ten years

this past weekend, Ty and I celebrated our tenth anniversary. 

We took a night off and headed out to pick up business forms at Staples (this is becoming a regular outing) and go to our favorite local restaurant for dinner.

We got a snapshot before we left…

If we look young to have been married ten years, that is because we were wild and crazy and got married the month we both turned 19.  We weren’t actually wild and crazy other than getting married young.  By the grace and leading of God, we are still happy and going strong!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HONEY!  YOU’RE STILL THE ONE!

 

PS, I am glad we took a picture that night to demonstrate to me that that shirt is not flattering on me. 

diy - infinity scarf

 

I am bailing on WIWW for now.  But I do have something fashion related to share…

I finally thrifted a scarf to use for a tutorial I pinned…

Simply sewed the ends together by hand real quick…

And wa-lah!

This checks two things off my fashion needs list: neutral scarf: check!  infinity scarf: check!

branches

A couple weeks ago I was sitting in a Taco Time drive through and saw a tree that had full, fluffy white flowers like a cloud.  I took a picture on my phone and brought it home and went on and on and on about it’s amazing full white fluffiness and layer upon layer of lacy white petals showed the tree man, but my pictures were from too far away.  He made some guesses but couldn’t be certain.

Then one day that week, he brought me a branch that he had clipped at work.  He is a tree trimmer; his job is to cut trees and branches that are encroaching on power lines.  He had to cut this one though for public safety because it was “hanging dangerously low over the sidewalk”…

Due to my [ahem] thorough description, he found my tree!

Still, we didn’t know for sure the species.

He has been bringing me lots of branches this spring; cherry branches, pussy willows, aspen twigs, and now these.  God is a most talented creator and I love bringing the creation indoors!  I find that most any branch looks pretty and interesting in a farmhouse pitcher.  When the flowers wither and shed and I have to toss the branches, the coffee table looks so bare.  But I find that if I can wait it out till the flowers fade (I shake off the shedding petals outside, then bring them back in), the leaves are still interesting, new leaves keep sprouting and sometimes new flowers, too. 

Last weekend, wandering the tree section of the local nursery, Ty said, “hey Tash, there’s your tree.” And it was! It was a Mt. Fuji Flowering Cherry. It doesn’t bear fruit. It was decent size and potted (more expensive than bare root) and didn’t have a price tag.  We figured it was $40 to $60, based on the other trees that size.  We passed it up for a couple cherry trees which would bear a lot of fruit.

But guess what… this weekend, we went back again (becoming a Sunday after church tradition), and visited my tree and asked about it, and they sold it to us for $15!! It was the last, saddest one, a little lopsided. My tree man can train it right up though, and prune it to become big, straight and strong.

 

   

I won’t be taking any clippings off this one for a long time!

my garden helper

On Saturday the boys took off to watch super cross in the big city, and Susie and I headed out to do some work in one of my little garden beds.  I took this opportunity to take pictures of the every day and to practice shooting in direct sun.  Due to the “hot” spots it creates, it can be difficult.  Clouds are best for outdoor photography, because then the whole sky becomes like one big, soft light source. 

I got some shots I just adore…

She insisted on wearing “doves” like mine. 

The elbow dimples just kill me!

   

She is walking in ruts in the garden which badly needs to be weeded and rototilled and planted with the early veggies.

 

    

The pigtails kill me, too. 

She didn’t help a lot with the garden, but she helped me smile a lot. 

I’ll keep her.

vote results

 

Thanks for your votes yesterday!  I think it is safe to say I win I will be painting the cabinet.

See, the husb wanted me to paint the washer/dryer cabinet with the unfinished new corner unit first and let him decide if he liked it before I painted the vanity. After I painted the W/D cabinet and after a few days with no acknowledgement of it’s change, I brought it up:

Me: So do you like the cabinet painted grey?

Ty: Not really.

Me: Oh. Well it looks way better. Can I paint the vanity, now?

Ty: I would rather you didn’t.

Me: Well it would look more cohesive to have the cabinets match, and the gray is so neutral and timeless, and the vanity looks horrible anyway, so it needs some kind of work – are you going to re-stain it?

Ty: Ha ha – no. Why don’t you ask your blog readers if you should paint it?

So… I got 7 yes votes and he got one no vote.  I WIN!  =)

It is our one full bathroom in the house.  We bought and remodeled 8 years ago and I didn’t really have a good sense of style then, or even know what my own style was.  Now I do have my own sense of style and this bathroom was not even close.  Freshening it up is now at the top of my goals clipboard list (it’s actually a to-do list, not like my #1 goal in life is to decorate the bathroom).

Here is the pin that started my vision for the bathroom…

I love the clean, classic, timeless white and gray.  I really like the marble.  I like the touches of green.  I plan on bringing in a little vintage and some pops of color, too.

My to-do list in here looks like this right now:

Make shower curtain from vintage sheet

Fix trim issues

Paint wall mural

Paint cabinets

Make new shelves

Paint clothes pins

Make rope basket

Find old metal box for storage

Install light fixture

New sink and Formica counter top???  Eventually?

It is coming along.  I am not hyperventilating when I walk in there any more, which is good.  Here are a couple more shots of that cabinet paint job…

   

Don’t look at the line at the ceiling; I still need to fix it when I paint that second cabinet.

Check out this horrible picture that shows you the one-coat, no priming coverage of the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint…

ONE COAT!  Right over the factory finish.  Love that stuff.

Anyway, I will do a post on the room when the whole bathroom is done. 

Which of your rooms is most in need of a makeover? 

I need your vote

No I am not in some crazy contest…

I am just taking a little vote.  This probably seems weird… after the votes are in (tomorrow) I will explain.  =)

I recently painted this cabinet in my main bathroom…

   

The question is… should I also paint the other cabinet in the room the same color???

This is the cabinet in question…

   

Well, cast your votes (leave a comment here) and tune in tomorrow to see the verdict (and to hear why I am asking you to vote!).

And, please, don’t assume everyone else will do the voting and you don’t need to!  I need as many opinions as I can get!!  Let’s just say there is a battle of the sexes going on in this house!  =)

wiww

 

I’m back again with a what I wore Wednesday!  I lied yesterday and told you I was going to share a little progress in my bathroom, but I forgot about WIWW, so that will be in tomorrow’s post.  And don’t miss it because I need your help with something!

I’m not sure if I’m going to keep doing WIWW… it doesn’t really seem to motivate me to put on something every single day; I just end up only sharing with you the outfits when I do get dressed!  Maybe I’ll just share the extra cute outfits with you in “outfit posts” once in a while?  I don’t know…

Tell me if you notice a theme this week… Here we go!

These first two are from last week…  Shhh!  Don’t tell.

 

  

Jeans: thrifted sevens

Tank: Maurices, from mom

Cardi: Target

Shoes: TOMS

Necklace: had it forever, from mom

Earrings & bangles: thrifted

I call this outfit: “navy stripes with a red cardigan”.

 

Dress, cardi, belt & shoes: Target, all last year

This was on Resurrection Sunday.  I bought this dress for a wedding I photographed last year, and I love it because you can put any color with it, any time of year.  I always feel classy in it. 

 

  

Jeans: thrifted sevens

Shirt: Old Navy

Cardi, Scarf & Earrings: Target

Shoes: TOMS

I call this outfit “navy stripes with a red cardigan” oh, “and a scarf”.

 

Sweater: Forever21 (men’s)

Skirt: Forever 21

Leggings: Vera Wang, Kohl’s

Boots: Target last year

Scarf: H&M last year

Inspired by this pin.  This was an awesome outfit because it was date night but I was feeling “fluffy” that day.  The skirt was cute and tight so hubs was happy, but the sweater and scarf felt comfy without being clingy.  Loved this.  Such a hot date, too… mom had the kids so we went to Staples on a Thursday night and got office supplies for our business.  That’s red hot monogamy, right there.  We did end up at Outback for a bloomin’ onion, though.  So fancy.

 

  

Jeans: GAP outlet

Top: thrifted Forever 21

Cardi & boots: Target

I like to call this one… “navy stripes with a red cardigan.”  REALLY, TASHA???  I totally didn’t realize until putting this post together that I did this same outfit (three different shirts, mind you) THREE TIMES!!!  In a week.  Who does that?  The funny thing is that each time, I was giving myself kudos for putting the (same) red cardi with shirts I hadn’t worn it with yet, and loving the sort of nautical navy and red vibe.  EACH TIME.  I am such a flake.

 

Dress: Maurices, from Mom

Cardi & boots: Target

Wore this to church and to a friend’s BBQ.  I <3 cowgirl boots, by the way.  They spunk up a dress nicely and go with more than I had thought they would.

 

  

Jean jacket: GAP, from Sarah (we traded jean jackets!)

Gingham shirt: Old Navy last year

Skirt: Forever 21

Boots: Target last year

Earrings: made them

This outfit was fun!  I liked the textures of the denim / gingham / lace / and leather boots.  I wore this out to a movie with hubby and some friends for my birthday.  And before the movie we ended up killing time at DQ.  I was the only one who dressed up.  I’m okay with this now.  I enjoy dressing up a little whenever we go out with friends, and I have given up on figuring if anyone else is going to dress up and if I’ll be over dressed.  I just wear something I like, that hopefully my hubby likes.  Hey, when you have kids and you don’t get out that much, you have to make the most of it.

 

Well that was my week (and a half) of outfits.  Next week I need to shop for jeans.  I am down to only my skinny jeans – everything else has holes!  My Sevens above are okay with a hole, but I am tired of just having flares or skinnies.  I need a good straight leg and a good trouser.  I feel like I need some different shirt styles but not sure what to get… maybe a bunch of stuff I can mix and match and layer?  Not sure.  For now, I need to spend the budget on some jeans.

What is on your fashion must-have list right now?

Linking up with WIWW on the Pleated Poppy.