Labor Day Weekend..

The three day weekend was full of catching up around the house, DIY Projects and School work.

I came home Friday and decided the small changes I made in the entryway were nice but the gallery wall looked empty above the lamp.  Below  is the pic of the small changes I made last week.. but for some reason it just didn't seem like it fit. So I sat and stared at it till I could refigure it in my head..

 Here is what I did.. I added two new pictures and reworked the ones I had.

 First I added this color one here with the scenic view of Hawaii and moved the pic of my sisters with Nate next to the lamp. Above the lamp I added a vintage map print of Hawaii. I think it evens it all out perfectly! It really makes it seem like the shorter glass lamp is meant to be there now. (Remember I had the lamp that is in the dining room there before and it is taller.)

Than on Sunday I went to my mom's to sew the curtains for our third bedroom. I forgot that I needed 4 panels.. I was just thinking curtains for the window(2 panels for the closet and 2 panels for the window). So I ordered more fabric for the windows with pom pom trim in green! Which we'll finish those next weekend. But we did get the curtains for the closet up so I can hide all our junk now! I love love chevron.. so I chose a fabric that is gender neutral and would be perfect for a baby (if we are blessed with one) or an older child (if we end up adopting later).  This room will eventually be a child's room so I wanted something that was timeless and fun yet neutral enough to go boy or girl.

The fabric I chose is by Annette Tatum and panels would sell for $180.00 each. I spent less than $12 a panel and I will have four panels and tie backs!! Plus we had extra for pillows.   I love the results. The chevron has a lighter aqua that blends with the walls and a teal plus lime green. So if we have a girl we can add pinks and if it's a boy more greens and browns!

Here it is closed with my grandma's stool recovered in the same fabric as the rocker.

Here is open.. Mom and I are working on Tie backs so we can tie it back if needed or close them. The tie backs are going to be made with Annette Tatum Blue Alphabet material. It is so adorable and we'll make extra pillows with it too.  I think kids will have fun with this being a stage or reading nook later.

We had extra fabric so we made a regular pillow case cover and a lumbar pillow. When my additional fabric comes in we will make more pillows and it will become a reading nook like YOUNG HOUSE LOVE did in Clara's Room here:

Plus I figure it never hurts to have additional matching pillows. I really believe in pushing your children to be creative and push literacy. So if I can make a small cool nook for them to play games and read than it's an extra plus! I mean it already hides the clutter!

Than yesterday, I went shopping with one of my BFF's Kourtney to find decor for these cuties (Kylie & Chole) big girl room. Love these girls and their need to accessorize!! LOL..

We had a great time eating lunch and buying goodies for their big girl room which I will show you soon!

But Kourtney wanted a solution to cover all her clutter in her laundry room too. I suggested wood blinds like YHL did in their last house. But we couldn't find an affordable solution. So I suggested curtains.

Here is the before with all the clutter we all have.. and here is the after with no sew curtains!!

Kourtney wanted a traditional fabric that would match the rest of her house.. we found this on clearance at Hobby Lobby and it coordinates so well. I love that it instanly streamlined the laundry room. We made two panels so she can easily access her laundry supplies and there is room next to the washer to hang clothes on the rod that the curtains hang on. The curtains cost $10!  Next on the list is painting her laundry room (which will be free since we already have it) and organizing her 3rd bedroom once we finish the girls' big girl rooms!

Hope you enjoyed my projects. I have more curtains DIY projects coming soon..plus the girls' room. I hope everyone had a great labor day and please pray for all those in Texas that are being effected by the wild fires. Two people I work with had to evacuate their homes and still don't know if their homes  are ok.

Last Week at School

Wednesday was graduation day for my fifth graders I had to push them out of the nest and hope that they could fly. Hope that everything I had taught them this year would be instilled in them for life.  It was a sad but happy day.. here is a pic of the celebrations in the classroom (looking bare since I took everything down for summer already).. I would show a close up of the cake... but privacy issues I shouldn't publish any students names or pics of them. Sorry I can't show you the awesomeness of it or any pics of my happy fifth graders.. but you can imagine!

The cake was hawaiian with hibiscus flowers and their names with Congrats 5th grade! They all loved it! In addition I got lovely lovely gifts and very kind words from Parents. It was a great ending to my first year teaching and I feel so confident about next year.

In addition to it being the last week of school, Nate's mom and stepdad were here and helped paint the 3rd bedroom which will eventually be the nursery. I told you there was a change in store.. so here are a few pics of what happened. More to come later ( I still have to pack my classroom for summer).
Here is the room before.. no close up of the awful ceiling  which had holes from the previous owners stereo speakers and horrible dirty walls and the yellow baseboards with gaps between the walls.. uck but you get the idea-

Than Arnold prepped the room by filling all the holes with putty, painted the ceiling and than the first coat of blue..

This is the second day after three coats of paint. The rocker looks awesome it really takes the turqouise out in the fabric and I think the color will be great for boy or girl (Nate picked it out)..we hadn't put the blinds up yet.

Here are the finished pics

Doesn't the dresser just speak volumes against that paint.. like it was meant to be. I love having family peices redone in this room.  We still need curtains but the room is ready for use and the rest of the decorating will have to wait till we are expecting.

And here is a pic of the hard workers- Nate helped out too.. it was such a relief to have it done so Nate doesn't have to do this huge job alone later.

 It took them two straight 8 hour work days to prep, paint ceiling, walls, and trim. Remember that black trim on the window. Nate's mom even caulked the trim so it looks professional- no more gaps for our future baby. The next day Nate installed the blinds again and the room looks so lovely and peaceful! I love it.

Here is a pic of the day lillies I cut from the front yard aren't they gorgeous.

We're having a memorial day party this year since we'll be gone for our typical 4th of July party. So hope everyone has a great time this weekend.

What's New Around Here..

Well other than my new background on the back of the blog.. things have been go go go around here.  I know for the past few weeks I have been saying I have been busy busy busy. And I don't mean it in a bad way. It is just the end of the year is so busy and can be stressful I feel like I don't have a moment to breath. But I only have 2 more days with the kiddos at school than 2 days to take apart my classroom. I am kinda in shock that my fifth graders are graduating Wed. and I am done with my first year teaching.. tears.. seriously!

So here is the recent scoop-

This past week Nate's Mom Cindy  and Stepdad  Arnold came in for their annual summer visit from Illinois. Nate & I  also meet with benefit HR people at Cyfair to learn our insurance was changing and not for the better! In addition I went to the nail salon, cleaned house, wrote a paper for my masters, and taught- oh don't forget started my end of the year list of stuff to do (clean, organize, permenant files, grades..etc)!! This weekend we went to St Arnold's Brewery with the rents and our good friends Alice & Jon. Than after the brewery we relaxed before a BBQ at Kristin & AJ's House. It was a nice evening. Sunday we went to church, Lowes for paint and than floated the pool the rest of the day. It was nice to get a little relaxing in before this busy week. I have a paper due tonight, tomorrow to clean my classroom up after school.. spend time somewhere in there with our company and Wednesday is graduation day at school. Thursday I have no kiddos but will be in my classroom cleaning and a paper due for my masters that day. Friday is repeat of thursday - the master's assignment. Also Nate's school prom and Saturday is our Memorial Day Party.

Here comes the pics..

After months of having off my fake nails and letting them try to harden and get healthy to  no avail.. I just learnt that there is shellac that they dry by UV rays that hardens and doesn't chip for two weeks. I went straight to my old salon and got it done. It is perfect since my nails are growing like no other but still so weak. They have it available in colors too. They look shiny and I love it.

 I also got my toes painted in my favorite color- turqouise and got a pink hibiscus flower on it.. two favs pink and hibiscus.

Well like I said earlier last week I prepared for Nate's parent's arrival. They come once a summer to help with the house- well when we first moved in they helped alot in painting, remodeling, gardening.  But now we have every room except the future nursery (if we ever have a baby) done.. so they are  just enjoying Texas really now.  Since this time before the visit I had time to prepare (last year was before the wedding reception in Texas) I kinda wanted to make them feel like house guests instead of work slaves..lol. So I cleaned the guest bath as I always do and set out the bath towels for them with nice soaps from Hawaii for them to enjoy. Here are the pics below.

In addition Nate and I finally moved the baby stuff into the guest room closet (what would fit) and the rest to the nursery after I finished cleaning the floors. Here are the pics of what it looks like now..
This is the guest closet packed with bouncy chair, boppy pillow, activity mat, swing and other misc. baby items given to us by friends (lightly used!!) Since the nursery isn't painted and doesn't have a door we felt these items could stay in there for now.
Here is the nursery remember this room hasn't seen any improvements since we moved in except new floor.
 

Notice the dresser hasn't been moved up just yet. We are waiting till the paint is done.  But the rocker, side table, mirror and the basket of books have been moved in. See the Eric Carle Catepillar! I love it!

Here are the pics of the guest room currently in addition to the wine glass I left for cindy on the bed. I think I talked about the new mirrors on the side wall. I love mirrors because they help bounce off light in a small room. Because the walls are not the ideal color (accident by painter and didn't have the heart to say change it) I decided to use white and black accents to level out the bold turqouise.

This wall with the mirrors  is the same wall with the zebra chair on it. Weird room to take pictures. The wall with the window just has the bed placed against it and you can see that in a couple pics down.

This corner is the wall with the other closet and the mirrors are on the same wall you are looking at. There is the spray painted table and my glass floor lamp with the zebra chair. I added the fun circle pillows for summer because they match the paint color and I thought they were fun and bright.

On the left side of the bed would be the windows.. that is the door leading into the room too. I moved the sun burst mirror over the bed. This is the bed Simple Matters did. It has a foot board also.. but I am not sold on the foot board in this same square room yet. I kept it in case I change my mind.

Here is the wine glass for Cindy. She loved the glass. I bought her the glass for Mother's Day but since we sent flowers and I knew she was coming I just saved it for her. It is hand painted with flowers and says Mother.  Hope you like all the changes and big suprise coming soon in the room that is pictured below.. :)

Olio Mood Boards! LUV!!!

I found this awesome wsebsite Olioboards.com this weekend. I love it. It is soo awesome.

I have been getting the PB Kids & PB Teen Magazines with my regular PB magazine. I love looking thru it and thinking about what the nursery of our first born will look like. PB just kicked off their summer line with tons of ocean/beach inspiration ( I lust so bad after). 

Since I have no other rooms in the house to complete anymore I decided to create some mood boards for girl and boy nurseries. Both sexes will have our beautiful dresser and rocker in it. So there needs to be a touch of green and blues in both. Also I thought the perfect theme would be ocean/beach since we got engaged on the cruise and married on a beach. Plus the beach  is a very relaxing place to be and I want the nursery to be calming but something that can transition for a growing child.  An added bonus is I have always been a beach girl- but Nate teaches aquatic science- so it is kinda a tribute to both of us in the space. My favorite colors are blues (aqua), white and pink.. so here is the first board I came up with.

I love the hints of pink and turquoise. Lots of blues (beachy yet still girly). Almost everything on the board is from PB TEEN or PB Kids..except the rocker which is ours.  The drapes are striped and sheers have sea turtles. I love em!! We swam with the sea turtles in Hawaii and in Hawaii the Honu Turtle is seen to protect children & bring health and happiness to those who respect them. No matter what there will be sea turtles in the room some how (even if it is a small touch).  I want to buy the sea turtle sheers now but I can't find a place for them in the house other than a nursery!! Next I made two boards for a boy- one is an island theme and the second is more a beach theme with sea turtles.

I am more drawn to the second board.. of course all of these are just ideas and I just wanted to play around on OLIO Board. I am sure by the time Nate and I actually have kids there will be something totally different out there for me to fall in love. I just had to share my adorable nursery boards. Go check out olio board it is awesome!!

Spring Break is over - Project 13

Before Pics of Antique Dresser & Antique Rocker

So Spring Break has come to a close.. and I started/finished many projects that I will show you over the next week or so. I can't wait. But do you remember the dresser and rocker I had done by Simple Matters? I decided I didn't want to spend my break inhaling fumes painting a dresser- so I left it up to Jannet. I love her! Check her out on Facebook under Simple Matters Page. She is awesome!

Well I picked up both the rocker and dresser over the break. We were going to install the kitty door to the garage and clean out the third bedroom. But we only cleaned out the garage- we had a lot of busy busy during the break. We went to Louisana for two days with friends, visited my cousin in ICU at th hospital, cleaned the house, I took a final and wrote a paper, gardened and painted other furniture.. Lowes is my best friend this break. We also spent a ton of time with friends which is always great!

So this weekend we will install the kitty door and move the cats out of the third bedroom. Till than the dresser is in my formal living room blocking one side of the double fireplace and the rocker has found a temporary home in our guest room (where pics were taken).

Without further adue.. here are the new and improved dresser and rocker..

Aside from the fact that both are not in there furniture homes (third bedroom) yet.. but still  aren't they magnificent?? Hello that rocker makes me drool.. from a pink wood with 60's funky material to a much more sophisticated paisley with white to make it sweet and ready for a baby. I added the love pillow.. because hello I love it! I can't wait to chill out in it with a lil one. Or just sit in waiting for a lil one. It looks just like my grandpas and I love that it reminds me of great family. My mom loved the results so much she is having her rocker reupholstered by Jannet too. Ha.. she should listen to me more when it comes to decorating! (Side Note my Mom discovered Angry Birds on her Ipad this weekend- our relationship will never be the same. If you have ever played angry birds than you know it is addicting and relationships are sacrificed for other's need for angry birds.).

I decided to keep the original hardware on the dresser to pay tribute to it's hertitage. I love that Jannet scuffed them up a bit and put a tad of pewter on them. It gives em a little bling but not too much. I really think it turned out superb! I am completely obsessed with my projects. I will dream about them once I start them and I was nervous that the handles would ruin the dresser. But I think they are awesome.

Once we get the third bedroom cleaned of kitty stuff & Nate's bookshelves with tons of book..plus painted with a fresh coat of paint. I will move the furniture in there and show you all pics. I can't wait to see the results. Till than you can be jealous of my made over furniture! 

And you can wait in anxiousness of what I did over the break ;) 

Simple Matters Makeovers for ME :)- Project #9

Alannah Vintage Rocker- Before

Mirror which will be painted white

Paisley Material to refinish stool and rocker














If you haven't discovered Simple Matters yet you definitely need to check out her website, blog and facebook page! I purchased a beautiful antique black headboard/footboard for our guest room and she is currently refinishing one of our antique dressers to put in the nursery (see previous post).  Well Jannet at Simple Matters finds vintage pieces and re-finishes them for others.  She has the business out of her home on the side in addition to being a stay at home mom. I applaud her awesomeness to refinish pieces others want to throw out. On top of that I love that it is green, and it is furniture that is quality furniture but yet antique, vintage, classic with a story that is going in our home.  Love it.. gushing sorry. Simple Matters recently posted a huge lot of new/old furniture that she was going to refinish to the clients taste.. I fell in love with the vintage rocker above Jannet calls Alannah. It reminds me of the chair my Grandpa used to sit in everyday in his den and my mom now has one in her living room.  Recently I spoke about the post Inspired Room did on making your home resemble you and living with things you love and have meaning. I am really striving to make rooms resemble us and our history. The crib is the same style Nate and I had as babies. The dresser is an antique and now the rocker looks just like my Grandpa Tom's.  I also thought it would be a nice addition and it could be used in multiple rooms other than just a nursery.  I went ahead and purchased it from Jannet.. paid the deposit to start the work(good thing because some other ladies had their eyes on my rocker Jannet named Alannah). She is going to paint Alannah's wood white to match the other existing pieces that are going to be in our nursery and to lighten the look.  After she is going to recover in my choice of fabrics. Ideally if it was going in our master room I would have done a linen with  blue ticking strip (PB inspired). But it was going in the nursery probably for a couple of years and will later take residence in our living room or master. The colors in all of these rooms are consistently shades of  blue, white and chocolate.  I needed to find a classic fabric that  wasn't too trendy but also with those colors and not to masculine or girly. I thought stripes first but I wasn't thrilled. I kept going back to the paisley design.  I bought the yardage and it is being sent to Jannet to refinish.  I think the paisley will fit the era of the rocker well and might even look like it was made for it.  I also found a stool on etsy that I am going to paint and recover to match the rocker.. perfect!  My mom's and Grandpa's rocker's had a matching foot stool and seeing how the chair will be in the nursery first and later in our living areas of the house I felt it needed something to kick up our feet. I am going to paint the wood of the stool white too and cover in the exact same fabric and the feet of the stool don't match Alannah but our beautiful Jenny Lind spindles from the crib.  Here is the bonus- Nate loves watching golf and rocking in  his office chair ..I think he will be watching lots of golf in our new addition of Alannah. Hoping Jannet will have Alannah and the dresser ready around Spring Break.  On top of all that goodness!!! I found an awesome mirror too! She is going to paint it white so I can put it in the nursery or it might find residence above the mantel for a bit.  I can't wait to see all the pieces in our cleaned out 3rd bedroom (cleaning out over spring break). I think it is going to be the perfect mix of vintage classic mixed with modern.. just my style.

Enjoy the before pics and I hope to post after pics soon!! Wohoo Spring Break is 6 work days away!!!! I can see the light..

Go Ahead and Pass your Judgement Now..

Jenny Lind Crib

Our Antique Dresser to be finished as the one below (without the glass knobs)

So you are probably looking at this thinking.. hmm did I miss an announcement?? No you haven't. But since I am more comfortable talking about the joys and pains of my life, I felt this is a safe place for me to share. In October of this past year I lost a child. I was almost thru the first trimester and clearing into the second and I lost the baby. We weren't trying to get pregnant, we actually had plans to wait. I wanted to finish my Masters in Education and get thru my first year of teaching. Nate and I also wanted to travel more..save more.. enjoy life prior to kids. But even with out a planned pregnancy it didn't hurt any less when I lost that baby.

That day they told me I had misscarried it all changed in a blink of an eye. My heart hurt in ways I wasn't sure it had ever hurt before. My mind and heart started playing war against each other. Placing blame on myself and just wallowing in the loss I had just lost. I had a hard time seeing other babies, seeing pregnant women.. it was hard for a long time. I am happy to say I am much better now than a couple months ago.

 So Nate and I soon decided after the loss, I would not take precautions anymore such as birth control and we would leave it in God's plan. Jump ahead 2 months to Christmas. I was majorly late (think 2 weeks late) and we started to think (get excited) that I might be pregnant again. But God had other plans and I am trusting in his plans that he knows when we will be blessed by a baby (whether it be naturally or adopted). I know God knows that I would love to be a mother and that he has plans for our family.

But accepting God's plan isn't as easy for me as it is for some. I had this huge loss and than each month I'd get my hopes up thinking maybe I am expecting,  to be told by my body I am wrong again. So not everyday am I focused on it but there are little reminders all that time that dig at my heart, dig at that pain of my loss each time. I know if you have lost a baby you know exactly what I am referring to.

Nate & I have been slowly preparing our house for a baby. One because it is time consuming, but two because it involves planning and money. Due to the fact that we are both teachers that means our budget allows for big purchases to be spread out and planned for because it is not in our bank accounts to purchase it all at once. We are really trying to not put things on credit cards and pay off all debts before baby too. So we have planned and planned. I love planning..lol.  Spring Break is right around the corner so we are cleaning the garage in preparation for the book shelves to come out of the 3rd bedroom. We plan on moving the kitties boxes and food out of the 3rd bedroom to the garage too. We are also planning on painting it since it is the only room in the house that hasn't seen paint yet. It will also be upgraded to a new fan/light fixture because fans are a must in Texas. As I said planning is my best friend. Nate & I have talked of all the changes that need to be made, alot of em involve things I couldn't do once I am expecting (paint, cat boxes, lifting), so we see it fit to be done over Spring Break when I can help. That way it isn't so many projects to be done once we are and relying just on Nate to do em. 

Even with all those changes being made I sometimes feel like a baby won't happen.  Though deep in my heart I know God has a plan, I feel as if I am not in control. If you didn't already know this about me I am kinda a control freak. With Nate around I can say truthfully this bad habit has calmed down a bit- but I am still a control freak. Guess what I am saying is we have to plan for a baby for $ reasons but I also wanted to feel as if I am in control.

The process for planning for a baby started when I lost the baby. I thank decided I was going to pro baby and get our lives in order for one. Slowly Nate & I have been doing this. I get free books online thru Scholastic and I have started collecting them for the baby. Kind of like a hope chest. My gf did a hope chest full of baby items for her little one. So I felt saving books is educational but also helps me realize that one day I will have a little one. Than it moved on to budgeting for furniture for the baby's room.

We needed a dresser for the nursery and Nate wanted it all wood. So in comes our antique dresser. I want the nursery to be all white. Nate hates painting wood.. but I want it white...lol. So he gives in and we have Simple Matters paint the dresser. The finished product will look very similar to the picture above but with out the glass knobs. I love the glass knobs but I am not sure they will work for a boy. The dresser is currently with Jannet at Simple Matters and is waiting to be painted. I can't wait to see it. So we have the dresser.. next big item to be purchased would be a crib. But we are on a budget and I have had my eye on one that wasn't.

I love Jenny Lind Cribs and since we chose the antique dresser I felt it would be a perfect tribute to the room and to Nate & I. Jenny Lind Cribs were big time popular when we were little. I had one as a baby but in walnut color. So I have sat and drouled over Jenny Lind cribs in nurseries all over blog land. Check our Holly Mathis Interiors to see a beautiful baby boy nursery.  Her website is http://www.hollymathisinteriors.com/.

I started looking online and couldn't find one that was in our budget. I thought about waiting to purchase one used but with all the recalls I decided I would purchase one new and be safe. If we were going to have to go thru lossing a baby and trying for another I wanted to make smart choices in what we chose for our future child..especially for safety of things.

 Well I ran across Jenny Lind Line at Land of Nod. You can find this beautiful Jenny Lind inspired crib here: http://www.landofnod.com/cribs/baby/time-to-turn-in-crib/f7006 . But with the hefty $600 price tag and it doesn't convert I couldn't rationalize spending that much on a crib to be used for a year. Plus it has a ton of feminine details and we aren't sure we are having a girl so I wanted it to be a girl or boys crib. Back to the drawing board to find an original inspired Jenny Lind Crib.   I searched tons of websites- some had them with drop downs- NOPE, some had em not in our price range and some had them but were out of stock.

Finally, I found one! This weekend it was 25% off and there was free shipping. I recieved the email between Friday and Saturday morning. DONE!! I couldn't resist free shipping and a sale. Plus with the sale and shipping the crib was now under 200 bucks (which means it is definately in budget)!! Hello the sale gods were telling me to order it. On top of all that goodness it is a 3in1 crib so converts to toodler and day bed. Horray!!

At first I thought kinda crazy to buy a crib before I am even preggo. But than I thought about people who have saved their own cribs for their future kids (wish my mom had my crib still), people who start buying stuff before hand, or getting stuff passed down from others and I felt it was justified right? In the end I don't feel guilty. We already have a closet full of baby items from friends just waiting for our baby. How is it any different than a crib. I feel like I am making a responsible planned descion towards our family's lives togeather. Especially since it was in our budget and I paid with cash!

I ordered the crib knowing it was in budget but that Nate was going to say your crazy! So I told him after I ordered it that I ordered the crib. It was on sale with free shipping. Suprisingly he was like 'oh great we'll be ready for a baby!'  I was shocked. I think after recieveing all the baby items from friends he is really ready too now that it is more of a reality with baby items in the house and not just in our imagination. He did mention that planning the bedding, paint, rug, curtains will be do much fun for me he is worried I might obsess a little once we know we are preggo and what it is..lol. Which he is right. I will prolly sit and plan our nursery for hours once I know we are preggo and what we are having. He knows me so well.

The crib is on back order now because I guess it is such a classic popular crib. I won't be expecting it at the house till May. Hopefully in May I will recieve the crib and be able to announce that there is a baby soon to sleep in it. Like my Mom says she is just as excited too but we have to Trust God and Pray.

Like the title reads- Go Ahead, Pass your Judgement Now.. I am okay with you judging me for preparing a nursery before I have the baby..I've been judged for worse things.   Like I said my heart is ready and I know God knows when the time will be right.. until than we'll wait with our beautiful crib :). So judge away- life has given me plenty of lemons already and I am choosing to make awesome pink lemonade with em. Happy Monday to all!