Year Two

Our second year of marriage has been eventful to say the least...

First off, we moved to New Bern, North Carolina, for Steven's new job at Weyerhaeuser.  We lived for six months at a rental apartment owned by Bryan and Bridget.  They instantly became like family to us, but we missed our families back in Moulton and Opelika so much.  We began going to church at Asbury, which has been a blessing in so many ways.  In the fall, I started my new job teaching English III at West Craven High School, where I met some wonderful people and made great friends.  Fall was hard though because it was our first football season to spend away from Auburn in over eight years; however, we had a lot of fun introducing our new friends to our Auburn traditions.  In November, we closed on our very first home, and immediately started the renovations.  Later, we celebrated Steven's 26th birthday on Thanksgiving day at his grandmother's house in Madison, Florida.  We spent Christmas snowed in at my parent's home in Moulton, Alabama, which was a wonderful surprise. In early January, we celebrated along with the rest of the Auburn family when our team won the national championship!  Also during January, Steven and I took over the youth leadership at our church.  In February, we took the youth to a conference called Acquire the Fire.  It has been such a blessing working with these young people!  April was a big month in the life of our marriage...we found out that we were expecting our first child!!!  He or she is due December 16th.  We could not be more excited!  Also that month, I celebrated my 27th birthday and found out I got into the Educational Administration master's program at East Carolina University.  The month of June has been a whirlwind of fun.  We experienced our first trip to White Lake with Asbury, which was such a fun week.  This past weekend, we traveled to Bruce, Mississippi, to celebrate Patrick Davis' big day!  It was so great to see everyone again!

This past year has been such a wonderful time of growth in our relationship, and I know that year three will be an even bigger adventure!

Our 2nd year in pictures...

Atlantic Aquarium

Betsy and Michael's rehearsal dinner in Florence

dancing at Betsy and Michael's wedding

haha...one of my faves

The Meadows Inn in New Bern

chaperones?

date night at the Chelsea

playing in the snow at Mom and Dad's house

Christmas in Asbury

Chritmas at Mom and Dad's

Prince Charming

Valentine's Day dinner

on our way to Cape Lookout

Patrick and Bethany's rehearsal dinner in Oxford, MS

Gold to Silver

Nothing against brassy gold fixtures, but let's just say they didn't really go with our new bathroom decor.  I spent a lot of time looking for new fixtures at Lowes, Bed Bath & Beyond, and enven TJMaxx.  Although I found some that I really liked, we were trying to stay under our $350 bathroom renovation budget, so we ended up doing it DIY style.  Below you will see our orginal gold hardware. 

I went to Wal-Mart and picked up a can of silver spraypaint (we also used brushed nickel in another room, and we think it looks a little better).  I layed out all of the hardware on a garbage bag and went to work.

Here is the finished product.  We have all "new" hardware for $3.65 and the best part is we didn't have to drill new holes in the walls.  Steven ended up spray painting all the outlets white, which made them look much more updated than the gold. 

Happy renovating!

xoxo,

Ashley

Downstairs Bathroom Renovation

Okay, so Ashley is usually the one who does the blogging, but I decided to try my hand at it this time...
    
You all remember those candies called Warheads.  For some reason everyone has had them and for some reason you had a secret pride when you finally got past the horribly bitter, sour taste to that heavenly sweetness at the end. 

     That is the best metaphor for my feelings towards home projects.  I sometimes have a hard time getting motivated to come home from work to work.  Ash has to coax me through the sourness on occasion.  I enjoy projects for one simple reason.  The sweet satisfaction of having something that we can enjoy and be proud of.  Ashley has a way of sprucing things up and making them look 100 percent mo' betta. 

     The next few pictures show our original bathroom.  The bathroom is about a 45 square foot room with a bit of bling from the gold fixtures.  Standard builder grade vanity and sink which served their purpose, and linoleum flooring.





without the mirror and hardware



     After taking out the sink, toilet, molding and all the fixtures, this strikingly handsome, prematurely balding young man showed up to do some flooring work.  Our bathroom floor had just a bit of slope to it so I leveled it with some leveling compound.  The compound dried and I popped a few chalk lines to keep the tiles somewhat straight.

    I laid the tiles in a diamond pattern because it supposedly makes small rooms seem bigger.  I had to keep the mortar wet enough that it's easy to spread, but dry enough it keeps its shape.  Make sure to use the tile spacers so you leave room for some grout.
     So... the guy who recommended the diamond pattern must have had stock in ceramic tile because there was a lot of tile cutting invloved.  After finishing the tile, I let it sit for a day.

    Grouting was really simple.  (Yes that is a spoon from the kitchen and Yes I did regret using the "favortie mixing spoon")  Fill all the joints with the cement-like stuff.  After about fifteen minutes, wet a sponge and wipe it away.  The next day, I treated the floor with a waterproofer to make sure that water wouldn't seep through to the subfloor.

After a coat of paint, some molding, a new sink, a potty, and some simple plumbing...vwaalahh!  Ash does a tremendous job decorating.  If it were up to me, we would live in a psychiatric wardlike house with very bare walls and very little color.

hooray the finished product!

Lowes $450...Craiglist $75!

Total cost of bathroom makeover: $360 

Sink  $75

Tile and supplies  $170

Molding  $20

Mirror  $25

Plumbing supplies  $25

Paint  $30

Light fixture  $15

Happy wife = Happy life

God Bless,

Steven

Taylor and Patches in NC!

So randomly is how we tend to do things as McCullochs.  That's just the way we are...

Disclaimer: I forgot my camera all weekend, so no pics.  Sorry :(

Tuesday afternoon, Patches facebooked me and asked when would be a good time for her and Taylor to come and stay for the weekend.  They weren't able to come when the rest of the family came earlier in the year, so they wanted to make a trip while they were both out of school for the summer.  I told her that we were usually pretty flexible and she said that she was off the following weekend.  After talking it over with Patches, Taylor called me and said they were going to come down this weekend.  I was truly thrilled, but a little overwhelmed because the downstairs bathroom renovation was still incomplete (i.e. toilet in the kitchen, no paint on the walls kind of incomplete).  Well, Steven was excited too so we put it into over drive and he finished the renovation late Thursday night.  Secretly, I was really happy to have a reason to get this reno over with and fast!

Taylor and Patches arrived Friday morning while me and Steven were at work.  They had driven through the night, so they slept most of the day and afternoon.  That night, we went to eat at Famous, which is our absolute favorite go-to restaurant.  I mean, you can't go wrong.  Everyone always loves it, and I think they were happy campers as well, especially since they mentioned going back the next day!  We had a great time talking, laughing and catching up.  It felt like FOREVER since I had been able to spend such good quality time with them. 

The next day, I made breakfast and we packed sandwiches before heading to Atlantic Beach with Brandon and Emily.  Emily's grandparents have a place there, so it was great just to park and walk straight out to the beach.  It was a beautiful day! The girls mostly tanned and relaxed while the boys threw the football and played catch with the baseball.  That afternoon, we went back to Emily's place, took showers, and made our way to Beaufort to shop and eat dinner.  Beaufort has such a beautiful waterfront and a great atmosphere.  We mostly widow shopped then ate at a little place right on the water, which turned out to be really good.  Afterward, we went to the General Store and got an ice cream cone, while we waited on Josh Gaines to get there (he was stationed at Fort Lejune, but actually flew out to Califonia the next day for a five week stay).  Once he arrived, we all sat out under a gazebo on the water and talked for over an hour.  It was great to see him and I know Taylor was happy to have a little reunion with his old buddy and college roommate. They told us hilarious stories of pranks they pulled and people they grew up with.  I haven't laughed that much in a while!

Sunday morning, we went to church.  I was excited to introduce Taylor and Patches to all of our friends and "family" in our little community.  After we left, they just kept saying how genuinely nice everyone was which is why we love Asbury too! I cooked lunch at home, and we spent most of the afternoon relaxing around the house before going to Morgan's in downtown New Bern for dinner.  Afterward, we come home and played Rook until almost 2:00 in the morning.  I am a bad teacher...irresponsible even, but it was so worth it because it was a lot of fun! 

We said goodnight and goodbye to Taylor and Patches that evening/morning, which was really sad.  We had such a great time, but I wish we had a little more with them.  I am so looking forward to our family beach trip to Hilton Head in July where we will be reunited!

Master's Degree

Since I began teaching, I have always wondererd what I wanted to get my Master's degree in because although I love what I do, I know that I will not be able to do it forever.  After much thought and consideration, I decided that I wanted to go into administration.  The thing is, I don't really have a desire to be a prinicipal (as of now, who knows what time will bring), but I do know that I want to allow myself the oppertunity to experience life outside the classroom.

Around December, I submitted my application and all other required materials to East Carolina University, which is located about 45 minutes away from my house here in North Carolina.  ECU offers a cohort program that meets once a week and then completes the rest of the projects and assignments online.  I have never wanted to be a pirate so badly before...After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, I got a call on Friday morning letting me know that I was accepted into the Educational Administration and Leadership program.  I was ecstatic, but also overwhelmed because I found out only a month ago that I am expecting a baby in December.  But hey, if my mom can go back to school with four kids while working too, I should be able to handle it with one, right? (prayers please!) 

We have our first orientation meeting on June 6th and then we will start classes closer to the end of the month.  It all seems to be happening so fast, but the quicker I can get through this program the better!  Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes!

Baby Meadows

First off, Steven and I feel so happy and blessed to be expecting a child.  We have been praying for our family, both present and future, since before we were married.  When Steven used to ask me after we got married how I imagined my life in the years to come, it always involved (lots of) kids. 

Many people have asked me about how I told Steven the news, so here's the story...

The Saturday before Easter, I woke up early and made a run to Wal-Mart to pick up candy and supplies for the Easter Egg hunt taking place the following week.  The youth always sponsors the event for the little kids, so we had scheduled the Saturday before to fill the eggs with candy and go out to eat.  Backstory: For about three weeks prior, I had been feling terrible.  I had absolutely no energy and my appetite was sparatic at best.  I decided it wouldn't hurt to buy a pregnancy test while I was there, just for safe measure.  After I got home, I quickly, and absent-mindedly took the test before going downstairs and packing up the car with all of the Easter stuff we needed for the afternoon.  Steven had just finished mowing the grass and was taking a shower.  After a little while, I remembered the test.  I guess it didn't seem that important to me because I didn't think that it would actually say yes.  Oh but it did...




proof positive

 We literally had 12 minutes before we had to be at the church, but I couldn't wait until later that afternoon to tell Steven.  As he was drying off I said, "Babe, I really need to tell you something, but I know it's not the most oppertune time." Steven replied in his okay-just-hurry voice, "Well, what is it?  We're late."  I quickly handed him the test, and he said, "Are you serious right now?  Is this for real?"  Then he smiled really big and said, "I could kill you for doing this five minutes before we leave, Ashley McCulloch (he always tends to use my maiden name whenever I do or say anything rash, I lose something, or I mess something up with my car  haha).  Although we were really happy we didn't have much time for a celebration because we literally jumped in the car and headed toward the church. 

We spent that afternoon hanging out with 15-20 teenagers, but my mind was all over the place.  Later, we went to mine and Lauren's birthday party, which I previously blogged about, but didn't say anything to anyone.  That night I took another test, which again showed up positive, so we called our parents and siblings.  We were and are so excited to be expecting!  I will definitley keep you all updated on the progress. 

After keeping the news hush-hush for over a month, we decided that we would announce the news after our first sonogram, which was last Friday afternoon.  Steven met me at the Women's Center and together we watched our little baby's heart pounding on the monitor.  Talk about surreal!  It was incredible and as soon as we stepped out of the office, we started making calls. 




Baby Meadows :)

 The docotor predicted that I am about 10 weeks along and my due date is set for December 16th.  What a wonderful Christmas present to have my little baby there with the whole family for such a special holiday!

How I feel:
- extremely tired all the time (p.s.  I had no idea this was a symptom of pregnancy!)
- nauseous for most of the morning and sometimes into the evening
- in love with my OBGYN, Dr. Joyner.  Steven thinks that I have an unhealthy crush, but I am just so happy to have such a wonderful man to lead me through pregnancy and hopefully deliver my baby!
- happy beyond measure to be carrying our little baby!

How Steven feels:
- extremely tired from picking up extra chores around the house :)
- hungry because sometimes even the smell of cooking makes me sick.  We have been eating A LOT of    cereal in the Meadows' household
- jealous of the attention I have been giving to Dr. Joyner
- happy to be a future daddy!

Upcoming Events:
- Steven will be finished with the downstairs bathroom renovation tomorrow afternoon if all goes well.
- Taylor and Patches are coming to visit us this weekend!!!
- Beach time this Saturday
- Only 6 more instructional days (after that we have 2 weeks of exams)
- I find out this week if I got in to grad school at ECU (say a prayer please)

Momma

In my opinion, my Momma is the best there is.  Period.  I wish I could be at home tomorrow to share the day with her because there is no place I would rather be!  Below is a list of a few things I love so much about her.

• Her heart for God.  She is such a wonderful Christian woman and a great example to me.  She taught me so much about what it means to pursue a relationship with the Lord and how to show His love for others.
• Her sense of humor.  She loves to tell jokes, laugh, and have a good time, which makes her a joy to be around. 

• She's always willing to give whatever she has to help others.  I have been so blessed by how she serves others with her time, money, and willingness to just sit and listen. 



Momma and Mrs. Trimble

• She is the most unselfish woman on the planet.  I remember all of us getting new dresses for Easter Sunday, while Momma wore her navy dress she called "old faithful."  Back then, I thought that she just really liked that dress, but now I understand that is just another example of the sacrifices she made for us. 
• She accepts me as an Auburn fan...not (haha).




But she did come to a tailgate that changed my life...seriously, you did it all mom (haha)!

• She was present at every softball game, band recital, and halftime show that I ever played/performed in.  I never knew how blessed I was and often took for granted that she was going to be there, rooting us on and bringing us snacks.  Now I can see what a time consumer it must have been to raise all four of us and not miss a thing.
• She always makes everyone around her feel beautiful.  My mother is an encourager.  It's her gift.  She knows exactly what to say in order to make someone instantly feel better about themselves. 



at my wedding

• She likes to watch sappy love stories i.e. Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, etc.  So do I.  It works out.
• She loves to lay out at the beach and is a Vitamin D junkie.  Like mother, like daughter!

• She is a great cook.  Look at me.  I mean, if there is one thing I learned how to do in the McCulloch house well, it was to eat.  Momma always made sure we had enough, if not more than enough, of everything.  She couldn't help but show her love with an extra serving of mac-n-cheese.  Yummm.  I'm hungry just thinking about it!

These are just a few reasons that I love my Mom so much.  Happy Mother's Day!!!