Friday is Here Again

This week has been really great. Ben is actually off work because he starts a new job on Monday! This is a really exciting change for him and our family and we are very excited to see what this next chapter brings. We have been enjoying having him home, getting to do some activities as a family and getting some chores done around the house.

Last week I had a pretty frustrating week as my back problem flared up again. It seems like the pattern has been when I start back running, it flares. I am hoping to just ease back into my workouts because it seems like in the past I just stop working out for months after a flare up and then jump back in and the cycle continues. I haven't really done much for the past week and a half so this week I have slowly done a couple core workouts and am hoping to get back to yoga next week.

A few weeks ago I was invited to be part of a workout program that I was actually really excited about. A lot of it seems like some of the stuff I am already doing but it also includes a meal plan. It is the Revolt Fitness Program and I am excited to get into some of the workouts. I am not promising that I will be following exactly day by day due to my back issues but I will try my best! There isn't anything wrong with some clean eating, which we do a lot of anyway, and some new workout moves invented by a mom right?! I also love that it promotes getting fit in your own home as opposed to spending hours and hours in a gym if we don't have the time. Not that I have anything against gyms. I just, personally, don't have a membership and am always a fan of quick, intense workouts. I think that's why so many of us are fans of the 30 Day Shred. Am I right?!

I feel a little bad about my back last week and then of course on top of that dealing with the ol' lady business this week. I can't say I have been the biggest treat for my husband to hang out with but hey, he's a good sport and hopefully I can buck up for these last couple days of vacation. Speaking of vacation, my in-laws will be coming into town in a couple of weeks and for the weekend we will be venturing back up to our college town to explore, shop around, eat around maybe even venture to the snow.

Speaking of again of college towns, we headed into the city the other night right near where my brother went to college and went to a few bars in celebration of Ben's going away happy hour with his old team. It was fun to feel a little trendy for the night and have a couple drinks with his former co-workers.

This weekend we are hopefully finishing up a few DIY projects we decided to tackle, one of which includes chalkboard paint which I am trying not to use on everything, so hopefully I will be back next week with some pictures of those projects and some more fitness chit chat! Have a great weekend!

Where Did June Go?

Ok.

Wow.

Have I been MIA or what?! Well, this month has been a little bit interesting. I have started to write E's 6 month post but have not finished it and now my goal is just to roll it in with the seven month post.

Part of the reason I haven't been around much is that E's sleeping schedule has been a little trying so it kind of leaves limited "me time." And when I do get a free moment, I can't always justify it with blogging. If ya know what I mean. 


So almost right when she turned 6 months, she had her little cold. That threw her sleeping way off and once she was well, she got a little better about sleep again and then reverted to not so great again. We came to the conclusion last week that it was time to lose the swaddle. We had tried a few times and it never turned out well so we always reverted back and were just clinging to the hope that the swaddle was what would allow her to sleep those longer stretches. Well, don't think that was the case. We think she began waking because of it because she is more mobile and was just trying to get comfortable.

So, after reading The No Cry Sleep Solution, I felt silly because the main focus of the book is basically what I already knew--choose a plan, stick with it and just be patient and persistent. I am not a fan of cry it out method and if you are, I am totally not judging you, I just cannot bring myself to do and don't really believe it what it accomplishes. So we are choosing gentle methods, chose a plan and since last Friday night are sticking with it. Eleanor has been moved into her own room, into her crib with no swaddle. As expected the first couple of nights were still rough, but after what we had been going through we figured it couldn't really get any worse which is why we were ready to begin trying something else! We are also committed to making sure her naps are around the same time everyday and then we will move into getting her to nap in her crib as well, once she is a little better at night.

We aren't really doing that much different but it makes us feel better to have a plan and the last couple of nights we are seeing some progress, which is very reassuring.

Anyway, other things that have been going on around here include getting ready for our Texas family to arrive this evening. They will be in town for a week and we are very excited to spend time with them, have E's uncles meet her and for them to get to know her! Hoping this rain we have been having gives us a little break so that we can go on some fun adventures into the city and such.

Eleanor and I also survived Ben's first work trip away. He was gone for four days and three nights. We missed him a lot but my mom also came to help because it was right in the middle of when Eleanor was having really wakeful nights.

We have started baby led weaning so it is fun offering her a variety of fruits and veggies and just letting her go to town with them. I know it is not quite in true BLW fashion because we aren't quite to the point where we are comfortable giving her any and everything on our plates but I think we can go about it how we are comfortable and still be successful. She is doing great sitting in her high chair at meal times and has a lot of fun.

I have quite a few DIY projects that I am dreaming up to accomplish. Hoping to redo a couple of gallery walls in the house, update some frames, hang some old windows and possibly paint them, make a couple of wall hangings, redo-ing the dining room table, painting kitchen cabinets--too many possibilities. It is nice because Eleanor is getting to a point where she can be entertained for a bit by placing her in a little standing toy we have, in the pack and play with some toys, or just crawling around after Holly in the living room. Even if it gives me 15-20 minutes to do dishes, it's nice!

So, basically this is a bit of a mish mash, but that's what my brain is these days. Thought I would try to get some stuff down about what has been going on lately so when I try to look back I can remember some bits because sometimes I feel it is a fog! Well, a fog with a cute baby!

I have also jumped on the Instagram bandwagon and seem to update that a little more than the blog so follow me @allyce_riemer

Room Updates

I have never posted a "home tour" on this blog, mostly just bits and pieces of the house. Someday I will get around to that. However, there are a couple of rooms that I would like to show our progress on and that is the nursery and the office.

I am so, so happy with the way Eleanor's room turned out and I hope she will enjoy it too. I will have to use words to explain the transformation because we didn't take a picture of this particular room when we first moved in. All the trim in our house was wood, so the chair rail was wood with a bluish-gray paint on the top and a navy blue on the bottom. Very depressing and dark. We had company coming to stay just a couple of months after we moved in so we needed to brighten this room up ASAP. Cue in me thinking ahead and choosing the gender neutral bright, cheery color of yellow. We painted the trim a shade of white and painted the walls yellow. Instant happy.

Fast forward three years later and we are getting ready for a baby. The yellow had become just a little too bright and I thought it needed a little balance. We painted the bottom half of the wall under the chair rail gray because after I had painted the office gray (more to come on this) I loved gray.

Over the course of my pregnancy, the look of the room developed and evolved. We mostly chose second hand, borrowed or handmade items. I feel this made the room very personal and I enjoyed the project while trying not to obsess and count the minutes before we met the baby girl. We also chose to stay fairly neutral on the colors instead of choosing the traditional "girly" pink so that we can re-use items if I ever decide to pop out a boy. Or, wait, I guess the dad chooses gender...? Anyway.

Here she is in all her glory (she and her being the room):

The frame collage has a Corinthians bible verse, scrapbook paper, a picture of Ben and I (separately of course) as little kids, and two maternity pictures. I love how it is coming along. There are a couple more additions I have in the works.

Moving into the room next door, we have our office. I am embarrassed to say that I reported on beginning to update, rearrange, paint and decorate this room last year in February. I wouldn't say we have made tremendous progress, but I definitely enjoy the room a lot more. We painted the room Valspar's Notre Dame and when it was finished I absolutely loved it. We painted the trim different that the rest of the house because we realized white pops more than the other color we had chosen in the rest of the house. It looks so clean and nice up against the gray.

The decor on the walls is aiming for a hodge podge but I think if we keep it organized enough, it will look good on the gray backdrop. Right now all we have are Hub's Spurs flags and our college diplomas. We have a picture hanger and Hub's grandpa's flag to hang up. You can see that sitting on the corner of the desk.

As far as my "craft corner" that I had discussed organizing, it kind of just got shoved placed on the top shelf of the closet in a bin for now. I haven't been crafting too much lately but it is easy access in case I need it. We got some shelves for the closet which helped a lot.

I am embarrassed proud to say that most of that is Christmas decor. It may look messy, but it is way better than it was, it is nice to have shelves that house multiple tubs and it is pretty organized in real life.

So there we have it, a lot of progress over the last year in the rooms that were basically "catch alls" that housed a lot of junk we never used and had icky carpet. Oh, that's right! We got new carpet in both rooms. We were pretty sure the carpet in those rooms had been there for about 20 years. The age of the house. It was so nice to get new carpet in those rooms. 

Very happy with our results in both of these rooms.

What has taken you almost a year to update? What room updates do you have going on lately? Do you fall in love with a paint color and want to paint everything that color?

Dreamin'...

...Of a new bed frame.

Right now, we have no bed. Just a mattress and box spring on top of a metal frame. To some that may be unfathomable. To us it's just normal. As I was skimming blogs one day, I came across the bed that Bower Power found and put together. Hub took a look and thinks he can do it. However, until then, these are what I am dreaming of.

I like that it's not a big-take-over-the-bedroom type of frame, but still holds its own. It is modern yet made of wood, which we tend to favor. Also, Hub is pretty tall and likes his feet to hang off the end of the bed. This looks like it would allow that.

I don't know what it is about "cushy" looking beds that I love so much. Maybe it's that they look like a couch and that makes it cozy? This bed looks just plain classy to me. Done in a linen fabric with pewter studs on the top? Beautiful. Again with the feet-hanging-off-thing.

Um, hello best of both worlds. Wood with upholstery?! Love. And those matching drawers for extra storage. Wow. This was made for our bedroom, I am sure of it.

This is a little plain for me, however, I do like how they platform can be paired with any headboard. In fact, the headboard pictured above is quite regal looking.

{Click on any of the above images for their sources}

Just a few pics to show you what I am coveting lately. No big deal. Not like I am headed out to buy a $2500 frame tomorrow. {I kind of lost my breath just typing that amount for a bed frame.} I just like getting ideas for the future. Or ideas to add to Hub's woodworking list. Don't worry, he likes it.

**I will sleep well tonight in my bed, thankful for my home, my bed and my many other blessings. My heart goes out to those in Japan and any here on the West Coast who may be being uprooted right now due to any Tsunami warnings. 

What are you looking for for your home these days? Any big purchases in the near future? How long do you shop before you make that BIG purchase?

Weekend Recap

Happy Valentine's Day!

As I discussed a little bit last year about Valentine's Day, Hub and I are not huge "into" Valentine's Day. However, Hub and I love each other. A lot. And we love to spend time together. So this weekend, we did just that. Friday night we actually got to have our type of "traditional Friday night" together and enjoyed catching up on our DVR, having a couple of drinks, visiting, talking about our weeks and ending with...me falling asleep on the couch and him up for a bit more before we made it to bed. 

Saturday morning we had talked about some projects we wanted to tackle so we woke up fairly early and spent some time in bed reading and sipping some coffee and then were up and at 'em. We talked to our family in Texas, rearranged our family room furniture that has been the same since we moved in two and a half years ago. I know. I'm a little embarrassed to say that, but there had never been any arrangements that I could visualize so it just remained the same. Until this Saturday when Hub's brain starting churning and he came up with a fab arrangement that we both love! I tell you, amazing talents of his revealed to me everyday {wink, wink}. 

We were then off to Lowe's since Hub got some power tools for Christmas that he has been itching to try out {I know, crazy he hasn't used them but he has been very busy at work} and I have a room I want to paint. I am going to reveal some before pictures now because I think it will keep me motivated to actually get it done if I post some embarrassing pictures here. This is our office NOW:

I know, right?! Doesn't it look like what you picture Hub's bedroom to have looked like in college? Well, it is pretty dang close. So, over the next few weeks I am making it my goal to straighten it up, paint and do a little bit of inexpensive re-decorating in there. My "crafting" pile area is getting a little out of hand and could use a place to be tucked away:

So then, we attempted another endeavor:

Yes, I walked into the office and thought I could take a hammer and rip off the trim. Well, that didn't work out too well so Hub came in with the screw driver and we were able to pry some off. I wanted to get some new trim in this room since it was getting a face-lift but then we thought if we did it in this room we would have to do it in the whole house. And if we did it in the whole house it would get pretty spendy. We then decided that it may not be the best use of our funds, so we will put it back on and we will paint it a high-gloss white paint. Hub painted the rest of the house's trim when we first moved in but we have come to the conclusion that we will have to re-paint the trim due to using the wrong type of paint and it is more of a cream than a white and we want it to pop a little more. Ugh. Painting trim is a pain. In the, you know what!

We then headed off to the homebrew store and Lowe's. We came home with a sample of the paint and some stick on numbers to put on the mailbox. Hub wasn't feeling well so we laid low for a little while and then he started a batch of beer while I started another project which I am only posting a couple of pictures from until it is finished. I am not even going to divulge what the end goal is. Gotta keep you folks guessing.

Sunday, Hub and I got up early once again to do some reading and then he had the itch so he headed back to Lowe's to actually purchase some lumber, purchase a gallon of paint {that we loved once I painted some of the sample on the wall} and I headed to the store to pick up a couple of ingredients for the pie I made to take to dinner at my grandma's.

Basically, by posting our weekend recap, I am telling you how we celebrate our love for each other. By being together. And laughing and poking fun at each other. By snuggling and not talking. By pouring out our activities of the week, catching up and listening to one another. By cooking, working on our home and riding in the car together. There is no other Valentine for me and I am so grateful everyday for the man I have to come home to every night.

Stay tuned for the finishing of the aforementioned projects!

Did you do something special for "Valentine's Weekend"? What does your special someone do that makes you feel special? What projects are you working on?

The Best Deal

Does anyone else out there get overwhelmed by getting the best price possible on items? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love a good deal just as much as the next person however, sometimes it is a little exhausting to research, research and research. There are so many websites these days with coupons, still the trusty ol' newspaper comes out with coupons, there are manufacturer's coupons, rebates, etc. I get daily emails from Groupon, Rue La La {not really that interesting to me anymore. In fact, I've never even purchased anything from there.} and look forward weekly to the grocery store ads that come my way. I am actually fortunate of the fact that I have three grocery stores within three miles of our house and one more within about ten miles. Getting the best deal from a grocery store is actually kind of a game for me. I enjoy perusing the ads and then jetting to the proper store to receive the best deal. I have even taken a look at The Krazy Coupon Lady in hopes that someday I could be even a quarter of the discount shopper these pros are.

It can almost get to the point sometimes of talking myself out of buying things because I think there will be a better deal at certain times. Sometimes-yes, sometimes-no. When I see others getting these great deals on things it makes me envious that I didn't get it or find it. I know it all takes time and a little effort but hey, I think it pays off when I am sitting with satisfaction in the fact that I got what I think to be a "good deal."

In the next few months, we are in the market for a new camera, carpet, and various home improvement purchases and you can bet we will be searching and searching and....searching some more to get those "deals."

What ideas do you have for seeking out deals? Any special websites you prefer to print coupons from?

Changin' it Up

I used to be afraid of paint. Can you believe it?! Acting like it was permanent, could never be changed, agonize over picking the perfect color, etc. Now I am convinced that there is no better answer to change the look of something than ... paint!

It's probably been about a year since we bought some furniture from a friend of mine. She wanted to get rid of it because she had moved into a new place and had no more room. She had had it since she was a teen so it was fairly dated. I convinced Hub since we had been making some progress in "finishing" our bedroom and making it look a little more cohesive that we should paint the furniture. We received a coupon in the mail form the local hardware store and I was sold! $10 off a gallon and an additional $5 off any item gets me hustlin' right into that store! We have a couple of night tables that we purchased new about a year ago and we were trying to match those. 

 

I also have been seeing the successes of spray paint so I also convinced Hub that we should try to spray paint the fixtures and "just see what happens." He was skeptical to say the least. I did not document the whole experience but I do have a "before" and after. 

BEFORE 

{This piece is not in our room but currently lives in our spare bedroom however it did not get repainted (yet) and, in bad blogger form,  I did not take a before picture of either dresser before we painted but this night table does the trick for an idea of what the dressers looked like.}

AFTER

Although the furniture is now a tad feminine, it goes with the decor of the room and really brightens the room. {I will post some pics of the whole room pretty soon.} At the last minute I panicked and thought maybe we should have been doing black paint but figured that may be a little dark. We are both pretty happy with the result. Hub also refinished the tops of the dressers which turned out really great.

Spray-painted fixture in a hammered metal black. 

We think we have come across a new interest in refinishing furniture. We are now on the hunt for older, inexpensive furniture that we can get our little paws on!. Oh, and now that I'm not afraid of paint anymore, I'm ready to tackle the kitchen cabinets....stay tuned! What have you re-done lately, repainted, or spray-painted?

Customer Service

So, Hub and I are in the market for some new carpet for our spare bedrooms. Well, maybe our master bedroom as well, however, I am fine with the flooring we have in their (laminate, wood-looking floor) but he thinks carpet would be "cozier." Another argument for another day, I suppose. Ok, back to looking for carpet for the spare bedrooms. We want something that looks nice, will last until we move out of the house, fairly durable and isn't going to break up the bank. Sounds pretty standard.

Image

A couple of weeks ago, we visited Lowe's just to get an idea of what we are looking for and about what it would cost. We wondered around aimlessly for a bit and then kind of honed in on some samples we liked. We walked over to the flooring desk where a Lowe's associate was sitting and asked if he would come help us. Now, let me just say, when I go out shopping for something: I. Can't. Stand. Sales People. I know they have a job to do and in some most cases, they are making a commission. I understand that. I just don't like pushy people. So it was completely fine by me that he had given us our space and time to wonder around without him right in our ear babbling about prices and pile (which I still don't really know what this is) and whatnot. We got our information, wrote down some numbers and walked out.

Image (not our living room, just something to allude to carpet shopping)

Hub tells me the other day that he heard a radio ad for Carpet Liquidators. Ok, sure, let's go peek and compare some prices. We walk into Carpet Liquidators and are overwhelmed a bit by the warehouse-feel, rolls and rolls of carpet, hardwood and tile floor samples, etc. Well immediately we wonder over to what appears to be the "clearance" wall with many hideous  interesting colors and patterns and an associate comes over to ask what we are looking for. He had this "hum-drum" tone, I asked how he was and he replied, "Living the dream." Obviously I enjoy my fair share of sarcasm even if it is from people I don't know but then his attitude the whole time was pretty lackadaisical and unenthusiastic. We looked at some different carpet, got a feel for the prices in what we were looking for and he cut off a couple of pieces for us to take home.

Which do you like? Left or right?

We got back to his desk so he could write some information on them and I said, "Why would we buy our carpet here and not at Lowe's?"

"Well, price difference," he replied, "And customer service." 

I made sure I heard him right and kind of laughed to myself. He also went on to say how quick they are at getting out to your house, etc. We finished getting a quote, thanked him and left.

Hub looked at me and said,"Was he serious? Customer service?"

I started laughing and said, "Yeah, that was pretty funny to me too."

I guess customer service, similar to beauty, is "in the eye of the beholder." I could see things I liked at both venues, it was just interesting to have put into perspective what one looks for in sales and customer service. Obviously the guy at Carpet Liquidators thought his style was superior to, say, a Lowe's sales person however, I'm sure there are plenty out there who appreciate the semi-professional and mainstream atmosphere for Lowe's. What do you look for in a sales-person? What bothers you about sales-people? Do you prefer carpet or not in your master-bedroom? (Humor me so I can pass it on to Hubs!)