Falling of the bandwagon

As you all know, my goal for this year was to be a super mom, and get our food budget under control. Jan-Feb, and part of March? were pretty good, but after that, not so good. I've been using e-mealz, or should I say, printing off the weekly meal charts, but not using them. Most of the recipes sounds pretty good. My biggest issue, is that I.do.not.like.to.do.dishes. and I.don't.have.a.dishwasher. For me to keep my sanity, it would be a very convenient thing to have again. So girls, be glad you at least have one. I would make all the food all week, and then have massive amounts of dishes to do. I claim all my problems would be solved by having a nice dishwasher, and a slightly bigger food budget. The overall amount spent has been pretty much under the budget amount, with the exception of one month. I just need to get my butt in gear and make the recipes, even if I might not love them, but it's cheaper than eating out more often.

Walk for Life and Mother's Day weekend

I had my walk for life saturday morning, and it went great! The weather was absolutely perfect. I ended up raising $1820.00, and my goal was $1000. I was completely blown away by the generous donation of a friend from bible study. It made me look forward to the day that we can be debt free, and give so much more freely to organizations, church, friends in need, like she did. Also 2 awesome things from the walk. Since I was the very first person to register this year, I got a free Chris Tomlin cd from K-love :) and I was entered in a drawing to win a free Garmin nuvi (garmin donated one for the walk), for getting over $1000 in donations..... and I WON! yay!!! I have always wanted one, and now my wish has come true. The only time I plan to use it is when we go out of state to travel. Since I pretty much grew up where we live, I know my way around without a map. My sister in law walked with me, and was very brave and pushed her 2 boys (probably 70+lbs in a double stroller) for 2 miles, at 9 months pregnant. I offered to push it for her, but she said she was okay. I think it all worked out okay for her though, because she just delivered her sweet baby boy, Holden this morning. He was born 3 weeks early, but was perfectly healthy, and just a beautiful baby.

This was probably one of the best years for Mother's Day yet. In the past, especially when we first got married, it was a touchy issue, mainly for me. That in the last 2 years, we've decided to keep the day of, just for our family of 4, and celebrate with our moms individually the day before. I think it's worked out great. My sister and I took my mom out to lunch Saturday at Mimi's Cafe, and had a good time talking with yummy food. Then we went to the mall afterwards and I had a Forever 21 gift card from Christmas my parents had given me, that I used to buy 3 cute new summer tops. I can't remember the last time I bought something at the mall, but I was in love with this store. The dressing room area, was beautiful to say the least. And the jewelry area, just perfectly designed. We went out to Seavie's parents for dinner and spent a few hours out there, and had a really good time. My mother in law was sweet as can be, and loved her present (which isn't always the case) but I was so glad everything went over well. The next morning, day of, Seavie made me breakfast in bed for the first time ever. I've only been asking him the last several years. We went to church, and then came home, played in the yard, with the dogs. The kids took a 4 hour nap, so it was a nice chance to rest and relax. Then we went to dinner at Granite City, which kids eat free on Sunday 5-close, which we didn't know, but was awesome to have that taken care of. And then Peachwave, my new love, for dessert. Since they just opened, we had a $3 off, plus a 30% off discount they were having for mother's day, so we got $10 of ice cream, for only $4. It was amazing. Totally loved it over orange leaf or green apple.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I feel so blessed to be the mom of an almost 5 and 9 year old. I'm so glad that God gave them to me, to be their mother.

A time of transition

So I just got back from a school tour of Grace's new school... It was completely different than what Grace has been used to at the traditional 1950's school that she's been used to the last 3 years. It was built in 1990, and is SUPER contemporary. Think glass blocks, faux foliage in the planters (which reminds me of Skate Land in the 1980's/early 90's), mauve, blue and white, checker patterns. The biggest change is that it has pods, which the school I went to from 2nd-5th grade had pods, but not like these. These pods are open, meaning, classrooms have no doors, the outside classroom wall is open at the top 2 feet, and all the group of 4 classrooms in each pod, connect to each other at the front of the room. Interesting. The interior designer in me is thinking, wth were the architects thinking when they designed this!?! Even the bathrooms are open- at least the handwashing area is. But aside from my issues with the design, the school flows really well. The classrooms are more modern, and triangular shaped, so you can have more fun layouts than the traditional square classroom. The principal seems nice, but I really prefer her current principal better. He's more laid back, and not as self-confident, over assertive. The PTA people are super perky peppy, way more energetic than I'm used to, so that will be fun.ha.

It's all starting to sink in that Grace only has 7 1/2 days at her school now, until school is over. She still has field day, and a tour of the new school, and a zoo field trip. The school is also doing an all out party for the kids the 2nd to last day of school, which will be like a big farewell party. I love her school now. It's close enough to walk, smaller size-275, compared to 625 next year. what? The teachers are amazing and down to earth. The kids are great. It's our own little community. Grace will be losing her very best friend to the other school, because of boundary lines, so that makes it rough. I think I'm just as sad as she is about changing schools. To me it's just unecessary change. Gotta love school budget cuts. not. So as mom, I have to suck it up, and make the best out of it, and get my happy face on for the change. It is a nice school, and she will have several friends there, so it could be much worse. The only bad thing that could happen would be, being convinced to join the PTA. That would just make me feel like an old mom. But that's just me :) Those are my thoughts for the day.

Master Bedroom Reveal

Here are the pics (finally) of our Master Bedroom remodel. After 2 months of work off and on, weekends, and spare time, our room is all done. We had decided that this really needed to be done before we worked on any other project, and so used part of our tax return to pay cash for the entire project. The new trim, and crown molding took the bulk of the budget.

First up we re-painted the ceiling. This had been done when we moved in almost 8 years ago, but the kilz has slowly worn off, and the yellowed smoke was coming through again. So now the ceiling is bright white once again. We took all the old trim several months ago, so the next step was for Seavie to do all the trim work. Just like with the Living room and Bathrooms, he custom made the door and window profiles to match the historic trim upstairs. After the trim was done, we painted the trim. After letting that dry for several days, we painted the walls- 2 coats to cover up the lavender.

Below pic is a close up of the layered crown molding- which is you take a tall decorative piece of base trim with lots of detail, and turn it upside down and the crown molding goes right on top of it. Seavie had lots of fun with that, and I promised him he never had to do it again :) but he was the one who suggested it to begin with.

An up close view of the fireplace wall bump out and trim detail for ceiling and doors. Seavie built a 2x4 wall right on top of the mantel, to make it look like the chimney. And the funny thing is that there really is the original chimney to the house right behind the fireplace mantel (it has been enclosed in our closet-because it wreaks of old cigarette smoke every time we would turn on the attic fan)

My pretty new chandelier via craigslist for $15. woo hoo! For those of you who saw the brass chandelier post, Seavie was not loving the idea at all, and so I ended up selling it, and made a $20 profit from the new shades that had come with it. And bought this awesome deal instead! And just yesterday sold our old ceiling fan in the room for $65, so that goes towards the remodel budget.

I did keep the ceiling medallion though that came with the brass light, because it's the perfect size and it's basically free. We had bought one from HD, and they used to be wood, and now they are cheap plastic, so we returned that, because I was ticked off about the poor quality.

My faux fireplace wall... I bought this antique mantle several years ago at a local antique store for $90. Which is an absolute steal for an antique. Most start around $200-300. It has the original square nails and everything, and I would date it around 1870's or so. It was about 18" wider, but Seavie had to cut it down to fit on our wall space, and then he re-assembled it for me.

The antique pressed tin piece, I got from the same antique store around the same time frame for $15, also a great deal. People want a small fortune for that stuff. Seavie spray painted it for me with an oil rubbed bronze spray paint to match our hardware in the room.

And my sweet antique baby picture- was from the same antique place as the fireplace for $40, and was a splurge at the time a few years ago, but it is just the cutest thing. It has the original frame, and glass. I just love it. I also have 2 antique photographs-one of a young girl, and one of a young boy- $2 a piece, same store.

The tile around the pressed tin is slate mosaic tile, and it has blues, reds, greens, grays. It was $24 for tile, so very cost effective.

The 48" french doors were actually free- from my brother in law- they were pretty ugly when we got them, so Seavie had to sand, paint and patch them to look like they do now. So we just had to pay the cost for new hardware.

And last but not least my old nasty floor vent is looking brand new with a fresh coat of oil rubbed bronze spray paint, it fits right in.

My window walls... It was quite the dilemma after these windows were all done and pretty, how exact we wanted to lay out the furniture. I ended up not wanting anything blocking the windows, because in my head, and I wanted each curtain pulled to the opposite side, so it became a focal point.

The drapes are from BBB, sheers for $5 at Target! and the curtain rods at Lowe's. The rug we already had before, so no cost there.

Also, not pictured above the dresser is an old window that has similar glass panes like the french doors that I received as a b'day gift a few years ago from the in-laws. We took some extra fabric from a throw that came with the bed set, turned it inside out, so the background is brown, with blue damask. And staple gunned it to the backside of the window. And hoila! free wall decor!

My Bed wall... The comforter set I got about 1 1/2 yrs ago with a bunch of Christmas money. I had originally seen this exact set on craigslist for $30, but it had already been sold, but she was nice and told me where to find it at BBB. Thank goodness for the 20% off coupon :)

For those of you who don't know, Seavie built our entire bedroom set for a woodworking project for one of his college classes. I switched out the hardware on everything about the same time I bought the comforter set, changing the brass to oil rubbed bronze. The exact hardware we wanted was on clearance at the time, and it was maybe $1 a piece, compared to $3+ a piece, so that was awesome.

My funky lamps, I also bought from craigslist, about a year ago, for $5 a piece! They are 70's milk glass with a funky pattern on them. Seavie didn't love them, but they're growing on him.

They didn't come with lamp shades, and it had taken me a whole year to find ones that would work with them. Luckily for me, retro lamps and lamp shades are in right now at Target, and so I got these cute white silky drum shades for $15 a piece. So total $20 a lamp, which is still much better than paying $60+ for an imitation retro piece.

The stained glass- also free! These came from a beautiful old English Tudor house that my parents owned in St.Louis about 25 years ago. They took them off, and they have been in the basement and barn ever since. I rescued them last year from my parents barn, not wanting them to rot away. I think they look perfect centered above the bed.

So thus describes our room remodel on a budget! Only real cost involved was trim, paint, hardware, and curtains/curtain rods. Everything else was free, or already paid for several years ago. I really enjoyed this project, and love being in my room now. For the longest time I just despised it, because I had this picture in my head of how it would be some day, and it came out just like I had hoped it would.

Also, in adding the historic details back in- trim, lighting, old pictures, fireplace, it has helped bring back some much need character to our beloved Farmhouse. You see our room was the original Parlor of the house, and it would have been the fanciest room in the house. Even in 1887. So by incorporating old with new, I feel like I have achieved that goal!

I hope that this will also give my friends inspiration of what can be done with a space, even on a budget. And you know that you have a good friend (me) who is an Interior Designer, and I always love creating floor plans, design ideas, if anyone would like help with anything :)

a week of worship

Palm Sunday at our church was so powerful. The last 4 days, I've found myself immersed in easter related worship songs. I heard this beautiful song on k-love the other day, and had to stop and write the words down right away.... Living he loved me, Dying he saved me, Buried he carried, my sins far away, Rising he justified, freely forever, One day he's coming oh Glorious day!!!!

My other favorite is "Come to Jesus" (not sure if that's the right title). But this songs gets me in tears every single time. Especially the very last verse when it says, "Fly to Jesus, Fly to Jesus, Fly to Jesus, and Live." Braden loves this part of the song, because he's asked me how he'll get to heaven someday. And I explained it, that from what I had read, that the angels would carry him there. He thought that was so cool. So he sings this last verse with all of his heart, and it melts my heart. My sweet little man asked Jesus into his heart on April 1 of this year. He was so excited for weeks on end to learn more about Heaven, and how Jesus could come live in his heart forever. It makes my heart overjoyed, to know that I will see both of my children in heaven with me some day (Grace asked Jesus into her heart when she was about the same age)

We are finishing up our 9 month study of the book of Revelations, and it has been so incredibly powerful. Right now we're at the very end, where it's describing the New Holy City/ New Heaven. The scale of it is to be 1400 miles wide x 1400 miles long x 1400 miles tall. With streets of gold, as clear as glass, and each of the 12 gates made out of a single pearl. Precious jewels in every color of the rainbow, and a river of life. No sun or moon. God is the light. No more darkness. I was sitting in the backyard the other day staring way up into the sky, just trying to imagine the immense scale of this beautiful city that my family and I will get to live in some day with God and Jesus. It was such a powerful image. So many powerful songs we sing at church come from the words in Revelations as well.

Last night at 9 pm, I got a call from the director of my women's bible study, and she asked me if I could lead worship this morning. I of course said yes, but then had the task of picking out which songs would be appropriate. Since we are finishing up Revelations, I picked out Revelation Song, and for Easter, a contemporary version of Hallelujah what a Savior. As I was going through all my different song books that I have, those 2 just jumped out at me as perfect for this mornings worship. I was so incredibly excited for this opportunity that I could hardly fall asleep last night- I think I finally did around 1 am. Everything went great this morning, and it was so incredibly powerful being up there singing my heart out and playing to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

It was beyond words, I was overjoyed for so many reasons. As of today, I've officially agreed to be a part of the worship team for my Community Bible Study group this next year. So I'll get to play the piano and sing on a more regular basis :) Can you see me jumping up and down?!?

Music has been a passion of mine since I was very little, and something that brings me so much incredible joy. Joy that I didn't realize how much I missed until last year when I started singing again (at my old HS teacher's farewell- think Mr.Holland's Opus).

But this whole week of singing praises has put me in such a worshipful mood, as we move towards this weekend as we remember Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, and rising again on Easter Sunday. It has been a week of joy so far, and pure happiness. I've been a nicer mom, and soaking up every moment with the kiddos. When my focus is on Jesus, everything else falls into place. I wish everyone a very happy and joyous Easter weekend with their families- to focus on the real meaning, and not society's meaning- the easter bunny& the excessive commercialism that comes with it.

(sorry to hold out on the room reveal post- the finishing touches will be put together this weekend-curtains, decor etc. hopefully pics to come early next week :)

my personality

A few weeks ago, as part of our small group bible study, we individually took personality tests. My top 5 were in this order: Empathy, Individualization, Input, Responsibility, and Strategic. I was amazed, that this test got me to the T. The descriptions completely matching with my personality.

Empathy: sensing the feelings of other people by imagining themselves in other's situations. Sensing the mood of an individual without them saying a word. Good listener. Feels things very deeply.

For those of you who know me well- You know this is just who I am. I feel so much for other people sometimes it hurts (my major fields of interest before college were: Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work) My heart has been aching for the last year, for my 6 friends who have lost their sweet babies due to different circumstances. My heart hurts for clients I've seen experience great loss. For children growing up in poverty and for those less fortunate. I have this ability to read people- in conversations, or body language. Knowing what is really at people's hearts, despite the outward motions- for good or bad.

Individualization: intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. Get joy from helping people in need. Read topics of various interest. See things from other people's perspective.

This is something that is what makes my job as a counselor more helpful (and interpreting family and friends sometimes) Knowing people's background and how they grew up, and life choices they've made-which have shaped who they are today. I love to read and research new things on numerous topics, and store that info away in my head to use someday.

Input:Love of reading, and gathering information. Gravitate towards serious conversations. Avoiding small talk and gossip. Based on all info collected, decide what is and isn't worth remembering.

I love debating issues with people (politics, societal issues etc). I'm not a fan of small talk that is on a more insincere level. I love really getting to know someone for who they really are and what they stand for. When I become passionate about a certain issue, I don't ever really back down. I'm not easily swayed by other people's opinions, or a go with the flow kind of girl. I'm not a conformist, or necessarily go with the popular choice. I am in individual capable of making my own decisions. I am very independent and strong willed.

Responsibility: Taking ownership of what you say or do. Committed to values such as honesty and loyalty. Very dependable. Attention to detail, doing things right.

I am the typical oldest child. Always trying to be the responsible one. I've always seen myself as dependable. It drives me nuts when I've worked in past jobs to see people (and managers) less responsible than their title provides them. My attention to detail has turned me into a little ocd the last few years. Especially when paperwork and organization are involved.

Strategic: create alternate ways to proceed. Knowing the exact words to use in a conversation. Factor in different variables that could lead to possible outcomes. Pinpoint problems and solutions.

I can't thing of "strategic" without thinking of the word "strategery" as they would make fun GWB on SNL. I find myself being more this way in parenting. Thinking of what could be all of these various outcomes if we found ourselves in certain circumstances. Seavie calls me a worse case scenario person, because I always think of the worst that could happen, so I could prepare myself for the worst. To live one day at a time, knowing that just that is a blessing.

So that's me in a nutshell. This test was really re-affirming to me, to sum up who I am, and who I've become as an independent almost 30 yr old woman.

Keeping Fit

So since I wrote last, I bought myself a handy dandy digital scale 2 weeks ago that measures muscle/fat percentages, calories needed etc. I always swore that I would never buy one, because then I would never want to eat. This was a huge bargain at Aldi for $18, and is as accurate as the expensive one at jazzercise, so I think it was a great investment. I've been weighing myself every Friday morning when I get up to see how much I've lost. This week I've lost 2 lbs, the week before 1 lb. Bringing my total up to 10 lbs lost since the beginning of January. And the happy thing, is that the fat % has dropped by 8.3%. My goal by the end of May is to get to 20% lost. I've also been trying to walk up to Grace's school and back, which is about 1.5 miles round trip +/-. So I'm hoping to walk up there every day when the weather is nice 4 days a week, for 6 miles walked. It's nice because it's extra exercise, but I can't lie and say that my body feels so sore and tired at the end of the week. I do have a lot more energy, and I've been able to fall asleep almost right way, which is a huge thing for me. That's all for my fitness update. The next post will be on our master bedroom reveal. We're painting this weekend (fingers crossed)!

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.