Random Friday

1. New deck
     Our latest completed project around our house is our "new" deck. I say "new" because the foundation posts and the slats are from the original deck, but the planking and stairs and hand rails are all new wood. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to take a picture of the "before," but to just give you an idea, it had faded to a really drab gray and was super splintery and one of the stair steps had broken in half shortly after we moved in. The new deck is so much nicer and we will definitely enjoy being out on the deck more often and I feel better knowing that we won't get splinters every time we go out back. Especially Owen. 

Tim and his friend Josh worked on the deck for four days. 

Because Tim used pressure-treated wood, which will last longer outside, we have to wait nine months or so to stain it. 

2. Julep Manicure of the Week
     I have been having a blast using all my new nail polishes from my July Julep Maven box (and add-ons). My manicure this week was a French manicure using Lynn (a nude blush pearlized color) with Yumi for the tips. Yumi is a beautiful iridescent pink and silver glitter. The look is really fun because you don't notice the tips until they catch the light. So even though I'm new to nail art, this look was pretty tame. If you're interested in trying Julep, click the link to the right. You still have about a week to get in before they reveal the new colors for August on July 20. And I hear they will be introducing a new beauty product too!

3. Cute Owen pic(s) of the week
     Owen has been a super cute boy this week. (See yesterday's post). The first picture is of Owen unpacking my Julep add-ons box. Didn't I tell you Julep was awesome? Great nail products for me and entertainment for toddlers! He spent at least ten minutes throwing the crinkly paper around and then rearranging it into piles and throwing it again. The second picture is of him with his daddy's Xbox controller. He knows where it is kept behind a door in our TV stand and he loves to pull it out and press all the buttons. 

4. Grrr... Sears.
     So you know the lawn mower I talked about us buying more than a month ago? Yeah, well it has been backordered twice. So we still don't have it. (Not that we need it too much because the super hot weather has basically killed our grass). But that doesn't change the fact that we've already paid for it. It's been super irritating. Well, on Tuesday Tim called up Sears customer service (located in Pakistan or something) and talked to three different guys over the span of an hour to see whether we could get a comparable mower for the same price or something else. Unfortunately, they wanted us to either pay several hundred dollars more for a slightly better mower than the one we already bought a month ago or get a cheaper mower that wasn't as well-made. Tim told the guy that neither of those choices were an option because he refused to pay any more to Sears when it was their fault that we still didn't have a mower. So in the end, a manager refunded us 10 percent of the price we paid for our mower and a $200 giftcard. And as for the mower? Well, we're going to wait until August to see if it will be delivered then. And if not, we'll decide what to do from there. I was super impressed with Tim throughout the entire hour-long conversation. He did such a good job of being firm about what we wanted without being a jerk. It was actually pretty hot. ;)

5. Machine Gun Preacher
     Tim and I watched the movie Machine Gun Preacher this week. The movie is based on the true story of Sam Childers, a former drug addict living the biker lifestyle and going to prison and his redemption. After his conversion, Sam finds work in the construction trade and after a mission trip to Africa, decides to build an orphanage in Sudan. The movie doesn't sugarcoat anything and Sam's early life is hard to watch. This will not be a movie that your church will be showing on Family Night. The graphic depiction of the atrocities faced by Sudanese children who are either murdered, orphaned, or forced to join the region's brutal rebel force is heartbreaking. The film wasn't quite like I expected based on previews I saw, but we both still liked it. Though I came away from the movie more depressed than inspired. 

6. Vacations
    Tim, Owen and I have two unexpected last minute trips coming up this month. The first will be next weekend with my parents in the mountains of Tennessee. My mom and I are meeting with my uncle's fiancee and her mom because we are going to be helping to coordinate the wedding in October. And we figured while we were visiting her in Knoxville, that we might as well make a family vacation of it. So my mom and dad and my aunt will be staying with us in Pigeon Forge at this really nice five-bedroom chalet. With a hot tub! 
    Then the following weekend, we will be going to my husband's parents recently built mountain house in north Georgia. We have been hoping to visit for a while now and had actually planned to visit the house with them in late October to see the beautiful fall foliage and go to some fall festivals in the area and spend some good quality family time. But, if you remember, my cousin just got engaged a few weeks ago and she's decided to get married that weekend so we moved that trip up to two weeks from now. (Yes, that means we have two family weddings in October. Crazy!)

7. Influenster
     Do you like free stuff? Then become an Influenster like me! Influenster is a program you can join that sends you free, often full size samples in exchange for sharing your feedback through a survey on their website and by spreading the word on products you rate positively through social media, blogs, and word of mouth. You fill out questionnaires about your interests so they can choose boxes that appeal to you, from boxes for mothers to pet-lovers to travelers. It's free to join. For information, check here. 
     It's been about a month and a half since I signed up and I recently received an e-mail saying that I was selected for the Summer Beauty Vox Box. The box is supposed to contain one nail product, one feminine hygiene product, one skin care product, a miniature hand lotion, and one snack bar. I will post my reviews on the blog so you can see what I get next week!

8. Plan on it!
    This fall is swiftly becoming packed with events and activities and I was starting to feel a little stressed out about keeping track of it all. So I decided to splurge on an Erin Condren Life Planner. The 2012-2013 planner was just released last month and one of the good things about the planner is that you can specify which months you want included. I chose to begin my planner with August. The hardest part was choosing which fabulous cover I wanted. There were several really pretty ones and several ways to personalize them. They also have photo covers, but I didn't want to spend the extra money to have photos on mine since the planners already cost more than I would normally spend on a planner anyway. I also skipped out on most of the accessories like extra stickers and pens, but they all were tempting. I can't wait for it to be delivered!