Photo.Craft.Books

Woooooohhooooooo!

 My kitchen renovation is finally complete. Like any renovation, it went on for much longer and much more money than I’d originally bargained for. But of course, when you change one thing, fourteen more things need to be changed because either a) it needs to look good or b) is worn out and doesn’t work anymore.

So in the end, I’ve changed the floors, painted, put in new counters and backsplash and bought a new table. I’m so in love, although my picture didn’t turn out that well you’ll get the idea.

So I’ve gone from this:

To this lovely kitchen, well what I think is great anyway! For my little house.

This year, Hubby and I are really trying to be dedicated to saving money, spending as little as possible, and paying off debt.  Sticking with this, we decided that we weren’t going to buy big expensive anniversary gifts.  A lot of people probably would since it was 10 years but I don’t need some sparking jewelry to know how much he loves me (he’s SHOWN me that for the last decade but especially over the last month).    He got me flowers (which were lovely and are STILL pretty almost a week later) and I got him a set of 4 coffee mugs since he’s been adoring the coffee maker he got for Christmas. 

Since we didn’t do much for gifts, we did want to go to a special dinner.  We eat out A LOT so there really aren’t that many places that would be special.  It was 6:00 on Friday night and we’d been trying to think of somewhere to eat for about an hour and just couldn’t come up with anything.  Kelli had actually told us about a neat restaurant about 90 minutes away (High Point Restaurant on Monteagle) a couple months ago and that occurred to me but I thought it was too far so didn’t mention it.  Then, Hubby called out that he knew where we should go and had the High Point website up on the computer screen.  http://www.highpointrestaurant.net/ Ironic, huh?

We called and they said we could get a 9:00 reservation and it only took about an hour and 20 minutes to get there so we got dressed up (I even wore a skirt but it had been so long I had to stop and buy a pair of panty hose!).  We had a lovely ride over there, holding hands and just chatting and spending quiet time alone. 

 When we got there (which was super easy right from the interstate), the place was lovely.  It’s actually an old home supposedly financed by Al Capone that was built with escape hatches out the roof and even a secret passageway.  The city made them fill in the passageway but the home is still neat:

We sat in this room at the table to the right of the fireplace.  We were there so late that we were the only people in the whole room.  They had a fire going and it was so quaint and romantic!

And the food – WOW!!!  We both had New York steaks and they were so delicious.  I had the French Onion and Hubby had the Blackened and Blue (cute, huh?).  The rolls were amazing served with their fresh whipped butter and we got the grilled pound cake for dessert which was served over homemade caramel sauce and 3 scoops of butter pecan ice cream.  The food was decadent and not all that expensive for a place like this.  We didn’t get any drinks but we both got steaks and we shared a dessert and our bill was under $75. 

 This place was perfect and totally made our anniversary intimate and memorable.  If you’re ever near Monteagle, or heck, sitting at home on a Friday night wondering where to go for dinner, I highly recommend you check it out!

Jennifer

I went to the dentist today for my 6 month cleaning and check up.  This may not seem like a big deal to most of you as you’ve probably been doing it for most of your entire life.  However, I’ll let you in on a little secret…  I’ve only been going to the dentist for about 15 years.  Eeek!  I know.

See, my mother had horrible teeth growing up and apparently one of the only dentists in her little town (if not THE only dentist) was terrible.  Her enduring this throughout her youth did no good anyway and she had full dentures in her 30’s.  My older sister didn’t have much better luck so I think my mom got fed up. When we were kids, we didn’t go to the doctor unless something was wrong with us.  I never had any problems with my mouth or teeth so she never took us. 

Well, when my daughter was a toddler, I knew I was supposed to take her to the dentist and decided that I couldn’t, in good conscience, make her go if I wasn’t going too.  So, off we went, my probably 3 or 4 year old and my 20 year old self – both off to see the dentist for the first time in our lives.

I was SO nervous!  I had no idea what to expect.  They could tell me I had 20 cavities and needed for root canals for all I knew.  I walked in and was totally at their mercy.  I brushed my teeth every day but I didn’t floss (still don’t – sshhhh) and I didn’t brush 3 times a day so no telling what I was in for.   Guess what – I had 1 cavity.  That was it!!!!  I could not have been more shocked.

Apparently, I had been blessed with extremely healthy teeth.  Now, they are far from straight but not so crooked that when you look at me you immediately notice or anything.  Of course, if you didn’t go to the dentist before the age of 20 you certainly never got braces.  I could get them now and probably would if they weren’t so expensive but insurance won’t cover it at age 35 since they work properly and it would be considered totally cosmetic.  S

So, 15 years later and I’ve still only had 1 cavity in my whole life.  Want to know the funniest part?  Every time I  go to the dentist (which, ironically is every 6 months like clock work now!) the dentist tells me how wonderfully beautiful and healthy my teeth are.  Ain’t that something! 

Hi everyone! I’m Kelli and am happy these wonderful ladies have let me join their blog. I’m not sure what you’d like to know about me, but I want to give you a little background at least. Having lived in Tennessee my whole life, I’m a true Southern gal. Like Ryan Adams said, “The sweetest winds, they blow across the South.” Speaking of Ryan Adams, he is one of my favorite musicians along with: The Black Keys, My Morning Jacket, The White Stripes, Ray Lamontagne and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, but I also like bluegrass/old time country, funky stuff…pretty much anything. No one ever knows the bands I listen to, it seems like. My favorite color is cerulean because I like the way the word sounds in addition to the color. On that note, my favorite word is mellifluous. My least favorite word is moist. I’m addicted to paper products (greeting cards, wrapping paper, ribbon). Like Jennifer said, photography is one of my hobbies along with knitting. I’ve got little side businesses for both, so let me know if you need a hand-knitted scarf!

Oh, and I think my husband would be stiff competition against Jennifer’s for best husband in the world. Besides being my best friend and loving me in all my goofy/weird glory, he cooks several nights a week and takes care of handyman tasks around the house. And he likes to wash clothes.

So that’s enough about me. Tell me about you! Hopefully you’ll find my posts entertaining and sometimes thought provoking. To start off the week right, and in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, here’s an inspirational quote by him: Let no man pull you low enough to hate him. Make it a good week!

As you can see, we’ve got a new blog.  Valeen and I have also added a new blogger, Kelli.  Kelli is a lover of photography, books and crafting (she can knit a mean scarf and I’m super jealous!) So, for those of you who are still hanging around to see if we’re still sharing our inane comments with the world, yes, we are!

 I have actually been sick for a couple weeks and even spent a few days in the hospital.  I had pneumonia and just couldn’t seem to shake it.  I learned a couple things during my illness:

#1 - I HATE HATE HATE hospitals and hope to never ever spend another night there as long as I live. I’m not really an super emotional person but the second night I was there I felt so desolate that I almost started crying several times.  It was horrible and at that point I hadn’t slept for the most part in about a week, I didn’t feel like I was getting better and I wanted my husband.  He had spent the previous night at the hospital with me and slept on the smallest pull-out chair thing you’ve ever seen.  That night, my mother came in town and she said she’d stay the night with me so Heath could go home and get some sleep.  It was horrible just laying there at 3:00 am and all I wanted to do was hold his hand.  However, I’ve been home for a little over a week now and am about 85% back to normal.   

#2 – I have the best husband on the planet!  After a few days of taking care of someone I think I would start to lose my patience and have a tendency to get curt. Not so Heath – he has basically waited hand and foot on my for two weeks and is so nice and attentive!  He has been so loving and caring that I am truly amazed at what a lucky woman I am to have him for my spouse.  I wouldn’t trade him for the world.

So, that’s about all for now.  Maybe Kelli can post a blog tomorrow to introduce herself.  I think people are going to like her.  She’s a hoot.  She may even post her video of the ribbon dance… 

 Will write again soon,

Jennifer