Summertime...really?

I wouldn't know (except for the rise in temperature) as my summer has been jam-packed.

Since the last day of school my sister got married, I celebrated my birthday, Robert's birthday and our anniversary, have attended three professional conferences, tutored for the graduation exam, worked registration at MHS, administered the ACT, and taught incoming freshman about MHS at the Bridges event.

And it's only the beginning of July - how do I know this? Because the remainder of my summer (only a month) is just as packed - administer the graduation exam, prepare my classroom and begin planning for the fall semester, attend six more professional development conferences - including a national conference in Nashville for a week, work schedule/locker pick-up, and organize a Key Club Back to School event.

And for the record - I am not complaining - I truly enjoy being busy and productive - plus I am uber-thankful to have a job.

In our spare time, Robert and I are slowly working on projects around the house (a never-ending list when the house is celebrating it's 109th year standing), spending time with the dogs, and catching up on old TV shows via Netflix - ah, the good life! :-)

There's a very good reason...

why it has been over a month since I last posted - complete and utter chaos - good chaos - preparing for a wedding chaos.

My middle sister, Hartley, is getting married tomorrow and we could not be more excited for her!

As her matron of honor I hosted the bridal luncheon today and, if I do say so myself, it was a success.

The eats, the sweets, and the drinks :-)

even with the best of intentions...

As today is the last day of my Spring Break I am feeling a bit at odds with myself. See below. 

Spring Break To Do List: clean out flower-beds in the backyard, paint front porch chairs and swing, paint shed in backyard, read, work on rest of the year lesson plans, clean out/organize kitchen, paint kitchen, catch up on laundry, write, print and mail bridal luncheon invitations, clean out closet, furniture, cabinets and donate items not needed, polish hardwood floors, deep clean each room, take down wallpaper in guest bathroom and paint, and clean out and wash my car.  

Actual accomplishments of Spring Break: napped, cleaned out one side of flower-beds in backyard, read, began each morning with a cup of coffee and the newspaper, napped again, caught up (sort of ) on laundry, wrote, printed and mailed bridal luncheon invitations, napped some more, caught up on a few episodes (ok...more than a few - how about a whole season) of trash reality TV, spent time with my puppies - they like to nap, so that's what we did to bond, 

thought about plans for the rest of the school year, but only made it so far as to note that there are 23 days left, and kept a watchful eye on the nest of baby birds that are now calling a column on our front porch home. 

two of the five baby birds still in the nest and the one side of the flower-bed that I actually cleaned out...

So while the things that I intended to get done did not actually get done, I still feel as though I was productive - albeit minimally productive, but somewhat productive counts right? 

After all it was Spring Break and I do believe the intended purpose of such a break is to allow students and teachers time to relax and recharge in anticipation of the remainder of the school year. Well then, if the intended purpose of Spring Break is to relax and recharge, that I accomplished. :-)

Mr. Hawk's Office

He said he wanted to feel energetic while he works - well then, energetic it is. 

Again this project took longer than the "weekend" to complete, but i think it came out quite well. 

A Beautiful Mobile Day

Taking advantage of the glorious weather Robert and I spent the day at Battleship Park aboard the USS Alabama and the USS Drum. 

I cannot explain how much I LOVE living on the water. While I am not a beach person, there is something completely wonderful and absolutely soothing about living on the coast. 

love this picture of him... :-)

looks like they enjoyed the weather as much as we did

a little bit different...

the weekend renovation turned into a week-long renovation, but alas it is complete. i am excited about the changes that this project symbolizes and it greatly encourages me to continue taking on do-it-yourself projects.

before

after

as this project took a great deal of time and energy i am giving myself a little bit of a break before moving on to the next project - Mr. Hawk's office.

trying something new

With Mr. Hawk working non-stop I have taken it upon myself to begin working on house projects and I am starting with our guest bedroom. The room is currently painted bright blue a quite obnoxious bright blue which in no way fits with our decorating personality. As such I spent time this afternoon creating my vision for the room and a shopping list to match that vision. Since moving into this house home improvement stores have become my favorite shopping trips and tonight was nothing new - I truly could spend hours roaming the aisles.

This weekend is certain to be exciting to see the changes of the room and I am hoping it is only the first of many future weekend do-it-yourself renovations.

i just can't not take their picture

As I was going through my pictures the other day I realized that I have more pictures of our dogs than of Robert and I. And I am pretty sure that I am obsessed with photographing them - when they sleep, when they are awake, when we go on walks, when we are in the car - anywhere really. Maybe it's the photographer's daughter in me, maybe it shows how much I care about them - maybe both, but I just can't seem to get enough pictures of our three, four-legged children.

Charlie

In the pic on the right he was hiding at the vet's office...

Lucky

Gracie

Some of my favorite candids...

Charlie IN A TREE.


Lucky has an obsession with being UNDER the covers


The thermostat read 56...

Lucky's has another obsession - she loves to be outside. When we lived in the upstairs apartment, this was as close as she could get - so glad we have a doggie door now!

She has a fear of slipping on the floor and she will put one paw in and out of the doggie door numerous times until she gets a solid footing.

Mr. Hawk prepping for the bar exam and his diligent study buddy keeping him company.

Our famous baby girl...

Went to get something out of the closet and this is what Robert found...

Mid-shake

PRICELESS...

drum roll please...

IT IS FINISHED! The work is done and we could not be happier for two reasons - one, we can get back to living in a clean house not a construction site and two, it looks and feels like our HOME now. 

I am thinking BEFORE (left) and AFTER (right) shots are in order, so here it goes...

Front of the House 

Left Side of the House 

Right Side of the House 

Back of the House

In my personal opinion one example of the epitome of a southern coastal town are the homes with big front porches that have a swing. This swing came from the apartment Robert and I lived in before we got married and just so happens to be the swing that he proposed to me on. 

With our historic home through its biggest renovation in decades, we can now truly begin to enjoy its long and steadfast history while sipping mint juleps on our front porch swinging in the coastal breeze.