Designs By My Father In Law

Over the summer my inlaws came to visit us for a few days.  Decorating is my MIL's hobby!  She has an amazing eye for color and she's always looking for new ideas.  Though our styles are very different, I enjoy browsing stores and looking at model homes with her.  She always notes the details, while I'm keeping my eye on the "big picture".

My FIL on the other hand has a thing for all things floral!  When the Mister and I started dating he was an avid yardman.  He really enjoyed planting flowers and would spend many Saturdays in Lowe's and Home Depot.  Then he tried his hand at floral arrangements to add to the decor of their home.  Let's just say the MIL and FIL make a great decorating team.  Now he's turned this hobby of his into a business, Designs by Charles Taylor.  And I happened to be the beneficiary of a few of his pieces!

This one sits in a niche in our entryway...while they were in town I found some iron pieces that matched the vase perfectly.  Now they hang on the wall about the niche going up the stairs.

  My favorite!  It sits in a niche in one of our hallways.

My runner up!  This one matches our kitchen perfectly...it usually sits on top of our fridge.

In a little niche on our bedroom...the splash of yellow comes from paintings hanging above our bed.

Mister's favorite.....our mantle piece!  It ties together all of the different colors in our rug and the throw pillows on our sectional.  

Mister's parents during their visit this summer.  

Many, many thanks to Mister's mom and pop for adding an extra touch of love to the humble abode! 

TV Update

What's on my DVR?  I'm glad you asked!

The Young and Restless - I'm finally all caught up!  I'm glad they are over the dark story lines...and it's starting to make a little bit more sense.  We'll see if they keep it up....in the mean time I keep watching!
Oprah Winfrey - This is her last season.....
Down Home With the Neelys - They are about to lose me!  I used to love them, but I find that she's a bit much sometimes.  I'm also not really finding the recipes appealing.
The Good Wife - Season 2 starts tomorrow!  I watched the last episode of Season 1 this morning and I hope the writers can keep it up.
Undercover Boss - I've always wondered it the execs really knew what they were asking of their employees.  After watching this last season....it's obvious they don't.  I liked it!
Mad Men - I don't know how you couldn't like it!
The Real Housewives of D.C. - They are definitely not my favorite cast...but I can appreciate a classy African American woman!  Especially since there are so many that aren't and they get plenty of TV time.
Barefoot Contessa - At first I thought she was boring and then I started to like her music.  Some kinda way I've grown to love her!
LaLa's Full Court Wedding - I had to support the "Athlete's Wife".  I didn't know much about her away from MTV...and I think I really like!  She seems so down to Earth!
Keeping Up With the Kardashians - I had to throw some trash t.v. in there somewhere!  Not to "hate" on them, but I'm still trying to figure out what you call their "career"?
Fantasia For Real - A HOT MESS!  That about sums it up!
Biography on CNBC - Mister watches this....it jolts his entrepreneurial spirit!
American Greed - See "Biography on CNBC"

I'm trying to get away from watching so much trash t.v. and really watch some shows that have story lines. I was just telling my Momma the other day that I have fallen behind on so many of the dramas that I loved to keep up with "reality TV circus".  So I guess I'm trying to wean myself from so much r.t. and get back to Grey's, Private Practice, and the likes.  Maybe before this TV season is over I'll latch on to The Undercovers....it looks like it may have lots of promise.  We'll see what kind of reviews it gets!  Happy t.v. watching!  

6 Years

the day before we became official - 2004

We were juniors in college, 19 and 20 years old, who had been doing the long distance, talking on the phone thing for the past 8 months.  So I flew home for my sister's birthday and we all went to the Indiana-Kentucky football game.  "We all" meaning my family and his family....interesting!  It was there that the Mister and I decided that we would likely become a little more than friends.  The next day he asked me if I wanted to make it official...making September 21, 2004 the start of this little love story!  

I still can't believe that it's been 6 years....before we started dating I had never had a boyfriend for longer than 6 months.  He really got me!  The past 6 years have been a lot of fun...here's a timeline of some of our milestones.

2004 - the start

2005 - celebrated our 1st Valentine's Day, Mister graduated from college

2006 - I graduated from college, Mister started his NFL career, we got engaged

2007 - I moved to Houston and started my first "real" job, Mister had knee surgery, we bought a house

2008 - we got married, Mister was released from his team, Mister turned 25, 

2009 - Mister signed with a new team, Mister had shoulder surgery, I turned 25

2010 - hasn't been nearly as eventful as the others...but it's only September

Happy Birthday Neish!

 21 Things About Neish:

1. She's the athlete of the family

2. She's crafty

3. She was short as a kid...and somehow grew to 5'6

4. She's a wild sleeper

5. She loves to bake

6. She is so strong and she doesn't even know it

7. She is very spontaneous

8. She's a dog lover

9. She bites her nails

10. She loves the country (Fairfield)

11. She's really good with little kids

12. Mister says she should be a dj because she loves music

13. She loves to drive...and it drives me crazy

14. Everyone thinks she looks like Lisa Turtle from Saved By The Bell

15. Now people thinks she looks like Zoe Saldana

16. She cries when she gets sick

17. She's moody when she's hungry

18. She thinks she can save the world...one good deed at a time

19. Her nicknames are Tootie and Fufi

20. I picked the name Karneisha

21. I love her soooo much! 

Today is my little sister's 21st Birthday!  I can't believe she's a junior in college, legal, and becoming a little woman!  I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday...I was a little bitty 4 year old who was anxious to have a baby sis.  I got exactly what I asked for!  Hope you have a super FAB birthday Neish!!!!

Teal Toes

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.  Teal Toes aims to spread the word about ovarian cancer awareness.  Ovarian cancer is also known as the whispering killer.  Teal is the ovarian cancer awareness color.


Why raise awareness?

* Too many women with ovarian cancer do not get diagnosed until their cancer has spread. Their survival rate is 45%.
* The survival rate improves greatly - to 93 percent - if the cancer is diagnosed at an early stage before it has spread. Only 19 percent of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed at this local stage.
* Approximately 75 percent of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage after the cancer has spread beyond the ovary.

More info can be found at Ovarian Cancer National Alliance. 

Mary S. Banks

1928 - 2003

Today Mommy, Neish, and I went and got pedicures and in honor of my Grandma we had our toes painted teal!  

Smiley Bycie

I got a message today from Colorado from the cutest little smiling baby!  He's away from home nursing his Daddy back to health.  This was his way of saying his Daddy's surgery was a success and they had a good day post-op!  I'm sure Bycie is holding down the fort, big brother Daylen is leading the troops!  So many prayers going up for Bycie's Daddy...for a fast recovery!  And plenty for Bycie's Mommie too!  ;)

A Kid Who Watched TV for 25 Years

I can't believe this is Oprah's last season, she was a staple in my childhood!  When I think back to being a kid I always remember her show being on when I got home from school.  My momma used to watch her while she started cooking dinner.  Anybody around my age associates Family Matters and Full House with T.G.I.F. on ABC.  You know how a specific smell or a certain song can take you back to a special place.  When I hear the music for Monday Night Football it reminds me of the Cowboys, the Emmitt Smith, Michael Irving, Troy Aikman Cowboys!  Or when someone parts my hair it makes me think of Dallas...the t.v. show because my mom always watched that while she combed my hair at night before bed.

Image: www.art.com

Oprah is one the few things that survived all of the network shuffles, year after year.   It's one of the few things that I can say has been around longer than me.  Unlike, cell phones or laptop computers.  When E.R. wrapped 2 years ago...it was sad!  My momma and Aunt Princess used to have weekly Thursday night phone calls to recap what Eric LaSalle, George Clooney, and Juliannna Margulies were up to.  A few weeks ago Mary Hart from Entertainment Tonight announced that she would be retiring.  It never dawned on me that she was old, and definitely not old enough to retire.  She too has been on t.v. forever, and she and John Tess were the excitement that came on after the evening news.  Channel 8 in Dallas was always on at my house.  I even remember the news reporters!

Image: www.workingnurse.com

But it has hit me that I'm am getting older!  I'm no longer a kid who watches whatever my momma has on tv when I get home from school.  I get that what is on t.v. now hasn't really been on that long.  This Oprah thing is kinda like the changing of the guard.  That what I grew up with will be considered history for my kids.  (I still haven't gotten over the fact that I'm married and old enough to have kids.)  Kinda like phones with cords or televisions with a big back.  I'm only 25 but when you're a kid everything is new and you haven't been around long enough for anything to happen.  Saturday I was watching the replays of the September 11 reports and it dawned on me that Katie Couric was on the Today show then.  That September 11th, 2001 was really 9 years ago....I was a senior in high school.

Image: www.weratethings.com

I say all of this to really say that I'm going to miss Oprah!  Not because I won't have anything else to watch....but this ends the chapter of one's said childhood.  I'll be 26 in November and although I do adult like things (married, homeowner, etc.)  I'm still a kid trapped in the body of a grown woman!  Thanks to reruns of the Cosby Show, Fresh Prince, America's Funniest Home Videos I can still take myself back to that place.  Oprah's Farewell Season has made me realize that I need not be so nostalgic when it comes to my past but really embrace my future!  Not really think so much as to how much t.v. has changed but really look at how much I have changed!

Just A Thought

 "Character is what you really are. Reputation is what other folk think about you." -- Dr. Tony Evans

Nature

Daddy, Mister, and I were outside this afternoon watching our Thanksgiving turkey out in this open field.  I'm all for organic...I just haven't gone this far yet!  The weather here has cooled off so they were just out for a brisk stroll through the woods.  It was interesting to see the biggest turkey lead them all.  

Every time I see nature in motion...I think...."if you didn't already know,there has to be a God"!

Waiting

"Whenever God closes one door He always opens another even though, sometimes it's Hell in the hallway." --Unknown

As I mentioned before it's "cut" weekend in the NFL...and well....we got CUT!

So now we WAIT!

Wait for the next TEAM.

Wait for the next CITY.

Wait for GOD to turn the page to the next chapter in our book.

So while we believe that He has a plan...we just don't know what....so we'll WAIT!

"...then you will know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed who WAIT for Me."  

-- Isaiah 49:23 NKJV

Lazy

This is what our Sunday looked like ;)

Maxed Out!!

The Mister is sick!  I'm running on fumes!  And it's cut weekend in the NFL.....we're whooped!

This is the "sick station"!  

Sick Station Contents:

2 bags of Ricola Natural Cough Drops

1 bottle of hand sanitizer (for me)

1 ear thermometer

1 cell phone

1 bag of Luden's throat drops (because he hates the real thing and these taste like candy)

1 box of DayQuil and NyQuil caplets

1 bottle of Sunquist soda (because he's not a fan of orange juice)

1 box of Kleenex 

Happy Labor Day Weekend....we'll be in recovery mode!

Scenes from Preseason Game 3

Pregame Warm up....I can never get him facing me!

The crowd after the LOSS....not too happy.

Daddy, me, and Momma after the game!  We were heading home....it was a long night!

Hopefully we get a win this week!