new project

even though i'm not good about always having a house project going, i usually have some ideas in my head about what things i'd like to do around our house to improve it or change it.  so, the latest idea (which came from my very-design-conscious husband) is to paint our dining room.  i was totally on board with this and went to lowes, getting an array of paint swatches in reds, blues, greens, and chocolate browns.  his idea was to paint it dark green.  i didn't really like that idea.  i'm not a huge green person (much prefer blues and neutrals), but i trust his design sense.  after all, he did pick out the color scheme for our house, which i love.  minus the kitchen, which i picked (and love equally) :)  his confession that he never liked our dining room color was a little surprising, as we've lived in the house for almost 5 years - with that color in the dining room.  
i've done a little playing around with different colors on the sherwin williams website, where you can upload a picture of your room and then change the paint around.  very fun!  


so, here's a picture of our dining room as it is :

please excuse the mess - i was trying to see how the paint chips looked with the pillows from our living room :)

 brooks snuck into my picture - ha

and here's how it would be in a dark green color:

i like!  a lot!  this is with sw-courtyard paint color (not sure if that's exactly what we'd use, but it's a start)

don't like it as much from here, but i think the color would be a little darker in real life (even though it's the same color as in the picture above, it looks lighter)

i guess i'll have a little project to work on over the next month or so!  i think the dark green (which did look better than blues, reds, or browns - i tested them all! - guess i just need to trust billy's judgment to begin with :)) will look really nice and add a good element of depth and warmth to the room.  it makes the furniture and art pop a little more, and maybe now we'll start using the dining room more!  updates to come as i begin the project.

book recommendation

not that many people (if any) read this blog, but if you are reading it and have either dealt with pregnancy loss or know of someone who has, i strongly recommend this book, Empty Arms.  it was written by a pastor's wife who lost a pregnancy at 4-5 months, and i think she offers many good suggestions, scripture references, and hope for those of us who have faced the loneliness and pain that comes with pregnancy loss.  it took me several months to read it, as it's not you're typical "beach read" that i usually enjoy, but i found it really helpful and comforting.  and i got in on amazon for like 4 bucks, which is a plus too :)  anyways, definitely recommend!

no surgery!

when i took jefferson to the vet this morning for his surgery, the mass on his toe had gone down some, so they're just going to have me monitor it for the next week or so.  it appears to be a histiocytoma, which is a benign mass, sometimes found in younger dogs, that can go down on its own rather than definitely needing surgery.  that is such a blessing both in terms of his health (i was nervous about having him go through anestheisa and also about the recovery and possible life-threatening implications) and for our finances too.  they were able to extract some cells from the area, and everything looks ok for now.  he'll need to wear a cone on his head and/or a sock on his foot for awhile just to make sure he doesn't mess with the area, but it's a lot better than trying to keep him contained for a long time in order to heal from surgery.  this week, i also got my blood work back this week, and my beta hcg is back to almost-normal, so that is a blessing as well!  so, things are looking up in the chorey household.  

tomorrow

in the morning, i have to drop jefferson off for some surgery, so i'm a little nervous about that.  on sunday night, he was messing with one of his front feet a lot, so i tried to examine the area in the midst of all his fur and saw that it was really red and looked like an open sore.  normally, i would just see if he stopped bothering with it over the next few days and figure that it was nothing.  because it was so inflamed, i decided to take him to the vet in the morning, and i'm really glad i did.  the vet ended up shaving off some of the fur around his toe and found a mass.  they're not sure what it is for now, but he's having surgery in the morning to have it removed.  poor little guy!  then, they'll biopsy the mass and determine whether it's benign or not.  praying that it's nothing to worry about. we should hear something early next week, and i'm guessing this weekend will be interesting trying to get him to be inactive and not mess with the stitches (or however they close up the incision, which is apparently in a tough place to seal up).  


for now, i've made this makeshift bandage in an effort to have him not mess with the area.  it says champ. ha.

tonight, we're going to have a little craft time making his and brooks' footprints in these molds billy's mom got us for christmas, so that will be nice to have in case they have to take off more of the toe than anticipated.  


i'll post an update next week once we know more, but i hope our little buddy is ok! 

Christmas in ATL

we had a nice long visit with my family in atlanta for Christmas this year...i think we were there longer than i've stayed since moving away in june 2004!  it was so nice just to have time to relax together and enjoy seeing so many family members and friends and partaking in my family's non-traditional Christmas traditions.

friday, we drove down and met at my brother's house to all pile in a clubwagon my dad had borrowed from his company for the weekend, and we ate dinner at an awesome restaurant, rathbun's.  it was a wonderful birthday celebration for my sister and me, who both had milestone birthdays that week (25 and 30).  and, we got to meet my sister's new boyfriend who was so nice - unfortunately, it didn't work out to see him again during the trip, but hopefully next time we can hang out more.

had to get a picture of the group with the clubwagon :)

birthday girls

nice picture of mom and dad

the next day, we got some exercise, wrapped presents, and got ready for our traditional Christmas eve dinner after church.  we tried a new (to us) church in midtown atlanta that was really nice - good message, very pretty, seemed like a nice congregation and ministers.  i think my mom may start going there, but i'm not sure.  then, we headed to the varsity (in the clubwagon, of course) to partake in our yearly Christmas feast at the varsity.  several family friends in addition to just our family joined us, so that was fun. and it was very crowded, as it's become more and more over the years :)

dad and mal on the way to church

mom, me, and kristin in the clubwagon

whole group at the varsity

the steed/chorey clan...guys in santa hats, girls in tacky earrings (courtesy of kel :))

delicious

after going to the varsity, we drove out to johns creek to look at a street filled with the best light displays. it was a hike to get out there, but we had lots of fun, and the lights were awesome.  the dogs enjoyed coming along for that part of the trip as well :)

love jefferson's head peaking out :)

baby brooks!

Christmas eve night, everyone spent the night at my parents, so it was fun to wake up sunday morning with the whole family there.  we had breakfast, went through our stockings, and did our secret santa gift exchange.  it was lots of fun!  i think the highlight was watching all four dogs play with their new toys - guess we're easily entertained :)  later that day, our extended family and some family friends came over.  kendall was in town too, so that was fun to have her join us for Christmas dinner.  we had a delicious meal of beef tenderloin, oysters, salad, and some other appetizers/snacks.  

all the siblings (and terriers) 

pretty new stockings (jefferson is very interested in billy's)

jefferson is also interested in the toys in that bag :)

kel and brooks - it was brooks' first Christmas!

bryan playing with sam and annie in their Christmas outfits

the chef

the girls on Christmas morning

 

opening presents with kendall

jefferson loves Christmas

after Christmas, we had a pretty relaxing, lowkey week.  it was a little bit of a rough time, as billy and i lost our second pregnancy in six months, but i was thankful to be with my family during this sad time, and it was nice to do some relaxing activities with my mom and sister.  and i am super thankful to have such a loving, supportive husband to go through these trials with.  later in the week, billy's parents came into town for the peach bowl, as did greg and erin, so we had a nice time with everyone together at the end of our trip.  

billy and one of the dancing jeffersons

group picture :)

fan fest!

 

i think billy was having a better time than anyone else - haha - not the next day though :)

so, we had a really nice visit to atlanta, despite some tough things, but we are thankful for our sweet families and grateful to spend such a good time with them.