Alberto comes to visit!

This past weekend my cousin, Alberto surprised everyone and showed up at our doorstep.  It was quite a surprise since I haven't seen him since my wedding.  He's a very busy military pilot traveling all over the world so its good to catch him when you can. 

He's also getting married this year in September so you know..... I was talking his ear off in regards to wedding stuff.  

Weddings = my favorite subject!  

Ryan and Alberto

These three pictures crack me up because you can tell Alberto

 is telling a crazy story to the guys.

Family is so important to me so it's always nice to spend some quality time when the opportunity arises.

We enjoyed seeing you Alberto! Love you cousin. 

Grandpa and some of his grand-children

Week of Learning

This week I've had the opportunity to take a week-long course amongst professionals in my industry.  It's been such an enjoyable experience and I've learned a lot in a short time.  It actually made me miss college a little.  Such as going from class to class, learning new topics, meeting new people, team work and the comradery that is formed.  It makes me a little sad that tomorrow is my last day in the course but the memories and friendships gained will last throughout my career. 

#thankful  #education

Kunde Wedding featured on Style Me Pretty

Collyn's mom made the chandeliers!

Last week, I received an exciting email from my sister-in-law, Collyn notifying us that her and Corey's wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty.  If you're like me and continue to follow wedding blogs you'll know this is a BIG HONOR and a BIG DEAL!  I was so thrilled to hear the news and have been wanting to share it with all of you.  

Take some time to OHHH and AHHH over Collyn and Corey's pictures.  Their amazing photographer, Joy Marie Photography  did a fablous job capturing a beautiful wedding and couple.  Love you guys.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

P.S.  Look closely at her veil.......and it might remind you of the veil I wore on my wedding day.   Yes, I indeed had the pleasure of wearing Collyn's veil.  My good luck charm and my "something borrowed",  Thank you again, Collyn. 

Staining Cabinets: Gel Stain

Before

 To every reader out there who has been considering a home improvement project, but has been hesitant to move forward due to lack of experience, fear of failure, or high expenses, this post is for you!

For those who are not familiar with Pinterest, it is a social media website where people share ideas. I stumbled upon a Pinterest article describing the process of staining cabinetry and it captured my attention. The writer of the article described the cabinet refinishing process as simple and affordable, then went into detail about types of stain and the tools required for completion. I decided I would give this a shot and told my husband about the idea. He initially looked at me like I was looney, but was on-board after reading the article and seeing the photos on Pinterest.

We used a gel stain to refinish our cabinets. Gel stain is just like any other stain with the exception that it has the consistency of pudding. The thickness of the stain makes it more forgiving when applying to cabinetry because it doesn't soak into the wood as quickly or deeply.

Now here is how the article made refinishing cabinetry sound in a nutshell.
Step 1. Sand cabinets lightly
Step 2. Apply stain
Step 3. Apply another coat of stain
Step 4. Kick back in your favorite chair and enjoy your newly refinished cabinets!!

We discovered early on the process isn't quite that simple, but well worth the work. The article mentioned using a sock to apply the gel stain. After the first coat was applied we came to the conclusion that a paint brush did the job by far better and more efficiently. I imagine we would have spend much more time and energy applying multiple coats of stain using the sock method. 

By using a brush, we only needed two coats of stain to achieve the finish we were seeking. The most cumbersome part of the process is the 24 hour dry time between coats. You have the first, second, and potentially third coat of stain, finished with at least two layers of poly-coat to protect the finish. The fumes can be overwhelming at times, especially  after the second and third day of staining.

Supplies you'll need to achieve this look:

-Sanding Block ( we bought an angled block)
-Gloves
-Painter's Tape
-Gel Stain
-Satin Poly/Topcoat
-Tack cloth
-Postal wrapping paper (to protect floors)
-2 stain brushes
-Painter's pyramids
-Paint thinner

Once the final layer of poly-coat was dry we added new hardware and voila!! Brand new cabinets for for less than $100.00.

After

Mr. and Mrs. Biles Wedding Video

Here's the mugs we gave them!  They recently used them over the holiday break.

Kimber Lee and Joshua celebrated their 3 month anniversary and also debuted their wedding video.  I loved it so much and of course I had to share it on the blog. My favorite part of the video is their vows.  Great song choice too!

CLICK HERE to WATCH 

THE WEDDING VIDEO!

A Blanket for Tina

My very good friend and second mother, Dee Dee is extremely crafty and even has a craft room in her house for all her special projects.  Maybe one day, I'll get a craft room too. ;-)

For months now, Dee Dee has been quilting a blanket that represented women all around the world.  Her daughter, Tina has dedicated her life to world travels and helping women around the world.  Dee Dee wanted to capture that in blanket and also wanted something her daughter could treasure forever.  

I know a lot of work, sweat, love and creatively went into this quilt.  Before, Dee Dee gave it to her daughter on Christmas she allowed me to capture pictures of the blanket.

I need to learn how to quilt! 

Blair Holidays 2012

Goodness, sorry for the delay on posting but life took me by storm and I've been trying to keep up. It's hard to believe it's already 2013.  The month of December was a busy one and it seemed the holidays just flew by.

I hope everyone had a nice time with family and friends over the holidays. Here's a little recap of pictures of our holidays.

Holiday Party at my Aunt and Uncle's House

Holiday Tea party at the Boss's house

Church

Christmas Eve Dinner at the In-laws

(Shirley had so many details.....check them all out)

 Christmas Dinner at Rustler's Rooste! We go every year. 

This year our friends, Candace and Carlo participated in the tradition. 

HUGE Slide at restaurant = FUN FUN