Love & Hope

Sending out a little love today to other infertiles:


Don't give up!

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
{Jeremiah 29:11}

Whats in a Name?

After throwing around this idea for a few weeks I made an executive decision to start naming my refinished pieces.

This is just how I roll; I like naming things.

My first plant in college was named Percy. The goat residing in the lot across from our house I named Phil. The artist formerly known as Jody's Hot Glue Gun now goes by Old Reliable.

A little weird? Maybe so.

To each her own, right?

I will start with our very first piece, our wonderful buffet, which Justin and I tackled together four years ago.

{Jude}

*Jude still needs better hardware before I would consider him officially completed. Now that I know where to find a Hobby Lobby I can finally finish him up for cheap.*

{Violet}
*Vi will be getting a minor facelift here shortly because she is a little too clean for me in her current condition. Oooo, and I found her some cuter hardware at Hobby Lobby last week.*

{Finn}

My awesome task board.

{Scarlett}

So romantic!

Want to know the name of the next piece I'm working on?

{GERT}

Does that give you any indication of my feelings on this piece?

She is a beast, I tell ya.

Reveal to come soon.

{Disclaimer: I am reserving the right to change her name to something more fitting if I end up absolutely adoring her final look.}

Ten on Tuesday

1. I am love, love, lovin' the extra minutes of daylight we are gaining each day! Can you feel it?

"I felt it!"

"Alright, Janice!"

{Just another silly inside joke with my family.}

2. To all you cat lovers out there: you'd better give me some humane suggestions for keeping stray cats out of our flower beds and yard pretty darn quick or my hubby will be taking matters into his own hands.

I'm pretty sure I heard the words "darn cats" and "pellet gun" in the same sentence this last weekend.

3. Kendry is now proudly saying his own name. Last night it was included in his "I like" list that goes something like this (in a singsong voice):

"I like Mommy, I like Daddy, I like Shirley (daycare provider), I like Sophia (daycare kiddo), I like Kendry..."

My 20 month old is admitting that he likes himself. That must mean we're doing something right when it comes to promoting his self-confidence, don't you think?

4. He also repeats "Kendry Dru" very clearly back to me, which steals the thunder a bit from my "Mommy had to use your middle name" discipline moments.

5. And speaking of parenting, I am reading and loving Grace-Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmel. God's grace for us is even more amazing to me now that I'm a parent.

6. Its that time of year again....TAX SEASON! Normally the organizational freak in me is stoked to get all my paperwork in order, login to TurboTax, plug in all our info and {shazam!} get our refund. This year, however, I'm a little overwhelmed. You gotta love the medical expense deduction when you're spending oodles on fertility treatments, but try working that in with your Health Savings Account and you end up with something that, well... should probably be turned over to an accountant.

Wish me luck!

7. In case anyone is keeping track, I did not win either of the Silhouette giveaways I entered in last week. Booooooo!

8. ANXIETY IS...having $800 worth of medications just hanging out in your fridge.

9. PEACE IS...knowing God won't let this medication go to waste.

10. This Week's Blessing: my hubby's homemade BBQ chicken pizza. Enough said.

Nerd in the Making

I'm going to let you in on a little secret:

{I wasn't always the supercool chick that I am today.}

I know this must come as a real shock to you.

But let me assure you I went through many an awkward stage, namely in junior high. Think permed hair and braces.

It was not pretty.

And even though I engrossed myself in the athletic crowd in high school, I was still a nerd at heart.

I have always felt a special kinship with Drew Barrymore's "Josie Grossie"; probably because it sounds so similar to "Jody Grody".

I realize that my story is hardly unique. Everyone goes through at least one awkward stage during their preteen and teen years.

What I didn't anticipate, however, was my own kiddo showing some nerd tendencies at such at early age.

Then again, who am I kidding? I married a math major after all. How cool did we really expect the offspring of "Jody Grody" and "Mr. Mathematician" to turn out?

Case in point: Kendry has this really cute winter hat with the basic ear flaps on the sides. Now that we're moving into his more independent stage he insists on putting it on all by himself each morning. This is how he puts it on.



I know what you're thinking.

"Jody, he is only 20 months old. How can you expect him to not put his hat on crooked?"

Trust me, I wish it were that simple. And at first we thought it was.

We laughed and told him he put his hat on crooked; then we took it off and put it back on his head correctly.

Nope.

He pulled it right back off and put it on "the right way", using one of the ear flaps like a bill on a baseball cap.

Which incidently reminds me of another nerd in a goofy cap.

Remember this kid?

"YOU'RE KILLIN' ME, SMALLS!"

Ahhh well, Justin and I may make them nerdy, but at least we make them cute, right?

Light a Candle...

...cuz I'm on fire!

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

Remember this from my Grown-Up Christmas List in December?

Well, Justin and I did indeed stop at Lowes on our drive back home after Christmas. Since then this little jar has been sitting every so patiently on our paint shelf, just waiting for me to feel inspired.

I finally cracked it open for my mirror turned task board, thinking it would give me the antiqued look I was going for. Alas, one brush stroke in and the striking contrast of this dark glaze on my beautiful white task board freaked me out. I immediately wiped it off, threw the lid back on the glaze and hid it...errr...I mean set it back on the shelf until I could work up more courage to use it.

Freaked out by jar of glaze. Yep, thats me.

But this week the little jar started calling my name again.

"Jooooodddyyyyy.... oh, Jooooddddyyyy!"

{Oooo, this could be a fun horror movie!

"HGTV presents The Haunting of the Glaze, starring Reese Witherspoon.

Brought to you with limited commercials by Valspars."

No?

To what, the title?

Or me being played by Reese Witherspoon? }

Anyway, so this time I was ready.

The project: this candelabra we inherited from my husband's grandparents. I have never owned a candelabra and thought that with a little TLC this one could be a beauty on my dining room table.

{Actually, I thought this could be a beauty on my dining room table for Christmas, but I didn't get around to it before then.}

On a warm day this last fall I lugged a few projects, including the candelabra, into our carport for some spraypainting, figuring the fresh air and great outdoor lighting would serve me better than my dark basement. I painted the candelabra a striking Krylon Colonial Red.

The next day my hubby very irritatingly pointed out that I had also (unintentionally) spraypainted the cement in the carport.

{GASP!}

Mind you, this is the same cement that he scrubbed, sealed and painted all by himself this last summer (often in 80+ degree heat) when we were painting our house.

{Did I not just tell you last week that I can't do home projects without at least a little bit of drama?}

I could have kicked myself! Instead, I apologized profusely to the hubs, borrowed some Goo Gone spray from a friend and scrubbed the heck out of the cement. Only spring and more daylight will reveal if I truly removed every last tint of Colonial Red from the cement.

If not, guess who gets to re-paint the carport this summer?

Lesson learned. Always have a good drop cloth or sufficient newspaper laid out to contain your spraypainting mess.

Anyway, earlier this week I took a few items from the spare room downstairs for a coat of spraypaint. While killing time between coats of paint I spotted the red candelabra and 'PING!'

{idea lightbulb above my head}

I cracked open my glaze once more, grabbed a brush and got to work.

Ain't she a thing of beauty?

Candlelit Valentine's dinner anyone?

Followed by the premiere of my HGTV horror flick?

And before you so kindly ask...

...no, this candelabra will not be going in the spare room. In fact, the style of this candelabra is such that it will stay out until the day after Valentine's Day and then I will be putting it away until next fall. Its just not a spring and summer piece for me.

So yeah, I admit that I got a little distracted from the Blogolution project at hand this last week. But getting in a little practice with my glaze is hardly a waste of my time.