Category: home

Eleven…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay1 Comment

Me– 
– recovering from this back injury and getting to a whole point where I can be active again.
– trying not to take the ability to do simple things like cook dinner and fold laundry, for granted again.

Reading–
– My manuscript (for editing purposes, when my son isn’t home.) 
Watching–
– the Walking Dead.
– Christmas movies 
Us–
– spending time with Lucas!!!
– Meeting his girlfriend, who is flying in from the Midwest.
– having a lovely Thanksgiving while Lucas is home on R & R.
– Lucas really is our main November focus/priority and we aren’t thinking much beyond the time he is home because we want it to last forever… 
Heart–
– Getting back into a disciplined quiet time with God. (it’s amazing how quickly I get out of that habit. Hate it.) 
Create–
– Finish a few Christmas gifts that we have going on.
– some sort of a sofa table.
– a wall collage.
– a few photo sessions.
– Christmas cards. 
Home–
– Finishing up the family room.
– adorning home for the holidays. 
Health–
– Back care.
– Water.
– Stretching.
– destressing. 
Love– 
– a date would be lovely. I’ll work on that.
– Devotions together.

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Something incredible happened…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay3 Comments
Chw and I are just an average couple. I am sure I could gather ya’ll in a circle and tell you any old story and you fellow wives (or husbands?) would sit back nodding, saying your mmmhmms, because you’ve likely been there… 
So when I tell you (for the hundred millionth, bazillionth time) that i love to decorate, most of you will totally understand. 
What I have been slow to mention here is the great sadness that our beautiful, wonderful and amazing daughter Amanda moved to the midwestern part of our United States last week- (*insert moment of sad silence here*). 
Something else I have (i think) been slow to mention is that I am unbelievably behind on editing my novel for publication because it is a freaking oven, in my office, at any point past ten in the morning… 
So, recap: 
– love to decorate. 
– Amanda (frown) moved away. 
– office=inferno roughly 19 hours a day. 
Surely you see where I’m going with this… Wednesday evening the husband says to me, “Wife, what do you want to do with Amanda’s depressingly empty room?” He left a cushion moment for tears and sobbing (from me) and then continued with “I think we should move your office downstairs.” 
DING DING… 
I consoled myself with thoughts on decor that wouldn’t cost a dime. (I am pretty skilled like that.) And then we came to the crashing realization that my black, grey and yellow office EVERYTHING wasn’t going to fit in with her denim colored walls AT ALL… And you know what- that wouldn’t be a huge deal except- well, except I am petty about dumb, shallow things like that and it would drive me crazy… PLUS, as a writer, I need a good, creative and harmonious space. So yeah… It was replace office EVERYTHING, or paint. 
For $12 he bought a beautiful can of paint. 
Here’s where the incredible starts to surface… 
You see, my man, he is an AMAZING man. He is a GREAT man. He is a hard worker and super perfectionist extraordinaire… 
My man is also a wee bit of a procrastinator. 
The biggest thing he puts off (for eternities of time) is painting… 
Point 2: My dear, sweet husband NEVER likes the paint colors i choose, until they are on the wall. Then, he loves them… But before, i hear all about how horrible they are going to look and what an apocalyptic nightmare this is going to be… 
My office is painted. {Woo Hoo!!!} 
It’s a shade pretty close to Almost Black. I thought he’d have a heart attack when I suggested it, via paint chip, and slowly psyched myself for CPR. 
But it’s done. it’s almost black… And true to form- he LOVES it… 
What incredible sorts of somethings did your weekend hold? 
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Desert sun…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay2 Comments
Being privileged to see the sun rise, or set, anywhere is an extraordinary gift. We live in a world full of tremendous beauty, but the rising and setting sun creating some of the most incredible things I have ever been witnessed to. 
That being said, if you have never seen the Desert sun set, or rise, I am so sorry for you. And you should rectify that, as soon as humanly possible… 
I don’t live in the real desert anymore, and for the most part (though I’d do a great many things if I could land a lovely house, with pool, in the Tempe Arizona zip code.) When I do have the pleasure of visiting that beautiful part of our country, I usually can’t keep my eyes of of it’s glorious sky… 

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You win some, you lose some…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay1 Comment
It all started because my youngest decided she needs to sit on the floor, when pulling clothes out of the dresser. While this isn’t necessarily (in itself) an awful thing, using her bottom drawer to hoist her body weight off of the ground, over the years, hasn’t been the best. 
After countless repairs to railings and screws and other furniture mechanisms- the bottom drawer was shot. 
(* insert losing game show Wah Wah Wah here.*)
The next problem arose because the three drawered (little girl style) dresser just wasn’t working, as a now two drawered mess, to hold the clothes it needed to. We scoured local thrift stores looking for something to refinish for her, but found nothing. Then, one afternoon when Genny was putting away some laundry, Chw had the privilege of walking in on her hoisting her body weight up, via the second drawer. 
Level FAILED, Lesson UNlearned… Poor kid was about to find herself storing clothes in a stack of rubber maid bins, he was so upset. That’s when something i had seen on Pinterest occurred to me…
I scoured Craigslist and found 2 old entertainment armoires. I knew it was genius idea when I could score them both for under a hundred dollars. I pitched the idea to Chw, who was eager to agree. This meant an attractive clothing storage solution for Genny, with NO drawers to crane herself off of the floor- AND a long awaiting storage solution for our own bedroom. 
Through much stress and maneuvering, both armoires made their way to our garage. 
Genny’s (which turned out to be half the size of the ginormous other one) was up first. We painted it chrome (she LOVES it, it’s so chic and cool). It was a simple project that turned out AWESOME. (*note: for those of you who had seen the picture of her room before she got bunk beds and a shiny, silver armoire- you will likely notice how incredibly GROWN UP and teenagerish those two things made her room. *sniff*)

Totally inspired by the trending feed of upcycled armoires, we attempted to work on the one for our bedroom this week. 
(*insert previous losing game show WAH WAH WAH here, a million decibels louder than before.*) 
We now have an unfinished armoire, nearly the size of a small car, parked in our garage. Genny’s old broken dresser in our closet and our good old dresser in our room, just as before. We are no longer desperate for a clothing storage solution for us- but it certainly did NOT go the way we planned… 

Entertainment option: note the size difference, by the included Chw scale between the last photo and the third…
Second Entertainment option: Drinking came for every time I have cursed the armoire that is STILL sitting, dead center, in my garage. it has been weeks, but I have been stuck in the grieving process.

Additional sidenote: I have been wanting to get a cross bow. For the armoire’s sake, it’s good I haven’t acquired one, as of yet…

The end. :( 

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Merry…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay1 Comment
Last Thursday afternoon Chw, Gen and I went and saw Les Miserables… We’ve seen it a few times, but it was Genny’s first. She loved it… I, like I do every time, cried like a baby. Genny used her hard earned money to buy an adorable Cosette t-shirt and a key chain for my husband. Have I mentioned it is his favorite musical, of all times? 
Friday was our family anniversary, of nine years together. Les Miz and a special dinner were our main source of celebration this year, though Genny did receive her first (ever) family anniversary gift. We composed a 45 page book of her childhood, both written and photo filled, and had it printed. It’s adorable and she loves it. We encompass everything, within it’s binding, that she loved and did. Coming into our family at age four, she was lacking a traditional baby book SO we called it her childhood book and filled it with day one through her twelfth year. She loves her book and wants to take it with her everywhere… 
On Saturday we adventured to the Farmer’s Market with friends. It was an entirely glorious morning, except for the heavy smoke covering we’ve had for past few months. It is taking it’s toll on many of us. 

 After we came home from our marketing excursion, I braved bathing my pups. (No easy feat) but so worth it for sweet, coconut smelling fluffy snuggles. :) Especially since anyone who had seen Emma recently had to admit she was a bit more on the light tan and black colored spectrum than white and black. Not anymore though! :)

How was your weekend? 
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