Hello, Again...

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Life is good.

My world is peachy, my days are busy, my 2 year old is potty trained (except for night time) and my worries are few.


I am a very happy girl!

After a few weeks of 'me time', I'm ready to ease myself into a new routine. I'm refreshed, relaxed and looking forward to the greatness that is bound to unfold in this beautiful somewhat-new year.

2012 was a very challenging year for me and my little family. And after such a long year filled with so many big changes, trials and triumphs, a girl just needs some downtime! And I'm so, so thankful that you've stuck around while I have taken a few weeks to get my act together.

So, let's catch up, shall we? Grab a good cup of coffee, glass of wine, bag of chips, box of cookies...or whatever it is your heart so desires...and enjoy this little reel of life that is...my iPhone photos!!
Here's what's gone down while I've been gone...

One of our many trip to the MacArthur Mall to release as much energy as this kid can muster.

I took to Pinterest (once or twice) while away and found a few projects to get done. One of them being a nap mat for Aden, made from 3 yards of fabric and 3 pillows from Wal-Mart. $25 and 20 minutes of sewing. Highly recommend this one!! 

Our obnoxious sweet corgi, Harley, met her Baby Daddy, August. These two lovebirds will hopefully give us our first grandpuppies sometime this fall. (Yay, corgi babies!!)




I made up my own project. I wanted boxes for our laundry room, but didn't want to pay money for them. I'm cheap...

So I made some. $0.69 small moving boxes from home depot, 3 remnant fabric sections from Jo-Ann's Fabric and some hot glue. These puppies hide all my clutter like it's nobody's business!
This is pre-glue. I just taped the fabric to make sure of the fit. The inside is boring brown...but they sit high on our laundry room shelf anyway...never to be seen! I'm in love with how simple this project was, and the final product is exactly what I wanted. Clean, organized clutter hiders.
See those glowing boxes up there? Forgive the lighting...that's next on our list. Clutter be gone!! You'd never know what I was hiding up there...(all of our laundry room re-do project supplies...) These boxes do the job, and I paid approximately $2.00 per box. Give it a try! Let me know how it goes!
Oh yeah, I'm blonde again! Hello, natural roots. Goodbye expensive brunette upkeep. And hello, bangs! Ignore the poofy locks...this was after some serious hand-smash-flattening as soon as I left the salon and sat in my car. I'm IN LOVE with my new do. Just not the pageant look that every stylist seems to adore...
Remember our laundry room makeover? Here's the final touch. Custom shelves, made and installed by my handsome hubby. I have yet to paint them, but I still just can't get over how much I love them! Laundry Room Re-Do: Check!!

Still here? Excited for more?? Excellent.


Remember our living room? Remember how dark and brown it was? I used to love it. I painted this room this way for a reason. I wanted dark, warm and cozy. I wanted rich and I wanted bold. It was perfect...but then I got bored. And after a year of chocolate browns and wine reds, I needed a change. So after my husband finished wiring our TV (notice the lack of wires hanging down and around the screen?! He's amazing, right?) I figured it would be the perfect time for a new color. 
 
 

(Excuse the mess, and overflowing baskets...we were in transition mode, from project to project.)
At first I considered a tan color...but ultimately decided that it just wasn't a big enough change. Those who know me best know that I can't just do things small. I have to go all the way, or it's just not good enough.
 And then there was...

Mint.


 

That's right...I went straight from dark cave to Easter egg. And I LOVED IT. But then I didn't. And I almost painted over it. But then I loved it again. And then I didn't...And then I painted all of my doors brown. And now I love it again. Especially now that I've done this...


In preparation for our newest project (just wait...it's coming...), I moved our entry bench over to the empty corner of the living room/office space to create a little reading nook for our book hungry toddler. This freed up some basket space (so long overflowing storage baskets) and gave Aden his own area specifically for reading. I'm a big fan of the dark browns I love as accents instead of the main shebang. It feels so much bigger and brighter in our little living space!

And, speaking of bigger and brighter, that brings me to our newest thing going on...

   
This was once the home of our tiny entry closet. Thanks to the skills of my multi-talented, beefcake of a husband...our closet is on its way to becoming a cute and functional, clean and organized little entry...something kind of like this.

Which is a link to a site full of mud room ideas...but this is the look we are wanting to go for. Sort of...but smaller...and less green...and more us. Less Pottery Barn.
 

I'm SO excited!!

So, that's what I've been up to while I've been away. Along with countless game nights, dinner dates, lunch dates, living room movie nights, pajama days, do-nothing-but-play-with-trucks days, and a few random roadtrips here and there...which is actually one thing I skipped over for this post...because it's already super long...and there's no need to overwhelm anyone on our first day back! One of these days I'll give our trips a special post of their own...

But for now...thanks, again, for sticking around.

Happy Friday!!



Monster Jam

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This past weekend my little family and I had an opportunity to go check out the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam, here in Hampton at the Hampton Coliseum. Harold listens to the radio every morning on his way to work, and he just happened to hear a discount code for 2 for 1 tickets to this event. Plus, kids were only $5! It was a cheap date with my guys...

How could I resist such a sweet deal?

So we bought our tickets and got a few pals to join us. We wanted to invite more friends, but the ticket sale was the night before the event and seat options were limited. Maybe next time we'll get a few more friends into joining in on a Phythian family night.


When we bought our tickets, we were sure we would be in the 'nosebleeds'. There were only a few seats to choose from and none of us had ever been to the Coliseum before. But when we got to our seats, we were pleasantly surprised!! We were fairly close to the action, and our seats were perched right above the entrance to the arena. We got to see the giant Monsters come and go, engines roaring. 


Have you ever been to a Monster Truck show? I hadn't, this was my first time. I was pretty sure it would be a good time, 
but I'm into the big trucks with big tires and big attitude. 

(I picked my favorite Monster according to who was the loudest.) 


But even though it was a good time, there is one thing I would have changed, if I could do so.

Earplugs.

Apparently this is a normal thing to think about, for the regular attendee. There were hundreds of kids sporting earmuffs, earplugs and covers of all kinds. Some were even detailed to look like giant tires. And from the looks we drew from the parent passerby's, we were obviously Monster Truck newbies.

It made me realize that no matter what I do, where I go or how well I think I'm doing as a parent...there is ALWAYS something to feel guilty for, and ALWAYS someone there to judge...what gives??

But anyway, we forgot earplugs. So our poor kiddo had to endure the super loud Monsters with Daddy's thumbs for protection. And, even though he went without proper equipment, he fared pretty well.

(...even though he did have this look on his face for the ENTIRE show...)
It makes me so happy to see some of those gorgeous red hues showing up again in my little blondie's hair!!


And before I go, here are a couple photos of our little group! Please ignore the purplish lips and the orange glow. The Coliseum lighting is NOT the greatest for anything but Monster Trucks. (they looked pretty sweet, right??)

Thanks for joining us, John & Alyssa!! It made our night, having you there with us!!

Toddler Times

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Last week I started a new thing called, "Bad Decision Thursday". It was a great idea, considering I do make bad decisions on a daily basis...plenty of which, make excellent stories. But as this week has gone on, the events of each day have left me longing for Friday. (Is it really only Wednesday??) And even though a few of these events have occurred because of my regular bad decisions, most of them have not. Most of them have been caused by the curious little boy who is...my son.

And so, as I sat down this morning thinking about which bad decision of mine would make it to my Bad Decision Thursday post, I realized...
 
I don't really need to vent about those bad decisions. 
 
I can live with my bad decisions and their following consequences. I've had to do so for my entire 23 years. But the thing I can't seem to live with, without venting to at least one pal and always to my Mother...is the endless stream of terrible awfuls that come from the sweet little hands of my toddler.

Thus the beginning of 'Toddler Times'. And so long to the regular, weekly 'Bad Decisions'. I'm sure there will be one or two along the way that I simply can't go without sharing. But seriously, I NEED this outlet when it comes to the mischief that is had by Aden.

So, for today...let's begin with this...


Yesterday, I took advantage of the lovely 62 degree & sunny weather to go outside and get our yard cleaned up. Winter blues have bogged me down and the chance to rake away the ugly and mow down the yuck was simply irresistible. Also, a chance to let my little guy release his energy in the wide open spaces of the yard was a nice, juicy cherry on top of my sunshine sundae.

6 bags of leaves, 3 hours and a swept driveway later...
After a long, exhausting but highly rewarding morning of yardwork, Aden and I decided to head inside for some lunch. And just as we finished up the driveway, my husband got home. Perfect timing! Because Mama was tired and had a serious headache. So after we had some lunch and Aden was napping, I laid down for a nap myself, hoping to sleep off the aching. Long story short...it didn't work, and after getting Aden up and dressed once he woke up from his nap, I sent him outside with Daddy and went back to sleep. ONLY TO WAKE UP...to this...

That's right. Nail polish. My FAVORITE nail polish. My only $4 bottle of nail polish that I have ever owned, usually tucked safely away in my purse, which is usually hanging in our entry closet.

Of course this day, my purse was on Harold's desk in the living room. Where he had left Aden...while he ran out to the garage 'only for a minute!'

Ok, ok, so it could have been worse. It really could have. And I've made this same mistake before, thinking that Aden would behave himself if I just run to the other room 'only for a minute'.

Not every man can pull off this shade of pink...

And me making that same mistake is exactly why I am writing this post.

Because yesterday, I have to admit, I was annoyed.

I was annoyed with my husband because he made this mistake. You can't leave a toddler alone! Not even for a minute! It's exhausting, it's frustrating, sometimes it's just a downright bother. But that's life! That is life with a toddler. And after I finished my mini-tirade, spouting all of these things at my husband, who I love and adore and can't thank enough for putting up with me, I did feel a little bit guilty...because I AM guilty. I am guilty of doing exactly what he did. But I left it alone and we moved on...

...and now, I am eating my words. Big time.



So, today I decided to finish up the yardwork. It's 70 something, sunny and breezy...perfect for another day of raking & mowing. Aden came outside with me, dressed in his rain boots and ready to work! He was helping me for awhile, raking while I mowed, pretending to mow while I raked. He would disappear every once in awhile and I would have to stop and go find him. Almost every time, he was sitting in our little garden area, picking weeds and digging with a little shovel while the dogs sat next to him, lazily basking in the sunshine. I left him there, pausing every so often to go and check on him. But then...after checking, and checking, and checking...I made my mistake. I decided to just keep mowing instead of shutting it off to peek around the corner to see that he was still in the garden. 

What could he get into, anyway??

Almost as quickly as I thought those words, I shut off the mower and went to check on him.

The garden was...empty.

No Aden. No dogs. PANIC.

I ran to the back door, knowing my son and knowing that he would remember that we still had tools in there from our laundry room project.

But before I got there, I turned the corner and was stopped...and I gasped...literally gasped for air...

That would be paint. Fresh from the paint roller I so carelessly left in the laundry room.
It gets better...


See the dog door? My sweet son broke in through there...and all those muddy prints? That's from the muddy dogs who followed him in and rolled around...fortunately BEFORE his little paint job.

Look who popped out from behind the door? "Oops..."
And this is what this look says..."Um...are you mad? You look mad...should I cry??"
And this is what he really said..."UH OH...SOWWY MAMA!!"
And now...I will be cleaning paint for the rest of the afternoon. 


And apologizing to my husband.

Project: Laundry Room, Part Two

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My laundry room is nearly Pinterest worthy.

And it makes me SO HAPPY!

Seriously, this morning I stood at my back door, looking out into the laundry room, admiring the new look for more time than I'd like to admit. I just can't keep myself away from it! My husband and I actually took a few moments last night to take in our handiwork, talking about how nice it is to feel like the laundry room is actually a part of our home, instead of the cold little lean-to afterthought it was before. 

If you haven't seen our project from the beginning, you can find that here.


After procrastinating for a few days, Harold got tired of waiting around for me to get the floor painted and so he painted it himself. I swear, if he wasn't around, I may never get anything finished!! After it was done, though, I was so excited about how the room was coming together that I couldn't help but get started on the walls...as soon as the floor dried. Day 4: Paint floors...CHECK!!



This was taken through our back door window, so the glare is a little distracting...there isn't really a big white triangle on the back wall. But behind that, you can see that I did finally get the walls finished!! And even though it's hard to see in my pictures...(I promise to upload photos that aren't taken with my phone at some point)...this is the paint color.

Behr Premium Plus Ultra: Moss Landing.
 See? The pictures just don't do it justice! Also, the light we have in there right now is just about to die. So it is currently giving off a purplish glow...which doesn't do much for our Moss Landing green.

Day 5: Paint the walls...CHECK!!

And here is the last part of our progress so far. Everything is starting to look a little closer to the final product that we have in mind. Day 6 included getting the pedestal painted as well as putting up the shelves. Now that the pedestal is all white, it really looks a lot better to me. At first I was wondering whether we should have gone with more of a built in base, using drywall or keeping with the original look and using cinder-blocks. But now, I'm very happy with what we chose to do.

 Especially since our plan for this house includes putting it on the market within the next 2 years.

Everything we do with this home, we are doing with that in mind. The paint colors, the upgrades, the storage...we want the biggest bang for our buck, and the best way to do that is to spend a little and get a lot. With our $100 projects, I'm absolutely positive that we will get ourselves to the point where our home is ready to sell, by the time Hubby gets his orders and we are ready to leave Virginia behind us.

So when it comes to things like upgrading our laundry room, we figured that a base that is removable is best, in case new owners want options. Just in case they don't have front loader machines. Just in case they want to use the space differently. But just in case they DO have front loaders, this would be an excellent selling point, don't you think? All the work is already done! 

So anyway, there's the laundry room re-do update! Next up, finish putting up shelves, then cleaning up and bringing our 'beer fridge' back in.

Day 6: Paint Pedestal & Install shelves...CHECK!!

Project: Laundry Room

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Harold and I have started a new thing. For as much as I like projects, my husband likes to build things, make things, improve things probably twice as much as I do. And this guy is a perfectionist. A REAL perfectionist. There is not one ounce of lazy in that man...which is good for me. Because usually all I have to do is mention a project, and as long as I can get him as excited about it as I am...I know that it will happen. PLUS it will happen in the most cost effective way possible. Because Harold is the most penny pinchinest guy I know.

So anyway...we started a new thing, because one of our shared interests happens to be all-things-project-like, official Family Projects have come about. (We probably could have picked a more unique name...I was trying to figure out something that rhymed...but this will have to do.) Together we have already done countless projects in our almost 4 years of marriage...but since making it a real things, only one project has earned the title. (this is a relatively new thing)

In order to be an official Family Project, it has to...

...be something that we choose to do together.
...be something that we are both excited about.
AND
...be something that costs our family $100 or less. 

And so, our family projects started with a table...



Our finished table!! Beautiful, right? And only $100!! Thank you, Pinterest.

I was SO happy with the results of our first project!! The supplies were inexpensive, we had all of the tools we needed and it only took us 3 days (including 1 full day to let the stain dry)...plus, the table was ready just in time for Thanksgiving and all of our company!

Check out the tutorial we found and followed here, at Country Girl Home!

Thanksgiving snacks
Thanksgiving pies & desserts! There were another 4 pies at least in the kitchen...I have a problem.
So, of course, since that project went so well, we decided to go a little bigger this time. We decided to tackle our laundry room. It is in some serious need of a remodel, and after drawing up some plans, pricing out the materials and deciding it would take less work than the rest of our projects, it got moved right up our list to #1 real quick. And so we went to our favorite place and got started...

Want to see a bit of our inspiration? Check out one of my fave sites (found via Pinterest), Ana White: Homemaker, and this one with Contractor Kurt.

$100 worth of materials: Check!




This is another time when I almost forgot to take my Before picture. The only thing you're missing here is in that right hand corner, there was a 'beer fridge', which is currently in the garage until we are finished. Also, the entire floor was that blue color...awful. And as you look at these pictures, you'll notice I never finished painting the walls. I started this project with my pal Tara while our husbands were deployed...actually, we started the painting project about 5 days before they were due to return.

So we rushed a little...and we cut a few corners...literally. 

The fridge hid that corner fairly well and I didn't want to move it at the time. (I'm lazy, ok?) We also put up those shelves...but they are now taken down and will be on the opposite wall...that you can't see right now. But anyway...




Here we go!! This was so exciting, I can't even tell you how happy I was to see this project finally beginning...

The base for our washer/dryer pedestal was starting to take shape!
I think we have a little handyman in training, here!! Aden loves projects just as much as Mommy & Daddy!
Here is the frame for the base! Beautiful, right??
Aden left his signature on the box.

After disassembling in the garage, we brought all the pieces into the laundry room to be installed.
Aden is testing out the dog bed. (The left will be a dog bed for our girls, the right will be room for 2 laundry baskets)
Fits perfectly! Plenty of room for the laundry baskets.

The top all painted! Notice the little paw prints on the floor? Our kitty, Blue, had to check out the project.
Here we go...it's starting to look more like our final goal!
Are you still with me? I know there were a lot of pictures to go through. This project has taken us 4 days so far, this last picture was at 3 days of progress. And to be fair, that $100 won't complete our laundry room. It really just did exactly what you see here. Today I will be painting the rest of the floor and depending on when that completely dries, we will be finishing the walls next. We have all the paint for those projects, but the next part we have to wait to do. We will be adding the finishing touches to the pedestal, as well as tearing out our steps down into the laundry room and rebuilding them...

Have you seen this idea on Pinterest? I have seen it all over the place...I tried to find a link to a tutorial, but haven't been successful yet. We will just have to wing it! Anyway, it's the inspiration for our new steps.

So, that is days 1-3 of our laundry room re-do. I'll keep you updated as the progress continues!

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