Waiting for Patience

When I purchased my house a little over two years ago, I decided I wanted to redo my kitchen cabinets because I disliked the gold knobs and wanted something different. Then, my entire downstairs was redone because of the flood of 2014 ( remember when... ) lots of other things happened instead.  The Before So this Fall, I decided that it was the time. It took me a month to make the decision and at the end of October, I went and took a class with my local Annie Sloan Stockist in South Charlotte to learn the techniques. When they asked what project everyone was planning, I told the teacher I was going to paint my kitchen cabinets. She replied, "Normally we recommend starting with a smaller project." Well, I say "go big or go home." So I went BIG at HOME! So on November 8th I decided to clean everything and take all of the cabinets down and prepped my floors with paper. I did the cleaning with Krud Kutter and it took all kinds of things off the cabinets! T...

When I bought my townhouse, I was most excited about being able to decorate it the way I wanted, paint the walls the colors I like, and have an opportunity to explore my creative side. On Wednesday, Mer and I went to IKEA to get me a full length mirror. We came up with so many great things, not including a mirror. I decided to buy a bedside night stand instead from the as-is bin that was more than 50% off. An excellent choice. I also purchased a bunch (15) of white frames to decorate my office. I've filled three and ordered 12 other prints to be picked up at Target  today to get hanging. I think that all but three will be great in my office and I'm going to use those ones to redo how my bedroom looks. I've also decided to (finally) paint my kitchen cabinets. I'm going to an Annie Sloan  Chalk Paint tutorial class tomorrow to get my technique down. They had some curtains that are a beautiful blue fabric that I'm going to try to make into two roman shades for ...

Yesterday I flew into Charlotte on a 7am flight from Baltimore. It was the 3rd very early morning flight I took this week and I was so tired! So I get home, answer a few emails, make a few calls, and then lie down for a few hours to get some sleep since I was over exhausted. That's when it begins. A loud, piercing beep! So I check every smoke detector in my house - of which there are 4 in my very small 1200 square foot house. Why so many? I'm really not sure, but apparently the builders of this house were very fire safety conscious. Less than a year ago, I had replaced 3 of the batteries after a similar situation and thought that the green light indicated "good" so I went to all 4 and looked for the green light. The one I didn't replace last time, in my office with the highest ceiling, is the only one without a green light. So I check with my friend who was coming over already and her tall husband was coming over with her before we went out last night. He was ...

--- 1 --- Last weekend I did a little decorating - putting up some pictures downstairs in the living room and finally hanging the amazing Congo map MG got me for Christmas. Another Wall full of a story! The adjacent wall has a bigger story too, if I haven't shared it with you before... All photos and things from my trip to the Congo. The frame in the bottom right now has a photo in it as well. The fabric in the upper left is a dress that they purchased for me that will be admired more on the wall than in my closet! I also put these curtains and frames up in the guest bedroom - which makes me SO happy whenever I walk up stairs. That side of the house looks so put together! A happy place, rather than a drab place, for guests to hang out in while they stay. --- 2 --- An interesting quote from Matt Walsh  I found the other day about when he and his wife finally walked into a building they didn't know what was inside. It was a new Mega-Church - reminds m...

In the 7 years I've been in Charlotte, I've had some interesting Christmas Tree creations.  The first two years, I was tree-less, no ornaments, just a Nativity.  Even the year I lived at Hope House  as a resident adviser I had a nativity in my room, just for me!  But alas, no pictures of those ... so you just have the opportunity to re-live the last 3 years before bearing witness to this year's spectacular demonstration in the new house! 2011 Sister Gloria helped me cut down this beauty from the back path on the Church property. It became this, just in time for our Ugly Sweater Party that year. That is one of my favorite Christmas trees, and I have wanted a real tree again ever since.  But since I'm usually gone for two solid weeks at Christmas and New Year's, having a real tree doesn't make sense - it'd die while I'm away and the weeks after Christmas are the best part!  Last Year (2013), we had the 'tree' up until the beginning of...

Thanks to Beth Anne for creating and hosting an Advent Blog Hop!  I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with over the next couple of weeks.  I love the books Annery at Home showcased, the prayers shared by Melody's Harmonies are so beautiful (and I love the beeswax advent wreath candles), This Domestic Church talked about incorporating Advent traditions slowly (super great advice), the St. Nick's Bag from over at 2 by 2 is an amazing idea (and her twins are so beautiful), Joe Sales Says talked about waiting - basically my theme song, the dialogue of Saint Nicholas on Tactical Catholic is fantastic,  and all that to say that you stopped by this gal's blog for some Advent inspiration is quite humbling! I was going to tell you about how I always wait until the Immaculate Conception to decorate my house for Christmas.  I had great plans, then they all went south when I saw this picture from my friend Stephanie on FB Saturday morning when I got home from (...

Welcome to My New House (again)! Well, I've been back in my house for a week now, and it's so fantastic!  Since I wrote about the saga here on the ol' blog, figured I'd take you on a little photo tour!  The entire place is great, but my two favorite rooms are the Living Room and my Bedroom ... although I really love being able to put my personal style on the entire place! I'm glad most of the downstairs was done by the contractor, that sewage backup was a blessing in disguise.  After painting my bedroom, I'm not sure I would have survived the rest of the downstairs.  Apparently, I'm not the biggest fan of the brush! The Living Room The Mantle (with Our Lady)  The couch looks great with the paint, rather than this ! A little reading nook, all it needs is a lamp! The best view in the house! The Hallway A Lovely Van Gogh Upstairs a gallery of some amazing Katie Originals Guest Bath A little bright, but the pictures rea...

Years ago I read part of this book, 20 Something Manifesto , and the one thing I remember was her discussing what she called Expectation Hangovers .  She defines them as a "group of undesirable feelings that arise when a desired result isn't met." ( source ) We'll I'm having one this weekend.  I wrote on Friday (ie: Thursday evening for 7QT) about how my house was supposed to be done on Friday and today I would be super ready to move back in, having floors to walk on downstairs, curtains up, furniture in its place, and everything!  Well, welcome to the hangover. They began to lay the floor and then I was called to the house in a state of panic because it was looking like this: It's hard to see, but the finishes are different on the boards - so when the light hits it and it goes all the way down the hallway, it will look, well as Ben (the contractor said), "not terrible...".  UM... we're going through this whole thing I want my floor to ...

If you've been reading, you know that I purchased a house last month, August 8th to be exact.  It was the result of my roommate moving back to Chicago and the rent in my area being a giant money pit I could no longer afford to play in.  So I went house shopping and made an offer on the 2nd one I saw.  After all the crazy that's been the past month, I still think I chose the best option I saw.  I like the layout, I enjoy the neighborhood, and the location is perfect for me from work.  No one could guarantee I would have the same or different issues at another place.  This one was the best price for the area to keep the mortgage at an amount I can afford on my church salary. So I cleaned it that first weekend - just preparing the house to be moved into and it looked like this! 1. The Blue Bedroom 2. The Amazing Kitchen,  3. The Purple Living Room 4. The Wood / The Tile Floor. Then I moved in with the help of my amazing friends and stayed ...