Projects!

"We now have to have projects."  My husband says with slight distain.

"Hey, I haven't got to do much 'projects' in years, its time!"  I defend

I can now get back to enjoying projects of all kinds.  Sewing, photography (still learning), the decorating, and hopefully soon building things.  It has been about 4 years since I have been able to do anything like this.  Both with having small kids, going to school, then working full time, and just not having any room to do projects, it has been a long drought.  Sure I have done a few sewing projects; kids Halloween costumes, a duvet cover for Grace (which is now ruined), and a few other odds and ends things, but nothing big.  It was just too much to take on a project in that small trailer.  I had to drag everything out and if it was say, sewing, I had to use the dining room table, well more than likely, I would not finish in the first day, so by meal time, I had to pack everything up and put it away so that we could eat on our dining room table.  Just a pain!

But anyway, I can now have projects.  I debated on what to do with the girls room and their bed.  I was originally going to do two matching twin beds, in which I found two wrought iron WWII quartermaster hospital beds (or so I was told) for a good price, then I sent them to my husbands uncle to sand blast for me.  Well, I had only received one finished after 3 years, so I had to kinda figure something else out.  My concern turned to the lack of a guest room.  Where was I going to put my guest when they came to stay?  On the couch, on the floor, in separate beds?  Then I decided my best bet was to have the girls share a queen bed and then I have a guest bed!!  Now I know some of you think its not fair to have them share a bed, but so far they are loving it and they are so small its like they have their own bed.  If they decided in the future they don't want to share, I think there is enough room in there room that we can put a twin bed in there also, but till then they can share.


This was my first project and really my first furniture project.  I found this bed on Craigslist for $125.  (this is just the footboard, I forgot to take a picture of the headboard before).  I thought it was a pretty good price for a solid wood bed.  Then I went to Lowes and bought supplies- orbital sander pads, primer, paint, paint brushes and rollers and got working!  It took me two days to sand the booger!  I used the orbital for as much as I could, then did the rest by hand, in between the cracks and around the curves.

Foot board

Head board

Here it is after paint.  I decided to paint it white and then distress it to give it the cottage feel.  It took me two days to prime and paint and then a day to sand. (not full days, but a few hours a day).  And the final results...

I found a duvet cover at Target on clearance in their Shabby Chic section that I thought would look just perfect and since I already had the duvet, it was perfect!

Another view.  I really liked doing it.  The sanding part was the artistic part, I felt.  It was really fun.  I went through so many sander pads though.

After it was all said and done I probably spent more on the bed then I was hoping.  We already had the mattress but had to buy a box springs, plus the all the painting materials and the duvet cover, it was probably more than my original "This is a really good price!" thought.  Oh well, it was fun and now I just need to finish decorating the rest of their room.  I plan on doing it in a shabby chic kind of theme, but not over the top.  Antiques, feminine, and cute.  I have a few ideas, so stay tuned in the future.

Memories of a new home

This is a post making fun of me mostly.  Its also a lesson in think before you speak.  This story is about looking back at a few memories that I have of my new home, Oklahoma.  Loy and I started dating in the summer of 2002.  In 2003 the week of Spring Break I drove to Oklahoma to visit my boyfriend.  On the weekend we went to his parents house for a visit.  So lets set the scene... we are driving down to Southeasten Oklahoma from central Oklahoma.  For one, I have never really seen as many trees along to road or around than here (besides CO) and we are driving down the road at 65 (more like 70-80) down the road.  So flying down the road I'm watching out the window, enjoying the scenery.  Then it comes... (I'm already laughing) "Why did they spray paint those trees purple?"  I ask.  

"WHAT?!" Loy says.  

Agin "Why did they spray paint those trees purple?"  

"Those are Redbud trees and those are the blooms!"

Doh!!!

Example of what trees along the road look like (think going 70 miles an hour  past them)

So in my defense, these little trees are in amongst all the other hundreds of trees along the road and when your flying down the road it just looks like there are trees just sporadically colored a different color.  To me it looked like the ones sticking out farther than the others were the ones that were a different color.  And never having seen a Redbud tree, I had no idea.  Upon closer inspection I saw that they were really buds, and purple, not RED!   

These trees are beautiful and one of the things I come to love about Oklahoma and look forward to every spring.  Of course, its also a good reason to laugh at me every year.

Other memories of my new home, include Scissor- Tailed Flycatchers.  

First experience watching them was shortly after the redbud incident.  We were in a parking lot, like at Wal-mart or something at night, sitting by a light pole

and here are these two beautiful birds snatching up all the bugs they could.  The way they flew through the air, whipping their tails to dive and chase the birds was mesmerizing.  I still love sitting and watching these birds in the air. 

My first memory, includes my now brother and sister-in-law, who brought me to Oklahoma for the sole purpose for me to "marry her brother" (another story for anther time).  I piled in their car with their oldest son who was 2 at the time and drove to Oklahoma from New Mexico, heading to Lake Eufaula.  On the trip there I got to experience singing/learning "Oklahoma" as we cross the Oklahoma boarder.  Then I was quizzed.  "Whats that say?"  (Looking at a town name)  And I had to pronounce all these really crazy names of towns, where I was laughed at a few time for my funny pronunciation, or total butchering.  Things like Anadarko, Pottawatomie, Pontotoc, Checotah, Muskogee, Okmulgee, Tahlequah, Pawhuska, Tecumseh, Wapanucka and others.  They stared out just looking at the signs along the road, then they pulled out the map.  I was getting pretty good at it.  We had some good laughs though.

These are all precious memories I have of this place that I soon after learned would become my home.  The place I would live, build my family, make new friends and build my life.  I has been a great almost 8 years and I am still learning about Oklahoma and all its beauty and wonder.  

Whats your favorite memory of Oklahoma or maybe you have similar memories of a place you now call home?  I would love for you to share.  There is just something magical about learning about all a state or area in the country has to offer and how its different than what we grew up with. 

Snow days, snow daze.

So obviously this is a back post, but I wanted to share these picture.  Shortly after we moved in we got be break in the wood stove

just in time for Sno-kahoma or Sno-magedon as it was so lovingly became known as, not just in Oklahoma but across the nation.  The first storm hit on a Monday night while I was a work and I had to drive home in blizzard and snow drifts and straight horizontal blowing snow.  School was closed for 3 days with this storm (if my memory is correct)  Loy got to stay home a couple of those days.  Friday Grace went to school.  The next storm hit just a couple days later, while I was at work, and I had to drive home in it, but this storm was much more pleasant because it was minus the 50 mile an hour wind.  Again, no school for another two days and Loy home one of those days.  This time we got to go outside and PLAY!  It was alot of fun and we had a blast.  Not great snow for making snowballs, although we did our best, or a snowman, but we still had fun.

Snow angels, with help from Belle.

Daddy and Claire

"I'm gonna getcha Momma!"

Watch out behind you Grace!!!

Claire was not having much fun.

The snow was so deep that Belle couldn't walk through it well.  It was so funny to watch her run in it.

The dogs had a blast too

Andrew, Belle and I went for a walk down to the pond, but Belle couldn't make it so I had to carry her.

Awww...

The White House in the white snow.

Catching up

I uploaded some pictures from my camera finally and decided its time to do some catch up postings with pictures.  First I'll start with the last pictures from our building process.  This will be quite picture heavy, so just be aware.

A few of the kitchen.  We ended up having to get a different dishwasher because the silverware drawer hit the handle of the dishwasher.  Its not a Maytag like the rest of the appliances, but I do not care, at least I can open my silverware drawer without having to open the dishwasher every time.

My faucet that was another had to have items.  I love it.  Its from Huntington Brass and is brass and heavy.  I really like it.

Drawer pulls in the kitchen. Still dirty and dusty.

Door pulls.  Plain and simple.

A full view of the kitchen.  Before paint and stain touch up, thats why the bar legs are still unstained.

On to the bathrooms...

Powder room.  

Bathroom faucets.  All look the same.

Kids bathroom.  Best picture I could get of vanity, mirror and light.

Cute towel hooks for all three kids.

Master bath vanities.

His side of shower.

Her side with personal hand shower.

Lighting is really bad, but this is the family room from the kitchen

From the family room looking into formal living room.

Looking down the stairwell. (still dirty)

Master bedroom with carpet.

Looking down hallway towards stairwell

Hall and banister going around to master bedroom.

And last but not least a family picnic in our new house before we moved in.  It was fun,  nothing fancy, just sandwiches, but the kids liked it.