4 years.

Today is 4 years of dating for Reed and I. 

Isn't it strange how I've been counting down the days until I'm married when really the exciting part is that I get to keep counting up the years, months, weeks, and days that I am with Reed FOREVER! 

I hope that I don't stop counting days after August 4th. 

I want to always be excited about being with Reed. 

So, in honor of being together 4 years I thought I would be sappy again :)

But this time I'm gonna give some history. You are about to know me and Reed on a whole new level!!

Lets start with how we met. Well. I can't because I don't remember how we met. 

I have known Reed and his family for as long as I can remember. 

My dad and Reeds dad are best friends. 

That lead to my older brother JB becoming best friends with Reed and his older brother Ross. 

Those boys were basically inseparable. 

From left to right: Reed, JB, Ross

Growing up with these boys was fun. I really got to know there family and we basically lived at each others houses. Because Reeds younger sister Mika wasn't adopted until later down the road I was the little girl in their family for a while. Reeds mom would braid my hair and was always so good at taking care of me and my siblings. She even taught me how to swallow pills. 

So, being so close for such a long time I obviously was ignored by the boys and I'm sure I totally filled the role of annoying younger sister. 

Butttttt that didn't keep me from having an "older crush". In  middle school my best friend and I both had older crushes with code names. I was really creative and my code name was Deer. 

Isn't that so good!

So basically all of middle school I thought Reed was so cool and all my friends were jealous that he would come up and give me hugs at church. 

When Reed and his family decided to become missionaries in Nicaragua I was devastated. I did not want them to go one bit. But thanks to technology Reed and I stayed in touch via AIM. (just a FYI I was gigglebox and he was luvbigbugs, fitting right).
I remember one specific conversation like it just happened. They were living in Costa Rica for training and Reed was dating a girl who was also their with her family for training. I was sad thinking my day would never come and that was (at the time) made certain by the advice Reed gave me. He was telling me about this girl and how he was going to marry her. He was so excited that he found the one! I of course did the typical girl thing and played the card that I would never have a boyfriend. He just told me to wait and never compromise. He then told me the biggest piece of advice ever. He said I quote

"never kiss a boy". 

So I didn't. 

Lets fast forward to my Junior year of high school. Reed had moved back to the states a year or two earlier to go to college while his parents stayed in Nicaragua. I had seen him off and on, mainly at church but never actually hung out together. One day he came over to the house for something and my mom was being a typical mom telling Reed I always brought home boys that wear penny loafers. 

Reeds come back to that was. "I don't have a girlfriend! I did but I don't anymore!". 

Talk about awkward. 

Then he wanted to see all of my art projects and leaned in real close to get a good look at each one. I was so confused. I thought it was so strange and just flat out bizarre. He kept coming around and just hanging out with the family. And I finally asked him to come to the river with my friends and I. In highschool we would raft down the river in down town Columbia and it was so much fun! 

So, I asked Reed to join us. He must of thought it was a date because he packed a cooler, chairs, and fishing poles. I was so confused that I asked a friend to stay with me on the rocks so that it wasn't awkward.

Reed and I talked a lot, obviously he was totally digging me. If you notice he isn't fishing! He has the pole in his hands but he chose to sit and chat with me instead!! Thats a big deal :)

But after that initial hang out he came over ALL THE TIME! 

I had a student government banquet the last week of school and Reed was over at the house when my mom and I were leaving, he asked to come with us. I didn't understand why he would want to torture himself by sitting through this but he did. We were all 3 going to go out to eat after but mom conveniently  felt sick. So just Reed and I  went out. We made it to O'Charleys and stayed until it closed. Literally. Reed asked for a refill on tea and the girl was like "we just poured it out cause we are closing". Yep we lost complete track of time just sitting and talking, mainly about Nicaragua. 

Reed and I could talk for hours. He came over every night for about 2 weeks to eat dinner with the family and sit and talk until the early hours of the morning. 

At the end of those 2 weeks I was leaving to go live with his parents in Nicaragua for about a month. I was so ready to go and be back in the country I love but it was weird knowing that I wouldn't see Reed. We hadn't made it official or even mentioned what was going on at all so I had no idea what I was going to come back to. 

After being in Nicaragua for about a week and a half Reeds mom went out with another one of the interns and came back to the house with Reed! When he walked around the corner I had no idea how to react. I was confused, how in the world did he fly all the way to Nicaragua with out me knowing! 

Obviously he was there to see his family but also made it a big surprise to come visit while I was there. 

It was amazing we got to spend so much time together in a country that both of our hearts had been broken for. We grew unbelievably close with each other and with the Lord. 

Every night before we went to sleep Carrie,Meredith, Kendal, (two of my best friends who where there with me for the month) Reed and I would do a little devotion together. It was always so interesting to have Reed in on our time with the Lord. All of us really poured out our hearts and became unbelievably close those 4 weeks. 

All 5 of us during one of our devotionals!

About the second week Reed was there he decided to make it official. It was one of our off days so we were cleaning and organizing around the house. Because of all of the interns staying in house Reed was forced to sleep on the floor of one of the large storage closets (don't worry he had a mattress and everything). Apparently he thought this was the only place we could have a second alone, so he asked if we could talk in the closet. He began to tell me that he really liked me and that he wanted to make sure that I knew this wasn't a joke to him. That him pursuing me was something he really wanted to do long term. He also told me that he would be heading to Clemson in a year and if I didn't want to do long distance than we didn't really need to start anything. I just assured him that it was ok because in that same year I would be heading off to college and I wasn't really sure where. 

So we started dating in a storage closet :) 

Don't worry he made up for it on our first kiss. 

About to go on the hike! 

I was stingy I had kept his advice for so many years. I had not once been kissed and I was beginning my senior year of high school that year!! I made sure to just avoid any circumstance that could possibly allow kissing. Reed was tired of asking and me saying no so he took it upon himself to take me on a date. Still being in Nicaragua it kinda limited our ability to go out. Reed planned a day trip to the National park that is near his parents farm. We had his mom drop us off and began to hike towards the waterfall. On our way we saw monkeys that stopped and talked to Reed. (It was hilarious)

By the time we got to the waterfall it began to rain. We huddled together under a huge banana tree leaf to keep from getting soaked. I was still not wanting to kiss him so I didn't face him this entire time. Finally he had enough of it and turned me around and planted one right on the lips! 

I used the story of our first kiss as a project in my basics art class last year.
That is a monkey with a waterfall and banana trees behind him. And pineapples all along the bottom.

I would say that he totally made up for asking me out in a storage closet by kissing me in the rain by a water fall :)

So, basically that is our story. We have been together for 4 years now, but it seems like forever. 

Luckily we have promised each other for ever and it is just a few short weeks until that comes true!! 

Facebook giveaway!

Trying out a new giveaway. 

This time it is for my facebook friends! 

If you are interested in the "Washed by the Water" painting like the Kitchen Table Art page and comment on this image. Then get your friends to like the Kitchen Table Art facebook page and comment on the "Washed by the Water" photo saying who they are there for. 

The person with the most friend support by Wednesday July 4th will win! 

Goodluck!!

House Project #3

 For project #3 I wanted to find something to anchor my artwork on the wall. I knew that in our tiny living room it could get cluttered real fast so I wanted to make sure that everything I displayed was some how anchored together. 

I went through lots of different ideas like cork board, peg board, painting a "frame", and finally landed on using a pallet. Being as lucky as we are at Lowes Reed knew of some fencing that was damaged and on sale for uber cheap. 

This project total cost was $5!! 

We used the damaged fencing from Lowes and squeezed the pickets together (we had to do damage control to just one picket!) to create one solid piece of fencing. 

After that we used heavy duty picture hangers to hang the fencing to the wall and I then tied pieces of twine and let them hang loose and then clothes pinned my different pieces of art to it! 

This way I can keep changing up the artwork with out putting another hole in the wall or worrying about framing! 

It also gave Reed another great spot for him to show off his 7.5 lb bass mount! 

The pieces I have hanging are some of my favorite prints from my photography classes and then my woodblock prints from beginning printmaking. I also put up some of my favorites from the print exchange. The Owl print was done by one of my best friends Emily, and the one on the top left is one that my teacher, Matt, did of a sort of Jungle Book inspired piece. (Matts pieces always have a great story behind them, if I ever get a written copy of his stories I will totally share, they will be more than worthy of reading!)

PS. I start my summer sculpture studio today and I am SUPER anxious!! I love sculpture and can't wait to get back in the studio, I just know that this is gonna make July fly by! I am getting a little overwhelmed about how fast August 4th is coming!!!! 

I used this post to Link up to the Uncommon Link party.
Go check them out!

Did some updating to the shop today! 

Click on the link at the top of the page, or down on the right to take a look! 

There should be more coming soon!!! 

House Project #2

Project # 2 has taken me the longest to finish. I just kept running out of time, but I finally made myself sit down and knock it out! 

Because our new kitchen is so tiny and lacking in cabinet/counter space I decided to make a rolling island. This way we can add more space for storage and prep with out taking up our limited wall space.

First things first. I raided my parents barn. I knew I needed a super cheap piece of furniture I wasn't sure if it was gonna be a file cabinet, bookshelf, or end table but I knew I needed something that I could add a countertop and wheels too. Luckily when my parents and I went poking around in the barn we found this guy. 

Its pretty rough had so much dust, spiderwebs, mold and peeling paint that Reed immediately told me it wasn't worth my time. But, I knew that with a little sanding and fresh paint I could repurpose this little dude! 

On one of our many trips to Lowes (its becoming my home a way from home. Seriously, they told me I should just work there) Reed showed me some countertop that got water damage a few weeks ago when one of the over head sprinklers went off. The countertop was getting  some major mark downs so Reed and I picked out one and got a 4ft piece (that had practically no damage) for $30!! 

 

On another trip to Lowes, we never manage to remember everything we need at one time so we usually make about 2 trips a day, We picked up some casters to attach to the bottom of the book case so it can be moved around the kitchen and tucked in a corner when not used. However, the bookcase was old enough that we had to add blocks to attach the casters to on the bottom. 

Reed is always prepared with 2 drills, no one should have to deal with changing drill bits. 

 After lots  of sanding and even more drilling, screwing and nailing the bookcase is sturdy enough to have the countertop put in place and ready for the awesome paint!!

As I'm sure you have already guessed the paint is also a deal given to us by the Lowes gods. 

Have you ever checked out the clearance section in the paint department? If not you should. They always have mistints which are usually beautifully unique colors that are priced as low as .75 cents! We got this gorgeous gallon of blue latex paint for $5!! 

I was extremely excited and can't wait to find something else to paint with this amazing color! 

Now that the bookshelf is completed and adding space to our cramped kitchen I am beginning to feel like this may actually be our home not just Reeds. 

I can't wait until August 4th, I'm ready to be married and play house in this quirky little place!!

Linked up to the DIY Fall Challenge

House Project #1

Once the house was officially flea free Reed and I started really moving in. 

I have been looking forward to decorating our house for ever and I finally get to start it! 

First let me tell you about this sofa! Reed and I found it on Craigslist for $100!

Its a two year old micro fiber queen pull out sofa. 

We needed something that was small but not too small. Our living room is only 12x16 which means we don't have very much room at all. We love having people over so we needed a sofa that would provide enough seating with out taking up the entire room. Because we are both poor college students we couldn't just go shopping for new furniture so we had to really dig deep and search hard. I was fully prepared to end up with a well used "retro" sofa that desperately needed a slip cover. But! Again, God has blessed us with another amazing deal! Finding this super nice sofa that acts as seating annnnnd can help when family comes to visit as far as sleeping arrangements was a HUGE blessing. I mean really, I think $100 bucks is a steal. We also have a love seat and chair in Columbia, hopefully the next time I get home I can bring those back! 

So with only having a TV stand, sofa bed, and a few kitchen chairs the only real decorating I could do is hang stuff. 

I set out everything on the floor so that I could rearrange it as much as I want with out putting holes in the wall. These are all things that Reed and I had around the house. 

-The Deer was Reeds first ever buck from Edgefield when he was 13. 

- The "washed by the water" painting was one I did the other night just for fun. I'm thinking about doing a few more and selling them on here. What do you think?

- The dog drawing next to it is one that was Reeds parents, they gave us two beautiful pieces that we now have in our living room. 

-The long painting between the deer and the dogs was done by The Chicken Man in Columbia. His paintings are so quirky and fun, they are pretty popular around the Midlands. He is a interesting character. He paints on scrap wood and has his "roaming studio" in random places around Columbia. JB (my brother) found him one day and bought a few different pieces for a great deal and was generous enough to give me 2! This one and then a Clemson one that I think is gonna go up in the kitchen!!

- The round butterfly plates were given to Reed after his Nanna passed this past August. Reed has always been a big bug collector and has a beautiful collection of butterflies from numerous different places. These just have a little more sentimental value to them so we decided to hang these instead of his personal catches.
-And finally the beetle, butterfly, and snake paintings are all gifts I gave to Reed back in 2009. They are watercolor and color pencil drawings of his favorite things. I can't name them for you anymore but I do know that he has the beetle and butterfly in his bug collection and  the snake was a pet that he had for a long time, sadly she is no longer with us. She didn't make it through the cold winter of 2011. 

Reed is always such a generous helper. 

I called him in from the yard to get him to help me hang the Deer because I didn't want to risk messing it up and he told me to step back and direct him so that I cold get it just right on the first try. 

He really is so great, I love that he is willing to help decorate around the house even if I get picky with how close the dogs are to the chicken. 

Looking around the living room today I realized that we are going to have a pretty good amount of animals in it. I'll have to share more when I get pictures of the other projects in the room. But just beware, if you ever visit our house you will be greeted with a deer, raccoon, bass, and possibly a duck all as soon as you walk in the front door :)  

Our Little House

So this week I'm doing more personal updates than I think I have everdone. But hopefully this time in my life is interesting to more people than just myself :) If you're tired of the personal and want more art let me know! I'm here to cater to YOU :)

Ok, update on the house. Its still our little quircky first house, and it has been showing more and more character the longer Reed is in it. I didn't share this in the first post about the house cause there weren't many details and I wasn't sure what the outcome would be. Now that it is finally taken care of I think I can share with you.

When Reed first moved in June 8th I was at the beach with my family so we had some great friends and family help him move from Seneca to Pendleton. They were very efficent and got all of the house moved in ONE day! It was such a blessing to have Reed in our home with no problems!

Then, I got a phone call the last day of the beach.

 FLEAS.

Our precious little house was infested with fleas!

Before Reed moved in the Realty company had it sprayed twice. Once just because it was so bad they couldn't send the workers in to get the house cleaned and ready for move in. Then they sprayed again the day before Reed moved in. Reed had so many flea bites that he looked like he had the chicken pox!

We got the exterminator back out the Tuesday I returned from the beach and even he was amazed by the fleas that survived the last 2 sprays. The next day THEY WERE STILL IN THE HOUSE!

Reed had moved everything in to our first home but was unable to sit any where other than the kitchen. And he had unpacked nothing but kitchen gadets.We were getting really fed up when it hit the one week mark.

We got the house sprayed again, this time with another chemical and it seems to have worked! It has been about 4 days since Reed last saw a flea.

I think we are officially FLEA FREE!

Another little surprise came last night when Reed got home from work and attempted to set up the internet.

He had just gotten in the router and all the other doo-dads that go along with hooking up wireless internet and called the company to see how it all fits together to some how produce our wireless internet. The man on the phone politly said "Its really simple. Plug the router in to the phone jack and thats it!"

Reed looked around and found NO PHONE JACK. This house has not been set up to have a phone or any kind of internet. Luckily we have gotten to know the ladies at the realty office really well and they are sending someone out this week to fix that. So hopefully Reed will have internet this week!!

These are I guess kind of boring little house stories but they are just part of the reason why there is a delay in posting all the projects I have going on. I have started about a million projects but haven't been able to put them up until the house is set up just a tiny bit more.

I think by this weekend you will have your first update of the yard and living room!

PS. I know this is random and unofficial but I wanted to share the first piece of  our mail at our house.

This gives me goosebumbs every time I see it. In Less than 45 days we will be Mr. & Mrs.!!!

Currently doing a Pinterest blog hop hosted by the D.I.Y. Dreamer go check it out and get some cool Pinterest craft ideas!! 

45.

I want to do a little gushing about a big event coming up in my life. 

In 45 days I will be marrying my best friend, adding numbers to my already huge family, and changing my name. 

I thought it would be fun to make a list of 45 reasons why I love Reed and can't wait for this day to come!!

1. He is my best friend. 

2. He is a leader

3. He already is so much of a provider

4. He is totally a protector 

5.He makes me laugh

6. He is passionate about the Lord

7. He isn't afraid to be goofy

8. He loves my friends

9. He has known/been a part of my family for years

10. His family has treated me as family since day 1

11. He flew all the way to Nicaragua just to see me

12. He saves his romantic sides for surprises :) 

13. He knows how to combine my interests with his

14. He likes to cook me fabulous meals

15. He teaches me how to work power tools

16. He wants me there on guys night

17. He critiques my art to help make it better

18. He surprises me with M&Ms and grape juice

19. He lets me ramble about life

20. He helps with any project; big or small

21. He opens the door for me

22. He always assumes he is driving

23. He never lets me help carry the groceries 

24. He lets me hold just his pinky finger

25. He holds my hand while driving 

26. He dances/sings in the car

27. He is willing to send me cheesy messages

28. He smells so good (most of the time)

29. He finishes what he has started

30. He does the dishes

31. He doesn't like messes 

32. He cleans the windshield before a long trip

33. He is a professional tinkerer 

34. He is always prepared for any circumstance 

35. He likes it when people know I'm his

36. He is an extremely hard worker

37. He is always entertaining  

38. He always eats my left overs 

39. He never calls me "Gracie" it's either 

"babe", "sweat tart", "pumpkin" or some other food endearment 

40. He wants to share his daily stories with me; in detail

41. He never gets upset or annoyed with me and my freak outs

42. He helps me make my own decisions

43. Most of our dates are either on the boat or the motorcycle

44. He planned our first kiss to be under a waterfall

45. He chose me 

Yep. 45 days. Crazy. 

Photo credit goes to The Mondays Photography

Looky Looky!!

Wellllllll

I hope you noticed the changes I've made around the blog!! 

I have been trying to update the blog and become a "true blogger" recently and my first step towards that was getting a banner image I was happy with. 

I am not someone that enjoys sitting in front of the computer playing around on photoshop. I don't understand technology I would much rather have a piece of paper with markers or a paint brush in front of me. 

Despite my procrastination and wishful thinking that some how my banner would automatically change to some fabulous digital piece of art I made myself sit down and learn how to make my own blog banner. 

I looked up multiple tutorials but went off of this one from Songbird blog. Really I fallowed her 5 steps and then used my limited knowledge of Photoshop to play around on my own. I also looked up as many freebies as I could. I found a few awesome digital scrap-booking sites that offered free embellishments, papers, and more! 

Here are a few:

freedigitalscrapbooking.com

www.shabbyprincess.com

digitalscrapbookingfreebies.com

www.acherryontop.com

If I hadn't found these sites my banner wouldn't look this fabulous. I always wanted the old paper, buttons, ribbon, and tape but never understood how it was so crisp looking. I tried scanning my own but it just never worked out. Thank goodness these people were nice enough to share their fabulous talents for free!
I've also added a new tab that will take you directly to my etsy shop! I still have a lot of updating to do on that front but hopefully that will come this week. I plan on adding a lot more signs and pre-made art work to the shop instead of commission only work. (So if you have anything you would like to see don't be afraid to comment on here or facebook and let me know!). 

I'm so excited about this new look. I really am trying to be more professional. 

Luckily I have some great mentors. Bonnie and Trish of Uncommon Designs have really taken me under their wing and have shared their secrets to becoming big time bloggers. I also have been lucky enough to have Kelly Osteen of www.kellyosteen.com and Erin Galloway of Erin Galloway Interiors support and share my work on their personal pages that get tons of views. These 4 women really are helping me as an up and coming artist and blogger. 

running ragged

Alright. I'm really not "ragged" just tired today.
I know I've been absent for a while I've been really busy and as much as I want blogging to be high on my list it always gets knocked further down.
Last week I was lucky enough to spend a week with my family on Kiawah Island. I'm pretty sure that is one of my favorite places in the world. I would love to live out in that area one day (probably not ON Kiawah, but close). I read 2 books and got nice and tan... Mmmm I just love summer :)

So after my fabulous week vacation I came back to Clemson to help Reed move in to our home. Thats weird to say. I mean, its not technically "ours" because we are renting but hey its the first place we will live together! Reed is moving in a couple months before the wedding to fix it up and to allow me time to do whatever I want to it before I officially move in as "Mrs. Lathrop". (Ooooh thats even weirder to say!!).

These are some of the pictures from the house. They are rough in both picture quality and whats in them. I really don't want to share them but I want to be able to show you the transformation once I get my hands on the place!!


First up. The Living room. Gross. But I will say it looks a lot better already! I've moved all the boxes out and rearranged what furniture Reed has now. Hopefully by the end of this month we will have my living room furniture in place and I can start really putting the room together.

Second room is the guest/art/hunting room. I don't think it will stay all of these things but we are hoping to fit a day bed, my desk and craft cabinet along with Reeds gun cabinet and bows... I have a plan to make it more of "my room" than his. He has the entire back yard and 2 sheds!

Annnnd this is going to be our bedroom. Its tiny. We are only gonna be able to fit in our bed, a dresser, and maybe a bookcase.

And this is the bathroom. No room for storage... I may add some corner shelves... I don't have a plan for this one yet.

But I'm hoping to get a piece of furniture to put out in the hall to hold my make up and the towels. I've been thrifting trying to find the right piece... 

And finally the kitchen. Well, I don't have much to say other than it is small.
Reed and his cousin worked really hard to move the stove to where it is now to give a little room for a table in the corner. Before the washer hook ups were where the stove is and the stove was to the left of the fridge. It didn't make any sense. This isn't much better but at least we can have a kitchen table!

The other view of the kitchen. Yep those are the only cabinets. I've come up with a few creative solutions just gotta wait to put them to work. I'm in the middle of making a rolling island and am also on the hunt for 2 small pieces of furniture to add as "counter space"...

And this is the laundry room/utility closet. 

its long and narrow. Before they only had the dryer hook up  in here and the washer was in the kitchen. Luckily I have a handy man and he was able to move the hook ups so we can do laundry in one place now :) He also plans to work on that shelving in the back... And I am planning to hang some peg board above the washer and dryer so that we can hang our pots and pans in here instead of taking up our limited cabinet space! 

 This is the front of the house. Not very exciting but nice. I'm moving some hydrangea bushes to the front just to add some color to the house :)

The glorious back yard. The picture doesn't do it justice. This is really what sold us on the house. A 1 acre fenced in yard!!! Reed has sense moved in 2 sheds, 2 boats, 3 cars, and a motorcycle... good thing we got an acre... I've talked to Reed about not turning it in to a parking lot and he is now parking 2 cars behind the shed.

Thats our house!
Not much. I'm working like a mad woman to get this place feeling like a home instead of a rental. Reed has been awesome and we have spent lots of late nights working, him in the yard and me in the kitchen and living room. Hopefully before the wedding it will be in ship shape and ready for me to move in come August!

We have already had our first guests :) Our good friends came over for dinner and so graciously stood in the kitchen while I organized the pantry and then ate tacos with us in our junk filled living room. So much fun, and I am so glad they love us despite the hectic-ness that is our lives!

Signs from the give away

Sorry it has taken me 10 million years to post these. Your signs wil be shipped out soon! 

Also, I apologize for the image quality. I need a better camera.