spring is in the air

my windows are open, my new front fullview storm door is installed, the green is getting brighter and the cheers of children are the only noises i hear right now. i love spring - only after all the snow melts and the ground gets dry again. welcome spring. i've missed you.

sappy sunday

about a month or so ago - adam and i decided we wanted to be pals. its a program in green bay for kids with brown county social services. the kids are between the ages of three to seven and they all either are living with a single mom or they are living with their grandparents. there are over sixty kids on the waiting list - all waiting for someone to scoop them up and just spend a little extra time with them. so - i signed up - then i told adam about it. glen, the guy the runs the program, might be the mother teresa of green bay - he's a one man show - and there is a lot of work to be done... we filled out our paperwork, sent some forms to some friends to fill out our referral - and he came to our house for a three hour visit - then he told us that we'd have to choose between three or four different girls that we wanted to be pals with - and we set a date to go and look over the paperwork of the little girls and choose our pal... i'm a sucker - for sure - i told adam that i had so much hesitation about picking just one girl - because i knew i'd want to take them all - and even if glen said i couldn't i would somehow come back with a bigger purse and take all their files and go there myself... so we went - last week tuesday - and glen just happened to be running behind and just had one "file" for us (God is good)... as he was reading her story - the tears started rolling down my face. some of the tears were from the pain that she's had in her six very short years of life, some were tears of joy as i found myself reflecting on my near picture perfect childhood and some were tears of hope - for knowing what a difference we could make in just one childs life. as the tears rolled down my face - and shortly before the sobbing, like sobbing i last experienced when my brother jeff hung my dolls from their heads when i was 8 (it still was picture perfect childhood), that amazing hubby of mine put his hand on my thigh and looked at me with his eyes filled with tears something that obviously stung his eyes - and i knew - we had found our match and we couldn't possibly hear another story... so we called her mom, set up our appointment and went the next day to meet our pal. she's amazing. we spent last wednesday night with her and again the afternoon today - she's so brave, so kind, so loving, so strong and i know that together with her mom - we are going to have great things happen for her! our sweet dog maggie was giving her kisses and she was laughing so hard - she was in heaven! we decorated eggs, had an easter egg hunt, went to the park, played war and just did kid stuff -on the way back to her house she looked at adam and i both and said, "i sure am going to miss you guys" it warmed our heart so much!! we feel beyond blessed that God has given us this opportunity and everything about it just seems so right. 






“A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every passerby leaves a mark.” -Chinese proverb

Thrifty Tuesdays

for a long time, i have wanted a bedroom that seemed finished. when adam and i were getting ready to move to texas we kept hearing on the radio while we were looking at houses to come to the dump. great deals on furniture, rugs, homegoods, tables, art work - you get the idea - so we had some down time after we found our house and we went to look - we fell in LOVE with a bedroom set - the first one we both liked. problem was - it was april - we were moving there in june. we really considered buying it - but it was a no go - of course by the time we went back, it was gone... long gone - and it's a liquidation place so there was no chance in getting another one. this is sense set out on our long journey into getting a big girl/boy bed once and for all. the whole time in texas we didn't have a head board, we had one night stand and the other night stand was a printer stand - and we just could never agree on anything... and we also didn't feel like spending thousands of dollars. so - once we were settled here - i started to make my bedroom come to life. it's not quite done - but the progress is way better than before and - as i'm about to explain - a new bedroom doesn't cost thousands of dollars. 


first i went to a consignment shop - and i found a dresser. it was nasty looking and needed new hardware - but i loved the shape of it. after stripping it, staining it and getting new hardware - this is my new dresser. total cost with all the material included - 80.00 - not too bad, hey? 

the paintings above it - i did - the orange one has to be changed - it's no http://christinameeusen.blogspot.com/ - but its thrifty tuesdays people. check out her blog - for real - it's super funny and she happens to have some mad talent! 

next i decided to do our drapes - gramets and all... fabric graments together - 35.00 - free labor too - i sewed them myself. 

and last for thrifty tuesdays - our bed and night stands... a different post shows our headboard process - and here is the finished product - total headboard cost 123.00; mirror 25.00 (half off at hobby lobby); bedding on sale at kohls (what's not on sale at kohls) and the night stands one of them i got at an antique shop years ago - and the all white one i got for 19.00 at the consignment shop - i just sanded it and painted it. i also got a new knob at hobby lobby - just to spice things up. 

now i have a big girl bedroom and it didn't break the bank! the bedroom is painted a super light pink color - just to add some romance. i've been shopping at overstock.com to try to get the perfect chandelier - so i'll keep you all posted. 

i love to shop at goodwill too - the small white containers on both dressers are from there - and i love them. 

where do you find your great deals? 

friendships

i love my friends. i think amazing friends make for an amazing life. making friends is like making a cake out of a box for me. it's easy - easy bake oven easy - but having a friendship that goes to a totally different level of a relationship - takes time, effort, work and sometimes with a hubby, family and well just life taking over - you find that in your life - that some friendships just aren't worth it. when adam and i moved to indiana - my besties from back home supported me, loved me, and encouraged me when adam was knee deep in spreadsheet modeling with the one and only wayne winston - and during his studies - while he was beginning to speak a different MBA language - the partners club pretty much saved my life - and it was during that time that i met some of the most amazing women in my life. after school was done, we moved to texas - a WHOLE different ball game than the midwest - and i started working for the craziest doctor in the world - diagnosed with OCD, worked in the house, couldn't drink anything but water with a closed cap in our office, couldn't wear shoes in our office, had our reviews in her bedroom - i mean the list could go on - and it was during that time that i worked with a girl who would help shape me into the person that i am today - she was 22 years old, i was 28, she was 5'10 and had a rockin' body - and she just LOVED life - she was carefree, had no fear, went with the flow, didn't mind if she didn't shower for a few days, and loved like no other. those of you that know me -that is not me - i am far from carefree - have a million fears, feel all sorts of out of sorts when things don't go as planned and i take two showers a day, everyday. in the crazy world of that insane doctors office - we laughed and laughed and sang silly songs, did crazy jokes on eachother and had the other person to depend on when life got really out of control at the office - we both were in school and before we knew it - my husband and her then boyfriend developed a bromance - hard core. and the two little kids from the midwest had friends from the south that we loved. during that time - they got engaged - and then she asked me to be in her wedding which was such an honor! we went to Port Akansas (that's what i called it) and I was so afraid to get in the ocean - and step by step she walked me through until i was in swimming and having a blast - that's the kind of effect alicia has on you - if she's by your side - you think you can do anything - you really do - and a little more often, i'd go with the flow and maybe somedays - i'd only take one shower. i learned to let go - because with letting go - comes amazing things that you can let in. alicia is one of the greatest people that i know - and now she and her hubby are expecting their first bundle of joy and just the thought of a little one coming into this world with her as a mom - brings me so much promise into how wonderful this world will be with a little finch running around. 


this weekend i turned 31. alicia came for four days to see me - it was amazing - i cried my eyes out when she left. she chewed peanuts in my ear to drive me crazy, didn't organize the sudoku piece the way i wanted them, wore flip flops on our "exercise walk" and ripped pages out of my sodoku puzzle that was neatly organized page by page. she sang songs to me, got me slinky wiener dogs, decorated my birthday cake and she again left me feeling like i'm ready for more good to come my way. 


friendships are amazing - and my friendship with alicia is one i will never take for granted - i love her SO much!!  when you move away and friends come to visit - it's the best feeling! this is just another reason why - i'm the lucky one.  

and then there were nine

it's official - i've been training for a few months now for half marathon #4 - and with this comes the loss of toe nails it's part of long distance running i just thought that i'd be a lucky one and keep mine but last year during the chicago - i knew it was coming off.... and yesterday as i was running four miles - i thought - i think it's happening again - and today - as i was running eight miles - i thought - please - don't hurt - just die and come off already so i can get on with my life. i guess that's the good part about living in green bay - it's not like dfw where i was getting pedi's every month.... but - my poor feet have been cramped up all winter like a bear who is starving in his cave just waiting to come out and say hello - i hope no one minds.

in other news - here is a sneak peak at part of my business cards - i took this picture a few weeks back of a really sweet little boy - i only got pooped on twice and peed on three times... not bad for two hours hey?

and so it begins....

i ordered my business cards today - for my photography business - i did indeed.... now - let's just wait and see how long it takes until i have the nerve to hand one out.... :) once i get them - i'll post a picture so you all can see the name i picked out too... very excited!