smörgåsbord

i started this blog as an assignment in a journalism/public relations class i took at marshall and i decided to keep blogging after the semester ended. that was 2 years ago.. i fell off the wagon for a while, but i'm back at it! usually blogs tend to have a central theme.. life, politics, crafts, reviews, etc. my blog does not, its a smorgasbord. and because its my blog, i can do that :) so this post, will be about crafting!

lately, tyler and i have been very crafty people. one look around our home and you can see how talented tyler is, especially when it comes to carpentry. because of his talent, he's become very picky (and so have i) about items we purchase for our home. tyler would rather build whatever item it is we have in mind, than settle and buy something in a store we aren't crazy about.

for months, we have been looking for a small table to go against the wall in the family room that separates the opening to the dining room and game room. after multiple unsuccessful trips to hobby lobby, big sandy, and other stores we decided to build one ourselves.. and this is what we created :)

of course i didn't leave hobby lobby empty handed; the 2 vases and flower arrangements were a must have! they matched the family room color scheme perfectly.

as for the specifics on the table, it was actually very easy to make and only took about 45 minutes. the shelves are poplar and the legs are pine; the legs were pre-fab and bought at lowe's. tyler used a router saw to create an edge on the shelves so they didn't look plain. i put two coats of regular black paint to get the color i wanted and three coats of polyurethane. normally, you don't want to use regular paint on wood but the black wood stain i found wasn't dark enough no matter how many coats i put on the test piece. by putting three heavy coats of polyurethane the surface is smooth and can easily be wiped down when dusty and won't lose any shine.

i love how it turned out; its the perfect accent piece for the room and the wall! and not to toot my own horn, but it looks store bought! (toot! toot!)

WV: no lifeguard in the gene pool

..quoted from an A&F shirt, way back when.


there is a huge stigma attached to being from west virginia; granted, sometimes its dead on.. but most of the time, its dead wrong. i've lived in west virginia my entire life and contrary to popular belief, my life is nothing like deliverance or wrong turn: i have a full set of pearly whites, i didn't marry a relative, and i'm educated! shocking, i know!

i will now step down from my soapbox..


i've always loved hearing different accents and lingo. i was in accent heaven when i vacationed in ireland in 2007. i find all accents intriguing whether they be southern, northern, midwestern, or foreign.. but i could listen to an irish or australian accent all day! i never really thought i had an accent, a twang at best, until i went to cancun for senior week. my friends and i met a group of kids from new jersey who were also there for senior week. they were fascinated by the way we talked.. i mean fascinated!

they kept asking us to say different words and what we called certain things.. they went on and on about our accent and we all kept saying, "we don't have an accent.. you guys do!" i finally asked them "have you never talked to someone from the south before?" and they said, "yea, but not like you guys.. all the girls we know sound like gangsters, you guys sound so sweet and innocent!" i couldn't help but laugh.. i thought i guess i do have an accent.


anyways, i decided to do this vlog (video blog) because my friend, jen @ pearls and politics did the video challenge i thought it looked like fun! enjoy!

words: aunt, route, wash, oil, theater, iron, salmon, caramel, fire, water, sure, data, ruin, crayon, toilet, new orleans, pecan, both, again, probably, spitting image, alabama, lawyer, coupon, mayonnaise, syrup, pajamas, caught.

questions:
1. what is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
2. what is the bug that curls into a ball when you touch it?
3. what is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
4. what do you call gym shoes?
5. what do you say to address a group of people?
6. what do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
7. what do you call your grandparents?
8. what do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
9. what do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
10. what is the thing you change the TV channel with?

practice makes perfect

if you've met me, you know.. i heart kids! especially, maxwell..


..i mean how cute is this face?
 
i try to spend as much time as humanly possible with the little fella, as everyone in my family does and i have to patiently wait my turn. so imagine my excitement when kris (my cousin, max's dad) called & asked me to keep max overnight! kris had to work 6p-3a and my aunt, who normally gets first dibs on babysitting, was in aruba. i had watched max numerous times, but never overnight. my excitement was momentarily replaced my panic.. will he freak out at bedtime? wake up scared because he's never stayed the night here? will he hate the dogs? will the dogs hate him? my house isn't childproof! after what seemed like a million scenarios ran through my head i thought, i can do this. he's been to my house plenty of times; loves my dogs; they love him; plus, he's obsessed with my pool table. i got this!
 
next crisis: what will we do all evening??? solution: PAINT!
 
kris dropped max off around 5:30.. & first things first, max had to find roar. he may be the fattest cat on the planet but he has lots of hiding places. max hearts roar almost as much as i heart max. he's been obsessed with him since the first time he came to my house.. and he loves to say his name. so off we went in search of roar until tyler came home.. who was just as excited to have max stay with us as i was! i suggested we go grab dinner & take my max to the pottery place. tyler wasn't thrilled with the idea of driving downtown but i had max on my side! tyler was putty his max's hands when he walked in and max said "hi ty ty! i go paint pwease?" mission accomplished. :-D
 

and off we went... to mu cafe. max was so well behaved! he and tyler colored and played tic tac toe while we waited for our food.. and max flirted with our waitress.

after eating his chicken nuggets, as promised we went to the pottery place! max picked out two magnets for fufi & daddy..

he was in the zone while painting.. (i think he's got the artist gene that floats around the taylor/seaton gene pool like his dad) he knew exactly what he waited to paint & what colors. i was impressed :)

after the little artist finished his masterpieces we headed back to my house.. & it was playtime, for max & the dogs! brewsky isn't known to be a cuddly, but he took an instant liking to max and wanted nothing more than to snuggle up next to him and play..

brew didn't move from that spot all night! the next morning, max started referring to brew as "my guy" and instructed brew to follow him everywhere (not that he wouldn't have done so on his own). it was quite possibly one of the cutest things i've seen :)

after a quick run to the mall saturday afternoon and an obligatory stop at the giant fruit play place, i took max back to his faza and called the past 36 hours a success! a blast was had by all.. and until tyler & i have one of our own, practice makes perfect hangin' out with maxwell<3

the cuteness just never stops..

its been a while...

understatement of 2010.. and its 2011, so its been a LONG while!

i don't even know where to begin..

recap:
-12.12.09 we moved! after a long 18 months, we finally moved into our first home!

2010:
- i left first sentry bank in june.
- tyler's team, the huntington patriots, had a great season this summer! after having 2 teams in different age brackets in 2009, he decided to go back to only 1 in 2010. they hosted their first tournament in june & it was a great success!
-i went to myrtle beach for the first time in august! refer to my friend jen's blog, pearls and politics to see what fun we had! (our vacations come together in time of my life: part four, five & the grand finale)

-tyler left lincoln county high school to teach health at huntington middle school. bonus, its in cabell county & only a 15 minute drive instead of 30-40 minutes!
-we hosted our first thanksgiving! no major crisis & the food was delish.. i call that a success!

-12.5.10 i GRADUATED from marshall! my last semester was overwhelming & demanding but so worth it in the end!

2011:
-after 4 years in west huntington, tyler moved his business in january. he & his partner decided to downsize because they weren't using even half of the space in the 10,000 sq ft building they were in. they built a new building right below huntington high school. business is still booming  & the patriots season is about to be full swing in a few short months!

-as for me, this housewife thing suits me. but i'm bored. beyond bored. SO, i'm job hunting! i've had a few interviews in the past week that look promising. i'm hoping to hear something soon.

-i usually don't do new years resolutions, and even though it is february.. i'm starting one. BLOG. MORE. OFTEN. i can't believe i went over a year a long time without posting anything!