Hope you have a fabulous birthday!
Please wish my beautiful mother a Happy Birthday by leaving a comment below or posting on her wall on Facebook :)
Love you Mom!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
House Items Done and Those On the List
It might come as no surprise that we have a list on our computer of the items we have done and plan to do to our home with estimates of cost as well as ranking of preference to what’s more important. However, what might come as a surprise is that Henry made that list :) Yes yes, I must boast for him! For that reason, in addition to my blogging and photographing, I can really SEE just how much we have done here since we moved in just 4 months ago! Not only is it a list of what we have done to the house but also a list of things we have purchased for a home.
So, here’s everything we have done:
- Replaced light fixture in hallway with this one. Blogged about it here.
- Dad and Henry cleaned up the back side of the house where the breaker box was (and made it very challenging for the Uverse people {snicker snicker}). Blogged about it here.
- Repaired the doorbell button at the front door. It works!
- Ordered the most fabulous washer and dryer ever! Blogged about it here.
- I painted like a mad woman all over the house. Blogged about that here, here, here and here, but still haven’t showed all of it.
- I sanded down the texture of the ceiling in the office and repainted the ceiling. Blogged about it here.
- Henry and Justin removed the old laundry room cabinets.
- Henry repaired the sheetrock in the laundry room and did a FABULOUS job.
- I painted the laundry room.
- Henry installed new shelving that I purchased from Ikea.
- Henry and Kevin installed the most fabulous washer and dryer ever! Blogged about 7-11 here.
- Henry repaired a hole he made in the ceiling. Blogged about that here w/ a video ;)
- Installed a new breakfast area light. Blogged about it here.
- Installed a new bedroom ceiling fan. Blogged about that here.
- Henry got a new weed eater :)
- Installed a new entryway light. Blogged about it here.
- Had our curb address repainted (pics to come later).
- Replaced circa 1971 garage door opener with hefty, sturdy, Craftsman 2010 garage door opener! (pics to come later)
I’d say that’s a pretty decent list of stuff! Don’t you? Well, the list is still pretty long of stuff we want to do, but I like that as it gives us something to work towards. Currently, this is the problem that troubles us.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Kidney for Kendrick
Over the last 2 to 3 weeks, Henry and I have been working with the community group that we joined at Crossbridge Church. This is, in fact, the same church that Carissa and Nick attend, for those that know them :) We are currently seeing what God has for us, and we are considering two churches at this time. Nonetheless, we are planning to be with this community group for the duration of the current bible study that the group is doing. The church is really working towards trying to be better servants, thus community groups become those that facilitate that. A member of the group found a great opportunity, and we put together a garage sale/bake sale/raffle for this young man, Kendrick, who is is in need of a kidney due to kidney failure. Yes, of course I made something for the bake sale :) I made these.
Last week, Henry and I pulled out all of those boxes we had marked GARAGE SALE over the past couple of moves that we had made. I’d been waiting for a garage sale to happen so that I could get rid of this stuff, but both of us honestly thought we’d be at the community garage sale here in Westbury sitting at a table trying to get rid of it all. I’m happy to say that we didn’t have to do that and were able to donate so much of our stuff to a much better cause than ourselves.
We were up and ready to go at 5:50am and unloading Stella by 7:15am at the garage sale location. There were lots and lots of visitors, thank the Lord! Granted, this picture is mostly just of us in the community group :)
Just a little snapshot of Eden, Carissa, Trudy, Kimberly and me while I was breaking from directing traffic :), 
As you can tell, Trudy was ready to collect the money! :) Yes, I did say above that I was directing traffic. Henry and I stood out in the street, (one on one side and one on the other) directing cars to the proper location since it was slightly confusing to find. For somewhere between 2-3 hours total, I was like a cop directing traffic. My arm defintely hurt the next morning, Haha! It was fun though :)
Oh, and just for kicks, because she’s just so adorable, check out sweet Eden :)
Anyway, Henry and I were so thankful to come home and know that we had cleared out so much stuff from our house. The most important thing though was that, as a group, were were able to raise so much money to help not only Kendrick’s family, but the family who is donating a kidney to Kendrick as well. By the way, his donor happens to be his boss.
Last week, Henry and I pulled out all of those boxes we had marked GARAGE SALE over the past couple of moves that we had made. I’d been waiting for a garage sale to happen so that I could get rid of this stuff, but both of us honestly thought we’d be at the community garage sale here in Westbury sitting at a table trying to get rid of it all. I’m happy to say that we didn’t have to do that and were able to donate so much of our stuff to a much better cause than ourselves.
We were up and ready to go at 5:50am and unloading Stella by 7:15am at the garage sale location. There were lots and lots of visitors, thank the Lord! Granted, this picture is mostly just of us in the community group :)
Just a little snapshot of Eden, Carissa, Trudy, Kimberly and me while I was breaking from directing traffic :), 
As you can tell, Trudy was ready to collect the money! :) Yes, I did say above that I was directing traffic. Henry and I stood out in the street, (one on one side and one on the other) directing cars to the proper location since it was slightly confusing to find. For somewhere between 2-3 hours total, I was like a cop directing traffic. My arm defintely hurt the next morning, Haha! It was fun though :)
Oh, and just for kicks, because she’s just so adorable, check out sweet Eden :)
Anyway, Henry and I were so thankful to come home and know that we had cleared out so much stuff from our house. The most important thing though was that, as a group, were were able to raise so much money to help not only Kendrick’s family, but the family who is donating a kidney to Kendrick as well. By the way, his donor happens to be his boss.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
The New Entryway Light
It’s finally in! The Entryway light, though ordered on December 22nd, came in last Friday :) Last night, Henry installed it for me! Remember what it looked like before?
Now, here’s the new light!
Henry and I realized part of the reason why we disliked the first light so much when we took it down; there was only one bulb in it. Granted, that’s not the only reason, but we knew the amount of light was one of the reasons. I feel like the new light fits in so much better with the door and the overall feel of the entryway. Who knew an entryway could be so important, right?
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Valentine’s Day
Wow, I know this is really late, but I’m finally getting to share our fab weekend plans! Sorry, I didn’t take any pics, so good ol’ reading is all I have for ya.
Friday night, Henry and I decided to see Valentine’s Day. I actually thought it was really good, and Henry agreed that it was better than most chic movies. We then tried out Amazon Grill, which we had never been to. We both really liked it and look forward to going back! Afterwards, my hubby decided to take me to The Chocolate Bar! After sharing the details of our awesome night out with Kelly G., Blessing began to become very eager about visiting the Chocolate Bar when he/she brings her Mommy and Daddy to Houston one day :)
Saturday, we, of course, slept in; I until 10:30am and Henry…well, he’s a Borchard…he slept until the P.M. ;) We then made a trip to Lowe’s, Chick Fila (yum!), Henry fertilized and I washed our vehicles :) P.S. Black Pearl is OFFCIALLY out of warranty after only a year and a half as she reached 36,000 miles. Anyway, that evening we went to Gugliani’s for dinner since there is one by our house now! Very yummy. Henry then let me try Piccomolo for the first time :) Not the same as Italy, but not bad either
Sunday, we continued our search for a new church and did a 2nd visit at Grace Bible Church in the Heights. Just when I thought the service was over, we, of course were not noticed since we don’t know anyone there, and we were headed out the church…
“Krista!”
“OMG. I didn’t wear makeup. No one here knows me. Who is this calling my name?!”
Haha, it was Lydia! Lydia worked with Anne, my ol’ roomate, when Anne was at BP. Lydia is such a sweet girl, and I was very excited to see her. Shocked and confused at first, yes, but still very cool to see her.
That afternoon, Henry and I exchanged V-day gifts. I got him cufflinks as he has been begging me for some for over a year. I finally listened :) He was very very excited!
He got me one of the best cards ever that totally fits our relationship. I was very impressed with his efforts already. Then he did his trademark gift; self-printed gift certificates for things he knows I want. Haha! I’ve gotten many of these over the years, and I love them. So creative and definitely a “Henry” thing :) He is going to let me get one of my bridals printed as well as one of our wedding photos printed and have them both custom framed :) He also wants us to get a couples massage together. I requested that we save that for our anniversary which is just about a month away! Crazy that 2 years have almost gone by. He also got me some stuff from Vickie’s, but…I returned it. I know, I’m bad. I felt the other stuff was generous enough!
Anyway, Henry’s had a lot of work going on this week and man…my career in domestic engineering has been very rough this week! I’m just so busy! Speaking of which, it calls for an early morning so I better head to bed! ;)
Friday night, Henry and I decided to see Valentine’s Day. I actually thought it was really good, and Henry agreed that it was better than most chic movies. We then tried out Amazon Grill, which we had never been to. We both really liked it and look forward to going back! Afterwards, my hubby decided to take me to The Chocolate Bar! After sharing the details of our awesome night out with Kelly G., Blessing began to become very eager about visiting the Chocolate Bar when he/she brings her Mommy and Daddy to Houston one day :)
Saturday, we, of course, slept in; I until 10:30am and Henry…well, he’s a Borchard…he slept until the P.M. ;) We then made a trip to Lowe’s, Chick Fila (yum!), Henry fertilized and I washed our vehicles :) P.S. Black Pearl is OFFCIALLY out of warranty after only a year and a half as she reached 36,000 miles. Anyway, that evening we went to Gugliani’s for dinner since there is one by our house now! Very yummy. Henry then let me try Piccomolo for the first time :) Not the same as Italy, but not bad either
Sunday, we continued our search for a new church and did a 2nd visit at Grace Bible Church in the Heights. Just when I thought the service was over, we, of course were not noticed since we don’t know anyone there, and we were headed out the church…
“Krista!”
“OMG. I didn’t wear makeup. No one here knows me. Who is this calling my name?!”
Haha, it was Lydia! Lydia worked with Anne, my ol’ roomate, when Anne was at BP. Lydia is such a sweet girl, and I was very excited to see her. Shocked and confused at first, yes, but still very cool to see her.
That afternoon, Henry and I exchanged V-day gifts. I got him cufflinks as he has been begging me for some for over a year. I finally listened :) He was very very excited!
He got me one of the best cards ever that totally fits our relationship. I was very impressed with his efforts already. Then he did his trademark gift; self-printed gift certificates for things he knows I want. Haha! I’ve gotten many of these over the years, and I love them. So creative and definitely a “Henry” thing :) He is going to let me get one of my bridals printed as well as one of our wedding photos printed and have them both custom framed :) He also wants us to get a couples massage together. I requested that we save that for our anniversary which is just about a month away! Crazy that 2 years have almost gone by. He also got me some stuff from Vickie’s, but…I returned it. I know, I’m bad. I felt the other stuff was generous enough!
Anyway, Henry’s had a lot of work going on this week and man…my career in domestic engineering has been very rough this week! I’m just so busy! Speaking of which, it calls for an early morning so I better head to bed! ;)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Breakfast Area Light
Back at the beginning of December, Henry and I had all we could take with the original light that came with our home purchase in the breakfast area. Our heads had knocked it enough, and we were concerned that it was falling farther and farther out of the ceiling. Yikes! You can see from the picture below that the light is not hanging straight, is way too long, and is just all wrong from the year 1968. Thus, it came down!
We found a semi-flushmount from Lowe's to replace the outdated light, and my fabulous husband installed it!
So much better!
....and less Advil.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Creative Multi-Photo Frame
So, for anyone that knew me in high school, you probably remember that I was a total frame-aholic. Seriously, I could never get enough picture frames. They were ALWAYS on my wish list!
Well, of course, now I want to purge myself of the unnecessary amounts that I have. As I continued to open boxes in our unpacking process, I noticed that I had quite a number of wooden frames. I thought of something I could do with all of them! Henry thought I was totally crazy....but that never stops me ;)
Here are the excess of frames we started with, and there were actually more that were added to this.
After MUCH wood glue, drilling, and piecing the frames together, we decided to go with a design sort of like this. It really ended up being less rows and more columns.
Then, I did some spray painting and added some finish to it as well. I made the entire thing hangable, and here it rests on our accent wall in the dining room!
This next picture shows the color a little better. It's actually Espresso and not so brown as these pictures depict.
Well, of course, now I want to purge myself of the unnecessary amounts that I have. As I continued to open boxes in our unpacking process, I noticed that I had quite a number of wooden frames. I thought of something I could do with all of them! Henry thought I was totally crazy....but that never stops me ;)
Here are the excess of frames we started with, and there were actually more that were added to this.
After MUCH wood glue, drilling, and piecing the frames together, we decided to go with a design sort of like this. It really ended up being less rows and more columns.
Then, I did some spray painting and added some finish to it as well. I made the entire thing hangable, and here it rests on our accent wall in the dining room!
This next picture shows the color a little better. It's actually Espresso and not so brown as these pictures depict.
What do you think?
Pssssst, Grant family, that's you in the top right corner ;)
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Wedding Weekend
Last weekend, Henry and I were invited to 3 weddings. Well, math can tell you that we aren't going to make all three :)
I was already committed to helping with a family friend's wedding. Kristen Benkendorfer married Kyle Fluker on January 30th in Spring, and I was fortunate enough to be allowed to be a part of the festivities! I had a blast helping throughout the planning process a little bit and then continuing my help during the weekend. I don't have any of my own pics to share since Henry had the camera with him (more on that in a sec), but I'm borrowing one of Emily's pics from the wedding :)
Henry and I didn't want to skip out on some other good friend and their fabulous wedding either. Thus, we decided to split up. While I was at Kristen and Kyle's wedding, Henry was in the Midland/Odessa area at Jamie and Ben's wedding!
I was already committed to helping with a family friend's wedding. Kristen Benkendorfer married Kyle Fluker on January 30th in Spring, and I was fortunate enough to be allowed to be a part of the festivities! I had a blast helping throughout the planning process a little bit and then continuing my help during the weekend. I don't have any of my own pics to share since Henry had the camera with him (more on that in a sec), but I'm borrowing one of Emily's pics from the wedding :)
Henry and I didn't want to skip out on some other good friend and their fabulous wedding either. Thus, we decided to split up. While I was at Kristen and Kyle's wedding, Henry was in the Midland/Odessa area at Jamie and Ben's wedding!
I sent the camera with Henry, and he did fabulous by taking 90-100 pictures so that I could see the wedding via photos. He knows how upset I was to have missed Jamie and Ben's wedding, and he also knows there were some tears shed over me not being to come (my tears, FYI). Anyway, I know he had a fabulous time with all of our friends!!!
Thus, one wedding had to be missed :( Sadly, we missed Adam Robeau and Lindsay Luxardo getting hitched. Sorry guys! We hope it was a fabulous wedding!
Congrats to all of you, and thanks for inviting us to be a part it!
Stella/KB's Toy at 120,000 miles!
Yes, that's right, KB's Toy is still alive and kickin'! I'm sorry, but I'm just extremely proud of my 9 year and 4 month old prized possession.I know there are a lot of people who thought I was spoiled only child when I got my truck and probably thought I'd wreck a brand new vehicle or 'ask Daddy for something new in 2 years.'
Who's laughing now?!
I don't think even my parents realized how much I would love this truck when they gave it to me. I tried to hold back tears of excitement when I got my truck, but what's the use? I cried, and I'm proud of it...now. I really didn't think I'd get the EXACT truck I hoped for; after all, I literally though it was a dream. A 16-year-old dream.
I mean, how many people can say they are still driving their first vehicle at my age? I know there are some out there, I understand that, but it's not a lot of people, I think.
Nevertheless, I'm quite proud of how well I've maintained her, kept up with her, kept her clean, and wowed lube shops when they realize just how old she is :) It always brings a smile to my face when they guess it's a 2003, but she's really a 2000 :)
A huge thank you to my parents for paying for it (let's be honest). KB's Toy shows no sign of backing down or giving me any problems (knock on wood). In my opinion, she still runs as good as the day I got her. How's that for all of you that dogged me getting a Ford?! Fix or Repair Daily my rear end. Are YOU still driving the same Chevy you were the day you said that to me?
I'm sorry; God could totally show me that pride is too much for this, I'm sure, but I really am proud of this one earthly possession. I hope to still be proud when she's 15 and 20 years old. I'm hoping we can at least keep her until 15 years because then it's only 10 more until she's an antique! I'm not going to lie...I really do want to keep her that long.
Ok, thus ends my Ode to Stella.
I love my truck!
Our Entryway
This is the before. I took this photo during our option period.
Well, this is not actually anything new, but it's new to our blog :) We finished painting our entryway the week of Christmas. We then hung our crosses on the wall, and that's really all that is new in here. Our front door was new, but was part of the home when we purchased it. The light fixture is awful, but we are waiting for that improvement to come in the mail. We ordered a new light right before Christmas, but it's been backordered since then. We are told it will come in the first week of March.
The color we painted in here is Latte from Sherwin-Williams.
Here's the after! :)
Well, this is not actually anything new, but it's new to our blog :) We finished painting our entryway the week of Christmas. We then hung our crosses on the wall, and that's really all that is new in here. Our front door was new, but was part of the home when we purchased it. The light fixture is awful, but we are waiting for that improvement to come in the mail. We ordered a new light right before Christmas, but it's been backordered since then. We are told it will come in the first week of March.We'll see about that.
The color we painted in here is Latte from Sherwin-Williams.
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