Dance it off

I've been doing great sticking with my new years resolution of working out more. For the last month, I've been able to work out 5X every week. To get myself motivated, I even signed up for Jazz it off, which is like Biggest Loser, except for Jazzercise. It runs from March through May, and the winner gets $200.00 which is a good motivation to have money to use for a new wardrobe. So far I've lost 7 lbs, since January, which isn't too bad. My goal of 30 lbs. by my b'day probably won't happen, but if I keep it up could be accomplished by this fall hopefully. I have a ton of energy and am much less stressed out, which is a good thing. And I've actually been able to fall asleep at night, which used to never happen right away. And eating less, walking more etc. it's been great!

2 of the sweetest kids

We were at my parents farm last Saturday to celebrate my dad's b'day. He had a friend from work and his 2 kids that camped in the back SW section of land overnight to collect firewood. His story was heartbreaking. He's in his early 30's and he has 5 kids. His wife was a meth addict and abandoned her children, and so now he's a single dad taking care of all of them and working a factory job. The 2 oldest, which were 7, and 6 came along. Their names are Billy Ray and Dixie Bell. They are such southern names, but the kids were the cutest things, so polite and friendly. The house they live in doesn't have a furnace to heat it, so their dad has to constantly cut firewood to burn in their stove to keep them warm. It was amazing seeing every day things through their eyes. They were so excited to have fresh fruit, and had never had string cheese before. Ice cream was a rare special treat, a long with special goodies. They were amazed by the book library my parents have and wondered if they must be rich. Dixie asked to play the baby grand piano, because she'd never seen one so fancy. I told her to go for it, but she was to afraid to touch it. They just craved attention. So we played board games together, and Grace and Dixie played dolls, and Braden and Billy played legos and tinkertoys. Watching the kids play together really warmed my heart.

It made me cry thinking of these sweet kids growing up without their mom who had abandoned them. It made me want to give them everything they needed and more. The little things my kids take forgranted that they would be thrilled to have. Extra clothes, toys, food. It brought me back to thinking about Seavie and I possibly doing foster care, or adopting a brother/sister sibling pair. To be able to share love and affection and a home for children who don't have those things.

We have talked about the topic, but need to discuss it further. The biggest hold up is our vehicles, which are paid for, but can only really seat 4 people. So then we'd have to get things paid off, and only then be able to buy a new (used) car. All of these things that would go quicker if I was able to go back to work. Which is only 1 1/2 yrs away!!! Can you tell I'm excited?

My heart aches for these sweet kids we met this weekend. The kids have been praying for them and their siblings. They both have a heart for helping others in need. I've talked to them about it, and they both have said they'd be excited to share their room with someone. We'll see what God has in store for our family!

9 Year Anniversary

Seavie and I celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary yesterday. It was a beautiful warm, sunny spring day, which was amazing. So much nicer than last year when it snowed, and snowed. This was the first time in 3 years, where we didn't have an actual whole weekend together kids free for our anniversary. I told Seavie as nice as it would be to get away, I'd rather use that money to get our bedroom done, because I have to deal with that on a daily basis. So we made reservations at J.Gilberts, and it was absolutely amazing!!! My sister has gone on and on about how good it is, so we had to try it. The atmosphere is so romantic, total ambiance, and just overall very well designed! Lots of stone work, and dark mahogany seating, low lighting.

(Compared to Red Lobster, which should be self explanatory. But if you haven't seen the interior of the OP location, the Interior Designer needs to be fired, and banned from ever designing. The food is good, but atmosphere totally lacking)

The funniest part of the night was that our waiter was a guy I knew from HS. He actually had a locker by me for 3/4 yrs, since it was alphabetical order. I found this hilarious, and quite rewarding to have someone who is a little arrogant and cocky, and really pay no attention to you in HS, have to serve you, and basically be at your command. It was fun :) He actually did a great job, and was very courteous. But non the less it was entertaining. (This exact thing has happened 2 other times in the 9 yrs Seavie and I have been married, by different guys with the same attitude I knew in HS, and at different restaurants-which makes me laugh every time)

The meal was amazing, and the steak was to die for! Yum. And since it was our anniversary, we received free champagne. It was just so nice to be able to get all dressed up and have a night out away from the kiddos. A big thank you to my sis who watched the kids for free and took them to Orange Leaf for dessert. They loved it.

It's hard to believe that next year will be our 10 year anniversary. We're already trying to plan out different ideas of where we want to go or do. It works out really well that our anniversary is so close to spring break (and it was over spring break when we got married), that taking a trip for a week works out great, because the kids are off school and can stay with the grandparents. So in the mean time just trying to save up money for what will really be our Honeymoon. Our first one was only 2-3 days in Eureka Springs, and then we went straight back to school. It was not the ideal situation, but worked for the time. I know for our 15 yr, we want to go on a carribean cruise, and then for our 20 yr, we really want to go to Scotland/Ireland. That's the bonus of having kids at 21, and 22 like we did, because we'll be empty nesters by the time we're 43.

Master Bedroom in progress

We have FINALLY started working on our Master Bedroom remodel, and I couldn't be more thrilled. We decided to make good use of some of our tax return $ and just get it done. Sorry I don't have any before pics, but most of you have seen it in real life.

So far the closet has been completely redone. We walled off in front of the chimney, and built the wall out about 2 1/2 feet, so we could each have our own side of the closet. It's much roomier this way. It's painted a chocolately brown (who says closets have to be blah white), with white trim. The finishing touch is a full length mirror, which is soon to come. After that we re-painted the ceiling, which is now bright crisp white. We had painted it with kilz when we bought the house 8 yrs ago, but 40 yrs of smoke is a lot to cover, so it was painted again.

Next up is to install the 1880's antique fireplace mantel on the newly expanded wall space between the bedroom and closet doors. Seavie is going to build a bump out all the way across, and above the mantel to make it look like a chimney. Which will then be most likely faux painted to look like brick. I love the stone and brick veneer but at $65-75 per 9 sq.ft in a box, is not worth it to me right now to put all the money into that detail right now. But maybe in the next few years. Then we'll tile the inside around the edges, and put pressed tin squares inside the opening to give it some more character. Also will be painting the air return vent bronze.

After that it will be layered crown molding, door and window trim, and base trim. My favorite part after that will be painting over this awful lavender color that I picked out 8 yrs ago. It's driving me nuts!

Furniture will be re-arranged and all switched up. I'm all about symmetry and things lining up and so it's going to be just perfect. My shabby chic chandelier with my funky white lamps, blue and chocolate brown damask comforter, stained glass, chocolately walls with blue curtains. In my mind it looks amazing. My goal is to hopefully get most of the room done by the end of March, but at least by the very first part of April, and then on to re-painting the living room and building a fireplace in there! I will try and post re-do pics along the way.

Brass Chandelier re-do

I have been completely obsessed with finding a crystal chandelier for our master bedroom remodel, but not loving the crazy expensive prices of them. Seavie absolutely hates crystal chandeliers, he told me it reminds him of his grandmother's houses. And I keep telling him they're totally in style now, and nothing at all compared to the stuffy light fixtures of past eras. So I was on craigslist a few weeks ago, and found this brass beauty for $10!

For those of you who know me, I despise brass light fixtures (Mainly from growing up in a new house in the 80's that was filled with builder grade shiny brass). So I'm being sarcastic when I call it a beauty. It does have good lines, and a lot of potential. And it has brand new linen colored mini shades, which alone are $5 brand new, so it has $40 in mini shades. The best thing is that it's a Schonbek chandelier, which is the manufacturer of some of the most expensive crystal chandeliers you've ever seen...So it was a steal at $10 !

I have been searching the web for inspiration, and found 2 blogs that gave me the most inspiration. Centsational girl, and style for style blog. Both of which turned brass chandeliers into beautiful, shabby chic chandeliers. To get to the end result will result in painting with bonding primer, then painting it in Heirloom White spray paint, then antiquing the little detail pieces (which are kind of hidden in this pic) with a touch of bronze. And after it's all dry and pretty, adding 8 crystal strands- one off of each arm to attach to the ring at the bottom of the light, and ta da- a beautiful crystal chandelier for under $ 30 (hopefully)! Pics to come of the re-do in the near future.