Cooking Up A New Kitchen

I think most everyone would agree that the kitchen is the heart of the home.... And that no matter how small your kitchen may be everyone tries to cram into it when you have guests over.  What is it with that anyway?  There are perfectly good couches and chairs in the living room, but instead everyone wants to stand up and fight for elbow room in the kitchen!??!  I love it.  And I'm finally starting to love our kitchen.  Check out the progress.

You see, when we first moved in, this is what our kitchen looked like...  It had awesome wallpaper that had fruit in a diamond pattern, a fluorescent light fixture, laminate counters, and a sink that had a chunk missing off the edge.  I won't even bother mentioning that the faucet was wiggly despite our best efforts (see...not even mentioning it!).

Despite all its flaws, you could tell it was a much loved kitchen, but so totally not my style.  I'm also not a huge fan of these particular white cabinets and appliances, but we're working with those for now.  The cabinets will probably stay for as long as we own the home, but I'm gunning for new stainless appliances when Uncle Sam cuts us a refund check in another month or so. Keep your fingers crossed for me that Mr. Man obliges.

Now, for the overhaul....  One of the first things I did was paint.  I just love how quickly this can transform a room.  For this kitchen, though, it wasn't super quick since I had to take down the wallpaper.  Once that was down, though, I painted the back wall Behr's Elephant Skin.  It's such a dark, smoky gray color, and since the rest of the downstairs is a lighter gray, it's not overwhelming.  I also love how it contrasts against the white cabinets, and it should look amazing with the stainless appliances I'm getting soon (hint, hint Mr. Man).

The second thing we did was focus on lighting.  There was only one major source of light in this room, and it was from the overhead fluorescent fixture you see in the photo above.  This left the countertop area significantly lacking in the light department.  So one night after the babe went to sleep, I got busy installing undercabinet lights.  This project was super, super easy and cost efficient.  Please, please give it a try if you need extra lighting in your kitchen.  In fact, even if you don't need the light, do it because it looks cool.  There's probably a tutorial post on installing these lights coming soon from me just because I want everyone to do it!!!  In under two hours and for less than $30, we had improved our kitchen task lighting 1000%.

Once the undercabinet lights were installed, we tackled the fluorescent light fixture.  I was a little nervous about this one because we had never taken down a giant box 'o light before, but it was as easy as taking down a couple of screws.   In its place, I debated installing a DIY pendant fixture, a basic flushmount ceiling fixture, or track lighting.  I was worried that a pendant or flushmount light wouldn't put out enough general purpose light, but I was also worried that track lighting was sooooo 1983.  To combat my indecisiveness, I looked through tons of inspiration images online and finally talked myself into installing this track lighting fixture.  It truly made the most sense for our space because it would span the length of the room, and boy am I glad I talked myself into it.  The fixture we chose has a modern feel and it really does a great job providing general lighting.

The track lighting was a little harder to install than the undercabinet lights, but the directions that came with it were pretty easy to follow and we got it up and operable in about three hours.  The trickest part of this installation was getting the layout of the track the way I wanted it, but Mr. Man was patient (haaa, yeah right!) and we finally got it installed with only some minor bleeding and bickering from me (aaahhh, why do I always hurt myself during these projects?!??!).

So, this is the kitchen with the paint and lighting updates!  Like it?  Love it?  Hate it?  Wish we had the fruity wallpaper back?  Let me know what you think!!

That's enough on the kitchen for now....but I have a feeling I'll have another update for you shortly.  Can you guess what we changed out next or what's still on my to-do list?  In the meantime, if you have any kitchen redo ideas or before / after images, please share them.  I would love to see what you've been up to or what's inspiring you.

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Moving On Up! Gallery Wall Inspirations

On Monday, I mentioned here that I had a plan brewing for a gallery wall.  Our goal is to find a unique and creative way to display family photos, including possibly an American flag and military items, like dog tags, that belonged to Mr. Man's dad.  We really want to bring the warmth of cherished family photos into our home that we can easily show to the babe.

For whatever reason, I tend to keep personal family photos and collectibles upstairs in our house.  Downstairs, I tend to display photos in frames on tables and such, but I even try to keep those to a minimum.  It's not that I don't want people looking at our photos...  I think it's just that I feel like photos can be pretty personal and who really wants to look at all of ours (besides us!)?  Anyway, the point I'm getting to here is that I'm thinking about installing a family photo gallery in the stairwell that leads upstairs.  The lighting in that area isn't awesome, but I've been dreaming up an idea for that, too!  Right now, there's just a tiny little light at the top of the steps, but I want to make my own pendant light and swag it so it hangs in the middle of the stairwell.  I think that would really help light up the new gallery wall and make the space more appealing.  More on that project later, though, but for now here's what our stairs look like.  Pretty blah, huh?

Unfortunately, I don't have any big reveal to show you today....and it's probably going to be awhile before I get around to installing our gallery wall.  In the meantime, though, here are some inspiration images I've pulled that I'm going to use as my guide.  Check them out and if you have any you think are awesome, link them up and let me know about them!!  I need all the inspiration I can get and would love to see what you've done or what inspires you! 

I L.O.V.E. the eclectic mix of frames on this wall!  Gorgeous!  From Kasey Buick.

This one seems very organized!  I like it, but not sure this is the direction I want to go.  From Apartment Therapy.

I also love, love this one!  It's a good mix between the first and second images.  From Design Sponge.

Want more?  Head on over to the Inspired Room for more gallery wall images.

In the meantime, I need to get to painting so I'll have something new to show you soon!  Take care!

Rods, rods and more rods!

It's the small things in life that make you happy, right?! Well, this one makes me VERY happy, and if you like saving money, hopefully I can spread the happiness to you.

When we bought the house, I knew I would want to put up curtains in the living and dining rooms.  The windows had standard white wooden blinds, which were nice, but I always like to soften them a bit more with fabric panels on either side.  Let's take a trip down memory lane and check out the living room before we moved in....  We've made lots of updates since then, but today's post is going to focus on the windows.

THE QUEST FOR CHEAP COST EFFICIENT CURTAINS

In previous houses, I always purchased curtains at Bed, Bath & Beyond or some other large home store.  Because I like to hang the curtains near the ceiling, those panels are long and costly!  Usually around $50 a panel.  With a new baby and a pause on my paycheck, I just didn't want to spend that much this time around.  So, I hit up the internet in search of some basic white drapery panels.  I landed on some awesome sailcloth curtains on a website called Linens 4 Less.  I wasn't sure about the company, but read some online reviews and took a risk!  It paid off.  I got eight panels of 95 inch long white sailcloth curtains for less than $130 total.  I think they're comparable to other similar designer options, like Pottery Barn's, that are on sale for $31 per panel.  Next time, though, I'll try making my own, but I'm happy with these for now!

I used to always buy my own curtain rods, too, and if you've checked out window hardware lately, you know it can get expensive.  Sure, you can find some less expensive options at Target, but I wanted something super sturdy (since I have large double windows to span) and figured I could make my own for less.  Plus, these rods are darn near indestructible.  

MAKE YOUR OWN CURTAIN RODS 

Here's the quick tutorial on making your own rods... I promise they're easy and less than $5 per window!  The hardest part is getting up the nerve to go to Home Depot or Lowe's to purchase some of the smaller screws and brackets you need.  If you're worried about this, just take a baby to the store with you, let the kid get good and worked up, and I bet you'll get some help quickly and you'll be out of there in no time!  :)

Step 1:  Measure the length of your window and determine how long you want your rod to be.  This rod won't be adjustable like those off the shelf, so measure twice!  Example:  My windows are 6 feet long and I wanted 6 inches extra on either side, so I wanted my rod seven feet long.

Step 2:  Head to your favorite home improvement store with your list, measurements, and enthusiasm!  Buy all this stuff!  

• 1/2 inch EMT (electrical metallic tubing) conduit cut to length - this will be in the electrical section of the store and they'll cut it to length for you!  Bonus!
• 1/2 inch conduit straps - we found these in the building materials section.  I used two per rod, but if you have an exceptionally long window, you may need three.
• 2.5 inch L brackets - again you'll use two per rod normally, or three if the window is super long.
• Nut and bolt to attach conduit strap to L bracket (determine quantity based on whether you're doing two or three sets per window)  - I totally goofed and didn't write down the measurements for the nut and bolt we purchased, but just stroll on over to the hardware aisle with your L brackets and conduit straps and find them while you're there....easy peasy.  
• Spray paint for metal surfaces in the color you want (I, of course, chose black!)
• Screws and wall anchors to attach the L brackets to your wall - I used some we already had on hand.

Step 3:  Once you have all of your supplies, you'll see this really is a super easy project and the hardware you bought looks nearly identical to what you pull out of commercially sold packages.  Now, for the fun part!  Take your conduit, straps, brackets and hardware outside and get to spray painting!  I did three coats on my conduit and just made sure all of the other hardware and accessories had good coverage in areas that would show once installed.

Step 4:  Once the paint is good and dry, start installing just like any regular curtain rod.  You can use my picture as a guide, but these rods are super easy to put together and hang.  Just measure like you normally would for any rod installation.

Step 5:  Enjoy the rewards of your hard work and splurge on a nice dinner and drinks with all that money you just saved by making your own.  Here's what a finished rod and drapes look like in my house.

If you're super ambitious, you can make finials, too.  Just shove a 1/2 inch piece of 5/8" dowel into the ends of the rod.  Once the dowel rod is inserted, you can screw reclaimed cabinet knobs into the dowels for a finished look.  This is where you can get super creative!!!  :)  I'm planning to do this someday when I run across the perfect knobs, but it hasn't happened yet. 

Okay, that's enough for now.  If you have any questions, just let me know.  I promise this is super easy and so worth the effort.

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Life Unscripted & The Man On The Plane

This post is going to be a little different than my others and after lots of thought...  I'm good with that.  You see, I had all these grand plans for the blog.  Sharing DIY projects and an occasional happy-go-lucky post about the bambino.  BUT, that's not all life throws at us.  So, in the spirit of keeping it real, I'm going to post about life these last ten days. 

I don't want to pour my heart on the internet (that's so not me!), so I'm going to publish this post using the guidance of J* (insert photo of Mr. Man rolling eyes here).  For those of you that don't cyber stalk Jasmine Star, she's an amazing photographer I blog stalk daily and she lives by her Man On The Airplane Rule.  Basically, she only blogs about things she'd be comfortable telling the dude sitting next to her on a plane.  I think that's a fair rule, especially since I once set beside a guy that reassured me "it will be over soon" as we lost an engine 3,000 feet up in the air after takeoff.  I'm pretty sure I would have had some choice things to tell Mr. Optimistic had I been able to actually make small talk instead of freaking out that it indeed would be over all too soon...  Anyway, I digress (and clearly lived to tell this story so he was right).

These last ten days have been tough.  They have also been super unproductive, blah, and sad.   Mr. Man's dad took a turn for the worse on St. Patty's Day and passed away last Saturday the 19th.  The funeral was this past Thursday, and since then Mr. Man's been sick and I've been generally blah.  This doesn't make for much productive work around the house.  The master bedroom paint job still isn't done (I did at least put the furniture back in place), the headboard project hasn't been started and the garden isn't planted (we did buy seeds though).  BUT, I'm good with all that; it gives me lots to look forward to.

I just don't feel like posting some little DIY project update today like nothing has been going on the past week or so; it wouldn't feel right, plus I don't really have anything amazing to share.  Instead, I want to tell you folks sitting in the airplane seat beside me that Mr. Man had an amazing dad and so did I.  They were both taken from this earth too soon for our liking (mine in 1995), but we both know they're in a much better place and free from their earthly illnesses.  We both have peace in that, but it still doesn't make it easy. 

Mr. Man and His Dad

Me with My Dad

We have been talking about memories, laughing at funny stories and thinking about how our perspective has changed since we have our own child now.  Yes, these last ten days have been tough, but they have also been inspiring.  Life does go on and we have a precious 8 month old daughter to keep it exciting.  So, here's to us making new memories with her so someday she can look back and remember all the good times she had with us.  Hopefully, she'll also remember how to take a break every once in awhile...  :)  We'll also be telling her all kinds of stories about her grandfathers and showing her lots of photos of them (on a lovely photo wall we'll be installing soon!). 

So, there you have it.  Hopefully, I didn't get too mushy.  We can't have a 6ish foot tall chick wondering around out here on the internet getting sappy.  BACK TO REGULAR BLOGGING SOON!  PROMISE!  For my own sanity.

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary...

...how does your garden grow?  With silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row.

Now, imagine hearing that lovely nursery rhyme at many points over your lifetime.  After the millionth time of hearing it and not having a good comeback, it gets old.  Anyway, the point of my rambling is that AT LAST I will have a reply to all of the lovely people that like to recite this rhyme to me.  That's right folks.... we're starting a vegetable garden!

This won't be just any ordinary garden, though.  No way, no how.  We're doing it up yuppie style (or at least that's what we were muttering to ourselves after the 20th wheelbarrow load of soil).

See, Mr. Man and I were raised in the country where people do crazy things like planting their entire backyards as vegetable gardens...and get this...they plant stuff in regular old dirt.  Believe it or not, these people actually manage to get vegetables to grow in such dire conditions.  He-he-he...Yes, yes, I know I'm going a bit far.  Pretty much every farmer sticks seeds or plants directly into the ground and they grow.

The point I'm getting to (slowly) is that for some reason Mr. Man and I decided this just isn't good enough for us now that we live in the biiig city, so the yuppies we bought three cubic yards of the finest dirt around.  It's a 70 / 30 compost and soil blend, and it should grow just about anything.  For now, though, I can still hear my brother cackling in my ear and taunting me about how silly it is to buy dirt.  We'll see who's laughing later brother, dear, when we're growing some major stuff.  Well, here's to hoping anyway....

As for the actual garden, since the dog considers the backyard her personal toilet, I mandated that we had to have a raised bed.  The thought of the Alfster doing her business in the garden more than grossed me out.  Please note that I'm totally blocking out the fact that there is cow poop manure in our fancy compost/soil blend.  Don't mention it, please!  I am blocking. it. out. 

Now, you would think plans for a raised garden would be pretty straightforward, but there were a million options.  Finally, we decided to dream up our own plan (dangerous!), but I will admit it's pretty close to The Pioneer Woman's version.  The main difference is that ours took less than an hour to assemble because we took a bunch of shortcuts that resulted in this.

Instead of giving you a step-by-step guide on how we constructed it, here's the short and dirty version.  We used 12 inch tall and 8 foot long pieces of untreated lumber for the main portion of our frame.  We connected the pieces together with supports in each corner and screwed them all together with exterior grade screws.  Once we had all four sections assembled, we took rebar and put it around the outside of the four sections (about three pieces per side to help add some reinforcement).  The rebar was our version of stobs (triple bonus points to anyone that knows what I mean by stobs without googling - see photo below, too!).  We were also careful to check that we had the corners square, and we also checked to ensure the entire frame was level.  When adjustments were needed, we grabbed some tree limbs out of the woods behind our house to bring it level.  We weren't super concerned about structural integrity, though, because we're thinking the untreated lumber may only hold up a couple years anyway.  We just wanted to make sure that when we filled it up with dirt that the sides wouldn't collapse like this!  I also added some cardboard boxes as the bottom layer to help prevent weeds and they'll eventually compost, too. 

For now, this is what the garden looks like after all of our wonder-soil was added.  More to come once we actually get around to planting.  As for now, I have a lovely sketch in my notebook of what we're planting, how much space they need to grow, etc.  I have a sinking feeling that it's not going to end up the way I've drawn it out, but at least we have a plan.  Now, if we could just find the time to actually plant something.

If you have any tips or thoughts on the garden, please, please share!!  We need all the help we can get!

PS - Please remember us in your thoughts and prayers over the coming days.  Mr. Man's father passed away last weekend (hence the gap in blog posts) and we're preparing for the funeral and spending lots of time with family.

**Mary, Mary Quite Contrary image from here:  http://www.teachersandfamilies.com/nursery/marymary.html

Let There Be Light!

Sometimes, it is just so refreshing when you can knock out a project quickly and reap the rewards without blood (since this usually accompanies my projects thanks to being clumsy), sweat, and / or tears.  Thankfully, this is one of those projects!! 

Since we moved in, I had my eye on replacing the lovely light fixture you see in this picture.   It worked with the previous decor and paint colors (also seen in this picture before we bought the house), and I'm sure the previous owners loved it, BUT it just isn't my style. 

It's an oil rubbed bronze fixture and it has hooks for pots and grape leaves around the bottom.  Yeah, not my thing...  But, if it's your thing, it's your l-u-c-k-y day (you can pick it up on craigslist)!

I wanted something more modern and sleek that would blend in easily once I made some additional updates to the kitchen (like my future plan of building cornices for the windows - like these from the Domestic Adventure blog).   Most importantly, I didn't want to spend much money.  Remember, a vacation from the corporate world doesn't come easy, you know!

I searched all over the internet for inspiration and even found this great article from Design*Sponge that had lots of fabulous options for under $100.  I finally ended up purchasing this light from Home Depot for less than $30 and I love it.  It's 16 inches wide, which is a good size for this eat-in kitchen area (we have a formal dining room I'll blog about later, too).  The best news, though, is that it only took a half hour to install!  Now, that's darn near instant gratification.  Check it out!  Ooohhhh-la-la!

If you're looking for a quick, inexpensive update that can help set the mood for your room, consider updating some lights or even putting existing lights on a dimmer (that's cheap and quick, too!).  There are also lots of inexpensive lighting options on craigslist that you can find and revamp!!  If you have any fun lighting projects, I would love to hear all about them.  In the meantime, I'm going to go sit under my lovely new pendant light and feed the babe breakfast!

PS - I'll blog more later about all of the other updates you see in the picture above when compared to the house before we moved in....   I have to pace myself!  I also wanted to share this handy guide for determining the right size and placement for your light fixtures.

Getting Busy In The Boudoir

Here's a quick peek into the master bedroom project...which is totally a work in progress.  With an 8 month old, things. go. slowly.  Very slowly and it drives me nuts, so blogging about it is a way to make myself feel better.  Like maybe things are progressing even though we're living in a room with all the furniture pushed into the middle and even the dog doesn't like to be in there anymore, but I digress.

The master bedroom in the new house is WAY bigger than what we had in the old place.  There's room for a king size bed (at last! we don't have to cuddle), nightstands, dressers and a sitting area.  At this point, though, we're sporting the semi-college lifestyle.  We have the bed on the basic mattress store frame, two Pottery Barn nightstands I've had for-eva, a console table and a rolling kitchen island.  Heaven help me.  Yes, we have a kitchen island in our bedroom, and I just admitted it on the internet.  I have plans, though, swear.  I want to find an "old" dresser or credenza to put under the TV (and replace the island).  That's another project, though, and in the meantime, don't hate on the island too much. It's eclectic, riiiight?!?

Now, for the grand plan... drumroll, please. 

First, I knew we needed a headboard, and I've always wanted to make my own upholstered headboard.  So, I started scanning the fabric aisles at Jo-Ann Fabrics and found a few samples I liked.  There were about 5 contenders mainly in shades of green and blue, but I just couldn't figure out how I would tie some of them into the room.  I knew I didn't want to paint the room blue or green, though.  So, I ended up selecting an ahhhhmazing Bohemiam print.  It has lots of different colors, it looks funky (and that's what I am going for), and I knew I could find a color in it that would work as our primary paint color.  Best of all, it was on sale for 40% off so the babe and I scooped up three yards and skipped walked out of the store.

Once I had the fabric in hand, I drove immediately across the street to Lowe's to pick up paint swatches.  I couldn't contain myself, for real.  I picked up a TON of swatches, everything from the pretty mustard color you see, to brown, to darn near black.  When I got back home, I started the process of taping them onto the walls so I could annoy Mr. Man at least ten times daily by pestering him about which he preferred.  After a few days of staring endlessly at the swatches, I declared a winner (Earl Gray from Olympic), and I was in luuurve.  So much so I even declared my love for the new color by drawing a heart on the wall.  Actually, I only do that to annoy Mr. Man.  Mu-ha-ha-ha....

Fabric and paint selections are accomplished and here's a photo of the happy couple together.  Don't you just love when the fabric comes with that great color key, too?  Yes, I'll be using that later for accessories and accent paint colors thank. you. very. much.

Just one more quick note on the paint.  I had been using Behr's Premium Plus paints for quite some time, but decided to finally make the switch over to Oympic's Zero VOC paint.  I used to get really bad headaches after painting, and I've been super worried about painting effects on the babe, so I made the leap and so far, so good.  I like the coverage, it has virtually no smell, and it is less expensive than the Behr paint I had been using.  WIN, WIN, WIN.  And I must give a shout-out to Young House Love for blogging all about this brand; it was their blogging that encouraged me to give it a try.  Even better, I'm happy to report the painting is **almost** done and it looks fantastic!  I am finishing up the second coats today and tomorrow, and then hopefully this weekend I can get the supplies for the headboard project.  In the meantime, I am asking Mr. Man to hold up the fabric in the room nearly every day just so I can fist pump and giggle like a school girl at how fabulous it's going to look.

PS - I cracked myself up with the title of this blog post.  For some reason, the babe just didn't get the joke when I tried it out on her.  Ahhh, 8 month olds and their senses of humor.

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

Here's a quick mirror project I knocked out last week, and I'm so happy with the new light and attitude it brings to our living room.

First, a quick peek of the living room area before (sorry pic was taken at night while our sweet pea was sleeping).

We had this fabulous, large and deep mirror that was given to us as a wedding gift.  I love, love, love everything about it, but the dark wood just doesn't go with the white trim and light wall colors in the new casa.  It has been sitting in a closet since we moved in, and frankly I had thought of selling it but couldn't bring myself to do it since it was a gift.  Thankfully, though, I woke up one night last week and had an idea (insert picture of Mr. Man rolling his eyes here)!

Here's a picture of the mirror before.  I had already started doing a light sand on it with fine grit sandpaper.  I sanded for less than 5 minutes on the whole thing; no biggie.  I never spend too much time sanding and thankfully it hasn't backfired...yet.  

After sanding, I put four coats of Kilz primer on it.  Why four?  I kept seeing a lovely pinkish tint coming through the primer, so I knew the dark wood stain was bleeding through and I wanted to make sure that didn't happen.  After four coats of primer, I painted on the dark gray base color that I also have as an accent wall in the dining room (Behr's Elephant Skin).

I let that dry and then I dry brushed on basic white trim paint.  For this technique, I dipped the brush in the paint and blotted off the excess on paper towels.  Then I VERY lightly brushed over the surface of the mirror and if the paint looked too heavy, I wiped it off with paper towels.  Lets just say that it's a very forgiving technique and I didn't approach it scientifically; I followed my heart (gag!).  I think it left me with a very interesting looking paint job.  To me, it looks weathered and old, which blends in perfectly with the antique pie safe in the before photo above.

Originally, I had visions of painting it a dramatic color, like lime green,  orange, etc.  BUT, since I'm yet to put any other striking colors in the room (there are plans for that later!!), I went with something a bit safer.  And you know what?  I like it.  I kind of like that the new color doesn't pop off the wall so much and all you really see is the reflection from the window across from it.  Since the room is tiny, I think it makes sense.  Can you tell I'm trying to make myself feel better for not painting it a more dramatic color?

That said, I really do like it, and someday when I find the perfect accent fabric, I'll likely give it another facelift with the dramatic color I'm dreaming of...  For now, though, it makes me happy, happy, happy.  Which is a great reflection to see in that ol' mirror.

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Yard Projects and Family Time, Oh My!!

This weekend was, errrr, good.

Saturday we got tons of things done around the house. We had a leisurely breakfast, and I enjoyed a HOT cup of coffee. That's right, folks, I got to drink my coffee while it was still hot and little one played quietly on the floor. Amazing start to the day. But anyway, back to the house projects. The weather was fabulous so we seeded and fertilized the lawn. Keeping our fingers crossed it works out, but I have to admit I'm skeptical. The guy that lived here before was a landscaper (it was his J.O.B.), but the yard looked like crap by the middle of last summer. SOOOO, here's to hoping that our non-pro efforts will pay off. If they don't, I'm burning the whole yard (or at least that's what I declared to Mr. Man while painfully putting straw over the yard).

After that, we started on our raised vegetable garden and I got a coat of paint on the master bedroom walls. BUT, more on those projects with later posts. I can say, though, that I'm still sore. Even the backs of my knees hurt.

The more important part of our weekend was yesterday. Mr. Man's dad is not doing well. He has atypical parkinsonism and, unfortunately, it looks like he may be in the final stages. It was heart breaking, gut wrenching and darn near any other words you can think of to describe seeing someone you care about in a position where you can't help. Praying for peace, stillness, and comfort is the best you can do. At times like these, I think life gives you a special opportunity to really look deeper into yourselves, into your partners, into everyone around you. Yesterday, I really saw Mr. Man as a devoted, loving son and also as a doting new father. Words can't do the scene justice, but I was able to watch him lovingly hold his dying father's hands and in the same moments grasp the precious, innocent hands of his infant daughter. Corny, I know, but it was like seeing life come full circle a bit. It was precious, inspiring, and something I will absolutely never forget. Last night, as we tossed and turned fighting sleep, I thanked the heavens above for sending me someone so precious as Mr. Man. Seeing him sooo differently than how he is every day ignited a newfound respect for him.

Sooo, here's to a great weekend, even though things aren't looking good for Mr. Man's dad. Say a prayer for his peace and for us as we to try to give him all the support and love we can offer in the coming days.

PS - And, here's to spring!!! Check out the beautiful old tree in the front yard that we're seeing bloom for the first time.