Evelyn...slightly delayed

Since I'm terrible about updating, I hadn't posted about my newest little angel. Evelyn was born 10/5/13 and she is by far my most laid back child so far. Here's an early picture:

She also has the best smile! Here's a picture set from a few months back when it snowed:

Aren't we cute?

Still trucking on

So I posted before about losing my job and that situation has really been haunting me lately. I know the job wasn't good for me, but now everything feels so uncertain and I keep questioning my decisions.

My job basically told me every day that I wasn't pretty enough and my confidence fell so low. They told me I needed to wear makeup, and I gave up on being pretty. They told me I had to straighten or curl my hair every morning because wavy was not allowed. 

They gave me the run around at every chance, refused to pay my overtime then docked my pay when I pointed out that I have legal rights. I didn't get a bonus that I had earned because I didn't work enough hours and I got written up for being 5 min late while everyone else strolled in 15 min late. 

When they took away the promotion I was promised, I knew it was time to give up. I was honest and shared my feeling on the job. After that I was given a write-up that implied that I had quit. After an extremely confusing argument, I felt my best chance of getting unemployment was to let them send me home rather than signing something saying I quit. As it turns out, I was wrong. After receiving unemployment for a few months, my employer won their claim against me and the decision was reversed. I tried to appeal again but they never sent me anything. Now I've got delinquency notices from the DOL and the money is running out fast. 

I don't want to quit school because for the first time in years I feel like I have a chance to make something of myself. At what point do I give up? 

Back to School...

I haven't posted in a while. I like to think its because I've been busy and that's mostly true. 

I lost my job...I'll have to post about all that later. I lost it just in time to get myself registered for classes so I'm back in school. I'm taking 4 classes, 2 easy and 2 hard ones. It has been pretty stressful but I'm doing pretty well so far. I have pretty high As in all but 1 of the classes.

I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep up with school and not have to go back to work, but it feels so good to be doing something good for me. I've been feeling so stuck in a dead end crappy job and in school I feel like I have so much potential!

New Super Mario Bros has taken over!

My son got to be very crazy about the New Super Mario Bros for the Wii and played it all the time. My husband and I are both gamer geeks who fell for each other over our nights of Mario Kart and Galaga so obviously we approved. Then we got a Wii U and the subsequent New Super Mario Bros. U game. Kaeleb's favorite color is green, so maybe that's the reason, but he is a huge fan of Luigi. He would play as the second player (Luigi) all the time and just leave Mario bubbled through the entire level. Funny that Nintendo has named it the year of Luigi....so now we have Super Luigi U!

I went through a guilty phase when I was going crazy decorating the nursery for Amanda and decided to decorate Kaeleb's room too. We mostly agreed on doing a camping theme, but all my attempts have just been lackluster. I was going really strong with it, but it just lacked the fun entertainment that we were looking for. So now we have decided on a Mario and Luigi room, surely he won't outgrow that too quickly! And I can keep the room color and cool trees that I already did.

So far, we've gotten a few decals off ebay for the walls and a Mario blanket for Kaeleb's bed. We changed his camping sheets to some comfy green jersey sheets too. I've been doing my research on fun ideas for incorporating more cool ideas into the room and I will probably end up with a lot of PVC pipe and green paint on my hands (literally!).

Since I already have the trees painted, we are designing the room based on the designs in World 5, Soda Jungle. I've definitely got my work cut out for me, but I think it will turn out really well!

In order to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, I'm also doing a Mario Bros theme for Kaeleb and Amanda's combined birthday in a few weeks. It's gonna be awesome!

Amanda's Classy Nursery

My baby girl is almost a year old now, time really flies!

I've been meaning to post her nursery pictures, but never really got around to it and of course I'm not so good at pictures. Here is the view leading into the nursery. I made the chandelier based off the DIY capiz shell chandelier designs but I added pink rose petals and gems to the ends. I wish I had gotten them a little more even, but it would be an easy fix if I ever bothered.

I was totally set on having a fancy canopy and pretty curtains around her crib but I couldn't afford the cribs with all those fancy attachments. So I got some PVC pipe and curtains from big lots and I mounted the PVC to the wall and used some 80lb fishing line to hold up the front end.

The closet doors were really big and they swung out which took up way too much space, so I opted for curtains instead. Yeah...I used more PVC pipe for this one too.

The glider and ottoman came off of craigslist for about $100 and the changing table was a used one that was very kindly donated to me. The mirror I found at Hobby Lobby with a crack in the frame, when I took it up front and asked the manager they gave me 80% off ($15!).

My sister made these angel wings, out of a wire coat hanger I believe. The ones I made are a little too big. I'll find a use for them some day... Every little girl needs angel wings and rose petals above their head while they sleep, right?

Ugly old golden frames that I spray painted white and added some scrap-booking stickers and quotes to.

I made those tissue paper pom poms that are so popular these days, there's a few different sizes in the corners of the room. Then I had a lot of extra tissue paper so I covered a basic lampshade with tissue paper ruffles. I really wanted to do a fringe around it too, but I think it would be a little too much.

A closer look at the chandelier, gives a better show of how it was made when it isn't turned on. I'm very happy with how delicate it looks without being fragile. It also helps filter the light so it's not quite as blinding when turned on for a midnight diaper change.

All and all, I am pretty proud of this room. I put a lot of work in it and I feel that I came out with a great looking room at a very minimal cost. I need to update with a few more pictures since I added her name to the wall and have had to adjust the curtains to keep away from grabbing hands.

Home Improvement

I have an obsession and it is getting out of hand.

I was off work for the last week and I'm pretty sure I wasted the entire week dreaming about home improvement projects. Obviously, the planning must come before the implementing...but I didn't do anything.

Actually, that's a bit of a lie. I decided to practice my carpentry abilities to see if I could pull off making my own ottoman for the living room. I did successfully construct a rather odd looking but usable bird house. Is that a win? I'm not sure either...I'll post a picture later so everyone can be amused.

The foyer:

1. Needs to be painted but we don't own a tall enough ladder, my husband won't let me climb a ladder to paint at 7 months pregnant, and I haven't picked a color. I am thinking a light grey blue or silver so it will flow with the color in the living room. I need to post pictures, I'll try to get better about this.

2. The railing/banister needs a refresh, badly. It has that light oak colored hand rail and it just doesn't look right for me. I want to paint it black, but apparently that is a large project of sanding and stripping and priming. I have done my research, but moving on it might get put on the back burner.

3. I need some decor. You know those fancy houses where you walk in and there's some great big piece of artwork and a dainty little side table with an old style princess phone and a notepad. Maybe that's just in my own head, but I want it. Problem is, I refuse to pay for it...so I wait until something falls into my lap. I'm seriously considering taking up painting just for that big piece, problem is that I might just suck at it.

The Living Room:

This one has been my project for a while now and it is finally beginning to come together. I got a very nice sectional from the pottery barn outlet at a huge discount (originally $4000 and I paid $899!!!). I painted over the ugly poop brown color with a really nice, rich purple color. We got a 60" LED Smart TV on black friday and mounted it over the fireplace. Of course, I always have more plans...

1. I want to hang big giant theater style curtains around the TV and I ordered some movie posters and frames online which I will be very excited to hang up once they arrive.

2. I want to hang a curtain room divider to separate the living room pseudo theater from the kitchen. I'm thinking Ikea ceiling mounted curtain rails but I've been considering an option from pvc pipe...what girl doesn't love a good pvc pipe project??

3. Lighting, surround sound and hiding the wires. I have expensive tastes, it takes time to make expensive things happen on a low budget!

4. Flooring. We laid bamboo flooring in the office and planned on doing the dining room and living room shortly after. It has now been about a year but the money is allocated to a few too many things.

5. Oh and of course the big beautiful tufted storage ottoman that I intend on crafting with my bare hands. Scared? I am too :)


Next time I post I'll try to remember to go into my new plans for my son's room, the kitchen, the bathroom...and pretty much every other room in the house.

Isn't it about time for forgiveness?

Everybody screws up, but some things are easy to forgive and others are not so easy.

I had a period of my life about 8 years ago that was a big whirlwind. I fell for my husband, got married, had a baby and turned 20 in less than a year. It was crazy and I was young and stupid so I can't say that I handled all the changes particularly well. I was always one of those girls that flirted with everyone, dated 3 or 4 guys at a time and never truly committed to anyone. So after having a baby and realizing that I was very seriously tied down, I began to freak out.

I tried to go back to being a wild party girl and hung out with the friends that were still living that life. I started drinking a lot, smoking and ignoring my husband as much as possible. At this time there was a guy that followed me around like a lost puppy. He was there for me at a moments notice, partied with me and essentially revolved his life around my schedule. Very tempting. So I went through that period of telling my husband we weren't going to work out and was convinced I was going to leave him and go date this other guy. Luckily, I realized what a douche I was being and managed to work things out with my husband. I changed jobs to get away from the guy and started to actually put some effort into my marriage instead of running away.

A few months later there was a big party with all of our friends and the previously mentioned guy happened to be there. I was friendly but mostly avoided him and hung out with other friends. Later on, he tried to kiss me while telling me that he had slept with one of the girls there while her husband was oblivious in the next room. I imagine it was wounded pride more than anything, but I was pissed at him and pissed at myself for ever having any interest in a guy that sleazy. So I did what any sane person does, I took a few too many shots and then jumped on top of him and punched him in the face until my knuckles started to hurt.

I'm pretty sure the guy deserved a good beating, but I can't say I was the one who should've provided it. My husband forgave me for all of my retardedness and our relationship is stronger than ever. However, I feel like those stupid choices have haunted me ever since. Some of my husbands friends that were at that party act like I'm psychotic and I'm pretty sure that some exaggerated stories have been passed along to others. Occasionally some awkward moment happens when a friend mentions it or I happen to run into the guy at a gathering, and it never seems to go well for me. I feel like we have lost friends over it, and that I'm still judged as psychotic. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I would definitely say that I've gotten some nice reminders that I have not been forgiven. So, why is it that my husband forgives me and it's been a good 7 years but his friends still hold a grudge? Is there a way to prove that I'm not who they think I am? Or should I just avoid the ones who still judge me?