The bedroom table-part 1

Okay-so do any of you remember that over the past 3 months I've been talking about sanding, priming, and painting the white table in our hallway?!  Okay so...I've started it-finally!

These are the pictures of the actual table (without the drawer) before being primed.  It had a crappy coat of paint throw on it and it just looked bad.

This is the top of it-notice the gross stain/scuff on the lower right side? And the paint coat looks sloppy and uneven?

These are the 2 separate angles of it without the drawer-notice on the bottom the untouched-by-paint parts? Ew.

This is the close up without the drawer.

So yeah...it was given to me by a great friend but I really wanted to spruce it up...and now the time has come!

Below are the pics of the table (without the drawer) sanded and with two coats of primer:

The top-it almost looks painted! I can't wait to throw some bright white paint on it-it'll sparkle!

This is the table without the drawer and FULLY sanded and primed!  It looks soooooo much better already! I've got 1 more coat to do on the base board (if you can't tell) but that's it! 

The primer dries so fast so this weekend I should have the WHOLE TABLE done!  I'll still have to sand, prime and paint the drawer but that shouldn't take as long.

Cheers to a good started and half way completed project!

Not Lost

I swear I do remember my blog and domain! I've had a crazy week but think I'll update with a few blogs come Sunday evening.

Stay posted and have a happy weekend!  =]

Andrew's 3rd birthday!

Well it's official: my nephew-by-non-blood Andrew is now 3 years old! It's so crazy because I just sit and think about when Kelly called and told me she was pregnant, about when I moved up to Murfreesboro and saw her little preg belly for the first time, about how I watched him grow and helped them pick out baby names...and now he's 3! Man time sure flys.  I get all mushy sometimes because he knows me-like knows me.  He recognizes my face, my voice, and my scent. He calls me "JoJo" and Derrick "Dot" and knows us like he does his family-and that means a lot. I'm not even all gaga over children and get all mushy with all babies but those Blackwood boys have something over me =]

So, today Der and I traveled to Lebanon to celebrate this grand day with the Blackwood's and family! See pics and details below (excuse the bad picture quality).

Here is the birthday boy-Andrew! He got his party hat on and had pizza all over his face...it was awesome!

This was Andrew's homemade birthday banner-his party was themed from the children's t.v. show Yo Gabba Gabba.

Balloons were EVERYWHERE and the boys loved them!

The Yo Gabba Gabba cake and cupcakes.

Me with Aunt Tonya in our awesome party hats.

Aunt JoJo and Uncle Dot

Sweet baby brother Dylan ready for some cake and ice cream!

The big birthday boy with his cake-getting ready to blow out that big 3 candle!

Andrew was decided if he wanted cake, cupcakes, or both! (FYI-He chose both)

Aunt JoJo with the birthday boy. He loves to play and be the attention but when I get a camera on him he always gets so shy! He'll grow out of it, I'm sure.

All of his loot! He got some awesome toys, clothes, and cards from everyone.  I think this birthday was a success!

And that was that! So much fun, food, and family/friends for this wonderful occasion. 

Glad-in every way-to be a part of it  <3

'11 update

So far 2011 has been going exceptionally well and it's only been 7 days! One set back put a bit of a downer on a few things BUT not to fret: it shall be remedied soon =]

In these past 7 days I have been having a good time:

*blogging
*getting appointments set up for GA schedule
*walking the pup
*having all GA paperwork wrapped up
*changing name on bank account (about time, right?)
*working HARD
*running
*hanging out and having dinner with friends
*cleaning out the kitchen and hall
*getting excited about school
*reading
*changing over MDs from Chattanooga to Murfreesboro (REALLY about time)
*starting AND keeping up with my photo-a-day project

...and managing to see my husband and pup at the end of the day.

Not too shabby for the first 7 days huh?!  I've still got 24 to go-let's hope it all is this wonderful come January 31st!

Love for always,
J

New Year-pt. 3 of 3 (Resolutions)

Last but not least: part 3 of my New Year's trilogy-resolutions for 2011.  As I've said before, I am usually a daily or monthly list maker BUT 2011 has a lot in store that I want to accomplish.  Obviously they'll fall in months once done but I want to make an overall list for when I'm lose sight or get too overwhelmed.

1) Donate more-whether it's money, clothes, time I want to do more of it.  According to Der I get "donation binges" where I tear our home upside down and inside out ridding of things we no longer need/want and giving them to some that do. No harm in it and I like it.
2) Stay healthy, hopefully slimming a bit in the process.  I have no real reason not to and if you read this blog you'll know what I mean.
3) Do well in school. I always have and don't plan on stopping.
4) Travel more-this is a big one because Der and I both love to travel.  Whether we go to Florida to see the in-laws and/or DisneyWorld, California to see Patrick and/or Der's grandparents, or Chicago (just because I really wanna go) I want to get more traveling under my belt in 2011. The only place travel won't count is to Chattanooga since I go there all of the time.
5) Read more-I think when I get a Kindle this may be a bit easier.  Now don't get me wrong: I love a good library smelling book as much as the next person but carrying 20 books in my over-the-shoulder tote doesn't seem to make sense for my shoulders or for purpose sake.  So, with the Kindle I can lightly carry around the classics (not to mention my school books) for traveling and class sake.
6) A photo a day project: if you're linked with me on Facebook.com, I am hoping to do a project where I take a photo a day and talk about it-traversing my year in 2011 through photos.  Once I get a real camera this will be made much much easier but until then, crappy cell phone pics will have to do. 1 down, 364 to go!
7) Finish Raley home.  We've lived here almost 8 months and everything isn't finished-in part due to finances, in part due to forgetfulness, lol. I want everything completed by the summer if possible, but by Dec. 31 2011 at the latest.
8) Go to at least 1 concert. I'm not really concerned as to whom I'm seeing but I want to see at least one.  I don't think 2010 had any for me (at least none memorable) so I'd like to remedy that.
9) See more theater-especially since I am jonesing for it so much as of late. Whether it's professional ("Spring Awakening!") or local (MTSU) I want to see more of it.
10) Celebrate.  I don't care if it's for weddings, birthdays or sheer fun-I want to jump for joy even more this year though 2010 had a LOT of that going on. Life is for living, after all.

I know many of these seem kind of "DUH!" but keeping track of them along with life in general may be harder than it seems-we'll see!

What are you hoping to accomplish in 2011?!

New Year-pt. 2 of 3 (Monthly Goals)

On to part 2! Hi-Ho Silver!

A lovely friend of mine asked the best way to keep goals (whether it's daily, monthly, yearly) and I said writing them down (for me, this blog) is the best way: you have it in writing, others are reading it, and you can reference back to it: win-win-win! I am a "to do" list maker anyway but my friend Ooey Gooey Daily News gave me the inspiration to do monthly goals as well as yearly resolutions and day-to-day ones.

So, without further ado, here are my goals for January, 2011.

*Health
1) Drink more water (this will probably always be here as a goal)
2) Cut back on fast food-December was a fast food month for me so I want to get back to my normal and less expensive eating habits.
3) Train for 5k Zoo Run on Jan. 22
4) Continue working out 4 days per week-swimming, Zumba, treadmill, weights, etc.
5) Walk Tucker 2 days a week and this does not count as my working out days. He needs and loves it!
6) Go the the MD

*Home
1) Complete bathroom (I've decided that if I can't find those damn white frames then I will find some cheap ones, spray paint them white, and hang them instead)
2) Sand, prime and paint table in bedroom
3) De-clutter and reorganize all closets, cabinets, drawers.
4) Get new a new Queen mattress set for bedroom (YEEEEEEEEE!)
5) Get new and matching bedding for new mattresses
6) Put up laundry once done *gulps*

*School
1) Study/do research or homework every night except Sunday.
2) Aim for straight A's.
3) Keep up with GA hours, homework, classes and research in an organized manner.
4) R.E.A.D.


*Fun
1) Finish The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
2) Start & finish The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
3) Celebrate Andrew's 3rd birthday
4) Celebrate husband's 23rd birthday
5) "Celebrate" BFF's departure for Navy boot camp =(
6) Go on lavish date with Der (this is where my LBD will come in)
7) Have in/out dinners with friends
8) Get new camera


Seems like a lot...and it is! Cheers to keeping them up!

Now the last blog: New Years-pt. 3 of 3 (Resolutions).

New Year-pt. 1 of 3

I kind of failed at posting my blog yesterday (1/1/11) with details of New Years and new goals/resolutions....Trust me though: it's probably for the best. (And no, I wasn't that hung over).

Alright so a couple of things first:
1) I AM IN GRADUATE SCHOOL! I will officially begin Jan 13th to earn my MA in Sociology, taking 6 hours this semester. I. can. not. wait.
2) I AM IN THE GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIP (GA) PROGRAM! This is a program where I'll work 20 hours per week on campus doing research, grading papers, helping assist classes, etc. It also pays for my tuition per semester if my GPA is a 3.0 or above and allots a stipend per month to me for my work! Again: I. CAN. NOT. WAIT! I am stupidly stoked about this and I have talked to one of the professors who I'm working with and he's covering info. and studies that I'm super interested in! YES! More to come once I'm really in it.

*Okay-now that the sheer excitement is out of the way, I shall detail our New Year's Eve shin-dig.  We had a few friends over (Patrick-in from LA!, Brian, and Mark) to hang out with for the New Year.  We had a random assortment of food, partly because we didn't know we were having the party at our house until Thursday evening, lol.  We had chili dip (recipe to come later), shrimp cocktail, and cookies (weird, right?!)  The boys brought whiskey for them and I had margarita mix and tequila for me-the sparking white wine we had was bad.  We all just hung out, played games, and laughed until the New Year came along.  John and Elisa stopped by after getting back from San Diego to say hello and Happy New Year! It's nice to have them back!! I was beat so after the New Year was rung (?) in I changed and went to bed-oh so tired.  I fell asleep to the sounds clicking and beating and was totally okay with it, lol. Unfortunately I didn't take a lot of pictures-I just forgot!-but here a the 4 I did, lol.

Here is Der with his whiskey and coke watching his friends play Rock Band 3 (ignore my stems in the pic)

Here are Brian (guitar), Patrick (drums), and Mark (bass) playing RB3

Me and Mr. R bringing in the New Year with a sweet kiss

Me and D smiling for 2011

One awesome thing I realized NYE is that I have officially lost some weight! I tried on 2 dresses of which: one I couldn't get in to and the other I was super uncomfy in-and they BOTH fit (and fairly well)!!!! YAY! So even though I didn't go shop for a new dress in a smaller size, it's still nice to know that 2 I haven't been able to wear (in over a year) I can again! So I made Der promise to take me on an amazing date so I can wear my LBD. Love it.  I am proud of myself and so was Der! He knew how much me not fitting in to some of my clothes was messing with my esteem so it was nice to have some positive and laid back compliments when I had achieved it (he's kind of my hero like that).

Happy 2011 to all!

Now on to New Year-pt. 2 of 3 (Monthly Goals)!