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starting over

March 31, 2016

I woke up this morning with a weight on my chest. I fed Elvie and changed her, then spent the last few moments before the boys got up sitting on the bed and brooding.

I was thinking about our move, about the new house, about all the idealistic plans that have been cooked up for it, pinned for it, sketched for it.

And you know, I was more apprehensive than excited about the looming renovation.

Don’t get me wrong! I cannot WAIT to get up there. I’m so excited to finally make the move. I started purging my stuff yesterday in preparation for packing and seriously downsizing, and I spent a lot of today wondering if I could hire someone to do that for me so I could just go ahead and move up there and call it a day.

But those house plans…those lofty house plans…they are getting to me.

I’ve decided I have PRSD.

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the ham house

February 24, 2016

There’s a little building behind my parents’ house whose name might confuse some.

We’ve used it as a dog kennel, a chicken house, a storage unit, a garage for horse-drawn vehicles, and, most recently, a junk collector. But we’ve always called it the Ham House.

it’s seen better days.

What’s a Ham House? It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a building that was built for (and briefly used for) hanging and smoking hams.

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meal planning with a bullet journal

February 12, 2016

Last month I had a question about how my bullet journal made meal planning easier for me. I started to answer, but decided there was too much to say in a comment and that I should probably post about it, so I could be rambly and thorough and give the whole embarrassing picture.

I say embarrassing, because I just don’t really understand what’s so difficult about meal planning for me. But seriously, I would get so wound up and flabbergasted every time I tried to do it that I would try to move on to other tasks and fail utterly because I would forget how to do them. I’m not kidding. Once Jeremy interrupted me mid-meal-planning-attempt and asked me to cut his hair. It took me about three times as long as normal because I was so upset that I forgot how to cut hair. Congratulations to you if meal planning is your spirit animal and you’re sniggering right now at this pathetic confession of mine. I can’t explain it. All I know is that any attempt at planning our meals made me crazy and overwhelmed. It’s nuts, I know.

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elvie kate’s nursery

January 18, 2016

When I found out we were having a girl, I knew I had to take advantage of the fact that I was finally going to be able to do a room for a little girl. I have really loved doing nurseries for the boys, and then doing their big rooms, too. But I was anxious to put some pink someplace. I really do love me some pink–I show my hair as evidence of that.

I also knew, however, that we’re on a tight budget and I really couldn’t justify throwing out all of my baby things and starting over. I also didn’t want to run out and buy a whole bunch of new things, because I can barely walk around the house without waddling and hobbling, let alone around a store. I challenged myself to make a nursery that was obviously feminine but that still utilized the things I already had. I figured that keeping the same furniture and the same rug would keep the cost pretty low. But to make it that much harder on myself, I told myself that I wouldn’t repaint the walls, either.

That last stipulation was a struggle, let me tell you. I am not sure what color I would have repainted, but I did consider the leftover deep green from our bedroom at one point out of desperation. I wanted the room to look completely different for a low cost, and paint would have been the easiest way to do that. I had told myself, however, that I’d keep the walls the same, so I stuck to that plan. So, everything else evolved over time, but the wall color persisted.

This was the first incarnation of the room: it was really bright and modern. I decided to paint the crib and dresser and dye the chair. The walls stayed the same, but the rest of the room was accented with maroon, red, and pink. I still really like this design. It would make a fun room.

Then I brought home an antique quilt that’s been in my family for generations. It was made by Elvie Kate’s namesake’s namesake, so I knew I had to use it in her room. Unfortunately for design #1, the quilt is anything but bright, bold and modern. Next to the reds and pinks, it just looked dingy. What can I say? It’s old.

So I revamped the look of the room again. I brought home an extra antique rocking chair from my parents’ house to use in the room. I still planned on painting the crib and the dresser and keeping the rug, but I toned everything else way down.

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the kids’ room, before and after

January 11, 2016

Over Christmas break, I found myself in the position of watching while my husband and parents worked to clean out the hamhouse and basement at my childhood home (and watching while my boys ran around and played in the Kentucky countryside.)

I do not like sitting and watching.

I needed something to do. So…I did something.

This room was my room, growing up. It’s where I first flexed my decorator muscles. Its first incarnation was a carousel horse theme, complete with a wallpaper chair rail border with multicolored paint stamping underneath. And blue trim. (It was the 90’s.)

The second incarnation, the remnants of which are pictured above, was done during the summer of my freshman year of college. My roommate at the time helped me–it was fun, and I have always loved it, even now when faux finishes like dragging are seriously out of style. That’s still my favorite shade of green. I wish I had a picture of the room in its heyday, but all I have is the picture of what it looked like with beds for the boys hastily stuck in there, sheets covering the windows to aid with naps, and a couple of random pieces of furniture hanging out because there really isn’t another place for them in the house.

The boys really needed their own space, not a leftover-from-moms-youth-with random-furniture space, and since painting is something I am always willing to do, I got to work. [Read more…]