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Words cannot explain how much I love this man....

And this is why:

I am HAPPY to be home, I have been through two weeks of rotation, hotels, and traveling to Madison this weekend....while house hunting and studying and playing dentist.  I am happy to be home, home to the lake and home to the house that I love, home with my dogs, and home to my washing machine...home to my amazingly comfortable bed, home to my stove, fridge and food (if I have to eat out one more time I might barf)....buttttttt whyyyyy whyyy then if I am so very happy to be home do I now sit on my couch after completing the 7 hour drive and realize that this does not feel like home....  ...because I now feel like home is a yucky two bedroom apartment in Madison where Cal has still not taken down the Christmas tree I insisted he have up....home is where my husband is currently piling dishes in the kitchen sink because he can (this doesn't happen when we are together) and home is where Cal has army stuff/bikes/maps out on display (not in the super chic and stylish way I think they could be...but in the pile stuff up kind of a way)  (like in the living room)..... but really, home simply stated is anywhere that Cal is.  I feel safe, I can sleep (yessss to be honest this is a problem I have run into without Cal by my side at night), I don't worry as much....its not perfect, we still bicker, we still have our moments, but we laugh like crazy, and it is amazing, it is real and well I guess its nice to be back to my HOUSE but I miss my HOME.  

Reused decor ideas

Let me just say that I am SO over reds, yellows and basically anything dark in color in my house.  I am SO in love with whites, tans and teals....ahhh now if only I had 2 million dollars or maybe even just a hundred to make some changes....but instead in true Jaime fashion I find bargain ways to reuse and redo what I already have----starting with these pillows....  ***keep in mind these covers may only last as long as I am able to keep my paws off of my new sewing machine....but for the time being I love this new idea

Flour sacks!!!  In all of their vintage glory and for a couple dollars a pop, the lighten up my yucky red so I am thrilled and I think they really add character....this may begin my official obsession with flour sacks because I also love them folded, draped and basically everywhere around the house---watch out, there will be more! 

 Next up is my ever changing mantel, I already had the white frame that I painted up a few months ago, but I just found the smaller gold frame on rotation up nort'e Michigan, (proof that treasures can be found everywhere!).  This was truly a treasure to me because it came with glass---this seems to be rare....since it already had glass I printed up a graphic fairy clip art picture on scrapbook paper and put it right up on the wall....I am sure the gold frame will be painted white or a variation of white at some point but for the moment I am enjoying it in its gold glory.  ***It should be noted that I treasure these frames so much because they are all wood and super intricately carved and all (I have a few more not pictured) purchased for less than $4.00 so I have no problem painting them!

Another treasure for the weekend----this old drawer-------IIIIII LOVE old drawers!  Look at the shape of this one and the old hardware, and is it even necessary for me to point out the chipping paint....ahhhhhhh  LOVE!  Soooo the bottom of this beauty was a bit beat up so I added some vintage looking scrapbook paper as a liner on the bottom-what do you thing?

Back to the reusing-I love setting books out as decor....turns out I like ripping covers off of 25 cent books that I find at garage sales and putting them out too.... I want to distress them a bit more but you get the idea.

Ahhh and finally, my love affair with my teal paint continues...I re-painted this bench (and have since distressed it a bunch more), I am slowly and surely learning and teaching myself new painting and distressing techniques and having a good time with it....this could be dangerous because I have a lot of dark furniture around the house that might look nice in a lighter shade :o)

Look what I did yesterday :o)

I got to go wedding dress shopping with Becks!  What an honor and how fun!  I am so blessed to be part of these moments with her and her family.

I love this picture---how Becks had to just take a moment to look at the mounds of dresses she was going to be trying on.  I told her and I will tell all of my newly engaged friends, its the only way!  You HAVE to try all of the different styles to figure out what you really love!  

How cute is this picture?!  Coming out of the fitting room with her first dress on.  ***note this did not end up being the dress, no pictures of that beauty are allowed on here until after her March wedding! 

Finding the dress takes some debating sometimes, but trying on a million dresses lets you pick small things from each one that you love so that when you find THE dress you will be that much more sure!

Andd finally a little teaser of the THE DRESS, silhouette style!  This girl is going to be such a beautiful bride in this AMAZING dress!  I can't wait for her big day, it is coming quick!  Reality set in yesterday--the wedding is getting close, but don't worry she found her beautiful dress---brides-to-be please understand this ALMOST NEVER happens on the first day of trying!  I was able to buy my bridesmaid dress off of the rack so there are no worries about shipping it here in time (which takes more than the two months we have before her wedding).  So now this maid of honor needs to get planning showers, batchlorette parties and eventually a speech---everything sounds so fun (except the speech part---ahhhhh I am so not a public speaker!).

A couple weekends worth of fun and finds!

Alright so here is an overwhelming blog post full of projects that I have been working on, and fun finds in the past few weeks.  Nothing too exciting as I have been attempting to study... fairly unsuccessfully 

Finished a couple of clipboards (above) that I found over Thanksgiving with Linds and even incorporated some fabric (my newest interest-fabric incorporation EVERYWHERE).

Ahhh an a wonderful antique store find-an old drawer with dividers currently showcased in my most favorite location-my dining room table!

Love love love changing this thing every other day too-today's decor features teacup set with birds nest=love!

Along with incoporation of fabric into my daily decor I have also recently seen numerous examples of incorporating sewing/hobby kind of things as well.  And as it is becoming increasingly apparent, I can never say no to a new trend-plus this is very functional as my craft room has been slowly taking over my living room!

Ahhh now here is a new obsession, I LOVE old doors, so why wouldn't I get excited to find a chunk of door with an old knob for sale at an antique store for a steal of a deal?!  Ahhh whenever I see this one I start thinking about all of the dumb old sayings "when one door closes....." sigh!  

Ran out of places to put my clipboards, as I seem to have a lot of stuff sitting around ahhhhem I mean decorating, so I decided to revamp the good old homemade chalkboard---super functional right?!

Ahhh yes, and boy oh boy do I like this picture box, (it that even what they are called?)  I found this one at TJ and thought it would fit in well with my new light/white decor.  Andd I finally got going and printed some graphic fairy clip art on scrapbook paper to go inside, HOW FUN and EASY!  ****Note the birdhouse in the above picture

Now for its close up, I got to try some painting and small scale distressing this weekend.  And by me I mean, I put Cal to work.  I painted, and then distressed with sandpaper, then added ink and finally added some crackle paint (pictured below), it was easy and fun and makes me want to move on to a much larger scale!    

And Finally, I had fun with graphic fairy clip art on scrapbook paper AND fabric to make a little vintage looking artwork for this re-done picture frame that I finished in December.  What do you think??  (p.s. I love hanging plates on the wall!)

xoxo and back to study for me! 

Let me be honest.

Honestly, I am not doing well attempting be back to study mode.  Honestly, I am struggling.  I hate the guilt that comes with knowing there is always something that I could be doing to study more.  Breaks do not feel like breaks when you should/could study.  And lets face it, I have somehow someway survived 3 & 1/2 years of dental school as someone who doesn't do stress well.  I am feeling stressed.  I hate it.  I try so hard to balance, but for whatever reason I am feeling overwhelmed.  Soooooo, in attempt to revamp, re-asses the situation, I enjoyed some blog posts......trying not to feel stressed while doing so.  Here is my inspiration for the night:

 {the graphic fairy}

Love, Love, Love the idea of transferring printed images onto fabrics or printing right on them don't tell Cal, but I really want to try that!  And the graphic fairy blog seems to be the best place to learn how AND find amazing FREE clipart!  How fun!  I have sooo many ideas... mainly revolving around muslin type fabrics starting with some pillows (much like the ones I am obsessed with at pottery barn for 2 million dollars) or framed fabric with these super cool dental vintage clip art-I am such a sucker for anything dental, I might be the only one who appreciates these!   

On a blahh study day like today of course all I can think of is decorating and crafting.... since I really should keep the redecorating of the house-I-am-moving-out-of-in-3-and-1/2-months to a minimum I can guess I have to resort to drooling.....  Just when I think I have a clear vision, involving a lot of white with small splashes of teals/blues, I see something like this picture....  Something about this cheerful splash of color really makes me happy....I am thinking this is something to keep in mind since I am going to start sewing soon (as in when I am done studying for boards hopefully not before), maybe I could make some fun pillows like these.

{Country Living}

 And finally it would not be right to mention that I am also dreaming about the hubs.  I miss him.  I love him.  I hate being away from him.  Andddd I am currently PRAYING that a trip to Mexico is going to be in our near future. Something else to MOTIVATE me to get my butt back into study mode.

Another Crafty Monday

I have had such a wonderful time being crafty and creative these past few weeks!  I am sad to see it come to an end but I know that I need to get back to the real world.  Ahhh but the crafty world is so much fun!  I am slowly transitioning my life from red and brown tones to white and light.  I am enjoying my new hobbies including embroidery, I have moved past towels and tried my hand at a framed quote today-I think it turned out cute!  And among other things I am beyond inspired when it comes to painting and refinishing furniture/frames/anything that isn't already a nice light color!  

Note the cabinet doors on the lower left, that I can't wait to transform!  And the blue cabinet was a fun free find with endless possibilities!  And how could I make a picture collage without a picture of smiley Kylie?!