Sharing Life

After 17 years, 7 months of being best friends and 13 years, 11 months of being married, I'm still most excited to be sharing life with my J.

That doesn't mean it's all been sunny skies and open roads. But after each pothole, sharp turn, flat tire, and icy overpass we have been through, I know J has my back and that we will make it through with a few dents, scratches, and some wear and tear, but ultimately it's nothing a coat of paint can't fix.

(Did I go overboard with the metaphors...?)

Move Update

This is a sneak peek at our master suite. J did this painting a few years ago and it really stands out in this new space.

We have a couple more furniture pieces to move around, finish painting the ceiling in the bedroom area of our master suite, and hang some curtains.

Then there is the task of finally unpacking the rest of our shoes, clothes, books, toys, electronics, etc. I'm hoping to have the kids' playroom unpacked by Monday morning.

J still has a few decorative projects for us to tackle. I'm pretty excited about them. We have been teaming up again on these tasks and it has been fun.

I am ready to have the laundry room and garage wide open and free of boxes and furniture. So very ready.

Finger X-Ray

I should have posted this already. It's my broken finger. See the v-shaped line towards the tip? That's the break.

When it happened, there was so much blood and it was so incredibly painful. I thought I would need stitches. At the ER I felt like a baby but it really hurt a LOT. And even more when my heart would beat.

I was shocked when they told me it was broken. Shocked and relieved. It justified the pain and the ER visit....

Photo Bomb

I was trying to take a pic of the living/dining room when someone ran past on his way to bed...

TV Viewing

That's Mini Me watching TV.
Looks pretty...comfy...?

Finger Update

Look! I can bend all of my fingers into a fist without pain!!! The road to recovery is paved with many little victories.

I pretty much only wear the splint when I'm working on our house or cleaning. Otherwise I wear a bandaid to protect my fingernail from getting snagged on something and ripping off in a painful, bloodied mess.

At work, I've been trying to type with my broken finger. It's a form if therapy the doctor said. I'm not allowed to do jujitsu. That's unfortunate cause I'm such a fan of the discipline.

The tip is still numb and bruised. It hurts if pressed. The nail looks gruesome but better. My nail bed is growing nicely. It will take 6 months to a year to fully recover my nail. Who knew???!!!

I'm thankful for a speedy healing. I am thankful that I did not lose the tip. I'm thankful it's not worse.

Black Closet - Black Master Closet

Our master closet is black! It looks so chic and was so easy and inexpensive. All that's missing (aside from the clothes and shoes) is an ottoman. We are on the hunt!

Materials:
- can of matte paint ($20-30)
- dark gray carpet ($25)
- 3 Ikea chandeliers ($20/each)
- curtain is just fabric pooled ($2.99/yard x 6)
- do it yourself dark gray closet organizer from Home Depot

How We Did It:
We painted the walls and ceiling black.
The Ikea chandeliers are 5 years old and were repurposed from our kitchen island lighting from our old loft. They are hung using a track which enables you to use your existing light socket.

We actually do have a window in our closet that needed to be covered up. We used a pipe as the curtain rod. You can sew a pocket for the rod or just use straight pins.

Shelving system is from Home Depot. I love the gray instead of stark white wire shelving. Not shown: Lower rack for pants, more built-ins for purses, sweaters, etc. Just pick and choose what is right for your space.

This project can easily be completed in a weekend.

Awards Galore!

My son was presented with these in the last month!!! He is missing TEN medals that Chicago Park District never sent to the kids that won the City Championship swim meets!

For the record, I'm pretty jealous of my son.

Master Bath Spa

It's finally done! It's finally done! I can hardly wait to try out our new master bath!

The white towels give our master bad a spa feel.

2 Weeks Later

You've come a long way, Baby!

Motor Mouth Swimmer Boy

Motor Mouth competed in the Joliet Dr. Pepper Swim Meet this weekend. When the kids won a heat or trophy they received a can of Dr. Pepper 10. LoL!

This was a three-day meet. Neither J nor I could be at the Friday portion so we are very thankful to King for being there for our son, videoing the race for us to see, and bringing him to me. We don't have blood family in Chicago but our friends, like King, are our family and make a difference in our lives and the lives of our children.


Motor Mouth swims 5-6 days/week, does push ups, crunches, running, and watches what he eats. He gets his homework done and sacrifices play time to swim for two hours a day. He is even doing better academically this year than any other year.

Motor Mouth decided in September that he wanted to be top in the Chicago Park District. He worked hard and accomplished his goal as a 9-year old competing against 9&10 year olds. Motor Mouth sets his goals and we make it possible for him to work on attaining his goals.

Dream Team - 1st Place in Relay

This spring, Motor Mouth tried out and made a local USA Swimming team. This means he can compete at a higher level that could lead to the Olympics which is good because Motor Mouth wants to be a marine biologist and a famous swimmer when he gets older. His goals!

At his first meet with this team last month, Motor Mouth made Regional times in all six of his events. This meet, he bettered those times and I have to tell you that I teared up when he made his second State time this weekend. Pretty proud of my hard-working boy!

The Right Stuff!

Swimming is as much an individual sport as it is a team sport. Motor Mouth and his friends competed together on a relay team. They placed 1st in the Boys 10&Under freestyle relay.

The most important thing is that he had a great time with his friends! He loves the water and loves hanging out with the other boys between races. They are so caring and great to each other. All the parents love to watch it.

I LOVE this photo of the boys walking together after winning the relay race. They all worked hard to make it happen. They look so grown up and confident and happy. They are all focused on their coach. This little Dream Team helped their team win the first place trophy for overall meet winner!!!

Overall Meet Winners!

Speaking of trophies...Motor Mouth won 3rd Place Overall Meet Points for Boys 10&Under!!! Here he is with one of his best friends - who won the 1st Place trophy in the same category! We didn't even know. We had walked out of the pool area when his friend came and told us. So unexpected. So awesome!

Overall, this was a great meet weekend for Motor Mouth.

Baby Girl

My baby girl is growing up!!!

Sneak Peek!

Our master bath is almost ready to be inhabited! I can hardly wait!!! Yet I am paralyzed by the amount of work to make the area inhabitable. Work that was not going to be an issue before I broke my finger. Or before Memorial Day when it was all supposed to be done and we had a three day weekend.

There is so much construction dust that I think we need a shop vac and two weeks to get it cleaned. We don't have two weeks! House guests arrive in 12 days!!!

After the dust clears - literally - we need to move four rooms of furniture, boxes and clothes. It will be so nice once it is done though. The kids will finally have their playroom set up and their toys and books back! Our laundry room and garage will be free boxes and furniture. Finally.

Sneak Peek!
You'll have to wait to see the shower, second vanity and master closet. J designed the tile placement. It's a really cool 12x24 tile mixed with a few pieces of 12x12 tile.