The Next Project

Well, due to some very windy weather this past weekend (I'm talking brown skies and dirt in your eyes), my intended project was postponed for a bit (hint hint--outside project!). Since I don't have any work to show as of right now, I thought I'd focus on a project that I literally cannot WAIT to do.

Our master bedroom is very....blah. That's the word that comes to mind when I think of it. And beige. The room is very, very beige. Since I spend a lot of time in our room, it's only natural that I would be sick of the beige, blank walls, ivory bedding, and brown furniture....so I'm very excited that we plan on mixing it up a little in the next few months. I've honestly put off decorating our room for the last year simple because I didn't know what to do. BUT, I've recently kind of found my "style" as far as home decor goes (light, airy, lots of whites, creams, blues, greens, updated traditional, blah, blah, blah....), so I'm ready to move forward (woo hoo!).

So, to get in the spirit of things, I decided to make an inspiration board to keep me going in the right direction. I tend to get overwhelmed when I decorate, so I'm thinking that this may help. Before I show you all of the lovely inspiration I dug up, I must first show you what I have to look at every day.

Bare and beige. Yeah. Boring.

Why yes, that is my flexi-nylon hamper that I've had since my freshmen year of college. I'm that cool.

And here is what I hope to be looking at in the near future....

A few fun notes: (we're doing bullets, people)

• The paint color in the top left is called "Camouflage" by Benjamin Moore. I am obsessed with this color and can't wait to get it on the walls.
• I'm obsessed with sunburst mirrors, that's all.
• The beautiful bedding is a duvet set from Pottery Barn. I love it. Maybe it's because it reminds me of the pillows in our living room which I'm also obsessed with. Coincidence? I think not.
• I'm thinking of hanging a large cluster of frames with some vintage botanical prints on the blank wall that you see right when you come in our room. Or maybe something else. That's still up in the air.
• We don't have room for bedside tables and lamps on either side of the bed so it's looking like we will be getting some pretty wall sconces! (The floor lamp has already been moved to the Guest Room)
• I'm also a little obsessed with smocked curtains, like the ones pictured above from World Market. Let's see if I end up getting them!
• A few light, but patterned fabrics are also a must somewhere in the room. I'm thinking stripes.
• I really hope this fits the description of calm, light, and airy....because if it doesn't, I probably need to start over.
• I said the word "obsessed" way too many times in the above list.

Well, that's it. I have no clue why I'm blogging right now. I have to be up in 5 hours to go to a prayer breakfast before work! Have a great and happy Wednesday, friends!!

Garden Update

Well, I just spent the last hour and a half goofing around on the internet (Facebook, you will be the death of me), and then realized that I originally got on here to write a new blog post. So, here I am.

There hasn't been too much progress in our yard in the last 3 weeks. The plants have grown a lot in my eyes, but it's not noticeable enough for you all to be wowed. So, I'm just going to do a little sneak peak of one of the hostas I took a photo of right after it was planted and compare it to what it is now.

See? It's much bigger! So just imagine that amount of growth pretty much all around the yard. More updates to come.

It's Friday. Happy Friday! Friday's are my favorite because it is the one time of the week that I feel completely energized and at peace knowing that a whole weekend lies ahead to do whatever my little heart desires. You know what I'm talking about. Best. Feeling. Ever. We're having a garage sale tomorrow, and I plan on getting some sort of house project done as well! I might read a book too. (Suggestions??) I'm also wearing a braid in my hair today. Just thought you should know, because braids make me feel really cool and like I'm 10 years old all at the same time. Also a good feeling.

I also just wanted to put this thought out there: I think you should go read Enjoying the Small Things sometime today. I absolutely love reading her posts. She really does focus on the the little things that make life so special, and I am feeling especially encouraged by that lately, so I thought I'd share. And she is a GREAT writer. Oh, and while I'm on the subject of things that encourage me, you should also go sign up to get daily devotionals emailed to you from Lifetime.org. I have really come to love reading these everyday when things get crazy at work. They are usually just what I need to hear, and the sweet lady that wrote them is so....real. Like to the point where I think "She really gets it". You can see the entire devotional archive HERE.

Well, that's it for today. Have fun, relax, and be careful this weekend!

Blogging

(Um, get ready for a long post.)

I am a paranoid person by nature. When I first started blogging, I was always extremely worried of what people would think about what I wrote. I thought (and sometimes still do), "Do people make fun of me for this?", "Is what I'm saying even worth reading?" But then I realized that really, I don't care what other people think, because I don't do this for them, I do this for me. Let me take a moment to explain why.

I remember a couple of years ago, a few of my friends were poking fun at people who blogged. I did too, mostly because I didn't understand the point of it or why people would actually think that others would want to read their random thoughts and life happenings. But those opinions have definitely changed for me now. Over the past eight months, this blog has become a creative outlet for me (just in case you haven't noticed haha). I don't do this thinking and hoping that other people will care enough to read (although that is nice too), I blog mostly because it feels good to be able to get out all of the crazy thoughts and ideas that are bouncing around in my head. The fact that people are nice enough to read, comment, and follow along is just an added perk that has turned into something I really appreciate.

More importantly, I have found that blogging is a huge motivation for me to actually live the life that I want to live, and make our house into the home I know it can be. I probably get one or two real-life comments a week about how much we do with our house, or how busy we seem, and I have to say that honestly a lot of that is because of "the blog".  When I started this whole thing last July, I talked a lot about what I wanted to do, and what I wanted our house to be like, but never actually did anything about it. We spent most of our time sitting around, not doing anything to our house, not spending time with our friends, and basically not enjoying this little chapter of our life that will be nothing but a memory in a few short years.

Now however, things have definitely changed, and this blog has become something like an accountability buddy to me. We complete projects because I know that I need something to post about during the week (yes, I'm being serious). I post pictures of our life and the things that we do with our friends and family because I know that I'll regret it years from now if we never did anything but sit a home alone watching TV. I talk about my random thoughts and the little moments in life, because doing that forces me to "be present" and appreciate the life that I have right now. All of these factors have made both Bryan and I much happier, and much more productive people. No, my writing is not the best (in fact, I write just like I talk in case your wondering), and I don't really post any profound thoughts or events. In fact, everything I post on here is really only about 1/8 of what goes on in our lives, but still, it has more than helped the kind of lives we lead.

We are living the life that we want to live, and I'm sure we'll keep doing that. And our little blog will be along for the ride. And you will too, if you want. When we move to a new city, move into a new house, change jobs, have a baby, have another baby, so on and so forth, this blog will still serve as my main outlet for everything going on in our sweet, usually happy, busy little life.

So....explaining why I blog...check.

And since posts are always better with pictures, here is one of a graduation announcement I just made for my friend Jessica Studer. I am loving the flowers!

I also wanted to say Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet mother-in-law!!! I know you're moving into your new home and probably won't get a chance to read this, but Bryan and I both love you so much and really appreciate the person that you are. You are such a big role model for me, and I am so grateful for that! We hope that you have a wonderful year!

Whew. If you made it through ALL of that you get an A+ for the day. Good job.

Have a great Wednesday!

Party Girls

Well, I'm not a party girl, but I did (with the help of some great friends) host a lingerie party for one of my friends from college, Kaitlin Lee!

One of my favorite parts of wedding related events is that you get to see and meet people that have meant something to the bride/groom at different stages/chapters of their lives all together in the same place. This shower definitely had a mixture of friends and family that love Kaitlin so much and it was great to see everyone having fun together.

We did a lot of the traditional shower games, opened gifts, and just spent time together...good memories!

As you know, I'm about the details, so here are a few detail photos of the shower...

We made a bunch of the tissue paper flower balls that are so popular right now for pretty much all of our decorations... I loved the ones we used in my milk glass vases that I've been collecting!

I love bridal shower food....finger food is THE best.

Here are some more flower balls covering the ceiling fan in the living room. Love the polka dots! We (when I say "we", I mean me and my friend Jessica Studer) made these using the tutorial that I found here.

Cupcakes with strawberry icing. I'd never iced anything like this, but it was easy and so pretty!

We put out a few jars and note cards for the girls to write notes of advice/encouragement/memories for Kaitlin. The jars were full by the end of the night!

We also played the clothespin game where you can't say certain words or you get your pin taken. I added little paper rosettes using a tutorial that I found here (hers are much cuter than mine!).

Cute!

Here are more flower balls that we hung around the dining room chandelier. I wish I'd gotten a better shot of this, it looked so cute but I was in a rush taking pictures so a lot of them aren't the best :(.

We got hors d'oeuvres from a local catering company and there were SO good! Everything was gone at the end of the night!

Mini strawberry shortcakes...a last minute idea, but they looked cute!

Here's some of the food, we had more displayed on the coffee table, but I'm sorry to say that I didn't get a good picture of any of it!

The house was full of pretty girls and lots of fun!

Here are most of the LCU girls that were there. Kaitin is in the middle. I am so happy for you, Kaitlin!!!

Good times. I'm all for hosting another shower at my house haha! Have a great Monday!

Featured.

Merry Friday to everyone reading this! I LOVE Fridays. And do you know what makes this Friday even more special? It's the fact that our home is being featured on another blog!!

I was beyond flattered when Samantha from Two Become One offered to post a few pictures of our little house for the world to see! So....head on over there and check it out. Also, take a moment to browse Samantha's blog (and become a follower!)--I love keeping up with her life and house projects and you will too!!

On another note, I'm thinking of changing the way I do things here on the blog. More details to come. Get excited!

Have a great, safe, and happy weekend! Enjoy the warm weather!

More Spring Cleaning!

So last post, I talked with you a little about our garage overhaul this past weekend. As previously stated, the garage was our catch-all for the many home improvement projects we've done this past year. It has definitely seen the worst of everything. Here are the pictures of our clean-up just to prove that it actually happened...

Before:

After:

Messy:

Clean:

I close my eyes when I walk through the garage:

I skip, sing, and cry tears of happiness when I walk through the garage:

We've even accumulated enough home improvement supplies that we have our own mini Home Depot right at our fingertips:

Wow, that was a lot of work....but SO worth it. We also managed to go through all of the junk drawers last night and throw away/ file away/ put away every single item in them. It took almost 2 hours, but I actually know where all the information on our student loans, mortgage, and taxes are now, so I'm breathing a little easier :).

Have a great Wednesday!

The Junk Room is NO MORE!

It's true. I can't believe it, but I decided to tackle the scary room whose door remains closed 99.8% of the time. The room where all things go to die. The room that must not be named...

Until now, we didn't mention the junk room unless it was absolutely necessary, but now I can talk about it without feeling the big ball of stress that usually comes along with it.

New to the blog? Don't know what I'm talking about? Well, let me fill you in with this very pretty image:

As I've mentioned before, I'm usually an over-the-top, obsessive compulsive, clean FREAK...with one exception. Until today, the junk room was my exception, but with a little help from The Black Keys (looooove their newest album) and some determination,  I took it from the disaster above to the image below in about 2 hours:

A little bare and boring...but I'll take it. Oh, and in case you didn't know, this room will eventually be my craft room! I'm tired of making messes for everything crafty that I like to do, so I figured I might as well try this whole craft room thing out now since we have an extra bedroom to spare. :)

Anyway....

Where did all of the ahem, crap that was originally in there go? Well, it was either thrown away or boxed and bagged up for our garage sale that we'll be having in 2 weeks (I think)!

Speaking of the garage, that has been an..."issue" as well. When you're the kind of couple who has a different DIY construction project going on every week, the garage tends to see the worst of the mess. So, in the middle of my crazy-girl-cleaning-frenzy, I also decided that we needed to organize and clean the garage if we wanted to have a garage sale. So, we did--but that's for another post!

Happy Monday! Go clean something, it will make you feel better!!