Office Space

After 3 days I finally finished the office and it is now a guest room AND an office!  Clever, huh?  With the help of my trusty side-kick: Ami, this room looks completely different, and the best part is???? I did it all for $68!  Luckily I had some paint left over from our bedroom (refer to "The Big Reveal" post) so that was "free".  A new desk, a few baskets and a little elbow grease were all we needed.  The room before was purple-a pretty gray/purple I had painted for my husband and put all of his K-State memorabilia up on the walls.

  The desk before was giant.

  You know what, that's an understatement, this thing was monstrous!  Not to mention, not the prettiest thing.  The previous owner had left it in the room because of its size, it physically could not fit through the door unless you smashed it up into a million pieces.  Which is exactly what Ami and I did.  With a hammer.  

After the demolition, we realized we had better find a desk, and QUICK!  I found this adorable desk at walmart for only  $40.  Wow what a steal! It cant have THAT many parts.  Wrong.  It had so many parts.  And screws that you had to screw at an angle.  Lots of them.  Thank God for Ami, I would have never gotten it done with out her.  Next up:  the closet.  

This is how a guest room closet looks inside, people.  If you say yours doesn't, you are lying.  Unless you are my grandma in which everything is always beautiful and tidy or Martha Stewart.  But you aren't my grandma nor Martha Stewart.  So you have a messy guest room closet.  Naturally mostly everything in here is junk and can be thrown out, that's what you do with junk, you stack it high behind doors of a closet.  Its human.  So after sorting through and throwing most of the stuff away or putting it in boxes for storage in the basement, the closet was soon empty.  After removing the doors, we now have an extension to the bedroom!  Which I have macgyvered into a cute little closet office.  To match the desk I spray painted an antique chair of my grandmas black (yes, the tidy grandma) .  It was a light yellow and didn't match anything.  Not it looks super chic.  

What happened to all the K-State memorabilia, you ask?  Well its still going in the room.  The plum colored drapes and accent pillow on the bed bring in the purple for the K-State memorabilia to match as well as Ty's K-State diploma.  We haven't hung them yet, I am waiting for Ty to help with that.  He is tall.  And a man.  They do stuff like that better.  Alright, I wont keep you waiting anymore, here is the room:

Happy Birthday Wyatt Paul!

One year ago today my nephew, Wyatt Paul, came into the world.  Little did he know he was coming into the best world he could ever ask for.  He was greeted with loving arms by his mama and daddy and has definitely grown to be a mamas boy.  I would too if I had a mama like that!  He has the best parents a little guy could ask for.  Of course, big brother, Fisher, wasn't going to let his transition be am easy one.  He had to show him the ropes.  For the first week of Wyatt's life I witnessed these "ropes" being shown by Fisher sharing his toys with Wyatt, bringing them out one by one, as not to overwhelm Wyatt with too much to play with.  While napping he did the same gesture with his blankets, piling them high on his feet to keep him extra warm and snuggled.  It was a tough job for little Fisher, but someone had to do it.  Wyatt loves his big brother and I know he will always look up to him. He will always be teaching Wyatt and showing him the ropes, even if Wyatt is the BIG little brother.  Now, a year later, they are the same size. Wyatt has a "tough guy" way about him and likes to take Fisher's toys from him all the while keeping the adorable dimple grin wide on his face.  Perhaps the tables have turned!  Or maybe they are just brothers that are going to grow up to be best friends that love each other even more than they do now.  Either way, Wyatt has changed Fisher's life.  Wyatt has changed all of our lives just by being in it.  We love you, Wyatt!!!  Happy 1st Birthday!!

The beginning......

Dabbling in a different decor

Fall is nearing closer everyday, everyone knows what that means!  Yes folks, if we are lucky, possibly a week of blissful weather before the harsh winter gets here.  Why does fall have to go so fast?!  I wish I could keep it around a bit longer, so I do.  I decorated the house with not only fall trimmings but Halloween as well.  If you know me, you know that I LOVE to decorate for the holidays.  I have even conned my husband into letting me decorate for Christmas the week before Thanksgiving.  After all, it is deemed the most wonderful time of the year.  Obsessed? No. Just ask Martha, she is known for going over the top with decorations and look how successful she is.  And if you are asking yourself:  Is Jeni going to put up photos of decoration ideas she learned from Martha this Christmas?  Then the answer is yes.  Phew, glad we got that covered. The anticipation was almost unbearable.  I am more than thrilled to get decorating for Christmas.  But, for now, I have to pace myself and focus on the holiday at hand.  I never have really decorated for Halloween.  Growing up the main focus was on Christmas, but never really Halloween or Thanksgiving.  This year I have tasted the waters of new decor.  Thanks to hobby lobby and a little elbow grease I have officially decorated for Thanksgiving and Halloween-a month early :)

The centerpiece on the dining room table.  The hubby named the bird of course, but I don't like to get too attached. 

OOOOOOOO, Scary mantle!!!! Kidding.  We really do clean and don't have giant spiders and birds living in our house. 

The Entryway.  I made the wreath for $10.  Pretty thrifty, eh?

Soon my pretty pink flowers with die and another mum will replace them, but for now summer is still in the air.

Lovely Little Saturday

Friday night a couple friends of ours decided to take the plunge and got engaged.  It was especially exciting because I helped him pick out the ring for her a couple months ago.  Its beautiful and we are so excited for them!  They invited us to go to Weston, MO for the day on Saturday to celebrate.

 If you have never heard of Weston, MO then you don't know that the small, historic town is driven on booze.  Which, for us is a win, win for everyone.  Becky and I got to shop in all the little shops and antiques stores that were RIDICULOUSLY overpriced (but super cute) while the boys got to sample beer everywhere we went.  We found this delicious little candle shop where I had to buy candles because I'm a sucker for that sort of thing.  The boys told us to take our time shopping as they shopped with us suckin down a cold one.  Each little shop was so unique in itself but if one thing was for sure, if you owned a shop in this town you knew how to please everyone.  A lot of the shops had pets that roamed freely and let you pet them-heaven for me.  One cat even got up on a little cushion and did little tricks for treats.  Maybe I can teach #2 to do that.  Then again, maybe not, she is quite thick and small brained.  One of the last shops we went to was called Buffalo Ranch, Ty's mom would have gone nuts in here!  Buffalo heads, steer heads, and cute little raccoon lined the walls.  Ty and I found more than one thing we would love to decorate our "cabin" with.  ( we don't have a cabin, we like to sometimes pretend we are rich and have random things).  This chair was my top pick for the "cabin"  and at the measly price of $2600 why not buy 2!!!

This is going a little backwards for our story of the day, but I had a nice flow going and didn't want to interrupt it.  When we first arrived in Weston, we stopped to eat a lat lunch at O'Malleys pub, which was quite delish and they had some great home brewed beers.  Ty got the sampler, which I helped him sample.  It came with six beers.  We also ordered on the side a sample of hot pepper beer- jalapeno infused beer.  It was different but good, however I wouldnt want to beer bong one.

 After our shopping excursion we somehow made our way back to O'Malleys Pub and down into The Cave, an underground bar that was utilized from the Civil War through Prohibition as a bootlegging hideaway. This place was so cool!  It has many stair and a very steep slanted walkway that I wouldn't want to get caught wearing heels or be any sort of tipsy on ( even though I did the tipsy test on it yesterday, oops!).

After the slippery walkway and stairs, this is the opening with even more stairs behind us, where the bar, a stage and lots of drinking happens

These next 2 are the boys showing us how low the ceiling was in the walkway and stairwells

\

The slippery walkway!!!!

And of course, the reason for us being here: Becky's ring

Needless to say, we never made it to the winery's since they closed at 5, there just wasnt enough time in one day!!  I was a bit bummed but we had a blast and I suppose we will just have to make a trip back!  Next time, Ty and I want to get a room for the night at one of their historic hotels so we don't have to make the 45 minute trek home.  We will need to plan way in advance, considering their hotels are booked up until the end of November! Turns out everyone else loves this little town as much as we did!!

#2

And, no, not the bathroom kind.  #2 is what Ty likes to call our cat, Gucci.  Naturally Chevy, our boston terrier, is #1 because he loves her more.  Hopefully this isn't how we plan to treat our unborn children.  Now, keep in mind, Chevy isn't always #1.  Every once in a while, when either Chevy has gotten in trouble or Gucci has done something good, Gucci with take the throne as #1.  But after a day or so she eventually slides back down to #2.  I, on the other hand, love both my furbabies the same.  Ty has just never been a cat guy, unless she does something worth his attention.  And, by attention, I mean-Gucci pooping in the sink.  Now, this sounds like a bad thing.  Pooping in sinks is never a good thing for anybody, right?  Wrong.  After being gone for a week last winter, the door to Gucci's catbox somehow got closed.  Instead of pooping and peeing all over the house like any other cat would do, she opted for the sink in the bathroom.  Which, in my mind is genius!  Its similar to a toilet as it has a hole in the middle, its in the BATHROOM.  After a few minutes of dumping straight bleach down it, we felt safe enough to wash our hands in it again.  This little act of genius-ness gave Gucci a front row seat as #1 for a good week.  She, of course, has no idea of her status and continues to terrorize Ty.  Yesterday Gucci was doing the opposite of terrorizing Ty and being super cute so I decided to try to catch her in all of her (fat) cuteness.  Oh yeah, did I mention she is fat?

I had to add a picture of Chevy, she is, after-all, #1.

Ahhh the Sat

The Sat (my 95 Saturn that has been sitting in our garage for about a year)  is (hopefully) soon to be leaving us. Where do I begin the memories that were made in this car?  This car kicked off my college career (and I say career lightly considering I didn't graduate), hauled me back and forth from Dodge to KU when I got homesick, moved me from town to town, got me through cosmetology school, helped me move to Kansas City, and has taken me endless routes to and from my various jobs.  Now don't get me wrong I am happy to finally see this car go, but I cant help but feel a little sad when reminiscing.  However, it has become quite the eyesore in the neighborhood and I know our neighbors secretly cuss us every time they turn the corner and the white beast is STILL sitting in the driveway.  Being the "whitetrash" couple of the neighborhood has sadly come to an end because we have a couple people interested.  The sad part about losing our "whitetrash" status is that Ty now has to start wearing shirts outside and I have to stop yelling obscenities at the dog all the while belching over a beer.  Mildly kidding of course :)  So here is a picture to help us remember the Sat.  Lets all take a moment of silence and pray that it goes out quickly and smoothly.  By that I mean, makes it out of the neighborhood before it dies.

Happy Hangover Day!!

Labor Day (AKA Hangover Day) meant for spending time with the family or sprucing things up around the house, has plagues thousands of people yearly with a nice pounding headache, sweats, and the loss of the ability to get up off the couch.  Somewhere in there a large consumption of greasy foods and coffee takes place along with drawn blinds and napping off and on throughout the day.  Well not for us this year folks!! That is because we did that very thing yesterday! Yes, we were, for lack of a better word, WORTHLESS.  We enjoyed every bit of it-after the headache passed.  A great nights sleep topped us off with regaining the ability to move our legs and open the blinds to a beautiful day.  It was a chilly 49 degrees when we woke up this morning and it was greeted with open arms.  The hubbs went dove hunting and I have a big ol' batch of ham and beans in the crock pot.  The smell of Fall is in the air, folks!!  Lets embrace this weather that doesn't singe the hairs on your arms when you step outside. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday, even if you are hungover and worthless. 

The Reveal

Today I am posting before and after photos of our bedroom wall color.  We started redoing our bedroom a few months ago and thought the wall color was "ok" to leave.  Well, my husband should have known at some point this would become one of our projects as well.  And by project, I mean PROJECT.  Our ceilings are not only very high in our house but the builders decided they should put little "cubbies" near the ceiling.  They serve no purpose what-so-ever but to collect dust and if you ever try to decorate them it just looks cluttered and a bit trashy.  I bring these up because not only are they dust collectors but they are real joy to paint.  Not.  This involves my 6' 5" husband getting on a giant ladder, meant for outside use, painting these handy little "cubbies".  All the while, me, standing safely on the ground, yelling out spots that he has missed.  Its a fun project and great for any couple that needs a little test of your marriage.  But we finished it in record time and were very proud of our work.  We love the color and couldn't be happier (Ty is also happy that I promised this is the last time we will ever paint in this room).  P.S. the master bath is next :)

Here is a picture of the master before we decided to redecorate this past Spring:

After the redecorating of Spring 2011:

We made the Headboard from plywood, batting, some yummy fabric and a few staples. I can come on your show and do a tutorial if you want, Martha?!!  Gucci, our kitty, of course had to do a little Marilyn Monroe posing for me.

And FINALLY!!! The new paint!!!:

Sorry for the weird spot, dunno what was going on with the camera.

Here is a peak of the masterbath, expect that to be done in a few months (I hope!)

Sneak Peak

Ok, Ok, I  am sorry its been a few days since I have posted, but Hey, I cant post EVERY day.  I mean, come on, I've gotta keep you guys guessin right? Today's post is a sneak peak for you.  After a couple trips to Home Depot and starring at paint swatches for a good 12 hours we have decided to paint.  Deciding to go with the color brown was the easy part, deciding which shade, not so easy.  In fact, its amazing how many shades of freakin brown they have out there.  We are talking like a hair of a difference in color.  Do you think people are really going to notice that much of a difference?!  Apparently we did because we painted 6 different colors all around the room. Martha would have been proud, I didn't quickly jump with a color that I thought I loved, instead we painted giant spots around the room and lived with them for a day. For a very  impatient girl, this was a huge step into decorating maturity.  However, it looked like a giant elephant had a fight with indigestion and the indigestion won.  It was a little chaotic looking for a day.  After much deliberation we decided on a color.  I will be posting before and after pictures of the entire room, but for now here is your little hint.