Mimosa Avenue

It is definitely a bittersweet feeling to see the Crye-Leike sign in the front yard of my house on Mimosa...I worked so hard to buy this house and fix it up, and I am so proud of the way it shines. It will be hard to part with it after four years full of memories...on the other hand, selling it seems to symbolize for me the end of my bachelorette days and the beginning of my life with Justin...and nothing has ever made me happier.

When I bought my house, it did not have exterior shutters. One night, on the way home from Ronnie Grisantis, my dad found some awesome custom wodden shutters that someone had grown tired of and put out on the curb for the garbage (or neighbors) to pick up. My dad sanded the shutters, and cut one set down to size, and then we painted them green...they look amazing! Justin and I had our first kiss on this front porch...

I spent most of my time in this living room, surrounded by my grandmother's wonderful antique furniture...while it may not be the style Justin would have chosen, he has grown to love and value these antiques as much as I do...they will eventually make their way to our house on Normandy Lane.

Ahh...the kitchen...the heart of the home...I had planned to re-do the kitchen from the get-go and got so far as to have estimates for the flooring and granite countertops, as well as have purchased new hardware and paint for the cabinets. Wedding planning got in the way of doing this facelift, but shortly after returning from our honeymoon, my dad, my father-in-law, and Justin and I painted, changed the hardware, and installed new lighting. Two days after that, new granite countertops were installed...I could drool on them...but I hope to not own them much longer!!

And this is the second bedroom, my office, and a storage center...when you only have two bedrooms, they serve multiple roles!

BUT, as much as I miss my Mimosa house, I am slowly seeing pieces of me around Justin's house, well, make that our house... We had my parents over for dinner to celebrate my dad's birthday, and we were able to set a beautiful table with our new china...and of course, enjoy a wonderful meal together.

Goodnight!

"You Make the Best...."

This post will be a little off the beaten path...but that's what a blog is for right?

So I have a real desire to be a good cook...I come from a family full of them...my parents, both grandmothers, cousins, aunts, etc....they are all phenomenal cooks. We celebrate our holidays, our birthdays, our promotions, our marriages, everything, together around food...and it never disappoints.

I have always yearned for my future husband to be able to say, "Gosh honey, you make the best_____" Now that I have succeeded in getting the husband, I am constantly striving towards hearing those words!! I have tried lots of different recipes in our two years of dating, 9 months of engagement, and now 6 weeks of marriage. Most recipes are pretty straightforward, some a little complicated, some from the Food Network channel, some from my grandmother's recipes, and some made from my imagination...

Well I am proud to say that I have succeeded...Justin thinks I make the BEST guacamole!! Seriously, its the simplest dang recipe you could ever imagine, but he will literally roll around on the ground and beg me to make it!! I just finished making some, and it took less than 15 minutes, chills in the fridge for an hour, and he will come home from soccer and lick the bowl clean!!

And since good recipes are made to be shared, here it is:

From www.allrecipes.com, "The Best Guacamole:"
2 avocados
1/2 lemon, juiced (I usually use more, depending on the size of the avocados)
2 TBSP chopped onion (again, I usually use more, about 1/2 of a medium onion, look for good consistency)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 TBSP olive oil
Chopped tomato if desired (I do not usually add this, as Justin is not a huge tomato fan)

Directions: Halve each avocado and remove the seed. Scoop out the pulp and mash with a fork. Mix in all other ingredients and chill in fridge for an hour!! Serve with chips of your choice and enjoy!!!

My best advice is buy avocados about 2 days before you want to make this...as the grocery sometimes only has rock-hard avocados. If they are slighly soft they are ready for action!!

Hope your family enjoys it as much as mine does!!

Some wedding pics....

I have to play catch-up for a few posts...and I think its important to start out this new blog with some actual pics of the big day...but sadly, I had decided that I would not tote around my camera once I was all dressed up in my gown and veil and make-up and garter and shoes and blue string tied into my gown...so I don't have lots of actual wedding pics to share, but I'll post some of the wedding events before we walked down the aisle....

Below are the ladies that have stood beside me throughout my life...they have shaped me into the person I am today, and I continue to learn from them and have fun with them...my bridesmaids (Margaret, Alexis, Cobbie, Whitney, Katie Cobb, Brook and Liz...this pic is missing Ellen- she was already back at work when this pic was taken) are some of my closest friends and family and I am so grateful you all were there with me on my wedding day!!!

Then, we rehearsed for the big day...Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis is the most beautiful church I have ever seen, and I feel lucky to be able to be married there...it was surreal to be married in the church where my parents were married and where I grew up going to Sunday School, playing church league basketball and soccer, and going to youth conferences. It is also the same place where I graduated from high school.
The rehearsal was followed by an absolutely amazing rehearsal dinner down at the Ornamental Metal Museum...the sunset on the river was gorgeous and the weather was fantastic!
AND...the wonderful wedding weekend was followed by a week-long honeymoon to Savannah, GA, and Hilton Head Island...and that deserves a post of its own!! Here is a sneak peak...both pics are at dinner...the first at the Olde Pink House in Savannah and the second at an Italian place whose name escapes me right now...(old married lady status is kicking in...)

More to come later on!! I am tired and this computer is slow on the picture downloads!

A new adventure...

I thought it would be fun to start a blog since I truly feel like I have started a new chapter in my life in the last month. Yes, one month ago today, on April 10, 2010, I married Justin Lohman, and I am happy to report that we are loving married life. We have lots of plans for travel, fun, hard work, and happiness, but right now we are working on settling in what I like to call Justin's Bachelor Pad.

It has been hard work packing all of my things from my house, which is currently on the market(sniff, sniff), and moving into a space where someone (Justin) already lives. There will be lots of furniture rearranging, picture hanging, cleaning, and re-rearranging in the next several weeks to months to come, but I feel certain that with the two of us, our cats, and our belongings, this house will surely become our home.

I will try to get pics up ASAP...but I am not sure how to do that yet on this computer.

Don't worry, I hope there will be lots more interesting posts than this one - stay tuned!