Before & After

When we began to look at homes and stumbled across the one we settled on, one of the first things I knew I wanted to do with it was paint the walls.  We bought a foreclosed home, and the only thing that really (physically) showed us it was a "foreclosure" was the wall damage.  It wasn't anything crazy bad, but the construction white walls were a little beat up with scattered black marks in random places and tiny holes here and there from where they moved the furniture down the stairs.  (Oh, and the rotating plate in the microwave wasn't there...minor, right? Except that it costs $80 and we've yet to shell that out to replace it! Ha.)  Anyway, almost two years later and we finally painted! It's amazing what a paint job can do.  Our house feels much warmer.  We got all the common areas professionally painted because of the high walls and some awkward areas.  We will eventually do the bedrooms, dining room, and bathrooms ourselves.

Let the busy (in a good way!) weekends begin...

All my weekends are booked until the end of June... time is going to fly by!  The line-up actually started last weekend as we had special visitors.  

The Stephensons finally made a trip to our house!  They came up from Raleigh this past weekend and we all got to catch up.  It was fun hanging out with some good friends and talking all things baby and pregnancy with Faith (they're having a boy!). Friday night we went out to eat, let the boys drink some, and Ray and I had to introduce them to our favorite frozen yogurt place, YaYa's.  We spent Saturday morning in downtown Hendersonville and then did some front-porch sittin' at the house.  The rain held off long enough for us to go down to the French Broad River and fish, but nothing was biting.  Faith and I were standing by the river and this man asked us what our deal was and if we were twins since we were both pregnant.  Haha!  Then, after we told him our babies' names (Parker for their boy) and he said, "Those names are so North Carolina!"  What is that supposed to mean??

Saturday night we went to the Asheville Tourists game and on Sunday morning we went to church and had burgers and hot dogs on the grill for lunch.  After they left (thankfully we'll see them again at the end of May!), Ray napped and I did laundry while we I watched the race. Typical Sunday at the Guys'.  We did get something very special done Sunday evening... see below!! 

Adam (Don't you love his Double Up Outdoors shirt?)

Ray

Best buds

I had to capture Faith's hot chocolate and skittles! 

Fun fun

  

They brought Raleigh some gifts... she's definitely going to be a Wolfpack girl!

Isn't this adorable?

And the grand finale of the weekend...

We Ray put it together in under 30 minutes and no fighting!
I love it and can't wait for the bedding to get here.

Snow on January 3rd

I forgot to add the pictures of the first snow of this Winter.  I had to go in for an optional Teacher Work Day (school was cancelled for a day), but Ray was off and took Fancy out to play.  He snapped these photos.

Front yard

Delayed update!

I am the worst at keeping up with a blog.  Maybe I'll do better now that our secret is out!  I plan on posting weekly pregnancy updates.  Let me catch you up real quick...

Getting a real Christmas tree was a must for our first Christmas in the house!
 

Hung the family stockings: Fancy, Kimberly, Ray, and Tink! 

Decorated the tree and then...
it fell to the hardwood floor  on its own at 2:00 in the morning.
Shattered some of our favorite ornaments.
Bought a new (bigger) tree stand and had to redecorate.
Lesson learned!

Ray's high school played in the 4AA State Championship game.
(Garner vs. Page @ Wake Forest)
Sadly, Garner lost.
Scotty McCreery was there with the Blue Crew.

While we celebrated Christmas in Greenville (on Ashley's birthday),
I gave her a birthday card from "Little Guy."
She and all the sisters were surprised and happy! 

Excitement all around.
Glad the secret is finally out! 

We finally got to go to my parents' house for Christmas Eve.
It was a blessing to be able to attend the Candlelight Service,
hang stockings with the family and wake up there on Christmas morning.

Amy and Brent got engaged on Dec. 21st.
He took her to Birmingham, Alabama to celebrate
with his family on Christmas Day.

Daphne, Randy, and Casey came to our house on Christmas Day.
We opened presents, relaxed and then...

We ate at Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse for dinner.
A fun first! 

NC State played in the Belk Bowl on Dec. 27.
The little Guy's first tailgate and NCSU Football game! 

We beat Louisville!
Thanks to my parents for the awesome seats!

If it's State football or a NASCAR race,
we get to spend some time with Kim.

  

Ray got to catch up with an old friend, Brian M.
He drove from Wilson to watch his team lose!

I got to see one of my old best friends, too.
So happy to catch up with Laura!