June 17, 2009

Saturday, the 13th

This past Saturday, our good friends Ashleigh and Justin tied the knot after dating for five years. We traveled to the other side of the state for their big day, and it was such a fun wedding! So fun that I didn't take very many pictures, so some of these I stole from Facebook.

Wedding colors - marigold and navy.


To the left is Rachel, myself, and Sara. We were all in Community Group together, along with Ashleigh. This was actually Rachel's last day in North Carolina - she went straight from the wedding, with her car packed, to Orlando. We'll miss you!

Ashleigh's beautiful bridal portraits by Blend Photography.


Dancing! I loved the bridesmaid dresses (from J. Crew), modeled by Holly. At one point, the groomsmen surrounded Ashleigh on the dance floor - she had fun with it!


One fun fact: Ashleigh's maiden name is Bishop, as is mine! And her sister's name is Lauren. It was the first time I'd ever met another Lauren Bishop!

Ashleigh and Justin: Congratulations! What a beautiful day to get married! As Taylor said, 50% of marriages end in divorce today, but not this one! And not because of anything that you do, but because of what God has done for you. We love you both!

June 15, 2009

Need a change? Paint!

Paint is the least expensive way to make a big impact in your space. In a matter of hours, you can achieve dramatic results, but choosing the right color may be the hardest part. This summer, Design Lines is hosting a summer color event to help you find the perfect color for your space.


Graphics by Brittany, Hilaire, and yours truly.

June 5, 2009

Living in Community

Kyle and I have been going to Vintage 21 Church for over two and a half years now. We got involved in a Community Group not too long after that, and then after we got married we were asked to consider leading a group. We certainly didn't feel ready - for one thing, we'd just bought our first place and had hardly any furniture! Where would everyone sit? How were we going to eat together each week?

We were still figuring things out as a couple, and we knew there were many areas in our lives that we wanted to improve. But we felt God calling us to trust him, and since February, we've seen him bring our group together to grow closer to him. We've had an incredible crowd - people of different ages and in different stages of life, with different backgrounds and interests. But we share one thing in common: we enjoy getting together every week! We look at the Bible, ask questions when we have doubts, pray for and encourage each other constantly, and look for ways we can love others just as Christ loves us.


It has been such a blessing in our lives! Our group gets together outside of our Monday night meetings - we go out together, we have a praise and worship night once a month, we have a women's prayer night, and our group volunteers at the church in many different areas - everything from the kid's ministry to the design team to cleaning the building, and we have a lot of fun when we're around each other! I pray that God would continue to spiritually grow our group, and I look forward to seeing what He does.

Want to join us? We meet on Mondays at 7pm.

May 31, 2009

Our First Place

In the months we've lived in our home, we've worked to make it our own. We've tackled a variety of projects with plans for more. Most recently we built a fence with our neighbors and renovated our powder room.


The new vanity and mirror are from Lowe's, and the faucet is from Home Depot. For under $200, the vanity included the granite top and under mount sink.


The paint color was chosen from the cover of a book that we got recently. (It is more accurately represented in the above photo on the left.)


Before & After: We kept the light fixture, but the medicine cabinet mirror was very small. The oval mirror is much better in size and proportion to the vanity. The pedestal sink was alright, but it is nice to have storage in there now, and the color is much better!



Our living room: The sectional just arrived a few weeks ago, and now we are working on finding side tables, a coffee table, a rug, lamps, pillows, window treatments, and artwork. The television was one of the first things we purchased - even before we had anything to put it on! Kyle did a great job researching which one he wanted. The console is from Crate & Barrel, and the lamp and side table I had in college.



We purchased our dining table because of the top that pulls out to go from seating 6 to seating 10. In February, Kyle and I started leading a community group through our church. Each week we have around 15 people that meet and eat at our house. We needed a way to maximize our space and the dining table has been great! We also set up a card table in the living room. The chairs stack to the side when we don't need them.


Our kitchen: We love the look of the granite countertops and the stainless steel appliances. The pantry (not shown) provides additional storage. I would like to paint the cabinets, add hardware and molding, tile the back splash, and change the paint color.


Our bedroom: The bedding was a great compromise between what we each wanted - I like pattern while Kyle preferred solid bedding. We ordered the upholstered bed frame and then I had an upholsterer make the headboard to match. On the accent pillow, I laid a printed fabric from Romo that I'm considering using. I want to use accessories to bring color into the room.


We got a great deal on our nightstands from Whitley Galleries because they were a discontinued style. Next, we need lamps, art work, and curtains. Across from the bed we have a desk, media, and storage system, but it is pretty empty right now.


This is our master bathroom as it looked the day we moved in. Not much has changed. It was painted the same red color as the other bathroom. We're hoping to repaint, change the vanity or at least the counter top, get a new mirror, and tile the floor. We're also planning to change out all of the brass hardware found on the doors.


Shortly after moving in, we added a closet organization system in our 8' x 8' closet. The three shelves that were in there before hardly took advantage of the space. On the left wall, the poles were hung too close together and you couldn't actually hang clothes from it. Now we both have plenty of space and lots of shelves for other things. We bought some of the accessory pieces, like a tie rack and shelves for shoes, and now we have shelving on three walls instead of just two.


Almost any interior designer would tell you, it's a lot harder to do your own home than it is to work on others. I haven't rushed to make it look finished, but instead we've taken our time finding pieces that we know we'll enjoy for a while. We chose a few pieces to invest in - mainly our mattress and our sectional, which we will have for a long time.

How have you made your space a home? What pieces were most important to you?

May 30, 2009

Happy Birthday Jenna!

I hope you have a wonderful 24th birthday! Remember two years ago when I gave you the world's largest gummy bear? That's a pretty hard gift to top. Perhaps a blog post will suffice? Love you!

May 29, 2009

Vacation in Clearwater: Part III

After going to north shore to catch up with some of the staff and students of CBSP '09, we had to stop at McKay Park for a picture! It was great to see some of the staff again and meet the students as they went to the beach for their first outreach.


The weather was beautiful and the beach was crowded on Memorial Day.

The picture of Gus (the egret) was taken with my dSLR camera. The one on
the right was taken with my point and shoot at sunset. Oh, the difference.

A beautiful sunset over Sand Key Park!


Funny moments: The phrases churches put on their signs are sometimes
cheesy, but this one cracked me up! (The chuch was completely covered
in tarps by Terminix.) And to the right, cranes.

We had a great time in Clearwater! It was so relaxing and such a great break. We enjoyed visiting some of our favorite places (we ate at the Columbia twice) and finding new ones. It was great to see the students that are down there to grow and serve the Lord, and to reflect on how much we have grown and changed since we were in their shoes.

May 28, 2009

Vacation in Clearwater: Part II

It was a bit strange to be back at the Villa, mostly because so many things have changed. The new Hyatt that is nearing completion blocks the view of the beach and dwarfs the Golden Villa. Aside from the construction, things are nicer than they were four years ago. The new bridge is finished, downtown Clearwater got a face lift, and the walk along the beach is nicely landscaped.


Kyle in our rental car, a convertible bug.

The Golden Villa is now golden! Ken and Linda painted the place last fall. (It used to be a light pink, which you can see in the photo on the left below.)


Kyle and I four years ago (left). Out to eat overlooking the water (right).

Part III tomorrow.

May 27, 2009

Vacation in Clearwater: Part I

We had a great time in Florida! But for the first few days, this was all we saw:


It was such a relaxing trip! Since it was so gross outside (I haven't seen it rain that much at the Villa since the hurricane came through!), we spent most of our time inside. We played Settlers of Catan quite a few times. Kyle pretty much dominated - I only once out of some seven games. For reading, we brought Sacred Marriage, which I would recommend to anyone, and Kyle took a few of the Harry Potter books. I also spent some time reading my camera manual trying to brush up on my photography skills.




Slowly but surely, the rain slowed and the sun peaked out - just about the time we were sick of staying indoors. More pictures soon to come!

May 20, 2009

Clearwater Bound

We're on vacation! See you next week.

May 18, 2009

Home Sweet Home

About a year ago, Kyle and I started talking about buying our first place. We were initially looking in the areas between Raleigh and Chapel Hill for something that would be convenient for both of us. Most of what we saw were 3 bedroom, 2 bath homes, but the idea of living in a neighborhood with mostly families didn't seem to fit quite yet. After we found out that Kyle could ride the bus from Raleigh to Chapel Hill to work, we started looking for something that would be convenient to a bus stop, to our church, and to my work. Even though we loved the first place we visited, our Realtor Matt Peedin was great at showing us other options and walking us through the process. We did end up buying the first place we looked at - a one bedroom, 1.5 bath condo downtown!

One of the new signs just down the road

I snapped these shots on the Boylan Bridge as we took a walk one night


Our place! Well, sort of - this shot was taken back in 1996 before the lumber company was turned into condos in 2002

Here is the building today


Our first place!

We've loved living here. It's been just enough space for the two of us, and we love the location. I love seeing the skyline every day as I drive to work! We walk to church most Sundays, and there are several great restaurants just down the street. We're slowly but surely making it our own. Interior shots to come soon!