a quick run down.

it seems i have turned into a once a week blogger...
totally not my intention.
i have kept myself plenty busy...i promise.
i have 13 shows on the dvr that haven't been watched yet.
i have come down with spring cleaning fever...
and when you got it, you gotta keep going.
no stopping.

other than cleaning and purging this house, this is what i've been up to lately.

a friends wedding.
it was simple & perfect.

the bride is a pilot, so the reception was at our airport in a hangar.
very cool idea.

she flew them away when it was all finished.
the brides grandma, turned out to be my elementary school music teacher.

she really hasn't changed.
i went over and introduced myself...she remembered me.
that. never. happens.
(i also ran into my elementary school principal this week while getting my hair cut.)

(i realized afterwords my camera was on a setting i had never used before...which i'm guessing is why all the pictures are so grainy)

this is what i made for the bride & groom.

i think it turned out pretty cool...yes, i'm bragging on my silhouette again.

the next day a group of friends and i headed to the sticks to beki's house for a free photography workshop.
by the look of the wedding photos, it wasn't a moment too soon.
i learned a lot.

i also learned i don't know how to spell aperture. (i do now though!)
me and my little fuji were outnumbered by canons and nikons.

someday soon maybe i will bite the bullet and get a REAL camera.
i asked beki to send a note home with me telling my husband that i need a canon.
he said...then go get one.
but in the next breath he said...but i think you take really good pictures with the one you have.
reverse psychology maybe???

when we were leaving it started raining frozen sleet balls.

people were sliding off the highway left and right.
today it was absolutely stunning outside...75, sunny, barely a breeze...divine!
hopefully kansas has gotten all the crankiness out of it's system for good.

i made myself a yummy chicken salad sandwich for lunch.

i never really cared for chicken salad until i tried a friends.
she makes it with a rotisserie chicken from the store.  already cooked and seasoned.
it totally makes all the difference.
(thanks joan!)

when it was still cold i made a batch of loaded potato soup in the crockpot.

recipe coming soon.

miley has been stalking this icky varmint all week.

possums totally creep me out.
especially when they are lurking in the tree above my head.

when the weather started turning nice, instead of being outside, i felt the urge to purge the inside.
i cleaned out closets and now have a bunch of stuff to take to the thrift store.

that's just the tip of the iceberg people.
i moved all the winter stuff into the closet in our bedroom...i use it for off season clothing.
why not use the master closet?
well...i am short, but both master closets are kid sized in height.

cute yes, practical no.  (ack, the graininess is back!)
how the clothes rod has not busted yet is beyond me.
it is OLD!

notice the little piece of wallpaper border?
it is there so that all the shoulders don't get a white plaster mark on them.
someday i will take the time to paint the closets, but it's not really high on my priority list right now.

once again wal-mart sucked me in and made me divert from my list for this.

who couldn't resist a green & white polka-dotted bath mat?
me, that's who.
this is the rest of my little bathroom.
in case you were curious.
if your not, then just skip the next couple of pictures :)

i made the stained glass windows years ago...
it's been a while since i have done anything that big.
someday i will refinish the tub and get new flooring...but for now it's fine with me.
i don't think i could live without my clawfoot tub, it is my favorite and most used thing in this house.

i turned those trays i was spray painting a few weeks back into little chalk boards.

they are part of something bigger...that i will tell you about another day.

so there's my quick rundown of the happenings around here.
tomorrow i start a small painting job in a little town near ours.
(every so often i take on one of these...i like painting so it's fun for me.)
it does require painting popcorn ceilings though...ugh!
i already made a chiropractic appointment for friday...
i will need it.

peace out peeps.

before & after {den/office}

it's almost been a whole year since we started the backroom/den/office re-do.
it has actually been done for awhile...(well almost done)
i just keep forgetting to blog it.

let me warn you, the "before" is awful, horrible and so disgusting i can't believe i am actually going to show you.
this poor room was the catch all, junk, computer room.
but before i show you those pics, you should know this room has had 6 different paint colors since we moved in. 
my decorating styles have changed dramatically over the years
when we first moved in 13 years ago we used it as a tv room.
i was going for the "patriotic country look"
unfortunately, i think i nailed it.

this was the only room that had carpet in the whole house.

blue carpet.
mini blinds.
popcorn ceiling.
border.
country plaid.
oh please make it stop!

we abandoned the tv room once we had the living room painted and the tv room just digressed from there.
it just became known as the backroom.
"what do you want me to do with this?" 
"throw it in the backroom"
you get the drift.
so here's the before pics...don't judge.

 southeast wall

 southwest wall

 northeast wall

 i told you it was bad!!!!!

 northwest wall.  that door leads into the dining room.
the other doorway to the far right of the photo leads into a bathroom.
part of this room was an addition that previous owners had done in the 70's.
the hardwood floor area is part of the original house and the plywood is the addition.

this is during the construction process.
one of the best things we did was to make the door leading into the dining room into a pocket door.
which meant i got to do some demo :)

my husband does not like the demolition process.
i think he thinks it will never go back the right way.
oh ye of little faith.

 those are the cabinets we had built to go on the southwest wall.

 the box between the cabinets was originally a window seat with storage inside, but then i decided it was wasted space.  so it got tore out and a desk was built into that space.

the biggest change happened to this room when i did this.

i painted all the woodwork white.
it made a dark little room, seem big, bright and open.
we also replaced the super inefficient drafty windows.

ready for the after?
it is quite a change i must say.
i wish my pictures really did it justice.
but you'll get the idea.

 the closet's hold all of craig's work clothes and all the computer stuff like the printer and such.

i love my new pocket door...i want one in every room.
i used vintage crystal knobs and handles on the cabinets.

the cabinets and computer are on the southwest wall.

this is on the northwest wall, directly across from the cabinets. 
the door leads into a bathroom.

this area with my laptop desk is on the south wall.
the door leading to the bathroom is directly across from this desk.

 to the left is the north wall....the sofa sits on the east wall.

the floor is a vinyl tile that you glue down.
it is made by adura luxery flooring.
the color is "seaside boardwalk"
it is super easy to clean and hides dirt like you wouldn't believe.
we bought enough to eventually carry it into the bathroom and the beauty salon.

it's hard to tell the wall color in the photos...
it's a  very light beachy turquoise.

i am so happy with the way it turned out.
i spend a lot of time in that room...because it is so bright and cheery.
it is my beach house room in cold snowy kansas.
...and it has made me want to go on a white woodwork rampage through the rest of my house.
and i never thought i would say that.

:)

around the house.

 thrift store things.

jeweled things..

sparkly things.

shiny things.

sentimental things.

yummy things.

favorite things.

homemade things.  (from place mats at target)

sleepy things.

 cute things.