Work in Progress

We've lived in our home for almost 2 years now. Two summers ago when we first moved into the house, we were just married, just back from our honeymoon, about to start law school and I was about to start at a new school where I knew no one. I certainly didn't have decorating, much less setting up, my new (first) home. I made the house livable, but nothing special. Last summer, I had way too much cheerleading stuff to worry about decorating my house. Now that I'm NEVER coaching cheerleading again, I have time to do the fun decorating thing. I've never been very creative and I can't dream up cool ideas to do in my house on my own, but since i've began blogging and basically stalking other peoples blogs, I've gotten numerous amazing (and cost efficient!!) ideas. I'm excited to show what I've done, but keep in mind- I have a long way I plan on going.

Here is the front of our house. It's cute and plenty of space for us. We were so fortunate to find it at the time we did! This past spring I began gardening, so I have my little flower bed in front of the porch, even though you can't see it in the picture above. Here is my cute little Connery whining and trying to get out the front door while I was taking pictures.

The back porch is one of my favorite parts of our house. We bought the house with a screened-in porch and a tiny deck attached to it. My amazingly handy husband built onto the deck and made it into the huge area you see to the right. This picture really doesn't do it justice, but it's great. I can't wait to watch football games out there this coming fall!

I haven't really done much to the den and I don't really have a picture of it, only the fireplace- maybe next time. I kind of moved some furniture around this past week, we'll see if I end up liking it and keeping it. I did paint our last name onto a candle- I got the idea from someone else's blog- thanks Mary Catherine! My dining room runs into my den and my kitchen- very open floor plan. I adore polka dots, hence the place mats. I found those at TJ Maxx for $5 and had to have them! Too bad they don't really go. And you can't really see them, so sorry!!




This is what I've been working on the past two weeks- the boring half bath. I didn't take a before picture, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Not too bad for the first room I ever painted. I love black and pink, too. SO this is my way of getting it in the house without having it too much, ya know? Anyways, I painted the cabinets black, spray painted the light fixture (it used to be yucky brass, eww), and added some new decor. I like it, at least better than what was there before.


We're having hardwoods put in this week, well actually that wonderfully handy husband I was talking about earlier will be installing them with his dad, Waldo. I'll take some pictures of that, should be fun!



I'll leave you with a picture of my next project, the kitchen. I can't, for the life of me, think of how I want to decorate it, what theme, or even colors. Red is out, apparently when I changed my last name to Watts, I signed a contract to never in my life wear or use the color red in any capacity- all hail Clemson! I would gladly accept any and all ideas!!

P.S. I despise the white counter tops, but I'm stuck with them :-( oh well

Visiting with Lauren and Luke

My good friend, Lauren, came to town for a wedding this weekend. While her hubby was playing golf she had a little free time. We met at one of my favorite restaurants, Moe's, well it's actually a sports bar, but who am I to judge?? They have the BEST burgers and fries of any place in Charleston. Lauren and I both started teaching at Lake Murray Elementary in August of 2005. We then moved to Pleasant Hill the next year and coaching C-team cheerleading. WOW was that an experience. There were some major drama queens. Sadly, they were mostly mama's.

Lauren and I had so much fun those two years. She always gave me amazing advice on life. Even though I'm the older one, she is farther ahead of me in the great game of life. She was just married when we met and began teaching and a couple months ago had her first baby, Luke. I met Luke over Spring Break and was amazed by how sweet and smiley he was. He hasn't changed a bit. He let me hold him and love on him almost all lunch. I almost got my baby fix, but definitely went home begging Austin for one. Haha, I'm sure he loved that!!

I tried over and over to get a good picture of Luke with his big smile, but it was kind of dark in Moe's, so my flash kept going off and he would totally drop the smile when he saw the orange light right before the flash. We had to trick him and get him from the side for a happy picture.

There is that handsome smile!! :-) I have baby fever, oh my! Thanks for the visit Lauren and Luke- hope I get to see you next week, too!!

2nd Wedding Anniversary

Two years ago on this day was one of the happiest and most blessed of my life. I married my best friend, Mr. Austin, as I always refer to him (I talk about him all the time at school and that's what my kids always call him). Flash forward 730 days later and we're "living the dream". I couldn't imagine my life any different from what it is today. It's very simple- law school tends to do that to you. My happiest times are doing everyday and easy things. We woke up this morning and walked the Battery, I love to walk and talk with him. It's time spent so much better than sitting in front of the tv. Then we ate some cinnamon rolls- they were very yummy! We watched a scary movie while eating East Bay Deli. We both LOVE scary movies and anytime I'm off from school and go to lunch 9 out of 10 times we'll go to EBD. We went to dinner at FIG. It's on Meeting Street before you get to Hymans, Charleston Place, and the Market. It had great food, but a small menu. We both got ID'ed, which Austin gets soooo mad about. I think it's funny for a 31 year old to get id'ed- he should be flattered. :-)

Before we left for dinner, Austin was waiting for me in the garage and I came out and he had flowers. How sweet! After dinner in the car he gave me two cards. His family is notorious for two cards. I had a serious one and then a funny one. The funny one was SO Austin... it said "Who's the best wife in the world? You! Who's the luckiest spouse in the world?..... and I open it up and has a mirror thingy and it says "Oh, look...it's you again!" HAHA. Typical.

The best part about our day is actually tomorrow. Austin bought tickets for the 9 o'clock showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I'm a HP addict. I've read the books multiple times and would put money on me knowing most any HP trivia. I hope I'll be able to sleep tonight.

I know this is the typical wedding season, so lot's of people have recently had or will be having their anniversaries. I hope everyone out there in blog land has a marvelous anniversary and are as blessed as I am. Now I've got to give the husband a massage...he's sore from soccer. I might give him a 5 minute longer massage than normal, I mean, it is our anniversary. :-)

Nightmare

This is about the time during the summer I begin to dream about the beginning of my next school year. After the class I had this past year, I can't imagine they would be so kind to give me another perfect class. I believe I will receive quite the opposite. Which frightens me... Also in this great recession, I know that our class sizes will be astronomical. This is where my nightmare begins.
Let me paint the picture for you- I'm very excited, full of smiles, grand ideas in my head, dressed in a new outfit probably from Ann Taylor Loft, standing at my classroom door. The desks are set up with new names on the tops, my library is pristine and in order, my desk is surprisingly organized- it must be the first day of school. As all students and the occasional parent that can't seem to let go are seated, I begin to take attendance. 1, 2, 3, 4.....20, 21, 22 (ugh), 23 (uh-oh),...25, 26- ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? We normally only have 20-22. This is like the totals down the kindergarten hall- and they have assistants! During my planning, I happen to cross paths/hunt down a principal who tells me, yes, most of the 2nd grade teachers are starting with 26 students and that guess what?? A new student just registered, he's had some problems and is a little behind. So we think he'll be a perfect fit in your wonderful classroom, Katie. And don't worry about his behavior records- your class always seems to take care of those problem-makers. Lucky #27.

That's enough to make me wake up in a sweat.

Wii

Austin's birthday was June 22nd and his wonderful parents sent him, well let's face it, this was also meant for me, a Wii!! We got the basic Wii game with two controllers and a Wii fit! I'm going to try the Wii fit this morning- it's so cool, but I'm not too sure how it works. I am overly confident though that I, a graduate of college, can figure it out! haha. Allyson gave us Punch Out (apparently they redid this game because she and Austin knew who the characters were as soon as they popped up) and Tiger Woods golf. As a side note- I have recently taken up the game of golf. I'm not half bad- but I'm still a girl. I like to talk big and tell Austin I can "wail on a driver" (don't know where I came up with that one!) This game helps me to learn a little more...and I'm sure it's helping me on the driving range! Anyways, Aust went on e-bay and purchased another game that is boxcar racing or something like that. We bought these little steering wheels and everything- it was so funny watching him play!! Thanks to Kathy and Waldo for giving us this awesome present!! This will surely be great to give Aust a little break from the grind of law school once it starts back. :-)

My Gourmet White Pizza

I absolutely love the Gourmet White Pizza from Mellow Mushroom! After eating it a couple of times I decided I was going to try my hand at duplicating it. I've perfected my own recipe for this type of pizza. It's soooo yummy and super easy to make. Austin has been a little under the weather the past day so I wasn't planning on making dinner for us tonight. But his appetite came back around 7:30, so I threw this together and took a picture of it!! The recipe is below and is super easy to adapt. Let me know how you like it!!

Katie's Gourmet White Pizza

Preheat oven to 450.

Sauce: Mix following into blender and pour onto pizza crust (I buy already made thin crust pizza crust from the grocery store)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. majoram
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

In a pan on medium heat, warm a tablespoon of EVOO. Slice 1/4 of a sweet onion and a couple of cloves of garlic (I love garlic). Add to warmed EVOO. Cook a couple of minutes until limp. Add on top of sauce. Slice 6-7 sun-dried tomatoes and add to pizza. Sprinkle as much or as little Feta cheese over crust. Top with mozzarella cheese.

Once oven is preheated, place pizza directly on rack in the middle. I cook my pizza for 8-9 minutes on 450. ENJOY!! :-)

Home Sweet Home

Austin and I have been away from home since this past Wednesday. We went to Lake Keowee for the July 4th weekend. Aust's family has a great lake house in Seneca and throws a huge party every 4th of July. We cook enough food to feed a third world country and still have enough to send home with us. I was quite excited to get up there as early as possible. I had grand plans to see friends, eat at certain places, and of course soak up as much sun as my skin could take.

We began the trip at the Esso and ate the world's best chicken fingers (or so I think) on Wednesday night. Thursday I met Brooke, one of my best friends from Lexington, at a great little deli in Greenville. On my way home, I stopped at Hobby Lobby (my new favorite home accent store) and walked around for 2 hours! Good thing about Hobby Lobby is almost everything is always on sale, so I bought $100 worth of stuff and only paid $50. How wonderful!! Dain and Jessica, two friends from CSOL, got there Friday afternoon after Austin played golf at the Walker Course with his sister's boyfriend and some of his friends. We went to the Tiki Hut for dinner. Austin and I met there 4 years ago on July 3rd- how embarressing, but true. Saturday came all of the festivities. People showed up to stay or stopped by beginning around 10. It was absolutely wonderful to see everyone. It's been since football season since we saw most of these people. The food was yummy, the company was wonderful, and the weather was beautiful! There was tubing, cruising on the lake, and some amazing fireworks later in the evening. I was sad for Sunday to come so quickly, but it was inevitable. Cleaning always takes place on Sundays-yuck, but it has to be done. We drove home in lots of traffic, but it was nothing compared to the people heading into Columbia. Thankfully we were going the way we were and we didn't have any backups.

Now for the reason I began this post- getting home is always such a nice thing. We both say how much we miss our bed, our regular seats in the den, and most of all, our cat, Connery. Connery hears us as soon as we pull in the garage and we can hear his sweet little meows through the door. He loves on us for a good 15 minutes after we walk in the door and give him a few treats. This is the one time I can guarentee he will pay us attention. He is definitely a cat.