Blog Name Change

So I changed the name from "Tales from the West" since we now live in the SouthEAST. We will move again, so I felt Jones Family Adventures was appropriate.

And we miss the west! Oh, Colorado....

Music City Bowl 2010

Dad got us tickets to the Music City Bowl for Christmas. We stayed in downtown Nashville, and enjoyed going to the game... even if the wrong team won!
David showing his true colors underneath. Thanks for being a great sport!

(Dad's forever-old, never washed, TN sweatshirt.)

The Pride of the Southland Band!

Our faces after the game was over, we won, then the game wasn't over! You can tell by the girl in the background that the crowd was not happy.

Christmas with the Joneses

I know, I know... way behind as uaual. If you follow this blog at all, you will probably know that my recent pattern has been to post several in a row that relate to events happening at least three+ months ago. I'm ok with this pattern....I guess we'll both get used to it ;)

This year for Christmas all of David's fam gathered at Zidon Aveisha, a lovely lake house that is owned by the Cunninghams at David' old church. It was a fun Alabama Christmas. It even snowed a bit on Christmas Day.

Here are some pics of the Jones Family Christmas.

There were many trails to walk around on and tons to do here!

Also, we had family pictures taken that you can check out by clicking on this pic below, by Jenny Dixon:

And check out my SIL's blogs for more pictures and info:
Melanie and Anna
(you may notice many repeat pics. I'm not as good of a documenter as these two, so I stole some pics from them :)

Our Home

FYI: This post has a lot of random fact and pics of my house. If that bores you, please feel free to not read :)

We like to say we live on a farm.

We don't.

But if you consider the fact that our house is about 100 years old, we have an apple tree, two walnut trees, a gravel driveway, a huge garden and a decent amount of land to roam around on if we wish to, then it sounds kind of farm-ish.

If you consider the fact that we live about 30 yards from a major highway (all the land is in the back) and within walking distance to a Publix and a Kroger (we walk during the summer... and also when a snow storm hits for quick trips) then you would just think we lived in the Atlanta metropolis that we do.

Either way you look at it, you probably have been wondering what our house is like (well, maybe not:). How do you make a 100 year old house with holes in the floor (slight exaggeration) feel "homey"?.... please enjoy the following before and afters :)

Our Kitchen
I like our kitchen. It's galley style, has no pantry, little cabinet space, has a 50 year old gas only stove and oven, but I like it :)

Before:

After:

I love the natural light in the kitchen, despite the weird stain glass pieces on the window. Just outside that window is our apple tree.

Quirky things about the kitchen:

1. Apparently, when the previous owners decided to make an addition to the countertop in the kitchen, they thought that this was a good enough match:
HA! At least we know one is granite so we can say we live in a farm house with granite counter tops :)2. The kitchen outlet situation is not much better than any other room (we only have one outlet in our entire bedroom!). So we have jerry-rigged a TV tray to be the designated Kitchen Aide mixer stand:

The Dining Room

Before:After:
Fun and Not-so-fun Things About the Dining Room:

1. Our fireplace mantle used to be in the govenor's mansion in Georgia around the beginning of the 1900s. The architect for the mansion apparently used to live in our home, which I guess was prime real estate back in the day! However, the previous owners (right before us- I think they had kids) decided that they should add red and orange paint to jazz up this beautiful antique! Take a look...So glad that red is not a single color in the themes of my kitchen and dining room- maybe we can get some paint thinner and fix it!

2. Well, this isn't too weird, but because we have no closets/ pantry's/ storage I had David make me this curtain to go in front of this cheap book shelf we got from Big Lots. The shutters on the wall were from Good Will for $3 each! I like this little arrangement because I like to mix up nice things, like crystal, with old/ old-looking stuff.

3. Speaking of mixing the old/worn/ etc with something newer/ fancier.... David got me these two incredible anniversary gifts. They are Baker's Scales. One is at least 50 years old. He painted some parts that matched our colors in the kitchen and dining room. I was so proud of him, his color matching skills were right on! I like them because they are old, but I can dress them up in interesting ways. The big one I actually use for weighing and baking.that "8" means half a pound (8 oz.)

Living Room

Before:This is the living room and the "front door" which is really on the side of the house, but we have 6 doors total, 2 that aren't sealed up and usable to get in and out of the house. The "back door" is just behind me where I have taken this picture :)

After:

BedroomHere, we got a carpet remnant from Grandma and Grandpa, but we had to spend a week with heavy books along the edges so it wouldn't roll up our bed in a burrito!

Well, no Before, or after here. This is a combined pic...bedrooms are always too messy to take good after pics of... well at least ours is!

Other Quirks about Our House
1. We have no hallways. Therefore, living room leads into guest room that leads into our bedroom and we are about to have to switch our bedroom with the guest room (hint: be looking for an upcoming explanation post about this)

2. Below: These random shelves in the dining room are my "Cupboards" as you can see from the kitchen pics, I have only 1 cabinet for pantry, dishes, etc. Here they are before...And after.........I think they turned out all right. And I now like them. Who knew I would enjoy having shelves on the walls of my dining room.

Why I have been away.........

For those of you who would like a Jones family update, one is coming soon- I promise :)

This blog is why I have been away! Yes, that's right, I started a food blog. I want it to offer a wide range of food choices so be looking for everything from raw yummy treats to French Baguette bread. Here is the intro page to explain more.

Check it out, if you like, Eryn