Semi-craving

So, I don't want this blog to turn into a narrative on pregnancy...however, I have to mention this story from my trip to the supermarket this evening.

It is My Love's 30th birthday - 30th!!!! Insanity! So, we decided to run to the local grocery store to get him some sushi, and me whatever I wanted, to have a yummy, casual dinner together at home.

While at the supermarket, I decided I wanted potato skins. TGIFriday's usually has a frozen appetizer available with potato skins...but I couldn't find them tonight...anywhere.

I walked up and down the aisles, staring into the shelves, willing them to appear. I looked in the potato section, I looked near the other appetizers, I looked EVERYWHERE.

My Love even helped me. Eventually, he went on to get the other items he needed.

But not me.

I continued to wander the frozen food aisles, scowling while also managing to look bereft; staring intently, trying to find the thing I was looking for.

While not like my other cravings, I can only imagine that this was one. Whether it was because they weren't anywhere to be found, or because it was a craving to begin with, I'm not sure...but I had to have potato skins.

Fortunately, My Love seemed to recognize the lunacy of a hormonal craving before I did, and came to the rescue, which spared me hours prowling the frozen food section, searching for food that would not appear; not to mention the humiliation of crying in the grocery store over them not having the food I wanted in stock. He let me order it to-go from Chili's, wonderful man that he is, and we got it on the way home.

And that is the story of my craving tonight :)

Live For More

So, obviously, I haven't been on here in a while. I'm hoping to remedy that.

Part of the reason for my absence is due to the aforementioned fact that I dropped my laptop on my foot and cracked the monitor. I have not set up my art room properly yet, so I don't have a space to even put the computer setup, were I to take the time to do it. I hope to remedy all this very soon.

As it is currently, I have My Love's laptop, and thought I'd make a quick blog update :)

Um, item one that I feel should be mentioned: I am pregnant. We're just past the 4.5 month mark, and everything seems to be going well. I will have some nursery decorating posts (as well as hopefully my other projects, house updates, Christmas decorations, garage organization, etc.) up in the very near future.

For today, I wanted to show you the necklace that I purchased on etsy. I purchased it from this shop, and couldn't be happier with it.

I don't know if you had the time, or have taken the time yet to listen to My Love's talk/sermon, but the purchase was inspired by that talk.

I have been so encouraged and inspired by the lives of people around me lately. Especially that of Todd (referenced in the talk), Amy (a dear friend of mine who passed away recently after a long battle with cancer), and Brenda (another family friend who passed away from cancer). Their lives left such an amazing impact on so very many...it was almost intimidating.

It hit me in particularly that night, as My Love was talking...sometimes it's so hard working with youth, being so involved in the church...it can be very draining. There are many times you pour yourself out into someone else, and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Sometimes, it's tempting to feel discouraged, to want to give up. If you give and give and give, and don't see a return for your labor, what's the point? And by "return," I don't mean "thank yous." I don't mean rewards in the sense of recognition, praise, appreciation, or anything of that sort. I mean life change.

But, every once in a while, someone gets it. You see them get it, you see them change, and you can tell that they're grateful that they are making the decisions they are. And then, it's all worth it.

So, as I've been reminded by these people's life stories, and as I was reminded by My Love in his talk, it's worth it...to live for more.

And I was reminded of this story, which can seem a little cheesy, but has always touched me.

And so, I bought that necklace...to remind me to live for more...to remind me that every little bit can matter...and that to the one person it might make a difference to, that it's worth any and all effort I put forth.

I hope that's a little encouraging to you. It has really changed my perspective.

I really do plan on making another post soon...hopefully I really will ;)

Oh. My. Word.

I haven't been on here since May? MAY?!?!?!?

Goodness gracious.

I have stuff to say, but my brain is dead. Not permanently, thankfully, but temporarily. I'm just very tired from my long and crazy day.

I was going to write about my thoughts in regard to a talk My Love gave recently. I'm going to post a link to it...so, if you feel like it, give it a listen, and I'll share some of my thoughts on it tomorrow.

Live for More

Goodnight!

Grrrrr...

I couldn't find a youtube video of Harry from Home Alone where he grumbles in some sort of unidentified pseudo-cursing language...but, if I could figure out how to type that out phonetically, I would have made that the title of this post instead of the inarticulate "Grrrr..." option ;)

I can't get this computer to like me. I'm using My Love's computer, because I recently dropped my own laptop on my foot...cracking the screen...which now no longer works. Ironically, my screen became illegible a matter of days after I donated our formerly-not-in-use-monitor to Goodwill.

Now, I have at least two posts somewhat written, waiting to be shared with cyberspace, and this computer will not cooperate. It won't even let me save images off facebook to post on here.

I now feel like I should take a moment to recognize and acknowledge that, while temporarily frustrating, these "issues" don't constitute real, substantial problems, and I'm just whining.
I feel like I'm writing something for White Whine, that site My Love chuckles at.
So, seeing as that my problems aren't truly problems, or anything of substance, I think I'm done posting for the evening. I just have so many things to share, but I am not being permitted to do so at this juncture. Perhaps I'll be able to share tomorrow.

Oh, yes, and I've had this song stuck in my head all. night.
This is a bittersweet occurrence. I like the song just fine, but I can't stop singing it, and changing it depending on what I'm doing or thinking at the moment.
(i.e. "A drink, I really need a drink. What should I drink? Gotta find a dri-iink.")

Hopefully see y'all tomorrow with some new shtuff :D
G'night!

Knob RePurpose

And now, for a project I just finished. Remember the pretty faucet knobs I found at Habitat for Humanity ReStore?

I'm in the middle of painting our master bath a beautiful gray called Elephant Skin by Behr.
Our color scheme is gray, black, and white. I have random black and white pictures of various bathroom sinks, tubs, and whatnot...thus the inspiration for the knob hunt.
(I'll post pictures of the bathroom soon!)

Well, after careful consideration, I realized I couldn't justify spending the kind of money I figured it would cost to replace our sink faucets/hardware in our bathroom. Not to mention it wasn't top priority in the scheme of home improvements.

So, there I was, with four awesome faucet knobs, and no faucet to attach them to. What to do, what to do?

Well, I also happened to have a gift card to Michael's. That left many possibilities.
I opted for this wooden...um...sign? Something. I don't know what it's officially called. Obviously, I'd already removed the wrapping by the time I took this picture:



I spray painted it with RustOleum black lacquer, and let it dry.

Then, I took my four knobs, and Gorilla Glue, and set to work trying to space the knobs equal distance apart.

This was the hard part - waiting for it to dry and adhere to the surface. I am not a patient person.

Once it had dried and I could tell the knobs were secure, I got white craft paint and added a few white dots at different points to make a border.

Voila!

I'm going to hang it with 3M strips on our bathroom wall, and it's going to be the prettiest, most unique, most perfect towel rack ever! :D

What do you think?


Coming soon, other than the house update pictures, I just finished a quick revamp on an old dresser. I can't wait to see what you think! It's a little "louder" than I normally do things, but what's life without a little color? :)

Hello? Hello? Helloooo?

I'm back.

Goodness, it has been a long time.

I've done a lot...and yet, somehow, not enough.

This is me, on one of my more productive days:

Remember the mirror I got? Well, I finally finished it, and love it, but as I was putting the mirror back into the frame, it split - so I have to get a new mirror for it. Also, I think it's too big to put in the bathroom I had intended. So, I'm uncertain as to what I'm going to do with my improved mirror :/
Here are some progress pictures to tide you over until I figure out what I'm going to do with the final product!

Before I painted it brown:

After I painted it brown, before I glazed it:

I've been super busy on the house...taking on too many things at once, as is my unfortunate tendency. As soon as I get around to it, I'm hoping to do a series of before and after home-improvement blog posts.

For now, here are some pictures of my laundry room. Before, it was just standard builder-grade paint.

Here are the befores and afters. The color I chose is Opal Silk by Behr. It makes laundry a little more appealing...a little...it's a great color, but miracles and new personalities it does not make:

Messy, messy shelves. I need to look at this closer later to try to figure out how to reassemble them properly. I have them back up, but some of them aren't fitting where I thought they should.

After I took the shelves down to paint

Ta-da!!!



I forgot to take a before picture, but this used to be just one of the plain globes...I swapped it out, and I love the new one! I don't know what to call the shape, but it's the best!

More to come later!

Bloggers Day of Silence

I just stumbled across this in my feed, and feel like it's an admirable thing, and a good cause. I don't know how much my joining in will really help, but I like to think of all the people participating, and hopefully all of us are praying for and donating to help the people in Japan in any way we can.

Go to Ever Ours for more information on this event.
I'll post what were planned as tomorrow's updates on Saturday.

Pray for Japan. Pray for their people. Pray for their country. Pray that our world would unite together to help one another. Pray for healing. Pray that love and compassion would overcome all other obstacles...and that we would all be reminded that, despite political, religious, cultural, geographical, and social divisions, we're all human sharing the same small, blue planet.

EEeeeee!

So, I've been busy today :)

I started the day off by going to the location of Habitat for Humanity ReStore that I hadn't been to yet - with the fabulous Sarah and her sweet baby girl!

I was hoping to find various things, and got sidetracked by the drawer knobs for a bit too long ;)
When all was said and done, and we had meandered through the entire store at a lovely, leisurely pace, I came out with some excellent spoils:

3 brass, 2-light bathroom vanity fixtures
2 brass/chrome, 3-light bathroom vanity fixtures
5 assorted drawer knobs

Are you ready for this?
For a grand total of: $41.95

Is your face like this right now? O.o

Mine was. Okay, it was really like this :D but whatever

I've been looking for bathroom lights for our soon to be house for what seems like forever. For the first time, craigslist has failed me :( I couldn't find anything close to what I wanted, for anywhere near a price that I wanted to pay. I looked at Lowe's, at Home Depot, and on amazon.com - I couldn't find a good enough bargain to motivate me to get the wallet out.
Not only that, but there were hardly any fixtures with two lights in existence for under $30 - so 5 for just over the cost of 1? Yes please!

So, today, as I said, we journeyed to the even more magical ReStore, and beheld amazing treasures. Insane though I may be, after I got home from our excursion, I totally wanted to go back to BOTH ReStore stores- I did not do this. I'm sure My Love is thankful.

I have been working instead! The mirror is finally (almost) done! I've primed it, painted it, and glazed it - I'm going to let it dry for a bit longer, then add a clear coat to protect it, and get it posted tomorrow.

Tomorrow...tomorrow...why does it seem like something else is happening tomorrow???
OH! I know, that's because WE'RE CLOSING ON OUR HOUSE TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally! I simply cannot wait!

I've got our main paint color picked out, a plan for majority of the rooms/spaces, I'll have new light fixtures (to reveal to you tomorrow), I'll need to decide where the mirror will go (and I am afraid the filing cabinets are going to have to wait a little longer - there are bigger fish to fry at present - namely deciding what on earth I'm going to do about the carpet!), and I'll start posting progress pictures like crazy!

Here's a little teaser for ya - the before pictures of the light fixtures!

I got two of these - I plan to have these installed above our sinks in the master bathroom!

And I got three of these monstrosities - two will go upstairs in the guest bathroom, and one will go in the downstairs guest bathroom. I promise, they're looking prettier already! :D

I can't wait to show you guys the final pictures!!!

40 Bags in 40 Days?

So, I was scrolling through my reading list, and stumbled upon House of Grace's post for today. She mentioned a challenge that she and her sister-in-law was doing called 40 Bags in 40 Days. I don't even know where it really started, but I'm thinking about hopping on the bandwagon.

My participation in this challenge would be slightly different, since I don't currently have a house to call my own. I do, however, have two storage units that are primarily filled with stuff that I should be able to get rid of, miscellaneous hodge-podge in my MIL's garage, and random boxes in the room in which I currently reside. So, I should be able to get a substantial amount of stuff...albeit not necessarily in bags...outta here!

Because I don't have a home at present, I have a great opportunity that I've neglected to take advantage of in the past (even the recent 2 1/2 months that I have been homeless). I need to sort through as much stuff as I can...we're closing on our house sometime next week, and then I'll only have a small amount of time while we get the house together before we move in. Granted, some of that time will be spent on projects, but certainly some of that time can be spent de-cluttering, so I can move in the least amount of clutter and crap into our new home as possible.

So, here we go...maybe if I try to post pictures of all the crap I've gotten rid of, and write about my progress, I'll finally stick to it. It's worth a try, eh? ;)

Feel free to join me, if you wish! I know my SIL has been working on getting her house organized and decluttered - I suppose it is time for a li'l Spring Cleaning! :)

If you aren't feeling motivated, check out the progress that was shown off at The DIY Show Off. That ought to inspire you!

I :heart: ReStore!

I went to a Habitat for Humanity ReStore today for the first time.

It was...in a word...magical.

I cannot WAIT to go back.

I looked around for almost an hour, and was proud of myself when I was getting ready to leave without having purchased anything.

But then, I saw a shelf by the door, and I found something I've been looking for for weeks:

I got a two pairs of Delta porcelain Hot & Cold knobs, for $15 each! (that's easily $30 off what they usually are) I'm practically on cloud nine. Although, now that I have those, I'm trying to figure out what sort of faucet to get. I think I want something like this (only, of course, I'll switch out the knobs):



And then, I realized I could also switch out the tub faucet and knobs to match!!!
ANNNND, the ReStore had all of these things, I just didn't know that I wanted them all! :)
So, hooray for good deals, bargain shopping, and soon-to-be-home-ownership :D

Almost There!

So, I haven't stained the filing cabinets yet...still. But they're almost completely ready to be stained. There were some um...colorful warnings on the back of the stain that indicated that, if I didn't dispose properly of all my staining materials, they could spontaneously burst into flames. O.o
Seriously have no desire to experiment with combustibles. So, until I acquire what I need to make sure that I don't blow up myself, my filing cabinets, or my MIL's house, I'm going to hold off just a bit longer.

I also decided not to try to strip the mirror further. Maybe, someday, when I'm better at wood-working, I'll strip it down and stain it properly. But, for now, I've removed the mirror, cleaned the frame up, primed it, sanded it with super fine steel wool, and have spray painted it with one coat of RustOleum Leather Brown. I'm about to add the second coat, then I'll have to spray the back, and then once that's all dry, I'll apply my black glaze to the details. I'm loving it so far, and can't wait until it's finished!

Blerg!

So, it's too cold tonight to stain the filing cabinets. And too late, for that matter.

I went to a hockey game tonight, got back late, finished my lesson plan for Sunday school in the morning, and piddled around while My Love played Call of Duty: Black Ops.

I then realized that, with my "spare" time, I could apply the first coat of stripper to my lovely mirror, and get a jump-start on it. I really wanted to add it to House of Hepworths' hook-up party before the deadline, but I'm not sure it's going to happen.

Especially since it's currently 44 degrees in my place of residence. Well, not IN my place of residence, but outside my place of residence. I didn't think this would be a problem. I was incorrect. After I had already slathered the mirror in stripper, I realized that the back of the stripper said something along the lines of "for optimal use, use in temperatures ranging from 65 to 85 degrees." Oops!

So, some of the paint came off, but not very much. I'm going to give it one more go tomorrow, then we'll see what happens. I'm hoping Klean Strip will come through for me again.

I'm also thinking, because of the intricate detail of the mirror frame, I might not be able to do what I had originally intended, which was to stain the frame. I might have to get a spray paint color similar to the stain I had selected, then use my handy-dandy glaze to make the detail pop, and possibly give the illusion of wood grain. We'll just have to see :)
Thoughts?

Time Goes By So Slowly...

Good grief, guys.

This is taking FOREVER! Thank goodness for Klean Strip, or I wouldn't have made it this far. So far, I have stripped and sanded both pieces. Sanding the piece I didn't use Klean Strip on was much harder. Sanding the first piece (the one on the left, that I did use KS on) only used one sheet of sandpaper.

This is them, side-by-side, after I'd sanded the one on the left, and before I'd sanded the one on the right:


The one on the right took three sheets of sandpaper!
After sanding them down, Klean Strip had recommended using Odorless Mineral Spirits...I'm not sure why, but it didn't remove the excess paint that was leftover from the stripping and sanding processes.

So, the filing cabinets have been wiped down with the OMS, and are air-drying on the patio. Once they're done drying, I'm going to pour some stripper on a rag, then wipe off the excess paint wherever it shows. I will then let it dry some more, and hopefully then apply my stain!!!!

I can't wait!

Oh, and I found yet another reason to love eBay - like you need any more, right? Remember when I showed you these pulls I wanted?


I found them on a website, for $3.85/each. Not a bad price, but it was a website I was unfamiliar with, and would have required me to create an account that I would rather not. I found the same pulls on eBay, for $3.79/each (a bit cheaper, yay!), and ordered four of them! Once they're here, I'll just spray a coat or two of RustOleum Metallic Satin Nickel, some Krylon Clear Satin Finish, and they'll be ready to match the other hardware, while sprucing the filing cabinets up a bit!

Also, because there are some substantial wait times between coats of both stain and polyacrylic, I think I'm going to work on my mirror, as well as my MIL's rocking chair for her front porch.

I'll post progress pictures as I go along!
Wahoo!


P.S. And as for the night stand/dresser, I'm going to have to get pretty creative with it. The top is not repairable. I was just going to try to sand it down originally, but the water damage is too severe, and I made the stupid mistake of setting the bag containing my paint remains (whatever you call the stuff you strip off) on top of the dresser...and it started removing the paint off the top. I tried to remove the rest of the paint, but it's just a lost cause. So, I think I'm going to try to remove the whole top portion of the dresser, and replace the top. So, we'll see.

Best Stripper Ever!

Oh my goodness gracious.

I have tried two types of stripper before. The first one was environmentally friendly, but unfortunately not as effective as I had hoped.

Wanting desperately to achieve more in less time, and after having read this post, I went to the home improvement store to find Klean Strip. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that Lowe's didn't carry the brand, and assumed that perhaps it was only sold in certain regions of the country.

Then, wonder of wonders, miracles of miracles, I had to stop by Home Depot one fateful day, and what did I discover? Klean Strip.

I just started using it today, and I am IN LOVE! It's brilliantly easy, it doesn't smell very strongly at all, and it's even taking some of the stain off of the filing cabinet! Woohoo!

Can't wait to post pictures later!

I Have Decided...

"...to follow Jesus" - I can't help it. I started to write the title for my post, and I immediately was transported back to Bible college, when an elderly missionary couple came to visit and share their story. They had to be at least in their 80s, and they stood in front of my class and sang, "I have decided, to follow Jesus, No turning back, No turning back." They were so adorable, and had lived such full lives...and, all these years later, that is one of the strongest memories I have of college. Weird, huh? I find it interesting the things my brain chooses to retain.

Seriously, though, I have decided that tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow, I will at least finish stripping and sanding the filing cabinets, although I'd love to be completely done with them, I'm just not sure that's a realistic goal to set...but we'll see.
My Love went out to let the dogs in this evening, and said, "Uh, do you still have poison out here?"
My answer wasn't very encouraging, "Why?!?"
Apparently, the two fence jumpers like the taste of filing cabinets in the middle of a transformation. Fortunately, it's been a while since I've used chemicals on the filing cabinets, and they weren't outside very long, but still. I don't want my doggies to get sick from licking my unfinished (or otherwise) projects.

So, hopefully, I'll have some new photos to post tomorrow :)

Hair Treatment Review

Alrighty - I'm going to try to give a review on this Keratin Hair Treatment I got recently. Let me try to summarize the basics:

- It worked, but not like I expected
- I am glad I got to try it out
- I am unbelievably grateful that I didn't have to spend $300 on it
- I do not think I would do it again

Even though I realized I was being foolish, I had a mental image of what my hair would look like once this "transformation" was complete...
...enter me, surrounded by lens flares, glitter, rainbows, and doing one of those head shakes like they do on the shampoo commercials ^_^

I fervently hoped that I would get this treatment, and magically be able to take a shower, let my hair air-dry, and have it be perfectly styled, without the styling.
Again, I knew going into it that this was a highly unlikely outcome, but a girl can still dream, right?

So far, I haven't gotten the chance to let it air dry to see what would happen.
My hair, in general, is noticeably less frizzy; it's more manageable when I do straighten it (especially that weird patch on the back of my head, right near the top -- you folks with wild and crazy hair know the one I mean -- that is usually the hardest part for me to straighten), and I can actually blow-dry my hair in a reasonable amount of time without catastrophic results. However, it still gets poofy after being blow-dried (albeit less poofy, it's still a substantial amount of poof compared to others'), I still have to flat-iron it/style it, and while it is an improvement that may save me time and hassle, it's not as drastic of a change as I was expecting/hoping for. Also, as much as this may gross those of you who don't have weird hair like I do out, I used to be able to go without washing my hair for easily a couple of days. Thus far, I've washed my hair Sunday (the first time after the 72 hours following the treatment), and I should have washed it yesterday, but I fell asleep before I got around to that. So, it's looking like I'm going to have to wash my hair at the very least every other day, or possibly every day. :sigh:
So, what I'm saving in time not used to style my hair, I'm losing to daily/every other day showering+blow-drying+straightening. :big sigh:

Still, I feel a little bit more like a grown-up, having to worry about making time to style my hair so frequently ;) Lame, isn't it?

So, I'm glad I did it, but if I'd had to pay full price for it, I would not be a happy camper right now.

Butterfly in the Sky

:sigh:

What a strange last...well...while.

Waiting on our house stuff to come through has been stressful to say the very least. Finally, the paperwork that was causing the most anxiety arrived, and I believe we're a matter of days away from closing on our house! No official date yet, but it's so close I can taste it. WOOHOO!!!

This weekend, we were asked by my sister-in-law to watch their puppy. They even said we could bring our three doggies with us, to give my MIL a break, and give us some of our own space, which was a generous offer.
While space was appealing, packing up our dogs and stuff to move them somewhere else did not sound like fun (to me - My Love was ecstatic at the opportunity). So, we compromised. I decided last minute to take our dogs to the kennel for the weekend, so he and I could watch the puppy in reasonable peace and sanity.

All in all, I've really enjoyed the last 24 hours or so (despite having to get up super early to attend a conference), and plan to enjoy the rest of our time while we have space to even temporarily call our own. In other news, my hair seems to be progressing nicely. It seems to get straighter and straighter with each passing day. But I can't wait to wash it. I hope the straight "sticks." I'm getting used to it already.
We'll see in the morning.
I'll have to get up a little earlier to allow myself extra time to style it, but I'm hoping it goes well!

Tonight, the hubster and I are watching Star Trek. I love Levar Burton, but it's a little difficult to mentally avoid the Reading Rainbow nostalgia.

That's all for now! Our 10 day forecast seems to call for beautiful, sunny skies, so I'm hoping desperately to finish up my furniture projects!


Oooh, one more thing! I bought myself some beautiful flowers today at Central Market; freesia and alstroemeria. Aren't they beautiful?

Frizz and Fluff?

I have a confession to make...




Today, I had a Coke.
My countdown has to start over. I made it to 3 weeks and 3 days.
Absolutely HAD to have one today.
Something inside me was broken, for some reason. I was one unbelievably cranky human being.
(there are, unfortunately, witnesses who would vouch for the accuracy of this statement)
For the sake of my own sanity, and the well-being and happiness of those around me, I indulged myself.

And it was heavenly ^_^


In other news, I got my Keratin hair treatment today.
So far, it looks pretty good!
The smell was minimal, which is nice. I was afraid of something sort of perm-related. Which is fowl, and most unpleasant.
It wasn't.
Also, on that note, I suppose I subscribe to the belief that usually, things that are good for you taste gross, or smell bad, or whatever...so the paranoid side of me is a little concerned that, because it didn't smell as bad as a perm, it isn't going to change my hair as much.
But I hope to prove my pessimism wrong.

Much like a perm, I have to wait for 72 hours before I wash my hair.
That, I think is when we'll see for real if it worked or not, or to what extent that it worked.

I have to warn you. The pictures you are about to see contain a woman who is still sleep deprived. The woman in the pictures below is also desperate for her allergy medicine to kick in so she can stop looking twenty years older than she actually is.
I feel it is only fair to let you know that I have actually photoshopped some of the wrinkles/bags out from under my eyes because I look that ancient right now. Seriously. Sad day.

Without further ado, here is my hair at present, after the Keratin treatment:

Infinitely less frizz and fluff.

And with the exception of a few fly-aways at the top here, I think it's looking pretty good.

What with being limited in what I do to my hair at this point in time (as I wait for it to "set" or whatever), in conjunction with uncooperative allergies, I was unable to obtain a decent overall shot of my hair. That will have to wait for the big reveal when I get to wash and style my hair.


In conclusion, I thought I'd let you see what I usually encounter as I surf on the worldwide web...or attempt to write a blog entry.

To my left, Doggie Beau

To my right, Mr. Lars

And...front and center...attempting to convince me that absolutely nothing is worth my attention except for herself...the one and only Sadie Bear.


She's usually extremely persuasive
(here you can kind of get the idea of my hair, and it's not a wretched picture, though it looks shorter than it actually is)


And, if army crawling into my lap, "talking" to me, and staring at me fail, there are always doggie kisses :)

That's all for me tonight. G'night y'all!

Crazy Hair - Revealed!

I'm going to bed tonight with my hair wet.

So I can take a picture of my hair in the morning.

Because I have scheduled my appointment for my Keratin treatment on Thursday!

I have to color my hair at home tomorrow night (to get rid of all of the grays -- soooo sad that it's true!), I'm getting my hair cut by my most awesome lady on Wednesday, then I'll get my hair straightened on Thursday!

I have no idea what will happen with my hair in the morning - it's a little unfair that I'm sleeping on it -- it will no doubt be different than it would be if I just let it air dry. Regardless, you should get the idea.

Then, I will post a picture of the generic after the Keratin treatment, followed by one more of the results from air-drying, only after the treatment.

It's like a science experiment! Only not really.

***UPDATE***

Alright, so here are my pictures. These are actually from this evening, not this morning, as I could not find any batteries ANYWHERE in the house to power my camera. Fortunately for you, my hair still stays decidedly fluffy if not wrestled into submission.

I warn you: what you are about to see is not pretty. It's late February, which is apparently code for my-eyes-are-about-to-be-scratched-out-of-my-face-season, and I'm extremely sleep deprived. These things do not a model make.

Here's a bit of a close-up...frizzy, fluffy action going on here.

Not curly, not straight, not a flattering picture :)
But it gives you an idea of what I deal with on a regular basis.
And this is not it at its worst.

And I leave you with one final overview, with my face blocked out...
to spare you from focusing on my mug-shot mug...and focus on my hair.

Again, this is my hair after going to bed with it wet, and only putting leave-in conditioner and a miracle spray in it. I can get it to "scrunch," but it takes LOADS of mousse, and doesn't always cooperate. Whenever I straighten it, I have to take a shower at night, put it in a low ponytail overnight, then spend a few minutes blow-drying the part of my hair that was in the ponytail holder, because, no, it does not dry in as little as 24 hours. Once it's acceptably dry, then I have to flat-iron it, which can take anywhere from 30 minutes to easily an hour or more.

So, here's hoping that this thing works!

unValentine's Day?

I don't really "do" Valentine's Day.

Back in my high school years, Valentine's Day (aka S.A.D. for Single Awareness Day, or Bitter Day, or something of that nature) was a very strange and bizarre event akin only to something seen on Animal Planet. All the eligible females would preen themselves until they looked their best, in a feeble attempt to catch the attention of the single males around them. Only, instead of putting their best foot forward, or even thinking of showing others that they're loved, they chose to wallow...and whine...and complain; their lot in life was to be unrecognized on Valentine's Day...woe is them...as if, somehow, this would make them more appealing to those of the opposite sex. They made snarky t-shirts intended to poke fun at the holiday, had "bitter parties," and sulked about how they had nobody to commiserate with on such a "stupid" holiday.
Most of this was intended to be some sort of fishing for compliments routine; where if they complained enough about how nobody liked them, someone would surely jump in and reassure them of their worth and appeal.

And yet, they were the first to swoon if a boy made even the most infinitesimal gesture of affection.
To sing the praises of such a holiday if they were recognized on it.
To gloat over their trophies of love.
All the former scoffing would melt away, and where a bitter person once stood, a lovesick doofus remained.

I look back at those days and shake my head in exasperation...and I can't for the life of me understand why any of us behaved in such a manner.

I suppose I could go into a long discussion about people's most basic need/desire to be loved. To be accepted. To be the white knight or sought after princess of lore and legend...because surely, we're all meant to have our own "happily ever after." Aren't we?
Um, no.
Unfortunately, that isn't the case.
And is love about what you get?

Usually, the desperation of wanting circumstances to mirror a favorite bedtime story leaves so many projecting fairytale-like-virtues onto a hollow reality.
And makes them focus on what isn't important.


I am no longer a Valentine's Day hater.
And no, it's not because I have someone to share it with, though I do.

My Love and I have had an agreement, of sorts, not to "celebrate" Valentine's Day. I really like getting flowers and being appreciated as much as the next gal, but I hate how commercialized it all is.
Like, if you don't get flowers or chocolates, or whatever the commercials brainwash you into believing symbolizes love, then nobody must love you...right? WRONG!
And, while there are a lot of good men out there who truly love the women in their lives and use the holiday as a reason to show it...I feel a general vibe of guilt or fear of retribution around this time of year from men as they obediently pick out flowers, a plush animal, and a box of chocolates from the supermarket. Again, I'm not saying there aren't some, but have you seen many happy looking men standing in line the day before or day of Valentine's Day? I haven't.
Maybe they just don't like the lines? ;)

All that to say, My Love and I both agreed that we'd rather attempt to love and respect each other 365 days a year, rather than just try to get the standard gifts for one another on Valentine's Day, fight the crowds to go out, and pay more money on everything just because of what day it was.
And I think that is good.

However :#)

When I came home this evening, there were roses in the kitchen.
Roses for me, and roses for my mother-in-law (we're living with her right now, remember?)
When I found him in our room to say thank you, he asked if I'd seen my present.
I thought he meant the flowers.
I thought wrong.
He told me to turn around.
On the dresser in front of me was The Twilight Zone: Fan Favorites, and Castle: Season 2.


In summary,
-Being bitter and resentful for what you think you deserve while withholding it from others is ironic, not to mention selfish.
-Requiring gifts, or even giving them for insincere reasons is unloving...a sort of anti-love.
- When you don't "do" Valentine's Day, so you show love and respect throughout the year, February 14th is still a day out of that same year. It doesn't mean don't do loving things on Valentine's Day - just don't do them for the sake of the day...do it for the sake of the person you love, and the commitment you made to love them.

Oh, and unexpected, heartfelt gifts are a really nice surprise.
And I'm grateful :)

Tortoise, not the Hare (unfortunately)

Ugh, why is progress so painful? Today was relatively pretty weather, but still on the chilly side. I spent most of it going outside, applying a coat of stripper to my almost finished filing cabinet, going back inside, and waiting for it to do its thing.

At 9:39pm, I'm still not finished with it. I'm hoping to finish the side I'm working on in a couple minutes, then flip it over, and keep going. Depending on how awake I feel once it's finished (and how cold it is outside), I may or may not start on the other one.*
*I did not even finish the original one. What with it dropping below freezing, I'm going to have to pick back up where I left off tomorrow once the sun has warmed everything up.

I had returned to my original thought of painting rather than staining the filing cabinets, but I cannot imagine painting over the woodgrain after all of this to get the other paint off. :sigh:
I'm googling filing cabinet images to come up with ideas, though we'll just have to see.

There's the idea of incorporating color of some sort - I love that deep teal cabinet here:

I'm kind of in love with this Minwax color. It would incorporate both the bold color that I've been liking lately, as well as the wood grain that I've labored so hard to uncover. Plus, it would be beautiful with my silver hardware, doncha think?

There are also lots of cute ideas to incorporate paper or fabric onto the surface of the cabinet. If I did this, I think I'd put it on the side of the cabinet, but am still undecided:

I'll have some fabric left over from the canvas project you can see on the wall in the dining room here. I'm hoping to actually paint on that canvas once we're settled in our new place.
I like the color a lot, and it would be cute cut into sections for panels on the side:



There are also actually a lot of really cool filing cabinet hardware pieces to consider. My favorite one incorporates both the card holder and drawer pull. I'm just not quite sure how that would look on my specific cabinets:



There's also the option of picking out a decorative card holder, and keeping my current basic drawer pull:



Or, keep the existing card holders, and find new, decorative drawer pulls - look at this one!:

I hate to say it, but I may just have to wait until we actually move into our house to finish out these filing cabinets. I want them in my art room, and I am pretty sure I want them in the closet, like I mentioned here, but it's hard to know exactly how my art room is going to come together, what colors I'll use, etc.

I guess tomorrow, I'll keep stripping them down, then move on to the nightstand (and maybe the mirror, if I'm lucky enough!), then clean the filing cabinets up and set them aside for the time being. :sigh: I hate being practical.

Tomorrow's Forecast

I checked the weather online, and here's what I found:


Overall, looks like it's going to be a pretty decent day - hopefully decent enough to get going on my projects! I picked up the other odds 'n ends that I needed at the hardware store today, so I'm REALLY looking forward to getting started!
(if I get enough done, maybe I can start work on my mirror!)

VERY Belated Christmas Countdown DIY Update

I just realized that I forgot to post the finished product of this project:



What do you think? It ended up a lot different from my original vision for it, but I was very pleased with it. I think the hardest part was putting the tiny number stickers inside the raised circles.

Maybe this year I'll make some more, and start earlier :)

FREAK OUT (updated)

Is trying REALLY hard not to freak out right now. Obviously, it's a bit late.

Wait, wait, wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Earlier today, I was on facebook cyberstalking looking through pictures of some people who I hadn't talked to in a long time.

I found this picture:


I was absolutely in love with what I saw. So much so that I saved it for inspiration at a later date. Just LOOK at that mirror!
Little did I know that "later date" meant Wednesday, February 9th at approximately 1:00am.

On a whim, I decided to try to at least figure out the proper name of the thing I coveted, and for which I would later search. I found a few things that were similar, but nothing exact. I did a google image search, found a few things that were even closer, and then...a bolt of inspiration struck.

I went to my Achilles' heel, craigslist, just to see what was available.

And, lo and behold, I found it.
Not something similar.
Not something kind of like what I was looking for.
EXACTLY what I was looking for.

As is the case with most things on craigslist, its beauty and potential are currently masked beneath layers of paint and deceptive ick-factor...which is okay, because I'm hoping this fact alone will enable me to snag this treasure.

Please, oh please, oh please, oh please.

They didn't have an email for contact, just a phone number; and I didn't figure it would endear me to the seller to attempt to text them at this time of morning for a couple reasons 1) they might not have free texting, 2) they might actually have their phone on/nearby, and waking them would probably not be a good "sell-me-that-thing-I-want" tactic.
But, let me tell you, it's taking all the self-restraint I have, and I'm hoping 9am isn't going to be too early to call.

I will post...as soon as I know...well, maybe I'll try to wait until I have the item in my possession. I hope so very much that I get it!!!!


**UPDATE**
Well, I got it!!! After finding it on craigslist last night, and resigning myself to waiting until a civilized time in the morning to contact the seller, I researched how much this sort of thing sells for, on average. The number I came up with was $225, and I got mine for...wait for it...

$35!!!!!

Here she is (pictures taken by the seller):



Unfortunately, it's unbearably cold outside, or I would add this to my list of projects I am hoping to complete this week. It looks like it'll be sunny, and slightly warmer tomorrow, so I'm going to try to get work done on the filing cabinets and the dresser. The mirror will have to wait.

I am, however, going to swing by the hardware store and pick up some paint stripper and wood stain, so that when the weather is right, I'll be ready.

What do you think of my find?