New Kitchen Backsplash

My friend Jessica is a do-it-yourselfer! I am not talking simple little projects, but major ones! When I decided to install the "tin" backsplash, I knew she was the girl to call.

We decided Jessica was more precise of a measurer than I. So, Jessica measured the tiles with her collection of big and small rulers.



And, I would do the cutting with my handy-dandy Home Depot approved shears.








After just 6 hours of work from start to finish, we created a masterpiece! I love the "tin" backsplash and think it works even better than I had expected.

Note the precision in covering the switchplates with matching "tin". A big thanks to Christi for joining us this morning after her workout to do the outlets for us.


Here is the other side of the kitchen.

In case anyone was wondering, this was a totally easy project done by three girls. Marcus spent the day on the golf course. It was his own special kind of measuring, slicing and trying again :)

Happy 4th of July!

My Ring Bling Book

I took off work on Monday of this week to attend a scrapbook class at a new store in the Cedar Park area called Archivers. They have a great array of classes to choose from. My class was to make a Ring Bling Book. It only took 2.5 hours and woo-lah, I have a cute little book about Kyleigh and I.




This book template was super girly, just like Kyleigh. I am sure to sign up for a boy book for Cohen in the fall.

Just My Size

Dad, Jacque, Tiffany and Kyleigh came over for lunch today after church. Before we ran off to see Evan Almighty (really cute, be sure to stay for the credits), she discovered the fun of our hammock.

It was just the right size for her to lounge in. Here she strikes a pose. Check out her long legs- they are no joke just a few inches short of mine. She will be taller than me before 2nd grade at this rate!

Our Old School Slumber Party

Friday night I hosted our bible life group for an old school slumber party. Jenny pulled out her favroite nightgown- it was old school, too!







Along with some of our favroite high school movies, we had fun with Natalie and Terri's pedicure products from Mary Kay. Lauren and Melissa are soaking their toes with Heather looking on in the background.

Can you name the movie on the TV in this picture?





Natalie, Brandi and Terri also gave their feet a good soaking. I thank the Lord for our amazing bible life group and the women I am fortunate to spend my time with. They teach me so much about being a good christian, friend, wife and one day, mother.

Oh the Fun of Digital Scrapbooking

My cousin Kristi and her friend Erica have introduced me to the world of digital scrapbooking and I am hooked! I played with the software for the first time this afternoon. Erica has a blog and posts a monthly desktop for her loyal readers. I have stolen her great idea and included my very first desktop just for you! Much love Erica!

To have this page as your computer wallpaper/desktop, just right click on the image and save as desktop background. It is a fun calendar image to refer to at home or work. Enjoy and stay tuned for the blog to undergo a digital makeover!

Inconceivable!

Tonight was the Alamo Drafthouse 1st annual quote-a-long with the Princess Bride...and it was a fun one.

The Princess Bride is a cult classic from 1987, and I got to get the Bennetts, and the Utleys to come share in the goofiness.

Heidi displays her sword....Rob leans in to say that there was a man with 6 fingers on his right hand that was hogging his armrest.




The night had a a bunch of fun props (a plastic cocktail sword, some peanuts, and a bell), and a lot of audience activity...just about every memorable line (and there are a LOT) was recited with vigor throughout the audience.

"Soon we will be safe in the fire swamp!"



The Alamo DraftHouse will be closing their doors this week, and it will be reopening in the Ritz.....in about two months. but the legacy, the fun, and everything that was the Alamo at 409 Colorado was at this event.

"I am not left handed!"

"I am not left handed either!"

Frosty Time in June?

Lucy (who owned our house before us) painted all of the doors and trim of our house bright white before she sold it to us. Unfortunately, she never left us a paint sample. We had no idea what color she used until this weekend!

On Saturday Marcus went to Home Depot and picked up almost every sample of white shades of paint hoping one would match up. It did! Our doors and trim are pained in Behr Frost!




This is good to know because our pantry and laundry room door had lost their color. They had gotten dirty over and over and I had wiped them off so many times that the paint had come off.

This afternoon I bought the paint and did a touch up job on all of the doors, trims and base boards around the house. It is amazing what a difference a little paint can make.





While at Home Depot I discovered a new option in the world of backsplashs. We bought a stainless steel sample to sit on the counter for a few days to see how we like it. It may look like a high end old ceiling tile, but it is linoleum! You glue it up with liquid nails and trim it with plain ol' scissors. Genius!

I need to make sure it keeps with my rustic country kitchen. Let me know what you think...

Meeting Mr. William Lane Townley

I had to go to San Antonio on Friday night for a work-related banquet and got to add a weekend of fun on top!

I spent the weekend with Katy, one of my college girlfriends and finally got to meet her new son- Will. He is a cutey that gives the biggest "gummy" smile I've ever seen. His whole face smiles!



Katy had to work Saturday morning, so I popped over to the biggest and baddest (in a good way) scrapbook store in all the land- Scrapbook Heaven.






Check out the aisles and aisles of paper, ribbons, stickers, rub ons and embellishments! I love Scrapbook Heaven!

Saturday afternoon, our college friends Chandra and Alison drove in for pedicures, shopping and dinner. It was lots of fun! Billye and Danni, we wish you lived closer!

Hanging Out with Cohen

After 2 weeks of asking "I come to your house?", we let Cohen come and spend the weekend with Auntie. Marcus and I didn't have anything planned that Cohen couldn't tag along to, so I picked him up Saturday morning for a weekend of fun!

After I picked him up, we made our favorite pie- Cohen gets to dip (aka throw) 24 Chips Ahoy in a bowl of milk to soak. Layer that with cool whip and you have a really yummy treat!










As the pie was cooling in the fridge, we grabbed Marcus and went to our favorite water park. I may look dry here, but Cohen had fun getting really wet and giving me bear hugs. Who can resist a hug from that face?






Once we cooled off in the water, we went to the nearby swings. Cohen pushed Marcus really high :)











Then, we changed clothes and went to a BBQ for our friend Kay's birthday. Cohen tried to play with 11 month old Mackenzie, but she didn't know how to roll the ball or give kisses just yet.








After a long night's rest, we got dressed for church and stopped off at Krispy Kreme for a dose of energy in a little round circle! Nice to wire them up and them drop them off at church. God bless the worship care volunteers.

Cohen is headed back home this afternoon. We'll miss you lil' buddy!

another round of pancakes

We started our weekend just like we did before we started vacation....with a little dose of the master pancake theater...This time, the Breakfast Club. You know,I still remembering watching that movie on HBO like, 9 times when I was a kid and thought it was an ok movie. Its really NOT an ok movie. Its really goofy when you watch it through the eyes of heckling critics. I'm still laughing at some scenes from the movie...the sad part is...you have to be there to get the jokes....sorry!

Alamo is closing down their doors on the 27th....Time for one more show hopefully....this next one...princess bride quote a long....release the inner geek!

Marcus

A Weekend Filled With Cousins

After quickly unpacking from Chicago, Marcus and I packed up our bags for a short overnight trip to San Angelo. We left on Saturday morning and arrived in time for my cousins' wedding. Unfortunately, we did not take any pictures with Bryan and Susan, but enjoyed witnessing a beautiful wedding ceremony. I think that seeing two people who love God and praise Him for bringing them together is one of the most beautiful things to see.

Congratulations Bryan and Susan!

Luckily, Marcus also has two cousins in San Angelo, so we met them this morning for breakfast. It is a Noble family (Marcus' maternal family) tradition to have breakfast at Golden Corral and take pictures in the parking lot. Our generation did not dissappoint!

Kevin and Donna, Donna's precious son Brandon and Marcus

Marcus' family at Golden Corral last fall- Linda, Bruce (Donna and

Kevin's Dad), Brian and Carol (Marcus' Mom).

On our way home, we must have been a little anxious to be done with our travels because Marcus got pulled over! We were outside Burnet on Hwy 29 and he clocked Marcus going around 80 in a 70.... could have been much worse had I been driving!

However, he let us off with a warning and told me to get my car inspected on Monday. It expired on Thursday while we were on vacation. I have to point out that my sister went almost a full year without getting her car inspected and never received a ticket. I went 3 days and got in trouble! No Fair!

And a few of my favorite things...

I LOVED Chicago! It was a whirlwind 5 days, but I think we did a good job getting around the city to see everything we wanted to. In order for that to happen, we took 7 different modes of transportation... plane, shuttle, cab, bus, train, subway, and boat. However, my very favorite thing was easily accessbile by FOOT...


This is the shoe department at Nordstroms, located just across the street from our hotel. The entire store was 4 floors of yumminess! I spend most time in the largest shoe department I've ever seen. I ended up buying 3 pairs from the store- bronze ballet slippers, pink camo Mary Jane Crocs, and a pair of sandals with browns, celery green and peach. Other super sized stores included a 7-story Macy's, 4 story Crate and Barrel, 4 story Banana Republic, and a really big Niketown.

Another great thing on the Magnificent Mile was our hotel. A housing contact of mine got us a great deal at the Intercontinenal Hotel on Michigan Avenue. It is a historic hotel that was a men's club (athletic, not strippers) in the 1920's. It had a hall of lions, ornate ceilings and columns and a great corner room just for us!

Sunday night we went to Navy Pier for the Memorial Day fireworks. They were super cool with fireworks shapes and colors I have never seen before. I also convinced Marcus to ride the 150 foot tall ferris wheel. We rode it just as the sun was sitting and took some great pictures of the skyline.

Millenium Park was this really hip park in downtown Chicago. There was art of all different forms and beuatiful gardens with the skyline on one side and Lake Michigan on the other. The fountain above was by far our favorite. It was like a series of small televisions that united to make a face. The screens would change so that the face would smile at you. After a cheeky grin, the "man" would open his mouth and spray all the people below with water. Lots of kids were screaming in delight!

A final favorite was WICKED! We saw this highly acclaimed musical at the famed Oriental Theatre. It is the story of the Wizard of Oz as told by Glenda the Good Witch and tells you of all the things that happened in Oz before Dorothy arrives. We had great seats for a great show.

I highly recommend Chicago as a vacation destination. It was educational, relaxing and entertaining.

Anna

A few of my favorite things

We just rolled back in from Chicago, and we thought we would give a quick list of some of our favorites...While we had a non stop blast, here's my top things...

First is the great seats we had a Wrigley....This was the memorial day game, and while the game itself was fun to watch...well...ok, its the cubs...so funny to watch...the opening ceromonies really took the cake. We got to watch a bald eagle released over the field, and see Sgt. Brian Anderson throw out the first pitch. Sgt. Anderson was in a roadside bomb in Iraq, and lost three of his limbs. It was a privilege to watch him throw out the pitch.

Second is the Musuem of Science and Industry. There was some nifty stuff out there, and one of the neatest was the piece of the original plymouth rock. Still not sure why it said made it Japan on the back...

Third is the Shedd Aquarium. While the Shedd was fun, the dolphins, the otters, the Beluga whales, and the reptiles, some of the best were Anna's quotes...

"that fish is shiny. I want a pair of shoes like him." and "Common Crap? Are these just average fish...wait...that says carp...nevermind.."

Number four is second city, and the old town neighborhood. We like the comedy show at Second City...a place where alumnis include John Candy, Steve Carell, and a slew of others. But we also liked the neighborhood. This was the 'village' feel that was young, fun, and trendy.

Finally...the pizza pie from Pizzeria Uno....on my. I can't eat pizza for a long time...that was sssooooo good......

- Marcus

Another day older....

well here is the double 3 year...I turn 33 on Sunday, and I had the great chance to have a bunch of friends come help me bring it in today....I want to thank everyone that could make it, and everyone that had well wishes, calls and texts...

Anna set us up a nice dinner at the county line, where we had lots of fun....

The Mizes got to color...

The Kemps got cake...

James contimplates taking up mining...

Jess got to be a bit silly...or maybe this is normal...

And Eric....got to be ....just Eric.








It was a lot of fun, and I am so glad that I have all the great friends that I have!
Thanks!
Marcus

Last night with a hooker...

Relax...the hooker was just Julia Roberts.


We went to one of the great Austin shows down here, the Master Pancake theater at Alamo Draft House.







For those that have never experienced MP theater, or Mystery Science theater, its just basically heckling movies. We'd been for Footloose, and now we went back for the story about a hooker with a heart of gold, and a steep price of $300.




We got to watch as the three hecklers pointed out he wide acting range of Richard Gere from Stoic Stoicism, to deadpan intensity.

The sparks flew off the screen from the attraction between Julia and Richard. And we laughed a whole bunch.

Put this on the list with Footloose as 'movies I can no longer see without laughing at them'

Call for Reinforcement!

I couldn't take a second day of entertaining the kids alone, so I called my cousin Kristi and she brought her kids to the water park to help entertain Kyleigh and Cohen.

It was fun to watch each childs fears about the splashing water slowly dwindle. Landry went from barely touching her finger to the water to running underneath it with a smile.


Baby Bella spent the time sitting near the water and having the older kids splash and pour water on her little legs.







Here are the four kids in what I hope are many more cousins pictures to come. Kristi and I are about 18 months apart and we have tons of pics growing up together. I love seeing those start with Bella, Kyleigh, Landry, and Cohen.