Wednesday, November 17, 2010

New Coat of Paint

Well, I couldn't wait. I had to write about what we've been working on in Asher's room. It's not finished by any means, but I feel like we've really accomplished a lot so far, and I wanted to show it off!

Elijah and I decided that after we were settled into the new house, the first projects we'd tackle would be decorating/updating the kid's rooms. I always pictured Pottery Barn-esque rooms and have thus far fallen dismally short of my personal expectations. I vowed this time it would be different. We settled on a Super Mario Bros. theme for Asher's room and set to work.

Through my extensive online research (read: pouring over image after image of "Super Mario room" Google'd results) I thought it best to paint the entire room a sky blue. I chose Glidden's Pool Party, but had them mix it in Behr's semi-gloss. I make it sound so easy, but seriously the paint choice took longer than any other part of this project!



Before. Asher's blank canvas.


An unwilling assistant cutting in. I suck at cutting in.


Totally worth the work, look at this adorably helpful boy!


Elijah's first, but definitely not last, crown moulding job.


I'm not usually this happy when I paint, Elijah must have been making me laugh.


Finished, with the bed.

We've since moved the bed further up and moved Asher and all of his crap stuff into the room. We've got some more work to do on the walls and I'll definitely post when it's finished. We are cutting it really close to our November deadline. We're supposed to start on Amelia's room in December.


P.S. I realize that all the blues look different. The true color is closest on the pictures of Elijah.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Simple Man


I married a Texas born, Oklahoma raised, simple kind of man. He had always pictured himself married with two children, and was willing to wait almost six years until I could picture it too. After serving four years behind a desk in the Air Force, he knew he wanted to make a career doing anything but sitting all day. While I always imagined I'd marry a scholarly man, I accepted, with some trepidation, his decision to pursue what he dreamed. In our ten years together I can honestly say that he has never steered me wrong. He is a thoughtful man when it comes to making decisions while I'm more hasty and impatient.

He is the reason we have such a wonderful life together. Which is why I didn't hesitate to make another one of his dreams a reality. We are now the proud owners of...


...a garage fridge dedicated entirely to beer (ish)!

Our new home came with a fridge so we had an extra one and Elijah was finally able to fulfill a lifelong dream of filling a refrigerator entirely with beer. After everything he's done for me, this was the very least I could do. Plus, I get to fill the freezer side with Edy's seasonal peppermint ice cream so I can enjoy it year round!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

You Wonder How These Things Begin

"This is the bed that gave us the agent
That started the search that brought the house
That had the room that fit the bed
That lay in the house that Jack built!"







Even before we'd moved to Texas and were living in our small rent house, I was obsessed with finding Asher a captain's bed. It seems there is never enough room in his dresser for the piles of clothing I insist on buying him! Seriously, at this point he probably has about 30 pairs of shorts. Add to that his shirts, pajamas, socks, underwear, pants, and his uniforms for various extra-curricular activities, and we have a serious space problem. I have been trading out his summer/winter wardrobe for the past few years and I dread the days of washing, packing, washing and then unpacking. I really wanted enough room for all of his clothes to be out at once. Keep in mind, that simply buying less clothing was not an option for me.

Craigslist to the rescue!

After weeks of scouring the site, I found the perfect bed. In fact, it was so perfect that I bought it that day and it's been sitting in the garage, while Elijah and I debated how to finish it, ever since.

But the most interesting thing about this bed is the fact that it was sold to us by someone who is now real estate agent. We'd sold the Oklahoma house and I'd been toying around on MLS just to get an idea about prices and availability in the areas we liked. After meeting Amy and buying the bed, she offered to set up a search for us just so we could focus in on what we really wanted.

The rest, as they say, is history. Less than two months later we were putting an offer on the house we're in now and the bed is finally finished and being slept in.

Craigslist to the rescue!


I swear the green will make sense once the room is completed!

Monday, November 8, 2010

I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)

"This week on Hoarders..."



Elijah and I attempted to clean and organize the garage yesterday. After all we have a three car garage with no room for the vehicles!

This picture of our 2nd living room/dining room is the end result. And the garage doesn't look much better.

Ugh.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Friday I'm In Love

Here is my I love this cooler weather edition!

The weather has finally turned cold and I am starting to get excited about the change of seasons. Here is a list of things I love about Fall.



Crock Pot cooking. I love the smell of dinner cooking all day. It makes the house seem so much more cozy.


Sweater Weather!!!


Mums. With the move, we haven't been able to plant them yet, but I'm hoping we can squeeze in at least a potted mum on our doorstep soon.


We finally get to use our new fireplace!

I love turkey. If I could, I'd eat it every week. Unfortunately, having the oven on all day only makes sense when the weather turns cooler.

There you have it. My opinion of the greatest things about the weather turning cold.