The Last Lecture

Well I just spent the last 45 minutes trying to keep my composure as I watched an ABC special about Randy Pausch who wrote "The Last Lecture". You have probably heard about this guy...he was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was already a mentor to many of his students and gave motivational speeches, but when he found out about the cancer he wrote his "last lecture" for his kids. It is full of advice on life and stories from his childhood. Some that stick out are "tell the truth, all the time", "a bad apology is better than no apology" and "wait to marry until you find someone that you care more about thier happiness than your own". He waited til he was 39 to marry and they have two boys and a girl..ages 6, 4 and 2. The thing that got me the most was that during his interview with Diane Sawyer he stopped her from ending the show and said "you forgot to ask me one question"..she said "what is that". He said "are they going to make my life into a movie"..and he said the answer was "No, because there isn't an actress out there pretty enough to play my wife"....talk about heartbreak. During the whole interview he and his wife kept looking at each other trying to savor each and every moment. They decided not to tell thier kids that daddy was sick until he was laying on his deathbed. That way they would match the word sick with how thier dad looked and they would understand it better. He wrote the last lecture for them, made videotapes for them all and left behind letters to be opened later on in each one of thier lives. He lived until May which was 6 months past the doctors expectations. In April he gave the commencement speech at Carnegie Mellon and at the end he wished everyone would find a love like he had...then he walked across stage and gave his wife a huge kiss...and picked her up and carried her off stage...one month away from dying, with fluid in his lungs and a failed kidney. On her last birthday with him alive his wife says she whispered in his ear "please don't die, because you will take all the magic with you". This is one of the best inspirational stories I have heard. I think we can learn alot about finding satisfaction in our lives, especially when things don't seem fair. The one thing that they didn't touch on was his religion...he wanted to keep that private. I wish that either (A) if he was a Christian he woud have talked about it and given a testimony that would have been so well recieved after watching his life and death or (B) that he would had left the message of Christ with his kids..since that is the most important thing a parent can pass on to thier kids. If you want to watch this special go to ABC.com...go to full episodes and then to "The Last Lecture: A Celebration of Life". I have to warn you though, get your kleenex out.

My week at home.

So, I came back to work today...after having 9 glorious days off from all 3 jobs and class!!! It felt weird to be apart from Adam for 6 of those days and I think we both agree that these times apart should not be a frequent thing. I got real upset when it was time to tell Adam bye...and I felt really stupid with everyone watching. I didn't know I would be that emotional..honestly. Anyways, some highlights from my week at home were as follows.
Saturday-watching the opening of the Olympic games with my parents, adam's parents, my brother, adam's brother jason and his girlfriend Ashley and then kicking thier butt in Settlers of Caatan!!!
Sunday night-my dad rubbed my head while watching TV....he did this everynight when I was growing up..and now Adam does it... .... me, spoiled?, what?
Monday-working out with Virg at the gym, dinner at Olive Garden with my Papa, Aunt Robin and brother
Tuesday-Eating at a Thai restaurant in Tuscaloosa with my mom and Jason, Adam's brother...it was soooo good..we got edamame for an appetizer and Thai Teas (coconut milk + creamy goodness).
Wednesday-Starbucks in Tuscaloosa (b/c it was free) and going to my old church for youth group meeting that night. I got to talk to my friend Allison too!
Thursday-PENSACOLA BEACH WITH STEPH AND VIRG!!!! CAN"T BEAT THAT!!!
Friday- Time with my Nana and Papa and Goat (their new baby deer)..i will post pictures of him soon...I hadn't been there in sooo long...since they always come to my house to see me.
Saturday-Seeing my hubby for the first time in 6 days...he laughed at me for being so sunburnt but then planted a big one on me....can't say I blame him. Then we went to IKEA and loaded up..I LOVE THAT PLACE...and the finale was seeing my 2 kids (cats) at home....what a good week!

Countertops

Here are the before and after of our weekend project. We decided to do a green venetian plaster backsplash instead of a jungle green kitchen. The color was pretty but would have been overwhelming. The plaster is buffed and burnished and feels like glass....we actually had some left over from one of our clients in Auburn so it cost us nothing.

What we have done so far:
Put down tile floors
New countertops
New backsplash
Painted Dining room

Left to do:
Shoe molding in kitchen
Paint kitchen-Beige
Tile entry way
Tile bathrooms (maybe)
Paint stairwell and upstairs hallway

We will see how far we get in the year we have left before moving off to Jerusalem!!
On the other side of the kitchen is where the 5 new feet of countertop space will go...we just have to install cabinetry underneath!!

Kitchen before-pink countertops, linoleum floors
Kitchen After-tile floors, new countertops and backsplash

Close up of venetian plaster after it was buffed and burnished

Seriously?

Obama the Patriot-Removes American Flag From His Plane
Barack Obama recently finished a $500,000 total overhaul of his 757. And as part of the new design, he decided to remove the American flag from the tail...What American running for President of the United States would remove the symbol of his country? And worse, he replaced the flag with his own symbol.

Adam and I just registered to vote in Tennessee so I was doing a little research on who I wanted to vote for. I have heard a lot of negative ideas coming from both sides, however, this scares me. I know who I won't be voting for.

August 5th

So the Harvell house has been pretty busy lately. We spent almost all of our weekend in the kitchen, putting in new countertops and a backsplash. We had pink countertops-when our townhouse was built they put in pink countertops...why?, don't ask me!! Adam did a great job installing the new ones that are tan (dark and light) with some green in them ...there was a lot more work that had to be done than I had originally thought. They look great and in the end we were able to add almost 5 more ft of counterspace. Then we decided to use venetian plaster as our backsplash....a faux finish. Its a deep green and we burnished it to look like stone..its beautiful and I am very pleased with our new little kitchen. It has come so far from the nasty linoleum floors and pink countertops. I will post before and after pictures tomorrow.
Also, we have been scrambling to get me a plane ticket. I have 9 whole days off starting this Friday at 10!!!! For some odd reason all 3 of my jobs gave me that week off and my class ended today!! So we are going to Huntsville this weekend to stay with Adam's family. My family is driving up on Saturday to hang out as well and then I will go home with them. I plan on visiting both sets of grandparents, my aunt, my BEST FRIEND VIRG!!, lots of hanging out with my brother (i miss him) and parents and hitting the beach at least 3 days. I am stoked. Then I will fly back to atlanta on Saturday where Adam is going to meet me for a nice day spent at Ikea and the Aquarium before coming home that night. I have never flown by myself before but I think I will manage. I am much more saddened by the thought of being away from Adam for a whole week....I know, I know...its just a week. But still, I will miss that weirdo!!
As much as we have been busy, we know a lot of people who have been busier with new babies this week!!! Let me just list them all to you. Sunday night Adam's boss had thier baby, a boy Brendan, Tuesday our friend Stephanie had her baby, a girl Lara Dale, Friday Carlyn had her baby girl, Pearl Carolee, Saturday our friend Angela had her baby girl, Hannah Elizabeth and Sunday night my boss's daughter had her baby, a girl Molly Elizabeth. I mean that is a lot of babies!!! We were talking about how crazy it is too that some of them were actually born on thier due date...GO FIGURE!!! SO CONGRATULATIONS to all of you new moms and dads!!
Other than that we have been eating a lot of veggies lately since we have a friend who brings me organic zucchini, squash, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant and herbs. I have made a ton of zucchini break which is OH SO GOOD, eggplant parmesan, veggie lasagna, veggie pizza and some veggie soup(which was gross). YUM

Men and Summer

Just because you tuck your tank top in does not give you the right to wear it out of your house.

I saw two men today with pastel colored tank top shirts on. They were confident that their khaki pants and sock-less shoes were merely an addition to the beautiful piece of fabric(hardly any piece) that hung from their shoulders and slipped carelessly under their belts. Thankfully they wore belts. I am not one for fashion, just ask Kinzie, but cut-offs and anything to show those pythons off is just not appropriate for the public sector.

Don't tuck it in please.....it takes away from the ambiance of the entire outfit.
thank you

BUGS=ANNOYING

I'm not kidding at all when I say that BUGS (any kind) really ANNOY me!! I went for a run yesterday at Willow Springs and although I have already been out there 3 times to pick blackberries I saw some huge ones that I could not resist. However, the bugs found this prize patch too. They are very territorial, those june bugs and yellow jackets. I mean I would have to run up, snatch one and run away as they threw themselves at me like a suicide bomber!!! I hate the sounds that June Bugs make too.... It sounds like an amped up version of that symphony song Flight of the Bumblebee...which is nerve wracking anyways. Adam thinks I'm crazy but I promise that when he is with me that can smell MAN and they don't attack as much. I know the people at Willow Springs think I am a nutcase, darting in and our of bushes, screaming and flailing my arms. I took Jerri with me last week and talk about CRAZINESS....we scared each other more than the bugs scared us....people probably thought we were beating on each other as much as we screamed. In the end I have collected a freezer bag worth of blackberries. You couldn't pay me a 100 bucks for that bag since blood, sweat and tears have gone into it. So far I have made a blackberry cobbler and 5 jars of blackberry jam..YUMMY. I was thinking that should invent a temporary bug bomb...that just puts the bugs into a deep sleep for like 10 minutes, just long enough for you to grab all the berries and high tail it out there before the bugs wake up. Oh AND...the bugs have totally ruined the country, down home, warm, grandparent memories I have while picking blackberries. When you think of berries, cobblers, june bugs and summer you think of grandparents...well I do. Now, that the bugs have become my sworn enemies I think of nothing but survival while out in the battlefield called Willow Springs Park!!!!!