What we've been up to

I know that I want to get better about posting regularly... oh, how I enjoy the accomplished feeling of pressing "publish" on a new post. But sometimes life happens too quickly, and the days turn into weeks before I get around to sharing anything. Here's a quick recap of some of the new projects and recipes that I've done in the last week:


Cooking:

Homemade english muffins (recipe here)-- always a crowd pleaser! They are delicious hot off the pan with some peanut butter, or made into english muffin pizzas for a quick weekday lunch.

Pumpkin chocolate chip brownies (recipe here)-- actually not brownie-like in consistency at all, but they were tasty!

Pumpkin pancakes (recipe here)-- these were a big winner. I threw in some chocolate chips because...why not?

Pumpkin spice krispie treats (recipe here)-- are you sensing a theme here?

Pineapple rice (recipe here)-- we usually try to eat vegetarian a few nights a week. This thai-inspired dish was a family favorite. Even the toddler loved it!


Around the house:

Installed new light fixtures in the old dining room (now office) and on the front porch. I also spray pained the old chandelier from the dining room to hang in Annie's big girl room some day. I love how it turned out!

The electrician spent a day at our house changing the loud fluorescent light in the kitchen to updated recessed cans. The difference is amazing. He also wired a box for the new chandelier to hang over the soon to be dining room table.

The dining table is officially under construction! In fact, it's almost entirely assembled, so we'll be spending this weekend sanding and staining.


Getting crafty:

I finished knitting a little sweater for the newly adopted son of some dear friends. It was a quick knit to enjoy during the Harry-Potter-A-Thon that Bryan and I have been enjoying on off-nights.

Also finished up a cowl I had started back in the Spring. I think it's the first real thing I've ever knit for myself. I just loved working with this beautiful hand-dyed merino (it was a gift last Christmas).

Okay, so laugh all you want after my last post about the fall mantle (that stream of consciousness was real, by the way), because I actually did fall-ify the fireplace. I found the baby pumpkins for $0.97 at WalMart. The dried stems are from the dollar store, and the garland was made from dollar store "table scatter" (aka small felt leaves), bakers twine, and a hot glue gun. The printable is free here.


Family stuff:

After reading this blog post, Bryan and I have decided that we are going to fast from spending this month, too. It's amazing how a new house causes you to bleed cash. And while we've been very conscious to spend carefully and make thrifty choices, it was easy for our attitude to slip into one of entitlement. So we're taking the month to put our checkbook away and realign our hearts to be grateful with what we have without feeling the need for more.

A fun trip to the Farmer's Market this morning, and we decided to sign up for our first CSA! We chose Riverstone Organic Farm out of Floyd, VA and I can't wait to get our first share!



So what have you been up to this week? Any new adventures, projects, or family goals?

On Autumn

The brisk chill of autumn air combined with the perfectly earthy smells of changing leaves invariably causes a swell of homey, fall-related feelings to flood my house. Well, maybe not my whole house... maybe it's just me. But because I'm the vocal one (and the one who decorates), my family is shoved onto the autumn bandwagon, whether they were ready to say goodbye to summer or not.

Of course, the return of fall beverages and the arrival of pumpkins in the supermarket parking lot help to usher in my beloved season. It's not uncommon to have to remind myself that ALLPUMPKINEVERYTHING is not an appropriately balanced diet. I don't know why, but something about the changing weather, the rich colors, the reintroduction of school routines... there's just a nostalgia to autumn. And I could do drink of it deeply.

But this year, I'm trying to keep my fall obsession under wraps a little bit. Not because I don't think it's the most wonderful time of year, but because I've noticed this nasty habit... that when I am obsessing over something, I tend to throw my money at it frivolously. They're only $0.97, so I won't think twice about tossing those faux-mini gourds into my shopping cart. They'll look great on the mantle. But oh! They're not enough to complete a whole mantlescape... let's go find some dried flowers to put in a vase (well, two vases, because a good mantle is symmetrical). And I'll need a centerpiece for the table. And wreaths for the front door. Should I buy mums for the yard?... You get the picture. Don't get me wrong, this girl's got no problem with decorating. But my issue is that I tend to give myself too much freedom at spending money (that I ought to be accountable to my husband about). And that I (quite literally) buy into the lie that making my home look more beautiful will make me happy.

But it won't.

Stuff will never make us happy. It can't fill the holes of inadequacy or insecurity. Even the warmest and deepest sentiments will only satisfy for a moment, leaving us thirsty for something much richer than a pumpkin spice latte.

So perhaps there's a more productive way to channel my autumn-craze than to just plaster my house with seasonal decor and fritter away my allowance on lattes. Maybe I can choose to look past the tangible, and drink in more of Jesus (and less apple cider). Maybe I can remember that, just as the leaves die and fall to the ground, my Savior gave up his body and descended below on my behalf. That he, like the looming winter, lie cold in the grave, only to be raised in glory. Can I use this favored season to see the gospel all around me? I think so. I just need to choose to look deeper. Past the hype of caramel apples and visits to Sinkland Farms, and into the very heart of God. He, after all, is the one who invented this incredible season anyway.

Transferring An Image To Wood

I know I don't usually spend much time talking about small things we do around the house (the focus tends to be major renovation stuff), but I was too excited about this little project to not share.

I followed this tutorial after doing a quick search on Pinterest for "transferring images to wood." I picked up the wood slice from Michael's for about $6 after a 40% off coupon. The only other materials needed were Elmer's washable glue, ModPodge, and some card stock.

Basically, you paint the card stock with a thin layer of glue and allow it to dry. Then, you feed the paper into a normal inkjet printer so that the image is printed onto the glue side. If you're doing a project with words, you need to flip the image horizontally before printing. Like so...

I made this in Microsoft Word's Publishing Layout using a free font called "Pea Ellie Bellie" by Kevin & Amanda

Paint a thin layer of ModPodge onto the wood, and press your image firmly into the wet ModPodge. I used a spatula to smooth it out and make sure it was all rubbed evenly. The hardest part is next---waiting to let the image dry overnight. Without peeking.

The next day, soak the paper with warm water (you can submerge the whole project, squirt it with a bottle, or run it under the tap) until it becomes soft and easily scrapes away from the wood. The water re-activates the "washableness" of the glue, separating the ink from the paper, leaving behind your image. I was so nervous peeling the paper off, but it was pretty simple. There are definitely some spots where I smudged the ink, but I don't mind that it looks a little more rustic. It is a log, after all.

I did have a couple spots where the ink didn't transfer. My guess is I either didn't get ModPodge on that part of the wood, or I didn't spread the glue enough on that part of the card stock. Either way, a fine-tipped Sharpie made it easy to draw in the missing letters and touch up some of the others that came out a little spotty.

I think it's safe to say I'm totally enamored with this process, and I'm itching to find another project to personalize. In the meantime, I'll be satisfied to enjoy this one, which will hang on the gallery wall in our Master (forget that the frames have yet to be filled with real pictures). The husband and I have a thing about trees--they're kind of our signature thing. This verse was the inspiration for one of the first poems he ever wrote me.

The will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the LORD

for the display of his splendor.

Isaiah 61:3b

The Subway Stops Here

Oh hey, just me again.

Blogging from the confines of my shrinking living room. What? Rooms don't shrink? Because it seriously feels like the walls are closing in on me. Which might be related to the fact that I haven't really left the house in 3 days. Okay, there was one quick trip to Kroger. For one thing. And I was back within 30 minutes.

Note that my newfound house claustrophobia is not some form of self torture, but rather the result of this parent's worst nightmare. Little A has hand, foot, and mouth disease-- and her baby leprosy has been wreaking quite the havoc around here. I've slept less than 6 hours the last two nights combined, and the oozing sores (too much?) covering my child's body don't seem to be on their way out anytime soon.

In the meantime, we're entertaining ourselves with games like "turn the lights on and off." lots of Nexflix (there's a ridiculous show called Martha Speaks that seems to do the trick), oatmeal baths, and field trips to the kitchen. First, to snack on these honey chai roasted almonds every five minutes (trust me, they're addictive). And second, to admire our new subway tile...which is, after all, the real subject of this post.

Admittedly, half of the kitchen was tiled a week ago-- but I had to wait for another weekend (read: time for Bryan to watch the kiddo) to finish up the other side. While we were at it, we finally switched out all the receptacles and switches to white, tamper-proof outlets. All that's left is bright white grout, and this little project will be d-o-n-e.

I managed to complete the whole project in about 10 hours total, with just a simple tile cutter and nipper. I'm sure a wet saw would have been helpful with pesky corners around outlets and cabinets, but our kitchen is so small that those corners were few, and there were enough spare tiles that I could break a few in the process of trying to get one just right. I found it helpful to wrap Frog Tape around the ones I needed to cut into intricate shapes.

Like every other big update to this room, I think it's a total gamechanger. It's crazy how such a dark tile can actually make the kitchen feel bigger. It almost works like eyeliner, adding depth to the counters and accentuating the place where the countertop meets the wall.  Plus it's so shiny, it kind of has the effect of a mirror in a small room.

Jury's still out on whether the walls will stay painted this color. Right now, they're "Stonington Gray" by Benjamin Moore (which is the color of most of the non-bedrooms on our main level). But this picture is inspiring me to maybe go darker on the walls. I'm going to wait until we build in the fridge and figure out all the last details to make a decision.

Hopefully I'll be back next week with a completed tile job for you! And if you're lucky, I might just bust out the DSLR so you can actually see a clear, true-to-color photo. What can I say... the iPhone is a mom's best friend!

Doors at last

I'll be honest... I've had the cabinet doors hung for about a week now. I took a couple hours while Bryan was at work last week to surprise him (thanks, Michael, for helping me get the tall ones!), and it's amazing what a difference it made! All of a sudden, the cramped galley kitchen feels like it's about a foot wider, and the orange haze from 1960s cabinets (illuminated by the steady hum of fluorescent tubes) is gone!

But despite my great excitement to have this seemingly significant milestone completed, I've been slow to share... because our kitchen is a mess. In the spirit of keeping it real, our whole house is actually a mess. But I confess that even the laziest blogger wants to impress people. Myself included. So I waited for a day when the dishes would be done, the counters wiped down, and perhaps even the floor to be swept.

That day never came.

So I give up on trying to impress you! And figure I'd rather you get to see all the hard work, even if it makes my mess public, because truthfully-- I am proud of my kitchen. Even when it's cluttered and sticky. Because the hours of planning and painting and wiring and plumbing have proven to me that you don't have to be an expert to be willing to try. To be adventurous. To even fail.

I also decided to (finally) get this post done because I just called the tile supplier and found out our backsplash tile has arrived. Fingers are crossed we can get it done this weekend, so that there will be an even more exciting reveal next week!

Running water, a new hood, and waiting

We last left the kitchen with a sparkling new countertop and a sink just waiting for a faucet. As you can imagine, when we hit the "do not do plumbing for 24 hour" mark, I immediately got to installing the new faucet. I will skip the miserable details and leave you with this: 3 days and 4 trips to the hardware store later, we have running water and a functional garbage disposal. And no leaks! Overall, I discovered that plumbing is not really a complicated part of home improvement... but the tight space and tricky task of getting everything sealed properly easily make plumbing my least favorite thing so far.

Let's be honest...this is the view I'm most proud of.

That first night, we took breaks from our faucet frustration to install a new range hood over the stove. Our last one was white and about 6 inches too wide. This new one was a relatively inexpensive upgrade and I just love what a difference it makes.

But after those few nights of faucet-frenzy, it seems like things have hit a bit of a plateau here in the kitchen renovation. Not only have things started to pick up with work (gotta welcome all those new students!), limiting our "free time" significantly, but many of the next steps in getting the kitchen together require waiting.

What are we waiting for? Well, the biggest thing is for the cabinet doors to cure. They were completed on Friday and need 5 days to self-level and harden enough to be re-installed. I've been surprised how little it's bothered me to have all of our cabinets open for several weeks. It actually makes it very easy to put dishes away, and (surprisingly!) Annie doesn't mess with the contents too often.

Dry, babies, dry!

We're waiting for the doors to be hung so we can add our new hardware. I was able to put handles on a couple of drawers that were finished last week, and I'm so excited to see how it will look to have everything together!

We're also waiting on our new subway tile, which was ordered yesterday. That should come by Friday, which maybe means we'll have it installed by this time next week. I'm so excited to show it to you...we took another major design turn when we picked something other than white subway! Things were starting to get a little too white with the cabinets, counters, and sink. And I think this new design is going to be perfect! Stay tuned :)

Is This Real Life?!

Alternative Post Titles Include:

• I Can't Believe This Is My House
• The Greatest Day Ever
• Welcome Home, Silestone.
• AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!

...as you can probably guess, our countertops are here! They were installed on Monday evening by a sweet father-son duo from Charlotte, NC (that's a long drive!). It took them a little over two hours, due to a difficulty with the bar that passes into the dining room, but it was so fun to watch them work. I seriously sat like a creeper and watched the whole process unfold. Each new slab of stone, each new bead of calk, got me more excited. When they left, I honestly thought I could cry. Is this real life?! Could I actually own a house with something so nice? I feel so grateful that we've been able to save up and improve our house into something we love. It is overwhelming to think of the nice things God provides for us when He has no reason or need to. And the kitchen, more than anywhere else in the house, is the nearest to my heart.

Okay, enough gushing. You probably want to see pictures! Here are the iphone photos I snapped after the installers left. We had to wait 24 hours for the silicone to set in the sink before we could work on plumbing, so that's another post for a different day.

This may look like one big piece, but if you see the picture above, you can tell
it's a separate bar. I love the visual effect that it continues on, though!

Obviously we still have a lot to do in here... tile, paint touchups, cabinet doors and hardware... but I think it's just remarkable how much the countertops change the space. Woohoo!