Furniture and other Frenzies!

What a month March has been!!! I have been M.I.A. lately, and with good reason. I have had a record month in sales while fulfilling a multitude of other commitments. Not to mention that this coming Saturday, Ryan and I are participating in the 10K Cooper River Bridge Run!!! What a sight that will be- for everyone else. I will probably look like this…

Here is a look at my life recently…

My frequent visitors know that Meagan and her family are often featured on my blog. Her sister, Lyndsey, is going to become a Mom VERY soon- within a few days! Here are some pictures from her baby shower:

Anna racked up on clothes pins. Upon arrival each guest was given a clothes pin. If you said the word “baby” yours got taken. It could also be interesting to play this game in Wal-Mart and use the words “price check…” But I digress.

It's Meagan!!!

My little darlings!!! I love filling my social calendar by spending time with these girls : ).

Lyndsey- “I feel like we're at Disney World again with all these pictures…”

Disney flash back (August 2010):

On March 17th we celebrated Anna's 11th Birthday!!! This photo is totally post-card worthy.

Birthdays at the Coleman's are always top notch. Check out this at LEAST 20 foot tall slide, not that I would expect anything less! I can only imagine what Anna's sweet 16th Birthday party will be like. It might just be a parade down Main Street!

Happy Birthday, love!!!

Of course, there were the essentials, such as cotton candy...

Snow cones... or in my case, lots of syrup with a little ice.

Presents...

And the CAKE!!! Check out that thing. It was scrumptious!

Little Noah had to eat, too!

But soon all that partying wore this little guy out!

And a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Taylor!!! She got accepted to USC!!!

I am SO thrilled for her and can't wait to order out cook dinners for her. It will be so great to have her in town!!!

Random informational tidbit of the day: Ryan got a company truck! It’s an F250 aka the tank. I think the F stands for fork lift. I need a stool to get in the thing, and it rides like a wooden rollercoaster. Nevertheless, we are most grateful and appreciative for this truck. It has already helped us a ton, including moving old furniture!

Speaking of that… Ryan and I searched all OVER the place for a new bedroom set, including but not limited to the following stores:

No luck at any of these places, because we couldn't agree on a style. Practical Ryan wanted a sleigh bed.

And in natural Katharine fashion, I envisioned something more luxurious and over-the-top...

I insisted to Ryan that he would sleep like Prince Abubu in one of these beds, but Ryan said that he didn't want to be Prince Abubu...alas, the canopy idea was out. (I'll still always have the canopy bed in my room in Dillon, though!)


After months of research and negotiation we FINALLY settled on this:

It is from the Magnussen collection, and I LOVE it!!! I love the curves in the wood and all the little details. I also love my night stand. I can turn the lamp on and off by touching it. Here's a closer look at the set.

I am a detail queen!!!

We got our furniture from Beds and Such in West Columbia. As soon as we walked in I heard "Glorious Day", one of my favorite Christian songs, on the radio, saw a verse from Jeremiah scripted on the wall, and also a basket of complimentary Bibles for each visitor. I knew immediately that this was the kind of business I wanted to support. The owner was also incredibly helpful when it came to choosing our mattress.


It is a Spring Air memory foam mattress, and I truly believe that it fell from Heaven.

Latex memory foam is a perfectly ideal balance between pillow top and tempur-pedic. It's the difference between sleeping on a bed and sleeping in it. Without question it is one of our greatest purchases to date, and rightfully so, seeing as how you spend 1/3 of your life asleep! What are you waiting for?? Go get your Spring Air mattress today!!! (Can you tell I'm in sales?)



I was in Dillon for Lyndsey's shower the day that the furniture was delivered, and at about 3:00 that day I got this text from Ryan...
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"And so it begins"

Apparently the headboard and box mattress would not fit up the curved stairs, so they had to hoist those items over the balcony. Never a dull moment. Quite frankly, I was thankful in hindsight to be out of town during this escapade!

As I said before, I have been INSANELY busy, but I am so thankful to the Lord for his many, many blessings, including another Birthday celebration of my Dad's and Nanny's this past weekend. This time last year we had no idea what Daddy was in store for health wise, but we are incredibly grateful that his triple bypass surgery was a success. And I love my grandparents TO PIECES.

Just this afternoon Papa called and said that he had just spoken to Lexus and inquired about getting me a Bluetooth. I rode to Dillon with them on Friday afternoon, and they couldn't get over how many customer calls I got in just that hour and a half. Papa says that he and Nanny were worried about it, and he wants me to be able to talk hands-free in the car. What sweethearts they are!!! I have to laugh though when I think about Papa explaining Bluetooth to a salesman over the phone. Let's not forget that this is the man who combines i-tunes and youtube and calls it "YouTunes"...nonetheless, what a thoughtful and much appreciated gesture!

I am hoping that I will be able to sit back and RELAX a little over the next few weeks. Ryan and I went to see the Hunger Games on Sunday. I know that this is a controversial movie, but it is fascinating, and its depiction of the future is definitely an eye opener.

Tonight Ryan and I are going out to dinner for Maggie's Birthday!!!

I may even resist getting chicken tenders...shocker!!

I hope you have a WONDERFUL week!!!

God bless you, and until next time,

High Ropes & Fashion Jokes!

March 1st?? Wow, I blinked and missed February! I've been super busy the past couple of weeks, but here is a glimpse of what I've been up to. This past Sunday night I had some awesome friends over to watch the Oscars.

Cutting fruit/playing around with knives. When I am holding a knife I will use it 9 times out of 10 to point at something while talking. Not good.

Jamie brought her awesome chocolate fountain. We had way too much fun with this. Turns out that there is not really anything you can't dip in chocolate and make delicious.

Megan's tasty cookie dough dip and graham crackers!

Dorothy's incredible candy/junk food basket...that she left here. These items have been my breakfast for the past week.

Can you say cupcakes??? I LOVE sprinkles. I can eat handfuls of them right out of the pantry. Confession of the evening.

We definitely had a blast together. Only three of us lasted until 12:00 am, though. We could have probably watched Titanic twice, and it would have been shorter than the Oscars.

And then there was- my personal favorite- the fashion on the red carpet!!! I LOVE seeing what everyone is wearing. Here are some of our collective thoughts on this year's fashion choices:

I'll start with this one, one of my favorites of the evening. The picture just doesn't do it justice. Milla Jovovich stepped out of the limo at the perfect time so that the sun made every bead on this dress glisten. GORGEOUS!!!

While this color is pretty on Penelope Cruz, we thought this dressed screamed 'mother of the bride.' And actually, if you have been or have encountered a mother of the bride, you'd know that screaming can play a big role in wedding planning.

This is so different and so classy! In a sea of soft colors the Help's Jessica Chastain really stood out. The gold contrast on this black gown is just breathtaking, as are her hair and makeup! She need'nt shake any bags of flour in this ensemble.

LOVED this dress on Missi Pyle. So delicate, and SO beautiful!

This was another one of my absolute favorites. Michelle Williams aka Tinker Bell looked like an absolute DOLL. I LOVE the ruffled detail on this dress. The color, the style, the fit- AMAZING!!!

HELLO Stacy Kiebler!!! George already had his Oscar before the show began. Straight from the runway this dress is WOW!!! Flawless.

I now present to you a wax statue of Angelina Jolie. She doesn't move.

See? Same pose.

Some mannequin in Belk is feeling quite violated.

Fashion police everywhere were raving about Gwyneth Paltrow's choice. While you can't deny that she is in incredible shape, I just don't get this one. Really? Did I miss the coronation? I get that it's a statement, but all I can think is that Batman ran into Casper while practicing his flying.

I'll end the fashion segment on a positive note. We loved Cameron's dress! It looked great in motion.

On Tuesday of this week our sales team took a much needed fun day and headed to a ropes course at Camp Gravatt. No thinking about work allowed! We did low ropes in the morning and high ropes in the afternoon. It was an absolute blast. Each obstacle required team work and cooperation, hence the team building event.

On the first obstacle we had to balance every person (one at a time) on this ramp. This probably took the longest amount of time, and it was super hard, especially with an uneven number of people.

Yay- we finally did it!

Here we had to swing across a pit without knocking over the pipes. We actually did it in one try!

The next course had three little "islands" and "boats." No touching the ground. This involved a lot of men hugging- hahaha.

Naturally, during the instructional portion, I was out in left field and gazing around... How pretty is this?

Next up, you and a partner had to hold on to each other and walk on a wire as it kept expanding.

After lunch it was time for...the high ropes!!! I live for thrills like this. I've been sky diving, remember??

Here is just a little glimpse of our high ropes adventure- 30 feet above ground! That's my showoff awesome manager, Wayne!

Leave it to me to strike a pose in mid air.

Standing on top of that pole and jumping off was probably the scariest part of the day...but I did it!

The first time I did a high ropes course was at a camp in Swannanoa in the summer of 2009:

Look at the cute little friends I made at Camp Gravatt!! Obsessed!!! I kept telling our instructors to watch out, because I was going to take them home in my gigantic pocketbook. I even named one of them Oreo and proceeded to call him that for the remainder of our excursion. Psychological attachment, commence!

That little nose---ahhh!!

So what else is going on? Well, I am super excited that after months of searching (and pleading), Ryan and I finally purchased a new bedroom set!!! I am SOOO excited! It will be here in a few days, and I can hardly wait to sleep on the new amazing mattress. Also, Jamie and Megan have talked me into reading "The Hunger Games" before the movie comes out in just a few weeks. I normally get really into fads, so I'm sure I'll love it.

Also, I may have previously mentioned my obsession with Dance Moms. It has gotten worse. I have to watch each episode over and over just to catch every little thing, I have seen all of the interview clips multiple times on Lifetime, and I even follow all of the moms on twitter.

I obsess over every little detail- like this past week when Melissa got a text from Jill, supposedly during a competition week in November, when, lo and behold, the camera zoomed in on her i-phone, and I saw clearly with my own eyes-and pause button- that the text was actually sent in January 2012!!! CAUGHT!!! My new alias is Sherlock. I shall use it the next time I make a dinner reservation...

Until next time, folks, remember to make each day count! Sure, you may groan at the sound of your alarm, but make the most of each day, because you are exchanging a portion of your life for it. When you think about it that way, it may make all the difference!!!

"Make each day end, knowing that you have served the Lord."

Yours truly,