Worst Feeling in the World

Hey fellow bloggers! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. We had gorgeous weather here in Alabama and it was one of the most pleasant Easter's I can remember. Jonathan and I left Friday afternoon to head to my in-laws, who live on the water. We spent a lot of our Saturday on the pier trying to get a little sun. I was not going to bust out the swimsuit, but I rolled up my t-shirt and threw on some shorts. I cannot wait to start wearing dresses to work!

Shortly after we got home last night I started to not feel well.  I don't know if you have ever had food poisoning, but I have never been so violently ill in my life. Jonathan told me to yell if I needed something. So sometime around 11pm I yelled three times for him, no answer. I then grabbed the toilet bowl brush and started banging it on the bathroom sink. I am not sure what I was accomplishing, but we laughed about it this morning as if I was trying to Morse code my SOS. Thank goodness for cell phones, because I called him from the other side of the house, which worked and he came running. I love that he took such good care of me last night and called all day to see what I needed. Is it silly that I love him more after a night like that and seeing him love and care for me?

It's been almost a whole day and I am still feeling rough.  I did manage a few Ritz Crackers, half a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Mainly I have been sustaining myself with Sprite today.

I hope your Easter Sunday ended up better than mine!!!

Below are a few shots selected from our weekend on Fish River pre-illness.  Enjoy!!!


Jonathan helping hide eggs at his Aunt and Uncle's house... he was pretty pleased when hiding an egg on Blackie, their lab.


I love how the adults jump in and show the children how it's done.


This was our flower girl, Abby. She whipped Jonathan into shape and had him running all over the yard with her basket. You'll notice her right arm is in a cast. If you ask her what happened she'll tell you in the sweetest Southern drawl that she, "tripped on her own two feets." So dang cute!


My in-laws laughing at Jonathan getting bossed around.


Abby pouting when her mom (Jonathan's cousin) told her she should give some candy to Jonathan for all the help and hard work he offered.


Nelson Easter picture (one of the few times of year Jonathan can wear seersucker)

Sacrifices

I slept in this morning until 7:30, made my coffee, then stepped outside to enjoy it while throwing the ball to Dax. I used to do that a lot when I lived in Mobile and I miss that quiet time. Just to sit on the front step in my slippers and sip coffee was an excellent start to what will be a great weekend.

I'm not sure if you remember that I gave up sweets, cokes, and anything with chocolate in for Lent, but I plan on indulging come Sunday. I think that in sacrificing something I enjoy so much made me think of Jesus' sacrifices a lot more. I originally gave up sweets out of competition and curiosity. You see, my fourteen year old brother has been able to give it up the last two years and I have always struggled quit with the simplest of sacrifices. Don't judge me when I decided to give it a go and give it all up cold turkey, because my lil bro had me beat. But I am surprised with how much I admire what my brother could do and how much the temptation made me think of Christ throughout these 40 days. Everytime I saw a sweet (being that I sit outside of test kitchens at work) I immediately thought of Christ's sacrifice. Mine was so small in comparison, but I honestly can say this is the first Lent I have thought about His sacrifices everyday. I feel like this might be the first Easter where I really felt the most connection to the true meaning of Easter. Is that crazy or what?

This morning after my time of reflection I had to paint. When I said I had to... I really had to... my Father-in-Law asked me to do a painting for a non-profit (that I can't remember the name to) auction. We are seeing them this weekend and I said I would have it done by then. Does time ever escape you and then you turn around and are like, "oh crap?!?" That was me two days ago! Here's what I whipped out...



I hope they get something for the piece and I feel bad that I didn't put more time into. Oh, well it's simple and peeps will be drinking wine at the event, so there you go. haha

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Easter!

Lamp Project

Hey friends! My project is finally done and I am so eager to share the results with you. A while back do you remember the bright gold, dusty, hand-me-down lamps I had in my garage? Jonathan kept trying to take them to Goodwill, but I am so glad I resisted. It really took an afternoon for me to buckle down and say, "I have to get this done...TODAY".

The process worked like this...
*Cleaned lamps and tape/cover cords

*Apply one coat of Kilz (If this is not a staple in your home, get some... I'm just saying)

*It dries quickly so I was able to apply small/light layers of high-gloss spray paint (layer it so you don't get yucky drip marks)

*I had a coupon and giftcard to Pottery Barn, so I was able to buy the small linen lampshades for nothing!

*I also replaced the thingy (what's it called that hold the lampshade to the lamp?) well, I replaced it for a couple bucks too

And voila!

Y'all I am not going to lie when I made Jonathan come look at it three times.
Have a wonderful week and be safe if you are traveling for Easter!

Savannah

I moved my Friday cleaning to tonight, which is why it took me a little while to hop on the computer. I can't tell you how great the baked chicken and salad for dinner tasted after a weekend of eating out! I have never been to Savannah, Georgia and fell in love at first site. If you have never been it's a lovely city on the water with so much Southern charm, amazing architecture, and gorgeous trees. The entire time we walked in and out of the little shops I wondered why I have never been there before.









We ate at the Lady & Sons Restaurant aka Paula Deen and Sons. The food was wonderful and almost everyone that eats there orders the buffet, which is a variety of Southern fried comfort foods. I had to be different and order the chicken pot pie. ;)





I also loved loved loved a shop called The Paris Market. It is a gorgeous store and cafe that has a variety of old and new. {Even old things look new in this place.} I could have look there for hours and probably not seen everything.

It was such a wonderful weekend and so much to do. There were haunted tours, carriage rides, wine tastings, water cruises, cooking classes, and so much more. I really hated to leave, but think that Jonathan and I may take a trip there one day soon.

Recovering

Just so you know, I am okay. Actually I am recovering from a bachelorette weekend in Savannah, GA. I have never been there before, had way too much fun, {and have never wanted to detox my body in such a bad way!} Ugh!

Anyways, I have some pictures (from during the day) that I will post later tonight. I snuck some photos at a few wonderful shops I visited. I could have seriously maxed out my credit card, but went with the recession-friendly route of just taking pics. All I want to do is sleep, I am approaching a deadline at work, we ship one magazine to the printer today, and Jonathan is really sick. I also didn't mention I am entertaining friends two nights this week and we are picking up some basement furniture from my parents tomorrow. Why is it that everything happens at once? Ugh, again, and I can't wait to post later!

Until tonight...

Thursday Rant and Rave

I am not the doom and gloom type of person. I like to think that most of the time I am pretty optimistic. There are the occasions when I have to take a moment and share a few of the things that bother me.

1) Let's say you are waiting in line at the grocery store and there is one person checking everyone out. Another cashier opens up and says, "may I help the next person in line?" (you know what comes next) a group of people or someone that has walked up immediately runs over and gets in line, cutting all the patient people in the first line off! Really burns me up...

2) Sometimes I am guilty of this, but as of late I have been trying to be better at picking up the phone and calling people. Do you get mad when someone sends you a text about an important event or occasion? When did we all get so busy that we can't call the people closest to us and share the good news or invitation? Mass text messages make me mad... I guess it's frustrating when communication has become a convenience and in turns it into sacrificing relationships. Does that make sense?

3) To piggy back on number two I would love for "thank you notes" to come back in style. When did it become kosher to tell someone thank you for going out of their way and not send a note? Have you sent any wedding, birthday, baby gifts lately and not received a thank you note? I have and I wonder if I am behind the times by thinking you should still send one. Is this just me?

4) I am a serial snacker. Interpretation: I wonder what the cleaning crew at my office thinks about me by the evidence I leave in my trash can??? Last month I wrote down everything at the end of the day, because I wouldn't remember the list to tell Jonathan. It was something like this: yogurt container, coffee cup, six splenda packets, diet coke cans x2, three mini Snickers (b/c it doesn't count when they are small), pack of crackers, bag of peanuts, pie plate from the test kitchen (only the biggest slice ever), mac and cheese container, part of a banana, half a FireHouse sub, and more and more. I bet they laughed when they thought I was being healthy with the "diet" drink and the splenda! This doesn't make me mad, but thought I would throw this in for humor.

5) Excuses... I am guilty of making excuses and not following through with something I need to do. This is a pet-peeve of mine, but I noticed lately I've been doing just that. I am too busy or lazy to do things I want/should get done. For example, I find every excuse to not paint and start my Etsy shop. It's true and I love to paint. I'm too tired to run so I sleep in the AM. I'm too busy to cook so I pick something up that's easy. I'm too frustrated to paint trim so I hire someone else to do it. I want myself to begin to do more of the things I put off. I want to know the value of hard work and the struggle it may be on me. I want to do these things so I can look back and be proud of my own efforts because I gave my very best. Being too hard on myself you say? One of my biggest annoyances is laziness and look what I have gotten in the habit of? Have you ever felt that way?

I hope your Thursday is wonderful. It's gloomy outside and maybe that's why I am being such a nay-sayer. I feel like there might be things that annoy each of us form time to time and I feel better after venting. Thanks for making it through that rant with me. You're a doll!

Tuesday night baseball

Date night! Today Jonathan told me Auburn was playing Samford (baseball) and suggested we go and check out our Tigers. I need to tell you that I don't know a thing about baseball. I mean, I get the gist of it, but I primarily go for the hot dogs and watch kids freak out over the foul balls.

When I was growing up I played softballl until the age of 8. I was terrible and did a piroette everytime I was up to bat attempting my version of hitting the ball. My parents somehow made sure my cousin Kara and I were on the same team. She was awesome and of course could play every position like a pro. I don't know if you can be awesome at 8, but if she was a bargaining chip when dividing up teams I was the charity pick. Anyways, I quit when I got two black eyes in one week.... go figure. Baseball+Katie= no fun



Team Nelson at ball park