Caitlin and Joey's Journey

SOON ENOUGH!

2012-02-11T12:18:00.000-08:00

Caitlin tried on a 7 month belly bump at a maternity store! Isn't she cute!?

MOMMY AND DADDY ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE....

2012-02-06T18:41:00.000-08:00

Exactly one year from the original wedding date planned, Baby Thompson should make a debut on or before September 24th, 2012! I've made a separate baby blog for all of you to follow. I plan on updating this blog as usual....but if you want details, you will have to click over here:

http://babythompson-cj.blogspot.com/

She is exactly 7 weeks today and the baby has a nice strong heartbeat of 147!

LOCAL HEADLINES....POLICE OFFICER ATTACHED BY DOG, SHOTS FIRED.

2012-02-02T13:59:00.000-08:00

Joey is on the right.

Joey is walking on the left.

I think we should keep it this way! Man he's a keeper :-)

2012-01-29T18:02:00.000-08:00

JOE'S NEW WHEELS FOR WORK!

2012-01-26T15:48:00.001-08:00

NEW JOB FOR JOE!

2012-01-17T18:36:00.000-08:00

Joey was offered the Assistant Dog Warden's position with the Sheriff's Department. This is a full time position! He started today and loves it! We are proud of him!

THE PAINTING TEAM!

2012-01-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

The painting team minus Joey (sorry I forgot to take a picture of you) and Caitlin (she worked a 12 hour shift today)..........Ahhhhh! The kitchen and foyer are done!

GETTING READY TO PAINT AGAIN!

2012-01-14T17:46:00.000-08:00

We are finally getting around to painting the kitchen, eating area and front foyer. The color will be similar, so no big change there. However, all the spackled areas will finally be painted over, curtains hung and walls decorated. This will be a bigger paint job, so not sure when the finished photos will be posted.

Enjoying Nevaeh!

2012-01-13T19:06:00.000-08:00

AND......PROBLEM #3!!!

2012-01-10T17:23:00.001-08:00

PROBLEM #2

2012-01-10T17:22:00.000-08:00

PROBLEM #1

2012-01-10T17:21:00.001-08:00

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH!

2012-01-06T16:53:00.000-08:00

Guess who got employee of the month!? Caitlin is a wonderful nurse....She makes us so very proud! Along with this honor, she gets:

1. Name added to the wall plaque
2. Gold name badge
3. A special parking place
4. Sweatshirt
5. Online gift of choice

All the employees were called to the main desk, when Caitlin was surprised with this honor. She was nominated by the directors of Nursing!

Wow!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!

2011-12-31T18:34:00.000-08:00

This message was copied from Caitlin's facebook page:

What a blessed year 2011 has been....graduating from Nursing School and becoming an RN, Marrying my Best Friend, Buying our dream home and so much more!!!! Hoping 2012 brings even greater blessings ♥ Now off to ring in the new year!

CHURCH ON CHRISTMAS DAY 2011!

2011-12-25T18:40:00.000-08:00

CHRISTMAS 2011

2011-12-25T18:33:00.000-08:00

A gag gift!

COLOR CHANGE- DINNING ROOM

2011-12-23T18:17:00.000-08:00

The gold bottom was changed to a carmel brown color (Valspar- Cafe Meil). Instead of a gottcha feel, the room now has a warm feeling!

Here are the curtains that match the new chair cushions that Caitlin recovered! Turned out BEAUTIFUL!

DINNING ROOM MAKEOVER!

2011-12-22T18:49:00.000-08:00

The color scheme for the dinning room all started with recovering the chairs....Here's the before....

Caitlin covered the seats with this beautiful fabric. I will also be making curtains out of this same fabric.

Here's the after picture. Turned out BEAUTIFUL! Next, Caitlin, Vickie and I painted and put up paintable wallpaper.

The top and bottom colors match the fabric. Caitlin is debating if she will keep the gold on the bottom. She likes it but is not in love with it. Time will tell when the room is all put together. I'll show you the after pictures, once the curtains are done and up with the furniture in place! UPDATE.....Joe helped make the decision easy....he is not a fan of the gold color either.....So they will probably tone it down with a tan color that compliments the fabric.

3rd ANNUAL CHRISTMAS DINNER

2011-12-18T16:15:00.000-08:00

COOKIE BAKING 2011

2011-12-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

Cookie baking is hard work! Time for a nap!

HOLIDAY SHOPPING :-)

2011-12-13T19:37:00.001-08:00

THE STOCKINGS ARE HUNG!

2011-12-07T20:07:00.001-08:00

FIREPLACE, CURTAINS & PICTURES!

2011-12-04T17:05:00.000-08:00

Grandpa Richards relaxing with Lilly before we put him to work!

The guys putting the fireplace together!

This is an electric fireplace from Lowes. Vicky and Joe helped the kids with an early Christmas Gift!

Here it is in their front living room! The slate surround matches the slate in the coffee table!

Caitlin has the stocking hangers sitting on the mantel. Now to find Christmas stocking with silver, blue or cream.....and a tree skirt.

Grandma Richards ironing the new living room curtains.

Grandpa Richards hanging the curtain rods!

The new curtains!

Another view of the curtains!

I couldn't resist this picture at Lowes....Doesn't it match perfectly!

Awe! Such a cute little family of four!

The happy couple!

SILVER AND BLUE DECORATIONS!

2011-12-02T19:25:00.001-08:00

TREE IN FRONT FORMAL LIVING ROOM

2011-12-02T19:24:00.001-08:00

The tree is decorated in silver and blue!

FOYER DECORATIONS

2011-12-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

The walls still need painted, so the mirror isn't up yet, but still fun to decorate for the holidays!

2nd CHRISTMAS TREE!

2011-12-02T19:20:00.001-08:00

This is the tree in the TV room with all of their childhood ornaments!

MEET MILO!

2011-11-22T15:44:00.000-08:00

This is fur baby Lilly's new brother, Milo. He is a 16 week old black Lab. Now they need to work on a human baby sister or brother! Just sayin!

THANKSGIVING 2011

2011-11-20T16:02:00.001-08:00

LOOK WHO SURPRISED CAITLIN!

2011-11-15T16:35:00.001-08:00

I found out today that Joey was coming home. I wanted to be there sooooo bad to catch it on camera but didn't quite know what excuse to come up with. After work, Caitlin called me and asked me to come and see the new Christmas decorations she just got for 50% off! God must have been listening to my prayers. Once I got there and made over the decorations, I talked her into hanging some more pictures ....to buy some time.....and......

Here's a video......don't mind the plaster on the walls, as you can see, the kids still have a lot of painting to do. Sorry Joe, you didn't get out of all of the work! :-)

THE NEW COUCH!

2011-11-12T10:45:00.001-08:00

BOTH SIDE CHAIRS!

2011-11-12T10:43:00.000-08:00

THE BEAUTIFUL CHAIR!

2011-11-12T10:42:00.001-08:00

Caitlin was at work when the furniture arrived. I sent her the pictures and she questioned why I left the tags on the furniture and the plastic on the lampshade .....I didn't want to take away her fun of detagging, unwrapping and organizing!

SIDE TABLE WITH LAMP!

2011-11-12T10:38:00.001-08:00

COFFEE TABLE!

2011-11-12T10:37:00.001-08:00

NEW FRONT ROOM (FORMAL SITTING) FURNITURE!

2011-11-12T10:36:00.001-08:00

I love this wedding picture!

2011-11-09T18:59:00.001-08:00

Professional photos are in! One of my favorites! More to come....

THE SIDE TABLE :-)

2011-11-07T03:16:00.001-08:00

COFFEE TABLE :-)

2011-11-07T03:14:00.000-08:00

LILLY LOOKING PRETTY!

2011-11-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

WHITE ROCKERS!

2011-11-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

Here's their early Christmas gift! Caitlin even put the rockers together by herself. She is turning into a pretty handy girl without Joey around to help. One day, they want to put white railing on the front porch, have a walk that leads to the drive and some landscaping.....In time.... :-)

FORMAL FRONT SITTING ROOM

2011-11-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

We sent this picture to Joey!

The rug inspiration for the wall color!

The lamp shade that started it all! Caitlin picked out the furniture. The couch is cream and the two chairs are cream with subtle tans and taupe stripes. The coffee table and side table have the blue/gray tone slate tops. The furniture is on back order so it won't be delivered for a few weeks. Oh well, at least the painting is done!

EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFT

2011-11-03T18:34:00.001-07:00

Caitlin has been eyeing these white rockers for the front porch. Thought it would make a nice Christmas gift for the kids. She wanted 4 rockers....one in front of each of the windows on the porch.....We found them at Ollie's for $49.00 each!......That's about 1/2 the price of what I was finding online!!! Needless to say, this purchase was an easy one....What a GREAT deal!

THE RUG!

2011-11-02T17:08:00.001-07:00

This is the color inspiration for the front formal living room. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!?

FALL CENTERPIECE

2011-11-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

Joey sent Caitlin a flower arrangement earlier this month of fresh flowers, but of course it died. She loved it sooooo much that she bought these flowers and reused the vase to recreate it. I think she did a fantastic job! Don't you?

FRONT ROOM INSPIRATIONS

2011-10-29T19:25:00.000-07:00

Today, Caitlin and I went shopping. She found a lampshade with tans, creams and a touch of blue that she fell in love with. Then she found a complimentary rug. So the future furniture needs to match the lamp and rug! LOL!

1/2 BATH BEFORE/AFTER PICTURES

2011-10-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

This is before!

AFTER! Caitlin has good taste!

HOUSE PROJECTS

2011-10-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

Remember the two-toned red/gray bathroom? Now it is Vanilla Brandy (hint of yellow). Next we have to take off the tape, repaint the baseboards and touch up the ceiling where the old red paint was.

Caitlin bought these chair cushions and placemats with some of the wedding gift cards!

See those beautiful flowers? Joey surprised Caitlin with them the other day! How sweet is that? By the way, they have been married for 7 months now! Time flies!

CURTAINS FOR THE LIVING ROOM

2011-10-09T18:02:00.001-07:00

MORE WORK ON THE HOUSE

2011-10-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

Vicky taking advantage of the nice weather by painting the front door!

Caitlin and I worked inside. The 1/2 bath downstairs is two toned. We need to put a block out primer on the walls and then paint it a fresh vanilla with a hint of yellow color. I'll post more pictures later when we have time to paint.

Stationery Card- Thank You

2011-09-29T17:29:00.001-07:00

Dainty Damask Black

Find unique birthday and Valentine's cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

YOU'VE SEEN THE BEFORE....HERE'S AFTER!

2011-09-29T15:34:00.001-07:00

WHAT'S A CLOSET WITHOUT MATCHING HANGERS AND OTTOMAN?

2011-09-28T19:34:00.001-07:00

CURTAINS

2011-09-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

Ken is hanging the curtain rods.

I made the curtains out of the two flat bedsheets that came with the bedspread set, since Caitlin and Joey got a nicer sheet set for a wedding gift. This is an inexpensive way to add curtains, which are also a perfect match to the bedspread. :-)

Another view. You can see the pull down blinds behind the curtains that Joe put up earlier. These blind help darken the room for added privacy.

Caitlin and Lilly are supervising!

CLOSET ORGANIZER :-)

2011-09-23T17:52:00.001-07:00

Ken and Joe working hard on the shelves that go on the opposite side of the walk-in closet.

Finished shelves!

Finished organizer on the opposite wall. Sure is a nice closet. There is even room for a full length mirror!

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!

2011-09-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

If you have been reading this blog, you will know how crazy everything has been with changes in Joey's deployment. Well here's another change....JOEY IS NOT GETTING DEPLOYED! He will be coming home soon! GOD IS WATCHING OVER HIM!

WALK IN CLOSET

2011-09-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

Caitlin and Joey have a walk-in closet....with no shelves!

Ken and Joe started the project...

Caitlin, Vicky and I worked on the shelving unit with drawers....but ran out of time...Oh well it's a project for another day... The organizer is dark wood to match the furniture in their bedroom......Once it is done, I'll post the finished product....before the clothes are put on hangers.

Message from Joe on Facebook & More Pictures!

2011-09-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well so far Mississippi isn't too bad, it's hot and humid, but bearable! I still miss my wife and family like crazy, but having access to skype helps a lot! I love you guys! (Here are some more pictures taken before he left.)

Fur Baby Lilly!

2011-09-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

Message from Joe on Facebook

2011-09-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

Finally got to Mississippi and unpacked my gear!...already miss home and my wife and family! All I can do is know that God has a plan and accept it and make the best of it! Hopefully this next 6 weeks and the next year goes fast! I love you mom, dad, Zac, and Caitlin!

Message from Caitlin on Facebook

2011-09-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

I'm so in love with my Husband, it's only been a few hours and I'm missing him already... Hoping this next year goes by fast :-( I love you Joe

CUTE COUPLE

2011-09-13T19:21:00.001-07:00

Joe has a 4 day leave in 6 weeks! (end of October)YAY! After that, he leaves his training base in Mississippi and goes overseas for SEVERAL months. He will get a 14 day leave back in the States sometime in the Spring.....then back overseas until next September.

6 MONTHS AGO.....

2011-09-13T04:39:00.000-07:00

6 months ago today, Caitlin married her high school sweetheart!...Today she gives him an extra hug and kiss as she sees him off for his overseas call to duty through the Army....We love you Joe!...... Farewell and we'll see you soon, back home in the arms of the love of your life! I have no doubt that God has GREAT things in store for your future!

SEPT. 11, 2011- CALL TO DUTY

2011-09-11T19:42:00.000-07:00

Today is bittersweet on two fronts. 10 years ago today, the 9/11 attacks on America happened and 10 years later on the same day, Joe officially started the deployment process with a Call to Duty ceremony. IT IS GOING TO BE A VERY LONG YEAR! God bless you Joe! We love you!

BEDROOM!

2011-09-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

Kitchen and Dinning Room Furniture!

2011-09-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

Below is the new buffet and dinning room table. (Notice the fingerprint tree on the wall from the wedding reception!)

Below are different views of the kitchen appliances and the new kitchen table! Caitlin said the rooms suddenly look smaller with furniture in them! You will notice the white patches on the walls, painting still needs to be done...but at least they have furniture to sit on! YAY!

THE FAMILYROOM FURNITURE HAS ARRIVED!

2011-09-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

LOVE THIS GIRL!

2011-08-30T18:28:00.001-07:00

HEY....WHAT AM I SUPPOSE TO DO?

2011-08-30T18:27:00.001-07:00

PROUD PAPA!

2011-08-30T18:26:00.001-07:00

WHAT DID YOU SAY?

2011-08-30T18:25:00.003-07:00

UNITY CANDLE!

2011-08-30T18:25:00.001-07:00

THE KISS!

2011-08-30T18:24:00.003-07:00

AWE!

2011-08-30T18:24:00.001-07:00

UNIQUE!

2011-08-30T18:23:00.003-07:00

VINTAGE!

2011-08-30T18:23:00.001-07:00

BEAUTIFUL!

2011-08-30T18:22:00.001-07:00

AWE! CUTE COUPLE!

2011-08-28T18:51:00.002-07:00

ANOTHER CAKE PHOTO

2011-08-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

FIRST DANCE!

2011-08-28T18:49:00.003-07:00

FATHER / DAUGHTER DANCE

2011-08-28T18:49:00.001-07:00

A SPECIAL DANCE WITH GRANDPA!

2011-08-28T18:42:00.001-07:00

LEAVING THE CHURCH IN STYLE!

2011-08-28T18:33:00.001-07:00

RECEPTION DECORATIONS

2011-08-28T18:31:00.002-07:00

SIDE VIEW OF WEDDING CAKE AND BRIDAL TABLE!

2011-08-28T18:31:00.000-07:00

Awe! A Beautiful Bride!

2011-08-27T19:15:00.001-07:00

Thanks for the photo Audra!

SLOWLY MOVING IN!

2011-08-27T18:59:00.001-07:00

The appliances are in and installed! Furniture has been purchased, but
is on back order and won't be delivered for a couple of weeks.....Oh
well, there is plenty of cleaning and painting to do before the
furniture arrives. We just hope it comes before Joey's deployment.

THE BEAUTIFUL BRIDE AND GROOM!

2011-08-23T19:15:00.001-07:00

More wedding photos to come....as soon as someone sends me theirs to post!

THE CAKE CUTTING!

2011-08-23T19:13:00.001-07:00

BEAUTIFUL TABLEWARE!

2011-08-23T19:12:00.001-07:00

NAPKINS WITH DONATION CARDS

2011-08-23T19:11:00.001-07:00

We had a napkin folding party!

GUEST TABLE DECORATIONS

2011-08-23T19:09:00.001-07:00

It is hard to see the centerpieces we made because the lights were dim. :-(

WEDDING CAKE!

2011-08-23T19:07:00.001-07:00

BRIDAL TABLE!

2011-08-23T19:06:00.001-07:00

AWE .....LOVE THE SIGN!

2011-08-23T19:05:00.001-07:00

RECEPTION DECORATIONS

2011-08-23T19:03:00.001-07:00

8:00 am finally arrived early Saturday morning.....A team of us decorated!

REHEARSAL DINNER!

2011-08-23T19:00:00.001-07:00

REHEARSAL DINNER

2011-08-23T18:59:00.001-07:00

The bride and groom had their special table reserved at the rehearsal dinner :-)

REHEARSAL DINNER!

2011-08-23T18:57:00.001-07:00

BRIDAL PARTY

2011-08-23T18:56:00.001-07:00

Practicing with the bridesmaids and junior bridesmaids!