Distressed

I may be going overboard here in a bit...I'm looking to do some distressing.  NOT to be confused with de-stressing.  I have to do that on a daily basis.
This distressing thing though is new to me.  I've always ignored the whole distressing home decor stuff.  It just hadn't ever appealed to me much. 
I love clean, shiny surfaces.
Flawless paint jobs.
Immaculate finishes.

And then, I opened my eyes and realized my style is distressed whether I want it to be or not. 
Every piece of furniture is beat up, banged up, chipped, dented, etc, etc.
So then I got this swell idea to just go with it. 
Embrace it!
So I started doing some research.  This distressing thing is apparently very "chic".  I have settled on the "look" I want.
Ready for it...

"Old World" 
Sounds nice doesn't it?  If I had a interior decorating bone in my body, I think it would be cool since our house is, in fact, OLD.
But since I don't have an ounce of interior decorating abilities, it will probably just turn out lame, but I'm gonna give it a go.
First 2 things on my list to distress:

Piano-To say it's in rough shape is an understatement.  It's nearly in the old world so might as well push it over the edge.

Kitchen cabinets-This may take some gumption ( I love that word!). I spent HOURS last year heat gunning all the previous paint off and HOURS priming and painting them a deep chocolate.  I love them.  Kinda.  They are beat up, broken.  And dirty.  I'll have to put some thought into the colors, but I think it would work.
My cabinets are basically this color now so it wouldn't take too much to get this look.

This one is a bit more distressed and I like that alot. 

Well, I guess that's not much of a list, huh?
I have home projects on the brain!  More to come later.
DISCLAIMER:  I might possibly be known for talking about doing a project and even starting it, but never actually finishing it. 

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Blog?

What's that?
I wasn't sure for awhile if I was going to continue blogging or not.  After coming out of the haze of summer, I think I'm going to keep going.  I like reading back through posts.  I like having a place to put my thoughts down and chronicle our little happenings around here. 
So after quite the break, here's a doozy for you...

This kid is funny. 
Today, he's been doodling on a dry erase board while Autumn and I are working at the table.
He says, "I'm going to draw you, Mom.  Here's your eyes and your big arms.  And your PEANUTS!"
Peanuts, you ask??
Yes, peanuts.  Whatever you think he meant is most definitely what he meant.
With a very serious face, I said, "That is very nice, but girls don't have peanuts."

A Dub

She's on her way...Just a few more hours...

We've had some seriously good times over the years!

OMAHA!

WICHITA!

TACKY CHRISTMAS SWEATER PARTY!

VOLLEYBALL AND MARGARITAS!

CAN'T FORGET FOOTBALL AND TAILGATING!

OMAHA!

We've made great memories in lots of places, with lots of amazing friends!
Can't wait to make some more!!

Slowing Down

My bible study girls and I just finished up our most recent book. 
A Good and Beautiful God.  It's a good one.
Our last chapter was about slowing down.  
It's hard.  Most of the time.
Some days, it's too easy.
I'm not completely sold on the idea that this disease of over-working is a new phenomenon.  I think previous generations of working class Americans worked harder then we do today.  They spent their days working to sustain a modest, humble lifestyle.  We work today to buy more clothes, appliances, tvs, ipods, cell phone, computers and filler STUFF. 
Our expectations of a "good" life are high.  A "good" life looks a certain way, feels a certain way in our minds and we try so hard to achieve and maintain that image.  We're susceptable to the marketing and imagery and pressure to do more, be more and have more, but all that costs more so we work more to live up to that idea.
It's a powerful pull.
It often takes a conscious effort to recognize what is truly good and valuable...relationships, peace, faith are all meaningful to me, but I'm certain my daily life doesn't always reflect that.
Slowing down makes us pause.  We often move at such a pace that we don't even recognize how fast we're moving.
Sometimes just a pause is all it takes to notice the pace of our lives.  Some people (ME!!) need a whole lot of pauses to see that they need to slow down. 
I'm working on my internal speedometer.  Life just moves fast sometimes, but my inner "speed" can be calm and peaceful.  I can hit the brakes, externally, too.  We don't HAVE to be everywhere, in everything.  I feel like it's part of my responsibility as a parent to guard our kids from that mentality too.  It's so pervasive.  And often comes one little activity at a time.
Now, the irony in all this, is my next few weeks are CRAZY busy!  I will have ample opportunity to work on my peaceful and calm internal speedometer!  We'll see how that goes!
Until next time...

Caleb

If there were, in fact, a finite number of words we could speak in a lifetime, I'm going to guess Caleb is nearly maxed out.
There will come a day when I won't hear his sweet baby voice ask me, "Why are you wearing that bra?"  or say "I don't care about that." or "But, I want to hit Cory". 
I will miss these days.  I really will.
In honor of all the words I've heard from him over the past 3 years, here is a wordless photo gallery of his life to date...