crafTuesday

In keeping true to my attempted structure & formality with this blog, I introduce to you: crafTuesday. Each Tuesday, I'll share with you recent crafts (including renovations!) around this way, or share creative ideas of others.

It just so happens, Shaun has been a weekend warrior of the sorts & I'm proud to showcase some of his recent accomplishments (with the help of this dad, brothers & brother-in-laws I might add!)! But first, some before pics:

- Before: Looking in from the garage:

- Before: Looking in from the garage:

- After (still in progress!!!)

Yes, there's a lot of work ahead of us (crown, hardware, painting, antiquing, baseboards, etc...), but thus far, pretty impressive!

I love that Rudy made an appearance;)


Before I leave you this fine Tuesday morning, are you finding it hard to contain your excitement? Did you forget already??? The photo challenge starts TOMORROW!

birthday beauty

As the sun struck her hair while I took several shots, I thought to myself, "this girl needs to star in the next Pantene commercial." No seriously, have you seen her hair? Absolutely gorgeous.

If it wasn't her hair stealing the shot, then it was her twinklin' eyes, or perfect smile. It was her birthday this past weekend, and what a birthday beauty she was!

I remember seeing Bri years ago as a little tot; diapers and all:-D She was a cutie then, and wow, such a beauty now! So here's to the fabulous birthday girl & all her beauty (both inside & out!):

Happy Birthday, Bri!!!

sneak peek

Sneak peek of tomorrow's post:

If I had to name this photo? Sunshine:)

super soul sunday

In attempt to create some structure/formality to this blog, I'm going to introduce several "themed" days if you will, starting with today's entry: Super Soooooul Sunday. Yes, every Sunday you'll get a slice of my favorite excepts from Oprah's airing of Super Soul Sunday:-D

So what is Super Soul Sunday? I'm glad you asked:)


Taken straight from O's website:
"Nourish your mind, body and spirit every Sunday... Awaken your best selves and discover a deeper connection to the world around you... Topics include spirituality, the afterlife, alternative health, happiness and personal fulfillment, "Super Soul Sunday" will present fresh and thoughtful insights into what it means to truly live your best life."

I can't get enough of this stuff:-D Stay tuned for future postings!

sneak peek

"I'll make you a deal; you let me have our fantasy football draft party at our house, and I'll have the entire kitchen/bath finished before then."

Deal.

Well, back-up - It's not as if Shaun had to ask me if he could really have people over; I think he was just trying to make the notion of having our house taken over for an extended period of time; AKA - I would have to reside elsewhere for half the day, LOL, a little more appealing!

The next logical step? Menards.

Last weekend we made our way over to everyone's favorite DIY store in search of a vanity for the small bath. The vanity we currently have is fine (aside from it's size, but more concerning, it's ugly finish!), thus, we were looking for something small & updated (although not too modern or Ikea-ish).

We found it, we found the PERFECT vanity! It was half the depth of our current base & soooo pretty. In the cart it went...along with an additional $300 worth of stuff? Whaaaaat?

No, stop; this wasn't supposed to happen! We JUST wanted the vanity! But then we needed to get this, that, and everything else to make it work.

With the brink of student teaching on the near horizon; translation for: we'll be poor; we decided it's only smart to save the $500 worth of materials we had in our cart (sigh - yes, this also means putting back the beloved vanity), and work with the leftover material we have at home.

So here's a look see at what we're workin' with:

 

Now picture it; painting the vanity a light brown (left over paint), the walls the same color as our adjoining room (a light teal), clean up the trim with a fresh coat of white paint, and heck, I might even leave the ceiling white, too;)

Sneak peek of progress so far:

A little bit better, right? I guess it would have been nice if I took the same angle, but come on, it was just a sneak peek!!!

In closing; TGIF!!!!

worth noting!

Just for the record - In reviewing several of these posts/pictures from another computer, all I have to say is, "EEEK!" The colors are soooo off (it's embarassing!). So, to set the record straight, when viewing these pictures; if they are too saturated or just OFF in color, I can assure you, that's not how they originally looked while I edited them on my computer! Either my laptop settings are off, or this other computer's settings are off?? Although, I'm banking it's not the latter... LOL

project what?

Project 365, you’ve heard of it, right; the almost daunting feat of committing to taking one photo for an entire YEAR (& uploading/posting/blogging about it & all that other good stuff that makes us feel warm & fuzzy inside)? 

Well I’m not doing it.

[insert laughter here:)]

But what I will embark on is a 30 day challenge. 

That’s right, after much perusing, I stumbled upon (although not through Stumble Upon:-P) a photo challenge for the month of August. Good ole Google will provide you with a handful of challenges, it just so happens this list originates from White Peach Photo:

 

But this challenge doesn't start until AUGUST ("& I ain't breakin' no rules!"). Yes, this means not until next Wednesday!

Stay tuned;)

let's feed the ducks

"Can we pleeeeease feed the ducks????" Wasn't this the same question you asked when visiting the Duck Pond? You remember the Duck Pond, right? The pretty little cementary that hosts a beautiful home for our fellow feathered friends, and of course boasts beautiful grounds for our loved ones? Well if you don't know, go visit. Go ahead, you can leave right now, this post will be here when you get back.

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So how was the trip? The serenity and peace this place exudes is powerful & comforting; if you didn't make the drive over (like you should have!), here are some beautiful shots to hold you over before you go. 

Disclaimer:

A wide angle lens would have been best for this location, but unfortunately I only had my zoom on me (so I tried to make it work!).

 

When finding the last shot, a smile spread across my face; welcoming it was;)

water-works

A new text came through:

     "Leaving now" 

 My reply?

     "SAME:-D"

I was meeting up with one of my friends to catch her [irresistibly cute!!!] son in action at the Riverfront, in downtown Cuyahoga Falls, and what a day it was: scorcher. Good thing there was plenty of water for this kiddo to run around in & stay cool;)

 

Professional; this boy knew what to do. As soon as he saw the camera, he was all smiles:)

 

 hahahaha, I love this one! He always made a point to find me (I TOLD YOU...he knew what he was doing;)):

 It was a hot day, but a fun one:-D