House Projects

 I thought I would hop on and share a few of my projects from the last several months. It seems like I am most fulfilled when I have a project. At times I do get burnt out and just want to have everything finished. 

This trunk was given to me by my mom. It sat in our garage for a couple years until I finally got the motivation to tackle it. In a way, I am thankful that I waited to refinish it, because I am afraid I would have painted the whole thing white. My style has changed from when I was first married.

I restained the top and bottom and used black chalk paint on the middle. I did distress some of the fine details to add an aged look. A few coats of polyurethane finished it off nicely. 

I am very happy with how it turned out!

These pictures are from this past fall when I had it decorated for the season.

On one of my many late night scrolls through Pinterest, I noticed these neat black and white wood decor hangings. My motto is, 'do not buy it unless you cannot make it.' A piece becomes special to me when I actually put some work and effort into it instead of buying it at the store.

Mine are not exactly like the picture but close enough. I did buy the blank wood frames from Hobby Lobby and just used a ruler to draw the design on. I used paint pens and small paint brushes to do the fine edges.

Nate also gets in on a few projects himself, usually by choice. He does not seem to mind too much. We did a shiplap accent wall in a bedroom upstairs.

Do you spy a little helper?

I like the dimension and character that it adds.

Here are a few signs that I made from pieces of wood lying around our house.

While I like the saying of the aqua sign (left), I just did not have a good place for it. I needed a FALL sign for my porch.

I did glue some rustic craft wood around the edges to make it look complete.

This brown board was a shelf that we took down when we moved into this house.

This is not the best picture, but I turned it into a BAKERY sign for my kitchen.

This brown scroll is something that I made out of brown craft paper. So simple and cheap. I tied some burlap ribbon through the top in order to hang it on a hook. All of the sayings for these projects, I print off of Microsoft Word and transfer onto the paper or sign. No free-handing for this girl. I wish=)

This next project has been mostly Nate. Other than painting and staining, he did this all on his own.

Due to the fact that Nate works from home one day per week, he needs a private work space. With another baby coming he decided it might be best to move upstairs. He was not real keen on the pink stripe. 

These pictures do not do it justice, but it turned out really well. We have some trim and a bit more painting to do yet. This is one of our most recent projects. 

I am sure I will be back with more projects to share in the future. The outdoor projects have been calling my name lately and those are numerous. Numerous and not quite as fun in my eyes. I think we are all ready for the temperatures to warm up and have that sun peak through. 

Time for Spring to spring!!

Bennett's Big News!

 It has been awhile since I have hopped on here to say, "hello." I have a bit of catching up to do, and it may take a few posts.

We are living the life and always have so very much to be thankful for. It is hard to believe that this month marks one year since we moved to Indiana. 

The house has kept us busy with projects and having family around has added to our social circle, which has been wonderful.

Bennett has some news he would like to share...

I know many of you have heard from other sources, but Bennett will be a big brother come mid-June.

Although it will be an adjustment (for all of of us, not only the little guy), Bennett has a tender heart and has the makings of a sweet big brother.

Both Nate and I appreciate knowing the gender ahead of time. At the end of January we were able to find out.

I was expecting the baby to be another little boy, but to my surprise....IT IS A GIRL!

The sign says, "I am gonna be the mister to a little baby sister."

This sign is not accurate any longer, I am now 27 weeks along. 

The pregnancy is going smoothly thus far, at this phase I just have to be careful that I am not on my feet all day, otherwise my lower body pays for it.

It is fun to start thinking about some accessories for a little girl. I would say I am in full nesting mode, with an occasional nap sprinkled in there, of course. 

When looking for cute swaddle blankets that not every other mother owns, I was not having much success. I wiped off the dust on my sewing machine and made a few of my own, along with some suede pacifier clips, a burp rag, and some head bands. 

I am itching to go get more swaddle fabric. This mama loves swaddle blankets, especially those first few months of a newborn.

I have also been working on the nursery. I found this pegboard at IKEA last week and thought it would be perfect above my changing station.

I painted a black accent wall a few weeks ago, and we put up the new crib. I am still deciding what to put above the crib, one project at a time I guess.

That is all I have for now. I will try not to be a stranger to this platform, at least not as much as I have been lately. Thank you for stopping by!

Bennett Turns One!

Our little boy has officially been in our lives (out of the womb) for over a year now. He has been quite the adventure, definitely our greatest adventure, but not always the easiest adventure.

Since his birthday was the day before Mother's Day, I decided to combine his party with the Mother's Day celebration, and host both at once.

Bennett on his birthday. It was a "stay-in-jammies-all-morning" type of day.

Bennett has quite the obsession with balls. For his birthday we got him this kiddie pool with several balls, and he loves it. Never enough balls for this boy!

I cannot say that I have been to a Mother's Day meal, where the theme was surrounded by foxes. Nobody seemed to mind, I think the kids may have actually enjoyed it for a change.

This fox cake was much easier to make than I expected. My brother-in-law walked into the house, took a look at it, and commented on what a cute kitty cat the cake was. I do admit, that it has a striking resemblance to Garfield, but nonetheless, I was going for a fox.

We played a few games with the kids.

Bennett enjoyed all the action going on. Usually his house is not near this exciting.

It was special to have both Nate's mom, and mine at the party.

As I suspected, Bennett did not want much to do with his cake. That is just fine. He will probably make up for that in the years to come.

The crazy coup was his gift from Grandma and Grandpa Z. It has been a hit!

He even shared it with his friend Kaylee the other day.

He also spends much time in his swing from Grandma and Grandpa F. 

What a well-loved little fella!

Bennett Clay, I could go on and on and write about how special you are to your Mommy and Daddy. We cherish you as our little son, and love you more than words can describe. We pray that you will grow up and make Jesus proud. You are our sweet gift from heaven, and we thank God for the gift He has given us in you. We are unworthy to be your parents, and we do not take the responsibility lightly. May we strive to be the best examples for you. Thanks for putting up with us, because many days we have absolutely no clue what we are doing. You are our greatest adventure!!

We love you sweet boy!!

Hard to believe we have a one-year-old.

Happy Birthday Bennett!!

Getting Settled

We have been moved for two months now. While there are many things I miss about Ohio (mainly the people), Indiana has been good to us. It has been a busy couple of months, but we would have it no other way.

Many have asked us if there was much that needed done on our new house. It was just fine as it was, but we wanted to customize it a bit more to our style and preference.

My dad assisted Nate with replacing the front door. It was one of those projects that ended up being a bit trickier than expected. The joys of a century-old home=)

Top photos- Before
Bottom photos- After

We had so many who were eager and willing to help us with moving, painting, meals, and the list goes on. The support was overwhelming, and we could not have gotten to this point without our loved ones.

New paint, new lighting, and new flooring were the main items on our agenda.

Nate did an excellent job putting up this faux beam in our living room. It adds an element of warmth to the space.

New lighting in the dining room area!

Below is a video of our Kitchen/Living Room Makeover. It goes into a bit more detail if you are interested.

We celebrated four year of marriage this past week. I thank God for my loving husband, who I call my Steady Eddie. He is perfect for me!

Bennett Clay is six days away from turning a year. What a year it has been, a year filled with much change. Benny is our sweet little boy, who we cannot seem to get enough of. He brings us endless joy, yet irritates us at the same time. How is that even possible?

Nonetheless, we thank God for the little miracle He blessed us with twelve months ago. We truly have so much to be thankful for, and I hope all of you feel the exact same way.

Blessing to you all!

It Is Getting Real

As I held my sleeping baby and rocked him back and forth, it was as if a wave of thought and emotion came out of nowhere. The wave swept me up and there was little I could do about it.

My thoughts were directed to the past four years, spent here in Ohio. 

I thought of those first few weeks as a new bride, here in Paulding county, not many familiar faces around. I would count down the minutes until Nate arrived home from work, because in a sense, it truly was the two of us.

I thought about my interview at the hospital, soon after being married, and how I was thankful for a job so close by. The relationships formed were special and I felt a sense of belonging in this new community.

I remembered how thrilled we were to buy our first house together and make it our own, and now here we were, knowing that there was an offer on the table, and that we may soon be handing over the keys.

Thinking about the heartache we endured, in these very walls, when we realized that we would not be starting a family quite as soon as we had hoped.

Wondering how many countless times we had walked around the block, in this sweet neighborhood, and how many hours I had spent staring out the front window, watching the neighborhood kids run around.

I thought about the friendships that God had brought along, and how I could barely stand the thought of saying "goodbye."

I marveled at how I quickly fell in love with our church family, and how they have continually wrapped their arms around us and supported us beyond belief. 

I remembered back to the day when we brought our baby boy home from the hospital and introduced him to his new home.

I think about the many loved ones who have walked through our front door. Some from other parts of the world, and I am grateful that we could open our home and hearts to them.

I think about the day when we will drive away from this house for the very last time. Have our last Sunday at the church that has become so near and dear to us. Bid farewell to the borders of Ohio.

Will there be some sadness? Definitely

I have not written these words with dry eyes whatsoever.

But we know that there is joy awaiting too. We know that there is a new normal to be had. Change is not always meant to be easy. I am thankful that this transition is not easy, for it means that we have invested our hearts, time, and love into the place in which God has meant for such a time.

Thankful for these verses which God gave me this morning.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world....And the world passeth away, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. ~1 John 2:15 & 17

What a good reminder to not place so much value in our earthly possessions or circumstances. As the title states, "It Is Getting Real," and that is the truth. We are getting closer and closer to our move date. What a privilege for Nate and I to look back, at our first four years of marriage, with such fondness. We will miss so much about this place, but we know that God has great things in store.