General

Confessions

by KT on February 11, 2013

  • The closet system has been installed & painted for over two weeks, but I’ve been lazy to take a picture of the finished product.  My goal this week is to take & upload pictures. We’ll see how that goes.
  • I’m obsessed with the game Candy Crush.  It’s a little embarrassing.
  • I know it’s awful, because she still has growing to do, but I’m ready for this baby girl to get here.  I’m increasingly uncomfortable & sleeping is just comical nowadays.
  • We told our families at Christmas what we were naming the baby.  I love her name & it means a lot to R & to me.  I’ll post a picture of a blanket that our friend made for us that has her name on it so you folks can know her name too.
  • I found writing thank you notes for my wedding much easier than writing thank you notes for a baby.  I don’t know why, but it was hard to express how grateful I am.
  • I think writing and prepping a Birth Plan is ridiculous. 
  • When someone asks me if I’m going back to work after the baby is born or what my plan is I get anxious & nervous.  Either way someone is going to have an opinion & I feel like I have to justify my plan.
  • I cannot wait to workout after the baby is born.  I know that I’ll probably be REALLY tired & find excuses, but seriously…this weight  - yuck!
  • I wish I lived closer to my sister, brother in law, and nephew. 
  • I’m much more organized at work now than before the New Year.  I feel like leaving won’t be that stressful on anyone.  It was touch & go there for awhile.
  • I danced in the bathroom on Sunday morning while getting ready.  Then I had to sit down for 10 minutes. 

 

Anything you’d like to confess?



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Weekend Whereabouts

by KT on January 21, 2013

I had a really low key, but fun & productive weekend.  Friday night I headed over after work  to a local mexican restaurant to celebrate one of my friend’s second pregnancies.  Rachel  & Michelle organized a small group of Charlotte girls for a diapers & wipes shower for Ashley.  Ashley is due just two weeks before me!  It was surprise for Ashley & her face when she walked into the restaurant was classic.  It was a really great night out.  The only thing I missed was a big fat margarita. ;)

Saturday REF slept in, which is something that he NEVER does.  He’s been trying to get over a cold that has been hanging on for about 2 weeks now.  He clearly needed the sleep.   After our slow start to the morning, we ran a few errands.  One of those errands was to The Container Store.  A few weeks ago we had the folks at the Container Store sketch out a closet design for the baby’s room & Saturday we pulled the trigger.  It will look something like this:

elfaGirlsCloset_xl

 

It is being installed on Wednesday & I could not be happier.  REF & I were laughing that our lives have become so dull that we are excited about a closet system (one that isn’t even for us), but this is where life has taken us.

Later that evening we decided to go see Silver Linings Playbook.  Something I’m not sure I’ve shared on here yet is that REF & I love to go to the movies.  It’s always been a fun date night for us.  I realize we don’t have many of these spontaneous movie nights left so even though we were both tired we stood in line for the movie.

Silver-Linings-Playbook-poster

 

 

If you haven’t seen this movie, do.  I absolutely loved it.  I know I’m emotional because of pregnancy hormones, but I was laughing & crying during this whole thing.  I don’t normally like Bradley Cooper, but he was amazing.  Jennifer Lawrence was perfect.  Robert De Niro & Jacki Weaver played their roles spot on.  Take the time to see this one in theater if you can.

After the movie we decided to get a bite to eat at the Mellow Mushroom across from the theater.  We never go eat out late anymore (9:30), but again…we’re trying to soak it all in.  We were pleasantly surprised that they had live music & it ended up being a really nice evening out.

Sunday morning, we did early church, breakfast, and napped.  After our naps we hung some new blinds in the baby’s room, our bedroom/bathroom.  I then decided that I needed to wash/iron our curtains and both of the bathroom shower curtains.  I guess we can attribute that to “nesting”, but who really knows.  I’m pleased with the new blinds in our bedroom & I think they look really fresh in the baby’s room, especially with the curtains we got for her.

What did you do this weekend?

 

 

 



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Home Improvements

by KT on January 16, 2013

I started to write this post & realized it needed to be broken out into 2 posts.  So, here is an explanation of WHAT we did. Tomorrow I’ll post the before & after pictures.

6.5 years ago when REF bought the house we share now he bought it at the height of the market.  The couple he bought the house from had a giant dog, a boxer.  They let this boxer do whatever it wanted including ruin the carpet.  Since it was the height of the market the sellers weren’t going to pay to replace the carpet.  So, for 6.5 years we’ve dealt with gross carpet.

We now have all new flooring throughout the house.  I cannot fully express how excited this update has made us love our house again.    We did a lot of word of mouth research & found a great local company who is both reliable & affordable.  We ended up putting real hardwoods down in the foyer, living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, and hallway to the bedrooms.  We put giant 12×12 tiles down in the laundry room. & brand new carpet in the bedrooms.  Everything just seems so much CLEANER!

At the same time we did some painting.  We painted the living room, the dining room, the kitchen walls (not the cabinets), the laundry room, the family room & what will be the baby’s room.  

Originally we really wanted to scrape our popcorn ceilings, but it was just SO expensive (more than the hardwood floors!). My mom (a real estate broker) also told us that while it is nice to have smooth ceilings we wouldn’t get the return on the investment if we sold the house in the future. So, we skipped it & I don’t miss it.  We had the painters touch up & paint any areas of the ceiling that need to be freshened up.

Needless to say this was a huge project.  We REF worked really hard on cleaning out the attic to make room for the stuff that is currently in the baby’s room.  Then, we both boxed up books and picture frames.  I then decided to pack up all of our breakables & bring them to my parents’ house.  I’m so glad that I did.  Not because the workers were rough on our stuff, but because there was stuff EVERYWHERE.  We basically packed as if we were moving.  It was insane & I was still having VERY bad morning sickness.  

We were really lucky to be able to move into my parents’ house for a little longer than 2 weeks.  The painter came first, then the flooring people, then the painter came back to touch up.  After all of that we had the cleaning people come do a really deep clean & then we got the house put back together.  Unfortunately, since I was so sensitive to smells at that point I could smell the paint  & carpet for days after REF could.

Stay Tuned for the before & after!

 

 

 



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I’m BACK!

by KT on January 10, 2013

My guess is that I’ve lost any readers that I had in the first place during my 5 month hiatus, but that’s okay.  Basically I had some weird things happen due to social media & I just needed to take a step back.  Around Thanksgiving I got the urge to blog again, but that’s my super busy time of the work year & I haven’t had a chance to really get back in front of the computer until now.

So, obviously when you’re pregnant a lot can happen in a few months.  I mean really I find myself googling something about pregnancy each week.  I’m going to attempt to do a bullet point catch up…

These aren’t really in any chronological order.

  • I turned 31 on September 27th.  This birthday was a tad bit different than my 30th.
  • My nephew turned 1 year old on September 30th.  I still can’t believe how much I love this little guy.
  • We moved out of our house for 17 days while all the flooring was ripped out, replaced, and most of the walls were painted.  I was so thankful to move back in.
  • I found out two of my friends are also expecting around the same time as us.  It has made this whole experience even more fun.
  • 2 of my other friends HAD their babies & it was surreal to think that we would soon have one too.
  • REF and I found out we are having a little GIRL!  I’m so nervous & overwhelmed about this, but also beyond excited!
  • We celebrated Thanksgiving in Charlotte with my parents, grandparents, sister, brother in law, and nephew. My parents another Wine & Cheese party.
  • I continued to have morning sickness consistently up to 20 weeks & still get sick sporadically now.
  • We registered & I finally got over my fear of decorating the nursery.  I’m trying slowing to EMBRACE the pink.
  • We ordered a BOB stroller when we saw one on super sale.  It was our first real purchase for the baby & made both us really excited.   
  • We said goodbye to Rob’s sweet grandfather.  It was really sad for everyone, but he lived an amazing life.
  • I became mildly obsessed with the West Wing.  As in, we ordered all 8 seasons & I spent all my free time watching every episode.  If you’ve never watched this show I highly suggest doing so, ASAP.
  • We celebrated 4 Christmases: Christmas Eve with REF’s dad & stepmom, Christmas morning with REF’s mom & stepdad, Christmas afternoon with REF’s extended family, and Christmas night with my family.  
  • REF & I hosted my 22 year old cousin & two of his fraternity brothers who drove up from Birmingham to go to the Wide Spread Panic New Years Eve concert.  It was SO fun to see my cousin, but made me feel incredibly old.  
  • I took 5 days of vacation at the end of December. It was divine.

I’m 31 weeks pregnant on Saturday & I do hope to blog more.  I’m going to do a post on the before & after our house, the nursery, and post all the instagram pics I’ve taken of my bump thus far.  PS – if you’re not following me on instagram you should!  My username is KTBFerg.

 



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Some Ups & Some Downs

by KT on August 29, 2012

August was a long month for me.  I thought about blogging about all that was going on, but something just stopped me.  Maybe it was laziness, maybe because some of the things were too personal, maybe just a combination of everything. I decided this morning I would do a quick overview.

  • R & I spent some time at the beach with his whole family.  We were able to celebrate R’s birthday with his family & catch up with everyone.  It was a short trip, but it was nice to be there.
  • The week after the beach (and really I suspect at the beach some) I had a terrible sinus infection.  I worked through it, but by the time I got home from the office I was ready to crash.  Summer colds are no fun!
  • A childhood friend of mine lost his mother to cancer.  I cannot express in words how upset I am for his family.  R was great & came to the visitation, funeral, graveside, and reception after with me.  Her service was beautiful, but incredibly sad.  
  •  We attended The Panther’s first pre-season game with our good friends, Jennifer & Ryan.  They came all the way down from Greensboro to be with us.  It was so nice to see them.
  • My whole family had an amazing trip to Ohio to visit with my dad’s family!  We went to Cincinnati, where my dad grew up.  

 

  • He toured us around his old stomping grounds, took us to the Reds’ Hall of Fame & a Friday night Reds game complete with a WIN for the Reds & fireworks!

  • After Cincinnati we headed up to Columbus where several other family members live.  We had a big family picnic with my aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins’ kids.  It was a lot of fun to catch up with everyone & to meet some of my cousins’ babies.
  • Another childhood friend lost her dad to cancer.  It was incredibly sad to see another family hurting so much.  It was even harder as the two families are best friends & neighbors.  I have felt so helpless & not known what to say to say, as nothing I say can make it better.
  • At the beginning of the summer I was given some added responsibilities at the office.  I was finally able to get the approval from the powers that be to move ahead with a project I’ve been working on.  It was such a relief to have the go ahead on that.
  • I met up with some really fun blog friends who have become like just regular friends for lunch.  It was nice to catch up with them & have a big of girl time.

  • R & I had a really big moment when we were able to finally let our family & our close friends know that come March we were going to be parents & Winston was going to be a big brother.
  • I’m really ready for fall to be here & all that it has to offer to offer like cooler temperatures, football, pretty leaves, etc.

How was your August? 



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4 Years

by KT on July 26, 2012

Four years ago today REF  & I got married.  

It was a whirlwind of a weekend & was gone in the blink of an eye, but man was it fun.  We had SO many of our family members there to celebrate with us & our friends, too.  I remember thinking on Sunday afternoon I couldn’t believe that it was over & we were really husband & wife!

I’m not very good with the sentimental stuff…I actually leave that to REF. 

So, I’ll just say it’s been a wonderful 4 years & I can’t wait to celebrate many, many more.

xoxo

 



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Missing In Action

by KT on July 11, 2012

So, Sunday I took my beautiful engagement ring & two wedding bands off in our house & put them somewhere. Where is still a mystery.  I’ve turned the house upside down, but still can’t find those suckers.

I just know that as soon as I deal with insurance they will turn up, but in the meantime I might be going to wally world to find a fake to wear.  

Please say a little prayer to St. Anthony that I find them….

 



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What’s on my Phone?

by KT on June 13, 2012

Also titled: I’m at a loss for content

I still haven’t found my camera battery charger, but if we’re being honest I’ve not really looked too hard for it.  In the meantime how about a little phone photo post?  

Also,  are you following me on Instagram?  You should, my username is KTBFerg.

My girlfriend’s driveway is lined by the most beautiful hydrangeas you’ve ever seen.  She was out of town while they were in full bloom & I begged asked if I could cut a few to have.  I ended up coming home with a HUGE basket of flowers.  I just threw the last of them away this Sunday.  They ended up lasting 3 weeks! 

Prior to the personal trainer cracking the whip on our diet REF & I tried out a pizza on the grill recipe his sister had told us about.  All I have to say about this is – amazing.   

So by now most of the blog/twitter world is well versed in the amazing world of Bridier Baubles, but since a fair number of people who read my blog are NOT bloggers themselves I’ll let you in on a little secret: this jewelry is addictive.  In the picture above I’m modeling wearing the Britta Beads.  Today I’m wearing the Luxe Link in tortoise & yesterday I was wearing The Coco Necklace in snow.  The absolute best thing about this stuff is that the price point makes it a perfect gift choice!  

One week after I stole picked the blue hydrangeas from my girlfriend’s house my neighbor knocked on the door with this GIANT bucket of pink & purple hydrangeas!  She asked if I wanted any, because her bushes were making too many to keep for just her!  Have I told you how much I love my neighbors?!  They are STILL holding up quite well going on week number 3!

So, since we’ve committed to this fitness thing I’ve also made sure I’ve committed to the nutrition side of it too.  This is a pretty accurate picture of my breakfast daily.  I do eat plain or vanilla Greek yogurt too for the protein.  It’s been awesome to just stock up on a bunch of this stuff at the Farmer’s Market each weekend.

I bet my mom readers will recognize what this is!  I found my nephew’s baby shoe under the backseat of car.  His poor mom’s been looking around for the missing mate for a couple weeks.

Last Saturday morning I woke up to find this Bee dead on my patio table.  I mentioned the Bee Apocalypse to REF & he had no idea what I was talking about.  Am I the only nerd that keeps up with this kind of thing?  Also, I’ve always called this type of Bee a Wood Bee (per my dad).  I recently learned that the correct term would be a Carpenter Bee.  

We were outside on the deck when we found the victim of the Bee Apocalypse to do our daily workout.  I had just laid out my yoga mat and was grabbing my phone to use as a timer when someone took over my mat to practice his downward facing dog.  Honestly, my dog could not get any cuter!

That’s it folks!



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Hard Work, Rewarded

by KT on May 25, 2012

There has been a lot of change around our house.  A few months ago REF decided to leave his job of 4.5 years.  He felt like he had gone as far as he could in that role, dealt with a really terrible work environment, and was just ready for a change.  So, he decided to ramp up his consulting business while simultaneously looking for a new job.

After TONS of interviews resulting in a trip to Vancouver, a trip to Chicago, and a trip to Raleigh he was finally offered two very different positions at two very different places.  One job would be what could be described as REF’s dream job & one of job could be described as a great opportunity to gain an immense amount of experience.  One required a lot of travel and one didn’t.  

After lots of discussion he decided to speak with the dream job folks and explain that he had been offered the other job, too.  When they realized what the other job was they actually encouraged him to take the other job. In doing so, he could gain a bunch of experience & be a more valued potential candidate to dream job.  

Let me back up… the dream job would be IT and software consulting.  A consultant bills a client for hours worked, similar to an attorney.   You essentially work on a project until it is finished & then move onto the next project or client.  Projects can last anywhere from 1 month to years.  If the project is in Idaho, then you’re in Idaho M-F.  The dream job (consulting firm) basically told REF with the experience he could gain working at the other job for a year or two his billing rate could possibly increase by a very significant amount.  They also said this would only increase his chances of being put on a project by the firm.  

So….

He accepted the other job and he loves it, so far (it’s been about a month).  He’s working for one of the banks here in town & we are able to carpool since both our offices are uptown.  It’s actually been an unexpected perk.  While I’m not the best morning person I do like the time we have together & it is so nice to chat together on our way home.

One other exciting work related thing around these parts is that I GOT A RAISE!!  I started with my company in May of 2008.  In September of 2008 the financial world crashed (duh) and that significantly impacted my industry (double duh).  So, while I’ve had some raises, and they’ve been GREATLY appreciated, this was a BIG raise.  It’s one I’ve been working hard to hopefully receive.  

This weekend since we have made plans to not make plans we might just open a bottle of bubbly and celebrate! 

Happy Weekend Y’all! 



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A Big Ol’ Random Update

by KT on May 24, 2012

I feel like I’m always trying to catch up here on the blog, but that just is what it is…

Warning: All Iphone pictures…

We had a nice mother’s day weekend.  REF & I drove 40 minutes north to celebrate with his mother, grandmother and sister.  I gave everyone a tin of candy from The Shops at Target.  Later that evening REF and I cooked dinner for my parents.  My sister and I gave our mom the same tin of candy, but also got her this lovely arrangement that I found at my local Harris Teeter.  I don’t love the vase, but I thought the flowers were beautiful!  

Speaking of flowers… REF and I also worked for about 6 hours Mother’s Day weekend in the yard.  I planted all white and pink flowers this year.  I need to do a full post about on all of that, but I want stuff to “fill in” a little more before I photograph everything.  I did snap a picture of these black urns, because for about a year April and I have been talking about black urns.  I’m not even sure we had met in person yet, but we had chatted about our garden wants.  I have wanted to pull the trigger on some urns SO many times, but they were either too expensive or too big.  I finally found these that Saturday at Home Depot for $25.00 + 20% off.  I snagged up two of them and promptly tweeted April!  

I’m not a big baker & I don’t really have a sweet tooth, but I had an abundance of strawberries on hand a few weeks ago and I had just seen this recipe on Pinterest  for a Strawberry Lemon cake that I decided to give it a try.   Let me tell you…this is HANDS DOWN the best cake I’ve ever made.  It was delicious.  REF loved it, my mom & dad loved it, and three coworkers asked for the recipe.  It was SO good.  I’m definitely making it again & next time I think I’ll throw in some blueberries too!

It was my sister’s birthday last Monday so I went up to visit with her & Charlie for the weekend.  When I got there this was drying on their table.  How precious is that?!  I told her she needed to make one of his hand too.  My mom has hand prints from both of us from when we were little in shadow boxes.  They hang right below our college diplomas.

While visiting with my sister we decided to do a little shopping.  I had brought up the extra car seat base that my parents have so that I could drive everyone around & give my sister a break.  However, I had no idea on how to install said car seat base so Charlie & I chilled in the trunk of my car while my sister wrestled with the installation.

 

 On Sunday morning I grabbed Charlie to give my sister and brother in law a little break.  We played in my bed for a few minutes & I snapped this picture.  He looks SO much like my dad here…as in my dad makes that face! 

This memorial day weekend REF & I are going to work in the yard, head to the farmer’s market & just chill.  We’ve made plans to make no plans.  I got a little sad about that this morning when I realized that my sister and brother in law had a fun adventure planned, my mom was meeting old friends for a spa weekend, my dad was playing in a golf tournament with old friends, and bestie was heading out of town to Chicago.  Oh well…hopefully, I’ll be well rested after the 3 day weekend!

xoxo

 



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