Lots Going On

Extreme Home Makeover

When Sean and I were buying a house, we agreed that we liked homes that were a little "older" and didn't look like every other house on the block. Unfortunately, that meant that there were going to be some not-so-modern things on the inside. For example, wood paneling. We love our house (it was built in the 80s), but the wood paneling in the living room was a little bit dark and cave-like. I suggested painting it, but Sean wasn't crazy about the idea. He finally warmed up to it, and we took advantage of having my parents in town this weekend to paint!

Before:
This is not our stuff, this is a picture the previous owners took. The wood paneling went all the way around the room.


After:
I'll try to take a better one when the living room is cleaned up, but I think you can get the idea, it's so much brighter in there!


We decided that while we were at it, we'd do the dining room, too. The pale yellow/toile scheme they had going on wasn't too bad, but wasn't our style. We decided to paint it the same red as our entry way.

Before:



After:



We had some home improvement drama today. Remember in my last post where I showed you the awesome framed picture that Alisa took? I could not wait to get it up on my wall. Yesterday, I hung it up behind our loveseat, but it didn't really take up enough room on that wall. Today I switched it to another wall in the living room and then started to clean things up around the room. I heard a noise and looked up just in time to see my beloved portrait fall to the ground and shatter. I cannot even describe to you my feelings at that moment. Sheer panic. I was freaking out because glass was everywhere and Caroline and I had not been sitting very far from where it fell. We were luckily not hurt at all. I was also hysterical because as I mentioned before, the framing and stuff cost a ton. The frame was a little banged up and the picture was scratched. I woke Sean up to show him what happened and he was so nice and calm about the whole thing as I was freaking out. I was feeling so bad that I let that happen to our nice picture. I turned it over and discovered that the wire was no longer attached to the hook. I then noticed that the other side of the wire was attached firmly to the space where the two ends of the hook meet. The framers attached the wire pretty much to a hole in the hook.
So, I was grateful for two things today-1. that God took care of Caroline and I and we were not hurt-the glass was razor sharp and I was so upset thinking what could have happened 2. that it was not my fault and Michael's is going to be paying to have it replaced, not me!

My best friend Ashley recently listed some of her favorite items for summer. I'm going to go in a little bit of a different direction and list one of my least favorite items for the summer. Here it is:



Sorry, that picture is HUGE!

Now, if you know me, it's no secret that I DON'T TAN. I have red hair and fair skin and I only burn. There is no in between. It's white or red. Those are my choices. So, anyway, a few weeks ago I picked up a bottle of this sunless tanning lotion at the local Target. A tan in a bottle? Sign me up! Firming? I just had a baby, heck yes! The $10 price tag was a little on the steep side, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right? So, I slather it on and it gives me just the right amount of color with one application. It smells a little funny at first, but I can take a bath or shower later, right? So, I use this a few times over the next month or two, still liking it pretty well. That all changed last week. I'm not going to go into boring details and I don't have a picture of myself to show you what it did to me, but imagine this:



This is a kid with chicken pox. That was the closest picture I could get to describe what my rash looks like. It's EVERYWHERE...on my back, my legs, my stomach, my chest, my arms. Thank goodness I didn't put the lotion on my face. Today I had to call around town to find a dermatologist who could see me before August. Luckily, I got an appointment for tomorrow, so hopefully I will be able to wear shorts and sleeveless shirts again (thank goodness, it's a jillion degrees here now).

I'll leave you with some sweet pictures of my girl! She had her first sickness last week...a stomach bug. She had it for 5 days and was kind enough to share it with me...blech! Luckily, she's on the mend now!



"Get that spaghetti with meat sauce away from me, woman!"



I was so excited to dress her in this cute outfit...that she promptly ralphed in. She's pulling up on everything now!



Sean and Caroline on Father's Day. Caroline has such a wonderful daddy! We are both so lucky!



She was watching her Daddy mow the lawn outside her bedroom window. So cute!