Exhausted..

Last week was an incredibly long week.. I had projects to do around the house, my ring to get fixed, hair appts, my mom's appt, Nate's appt, than spending all day Friday setting up for the science festival and all day Saturday at the festival. Needless to say I am exhausted. Even after my extra day off Monday I am still exhausted.  I slept in Monday- but than last night I stayed up late trying to finish my presentation for my master's class and with yesterday off today really is my monday! I hate Mondays! Luckily for me, I get to go and see Jake play tball tonight and play with lil miss Mia. Yesterday I also got to snuggle with Miss Gracie Lewis and play with Gordon ( I say play but lil G Man is shy around me).. he warms up right when I am leaving..lol. Guess I will have to spend more time with him this summer.

Well last week I showed you my DIY calendar for our family. I wanted to create a family message center of sorts on this wall. Keeping it fun! I wanted somewhere where we could display notes, pictures and maybe eventually kiddos art.

I have decided that when I first decorated our house it was too serious and grown up. It wasn't to my tastes because I thought I needed to decorate according to what everyone else was. When in reality I like things fun, light and not serious at all. I like bright colors like white, blue, greens..etc. And even if I change my mind later at least I gave it a shot right. Plus your house should be a reflection of you and what you love so now I am trying to build that in our home.

I loved the kitchen gallery memo wall I created but I thought it needed a tack board and some color. I didn't want to put too much up and make it too busy since it is a narrow hallway. Plus I couldn't find any boards I liked that weren't over 100 bucks (I love Ballards with the lovely frames). Than I went on DaySpring with my 25% off and found great stuff for the gallery wall in the stairs and the kitchen.


I found this awesome metal strip with clips to display art, notes or pictures. I also loved that the clips had scriptures and inspirational qoutes on them with cute things like flowers. I took a close up of the clips. they have this in black and brown. I love them and it wasn't expensive.

 

I also found this awesome plague and I loved the bright colors!

Here is a pic of the whole wall now.. I love it and how inspiring it is. Plus we can display our favorite people next to the calendar too!
 

Hope you like the gallery wall!
I have all the frames for the gallery wall up the staircase but have yet to start. I know the pictures I want to display but I want to hang the frames first in case I want to rearrange the frames. I bought another frame from DaySpring to display. Here it is:

I really liked the saying and the beach theme to it.  And here is my stack of frames just waiting to be hung and filled. I got two shadow boxes to fill with hawaii reminders of our wedding/honeymoon trip. Oh and yess that is my backpack on the ground too..lol.

On an end note- someone in our house is enjoying the spring weather and the windows open (Bella). She just adores sitting high in windows and furniture. Here she is stalking birds from the window. Bella and Smokey actually fight over open windows so Bella always ends up in the bathroom window because she is mobel enough to get up there.

.

To Follow you must learn that God should go first

Today was the day that I took my mom to the Dr for her procedure and Nate went in to find out what the mass in his ear was. I have been stressing, losing sleep, graying my hair with worry and praying to GOD!  Luckily God knew exactly what that Dr was going to tell Nate and he was trying to teach me to trust in him and follow him (God not Nate)- instead of leading a life in which I am always in control!  DaySpring is a Christian company that sells cards and gifts and they have a stepping stone that says "Dear Child, It is not following unless you let me go first. Love, God" This statement sums up the last couple months of my life.  Because of what has happened in my life- serious of events really (being abused as a child, losing a father, losing my grandma & aunt to cancer, my mom fighting her battle with cancer, seeing a child die before me, having a miscarriage) I have had some trust issues with God. I am not looking for pity here.. I have just been handed my share of battles in my life and thru them I have had a love/hate relationship with God.  I like to be in control. I admit this but I also like to try to be a good Christian yet when you are at your darkest moments it is sometimes hard to see the light. So trying to be a good christian I pray to God, I tell him my worries and I try to trust him.. but yet I am still leading instead of following. I am learning God is hinting to me in his own ways that I need to follow and trust. Yet learning to follow is a more difficult task when it comes to something as big as giving your life to something that sometimes has lead you in your worst moments and you still can't understand. Learning, trusting and following isn't something that happens overnight..I am a work in progress..yet  I am striving so hard to work on this. It takes two people to make a relationship work and really I have been expecting God to do all the work with out every really giving my trust and thanks to him.

So I hope that I may learn to fully trust  in him and be his Child that learns to follow, trust and adore him even in my darkest moments because Today has shown he knows us inside and out and he will lead us. With that said, Nate learned today that he has a bone that is growing out of his eardrum. Supposedly, he was probably born with it and it was never noticed or it has enlarged recently. They are going to monitor it and remove it if it enlarges anymore. I am so overly joyed that it is not cancer and I don't have to have another person close to me fight that battle. I want to cry literally I am sooo happy.

My mom is ok. She reacted a little weird to the chemicals but overall she is good! Looks like a strawberry she is red. But well..

God Bless Our Family!

Thank the Lord for protecting my family.. God listens, answers and loves us.. I just need to remember that. Have a good evening.

Chalkboard Family Message area- DIY Project 18

Nate & I live a very busy life- in between both of us teaching; Nate is a head coach, avid golfer, social butterfly, and sports addict.. I on the other hand am teaching full time, Newspaper Editor at School, in a fulltime Masters Program while juggling a clean house among other wifey duties, DIY Project Addict, and balancing my social life. Needless to say we tried to balance our schedules using appts on our iphones, but it wasn't working and we both would get frustrated when there were conflicts of schedules (Ugh I already told you about this- duh? moment happening alot).  Nate continually forgot to add them to the appt. He keep saying let's just get a traditional calendar and hang it up. Well one I am not a traditional girl, two a calendar each year is killing a ton of trees and I think paper calendars are so 1982.  I loved Pottery Barn's Memo center for the family ..

But each board such as the calendar, chalkboard, and memo board ranged from 40-50 bucks each plus the hanging system is not included. I didn't want to spend  over $100 bucks on a  memo center. Also the way they hang is too industrial for my tastes. I loved Ballard's memo boards too but pricy also. I searched on etsy and found an idea to DIY myself. It took wall decal of the calendar and applied it to the chalkboard so you can use it month after month and no killing trees. So without further waiting here is what my board looks like:

Here it is hung up with our dates and activities for April. I color coded it so we knew who was doing what and on what day- Nate is written in Blue, Tricia is written in Pink and both of us is written in orange. Makes it easier to put activities up!

The hallway is from the kitchen to the 1/2 bath and the garage. It is a long narrow hallway so I didn't just want a calendar there. So I added an E for Embley and a sign about families! This pics is taken down the hallway from the kitchen (that door open is the bathroom).

Here is a close up of the signs nect to the chalkboard:

Lastly, here is a pic taken from the garage angle:

Oh and that dead looking yellow thing in the middle of the floor is the dog's toy..lol. Hey we live here it isn't perfect!! Hope you enjoyed my latest project. My cousin says the chalkboard is very teacher of us to have in our kitchen. I love chalkboards (even before teaching and actual I have a dry erase board at school). I want to add a memo board (think push board) with decorative trim like the chalkboard but I haven't found a contender yet. This way we can post notes to each other, display photos, important papers.. eventually kids art and of course the ole chore list ;)

Bath Updates-DIY Projects 17

My 1/2 Guest bath is nice it just wasn't what I wanted..It is right off the kitchen and the only bath on the 1st level which means it sees alot of action when company is over and there are pool parties. I wanted it to have a beachy feel but I didn't want to have to repaint. I might still paint it blue but I am not sure. Prior to this make over the bath was very tuscan so I lightened it with coastal beachy accessories..take a look

I added a light from a buffet lamp since this room is tiny & has no natural light. I contemplated removing the standard grade mirror but it bounces so much light around I am going to frame it out instead. (Think Summer Project)

So our bath is very 1980's when the house was built. We have done minimal improvements. Sorry this bath is very tiny so it is hard to photograph. I have tried to take it from every angle. We have a tile backsplash up the walls that matches the kitchen's backsplash. I want to add molding around the mirror, stain the cabinets black and the walls blue but that is another day! I actually have the stain for the cabinets just waiting to be put on.. but I figure I will do it this summer..Until than this is the changes made and I am pleased with them. I love the beachy frames with pics from Hawaii.

I hate the cabinets handles and I atteptemed to make them over by spraying them bronze to match the other accessories in the room- but they were so plain. I went to Hobby Lobby because the knobs were 50% and wanted to change them out on the space saver above our toilet in our bath. I couldn't find what I had in mind for our master but I found these awesome nautical handles.. I think they are fun and I understand they are not for everyone.. but hey we pay the mortgage and handles are a minimal risk to take in home decor. So here is the before with the standard oak cabinets and handles I attempted to save but didn't love even after they were bronze-

And here are my beautiful 50% off Hobby Lobby nautical knobs.. the color is navy sorry the pics are distorting the color a bit.

So what do you think? Minimal risk like I said.. if I don't like them later I won't feel bad since I paid so little..



On to the master bath. The cabinets in here were the same as the half bath but in both upstairs baths I painted them a creamy white to lighten the space. We have two sky lights above the bath (these pics were taken at night so excuse the darkness). The only other changes we have made is replacing the subflooring, toilet and floor and tiling the shower. We also painted! I'd love to replace the counters in all three bathrooms but I don't think that is in the budget for quite some time and Nate doesn't feel it is neccessary! If something isn't broken he doesn't like to replace it.   Here are a couple pics of what it looks like daily..




Looking in from Master bedrrom (conch shell from Flordia Keys Engagement Trip & Aloha Sign) Towels , Rugs & Shower Curtain all purchased from Bed, Bath & Beyond from our registry.

Nate's side of sink (that is our wedding signature photo) Glass Jars from Hobby Lobby which hold Q-tips, Cotton Balls, and Shells from our trips to Flordia & Texas Beaches.

Here is my side.. the milk glass dish holds my jewelry that I wear daily.

Now you are probably wondering where all my makeup and etc is keep. Well I use wicker baskets that can be put up easiely.. here is a pic of my big baskets of daily uses.

Big question still where is the toilet?? Well it is in a watercloset the size of my foot. I mean don't get me wrong our bath is spacious except the water closet and I like that it is seperate so I shouldn't complain. Here it is looking in..

I just added vintage jars with hydrangeas and an old shutter on the space saver. I am looking for new knobs as we speak (vintage flair). Take a look at what I have done..

The star is made of a conch shell and says Tricia loves Nate.. we got it in the Bahamas on our engagement trip to the Keys and Bahamas.. I love it.  The shutters remind me of the Bahamas and Keys. Each house had beautiful colored shutters for hurricane season!  

On the wall opposite the toilet is my subway beach words.. I love it because look at the bottom rows.. the beach we were married on and our wedding date.

Well hope you enjoyed the updates I will share pics once I complete the cabinets in the 1/2 bath and get new knobs for the master. Have a happy Tuesday.

Thrify Decor Chick

Everyone loves a great Before and After.. I especially love them! So jump on over to Thrifty Decor Chicks blog and see her linky party with sooo many great DIY projects (inspiration hello)..

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2011/04/before-and-after-party-one-of-my.html

I especially love her mantel redo. I adore the slate mixed with mosiac tiles. I would love to do a back splash in this in my bath rooms.. but not happening..lol. A girl can dream right.

I have been busy this evening with my own DIY projects, folding laundry, painting, and a trip to Hobby Lobby. I have been avoiding my Master's Paper like the plague. I will post pics tomorrow since I have homework to do.. Procrastination really should be my legal middle name instead of my maiden name.

Oh yea I did keep my maiden name as my legal middle name. I know I wrote a post on this big choice after the wedding bells took place.. so I thought I would update you!! I felt it was my tie to my sisters, my history and all my hard work under that name that I keep it. It is also easier when showing verification such as my passport still listed as my maiden name.. my birth certificate, my degrees..etc.  You can't erase history so I just let it tag along with my new name ;)

Have a wonderful night I am off to write, study and hopefully enjoy a glass a wine!

DIY Weekend- Project 16

     Friday I went out with some girlfriends and had a great time chatting about all our nerves about Education and our plans for next year. I have been having alot of anxiety about job security and my family's plans for the future due to the economic state of what is happening in America right now with Education. I'm sure you have heard it is not looking good for teachers everywhere and Texas has been spared mostly during these bad economic times but this is hitting us hard. Originally, my plan was to try to get into public school this year so I could recieve benefits and pay increase due to my Masters, but there is no way I can when public schools are laying off teachers. With that said,  I AM SO THANKFUL I HAVE A TEACHING JOB. Teaching is my passion- so I am glad I can continue to get experience to put on my resume and not be forced to go back into accounting due to the economy. Nate and I have talked and prayed about what to do next year... Luckily, Nate's job is very secure- so we will just have to deal with my pay cut of private school salary and no benefits till things start to look up again for teachers. It is a short term issue and we can survive! So after my lunch with girlfriends I was so mentally exhausted from the week and stress that I went home and vegged out in front of the TV and was asleep by 8pm (insert Lame here).
    Saturday Nate and I walked Scout and than picked up around the house. I was feeling kinda low in energy so I didn't want to start any large projects. Finally my Pottery Barn Rug came for the kitchen. Remember I slip covered the chairs to break up all the pine in the kitchen (pine table, pine chairs and pine cabinets). But with the new rug it just didn't look right. Below is a pic of the slipcovers.. Under the slip covers the cushions were covered in a striped dark red, brown and green material I had done two years ago to cover the western materail on them originally. The kitchen table and chairs were given to us by my mom and bought at Star Furniture. They are lovely so I have tried not to do anything to them.

Slip covers..

Here is the before with the old cushions and new PB rug. Not matching and hating the dark colors on the chair.. I wanted to make the house lighter- airy feeling that was fun and young. Traditional yet casaul..old cushions had to go.. Insert lightbulb moment here!

Well remember my rocker I had upholstered by Simple Matters in that fun paisley fabric? I loved the browns, greens and blues in it and  I just so happened to have 3 extra yards of fabric (free) and I was thinking of adding them to curtains panels at the bottom for the nursery. But than I thought instead of doing boring linen covers step outside your box and do something fun and different (thanks Inspired Room for the shove on mixing prints and fabrics). I asked Nate what he thought of the material against the rug. He said 'well it is kinda busy but I trust you'.  I thought what is the harm in covering them..if I hate em I can redo them and plus this is a free project!! I searched and searched for my staple gun and went to work on recovering. I was going to pull off the old material but I left them on due to the plushness of the seats and laziness on my part with pulling out a million and one staples.

Here is the after-SWOON!

Take in mind I don't usually have a ton of candles or a pedestal with eggs on the table (easter hello). Aren't the chairs and rug fabulous? I love the way the paisley picks up the colors in the rug but isn't too matchy matchy. I also love how playful and colorful it is. I'm still considering painting the chairs white or blue to break up the pine (insert Nate shacking head here- he dispises painted wood..we battled it out on the banster and than he gave in and now says he loves it..lol) and I would love to still put up bead board over our back splash like Nester to pick up the whites on the other side of the kitchen. Nester just put it over her tile so that if she wanted to remove she could when she left her house. I think that is my next project in the near future (if I get to it).  I adore the PB rug (suppose to be indoor/outdoor rug-which equals bonus since it is right off the pool) it is so soft feeling. The cats are loving laying on it's softness and beautiful brightness in the sunlight. Now with the covers it is fabulous. I saw a post on Better After yesterday a blogger covered her cushions and added vinyl to keep them kid safe. I thought Brillant..Here is the transformation of her chairs (http://yellowgiantgiraffes2.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-new-dining-chairs.html). 

I am considering this since they get wet and faded during summer pool months due to wet butts sitting on them to chow down (yes we have a gazebo with a table to eat at too- but when that table is full they come inside ;) and ruined by our friends kiddos  insert our kiddos soon..lol(who I adore but not their messes)! My gf did this a while back and keeps telling me no no.. don't do it. But I don't want my beautiful Paisley to be ruined. I went to JoAnn's to buy the vinyl but they sell it by the bolt and at 75.99 I won't be buying it. I than found it only for 7 bucks a yard and it is in the mail. Once I add the vinyl I will share the pics.. still to decide if I should paint or not paint.. ugh.

I am just so pleased how the rug and chairs work now in the kitchen. I have to say I am in love. I walk into the kitchen and I smile. That is what I wanted. I can see many happy memories being formed around this table with our friends and family members. So perfect. I hope you adore them also. (insert happy dance here)

Here is a link to where I purchased the fabric for the rocker and chairs. I am going to purchase additional yardage so that I can complete the panels I want in the nursery!

http://warehousefabricsinc.com/PAYCHL.html

Now I am on the hunt for vinyl to protect those beauties. Any comments on whether I should paint the chairs I would love to hear!

My other project this weekend was  hanging my PB knock off mirrors. I have been lusting over mirrors from Ballard's and PB- but with their step price tages I don't think it's in our budget. I found a tutorial from Layla at the lettered cottage, but it involved some wood work.. so I took the easy way out of purchasing mirrors. I purchased 3 beautiful mirrors and planned on hanging them above the firplace.. man was it a chore to get them straight and all aligned. The one on the right still looks off but Nate swears it is fine! The mantel is still decorated with Spring/Easter items with the Bunny Garland, Moss Bunnies (PB knockoffs also) and my Spring Blocks. After Easter is over, I will leave the hydrangeas in the milkglass vases up and have to find something for the opposite side that represents coastal summer to me.. still brain storming. I am loving all the sea/nautical stuff in the last PB catalog. Just dont want to splurge on anything yet and the mantel is only 6 inches wide (not alot to play with there). I also want to keep it simple.

Lastly,  I wanted to post some pics of my lovely springy back yard. My flowers are doing superb, the cana is starting to bloom and we have one ripe tomato! Plus look at those gorgeous irises that popped up from nowwhere?? We think the squirrels who continue to steal my bulbs and my neighbors must have burried her bulbs here and they took root.. too funny! But she now has some of my lilies and I have some of her irises! Here's to sharing flowers due to the squirrels.. nice suprise!

Busy busy week so we'll see what I get done.. here is a look at my week-

I have a hair appt this week to get my highlights done I am loving the brown with the light blonde in it now.. get my wedding band back Wed :). I'm taking my mom to the oncylogist Thursday, Nate is seeing the specialist about his ear mass Thursday also. I have a major paper due Thursday with my Masters. My school's science festival is Saturday, which means Friday long day of set up and ful day at school Saturday working the festival.

Thankfully I have Monday off to recoup!! Have a great week and please keep my family in your prayers as my mom and hubby see the doctors!

Please excuse the weeds..lol. Someone needs to weed (Nate).