Summer Projects!

I have been a busy little bee over the last several weeks! This summer I decided our lamo guest bedroom needed a major re-do! Our old guest bedroom was filled with leftovers... miss-matched furniture, ugly bedspread from Jason's college days, random picture frames, and even a "Nothin' Runs Like A Deere" sign that Jason LOVES (incase you didn't know he has a little thing for John Deere... it's a sensitive subject at our house!) You can kinda see it above the window in our "BEFORE" picture:

(hopefully the sign will be going in the garage soon... crossing my fingers...)

So over the past 8 months I have been getting rid of stuff and selling it on craigslist. I sold EVERYTHING I could- I sold the bed, bedspread (not the one pictured), Jason's old stereo, our DVD player (who needs one when you have an xbox?), etc. You get the picture! So the money I got from selling our stuff went into my secret stash (except it wasn't that secret, cause Jason knew about it)- until one day I had enough to start dreaming and designing our new guest bedroom! First thing was first- I wanted to move the guest room from the back room to the front room which was Jason's office. So I kicked him out (nicely) and move everything to the back room- since it was empty from selling everything! Here's the before pictures:



Now, in my "dream guest bedroom" there was a place for me to put all my craft stuff and place for me to DO my crafts and leave a mess until it was complete... and do all of this without Jason complaining about the mess which means it would have to be out of site! So I did a little research and designed my "craft closet" to accomplish all those things and put Jason straight to work!
Then we had to decide on a color for painting! This is always the hardest part for me because it totally sets the tone for your room and I wanted to get it right. So we bought a couple of sample colors and debated for a while- we knew for sure we wanted to paint the ceiling white cause who wants to lay in bed and look at a tan ceiling? Lame.
My finished craft closet! Complete with a desk and plenty of shelving for all my crap! LOVE IT! Jason is such a stud- he even crawled in the attic and installed an outlet in the closet (YES! AN OUTLET INSIDE OF THE CLOSET!) That way I can have my sewing machine set up without anyone having to see it! LOVE IT!
We finally decided on "Fashion Gray" and just a plain flat white for the ceiling. I LOVE the way it turned out!
(Guess what's inside that closet? Hehe! Now you know my secret!)
I have decided that working on a budget is not all that it's cracked up to be. For example, this armoire Jason has had since college and it just screams "sell me!" BUT since it is made of crappy particle board and not a real solid wood I knew we wouldn't be able to get very much for it. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with particle board furniture- this piece is in great condition and pretty sturdy... it's just ugly :)
So I painted it! I have never refinished something with a veneer finish on it, but it is not something I would recommend. It took FOREVER to get the finish off, but I do think it's worth it! I LOVE how it turned out with about 5 layers of "Du Jour" white. SO SO glad that it's finally done!


It's not over yet folks! This bedroom needs a bed! And that part is to be continued... (because i don't have one yet!) But stay tuned for a re-do of THIS baby! It is sitting naked in my garage right now- stripped of all that gross plaid fabric. I just returned from the fabric store and it is going to be FAB-U-LOUS!

Praying for those who need it most

Incredible story of a family who needs our prayers. Read on...
(this one's for you ERIN!)

http://www.dennyandwendy.blogspot.com

My Official Race Photo!!

(The official ones always make you look better than you actually do...)

25 pounds and a MARATHON

I, like most of you, made New Years resolutions at the beginning of the year. They were similar to past years resolutions, but I was determined to make this year different. I was determined to actually DO them! (what a concept- I know!) The thing that really got me going was a competition that Jason and I entered at our gym. It was a couples weight-loss competition and the winners got $2,000 gift certificate to a travel agency! Jason and I REALLY want to go on a cruise, so that was our motivation for the competition. I was so proud of how hard we worked! It was only a 4 week competition and I lost 14 pounds and Jason lost 10! Although we didn't win, I was motivated to keep going and actually get in shape. To give myself even more motivation, I decided to cross something off of my bucket list... and actually register for a full MARATHON!



Today, I completed the Famous Idaho Potato Marathon in Boise- and I have a metal, and a bright yellow shirt with a picture of a potato on it to prove it! My legs have NEVER felt so sore before, but my self esteem has never been so high before! Completed a Marathon? CHECK!! The training for a marathon is very time consuming and you have to be very dedicated, so I'm happy to have a small part of my life back!



Jason is my hero. He drove my friends and I up to the starting line at the crack of dawn and then he raced ahead and met me about every 4-5 miles along the course! When I got tired I would think to myself "Just make it to Jason!" and without fail, he would be there cheering me on and carrying my bag of goodies with him so I didn't have to take a pack on the course. He also made a fantastic photographer! So yes, Jason is my HERO!

Alanya Wyne, ME, and Erin Keller

A picture to prove that we started the course!

A picture to prove that we RAN the course.
(At mile 13- almost half way, and still smiling!) And a picture to prove we finished the course!

I only trained up to 16 miles for this race, so I had no idea how long it would take for me to run a marathon. I guessed about 5-5 1/2 hours. I was pleasantly surprised when I crossed the finish line just under 5 hours at 4:59.34!

I have lost 25 pounds since my new years resolution and I ran a MARATHON.

'NOUGH SAID.

Here's to wishing I lived in Belgium!!

FOUR YEARS AGO TODAY........

(I think he enjoyed that one a little too much...)

Strange Encounter

Yesterday I came back home from Utah, and when I pulled into the neighborhood- there was this 14-15 African-American boy walking into the neighborhood (this was around 7:30 at night and totally dark outside). I didn't think anything of it until I walked inside the house and the doorbell rang -- Jason answered it and this boy was at our door. He was just standing there and Jason asked him who he was, if he was hurt, if he needed help and all he did was stand there looking at the ground- not saying a word. Jason thought maybe he was a special needs kid and summoned me over to help. I introduced myself and tried to shake his hand, which was FREEZING cold. He didn't have a coat on, so I brought him into the house and told Jason to go call the police. At this point he has only said one word, which sounded like "mom", but for all I know it could have been something completely different. And as much as I tried- he would NOT make any kind of eye contact with us- just constantly looking at the ground. We brought him in, sat him on the couch, wrapped him in a blanket, and gave him some food and water.

I thought of our next door neighbors- they usually have teenage foster kids. So I called them, but they said he wasn't theirs. So finally the police arrived and said that someone else had called in that this kid had been on their door- but they closed the door and he left. Then the police found out that another police district was looking for the boy because his family had called in.

The police were told he only spoke only Arabic and his name was Eduardo. But they had an address for his family- which lived in our neighborhood only two streets down! So the police took him home, and hopefully having three cop cars in front of our house won't taint our reputation in the neighborhood!!

What would you have done if a boy like that would have knocked on your door? It's a good thing Jason was home... not sure how comfortable I would have been inviting him in if he wasn't....

Needless to say, it was a STRANGE ENCOUNTER!