Linking Up With Some of my Favorites

I'm linking up here:

Be Different...Act Normal



And here...



And here...

{alicia}

A Little Bit 'o Zebra in the Courtyard

I promised a tutorial on how I did my little table that sits in my front courtyard. Handsome bought me the table that matches the bench (that is up this weekend for a makeover) years ago for Mother's Day...it was literally about 7 or 8 years ago.

This little guy...sad and pathetic, isn't he?...is {WEATHERED} to say the least. It was so bad that just our normal polyurethane job would not do. So I whipped out some paint...I do love to paint!

First take the table apart (it is easier to paint and sand) and sand it down to strip off all the old varnish, mine was mostly peeling off - made my job easier. I then coated it with some bright yellow paint my friend gave me...a very pretty, sunny color, but too bright on it's own. After that dried, I painted on some white paint and then distressed it (poor table...it is already pretty distressed!) by sanding it some more - so the yellow shows through the white.

{Are you following me?}

hehehehe

Chevron designs are ALL the rage right now in Blogland...and in the designer world. Pottery Barn, West Elm, Crate and Barrell...they're all doing it. I am not a big chevron freak...too linear for my wavy kind of brain...but zebra stripes are like a chevron, only not so structured.

That's a chevron I can wrap my brain around!

I printed out a picture of zebra print from Google Images and enlarged it on the copier 350%

so that it would fit in the middle of the table.

Then came the sucky {fun} part...cutting a template. I cut out where I wanted the paint to go - on my copy there was "white" space and "black" space. It doesn't really matter which you cut out - you'll get the same affect and your eyes will start to cross and you'll forget whether you were cutting the white part or the black part...and you'll think you're losing your mind!

LOL

 Lay the template where you want it to be and tape it onto your table (or whatever you are painting).

And start painting (I mixed the bright yellow with some white to tone it down some)...

Take a break - have a Diet Dr. Pepper, check out your work...have your daughter come by and tell you it is going to be a project FAIL...laugh, while thinking..."what if she's right?"

Get back to work!

Once you have done a first coat, I recommend removing the paper quickly, otherwise some of it gets stuck...I learned this the hard way and had to use some tweezers to remove small pieces.

Freehand the second coat - there may be some empty space...freehand in some more "stripes" - that's what is great about a zebra...they are a freak of nature and they have stripes and spaces everywhere so you can't go wrong... case in point, the one hanging on my trophy room wall...

Point is...no one will be able to tell!

Anywho...here is the finished product...finish it up with some polyurethane so you don't have to repaint it again after the next rainfall...

Now, I'm off to refinish the bench...

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

{alicia}

I linked this up to The Stories of A to Z and House of Hepworths:

Rock What You Got!

One of the blogs I read every few days is called Thrive and the woman over there does a fantastic job of re-using things she already has in order to complete projects around her home. Now, honestly, I don’t have half the ingenuity that she has, but I like her concept of {use what you have}

As many of you know, we bought a camper trailer last spring and it was living in our driveway until our jerk neighbor complained to the City. We started making plans to rip up the front the yard and create a pad for the camper on the south side of our house, meanwhile re-doing the front yard.

We even went as far last fall to pull out a ton of bushes that were randomly placed around and in our courtyard to “get a jump” on this project (and lessen the amount of leaves we have to clean up – since we have to clean up all the neighbor’s too…looong story).

Weeelllll, time and money are short right now {isn’t this always the way?} so this project has come to a GRINDING halt! Meanwhile the front yard looks like doo-doo because we were anticipating tearing it all out.

Last weekend I had had enough, so I got my “rock what you got” attitude on and told Handsome…”front yard beautification in the works today.” I spent 8 hours out there on Sunday…and another 3 out there yesterday.

Just be warned...there is nothing MAJOR going on here, there will probably not be any "oooh-ahhhs" that escape your lips...there was just a lot of clean-up and bucking rock. But, I am pretty proud at how just a few hours of hard work can make such a difference and make you feel some pride in where you live.

I didn't take a lot of "before" pictures, but here is one - this is inside the courtyard where an obnoxious bush was planted...it rained leaves like no one's business, so I am so happy to have it gone.

I sent Handsome to Lowe's to get some decorative bark as a "temporary" fix for this spot (isn't bark always temporary anyway? At least here it is...with 60 mph winds, it doesn't last in your yard for long).

Handsome called from Lowe's...said, "not getting the bark - it is ugly." So we are going with this instead (still have to make a few cuts to make this lay right. It already looks better!

Yesterday, I vacuumed (yes, people, I DO vacuum outside frequently - is there something wrong with that?), scrubbed the siding, cleaned the furniture and sprayed everything down...then I rearranged the furniture (I told you there was nothing crazy big going on here)...but what a difference it made!

Oh, what's that you say? What's that little table? This was yesterday's BIG project (tutorial coming tomorrow) that has been swirling in my brain for weeks! Are you ready?

Why it is some zebra deliciousness...{AWE-SOME} in my sing songy voice! This table makes me smile every time I see it; I may have to start using the front door more often 

{SWOON}

This little area outside the courtyard will receive the same paver treatment as the other area with plans to put a really large pot with some flowers in it. That will be this weekend's project.

And to the other side of the courtyard gate is this lovely (NOT!) area. First of all, I was really hoping to get rid of these hideous red lava rocks (were those EVER a good idea?), but Handsome says, "not yet" so I spent about 2 hours weeding, pulling grass and "cleaning" this red lava ugliness. I decided to pull these river rocks from our leftover stash in the backyard to create some dimension and hide the broken sidewalk. Even with the red lava rock...it looks 100% better.

 

 

And I carried that idea over into this little "gully" that was collecting dried grass, weeds and snails for the past season. Why do we have a "gully" like this in our front yard, you ask? Well, last year (or maybe the year before), I told Handsome I wanted this area to be a flower bed border. He slaved and worked, although didn't follow instructions and did his own thing...which left it not quite what I wanted. It was fine while it lasted, but the flowers died and were replaced with...rocks. Again, a good solution until we rip this baby up.

 

And lastly, because we don't have a lot of blooms in the front yard, I was able to score these two pots at my grocery store on clearance for $8.00...added a little color, which is always good in my book.

That's it for my 'rock what you got' project...still some other things to do and paint (need to refinish my bench in the courtyard). Look for my tutorial on the table tomorrow...it's one of my favorites so far and I'm now wondering where else I can do this...I think Handsome just rolled his eyes when he read that! LOL

Thanks for stopping by!

{alicia}

Inspiration for Today

Life is too short

Grudges are a waste of perfect happiness.

Laugh when you can – apologize when you should

And let go of what you can't change.

Love deeply and forgive quickly

Take chances

Life is too short to be unhappy

You have to take the good with the bad

Smile when you're sad – love what you've got.

Learn from your mistakes, but never regret.

People change and things go wrong

But remember…life goes on.

 

~alicia

{Happy Mother's Day to Me}

This Mother's Day, I would like to honor my children because without them,

I would not be celebrating on Sunday.

Being a mom is not easy, especially currently - I have 3 teenagers! But it has been the most rewarding part of my life; not without trials, tribulations, sadness...but always {JOY}

These four wonderful human beings call me {Mom}{Momma} and even sometimes {Mother Goose}

{Travis}

Where to even start about my oldest son? In 3 weeks, he will be the age I was when I gave birth to him - 20 (WOW, that is startling to me). I always joke with him and tell him, as the oldest, he is my living experiment! He can make me laugh, even when I am crazy mad about something...he will make me crack up. He has a smile that lights up a room and an infectious laugh. He has accomplished so many wonderful things and is talented in so many ways - academically, artistically, physically, athletically...and spiritually. He has a {huge heart} and will give you the shirt off his back, if you needed it. I remember one time in high school, he gave a pair of his shoes to a classmate because his were all torn up and had holes. No one asked him to do it, he just felt blessed to have more than one pair and enough to share with this kid.

Travis does everything 100% - he doesn't take shortcuts or look for the easy way out.

Travis has taught me more than I can ever express in words, after all, we have "grown up" together. Most recently he has taught me that part of building a child's self-esteem means letting them stumble, fail, and fall...and then letting them learn how to get back up and succeed. Travis' strength through battling his addiction - admitting he needed help, getting the help he needed and sticking with it - is truly an example to me of tenacity, strong spirit and resiliency...you can get back up when you fall.

{Andrew}

I love this picture of Andrew! When he was a baby, we used to call him "face" because he had the cutest face...now it is chiseled into that of a young man...what a looker! There is much more to him than meets the eye, however. Andrew is gifted academically - his mind and his {wit} far outweigh most adults I know. He is also very gifted musically and has taught himself to play the guitar, the violin and the ukulele and is learning to play keyboard; he is also a great artist and a great athlete. Andrew has a great sense of humor...very dry and witty. When he was younger he would have us in stitches at the dinner table with his impressions and jokes. Now, as he has gotten older, he knows just when to insert a funny statement that makes us roar. I have always said that Andrew is an "old soul" and I believe that more and more each day.

Andrew has taught me that as human beings, sometimes we think that other people's opinions about us define who we are. Andrew knows better. Grades and awards don’t define you. What someone else thinks about your style or political view or haircut does not define you. What does define us is our thoughts. Our actions. How we treat friends and family. How we treat a stranger. How we handle adversity. What we do with our spare time. How we serve others. The choices we make. These are all things that define us. Andrew somehow learned this...eons before I have understood it myself.

{Bella}

And this girl! I know, right? She is {GORGEOUS} and growing into such a wonderful young woman! When Isabella was born, it was such a relief...I had a difficult pregnancy with her and was on bed rest for most of it, so that I didn't go into labor. I remember being so worried about having a daughter - I had no clue how to "do" hair or how to raise a daughter...I had two boys. Luckily, Bella tolerated some goofy hairdo's as a young girl - even though she had quite the opinion, even at age two! Anyone who knows my Bella, knows what a special person she is - she is smart and one of the kindest, most loyal people you will ever meet. She is {compassionate} and sensitive to the needs of others, without a word ever being said. Some may say she is a "people pleaser," but the truth is, she likes to see others happy. I was so worried about her foray into young womanhood. I am happy to say that, at age 13, she is rarely moody, little or no drama and very low-maintenance. And she has a new-found talent...cake decorating (and has even decorated one for a paying customer!). The older she gets, the closer we become - we like a lot of the same things and I love hanging out with her.

What I have learned from Bella is, that it is okay to laugh, sing and dance, even when your life is totally in the toilet! She has an uncanny knack for knowing when I have had a bad day or am in an emotionally bad place. And she will start in with some funny story or a song I just "have to hear" that immediately picks me up. She reminds me that, as a Mother, my mood sets the tone of our home and it helps me to be at peace with whatever is going on inside of me and focus on my family. And, when we start laughing...oh, watch out (sometimes Handsome gets a little annoyed by this)! The number of "inside family jokes" we have because of her grows everyday...no one else thinks they're funny, but we sure do and they bring back some fun memories! (Bella,...it's a puppy!)

{Paige}

And last, but certainly never least, is the "baby" of our family...only not so much a baby anymore; I'm not quite sure when that happened, but it did. We've always said that Paige is the glue of our family and she has certainly been that. She is also the apple of her daddy's eye and the precious ruby in her mother's heart. She is fun-loving, sensitive and cares so deeply about others, especially her family. Paige is a smarty, too, and has been able to read since she was about two years old and excels in reading and math at school. She loves pets - any pet...she can see the mangiest, ugliest dog and she will think it is the cutest dog she's ever seen. She is {LOVING} to everyone she knows and is a super-talented swimmer. Last summer was her first summer competing and she placed 16th in the City for her age group. Her personality is just really starting to shine and I'm pretty sure she is going to be a lawyer (she just doesn't know it yet), because man, the girl can argue! I love that she is still small enough (and not "too cool") to curl up with me and snuggle...

Paige has taught me to slow down, relax a bit - stay and play awhile...that having a spotless home or running errands can wait...there is life to be lived and savored. I need to slow down and enjoy the ride...not hurry to the destination.

So, a message to my four wonderful kids...

I feel honored and so blessed to be your Mom, to have given you life, to have been part of helping you grow into the awesome kids you are today, and to have you in my life. I am proud of each and everyone of you, for your accomplishments and for your failures ~ for they make you who you are.

"Time flies on the wings of angels" and while I look forward to the future, to see what you will become, I also know that I will miss having you around. I want you each to know that as our family changes, and as each of you moves on, please know that you will always have a place at home, where you will be accepted and loved....and you will always have a place in my heart. There is no gift you could give me on Mother's Day that could compare with the gift of being your Mom everyday.

I love you,

~mom

Parade of Homes

I am honored to be included in A Bowl Full of Lemons Parade of Homes and hope you enjoy the

tour of our home. 

Welcome to our humble abode here in the five-oh-five…Albuquerque, that is.

We purchased this ranch-style house, built in 1972, six years ago and have done a lot of cosmetic work on it (you can see before and after {here})…and we still have more to do because, as you know, when you own a home, the work is never done. There are a lot of pictures, a lot to see, so I am going to keep my writing to a minimum. You can always visit my blog (proof-of-love.blogspot.com) for more pictures.

Entry Way

Kitchen

Laundry Room



Family Room

Dining Room

  

 

 Trophy Room

  

  

Main Bathroom

Backyard

This is our FAVORITE room in the house...all done by us - a lot of hard work, slow progress and now we enjoy it as a family.

Thanks for stopping by...hope you've enjoyed the short tour. If you want to see more, feel free to peruse my blog...there are pictures of the bedrooms and bathrooms.

And if you want to join the Parade of Homes from the beginning, click here:

And to see the next house on the tour at Endless Crafting, click here: