pull up those laces...

Weird facto, Jimmy is not the most observant of persons and lately I thought he had been a little more off in la-la land than usual. 

Surprise; he hasn't been.

We have talked a lot lately about how "off" I have been lately.

He plainly said, "I think you just need a break. Several days by yourself to get back to you."

That seriously is not an option between the kiddo and the whole business of saving lives.

Next best thing: outlet.

Not a shopping outlet, an aggression outlet.

My very, very, very good friend Ashley has been working on her fitness the past couple of months and invited me to tag along.

This is no ordinary workout.

I go to bootcamp classes with her some mornings and a core/strength building class some nights.

Whenever I go Jimmy is home to take over watching Wes so I don't have to worry about a babysitter.

It's AWESOME!!!

You sweat, you grunt, you push yourself.

I have a positive outlet to recharge.

I've only been to several classes but I can already feel a change in body and mind.

There's me in the corner about to die.

If you are in VB check them out!

API Virginia Beach

Blahhhhhhhhhh

So, I have been a bit behind in blogging lately.

Lots of things going on these days.

Anyways onto the nitty gritty.

If you have hung out with me recently you may have noticed I seem off.

I have been in quite in what some people would term 'a mood'.

I haven't felt normal.

I'm cranky.

I'm finicky.

Pretty much the opposite of what I normally am.

Work has been a little tough lately but I get past those things pretty quick.

There isn't a real/actual/logical reason to tell you the truth I just feel grumpy.

Well maybe there is...

Jimmy's birthday was this past weekend. 

Yay, birthdays are always so much fun. 

But, I really wasn't getting into the 'birthday planning mood' so I asked Jimmy if we could go light this year. He agreed since last year I went pretty big.

Jimmy turned 27 (yes, he is younger than I). 

I will be 29 in the fall.

That's it...the last year of my 20's.

That's when it all sunk in. 

I will be 30 soon.

Whoa.

Like seriously, WHOA.

I had a plan and I'm pretty sure said plan will not be finalized by its goal end date of my 30th birthday.

2 kids

Homeowner 

BSN

That's a lot to accomplish with a year and a half deadline.

I've always been my worst critic and harder on myself than I should.

I'm not looking for a pick me up.

I'm not looking for a cheerleader.

I just needed to put this out in writing.

For. Myself.

Maybe it'll spark the gears within to forget the number 30 and actually starting the path to achieve my goals.

Odds and Ends

Well I haven't been crafting much this last week. Mostly due to working 4 nights in a row (blah, ugh, grrr) #grownupissues

But I was able to add some odds and ends around the casa.

Found these little guys on Etsy. You can get them custom colored to match your bath theme. I know I probably could have just bought the printable version but then I would have to buy ink and high quality paper. And I am seriously just too lazy for that and ordered actual prints from the Wallfry.

I found the frames from Ikea.

Add a little candle accent from Target... 

 and presto.chango Wesley's/Guest bath is donzo!

(only a year and a half later...)

 haha photobomb!

Since we are right by Wesley's room. Let's see the little addition I done did in there.

Remember when we fixed Wesley's closet situation.

We are still waiting on the gate but I was already tired of being "closed in" when I needed to hang up Wesley's clothes.

Solution = Hooks.

Drapery Hooks to be exact.

$10 for the set at Target.

(I have an issue with Target. Can you tell?)

And I apparently can't take a straight picture to save my life!

On to our little "dining room".

New table display.

I got the lantern thingy.mbob at Target on clearance for $7.

Rocks at Ollie's for 60 cents.

Red star.thingy I've had but I also got it at Target in their dollar aisle.

Oh and a lovely repurposed wine bottle (thinking of replacing it with a gallon sized Mason jar...)

Time to go antiquing!!!

I moved the place settings off the table because it looked too cluttered.

I also moved the other things I had there before around the apartment.

And I'm on the hunt for a rectangular/tall looking accent table (I think they are called sofa tables) to go in our "hallway".

Something like this...

Don't you think it would look.a.nice right there under my wall "shrub"?!?

one of the best. ok the best but I am biased.

I can remember vividly my mother saying, "you will never understand until you have kids!" 

My childhood was good. My brother, sister and I grew up comfortably never at a loss or in actual need of the basics. Plus our parents loved us; fiercely.

Due to the fierce love my mom gave to us; I have grown up to love my spouse, my friends and mostly my child fiercely. 

When I say fierce love I mean the type of love that shapes us as human beings. The love that comes through when you have done everything to try and discourage that love but it still comes through beaming (does that even make sense?!?) A love so strong you gain an intuition about a persons current state of mind.

The relationship my mom and I share has always been close but through the birth of the bouncing baby boy, we have become even closer. I call her for advice about everything. Insurance advice, tax advice, marriage advice, life advice, my-child-is-driving-me-up-the-wall advice. Everything. We laugh a lot. Cry a lot. There is nothing I would fear telling my mom.

Lately, as Wes has started to walk and become more and more vocal. I have caught myself saying things my mom once said to me growing up. I stop in my tracks and chuckle. Mom was right. 

Mom is always right.

I love my mom and feel very lucky to have the relationship I have with her. She has taught me so much about respect, love and having enough balls to go against the grain and make my own path.

And mom passed her 2 year cancer-versary in January 2013 and I was a slacker-of-a-daughter and didn't post anything about it. Merp. Well I am now.

<3

I'm so happy you chose to fight.

I'm so happy you continue to fight.

I'm so happy for the love you have for me, my husband and our son.

I'm so happy to have you at my side.

I can never thank you enough for your teachings, your inspiration, your pure AWESOMENESS.

No words will ever fully express my emotions.

I love you mom.

:*)

The closet situation

Ok, remember back when we re-did Wesley's room and then remodeled a box into a laundry box well we still needed a solution for keeping Wes out of his closet and getting into things.

First Step:

Get rid of awful.mirrored closet doors. We rent so as much as I would have loved to throw them off our second floor balcony I kindly placed them in our utility closet.

See. Doors gone. Whoa it's a mess in there...

(See why I don't want him to have free access to that craziness)

Next step.

 Place curtain on curtain rod and fix tension rod to proper length.

Next step.

See how in the above photo the extra curtain length. 

I didn't want to cut the extra off so I decided I would hem it up. 

I folded up the corner where I wanted my hem to be and pinned it.

Off to my handy workbench AKA the kitchen counter.

I measure from my pin up how much I would need to hem. 

(look at that I actually got a yard stick!)

Then I pinned along as I measured.

And I got a small pair of sewing scissors (on clearance!)

My am I coming up in the world of sewing.

:)

Oh, yeah I forget these are the curtains. Got them at Target. $9.99 a panel

I got 2 panels. I am sure you can handle the math there.

I ironed where my crease needed to be. 

Probably a better place to be doing this than my kitchen counter maybe, I don't know; 

an ironing board.

Yeah, this thing.

Ok, time to sew!

I sewed 1/4 inch from the bottom.

And then 1/4 inch from the top.

Place in dryer to get all the folds out and freshen the fabric up a bit.

Place on tension rod. And put up!

Now the baby gate.

Darn, too short!

Should have measured...back to Target. :/ 

(Big.fat.boo well apparently neither Target or Baby.crap.Us had the size gate we needed)

It's all good we found it on Amazon.

Should be arriving shortly :)

So I am thinking this looks rather well dull...

(check out that box!!!! Ugh I die! I should make another one...)

And this kid just popped out of the closet and dumped over his laundry box...

because "It's so much fun mommy!"

(not for long kid, not for long!)

[oh and those outlets are covered, I swear]

These curtains need an accent.

A sash maybe?!?

Yes, a sash!

But I don't like that I can see into the closet though. 

Hmmmmm, I got a plan!!!

(Sorry about the crappy lighting)

I measured 34 inches from the bottom of my "sash" to the top of the curtain

Pin the crap out of it!

 Sew that guy on!

Repeat on other panel.

Remember we used 2!

O.M.G soooo much better!

(Again, I apologize about the horrible lighting)

I can't believe I actually lined these suckers up perfect!

I have been sewing for a whole whopping 20 minutes total in my entire life.

I am seriously so proud of myself!

Ok, so back to the project I really liked the gathered look... 

Like in this photo but how do I get it now that I have already sewed on my sashy sash??

I thought about velcro.

I thought about adding ties.

But, frankly I'm digging it being down now that it has been that way for a few days.

I might add some shelves and possibly some curtain hooks in the future if I can find them on clearance.

And maybe I'll make a tag rug to place underneath to hide those hideous tracks from the go-awful mirrored doors!

Even if they're not the color I need there is always spray paint. :)

This maybe a minor project to you but it was HUGE for me!

Now, maybe I will actually get to my next project.