spring has sprung

my little cowgirl

Avalon had a dance recital at her preschool today and the theme was cowgirls and cowboys. Yee haw! She was in the best mood and we had the best time hanging out all morning in bed and getting ready and then watching her dance and sing.

I'm going to miss these preschool recitals next year. Kindergarten at an elementary school just isn't the same! She's growing up so fast.

decorating details

before

Now, this before shot is from the first weeks after moving into our house almost 3 years ago, but it was one of the few I could find that showed the whole room and the dramatic effect of before will be even better.

The walls in the living room were a mocha brown. As new homeowners we liked it and were impressed that each room had color and style from the get-go, but there were little details that bothered us. Like the diagonal line they painted to divide the living room and kitchen to the left. The kitchen was a pinkish tan, which was alright, but again, bothered us a tad because pink in a kitchen is not our favorite choice.

This was also pre-mantle project.

The couch was from Costco and was also a light mocha brown. We loved it, it was a great price, and the microfiber cleaned so well with two young kids in the house. But we decided that it was barely big enough for the 4 of us, and it definitely didn't seat many guests in addition to our family. The chaise-end lacking a back really made for lost seating. But it got us by for 2 and a half years and supported our butts while we thought about the couch we really wanted.

so, after much thinking, shopping, bargain hunting and painting, here is the...

AFTER!

The couch is our splurge item. It's from The Sofa Company and we selected every single element of it (color, fabric, layout, feet, pillow stuffing, etc). We even got the warrantied scotch guarding from the recommendation of a friend, since we have kids and a dog. If you can be in love with a couch, we are. 

The general color for the kitchen, fireplace wall, front entryway and dining room is Shaker Beige (below on left) and the accent living room walls are Ashley Gray (below on right), both from Benjamin Moore. We loved Ashley Gray from the moment we tested it on the wall, but it took us several attempts at a good neutral beige before we found Shaker Beige and fell in love. All of the other beiges we tried looked too green under the evening lights. We were were happy we waited and tested several colors before making a decision. Usually waiting is not my strong suit. When I want to paint, I want to paint now!

The bookcases, both this one and the other side of the fireplace which has a desk built in (see first After picture above), are from Crate and Barrel and were very reasonably priced considering they were from C&B. Rick wanted to bring his computer into the living room but we didn't want it to look like an office, so we liked that the leaning desk/bookcase was a good compromise.  

The coffee table is one huge hunk of furniture, which is the look we were going for, and is also from Crate and Barrel. Although, we found it on Craigslist for 1/2 the price and it was in mint condition, so score!

The rug is from Overstock and it took Rick and I about 3 months to decide on one we both liked, was the right size, was the right color, was the right price. I couldn't even tell you how many we looked at online and in stores. But one day orange jumped into my head after trying to find grays or neutrals or whatever, and all of a sudden, it clicked. Orange was what we were looking for! 

We had fun working on this project and love relaxing in our new room. We feel so grown up!

SMILE

oh how my girl makes me smile. 

Not smiling is impossible, with a face like 

THIS!

the cold shower

Friday night I went to wash my face before bedtime and realized there wasn't much hot water, which seemed really usual since nobody was home all day. Rick and I went into the garage and realized the water heater pilot light had gone out. This was our first time as homeowners ever dealing with something like this, so at 10pm we sat there in front of the water heater, reading all of the big stickers lining the big metal tank, googling stuff on our iPads, and tried to relight the pilot light. We tried until 11pm and couldn't get it to work, so we crawled into bed. Rick dozed off right away since he had nothing planned for Saturday morning.

I on the other hand, stayed up for a few, wondering how bad a cold shower would be in the morning. For, I had plans I needed to get ready for. SUPER early in the morning.

I was to go with my women's bible study group to serve breakfast at a Good Samaritan Center, to people who don't have homes, who come by there on the weekends for breakfast, and get this...

a SHOWER.

God didn't waste this experience on me, that's for sure.

As I crouched in my kids' bathtub at 5:30am, bent over to get my hair wet under the tub faucet, I stood there bawling for how amazing our God is. And how He provides in ways I can't even fathom. And how I am so blessed to be so comfortable, and sometimes I just don't appreciate it. Or notice it.

And how I woke up that morning feeling proud of myself for signing up to go serve people in need, but really it was me who needed humbling at the feet of the Lord. It was my heart He wanted to work on, not theirs. It was my attitude that needed adjusting. It was me who needed to say thanks, not them just because I brought muffins.

Serving turned out to be amazing in every regard...meeting such sweet people and getting to know the women in my bible study even better. Watching some women excel in the social aspect of it all and really mingling with everyone, and others stepping up to make the best plate of food for anyone who came up to the counter.

Did I mention it was raining that day? Like literally pouring? I don't think I did, but it's really important. It's hard enough not to have a place to live. But the elements that day were brutal, and my heart broke for each person who came in through the doors.

My favorite was a 50-ish year old couple who rode in on their bikes towards the end of the morning. They both handed us their jackets to throw in the dryer, because they were so soaked you could wring them out and create puddles on the floor.  But when they took off their jackets, their bright and shiny, homemade cross necklaces shown so bright we all noticed. The husband had made them for him and his wife, and they both wore them so proudly. This man and this woman love Jesus so much, love each other so much, that they were both just beaming with joy. They had so little yet they HAVE.SO.MUCH. I will never forget that couple. They left an imprint on my heart.

 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 

~ Philippians 2:1-4

weekends are too short

The weekend was filled with fun activities, which brought smiles to our faces and peace to our hearts. Bright and early Saturday morning, I took the kids to Griffith Observatory to meet my church bible study group for a girls' outing. The science brain in Loudoun had the best.time.ever while Avalon was happy to be out checking out cool new stuff. As long as we didn't stay too long at one exhibit (4 year old timeframe).

They absolutely loved the moving pendulum clock and asked to come back and check it out 5 times during our visit. When we arrived in the morning 3 little bars had been knocked down, but by the time we left, 20 were knocked down! We were amazed by that. 

This is probably the only scale I'm willing to show publicly. 500 pounds? In my defense, Loudoun and Avalon were on the scale with me. ;)

My first thought was, "Of course my 8 year old boy wants to take a picture with Einstein picking his nose." But grown men before and and after Loudoun did the exact same thing, so I guess things never change?

Whose hair is longer these days?

"Hey, if he picked my nose, I'm gonna pick his nose!"

The rest of the weekend was filled with bike rides (hello, 85 degree weather), BBQ dinners, naps, church, a visit to Grandma's, a little shopping, oh and I somehow got the urge to paint my bathroom all of a sudden. Luckily the slate tile covers 80% of the bathroom walls, so it took me a total on 2 and a half hours from start to finish. 

Before

After

Had I known it would have been that simple and that quick, I would have done it a long time ago. 

We have a busy week and weekend ahead, filled with birthday parties, house guests, a Sunday BBQ get-together and more warm weather. I can't wait!

Happy Monday, everyone.