Walk on Bulle Rock Trail

Last night we decided we all needed a little fresh air, so we took a family walk on one of the trail's here in our community.  It was a little cold (upper 40's) and the sun was extremely bright as it was setting (as you'll see in the pics), but other than that it was a pretty nice outing!

Happy Birthday Baby Owen!

No wordless Wednesday this week because I just have too much to say!

First off, I want to say congratulations to my best friend Autumn and her husband Josh on their new baby boy, Owen!  He was born early the morning of March 29th in Morgantown, WV.  Kevin, Kerriann and I cannot wait to go home and meet him.  We wish Autumn and Owen a speedy recovery from the labor and delivery!

Hands

Today I'm entering this photo 

into the Shutter Love contest at 

the theme this week was HANDS and I thought this shot of my Grandma holding her great-granddaughter Kerriann was perfect.  If you like this photo, please visit The Trendy Treehouse and leave a comment on the post voting for #31, my shot!

Florida Flowers

Today I'm linking up with 

for a weekly photo challenge.  This weeks theme is flowers and leaves.  Click the link to see more entries!

I got a few gorgeous flower pictures on the golf course in Florida that I'd love to share... this one being my favorite...

And here are a few more just for good measure... :)

Hopefully spring weather is just around the corner here in Maryland!

Sunday in Fells Point

Yesterday morning Kevin and I decided that we should show Katie, Ryan and Sara around a little bit before they left after making such a long trip.

We chose to explore the Fells Point area in Baltimore.

Even though it was a little chilly, the sun was pretty warm and it was a beautiful morning.  There were lots of flowers beginning to bloom, and even a few huge fake ones that were just as appealing to the eye.

We ended up having lunch at a seafood restaurant and spent the rest of the time walking around and doing a little window shopping.

I love this area of the city, and I can't wait to visit it again once the weather's warm!

Photo-less Update

Our little family had our first weekend together in our new home since we moved in at the beginning of February and I have to say it was so great to stay put and not have to worry about packing, driving and traveling.  The weekend didn't turn out exactly how we had planned, but it was a still a good one nonetheless.  

Our plans changed so many times over the course of the past week, but we finally decided to stay in Havre de Grace.  My mother in law Katie, brother in laws Ryan and Sean and sister in law Alaina, and one of Ryan's friends were all supposed to visit on Saturday night to go out to celebrate Ryan's birthday (Happy 21st again by the way!).  

Kevin had Friday off, so as I mentioned in my previous post, we checked out Susquehanna State Park.  On Saturday morning we got a lot of work done around the house.  We even decided on a color scheme for our living area and bought matching pillows curtains, and dishes!  Pics to come of that soon.

That afternoon, Kerriann woke up from her nap with a cold, and I started to come down with one as well.  Then due to carelessness on our part, Alaina suffered an allergic reaction soon after they arrived on Saturday.  PSA:  to anyone who knows that a friend or family member has a severe food allergy -- please be cautious while eating at any restaurant that serves that food!  We're pretty sure the reaction can be traced back to Kerriann eating french fries (and then kissing Alaina on the cheek) that were fried in the same fryer as shellfish, so that tells you how careful you really have to be.  I know that both Kevin and I are going to be so so careful from now on, not only around Alaina but just people in general.  You never know who else out there has these severe allergies, and I think that is the biggest lesson that I have learned this weekend.  Luckily, Alaina's awesome husband happens to be a paramedic and always knows exactly what to do in these situations!  We are so relieved and thankful that Alaina is ok today and that she and Sean were able to keep calm and act quickly.

So after everything, we just decided a low key night at our condo was the best way to spend the evening.  We watched a couple of movies and had a pretty good time.  The only downside is that we wish we had had more time with Sean and Alaina... but hopefully we will see them again very soon!

I have to admit that I didn't take a single picture on Saturday!  This is the first day in ages that I can remember that happening.  Between getting the house ready for company and then all of the excitement Saturday night, there just wasn't time or a good chance.  Oh well, guess it happens! ;)

Susquehanna State Park

By this afternoon Kevin and I were both itching to get out of the house (see why we always end up traveling?  neither one of us can handle more than a few hours in the house before we start to get antsy!).  Since it was only in the 40's, we decided to take a drive through Susquehanna State Park.  It's only a few miles from our condo and we wanted to see what we have to look forward to this summer.  Along the way we spotted these neat tangled looking vines so I made Kevin pull over...

And right beside the vines were these tiny little flowers just starting to bloom on the trees... I love signs of spring... even when it still feels like winter!

When we finally made it to the historic section of the state park, we checked out the neat stone buildings like this one... I loved the detailing on the stone and the doors...

And I found some more pretty flowers

Next we hit the park for a few minutes before wrapping up our trip because Kevin said the word "park" and Kerriann was too smart to let it go... even though it was freezing and she was in her jammies...

We'll definitely be visiting this park again once it warms up!

Interior Design HELP!

I know this is going to sound very trivial (and I know it is), but I have absolutely no clue how I want to decorate our main living space and it's driving me crazy!

After hanging the curtains this morning, Kevin and I both agreed that we didn't love the look that we had previously decided on.  It was just too "blah" for us.  We'd both like more of a pop of color, so here we are, back at square one.

I really want our living room/kitchen/formal dining room (which is actually our office) to be a great looking space that reflects both of our personalities, but this is so much easier said than done.  I'd like something light and airy that is easy on the eyes and relaxing, but we'd both also like a bright pop of color to keep it exciting.

Here are a few decorative items that I purchased a few days ago and still really love... just some fillers for a glass vase:

We also have cream colored sweater pillows that I'd like to use, dark brown leather couches, and dark wood coffee and end tables.

Any ideas?

Updates and My Project 365 Link

So I know I have been slacking on the blogging front the past few days!  I have really been trying to take advantage of my time with Kevin and Kerriann.

On Wednesday Kerriann and I went to story time at the Havre de Grace library and then in the evening we had dinner with a co-worker of Kevin's and his wife in White Marsh (close to Baltimore).  It was really great to get out of the house and have some adult conversation.  Kerriann was a little angel during dinner even though we were there until almost 9pm! We couldn't believe how well behaved she was.

Yesterday we planned to take Kerriann to the children's museum in Baltimore, Port Discovery, but ended up getting majorly sidetracked.  Kevin ended up having to work later than we expected, then Kerriann didn't nap in the car.  So we ended up doing some shopping, but accomplished a lot so it was still a good day.  We finally found a TV stand for our living room, and we also got curtains and a curtain rod for the living room.  The condo is slowly but surely starting to look like a home.  The walls are still bare, but I refuse to hang or develop any more pictures until we get our wedding proofs back.  So, out of my hands for now, but hopefully we'll have some nice photos on our bare white walls soon! :)  Here's one of Kerriann helping with the TV stand assembly...

This morning was spent hanging the curtains, doing laundry, and other odds and ends around the house. De-cluttering takes so much longer than it should!

Anyways, back to my original reason for posting.  I'm finally up to date on my 365 Project blog, so check it out by clicking THIS LINK.  My photo quality has really suffered the past couple of weeks, but I'm really hoping to get back into the groove of things soon.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday so far!

PS I downloaded the 30 day trial of Photoshop Lightroom a few days ago and have been playing around ever since!  It's definitely going to take a lot of practice to figure out how to really improve my images, but I'm looking forward to getting the end results I've been craving.  I love the ability that it gives you to take a photo from good to great (in my opinion, I just love that professional, finished look!).  Here's one more of Kevin and Kerriann sharing a moment that is just too cute not to share!

Productive Day

It's 9:30pm and I'm still waiting up for Kevin, so I thought I'd write about one of the most productive days I've had in a long time!  This morning we woke up at our usual 7am and started to get ready for the day.  Kevin fed Kerriann breakfast while I took a shower, and then Kerriann and I left for our My Gym class in Bel Air which is about a 30 minute drive.  Kerriann loved the class as usual!  I really need to take some pictures next time we go so everyone can see how neat this place is.

After our class, we spent some time wandering around the mall in Bel Air.  Since we were all the way over there, it was a good opportunity to do some shopping for Kerriann.  All of a sudden her clothes are all way too small!  Her clothing size has finally caught up with her age-almost.  She's fitting perfectly into most 18 month clothes and a lot of her 12 month outfits (especially her jeans) are too small.  Looks like she might actually be in 18-24 month clothes by the time she's 2! :)  Because of her short skinny legs and big belly, we have a hard time finding jeans that fit her correctly.  They're usually either too short but right in the waist and legs or perfect for her tummy but huge everywhere else!  The only places that seem to have the right fit are Gap and Old Navy at times.  If anyone knows of any other places, let me know!

When we were finished with our jean shopping adventure, we headed home for lunch and our afternoon date with Dora the Explorer.  I try not to let KA watch too much TV, but she just loves Dora so I let her watch it from 12-1 while she's eating lunch.  It gives me an opportunity to make her food and mine as well, and also gives me the chance to actually eat mine while it's still warm.

Usually Kerriann takes her nap between 1 and 3, but today she decided that she was just "too big" for her nap.  She spent her 90 minutes of "quiet time" reading books to her bedtime friends.  She was exhausted for the remainder of the day, but I still had my quiet time so I couldn't be upset.  During her "nap" I was able to get 3 loads of laundry done, make a doctor appointment for myself, write 3 blog posts, unload the dishwasher, update my 365 Project Blog and set up an online bill paying system...pretty good if you ask me!

After nap time we did our best to keep busy, knowing that Kevin was going to have a late night.  We had an early dinner, played with some toys, built a book tower, and went outside on the balcony.  Kerriann really enjoyed going in and out as she pleased while I took a few pictures of her.  She was opening and closing the door, and knocking on it and talking about going to Meggie's house.  Of course she mentioned Jesse too! ;)

We spent the rest of our evening relaxing and talking to the birthday girl, Molly, on Skype.  We also got to say hello to Kaycee.  Unfortunately as soon as Kaycee called Kerriann maxed out and I had to put her to bed early at 8pm.  And so ends a productive day for my sidekick and me!  I realize this post was probably pretty boring for some, but maybe it will give you a better glimpse of what a day is like in our life lately.  Kevin should be home any minute so I'm off to wait for him and then get some sleep!