Moving along

...so a while back I received an error message that we had exceed the photo space.  I've been hemming and hawing for a while on what to do, so I just created a new blog with all new space - so hop on over to http://thesinkfamily1.blogspot.com/ for more fun & memories!

3 years

On Wednesday, Daniel & I celebrated three fabulous years of marriage.  We both agree our wedding day was perfect, and have loved every imperfect day since then.

In the past year the top three things that come to mind are-
-we have become an aunt & uncle to the most amazing little girl in the world
-we crossed an important item off our bucket list: skydiving
-we fought the battle of unemployment - and won, and are tougher than ever

What did we do to celebrate?  Well, the most annoying thing in the world is to have an important day to celebrate in the middle of the week.  It really was just another ordinary day with a fun little spark in there.  Daniel surprised me with breakfast from McDonald's (cheap? yes! my favorite? yes!).  My dad took me to Peking for lunch, and by the time I got home from work I was sleepy and my belly was full.  We decided to lay-low and go to our favorite mexican restaurant for dinner and split a jumbo marg - romantic, right?  Even more romantic, this grandma and grandpa were asleep by 9pm.  Yes, we went to bed early, but we went to bed happy.

Oh yeah, and since we are still recovering from this summer, we only were able to exchang cards.  I wouldn't change it for the world, because gifts and money aren't important in the grand scheme of things.  Here are some of the fun quotes I just adore from our cards to each other:

 

My card to Daniel: Some days we are crazy about each each other, and some days we just drive each other crazy.  [yep, wouldn't change that for anything]

Daniel's card to me: It isn't about falling in love, it's about staying there.  [ain't that the truth! and some days are harder than others]

4 day work week

....why do I have a four-day work week do you ask???  Because I am going to Key West on Friday!!!!   Woop, woop!  I have literally been thinking about this for MONTHS now, and decided last week to just go for it.  Robin's mama, Wanda Bear, is turning 50 in December, so it's a fun birthday trip!  I can't wait to tell you all about it...

....and here is where you can find me come Friday afternoon - jealous??  We are staying at "The Parrot Key Resort"... complete with FOUR pools (yes, four).  Sigh, best spontaneous  decision ever!

Gorgeous... hello Key West

The site of a romantic sunset walk with Robin.  Sorry, Ben.

The Pretty Pink Sink

Remember me?  So yes, I am here to announce the grand opening of The Pretty Pink Sink!  Officially as of Friday, my Etsy shop opened!  I will keep you posted on the progress... if I get any sales... good or bad feedback.... and if my life will be consumed with ribbon of all colors and prints!

Thank you, Robin, for your love & support.... and for forcing me to do this :)

The Container Store = heaven

Am I a neat-freak?  Do I like organization?  Does it make Daniel really angry?  Do I constantly pin "organization ideas"?  If you answered "yes" to any of the above, then you know that I was in heaven yesterday at THE CONTAINER STORE.  Yes, an entire store devoted to organizing!  I.Just.Died.

Speaking of pinning... I pinned these two gems a while back-

I saw this and thought I could do something similar on my PANTRY DOOR, since the "organizer" we had before was horrible

I saw this and thought it would be perfect in the pantry for things like foil, baggies, etc.

SO.... I had to prioritize what I'm organizing.... and this is what I came up with

Pantry before... the folks who lived there before us and a rinky-dink "organizer"

After lots of moving things around (note it's now dark outside), this is where we are!  I have one more of each size coming (thanks in advance for the Christmas gift, Granma!)  I have some baking goods at the top, oils and sprays in the middle, and plastic bags and bread at the bottom.  I am also on a mission to make it so I can REACH everything!  #shortkid

We have a pretty tiny pantry... so I want to utilize every bit of it!

A shelf that slides onto another shelf!  I have now freed up an entire drawer and am maximizing every little bit for the foil and baggies we have!  I have two more of these babies coming for Christmas, woop woop!

I can't wait to make this even more organized come January!  Sorry, Daniel :)

Reunion Weekend

After some hemming and hawing (and passionate convincing from Suze), Daniel and I decided a few weeks back to buy VT tickets for their game vs Cincinnati at FedEx field. This past weekend, we made the short trek up 95, and were reunited with so many DSP'ers, several I haven't seen in YEARS. Susan helped organize the party buses - two KegBuses + tailgating + fab food + 78 of your closest friends = a good time. The Hokies didn't play real well, and at the very end of the game Cincy caught a clutch Hail Mary pass, resulting in a L. That part isn't important, because we had so much fun! A huge thank you to Susan & Sarah for being so hospitable, and for always making sure we have a good time :)

 

Our view for the first half.... the second half we were sitting on the very right of the picture

H-O-K-I-E-S, HOKIES!

Storage Wars

I've been searching high and low for a buffet for our dining room that matches/looks good with our antique table and one with lots of storage!  Oh yeah, and a really small budget.  We have an open-concept kitchen, which is fabulous for keeping it personal, but horrible for storage.  I finally found something on Craigslist for $150!  We went to look at it, and decided it was definitely worth it to bring home.  Though it's a bit smaller than I would have preferred, it will do, and quite frankly I'm tired of looking.  Here's a sneak peak! 

Our newest furniture addition!  Needs a little bit of scratch repair, but nothing a trip to the local home improvement store can't fix!

I think it matches the table quite nicely.

Next on the list: reupholster 6 chairs and paint!  I'm tired just thinking about those chairs.

Just a little sleepy

Because today I am feeling extra sleepy!  Gotta get over the hump day.  And I wish someone would hold me until I start snoozin'.

Robin's Monogram Nest

So the fabulous Robin decided she would come over to the BRIGHT side and purchased a Silhouette with lots of pretty vinyl!  Once she got into it, she realized how amazing it is - and took it a step further - she is a total entreprenuer and opened her own Etsy Shop!  I think that is pretty awesome.  She has even talked me into starting my own :)  I am literally in the middle of getting it all straight.  My shop name is The Pretty Pink Sink and it's going to be full of hairbows!  Thanks to our sweet Abby girl, I have mastered (kind-of) the art of making a simple hairbow.  I really hope to make enough money to cover my supplies and hopefully have a little extra to try out a few different Pinterest project ideas.  I'll keep you posted!  And a HUGE SHOUT OUT to Robin for being a rockstar!

There's a monster in the closet

A sweet girl who works with me, Andrea, is having a baby boy - Reed!  We had her shower last week, so I made her/him a diaper cake!  Since we are a little short on dough, I did some searching and found this adorable monster bath towel, and it was just right!  Isn't this thing so sweet!?  Imagine a precious little boy wrapped up... even cuter!

Happy Hump Day

Just a cute little something to make your day brighter & to get over the mid-week hump! xoxo

Squeaky Clean!

I just have to share the MAGIC that occured to our stove recently.  I had read on Pinterest that you can put your stove grates in ziploc bags with 1/4 cup of ammonia & leave overnight outside and in the morning - VOILA! they are clean!  I was a bit skeptical, but now I'm a believer.  It was seriously magic, and beyond easy!  Look at the results...

Before - nasty and all gunky

After - beautiful!

Hokie Football

So Labor Day was the start of the best time of year - Hokie Football!  We had our first game against Georgia Tech... and despite our offense having a rough start, we pulled out a W in overtime!

This year for September I decided to decorate my mantle VT style.  I'm super happy with how it turned out!  For the letters, I just painted them maroon, cut out orange letters, and mod-podged them on!  I think I spent about $8 total on the whole mantle :)

Hokies <3

Tailgatin'!  Abby's first brewski

Such a sweet grin!

All this tailgating makes for a sleepy girl

Soon I will show you a few pictures of Abby's SIX MONTH photo shoot!  First and foremost - how has six months already flown by!?  Second, it is the absolute most adorable thing ever.  Kisses & Go Hokies <3

Love is in the Air

.... we have been to 4 weddings total since June!  That's lots and lots of love!!  We are thrilled for everyone that is jumping into the amazing ocean called marriage.  Last night we had a blast celebrating Megan & Pete!  Congratulations to a beautiful couple :)

And as you all know.... our money tree had all it's leaves fall, so we had to be real creative & thoughtful for Megan & Pete's wedding gift.  Fortunately for us, Megan is such an awesome friend and we know she will be thrilled with anything we do!  I decided to do some glass etching... and Katie informed me they are beer enthusiasts, so I did two wine glasses and two beer mugs - they turned out beautiful!  And thanks to Robin for hooking me up with free fonts to choose from!

$1 wine glass and $1.97 beer mug

I'm in love with the newest way to wrap presents - brown paper and letters cut out with my silhouette!

Crazy in Love

with this sweet girl!  Her outfit says it all!

Abby's favorite past-time... spitting up

Another hiatus

...apologies, again!

It's been about two months and so much has happened since then.  After 15 weeks of unemployment, Daniel was offered a job!!! Woo hoo!!!!  You will never imagine the relief that we experienced when he got that phone call!  He is now working for the Federal Gov't - he is a Purchasing Agent for the Aviation unit with the DLA.  He has officially been working for 3 weeks now and he really seems to enjoy it.... and we got our first REAL paycheck!  Life is finally a little bit less stressful now :)  We want to thank our family & friends for the immense amount of support we had while he was out of work.  From meals provided, to professional networking, to allowing us to vent our stresses - we are so thankful from the bottom of our hearts.  Though we wouldn't recommend this situation to anyone, we know how very real it is for so many people in this suffering economy.  We made the best of it, and did surprisingly well with what little money was coming in.  Now that we are both bringing in "the bacon", we are in a much better place financially and know that we will never take that for granted.

Abby was baptized in July.  The love we have for that sweet girl is overwhelming, and we are so blessed to be her aunt & uncle.  We are glad we were part of something so special.  I don't have any pictures of her in her sweet baptism gown, but we had to paint her toes [for the first time!] for this special occasion!

"whatcha doin' aunt kim!?"

Abby's first painted toes!

Being a cute baby girl is so tiring! 

We crossed off a very important item on our bucket list - skydiving!!!  Yes, can you believe it!?  The first time we tried to go, it was cancelled due to inclement weather - the strongest storms ever crossing over VA and the largest power outage in VA that wasn't caused by a hurricane.  Yeah, I would call that inclement weather.  We gave it a second try, and it was awesome!  What an incredible and unreal experience.  I had lot of fun, but I think I'm done :)  I enjoyed it, I'm glad to have crossed it off my bucket list, but that's all for me folks.  The part I hated most was being the LAST in the plane which meant I was FIRST out of it.  I sat next to the door that my dude kept opening while we were flying.  Ugh, gives me the heeby-jeebies thinking about it!  But I'm glad to have done this and to live out my life, keeping close to my heart the 32 individuals who cannot do things like this.  Hokies <3

Live for 32

Daniel getting all harnessed in

Ashley's turn

...and I'm last

all ready to jump!

And if the pictures weren't enough - you can watch our videos!  Prepare your abs for a laughing workout :) Daniel's Jump and Kim's really funny jump!

We went to Nags Head for half a week to spend time with the Sink clan!  Daniel's mom was kind enough to spoil us with a nice house, yummy meals, and relaxation time!  It just so happened that the Olympics were on during our vacation.  In between watching the Olympics non-stop, we had our own Olympic games.  We each had teams & countries - Ian & Matt [Japan], Annabeth & Daniel [Great Britain], and the best of them all - J & Kim [Australia].  What fun memories!  We had our own events - 'beer' pong, golf, and baseball, complete with medal ceremonies.  As you would expect, Australia dominated.  Well, not totally - we actually tied in the medal count with GB, but it was so much fun.

Beer Pong - Japan vs. GB - Australia ref 

Medal Ceremony

Baseball... with soda

Watching replays and laughing 

Daniel is such a stud in the kitchen... making omelets for everyone, per the usual

The boys burying Ian

There is that stud again

yes, that is Ian totally buried, breathing thru a straw

Sink girls <3

We had a fun night bowling - and Abby did great with her first time bowling!

Abby & Uncle Daniel hanging out before going bowling

Nom Nom Nom

 

Abby & her momma

learning to sit up!  just a little strug

Love that sweet girl!

Kelly throwing a gutterball, probably

too much fun makes for a sleepy girl

After bowling, we went to Krispy Kreme for a late night snack... and it was Abby's first time!