The Beard

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have not liked Ben's beard since he started growing it out. He has had a goatee or whatever you call it whenever you only grow facial hair on your chin since we were juniors in high school. That is fine, but the full-fledged beard and mustache are not my thing. I complained a lot at first, but he refused to shave it. So I finally just let it go. This doesn't mean I ever liked it. I just didn't complain as much. As most of you know, this month was no-shave November. An organization through the dental school that Ben is a part of, Dentists for Della, hosted a No-Shave November event last night. The event was to raise money for the organization. They had judges there and anyone who wanted to participate could shave their beard into any shape or form that they liked. Then they had different categories they judged for. It was really funny to see what people had come up with and to see how much or little people could grow in a month. I took a few pictures of the progression of Ben's beard to share!




This is what he started with.



He shaved it into this for the No Shave November event.

He won the Facial Afro Award! It was the longest beard measured in milimeters! So proud! haha



Then we moved to this...



It's gone!!! Look at that baby face! I haven't seen that pretty face in a long time!



Back to Gainesville for Thanksgiving

Ben and I went back last Wednesday to Gainesville to spend time with our families for Thanksgiving! We are so fortunate that both of our families live in the same town and we don't have to choose holidays. We went to Ben's family's Thanksgiving first at his parent's house. Since we were going to two Thanksgiving dinners, we knew we better pace ourselves. This is not an easy task when the food is so good! So we stayed there for a few hours, visited with his family, and tried to not over stuff ourselves! Then for my family's Thanksgiving we decided to have it combined with David's (my brother-in-law)  family. There weren't going to be many of us at our Thanksgiving, so we decided it would be best for everyone to get together. We went to David's mom's house. There was soooooo much food! We even had two of some dishes because of the picky eaters in our family! haha We were so thankful to be able to spend time with both of our families this Thanksgiving!

 

Missing Mattie Moo

Such a cutie pie!!!!

All of the grandkids from David's family

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures at Ben's family's Thanksgiving. I will have to do better at Christmas! So after stuffing our faces, we decided to go Black Friday Shopping! Usually every year, me and my mom get up and go about an hour after everything opens. So that is usually around 5 am. This year places decided to open Thanksgiving night around 10 pm. So we decided to go when they opened since we were already up. Wow! I guess everyone else had the same thoughts that I did. You would not believe Wal-Mart! It was a mad house! Yet, I was able to go in and get exactly what I wanted, so I was happy. Then we went over to Target. They didn't open until midnight, so me and my mom waited in the car until close to time and then waited in line! When I say line, I mean the one that went all the way down the building, then down to the end of the parking lot and back up to the building! Yes, we were in the back of that line! It was so worth it though! They came around and gave us maps of where everything was. This was great because they never put anything where it actually goes. The line moved quicker than we thought it would. We went in went straight to the places we needed, went to the register, and we were done! The only problem was Ana and David dropped us at Target while they went to Best Buy. They didn't have the lovely experience that we did. They were still in line when we got done. So we went over to the little food court, got us a drink, and just sat there and talked until Ana and David got back.We ended up getting back home around 2 am. On Friday, my mama and Mattie came home with me to decorate for Christmas! And boy did we decorate! I love Christmas and I am still decorating! There will be pictures soon! Sorry for the book I just wrote!

Betsy's Wedding

 So as I said in my last post, other than working this weekend, I went to a wedding. One of my sister's good friends, Betsy, got married. Ana and Betsy have been friends since they were little. They did ballet together before they started school and then continued to be friends throughout school and now into adulthood. I admire friendships like this, since I have never really been fortunate enough to have one. Don't get me wrong, I have friends, just none like this that have lasted this long, haha. Anyways enough about that. A little about the bride and groom now. Betsy is a neurosurgeon resident at Duke. Of course, she is very smart...I'm pretty sure that comes with the job criteria, but she also has a great sense of humor. I don't really know Ray, but from what I have gathered on Facebook (yes, I am a FB stalker) and from being at their wedding, he is pretty funny too. After going to their wedding, I would definitely say Betsy met her perfect match. This wedding was the funniest and funnest wedding I have ever been to! My mom, Madison (little sister), Ana (big sister), David (brother-in-law), Ben, and I all went to the wedding. I think we were all pretty much laughing the entire night.  I took a few pictures to share and I borrowed a couple from Betsy's facebook since there were a few things I didn't get.

Betsy and Ray ( The Bride and Groom) (Not my picture- borrowed from Betsy's FB)

Me and Ben before the wedding

Ana and David before the wedding

Mattie before the wedding

 

Sorry for the quality of  this picture. It was dark outside and I was sitting a little ways back, so my pictures didn't turn out great. Their dog, Bobo Grunch, was the ring bearer. It was so cute! He wore a tux and did great! He was very well behaved and just stood up there until they were done. 

Betsy's mom, Betty, walked her down the aisle while her dad and stepdad followed. It was sweetest thing. Even I teared up, and I'm not much of a crier. (Not my picture- borrowed from Betsy's FB)

Mr. and Dr. Ray Grunch

 I thought this was pretty funny. Betsy, the groomsmen, and the bridesmaids all wore Converses and Ray wore ostrich leather cowboy boots! haha (Not my picture- borrowed from Betsy's FB)

I feel like this picture is of me and Ben's beard..lol.

Betsy looked beautiful in her dress!

First Trip to the Dentist

This weekend, Ben and I went back to Gainesville for my sister's friend's wedding, and so I could work at Dr. Martin's (Ben's dad) office on Saturday. I was glad to get to work Saturday. Finally get my hands back into cleaning teeth. I haven't worked since September! Ugh, I need a job! I was very thankful he asked me to work on Saturday. Not only am I wanting to work, but I love working at his office with all of my girls! I miss them all so much! Anyways, enough about all of that! I got to clean my little angel's teeth (Jaxon) Saturday too! I have been wanting to clean them for a while and we finally had a time that it worked out! My sister asked him if he was ready for me to clean his teeth and of course his normal response came out, "I don't want to." Then she told him that if I cleaned his teeth and he was good, he could get stickers. Well he was ready from that point on!

He was ready to go! Look how cute he is, so little but so grown up too! We were trying to get cartoons on the TV. I should've been prepared already!

He was ready! Now if the dang hygienist could just get her act together! A 2 year old is not into waiting!

Me explaining that this is my power toothbrush just like his at home. I even made it go "vroom, vroom" like a car. He liked that and was still ready!

 Jaxon getting his teeth polished like a champ! You could tell he was a little weirded out by the paste. It is gritty, so he kept crunching it between his teeth! haha This picture also demonstrates my strong adherence to sitting ergonomically like we learned in school...ha! I am just gonna say you can't sit correctly and see those tiny teeth in that tiny mouth.

I love that little man to infinity and beyond!!!!

Of course, Ben came along! He wouldn't have missed this for nothing! We were waiting on Dr. Martin, which gave Jaxon and Ben a little bit of time to be goofy!

Look at that! Already has his mouth open, ready for Dr. Martin to check his teeth!

 Jaxon did great at his first dental visit! We were all so proud of him! He was such a big boy and of course he got his stickers. Now he was not this chilled out after he got his teeth cleaned, while waiting on his mama to get hers cleaned. He was a wild man running around the office! Fortunately, we had Ben there to keep an eye on him! I had a great time getting to clean his little teeth and can't wait to clean them again in the future!

A few Before and Afters

 Since we moved down here, we have been busy little bees. I am constantly working on something and have a list with 500 other things that I need to do! So here are a few before and after photos of things we have already done.

 Here is the living room. We are using my mom's living room suite until we can get one of our own. My plan is to get something lighter to help brighten the space. I am also currently working on the coffee table. More pictures to come of that.

Here is our kitchen table and chairs. We got this from my sister, Ana, after she and her husband bought a new set of table and chairs. It was originally yellow when we got it. I decided to paint it dark brown. I liked it for a little while but with not many windows in our house it tends to be dark. So dark furniture has got to go! I painted the table white which really helped to brighten the room. After painting it white, I distressed it (can't see that in this photo). I love it now!

Here are our barstools that my in-laws, Mike and Abby, gave us. One of the chair seats had bleach spots so it needed to be replaced. I just recovered the seats with some cute fabric.

 When we first moved in, we didn't have a headboard, nightstands, lamps, or pillows. So Ben and I built a headboard out of 1 x 6 boards. We were also using Ben's fishing quilt until I got the whole room together. Then I got out our new white quilt from TJMaxx ($29 on clearance!). I made the pillows by recovering some pillows I already had.

 I bought these cute, little dressers at Ikea for $30 a piece. They were unfinished and the size was perfect for nightstands. I just painted them white and put knobs that matched the rest of my bedroom furniture.

My mom gave me these lamps. Someone gave them to her a while ago. I do not like gold! So I spray painted them green to match my bedroom. Then I put some white lamp shades on them that my mom also gave me. Good as new!

Here is the dresser we are using in our room. My family has had this dresser for a while, and I think it has been every color you can imagine. When I got it, it was dark brown. I painted it white to match the rest of my bedroom furniture and replaced the knobs with handles.

 

My parents bought this chifferobe off a goodwill truck for $40. It wasn't in the greatest shape but I knew with a little bit of work (or a lot), it would be like new. I patched all of the holes and dings. Then I sanded and sanded this thing,  then painted it with primer. The stain still came through the primer, so I bought a primer with a stainblocker. I painted it again with primer, then painted it with white paint. Then I put all new handles and hinges to match everything else in the bedroom. Finally it was finished! Then inside where the large mirror is, we built shelves so that this large space was actually functional. I now use the shelves for all of my towels and washcloths.

Here is a lingerie chest that used to be Ana's when she still lived at home. Then she took it with her when she moved. Somewhere down the road, we got it back. We used it in our bathroom for all of our hair stuff. So I got to take it with me when I moved. It is the perfect storage for all of my hair and bathroom stuff. I spray painted it a light blue to match my bathroom.

Now I am going to work on some Christmas projects that I have going on! Thanksgiving is a week away, and then I am free to decorate! Yay! I love Christmas!

Decorated for Thanksgiving

In our house, we celebrate Thanksgiving before Christmas. If any of you know Ben, you know that he would have a stroke if I put up any Christmas decor before Thanksgiving! So I had to come up with a few things to decorate with between Halloween and Christmas. Here are a few pictures.

Love the colorful leaves on our little tree out front!

 I sprayed our pumpkins from Halloween white for a different look.

I made this wreath. I spray painted a dried ivy wreath white. Then hot glued some burlap rosettes.

 Back before Ben started school, he built me these shelves in my dining room. Since I don't have a mantle, it gives me the perfect place to decorate for holidays.

For the "Thanks sign" I got Ben to cut me a piece of wood. Then I covered it in burlap, spray painted the wooden letters white, and glued them on. Once again I spray painted pumpkins white from Halloween.

 I used two different sized mason jars and just put some dried wheat in them. Then I made the wreath on the window using a pool noodle, burlap, and straight pins. I taped the ends of the noodle together to make a wreath form. Then I cut squares out of the burlap, folded them corner to corner and then in half and pinned them into the noodle. Pretty simple, but the house is decorated and not with Christmas stuff yet!