Office Touches

Yay! Found my hardware and Nate Wellauer helped me get my curtains hung for the office!!!

Funny Story- Around the same time that we bought the flooring to do our 'make ready' to sell our house back in Fall of 2011-- We also bought 2 sets of curtain rods for me to make drapes for the upstairs family room and the downstairs family room. Needless to say- life got very busy that October and continued it's relentless march and I never got around to making the drapes.

Fast Forward to this Fall when we redid the office: I had removed the honey oak blinds from the windows because they no longer went with the room redesign, but I did not have a specific plan for the window because our 'Pride of Barbados' was Huge and provided a lovely greenscape in the windows.

Dusty Riewe redid our landscaping around Christmas and suddenly our windows let a lot more light and transparency in (Bob & I could no longer lounge in front of the window and be oblivious to whomever might walk by on the sidewalk).

So- the week after Christmas I found these lovely sheers on Overstock.com and ordered them but until now I have been in a Funk and not in a creative/decorative mood at all.

I got these awesome cubes which match my office "contemporary" scheme and color palette quite well. I have newborn blankets, headbands, wraps, and accessories for sessions stored neatly in them.

Here's a perspective of looking through the double doors of the office from the foyer.

Now that they are up I wish I would have done it much sooner- but C'est La! I LOVE how the pattern complements the other organic elements in the room as well as all the swirls!

Very much Eye Candy for me to walk by the entrance of the office and admire how the cohesive patterns play!

I just LOVE it when a seemingly unrelated plan comes together.

It reminds me of a verse that plays a HUGE part in my life: Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.

God knows the very hairs on our heads and He delights in working all things together for our good. He knows the desires of our hearts- after all- He is the one who created our inmost being. Psalms 139:13

Office Project 2012

In February I discussed re-doing the office with Bob. My clients come in the front foyer and we either use the studio or go on to the formal living room for a print consultation because I don't want to take them up to the disaster zone that is our family room and my office is a little area up there. (See picture) month Bob and I decided that it would be better to share an office. This started a cascade of ideas for me and my friend Haley has an amazing talent for design and finding awesome deals.

This is my Current Office Situation:
                                 Walking through the family room over to my office space:

And this is what Bob's Office looked like:

 So the task begins- remove the beadboard and trim....

And Now the Painting!

         


Hold on...back up a second..there's a story that goes with this :)

Funny Story...
I bought a Groupon for a painter for one room back in February. Now that the crazy season is over-
I picked a color for the office by holding a piece of my scrapbook paper up to the wall. We went to home depot, realized the paper was at home, picked a color from their swatches, and bought 2 gallons of paint.

I came home from work yesterday and immediately declared it "The Wrong Color"
:(

Back to Home Depot we went...

The next day and Several hours later with a lot pf help from Caleb-and a lot of sweat... It's the right color.

Yay!

Now for carpet removal and trim painting!

I am shopping around for pricing, but I'm in love with the Pottery Barn Bedford Collection $$$$$$ :(

I'm hoping to find something more in my price-range, though.

Mission Haiti - Has Just Begun

Mission Haiti Photography

Click here to view this photo book larger

Getting Healthy Update

Wooo Hoooo! I am officially Under 200 lbs. TODAY! NEVER GOING BACK THERE!
19 lbs. down, 64 to go!!!

I see that my last post was February 27th- I am Happy to say that I have lost 7lbs. since then and Bob is COMPLETELY on the wagon now! Amazing- I am so thankful to the Lord for Bob's change of heart regarding exercise and eating. He is saying to me daily that he is noticing that buffets and fast food are losing their appeal due to the work he knows is involved in shedding off the extra calories from eating there. Yay!

At first, he was steadily losing just by walking a little bit and only minor changes to his eating habits, but once the first few lbs. came off and he kept looking forward to seeing the numbers decrease- he found himself fitting in more and more exercise. Now he walks during his lunches PLUS he walks 2 or more miles from the bus towards home until he is picked up. If he doesn't do that he walks 3 miles at Lake Pflugerville. Since gas prices have gone through the roof recently, we are grateful to have the track around the lake that is close to our house.

I was starting to get shin splints after running at the lake, so I figured it was time for some new shoes. I did some online research and found a New Balance style that is made for stability and doesn't bend in the middle. I have orthotics, but the right shoe makes all the difference for my flat feet! My friend Suzanne gave me her expert advice to ice, massage, and stretch. I had been soaking in the hot tub or in the bath tub and that was the exact opposite of what I needed- So Thank You Suzanne!

Last Thursday I was able to run continuously for 1.5 miles at the track and then keep a good interval pace up and complete the route in 38 minutes! I am so excited to see progress and the 10K that is 2 weeks away seems doable!

I need to take the time to do the weight training on my alternate days- so that is a goal of change for me.

Progress

I made a discovery this week.
I was so frustrated with working my butt off in the gym and seeing slow results I decided it was time to reread my Biggest Loser book and Whatdya know! Just by changing my eating plan to include more fresh fruits and veggies and remove the "lean cuisine" that I had been having for lunch, AND making my dinners lighter Tada! I went from 212 to 205 this week! AMAZING! I feel so awesome and my jeans are definitely looser.

It had to be all that sodium in the lean cuisines- eh?! Well, it's really encouraging me to stay on track. Speaking of track- I'll be going to the Lake Pflugerville 3 mile trail today to get my 'Big Run' in for the week. I'm hoping to get a yoga class in tomorrow to stretch and recover.

Musically- I am finding the songs that have the right beats per minute and the right combination of inspiration to give me a mental kick:

Phil Collins: I can't stop loving you
Phillips Craig Dean: Revelation Song
Bonnie Tyler: Hero
The Proclaimers: 500 miles
Def Leppard: Pour some Sugar on Me
Mercy Me: Beautiful
Toby Mac: Get back up
Avalon: Everything to Me

What's on your workout playlist?

Yum!

Who knew food that is good for you could taste so much like dessert!

I tried this recipe for salad that is in my Biggest Loser Cookbook this week- It IS RIDICULOUS! It tastes like strawberry cheesecake salad!

1 Cup Fresh Spinach- stems off
1 Cup Romaine Lettuce
2 Tbsp. Crumbled Goat cheese
1/4-1/2 Cup Fresh, sliced strawberries
1/4 Cup sliced chicken breast
1 1/2 Tbsp.Kraft Light Raspberry Vinaigrette

Holy Cow! I loved it so much I had it 2x this week.
The easy peasy tip is to get a rotisserie chicken and just peel a breast piece and shred it or cut it up.

I've never had goat cheese before and I had a hard time finding it at the store. I finally found it in the Deli display in a crumbled option and a tiny little cylindrical portion. Goat cheese has 6grams of fat versus the 9 grams that cheddar offers.