BFF 4EVA

Today I said good-bye to my all-time best friend.

I have had many best friends in my life, just like everyone else-- and I called them all by the name of "best friend".  This one was different, though.  It could have been that we went through our major life changes together, or that we were always 100% honest with each other, or that we brought out each other's good sides.  I'm pretty sure it was the latter.  She was good for me like that.

My husband is a wonderful man.  He is who God designed just for me and he gets me on all levels.  Well, almost all.  He'll never have gone through life being a wife or a mom.  My bestie did that for me.  Don't get me wrong, she is still my bestie, but now she is moved to what feels like half a world away.

She'll tell you she's not dying, which I understand.  And she'll tell you that we will see each other 4 times a year, which includes our work functions.  And she'll tell you that we will chat all the time just as always and talk about really stupid stuff, as always.  But, the truth is that's not the truth.

Time will do a job on us-- both good and bad.  There are so many blessings awaiting her and her family over there half a world away.  We have seen God do his amazing things for month's now and I KNOW for honest and truly that this is God really showing off.  And, He'll work his amazing blessings for us on this side of the world too.  I know He's mixing up some amazing stuff for us right here where we are, too.

The bad side is that we will begin to live separate lives and the people that we have in common will no longer be.  She'll have to describe Ms. So-and-so to me a million times because I'll have never met her.  And, maybe our voices will become quieter to each other's ears. Our boys will miss each other so much because they have been friends since conception.  But, most of all, I'll miss you.

See that's just it.  THAT'S the hardest part.  Time will move on and I WILL MISS YOU.

Saw you today and there were a million things I would have liked to say to you through my pinched, watery eyes and the lump in my throat.  But I just couldn't.

I wanted to say that I'll miss our times together  at Salsarita's and our "experiences" at Eez and TCBY.  I'll miss us complaining about our crazy kids and how sweet your daughter has been to mine.  I'll miss the birthdays we have shared together, both for us and our kids.

Thank you for helping me to understand "man speak" so I can be a better wife to my husband-- that has been huge.  Thank you for standing beside me while I ate a half-dozen Krispy Kremes instead of snatching out of my hand (I would have bitten your hand.  For real.  I ain't playin'.)  Thanks for rolling around on the floor of Mawmaw's <> with me because we had one too many drinks (ok, sadly it was JUST ONE DRINK.).  And, thank you for sharing your laughter with me.  I am addicted to it.  Thanks for sharing your vocal coaching with me and telling me I sounded great while gently making suggestions to me.

Just as God brought my wonderful husband to me, he also brought you to me.  In a BFF 4EVA kind of way.  You truly are my other brain.  I love you more than a sister (Shhh... don't tell her when you talk to her next.)

Bye, sweet friend.  I'm so excited for this golden road the Lord has prepared for you and your wonderful family.  I can't wait to hear all the goodness that awaits.  Can I be the family you call with good news after you call your real family?  I already look forward to hearing your laughter!

Big, big, BIG SMUSHY love to you.  TTYL.  :)

Coming Clean: Fess Up Ladies, Size Matters.

Yep... you read that right. Size matters to 99% of women in the universe.  It's a comparison tool for us.  And anyone who has told you differently is lying.

It's a comparison tool for us to compare OURSELVES TO EACH OTHER.  I'm talking the size of our houses; the size of our families; the size of our bank accounts; but- most obvious to me- the size of our bodies.  It seems no matter what size we wear, we are wanting it to be different.  Maybe I'm wrong... it wouldn't be the first time, that's for sure!

This is my perspective on the size subject:

*** No matter what size you wear, if your jeans are too tight, it ticks you off.***

Can I get an Amen?!

My largest-sized jeans are too tight and I'm finding myself "stuffin' my muffin" into the top of them while simultaneously stuffing Whoppers in my mouth and it sucks.  A lot.  The plight is the same for all of us.  When your clothes are too small, you don't feel as beautiful as God created you to be.  That's the human in us.  We are supposed to be treating ourselves as a temple created by the Lord, not a trash compactor.

For me, it's an issue of self control.  I used to be soooo great at keeping myself together!  I had a willpower that made the pope's look small!  Now, oh man... a WHOLE different story.  I would love to blame it on kids and not taking time to eat my own meals, but truth is I just cannot stay away from anything covered in chocolate.  According to this article, sugar is far more addictive than cocaine!  Wowzer!!!  It is controlling my brain!!!  I have been known on several occasions to hide from my children so I don't have to share the BAG of homemade cookies.   {Sigh.}  There.  I said it.  The first step is to claim it...

Enough complaining.  You get the picture.  I sang in a wedding this past weekend, and just to breathe, I had to keep my pants unzipped till the very last moment and ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.  No excuses for this crap.  I'm of sound mind and body and making very stupid food decisions.  Well, here's what I am going to do about it.

If you have eyes and a facebook account, you know I am an Area Manager with Arbonne (whooop whoop!) and they have an amazing detox program that have had awesome and sustainable results for people close to me.  Soooooo.... I'm doing it.  Starting tomorrow, I'm getting a grip on gluten, refined sugar, alcohol (I just heard some of you gasp at that one.), dairy, and caffeine, so I no longer have to get a grip on my back fat.  And you people are going to hold me accountable.  Yep.  Because if my husband does it, I'll hate him.  And if my kids do it, they'll drive me crazy and someone will be calling DSS.  And if my mom does (and oh, I know she would be all over that like chocolate syrup on ice cream), I'll stop answering her calls!

TOMORROW I'll wrap my mind around my best physical self, the self that God planned for me.  And I'll work to hide away all my tankinis.

Keep your eyes peeled as I share my transformation of mind and body right here in front of the whole wide world.

In the meantime, I'm binging on all things sweet.  Mmmm......

This is the infamous Special Treats Basket, aka the bin of Satan.

Coming Clean: Mom and the Middle

Aren't moms the best?  Seriously. Aren't they?

This morning my mom called me and told me that she had read my blog [insert long pause].  Know what that long pause means?  I think it means something like, "I enjoyed reading your blog, but I'm not sure how I feel about you feeling how you feel."  Get it?  Too many feelings?  Well, she is a female and so she's entitled.  But, she is a mom--MY mom to be exact.  The very same woman who prayed for me, gave birth to me, whose heart became swollen with pride, and knew I was pretty stinkin' perfect just like I was.    And, that is exactly how she felt about my blog.  But, at the very same time, she knows there's surely room for improvement.  Just ask her about my dirty baseboards.  Or the time I bought feathers with my $3 spending money. Or the time (ok... times) she had to balance my checkbook for me as a single adult.  I'm sure she'll fill you in.  :)

That's my awesome mom who threw Josh and I an AMAZING wedding!  Isn't she so pretty?!

And here she is again!  Dad says I look just like her. I take that as a compliment because she's pretty amazing.

See, being someone's kid is being in the middle of a continuum-- the middle of everything perfectly perfect as they are, and needing growth.  But, moms always think that you are closer to the perfectly perfect side of the continuum, of course.  I feel the same way about my own kids, don't you?!  I can't imagine either one of them more perfect, except I kinda wish they wouldn't whine about chores or sharing.

That's EXACTLY why I'm writing these blog posts.  I know that I'm doing just fine as I am.  My family is healthy and smart.  OSHA hasn't been called out to our home.  Animal Control hasn't come to check on our dog.  My husband is a man of God and a great leader for our family.  My kids love Jesus and have huge hearts.  I am so happy and well-balanced (Well, except for that checkbook mentioned above.)  All in all, things are great!  No real complaints!

But, because of all of God's promises and expectations, I KNOW things could be super awesome and the only thing keeping me from the super awesome is me in the middle.

Coming Clean: The Journey to Newness

My oh my!  My last post was in 2013!  So much has changed since then!!! And so much is about to change in the future!

I'm starting a new chapter--- a new chapter in my blogging, a new chapter in my life--- I'm coming clean.  

How, you ask?  Well, I'm coming clean with my eating, with my home, with my organization, with all my stuff.  And, by blogging about it, I'm accountable you.  If I have to come clean, I have to do it with accountability.  I'm so bad at it on my own!  So, welcome to my purging sessions!  (Wow... sounds exciting, right?!)  But, I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is more in this ol' girl than what I have been doing!  I know there is more to me than well, ME!  I'm coming clean to find out all the goodness God has waiting on me to pull myself together!

What does coming clean entail?

Well, here are the areas in which I am focusing:
1. My eating.  I eat crap.  There.  I said it!  Most of you know that I have an enormous addition to sugar and all of it's closest relatives.  And, there used to be a time I could eat all that I wanted and wouldn't gain a pound. Well... that's changing and now I have to change in response to it.  More on that later...

2.  My house.  I LOVE design.  But, the shine of new cabinets or new vignettes sorta disappears when there's rolling balls of dog hair bigger than tumbleweeds and closets bursting at the seams.  My husband loves me no matter what, but I know he's secretly grossed out inside.  And, my mom?  Oh man, she would be sooo disappointed. (This isn't a picture of me, but you get it.)
3.  My organization.  See #2.  What kind of model am I being for my kids?!  I'm going to try with great strength to remove the time suckers from my day!

4.  My spirituality.  I am so grateful that I always know that I am made in God's image and he loves me despite.... despite it all.   I have been hearing him whisper "Come home".  I need to reopen my Bible and have Him draw me in and teach me.  There's still so much for me to learn.

5.  All the other stuff.  You know somethings going to be uncovered amongst all this Coming Clean!  And it's going to be gross and scary and uncomfortable!!! Ok, maybe I don't want to do this afterall.  ;)

Thank you for taking this journey with me!!  

Out With the New, In With the Old...

Sounds a little backward doesn't it?  "Out with the new, in with the old."  Well, it's the best way for me to describe a major change in my house.  I FINALLY updated my son's nursery to a big boy room... he's almost 5 after all! 

When I presented this idea to him, he was ok with it, but just ok. The thought of him losing the fish theme and cute little nursery quote saddened him a little, but the idea of a personalized super hero on his wall, was way more exciting!  Thank goodness-- we didn't need both of us upset that he is growing up!  So, out went the décor of a NEW baby an in came the décor of an OLD growing boy.

His room before was very brightly painted, with a fish theme.  The bottom half of the each wall was a bluish purple with a wave motif, and the top was a limey green, which pulled great colors from his bedding.  It was a PBK fish-themed bedding set I found on clearance at the local store, which fit perfectly for our family seeing we live very close to the lake and are a boating family.  The bright colors were so fun to me and I loved how it wasn't a "cliché" theme.  I clearly remember being pregnant and taking afternoon naps in his rocking recliner after I came home from teaching, only to be awaken by my sweet hubby.  Warms my heart and makes me a little teary just thinking about it. 

Now, here's what we have now!  So much more "big boy"!  I love how it turned out and so does he, which is the point, right?!  Although I hope he loves it as much as I loved doing it.  I really find relaxation at the handle of a paintbrush. Zennnn...

The wall color was a $5 can of oops paint from Lowes.  When I first began and the room's color was finished, it kinda looked like a huge bandaid.  Soooo ick.  But, it ended up working out just fine. 

 

This is definitely the feature wall of the room!  My cousin, Tim McCabe so graciously drew Monkey as "Super Nick".  I'm sure if you contact him at the above link, he'd do the same for you for a very reasonable cost. 

I used an old school overhead projector to put him up on the wall and used craft paint to paint it.  Tip:  draw the lines with chalk before you paint.  If you make a mistake, it is super easy to correct it, without messing with the finish of your wallpaint.

Total cost of Super Nick:  $0

 

Below him is a imaginary cityscape made with a level, some painters' tape, and some chalkboard paint. Big hit, I tell ya. 

Total cost of chalkboard:  $15

 

This picture is the wall you see that is perpendicular to the door.  I made the bricks using the side of a tiling sponge, which ended up being the perfect size for a brick.  I drew a level chalk line to start me off and went to town on it from there!  The colors I chose were a brick red, an orange, and grey.  Total cost of paint (bricks and wall color):  $27.

The wooden crates came from Michaels. Monkey loves having a space for his treasures that his sister can reach.  Gotta love siblings.

Total cost of crates:  $24

The magnetic board is a oil drip pan from Walmart spray painted and hung with nails. 

Total cost of magnetic board:  $10

 

The biggest change to me was losing the baby blue bedspreads we had originally and upgrading to these bedspread sets from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They are designed for a dorm room, which really messes with my I-wish-my-kids-would-never-grow-up brain!  The Spiderman pillow (and the Superman pillow on the other bed) were purchased from Walmart.

Total cost of bedding for 2 beds (decorative pillow, sham, sheet set, bedspread, skirt) $150

This is a wooden cut out that was Yogi bear in MY nursery (ooooollllldddd) and then Yogi bear in Monkey's nursery.  I turned it around and used my cousin's creativity to turn it into Super Chance {our very over-active dog}, Super Nick's sidekick.  His cape is a scrap piece of felt that I stapled to the wall.  It is hung above the toy shelf.  {I'll tell you about the 4 art pieces further down!}

Here is Monkey's book display.  Each shelf was painted with leftover oops paint to add a little pop of color to the wall. Above it, he painted his own picture for his room.  

 

These pictures as well as the ones below, were inspired by this little boy's super hero room from I Am Momma, Hear Me Roar.  They were super easy to do on canvases that were used in Monkey's nursery.  Recycling rocks!

 

 

Well, that's it!  I hope you this little boy's room is as "super" as he does!!!

Cool Idea

Was reading an article in one of my old lady magazines... Good Housekeeping or something... about a lady that jots down a one sentence journal entry a day-- just a quickie reminder of how that day went so that when she looks back, it reminds her of something wonderful.  That sounds like something manageable!

Jan. 23, 2012

I was feeding Abby her cereal today (which she DOES NOT like) and Nick was watching.

"Mommy, don't feed her anymore.  Put that away," he said.  "
Why?" I asked, "Because she doesn't like it?"
"Yeah.  Throw it away."

What a good big brother.  :)

Winter Redesign!

I had the day off as Mommy and hit the road with $120 in Christmas money.  Mission:  to decorate my great room with items that said "Baby it's cold outside!"  So here's the breakdown...

With roughly $120, I bought:
- 2 brass lamps for our future bedroom redesign ($6 each)
- 1 gray vase ($4)
- 1 silver plated tray ($10)
- 2 crystal wine glasses ($1 each)
- 9 drinking glasses in 3 sizes ($1, $.75, and $.50 respectively)
- 1 white urn ($3)
- 1 can of silver foil spraypaint ($6 but had 40% coupon)
- 2 orange pillow covers ($2.50 each)
- 2 blue chevron pillow covers ($3.50 each)
- 1 glass snowflake bowl ($8)
- 2 snowflake statues ($8.50 each)
- 2 crystal plate stands ($4 each)
- 1 ivory striped curtain panel ($6)
- 3 ivory sweaters ($3.50) each
- 6 hard bound Reader's Digests with really pretty covers (3.50 each)
(The cute kid was free... sorta!  :)

Now, for the Winter Redo, I didn't use some of this stuff, like the lamps or the pillow covers.  So, if you are doing the math, take those out of the grand makeover total.  You can add those in at a later date.

(Note:  Who knew that Hobby Lobby had 16x16 and 18x18 pillow covers?!  Not this girl!  And, to top it off, they were super cheap (at 50% off)!  They have tons of colors and textures, so check them out!)

Ok, so here's for the awesomeness that is my Winter Redesign...

Let's look at the mantle first:

 Everything was thrifted except the silver Christmas balls and the tree, which were left over decorations from Christmas.  I love how it all came together!  Here are some close ups of each side:

 See those lovely mercury glass votives?  This is how they used to look.

  To make them, I...
1. Sprayed them inside with a silver foil spray paint from Hobby Lobby.  Make sure it's high shine.  I didn't use the silver Looking Glass paint because it was expensive!  Went for a cheaper model.  :)
2. While wet, I squirted the inside with a mixture of half water and half vinegar.  At this point, I learned that the finer the mist of the spray bottle, the tinier the spots.  So, if you like the look of real mercury glass, you might want to experiment with larger water droplets.
3.  After it all dries, wipe the water droplets off with a paper towel.  Ta da!!!

Of course, that wasn't enough for me, though!  I had to go a little further!  I used painters tape to tape a narrow line around the top of each glass on the outside and sprayed that with the same silver, sans water solution.  I wanted a nice clean line there.  That's what you see in the close-up picture.

To make the knitted vases, I cut the sleeves off of 2 of my ivory sweaters and carefully put the vase inside.  I love this because I can reuse those vases for anything!  Sweater sleeves= 0 commitment!


Below is a picture of the pillow covers.  I tried them on the pillows to make sure I liked them all together.  I think with a little sprucing up, they'll be perfect!

Now for the winter pillows!

With the sweater that I bought, I laid each pillow COVER on top and measured around.  Now, I can't lie; these took a little wiggling here.  The large cable knit of each sweater gave each on a lot of "give" so I had to tight them up a little here and there.

On the center pillow, I used a narrow ribbon to sew on some extra rings I had from a previous project.  I thought it needed a little extra "pizzazz"!  (Who doesn't love pizzazz?!)

Let's talk Tablescape!  Using the $6 curtain panel, I sewed 2 table runners.  FYI:  curtains and tablecloths are awesome for making projects!  It's a lot less sewing because the sides are already hemmed!

The trees were left over from Christmas, the tray was from the Goodwill, the wine glasses were from the Habitat Restore, the brass birds were my hubby's grandmothers,  and the snowflake came from HL.

 Last but not least, my son made a gorgeous snowflake for our pallet wall.  The frame and original picture came from my hubby's grandmothers house.  It was originally a brass colored plastic, but I zapped it with that same silver spray paint from the votives.  I think I'm going to write "Baby it's cold outside" or something to the liking on the glass with a dry erase marker (again, no commitment!).    The snowflake picture is actually the back of the original picture paper that was in there.  Cost:  $0!  Aw yeah!