Hewietts in the HAM

CHRISTMAS CARD

2011-12-13T06:55:00.004-06:00

Here is our Christmas card this year. We decided to design it with Shutterfly this year again -with 40% cards and free shipping - you really can't beat it. We addressed them and sent them out Saturday so be expecting your copy very soon!

P.S. We were very excited about our picture this year as well. We found a Cullman Local Landmark to include for our picture - the Clarkson Covered Bridge. (Originally built in 1904). We made use of our new camera and tripod to get a family shot :).

TRAVELING WITH DAD

2011-12-12T07:04:00.003-06:00

My Dad loved to travel. Plain and simple. We were fortunate enough to tag along on all of the wonderful trips that he and my Mom took growing up. (Well, most of them, they took a few trips to be alone as well :). My Dad loved trying new things, seeing new places, meeting new people and trying new food. He taught us to appreciate these trips and treasure our time together as a family. Whether we were boarding the wrong train in Paris, falling down a ski slope in Colorado, or getting kicked out of the Sistene Chapel in Italy - we were together.

Today will be 8 years since my Dad's passing. I still miss him like it was yesterday - but I am so thankful for our many memories together. Josh and I plan to continue these wonderful memories with our family.

The Hewietts turn 27!!

2011-11-08T06:25:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!! Today is Josh's 27th birthday. Once again, for two days, he will be one year older :). I thought it would be fun to recap our last 8 birthdays that we have shared together...

19th Birthday - Dating

20th Birthday - Still Dating

21st Birthday - Yep, still dating

Insert picture of 22nd Birthday here... when we were (almost) engaged

23rd Birthday - First birthday as a married couple - in our Riverside Apartment :)

24th Birthday - with the whole family

25th Birthday - First Birthday in Birmingham

26th Birthday - at Jim N Nicks in Birmingham...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHIE!!! Can't wait to celebrate this year with you in SAN DIEGO!!!

But first, we will celebrate with a birthday dinner for him tonight - last time I checked we were either going to Taco Bell or Cici's Pizza. He said he just "couldn't decide." Haha... pray for me, and my digestive system, please!!

Also, side note - is it bad that I had to ask Josh last month how old we were going to be this year? Time is flying!!

ANNIVERSARY IN DC

2011-11-07T16:55:00.000-06:00

This year - Josh and I spent our 4-year Wedding Anniversary celebrating in DC. We had a wonderful time. It was so great to get away for a few days, visit the capital, learn a little, eat a lot :) and spend some much needed time together - we have been back for almost a month now, but before we go on our next big trip (details to come later!!) at the end of this week - I thought I should post an update on how this trip went...

Day 1 - We flew out of Huntsville (very nice airport actually) and into BWI (Baltimore) EARLY Friday morning. We caught an Amtrak train from BWI that took us straight to Union Station in DC. This was Josh's first time on a train and it was a very pleasant, quick trip! Once we got into the city, we caught a cab and checked into our hotel - The Liason. We really enjoyed staying here - it was nice, reasonably priced and EXTREMELY convenient to Union Station and the Capital.

In the afternoon we headed over to the National Mall, toured the outside of most of the Smithsonian Museums, visited the National History Museum (to see T-rex and the Hope Diamond, of course) and then headed straight over to the Halocaust Museum. I am not sure if I can truly describe this experience - I would say that it was probably our favorite thing that we did in DC... but it was certainly not a "fun" experience. To say that it was "sad" or "informative" does not really describe it either.... certainly, we are extremely glad that we went, learned more than I ever thought was possible in a 3 hour period, would definitely go back again - but would never (obviously) bring small children. Although I don't think we can begin to understand the horror that the victims of the Halocaust experienced - The United States Halocaust Memorial Museum certainly makes a good effort of showing you that experience.

Day 2 - On Saturday morning, we were up and out pretty early. We signed up for an early public tour of The Capital. We had both been to DC a few times before - but neither of us had done this particular tour. We started out in the visitor center, toured the Capital history museum (awesome scale models of the Capital throughout its several construction phases and expansions - I know, I am a nerd), and then got a general tour of the Rotunda and the public spaces for the Senate and the House. Getting a refresher of the history of our government and specifically Congress is always a plus. I forgot how truly beautiful the Capital is. Our tour guide said that the Capital is the most recognizable building in the world - (Not that he's biased or anything...)

After our tour of the Capital, we headed through the underground and over to the Library of Congress. After all of the scenes shot in this building after the National Treasure movies... I was excited to check out the hidden door at the information desk that led to the Presidents' private reading room... I was sad to discover that the Main Reading Room is actually closed to the public. You have to be completely official research to gain access to this area... very sad. But, we were able to view the room from behind glass upstairs... just no pictures.

Here are some pictures that we were able to get of the Library of Congress in the public spaces - I think this was my favorite government building that we visited. So beautiful. Love all of the marble and granite flooring patterns and the intricate ceiling designs... Again, nerd, I know. I can't help it.

After the Library of Congress, we spent the afternoon on a self-guided walking tour... trying to hit some of the highlights...

The Supreme Court

J Edgar Hoover FBI Building (So excited about the new movie coming out!!)

The new WWII Memorial

And Back to Union Station - our home away from our hotel for the weekend

Later that evening, we decided to venture back out to the National Mall and tour the monuments at night. This was a lot of fun... not quite as crowded and we really enjoyed testing and playing with all of the different settings on our new camera.

The Washington Monument

The WWII Memorial with the Lincoln Memorial in the background

WWII Memorial - probably one of my favorites!!

We took these pictures standing on the side of the Lincoln Memorial and looking back towards the Washington Monument and the Capital. DC is so pretty :)

View of our hotel at night - Capital in the Background

Day 3 - We woke up early Sunday morning and rode the Metro out to meet our friends in Anapolis. Jeff and Rachel were in town visiting family and friends and were gracious enough to pick us up and take us on a tour of the Naval Academy (where Jeff graduated) and Anapolis. Is was wonderful to get out of the busy city for the day and catch up with great friends - we even got to meet their adorable daughter, Naomi for the first time. She is certainly a cutie.

Naval Academy Chapel - Absolutely stunning. We received a private tour from Rachel's mom who is in charge of religious education for the Academy.

Group shot - in front of the residence hall - Best looking dorm I have ever seen!!

Banquet Hall inside their Residence Hall - very impressive.

Me with sweet Naomi - she loved my necklace :)

Thank you Rachel and Jeff - we had such a great time touring Anapolis with you guys :).

Day 4 - Final day in DC. On Monday we woke up and decided to attend the International Spy Museum. I am sad to say that it was slightly disappointing... maybe we set our sights too high by expecting to learn some critical national spy secrets... or maybe it was because it was the only museum that we had to pay for... but it definitely was not our favorite. I did learn a lot more about the Cuban Missile Crisis that I did not know... but other than that, it was kind of uneventful. I think all of the Bond and Bourne movies have ruined that for me (us).

After the museum, we headed back over to the White House to get some good (not so crowded) pics since it was a Monday. We did a little bit of shopping and then eventualy headed back to Union Station to catch another Amtrak back to BWI.

After 4 days, we were sad to leave, but again, so thankful for this time together. We had a wonderful 4 year anniversary vacation. Can't wait to go again :).

Now for our next trip... Josh and I are actually headed on another weekend vaca at the end of this week!! Josh has a conference for the hospital that he is attending in SAN DIEGO and I am coming with him!! We are both so stoked - we have never been to San Diego and absolutely loved California (San Francisco) on our honeymoon. We are excited to get away again - celebrate our birthdays and visit one of the world's largest zoos. (We love zoos...)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2011-10-31T06:50:00.004-05:00

What are you going to BEE this year??

4 YEARS AGO TODAY...

2011-10-13T07:36:00.005-05:00

Happy Anniversary to my my wonderful husband, Josh. I can't believe it has been 4 years!! Time is definitely flying. We are excited about our trip this week - DC here we come!!

UF vs. UAB w/ THE ADAMS

2011-10-10T18:18:00.007-05:00

Last month we got to make a trip with our friends Ryan and Laura down to Gainesville for the Florida/UAB game. We thought it would be a great time to show our friends around Jax and Gaines-vegas and a fun game to go to since it was both of Josh's alma-maters :). We drove in late Friday night (as usual) stayed with my Mom Friday night. Saturday consisted of a full tour of Jacksonville and Gainesville, the game Saturday night and then staying with Josh's parents Saturday night.

During our tour of downton Jax - we remembered that Laura Street crossed Adams Street near the main library - we promptly headed that way, parked and had Laura Adams and Ryan Adams pose for these pictures - how cute!

Do you think there is a "Hewiett" street anywhere? If we find it... you better believe we will be posing for a picture like this one.

For lunch on Saturday, we got to eat at one of our favorite places in Jax - Mojo's BBQ. We met up with Ben, Jess and their sweet baby Charlotte. It was so good to hang out with the Whitworth's. Apparantly it is an extremely small world - Ben and Jess also grew up in Bham (like Ryan and Laura). Ben's family went to the same private school that Ryan and Laura went to - his sister was in their class and they were really good friends.

So glad we got to see the Whitworths - I miss them :(.

Outside Ben Hill Griffen Stadium - I don't think Josh and I have a picture like this one :)

In the swamp - do you spy two Auburn fans trying to blend in with their subtle tones of blue?

We had a lot of fun trying out our new camera on this trip - Josh and I just got a nice DSLR Canon camera and are still learning how to use it. This trip to Florida was the first time we have used it.

Needless to say, this game was a blowout (39-0). Poor UAB. This was before we lost our first and second string quarterbacks to injuries... our games lately have not been so pretty.

We were so excited about this trip and so glad that we got to spend time with good friends, see some great football and once again see our wonderful family.

FALL (AND PINTEREST)

2011-10-05T16:03:00.004-05:00

Fall is FINALLY here. Enough said. Also - (and I know I am slightly behind the times - I blame this summer) I have discovered PINTEREST. It is amazing. Below I have for you some FALL inspiration for home decoration I have gathered on pinterest. Enjoy.

If you are not on pinterest - get on it!! It could change your life. Also - it is supposed to get back up to 85 degrees here tomorrow. Boo. However, we must press on - fall is here and hopefully will show its face again soon.

JACKIE'S SHOWER

2011-10-05T15:44:00.003-05:00

Two weekends ago I made a quick trip back to Jax (cashing in some Southwest points - yeah!) for Jackie's baby shower. I was so glad to be able to go home and spend the day with my sweet friends. To the left is a picture of Jackie, Paula and I after the shower - Jackie looks amazing!! She is due in the middle of November and we have all taken bets on when her sweet baby boy will come - I am hoping for November 10 (my birthday, of course.)

It is hard to believe that only last year... Jackie and Billy were getting married!! I am so excited for them and can't wait to meet this sweet addition to their family. The next time we are home in Jax may not be until Christmas and we will hopefully get to meet the little guy then.

Trips like this are so sweet, but definitely too short!! Makes me miss being in Florida and close to my family and friends...

Speaking of trips - I (thankfully) do not currently have any work travel planned... the next big trip will be Josh and I's anniversary trip to DC!! We actually leave in a week and 2 days!! We are stoked, to say the least. We are excited to get away (together) and see the sites.

DONE WITH GAINESVILLE...

2011-09-21T14:07:00.005-05:00

... For work at least. I can't even tell you how good it feels to be done with this project!! So many little details + demanding install schedule + extreme Florida heat/humidity = not fun for Rebecca for the majority of August/September. In the end, the project looks great and I think that the staff/residents are very pleased. Check out the pictures of the project - for this one we purchased, installed and even designed some(oo-la-la) of the furniture for pool area, lounges, leasing office, fitness center and the apartment units. Definitely a large undertaking - again, I am just excited to be on this side of the finish line!!

Below are the pictures of the model units that we furnished and decorated - I think they turned out pretty well! There were 500 apartments in all that we put furniture in.

One thing that I have learned since I graduated and started working in interior design... every time I think or especially every time I say "I don't do [insert undesirable design-related (or unrelated for that matter) task here]" I find that it is somehow miraculously added to my job description for that day, or sometimes as a permanent fixture. After Calico Corners, I added "window treatments" to this list. After this project, I would like to add the following items to my job description (in addition to any normal interior design tasks including purchasing & punching furniture):

1. Delivery/On-site Contact - when items (like furniture) are shipped to a site, they come on a large freight truck and you will have a delivery window... sometimes days... sometimes hours or when it will arrive. I was the contact for these truck drivers when they were headed our way... definitely a new experience. The day that one of the drivers recognized my name/# on the order and when I picked up his call and heard "Hey girl, I am headed your way" I realized that this could not be good...

2. Semi-truck/traffic Director - this jobsite was so tight that we would have to block traffic on University Avenue to back the 53' semi-trucks by the church. I would usually get the task of waiving it into the lot - safety vest and all... attractive, I know.

3. Water Girl - When the temperature was 105 degrees outside and we had a deadline to meet to get furniture off freight trucks and into buildings, I made runs for water or in this case GATOR-aid :).

4. Trash Superviser - One week of the installation I had several furniture vendors sharing the same dumpster... in this case, I had to keep an eye on the level of the trash in the dumpster so that we could get it dumped/returned, etc. It was at the moment when I had to climb up the side of the 12' tall dumpster to lean inside to see the trash level that I had to chant/remind myself "I love my job, I love my job, I love my job."

5. Tour Guide - this was my favorite job description addition :). Since this project was in Gainesville and everyone on the jobsite - my company, the General contractor and the furniture vendor, was from Birmingham - everyone wanted my consultation on their dinner choices, evening activities, etc. It was a lot of fun showing my co-workers the wonderful world of the Gators - Gainesville, FL.

I really am so thankful for my job - I am doing something that I love and for a great company. I am able to travel and see my projects in person and in this case, got to see some of my friends and family along the way as well. Although, I will say... the next time I go to Gainesville, FL, I am glad that it will be for a Gator game or to see friends/family instead of for work. :)

RETURN TO THE BLOG/ CATCHUP/ VALENTINE COMMONS

2011-09-07T12:45:00.007-05:00

Hello everyone. This time, my blog posting really has gotten out of hand!! I can't believe it is already September. Where has the summer gone?!?! The Hewiett household has definitely been busy with work and travel. Josh was kind enough to catch everyone up on our trip to Chattanooga (which I loved) and so now I will attempt to (begin to) catch you up on the rest of our travels - for both work and play!

First up is my recent trip to Raleigh, NC to begin a project that my company is working on there. It is located near NC State and will be - you guessed it - another student residence hall. The trip I took to the jobsite a couple of weeks ago was to open the leasing office complete with a full mock-up model unit inside. It is always so rewarding to see the fruits of hard work/design efforts in person... this is what I try to remind myself everytime I have to book another plane ticket with Delta...

I was especially excited to see this leasing office since I got to be a part of the design as a whole - completing space planning, selecting finishes, working with the graphic designer, purchasing furniture, selecting lighting and watching it come together.

Something new that I got to try was actually the ceiling color - typically in these "warehouse" type spaces, the ceilings are always painted black. I convinced the team to paint the ceiling white in order to bounce more light around the space - I really like the way it turned out. It may be something that you would not notice - but that is, I think the beauty of it :).

Also interesting note - this is the first time that I have used a "wood-look" sheet vinyl. Typically on other projects we have used an engineered wood and/or vinyl plank that looks like wood. I was afraid that this flooring would look too fake or cheap - but it looks great. We have even convinced the team to use it inside the apartment units in the place of cheap beige carpet - very exciting!!

Sitting area in the leasing office... love this end table & coffee table from World Market :)

Bedroom in the mock-up unit. Bedding is from Target - love. These windows are actually fake - there is simply drywall behind them. I was so thankful that they decided to put them in the model to show potential tenants how large they will be. Makes such a difference in the space.

And finally the living room in the model unit. That is all for now!! I will be traveling to Raleigh quite a bit next summer to finish this project up - it will be a big highrise with 1,000 beds. I am tired already, just thinking about.

Stay tuned for more posts including our trip to Texas for Grandpa's birthday, our trips to Jax, more work traveling (for me) with project updates and some new-found (or re-visited) hobbies of mine.

In the mean time, we are off this weekend with our friends Ryan & Laura to Gainesville for the UAB game. I am sticking around Gville next week to finish up my project there as well.

Rebecca

THE SCENIC CITY

2011-08-22T21:39:00.015-05:00

It has been quite a while since Rebecca has been able to post, so I am going to help carry the load. Poor Rebecca has been gone almost every week (including some weekends) since May, traveling around the eastern United States with her job. Needless to say she is really burnt out, but has been a trooper and continued to have a good attitude. I personally don’t know how she does it, but I am so proud of her and so thankful for her hard work.

Since Rebecca has last blogged a lot had gone on. We have traveled more than our fair share, which is great since traveling is one of our favorite things to do. In this post I am going to share our first trip of many this summer, which was a weekend get away to Chattanooga, also known as “The Scenic City!”

Rebecca and I had a great time in Chattanooga. Who new downtown Chattanooga was so entertaining? We have always heard about Lookout Mountain and Ruby Falls (which were fun), but it wasn’t nearly as cool compared to downtown. When we first arrived Chattanooga Rebecca and I visited the Tennessee Aquarium (pictured below). Rebecca and I always try to visit either an aquarium or zoo in any city we visit. It may sound weird, but we really enjoy them. We have heard a lot of people compare the Tennessee Aquarium to the Georgia Aquarium (in Atlanta) and received mixed emotions. I really enjoyed both, but personally liked the Tennessee Aquarium more.

After our trip to the Aquarium, Rebecca and I spent the remainder of our Saturday exploring downtown Chattanooga. The downtown area is very commercialized, but not overly-commercialized. The area has a lot of great restaurants, parks, an IMAX Theatre, a minor league baseball stadium and a beautiful American Art Museum (pictured below). We were blown away. The area was so family friendly.

Our favorite part of downtown included the bridges. The first bridge connected the Art

Museum to the Aquarium. This bridge was particularly cool because it was glass, really high and crossed over a busy street. Being someone who isn’t particularly fond of heights, this bridge definitely attempted to strip me of my “man card,” but don’t worry it didn’t succeed. The second bridge was an old steel bridge that expanded over the river. This bridge was really the center of entertainment downtown. That afternoon hundreds of people walked over the bridge with their families, some stopped to sit on a bench and enjoy the view, others ran, rode bikes, played music and walked their dogs. It was such a great family atmosphere. (In this picture we are standing on the glass bridge. You can see the steel bridge in the back ground).

So, Rebecca and I decided to join in and walk across the bridge to find out what was on the other side. To our pleasure we found the other more historic half of downtown Chattanooga. There were lots of small shops that contained boutique stores, restaurants and an old-fashioned ice cream parlor that Rebecca and I couldn’t turn down. I can’t remember the name of the parlor, but it was honestly the best butter pecan ice cream I have ever had!

After our tour around downtown we headed back to our hotel and woke up the next morning to explore Lookout Mountain and Ruby Falls (pictured to the right). Both were of course beautiful and we had a great time.

Now, Rebecca and I are trying to plan a 5-day anniversary vacation in October. We are trying to decide where to go, so my question to all of you is “What is your favorite place to vacation?” We would really appreciate any suggestions, so please post!

- Josh

MAYBERRY, I mean, CULLMAN

2011-06-22T11:29:00.006-05:00

Three weekends ago (still catching up on my posting...) Josh and I decided to really explore downtown Cullman. This is what we found....

Our first stop was to a local BBQ place called Johnny's Bar-B-Q. (We ordered what you see in the picture to your left.) It was delicious!! One thing we have learned about Alabama: they make good BBQ. This place had a white sauce (as you can see) like a lot of places in Alabama... I loved the sauce. Josh did not as he has an aversion to most white condiments... mayonaise, sour cream, white cheeses, ranch dressing or anything with any combination of any of these.

Our next stop was an an architectural salvage and antique store in downtown cullman called Southern Accents. As you can see by the entrance to their store, they too were affected by the tornados back in April, but they are still open for business!!

This store was absolutely amazing... Josh and I browsed through the whole place picking out front doors, hardware, mirrors, lighting and this fireplace mantel for a future house :)

Our next stop was just a couple of blocks over on this cute little street with lots of clothing, stationary and furniture/decoration boutiques. I love what they did with this old warehouse turned retail strip.

Just a couple of streets over from the pictures above we saw this....

It was definitely a rude awakening to see once again the damage that happened in only a matter of hours. There is still a lot of cleanup to be done in Cullman (and throughout the state.) When I see these images, all I can do is pray for those who lost loved ones, pray for those who lost their homes and businesses and thank God that he spared us and kept us safe during that time.

And that sums up our day in downtown Cullman. There is still a lot that Josh and I want to explore in the area including the Ave Maria Grotto which is a monastary in the heart of Cullman that is beautiful (so we have heard) and also has many hiking trails.

JOSH, THE ADIMINSTRATIVE RESIDENT

2011-06-21T08:58:00.003-05:00

Again, I am severely behind on my posting... but I wanted to fill you in on Josh's new internship (well, it is paid, so I like to say "Josh's new job" :). Josh started his adminstrative residency last month at Huntsville Hospital in Huntsville, AL. (See picture to the left... his first day on May 16 with his new suit and bag he got for graduation.) During this residency he will complete several rotations through different departments of the hospital, work on special projects for the executive leadership, sit in on senior team meetings and observe lots of surgeries. I am sure that there are lots more things that he will be doing for the next year... but since he refuses to make this a joint blog, you get to hear the description from yours truly.

Huntsville Hospital is one of the largest locally owned non-profit hospitals in the country. It has 881 beds and 6,200 employees. (Comparison - about the size of UAB and about 300 beds larger than Shands Jacksonville.) They are a Trama 1 Center which serves all of Northern Alabama and the southern Tennessee Valley. They provide all medical procedures and services (except organ transplants). Translation = Josh will be exposed to a lot since Huntsville Hospital is so large and provides so many medical servies. Another side note... their facilities are so large that they have a TRAM (like a DISNEY WORLD TRAM) that patients and families can ride to get from one building to another... it looks AMAZING... I can't wait to ride it :).

Josh has an office in the EXECUTIVE SUITE. He sits right in-between the CEO, COO and CFO of the hospital. He gets to interact with the executive team daily and is directly exposed to their daily duties, meetings and projects. His office is extremely nice with his own sitting area and everything - FAN-CY!! I will try to get him to let me post pictures eventually... once we get the office in proper "working order." Of course, since his wife is an interior designer... his office needs that special husband-of-a-designer touch. I will leave it up to your imagination as to who in this family is more concerned with a well-designed office.... :)

We are so incredibly thankful for this opportunity that Josh has to soak up as much information as he can before he has to go get his "real" job after this next year. He is really hoping to get a broad range of exposure to all of the business and development sides of the hospital in order to determine what he may be most interested in pursuing after his internship. This is going to be an exciting year in the Hewiett House. Can't wait to see how God will use Josh in this position where God will take our family in the future!

WE'VE MOVED!! (TO CULLMAN)

2011-05-30T15:12:00.005-05:00

We officially moved to Cullman two weekends ago, just a couple of days before Josh started his administrative residency at Huntsville Hospital. Cullman is a small country town of approx. 14,000 people located exactly half-way between Huntsville and Birmingham. We decided to move so that Josh could complete this year-long residency and I could keep my job in Birmingham. We both have about a 55 mile commute to work (one-way) which is mainly interstate so it has not been bad so far.

The actual move went slightly smoother than our move to Birmingham, where our moving truck broke down 3 hours away from our new apartment. We had lots of great friends help us load and unload and the whole process was complete in about 4 hours - not too bad. (Thank you all again - we really appreciate your help!!)

Side note - I cannot believe that it was almost 2 years ago that I started this blog and we moved to Alabama... time has definitely flown by and God has blessed us in ways that we weren't even imagining at that point in time - we definitely give Him the honor and praise for everything - our jobs, our friends, our church, our spiritual growth, our loving families...

We are getting settled in to our new apartment in Cullman... everything is unpacked and we are just about finished organizing closets, etc. We are actually very thankful for the HUGE closets that our slightly smaller-than-Birmingham apartment has. It is amazing how closets can make all of the difference....

We of course have the "Gator Guest Room" all set up which Molly has claimed as her new sleeping space...so potential guests may have a furry roommate...

This was the new purchase that we made for our new place - washer and dryer. Needless to say, laundry is my new favorite chore. We shopped around and got a great deal on these "investment pieces" that will hopefully follow us to our next home(s) and last for many years to come. These new beauties literally sing to me when I turn them on and off and when they are telling me a load is finished... They have so many settings that I still have not tried them all and their load capacity is double what our old machines were. They also have a digital timer telling me how much time is left. The only drawback is the small closet they are in... because of their slightly larger size, the washer is in this closet (as shown) and the dryer is in the adjacent closet to the right. The closets connect in the middle which allows for the lovely dryer vent tube to be pulled (as shown) over the washer. While this may not be the ideal setup, I do not care one bit - they are connected, and they work and I am in laundry heaven :).

That is about all for our new home in Cullman, Alabama. I am sure there will be many more posts to come about our adventures in our new little town... this place definitely brings a whole new meaning to the term "SOUTHERN charm."

Also - HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!

FAMILY GATHERING

2011-05-27T11:40:00.004-05:00

In keeping with the theme of being extremely behind on my blog postings... here are some pics from Brook Hills' Family Gathering from 2 weeks ago. All of the families from our church got together 2 wednesday nights ago to tailgate and hang out with their families and small groups. It was such a fun and relaxing time. One fun thing that the church leaders planned was a "Chalk by Numbers" picture that everyone helped to color in the parking lot. It turned out really well (so we think...) they haven't posted the group picture that we took from the roof of the church with the completed "Chalk by Numbers" picture yet... I will update when they do.

It was sort of a bittersweet time for Josh and I... it was the last event we did with our small group before moving to Cullman. We are still trying to go and participate as much as we can - we are driving into Birmingham for the service on Sunday and going as much as possible to small group during the week - but with a 55 mile distance now between us and our church, we are certainly not as close as we have been for the past 2 years. We love our church and our small group and cherish our friendships with sweet friends that God has given us during our time in Birmingham.

I still have several posts to catch up on (hopefully) before I take off and hit the airways for the summer for furniture installations in Ohio, Boca Raton, Baltimore and Gainesville... I need to fill everyone in on our move to Cullman and Josh's new job! Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!!

GRADUATION DAY

2011-05-16T16:31:00.014-05:00

Last Saturday, May 7, was Josh's graduation from grad school. He graduated with his MBA and officially completed the class section of his MSHA (yet to complete the year internship...) We have been looking forward to this day for a long 2 years and it was finally here!! I am so proud of how hard he has worked and so excited for him as he begins a new career in Healthcare Administration.

The weekend was full of lots of activities - On Friday, Josh's parents and my Mom arrived in the afternoon. We had planned a cookout/party for Josh up at the clubhouse in our complex. It was a wonderful time to relax with with our parents and friends - and eat good food of course.

Small Group

Proud parents & wife with the graduate :)

Josh with the cake he requested - homemade yellow cake with chocolate icing

The next day we went out to lunch and then headed downtown to take pictures/meet up with friends before the MBA graduation ceremony began. After a few minutes of prepping and trying to figure out how the hood worked on his "Blazer" green robe - I present to you... a graduate school graduate :).

Josh with his parents

Josh with Mom and Me

Josh's friends from the MSHA program, also doing the MBA

And... walking across the stage - It's official!!

Streamers?? STREAMERS!!

On Saturday evening, we headed over to The Club for Josh's MSHA graduation dinner. The location was very nice - The Club is one of Birmingham's historic landmarks and it has amazing views of the downtown area. The dinner was delicious and it was a great time for Josh's classmates to meet each others families. During the night, each graduate had to get up and tell their favorite memory about the program - Josh's was pretty funny - you will have to ask him about it. After their stories, each student had to stand up there while their mentor-professor roasted them/gave them an award - Josh's award was the "Florida Gators/Urban Meyer" Award. As you can imagine, Josh was the only one in his class who was a gator fan and he let everyone know it... it was a fun time.

Josh and I with the view of downtown Birmingham

Our good friends Jordan and Jess at the Graduation Dinner

Sunday, to top off the weekend was Mother's Day. We have a relaxing day - we went to church in the morning, out to lunch at Jim N Nick's BBQ (of course) and then relaxed and cooked dinner that night. We were so thankful to be with our Mom's (and Dad) this year on Mother's Day. We love you!! We are very thankful for all of the love and support that you have given us during grad school.

Josh and I with our sweet Mothers

The weekend was a blast - I can't believe that has already come and gone... we have already moved on (literally) to the next big thing... more on that in the next post!!

WHIRLWIND AND SOME TORNADOS...

2011-05-16T10:33:00.007-05:00

The past 2.5 weeks have been a whirlwind of events - Josh graduating, us moving to Cullman, and Josh's first day at Huntsville hospital (today). I plan to update everyone (hopefully this week) on all of these exciting events, but first I must fill everyone on "The day of the Tornados..."

When we moved to Alabama a couple of years back, we had several people tell us that we were moving to "Tornado Alley"... it goes without saying that on Wednesday, April 27, we realized that they were right. Josh and I woke up that morning at 6:00 AM to the sound of Molly (our golden retriever) freaking out and whining/barking in our room. When we woke up, we immediately realized that there was what sounded like a tornado right outside our window. We jumped up, grabbed her and ran to the bathroom... After a few minutes, things had calmed down. We later realized that it was indeed a small tornado had touched down and destroyed parts of a nearby neighborhood (Cahaba Heights) and we think it picked back up before moving through our complex just about a mile away - very terrifying way to wake up!! The syrens had gone off 30 minutes before the tornado came through... but there were so far away from our apartment, that they were not loud enough to wake us up.

Later that morning when I got out/tried to drive through Cahaba Heights to get to work... we realized how blessed we were that our complex was spared the destruction of this tornado... as I turned back around in all of the road blocks, I was thanking and praising God.

Later that evening is when the majority of the tornados came through the state and completely destroyed parts of Tuscaloosa, Fultondale, and Cullman (our future home..) Once our power came back on and we were able to watch the news/ look at the internet - we were in shock at the amount of damage and lives lost. We again thanked God that we were spared the destruction that came literally through our backyard.

The following Sunday, our paster David Platt, spoke on Job 1. It is always humbling to be reminded of the trials/tribulations that Job went through and how he continued to praise and honor God through his circumstances. It was a humbling message to hear... how do I act when trials come my way? Do I praise and trust God when I am scared or even inconvenienced? (No power for 4 days...) Or do I worry, complain or put my trust in other things?

Job 1:18-22 (NIV)

Vs. 18 - "While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, 'Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, (VS. 19) when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they were dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you! (Vs. 20) At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship (Vs. 21) and said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

Definitely a humbling passage... Job lost his entire family and everything he owned and still praised God. One thing David pointed out that we forget when we read this passage (and any passage in the Bible for that matter...) is that we (as the reader today) know the whole story. We know that Job survives these trials and God blesses him in the end... but when Job was going through it, obviously he did not know what the outcome would be. Job had faith in God's plan, His sovereignty and His will for Job's life. I am praying that I can do the same when trials (tornados) come through my life.

HATTISBURG RETREAT

2011-04-07T13:42:00.009-05:00

This weekend we went on a retreat to Hattisburg, MS with our small group. Our friends' Ryan and Laura hosted us out at Laura's Family's farm - we had such a fun and relaxing time. It was so nice to get away for a couple of days, spend time with friends and with each other. We left Friday night after work, drove to Hattisburg and got in around 10 that night. Josh and I brought the walkie-talkies and so the ride down to Mississippi consisted of the most amazing game of American Idol/Finish that Liric I have ever witnessed over the airways. Definitely made the ride go by fast! We woke up the next morning to this view... how beautiful!! The day was filled with lots of fun activities including riding the ATVs (Josh was in absolute heaven), riding THE most awesome 4-wheeling golf cart I have ever seen, skeet shooting, fishing, laying around in hammocks... We decided to get out some throwing knives and tamahawks (spelling?) for some target practice... We then spent a few minutes looking for a "throwing weapon" that made it into the lake... After a wonderful Spaghetti dinner prepare by Katie, we decided to have a bonfire with worship time, a devotional and of course - SMORES!

Our devotion that night was a discussion for God's will in our lives... we are reminded that God's ultimate will is for His glory to be shown and the gospel to be spread. All of the members of our group are on the verge of some major decisions in our lives over the next couple of months to a year and we are all praying for the direction that God wants us to move.

Thank you Laura and Ryan for hosting such a amazing weekend. God has truly blessed us with absolutely amazing friends - we are so thankful for our small group - our family away from family :).

12 HOURS IN DETROIT

2011-04-07T08:49:00.004-05:00

On the road again... wait, I mean on the plane again... Monday I took another work trip - this time heading to Lock Haven, PA. I had a connecting flight in Detroit and after a delay leaving Birmingham, I arrived in Detroit a little too late and missed my connecting flight by about 2 minutes. While I managed to hold it together while talking to the gate agent who had just closed the boarding door and would not let me through to board the plane that was still sitting at the gate, I managed to hold it together better than this lady did... I remember Josh showing me this video a few months back... only now do I truly appreciate it :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLS!

2011-04-01T11:02:00.003-05:00

Today is April Fool's Day - AKA Molly's birthday!! (Or at least that is when we have decided to celebrate...) Today we think Molly is approx. 7 years old, or in dog years - 49!! For those who don't know... my Mom adopted Molly from the human society about 5 years ago - at that time, the vet estimated that she was about 2 years old so that is why we think that she is now about 7. So - what is like living with the middle-aged woman that is our dog? Although sometimes she can get grumpy, moody and even out-right demanding, she is extremely loyal and loving at the same time - Josh and I are so thankful to have her in our family. Happy Birthday Mols!! Happy Friday everyone! Josh and I are off this weekend to Mississippi for a retreat with our small group. There will be skeet shooting, 4-wheeling and football, o my! We are excited - hope everyone has a great weekend!!

ATLANTA & MOLLY'S SLEEPOVER

2011-03-25T10:53:00.002-05:00

Last weekend Josh and I decided to get away to Atlanta for a couple of days to go shopping, eat out and stay one night in the Buckhead area... we had a lot of fun shopping at Ikea, the Lenox Square Mall (complete with a large Crate and Barrel) and checking out a few new restaurants.

Our friend's Jordan and Jess were so nice to keep Molly for us. She definitely had an exciting weekend (maybe more than us?!?) On Saturday she got to go with them to Railroad Park here in Birmingham (we have never even been there...) and on Sunday morning she went on a long walk on the lakeshore trail... The picture to the right is Molly with Jordan (please excuse the tongue) on Sunday when we picked her up. She felt so much at home, we thought she would not want to leave. Thank you guys so much for keeping her - we really appreciate it!!

Interesting side story while we were in Atlanta... on Saturday night when we got back to our hotel - we heard lots of noise in the room across the hall and later right outside our hallway. After several complaints to the front desk from other people in the hall (as well as us) we decided to be nosy and listen to what was going on - turns out they were filming a reality TV show and using our hotel room door as a back drop!! (No comments here on the reality show that they were filming except that if you click on the link, you will understand that not only had Josh and I had never heard of the show but it definitely made for an interesting site when we were looking through the peep hole on our door). Things quieted down eventually but the next day when Josh got the survey from the hotel - he mentioned the incident again. The hotel manager wrote back, assured us that they did not know that the crew was planning on filming, refunded our room charge and charged it to the film crew manager's credit card. Actually worked out quite nicely...

SHOWER FOR JESSICA & "BGW"

2011-03-13T22:21:00.007-05:00

This Saturday, I was able to help host a shower for Jessica and soon to be here "Baby Girl Whitworth." Jessica and her husband, Ben, are good friends of ours that are originally from Birmingham and moved to Jacksonville right around the time that Josh and I were married. We met them in our newlywed class at FBC. Ben completed the same program that Josh is finishing up right now - Master's of Health Administration at UAB. Apparently their enthusiasm for both Birmingham and the program at UAB rubbed off on us - because now here we living in their home town while they stayed in ours.

I was so excited to be a part of this shower - several of Jess's college buddies threw the shower and asked me to help host and helpt to decorate for the shower. Her wonderful Mom offered to let us have the shower at her house and it was a beautiful (and convenient for Jess) place to have it. I really enjoyed doing this for Jessica. Here are a few pictures from the shower this weekend...

Food Table with all of the yummy brunch goodies

My First attempt at a diaper cake - so much fun decorating it for a little girl :)

Clothes line - getting BGW ready for Florida - personal fav: the pink ruffled swim suit :)

The Living Room with banner - Welcome Baby Girl

Jess with all of her hostesses

Funny side story that Jess shared on Saturday - she and Ben are still deciding on a name and have decided not to share the name until after she is born. One of the names that Ben offered up for consideration - "Sunshine." I think it was Ben's aunt who said - "When did He turn into a hippie?!?!" While Jess did not endorse this name, she explained that Ben was trying to come up with a name that would be "happy."

Jess - Josh and I are so excited for you guys and can't wait to meet BGW. Considering who her parents are - she will surely be a well-loved and "happy" baby. We miss you guys but I am so glad that we got to hang out this weekend!! Much love.

UPCOMING EVENTS... LIST MAKING

2011-03-10T14:09:00.005-06:00

I am a list-maker. Plain and simple. I cannot even explain the joy that comes from crossing things off of a list, or even, better - throwing the list away because all of the things on it are DONE!!! (Or sometimes it gets thrown away just to write a new one, as the list was looking sloppy and needed a re-DO.) I just made my grocery list, my To-DO at work list and now I would like to make a list of upcoming events. Some are work travel, but most are very exciting events that will hopefully make great blog posts :).

UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE HEWIETT HOUSE:
- March 12: Baby Shower for Jessica (Rebecca decorating - first attempt at making a diaper cake is complete... pictures to follow this weekend)
- March 14-18: Josh's Spring Break
- March 21-23: Work trip to Gainesville (Rebecca - Staging Models)
- March 25-27: Jason & Morgan visiting?!?!
- April 1-3: Small Group Retreat (So excited!!)
- April 4-6: Work trip to Lock Haven, PA (Rebecca - Furniture Presentation)
- April 8-9: ASID Conference in Huntsville, AL (Rebecca, but Josh might come stay...)
- April 22: Secret Church
- April 24: EASTER
- May 6-8: Josh's Graduation Weekend/ Mother's Day (Parents are coming!!)
- May 14: Move to Cullman, AL (Or sometime around then...)
- May 16: Josh starts his residency in Huntsville!!

We have a busy couple of months coming up!! Just the way I like it :).

FROM MY SWEETS

2011-02-25T14:15:00.005-06:00

In keeping with the theme of being slightly behind on my blog posting - I will fill you in on our Valentine's Day. We had work/school that day of course... when I got home, Josh had flowers, a card and a present wrapped and waiting on the counter - very sweet! Before he got home, I made dinner and had it ready so we could eat together at home- very nice and relaxing.

As far as exchanging gifts - over the past couple of years, we have tried to be very practical in our gift giving and stay on a budget. This year, Josh surprised me and got me this beautiful watch that I love - I have been wearing it everyday. I love how it sparkles and makes my wedding rings sparkle too :). Thanks babe - I absolutely love it!

Unfortunately for him, Josh's gift was a little more practical - he needed a nice wool coat and got one on sale with a coupon (that he picked out and purchased himself - since he had to try it on). But, I must say - it looks very nice on him and he will be ready for the Huntsville/ Suit-Wearing in snow internship next winter!

5 STATES IN 7 HOURS

2011-02-23T10:50:00.011-06:00

Hello friends - I know, my lack of blog posting has gotten out of hand - over a month since my last post and so I will attempt to update you on all things Hewiett that have been happening...

Josh is getting busy with Midterms which will happen over the next 2 weeks - he definitely has Senioritis all over again - and I think I do too?!?. He is excited and ready to start his internship which will begin in May. He will begin his residency (internship) at Huntsville Hospital. Huntsville, AL is about an hour and a half north of Birmingham and we will therefore be moving to Cullman, AL which is a VERY small town about half way in between (so I can keep my job) and we will both commute. We have spent a couple of weekends looking for a place to rent and I think we have found one - more on this in a later post...

I have been traveling a ton for work - visiting lots of job sites for projects installing this summer and next summer. Most recently I went on a trip and visited the great state of Ohio - somewhere I had never been before. We are opening a property this fall that is currently being remodeled. It is in Oxford, OH which is where the University of Miami (Ohio) is. For this trip I flew into the Cincinatti airport which coincidentally is actually located in Florence, Kentucky (also a new destination for me...) And here's where the name of this post comes in - on my trip to and from the jobsite (although I did fly) I had to go through 5 states. On the way there I started in Birmingham, flew through Memphis, landed in Kentucky, drove through the tip of Indiana and finally arrived in Ohio. On the way there I actually got delayed (due to all of the ice/snow in Birmingham) and had a long layover in Memphis so I did not make it in 7 hours... but on my way home I flew through Detroit instead and everything was on time so I actually did "5 states in 7 hours": Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Alabama. Probably way TMI - but I felt like I needed to explain my blog post title :).

The upside to my long layover in Memphis was that I got to have lunch with my best friend Sarah. It was my first visit to Memphis since she lived there and so we were excited even though did not have a ton of time. We had some much needed girl chat time and were both admitedly upset that we forgot to take a picture of our lunch to document the occassion on - you guessed it - our blogs. (Insert mental picture of Sarah and I at lunch here...)

While I was in Ohio, I had to decorate some models again for the complex - our company is remodeling each of the units to include new finishes in the kitchens & bathrooms, paint on the walls and new flooring. I have selected furniture and am managing the purchasing and installation. For the model it was the usual drill - shop beforehand to get items to make the units look "lived-in." I actually did the shopping for this one in Birmingham and had the items put on the truck with the furniture to meet me up there. Funny side story - Josh offered to help me shop for these models since I was by myself. He was excited... 14 buggies at Homegoods later maybe not so much but I think he did a great job. So... without further delay... here are the finished model pictures of the Ohio job that (Josh and) I did last week.

It looks like I will be home for a little while which is definitely a nice break - I will be getting ready for my marathon of a traveling summer with 3 installations in Ohio (above), Gainesville and Baltimore, MD.

Now that February is almost done - Next big event: Jessica's baby shower here in Birmingham on March 12! I am in charge of decorations for the shower and she is having a sweet baby girl. Will update with how it turns out.

GIRLS WEEKEND

2011-01-18T17:13:00.008-06:00

This past weekend was amazing - 3 of my best friends from Florida came to visit us in Birmingham. Jackie, Paula and Liz stayed with us for 4 days and we showed them all around the Ham! They arrived on Friday morning and Josh picked them up from the airport while I worked a half-day. We met up for lunch and went to the delicious Saw's BBQ in Homewood. Afterwards we did lots of shopping and stopped by to say "Hello" to Mr. Vulcan.

On Saturday we slept in, chatted up during breakfast and then made the trek out to Oak Mountain. (The pic you see below was very graciously taken by our chauffeur and my husband - Josh.) We decided to climb down to the waterfall that we love and it was quite a climb since everything was still very slippery. We all managed to climb down and then back out of the valley in one piece - however, let's just say that some of us struggled more than others...

Josh: "Jackie, just move your foot to that spot right there..."

Jackie: "Don't you see that is impossible as I am already doing the SPLITS?!?!"

Becca: To Jackie - "They all have longer legs than us - NOT FAIR."

Becca: (Grunting in frustration and fear.)

Paula: "Becca, haven't you done this before?!?"

Josh: "Yes, she has..."

Sunday was Paula's birthday and so we ordered her favorite cake Edgar's Bakery and we sang to her on Saturday night after Josh and I made dinner.

On Sunday we went to church in the morning, Baha Burger for lunch, outlet shopping in the afternoon and then dinner at Jackson's for Paula's birthday - busy but very fun day!!

I am so thankful for such a fun and relaxing weekend with friends. Lots of girl time :). Poor Josh was a little overloaded with Estrogen, but he was amazing as he baked cookies, cooked dinner from a Pioneer Woman recipe (haha), drove us everywhere and just plain put up with us. Love you, Babe.

This 4-day weekend was a much needed break before my upcoming work travel schedule:

Next week - Pennsylvania for a new project for Lock Haven University

Week After - Gainesville for progress visit and UF housing Reception onsite (Hopefully I can update!!)

Following week - Possibly to OHIO?!? (Don't think I've been there before...)

FIRST SNOW...

2011-01-18T16:49:00.006-06:00

Last Sunday night, January 9th, we got our first snow of this winter here in Birmingham. The storm that came through brought lots of rain and and about an inch of snow - this created a layer of ice that covered everything. We ended up having our first official "SNOW DAY" (on Monday) since we have moved here - no work or school for us!! It was kinda nice to relax and have a 3-day weekend.

You can see Molly surveying the damage from her spot on the "veranda" (as we like to call it.) She was very restless and could not understand why we could not all just run around in it - after Josh slipped on the ice in the parking lot while walking her Sunday night, we decided to stay inside as much as possible until it melted some.

CHRISTMAS IN FLORIDA

2011-01-08T16:24:00.009-06:00

Sorry it has been so long since the last post - Josh and I had a very busy and exciting 10-day long break from work and school over Christmas/ New Years that we spent at home in Jacksonville with our family and friends. We had a lot of fun!! We arrived in Jax on the 23rd and spent time with Josh's family on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Christmas lunch we went over to Josh's Grandparents' house and then headed over to my mom's house for Christmas dinner.

Melissa and I on Christmas Eve

Molly on Christmas Eve - Stylin' it for the Camera

The Annual "Fun" Hewiett Family Pic - we had to work
hard to top the Human Pyramid from last year :)

Molly was exhausted after all of the festivities

Christmas Night at My Mom's House - Family Pic

Kids with Aunt Lala

On Monday after Christmas Josh, Melissa, Josh's Dad and I went to Islands of Adventure. It was a rather chilly day but we were glad to endure it in order to ride roller coasters and get a glimpse of the new Island that just opened last summer...

This may be my favorite picture of the day :)

Melissa and I before Spiderman in 3D

Heading into Jurassic Park where Melissa convinced us to ride the water ride...

... the aftermath - but at least we saw the dinosaurs :). We were able to immediately dry off on dueling dragons...

Our first glimpse of Hogwarts :)

Dad and girls in Hogsmeade

Josh and I in front of the Weasley's Car

These are the crowds we faced to see Harry...

Waiting in line in front of Hogwarts Castle to ride the Harry ride...

End of the Day - in front of the Hulk

Monday at Islands of Adventure was a lot of fun - I am so glad we got to go. For the rest of the week we got to hang out with our family and a few of our wonderful friends that we do not get to see that often. We were so fortunate to get this break to spend in Jacksonville and celebrate the Birth of Christ surrounded by our family. We love and miss you all.

Think this gets me caught up on what we have been up to last month - this next week should be interesting - there is a storm coming in to Birmingham tomorrow that is supposed to bring snow, I am going to Baton Rouge for work all week (supposed to be driving on Monday - we will see if the roads are icey) and next weekend 3 of my best friends from Jax are coming to visit for 4 days - I can't wait :). Paula, Jackie and Liz arrive on Friday and leave next Monday. We will be busy showing them around Birmingham which will I am sure include: shopping, hiking, eating and lots of other fun things we think of. I am so excited to see my wonderful friends and so thankful they are coming - the last time we were together was when Jackie got married last April. Will update on how next weekend goes!!

"32 AND RAINING"

2010-12-16T15:30:00.005-06:00

Like everyone else in the country, we have been having some horrid weather the last few days - well mainly frigid. I think there were 5 days in a row where it did not get above 30 degrees here in Birmingham - awful... I am not used to this.

So yesterday we got somewhat of a different forecast - it will warm up a bit and we will get some rain for the next few days. They said "Wednesday morning it will begin to rain and eventually raise to above freezing by the end of the day...." My first thought was "Sweet, that means it might SNOW!!" I love the snow here and inevitably it snow might mean a "SNOW DAY" or at least a short work day and then snow afternoon? Boy was I wrong... instead it meant sleet and lots of ice on the roads!! Scary stuff!

Side note/Lesson to Floridians on what sleet is (because I thought I knew too and then I actually experienced it): Sleet is when the rain freezes right before it hits the ground. I knew this... but i thought that meant that it would look like snow and rain mixed together - NO!! It looks, feels and sounds like very small hail. I experienced this first hand on my drive into work yesterday - I am sure that I looked ridiculous as I was freaking out, trying to figure out what was hitting my car!!

Another thing that happens when it "rains" and is 32 degrees outside is seen in the picture below:

4" Icicles were hanging from the Pathfinder when I left work yesterday evening. Crazy stuff!! Just thought I would fill everyone in (mainly the Floridians) on the weather here in the Ham. I have to say - I am looking forward to spending Christmas in Jacksonville where it will hopefully be warmer this year :)

ONE OF MY BEST MEMORIES...

2010-12-12T08:35:00.005-06:00

... Of my Dad was actually the night of my highschool graduation. We had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants (that is no longer there...) in Jacksonville - LightHouse Grill. My entire family was there along with a few friends, and of course my boyfriend - Josh. Dinner ran a little later than expected so I had to leave early since I had to be at the auditorium an hour before. It was decided that Josh could take me and then possibly start saving seats for everyone... just as we were heading out, my Dad screamed - "Oh, and I'll join you!! I can help Josh save seats." I am sure that at this point Josh was panicking at the thought of spending any length of time with his girlfriend's dad by himself - but he hid it very well. Keep in mind - we were only 18 and had only been dating for about 3.5 months. We get into Josh's car - Josh driving, me in the front and my Dad slides into the middle of the back seat. As we began the drive, the radio kicks on and my Dad is like "Sooooo, what are we listening to? - Do you have anything good?" Josh says, "I have Queen." (Knowing that I knew all of the songs after learning them from my Dad's CD.) My Dad - "Great!! Number 5, please!!!"

Over the next few minutes I was more embarrassed (or so I thought) than I had ever been in my life. I listened in absolute horror as my Dad belted out every word to (as loud and as high-pitched as he could) on of Queen's Greatest Hits, "Fat-Bottomed Girls." I remember getting out of Josh's Taurus and thinking that Josh may run away and never speak to me again.

This is still one of my favorite (and funniest) memories of my Dad. Josh and I talk all the time about we can embarrass our kids just as well as my Dad did us. I am so thankful for the many wonderful memories I have of my Dad who was there to love, mentor, guide, teach, discipline & yes, embarrass me for 19 years.

7 years today... I love you and miss you, Dad.

NEW ADDITIONS

2010-12-08T08:45:00.004-06:00

We got our Christmas decorations up last week and I am excited about the new items that have been added to the mix. We have most of the same decorations for last year... but we have two main additions that make very big statements.

The first is the lovely tree that you see below - Josh and I used some of our Birthday money to purchase this beautiful 7' (artificial) tree a couple of weeks ago. I was very excited about it. Our first 2 Christmases in Jax, we got REAL Christmas trees (which are still my favorite). However, once we moved to Alabama - we were not here for Christmas week anymore and did not want to leave a real tree while we were gone (fire hazard?!?!) We decided getting a decent looking artificial tree was the next best thing - here she is. She is a beauty!!

The next exciting addition to the Christmas decoration collection at the Hewiett House is seen below:

Our nativity is complete!! The last piece that we needed was the actual stable - and my mom surprised me with it for my birthday last month - very nice!! Although the nativity still has no better place to sit except the bar (which will hopefully change in our new place next year), it now looks like a set meant to be together. I think this is (and will always be) my favorite Christmas decoration - such a simple statement of what CHRISTmas is about - the birth of our Lord. I also love that our first 4 Christmases as a married couple were spent collected all of the pieces.

That's all of the new decorations for this year! I just got an email notice that our shutterfly Christmas cards we ordered should arrive today!! Maybe will be motivated to address them and get them out tonight! (Be expecting your copy very soon!)

DAVE BARNES & SEAVER FEVER

2010-12-07T10:50:00.004-06:00

Sorry for the lack of posting - things have been quite busy at the Hewiett house... Thanksgiving was great - we got to go home to Florida and spend it with both of our families. We are counting down the days until Christmas - which means another break from work and school and lots more time with family & friends!!

We have been busy shopping, decorating for Christmas, wrapping presents,etc. The Christmas parties officially begin this week with my work party this Thursday night!! (Will update later...)

This past weekend we started our Christmas celebration off to a very fun start by attending a Dave Barnes Christmas concert. He is absolutely hilarious - check out this video of him dancing as Santa Clause - his friend was headed to his house in order to film his annual Christmas Extravaganza video and walked up to him dancing in his living room.

On Sunday evening I joined a friend from work to go meet Kirk Cameron and hear him speak at a Boy's Ranch here in Birmingham. He was a great speaker - he of course did a few impressions to feed the "Seaver Fever" and then immediately began to share his testimony - I was so excited to hear such a clear and genuine presentation of the gospel.

He asked that his body guard be in all of his pictures so that there could be no appearance of scandel with him being alone with any women - very respectable!! The only thing I was upset about was that I completely did not even think to bring my FIREPROOF movie for him to sign - that would have been awesome - o well.

That about sums up our weekend - we have a very busy few weeks ahead of us - here are our upcoming Christmas activities:

December 9 - Rebecca's Work Christmas Party (Josh comes too!)

December 12 - Holiday House Tour with my friend from work

December 13 - Work Christmas Potluck

December 14 - Small Group Christmas Party

December 21 - Viewing of "Elf" at the Alabama Theatre with our Small Group

December 23 - Leave for Jax after work!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

THANKS BE TO GOD...

2010-11-22T10:21:00.003-06:00

JUST A FEW THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ - His death has given us Life.
2. My awesome husband and best friend, Josh. (I am so proud to be your wife! Thank you for loving and supporting me every day.)
3. Our loving families - we are so thankful for all of your love and support. We are so excited to be with you for Thanksgiving this year :).
4. Our wonderful church & pastor.
5. Our amazing small group - such an answer to prayer. We are so encouraged and continually in awe of how God has us in exactly the place He wants us at this moment.
6. Our friends - both here - you are our family away from family - and back home - we miss you but we are so thankful for each of you as we continue to pick up where we last left off :).
6. My job & Josh's future internship!!
7. All the "things" God has blessed us with - we want to glorify God with everything that we are and everything that we have.
8. Molly - thank you for still loving us when we don't have time to walk you every day and when we dress you up in ridiculous outfits.
9. Sweet (and very funny) memories of my Dad - I miss him but am so thankful for teh time that we got to spend with him.
10. Our trip home to Jacksonville for THANKSGIVING this week!! So excited to take time off and spend it with our wonderful family and friends back home.

"Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 15:56-58

FREE CARDS PLEASE!!

2010-11-19T13:06:00.004-06:00

In case you have not heard... Shutterfly is offering 50 FREE Christmas cards to bloggers who sign up on their website and do a blog about how wonderful Shutterfly is.

I have actually not used Shutterfly personally... yet... but I have heard only good things about them. I have had several friends use Shutterfly as a way to share an album of photos - for a big event or trip, etc. They were very easy to navigate and their prices are very reasonable.

I am very excited about this promotion - here are some of this year's Christmas card layouts that I am thinking about:

So excited!! Christmas cards are going to be easy this year :)

HARRY FANS FOR LIFE

2010-11-17T20:51:00.004-06:00

This picture says it all. Yes, Josh and I are part of THE nerd herd that follows everything that Harry Potter does... both in written word and on the big screen. This is a picture from early college with our friends Laura, Scott and Lauren where we waited in line at Barnes & Noble in the middle of the night for a book release...

For those who didn't know (and then therefore probably don't care) the 7th movie - Part 1 opens tomorrow and we have already bought our tickets with our friends Ryan and Laura to see it in IMAX on Saturday night. WE CAN"T WAIT!!

Also - side note - for those who know me well, you will recall that I don't read... usually... well with all of this work traveling I have been doing I have suddenly become a book worm (when on a plane and in the hotel at least) and among some of the big books (I mean, yes, this really is an accomplishment for me...) that I have read lately is Harry Potter book #5. I still need to read 6 and 7 but my new goal is to read both before Part 2 of the 7th movie comes out next summer... and with all of the traveling I have coming up - I am sure that this will not be a problem.

SECRET CHURCH & BIRTHDAY VISITORS

2010-11-12T13:12:00.010-06:00

Last weekend Josh's sister, Melissa and her friends Hannah and Eliza came to visit us here in the Ham. They decided to make the trip in order to come with us to Secret Church and hang out a little bit to see Birmingham and celebrate our birthdays. They arrived Friday night and when I got home from work, we immediately headed up to Brook Hills to attend secret church - it was amazing. The conference lasted 7 hours and covered all topics related to The Body of Christ. Very cool.

On Saturday we slept in to recuperate from the late night and then decided to go hiking at Oak Mountain. The weather was beautiful and we had some much fun hiking around the mountain.

On Saturday night, Melissa took us out to dinner for our birthdays - to one of our favorite BBQ joints - Jim N Nicks. Afterwards we did a little shopping at the Summit.

Later that night, I made a birthday cake to celebrate - Josh's favorite: yellow cake with Chocolate Icing. I only had a few candles - not 26, or I guess 52 with both of us - we did not want to start a fire.

There are more pics - to see them all check out facebook. We had such a fun weekend with the girls - thank you all for visiting. We are so glad that we were able to "share secrets" and show you around Birmingham :).

This weekend Josh and I will be relaxing after all of our fun weekend guests from the past few weeks. We are getting excited for our trip home to Jax for Thanksgiving (and then again for Christmas...) Happy Friday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HIGHSCHOOL SWEETHEART...

2010-11-08T08:00:00.010-06:00

... who is now my wonderful husband. I can't believe that this will be the 8th birthday that we have celebrated together. This picture is from - you guessed it - our Senior Prom. My, how time flies!

Joshie - I love you and I am so thankful for all that you do. I am so proud of how hard you work every day and so happy to be married to you. I hope you have a wonderful birthday today. I love you.

BATON ROUGE AGAIN

2010-11-03T20:26:00.008-05:00

So do you remember the project from August in Baton Rouge that I complained about here? We went back again earlier this week on a short 2-day trip for a follow-up and this is what we saw...

Not too bad, huh? Maybe all the hard work (and sweat) was worth it? Please tell me YES!

MOM & AUNT LALA VISIT THE HAM

2010-11-03T19:59:00.008-05:00

This past weekend we had a visit from my Mom and Aunt Lala. We were so excited to have them visit Birming- ham - we did lots of site seeing, went to a Fall Festival that our small group did and of course tasted lots that Birmingham only restaurants have to offer.

Friday when I got off work I hurried home and then was off to pick them up at the airport. We went home first to let them see the apartment, met Josh and immediately headed off to dinner at Dreamland - a Birmingham must. After dinner we toured downtown so that Josh could show my Mom and Aunt Lala his school and UAB Hospital.

On Saturday we did lots of shopping and site seeing in the morning but made sure, of course that we were back in time for the beginning of the Florida - Georgia game to begin. We left later that afternoon to head over to a Fall Festival that our small group was throwing as a Ministry Opportunity in Inner-City Birmingham. We had so much playing games and handing out tons of candy to all of the kids. We were excited for Mom and Aunt Lala to meet some of our small group buddies as well.

On Sunday morning we went to church and then had lunch at Jim N Nick's BBQ - YUM! Josh had to head off to school for a group project and so we went to the Galleria Mall to check out a new Christmas store that just opened... very fun. We finished up the afternoon with Frozen Yogurt from Yogurt Mountain - delicious!

Site seeing at Vulcan Park

Beautiful hills of the Ham :)

Always trying to come up with new pictures with Vulcan

Mom & Aunt Lala working a booth at the Festival

My Favorite Costumes of the Night: Our Small Group Leaders - The Tooth and The Tooth Fairy (Richard and Tara)

Josh helping the kiddies get candy :)

Mom and Aunt Lala - We are so happy that you came and we can't wait until you visit again soon! See you in 3 short weeks at Thanksgiving!! Love you both.

COUNTRY LIVING FAIR (WITH SARAH!!)

2010-10-24T18:41:00.012-05:00

This weekend we got a visit from one of my very best friends - SARAH!! She now lives in Memphis with her husband who is in the Marines, but for the past 3 years she has lived in Hawaii (5 time zones away...) It was so good to see her!! I think it has been over 2 years since the last time we saw each other.

We had planned this weekend a few weeks ago - Sarah found out about the Country Living Fair that would be in Atlanta this weekend and we made plans for her to come to Birmingham for the weekend and she and I would drive to Atlanta on Saturday morning. We woke up and were on the road by 7:00 AM. The fair was held at Stone Mountain Park and the weather was absolutely beautiful - could not have been better. The park was prett crowded but it was manageable -there were oer 250 vendors there with various crafts, decorations, furniture, etc. Sarah was on the hunt for several things in order to decorate her and Logan's new house in Memphis -

I came away from the Fair with these Christmas ornaments that you see above - they are rather unique and made of wire and beads. Overall the weekend was a ton of fun and so great to be ablet to spend time with Sarah. Once we got back to Birmingham on Saturday, Josh went with us to dinner and some more shopping on Saturday night - I think this is the longest that Josh has gotten to hang out with Sarah as well - we had so much fun!

Sarah - Thank you so much for visiting this weekend :). It was so great to see you and catch up!! I am so glad you live so much closer now and I can't wait till the next weekend we make plans.

SWEET HUSBAND

2010-10-17T21:56:00.002-05:00

I have the sweetest husband :). I came home from my work trip this past Wednesday night (on our annviersary) and this is what I saw - Pretty tulips (my fav), a card and a delicious cake from Edgar's bakery. Josh went through the trouble of taking a picture of our wedding cake to the baker here in town so that they could try to imitate the top of the cake complete with red ribbon (which he brought to them) and black icing dots around the edge. He even remembered the flavor that was on the top of the cake - chocolate with raspberry filling: it was delicious!!

Joshie - thank you for going through the trouble of re-creating our cake. It means so much to me when you are so thoughtful :). Happy 3 years!!

GAINESVILLE PROJECT

2010-10-17T21:24:00.004-05:00

Last week I traveled to Gainesville for a site visit to the project that I told you about here. It was so great to see the progress of the project at the beginning of construction. Hopefully the next time I see the project, it will be complete and I will be managing the furniture installation sometime next summer.

Just a refresher on this project - what you see in these pictures is the building that formerly housed the First Baptist Church of Gainesville, FL built in 1922. The church sold their building to a development company (us) in order to get out of debt and move to a smaller, newer facility. The sanctuary building will now be the "front door" to the housing complex that we are developing. Inside will be housed the leasing and management offices for the building, the fitness center for use by residents as well as several retail vendors (restaurants, cafes, shops.) Most of these uses will be in the lower level of the building - former sunday school classrooms and church offices will now be the leasing offices, etc. A vendor to lease the actual sanctuary space has not been found yet - it will be interesting to see what they do with the space. In the agreement with the church and the City of Gainesville, the sanctuary has to be restored inside and out and the original architecture and detailing must remain. I can't wait to see it all fixed up by next summer!

We are building 3 housing buildings and 1 parking deck that surround the sanctuary building. There is not much to see right now - but you can sort of see the concrete framing for the first building through the construction fence in the photo above. While I was there last week, I helped set up the temporary leasing office for the facility in one of the old pre-school classrooms of the sancturary building. It is not much to see right now as we did not want to spend a lot of money since this office will move in about 9 months or so when the final one is complete. We did a teal accent wall and dark vinyl plank "wood" flooring that shows potential tenants what finishes they will get in their units.

My main contribution to this project will be the furniture... I am designing it, presenting it to the project team, purchasing and coordinating the installation. We will have over 600 beds which means a whole of furniture and money!! Since the units will not be ready until move in day - we decided to contract out and have a workroom make scale models of a couple of the unit types in order to show tenants what the furniture and finishes will look like. I was amazed by the models when I saw them - all those long hours in the architecture studio (just a few blocks west of where this temp leasing office sits) made me truly appreciate the time and detail (and money) that went into these models... I can say one thing, I am so glad I am not spending my days (and nights) making scale models anymore... (can I get an "AMEN" from any former studio girls out there?!?!)

Being in Gainesville for work was great! I felt like a tourguide to the management staff that was there with me. We took a drive around campus to view all of the important sites such as Shands, Turlington, The Reitz, Jennings Hall (my freshmen residence) and of course all of the off-campus good eats such as Leonardo's pizza, Burrito Brothers, Satchel's (which is still cash only by the way!) and the Swamp. It was great to be in my second home so close to friends and family - on Monday night I got to have dinner with my good friend Laura and on Tuesday my Mom drove down from Jax to take me to lunch!

When I got home, I had someone who was beyond over-joyed to see me (which, of course made me feel good!) We spent the next hour sitting as you see below, waiting for Josh to get home. Molly says, "Don't leave me ever again!"

Visiting Gainesville and my project was a lot of fun, but I am definitely looking forward to being home for the next few weeks! The next trip will be in November (on my birthday...) to Baltimore, Maryland to visit the other project I am working on at Towson University. Until then, I am home for a while and very exciting about some guests we have coming very soon! Sarah (who I have not seen in over 2 years!) is coming this weekend and my Mom and Aunt Lala are coming the next... can't wait!

3 YEARS!!

2010-10-13T07:34:00.005-05:00

Today I am traveling home from a work trip to be with my wonderful husband on our 3 year anniversary. I can't believe that we have been married for 3 years already -time has literally flown by.

October 13, 2007 was such a pretty fall day and one that we will always remember and cherish... of course, as wonderful as the wedding was - the marriage is even better.

Joshie - I love you so much and I am so proud to be your wife! Can't wait to see you soon!

WORK AT FAU

2010-10-10T17:04:00.009-05:00

I love my job as an Interior Designer, but as seen in the pictures here - it is not quite as glamo- rous as shown on HGTV. Last week my boss and I traveled down to Boca Raton, FL to decorate an apartment model for a new dormitory that our company is developing and building for FAU. Since the site is not yet complete and we do not yet have a CO (Certificate of Occupancy) from the city, hard hats, safety vests and construction boots must be worn at all times. While we were stylin' this gear, we staged the apartment over a 2 day period. It was a lot of fun to be in a Boca and to check out the site as it was in progress. Although I miss Josh (and Molly) terribly when I am gone - I really do enjoy getting out of the office and traveling for work.

I am hitting the road (or the airways?) again this week - I am going to Gainesville to check out the progress and set up the leasing office for the project that I told you about here.

FLORIDA-ALABAMA

2010-10-10T16:33:00.011-05:00

Last week -end we went to the Florida- Ala- bama game in Tusca- loosa. (About an hour and fifteen minutes away...) We were able to get tickets from Josh's former co-worker from Wachovia - they were great seats! Although the gators lost the game by a landslide, I am still so glad that we had the opportunity to go to the game... when we found out we were moving here (after the 2008 Gators National Championship season where we beat Alabama in the SEC championship) I looked up the Florida Football away schedule for 2010 and saw that we would be playing this game in T-town and I am so happy that we actually got to go. (Even if the tables have turned a little...) Although this football season is turning out to be painful to watch for gator fans everywhere, I still love the thrill - after all, isn't that what makes it interesting, not knowing whether or not you are going to win?!?! One thing that did make this loss to Alabama a little better was the fact that Alabama lost this past weekend to South Carolina who just happens to be coached by none other than Steve Spurrier who is actually and most importantly originally a GATOR. Here are some more pics from the game....

I like to call myself a REAL fan - none of this fair-weather stuff. After our embarrassing loss last weekend, I proudly wore bright orange gator T-shirt to publix this weekend, by myself, in the middle of Alabama - I am and always will be a GATOR fan!!

THE BODY OF CHRIST

2010-10-08T08:31:00.003-05:00

Its that time again! Secret church is coming and this year it will be on November 5th. I am buying our tickets this morning. Check out details here.

Happy Friday!

FALL IS HERE!!

2010-09-22T07:54:00.002-05:00

Today is officially the first day of fall and it is supposed to get up to 97 here in the Ham... I am beyond ready for FALL and with it some cooler weather and so I figured that if I made a list of every preparation I have made for fall, maybe the cooler weather would move in more quickly?

REASONS WHY FALL SHOULD BE HERE SOON IF IT IS NOT ALREADY...

1. New FALL wreath has been constructed and is hanging nicely on the door.

2. Table decorations are in place - just for that impromptu FALL dinner guest :)

3. New glade plug-in scent in place - this year's FALL scent: cinnamon apple.

4. New Kitchen Hand Soap - FALL scent: Pumpkin Spice, Pier 1 (Love!)

5. Candy Corn dishes filled with FALL candy.

6. FALL football is underway - most importantly Gators 3-0 this season so far.

7. Annual purchase of new Gator T-shirts for the Hewietts has already ocurred. (Want to make sure we are looking sharp for weekly FALL viewings of #6.)

8. FALL TV show line up has begun!! DVR is now set to record new episodes of Chuck, Glee, Criminal Minds, Fringe, Big Bang Theory, The Office and 30 Rock.

9. Molly has resumed her usual FALL post on the balcony. (Can she smell it coming?)

10. Wedding Album out in view to commemorate the 3 year anniversary of our FALL wedding in October.

O FALL, how I love thee, let me count the ways (check!). FALL, you are awesome and I so glad you are here... now bring on that cool weather and those lovely Birmingham autumn leaves!

WEAR BLUE WHEN THE GATORS PLAY TENN

2010-09-20T07:51:00.002-05:00

This weekend Josh and I made the trip to Knoxville, TN for the FL-TN game on Saturday. We met up with Alan and Winnie who let us use Winnie's parents' tickets for the game - so much fun! It was such a relaxing weekend: very good to trake a break from work and school, get away, hang out with great friends and of course see the GATORS beat Tennessee. It was wonderful.

Knoxville is such pretty city - Josh and I had never been there before. UT's campus is downtown and the stadium is next to the river and so it makes for a very exciting and beautiful location!

Josh and I of course made sure we were wearing blue so that no mistake was made as to our loyalties - Winnie unfortunately did not have a good blue shirt to wear, but she did make sure that he shirt was in fact a true gator orange and not a sherbet orange. :) We sort of stuck out a little on Saturday - but o well. For the msot part, all of the Tennessee fans were cordial to us (as can be expected.) However, there was a fist fight that broke out two rows behind us that was a little scary...

Here are some pics from the weekend...

Josh and I were so glad that we got to go to the game - although some of did get a little sunburned. Lesson learned I guess... visitor's sections in stadiums are usually in the section that will be in the sun the entire game, even though the entire rest of the stadium will be in the shade by 5:30PM - you will not be, so plan for it (as I did not). Check out the rest of the pictures from the weekend on facebook.

IN LOVE W/ WALLPAPER

2010-09-16T13:50:00.007-05:00

Well not literally... but I really like this. It is official - Wallpaper is back! I must admit I am probably a little behind the times when it comes to this recent development for two reasons - 1. Josh and I rent our apartment currently and so spending the time/money/effort to purchase and install wallpaper is out of the question and 2. the early 90's influx of wallpaper has permanently scarred my opinion (I'm not sure if I will ever recover from this?!?)

Despite me personally being out of touch with this new trend, it is here none the less. I am excited to see such cool graphic patterns that make such a bold statement. If you are thinking about wallpaper - I would totally go for it! I think it is a great way to spice up a room and can definitely bring a whole new meaning to the phrase "accent wall." I think it would be great for a dining room, accent wall in a guest room or office or maybe even above a chair rail in a nursery. Check more cool wallpaper/ fabric out at Mod Green Pod.

VEGAS FOR WORK

2010-09-12T23:17:00.004-05:00

That's right, a couple of weeks ago I went to the FABULOUS LAS VEGAS, NEVADA for work. A furniture manufacturer called Foliot Furniture invited several industry designers and specifiers to come and check out their new showroom and manufacturing plant in Las Vegas. They paid for my plane ticket, transportation and 2 nights stay at the Mirage hotel and resort. Very cool.

I went with one of the VP's of my company and had a really great time. We left for Vegas on a Thursday and arrived in time for dinner. On Friday we had the day to site see on the strip. Our first stop was a wax museum at the Venetian. It was tons of fun!! (And we got lots of good pictures - way too many to post!) Here I am with Elvis himself.

Here is Tara giving Tiger some pointers on his next shot.

Here I am breaking it down on the dance floor with Michael.

I took this picture for Josh - it was a massive fish tank behind the reception desk at the Mirage - very cool!

My room at the Mirage for 2 nights - very Vegas, I must say.

At the Venetian - across the street from the Mirage. I think the Venetian might be my favorite.

The dancing fountains at the Bellagio - always fun to stop and see. Now all I can think of though is Oceans 11.

Dinner at a Chinese Restaurant inside the Mirage - very cool atmosphere.

After the furniture event on Friday night, Tara and I had tickets to go to The Beatles LOVE show by Cirque du Soleil. This was definitely my favorite part of the whole trip. I love the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil so both together was mind-blowing! The show was unlike any I have ever seen. Absolutely amazing theatre and special effects, music, performance and costumes.

Overall the trip was a lot of fun. I will say that Vegas is as crazy as people say it is and you have to be very selective about the areas you go to and the places that you stay. I had been once before with my family and we stayed at the Bellagio. This trip at the Mirage was definitely not family friendly and if I go back someday with Josh, I don't think we will stay there. I think I want to check out staying at the Venetian!

GUEST POST

2010-09-03T08:47:00.004-05:00

Happy Friday everyone! I am so excited about this 3-day weekend we have on our hands. Today I leave you with a post that I did for my friend Christine who has an awesome design and DIY blog... check it out here.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

JOSH'S BIRTHDAY CAME EARLY

2010-08-31T08:57:00.004-05:00

So last night Josh got a 6 week early birthday present... the new Iphone 4. (He got the black one but I really like the white one too so I decided to show you both.) He is beyond excited. His old phone was so slow and almost died every night before he could get it back to the charger - ridiculous. It was time for a new one. Here are some of my favorite quotes from him last night...

Right after we got the phone and we were walking out of the store... Josh - "Look at this picture (quality)." Becca - "I know..." Josh - "No you don't, you have never seen anything THIS good!"

When we trying to make a U-turn to go back to firehouse subs for dinner Josh was getting stressed at the traffic and said, "I don't like my Iphone seeing me frustrated like this."

Later after dinner as we are walking to the car..."I've got my wife in one hand and my Iphone in the other... life is good."

O babe you are so funny. I am so glad you like your early birthday present. Love you.

DINING ROOM RENO

2010-08-18T18:46:00.012-05:00

When Josh's family was in town a couple of weeks ago we stumbled across a great buy on a new dining room table and chairs. (I would say that our previous dining set was probably our least favorite piece of furniture for both looks and functionality.) We inherited the old table from my dad's condo which we were so thankful for but were ready for a change. We had been keeping an eye out for a new table that would be bigger but still fit in the smallish space - and hopefully be able to fit in the kitchen of a future house! Here is the picture of the dining room before...

After finding the new table... we decided to give the dining room a mini-makeover by painting above the exisiting chair rail and trying to give the room a little more depth. It only took us a couple of hours to paint and I think it made a big difference. Nothing too loud like our other accent walls - but interesting and maybe a little more sophisticated?

We absolutely love our new dining room table!! We got it at Z Gallerie on clearance and they also threw in a nice designer's discount for yours truly. (I love my field!) It is a dark solid wood with charcoal gray legs. The wood is somewhat distressed which we think will be great for future little ones - this way we don't have to worry about it getting damaged. Yet, it is not "country" by any means... the metal legs give it a contemporary feel.

While Josh's family was here we got to immediately test out the functionality of the table by having a full dinner for 6 people where everyone and all the food could fit at the table. Very nice.

Even Molly's area was part of the dining room reno... we picked up these new food and water bowls for her at Homegoods. Very cute and it was time to retire the hot pink ones seen here. Josh was very excited as you can imagine.

WORK IN AUBURN, AL

2010-08-16T08:40:00.001-05:00

Last week I took a quick one-day trip with my boss over to an apartment complex in Auburn, AL called Eagle's West that our company owns and manages. We decorated and staged a one-bedroom model to try and entice some more people to rent at this location. This was my first real stab at decorating a model (which is something that I think we will be doing a lot more of...) We did most of the shopping for the model the day before we went. Our budget was $3,000 (not inlcuding major furniture items) and we ending up spending $2,700. I must say it was very fun getting to shop and put together something like this overnight - it almost did not feel like work... does this mean I like my job? :) Here are the pics - how do you think we did?

BATON ROUGE IN AUGUST WITH NO A/C

2010-08-12T17:54:00.005-05:00

I must say that the title for this post pretty much sums up last weeks trip with work for me... it was HOT. My boss and I drove down to Baton Rouge last Monday and came back Friday afternoon - we went to work on a project that Capstone is opening tomorrow (Saturday) called The Cottages at Baton Rouge. We were primarily working on decorating a clubhouse for the cottages complex - adding furniture, rugs, art accessories... making it look "lived-in".

Avantages to this trip:

- LOTS of free T-shirts... we were changing our shirts 3 times a day :)

- Got to have lunch one day with my good friend Sarah Rawlings who drove up from New Orleans to see me - I had not seen her in over a year!

- We got to get out of the office for a week and see an awesome student living facility that is so great it makes me want to go back to school just so that I can live in it.

Several disadvantages to this trip:

- We were in LSU country - their fans are always the worst!

- No elevator working to carry heavy items upstairs (i.e. lounge chairs)

- NO A/C IN 117 DEGREE HEAT INDEX...we would walk outside from the clubhouse and this hot weather would feel actually cooler than it was inside

Hot as it was down there... this is a really neat project - the clubhouse is 20,000 sq. ft. and comes complete with a two-story gym, tanning beds, steam room, game rooms with pool tables, poker tables, shuffle board, dart board, TVs for watching game, etc.

Check out the website link to the site... it is really cool. I did not get any pics of the clubhouse as it was still not cleaned once we left. We are hoping they will take professional pictures ASAP. It really was a neat project to be a part of... I learned one thing last week - my job description as an Interior Designer was just broadened and I wil never again take the sweet feeling of air conditioning for granted.

O ALABAMA...

2010-08-09T13:37:00.005-05:00

So, remember how I pointed out the lovely TV commercials that we have the pleasure of viewing every day here in Alabama? Apparently the News Stories are not much better...

HEWIETTS & HEWIETTS VISIT THE HEWIETTS

2010-08-08T20:49:00.008-05:00

So I am a little behind on my blog postings... the past couple of weeks have been quite busy. Last weekend Josh's parents and grandparents came to visit us here in Birmingham and then this past week I traveled to Baton Rouge for work. (I plan to do a later post about the very eventful work trip....) The picture you see here is 3 generations of Hewiett men.

We had a lot of fun with Josh's family. They arrived on Friday night and where we promptly proceeded to the nearest Jim N' Nicks BBQ for dinner - DELICIOUS. There is just nothing like those cheese biscuits. On Saturday morning we got up and made the trek to Edgar's Bakery for breakfast - very Yummy! We then proceeded to split up into two cars and while the boys headed out to the Bass Pro Shops (which turned out to be a 3 hour tour... literally!) us girls made the rounds to the Vera Bradley store, Charming Charlie's, Calico Corners (to meet my old peeps!) and a few of the ritzy neighborhoods in the Ham.

The line-up outside Edgars

Later that day I took the fam on tour of my office :) Everyone liked it. Guess that means I'm official now?

On Saturday night we had an interesting occurance... our apartment complex gave notice that the city had to turn off our water in order to change the water main for our complex. We prepared for the worst... 6 people in one small apartment with potentially no running water for 12 hours... it turned out fine and it seems that the water was only off from about midnight to 4:00 AM and so most of us slept through it.

On Sunday morning we all got ready and headed off to church at Brook Hills. We were so exited to show Josh's family our wonderful church. They were glad to see everything and hear David Platt preach in person.

The Hewiett ladies ready for church

On Sunday afternoon Josh and I made a very exciting purchase - a new dining room table and chairs! For anyone who has ever been to our place and had the pleasure of eating a meal at our small table, you will appreciate the new one. We found it on clearance at Z Gallerie and once they threw in a designer discount for yours truly we decided to buy it. Since the table was fully assembled and rather large... Josh and his Dad had to rent a truck from Home Depot to get it home... but home it is and it is lovely. (Will post pictures at a later date... we are toying with the idea of a dining room mini-maker over now that we have a new table and it will need a post of its own.)

Molly of course had an absolute blast this weekend... she got to spend lots of quality time with her Keith.... we then had to deal with her deep depression that ensued after he left on Monday morning. Thank you to all of you for coming! We love you all :)

RUSSELL REUNION 2010

2010-07-18T19:41:00.002-05:00

Last weekend Josh and I drove to Tyler, TX for the Bi-Annual Russell Family Reunion. Every two years my dad's extended family gets together for a weekend. Among the attendees are all of my Grandpa's siblings and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. (ie - lots of people!!) This year I think we had about 75 people come out. The picture above is Uncle Bill's family (That's my grandpa.) I think that over the last 4 years with all of the marriages and added boyfriends/girlfriends we have literally doubled in size. Crazy.

Catherine, Mom and Me

The weekend technically begins with Friday afternoon/ evening where everyone is traveling into Tyler. Josh and I drove after I got off work on Friday and so we did not get in until everyone was already asleep. We met up with everyone the next morning as is usual and grandparents and our family cook breakfast for everyone complete with the most amazing pancakes you will ever put in your mouth (Grandpa gave me the recipe to take home and try myself this time...) Josh and I woke up a little late and managed to get passed up on all of the regular pancake and serving line duties which was fine by us... now that we have so many people in our family (see picture at beginning of blog) there are many more people than there are jobs to do and so we managed to provide moral support as they were finishing up breakfast.

After breakfast we LET THE GAMES BEGIN!! As is customary there are tournaments for horseshoes, mini-golf, basketball, fishing, 42, volleyball, did I leave anything out? Everyone has to team up in pairs with someone who is not in their generation... it makes for some very interesting pairs to say the least. I teamed up with Aunt Sissy for horsehoes and we were eliminated in the first round... not surprising. Josh teamed up with my Great Aunt Ellen for horseshoes (as usual) and they played really well but got rained out and were unable to finish - to be postponed until next time. They are currently the reigning champs for horseshoes throwing which I think is awesome.

Josh throwing the horseshoe...

When the rain started in that afternoon we were all stuck inside and the 42 tournament began... since I never learned how to play 42, Josh and I decided to gather up some of the others that had never learned to either and we taught them how to play a Hewiett favorite - Capatalism. It was great. Aunt Sissy definitely had beginner's luck beat us all.

Aunt Sissy, Cousin Vicki, Josh, Jenni, Me and Uncle Jean-Claude

Later in the afternoon we held the Bi-Annual Russell Reunion Auction. We hold this at every reunion to help pay for the expenses of food and housing for the next reunion. Everyone is supposed to bring items that they made or family heirlooms they would like to share and put them in the auction. This usually does very well and this year was no different. It is definitely a fun way to share and raise money for next time. The pictures below are the items that I made - pillows from Calico Corners fabric and some seasonal wreaths. It was a lot of fun!

Molly came along on the trip with us as well. She did really well on the 9 hour one-way car ride to and from Birmingham to Tyler down I-20. Throughout Mississippi the interstate gets a little bumpy and kept her head in the floor and was breathing very deeply for about 2 hours, but other than that she did great! She did really well playing with everyone all weekend - although I think she was not very amused by all of the water guns that were distributed to the kids 10 and under. By Saturday evening, she was tired and we had to coax her down out of the loft in my mom's cabin when we were heading back to ours....

On Sunday morning before everyone leaves to drive home we all have breakfast, a church service and then a pinata hitting together. Its tradition. For the pinata, we get to hit it in order from youngest to oldest... about 6 years ago or so all of the little kids were not so little anymore and then I became accustomed to the pinata being broken open before they get to my age group. Its okay, it is still fun to watch.

My cousin Natasha taking her turn

LOTS OF CANDY :)

Sunday July 11 was actually my sister Catherine's 22nd birthday. (O boy do I feel soooo old...) My mom, Catherine and my sister's boyfriend Dan all drove to Tyler as well and so we caravanned for a while along I-20 and stopped for lunch at Wendy's for Catherine's birthday (lovely place I know, we had to make it quick for Molly's sake.) It was so good to see them and spend some time with Catherine around her birthday weekend.

Overall we had a wonderful weekend and we can't wait until next time!

I HAVE AN OFFICE!

2010-07-17T12:30:00.010-05:00

So... I HAVE MY OWN OFF- ICE! I abso- lutely love it. When I took this job I definitely had no idea that I would be getting my very own own office, but I must admit that it is very nice. I even have a window - which is kinda funny because it stares at a concrete wall next to our building, but I am definitely not complaining. Very "designer-esk" if I do say so myself... complete with stylish guest chairs that are very uncomfortable to sit in, cute boxes to separate my projectsin, funky quarter-turned carpet tiles and of course, I cannot leave home without my hot pink hard hat!! I love everything about it and I am just so humbled and thankful for this new job. God has blessed me tremendously and I want to glorify him with everyone task I complete and person that I come across in this position.

Another shot of the office...

Our Conference Area

Our Resource Library - we are rather busy.

I absolutely love my new job!

THE SANCTUARY

2010-07-15T12:50:00.005-05:00

This past week I got put on my first official project team here at Capstone, and guess where the project is located?!?!? Only the most awesome college town in the world... GAINESVILLE, FL!! It is called the Sanctuary Student Housing at the University of Florida. A few years back, the First Baptist church in downtown Gainesville decided to move to a new facility and Capstone decided to buy the property, complete with the sanctuary built in 1923 in order to preserve the buidling and use it as sort of a "front door" to a housing complex that will be built around it. You can read all about it in this Gainesville newspaper article here. The article is back from 2008 - it has taken that long to get funding for the project... as of right now we are hoping to move forward and complete the project by the fall of 2011. Very exciting! You don't know how cool it is to be working on a project in my college town... I can't wait to visit the site! (The picture above it an artist's rendering of University Ave with The Sactuary on the left and some of the proposed housing buildings to the right.)

One discussion that Josh and I had once I figured out what this project was all about was whether or not we should feel guilty for using a "church" as a clubhouse of sorts... It really bothered me at first. After some consideration and prayer, Josh and I really believe that God's "church" is His people... not the buildings they meet in. It is a little hard to remember this at times... this body of believers moved to another location in order to cut down on their overhead costs, hopefully they will be able to glorify Christ that much more with the money they are able to save and therefore give to furthur his kingdom. As part of the development plan, it is agreed to preserve the sanctuary as a historical monument as a reminder in Gainesville's history of the first baptistcongregation that was established in the city.

I am so incredibly excited about my new job. I am so thankful and just want to praise God for this wonderful opportunity He has provided for us. (Side note - my name is officially on the company wesbite - check it out!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

2010-07-03T08:46:00.002-05:00

HAPPY BIRTH- DAY MOM! We love you very much and we wish we could be there for your birthday. (This picture was just a couple of years ago, right? I know, you are only a couple years past 46...)

Miss you and can't wait to see you next weekend!

Much love,

KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD

2010-06-29T16:19:00.027-05:00

This past weekend Josh and I went to visit our friends Emily and Spencer in Austin, TX. We had such a blast catching up with our good friends as well as visiting a new city for us in the great state of Texas. "Keep Austin Weird" is apparently the catch phrase used by many locals to explain the attitude about the city - it is a very eclectic mix of people, food and entertainment that is very fun and different from the rest of the state.

(Side note about the picture seen above - this is Josh and I with the capital building in the background. How is it that we always seem to manage to wear orange and blue?)

The weekend began on Friday as Josh and I caught a 6:00 AM flight out of Birmingham through Dallas and arrived at the Austin airport at about 10:30. Spencer came to pick us up at the airport which was about an hour away from where they are staying in Horseshoe Bay at his parents lake house. We met up with Emily and their friends and headed to lunch at what else but an authentic Texan BBQ joint called the Burnet Feed Store. The BBQ was delicious.

One really cool trend in Austin are these Airstream diners. When we arrived Emily immediately let us know about she had her eye on and wanted to try called "Hey Cupcake." We made plans and visited the Airstream on Saturday just after lunch. Best cupcakes I have ever had - they had all different kinds. I had a carrot cake one, Josh had a chocolate with chocolate icing and sprinkles, Spencer had a vanilla with strawberry icing and Emily had the Michael Jackson - Chocolate with cream cheese icing. (Best name for a cupcake ever!)

On Saturday night Spencer and Emily took us to downtown Austin to see the sights and also eat at a local Brewhouse called BJ's. Josh and I loved BJ's - thepizza was delicious and we both tried a glass of their homemade root beer and it was amazing. I wish we had those in Alabama... After dinner we went on a tour of downtown including the Texas Capital building, UT's campus, the "Bat Bridge" and the motherload of airstream diners.

Airstream Diner Land - Downtown Austin

Downtown Austin

"Bat Bridge" at Sunset

During the day on Saturday and Sunday Spencer was kind enough to take Josh and I out on the lake to make attempts at Water Skiing and Wake Boarding. I am happy to report that one of us did make it up on top of the water without immediately falling down... that is all I will say about that :) I will say that both of us had absolutely no idea what we were doing and are still very sore because of it. Spencer was very patient with us and was a good teacher though.

Attemptee #1

Attemptee #2

On our last night in town Spencer and Emily took us to another BBQ place complete with an outdoor pit that you select your meat from and then they slop it on a tray for you to eat. Sounds crazy but it was probably the some of the best BBQ we have ever had. I think we all let our eyes get a little bigger than our stomachs. So good!

And as I leave you with this lovely image I wanted to let everyone know that I posted the rest of the pics on facebook here. There were just too many to post on the blog. A big THANK YOU to Emily and Spencer. We had an absolute blast staying with you guys. We are so excited for you guys that your family is literally about to double. We love you and we can't wait to meet your wonderful boys.

NEW JOB!

2010-06-22T17:54:00.008-05:00

Things have been so hectic lately that I am just now sitting down to update the blog - I GOT A NEW JOB! Starting next Thursday July 1 I will be working for Capstone Companies here in Birmingham. I will be working as an Interior Designer in the Capstone Interiors group. I am so incredibly excited and thankful for this wonderful opportunity. It is such an answer to prayer! (Thank you to all of you who have kept me in your prayers through this process!) I will be working in the commercial design field again for a company that primarily builds student housing. I will be space planning, selecting finishes and selecting and managing furniture installations all over the country. Check out some of the projects that they have done in the past - here is one in Gainesville, FL (God's Country) and one that I really liked in Arizona.

This Thursday will be my last day at Calico Corners. I am sad to leave all of my friends at Calico - they were so sweet and understanding about me leaving for this new position. They already gave me a card today as it was the last day we would all be there together. I will miss their friendship but will definitely keep in touch.

The timing pretty much worked out perfectly that Josh and I are able to take a long weekend trip this weekend to visit our friends Emily and Spencer in Austin before I start the new job next week and before Emily has their identical twin boys in August (also very exciting!) We are so excited to see them and to be able to relax. We have been really busy this month with working, class, interviewing, etc. Can't wait!!

LOVELADY DAY

2010-05-21T19:02:00.001-05:00

Question: How can 2 interior designers use their talents to glorify God & minister to the needs of the less fortunate in Birming-
ham, AL?

Answer: Re-decorate a room at the Lovelady Center.

The Lovelady Center is a faith-based, residential facility for women that provides shelter and rehabilitation. The center is located in a facility that was previously home to a large hospital located in the middle of Birmingham. I have never seen anything like it - It houses, clothes and feeds 350 women and children at any given time. They have in-house psychiartrists that assist residents with drug and substance abuse problems. They provide childcare as well as transportation to and from work, school and church for all residents. They provide and require classes for education certificates as well as job placement programs for women upon graduation from any of their rehabilitation programs. They are certainly making an impact in one of the most depressed neighborhoods here in Birmingham.

When one of my very best friends here in the Ham - Christine - and I heard about this opportunity to re-decorate resident rooms at the Lovelady Center, we knew we had to help out! All of the furniture in each of the rooms has been collected through donations. By re-dcorating a room, we would have an opportunity to provide the residents with a cohesive, organized and place that they could call home. Christine is such an encouragement to me... showing me how I can use my talents to glorify God and minister to others. (When you live in the Healthcare meca of the Southeast that is Birmingham, AL - you are sometimes tempted to feel a little inadaquant comparing yourself to all of the doctors, nurses, dentists, physical therapists, Healthcare Administrators - haha and other medical personal who use their gifts daily to meet the needs of others.) I have quickly learned to simply be willing and available and God will use me to accomplish His will and glorify himself.

The Small Group Ladies

Christine thought it would be a great idea to involve our small group in the project and make it a ministry project that we could all do together. We worked preparing for this endevour for about 2.5 months and then this past Saturday, May 15 we all met at the Center and spent the day putting a room together for a Mother and her 17 year old daughter. (How awesome is God's timing... it was the daughter's birthday on Friday and the Mother was so excited to keep our coming a surprise for her daughter's birthday present.) Josh and a couple of the other husbands from the group came to help out and do the grunt work, I mean, manly stuff like furniture lifting, drilling, etc.

Here is the car all packed to the brim ready to head to the Lovelady Center - I had to drive around town like this for 2 days as Christine was able to find so much great furniture to donate to our room. The furniture was good... probably not the lack of site out the rear-view mirror. O well!

There were several mini projects that we worked on in order to put the room together... the first of which was painting. The room color before was a lovely hunter green. We decided that a bright cheery green would work much better and not look like it was from 1992. I picked the paint color and this was the first time that anyone saw it... I have to say that although I now have a good solid 6 years of picking paint colors, it still makes me nervous. It is something that seems so simple but can so easily go very wrong - how would it look it the Interior Designer picked a color that was worse that what was already there? Not good. Luckily, it turned out just fine.

Josh painting over the Hunter Green

Oh the caos!

Admiring the completed paint job... much better!

The next big project that we did for the room was the window treatments. Since this is my new found area of professional expertise - we knew that something had to be done. The window treatments previously consisted of mauve blinds with no top treatment at all. That simply would not do. The solution that we came up with included new blinds - a clean white- and some valances. Since I just happened to work at a fabric store, I was able to get the fabric donated to the room. Christine is a wiz on the sewing machine and was able to make the treatment herself - very professional looking, I might add. The original room we thought we would have had (1) Double Window. Once we arrived on the day, the room we actually got had (2) Single Windows. While Josh made a run to Walmart to change the blinds out for the correct size, I spent the morning hemming the treatment that we cut on the middle to make (2) smaller valances instead of one large one. Just a small modification done in the field... nothing major.

Me hemming the valances in the hallway...

Christine hanging the blinds

The finished product... Windows - good as new!

The next project that we worked on for the room was getting all new furniture and bedding. Christine was able to find all of the furniture that we used on Craig's List. She got some great deals... most of the time when she told people what she was using the furniture for, they would give her an even better deal or throw in some extra pieces. The furniture put in the room was as follows: 2 mattresses, 2 box springs/bed frames, 2 head boards, 2 ends tables, 1 shelf, 1 storage truck, 1 dresser, 1 mirror and 2 lamps. She thought it would be a great idea to look for white wicker furniture since a lot of people are trying to get rid of theirs... this way we could get stuff that all coordinated and it would be light and bright. She also decided to paint the headboards and shelf turquoise to brighten up the room and make the furniture coordinate with the bedding. I thought it looked great!

For the bedding we were able to find Bed-In-A-Bag sets at Homegoods at a great price - $20 a bed. We found sheet sets, towels and bed skirts very inexpensively as well. I think everything coordinated great and really brightened up the room.

The finished room!!

Some of the other little projects that we did included upholstered memo boards, storage containers and vinyl lettering on the wall. I made 2 memo boards out of coordinating fabric and ribbon that the ladies could put pictures on. We put them on the storage bench you see below... This way they can personalize the space a little more. Christine got some under the bed storage containers that can hold a lot of their T-shirts and other items that would not fit in the dresser. She also used vinyl lettering above the memo boards to create some wall art. It says "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

The was such an amazing experience! The ladies we got to serve we so thankful and we were able to glorify God by using our gifts. I really enjoyed it.

OAK MOUNTAIN AFTERNOON

2010-05-10T18:12:00.009-05:00

On Mother's Day, we decided that we would spend the afternoon at Oak Mountain. We took Molly on a hike on the "Treetop Trail" which has an elevated board walk at the beginning of it with exotic bird exhibits along the way. I don't think that Molly paid too much attention to the birds along the way... she was just so excited to be out of the apartment! Although we wish we could have been in Jax to see our Moms... we had a lot of fun on our hike. Here are some pics from the afternoon... enjoy!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

2010-05-09T19:31:00.002-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to our Moms. We love both very much and appreciate all of your love and support. This picture is the most recent one we have of our Moms together and it just so happens to be with our pastor, David Platt when he went to FBC Jax earlier this year for the annual pastor's conference held there. It was quite a funny story to hear about how they went up to take this picture with him. WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU BOTH! Hope you had a wonderful day.

JOSH GOT A JOB!!!

2010-05-02T18:08:00.004-05:00

Josh started a brand new part time job this week!! We are so incredibly excited and thankful for this oppotunity for him. It is working for a private practice called Retina and Vitreous Associates of Alabama LLC that manages a group of ophthalmologists in Birmingham, Tuscaloosa & Huntsville. He is working in their main office which is in UAB Highlands hospital... only 2 blocks away from the buidling that he has classes in everyday. (We are very excited about this!) The company seems very flexible with his school schedule and will also allow him to work as much as he wants on weeks that he is able - (ie the month of July when he has no classes - hopefully he can work full time!) One of the main things that he will be working on for the next few months will be assisting all of the offices in the surrounding areas with switching to electronic medical record keeping - a very daunting yet extrememly necessary task for all medical facilities and practices who have not already done so. He is so excited about about this new opportunity. We are so incredibly thankful and humbled by this HUGE answer to our prayers. In this very troubled economic time - it seems that healthcare is where it is at!! (If you hadn't already noticed...)

WE LOVE MELISSA

2010-04-30T21:56:00.004-05:00

Josh's sister Melissa graduated from UNF today in Jacksonville. She got a Bachelor's of Education in Pre-K Primary. Here is picture of her in her cap and gown - so pretty. Josh got to go to Jax this weekend to be there for the festivities (I had to stay home in the Ham as I could not take more time off from work...) I am so glad that he got to go though - we are so incredibly proud of her and we love her so much!

Another cool pic... Melissa's graduation hat was featured on the front page of the metro section in the Jacksonville newspaper. Very cool!

SECRET CHURCH

2010-04-29T22:27:00.004-05:00

It's that time again... secret church is here and it is tomorrow night. Watch the video here to see what it will be about - I can't wait!! Last year was so great.

JUST ADD A "LAN"

2010-04-26T20:34:00.012-05:00

This weekend I went home to Florida and was a bridesmaid in my friend Jackie's wedding... Jackie Mas is now Jackie Maslan. Relatively easy name transition if you ask me! The weekend was so much fun! I flew in to Jax on Thursday night - hung out with my family and Josh's family a little bit and then after a lunch with some old Haskell friends on Friday, Paula and I headed down to Ormand Beach for the rehearsal. The rehearsal was followed by a dinner hosted by Billy's parents - they both have very big families and the dinner turned out to be almost as big as the wedding! They said that as a whole all of the guests for the wedding took up over 40 rooms at the hotel. Very fun. On Friday night we spent the night with Jackie at her parents house - just the girls. It was so good to catch up and be with Jackie before her big day :)

The morning of the wedding Jackie had some girls come to the house to do our hair and makeup there - we all got ready and then rode in the limo to the church. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful and all of Jackie's 7 nieces and nephews made it down the aisle just fine. The reception was at the country club in her parents neighborhood. Liz was my date at dinner as Josh could not make it to the wedding this weekend - we got to catch up which was good! We had such a great time - the dinner and cake were amazing and there was plenty of dancing to be had by all. Check out more of the pictures on facebook.

Congratulations Jackie and Billy - I am so happy for you guys! I hope you have a wonderful time in Costa Rica!
Much love,

GOING TO THE CHAPEL

2010-04-18T20:27:00.000-05:00

I finally get to return the favor as a bridesmaid to one of my very best friends...This Thursday I leave for Jacksonville to go to Jackie's wedding. I am so excited to be able to be a part of the wedding party and be there as she and Billy get married. I can't believe that it has been 5 years since Jackie and I have become friends... although we went through all of interior design school together at Florida, it was not until our Junior year that we began to have all of our classes together and really became good friends... Jackie informed me a couple of weekends ago that one of the first times that we really talked was when she beat me out at the end of our sophomore year as the president-elect for the student chapter of ASID/IIDA. We definitely did not let that ruin our friendship. :) Here are a few pics from a the past few years of some really good memories... ENJOY!

St. Patrick's Day in Nashville - Interiors 06 ASID Conference

Senior Chicago Trip - One of my favorite pics :)

Chicago - On top of the John Hancock Bldg.

Riverboat cruise in Chicago - complaining about the rain & cold!

Halloween 2006

Christmas 2006 - ASID/IIDA Student Officers

Our beautiful snow flakes!

Our awesome Senior FINAL project - The Seafoam Bar & Lounge

ASID/IIDA End of the year dinner 2007

End of the year Senior class dinner :)

GRADUATION DAY!! We thought this day would never come!

The Girls minus Vivi... with Paula oddly squatting?

At my wedding... October 2007

Vivi's Wedding - January 2008

Savannah March 2010

Dinner in Savannah - WE LOVE YOU :)

To Jackie - I am so incredibly excited for you and Billy as you are about to start your lives together as a married couple. Josh and I will be praying for you both as you learn to love each other more and more and give God the glory in your marriage. I love you and I am so incredibly excited about your big day on Saturday!! Thank you for letting me be a part of your wedding - I am so honored.