Still Here and Kickin

I'm pretty sure I'm repeating myself, but things are still busier than normal lately. What a difference a couple of weeks make. I think it's just that new things are on the horizon. I'm starting an at-home job on top of my full time job and also adapting to a new computer that we bought this past weekend.

Touch screen fanciness going on in this hizzy. For any techy people out there, I am adapting to Windows 8 quite well...I think we heard that the new update 8.1? helped solve some major issues people had with it. A tiny learning curve, but after just playing with it for a day and a half I feel pretty good about it.

So with some new things added to the mix, it's not leaving me time to tackle our new dining chairs that are ready to be painted or our bathroom that is aching for completion. But that's alright. Gotta do what we gotta do, right?

Haven't really been able to pick up the camera too much lately either, but did grab a few shots of the boy who is as happy as can be. God am I thankful for the joy that he brings to us even during the crazy days. Oh how the emotions (on our ends) can reach a peak. But if this boy just flips his head back with a cheesin grin, he brings light to my day.

Newsflash: apparently kids like apple juice...

My sister finds the funniest shirts for him...why didn't I do a shoot of this for V-Day? Oh and yeah, Finn and I have a new game that involves putting a nasal aspirator in our mouths. Promise it was never used for it's original purpose.

Yep, so that's a little glimpse into what's going on around here. Not much change...but new things on the horizon.

If you do pray, would you remember us? Particularly with the possible changes ahead and also for guidance and patience. This year being has been hard. I hesitate to say that because I know everyone has something and is busy, and I know there are so many things to be thankful for (like good health!). But this weight falls on the hours of Rob's job, his lack of sleep and creative outlets, our lack of time seeing each other and all in all trying to look for the light at the end of what feels like a very long and very dark tunnel.

There are some days where we have higher hopes than others. I know we just have to hang in there and rely on God's strength through this. I look forward to the day we get past this and can say..."daaaang, can you believe we did that!?"

Anyway, I appreciate you listening to my thoughts and ramblings. Happy mid-week, friends!

My Forte

Sleepy girl right here.

Last weekend I purchased four solid wood dining chairs off of Craigslist for $35. Total score. We've been needing some solid chairs in our dining room, ones that don't feel like they're gonna fall out from under you. But with great savings can come great tribulations. So this week after Finn's in bed, I've been prepping the chairs for a new coat of white paint. And let me say this, prepping sucks. 

Sanding and sanding and sanding some more. As you can see I couldn't find a mask so I had to go with Rob's bandanna...totally looking hardcore right? But really not at all. Just look at my girly punch. ;) 

So with sanding finally complete, tonight I applied a liquid deglosser that is just an extra step to prep the surface of the chairs before painting. I'm really hoping the finish will last for a long time. Next up will be primer and paint. So I'm looking forward to getting this project done (hopefully next week?) and will share on here the subtle but welcomed transformation..

Earlier tonight, Finn and I went to the grocery store. Now Rob and I are both not fans of grocery shopping. It's usually accompanied with dread. But when Finn is added to the mix, he makes it a lot more fun. Waving at people and spreading his general cuteness all around. He's nice like that.

I remember my first trip to the store with him. At that point I was a strict user of those fancy shopping cart seat covers. But somehow it phased out quickly and now I just plop this boy in his seat and buckle him up. Yeah, sometimes he puts his mouth on the gross handle, and I say a desperate prayer under my breath, but overall he does well. So much to see in the grocery store...AND he can help pick out his food, hello...who doesn't like that?

Me: Vegetable turkey dinner, Finn?

Finn: No thank you mother dearest, I'll take that box of banana cookies instead.

He's "borrowed" that pink toy cell from his cousin and love-love-loves the thing. I tried taking it from him after getting out of the car but he had an anaconda grip on the thing. So into the store it came.

So anyway, I guess my type-A personality wishes I had taken more photos this week or did a quicker project to share with you, but I've got nothin. But that's alright. Random posts tend to be my forte. My cup of tea crancherry.

I'm ready for you weekend...off to bed for now. Happy Friday, friends!

And a happy birthday to my beautiful sees!

Here's Looking At You, Kid

There's nothing like it when Finn runs over with a book, turns around, and plops his little bucket on my lap. 

I can see how the blur of parenthood can all of the sudden find you at the proverbial finish line without knowing how and when you got there. With all of life's cares and worries, there's many opportunities that I can miss small moments like this with him. 

House work, decorating projects, work work, grocery shopping, bills. So many logistics in my brain.

So I'm reminding myself to hold onto this. Reading books. A car ride. A good game of chase. Making up a song during bath time which Finn mutters something along the lines of the word "again" leading me to sing it 20 more times. It's worth it.

He's completely worth it.

OE

This Saturday Rob and I slipped out of the house to go on a lil date. We were told of this restaurant that's also a bookstore/cafe and were also told it was right up Rob's alley. And yeah, I wanna go back.

The place had an ambiance that made you want to study to become a surgeon and carry a leather bag with important stuff in it. It helps that it's right across the street from one of our most beautiful college campuses in our city. The history of this place is pretty interesting, the building was originally a stable to a hotel in 1891. (OE's website)

The restaurant area (this picture doesn't do it justice) is a really grand room with white painted brick and coffered ceilings -- I really love the fabric inlay between the beams up there.

We had a great lunch...Rob got his first cappuccino and we ordered classic burgers which were really good. They serve lunch and breakfast and in the evenings host special events like weddings and showers.

You can see how thrilled Rob is for me to stop him to take a pic...lol...I promise the camera was mostly in my bag the whole time. Just whipped it out for a few shots.

The bookstore was really awesome looking as well. Love all the details in here. I didn't get a shot of the cafe and atrium, but my goodness, those places were beautiful as well.

The cover art of the books in here was quite impressive...lots of fun editions of many classics.

I started to ask Rob how many copies of Moby Dick could one have, but before he could say anything, I knew the answer...never too many.

Definitely a neat place for a date or meet up, or to study, or to just feel cool. ;)

Love this man to pieces. Dates are so refreshing to our souls lately. Ah, to remember back to the days of going out on dates any night we wanted!

Busy Bees

Well, the nights this week have been filled with tax filing, down to one car, Rob working insane hours (and I mean insane...my poor man), me searching for some part time at-home work...and yeah. It's been full. Hence, not much posting this week.

Our boy has been doing well, happy, sleeping great, and busy exploring and being adorable.

Lol...oh little monkey. Who knows what's under there but he's quite committed to see it.

I'm off to bed...hoping you all had a great week. Oh and look at the time, it's officially V-Day. Happy Valentine's Day and weekend to you all!

I'm Lisa {Part 2}

I'm Lisa...

Sometimes I wish I could just snap my fingers...

And the laundry would be folded...

But snapping doesn't really work...

Because we don't live in Harry Potter's world (as cool as that would be)...

So I guess it's back to laundry folding I go...cause it's totally giving me the stink eye over there...

Yes, this was my attempt at delaying the laundry folding experience, and it totally worked ;)

Getting Close!

Well I wanted to share the latest and greatest of this bathroom mini-reno. It's looking good. I think back to what it was and bleh...I'm just happy we're moving forward.

Let's remind ourselves with a pic, shall we?

Gah, it just screams high school locker room bathroom to me...not very masterful. at. all.

Here's a prior progress shot, you can see how the paneling was painted gray and the top trim was painted with a fresh coat of white...but the walls and ceiling still needed to be rolled with the white. You can see the off-white goodness showing in this pic...

And here's how she's lookin now...

I finished painting two coats of white on the walls and ceiling, a major upgrade much more noticeable in person. Also finally hung my homemade art piece...

I also ordered a new grill and light cover for our exhaust fan/light. For $24 it was a much cheaper route to go rather than updating and purchasing a whole new fan. Here's a side by side comparison of the two...um...goodbye yellow nastiness!

The light is still dim in here which should be fixed when we get the fixture above the sink up and at em...

I was also on the search for some towel hooks. I picked up these adorable things from Anthropologie. The store that I can only afford to buy hardware from. ;)

In these pics it still looks pretty bland and in that "in progress" phase, here's what's left:

-- hang up teak mirror cabinet (storage, yes please!)
-- put teak bench under cabinet
-- hang light fixture above mirror
-- arrange mirror to look like a captains mirror (similar to something like this)
-- hang towel hooks

It's coming along, slowly but surely. And my favorite part? The new view from my bedside...

It's getting there. Happy Friday!

Mercy Ships

Have you heard of this organization called Mercy Ships? Wow, I sure haven't until this morning after reading about it on Under the Sycamore.

And I gotta say, I'm truly just in awe of how special this organization is.

Simply put, Mercy Ships are floating hospitals that dock at various ports (primarily in Africa) to provide assistance through surgeries and/or general medical treatment. They are built around the calling of "the 2000 year old example Jesus set of caring for the poor..." Source

Source

What's also special is that this week only (ending on Sunday) Mercy Ships is being featured on the ever popular Sevenly shop. In this shop you can purchase awesome tees and sweaters with $7 of the purchase going directly to Mercy Ships. Of course Rob and I are lovers of all things nautical, but I absolutely love the message with these items. 

Visit the the Sevenly shop here if you're interested. I know there are so many amazing organizations out there, but I just wanted to share this one with you as it really just blows my mind the genius of this idea. Truly a blessing to so many and even though we just met this morning, I'm extremely grateful to this organization for the works they are doing.

For more info or to give a direct donation, visit www.mercyships.org. 

Off to purchase some tees!

Finnstagram

A big thank you to those who responded on here and FB on my previous post. My curiousity was piqued and it's sweet to know who's following along. So again, thank you. :))

So sometimes I share some of my latest Instagram photos on here of the little guy. If you're not familiar with Instagram (like perhaps my sweet dad) it's just a photo editing and sharing app. I love it and use it quite often. So here's some of my latest faves.

My two cuddle bugs...

A little hat on a darling little boy...

Keeping the boy entertained while we waited at his 1 year check up...

This pic was taken about a week ago at my mom's, but sad news, my mom recently took the tree down. (last year it stayed up till March) Were there almost tears and utter shock on my face when I realized it was gone, oh yes. Christmas is truly over, wahhhhh!

One of my favorite things is when Finn hands me a book and climbs into my lap. I love reading books with him, even if they have to be told at super-speed since he speed-turns the pages...totally not kidding, he's the fastest page-turner I've ever seen. Possibly a new Olympic sport?

Oh my sweet little silly hambone...

Been working on the bathroom this week. Getting close. Hoping to share an update with you on Friday. Happy mid-week!!!

Paging You, Yes, You!

Funny thing about blogging...you really don't have any idea who's reading or if anyone's reading. And the best part is that you have to be okay with it.

I guess the whole thing boils down to: why do I blog?

I blog because I like documenting things, I like taking pictures. I like the motivation and accountability it gives me. I like to share crazy pictures of myself. I like to dissect areas that I wanna grow in. I like being able to look back at memories. I like to ramble.

Many reasons, but sometimes I think, who's reading this thing? (well you know, besides mom and dad, love you guys!) I do get lovely responses on FB from friends and fam, and that’s great. But I still wonder who’s all out there. Or are all these crazy stats from a spam site?

So anyway, this is me paging you -- with the biggest magnifying glass I could find -- asking if you are reading this to leave a comment on this ol' blog (yes, even if you're my brother) because I wanna say hello! And give ya a virtual hug...or a high five if you're not the hugging type.

Come on, break out of those lurking clouds and holla at me!