I CAN'T WAIT!

Okay, so I LOVE refinished antique furniture. By love, I mean that I wish I had the patience to sand and paint EVERY piece of furniture in my house. But sadly, I don't. I also do not know the right "techniques" to do. I have tried to do refinish furniture and sadly have failed. I actually bought a dresser on Craigslist.org and had a friend paint in "Crystal Blue" and glaze and distress it for me! Cheater, I know. But low and behold, I stumbled across a blog of a woman in Edmond that teaches CLASSES on how to do this. Refunk My Junk is the name. I am now enrolled in the class for October 22nd. Oh my....my furniture is in for a DRASTIC overhaul. Yee-Haw! Peruse her page and check out all of the AWESOME refinishing jobs. I LOVE IT! If you're in the Edmond/OKC area, she also has a booth at Beaucoup Boutiques (for all of you long time Edmonites, this was the old indoor soccer place across from the roller skating rink now turned Thunder practice place). Enjoy!

Two Posts in One Day?! Have I lost my mind??

I know what you're thinking, I must be going crazy. Hillary posted twice in one day? The truth is, you're not crazy - I am. I had to take a quick shower (I had gym "yuck" on me) and now...I'm back.

ELOUISE IS ONE!!!!!!!!!!!

After you have a baby, everyone tells you to cherish each moment because the time truly flies by. But NO ONE can tell you how quickly it goes. There is truly no way of telling any parent. . . it is just something that each parent has to experience on their own. A true blessing. (Got a little teary eyed with that thought).

Okay, like I just posted in big, bold, pink letters....Elouise, our baby, is one. We had her birthday party on Sunday. It was so much fun. I actually found that I really really enjoyed planning, designing and decorating for the party. I ended up making all of the decor (except the chinese lanterns...thanks Hobby Lobby!) and the food. What a sense of accomplishment. We had food for an army and it turned out to be perfect. I got a recipe from a great friend for these "Roast Beef Party Sandwiches". Like most of my recipes, the ingredients look....interesting. Not the most intriguing blend, but throw them all together and WALA! They are delicious. I ended up tripling the recipe for these sandwiches and used the Hawaiian Sweet Dinner rolls instead of the Rainbo ones they suggested and they were perfect. I also cut out bread in the shape of hearts and made little heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kiddos. I discovered that although the party is for a one year old, the other children there may not be too keen with the adult-like sandwiches. When in doubt, opt for a childhood favorite. Not gonna lie - caught some adults (ahem...Daddy), eating some PBJ's too. No worries, I had plenty. Each slice of bread made one sandwich. Then I had animal crackers, pretzels, and grapes, too. I ended up ordering the cupcakes from Sam's (30 for $13...who can beat that??). I had tons of people asking where I got the cupcakes from because they were so good. Guilty secret...got em from Sam's. Delish! I made cupcake toppers for each cupcake, too. Just some added cuteness, I thought. Like I said, it may have been a one year old party, but the kids still need stuff to do. I bought sidewalk chalk, bubbles, play do, big bouncy balls, a ball pit, and balloons. Bring on the fun. The kids had a great time. (Throw on the Dallas Cowboys game inside for some male birthday party fun...).

All that being said, I discovered I love throwing parties. As long as I leave myself ample time to plan and prepare.......which I did. I may start planning for something else now! Yippee!

Well, Hello There!

First off, can I just say I should get a prize???? That's right. Drumroll please......Hillary Love is awarded the prize for WORST BLOGGER EVER! Yay! (and the crowd goes wild!!!).

Laugh it off - in all seriousness though - I have done a flawed job at keeping everyone posted. Don't get me wrong, I read blogs daily! I just fail to post on my own. Slap on the wrist and moving on -

Soooo many things have been going on in the world of The Loves.

First, as posted on my previous blog post (eek do I dare say it was JULY 9TH?!?), I am back to my "roots". We have moved to Edmond, and it has been a wonderful move. My husband was a bit apprehensive about the move from his hometown to mine, but let me just say that he is LOVING IT! He is always busy and gets to go to do so many fun things.

One nice thing that has happened is that we FINALLY found a church that we both really really are passionate about. There is something there for both of us and a powerful nursery ministry for Elouise. I have even been going to Mom's Group on Monday mornings! It has been such a blessing. My parents go to church there, too. My dad even plays with the orchestra on Sunday mornings. He plays the guitar - if you're there, listen for him. If you're not...you lose. In our Mom's Group we are doing the study For Women Only....okay if you HAVEN'T done this study...DO IT. It will rock your world . Back to the nursery ministry - Elouise LOVES it. She has a great time on Sunday mornings and then again on Monday mornings. We have even stepped out of our comfort zones and signed up for the Parent/Child Dedication. Josh and I attended a class that discussed the need of raising your child in a Christ centered home. We both feel strongly about this. We will be "dedicating" Elouise in front of the church on October 23rd. We feel so blessed to be part of this wonderful church family.

On to the next topic - JOSH WORKS IN OKC NOW! It was a major decision and one that we did not take lightly, but Josh decided that it was time to part ways with ExxonMobil. He has worked for them for 5 1/2 years and they have been a wonderful company to work for. He has learned so many valuable things from them and they have been great employers. However, that being said, the time away had begun to take it's toll on our family. For the first 4 1/2 years of his employment, he was stationed in Piceance Creek, Colorado working on a natural gas rig there. We griped about the 2 weeks on/2 weeks off schedule (Side note: Military wives, you have my utmost respect and awe. I don't know how you do it, but you all are some strong woman!), and we hated it. However, our reality was put into perspective when he was scheduled to begin rotating to Nigeria. He worked 4 weeks on and 4 weeks off on an oil rig off the coast of Lagos, Nigeria. With Elouise growing up and changing each time we blinked, Josh decided it was time to look for a job closer to home. Since we moved to OKC, his job offerings were a lot larger than what they were living in a smaller town. He applied with several companies and decided on a job with Chesapeake Energy. He now works in Oklahoma City and is the "Corporate Emergency Response Coordinator". He loves what he is doing now and is eager to continue to learn more. We love having him home in the evenings and weekends. While it is an adjustment going from single mom every few weeks to having my husband home all of the time, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love having my family back together! Seeing Elouise's face light up when he walks in after work, you just can't put a price on those things. (Not to mention that he looks SO handsome in his corporate attire...)

Okay my next post is going to be about the big 1st birthday bash - Gotta break these things up - Nap time is only so long!

We are now "Edmondites"!

Finally! We are now Edmondites! We have made the move, Josh has been here for a month almost, and we are LOVING our new house. We are still trying to make everything "fit" and "work" in the new house. I have this problem with HAVING to get it all done immediately. I'm forcing myself to take it slow, enjoy the new house, and THEN decide where things should go. FAT CHANCE! We are loving the new neighborhood, too. We live right across from a city park (with a 2.75 mile running/walking/biking trail), have a neighborhood pool and park, and great neighbors! Yesterday we exercised by running/walking around the park. Today, we are going to the pool. Well, actually, Josh is going golfing first at the golf course around the corner, and THEN we will go to the pool. It's so wonderful. We have also found a wonderful church here, too. This is a HUGE deal for us...a church we BOTH agree on and love. It is called Crossings Community Church. It is a nice mix between my Church of Christ raising and Josh's Baptist/Methodist raising. Elouise goes to the nursery there, and has just "graduated" to the 9-12 month class. She is finally getting out of the "everytime I leave my Mommy I cry" phase.
More pics and movies to come.............

Sun Shiny Day!

Who knew the velcro could be this much fun???

Sunny Saturday

Elouise is eight months old now! Ah! It goes SO fast! People tell you that it goes quickly, but no one can actually relay into words HOW quickly it goes. Elouise is now starting to crawl. We are really good at crawling backwards and in a circle, but not so much on the forward crawl. She's getting close though! She knows how to wave and say hi! (Except her hi is more like haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, but she does know that when you wave your hand you're supposed to talk). Sorry this is so short, but nap time is almost up!

Love until next time!

Hillary Love

God is so good!

God is sooo good! We sold our house! After a year of it being on the market, our house has finally sold! We left the day after we sold our house and headed to Edmond to find a new one. After a few "no's", we were not very hopeful about finding a house. We knew that we wanted a newer home, but didn't want to rent for 6-12 months while waiting on our house to be built. It was a God thing, and while driving around, we found one! It is almost complete. We got to pick out granite, backsplash, lighting, and carpet. It is so "us"! We can't wait! Here is a pic of the outside without the sod and flowers (and outdoor lights).