City perks brought to country life

For a few years Jason and I lived in the "city".  At least what we considered a city.  We both grew up in rural areas.  We actually really enjoyed our time in town.  

One aspect of city life that I loved was the smattering of coffee shops.  Oh yes.  Sweet caffeine. We spent hours in these spots, sipping our hot tasty energy fueling beverages.  Ahhh...wonderful.  Those were the days.  We could walk or bike to several local cafes.  Now that is not the case.  It is a good 30 minute drive to find good coffee.  So, Jason, the kind thoughtful husband he is, bought me an espresso maker for Christmas a few years ago.  It took me a while to get the hang of it and I am still learning but I completely enjoy experimenting to try to get the best coffee drink possible. 

This weekend we tried a new hand grinder.  It was lots of fun.  The hand grinder is nice because I can adjust it to a fine grind needed for the espresso maker or less fine for our french press.  I could really do a little mini series on all the ways we make our coffee drinks around here.  The grinder was easy to use, it did take a bit of time to grind it but that's not so bad.  Sometimes it's nice to slow life down a bit. 

    

After grinding I just proceeded as usual in making our drinks.  Just the smell of the coffee beans is great.   

Jason actually is a new convert to coffee drinking.  He hated coffee.  I conviced him that it was better than drinking lots of pop.  Now he is even more hard core than me.  He hardly takes anything in his coffee, very little creamer and a tiny bit of sugar.  I hope I can grow up and be like him some day. 

  
Yum.  Little whipped cream and cinnamon on top. Done.

Now to recreate the cafe environment.  Some reading and good music playing.  Bringing a city perk to our living room. 

  
One for me too of course. 

2 little projects

What a sad worn door mat.  Lets paint it! 

Wow, way better. All I did was spray paint the mat a dark orange and then I put down masking tape and added the white paint.

I actually did this project quite a while ago (notice there is no snow present) but I wanted to share it.  I was about to throw away this sad door mat when I thought "Hey! There is still life left here."  

The next project was to replace a much loved earring holder I had on my dresser.  I have been trying to de-clutter surfaces in our home.  It's crazy how dressers, tables, counter tops collect stuff.  Here is what I came up with after looking though Pinterest.

I found this old frame in my parents basement and painted it.

Then I found wire stuff in our garage and cut it to size.

And put it together.

Then I found a birch branch in a pile of wood in our back yard. I got some long nails and then just rested the branch between them. Since it is just resting there I can grab necklaces off easily. 

It really makes my day when I can put together projects without going to the store to buy something.  Everything for these two projects I had on hand. 

Zeke's room

Well, this room has been in the works for quite some time.  I  wanted to share some of the work we have done.

  
I found this abandoned dresser at my parents house.  I sanded it, painted it, and then bought some new hardware.  I love how it turned out and how functional it is.

 

Sometimes this little bear helps distract Z while I am changing him. Sometimes.

   

I have been trying to get more plants in our home and I wanted Zeke's room to have a little green life.  This is an aloe plant.  The little red stand was on clearance at Target and it is is actually a mini cake stand but it works as a catch all for Zeke's dresser.

We were very blessed to have a talented local photographer take maternity and newborn photos of Zeke, I treasure these images.  Check out Amanda's beautiful work here.

Jason and I think it is important to pray for Zeke so we have a list we are working on that hangs right near his changing station.  It is a nice visual reminder for us every time we are there, which is frequently.  We feel a great sense of responsibility and are honored that God has trusted us with caring for him. 

This room is quite small.  I am careful in choosing what I want to bring into this room.  This tall skinny book case works great in here.  Jason and I love to read.  Making this little reading/rocking corner was a must for this little space. 

I thought a little invisible shelf would work great right near the rocking chair too.  One of my favorite activities is reading to Z.  

I made this easy mobile for above the crib.  All I did was find a whale template online and traced and cut them out of scrap book paper and hung them from a embroidery hoop.  I have been surprised how much he likes looking at the whales spin by.  

There are things I want to still find for this room a new clock is one of them, but this will do for now.  I like this baseball photo for his room because it is very "boy" but not too baby.  My friend Steph gave us this "Z is for Zeke" art, love it. 

The old wooden duck was my Grandpa's and I think of him when I see it in Zeke's room.  It feels good to remember loved ones.  The knit ducks are from a childhood friend of mine.  Thanks Jill!  I look forward to seeing Z pull these around when he starts walking.

The photos on the wall are from my new favorite app, Postal Pix.  It is a super easy way to get pictures off my phone and up in our home. 

The bat art is something I did as an elementary student.  My Grandma loved it so much (don't all Grandma's love their grand kids art?) that she had it framed and matted.  It's kinda strange but I like it. 

Here's a close up of a shadow box I did.  I got the ideas for what to include in it from the many examples on Pintrest.   My favorite part of it is the graph that shows my contractions.  I worked hard to bring our little guy into the world. I have evidence! 

I hope you enjoyed seeing this room.  I still want to get a fun light fixture and a small carpet.  Also, Jason and my father-in-law put down new laminate in this room, took out old carpet.  He did such a great job now I want him to do the rest of the upstairs.  

It is so rewarding seeing a room come together.  It motivates me to keep moving and work on other rooms.  I think our bedroom should be next.

Vintage store browsing

We vacation every summer in lower Michigan.  This year while shopping in a near by town we found a great shop recommended to us by family.

Don't you love the expressions on their faces?

These mannequins were crazy and a little creepy.  I didn't end up getting anything even though I wanted to. Maybe next time. 

New hobby!

I love to learn.  Now that I am getting older the days for formal education are over.  Sigh.  Sad.  I'll admit I was one of those kids that couldn't sleep the night before the first day of school.  Are there any other geeks out there? 

Anyway, now that those days are gone hobbies and reading are what I do to keep the learning going.  For my birthday my mom got me an embroidery kit.  I love it!  Before I started on it I wanted to get a little practice in.  Here is what I came up with.

  

All I did was print off a big E from Word and traced it onto a pillow case with pencil.  A personal touch is just what this plain pillow case needed.  I can't wait to do more.  

Strawberry picking memories and carrying on traditions

I had a wonderful childhood with summers being extra special.  Without the burden of homework we had time to really play.  

I grew up in the country with plenty of places to roam and make forts.  Life was easy and fun.  Growing up my Mom made jam every summer.  Berry seasons were a great part of summer time fun.  We would start with strawberries, then blueberries, some raspberries (not usually enough for jam, just eating), and end with blackberries.  Now that I am mostly grown up I want to jam in my home.  We started last year with two strawberry batches and this year we did it again with three batches and some freezing.

Some childhood friends of ours had a family strawberry patch and during one summer we would pick there many of the days during the season for people that didn't want to pick their own berries.  We had tons of fun.  The big soft over rip berries made for great objects to throw at friends. 

Little guy slept the whole time!! My back was pretty sore after but it was worth it.  

A trip to Kansas City

Some dear friends of ours live in Kansas City and it had been way to long since we had seen their faces.  Road trip!  Off we went with Zeke.  We sure learned a ton about traveling with a baby and kind of felt like we hit our stride as parents a little bit on this trip.  

This is actually our first picture all together, pretty sad it took this long to get one. 

We had a great time.