Hooked On...

What are you hooked on? That's what Julia at Hooked on Houses wants to know. There are a couple of things that I'm hooked on . The first is this:

Derek and I rarely ever miss NCIS. We even watch the reruns on USA network. My week just isn't complete until Tony gets "Gibbs-ed" at least once!

The second thing I'm hooked on is reading blogs. My Bloglines list has recently grown to 37 blogs (I know, I know, I have to get a life). I try to check on them every evening after work (its my way of decompressing) and sometimes even at lunchtime. I get so much inspiration from you gals! I often wonder if the dollar stores and Goodwill see a bump in sales whenever someone in Blog Land's post about a thrifting trip or project!

So, what are you hooked on?

The Snowball Effect...

You know what happens just as soon as you get one project done around the house? You start finding other things that must be done. All of a sudden things that looked perfectly fine not too long ago seem in desperate need of redoing now that the new stuff is in place. We're going through this around here. The new floors are done, so we've been thinking that we might need to upgrade a few other things. As you might remember, Derek works in the office of a building supply company. Handy, huh? Yesterday he came home and said that he bought me an early Christmas present: new countertops for our kitchen!

When I was a kid, our kitchen had butcher block laminate countertop. I hated that countertop (Mom still has it today, but she likes it about as much as I did). I always said that someday, when I had my own house, I would not have a butcher block countertop. When we moved in our house nine years ago, guess what kind of countertop the builder put in the kitchen? You guessed it, butcher block. Did I mention I hated that kind of countertop? Well, I've lived with it for nine years, knowing that 1) countertops are expensive, and 2) it was still in good shape, so my frugal self couldn't justify changing them.

But when we put in our new floors, it became apparent that we were now suffering from wood-tone overload. Look at our wood floor, wood cabinets, and wood-looking counters:


Pretty soon, though (maybe as soon as next week), those countertops will look like this:
Its called "Labrador Granite" and its from Formica. Its still laminate, but I think its much prettier than what we have now. In fact, I actually don't think real granite would suit our house. We don't have a big grand house, so laminate will do just fine.
I can't wait to get them installed. I think Derek did pretty well, don't you?

All Dried Up...

Well, the work is finally done! We still keep finding dust everywhere (the Swiffer has become my new best friend!), but it is getting better. I have to say that Derek did a great job picking out this floor. Can you believe I let my husband pick it out without me having seen it until it was already partially installed? It isn't what I thought I'd like (the rustic-look usually isn't my style), but I really do love it. It goes with our house beautifully. Now, granted, it isn't hardwood (not in the budget), but it works for us.

Here are a couple of pictures:

We are definitely in the market for a rug for the living room and for under the dining room table. And boy, a hard floor does make things a lot louder! That will take some getting used to. Let me just give everyone a little word of advice...if your water heater is getting up there in years, better check it out. Ours was just over 9 years old, which is about the time many of them start giving out. And when you do put in a new one, please invest about $20 and install one of these:

Believe me, we now have an overflow pan under our water heater! Hopefully we won't ever need it, but at least we won't have a pond in our house again (at least not from the water heater).

Progress...

The hammering and sawing has commenced! As I type, our very own Handy Mannys are in the living room finishing up the installation of our new flooring. And let me just say I love it! It will be a while, though, before I get all the dust cleaned up. Good thing that I have a sub for tomorrow and can spend my day off cleaning.
I'd take pictures of the progress, but my camera battery is dead. Not to mention that the workmen will probably wonder what in the world this crazy woman is doing snapping pictures of them working.
I'll charge my battery up tonight and after the furniture is back in the right rooms, I'll take a few pics to share.

It's Always Something...

You know what they say, if it isn't one thing, its two. That sure does ring true around here. You see, Tuesday morning, as I was trying to get my children out of bed so I could get them ready for school, I decided that I needed to go in the kitchen for something. As my foot stepped into the dining room, I felt my foot go 'squoosh'. Yes, the water heater kicked the bucket (too bad there wasn't a bucket nearby-we sure could have used one!) and our dining room was turned into a pond. What a lovely way to start the day!
The good part is that our homeowner's insurance is going to pay to fix the damage. And the better part is that we are replacing that old, stained carpet with laminate floating floor. We've planned to do this for a long time, and thanks to an unfortunate situation, it's finally getting done.
Here's what it looks like right now. What do you think-should I keep this look?

There she is, banished to the deck, sitting there trying to look innocent. "Who, me?" she seems to ask...

The vinyl flooring in the laundry closet is going in Saturday morning, and the laminate will go down Tuesday. Until then we're living with the table, chairs, and microwave cart in the living room. Its a little squished, but the kids love eating directly in front of the TV. Hopefully we'll get it all back together before my and Derek's birthdays next week. I'll update you as progress continues.

Purty Punkins...

As if I needed another reason to buy more pumpkins and purty them up, here's what I found at Melissa's blog, "The R Family Diaries":Aren't they just the cutest? And so easy! All you need is a pumpkin, ribbon, and our dear old friend, Hot Glue Gun. Check it out the directions here.

Twenty Things I Love About Fall...

No Spring nor Summer Beauty hath such grace

As I have seen in one Autumnal face.

--John Donne

The other day, Melissa over at The Inspired Room posted her favorite things about Fall. It got me thinking. Fall has always been my favorite season. Hot, sticky weather and I have never gotten along very well, so I love the cool, crisp weather that autumn brings. Not to mention the beautiful fall decor and, of course, Halloween candy!

Melissa has invited all of us to share our favorite things about the season and to share it with everyone over at her blog. Here's my list:

Twenty things I love about Fall

crisp leaves under my foot
red, gold, and orange
cool evenings around the fire pit
apple picking
jack o’lantern carving
Yankee Candle Harvest candle (oh yeah)
sweater weather
trick or treaters
candy corn
scarecrows and foddershocks
Derek’ chili
the end of allergy season!
picking pumpkins at the pumpkin patch
my birthday!
apple pie, apple turnovers, apple cider…
Mom’s homemade soup
caramel apples
sweet potato casserole
funnel cakes at the Daniel Boone Festival
hayrides

Be sure to visit Melissa and share your own list!

Remembering a Ragamuffin...

I'm taking a well-deserved day off today. I have been having some trouble with my back the past few days, so I decided to stay home and let it rest rather than chasing children around all day. Since I had some extra time on my hands, I dug out my MP3 player and settled down with the laptop. I was listening to my favorite Christian artist, Rich Mullins, thoroughly enjoying some music I haven't listened to in ages, when I googled him and found my way to a website run by Rich's brother and sister-in-law. As I read, I realized that today was the 11th anniversary of Rich Mullins' death. How strange that after so long, the day that I pull out my Rich Mullins' music is the date of his passing.

In memory in a man who had a truly God-given gift of words and music...

And this one just for fun...

Copycat...

So while I was perusing Blanca's blog I found a picture of those beautiful blue canning jars that she has on her kitchen table and that are full of silverware. And even though I don't have any of the blue jars, I was lucky enough to have a box of canning jars up on the top shelf of the garage (I knew they'd come in handy for something!). I got them down and got busy. See, I'd been looking for something to replace the plain white crock that held all of our cooking utensils. It didn't really look bad, but it wasn't all that fabulous either. And when I saw Blanca's jars, a light bulb went on in my head. Here's what I came up with:

I separated the utensils by plastic, wood, and metal and gave each group its own jar. I tied some gingham ribbon around the mouth (I think I need some wider ribbon, though) and added an "S" for our last name on the front jar. I didn't have a basket to put them in (I love Blanca's wire one!), so I'll be on the lookout for one the next time I go thrifting. Thanks for the idea Blanca!

A Sea of Blue...

Last Saturday, I got to experience my very first University of Kentucky football game (go Cats!). Derek and I got tickets from his boss and rode up with another man Derek works with and his wife. Now, I'd been to a UK basketball game years ago, but quickly found that this was a totally different experience.

I knew that many people tailgate before the games, but I sure didn't expect what I saw in the fields surrounding Commonwealth Stadium. When we rounded the corner on Alumni Drive, I saw what first appeared to be an enormous gypsy camp, except they were all wearing blue and were flying UK flags over their campers and RVs. I've never seen anything like it! Unfortunately, thanks to the horrible traffic, we were too late to partake in the tailgating festivities.

On the good side, we lucked out and had excellent seats. They were in a higher section than we initially thought they'd be, but we could see everything. The weather was perfect and the Cats ended up winning, 38-3. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday evening!

We will never forget...

Guilty as charged...

Ever have one of those moments when you're just minding your own business, thinking that you're looking pretty good, then notice that your skirt is tucked up into your pantyhose? After you've already left the house and been seen by about a hundred people? That's sort of how it was for me when I read this post about fake flowers by the Nester. I realized that all the fake greenery that I thought was making my house pretty was actually the modern equivalent of velvet wallpaper. The good news is that I've realized the error of my ways and have committed to change. I even threw out the three bunches of ivy that I had up on my kitchen cabinets (I'm still trying to get used to it being so empty!). Change takes time, though. If you look really closely around my home, you'll still see some pockets of resistance.

Exhibit A: the piano. I actually still like the greenery in the pot on the right, but the one on the left is admittedly horrible. I wanted to put out my urn but didn't have anything to put in it and still haven't been anywhere to get something. So we'll have to live with it for a few more days.

Exhibit B: the TV table. Okay, I know we were supposed to get rid of all this ivy, but this one really does serve a purpose. When we had our plasma installed and wired for satellite, the satellite guy (under Derek's direction) fed the cables through the wall and back out so they could be hooked up to the receiver and surround sound. However, we overestimated the height of the unassembled table we'd gotten to go under the TV and were left with a visable hole with protruding wires. To hide it, I got out this basket and stuffed it with ivy. Voila! Problem solved!

Until I find something that looks good and hides the wires, this puppy's staying.

Do you have any fakes that you need to set free? Put on your dancing shoes and waltz on over to the Nester's P.O.O.P.I.E. Party (People Opposing Objectionable Pretend plants In the Environment). Be sure to check out everyone's links to their far-from-fabulous fakes and if you're so inclined, share some of your own!

5 Things...

Christy at Between Here and Home shared this Meme with her readers and I thought I’d give it a try…

5 things under $5 I couldn't live without...
1.) Strawberry slushes from Sonic
2.) Chicken McNuggets with sweet and sour sauce.
3.) Olay face wash
4.) toenail polish
5.) Diet Mountain Dew

5 favorite movies...
1.) Father of the Bride (the Spencer Tracy/Elizabeth Taylor version)
2.) Christmas in Connecticut
3.) Pillow Talk
4.) The Sound of Music
5.) Pride and Prejudice

5 baby names I love...
1.) Elizabeth
2.) Andrew
3.) Emma
4.) Chloe
5.) Matthew

5 songs I love...
1) Fingerprints of God (Steven Curtis Chapman)
2) Shout to the Lord (Darlene Zschech)
3) Jesus Loves Me
4) Greatest Story Ever Told (Avalon)
5) The Glory (Avalon)

5 life changing moments...
1) The day I accepted Jesus Christ.
2) Getting married to Derek.
3) Becoming a mother.
4) Getting my first teaching job.
5) The day I decided which college to go to and which NOT to go to

5 current obsessions...
1) blogging
2) decorating my house
3) bargain shopping and thrifting
4) savoring time with my family
5) replacing our old, worn out carpet

5 places I want to go...
1) Great Britain
2) Mackinac Island, MI
3) The Holy Land
4) Paris
5) New England

5 appliances or kitchen tools I could not live without...
1) My KitchenAid mixer
2) dishwasher
3) rubber “spoon-ula”
4) cake decorating kit
5) our Cooks’s Essentials hard anodized chicken fryer

Dressed for Fall...

"Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower." -Albert Camus



Even though the temperature hovered around 90 degrees here today and will be in the 80's at least for the next week, I am getting a serious case of Autumn fever. However, I seem to have broken out at a good time. It's Fall Nesting Week over at The Inspired Room! Melissa even has Mr. Linky going so we can all share how we are getting ready for fall.


Now, even though I am completely ready for 65 degree temperatures, cardigan sweaters, bonfires, and changing leaves, my house isn't quite ready yet. This is what I have so far:

I know. Overwhelming, isn't it? But its a start. I think this year I'll get an autumn wreath for the front door, and of course, a scarecrow for the front porch (Big Lots has some really cute ones for only $6). I'd also love to make one of those pumpkin topiaries. Something like this:

Not my house, by the way. Although I wish my entryway were this pretty! And I'm still wishing I could paint my door!

Be sure to stop by The Inspired Room and check out all the fall inspiration (and maybe even leave some of your own!)