Buddy's Got a Brand New Scanner...

Uncle Bud is quite the funny guy on Facebook... until the naked baby pictures start coming out! Luckily, he has spared me so far on his escapade into the past. He has however given me a really cool idea. I have always been in love with art walls (I think this stems from my mom's entryway full of photos). Anyway, here are two that I really like.































Anyway, Uncle Bud has been posting a bunch of old photos and I have to say that I am in love! I know exactly where these pictures are coming from (I will share a few of my favorites in a bit). Uncle Bud has a huge brown box of pictures in his closet I think that we always like to look through. You could spend hours mulling through the hundreds of photos and never see the same one twice... we have done this numerous times.

It was always fun to engage my Gram in looking at the photos cause she was pretty much the only one who knew who everyone was! And you could tell it made her really happy to look at them. I would like to create some sort of collage with these old photos... but I'm sure that is easier said than done. There would have to be a lot of resizing and these old photos aren't the highest quality. I wonder how large I could blow them up without them looking too grainy? I'm sure a professional photographer could help... but we're looking a pretty expensive project. BUT how cool would it be to have a wall covered in these jewels??













Bud and Melanie













Spudley














Melanie














ME!... The childhood references to Monkey are very clear!




















Ryan... pretty much the cutest ever... lucky for him!

The Pacific

This mini-series by Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg (who also created Band of Brothers) is absolutely amazing. I have to say I wish these types of resources were around when I was in high school... although I can't say that I even remember the war fought in the Pacific was even covered when we studied WW11?!?

After doing a little research, I found out that the series is based on two books, the authors of which are the two main characters followed on the show.

1. Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie
2. With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge

Finally after a few episodes I placed the character who plays Sledge, it is the the kid who played the brother in Jurassic Park. He did a wonderful job and I would have to say that his Alabama accent wasn't even that bad! I still can't imagine being alive when a war of that magnitude was taking place (hope I never will).

Check out the official trailer:



Also I have to give amazing credit (as usual) to Hans Zimmer for the soundtrack which truly captures every emotion of the series and could tell the story completely on it's own. The opening sequence (found below) I have found myself listening to a lot. I don't think I have been as enlightened about a historical event since the first time I watched the PBS documentary The Civil War by Ken Burns. I will have to say I thank my parents so much for watching that one with me!

The Pacific Opening Sequence:



Only one episode of The Pacific left. It comes on HBO on Sunday's at 8 p.m. Also, all of the episodes are available on HBO On Demand.

NieNie = Lovespiration

Over the past year I have become absolutely enthralled with Stephanie Nielson (NieNie) as I know a lot of the world has. She began blogging in 2005 about her absolutely adorable family which includes four beautiful (understatement) children and her husband who she lovingly refers to as Mr. Nielson (adorable ode to Pride and Prejudice). In 2007 she and her husband, who is also a novice pilot, were in a near fatal crash. Over 90% of her body was burned, leaving her almost unrecognizable. Her beauty of faith and love is absolutely inspiring. You see the amount of love she has and shares with Mr. Nielson and her children in every post... if everyone was as lucky to find as perfect of a match, this world would be a lot better off! And she has bad days, which makes her all the more real and her blog even more amazing.

A short movie was recently created providing a little background, and a perfect place to start for someone who is new to her blog. But if you're like me after reading a few pages I had to start all the way back at the beginning in 2005!

Virtual Inspiration Board

With my move to Nashville quickly approaching (and dreams of buying a house running wild through my head) I wanted to start an inspiration board. So in staying with the times, I have decided to create one virtually.

To say that I am obsessed with this makeover is a complete understatement. I think this place is almost perfect in every way. Perhaps a tad too grown up, but let's be honest, I guess I am (or at least pretending to be).

Before & After: Stefanie’s Brooklyn Limestone

See the complete post at designspongeonline.com