Well, Shoot

Tap, tap... this thing on??

Ahem. It's me. Melissa. 'member me? Well, it's been a while, so I was just checking to see if you forgot. I've been scolded by many-a-follower that I need to update the Barrick Times. I've just been plain busy over here in our little abode, that I haven't had time to even get 8 hours of consecutive sleep in one day. Wedding season is upon MB Photography (which is now a LLC!), so my time and energy has been dedicated to that type of thing. I blogged for 2 weeks straight earlier this month. It's true.

Anyway, there isn't too much to report over here as we haven't had much time to do anything except edit and work on the basement.

What's that you say, basement? Yes, we're starting to finish our basement. Do I have pictures of that? Of course not. But I will. This weekend. Know why? I have no weddings this weekend.

Ok, so this will be rather picture-heavy as I promised my sister-in-law pictures of my sweet new niece who is now about 3 months old. Bad Aunt Buhlissa.

So here you go...and July will be much less stressful for me, so hopefully I can get some Mexico pictures up to show y'all.

Enjoy!

One of the trees in our back yard. It looked mysterious to me.

These little guys have been laid on our front door wreath! There are 4 little Sparrow eggs. This was about 3 weeks ago. They hatched last week! I took a bunch of pictures, but can't seem to locate them... hum... will post them once I find them!



I bit the bullet and bought a "Big Rose" from the highly coveted EmersonMade. I mainly wanted to buy one and see if I could make it. I haven't tried yet, but I'm gonna. They're super cute and I've worn it in my hair AND on my clothes. I swoon over all of their products and the fact that the couple is completely green and work/own their own farm.

I bit the bullet AGAIN and bought a brand spankin' new MacBook Pro! It's a business expense, of course :) It'll be the new work horse for MB Photography. I'm totally hooked on Apple products now, but I can't seem to find anything. It has a bit of a learning curve associated, but so far, I love!



And now for my precious little nieces! Bobby and I were in North Carolina in late May 1) for MB Photography's first destination wedding, and 2) to meet my new niece, Charlotte. She's a doll and so peaceful. I can't wait to see her again! Below are my other 2 neices: Mary Claire (left) and Ellie (right). While playing in their "secret garden," they "rescued" a box turtle and named him Franklin.



Hello, Franklin.



And for the new, sweet little morsel, Charlotte. Grandma Wise knit the hat and blanket! Charlotte was being our model.



{Organic} baby booties courtesy of Aunt Buhlissa (and courtesy of Etsy.com!).



Umm... I want to pinch these cheeks.







Baby yawn!

Well, that's all for now. I have a little, 3 week break from weddings here in July, but the weekends somehow already packed themselves. Hopefully I'll be updating more frequently here in the next few weeks!

Have a great week!

Peace Like a River

That hymn has been rolling in and out of my head over the past week.

I'd like to sit in the middle of this foggy field at dusk and meet with Jesus. In the midst of my first, full wedding season, I'm in need of a little peace right now. I drove past it this evening, turned around, and snapped a picture of my peace for this week.

What brings you peace?


"When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blessed assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul."

*I highly recommend downloading Chris Rice's version of this song.*

Three Wise Girls

I was a "Wise" once. I still am, I suppose...but not legally.

Now, there are three Wise girls. You know what the best part is? They're all southern. Bobby and I drove down to NC this weekend for some business and on our way back, we stopped in to meet my newest niece, Charlotte Grace. She is the sweetest, most calm baby I've ever met with the most delicious cheeks you ever did see! She's just learning how to smile and "coo," but she did a lot of practicing with her Aunt Buhlissa. Charlotte marks #10 total on the niece and nephew count for Bobby and me. I can't wait to watch this girl grow up!

The older two: Mary Claire (left) and Ellie (right). I think it's become a tradition that whenever MC, E and I get together, I french braid their hair. Just a little something that Aunt April passed down...

From Mexico with Love: Part 1

I made a full sprint off the plane. I didn't care so much about the 99% humidity, my toes just wanted to see the sand. My plan to make a mad dash to the resort was, of course, thwarted, due to customs and immigration. As soon as we walked through the doors at the Cancun airport, you were greeted by no less than 103893 people wanting to help you with your bags. Promptly after you passed the rush of anxious help, you arrived at the bar: "Welcome to Cancun!" it read above.

Vacation. Priceless.

We arrived at the resort (recommended by one of my dear friends, KT), in Playa Mujeres, Mexico, about 20 minutes North of Cancun. About .45 seconds after stepping out of the car, I was handed a glass of champagne and a COLD washcloth to wipe away the worries and stress we had left at home. After checking in, a man dressed like Steve Irwin on Safari took our luggage and escorted us to our room.

WOW. It was beautiful and nothing less than what we had expected. The resort was the same way...landscaping was flawless and our room was just beautiful.

Since I took tons of pictures during our stay, I'm going to have to blog in stages. The first Part will give you a glimpse of our resort and room...with any luck, you'll be booking your own trip to the Excellence Resort Playa Mujeres!

The breathtaking lobby in the hotel.

The other side of the lobby.



One of the resort buildings and pools (I think most of the resort grounds were pools).



One of the restaurants over the pool and the pool bar below.



I thought these would be amazingly comfortable...until I saw someone try to get in the hammock. I didn't want to embarrass myself too badly, so I never tried one out. Plus, where would I put my drink?!



Another pool... these chairs were packed during the day.



There was lots of charm, too! Many of the rooms had window boxes, which made me wish we had gone to Paris instead. I would have never gotten the tan I have in Paris.



...and our view from one of the restaurants! The water = amazing.



I cannot tell you how many pounds of salsa and guac Bobby and I went through in 5 days. They served it with chips every day before lunch and we definitely put a world of hurt on those puppies.



And now for our room tour... presenting, our room. A few notes: everything was very...open... including the shower and water closet (toilet area). Yes, you can see whoever is showering from the room. Not much privacy here! But it still was beautiful.



The jacuzzi tub. I have a severe distaste for bath tubs...let alone bath tubs that OTHER people have used before. It was left untouched, but would have had a nice view of the pool if we used it!



The bathroom... the shower had a waterfall shower head. I marched Bobby right up to Lowes when we got home to have him install one in our bathroom pronto.



The "living area." Complete with cold champagne when we first got there, and chocolate-covered strawberries at night during turn down service. Bobby and I now fight at night over who has to fetch the champagne and strawberries.



I took one look at this bad boy, drank a glass of the promotional champagne and passed out as soon as we got into our room. Bobby went to the gym. We seem to have our priorities well in check... it was fantastic until the Mexican sun came beating down on me around 4pm.



And lastly...our view from the room. We didn't use the chairs once, but we did frequent the pool. I cut a hibiscus from the plant every morning and wore it in my hair. My flower headband from J. Crew just wasn't cutting it.



Ahh, Mexico. As my tan fades, I wish more and more that we never had to leave. Part 2 coming up next: The Barrick's and Bachmann's do Isla de Mujeres. Watch out!

Seeing Green

My office. I spend more time there than I do the following things:

- Patting Killian

- Feeding Killian

- Swatting at Killian

- Chasing down Killian after he escapes outside

- Scolding Killian

Which is saying something, because I spend a lot of time doing those things.

My office before was bleak to say the least. Plain white, 4 square walls, a modest closet for storage, and a lonely futon. Our first major furniture purchase for the house was my beloved desk from Pottery Barn (don't judge me, I used a coupon AND picked it up from the store to save on shipping). I love that desk for all the storage and ability to hide hideous and confusing wires. It's sturdy and comfortable and works perfectly for what I need to do. Oh, and Bobby likes it too.

Then there was paint. You all remember my infamous and loathsome "sample wall?" I knew I wanted a green room to kind of "go" with my business colors, but what shade? A full room of chartreuse would have been too much. I absolutely loved the "Paris Mint" shade, if only because it had the word "Paris" in it, but it wasn't right. I tried "Vegas Green," but thought the name would offend my dear mother, and really, I did sort of feel like I was at the Copa Cabana. I hated the quality of Lowes paint, so I had to branch out. Plus, their colors weren't right. Did you know Green is the hardest color in which to find the right shade?

Near impossible, I tell ya!

Then I went to Benjamin Moore. For those of you suspecting, no, I didn't choose a Pottery Barn color. Instead, I reached into my purse and pulled out...my wallet. It was the exact green I had been looking for and thanks to the Smarty Pants Paint Girl at Ace Hardware, she was able to match the color - to. the. tee. I took my gallons home along with some painters tape and had visions of horizontal stripes dancing in my head.

Opening those cans of flat and semi-gloss paint was like opening a can of whoop-a** (pardon moi, the effect would not be the same) on my plain white walls. They just had to go.

Thanks to the tutorial I found on Young House Love, one of my new favorite home how-to blogs, I was able to paint my horizontal stripes with ease, alternating strpies with flat finish and semi-gloss finish. It took me about 2 hours in one evening to paint the entire wall (just an accent wall, don't worry) with two coats.

The next evening, I did some math, marked out where my stripes were going to go, used a level to tape the areas, and went to town with the semi-gloss! If you don't include the 45 minute break to eat a Cadbury Egg and watch E! News Weekly during a bout of frustration, it took me only an hour to tape, level and paint the stripes. Difficult? I think not!

I'd also like to note that Bobby had no help in fixing my office. When I asked him to help me use the level, he said "nope, you're a big girl, you can figure it out." Just to spite his last words, I DID do it myself and it looks fabulous!

Ok, so for those of you who skipped my story just looking for pictures, here's the before, during and after...taken with my iPhone, so please excuse the lackluster quality. I know I've promised pictures of a lot of finished projects, so after Mexico, my goal is to give you a tour of pictures if you missed our housewarming party last weekend!

Enjoy!

It's hard to tell, but the stripes are just 2 different finishes: Flat and Semi-Gloss.