Shelf Life

This little wooden shelf followed me home from the Goodwill.

It cost $3.50 and I'm country enough to like the style.

Here's the little gal after her makeover involving primer, spray paint and sandpaper:

Isn't she pretty?

Not bad for a country girl.

Especially for $3.50 + $1 of spraypaint.

 

   
 

How I Met My Husband

5 years ago today, I flew halfway across the country to spend the weekend with a man I had never before seen in person.

It's true!

Wanna hear more? Well, I feel like dishing, so here's the story:

I was teaching Kindergarten at a private church school in Las Vegas, about to begin my 7th year. Another teacher (one of 7 or 8--small school, remember?) was one of my closest friends. 

W and me

W had been pestering me for several months about her single brother-in-law. I was in Nevada, he was in Iowa, I was sorta dating someone, he was just out of a serious, long-term relationship, I wasn't interested. One day she looked at me and said, "You're not happy. You need to do something about it. Make some changes in your life!" We all need friends like that, don't we?

I told W that her brother-in-law, G, could have my email address, not my phone number. 

(Since then, I've learned that W's husband, my now-husband's brother, felt really awkward making that phone call! And G kinda rolled his eyes and agreed to email me only to get W to stop bothering him! Ha!)

A day or two later, I got an email from G. It was basically, hi-my-name-is-G-and-this-is-weird, tell-me-about-yourself. Still feeling the need to fulfill my agreement with W to at least get to know G a little bit, I replied. And he replied. And about that time, the angels started singing and everything started looking all shiny and rainbow-colored.

The emails continued through the first week, then we started instant messaging which lead to a real phone call (for HOURS) which lead to G buying a cell phone package with the same provider as me so we could have anytime minutes. 

16 days from our first awkward email, he was in his truck driving south to St. Louis and I was in a plane flying east. 

An Allegiant airliner with The Strip and Mt. Charleston.

Ok, let me add a couple details that might make you feel a little better. (Hi Mom!) First of all, I had known W for several years and trusted her implicitly. We weren't just work friends. She had been part of G's extended family for 15 years and had spent many holidays with him. I had seen the family albums, heard the family drama, read the family Christmas letter. Second, we all belong to the same church. Not a specific building, but an organized Christian denomination with churches around the world. It's a sub-culture. Families have similar goals, individuals have similar morals, people have similar backgrounds, etc. Third, G and I had logged countless hours on emails and phone calls. I really felt like I knew him. Fourth, we had separate rooms, thank you. So yeah, it could have the potential to be dangerous, but I guess I was willing to take the risk. All in the name of love. Or glittery rainbows.

Waiting to board that plane was about the scariest thing I've ever done! Right next to walking off the plane and looking for a man I'd never seen in person. The worst part was the fear of "us" not working out! What if he walked funny and had weird mannerisms? What if he had chronic halitosis? What if we just didn't click?

Well, my wobbly- kneed, sweaty-palmed, thundering-hearted self made it to the main section of the airport (post 9-11, so he couldn't come to the gate). And there was G with roses and a huge grin. We fell into each other's arms and walked into the sunset.

Or not.

That first evening was AWKWARD. We were nervous and ill-at-ease, me far worse than him. I was having the hardest time matching the person with the emailing/phone-calling voice I knew. We started and stopped random topics. We would bring something up and realize that the stranger walking beside you already knew that story! Strange!

The next day was much better. We got out of the hotel and saw some sights. Finally got comfortable enough to talk! We had our first real date that night--dressing up, reservations, linens, candles, fancy courses... It was amazing. Then we went up in the Gateway Arch!

And then we walked into the sunset!

Well, kinda. :) But that's where I'm ending the story for now!

The Boys' Room

Sometime this winter, when the mowing, gardening, car-fixing, outdoor projects are done, Daddy plans to build bunk beds for the boys. It will probably look something like this bed made by Lyndsey, a reader of Ana's Knock Off Wood. 

Courtesy of Knock-Off Wood

I love it! I might even paint them the same color.

Speaking of color, here are the other colors in their room. 

Yes, I know, I could have at least moved the laundry basket! I painted the bottom half of the wall a nice green that I still love. I matched it to the green in the bedding I hope to use (shown below). The bedding also has that bright red and soft yellow, so I painted the dressers those colors. By the way, those dressers were given to us for free from my in-laws. They were my husband's and his brother's dressers when they were growing up! 

Here is the bedding. I have one twin set and a crib set, so I need to find another twin comforter. Target no longer carries it, so hopefully I can find one on ebay. The crib set was a craigslist find, so there is hope!

Courtesy of Google Images

It's not so washed out in person. The darker blue is denim and the little details are embroidered on with bright colors--red, yellow, blue and green. There are little stars on the bedskirt and on the backside of the pillows. It's super cute! (Thanks Mom!)

Daddy is a pilot, so even though there are no airplanes in the bedding, the real theme for the room is airplanes. Here's where the problems come in!

1) I love the chalkboard painted closet. I think it's a fun use of space and the color is great, but NO, it isn't! It's really as blotchy and uneven in person! I had just painted the woodtone doors with a million layers of white, THEN got the idea for the chalkboard paint cuz it was just too white! Well, I used the entire $14 can--4 layers of paint and it's still blotchy! I guess I already know what I need to do... Go buy another quart of it and get painting.

2) The windows have been replaced (YAY!) and the newly painted white frames make the trim on top of the green paint stand out funny. I don't like how it looks. Should I paint it an accent color? Should I do more stripes above the green? Maybe a bright red smaller stripe and a light blue color on the very top? 

3) The lazy person (ahem... that would be me) who painted the window trim got a bunch of paint on the green walls. Did I have more green paint to patch it? NO! I took my chip into the store and the matched color is WRONG! Look back at the picture and look around the window. Yeah, gross! So while I'm painting, I have to re-do the green too. BOO!

Here are some boys' rooms that I like. Take a peek and tell me what I should do! 

Courtesy of bhg.com

Courtesy of bhg.com

Courtesy of Southern Living

Courtesy of bhg.com

Courtesy of bhg.com

Courtesy of bhg.com

I'm linking up to Ann Marie's Help Me Wednesday. Come join us!

Where I Blog

One of the things I love about blogging is being able to see glimpses of other people's lives and homes. I like to see how other people decorate and use their spaces. Some of us have huge, beautiful homes, some have little fixer-uppers. But all of us in blog world have computers and spend a lot of time updating our blogs and checking out what other people have blogged about. 

So, where do you blog? Do you have a tricked-out office space with a place for everything? Do you include your computer area in a craft room? Is the computer used by the family and centrally located?

My office is mobile. And red. 

My couch is a favorite computer time spot. I usually sit here when my kids are in bed and I can focus on blogging. 

When the boys are up and playing, I move my office here:

Though not nearly as comfortable, it keeps my computer away from curious little hands. It also provides a great desk area if I have paperwork to do. 

Check out where other bloggers spend vast amounts of their time at Centsational Girl: 

Our Old Barn

This is a repost from April. Enjoy!

When I was in college I took a solo roadtrip and fell in love with barns. I took plenty of pictures of barns along my way and thought it would be cool to make my own coffee table book about barns. I love the history that barns suggest, the honest hard work, that barns are usually in the country where family values and quiet living takes place. I didn't realize that there are hundreds of barn coffee table books out there already, and I certainly never thought I'd live somewhere with a barn!

Fast forward a few years (10, actually, but I can't believe that much time has passed since college and I'm not really ready to admit that it has... Ooops!), thru starting my career, living on my own in a big city, moving across country, marrying the man of my dreams and being blessed with two perfect little boys, and here we are, proud owners of a barn. Wanna see?

I know! It's way too cool. And too old to ever be functional again, but still. I can totally see why J (almost 3) loves it. Every time we go outside, he heads to the barn.

I love the architecture, age, and history here. Even though I don't know what the history is! And I love this door!

Here is one of the treasures I unearthed this week. I haven't done much with it, but here is how I found it!

But our cool barn has issues. The former owners were packrats. Don't EVEN get me started on how horrible the house was before we moved in, nor the HOURS we put in cleaning it up enough to live here. That's a whole nother post! Or 5...

I guess the silver lining with the pack rat past of our barn is that's why we have treasures! Like this wood. Oh the ideas!!! What do you think I should do with this?

Can't wait to hear your ideas! Have a great weekend!

I'm participating in Sunday Favorites at Happy to Design.

From Pooper to Planner

Party, that is.

Mr. B4A's birthday is in just over 2 weeks.

(I don't know how that's possible, cuz isn't it still July? HA!)

Other than a gift and his favorite homemade dessert, I'm not good at planning stuff! I'd love to have some creative, low-budget (preferably FREE) ideas to make his special day, well, special. 

Thanks for your input!