back in the game!

a lot of people have been blogging about the workout classes they are attending and all the running they are doing. so i thought i'd jump on the bandwagon and talk about what we've been doing! married life has been making us fat (it's true!), so something extreme had to be done...

we started p90x last weekend. it's a 90-day home workout program. we move the living room furniture around and pop in the dvd everyday! so far, it has kicked out butts, but that just means it's working, right?

zach really did well at plyometrics x, but stacey was better at yoga x!

also, stacey has registered for a half-marathon this february. it's the disney princess half marathon in orlando! so exciting! it's still a ways off, but by the time p90x wraps up, marathon training will begin!

when handy meets crafty

so before we got married we had a few ideas of somethings we'd like to do around our place. stacey had some creative ideas, but they could only be accomplished with the help of a true handyman. luckily, zach is just the guy for the job, so we make the perfect team!

project #1: headboard
zach's parents had gotten us a bed frame last year. we had an idea for the headboard and spent a year looking for what we needed for the project. on our way home from south carolina, we found just what we were looking for- an old door! old paint was peeling off of it, but it had wonderful hardware (the skeleton key hole was our favorite part)! zach pressure washed and sanded the door to get it ready for painting. we wanted to maintain the rustic and aged feel, so we were fine with the bits of paint that were not removed plus it added some great texture. we painted the door, and it currently resides over our heads at night.

project #2: sewing room decoration
just south of where we live is the quiet town of micanopy (featured in southern living magazine). it is known for it's antique shops, so last spring we went to take a look! stacey found these colorful industrial bobbins found in a rundown textiles company. she bought them knowing that she wanted to use them in the sewing room but wasn't quite sure how the piece would come together. a few months later, on our honeymoon, we were at an antique store in chattanooga and found an old printer's tray. a $1 ball of tweed and some nails later, we finished our project! plus, zach always loves an opportunity to use his drill!

project #3: curtains
who knew that curtains were so expensive? well, to set the stage- we have a large glass sliding door between our living room and florida room (basically an indoor "porch" area), and we needed some curtains to help divide the room. stacey had found some anthropologie curtains for $40 at a great local store called urban thread. the store sells catalog returns from free people, j crew, urban outfitters, madewell and anthropologie (great store!!) at prices way less than in store, but they do not accept returns. unfortunately, the curtains were too short, but stacey loved them and wanted to figure out a way that they could still work. we bought a double curtain rod and two duvet covers for $40 from IKEA. stacey made the covers into curtains, and now we have a lovely window treatment for $80!


i wonder what our next project will be...?
(aren't these buttons adorable? i got them off etsy! perfection!)

"may the LORD bless you and keep you" Num 6:24

The past couple of weeks have gotten away from us! Over the past couple of weeks we have spent a relaxing weekend up in Pensacola, finished organizing our home (thanks, IKEA), obsessed over our wedding pictures (we love altimx photography!), celebrated our one month anniversary, and hosted friends for dinner (well, one friend, but he comes over a lot!)

We are also getting back into running. It's so hot here, but we go after Stacey gets off work in 100 degree heat index (yuck!) The first run we went on was at Paynes Prairie. It's a state park preserve that is absolutely gorgeous. We were surrounded by enormous 100+ year old trees that were covered in spanish moss (Stacey thought it looked like the tree of souls from the movie Avatar). We saw about 10 alligators (no joke) about 35 yards away from us. Stacey was not too wild about having no barrier between us and the gators, and after Zach almost ran right into a snake we decided we would only go to Paynes Prairie for some wildlife viewing.

The Lord has blessed us in BIG ways lately! Stacey had a job interview with an engineering firm a week ago, and they reported back that they were "very impressed" with her. A Mississippi State University grad works at the firm, and we are awaiting a final decision (hopefully an offer). Stacey really enjoys where she currently works because she is surrounded with very uplifting and encouraging women. We'll just see where the Lord leads us! On that same note, we have been led to a wonderful church. It's called Christ Community Church (PCA). The young congregation is so warm and welcoming, and to top it off, the pastor is a Mississippi State University grad (are we seeing a trend???). Additionally, the pastor is Zach's uncle's first cousin. The second we walked in the door last Sunday, the associate pastor remembered us from a year ago and took it upon himself to pull over other newlyweds and medical professions to make introductions. We ended up staying over an hour after worship meeting and getting to know other members. It didn't take long before Stacey was volunteering to help with the children's ministry (It grew from 45 kids to 95 in the past 2 months! Stacey better not drink the water there), and Zach was seeing if he might be able to add worship leader to his list of activities for this fall. We really feel that the Lord has provided such a wonderful body of Christ for us to grow with and serve beside.

How has the Lord been blessing you lately?

happy birthday, america!

we spent the fourth of july up at lake keowee in south carolina with stacey's family. we drove up friday and stayed until tuesday. it was our first family appearance as husband and wife, and zach fit right in! stacey's grandma has three children- cindy (stacey's mom), tim and patty. we stayed at grandma jacob's house for the weekend, and uncle tim's house had the rest of the family down the street. we had a great time boating, riding on the jet skis, tubing, wake boarding, playing cards, watching movies, setting off fireworks, swimming, floating, skiing and, of course, eating! uncle tim is a wonderful cook and manned the grill all weekend. his girls, emily and rachel, came up from atlanta, and aunt patty, uncle paul, katy, paul jr, alex and michael drove down from maryland. we missed mom and tom, but they were having a great time on their european cruise!

of course we had some fireworks. the older guys shot off the big fireworks, and everyone else enjoyed a sparkler or two.


tubing was fun for everyone! michael got a mild ride with katy and rachel.


the older kids got a rough ride. katy and stacey tried their best to hang on!


alex showing off and getting some air. uncle tim wasn't able to throw him off!



the trademark "timbo landing" involves being thrown off the tube by uncle tim- here is stacey's graceful landing.


paul, jr got up on skis! stacey stayed in the water to give him some last minute coaching, but he was up like a pro on his first try!

he even tried "slalom" skiing on his first run!


uncle paul had his turn on the skis and did a great job! he is eager and ready to try slalom skiing now.


here's rachel on the slalom. hard to believe that stacey was teaching her how to ski about 9 years ago. we are getting old!


skiing is what stacey likes doing best.


stacey and rachel went tandem skiing one morning.


zach is a pro on the wakeboard. as you can see, he got some good air but wasn't quite able to land that one!



we loved spending time with grandma! thanks for letting us stay with you!

aunt patty and uncle paul were spectators for most of the weekend, but at least they varied from where they watched.


and, of course, we had a lot of fun taking pictures with our camera! zach took this great shot of the lake early in the morning. the undisturbed water had a haze resting on top.


thanks for a great weekend! we loved spending time with the family. we can't wait for another vacation, but now it's back to the real world!