30 day challenge

As I said in my last post, I'm trying to get back to blogging.

 I feel a bit rusty though...

 but I was reading my sister in law's blog and she has taken on a 30 day challenge in which there are set topics for each day. I thought I'd give something like that a try and did a quick search for blog writing challenges... but to be honest, they all kind of suck. So instead of being inspired by her, I suppose I'm just going to copy her. Hope that's ok Carly!

That's my baby brother and his wife, Carly. 

She's better with words than I am though, so I suggest you check you check out her blog as well! 

Raining Heaven

Here's her 30 day challenge list:

1. Five facts about me most people don't know
2. Five favorite things
3. Most embarrassing moment
4. A photo of myself 10 years ago
5. A photo of myself today
6. Favorite YouTube video
7. My dream house
8. What's in my closet
9. What's in my makeup bag
10. Picture of my shoes
11. Favorite recipe
12. Favorite animal
13. Favorite song
14. Something I made recently
15. Favorite scripture
16. Picture of the place I work
17. Three things I'm grateful for
18. Picture of my day
19. Picture of a good friend
20. Favorite city
21. Favorite quote
22. Something I could never get tired of doing
23. Picture of my family
24. Favorite movie
25. Dream vacation
26. Favorite game
27. A piece of art I made
28. Picture of my home
29. Something I'm saving up for
30.  A dream for my future

....I'm going to have to start tomorrow, though, because I'm just home from work and I am tired. My sweet Miles seems to be going through a growth spurt and teething at the same time. Poor little guy. He's really struggling.

new shelves with a father's help

In honor of Father's Day I thought I'd show you guys a project that was the combination of many people's help and ideas, but most of the real work was done by two fathers: my father-in-law Casey, and the father of my son... my husband! When we bought our little condo 5 years ago this is what the front entry looked like (this photo was taken during our inspection so this is definitely before we made any changes):

When you first walked in, it was like you were looking into our whole home. It felt like living in an apartment... and no privacy! Anyone who walked up to our door could immediately see our entire living area, dining room, kitchen, and down the hallway to the bedrooms and such. Also we had that hideous pole - hard to see in the picture, but it was rough unfinished wood, and it wasn't even on straight! That strip around the bottom is metal that someone just slapped a coat of paint over. Well my mother in law Kathy had the idea to put up a wall there and I had really wanted to have some built in shelves somewhere, so my husband put the two together and enlisted the help of his dad! The building was all done by them, Casey and I made the doors together, and then I finished off with the paint and molding. 

here it is with the framework up

shelves in, priming and mudding mostly finished:

and here it is today:

As you can see we eventually got rid of the carpet, and those horrible wooden tiles in the entryway. We decided to have doors on the bottom because A: we have dogs and B: we knew we would have kids someday, so it is nice to not have open shelving on the bottom! I absolutely love how this came out... we have an entry way now! Also, the one thing I was concerned about is that it would close off an already small space... but surprisingly, it feels bigger! Maybe it's because each area is more clearly defined now. And when the creepy "magazine salesman" came to our front door and was trying to peek around the wall into our house (there had been a handful of robberies in our complex)... I was happy he couldn't see all of our electronics and things just on the other side!

So what do you think? I love seeing these shelves... and more than that, I love having a place (rather, one more place) for my books! I have soooo many books. Unfortunately the other side of this wall is still blank... I have yet to figure out just what I want to hang there. Of course when I do decide, you are the first people I'll tell!

As far as decorating goes, these shelves need work... they don't look too bad I guess, but I have a couple ideas in store for this spot! They may not look all fancy and dreamy they way so many women seem to effortlessly do, but at least they speak for who we are. So have another look, here are just a few of the things that describe us (if it's hard to read, just click on the picture to enlarge it):

So thank you hubby, (and thanks father in law as well!) - you are one great father! I couldn't ask for better.

 Watching movies (or "moomoos" as he calls them), cuddling with daddy, 

munching on green beans. What more could a little guys want?

Linking to: Show & Share Day at Just a Girl

Admiring others

Life has been so hectic recently that I haven't had time to get many projects done. I did make some new curtains for the kitchen, but pictures will have to come in another post. Due to lack of time and - mostly - money, most everything has been put on hold. I've been trying to come up with affordable ways to do the things I'd like, but affordable in my case pretty much means cheap or free. As I've been mentally planning out what I would like to do with my home, I've realized my husband and I have such different styles! For a long time I didn't know what my style was... Aaron likes things fairly modern - clean lines, high contrasting colors. Personally my favorite color is white, but I never used it much around the house in fear that 1: it would never stay clean and 2: white couldn't make a home feel warm. As I have been browsing the blog world in hopes of inspiration I have learned how wrong I was! Since I have no new photos of my own to share today, I want to share two favorite blogs I've come across whose homes and style inspire me.

From Life in the Fun Lane

From Dreamy Whites

Another one to check out - who has just way too many photos to choose from - is Thoughts from Alice W.
Gorgeous! Enjoy!

Cake!

I recently realized that I have no life. Nice, right? It's not so much that I don't have a life, but that I don't have anything in my life that is just for me. My projects that I work on around the house are done in between work, cooking, cleaning, taking care of Matthew, and everything else that goes along with being a wife and a mother. So I've decided to do something that's just for me... I'm going to take a class! I looked at several options but my time is limited. Finally I decided on something that I've wanted to learn for years: cake decorating. I've been slowly teaching myself how to decorate cakes for a long time now, but it's all based on information gleaned from the internet and books. Aunt B recommended the Wilton classes she took, and since our wedding cake came out great I'm inclined to listen!

I signed up for course 1 which starts April 5th... however at the time I signed up I was the only one! So hopefully someone else will sign up, otherwise it will be a lonely class. Either way, I'll learn what I want to learn so that's the point... but hey, if any of you close by are interested in learning cake decorating, come sign up!
So expect to see some cakes on here soon. About a week ago I made 2 birthday cakes and so I'll be posting those up on here in the next few days. I'm making an attempt at balancing everything in my life so - fingers crossed - I will actually get some of my home projects done soon and will be posting on a regular basis again.

One Talented Woman

I enjoy blogging about the things I've made because I've put in time and effort, so I want to show it off a little! I don't want this blog to be a spotlight on me though. I can feel pride in something I've worked to accomplish, but I enjoy recognizing others as well... which means every so often I want to show off for someone else just a little! And so, I would like to introduce you to the work of Lorna Beasley. In reality, I have not actually been introduced to her myself... but I have gotten to know her a bit over the last few years. She is Aaron's Great-Aunt and Matthew's Great-Great-Aunt! For a  wedding gift she gave us this:

No, that is not a pixelated photograph of Aaron and I - that is a photo she cross stitched! So far everyone who has first seen this, myself included, has done a double take because at first glance it appears to be a photo. If you look closely, you can see the detail of the lace on my sleeve! I have to say, I think this is amazing. I can make a lot of things, but I cannot imagine the patience it must take to make something as complex as this. She also made Matthew a wonderful quilt with some squares cross stitched to spell out his name:

and his birth information:

The quilt is so nice I'm afraid for Matthew to ever actually use it! Instead, we hung it up on his wall where he would see it often. It hangs right over his changing table, and he loves to point at the airplanes while he's laying there.

You do beautiful work Lorna, and I hope you don't mind me using your work for my first spotlight! We really truely appreciate what you have given us!