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Monday, January 12, 2009

Wow, it's Jan. 12th and this is my first post of the year......


Well, it's a new year and we have had so much going on. The love of my life had been off since Dec. 19th and around here that means a lot of family time. He finally went back to work and I took the week trying to get my house back in order (lots of laundry) and getting started back with schooling. We love having him home and wish he did not have to go back to work but nothing really gets done, house work wise, when he is home. We had a GREAT Christmas and New Year. However, this little gadget has taken over the living room and the rest of my families life.LOL
It is the Nintendo Wii. My honey and I are pretty much on the same page with not being real crazy about watching television or playing video games all the time. We had fought this little gadget for going on 2 years now but decided this year to break down.LOL All we have is the Wii sports game, that came with the system, and the Wii Play but the whole family just loves it. My son and honey are now in there playing baseball. I have to say it is a great game system for getting the whole family involved. We have it set up in the living room, so no one is locked away in the bedroom, away from the whole family and it's been so much fun. We are already huge board game fans and this is just a whole other level of family fun.

Now, this is what else we have been doing on our little hiatus. I painted, or rather, hubby painted my front and back door this wonderful shade of red. It was a HARD decision going with the red. I was wavering between black and red and asked hubby what he thought. He said you have talked about red for years. He was right!! I love the way it turned out!
The color is Spanish Tile from Lowe's.
Oh and I want to put something in that big bare area by the door. What do you think Susie, do I need one of your new, absolutely adorable, signs there? Oh, and I know that Gothic light fixture needs to go, it's on the list.
Then I, not hubby, primed and painted my mantel black. I got this wonderful idea from the great Mrs. Dot at Picket's Place. Of course, hers is so much prettier with all of it's great beefiness but I still love mine. I don't know exactly how I want to decorate my mantel but this is a good start. I also need to paint the stove insert.

Another one of the projects we got done was tiling the bathroom floor. If you look at the little potty room floor closely there, you will see this horrid epoxy painted concrete flooring, that was throughout the entire house. The previous owners came in and put down this Pergo laminate wood floor, which we like but they did not do the potty rooms. So we decided on a cheap peel and stick tile at Lowe's to cover up the hideous.
The bathtub and toilet are a yellow color, which I kind of like and we chose this tile to play off of the yellow. I think the improvement is 100%. Well, that is it for the projects and I bet my manly man hubby was glad to go back to work.LOL I'm just joking, he loves this stuff.
Our plans from now until his deployment, sniff, sniff, are as follows:
*Paint kitchen cabinets and add a cabinet.
*Tile other bathroom with the same peel and stick tile.
*Landscape front of house.
*Replace outdoor light fixtures.
*Paint front and back porches.
*Plant fruit trees.
*Work on new chicken house.
*Paint all of trim in the house a high gloss white.
*Get my enormous garden area ready and possibly start planting.
Oh, the list could go on and on.
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I should put this in a post of it's own, as it is so important, but it is hard enough for me to get one post up much less two. However, one huge thing that I want to add that we work on every new year and are doing this new year, is our Bible Reading Plan for the year. We each, even our not so little little man, try to read through the Bible every year. We work on a plan at the beginning of every year. This year I am reading some in the old Testament, some in the new Testament, some of a Psalm, and some of a Proverb every morning. It takes me about 30 minutes to read, pray and meditate. Just 30 minutes profoundly changes the tone of my entire day. I would encourage you, that if you are not doing something similar, try it!! Reading through the precious Word of God can be life changing.
Here is the site that I got my reading plan from:
It's not to late to start and get caught up with me. I usually fail miserably at this but in light of my honey leaving in July, I know that I will need to cling to the Word of God and am hoping to be victorious in my goal this year!!

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25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome back! I soo know what you mean when hubbys home. I have that same wonderful problem. Thank you for the shoutout, smile. I think one of those signs would look just great in that space. I love that color too. Have fun with your new toy...

Picket said...

Hey girl...I know what you mean about not getting anything done when hubby is home...but we just like hanging out together when he is off! lol Love the projects..that door color is gorgeous! Ohhhh I am so glad you tried the mantle in black...it makes the bricks stand out so pretty...I think that color tile looks perfect with your tub & toilet! I admire you for being so positive about your hubby leaving in July...I just couldn't go thru that again...I was a basket case the whole year Bill was in Korea...I'm just not myself without him! lol Thanks for coming by girl...keep reading that word..it will see you thru!

Angie said...

Love your red front door! It looks so great and so does the bathroom floor and black mantel. I look forward to seeing more of your projects!

busymama said...

Wow...what busy, busy, bees you have been! I love the red doors!

Blessings,
Mary

The Berry's Patch said...

How do you like the boxing on the Wii? I couldn't move my arms for days after playing it. It's such a fun game machine.

basicliving@backtobasicliving.com said...

Wow, the mantel is beautiful and I lOVE that red on the doors. Absolutely beautiful. We painted our sitting room (well, it's the living room, but only big enough for the two of us!) a deep shade of red. It's got 5 coats on it and needs more! Lots of work, but really worth it.

My husband has only recently mentioned a wii might be fun. I agree with him - just don't know where we'd find time to use it. Or maybe I worry that we WOULD find time and not do anything else! LOL! We have very little self control when it comes to those type of things.....

Can't wait to see the pictures of all your re-modeling. Sounds wonderful.

Kim @ Homesteader's Heart said...

Wow Mrs. Trixi! You all have been busy. My parents got our family a Wii last year and we do love it. My husband isn't really into "TV" and video games either but we limit the time spent on it and it is fun for everyone. My 3 year old kicks butt in tennis lol. Oh I love the red door by the way! It makes the front of your house just "pop"!
Hugs to you my friend.
Kim

HsKubes said...

What a blessing to have that time together as a family and get so much done, too!
I enjoyed catching up with you!
I hope you have a lovely week!
~ Christina

Unknown said...

I think the red door looks great :o) I can't wait until we get the building around here started. Of course, I'm not about to start it myself...we might end up living in a tent that way!

The wood heater is coming and getting installed this weekend. I hate for Dewey to be home *just* for that and not just quiet family time, but I'm not about to change his mind on it. It's going to be frigid this weekend...I want good heat!

Great bible plan...we are looking forward to trying to a chronological plan this year. So far so good.

Blessings,
Deanna

Charm and Grace said...

Looks like you and hubby have been busy campers. Love the red door and black mantel. We dreaded starting school again... how 'bout you? I have chronological Bible which has daily readings and am planning to try that again this year (I started it last year but didn't finish.) I am not great when it comes to daily disciplines of any kind... those and my phlegmatic personality do not go well together...lol.

Blessings,
Christi

Tiffany said...

Hi there! I just came over from Kari and Kijsa. It looks like you have been a very busy lady!

Heathahlee said...

Oh, Trixi, you have gotten SO much done over the holidays! Would you mind the short three hour drive north to come help me with my to-do list? : )

So, do you like those peel and stick tiles? We have considered them for the kitchen and dining room, because tiling is so expensive and we're not sure we'd get it back out of the house when we sell. I'd like your opinion on them. My friend had them in her old house and I honestly couldn't tell they were not tiles until she told me.

And I'm totally jealous of the Wii. Hopefully this will be the year we get one. I'm not holding my breath, though. : )

Trixi said...

Heathahlee, we gutted my mom's house about 2 years ago and completely redid the whole thing, I mean cabinets and all. When we got to the bathrooms the budget was getting slim, so we put in the peel and stick tile thinking we could always go back later and do ceramic. We love her tile. My sister now wishes she had done it in her house instead of ceramic, as it is cheap enough that if you get tired of it in a few years you can change out the design for literally pennies a sq. ft. Also, the only tool my honey needed was a very sharp knife for cutting. I think ours looks really good.
My mom's has held up really well and she has 2 dogs and 9 grandchildren.

Liz Harrell said...

LOVE the red. It look so good. You and your family will be in my thoughts with the deployment close in the future.

Inspired Kara said...

WOW lady! Sounds like you have a lot going on!!!!!!

There's a heck of a giveaway going on over at my place! Come check it out!!!!!!

Kara

I am the Clay said...

Trixi,
Good to see you post. Looks like you have been busy at home and getting lots done! Love the red door -- red is one of my favorite colors. :) I also loved the black mantle.
My pastor recently challenged us to read the entire bible by easter! You should have heard me at church when he said that ... there was this big "wow" that came out of my mouth! :) Everyone laughed. I am not going to take him up on it because I want to really study my bible thru the coming year -- I have a study bible and LOVE it, but my 13 yr old daughter hannah is going to tackle it. 6 chapters in the AM and 6 chapters before bed. She is dedicated and determined, so I am sure she will get it done.
But I agree -- starting the day in God's word and ending it with God's word is life changing.
Blessings,
gloria

Anonymous said...

Ahhh. Thanks for the sweet comment. You can catch me anytime. I would love to make something for you~

Anonymous said...

Hi Trixi and it's so nice to meet you! Looks like you've been the busiest one! I love your red door!
Thanks for stopping by to visit me.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia :)

Anonymous said...

Hi there! You can reach me through etsy or my eamil.... susanh@eatel.net I had to take it off of my site becuse I was getting hammered with not so nice stuff. thanks~

Anonymous said...

The red front door looks great! (o:

Jen - Balancing Beauty and Bedlam said...

How did I miss this post? And i am following you? Love the red door - wow, it's so fun. I am there with you on reading through the bible. Our church is doing 100 days of bible reading - challenging everyone to change their habits by committing to reading the same passsages every day for 100 days...and I admit, I have already missed. Going back to catch up...now. :)

Rue said...

Hi Trixi :)

You and your hubby have been busy!! I love the new red door and the mantel AND the flooring in the bathroom. Great job :)

Annie wants the Wii too, but we haven't gotten it yet. We've tried to cut down on games and such with her because Alex got too carried away, but this sounds like it really would be great for the whole family.

Oh and no... we haven't sold the house. It goes on the market again after we de-rue it LOL Apparently my taste it too "me". The new house it a lease to own.

hugs,
rue

Meredith said...

Y'all have been busy! I love the red. My front door is a similar shade and always looks so welcoming in the winter.

kari and kijsa said...

Welcome back!! Your house is humming along!! everything looks great! how about a wonderful planter- or a ledge with window boxes you could change seasonally by your front door-love the red!!
Happy Day!
blessings,
kari & kijsa

niartist said...

Wonderful blog - had to say hello! The projects are just great, love the red door, and black mantle, and of course the new floor - so beautiful! Great job!