Music is My Boyfriend

WARNING: Ridiculous amounts of music shout outs in this post.
Get your iTunes ready.

(Always with earbuds in)

I have been trying to write this blog for like the past 5 years. Okay that's a lie since I haven't had this blog that long. It's been a really long time though. I am what some might call an addict. I've got a problem. I admit it. That's the most difficult part I heard. Oh! I admit it! (The Drugs Don't Work - Ben Harper) I love my habit and I have no intention of stopping. He soothes my soul (The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding) and gets me jazzed up.(Cleaning out My Closet - Eminem) He makes me smile(Playin' with the Boys - Kenny Loggins) and can bring me to tears.(Here's lookin' at you kid - The Gaslight Anthem) He is one of the two great loves in my life - sorry bacon, you were not included in the running. His name is music. We have had a love affair since I was about 11(Hit Me Baby One More Time - Britney Spears) and discovered BearShare (remember that one kids) a program where you download music and keep it in stashes on your computer. Now we pay $1.29 per song and get told where we can keep it, oh the good old days of thievery.

ANYWHO. Music and I have gone through a lot together. Lip syncs(Respect - Aretha Franklin) rock outs (The End of Heartache - Killswitch Engage) break ups(My Immortal - Evanessence) love(When a Man Loves A Woman - Marvin Gaye) divorce(Turning Tables - Adele) house remodels(Mr. November -- The National) work outs(Cowboy - Kidrock)- we are meant to be. I have been trying to pick my top 10 favorite songs for like 13 years now. It's difficult because different songs mean different things at different times.(9 Crimes - Damien Rice) If someone would have told me Panic at the Disco would make me cry a few years back I would have laughed in their faces. Maybe if they told me Where Ya Runnin' by Lenny Kravitz would be the anthem of my youth I would have payed more attention. Or that The National would inspire the greatest change in my life I could have ever imagined, I would have had a warning, thanks guys. In any case music has been there through it all, ever faithful.

(What is that another secret bathroom re-do? More on that coming soon.)

There are a few songs though that through all this time have either stuck with me or made an immediate impression on my soul. I'm sure you all have experienced that at some point. If you haven't go listen to Por Ti Volare by Andrea Bocelli, Sara Brigtman or freakin' Will Ferrell and find some sort of feeling.

Ash's Official Top 10 Favorite Songs
1) Hotel California by The Eagles
2) Hurt by Johnny Cash
3) Faithfully by Journey
4) Under My Skin by Frank Sinatra
5) Float On by Modest Mouse
6) Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
7) Bennie & the Jets by Elton John
8) I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables
9) She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5
10) Slow Show by The National
--In order

It was tough.
Many close followers.
It has been written.
Know about it.

What music gets you? Or you get? I figure they're one in the same

A Little Bright and Shiny

As you might remember one of my New Years goals was to redecorate my master bedroom. I wanted something with an airy feel. A room that was friendly and light. Here was my inspiration picture.

The blue walls were just too much for me. Please refer to the blue in the bathroom catastrophe...

...yeah.

The room already had the chair railing that Joe and I put up the first time around decorating the room. I really like the dual wall color look so I decided to keep the bottom half the mocha bean color and just painted the top half. I was very concerned that the bedroom wouldn't flow with the master half bath. So I stuck with the Parisian Taupe by Behr that was in the bathroom and carried it into the bedroom by painting the top half of the room the same color. My sister in law Kelly came down one weekend to chillax and I forced her to paint the room with me. What a good family I have huh?

You might have also seen the last post about my DIY sunburst mirror because I am too big of a cheapo to just go out and buy one. I hung my pain in the rear art project over the bed to add some color and height to the room.

I kept the same comforter because it is so fluffy and frankly fluffy makes this girl happy. I added a few new pillows and pulled in a few accessories from around the house.

I also found the cutest little lantern at Pier one that I just had to have. Coupled with some of my favorite books by Jane Austen, and a giant diamond I picked up at Michaels I have a new bedside table exhibit.

My camera isn't capturing the accent blue color as it truly is but here are a few pictures of the finished project.

A few things still need tweaked but bright and shiny is what I was going for and bright and shiny is what I got! Who needs anti depressants when you've got paint and fluffy bed spreads?!

The Man in the Mirror

Like most of you I have an addiction to this little website called Pinterest.com. I love her, she loves me, we have a relationship. It's getting pretty serious. Well on one of our late night dates I found starburst mirrors.

After clicking on an embarrassing amount of links they were running in the $200-300 range. If I'm paying $300 for a mirror it better roll over kiss me in the morning, get up and make me some sugar glazed bacon! After doing way too much shopping I said the words, the words that so often get me knee deep in supplies and frustration, "I can do that." How hard could it be right? How long could it possibly take? Mmm hmm.

Actually compared to some of the other projects that were tackled last year *cough* the bathroom *cough* the tea room, it wasn't too bad.

Plan A: Bamboo as the long attachments. Alas Klamath Falls, you let me down. Small town = no supplies.
Plan B: Wooden skewers used at BBQs for shish kabobs. Mmm shish kabobs. Mmm summer. Anyway! Turns out they are seasonal.
Plan C: Floral sticks used in bouquets. Bingo!

Just grabbed a mirror, oodles of hot glue, a cross-stitching ream, picture hangers and champagne colored metallic spray paint and primer in one. You know how I roll with the paint and primer combos. Heaven knows I hate myself some primer like I hate losing Words with friends by one flipping point!

Got all my supply goodness and I was ready to go! So I found the middle of the back of the 7" mirror...a few times...and made a mark so I knew where to make the rest of my measurements. I have a queen size bed and knew I wanted my sunburst mirror to take up most of the area above my bed. I cut my floral branches all 15" and then glued the branches 2" in from the edge of the mirror. Here is where the tricky part came in. Do you know how many 2mm tiny sticks it takes to go around a 7" diameter mirror?! A ridiculous amount that's how many! Oh and they turn your hands red. Oh and everything you touch red. Oh and it lasts for days. It looked like I had just killed a man. Note to self; next time I kill someone don't blame the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol blame it on the floral sticks. On it!

After all that was done I thought it would be a good idea to attach the picture hook so it would adhere to the back of the mirror itself and not the layer of spray paint over the back of the mirror. Then I just did some quick gluage of the sewing ream to the front of the mirror for a more complete look. Please disregard all of my straight "middle of the mirror" lines. That's how awesome I am.

I sprayed the back first as more of a test than anything to make sure it would cover alright. It did after a little coaxing.

After three coats of paint to that backside and four coats on the front side here is what I was left with.

Not too shabby right? For 90% less than the retail price on the mirror I really wanted, I would say that this will work awesome. Oh what?! The bedroom walls are a different color? Of course they are! Can I keep any room the same color for more than a year? Haha! Is the pope Jewish?! Wait...that's not correct is it? Oh well you get it. More on the redecorated master bedroom coming soon. You know you're excited.

When I Grow Up

2011 had a lot of good and a lot of bad. I am more than happy to have a fresh start at an old life. This year will bring a lot of changes. Some great trials are coming my way but great rewards will be reaped.

2011 New Years Resolution For Self:
Lose 10 pounds -- DOUBLE CHECK! (lost 20 Lbs)

2011 House Goals:

Apply more of a personal touch in my home -- CHECK!

Have a garden and not kill it -- CHECK!

Rebuild deck off of the backdoor -- UNCHECK!



Remodel Bathroom -- CHECK!



Overall I think I did very well on my goals. I've taken a few days to think of 2012 goals and resolutions(think about it the two are very different) and I think I have picked four very difficult but attainable ideas.

2012 Resolution For Self:
Be the happy that I want to be.

There are so many expectations of females my age. It seems we only fall in two categories; party kid or mother. I am neither and that has been something I have struggled with for years. This year I will do what makes me better, what makes me closer to the Lord, and what makes me genuinely happy and not the happy that people expect me to be.

2012 House Goals:

Update master bedroom
I'm thinking more light hearted and less dramatic.


Repair and dress up the hot tub
I love how inviting it feels.


Rebuild deck off of backdoor- Here's hoping :-)
Love the different directions of the wood. I hope I can be that fancy.

Cheers to fresh starts. Cheers to changes. Cheers to the truth.

POUTer Room - The Final Chapter

After WAY too long the guest bathroom is finally finished being rebuilt. I believe that this is where we left off.



The walls and tub were in but missing texture, paint and general functionality. Yeah that sounds about right.

Next came the shower surround tile. This was the number one thing I was worried about, well that and just being able to shower...at my own house...and not outside. You should never have to see your breath as you are showering. That's just a bad sign all around.



Then of course, my favorite part, paint!




Finally everything started really coming together.






Oh yeah and then another paint change...


This is how fine it is looking now.



Oh yeah.



I love how it has turned out. There are still cosmetic things to do like some shelving above the potty, and then of course a bedazzling here and there. I'm on it guys don't worry. I'll post more as those projects occur.

All I have to say from this...



...to this, was a lot of work and I will probably never do it again.




So down the road, remind me that even the smallest bathroom is a huge pain in the well you know, okay guys? No seriously. NEVER AGAIN.

Oh yeah, I did add this little ditty on the door frame itself behind the door. I figured those other people (or that darn meerkat in the wall)left those spindles and ball between my bathroom walls for me to find. Why couldn't I leave a more obvious trail?



Dang sentimentality.

POUTer Room - Chapter 2

A week into the project and I am ready to start taking lives. Seven days without your OWN shower does that to a person. Luckily we have great friends that let us drag our disgusting exhausted selves to their house to shower. I'll tell you what, there's nothing like showing up at your boss's house late at night for a hit and run cleaning. Good Times.

I would say that I had the most fun during demolition. I do not remember sweating that much like, ever. I'm sure it was pretty sexy.



Removed the vanity and found this AMAZING linoleum.







Beside the cardio, here is the other reason I loved demo



We found these in the walls. I call them secret treasures, Joe says they are garbage. It just goes along with my sentimental nature. I like to think of all the reasons they would be in the walls. It's very likely that maybe a mouse or a sewing meerkat carried them in there but I like to think that a family just like ours put them in there for future renovators to find. Just let me have my moment of rose colored glasses, okay?

After removing all the debris we removed the tub. I think I still have fiberglass in my lungs. Or I've got the black lung. One of the two. Underneath the tub actually looked pretty darn good which always makes for happy renovators! All except for the 3' by 3' whole where the drain was.



I don't ask questions about why our house is the way that it is anymore. Suck it up, fix other's mistakes, and keep going. The hubs patched that bad boy right up and we were on our way to a new bathtub and plumbing.



Bathtub CHECK!



Plumbing CHECK!

It's at this point that I always start to get a flutter in my tummy.



It's sheetrock people! SHEETROCK!

...You know what comes after sheetrock? Texture. You know what comes after texture? PAINT! Oh yes. My love for paint and colors will never cease to thrive like a river out of a mountain. That's pretty freakin' deep. Just so you know...

As we speak Joe is tiling that beast known as the bathtub surround. I haven't heard any swearing or throwing things so I'm going to say that it's going well. I could be wrong. He might have slipped in thinset hit his head and is unconscious. Hopefully he got the tile all up before that happened though. I can deal with head trauma. No Shower is just too much for this kid to handle.

POUTer Room - Chapter 1

Flashback to October 2009. Joe and I are looking at homes to start our family in. We have looked at probably 20 houses including the one we currently reside in and are getting incredibly frustrated considering we are up against a deadline to be out of our apartment. I would like to say it's because we got kicked out or something amazingly rebellious but we were just overanxious and young and put in our 30 days notice like, uh 60 days too early. After returning to our home for a second viewing this was the picture that still haunts our renovating dreams.

Yeah...

Then my husband said those words that give hope to every young girl in love with an idea of home remodeling, "I can fix that babe." Little did I know it would be almost two years and countless ideas later that we would be ready to open Pandora's box of bathroom remodeling.

You think that I'm joking about how awful this bathroom is. Here are a few more pictures just to help clear things up for ya'll.

This would be the nasty dirty vent that tries to dehumidify the room.

No that's not a mouse hole, well it might be, it's just someone being lazy and not finishing a job. Oooh and that trim.

My camera does not capture the RADIANT 1970s glitter that is in cooperated in that bathtub surround. You can still see those classy diamond shaped outlines though. Winning!

My personal favorite, uneven, dated light switches. Gah.

I have decided that I am going to do the opposite of what I usually do on projects. I am going to expect the absolute worst to happen. Hence this set of blog post titles. If I plan for the most awful of awful to happen the result has to be better than I think right? Please, please, please tell me that's how it works.

We start tomorrow people. If never another post gets written it's because Joe murdered me and buried my body underneath the dry rot that is our guest bathroom.