Fresh Flowers

Can you tell that I have nothing to do but hang out with my camera & computer?? This injury stinks but at least I'm getting lots of time to work on my bible study material, read, learn more photography skills and do lots of blogging. :)

Fresh flowers in my house always make me happy. There is something about their color and life that adds an inviting and peaceful vibe to the house. After my injury my sweet husband and helpful sister-in-law both brought me flowers. Mike brought me pink roses which are just so sweet and look fantastic on the kitchen table. Erin brought me a mixture of yellow and orange flowers that make it feel just a bit like fall as you walk in the front door. Some pictures for your enjoyment. :)

Autumn Arrival

Fall has decided to come to North Carolina - it is much much cooler outside today and it is supposed to be like that all week! Too bad I will just have to enjoy it from the couch. :( But, I think Yankee is loving it! When he hasn't been outside this morning he has been sitting right next to the storm door. He even had his paw pushed against the door so that it propped open just a bit just to catch a bit of the breeze. I thought it was quite cute. :) My camera was sitting right next to me so I snapped a picture.

New Lens!

So, last week (right before my accident!) I received my new lens in the mail. I had ordered a Nikkor 50 mm 1.8 lens so that I would be able to take better portraits. That afternoon I played with it a little bit and here are some photos from that day. Yankee was being a good model for me! I LOVE it but I am definitely going to need some more practice with it. :)

News from the Doctor

We meet the surgeon today and spoke to him about the options. He agreed that I definitely have a torn achilles tendon and he highly recommended surgery. Apparently, you can heal this kind of injury by casting and immobilization but it is not as successful as surgery. So, surgery is scheduled for this coming Wednesday. I will be off my leg for about 2 weeks and then will be fitted for a splint and start PT. I will be able to walk fully in a couple of weeks but won't be back into running or athletics for a couple of months. Better news than I was anticipating but it is still going to be a long couple of weeks. Thanks for all the prayers!

Unexpected Injury

Earlier this month my neighbor and I were talking and he saw my volleyball t-shirt. He asked, "Do you play volleyball?". I said, "Yes!" So he gave me information about the Apex Community League and how to join his team. So I signed up and have been pumped to be able to play volleyball again. However, that excitement and anticipation was crushed this past Wednesday with an unexpected injury. As I was leaning in for a ball my left foot popped and I fell to the ground. I knew right away that it was the achilles tendon that had popped and something was not right. Yet, my pain subsided and I was eventually able to hobble to my car and drive home. Once I was home, Mike and I decided that maybe I should go to the ER. So off to the ER we went. The diagnosis was what I knew it would be but still all the while hoping it was not - achilles tendon rupture. This injury requires surgery to correct and months of recovery. All of which I am not looking forward to. Consult with the surgeon is tomorrow so I will know more details then. For those that are out there reading our blog, please pray for good news from the doctor and a speedy recovery! Thank you!

New Floors

Mike and I have been mulling over new hardwoods for the downstairs basically since we moved in. Nothing ever made us jump out of our seat and called to us "Buy me!". But the other day this flooring, I'm pretty sure, called out to me through my computer screen. So I proposed it to my husband and he said we should go look at it. On down to Lumber Liquidators we went this evening. Found out that it is on clearance (hence the cheap price) and they didn't have much left! There weren't any ifs ands or buts - we were buying it. All this is to say, we bought new hardwood floors for our downstairs today! Now we just need to install them.....that will be quite the process I'm sure.

Front Door

I found the PERFECT front door online today. I sooo want it (exactly as pictured - if it comes with the little portico that would be great too!). Too bad it costs an arm and a leg - $2000 to be exact. That just seems ridiculous for a front door. Am I the only one that thinks that too? Apparently that is about how much you have to shell out for a nice front door. Mike says I can have it for the next house. :(

One Year Ago

One year ago, exactly, Mike and I started our adventure to Ireland. We started out in the morning and drove to Washington D.C. where we meet my dad so he could take us to the airport and then subsequently store our car during our trip. We boarded the plane that evening and spent the whole night flying over the Atlantic. To remember our AWESOME trip I have collected a few pictures to share. One from each day to be exact. :)


Whew! That was harder than I thought it would be! I wanted to include every picture. :)

Blog hits from around the world

A few weeks ago I added a live feed to our blog so that I could see who was coming to our blog! What can I say, my curiosity got the best of me. :) So I checked our blog this evening and there were all these people from around the world that had come to our blog! The only thing I can figure is that we were a feature blog on the blogger homepage and people came to visit. I thought it was interesting - wonder what all those people thought of our little blog....

Package - filled with fabric!

So I am officially hooked on fabric right now. You can get all kinds of fabric in beautiful prints and colors. For my birthday, my mother-in-law, got me a gift certificate to Connecting Threads. They sell sewing things, books and their very own fabric. So I bought some stuff in order to make at least 2 quilts (I think!). The package arrived today and what fun! I think I might have a serious problem if I like receiving fabric in the mail so much. :)

Labor Day Weekend

We have spent much of this weekend just hanging out and relaxing. Mike's original plan for this weekend was to get many projects done around the house. That didn't happen but we did get the dry wall fixed in the rooms that we ripped off the chair rail. We realized that we are not good at patching dry wall so in came the experts. For a little bit of money they mudded our dry wall and it looks as good as new again!

So no exciting news from the Camp front. But here is a picture of the regal and ever entertaining dog, Yankee. (Did you know he brought us a dead squirrel this morning - EWWW!!!)

Day at the Lake

Today we headed out to Jordan Lake to relax and have lunch with some friends. A bit warmer than the rest of the week has been but still a great day to be outside. We packed a picnic lunch and spent time eating and playing in the water. I got to play with my camera a bit so here are some pictures from our afternoon outing.

1st day of September

What a beautiful morning! After a very dreary day yesterday we awoke to a beautiful, crisp and fall-like morning. I wish that I could bottle this weather and save it for a rainy day. :) I told Mike that it felt like we were back in Ireland. Everything is still damp, there is a strong breeze (like you would be near the ocean) and a slight chill in the air. Makes me want to jump on a plane and head back over there! Maybe another trip to that part of the world needs to be planned.... :)

But for now, I will open my windows and just enjoy the breeze and the sunshine.