Let's get a little real as we start the new year.  I've got secrets to share and they aren't pretty.  I'm coming clean about some things I need to fix.  Maybe if I list them here, it will motivate me to make changes and get things done before year's end.  I'm not including pictures yet because to see them all in one blog post would be, well, embarrassing.  There are a lot of projects that need to be done around here and a few projects that I would like to do but aren't as necessary.  If I can get even half of these done...a third of these done...even one or two of these done, I would be happy.   Do I have hope that I can do it?  Sure, there's always hope.  Am I confident that I will do it?  No way.  Did you see my 2012 best projects post?  That's because there wasn't one.  That's because I didn't do any projects this past year.  Oh wait, there's one; my big huge industrial chalkboard but that's it.  

So here's what I would like to accomplish this year (sorry it's kind of wordy):

1. stairs: we have nasty carpet on our stairs and I would like to take it off and paint them.  Two years ago (yes, TWO YEARS ago), we took the carpet off the first two steps to see what the wooden stairs underneath looked like.  It's been two years since then folks.  I was that disappointed.
2. garage: what garage?  It is a storage warehouse and filled to the brim. We have never had a car in our garage because there is no room.  I've got to change that.  You would be shocked to see what's in there.  That space (and thankfully only that space) could be on "Hoarders".  Hopefully there are no dead anythings.
3. entry closet: we never use it.  I have no idea what's even in there but my husband says it's full.  I want to clean it out, put up shelves and make it a second pantry to store small appliances, etc.  That would free up so much room in our kitchen.
4. tornado room: there's a great story behind this room but I'll save it until I post about it's redo.  This should be an easy one to accomplish.  Fingers crossed.
5. master bedroom: it's time to freshen up this room.  I've got everything I need to do it except paint...and the will to start it.  It's going to be a lot of work.  
6. master bath:  Technically, it's not a health hazard but it's a mess.  No offense to homebuilders or homebuilding designers but one of them is an idiot to put carpet in a master bath.  It needs to come up.  I also need to pick up my clothes I often throw on the floor in a pile even though there's a HUGE walk in closet two steps away.  I have ideas for this room too and all the stuff I need to do it except paint and that dang will to start again. 
7. redoing main bath/updating: this one isn't a must but I would like to change it up a bit.  There's nothing wrong with it.  It's just been a few years since it was done.
8. painting kitchen cabinets: This will never happen.  Remember that will to start thing?  I don't even want to think about how much work is involved.
9. redo office: We did the office about 3 years ago in the style my husband wanted.  It had a lot of green and a lot of wood.  It was a bit manly let's say but nice.  It was so nice that my son slowly started taking in his music equipment bit by bit and before we knew it, the office became his recording studio.  Do you know how neat and tidy and careful young teenage boys are?  Let's just say the office isn't so nice anymore.  My son has moved his equipment to his room upstairs now so the office is ready to become our home office again.  Yes, I have everything I need for this room too and I might have the will to do it.  I just need to pick a paint color.
10. laundry room, upstairs tv room, guest room:  there are little projects I would like to do in these rooms.

So, that's my "to do" list of projects I want to do in 2013.  I've already completed one project already and it's not even on the list and it's only the 2nd day of the new year.  Here it is!

I moved this plant from the kitchen bar....

and put it on this cute stool next to the front door.

 It was a little bit of work because it's kind of heavy.

 Sorry the pictures aren't better and that I don't have a tutorial.

 

 

You have to start somewhere, right?

Any words of wisdom? motivational speeches?

financial incentives? fun advice?

Happy New Year!

Here's to family, friends,

happiness, good health, 

financial stability (afraid of heights on the fiscal cliff), 

more projects completed and more blog posts

in 2013.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays everyone.

This year we had to improvise with our Christmas decorations.

Remember this cute little puppy, Scarlett, we got earlier this year?

and of course, our little Maisy we got the year before? 

Well, now they are partners in crime.  

 Scarlett is 10 months old. 

Those of you who have had labrador puppies know that

10 month old lab youngsters and Christmas trees just don't mix.

Instead of putting up our big tree, we put up a little one

on top of our antique pie rack.

At first I was a bit disappointed.  

I'm very traditional when it comes to the holidays.

Then, I saw the possibilities; decorating with things

I've never used before.

This old chip clip became our Christmas card holder

that hung on one side of the rack.

Here's our favorite Christmas card this year.

Our fun friends, the Yarbroughs, dressed up as Elvis.

(That's mom, dad and two beautiful girls).

 an old metal tool box holds ornaments

 a bunch of old outdoor faucet knobs tied with wire

became my red industrial garland

 There was plenty of room to add presents on all of the shelves

but still out of reach from pups.

 Red velvet ribbon, silver beads and mercury glass little ornaments

made the tree pretty cute.

 This rack turned out to be a great place to hold all of the

treats we made to share with family, friends and neighbors.

 We made several batches of peppermint syrup and

homemade cookie butter.

Maybe a small tree on the old pie rack isn't such a bad idea.

All of the shelves are really kind of handy.

 

Hope you enjoy special time with your family and friends

this holiday season.

Haven't posted in a while because...

I haven't posted in several months and to be honest, I haven't missed it as much as I thought I would.  Sometimes real life consumes you and relatively unimportant things, like blogging, tend to fall by the wayside.   My blog tends to focus on more of my home decor and projects with a tiny bit of personal life thrown in but in these past several months, I could have focused completely on personal life with no home decor or projects thrown in at all...because I haven't completed a project or decorated anything in months.

So, while I ponder whether or not to continue blogging, I'll fill you in on all that has consumed my thoughts in the past several months.  Some of it is exciting and fun and wonderful and some of it breaks my heart.  Some days I'm so excited by things going on around me and other days it's hard to concentrate.  Where to start?  Grab a cup of coffee.  It's going to be a long post.

Let's start with the exciting and least emotional.  As many of you long time followers know, I'm a pediatric speech-language pathologist (SLP) in my professional life and I love it.  I mentioned many months ago that I had the honor of being elected Vice President of Professional Services for my state association, the Texas Speech-Language and Hearing Association (TSHA).  I've been an "elect" for the past year and officially took office this past July.  It's fun and exciting and quite a bit of work at times. I'm on my computer a lot answering emails, working on projects, etc., which leaves less time for blogging.  My term ends in June, 2014.

Let's move on to still exciting but with more emotion.  My last post was April.  After that post, I became swamped at work.  In my position, I work closely with the school's psychologist.  In happy news, she became pregnant for the first time.  However, her impending maternity leave meant we had to work hard to get as much done as possible before she left and the end of the school year is already crazy busy.  The tough part was we had no idea when she would have to go on leave.  Why?  She was expecting quads!  It was day to day and at any time she may have to go on bed rest.  She had her quads this summer and started a blog.  It's a crazy fun thing to read.  You can check it out at: http://fourtoadore.wordpress.com/ and you should really read her inspirational turtle story and about the poop chute.

Moving on to more emotion and still excitement but not in the way you would think.  My soon to be 16 year old son had his first serious girlfriend.  They were madly in love for 6 months.  That meant I had to be on my toes and he needed as much supervision and boundaries as he he did when he was little.  There is an extremely fine line to walk when your teenager is in love.  You want them to open up to you but say one wrong thing and they won't talk at all.  This first love took the same course as most and they recently broke up.  Watching your teenager experience their first big heartbreak is in some ways as tough as anything else you've had to watch them go through and there's not a lot you can do to ease it for them.  He's doing okay now.  He's handling it well and I'm proud of him.  Oh, and he's learning to drive.  That's a whole 'nother story.

Now to the most emotional with absolutely no excitement.  As I eagerly watch for updated posts from my friend with her new babies (those quads), I also eagerly watch for updated posts from another friend who also just became a first time mom.  Her baby girl is about seven months old.  Her posts are not her own right now but mostly her husband's and they are not from a blog but CaringBridge.  About a month after her baby was born, my friend discovered she had liver cancer.  Today, I received an update that explained how much time she has left with us.  It's just overwhelming.  I am friends with two first time moms about the same age experiencing unbelievable journeys for vastly different reasons.   The highs and lows consume my thoughts most days.  If you want to send prayers to my friend, you can read her journey at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/roxannaruizfelter.

So, why did I take time to post all of this today?  Today I enter a new decade.  I leave my forties behind and turn the big 50.  I'm excited about it.  I loved my forties and I hear that fifties are great too.  Somebody could have given me a head's up that my AARP invite would come a couple of weeks before this milestone.  I wasn't expecting that at all.  Isn't 50 a little young to be an AARP member?
(AARP: American Association of Retired Persons).  Really?  I have years before I can retire and frankly I wouldn't now even if I could.

I'm in good company though.  Do you know who else turned 50 this year?

Garth Brooks

Jon Bon Jovi

Sheryl Crow

Matthew Broderick, yep, Ferris is 50

Jon Stewart

Kelly Preston

Demi Moore

...and many others too numerous to post (Tom Cruise, Jodie Foster, Trace Adkins, Emilio Estevez, Axl Rose and on and on).  You can google to see a full list.

Today was a good day to take some time for myself and reflect on all that is happening.  There is quite a bit more but those above have been the biggest.  I'm sure I'll get busy on projects or at least some holiday decorating and I'm sure I'll continue to blog. Somedays I even think about starting a second one about SLP ideas.  I do enjoy it when I get time.  I'm also sure I won't be posting regularly for the foreseeable future.  However, I am sure I'll post more non-decor stuff as much as decor so this blog will be more well-rounded.  It helps to write about all of this stuff.

This is so cool

This is so cool!

This past Saturday I went to the Treasure Spotters Flea Market in McKinney

and had a great time.  I'll show you later what I bought because today

I want to show you what I wish I could have bought.

Thanks to 

Southern Charm Cottage April Events

for the head's up about this fun Flea Market

next to downtown McKinney, Tx.

Want to see what was so cool?

Brandy from Pocket Full of Heirlooms takes vintage campers

and completely makes them over.

Pocket Full Of Heirlooms on Facebook

Check out her Facebook page and the photos for how she does this

and how she created her space at the Flea Market.

She also has an etsy shop you can find on her Facebook page.

There were two campers to view, a pink one and a blue one.

Here are the pictures I snapped with my iPhone.

First up, the pink one.

and now the blue one.

I would love to have one of these.

She said some people have bought them to use

 as guest rooms at their home.

I certainly wouldn't mind staying in a guest room like this.

Wouldn't you love it?