I Won!

I recently found out that I won a blog award, my first one!
Thanks to Paige at The Crunchy Mamacita for the award!



So Here is How It Works:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award by linking back to them in your post.

2. Tell us 7 things about yourself.

3. Award a few recently discovered bloggers.

4. Contact those bloggers and let them in on the exciting news!

 
7 Things about myself
 
1. I'm an organizing freak! I love doing it and even talk others into letting me organize their homes. For me it's addicting and when I do one area and love how it turned out I want to jump into another project immediately. I will run myself into the ground (not take breaks or eat) while working on some projects. Sometimes projects are so rewarding to me that it gives me a sort of high that's hard for me to come down from. I will occasionally reorganize parts of my house if I haven't organized in a while.
 
2. I love color. Although if you looked at my house you wouldn't guess it. I'm trying to push myself creatively by using more vivid colors instead of my go to safe neutral colors.
 
3. While in high school my Grandpa would take me out flying. He was captain in the army during WWII and Korea. He'd fix and fly planes. I had an interest in learning to fly so he'd take me out and we'd practice. I never truly learned but I did get to fly the plane several times. Maybe someday I'll really learn.
 
4. I've never mowed the yard, ever. Growing up my younger sister learned how (she was always more outdoorsy than me) and then when I got married I told David there is one thing I don't do and that's mow and so of course he does it. I have no intentions of ever pushing a mower, although I may ride a mower someday if needed....
 
5. Come this August David and I will be celebrating 13 years of not being apart for more than 24hours. It's something we cherish and work hard at. It hasn't always been easy but for us it's super important. We really enjoy being with each other and want to be together and so we are proud of this streak.
 
6. I love reading blogs, books, articles, whatever that show me a different perspective on things. It makes me reevaluate how I feel about things. It either solidifies how I feel or my eyes are opened to a new way of seeing something or I change my mind. No matter what I like to learn new things and see things from a different view. 
 
7. Out of all the furniture in my home we have only bought 5 pieces (current furniture): Desk, leather chair, family bed, recliner and tv dresser. All our other  furniture was either pieces we brought to the marriage or have been hand-me-downs or my Dad made. I don't mind a bit either because these pieces have a history, they have character and they don't look like something I'd find in most stores.
 
I tried to share 7 things that I haven't written about here.
 
Ok so I need to share the love. I'm awarding Nina from Shalom Mama she writes on natural health, being a mom, Godly living, living on purpose (of course I'd like that!) and creativity. Please go check her out and learn something new!
 
Comments make me Happy! 

Pink Pretties

Just a few pics of my pretty pink flowers in my new Goodwill vase.
Enjoy and have a Great Weekend!

100th Post!!!!

100

I can't believe I hit my 100th post! When I first started this blog last June I wasn't sure if I'd be able to keep it up. I wasn't sure if I'd have enough to write on. Turns out I did!

I just want to thank all of you who read my blog. It means a lot to me to know that there are people out there that want to know what I think of something or what I've learned or what projects I'm working on!
Thank You!

If there's a post that I've written that inspired you or you learned something or you just love. Please leave me a comment letting me know. I'd love to hear from you!

THANK YOU!!!

Clear Face?!

I've battled breakouts most of my life (you can read more here). The last several months I've been working on several things to try to stop them or figure out what's causing them. I've only recently realized that I have sensitive skin and that was a break through for me.

Here's some things I've learned

Skin products contribute. I used to try all kinds of products in hopes to clear my face. However I've learned that fragrances and the chemicals in those products could be contributing to my breakouts. I also learned that my skin isn't oily but dry. So I was treating the symptom not the problem.

Foods I was eating. When I went off sugar I saw a decrease in breakouts. Now I do eat some sugar but it's very little now. I also changed from 2% milk to raw milk. Since most milk sold in stores has hormones in it and pasteurized it makes sense to conclude that extra hormones in my body was contributing (ever hear of puberty!). I also started eating more fresh produce which was adding more vitamins in my body. Carrots especially for the vitamin A.

Vitamins. I'd been taking a good plant based multi-vitamin for a long time and some Vitamin B12 and C. I upped each dosage and added in some omega-3 pills as well.

So I first took out sugar, then changed the way I cleaned my face, then added healthy foods to my diet and vitamins. And lastly I changed my milk. This combo for me is working. My breakouts have decrease to almost none, my skin is so soft and smooth and it looks healthier.

I'm no expert on this, but I've done a lot of trial and error. Personally I think the biggest contributor was the milk. I saw the most change within 2 weeks of drinking raw. But the combo of all of these seem to be my golden ticket!

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Project Time!

Here's a little project that I totally borrowed from the Nester. She made these way cool looking little canvas's using old maps. I loved it so much I even pinned it on my Pinterest so I could reference it again.

So as I was going through all the stuff in the living room to see what to keep and what to move out I was looking through this book from the National Geographic Society: Isles of the Caribbean. I bought it a couple of years ago from a library sale for $1. I love beaches so I got it. It was put out in the early 80's so the pics aren't the best.

I was flipping through it and came across a 2 page spread photo that I loved! It had gorgeous colors and no people in it. And I thought it would be perfect for this little project.

I used an exacto knife to cut the pages out of the book. Then measured it to see what size canvases I needed. I used 2 5x7 canvases. Sorry I was a bad blogger and didn't take pics of the process.

The Nester describes in better detail how to attach the picture/photo/map to your canvas. I did the whole use what you have thing. So I used Modge Podge instead of the adhesive she used. If you are going to do this project I recommend either using the adhesive she used or if using Modge Podge put a coat on both the canvas and the print. I only put a coat on the canvas and it bubbled up after drying.

If you look real close you can see bubbles but since the canvases are small you can't tell unless you are looking really close. Anyway, just wrap your canvas like a present and let it dry. It didn't take long at all for mine to dry.

I LOVE them! I love everything about them! The colors especially! Now I want to go scour more books for great looking photos!

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Smoothie Snack

You will rarely find me giving out recipes here, as I don't do the cooking in our home David does, and I don't like cooking. But I've recently been fixing myself a smoothie and I wanted to share what's in it.

It started when I went off sugar (read about that here and here) I needed to find a healthy non-sugar snack or treat when I had sweet cravings. I'd been hearing about people making green smoothies and so I decided to make my own version.

I used what I had on hand at the time which was frozen strawberries, frozen blackberries, 100% apple juice (no added sugar), and plain yogurt. I didn't measure since I was making it up as I went. I just started putting stuff in the blender till it tasted good.

All of my ingredients. I ran out of blackberries so they aren't pictured.

After a while I started adding more stuff in to make it even healthier for me.
So, here's my current version in rough estimates:
2 big spoonfuls of plain yogurt (I don't do more than that because I don't like the taste of it)
about a 1/2 cup of apple juice (you could use any juice)
tablespoon of raw honey
a few tablespoons of ground flaxseed
about 6 baby carrots
a few leaves of fresh spinach
handful of frozen blackberries
handful of frozen strawberries (without sugar added)

Here's the health benefits I'm getting from my ingredients:
I'm getting the probiotics from the yogurt
I use the juice to help make it a bit more sweet and add some moisture.
From the raw honey I'm getting a natural antidote for fighting allergies and hayfever, energy and protein. From the flaxseed I'm getting antioxidants, omega-3 and fiber.
The carrots have Vitamins A, B6, C, folic acid (to name a few).
Now the spinach is probably my favorite, it is considered a superfood (raw honey is as well). That means that it has so many vitamins and minerals in it, that they call it a superfood. Just some of what spinach contains: vitamins K, A, C, B12, B6, E magnesium, folate, manganese, iron, calcium, potassium, protein, phosphorus, zinc, omega-3 and antioxidants. We've been picking from our local farm and eating it every day. David and Trey even eat it plain, I need a bit of something with it.
From the blackberries Vitamins C, E, K, Folate, Magnesium, Potassium, Copper, Fiber, and Manganese
From strawberries Folate, Potassium, Fiber, Vitamin C and Manganese (and I love these 2 berries!)

Now I've been eating my current version for about 3-4 weeks and I love it! It makes me feel good and I know I'm putting good stuff in my body!

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Painting More Furniture

So in my ongoing effort to lighten/brighten my living room I decided to repaint some furniture. This is something I really enjoy doing. I've been painting furniture since I was in high school. I love that you can take an old worn out piece (usually made of inferior wood) and make it into a whole new piece with some paint. And if you change your mind in a couple of years, just repaint it! It's my favorite way to freshen up a room.

First up was the tv dresser. A couple of years ago I knew we needed another solution to how our DVD's were stored and the "entertainment center" we had was cheap and falling apart. I knew that with an active baby/toddler we'd need to get the DVD's out of reach (they were in a low cabinet in the center).

I went searching Craigslist for a dresser, I wanted to put the DVD's in drawers which would be much harder for little hands to open. I found this great dresser for only $50! The lady selling it was moving and it couldn't go with them (downsizing). She was doing interior design and found it and wanted to do something cool with it but never got to it with small children in the house.

Getting it ready to paint.

It was red when we bought it and while I loved it red, David didn't care for it. So I picked a neutral color: black. I loved the way it looked! But it was time to lighten it up. So it got a fresh coat of white. It's the same white I've painted my trim in the house. That way I don't have contrasting whites!

This is the only pic I could find of it black. Looking at this pic, it was very dark and heavy.

SO much better!

Then to my steamer trunk. This was my great-aunt's trunk back around 1900's or so. My grandparents ended up with it after she and my uncle passed away. My grandpa had it painted and fixed up inside. Then a few years ago they were ready to part with it so I took it. I lived with it as it was for a few years until I was ready to repaint it. I painted it a soft teal color and didn't really care for it but it was better than before. So I lived with it for a few months.

This is how I got it from my grandparents. And yes there are butterflies and hearts painted on it...

Round 1 of painting. Not bad but it just wasn't working.

So 2 weeks ago I was ready to paint it again. I wanted to do something bold so I picked a bright green. And it was AWFUL! So, I picked another green and it was better but still not good. They were so bad that I didn't even take pics of them. At this point my desire to risk something was so out the window! It's not often I pick a wrong paint color. about 90% of the time I love the colors I pick. I was so in that 10% window. I was also tired of slapping paint on this sucker!

I talked to David about what color I needed to paint this thing and be done with it. We decided on gray. I wanted to spray paint it at this point so I went looking for gray at Lowe's and frankly their selection of gray spray paint was not good. So, I decided to go with tan. It was boring but I was done with this thing.

Finally the right color!

After spraying it, I felt much better. It actually looked much better. When David brought it back in the house, I loved it! It fit in with what I want the room to look like, light.

So there you go, my tale of 2 pieces of furniture. I have to say, I was really getting tired of heading to Lowe's a couple of times a week to get paint! And I think most of my painting adventures are over for a while.

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