2011 Smilebox

I'm way behind on posting my annual smilebox.  Spring break is treating me well!  These are my favorite pictures from 2011.  You can check out 2010 here,  (I totally skipped 2009) and 2008 here.   Enjoy!

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I'm off to finish wall and baseboard cleaning. 

24 Years at Mineral Park

I am so far behind on blogging.  Life is good in the Jones household.  We just stay extremely busy.  Spring Break has finally arrived (Hooray for washing walls) and I thought I'd use this time to catch up on some way over-due blogging!   


First up, Michael's parent's 24th anniversary at their church.  I have been extremely blessed with super in-laws.  Michael's dad is a pastor and has been at their church for 24 years, which is a rare thing in this day and time.  We were able to go down and participate in the celebration on a Saturday back in late October-early November (I told you I was was behind on blogging!)

 Their cake was beautiful....

I loved how each Sunday School participated.  They each sang a song, or gave a testimony.  

It was a fun day.  I wish we lived closer to Michael's family but am glad we were able to spend this special day with them. 

The Great Bathroom Remodel of 2011--The Grand Reveal

    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

 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

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

    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

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

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