Monday, April 30, 2012

The Time has Come...

Guess what??
frontofhouseforsale

Sorry for the lack of "meaty" blog content lately. 
We have been spending almost every waking minute working on this place and getting it sparkly and clean for the soon-to-be new owners.

We don't officially go on the market for the next 15 days. 

Hoping to accomplish ALOT more. 
Stay tuned as I blog our final projects of our foreclosure fixer-upper over the next few days.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

DIY Wooden Picture Frames

**update..... August 2014, its time to revise and revamp this tutorial. right?? working on doing that right now!! stay tuned for a reveal in September 2014

Are you a fan of rustic picture frames??

(via)
These frames are by 2 princesses and 2 frogs. They can be purchased at a local store.

Here is an enormous display of some similar frames.
(via)
I am going to attempt to recreate these with some scrap wood I have in my garage.
Have you seen these on pinterest??

Looks pretty easy.
And much more cost effective to make your own!!

Here is what I came up with.
My "hack" for a $60.00 frame. yes... 60 bucks for scrapwood!

My inspiration:
I purchased one of these frames then decided I could make my own to create a "collection" of this type of frame.

Supply List:
*gorilla glue
*assortment of acrylic paint
*scrap wood
*small mounting  board from hobby lobby or local craft store.
*small clip frame from hobby lobby or local craft store
*paint brushes

btw: Found the mounting board on the unfinished wood aisle in hob lob.

Step1:
Gather some scrap wood and decide which direction you want the wood to go in. These pieces were actually one long 1x2 I had my husband cut down.

Step2:
Have the pieces of wood cut the same length and use your gorilla glue to make a small bead of glue between the wood. 
Sit and let "set" for a little over an hour.

Step 3:
Paint the scrap wood layer with a coat of paint and let dry
Paint the mounting board layer and let dry.
Step 4:
Use your gorilla glue to do small dots or a bead of the glue, don't forget to lay something heavy on top for the glue to disperse evenly.

Step 5:
Nail a small nail into the mounting board to attach the clip frame from,
also sand the edges of the mounting board and the edges of the wood.

Step 6: 
Decide where to hang, what picture to use, then step back and enjoy!
I think a new school picture will do nicely!
(sorry this one is crooked)

For comparison:
mine $3.00
theirs $60 + tax


LOVIN' $3.00 ALL day Long!! 


Friday, April 27, 2012

Modern Eclectic Nursery Redesign- client

Let me start off by saying I absolutely ADORE this girl!! 
We had a blast making this room more functional for her precious 11 month old.

A room she can transition from baby into the toddler years very easily!
We used alot of what they already had and just made the room make more sense for the current stage of life they are in. 


adoreable alphabet letters with a collection of poms for baby girl to look at.

I shared a pinterest tutorial with the mommy and she and her husband whipped up this adoreable tent for their daughter to play in.

Did I mention the mom is an artist??

She did this incredible painting and I thought it would be so fun and playful in the space!!

Is this little red chair not the cutest thing in the whole world??

We used two placemats and put them together for the perfect chair size pillow!


I adore this 3sprouts organic line. 
Such cute and functional storage for kids rooms!!
(you can find it really cheap on amazon!)

Thursday, April 26, 2012

A Traditional Kitchen Facelift- client, well sort of.

First of all, this is the "client"
I have for the last 26 years of my life called them mom and dad.

This is how their kitchen has looked since they moved in their home almost 17 years ago.
(well slightly, if you can see from the stain on the ceiling there was a massive flourescent up there until right before I took this picture.
And the space above the cabinets was recently restyled)

The 90's were all about white, white is nice but slowly, one at a time they have replaced the appliances. All that was left to replace was the electric cooktop and double wall oven.
you get the idea. 

So after many magazines bought, lots of kitchens examined I encouraged them to replace their countertops, faux the cabinets and get a more natural stone backsplash.

Here we are right after the new granite countertops went in. I told them to pick something not too dark so they will like it for many years to come. It fits their very warm toned home and flows well with the adjoining rooms. 

Here is an upclose.


We had the old backsplash professionally removed and backer board installed.
I encouraged them to go with either soapstone or travertine subway tiles for a more modern look in a traditional pallet.

When I took these the countertops had just been installed and we were in the process of repairing a few cabinets before doing one of the cabinet transformations in a box. 

We added a stipple brush to give a more custom painted look. 
(these pics were taken with my phone yesterday afternoon)

We are having a wedding shower over there this weekend. hope to get some good shots of the kitchen then.



Monday, April 23, 2012

What's New!

Here are a few phone pictures I thought I would share. 
We have been sooo busy lately I havent even had a chance to share my most recent tutorials!!
(be looking for those in the coming days)

I am loving my flowers of the month club!! They are making me smile every time I walk by them!!

And.... I finally finally have a logo!!

Haven't decided to take the plunge and rename the blog yet but I am leaning towards maybe so...

Off to work with a client.. be back soon!



Friday, April 20, 2012

Remember that Prayer Request??

Okay so it has been way way too long since I posted a prayer request about my personal health. 
What had happened was.. (spoken like the ladies man) 

C was born on Jan 15, we went home the morning of the 16th.
By the 17th I was holding fluid, not a little... like... alot.
See.
28 pounds of fluid post delivery to be exact.

I called casey and he said its just the trauma of delivering. you are fine.
Two days later a dear friends mom brough us dinner. 
(wed night, baby was a couple days old)
She came in, sat the food down and said, umm you may want to make some lemon water. Lemons are a natural diuretic. 
So that night I lay in bed, propped under about 20 pillows. I couldnt lay down to sleep. It was too hard to breathe. 
The next morning I drank my lemon water. I also drank about 6 glasses of grapefruit juice. 
Nothing changed, fast forward to friday.
I called Casey around 4 and I told him I was starting to feel worse and I thought we needed to go to the ER. I called a friend who's husband is a paramedic and they told me to come over and her husband would check my "stats."

My resting heartrate throughout the whole pregnancy was around 80-90 bpm. I got there and he checked my oxygen level, BP, and heartrate.

My oxygen was only slightly off, my BP around 160/95 (high for me but still normal)
but my heartrate.... it was a consistent 39.
Friends hubby walked out of the room, my friend went to the kitchen to get her baby a bottle and she came in the den, sat next to me on the couch with the scariest look on her face and said; "Brent doesn't EVER freak out about things... but, uhhh I think you are going into heart failure! You need to go straight back to labor and delivery"
WHAT? I feel a little off but not heart failure!!!!
Friend then proceeded to call a good friend of her's who is a labor and delivery nurse.
The nurse agreed with Brent's concern and I met Casey at the house, 
our wild friday night was being spent going BACK to l&d with my newborn. 

Do you have ANY idea how weird it is to check in at the counter WITH your baby?? just plain weird! I know they thought I was nuts!!

Nurse checked everything out, hooked me up to monitors and everything was the same as when Brent took my stats. But my heartrate continued to drop. 
38, 35, 34, then 29. 
At that point you start setting off monitors, like repeatedly!!! Scary/annoying.

They took bloodwork, determined my liver enzymes were off. The dr on call told me she would notify my dr. and she sent us home with NO answers!

It made NO sense. 
Sat, Sun, still not sleeping, started to get some relief from the fluid, in 12 hours I urinated off almost 18 pounds of fluid! I thought I was feeling better.

By monday morning I had spoken with 2 friends moms who have been  l&d nurses for close to 25 years. 
They both suspicioned things but didnt want to scare me, they basically told me if I felt worse to not go to ER go straight back to l&d at the women's hospital.

Monday night I still felt bad.

I waited until AC was down for the night and I called my very dear friend Ruth. She graciously agreed to come and sleep at my house so we could go back to labor and delivery and hopefully get some more answers. 

me, casey and my one week old headed again back up to the hospital! At this point I felt pure D stupid!!

My dr happened to be on call and she came up to talk to me. She checked my heartrate and it fluxuated between 35-39.
She ordered an EKG, Echocardiagram, and a CT Scan. 
CT came back confirming I had pulminary edema as well as pitting edema all the way up to my thighs.
The EKG determined the electricity in my heart was off. 

She told me she was referring me to a dr who specializes in women's heart health.

Wednesday morning

This swollen girl and this tired baby headed up to the cardiologist. 
BTW those offices smell of moth balls and sucrets. I giggled, I was the youngest there by a good solid 40 years!!!
That dr ordered a stress test, another EKG and Another Echo.

She then determined I had Sinus Bradycardia.

She had NEVER seen cases like mine before and mine included she had 2 other patients, both who had recently delivered with similiar symptoms to mine.

She had no answers, to rhyme or reason as to why it happened it just did.

I had to wait for my medical release from the ob to come back for my stress test. 

By the end of the week I lost the last of the 28 pounds and I sat at home tired, confused, with a 2 week old, high blood pressure and a low heartrate.

This was about the time I believe I asked for yall's prayer requests.

Things were so uncertain and all I knew is it felt good knowing I was in the lords hands and soon enough I would have answers.

I went back at 4 weeks post delivery for my stress test. Everything went as it should have and my heartrate had returned to normal. 
My bp was at its normal 110/60.
The dr had no answers. 

Hooray she said everything corrected itself.
YES, hooray!!
But just like that?? how?? 
She had no answers for me, just said it's too weird! She told me when she attended her yearly cardiologist conference she would confer with other women-specialist cardiologist and let me know if she figured anything out.
I know she cares and was extremely thorough. She even called in the aneshesiologist to check what I was administered in labor.

Shortly after this test we met with Mrs. Lisa, my friends l&d nurse mommy for dinner. 

She said she had spoken with Ruth's mom, also a former l&d nurse and they both suspicioned I had peripartum Cardiomyopathy.

Basically...it is a rare disorder in which a weakened heart is diagnosed within the final month of pregnancy or within 5 months after delivery.

It occurs when there is damage to the heart. As a result, the heart muscle becomes weak and cannot pump blood efficiently. Decreased heart function affects the lungs, liver, and other body systems.

                                                     It only occurs in 1 in 1,300 pregnancies.
It is still undetermined If I actually have this but I have not been able to speak again with the cardiologist again to confirm this.
We are waiting until she returns from her conference to see what the future holds. As of right now I am "fine" and she wants me working out to build up the muscles in my heart.  If I DO have this there is a 25-50% chance of heart failure in a following pregnancy and the potential need for a heart transplant. 

With a sidenote: I know I had severe and extreme swelling post delivery with my daughter. I thought you just felt like a truck ran over you for the first 2-3 weeks and I am positive I had this with her. However, since i did not seek medical attention (mainly for lack of knowing other pregnant women, etc the dr's consider this a "first offense" and will not give me a NO, don't get pregnant again, it could kill you)

So as of right now Thank you thank you everyone for your sweet prayers, concerns and words of encouragement. We would love to continue adding to our family but not if it means my two living children would no longer have a mommy.

This has been the biggest reality check there could be.I know the lord has answered prayers thus far just hoping to get some clarity on the situation.
The only other diagnoses even mentioned were peripartum preeclampsia and I did alot of research showing my symptoms also went hand in hand with HELLP syndrome.
So.. for now... I start working out, and the story continues. 





The Pearl Event

I cannot believe I am almost a month behind on blogging!!!

( I forgot my camera )
I had the tiny digital cam, but it is not the same.

Pearls.
Precious pearls formed inside an oyster.

This is the example dear Sibi uses to illustrate the lords love for us.

He takes a grain of sand, they come a dime a dozen and Encloses it, Covers it, Forms it into something so precious and beautiful.

Such an incredible illustration!


This image is via Cha Cha from the Heartfelt Home.

The Pearl Event, The Double Strand!!

The Magnolia Ballroom was simply magnificent.

Sibi has such an incredible ability to indulge all the senses.

The stunning room.

The most fragrant candles.

Elegant bouquets distributed throughout the room.
(click on any of these images to be taken to this post on Sibi's blog)
These are ALL her photo's

And the perfect intermingling of tea lights everywhere.

I tell ya! It was a sight.
Here is the pearl girl herself at work.

The lord has an incredible way of using this precious woman to speak to women, to Minister to women.

I am so thankful for the lord allowing me to be spoken to through her words and allowed the opportunity to call her friend!
Her sweet husband snapped a quick picture of us before the event started!

Here is a group shot of all the speakers.

I think it must have been hormones but the lord really really spoke to me through Sarah. 

She bravely shared her story of losing her twin boys back in the fall.
As her story unfolded, she shared of the things she went through while pregnant with them.
In several ways we had similar occurances.
If I remember correctly one of the boys had fluid on their brain while in utero. 
(as did my sweet Connor) 
Trust me, as she shared pictures of her with her belly I went from tears streaming down my face to almost weeping. 
Then she shared her boys were to be born on Connor's due date.

This was the point where I really felt the lord saying "See Jenny Beth, I protected your baby, you feared and I removed the fluid, the chance of Downs was there and I allowed it to be corrected while I was still forming him."

I felt so unworthy to be able to hold my sweet boy and I longed for Sarah to be able to hold her sweet angels. Had Connor been with me I would have brought him to Sarah while at the conference, tears streaming down my face and said "Hold him, trust me I know the healing power of holding a newborn!"

Then she shared a picture.

The one that forever changed me.

After her c-section to deliver the babies she got to hold them. They were so tiny, so perfect, and they had lived the life the lord had planned for them.

As the lump welled up in everyone's throats you could see Sarah's peace. 

Her boys had gone to meet their savior and lord. They felt no more pain.

She portrayed such a beautiful living example of a mother's love and giving her children back to her savior.

Jesus is using this experience for the glory of christ!!

I am so in awe of her!!!

I was able to listen to Jane or "mother prayer" as they called her. 
That lady has a lifeline to Jesus!! She is a professional prayer on a radio station out of Nashville.

Talk about being able to learn alot from someone!!

I ended up having to leave after our lunch break from the conference. My mom had gone with me to keep the baby while I was there and he needed to be fed and actually had a small fever.

I made the decision to get my baby home and get him well.

I wish sooooo badly I could have heard all of the women speak. 

But you know what this means?? 

I will go again!! And I hope to invite Sibi to come and speak where I live sometime very very soon!!
All of the women had such powerful things to share and I know the lord had called them to share their experiences for his kingdom. 

I cant begin to imagine how hard it was for Edie to live through the burning of her home.

And though I don't know Sibi's story her experiences have been so rich, she just exudes the love of Christ!

I am so thankful the lord allowed various things to work out so I could attend and really speak to me. 

Trust me, I hug on and love on my sweet Connor with more thanksgiving knowing he was "healed" and he came into this world so easily!

Thank you Jesus!!

Jehovah Jireh









Thursday, April 19, 2012

Three whole months

This little fella turned 3 months old on Sunday!!!
We have previously had issues with this little guy adding on some "chunk" as I like to call it. He is just now 11 lbs 6 oz and 26.5" long. He is soooo long and lean!!

He has been truely sleeping through the night for quite some time now and has become obsessed with his activity mat!!

He is such an incredible baby and he makes me want to have 10 more!!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Easter Recap

We had a wonderful Easter!
Started out kind of hectic but was well worth it!
Before everyone woke up I snapped a few final shots of other Easter decor and the baskets.
My golden eggs!!
(found them in the dollar bins at target!)
A birds nest and a cute bunny plate.


If you cant tell AC has started sleeping in daddy's undershirts. She LOVES them and it makes me laugh to see her twirl around in his undershirts.
(time to invest in nightgowns)
C wasnt quite as thrilled to be woken up. haha 
He did like us reading pat the bunny to him though!
someone was way too excited to showoff her new swimsuit! haha

We went to church and LOVED the worship and message!
For lunch we went to my mom and dad's and mom really outdid herself with a delicious feast.
Happy Resurrection Day all!!



Saturday, April 7, 2012

Egg Hunt 2 and Easter Snapshots

Here are a few pictures from the hunt we had last Sunday.

We had a blast getting to hangout with some current neighborhood friends, and meet a few new ones.
A sea of eggs for roughly 12 kiddos between 2-3 yrs old.
Mommies made treats
I made the strawberries dipped in orange colored white chocolate. 
They are supposed to be carrots!

Table of goodies.
Miss priss
Time for the hunt!


some of the kiddos enjoying their treats.
I told Casey, "Quick, grab the camera! I have both babies and neither are crying!!" haha

We also met with our favorite photog and had her snap a few shots of the babes.

We originally planned this session so AC could have her picture made with baby chicks. Turns out she is deathly afraid of small animals, chickens, goats, baby bunnies, even freaked over a frog recently. Who knows with her. haha.
C could have cared less. 


Be back later with basket ideas and an easter tablescape.