marriage

It’s no exaggeration to say that I spend ALOT of time in my kitchen. I’m a stay at home mom with 3 kids, 4 if you count the husband, and they require to be fed on a routine basis….like every 10minutes, no lie!

When we were house hunting, finding the perfect house with the perfect kitchen was a bit on the impossible side. I almost nixed the idea of putting an offer on the house we are currently living in because I HATED the kitchen. I hated everything about it…

the old cabinets

the white appliances

the cream color formica counter tops

the light colored tile, the red paint, the gold sponge paint on top of the red paint and the painted on faux brick on top of the red paint.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the color red. I really do. But it was too much for the kitchen. It wasn’t my style and it made me not want to be in the kitchen.

I firmly believe that the most memorable family memories are made in the kitchen. Any conversation or story that I tell my kids from my childhood, always has us in the kitchen. So I was determined to turn this kitchen around.

I pinned, I googled and I browsed Home Depot. I knew what I wanted but I couldn’t get the husband (or the checkbook) to go for it, no matter how hard I tried. Deep down, I knew it was unrealistic to redo the entire kitchen so I opted to work with what I had. I still pinned and googled but this time I added a few key terms to help with my search…oak cabinets, white formica, white appliances. I wanted the internet to show me what color paint would work best with what I had because I knew I could get the husband on board with that and he would love it too! I could change the look without draining the bank account. I was determined to LOVE my kitchen again and a little paint could bring me that love…right??

Stayed tuned for Part II…

On the few occasions that I am alone in the car, the first thing I do is eject the kiddie music and pop in some DMB. My all time favorite cd is Crash. I could seriously listen to that all day long! With the upcoming holiday of Thanksgiving fast approaching, I’m reminded of something that I am thankful for. I am thankful for Betty the hygienist.

Ten years ago, a fellow dental hygienist, Betty, set me up on a blind date with one of her patients. His name was Jon and he was a flosser. True story. Dental hygienists just cannot date people who don’t floss so that was an important AND impressive quality. I reluctantly agreed to let her. Betty is of my mother’s age and she was always so motherly towards me. This happened right after all those hurricanes (Charley, Frances, Ivan & Jeanne) hit us. Betty always made sure I had plenty of food, water and a place to stay. So when she demanded, I mean suggested that I call him (yes, she made me call him because she wouldn’t give my number out), I did exactly as I was told.

Thank God I got his voicemail. Seriously.

We ended up meeting for dinner on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. After four hours of delicious food, great wine and mind-blowing, heart-pounding, butterflies-in-my-stomach conversation, I knew I had to see this man again. On my way home, I called my sister and my BFF and told them both that this was the man I was to marry. Creepy, I know but so very true. I felt it in my soul and I saw it in his eyes.

Two Step by Dave Matthews Band always reminds me of that evening, not because it was playing that night but because it says what my heart was feeling that night and every night there after. I love you Jon Henry. Happy ten years!

Two Step by Dave Matthews Band

“Hey my love you came to me like wine

comes to this mouth

grown tired of water all the time

you quench my heart and love,

you quench my mind

Celebrate we will

because life is short but

sweet for certain

we’re climbing two by two

to be sure

these days continue”