Drive-By

If you were to happen to drive by our house at night right now the view would look a little like this:

I'm debating candles in the windows next year.  Thoughts?

Happy Anniversary!

In celebration of our anniversary with Nigel we've - yes, I got Matt to participate with this post - come up with our top ten Nigel memory list.  Enjoy!

10. Nigel's Frankenstein arms

9. Nigel in the snow for the first time.

8. Nigel snatching the Christmas turkey off the counter.

7. Nigel's destruction

6.  Nigel's first time running free in his new backyard.

5.  Halloween costumes

4.  Nigel falling into the pool.

3. Nigel looking out the window every time we came home.

2.  Insanity running

1.  Nigel vomiting in my hands on a road trip.

Trash to Treasure

Much like my candlestick holders, I bought this sucker from Goodwill in an effort to give it a little makeover...

Nigel is always so willing to help out.  Let's try this again...

Dang, girl... you need some help.  I think I have an idea.  Let's spray paint your frame to match the kitchen and frame some burlap for a nice, neutral backing.

 I now have a dry erase board to put my grocery list.  Voila!  Better than those ugly white ones :)

There's a New Carpenter in Town

Since my recent withdrawal from the working world, I have become the new groundskeeper for Chateau Lawson.  On tap today...

...replacing a plank from where a chunky monkey broke the ramp.  Just kidding, he's not fat.  They'll probably all go soon since they're all rotting and I'm wanting to pour concrete in its place.  I have to get the other groundskeeper's approval before he lets me play with cement. 

One board, one hammer and five nails (should've only been four, but one went flying when I was hammering) later.... voila!

Look how handsome my helper/model is.  And look how much better that ramp looks... not to mention how much more safe!

HAPPY HOWL-O-WEEN!

I dare you to find a cuter dog.

Are you ready for some football?!

Heck, yes, I was!  Matt and Nigel chipped in on some football tickets for me for my birthday.  Yup, I got to see Peyton play.  Best. Day. Ever.  Matt said he had never seen me so excited about anything in my life.  I talked about it for days.  Weeks, really.  Too bad they didn't win.  But guess what?  Didn't care.  SO MUCH FUN!

 Right on the 50 yard line!

 Oh man, oh man!

THERE HE IS! 

Bedtime

In true Nigel fashion, it appears that he thinks the new kitchen rugs are personal beds for him.  Ya know - just in case he gets a bit tuckered out while on patrol through the kitchen.  See how I still have the tags on them?  Yeah - they're super new and yet I've caught him twice taking a snooze on them.

Seriously, though, look at that face.  Cutest bug around.  And a heck of a rug model.

Cotton Anniversary

The 2nd Anniversary rolled around a couple months ago.  We decided to keep with doing the "traditional" wedding gifts for each other.  This year was the "cotton" anniversary.  We took that idea to Savannah, GA - the old Cotton Capital of the World.  It was hot, it was rainy - and it was busy.  Let's review...

Nigel and I hit up the Botanical Gardens while Matt was at work.  Here are some flowers that were in bloom.

We also headed to Ft. Pulaski for our history lesson.  Matt wanted it to look like Nigel was being shot out of the canon.  I'm not sure if we accomplished that.

Look at that tongue!

The lighthouse on the island:

And the reason for it all... The Old Cotton Exchange. 

This one's for you, Maam:

Nigel was getting a lot of sympathy from passerbyers since it was HOT so we popped in a dog shop and bought him his first taste of doggie ice cream.  I'm a sucker for this boy :)

On the Big Screen

Nigel stars in his first featured film.  I'm sure this is just the beginning of a very long, successful career for him.  Credit given to Uncle Josh - Nigel's biggest fan.  Make sure you put on some adult diapers... you'll probably pee your pants.  Enjoy!

Long Overdue

Months ago Matt's parents came for a visit and it was a whirlwind of a working weekend.  We got a lot done and then I never took pictures because I forgot, had snakes, was lazy or a combination of all of the above.  But I took them this past weekend!  And then I'm also including pictures of some other stuff we've done.

The retaining wall came down and a new one went up.  The pile still remains, but it looks a LOT better.  The old one was falling down.  Not doing much retaining.

Weeding and trimming was done!  This is also a picture of what is left to do.  See the bush/tree on the right?  That's the height they should all be at.  So we just need to go down the line and cut them back.

 Matt dug up the two ponds and filled them in with dirt.  Slow work, but it's gonna look awesome as a flower bed!

Matt also put a ring of stone around a few of the bushes along the fence line.  Makes it look more professionally landscaped.  And they were just rocks that were scattered around the yard so that means a FREE upgrade!

The lower deck is ready for some S'more roasting!

And here's our helper running to help out with the next project!

The Shaffer-Love Olympics

About a month ago I returned home to visit the fam.  Dad had been hospitalized unexpectantly so I wanted to go see everyone.  I felt like everyone needed an opportunity to have fun and hang out with each other since I'm sure everyone had been feeling a little stressed leading up to Dad's discharge from the hospital.  Insert my awesome idea.  The Olympics were going on in London at the same time so I figured we could bring them here to the States.  We had several events - The Bozo Game, Balancing Egg Race, Balloon Words and Marshmallow Head.  Oh, and of course I provided medals.  What's the point in winning if you don't have medals?  Mom and Dad's house was also called the Olympic Village.  I may have taken the Olympic theme a little too far.  Enjoy!

Yes, I know the lines are back in the pictures.  No, I'm not sure why it's happening.  They don't look that way when I download them to the computer.  Only when I upload them to the blog.  I don't really know how to fix it.

Explanation

So I got a new computer, but for some reason the internet isn't working on there.  So instead of putting all my pictures on my old computer only to have to transfer them to my new computer I am going to wait to update on anything new and just show you some eye candy that's already on my (old) computer.





Thank you very mulch!

I'm going a bit out of order here.  Matt's parents came about a month ago and did some MAJOR work on the house, but I have yet to photograph it.  Remember this?  Yeah, I don't go in the backyard much by myself because I'm a weenie.  That's not true.  I will go back there, but if I'm taking pictures, then I can't be looking around my feet for potential slithery creatures.  And Heaven knows Nigel needs someone to look after him.  Poor, sweet boy.  He tries hard... Anyways, Matt will get those pictures SOON.  I promise. 

Anyways, I took pictures of the front of the house since I have an hour to kill.  A couple weekends ago we were paid a visit from Mom, Katy and Emily.  And of course we made them work.  Job of choice?  Mulching.  In 100+ degree weather.  We're jerks, but they didn't complain once.  Matt was surprised and impressed.  I didn't take any before pictures, but I'll describe it to you.  Dried up dirt.  Weeds.  Ugliness.  And now?



SO MUCH BETTER!  Here's some full view pictures, but you can't see the mulch very mulch (ha ha). 

Why, yes!  Those hanging plants are still alive!  And blooming better than ever.  Wanna see the whole porch?  We added some chairs up there.  Take a peek!

All that's needed is a tall glass of sweet tea.  And cooler weather :)