Army Strong~Walker Strong!

NE Steelers Football

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 03:12:00 +0000

Improvements to the back porch area

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:53:00 +0000

JJ did a concrete stain on the floor, previously was just gray concrete!

We also installed oak bead boarding and stained it on the ceiling. This was NOT a fun project. But it does look 100% better!

Another view of the flooring.

Updating Photos of the progress of repainting our home.

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:35:00 +0000

View from family room looking back to dining room and front entry... Completed! I am thinking about painting in the circle above the hall light fixture, haven't quite decided on what I want to do yet.

Our master bedroom, still need to change out the light fixture.... I have been searching for the perfect chandelier but have not been successful in finding one that I like.

Another view of the Master!

Updating Photos of the progress of repainting our home.

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:24:00 +0000

Dining Room Area - Done! :)

Front Living Room area still needs the two light wall's repainted, hopefully that will be completed this weekend.

Family Room - Walls are done, still need to change out the ceiling fan and replace the carpet. That's will probably happen sometime in the next month or two.

Kitchen, almost completed. We are still thinking about refinishing the cabinets. From the photo they look great, but they have this tuscan wash on them and we are not big fans. Thinking about sanding them down and staining them espresso color. I also want to change out the island counter top. Maybe a solid black or Uba Tuba granite color for some variation. We still have those "white" area's to paint as well.... slowly we are getting there. Not bad for only being here 8 months so far! :)

Another family room view.....

After Photos----

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:35:00 +0000

Kitchen - Afternoon... actually the white part is now the same green color throughout.
View from Family room looking towards the front door

Formal Dining Room

Family Room

Formal Living Room

Before & After photos.... There is still more work to do..... :(

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:10:00 +0000

Entry - Before

Family Room - Before

Formal Living Room - Before Picture

Kitchen - Before

Birthday Boy!

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:51:00 +0000

Jack lighting his brother's birthday candles.

We are singing Happy Birthday to you.....

Tanner gearing up for the big blow...

And he was successful... He blew them all out. Wonder what he wished for?

2009 North East Steelers - Tanner is # 9

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Tanner commanding his Offense

Tanner playing Left Corner on the Defense
Tanner calling the snap count..... DOWN> SET> HUT!

Tanner looking to pass.....

Tanner doing a shovel pass...

2009 North East Steelers - Jack is # 39

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:17:00 +0000

Jack running it in for the Touch Down

Jack breaking through the line.

Jack getting the Touch Down.... to WIN the GAME!

Jack and his buddy Mykai behind him. Happy they won!!!! Here we go Steelers!

Family Photo...

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:24:00 +0000

Wow, it's been a while since I have done anything with this blog. Well this is a photo that was taken over the summer. I can't believe how BIG my two boys are getting. Tanner turns 12 next week, so he is officially a "tween". Do they have that for boys? or is it a girl thing?

Jack turns 10 in November.... where has the time gone!! UGH! Before I know it they will be driving and then off to college. What's crazy, is that they are both already looking at colleges for when they graduate. Who ever heard of a 4th and 6th grader thinking about college at this young age? Jack has been tossing the idea of "Ohio State"- Where did he get that? He's been researching the "Top" schools for his choice of profession. Architecture! He is also looking at MIT. Tanner on the other hand is looking at possibly, Berkley, K-State and Maybe MIT. We will see. All I know is that it's TOOOOOOO early to be thinking about this already.

Well on a more "recent" note, I have some new photos of this year's football season, so I will try to upload them later on this week. Hope all is well with everyone, and I hope you are enjoying this beautiful fall weather. God Bless!

This is for you Karen & Denise...... LOL :)

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:33:00 +0000

Closer view of the front of the house

The other half of the back yard

Part of the MBR Closet

View from Family Room looking back towards formal Dining & front door.

Quick family photos & our resort in Florida

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:47:00 +0000

Our future home.....

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:46:00 +0000

Front of the house..... JJ got his 3 car garage.

Dream Kitchen.... love the cabinet and counter space.....

Formal Dining and Living Room area's ... View is from hallway near formal dining

Family room...

1/2 of the back yard has this great amenity. The other side is nice and grassy for our two little doggies.

Hanging out with friends

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:57:00 +0000

I had the opportunity to head back to Leavenworth to visit family and friends earlier this month. Here as some photos snapped of Stacy,Tammy, Ally, Bill and myself.

Long Week....

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 03:31:00 +0000

Well last Thursday started off as a normal day... I had Parent Teacher Conferences scheduled for around 4:30 pm and thought great I will leave work early and have somewhat of a break before football practice. Well was I wrong... you never know what is in store for you.

I was heading down the highway and traffic started to slow down in front of me and eventually stop quickly. Well thankfully I was far enough away from the car in front of me that I was able to stop without incident. Then I heard it.... screeching... a Toyota Camry hit me, then a Chevy Cobalt hit her which threw her into me further. FUN FUN! Well below is the damage to my vehicle. For those who know me understand this was devastating for me. I have babied this car since the day we bought it almost 5 years ago to the day. (April 12th) Well while I was on the phone at the scene with the insurance company I was informed by USAA that they would probably "TOTAL" my vehicle because of the described damage. I would not know for sure until this past Monday, April 6th. Below is a photo from the scene of the accident.

So with this new unwanted situation, JJ and I headed out to the auto dealerships on Saturday trying to see if I could find something I would like if they decided to consider my car a total loss. Can I tell you I am not one to complain about buying a new car, but I was actually so overwhelmed I didn't want to even think about it. RARE occasion for me. I have been thinking about the idea of buying a new Mercedes C350 or the Lexus IS350 but just THINKING not really ready to act on it. We are soooo close to paying off my vehicle. JJ and I have never hit that milestone since we have been married and it would be nice to FINALLY have one paid for. And idea of another car payment for 5 more years makes me nauseous.

So the verdict came in on Monday afternoon and the news was promising. The Adjuster said he thought my car was repairable. YEAH!! HAPPY DANCE! Of course I said really... is there any frame damage? He replied... your lucky a tall vehicle hit you because it missed the frame. Just minor damage to the trunk area. I said well, a Camry hit me... he was a little baffled. Then I proceeded to tell him that my car had been lowered with Eibach lowering springs 2 years ago which caused my vehicle to sit about 2" lower than other Maxima's. He said ..... "Well that saved your vehicle" who would have thought!

So what's even cooler is that I got a phone call yesterday from the collision repair shop and they have this cool web page where they take daily photos of your vehicle so you can track the progress. Here is the photo from yesterday with everything removed and a update photo from today. Nothing looks much different, but I can't wait to see the progress. Now we have to wait between 3 to 4 weeks for the car to be ready. I will be happy once the car is completed. Let's hope things go well.

OUR NEW HOME..... Happy Happy Joy Joy!

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:16:00 +0000

outside the front of the house

front photo # 2

Hughey Elementry... the boy's new school

shot from upstairs looking downstairs

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:05:00 +0000

Boys' "HOTEL" bedroom as they call it. They think their room looks like a hotel room.

Upstairs hallway

Kitchen

Kitchen.... view from family room

Master Bedroom

Our new house... 2500 sq ft to 1800 sq ft

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:47:00 +0000

This is how you cram 2500 sq ft worth of furniture into a 1800 sq ft space. The only thing we ended up storing was our 2nd kitchen table. Hopefully this is only a temporary thing, we will find out this fall.
This is our Living Room/Dining Room

This is our family room

Family room (photo # 2)

Down stairs restroom

Living Room/Dining Room photo # 2

Moving ..... Update

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:10:00 +0000

Well we signed for keys on St. Patricks Day to our new "temp" living arrangements. The movers came on the 18th & 19th and packed everything. The 20th they loaded up the truck in the am and unloaded the truck in the pm. I got home from work to a home full of boxes packed to the ceiling. Feeling a little overwhelmed I looked at JJ and said.... "Let's go get dinner, and then we will hash out a game plan." Well as I said in previous post we were going from 2 living rooms,1 loft, 4 bedrooms, 1 dining room and a eat in kitchen to .... 1 living room and 1 dining room, 3 bedrooms with a little extra storage. Previous to getting the keys were did not have any idea what to expect so it was hard to plan anything. When we were finally allowed to see the new house (may I add only after we signed for it) we decided to lay out a game plan. HOW AM I GOING TO FIT ALL THIS FURNITURE? Well.... I am sure happy I am creative! I was able to put two boys rooms full of stuff into 1 bedroom (yes that's right... they are sharing a room again) They have not had to do this since they were 3 and 5. Now 11 & 9, it's like a "hotel" room as Tanner would call it. I was also able to turn the dining room into a "formal" living room/dining room with some creative staging. I do have a "family room" now, which is where we will spend most of our time. Did I mention that I LOVE this kitchen? It has tons of storage with plenty of drawers, etc. I can actually put things away and not stack them 7 or 8 deep. So this new house definitely has it's pros and cons. You can tell they put a lot of thought into laying these out. 3 storage areas, a huge kitchen, a fluorescent light in the MBR closet. Now I can actually see my clothes, shoes & purses. HUGE back yard, 1/2 grass and 1/2 gravel. They installed sprinkler systems and they mow their grass. (Now Heather, I remember the day's you had to mow at Ft. Riley. I know your are say "WHAT" over that one.)

As of today, I have been very productive. Everything has been hung, organized and put in it's place except the office and garage. JJ is convinced that I would win a contest of who can put their home together the fastest. It took me less than 48 hours minus sleeping and a little shopping to put things together.... so collectively I put about 18 hours into it. I will try to snap some photos tomorrow night after football practice and post so I can get your thoughts. Now with football in full swing 4 days a week and a game on Saturday, the office will have to wait until Saturday afternoon. I will be curious to hear your thoughts on my creative tactics on how to make a 1800 sq foot house feel bigger than it actually is.

Stay tuned for pics....

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:56:00 +0000

The flowers JJ bought for me for our 13th Anniversary.

Jack & Tanner showing their Irish hertiage.... (Tanner said, "Mom I think I closed my eyes".... I think he's right!)

D-Day = Moving Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:34:00 +0000

Pictures of the house we currently live in. Our new home is much smaller.... so it will be interesting to see where we can put all of our furniture.... Can you say... STORAGE!

Master Bedroom:

Master Bath:

Jack's Room:

Loft area:

Tanner's Room:

Well it's d-day... part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:17:00 +0000

Kitchen:

Family Room:

Living Room:

Dining Room:

Family Room (2):

Happy St. Patricks Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:07:00 +0000

One of our dear friends past away in February last year and every year I think of him during the St. Patrick 's Day celebration. Here's to you Sean Brown "Our Guinness Angel"

Crazy Hair Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 03:39:00 +0000

We went into Pittsburgh the day of the Superbowl and here are a couple of candid shots I took of the boys. The one of Tanner is a little blurry because right as I snapped the picture a guy bumped into me and the manager saw me taking pictures and gave me a weird look

We are moving..... AGAIN!

noreply@blogger.com (Donna) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:05:00 +0000

This will be what our new house looks like at the end of March. Housing has come a long way since we have lived in it back in 2000. Unfortunately we are forced to move out the home we are currently in because the nice couple whom we rented it from will be moving back to Ft. Bliss. We choose to move on post because we are unsure of our destination at the end of this year. So.... at the moment we are in limbo until JJ finds out what his assignment will be. There have been rumors of here and out east but nothing is final until you actually see that piece of paper "Official Orders". The bad thing is the boys have to go to a different school which they are not excited about. Actually believe it or not, one of Jack's main concerns were "Are they studying the same thing I am to get ready for my TAKS test?" I mean, he's only 9!!! His biggest concern was his grade. WOW!!! I have raised him well. The highlight though is that they won't have to wear the dreaded school uniform at their new school and they get the opportunity to be independent and walk home from school (7 blocks).

I will be sending out our new address once we get everything settled.