Right Now {found on another blog - but adapted for mine!}

Outside My Window
It's pitch black outside but I can still make out the shape of my cute little tree and a freshly-mown lawn, silhouetted by the glow from the porch light.

I Am Thinking
That I don't have a job, yet I'm calm and at peace. {Ryan is another story - he's a worrier} Whilst job hunting, I will have so much time to finish things I've had on my perpetual to-do list: paint, organize, and then USE my new craft room; paint my kitchen cabinets; finally hang things on our newly-painted walls; open my *new* vintage etsy shop and share my fab finds with others...ah, the list could go on and on.

I Am Thankful
For my supportive husband. And my awesome sister Tara {visiting and she was the first to come give me a big hug as soon as I got off the phone and started digesting *the* final phone call}. I'm thankful for our ability to save the last few months and put something into our savings accounts so we can still pay bills until a more suitable job opportunity comes along. I'm also thankful for all my friends and family who have shared in consoling me, even if it's in commiserating. I'm also thankful for Becka - who also made the ultimate life-altering decision today and quit - 30 minutes after I was let go. She's a tried and true friend, a strong woman and I love her dearly.

From The Kitchen
My dishwasher finished its hour-long hum many hours ago yet I can't seem to feel the urge to unload it quite yet. Tomorrow morning will be a fresh start. Soon, I'll smell loaves of freshly baked peanut-butter banana chocolate chip bread {thanks for the recipe, Brooke!} leaving the oven and making their way to a neighbor as payment for us borrowing their lawn mower.

I Am Wearing
a smile and the most comfortable pajama pants ever and the shirt I wore today {and pretty much everyday - I have a rotation of 3 or 4 shirts}. And a sports bra on top of my other bra to keep the girls wrangled in.

I Am Creating
EVERYTHING. I have so many ideas. I don't feel stressed. I just picked up a set of old metal police evidence(!) lockers that I'm going to clean, sand, and paint and make my new coat 'closet' for the front. I'll document with pictures.

I Am Going
PLACES. anywhere I want. After more than three years with BrainStorm I feel emotionally drained. I felt underappreciated and unmotivated to work {partly due to the fact that I was paid significantly less than the two guys there, who started TWO years after me}. After a season of discouraging sales, they axed me. Well, that's what I'm guessing. I was never actually given a reason, so I can only assume that was it. I'm going places. You might want to sit down, put on your seat belt, and settle in--it's going to be a ride!

Around The House
I see projects that need finishing and walls that need a few paint touch-ups, but a lot of space, glorious space. The garage is another story.

One of My Favorite Things
is my husband. My dog comes in a close second. He's adorable. Both he's. I also like bargaining, flea-marketing, creating {sewing, scrapbooking, making, doing, painting}, but you all knew this.

A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week
Tomorrow will be crazy! I have 3 doctors appointments in the next 2 business days. Yard sale tomorrow morning with Tara, working on girls' camp crafts, applying for jobs/unemployment, working on baby shower invitations {they're SO cute - you will wish you were coming}. BBQ and movie outside with friends.

Epic Post of Pictures {for your viewing pleasure}

I was looking through my camera card today and here's what I saw: lots of pictures {profound, no?}. But they were pictures I took and did nothing with, so I'm going to share a few of them here.

These are in no particular order and I'll just put deets on them underneath each one. Enjoy the ride!



These peonies lasted almost a full two weeks! They're from the Downtown Lawrence Farmer's Market. I've purchased all my flowers from the same vendor there each time {I can't remember the name right now}. Fresh-cut from that morning. When I purchased them they were in tight little balls and bloomed opened fully in 3-4 days. This was a half-dozen peonies.


Our backyard during a rainy-day downpour. I think this is from a week ago, maybe a week and a half. This was after 3-4 hours of SHEETS of water coming down. The missing fence area is on our list for replacements. It blew down during a winter windstorm.


Ryan's handy photoshop work with his dad's father's day card that I picked out. The inside played the Indiana Jones theme song and said something along the lines of 'and even does his own stunts'. Isn't the card awesome? I taped it on the top of the actual cover and sent it on its way. He thought it was awesome.


I love this little tree. It's a dwarf alberta spruce and grows quickly! We found it at Costco cheaper than we could find it at a local nursery {almost 50% less expensive!} and we have a new pot to transfer it to, hopefully that will get done, soon. The little plants around its base have YET to be planted in the flower bed along the front walk - but they're still doing great in their little containers so I'm not toooo concerned. Also something I hope that gets done, and soon.


The ceilings are all painted! You can see from the picture that the color that WAS on the ceiling was quite tan. It's actually not a terrible color, it's just the finish that drives me crazy...well, and the fact that the walls haven't been painted in 12 years. 12 yrs = lots of dirt.


Can you see the cool, calm gray? I love it. It's just above 'no color' and right under 'too gray'. It makes me really happy to walk downstairs and feel like the house is so much more open now. And I love the finish. We went with Sherwin-Williams' Satin/Eg Shel finish {it's spelled that way}. The color is Aloof Gray. The tallest wall will hopefully be painted tomorrow. I'm going with a blue color. I'll post more when it's done. Also, you can see a little globe in the picture. I got it at a yard sale on Saturday. It still has the USSR on it. Awesome.


I bought these peonies yesterday at the farmer's market. This time I got a full dozen. I really hope they last as long as the last bunch. Especially because I think they're the last peonies of the season.


Yard Sale Saturday yielded a Pfaltzgraff soup tureen. I love it. I wish it had the ladle. The pattern is Heritage-white and a replacement ladle would be a pretty penny {$39.99!} so I think I'll look on ebay until I can find one for less than $10. The whole setup, brand new, would be $99. I paid $3, so I can't complain.



Another Yard Sale Saturday find. Old school Fisher Price little people. But TRUCKS! I stuck them in soapy water and disinfected them with some additional cleaner, and in that process I loosened a few of the sticker decals. Any adhesive tips? I think super glue might be a little too brittle, but maybe rubber cement or gorilla glue?

Finally, I'll end this epic post of pictures with our dream house.

Isn't it gorgeous? Wanna see another picture?



I love it! It was in the construction process when we moved here last August and finished shortly after that. Then they finished the landscaping before the winter wind and cold set in. This spring it's just gotten prettier and prettier. Both Ryan and I agree the architecture and overall design is something we could live with. Okay, more than live with...we love it. So it's our dream house!

K, one last peek for you:


Well, if you've made it this far, you deserve a round of applause.

Also, I love my husband. He got upset when he heard someone possibly say something about me recently. I heard it, too, but neither of us are quite certain what was said so I'm not jumping to conclusions. Either way, it's really cute that he got upset and I love him more and more each day. Thanks for being wonderful, Ryan.

Future Bath Remodeling

When we first purchased this house we realized it only had one shower. One-point-five baths for a three bedroom home. It just wouldn't do! It especially wouldn't do if we want to make money on this house when we sell it. So that's the main motivation.

Ryan used the Better Homes & Gardens Home Designer Suite and came up with these gems. I've added the text to the pictures so you know what I'm referring to, but he did everything else.




Isn't he amazing? He just started fiddling with it and took a few measurements and off he went and now we have plans to show a contractor.

Best part is that it will open up the house to a new buyers market. Especially considering we're in the midst of new paint {which is looking great! I still haven't decided 100% on an accent color, though} and our new bamboo flooring should arrive in the next few days.

If all you're seeing is $$$, think again. I'm such a bargain-hunter that I will always seek out THE best deal. If it weren't something we could do on-the-cheap, we wouldn't be doing it. And keep in mind the bathroom is just a pipe dream at this point. It will be much further down the road.

Scrapbooker's/Crafter's Dream

EZ View Desktop! I want one of these SO terribly bad. It's not even funny.



You can enter, too! You have to visit HomeMade by Jill by tonight. But please don't...seriously, guys. I think I want this too much. Wait, maybe we could share?...:)

Inspiration Rooms

I am stealing these from my friend Katie's most recent post. I have no idea of the source, so if anyone happens to be looking and knows the source and cares enough, feel free to clue me in.

I love the stacked frames. I can't tell if it's just a mirror and a few frames, or what, but I love the dimension it adds.

Probably not feasible if you have little kids be-bopping around that can attempt to hang from the frames. That could be tragic.

I love this idea...although I don't know how I'd feel about that many mirrors. RIGHTBYTHEBED.


I definitely like more color in my rooms, but there are always little snatches of style you can take from pictures like these. Thanks for the ideas, Katie!

Color Change

We got paint samples on the wall today. The colors aren't great. They're pretty, but not what I want. So I think we're going grey and grey. Way to be creative, right?

It will look pretty. My favorite colors to accent with are {well, besides white, that's a given} black, red, and blue. I'm going to repaint a little table we currently have in our entry way {yard sale find - $5) in a deep red color. I think it's time for me to stray from my comfort zone of painting all my furniture black or white and go for some major color.

Also, we decided on the bamboo floors. They have a longer warranty and ended up being shipped for free, so they were the winner. We should have them late this week or early next week and then installation will start the last week of the month.

I hope I still have a job by then! EE! Kind of scary, when I start to think about it.

Also, remember how I posted about this before? Well, I'm finally going to see a doctor about it and I really hope things get under control. Pray that I still have a job {mostly so I still have insurance!}.

Also, after 10 months of having my office in our loft area, along with my craft table and then a couple months ago we added Ryan's desk {are you starting to feel crowded yet? cuz I am}, I decided Ryan was right and it would be better for me to have the smaller bedroom be my office/studio/haven. It's going to be great! Finally a place where I can have a pink anything-I-want and not worry about it creating dischord with the rest of our stuff. I'm thinking about a cutesy chandelier along the lines of this:



or this:


{focus on the chandelier - I'm not having a crib in my room, nor am I having pink walls. I'm not THAT bad}

or even this:



okay, this, too:



but I will probably swing something more like this:


I'm pretty sure I could find something at a yard sale, paint it the color I want, then string up some crystals in a pinch and be happy {and for a lot less, which equals more happiness}. You can find huge lots of crystal pieces on ebay, like these here.

One project at a time, though.

New Living Area Colors

We bit the bullet and we're having our downstairs painted starting next Monday. I'm really, really excited! Originally, I was leaning toward warm brownish/tan tones, still keeping it neutral, but we've decided on the flooring we're going to use and I think the cooler grays and blues will add a more modern look but still let me use all our furniture without it being too modern.

Here's the mockup {thanks to Sherwin Williams' site - which, by the way, is freaking awesome. I played on it for awhile} I'm currently leaning toward.


Thoughts? Similiar experience with not so great results?

*Edited*

The floor we decided to go with is a dark hardwood called Sapele. The sample looks great and with white trim and gray walls I think it's going to look fab {I mean, really, our condo was fab(!) and the walls were gray--albeit a much lighter gray, but gray, nonetheless}


Then I found this bamboo and now I have to talk to Ryan. They're about the same, pricewise, maybe $20 overall difference.

Dinner Tonight

I made this.

From here.

Ryan said it was too high class for us. But then he said since we're eating it on the couch while watching Wipeout, we've brought it down to our level.

Stay classy, Martha.

Awkward Family Photos {.com}

I recently found this site and it has provided so many laughs! You'll get addicted. You can blame me. Every family/person has one of those absolutely terrible pictures. If you say you don't, that just means you already burned them.

Anyways, this is my new favorite.


It's called The Swinger.

3 Down, Googols to Go

I think I prefer Ryan with his beard, actually.

sigh...we look so young {and skinny} there!



Love you, babe.