December Daily 11-13

I'm back. I got a few more pages done. I'm really trying to get caught up before the end of the year. Not sure I'm going to make it though.

December 11
Khloë had a Christmas party at her school and we were all invited. It was so much fun seeing her go through each craft station. They made Christmas trees out of sugar cones and frosting, reindeer food, ornaments and hot cocoa. They even had Santa stop by to see all the kids.

December 12
After the Christmas party the girls came home with us for the weekend. We went on a walk through the nature park, Went to the bank so the girls could make a deposit in their savings account, rode a train, a merry go round and went to the Jelly Belly store. For lunch we took the girls to Pieology so they could make their own pizzas. We had so much fun.

December 13
On Sunday morning we woke up to Khloë and Kylee's elves trying to make us breakfast. They did a good job except the breakfast tasted a little like plastic. Lol.

It has been such a fun weekend. I'm glad I have pictures to keep and share with the girls when they get older.

December Daily 7-10

Happy After Christmas! Now that the celebrations are behind us I'm slowly getting caught up on my December Daily. I have all of my pictures printed up to today. It's just a matter of finding enough time to make my pages. For now I have December 7th thru the 10th.

December 7
Earlier in the month I mentioned that we went to cut our own tree down for the first time. It was beautiful at the tree farm, but when we got home we quickly came to the conclusion that we must have gotten the wrong tree. It was the scrawniest, saddest looking tree we've ever had. I went to Lowes to get a new tree topper and right out front were some beautiful trees that cost half as much as what we paid. I was very tempted to buy one, but I didn't.

December 8
I had an appointment to get a touch-up on my highlights, but somehow changed my mind when I sat in the chair. The girl that does my hair confirmed that we were just doing the usual and somehow, out of my mouth, came "I think I want to go darker".  She was reluctant and gave me plenty of time to change my mind, but I insisted. (I know it's a little poofy in the second picture. Not sure what happened) I guess we will see how long it takes to lighten up.

December 9
After work we decided to try something new and headed out to Pieology for dinner. It's kinda like a Subway where you can see all the pizza toppings in front of you and you tell the person behind the counter what to add to your dough as you go down the counter. We each had our own creation and it was yummy!

December 10
Finally I was addressing and mailing our Christmas cards. I had bought a couple of kits so I had these done weeks ago. I just kept forgetting to send them.

Hopefully you all had a wonderful holiday.  Check back soon for more December Daily in the days to come.

December Daily 4-6, 2015

Counting down the days until Christmas. Actually I'm counting how many days I have left to finish my shopping. I'm starting to get a little worried that I won't get everything done. At least I've been able to stay caught up on my December Daily so far.

Day 4
I did as much shopping as I could in one day. I still have a lot to do though.

Day 5
We were all excited about cutting down our own Christmas tree for the first time. Khloë was very selective and made sure she picked just the right one.

Day 6
Scooter's Birthday! He loves his birthday present. He's afraid to walk on the slippery wood laminate floor and we usually end up laying down area rugs and towels for him so I decided for his birthday I would get a large rug for our family room so that he would feel more comfortable walking around. It worked. He loves it. Look at that happy boy!

Have a wonderful day and I hope you're as happy as a mastiff with a new rug.

December Daily 2015

Happy December. I'm working on a December Daily again this year. Are any of you joining the fun? I haven't finished my cover page, but I have a calendar printed that will be the main focus. I got the calendar as a free printable from Stitch in Time on their blog.

So far I've kept up with each day. December 1st a family friend stayed with us because he and my husband were leaving at 5:00 in the morning to golf. We went to my favorite restaurant for dinner, Texas Roadhouse.

December 2nd the boys were gone and I had a company come out to the house to give me a quote on expanding our deck. Our backyard is pretty much a blank slate right now with just a big area of grass. The guy that came out had some really good ideas and the prices were in line with the other quotes I've gotten. The biggest problem now will be the weather. I'm not sure how wet it will be in January and we might have to wait a few months longer to get started.

December 3rd I took Coco for a grooming. It was raining before I got home from work (which she loves) so when I got home she was a wet mess. I figured it would be okay because the groomer would be getting her wet for her bath anyway. Once we got there she was so excited she was trying to climb over the gate and the desk to greet "her friends" the groomers. I have never seen a dog that loved to go to the groomers like her. She didn't even look back to say bye as they took her leash. When I went to pick her up two hours later she was climbing into a groomers lap and giving her kisses. She didn't even care that I was standing there waiting for her. She was getting attention and that's what she lives for. She loves everyone and believes that everyone loves her.

 

 

Half a day at work today and then I'm off to Starbucks and Christmas shopping. Have a great weekend.

Craftroom Update

Well, here we are at the beginning of June. It's been almost three months since moving day and I'm still working on my scrappy room. I had the layout the way I thought I wanted it and then changed my mind again. I had the closet the way I thought I wanted it and changed my mind again. Who knows where this will all end?
Here are a few pictures of the updates:

This first picture is when I thought I was done and had everything where it would be.

Then, I decided to "re-do" my closet so that I would have more storage. I had a closet company that was going to come out and put two shelves above my paper racks and cubes. Well, I got impatient and decided to take everything out myself and take down the existing wire shelf and clothes bar.

Once the closet was cleared out I started measuring and realized my Ikea Expedit would fit perfectly (almost) in the bottom of the closet. I removed all of the albums and stuff on top. Luckily my dear husband was home to help with the big lifting.

Here is the finished closet. My paper racks and a small bookcase fit perfectly on top of the Ikea Expedit. You can't see it in the picture but there is a shelf in the top of the closet for storage. I didn't want to see it so I had the closet guy install it above the closet opening. It's perfect for storing my space heater and craft bags for traveling (among other things) that I don't use or want to see on a regular basis. Once I had everything set up I decided I didn't want to put the mirrored doors back on so they are being stored in a downstairs closet for now.

Then I had to do something about my cabinets. I wanted a flat surface for working, but I also wanted storage on the sides. I decided to use my cubes at each end.

I added a few accessories and I think I'm done.

Close-up of the workspace I have now.

 

 

This is a picture of the opposite wall where I have my large desk.





 

 

I think I'm getting closer to crafting. I actually used that little bit of clear space on my desk to do some coloring for a 30 day coloring challenge on Facebook. I'll post information for that soon. 

 

 

I NEED My Craftroom!

Well, the craftroom is still a work in progress. I moved a few more things around and added a LOT more STUFF. Yikes! Where did it all come from? I still have boxes that haven't been opened yet. I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever get through it all.

I started to feel a little desperate and needed to do something crafty, so I cleared off a small space on my desk and searched some boxes for a Close to my Heart kit that I could play with. I wanted a kit because it's the only way I'll have everything I need to get a project done.

The kits come with all the paper and embellishments you need, including a stamp set. Now where are my scissors? Luckily I already had my ink pads and ATG gun unpacked.

So far my ink pads and Copic markers are the only things that have stayed in their original spot.

The kit that I found in my box of "stuff" is for Thanksgiving cards. Hmmmm, it's only April and there are a lot of occasions for cards before Thanksgiving, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. And I gotta do some crafting before I go crazy!

I was able to get all 15 cards in the kit completed in just two evenings. Now I'm wondering if I can use some of these for housewarming party thank you notes. If we ever get around to having that party anyway.

So ladies and gentlemen, the next time you feel the need to craft, but you're short on time, supplies, energy, space or just imagination, grab a kit and enjoy how easy it can be.

Craft Room Update #1

The room is coming together. As you can see I have a lot of stuff that has been moved.

It's filling up fast.

Okay, it's getting hard to move around in here. I had to tell the movers not to bring anything else in the room. That means I still have a lot of stuff in the garage to bring up and sort out.

I got the paper holders in the closet and my desk settled in the middle of the room. This will be the basic layout, but there's still more to bring into the room so the Ikea cubbies on the window wall are going to change.

I haven't been able to do any crafting yet, but the girls sure had fun trying out the new room. I love having the desk in the middle of the room so that we can sit on both sides.

Kylee approves of the seating arrangements.

Khloë was drawing Rapunzel's mom.

Those happy faces are the reason I have a craft room (and way too many pictures to scrapbook!).

My New Craft Room

How can I be crafty without a craft room? This is a crafting blog after all, so I thought I would update everyone on the progress I've made on the new room.

This first picture is one of the other rooms, but I wanted to give you an idea of what my craft room first looked like with carpet.

One of the contingencies of buying the house was that the seller would continue the wood flooring into my room. I love the way it looks. You can see in this picture I've started to map out where everything will go. I have high hopes for a flat screen tv on the wall. Lol.

The first pieces arrive. From this angle you can see that my craft room looks into the family room. I wanted a room that is close to the family so I could still feel like a part of everything.

On one side of the closet I'll stack my cubes from Michael's. On the other side of the closet I'll have my three paper holders.

More planning. It's really hard to know how a space will feel just by tape on the floor. These cubes won't stay here, but they give me a sense of how much room I will have to walk around my desk and cabinets when they arrive.

I still have a long way to go before I'm done, but I'm hoping it will all be worth it. It's amazing how much stuff I've accumulated over the years. I think it's time for a major purge or maybe I need to have a big crafting party and provide all the supplies.

Check back next week for part two of My New Craft Room.

Kitchen Appliance Disaster and Coffee Bar

I'm still working on the new house and getting everything organized. It's turning out to be a much bigger job than I ever thought.

The one thing we cannot live without is a functioning kitchen, so that was the first room we put together. Luckily my husbands mom offered to pack, unpack and set up all the basics for us. With everything else going on this was very much appreciated and saved us a lot of time for other things.

Before I go into the story of the Kitchen Appliance Disaster I wanted to share a few pictures of the kitchen.

This first picture I got off the internet. This would be my kitchen if it was white. I'm not a big fan.

 

 

This is a picture of my kitchen after being remodeled by the seller. I'm so glad he went with the dark cabinets, lighter counter tops and stainless steel appliances. Exactly what I wanted.

 

Just a little closer.

A couple of pictures of the other side of the kitchen:
White version.

Remodeled with dark cabinets.

A little closer up. I love the lighter granite and the pattern on the travertine backsplash.

Are you ready to hear about the Appliance Disaster?  As you can see in the pictures, we needed to get a refrigerator. We also needed to get a new dishwasher because the one in the house was old and showing signs of rust. No problem. I love to shop and happily went to the local Home Depot after doing my research on line for models and prices. Picked out what I wanted and scheduled a delivery. Simple enough......
But the first set showed up with dings and damage to both appliances. I sent them back and ordered new ones. The second set showed up to the house in perfect condition. The dishwasher was brought up to the kitchen first and then it was time for the refrigerator. There are 8 stairs outside and then another 8 stairs inside because our kitchen and main living space is upstairs. Two delivery guys with the refrigerator were on their way up the second set of stairs when all of a sudden I heard a lot of noise and panic in their voices. All three of them almost went over the railing and crashing down to the bottom floor. I almost had a heart attack when I saw what was happening. Thank goodness the railing is strong because that and the wall behind them were the only things that stopped total disaster. The bottom of the refrigerator caught on the wall as it started going over and put a big hole in it. The drawers came out and hit the railing which caused damage to both the railing and the refrigerator.

So now my beautiful new house needs repairs and the refrigerator had to be returned again. Luckily they were able to bring a new refrigerator for the 3rd time just a few days later and THREE guys to install it. I am happy to say everything worked out finally and we have our new complete kitchen. I guess the 3rd time was the charm.

One of the next things on the list of many things to do is to set up a little coffee bar area where my new Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Coffee maker is sitting. Stay tuned and I'll post pictures as soon as I get it done.

Sorry this was such a long post. I'll try to restrain myself in the future. Lol.

The Big Move and the Garage

It's Moving Day! It's Moving Day!

Well, let me back up a little bit. We decided to have our garage floor done and paint the inside before moving anything. We knew if we didn't do it while it was empty it would never get done so we put off the moving guys for almost a week. Below you'll get to see pictures of our garage make-over.

Before the Epoxy Coat Flooring and Painting:

After Epoxy Coat:

After Epoxy Coat and Paint:

I love the way it turned out. Now if my Dear Husband spills oil or anything on the floor it will just wipe up. We accidentally tested it with paint. We had drop cloths down, but after we were done we noticed there was an area with paint on it. Wiped right up. Yay!

Here's a close-up of the floor:

The movers showed up to unload everything about five days later.

Next on the list of things to do:
Besides unpacking and figuring out where to put everything, we need to set up an area for the dogs. We need to get a new fence on one side before the dogs can run freely in the backyard.
I will post some of the house projects "Before" and "After" as we get things done. I'm afraid this might take longer than I initially thought though. Wish me luck.