inspired by the post secret book i've been reading. so intriguing and morbid and exciting and happy and funny and sad at the same time. i just soak up every page i read. (and sometimes i like the art more than i like the secrets) if you've never heard of them, you can see the blog HERE.
i got this book in the mail the other day. kinda fun to see my face on the cover...even better to see me with my good friend by my side. makes me miss her. colorado is just too far away. kelly, i cannot WAIT till you come visit! we have alot of catching up to do.
this is the second book by wendy mckeehan and kitty foster and they did another fabulous job. it's put out by MEMORY MAKERS so it should be showing up at archivers and places like that. they do a really good job of getting their books out there to alot of stores. and wendy and kitty are great writers so it's a must read! :)
i also have this layout in the book. love this girl.
and today i scrapped with shanie and erica all afternoon. but only after i was wrangled into swimming with the kids first. it felt SO refreshing in the 90 degree heat. and as a double bonus it really did ease the ache in my back a little. my little bugger is a kicker-HARDCORE. i don't think he ever sleeps, i really don't. i'm hoping they are happy kicks and not angry ones because i have a feeling he's going to be pretty energetic and i would prefer the positive kind of energy. :) it really does make my heart so happy to feel this little piece of me moving so much inside me. the emotional connection is unreal. anyways...on to the pictures...:)
first, my mimi and me. malia is pretty much the light of my life these days. she is just so happy and gets so excited to see me that i can't help but be happy around her. i think she is probably going to be VERY affected by the 3 new babies coming into the family this fall since she has been the youngest for so long and everyone hangs on her every word and action.
and the rest of my little friends...SO SO loving having a daily relationship with them all again:
and the pages i scrapped...we did some 30 minute challenges again. SO fun to be creating with her again and getting back into the challenge zone. love it. :)
and this one made me very emotional... i miss them so much it makes my heart ache. so happy to be able to talk to them a little today. :) (for this one i used 2 seperate photos by rebekah and kinda made them look like they go together):
and last but not least, these 2 little beauties scrapped with us too. mimi was too busy "scwapping" to look up:
that's all i got for now...have a good weekend everyone!
so today was all about antique furniture and thrift shopping. amy and i headed out this morning in search of some good thrift stores in downtown fort wayne. we knew of one place from a friend, and decided to just ask about others from there. and we definately hit the jackpot! we stopped first at a HUGE thrift store that was furniture only and 3 stories high, but didn't really find anything there that we had to have. (although i DID decide that when i finally do my living room, i'm going to be looking for an old fashioned radio to set my tv on.) we did, however, hear about the most amazing thrift/antique store ever from the guy working the front. it was actually within walking distance so we headed out, cameras in hand to see what we would find...
and it ROCKED. seriously the coolest thrift store ever. if you are ever in fort wayne, it's on calhoun street and you should definately fit it into your plans. we spent hours browsing through everything...trying on hats and old vintage clothes (definately going back for clothes once there isn't a huge bump in front of me, preventing any normal clothing to fit around me), checking out all the cool furniture, and wishing we had the space (and the money) for all the fun little trinkets...
in the end, i got an awesome round table to put in the middle of my scraproom instead of a desk, and a few old toys...and amy ended up with some cool shutters and a fabulous little yellow chair for photoshoots. we both walked away VERY happy! :)
outside:
inside:
some fun hats:
cool mirrors:
and my table...in the store and in my studio (LOVE that it's on wheels!):
...it looks much much better in the store right now because it blends so much into my floor. i'm going to need to get a cool rug for under it, or paint it or something. we'll have to see how ambitious i'm feeling. :)
AND THEN...
we went to another thrift store and found NOTHING, but right outside there was a super cool blue wall right beside a bridge that we did an impromtu photoshoot in front of. here's a few random shots:
today was a very good day...
so this week was crazy...so much so that i didn't get a chance to even blog the last couple days. but i got lots of projects done, some layouts completed, went to my parents for the 4th for some bbq and fireworks (presented by chris), got coupon schooled at various grocery stores by my mom, and had numerous friends come visit, along with the fun homeowner chores of mowing my lawn (and wishing for a minute that my backyard wasn't so big), laundry and cleaning...
where do i start? first, amycame over again and helped me get my scraproom a little more completed and organized. she is the self-proclaimed queen of organization so we get along GREAT considering i'm the self-proclaimed queen of NOT organization. case in point: i scrapped out of a suitcase for years. seriously. one big suitcase, one big mess. if you scrapped with me during that time, you will remember. yuck. loving having things so much more accessible and in their correct places! thanks again, amy! :) we also got lots of scrapping done...which rocked considering i've been more focused on house projects. i'm considering using some of them for a contest, so i can't really share right now, though...sorry!
ms amy and our scrapping mess:
and the studio in all it's colorful finery...
first, the shelves...before and after:
and i bought some Styrofoam squares and random fabrics at hobby lobby and joanns and then kind of like gift-wrapped them to put up on the wall. it was SUPER easy and i love the outcome! i think they would look really cool anywhere in my house, as long as i switch the fabric to go with the different color schemes...so there will probably be more of this look in the future. and the best part about it is that it's SO cheap! :) the C is from anthropologie, and the cool pink frame is from hobby lobby.
and here is a quick peek at the shelving that is back in the corner. i decided not to cover the back with fabric since it was just wood to start out and you can't really see it that much stuck back there. i DO love having all my paints out where i can see the colors instead of being in a box that i had to dig through. also, the chair doesn't match the room perfectly, but it was in my bedroom FOREVER when i was a little girl and i made my mom keep it all these years because i couldn't bear to throw it away. i think it pretty much rocks. :)
and last, but not least...the coolest thing about my new little place. the light switches. every one of them is just a button that is pushed to turn the light on. i've never seen them before but i think they are so cool because you can switch out the pattern around them so easily. so i used the same fabric as i did on the shelves for the studio one...still deciding on the rest of the house. :)
also, the ceiling will soon be finished too, i think after chris finishes his own basement. i'm thinking that i want it to be light blue. i love that i get to paint it before he puts it up. :)
and today my friend brookie came to visit! it was so great to see her again...and she brought her adorable little brother drew with her to spend the day with me. we pretty much just hung out and took some photos. it a really nice relaxing day. we went to this freaking awesome old rundown movie theater that has been just sitting there empty for as long as i can remember, and i have been dying to get some photos forever! i'll share a couple now and then try to add some more tomorrow so that there isn't a photo overload on here...
happy monday everyone!!
that's what this little girl says to me everytime she catches me looking at her. and it just melts my heart. she is honestly the happiest child i have ever met. i could just eat her little marshmallow cheeks and she has a personality that anyone would kill for. loving that i get to spend so much time with her and my other little friends since moving back here. (but seriously missing my buddies back in chicago. :( )
i did LOTS of projects today, but only got a couple photographed...this first one is quite possibly the greatest invention in scrapbook product organizational products, but the black just wasn't working for me...so of course i had to change it. :) it's called a clip-it-up and its made by simply renee. i found the link for one here, but i actually picked it up at archivers for a little cheaper. mine has the add-on for smaller embellishments at the top too which you can find here. very VERY awesome for having all your stuff right there to use at any time. it reduced my storage by a ton! and now it matches my new back studio. :)
before:
and pinkified:
you can also see a hint of my light green walls and hardwood floors in some of these photos (a HUGE improvement over the dark wood and pink padding on the floor!), but i made some stuff for the walls and want to add a couple more things before i share the full affect of it all. i did, however, work on making this lampshade to go with this cool cream organizer i got at hobby lobby on sale. i just need to be on the lookout for some trim for the edges and i think it will look really cool. the lamp is an old one that my mom found for me in her attic...
other than that, i painted some letters spelling the baby's name for above his crib, and watched 6 kids today...4 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon.
my life is very good right now. :)
first of all, my doctor appointment went absolutely GREAT today! i found the place, i had all the paperwork, i loved the nurses, the doctor was fabulous, and best of all...he said that everything looks perfect. so so relieved! i was a little worried after a mildly disturbing doctor appointment last week with my family doctor. it took such a weight off my shoulders to talk to an OB and have him tell me that things are actually looking great. very reassuring. :)
secondly, i have decided that i'm going to try to do a project a day as much as i can for awhile. i have so many fun projects that i have been wanting to do that i have the supplies for but never got around to doing, and so many things that i want to do for the house...so i'm going to see how this goes. i'll try to share as much as i can each day. so prepare yourself for lots of buttons...i seem to be obsessed! last night i was really tired so i just started sewing together a bunch of buttons and by the time i went to bed i had this fun little bracelet to wake up to. i think i'm going to give it to shanie tomorrow when she comes over...or try to figure out a way to use it for something in my house. sometimes i get crazy cool ideas in the middle of the night when the baby and the neighbor's spotlight shining in my window (ANNOYING!) won't let me sleep.
this next one is the same idea, but i made it while i was sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office. i l finished just as they called my name, which was pretty cool. also probably going in the shanie donation bag, but very fun to make. i love doing things like this because they get my creative juices flowing, even if it's not really something i'll use myself. also, you can see the color of my VERY yellow hall here with my green bedroom in the background. i love my happy, colorful hallway. it makes me smile every morning as i'm leaving my bedroom to start my day. i got some black photo frames to put up in it at hobby lobby today, but i want to get some cool decals to go behind them. i searched for some on etsy and blik this evening after i got home, but i have an idea for how to make my own with a little help from a very talented person i know, so i'm going to try that route first.
ok, i'm off to make a lampshade and some wall hangings for my studio before heading to bed. i'll post an updated photo of what i get done in there sometime tomorrow!
GOODNIGHT! :)
super fast update before i crash after a long day...
NIGHT YA'LL!
so i was going to wait to show any pictures of my bedroom until it was all done...but then i figured that i'll forever want to be adding and changing things, so i'll just post updated pics along the way. so far this is my favorite room in the house. i love all the colors. can't wait to make some things and add some big photos...that type of thing. i'm planning on spending the weekend being creative, so hopefully i'll have new stuff to share by the beginning of next week. but until then, here you have it. the green room...
i don't know if you can tell exactly in the photo, but the afgan on the bed is the color that i matched the walls to. i was at a friend's house a couple months ago and she gave it to me to get rid of because she thought it was so ugly. i can't wait to tell her that i created an entire room around it. :)
i got the brown vase at my favorite thrift store back when i was living in chicago, and the vases came from anthropologie and urban outfitters. clearly i need to find a couple more things to go in the empty ones and a way to better hide the cable cord.
the family that sold the house to me went through everything they wanted to take of their grandmother's and i could have anything they didn't want...which was an AWESOME deal since i got all my appliances plus all kinds of cool little treasures like this little lamp. all i had to do was clean it up and put a bunch of buttons in it. it's now one of my favorite things in my little house...
and that's all for tonight, folks! i'll update more soon...have a good weekend!
got my internet back. and i have a phone again. HUGE relief. almost as soon as i got here i realized that i have almost no cell phone service here, which is severely annoying. so i have been texting everyone anything i need to share all week and as much as i usually prefer texting, i'm just ready to have a phone again.
in other news, i got everything unpacked except my scrapbook stuff...which amy is going to help me organize in the back studio. and i now have a bright green room to match my quilt in my bedroom. it looks wicked cool with my old furniture and the woodwork and hardwood floors. my brother chris is hopefully going to install the light for me tonight so i'll post photos after that. we also painted the baby's room light brown and the laundry room and hall yellow. i think it all looks awesome, but i'm already getting lots of comments about all the colors. ah well, as long as i love it...:)
i'll try to update more soon once i have pics to go with it all. and if you need my new phone number just text me on my cell or send me an e-mail and i'll try to get that to you...
it's something i've never caught on film. never even tried. because when it happens the emotions of the moment overwhelm me so much that grabbing my camera and snapping a picture is the last thing on my mind. it's something my dad has always done when i left home. ever since i moved to chicago i don't think there has ever been a time he missed. whether it was raining or sunny, whether he was all alone or surrounded by a large group of people, whether i was coming back home the next weekend or not until 3 months later...he never failed to pull the white hanky out of his back pocket and wave it high in the air as i pulled out of the drive. and he wouldn't stop until i was out of sight. i know because for the next mile i would keep looking back in my rear-view mirror to see if i could still catch a glimpse of it waving and it would always be held high in the air. waving. shining. signaling to me until i was just too far on my way.
it always meant something to me. always drew such a strong emotional reaction out of me that my dad made a habit of waving it for me when i left. it was such a small, seemingly silly thing, but it was a small thing that represented home to me. something that i would look forward to while at the same time dreading when the time came for me to say goodbye to the people i love most in this world. but it's significance didn't really hit me until about a year ago when my dad came to see me after i had made a major life decision. a decision that he didn't agree with. something i was so scared to tell him because i knew how very disappointed he would be in me. but when i finally did tell him, he, in traditional dad fashion...in true CHRISTIAN fashion...first told me that i should know that no matter what happened to me or what decisions i made in my life, he would always love me no matter what. and then he told me something that i will never forget. he told me that no matter where i went in my life, where my path led me, no matter how much he disagreed with my decisions, i would always be welcome at home. and that if i ever wondered if it was still true i should call or write and tell him that if i was still welcome at home that he should stand outside and wave his white hanky in the air. and in that same breath my dad promised me that from the second i asked that question he would be outside...that he would stand outside until he saw my car coming down that road...no matter how long it took. and that the second he came into my view i would see that he didn't have a single white hanky in his hands...he would instead have the biggest white sheet he could possibly find. and that all around him there would be at least 19 other people holding their own sheets high in the air to signal my welcome and their love...
my dad cried when he made me that promise. just like i cry every time i think of that conversation i had with him. and out of all the stories my dad has told me over the years, it is by far the most memorable and meaningful thing i can ever remember coming out of his mouth. because at that moment i knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that my dad loved me without question, without boundaries, without exception. like a father is supposed to love his child. and every time i feel a little lonely, a little confused...every time i wonder if it's the right thing to be moving back to paulding i just look a little bit to the east, a little bit to the south, and i smile through my tears...because i imagine that i can see my dad in the distance, tirelessly waving his white hanky high in the air...
so this is it, dad. i'm coming home...
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