player.  Nick came and stood with Sister and I, and my parents stood towards the back so they could have something to lean against.  Ben Rector were the openers and they did an awesome job.  I'm wanting to buy their cd now.  The concert didn't even start until 9:00, so we didn't get out until around 11:30ish.  My sister and I played 20 questions while we waited in between set changes.  The two hardest where Andy Warhol and Darth Vadar.  I'm pretty sure we surpassed the 20 question limit on those two.  After the concert  my Dad suggested we walk by the band's bus to see if any of them were outside signing autographs.  They weren't so we decided to just go back to the hotel.  As we were walking to the van, we saw a group of people standing by the loading dock.  My sister asked one of the girls if the band was going to sign autographs, she said that they almost always came out to sign before they left.  So we stood there/sat in the van until 1:15 am.  In all, we were able to meet 3 of the 4 band members: Joe (drummer), Bo (lead guitarist), and Bear (lead singer).  It was awesome.  My sister and Dad were troopers and stood outside in the rain the entire time making sure we didn't miss any of them.  We got back to the hotel around 2:00.  We all got a later start than usual then went shopping the rest of the day.  I was introduced to Charming Charlie for the first time and walked out of the store with 17 accessories for $34.  Heck yes.  Nick was able to find a pair of Keen's at the DSW next door for $24.  We were great bargain shoppers!  We ate at Cotton Patch which was delicious.  Then we headed to Grapevine to go to Bass Pro Shops and Grapevine Mills Mall.  We didn't get home until late Saturday, but we had so much fun.  We're still trying to catch up though.

Sign outside of House of Blues.  So excited!

My pretty Momma and I before the show.

Handsome hubby and I before the show.

Sister and I making faces standing in line, waiting to get in.

Ben Rector...awesome. :)

Watching the opener.

Whoo hoo!  Front row for NEEDTOBREATHE!!!

Bo, he's a little blurry.

Favorite part of the show. "Slumber" acoustically.

After the show.

Sister and Joe, the drummer.

Sister and Bear, lead singer.

Me and Bear, lead singer.

Me and Bo, lead guitarist.

I had Monday off for President's Day, so I spent the majority of the day cleaning and crafting.  I did all of our laundry, cleaned bathrooms, vacuumed and mopped the entire house, made/am making a jewelry holder, cleaned closet, and cleaned the oven.  However, I also had fun by eating breakfast with my MIL, Melanie, having lunch with my hubby, Mitchell and Casey, and then having dinner with my hubby, the Mayben's, and the Fink's.  I had a good day off, but wish it could have been longer.

Yesterday, we attended the AgPower customer appreciation dinner in Mt Pleasant.  Nick won a cap.  Whoot whoot.  We had good food and spent time with some friends.

I would hope that things were slowing down now, but they aren't.  I'm going to Rockwall this weekend to visit my friend Kathryn.  We're going to have a girls weekend with her sister, Aryn, and another friend, Christi.  My Mom's birthday is Monday, the 27th, so we are celebrating it on Sunday.  I'm sure I'll have tons to share the next time I blog.