The Yard

Our yard is in as bad of shape as the house was. It hasn't been high on the priority list of things to get done around here so it's just this huge eye sore for us and for the whole neighborhood. We've been having some amazingly beautiful days and I can feel spring coming. I really want my kids to be able to run and play and explore our property. We also really want to plant a garden this year. Thanks to Alan's wonderful brother Scott it looks like we'll be able to do all of that this year! He dropped of a CAT dozer to our house today and Alan spent 6 straight hours in that thing. I don't have the done pictures yet because he didn't finish until it was dark. I'll post those later. Really it just looks like a giant pit of mud but I can see the vision! I'm so excited!!!


This is Scott giving Alan driving lessons. There in the garden on the side of the house here.

Alan's all ready to rock and roll.

First he pulled up these nasty boards left over from the nasty dog run that held 8 dogs.



As soon as Scott left Alan found the ONLY mud pit in the entire yard and proceeded to get himself stuck for 2 hours. It took the winch on the Jeep, a snatch block and our very helpful neighbor to get him out. There was absolutely no hardpack under the 10,000 pound dozer. This picture doesn't do it justice he had the dozer sunk more than halfway under. This picture was after he got out and the hole filled up.

Me in the Jeep working the winch. These are seriously my favorite pair of shoes. I Lurve them!

Here's a before picture.

Hard at work knocking down the weeds and leveling the yard.

Painting 101

I sometimes get asked for advise on repainting furniture or cabinets. I thought I would write it all down in a blog post so it's handy for anyone who might need it. By posting this I am not saying I am an expert by any stretch of the imagination. I have however refinished 4 kitchens 4 bathrooms and countless pieces of furniture so I'll share the knowledge I do have.

PREP WORK


This will probably be the most time consuming part of your project.

- CLEAN. You want to thoroughly clean the item with soap and hot water. Be extra diligent if it's kitchen cabinets, they tend to have a grease build up you want to really get out.
- SAND. If the item has any rough spots, chipping paint, etc. you will want to sand them out. I hate sanding so I try to avoid it at all cost. Sometimes you just have to though.
-DEGLOSSER. I believe this is the greatest invention of my time...no joke. This stuff is amazing. You just take an old rag and wipe it on your item. Don't wipe it off, just let it dry. If you want you can do it again and again. This will prep the piece for primer, no sanding necessary. I almost never sand anymore thanks to this stuff. Yay for DeGlosser!!!

PRIMER

All I'm going to say is...YES!!! Primer is your friend. It doesn't matter if you paint it on or spray it on, just do it.

PAINTING



There are a few options as far as paint goes.

- PAINT AND PAINTBRUSH. Chose a favorite satin or semi-gloss paint and a REALLY good paintbrush. I can not stress the importance of a REALLY good paintbrush enough. My favorite is Purdy. It can be a bit of an investment but it is worth it. You will get nice even coverage with no brush strokes if you use a good brush. This is how I paint 90% of my projects.
- SPRAY PAINT. This is a great option because you get really good even coverage...if you do it right. Don't get ahead of yourself and lay it on thick. You want to do multiple light coats to get the best finished product. The downside to spay paint is that it can get very expensive. I spray paint my small projects or anything metal or plastic. I don't have a favorite brand but you'll want to use a good name brand not the $.99 Wal-mart can. That stuff is junk!!!! Buy the good stuff and you'll be fine.
- PAINT SPRAYER. This is probably the best option although it's the one I use the least. My husband is the master paint sprayer and I don't go there! He has spayed 2 out of the four kitchens we have re-done and the coverage is wonderful. We don't like to break it out for small projects because clean up is kind of a pain but sometimes it's just worth it. You can rent a paint sprayer for pretty cheap if you don't own one.

FINISHING

I do a few things to my finished projects.

DISTRESSING - You can do this a few different ways. You can rub wax on your project in the areas that you want to sand later so that the paint comes off easy and controlled. Or you can do like I do and just bust out the sander and go to work. I think it's a bit of an art that you learn the more you do. I've had my share of bad distress jobs. You can take it to next level and bang your piece up with chain or a screw driver. Distressing is a GREAT way to cover up you mistakes as well!

ANTIQUE GLAZE - I love this stuff. I've glazed cabinets and furniture alike. I've found a method that works after lots of trial and error. I like to brush the glaze on, then I wipe it right back off with an rag. That's it. Pretty simple but I used to try to rag it on, then rag it off and it always looked yucky.


POLY - I use a poly acrylic because it's specifically states that it is works on paint. The poly urethane didn't mention paint. You can probably use it but I didn't want to take a chance. Someone else who knows, feel free to chime in. Choose the finish that suits your needs: matte, satin or gloss. Again I just brush the poly on with a GOOD brush and let it dry. You can do additional coats for extra protection.


Now your done! Enjoy!

Is it to late?

Hope you had a Happy Valentines Day...


I know it's late but Alan has had 5 days off of work and that always turns my schedule upside down. The kids have had the last 5 days off of school as well and it's been a great long weekend! I had a wonderful birthday on Sunday with Alan, the kids, my parents and my sisters family. Tomorrow it's back to reality.

Visions of Fireplaces

I've had visions of fireplaces dancing in my head for a long time. I have a deep love for all things fireplace related. When we bought this house there was an awkward corner fireplace in an awkward back family room. That family room was immediately transformed into a kitchen and the fireplace was turned from the corner to the wall. We've been talking and planning out this fireplace from day one. The problems are proving bigger than we want to deal with though. The fireplace manufacturer is out of business and we can't buy replacement parts to fix the chimney. It would cost way more money than we want to put into it right now. Fireplaces really aren't energy saving at all unless you have a wood stove so it just seems silly to dump money we don't have into something just because it will look pretty. We've been debating for 6 months now weather or not to keep the fireplace or rip it out. The other factor is that we would like to add an addition onto the house sometime in the future and the location of the fireplace would be the only good place to put the doorway to the addition. So I think after great debate and a lot of changing our minds we've decided to rip the thing out. It's sad and I want to change my mind every day but I think next week it'll be time. I'm sad that my visions will be put on hold once again. The one redeeming thing in all of this is that if we do put in an addition we will put in a fireplace, so at least there is still hope!

Adventures in Couponing

So let's just lay it out straight...I really HATE couponing. I have tried to get into it but I just have no time and no interest. It seems to be the the new and cool thing to do around here but I'm just going to have to be a part of the un-cool crowd on this one. This doesn't mean I don't LOVE a good deal. A good deal is like a high for me, I get all crazy eyed and giddy when I find a really good deal. I am a complete and total bargain hunter but coupons just make me crazy. I follow a blog called The Bargain Jargon and I love it. I usually glaze over the coupon deals but there was one I couldn't pass up this week. Albertsons is having a smoking good deal on a few things and I would have stocked up just on the sale price but the Bargain Jargon suggested buying some coupons on ebay for the sale items. Who knew you could buy coupons on ebay??? So that's just what I did (I spent $1.75 on 35 coupons). I got them in the mail today and off I went to Albertons. Basically I spend about $45 on 15 boxes of cereal, 30 boxes of granola bars, 5 boxes of instant oatmeal and 10 bottles of syrup. The awesome part is that I saved $185!!! Woooo Hoooo, that's what I call a smoking good deal! I had to get a rain check for the 30 boxes of pancake mix I plan to buy with 15 coupons for at total of $15. Ya me!

Did I mention...

I got a new calling in church. I'm the 1st counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. Which is the women's organization for anyone who doesn't follow Mormon lingo!
Why not add it on to the madness that is my life! I really am looking forward to serving the sisters of my ward. It gives me purpose and reminds me to slow down and take time for the spiritual side of my life. My bishop was concerned about adding this responsibility on to my already busy schedule but I feel so blessed to be able to serve the church. How could I not be willing to give back only a tiny portion of what my Savior gives me every single day? I know I'm being watched over and guided, I'm so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost. I couldn't function without it, now if the Spirit could just get the laundry done!!!

Current Projects

We are almost done with the office, it just needs a few finishing touches. The frames are currently being built for the gallery wall. They will all be black with black and white pictures. The frames are proving to be a long process so we'll see when they get done. I still need some accessories like 3 baskets for inside my red shelf and I have a sweet plan for my coffee table. Speaking of the coffee table. I purchased it as a dining table off of craigslist for $25. Alan cut the pedestal legs down to make it coffee table height then it received a nice fresh coat of white paint to wash away the dull boring brown that it was! Sweetness!!!





We are currently working hard on the office bathroom. It is a MESS! It's now gutted, except for that hideous black toilet. Until I have the money for a fresh new white one it will have to stay. The corner thing you see has been torn down and now there is a ton more room. I bought and antique dresser off of craiglist for cheap yesterday and it received a coat of black paint last night. It is now all distressed and ready to become the new bathroom vanity. We are having a friend in Georgia ship us 3 bowl sinks, faucets and light fixtures from our old house (2 for upstairs and 1 for the office). Once those arrive we can get the vanity in. We'll be putting in black slate floors and a coat of white paint on the walls.

New Pictures

I finally took new pictures of my kids. I really have empathy for my clients when I have to try and get my kids all together to get pictures done, it's like pulling teeth. I'm glad I finally bit the bullet and did it because I love them! Now I just have to get them printed out and on the wall.
We are going to have them printed 16X24 (yes, that's huge) with a linen finish. Alan is custom building the frames. They will be a 5" frame made from Hemlock with a black glaze finish, then distressed. I can't wait to get it all done! I'll post pictures once they're up on the wall.

On a house note...I've been dilegently working away on my office. It's getting pretty close to being done. So I'll have pictures for you soon.

New Years Eve

Crazy good times! We took the kids with us over to the Nerland's house and partied like we were still teenagers. We enjoyed some Rock Band, a little game of Dirty Minds (perfect group to play it with), Pictionary, a lot of laughing, tons of food, the necessary banging of pots and pans at midnight along with a few fireworks, followed by more laughing and a few rounds of Wii bowling.
Tallula tried her hardest to stay awake and ring in the New Year but alas she gave up and fell asleep around 11. Tate was in and out until 1am when he finally conked out. Alan took a nap between the hours of 2-3am. Taylor and Tanner on the other hand stayed awake until we got home at 4am. That's some serious New Years eve dedication if you ask me. Our kids are well trained in parting like rock stars!
I couldn't have asked for a better way to bring in a new year than spending it with great friends who have supported us through a tough year. Thanks for your love and freindship guys! I'm looking forward to a new year with less stress and more joy.