Busy Spring

I'm back!

As you may or may not have noticed, I have disappeared from the blogging work for about a week, and with good reason. My life has been absolutely INSANE within the last week. Between work and a million other things, I decided I needed to prioritize...not to mention, I was exhausted and in bed around 9pm every night! Needless to say I'm glad last week is over and I'm ready for life to get back to normal.

Last Saturday, we threw my dad a surprise 50th Birthday party and it was so great!! He was so surprised but still suspicious seeing as how mom made him wear a nice shirt to my brother's house. He thought we were just getting the family together for pizza...wrong! We had lots of old friends and family there to eat, drink, and catch up. I wish I would have taken more pictures, but between food and mingling, we were just having too good of a time.

Dad's old high school and college friend, Ralph, came out to the party, which was an even bigger surprise since they haven't seen each other in years! Overall, I think dad was super grateful and happy, since the whole day he thought we were neglecting him on his birthday! HA! It was a great day.

A few days before that, my sis-in-law Kenzie let Matt and I know of a house down their street that's for sale, and since I actually happened to know the realtor, we were able to take a peek right before dad's party! Well, turns out, we ended up making an offer on the house on Sunday! AN OFFER!! That was a first for us, so now we're officially feeling like real adults, ha! But, come to find out yesterday, we didn't end up getting it. Another offer came through offering full-price, which is a little crazy. The house was super cute but needed a little cosmetic work and a brand new kitchen. I was a little disappointed, but trying to remember that it wasn't meant to be, and that there's another house out there somewhere for us!

Other than just my personal life being crazy, I also had one crazy work week last week. I'm applying for a promotion at work that I'm not sure if I'll get, but I took a stab at it anyway. I had a questionnaire, interview, and presentation to complete, so my mind was completely a mess trying to finish all of that on top of my regular work. Thus, the blog had to be put aside...especially since I was coming home absolutely exhausted. I finished my presentation on Friday, and that night Matt and I met up with his family (the Kleypack) for margaritas for mama Cindy's birthday celebration! MUCH needed margaritas after that week, I must say.

Phew, I think that's all for now. Today is a little annoying being 30 degrees (and snowing), especially since it was 70 degrees here all last weekend. Boo. But, I have some goodies coming up, including an update about my jewelry armoire redo, and some others! Stay tuned!

 

April Time is Happy Time

I guess I can't contain my excitement for spring any longer....

I think it was definitely the terrible, awful winter we had this year that has made this spring about a zillion times better than ever before. Our temperatures up here have finally reached the 60s, which is a celebration in my neck of the woods. Not to mention, there are a lot of things in store for this month...I can't wait!

I've been a little slow at blogging this week. I've been really busy at work (applying for a promotion, wish me luck!) and am helping my mom plan a (shhhh!) surprise 50th birthday party for my daddy this weekend!! I've tried to keep my mouth shut up to this point, but since I'm fairly certain he doesn't read this blog, I'll go ahead and unleash the secret! Here's a little snippet of the invites my sister-in-law made! You've gotta check out her work over at Ivory House Creative. She does wedding invites, stationery, announcements, and more!

I'm so excited to start prepping food and decorations for the party this weekend! Stay tuned next week for an update with photos! :)

 

Happy Happy Day :)

Happy Valentine's Day, love birds!

Regardless of the cold weather we've been having, I can't help but be chipper today. These lovey-dovey days make me more grateful than ever for my life with Matt, and how wonderful he is. This morning before work, we surprised each other with cards. I made him his favorite cake (with my dorky design) and gave him some chocolatey sweets. Tonight we're having dinner at Thai 9 and I can't wait!

I also just realized I didn't even blog about last weekend's trip to Gatlinburg! It was a Kleypack old-fashioned family weekend. ;) All ten of us hopped in a huge 15-passenger van and drove down to Gatlinburg where we met up with Jen and the boys for a weekend getaway in the mountains. It was SO nice not to see any snow on the ground, and it was a decent 40 degrees there (sad, isn't it?). We enjoyed the time cooped up inside playing games and swimming in the indoor pool. Here's a few photos of the weekend:

Our porch overlooking the mountains!

Looking terrible but oh well.

It was a great weekend and a good time spent with family. So many memories made! Can't wait to do it again soon.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Valentine's Day! <3

Spring Dreaming

Hey there!

It has been a couple of weeks since I last posted, and unfortunately not many exciting things have been going on. It is January, after all. -_- Which only means I've been wearing my grumpy pants for the last 22 days. Those that know me well know that I am NOT a fan of winter. I would very much rather be s-w-e-a-t-i-n-g in the summer heat than being cold. And right now, temperatures here in Ohio are in the negatives. I can't handle it, and neither can my little house. :( Matt and I live in a little old house that is heated only by two little gas heaters (very old school). A couple of space heaters and tons of blankets carry us through the winter. I can't wait to eventually move. I hope we can mayyyyybe start looking this summer when Matt finishes nursing school!

I've still been finishing up a few lingering crochet projects, including an extra-wide scarf for my mom's birthday, another scarf for Mamaw (she loved the one I made her for Christmas!), a hat for Matt, and a scarf for myself (which has been on the backburner). Once I finish all of that up, I reeeeally want to finish the baby blanket I've been working on since, err, early fall 2013.

My most recent endeavor has been learning how to knit! Okay, not really. I got together last night with a few girls I work with for a "Crafter Work" party to learn Knitting 101, and I must say, it is NOTHING like crochet! I thought I'd be able to pick it up quickly but the two-needle thing throws me way off. I may try to pick it back up in the future, but as of now I don't know if it's for me! I definitely need some practice!

Another project of mine on the backburner has been sewing. I got a mini sewing machine for Christmas that I really want to break out. There are some small mending projects I want to start and maybe a few small custom projects. If only I didn't have to work five days a week! Wishful thinking.

All I have been thinking about lately is how excited I am for spring, and how I can't wait for the day that I get to go to the nursery and pick out this year's flowers to plant in my flower boxes. Makes me so happy. :)

Only 56 days until spring!