50 Shades of Gray

I'm sure by that title you thought this blog was about to take a turn for the interesting.  Trust me...it's not.

Our kitchen/laundry remodel is fully underway. Construction everywhere. Junk everywhere. Dust everywhere. People in my house everywhere-- including me! I'm on summer break, so I get to be present in this home for the madness.  This has turned out to be a blessing and a curse.  It's great for being able to answer questions, give immediate feedback, etc.  It's not so great for being comfortable in your own home amidst various worker bees and a huge mess.  However, all thing considered, things are going well.  So far, so smooth.

The only major hang-up right now is ME! Paint is my nemesis. I cannot choose a paint color. Cannot do it. I am wanting to go with a shade of gray.  Lucky me!! There are about 2.7 million different shades of gray.  

Grays that go to blue...to green...to purple... It's enough to make a person crazy.  What I'm really going for is a nice greige (gray-beige), but there are still TONS of greige options. And the worst part? They look crazy different in various light.  So I may think I like one in the morning, and by 3:00 p.m. it's in the garbage. Oy vey.

This is really the last choice I need to make, and then it's time to watch it all come together.  I'm nervous and excited.  Looking forward to some fun before & after comparisons!

Baby Rooney is Here!

I am an auntie again! Sweet Rooney Corrine Bell was born on Tuesday, June 19th!  She is beautiful, and she is the sweetest, snuggliest little gal.

Just after wrapping up the wedding weekend, I got word that Rooney was coming, and I headed up to NWA.  It was so fun and special to be there and get to hold baby girl when she was brand new to this world.

I ended up staying in NWA for the rest of the week and weekend, so I got lots of time to love on Rooney and take tons and tons of pictures!  Here are a few from the visit...

Proud parents!

Auntie Love

Video chatting with Austin, so he could see Rooney 

Showing Rooney her beautiful nursery 

Tiny peanut in that big crib!

Eskimo kisses with Auntie Em

Getting some Vitamin D  

Meeting Uncle Austin!

Snug as a bug! 

Bright eyes! 

Sweet baby girl!

Love, love, love this baby and her sweet parents. Already missing her, and can't wait to go back up and get my hands on her again!

Hitched!

Patty and Grace got married!  It was a whirlwind weekend of parties and celebrations, and it was all so perfect.

I could go on and on about every detail of the wedding weekend, but I think I'll just hit the highlights with a photo-recap of the events!

Thursday night was a fiesta...complete with mustaches and a mariachi band!

On Friday the gentlemen hit the links, and the ladies enjoyed the bridal luncheon.

On Friday evening we had the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  The dinner was such a sweet event filled with friends and family sharing fun stories and tons of love with Grace and Patrick. We loved every minute.

And Saturday, June 16th was the wedding day!

Her dress was beautiful, and Patrick looked so handsome.  They really make quite the lovely couple.  Cannot wait to see the actual wedding photos!

Naturally, the reception was a blast!  It was full of fabulous food, a great band, and tons of dancing!  Although I didn't take any pictures, I do have one super special video.  Patrick and his college bandmates reunited for a 2-song wedding performance, and it was awesome!

Such a wonderful weekend! It was so sweet to see my big brother as the groom, and I am so excited to have a Fleeman-sister!  Looking forward to years of major family fun!

Beach Friend-cation!

One of the perks of working for a school (of sorts) is that I get summer vacation! Seven weeks of work freedom to be exact. I am right in the middle of the break, and it's just the best thing.  There is a lot going on this summer, so it really came at the perfect time.  My weeks have been filling up with all kinds of fun things that I can't to share.

First things first....beach vacation! I finished up work on May 25th, and we headed to Destin on May 26th. It was the perfect way to kick-off summer.  The best part about this trip was that we went with the Rhoads, some of our dear friends from college.  I must say that friend-cation was a BLAST.  The drive down to Florida went so quickly because it was so fun to all catch up on life.  And then we spent everyday just lounging on the beach like pros.  We had no plans.  We just did what we felt like doing in the moment, and it was pure relaxation.  Plus, our set up (courtesy of the Rhoads) was amazing...

Can't hide our Razorback pride.

One of my favorite things that happened was losing our condo key on the beach.  Why exactly is this a good memory?  Well Austin had the key and then somehow he didn't.  Ruh-roh.  We just knew we would never be able to find a key in the sand.  Just then Nick spotted a man combing the beach for treasures with a metal detector.  Not a shy bone in his body, he asked the man to come check under our canopy to see if his metal detector would pick up the key.  He was a very nice man, and he obliged...

  And sure enough....he found the key.  Buried under several inches of sand.  It was amazing.

In the evenings we had dinner at some great places, and then stayed in and grilled at our place some, as well.  Here are a few pictures from our evenings out and about.

Barefoot BBQ food truck in Seaside

Caroline and I in Seaside

Appetizers on the deck at AJ's

On our last day at the beach, we decided to rent some stand-up paddle boards.  The water was like glass the first couple of days we were there, but of course, we decide to try these on the windiest, choppiest day of the trip.  It was a lot of fun but SO MUCH WORK. The size of the individual definitely makes a difference in being able to stay up on the board, so the girls had much better luck than the boys.  

It was a sad day to see this trip come to a close, but it was just what the doctor ordered.  A big thanks to the Rhoads for beach bumming with us! We loved every minute!

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go get fancy.... My brother is getting married tonight!!!!!! :)

♫ Summa Summa Summatime ♫

Ahhh...summertime...  This word transports me to a place where I feel warm sunshine on my face and hear the groovy tune by DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith. (Throwback!)

On our first free summer Saturday, we had an itch to get outdoors.  We headed out to a big local park that has a wide variety of activities. (Dying to go back and fish at Catch 'Em Lake!)  On this day we choose a visit to the Farmers Market and go strawberry picking!  I absolutely loved picking strawberries.  It was like a treasure hunt! I happened to mention that I thought I was quite good at it.  Austin had a different opinion.  We agreed to disagree.

Our haul for the day! Delicious!!

There are lots of other fun summer happenings going on with our nearest and dearest, but it's late, game 1 of the NBA Finals finally just ended, and so it's time for bed.  More summer fun to come!