ProjectHouse2012 has officially started

AND so it begins...

This weekend we started our little project.  There is so much to do, but we merely worked on the yard. It needed (still needs) a lot of work, but at least it is presentable for insurance purposes.  We also had to clean up lumber and brick that had been deposited on the carport and back porch. 

I snapped a picture when we arrived Saturday morning:

As you can see, it is a hot mess!  That brick wall you see above is in fact leaning out from the house, but that is all coming down anyway for new vinyl siding.

If you think it looks rough out here, I must tell you that lumber was once the floor in the living room!  Yes, there is only floor joices left in the living room. (we'll save those shocking photos for another day.)

Let us look at something nice:

Yes that is view from the house looking toward the road.  There is a great pine grove across the road. Very pretty.

Okay, back to the hot mess...this is one of the little outbuildings.  It is not bad and we don't know yet if we will try to repair this or start fresh.  For now though, it will be like this

AND this if after day one with hard work from myself, hubby, Alex and her friend Travis.

James and I spent Sunday afternoon working more on the yard. He wanted to finish with mowing and weed eater and I worked on trying to get that pesky vine-y stuff under control that you see taking over the right corner of the house. That stuff is crazy! The root system is in the ground and it's going to take some work to get it out.  I also put out tick, flea, and other pesky insect granules because rain is forecasted.  

Here is the end of day 2:

Oh, and we did encounter one snake this weekend...a baby copperhead. :\  Hoping its momma has decided to take up new residence!

This is from my Instagram feed.  I plan to utilize IG to help document #projecthouse2012 in real time. Feel free to follow me. I love me some Instagram!  

Tyler+Bekah

Just wanted to share a few photos of an adorable couple that will be getting married next weekend at a beautiful plantation in Louisiana. I was honored to take their engagement shots here at home, but I look forward to seeing their wedding shots.

I have photographed Bekah and her sweet little boy, Jace last Fall and can I just say this girl simply cannot take a bad picture! She is gorgeous!  (Tyler is one lucky man!)

My favorite of the day! 

Congrats & best of luck in your future!

Where did may go?

I'm blown away that this is May 31st....seriously where did the month go????

We had graduations, one year birthdays, medical scares, and a long holiday weekend. 

Alex graduated with her associate degree, Hadley graduated from high school, we had commencement at work, Carlee turned one, my mom had a heart cath which indicated she had 95% blockage in a main artery and had a stent put in, we celebrated a long Memorial Day weekend and got to take Carlee to the creek.

Another milestone which I hope to be blogging more about very soon is that we closed on a house today. This house is not livable at the moment and we got it by bidding it through a foreclosure sale, but we plan to put in blood, sweat and probably tears to get it the way we want it.
So stay tuned as I will be documenting ProjectHouse2012.

reflective

For some reason I have been very reflective today.
Maybe it's because we had our "end-of-year" meeting at work today where we reflected on our accomplishments and challenges and looked forward to what's ahead.

Or maybe it's because my dear friend had a big interview today that will change her life tremendously whether she gets the job or not.

Or maybe it's that this angel who landed in our lives last year will be turning one on Saturday:

Whatever has made me feel this way, it has made me so thankful for the many many blessings in my life.  I am amazed at how God works in my life and those around me.  There have been so many times I have been angry at God for not answering my prayers the way I want them answered (because, you know, I am so much smarter than God!!!) DUH.  When something happens in my life to change my circumstances I realize He is so much more awesome than I can even wrap my mind around!

Switching gears, because that is how my mind works sometimes, I want to congratulate my friend Jenny on finally starting her blog after having it for two years!!!  She is ambitious as she has a goal of blogging every day this week.  Cheers for Jenny! Go Jenny!!! *cartwheel* OUCH.
Cannon Family 

What are you reflecting on this week?
A special graduate making a new transition?
Your Mom or mother figure?
Whatever you are reflecting on I hope it brings peace and joy in your life.

Weekend away

I took a short weekend vacation last weekend to Orlando to see my favorite middle stepchild and her husband. 

Brooke & Rob!

It was such a welcomed break from my day to day and I was excited that they asked me to photograph their baby bump pics of my sweet little grandson, River. :)

It was also the first visit to their new home that they purchased last year.  I am so happy for them and what their future lives hold. 

 

I arrived Friday afternoon and Brooke and I went to eat at Mitchell's Fish Market - where Rob is working part-time. In fact, we did a lot of eating while I was there (if you know me, you know that is no surprise!) 

I also experienced Mellow Mushroom pizza and a local haunt, PR's Taco Palace. 

Besides spending time with B & R, my most favorite part of the trip was the few hours I spent with this view:

Ahhhhh, the beach! My most favorite place to be.  There is no better place to relax & refresh in my opinion. There is something about the salt air and feeling the sand on my skin that just makes me feel so great!  I could use several more days of that view quite honestly. 

We had two great days of taking photos.  The first day we took a more casual approach at a walking trail near their house with a little creek or "river" (get it?)  On day two we found a great background at Loch Haven Park and the Orlando Museum of American Art. We also found a fantastic little part in Winter Park on a lake that ended up being another hidden gem.  Here are few more pics of B & R and baby River a/k/a "the bump" :)

I cannot wait until the next time I am there and can share pictures of River on this side of the bump! :) 

My favorite color

What is your favorite?

RED?

BLUE?

PINK?

ORANGE?

CHARTREUSE?

For me, I just cannot pinpoint my favorite.
So when someone asks me what my favorite color is, I simply say ROY G. BIV! (this was how I learned the colors of the rainbow)

I decided I would celebrate my favorite color with an updated profile picture for my social media profiles.

I love spring and the vivid colors that come along with it.  It is truly a gift from God to see the Earth come to life.

Thank you Lord for the blessing of color!

A year of Firsts

It has been so much fun to watch Carlee have all the "firsts" that all children have at one point or another. 
First tooth
First words
First food
and of course many first holidays throughout their first year.

Last weekend, Carlee and I (Grammy) had our first outing to the park together.  It was a pretty quick trip as we were meeting PeePaw to eat, but we had fun. That kid just enjoys everything. I love that about her.  She is social, not afraid, and just takes everything in. 

Of course we had a little photoshoot at the park so I thought I would share those.

I must explain what she is doing in the pic above...whistling. Yes, whistling! It is the funniest thing. She learned to whistle a month or so ago and does it pretty regularly now.  She calls up the horses and their dog, Jill.  Her little personality just cracks me up! Definitely a character. :)

Carlee had another first today...the Easter Bunny!

She was totally un-phased and fairly un-impressed quite honestly.

She did enjoy the whole egg hunt thing. Didn't really figure out you are suppose to run around and gather as many eggs as you can, but I am sure that will come with time. ;)  She did love the eggs and finding what was inside.

Luckily she had Blakeley to help her gather eggs.  Thanks so much Blakes. :) (She even forfeited her own age group's hunt to help Carlee...what a sweet girl)

I love this sweet pea!

Want to get back...

to the real reason I began blogging 6 years ago. 

Really, it began as a way to connect to other crafty folks, but it has morphed into more over the years and quite frankly, not really interesting to me.  As blogging has become a way for many others to sustain a home based business or a popularity contest of how many followers one can get, I kind of got caught up in that and forgot it is simply a way to keep a record of my life, however boring or exciting it may be at any given time; or how crafty I am or how cool my photos are. 

I was wanting to look up something from our Florida vacation a few years again and knowing I blogged about it, it made me think of all the little details I have been missing in my life by not having something fabulous to blog about.  

WHAT AM I THINKING???

I have this incredible little angel that will soon be a year old and I am missing recording so many details of her life. 

So I hereby commit to blogging my boring life and all my adventures 

in Grammy-hood. :)

things are brewing

Many possibilities right now in my life.
Do not want to jinx anything, but there are new things on the horizon....

I can feel things moving in a positive direction.
Many of those things are going to take me being proactive and working for them.

I am ready.