Delighting in Today | Two moms learning to delight in each day they have been given.

My Jewelry :: Once Upon A Time, there was a chaotic mess {The Post I Promised and Didn’t Deliver}

Written by Jenna on June 17, 2013

Sooooo…. Thanks for loving me even though I didn’t deliver on my promised post last week. Sometimes life just gets in the way. And living life is more important than blogging life. I know you all understand!

But let’s talk about jewelry today!

I’m a jewelry fanatic. I have been for a long time now. I love the little {or not so little} extra pop it adds to outfits.

And that love for jewelry shows because I’ve got piles like this…

And this…

Oh, and this…

And that was all only in my closet.

But then I’ve got more piles on my nightstand.

Did you think that was all? Think again!

I’ve got some in the bathroom too.

Yeah….

It was driving me bonkers!

I have used the little dishes and bowls to help keep my jewelry collection contained, and that helps. But it was feeling really jumbled and cluttered. And when I’d be putting together outfits I couldn’t always remember what kind of jewelry I might have to go with it.

And more than anything -
I just wanted to be able to see everything all in one place!

So an idea was born!

I took all the jumble of jewelry and turned it into a work of art.

Ohhhh! Ahhhh!

So much better, right?!

{Yes, that’s a lamp you see reflected in the mirror on the floor of my closet. What can I, my closet is the store-r of many things.}

This is hanging in my closet and I simply love having it all right there in front of me! And it’s awfully fun to look at too.

All of my most worn necklaces {expect for three I left on the apothecary jars in the bathroom} and as many bracelets as I could easily fit – all at my fingertips. It makes me happy!

And hanging all of those pieces gave me more room for earrings and such in the {overstuffed} jewelry box.

It was like a burden was lifted when I took all the jumble of jewelry and made it nice and neat. For whatever reason, having that space orderly makes me feel better. Is that weird? I love that that little space in my closet and in my life is no longer chaotic.

Later this week {hopefully! no promises this time} I’ll give you a simple tutorial-ish run-down on how I made my jewelry board.

How do you store your jewelry? Are you a jewelry ~~hoarder~~ collector like me?

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A Wannabe Post {A Pseudo-Post?} Because I Don’t Have Time to Write a Real Post

Written by Jenna on June 12, 2013

{How about that title?}

I have a little project I want to share with you!

However…It’s Tuesday night, and I just got home from ballet and I’m all sweaty and I don’t have time to write the whole thing out.

So!

This is a little teaser post.

::insert evil laugh::

You will have to wait until tomorrow to see what I did with this…

and this…

Ta-ta! Have a fab Wednesday!

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Palladian Blue, I Love You

Written by Jenna on June 11, 2013

This may be the most boring post of all time.

However, I just have to report that the Powder Room is officially painted!

Looking straight in – the nook is where the toilet goes.

We opted to paint the ceiling the same color as the walls. I debated leaving it white, but somewhere I read that in small rooms like this one it feels more cohesive and keeps the room from feeling too chopped up by painting the ceiling the same color as the walls. It was a really good choice, and I love how pulled together it looks!

After taping up about 5 millions paint swatches I had landed on Palladian Blue from Benjamin Moore quite awhile ago.

As soon as I got some of the paint on the walls, I totally freaked out. {I do this EVERY time I paint!} It looked so dark. It looked so green. It looked so…yuck.

After getting two coats on and living with it for a few days, I really, really like it!

The sink will go in that bump-out on the left. Toilet goes in the nook towards the right.

At night for the first few days it felt very “sea foam green,” but in the day I really liked it. Now I’m adjusted and I like it a whole lot!

It is more green than blue. I think it should be called “Palladian Green.” But overall it’s a very pretty color.

It’s moody and sophisticated. And changes colors a little bit with the light – which I love.

Looking out the door into the hallway. The sink will be on the left.

I feel like the pictures make it look gray. It definitely has gray undertones, but it’s so much prettier in person. I’m glad I stuck it out and didn’t paint it something different after my initial freak out session.

Two lessons I learned by painting in that cramped little room….
There is no air vent in there. It gets a little warm. There is, however, doorbell chimes.
Lesson A: Do not plan to spend a lot of time in the powder room. It’s hot.
Lesson B: If you do end up being in there longer than expected, have no fear of not hearing your guests at the door!

So that’s the latest and greatest in the powder room remodel. Next up – trim!

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On Haircuts and Flying Time

Written by Jenna on June 10, 2013

On the spur of the moment, my mom and I packed up the littles and carted them over to Supercuts for long overdue haircuts.

I’m the worst about hair cuts {I’m long overdue too!}. And I don’t like to make appointments. I like to go when the mood strikes. Yes, I am weird like that.

And though I had been telling myself and anyone who would listen that I needed to get Miss M’s hair trimmed up nicely, I admit that I was still a little scared to actually do it.

Because it would be her first haircut. And…She’s my baby. And…yeah…

But we did it!

A few little bangs to keep the hair out of her face. And a little trim around the edges.

Miss M did fine.

And then it was Mr. B’s turn and the lady used the clippers and cut it short! The locks just fell off in heaps. And my heart did a little pitter-patter.

I wasn’t overly sentimental at the time. And I’m not bothered by Miss M’s first haircut of the boy’s short cuts now. But looking at these pictures reminds me of how fast the time goes!

It was just yesterday that T was getting his first haircut at 12 months old, and he went from baby boy to big boy at the snip of the scissors.

And now all three of my littles look so grown up with their new do’s.

Time, slow down! I don’t want these kiddos to grow up too fast!

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One Privilege of Homeschooling {Something I Just Figured Out}

Written by Jenna on June 6, 2013

School is winding down.

We are *this.close* to being finished.

Math is finished. Phonics is finished. Science has ended for the year.

Thinking skills should be finished by the end of the week. And by the end of next, Sonlight Core A will be completed.

I’m sad to see First Grade over. But I’m SO READY not to have school everyday!

And yet…I’m nervous about not having that routine in place.

But all of that is neither here nor there as far as this post is concerned.

Nolan took over teaching the boys science fairly early on this year.

I was happy to let him take that subject off my hands. I love science, but I felt so overwhelmed at the beginning of the year, so I was grateful for the help.

Recently I realized something. Because he’s teaching them – I have NO idea what they are learning!

I’m always talking to my kids about what they are learning. “Oh, see the train? Remember when we read about trains? What do you think is powering that train?” I talk about their school and apply it to their lives all of the time. It’s just part of who I am.

And I was thinking, “I can’t apply what they kids are learning in science because I don’t even know!”

Which really isn’t that big of a deal.

But that got me to thinking…

How much less would I know about what they are learning if they were in public or private school? Our conversations would be so different because I wouldn’t have that first hand knowledge of what is going into their little minds.

And that would be okay if I knew the Lord wanted them in public or private school. God has a special plan for each child, and there is no perfect formula or law.

But this mom with control freak tendencies had a new appreciation for the fact that God has called me at this time to homeschool. It’s a real privilege to get to live learning and love learning with my children.

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Shout Out :: Summer Reading Guide

Written by Jenna on June 5, 2013

For many of us school is out! Or almost out. Or at least, for you all-year-round schoolers, maybe it’s slowing down for the summer.

I may put away the math book and the phonics book during the summer. But really? We are always learning.

And in this house, we are always reading!

If the boys had it their way, we would either be reading or we would be outside. Or maybe both.

One of my blogging friends, Kristin from Bits and Pieces from My Life, put together a great {free!} ebook called Summer Reading for Families. I thought it was such a great resource that I simply had to pass it along to you.

Kristin included some of my favorite books like: Number the Stars {I read that many times as girl} and Pollyanna {I always wanted to be her}.

And she also mentions many books that I’ve never read before!

Kristin is a book lover just like me, and if she says it’s good, I’m taking her word for it.

She’s got the books broken down into categories and even has a printable checklist – making it easy to really use.

So….Go check it out! It’s a great resource!

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A Fassy Fettish

Written by Jenna on June 4, 2013

Do you love the beautiful scarves that are trending these days?

Me too!

The girls at Fassy sent me a lovely scarf to review!

What’s Fassy?

A great company started by two ladies with a superb eye for design!
{They are both architects! I know, right? How cool is that!}

Kathleen and Jessica dared to dream of a life outside corporate America. Creating a job that would be flexible to meet their needs, instead of being being slaves to their work. Something that would foster creativity and inspiration. I love that they are choosing to look outside the box and pursue something they love.

They sell lovely scarves and this beautiful and functional little gadget that turns all scarves into infinity scarves!

Their brainstorm about that pretty little ring is what launched them into starting Own Your Day, LLC. These girls are dreamers – I love it!

At the time they sent me a scarf to review, the Fassy was still in production, but I can’t wait to try it out!

As for the scarf…I love it!

It’s so lightweight that you can wear it year round. And long enough that you can experiment with tying it in lots of cool ways.

I’m not much of a pro at tying scarves, but I had fun playing around!

I especially love that each scarf they sell is pretty and trendy while still being classic. You can’t go wrong with any of them!

I chose the Sassy Spot scarf and it reminds me of a cross between Audrey Hepburn and Jackie O. It’s got a little bit of spunk and I love it!

I think scarves are such an easy accessory. They can really add a whole lot of oomph to an outfit with just a little effort.

So what do you think? Are you ready to shop?

Go find for your Fassy products here – they have many other lovely scarves to choose from. I’d take one of each!

Be sure to check out Fassy on Facebook. And their blog too!

Kathleen and Jessica, thanks so much for sending a Fassy scarf my way! You guys have been awesome to work with. I wish you all the best!

The scarf was provided by Fassy for me to review. All opinions are 100% mine.
{Photos by my phenomenal mom}

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Faux Wood Floor Under My Feet {Flooring in the Powder Room}

Written by Jenna on June 3, 2013

We are finally making some more progress in the Powder Room.

Okay. Pause.

So, ya’ll know what a Powder Room is, right? I was getting some flack from friends {who shall remain nameless} about a “Powder Room.” No, a Powder Room is not the pantry where you store your extra flour and powdered sugar!

But juuuuuust in case someone out there doesn’t know, I call the half bathroom that guests would use when visiting our home the “Powder Room.”

Okay…glad we got any confusion cleared up!

Nolan laid the floor in there quite a while ago. But they have since been covered with drop cloths and random junk, so I’m just now able to show you some pictures!

Pretty, pretty, pretty!!! I’m so happy about how it came out!

This “wood” floor is actually tile!

I.love.it.

We bought it from Lowes. And it’s Interceramic Colonial Wood Walnut. To die for! Beautiful…. You should install some in your home. For real!

It looks hand-scraped and is rich and dark. Tall, dark, and handsome? Well…minus the tall.

I’m a herringbone freak, so I was so excited to try out the herringbone pattern on the floor.

Do you love it?!

I love it!

This was Nolan’s first-ever tile job and he hit the ball out of the park! Fantastic job, honey!

Nothing like starting out with lots of cuts and an intricate pattern.

When it came to grout, I was torn. Dark brown or gray? Dark brown or gray?

I even texted Sarah and Erika to get their opinions. One said dark brown, the other said gray.

We already had a bag of dark brown grout, so we went with that.

It looked brown when it was mixed. Looked brown when it was wet on the floor.

Dried looking gray. {With a little hint of brown.}

Ah well….

I’m really happy with it, so we’ll grout it up to a happy accident.

But word to the wise – grout colors may lie!

So…that’s where I’ll leave you for today!

We also painted {see a sneak peek in the background} and got the lighting kind of in. Trim and baseboards are painted and need to be installed.

Then it’s vanity, sink, toilet, mirror…. We’re getting there, folks!

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it feels so good!

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I Gotta Read :: May

Written by Jenna on May 30, 2013

It’s that time of month again! Time for my monthly reading wrap-up.

7 books read this month. With two that are *this.close* to being finished. That brings me to 30 total books read this year so far {not counting the multiple books I read to the kids}.

First up is an excellent Bible study.

Rising to the Call of Leadership by Kay Arthur

We are all leaders to one extent or another. Whether we are moms leading our kids during the day or the President leading the country – we all need to be effective leaders who follow the Lord.

The Women’s Ministry Director from my church and I have been going through this study together – primarily in light of the leadership roles we fill at church {I’m the Sunday Morning Children’s Ministry Director}, and we have both learned SO much as we’ve studied Eli, Samuel, Saul, and David in the leadership roles God put them in.

A few key things:

Samuel {an excellent leader} always prayed. Always. You see in Scripture that the Israelites would come to him with a problem and instead of just giving them an answer – he would take it before the Lord and then come back to them with the Lord’s answer.
Good leaders pray hard!
“As challenges and crises confronted him, David acted on what he knew to be true about God, submitting to His authority and demonstrating courage and strength rooted in faith.”
Act on what you know to be true of God.
God looks at the heart while man looks on the outward appearance. God wants leader’s whose hearts are fully submitted to Him. Though I may doubt why God has placed me in areas of leadership, I know that He will use me when my heart is submitted to Him. I don’t have to be loud or outgoing or have the perfect “leader personality” – God wants me to be who He created me to be with a heart sold out to Him.

This Bible study is a 40 Minuted Bible Study designed so that you could do it all in a small group setting in about 40 minutes. I loved the format and the precept upon precept way of delving into the Scripture. Anyone could benefit from this study!

Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt

I LOVED this book! A a young girl’s mother dies and she is sent to live with her single, schoolmarm aunt out in the country. It’s a lovely story as you watch Julie slowly grow from a feisty little girl into a beautiful young woman. Sounds simple and idyllic, but I loved the “realness” of the story. Lots of bumps along the way. So fun to really see the character unfold and develop.

Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown by Eric Blehm

Wow! I finished the right before Memorial Day, and it gave me an added appreciation for the men and women in our Armed Forces who are willing to sacrifice their lives for us. This man was truly fearless even as a young child! What a story as he overcomes huge obstacles to get control of his life with the help of Christ and ultimately becomes a Navy Seal. Never quitting, never giving up. He gave everything he had for the USA. I’m grateful that men {and women} of faith and courage serve our country so boldly.

Lady in Waiting: A Novel by Susan Meissner

Susan Meissner is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Last month I thoroughly enjoyed The Shape of Mercy. And this month it’s Lady in Waiting.

Jane is stunned to discover that her husband wants a “break” in their two decade + marriage and doesn’t know what to do. She finds a old ring, and her story begins to intertwine with the story of Jane Grey from days of old. Both have to make hard choices and decisions they never imagined they would face. Will they choose the right thing? I truly loved this book.

Ready or Not by Chautona Havig

Available right now for free for you Kindle! {Remember, you don’t have to have a Kindle to get the free reading app.}

This books kept me shaking my head and laughing! A 22-year-old single girl inherits her sister’s 8 children after her sister and brother-in-law die in a car wreck. What a story of her twists and turns, foibles and triumphs as she dives into parenting 8 children! Aggie feels helpless and unskilled, but she puts her faith in the Lord and keeps going! I cracked up, because even though I don’t have 8 children, I can relate to so much of what she is going through!

While I feel like Aggie’s storyline is pretty believable, the handyman who comes into it all seems a little too perfect. He’s great! But maybe just a little too perfect to be believable. I did buy {yes, buy!} the next book in the series because it was that engaging. A fun read!

The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye

I think this was juvenile fiction, but it was a sweet story. Kind of a fairy tale/princess story but instead of the princess being all “princessly” and perfect, she is cursed/blessed with being ordinary. I thought it was sweet.

A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey

Um…Not really my cup of tea. The book was fiction but in part based on the author’s grandmother. I believe it started around 1920 as Bess gets married. She was definitely a “forward” thinker for her day. There were elements that I liked – she took her new voting rights seriously, she learned to drive a car, she was bold and stood up for herself. And elements I didn’t like – after her first husband died she didn’t desire to be tied down in marriage again but liked some of the perks, she was overly demanding, and I felt like if you didn’t line up with what she thought the you got pushed aside. She did experience many hardships and trials and chose to overcome – so I can give her that. She was a strong woman!

The book was written over the course of her life and it was all in letter form. I thought it would be crazy to try to follow a life story through letters, but it was quite well done! I enjoyed it most for it’s look back to years gone by and how people lived before I was around. But as for Bess herself, I wish she would have realized that the world didn’t revolve around her.

What have YOU been reading this month?

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Living Room Curtains {How We Made Our Curtain Rods}

Written by Jenna on May 29, 2013

I changed the window treatment in the living room…oh…about 6+ months ago. And even included it in a You Tube video, but I’ve never taken the time to talk about it!

After getting a reader question about the curtain rod, I thought now was the time to spill the beans.

When we moved into the house, we started here…

With vertical blinds and an empty curtain track.

Don’t be jealous.

Here’s a glimpse of them from my Christmas Tour in 2011.

It stayed that way for far too long!

Here’s the nuts and bolts on how we went from that…

To this…

I knew I wanted to go high and wide!

By hanging the curtains as high above the actual window casing and as wide as possible on the sides, you can let in lots of natural light and make your windows look nice and big!

Thank you, blog world, for introducing me to the high and wide method – it really does make tons of difference!

For look and for privacy, we installed two basic bamboo blinds {from Home Depot or Lowes, I can’t remember} side-by-side. Yes, I’d love if it was one blind. But I’m happy with having two. It doesn’t bother me much.

Then we installed the Ikea Ritva curtains. Much more about that here {and I’ll post the video I did about those at the end}.

So that just leaves the curtain rod.

Whenever I looked at design mags and homes designed by “the real deal interior designers,” I noticed over and over that they often opted for big, fat curtain rods.

So in part due to wanting my house to look designer-ly and partially because a flimsy little rod over such a huge expanse of window could look…well…flimsy. I wanted a fat curtain rod.

And the thing I didn’t want – a center bracket.

I looked for one at all the usual places, but the biggest issue I ran into was never being able to find one long enough for our sliders! Ugh.

Necessity is the mother of invention. And blog reading has opened my mind up to the concept of DIY-ing everything!

I knew that between my dreaming and Nolan’s mad skillz, we could DIY a curtain rod.

And that’s what we did!

A trip to Home Depot provided us with the supplies we needed…

With 1 1/4″ steel EMT conduit…

And some of this Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint…

And some steel flat stock….

We were ready to go!

The total cost for 2 curtain rods {one for the living room and one for the family room} was under $40. {And that’s a steal as far as curtain rods go!}

In the family room, Nolan was able to use one piece of conduit {“pipe” for normal folks like me} and call it a day. For the living room, he actually had to weld two pieces together to get the right length. But totally doable for him!

Then he use the steel flat stock and bent and shaped them into brackets.

With a little spray paint magic and screws in the walls, we were in business!

In the family room, we were able to get away without having a center bracket. Yay! Alas, in the living room, we didn’t have that option. Oh well…

After the rods were up and the curtains on, Nolan used set screws that go from the bracket into the rod to hold everything in place {even my Ikea rod has those}.

The only thing I wish was different – that I had finials on the ends. Maybe someday!

So…that’s how we went from yuck-o-la vertical blinds and an empty curtain track to a wide open and attractive window treatment!

It makes such a big difference!

Even after 6+ months, I’m still in love.

You can see a glimpse of both curtain rods in this {blurry} picture.

To get rings that fit on my big fat, lovely, wonderful rods, I ordered these {eyelet rings}and these {ring clips} from Amazon. They are perfect!

For a curtain tour of my home and more on the specifics – check out this post and watch the video below.

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