I FINALLY CAVED...

STITCH FIX

I just knew it wouldn't work and I'd be left depressed. 

I'm glad I was wrong.

I first heard about this at least a year ago. I was at my heaviest weight at the time and was convinced I would eventually go back down to "normal". I guess those months of eating fast food while I redid our house wasn't a good idea. Noted. So it's a been a year or so later and the scale hasn't budged. My newfound love of Pringles didn't help the situation. I'm finally trying to embrace my new normal giving up.

I gave away all my jeans and shirts and my closet is now pretty bare. I've mainly been wearing funky leggings and long loose fitting tops. If I'm not wearing that, I'm most likely looking uncomfortable!

Since I HATE shopping, I finally decided to try out this whole Stitch Fix craze. I had very low expectations because nothing ever fits me, but it only costing $20 to try, sure I'll do it. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised!

I love the light weight cardigan. Typically, these things just make me look even more bulky and non-curvy than I already am. This one being light weight material actually flattered me pretty well I think...

 I like the cowl neck top quite a bit as well. It's tight in the arms and backside where I have no issues and loose in the Pringles area. I do wish it was a little longer just because I prefer long shirts, but all in all, I like it!  

I really like my my magenta and navy dolman top as well. More fitting in the rear but pretty good at concealing a little taco bell...

I am IN LOVE with my jeans. They are elastic which means I can get through the holidays comfortably. They fit amazingly. I literally listed my size as a range, saying I had no clue since leggings don't come in specific sizes...but she was spot on! They were long enough, skinny enough in the calves, and there is no button to pop off. Perfection. I could sleep in them.

 Lastly was the purple blouse I was not crazy about. It didn't look good at all without a jacket. I would have preferred it come closer to my fingertips. It just made me look frumpy and larger than I am. If it was a little more fitted right under chest and longer, it would have worked. The jackets kinda help frame me a little. I do like the color though.

I AM KEEPING IT ALL!

 It was cheaper to keep the purple shirt than it was to send it back since you get 25% off if you keep everything, so I'm keeping it. It was $200 to keep all 5 things, so it's more than I typically spend, but not terrible for things I actually like.

So excited for my next one. My closet needs at least 3 more fixes. Then, I need stuff more in the $20-$30 range!

Wanna try it? Click HERE

 

Big Project Take 2

Here We Go Again!

We transformed our current house last year and this year we are transforming another one.

Last year was a very big learning curve, but for the most part, we loved it!

We spent 2-3 months doing the inside and then around 5 months building on. We still have little finishing touches, but once we got the final inspection, we kinda just quit. It was livable and we were just ready to rest...and then we got a little side tracked...

When we moved last year, our plan was to get two houses for the same price as our one. The rent of one would pay for the one we lived in. That way, no matter what happens in the future, we will have a house that we won't have to worry about (for the most part). Well, here is our before pics of the little beauty...

 

The exterior was a tad creepy but the mirror wall in the living room won me over. I actually loved the size of the kitchen but the layout was ridiculous. The fridge was in the dining room and the door couldn't open all the way because the dishwasher was in the way.

We decided get rid of the pantry in order to bring the fridge into the kitchen. Well, after taking the countertops off, we realized the sink was previously on the left side of the kitchen and realized the fridge was where they had moved the sink to. I have no idea why they did that, but we had already made the new spot for the fridge, so we just made a new pantry.

 See the little space in the left corner. Crazy place for a fridge, huh? I love how you can fit a long table and several bar-stools though!

The one thing I didn't paint is the kitchen cabinets. I wanted those sanded down and sprayed. Plus, I didn't feel like cleaning out the nasty cabinets, so I let him do that before spraying! Love the big track light too. It fits perfectly and we don't have to install several recessed lights.

 I cannot believe how fast this house is going. We have only been working on it for 2.5 weeks. I have painted every. single. room. Trim, doors, walls, ceiling, closets, everything.

We also replaced all lighting and even outlets and light switches

We had the ceilings dry scraped so we didn't have to mess with sanding smooth or texturing. The dry scrape left a texture that was similar to the walls and I thought it looked just fine. Much better and less time consuming.

My favorite room in the house might just be this tiny closet bathroom. It was a small powder room and to the right of it was a linen closet. We made the linen closet into a shower. The sink is super tiny, but its cute and gets the job done..hopefully!

The other bathroom is almost done. Please don't look too closely at the tile! The subway was supposed to be an accent. This is what happens when communication fails. Ha. Oh well, its always going to be covered by a curtain. It wasn't worth knocking down the top foot and replacing with the 4x4's.

Oh, did I mention I'm also painting the entire exterior? We had a 5 gal bucket of the dark grey that was from our current house and so I just wanted to use it. It's so much easier when we use the same paint colors instead of keeping millions of paint cans at our house. So, it's darker than I'd prefer with the dark brown brick, but I'm hoping the white garage door and trim will help brighten it up.

I love the new floors! I've only had them for a day, but so far, I'd buy them again!

Windows are getting installed tomorrow so that will be exciting. If you or anyone you know is interested in a 4bd 2ba updated home for rent (possible sale), we are hoping this is ready in a couple of weeks!

Dear Sheri

Sheri,

 

Here is my husband and I!

Here is what I got last time...

 I liked the striped shirt because it was long. It's still not long enough to wear with tights, but its perfect for jeans! I LOVE vests. I like them because I like layering and it makes a somewhat plain shirt look more fun. I also like it because it hides my Pringles baby. I get size small vests though because I like it being a little tight. I can still zip it fine and it helps me appear to have curves.

 

The sweater and jacket were hideous on me. Sweaters and jackets have to go past my butt. Otherwise, I look like a spotted box or triangle. Triangles and boxes are the exact opposite of curves. I almost didn't think I would like the first cardigan you got me but it was such thin material, it clung to my lower back/butt more so I didn't seem quite as large in it. It also was a little longer, it full covers my booty. A rectangle body is better than a box...so long is good! It's even better when it has a tie or button, or if its a vest and has a zipper! 

 

If you look real close at the top middle picture, that is my Pringles baby. I like to try and contain that little sucker.

 

As for the dress, I think I liked it. Unfortunately my work Christmas party got cancelled because there was a death in the company (and we are just a company of 10), and I wasn't so in love that I would want to spend $64 on it. I needed a jacket to go with it and this black one is the only one I had and it didn't seem dressy enough. If it would have been $40, I probably would have kept.

 

As for the picture you said you couldn't see, here it is!

I really like the jacket in the upper left. I also liked the jacket in the middle, but only if its longer than butt. Also, only if its a fun color because I don't want a white jacket...I just want that white vest in bottom pic! I have a white and black vest but its not like dressy. It's like puffy coat material from Old Navy. I would like some dressier looking vest like this one! I also love the long shirt/dress under it! When it comes to sweaters, I love the bottom left. It's long so I can wear with tights and I would layer it or add a wide belt that helps hide Pringles baby. I liked the dress, but because I don't wear dresses much, I think I'm just going to have to find a $30-$40 dress somewhere the next time I need one...so ignore that!

 

Ok, I think that is all. I would like to see some color this time! Lets get some tight jeans that are a popular color. Maroon? Dark teal like that dress was? Something fun. If you find me a vest, I do prefer black or white so it will match anything, but for long shirts or sweaters, I like fun colors. Mustard, coral, etc. I also like black and grey as well because I can wear one of my millions of fun scarves...so just whatever you find!

 



When The Inside is Right, The Outside Will Follow.

Three Great Book Referrals

 I have always hated reading and rarely do it, but these are great books that I would highly recommend should they fit your need.

Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follow of Jesus by Kyle Idleman

            This book is perfect for everyone which is why I’m posting it first. It explains what it means to be a Christian and what it doesn’t mean. It’s easy to mistake our knowledge of Jesus as intimacy with Jesus. I may fail at memorizing bible bowl answers, but I do feel I'm starting to know Jesus more and more. It's when I totally lost faith that I started realizing just who He was. When you have lost hope, you seem to be able to hold on to hope more firmly. When you have lost that spiritual connection, you don’t take it for granted. You hold on to the spiritual truths a little more closely. You realize He is NOT here to deliver me from all pain and to make my life easy, but that His purpose is much bigger and much deeper.

            I found it interesting when it talked about how fans don’t mind a little touch up work, but Jesus wants to completely interfere with our lives. It was sobering to read about how we all have great stories of how we pursued our mates. We may have done crazy and elaborate things just to impress them and show that we love them…but when we think of stories about pursuing Christ, we can’t think of anything spectacular. Have we ever stayed up all night talking to Him? Do we get excited for prayer/quiet time? So excited that it comes before HGTV time? (Eek. Guilty here😁). I definitely struggle in this area. He’s not a God of convenience but of sacrifice.

            Along the same lines, often times churches stress the “believe in me” part, but skip over the “follow me” parts. It’s easier to sell the idea of believing in a God that cares, loves, forgives, and gives you hope. He is very much all that, but if we are his hands and feet and we ain’t getting dirty…then what are we here for? The word follow calls for movement. However, they specify the difference between following rules and following Him. Following the rules becomes easier when we are following Him, but following the rules should never be a gauge for how close you are to Christ. I have spent the last few years not only focusing more on believing (or not believing) by how I was feeling, but also focusing more on rules. Was that "technically" a relapse? Is there a loophole here? Do I deserve one free pass? Can I substitute an addiction with another one that is more socially acceptable? OR as a teen…the ever popular question of “How far is too far?” Where is the focus here? It’s on us…not on Him.

            When it gives examples of sacrificing ourselves, I think people get caught up with that rule mentality...like tithing. 10% may be nothing for some. What is considered a sacrifice to you? If you struggle with numbing out your life by watching TV all day (can’t imagine anyone doing that…😔), then maybe you are being called to spend more time with Him. Or, maybe you are hiding behind the “good Christian” mask by being the number one church volunteer, but you don’t feel you have that close relationship? Sacrifice might actually be saying NO to good things in order to say YES to real connection. Some may think their bad habit isnt as bad an an illegal one, so they justify...but He wants whatever is in our hearts that is competing with Him. My issue is being undisciplined with my free time and I need to make a real sacrifice here. 

            One of the quotes I liked was “When the relationship on the inside is right, the outside will follow.” I used to think I wasn’t worthy of God yet. I needed to get areas of my life under control or "figured out" before I could really go to Him and have a relationship. Not the case. Living in the "Land of Tomorrow” is a sad lonely, and long dark place...and tomorrow may never come.

             I felt a healthy amount of guilt when reading this book. Not guilt that was shaming, but guilt that motivated me to do and want better. I think every Christian should feel uncomfortable with where they are spiritually…because we all could do more. Just remember, the focus should not be what Jesus can do for us, but what we can do for Him.

Glorious Ruin by Tullian Tchividjian.

            Pretty much everything I wrote about in THIS BLOG POST came from this book. I realized that I never mentioned the book, so I have updated the post to clearly state that! Since I already wrote a lot, I won’t say more. I will just say that this book really helped me get spiritually unstuck. If you feel like life has dealt you more than you could handle and you may be in, or heading to, a dark hopeless place of victim-ville…then this is a great place to start. It acknowledges your suffering but helps channel it positively before it consumes you.

The Hope Journey by Jennifer Hunt

            Again, an easy read, great book. It’s last on this list because it doesn’t apply to everyone. It’s to help people overcome the wounds of abuse and to know there is hope. It’s interesting how people can process abuse and think they are “over it” but then something will trigger a thought and you kinda need to process through it again. I find it helpful that she explained how she was confused for so many years. Abuse can have so many forms and the manipulation of perpetrators can really make things complicated and confusing. I have a feeling that most abused people feel partially responsible, like they were at fault for at least parts of it. Even when people know intellectually that it’s not true, their heart may still feel that they could have and should have done more. It’s nice to have that lie reiterated by unbiased people anytime it creeps back up.

            This was basically about a college student who was noticing her past ruining her future. She decided to seek help and this book was approximately a years worth of her journal entries and counseling sessions that showed how she processed through her different emotions as they came.

            The only thing I didn’t like about this book was the ending. I tend to hate books with good endings because I will feel pressured to have that same good ending right now in my life. I can get frustrated that I don’t or start doubting that I ever will and it can just mess with my head. I start focusing on creating an ending instead of focusing on the next step…the process. If you aren’t messed up in the head like me though, you’ll probably love the ending and find a lot of hope from it!

I could use some more spiritually uplifting books if you have recommendations! 

Fully Functional and Useable

 Month 4 of Building

Things have slowed down quite a bit because I couldn't make decisions, but we did finally finish some stuff this month! First, we finally picked out the counter tops. The black was easy. The color was black pearl and at $40/sqft installed and over an inch thick slab, we couldn't find anything better. 

(If you have found better, please feel free to pass along that info to me for future use!!)

However, I didn't want black over our dark cabinets, so I was on the hunt for some white counter tops. I reallllllllly loved this grey quartzite (upper right). It's kinda got the marble look but more durable. The only problem was that it was over $100/sqft! So, I tried searching for quartz. I found a few different ones that looked the most like marble (bottom right), but those were also over $100/sqft. Erg. I really wanted something that was mainly white (since dark cabinets), but not solid white (because I wanted to camouflage spilled food!). So, after spending 2 weeks going back and forth, I decided to go with this granite (bottom left). It was mainly white and I loved it. It's called Siberian White and at $50/sqft, it was more reasonable. I also thought my backsplash (top left) looked great with it, so I pulled the trigger and moved on.

For the bar area, we found some live edge wood planks. I'm very excited/anxious to see how this will turn out. Wes wants this to be his project. It's hard being patient, but I'm trying!

 It also took me a little too long to decide on kitchen hardware. I knew I wanted cup pulls, but it turns out Wes has a strong hatred toward them. I bought one to install (so he could fall in love with it) but the raised panel in the middle is too skinny to install it there. I prefer the pulls to be in the middle of drawers. I could put them on the top, but if Wes doesn't fall in love, and we end up going with the same handles, those would definitely need to be in the middle and not the top...leaving two extra holes in our drawer. So, I gave up. It will get done eventually.

Wes also wanted to take on the pantry as his project.

 I think he did an awesome job. Bad picture, but great pantry!

 We just need to sand, texture and paint it. Then add trim around the door and stain it to match the cabinets. The kitchen is 100% useable and so I am trying to be patient about all the unfinished projects that Wes has claimed as his. These include the bar top and the back of the bar having faux stone installed. Building a panel to cover the back of the island and installing floating shelves in between the two windows on the right. Then we need to order several fake doors from the cabinet place, two more refrigerator cabinets with glass doors to go above the other ones, and one more upper and lower cabinet to go on the left of the pantry. We also need to decide on a range hood and kitchen table light. Then backsplash, baseboards and crown moulding. Not much, right!? I'm trying to convince myself of that...

The other big thing we finished is the upstairs walls! I will be busy priming and painting this week along with ordering carpet!

Wes wanted this project, but we needed to compromise. We have extra furniture being stored in all of our rooms that really want to go to their home upstairs! It was stuff we were going to get rid of until we realized this room was happening. So, its definitely furniture and clutter overload right now and I just don't mentally function as well in that environment. Plus, when we made a list of all remaining projects that Wes wanted to do...well, it was going to take around 12 months to finish them all since he has a full time job and two busy kiddos. I compromised by saving him the stairs area to drywall!

 He installed the door and started working, but the pantry pulled him away for a moment. He took out our old HVAC unit that was where this big space is, and we plan to install a platform here where the new water heater will be, with an access door at the landing of the stairs. Very excited for this to be done. Our water heater works, so we aren't in a hurry, but It's a tad hazardous and it's located in the playroom, so I'm ready for it to be done! Finishing this area is next in line.

 He installed the door that goes into the storm shelter. He's becoming a pro door installer.

We could have had the entire house done by now, but I'm all about letting Wes take on some things. I only insisted on having a functioning and useable house as quickly as possible. After that, it's all about compromise. If we plan to fix up and rent/flip houses, I am totally cool with having Wes do these projects on our house. We get better with practice and we also learn what was worth doing ourself and what wasn't. By the end of next month, I'm hoping all the major projects will be done. We will be redecorating and organizing and doing yard work for the rest of our lives, but I will be able to deep clean the house and it wont be dusty five minutes later because of a project. That's my goal anyway!

Eclectic or Disaster? We will soon find out...

KITCHEN'S OVERWHELM ME

 I LOOOOVE way too many different things when it comes to kitchens. I like concrete, stainless steel, marble, wood, AND granite counter tops...can we have all?! I like white and dark brown cabinets...so I chose both. I like many many many different back splashes, so I'm thinking of using more than one. Is that crazy!? Same with pulls. I like cup pulls and bar pulls. Do they mix well?! The list goes on and on. I like so many different looks that I just don't enjoy picking one. I want someone to come in with a computer program that can show me exactly what different ideas will look like...except, I don't wanna pay for it! Ha.

So, here's what we have been doing the past two weeks...

Yep. That's how the cabinets came.

Here is the dark chocolate oak cabinets put together.

We decided to push the island back further, which meant cutting into our slab in order for the electrical line to come back further. It also means more tile work, but no biggie.

We just gotta get the fake door panels for the sides, and a panel in the back, and here's our island.

The good news is I've been able to rule out the stainless steel island counter top! The massive amount of steel in here is more than enough...maybe I'll save that for the playroom table top!

(no, the faucet isn't going there. We threw it on to a piece of plywood just for temp use)

Here is where we are at right now. Finishing up the wall oven cabinet so we can get our counters measured asap. There will be a lot of finishing touches, and several decisions...which stresses me out (mainly the kitchen table light), but hopefully it will all look good in the end. Too many different crazy design ideas might just make for a beautiful disaster...we shall see...

Speaking of crazy design ideas, I'm thinking this for the bar top between the kitchen and living room would look awesome. Do you?

 Lastly, who would like to get me this table?! It's just a little pocket change...

I am just a few days away from being able to use my kitchen! Eating sandwiches, pizza, and taco bell everyday has gotten a little old...homemade spaghetti sounds super gourmet right now.

House Remodel: Part 13

THE FINAL LEG!!
So it's been 3 weeks since the last update. The paint, stucco, and brick have been completed.

The drywall and texture was completed and I was finally able to tear down the kitchen tarp!! It's so nice being able to get into the fridge without having to walk outside, through the garage, and into the kitchen, just for a glass of juice! I primed and painted the entire kitchen, laundry room, and playroom. I hate painting ceilings.

I recruited the kids to help paint the walls while I painted the ceilings. 

 Oh. and the playroom wood floors were installed...

 scraped, distressed, and stained!!

 Wes installed these two outlets (shh...don't tell anyone!). Our electricians come on Friday to do all the finishings, but I had to do laundry before the kids and I go on vacation early Thursday morning!

 We also hung up siding. He looks so good with a tool belt on, eh?

  In hopes of tying in the new brick with the old part of the house, I wanted brick around all the windows and brick in the corners of the house. I was thinking brick down the entire corners, but I let the brick guy do what he wanted. I tend to let artists create what they want! Was this a good idea, or a bad idea!? I'm still on the fence.

 He bricked up the back porch posts as well. My plan was to brick around 3 feet up and then wrap the posts with stained cedar, but I guess he forgot and bricked all the way up. I'm fine with that too.

 It's all done!! Well, the siding will be painted to match our garage doors...a dark wood stain look, but then it's done!

 Now we just gotta clean up all around the house and install kitchen cabinets!!