A Month of Writing

I started writing daily blog posts in March after joining the NaBloPoMo on BlogHer. When I learned about it, I quickly signed up and then proceeded to work and think harder than any mom to a toddler should have so readily agreed to. The theme for March was Risk and each day had a different writing prompt related to risk and choices.
I was happily surprised by the memories and thoughts that these prompts brought up. Questions such as "Name a time when a risk you took paid off,"  and "What is the greatest reward that can come from risk?" inspired me to write, A Stone, a Leaf, a Circus Tent and If You're Lucky. The NaBloPoMo questions helped me, forced me really, to put words to so many thoughts that are keeping me awake at night as we are getting ready to move yet again.

 

When BlogHer asked on March 8, "Do you always look before you leap", my response, If I Looked, I Might Never Leap, speaks to me now as I go back and read the reluctantly matter of fact way I reflected on having to leave my family and friends very soon.

My decision to post photos of myself , my family, my house, and to post my thoughts and stories each day was not easy to make but it has been such a great experience reaching out into the days of the other bloggers who participated. What seemed like a diary at first, very quickly became more when the first comment appeared on my blog and when I got my first follower. I love writing and to have people respond to something that I wrote was enough to keep me coming back each day to write more. For that reason it was worth every hour of sleep that I lost trying to get posts written and published. I only worked on the blog during naptime or after my son went to bed each night but found myself thinking about writing a lot of the time. I worried that my focus might become too much on writing about what I should just be enjoying every minute of.

The new NaBloPoMo theme for April is Fresh. It's almost too fitting for someone like me, about to write a brand new chapter in our military move storybook but I know that as hard as I tried, I couldn't post every day in April. March may have had some sick days and mini vacations but April will bring the moving truck to my door and really that says it all for me. The new risk that I'm taking after thinking and posting about risk all month is to not post every day. The risk that I have to take now is to post three or four times a week instead of seven and still be a writer that people want to read. So although I want to continue to post and hope to write in a way that speaks to people, instead of worrying about getting the posts published on time or about followers, I'll be focused a little more on the fact that I'd follow these two anywhere.

Thanks for the inspiration, BlogHer!

Happy Wednesday

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Kim from one of my favorite blogs, Savvy Southern Style is featuring our Red, Black and White Kids' bathroom makeover on her site today!

Flowerkill

There are a lot of flowers in my house right now. I've gone a little overboard in an attempt to entice spring to arrive and melt the snow in my yard. You've heard of overkill. Well my friends, now let me introduce you to flowerkill. 

Today's writing prompt for the March NaBloPoMo on BlogHer was to discuss this famous Anais Nin quote: "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

 

These words bring to mind the memory of a life ending too soon and the desperation that went along with leaving the world unfulfilled. We all know someone that died too young or someone that lived a long life filled with the regret of missed opportunities. To witness someone I loved in a hospital trying to cling to useless hope that they might have a second chance at life or even a few more hours to see the faces of loved ones is the most painful memory I have.

It is this memory that makes me strive to avoid having to feel that same pain at the end of my own life. I have a wonderful family and I'm blessed beyond what I ever thought possible. I can say that my life has been fulfilling if it were to end tomorrow and I want to keep living it as if it could.




But what about those who don't feel the same? Many feel stuck in jobs they hate, trapped in unhealthy relationships, or feel bound by outside forces keeping them from reaching for what they truly want, no matter what the risk. They stay tightly closed in these places and endure the grief that comes along with missing out on a happy existence rather than risk making a change.
The exact minute in their life that will be the last chance they have to break out of these situations is not evident and therefore passes many by. If only it was kept in mind that every choice we make has a number and is being subtracted from the total we are going to get.

It might not be possible to live a life that ends with no regrets but I believe it is closer within reach than we know.

The saddest thing I've ever seen and hope ever will is the sorrow felt by an ending life that never bloomed.

 

 I had to end with another shot of the bunny.

 

DIY Ikea Barstool Cushions

Some black and white fabric that I had leftover from our kitchen window pelmet boxes got together with some batting and a staple gun and these cushions were born. My Ikea Dalfred barstools are the proud parents ;)

My sweet assistant helped me get to work. Besides the great looking design, these barstools spin in order to raise the seat up or down, making them entertaining for kids to sit on or as shown, steer them like the wheel of a ship. 

 Captain of the USS Dalfred

Because I was fairly sure that no one other than my little assistant will ever turn these stools upside down, my plan to cover them, like most of my plans, was simple. After using this fabric to make our kitchen pelmet boxes, I had enough left for another project so I decided to keep it in the kitchen and use it for cushions. In my basement crafting space the barstool tops were covered with a layer of foam and a layer of batting. I turned them upside down and fastened it right to the wooden seat bottom with a staple gun.

Since the barstool seats are round there was a lot of gathering and after stapling the fabric they looked great upright but it wasn't a clean look underneath. I hot glued extra fabric pieces down to cover the bunching and think it did the trick.  



  

The "before" was nice because they are a fun design the way they are but these cushions give them a bit of a boost. They're much more comfortable to sit on now and they tie the bold print from our windows into the heart of our kitchen.

This was a simple way to add a custom look to these stylish barstools from Ikea. Anyone else give their Ikea barstools a makeover?

You Know the Saying....

What a difference a year makes?

 

This was the scene in our yard on March 22, 2012

 

 

 

This was the scene in our same yard on March 20, 2012

 

Never mind that he's walking, talking, or that he refuses to keep mittens on. He is bundled up and eating the snow that our yard is covered in.

 

That makes me feel like this

 

 

 

I'm ready for Spring!!





DIY Nursery Art

This was a VERY simple and quick project that adds such a nice touch to my son's nursery. We are big fans of red around here (his bathroom is red) and his nursery is beige, red, and white. I happened to have some red ribbon and the polka-dot patterned scrapbook paper on hand.

I find these shadowbox- type frames with doors at TJ Maxx and chose a white one for this project. They typically cost $14.99 but I've found them for even less on clearance. I have found that after a while, decorations for children's rooms all start to look the same to me. It can also be a challenge to find pieces for children's rooms that are bright red. This is a quick and easy way to add a personal touch and a custom look to a nursery.
Just a few snips of the scissors (and hot glue burned fingers) later, I had a cute and unique piece of nursery decor.

 I used hot glue to attach the ribbon border. The shadowboxes are usually sold with stick pins so I used them to attach the polka dot scrapbook paper to the background and then glued the 'N' to the paper. Done! There are a few bumps in the ribbon- it's not perfect, but I love its handmade look and that it doesn't look like mass produced kid art!

  

Like I said, it was a simple project! Let's face it, the simpler my projects are, the lower the chances I'll have to eat in the shower.

Ten Years

Ten years ago today my husband spent his birthday getting ready to invade Iraq. Whenever I think about what that day must have been like for him and for the Marines with him I have to pause. Whatever I was thinking about becomes less significant. Military members and military families may each tell their own unique story of the last ten years but all of these stories have one chapter in common, entitled, "Sacrifice."

Last week a friend shared a link on Facebook to a January article by David Wood. I was shocked, as I'm sure was the author's intent, by its wording, by its inaccuracies, and by its potential to mislead the public about military pay and military life. It has since been edited and wording that previously described funding from the Pentagon as being "lavished" on active duty members and their families was deleted and replaced with the word "spent." In short, the article tried to sensationalize the fact that military pay has increased since September 11th, claimed that all housing costs for military families are provided, and hinted that family programs were expanded unnecessarily. I'm not in a hurry to click back to this article to note which other parts have been rewritten after outraged readers' comments demanded it. Reading something once by an author that didn't bother to confirm numbers or worse, purposefully distorted them to gain readers, was enough. A journalist might, but do members of our military get a second chance to do their job right?

As disturbed as I was reading the article, I was more disappointed by some of the comments people wrote in response. Some were defending the author and his assertion that the military has been overpaid and over incentivized in comparison to civilian employees. The conclusion drawn from such comments is that even after ten years, many people not affiliated with the military don't appreciate the sacrifices that have been made. But then, how could they?


Scout trying to stall the packing for deployment

A good friend of mine had her first baby the day before our son was born. The day after she brought her new baby home, her husband left on a one year deployment. She was on her own with an infant, missing and worrying about her husband. I find it hard to believe that anyone could claim he was overpaid for the year that he missed seeing his family. What other job would require such sacrifice and be criticized as too generously compensated? There is no reason to compare civilian pay and military pay. To do so is an ignorant disregard for exactly how that military pay was earned in the last ten years and for the many who died earning it.
My "while my husband was deployed" stories might seem like a party (trying to replace a lawnmower blade myself or accidentally toppling a giant Christmas tree on myself as I tried to move it out of the house) when compared to friends that have faced much more. How many civilian jobs result in missing the birth of your child, your child's first day of school, or graduation? I know moms that have had to build go-carts, dads who had to learn how to braid hair, and families that said a tearful goodbye to a loved one that never came back home to them. The money in their bank accounts should be the last thing to cross any minds.
Military members miss moments in life that no one should have to miss and there are many that remember moments they wish they didn't have to. None of them should do so without a grateful public behind them. We may never again see the flag waving, yellow-ribboning kind of support that we saw for military members in 2003 but that shouldn't correlate with increased doubt of their worth.
People not affiliated with the military often comment to military families that they, "don't know how you do it," or "couldn't do it." I've often just shrugged those words off, but maybe they're right, maybe they couldn't.

Red, Black & White Kids' Bathroom

  

When we bought our house there were a few things that were on my "must change" list. The kids' bathroom was near the top of that list. I wanted to change the paint color from the too- close- to- margarine shade of yellow, replace the worn vinyl floor, add board and batten trim, upgrade the oak vanity and top, and change the fixtures. Keeping in mind that we are a military family and whatever I did, another family would end up enjoying (or hating), I compromised a bit to keep the cost from skyrocketing.

It's a tiny space so I wanted to make it bright, fun, and try something that might not work in a larger room. I knew I wanted the walls to be red and loved the look of black and white tiles for the floor. We found black and white vinyl sheet flooring in a diagonal pattern that looks as sharp as tile, cost much less, and requires little more than a damp mop to keep squeaky clean. I'm not sure how I could ever put grouted tile in a kids' bathroom after having it! The wall color is Ralph Lauren Stadium Red. In some light it looks almost maroon and at other times, a bright fire engine red.

  

I searched for months to find the cross handle faucets that I was after but seemed to cost way too much everywhere I looked. I also shopped around quite a bit before choosing the three light schoolhouse vanity fixture. 

 

A key factor in the DIY process around here is that whatever I dream up, my husband finds a way to create. He used a large sheet of mdf cut into four inch wide pieces and created what I think is an amazing board and batten look and painted it Acadia White by Benjamin Moore. He refinished the oak builder grade vanity in the same smooth white and framed the existing mirror to tie in with the rest of the trim. I can't say enough good things about Acadia White for trim.  It's just a beautiful white that reminds me of cream.

The above photo of the bathroom under construction doesn't come close to showing how unattractive the shade of yellow on the walls was before they were red. It was a stubborn, horrible yellow that didn't want to be covered- even by a dark red paint. Notice in the photo below how the yellow shows through!

The before shot of the oak vanity was taken with my cell phone when we were looking at the house. My hand was probably shaking because the yellow paint was causing me stress. Changing the vanity top and sink out with a black granite top made for such a great contrast with all of the creamy white. We haven't added any hardware to the drawers mainly because I can't make up my mind about bin pulls. I like the sleek look of it the way it is.

I thought about adding some photos of the baby splashing in the tub but since we knew we were going to be showing the house in the near future, I didn't want to hang too many personal photos and instead went with bold black accents on the wall.

Overall, I'm so happy with the way the remodel turned out. It's a unique look and makes a huge impact in such a tiny space. I will miss this little room when we have to leave. Sigh.