i have been working on projects since my mom and dad were here a few weeks ago doing some appreciated work with us (post on this to come). my mom showed me how to use my awesome sewing machine and i made two pillows to put on the chairs that i painted and recovered. they work for now ... i need to tighten them up ... but don't really feel like pulling them apart again ... one day I will make them perfect.
then i made this plush wreath for my front door using a foam wreath, some left-over batting from my sofa re-do (pictures to come), an old long sleeve shirt, some scrap fabric, and a few buttons.
i pinned the flowers on with straight pins in case i change my mind or want to reuse them.
other things not photographed that i have finished include painting the tv stand, sewing curtain ties, painting a mirror to go in our bedroom, and painting our dresser drawers. whew ... all good stuff - making our house a home.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
its electrifying!
its sort of hard to find halloween costumes for adults that aren't all sassy and sexy versions of everything - you know what i mean? nate likes funny costumes or being something ordinary that makes you laugh.
then we found a great idea online! check it out ...
and then we realized it was a bit ... shall we say ... suggestive. i don't think it would be appreciated at the church's halloween party. needless to say - we are still on the hunt.
then we found a great idea online! check it out ...
and then we realized it was a bit ... shall we say ... suggestive. i don't think it would be appreciated at the church's halloween party. needless to say - we are still on the hunt.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
ownership
ruby is all ours! we paid off our loan about a month ago and received the title in the mail. after a lot of hard work we are free from a monthly car loan ... it feels amazing! and now if we could only know that feeling of freedom from school loans, life would be grand ... sigh ... we'll tell you about that in 20+years (sad face).
but for now we are celebrating the small victories! yay ruby ... your all ours baby!
the day i "bought" her (we can reflect here):
but for now we are celebrating the small victories! yay ruby ... your all ours baby!
the day i "bought" her (we can reflect here):
Sunday, September 5, 2010
09.05.09
One year ago ...
this boy ...
this boy ...
and this girl ...
went here ...
and did this ...
(only over an altar ...
not the little white wedding chapel shown below)
(only over an altar ...
not the little white wedding chapel shown below)
He felt like this ...
and she felt like this ...
First moments as Mr. and Mrs. ...
we were welcomed by oohs ...
and ahhs ...
One year down ... eternity to go! We have made some awesome memories already and we can't wait for more adventures - whatever the Lord has planned for us!
Happy 1st Anniversary! Love you babe!
Happy 1st Anniversary! Love you babe!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
in the house
i have been waiting to get better "after pictures" but this will have to do since i have already started into my next project. it donned on my just yesterday that i have a limited number of rain-less days as fall fast approaches. it rains here like its nobody's business. so i am trying to kick it into high gear.
my feeble attempt at "styling" my buffet/sideboard ... its a lot harder than i thought it would be!
of course i have pictures on chairs still and my tool box(es) still out and about in the living room ... will it ever all have a place? argh.
BUT I LOVE IT!
my feeble attempt at "styling" my buffet/sideboard ... its a lot harder than i thought it would be!
of course i have pictures on chairs still and my tool box(es) still out and about in the living room ... will it ever all have a place? argh.
BUT I LOVE IT!
Friday, August 6, 2010
caribbean blue
here she is ... all dolled up in caribbean blue and its a great accent color for the yellow, black, and gray we got going on with the dinning chairs and table.
i felt like it was a little much with the all one color ... so i decided to dry brush it with some light gray paint i have for my next project. i like the way it turned out (above is before dry brushing and below is after) it makes all the details pop ... so i did this to the entire piece and it turned out great!
i will be taking after pictures tomorrow ... its finally in the house! I am now realizing I have no idea how to decorate such a thing (to be fair the things I got it for are still in CA right now ... so i have no idea what to do until December!)
i felt like it was a little much with the all one color ... so i decided to dry brush it with some light gray paint i have for my next project. i like the way it turned out (above is before dry brushing and below is after) it makes all the details pop ... so i did this to the entire piece and it turned out great!
i will be taking after pictures tomorrow ... its finally in the house! I am now realizing I have no idea how to decorate such a thing (to be fair the things I got it for are still in CA right now ... so i have no idea what to do until December!)
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
primed and ready to go
so her she is ... all primed up with some oil base primer that is such an awful thing to clean up ... i have oil based because that is what the paint guys at Home Depot kept stressing. even with water based paint to go over the top of it ... they said its the best. ugh ... i think i will go oil based once i run out of this quart just to see. (i like to learn the hard way)
here you can see my patchwork of painters tape around the hardware that WOULD NOT COME OFF ... i am still annoyed by this aspect of the buffet/sideboard.
all nine drawers waiting for a few coats of caribbean splash (don't be fooled by soon to come pictures ... the painters tape and caribbean splash are not the same color) ...
her body all empty and primed (kilz brand is what i used).
.... next up painting!
and while i was painting i stole a picture of my cute husband after a long day of work ... he lets me sleep in the wee hours of the morning and i let him nap when he gets home from work (sometimes.) is he listening to his student's oral homework assignments? or watching an episode of the Simpsons ... my money is on the later.
here you can see my patchwork of painters tape around the hardware that WOULD NOT COME OFF ... i am still annoyed by this aspect of the buffet/sideboard.
all nine drawers waiting for a few coats of caribbean splash (don't be fooled by soon to come pictures ... the painters tape and caribbean splash are not the same color) ...
her body all empty and primed (kilz brand is what i used).
.... next up painting!
and while i was painting i stole a picture of my cute husband after a long day of work ... he lets me sleep in the wee hours of the morning and i let him nap when he gets home from work (sometimes.) is he listening to his student's oral homework assignments? or watching an episode of the Simpsons ... my money is on the later.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
the buffet/sideboard BEAST
i read a lot of design blogs - mostly those that revolve around DIY stuff because let's face it - i don't really want to look at stuff i can't have. sooooo i am determined to do things myself. i enjoy the process and the journey generally. generally. let me fill you in on my latest beast of a project.
Meet the buffet/sideboard:
she was a whopping $19.99 (no sales tax either here in oregon) - marked down several times over a period of weeks. naturally i snatched her right up and i did do a quick on site inspection ... maybe a little too quick.
I was seduced by her details and cool door hardware. she has an asian flare that i was looking for (my husband's influence) because of the piece that will hang above it and the lamps that will go on either side.
here are her guts:
here is her ugly side, also known as her rusted and splayed metal drawer slides and chewed up wooded drawer tracks:
another blemish: her hardware won't come off ... no matter how hard you or your husband tries to unscrew it
i realized the drawers were going to need some attention ... but did you know that drawer slides cost $11.99 a piece (center bottom slides)? there are 9 drawers in her ... that is $107.99!!! I found some options online if I buy 10 ... but its still $53.91 ... more than I am willing to pay right now. so nate had a great idea - paint it and get it all ready and if we really like it and want to spend the money on it ... we will ... sigh ... who knows ... but on we go!
Meet the buffet/sideboard:
she was a whopping $19.99 (no sales tax either here in oregon) - marked down several times over a period of weeks. naturally i snatched her right up and i did do a quick on site inspection ... maybe a little too quick.
I was seduced by her details and cool door hardware. she has an asian flare that i was looking for (my husband's influence) because of the piece that will hang above it and the lamps that will go on either side.
here are her guts:
here is her ugly side, also known as her rusted and splayed metal drawer slides and chewed up wooded drawer tracks:
another blemish: her hardware won't come off ... no matter how hard you or your husband tries to unscrew it
i realized the drawers were going to need some attention ... but did you know that drawer slides cost $11.99 a piece (center bottom slides)? there are 9 drawers in her ... that is $107.99!!! I found some options online if I buy 10 ... but its still $53.91 ... more than I am willing to pay right now. so nate had a great idea - paint it and get it all ready and if we really like it and want to spend the money on it ... we will ... sigh ... who knows ... but on we go!
going back ... to cali cali (and in time)
These pictures are from our exciting visit to San Diego in June. I just recently uploaded the photos from Nate's camera and was overcome with a feeling of sadness that I had not documented our awesome trip ... even though two of my sister-in-laws did! I would like my own record and thus ... here is our trip in picture form.
I went to the SD zoo with Sara, Libby, and Jenna and we had a blast. It was fun because this was only the second time spending time with them ... the first time being the wedding. I am sooo grateful to have such great in-laws that make me feel like I have known them forever. Some of the highlights include:
The camels with saggy humps ... that's got to be embarrassing, right? I still thought they were looking pretty good ...
Good enough to have my nieces stand in front of them and say cheese! I am such a great new aunt - aren't I?
This sweet peacock was strutting around the zoo ... just free to do whatever he liked. He was soooo beautiful - I kind of like peacock stuff.
The peacock was hanging out with the elephants - they are such amazing animals! So big! And that trunk is so crazy - it amazes me every time I see one in action.
More evidence that I am an awesome aunt ... I got Jenna to pose like the statue of some crazy sumo elephant ... which in all honesty wasn't that hard to do. I would be really awesome if I could have talked Libby into doing it, but she would have nothing of the sort.
I also suggested to Jenna to put up her hand so that the orangutans might do the same to her (classic move right) but no luck ... the animals weren't as open to the idea as Jenna was. Isn't she just sooo cute!
Jenna try to "connect" with Clyde. He's content with the burlap sack on his head.
Clyde's face was soooo huge - those cheeks! and his eyes are sooo tiny ... he's chillen with the brulap sack on his head still.
Of course we saw the baby panda bear and it was so cute because he was frolicing around while mom ate some bamboo.
Mom panda eating bamboo.
Here is the seciton of the post called: "WHO KNEW!"
1) WHO KNEW that the California Condor was so dang ugly and looked exactly like a vulture! All those days growing up and hearing about, "Save the California Condor" and I was picturing some beautiful majestic bird! Not that ugly birds aren't were saving ... but still ... WHO KNEW!
2) WHO KNEW that there were turtles that had snake like heads! Funny enough its called the snakeneck turtle and lives down under in and around Australia ... of course it would. That's where all sorts of strange creatures were cut off from the rest of the world and evolved into strange strange things ... sooo awesome. Doesn't it look like a long neck dinosaur (also known as little foot or a brontosaurus)? Super creepy cool - I took these pictures to show Nate.
Then we went to the Mariners v. Padres baseball game in sweet PetCo field. It is super duper sweet! Right in the middle of downtown with all sorts of cool things about it. Here is nate with his Mariners stuff on ...
Super cool architecture of old and new buildings.
They have a sand box and a baseball diamonds for kids to play on during the game ... because lets be honest ... baseball can be tough to watch. Thank heavens we had yummy food to eat to keep us distracted thanks to Sara!
Overall we had a blast in SD seeing the Joe/Sara/Libby/Jenna Soelbergs ... it was great!
I went to the SD zoo with Sara, Libby, and Jenna and we had a blast. It was fun because this was only the second time spending time with them ... the first time being the wedding. I am sooo grateful to have such great in-laws that make me feel like I have known them forever. Some of the highlights include:
The camels with saggy humps ... that's got to be embarrassing, right? I still thought they were looking pretty good ...
Good enough to have my nieces stand in front of them and say cheese! I am such a great new aunt - aren't I?
This sweet peacock was strutting around the zoo ... just free to do whatever he liked. He was soooo beautiful - I kind of like peacock stuff.
The peacock was hanging out with the elephants - they are such amazing animals! So big! And that trunk is so crazy - it amazes me every time I see one in action.
More evidence that I am an awesome aunt ... I got Jenna to pose like the statue of some crazy sumo elephant ... which in all honesty wasn't that hard to do. I would be really awesome if I could have talked Libby into doing it, but she would have nothing of the sort.
I also suggested to Jenna to put up her hand so that the orangutans might do the same to her (classic move right) but no luck ... the animals weren't as open to the idea as Jenna was. Isn't she just sooo cute!
Jenna try to "connect" with Clyde. He's content with the burlap sack on his head.
Clyde's face was soooo huge - those cheeks! and his eyes are sooo tiny ... he's chillen with the brulap sack on his head still.
Of course we saw the baby panda bear and it was so cute because he was frolicing around while mom ate some bamboo.
Mom panda eating bamboo.
Here is the seciton of the post called: "WHO KNEW!"
1) WHO KNEW that the California Condor was so dang ugly and looked exactly like a vulture! All those days growing up and hearing about, "Save the California Condor" and I was picturing some beautiful majestic bird! Not that ugly birds aren't were saving ... but still ... WHO KNEW!
2) WHO KNEW that there were turtles that had snake like heads! Funny enough its called the snakeneck turtle and lives down under in and around Australia ... of course it would. That's where all sorts of strange creatures were cut off from the rest of the world and evolved into strange strange things ... sooo awesome. Doesn't it look like a long neck dinosaur (also known as little foot or a brontosaurus)? Super creepy cool - I took these pictures to show Nate.
Then we went to the Mariners v. Padres baseball game in sweet PetCo field. It is super duper sweet! Right in the middle of downtown with all sorts of cool things about it. Here is nate with his Mariners stuff on ...
Super cool architecture of old and new buildings.
They have a sand box and a baseball diamonds for kids to play on during the game ... because lets be honest ... baseball can be tough to watch. Thank heavens we had yummy food to eat to keep us distracted thanks to Sara!
Overall we had a blast in SD seeing the Joe/Sara/Libby/Jenna Soelbergs ... it was great!
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