Our Little Lady

Our little girl passed away Monday October 10th , 2011. It was very sudden and  unexpected. There will never be another one like you . Love you Ladybug.

This weekend I am getting her ashes. Ryan and I have decided to split them between our home and my parents home . I truly believe those were the two places that made her the  happiest.  To her they were both "home".

So easy iced coffee

For whatever reason I have had a hankering for iced coffee. But instead of paying a ton of money for it at a coffee  shop I decided I would make it at home.  After some online research all I found was how to make a ton at a time. And since I am the only one in the house that drinks it I just can't justify that . So last night I decided that I would try to make it in my french press. Here is what I did:

I added 6 teaspoons of course ground  coffee - this sounds like a lot but you have to remember that you will dilute the coffee with ice so you want a nice strong coffee base.  I used a breakfast blend of coffee.

And then filled up my french press with  cold water if I had to take a guess I would say that's about 2- 2 1/2 cups water.  Then stir the coffee around in the water.

Put the lid on an let it set over night .

This morning I added sugar to my glass then  a little bit of coffee, stired it around and then added my ice .  I  filled the rest of the cup with coffee and then added my creamer. 

I would have to say it rivals any good coffee house's version :)

I might look for some flavored coffee syrup for some added flavor .

And I loved that I didn't have to mess with the coffee pot this morning too :)

My favorite Season !

With my favorite season just around the corner I have become enthralled with Fall, it's all I can think about. I have a list a mile long of projects to work on and home decor to make for the season. I have even started to decorate our home . I  am going to have a million projects to show you this year and I can't wait!

1 year already !

This Past Saturday marked Ryan and I's first year of marriage ! I can't believe a year has already gone by ! 
I love you Ryan here is to many more years together !

Class

Last week I stepped way out of my comfort zone and took a yoga class. It is something I have wanted to do for the last 10 years or so, but never had the guts to go.  I loved  it ! After my first class I knew it would be something I would keep up on. I felt very calm and at peace with everything when I walked out of class. I kept the feeling going by coming home and making some Chamomile tea and running a nice hot bath. 

Yesterday I kept looking at the clock and counting down how many hours I had until class. Last night she pushed our limits a little more . That was an experience . Some of it was harder than I thought it would be . But to know that I can do it is an awsome feeling .
 
I didn't get the chance to try to carry my clam and peaceful mind through  the night like I had hoped to . Once I got home I cooked dinner, fed the dogs, and waited for Ryan to get home. But the funny thing is I was still calm and peaceful.  It is a way of being . I can't wait till next Monday night :)

Living room

Sorry I have been really busy with this:

Do you see this old lady nasty discolored wallpaper? I mean really did you see it? It was in pretty sad shape ! I really wanted to re-do this room because 1.) I knew it would not cost much. and 2.) It is the first impression people have of our home and that wallpaper was not cutting it . 

Yikes  ! Wallpaper was EVERYWHERE ! And Mr. Apollo thought it was fun to grab wallpaper and rip it into teeny tiny little shreds .



One of the many reasons I fell in love  with our house was all of the wonderful woodwork. I love it and it is in wonderful condition! When we started thinking about re-doing the living room I knew that I wanted the wood to stand out. So we picked a nice light gray.  To really help pop all the wood work out. And boy does it!!!! I am over the moon with the new look of our living room !

Someday the curtains will be different and we are planning on ripping out the carpet. But it is way better than it was. We are taking it one thing at a time ;) 

-To really see the "true" wall color look above the door frame. :)

Not what I was hoping for .

Our upstairs hallway has been an on again off again project since * cough cough * November . ( I can't believe I just told you that ! ) But that's the truth !

I am a huge fan of hardwood flooring I LOVE IT !  My Grandparents have an old farm house and  they had hardwood flooring on their hallway and stairs . I think that's where I first fell in love with it. The way it feels cool on your feet the way it creaks and squeaks when you walk on it. So my eventual goal for our home is to have as much hardwood flooring as possible. When we bought our home we peeked under the carpet down stairs to see beautiful hardwood flooring !!! So thinking it was Thruout our entire home I decided to rip off all the  carpet on the stairs and hallway. Which brings me to my point.

Imagine my shock and horror to see this in our hallway :

Yep , that's linoleum right smack in the middle of our hallway upstairs . After peeking in the computer room and our bedroom ( they are still covered in carpet ) Our upstairs does not have any hardwood at all . It is all linoleum and Formica flooring . I have been crushed for days .

Apollo

Apollo is our Little er.... Big puppy  . He was supposed to be our little lap dog. We were told he is a wiener dog / beagle mix . But the bigger he gets the more I think he is some other mix.

Table

When we bought our home I  found this at Goodwill for $9.00 ! We have a lot of really nice dark wood in our house so it didn't fit in too well. So with a few coats of black paint it fits in a lot better ! 
Before:

After:

Cute Art

I made this to display in our living room. It's our birthdays and our wedding date.
Total Project cost : Stickers and frame :$3.00 !

I love lamp

When Ryan and I bought our home our families were very generous to us. We got all kinds of wonderful things . My Grandpa gave us this lamp and I was not too thrilled with it. But it was a working lamp and free. So we put it in our back room and there is sat for the next year and a half. A few times I thought about just donating it , but decided to keep it. Boy am I happy I did !

You can't really tell from the picture but its gold with a discolored shade.

With help from some spray paint and a new shade here is the After:

I could not love this lamp any more  now !
Total project cost: $16.00 - a little more than I wanted to spend but the shade was worth it !

New light for the hall

After a very long creative slump I have got my crafting mojo back !  This was the light in our dining room when we moved into our home. We replaced the light in the dining room with one I found at a tag sale for $12. But I kept the old one just in case I would figure out what to do with it one day. Well the day came yesterday.
Here is the light  before :

Very out dated and old lady looking. Not really the vibe we are going for in our house.
After:

This fits in our home a lot better :)
Total project cost: $15.91 You can't buy a new light for that !

A little preview of our Garden.

We have strawberries! I am super excited about them - last year something came a long and eat every single strawberry we had .

A freebie Re-do !

I got this little Ladybug Sand Box for FREE! I am so excited about it! Our nephew Cameron turns 3 tomorrow so I though it might be fun to re-do this little  sand box for him. I think it would make a really cute toy box .     


                                              Before:

                                                   After :

Total Project cost :$6.00 in spray-paint and I have a ton leftover for other projects !

Happy Memorial Day !

Thank you to all the men and women who are currently serving or who have served our country.

I hope you have a wonderful day !


 I made this pin last night to wear today.

Put-In-Bay

A few weeks ago now Ryan and I went to Put-In-Bay for his work. It was a very short visit we were only up there a few hours but it was nice to get away.  This is my favorite picture I took while we were there.

Bubbles

My nephew and I made homemade bubbles this morning and they work better than the kind you can buy at the store. And are a lot cheaper ! Here is what we did: 1/2C. dish soap , 1-1/2C. water 2-tsp.sugar. Mix all together and store leftovers in an air-tight container ! 
Happy Bubble making !