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Heart Art

I did my first Pinterest craft. I had this one listed under the category of For The Kiddos, and it was super easy! I thought I would share it with you because even though we did it for Valentine’s day, you could use it for a lot of things, like a card for grandma, or teaching Bible verses about love. It’s cheap, creative fun, and my favorite part is that it could work for almost any age.
All you need is some paint, paper, bowls, and empty toilet paper rolls.
I used Crayola washable paint and narrowed it down to 4 colors.
Then I squirted about a tablespoon full into 4 disposable bowls.
I cut up a paper towel roll into 3 parts and used one toilet paper roll. I bent them into the shape of a heart and taped each one to make sure they held their shape.
The kids dipped the rolls into the paint and use them as stamps.
It was a great Valentine’s day activity and even though it got a little messy the Crayola paint said “washability you can trust” and it was. All their clothes and any furniture that wasn’t covered in newspaper all came out fine.
In the end we got some cute art for the fridge and eventually their baby books.

Thanks to Rust and Sunshine for this idea.

By |2015-05-14T23:15:42+00:00February 18, 2012|Uncategorized|2 Comments
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Vintage Shopping in Louisville

J and I have been “courting” Louisville since that is now the closest major city to us. As it stands I think we are in love with the place. One of the reasons is the vintage store density. They have thrift and consignment shops everywhere. Last week when I was there found a few pieces to ad to my collection of previously owned clothing (which is pretty much what all of my wardrobe is).

First off, this orange and brown flannel print jacket was on clearance at the Urban Attic in Louisville.

Here I am sporting the jacket with a hat that I stole from a friends closet and she graciously let me keep it. Then I have some of my favorite skinny jeans (Red Rivet from Macy’s) and some Bear Paw boots which have a funny drawn out story to go with them. Feel free to skip over this part
I went to H&M for the first time about a month ago and I bought some fuzzy slipper type boots. They were more fashionable than practical and I never wore them. A few days later I found these Bear Paw boots in perfect condition at the thrift store so I bought them and took the H&M boots back. After lounging around in the Bear Paw’s for a few days I made the statement that taking those boots back and getting the Bear Paw’s was one of the best decisions I ever made. That’s a little dramatic, but they’re comfy. J has some Bear Paw slippers and so do my parents and siblings. We swear by them.
Next up is this red dress that I also got from Urban Attic which my husband spotted on display and hinted that I would look really good in it.
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I got it as a Valentine’s present and he said this dress was made for me. Awwww!
I wore it with one of my mom’s necklaces which was just a simple diamond on a silver chain and the black tights actually have a slight pinstripe pattern to them, and the shoes are of course a thrift find that I’ve had forever.
So as you can see my thrifty fashion lives on even in the boon docks of Kentucky.
Today I’m linked up with WHAT I WORE WEDNESDAY.
By |2015-05-14T23:15:42+00:00February 15, 2012|Uncategorized|6 Comments
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The First Week

When I envisioned myself moving to Kentucky, thinking this is for real, you will no longer be in the place you lived for half of your life, I panicked and worried that I would literary start flopping around like a fish out of water. So I took a deep breath and decided to call the first week vacation and ease into it. We’ve been living with my parents for about a week now, but with little attention to setting up a routine or unpacking our boxes. In fact, I am practicing an art that J and I have accidentally become estranged to. It’s called relaxation. I am making it a goal to put more useless activities in my life.

I know that sounds crazy, but in preparing for this move, while being a part time working mom, I have had absolutely no time for anything other than the productive. That means I don’t read, I don’t twitter, go to the movies, and I do not play games on my phone. That’s why since we’ve moved I got the Emoji app (totally impractical and makes me feel like a 12 year old. I love them). I finally bit the bullet and got a Pinterest too. I play Scramble with friends several times a day. As often as anyone is willing to challenge me. And yesterday I went on a date with J for the first time in months.
Even though our little vacation transition is coming to a close, hopefully the idea of taking time to unwind will not. This shouldn’t be too difficult since we are living in one of the smallest towns in Kentucky with less than 1,000 people. The slogan on their website boasts in bold letters Life in the SLOW Lane.
It’s definitely a change of pace, but in the chaos of the past month I feel like I’ve aged a decade. An army of wrinkles are proudly making their way across my forehead which was never an issue before, and everyone is begging me to put some meat on my bones. Let’s just say I’m not at my best. So I’m sure slowing down a little bit won’t do me any harm. Time for a little R&R. Time toenjoy snowball fights with my kids,
It snowed a little yesterday and is supposed to again this weekend!

Turkish coffee with my parents,
A delicacy they picked up from one of their foreign exchange students



and Scramble with my friends.
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I usually get kicked in the pants, so I have to get a screen shot when I win.

Time for life in the slow lane.
By |2015-05-14T23:15:42+00:00February 9, 2012|Uncategorized|3 Comments
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We Did It

Well guess what blogosphere? We closed on the original projected date, and just crossed over the Kentucky border. Everything has gone relatively smooth. There have been plenty of last minute gathering full of hugs, tears, and reminiscing.

Our last night in the house was a peaceful one, and as I walked through each room for the final time the memories flooded my mind like a montage from a movie. I met J in the empty living room too choked up to speak. He looked at me and said “we did it”. We prayed together, locked the door for the final time, and waved to the neighbors that watched us as we pulled away.
Our house number was 711 and after we moved in I was led to a verse that I felt was for us in that place. It was 2 Samuel 7:11 and it says The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you.
God’s hand was evident in leading us to this place and while there have certainly been plenty of ups and downs it feels good to leave knowing that, as J said, we did it. Our first home was a success story. It has been bitter sweet for sure, but after all we went through it was truly a happy ending.
By |2018-01-07T21:45:47+00:00February 2, 2012|Uncategorized|4 Comments
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We’re Not Aiming For the Truck

I’ve blogged A LOT about my house recently. It’s therapeutic for me. I won’t be able to call it my house much longer. Shoot, maybe even tomorrow. January 31st was supposed to be our closing date, but we hit a snag with the appraisal. It is valued perfectly fine for what we are asking, but some very unlovable FHA guidelines threatened to not fund our buyers if we did not remove and properly dispose of the presumably lead based paint off the garage, and add another step to the cement stairs off of the exterior entrance in the master bedroom. It’s all a little crazy, and unheard of. Even the agents were perplexed, but we did everything they asked, and now we are just waiting. Waiting in an empty house that feels awfully drab and echoes like deep dark cave. I can see why staged homes sell better.
And why is our home empty? Well, we had planned on moving and already made arrangements with my family and the moving truck company. So we packed a weeks worth of clothes and just about everything else went with my parents up to Kentucky. The cool thing about it is that I always pictured my usual procrastinating self panicking at the last minute, trying to box everything up and get it out of the house, while the new home owners looked at their watches in disapproval waiting to get in. Going about it this way means I know it’s done and it was all done with time to spare.
Z has handled all of this very well. He knows we are moving to Kentucky , he understood why we had to box his toys up He even helped load the truck and got to go for a little ride in the big rig. He has enjoyed the whole experience through and through as if it were a special treat.
This is a cute clip of Z carrying one of our Christmas yard penguins onto the truck. He wanted to help and he took his job very seriously.

The funny thing is I said he could bring something with him for the big car ride and he chose his Cars 2 toys, however I had discovered that Buzz and Bulls Eye were packed in one of the suitcases, then Woody was found in a kitchen cabinet. I guess Buzz and Woody are coming with us too. It’s just like the end of the first movie when Woody says “Uh, Buzz You missed the truck.” and Buzz says “We’re not aiming for the truck”, and they land right next to Andy in the van.
It shouldn’t be too long before the toy story gang gets to ride in the 4 Runner next to Z, but when exactly that is, I guess we just have to keep waiting to find out.
By |2015-05-14T23:15:42+00:00January 31, 2012|Uncategorized|1 Comment
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Before and After: The Exterior

Before:

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any pictures of our house when we moved in other than this one that is still existing if you looked it up on google maps.
Since then we added a cedar fence, a wrought iron gate, did a ton of yard work including taking out and adding trees. We also put up a gable, and recently had a new roof put on, along with a fresh coat of paint.
After:
There are SO many things I have loved about this back yard. I will miss the rose bushes that I had clipped from for my friend when she was in the hospital. I will miss the Gladiolas I had photographed for a college project, and the Daffodils that come up right around my daughter’s birthday.
I will miss the pecan trees that I was so eager to harvest from that my in laws gave me a nut cracker, and I put it to good use. I will also miss all the beautiful crepe Myrtle trees, which our city is known for, and I loved them even after my son fell out of one and had to get 5 stitches.
I can’t forget the fig tree that my mom and I made jam with.
or the smell of Wisteria especially when I was pregnant.
and my favorite, the Redbud tree!
All this talk about plants make it sound like we lived in the master gardeners utopia which is not the case at all. Our back yard was pretty simple. We didn’t do any gardening we just let the plants do their thing. These perennials, which were part of the package when we moved in, were faithful to bring us delight year after year. I guess if you were to sum up what I loved the most about this yard, I would have to say- Life!
By |2015-05-14T23:15:42+00:00January 27, 2012|Uncategorized|3 Comments
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Before and After: The Master Suite

The Master Bedroom & Bathroom

Before: Get ready for ugly, ugly, and more ugly.

Bedroom

Bathroom (that’s carpet and some kind of funky stick-on plastic pink tile. YUCK!)
Not even a shower



After:



What I’ll Miss: Our bedroom is pretty dang big for a starter home. I’ll miss that. I will also miss the hardwood floors. I will never forget the day we tore the carpet up in this room. The original floors were in perfect condition in there. The light poured in as my mother in law and I looked at all of the hard work we had just accomplished and I just about cried. It was beautiful. It was beautiful even before we had done anything else, just removing that filthy decrepit monstrosity made a huge difference.
But I think what touched me the most was more than just the flooring, it was seeing potential. Because potential is quite a beautiful thing, when you catch a glimpse of it.
By |2015-05-14T23:15:42+00:00January 27, 2012|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Before and After: Kitchen

I’ve blogged quite a bit about our big kitchen remodel!

Because of that I won’t spend too much time talking about every little upgrade and amenity, but I will show you what I have for before and after pictures because I can’t help myself.
Who cares if we had no dishwasher and a stove that had to be lit by hand for 5 years, not to mention we lived with a kitchen catastrophe for half of 2008. There was NO kitchen. We lived off of a refrigerator and microwave in the living room and washed our dishes in the bathroom sink until the project was finished.
None of that even needs to be mentioned when you look at the end result and just pretend that it all magically appeared like *POOF*. Are you ready for the poof factor? Okay…
Before
 
The kitchen as it was when we bought it in 2004
Sink
Breakfast nook
After
brand new cabinets and appliances
Sink
Breakfast nook.
*** Ta Dah***
By |2022-02-22T14:19:32+00:00January 27, 2012|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Before and After: Bathroom and Laundry Room

Bathroom and Laundry Room
Before:

After:

Of all the before and after grand reveals this one is probably the least eye catching. The thing about home renovations though is that there is more to it than meets the eye. When we moved into this house it wasn’t up to modern standards at all and one of the first things J did was gut the shower so that he had access to all the plumbing underneath the house. This “shower” was a catch all closet for things like my coupon stockpile up until we put it on the market.
Another aspect of the house that I never really had the chance to enjoy is the utility sink. J installed it at the very last minute. There is a funny story behind this counter top though. J being the resourceful little pack rat that he is used our old kitchen sink along with some wood he salvaged at a junk yard. He was supposed to be getting rid of stuff at the dump, but ended up coming back with a bunch of wood that was taken out of a strip club. When J showed me his beautiful craftsmanship he informed me that it was reclaimed from the cabaret. Reclaimed and redeemed I added. He agreed.
By |2015-05-14T23:15:42+00:00January 19, 2012|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Before and After: The Dining Room and Hallway

The Dining Room and Hallway

Before:

What We Did: The first thing we did of course was tear out the carpet. We didn’t tear down all of the walls in these two areas because we only insulated exterior walls. We did however patch up some holes, refinish the floors, paint, add new crown molding, light fixtures, and window treatments. The cool thing about the light fixtures is that when we knew we were going to sell the house I came across a yard sale a couple blocks from my house. They had a whole stash of new oiled bronze light fixtures. The lady told me her something about her son being an electrician and some yadda yadda that I didn’t completely get, but what I did understand was that this meant jackpot for me. I texted J a picture to make sure he approved and he said to load them up.

 

 

I spent $30 and replaced all the old lighting in our house just like that. The only problem was that the chandelier in the dining room had no globes. However, I was pretty excited when I came home one day to find that J had installed the chandelier with 5 matching globes that were an exact match with the amber glass from the other lights that we had purchased and he got them for 75 cents each at a local thrift store.

He’s handy and thrifty (that’s my dream guy).
After:

What I’ll Miss:I will definitely miss all the built in stuff like the bookshelf in the dining room and phone nook at the end of the hallway. I wish I could just take them with me, but then obviously they would not be built in anymore would they? Oh well.

By |2019-10-08T14:22:20+00:00January 18, 2012|Uncategorized|2 Comments
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