Kitchen Updates

So long crackle paint - hello new sheetrock! That's right, walls that were once covered with the lovely paint treatment are being replaced with a blank canvas.

One of my favorite features in the kitchen is this fabulous built-in cabinet. If you look closely, you can see that the previous owners even took great "care" to crackle paint this little beauty, too. But one day soon, this will be all sanded down and painted black. Yum!


Here are some pictures of our kitchen cabinets after Jerry did a little rearranging. The short set of cabinets used to be on the outside, but he moved them to the middle to create more symmetry. Trust me when I tell you that this looks MUCH better than it used to. Now just to add a little subway tile backsplash...


Here's another shot of the other wall of the kitchen being worked on.


And the wall next to the built-in will soon be covered with wainscoting below the sheetrock. Jerry's going to put up the wainscoting and paint it crisp white like the rest of the trim.


I've been thinking a lot about paint colors, and I'm leaning towards the same apple color that we put in the little bathroom. That color just makes me smile because it is so cheerful. I'll post more pictures as we make a little more progress.

Happy Birthday, Yancey

Last weekend Jerry and I went to Greensboro, NC, to visit my friend Pam, her husband Yancey, and their sweet baby Alex. Pam and I became friends from my days working on Thomasville. She was one of my clients there.

During our visit, we went to Carrabba's to celebrate Yancey's birthday - happy birthday, Yancey! The chef made a HUGE birthday cake that was big enough to feed our table, people in the restaurant, and the staff, too. I'm telling you, it was ginormous! And delicious, too!

A little baby bump

15 weeks and a little bit of a baby bump!

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails

That's what little BOYS are made of. That's right, for those of you who may not have heard, we're having a BOY! I have known it all along. Now, if we could only figure out a name... What do you think - do you have any boys' names that you like? If so, post a comment for us.

Small Scare

Jerry and I spent the better part of the day today in the emergency room because last night I had some bleeding. The doctors did some blood tests - hormone levels are where they should be - and a sonogram - baby's heartbeat is strong. Everything checked out ok, but we welcome any prayers! Hopefully the bleeding will subside in the next day or so.

On a happier note, we got to find out if we're having a boy or a girl. I'm not going to reveal tonight, but I would love for you to post a comment and tell me what you think!

By the way, we're a little further along than we thought. Baby's head and abdomen circumference measure 14 weeks and 2 days. New projected delivery date is July 17.

The Littlest Blessing

Meet our sweet little Baby Correa. It's hard to imagine that in just a few short months Jerry and I will be parents. We're still getting used to saying that!



According to this sonogram picture, Baby will make a grand debut somewhere between July 21 and July 28. That means that today I'm somewhere between 12 and 13 weeks. And Baby is somewhere between the size of a lime and a peach.

The first trimester was very easy for me. (Sorry to all of my friends who've had the complete opposite experience!) I think God knew that getting used to a new city, a new role at work, and a home that's being remodeled were about all I could take on top of the news that we're expecting. It's been a lot to adjust to, but we're starting to get a little more settled in now.

Before I sign off today, I just want to tell all of you how very much Jerry and I appreciate your encouragement, your thoughts, your prayers, and your love. You bless us beyond measure, and it's what keeps us going.

Making Progress

Jerry's been working hard this weekend on the downstairs guest bathroom. You remember the before, right? (Although, I don't blame you if you've tried to forget it - I certainly have.)


Well here it is now! I LOVE the apple green paint with the black and white tiles.


Now just picture crown molding, a new toilet below the built-in cabinet, and the sink, mirror, and light fixture re-installed. Can you see it?


Not only are we a little closer to having this room finished, but we're one step closer to having the house ready for some guests. Hint, hint! =)

Calling in the special forces

Mirabelle needs so much help. She's quite pitiful looking right now. And while we're making progress with the sheet rock work, we still have two major projects to tackle that haven't even been started: the upstairs guest bath and the master suite. And so I've decided to call in the special forces. Enter Layla Palmer - aspiring interior designer and blogger extraordinaire.

My mom found Layla's blog and told me I MUST check it out. It's fantastic - especially if you're ever in the market for design inspiration. Anyway, Layla's working up a design for our master bedroom as I write. I'll post her recommendations when she's finished with them.

In the meantime, I also need to get in touch with a bathroom remodeling company to tackle the master bath. When they help us figure out how to re-plumb and re-wire the lighting and electrical outlets, I'm going to send the photos to Layla so that she can help us finish out the decorating and finishing touches for that room, too, so that the master suite is all one beautiful, cohesive space.

Here's what the master bedroom looks like today.



This should be a good one! Stay tuned...

Guest Bath 1

Besides the sheet rock work, the first project we're tackling is remodeling the downstairs bath. It's a tiny little bathroom, so we figured it would be the easiest to take on. Here are the before pics.



And here's what she looks like today as a work in progress.


What we've done:
• Replaced the mint green tiles with subway tile.
• Ripped out the green marble linoleum flooring. (Thank goodness!)
• Added bead board.

What's left to do:
• Add the bullnose trim border around the subway tile. It will be black.
• Replace the toilet. (You don't even want to see what it looked like before!)
• Add the basecap trim.
• Paint the trim and beadboard white.
• Paint the walls Laura Ashley Apple 3. (See photo below)
• Put down new tile floor. (See photo below)
• Replace the light fixture
• Put the mirror back in place.


This little bathroom is going to be a gem when she's done! I can't wait to have one room complete!

Mirabelle's Makeover

Well we've finally gotten Mirabelle's makeover underway. And boy has it been a mess! Imagine the dust you see on our dining room furniture all over our ENTIRE house. In fact, Jerry and I spent our New Year's trying to clean the hardwoods upstairs because we just couldn't stand the filth anymore. It was a futile act because the painters will soon be sanding the trim to get it ready for painting. But I needed to have some cleanliness (and I use this word loosely), even if it is only for a few days.

So here's a sneak peak at the work in progress. This photo is of the stairway. The walls and ceiling used to have layers of cracked and peeling wallpaper. Mmm - nice. Since we sheet rocked on top of the existing plaster, we had to remove the top part of the base board so that the sheet rock didn't extend beyond it. We thought the base cap would be easy enough to replace - just a quick trip to Home Depot, right? Wrong. Luckily, Jerry found a mill in the town next to Roanoke where they created a "key" that matched the original design of the base cap, and we had them custom cut enough linear footage to replace it for the entire house.

Home for the Holidays

Jerry and I had our own version of "Four Christmases" this year. Fortunately, they were nothing like the craziness we saw in the movie. Quite the contrary, our visits with family were WONDERFUL, and we were incredibly blessed to have been able to spend time together with everyone. It was the best gift we could have gotten.

Our first stop was to visit Lisa, Wes and Isabel. We had great fun hanging out and going to church with them. In fact, here's a picture of Isabel all dressed up for the Sunday service. One of the ladies at their church made this dress for her from a vintage tablecloth.


Next stop was to Jerry's parents where we had prime rib, fresh green beans, and potatoes au gratin for our Christmas Eve meal. Yum! We also got to eat at one of our favorite Longview haunts - Pizza King. Double yum!!


Then it was on to Mom and Evan's house. We had our usual Christmas crew - Mom, Evan, Audra, Kathy, Troy, Jerry and me. Zack was there earlier that morning, but then he got called in to work. =( We missed you, Zack.


And our last stop was to Greg and Janna's. I could kick myself for not getting any pictures of the four of us! But we had a grand time nonetheless. We all went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which by the way was very good. Don't forget to pack your tissues. We also had to do a little refrigerator shopping because their fridge went out. Nothing like having to buy new appliances right on the heels of Christmas...

Thank you all for making our holidays so special! We love you tons and look forward to our next visit!