Finally! A Bathroom Update

Soooooooo yeah, it's been since September since there's been any update in our little tiny master bath. Hangs head in shame, shame, shame. So here's a little update...and I gotta say, I think my momentum is back.

So I think this is where we left off? I'm not sure...but it was pretty hideous. An off-centered mirror peeled off the walls (since it was glued) and a light fixture that's also off-centered...and the paneling painted in a shade of olivey green.

And now, the paneling has been painted a pale gray (BM Moonshine), and I decided it's about time to get our mirror hung up on the wall. (main reason for doing this step now, as you can probably see the walls still need to be fully painted, is that we needed to hang it so we can determine the placement of the new light fixture)

So using some wrapping paper, I traced and cut out the shape of the mirror and also punched the holes on the paper marking where to drill my holes.

And blamo (New Girl, anyone?) the mirror is up...

Still lots to do in here...I want to spray the frame of the mirror in oil-rubbed-bronze...and I want to make it to appear like a captains mirror (like this). Also need to install the new light fixture, which will require some major shimmy-ing due to the crazy off-centeredness of the current light fixture.

But I just gotta bask in the fact that we finally have a mirror back in our bathroom. It's a very odd thing to not have in your main getting-ready bathroom. I've been doing my hair and makeup (not much of a production, I promise) in the dim lighting on the floor of our bedroom. So I'm ready to see my face in good light and no longer have a case of makeup on my nose or stuff in my teeth. ;)

Yep, it's coming along...I feel like I'm back in the saddle with this bathroom...I'm so tired of it not being complete. Kickin it into high gear baby. 

PS...tomorrow's the day this site will be changing over to the NEW web address, www.winterheights.com!

The Adventures of Batman

It was an ordinary evening with this adorable little boy...

But after bath time wrapped up, it was time to suit up and get down to business...

Like picking up pesky crumbs and debris off the floor...

And showing the choo-choo who's really in charge...

And checking that the dark alleys are safe from crime and dust bunnies...

Yep, it's hard job being batman...but somebody's got to do it.

I have no clue why I'm on this storytelling kick...just had to share these sweet pics of this baby boy. I'm pretty sure that first pic I wanna put in a frame. Gah, that face.

(PS...just a reminder that this coming Saturday this blog will be changing over to a new web address, www.winterheights.com)

Winter Heights

I'm excited to finally get a name on this ol' blog. Yep, Winter Heights is now the easy way for me to refer to this little microscopic sliver of the internet (aka, this blog) that I play in.

For a long time I've been wanting to get a name...just for easy reference and also to get out of the lisadunkin.blogspot web address. Nothing wrong with it, but I've been itching to get on my own domain.

(don't miss the details below about the web address change that'll be happening soon)

So why Winter Heights?--

Let me first say that I take forever to name anything. For. ev. er. Living in Florida for the majority of my life, winter is my most favorite season here. I understand our version of winter is far removed from Minnesota's version of winter (which I do not claim I'd survive that for a minute!), but I like it. Correction, I love it. And I often wish it would get cooler...cause an 80 degree Christmas just isn't right, but unfortunately we have some of those.

So I love winter...and then "heights" is the latter half of the name of my neighborhood. The one we live in, the one I grew up in and have grown quite attached to. Originally when we were house hunting in this neighborhood, I had dreamed of finding an old bungalow with wood floors, high ceilings and plenty of charm. But instead we happily settled on our more affordable, spacious, ranch home (at least one room has wood floors!) This neighborhood has it's charm, but it's not perfect by any means, maybe that's why I like it. It's not always manicured and there are some rough spots, but there's a spirit in this hood that I love. A spirit of culture, creativity, entrepreneurship and some serious DIY.

Web Address Change!--

With this new name, the web address will soon no longer be www.lisadunkin.blogspot.com. The new web address for this blog will be www.winterheights.com. This change will be effective on February 1st. This coming Saturday. So starting that day, if you're looking for me, go to the new web address...which is? www.winterheights.com. ;)

But before I wrap this post up, I just gotta say that I'm thankful to all of you for the love and encouragement you've given me in this lil hobby of mine. I hope it can continue to bring some joy to your life.

So without further ado (raises a glass of crancherry on the rocks), here's to Winter Heights...this little place that I'll continue to share our various happenings, house updates, the adorable Finn Isaac, parenting adventures, DIY projects and everything else in between.

Yep, I'll be here...posting...and probably dreaming of winter.

I'm Lisa

I'm Lisa.

Tonight, I planned on painting our bathroom.

But I didn't.

So then I got the crazy idea to take some self portraits without touching up my hair, wardrobe or makeup. Hence, keeping it real in my glow-in-the-dark batman shirt (totally true!) that once belonged to my man.

I thought about my previous post about courage and strength, and I tried to channel it.

Then silly time inevitably followed, like pulling out a classic "model" pose.

However, this is my truest version.

Dating back to probably junior or senior year with my best friend, Larsen, I got in the habit of making really unattractive faces at the camera. It's just something that cracks me up. Don't believe me?

Yep, I'm Lisa.

PS...sad news, I tested my shirt out to get a picture of it glowing and apparently it has lost it's glow-in-the-dark power. It's had a long road, no hard feelings batman. Womp, womp. :(((((

A Rare Trait

Something that's stuck with me that radio host, Dennis Prager, has often said, is that one of the rarest positive human traits is courage. 

courage (def) - the ability to do something that frightens one, or the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous

I immediately think of our armed forces, our policemen, firefighters, first responders, the brave. And for them I am greatly thankful. I then think of moral courage, "the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal or discouragement." (source)

I've been stumbling over my words for this post, typing, then deleting, I can't tell you how many paragraphs I've deleted. I guess overall I'm wanting to grasp courage in my life. It's scares me, but as the definition above says, it's frightening. 

I also hope to instill this in our boy. To not just cater him to feel comfortable and safe all the time (well of course safe in the obvious terms) but you know what I mean. To teach him not to just make the easy decisions, but the hard ones too. To be bold. To be encouraged.

 

This is my command - be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9

Thanks for listening to my random ponderings...I have lots of them, I promise. ;)

I've also had a much too long break away from working on our bathroom that we started and stalled on way back in SEPTEMBER. How about we get back on that?

Love to you all.

Getting Sleepy

Lately when it's getting close to Finn's bed time, he'll randomly plop down on the floor and lay down. It's pretty funny and stinkin adorable to me...

It's always interesting the things that he gets obsessed with...like this pink play phone of his cousin's that he squeals whenever we hand it to him...same way he'd squeal for plastic recycle, or a blue cup, my lens cap and so many other random things. :))

I love and appreciate how easy it's been to put him to bed...just sing a song, pray, lay him down and give him a blanket and he's good. Thankful, thankful.

I'm going to take his advice and head to bed myself. This staying up way too late thing has got. to. stop.

Nighty night!

Free To Struggle

I don't know if it's because I'm finally getting a break after Rob's birthday, Christmas and then Finn's birthday, but lately I've been tired. 

What's kind of comical is now that our boy is sleeping through the night again, and I'm no longer pumping, I haven't been going to bed at a decent hour at all. Nope, not at t'all. And it's not like I'm doing anything productive...just usually always watchin Netflix.

Just a lil disclaimer: I typically don't share our schedules on here because I know this is the public internet, but if you haven't gathered already, Rob and I work opposite shifts. This just explains why I often talk about myself singularly when I'm home and he's working.

Besides being tired, I'm also fighting my discipline right now. You ever have something that you wanna do so badly, but your lack of discipline keeps tripping you up? That's me right now. Particularly after Finn goes to bed. And I don't mean doing the dishes or picking up, I mean like getting my keyboard out and playing, maybe writing on that ol' thing. Or getting into a book. Or listening to some worship music while doing a Bible/book study...filling my mind with truths to help me through various struggles. Or what's that thing called? Exercise? What's that.

I've deleted a few apps from my phone (farewell for now FB and Pinterest) that may help me do more of what I actually want to do during the day. I would find myself looking at these apps even at stop lights sometimes. It was feeling unhealthy for me. (Not at all saying that Netflix, FB or Pinterest are evil by any means) I just want to feel present again. Not ruled around by the things that control me, but I want to be in control.

Ah, discipline. I need you. So I'll keep trying. And I'll hold this passage closer to me through it...

Romans 7:15-25 (The Message)

What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.

But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

Although the struggle is there in various parts of my life, I'm still free. Tenth Avenue North came out with this song that speaks very deeply to me. Although I can have a hard time liking various Christian-based bands or music, I've felt very connected to this band and their lyrics. Anyway, it's a great song with a truly good message for those (me!) who need the reminder that the struggle is okay and that we are still free through it.

Party Time & Finn's First Year Video

We celebrated our birthday boy this weekend with family.

I did just a few decorations. The balloon garland is something I wanted to try and really liked it...so cheap too, just blow em up and tie em to a string...

I made my very first cupcakes...banana cupcake (for Finn's love for bananas) with vanilla frosting. And thankfully they came out tasting good and most importantly moist...lucky for me I have a few friends that are cupcake masters, hence plentiful cupcake tips. :))

I didn't really go with a theme...and honestly I didn't get to unleash the decorating as much as I intended, but I had a feeling I was putting unnecessary pressure on myself. So although it was still a lot of work to do everything (mainly the video below) it was simple but sweet. Which is ultimately how I like it.

Behind the couch I hung up his pictures from month 1-12...

I put out some of Finn's favorites...blueberries and grapes...

Then his aunties captured him and fed him his first pizza which he loved...he kept looking at me like "why have you been holding out on me, ma?"

Rob making some joke of reminding Finn what it was like coming into the world a year ago...lol...

The little one kept running away distractedly while we opened his gifts, so we buckled him in his car...

This pic cracks me up, I love the excitement on Bella's face and then the gloom on Jr's. He asked me if Finn needed help opening his presents...I think he was having present withdrawals from Christmas. ;)

Then we sang happy birthday...

And then he ate his cupcake. We ended up breaking it up because he kept grabbing the icing and then wanting it off his hands...but once it was broken up, he inhaled the thing.

Later that night Rob had some ideas for the balloons...

Then decided to break it out of the pack and play...

I'm pretty positive that Rob had the most fun with this experience than anyone, lol...

And finally, I'll leave you with this video I made for his first year. I'll warn ya...it's 12 minutes long of pictures and videos, but we're pretty proud of it and love looking back to see how he grew and what a year it's been.

We're also so very thankful to so many of you for all the love that surrounds our boy, it truly means so much to us.

Happy first year, baby boy!