The Magic Brush, Inc.

Need a Valentine gift idea for your honey?

2012-01-29T14:48:00.000-08:00

One of the things the Internet has done is simply amaze me with the creativity of so many people so much more talented than I!!

I found this idea on Pinterest and think it's absolutely genius.

Custom made pillows with snippets from your love letters to one another. I love it.

You can find the tutorial at: http://alisaburke.blogspot.com/2010/09/love-note-pillow-tutorial.html
Honey.....I am making this for you for Valentines Day! Please act surprised! ~ S.W.A.K.

No use cryin' over spilled paint....

2012-01-26T17:27:00.000-08:00

My adorable husband will never know I spilled red paint on the frieze carpet in our office...

I knew better than to use this color of paint on such a small dropcloth.

But, all of my blog followers can keep a secret, right???

Perhaps a pinkie swear is in order.

On second thought.....my adorable husband follows my blog.

Hey honey....I swear the carpet looks good as new. Love you! Love, me

The poor guy has his hands full living with a couple of "artists".

The women in our house right now are just a hot mess!

Dear person who bought the green table....

2012-01-25T05:33:00.000-08:00

If you read my last post.....

you know I am knee-deep in seller's remorse.

I think I am only kidding.....

But I am honestly not so sure.

LOL.

I sold this cute green table at The Red Apron last weekend.

It originally looked like a table that I think maybe each of our grandmother's had in their basements at one time. You know, the BASEMENT----the place where us kids always had to sit for Thanksgiving dinner...

(wait....am I bitter??? Lord, forgive me! Ha!)

It was not a cute table, but super cute once I spray painted it!
I learned a few years ago and showed you on this project that there is a particular type of "laminate/wood" surface that does not react well to spray paint.

It makes the spray paint separate, fish eye and run in this totally bizarre pattern.

The first time this happened to me, I wanted to cry.

But then, realizing I could make lemonade from lemons....I decided I loved how it looks. If you spray something and it does this...... and then you sand, sand, sand.....it end up looking to me like a veryyyyyyy old paint finish.

And isn't that something we all love? Making a new finish look old?

So .....apparently the 3 tiered table was cuter than I thought.

As I was loading my truck for the Red Apron, my husband (who watches alot of cooking/baking shows)....said it would make a cute cupcake stand.

So I mentioned that on Facebook (follow the Magic Brush by liking me from my sidebar) and put up a picture.

It got a great response.

I told myself if it didn't sell this weekend, I would bring it home and keep it for Ava's next birthday party.

And.....it was like my first thing to sell this weekend at The Red Apron.

Darn the luck!

So here is my Dear John letter today:

          Dear person who bought the green table:

          Thank you for purchasing a piece of furniture from The Magic Brush. I hope you LOVE it!

          If you do something cute with it.....will you send me a picture?

          Signed,

          Seriously glad someone got it!

I think I am honestly happy for them.

But again, not sure. LOL!

Linking to Miss Mustard Seed.

Dear person who bought my teal door:

2012-01-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

I'm having a little bit of "seller's remorse".....

.....wishing I had listened closer to my "inner hoarder".....

.....thinking I should have kept the teal door I painted--- even tho' I have NO WHERE to put it.

AND....I already own one very cool blue door in my home:

(please be kind and pay no attention to the dust on the endtable....)

This new door (unlike mine) had 3 great hooks in the middle of it.....for hats? scarves? jewelry??? I wish I had kept it for exactly those things in my bedroom.

The crystal knob was super cute.....like jewelry on it almost......

And it was just so TALL and skinnnnnnnny.

WAIT! Am I trying to live vicariously thru that door?????????

Grrrrrrrrrrrr.......

Dear person who bought my teal door from Red Apron this weekend:

If you have buyer's remorse....

If you feel the need to purge....

If your husband has a fit that you brought home another "thing" for him to hang.....

If the teal is the wrong color....

If the crystal knob is too gaudy for you.....

then CALL ME!!! This remorseful faux finisher would be glad to buy it back from you.

Sincerely,

Me

PS. I am only kidding.

PSS. No, really I am not.

PSSS. It seriously would be stinkin' cute in our bedroom.

PSSSS....I seriously want the door and to be tall and skinny.

Linking to the Power of Paint Party. and Miss Mustard Seed.

Yep, I was embellishing recipe stands in the bathroom

2012-01-19T05:27:00.000-08:00

There are NO rooms in my house off limits for my crafting.

Or to my glue guns.

Or to my bling.

I can flat iron my hair AND glue on a fake belt buckle on at the same time.

It's scary people.

One of my bffs had a birthday a few weeks ago......so I made her this "recipe stand" for her kitchen.

She is a cooking goddess.....so has plenty of recipes to fill up the inside with.

I decided to make my husband a stand also since he is king of the kitchen at our house.

And since we are always digging for our favorite recipes.

His had to be super masculine tho' or he would pull his own "man card".

I think it was super cute.

And to think....all the pretty stuff happened right here.....

Super cute dresser, junk drawers and a hunk in my office

2012-01-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

I just finished a super cute dresser for my next Red Apron furniture sale this weekend....Jan 20 and 21st (email me for more info).

(before)

I picked this cutie up from a Craigslist ad in Holt, MO. It has super great details and adorable metal wheels. And I did NOT get killed picking it up, which is always a good thing when dealing with Craigslist.

I had a client-turned-friend (I should coin the term "frlient" or "cliend") give me these precious amber knobs last year that I've been itching to use. Thank you Melissa! They are so cute against the finish.

So the dresser is stinkin' cute....'cept the drawers on it are just crap.

Both the hubby and I have tried to work our magic. To no avail.

They don't slide worth a darn. They stick. They aren't on gliders

But it was worth painting for me.

I am hoping the "cute factor" overrides the "quality factor" on this piece.

(no flash - so it appears darker than it is)

(with flash- appears brighter than it is)

Speaking of "cute factor"....

who is the hottie in my office?????

That's right....it's Mr. Wonderful.

He is too good to me!

Linking to Power of Paint Party.

The Golden Globes are totally copying my table color!!!!

2012-01-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

I saw this picture on MSN's homepage tonight and couldn't help but notice that the women at the Golden Globes are totally copying the table I just painted.....

(table after)

(before pic)

Or maybe the Globe girls are totally copying my front door that I painted last spring....

Whatever the case. I want a finder's fee for the yellow please!

(sidenote: the yellow table is for sale this weekend at The Red Apron in Liberty, MO)

Linking to Power of Paint Party.

Man down.....

2012-01-13T10:56:00.000-08:00

We have a man down in the house today.....

The dreaded flu bug.

The painting of this lovely piece will just have to wait.....

Until the sweet boy of mine is feeling better.

And until then.....I can't decide on what to put on the top of this table anyway.

Chevron? (zig zags basically)

Polka dots?

Harlequin?

or a classy floral vine?

What say you?

{word of the year} for me....

2012-01-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite blogs is Miss Mustard Seed.

She is an amazing painter. And crafter. And writer. And encourager. She wrote a post this week on {word of the year}. She got the idea from another aaaaaaaamazing blogger....The Lettered Cottage.....who is having a linky party for {word of the year} on January 16th.

The idea is to choose one word that has the potential to inspire you and create intention in your life..... all year long.

I knew INSTANTLY when I saw the blog post what my word for 2012 is.....

....courage.

Just today I was praying God would give me more courage. Just today I was remembering prayers and words that have been spoken over me about being courageous. Just today I was trying to dig deep and not give in to the discouragement and fear that wants to take me out,.... tell me I haven't heard from God.... and convince me to give up.

One definition of "courage" is this:

cour·age

quality of being brave: the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action

Another definition says:

courage

1. the power or quality of dealing with or facing danger, fear, pain, etc.

the courage of one's convictions- the confidence to act in accordance with one's beliefs

Synonyms: bravery, guts, nerve, pluck, valor, daring, audacity, mettle, resolution

I love every definition I found.

And I loved every Pinterest pin I found on courage.

So I will be putting my {word of the year} on my bathroom mirror where I will see it every day at the beginning of the day.

I will be competing again this year in more triathlons (which means facing my fear of water AGAIN).

I will be searching relentlessly again this year for the girl I know is to be adopted as our daughter. And yes, we are now looking into adopting out of the foster care system which will take more courage than I feel like I have.

I will be attending my first blogging conference, called HAVEN, in Atlanta this June. I am atending the conference knowing no one but plan on going with my big girl panties on.

I will be running another half marathon this year even tho' I am still injured from my last half marathon in October. But I have a personal time I want to achieve. And I won't quit until I get it. And I literally just decided this as I wrote this blog post. Ug.....why can't I just be content instead of always push myself to the next level?????????????

I will either be courageous.....or I will be sunk.

CS Lewis says: "Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point".

What about you? Do you have a word you feel the Lord has put on your heart??

Share it with me.....and head over to The Lettered Cottage for her {words} linky party on January 16th.

Linking to My Shine Project.

Faux wood fireplace

2012-01-10T14:41:00.000-08:00

Last week, we had the opportunity to work for a brand new client in Stilwell, KS. She had a fireplace and open bookshelves in her living room that she had a carpenter put doors on. I love the idea of giving herself more storage. The new doors were a pressed wood. Her fireplace mantle was MDF.

She asked us to faux the new doors and frame to make it look like faux wood.

Erin primed the whole thing, painted it an orangish-brown understone and stained over it.

Looks just like stained cabinetry to me!

Will the real "Color of the Year for 2012" please stand up??

2012-01-03T06:44:00.000-08:00

A search around the blog world this time of year will surely contain posts about the "Color of the Year" for 2012. We are "supposed to" look for the color to show itself strongly in fashion, accessories, home decor, etc.

The company who seems to get the most props for their color selection is "Pantone" (not to be confused with "Pantene".....they make hair products). Apparently Pantone is THE color authority. The have something to do with making colors for ink and making color fan decks and I really am not smart enough to decifer the rest of the information on their website. But I love their color of the year:

It's "Tangerine Tango"..... a vivacious reddish orange.

“Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy,” says the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.

I found this mock up from designer Samantha Friedman who shares how to incorporate the winning shade into your home decor. I like it.

So I am feeling all "Tangerine Tango"-ish , but then I stumble across this:

"CIL Paints has just announced Tea Dance (10YR 21/436) as the color every home needs in 2012. They describe it as a "blushy, lively, juicy" red that can have a different effect based on what it's paired with. "

Hmmmmmmmmmm.....I like Tea Dance as well. Who would want a "juicy red" on their walls???

I've never heard of CIL paints.....but perhaps you have. So their "Color of the Year" is still in the red family.

You've all heard of Benjamin Moore. They are not on the "red train" for the color of the year.

Veering clear to the other side.....they selected "Wythe Blue" (HC-143) as Benjamin Moore's 2012 Color of the Year. Shown in the dining room above......"Wythe Blue is a beautiful, calming hue that has an element of heritage and offers grounding rootedness, providing comfort and stability."

I like it. You can read more on Ben Moore's color trends by clicking HERE.

And finally....you've probably all heard of Sherwin Williams paints. The "Color Marketing Group" selected a SW color for their pick of the year.

“Boyz-N-Berry”, shown in the living room above, "is a deep rich purple with slight red undertones, represents the mainstreaming of purple. It is mature and elegant yet has a youthful edginess. It reflects our changing mindset on so many issues—off center and unconventional, spiritual, meditative- yet impulsive. It is serene and in-control."

Gutsy.

Sherwin Williams reps go on to say that "North America, South America, Asia, India and Europe had almost identical reports on this hue. We see in this color the 'take back control of my life' that is entering the global consciousness."

Hmmmmmmm......if I want to "take back control of my life".....I'm not sure a purple living room will do it.....but ok.

Another site showed that Sherwin Williams has selected it's own 2012 Color of the Year. They have chose a lush green called Argyle (SW 6747).

“Argyle is the perfect blend of blue and yellow, and is the color of commerce and the anticipation of greener pastures ahead.”

Sherwin-Williams predicts that greens next year will be less yellow and paired with ”rustic tones and organic elements like algae, moss and seaweed.”

And so there you have it, 5 different "colors of the year"!

Is the "real" Color of the Year a vivacious reddish orange, a juicy red, a calming blue, a deep rich purple or the color of $???????

Honestly, as long as it isn't "Builder's Beige".....I don't care what it is.

Just keep bringing on the color!

I would love to know your thoughts!

Antlers.....I just can't seem to get on the bandwagon

2011-12-27T09:56:00.000-08:00

I have a decorator....who has impeccable taste.....

She has a client.....who has an amazing home......

(see the before and after mounts)

And they ordered antlers .... mounted on wooden mounts.....

And asked me to paint the wood mounts in a distressed gray.

They apparently are wayyyyyyyy further in their decorating walk than I am.....cuz' I just cant get with all of the antlers. I know everyone is doing it.....

(photo courtesy of Elements of Style blog)

Using antlers in their decorating.....

(photo courtesy of lonnymag.com)

Antlers on their walls.....

On their jewelry......

And on their person?????

I am just having a hard time with this trend.....

I have nothing against antlers........ I am not an animal activist......

(photo courtesy of camronpr.com)

I just don't know if I like it. Or if it will go in my home? And yet I do think they are pretty in all of the decorating magazines.

Am I the only one???????????????

Am I gonna get on the antler bus just as the bus leaves??????

Wonder what crazy decorating trend is next?

Tell me it's not lucky rabbit's feet......

Sorry....this overachiever has no Christmas cards this year.....

2011-12-23T06:18:00.000-08:00

(all pictures compliments of the amazing Radiant Photography here in KC)

This is the first year that I can remember I haven't gotten Christmas cards sent out. To all of you over-achievers who have sent your cards out already......I was previously one of you.

I even embellished my cards.

And added glitter/sparkles into the envelopes.

Kudos to you all who sent your cards out .... and know that I will be an over achiever again.

This season has just been crazy with work deadlines (we still have 2 houses to finish this week), my first Red Apron furniture sale, adoption stress and as always....all 3 of my kids have birthdays within a 6 week window right before Christmas.

Aimee Decker, owner of Radiant Photography, took our pictures....we just didn't get around to ORDERING the cards from her. Ug.

I just couldn't get it all done.

Too much to do and not enough time.

( "3 kids in our home.....4 kids in our heart")

So....here are a few shots from our Christmas card attempt.

I do wish you and yours a very merry Christmas. I am gonna take a few days off from blogging. My family needs some down time, they deserve their momma's undivided attention and I just need to chill a bit. I don't want to be so worried about relaying the events of the season that I miss the season, ya know?

So, I will catch ya on the flip side.

Merry Christmas to you. And to God be the Glory.

There is still time for you to order furniture from me for Christmas

2011-12-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

There is still time for you to order these furniture pieces to be painted before Christmas.

Ok....well I wouldn't paint it for you before Christmas.

But I would take your order for the painting.

And I would take your money if you are feeling generous. LOL.

Both the dresser and the nightstands have the best metal wheels.

And they could be painted in any color.

They don't have to be purchased together....they are not a set. And FYI....the nightstands used to be connected by a vanity piece across the top in the middle....but it has been removed and I do not have it.

Let me know if you are interested.....or I will be painting them in a color of MY CHOICE (insert obnoxious bold color here) and taking them to be sold at the next Red Apron sale in January.

We can paint/stain your brick/stone fireplace

2011-12-20T11:36:00.000-08:00

(before)

We had a client who had this beautiful fireplace....but she wanted the stone to be warmer.....less gray.

(after)

So we used Stain and Seal from Faux Effects in a few different colors to stain right over it and warm up the color palette.

The color is soooo much better with her furnishings.

I bet she is loving that fireplace in KC today......we have yucky, cold, rainy weather. Bring on the snow already!! It's Christmas!!!

The teal buffet, Eskimos and Hezbollah....oh my

2011-12-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

(after)

So I sold my teal buffet at The Red Apron sale in Liberty, MO last weekend (which incidentally.....totally rocked. If you missed our first sale....mark your calendar for January 20 and 21....I am excited!).

The buffet was one of those pieces that I half hoped wouldn't sell just so I could ~~make room~~ / ~~move stuff around~~ / force it to work in the decor of my own house.

(before)

This piece was a pickle for me to get. I found it on Craigslist and it was for sale at a little thrift store in Kansas City, KS. The owner of the thrift store was delightful and I hope to buy more from her in the future. But I ~~nearly got killed~~ got a little spooked by someone in her store.

As I walked around looking at her merchandise, a young man dressed like an Eskimo (huge, oversized, down jacket) came into the store and hung out for what seemed like an eternity.

Of course, I had just recently seen the movie, "Craigslist Killer"....... so my "spidey senses" were on high alert.

The store was only 2 rooms big . I would walk to one room. And he would follow me (or so it seemed). I would walk to the next room. He would follow me. So, I decided to go across the street to a bank to get cash for my purchase. And stall for time. And pray for my life. LOL.

I couldn't help but notice the armed security guard outside of the bank. So I asked him about the area I was in. He said this was "the most dangerous bank in all of Kansas City.....and that's why he was posted here" (quote). Nice.

Then he proceeded to tell me that this area of Kansas City is not nearly as dangerous as "the German Brigade" or "Hezbollah" .....both of which he has fought against. Why didn't I get any warm fuzzies from that??

I thank him for his quick history lesson and then I am left to decide....do I go back into the thrift store and risk life and limb for that buffet? Or do I call my husband to rescue me???

Like any girl who can barely spell "Hezbollah" would do.......I call my ~~husband~~ knight in shining armor in a panic.....and beg him to drop everything he is doing at his job to help me purchase the buffet.

He was there in 30 minutes. He pretended to see the potential in the piece and ignore the obvious water damage and animal chew marks on it. He is a gem that man.

By then the store was Eskimo-less and I felt comfortable again.

So we get the buffet home and I stare at it for a day or two while I decide what I want to do with it. I decided to ask Erin, who works for me, to paint it in an Aruba Blue color and to leave the top stained wood. Erin had the marvelous idea of leaving the drawers stained also. And so we did.

The teal buffet had ~~the place of honor~~ my husband's side of the garage for a few days while I glazed it, restained the wood and topcoated it.

Then it was all painted ..... but I couldn't decide on my handles/pulls.

My neighbor Jody has incredible taste.....so I ~~drug her over~~ invited her over to my ~~garage~~ studio to help me choose between 3 different knobs.

She insisted that ~~gaudy~~ beautiful, crystal knobs are my trademark. I think I am ok with that. And so we went with the old standby.

My hubby helped me transfer the piece over to Liberty for the Red Apron sale.

And one of my lovely blog followers came to buy it.

I think sometimes its easy to look at something and not realize the amount of work it takes to get a piece of furniture from an ad on a computer screen to a store to be sold. I would like to think I nearly lost my life over this piece.....but we all know I am being a little dramatic.

I did, however, learn to spell "Hezbollah" just for this blog post.

Isn't it good to learn something every day?

Linking to Making the World Cuter and Primitive and Proper.

My oldest just hit double digits-- make it slow down!

2011-12-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

Our oldest child Noah turned 10 this week.

It doesn't bother me that he has hit "double digits" ---in his words.

It bothers me that ....it's just going sooooooooo fast.

I know every mother says it.....but it just goes faster and faster and the days turn into entire school years having flown by ....

and his diaper days are barely a memory anymore.

The leap from building blocks to Ipods just happened as I blinked.

And I hope I am not missing it.

As I pondered my first born child this week.....

I think of crazy things like how soon the next 8 years will fly by.

Yes....he is 8 years away from leaving home (scholarship of course).

He is 6 years away from driving.

Which in our house also means 6 years away from being able to take a girl on a date (insert me giving some girl the stink eye here).

He is 4 inches away from passing me up in height (which isn't saying much).

And he is 6 teeth away from loosing all of his baby teeth.

He is 2 sizes away from wearing my shoes (not that he would).

He is 1.5 years away from middle school.

Which also means 5.5 years away from high school.

He is 2 years from getting a cell phone in our home (we got suckered in to committing to an age).

And he is a math problem away from being smarter than I am! (have kids gotten smarter or have I gotten dumber???)

Noah is loving every minute of this "getting older thing....."

but I want it to slooooooooooooooow down.

I want to press pause.

Maybe even press rewind.

Certainly press repeat. I could have done some things differently. Better.

I pray my husband and I are engaged enough....

intentional enough....

committed enough to do all we can....

all he needs for us to do....in these next few years.

I hope we pray for him enough.

Teach him enough.

Model for him enough.

Encourage him enough.

Support him enough.

Love on him enough.

Before the world gets it's hands on him ...... I want to do alllllllllll we can.

Noah honey, I love you. Even though your momma cringes at the speed with which you are growing and maturing and BLOSSOMING.....I am so proud of the young man you are growing into. Your momma is your biggest fan.

Happy birthday son.

Sandy....YOU are the winner of the $50 Royal Design stencil

2011-12-12T06:24:00.000-08:00

And......... the winner of the $50 Royal Design Studio giveaway is Sandy from the blog "Sandy Did What?".

Sandy, I do hope you will come back and show off the stencil you chose and the project you used it on. Best to you and Merry Christmas.

Thanks again to Melanie Royals for her generous giveaway!

Wait....not everyone loved my patchy crackled, amber desk???

2011-12-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

So today was my first month of being a consigner/vendor for the new "Red Apron" in Liberty, MO.

If you didn't make it.... I totally forgive you.

There is always next month to come buy something and redeem yourself.

My kids do need to go to college ya' know..... and I do have alot of kids (lol).

I took a slew of painted furniture over to be sold. And was half disappointed; half happy that my favorite piece didn't sell.....

I thought it was absolutely dreamy.

Especially since it started out by looking like this:

Yikes. Not pretty.

A while back I did this same finish on a side table for a client and loved, loved, loved it.

So I repeated the patchy crackle on this desk......

I stained it and stenciled it....

And added my signature gaudy crystal knobs.

And called it perfect.

Perfect for ME anyway. It's so funny what I thought would sell......didn't.

And what I thought wasn't necessarily my best work......did sell.

Just goes to show that it takes ALL kinds, ALL styles, ALL tastes to make the world go round.

Wouldn't it be a boring if we all adored only the patchy-crackled, gaudy-knobbed, harlequin-stenciled furniture pieces of the world??

To those of you who did come out to The Red Apron this weekend.....Bless you. It was so fun meeting so many new people and being supported by so many of my family, friends, neighbors and blog followers. You are the best! We were so excited about the turnout and look forward to next month.

So...mark your calendars....January 20th and 21st..... you can come see me then.

You know....to help support my kid's college funds.....

And your love of all things "patchy crackled".....

*************************

Hey don't forget about the $50 giveaway I have going for a Royal Design stencil. You have until midnight Dec. 11th to enter. Click here to do so. Good luck!

Giveaway: stencil from Royal Design Studio

2011-12-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas is coming early for one lucky Magic Brush follower! We have a giveaway today.....just in time for the holidays!

I have been ordering stencils from ROYAL DESIGN STUDIO for years and years! They are my "go to company" anytime I need a stencil.

We use their stencils on stove hoods and furniture.

On walls for doing a textured stencil or a paint stencil.....

We use their allover production stencils for a "wallpaper" look.

I even just used one of the damask patterns from Royal Design in my new office faux finish.

They have TONS of stencils to choose from…

....for any kind of decor.

So, I am so excited that they want to give one of my readers a $50 credit towards ANY stencil!!! PLUS FREE SHIPPING anywhere in the continental U.S. I wish I could enter my own drawing!

There are several ways to enter. First ..... visit Royal Design Studio's website, browse through their stencils and come back here and comment which one you like best.

You can enter a 2nd time if you share this post/mention it on your Facebook page and let me know here in a comment.

Comment a 3rd time if you tweet about this giveaway!

You can enter a 4th time if you become a new blog follower of The Magic Brush.

And finally......if you become a follower of Royal Design Studio's facebook page....you get an entry for that as well.

The drawing will be open from now until December 11th at midnight. I'll draw one lucky winner using random.org.

Okay, go browse their site. Get inspired…find your stencil. Make your wish list for Santa. My list....in case Santa is already a blog follower.....includes these 2 stencils:

Surely I've made "the nice list".....right?

What a difference a decorator can make!

2011-12-04T20:04:00.000-08:00

This was our client's bookcase before the decorator hired us do a 'lil somethin' somethin' to it.

Here she is after the girls prettied it up with some crackle and stain (huge improvement!).

And here it is after the decorator got her hands back on it. Wowza! What a difference a decorator can make!!!!

They can make anything look incredible.

This is my absolute favorite crackle finish and color that we do for clients.

I just need to get that bookcase and that decorator over to MY house!

Putting up our Christmas tree......just keepin' it real!

2011-12-02T06:09:00.000-08:00

Perhaps you are one of those families who have it all together.

You put up the Christmas tree with complete joy and peace in your home.

You drink hot cocoa. A fire is roaring. The Neil Diamond Christmas cd is playing in the background.
WE are NOT that family.

Keepin' it real here.....our family barely made it thru the "putting up of the Christmas tree" alive this year.

I decided I wanted a new tree. Of course, I should have decided last January, when trees are like 84.8% off.....but noooooooo. I waited until less than a month before Christmas. Dave Ramsey would be so disappointed.

I did scour Craigslist ads.....but couldn't find what I wanted.

I wanted a tall, skinny tree. Perhaps I am trying to live vicariously through my tree????

And it had to be prelit. I am over fluffling individual branches and stringing lights. Who has time for all that????

So....we got us a new tree. And I LOVE it!

It was so much easier than the old tree. Went up in 3 pieces. It's prelit. Daddy had it up in 5 minutes. Momma was joyous.

Then all heck broke loose.

Noah and the neighbor girl conned Ava Grace into eating jalapeno flavored potato chips.

There was crying.

And giggling at the crying.

Thank God there was no vommitting.

Then our neighbor showed up to fix my computer (thank goodness!).

So now we are putting up the tree and fixing computers at the same time. Completely American of us, right??

The new tree is great.....except it was the Leaning Tree of Pisa. So the hubby had to get under the tree to adjust it.

Which then meant that I had to get the kids out from under the tree!

And then had to get kids off the Barbie Memory game on my phone.

Engage children! Engage! This is supposed to be a joyous, religous family moment!!!!!

The new tree came with a remote. Having 2 sons + a remote = argument. The punching was not real, but the bickering over the remote was.

Remote drama was over.....but ladder drama was beginning.

Lord have mercy....

Wait....WHERE IS AVA??????

Great....she's been up in her bathroom with another neighbor girl....painting their nails "all their self". I will be trying to get the dried, spilled nailpolish off of her bathroom vanity today.

Oh Lord. Where is the eggnog??????

We decided we needed to take a break til the next day.

*********************************

So......fast forward to the NEXT day....

We are carrying the decorations up from the basement (insert: an elevator would be nice.....)

We started out with a broken Frosty the Snowman. Shards of stuff that could slice Ava's bare feet everywhere.

And Ava changing her outfit for the 3rd time in one day.

And my house being in complete disorder.

And my hair being a hot mess.

And me purging half our Christmas decorations cuz' I am tired of them.

And arguing over who gets to put the angel on top of the tree?

And arguing over whose ornaments are whose?

And wondering why one child has more ornaments than another......

And ETC ETC ETC.

Needless to say.....our tree ended up being finished 90% of the way while our 3 amazing wonderful kiddos got the opportunity to go to bed early.

And mommy got to dream of hot cocoa and Neil Diamond Christmas music.

Maybe the 3rd night will be the charm.

Please tell me I just made your family feel normal......

My sons says "This is my best piece yet"

2011-11-29T14:10:00.000-08:00

My husband saw this old dresser at a garage sale last summer and snagged it for me. It was plain black and needed some TLC.

My girl Michelle helped me freshen up the black base coat.

My old stencil in the basement got put to good use.

My son Noah saw the dresser getting tagged for The Red Apron sale and said "That's your best piece of furniture yet Mom".

My mother saw it and agreed with my smart son Noah.

I'm feelin' rather chipper about now.....

could be the fumes......

Linking up to The Power of Paint Party.

My baby girl turned 4--my hopes for her

2011-11-28T05:06:00.000-08:00

My baby turned 4 yesterday. Except she isn't a baby anymore. She is a walking, talking young lady who has opinions of her own and her own cheetah print on zebra print style that reminds me of Punky Brewster in some odd way.

She is opinionated and strong willed and funny and a hot mess some days. And I adore every part of her.

The older she gets....the more I ponder her future. And my hopes for her future. Knowing full good and well that my hopes may not be God's plans......and knowing His plan is way better than mine anyway.

I wish I could bottle up all of my mistakes and my weaknesses and my trials and my insecurities and make sure she never has to go through any of them. Yet I know she will face her own challenges. And that is what will mature her and stretch her and move her along to becoming closer to the women that God created her to be. Just like He does to me. Just like He does to you.

The human, love-her-more-than-life momma part of me hopes her challenges are few.

And I hope the world is ready for my Ava.

I hope she will still want to hang out with her Daddy and I when she is a teen and an adult.

I hope she is never a mean girl.

I hope she doesn't ever let the scale determine her self worth. And I also hope she never struggles with her weight.

I hope her heart is always stirred for the things of the Lord.

I hope she can not only discern truth.....but act on it and live it.

I hope she is always teachable and humble.
I hope she picks good friends....from a young age. And that her friends aren't necessarily the most popular girls.

I also hope she doesn't look at the most popular girls and make judgements and assumptions. I hope she gets to know people's hearts.

I hope she keeps her purity for a gift for her husband on her wedding day.

I hope she loves school.
I hope she doesn't get her feelings hurt and offended easily.

I hope she understands the value of each: giving, saving and spending.

I hope she keeps a tidy house. But I hope her priorities are in order enough to let the dishes sit in the sink sometimes.

I hope she takes time to slow down better than her momma does.

I hope she is a hard worker.

I hope she prays. All of the time.

I hope her hair turns curly when she hits puberty.....just like mine did.

I hope she understands that while she is growing up I have to be her mom....not her best friend.

I hope she isn't interested in boys until she is 30. Ok, that's not realistic. So, I hope she isn't interested in dating until she is emotionally ready for it. And that's probably 29.
I hope she knows picking a husband will be the 2nd biggest decision she makes other than giving her life to Christ. I hope she chooses well. And I hope he treats her the way her daddy treats me.

I hope she rebounds emotionally quickly.

I hope she learns to give others grace.

I hope she never struggles with an addiction.

I hope she is always humble enough to ask for help.

I hope her and her brothers will always be best of friends.

I hope she does not need the approval of people.

I hope she always knows her worth, her value, her place, her calling and her talents.

I hope she lives life with no regrets.

Darling Ava, happy 4th birthday. Your momma loves you fiercely

The Red Apron in Liberty, MO- I am vendor #15!

2011-11-23T18:22:00.000-08:00

This post could .....

Also be known as......."getting in way over my head".

Also be known as......"additional stress over the holidays anyone?"

Also be known as......"practicing what I preach, I am "doing it afraid"."

Also be known as..... "what if they hate my stuff????"

Also be known as....."whatcha got hiding in your garage you wanna donate????"

I have sort of eagerly signed up / half way fallen into a 'lil side business for The Magic Brush. I have a friend who has a friend who is opening a new furniture re purpose sort of store in Liberty, MO called "The Red Apron". One of the owners also owns "Payton's Closet" in Liberty....you may have heard of that cute little boutique.

The Red Apron will be open one weekend a month and is specializing in "re purposed objects"....furniture and home items mostly. Think vintage. Think funky. Think re purposed. Think pretty. I am soooooooooo there. I am their 15th of 15 vendors. Barely got in by the skin of my teeth!!!!

So our first sale is Dec 9th and 10th in Liberty just north of the William Jewell College at 1090 H Hwy. It will be the 3rd Friday and Saturday of every month after this initial December sale.

So I need to paint stuff pronto. And yet I blog.

My husband is excited....I am clearing out some of the furniture I have stockpiled in the basement. We could see the floor of our storage room again. And there is a chance he may get to park in the garage once again in this lifetime.

I am excited.....I get to go crazy on some fun pieces. And I secretly love working under pressure. Maybe that's the artist in me??? IDK.....but I am feelin' in my element right now!

I will warn you however ....no one is safe at my home for the next 2 weeks. Even if you are a 10 year old coming down to play on our Wii....you WILL be put to work! HA!

We are busy, busy loading pieces up and heading to Liberty.

So mark the date...Dec 9th and 10th.....and come see me, will you????

My first attempt at subway art

2011-11-17T11:43:00.000-08:00

(my new office)

I keep seeing subway art popping up everywhere on blogs, ETSY and Pinterest (darn another time stealer!!!!!!!). I totally wanted to buy one, but knew I could make one.

I had a huge canvas in my paint room that I painted black.

Then I asked my friend Melissa if she could help me print the vinyl.

She has a machine.

Friends with machines ROCK.

Friends with machines who let you leave the canvas at their home and they put the vinyl on FOR YOU double rock!

Friends who then sell your their zebra chairs so that your whole office will come together......well, you get the picture.

Thank you Melissa!

Vinyl is tricky. If your friend places it on a canvas for you and then you get it home and try to move anything, you will cuss yourself out. Leave well enough alone or you will end up stretching your vinyl, having to move more words, the vinyl looses it's sticky and basically you will make yourself insane. Trust me on this.

This is a pic before the canvas was glazed.....but I wanted you to see the uber cute zebra chairs she sold me. Yeeeeeeeehaw!

Here she is all finished. I used gold , copper and bronze glazes to go over the whole thing and tone down the white letters. One final note of warning: glazing over vinyl will also make the vinyl start to come up, curl a bit and generally send you over the brink of your creative sanity. You will be digging out modge podge and artists brushes to seal the 'lil boogerish letters back down!

Did I mention to LEAVE THE VINYL ALONE????

I learned my lesson.

And I love my subway art!

Bathroom vanity--- gold deliciousness!

2011-11-13T19:03:00.000-08:00

This is a newly fauxed bathroom vanity I just finished for a client and her designer on Friday. I am so happy with how the new finish turned out.

Here is a before shot of the vanity. It was pretty.....but they were tired of the walnut stain.

First, I painted it in this really bold GOLD color.......

Then sanded thru the gold back down to some of the stain.....

And re-stained it.

It's not quite as bright as this pic with my flash on. But brighter than this pic with my flash off.

Either way, I'm thinking it's gold deliciousness and I may need it somewhere in my own home!

Linking to The Power of Paint party....and Shabby Creek Cottage.

Crackling furniture 101

2011-11-09T16:25:00.000-08:00

I love to crackle furniture. I don't think I will ever get tired of it!!!!!! I often get emails from my readers asking me how I get such rounded, uniform crackle. So thought I would give you my instructions.

~~I recently picked up this little side table at a garage sale for a few dollars.~~ (OMG---- I have lost my mind. I did NOT get this at a garage sale. A complete stranger contacted me and gave me this table. Melanie....thank you. I am so sorry that my 40 year old mind completely forgot that important detail. You rock. ) I'm in the process of decorating my home office....so wanted to crackle it for my space. Perfect to demo for you.

So, first you sand your piece. Or use a liquid deglosser on it. The point is not to take off the stain, but just to knock down the poly coat on the piece.

Then, you will need my FAVORITE crackle products....... they are the only ones I will use....hands down. You can't convince me to try something else. I am a loyal user of Faux Effects crackle products.....they are the best. (You can purchase Faux Effects products in Kansas City at Surfaces Fine Paint where I attend my faux classes. You can also order them online.)

First, I rolled on Aquasize with a whizz roller. You need to let it "smoke" (see photo). It usually takes an hour or so.

After it went clear again, I rolled on another coat of Aquasize right back over it. Let that smoke and go clear.

Here are some points to remember about size (keep in mind I am not an instructor of the products, this is just my observation):

The way you apply your size determines the crackle appearance. I prefer a rounded crackle....so I roll or stipple my size on. If you like a weathered looking crackle, you can brush it on. I do not care for that look....I think it looks "countryish". But that's my personal preference.
For the hard to reach areas on this table, I used a man's shaving cream brush to stipple size into the crevices. Perfect.
The heaviness of your size/number of coats you do will help to determine your crackle "size". Heavier application = bigger sized cracks.
Size will stay wet forever (literally) if not covered with another product.
It does dry clear. Except for runs.....but I don't worry about runs....they will cover with the next layer.

Next, I rolled on the white colored AquaCrackle to this table. The Aquacrackle will go on uneven in spots.....it's ok. I usually get chunks in the product and I love that. Ignore them. The chunks chip off to make the awesome areas where the stain shows thru.

The thicker you roll the crackle, the bigger cracks you will get. I didn't try to roll it into the cracks....I like the cracks to show the stain. And again, I roll----don't brush. You can stipple it.....but don't brush.

Aqua crackle also comes in black and clear. I use black frequently!

After the Aquacrackle dried, I sanded a few edges and used a japan scraper (it has a flat edge) to chip off the big chunks.

Then I stained it so it wasn't white-white. Cuz' I am allergic to white. And everything looks better glazed.

Isn't the bottom of this piece great???

So, my office is shaping up nicely. Especially since my client/turned friend/turned husband's client/turned scrapbook buddy sold me these zebra chairs. For a killer deal.

Don't hate me.

And she helped me make the canvas you see hiding in the corner. More on that to come.....

Let me know if you have any crackle questions my friends. It's all about the products you use. Trust me on this.

I made something! I really made something!

2011-11-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

I'm so proud of myself. I totally made this wall hanging with things I already had in my house.

I had bought this really dated looking picture at a garage sale last year for $5. I hated the painting, but loved the thick, heavy frame and knew I would use it at some point.

I painted the frame mostly black. Then had my husband drill an old ceiling tile that I had laying around over the painting. Total luck that it was almost the perfect size!

Last year, I won this "A" off of a blog giveaway. It has the coolest crackle finish on it. I would totally give credit to the lovely artist who made it........but alas....I have already "Gorilla glued" the "A" onto my picture, so can't look at the back of the piece. UG.

Speaking of Gorilla glue..... I tried to use hot glue to attache the "A" first. Don't do that. The "A" came crashing off the piece in the middle of the night. That'll scare the crap out of a crafter.

And I had my hot glue gun sitting on my stair carpet in that picture. Don't do that either. Total fire hazard. Or at the very least, you could glue your carpet. And seriously irritate your husband. Thank goodness I did neither.

So there she is..... in all her glory. My craft..... and my kiddo sound asleep right under it as I blog.

She's way cuter than my craft....

Don't you think?

Linking up to the Power of Paint Party and Someday Crafts.

Thanks for all of your encouragement about our adoption process friends. You have given me strength to press onward.

Walking a fine line between faithful and crazy during this adoption process

2011-11-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

Warning: Women in this blogpost are not as crazy as they appear. Writing helps me sort my thoughts. Thank you for letting me bare my soul again.

My kids have a way of leaving me undone.

Or perhaps I am just emotionally vulnerable.

Maybe it's PMS. I don't know.

But this past week has been rough.

I innocently remark to my kids last week that Christmas will be here before we know it and do the boys have any ideas of what they want yet? My oldest son says "I just want our baby sister for Christmas" (if you are new to my blog, you can read about our adoption plans here).

Gulp. Ok.....that was random.

And then he says...."Or at least know who she is".

My eyes leak a bit. It saddens me to know my 9 year old is thinking about our adoption too. And 13 months has seemed like such a lonnnnnnnnnng year to my husband and I to wait. It has to feel like a decade to a 9 year old, ya know?

So I had that sucker punch earlier this week.

Then last night, my daughter Ava had to fill out a "family information paper" for her preschool class. Seems innocent enough, but it brought me to my knees.

Question: "How many kids are in your family?"

Ava's answer: "4". I say "4????" And she says yes....our 3 kids plus "my baby sister". (you know, the one we are trying to adopt- click here- the child who has a name but no face and who we don't even know if we will ever have)

Next question: "Ava, how many sisters do you have?" (obviously the answer today is zero)

Ava's answer: "One....my baby sister". (who again.....we are on a waiting list for and don't know if we will ever have).

I can't correct Ava. She won't understand. And there will be tears. And if she is crying then I would be crying and it would be anarchy.

So, I am undone by my daughter today. The daughter I already have and the daughter we are dreaming of.

Perhaps we told our kids about trying to adopt another child too soon. At the time.....it seemed like involving them in the decision to change our family dynamics was a good one. Saying "yes" to adoption means the entire family is saying yes to opening our self up to a world we don't understand.

I wanted our kids to feel like they had a voice in this family. We wanted to prepare them for the journey we were on. We wanted no secrets.

But, it is just so different than having a child biologically.

When you are pregnant.....there is an end date in site.

There are monthly appointments.

There are sonogram pictures.

There are celebrations and showers.

When you are waiting to adopt (domestically)....your heart is on hold.

Do we go ahead and pick a name or then is it too real? (we have picked her name)

Do we go ahead and book a vacation out of the state? Out of the country? What if we get "the call"? (we have done both)

Do we buy a new vehicle that accommodates the current number of kids we have or the number of kids we assume we will have? (we have bought for the the number of kids we assume we will have)

Do we correct our 3 year old on her preschool exercise? ( I did not)

One of my favorite bible scriptures is in Rom 4:17 about "calling things that are not as though they are".

Doesnt that mean we need to plan for the things that we are believing for but not yet seeing? Part of me wants to scream at my bible.......Is God trying to tell me to buy bottles??????????

And when I read Mark 11:22-24, “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

I am believing for this baby girl Lord.....but please don't let me be 50 when we receive her! I don't want to have an AARP card and a toddler at the same time!

Is that too much to ask???

I am walking a fine line between faithful and crazy here.

The faithful me wants to go ahead start getting her nursery ready. The logical me thinks that's crazy.

The faithful me has painted a chair for the girl's new bedroom and selected fabrics already (because I am a planner). The logical me wants to pretend I am NOT collecting furniture, fabric, mirrors, etc for the new girl's room.

The faithful me wants to let my daughter answer her homework in any way she wants to. The logical me thinks her teacher will think we are the crazy family. And I would like to keep fooling her for as long as possible.

The faithful me wants to believe this adoption is going to happen. The logical me wonders if I am totally naive?

We are 13 months into the process and no closer today than we were then to another child. We are learning the adoption industry, like many others, boils down to financial resources. The wait is less if you can afford more. It sickens me. Really it does.

We are praying about signing on with another agency.....but God will need to drop a bag of money from the sky in order for that to happen. We are just average Americans with an average income trying to adopt. Maybe the stork will bring the money with the baby???

And so, at the risk of sounding like I am whining, I just wanted to bare my heart. This is a lonely road. One I feel like my husband doesn't even understand. As the woman.....the softer and more emotional of the sexes....I feel like I carry the weight of this dream. Not that my husband doesn't want to adopt....because he does. But in this regard, it does feel like when I was pregnant. I felt the connection first. I was carrying the concern first. I felt the baby move first. All along I knew my husband was already madly in love with his babies, but he just couldn't connect in the same way I did until the baby was here. So I am saying all that to say....my husband's heart is on hold too. And it makes me hurt.

And so, I fight discouragement. I feel like we were so certain at first, so full of hope. So sure that we would be chosen quickly.

It feels like when we were trying to get pregnant and it took a while......and every month it stunk to say, "no.....no news this month".

I'm scared this adoption won't happen.

I'm scared it WILL happen and I will be so old I will need a walker to get up in the middle of the night with my newborn.

I'm scared people will think I am this baby's grandma if I get much older.

I'm scared people will quit asking me about our adoption.

I'm scared I will bite some one's head off if one more person says "you should feel content to have the 3 kids you already do".

Yes, yes.... I do feel blessed. We have 3 amazing, healthy, incredible kids. But just like Jason and I, these kids have already said yes in their hearts to another child also.

They are anxious too. Clearly they are thinking about it in their little 9 year old and 3 year old minds. (except my 8 year old--he is thinking about Legos)

Maybe Ava isn't crazy for answering her questions like she did.

Maybe at 3....she has more faith than her momma does right now.

And for that I am blessed and broken at the same time.

God, would you do something with this dream that you have put in our hearts?

Tiffany blue, zebra and polka dots - OH MY!

2011-10-30T06:20:00.001-07:00

(ceiling before)

We had the pleasure this summer of painting this tween girl's bedroom. The stenciled ceiling she had for years was still beautiful and very sweet. It pained us to paint right over all that hard work. But, she had outgrown it and was ready for something different.

This is Michelle. She works for me and paints an amazing zebra. After wrestling over how we were going to get both of us up on the scaffold.....painting a similar pattern...... I just told Michelle to go for it.

(ceiling after)

And didn't she do a great job?

We painted the young girl's bathroom as well.

The "Tiffany blue" theme is sure classy and popular right now.

I could move in.....

Linking to Power of Paint party and Sweet Little Gals Turquoise Party.

A tribute to my 8 year old son Easton

2011-10-29T06:13:00.000-07:00

Today my middle child turns 8. And as I look expectantly to his bright future, my heart hurts for days gone by. Days we can't get back, but I will forever treasure. What a quick journey parenthood is. Thru the endless routine of bed making and word practicing, life happens quickly. Lord, let me treasure every minute. I considered writing a new blog post for his birthday. But yet, I want to be in the moment on his big day today. So last year's post will have to do. Today.....have a bounce house to enjoy! Happy birthday Easton.

I love that you are a rule follower.

I love that you always wake up happy.

I love that you order calamari for dinner if it's on a restaurant menu....it's so bizarre. What 8 year old does that?

I love that you hide little toys in your pockets.

I love that you can eat a entire cantelope at one sitting.

I love that it doesn't matter to you if your friends are girls or boys.....as long as they are kind.

I love that you are never in a bad mood....you are always consistent.

I love that when I am in training....you will do my 3 or 4 mile running loop on your bike with me. And you don't give up. And you encourage me.

I love that you are a money saver.

I love that you take your time choosing friends....and you choose your friends wisely.

I love that you talk about Heaven and who we will see and what we will do and at 8....you are already sensitive to the things of the Lord.

I love that you have always been content to make a fort out of a blanket or a sword out of a cardboard tube....you are happy with just the little things. As your Mom...that blesses me. Thank you.

I love that since the day you have been born.....you've been easy.

I love that you have a little lisp.

I love that you are not a follower. You rarely give in to peer pressure. Lord let that always be so!

I love that you have few enough freckles that I could count them but enough freckles to make you adorable.

I love that your love language is "physical touch". You love to cuddle me.

I love that every teacher you have ever had in preschool and elementary school each has said things like "I wish I had a whole class of Easton's".

I love that I hear you in your bed at night making noises at you pretend to have a war between 2 little "guys" or "super heroes".

I love that you have always been able to entertain yourself. Your imagination is amazing.

I love that you call my wrinkles "tiger scratches".

I love that you don't have an arrogant or mean or malicious bone in your body.

I love that you can dance. And dance WELL!

I love that you like to sleep in weird places like in your closet. Who cares, right buddy?

I love that you climb trees whenever you can.

I love that you will try new things. You even asked to try a clam in Florida. And you did...

I love that you want me to home school you just so "we can spend more time together".

I love that you are as disgusted by school lunches as I am.

I love that you want to visit Bethlehem and Mount Rushmore. I hope I can take you to both.

I love that you will listen to Run DMC and Neil Diamond with me.

I love that you were born with a white spot on your bottom lip.

I love that you instinctively steer clear of kids who get in trouble and you avoid drama.

I love that you don't eat meat....except McDonald's chicken nuggets....and that ain't meat.

I love that I find things like Legos frozen in a cup of water in my freezer...."cuz you wanted to try an experiment".

I love that you will lay on the driveway with me and look at stars.

I love that you are mine!

Easton,

You are such a sweet boy and I am blessed to be your mother. Each of the 2920 days of your life, you have been a pure joy to raise. I love you deeply.

Love,
Mom

Perhaps my pretty, pale pink is actually putrid???

2011-10-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

My husband picked this dresser up for me at a garage sale this summer.

I envisioned it a pretty, pale pink.

So I painted it......

And blinged out the pulls in typical Magic Brush style.

And tried to resell it at MY garage sale.

But got nuthin'.

Zip.

Zero.

Zilcho interest.

Ok, so the drawers don't slide perfectly. They aren't even on "glides". But I still thought the cute factor would outweigh the workmanship of the piece.

What do you think?

PS...be easy on me. I'm fragile.

Candycorn pumpkins- not as easy as they look

2011-10-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

So I see this adorable picture on Pinterest (yes I am on it, yes I am addicted)....courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens....and decide I need to make "candycorn pumpkins" for my front steps.

The description says the pumpkins are spray painted....and I have about 2,187 cans of spray paint in my basement....so I went to work.

I think it's wise to paint the bottoms first. Notice my cute little helper in the background watching.

Unfortunately......I way oversprayed.....and it ran everywhere. Note to self: SEVERAL THIN coats of paint work best. Every painter knows this. Duh.....

Then I flipped the pumpkins right side up....

And tinfoiled the stems 'cuz I didn't want those painted.

I didn't like the overspray that the spray paint was leaving. I thought the BH&G pumpkins had a crisper transition between colors...... so I decided to tape off a paint line. Tthat looked ridiculous (see above).

So I went back to spray painting them.

And think they look ok from a distance.

Especially when the camera is tilted.

I'm just not sure how BH&G did it. Thoughts???

Welcome to fall y'all.

My Pottery Barn wanna-bees

2011-10-18T14:13:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I saw something similar to this in the Pottery Barn catalog for like a jillion dollars. Since I don't have a jillion dollar budget, I made my own knock off.

I bought 5 grapevine wreaths for each topiary staggering in sizes. I started with the biggest on the bottom and stacked them all on top of each other.

Then I used florist wire to wire each wreath to the one on top of it and the one below it.

After having a "volcano" of wreaths....you stuff the entire inside tightly with newspaper. It will hold the shape. I've had these topiaries for 5 or 6 years....and they are still holding up.

The top wreath will show an open hole with newspaper showing, so I stuff the tops heavily with sticks, berries and leaf picks. All from Hobby Lobby.

Then I shove whatever fall picks I have into the sides. They will fade every few years and need replaced.

I place the topiaries in my summer pots and anchor them down with landscape spikes.

When the season is over, I literally pick them up, put a trash bag over them and keep them in the basement until the next year.

But in the meantime, I enjoy them all fall. At a fraction of the cost.

Sorry Pottery Barn. You know I luv ya....

Linking up to CSI fall projects.

The making of a fall urn arrangement

2011-10-09T14:30:00.001-07:00

I've put up the same fall arrangement in front of my garage doors for years. As I put it together this week, I thought I may as well blog about it for you all.

I start with an empty urn. And when I say empty.....I mean, I have yanked the dead flowers from it....but it's still full of lifeless dirt. I put a large grapevine wreath on top of it.

Then I add a second, smaller grapevine wreath to it. The wreaths help to hold all of the flowers and sticks together.

I have sticks from Hobby Lobby, sticks from garage sales and sticks from my yard that I shove down into the dirt. I love the height that sticks give any arrangement!

I bought these yellow and orange flowers at Hobby Lobby years ago and they have kept their colors thru several autumns.

I shove their spiked ends into the dirt and circle the sticks with them.

Then throw in a couple of red leaf arrangements.

And call it done.

Happy fall y'all. It's my favorite time of the year!

CarSmart= a "faux forward" company

2011-10-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

We recently fauxed the inside of a car dealership for the first time.

The KC dealership is called CarSmart. And I think THE OWNER is smart. He has built something like no other dealership I have been in.

First, the owner of the dealership had an interior designer.... for the dealership. Way cool.

Second, he hired US. We textured his personal office (not pictured).....

.....and at his request, we stenciled words throughout the building.

Positive, life encouraging slogans placed around the dealership.

And thirdly, he put in a theater room....with a popcorn machine....for children of car buyers.

How cool of a "faux forward" company is that????

Our adoption journey: Part II - my life is not mine

2011-09-30T03:18:00.000-07:00

......Continued from part 1. Click here if you missed it.

Warning: this post is long. With few pictures. And many references to crazy conversations I have with God.

I do hope you read it.

So after months of paperwork and appointments, we sent in our adoption packets to 2 adoption agencies in March. We had naively assumed the “approval process” would go quickly. We are decent enough people. No criminal histories. No reason to see them denying us. So we thought we would probably get approved the following week….maybe 2 weeks later?

By some standards it may have been quick…. but it took until May (2 months later) for one agency to approve us and until July (4 months later) for the other agency. Basically when an agency gets your packets they have to go thru it with a fine tooth comb. And inevitably….there are forms missed, signatures missed, etc. They also have to type up the entire home study. And have it signed off on by the "head" of each agency. Essentially...they have to ensure we aren't nut jobs.

There were also parts of our lives the out of state agency wanted “more information” on. Because we have 3 bio kids, they wanted our home study coordinator to come interview just our kids. Again....probably to make sure our kids aren't nut jobs either.

What a hilarious experience that was. Our coordinator is a great woman who over the course of the last 10 months has gotten to know us well.

And thank God.

Because Ava got on the floor and barked like a dog for a portion of the interview.

And Easton shocked me by expressing some concerns over how the new child would affect him and his brother.

In them middle of the interview, the boys started to rough-house….or what we affectionately refer to in our house as "playing grab ass”.

And I just giggled at my family and our life. It is chaotic and real and loud and authentic. And I love it.

I feel confident our coordinator loves us and yet I couldn't help but wonder what notes she was making……hmmmmmmmmmm????

Then she has to go back to her office and take several weeks to write up our home study. Basically a small book that a judge will see before we are able to get our new baby one day. I would love to read it, but I am pretty sure just the attorneys and her have access to it.

So we wait for our approvals and in the meantime, my phone rings one day in March. It's my painting mentor and friend, Brenda Deeter who owns Morningstar Faux Finishing here in KC. Brenda is a wonderful woman of God who I know hears from the Lord. She called because she had a word from the Lord for me. I am thinking "sweet! What could it be???". Hoping for a word like "you will win the lottery" or "your business will prosper" or something like that. LOL!

She tells me the Lord told her we are to "prepare our hearts".

"Prepare my heart???????" What the heck does that mean? Prepare for what? Prepare for heartache? Prepare for sadness? I associate the word "prepare" with "get ready". So instantly I am thinking....get your heart ready. But ready for what?????

So I calmly thank her for her call and then I go into full blown meltdown. You know, the one that requires a BFF to come to your house at 10:00 pm on a school night in her slippers with a bottle of wine. After talking me off the ledge, she assured me God gives GOOD gifts and "prepare our hearts" is a GOOD word. I am not convinced.

As God would have it, the next day I went thru my unopened mail for the week. Junk.junk.bills.bills. And an invitation to an adoption seminar from our home study coordinator. I remember her inviting us but I had brushed it off.

I open the invite and see it's an evening to discuss "trans racial adoption" (adopting a child of a race different than your family's race). I glace at the date and see it's on a school night--- St Patrick's Day at that-- and start to dismiss the idea of going.

UNTIL....I see the title of the seminar...."Preparing your Heart".

Insert catching of breath, eyes filling with tears and smoke shooting out of my ears like a bad cartoon clip. I knew instantly this is why I had received that word from the Lord the day before....Jason and I were to go.

So on a night when much of the world is out drinking green beer....Jason and I went and listened to a Caucasian family who had adopted 2 African American girls as newborns. What an eye opener that night was. We had always been open to adopting a baby girl who was not white....now our hearts were being wooed in that direction.

So time passes after the seminar. Suddenly our "Spidey senses" are on high alert to all families who are trans racial. We begin to notice the families. And begin to explore in our heart what God may or may not be asking us to do.

And then my mom takes my 3 year old daughter shopping for a "new baby". Ava came home with a darling brown skinned baby doll with absolutely no prompting from anyone and no discussions about what her sister may or may not look like. I am left thinking "Lord is this a sign?????". I love how children don't see color. They just see a baby.

I can't explain how or why we feel led to adopt transracially. But we do. Despite hearing a few horror stories, despite gentle resistance from a few people in our life who mean well, despite not knowing the first thing about raising a baby of another color or ethnicity.....this is where our heart is at.

More time passes and I am working one day this spring on a Wednesday. I remember because typically there are no garage sales in KC on Wednesdays. And yet on this day....I saw a garage sale sign. I am about 40 miles away from home and have some time to kill before a painting appointment. I decide to follow the sign and see if by chance is wasn't just an old sign left up.

As God would have it, I find the garage sale and am super stoked. It appears to be mostly tiny girl baby clothes, but I walk into the garage anyway. I see the clothes are all too small for Ava and am just about to leave when the homeowner comes out and tell me there is furniture inside the house for sale as they are preparing to move. Sweet I think....she was speaking my love language.

So I go in, not suspecting my heart is about to get rocked and I start to look around. I hear the voice of a young girl and turn around to see the most beautiful, African American, 4 year old girl I have ever laid eyes on. My heart skips a beat as I take into account that the mother is white. I glance around the room and see.......a family photo....with 2 white parents, 3 white children and 1 beautiful black toddler. My heart just melts. THIS IS WHAT MY FAMILY MAY LOOK LIKE!!!

I engage the mother in conversation and yes the girl is adopted. They adopted her out of the foster care system which took 3 years to finalize. They had been planning to move to another state for years, but couldn't until the adoption was complete. I marvelled at what some families are willing to do take in another child. It humbled me.

I was encouraged and thanked the lovely mother for her time and began to leave her garage. But then.... I spied with my little eye an adorable animal print dress laying on a table as I walk out. I check the tag just in case it's big enough for Ava and am disappointed to see it's 12-18 months.

I begin to put the dress down until I hear the still, small voice of the Lord...."you could buy it for your next daughter".

I pause.

I contemplate in my heart.

Buying the dress would mean I was crazy 'cuz we don't even know if there will BE a baby for us after all this process. And it would also mean I am totally 100% on board with God's plan for us. And I am still thinking I am willing to take the next step and see where it leads, but not completely welcoming the idea yet either. So I put the dress down.

And as clear as day I hear God whisper to my heart "Jen, you can get on board with this adoption thing or not, but either way ......it's gonna happen".

So right there in this stranger's garage without her having any idea....God and I have this little heart to heart where my eyes are brimming with tears and I know I need to be obedient and yet it means me giving up a piece of my heart and control over my life and I feel scared and angry and crazy all in some women's garage.

And I begin to think I am dreaming up wacko conversations in my head and maybe I am loosing my mind.

And then emotionally exhausted, I gave up. And let God win. 'Cuz He will win at some point anyway.

I bought the dress.

In a split second, I decide I need to change my mindset to believe that buying the dress is NOT crazy, but an act of faith that I do believe I will have another daughter. And my signal to God that ok.....I am willing.

And I leave the women's garage, dress in hand, wondering when is my heart ever gonna feel normal again??? I have 3 kids in my arms....and 4 kids in my heart.

The dress hangs out in broad daylight on Ava's bathroom door every day so I can see it. I put it with a pillow that says it all. "Yes Lord". It reminds me that the plan is His....and I just need to be a willing participant.

So our approvals came. And I was certain the phone would begin to ring.

And it didn’t. Apparently…..the number of mothers placing their babies up for adoption right now is VERY low compared to previous years.

I have heard some numbers being thrown around like one agency who used to do 3-4 adoptions a month…..now they have gone 6 months without a baby to place.

In my heart, I am hoping the adoption rate is dropping because of abstinence and not because of an increase in abortion.

And I am also hoping more moms are just choosing to raise their own children after weighing the option of adoption.

Unfortunately tho, one adoption agency has told me that shows like “16 & Pregnant “ on MTV is glamorizing teen parenting…..and lowering the number of babies being placed for adoption. And this is concerning.

Finally in May, we had a phone call with our first birth mom looking at our profile. This was our first experience on the official "adoption roller coaster". I remind myself to not get excited. But can't help it.

A few days later we learned the birth mom selected a biracial family with no kiddos for her biracial baby girl. I totally bless that decision and totally get that.

Call #2 came the same week. Same exact situation, just different birthmom. She also chose a biracial family with no kids.

And then we waited and waited.

Finally, a call last week. A Caucasian baby girl due in December. I was not surprised when we weren’t selected.
Then the very next day…..a 4th birthmom looked at our profile. I was sure this was it. I had a dream the 4th birthmom selected us. This birthmom was due in 12 days (yesterday was her due date). Wowza. I began to sweat a little since we have no bottles, no pacifiers, no diapers, nothing but a crib ready for a baby! And we were headed to Boston for 4 days on a trip my husband won thru his work. The time frame seemed intense, but we felt excited and a little confident.

I was shocked when the adoption coordinator called and said this mom had selected a biracial family with no children for her African American baby also. I am happy for the family. But sad for us.

So it's now 11 months since we began our process and at times I feel like it will never happen and at other times I feel she is so close that I can almost smell her skin.

At times I think it's ok if we only have these 3 kids. Then other times I catch myself feeling like I am missing saying goodnight to one of my children.

Some days I feel like God wouldn't take us this far and then there be no baby. And other days I wonder if He just truly wants to know how much we trust Him.

Some days I wonder how on earth will we have the energy/time/money for another baby. And other days my arms ache to hold a newborn.

At times I wonder if we should explore other agencies? Other countries maybe? But most days I feel like I don't want to try to smash a round peg into a square hole here. I am certain God wants us with the 2 agencies we are with. Anything else would be a crap shoot. And if I have to fill out one more packet of information I will cry.

It leaves me feeling emotionally naked.

In the end, I know in my knower that my God has my heart in the palm of His hand. He will never leave me nor forsake me. And He is up to something in my family. We have committed to see this thing out. We have no idea how it will look, how it will get paid for, when it will happen. But we do know one thing....that God is good. All the time.

And so, please continue to pray for us and for our baby girl who only has a crib and one dress. LOL.

I am being very specific in my prayers. If you feel led to join us in praying, these are some of my requests. The bible says "we receive not, because we ask not". So I am asking.

Please pray:

-for us to have a good relationship with the baby's birth parents. We will be tied to them for life.

- for the child God has for us to be healthy and well taken care of in her birth mother's womb.

-for her birth mom to have complete and utter peace about her decision to give her child to us to raise.

- for our adoption funds to be here by the time the baby is.

- for a baby girl that will fit perfectly in with our family and who will bond tightly and immediately with our other children.

- for her to be a GREAT sleeper.

And will you remind God that I am 40 years old?? Cuz He may have forgotten. Tick tock. Tick tock.

Please keep us in mind if you hear of a birthmom looking to give her baby up for adoption. We have an adoption attorney, a completed home study and are able to adopt from anywhere in the US. Our ONLY requirement, by unanimous decision of our entire family..... is that the baby is a GIRL and under 2 years of age.

Thank you for your private emails which brought me to tears reading. And your comments....your sweet comments.

That you take time to read about my life and actually respond is humbling. Bless you.

Every few days, my precious 3 year old Ava asks me, "mommy, are we getting my baby sister today?". And every time I feel like my heart is being ripped from my chest.

I pray it's a day soon that I can tell her- "yes Ava. Yes, you get your baby sister today".

Yes......we make torn paper

2011-09-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

We made a gorgeous torn paper over the winter if I don't mind saying so myself......

It was for a great client of mine who asked for it to match her comforter set on her bed.

Haven't seen torn paper? Well, it's a handmade paper made from rolls of kraft paper tha you would get at a Lowes/Home Depot type store.

We faux it, rip it into smaller pieces and apply it to the walls with wallpaper paste.

So it's like a "handmade faux wallpaper". Or something like that.....

Just way better than wallpaper (insert smile......).

I am in Boston as we speak my friends.....have a great weekend!

So this is what domestic adoption looks like.....part #1

2011-09-22T04:02:00.000-07:00

When we began our paperwork to adopt domestically last October.....I had a friend tell me to "hold on for the ride...it's a roller coaster".

Another friend told me "adoption is pain".

Turns out....they were both right.

We just had our 4th birthmom look at our profile. And she too selected another family.

In my head......

Yes, I know God's will be done.

Yes, I know the perfect child is out there for us.

Yes, I know God's timing is perfect.

But in my heart, it still hurts.

Every time a birth mom's "wants" line up with our "wants".....our adoption coordinator calls us with the adoption specifics. Like the due date. Whether or not the father is known. Whether or not the mother has used drugs or alcohol. Is the birthmom wanting a closed or open adoption? Those sort of details. We then have to give her a yes or a no as to whether we want our profile shown to that particular birth mom.

And so each time, although you KNOW in your knower not to get your hopes up....it's almost like being late on your menstrual cycle. You start thinking. Start looking at a ca lander. Start weighing in your heart the "what if s".

So when the call comes that another family was selected, you can't help but be thrilled for them. And you can't help but be sad for you. It's the way it works. All 4 of our birthmoms have selected families with no children.

So many people have asked questions about why we were adopting when we already have 3 wonderful, healthy, beautiful children. One woman told me it has to be "God thing" because the majority of parents with biological children don't consider adoption. And she is probably right.

My husband and I first ordered an adoption packet to look at international adoption almost 8 years ago after the birth of my 2nd son. We started to think that in order to have a baby girl one day....we may have to adopt.

We were so discouraged at the cost.... anywhere from $25k-$40k....depending on the country you adopted from and that was years ago.

So the idea of adoption took a back burner to our checkbook.

After our second miscarriage, we got our baby girl almost 4 years ago. We still talked of adopting at different times. But we talked about it like we talked about wanting to take a trip somewhere. We were open to it, we would love to do it, but we didn't take the necessary steps to plan for it, save for it and actually follow thru with it. We were being talkers and not doers.

Until last October. Every fall, our neighborhood has a community garage sale. Ava Grace was getting ready to turn 3 years old and I was a few months away from turning 40. So, we sold all of Ava's baby things except the crib that my momma had bought for her. We assumed we were done having kids. We had gotten our girl.

One month later, God asked us to start adoption paperwork.

Isn't that how God works really? You think you know what "the plan" is. You think you have your life mapped out. You think you have some control. Then He unzips your heart, scrambles it up, zips you back up and you are left wondering what just happened here? And yet you KNOW......this is what I am supposed to do.

We have been asked "how did you know it was God?"

There were MANY things that happened. Everywhere we went we were running into "adoption stories". "Adoptive families". My kids were asking for a baby sister.

I was open to another child, but my hubby was content with our family. So I had begun to pray several times over the years.....if God wanted us to adopt that He would need to convince my husband of it and change his heart to the idea of more kiddos. I was game..... (or so I thought).

In our dining room, I have had 4 picture frames on the wall for almost the entire 8 years we have lived here. Each of my kiddos has a picture in a frame and I have always left the 4th frame open for a 4th child in case we ever adopted.

After a vacation to Disneyworld last fall, I filled the empty picture frame with a picture of my 3 kiddos and instantly felt guilty. It was like giving up on something God had put in my heart years ago. It felt like I was telling God no. It was subtle....but I felt it.

(see the picture of my 3 kids....that frame sat empty for years and years)

Then, we had a women's conference at our church the first week in November last fall. Our guest speaker was Nancy Alcorn, founder of Mercy Ministries. Mercy Ministries takes in women off of the street and gives them a place to live, a place to heal and a place to get hope. Sometimes those women are pregnant.

At about the same time that conference was happening, my brother and his wife were getting ready to have their first baby.

So, after just selling all of our baby stuff, I was having baby fever. I mentioned that on Facebook. A friend from church mentioned that Mercy Ministries does adoptions. And from there, the wheels started turning.

Our family attended church that Sunday morning and I casually mentioned to my husband that our guest speaker's organization does adoptions. And he said...."well, we better look into it". I about passed out. Not that God had changed his heart.....but now wondering oh man. If now he was on board, did I have the guts?

After much talk and prayer between my husband and I, we sent for paperwork the next day. We just decided to "take the next step" and see what God did.

We got our "adoption packet" in late November. We were warned that it takes some families a year to fill it all out. They also told us some families never return the packet because it is so overwhelming and so intrusive.

I wasn't scared. I have, in the past..... fed one child breakfast while nursing another child and applying makeup at the same time. I am a multitasker!!!! How hard could paperwork be?

So, the "packet" didn't scare me. Until I got it.

Then I freaked out. We had over 40 forms to fill out.

I gave myself' 'til the middle of February when we were vacationing in Cancun to finish it. I wanted to sit on the beach and know the paperwork was behind us. I am woman.....or so I thought.

Seriously......I can't even adequately explain to you the paperwork process.

They want everything from a physical for every person in your home (not covered by insurance by the way) to immunization records for your animals (which thankfully we don't own). They needed blood work. We had to write letters to the birth mother, write autobiographies, get copies of birth certificates and driver's licenses and insurance cards.

We had about 15 articles on adoption we had to read. We had to get an official will. We needed letters of references from 4 friends, 4 family members and our pastor.

We had to get FBI fingerprints. Which we found out is only able to be done at 2 locations near us. And the window with which we could get it done in was a 2 hour window one day a week. And it takes sometimes up to 12 weeks to get fingerprint results back? WHAT???????? They just don't make this EASY.

Then since the adoption agency we were signing with was out of state, we had to select a home study agency here in KC.

And since we were filling out so much information with the Kansas City agency....we decided to get on their waiting list as well.And with that, it happened again. We had to fill out a "packet" with that agency also. More papers, more papers, more papers. Alot of which weren't the same as the other agency.

We had to have a licensed home study person to our home for interviews with us, interviews with our kids, extensive questioning on our upbringing, our families, our intentions. She had to completely go thru our home looking for cleanliness, order, visible electric problems, etc.

We had to discuss our faith. Our marriage. Our trials. Our fears. Ug.

We had to make a scrapbook for both agencies. And they are d.e.t.a.i.l.e.d. One of our agencies needed a picture of EVERY room in our home, plus pictures of the inside and outside of our house, pictures of just my hubby and I, pictures of our whole family, pictures of family vacations, pictures of holidays.

I am even a scrapbooker.....and it was exhausting rounding up the pictures. Who has a picture of the back of their house just "on hand" .....with the toys actually picked up and the trim all looking freshly painted and the swingset looking "inviting enough" for a birthmom to imagine her child playing on?

And did our pictures look "Christian" enough? Did we look "fun enough"? Did it look like we were open to a non-caucasian child? Did it look like we were clean freaks?

Eventually, I just began to put "real pictures" in the scrapbook....with captions like "this is what our living room REALLY looks like on an average day". You just have to make the scrapbook and hope it strikes a cord somehow with some mom.

(scrap night with some girlfriends)

It darned near did me in.

It was really a lonely time emotionally for me. Other than just a few friends who have adopted domestically, no one could really understand what we were going thru. And that's ok. How can I understand what others are going thru if I haven't walked where they are walking?

So our friends and family just let me whine and cry and fret and pray. And it wasn't as if we were going thru torture, it was just ALOT of "stuff". Forms, meetings, appointments, phone calls, faxes. Then refaxing, re-calling, re-sending something. JUST SO MUCH! And with 3 kids already!

I knew if God asked us to do it, He would certainly get us thru it....and yet my head was spinning.

Our church had a week of nightly worship and fasting and praying in the first week of January. I went every night. And every night I filled out adoption paperwork in the safety of my church home as I worshipped my God who was taking me wayyyyyyyyy out of my comfort zone emotionally.

I will never forget the night I laid on our bathroom floor and read the hardest part of the paperwork to my husband. It was a 2 page questionnaire that caused us both to examine our hearts. It went something like this:

"Are you willing to adopt a baby who.....

1) has fetal alchohol syndrome?

13) has a mild physical disability?

15) whose mother has a learning disability?

27) whose mother smoked during pregnancy?

37) whose father is unknown?

44) who is the result of a rape?

57) whose mother used cocaine during pregnancy?

75) whose mother or father suffer from depression?

94) who is part American Indian?

106) whose race is unknown?

115) whose birthdad is bipolar?

And on and on. And it hurt.

It hurt to say no to some "scenarios".

It hurt to say yes to some.

It was scary to wonder what we may be opening ourselves up to both spiritually and physically.

And it stunk that we wondered if we are up for this????

It hurt to ponder why we were ok with some "scenarios" and not ok with others.

Or I was ok with one question, but my husband wasn't.

It hurt to know there are "hard to place" babies out there.....babies born under unfathomable circumstances and we were saying no to many of them.

It was raw emotionally.

And yet, my husband and I learned so much about each other and about ourselves during that time. It's one thing to "think" you are up for whatever God asks of you.....it's another thing to mark "yes". It made me question at times where I was spiritually. Do I really believe that God can help me to raise a child with .........."whatever". I don't know.

And so....our Cancun trip came and went....and the paperwork was soooooooo stinkin' close to being done. But not quite.

We sent off our official adoption packet on my husband's 39th birthday in March.

Little Miss Efficient here missed her deadline by a month.

And then the wait began. Not the wait for a baby.....but the wait for our approval from each agency. They ain't messing around people.....they make sure you are serious about this adoption stuff.

Hear my heart when I say I'm not telling you our story to whine or to make you think we are doing anything special. Because we aren't. I do think it's good to talk about things. And to be transparent.

And even tho' we have been disappointed, we are committed to whatever journey God has for us. And at the end of the journey...there may or may not be a baby. The lesson could be in the journey.

Stay tuned for part II.....

And please keep praying....

What's up with the zebra projects?

2011-09-20T17:47:00.001-07:00

(before)

We have had a string of zebra projects lately....and I love it.

This is an old cabinet a client of mine asked me to paint. It was very broken in....stained, crackled, chipped, beat up.....(sounds like my fingernails actually).

I thought it was genius that she wanted to do a funky finish on it....

Right over the hardware and everything.

It's going in her kid's playroom to hold all of their movies.

I gotta love a client who fauxs her children's playroom pieces!!!!!

What goes thru my head during my 2nd triathlon

2011-09-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

I competed in my second triathlon last weekend. I actually signed up for it about 2 weeks before I even competed in my first triathlon. I was having a moment of panic thinking "what in the heck am I doing?/who do I think I am kidding?/surely I will die on this swim" and saw it as an opportunity to sucker-punch my fears. Several of my friends were signing up for this Olathe Medical Center triathlon....so I did too.

The weather in KC has been unseasonably cool lately. So, I began to freak out about the cold water temps. I considered for a fraction of a minute dropping out......but I am a commitment kind of girl and I had committed to this.

In the middle of my race, I started thinking about how fanatical my thinking is during triathlons. My mind jumps at random from one topic to the next. I levitate mentally between "I am gonna quit" and "I am gonna kick some butt" . First veering in one direction, then leaning towards the other.

I constantly have to continue reigning in my thoughts. Other more "serious" athletes may be focusing only a the competition at hand, but my mind wanders to a jillion different things.

It occurred to me in the middle of the bike that I should blog about it. Not to convince you I am nuts....but to convince you that some women like myself.......who do crazy things like triathlons and half marathons .....many of us are just DOING IT AFRAID!!!!!

So here are my thoughts....in no random order.

We took a few pictures before the tri and I am thinking we are insane for doing this in 52 degree weather.

I see a woman in her tri outfit and UGG boots and I think she is a genius for wearing Uggs to keep her feet warm before competing.

I use the restroom for the 5th time and hope that is it!

We had a ten minute fog delay in which I was thinking....wweet....maybe they will delay it longer. Maybe they will cancel it all together and I will get out of this competition!

Then thinking.....quit delaying the inevitable and let's get the pain on the road!

I saw many dads with their young children there early in the morning. One child as young as just a few months old. I marvelled at how supportive those husbands were and how courageous those women competing were!

I think, if we end up adopting a baby....my "season" for competing may be over for awhile. And that will just have to be ok.

One of my bffs showed up BEFORE 7:00....an hour from our homes....with her 2 sleepy eyed kiddos...just to cheer us on. I am thinking....that's friendship.

I laid out a tank, a short sleeved shirt and a sweatshirt in my transition area for the bike. A woman needs options. I wonder what I will wear????

Then I needed to think about the swim.

This tri started according to age which, in my opinion, is a crap way to organize the women. So, being fab at 40.....I was with other fab women aged 40 -44....but some of which had swam all of their life.

The lifeguard who started every heat of swimmers told us there were "plenty of lifeguards on the swim route". Ug.......not true. Her definition of "plenty" and mine were totally different. I saw 4 lifeguards in the 500+ yards I swam.....not enough, especially in the dense fog and freezing water. It became quickly obvious to me that if I got into trouble on the swim (via hyperventilating or cramps) that I would need to flail LOUDLY AND VIOLENTLY to be seen.

That same precious lifeguard tried to also encourage us swimmers at the start line by saying "Olathe's Search and Rescue underwater divers are on hand in this swim". So what I heard was......"if you drown, we will eventually find you". NOT ENCOURAGING. I know she meant well. Bless her heart.

72 degree lake water is FRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGIIIIIIIDDDD to swim in.

But it actually was ok after the first 75 yards or so, I promise.

A new age group of women started to swim every 5 minutes. Women from the 2 heats behind me eventually caught up with me and passed me. I was thinking.....cusswords.

The lake was full of seaweed. I would touch it and think....just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

During my swim, I passed ONE woman. And she was back floating. That totally made up for me getting passed by a back floater on my last triathlon. Yet, part of me wanted to stop and swim with that woman. She needed the moral support and i sooooooo get that.

As I got out of the water, I was thinking YES....I DIDN'T DROWN!!!!!!!

And also thinking, I don't ever have to do that again if I don't want to.

And I saw my fellow triathlete Jackie on the sidelines taking pictures. She got benched from the tri the day before with a back issue . I looked at her and thought "suck it up....I am healthy.....get to my bike".

I have NEVER seen hills as steep as on this bike ride. Didn't God make the earth flat??????

I biked past a woman that I guessed to be in her 60's. I encouraged her and told her I thought we were both rockstars. I loved her response ....."well....we are miles ahead of all the people who stayed in bed this morning". What a mindset!

On one hill, I seriously thought I was going to have to walk my bike up the hill. It was that steep. And all I could think of was "this is stupid. I intentionally am putting myself thru an hour and a half of being uncomfortable on purpose".

And I wondered if I should switch to clipless pedals over the winter.

I also remembered there was a woman competing in the tri who was in a wheelchair and I had nothing to complain about it. If she can do it, I can quit whining and keep pedaling.

I saw a lady holding a small, handpicked bouquet of wildflowers on her run. I know it must have been given to her sometime during the run by her young children. It was precious and made me miss my kiddos being there.

All throughout the bike and the run we got to see gorgeous sunflowers....Kansas' state flower. The run on this course was amazing.

Why did my right leg tingle and go numb on the entire 3.1 mile run? Probably normal....but in my head I was thinking I may never walk again.

During this run, I thought "forget it....this will be my last tri. It's just too hard". But today is a new day and I will doing this again next summer.

I started to think....I could just walk. No one would even know if I began to walk. Then had to remind myself...I don't walk. Keep running!!!!

Why can't I catch that girl in the pink shirt ahead of me?????? I followed her the entire run and she beat me by about 10 seconds. Good for her!

I was trying to break 30 minutes which is very doable for me if I haven't just swam a 1/3 mile and biked 10.5. As I rounded the last corner, my friend Shauna was screaming at me to sprint. I wanted to punch her.

I missed my goal time by 10 seconds. GRRRRRRRRRRRR.

My husband has never missed a single race of mine. He loves me thru every competition with training and carb dinners and handling the kids and taking pictures and being my #1 supporter. He had the opportunity to go camping with a group of men from our church this weekend, and I encouraged him to do that. It was the right thing to do and yet I missed seeing him at the finish line.

We got "official" results from the race that night. I was so disappointed in my finish. It was 3 minutes slower than my first triathlon.

Then I had to break it down. This bike was much harder and over a half mile longer. I ran a half minute faster, but it was the swim that killed me.

I placed 311th out of 316 women on the swim portion of the tri. That means only 5 women were slower than I was. Ya know how you always hope you won't be last? Well I was almost last. And I thought I had swam so much stronger than I did at my first tri....but my time was a minute slower.

I told my husband how bummed I was and I was reminded of why God chose him to be my husband. He is exactly what I need. He pointed out the most precious thing to me. My overall placing for the tri was 211th of 316. That means I ended up passing 100 women on the bike and run to come in 211th when I was seated 311th after swimming. He was so right!!!!!!! Instead of focusing on what I didn't do....I need to focus on remembering what I did do!!!!

So over the course of this week, I have tried to remember why I run and why I am doing triathlons.

I am a grown woman still fighting a fear of water, but at least I am staring it in the face.

I am a woman who still doesn't enjoy exercise, but enjoys my favorite jeans fitting so knows this will need to be my lifestyle forever.

I am a mom who wants my kids to see that exercise is fun and a lifestyle and a commitment.

I'm not trying to win and I'm not even in competition really with other women...I am racing against myself and the fears that have tried to define me.

*********

After the race, one of my bff's texted me to see how it went. I told her" it was hard, but good". I loved her response...."if it were EASY.....everyone would be doing it". She is so right.

And I love the saying one of my tri coaches put on FB this week:

"Most people never get there. They're afraid or unwilling to demand enough of themselves and take the easy road, the path of least resistance. But struggling and suffering, as I now saw it, were the essence of a life worth living. If you're not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you're not constantly demanding more from yourself—expanding and learning as you go—you're choosing a numb existence. You're denying yourself an extraordinary trip". -Dean Karnazes

In my head right now.....I am just trying to enjoy the ride.

Finally got to see my wild armoire in the baby's room

2011-09-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

Last spring, I blogged about the wild armoire that I striped for a client. I was so excited to get to do another piece of furniture for that same client this week....and I got to see the armoire in the baby's room.

Seriously, is this not the cutest nursery ever for a little boy named Dax??? Those polka dots are actually 3 dimensional and my client's husband cut them and painted them.

I would have liked to have stolen the curtains in here also. All pleated at the top. Stylin' indeed.

So much fun to get to see my work in it's own room!

Apple green farm/trestle table for sale

2011-09-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

Our summer has been so jam packed and crazy that I really haven't had the opportunity to paint and sell any furniture.

(after)

Until I snagged this trestle/farm table from a Holister clothing store that was closing in our area a few weeks ago.

I wanted to paint it apple green and keep it for myself.

But it just doesn't fit right in my breakfast room.

It would make a perfect side table ('cuz it's 81 inches x 32) or a great desk.

But my house is plum full!!!

So....... I either need to sell it......

Or play the Missouri Lotto this week in hope of winning and then buying a bigger house.

Ha! A girl can dream, can't she?

Inbox me if interested in the table.

One of my doors was doing their own thing.....

2011-09-03T11:00:00.000-07:00

In my best Sesame Street song voice....."one of my doors was doing it's own thing. One of my doors did not belong".

Several years ago, I painted/stained all of my white woodwork on the first floor of my home to look like wood. At that time, one of doors was off of the hinges and in the garage. The door leads to the basement play room (a.k.a. the disaster area) and I wanted to always be able to hear the kids. So.....we took the door off.

Now, the kiddos are older and sometimes it's nice.....no "necessary"..... for me to shut out the noise. So....the lone white door needed painted.

Ava begged to help me paint the base color.

I begged her to remove her tutu (which she did). A true princess does paint in a tutu however.

After 2 coats of Sherwin Williams "Cardboard" color in a satin sheen, you have a nice "wood tone" for a base.

Sorry for the horrible pic, but this is my favorite stain to use over the paint. It's by Old Masters and the color "Dark Walnut". You could also use Faux Effects Stain and Seal in American Walnut or Van Dyke brown or a combo of those 2 in layers.

I brush it on and sponge it off (or use cheesecloth to take it off).

The doors in my home are those "pressed" , fake "woodgrain" looking doors......so the glaze easily catches in the "grain".

Throw on a topcoat and call it good ( I use Polyacrylic in a satin sheen by Minwax).

All my doors are matching again. I'm a happy girl.

Our family trip to Florida- bliss!

2011-08-28T15:45:00.001-07:00

I am trying sooooooo hard to get back to work after our week long hiatus to Destin, FL. What a gorgeous place to unwind. If you have never been, I completely recommend it for a family friendly vacation.

I couldn't get enough of the bright colors and artistic flair I saw everywhere. It was invigorating!

For instance, the local Fudruckers restaurant lets you write on every surface in their restaurant. And when I say every surface....I mean everything. The bathroom toilets, the lightbulbs, the tables...how fun is that????? And then you get to hold baby alligators. Awesome!

We spent a day traveling up the coast to the towns of Watercolor, Seaside and Rosemary Hills. I am not a fan of most art galleries because they are so stuffy.

But this one was intriguing....the artist used objects for his canvas....love it.

The town of Seaside proved to have the best fish tacos in the world.....and also the prettiest colors. Look at the fence behind us....adorable.

The local donut store that we ate breakfast at twice (yes twice) had the cutest chairs around. If I ever live in a beach community, I am sooooo painting my house this color.

I tried to get in a little drawing of my own.....

But mostly we just frolicked on the beach.

And fed seagulls......

and tried to get our kids to jump for a photo op....which is way harder than it looks.

My kids were in heaven at this place. The sand looked like "powder sugar" as my 7 year old said and there was so much to do! We stayed in a condo belonging to one of my clients where we were 10 minutes from a beach with waves, 5 minutes from a snorkeling beach and 5 minutes from a crabbing beach. It was the PERFECT location. Their condo is available for rent....so email me if you ever need a contact for a place to stay in Destin.

We spent hours crabbing....

And pirate cruising.....

And eating.....(look at the walls...over 3000 dollar bills on the walls)

And building......

And rock climbing.....

And sleeping....

And snorkeling......

And just enjoying the beauty around us.

Last week, I spent all week back in Kansas City playing catch up.

These week....I will paint something.

Pinkie swear.

Many blessings,

Jennifer

Top secret table finish

2011-08-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

This is the "before shot" on my clients ordinary formal dining room table.

And this is the SWEEEEEEET "after finish" that my sister in law did for me.

The designer wanted the table to match the trim on the bottom of the chair covers.

I would tell ya all how to do the finish. 'Cept it's top secret. So if I told ya, we'd have to kill ya. And it's hard for me to kill ya' when my butt is still laying on a beach in Destin this week. Thank goodness for the ability to pre-schedule a blog post, huh?

And the truth is.....there's alot of steps in this finish.

Some gold paint.

Some green paint.

Some shoe polish.

Some steel wool.

Some topcoating.

Some sanding.

SOME TABLE!!!!!

Nice job Miss Jeri on coming up with this finish.

I guess it's time to get my booty off the beach and learn how to do it!

Ignore the very ugly middle steps

2011-08-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

This was a "before" shot of a client's buffet that we painted lately.

"Before" we beat it up with chisels, ice picks, hammers and other aggressive sharp tools that I love.

"Before" we painted it in this putrid yellow paint to "brighten up the wood tone underneath".

And "before" we completed it in this beautiful black satin finish.

Thank goodness for getting past the very ugly middle steps, huh?

What's with us staining concrete???

2011-08-13T06:14:00.001-07:00

We have had so many requests to stain concrete projects this year. We've stained fireplaces and floors and firepits (they have all been blogged about). And recently....this concrete table.

My client had this concrete table in her back yard next to her pool. She was considering leaving her concrete table behind when she moved recently.

But I'm so glad she asked us to paint it instead. We used Faux Effect's Stain and Seal to make it "purdie".....

Blah, blah, blah before......

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful after. After several topcoats, we called it finished.....

And I had to quickly put down my camera and take care of this situation in my client's backyard. Yes, that's my baby girl.

Who really isn't a baby anymore.

She is livin' on the edge.....

tryin' to give her momma a heart attack.

All in a day's work.

Foiled fireplace

2011-08-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

We faux finished this ordinary white fireplace in a client's master bedroom recently. Yeah, I know.....I'd love to have a fireplace in my bedroom too! Groovy....

I failed to get any pictures of the different steps".....but I will tell ya what we did.

We painted the whole thing black....

then rolled it all with something called "Wunda size".....

then adhered something called "foil" to it (picture rolls of tin foil with a colored pattern on it)....

then glazed over it with Faux Effects Stain and Seal so it was toned down a bit.

And called it beautiful.

Does that make sense ???

Here is an "after" shot with NO flash on my camera. It really isn't this dark.....

And here is an "after" shot with the flash ON....but it really isn't this bright.

I really struggle with photographing our work sometimes.

But my closeup pics look good.

You can see the black base coat coming thru.

And now I want a fireplace in MY master bedroom.

My triathlon overview....yes, I lived to blog about it

2011-08-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

Warning: this post may contain more pictures of me than you ever care to see.

My first triathlon is behind me.

And I lived to blog about it.

It was an insane few weeks of surprise vacations, television interviews and last minute training practices.

This is me and a few of the girls who I did the tri with trying to practice our "transitions" (tri talk for the stuff that happens in between your swim /bike and then again between the bike/the run). It may look insane, but we were being coached to do jump squats until our legs reached "exhaustion" and then try to slip on our shoes and socks as quickly as possible. It's harder than it sounds....trust me.

I had my first bike wreck the week of the tri. Ok....bike "fall-over". But "wreck" sounds way more hardcore, so I will call it that. My bike chain came off during practice.....ouch.

A few of us "tri moms" blinged out shirts for our kiddos a few days before the race. What would a race be without a 'lil bling?

Then the morning of the tri started E-A-R-L-Y......4:00 a.m. wake up time. Good thing I love mornings!

My momma and I had bought the 8 girls doing the tri all a balloon for race day. When you tie a balloon to your bike rack, it's easier to find your bike amongst the 979 other bikes after you are done swimming. But apparently balloons are also code for "hello-i-am-a-newbie" and a few of the more serious athletes got irritated at our balloons. So, I got rid of mine as not to ruffle any feathers. But my Fab and 40 balloons were the cutest.

5:30 a.m. : we arrived at Smithville Lake to check in and set up transitions.

5:31 a.m.: we notice the sun is not coming up, but rather the skies are looking ominous. We started to google the weather and pray.

7:15 ish- the skies open up and pour. Believe me when I say it hasn't rained in Kansas City in WEEKS. But of all mornings, it rained and rained and rained and it was a COLD rain. I saw women's teeth chattering. Our transition areas flooded. Phones were ruined. Cameras had to be packed away (so I have very few pictures). It poured. This was NOT the tri weather I had prayed for.

(my friend Ashley and I--go give her some blog love)

8:15 ish - after another lightening delay, they began to hand out trash bags to try to keep us girls dry and warm. Too late.....

Our die-hard cheering section arrived....the poor things were soaked, but we were so happy to see friendly faces!!!

8:30 ish - after an hour of delays, we are ready to enter the water. By this time, everything seemed "off"....my coffee caffeine-kick was worn off, we were starting to get hungry, women's lips were blue. But we were so grateful just to get started.

I swam my 500 yards (roughly 1/3 mile) in 17:26. I was aiming for under 18 minutes, so I did that. For those of you who follow my blog, you know I just learned to swim as a grown up in the last year. I may blog specifically about the swim portion of my tri because I think it deserves it's own post. It was 17 minutes of my life that changed me. It was terrifying and scary and hard and humbling, but I got out of that water grinning ear to ear. I did it!!!!!!

Can I just saying I rocked transition #1? T1 time = 1:41. That's the amount of time it takes you to run out of the water, put on soaking wet socks, and soaking wet shoes, your sunglasses and a bike helmet, un-rack your bike and get out of the bike area. I loved it!

The bike portion of my tri is probably my most proud event of the 3. I biked 10 miles in 35:37....way under my goal of 40 minutes. Considering the pavement was wet which made me nervous, I was thrilled. I am still deciding on whether or not I am brave enough to graduate up to clip-less pedals or not. For this season, I am content.

Transition 2 is the time it takes you to re-rack your bike, remove your helmet, put on your running belt with your number and run out of the transition area. I did it in 1:09.

Then we headed out to run 3.1 miles. There really is no feeling to describe what your legs feel like when you go from biking to running. Imagine running on legs that feel like jello. Or, just not feeling your legs. It's so bizarre.

I crossed the finish line after running my 5K in 30:33. I was hoping to run it in under 30 minutes, but I did not walk and felt great until the last half mile.

My total tri time was 1:26....4 minutes under my goal! I placed #290th out of 980 women. Not bad for a woman who swims slower than a turtle.

My boys ran out to cross the finish line with me. Priceless.

Yep, I am getting ready to cry in this picture. I am usually not overly emotional at an event like this, but after crossing the finish line, all I wanted was to find my husband in the crowd. And as soon as I did, I just lost it in the safety of his arms.

He is my safe place and my biggest supporter and I just needed him when I crossed the finish line.....he is truly one of God's greatest gifts to me. I couldn't do things like girl's weekends or triathlons if it weren't for his selfless love and support.

After the bawling and the flowers subsided, we tried to get several of us to pose for an "after" pic. We couldn't find a few of the other girls in the mess of people, so this isn't a complete picture. But, I am sooooo proud of us ladies. I have also made a mental note that I am gonna have to find a better tri-hairdo.....this one isn't working for me.

And so it is over. After investing a year of my life in learning to swim and watching countless videos and reading literature on swimming.....I still got passed by some girl who back-floated the entire thing without even wearing goggles. Isn't that just how it works sometimes??? Good for her......you go random goggle-less girl!

And I celebrated the evening away with all of my closest friends and family at yes.....another birthday celebration. This 40th birthday thing just keeps going....I love it!

(Pics courtesy of this beauty)

(Love these women!!!)

I have had a week to ponder and process my triathlon and what it meant for me. Emotionally. As a woman. As a 40 year old woman who can't swim. As a woman who was always decent in athletics, but has certainly blossomed with age. As a woman who is vowing to stay healthy so I can be around for my kid's kids. And I urge you ladies....if it's even on your radar.....consider a tri. The emotional and physical benefits are worth it.

(some of my family including my brother, his wife and their baby who SURPRISED me by coming for the weekend! Love them all!!!)

I have already signed up for my 2nd triathlon. It's in 5 weeks. And altho' I was happy for that random goggle-less woman, I am vowing not to get passed again by a back-floater without goggles.

Stay tuned.

How on earth did The Today Show find my blog?

2011-08-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

So, do ya know how you get those spam emails saying "you have been chosen to be the heir to a large sum of money from a woman dying in a hospital bed in a country you have never heard of"?

Or do you get messages saying you have been selected to win a laptop if you just take a survey? You never answer any of that stuff cuz' you know it's a hoax....and yet you still wonder if maybe......

Well..... last week I got an email from The Today Show....yes the actual NBC show....saying they were doing a segment on "Women Who are Celebrating 40 as a New Beginning" . They said they had seen my blog post about doing a triathlon for my 40th birthday and was I interested in them including me in the segment????????

My mind fast-forwarded to the "dying-woman-in-hospital-bed-in-Abidjan-who-wants-to-give-me-Six-Million, Two-hundred-United-States-Dollars"-emails....but this email sounded legit!

I cautiously emailed The Today Show back and waited. They called me the following afternoon and by 9:30 the next morning, I had a camera man on my doorstep. Whose life is this?????

(If you only want to see the videos you can skip straight to the end of this post. )

This is Jonathan....the local NBC cameraman who taped me. And my oldest son Noah at the table who loved watching the whole process!

He wanted to use the "She Believed She Could, So She Did" picture that I had from my half marathon.

I was cheesing ear to ear the whole time.....

.....'cept when I was worried about showing cleavage on national television.....

....and pondering whether or not this was my best angle?? Other than that....I was cheesin'! LOL!

He asked HARD questions!!!!

"Do you think turning 40 is different now than it used to be?"

"Are you happy with your life?"

"Tell me 4 words that describe the type of person you are."

"Why a triathlon?"

And so on.......

Then he wanted to film me pushing the kids on the swing set....looking "normal".

Ha! What is "normal" about a cameraman on my deck, shooting footage of me thru my spindles, as my hair begins to crumble, in the heat and I am sucking it all in while wearing wedge shoes and swinging my daughter??????? Hysterical! That's "normal", right?

Next, he wanted to show me bounding out of the house to grab and rack my bike! I was thrilled that he got my YELLOW door on camera.

I was less thrilled that the whole world can now see me in a triathlon suit. Sigh..........

Try racking a bike while having a camera a foot from you......you suddenly have no strength, fumble with every tie down and giggle!

Then we headed to Smithville Lake where my actual triathlon was going to be taking place. Wanting to share the "camera love".......I had called all of the girls who were doing the tri with me and had them meet us there!

This was the "tell-your-friends-to-act-normal-talking-in-the-background" pose....

This was when the cameraman said "who is the tall blonde who likes to talk a lot? I wanna interview HER!". LOL.....that's my friend Shauna.....who rocked her interview even tho' they didn't air it.

Then he taped us running which is my favorite part of the video even tho I didn't get any camera shots.

We had to get in and out of the water a few times for the taping. Talk about hilarious. The sand was ON FIRE in this KC heat. There is mashed goose poop everywhere. The shore was SLICK! We were trying to swim fast! And we were soon-to-be-triathletes who were sucking air! It was so hot and yet so fun!!!!!

Here is the video from the Today Show:

If it doesn't come up for you, you can copy and paste this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R1b9rloR44.

Our local news channel also ran the story, but a completely different and longer video. I loved that they showed my Magic Brush signs on the side of my truck (hello free advertisement) and also mentioned we are trying to adopt (hello to that too!!!) . You can watch that video here:

Or, if that doesn't load, copy and paste this link into your browser:

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/local_news/swimming%2C-biking-and-running-your-way-to-40

This was honestly one of the funnest experiences of my life. I love that it included my husband and kids. I loved involving the girls who were doing the tri with me. I love that it happened so quickly and that my life was out of control for several days (which incidentally is how I function the best). I love that there was no time to do hair or nails or buy a new outfit or clean my house....and I did it anyway! LOL! Thank you NBC and thank you Jonathan (the cameraman) for this opportunity.

It's amazing to me how God so intimately knows what each of us loves and what makes each of us tick. Only He could have orchestrated this "birthday gift" just for me. And I am grateful. My heart is happy and full.

Wait! Have you heard it's my birthday???

2011-07-29T06:10:00.000-07:00

Well in the midst of birthday celebrations and TV tapings and triathlon training....I promise I am still painting!!!!!

Wanna see my latest project? (be warned: this posting WILL return to the topic of my birthday!)

Our Archivers Scrapbook store had this project on display. An average wooden picture frame.....

And these adorable cork maps of the US.

I ordered arrow push pins off of EBay....

And hung the map of all our family's has travels in our boy's bathroom. My husband and I made a commitment 14 years ago when we got married to try to visit a new place together every year.... and my boys love it!

So.......in honor of my birthday.....we are traveling soon to this little neck of the woods:

Any guesses where we are going????

My 40th birthday surprise from my GIRLFRIENDS

2011-07-24T05:36:00.001-07:00

I know, I know....it's been a while since I have blogged. My life has been "fast forward on crazy" these past few weeks!

My kids leave town for a church camp tomorrow. My 40th birthday is this coming weekend. My first triathlon is this weekend. And my GIRLFRIENDS love me enough that they stole me out of town EARLY for my birthday.

Last weekend, I was just taking my time getting out of the shower.....thinking I was going shopping with my Mom (nice job Mom) when I heard this incessant beeping of horns outside my house. As I run outside IN A ROBE and MAKEUP-LESS, I see my 4 closest GIRLFRIENDS loaded up in 2 vehicles with their bikes and bags packed.....they had planned a GIRLFRIEND'S weekend away just for me!

I had so many things going thru my mind when this picture was taken:

-I know there is a camera snapping pictures and that I have on no makeup and I really don't care.

-Even tho I don't care, I still know that I am no Demi Moore when it comes to crying.

-They love me.....they really love me.

-Are my kids and husband gonna be ok without me for a weekend?

-Wait, did we have any plans this weekend? (turns out we had nothing....thank you husband!)

-Am I gonna be able to workout (my tri was in 2 weeks)?

-And where are we going???????

Just that morning I had told a friend that I was "unsurprisable". Yep, I ate crow. I had nooooooooooo idea. Not even a hint of an idea.

So into the house I ran to throw on my favorite yellow dress so we could head out of town.....
I seriously got ready in about 5 minutes. I couldn't wait! I had been crying on the phone with my momma about our adoption struggles and life's struggles only a few hours before the girls pulled up. This weekend was just what I needed..... it was a salve to my soul.

These are my 4 closest girls. My front line. My sisters in Christ. I love them dearly.

After we posed a bit, we were on the road to Rocheport, MO.....home of the Katy Trail.

The girl's had booked us a weekend at a place called "The Girl's Night Inn"....perfect for a GIRLFRIEND'S weekend.

The first thing we saw when we pulled up were these vintage bicycles. Hilarious! And a deathtrap I might add.

They had old batons and hula hoops. Croquet sets and hammocks. Smores and a firepit. Old fashioned fun!!!

They also had a basket of dress up clothes. Shauna had on the sequins as soon as she saw them....sequins are her second skin.

We spent the entire weekend eating, laughing, crying ....and staying up way too late.

The rode the Katy Trail for a 20 mile bike ride. It was so hot and sweaty and yet we didn't even seem to notice. There was JOY in the JOURNEY.

The Katy Trail runs right next to the Missouri River and was just a beautiful, beautiful ride!

I love that my GIRLFRIENDS worked exercise into our weekend knowing how important this is to me! 2 of these girls are in the triathlon with me....so the biking was great!

And we did a tiny bit of hiking just for fun.

We spent one memorable night having dinner on the river at a winery. It was a beautiful sunset and the company was even more beautiful.

Then there was movies and nail polish ..... and more staying up late.

What's not to love about crackled polish?????

Before leaving town, we went through antique stores and bought souvenirs and drove over curbs and photographed all the cute things in the Girl's Night Inn.

"Here's to good women: May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them". Love!

The decor was just so GIRLIE and so cute!

Everything was centered around relationships with GIRLFRIENDS.....which I love!

Even the cookbooks.....

And the tshirts....centered around GIRLFRIENDS.

To my GIRLFRIENDS.....I love you each more than you know. You have been friends who have stuck closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). I am forever grateful for the years and years of close friendship that I have had with each of you. We are in this together for the long haul. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.