Keeping up with the Joneses

The Great Bathroom Remodel of 2011--The Grand Reveal

2012-01-08T15:42:00.000-05:00

    It is finished!!!!   Michael did a terrific job! I absolutely love everything about it.

    And for the record (in the case that you're thinking, "it's 2012 now") it was completed in 2011. I'm just now getting around to blogging about it. We had a New Year's Eve party at our house again. That along with a few holiday days off from work was great motivation to finish it. I learned the best way to get projects done around the house is invite company over. It motivates Michael and me to do great things! :) Anyone wanting an invite? ;) I'm gonna start having a party a month.





   Ok so here we go...(I feel like shouting, "Move that bus!")

First up the vanity.

I told you it looked nice.

This is totally unimportant but I couldn't decide what to do about a towel holder. I just kept thinking one would look funny on the wall. And it's not like we could put it up and take it down if we didn't like it with the sheet rock. So I ended up buying a free standing one to sit on the vanity. I turned it around in this picture to better show what it looks like. You like it? Or would a wall number look better?

The side wall...my goal is to eventually have scripture verses posted in every room of the house. I want my kids (in a future sense of the word) to be surround by the scriptures. We only use/read the KJV version of the bible. It is super hard to find plaques or pictures that are KJV. So for right now I've been using vinyl and my beloved cricut. The cross came from Hobby Lobby. (I couldn't get rid of the mirror glare...sorry)

A close up of the flooring...LOVE IT! We (as in Michael and his Dad) put the same color in the kitchen. It hides dirt so well. I'm thinking of ditching the ole broom and mop...they're overrated.

More floor and trim...

We might be adding a few more deco items. I have another picture to put up but there's not a stud where I want it. Other than that, that's it.

I'm off to plan my next party...and honey to-do project!

Happy Sunday!

Christmas at Biltmore

2012-01-01T22:37:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday, Michael and I made a quick trip to Biltmore to see the Christmas decor. We were about to leave and hadn't took any pictures. So we pulled over and took a few by the water.

We also swung by his uncle's house...but didn't take any pics there.

Christmas Day @ Mom's

2011-12-28T22:24:00.000-05:00

We snapped a few pictures in Mom's front yard on Christmas Day. I was happy with how they turned out.

This one with Papaw may be my all time favorite!

Title Conference, December 7, 2011

2011-12-26T20:15:00.000-05:00

    December has been a crazy whir-wind kind of month! One of the biggest highlights that I want to remember came when my teammate and I presented at the Title I Conference in Gatlinburg. That's Erika and me above. I look like the pale-white zebra mammoth next to her.

   I have been to the Title conference twice before. It's a conference where teachers from Title I Schools go for new ideas and strategies ~~(and a much needed break from the classroom~~).   When the opportunity arose for us to present we jumped on it.
     We taught one hour long session titled "Reading Revived" where we showcased fun and hands-on activities that we do during our reading instruction.   I must say, it's really nice working with someone that you click with. Erika and I do well presenting together because we can finish one another's sentences and give each other a hard time for a little humor.

     We prepared our presentation on Prezi, which is like a glorified online power-point.   Our Prezi ended up being huge so we were praying for good internet connection (and I mean that relevantly).   At home, with a good connection, it would take about 20 minutes for the Prezi to load on my computer.

    We knew our conference room would accommodate 100 people so we made 115 handouts and CDs with our accompanying documents.

    We decided to go to the session that was in the same room as ours the hour before ours. Those presenters struggled with the internet the entire session. We were beginning to sweat bullets! About thirty minutes before the presentation we decided to pull it up on both of our personal lap-tops. Erika couldn't get it to load at all on her computer. I started praying and even sent texts asking for prayer. Just a few minutes later, the whole thing loaded in less than 30 seconds. I know the Lord touched my computer and I was able to tell the people in our session that.

    We ended up with a packed room! We ran out of the CDs and I've made more to mail to people that requested them. The presentation itself went so well. We received a ton of compliments...and one lady even asked us to come and present at her school. HA!

      The funny thing about this whole story is that Erika and I are two of the least likely people to get up and talk in front of people. Afterwards we were definitely on an adrenaline high!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T20:24:00.000-05:00

From the Joneses...and a poor neglected blog.

Here's to another week off work and (hopefully) some blog updates!

Bell Buckle and Grout

2011-10-16T21:07:00.000-04:00

Friday night, Michael and I drove to Murfreesboro and spent the night. On Saturday morning we drove to the tiny town of Bell Buckle for their craft show. I had been looking forward to this since the summer when a friend from work told me about it. It didn't disappoint.

It was so packed out. Thousands and thousands of people. Lots of greasy food and great crafts...needless to say I loved it!

My two purchases...

On the home front it's Fall Break...I hear the angels singing every time I say that. Michael has took off work too. Although he's gonna be remodeling I expect we'll sneak some time in together.

Oh and there's grout in the bathroom! Doesn't it look good?

Monthly Post

2011-10-07T21:34:00.000-04:00

I hate that this has become a once a month post blog. I keep promising myself big promises only to let myself down...again....and again....and again.
I sat out my fall decor last night. Nothing glamorous but it does make me happy.

The bathroom now has tile...as of today. Michael's dad came up and helped with that project, and we're very thankful for that! It still needs to be grouted.

And finally I leave you with our newest remodeling project....seriously! :)

Catching Up

2011-09-11T21:27:00.000-04:00

     It's funny. Things are crazy busy in the Jones' household yet I'm struggling to come up with quality blogging material. We busy with just the normal life stuff.

     Michael is still working 12 hours days. I've started back to school. I am loving my little class. If you're of the teacher mind set you may want to check out my other blog...I've been trying to add some posts there.

   Oh and stop the world...there has been some progress made to the ~~slowest~~ great bathroom remodel of 2011.   It hasn't been a huge priority since we have another restroom. Between Michael's work hours and keeping up with our yard work and our neighbor's he hasn't had much time to devote to it.

The big hole in the wall has been re-sheet-rocked, wiring re-wired, lighting hung, and fresh paint applied. We went with a gold paint. Huge change from yellow, huh? But it really is. We're sensing some tile flooring in our near future.

In-law Love

2011-08-26T21:11:00.000-04:00

Michael's grandmother passed away this past weekend. She was living in Florida so we made a quick trip down there for the services. When I say quick...I mean quick. We left early Tuesday morning and got home late Wednesday night. I enjoyed getting to see his family again and meeting some new faces.
She was buried at a national cemetery. Which was really neat. I would love to go back sometime and take pictures of the cemetery. Here is a family pic in case anyone is interested.

Mrs. Willie I have a blank CD pulled out for your copies....they're coming.

Have you saw this?

2011-08-18T17:52:00.000-04:00

So Cute!

VBS2011

2011-07-30T12:22:00.000-04:00

Well bible school has come and gone for this year.

I love working and helping out at our bible school. I was actually saved at a bible school so it's extra special to me!

Our theme this year was "Discovering God's Word" so we went with detectives. We don't buy a curriculum and decorations. We have to come up with all our own ideas and go from there. It's a lot more work but it's also a lot of fun and special.

The first four pictures were from the auditorium. It's kind of hard to decorate in there. The boxes are empty and just wrapped in colorful bulletin board paper. Easy Decoration!

The doors are kind of hard to see. They said "Mission Headquarters, Special Agents Only". They also had questions marks and magnifying glasses.

Who dunnit? Bible trivia....

I have some cute pictures of the kids but can't post them since I don't have parental permission. It was a fun week. I really embarrassed myself helping in the skits two nights. But it was all for the kids ;).

Family Smilebox

2011-07-25T10:59:00.001-04:00

I'm busy preparing for the new school year. I hate laying in bed at night exhausted but can't sleep because my mind won't slow down. It's just that time of year.

I created a new smilebox for my school website. At least I can mark something off the list. :)

Picture slideshow customized with Smilebox

Love This!

2011-07-23T22:23:00.000-04:00

Need a Laugh? At anothers expense?

2011-07-22T06:00:00.004-04:00

Today I'm sharing what may be my favorite picture of all time. And I'm sharing it with great risks to my well-being...just remember it's all in good humor. I laugh so hard every time I see this picture!

Want a closer look?

That's my mom in the coral colored dress, the one with the drawn up hands and the wicked lookin face. She doesn't normally look that way. The story goes that a major storm was brewing. She was frantically handing out bird seed, hoping to get us in the vehicle before it hit. She was honestly trying to make my day perfect. She had her back towards us...next thing she knew everyone was cheering as we were running. She was unexpectedly right in our moment. Love!
And now I'm in sooo much trouble...it's better to ask forgiveness than permission, right?

I've been keeping a secret!

2011-07-21T06:00:00.005-04:00

While if you've read my blog for any length of time, you know that I'm a teacher...more specifically a second grade teacher. I occasionally post school related stuff on here. Well, I've decided that it's time to separate family and school. I have launched a new blog....Keeping Up With Class.
I'm super excited to share all the ideas swimming around in my head. I know there are several teacher friends who read my blog so you may be interested in hopping on over and checking out the new blog. Oh and if you're really fast you could be my first follower. :)
I'm currently updating the teacher blog links on there (there are so many!). If you have one and don't see it on there let me know!

http://keepingupwithclass.blogspot.com

Oh yeah, Happy Birthday little Punk!

Have a laugh....at my expense

2011-07-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

    I am loving my DSLR Nikon D3000. Best investment ever! I also got a tripod/mono-pod for Christmas. Since I was pretty sure the tripod was coming my way I ordered a cordless remote. Ya'll get a remote! That setting the timer and running deal is over-rated! We love using the tripod & remote. In our beach pictures from the last post, we probably spent over an hour on the beach setting up in different spots. I'm sure people thought we were crazy. And my sweet Michael just goes along with all my crazy ideas (expect when his hair was blowing).
   So typically our self-portrait set-up involves me sitting in front of the camera snapping a few pictures (with the remote). While Michael is adjusting the camera settings (we'll all manual these days) and the tripod height.
     I hear the point of the remote is too look nonchalant...remote out of site...just a normal picture.   Not so much when I'm involved. I thought I'd post my favorite examples that we get a kick out of.....It's sad to know that I'm the one snapping the pictures yet I look so stupid....and I'm not trying to pose in any of these...promise!

Not sure why I was snapping while he's trying to get in the pictures.

This last set shows what always happens next....

Yep, he takes the remote away!

Photo Session: Beach Style

2011-07-18T06:00:00.003-04:00

Beach Summary

2011-07-16T10:34:00.000-04:00

Sadly the beach is becoming but a memory. Summer is slipping from my grip. :( I love my job but I also appreciate my summer. Here's the rest of the pictures from our trip:

This little guy was a little close to my feet for comfort.

On Wednesday Afternoon we took a guided tour on the Crystal Coast Lady.

These are wild horses that live on Carrot Island.

We also went back to Fort Macon. It was interesting to learn how the fort was captured by the union during the War between the States. The union used it as a prison. It was later turned into a state park until War World II. Then it was essential in keeping Japanese submarines away from the coast. Pretty interesting to see the different uniforms wore by the soldiers.

You can also see where a cannon ball grazed these steps.

After enjoying our short week away it's back to laundry and a ridiculous amount of blogs to catch up on!

I have 4 weeks until I have kids to teach, and about 2 days that I don't have anything scheduled for. Busy Times~

Beach Bound!

2011-07-15T06:00:00.004-04:00

Tuesday Morning we woke up and headed toward Crystal Coast NC, more specifically, Atlantic Beach.
We traveled most of the morning and early afternoon.

Ok, this picture is sort of a private joke but I'll let you in on it. Recently Michael and I have been snacking on raw veggies and dip ("and dip" being the key words there since neither of us are very health food oriented). I thought it was a great idea to cut up several containers of veggies and take it with us in a cooler. Needless to say it was the subject of several of Michael's jokes. Then low and behold if we don't get behind this bag. :).

Btw, he's enjoyed the veggies as much as me!

After arriving we made a quick visit to Fort Macon. It was actually closing time so we didn't get much time there.

We enjoyed dinner at the world famous Sanitary Fish Market.

After dinner we took a short walk on the beach

And then went back to the hotel, which had a great outdoor set up.

That sums up day two of vacation.

Vacation Time!

2011-07-14T06:00:00.033-04:00

I didn't think it would ever get here! I've been waiting for this vacation since March when I started those last three months of the hardest school year ever! I couldn't wait to get away and spend some time with Michael.

So far we are having a terrific time. We left out Monday and drove to Biltmore.

The theme of this trip thus far has been that we are wonderfully old people trapped in young bodies. Since we walked through the Vanderbilt's house last time with the audio tour, we decided to splurge this time and do a guided tour. The first second that our fellow tourees weren't looking we cracked up. We were by far the spring chickens on the tour. Everything we do we'll look around and realize that we are the only non-senior citizens around. We have old taste :) But I'm ok with that. Btw the tour was fantastic! They take you to parts of the house that you don't usually get to see. And the guide was very knowledgeable. We plan to regroup with the seniors next time we go :).

We saw some different gardens and fountains that we missed last time.

I'm including our self portrait even though it's not that great. We took it early in the day before I had sweated out all the sweat in my body and discovered sweat glands I didn't know I had. To put it mildly it was HOT!

My hair is cracking me up in this picture. It was slicked back in a tight pony tail all day due to the suffocating heat. I took it down for this one picture. This girl's got volume!

That's it...day one of vacation over. We did have a nice supper out and then crashed from the exhaustion of the heated day. I woke up the next day with sore calves from all the uphill walking.

3 Years!

2011-07-12T06:00:00.046-04:00

It's hard to believe that the Lord has given me three years with my Michael. They have been the best years of my life. We are truly blessed!

Our wedding day was one of the happiest days of my life. I enjoyed every moment.

This really is picture overload. and they are out of order....

This picture was taken before the ceremony.

We didn't see each other until afterwards though.

Leaving...

Oh yes!

Every picture of us walking down the aisle, they are both staring down. I don't think they ever looked up. They were afraid of stepping on my dress. :)

At least the rest of the family is looking...

Who's the groomsman with the flowers?

That's it...I'm off to make Michael watch the wedding DVD.

Rehearsal Day--2008

2011-07-11T06:00:00.003-04:00

3 years ago today, I woke up at Jec's house excited for the day. It was full of pedicures and manicures. Yummy rehearsal dinner food and the rehearsal. It was such a fun time! This is gonna be picture overload. Blogger is working good and I love all these so much!

My first and only manicure!

I was anything but nervous!

My girls

Bro. Jones was telling Michael how great I am!

Jec and Mark

Punk and Joshua

Our signature frame. It's hanging in our living room...I love love love it!

Tomorrow's the big day :)