New paint to try out!

I’ve been doing some research on the best paint to use for a good distressed look and I found Caromal Colours and I am loving the way this paint looks! You can buy it online or from specialty stores (unfortunately I don’t have any close to me) so I had to order online. I bought 4 colors and I want them right now so I can start painting! However I have to build something to paint first! That’s ok, I already have some projects lined up. I’m building a photography prop, a book shelf with a couple of drawers for a friend, and I’m working on sketching plans for night stands for our room. Now that the bed and dresser match I really need to get on the ball with the night stands! All that should keep me busy for the next 2 months! Well all that and my volleyball practices and games. It took me 2 full days to recover from my first practice, it was much more of a workout than I expected! That’s good though,  I need a good workout!

The paint that I bought. The colors with stars are the ones I ordered, the one with the diamond is next on my list because I love it!

Parchment

Chocolate

Peppercorn

The last color is called Putty but she didn’t have a separate sample of it. 

Hopefully they ship fast!!!

New Art!!

I found this site on one of my favorite blogs and fell in love with her work and HAD to add the kitchen collection to my walls. I finally got the frames painted and got the pictures up today and I’m SOOO happy with it!! I asked her to customize the colors to match everything in the kitchen and Jessica was so easy to work with! She has a website full of adorable stuff and I’d love to buy more in the future when I have more wall space! Check her out! Vol25

Ignore the mess on the table! I need a work area to paint my projects!

I bought the top 2 frames at the dollar store and already had the bottom 2. I spray painted them Antique white. Spray painting is all the  rage in the crafting world right now but I have to say I’m not that impressed, it’s way too messy for me and it stinks!

I’ve been working on a couple of items to go in mama’s shop and I’m done with 2 of them. I’m really happy with how they turned out and I love how easy it is to customize this to your own decor!

Tomorrow I’ll finish the matching clips so you’ll be able to hang cards and notes!

 

I already have some other projects in mind that I can’t wait to get started on!! I love that the weather is FINALLY cooling down a tiny bit so it doesn’t feel quite as horrible in the garage and I can spend more time out there.

And finally, the huge house directly in front of ours! Sharon and I went over there to check out the floor plan and that thing is set up REALLY weird. I wish I had my camera! lol I’m sure I’ll be back over there a few more times before it’s done, I’m almost friends with the finish work crew I’ve seen them around so much! I always go over there right before it’s finished to see how everything looks.

  

And the house they are building beside it. These houses have NO yard and I’m not exaggerating, NO YARD. It’s bizarre.

More from my visit home

I’ve been staying so busy I haven’t had the chance to update the blog and when I did have lazy time I didn’t feel like fooling with it!

I’m so blessed to have a fabulous family, both my side and my inlaws. I love that I get to spend time with all of them when I’m home! I try to take pictures with everyone for Nicholas but I forgot when I had dinner with Amber and then again with Grandmama. I guess that’s what happens when you run your mouth for a couple of hours! I pray one day we will end up back home and we can have everyone over to our house and I can feed the family. The older I get the more I really miss that, and while I love going out with everyone and spending time at their house I wish that I had a home here close to our family. Maybe one day.

Meme

Dana

The boys playing

A couple of cute videos of the boys. Dana, what is Austin saying? Is that from a movie or TV show?

 

I’m heading back to TN tomorrow and I’m already looking forward to my next visit home!!

Care packages

Nicholas has asked for the same few things in his last couple of care packages so I thought I would put the list out so if anyone wants to send a package you’ll know what he would like. I know when life is busy that it can take a little bit of time to get one together and then the joys of heading to the post office so if you would like to send me money that will directly go toward a care package I will absolutely let Nicholas know who contributed.

• Protein Bars- he likes the Pure Protein brand but he’s not picky. He doesn’t like really sweet stuff so I generally stay away from caramel flavored bars.
• Drink mixes- the powdered mixes like the Gatoraid and Propel.
• Small snacks that will fit in his pocket. Those are great when he’s out on the flight line and doesn’t have the time to stop and get a meal.
• Coffee. He loves coffee! He  likes flavored ones like Hazelnut and the Georgia Pecan from Fresh Market but he also like the 8 o’clock coffee that I buy at Kroger. He has a coffee grinder so whole bean is fine.
• Peanut butter- he prefers the natural creamy kind.
• Pretty much anything with protein in it. He has started an intense weight lifting program and unfortunately the food over there doesn’t always have all the nutrition that he needs.
• Letters and pictures! He loves knowing what is going on at home and loves seeing pictures of everyone.

Nicholas is doing good, he’s just (as always) crazy busy. Yesterday he got online really late and we talked about 5 minutes because he was exhausted and needed to get to sleep.  I keep telling him he needs to get on here and update but he barely has time to talk to me and send a few emails here and there and the rest of his downtime, when he ever has any, he likes to spend relaxing with a project.
Men’s Journal did an article on the Kiowa that is interesting to read if anyone would like to pick that up. I’m going to try to get the copy Deon picked up for me today. Hopefully once I’m back in TN I can scan it and put it on here.

If anyone doesn't have N's address or lost it since I sent it out a few months ago leave me a comment or email me. I don't like putting my email on the blog because it has our last name. Thanks!!

A pup and his wheelchair…

This weekend a friend of the family called daddy because their dog hurt his back and his legs were paralyzed. Poor little guy wasn’t in any pain and still wanted to move around and we knew he must be getting worn out dragging his legs. We got online and did some research on the best way to build a chair and ended up using PVC pipe because it would be quick to put together and get the little guy moving again. Peanut’s owners couldn’t stand the thought of putting him down when he still seemed so happy and they didn’t have the money for a surgery that has such a low chance of working. I think Peanut will be pretty happy in his wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Flowers and Bar Mitzvah

This weekend we did flowers for a Bar Mitzvah and I really had no idea what a huge thing this is in the Jewish community. I’ve heard of them before and knew it was an important ceremony but I never realized the extent of the celebration. For this Bar Mitzvah we had 2 large centerpieces at the Synagogue for the ceremony and we also put potted plants on the tables in the banquet hall for the lunch they were having after the ceremony. Then on Saturday night they had another party at a place downtown and we had cubes on each of the tables with a floating gerber. In the place they had a large urn that we put a palm with ivy around the bottom to cascade over and in the food area we had a large planter that we added curly willow and gerbers. It was like decorating for a wedding reception. I’m not kidding. Nicholas got on yahoo while we were there finishing up and I told him how much it cost and he said “for FLOWERS for a 13 yr old boy???? That’s like a wedding!!!” lol Then he said “well if they are paying you that much you better get back to work you don’t need to be texting!”. It all turned out really nice and I hope the family was happy with it. We did see them when we went to set up for the party and the mom told us the flowers looked wonderful at the Synagogue so I know they were happy with that.

We moved this planter from the Synagogue to the party site and dressed it up a little more.

The shop has actually been pretty busy this week. Fingers crossed that continues and increases!!!

Yesterday we did some moving around of beds because for a while now I’ve had just a king size mattress on the floor in my room here at my parents and my brother had an extra mattress and box spring in his room. We finally got the other bed frame out of the basement and now I have a full size bed back in my room. The only problem is the girls and I have gotten used to having that big king size bed and last night I rolled over and knocked Ki clean out of the bed. I woke up as soon as I realized what had happened and it’s a good thing because I was about to roll off myself!! I’m sure she didn’t appreciate that rude wake up this morning though. Poor baby.