Dining Room Makeover- Giving a Little Room a Lot of Class

I have been dreaming of ways to change our dining room for a long time. The walls were plain white, and it was pretty boring. A few days ago, we had it painted and got some crown molding & wainscoting added. This room has been totally transformed. I forgot to get "before" photos, but here is the "after."

I painted some old frames white & distressed them with sandpaper & used the same technique on a few accent pieces I found that weren't white. Adam got me that clock for my birthday a year or two ago & I painted it to match, too.

I am still working on the centerpiece (notice the price tags still on some of those flowers?). I am not sure exactly what I want just yet, but I like it so far.

The mirror cast a weird reflection on the left wall, there. Wes thinks my fork & spoon are silly. I mean, he had tears of laughter in his eyes while telling me that! I think I'll leave them up just to see him laugh so much! Plus...I LIKE them!

The quote on the lower left frame says, "While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." (quote from Angela Schwindt)

The living room walls were also painted & I have new curtains up, but I won't show photos of that room until after I get my DIY artwork done & hang it on the wall.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Our Crazy Holidays- Part 2

After enjoying Christmas with my family, we headed back to Rosenberg, three hours north of Corpus Christi.

Passing time on the road

Buc-ee's Beaver

Buc-ee's are these huge quick shops like no other, known for their big and clean restrooms. It was fun to have a stop along the way that was unique & fun.

We got to visit our friend, Bobbi. We spent a lot of time with her & her husband when we lived in Roseberg. We went to church together and had many deep talks. Her husband was one of my most trusted friends, and they were by our sides for many years. It was so good to be with her again.

When we lived in Rosenberg, I taught middle school. I have kept in touch  with a few of my students & got to eat breakfast with a former  student who now works with children that have special needs & does  photography. We keep up with each other on Facebook, and I think she'd be the first to tell you that she'd keep my kids forever if I let her! It is so cool that we have so much in common. I really enjoy our visits.

This is her best friend's granddaughter. What a beauty!

 I went to visit some friends from work. We really enjoyed our time together just relaxing and talking...and laughing at all the funny things Adam said.

And if you know me even a little bit, you know that this was what I was waiting for, and that this was the highlight of this leg of our trip...

I simply love these people with every shred of my being. I absolutely love when all four of us grown ups get to be together. The only bad part was that we didn't get to be together for a worship service. Our four-part-harmony is an especially cool part of our friendship.

After our short time in Rosenberg, we headed back home. We left at 10am on Saturday and arrived home at 6am Sunday morning. Our original plan was to go to Wes's parents house, but so many of us were sick, we had to postpone our get-together. After the boys fell asleep on our drive home, we decided to continue driving straight through. We did not want to get all that luggage out, wake them up, and get them back to sleep again. It was easier to just keep driving, and the boys traveled beautifully.

Wes did most of the driving & was grateful for rest when we got home, but first we had to open gifts. Santa came while we were gone, you know!

Santa brought a cat bowl, cat toys, & a gift card to PetsMart. Monday, we spent the day in Lexington and came home with this little guy, Whiskers. We got him from an animal shelter that has some animals in PetsMart. He was only $55 and had already been neutered, & microchipped, had his first vet visit & vaccinations, and was litter box trained!! What a deal! And he is a sweetie! Adam tells him, "I love you, Whiskers. You're the best cat anyone could have."

Whiskers was a little sick with some upper respiratory problems when we brought him home & all he wanted to do was snuggle, but he has almost finished his antibiotic and is doing well.

Wes & I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary once we were back home and settled in. Never mind there was a snow storm going on outside. We had a nice dinner, enjoyed bowling, and watched a movie. When someone is scheduled to watch the boys and give us a night alone, we take it!

Then we got to celebrate the holidays with Wes's family. We have some fun traditions, and the cousins always love being together.

Whiskers joined us & felt right at home, just like we do when we spend time there.

Grams spoiled him by sharing her heating pad. He loved it!

So now that I feel like I've done my duty of sharing Christmas photos, I am hoping to get some videos of the boys together to post on the blog and plan to share some fun informational stuff, especially how I have updated my wardrobe using Pinterest for inspiration and thrift stores for the shopping! What do you think about regular posts titled "Pinterest Style on a Thrift Store Budget" and some more "Tuesday Tidbits" geared toward parenting & simplifying life? Let me know what you think! I hope everyone is having a great start to 2014 & keeping at least some of those resolutions! Some of you will be shocked to know that I gave up diet soda! And am happy about it! Herbal teas are my new best friends...and so is my new Keurig! (I totally had to look that up to know how to spell it! Such a newbee!)

Have a great day! Thanks for reading!