Welcome to My World

Welp, here she is; the Casa de Joe & Kate. Are you ready for the tour? It'll be slightly disjointed because these were just some shots that Joe took on the second or third day of being in the house. Pretty bare bones. Keep in mind that we're working on changing some things, so this is not obviously the finished product. Just some tidbits so you get an idea of what it's like here. Ready to start? Great, wipe your feet before you come in!

You'll have to use your imagination to envision hydrangeas and geraniums in the front flower bed where currently there are some nasty brown daisy bushes. Yeah, those suckers are coming out. But gardening is lower down on the honey do list. Which is too bad because since the house has been empty for so long, there are some weeds we have that could probably eat a kindergartner.

Living room. And me in my scrubs. Classy. The walls are actually a moss green, not gray like is coming thru in the picture.


So this is the one of the bedrooms that we'll set up as the "office" and place for guests to stay with us (and hopefully I can have a little nook of it designated for craft stuff). In fact, Joe's cousin Jerrod was the first to grace it with his presence last week. He slept on the floor on a Coleman blow up mattress. Nothing but the best for our guests. Currently, the color is a dingy baby blue, but we chose a cinnamony-red color called "Rum Punch" that I can't wait to slap up on the walls! It'll really warm up the space.

Next down the hall is what Joe is already referring to as "the kids' bathroom". Nothing too much to say, other than that the walls are a cafe au lait with white trim, so I bought aqua towels, rugs, and brought in some red accents. You'll see.


This is the smallest of the three bedrooms, and has already been appointed as the baby's room for when we have one. In the mean time, it holds all the stuff that we have to unpack. Don't worry, the hippy-dippy bead curtain was promptly ripped down and stuck in the garbage.


OK, now the kitchen, which I love. Do you see all the storage? All the lower cabinets have roll out shelving. Do you see all the counter space? It is wonderful Formica, not that horrible tile which we had in the apartment which never looked clean and was always loosing grout. This stuff is a dream, wipe it up and you're done. Do you see the skylight? That thing is awesome!!



Hallelujah! A FULL SIZE FUNCTIONING dishwasher!!! After three years of washing everything by hand, you can imagine my excitement. The view from the sink is out into the backyard.



And the other jewel of the kitchen is the washer/dryer. No more lugging laundry up and down a flight of stairs. No more using quarters. No more waiting for others. I commented to Joe not long after moving in that I could cook, clean dishes and clothes all at the same time here, and really be an efficient woman, thankyouverymuch. Before at the apartment? Not possible.

So this is back out from the kitchen (door is on the right) into the living room/dining area, and we're heading thru that back doorway to the master bedroom, mkay?


See how there's two doorways here? This was really appealing to us. It's like 2 barriers to whatever is going on in the rest of the house, which for Joe and his opposite hours, is perfect. He can still sleep in peace during the day, and I can go about my normal routine and function without feeling like I have to be absolutely silent. Our bathroom is to door to the right.


And here it is! Again, this room is in dire need of paint; it's gonna be a warm golden-yellow color. Probably the most exciting of all is that when we closed on the house our realtor gave us some money back (what a nice guy!), so we decided to split the money, with the stipulation that it had to go towards things for the house. Joe spent his chunk on exercise equipment and fixing up the garage to be a gym, and I spent mine on bedroom furniture. YESSSSS!!! I marched on down to Pottery Barn and ordered a headboard and bedside tables, and as luck would have it, caught a killer sale. Since the picture was taken, it has arrived, but no peeking yet for you. I want you to see the complete finished product. Yes sirrie; paint, furniture, some black and white pictures that we took in Italy blown up and framed, and you won't recognize it.


Different angle of the room.

So, here's what is in store for us. Painting. I really can't wait to do that, because once that happens, we can really place furniture, hang things on the wall, and make it look like a cozy home, not just a house.

Thanks for coming by!

This is me, jumping on the bandwagon

Again I manage to have a huge gap in my postings...I don't mean to, but here it is almost 2 weeks later...excuses, excuses...I have lots, but they don't really matter. The bottom line is, I just haven't done it. McCloud was fun, I took lots of pics, but honestly, I don't even feel like posting the pics because there are so many to choose and write about, it feels like an overwhelming task. Eek! Someday...onto other things...


Here's something juicy about me (OK, well, maybe not)...I have never read the Harry Potter series. And I was given the first 4 as a Christmas present about 2 years ago. I dunno, just never had the urge. I suppose I have a preconceived notion that I won't like them because they're in the fantasy/science fiction realm, and I just can't get into that genre. I've attempted many times to read Lord of the Rings, can't do it, it is way too painful. It's like my brain can't conjure up the worlds because they're just too weird, nothing makes sense, so I give up. A Wrinkle in Time and the Lion, Witch & the Wardrobe were as far as I could delve into all that. Plus, when big phenomenons like the Harry books or trends come along, I'm never on the breaking wave of them - usually I'm at the tale end. I guess I like to see if they really pan out before I invest time or money into them. Anyway, I've heard that if I can get past the first two, it gets a lot better. I'm ready to see what all the fuss is about - I mean, lots of people I know and respect adore these books and are voraciously rereading them before they get the last one this summer. That is dedication - they wouldn't do that for a lame series, right? I also think that it will be good reading material for the plane; you know, something easy and quick. So here I go with book one, jumping on the Hogwarts bandwagon.


In crafting news, I've been stitching some onesies that are to be baby presents, but as luck would have it, the little guy that was supposed to be born on July 8th, decided to make his appearance yesterday morning in the wee small hours, and I only have one onesie done, one in the works, and a blanket to make. So. I have a little catching up to do on that front. But I learned that I can get one stitched pretty much in one night. My mom called yesterday and said that there was an impromptu baby shower thrown together at her church for this Friday night, and she has a gift card, but was hoping I could stitch her a onesie to go with it (one for a little girl), so could I pretty please do it? I said yes, and this is the result.




I really like how it turned out - so cute! When I was ironing on the transfer, I also prepped another onesie, because its my goal to make a semi-duplicate of whatever I'm currently working on and stash the other away to sell for our church's Holiday Boutique in November, so that way when it rolls around I'll be set and won't have to scramble last minute as much. I'm really curious to see if my goods'll sell, and if people even like them (and of course to raise $ for missions too). I also want to use my spiffy camera and take some pics to decorate the kitchen wall with - I have some ideas that I'm really excited about and can't wait to start! So much to do, so little time...
***BTW*** The Prilosec-like meds have really been helping my stomach, I feel great! Finally 2 days ago I got the results from the blood test. The #'s are alright, it shows that I am anemic (which most likely means the ulcers bled a little), so I have to come back in for another bloodtest. Lucky me! Thanks for all the kind prayers and words.

iPod Lovin'

This is my apple green mini iPod. I use it everyday and love it to bits. When its not in the dock, it's in my purse/car being toted around. Quite awhile ago, Candace made a cozy for her iPod that was awesome, and I tucked away that idea in my head to do at a later time. Every time I would go to make it, something would come up, and it would get put on the back burner. The other night, when Joe was watching something he had DVR'd that I wasn't really into, I grabbed some felt scraps, floss, a needle and went to town. This is the finished result:

The front; please folks, hold your applause till the end.

The back with spiffy initial letter "k"...

And we'll wrap up with the full body shot.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Mostly, I was using it as an exercise to practice some different stitches, because on the onsies I find myself using a lot of the split stitch, and that's it. If it was truly heinous, I could pitch it...but I ended up thinking it was pretty darn cute, and wanted to share it. Right now, I'm a real navy girl, and I love the aqua and coral against it - gives it a retro kick that I can't get enough of. Note to self - next time, use a ruler when cutting fabric. Eyeballing it is tough. And also, invest in a white pencil, because free styling your design on dark fabric at night is not the easiest. Having a little guide would be lots easier.

Lately, these two men are dominating the play time on the iPod...

Chris Rice is relatively new to me, and I think he's great. Especially the "Lemonade" song. I find myself humming it throughout the day.

Michael, well, I could listen to him sing the phone book and be enraptured. My mom and I are going to see him in August when he comes into town...till then he croons to me on my commute.

And there you have it. The up-to-date info on me and my iPod.

Crackle Queen

I am a total scavenger. I can find junk and make it work...know what I mean? For instance, if you were to take a look around our little living room, the only pieces of furniture that we paid for were the TV, and the TV stand, both of which we got good deals on, I might add. Everything else was found and reworked. I love that kind of challenge! The ones that I'm proudest of are the sofa/loveseat/overstuffed chair. I inherited those from my parents next door neighbors after the Cancer Society refused to accept them as a donation b/c they said that they were too "sundamaged" (we think it was just a hot day, and they didn't want to load anymore furniture onto the truck). Score for Kate! Even though they were not attractive to me, I saw potential. I took them, and figured that slipcovering them would be a cinch. Little did I know what it all entailed. Luckily, I was able to find a lady who went to my church who did upholstery, drapery, and bedding as a little side business. I showed her a Pottery Barn catalogue as I guide to what I wanted and she said no problem. It was really fun to learn to use a surger, and see how things like that are pieced together. We covered the sofa/loveseat in a cranberry twill, and the overstuffed chair in a khaki - I absolutely love them! But I digress back to the title...

So, when I was on the quest to furnish our living room, I found an old beat up side table at a garage sale that I talked the seller down to $10 for, and found the coffee table in a pile of garbage waiting to be picked up on the curb that the owner said I could have for free. They were both pretty gross. Especially the coffee table. It was oozing sticky stuff, and had to be scrubbed and sanded a lot. Because this was right before the wedding, I had a lot of stuff on my mind, so for lack of a better idea, just painted them black. Bottom line is black no longer suits, and I was super motivated to try my hand at something new; a crackle finish to have some of that antiqued, shabby-chic thing going on. So off I went to Home Depot, and $20 was ready to go. I have to say, it was a lot easier than I predicted. I would highly recommend this project to anyone who is a little intimidated by the painting process. It really is something that could be completed in a day, and definitely a weekend. Here's the finished result close up:

I am really pleased at how it turned out, and can't wait to bring the pieces back into the living room. I'll post a pic when I do. What's even better is that Joe likes it too, although I do think he's a little concerned that I'll get crackle happy and try to do all the furniture that we have, which I won't. I don't like everything too matchy-matchy. I love the accomplished feeling that completing it gave me though. It makes me feel really confident, and happy to know that you don't have to be stuck with the same old boring furniture or styles. It is really amazing what some paint and 2 hours can do. So I say to you, get thee a can of crackle finish and transform your own piece for a little change to your space!