Front Door Project

I’ve been wanting to paint our front door for quite a while, but needed a whole day to devote to the project. This last weekend was it.

Here’s the before:

I didn’t like the white because it showed every mark and dirt spot and it really stood out from the street and became the focal point.

Materials included: 1 quart of Lincoln Cottage Black Duramax Paint from Lowe’s, a small roller with pad designed for doors, and my edging brush.

With black paint it took four coats. I started at 9am and ended with the final coat at 4pm. Here are the first three coats:

    

The black door was the perfect backdrop for the second part of this project. Adding our house numbers to the door. Currently our house numbers are on the brick next to the garage, but at night, you can’t see the house numbers…even with the lights on. So I wanted large vinyl numbers on the door that would be visible from the street. I contacted my favorite copy center and graphic designer, Alphagraphics  and Cynthia in North Liberty. Installation was simple and easy:

The finished product turned out better than I expected AND you can see the numbers clearly from the street at night!

 This was a super inexpensive house project that added an amazing amount of impact. This has been by far my favorite house project…love it!

 

 

 

Project Sneak Peek

Here’s a peek at the project I worked on this weekend. Hoping to finish it up this week and then I’ll be back with the final product.

Back to Square 1

I haven’t really done much in the eight months since I blew out my knee. I finally completed physical therapy about a month ago and now that the weather is cooling off a bit, I’m getting back at it and running and I’m hoping to pick up volleyball again this fall/winter for the indoor league.

It’s a little discouraging to be starting from scratch which makes it all the more difficult to get out there and do it. I was in pretty good shape before I tore my ACL…I played volleyball, either indoor or outdoor, most of the year and tried to get some running in every now and then.

This afternoon Josh and I hit the school track down the road from our house. Tiffin is so hilly and I’m not quite ready for hills with my knee, so the track is the perfect alternative. He provided just the motivation I need to get out there. I was not excited at all to go run, but once I stepped foot on the track and got halfway around I was feeling good. I got a mile and a half in today, half walking and half running.

It feels good to be working my way back in shape, even if I’m a little sore right now.

Part 3: Deck Work

We were finally able to start staining the deck over a week ago but haven’t been able to finish because of the threat of rain the last week.

Last night and tonight we finished it up and it looks great! It was a lot of work but very worth it. A little dry time and I’ll be able to put my deck gear back.

Loving my hair

I’m almost a year into my Locks of Love Challenge and have a long way to go still until I can donate my locks. But I’m starting to love having longer hair. I’ve been at a loss for what exactly to do with it because I’ve been a ‘bob’ girl for so long. Well, that all change today at my hair appointment.

After expressing my minor issue with my favorite stylist she said, “why don’t we curl it today.” brilliant! And after getting a look at my new hair I was sold…I’m buying a curling iron, folks

Well, what do you think?! I just hope I can pull it off on my own.

What do you think?

I was getting my celebrity fix last night on E’s website when they posed the question: Can anyone wear white to a wedding? And listed Lindsay Lohan and Pippa Middleton as examples.

What do you think…is it okay? I say heck no!

 

PS – Lindsay Lohan looks terrible in this picture!

 

Laugh it up

Josh always makes fun of my gift-giving methods. I put quite a bit of effort into picking out the perfect give…birthdays, anniversary, Christmas, babies, weddings, etc.

For example, my goal with wedding gifts is to get something that newlyweds don’t think to register for…things I didn’t register for. Serving platters, serving utensils, serving bowls, appetizer plates, etc.

Remember this wedding gift from a couple weeks back? I bought four appetizer plates (similar to these…the ones I got were on sale!), a dips cookbook, serving bowl, and tray.

Josh stopped laughing after we received the thank you note. It basically said that while they loved all the gifts they got from others off their registry, they will always remember ours because it is so unique and fun, yet practical at the same time and the bowl has now become their default salsa bowl.

Josh has now crowned me Goddess of Gift Giving!

Preventative Measures

Let me start by saying that I love my family, I think they are pretty great and I wouldn’t trade them in. But I don’t really appreciate the tidbits that are being passed down. Right now I currently have high blood pressure, but have it controlled with medication,  but I learned last night that I’ve got even more tidbits of ‘fun’ to look forward to…thanks Mom!

My mom eats very well, is in good shape and is definitely not over weight (she’s way healthier than I am!) but she learned a few months ago that she’s fat on the inside…aka, fatty liver and the like. She also has high blood pressure and high cholesterol (all hereditary). So she started counting calories, but mostly her carbohydrate intake to, try and reduce the fattiness. It’s worked very well and that diagnosis has been removed, she’s lost some weight, and has really changed her lifestyle. But, at her follow-up appointment she was diagnosed as pre-diabetic! CRAZY!

Pre-diabetes basically means that your levels are higher than normal, but not enough to be diagnosed with diabetes, but still enough to be causing damage to to your body (heart, circulatory system, etc). It still puts you at a 50% higher risk for heart disease and stroke.

I did have a little freak-out moment, but it passed and I decided I could take steps now to prevent (hopefully) a similar diagnosis. I eat pretty well now, but can still make better food choices and adjust some of my habits. Now that my knee is back to normal (for the most part) I’ll be exercising more, and I’ll start tracking my calories thanks to the ease of an iphone app. From the little research that I have done, it sounds like by reducing your weight and exercising you can actally get your levels back to normal and possibly avoid a diabetes diagnosis.

We’ll see how this goes, but I would like to shed some extra weight!

Job Well Done

Every once in a while it’s nice to get a pat on the back for a job well done. I received just that on Friday morning from a co-worker…she gifted me these beautiful flowers! 

We’ve been working hard on a project for the last five to six months and it’s finally launching this week.

It’s a good feeling to know that your appreciated and the hard work and effort put forth doesn’t go un-noticed.

Signs of Fall

My favorite time of year is knocking at the door with kids heading off to school this week and next, the University of Iowa campus is a buzz with activity after a quiet summer, and football season a handfull of days away. My favorite sign of fall are the mums, though. As soon as I see them in the store I grab a few pots and switch out my planters with mums which will add lasting color until the first hard frost.

I just planted mine in the last couple of weeks:

Very black & gold don’t you think?!

Next up are the pumpkins, apples, and hay bales!