Mission: Wall Repair

A while back, I wrote a post about the water stains on our kitchen wall and ceiling from the broken pipe. Well, after a couple weeks of step-by-step renovation, our kitchen wall is better than ever!

The project began with me scraping off the peeling paint in our cabinet and wall. As I was doing this, I started to feel a little nauseous and got a little freaked out by the possibility of lead paint. I didn't have mask handy so half a bandanna had to make due. Bring it on water damage...

After scraping off all the little peelings- a task that provided a lot of satisfaction- Round two began.



Janny Drover gave me some great words of wisdom when painting over water damage. Prime. Prime. Prime. So that's what I did. Again, it was so satisfying to see these nasty yellow spots disappear under the pure whiteness. I could smell victory.

Since it's in the middle of winter, we couldn't really open up the windows for circulation. The fans tried their best but the primer wasn't dry by the time we had to leave that night. The next day I was headed out of town so the fate of our wall and ceiling was left to Austin. When I arrived back at home that evening I was oh-so-excited to see that he had completed the task left to him. Everything was beautifully painted and fresh.

Now the question was, how do we fill the empty spot above the oven? It used to be a stained glass piece that was left behind by the previous house owner but Austin I and both agreed we'd like some shelves for the spot. Since we still have some gift card money to Target, this was the obvious choice. I hunted online and landed on this little beauty.
I thought it would be a perfect fit for our little kitchen. After a little deliberation (because it was a little pricey), we decided to go for it.

It arrived a few days later but from the moment I opened the box, I was a little let down. Then when I assembled it, one of the shelves was a little warped. We both weren't satisfied so we returned it.

That day Austin and I went to Lowes and found some shelves that we were happy with. I was willing and ready to get them up that day but by the time we got home, Austin was running dry on house projects. I'm learning his project endurance is incredibly shorter than mine. I'm also learning the skill of maximizing the hours he willingly contributes. I'm realizing that I am somewhat of a freak about home projects and decor so I have to tame my ambitions a bit to meet his.
Anyhoo...
About a week went by and the shelves were still in their packaging. I was itching to hang them and gently suggesting it throughout the week hoping to spur my hubby into a project mode. Finally, today was the day!

We measured, marked, drilled, hung, realized they were a little wobbly, compensated with duck tape, and did it all again for the second shelf. Again, having to compensate with duck tape. After adding a few decorative items, it was finished. Drumroll please...Another view.

Tada!
Bet you can't figure out where the duck tape is, can ya??

While we were busy playing Nertz...

Sophie was very busy killing "Budda."

"Who's in Charge Here?"

Does the sight of a group of teenagers scare you?
If not, you are in the minority.

This weekend, The Crossing Senior High took its annual Winter Weekend trip to St. Louis. It was a blast! Our group consisted of 46 high energy teenagers plus 9 leaders attempting to maintain control. It was great group.

I observed something new on this particular trip. Everywhere we went, we got looks. Most of them were fearful, angry, concerned, or anxious looks. It was amazing to watch the demeanor of adults change the second they saw our mass of kids. I feel like I could read their minds. "They're going to steal something. They are going to damage something. They are going to break the rules. Too Loud. Watch everything they do. They are up to no good."

Because of our large numbers, we were the center of attention no matter where we went. And not in a good way. Most adults just assumed we were a nuisance.

At our first stop, the ice skating rink, we immediately got reprimanded for gathering in the middle of the rink. There were multiple announcements over the speakers reminding "everyone" of the rules. "No horseplay, no loitering, no fun. Just go away. Your group scares me." (At least that's what they were thinking.) The staff didn't seem too impressed when one of our guys dove between the legs of 3 other guys standing straddled. We thought it was cool at least.

We moved on to our dinner spot. Because our first two options were closed, we ended up at Whole Foods Market. Again- the looks, the questions, the darting eyes between employees were all around us. To our credit, our kids were behaving great! It was inevitable though. I was eating my dinner and an employee tracks me down. "Are you the one in charge? Can you get your group to move, they are blocking our isles..." See ya Whole Foods Market.

Final destination of the evening: Drury Inn.
We began our meeting with a game. It was energetic and loud. (It involved pantyhose with a nerf ball at the end, pulled over the head, swung around trying to snag the opponent- hilarious) I'm standing close to the door and notice a large black man enter our room. He looked like he worked for the hotel.

Me: Hi. Can I help you?
Man: What are you doing here?
Me: Umm, well we are having a meeting. (Meanwhile, behind me there are two kids battling with pantyhose pulled over their heads. I could see why he was confused).
Man: Why are you here?
Me: Well, we have this room rented.
Man: I mean, why St. Louis?
Me: (Completely confused by his line of questioning) Umm. we are from a church in Columbia on a retreat.
Man: Oh. I saw your Rock Bridge shirt. I go to Mizzou. (Turns around and walks away) M-I-Z
Kids: Z-O-U

So weird.

I could go on and on with stories. Like the time we found out our bus-driver had a pretty bad temper that is brought out by blowhorns. Or the store owners on The Loop who detested groups of teenagers walking through their stores. Or the 9 dirty looks we got for walking through Dillards. As the weekend drew to an end, we made some conclusions. You simply can't go anywhere with a huge group of teenagers and expect to not get in trouble. It may be the fault of our energetic, hormonal teenagers. But I personally think it is the uptight adults overreacting out of fear.

Either way, I do know that as long as I continue to do this job the question, "Excuse me, are you the one in charge?" is never going to cease.

Dysfunctional Home: Natural Disasters

Natural Disasters are nasty things. What's nastier about them is that the aftermath is almost as destructive as the event itself. On a very small scale, my kitchen is taking on this very nature.

Remember a while back when our pipe burst? Ya, while we were gone for a week in Colorado and came home to a saturated kitchen? Well we sure do. After taking safety precautions and calling in for back-up help, we were able to remedy the situation at hand. (Old pipe capped off, new one running underneath the house). However, like any natural disaster, there is an unpredictable aftermath.

Soon after the new pipe was installed, we began to catch scents of mustiness. Especially when we would open our drawers or cabinets that were along the wall that the pipe burst in. The mustiness remained and I soon noticed that the paint inside one of our cabinets began to peel.

At this point, I am realizing that our wall still has moisture in it from the water break. Our solution: Air it out.

So all day today, we moved about our kitchen with cabinets open and drawer pulled out. I considered putting a space heater to further along the process but I didn't want to be a freak about it.






You would think that the only damage would be done in the wall, right?
Nope. A few days after we had fixed the pipe, I started to notice some strange coloration. In our ceiling! Take a look.

Yep. Yellow. Our ceiling has taken on random yellow splotches. My friend Sarah D. who is an interior designer informed me that discoloration was likely a symptom of water damage.

How the water got to my ceiling, I have yet to find an answer for. But it's one of those things that is driving me crazy. It's kind of all I see when I go into the kitchen. Austin doesn't seem to be too bothered by it but he's also colorblind so he loses some credibility in the debate of the discoloration.

Needless to say, a painting day is in the future. Anyone want to help?

Another Before and After

Sophie had an appointment at the beauty shop yesterday. I told Sophie to not let the nice lady cut it too short but like usual, she didn't listen to her mother.

Before


And After


This window is one of Sophie's favorite spots in the house. It's not uncommon for her to be watching out the window peacefully and out of nowhere have a sudden outburst of violent growling, barking and scratching. One word to explain it: Squirrel.

Sophie's murderous hatred towards squirrels is widely known. In fact, she received this squirrel costume as a wedding present.


I may have already posted that pic but it is too good to not show off again.

Perseverance

It took all of these...





To get this...




I think it was worth it.

Dysfunction

I've been wrapped up in the world of blogs lately. Specifically those catered towards home DIY projects and making the home a prettier place. I've toyed with the idea of starting my own blog but was hit with the reality that the majority of our home projects are aimed at keeping our house functional and livable. I think if I did a home blog right now, it would have to be titled something along the lines of "Dysfunctional Home Owning." A sneak peak post from the potential blog site would be...

_____________________________________

Saturdays are great. I love sleeping in, making breakfast with my husband, taking my time reading, coffee sipping, and the feeling of not much to do. This particular Saturday, I motivated myself to go to the gym. After a date with the elliptical machine and free-weights, I headed back to our cozy home. As soon as I entered the door I was hit with a raunchy smell. Something resembling mold, mud, and sewage. I turn the corner to find Austin aggressively cleaning something in the sink. He informed me that he decided to tackle the slow draining sink in our bathroom. Lots of adjectives were used in the description of what he found in the pipe that he removed. Nasty-smelly-disgusting-gross-decomposing-hairball.




Here's a pic for a better understanding of what he was talking about.












Anyway, after removing the critter, cleaning out the pipe, and uttering phrases like "hot-sick" and a sound resembling a puking noise "hluught" over and over again, he replaced the pipe back in its home.

After lighting close to every candle we owned, our house's scent is back to normal.

Why be happy when you can own a house, right?

Warning

Warning!

If you are a piece of furniture in the Conner household, you are at major risk for alteration.


















And now that I've found the amazing knob and handle section in Hobby Lobby, dressers, beware!

TA-DA!

Couple things I learned while doing this:

• Cover the entire mirror instead of just taping the edges. Little speckles of paint got on the mirror that I had to pick off.

• I used oil based primer instead of water based. I read on another blog that oil based is what they primarily used. I think I'm going to stick with water based from now on. It was a mess to clean up and is still on my hands. If anyone knows what difference it makes, I'd love to know.
  

• I used a sponge paint brush on the white part instead of a regular bristled paint brush. With all the nooks and crannys on the frame, the sponge was the only tool that would get paint on it all.

While the mirror is in progress...

I decided to raz-ma-taz my kitchen a little.
My idea was to create a little coffee corner. I already had my coffee maker, beans and other accessories in the location. I just needed some mugs!

I bought some little hooks that I was going to screw into the bottom of my cabinet to hang them by. I was a little intimated by the project because I knew it would involve a drill to make the holes. As I crawled under to mark spots for the holes, I was pleasantly surprised to find little holes already there! Exactly where I would have put them! Apparently an owner before me had the same raz-ma-taz idea as I did.

So I simply screwed in the hooks to the pre-drilled holes. Two of my mugs' handles were too large for the hooks. I went Macgyver on them and shaped them into my needed size.It's a pretty easy trick.
So voila! The before and after!So cute for only 20 minutes of work!

I'm up to something!!!

Sneak Peak

Snow!

A few words included in my weatherbug forecast:

Bitterly. Blustery. Cloudy. Blowing. Drifting. Cold. Gusts. -20 degrees.

Ambition

Am-bi-tion
noun
A strong desire to do or achieve something, typically requiring achievement or hard work

I am craving a project. I'm craving to get my hands dirty and do something new. There are so many hobbies I want to get better at. And for some reason, I feel like I need to do them all right now. I think what started it was this amazing website called Young House Love. (younghouselove.com). It's about a couple who bought a 50 year old house and have made it their project to renovate it by themselves. It made me want to do home projects. My mental to-do list is running wild. It ranges from repainting a stool I bought a garage sale to knocking a hole in our bedroom wall and creating a second closet.

Another area I want to embark in is sewing. I want to make curtains, pillows, blankets, quilts, and other projects. I've always wanted to do this but for some reason right now it is bursting out of me.

Another hobby: cooking. As I was bobbing up and down on the elliptical machine today, I became fascinated with the Rachel Rae show. I want to know how to use spices, oils, seasonings, herbs, and more. I just wish I knew how!

Another one: Gardening. I can't wait till Spring. My dad has said he is going to help me start a garden in our back yard. I have no clue how to even start but I can't wait to reap the benefits. I just want to go outside right now and start.

I'm just feeling ambitious! Maybe I've been cooped up inside too long. Maybe God is slowly turning me into a house wife. Maybe I'm simply wanting to feel productive. Whatever it is, it's about to burst inside of me if I don't get going on something. Stay tuned for future projects.