My Favorite Time of Year!

I know, I know, a few years back I said that spring was my favorite time of year, and it still is...in the springtime, but now it's fall, because it's falltime :)  This time of year is usually quite stressful for me, but several weeks ago when I realized that the holiday season was fast approaching, I didn't get that knot in my stomach wondering how on earth I was going to pull off Christmas.  Despite the trials that we have faced in 2011, I found myself relishing all the blessings that we have been the recipient of throughout the year instead, and to sum it all up:  WE ARE TREMENDOUSLY BLESSED!!!  My faith has definitely been put to the test this past year, and I can honestly say that it has been made stronger because of our trials.  I know they are not over by any means, but I have learned that I am stronger than I ever thought I could be.  I have an amazing husband who, despite all of the pain from his health issues, goes to work every day, and works harder than anyone I know to provide for his family.  I have four beautiful, healthy children who rarely, if ever complain about our current circumstances.  I have wonderful parents who are so helpful and supportive, and I have amazing friends who always seem to put a smile of my face.  These blessings barely scratch the surface of all the blessings that I receive on a daily basis.  I am facing the holiday's with a whole new perspective this year.  The perspective of GRATITUDE!  What are you grateful for?

Wanna Know What Really Bugs Me?

I try really hard to make life as easy as possible for my family, because if I make things easy for them, then things are easier on me.  See my logic?  But, there is something that just really gets me going, sets me off, causes me to grit my teeth to prevent myself from swearing, gets my underwear in a wad...you get the idea?  It really is so trivial, but come on family!!!

I walked into our downstairs powder room this afternoon to find this (sorry about the quality of the photo's):

HOW HARD IS IT PEOPLE?  I even replaced the traditional holder's, you know the one's I'm talking about, the one's that require too much effort to replace the old roll with a new one, with much simpler holder's, so simple in fact that all you have to do is slide on the new roll.

LOOK HOW SIMPLE IT IS!!!

(notice the little patch job that the hub's still hasn't gotten around to touching up since we installed the easier more efficient toilet paper holders?)

OK, I feel much better now that I have that off my chest, and now you know what really bugs me!

Fireplace Transformation

It has been a while since I have worked on anything, but I finally got the motivation to finish a project that has been an eye sore in my family room for about 4 months now.  I am a tad bit OCD, and usually won't start a project unless I can see it completed in a day or two, so I am surprised that I allowed this project to go unfinished for so long, especially since it has been staring me right in the face all this time.  I forgot to take a before pic, but  I went through the family photos and found one that gives a pretty good idea of what it used to look like.  This is what it looked like before:

This is what has been staring at me for 4 months:

TA DA

I love it!!  My oldest daughter (19) said: "How come you painted it white?"  I said: "Because I wanted it to be that color."  Her reply: "It doesn't look good!"  Ouch!!  I guess I failed in teaching her sensitivity.

Here is a pic showing more of the room.  I took it with my phone so it's a little dark, but the white really brightens up the place.

I'm still playing around with what to adorn the mantle with, but tell me what you think about the new color.

And The "Versatile Blogger Award" Goes to: ME!

I am stunned! Fran at eleven-o-one creations and I became acquainted with each other, because we share a love of restoring discarded junk into fabulous treasures.  I am honored that she has passed this award onto me and feels that I am worthy of such.  Thank you very much Fran.

The rules to accepting this award are, I must tell you 7 things about myself, and then pass this on to approximately 15 (give or take a few) other bloggers who I believe are deserving. 

7 things about me...

1. I am a Child of God.

2. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I don't even gamble. 

3. I have 4 amazingly wonderful children - 1 boy & 3 girls.

4. I love to play tennis, but don't get to as often as I would like.

5. I have the best, and most incredibly talented husband in the world.

6. I am deathly afraid of heights. 

7. I have one or two junk drawers in just about every room in the house.

15 or so people I want to learn more about...

Janae @ It's Always Ok, Usually Sunny in Janae's World

Kim @ A Brush of Whimsy

Kirsten @ tollipop

Korrie @ RedHenHome

Lindsey @ Better After

According to what I have read, the only rules for accepting this award are

1.  Thank the person who gave it to you.

2.  Tell 7 things about yourself

3. Pass the award on to 15 people. (But I'd let you keep the award if you only send it to 5 or even nobody.  I still think you're great and worthy of the award!)

SOME AMBITION

The title of my blog certainly hasn't reflected my actions very well over the summer months, but I have a really good excuse.....its been SO DARN HOT!!!  I have several pieces of furniture that I really want to get working on, but seriously, can it just COOL OFF ALREADY??  This desert heat is brutal!  I am so excited to try my hand with my new state of the art air compressor, and handy dandy attachments that the hubs brought home.  I hope I can master it, cuz it will sure make the refinishing process so much easier.

I sold my very first piece today.  Miss Abigail went to a very nice home where I know she will be happy.  Here is a shout out to Austin, thanks for your patronage, and stay tuned for more exciting stuff :)

I hope that I haven't lost my meager, but "oh so flattered that I have them" followers.  Help get me motivated again by leaving me a comment.

Summertime:)

I thought I'd better do a post to let my lovely followers know that I have not died, but my garage/work shop has been taken over by my neighbor who moved out of his house, and is using it for a storage unit until he can find another place to live.  I'm trying to be a good neighbor, but I'm getting a little frustrated....I want my space back!!  He originally said it would be two weeks....that was 3 months ago:(  I don't know how much longer I can hold on!  I have quite a few projects to do, and the husband has even given me some of his work tools/equipment to use, including an air compressor, and all the paint attachments....so excited!!

In the meantime, family summertime fun has been given my full attention.


There has been massive amounts of volleyball, 

 ...thunderstorms in the mountains,

...family fun over the 4th of July!

...so many rounds of Shanghai at the cabin, that my parents passed out!

 (they would kill me if they knew I posted this...shhh, don't tell...heehee!),

...and good food and jam sessions with family and friends.

I think I can hang on a bit longer, as long as I'm having this much fun:)  I will post again as soon as I have my space back and have completed a project.  Stella, among others, is waiting for her transformation.

I Need Your Help!

Ok, I'm going to be gone camping for a week starting tomorrow morning, and when I get back I want to start on Stella, but I am having a really hard time deciding on what color/colors to do her in.  I really respect all you fellow restorers out there, so please leave me a comment and tell me what color makeover you think I should give her.

Here she is again.

Taking a Little Break.....Camping?

I wish I could tell you that I was taking a break to someplace exotic, where I would be basking poolside. fruity drink in hand, embellished with a little umbrella,    being spritzed by the pool boy to cool me off, and ordering poolside service, but that is not the case.  My little break will be up the mountain to Girls Camp!    I have to admit though, that I am actually a wee bit excited.  Both my younger girls will be there with me, not to mention my very bestest friend!  It's not really where you're at, it's who you're with, right, and no matter whereJanae and I are, we always have a great time, and having my girls along, will make it all the better.

There probably won't be fruity drinks with umbrellas, or poolside service, but there will be dutch oven peach cobbler, stories around the campfire, and smores!  Yum:)  

I have plenty of projects to work on but didn't want to start anything until I get back, so stay tuned!

{Something a Little Different}

I was doing a little blog surfing today, and happened upon a friends blog that had this creed posted in her sidebar.  I loved it so much that I stole it from her (I think she'll forgive me though, seeing as she acquired it from someone else:).  I was going to put it in my sidebar as well (and still will), but sometimes those things get overlooked, so I decided to post it here first.

THE OPTIMIST CREED

TO BE SO STRONG THAT NOTHING CAN DISTURB YOUR PEACE OF MIND.

TO TALK HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY TO EVERY PERSON YOU MEET.

TO MAKE ALL YOUR FRIENDS FEEL LIKE THERE IS SOMETHING IN THEM.

TO LOOK AT THE SUNNY SIDE OF EVERYTHING AND MAKE YOUR OPTIMISM COME TRUE.

TO THINK ONLY OF THE BEST, TO WORK ONLY FOR THE BEST AND TO EXPECT ONLY THE BEST.

TO BE JUST AS ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF OTHERS AS YOU ARE ABOUT YOUR OWN.

TO FORGET THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST AND PRESS ON TO THE GREATER ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE FUTURE.

TO WEAR A CHEERFUL COUNTENANCE AT ALL TIMES AND GIVE EVERY LIVING CREATURE YOU MEET A SMILE.

TO GIVE SO MUCH TIME TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF YOURSELF THAT YOU HAVE NO TIME TO CRITICIZE OTHERS.

TO BE TOO LARGE FOR WORRY, TOO NOBLE FOR ANGER, TOO STRONG FOR FEAR, AND TOO HAPPY TO PERMIT THE PRESENCE OF TROUBLE.

CHRISTIAN D. LARSON (from Kathy Peterson via Holly Oswald)

Thanks Kathy (and Holly) for sharing:)

Restore it Wednesday Entry

My Restore it Wednesday entry this week is Abigail.  She is my favorite piece that I have done so far.  I am so happy with the way she turned out.  Wish me luck:)

Here is Abigail before:

Here she is After:

Here's a Sneak Peak at Stella!

Introducing Stella!!  I found this lovely lady on Craigslist, and instantly fell in love.  She is so very charming, and has such great lines.  I can't wait to see her all dolled up.  Stay tuned for her big reveal!

Say Hello to Penelope!

Penelope is so adorable and looks so great sitting in my entryway!

  She was a bit of a struggle to revive.  I didn't notice when I purchased her that she had a leather inset on top. 

It came off quite easily but underneath was a cheap piece of particle board that the leather was glued to, and as I sanded, it  started splintering. 

 I was so discouraged, but the hubs saved the day with some epoxy.  He floated it out and sanded it smooth (sorry no pic).  The paint went on perfect and she turned out beautifully.

Again, here she is

{before}

and here she is

{after}

Love Love Love Her!

Introducing Abigail

Remember this little dresser that I showed you a while back?

Well she's done, and she is totally my favorite piece that I have done, by far!!  I purchased Abigail off of Craigslist from a young military couple (can't thank them enough for all they do).  It was her grandmother's dresser, and she hated to part with it, but didn't like lugging it around with them each time they moved.  Abigail had some pretty bad scratches and gouges in the top, and some minor damage to one of her legs, but I fixed her up with some wood filler and she is good as new.

After the wood filler dried, I sanded her down, then gave her a coat of spray on Kilz,  

followed by another light sanding after it dried, then two coats of paint, letting each coat dry approximately 8 hours.  Next I distressed her, then lightly glazed in certain spots with a mixture of Ralph Lauren Glaze and some brown paint.

I didn't want to glaze all over because I wanted the white to be more crisp.  After the glaze dried, I applied a light coat of Minwax Paste Finishing Wax, 

let it dry for approximately 10-15 minutes, and then buffed it with the electric buffer, which gives it a nice shine.

Again, here is Abigail

 {before}

   

 And here she is 

{after}

Doesn't she look so much happier?

Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think:)

On a different note, I just had to share this pic that the hubs took of some not so wild burros in Blue Diamond today.  Precious!!