A Weekend of Work

Over the holiday weekend a lot of progress was made on my room. Mike took the whole weekend off and we finished up the lighting, built all the cabinets (no doors yet), laid the flooring and started the counter tops. I can't believe how amazing it's starting to look. It's coming together so well and much faster than I had anticipated.

Have a look for yourself:

Here you see the cabinets (need doors and paint) and counter tops (need laminate) that we made this weekend. I can't wait to fill this wall with yummy product.


The upper cabinets on this wall will have glass in the doors and the tall cabinet for my paper still needs to be built.


I have never had my computer or printers in the same room as my scrapbook stuff before it is going to be so convenient.


I love this floor. It's vinyl plank. You glue it down...it's so easy and it will be a dream to keep clean.

I have to say...I am so lucky to be married to a man that can do this. We don't have to hire anyone for anything. Mike can do it all...framing, drywall, electrical, cabinetry we do together and I do all the painting. He hates to paint.
I am very thankful for his talent. He is very good at what he does. I love him very much.

5 Random Things About Me

1) Hey Jude by the Beatles was my very first favorite song. I remember my parents playing it on our record player. That seems like a million years ago.

2) For 2 1/2 years, I was a licensed driving instructor. For the most part I really enjoyed it.

3) 15 years ago, I gave my sister a kidney. March is kidney month.

4) I wore glasses until Grade 8. I broke them on purpose (shhhh...don't tell my mom) and never wore them again. I found out years later that I never needed them in the first place. Geez thanks for the childhood full of torment and pain!

5) When walking, I will veer slightly from my path so that I can step on a crunchy leaf or kick a small pebble. Weird...I know.

...so that's just a few random things that make me who I am...who's gonna go next?...Jodi? Jennifer? Tara?

You Can Do It... We Can Help!

I took Bailey and her cousin Hannah to Home Depot on Saturday. They hold little workshops for kids. In this particular one they got to sand and paint a birdhouse and they were each given an authentic Home Depot apron. Best part....it's FREE! I love finding free stuff to do. Especially since everything else seems to cost a fortune. Forty bucks for an adult and a child to see a movie and eat popcorn! Oh and don't even get me started on Chuckie Cheese!
After they finished and while we waited for the paint to dry, I figured I should embarrass them by making them pose for photos in and around the various store displays. Hey...it's only fair that I should get some free fun too.

Here are some of those shots (I took them on my cell phone, sorry)...enjoy!

Then they helped me clean up the tools and junk in my art room/construction site. I took this one with my SLR.


And here is Bailey's birdhouse...she's got her daddy's talent for working with wood.

Art Room Update

So I thought I would share the progress being made on my room. I am so excited and so happy and so thankful for the work that Mike is putting into this. He comes home from doing this same type of work all day long and spends all evening working on this for me. He's a good husband. I don't say that enough.

Here's what's been going on:

Looking in through the door with drywall on the walls. Still need a new window:


This is the wall that will have upper and lower cabinets.
Look... you get a glimpse of the wall colour. Don't worry...i know what I'm doing:



Slat wall will be going on the wall where you can still see the studs and insulation. Under that will be base cabinets:


The desk wall. We have special plans for that square cut-out:



Ta Da!!!!! this is the colour. You won't see so much of it once the cabinets are in and stuff is on the walls. I just wanted something fun and inspiring. There will also be an accent colour but you'll have to wait and see:


Cabinets will cover much of this end of the room:



Again, this is the area for my computer stuff. I cant wait to show you this when it's finished:



I have a pocket door! and it's black for a reason...chalkboard paint!!!! Bailey and Mike can leave me messages and I can write things on it to inspire myself. The beam above the door will remain exposed but we'll clean the drywall compound off of it:


There you have it. What do you think?
If you have a great room or have seen any on-line, send me links. I'd love to see them.

She works hard for the money

If you don't already know, my husband Mike owns a commercial and retail renovation company. His company (which consists basically of himself and Jeff, his employee) builds interiors for stores and offices. We're not talking Zellers or Walmart. It's more along the line of, well, the size of your local scrapbook store.
I went to work with him today. I am no stranger to working with Mike, we used to work together all the time when he had his woodshop and built custom cabinetry. It's been quite some time though since I've helped him and today he just needed me to clean. Like I don't get enough of that at home. So I wiped the walls. They are a million feet tall. I cleaned the toilet and then Mike took down the vent cover because it was dusty. It was right above the toilet. I cleaned the toilet again. I did other various tasks and then the floor. Oh the floor. It's not a huge store but man that floor might as well have been the size of a football field. So, I swept it. Swept it again. Vacuumed it. Mopped it. They walked on it. I mopped it again. They walked on it again. Grrrrrrrrr. They laid some paper down to walk on. That helped a little.
I'm tired!

I am so very excited!!!

This has been a very hard winter for me. Maybe it's SAD. Maybe it's the 190cm of snow that has fallen this year. Maybe it's just me being tired of all that winter brings. I have not felt well this year. I have not been sick. No flu (thank God). No colds (since November). I guess I'm just sick...of winter. I can feel it though. Spring is there. Waiting. I know because in 38 years of my life it never fails....winter ends. Spring comes and with it comes a renewal of energy and happiness and love of life. Parkas are shed. Gloves and hats are stored away and best of all....the cute shoes come out!!!
The only upside that I can see to being this depressed for an entire season is that I have never been so exhilarated at the prospect of beginning a new one. I am stoked! I feel that I have a lot to look forward to.

Thanks to Mike, I will soon be scrapbooking again:



I know it doesn't look like much now....but just you wait!



I'm going to be doing a lot more of this:


I will soon be taking a lot more photos like this:

and this:


and this:



and I'll be wearing these...and showing this again:


So watch, listen and be happy =D