Nothin' Says "I Love You" Like a Dremel

Most ladies get flowers or chocolates for Valentine's Day from their sweethearts.  My sweetheart knows me all too well...he knows that I'm a "project" kinda gal who doesn't mind pulling her hair back and getting sweaty and dirty.  Well, this past Valentine's Day, my sweetie surprised me with the most romantic gift a man has ever given a woman...a dremel!

For the past month I've been refinishing an old china cabinet and hutch that I bought for $95.00 at the Habitat Resale Store.  It is beautiful, but definitely needed a little TLC and a fresh coat of stain.  I've been working really hard at stripping the old stain off, but was having trouble getting to all the little nooks and crannies of the detailed wood work.  Come to find out there is this little tool called a dremel that is made just for that specific purpose...detailed sanding!  I can't wait to see how the china cabinet turns out!  And...thanks sweetie for the dremel...you are so romantic ;o)

A Carolina Girl Married A Clemson Boy

If you've ever driven by the Porter house, you might have noticed that the collegiate flag hung just outside our front door is in constant rotation throughout the year.  Sometimes the flag is UNC...other times it is Clemson.  Yes, we are definitely a "house divided."  Our first big marital dispute was over which flag we would hang outside.  Orange or Blue?  Tiger or Tarheel?  Because both of us are incredibly stubborn, neither one of us gave in to the other.  After hours of debating, acting like two-year-olds, and hiding each other's flags, we had to come up with "flag rules" to help keep our marital disputes at bay ;)  Here is what we came up with...

• Brad will fly the Clemson flag during football season
• I will fly the UNC flag during basketball season
• Whenever the two teams play one another, be it football or basketball, the home team gets their flag flown.
• If the two teams are playing one another in a championship; I fly the UNC flag for all basketball events, and Brad flies the Clemson flag for all football events.

Two weeks ago, Clemson played UNC in football at Chapel Hill.  Instead of hanging our flags outside the house, we packed them up and headed up to Chapel Hill...hanging both of them proudly outside our tailgating tent!  No marital disputes broke out and everyone was happy!

Here are some pictures from our wonderful weekend with UNC/Clemson friends up in Chapel Hill:

How many Clemson boys does it take to put up a
tailgating tent?

A Carolina girl married a Clemson boy...
"For Better or for Worse"

Me and Laura with Ramses

Me and Laura kissing Ramses..woo-hoo!

Stephanie, Me, Katie

The Old Well

Abigail, Lisa, Laura

Touchdown!!!

Carolina Won!  21 to 16!

And he still loves me after losing ;)

I'm His Water Girl

Brad is crossing one thing off of his bucket list and has signed up to run in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC on October 31st.  He started his training about a month ago and is already up to running 11 miles!  I'm a runner too...but not an 11 mile kind of runner.  I usually like to stay somewhere between the 3-6 mile range.  I'm always up for running 5K and 10K races (I'll be running the Marine Corps 10K while Brad runs the marathon), but I haven't quite challenged myself to running a half or full marathon yet.  Who knows, maybe sometime in the future...

Anyhow, I wanted to support Brad on his long runs, so I've been riding my bike beside him and having a nice supply of water ready whenever he needs replenishing.  I'm his official water girl!  Two weeks ago, I went out and bought a basket for my bike so Bailey can come too and we can make the marathon training a family event!  Check out these pics from Brad's last run...

And They Loved Happily Ever After...

One mortgage, a dog, and three years later, we're still happily ever after!  Check out some of the things that have happened during our three wonderful years of marriage.

June 16, 2007

The Happy Couple

406 Nelliefield Trail

Bailey's First Bath

Our sweet niece, Mia, lookin' all cute!

Uncle Brad and sweet baby Grayson!