Project City!

Stop it, Joan!

2012-01-27T21:54:00.001-06:00

It is really difficult to nurse a half-asleep baby when Joan Rivers keeps making me bust-up laughing.

I love Fashion Police -- Can I get an amen?

Torn

2012-01-26T22:21:00.001-06:00

I'm looking at my sidebar, and the pictures that are supposed to represent my life are grossly out of date. For one, I was a lot thinner and tanner in those photos. That was also from a time when Elvis was our only baby.

Now we have 3 dogs and a REAL baby. (My mind has still not wrapped around this reality.)

I don't know what to do. On the one hand, I could just add a few more updated photos to the side-bar. Or I could make a huge banner with photos in it across the top. Both of those sound like a lot of work.

Oooh! I just had an idea. NO PICTURES. Or just leave it outdated. Yeah. I'll do one of those.

Mom Confessions:

-When Campbell is hungry and rooting, sometimes I put my cheek near his face so he'll try to latch on. It's like he's giving me a kiss!

-Sometimes when he's crying, I wait a minute to console him because I love the smell of his baby breath. (I don't wait TOO long, don't worry!)

-I let Elvis sleep in Campbell's Boppy (when he's not using it, of course.)

-Breast-feeding is hard.

Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!

2012-01-21T00:06:00.001-06:00

F U football hold, I hate football anyway.

Newborns

2012-01-19T20:05:00.002-06:00

First of all, Kim Kardashian's butt is huge, and should not be covered in spandex.

Secondly, why am I watching this?

The answer is, I am now externally tethered to this adorable little bundle of joy:

And the remote is hidden somewhere. (Edit: I just found it on the couch. Right next to my right leg.)

I don't want to be one of those moms who updates their facebook status about every poop and pee that the baby makes, inadvertently forcing people to block me from their newsfeed, or un-friend me. The solution is that he will most likely take over my blog.

How could he not? He's my biggest project yet! I have already learned so much about life in general (and been awakened to things that did not previously exist to me) in the short 6 days since he's been liberated from the womb. (That's one thing I realized - it's weird to me now to say something like '...since he's been on this Earth'. I realize now he's been on this Earth the entire time. Duh, Sara.)

I've decided to make a list of things I've been awakened to since the arrival of little Campbell. (Even using the word 'arrival' is strange now - he's been here the whole time! Mind. Blown.)

Side-effects of having a newborn:

1. Time ceases to exist - I never, ever, ever, ever thought I wouldn't look forward to Thursday night television. Then a minute ago I was watching some Kardashian spin-off, and Kennedy reminded me that it was time to watch The Vampire Diaries. Holy Guacamole! It's Thursday? What is a Thursday? Everything is running together. My life runs on 2-3 hour increments that are book-ended by feeding a baby.

2. Food ceases to exist - I love food and eating and snacking. Yesterday, I couldn't remember if I had eaten dinner or not. I'm contemplating putting a reminder in my iPhone for each meal of the day. What a strange thing. (Again, I should thank Kennedy for making sure I am eating. 99% of the time he is bringing food to me. Best. Husband/Dad. Ever. Already.)

3. Babies are more important than dogs - Admitting that feels like someone is taking a rusty dagger, plunging it into my lung, and slowly twisting it. I actually cried about it last night. I still love my dogs as much as I did before, but things have definitely changed. And no, I'm not getting rid of any of them.

4. I miss living in the hospital - People waited on our little family hand and foot while we were there. The nurse call button was amazing. The television was on 24/7. It was like a mini-vacation. Maybe I just think that because I've never stayed in a hospital before?

The past week has been the most magical, wonderful, terrifying, difficult experience of my life. We are loving every second with this child, and look forward to every little milestone and poop and pee that he has to offer.

Like falling asleep with him on my chest and waking up with a tshirt soaked in pee. Twice. In one day.

Campbell learns to iChat

Lack of sleep makes us that much funnier.

Side-note: Is anyone else over Klaus and his crazy hybrid antics on The Vampire Diaries? Because I definitely am.

He's here!

2012-01-13T22:16:00.002-06:00

And I'm in love.

And I'm tired.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T01:30:00.000-06:00

We're an hour and 13 minutes in and Kennedy and I have already kicked 2012's butt.

I believe we are both officially nesting, and I'm in love with this feeling. I'm going to try to spend the remainder of my nesting stage creating a drug that can duplicate this productivity and motivation.

We spent the evening getting things done! Kennedy assembled the baby swing while we watched Limitless, which is actually about the exact pill I intend to make (see previous paragraph about nesting drug.)

Then we went up to this torturous bathroom remodel and hung our vanity mirrors. They're oval swivel-mount mirrors, and I can't waaaaaaaait to fix my hair in front of them! (Or pluck my eyebrows in front of them, because they're right across from the giant window - I will NOT miss a thing with natural light like that!)

Things left to do in the bathroom: attach vanity cabinet drawers, doors and hardware; plumb the claw foot tub; apply a 2nd coat of grout sealer in the shower; hang bathroom accessories (i.e. toilet paper holder, towel bar, etc); install wall sconces next to vanity mirrors.

Also this evening, I finished painting this Business-themed piggy bank for the nursery.

It's crucial that we teach the boy the importance of money at a very early age (only kidding.)

Did you know there was such a thing as paint for glazed ceramics? (It's called Ceram-coat or glossy acrylic.) All I have to do is wait 2 more days and then pop this thing in the oven to set the paint.

Ideas for other piggy banks: ballerina, bumble-bee, sports team/college, LEOPARD PRINT (this idea just occurred to me and I might need to go paint this for myself....), mardi gras, Cupid...etc.

The list could go on and on! All supplies were bought at my local Hobby Lobby (including the white ceramic glazed piggy bank.) I used a black paint pen to outline everything when I was done so it didn't look so sloppy. I also recommend using painters tape if you're wanting to get a straight line somewhere.

But enough about the pig.

Fob-ulous!

2011-12-28T23:10:00.004-06:00

I made a key fob! And I'm obsessed with Pinterest. The two go hand-in-hand, I promise. Last night I had a sisters-in-law craft hour with Stephanie and Caroline.

To all of you who scoffed at the lanyard I've been carrying my keys on for the past year: Thank you.

I will no longer carry my keys around my neck like a dweeb. They will now be firmly affixed to my wrist, which I'm sure will be much easier to use for self-defense purposes (should the need arise.)

Oh, and of course I chose the green and gold combo to honor that good old Baylor Line!

Stephanie's Key Fob, with cute stitch lines!

(Caroline's Key Fob is not pictured, but I will pressure her into letting me get a photo of hers as well)

Original Pinterest Pin here.

Tutorial here.

Mission Accomplished

2011-12-24T01:11:00.000-06:00

And we finished BEFORE we needed to (we have 2 weeks, 5 days til my due date, so I'm currently patting myself on the back.)

And now I will share the photos of the nursery that should hopefully feel like you are transported into the tiny bedroom on our 2nd floor. Kennedy and I have been enjoying just sitting in there in the evening and looking around the room.

Tonight, my lovely sister-in-law, Stephanie, helped us organize all his clothes by size in his closet. Honestly, it would not have gotten done if she hadn't helped us.

And honestly, the nursery wouldn't have gotten done to this extent if it wasn't for everyone else in our lives. We have been overwhelmed with the amount of love and help that our family and friends have showered us in. And maybe I'm gushing and having an emotional pregnancy moment, but it's also the truth. I almost need to cry over how undeserving I am of all this love.

STOP! I'm going to stop now, so I can share the photos! Enjoy!

Welcome!

Step over here and you can see the crib. Above the crib is a photo of each of our 3 dogs. Yeah. 3.

View of the daybed corner

Throw pillows made from the same fabric as the crib skirt. Headboard is an antique door that Kennedy re-stained. Above the headboard is a tree picture (center) that sister Emily drew and had everyone at my baby showers put their thumb-print on in lieu of a guestbook!

Notice the dog in the corner. This child will have no shortage of dog toys.

View from corner near the crib

Changing table/book shelf. Yes, I staged the changing table caddy with diapers and baby powder.

Pinterest-inspired bulletin board (backed with chicken wire!) We put pictures of his baby friends, family pictures, a dog calendar, etc, etc.)

View from the Diaper Genie II!

Fun projects! Printed letters from this site and hung them up.

Got an old, burned up fence picket from this fiasco, and Kennedy put 4 different knobs from Hobby Lobby on it.

AWESOME! Jaclyn made this shadow-box name with antique letter press letters. I can't stop looking at it! It's on the side-table by the rocker-recliner.

Where I'll be spending a lot of time. Sister Emily also made that adorable "C" stool next to the chair. (We have so many hand-made and thoughtful gifts that have helped furnish this nursery. It makes it all the more special!)

1AM and I'm updating my blog about the nursery? What am I, CRAZY!?! I'm going to sleep now.

Childbirth class report

2011-12-17T12:36:00.001-06:00

-or- What NOT to do or say when accompanying your wife to Childbirth class

I believe a numbered list is most appropriate in this situation.

1. Lay down on the floor during breathing exercises.

2. Announce to the class how lazy your wife has gotten in the last trimester.

3. Chase the other pregnant ladies around with an amnio- hook.

4. When the instructor offers a chair to the pregnant ladies to prop their feet up and they all decline, but you go ahead and get one for yourself.

5. Making a baby-cry noise at the end of every breathing exercise.

6. Make disgusted faces and groans during the childbirth video.

7. Later, impersonate women in aforementioned childbirth video.

8. Ask if the instructor knows if most carpet warranties cover someone's water breaking.

S'Mo Holiday Deco'

2011-12-13T17:46:00.003-06:00

But first, a stream-of-consciousness interlude (with holiday overtones)!

I swear, if Cece doesn't quit with the gigantic paw-swipes across my bare skin (arms, face, neck...), she's going to be wearing Christmas mittens for the rest of her life. I will duct tape them to her if I have to.

I don't mean to be a Grinch about it, but whomever was responsible for her when she was a puppy forgot to remove those little hook-shaped claws half-way up her leg, and those suckers are SHARP.

I stopped in at Hobby Lobby today to pick up some picture frames for above the crib in the nursery. The frames will house a picture of each of the (3) dogs. I got to thinking how cute it would be to have baby pictures of our dogs in the nursery. Unfortunately, Cece and Harry both joined our family as adult dogs. Sad.

Fortunately, dogs are pretty much like babies forever! Charging camera now to take a photo of Harry.

I went outside to take some pictures of the lights Kennedy hung and it was starting to sprinkle. I thought to myself, "Good thing I'm at the end of day 2 on this hair style." If that makes sense to you, then you don't wash your hair every day. Also, the bottom half of lights on the house were out. Needless to say, Kennedy fixed them in less than 5 minutes, but I was already sitting on the couch by then. So no picture of the outside.

Do people really like to see other people's Christmas decorations? I mean, I like to see other people's decorations, but is it completely boring to post pictures of my own on my blog? Oh well. If you hate Christmas, then stop reading now. (Also, hating Christmas/Holiday lights probably makes you a terrorist. Just saying.)

The "peacock-inspired" tree in the fireplace room

Close-up of the ornaments on this tree. Working on a tree topper soon!

A terrible iPhone picture of some ornaments in a bowl on the coffee table.

When I say it that way, it really takes all the magic out of Christmas, doesn't it?

Pinterest would describe it as a "rustic holiday centerpiece."

My view from the couch every night (except the television is on and I am using the laptop - but I left this out of the photo.)

Why buy a tree skirt when you can use a fuzzy white blanket that's been balled up in the laundry room for 3 months because no one wanted to fold it?

That, my friends, concludes the holiday tour thus far. Perhaps someday I will post a photo of the outside lights. I still have more Christmas decorations to put up, so we'll see.

I hate grading papers.

Nursery Reveal!

2011-12-10T12:56:00.001-06:00

Coming soon!

But until then, here's a picture of what we'll be hanging over the changing table...Thanks to Pinterest for the idea!

Christmas decoration extravaganza!

2011-11-28T21:07:00.003-06:00

I got him! I finally convinced Kennedy to help me decorate. (In his defense, he always gets all the decorations from the attic for me, so he's not a total grinch.) But this year, he has put his thumb in the actual decorating pie, and it's like Christmas synergy at the Dean house!

Man's a natural. He even put up Christmas lights on the house (first time in 3 years!) I'll go ahead and give the baby credit for his Christmas cheer. He is so excited he doesn't know what to do with himself.

So yesterday I decided to decorate in room themes. I now have a candy cane room (stole this idea from sister Emily) and a peacock room (so trendy right now!)

In addition, I made a fun Christmas sign using ONLY materials we had on our property. Translation: FREE Christmas decor.

Take a look!

In the stairwell! (Ignore the following things: baby gate propped up against the bottom step, any dents or divots in the walls...)

Close-up of the signs! (I miss Hawai'i.)

I love Christmas decor!

Necessity is the mother of invention

2011-11-25T21:46:00.003-06:00

And my invention was bred from not wanting to spend $100+ on a crib skirt. So I decided, after seeing countless crib skirt tutorials online, that I should make my own. (I realize, yes, I did not invent the crib skirt. I just like the saying.)

After all, most baby bedding has monkeys or frogs on it for boys. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not my style. I like things to be a little unique.

Luckily, I was dragging Kennedy to IKEA to get a shelf for the baby's room that will double as our changing table (IKEA hack to follow) and got to browse their wacky fabric selection. I ended up finding a fabric that I thought perfectly complemented the tree wall.

Behold!

I set to work hemming 3 sides of the piece I'd be using for the skirt. That's all I did. I hemmed a piece of fabric. Then I added ties to it so it wouldn't fall off. DONE.

Ironed hems (made it much easier to sew on the machine.)

Finished skirt! With a blanket folded to look like a mattress with a sheet on it, since we have neither yet. Perfect little hiding space for JUNK! Can't wait to push everything under the bed when I feel like I need to clean.

Ribbons sewn onto the top hem of the skirt so I could tie it to the frame.

Cute little dog snuggle blanket that Aunt Amy sent us! This baby will never be deprived of things related to dogs.

Stay tuned for more nursery updates!

Aforementioned crib skirt tutorial links:

Oh yeah, don't let me forget to show you pictures of our new master bedroom! (Just as soon as we get some furniture in there...)

Nursery Sneak Peek!

2011-11-18T21:49:00.001-06:00

The "feature wall" is done! Nevermind the texture and paint all over our floors. Kennedy will be removing the floors this weekend to make way for our carpet installation on Monday.

In other news, I'm hosting a giveaway for "gently used" laminate flooring. Any takers?

Tired. Grumpy. DIYing.

2011-11-13T11:51:00.001-06:00

It's a dangerous combination. Luckily for Kennedy, he is working in another room of the house. Otherwise, he might be subject to my hormonal outbursts (again).

I guess we finally decided we need to start working on projects concurrently, especially since my due date is a little over 8 weeks away. So I'm prepping the nursery for Kennedy to paint while he patches drywall in the master bedroom.

Cece and Uncle Harry have joined me for moral support, while Elvis stares longingly out the front living room window. No help at all from that dog.

OMG we knocked a wall down

2011-11-09T17:42:00.002-06:00

So... We bluffed forever about knocking that wall down between our bedroom and the guest room. This week, it is happening. Now I'm freaking out that I have to fill a room twice the size...wish me luck!

I have been waiting for this

2011-10-27T19:09:00.001-05:00

I finally have a new iPhone! I've had the same 3G since May 2009 when we moved back to Dallas. It was alright but way slow.... Now I have this fancy new technology with an even better camera, and I can really see myself bloggin' on the go! Look! I can even take a picture and upload it with the touch of a button!

Is it weird that I'm eating dinner on the couch and blogging from my iPhone? 10 years ago, half of that sentence wouldn't even make sense.

Now THAT'S weird.

Jealousy

2011-10-18T20:34:00.000-05:00

...is what you'll feel when you see what I got in the mail on Saturday.

Yep. That's a Jell-O mold in the shape of a brain, just in time for Halloween! (My favorite holiday of the year!) There's also a small recipe booklet for different brain recipes. Yum!

Don't be jealous though. You can get your own brain mold for FREE by going to this link:

https://apfco.com/secure/w1381/product_description.cfm?product=W1381-19

All you have to pay is shipping, which is like $2 or $3 -- I can't remember.

Also, did you know the inventor of Jell-O's birthday is on Friday?!?!

Maybe not

2011-10-16T14:27:00.001-05:00

Maybe I'm not nesting, because today I haven't done a dang thing except go to the dog park and then nap. I needed that though.

But, I have more to share from that one day I was nesting (yesterday).

First of all, Kennedy has forbidden us to share any more progress pictures of the bathroom until it is completely finished. Here's the last posted internet photo that we have. I'm currently trying to talk Kennedy into installing the toilet today.

He didn't say anything, however, about sharing pictures of the vanity we're modifying! We are using the old vanity that was already in the bathroom, but it was a mess. It previously featured a nice, dirty white color with stains and chipped paint. It was also realllllllly low to the ground. Meaning, it was below my hip, and I'm short. No wonder Kennedy's side always had toothpaste splatters all over the mirror.

This is a picture from the day we moved in. You can kind of see the vanity there, but there was really no way to ever get a full picture of it because the bathroom was so narrow. The vanity will be moving to the opposite wall.

Here is 1/3 of the vanity before I started taking all the doors and hardware off to sand it. Look a little closer at the disgusting baseboard...

Ignore all the dirt and dust you might see, because the vanity has been sitting in the garage for close to 8 months at this point. I do clean our bathrooms, even if it doesn't show...

So anyway, last weekend I sanded all the doors and cabinets so they could be ready for some fresh paint. We decided to go with a bright white (shocker.) We also decided to use an oil-based paint, so I could not participate in the painting (darn.)

A benefit of oil-based is that it is MUCH more durable compared to latex. It won't chip or peel later down the road,which is great for cabinets and furniture. A not so great thing about it is that the Home Depot lady will chastise you for buying this when you're pregnant, resulting in your poor husband having to do yet another part of the bathroom remodel alone. I guess I don't blame her for the warning...the can's label does say "Causes birth defects"...

Kennedy, you're such a trooper.

So, I mentioned earlier that it was way too short. I like tall counters, so we decided to jack this baby up on some spun legs.

Here's a picture of a leg, post-priming. You can see that we had to add those little 2x4 blocks to raise the height even more. We also decided to add a trim piece along the bottom, but wanted most of the leg to show, so that was another solution.

Here's where we were before the first coat of oil-based paint (and a better idea of what our vanity will look like when it's done!)

Before, the middle piece had 3 drawers in it, but the drawers were a PAIN. The drawer tracks were all crazy, so the drawers would open sideways or fall out when you pulled on them. It was annoying. We decided we liked the look of open shelving better, so we just took out the pieces separating the drawers and added a shelf in the middle. We'll probably put a woven basket or two on the top shelf, and folded towels on the bottom. Or something like that.

5. The number of times I said "drawer" in that last paragraph.

Sneak peek of what it will look like with trim?!?!

I can't wait to brush my teeth next to this thing! It practically comes up to my neck! (In a good way.)

Nesting

2011-10-15T23:41:00.001-05:00

Is that what's happening to me? I hate it when everyone is right. But at the same time, if nesting is a real thing that happens to pregnant women, I'm glad I got it as one of my symptoms. You would not BELIEVE what I got done today. I have energy to spare! It's ridiculous, but in a wonderful way.

And I'm sorry for the lack of blogging, but let's just go ahead and be honest with each other. I'm not a good blogger, and I'm going to stop pretending to be.

Have you heard of Pinterest yet? If not, get over there now! Especially if you're addicted to the internet but have run out of things to do. You can start by browsing my pinterest. It's pretty easy to figure out what it is, so I'll spare the sales pitch that I keep giving everyone.

The reason I bring it up is because I spent a lot of today and some of this week doing some things I found on Pinterest.

First up, my halloween wreath!

I found this little beauty on Pinterest:

And here is my version:

This was SO EASY. I got a wire hanger and pulled it into a circle. Then I tied strips of black tulle all the way around until it looked full. (I actually think I ended up using 7 yards of tulle from a bolt of fabric that I cut into strips. So, tulle is hard to cut straight, but it doesn't matter for this because it looks better kind of jagged.

If you wanted it to look more like the original picture, you could get an embroidery ring in a preferred size (about $2 at a craft store) and make the tulle strips a little longer. I like doing things for mostly cheap, and I am always trying to get rid of those wire hangers. So. There's that.

It currently hangs on my front door. Now I'm thinking that I need to repaint our front door from red to a dark blue/cornflower blue color like this:

Reason being, I have already started making that wreath as well, and I think it's going to clash with red. We'll see. It's a little more labor-intensive, but here's my progress so far:

Tutorial can be found here. Can't wait! I think this wreath will be great for between Halloween and Christmas, and then after Christmas, and Spring and Summer. It's very versatile!

Last thing to share from Pinterest before I fall asleep. (Weird, I was just wide awake and now I'm not so much.)

Coconut Chicken. YUM!

Recipe can be found here.

Stop whatever you're doing and go make this right now. I won't blog again until you do.

It's already Sunday???

2011-09-11T19:22:00.000-05:00

First, let me start off by saying that I just made the most amazing dinner ever.

V8's Butternut Squash soup heated up on the stove top.
Pepperjack grilled cheese sandwich
Fresh fruit salad.

YUM!

This morning, I wrote this on Kennedy's facebook wall:

"OMG I LOVE YOU SO MUCH IT'S FREAKIN' RIDICULOUS!"

The following conversation took place:

Me: (Giggling) I just wrote something on your wall
Kennedy: Blah, blah, blah. You can never write something sweet, it always has to be some back-handed comment...
Me: (still giggling) Are you gonna go look at it?

1 minute later
Kennedy: (Silence)
Me: MUAHAHAHAHAHA

I love when things like that happen.

Progress

2011-09-05T10:52:00.001-05:00

Sitting here making a grocery list/meal planning for the week. It is the bane of my existence. I always end up making the same meals every week.

The laptop is resting gently on my belly (don't yell at me, it's only for a few minutes). About every 30 seconds, the computer jumps. I'm being kicked! HARD. This is a strong little guy.

Anyway, Happy Labor Day! We'll be laboring away finishing this shower tile (hopefully!!!) Maybe I can convince Kennedy to take a break and get in the pool with me.

Til' then, here's a picture of our progress!

Boy, oh Boy!

2011-09-03T16:41:00.001-05:00

Well, time for one of my bi-yearly updates! Seriously, I don't even remember I have a blog most days anymore. Could be that "pregnancy brain" that I keep hearing about, or could be the million other things going on.

The next few updates are long, long overdue, so I'll do my best to cover everything!

First things, first

The most recent update on my brain is actually happening as I type. We are *literally* (said in the voice of Rob Lowe's character from Parks & Rec), days away from being done with the bathroom! Kennedy is a madman. A workhorse, I tell you!

I haven't been able to contribute much, given my "condition." So in the past 2-3 weeks, Kennedy has finished tiling the bathroom floor, installed wainscoting all around the bathroom, and painted (and is still painting) said wainscoting. Right now, I'm laying on the bed blogging while he installs subway tile in the shower. It's beautiful.

Let's stop to take a pointless vote: White grout or grey grout on the white subway tiles? Here's a picture of the bathroom to help you decide.

The point is moot, because Kennedy wants white grout. I decided that since he is forced to do everything, he will get the final say. I think grey would look nice, but it might be difficult to hide any mistakes.

As for the wall color (above the wainscoting, obviously) we are leaning in the direction of a soft grey - maybe with green or blue undertones.

Lady Antebellum on Pandora, and apparently Elvis loves them. He's resting peacefully next to the laptop. What a freaking cute bear-dog-monster thing.

Most important things second

First is the worst, second is the best - never been so true. That bathroom is a beast. But now let's discuss something from 3 weeks ago.

IT'S A BOY!!!!

We went in for our very first sonogram a few weeks ago, at 19 weeks. We invited the Grandmas to come along. Of course my mom was in (the Dr's office is about 5 minutes from her office downtown,) but we weren't sure about Kennedy's mom. She lives out of state, and it's more difficult for her to get over this way. Luckily! Stars aligned and she was able to get a paid trip to Dallas to be in that tiny little room with us. It was really special to have our Moms there.

We were definitely shocked, because we had convinced ourselves it was a girl (going off of old wives tales we read on the internet.) Oh, how times must have changed! What would we do without our internet?

Anyway, now we're (Kennedy's) slaving away on the bathroom so we can start on the nursery!

And then there was work

School started 2 weeks ago. This year I'm teaching 7th & 8th grade Science (again.) I must say, overall my students seem a lot more intrinsically motivated (to use a teacher phrase). They are also overall a lot sweeter. I'm sure it's still a honeymoon phase for them, but I'm definitely being a dragon lady so I can get them trained.

It is good to be back and in a routine. Here's to a successful school year!

I believe we are about caught up here, so I'll quit while I'm ahead. Thanks for reading!

Organizing

2011-07-30T11:59:00.000-05:00

I really need to get organized. I have 3 weeks before school starts, and I was hoping to having a month or more of lesson plans done already. The further ahead in lesson plans I am, the less stressed I will be in 5 MONTHS when the baby gets here. I realize this is impossible since I don't even have a copy of the curriculum yet. But still.

My house is a wreck. Dust everywhere. Laundry EVERYWHERE. Junk everywhere. I have failed as a wife (in a very traditional, 1950s sense.) I keep thinking, "All I need to get started is a list." Of course, my idea of a list is to go through every room and decide what I want to organize and clean.

I have been putting off making this list for weeks now. Thus, putting off the actual organizing and cleaning. And blogging.

I am completely unmotivated. I hope this changes before school starts. And now, I shall go play on Pinterest until Kennedy gets back with materials for our bathroom reno.

Money can't buy you cla-hass

2011-07-17T22:07:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, Kennedy and I decided it would be worth our time to completely gut our master bathroom and renovate it ourselves.

(See that huge window? That used to be where our old vanity and mirror was!)

We were working really hard, and had a good rhythm going, but then we hit a wall. (i.e. Spring Break ended). Then it was TAKS (state testing) season and I was basically at work from 7a-7p every day. Then TAKS was over and I just wanted to come home and crash every day. Kennedy was also very busy, but managed to do a little work here and there.

It has taken us 5 months, but we are FINALLY gaining some steam and are hopefully in the home stretch of this bathroom renovation. Here's a quick list of what we have done so far! Skip it if you don't like lists, because there are some current pictures down below!

Gutted the entire bathroom including knocking down a couple of non load-bearing walls
Replaced one window and added a completely new window (see above photos)
Framed out a new shower
Hung mold-resistant drywall
Taped and mudded all drywall seams
Hung cement board in the shower
Re-did the sub floors and laid cement board down on the floors
Textured the walls and ceilings
TILED THE BATHROOM FLOOR!!!

Thanks to the help of my wonderful parents (specifically my Dad, the tile expert), we now have our tile floor down. It has yet to be grouted, but the thin set is upstairs drying as I type this! Please enjoy some progress pictures now.

Kennedy and Dad getting the first few tiles down

Almost done!

View from the door

View from the shower

Now that we're finally seeing some visible progress, let's hope we can stay motivated and get this thing done soon, because...

We're gonna have a baby in January! (Like you didn't know.)

Pictures to follow.

It is (finally, basically, almost) finished

2011-07-05T14:47:00.003-05:00

Do you know what I've been through to get this blog post done? I have literally thought about this blog post for the past month. I've been struggling over the words. I've been crying myself to sleep at night about it. I've battled through heat stroke (literally, like 5 minutes ago!) to finish this blog post. I literally had to MAKE MYSELF get off the couch (of course only after Because I Said So, starring Diane Keaton & Mandy Moore, was over). I had to take photos of things, upload said photos to my computer and log in to my blogger account. Do you know what I've been through?

Well, I sure hope so. Because I refuse to apologize for the extenuating circumstances like lack of motivation, lack of time, lack of energy, that have kept me from my blog.

Last time, I showed you some mystery elements that were to be used in my next project. Well, that project is finally, basically done. Minus a few minor details, I am ready to reveal it! And I really hope no one was sitting around dying to know. Because in that case, this will turn out to be rather anti-climactic.

DIY Giant Checkerboard

(And it's true: I first accidentally typed "DIE" instead of "DIY", then laughed at how that little typo would completely change the context of the following "tutorial.")

Here's what you need:

Large piece of plywood, cut into a square (mine is 30"x 30" to accommodate my giant checker pieces.)
A ruler/yard stick/meter stick of some sort
Paint in preferred paint colors, along with your favorite paint brushes. (I used small brushes to get the straightest lines, but you could also tape it off and go wild)
Wood Stain/Varnish or both
24 lids from salsa jars that you've been collecting for the past 1-yr-and-a-half, much to your husbands chagrin
Spray Paint

1. First, you must decide how big of a board you'll need. I used some simple math to figure this out. My ~~salsa jar lid~~ giant checker piece has a diameter of 3.5 inches. I hadn't played checkers in a while, so I had to google how many checker squares were on a board. There are 64 (or 8x8). I multiplied the diameter of my checker piece by 8. It came out to 28 inches. I rounded up to 30 inches so I could put a border on it.

Then, I started measuring and drawing lines with a pencil and a T-square (but you can use a ruler or meter stick.)

(A pathetic excuse to slip a picture of Elvis in here.)

2. Start painting in the squares. (Do I need to explain how you need to do every other square so that only the corners of the same color touch? See below.)

(Elvis is still sitting there, because he's obsessed with me in a really cute way)

3. Paint the border (not pictured.)

4. I decided to only paint 1/2 the squares, and leave the other half wood-toned. That's because I had some left-over Cedar colored stain/varnish from another project.

This is what the finished product looked like!

For the salsa jar lids, I just spray painted them gold, because that's what I had in the garage. Then I started decorating them with some acrylic paint, but I'm thinking I don't want to waste my time on that. Thoughts? Should I keep decorating the checker pieces or leave them plain gold?

I am still finishing up collecting the rest of the 12 for the other player. I need to finish some pesto and minced garlic in my fridge and I'll be ready to go!

For the other player's set, I decided to use a smaller lid, so you could tell the difference between the two (i.e. I got sick of salsa and happened to have a bunch of smaller lids.)

All I have left to do now is find a suitable base that is preferably collapsable so I can tuck it away when not in use!

Words I had to google for spelling or meaning in this blog post: Diane Keaton, Extenuating, Accommodate, Chagrin, Diameter

Mystery Project

2011-06-09T20:02:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm finally "off" for the summer, although I feel as though there's very little downtime for the next 2-something months. I'm a work-a-holic, which is weird, because I used to be so lazy.

Anyhoo, Project Sara is gearing up, and ready to go on a project RAMPAGE! Well, maybe it's not that strong, but I've definitely got things to do if I happen to get bored.

Some updates to note since I've last blogged with you:

-I have a zit on my chin.

-Elvis & Cece are still the cutest dogs in the world.

-Our bathroom renovation is slowly moving forward (but not enough to warrant picture updates at this point.)

-Kennedy and I have been married for 4 long (wonderful) years

-I am in my late 20s (I guess that happened a couple of years ago, but it's just now hitting me.)

-I learned to stay away from pictures of myself when I was in my early 20s. It's just depressing.

On a different note, I have a mystery project in the works! I will share 2 pictures, and you are to place your bets in the comments section. What do you think I'll be working on tomorrow???

If you guess correctly (and this excludes anyone who I have already told), then I will fill in the following sentence using your name in my next blog post: "_______________ is a freakin' genius."

Your guess is as good as mine!

Good luck!

A post about nothing

2011-05-19T19:40:00.000-05:00

It is inevitable that if I bring home papers to grade in front of the TV, that they will sit on the counter only to be toted back to school the next day. But I have things to do at home! Like check blogs! And watch the dogs wrestle on the couch! And do a hydroxy mask!

I'm closing in on the last couple of weeks of school in my "first year" teaching (although, I consider all years working with kids in a classroom setting teaching, this was the first year in a public school). I am giving myself a big pat on the back for 1. Surviving, 2. Not quitting, 3. Remaining professional (mostly) when dealing with rude middle-schoolers.

I'm wishing I had documented my first year a little better, just so I could go back and look at it. But then I think, when would I have had the time?

Perhaps I will instead write a book on how over-extended our public school teachers are. I don't even care that I'm underpaid for the amount of work I do, I'd just like a couple of hours in the day/days in the week/extra arms so I could get everything done that needs to get done!

I promise, in the next week or two, to continue on with this old blog of mine. I have many goals set for this summer, and most should make it to this blog!

Name that list!

2011-03-16T12:24:00.000-05:00

10. Bathing the dogs
9. Chapped lips
8. Cleaning
7. Oily T-zones
6. Having the Dust Bowl of 2011 entirely inside our house
5. Expensive pet medical care
4. The fact that my Spring Break is half over
3. Baiting rat traps
2. Dark rooms
1. Rats

Guess what the title of my list is?

Stupid me

2011-03-14T22:44:00.004-05:00

I'll say it once, only for the benefit of anyone who doubted our ability to do this bathroom renovation: I screwed up.

And by that I mean that I should have taken the time to move us out of our room before we started anything. And because of my lack of foresight (or laziness) I am now subject to sweeping/dusting/vacuuming every night before I can go to bed.

SAVE ME!

Other than that, the bathroom is swimming right along! Thanks to the help of my lovely parents, we were able to get up most of the drywall on Saturday. Now we are mostly done with the sub-floors and cement board which leaves us with a few solid half-done jobs!

Since pictures do a better job of showing progress than my beautiful prose, I'll share some.

At this point (in the photo) we have finished the ceiling and started on the wall. By "we" I mean "Kennedy & my Dad." This was after an 8ft piece of drywall fell on my poor Mom's head, knocking off her glasses and popping out a lens. Then I decided it was a good idea to have my camera out.

This is a view from where the shower will be. The exposed studs area is the future site of our vanity.

Kennedy's workflow differs from how I would do things, but he also works a lot faster than I would...However, don't leave drills and power tools lying around, plugged in and ready to chop off any appendages that should get in their paths! Kennedy almost lost a foot 5 times today.

My darling claw foot tub, sitting so patiently. Still needs to be painted and sealed - (I didn't know you could paint a tub?!?!)

Also, we bought floor tile today at this wonderful discount tile warehouse. Is it possible to be in love with a tile store? If so, then I am. We chose black slate tile - can't wait to get that in there!

Oh, and on an unrelated note, we have a rat in our house.

Whoops!

2011-03-11T17:55:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I say I'm going to do something "right after I check my email," and then 3 hours later I have succeeded in avoiding said thing.

I don't mind that I do this, but it does make me feel a little guilty when Kennedy is upstairs remodeling our bathroom single-handedly and I'm down here facebook stalking people I went to college with.

There are a lot of things you hear about living amidst a home renovation, like it's the hardest thing to do, it's so inconvenient, yadda yadda yadda. But I tend not to believe anything anyone says until I can experience the pain myself. And living amidst this bathroom renovation has been UNCOMFORTABLE.

For one, I have to walk all the way down the hall to use the bathroom. Don't get me started on how many times I've gotten in to bed, only to realize I forgot to take my contacts out and UGH I have to get up and walk all the way to the bathroom! (I know, tough life.)

Another thing is that since we chose not to move out of our bedroom during this time, our bathroom is now barricaded off with a big blue tarp. And the dogs are fascinated by what is on the other side of that tarp. So that's inconvenient.

I'd have to say that the biggest inconvenience of all is the dust. THE DUST! It's EVERYWHERE! And I'm going to go insane before we even put the first tile up.

So I will continue to avoid dealing with it by going to the dog park now.

Why was I so much funnier in college?

2011-03-08T18:22:00.001-06:00

I used to have a blog in college, that was more like a Twitter account (minus the 140 character limit.) I would post almost every day and it was always about nothing. (http://www.xanga.com/sasasaSARA)

It felt less like homework than this blog. What am I saying?

Was my mind more stimulated in college than it is now? Probably. Or maybe it was more well-rounded, and now I have a very strict, adult-like routine that keeps me from having creative inspirations to write in a stream of consciousness type fashion.

I haven't figured it out yet, but this blog may be evolving soon (or should I say DEvolving?) back to my original writing style.

Less emphasis on home decor and more emphasis on this amazing brain of mine.

Hole in the wall

2011-02-28T21:24:00.001-06:00

We have hit a couple of snags along the way in this bathroom reno. Of course I pouted and then things ended up working out (the latter did not depend on the former.)

One of these things was that we had to decide on a new layout. Since our bathroom is on the 2nd floor, it was going to be too difficult to move the toilet that far from the original spot without ruining a couple of floor joists. And the last thing we want is for the bathtub to end up in the kitchen because the floors aren't rock-solid.

So after several days of working over this puzzle, we decided on a new floor plan which puts a ding in my "shower on the whole back wall" plan. BUT, it will still be great!

We found a claw foot tub at an adorable antique warehouse in Ft. Worth (can't remember the name right now, but will share later.) Patrick & Todd came over to help Kennedy haul it upstairs (while Amy, Emily & I hung out with the dogs downstairs.) Now it's sitting in our gutted bathroom, and it's beautiful. I'll share close-up photos later.

The biggest change we've seen (besides the plumbing and electrical being done) is a brand new window in the wall that was not previously there. I think it will be best if I can just show you with these photos....

Before, we had one window above the toilet. (That's the old tub and old toilet, by the way)

Now! Nice big window (You can see part of that claw foot beaut in the corner). The tub will be centered under the window (and I'll put some frosted film on the window for privacy, don't worry Mom!)

If you notice, there's a cute little white dog in that bathroom. Oh, and Kennedy is installing a bigger window in the other pre-existing window spot. He's sooooo handy!

It's in, it's level! I think we have a window addiction right now....

Another view of that big, beautiful window. I'm obsessed with it. It's even better during the day!

Kennedy is finishing up the window (and this is tonight - a weeknight! How does he keep up with all of this?)

That's all I got for the night. Thanks for reading!

Fireworks

2011-02-13T19:49:00.002-06:00

Today Kennedy and I picked up ANOTHER window from Dallas (bringing our grand total of windows bought for this bathroom renovation to 9!)

We won't use 9 windows in the bathroom, we just kind of got carried away, and now we have 9 really inexpensive, brand-new windows (thanks Craigslist!)

Traffic was horrible for no reason at all, other than the fact that Dallas is home to some of the worst drivers in the world. I hate to badmouth that wonderful city, but their standards for Drivers Ed are severely lacking.

One good thing that came out of it is that we got to hear Katy Perry's song, Fireworks, on the radio. It's funny because that song NEVER comes on the radio (sarcasm)!

Kennedy got to hear me belt it out at the top of my lungs. He started laughing, probably because he was so shocked at how good I am, and surprised at how I hit every single note.

Now I have the song stuck in my head, but just that one part: "Baby you're a fiiiiiiiiiiiiirework, c'mon show 'em whaaaaaaaaat you're worth!"

Now that you've read this post, you will also have only that part stuck in your head.

You're welcome.

Bathroom, Interrupted

2011-02-12T18:27:00.003-06:00

I hate to disappoint, but it's not much fun taking pictures of a gutted bathroom (after the first time.) Progress continues to be made (thanks to Kennedy, pictured below.)

Unfortunately, it's not the kind of progress that is particularly interesting at this point in time. So in the meantime, I'll show some befores and afters of one room that has been completed for a while now (until I figure out how to decorate it, anyway!)

Meet the office

Move-in day

Then, a little later...

Another shot of the giant window - unfinished at this point.

It's been almost a year since I dreamed aloud on blogger about what I wanted our office to look like.

If you click that link, you can see my wishlist. Well as of today, the only thing on that list that is currently in our office is that beautiful desk we scored on Craigslist. It was $200 but we considered it a steal since it is an antique naval officer's desk. Still trying to find out it's exact origination, but we know it was made in Chicago, so we are imagining it came from the Navy Pier (where we spent a few days after Kennedy and I got engaged.) Anyway, boring, I know.

Moving along....

Here are some photos of what our office looks like NOW!

Literally, I took the pictures just now.

Notice the crown molding and baseboards that the Hulk, I mean Kennedy, installed himself! Scroll up to look at the very first picture so you can see what a dramatic difference it makes.

New closet doors, also installed by the Hulk.

Now that I'm looking at the pictures, I'm hating that rug with those curtains ($8.99 per panel for Waverly curtains at Ross!), so I'm thinking I should switch it out for something like this:

This will give it a little more of a nautical feel. Yes, I think that's what I'm going for...

We need to hang our diplomas on the wall, among other decorations. Perhaps I'll get around to printing and framing the pictures from my wish list post!

For now, we are satisfied with our progress on the office. Stay tuned, I may decide it needs to be pink!

Snow Day #5

2011-02-09T13:55:00.002-06:00

Dear Texas,

It snowed a little, but not enough to measure with a standard ruler. You closed everything anyway. That's one of the reasons I love you.

Love,
Sara

It was a nice surprise to wake up to no work for the 5th time in 2 weeks, but one thing that is NOT a nice surprise is how the dogs want to go out every 5 minutes to wrestle in the "snow". It's not snow anymore, though. It's now just really cold mud. And do you know how hard it is to wipe really cold mud off of a dog's paws? It's hard. Especially because I can't justify making them rinse off in the pool at this point in time...

They are cute, though.

In other news, I came home late from work last night, and my dear husband showed me his continued demo progress on the bathroom! He cut the studs out that were separating the bathroom, closets and toilet closet thing. He also pulled out the vanity, soffit above the vanity and the last mirror.

Now it's nice and open!

All that's left is to pull up the marble tile on the floor and get that gigantic tub outta here!

Ahead of Schedule

2011-02-06T12:48:00.002-06:00

One way to force yourself into taking on a project that seems a little scary at first is to act impulsively!

We were only gonna take down the mirrors and doors yesterday, but as you can see from the following photos, we got a little carried away.

This is good because it puts us ahead of schedule! This is bad because we have bought nothing (NOTHING) to begin this bathroom renovation, except for a crow-bar combo pack and a sledgehammer. Oh and some construction trash bags.

Kennedy is currently working on getting the corroded vanity faucets off the wall so we can carry the vanity out to the garage and perform all sorts of magic on it!

Just to remind you of what it looked like before:

Enjoy our destruction!

Bags full of drywall greet us at the top of the stairs - This is only from today - there are 15 bags on the front porch from yesterday. I'm sure our neighbors are wondering if we are chopping up dead bodies over here. (Sorry, I let Dexter influence my imagination.)

We still have a lot of framing to tear out, but it's a start! (Hey Kennedy, nice socks!)

Look at all the fun exposed wires!

Most of the shower is torn out...

Have fun, Kennedy! I'm gonna go blog about all the hard work you're doing! (Just kidding, I helped clean!)

Total spent so far: $40.00 (New tools & trash bags)

Total saved so far: $1500? How much does someone charge to smash up a bathroom?

It has begun

2011-02-05T15:00:00.002-06:00

As I sit here, wasting my life away on the computer, I hear this:

Pound - Pound - Pound - SHATTER.

The bathroom renovation has begun. And it sounds like Kennedy's new sledgehammer was just introduced to our 1970s mirrored cove.

Good-bye for now - I must fetch a dustpan!

Stick a fork in my living room wall...

2011-02-03T16:34:00.002-06:00

I've finally finished stenciling that confounded wall in the living room!

And it doesn't look bad, if I do say so myself...

And now for my disclaimer!

Do not perform this project if any of the following apply to you:

1. You have a short temper when it comes to math
2. You don't have a large chunk of time to waste (Thank you, inclement weather days...)
3. You don't have a pint of Ben & Jerry's to reward yourself when you come to a stopping point

DO perform this project if the following things apply to you:
1. You're a cheapskate (To the tune of under $5)
2. You are extremely patient
3. You have a lot of wall space and nothing to use it for

Here are the cutest dogs in the world admiring the stenciled wall.

I had honestly not even thought about this wall. Kennedy and I have commitment issues. As a result, we haven't really hung things on the walls in our house. Except for a few mirrors here and there, we have NO ARTWORK displayed. Anyway, the thought struck me after strolling through the blog-o-sphere and seeing some neat projects here and there.

I found a great tutorial from Centsational Girl's blog for a Painted Trellis Wall, and used that as my starting point.

Then I went to Wal-mart (ugh) and bought a poster board for 38 cents, and 3 small bottles of champagne colored acrylic paint.

I first decided which stencil I wanted and played around with how to draw it. I ended up using a ruler and a salad plate as guides. Here's where all that fuzzy math comes in with levels and rulers and such. It was a nightmare, but it's true what the Army says: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

I am the world's worst blogger, and don't want to show you step by step, so if you have any questions about this little project, just ask me! Right now, Kennedy is pressuring me into cleaning the house with him. He has bribed me with Jason's Deli for dinner. He knows my weaknesses and has exploited them. Quick, look at Elvis!

Don't try this at home...

2011-02-01T22:53:00.002-06:00

Seriously, I can't wait to be done with this stencil wall. For one, it will look REALLY good when it's all done. For another, I can't wait to unload all of the complaints I have about this project!!!

For now, I will share with you a low-quality iPhone picture of the progress I made while watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Reunion Show Part 1 (which I had already watched once, so I could listen and know exactly what was going on!) Progress is actually further along than the photo depicts. Yay for me.

Meanwhile....

2011-01-26T20:52:00.002-06:00

We're not quite into the thick of our bathroom renovation yet (in fact, we haven't done a single thing past talk out loud about it, and visit 2 tile stores...)

But I'm ITCHING to see some progress somewhere in this house. It's hit a plateau where there's not a lot we can do unless we have a good amount of time/money to spare. So I decided to take matters into my own cheap hands.

I'm thinking the way to make the biggest impact with the smallest amount of cash is to paint something. Therefore, I shall stencil an entire wall. The thing is, I am gonna make the stencil myself. I will end up adding a lot of time to my project, but in the end I'll get exactly what I want and can see immediate results. No buyers remorse either!

Where, you ask, is an appropriate place to stencil an entire wall? Well, why not the living room!? So far, the only thing Kennedy and I have hung on the walls in that room are his Bose speakers, and a mirror. And while they look great, I'm not so much a fan of entertainment components as art. Here's a shot of the wall that will be crowned in glory in the near future:

My plan is to purchase the same color the wall is already painted in, but in a high gloss finish. OR, I could go one shade lighter....I haven't decided how much subtlety I want yet.

Now for the patterns! Here are a few patterns that I'm leaning toward...They are all strikingly similar!

Source unknown

From Good Girl Gone Glad

Pottery Barn Moorish Tile Rugs

Wish me luck! If I pull this off, I'll be sure to give you a hint or two on how to do the same! If I don't pull it off, I will post embarrassing photos and then paint over it.

"This just got real..."

2011-01-24T12:56:00.001-06:00

...is what Kennedy told me last night after he got off the phone with Stinson. We have recruited our first helpers for this bathroom project!

Now, where to begin? I decided that the most logical next step was to decide on a layout for the bathroom. Of course this isn't written in stone, but it will at least give us a jumping-off point. I'm thinking that we should have several back-up plans in the event that we hit a snag.

Kennedy and I have made some discoveries here in DIY-land. One being that every project (big or small!) takes at least 3 times longer than your original estimation.

Another discovery is that SOMETHING WILL GO WRONG. No matter what. It might be minor, or it could be major, but it's best to plan for the unexpected.

We've decided to do a slow demo over the course of a few weekends. Maybe rip down some wall paper here, pull off some moulding there, carefully remove the wall of mirrors above the huge bathtub (seriously, I like mirrors as much as the next girl, but I'm not sure I want an alcove of mirrors when I'm bathing...)

I'll quit rambling now and get on with it. What you see below is a before and after blueprint of the bathroom that I quickly drew up on my computer - not exactly to scale, but pretty durn close. Let me know what you think! Do-able? NOT do-able? Any suggestions for the extra space between the shower and tub (if we decide to go with that layout)?

HERE!

The red Xs indicate the places that I have to stand in order to get in and out of that wretched shower/toilet closet.

Feel free to share any advice you have!

Identity Crisis...

2011-01-23T09:56:00.000-06:00

That's the clinical description for what my blog is going through. Please bear with me.

Restless Leg Syndrome

2011-01-22T22:28:00.001-06:00

It's 10:08 on a Saturday night and here I find myself blogging and watching Tombstone with Kennedy (which at first glance, looked like Clue -- What? I've never seen either all the way through, but handle-bar mustaches + billiards rooms = Clue in my mind.)

Val Kilmer has really let himself go.

While we're on the topic of things that could really use a makeover, Kennedy and I have decided to finally take the plunge and renovate our master bathroom.

Here are are a couple of pictures on move-in day:

From the outside looking in....The only difference between this photo and now is we have since thrown out that bath mat and the white shelf on the back wall.

Here's another, just because it's so visually appealing...

From the inside looking out...

I cannot WAIT to have this project finished. And we haven't even started yet. This is definitely going to be one of those "marriage counseling" projects where Kennedy & I both come away better people. But in the end, I will not have to open a door, step in and press my body against the wall, then shut the door just to be able to get into our shower.

Other non-negotiables we have for this bathroom project:

-No peeling wallpaper

-A bathtub that drains properly

-an absence of mold and mildew

-getting rid of anything brass

We are still in the preliminary stages of planning, but here are a few pictures of inspiration to help you envision with us.

White Subway Tile (with white grout) in the shower....

Claw foot tub

Perhaps some grey slate tile for the floors....

(From Restoration Hardware....I wish!)

The jury's still out on what type of countertops we're gonna get -- I wouldn't mind going with a dark or black granite....Kennedy wants not black. We may compromise with a white-ish grey color. Who knows! We still need to decide on a layout!

Coming up next....A blueprint of our current bathroom and some possible new arrangements! Stay tuned!

Resolution Revolution

2011-01-09T15:06:00.000-06:00

Screw New Year's Resolutions!

Yeah, I made some. But here I am about 1 week in and I've kept NONE of them. I really haven't even started any of them.

I do believe, however, that a new year is a great excuse to get organized and start over. Which is basically what I need to do in a lot of areas of my life. I'm thinking this blog can be one of those areas. I want to blog! I want to make time for it! I want to share/record my crafts and home DIY projects. And I want my blog to be cute and organized.

Are all those things going to happen overnight? I guess not. So I'll start by cleaning my house, then sharing where we're at with all of this home renovation stuff.

We really have made some great strides in making this house ours (despite the fact that we have yet to hang stuff on the walls....) I guess it's high time I blogged about it.

So this is my "resolution"....to try and keep up with the fast-paced world o' blogging.

Until then, I'll leave you with a beautiful photo I took in Hawaii this Christmas holiday.

WICKED

2010-10-26T21:36:00.001-05:00

If I could listen to only two albums for the rest of my life, I may be tempted to choose any Glee Soundtrack and the Original Broadway Production of Wicked starring Kristin Chenowith and Idina Menzel.

While YouTubing videos of seeds sprouting this evening, I stumbled across a video about gravitropism with "Defying Gravity" playing in the background.

This reminded me how much I love Wicked. Then it reminded me how I got to see it on Broadway in NYC last Christmas with these two ladies. (I think....not be racist, but all Elphabas look the same to me.)

Then it reminded me how GREAT my husband is for getting me those tickets for Christmas. Thinking about it makes me feel all sentimental.

It's funny how one song can conjure up so much emotion. Also funny how PMS can do the same thing. Or maybe a combination of the two? TMI?

Oh, by the way, I'M AN AUNT NOW.

Meet Hunter. Apologies for the poor quality of photo, but isn't he beautiful???? We haven't met yet, but I'm certain to be his favorite aunt (sorry, Emily!)

Coming soon (possibly): Pictures of TONS of around the house projects. Many of them done by my wonderful aforementioned husband. I did a spell on him while he was sleeping to make him obsessed with home renovation. (I'm a witch.)

Blog dump

2010-10-02T19:22:00.001-05:00

Frankly, I'm surprised I even remembered my login information to this blog. Poor thing, so neglected.

As of 15 minutes ago, I am having serious home decor motivation/lack of inspiration. First, let me dump some projects on you that I've actually done since I started teaching (surprising that I would even find time, but when I get the urge to craft, everything takes a back seat.)

I found this little beaut while stopping by the parents house one evening. My mom had it in a pile meant for trash, so I took it! I'd been wanting to recover a lamp shade for a while now (lamp shades are so expensive...Even the ones at Wal-Mart are over $15.00...)

So as soon as I got home, I ripped that old crumbly fabric off and made it into this:

Presto Bingo - perfect addition to our superiorly boring entry-way. It's still a work in progress.

Kennedy & I also spent some time one weekend re-painting a guest bedroom in anticipation for company this Thanksgiving.

Here's a before:

It had become a catch-all for junk. My sewing machine was in there, along with a twin bed and a pile of unfolded (clean) laundry. Shame on us. It was so easy to shut the door and never look at it.

I have an in-progress photo, but it isn't entirely complete yet...Maybe I can talk myself into continuing blogging if I have something I need to update soon...

This is post-paint, but pre-re-install the baseboards. We also inherited a nice queen-sized bed from Emily & Patrick that will come in handy with the aforementioned company. Can't wait to share the final after photos!

Finally, I'll share some things from my Science Lab!

Here's a picture frame I painted so I could "frame" out my objective for the day...

You can see the finished product hanging over my board in this picture, if you look very closely....

And I might as well share the other view of my room, pre-first day of school. Now the tables are all crooked from kids pushing them around. And my table labels are all ripped off and in a landfill by now. Middle schoolers are messy.

The new dilemma is what the heck to do with our dining room. We bought a craigslist dining table that is now just not working for me. Still no dining room chairs. Plus there are many limitations to the room. HELP ME!

Bad Blogger

2010-09-11T14:51:00.000-05:00

So I'm teaching now, which can explain my absence. Kennedy & I have been getting some things done around the house but it's in between my lesson planning & napping, so I usually forget to take photos. Or forget to upload photos. I'm hoping after this week (and I've said this every week so far) to get a handle on my "school business" so I will have a little more free time on the weekends.

For now, I'll just daydream about the photos on this blog:

http://themeadowbrookblog.blogspot.com

100!!!!

2010-08-05T22:34:00.000-05:00

I thought my one-hundredth post would be more climactic than this...whoops.

Last Friday morning, Kennedy & I bombed our house for fleas. Then when we got home that afternoon, we spent 6-7 hours cleaning EVERYTHING. (Just an FYI, fleas are gone for now...)

Except I lied to myself because I didn't really clean everything. I cleaned the main rooms where we hang out (Kitchen, Living Room, Bedroom), and piled all our crap in all the other rooms (read: office.)

I'm swimming in junk mail and folders and books and loose change as I type this. I am proud of us though, because those other rooms have stayed fairly clean. Wanna know how I did it?

When I'm in the bedroom and I'm tempted to leave my laundry on the floor, I hear a little voice saying "Why can't you just put those away?"

When I'm in the kitchen and I'm tempted to leave dirty dishes on the counter or in the sink, the voice tells me, "Let's try to keep this kitchen clean, ok?"

When I'm in the living room and I want to leave all my craft supplies all over the coffee table, the voice is all "The dogs are going to get into that if you leave it out."

Where is this voice coming from all of a sudden? My husband's mouth.

Poor Kennedy is stuck with a messy wife.

Also, on a different topic, I'm pretty sure my contact lens prescription is 3 years old.

The People Under the Stairs

2010-08-04T11:26:00.001-05:00

Luckily, I didn't find anyone under our stairs. It wouldn't have been completely shocking, though. It was literally brimming over with STUFF. It became a catch-all for stuff we hadn't found a place for yet.

Does anyone know where I can find artwork to hang in my house? Oh, every piece of art ever created is in the closet under my stairs? Awesome!

So then, ALL BY MYSELF, I hung some shelves in there.

Yes, I did that. Alone. Me. And they're perfectly level.

But it didn't end there. No, my friends, then something amazing happened.

I organized all our DVDs into leather boxes for those shelves, and separated them by genre.

Jealous?

Then I waited about 2 months before I did anything else. And slowly but surely, things began piling up.

Yesterday, after reading other people's blogs about organizing stuff, I got an itch to finish what I'd started.

Behold! Floor space!

I organized my gift wrapping supplies, and reserved the top shelf for games. Anyone wanna come play Scrabble? I know where to find it! Or perhaps we could have Mancala Hour (name that movie and you get a kiss attack from Elvis.)

It's sad, but I'm in love with this closet now. I think I'll leave the door open all the time so I can take in the organization.

Stay tuned for throw pillow day!

Bad News, Good News

2010-08-02T14:31:00.001-05:00

Time for an installment of one of my favorite mind games, Bad News, Good News!

Bad News: Elvis was constipated for the past week because he wasn't drinking enough water.
Good News: He finally started drinking water and did "#2"!
Bad News: He did "#2" in the house, upstairs, in my bathroom, on my bath mat.
Good News: He didn't pee!
Bad News: This time.

What's more insane? How many photos I have of this dog, or how different he looks in each of them?

It's true...

2010-08-01T16:38:00.001-05:00

I lied.

I said I would blog yesterday, but then I didn't. I've been putting it off for over a month (with valid reason!) but I am back, my friends! Who knew life would get so incredibly busy this summer? I thought summer was for laying in my crystal clear pool (thanks to my wonderful pool boy/husband.) Unfortunately (or fortunately, however you choose to look at it,) I have been busy training to become a teacher! I have finished about 120 hours of classes all about teaching, I have passed a test that qualifies me to teach 4 subjects in grades 4-8, and I am busy plugging away at job applications. I am a little worried at how close to the start of the school year it is, and me without a job, BUT I must have faith that I will find something!

So with all of that plus my normal responsibilities, you can see how I have had little time to do household projects, let alone blog about them.

And the truth is, where do I even begin??? I feel like I almost have to reintroduce myself to all 5 of you reading. Thank you for still reading.

Let's just refer to this post as a photo-dump. That way, I do not have to follow any rhyme or reason in this post. It will be somewhat of a stream-of-consciousness picture book. If there has never been such a thing, well here it is now!

Last I blogged, I had just come home from a dear friend's wedding, followed by some fun time with Stephanie & our mother-in-law, Jennifer.

Here we are at Jennifer's wedding. This seems to be the only decent photo we have where Kennedy isn't drenched in sweat. Unfortunately, we tend to lose track of time dancing at weddings and forget to get photos before-hand.

The wedding was beautiful, magical, sentimental, and perfect. Here are a couple of photos of the bride - I hope she doesn't get mad at me for blogging about her....

Jennifer got married, and it was in and of itself a milestone event, but the post important part of that weekend was that Jaclyn & I found a tree to hang off of like animals.

So, good thing! We were starting to get worried we'd never be able to scratch that off our bucket lists.

Next, I jetted over to St. Louis for a fun conference. Here are Stephanie & I with a couple of celebrities!

So that's the abbreviated recap of my past month. The rest was spent in a classroom, learning how to teach.

Now I can't leave without sharing at least ONE project. I've really been able to get a few things done in the past month, so perhaps I'll share things worth sharing over the next few blog posts. Unless I decide to take another month off.

This one is something I've been looking to do for a while now, but haven't been able to find the right frame. I'd been trying to find an old, cheap framed photo or painting that I could convert into a cute bulletin board for my laundry room. It was really feeling kind of monotone in there for a while, and I thought a cork board would warm it up a bit.

Here's the before thing:

A little paint, distressing, glue and cork board, and I had a nice, new addition to my laundry room! And the whole project cost me $3.00 (for the frame.) I already had the paint & the cork in my house!

Now that my busy season is winding down, I have a long list of household to-dos to do (how'd you like that?). Expect more updates - CHEAP updates!

I promise...

2010-07-30T23:50:00.001-05:00

I promise tomorrow that I am coming back. Until then, here's a cute picture of my boo covered in mud.

Bizzy

2010-07-01T17:01:00.001-05:00

Holy rainy season, Batman!

That's right, our drought here in the DFW has been cured as of last Thursday. And so began the onslaught of T-storms...ahhhh, one of my favorite seasons here is the storm season! (Except when it strikes your nearest power line down.) Luckily, that hasn't happened to us this year!

Last year, while living with my parents, the T-storms struck down the power lines in their neighborhood. So when night fell, we busted out the candles & flashlights. I think only one flashlight actually had working batteries, and we've never really been a big candle family. Needless to say, it was dark.

So what did we do??? We played the "questions game," introduced to us by my sister-in-law, Caroline. Maybe one day Caroline could write a guest post and explain the game! It's fun, but for some reason I have no energy to teach it....Whattaya say, Caroline??

Speaking of being too tired to teach something, I have no tutorials to share of my own. However!!! I've been reading other's blogs, and slowly collecting tutorials of projects that I find to be amazing & easy! Today, I'll share the links to those. Another day, perhaps I will begin to work my way through them...

Prudent Baby's fabric flower hair clip

MADE's recycled grocery totes

Ollibird's menu planner

Prudent Baby's braided fabric headband

Enjoy!

Hotter'n Hell

2010-06-19T11:33:00.002-05:00

That's just something people in Texas say when referring to the heat. It's a true statement, but I've always hated the saying (which is why I chose to immortalize it right here on my very own blog??) There are a lot of things I've never really understood about Texas, yet at the same time I am strangely devoted to it. I'm sure any fellow Texans (native or grafted-in) will find it easy to relate.

Right now, I'm sitting in our semi-air-conditioned house while Kennedy drives across town to buy 1/3 the amount of sod we need for our front yard. The reason being, that's all that will fit in my Jeep at one time.

It's very, very hot outside, but luckily all we have left to do is fertilize and throw down the sod. EASY! The hard work is over!

Also, a couple of days ago when Jaclyn was over, I "accidentally" pulled the toenail of my left pinky toe off. "I was only trying to trim it!" Anyway, now there's this exposed/raw skin that I can feel with every step of my socked-and-shoe'd foot. I have been walking around practically barefoot for the past couple of days, so I hadn't noticed the pain 'til now.

Also, if you're wondering how someone can get away with walking around practically barefoot for 2 days in the middle of the week, well, I just don't leave the house. That's how!

I'm thinking our next DIY project will be installing a grocery store in the back yard so I literally never have to leave.

You know what will be awesome? When we're completely done working on this house. But then I suppose we'll sell it and move on...

Photo Twist

2010-06-17T21:44:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I want to frame a photo, but then I think it's missing something. Then, a couple of years ago I stumbled upon a neat little craft to jazz up photos.

Guess what photo I decided to use? That's right, a photo of MY DOG. I just can't seem to stay away. I wonder if I'll ever love kids as much as I love my dogs? At this point, I just don't see how it's possible...

Anyway, the twist to which I am referring is making a photo 2-D. I had already made one of cute Elvis when we first got him, so I decided I needed to get Cece caught up in the shrine department.

Notice the subtle "pop-out" of the photo. Here's the photo I decided to use of Cece:

She's just so freaking cute!

I used the following materials: several copies of the photo above, a black foam sheet, scissors, craft glue.

First, I decided how many layers I wanted in the photo. I generally stick with 3 layers, because any more gets complicated and takes too long and runs the risk of looking messy. So for this photo I went with the background/Cece's head, then her muzzle, then her round button nose.

Like so:

I had printed out 3 copies of the photo, and then cut one layer from each. Later, I decided that I could get away with only destroying 2 layers and keep the 3rd as a spare copy, like so:

Ok, and sorry but for some reason my computer thinks it's hilarious to UN ROTATE photos that I have previously rotated. So then I get side-ways photos. Loooove it.

Then I took the black foam sheet and traced the top two layers on it. Then I cut the traced areas out and glued them to the photo layers.

That traced section is actually traced onto a foam sheet that has a sticky side. Then I just had to peel the white backing off it and stick it on. But if you can't find that, then just glue it like I said before...

THEN, (and here comes the hard part,) glue all your layers together.

That's all! I am loving these easy 5-minute crafts lately. All of the results with barely any work.

Here's my finished result:

It was totally an accident, but that top spike of Cece's hair ended up hooking around the photo mat. I liked it and kept it because I thought it made the photo pop out more. Also, the frame I used is a semi-shadow-box frame from Hobby Lobby (half off!) I find that it works best if you are 2-D'ing your photos, so it doesn't get all smashed and defeat the purpose.

And here is a photo of my dog shrine/kitchen decor:

Any questions?

Hello Yellow!

2010-06-16T20:22:00.003-05:00

This blog is long overdue for a little sprucin' up! This feels a little more summer-y. Also, here's to hoping this will inspire me to get some other projects done.

It's been a long time since I've said "I'm bored," but it happened to me today. Actually, it kind of crept up on me in the last couple of weeks. My sleep pattern has been awry since Jennifer's Bachelorette party, which is causing my days to be filled with naps.

Note to self and others: Don't stay out 'til 3am. Just don't do it!

Anyway, bored means I just don't want to do anything. LORD KNOWS I have plenty to do around here. Instead, I'll just complain about it and not do it.

EXCEPT FOR THIS!

The following project is a little variation on the Custom Etched Bar Glasses post. This time, I took a handy little gift card to Hobby Lobby (Thanks Mel & J.T.!) and found some amazing green glass jars on clearance! The big one was $5 and the smaller one was $3. Cha-ching! Or, score?

I left Hobby Lobby with intentions of brandishing the jars with dog bones, or dog paws, or some cute dog pun. I wrestled over it all day, thinking it would "just be so cute" to etch one or all of those things on each jar. After all, I have been wanting some cute jars to display dog treats for a while now.

Then my judgement got the better of me, and I decided that dog-related decor is a slippery slope. Same with cat-related decor. I am, for now, going to keep it to a minimum by only decorating with photos of my dogs, and giving & receiving birthday cards with pictures of dogs doing hilarious things. (That might also be a slippery slope, but I'll keep you posted.)

Here's the project:

Chalkboard Jars

What you need:

- Glass or ceramic jars

- contact paper

- craft knife

- chalkboard paint

Draw some wavy rectangles on a piece of contact paper. Stick it to the jar. Make sure most of the jar is protected by contact paper if you are using Chalkboard spray paint. If you decide to go the paint-on route, then you should be good...

Here's what mine looked like after I was done with the spray paint.

Then once it was dry, I peeled off the contact paper and voila! This was a nice, easy, quick project, that semi-cured my boredom.

Because when you're bored, you want to see quick results so you can go back to sulking and watching re-runs of The Nanny, but still feel like you accomplished something today.

As far as what I'm going to write on the little chalkboards, it will be dog related. For now. But I like the versatility that the chalkboard surface offers. Maybe one day I'll use it to label a specific kind of cookie or snack. Or "KEEP OUT".

Milestones

2010-06-08T23:14:00.001-05:00

This is my 90th post! Ten more and maybe I'll bake (photoshop) a cake!

Today is also my birthday! I am FINALLY 26....I thought it would never get here! (kidding...who actually looks forward to a 26th birthday?)

Funny story, even though I'm 26, I am still getting turned away from night clubs at friend's bachelorette parties for looking 12. Apparently my ID also looks fake. But who's gonna be laughing in 26 years when I look 26? ME! That's who!

But that's neither here nor there.

Things at our house have been at a standstill as far as renovating/decorating/remodeling. For one, I am STILL trying to find a full-time job, over a year later. Not that I'm complaining, because I love staying home with the dogs.

Another reason for our standstill is that it's finally been warm enough to use our pool. Like every day. So when we decide to make time for lounging poolside, we are pushing aside progress on the house. Our pool has never looked better, though! Come over and swim with me sometime!

Slowly, but surely, we are making some progress on the office. But I have a feeling it would be going a lot faster if I could just get motivated. We'll see what this weekend holds.

So, while I do not have anything to share house-wise, I do have a fun little project that anyone can do (homeowners or not!) I guess I'm on a bit of a craft kick.

I'm not sure where I heard about this, but it had to be a combination of reading other blogs and googling. It's one of those "'twas blind but now I see" type of deals, where I didn't even know this craft existed!

Custom etched bar glasses

This is a little gift-set that I whipped up for a dear friend's "Stock the Bar" wedding shower. Great party, by the way! I had never heard of this type of shower, but it was so much fun, and the happy couple got lots of goodies for their home bar.

I asked Jennifer (the bride) to send me 4 inside jokes that she and her fiance have. Something that they would hear and only they would know what it meant. (I'm not sure why I felt the need to explain what an inside joke is, but let's just consider it part of the tutorial.)

Here's what you'll need for this project:

-4 glasses (or however many you want!)

-exacto/craft knife

-contact paper

-pen or marker

-glass etching cream (just so you're prepared, it's like $8 for a 1-2oz bottle, but a little goes a long way!)

Those are the basic things you will need. You may find a way to be more efficient using other tools, or you may want to customize this to your own needs (i.e. Margarita or Martini glasses, or a mirror!)

First, I drew the letters onto a square piece of contact paper. I didn't like the way it looked, so then I typed and printed the letters out and traced them onto the white contact paper by layering them and holding them up to a window. It was really quite complicated and difficult, so I suggest using clear contact paper. (White was what I had lying around, so that's what I used.)

(This was my first attempt when I hand-wrote it. I later took this off and started again.)

After I peeled the back off of the contact paper, I tried my best to center and level the sticker onto the glass, smoothing out all bubbles.

Then I took my exacto/craft knife and traced around the parts that I wanted gone (i.e. all the black marker.) You can see where I started to do that above. This is a very time-consuming, hand-cramping part, but take care to be exact so your edges aren't all jagged! Don't worry about scratching the glass because the exacto/craft knife isn't sharp enough to do that.

Once all the necessary pieces are cut out, apply the etching cream liberally and let it sit for a while. (I let mine sit for like 5 minutes, but I think it would have done better to sit for a lot longer...)

Also, I suggest you wear rubber gloves, because this stuff is pretty strong.

Once you're satisfied with how long it has sat there, eating away at the surface of the glass, rinse with water. I also wiped my clean with a damp paper towel to make sure I didn't leave behind anything that would etch where I didn't want it.

Dry with a dry paper towel, then peel off the contact paper.

Really? That's it???

It was so easy to do! The hardest and most time-consuming part is definitely cutting out the contact paper. However, if you decided to do something else, like a silhouette, it wouldn't take as much time.
I actually saw something really cute on Etsy where they made a dog treat jar with the silhouette of different dog breeds. It was A-freakin'-dorable, and if I didn't have a couple of mix-breeds, I would definitely be making it!

Maybe I'll get a glass jar and put a paw-print on it?

(Careful, Sara! Your house is on the verge of having too many dog-related decor items!)

I think the bride loved the glasses, and if not, well she didn't tell me! After writing this post, it makes me want to go etch the heck out of everything in the house!

Aaaaand we're back!

2010-05-28T15:02:00.002-05:00

I can't remember if I've used that title before, but if I have, oh well. My hiatus seems to have come to an end. Whether coincidence or subconscious, I don't know, but it has fallen on the exact same day that I am finally rid of all things bothersome concerning the dreadful fence fire.

Please re-read that last sentence out loud. With a British accent. I won't tell you how, but trust me, it is relevant to the fence fire.

Now when I say I'm back, I don't mean I'm going to write another post about how annoying that whole "FF" ordeal was ("FF" is code for Fence Fire, in case you didn't catch it...) No. When I say "I'm back," I mean, I have a new project to share! And I'm in love with it. Even KENNEDY is as excited about it as I am.

(Not to say he doesn't ever praise or appreciate my work, but I believe much of it is of little consequence to him.) Did I even use "of little consequence" correctly? I'm just in Jane Austen/proper/British mode or something....

SO MUCH GOING ON IN MY HEAD RIGHT NOW!

Let's talk about this project. And while I'm at it, I'll go ahead and provide a tutorial. This project was inspired by a project done over at http://www.susieharrisblog.com. She did an entire board full of type-writer keys and numbers. It is amazing. I'm definitely going to be making it for our office (when I finally get around to working on it...)

Type-writer Keys Vanity Coat Rack

(TKVCR)

Materials needed:

1 - 1x8, cut to size of your preference

Black craft paint

Round things (paper plates, cups?)

Printer

Pen

Brown paint or stain

Polyurethane

Mountable coat hooks

Some screws and stuff

I literally had everything I needed for this project in my garage. The mountable coat hooks were bought at Pier 1 a while back with this project in mind, but they were like a buck each. Hobby Lobby (aka HEAVEN) has a large variety of knobs and hooks. Knobs would be cute mounted as a coat rack (I know, because my mother-in-law did it. And it is cute.)

1. So first I cut that 1x8 down to about 40". You can do more or less depending on your space or what have you.

2. I primed the board (back and front) with white primer. Then I measured out for spacing purposes and traced 4 circles using a small paper plate.

Can you see my pencil marks? The flash was pretty bright... Just look closely. You'll see that I did, indeed, trace circles.

3. I painted the inside of the circles black. (..with black craft paint. If you have a different type of black paint lying around, use that instead! It really doesn't matter.)

Here they are all painted in. Sorry for the funky camera angles....

4. I printed out the letters in my last name to fit. Based on the size of the circles, I knew I needed letters the size of 1/2 a sheet of paper. Not to get complicated, but using photoshop, I was able to size them correctly. The font I chose was a 350 point Georgia (caps lock).

So it was pretty big. But you want the letters to be the correct scale. If they are too small, then it won't look like type-writer keys anymore. But if that's what you wanna do, then go for it!

For some reason, the photos I took for this project look horrible. Maybe because I kept turning my flash off. So that's why.

5. Center the letter within the circle and trace over the letter using a ball point pen. TRACE HARD, so the lines show up. Then, take a slightly smaller sized circle and trace inside the black circle. (see below)

Because the paint was pretty fresh, it actually picked it up where I traced. So it's nice and easy to see. That's important, because...

6. Paint inside the letters with white paint. Also, paint over that new circle you just traced, BUT don't paint all the way around. Just do it in spots so it looks a little worn..

(Look closely at the white border circle to see what I mean.)

7. Then right after it dries (maybe 30 minutes later?)...Take it out back and rub some brown paint/stain on it. Rub lightly for less distressing. Rub a little harder for more distressing. Rub more brown paint along the edges and corners for a more aged look.

8. Once that dries, give it a quick coat of polyurethane to protect any more paint from chipping off.

So that's how you paint the sign! I gather I don't need to add steps on how to attach your hooks.

So I attached the hooks, and I also attached a couple of picture hangers on the back so it would be easy to hang. Just thought I'd throw that out there too. But I won't hold your hand through that. Mostly because I didn't take picture of those steps.

But I WILL show you one more final project picture!

I think this project took a couple of hours to do. The thing that took the longest was painting in those letters. Is your name like 16 letters long? Then make the circles smaller. Or, just use the first initial. Or make a monogram! Possibilities are endless.

Yay for me! And yay for you if you decide to make this.

Excuses, Excuses

2010-05-24T21:26:00.000-05:00

I literally have nothing to share these days. I went on a little bit of a blog boycott while waiting for all of the fences to get repaired. FINALLY, last Friday, our neighbor's had their fence completed. Because they preferred that we not rebuild it ourselves, we had to just sit around and wait to do ours. There is still a minor gap in the corner that Kennedy is planning on finishing up, but at least our neighbors can't see into our backyard (and vice versa.) Talk about awkward.

Needless to say, we learned our lesson and will NEVER dump ashes again. It only makes for some nit-picky (or nosey) neighbors.

This past Saturday was spent out on a boat for 8 hours. We returned looking like lobsters and feeling like giant bruises. WEAR SUNSCREEN!

Perhaps tomorrow I can get back in the swing of "projecty" things. If not, this blog is doomed.

Fire aftermath

2010-05-12T09:41:00.003-05:00

We were pretty sure we'd get all this fence stuff taken care of in 1-2 days. As usual, our project-time-estimates end up being about 3 times too small.

We still do not have a fence to enclose our yard, and are currently using slightly charred panels that the firemen chopped down to prop against the openings.

The reason being, I hate taking the dogs out in the backyard on a leash. Plus, Cece won't even go to the bathroom on a leash. AND she will only go in one spot in the yard and it happens to be right by the burnt down fence.

Well, I thought we were coming to the end of the fiasco, what with our neighbors making a claim on our insurance and getting their fence and deck repaired. (We have to wait on our fence so they can get to their deck to be repaired.)

Then Sunday, neighbor Chuck comes over and says he was talking to the guy behind him (not even on our street,) and THAT guy wants to file a claim for his tree. And by the way, his tree was fine. He had one crispy branch that needed to be trimmed. But what is this? Middle school? Come over and talk to us about it yourself!

So before we even had a chance to address that situation, I guess the guy got over himself and just trimmed the branch himself, thank goodness. I literally do not even know what this guy looks like.

Yesterday, I get a call from the neighbors behind us (not even in the same neighborhood.) We did burn their fence down, but Kennedy took the next day off work to rebuild it. Then we get a call that there are some nit-picky things with the fence that he wants fixed. Plus they say there is a patio cover with fire holes in it.

However, as soon as Kennedy had finished the fence, he had the guy come look at it to "approve" it. The guy was like "yes this looks good." NOW he has a problem with it.

Well, I have a problem with people not being direct and moving on.

MY QUESTION: Why are you waiting until 1.5 weeks later to discuss the patio cover? And how did the fire get allllllll the way across your yard and ruin your patio cover but not touch anything else in it's path?

Now I feel like we're being taken advantage of.

Is this whole ordeal going to be dragged out for the rest of my summer? Am I even going to get to use my pool or will I have to feel weird because we have a big open gap in our fence for all the world to see?

The moral of the story is, it doesn't matter if you go out of your way to make a situation right or to fix a mistake, some people are just snobby and rude and nothing can change it.

I'll blog more later when I finally get an actual project done around this place. For now I have to go be a diplomat to jerks.

"We're having a fire!....sale...."

2010-05-02T22:07:00.005-05:00

If you know what that quote is from, I will literally make a blogging award and give it to you.

Let me just start by saying that between the smoke from our fire pit, setting our fence plus 3 other neighbor's fences on fire, and grilling burgers inside, I probably have developed an advanced form of lung cancer this weekend.

"GRILLING BURGERS INSIDE?!?!" you ask? "Why would ANYONE do something so insane????"

Well, I think the more important question is, "Why would someone set their fences plus 3 neighbor's fences on fire?"

So I'll address the latter question first.

(The damage.)

We Deans have had our share of miracles this spring, and I believe we can add this to the list.

Last night we had some friends over. We ate outside, we had a fire pit going, we had this AMAZING playlist playing ("I feel like I'm in an indie movie!"), and times were great.

This afternoon, long after the fire had died and the embers had cooled, we decided to dispose of the ashes.

BIG MISTAKE

Do not take 16-18 hour old ashes from your fire pit and dump them behind your utility shed where you threw all of the leaves from the previous fall. Fire may ignite and destroy property that does not belong to you!!!

We learned a lot today. Something else I learned is that I should probably start wearing a surgical mask more often (or a gas mask) to shield my now-vulnerable lungs from smoke and fumes.

The miracle lies in the fact that this could have been WAY WAY WORSE. Our neighborhood is tree-laden. Luckily, the fire didn't have time to spread through the tree-tops. Otherwise, it could have been carried right up to several back doors. Another lucky thing is that the fire department is literally 3 blocks from our house, so they came pretty quickly. We were truly lucky in this instance!

So guess what our next project is?

No, silly! Not the office! It's rebuilding 4 fences and a deck! Yaaaaaay!

So, yeah I had to get through all of that boring stuff to finally come to answer the big question as to why anyone would grill burgers inside????

Our gas grill was out of propane.

Cold front in April?

2010-04-27T10:27:00.005-05:00

Well, we're continuing to deal with the effects of climate change here in Tejas. Unfortunately, it just won't stay hot like it's supposed to! I'm ready to swim! Cece is REALLY ready to swim! But I refuse to get in a pool that is under 85 degrees (and even that is a bit chilly for me!)

Perhaps it has prolonged a spring where I might have otherwise killed all my plants by now. So I'll be optimistic about this. (But I still resent having to wear jeans to a baseball game -- WHAT?!! The world must be approaching it's end!)

Ok, I've had some BUSTED UP projects around here lately. Mainly the one where I was going to sew my own curtains for the fireplace room but then they ended up hanging crooked. I mean, who knew sewing a piece of fabric into a rectangle would be so difficult? Nevermind the fact that it took me a week and a half to even sew the things in the first place. Bottom line is, they just didn't work for the room. So we now have curtain rods, but no curtains.

I haven't decided if I'll give that project another go, or just break down and buy some already made. Maybe I'll check Pier 1 first....

Another BUSTED UP (or we'll just say neglected) project is my plan to organize the closets in the bedroom.

I started our hall closet, but quit half-way through because there are still a lot of things in there that need to be "stored."

Then I moved to our lovely office, (which is about to undergo it's own little renovation,) and successfully organized that closet. It took like, 3 hours. Plus, the closet doors fell off (thanks, previous owners!), so you can see the "organization" and it's slow demise.

Still, I haven't found the motivation to go upstairs. Maybe it's because I hate our bedroom right now, and will continue to hate it until I can bust some walls up.

As of now, we have two clean baskets of unfolded laundry downstairs, and 3 clean baskets of folded laundry upstairs. I will say, my closet is basically empty right now and I am having to dig every time I need clean clothes.

Enough about BUSTED UP projects. Let's talk about some successes, so I don't leave this post feeling completely defeated.

Let's talk about grass.

Token "before" picture

And our current situation!

I probably shouldn't admit to this, but there are still quite a few bare spots. You just can't see them in this photo! So to you, it looks magnificent! It's definitely getting there. Now I need to get some real planters for either side of that french door.

This next thing isn't a project, but I just wanted to brag for a moment because I never win anything!

But I did win this....

A re-usable shopping bag, a green tea flavored lip balm, guitar picks, stickers...this company is rad!

Thanks to Sweet Leaf Tea! This is literally the best tea on earth. It's an organic tea, it's delicious, and it's based right out of Texas. I'd say that's a triple-threat!

(Uh-oh...looks like I let a little bit of that Texas pride slip out. I apologize if you aren't from Texas.)

I think this seems like a good place to call it quits for the day.

Etsy!

2010-04-26T20:32:00.001-05:00

I have an esty store, ya'll! For now, I'm just doing the pet placemats, but if that's successful, then I'll be able to expand it!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/kissattack

Dream office

2010-04-20T22:26:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting here wishing I could get started on fixing the office. Right now it's horrible. The only reason I'm in here so much is because I love my MAC!

Normally I hate reading blogs that have a bunch of pictures of other people's stuff, but this is necessary, as I have nothing to share of my own yet!

Anyway, here are some of my inspirations for this office....aka things I will directly copy and incorporate into the plan.

Dear Craigslist, please make this person email me back so I can have this desk.

Can't remember where I got this photo, but I'm copyin' it!

Another can't remember, but I'm definitely making this!

From The Graphics Fairy

Now I just need a gigantic rug and some to-die-for curtains and that's it! Can't wait to show what I got at Thrift Town today. It's going to be perfect for my "industrial inspired" office. But you'll just have to wait.

Some green things

2010-04-18T14:19:00.002-05:00

Well I tried my post-naming method again today but couldn't get the same luck I had as last time. That method is now out the window.

Instead, I have some green things to get off my chest.

First, I'll tell a boring story about something and then share photos of it.

Teetering on the edge of "crazy dog lady," and often over-stepping the line, I've been searching and searching for a bone-shaped placemat to keep Elvis's food bowls on for months. I have YET to find one (except I actually found EXACTLY what I had envisioned on Friday night at HomeGoods. But alas, it was too late.)

The moral of the story being, I just finally made my own.

So I took this...

...and turned it into this!

I struggled to decide between "woof." and "bone-apetit," but you can see my final decision. And yes, I realize how completely bored I must sound when I can't decide which dog pun to use.

Another thing I'm debating is making a whole bunch of these cat and dog place mats and selling them on etsy. I suppose I'm worried that I'd make them and then no one would buy them and then I'm stuck with 12 dog place mats and 12 cat place mats. Leave me a comment to let me know if you're interested!

Has anyone seen this etsy site, by the way? It's amazing! People make things and sell them. It's a great way to find hand-made items. Plus, people are so creative that it's usually something you couldn't find anywhere else. They also have vintage items/antiques! (In my Homer Simpson voice I'm going, "mmmmm.....vintage slash antiques....")

Here's a fun picture of Elvis eating off my hand-made placemat.

See?!?! It really works!

Please ignore the dust-bunnies in the corner, and Elvis's ugly haircut.

On to greener pastures!

Our grass finally sprouted! Right now it looks like a hair-plugs for yards campaign, but I believe in a few days it will all be filled in. Nature is such a miracle. I continue to doubt it and it continues to amaze me.

Photos to come once the grass is filled in!

Speaking of amazing nature, I found something pretty bizarre yesterday. While checking on my compost bin, (or as I lovingly refer to him, Binny,) I found something of a miracle.

Sorry for the sideways picture, but do you see those green things in there? GREEN ONIONS HAVE SPROUTED IN A DARK AND ENCLOSED PLASTIC BIN WITH MY GARBAGE IN IT.

I'll say it again for dramatic effect.

GREEN ONIONS HAVE SPROUTED IN A DARK AND ENCLOSED PLASTIC BIN WITH MY GARBAGE IN IT.

How amazing, because I was literally planning on buying some vegetable plants on my next shopping trip. Green onions were definitely on the list, thank you!

I quickly scooped those babies out and planted them.

Awww, look how cute.

By the way, I didn't really nickname my bin of food waste. That was a complete joke. I just thought someone might be reading this and unable to concentrate on anything else I said because they're trying to wrap their brain around someone nicknaming a large vat of garbage.

Finally, I suppose I should share something un-green.

Remember the time I made those lamps?

Well look what I found at HomeGoods on Friday.

Yeah....I've been copied! Although I will say that I love the silver base and may have to find something similar to dress mine up a bit. We shall see....

For now, I'll just go sit on my hands and wait for this to come in the mail.

QUICK

2010-04-15T21:46:00.001-05:00

I'm trying out a new method for my blog post titles. It's something I've seen posted as peoples' facebook statuses (status'? stati?) Anyway, the idea is to pick up the closest book to you and turn to page whatever, and choose word/sentence # something or another and that's what is supposed to describe you.

So, being that I am flanked by two full bookcases, I reached over to the shelf on my right (because I'm right-handed) and (without looking) chose a book. I opened the book to a random page and chose the 8th word (because my birthday is on the 8th.)

I WILL GIVE FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS IF SOMEONE CAN GUESS WHAT BOOK I CHOSE!!!!

Oh come on, don't get excited. No one would ever guess it. It was A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. I should revisit that one.

Well, so I was all excited because I was like "awesome! 'quick' is a great title for this post because that's exactly what it's about!" Except that I just gave you a 2 paragraph description of how I chose my blog post title. Not so quick anymore, but I digress.

Let's talk about QUICK and ridiculously easy (and FREE) artwork.

I stumbled across a neat little site through my blog grapevine, called Daily Drop Cap. Every day there's a new embellished letter of the alphabet. If you're like me, you kind of like monograms, but feel that mostly they can be misconstrued as self-centered and arrogant. Kind of like having a million pictures that you have taken of yourself and framed all over your house.

Maybe no one else thinks that about monograms. Maybe I'm weird.

But in this site, you can see that these aren't just mere monograms, but works of art! So I got right down to it and dug out two picture frames that have been sitting empty for over a year, waiting for something to fill their empty souls. (Too much?)

Helloooooo half-off photo frames at Hobby Lobby!

Then I went to Daily Drop Cap and chose this...

is for Sara!

And this...

is for Kennedy!

Then I printed them to size and viola!

Framed artwork, cheap and personal!

Here they are on our front entry table. I'm very excited about these, if you can't tell. I might try them out on our night stands as well!

The End?

Spring in full swing!

2010-04-14T21:34:00.003-05:00

One of my least favorite parts about blogging is having to come up with a title for each blog post. I walk a fine line of being informative and intriguing. A lot of the time, it just comes off corny. So there, I said it. Most of my blog titles are corny. Is there an online tutorial of how to title a blog post? Someone shoot me a link!

There's been a lack of projects around here lately...or a lack of completed ones anyway. It's been difficult to keep up with the cleaning side of the house, so I don't let myself do anything fun until stuff is clean. (Yikes! I may never get to do anything fun!)

One of the few downsides to having all hardwood floors is that there are dust bunnies everywhere. Another is that it shows other dirt much more easily. And another is that all our floors are scuffed up and worn and begging to be refinished. Another day, another dollar.

I have learned though, that some things left to themselves create wonderful results! I've had fun the past few weeks going out in our back yard and looking for newly sprouted plants and newly bloomed flowers.

Today I walked around the yard and took pictures of some of my favorite backyard surprises!

Remember the time I planted a mini herb garden? Well, here it is, almost completely maintenance free and thriving!

(Dill in front, Cilantro in the back!)

(Cilantro in front, Dill in the back!)

These aren't mature enough to use yet (I don't think, anyway,) but I'm looking forward to the day that I can use them!

I also planted some roma tomato plants...

I should probably thin these out to their own pots, but it just looks so cute all green and purple in this little pot. I don't think they want to be separated just yet.

Here's something amazing....I didn't plant anything in the next few pots pictured below. However, stuff still sprouted! I don't know if they're weeds, but I think they look kinda nice, so I'll keep them! (Am I the first person ever to keep potted weeds in her backyard?)

So then I have these things. I believe they are knockout roses. There are a couple of bushes on the side of the house. Currently they're being suffocated by some vines we cut down from the fence, but never pulled out from the ground. (That sounds horrible when I write it...I'll make Kennedy pull those vines all the way out this weekend...)

At any rate, the bush is still blooming! With no help from me. I can't wait for these little buds to finish blooming so I can quickly cut them off and bring them inside where I can see them all the time. (Like I said, side of the house....)

One day last week I pulled into the driveway and noticed this...

I was honestly planning on cutting this thing down soon. I never would have thought such sinful things if I had known it was a hydrangea bush!!! I've been wanting one of these things forever, and here I have a 4-5 ft tall one in my own backyard! I actually had 2 of them back in South Dakota, but I was young and naive, and didn't know that they needed to be in partial sun. They got fried and died.

These got on fine without me though. I like that kind of plant.

This is a pot full of "wandering jew", (I know it sounds offensive, but I didn't name them.) I planted clippings at the beginning of fall last year. Apparently they all took root and are growing back! I'm excited about these because they grow fast, with no upkeep, and produce a beautiful, deep purple plant with small pink flowers.

Not to be confused with these:

These are lining the fence in the back. They're so vibrant! The photo doesn't do it justice...

Now I'm tired of writing about every single plant, so here's some more photos of things in my backyard.

(Monkey grass)

(Banana leaves?)

(Banana leaf close-up)

An avocado seed I "planted" in December or January. FINALLY sprouted roots...

So that's it for my little backyard tour. I think I got that out of my system. Next on my list is to plant some grass seed here...

The other side of the yard still hasn't sprouted. I'm getting worried. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised soon....If so, then I can finally move on to the dirt patch pictured above.

For now, I'll just go cuddle some dogs.

Yard Waste

2010-04-10T22:54:00.002-05:00

Well, it's finally been nice enough out lately that Kennedy and I have been able to spend a lot of time in the yard. I now understand why people hire out their yardwork. However, this is giving me a great excuse to get a tan (you know, UV rays are evil now-a-days.)

Last time we worked in the yard, we had added a small patio off the dining room.

We're loving it, and the dogs are especially loving it. For some reason, it's a novelty to have a new door. Elvis likes to go out and check things out around that side of the yard, then immediately come back in.

Annnnnyhow, last week (or maybe the weekend before?) we decided to clear out some more stuff to make room for more grass. The entire backyard is pretty long and narrow, with much of it paved, so any extra grass space we can get is good!

Just for the sake of being dramatic, here's a photo of our side yard the day we moved in. I don't even remember it looking like that! But you can see all the overgrown bushes and weeds, and the greenhouse there in the corner of the yard.

That's the stuff that has been cleared out to date! We successfully took the greenhouse down without breaking it! It took a lot of patience (and cursing), but we did it.

Here is the yard now, sans greenhouse. Plus all the bushes are trimmed up. It looks twice as big! Since this photo was taken, we also took out the little corner "garden" (which was actually a barren patch of yard filled with pea gravel.) This afternoon, Kennedy and I tilled all the bare spots in the yard and threw down some grass seed, so we'll see how that goes.

If you're wondering about that little blue bin at the bottom, well, let me talk about it!

Meet my compost bin.

Thanks to the lovely bloggers at Young House Love, I was able to learn how easy it is to compost! If you're interested in starting your own, you can read how they did it here.

That photo was taken on day 1. Here's my compost bin on like day 9 or something. I don't really remember, but it was at least a week and a half later...

So apparently it takes a couple of months to compost stuff and use it as fertilizer. I'll be patient for now. A couple of days ago, I found some earthworms in the yard. I had heard these are great in a compost bin, so I picked them up and tossed them in there. I almost threw up, even with gardening gloves on, because worms and other bugs are just disgusting.

I will say, that our garbage has reduced about 25-50% since I started this compost bin. I just keep a bucket under the kitchen sink and throw in all of my vegetable waste. I also put in egg shells and lint.

I think I'm turning into a hippie.

Drama, Midnight Road Trip, Easter: In that order

2010-04-05T20:42:00.001-05:00

So I have been absent yet again, but this time I have plenty of excuses! Or as I like to call them, "reasons."

Last week was spent preparing for a long over-due trip to Kentucky to visit Kennedy's dear mom, grandmother, aunt & uncle. We were excited when we found out that Stinson & Stephanie would also be able to make the drive!

After a lot of soul searching, we decided it would be best to leave Cece behind with my parents. My mom had so generously offered to watch her, and we just didn't think a 10-hour car ride would be the best thing for an unstable dog.

So off we went! Kennedy, me & precious Elvis, just driving and laughing and singing through the night. We are so Griswold. We arrived early Friday morning and crashed. Had fun spending time with the family and just vegging out.

Saturday morning rolls around and we get a phone call from my mom. Cece had run away.

Cece had run away.

I know I wrote that twice, but I had to say it at least 5 more times before it sunk in. We were completely helpless 10 hours away.

She had jumped out of my parents car before my mom had a chance to grab a hold of her leash and was off into a 4 acre enclosed property. It is half field, half forest. My poor mom combed the property 5 times that day and couldn't find her at all. She walked through several adjoining neighborhoods with the same luck. And Kennedy and I were 10 hours away, watching our phones and hoping someone would find her.

No one did, and we decided to leave Kentucky a day early. We were upset that our trip was cut short, and upset that our dog was missing. We felt pretty defeated.

So again, we drove through the night. This time not so much with the singing and laughing. More like hoping and praying that none of the 10 billion horrible things that could happen to Cece would happen.

We arrived back home around 4:30 am Sunday morning and immediately went to the "scene of the crime." We found nothing, plus it was very dark. So we went home and slept until sunrise.

I made flyers to hang in the neighborhood, but unfortunately we were almost out of computer paper, so I was only able to print 6 of them. I know the flyer thing is a little bit of a desperate act, but I was desperate!

We went back at daylight, this time with my mom, and looked through the property again. And again, no luck in finding her. We started to walk back to our cars, thinking we could drive through some neighborhoods, but pretty much resolved that the only way we'd find her is if someone found her and called the number on her tags.

Just then, my phone rang. It was a number I didn't recognize. I answered, and the voice of an old lady was on the other line. "Did you lose your dog?"

"YES!" I shouted at her. She probably thought I was psychotic. And maybe I was just a little bit. She gave me the address (less than a mile from where Cece had first escaped,) and we jumped in the car and drove over there.

It was an Easter miracle! That dog was filthy. She was covered in sewer water (she had found a creek and followed it all the way to this lady's property, then hid out under her bushes,) and dirt. Her turquoise leash was still attached, but was now a muddy green color. She ran over to us and jumped up and licked my face. It was a wonderful reunion! Except for the smell.

So that's my little story. We are so thankful for our dogs, and especially thankful that Cece arrived home without a single scratch on her.

In short (is it too late for that?), that's why I have been absent.

However! I'm working on a project as I type (wheels are turning.) Check back soon to see my little craft!

Life is a comedy?

2010-03-29T14:42:00.002-05:00

I was born into an entertainment-loving family, so bear with me as I relate my life to the general plot of a sit-com.

All sit-coms have a few staples, or "go-to comedic situations" that will make an appearance. I'm thinking of these on the fly, mind you, but I'm pretty sure you can apply these situations to most any sit-com, and recall the episode.

Every sit-com will have an episode where someone accidentally sees someone else in a compromising position (i.e., walk in on them in the shower, walk in on them in going to the bathroom, glance over at the wrong time in a locker room...) It's inevitable.

Then there's the oh-so-popular bad hair cut/hair style/hair day episode. Trust me, it's on every sit-com.

Finally, there's the ever-present handcuff episode, where two opposing characters somehow end up in the situation where they're handcuffed together.

Which brings me to my life.

Today has been a rough day in our house. Mainly for Kennedy & Cece. We are currently brainstorming ideas, but decided that the only way to get Cece used to humans is to tether ourselves to her 24/7. This excludes any time sleeping or working.

Stay tuned as hilarity ensues!!!

Donuts, Dog Park, Deconstruction & Done.

2010-03-27T20:00:00.001-05:00

Kennedy and I had a very relaxing and productive day today. What's our secret? Relax first, work second!

We started off by getting some Donuts on our way to the dog park. This was the first time Cece has been. We didn't take her before because she was in heat, and well, that would've just been a disaster. But now she's all "fixed" up and healed. She was a little overwhelmed and stayed close, but did really well!

Elvis hadn't been in forever, so he was running around, high-fiving everyone. Glad to be back.

Anyway, I took a lot of photos while I was there, so I will now share my favorites.

This dog was so adorable...

Check out those eyes!

Sometimes Cece would be the only dog around, and she really got into the posing thing...

Pride & Joy

My absolute favorite Elvis picture of the day.

Loves in my life.

My absolute favorite picture of the WHOLE day.

"This is Cody. He has a drooling problem."

Time to leave.

All in all, it was a great time! And I'm extremely inspired to work on learning my camera after today! Hope you enjoyed!

Photos

2010-03-22T20:19:00.000-05:00

I know I neglected it for about 2 weeks, but I wanted to bring to your attention that I'm back on my Photograblog wagon! You can find a link to the photograblog in the right-hand sidebar.

Check back each day as I try to keep up with practicing my photography. Please feel free to leave comments with tips or assignments as well! I NEED practice. Badly.

Stupid Spring, or "How our backyard is a metaphor for the Island on LOST"

2010-03-21T21:27:00.001-05:00

NEVER, in my entire life living here in Texas, has it snowed in March. Oh, except for yesterday. I'm so sick of the cold. This is one of the reasons I could not handle South Dakota. Cold weather = increased mortality rate. Go look it up. I'm worried that the end of the world is upon us. Like, hell hath frozen over end of the world type stuff.

Anyway, that's my rant for the time being. Allow me to share a recent project that Kennedy and I worked on last weekend. I'm only NOW getting around to posting it because after we finished this project, I was tired. For like a whole week.

A couple of weeks ago, we had the window in our dining room replaced with a french door.

Since this is not the project I'm posting on, I'll hold off on before and afters of the dining room.

Long story short, right outside that window was just a big patch of mud and weeds. After we had the french door installed, there was nowhere to step out and admire the even bigger patch of mud and weeds we call our "yard". (If it ever stops snowing here, maybe we'll be able to plant some new grass. Stupid spring.)

So we decided to pave a mini-patio to step out on. It has also become a landing spot for all my herb pots. Except yesterday, I had to pull in ALL of my potted plants due to the snow and freezing weather. And yes, I'm going to keep complaining about this snow throughout the post.

And now to the part where my backyard is essentially the inspiration for The Island on LOST. Last fall, while doing a big overhaul in the yard, (which included pulling things out and cutting things down so it didn't look like a jungle,) we found a huge pile of flagstone.

This little treasure literally came out of nowhere. I'm serious when I say that the pile of flagstone you see in the photo above was found when I pulled some WEEDS from around the foundation of the house. Now you tell me, how does that much stone just appear from under a pile of weeds? I mean, Kennedy had probably mowed the yard 5 times at this point. Just a little weird, in my opinion.

We didn't know what to do with the pavers, so I threw them down behind our little wall. They looked ok there.

When it came time to pave a patio, the Backyard told us through a series of hallucinations that this was what we were to use. (What? Don't you believe me?)

Let's take a look-see at our before shot of the mud & weeds, shall we?

Here we are...our big, beautiful muddy weed patch. We almost hate to cover it up with a patio. But alas, we must! The Backyard told us to.

So straight away we got to digging out a small semi-circle area for the flagstone. We hoped we would have enough to do the job.

Here is the semi-circle shape, dug out and tilled of weeds. I promise I did the work as well! Kennedy just does a better job modeling than I do.

This project was rather easy, but it wasn't without its trials. For one, we were visited by a mysterious polar bear.

He left almost as quickly as he came, never to be explained!

Then, this crazy smoke monster came out of nowhere and whooshed all around. Luckily, we got out of that one unscathed.

(I hope I'm not taking this whole LOST analogy too far.)

It was like a big game of Tetris, but a couple of hours later we had laid out the stones the way we wanted them. We hoped we were done, but unfortunately, stepping down onto unlevel stones is not the most stable thing. So I made Kennedy get down there and dig out individual holes for each stone. This took him forever. I tried to help, but too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the pot, you know?

Here's my boy genius' handy-work. Half-way through, that is. Notice his mud-stained knee on the far right. Such a trooper!

While Kennedy worked on that, I decided to go pull more weeds. They were growing rather large, so it needed to be done. Well, the Backyard giveth when you give to it! On my little weed tirade, I found something I'd been searching for in stores for MONTHS.

I had looked every time I went to Wal-mart, or Target, or any other discount store, for a plant stand. For some reason, I couldn't find one that I wanted that was reasonably priced. But I needed it for a plant Millie gave me.

But lo-and-behold, here is this plant stand, sitting in our little un-used greenhouse. In perfect condition, no less

Now answer me this, how could this plant stand have been sitting in this green house for 9 months without us seeing it? The green house walls are CLEAR. I'm convinced that the backyard had been hiding it until I pulled those weeds. Thank you, Backyard.

What's that?? You don't care about my comparison of the backyard to LOST? You just want to see this patio all finished? Fine.

BAM! There you have it. Patio, done. Painted around the new french doors, done. Next on our list is to overseed the yard so the grass will be nice and lush to walk on!

And also, I'm not finished with this LOST analogy. I have several more theories to share, but it's getting late and I'm developing carpal tunnel syndrome from this post alone.

Mantle made easy!

2010-03-11T18:57:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd share this easy little project that we did when we started re-doing the fireplace. Excuse me for any incomplete thoughts, as I've locked Elvis up in his kennel and he is steadily barking away in hopes of sudden freedom.

We had a very nice mantle to begin with. However, it just wasn't what we wanted.

It was too small, not the right color, blah-di-blah.

So Kennedy and I decided we would make our own. We like the look of reclaimed wood, but honestly, where can I find reclaimed railroad ties to build a mantle out of? I've scoured the internet for local reclaimed wood places, but couldn't find any that weren't selling it in bulk. Noooooo thanks!

All that to say, we decided to distress our own wood to make it look old. It was a fun process.

First, we got some 1x8 pieces of wood. We only needed two 6ft pieces (or was it 8ft?).

Then, we got some tools. Hammers, nails, screws, and some gravel.

Here is my darling dear husband with two hands full of gravel. We laid the wood pieces down on top of the gravel, then jumped around on it. The wood was soft enough that the gravel scratched and dented it up. We also scraped screws and hammers across the surface.

Next, we cut the wood down to size. In our case, we measured where the mantle could "wrap" around the fireplace brick to cover the sides.

Here it is in phase one. You can't tell in the picture, but the corners were cut at 45 degree angles so they could meet pretty seamlessly.

Then we added a top piece.

This took a couple of tries to get the wood cut to fit exactly. It involved putting it together, realizing the piece was a hair too long, taking it apart, cutting it, re-putting it together....

You get the idea. It was frustrating.

Then, we took some ebony stain, and stained that sucker.

We applied a few coats, then it was done! Ready to hang!

I won't bore you with details, but basically we attached a 1x1 piece of wood to the brick using masonry screws. Then we set the mantle on that piece of wood and screwed it in. Easy!

See? It was so easy, Kennedy yawned while screwing it in.

Hope that was helpful! Now go forth and build new fireplace mantles for yourselves!

Calming Stripes?

2010-03-10T19:54:00.002-06:00

Well, it's been a while. But that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy. Kennedy and I have caught the renovation bug and are running with it! I can't stop doing things to this house. Hallelujah for this renewed energy, because it only took a weekend of painting right when we moved in to overwhelm us.

We finally took advice that was given to us by practically anyone who knows anything, and are going at it a room at a time.

This time, that room is the bathroom!

I stole this idea right off of one of my favorite blogs, Young House Love. They did this in their bathroom, I loved it, and I had to have it.

Here're the befores.

This horrible green faux finish wasn't so horrible at first glance. However, spending morning after morning getting ready in this bathroom (it has the best natural light of all the bathrooms in the house,) I got sick of it. You can't tell from this photo, but there were screws and nails and holes scattered in the walls as well. And LORD KNOWS I wasn't going to try to match this faux finish to cover them up. Ew.

Also notice that the cabinets and trim are that lovely cream color that we love so much (not).

Here it is at another angle. Gorg.

So I painted the trim and cabinet white. It now matches the tile in the shower and the lovely tile counter top. Kidding about the counter top. I hate it. But it will have to wait until I'm rich enough to get a custom marble-top vanity. Or until I can find something I like on Craigslist. (Who wants to place a bet on which one it will ACTUALLY be???)

Here it is!

And listen, those stripes took me a long time to tape off, so if you don't like them, keep it to yourself!

Elvis took this picture.

Here is some custom art-work. I took all those photos! You might recognize the one on the right from my Photograblog, (also a little neglected at the moment), while the other two were taken at a park in Sioux Falls on the very last day we lived there.

And here's the last one from a different angle.

Is it wrong to want to be in this bathroom all the time now?

Thanks, Heather!

2010-03-04T13:59:00.002-06:00

I wanted to give a shout to Heather H. for giving us a great color idea for our shutters and front door! Kennedy painted them over the weekend while I was out of town (and apparently almost fell off the ladder & died - can't tell you how guilty I'd feel if that happened! Not to mention devastated...)

But I digress...

Here's our house this summer after Kennedy risked his life cutting a bunch of tree limbs down (The man's an adrenaline junkie).

According to Neighbor Karen, the previous owner (once-removed?) thought it was a good idea to paint the shutters and front door the exact same color as the roof. But to me, it just looked horrible and boring!

Heather H. suggested we do black shutters with a red front door. I wasn't sure at first, because I thought we probably needed to just paint the whole house a different color. Maybe one day we will, but for now, I'm loving the mini-facelift! (And I think Neighbor Karen is, too!)

(What's that weird glow all over the picture? OH, the sun?!?!?! That's right, it's practically 70 degrees outside.)

So here we are, no leaves on our trees, and the deadest lawn in the history of suburbia. But man, do those shutters and that front door look great!

And here we are a little closer so you can see that we do have some green up there. Plus, this is a pretty good red for a front door. Did you know a red front door is supposed to be good for the feng shui of your home?

You can bet a new lawn and some other landscaping will be on our project list in the near future! I have another post coming up soon that addresses some detail about the fireplace (i.e. how the mantle was built.)

And for the anonymous comment about the office, well, just you wait! The office is pretty high on my project list as well!

Fireplace Reveal!

2010-03-02T22:23:00.001-06:00

Kennedy and I (but mostly Kennedy) have been working tirelessly on this fireplace remodel. Really it isn't a remodel so much as a resurface, but it was hard nonetheless!

Yesterday, I counted how many times Kennedy said "nothing can be easy!" concerning the fireplace. 37.

Here's a picture of the room around Christmas.

Ignore all the Christmas decorations. Pay attention to the brick on the fireplace, and the mantle (hung too high, and much too small for the fireplace.)

Here it is, sans Christmas decor.

Kennedy adding on a support bracket for the mantle we built!

Aaaaand, here's the new mantle! But we're not done yet!

So, I hate to be completely lazy, but I just went ahead and skipped all the stuff in between. Let's just say, it was an ordeal, and I can't find the pictures from said incidences at the moment.

See how the fireplace changed the way the whole room looks? Amazing!

Don't fear, the room is not done. Missing are curtains, things on the walls, and perhaps a bright accent color.

In other news, I simply cannot stop listening to Kari Jobe. If you get a chance, go to her myspace page and listen to the Revelation song at the bottom of the player. Or ANY of them. Obsessed, I am.

PhotograBlog!

2010-03-01T21:13:00.001-06:00

Hello any friends (and/or family) out there!

Here's a short little note to let you know I have started yet another blog. It's entirely visual, and is dedicated to me learning how to use my nice digital camera. If you care to look at my amateurish, mediocre photos that will hopefully progress into something a little better, then feel free to take a look!

Hope you enjoy it! Off to finish the fireplace so I can have a REAL update on here!

Mud Buddy

2010-02-24T21:48:00.001-06:00

Hmmm.....

It might be time for some grooming.

Specifically a bath. Then a little trim.

I'm so in love.

Whoops!

2010-02-23T15:08:00.002-06:00

So my herb garden is really really thriving. (Almost) everything has sprouted in my sunny kitchen window.

The problem is, I just kind of threw the whole packet of seeds into some kind of small pots, thinking only a few would grow.

Well, I'm pretty sure they all grew.

This afternoon, I spent a couple of hours "thinning" them out and transplanting them into several pots.

Another problem is that I ran out of pots.

And the final problem is, that it kind of took over my kitchen. I had to bring in a small folding table to hold all the pots.

But wait! I can still see some table top! Maybe I can track down some more pots, because I still have this to plant:

There are 10 plants in there...

Does anyone have some pots I can borrow?

Cece

2010-02-22T21:17:00.001-06:00

I promise I won't tack the word "project" onto everything I do, but this time I will use it in this instance.

Cece has definitely become a big project.

We knew she was skittish (that's for you, Shelli!) when we got her. We knew it would take a long time for her to get used to us. We DIDN'T know she would actually get worse.

Here she is, cowering behind a chair, trying to hide from me and my camera. I got her anyway!

It's really been a struggle to even get her out of her kennel. She will crouch back in the corner and hunker down when we open the door. I have to literally crawl into the kennel, hook on her leash, and do a combination of pulling her leash and lifting her up.

This gets old.

Oh look! Another picture of her cowering!

Last week, after I dragged her out of her kennel, I walked her to the back door (it had been hours since she'd gone outside.) I was using our plastic handled retractable leash, and lost a hold of it. This noise scared her so much, that she took off all around the yard. The more she ran, the more the leash pounded on the ground, and the more scared she got. It was an endless cycle. I thought I'd try to stop her, so when she ran by, I grabbed the leash cord.

BAD IDEA! The cord wrapped around my thumb about 3 times, and she kept on running. I was positive that my thumb was going to be sliced off.

Well, eventually she stopped. Not sure why, but she did. But not before I lost the feeling in my thumb, and then watched as it immediately bruised and throbbed. Uggghhh.....

Ever since then, Cece has been freaked. She won't come near me, and runs in the opposite direction when she sees either me or Kennedy.

When we finally corner her, she squats and pees in utter fear.

This gets old.

However, to look in those sad eyes, I know there is nothing I can do but try.

We know she's better off in our home. We know there's a personality somewhere buried behind that cowering, squatting dog.

And she's just cute. And we kind of love her.

Does anyone have any tips for training this dog? I would love to hear from anyone who has dealt with a problem like this before!

Old is made new again!

2010-02-21T17:27:00.000-06:00

Well, once again I redid my layout and renamed my blog. Will I ever be satisfied? Probably not...

Progress on the fireplace is coming along. Isn't it funny how perfectly planned projects often go awry? I say, account for 3 times the amount of time you think it will actually take you. And then, you still won't finish on time. Oh well, better to take our time than for it to look like we just nailed a bunch of wood scraps together!

Can't wait to share some pictures!

"Shoot, let me get your help for just a sec..."

2010-02-20T22:44:00.001-06:00

That is the anthem of a husband in the middle of a project that you didn't volunteer for. It's never for just a sec.

Kennedy and I did agree on a project for the weekend together, however. And that is to create a fireplace façade to cover our brownish-pink brick fireplace.

Look, it's a nice fireplace, but it just isn't doin' it for us. Plus, we believe the mantle is ill-fitted and ill-placed.

So let's just re-do the whole thing, right?!?! Progress pictures to follow. In the mean-time, let me share with you a completed project!

Here are Elvis & Cece, my little dog Valentines, sitting atop a brand new dog bed!

I made it! I found the fabric at Wal-mart, and the entire project totaled under $5.00 (including fabric & stuffing from old pillows.) It came out beautifully, and the dogs loved it.

Unfortunately, the other night, Cece ripped it up. I don't just mean she ripped the seams apart. I mean, she shredded it. So, I'll have to start anew. Hey, it was only $3.50, right?

This is getting boring. Let me show you how I made this:

This project is yet another thing that was under $5.00. It cost me about $4.75, if I were to guess.

Let's delve.

I started with this:

This is insulating foam-core from our recent work-out room renovation. You might have this lying around your house. But if you don't, you can find it at Home Depot or Lowe's. I don't know how much it costs per sheet, but it's cheap. REAL cheap.

Then I went and got these:

This is 12x12 scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby (aka heaven).

I found 9 that I liked, because I like square arrangements. You can find as many or as few as you'd like. Each sheet ran about 60 cents, except for 4 of them, which were on clearance for 12 cents. Score!

Then I took a sharp knife and a metal ruler and got to cutting that foam-core down to 12x12 pieces. This was tough. I recommend having a practice piece so you can get a straight cut. It tends to shred on the edges, which doesn't work for me. Maybe you want that look, in which case you would not use a metal ruler as a straight cutting edge, and you would not make several shallow cuts in the foam with a very sharp knife until a clean cut is made.

See how I did that? I just told you how I made straight cuts but telling you what NOT to do. It's called reverse psychology. Get used to it.

Ok, so NEXT!

I took this black acrylic craft paint from my college roommate. Actually, she left a whole bag of paints in her closet when we moved, so I picked them up. This came in very handy for my next step. Sully, if you're looking for this paint, I have it, and you don't need it because you're too busy with med school.

So, obviously, I painted the edges of the foam. It went on easily, dried quickly, and shazam! The edges are now black. I believe this finishes the pieces off nicely.

(By the way, I stole this project idea from Stacy in South Dakota, hi Stacy! Stacy actually glued ribbon around the edges of hers which made it look REALLY nicely finished. They were beautiful. But I didn't want to buy ribbon because I'm lazy. So I painted.)

Finally, I glued the scrapbook paper to one side of the board and smoothed out the bubbles. Then I hung them on the wall, and viola! Cheap-ass art for my laundry room.

Now go! Go find your scrapbook paper and foam and make something of yourselves! I want to see your end results in exactly 16 hours or less.

The Great Laundry Room Reveal!

2010-02-18T12:05:00.002-06:00

I've been waiting for this moment for weeks. My laundry room is finally done. Actually, it's not, but it's finally reached the phase where I can share photos. The rest is "behind closed doors" things that need to be done. (i.e., I really need to get my cabinets organized.)

Let's take a quick look at my previous phases in this project!

Move-in day. Eeeeewwwww.

Notice a few things: the door to the ironing board cupboard is literally hanging on by a screw. (Sidenote: that is actually the newest cabinet in the room...how does something like that happen, unless a child was swinging from it?) Also, the large green stain on the floor. It's actually a big glob of laundry detergent. THAT was fun to clean. NOT!

Phase I - Peel down the wall paper.

I do believe that the glue from the wall-paper that was peeled played a large part in how chapped my hands are right now.

Phase II - Texture the walls and paint.

(No photos for this phase...whoops!)

Phase III - Paint all cabinets, trim, doors (and cabinet handles.)

(before)

(after)

The lighting doesn't do this transformation justice. Before, this particular cabinet was actually a cream shade (I would say Banana.) Seriously yellow. Now, the cabinets are actually bright white! It cleaned up the whole room.

Ok, let's get to the reveal. There were a couple of projects that happened, even though the laundry room was completed. I had Kennedy make me a tall table to fold on, that would also conceal Cece's kennel. I sewed a skirt for that table to make her feel all cozy in there.

I also did a little art project to bring some color into the room. The wall paint is actually a very faint blue, but it looks white. A lot lighter than I had anticipated, but I'm not painting it again!

Phase IV - Accessorize!

Ta-da!

Here's that old, chipped-up cabinet with fresh white paint. I also took the old brass handles and spray-painted them with a bronze color.

As you can see, I found a home for my ceramic dog. Kennedy said it couldn't stay on the mantle.

And heeeeeeere's Cece! (You can see her because she's hiding, as usual. But that's her cage.

The room is not done, as I mentioned before. All the cabinets need to be cleaned, papered, and organized. The legs on this table need to be painted (but that can wait until it doesn't have a skirt on it anymore.) Maybe one day I'll feel like re-tiling the floors with something that doesn't show so much dirt. But for now, it's perfect! I think I'll go do some laundry NOW!

Poodle Doodle!

2010-02-15T15:11:00.001-06:00

Before

After

Taking projects and knockin' 'em out! This little puppy will go perfectly in my new laundry room (there are a few finishing touches and then I will reveal it!)

Ever the neglectful blogger...

2010-02-13T21:30:00.001-06:00

Cece and I are here to update this blog. How do people live life AND still have time to blog about it? I'm still trying to find that alleged balance between the two.

NO, the laundry room isn't done. But it's pretty darn close! In order to tide myself over until I can make a big reveal right here on this very blog, I will talk about some other fun things from the week!

Cece and Elvis are Valentines.

So far, these two are spending most of their time competing with one another (or Cece is laying in her kennel with the door wide open, sighing and acting depressed.)

You can see her back there, pissed that Elvis is in her room. You can see Elvis sitting there, oblivious, because he has spent his whole life getting everything he could ever want.

They're so cute.

I'm trying to pace myself so my blog posts aren't miles long with weeks between them. So, with that said, I will only talk about ONE of my recent projects.

I will call this "How I started my own herb garden."

How I Started My Own Herb Garden, by Sara.

Here are the goods.

I'm starting slow. I only chose 5 packets of seeds a couple of weeks ago to get myself started. I found a sunny window in my kitchen and got to work. I thought, I'll see if anything happens with these, I'll go from there!

Here are the rest of the supplies.

I left out a picture of water and sunlight, because DUH! Do you really not know that you need water and sunlight to grow a seed (or 500?)

500 is my estimate of how many seeds I planted, with about 100 being in each packet. I tend to over-estimate, though.

Here is an aerial view (I did not care to rotate this photo, if you're wondering,) of the pots in a sunny window!

Let's take a quick side note to say it snowed a record amount this weekend in Dallas. 12'5"!!! It was glorious.

Even if all the trees along our backyard fence were bogged down with ice and laying on the ground. (Do you like the red cuff of my bathrobe on the side there? I didn't bother to crop it out, because I didn't bother to take the bathrobe off allllllll day long that day.)

Back to my herbs. Friday, aka snow day, I walked by the window to check on the little guys. For the past couple of weeks, they've just looked like little bowls of dirt. Friday, my friends, was the day that the Dill and Cilantro sprouted!!

See those green things that look like worms??? That's dill!

I'm hoping this photo doesn't get cut off, because these sprouts are still pretty tiny. But they're there. They're curly and they're there. (Say it 5 times fast.)

Now, if you will please excuse me, my husband is waiting on me so we can watch Couples Retreat.

Maybe the laundry room will be done tomorrow?