A Quick Before and After

This is my bed. My massive log bed. It probably weighs 500 pounds. It is cool and unique and very manly. The bedding was purchased for a cool $20 at a garage sale 4 years ago (as of this summer). It too is quite masculine. I have liked it, but lately I have been wanting something a little more me. Back when we bought our mattress, NFM gave us a gift card to come back and use. We had to use the entire card in one trip so I wanted to get something good. I needed a new rug and the rugs I found were reasonably priced, leaving some money to spend on bedding......

Of course this isn't the first set I loved. The first set was aqua (go figure) and had yellow and pink and brown accents. Beautiful. Come to find out it was two bedding sets combined. Yeah...bummer. So I kept looking and found this floaty cloud looking set. They had this fluffy white and a beautiful, soft purple. Both were so lovely. I decided on the white because I can throw different pillows at my whim and change the whole look. So now my manly bedroom has a little softer look. I am loving it!!

Another New Chapter

There are a lot of things going on in Omaha right now. Specifically at our house. Two weeks ago Kevin and Abby and Michael moved into our house. Kevin is going to school at Metro and (hopefully) very soon Abby will be working. I have offered to help with Michael while Kevin is at school.

With that exciting change we have more vehicles to park on our VERY narrow street. Finally Jim caved to my request for concrete (about twice a year for almost four years) and in a week we will be able to get Kevin and Abby's vehicle and Jo's car (now the red Fusion) off the street.

That will leave the green car on the road...but no one has complained. It will just be nice not to have to worry so much about blocking half the road constantly.

We had them fill in that ridiculous planter. It was in such an awkward spot. You'd go to get out of the car and have to dodge the dirt pit. I tried to kill the little shrub in it...but it refused to die!

So with five cars and five drivers...wait...five?? What am I driving if Jo has the Fusion?? Oh yeah....only my dream car!!

After four years of saving every nickle I could (with the help and budgeting skills of my awesome hubby) we were able to score this sweet ride at the car auction. I love it! It is so cute and comfortable...and I am able to sit up a little higher and that is a good thing for sure!!

So now we are all settling into our new reality with a very full house. I love having all my chicks in the same town. It has made me very happy indeed.

As Done As It Will Be....For a While

Let's start at the (almost) beginning. I feel like a reading of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? is in order. The walls in my bathroom were a lovely shade of rusty brown.

When we bought this house I liked all the colors (except the white laundry room...and we all know how THAT turned out). But slowly the colors that I initially loved have been buggin' me. 

So what's a girl to do? 

Paint, of course!! White walls (a color I have NEVER used before...no lie) and a lovely minty/aqua shade for the ceiling and wall behind the tub. It is SO pretty. My bedroom is very masculine...dark brown walls, blue bedding...huge log furniture. This bathroom makes the girly girl in me very happy!

 Sunburst mirror from Home Goods, peony picture from Joss & Main (online store) and a new towel from BB&B...oh yes, this girl is pleased.

 I shopped my house for everything else. You can see my unmade bed in this picture...so classy!!

 There is my towel bar over the toilet solution. I had this over-the-door rack on the laundry room door not being used. So now it has made my life better. I love it when that happens.

 Close up of the peonies. I LOVE THEM!! They brought the right pink into the mix. So for now, I am done with it. I love, love, love the way it turned out. 

Some Progress Photos

The brown is gone. The polka dot ceiling is gone. I'm not finished and I see a trip to Home Goods in the immediate future...but let's look at where we started, shall we?

It was a nice brown...until it wasn't. It was dark and made the room feel smaller. The people who painted this lovely shade needed to to another coat. The smurf blue that was there before showed through in spots. No bueno.

The shower especially felt cave-like. I was ready for a change.

No more shower cave!! I still have to cut in the edges...but that means buying a taller ladder. This girl is too short!!

The room feels so much bigger and I can't even express my LOVE of how bright and cheery it is now.

I did add color to the wall behind the tub which wasn't in the original plan. But I must say, I love it!! So now I have to finish the ceiling and accessorize....maybe some new art for the wall? Definitely some new (decorative) towels to hang on the not-to-be-used towel rack.

But of course we have our first real snow storm of the year....so being the patient person that I am ;) I'll have to do some online shopping to tide me over. I'll let you know when I am finished. I'm so happy with it!!!

Help Wanted

I need some advice. I am working on new paint in my bathroom. I think I have a good idea on what colors I want. The issue I am having is the towel rack placement. You can't really tell from this picture, but the toilet is in the lower right corner. The towel rack hangs right. over. the. toilet. Yuck. I've never been fond of this arrangement and now I have the perfect opportunity to fix it. But where to put the towels?

I can move them to the back wall above the tub. But that puts us leaning over the large soaking tub to hang them up. Out of direct fire of the toilet...but pretty inconvenient.

I could slide them over so they hang above the end of the tub. A little easier to reach....a little. But doable.

I could buy one of those over-the-door towel racks and hope there is enough air flow to help them dry and not get stinky with mildew. And what if the door won't close? Mama ain't got time for that. HELP!! I'm not opposed to using hooks instead of a towel bar. I need some ideas. I know you know what to do.....

Weirdest Dog EVER

This is the weirdest dog ever!! If you have ever been to my house, Nellie has no doubt showed you one of her many babies. She packs them around the house and loves to show them to anyone who will tell her how great they are. She doesn't want you to take them. Or pull them, or squeak them. Just tell her how nice they are and she'll go lay down. Well, last night Jo and I had finished loving on Nellie before going to bed. We hadn't been out of the room for five minutes before Jo found Nellie packing this "baby" around. She dug it out of the trash....a waffle from dinner. By the look on her face you know that she knows she isn't supposed to have it. She wouldn't give it up...and she wouldn't eat it. I told Jo to just leave her and see what she did. 

She followed Jo with it downstairs and just laid there. Darla, of course, wanted it more than she could stand and tried picking a fight with Nellie to see if she would drop it. No dice. Nellie just ran back upstairs. I came out of my room and tried to get her to give it to me. I even tried to get her to trade it for a puppy cookie. Nope. But she did swallow it (practically whole) and then eat the cookie too. Weirdest dog ever. Who ever heard of a waffle baby??

My Grandma

Today the world lost a great lady. My grandma (my mama's mudder) passed away this morning. She lived a good long life. I'm not sad for her. She is reunited with her sweetheart and her parents and my Mom. Grandma grieved hard for the loss of her daughter. I know she is celebrating and at rest. I am sad for me though. More than I thought I would be. We've known this was coming for a while. I just wanted to post a few pictures of her doing what she loved best....being with her family. Of course most of these photos are from the digital age so my kids are the babies in the photos, but she was a huge presence in my life. I appreciate the time she invested in me (and all of my cousins). She taught me so much. She will be missed.

(above) Jo and Lacey swinging on the porch just visiting.
(below) Brook and Bridger during one of the hardest trips to Meeker we made. We had whiny babies, humidity and sickness. Oh the memories!!

Pretty sure this was Lacey's blessing day. 

Baby Kevin and Mom, Grandma and me. We were so young!!

Baby Bridger!

Sweet Jo and the girls...priceless.

I think I am about 11 years old in this picture. This is my grandma's family as of 1983??

Lots of Meeker pictures. When Grandma moved to Meeker, CO we started taking yearly trips to visit. They became some of our favorite memories. I am so thankful for the blessings of family. Families ARE forever!!