tile paintin' fun!

i am in the middle of 3 projects right now and i cannot wait to finish and post them all!  one of which will probably still be a week or so until it's completion.  today, however, in anticipation of the project i'm working on with the boys, the three of us painted tile magnets!!  fun, right?!  jordan had a fundraiser for school at christmastime and he won a cute little tile magnet set, so, today we finally broke it out and went to town! 

fun times were had by all!

prima donna (but only when i sleep)

turns out my sleeping habits are not so normal - at least, not according to jonathan.  i'll tell you why and you can tell me if it's that strange/out of the ordinary...

my friend, jen, gave us these sleep masks when we got married::

and i have worn one just about every night since.  the thing is, when i lived on a busy street in north jersey, and then subsequently in new york city, years ago, i found i needed to wear a mask every night.  didn't matter what time of night there was always light glaring into my room. pop on one of those bad boys and...voila! perfect! well, over the years, and moving back to the south i got out of the habit of wearing a mask and i had forgotten all about how marvelous they were until jen got us those adorable bride & groom suckers.  luckily for me jonathan never wears his, and the gray keeps out more light - so i sleep with "groom" across my face every night.

then, there's the fan::

 same story as above actually.  street noise.  use to drive me bonkers!  turn on my little honeywell fan, the noise fades away, and i am lulled to sleep by the humming fan.  aaaaaah.

then, and here's where the hubs and i really differ - i need it to be cold.  i'm talking ice box cold.  when i was single and lived alone the thermostat was set between 60-65 at night. (let's not even talk about my power bill in the summer!)  jonathan can't handle that - which is ok, since i'm pretty sure that makes him normal and me - well, not so very normal.  so our compromise is 68 degrees.  it works. 

so i prefer it to be dark, cold, and noisy - does that really make me a prima donna? 

a poem about spring

just kidding. no poems.  i don't write poems.  but i might....if spring actually decided to stick around for more than a week.  if that happened i might just be so happy i'd write a poem.

well. for about a week lexington had sunny, gorgeous 70 - 80 degree weather.  for a week.  the thing is,  it snowed on saturday.  yes. snow. and it may have been the first time in my life i wasn't excited to see snow.  mind you, this is coming from a gal who spent a year in jersey, and a year in new york city where i walked in snow up to my shins multiple times a day, for a few months out of the year.  it never really bothered me.  yet, for some reason, this go-round i just wasn't happy to see the snow. 

i'm ready for spring.  i'm ready for flowers. t-shirts and capris. flip flops. park trips with the boys.  i'm ready for eating out on patios and being at home with the windows open.  not to mention, lexington is bee-yoo-tee-full in the spring!  i'm talkin' take-your-breath-away gorgeous. this will be our first spring since moving here (another reason i'm excited and ready for spring!) but we did visit last spring for easter and i was just amazed at how beautiful it was.  i'll leave you with a few pics of lexington in the spring so you can see for yourself, and i'll hope for gorgeous spring weather for all of us soon!



the arboretum (above and below)

oh!....and another reason i'm hoping spring is almost here?  keeneland horse races.  it's a pretty big deal in lexington, being "the horse capitol of the world" and all.   ;)

oh, i can't wait!



weekend in review

nothing too exciting to report, but we had a pretty good weekend.  friday night we grilled out and stayed in!  jonathan is a pro on the grill and had a hankering for steaks - so he served up some delicious steaks and we spent the rest of the night lounging around in pjs, cuddling, and catching up on our favorite shows.

saturday morning i cooked breakfast and we played rummy (which has become our saturday morning ritual). i spent saturday afternoon cleaning while jonathan watched a lil lot of espn. saturday evening we went to church with some friends, and then had poker/game night at our place. i came in 2nd and won our money back! woohoo!! :)  (we are not much for gambling, but we did a $5 buy in to keep things interesting!)

sunday afternoon we spent at the in-laws. my mother-in-law is an incredible cook and sunday lunches are always scrumptious! i'm talkin' thanksgiving style every week. yummmm-oh!  then...and here's my favorite part of our weekend....we took easton to the dog park for her first time ever!

she can be fickle around other dogs so we were a little nervous but she did GRRREAT!  i felt like such a proud momma standing out there watching her run around and play nice with all her new friends.

 it was near impossible to get any good pictures of her playing - there were so many dogs and they were all on the move the whole time.  she had a blast though, and after we got home she did a whole lot of this::

we finished off our weekend watching the uk/unc game (go cats!! - final four baby!!) and fighting off the sunday blues with a little comedy -

 i finally got the hubs to watch the proposal with me! one of my faves! 

hope you a wonderful weekend!  happy monday!!!

silhouette giveaway

no... i am not giving away a silhouette...with only 5 followers it wouldn't be much of a contest (although your odds of winning would be incredibly high!). ;)  BUT...you can check out this blog and enter to win. if you like crafting, or decorating at all then you need one of these killer machines! i cannot tell you how much i want one.  oh, i dream of owning one.  maybe i'll hope for one at the turn of the big three-oh in 8 months. hmmm...

head over to *Remodelaholic* check it out, and enter to win!  

big reminders come in small packages

when you're five years old and just learning to read and write, tasks such as making a birthday card for your dad can become daunting.  i know. i experienced it this afternoon. 

today was the boy's dad's birthday and they wanted to make cards - so we got out the paper, crayons and markers and were well on our way to making birthday cards.  jordan made several attempts before he became so frustrated that his little eyes filled up with tears as he put down his markers and exclaimed, in a very frustrated manor "i can't do it.  it's supposed to be perfect. he's not gonna like it.".  i had encouraged him from his first attempt - "it's ok! we have plenty of paper!"..."try again, kiddo."... "your daddy isn't even going to notice that! he's gonna love it, buddy".  nothing was helping.  he had just messed up his 4th card and he was completely distraught over the fact that his many attempts were just not good enough (by his measures).  so, i sat trevor, who was in my lap, in his own chair and invited jordan to sit with me. i told him not to cry and i assured him that his daddy was going to love his card.  "it's ok if you mess up. it doesn't have to be perfect. your daddy is going to love it because it's from you." i told him.  he wiped his eyes, and flashed a quick smile.  "your dad is going to be so excited that you took the time to make him a card that he's not even going to notice that you messed up." "yes he will." jordan said "well, kiddo, do you think he's going to love your card because it's perfect, because you used the right colors and wrote the words in a straight line or do you think he's going to love it because it's from you?." "because it's from me" he said softly as he slipped out of my lap and back into his chair "can i try one more time?" "of course!" i said as i handed him another sheet of paper and i sat there and realized that those words were just as much for my ears as they were jordan's. 

see, i have such a horrible habit of trying to make sure everything is just right before i offer anything to my Heavenly Father.  was i ugly to my husband today? did i speak to him out of anger?  did i get frustrated with the boys at work?  did i forget to do (or just not do) what i said i would do?  yes? well, then God probably doesn't want anything to do with me today.  what i did, what i have, it's not good enough. i messed up.  but just as i reminded jordan today that his dad wouldn't care if what he had to give him was perfect, i was reminded that my Father must feel the same way. i was reminded that he is delighted when i (of all people!) have anything to offer him ....my worries. my hopes. my fears. my dreams. my stress. my time. he doesn't want a perfect me. he just wants me.  simply because he loves me. simply because i am his. not because what i have to offer is perfect. not because i am perfect but simply because he loves me. (he loves me.)

i long to really understand that - why, and how he loves me.  but i know that he does, and i know that he wants what tiny bit i have to give him, simply because i am his...simply because he loves me.

i {heart} olioboard

i have a new obsession hobby.  it starts with "olio" and ends with "board".  before i found this amazing site i spent hours way too much time searching moodboards online - but now...now, my friends, i can make my very own.  so, i spent a couple hours playing around with them last night, and here's what i came up with...

i dream in gray and yellow. seriously.

turqoise and orange baby girl's nursery.  (someday...)



i don't claim to know what i'm doing with these moodboards, but they sure are fun to play around with, and to be honest, it helps me feel like i'm being creative, even if for now it's only on paper....er....the computer screen.

a good(will) lesson learned, and a good(will) find

in my last post i promised to have my first diy project completed with pictures to post, as a part of national take a risk in your home day.  well, i may have unintentionally mislead you.  see, on sunday i saw this lamp at goodwill.  this amazingly ugly lamp.  brass footing, ugly green and brown painted base, but this wonderful, wonderful bamboo design in the glass.  sounds hideous, right?  well, i was just so sure that i could turn someone else's trash into a treasure for our home.  only problem was i didn't pick it up and buy it right then and there. i walked away. i mulled over it, and then monday i decided i was going to go back and get it.  "surely" i thought "that lamp is just ugly enough that no one would have picked it up in the 24 hours since i last saw it.".  i was wrong. it was gone. and so went my hopes for my first diy project.  sad, sad day.  the lesson?  goodwill shopping requires impulse buys. the good news? these impulse buys usually won't put you back more than 5 buckaroos.  the lamp was $3.50.  sigh.

don't fret, however, because i have good(will) news!  i went back to goodwill this morning, after dropping off sweet trevor at preschool, and i found something(s) else i've been hunting! and, alas, i bought them.  i spent a whole $1.50 (i'm a big spender).  but, for now, that's all i'm saying.  after i try my hand at a little diy-ing, i'll let you know how it turns out and post some pictures.  i make no promises, however, as to when this little project o' mine will be done and posted.

i'll leave you with the suspense.

sneak peak from my idea book

i mentioned in an earlier post that i'd started keeping an idea book (thanks to my friend sarah, who inspired me to do so!) and i wanted to share some of the things that i've fallen in love with that i hope to include in my own home one day.  here are just a few::

i have been drooling over this since i stumbled upon it yesterday::

not only is this a beauty but it was a salvation army find that Primitive & Proper bought and refinished.  can't you just imagine this gorgeous dresser up against a slate gray wall?  oh, how i dream of a gray and yellow guest room.  l.o.v.e. it.

i love things that have meaning.  and i love new york.  so when i saw these subway-style-signs over at A Thoughtful Place i knew they belonged in my idea book!

you have to head over here to see how courtney made them. so creative! simple! clean! wonderful!!

ok. this next little diy project i've been trying to do for weeks! problem is i cannot find any ugly ceramic animals to paint. zip. zilch. nada. nonetheless, i love this idea:

 ugly frog? just add a fresh coat of glossy white paint and - voila!

 Young House Love 


and these owls?

not so cute. not so cute at all....but just imagine...white....glossy....(drum roll, please)

i mean, really! adorable!  (thank you, Yellow Cape Cod)

so...those are just a few of the projects in my diy/idea notebook.  tomorrow, however, i will be undertaking my very first diy home decor item.  i know, i know. it's exciting.  thanks to the nester over at Nesting Place, who has dubbed tomorrow "national take a risk in your home day".  she's inspired me to just go for it!  so - tomorrow, i'm goin' for it!  i'll be sure to post pictures  and let you guys know how it goes! cross some fingers and toes for me!

st. patio's day

yes. you read that right.  and yes, i know it's st. patty's day but this blog is to honor an entire different holiday.  yep, that's right, st. patio's day.

in my last post i told you all about how i'm choosing to be content, making the most out of what we have, and deciding to be thankful for those things, instead of pining away for the things we don't have.  well in honor of that idea, and out of a desire to stick to that choice of contentment, i made a makeshift patio set and we sat outside and had dinner tonight. 

cast of characters:: nightstand, curtain, 2 of our dining room chairs and - voila!

i mean really, who needs a $500 patio set and a huge deck? not us!  i spent all of last summer and fall wishing we had a back yard/big front porch/good size deck, etc. and i wished away the opportunity to make the most of what we had.  granted our tiny little deck is not much bigger than the picture - you are actually looking at more than 3/4 of it, and if you look close enough you can see the traffic lights and the big, noisy intersection just beyond our apartment building, but you know what? it worked.  we ate dinner outside in the gorgeous 70 degree weather that we're having, we laughed, we enjoyed some delicious grilled turkey burgers and we had fun.  for that, i am thankful.

happy st. patio's day, folks! :)

choosing to be content

rumor has it everyone has an addiction. mine? home decorating/diy blogs. (and coffee, but that's an entirely different post...)  so i spend a lot of time on blogs like Young House Love, Just Pleased as Punch, A Thoughtful Place, and The Yellow Cape Cod, just to name a few.  i just LOVE looking and learning from all the creativity.  i love that these ladies (and men!) take so much pride in their homes, i love that they are thrifty (especially sherry and john over at yhl!), and i just love stealing their ideas learning from them.

here is the problem::  we currently live in a one bedroom apartment.  one that we cannot paint.  one that is not even big enough for all of our stuff, let alone, big enough to add to with re-done furniture, and all the awesome diy artwork i've found browsing all of my favorite blogs.

the bigger problem?  i've been struggling with discontentment.  i know. it's ugly.  i look at these sites, these lovely houses, paint colors, re-done furniture, diy projects and i want to have it, i want to have it all and it makes me unhappy with my own home.

this past week i kinda had a "come to Jesus" moment.  i realized that the root of my discontentment was spending all this time on all of these fabulous sites.  well, the thing is, i love this new hobby of mine.  i love reading blogs, i love getting an inside look at how other moms and wives decorate and take pride in their homes. i love learning all the fantastic diy projects and how to decorate on the thrift.  so i made a decision. i made a choice - because, let's be honest, i am choosing to allow this discontentment to grow as i look at these other sites. so from now on i'm choosing to turn that discontentment into motivation, and let me just tell you.... i have organized every nook and cranny of this one bedroom apartment in the last couple of weeks.  laundry closet: check. bedroom closet: check. linen closet: check. our itty bitty but cute little deck: check. (the list goes on.) we have the most organized one bedroom apartment in all of lexington.  i'm sure of it.  i've also started an idea book.  i just took a 3 ring binder, some page protecters, and started printing out the ideas that i just love, for when we do have a home that we can call our own.  this way i'll be ahead of the game when the day comes.

here's the thing:: at the end of the day, jonathan and i have everything we need.  we have a home. we have jobs. cars. food. clothes. our sweet, and weird little pup. and we have each other. i am reminding myself often that this is more than most of the world has, and i am choosing to be thankful.  and one day....one glorious day, when we are blessed with our first house, i will go ape crazy decorating and diy-ing from wall to wall.  and until then,  i'm going to do what i can to be a good steward of the home we've been blessed with, choose thankfulness, and turn that ugly discontentment into motivation.

"....I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty."  -the apostle paul

weekiversary

two years ago this past sunday i met my husband.  two years ago today he asked for my number.  9 months and some change ago he married me.

it is absolutely amazing to me how much can change in such a short, short time.  i remember this week, two years ago, like it was yesterday.  a week of firsts - our first introduction, our first phone conversation, our first date. the first time i had the feeling "this is something different.".  he blew me away that first week, with how sweet, and smart he was. how funny he was.  how much he loved his students, his football players.  how passionate he was about coaching, and....here's the kicker...how much he loved his Jesus.  i kept waiting for the ball to drop and to see the man behind the curtain...you know, going through the whole "this is too good to be true" thing for a while, but... here we are two years later, and i continue to be amazed by the man he is, and the fact that i get to call him mine.  he is every bit as wonderful as i thought he was that first week.  what i didn't know then, but now get to experience every single day, is what an amazing husband he is - he knows just how to love me, and makes me feel loved and cherished every single day.  i cant' begin to tell you what an incredible gift that has been.

 march 20th, 2009 - our first date

God did a great thing by putting us both in that same little coffee shop in gadsden, alabama (of all places!) just two years ago.  never would have guessed we'd be married and living in lexington, kentucky two years later, but i can honestly say that there is absolutely no place else i'd rather be.

a few introductions

Meet Easton::

This is our sweet, hyper, neurotic and altogether weird, but wonderful pup.  She keeps us laughing and has had my heart since I first saw her hanging out of that SUV in the Chick-Fil-A parking lot the day she became mine, almost three years ago. (I promise to share her story with you one day...it's a weird one...just like her.) 

Meet The Boys::

Trevor and Jordan (and that's me in the middle...Hi!).  You just wanta squeeze them, don't you? I do!...and I am just so blessed that I get to every single day! Lucky me. Really.  Love them - love being their nanny. Could not ask for a better job! 

And this, dear friends, is the man of my dreams::

Mr. Beverly, himself.  I know, I know. He's dreamy.  And he's all mine.

So, there ya have it - those are the faces I see every day. Love them all - each in their own way, of course.

a-bloggin' i will go!

for some time i have wanted to start a blog. if there is anything in this life i enjoy doing that's not written in my little "welcome" blurb over there to your right, it's writing. please don't let that fool you into thinking i am an expert in the world of writing. i am not. i just enjoy putting my thoughts on "paper".

the other reason i've decided to go for it and start this blog is because i have a new found love for reading blogs. i. can't. get. enough. of all the well written blogs i've come across. from friends that i follow, to blogs about being wives, and homemakers, to diy blogs and the like - i just love it.

so, i hope a few of you that come across this blog will find it follow-worthy and join me on my little journey of becoming a blogger. i promise to make it as interesting as i can manage.... but i make no promises.

'til next time,
mrs. b