For Sale By Owner

516 Baker Drive

2 bed/1 bath

$205,000

Although we're still working on a few small projects (i.e. new exterior paint next week), we thought we'd get the word out that our house is officially on the market. We're going the FSBO route to start, so I'm shamelessly soliciting on my blog. It's an adorable cottage in Crestline Park with hardwood floors, a wood burning fireplace, a brand new chef's dream kitchen (with stainless steel Frigidaire Professional Series appliances, Kraftmaid cabinets, and LG Hi-Max Corian countertops with a seemless sink) (2007) & brand new bath (2008). The front yard also boasts a beautiful Coral Bark Japenese Maple that my husband gave me for my birthday last year. This house is perfect for young business singles, newlyweds, a retired couple or individual, or single parent. It is a 2 bedroom/1 bath and has a nice large grilling deck off the back. It is in a FABULOUS location with great neighbors! Crestline Park and The Open Door Cafe are with in walking distance, while Publix, Chic-fil-a, Wal-Mart, Winn Dixie and several other restaurants and shopping are just minutes away in either direction. We're starting the price at $205,000. If you know of anyone who'd be interested, please pass our info along. You can call Tally at (205) 613-9378 or Aaron at (205) 515-4624 or email us!

Unsolicited Advice

Today was a beautiful April day except that it was a bit chilly for such a late spring day in Alabama. Before meeting my dear friends Christy & Chris for lunch, I ran several errands in Homewood & Mtn. Brook just carrying James from store to store with me. I was surprised by how many unsolicited comments about my child's sockless toes were dished out by other store patrons. I brought the topic up at lunch and Christy agreed that it is surprising how random strangers love to offer their own two cents! As she plans her wedding and I mother my child, it is amazing how people seem to just love to tell you what they think about both subjects--especially in a negative tone. It is shocking that strangers feel so comfortable telling you what you're doing wrong! Thank you for reading as I vent! From now on, I'm going to try very hard to keep my opinions to myself especially if they're negative.

Blogger Envy

I've been looking at some of my friends' blogs tonight and they have inspired me! I hope you enjoy the newly added music. If you'd like to turn it off, scroll to the very bottom of the page and you can switch between songs or just turn them off all together.

Other than that, not much is going on here. We've been sick for almost two full weeks now--first a stomach bug and now a head cold, so I haven't been taking many photos. The doctor gave me some antibiotics on Tuesday, so hopefully I'll be 100% again soon! :) Fortunately, James seems to be doing much better!

I did work on our Shutterfly account this week, just getting caught up with all the photos so if you're curious you can check that out. And Aaron has joined the world of Facebook! Ha, Ha! He came home a few nights ago and saw my Facebook page up and declared that he wanted one too. He said "this will make us spend even more time together!" We'll see if that's really how it turns out. Anywho, it's fun being able to list in the "married to" section my husband, Aaron Dettling! :)

I've enjoyed reading about the day-to-day happenings of all my "blogging" friends. Please keep writing! I love hearing from you all and seeing pics of all your adorable kiddos!

War Eagle!

"WAR EAGLE"

While in town for my cousin's wedding, we decided to show James one of our favorite places and my birth town--good ole' Auburn! It was a Sunday morning and the middle of spring, so not much was going on but we took some fun photos and walked around for a bit. We'll have to go back in the fall when things are a little more festive! Can't you just see James little lips already mouthing "War Eagle" in that last photo?! Go Tigers! :)

"Walk A Mile In Their Shoes"

Since Aaron wasn't able to work on the deck this weekend, he decided to join me and James as I "Walked A Mile In Their Shoes" for the CHIPS Foundation of Children's Hospital on Saturday. CHIPS is an organization that helps abused children. We walked from the UAB mini park to the Children's Hospital Business Office on Saturday morning to raise money for the organization. This was my first walk/run since participating in the Azalea Trail Run as a child. I've been using the treadmill at the gym several times a week for the last few weeks, in hopes of losing the "baby fat." When I heard about the walk on a TV commercial on Wednesday night, I thought it would be a wonderful way to put my efforts toward helping others. It was very fulfilling, especially being able to push James in the stroller as a reminder of how fortunate we are as a family and how more children need loving homes!

For more information about CHIPS, please see below:

Children’s Hospital Intervention and Prevention Services (CHIPS Center) is a place where child abuse victims can come for help and healing. The CHIPS staff is a team of specially trained clinical counselors, doctors, social workers, and nurses who work with law enforcement, the Department of Human Resources (DHR), and child advocacy center (CAC) representatives to provide the best possible care for children and families traumatized by physical and/or sexual abuse.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

I love the rain, but this weekend it made for more "house" trouble. Aaron had planned on putting our deck back together again, but instead we looked out the window to a nice man-made wading pond that had formed in our backyard. Apparently, we don't have enough dirt underneath our deck or in our yard to absorb the bucket-fulls of water that poured from the sky throughout the day and night on Friday. Please pray that the hits will stop coming our way for a while, long enough to get the many house projects we have to finish completed. The walls are beginning to feel as though they may cave in on us at any moment (especially as James nears the days of crawling and as his "stuff" continues to take up every inch of conceivable space in our darling pint-sized home.)

An April Wedding

My cousin Bradley got married last weekend, April 5th, in Auburn. Aaron, James and I went and met my mom (i.e. "Nana") there. It was a fun weekend and the wedding was absolutely gorgeous. It had been raining most of the day, but the clouds cleared in time for a stunning outdoors ceremony and reception at the Moores Mill Golf Club. My cousin's fiance/wife Jae is fortunate to have a mother who owns a wedding planning & florist business. The entire thing looked like a spread from a wedding magazine with every detail thought of and created by Jae's mother. Aaron, of course, had his camera ready and took some beautiful photos. I did, however, snap one of Daddy being mischevious. James has a fascination with our drinking cups these days. I promise we didn't give our baby anything, though! He looked adorable in his "fancy" clothes that were given to him by his Nana and embroidered by our good friend Molly. Hope you enjoy the photos! :)

Nursery Rhymes & Sewer Lines

"...All the King's horses and all the King's men,

Couldn't put Humpty together again!"

No, we haven't named our house "Humpty Dumpty" but being in eternal "mommy mode" allows a constant plethora of little songs and nursery rhymes to resonate in my brain. The story of this gigantic egg with a painted smile is what comes to mind as I think about our poor house. Humpty was such a nice egg, and our house is such a nice little house. Though it seems that the more we try to improve it, the more it breaks. Last week, we had to replace a portion of our sewer line. For anyone who has ever had to deal with any type of sewer problem, you can understand the major inconvenience and "bill trauma" caused when all is said and done. This was after having the plumbers out three times prior (since Christmas) to fix the same recurring problem. We showered at the YMCA on Thursday morning, and then enjoyed a nice hot shower and continental breakfast at the local Hampton Inn on Friday morning (after which James and I spent a nice long day at the Galleria while Daddy worked.) Despite the disgusting problems, we still felt the need for a photo shoot. Aaron thoroughly enjoyed playing with the "Bobcat" that sat in our front yard for 5 days! So, what are our plans for this weekend? Putting our deck back together again!!!

James' Big Week

Aaron took some new photos of James on Friday that have definitely become my new favorites. We can't believe how big our baby boy is getting! Last week was a big week for him. He has finally learned to roll over from his back to his stomach in his crib and wakes himself up around 4am now, not sure how he got to his stomach. We quietly go into his room, turn him back over and then everyone drifts off to sleep again. He also is very close to sitting upright for more than just a few seconds on his own. He's even pulling himself back up to a sitting position once he slumps over a bit more now. And the biggest event in our little part of the world occured yesterday-- James first tooth began to pop out! I'm sure it will be fully visible by this weekend, just in time for Nana to see it at my cousin's wedding in Auburn. I just can't believe how quickly he's growing up! It makes me so happy and so sad all at the same time!