Curtains on command

So a few weeks ago I FINALLY found some curtains online that I,

 1) actually liked and 

2) could afford! 

I knew I wanted a solid-color curtain and I knew that I wanted a

shade of blue--but finding that shade of blue was quite a challenge!

I already had the curtain rod & finials, 

(how do u spell 'finial' anyways??--I'm too lazy to google it) 

that I'd purchased on clearance at Lowe's about a year and a half ago.

So my curtains arrived Monday and last night I got motivated to hang these bad boys up! 

 ...Cue the missing drill. 

Ugh. 

Why does it never fail that I finally get all my ducks in a row & 

then suddenly the dumb drill that always seems to be in my way--is M.I.A??

Well I wasn't letting some missing drill slow this decorating train--

I mean, how did they hang curtains before drills existed!?!? 

Well DUH-they used handy dandy Command hooks!!

Command hooks--you rock!

Screw you, screws!!

 I laugh in the face of tools!

 I will use stickers to hang my curtains!! Boo-yah!!

Won't be needing you Mr. Screwdriver

So yeah, I got 'em up and then I dug out some of my candle sconces 

that I've had packed away in a box since we moved in. 

Yes I made my bed approximately 1 minute before taking this picture

TaDa! 

I'm happy with how it looks, and it definitely makes the room feel more cozy.

Now when they randomly come crashing down in the middle of the night 

someday I'll probably be cursing myself, 

but for now I feel like I beat the system!!

Maybe I should rename this blog:

"How to decorate your home using no tools!"

Command Hooks could be my sponsor!

Ok, probably not, but it's a nice thought...

Happy Wednesday Friends!

Instafriday

  

I seriously wanted to arrange these pictures in a nice

little compact square...but I'm apparently old as dirt and

can't figure out computers anymore.

Geez. I'm turning into my mother.

Ah-ha!

SUCCESS!!

I win...take that technology!

(do you like how proud I am of doing

something that millions of bloggers

figured out a long time ago??)

The first two pictures are what happened

yesterday....after I completely slept through my

dermatology appointment, which, btw...

seriously needed to happen so I was pissed...

Anyways, I rallied and made a trip to Suburban lawn and garden 

where I spent WAY too much money, 

but I got a bunch of flowers that I'm very excited about.

Perhaps you remember this post where

I explained my love/hate relationship with plants....

I say love/hate because I love the way they look,

but they hate me and often commit plant suicide

by dying at obscenely fast rates....

(P.S. all but ONE of those mums I planted died)

But anyhoo, 

They're currently looking fabulous and I've

threatened the chipmunk that lives under our front

porch with rat poison if he even thinks about munching

on my flower-babies!!!

Roy was super impressed and surprised when

he got home and saw the new and improved

abode...he didn't even bawk when I told 

him how much I'd spent!! SCORE!

Pic #3 is of the continued crafting that is

still occurring on a daily basis around here.

I seem to have hopefully fixed my sewing

machine snafu (fingers crossed).

Thanks Rachael for teaching me how to

make these super-cute paper streamers!!

They're looking adorable if I do say so myself...

Pic #4 is of my lovely mama.

She came over early this morning and we

headed out to do one of our favorite things...

garage sale-ing!!!

We're pro's. 

We don't mess around.

We can size up a garage sale in one glance

 at 35 miles an hour while eating giant cupcakes...

It's true. It happened.

(P.S. If you haven't ever had an orange

creamsicle cupcake...I just feel sorry for you)

Bonus, it's the day before her birthday...

her last day in her 50's! Eeek!

When and how did my mom become 60 years old?

So we were needing a reason to celebrate & have fun!

Thankfully, despite quickly approaching her 60's 

and despite the un-godly amount of baby supplies seen at everysinglefreakinggaragesalewewentto....

she didn't harass me too much today about having a baby,

which was very much appreciated!

Her big birthday party is tomorrow and I got

her Shutterfly book in the mail this afternoon!

Talk about being just in the nick of time...

Stay tuned for pictures 

 from the party that she's calling the

'It's too late to die young now' 

Celebration

Oh, that Janet, She's a nut.

Sew I think I'm gonna like this!!

I'm learning to sew people...
and I'm pretty freakin' excited about it.
Score one more point for actually tackling
my new years resolution list!!

My motivation is solely being driven by my
excitement over Rachael's baby coming in June...
I keep finding fun projects that I want to make
for little Baby Clark
(formerly known as 'Keeks'...but we can't
call her that anymore :)
I'm sure once the baby comes I'll be able to find
tons of projects for our own home...
but baby things just seem so much more fun right now.

Oddly enough, Rachael is also the poor soul who's
having to teach this schmuck how to sew,
Atleast she will hopefully be reaping the benefits from
teaching me...
(assuming any of my projects actually turn out!)

Anyways...my mom got me this new sewing
machine for Christmas, but it's been sitting upstairs
in the guestroom for 3 months just calling out to me-
 I was too intimidated to sit down and attempt to
re-teach myself how to work the machine...

Enter: Rachael the sewing queen.

I lugged my machine over to her house Friday and we
had a little watch and learn lesson...
This was awesome-but unfortunately we didn't get too
far into my lesson before we realized that my sewing
machine was lacking some essential pieces...
say like..... half of it's parts

(Where did you say you got this machine again, Mom??
Sears?? Ummm no....I'm thinking more like a flea market.)

It was okay though, Rachael let me use her machine to
make my first project since 7th grade home-ec...

modeling my diaper cloth

Yay!

I feel all kinds-a domestic!

I just ordered all the missing parts for my machine,

so hopefully I will be up and sewing in

no time!!

Keep your eye peeled for future 

projects!

Our refinance is complete...HOORAY!!

Well after roughly 3 months and lots of anxious waiting,

we closed on our refinance today!

I'm so happy and feeling super-blessed because we had pretty

much given up hope that this was going to happen.

Our first appraisal came in $18,000 lower
than what we needed...YIKES!

That was a tough pill to swallow...
but we didn't feel there was much that we could do about it.

But our super-awesome mortgage consultant at Wells Fargo
really went above and beyond for us
and was able to get the first appraisal thrown out

(which I've heard is quite a feat)
and got us a second appraisal that went so much better!!  

Thank you, God.

I  know there were several people praying for us
 through this entire process, and I credit their prayers
and our mortgage guys hard work for making this happen.

If you live in KC and you're needing a referral,
 I have a name for you!

So the bottom line is...we lowered our mortgage payment

by $210 a month (yippee!!)
and got rid of our PMI, which will save

us a great deal of money over the course of our loan.

I'm SO very thankful.

This date has special meaning for me this year and

I was really needing something to lift my spirits...

God delivered, and I'm knowing in my heart

that it was no coincidence our closure was on this date.

I have no pertaining picture for this post...

but I feel the overwhelming need to post one anyways...

So here's a photo that will stand testament to

why you don't let your husband do your little girls hair

on school picture day...
Rachael take note:

Nice work Pops...the signature side-pony.

And my sweetheart neckline...

I love it :)

Day 3 guest bath reno...

Here's the bathroom on the end of day 3...

Roy and I had a joint panic attack this morning when

we woke up and decided that the tile looked too grey...

Much pacing, nail biting and a few tears later (from Roy of course..duh)

 we were at the tile store getting some different (GREY-er) floor tiles

to help pull the bathroom together....

hopefully this will solve the case of the bathroom-gone-grey!

The tile guys came over late today-so there wasn't quite as much progress.

BUT....

I'm not too upset about that because today.... 

we bought a newwww.... 

washer and dryer!!

Waah-Hoo!!!

Ask me how long my washer has been broken....

Too freakin long!! Like 3 months or something stupid like that...

Ask me how much I hate going to the laundromat...

Enough to avoid going for weeks at a time...even if I have to wash socks

and underwear in the sink...(sad but true...)

We weren't completely planning on buying a new set so soon,

but thanks to Lowe's (and an amazing deal they're having

for Black Friday), I will no longer be seen at 

our local laundromat: 'The Bubble Room'...

No offense Bubble Room, but you smell wierd, 

your patrons are kind of sketchy,

your seating has mystery stains, and your vending machine is pathetic.

Good Riddens!

I promise never to forsake the luxury that is an

in-home washer and dryer!!

Helloooo new Samsung twinkies!!

Now I'm off to drag the Christmas decorations up from the basement

and to start making my annual 'Asparagus Casserolle' for

tomorrows Thanksgiving celebration!

I'm thanking God for so much this year...

My husband and our marriage.

My family.

My health. 

My best friend.

My home.

My job.

 ....and my new washer and dryer!...hehe

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Weekend update...feeling better and gettin' it done...

Well, day 6 of antibiotics and I'm beginning to think I just

 might kick this dang bronchitis.

I mean, talk about coughin' up a lung.

Roy has been relentlessly mocking my, 'I'm gonna cough till I puke' face.

Jerk.

I have however, been treating myself to plenty of these fall treats...

Mmmmmm......Apple cider

------------------------------------------------------

So Today... was to be the day of painting.

Kelly's painting servitude was her birthday present to me.
She showed up at 9am sharp, just like I told her to.
Aaaaaand I was still asleep.
I suck at life like that.
Anyways, it was no big deal cause the girl knows
me well enough to come armed with
powdered sugar donuts and energy drinks!
Genius.

We got the dining room, guest bedroom, trim paint and
all of the touch-up work completed!!

(please ignore the disaster that once was our dining room table...)

Yesss
Now where's that list of To-Do's so I can take a big-fat sharpie
and put a line through 'finish painting'.
I have list-makers high.

Then I wrangled my familia into helping me haul our TV from the
basement up into our living room.
 The set up may not be ideal,
but it's certainly better than nothing...and I'm excited to have
somewhere other than our bedroom to watch TV!!

Now I'll be able to avoid this awkward conversation starter-

'heeey wanna join me in my bedroom...........    
                              ..........to watch TV?!!'

Not cool.

Here's mom and pops enjoying the fruits of our labor..

But overall, not a bad weekend...not bad at all.

Up to my elbows in mums....

So....

I'm officially filing gardening under the list of...

 'Things we're told as women we should be good at and enjoy-so that when we don't succeed we can feel like failures'

Lies I tell you...all lies

I have a black thumb.

Not literally. No gangrene here.

But figuratively. I kill every living plant I touch.

What's the deal??

My mom literally so much as glances at a plant and it thrives!

Not only am i not 'good' at it....

I don't enjoy it.

I mean, I love the way gardens and landscaping look when they're finished,

but I DO NOT enjoy the process.

Maybe thats just called laziness....hmmm.

Point in case.

You may remember my lovely flower basket I purchased just

over a month ago from the farmers market...

let me refresh your memory on how it looked the day I brought it home:

This was August 5th....

Here's my lovely flower basket today...September 14th:

What the heck?

Are you kidding me?

The sad thing is I actually really tried to keep this thing alive!

Here my my lettuce and herbs I tried to grow this summer:

Would anyone like some dill or oregano with their salad??

What is this??!!

I give up.

I'm waving my white flag.

So 2 weekends ago, I set off on a mission to buy some mums and

try to dress up the front of out house for fall.

Talk about miserable.

I was up to my eye balls in dirt, bushes, sweat and mosquitos.

I figured I ought to take some pictures while they're still

clinging to life!!

My victims

This is the face of a very unhappy person

Ta-Daaaa!!!!

Ready for fall!!

For now, I guess the work was worth it....

Eat your heart out Martha Stewart