stampley family mission statement

we will love the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. we will serve our marriage by loving each other as Christ loved the church, by uplifting each other in prayer, and by creating an environment of peace, love, forgiveness, respect and laughter. we will strive to model Christ in our relationships with others and will be humble stewards of His blessings.

7.30.2010

family time with my "in-laws"

the hubby + i played "host" to his mom, dad, and two younger sisters who packed up + headed our way for a little getaway + to attend a few family functions that were planned here in atlanta. while they were here, they also took a trip to knoxville to check out the university of tennessee because his sister is looking at enrolling there in the near future. sorry, i'm a GEORGIA BULLDOG so it was hard enough for me to even type those three words, LOL ;)

i was talking to my hubby's mother about how people were asking me if i was nervous about them coming...you know, since they are my "in-laws" + all. i honestly didn't think anything of it until people started asking me about it. you see, i have a really great relationship with my "in-laws"...so much so that i refer to them as mom + dad {my parents are momma + daddy} + feel that i can just be myself around them. even after i type this blog post, i'm still a little sad that they aren't here anymore...they left early this morning...and now our house is eeerily quiet! right before they left dad said..."yep, yall need to fill this house up with some kids!!!" that's definitely the plan....in a few years :)

ironically enough, i spent more time with the fam than my hubby did. timing worked out perfectly for me as i was working from home the whole time they were here, but hubby still had to go to work during the day :( so, in between conference calls, i could run downstairs to grab a bite to eat + chit chat for a few minutes before heading back upstairs to keep working.

although we did a lot of fun things ranging from going to the movies, to the coca cola museum, to cooking my "first meal" for them...there are two things that really stood out to me. i was again reminded of how blessed i am to be surrounded by so much love.
  • while dad was teaching me how to cook his infamous shrimp pasta, i got a call from my momma who hadn't been feeling well for a while. i stepped out of the kitchen to finish our convo + then when i came back, dad asked me how far of a drive it was from atlanta to where she currently lives. "about 3.5- 4 hours", i replied. he then says, "maybe we can all take a ride out there to see her...do you think she would enjoy that?" at that point, i was brought to tears...it really touched me that he offered to go + see her. so, a few days later, we all hopped in the car {sans the hubby} + made the drive. she was over the hill ecstatic to see all of us!!! i was equally excited to be able to see her + my older brother as well...it had been about a month since i had last seen them. we had a really great time...we ate red beans + rice, chicken + banana pudding. perfect.company.perfect.meal.perfect.day.
  • the second thing that stood out was while us ladies were out one day, my car decided to go "kaput". like, had to find a place to pull over because i could not longer control the wheel - "kaput". oh, not to mention, some part also decided to just fly off from the bottom of the car...well, we ended up calling rae + his dad + we had the car towed back to our house. from the time the car was delivered to the house, rae + his dad were in the garage working on it. they ended up taking the car apart - like parts all out on the floor, apart - to determine what all was wrong with it...then, from auto part store to salvage yard to you name it...they were there getting parts to fix it. the next day, after a little sweat + elbow grease from the stampley men, lil' mama {the car} was back on the road! 
indeed, we are so blessed to be surrounded by so much love! in fact, we're apparently having a "family tour" of sorts...we are leaving this weekend to go to my hometown for my high school reunion!!! it'll be great to see my daddy + my brother + my sister who will be coming in town with her family! we're supposed to be taking some family pics, so i'll be sure to post!!!

ciao!

7.07.2010

watch out there, nah!

as you may recall from a previous post, i mentioned that the hubby + i traveled to new orleans {technically, slidell} for his mom's 50th birthday celebration. my brother made the trip with us as well + we had an ABSOLUTE blast - as always.

the theme of the party was 70's, so you KNOW we had fun dressing up for that! we all came to the party complete with our 70's outfits, afros, and ready to get our boogie on!

mom did such an awesome job planning her party starting with her vision for the invitations...


the back of the invitation had a present day picture and party details

here are pics from the day:

getting ready...


not sure what i was looking for...







as you can tell from the pics...we had an absolute blast!

look what the UPS man rolled in...

i've been working from home this week, so i've had a chance to be a bit "domestic"....yay :)

for starters, the hubby + i went grocery shopping earlier this week + we've enjoyed creating "meals" for one another...i'm basically in charge of dinner + he takes care of breakfast. he's been on a "smoothie" kick recently ever since he discovered the awesome blender we received as a wedding gift...today's special was an apple, carrot, and cucumber concoction...i have to admit - it was pretty tasty.

anyhooo, back to me being a bit domestic....we were blessed to be able to purchase our first home together a few months before our wedding + since moving in after our honeymoon, we've been overwhelmed with having to decorate this bad boy! sooooo, we're taking it room by room....

first up....
our "formal" living room...it's the first room you see when you walk into the house. this past week, i purchased an end table + a sofa table {love, Love, LOVE them}....and today, my rug arrived. i can't tell you enough how excited i was about this rug. i purchased it online + was EXTREMELY nervous about the color because we already have several existing items in the room that i was trying to "match" to. well, today, the UPS truck arrived with a big bundle of rolled up goodness {my rug, in case you were wondering}....

the new rug {rolled} with the rug that's being replaced...
moment of silence...

here i am carefully using a razor blade to open the package...
ever.so.careful


almost there...

 
i really loved the presentation...
it's the little things ;)


it even came with a hidden "love note"...



and....here's the moment we've all been waiting for...the grand reveal!!!
{please excuse the picture on the floor...it has yet to be hung, but you get the point}


i absolutely LOVE it...it's a perfect mix between formal + fun...and fits well with the rest of the room. we also have a "family room" which will be a bit more modern/contemporary...so this living room is my 2010 version of the "room with the furniture that you can't sit on", LOL :)

i'll post more pics as we make more progress. next up...purchasing a few more accent pieces for this room + the adjoining foyer + deciding on window treatments.