Merry New Year!

Happy New Year, Y’all!  Did your 2012 get off to a good start?  I hope so.

Judd and I had a great time ringing in the new year with our friends.  In fact, we have had lots of time for visiting with friends and family this holiday season. We hosted Christmas for the first time ever at our house.  In six years of marriage, Judd and I had never had a Christmas morning where we woke up in our own home.  We usually travel to his parents’ home, my parents’ home, or my grandmother’s house.  We were so glad to have both sides of our families together this holiday.  We understand what a blessing it is to have in-laws who are willing to spend the holidays together and that they actually enjoy each other’s company.  It was also so special to have my big brother, Bryan, home this year.  He spent a few holidays away from us due to military deployments.

Front row (L to R): Judd, Abby, Carole (Abby’s Mom), Mary Evelyn (Abby’s Grandmother), Laura (SIL), Dot (Judd’s Mom), Brenna (SIL)

Back row (L to R): Del (Abby’s Dad), Bryan, Terry (Judd’s Dad), and Colby (Judd’s younger brother)

Cole was thrilled to have all of his favorite people under one roof.  It’s hard to tell, but trust me, this is his excited face.  I know it doesn’t seem that much different from his happy face, sad face, or tired face. 

Judd and I had a lot of fun preparing our home for our special guests.  We lucked out when purchasing some pine garland for our front door from a local Christmas tree lot.  I asked the workers what they did with the leftover branches from where they trimmed the bottom of the trees when making our purchase.  They told me that they threw them away and that I was welcome to take as much as I wanted.  And, that I did.  Luckily, we were in Judd’s truck so I was able to take home a good bit.  I spent the next two weeks making live wreaths and garlands. I’ll do a post on how to make them soon.

Outside, we added the purchased pine garland and some white lights around our entry.  A live fir wreath hung on our door with a large deco mesh bow.  Our porch and porch swing were decorated with fir, magnolia, nandina, and holly.

I wrapped our usual blue RH outdoor pillows in burlap and tied them like presents.  I wanted a no sew project that would help our pillows fit in with the Christmas décor.  I cut two squares of burlap and folded them over the pillows like an envelope.  The ribbon helped to keep the burlap in place.  I also picked up the little pieces of tree trunk that the Christmas tree lot was cutting off of the trees.  I used them along with some greenery to decorate our front porch table.  Judd added a red bell that was his late grandmother’s.

I mentioned in my last post that I got a camera for Christmas.  It is basically the same camera my sister-in-law Brenna already had.  She and I enjoyed taking pictures together.  I was glad to get a few pointers from her.

Our mailbox was draped with a fir garland and a bow made from two different sizes of deco mesh, one solid and one striped. 

Our living room held our tree and a live garland over the mantel made of fir.  The garland had red and white nandina berries and holly tucked in throughout.  A double sided live fir wreath was hung over our mirror.

Our tree was decorated with burlap ribbon, brown, cream, tan, and mercury glass ornaments and balls, and pinecones.  We also incorporated some ornaments that are special to us.  Our tree skirt was a long piece of burlap folded in half and gathered around the trunk.  It was another quick no sew project.

Our dining room was adorned with live garlands over the china cabinet and above our corner cabinet.  The table was set with our Opal Innocence by Lenox China with our Lisomore Tall Waterford Crystal.  My mother loaned us her King Richard by Towle silver flatware to use during the holiday meals.  We used this table setting three times.  Judd and I hosted a Christmas Eve seafood feast on Saturday night.  On Christmas Day we had brunch and Christmas dinner. 

Eating seafood on Christmas Eve is a tradition with Judd’s family.  They live in a small town in south Alabama that is near the gulf coast.  His parents drove to Mobile , AL the day before coming to our house in order to fetch the freshest catch from our friends, the Atkins family.  The Atkins’ are third generation owners of Southern Fish and Oyster in Mobile.   Our buddy, Tripp Atkins, even packed a surprise in the cooler for me to use when decorating—beautiful oyster shells.  We added them to our centerpiece which consisted of clementines, apples, fir, nandina, holly, and assorted nuts.  The arrangement sat on a half barrel with some burlap underneath it.

I found a clever way to display Christmas cards from Brenna’s blog.  I think she got the idea from Pinterest.  It was so simple.  I just cut ribbon the appropriate length and gently taped it to the top and bottoms of the backside of each cabinet door.  Clothes pins held each card in place.  It was so fun to view the cards and pictures from the folks we love the most everyday in our kitchen.  Our back door which is located in our kitchen held a live fir wreath with another deco mesh bow.

Judd’s mom, Brenna, and I had a lot of fun rolling and cutting out sugar cookies.

Cole decided that watching us bake was too much work for him.  He went outside to take a nap in the sun.

I can’t seem to find the appropriate words to tell you all how much we enjoyed having our family together.  We had a lot of great quality time together.  We visited with my grandmother, played photo shoot with the new camera, worked a puzzle, ate 3 delicious meals, drank warm beverages by the fire, attended our church's Christmas Eve service as a family, and opened gifts together.  We couldn’t have asked for a better time as a family.

We had fun passing the new camera around.  I especially enjoyed it when viewing the photos for the first time.  It was fun to see the holiday from the perspective of others.  Bryan is a military broadcast journalist.  He took the next two photos.

Dot, Brenna, and I made gift tag place cards to put on each person’s glass.  I wrote a different question on the back of each tag that was to be answered at dinner.  The questions consisted of things like “what is your favorite Christmas memory or tradition, or movie, or song, etc.?”  I think it gave us all something “Christmassy” to talk about while dining.

The guys were outside most of Christmas Eve frying our delicious seafood feast.  Our friend Hunter came over that night to eat with us as well.  The meal consisted of gumbo, fried popcorn shrimp, fried jumbo shrimp, coleslaw, and seafood gumbo.  YUMMY!

From L – R: Bryan, Hunter, Terry, and Colby

Opening presents was a lot of fun.  Cole especially enjoyed his gift from his Aunt Brenna and Uncle Colby.

Mommy and daddy had a gift for Cole too.  He had a good doggy Christmas.

Judd and I both planned special gifts for our mothers.  My mother finished her doctorate in 2007 and never had her dissertation bound.  I surprised her with a hardback copy of her work.  She had no idea.  I’m pretty sure those were happy tears. 

Judd watercolored some Christmas cards of a Cardinal, his mother’s favorite bird, for her to use next year.

That pretty much sums up our Christmas 2011. Goodbye until next time.

Season’s Greetings

Notice I didn’t specify which season considering Christmas passed before I could get this posted.  December was a busy month due to final exams and papers and due to hosting our family for Christmas for the first time ever at our house.  I had hoped to get this on the blog before the holiday.  Oh well, better late than never.

Although it is a few days late, Judd and I wanted to make sure to thank you all for your continued readership and support this past year.  We are truly thankful for you, our blogging family and friends.  Thanks for sticking with us even though our posting this year has been infrequent. We wanted to send you a Christmas card over the blogosphere.  The one we included happens to be the same one we mailed out this year.

We’ve also included the same Christmas newsletter that was inside our cards.

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11

We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas. We feel so blessed to have friends and family like you. Despite all of the stress and craziness that is life, we are mindful of the real reason for the season, and we are so thankful for Him and for you.

Probably just like the rest of you, we’ve had our share of stress over the last year; in fact, we even failed to mail our Christmas cards last year because of it. As a result, we are attempting to catch up with you this year.

All is well at the Langham household. This year Judd became a principal/co-owner of 2DStudio, a landscape design and planning firm that he started here in Birmingham. Additionally, over the past year he had the pleasure of adjunct teaching in the Masters of Landscape Architecture program at Auburn University.

Abby is approaching her 4^th anniversary at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as the Coordinator for Institutional Research in the Office of Planning and Analysis. She continues to pursue her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership/Higher Education Administration full-time while also working full-time.

Together, we started our own DIY printable invitation and stationary business—The Langham Project. We enjoy working together to create something useful and beautiful for others. We hope to get an online shop for it soon.

As you can tell by the cover Judd drew for our Christmas cards, Cole, our black Labrador retriever is such a joy to us. He is so sweet and gentle. It’s hard to believe that he is already eight years old.

We are so thankful for the opportunities and blessings that God presented before us this year. We hope that you are all equally blessed and well.

Merry Christmas!

Abby and Judd Langham

Visions Of Dog Bones Danced In His Head

I felt so spoiled by my husband this Christmas.  He got me an iPhone and a wonderful new camera.  I’m still figuring out how to use them both.  I have a feeling our blog will benefit greatly from those two gifts.

This was a photo taken on my iPhone 4s using the instagram app.  I know I am probably a little late in the game, but I LOVE instagram.  It’s so fab.  Have you tried it? 

And Another One Down…

Well, as you might have guessed from my prolonged blogging hiatus, I’ve been busy with school and work and Auburn football this fall.  I can finally attempt to catch up now that the semester is over.  Expect a few more posts this week and next.

So far I’ve managed to keep a 4.0 grade point average over the three year duration of this degree.  I had one with my Master’s too.  I hope I can continue that record for one more semester.  This spring (2012) will be my last semester of coursework.  I know that your GPA at this level doesn’t matter at all; however, it matters to me.  This coming spring will be VERY busy.  I will be taking three classes, writing my dissertation proposal (the first three chapters of my dissertation), taking  my comprehensive exams, getting institutional review board (IRB) approval, getting admitted to candidacy, and working full-time.  Wish me luck.

Then, starting in the summer I will be ‘all but dissertation’ (ABD) and will become a dissertation writing machine.  I am beyond EXHAUSTED from school.  I have never been so tired of anything in my entire life.  I cannot wait for this phase of my life to be over.  Because of my Ph.D. everything else in our lives feels like it is on hold.  I’m sure Judd can’t wait for me to be finished as well.

Sorry to post about school so much.  I know that it is not that fun to read about.  I prefer my decorating and craft posts too.  School is such a big part of my life right now.  I have a hard time doing anything without it being on my mind at the same time.

We did squeeze in a little fun this semester.  We attended many Auburn University football games this year.  We tailgated as usual at my in-law’s house in Auburn, AL.  I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this on the blog but it is the same house that Judd and I rented when we first got married.  His parents bought it when we moved to Philadelphia, PA from Auburn after grad. school.

Here is one of the few pictures I managed to take during the season.  Judd bought me a new camera for Christmas so hopefully the frequency of our picture taking and our picture quality will improve.

I think this was Iron Bowl weekend.  These are some of my FABulous friends and their spouses.

(From left to right: The Myers, The Nichols, and The Langhams)

Thank You, Veterans

Hi all,

My how I have missed you.  I have been meaning to post for quite some time.  As you know, I am in the midst of earning my Ph.D. full-time, working full-time, and trying to survive it all.  It was important to me to make sure to post this Veteran’s Day, no matter what, to say thanks to our service men and women.

SSG. Bryan Tull (a.k.a. my bubby)

Last year, I wrote this post about thanking a veteran.  I offered you all the opportunity to thank my brother if you did not know a veteran to thank.  I am going to extend that offer again this year.  I know it never hurts to be encouraged and to know that others believe in you and care about you.  Just leave a comment on this post.  I’ll be sure to share your kind words with my brother, SSG. Bryan Christopher Tull (210th MPAD and 314th PAOC).  Bryan is a current Army Reservist and an undergraduate student at the university where I work—UAB.  In fact, he recently re-enlisted for another six years of military service (after having already served his first six years of service—including two year-long Iraq deployments).

Over the past few months, while reading a periodical that circulates through our office, The Chronicle of Higher Education,  I have come across several articles pertaining to student warriors.  I shared these articles with my brother in hopes that they would help him to realize that he is not the only current military member with active duty time under his belt who also happens to be a college student.  I believe that higher education administrators need to lead with policies in mind for our nation’s student warriors. They need to be thinking about what kind of support this unique group of students need and how to identify student vets.  This country has been at war my entire adult life (literally, since I was 18).  Just take a moment to think about how many service men and women have enrolled and even graduated from institutions of higher learning in the past 10 years.

If you would like to read the articles I sent to Bryan you can access them via the links below.

“A Student Veteran Moves On”

“Why I Can No Longer Teach US Military History”

I shared these articles with Bryan in hopes they would let him now that he is not alone as a student veteran.  Do you know any student warriors?  What do you think universities can do to support these students?

I’d also like to thank my other family members who are/were veterans.

(Note to family: I tried to document a brief synopsis of your military history.  Please help me to add to it or to revise where necessary.  Also, send me pictures and I will add them to this post.  I would love to have a picture of everyone in uniform):

Specialist 5 Delos Lawton Tull [Daddy] (71st Supply Battalion) (Cold War - Germany)

Sergeant Robert Franklin Braden, Sr. [Maternal Granddaddy] (102nd Infantry Division) (WWII – Netherlands, France, Germany)

Private First Class Elmo Delos Tull [Paternal Granddaddy] (Army Air Corp) (WWII – North Africa, Italy, Sicily, France, Germany)

Sergeant Robert Franklin Braden, Jr. [Maternal Uncle] (4th Infantry Division) (Vietnam)

Major Dan Bowdoin [Paternal Uncle] (1st Cavalry Division) (Vietnam and Europe)

Colonel Carol Tull Bowdoin [Paternal Aunt] (Army Nurse Corp) (Europe)

Captain Libby Bowdoin Fouch [Paternal Cousin] (Army Nurse Corp) (Stateside)

Warrant Officer Zach Fouch [Paternal Cousin] (Missouri National Guard and Airborne Ranger, Helicopter Pilot) (Iraq)

Sergeant George Allen Payne [Paternal Uncle] (Chemical Corp) (Stateside)

Additionally, my paternal grandfather’s 5 brothers served as well as 2 of my maternal grandfather’s brother’s and my husband’s grandfather, Aubrey Lee Langham (Marine, WWII-The Pacific), and Daddy, Terry Martin Langham  (National Guard).

Thanks to everyone mentioned above and thanks to all service men and women on this Veteran’s Day.

Cousins Libby Bowdoin Fouch and Zach Fouch (and Andrew)

Aunt Carol Tull Bowdoin and Cousin Libby Bowdoin Fouch

Uncle Dan Bowdoin, Aunt Carol Tull Bowdoin, and Cousins Libby Bowdoin Fouch, Andrew Fouch, David Bowdoin, and Beth Trotter Bowdoin

How To: Make A Burlap Wreath

Have you all seen these DIY burlap wreaths?  I first caught a glimpse of these kinds of wreaths at a gift shop/antique store near our home a few months ago.  Then I saw the images below on Pinterest.  I decided I liked the look of these for fall.  I thought I could probably make one myself.

Source: The Newly Wares

Source: Etsy

Source: Classy Clutter

Here is what I needed to get started.

Supplies:

• Scissors
• Measuring Tape
• Burlap
• Wire Coat Hanger
• Hot Glue Gun

First, I separated the twisted part of the hanger that connected the end of the wire from the hook. With my hands, I shaped the wire into a circle, leaving the hook in tact and the twisted edge loose.

Second, I cut several 4” wide strips of burlap approximately a yard long.  I folded the burlap accordion style and strung it along the loose wire edge. 

I continued weaving the burlap strips onto the coat hanger until I felt that it look full.  I’ll be honest, this project used a lot more burlap than expected.

When all of the burlap was strung through the coat hanger, I placed small dots of hot glue on the wire sporadically around the wreath.  This kept the strips from sliding.

I left the hook part of the coat hanger in place and I attached the loose end to the hook using a rubber band and hot clue.  I didn’t have any pliers on hand.  If you do, you may be able to twist the loose end back on the hook.  Otherwise, the rubber band and hot glue method seemed to work just fine.

I used the hook to hang the wreath on my door.  I took the pictures at night on an iphone.  The photo quality is not the best, but you get the idea.   I will probably make a bow or add some dried flowers for seasonal color.

After hanging the wreath, I trimmed the strings.  However, if you like the look of the strings feel free to keep them.  I waivered back and forth on this one.  I kind of liked them; however, I decided to cut them off in the end.

Voila. Instant burlap wreath.  Luckily, I already had everything I needed to make this at home.  In my opinion, this is a great look for only a few bucks.

What do you think? 

Burlap Walls

My brother, Bryan, and sister-in-law, Laura, moved into Laura’s Pawpaw’s house last weekend.  We got to go see it last night.  It’s a lovely home that Laura’s Pawpaw built himself.  While taking the tour we walked into a room that will be used as an office.  This room has many built-in shelves and has burlap on the walls.  My guess is that the burlap has been there for years.  I immediately said, “oh, I love the burlap wall treatment.”  Neither Bryan or Laura seemed too enthused about it.   I thought I would put this post together so that maybe they might be able to see a vision for the room that consists of keeping the burlap.  Either way, I’m sure they will make the room look great.  I just thought it might be fun to throw some inspiration photos together.  Congrats on your new abode, Bryan and Laura.

Burlap seems to be so, dare I say, trendy at the moment.  I hate to even  say that because burlap has been used for a  long time for many purposes.  Below are some images I found in a quick Google search of burlap and/or grass cloth used on walls.

What do y’all think?  Can you picture a space in your own home with burlap on the wall?  I think, given the right space, burlap on walls can be very attractive.

Source: Sage Going On Green

Source: Velvet and Linen, photo taken at Boxwoods in Atlanta, GA

Source: (Flickr) Design Services of Charlotte

Source: Odie Et Amo, design by Waterleaf Interiors

Source: Whitehaven

Pinecones, Dissertations, Parties, and Football

What do the things listed in the title of this post have in common?  Well, nothing.  This post is an attempt at a final recap of our summer.   It will be in mostly pictures.

We had a big storm one afternoon that knocked down several tree limbs in our neighborhood.  With the limbs came these beautiful green pinecones and sweet gum balls.  I once again walked up and down our street collecting them.  At this point, I know our neighbors think I am crazy.  But y’all, they were so pretty in vases and hurricane glasses with candles.  I placed them all around our house.  They lasted for a few weeks but eventually turned brown.  Aren’t they pretty?

 

Also, this summer, we helped decorate Judd’s studio for a 90th birthday party for Judd’s business partner’s mother.  Did you get that?  :)  The party was actually across the street from the studio.  It was held in a meeting room adjacent to the historic Alabama Theatre.  The studio was used for a pre-party cocktail hour for closest friends and relatives. 

   

   

And,  speaking of relatives, guess who just happens to be married to Bob’s nephew.

Yep, Melissa Joan Hart.

Also this summer we had a get together lunch with some of the Fab and Fab husbands.  While we were there we got to play with this cute little fella.

 

We also celebrated my 27th birthday.  Judd bought me a yummy cake from Publix and some beautiful spider mums.  They really went great with the green pinecones.  :)

 

No, we do not have a paw print rug in our living room.  That is Cole’s blanket.  He drools and sheds too much to let him lay down without something underneath him.

Speaking of dogs, Cole also had surgery over the summer.  He is doing fine.  Thanks for asking.  :)  We are terrible parents because we found his cone to be SO funny and photographed it at his expense.  I’ll admit, I cried the first night he had it on because he was so pitiful and was running into everything.  Eventually, he got used to it and we got a kick out of it.

Additionally, over the summer, 3 of my friends from my doctoral cohort and I decided to be accountability partners for each other to ensure we are on track with our dissertations.  Our professor (middle) referred to us as her dissertation divas.  Hence the title in the photo.  We started calling her Dr. Diva.  I know it seems silly but we are all so constantly stressed.  It is nice to have something to laugh about together.

Last but not least, it is now time for SEC college football.  Woo Woo.  I sure do love this time of year.  I have noticed several folks stumbling onto our blog looking for Auburn’s 2011 schedule.  So, here it is.  I thought this was so great.  It was a magnet that came in the mail with our season tickets.  They used jersey numbers to indicate the dates.  What a clever idea.

Well, that’s a rap on our summer.  We are wishing a happy fall to all of y’all. 

War Eagle!