Monday

****Update**** Ladies and Gentlemen, the wall that I told you about below has now been repainted in flat paint and looks absolutely fabulous! It looks like it was done by professionals! There are no streaks, no touch-up spots needed. We are proud of ourselves, even if it did take 4,726 coats of paint!

Original Post below:

Well, I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July weekend!! Mine was pretty busy, and I am definitely not excited that Monday is here again! Have I ever mentioned how much I despise Mondays? Well, in case you weren't aware, I am NOT a fan of Mondays! I don't really have much on the "Not Me! Monday" front, but here are a few:

- I did not get so excited about going out of town that I did not pack my bags beginning on Monday for my trip on Thursday! Not me, who would do that?
- I did not paint a wall in J's house only to learn that what we thought would work didn't, and it has to be redone (more on that story below). Never!
- I did not have withdrawals from blogging that whenever something happens now, I think "I could use that for my blog."
- I did not discover a new favorite pair of camo capris and wear them on more than one occasion this weekend because I loved them so much.
- I did not get soaking wet watching fireworks on a friend's porch this weekend. I would have gone inside and watched them from a window. Surely. Not me!
- I did not turn down an invitation to an "office outing" to a movie so I could hurry and get out of town on Thursday. (Said event was eventually canceled because apparently, I was not the only eager one to get out for the long weekend)
- I did not drop my beloved Blackberry this morning and crack the screen! (only slightly) Nope! I would be more careful than that!!


I spent the LONG holiday weekend in Nashville! I got off a little early on Thursday and drove to Huntsville to drop Scout at the grandparents house for the weekend. He stayed there while I went to Nashville to help J get settled into his new place! It is a LONG drive! but, I made it finally and am glad I did! We had a nice dinner that was waiting on me when I got there and started planning our weekend of all the stuff that had to be done!

Friday, we got up and ran some errands, went shopping, and worked on organizing the kitchen. He has a pretty long bar in the kitchen, so we decided that a few place settings would make it cute. So, we had fun playing around and organizing things, and this is what we came up with:
It is hard to find places for things when there is little storage, so we had to get creative with a few things.



















Saturday, we went to the Farmer's Market and had so much fun!! We got so much stuff for just about $20 and it was great! A new fun thing we discovered we really enjoyed! Then, we began painting one wall in the bedroom. We found a great color and painted the wall. We thought we would paint the wall and then go back over a few spots that needed to be touched up after it dried. I won't even go into the ordeal that has come out of the painting project, but let's just say that eggshell finish paint is not conducive to the aforementioned method of painting and retouching. I guess we live and learn huh? Oh well, I guess that just means it is more appreciated when it is finally all said and done. And I guess it gives us something to look back on and laugh one day, and anytime something else is painted in the future, we will probably think back to the painting fiasco that is the gray wall in the bedroom.

Have I mentioned yet that the weather was beautiful all weekend? Well, it was just gorgeous. That is until Saturday when it is time to grill out these wonderful kabobs and watch the fireworks over the downtown skyline. Yep, it decided to rain really hard while the fireworks were being displayed (even though they moved them up an hour hoping to avoid the rain). But, it was still a very fun evening. Nothing a little Arnold Palmer (made with Firefly vodka) and a bunch (and I mean a BUNCH) of kabobs off the grill can't fix!! :)

Then, I had to (sadly) end the weekend and drive back to Huntsville to pick up Scout and then home. :( It was a great weekend, as usual, but the worst part is always seeing it end! Lots of lessons learned and memories made! I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th as well!!

I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free.....

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. (excerpt from The Declaration of Independence)


This weekend is one of my favorite holidays! In college, I worked on Capitol Hill and lived in Washington, DC. There is nothing like celebrating your nation's Independence in your nation's capitol! That is something I will not soon forget! (the picture above is really what things look like). I love anything that celebrates the history of the United States. (Reminder: I am a political science major and I was on a government debate team in high school). I will be out of town (in Nashville) and won't be doing much blogging or Internet using. But I wanted to remind everyone to have a wonderful 4th of July! Be safe if you are traveling and remember those serving our country today (One in particular, Jessica's husband, Adam.) and in the past to get us where we are today. Do you even know what happened to the 56 men that signed the Declaration of Independence?
~Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
~The vote for the United States to become independent of Great Britain actually occurred on July 2, 1776 by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Congress formally approved the document, the "Declaration of Independence" on July 4, 1776. This declaration was the final break with Great Britain and expressed the united view of all of the colonies to become independent.