Questions...

I started this blog a little over 3 years ago. I named it "Katie Did..." because I was going to write about all my projects and adventures. But now I haven't written on it in over a year, and I don't know that I will ever have any more projects to write about. 

Nine and a half months ago I gave birth to a beautiful little girl. I love her with my whole heart, but she has completely changed my life. Some days I'm lucky if I can get a shower, let alone paint a shelf or make curtains or cook dinner. I struggle to keep up with the dishes, do laundry, and clean. People keep telling me this is normal, but it doesn't feel normal.

How do you keep from getting overwhelmed? How do you not let the every day tasks take over your life? How do you not drive you husband crazy because you're always stressed out and overwhelmed?

I can choose not to clean the house and play with my daughter, but then the house just keeps getting dirtier and dirtier, and then it's harder to clean. I've read things that say to just do certain tasks every day for a short amount of time and your house will always be clean. I've tried that, and it's not working. What am I doing wrong? 

I've memorized Philippians 4:4-7. I even have it hanging on my mirror so I see it every day.

    

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard you hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." 

But what do you do when it just isn't helping? 

I read books, articles, blog posts, etc. by other moms that say I need to just let it go. That sounds great. But then I wonder, how do they have time to write a book, or an article, or keep up with a blog? If their lives are so hectic and crazy how do they have time to do what they want to do? When do they get the other things done?

So, you might ask, why am I taking the time to write this on a blog? Good question. I don't really know. I just thought it might help to get all of these thoughts and questions out of my head.

Now I guess I will stop writing and try to vacuum before she wakes up from her nap.

The beginnings of a nursery...

I decided that it really is time for me to start writing on my blog again. Especially with a baby on the way. There are a lot of projects I need to be working on! 

Of course, one of the biggest projects that needs to be completed is the nursery. Our home has two bedrooms, so our guest room will become the nursery. Here are some before pictures.

 

So far Clay has done all of the work on the nursery. He was off last week and did an awesome job getting things done while I was at work. He's so wonderful :)

The first day he painted the furniture and removed the carpet in the nursery.

He then painted the room (we decided on yellow), and we had new carpet installed. He also removed the carpet from our bedroom and all of the closets. He had a very busy week!

He even put new hardware on the freshly painted furniture. 

 

I think the room looks great! 

 

We have bought a crib, but we are still waiting for it to be delivered. We decided there was no need to rush to put it in there. Once we do get the crib we will have to take down the guest bed.

Now I just need to decide how to decorate it!

Graduation!

The day finally came (last Saturday)...Clay and I are officially done with school!!!! We could not be more excited. I don't think either one of us have quit smiling :)

 

 

We decided to participate in the ceremony at Western Carolina University. It was a typical graduation ceremony....long and not very exciting. But it was very nice to be able to graduate in the same ceremony as my husband! Clay attended classes for his MBA, so he knew many of the people he was graduating with. My RN to BSN classes were online so I had never met anyone in my class. While waiting in line I did meet a woman that had been in many of my discussion groups. At least I sat next to someone who was nice and talked to me :)

 

It was also nice of several of our family members to drive out to WCU and attend the graduation. My parents came....of course they got there early and were able to get good seats :)

 

 

Clay's parents, sister, and niece also came to the graduation.

It was a great day and a wonderful celebration of 2 1/2 years of hard work!

Labor Day Weekend in Atlanta

For Labor Day, Clay and I decided to go to Atlanta. The Phillies were playing the Braves that weekend and Clay and I have been talking about going to a game between the two since we met. So, we finally decided to do it :)

We drove down on Saturday and went to Stone Mountain. The first thing we did was hike up the mountain. That was intense :) It was straight up a rock for 1 mile in the hot sun. I didn't know if I was going to make it!

We were very happy when the sun went behind a cloud for a little while:)

After we hiked up the rock we went and saw the front of it. It is amazing to me that people were able to make the carving on the face of a rock! 

Sunday morning we got up and went to Andy Stanley's church, North Point Community Church. It was exciting because he was there and we were able to sit on the front row...and he had a good message about family relationships :) 

 

In the afternoon we went to the Atlanta History Center. It was really interesting...I just wish we'd had more time. There was so much to see!

 

We were able to tour a home from the 1920s....

....and a farmhouse from the 1800s.

 

And then we went to the game that evening. Turner field was very nice...

...we had great seats....

  

...with a great view of the field.

The game was pretty good. The Phillies scored five runs in the first inning and led the entire game. This was the score after the top of the 9th inning....

....and this was the score after the bottom of the 9th inning.

Needless to say, I was not excited...but Clay was :) He was able to see one of his favorite players hit a walk-off, three-run home run to end the game. He was ecstatic!

On Monday we made our way home. It was a great weekend and it was nice to get away for a couple of days!

An Easter Shelf

I changed my bathroom shelf decorations in time for Easter! I did just change the decorations last week....so we celebrated Valentine's Day for quite a while :)

I found a chick...

...a green egg...

...a bunny...

...and a red egg.

I also included two pictures of us.

The first one was taken last Easter at the Biltmore House.

The other one was also taken at the Biltmore House on a separate visit.

I am very happy that I did decorate our bathroom shelf for another holiday! I may have done it a little late, but it did get done. 

Now I just need to decide what to do next. We may be celebrating Easter for a while also :)

Changing Decorations

Not long after we got married I bought a shelf to hang in our bathroom. It's a fairly big shelf and I thought it would look nice in there and take up quite a bit of room on the wall. And it does look nice. However, I have never found anything to put on it. I've tried different things but nothing seemed to look quite right. I'm pretty sure it drives my husband crazy :)

Last Christmas I did put some of my snowmen on the shelf. They looked cute in there and my husband was so happy that there was something on it. So, I got the idea to decorate the shelf for the different holidays/seasons.

Like with many of my ideas I have not gotten too far. After Christmas I only decorated for Valentine's Day. So, this year I am going to try again and see if I get a little further :)

I put some of my snowmen on the shelf again this Christmas, and I even added a couple of winter pictures of the two of us. I decided to leave them out through January. 

But today I took down the snowmen and unpacked the few valentine things that I had bought last year. 

I have a small, heart-shaped box that I bought at Micheal's.

I bought this at Pier One. To be honest, I don't love it because I am not really a feather person. But I didn't find much last year. I guess I wasn't looking in the right places.

I also bought these two cookie cutters from Micheal's.

I did change the two pictures of us from winter pictures to something that looked more like Valentine's Day. One was taken on our honeymoon.

And the other one is from a friend's wedding. 

So, this is what it looks like all put together.

I think I'll have to look for some more valentine things this year. I also need to start getting decorations for the next holiday :)

A New Year

I can't believe that another year has come and gone! It seems that we just started 2011 and now it is already 2012. And the first month of the year is almost over! (I'm not off to a good start at blogging this year).

When a new year starts I always think about the changes that I would like to make in my life. Of course there are always the normal ones - exercise more and eat better. This year I would also like to learn more about healthy foods and whole foods. I really don't know much about nutrition, but I would like to learn. I might have to start looking at people's blogs about it! But you will still see some unhealthy recipes on my blog :)

A big goal for me this year is to finish my BSN in December. This will require me taking 9 credit hours this spring, summer, and fall, but it will be worth it. I started the spring semester last week and so far it is going okay. I just keep telling myself that this semester will be over the end of April and I can do anything until then :) If I am able to graduate in December I will be graduating with Clay. It will be so nice if we are both able to be done with school at the same time.

  I also have been thinking about changes I need to make in my spiritual life. I always need to read my Bible and pray more regularly. I would like to start a prayer journal but I'm not sure how to do it. I talked to my friend, Kim House, about it and she wasn't sure exactly how to do it either. We weren't sure whether to do it by request or date or something completely different. If anyone has ideas please let me know!

Another goal is to be a better wife. I did a Bible study this year with the girls in our Sunday school class called For Women Only. It was a great study and I learned a lot, but I think I need to read it again :) Thankfully I have a very patient, loving husband!

One of the biggest things that I need to do this year is remember my goals and not forget about them by February!

Sweet Potato Casserole

This is one of my favorite holiday recipes!

My mom always made it, but it has now become my personal contribution to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. I made it today because we are celebrating Christmas tonight with my parents and brother and his family.

It's very easy to make. Here is the list of ingredients.

Filling

2 Eggs - beaten

3 cups Sweet Potato (4-5 potatoes)

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Milk

1/2 stick Butter

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Topping

1 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 stick Butter

1/2 cup Flour

1 cup Chopped Nuts

The first thing that I do is bake my sweet potatoes. I used 5 this time because they were small. I bake them on 400 for 1 hour. I often bake them the night before. I guess it just depends how much time you have the day you're making it.

To make the filling, you just mix all of the ingredients together. I use softened butter but I don't worry about it being completely melted. It melts when it's cooked.

For the topping, you also just mix everything together. I do melt the butter for this because it makes it easier to mix.

Place the filling in a baking dish and pour the topping over it.  I used a 2 1/2 quart dish.

Then bake it for 35 minutes on 350.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas season has been very busy! I can't believe it's our 3rd Christmas together since we got married!

It started the day after Thanksgiving when Clay and I decorated the house. I love decorating the tree.

Clay takes care of the outside. He does a great job!

After the decorating is done, Clay reads A Charlie Brown Christmas. It's become our tradition.

The second week of December, Clay and I finished our semester of school. We are excited to have a break!

On December 17th our Sunday School Christmas Party was at our house. It was an ugly Christmas sweater themed party. It was a great time to spend with friends. 

The "white elephant" gifts were hilarious!

A  couple of days before Christmas, Clay and I visited his family to celebrate Christmas.

His dad bought his mom a camera. She was very excited!

On Christmas Eve we had dinner at the Watson's. It was so nice to see them and also see my parents.

Today we got up early and opened our gifts. Clay got me so many nice things! I am very excited about Pride and Prejudice and Anne of Green Gable...and I love my new chi :)

My big surprise was my watch. I had told him I wanted one, but he picked it out and actually ordered it online because he thought I would like it better than the ones in stores. I love it!

Then we went to church for a candlelight Christmas service. Clay was very excited about going to church; he has never gone to church on Christmas. 

We came home and started cooking our first turkey. It was quite an experience getting the bird ready to go in the oven :)

Our first Christmas dinner turned out great! Maybe next year we can invite people over :)

After dinner we watched It's a Wonderful Life and ate pumpkin pie. 

It has been a wonderful Christmas!