Holidays and Staycations

The neighborhood kids are out of school riding their bikes through the neighborhood. That means it's practically summer, right? And, it's a holiday weekend! I've been getting increasingly excited about having some days off coming up. Jon and I decided to forego any getaways and just stick this one out at home. I've actually been looking forward to not going anywhere. Maybe I'm getting old? Well, anyways….I have been excited about everything that we can do this weekend while at home in Atlanta. I do have plans to clean the house, do some real grocery shopping and clean up in the yard a little, but I also thought about how we could chill by the pool, go see the double-header movie showing at the drive-in (yea, pretty sweet…Bridesmaids and Hangover 2!), hike Stone Mountain, get plenty of baby cuddles from my precious newborn baby niece (that's her in the picture, love her so much) and maybe even tickle my fancy with a trip to the driving range with the hubby. Well, I was pretty pumped about all of those things……until…….I heard this on the radio.

"Knee Deep" by Zac Brown Band feat. Jimmy Buffett

Now, all I can think about is the beach, the sand, the water…..ahhh….oh how I miss you. *sigh*

Changing gears

Okay, so based off the few reactions I've gotten from my last blog I'm pretty sure I need to lighten the mood. I definitely don't want to seem focused on sad topics and heart breaking thoughts. So, change of subject (and mood)..... I've been obsessed with this new blog that my dear friend Casey told me all about during our Saturday morning chat over coffee....on the phone. As she was telling me all about it she outlined a few things: 1. that she thought of me at one point while reading it and thought that I would love it, 2. how I would fall in love with them as a couple and family and how adorable they were and 3. how I would end up wasting a lot of time reading it. Well, she is definitely right about ALL of the above. They are adorable, it's totally my thing and I have already wasted too much time trying to catch up on this totally adorable family and their crazy DIY projects! The blog is called Young House Love and basically they are big do-it-yourself gurus. They have completed remodeled and decorated one house and are now tackling another. They have an adorably bald-headed one year old little girl and are great writers. It's quite entertaining to read. Oh, and they do this for a living! Sign me up for that deal!

Well, anyways...it got me to thinking about the DIY decorating projects I have done around our house over the past few months of new home ownership. I haven't really gone All Out on anything but I have managed to throw together a few decorative items using things we had around the house paired with some things from the craft store. I painted a picture, did a flower arrangement, refinished a window and put some sponges in a glass, ha. Really, here's the breakdown: The painting required a couple tubes of paint and a lightweight canvas, the flowers are silk flowers that I put in a vase with those beads. You know, the ones that start out tiny and grow when you add water? The window bought from the flea market for about $10 and then sanded it and refinished it. The canister I was previously using for coffee but decided it would look prettier as a decorative piece in the bathroom filled with various sponges. Not anything fancy but, it got me thinking about how I want to be craftier(word?) and more creative. I want to do more myself and use my creativity. But, no matter how creative I think I am, I'm really just an amateur and copy-cat. I'm definitely no Martha Stewart or "Young House Love"

Why?

If you are in my life on a normal basis or happen to be my friend on Facebook you probably know that I had a big event happening this weekend....moving my grandmother. Moving her away from HER home, her life, her things, her comfort zone, and honestly her freedom. I have been struggling with such weird feelings about the whole thing. I've been wondering why things like this happen, why people suffer unknowingly from such a weird "disease" and why we have to come full circle in so many ways. I have been so excited to get her moved over here and closer to our family. She has been living in the same 30 minute radius her whole life and this was quite the move. We are having to move her away from all that she's ever known. But, it needed to happen. She has been alone for too long. Ever since my grandaddy passed away a few years back she has been living alone. Her closest family member was 3 hours away and most everyone is even further away. She is suffering from dementia (possibly Alzheimer's, she's never been officially diagnosed with it) for the past few years and we had kept her in her house, alone for as long as we could. So, it was the right thing to do and the best thing to do, but why does it have to get to this point? Why can we not rationally explain it to her? Why can we not have a conversation with her (that she'll remember) about why it's better and even have her remember that she was alone before. She doesn't remember being alone or even that my grandad isn't coming home. It's a horrible disease and I wish that nobody had to go through this. It's sad that she should be enjoying her grand kids and great grand kids and enjoying not cooking or cleaning or having to do anything! But instead...she doesn't remember anything. I'm happy to have her close by now to be able to see her more often but wish that she could remember who I am and why I love her and why I'm coming by to visit with her. There are moments of remembering but so many where she honestly doesn't know me from Adam. I live for the moments that she'll remember and the moments that seeing me will make her happy but in the moments that she doesn't...it just leaves me sad. Sad that she can't know. Sad that she won't REALLY know who my kids are down the road. I'm happy to have her close but know that having her as a much bigger part of my life right now will also result in sadness. Sadness felt for her and what she's unknowingly going through.

The Before and After

I finally took some pictures (not using my iPhone) and have the official "before" and "after" of the blue (formerly white) room! What do you think? I love it...sometimes I wish it was maybe a little more of a muted blue, but definitely not enough to paint an entire room again. Plus, it looks much better in person...you'll just have to see for yourself! This is probably going to be an ever-evolving room in our house so I didn't want to spend a lot of extra money on anything that wouldn't work later or somewhere else. I used a lot of the same stuff like pictures, bedding and other things but I think I managed to spruce it up quite a bit. I'm happy with the results and now have a bad painting itch after seeing the instant transformation! Next blog will probably include pictures of the master bedroom...with a nicer tan color on the walls!

Shades of Blue

Who would've thought that one could be so confused by a color choice? Well, actually...I have a ways of over analyzing and thinking way too much about the simplest things in life....especially when money and effort are involved. Well, Jon's been traveling for business and we've been living with the plague of a white room since December so I figured I'd occupy my time and fix the situation. We have looked at paint swatches and talked about colors and coordinating bedding before (yes, I'm sure he hates his life sometimes) but never made a decision. But, Wednesday was "go time"! We pretty much had decided on a shade of blue or green and I made the executive decision on blue since we already have touches of green throughout the majority of common areas in out house. Now, here's the really tough choice: which shade of blue? I looked at pictures online to get some inspiration and boy did that just confuse things more...I have attached all my inspiration below for your viewing pleasure.

But, I finally decided I liked a slate blue, slightly grey but not any bit green, not baby boy blue, a medium shade, not too dark, but once again, not baby boy blue...so, off I went to pick up the supplies. Luckily my brother is a manager at a local hardware store and ultimately made the decision on simply....."slate blue". So, I got home, prepared the room and went to town *insert cheesy line:painted the room blue*, ha, get it? Well, I think I like it....I would've liked it a little lighter and a little more grey, but overall...I think it turned out nice! I added some touches of sage as an accent color with the lampshade and pillow and added some curtains to soften it up and voile! A totally new look for under $100!! We now have a slate blue room and it no longer feels like the "white room" or the room with the "hospital bed" or the "extra" room. It looks like there's a purpose to it and it's actually a good first glance while walking down the hallway to the rest of the rooms now. Eventually we'll get a big kid bed, new artwork (probably) and fluffy white bedding...I'm slightly obsessed, but until then I'm no longer embarrassed by this room! Hooray! I'll post a before and after once I stage the "reveal" for Jon.