dispensing me

dining room decorating

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 19:50:00 +0000

I’ve been meaning to post about our updates to the dining room, and finally got around to getting the pictures off the camera card.

We stripped the wallpaper in here (you can see it in my last post,) and painted the upper third of the walls Amazing Gray by Sherwin Williams, leaving the bottom Tavern Taupe. Now the dining room walls are painted the same colors as the kitchen. That wallpaper had been up for about 10 years, and it was time for a change. Plus, we stripped the popcorn texture off the ceiling in here, which required spraying it with water, and I didn’t think the wallpaper would survive that anyway. So now, we have nice smooth ceilings and some updated colors in here. I love it!

This ceiling had to have a little repair due to an overfilled sink upstairs in one Little Girl’s bathroom. But a little primer worked wonders. I know this sounds like an ad for Sherwin Williams, but their ceiling primer is really good stuff.

You might notice we’re missing a chair, and that I haven’t put a rug down yet. The chair is upstairs being used during guitar practice, and I’m not sure what type of rug I’m going to get. It’s really practical not having one, as it’s much easier to get the chairs in and out, but I do think it feels a little bare without it.

I was happy that we were able to keep the same curtains. I got these balloon curtains from Country Curtains several years ago, and they fit right in with the other colors in here. I was concerned that they wouldn’t work with the new paint color, but I like how it turned out.

Are you pro-antler, opposed, or antler-neutral? I like them. I’ve read comments for and against on blogs, and in here I went with a happy medium and chose antlers from Joss and Main that were obviously fake, along with the deer mount from Kirkland's that can’t be found anywhere in nature. Little Girl is creeped out by taxidermy, and even she is ok with these.

This was a shoe-string budget makeover, so I stole pieces from other rooms to use in here. The table was already in here as my desk, we were storing the chairs in the basement, and we moved the buffet and lamps in from the living room. The light fixture was existing. Husband wants to replace it, and we might go that route at some point. We bought the paint, the antlers, and the deer head was my Christmas present, so overall it was a very affordable fix. I can’t wait to get some folks around this table and put it all to good use!

the state of this union

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 14:24:00 +0000

homeland security

This is a live-action shot of what my table/desk looks like right now. The sunlight is pouring in, and I’m in my happy place, cords, and rolled up rugs, messy desk and all. If my window was clean, I’d show you my view out of it, but right now, it’s not, and you’d be hard pressed to see what I see.

I’ve been cleaning a few windows lately, but I haven’t made it to these yet. I’ve managed to somehow turn my year on its head this year- I’m spring cleaning in the fall, so you might as well get a state of the union address in September. Yesterday I vacuumed the walls, trim, and baseboard in my bedroom and closets. And today, I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck, so I’m taking a little break.

The blog got a little shining, too, did you notice? I decided I wanted a little less jazz hands and top hat action with my blog title. The big pink “ME” was starting to bug me, so I dialed it back.

I never gave 40 much thought before I turned it. But it lives up to the hype, in good and bad ways. In my thirties, I could put in a day of manual labor without feeling like road kill. And in my 40th year, I don’t need to feel the need to scream “Hey, look at me! Notice me! Affirm me!,” with my blog or otherwise. It’s a trade-off I’ll gladly take.

foreign affairs

We got a letter and a new picture from Amos this week. He sent us a picture of the things he bought with his birthday money. I won’t go into detail, but let’s just say it wasn’t an xbox or even new shoes. Think livestock and food. And the happiness on his face in the picture was palpable. This was a real teachable moment for us. If you don’t sponsor a Compassion child, please think about it. His letters bring more joy to our house than you could imagine.

education

Who is this young lady, and where did my Little Girl go? Fifth Grade. Loves language arts, social studies, and science, hates math. (Her mama hated math, too. And then she minored in it in college. There’s still hope.) Musical, joyful, and funny. I’ll keep her.

budget, employment, and the department of the interior

Due to slight under-employment on my part, (still PRN but working regularly and happy about it) the budget for updating our interiors is reduced. But that didn’t stop me entirely from doing some Fall decorating. Those pumpkins? We grew ‘em! We didn’t exactly mean to, but we did. After we discarded old pumpkins from years past into a small sinkhole on our property, these took root! There were 15 perfect small pumpkins in all, I think.

I finally got a start on the gallery wall up the stairs. This is how it still looks, a couple weeks after we hung things. I’m going to call it a modern art installment until I get pictures in the frames. It’s my statement on empty materialism.

in summary,

The state of our union is strong. We had a chance to catch up with some family for a fun lunch and laughs recently, and they sent us this picture, which looks very much like us, I think.

Enjoy your weekend!

A little time by the sea

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 20:04:00 +0000

We just got back from a really relaxing week in Hilton Head, SC. There’s something about travel that clears my head. I don’t know if it’s just that it gets me out of the rut my mind wears in while I’m looking at the same surroundings for too long, or the change in the air, but even before we get where we’re going, I feel my mental gears loosening.

(That went right back in the water.)

Not a bad view from our condo.

I devoured a couple books while we were there. This one, which I liked, and What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty, which I loved. The premise for What Alice Forgot really spoke to me, I guess because the main character was turning 40 like I just did, but due to an accident, she couldn’t remember the last 10 years of her life. It was a funny book and an easy read, but it really made me think about the choices I’ve made over the last decade, too.

Oh and btw, if you have a chance to pick up one of these beach chairs, I highly recommend it. They’re made by Nautica, we found ours at Sams, and they’re great. They’re light but sturdy, fold flat, and have a carrying strap, a cup holder, and a waterproof zipper pouch.

Many holes seem to be dug on our beach trips, but I’m not exactly sure what they’re for. When they start appearing in our back yard, I’ll worry about it.

I took my big camera out one evening, but just as I got to the water, the sun went behind a storm cloud, and all my pictures turned out dark, even with exposure compensation. Boo. I have yet to figure out how to make the best use of my big camera at the beach. There’s the issue with it fogging over when it moves from inside the cool condo to outside where it’s hot, which requires some planning ahead, and also it’s not exactly beach-friendly. Most of these were taken with my iPhone, except for the first pic and the last one. One more tip for the day: generic snack-sized sandwich bags work as iPhone protection. We’ve done that on a few trips now, and they’ve held up well and kept the sand and water out of our phones.

I’m sad to leave that view, but it’s good to be home.

It takes Courage. It takes Brains. It takes Heart. (And coffee. Lots.)

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 17:08:00 +0000

Little Girl’s birthday was a few weeks back, and this was the year she broke into double digits. She wanted to have a few friends over for a sleepover party, and it took me a little while to decide just how much fuss to make over the party. Knowing that she’s a “tween,” I didn’t want to be too over the top, but I did want to make sure she and her friends had a good time, and that they weren’t bored.

Inspiration struck when I saw an advertisement from our local Barter Theatre - they were going to open a production of the Wizard of Oz close to her birthday. Our town has really joined in on the fun, and several of our restaurants and stores have Oz themed specials this summer. Opening day was going to be a few days after her party, so tickets there were out, but there was also a movie on at the movies that was Oz themed, too, so I though we might get tickets to that. Little Girl (Can I still call her that? I’m going with it.) nixed that idea, as the movie looked “way too young” for them. Turns out she was probably right. But she was still on board with the idea, so we got creative.

I thought if I was going to pull this off, and not in a way that made her friends roll their eyes at her out of touch old Mom, I was going to have to take it easy on the theme. So I found some sparkly paper at Hobby Lobby and made signs for a few stations around the house. This one was by the front door.

I found the Witch’s legs at Amazon. We lined the driveway fence with yellow balloons for our yellow brick road, instead of painting anything yellow.

I wanted to let the girls be free to play as they liked as much as possible, but still have a loose schedule so they stayed entertained. Our first “activity” was to eat. Because we like to eat, and it was dinner time. I took Little Girl’s American Girl balloon that she got for Christmas, and used that as the table decoration.

A few goodies for the table (blow horns were a big hit but are not a good idea for your sanity)

And a close-up of the sign

A couple of pizzas, some chips and dip, a veggie tray, and some ice cream cake, some present opening, and we were all set.

I had thought that the girls might want to shoot Little Girl’s bow and arrow- with supervision, of course- so we borrowed a couple of bales of straw from our neighbor, and I pulled this guy out of storage from my fall decorations, and gave him his own sign. Where would Dorothy be without a scarecrow, right?

The fine print reads “Because Brains Are Overrated. (No Refunds.)”

But the girls got busy playing and we just let the archery slide, which was better for my blood pressure anyway. I had this sign hanging on Little Girl’s bedroom door, and I think they really did have pillow fights, which may have been the thing she was most excited about in the planning stages.

When it started to get dark, it was time to get to the scavenger hunt. This bag had a few small flashlights, and the first clue. Husband and I printed off clues on cardstock, and hid them around the house outside. The girls were quick to guess where to go next, so the hunt only lasted a few minutes, but they loved it.

They were hunting the Wicked Witch’s broom, so the last clue led them to where the broom was hiding, next to the fire pit, where we had our Wicked Witch (Marshmallow) roast- aka s’mores. Then inside to watch Return to Oz, that we streamed from Amazon.

After that, they moved on to Little Girl’s room for the night, and the real business of sleepovers, talking and playing, and we collapsed on the couch. I’m not really sure what time they went to sleep. I think I fainted immediately after they closed the door.

The next morning, they had breakfast, painted for a little while on canvas, and took home a goody bag, that had Smarties for the Scarecrow’s brains, a bracelet Little Girl made for them out of red stones and a heart pendant for the Tin Man’s heart, Some China Glaze nail polish called C-C-Courage, because the Cowardly Lion obviously needs courage and a good manicure, some red ruby slipper socks I found on Amazon, too, (I love Prime, can you tell?), a Lollipop pen, a little Glenda wand, and a picture from the night I printed out on cardstock really quickly before they left. I didn’t get a good shot of the bag, which I decorated with stickers I found at Hobby Lobby, and it said “There’s No Place Like Home.”

I think I had as much fun as the girls. You’re breaking my heart, not-so-Little Girl, but it sure is fun watching you grow!

I’m 40. Hello Craigslist, here I come.

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 02:31:00 +0000

You may or may not have noticed this (she says with sarcasm), but I’ve been struggling to define exactly what it is I want to accomplish with this blog. My posts have dwindled to here and there, and I’ve had some trouble finding my voice. One day it’s a journal, another day it’s home improvement, and then there are the random pictures of flowers and trees. What it going on here?

The truth is, this blog reflects my life. I have a lot of interests, and they change quickly, sometimes within the day. I know that in this age of distraction, it’s a good thing to be fickle with your interests, but sometimes it leaves me wondering what I’m all about. It leaves me wondering what I’m doing this for- the blog, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest. These are strange and different times we live in now, so different from the offline world I remember of just a few years back (good grief I sound like I’m 80 but here we go,) the times where people called you on the phone to communicate, or better still, did so in person. When we knew what was going on with someone because we saw them at church, or a ballgame, or the grocery store. When gossip had a face behind it, and there was a little more shame in being nosy than there is in being a creeper on someone’s “page.” (Not that I’ve ever done that, ahem.) When people didn’t want or need to see your cleaned-up life on a feed, carefully edited, packaged and presented. Isn’t it telling that we call it a “feed,” as in, here I am feeding you a story I sort of made up but is partially, technically true?

In spite of the curmudgeonly tone this is taking, I am not, in fact, 80. In fact, I turned 40 last week. And for the past 5 years or so, I’ve had a lot of questions. Who is this person that God has called to His purposes? When am I actually going to feel like a bona fide adult? What’s my role here? Why am I here? Everything I read and hear tells me that there’s nothing unique about my questions, that I’m in a life stage where it’s normal to be introspective, to evaluate whether I’m where I need to be along my life’s path, to take a moment to realign, to redirect where necessary. I’m guessing my social media use questions are just a part of that process, although my 1995 copy of Emily Post doesn’t really address these things.

But there’s also something in my online health checkup that goes deeper. My birthday was great, it really was. I spent time with my family, we went out to eat and to the movies, and we had fun. But I also got a gut-punch in the reality department. I need more human connection. I deactivated my Facebook page several weeks ago in the midst of all this introspection, and I’m not going to lie, it was tempting to get back on in time to be wished a Happy Birthday by my “friends.” But the main reason I deactivated was that Facebook doesn’t seem real to me. Like the difference between “friends” and friends. (That was not one of the thirty choices Facebook gave me when it asked why I was leaving, btw, but hello FB, it should be.) And so, I was ok with forgoing my Facebook birthday wishes, but I also realized that I don’t share my life widely, and when milestones like this come around, there’s a lot of in-real-life *crickets*. I like to think part of that is just that we’re all caught up in our own stuff, and that makes it harder to stay connected. The cold, hard truth, though, is that it takes some work to maintain friendships, and in some cases I simply haven’t done the work.

I hope about now you’re not rolling your eyes and saying “Jeez O Pete would you get to the point,” because there is a point, and here it is: I want to be connected, in lots of ways, and my blog is about connection. I could make it private and write a little journal just for myself. And I would enjoy that, too. I just choose not to do that, because my hope is that my life looks a little or a lot like your life, or nothing at all like your life, but somehow we can still relate and encourage each other. I enjoy sharing things that are true, or beautiful, or both, and I hope that you enjoy sharing them with me. Coming up with these posts feels like art to me, and it lets me use the creative gifts God planted in me. I have work to do in the face-to-face world, and I’m going to make some changes in that department, but my on-and-offline lives don’t have to be mutually exclusive. I like it here. And so, I’m going to keep coming here and telling tales and showing off my lopsided pictures, all while I carefully word my Craigslist ad for the real-life friends I need, too. I hope you’ll stick around- and comment, or this connection thing doesn’t work. I’m still not going back to Facebook, but look me up on Instagram if you feel like it, I’m ntc33.

(Just kidding about that Craigslist stuff. Calm down, Mom. :)

Calling all recovering perfectionists

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Tue, 13 May 2014 17:57:00 +0000

Every once in a while, I pick up a book that seems like it’s going to be a fun, light read, and it ends up changing the way I look at things in a big way. This is one of those books. If you read the blog Nesting Place, you’re well acquainted with the idea that “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.” (If you haven’t seen the blog, you can click Nesting Place above, or on my blog roll to the right if you’d like to see it.) I’ve been a fan of that message and Nester/Myquillyn’s blog for a long time now, and I was anxious to read this book. I wasn’t disappointed. I liked it enough that I bought the first copy to read on my iPad, and decided I wanted this in hard copy, so I ordered that, too. That might be a first for me.

I found myself looking at bigger-picture issues than just the things inside my house while I was reading this. It’s wise, and funny, and helpful. If you’re into “house stuff,” or even “life stuff,” you might want to check it out. I got mine from Amazon, but I think it’s available in most bookstores.

Hooray for Spring!

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 20:27:00 +0000

I think both I and the blog have had enough of indoors for a bit. So let’s take a trip outside!

We had a hard freeze here- and by here, I mean this probably applies to you if you live anywhere in the eastern US- a couple weeks ago (last week?), and this tree and the blueberry bushes had me worried most. But they both seem to be just fine, or at least they both still have live buds and blooms on them, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

I felt like I’d almost forgotten what the blue sky looked like!

When you turn away from this tree, this is what the back of our house looks like. This is such a peaceful corner of our yard. It’s unfortunate that it is too steep to put chairs here, or I would sit in this spot all the live-long day. So maybe it’s not so unfortunate. I have stuff to do! So we throw a blanket under the shade out here sometimes and waste a little time. It’s win-win.

Hope you’re enjoying warmer weather and blue skies! Think I’ll get out and play in the dirt this weekend!

Kitchen updates

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 22:09:00 +0000

Just wanted to pop in quickly and document a few changes we’ve made in the kitchen- and when I say we, I think you know by now how this thing goes. I’m what we’ll call the “creative director” around here. The tough stuff, and most of the credit, goes to the Mr.

Here’s the before:

Before: After:

The wall color is now Amazing Gray, and we painted the island to match the cabinets, Dover White.

It was a pretty dreary day when I took the after pictures, but the gray is surprisingly not dreary at all. The kitchen feels calmer now, which is what I wanted. I love it!

A few inside shots- practicing with my tripod

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 17:51:00 +0000

I took advantage of a sunny day today and decided to try to learn to use my camera tripod for inside shots. It’s a little more complicated than I imagined! Shooting from a tripod gives me the ability to lower my camera’s shutter speed and get better lighting with my wide lens, which isn’t very good in low light, while keeping my pictures relatively sharp. I didn’t clean the house before I took these, so you may spot more than a couple dust bunnies!

We’ve been rearranging again! This room is our “formal” living room. We’d been using it as a dining room so that we could use the dining room as an office, but we realized we never eat anywhere but the kitchen (or the family room couch!), so we moved the big table into the kitchen. I’m using the former kitchen table as a desk in our dining-room-turned-office, and can convert it to a kids’ table when necessary. That room’s a work in progress (again ;), but here’s a picture of it..

I really need to pay more attention to cords when I take pictures! Oh well. I think we’ve finally found a furniture arrangement I like in the family room. We put our TV on a wall-mounted arm inside our entertainment cabinet, and now we can swing it out and see it well from anywhere in the room, which lets me position the furniture better. I don’t know why it took us so long to think of that, but it’s made a big difference in how the room feels!

Here’s a view from the other end of the family room. You can tell I’m still learning how to align my photos. I think that’s the hardest part of taking inside shots- there are lots of straight lines and angles, and sometimes I don’t know which ones to use to make the picture look straight. This one makes me feel a little off-balance.

I still love the open cabinets in the kitchen. Painting these cabinets and taking the doors off has really made me like my kitchen more.

The paint has held up really well. We’ll touch it up soon, and I want to stain the island darker when it’s warm enough to open the windows.

I had fun decorating the open cabinets during Christmas, but went back to my tried-and-true after. Not much has changed over the past year in here. (My plates are in the dishwasher- that’s what goes in the empty spot in the cabinets in the picture below.)

Thanks for indulging my tripod learning session and coming along with me on the mini-tour! :) I hope to post a few more when I finish the office, and we have a laundry room project coming up soon.

Look Up

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 16:52:00 +0000

I know, this picture makes no sense. I mean, it’s fall leaves, and the perspective is wonky, like trees really don’t grow that way, and by now in January we’ve forgotten that trees really do make leaves. But it’s here, and let’s just all make do with that, and focus on the bright sky and the pretty colors and be ok with feeling slightly uncomfortable because, well, this picture just doesn’t make sense.

Just for kicks, and to make sure you’re all shook up and completely off balance before I start, I’m throwing in another one.

This is what happens when you go to the mountains in North Carolina on a perfect fall weekend, and you drive for hours down the Blue Ridge Parkway with your better half, hanging out the window with your Canon to try and just take home one good picture of mountains on fire and endless vistas, and you don’t want to pull over with the crowds, and your better half drives 45 miles an hour. Do you KNOW how hard it is to take a picture of anything at 45mph? So you come back to the lovely inn and you look up, and you realize that just above your head in the dang parking lot, as you’re about to get into the car to go home, is some of the most beautiful foliage and blue sky you’ve seen all weekend. And so you crane your head this way and that and you take wonky-angle pictures of drop-dead gorgeous leaves and you go home with a big fat smile on your face and your heart and head full of memories of a fun weekend and driving down the BRP at 45 mph with your better half.

It’s ok to take a different perspective. There’s beauty there.

Sometimes, things come into view when we look at them from a different angle. Things we wouldn’t see when we’re looking the “right” way.

Reframe. Rethink. Beauty is beauty, out of season, upside down, and even off your timetable. Give yourself the freedom to see it.

And above all else, don’t forget to look up.

It’s beginning to look a lot like..

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 02:22:00 +0000

Mid-Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 16:34:00 +0000

I can’t believe it’s mid-July already. School starts back mid-August! This summer is just rolling on by. I wanted to document some of the highlights so far, so I’m putting up a few pics from my Instagram feed.

We went to visit family the week after Father’s Day. This is Paw and his grandkids. We were met with a feast! This is just some of the food…

It was fantastic. I took a Cowboy Caviar dip. It was a new to me, and I liked it a lot. I found it on Pinterest. If you want the recipe, you can get it from here.

We followed that up the next day with the beginning of WinShape Camp. Our church was a host site this year. We’d heard a lot about it leading up to camp, and they were promising the Best.Week.Ever. And they really delivered! Little Girl had an absolute blast!

It was like Bible School on steroids. Monday through Thursday, the camp was 8-5, and on Friday, parents were invited for Family Fun Day, to see what the kids had been doing during the week and have lunch. I went on Friday, and I was impressed. I even got my own face paint!

Little Girl was involved in Secret Ops, Crafts, and Music. When we signed up, we picked our top choices for activities, and then she was assigned to 3 of them for the week. There was a great message woven all through the (many, many) activities and Bible study throughout the week. Little Girl was sad when it was over. This is definitely on our calendar for next year.

She followed that up with a Saturday with Nana and Pappy, visiting my side of the family. She played with dogs, chased some chickens, and ended the day at a cousin’s birthday party, complete with slip-n-slide.

The next week was Fourth of July week, so we broke out our flags.

The week turned out to be a bit on the soggy side, with tons of rain, but we managed to get outside long enough to make some s’mores, so I call that success. (Look! The ferns are still alive!)

Speaking of s’mores, have you seen the square s’more marshmallows? Somebody had a light-bulb moment! These things work great.

We got in a little porch cheesin’ together the next day…we bore easily, what can I say?

I don’t do pictures. I’m not sure what got into me with these shots, but here I am, documented as a real human being and part of my family unit. Heavily edited, of course. (Ha! Just crop and filter on Instagram, so this is close to what I look like in real life.)

The next week, my nephews came in for a week-long visit at my parents’ house. We enjoyed it, and them, so much! We took a day trip to a local state park, and got to see wolves, and turtles, and bobcats, and deer, and birds of prey, and a planetarium show. Oh, and the gift shop. Can’t forget the gift shop. Somebody likes their grandkids, just a little. (Ahem, #pushovers)

There was also swimming, and more s’more eating, and lightning bug catching, and a movie, and ice cream, and a sleep-over, and gardening. Definitely also in the running for the Best.Week.Ever. The boys are back home now, and we miss them!

Oh, sometime last week, we started seeing this great big orange ball in the sky that seems to give off heat, but I’m afraid to talk about it much for fear of scaring it off. When it’s out, I see things like this..

and this…

and I really wish it would stick around a while!

That’s pieces of our summer so far. Hope you’re having a great one!

Dear Amos,

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 23:07:00 +0000

I hope you don’t mind that I’m writing you here. In a couple of weeks, I’ll get a Compassion packet that gives us your address and allows us to reach you right where you are.

Amos, God introduced us today through the writing of a woman named Ann Voskamp, whose words tore my heart wide open and made it impossible to ignore, for even one more day, the call our Lord has placed in our hearts to help each other. I clicked a link and saw your face looking back at me. I looked to see if there were children whose birthdays were today, and there you were again. I quickly prayed to God to ask if you were who He was placing in my heart, and I turned in his Word to the book of Amos. The picture above is the introduction to the book of Amos in my Bible. And the part I’ve highlighted in pink is part of what helped me to know that you, your family, and our family would be joined from today.

This says if we want to show our love for God, we have to make sure we use what He has given us to care for others. We talk a lot here in America lately about this. And the problem, as I see it, Amos, is that we often do too much talking and not enough doing. In the Bible, God makes it very clear to us that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, and Jesus tells us that everyone is our neighbor. So if I’m going to be the Jesus-follower I say I am, I have to use what I have to help my neighbor. God used your very name, Amos, as a reminder of this to me.

And so I clicked another link and your family became our family today. You are my neighbors, and if your mother doesn’t mind to share you, you are also a child of my heart. I thank God for you, and my family and I will pray for you and support you.

Happy Birthday, Amos. Your birthday has already blessed me and my family more than you will ever know.

The Hanging of the Ferns

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:36:00 +0000

Last year, I didn’t even bother with them. As scandalous as it may seem, I went against time-honored tradition and inflamed the neighbors with a wrap-around porch that dared to go bare. I haven’t always been this way. I’ve done hanging baskets and ferns in years past. But I'd been burned.

I had to take some time away.

I told myself I didn’t need them, that they just weren’t right for me, with their watering requirements and tendency to scorch in strong sunlight.

But the call was strong, and the sacrifice seemed suddenly small. And Lowes had them for a little over $8.

There would be ferns again.

And so we hung them, north and south, and even west, and they shall sway in redemption until the cool frost of fall calls them home,

or a hailstorm comes today and beats the fronds off of them.

On second thought, it’s June

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 15:56:00 +0000

As you could tell from my last post, I had all good intentions of telling you about a lot of things. And then I didn’t. And it seems so long ago now that I think we’re just going to let it go. If you have a burning desire for the chocolate cake recipe, or are just dying to know what play we went to (Little Women), or all about my chore chart, or details about our mantel, leave me a comment or send me an email and I’ll happily oblige. Otherwise, bygones.

It’s been nearly two months since I thought about all that. My attention span is considerably shorter than two months. I’m flaky like that. It’s who I am.

What were we talking about again?

Let’s just be friends again, ok?

OK?

Everything and Stuff and I’m not lyin’

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:51:00 +0000

Sorry to disappear for a bit, there. With all that snow and cold, dreary weather, I lost my mojo.

“Looking out on the morning rain
I used to feel so uninspired
And when I knew I had to face another day
Lord, it made me feel so tired”

(Name that tune. Yes, it will live in your brain for days, too. And you might just have the urge to color your hair. You’re welcome.)

My chairs are blowing off the front porch as we speak, but the grass is green, and I’m feeling better already.

Can I get an Amen?

I have some stuff to tell you about, just not all today. Here’s a preview of coming attractions:

Umm, yum. I have a recipe for this here somewhere. I think it was called Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake. It was good, but not quite as moist as I would have liked. I may need to tinker with it a bit. Or not over-bake it. So I’ll post that soon.

This is a really bad picture of a really beautiful project my husband recently finished. I think I took this with the ipad. I’ll have better pictures and some in-progress photos when I do this post.

My life has been radically changed, and I’m not kidding around, by the introduction of a chore chart and a menu plan. If I can figure out how to, I’ll be glad to share the file I’m using. My house is much cleaner, my family fed, and I can’t say enough good things about it.

Little Girl and I were recently treated to an afternoon at the Barter Theatre, an early birthday present from Nana. This was a picture from that day. I’ll tell you about that, and talk a little bit about the book the play was based on.

That’s things around here. How’s your neck of the woods? Have a great weekend!

Because it snowed today…

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 02:24:00 +0000

And my bones are brittle from lack of Vitamin D,

I decided to pull out some pictures from last year. March 15 of last year, to be precise.

Won’t be long now!

4 Reads to Help You Wait For Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:14:00 +0000

(I haven’t shown you this room in a while. As you can tell, not a whole lot of changes going on in here. This is before Little Girl’s joy upgrade. Still need to finish the ottoman.)

Is it just me, or is it time for Spring? Last winter really spoiled me. We had almost no winter- it was unusually warm. But the familiar every-other-day rain/sleet/snow of February is upon us here, and the best way I’ve found to bide my time until it’s warm and sunny again (when we’re not painting something) is to read. Here are a few things I’ve really enjoyed:

1. Hugo’s Les Miserables. I know. We’ve discussed this. But it’s worth another plug. I still haven’t seen the movie. I’m not even sure if I want to. The book was just that good. I don’t think I want another face for my Jean Valjean.

2. Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants. A friend turned me on to Follett’s Pillars of the Earth a couple years back, so I was interested in this one when I heard about his new Century Trilogy. It took me a while to get on board and start this, though, because the subject matter was World War I, and after my struggles with War and Peace, I just wasn’t sure I was into a war novel. But I was wrong. Maybe it’s my fascination with Downton Abbey that sparked my interest in the time period, but this is a really good book. It’s long, and involved, but fascinating. Well worth the time. It’s about a whole host of characters, from Downton-like British aristocracy, to an American senator’s son, to Russian peasants, and how their lives compare, contrast, and intersect before, during, and after WWI. The only downside is Follett’s tendency to get all romance-novelish with his “love” scenes, providing way more graphic detail than I’m comfortable with. That, and the second book in the trilogy is $19.99 for Kindle! Madness!

3. Gail MacColl, Carol McD. Wallace, To Marry an English Lord. More Downton craze. Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey, said this book was one of his influences for Downton. This one’s not heavy reading, and highly entertaining if you’re curious about that time period.

4. Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place. I’ve just started this one, and it’s already one of my favorites.

Happy Reading! Hang on-Spring’s coming!

Joyful love, Valentine

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:19:00 +0000

I can’t remember, and I’m too lazy to look. Did I show you this at Christmas?

Well, this was my attempt at chalk art. And I liked it. So much that I was all “No.” when Little Girl wanted to add to it. Mature, no? Then Little Girl asked again if she could make some changes to it, well after Christmas, and I said, “Sure, why not?” I’d never gotten around to changing it up, and this is what she came up with:

And at first I thought, “Oh, that’s cute.” And then I really looked at what she’d written:

Once again, a little child shall lead me, people.

She took my feeble attempt at JOY, and added to it exactly what we need to find the real thing.

JESUS, written all over JOY.

And just so He’d know I remembered how to find joy, here’s the close-up, full of love,

Read it and weep. I did.

Happy Valentine’s Day, you beautiful Valentine you. He made you, only one you, with purpose, and
He gifted you for it.

He broke Himself, and overcame death, because He loves you, the only one you, not just this day but
EVERY. DAY.

That’s love.

Knowing that? Believing that? That’s JOY.

2003 vs 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 18:07:00 +0000

I’m all hopped up on a Starbucks grande mocha and chocolate cinnamon bread, so be warned: this could get long. It may or may not make sense. And if the sun comes out while I’m writing this, it could be the perfect storm and there is no telling where it might go. I’ve already made a Wal-Mart run this morning, and didn’t come out wanting to pull out my hair. And it’s Husband’s birthday, tomorrow’s V-day, the house is clean, laundry’s caught up, and there are yummy things to eat in my fridge and cabinets. Things are good, y’all.

My intention is to show you the before and after of the kitchen. I’m also listening to a great sermon right now (http://vimeo.com/58936204 and oh my gosh, be sure to watch at about 23:00) on not storing up treasures here on earth, but making sure my treasures and my heart are stored in Heaven. So there’s this nice perspective that this is great and all, but it’s not everything by a long shot, you know?

The first shot up there on the left is what the kitchen looked like when we viewed the house for the first time- it was coming up on Easter, close to 10 years ago. That’s the previous owners’ stuff. I hope they wouldn’t mind me putting this on here- I don’t think it was that different from the realtor’s listing photo. The picture is too dark, but isn’t it a happy kitchen? The previous owners really lived in this house, and you could tell they had fun here.

Since then, the kitchen has gone through its share of transformations. We changed the countertops first, then got the appliances. We wallpapered, and then stripped and painted. Here’s what it looked like for most of the time since 2007- and I liked this look, too:

Last year I began to lighten things up, starting with a paint job. I blogged about that (with pictures) here.

But this year, I finally decided to go all-in and paint those cabinets. Without further ado, here we go:

I can’t tell you how hard my husband worked on these cabinets. And I’m so proud of his work, and thankful to him for doing it- I love how they turned out!

We’re still door-less, as you can see. It’s really working just fine. We throw the paper plates right in there with the dishes, and the portable water bottles that Little Girl takes to school every day are right in with the glasses next to the sink. I figure this is where we live, and the kitchen has to be practical as well as pretty, or it just won’t work. I’m mulling over putting a mirror in place of the glass in the corner cabinet door (you can see it on the far right in the last picture) so we can really use all the space in that cabinet. It’s huge! And I think we’re going to paint the island white. Also, we’re debating going with a more neutral color than the Rainwashed on the upper parts of the walls. But for now, we’re taking a break.

I have to say, this has been a budget-friendly makeover. We bought some Sherwin-Williams Dover White paint for the cabinets, a pendant conversion kit from Ballard Designs, a small seagrass rug and counter stools from Overstock, knobs and pulls from Lowe’s. And a few dish towels and white coffee mugs from Target. The prints in the cabinets (in the close-ups) I had from a trip to Black Dog Salvage a few months ago- that place has since been on DIY Network, have you seen it? That’s another post for another day. I didn’t take my camera when we went, and I was sorry. It’s a phenomenal place, and I could shop all day there! Overall, I think we’ve spent around $500? And it feels like a really big change for our money.

Feeling really blessed today. Hope you are, too. Praying for a lot of folks going through some really hard stuff right now, and it’s nice to have things like this to distract.

Time to get livin’! Thanks for stopping by!

A little more progress

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:39:00 +0000

Just to assure you we haven’t all met our doom from paint fumes, here’s another in-progress picture. I still have to put on hardware, decide what to do about the island, (It needs staining, or painting, or something- the finish is wearing really thin on it, too.) install our pendant light fixture, put down the other rugs, and get a window treatment up over the sink window. We’re almost there!

As a side note, I’ve discovered that while I am not gifted at straight-picture-taking, there is also something wrong with this camera lens. Do you see how the upper walls are rounding in on both sides of this picture? That’s not what our walls actually look like- at least I hope not. Maybe I’d better check that out..

I still have a before-and-after post to come in the (hopefully) near future! Happy Friday!

Kitchen pics

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 16:56:00 +0000

I promised you progress pictures, and progress pictures you shall have. They really are progress pictures, not a before and after yet, because we’re not nearly done. In fact, we have done exactly what you see here, which is not much painting.

(When I start a paint project in the winter, it will automatically turn frigid the very next day, causing me to postpone my project or kill us all with paint fumes. Whether the weatherman predicts it or not. Take it to the bank.)

Now don’t panic. And for the love of Pete, please don’t look at all the dirt on my counters and floor.

And if you are adamantly opposed to any kind of painting over perfectly good hardwood, you may want to avert your eyes (Mom :).

This is our kitchen before:

This kitchen has some custom perks, like a neat spice drawer, some pull out bottom drawers, and easy reach while we’re cooking. And we don’t have a lot of cash for big-time changes, so we’re working with what we have, which are well-built, solid, custom-made oak cabinets. The finish is worn and pretty dinged-up, but overall, the cabinets are in really good shape. We did new appliances and counters several years ago, so this is our last? kitchen-reno step. (I’m still hoping to rip up the tile someday and replace with hardwoods, but that may be far down the line.)

And now more in-progress pictures. Some of these are phone pics, so not the best resolution, sorry.

We started by taking off all the doors and the crown molding from the top of the cabinets.

Then Husband built a 6” tall box to top each cabinet, to raise the height.

We had originally planned to just reattach the molding to the top of the box, but as I looked at some of our furniture pieces I like around the house,

I realized they had a top as well. So he added tops to the boxes, (this was a lot more work than I’m trying to gloss over here, ahem,) and brought the original crown molding up to it.

As I said, our cabinets are oak, so he used oak for the boxes and for edging the top, so that the paint finish will blend. Oak grain shows through paint without a whole lot of surface prep. I like the grainy look, so we’re just looking for uniform graininess. Is that a word?

If you look closely at that last picture, you can see that there’s a gap between the box and the top of the original cabinet. We (he) solved that by adding a piece of flat trim. I don’t have a good close-up of that, but you can see it in the next photo.

After all that, he gave it all a good light sanding, and I wiped down one cabinet and started priming. And here we are now, right back where this post started:

The primer I’m using is one we already had for painting the laundry room cabinets, it’s Sherwin Williams, tinted Rice Grain. If all goes according to plan, the actual cabinet color is going to be a little bit lighter than this, Dover White.

I think all told we had to put a little over $100 into the construction process- that included a measuring mistake and extra wood purchase, and so far nothing on paint. I say worth it.

One other thing: we’re going door-less on top. That’s why I’m priming the inside of the top cabinets. I know! Cray. But I really think it’s going to work great. I lived with it a few days before we started construction, and I loved it.

One other, other thing. I actually kinda like the oak cabinets. That’s why we haven’t painted them until now. But I don’t just kinda like, I *love* white cabinets, and I’m tired of it being so dark in here…

One other, other, other thing- last one, I promise. I can’t take straight pictures. It’s a flaw. I’m dealing with it.

So wish us luck! Hopefully we’ll get a little warmer weather, get the painting done and I’ll have some “after” to show you soon!

Snow day!

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 20:52:00 +0000

One day in January, you look outside and it’s raining. And then it rains for 27 days straight. Or four. And then one day you look outside and it looks like this…

I’m really only kinda-sorta kidding. School was closed on Wednesday for flooding. It was raining at noon yesterday, and by the time the snow stopped falling early last night, we had about 5 inches. And it is gorgeous. My pictures don’t do it justice.

Crazy weather, and what feels like more than our fair share of illness aside, we’ve been having fun around here. We had a great Christmas with family, and Little Girl has played some basketball- 4 points last week!

We’re getting started on a kitchen project, too. I’m hoping to have some progress pictures in the next couple of days.

Hope you’re staying warm and dry!

Christ, the Lord!

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 23:53:00 +0000

Merry Christmas!

Filling an empty wall

noreply@blogger.com (Nicki) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:47:00 +0000

I finally felt the urge to get going on the blank upstairs wall today! Considering it’s only been blank for, oh, about two years now, I think it was well past time. This is only the beginning, but I’m really pleased with it so far.

The pictures on the right are of my great, great-grandfather (with my great, great-uncle- you can’t him see because of the spindle), and my great, great-aunt. I didn’t know any of them, but I loved the portraits on sight. The middle photo is my grandmother, my mom’s senior picture, and mine, left to right. My mom had this made for me some time ago. On the left, top to bottom, is an old picture of my mom’s family, pictures from our honeymoon, and a painting on a saw blade of my husband’s family “home place.”

So before:

And again, after:

This will be a big work-in-progress for some time, adding pictures from both sides of our family, framed newspaper clippings, artwork, and other special objects. Eventually, as I collect enough memorabilia, I want to extend it down our staircase wall. I love walls that tell a story.

(I got the monogram here, if you’re interested. No sales pitch, just info :)

Happy Friday!