Changes on the Horizon

Uncertainty in the air. 

That's what I've been dealing with lately. I have been feeling especially blessed lately with the design work I have been fortunate enough to been given. It's something I've wanted since we moved to Altus and I feel like I've finally found a little niche.

With that being said our world is about to change again soon. As you may know Hubs is in the Air Force and his commitment is ending in about a year. Instead of signing on to further our military career he wants to do extra training in Peds Hemotology, which means extra school. He has been interviewing at different hospitals that offer the fellowships in the field as the Air Force is not offering an opportunity to train for another few years.

So this means another move in about a year. 

Lonny Magazine Loves

I received my issue of Lonny Magazine yesterday! I love Lonny Magazine. If you haven't heard of them they are an online bi-monthly magazine that covers everything from the arts, market trends, interiors, ect. They have gorgeous pictures to drool over and lots of interesting design related articles.

Awesome Altus

Sometimes I like to whine about the town we live in. But they just ask for it sometimes!! Here's a pic from a few months back:

Can't Make this stuff up!!!

I've been having small town fever this week- gotta get out of here! What are your plans for the weekend?

An Appealing Appliance

One thing I miss about living in a big city is Craigslist. I used to find all kinds of deals in San Antonio. My only saving grace has been our AFB classifieds on Facebook, and last week I scored an such an awesome deal I have to brag about it a little.

I bought an old school Oster Stand Up Mixer for $30! 

For the longest time I've been debating whether or not we should purchase a KitchenAid Standing Mixer. I wasn't sure if I would use it enough to justify the cost. I thought buying the Oster Mixer (from 1983!) would be a good test.

The cool thing is all the attachments it came with.

Ice Cream Maker

Blender, Meat Grinder, and Slicer

And that's not all!! (I feel like an infomercial)

I also got several cook books to go with it:

And several ice cream packets!

Score!!

I've already used the mixer to make Cooking Light's Lemon Pound Cake (forgot to take picture) and Paleo Blueberry Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Chips!

Yum!

So far my favorite feature is the ice cream attachment which could end up being a problem for those last few pounds of baby weight I'm trying to get rid of.

What's your favorite Craigslist or online buy recently?

Tis The Season

Do you know what season it is? Not Fall... Football Season!!

I'm so glad football is back on TV. I love watching my Saints and LSU Tigers play. 

Saturdays and Sundays just aren't the same without some football to watch. We love having people over and cooking some Louisiana fare for the LSU games. And it's fun on Sundays to go somewhere and watch the game with friends.

This season I took an extra step and invited some friends to join a girls only Fantasy Football League. We had a draft and everything. Our League name is "A League of Our Own." Hee Hee- cheesy I know but whatever. My team's name is Grid Iron Red. Check out my profile pic:

My first match up is this weekend! I hope I win! 

I'm trying to come up with a fun trophy for the winner at the end of the season. The girls requested that the trophy include the following:

1. Glitter
2. Rainbows
3. Chocolate

Should be an interesting trophy.

Are you excited for football season?

4 Weeks To Go!!!

I'm going totally off topic this week from my usual design/ DIY/ craft post and I'm going to talk about something that is on my mind- This Baby!!


I'm 36 weeks today- the final date is approaching! I've been trying to be better about taking belly pics- I have hardly any of The Con Man. But I just realized I only have 3!?! Lame!

But what isn't lame is I've gotten a few of the decorations for Tiny Falcon #2's nursery in this week. I had to hang them up!

I have 3 more smaller stars on order. Hopefully they'll get here soon! 

In the meantime what's really been on my mind is the whole birth process. I want to do it naturally this time. My husband thinks I'm a little crazy but is supportive. He's a pediatrician and is present for a lot of births- so he's seen the good, the bad, and the really bad.


I can't explain exactly why I want to go natural this time- a few reasons are that I want to prove to myself that I can, and I hated being stuck in the hospital bed unable to move my lower body for hours; even after Con was born.

With The Con-Man I didn't prepare myself well, I just figured I'd see how things went and I'd decide from there. Well I for Con-Man I started having contractions during the first installment of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. 

I tried sitting through the movie because I didn't think I'd be able to come back and see it (yes I love Harry Potter- did you see the shirt I made for the last movie?) but with some encouragement from the Hubs we left in the middle. At least the theater gave us free tickets to come back!! They were not about to argue with the hugely pregnant woman.

Any way by the time we made it to the hospital I was measuring 5 cm dilated. The nurse told me the anesthesiologist was on the floor- and if I wanted an epidural I better get it now otherwise they didn't know when he'd be back. 

Needless to say I went a head and got it because I didn't know what the next few hours held in store for me. It was my first delivery and since we were at a military teaching hospital at the time it was the doctors first night on the job as well!!!

This time around I'm a little older and wiser so I've been preparing myself- both mentally and physically. I've been trying to read up online about natural birth. Staying calm, having a focal point, moving around, breathing, ect. I've also been doing strength excercises at home hoping that will help me out as well. 

I keep telling myself that I can do this; that the pain wasn't so bad last time (it's convenient how your brain forgets those things right?) that I'm a strong person and that pain doesn't bother me so much.


But I do keep picturing Katherine Hiegle in Knocked Up when she yells- "I feel everything!!"

So that's what's been mainly on my mind the last few weeks. Any advice from seasoned verterans out there? Am I totally nuts for trying to do this the really old fashioned way?

Feature Friday: Blue Roof Cabin

Happy Friday Everyone! Are you as ready for this weekend as I am? We have 2 Easter Egg Hunts to look forward to and I'm taking Con-Man to a Mommy/Son brunch on Sunday. Yay! Some other news- we found out that Tiny Falcon #2 is a Boy! We had the ultrasound yesterday in Oklahoma City. Yay! Con-Man is going to be a good big brother! Now I can start thinking of ideas for the nursery.


Today I'd like to introduce you to Michelle from Blue Roof Cabin. She loves to build, she loves to repurpose, and she asks for power tools for Christmas. My kind of gal!


Her first project that caught me eye was these awesome built in shelves she made for her dining room. I love the way she made them look like they have always been in the home. It sounds like it took a lot of work! Building, replacing floors, staining painting. It turned out great!

And look at this banquet she made from salvaged doors from the ReStore. Be still my heart! 

In another repurposing project she turned an old stereo cabinet into a useful shelving unit. How smart is that? I've seen lots of old cabinets at the Goodwill- now I know what I could do with them.

Michelle also has some great paint and refinishing projects. Like this cute crate that she built then painted. I love the quote she chose!

And this beautiful armoire before and after:

I am so inspired and in awe of all the things Michelle has made. I hope you enjoyed this peek into Michelle's blog Blue Roof Cabin! 

And I hope you'll check back next week- I'm finally done with Con-Man's Big Boy Bed. It's ready to be assembled and I'll have some pics for you on Monday!

Have a wonderful weekend and happy creating!

Feature Friday: Paint Speckled Paw Prints

Happy Friday Everyone! I hope everyone has had enjoyable week. It was Spring Break here in Alus so Con-Man had no MDO. So that meant no wood shop for me this week. I hoping to get in there on Saturday and work on our Basketball Floor Dining Table. 


Do you have any plans for the weekend?


I also wanted to share with you another awesome DIY Blogger I came across- Kristen from Paint Speckled Pawprints. She and her Hubby are fixing up their new home and have lots of fun DIY projects to share.


I'm a sucker for Pallet projects so when I saw their Floating Pallet Shelves I was hooked. How cool are these?

Kristen also framed out the builder grade mirrors in her bathroom. She was tired of the plain look and took on the job herself! I love the new look.

Kristen does lots of fun crafty stuff as well. I love these Silhouettes she painted of her puppies! So cute!

And a fun Springtime Wreath: I love the colors even though Kristen makes sure to note that she and her husband are not LSU fans. What?! I thought everyone was an LSU Fan- I guess that's just my family...

She also has lots of great tips like Refinishing Cabinetry: (Love the bold paint color)

Using your tools:

Even car safety basics!

So if your looking for DIY adventures and fun projects go check out Kristen's Blog Paint Speckled Pawprints!

Have a great weekend everyone!

MIA: A Sad Story

So I've been missing in action- I'm sorry. I left without a "Hello." or "Goodbye." 


Where have I been? The Hubs had a conference in Seattle so I decided to tag along (free hotel!). It was a lot of fun and I took lots of picture to show you when I got back; but more sad news. My Camera totally crapped out!!!


The only proof I have of our trip is the one picture The Hubs took of me with his IPhone in front of the Fish Market.

All my other photos look like this!!!

Rows and rows of black boxes! Darn you technology! I even had a post about Con-Man's new curtains I was going to share. But since the real camera is no longer working this is the best my IPhone could come up with:

Really disappointing. So in the meantime while I try to figure out what we're going to do (a new camera would be nice since we do have a new baby on the way!) here are some sneak peaks of projects I've been working on for Con-Man's new room. (Disclaimer- none of these photos have been retouched; just my IPhone in all it's glory.)

I've also started going to my Upholstery Class! My lovely camera deleted the whole tearing apart process (you know, the important part so you can remember how the chair was put together...) But here's my progress so far:

I've even started tearing apart and fixing up the gym flooring that I found.

So as you can see I've been busy, to busy maybe. Yipes! I have 10 projects started but none finished! And now I only have crummy IPhone pics to show for it. :P I guess I feel under the gun to get a lot of big stuff done before Tiny Falcon #2 shows up in July.

Have you ever gotten in over your head with to many projects? How do you divide up your time?

Circle Mirrors = Hot & Some Inspiration

Do you mind if I depart from my usual Feature Friday to mention a design trend I've seen around? I've been seeing circle mirrors around a lot lately. I think they are super cool, chic and modern.


I've seen them in catalogs:

Source

In salons:

Source

In Bathrooms:

Source

In Living Rooms:

Source

And as you might imagine these mirrors can set you back a pretty penny depending on where you buy them. That's why I made my own!

See how you can make your own here! It didn't take me long and was pretty inexpensive.

Now I know what your thinking- Rachelle I don't know how to weld! Well, I hear you. I didn't know how to either until I found out that my grandfather in law had a welder he used for fixing up his lawn/ farm equipment. I wouldn't have known this unless I had mentioned my want to learn welding to my grandmother- in law one day. I came over a few weekends in a row and he showed me the ropes and I built my first tables!

And the rest is history!

So do you know someone who welds? A husband, grandfather, neighbor or friend? Maybe they can help you out with a small project like this, or even better help you get started in your own welding career!

This goes with anything. We see so many inspirational projects on the internet, Pinterest, Blogland with so many talented people behind them it makes me want to learn more! I see so many women with so many great talents- Sewing, Baking, Painting, Building, ect. I feel inspired to better myself and learn some new skills.

One way I'm doing this is taking an upholstery class starting next week! It's something I've always wanted to learn. And I wouldn't have known about it unless I hadn't been running my mouth off again about wanting to learn. Someone told me to check the VoTech school since they offer a lot of different classes. After making several calls around to the college I'm finally taking my first class- something I was never able to accomplish back in San Antonio where we were living before. I'm so excited!


So; I meant for this post to be about cool mirrors but I guess it turned into something else. I guess pregnancy hormones are getting me all emotional.


But seriously- All I want to say is that if there is something you want in life you have to go for it, put yourself out there, let people know what your dreams are and things will fall in to place! You can do anything you set your mind to!


Have a great weekend everyone! I can't wait to show you a project I finished for Con-Man's room next week!