This Month in Home Renovation

We are sitting at home watching it snow, and my creative mind is working in full force. I’ve spent hours on Pinterest. I have so many redecorating / repair projects in my head - namely the dining room and my popcorn ceilings - that I want to do. However, I’ve wanted a board and batten wall ever since we left the Edgewater house and my old dining room wall. I toyed with adding it to Keagan’s room for the longest. Then I thought about the dining room, and this week I settled on the guest room. 

Here is the plain wall behind the bed that was perfect for an accent wall. 

Here is the design I decided on and Wes brought to life with pre-primed pieces of pine. 

Here is the bright- almost too bright- green paint. 

And the finished project! I’m so pleased. Now, on to those popcorn ceilings.

Love is in the Air

We are anxiously anticipating a foot of snow beginning tonight. We weren’t really sure the roads would be ice free today, but luckily, the boys were able to spend Valentines with their girlfriends. 

Last night, Evan and Makinley had Mexican food and chocolate covered strawberries. After church this morning, they watched movies.

After swapping gifts this afternoon, Keagan and Madi had Mexican food and Sonic blasts. 

No flowers or eating out for me. Tomorrow, while it’s snowing like crazy, I’m getting a new accent wall in the guest room. 

Invite

Keagan received his first official invite for an ID camp. This one is hosted by a school in North Carolina. You better believe he’s done his research and knows every stat on the school’s soccer program. 

He’s so excited to begin this phase of recruiting. Yesterday he mustered the courage to email the coach of his #1 school choice. He was hoping to hear back from the coach today, but while checking email at lunch, he found this invite instead. He’s on cloud nine. I’m hoping this is one of many to come!

Final Tour

Evan and I were up real early for the trip to East Tennessee and an official tour of UT. We stopped for brunch in Kingston and found it to be just meh. We stopped for lunch in Knoxville after our tour and it was less than meh. While the food failed to impress us, our tour of the campus was great! We had great tour guides, and in what seemed like five minutes, we had completed our 1.5 hour tour. Our first stop was the Business School where we stopped to hear about an investment class and the fun fact that there are no Friday classes in the business school. At our second stop, Evan leaned over and said, “As boring as the stock market might be, I think I could learn to love it with no class on Fridays.” At our third stop, we learned student tickets to football games are only $10. When the family from New Jersey asked if there was any tailgating on game day, Evan had to stifle a laugh. He later told me, “Even Vandy, who can’t win even one game, has students tailgating at 0930 on game day mornings.”  At stop five, we walked the first floor of the library. Evan spotted the math student assistance center and committed it to memory. “I’m pretty sure I’ll need that place one day.”

Decision time is upon us. Will it be Go Blazers! or Go Vols!?

This Never Gets Old

This weekend Keagan and I were north of Atlanta for a  soccer showcase. Luckily, there were no round abouts and no one way street mishaps this go around. Just three hard fought soccer games in our once upon a time “home” state. No matter where we are, watching him play never gets old.

We won the second game, but didn’t fare so well in the other two. We saw no college coaches in attendance, and we played on the back half of baseball fields while the soccer fields “rested”. Our hotel bathroom had mold on the walls, and our free breakfast did not meet Keagan’s expectations. But this! This never gets old. 

6 out of 6

The last acceptance letter finally arrived this week! That makes 6 out of 6 acceptance letters! Unfortunately, UK didn’t make it out of Evan’s top six. Sorry, UK. You should have sent us the 99cent gifts of socks, flags, or posters like the finalists did or at the very least act interested in having him on your campus. Evan narrowed down his list to three in December: UTK, UAB, and Belmont.

In January he narrowed his three down to two: UAB and UTK. Our tour of UTK is the first week of February and then a decision has to be made. Housing deposits are due and roommate choices have to be made. 

Chihuly Art

We bought our tickets almost a month ago. We finally got to see the Chihuly exhibition at the botanical gardens tonight. It did not disappoint. 

This was my favorite. I call it Medusa.

This was Wes’s favorite. He said it reminded him of the antler sculptures in Jackson Hole. 

The colors were so vivid. It’s amazing that these are all made of glass! Because I struggled to get my blown glass ornament shaped when I tried glass blowing three years ago, I can’t imagine being able to do what he did. 

Side note: Teen boys don’t appreciate glass blowing like mid-lifers.