... and a bridal shower.

I hosted a bridal shower for Caitlin today. It was so fun to have her family and friends over! We played Tissue Paper Bride - Caitlin looks fabulous in her 80's style tissue dress. She's such a cute girl and so photogenic.

Having a party at my house was a great excuse to paint the walls and fix the furniture, too.

... the walls are finished!

Hooray! The painting is done. And I mean DONE - I have now painted every room in this house, plus all the trim, and all the doors. Even most of the closets. Whew!

The stripes turned out really great. It's a really subtle effect, though, so it doesn't photograph especially well. I'm really pleased with the results.

Rachael being a great helper. Well, she had a lot of fun anyway!

Miles of tape

Here's the end result. It's two sheens (eggshell and semi-gloss) of the same color, Light Raffia.

... Kira.

My niece Kira turns 8 today - on 8/8/08.

Happy Birthday Kira!

... girls' night.

My friend Nikki is moving to Utah soon, so we all went out last night and had one last girls night with her before she leaves. Nikki is so much fun to be around and she is almost always in a good mood. We're going to miss her so much!

(from left, back row: Virginia, Louan, me, Janis, Cathy, Lynn, Nikki, Jenny, Deb.
front row: Bobbie, Tamera, Ashly, Emily, Crystal and Eliza, Cari with Brooklyn, Tammy)

Nikki is in the back row, third from the right. Although we don't look that much alike, people confuse me for her rather frequently. I'll miss being able to laugh with her about that.

... my electrician.

Ryan replaced the last two outlets in the living room for me today, and the light switch in the dining room. This means almost every outlet and switch has been replaced in the entire house! He has also replaced almost all the light fixtures (including one ceiling fan twice); the only one left is the chandelier in the dining room. On top of that, he has replaced all the doorknobs and done several plumbing "adjustments," not to mention the new sink and disposal he installed last year.

It is so fantastic to be married to my own handyman!

... a painting project.

I'm finally getting around to painting the living room. It's the last room left in the house to paint! I am doing wide stripes (10 inches) in the same color but one in eggshell and one in semi-gloss. It's a very subtle effect and I'm really excited to try it.

It's been awhile since I worked on a painting project... I forgot how much fun it is!

... a double.

For anyone that doesn't know fishing lingo, a double is when two of you are fishing and you both catch a fish at the same time. I'd like to say the larger one is mine, but alas, that big large mouth bass is Ryan's. The cute little crappie is mine.
Maybe in a few years we'll catch a triple!

... my mother-in-law.

I have to admit, I really lucked out in the mother-in-law department. She and I get along really well! When I listen to other friends and some of the problems they have with their husband's mothers, I just can't relate.

Rachael is their only granddaughter (but they have 6 grandsons!). When they found out Rachael was a girl - about three months before she was born - Merrilee brought me the biggest gift bag I have ever seen, brimming with all things pink. It was so wonderful!

Happy Birthday Merrilee!

... canning.

We canned some beans from our garden a couple of weeks ago. Then I got some blackberries to make jam, and then I decided I may as well do some peaches, too. (Georgia peaches at the grocery store for 88 cents a pound - can't beat that!) I'm sure I will be grateful for all of this in about six months when we are eating garden beans and Georgia peaches!

... crocs.

I practically spend the summer in my Crocs flip flops. They are so comfortable to wear, and they have great instep support. I even wear them around the house because I have found that wearing shoes all day helps with my plantar fasciitis.