BIG NEWS

We bought our first house...and it's on the East Coast!!!  For those who don't know, Kevin and I are moving to Bluffton, South Carolina in approximately four weeks.  Kevin and I have been working with a realtor and looking at house listings online for 6 months, but we knew we needed to see the area and the houses in person before we made a decision to purchase a home.  Since Kevin is busy training and can't take leave right now, my loving mother offered to join me in the house hunt (which I GREATLY appreciated!). My mom and I drove from Tulsa, OK to Bluffton, SC after Thanksgiving, and it was a pretty enjoyable two-day drive! 

Honestly, I could hardly sleep the night before we started seeing the homes, because I wasn't sure if I was going to love any of the houses we planned to see.  Much to my surprise, I found our dream house by the end of DAY ONE!  We had seen this house online and loved everything about the actual house, but we didn't want to buy it because the neighborhood was brand new (practically empty) and the location of the neighborhood was farther from Beaufort (where Kevin will be stationed) than we prefer.  So, we didn't seriously consider it but we still wanted to check it out in person.  While touring this lovely home and falling even more in love with it, the builder representative mentioned that the exact same house was under construction and for sale in a different neighborhood that meets our criteria!  After talking through the details/logistics and looking at other houses, Kevin and I decided that the house being built is absolutely PERFECT for us!  We are still in shock that this house is going to be our very own home, but we couldn't be happier.  What a blessing!  I never thought we would find a house that exceeded our expectations, but we really did.  I must say that the BEST part of buying this house while it is still under construction is that we had the opportunity to choose all kinds of interior and exterior design elements, materials and colors.  It was really fun to customize everything to reflect our taste and style.

Here are some photos of our actual house, and below the construction photos are photos of the spec house.  They will give you an idea of what our house is going to look like when it is finished. 



In our house, we're going to have wooden stairs with a wood & iron railing.



We chose a slightly different hardwood color.



I love our kitchen!  We changed the cabinet color, marble and kitchen faucet, so I cannot wait to see the finished product!

The kitchen looks out into the breakfast nook and living room.

Standing in the kitchen, looking into the dining room

Living room, but we aren't going to have a TV nook above the fireplace

Master bedroom

Other side of the Master bedroom

Master bath

Loft on second floor

One of the bathrooms on the second floor

P.S. We LOVE LOVE LOVE having guests, so let us know if you want to visit after we get settled into our new home!  (Our house is just 15 miles west of Hilton Head Island!)

An overdue post with photos!

The past six weeks have been really busy, but they've been full of so many great things...starting with a visit from my wonderful mother-in-law, Belinda!  She visited us in San Diego in mid-November, and we had a really fun weekend with her.  It was such a treat to have her in our home, and I wish the weekend could have lasted longer!  The weather was gorgeous while she was here, so we were able to get some beautiful outdoor photos, too.

Belinda, thank you so much for coming to visit!!!  We loved having you here!

A birthday celebration unlike any other...

Recently, Kevin and I attended a ball to celebrate the 235th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. It was the fourth birthday ball that Kevin and I have experienced, and we enjoyed ourselves as we always do. The main events of the evening were the official ceremony (which was filled with USMC traditions) and an elegant three-course meal. I didn't take my big camera since it doesn't fit in my clutch, but I took my old digital camera and snapped a couple of shots to show family and friends what the inside of a birthday ball often looks like.  It's a truly special event that I feel honored to attend with my handsome husband. Ok, that was a super cheesy...sorry, I can't help myself! ;-)



I love my Marine.

 

 

I wish I had better ceremony photos to share, but this was the best I could do using my old digital camera from my seat at our table.

 

Big Brother Rendezvous

As an unexpected bonus to the flyover experience in Lubbock, Kevin got to meet four interesting people whose names you may recognize: Hayden, Lane, Britney and Enzo.  If you don't know these four names and how they relate, then let me confess how we "know" them - they were the final four houseguests on the latest season of the reality tv show, Big Brother (a guilty pleasure in our house!).  In the middle of the football game, Kevin sent me a text saying that he was hanging out in a suite with the four people listed above.  Since the odds of that happening are pretty slim, I didn't believe him.  So, I asked him to prove it to me, and he did just that...my cell phone rang, I answered it and Enzo was on the other end!  I chatted with him for a couple of minutes, and then he passed the phone to the other three houseguests!!  All four were very friendly, and I have to admit that I was a bit star-struck! ;-)  Here are a few pics from that oh so exciting day...

...and the home of the BRAVE!

On October 16th, Kevin had the awesome opportunity to do the F-18 flyover for the OSU vs. Texas Tech football game in Lubbock.  It was so exciting to watch it on TV and know that Kevin was in the lead jet!  I am so proud of my husband.  Here's a video in case you missed it!

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A

Before I went to Ada for East Central's homecoming, I had the privilege of attending a very special 3 year old's birthday party in Stillwater!  I was very excited to see his baby brother and parents, too. :)



The Felkers

Athan is so precious!

It's always a treat to see these girls and their sweet babies.

On Sunday, Kevin and I spent the afternoon with his mom and Vern in Ada.  It was a gorgeous day, and we walked around campus taking photos and listening to stories about my mother-in-law's and Kevin's college days.  So fun!

I hurried home from Ada that evening so that I could go to the Carrie Underwood concert with my Mom and some of our closest family friends.  Her concert was absolutely incredible! 

I also got to be in town for my Mom's birthday.  I'm not sure what her favorite part of the day was, but my favorite part was eating at On the Border that evening.  We had a big lunch at Michael V's that day and weren't very hungry at dinnertime, so we ate chips & queso & guacomole at OTB while enjoying girl talk.   Here's a pic from that day, and I guess this photo proves what people always tell us - we do look alike! :)