I have a few projects to make our master bedroom a space of peace and rest for us. I asked Ben to cut me down a few pallet boards to make a back drop for my centerpiece turned wall decor. I love the way that they turned out!
Stay tuned for the whole room and cleaner spaces!
We sold our previous headboards that Ben made and found this door from early 1900's to use. I am so very excited to see what Ben comes up with to make my vision come to life.
I love that it has 2 different sides that we can use. The character in the wood makes me wonder what stories it has to tell!
I have a love/hate relationship with our dark front porch. It seriously hardly gets any sunlight which is depressing to me. I love planting in the summer and trying not to kill my plants until fall. Anyway I digress, I had an itch to be creative and a front porch that needed TLC.
So on this rainy, cold day, I stopped at our local Habitat for Hummanity and found this half door for $8. I stopped at Michaels for the letters to spell welcome and the bless our nest sign. All those supplies came in at slightly underived $30. I made the hydrangea wreath about 5 years ago and have used it in so many different places! I have a ton of burlap so I used some of it for the letters. (I wanted to be able to change everything out as I wished.)
Here are the final results. More of the front porch once it is warm enough for plants!
The breakfast nook. The kids table. Life giving table.
This area is where we eat breakfast together 5 to 6 days a week. Lunch 2 times a week. Supper 5 nights a week.
We do our family meetings there.
Talk about the days highs and lows.
We are silly and serious here.
We do life together here.
I always thought that setting the mood for my family was such an unattainable goal. But I was trying to do it in my own strength and in my own way.
I am so thankful for ladies in multiple bible studies that I have been blessed to attend over the past decade. They have poured into me, encouraged me, and held me accountable.
While it is not perfect, I am thankful that each new day brings new chances to work towards it.
We started this study today and I cannot wait to see what it brings!
So our front room serves a wide variety of purposes. It is our "guest room." The family office. The man cave since it is decorated with Ben's military memorabilia.
We have had this ready room chair for oh I don't know....11+ years? It was in rough shape and was found in the dumpster.
Finally this Christmas, Ben received a custom recovering of it as a gift. Now we have our very own ready room chair.
It has been fun to hear all the pretend games that the Littles have played on it. I am sure that it has plenty of other stories from all the pilots that have sat on it at one time or another!
Now that we have a bigger kitchen to spread out in, I like having little helpers in there with me.
There Apron Christmas gifts must have inspired them because they have been in the kitchen with me several times for "lessons. "
Although it sometimes not super optimal timing, I am trying to embrace these opportunities and make some memories.
I love how big our kitchen is here. We had such a tiny kitchen in California that this is a breath of fresh air!
It's sometimes the simple things that catch me each day like a clean counter, a basket full of fruit, and sunshine on my pretty Valentines flowers.
I love having these little notes every day from Kymber. I have saved a few to show her when she's older.
I also love that we have Ben's old desk from childhood.
So I guess that I love Kymber's graffiti on the desk......
Ok,ok I know that I am still in the dining room but it's one of my favorite places to gather with Friendsand family. (And it doesn't hurt that it's one of the few rooms in my house that consistently stays clean!)
My friend, Lauren, made me this beautiful tray before Christmas. (I will try to dig up the pictures with the Christmas greenery in it, because it was so pretty!) After I took the Christmas decor out, I redid it buy I wasn't in love with how it looked.
Thankfully the base thrift store opened back up today. I found the candle holder and candles for $8! Can't beat that ♡ I have burlap in several other rooms in the house so the burlap flowers on the candle holder beckoned my name!
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| Don't tell but I still have my Christmas runner on the table. I like the way it fits with the other colors in the room! |
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| A close up of the candle holder and candles that I found. |
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| I love the hardware that Lauren used! The greenery on the sides came from a hobby lobby sale! |
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| I had the cotton in the arrangement that I didn't care for but I was happy to repurpose it into the green mason jars that I already had in the cupboard. |
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| This was my initial arrangement post Christmas. Call me crazy but I love the burlap candle holder so much better! |
Especially when it is old Bessie and us saying farewell to her. Ben had that truck before we met.
We moved across country 4 times (twice pulling my Mustang) and made more trips north and south than I could count.
We had many serious conversations about life, lots of laughs, and even some fights in her.
The Littles cried when we told them that this morning was the last time that they would see "truckie."
So old Bessie, thank-you for 17 awesome years!
So Ben made our headboard pieces about 10-11 years ago. Both of us are ready for a change. We are currently browsing through pinterest, local shops, and online. Stay tuned as we transform our master bedroom into a peaceful retreat away from the kids.
So I could have included this in my original volume 1 post, but I felt that it was special enough to warrant it's own post.
My sweet mom-in-law always finds a special way to repurpose items. This year she out did herself and made all the female grandchildren (7 of 9) a special apron. The main section of blue fabric is from my brother in law's navy uniforms. Each fabric that is on them has a special memory attached with it too.
So thankful that my girls have these and share this memory with their cousins!
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| The letter that accompanied the aprons, explaining them. |
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| All the girls with Uncle Dan |
As 2018 rolls in, I have set a few education goals for myself as I might be jumping back into the work force.
I am trying to prepare to go back to my nursing career in an entirely different field than what I was used to.
I have about 65 continuing education credits lined up that center around school nursing. It feels daunting but I am diving in head first to prepare myself as best as I can.
What are your education goals for 2018? What motivates you to complete them?
Best wishes for attaining your education goals this upcoming year!
Recently I was inspired by my friend's daughter who is just starting her journey in life and blogging.
It reminded me of why I started this blog 10 years ago. First and foremost to keep a journal of our life for the kids. Secondly was to spread joy.
It has become increasingly more popular to use social media as a way to tote why your political opinion is better than others, air dirty laundry of a myriad of things, complain, on and on.
2018 I hope to get back to keeping my family's memories on here and spreading joy in a dark world.
I hope that y'all will join me on this ride!
Merry Christmas from our home to yours!
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
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