My Favorite Room

When the first of May rolls around, we will have officially lived in our Kentucky home for nine months.  Nine already!  I can hardly believe it... where does the time go?  And as I scrolled through my blog posts over these past many months, I realized that while I said I would post pictures of the inside of our home here, I never did.  The truth is, I've been waiting for some finishing touches to be put up, the rooms to be clean, and the lighting to be perfect, which means only being able to photograph these rooms during the daylight hours.  So here I am, nine months later... and those "finishing touches," which really probably only include window treatments?  Non-existent.  And over these nine months, has any room really been clean for more than five minutesduring the day?  C'mon!  I have a two-year old... enough said.  And newsflash: he pulls out every single toy that he has whether he plans to play with it or not.  During daylight hours.  Which mean, the lighting is always bad when my house is "photo-worthy."  But hey... that's real life, right?

As much as I love reading blogs and keeping up with friends via Facebook, there is a dangerous side to it, too.  As we peek into other people's lives, we see their perfectly decorated and clean homes, their perfectly styled hair and outfit, and wonder to ourselves if we're somehow falling behind.  At least I do at times.  Often if the blogger does not have children I think to myself, "we'll see if she 'has it all together' after kids."  Isn't that terrible?  And I think that this is why for nine months I've been meaning to do a house post, and for nine months my house never looks "perfect enough" for the Internet.  Because although I am a very neat person (just ask my husband... it drives him nuts sometimes!) the reality of our busy lives is a house that looks like this:

The living room on a typical day... decor courtesy of Jake and Lilly:

The dining room... otherwise known as the catch-all for mail, the diaper bag, Josh's work stuff, etc.

 Just a small glimpse into our bedroom.  This is our bedside table and yes, you counted correctly: there are FIVE dirty diapers sitting there.  Don't judge me.  We're going on seven months of waking up in the middle of the night and this is the best I can do!

And Jake's bedroom floor- about ten minutes after I put everything away.

I love my home, I really do.  And if I had it my way, it would look like the page of a magazine everyday.  I have ideas upon ideas of what each room would ideally look like, and even see the final product in my head, which can torture me sometimes since I don't have the time or disposible income to make it happen.  But you know what?  Our house is a mess and I'm happy.  My kids are happy.  And sometimes just letting it go for a few days to have some extra time to sit on the floor and play with my two cuties is worth it.

With all that being said, however, last week the stars aligned, pigs flew, and the kids' room was clean and "perfect" enough for a photo opp.  Their room is always my favorite, no matter what house we live in, just because it's so happy and cute.  This home is a bit smaller, so Jake and Lil share one, but we have yet to see if that experiement scenario is going to work since she's never actually slept all night in there.  Only time will tell.  So since it was the miracle of all miracles, I had to document my (and Jake and Lilly's) happy place:

How much do Jake and Lilly's grandpa's rock?  My dad made the crib (years ago for my nephews actually and it's still solid as a rock) and Josh's dad made the toddler bed.  I hope that Jake gets those genes!  I could put him to work someday on all of these ideas in my head!

The names originally hung above the beds they slept in... and then we rearranged the room.  See?  Even when you get things just "perfect" something happens to change all that!  Someday I'll fix it... maybe.

I have to laugh because when I rushed to take these pictures, knowing my hard work could be destroyed at any moment, my SD card was missing from my nice camera, which is still a mystery to me.  So, I had to pull out the trusty iPhone.  Typical.

I posted this because on the days that you don't feel perfect enough and Pinterest ideas are depressing you (hence why I don't Pinterest!), I hope that you can come here and be reminded that we're really all in the same boat.  Everyone has their own mess, their own reality, their own junk they are dealing with, despite how perfect it looks from the outside.  I think a lot of people feel this way about their relationship with God.  They're waiting to get their problems all straightened out, their junk cleared up, and figure out how to be "good enough" to start living for Him.  They put on their fancy clothes and dress up the outside before going to church, but the inside is in complete disarray.  And I just want to tell you that it's never going to happen.  God doesn't need you to be "good enough."  God definitely doesn't need you to be perfect, and actually knows that it's impossible!  He created you... of course he knows that!  He just needs you to come to him and admit that you can't do it alone.  You can't strive to be better without His help, and that's what He's there for.  And when I remember that simple fact, the messes in my life don't seem to bother me so much.  He'll get me through it.  He hasn't let me down yet, and I know He never will.

Deck the Halls

Our house in Small Town, Illinois was always the best at Christmastime.  It was the perfect home for tall trees, lights on the Victorian style porch, and boughs of holly everywhere.  Cozy and perfect with two fireplaces and an incredible foyer to light up... remember?  Yes, it was the perfect holiday home.

As I decorated our small cozy living room this year, however, I realized that even though I miss that house, my heart is definitely here in this home.  And twinkle lights always make things a little lovelier, don't you think?  But the reason I love it the most can be represented by this photo right here:

FOUR stockings this year... how can one be so blessed?  And the gift we are most thankful for this year can of course be represented by the new addition to our mantle: 

My mom has given a new hand-made stocking to every new grandbaby that has come along in this family (along with three sons-in-law) so of course Miss Lilly was no exception!  We have plenty to be thankful for this year.

As for the rest of the house?  There's really not much space to decorate, but we did what we could to make it look festive:

Even the kitchen got a little festive... the bottles are always there, and I stuffed lights in them.  This might just stay this way all year!

I do the tall vase of ornaments on the mantle every year (my sister Mindy's idea) and it's always my favorite thing.

Our tree.  Sadly some of our strands of lights went out after we put it up.  Don't you just hate that?

I've started displaying our Christmas cards on our gallery wall in the dining room.  It's nice to be able to see all of those familiar faces of people we love everyday.

As for the front of the house?  We'll spare you the photo.  Let's just say that it was priority # 452 on the list of things to do this year, so yours truly "hung" the outdoor lights.  It may or may not be the saddest display of outdoor illumination I have ever seen.  Oh well, at least we have something!

Through it all, I just remind myself that this time of year is not about the lights or the decor or the gifts under the tree.  It's about spending time with loved ones, celebrating the birth of our Savior, and the feeling of hope we have for the year ahead.  Perfect holiday house or cozy rental home, I am loving this time of year and all that it means.  As long as I have those people around me who have stockings on our mantle, I am one blessed and joyful girl... Merry Christmas to me!

Ohhhh... dancin' in September!

Random title, I know.  It's just that every September I can't seem to get Earth, Wind, and Fire out of my head, so I thought I'd get it stuck in your head today, too!  At the start of this month, I was convinced that I was going to be a great blogger because so much has been going on!  What I didn't account for is that since so much has been going on, I don't find a whole heck of time to blog!  Not to mention that I've been working my tail off to try and wrap things up with work before maternity leave.  So alas, although my intentions were good, here is everything (well, not everything... but close enough) wrapped up into one blog post.  Here's what we've been up to this month so far:

We've been having more fun times with the family... Jake is loving all of the fun with cousin Adam!

 Enjoying the last days of summer... although it already feels like fall (and we're loving it)!

Crafting!  A few weeks ago Josh took Jake down to Georgia for a couple of nights to help his dad move up here (hooray for having more family in town!) so I drove up to Cincinnati to stay with Mindy and Adam for a couple of days, since her hubby was on a trip, too.  We stayed up way late one day working on some fun projects with my friend from my UT days, Laura.  Together they made this beautiful cushion for the bench in our entryway:

And here it is up close.  We almost didn't have enough fabric (HA!) but it came out beautifully and I love it!  It makes such a difference since the bench was just boring and plain before.  Now our shoes have a place to live!

While they worked on that, I had a project of my own.  Since Jake has his name spelled out in his room (remember this?):

Well, they actually don't hang like that in his new room, but you get the picture.  I knew that Miss Lillian needed letters of her own, so while I originally just planned on painting them white, Mindy and Laura had ideas of their own and introduced me to the (very messy) art of Mod Podge (which I had never even heard of!).  So we started with plain wooden letters, scrapbook paper, Mod Podge glue, and a paint brush...

And after a few hours of (extremely) tedious and messy work, ended up with these beauties:

And yes, that is my belly peeking into the picture!  We used 3 different combinations of the paper... here they are up close:

I love the outcome despite the meticulous work they required.  The project itself was actually pretty easy- a lot like paper mache actually- but my one word of advice is to avoid doing this to anything with any grooves or beveled edges.  These letters had both, which slowed me down a bit.  Oh, and we did spray paint them white first, just in case we didn't get paper on every part.  My sister is already looking for something new to Mod Podge.  Me?  I'm taking a break for awhile, although I'm sure I'll do it again in the future to a picture frame or something to match her room.

Speaking of arts and crafts, our son is very into Crayons lately.  Here is his latest artwork:

Jake's Pawpaw was watching him when he got away with this!  The funny part of the story is that when we got home and asked Jake, "who did this?" he said "Pawpaw!"  What a stinker!  Luckily I had a spare can of wall paint to cover it up again and we're now working on, "Jake, where do we color?"  "On paper!"  The message still has not sunk in.

Wow, like I said, September has been a full month.  Last Sunday night I took my most favorite person in the world on a date night for his birthday to see Rob Schneider at the comedy club here in town and then we had a nice dinner outside.  His comedy was great... we highly recommend seeing the show if you ever have the chance!  After the show, he was nice enough to do a meet and greet with everyone there.  Josh and I decided that he has got to be one of the nicest celebrities ever!  He talked to us for a good three or four minutes, asking when the baby is due and congratulating us on her arrival.  He even rubbed my belly and told me I looked fantastic... always a nice thing to hear at nine months pregnant! 

Other than that, we've just been enjoying our last days as a family of three.  As excited as I am to have our daughter join us, there is a part of me that is a little bit sad that Jake won't be our only one... I know it sounds silly, but he's been my little buddy since day one and it's just me and him on a lot of days.  I don't worry about having enough love for the both of them considering that every parent in the world will tell you that there is more than enough, but sharing my time will be an adjustment, especially since he's a bit of a mama's boy.  But we'll get through it... every family does.  And as long as he keeps entertaining us with bits like this, it will be all smiles in Mauneyland:

The fun just doesn't stop... my Mom arrived into town last night as well as Michael, Mindy, and Adam, who will be down again next weekend in the hopes that Lilly might decide to make an appearance before or during their visit.  Tonight we are having friends over for Josh's 29th birthday celebration while we cheer on the Vols and the Cats and tomorrow Josh will be preaching again, which is what he loves to do most.  I can't wait.  And then next week, we should probably all slow down a bit (yeah, right!), take it easy, and do a lot of this in preparation for baby #2:

So that wraps up the first half of the month and I know the second half will be even more exciting as our due date approaches.  The family is here now so she has full permission to arrive anytime now!  Stay tuned...    :)

Heaven Is For Real... and it's in our house!

Okay, so I really should actually blog about the book Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.  If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.  But instead of doing an insightful, intelligent post on that topic, I have chosen instead to share with you my favorite part of our new home.  I had hoped to have pictures of several rooms by now in order to do a full house tour, but it seems as if every single room is waiting on one tiny little detail, whether it be a picture to be hung or a shelf to be filled and I'm far too anal retentive to post pictures of an unfinished room.  Plus, once they're completely decorated, I will also have to find a day when they are clean... so it could be awhile.

BUT... the good news is that one room is done!  Josh has found my obsession with this room completely amusing and couldn't believe when he walked in and found me decorating it.  Yes, even hanging pictures.  So where is this room you ask?  Well, without further ado, let me show off our master closet!

Well wait a second, before I do that, I do want to throw a disclaimer out there.  Or a couple actually:

1 - As much as we loved our old house in Illinois, we did not love the lack of closet space.  Josh's clothes were split between two closets and mine were in a third down the hall.  I couldn't find a pair of shoes if I tried and the rest of my clothes were in a dresser in the guest bedroom.  The two of us had to visit three separate rooms in order to get ready to go anywhere.

2 - Even though we downsized (which I'm actually happy about), this house has definitely made up for it in closet space!  Most of our square footage is upstairs, and I think a fourth of it is closets!  One even has a window... it's crazy, but helps for storage.  The master closet is about as big as Jake's old room was, and we even joked about making it Lilly's room when she comes along!  For now, we're planning on having the kiddos share a room for awhile (after she's done bunking in with us) but there's still time to change our minds!

3 - I have never had a walk-in closet or anything remotely similar to one.  I never understood what the big deal was about them.  But now that I can see everything I own, I totally get it!  And poor Josh now realizes that I will never accept anything less.

Okay... enough explanation... let's get on with the show.  Here is a glimpse of my "heaven" at home:

The full view from the entrance

Josh's side... overly organized due to my nesting

All of the clothes that I don't fit into right now.  *sigh*

A picture of my favorite little man and some marathon medals for inspiration

And yes... a decorated wall!  I've never really known where to display our race memorabilia, but this seems to be the perfect spot.  And I hope to grow that wall soon after #2 is born.

So yeah, I officially feel a little bit like a psycho, especially now that I've done an "Ode to our Master Closet" blog post, but I'm okay with it.  Just know that if you're ever visiting and you can't find me, chances are you'll find me here... in my favorite room of the house!

Undeck the Halls

The holidays are here and gone... can you believe it? And usually with the return of January 3rd or 4th comes a little bit of let-down. The family has left town or you have traveled home, the cookies and yummy treats that you've allowed yourself to indulge on for the past month have all been gobbled up, and those Christmas decorations that were fun to put up are now just taunting you with the task of taking them back down. But for some reason this year, I actually enjoyed taking them down. Christmas and New Year here in Mauneyland were spectacular, and it was a nice break from the norm, but I realized as I "undecked the halls" that I love the norm... the norm is good. Often times I can get so caught up in checking out other blogs and reading about other lives that I forget how good I have it here. I have blogging friends that seem to have it all, do it all, and have perfect hair and cute outfits all the while I sit here in my sweats and continuously figure out a way to squeeze in three minutes of me-time to blog or workout or whatever!

But then I think about the things I blog about... my wonderful family, our fun vacations, our beautiful house... and I realize that anyone reading my blog might think the same about me. I wade through our mounds of pictures to find the ones where I look the cutest, regardless of how everyone else looks (oh come on, you do it, too!) and I talk about our happiest times. With this, I do hope that I never sound like I'm boasting or bragging, because I certainly do not want to come across that way, but looking back over the past year of posts, I can see how much joy we've shared here. Regardless of whatever other struggles we are going through, and believe me, we have them just like everyone else (as to my perfect blogger friends), there is so much laughter and an abundance of joy and I love that it has been captured here in my own little blogoshere. I used to keep a journal about all of the things that I am thankful for day-to-day, but this is so much better, and it makes me excited for the "norm" of 2011. It's a new year, and with that comes such hope, such excitement, and such a feeling that anything can happen. So as you take down your ornaments this year or get beat up by pine needs as you try desperately to unwrap the lights from its grip (yes, this already happened to me), just keep your eyes focused on the promise that is to come. And most importantly, fix your eyes on Jesus and the promises of His father. I find that my years are full of joy and happiness because I continue to keep my priorities straight. And just think... if I focus even more of my day-to-day norm on Him, 2011 will be more blessed than I can even fathom. I can't wait!

And just because I love posts with pictures (and because I never got around to it in December), here are a few snapshots of our home before the undecking. Our home is truly more cozy at Christmastime...

Our snowman and woman guard the candy, but don't ever seem to do a good job. These two lucky fellows were forgotten about when we put away stuff in 2009, so they got to stay out all year long, even through the summer!

The lighted garland up our banister is always my favorite!

We don't have one- but two!- mantles to decorate. I contemplated leaving the lighted garland up all year round because it looks so bare without it!

And let's not forget the stockings!

My mom has made all of our stockings over the years. As we got married, she lovingly crafted each of our husbands their very own. And then came grandkids and of course she did the same. I searched everywhere for this one as it was a "vintage" kit (meaning they don't make it anymore) and found it on eBay. I think it's now my favorite.

And here's where the real fun begins... and a quick story. This is our living room... or was our living room until the week before Christmas. When my sister and her husband were here, they asked us if we had ever considered putting the pool table in this room and our living room furniture in the room where our pool table resided. We had always felt like our living room was pretty cramped, and the room with the pool table really served no purpose as we rarely play and it is smack in the middle of our house. So within two hours the four of us had made the switch- light fixtures and all! So for Christmas we not only got lots of presents... but we got more space! I don't really have "before" pictures of the rooms before the change (aside from this one) because it all happened so fast! So here's the old living room decorated before...

The tree in its new spot in what used to be the "billiard room"...

And the room undecked! This picture is taken from the old living room, which is the new home to our pool table... confused yet? Our new living room is so much bigger. Thank you, Mike and Mindy for all of your help! We love it!

And one more shot from the dining room. Our living room is now in a much more central location in our house and much more conducive for family and friend gatherings. Why didn't we think of this sooner? Plus (and ironically enough) our furniture actually matches the new rooms better... I never liked the green with the red pool table and the old living room was too beige. Problem solved!

So that's our extreme home makeover for 2011... new year, new living space, new hope! :) I wish you all the best for your 2011, too! Make everyday count!

What You've Been Waiting For...

It's FINISHED! The bathroom is finally FINISHED! (Okay, okay so you caught me. I still haven't done the two tiny jobs that I have left to do, but I just couldn't wait for the reveal).

From start to finish, our bathroom renovation took just under a month. Not bad considering that we (and by we I mean Josh and his dad... BIG BIG thanks to Dad by the way!) did it all ourselves. And I can honestly say that I am in love with the room. It's more beautiful than I even imagined it would turn out when we were spending our life savings on picking out all of the elements. So without further ado, here is our big reaveal!

BEFORE
cute but not functional

AFTER
updated, expanded, and elegant


It's easier to see the change when they are side by side. There is not even a glimmer of the old bathroom in the new one!

I'm loving all of the details. The shower stall is a custom size so I had to order a window treatment to fit. I chose the Linden Street Grommet Panel in Chocolate from JCPenney and love the way it looks with the tile.

Josh laid all of the tile and did a beautiful job. The floor and the shower stall are made by the same manufacturer, but the shower is much lighter than the shower. It really makes the shower feel bigger than it actually is.


This picture probably shows the most accurate depiction of the paint color. It looks very orange in some of the photos, but it's very much a burnt orange. We weren't sure about it at first, but once we installed the wainscoting (one of the two things that I knew I wanted in the new bathroom), we all knew it was perfect. I ordered a valance to match the shower curtain to tie it all together.

Our vanity was on sale at Home Depot and we got it for a steal! It's a $400 vanity that we got for under $200 including tax. The mirror was purchased separately at Menard's. Major props to my husband for picking out the faucet. He knew exactly what he wanted and it goes perfectly with the look and feel of our house.

As for the other thing I knew that I wanted in the new bathroom... we installed a chandelier and it's by far my favorite feature! With the crown molding and those corner pieces, it really accents our tall ceilings and creates more elegance and glamour. Every bathroom needs glamour, right?

And just for fun (and for the sake of seeing just how much work Josh and Dad put into this), let's take a look back at the progress:

Here it is completely gutted with the wall torn down between the bathroom and the closet that used to be behind it (which is still there, but is now only about a foot deep rather than the entire width of the bathroom). The frame for the new wall behind the toilet goes up:

Shower stall formed, dry wall installed:

Shower tile installed and paint goes up. What was I thinking? The orange is SO MUCH BETTER than that horrid purple I tried first!
And here she is now. What a beauty.

I absolutely cannot thank Josh and his dad enough for all of the time and work they put into this. Dad did all of the plumbing, which neither one of us knew anything about and saved us a bundle of money. I think we hit a home run and it's almost too pretty to use!

HGTV, eat your heart out!