However, I always want to be honest on this blog.  I don't want to pretend.  That would be too exhausting, and I just don't have the desire or the energy to fake something that isn't there.  

So, truth be told: The house is a mess, and I didn't touch one of the those projects today.

In less than 24 hours the yellow bungalow went from clean and presentable, to an utter disaster.  

I could blame it on Boston

and the fact that he was dropped off at 8 this morning; spiraling two already naughty dogs into shear chaos for the next two hours.  (Remember Boston?  He is at fault for my love for big dogs. I think it's his eyes, I just get lost in them.  They cut me deep I tell ya.)

I could blame it on the fact that at 9:45 Dexter ate Nancy's (our physical therapist) sunglasses.

I could blame it on the fact that at 10am all three dogs escaped the house and I spent the next 15 minutes running around our street chasing and screaming at my three unruly canine children while my kind neighbors assisted me in corralling them home.

Meanwhile, my human child sat screaming in the living room, not understanding why mommy dashed out of the house like a mad woman.

I could blame it on the fact that we then took a four hour tour through our town running errand after errand. (With a pit stop lunch with a good friend and fattening food, of course.)

Today, I could come up with countless reasons why my house looks as awful as it does.  

But the reality is, it just wasn't a priority today.

When I got home my body, my mind, and more importantly my boy needed to rest.  I called the man of the house and warned him what to expect when he got home.  Put the little guy in his crib for a well needed nap, crawled under the covers of my own bed, and we both slept.  

We slept because sleep can be healing.  It can calm an endless running mind, it soothes overworked muscles, and washes away the stresses of the day. 

An hour later we woke refreshed, and ready to play.  So play we did.  

Tonight, I go to bed thankful.

Thankful for friends with dogs, especially for Boston.

Thankful for understanding therapists who love my kid and forgive my dogs.

Thankful for neighbors who have grown a deaf hear to the constant barking, and a blind eye to the sometimes marking of the front lawns.

Thankful for a reliable car to take me around town and a boy that held in the tears until we were five minutes from home.

Thankful for the solace and comfort of beds and cribs to recuperate in.

Thankful for a hardworking husband who loves me despite my inner messy self, which I sometimes let roam free around our home.

Thankful that God doesn't inspect my house or my life with a white glove, but loves me where I'm at, and gently leads me where He wants me to be.

In the midst of chaos, what are you thankful for?

Have a good weekend,

Kristin

However, I realized I never posted pictures of our office space after we painted.  

We added a West Elm daybed we had in the nursery, before it was a nursery.  It was one of those hold-your-breath-and-see-if-it-fits moments.  And it did! Just barely, but it did.

We also added two white shelves from Ikea and their cardboard storage containers (I may convince the hacker to upgrade to nice fabric ones later on, but for now these get the job done),  a free desk, a chair from Staples (on discount) and viola.  

Our new monochromatic office!  

I can't believe it used to look like this before:

Removing that giant office furniture has added so much room.  Even with the bed, the room doesn't feel cramped.  It's nice to have the extra seating, and when we have company, they don't have to sleep on the couch.  

We've been asked if we really do use the magazine holders and boxes for all of our filing and office storage.  Yes, we do.  I actually think its an easier system than a filling cabinet. 

Having the bulky office system just shrunk the already small room.  

Since taking the pictures above, we've also added accessories to the shelves a bit.  My favorite part of the room?  The e-Card the Hacker sent me the day we started dating.  I printed it out and framed it.

So that's our office as we know it.  There are a couple more plans we have in this room: 

Add curtains, just like the rest of the yellow bungalow.  I think this is where we may have fun with some color.

Add a barn door to cover the archway for guests that might acutally sleep on the bed.  

Add a jumbo sized map to the opposite wall of the desk.  Not sure what kind of map yet.  Maybe a decal.  

But so far, we're happy with it. The monochromatic look feels fresh, which is what we wanted in such a small space.

Well, I have three dogs going crazy through my house right now, better go!  (More on that tomorrow.)

Happy Thursday everyone!

xo, 

Kristin

When I was in in school, college, and even when I was teaching, I never looked at the beginning of a calendar year as a new year.  For me, New Years Eve was summer, and New Years Day had always been the first day of school.  

This year it was different.  There was an end to 2011, and 2012 does bring a fresh start.

Our little guy is sitting up now.  

There is still a 50/50 chance he'll tip over, but that little trunk of his is getting stronger every day.  

His physical therapist is blown away every week by his progress.  We're so close to crawling, it's just beyond his grasp.  He rocks back and forth on all fours, and to his dismay ends up in reverse instead of drive most times.  

He's been eating puree food for about two months now.  I can't believe homeboy likes brussel sprouts.  

The Hacker and I aren't fans, but the little guy opens his mouth as wide as it can go for the green goo.  

We're setting goals for the yellow bungalow this new year too.  

1.  Finish the garage 

2.  Complete the 5-10% of the finishing details in the master bedroom, nursery, office, and living room.  This seems to be a consistent flaw of mine.  I complete a room about 85-90% of the way.  Then it take$ me month$ and even year$ to complete the re$t for $ome $trange rea$on.  (was I subtle enough?)  

3.  Complete the dining room table and make a console table. Have I told you that the Hacker is building our dinning table? He's in the distressing and staining part.  Ana White has become a treasure chest for the Hacker and I for furniture.  If you haven't checked it out, if would behoove you to do so.  (side note: behoove is a word I haven't used, maybe ever.)

4.  Window Treatments.  All of our windows have blinds, nice blinds.  But yet they all seem so bare.  This year it would be nice to dress them up a bit.

5.  Add shutters to the garage window out front.  We have a feeling our window looks a little bare.  A pair of shutters might be the perfect company for it.

6.  Add bookshelves on either side of the fireplace.  

So there it is.  New year, fresh start and new goals.

Good to be back, 

Kristin

Here is the room with two cribs in it, and the art not yet hung.

And here it is with only one crib.  With our little guy's health, we can't have another placement, so we took the crib out to increase our space for a while.  

(please pardon the christmas decor, leave it to me to wait until I put up some decorations to take pictures.)

Here is what the room looked when we bought it:

Here is the transition stage just after the wood was installed, just not painted.

And here is what it looks like now:

(If you notice, the Hacker has 3/4 of the crown moulding done.)

I made some of my own prints to hang in the room.  

 I was inspired by all of the paintchip mobiles I had seen over on pinterest, and decided to make my own. 

My dear friend jen made a cute yellow pillow to add to the rocking chair that she already gave us. 

Since then, I've decorated it for Christmas.  I added little treasures from our own Christmas childhoods to the bookshelves.  I made my own version of the christmas tree I found from one of my favorite blogs, enjoying the small things.

These are the normal decorations I have on the shelves.

A converse piggy bank, an owl from Indonesia a friend gave me, and some lincoln log toys.

I made the l.o.v.e. letters by covering them in yellow, black, and gray stripped fabric.

So that's the room.  It isn't nearly completed.   However, as I look through our house, nothing really is.  There are some valid rea$on$ for that.  
But for now, it is a happy place that our little guy can live in.  He can sleep under the colorful dots dancing above his head, he can gaze at the yellow stripes on the ceiling, he can cuddle with us as we rock him in our chair.

It's our happy place for now.

xoxo,

Kristin

We've had so much fun with our little guy.  He seriously is the cutest thing ever, no really.  I'm not biased at all.  No really, I'm not. Fine...maybe a little.

We took family photos not that long ago, and it kills me to do this, but unfortunately I had to blur him out.

You seriously are missing out on the sweetest smile this side of....I honestly had no idea how that expression ends.

But the Hacker and I are smitten with this tough little guy.

It's been so fun learning what makes him laugh, how he likes to be held, and watching him grow.  

The little guy sleeps through the night now, and that means more sanity for me! 

And since the Hacker likes to be crazy, this week we added another touch of madness to the Zamora household.

And let me tell you, Toby, is madness.  He is not a lazy basset like the breed promises to be.  

The Hacker and I have been looking into getting another dog for Dexter, and have fell  in love with bassets.  Especially after spying on the Pioneer Woman's two hounds and getting a laugh in every now and then.  

So when this two year old popped up on Craigslist needing a home, the Hacker didn't hesitate.  

It was a little overwhelming in the beginning, the dogs' spontanteous wrestling matches, the whining, and tripping over a needy hound whom you can never escape from.  But we're getting used to him, and vice versa.

And while it is still a little crazy around here, the little guy is taking a nap, both dogs are passed out, and I had a craving to write.  So here I am.  I'm back.  

We have been continuing to work on the yellow bungalow through the madness:

• The Hacker is almost done making our dining room table. 
• He also started crown moulding in the nursery.
• The nursery is pretty much done, I just have to take pictures of it.
• The office is completed.
• It goes on and on...

I can't wait to share all of it with you. So stay tuned, no really.  I will be back tomrrow. 

Ten years ago today, I said yes.

Ten years ago today, I had no idea that his simple question and my simple answer would have been the begining of the rest of our lives.

Ten years ago today, I had my first kiss.

Ten years ago today, I coudn't stop smiling because a boy told me he loved me.

Ten years ago today, I couldn't have imagined the amazing, godly man he would become and the incredible, adventurous life he would lead us through.  

Happy 10 years baby.

Can't wait to see what the next 10 bring.

love you,

mini

For the last three weeks we have had a baby boy invade our home.  

I've been waking up at two in the morning, changing diapers, and feeding a little guy who can hold his own in a bottle-gupling contest.

Because we're in foster care, I can't post how cute he is.  I can't share with you the smile that lights up the town.  I can't show you the biggest brown eyes that already seem to recognize me.  Let me tell you something, he's cute.  I know I can be biased at times, but the guy is so darn cute!

There isn't much you can know about him: his name, history, etc.  

But I can and will share with you the experiences, lessons, and memories that we are creating here at the yellow bungalow.  And I will say this:  This little five month old is a fighter.  He has overcome the odds, and continues to do so.  

The Hacker and I are blessed to have him in our home, for however long that may be. 

We will be here loving him, singing to him, cooing with him.

He will be our family for however long he needs us to be.  

So, there it is.  We are officially foster parents.  

Have a Happy Weekend everyone,

a new mommy

Way back before we had bought the yellow bungalow, the Hacker told me he wanted an office that was monochromatic.  Only grays, whites, and blacks. I am now a reformed traditionalist, who proudly embraces the unique.  (Hello, I have stripped walls!)  But back then I was a traditionalist who cringed at this idea.  However, because I love my geek, and realized he'd spend more time in there than I would, I scurried online to find some inspiration of gray and white offices.

I was impressed with what I found, and have had them saved on my computer waiting for the day to use them as inspiration.

roomzaar.com

Centsational Girl

The first step was painting.  We had decided on a dark gray that was just too dark for this small room.  I don't have any pictures of it, but here it is in comparison with the lighter grey that we ended up using.  

It's less blue, and more of the grey we were looking for.  

Once painted, the next project was to fix our light fixture.  It was doing nothing for the room.  In fact, once people saw the room painted, their first question always seemed to be "Are you changing the light?"  

Yes, yes we were. 

This is where compromise comes into play.  

I had always wanted to duplicate the beauty that lights up our bedroom.

I thought it would look just as lovely in the office.  And it would add a touch of elegance.  The Hacker didn't like the $200+ price tag.  Also, after further research, it turns out West Elm stopped carrying the Long Capiz Pendant. 

After spending hours and hours shopping for the right light, it came down to these two:

Either Ikea's Maskros or a DIY project using a yoga ball, glue, and some string.   

Well, the Hacker was the deciding vote, and Ikea won out.  Only $89 later, we were the proud owner of this daring pendant light.

Installing it was a breeze compared to our last ceiling light.  All the extended arms clicked into place to make this weird orbed looking thing.

 Once we got all 166 flowers onto the light, it was complete.

 It's big, I mean BIG. But it does lighten the place up. 

My one concern about it is that it is off center.  The hole where the last owners added the light fixture isn't centered in the room.  The Hacker isn't motivated at all to adjust it.  So, for now, this is how it will be.  

Every night little fireworks dance on our wall.  It's quite nice.  

But for now we have off colored walls, which you can tell if you scroll up and look at the paint color change from picture to picture. The Hacker says it is the light bulb, hates it, and wants to switch it to an LED light bulb. 

However, when I look at these pictures, I can't tell if it is the light bulb, or my supreme lack in photography skills. I'm pretty sure the latter, but I'll play along with my hubby for now. 

So what do you think?

Do you like the changes so far?  We've already added the daybed, shelving, and a new desk.  I'll share that with you next week.  

Do you think the DIY light would have been better?  I admit, I still have my doubts.

Happy Friday everyone!

Have a great weekend,

Kristin

While we were there, I snapped a few pictures.

Look at that hair!  Like Momma, like son.  I can never really tell if newborns look like mommy or daddy.  But this I know, homeboy's got his momma's hair!  

Marc and Christina with her parents.

They're smitten.

Especially Grandma.

The Chief and his grandson.

I love this picture.  

Even though, little Titus is crying, look how Christina is still glowing.  She's beautiful.

We are so happy for this new little family.

On another note...

Tonight we played water whiffle ball at Ascent.

What's water whiffle ball, you ask? Instead of bases, you have kiddie pools.

And home plate is a slip n' slide.

The Hacker may have let his competitive nature come out a bit.

5th and 6th graders are the perfect age.  

They don't care about being cool yet.

And they still think their coaches are cool.

All of our medication had to be up high, centralized in a location, and considered "safe" for the children.  So we put them in tubs in our ever-so-high hallway closets.  The tubs are now roommates with our games and extended china cabinet.  

Our house cleaners are on top our coat closet, in a yes, incredibly difficult to access space.

But hey, out of harm's way and we'll deal with it.  

We. Were. Ready. 

The actual inspection took less than 10 minutes, with a quick peek in each room and only the hot water and hallway fire alarm checked.  We felt like we studied for the bar exam, and were asked to recite the alphabet. The next two hours were just full of paperwork.  I have seen how paperwork will take up most of our time. Everything needs to be documented, and rightly so, for the sake of the child, the parents, foster parents and social worker. 

And so now we're licensed.  And so now we wait.  But we still live as well.  I've learned that waiting is apart of life.  So many times, I think I've waited for things to start, before I was living.  Not anymore.  God had taught me that I continually learn patience, because life requires it.  It's not a lesson only learned once, or twice. Throughout my life I will learn which part of my life that I don't have patience in, and God exposes it, and refines me.

But the waiting.  Oh how the waiting would paralyze me.  I've learned.  My impatience and willing to continue living despite the wait has slowly been chiseled away.  I'm still learning.  But this I know.  Tomorrow is a gift.  I plan on using it wisely.  There is always work to be done.  There are weeds to be plucked, flowers to plant, mobiles to make, pictures to hang, prayers to pray.

Speaking of prayers, we are so thankful for the abundance of prayers that have surrounded us throughout this process. God is so good.  Period.

On a side note, my friend Christina had a baby today.  Titus James is finally here, handsome and healthy.  I'm so excited to meet the little guy, and give my friend a hug and call her Momma.  

So life continues on, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  

Waiting while I weed, 

Kristin