Author: Sarah

A Scalloped Accent Wall for the Nursery

Today I have a fun project reveal to share! It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment project and got completed about 24 hours after I decided to do it – an accent wall in Vi’s nursery!

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I’ve been struggling with what to do in this room for a while now. Since we didn’t find out Vi’s gender during my pregnancy, we decided to keep the nursery simple by painting it white. We knew we could always add color later. Well, it’s later. She’s almost 8 months old and still has white walls, a white crib, white artwork, white sheets…it’s boring and sterile and doesn’t give off cozy feelings. I’ve been itching to update it for a while and would love to add wallpaper or a fun wall treatment, but there are just too many uncertainties with the room’s future to do a big project. We don’t know if we’ll have a third baby someday. If we do, and it’s a girl, the girls will move to LJ’s room since it’s bigger and he will move in here. So why put a ton of money into a room that could potentially need to be re-done in 2-3 years? But also…why keep a room white and boring for 2-3 years just because I don’t know the future?

After I took this picture of Vi in her nursery on Wednesday afternoon I realized something: I don’t know the future, but I know what’s happening right now. And right now, this is my baby girl’s room. I don’t want to invest in more permanent changes, but I could still make a big impact with a small cosmetic change that didn’t take much time or money. I’ve was inspired by the walls Bre painted in her daughter’s room, so I decided right then and there to just go for it and paint a cute scalloped accent wall!

Indiana’s current stay-at-orders call for people to only leave their homes for essential travel, so I was determined to complete this project using only the materials that I already had. I had about 2/3 quart of paint leftover from the dresser changing table I recently re-purposed for my sister in law, so I decided to use that (Sherwin Williams Fading Rose in Satin) for the accent wall. Truthfully, it’s not the shade or sheen I would have chosen had I been able to go to the store and pick something out. However, I liked it well enough and knowing it would just be something to tide the room over for a couple years (if it stays Vi’s room, I’d love to wallpaper!) made it an easy decision to say yes to.

Here’s one last look at where the room started:

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I wanted the painted section to cover roughly 2/3 of the wall. Since the room has 8 foot ceilings, I kept things nice and simple by marking 5 feet up the wall. Once I had marked it in a few places, I used a level to draw a thin, straight pencil line the length of the wall.

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I placed painter’s tape just above the marked line so that paint would cover it, and I used the level again to verify that the taped line was straight across. I also taped out the side walls and baseboard.

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We just painted the room 9 months ago, so the walls were in pretty good shape, but there were a few small dents that needed to be repaired. I used patching plaster and a joint knife to fill in the dents and let it dry overnight.

In the morning, I lightly ran a sanding block over the places I patched to make sure everything was smooth and ran a damp microfiber cloth over the wall to make sure it was clean and dust-free.

I had our pack n play and Slumperpod set up in our bedroom so Vi had a place to sleep during the day. As soon as I put her down for her morning nap, I turned on LJ’s favorite show (currently, Blippi on Amazon Prime) and got to work. I trimmed out the wall with a 2 inch angled paintbrush and then filled in with a roller. I rolled out a quick second coat after Vi’s nap and just let her play with a few toys in the nursery crib next to me for that <10 minute task.

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As you can see from the various shades of drying paint above, I pulled off the painter’s tape as soon as I finished the second coat. I find this is key to the tape coming off easily and not sticking extra hard to the wall under dried paint.

While both my kids were up and playing nearby, I worked on deciding what to use to trace my scallops. Get ready for some super technical instructions…

I used a ruler to draw two straight lines on the back of the large paper that came in an Ikea frame, and tested out two different plastic lids from our recycling bin to see what size scallop I liked best. Ha!

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I decided I liked the slightly bigger look, so the sour cream lid was the winner! I used a mini level and painter’s tape to mark where I wanted to line up the lid with the painted line on the wall.

I managed to get both my kids down for a dual nap after lunch and started tracing out the scallops, being careful to make sure to line up the tape marks with the painted line.

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It almost worked out perfectly, but the last one was just a little bit too big for the remaining space. I went back to my Ikea frame paper and cut out one of the scallops so I could bend it at the edge – I barely had to bend it but I’m glad I took the extra step to make sure the pattern was consistent.

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Ideally, I would have used a small stiff paint brush to paint over the outlines (something like this) but I didn’t have one so I improvised and used a sponge makeup applicator!

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This worked pretty well for tracing the scallops, but it was a very tedious process.

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Once the outlines were done, I went back to my 2 inch paint brush to fill in the rest. After getting two coats on, the wall was done!

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Even though it’s not the exact color I would’ve chosen on my own, it did coordinate well with the things I already had for the room, and I definitely think it made it much cozier.

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This also inspired me to finally have Justin hang a shelf that has just been propped against the wall for months. He made this triangle shelf several years ago and I think it brings warmth to the space.

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All in all, including the time it took me to gather materials, prep the wall, and paint, I would say this project took about 4 hours of active, hands-on work time. And the best part is – it cost me $0 since I exclusively used items I already had on hand.  Not bad for a spur-of-the-moment project!

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If there is one thing this project reminds me of, it’s don’t wait. Don’t wait years to know for sure exactly how a room might be used – rooms will always be evolving! Don’t wait until you have the exact perfect tools on hand – what you already have might do the job just fine! Don’t wait until you have a room perfect before you deem it worthy of sharing – celebrate the progress! There are still things I want to do here. We’ll eventually need to replace the carpet and trim. I’m waiting on a fun piece of artwork from my sister’s studio to put up a gallery wall next to the closet. The room will keep changing as Vi grows (or as our family changes) so I’m going to continue to just celebrate each step we take in making our house a home. I fall more and more in love with it in each change we make!

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Welcome to your new room, sweet Vi!

A Look inside My Purse

Good morning! I’m linking up with Shay and Erika for the second time this month for their Let’s Look series. Past topics this year include a look into my bedside table, my winter wardrobe, and how I “do” Easter. Today’s topic is a look inside your purse!

This was supposed to be the topic in March but they pushed it back due to how crazy life was in the beginning of COVID 19 in the US. Can you believe it’s been an entire month since this all started? It feels both shorter and much, much longer at the same time. I’m only leaving the house for groceries these days, and I’m not taking my kids along, so it does feel kind of weird to talk about what I carry in my purse since I don’t really use my purse or my diaper bag at all right now. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to once again!

So I very very rarely even use a purse. Ever since LJ was born, I’ve made a conscious effort to simplify what I carry around when I leave the house. I don’t want to be schlepping a diaper bag on one arm, a purse in another, and try to loop an infant car seat in the crook of my elbow. It’s just too much stuff!

For the last 2.5 years, I’ve used my backpack diaper bag as my purse. I have blogged several times about what I carry in my diaper bag through the various stages of motherhood (newborn, infant, toddler, 2 under 2) and one thing has always remained the same: I keep the front pocket of my diaper bag reserved for only my stuff. I keep it super streamlined with the things I am most likely going to need when we’re out of the house.  As of today, the following things are in that front pocket:

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I obviously always take my wallet in the main compartment of the diaper bag. Other than that, my most reached-for items are my extra hair tie or a snack (usually a granola bar). I also usually have a pen, tylenol, gum, headphones, hand sanitizer, and something for my lips. That’s it!

Sometimes, I do actually get to leave the house without my kids. (Whoohoo!) On those occasions, I do one of two things. If I’m just running out to do errands or go to a coffee shop or my spin class or something like that, I’ll just take my wallet. I love having a wristlet because it’s super easy to carry around just by itself. I always make sure mine has plenty of storage and love this one from Target.

If I’m going out for a girls night with friends or a date night with Justin, I like to take along a slightly bigger clutch. I love the one pictured below – it’s neutral enough to go with everything and it’s big enough to hold my wallet, phone, and something for my lips (it’s always one of the three pictured!) but small enough to use as a wristlet if I want.

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I wasn’t always this minimal in what I carry around. I used to take everything from a mini first aid kit to tweezers, a nail file, lotion, even a mini notebook in my purse. But the fact is, for 99% of occasions, I do not need that stuff. I can go without them for a few hours when I’m out and about. And it makes things so much simpler to not be digging around in a cluttered purse to try to find something while my baby is fussing and my toddler is running around. Keeping my purse simplified makes life so much easier!

What are your must-haves to carry around when you leave the house?

Easter 2020

Easter 2020 was certainly not like any other year, but it was definitely one I’ll remember for years to come!

We kicked off our festivities on Saturday with cookie decorating during Vi’s naptime. My friend has her own cookie business and she created DIY cookie decorating kits available for people to do in their homes.

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LJ loved this activity (especially the frosting) and we had a great time decorating.

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Next up, egg dying. Surprisingly, not as messy as I anticipated with a toddler haha!

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We also did an egg hunt in our yard. LJ had SO much fun running around collecting eggs and it was hilarious to see which ones he found right away and which ones seemed obvious but escaped his notice for a long time.

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Sunday morning I made us a pancake breakfast and LJ and I read through the Easter story and colored his Sunday School Easter packet together before our family sat down to stream our church service online.

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I’m not going to sugarcoat things: Easter Sunday wasn’t some perfect, magical day. LJ woke up at 5:00 am (he usually sleeps until 7:30). Both he and Violet were pretty distracting during the church service, plus we were all tired from our early morning wake-ups. Quite frankly, both Justin and I are functioning at a different level these days. Our baselines levels of stress, anxiety, and frustration are higher thanks to all that COVID-19 has brought. I think when this whole thing started, we were relatively optimistic about everything, but as the weeks have gone on, it has taken its toll. This weekend we both felt like we were running on empty and we both struggled with impatience this morning.

Thankfully, after playing a game with my siblings and parents over Zoom, both our kids napped at the same time so Justin and I were able to rest and nap as well.

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Our whole family felt refreshed after our naps, and the second half our our day was so much smoother. We got to dress Vi up in her Easter dress so I could take a picture (she’s growing so fast, it’s a real possibility that she’ll outgrow these clothes before she gets a chance to wear them!)

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We got to do a family Zoom with my siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents since we weren’t able to all get together for Easter dinner and it was so nice to see everyone.

LJ has recently become really interested in fishing so he and Justin spent some time out by the pond. LJ was so excited to get to reel in the line on daddy’s fishing pole – melt my heart! Vi and I watched them while rocking on our porch swing and it was the kind of peaceful family evening that I cherish. Honestly, these sweet moments of quiet togetherness were probably my favorite of the entire day.

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Afterwards, we came inside and Justin re-hid a few of LJ’s Easter eggs in the house so he got to do another little hunt before winding down for bed. As I reflected back on the weekend, I realized that even though it wasn’t a perfect weekend on paper, we got to spend time as a family, celebrate and worship together, have fun starting little traditions, and enjoy quiet moments of peace. Pretty perfect after all.

I know these days are uncertain, but I’m so thankful for Easter and the hope that I have in Jesus. ❤ I hope you were all able to find some joy and peace this weekend too!

 

My Favorite Wall in our Home

A couple months ago, I shared the initial progress on painting the staircase landing from our garage into our house, and as of today it is finally finished!

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This may sound like a weird project to focus on when the list of things I want to do in our house is so long, but I had special plans for the wall along the landing. I wanted to make it a place where we mark the heights of our kids as they grow up. I have always wanted to do this once we got to our “forever” home and as soon as we moved here I started looking for walls that might work for this. I decided that this wall is perfect: it’s out of the way, so it won’t contribute to the overall aesthetic of the house and I’m not worried someday I’ll want to change the paint color, but the garage entrance is the one we use everyday (or do when we’re not staying at home all day every day ha!) so it’s a wall we will see every time we come home. I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on the space since it is our garage, but I did want to spruce it up at least a little from where we started here:

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Dingy walls with tons of dings and nicks – I wanted a clean slate to start our measurements. What was supposed to be a very simple job of patching + painting walls turned into a little bit more of a project because once I painted the walls, I decided I also wanted to paint a fun color on the little door leading into our attic…

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…which led to me thinking “well with the walls and the door painted, now the stairs are looking pretty shabby” so I painted them as well. If you give a mouse a cookie, right?

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I also did a quick coat of gold spray paint to freshen up that little door handle. All of this was done with paint I already had leftover from other projects, which meant this project cost a grand total of $0. It took a lot longer than I anticipated, because I had to wait for warm enough weather to paint (tricky in March in Indiana). Eventually, I will finish the rest of the staircase leading down into the garage but I didn’t have enough paint and this project had already expanded enough at this point.

The walls were actually painted two months ago, so we were able to measure LJ in February. Honestly, the hardest part of this entire project was getting him to stand still enough against the wall to get an accurate measurement, ha!

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He loves pointing to his little mark and now that the date is also marked there, he loves to talk about the numbers he sees there too.

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I think we’ll measure Vi for the first time when she’s able to stand on her own. Eventually Justin and I will mark ourselves and I think it’d be fun to mark the heights of our dogs too. I don’t really have plans to measure ourselves on a rigid schedule, just maybe 2 or 3 times a year or when our kids hit growth spurts. I think this will be such a special way of documenting the life of our family in this home!

Someday, I may even expand it beyond family. My best friend growing up had a wall in her garage where her family marked their growing heights and they even had other friends mark their heights when they visited, which I think it a pretty awesome idea. Our wall is certainly big enough to have a section for other people, and I love the idea of possibly using it as a guest book of sorts. Can you imagine this wall someday with our kids growing up and all the people we’ve loved who’ve come through here and been part of our lives? For now, we’re keeping it just our family but that’s definitely something we may do in the future. We want our home to be well loved and I think this is just such a cool way of really making it “ours.”

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It may not look like much right now, but this wall is already my favorite in our entire house and I can’t wait to watch it change over the years. ❤

Sources

Wall Color: Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray

Door Color: Sherwin Williams HGTV Oceanus

Stair/Railing Color: Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze

 

Let’s Look: Easter

Once again, I’m linking up with Shay and Erika for their monthly Let’s Look post, and this month’s prompt is to share how you “do” Easter.

Every year, I look forward to Easter. I am a Christian, and this holiday is the cornerstone of my faith since it celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I love the church services, I love the family gatherings, and I love the fun activities like Easter Egg hunts too. It’s just such a special holiday!

Easter in the middle of a pandemic is definitely not what I pictured for 2020. At first, I was hopeful that things would perhaps be back to normal-ish by Easter, but it quickly became apparent that that wasn’t going to happen. With all the other disappointments that have come along with having to cancel all activities and stay at home, this was one of the biggest ones for me. I was so discouraged thinking about not being able to do Easter.

Over this past week, I decided it was time to shift my mindset. Easter itself isn’t cancelled. I can still celebrate! I just needed to re-frame what that will look like and started to gather things for a sweet and simple holiday celebration.

I don’t have a lot of seasonal decor but my mother-in-law gave me these two decorative rabbits and they were the perfect addition to create a little Easter display in the playroom.

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I already had a bunch of plastic eggs from previous years, so when I went grocery shopping last weekend, I picked up a few bags of candy to fill them ( I couldn’t help sneaking a few Cadbury eggs early 😉 ). It’s not the same as the big hunt we do every year with my extended family, but I think LJ will still have fun doing a mini hunt in our yard!

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I also picked up an egg decorating kit. He loves Paw Patrol, so I think he will really enjoy this activity!

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Before the social distancing and stay-at-home guidelines got super serious, I went out and bought a bunch of little treats and things to slowly bring out and keep us occupied during this time at home. I still had a few items that I haven’t shown LJ, so I’m going to put together a little Easter basket for him with some goodies.

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We are also going to do a few activities to keep our focus on the reason for all these celebrations. In addition to streaming our church services, we’re going to do a big Zoom phone call with my family since we can’t do an Easter dinner. The woman in charge of our church’s preschool ministry was so sweet to send out a few little coloring packets for the kids since we won’t be in church for Easter. We’re also going to read from our Storybook Bible which does a great job of translating the Bible into super kid-friendly language.

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I may or may not even dress Vi up in a cute little Easter dress – I already had a few options bought before all this craziness started. After weeks on end with nothing but pajamas and the occasional onesie, I just think a sweet little Easter dress would be fun! Or maybe that’s a little too *extra* haha. We’ll see!

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This year won’t look like any other year, but I’m so thankful that I still have some things to look forward too and many simple yet meaningful ways to celebrate. I think it will be a great weekend after all! As I thought to myself while buying a bouquet of tulips on impulse during my grocery trip: it’s time to celebrate LIFE.

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Happy Easter everyone! ❤

The Firsts and the Lasts

I was prepared for the firsts but not the lasts.

I read a similar phrase a while ago and it struck such a chord with me when I think about my journey in motherhood so far.

I have always looked forward to the firsts. First cry, first smile, first full night of sleep (praise the Lord). First roll over, first bite of food, first tooth. These are all things I anticipate and know to prepare for, and we celebrate each time there is a milestone moment.

During this time of staying at home, Vi reached a pretty big milestone: she crawled for the first time!

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We knew she had been getting super close. She had been lifting her body up in push-up position for a while. Then she was pushing up to her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. It was only a matter of time before she figured out the mechanics of crawling, and Justin and I watched eagerly, cheering her on (kind of makes up for no sports on TV? 😉 ).

Then, this past Friday afternoon after Justin got home, I set her down on the floor and put the remote (her favorite thing) on the floor in front of her…and she slowly army crawled to it! It was such an awesome moment for Justin and I to witness together and we were so excited to celebrate this milestone in our daughter’s life. She’s getting so big!

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For all that I look forward to the firsts, I don’t always anticipate the lasts.

The lasts are bittersweet.  While I am so very thankful for continued growth and development, sometimes it’s a little heartbreaking to see my child leave another piece of babyhood behind. And one of those big moments happened in this quarantine too.

I’ve talked before about LJ’s deep love for the pacifier. Weaning him from the pacifier was a milestone we planned for and anticipated, so that “last” was a little easier to prepare for. However, once we snipped off the end of his beloved wubbanub, he still continued to sleep with the stuffed animal part, an elephant affectionately known as Edgar, as well as two little lovies with bear heads. Every night, he wanted them tucked in his arms and every morning, he insisted on bringing “Edgie bears” (Edgar and the bears) with him. He carried them around everywhere. He looked for them to take to nap time, and smiled and laughed when he found them. He woke up and wouldn’t let us leave his bedroom without retrieving them from the crib. It seemed wherever LJ went, “Edgie bears” needed to come too.

Over time, he has been leaving them in the crib more and more. He stopped asking for them to come with him. He stopped insisting on making sure they were all three with him before he fell asleep. He didn’t need lovies tucked under each arm to fall asleep anymore. It happened slowly over time – sometimes he still wanted them and other times he didn’t – so it was easy to not really notice the gradual changes.

Then, one day in quarantine, I realized he is totally past this milestone. He no longer asks for them at all anymore. And even if he did ask for them, his speech has improved to the point where it wouldn’t sound like “Ed-gee bears” anymore. Such a big part of his life for so long . . . and now we moved past it and I don’t even know when the “last” time was. I didn’t know when it was happening, I only know now that it has. And just like that, my sweet little boy is a little bit bigger.

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I knew to prepare for the firsts. I did not know to prepare for the lasts.

Even though I’m a stay-at-home mom, this time in quarantine has given me more time than ever with my children. I’m not going to my women’s group, so they’re not going to childcare. We’re not going to church, so they’re not going to nursery/Sunday School. Justin and I aren’t going out for date nights, so they’re not staying with a babysitter. There’s no visits with grandparents, no playdates with friends. We are together every day, all day long. And though the days are long, I know that the years are short.

While this time in quarantine can be exhausting and difficult, it is also a gift. It is the gift of time to enjoy their littleness right now. They are growing and changing subtly every day. I guess this long and rambling post is my way of reflecting during this time – a way to get all my thoughts out and remember the complex feelings of motherhood right now. I can’t wait for the day when life goes back to “normal,” yet while we’re here in this strange new normal, I’m choosing deep gratitude for the extra time I have to soak up each of my kids’ unique personalities right now. It won’t be long before they’re on to the next stage, and I’ve accepted that my mama heart will always straddle the line of bittersweet thankfulness for that. ❤

 

 

 

Love for our 20 Year Old House

All this time at home over the past few weeks has me thinking a lot about our house.

I always thought I would live in an old house. I wanted the character, the charm, and the history that comes with old homes. I grew up in a farmhouse built in the mid 1800’s. My grandparents lived on a nearby farm (where Justin and I were married!) in a house that has now been in our family for over 100 years. My love for old homes runs deep!

But when Justin and I found our dream property, the house that came with it was not what I pictured for our forever home. 

Our house is 20 years old. Old enough to be dated, not old enough to be vintage. 😉 When we bought it, we had to look beyond the surface to envision our family here. It seemed like everywhere I looked were things that I wanted to change and it was a little overwhelming. But we could tell that the house had been well loved by the previous owners and I had a feeling that we could make this home our dream home.

I feel like homes built 20-30 years ago get a bad rap. The dated styles that scream “NINETIES” aren’t necessarily appealing and can be hard to look past. There’s lighting to update (just in the rooms pictured above, we have fluorescent kitchen lighting, boob lights [if you know, you know], and dated chandeliers), walls that I would love to freshen with paint, and an abundance of orange-y wood trim everywhere I look.

But if you can look beyond all that, homes built 20 years ago have so much potential and can be absolute gems. We have enjoyed slowly unlocking the potential of our home project by project since moving in last May.

Truthfully, even if we’re never able to change a single thing, I’m extremely grateful to have a home. Especially in the midst of this pandemic, having a safe space to socially distance is a blessing and privilege and I do not take that for granted. That being said, all this time at home does have me dreaming about a few of the updates I would love to make to the home, and makes me thankful for all the changes we’ve been able to complete so far.

Sometimes unlocking potential is is just a matter of re-imagining a room by removing window treatements, swapping out furniture and light fixtures, and changing up the walls like we did in our playroom.

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Sometimes it’s a full-blown gut job renovation to completely update a space like we did in our guest bathroom.

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And sometimes, it’s as simple as a little work, a fresh coat of paint, and shopping your own house to find extra decor to spruce up a dated space like I just did in our basement.

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I think it’s really important to love where you live. It doesn’t have to be big, it doesn’t have to be brand new, it doesn’t have to be fancy . . . it should just be a place where you enjoy being. A haven from the outside world. When I think about our home, I want our house to be a beautiful, cozy place where my family feels safe and others feel welcome (when this social distance time is finally over!)

Our home will be the backdrop to my kid’s childhoods. It will be the setting for many of the sweetest times in our lives. Even though there is still a lot of work we want to do, we’re not waiting to make memories here. We are choosing to love where we live every single day while we enjoy the journey of uncovering its potential.

March 2020 Book Reviews

In the interest of total transparency, I’m trying something new this month. I’ve always provided a link to the books I’ve reviewed for your convenience (should you want to read that book too), but in this post, I started using affiliate links. This means if you purchase something through the link I provided, I may earn a small commission. I link these books because they are what I read, and none of my reading decisions were based on any commission I might receive from your purchases. The decision to buy a book is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy one through the link I provide is completely up to you. Thank you!

Starting off the month of April with my favorite type of post: book reviews!

I initially thought I would read like, 17 books, since the second half of March was spent almost exclusively at home; however, I got busy with a few home projects (making over a $15 dresser, giving our basement a quick refresh, and spending time with Justin on our DIY Date Night) so I wasn’t non-stop reading like I thought, although I did still finish several books. I’m very glad that I had checked out plenty of books from our library before it closed down (and that digital copies are still available to check out!) so I can continue to read while staying at home.

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The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

The Worst Best Man: A Novel by [Sosa, Mia]

Lately I have been into romcoms in the haters-turned-lovers category (i.e. The Unhoneymooners and The Hating Game) so when this book happened to catch my eye at the library, I decided to check it out. Andrew and Lina are getting married, until Andrew decides to bail and asks his brother and best man Max to tell Lina he’s not going through with it. On their wedding day. Yikes. Flash forward three years, and Lina is vying for her dream job. The catch is, she needs to work with Max to land it. I’ll be honest, this book was just kind of “meh” for me. I thought the characters were pretty underdeveloped – I wanted to see more of what made each of them tick. I did not understand the different levels of animosity Lina showed Andrew vs. Max. The author was clearly trying to make their different cultures play into the story and incorporated a lot of Lina’s Brazilian heritage and family, but it kind of felt forced. I wanted to feel more of the spark between Lina and Max but I couldn’t get into their relationship and actually felt like their dynamic was awkward at times, even when they were supposedly falling for one another. Also, all the sudden, it got super steamy but with cringe-y dialogue and I just felt weird reading it, especially because I wasn’t even really feeling the characters’ connections. Overall, this one fell flat for me and I would say if you’re in the mood for a romcom, I have many suggestions to read before this one.

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Maybe in Another Life: A Novel by [Reid, Taylor Jenkins]

Every time I start a book by Taylor Jenkins Reid, I have to mentally brace myself, as she tends to write doozies with complex characters and thought-provoking “how would I handle this in my own life?” situations. This book is no different. Hannah Martin moves back to her hometown of LA and celebrates her first night back by meeting up with some old friends at a bar. At the end of the night, she is presented with a choice: does she stay out and reconnect with her high school boyfriend Ethan? Or does she decide to pass on staying out and instead go home with her best friend Gabby? The rest of the book is split into two story lines and follows the effects of each decision. As with all the other work I’ve read from this author, I found this book to be incredibly compelling. I thought it would be hard to follow the alternating stories, but it really wasn’t hard to keep up with at all. Each story line was drastically different, and yet it was really intriguing to see the elements of each world that remained the same. I liked the characters, I liked the premise, and I was super invested in figuring out how it was all going to end (honestly, I had huge doubts that it would get wrapped up in a satisfying way, but I did feel like there was closure). I flew through this book and it gave me a lot to think about in terms of how every decision we makes has long-lasting consequences, whether good or bad. It’s a good middle ground fiction – not too fluffy, but not dark and heavy. I definitely recommend!

Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds

This book is technically a young adult/middle school level read but I honestly think it’s a great choice for everyone. It’s written in short story format, and each chapter shows a look at what happens to various middle schoolers after a school day is over. The stories all take place on the same day at the same school, but each story stands on its own. It’s really interesting to see the different perspectives and even see some of the overlap between stories. I’m always impressed when an author can develop a whole story line and make you care about a character in just a few pages, but that’s just what this book did. I wouldn’t necessarily call this “light” reading; it’s quick and easy to read, but packs a punch. I even teared up at one of the stories! I thought this was a very unique, poignant look at how different kids deal with situations in their lives. It also made me think about how we can be so wrapped up in our own lives that we don’t really notice what is going on in with others around us. I recommend it!

Regretting You by Colleen Hoover

Regretting You by [Hoover, Colleen]

A couple years ago, I read Colleen Hoover’s book It Ends with Us and that book haunted me for a long time. I was excited to read another book by her and Regretting You did not disappoint! The book is told in alternating points of view between Morgan and her seventeen-year-old daughter Clara. Their mother-daughter dynamic is full of conflict and frustration, and when their husband/father Chris is involved in a tragic accident (that leaves a lot of unanswered questions), they start to drift apart even further. I could not put this book down! The writing is strong, the plot is multifaceted yet not overly complicated, the characters were complex but likable, and I adored the supporting characters.  It did get frustrating at times because Clara and Morgan keep secrets from each other that cause a lot of heartache and misunderstanding, but that just spurred me on to keep reading and see if/how things got resolved. This was a book that once I finished, I wanted to re-read my favorite parts over and over again.  I really enjoyed this one and highly recommend!

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by [Harms, Kelly]

“I get this now. I get now that you can love what you have, love your kids and your life and your friends, and still want more. I get that it’s ok to go out and get more – more love, more friendship, more fulfillment – and still be a wonderful mom.”

Amy’s husband left her (and their two children) without warning three years ago, leaving her to scramble to make ends meet and support her family working as a school librarian. One day, her husband reappears out of the blue, apologizes profusely, and begs for a chance to be back in their kids’ lives. Against her better judgement, Amy agrees to give him one week with their children. She heads to a library conference in New York City and soon begins a journey towards rediscovery and redefining her identity and life.

I read this book on my kindle, so it sounds a little weird to say, but it needed like 20-30 fewer pages. In my opinion, there was too much time spent on Amy’s backstory/life as a librarian and mom; the beginning felt slow and a little too woe-is-me (which I get was the point, but it was overkill at times).  That being said, once Amy actually got to New York, the story picked up and I was hooked! Personally, I felt like I could relate to a lot of what she experienced – she sacrificed so much for her family and kids that she lost her own sense of self, then felt guilty for taking time away from them to have some fun on her own. I loved all the characters and enjoyed rooting for Amy as she began to let loose and realize that she is a mom, but she is also a woman and that woman is important too. This was a fun, cute, even empowering read!

 

Since the social distancing recommendations have now been extended through April, I have a feeling there will be a lot of books read next month. If you have any great suggestions, send them my way!

 

 

A Day in the {Quarantined} Life

I love writing up the occasional ‘day in the life’ posts. Even though life is anything but normal right now, I thought it would be nice to document what our new normal looks like in these strange days of social distancing. This is definitely a unique circumstance and one day when this is all said and done, I think it’ll be interesting to look back and remember how we spent our days “quarantined” in our home (we’re not sick, so we’re not technically quarantined, but Indiana has a shelter-in-place order so we are not leaving our house for anything non-essential). I documented last Thursday – here’s what it looked like!

Thursday, March 26, 2020

I woke up around 7:00 am and quickly got dressed, did my quick 2 minute face wash+serum+moisturizer+contact lenses routine, and headed into the nursery to feed Vi. Once she was finished, we headed downstairs and I set her on the floor with a few toys to play with. This girl is rolling all over the place and in less than one minute was already this far away from her toys – we think she is close to crawling!

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I ate my breakfast and read my daily bible study while Vi rolled around and played.  Justin came down and grabbed a quick breakfast and kissed us girls goodbye before heading off to work around 7:30.

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LJ woke up around 7:45, so I went up to his room to get him and bring him down for breakfast. He chose two banana chocolate chip muffins that I made last week (trying especially hard not to let food go to waste since we’re not going out to the grocery store often).

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After breakfast, the three of us hung out in the playroom reading books and playing with trains.

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Right before all this social distancing started, Justin’s parents came to visit and brought some books that my sister-in-law was handing down to LJ because her kids have outgrown them. I’ve been slowly pulling out one thing at a time and it’s such a nice treat to have something “new” for LJ to get now that we’re stuck inside. This lift-the-flap tractor book is one of his favorite new things!

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LJ is big into coloring and using stickers right now, so we also spent some time crafting. He drew a picture and I traced Vi’s little handprints and wrote a short letter to Justin’s grandma so we could send her some love via mail!

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Around 9:15, Vi was starting to rub her eyes so I quickly fed her and put her down for a nap. In “normal” life, I get together with a small group of women every other Thursday morning. Since we couldn’t meet in person, we met via Zoom. I turned on Mickey Mouse on Disney+ to keep LJ occupied so I could meet with my friends.

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It was SO good to get to see other faces and hear how everyone is doing. We are all obviously dealing with this global health crisis in our own ways and everyone has their own struggles, so it was nice to just get to lean on one another and feel supported and loved.

Our call ended around 11:00 and I realized I should’ve known when LJ was being so quiet in the other room that he was up to something. Haha!

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Vi was up from her nap, so I went up to get her and change both kids’ diapers. I got some lunch around while chatting with my youngest sister on the phone. Sandwich for me, chicken nuggets, cottage cheese, strawberries, and an apple for LJ.

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Once we finished up lunch, we noticed that our neighbors across the road were outside with their tractors. We know them well, so we decided to take advantage of the warm sunny day and burn off a little pent up energy by walking across the road to say hi. I strapped Vi in our Ergo carrier and we set off!

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LJ is obsessed with tractors so he was so excited to go on a little adventure to see them. The day was perfect – sunny and warm!

We waved to our neighbors from afar and LJ got to get up close to one of the parked tractors. We watched our neighbors drive one of the other tractors for a while, then had to head back to our house for naptime. LJ was so cute about wanting to say goodbye to the tractors; he kept turning around every 5 steps to wave and say “bye tractor!” as we walked back down their lane.

We walked back to our house and brought the garbage can back in from the end of our lane. I love that LJ is in a stage where he loves to be a good helper!

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We spent a few more minutes soaking up the warm sunshine while LJ played in Justin’s truck. He loves pretending to drive and rolling the window up and down.

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Around 1:00 we headed inside. I put Vi in her activity center so I could take LJ upstairs and get him down for his nap. He’s starting to really stall when it comes to sleep so he wanted to keep reading books. We read a few books and sang a few songs and then I put him down.

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Back downstairs, Vi was also starting to look sleepy so I fed her while answering a few work emails. Once she was done feeding, she went upstairs for her nap around 2:00.

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Once Vi was in her crib, I headed straight down to our basement to get my Expecting and Empowered workout done. I have learned that it really helps keep my mental health in a good place to have some sort of exercise/movement each day and I’m more thankful than ever for at-home workouts. I completed leg day while listening to a podcast and it was a much needed boost!

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In between sets, I edited a letter of recommendation that my sister asked me to look over.

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Once I was done with my workout, I settled into the couch to get work done for my job (I’m a part-time administrative assistant for a nutrition counseling company) and had While You Were Sleeping (one of my favorites!) on in the background. I stayed here until I heard LJ wake up around 3:45.

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LJ normally wakes up from his nap in a super cranky mood and he needs about 20 minutes to adjust before he’s back to his normal self. I still had a few emails to finish up so I did those while he ate a snack and watched an episode of Mickey Mouse.

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Justin and I had decided to support a local restaurant (and give ourselves a cooking break) by ordering carry out for dinner, so I called in to place the order right before going upstairs to get Vi from her nap.

Justin got home from around 5:00 with dinner in hand. We ordered Italian – I love a good spinach tortellini!

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After dinner we hung out as a family and then Justin took the kids upstairs one at a time for bathtime. Vi hates bathtime but she was all smiles once she was squeaky clean!

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I fed and put Vi down for bed while LJ had his bath.

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After his bath, LJ wanted to play hide and seek for a few minutes. I honestly love the two-year-old phase. He just has the sweetest, most fun personality!

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LJ chose me as the one to put him down for bed (he’s going through a bit of a mommy phase right now 😉 ) so we read a few stories together, then I sang him a few songs and put him down.

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Once both kids were down, Justin and I grabbed the monitor and headed out to the workshop for our DIY Date Night. We made two book ledges for the little nook under our stairs and it was a really fun way to unwind and spend some quality time together working on a project!

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Once we finished our project, we cleaned up the shop and headed inside for the night.

Writing this day down was pretty therapeutic for me. It not only documented what our life looks like in this strange time of shelter-in-place, but it also made me realize that our days aren’t quite the “groundhog day” situation they feel like. There are small ways to make each day unique and special, and I want to remember that too. ❤

 

 

DIY Dare-a-thon Date Night

These days, finding ideas for an at-home date night are running a little thin. Justin and I love games and puzzles and have no shortage of them, but every once in a while it’s nice to do something else.

As I was scrolling Instagram yesterday, I noticed Angela Rose Home and Vintage Revivals are hosting a little DIY Dare-a-thon to help inspire people to get creative while social distancing. Their first challenge was to build something with scraps in your garage. I immediately thought this would be a fun date night for Justin and I, and the DIY Dare-a-thon Date Night (say that 5x fast ha!) was born.

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Deciding on a project was easy. We have a little nook under our stairs that we lovingly refer to as our Harry Potter closet. LJ loves to “hide” in there and now that we’re home so much, we’re spending a lot of time playing there. I eventually want to transform it into a magical little play space for our kids. One thing I’ve always envisioned doing is creating little ledges to store some books for our kids to read, and this seemed like the perfect little project for the dare-a-thon.

We put the kids down for bed, grabbed the baby monitor, and headed out to our garage/workshop. Since we couldn’t go anywhere to get supplies, we had to use what we had. Justin rounded up some scrap wood from past projects and we had two 1×3’s, a long 1×2, and a few 1×4’s.

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We decided to make two shelves: each shelf would be 21 inches long and would be made of a 1×2, 1×3, and 1×4. The 1×3 would form the base, with the 1×2 as the front lip and the 1×4 as the back. Since we were working with scraps, it wasn’t all the same kind of wood, but I figured the only thing that would really be visible was the very front, and the 1×2 was long enough to be used for both shelves so they would end up looking the same.

Justin got to work measuring each board and cutting them to 21 inches long with his miter saw.

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While he did that, I got to work sanding each piece with 80 grit sandpaper.

Once everything was cut to size and sanded, Justin used his kreg jig to create drill holes in each 1×4 and 1×3. Kreg jigs are easy to use and it kept us from visible nail/screw holes on the front of the finished project.

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We used square clamps to line up the boards perfectly, and then attached them with pocket hole screws.

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We first attached the 1×3 to the 1×2, then we attached the 1×4 to the 1×3.

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Here’s a glimpse at how everything attached.

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Once both shelves were assembled, Justin took some 120 grit sandpaper and a wood block to smooth over all the edges.

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It only took us about 90 minutes to go from a few pieces of scrap wood to two book ledges!

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Justin has a box of leftover stain from previous woodworking projects and after scrounging around, we found this lighter shade that was pretty close to my original vision.

We used a sponge brush to apply the stain and let it dry overnight.

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We talked about multiple ways to hang the shelves. We could have attached hooks, but I wanted the shelves to lay flush with the wall. We talked about notches on the back, but we wanted them to be sturdily attached to the wall so kids didn’t pull them off. We ultimately decided to just screw the 1×4 directly into the wall, knowing that books would cover the screws up. Before leaving for work this morning, Justin attached the shelves to the wall.

I put some of our favorite books on the shelves, and the project was complete!

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I am still dreaming of ways to transform this tiny space, but this was a great first step. I picture lots of cozy reading happening in here!

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Overall, this was a great experience! Justin and I had a fun time planning what to do and working together to complete the shelves. It was nice quality time and we both feel really good about the finished project. The project itself was relatively easy, quick to execute, and didn’t cost us any money. Plus we took our first step towards improving this little nook and I’m really happy with it! I can definitely see more DIY Date Nights in our future 🙂