A Week in the Sun!

Vacations are such a wonderful break from reality! Clay and I spent the last week in St. Pete Beach, Florida, and had a great time. The weather was sunny, the water was clear, and we didn't have to keep to a schedule :)

We drove to Florida from North Carolina. It was a long trip, but we left early and got there around 3 in the afternoon. We went to the beach as soon as we got there!

The weather was beautiful! We had a few spurts of rain but it never lasted for very long.

We, of course, ate seafood while we were there. And we had ice cream every night :)

One night, we went it to Tampa...just to look around the city and go to the River Walk. It was beautiful walking by the water!

Clay wrestled an alligator while we were there!

One day we drove to Fort De Soto. It was only about 15 minutes away from where we were staying. It has a large fishing pier, so Clay fished while I sat on the beach.  

 

 

We went to Busch Gardens. I had never been to one, and it was a lot of fun. It's an amusement park and zoo in one! It was nice to be able to ride a roller coaster and then look at the animals. I'm getting old...I need a break in between rides :)

We went into St. Petersburg one afternoon to The Pier.

We walked around The Pier and downtown St. Petersburg. The waterfront is beautiful!

The last night we finally saw the sunset over the ocean.

It was gorgeous!

We had a great vacation, but it was still nice to be able to come home. Nothing quite beats your own shower and bed :)

A Blessed Life

It seems like life goes by so fast! I can't believe it's already August. In November, Clay and and I will be married for 2 years!

Sometimes it amazes me how much we've been through in that short amount of time. Clay was laid off, both of our cars had to be replaced, and several other smaller circumstances. And God saw us through it all! Clay took the opportunity to go back to school and work on his MBA. We were able to buy two cars with cash and pay off student loans. It's really amazing when you start to think about it :)

That brings me to the last couple weeks. Clay had been applying for jobs and internships while still attending school. He was tired of being at home :) On his birthday, he got a call to come back for a second interview. He went in the next day and came home with a job!

He started work this past week and has enjoyed it. I won't lie....it's been a bit of an adjustment for me. I'm used to him being at home when I'm not working. I was off Monday and Wednesday, and had the house to myself. I was able to get a lot of things done (I'll write more about that later), but I did miss him.

Now we get to go on vacation tomorrow. I am very excited! We will be able to relax and spend some time together before our schedules get really crazy! (We both start school the next week.)

I thank God that he has taken care of us through the small and big situations that have come our way. I know that He will continue to lead us. It may not always be easy, but His way is best :)

A Shutter and a Shelf - Part 2

I have finally finished my second project!!!

In June, I bought a shutter and a shelf when I went to yard sales with my sister-in-law. Tammy helped me get started on both of them while I was up in Pennsylvania, but then I was on my own...that's probably why it took me so long :)

I found this shelf for $2.

I didn't like the heart on it, so Tammy helped me remove it.

Then we had to add a piece of wood in order to brace it.

I sanded it...which seemed to take forever!

Then I painted the shelf white. I used a white paint that Clay already had (I forgot to take a picture while I was actually doing it).

I was going to distress it, but Clay really liked it just painted. I may still do it one day when he's not around :)

For the bar, I decided not to paint it. I sanded it down....

 ....and stained it with Rustoleum stain in sunbleached.

I chose this stain color because I am planning on hanging it in the kitchen where we also hung the brick mold. The brick mold is weathered and I thought this would match.

I think it turned out well. It's not a perfect match but they compliment each other.

Here is the finished product!

Now I just need to find some things to put on it :)

Linking up with:

Happy Birthday, Clay!

Today is my husband's birthday!

We both had the day free and were able to spend it together. Clay wanted to hike, so we decided to go to Mount Mitchell. On the way, we stopped at a bike shop so that Clay could test ride a road bike. Then we got his birthday dessert at Rita's :)

One of the reasons we picked Mount Mitchell was that we knew it would be cooler. And we were right...it was 69 degrees when we got up there!

We parked at the restaurant and took the trail to the summit. It was a good hike, and it was nice to be outside and not too hot! Here is a picture of the restaurant from the summit.

We hung out at the top for a little while. Clay had to take more pictures of bees :)

 

And then we headed back to the car. The trip down did not take near as long :)

We had a great time celebrating Clay's birthday!