Could I Be So Lucky?!

So, as you know, I have been wanting barn doors for my bedroom to separate it from our no-doors bathroom. Well, there are also a few other things, that I haven't told you about, that I have been coveting lately that all have to do with wood. 

First, let's revisits barn doors in all their glory.

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Problem: barn doors = EXPENSIVE! They like them quite a bit too... 

Second, let's talk about my raging need for a new headboard. 

Obviously, this is back when we put in the new carpet. I do have side tables, they were just moved out in our living room during the install. But I still think this photo shows you the problems with our headboard. It's too short. We have extra high ceilings which I would never change, but some of my older decor that I've had since we got married and bought for when we moved into our first house in Lubbock is starting to just not work. I loved this headboard when I bought it. I stalked it at Pier One for a good long while and was finally able to afford it when it went on sale, as well as coupled with a coupon. Anyway, like I said, it's just not working anymore, but on top of that I don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on a new headboard while we are trying to save for our renovation projects. So, I started pinning ideas for new headboards off of DIY sites and was trying to think of ways to be super thrifty and crafty, but I fell in love with this project idea from Lowe's.

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Can you imagine? I'm also planning to create a companion footboard in the same style. Brilliant, and Lowe's has created a shopping list and step-by-step instructions which is even better. Still a problem though, because all the supplies are expensive.

Something else that I have been wildly coveting but have no chance of getting are these beauties. 

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When I finally tracked these bad boys down, with no help from the original pinner who apparently pinned the image off of Google (I'm touching on one of my soap boxes, but I'm leaving it there), they were $700 for one. Obviously, you would need at least two, but I wouldn't turn my nose up to three. There is no way I could ever do that. Ever. No matter what.

Well, at this point you are probably asking yourself, "Why is she writing this post about everything she can't have?!" Good question, my friends. The truth is, I may have found a way to make all of my 'wood 

dreams' come true. We ran into our buddy who, ironically, is also our financial advisor, at church the other night and in passing he said, "Do you know of anyone who needs any extra wood? We had to cut down a massive tree in our yard, and we have tons of logs, panels, and stumps that we have no idea what to do with." I think I may have peed myself a little at that moment. That's how excited I was. Now, I have no idea if what he has will work, but I am crossing every finger, toe and limb hoping that this will be the solution to all things wood-y that I want in my house.

Could I really be that lucky? We shall find out... 

Back to School Teacher's Luncheon and Gifts

So before I started working at the Country Club, I was a teacher at a small, private school here in town. It was basically a startup school, and as with any private school (I feel like) you wear a lot of hats. I love the people that I worked with there, but in the end it came down to the fact that our summers are crazy and my family needed down time all together. I felt like Cliff and I were always in a state of 'ramping-up.' For example, as soon as summer was over we were ramping up for the school year and as the school year was winding down we had to ramp up for summer traveling with the youth group. It's exhausting, all around, and now with Macy in the picture it was time to make some changes. Even though I'm not teaching anymore, I wanted to let those teachers know that I still care deeply for them and appreciate everything they do all year long. So, I offered to host the teachers and staff for lunch one day during their training week at the Country Club. I am so glad that I was able to host them, and still be able to feel connected to such a good cause, with such wonderful people.

Here are some pictures from the luncheon... 

I reused (for the second time, here's the first) some of the decor pieces from Macy's Birthday After-After-Party. 

Then I pulled books from my personal library that have either been or are currently on the literature list at the school. Also, I pulled different quotes off the internet about teaching from respected educational and historical figures, and printed them on card stock. I cut them and then used glue spots to adhere them to 'Thank You' tents, AKA colored card stock with my thank you stamp and gold ink. I was pretty happy with the results, especially since I found out I was hosting the 15-person party less than 24 hours before.

I love a pretty beverage dispenser. Little touches, like utilizing a dispenser rather than a pitcher when you can, make parties for me.

For lunch, the group had the ACC Signature Salad, which consists of baby spinach, Craisins, walnuts, Granny Smith apples and a raspberry vinaigrette, as well as the Par 5 Sandwich, turkey BLT with avocado. Everything looked wonderful and was quite tasty!

Dessert is a must in my book, which is why it's so hard for me to be a diet, HAHA! I need something sweet to conclude the whole experience. For the luncheon we had a beautiful fruit tray with sweet cream cheese fruit dip, and chocolate chip cookies. I had a really hard time abstaining from just spreading the fruit dip on the chocolate chip cookie. That dip was to die for!

Again, I felt so blessed to be able to host this group. I know they work hard all year long so I couldn't stop there. I knew I wanted to make them something gifty, but was having a hard time deciding on what I wanted to do. Luckily, I stumbled upon The Crafting Chicks blog post Back to School Brainstorm. They offer several different ideas for back to school gifts, as well as any printables you would need to go with them. I decided on this sweet gift, but I added my own spin on it.

The Inspiration

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What I Used

Ball Half Pint, wide mouth, Mason jars: 4/$8.99 

I had a coupon for 40% off of 2 packages of them and 25% off the whole purchase!

Avery 2'' labels: 60/$7.97

 I only used 12, so I will have some more for other projects!

Individually wrapped Smarties: $2.16/bag 

I ended up needing about two and a half bags to fill 12 jars

So I ended up using Mason jars: a. because I love them, and b. because I had a coupon to Joann's Fabric Store and they didn't have the treat jars, but I'm more than ok with it. Then I filled them with Smarties (*FYI: If I did it all over again, I may have chosen something with a little less of a defined shape, but I loved the play on words*) and then at the last minute I added some ribbon. Luckily, I cleaned out and organized all of our gift wrapping today, and remember that we had some leftover ribbon from Macy's birthday party that would match perfectly. On top of that, it was precut perfectly to tie nicely around the wide-mouthed jars. I just love when a plan comes together! 

My Finished Project

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the gifts. I wish I had been able to wait a little bit longer before needing to take them up to the school because I just ordered the BEST THING EVER!! I have been researching cutting machines for what seems like months now, and had narrowed it down to the Cricut or Sizzix Eclips. A dear friend, and avid crafter, who has both machines, adamantly recommended the Sizzix over the Cricut, and then proceeded to tell me all the website I should be stalking for the best sale. So Cliff was out of town when I came across the best sale I'd seen on the Eclips. I found it on Oh My Craft, and it is the Eclips Start Up Kit with the option of the eCal software (which I also got at the recommendation of my friend). Just a note, if you find/found the Eclips at a better price, do not tell me. I was pretty happy with myself. Don't burst my bubble...

It was basically 50% off, then also offered free shipping and then 25% off the whole order. Needless to say, I jumped all over that sale, but it's still being shipped. Otherwise, these teacher gifts would have been even more crazy awesome!!! 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post and that you have taken time to thank the teachers in your life for all their hard work and dedication to your kids and community. 

Happy School Year!

Renovation Budget

So this is my beautiful home. I live in a wonderful neighborhood, I love my neighbors, and I love my proximity to everything in town without the cramped feeling of being in town. But to tell you the truth, we had our house on the market from about September 2011 to February 2012. This may sound odd to you since you just read how much I love my house. Well there are a few things that I don't love... I do not love that there are only 3 bedrooms and only about 1800 square feet. I do not love that those 1800 square feet, in some parts of my home, are wasted. 

 When we first moved into our home (May 2009), we knew that we would probably have to move when Baby #2 decided to come on the scene. Well, after just experiencing being pregnant and all the not so joyful complications that can bring, I was like oh no, we are not waiting until I'm pregnant to put our house on the market and move. That just had trouble written all over it. Anyway, here's the deal, I guess I would describe my decor as traditional craftsman. I love exposed beams, beautiful woodwork and warm tones, but my heart can also be won by a well placed column and/or crown molding. So knowing that about me and seeing the pictures of my house, you know why I love this house so much. But here are some things that I do not love so much.

P.S.: Don't you love how the decor from Macy's birthday after party is still up... I know, 'classy' is the word you're thinking right now.

I want this wall, with the fabulous chandelier windows (I know, I LOVE them. If you weren't thinking that, are we friends? J/k, but seriously...), to be gone. I want there to be an INCREDIBLE eat-in bar to take it's place. This is want I'm thinking... 

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Having a bar where that wall is will COMPLETELY open up our entire living area. Love love all these looks. Also, after the wall between the kitchen and current dining room comes down, I'm thinking I will turn the current dining room into a sitting area and mount a large TV where our beautiful Organic Bloom frame now presides. More on that in a bit, and now onto the other problem...

Just keep on enjoying leftovers from Macy's birthday decor on the mantel as we continue in our discussion. This is another situation that needs to be talked about. While these built-ins are nice, we need more natural light and this area doesn't really lend itself to a conducive living/family room, hence the wasted space I was talking about. This is what we're thinking...

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I love the windows above these doors in the last picture, and those damask-type recliners with their backs toward us. But can you see where I'm going here? That whole back wall, fireplace and all, would be beautiful French doors, with a wide open view of our beautiful pool, that in time will also have a pergola and nice outdoor furniture on the patio. It would all hit you as soon as you walk in the front door! Ahhhh, too good! It's going to be so wonderful!  

Also, one of the things that was at the top of my 'must-have' list if we were going to move was enough room for a very large dining table, ideally 12 or more. So once we have our eat-in bar and french door- wall, I am planning on switching what is currently our living area with our current dining room. That way I can have my very large dining table. I have very high hopes for this table. Here's what I'm thinking as far as dining tables go... 

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Let's be really honest here. Everything about this photo is absolutely fabulous. This is a salvaged wood table from Restoration Hardware, basically my dream home, but not so dream budget, store. When I measured, length-wise while still leaving plenty of room for chairs on the ends, the area that is now our living room measures up to about 140." This Restoration Hardware table comes in several different sizes, with the largest seating up to 26 people (AHHH!!!). The one that would fit in our spot would be the 108" table that comes with two 18" leaves, adding up to a grand total of 144'' and seats 12 when fully extended! Woohoo! This fact brings me a lot of joy. I just wish that I would've been able to visualize this layout when we first moved into the house! Argh! Oh well, you live and you learn. 

Just in case I've lost you, I made a nice, precise diorama. Haha, what a joke on the precise, I didn't even know how to spell diorama... Anyway...

Everybody with me now? If you don't understand, feel free to come over. 

Tours are offered daily. 

So, here comes the not so fun part, the saving. Below is the au-natural version of yours truly, possibly a little too natural, with the inaugural contribution to the renovation budget. It was $43.12, and I was really proud that I still had it left over from my June monthly cash budget. We started saving on July 4th. I am proud to also say that we are VERY determined to make these changes happen, and I think we have almost $300 in the jar. **Side note: I started getting nervous about saving the money in the jar, so we moved it to the bank. So, please don't rob me. The manager does not have access to the safe, nor do I ever have more than like $50 on my person.** I think Cliff has been hoarding change, because we hunted down all the spare change around the house and it added up to over $75 dollars! Woohoo! Hopefully, we can make it happen very soon!!  

Character Analysis for Me

So about a year ago, I was in graduate school for educational leadership. It was basically a program to be certified to become a principal or superintendent. About halfway through I found out I was pregnant, then proceeded to get wickedly sick ALL the time, and finally decided that it may not be for me. However, before I stopped taking the courses, we took a character analysis questionnaire. It's amazing to me how straight on these can be, sometimes. I'll be the first one to point out that not all of these qualities look good on me, but for the most part I guess they are true. I'm not so sure that 'dislikes committees and group discussions' is quite so accurate, and I'd like to think I'm not rigid and impersonal. Oh well, agree to disagree.  Take a look at my results. Can you relate to some of these?

Characteristics of the Directive Style	Others May Perceive Your Style As	Best Organizational Fit
Focuses on tasks and technical problems Considers facts, rules, and procedures Acquires information through hunches and by using short reports with limited data Evaluates information by using intuition, experience, and rules Has a low tolerance for ambiguity and needs structure	Rigid Impersonal Simplistic Autocratic	Structured, goal-oriented, such as in bureaucracies, or where power and authority are important
Typical Leadership Style Characteristics of Those with a Directive Decision-Making Style
Practical and authoritarian Impersonal social orientation Needs power and status Is forceful Dislikes committees and group discussions Completes tasks quickly Action and results oriented Motivated by situations with measurable achievement potential, tangible rewards

 I just ran across this as I was cleaning out my email inbox on my phone and thought it was interesting enough to share. Anyway, about a week and a half ago we were on a wonderful vacation with my family to the beaches in Destin, Florida. It was Macy's first time and she loved it. Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip. 

Lucky for us we have the Lifeproof Cases, so we were able to take our phones into the water!

Happy August! We have finally made it, the summer is slowing down and hopefully our crazy lives will slow down a little bit. :) I hope the same for you and yours!

Macy's Toys Gone Wild

As you know, my precious daughter just turned one. She had a fabulous party, and she got A LOT of toys. Well, this presented a bit of a problem. There were toys everywhere, and it was driving me crazy. 

I feel like I've said it over and over, but I am a self diagnosed, overly OCD personality, and simply cannot rest or relax when there is a mess. I do not like a mess, anywhere. So, in preparation for Macy's birthday, we did a good cleanse of all of Macy's toys and her room, but I still wasn't prepared for what would ensue. The picture above is a small glimpse into my problem. This is one corner of the mess, there was another in her closet, another in the living room, and two more piles in MY room. I feel like you know it's bad when you are storing toys in packing boxes... As you can see, this was a big problem for me. My solution = Target, always.  

I was VERY happy with the results!

Just a side note: If you have a sweet baby girl- write this down - this is the Fisher Price Little People Disney Princess Song Castle. I know, it 's a mouthful, but it the best toy EVER! They come with cute little princesses, and then you put them on the dance floor and they say their names and sing a song from their movie. I love it, but the main thing is that Macy adores it and it's the first thing she goes to, every time. 

So... Macy's room doesn't always look as pretty as it does in these pictures, but I love the new storage option that we have now and love that it can grow with her.