Photo 411

I'm linking up with Erin today at Shades of Gray and a Pinch of Pink
for a Photo 411 Linky.



Erin thought it would be a good idea to share some fun facts about herself, especially for her new followers.
She thought it would be an even better idea to do it via pictures.

And because I can't pass up a good linky (or an opportunity to talk about myself ha)
I thought I'd join in on the fun.

There's 10 different items to add 10 different pictures to.

1. Your little tyke self.
2. You high school self.
3. Your college self.
4. Your right now self.
5. Your furry friend.
6 Your manly friend.
7. Where you once lived.
8. Where you now live.
9. What you love.
10. What you miss.

Here we go:

1. My little tyke self.


Over-sized shades and all.

2. My high school self.

Senior Semi-Formal with mah best frans.

3. My college self.

Tailgating, of course.

4. My right now self.

I'm growing up, but not older. (I'm the apple on the end)

5. My furry friend(s).

I have two, Willow and Roxy. They're best friends.

6. My manly friend.

Cause what's more manly than huntin' deer y'all?

No, but really, he's the best!


7. Where I once lived.

Our state's capital - Raleigh, NC

Me and mom in my "city" apartment.

8. Where I now live.

Our state's first capital - New Bern, NC

Where our claim to fame is the birthplace of Pepsi and our two beautiful rivers.

9. What I love.

My life. (I'm a cheeseball, I know)

Oh, and those tear-jerker Olympic commercials - like this:

Ah, melt my heart.


10. What I miss.


Fake Christmas mornings with my college roommates,
presents, jammies, homemade waffles, "family" portraits, and all.

Fun, right?
Now it's your turn.
Head over to Erin's blog and link up!




Hugs,

LIfe Lately

Well folks, I think it's safe to say that I have officially reached "big girl status",
No, not because I'm married, own a home, and a car.
But because, as much as I hate to admit it,
spending a jam-packed weekend pretending to be a college kid again officially kicked my tail.
This girl is just not meant to stay up until 2 am. 

I. Am. Exhausted.
And for the 234098573 time, I'm so thankful that it's summer time and I don't have to be at work today.

My college roommate/best friend/soulmate came to visit for the weekend.

Isn't she just the cutest? 

And as it always is when we're together,
there was lots of talking, laughing, and drinking.
I tell ya - she is the best!

Friday night, we had some of our friends and family over for a cookout
and to show off our finally finished home.
Boy, if I didn't think our house felt like a home before, cramming 20-30 very special people in these four walls sealed the deal.
As nice as it is to look around and see all the work we've accomplished, it was even nicer to look around Friday night and see so many people we love, so many people who have been so supportive of everything we've done, sharing in this special time with us.

 And even after the big party calmed down, we stayed up with several close friends of ours from college, (watching the Olympics, of course) laughing into the wee hours of the morning.
Pondering how so much had happened over the last year, yet relishing in the fact that so much had stayed the same.

And all of this was happening in my sweet little house.


It was perfect.

And because clearly I hadn't drank enough Michelob Ultra the night before,
we ventured out again on Saturday (rain and all)

No, I didn't really wear the boots out, but with all these torrential downpours we've been experiencing lately, I was veryyyy tempted.

to a trashy small bar in Jacksonville to see Corey Smith play.

Only after eating dinner at one of our favorite sports' bars. 

 Sunday I spent the day recovering by the pool with some girls from school, ignoring the piles of laundry and dirty dishes that needed to be done at home. (I guess that's what today is for.)

It was a busy-ful, wonderful, meaningful weekend - one of those weekends that you just want to soak up every minute of because it was just that much fun!

Even the furbabies love soaking it all in.

I hope y'all are having a marvelous Monday so far.
And if you're looking for a little afternoon pick-me-up
look no further than right here:

Michelle over at Mrs. G's Kindergarten in Heels is having an amazing 50 follower giveaway! 

Girlfriend is clearly kicking butt and taking names because she posted about this giveaway on Saturday, but by the time I scooted over to her blog and checked it out, she no longer had 50 followers - her little bloggy blog had grown to 75 followers. 

And it's no wonder that people love her blog - I mean, how cute is that blog title?!

The rest of her blog is equally as charming - but don't just take my word for it, go check it out!

And enter her giveaway. Or don't. I reallyyyyy want to win this one.






Hugs,

Friday's Letters and More Awards!

I always love reading other bloggers' Friday confessions/letters

and I'm also a little obsessed with Jimmy Fallon's Friday letters each week

but I've yet to create my own.

So now, it's Friday

and now seems like as good a time as any.

Here goes.

Dear Lil Wayne, thanks for allowing this white girl to bump to your tunes in her car, especially after a particularly stressful day. Dear bed, thanks for being so comfortable. However, school starts soon and sleeping in until 10 will no longer be acceptable. In fact, it's questionable now. We're going to have to work on this. Also, if you could learn how to make yourself that would be awesome! Dear hubby, thanks for working so hard to get all the little things done before our cookout tonight. You are the best, for so many different reasons. And sorry for calling you "hubby" just then. I thought I'd try it on for size...still not a fan. Dear Roxy, I love you and you are the most well-behaved dog I've ever met. But your constant shedding of black hair is really becoming a problem. Mama can't sweep everyday. Dear Chic-Fil-A, I love that you have beliefs even if they tick some people off. I do wish you were open on Sundays, but respect your decision. I will forever be a fan of your food! Dear Anderson Cooper, I've enjoyed watching your show the past few mornings, but I've decided it's not good for my health. I get way too opinionated about your topics and yelling at my TV screen first thing in the morning is not a good thing. Dear Willow, I love that you are a spaz of a dog and you will forever be my number one snuggle bug. Dear followers, I love you all and still can't really believe that you actually read my ramblings! Y'all are the best!

Now for some more delightful awards. 

Debbie over at K is for Kinderific (how cute is that blog name?) and Jenny from Mrs. Brown's Blog both nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award.

So now, I need to:

1. Follow the person who gave me the award. (I'm already following them both, now you should too!) 

2. Link back to the person who gave you the award. (See above, or click here and here! Seriously, you've gotta check them out! )

3. Pass along to 15 new bloggers and let them know they've received the award. 

Number 3 is the tricky part, so I'm taking a cue from Ms. Debbie and passing this along to 5 new bloggers. Not because I couldn't find 15 blogs that I love, but because I couldn't find 15 blogs that everyone else didn't already love! After much searching I've found 5 wonderful blogs that (hopefully) haven't already received this award. 

If I overlooked and gave you the award even though you've already gotten it, just consider yourself extra lovely!

Hope at Second Grade Shenanigans

Jess at Love on the Loop

Tamara at Life, Love, Literacy

Annie G at Life of Annie G

Marissa at First Grade Glitter and Giggles

Also, I need to give a huge shout out to one particularly lovely blogger: Debbie over at Telsie's Tidbits who also awarded me with the One Lovely Blog Award. Like me, she's new to this whole blogging business and is navigating through better than she thinks! :) If you haven't yet, go check her out and send her some love! 

Happy Friday dolls (and honestly, if I'm following you already I think your blog's pretty lovely, with or without an award!)



Hugs,

P.S. If you're a little sucky new to Twitter like me, head over to Laura's blog and link up. She's doing a Meet and Tweet (too cute, I know). And she also has a pretty fly blog. Check it out y'all.

Transformation: House to Home

After a longggg, grueling nine and a half weeks our house is officially a home!!

If you use the philosophy "home is where the heart is", I guess it's technically been a home since the day we bought it because let me tell you....our heart, sweat, blood, and tears have been in this house since day one. 

But our house is officially a home that I'm happy with!

Boxes are unpacked, most pictures are hung, and we've finally settled into our new place. 

It's simply delightful.


And...I finally feel ready to post official Before and After pictures.

Before I let you scroll through the pictures, I have a tiny disclaimer.
While a picture is usually worth a thousand words, these don't hardly do any justice to the extreme work we've done over the past few weeks.
{as mentioned earlier here}

The Before pictures don't show half of the disaster this house was when we got it. I didn't do a very good job of documenting the between process, because honestly, who had time. Between ripping out all the carpet, laying new floor, knocking out a wall, replacing the entire rotten bathroom floor (twice), stripping wallpaper in almost every room of the house, tearing contact paper off every shelf in the house, repainting EVERYTHING (walls, trim, cabinets, doors, windowsills, baseboards, ceiling), replacing light fixtures, hardware, doorknobs, installing ceiling fans, closets, a microwave, replacing washer/dryer, fridge....it has been EXHAUSTING to say the least.

But rewarding all at the same time. There's still a lot more I want to do, but all the big projects are done.

Enjoy tour de Dunn Household:

Trim BEFORE and AFTER

Everything (doors, windowsills, baseboards) was this ugly yellow color when we started. Now it's all white.

Cabinets BEFORE

See what I mean about the contact paper. It was everywhere. And there were only about ten different hellatious outdated patterns. 

Master Bedroom BEFORE

Look at that yucky carpet. Bleh.


Master Bedroom AFTER

Our (handmade) bed got a facelift too.

Master Closet BEFORE

Master Closet AFTER

Best money spent. Ever.

Master Bathroom BEFORE and AFTER

Foyer BEFORE

Well kind of before....this was after we started ripping down the horrendous wallpaper.

Foyer AFTER

This room's still a little bare...foyer's are hard rooms to fill. I've got some ideas up my sleeve though. Stay tuned.

Kitchen/Dining Room Wall BEFORE

Notice the HoverRound chair? Robbie reallyyyyy wanted to keep that, but it was a no-go.

First things first - that thing had to go. 

Chair and wall.

Kitchen BEFORE

Kitchen minus that claustrophobia-inducing wall AFTER

So much more room.

Same cabinets (for now), new hardware.

Dining Room also minus that claustrophobia-inducing wall AFTER

Living Room BEFORE

Living Room AFTER

I'm also just really proud of my china cabinet because now my fancy pants china (that I've never even used) isn't stuffed in boxes under my bed. 

Man Cave BEFORE

Man Cave AFTER

All full of Robbie's junk stuff. There will be a post soon about the importance of a man cave and why I think it is absolutely necessary for a successful marriage. 

Guest Room BEFORE

Guest Room AFTER

Still a little junky - but let's be real, when we don't have overnight guests it's our "catch-all" room.

Guest Room Closet BEFORE

Guest Room Closet AFTER

Sweet built-in desk, courtesy of my delightful husband!

Guest Bathroom BEFORE and AFTER

Laundry Room BEFORE and AFTER

Quite possibly my favorite room in the house.

Complete with an area dedicated to favorite four-legged babies.

Whew. I'm exhausted just looking at it all again. And if you made it all the way down here, you probably are too and should most definitely be rewarded with a cookie. No really...go get one! I know I am!

And remember folks...

Hugs,