Inspiration Board

This is my inspiration board for our new house. I needed to find some ideas to brighten up the dark wood walls and my sweetpea's new room.
Sorry I don't have links for any of these. I got the images off of Pinterest.com.


Left: top- I love this idea for photos, but I think mine will be a large black and white photo on a white background instead of a chalkboard. Maybe it will help offset the darkness of the wood paneling the house has.
Middle- we are looking at white leather couches and I like this color combo.
Bottom- I'm a little in love with this pallet table... Maybe too much, but it looks really neat.
Right: top- I like this room arrangement.
Bottom- I love this tray as a little side table. I have a bunch of these from my bellydance days that I can convert... just need legs.


Left: pallet garden idea for the deck saves space.
Right: top- would be good for herbs.
Middle- this would be perfect for my chai addiction. Everything at arms reach.
Bottom- adorable! This would go on the front porch wall that you see as you walk up the stairs.


Camster's room inspirations:
Top Left: have you seen these bookshelves made from rain gutters? Camsters has trouble putting her books away on a normal bookshelf so this is hopefully easier for a toddler.
Top Right: I'm going to make one of these for her out of an old rabbit skin.
Bottom Left: art display idea
Bottom Right: I want to buy these for her room so bad! Love the colors!

- Sarah

Report

Sometimes it feels like I'm just checking in here. Sometimes I have nothing to report. Sometimes I like to just read other peoples blogs for awhile. And then sometimes I feel like I need to make stuff because of said blogs.

Well, it doesn't feel like anything new has happened lately.

We are moving in a few weeks and I have done nothing to start packing. Strike that. I do have three boxes sitting on my front porch.

I ordered two 30x36" rabbit cages from our local Tractor Supply since they don't keep them in-stock. I'm eagerly awaiting my French angora rabbits.

I typed up a list of "baby" signs, made a picture workbook of the same signs, and made a flyer for "Baby Sign Language Classes" starting in October. I figure October will give us plenty of time to settle in after the move.

I put my little Sweetpea's hair into pigtails yesterday and she instantly looked like a "kid" instead of a "baby". They are so right... children do grow up so fast.

I almost forgot! We have enough money saved up to buy a couch! I am sooo excited because for the last two years we have been using a trundle bed as a couch. Which is sad. Because it in no way can be mistaken for a couch. This will be the first time in my adult life I have ever bought
a piece of furniture. Hand-me-downs have been our life for so long. Gone are the days of Top Ramen and saggy cushions! Wow.... that sounds attractive.



- Sarah

Frühlingskabine is hard to spell

When we move in late August/ early September, what? again?... I know, we will be moving into a 3 bedroom house with enough room (and permission) to keep our chickens, start keeping rabbits for wool, and start a hive of bees. We plan to live there for a few years while we work on buying our own house.

Cool right?! We are so excited! The house is called the "Frühlingskabine" which means "Spring cabin" in German. It was named by my uncle who has recently passed. I love him and miss his quick cynical wit dearly so we are naming our mini-mini-farm in memory of him.
Soon we will be drowning in honey, eggs, and wool. Yay!

So rabbit wise, I have a few options. I would like medium to large sized rabbits in order to get a worthwhile amount of wool. I would hate to spend more in feed than I get in wool. That would be silly.


On the left, the French Angora weighs about 8-10 pounds
The German (or Giant) Angora on the right weighs 9-12 pounds

I would prefer the French Angora because it is of a more manageable weight, but either would be nice. The big challenge will be finding a breeder who is selling a buck and two does relatively close to where I live. A challenge indeed. I may even begin to breed them myself.

September brings new beginnings. Oh, and my birthday.

- Sarah

My Best Move Yet

A successful move had by all! It took us all day Saturday to move, all day Sunday to do donation and dump runs, and Monday morning to clean. What a great feeling to be somewhere new and fresh!

The best part is that our new apartment is a half mile to downtown where I can start belly dance classes again if I wish, take Camsters window shopping, meet up with girlfriends for lunch, or just enjoy a stroll. I'm hoping that living somewhere with sidewalks will inspire me go for walks. We'll see. My current excuse is that it has been in the high 90's or 100 degrees the past week, so I won't be going for a walk until the sun decides to quit frying us.

My mom came over yesterday to watch the Camsters so Husband and I could go clean the old apartment. While I was making the three of us sandwiches, my mom said "I think this move was your best one yet." I enthusiastically agreed. To clarify, in the last six years I have moved seven times. That makes it sound like I don't stay in one place for more than a year, but to my credit I did rent a cute house for a little over three years.... so HA! To my mom's credit, this was my best move yet. I was so organized I surprised myself!

This is such a nice place I hope to live here awhile... maybe even a little over three years. ;)

Four Days 'Till the Big Move

Okay... so it's not really a BIG move. We are just moving to the next town over. Less than ten miles even! But, it feels like a big move because this is the first time we are moving somewhere we love.

While spending the entire weekend packing, I realized that 80% of all the boxes were labeled "Camster's room". Is this what it comes down to as a parent? Nothing you own is actually for you? Weird how that changes so quickly... I didn't even notice until now.

Husband and I have this great deal where I will do all the sorting, packing, and unpacking (he did an awful job last time we moved); and he will do all of the lifting, driving, and cleaning. I thought I had gotten the better end of the deal until I actually started to sort and pack. Arg! I hate packing! We are also trying to downsize by getting rid of clutter an unnecessary furniture that collects clutter. I think that may be the hardest part. Putting all your beautiful knicks-knacks and trinkets in the "donate" pile. Arg!

Hopefully I can finish up my packing duties by Friday so I can pick-up the keys to our new place with good conscience. We will be moving in over Labor Day weekend by happy coincidence... that should be nothing short of interesting.

Have a good week all! I hope to post again this week with something halfway interesting, but moving with a six-month old may hinder my blogging career for the week.

Ta Da!

Yesterday the Camsters and I finished our agave painting. Ta da! Well, I painted and Camsters mostly tried grabbing the painting which resulted in green and turquoise nails. I was actually surprised that I got this all done in one day with Camsters in her front pack. It did include an hour-long nap which helped out a bit.

I plan to put my painting above the fireplace so you see it when you first walk in the door. BAM! Color!

Oopsies!

Wow! The last week has completely passed me by! Not that I've really been doing anything, just living I guess. When the Camsters and I got back from our adventure weekend in the Bay Area, Camster's other cousin was up visiting for a few days. It was just one into the next it seems. 

THEN, the elementary school I volunteer at started up and we went over to help out a few days. THEN on Thursday it was my little brother's birthday, so Camster and I went over and grilled him up some chicken sandwiches on chibata bread with tomato and avocado, AND an angel food cake with ripe blackberries (sorry to disappoint... not from scratch because I'm lazy).

THEN!!! On Saturday we took our boring wood dining table and chairs over to my parent's house and spray painted them. When I say we on this one, I really mean that Husband transported and I painted. I sanded and spray painted the table chartreuse, two chairs tangerine (not to be confused with neon orange), one chair raspberry red, and one chair a fuchsia that turned out more purple. Pops was spray painting his ATV trailer camo so it turned out to be quite the "Spray Painting Saturday". 

Sunday I kicked back with Husband and Camster.... until I started packing up the house. Husband and I have an agreement: I will single-handedly pack up the whole house if he moves and cleans it. I thought I had the upper hand until I continued to tackle the job today. Phew! It is seriously hard work packing up a baby! Forget Husband and I... This kid has SO. MANY. CLOTHES. I won't even get started on accessories and equipment. Let's just say it's a good thing she will have her own room!

So now it's Monday, which means tomorrow I will help out at the school again, pack some more for the big move across town, and work on my fabulous 18" x 24" agave plant painting. I'll show you when its finished.

Our Day Has Come

We have finally found a beautiful, quiet, friendly, well maintained, clean place to live! Yay for us! Not that our current apartment is dirty, but it does have a perpetual yard sale out front. Nuff said.

Our new dream apartment... a little on the small side, but a dream apartment still. Our new place is Spanish-style both in architecture and landscaping and includes an arch doorway with tile around it, tile floors inside, and a fenced-in shady patio for the Camsters to play on once she really gets moving (which will be pretty soon). We can't wait to move in next month!

Since it is so Spanish looking, I thought I could incorporate my great love of the artist Frida Kahlo into the decor. This is also my opportunity to take all my "hand me down"/ mix-match furniture and create a more coordinated look. It's going to look like a grown-up apartment instead of a poor college student's dorm room.

My first task this weekend is to sand and paint my dining table and chairs with bright colors like: chartreuse, fuchsia, persimmon, and cobalt. Very Frida don't you think? I am also very proud of anyone who can envision those specific colors... kudos. My furniture is just the start!

(Weekend adventure post tomorrow)