Kitchen Reveal

So today I had planned to post my first trimester update, along with a little bump shot, BUT the last big piece of our kitchen reno arrived yesterday. (Double oven on an electric range for the win!)  I couldn't contain my excitement and just had to get this post up!

Guys. This kitchen was seriously almost the death of me. We decided before even moving in we were going to have all of the popcorn ceilings scraped and painted. Sounds so, so easy. And apparently it is, but clean is not even an option when doing ceilings. We worked with a great crew but there just was no way to contain 1500 square feet of downstairs dust without traces being left behind. Such a mess. Take the smell of the paint and dust and couple that with my first trimester. I was nothing but nauseous 24/7. 

We also didn't do things in the best order. After the first offer on our condo fell through our loan had to be re-written. The meant our closing date was pushed back. But that also meant ALL of our contractors had to rescheduled their jobs. Unfortunately our counter company was in a super busy season and it was either the original scheduled date or we would be waiting months for them to be installed. So we took the plunge and put the quartz counters in first. Word of advice to anyone re-doing a kitchen: NEVER put your counters in first.  But I digress. 

One of the biggest changes we made was knocking out two huge cabinets that were on either side of the window. It opened the kitchen up and made it look so bright! Best decision we made in this room. A few open shelves and some of my favorite items make this room pop every time I walk into it. 

The cabinets are in okay condition. We originally wanted to replace them, but it just wasn't in the budget. I am hoping to recover from all of the "projects" and then in a few years save up and replace them all. In the meantime we opted to have them painted a soft gray. That with new knobs dressed them right up. We upgraded all of the appliance except the refrigerator. The previous owners were kind enough to leave it for us even though we hadn't asked for it. This saved us a bit of money that we were able to use on upgrading our backsplash. We went with a white and gray herringbone stone. 

And of course our coffee bar goes everywhere we do. I basically staged it the exact same. It was in our sunroom/playroom at the condo. However, I love having it so close to the kitchen in this home. Definitely makes grabbing a cup while baking super convenient.

Just a few small details stand between us and a completely finished kitchen. We couldn't be happier with how it came out and can't wait enjoy many meals and festivities in this sweet, sweet space! 

It's true.... Baby Anderson #2

It is true! We are adding a precious new bundle to our already amazing family. Brady will be hitting the "training camp" hard for the next few months. Especially since he tried to feed the baby doll goldfish and tossed it out of the cradle when it wouldn't chew.

I am hoping to do pregnancy updates again, though it probably won't be weekly like before. (Seriously, I had WAY TOO much free time before Brady.) Stay tuned for our first bump update coming soon.

LITTLE BABY ANDERSON coming March 2017

                                                                                         ....and here is how he really feels about it.

Two years of Brady

It has been one of the most rewarding, whirlwind experiences as a mom. But Brady Walker was sure worth every bit of the 42 week wait!

His birthday has come and gone just as quickly as the last two years, but I couldn't help but share some of our favorite pictures of him.

And here we are at TWO...

And since it was his birthday... He can totally cry if he wants to.

Happy Birthday sweet, sweet Brady. We love you so very much! 

Birthday Celebrations

It is still so strange saying that Brady is TWO. What is even weirder is hearing him tell people he is two. Like when did this kid start having conversations with people?! 

It was so tempting to throw a big bash with all of the awesome things to do in Charlotte. However, we just couldn't make the dates work with a previously planned trip to Charleston and then 4th of July hit so fast. Plus, our house looks like a complete disaster zone with boxes from the floor to the ceiling so having a party here was out of the question. 

Life has been chaotic lately to say the least. So we decided on a simple family day instead. No frills, no banners, no work. We took Brady to the zoo for a laid back day with the animals. Water is his favorite right now so we took the last hour to let him play in the splash pad with daddy. 

       

The kid took one hard birthday nap on the way home. After he woke up we took him shopping for one big gift. I'm pretty sure Brian and I had more fun looking through the toy aisle than he did, but nonetheless he decided on an awesome mack truck that hauls six different monster mobiles. It's pretty awesome!

Happy Birthday to our big TWO year old!

Time to Move

I am slowly making my way back into the blogging world. And just as things started to calm down with work we had to go and make a huge life decision....

That's right WE ARE MOVING! 

It all started a few months ago when I jumped on realtor.com for fun. I found this gorgeous victorian home a few miles from where we lived.  I have seen houses that I liked before, but not like this. Something about this house was screaming, "Come look at me!"  So I called up our realtor and asked if she could show it to me. She responded with saying she was excited that Brian and I were looking. Oh, yeah. Brian. I completely forgot that I need him when viewing/purchasing a home. Long story, short I convinced Brian to 'fall in love' with it to and we put in an offer only to find out we had been out bid by $500. 

I was heartbroken.. like my boyfriend had just dumped me. Like right before prom. Heartbroken. But God knew what we needed and that house was not it. So we decided to slow things down and start praying about what was right for our family. We waited and waited and finally while we were in DC another house popped up that I fell for.. and hard. But houses move within 2-3 days here so I knew that the chances of us even getting to see it were slim to none. But alas when we got back home 5 days later it was still on the market.  

We looked at it and both agreed it was the one. I don't want to share too many details as we don't close for a few more weeks, but here is a little sneak peak.

I can't wait to show some of the before and after pictures of a few projects we already have in mind. I have been stalking pinterest and online shopping like it's my job. (If anyone knows a way you can actually get paid for that let me know ASAP.) In the midst of all this we put our condo on the market and that beauty sold in 18 hours. Can you believe it! Nope, neither can we.

So now packing is in full swing, but like any good mama knows you gotta double fist some chocolate ice cream in the midst of the craziness! 

Stay tuned for more exciting adventures coming our way! 

     

D.C. Times

We kicked off our summer with a 5 day trip to Washington, DC. We had originally planned to only go for a day or so since we were primarily going for Brian's uncle's wedding. However, once we started thinking about it we thought what a cool vacation to take since neither of us had been in there in so, so long. 

We spent the first 2 of 5 days doing all of the tourist attractions like the White House and Smithsonian. Brady did okay most of the trip but he was definitely ready for some serious sleep by the end of each day. 

Wedding weekend kicked off Friday night with a cocktail hour and dinner, with Saturday being the main attraction. Our family dressed to impressed for pictures and then it was off to the nanny for Brady and some adult fun for Brian and me.

This wedding has definitely made the Top 5 for us! It was so fancy and they put out all the stops for their guests. We hated to see it end! Congrats to Ginny and Brian and thank you for allowing us to be apart of such a special weekend! 

Office Reveal

It may seem that I have been slow going due to a lack of blogging. However, life has been anything but. There has been so much goodness the last few months and finally exceeding a few of my business goals has topped the charts.

It was right at a year ago when Brian and I began discussing the idea of me quitting a job that I loved to open my own business. Many people have asked me how I knew it was the right move. My answer has always been 'faith'. Around this time I heard a quote by Anne Lamott. She said, "The opposite of faith is not doubt: it is certainty." Well I had no certainty that this was going to be successful or even work for that matter. But I did know that God was going to provide. Maybe not this year or the next, but He was going to provide. I had faith in it.

And here we are nine months and tons of prayers later. We have grown 75 students strong and have gained five instructors with a soon to be sixth on the way.  Within adding my first instructor I knew that the late nights typing in the bed or on the couch just weren't going to cut it. Paperwork was everywhere. I had no place to store invoices, student enrollment sheets, client contracts. It looked as if every surface in our house was throwing up. Being a type A, former teacher it was slowly killing me living this way. 

We have always had an 'office' in one of our spare bedrooms, but it has always been more for looks. Never functional. Brian had recently added the extra thick baseboards and installed a new window to our piano room. It completely changed the look of the room and I knew this was a perfect space to turn into my office.  

I spent any free time (which was very little) trying to come up with quick solutions for the mess I had created. I finally decided on a command center. The two things I utilize the most are my master calendar and my monthly invoicing recorder. Those two items need to be in my line of sight and within a finger's touch at all times. I used a fancy clipboard to hang my invoicing sheet. I also love the simple gold and white lines of my master calendar. The hanging wire baskets are used to house my labeled file folders. Just by hanging these items up and off my desk has created more function and organization than I have ever had. Everything is where I can see it and quickly grab it without cluttering my work space. 

Now I know many people (*cough*Brian*cough*) would say that pictures are not practical or functional. But I completely disagree. The whole reason I decided to start this business was so I could be home more with Brady. What better way to remind myself of that than to plaster pictures of him everywhere! I love using different frames to create a layered look. It is still neat and orderly, but provides just the pop that this room needed. 

The print below was one of the very first pieces of decor I bought for the office. I had just gotten my first 2 students and was a little discouraged that I hadn't gained more in my first advertisement. But I realized that I was doing something I loved. Two things, in fact. I was getting to be my own boss while still teaching AND I was getting to be home with Brady most of the week.  I am well aware that this is such a unique opportunity that God has given me. Why be discouraged when I am just getting started? And even though my office is officially done, God isn't nearly finished with me yet. This is what my faith lies in.