Painting the Guest Room

Guest Room Before

It has been a little over a week since we closed on our house, and we have been keeping ourselves busy! We have gone over there nightly taking odds and ends, getting furniture deliveries (a new washer & bedroom suite oh la la), and just working on getting out of this apartment as soon as possible. I am loving the feeling I get every time I walk into our home. It just feels right.

One of the first items on our home to do list was/is to paint the upstairs bedrooms. Neither Adam and I have ever painted before. I was not that nervous, as I always go by the mantra, "People more stupid than me have done this before." But Adam was so freaked out! He called his mom for advice a million times, and he spent many nights stressing about it. He even told me the most scary part of moving and buying the home for him was having to paint!

My biggest concern was choosing the paint color. 

We got up bright and early Saturday morning to get painting, and I got to to do the inaugural paint roll! Honestly, it was not near as hard as we thought it would be. Of course, we made a few mistakes. We didn't wear booties on our shoes. I tripped over the can of paint, spilling a 4th of it (thank goodness for the drop cloth), and we even got a drop or two on the carpet (we got it out). But when it was done, I was pleased with of our hard work.

Adam was not so sure. It took him 24 hours and seeing it completely dry for him to appreciate it. Yesterday, he called and left me a voice mail, saying the room still looks awesome. That made me smile, as he is so critical of his work.

Guest Room After

We took the guest room from a bright, shiny blue to a matte, darker blue. I really love how it turned out, and every time I'm at the house, I have to stand in the room a minute and admire it. It is the first home improvement project we have done together, which is why I am so proud.

I can't wait to get this guest room all put together, so we can start hosting our friends and family!

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The Week that Was-#100 Happy Days

Ok, I've decided to give this 100 happy days  meme that has been going around instagram for months now a try. I want to do it as a way to document some small things I'm grateful for everyday. I am terminally bad about completing these photo a day challenges. Typically, I will be sitting on the couch about to go to bed, only to realize I didn't take a picture, and then be too tired to complete the task. But I am going to give it my best shot, so here is the week that was July 20th, 2014 through July 26th, 2014.

Day 1-Adam and I went for a pitch black trail walk. It was super dark and creepy at times, I kept feeling like we might end up on a Dateline special (I watch entirely too much true crime in general). Once I was convinced two eyes were staring at me, glowing, ready to devour me. But it turned out to be two conveniently placed lightening bugs. Disaster averted. After our walk, we went to sonic so we could get some slushies!

Day 2-Of course, I already blogged about closing on our house here. But this was truly the best part of that epic day. Sitting outside our front house, owning the keys, with our sold sign on our lap. Such an epic moment.

Day 3-I've added a little yoga into my workout routine. I started with an easy 20 minute video for complete beginners. I'm completely lovin' it. I find it so relaxing and the deep stretching feels so good. I could see myself really getting into yoga.

Day 4-Now that summer camp is over, I have to stop wearing shorts and t-shirts to work. But none of my old work wardrobe fits, so I went clothes shopping on my lunch break, and I picked up a few key pieces. Clothes shopping is a lot more fun now that I'm smaller. I still don't enjoy spending money on clothes though, I'd much rather spend money on home decor.

Day 5-We took our summer camp to Chuck E' Cheese. I'm rather a big fan of Chuck E' Cheese day. The kids are pretty good at entertaining themselves, and I was even able to play a few games too! But is Chucky not a little bit creepy?

Day 6-Our last day of Summer Camp this year was Friday. All of our helpers and all our children were crying, even our "tough" kids. I think the kids had a really fun summer this year, although that is not the point of a "therapy" camp. Earlier in the week, the children were asked to write a little bit about what they learned from camp. This response warmed my heart because this is what camp is truly all about.

Day 7- We spent 5 hours taping off our guest room and painting our guest room. We took it from a BRIGHT, shiny blue to a more matte, darker blue. It turned out really well, and I will share more about that later in the week. 

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Throwback: November 2010-January 2011

I didn't start posting regularly on this blog until 2011, so my posts from 2010 are pretty sporadic. But these cover the holiday season of late 2010 and some of early 2011!

This was the first Thanksgiving meal I ever prepared. I'm still impressed that I pulled that off, with only a few hiccups (and  a few tears). That kitchen was so small! I literally had only one small counter to work on, but somehow I was able to pull off pretty decent meals in our little duplex! I can't wait to see what I pull off in the new house! 

Christmas 2010 was our first and only Christmas that we did not see one of our families over the holidays. It was nice because we were really able to join both of the traditions we had growing up, while also making our own. I thought it was so fun that we both got each other slippers, and my mother gave me a kitchen aid mixer (which I promptly made this cake with to christen my lovely new machine). And isn't Sarah the cutest? I miss that little furbaby so much still. 

This was the first post where I shared a little bit about our love of the Green Bay Packers. I'm pretty sure this post was done on the same day we learned we were going to the Super Bowl! So I just had to do a post and share all the superstitions Adam participates in to keep our team wining! And yes, he still does all these things and has added new ones to the list! Maybe this year, I'll have to do an updated post with his new superstitions. 

We Bought a House

It is kind of a crazy, whirlwind when I think back about the last 3 months of house hunting, and all the steps it took to get to the moment, pictured above, holding our SOLD sign at our home Monday night. Yes, we officially closed on our house Monday. Signed, sealed, delivered, it is now ours, all ours.

And when I say whirlwind, I mean a whirlwind of emotions. The first of which was fear. I remember how nervous we were when we first walked into our new realtor's office, having no clue what we even needed to do to begin looking for a house.

Then there was the excitement of finding what we thought was our dream home, putting in a bid, and  having it fall through a month later, which was devastating. Not knowing there was something even more perfect for us just around the corner!

With this house, everything fell into place. We got the right price, in the right neighborhood, in the right city. The whole process was smooth from start to finish, with very little nail biting along the way. 

Adam and I have dreamed about owning a home together for the last 6 years that we have been living together. It's weird to have wanted something for so long and to now finally have it. I just can't wait to see what new memories we make there.

I am definitely feeling a lot of gratitude tonight. Gratitude for our lovely realtor and mortgage broker, who made this experience such a fantastic one. Gratitude for my husband and how he managed the budget the last couple of years, allowing us to have the down payment we needed. And a lot of gratitude to the big man upstairs for helping us find the perfect house at the perfect time!

Now it is time for packing and boxes and one of my least favorite tasks ever MOVING! But at least this time, we are moving without the expectation of having to move again. When we were in California, we knew we would be moving to Alabama. Once we got to Alabama, we knew we would be buying a house eventually. 

I'm tired of temporary living, and I am ready for something that feels more secure and permanent. Can't wait to put down our roots.

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Belle Chevre Creamery

Saturday, Adam and I toured the Belle Chevre Creamery in Elkmont, Alabama. Belle Chevre (meaning Beautiful Goat) is a place where they make the most tasty, goat cheese. I was really excited for this outing because cheese is a big part of my diet now, so I knew I could enjoy myself!

We started the the day with a self-guided tour of the factory, which even included a little bit of a scavenger hunt. We learned all about how they make the spreadable cheese and even got to observe them making some cheeses. 

Next, we went outside to play with the goats! They were sooo incredibly friendly. The one whom I'm pictured with kept following me around, begging to be petted, and trying to eat my shirt. They even had some adorable baby goats. My friend Anna commented on this photo on facebook, saying we needed a goat for our new house. I think she may be right! But I doubt Adam would go for it!

Before we left the creamery, we did a cheese tasting. We tried all the varieties (original, honey, cinnamon, fig, coffee, and pimento). I think my favorite one was the pimento! I did not like the coffee, but I haven't had coffee since my surgery, so I think I've lost the taste for it. 

We are trying to conserve money, since we are closing on the house on Monday, so I only bought two types to take home. Original and Cinnamon (to put on apples).  But luckily, I live pretty close to Belle Chevre, so I can buy more pretty soon.

Work has been wearing me out, so we haven't gone out and done too much this summer. But it felt really good to get out for a bit and have some weekend fun. 

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I'm a Blogmopolitan & Happy Weekend!

I had a lot of fun filling out this little quiz located here. I always loved those celebrity quizzes in Cosmo, so I had to give it a whirl. But I'm also popping in to wish everyone a happy, happy weekend!  I'm hoping to get into a few shenanigans, despite having the knowledge that it will most likely be a non-stop rainy weekend.

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Just Call Me Pretty, Pretty Princess

I have to give a big old shout out to my wonderful husband today. Because I've been planning, dreaming, training, SAVING, and talking non-stop about my plan/dream to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon for months now. Of course, sign up day fell on a work day, when I was herding the children around the community pool with zero internet access. I couldn't even wait a few hours and then sign up, because these events sell out crazy fast!  So I had to relinquish the sign ups to Adam.

I wouldn't say I'm a total control freak, although I can be on occasion. It has more to do with my anxiety than my need to be in charge. I can calm the anxiety better if I know when we are doing something, why we are doing something, and most importantly, exactly how we are going to do something.  

Last night, I painstakingly wrote a note with all the information Adam could possible need to know for registration (or so I hoped). And this morning, I anxiously watched the clock waiting for 11 o'clock. By 11:05 a.m., I had confirmation that both Adam and I were registered for the race.  He totally rocked the sign ups! He even bought me a special commemorative pin as a surprise.

And yes, Adam decided to do the race with me, so he could support me and cheer me along (even if it is a PRINCESS race). Because he rocks like that. I may even be able to convince him to dress as the Beast to my Belle. Stay tuned.

So now that I'm over the "getting signed up for the race" anxiety, I can que my, "Oh My Gosh I have to run a half-marathon" anxiety!

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