Old made new

I finally finished these end tables!  I have had them for quite a while and was unsure of what to do with them at first.  Of course I painted them my favorite color, white! Can white be your favorite color?  Well, maybe just my favorite color for furniture and smaller things.  I still have plans to paint our walls soon.  Starting with the nursery. 

The next set of pictures show how long I really have been slowly working on these.  This before and after picture was taken during the summer.  Some projects just are slow to develop.

 One thing I had to find was something to replace those dated fake drawer pulls.  Unfortunately they were an unusual size so I had to fill in the old holes and just picked new handles.  Well...actually old handles.  I found these at a local Habit for humanity Restore.  I looked online for a while but most choices were too expensive.  These were 50 cents each!  

These end tables are going downstairs next to the futon.  Someday when I grow up I will get a real couch.  Until then it is a futon.  With cute white end tables. 

Photo Challenge: Week 2

Week 2 is come and gone.  Some days it was hard to get outside, very full days.  Forcing myself to get outside has shown me how easy it is to stay inside during the winter.  I wonder how many winter days in years past I have just stayed inside.  What a shame.

Part way through the week I started exploring this old junk yard on our property.  I had found it last summer but didn't look around much.  I can't wait until spring to see what I can salvage.  

This is an old fridge drawer.  Love it.

More junk yard finds.

I know this picture isn't the greatest, kinda grainy.  I like how mysterious it looks.  

I had been wanting to get a sunset picture.  This one came at a price.  I stepped outside onto our deck, the field was full of deer and I wanted to get a picture of them too.  I made the mistake of leaving the door cracked and of course Quincy had seen the deer family too.  He took off after the deer across the filed at full tilt.  So, I grabbed my coat and went chasing after him.  What a punk.  I took this pic after I had tracked him down.  He was just helping me get a better shot, right?  Right.   

Baby project...first of many!

When does nesting start?  I think I may be feeling some of that.  I am due in April, too early for nesting?  Maybe I am just feeling motivated and excited about this little guy.  Whatever it may be I love it!  Crafting for baby is a lot of fun.

I found a tutorial here on this youtube station but their blog is cool too.  The video was fun to watch and inspiring.  I have been thinking about things to do for my baby shower and I wanted to test out some ideas, this one is great!   

Here I am before the project.

I started with some long sleeved oneies, they have those little mitten things so the baby doesn't scratch his little face.  I also gathered up my Martha Stewart paints and got a few extras.  I picked up some stencil sponges too.  And away I went!!  I wish I had more than just the three oneies. 

 

How cute!! I followed the above tutorial and the possibilities are endless.  I can't wait to put the little guy in them.

Photo challenge: 1 week done!

As you can see in my previous post I set a goal for myself to take a photo outside everyday this year.  I have quite a few other goals for 2013 that I will be sharing soon.  But for now here is week one!

Day 1: This first pic I took was of what I call "The Lord of the Rings" tree.  It just looks like it could come alive!  When we bought our house this tree was actually a pretty big selling point for me.

Day 2: I have been LOVING that I have been getting outside more.  I find myself looking forward to my walks.  So does Quincy!  I think he is starting to expect them each day. 

Day 3: I was near Lake Superior and couldn't resist taking a pic of this greatest of Great Lakes.

Day 4: I have noticed that one way to create variety in  my pictures is to take picture at different times of day.  Here is a sunrise.

Day 5: This is not my first picture of stacked wood and I am sure it won't be my last.  I think it is cool looking.

Day 6: This one is from Sunday when I had little to no time outside.  I went right from church to work.  I snapped this one on my way to the car.  I turned out to be my favorite one! Crazy.

Day 7: I do love living in an area of the world where we have four seasons.  I am looking forward to seeing that change in my photos as the year goes on.  These leaves are the only ones left these days.

That's week one! I don't know if I will do a summary every week, likely once in a while.  

I did notice a common thread in all these pictures.  Did you?  Trees!! I suppose if I lived in town there would be more buildings.  I will try to spice it up a little more.

My 365 photo challenge

Hey everyone!  I have started getting some goals in place for 2013.  2012 was great and I was able to meet one of my goals for this year by starting this blog.  This is all new territory for me.

I am excited to share one of my goals with you.  There are so many different 365 daily photo challenges out there!  It is crazy to see how dedicated and creative people can be.  One blog I love to read inspired me. This blogger is doing a photo challenge that involves taking a picture everyday of her home, you can read about it here.

 I decided to that I wanted to try this out.  I am not putting too many rules on myself other than this main one:  Take one picture a day outside.

I may be taking it with my phone or with my Canon, just depends.  I am hoping for a few results.

1.) This will make me get outside more! That can be hard to do with these northern winters.  There is awesome beauty right out my front door.  Time to go and take it in.

2.) That by taking a picture everyday it will force me to get more creative with angles, lighting, and subject matter.

Really that's it.  Pretty simple.  I do plan on using instagram and other photo editing software sometimes. 

I also hope to share some of what I see outside here on this blog.  

These pictures are from a recent walk in the woods.  Winter is so peaceful. 

A little face lift

I have been trying to think of a way to display some patches of ours.  Jason and I love to backpack, hike, and camp.  We have been collecting them as travel we through national and state parks.  Some have been missed, we will have to order some to complete our collection.  Here is what I came up with...

Here is what it looked like before...

I had made this a few years ago from an old frame that I painted and some bulletin board.  I have never been really happy with how it turned out, so it was just sitting down stairs.

 It was just sloppy and after lots of moving the frame was pretty dinged up.

I repainted the frame and then covered the bulletin board with a piece of navy fabric I had laying around.  By using the fabric I was able to cover up the unclean look and am still able to pin the patches into the board.  I just stapled the fabric to the board.

 

 

Much better.  Now to order those missing patches and to do more hiking!!  There is still plenty of room on this board.  It is a fun way to remember all the great trips we have had together.  I kinda feel like I am back in girl scouts, trying to earn my patches!  

Big News

  

 
We are having a baby!!


I have been hesitant to share this news in such a public place but after much thought I realized such exciting news is hard to contain.  This is a life changer.  Big time.   I think I was also a little nervous about talking about this baby because I was still processing it all myself.

There is a bit of a story that goes with this news.  It is pretty personal and hard for me to be open about this but this is part of this little guy's story.

I have endometriosis.  I was recently diagnosed, however, I have had problems since I was eighteen. That first visit the doctor came in to tell me that I was still able to have children.  I remember thinking, "What? I didn't even know that was up for grabs!?!"  Starting a family was not a top priority at eighteen for me, but wondering about how it all would play out down the road crossed my mind from time to time.  Over the years I have had several visits to emergency rooms when I would get a cyst that burst or I would have a flare up.  

In November of 2011 I had surgery due to a particularly bad episode that revealed a large cyst.  The cyst was removed and was tested, it was not cancerous, thank God but the doctor found that my endometreosis is significant.  She let me know that this issue was the reason I had not yet been able to get pregnant.  Fertility is a common issue with endometreosis.  After the surgery there were many months of hoping and praying for a baby.  In August we found out I was pregnant.  Jason made me take all three tests in the box.  Finally, after the third one being positive we accepted it was real.  We smiled, laughed, and cried!!  It was such a weight off our minds and hearts and a answer to many prayers.

I am now 24 weeks pregnant and everything has been going great.  I think feeling the baby move is one of the freakiest/coolest things ever!  We found out we were having a boy and that made it even more real.  A baby boy! Wow.

Last week I started having pain on my right side.  I was working at the time and my kind co-workers brought me over the the family birthing unit to get things checked out.  There are some perks to working in a hospital.  Help is near by.

After some testing they found that I was not in pre-term labor and that the baby was doing just fine.  Thank God!!  However, they had to find out why I was having pain.  After more testing they found that I had another endometreoma on the right ovary, similar to the one I had removed in November of last year.  One concern about having these cysts/endometreomas is that it can cause the ovary to twist which would stop blood flow to the ovary.  Without blood flow the ovary would die if not corrected surgically.

Surgery is not an ideal situation while pregnant, it poses risks to the baby and the Mom.  The doctor and I talked about this possibility and that it might come to that at some point for me.  This was a lot to take in.  Jason came and brought me home, the pain had slowly been getting better.  I went home knowing that at anytime I could have a situation that would be extremely painful and would lead to a surgery.  

Those of you that know me well know that my faith in God is a reality for me and that it is the foundation for my day to day life.  I understand that not everyone shares this belief but this is the lens I see life though.  While I was at the hospital that night last week I was reminded that it comes back to surrendering all I hope for and hold close, to God.  I have to lay it down.  I am not able to control what could or couldn't happen.  Not possible.  I am not God.  I was also reminded that this baby has brought me and Jason great joy.  Holding on to joy is important.  If I start to operate out of a mindset of fear of what could or couldn't happen then all the joy and anticipation will dissolve.

So...I choose joy!  I don't know what is ahead.  One day at a time.  I wake up each morning and quietly say to the little guy that we have another day and he has growing to do. 

Thanks for reading.