Watching tv in style

Jonathan and I have been trying to build our home collection slowly over the years as we find things we both love, which can tend to be a little tricky! :) I am sure none of you other wives have problems with that. First, let me say that some of you probably have husbands who could care less how you decorate your house as long as there is not an overwhelming feminine feel to it. My hubby, being on the artistic side, cares about what I put in the house and loves to put his input in- whether I want it or not! haha. Anyhow, on a recent trip to the shopping mall in Ramstein here in Germany we found a tv console that we both loved- so we jumped up and down (figuratively) and ordered it. It arrived Friday and my sweet hubby put it together yesterday and we both are very pleased. We like the old look to it:

Of course, we both look forward to when it does not look quite so silly with this crazy German flooring but we still love it. Now to find a couple baskets for remote storage and such.

Let the madness subside

Well most of the madness of moving has subsided. I have not put anything on the walls though because I am planning on painting over my spring break in about three weeks. I have not put up any pictures mainly because I want to wait for the paint and pictures to be up so that you can get the full affect. I will however show you a couple of pictures I took of the new bathroom because I will not be painting in there. I will be putting up a few pictures in there but have not gotten to it yet. So for a recap here is the before we moved in picture:

Two sinks, no closet- so slightly different from our previous place.

During, notice how previously since we had a closet- all the items in those boxes fit in the bathroom...:(

After clearing out the boxes and adding shelving for storage, also a new shower curtain.

Looking towards the hallway, this is where some artwork will go on the walls.

So that is at least one room that is pretty much done. The kitchen is also pretty much done because I will not be painting in there either. I have yet to put up pictures in there either though, mainly because Jonathan tends to do better about lining them up just right than I do. I will hopefully post soon about my birthday get together last week. It was a lot of fun. Happy birthday to my broth-in-law Josh by the way!!!

Masking Monday

So, since starting my job I have been neglectful of my blogging- sorry! Normally, this wouldn't be as big of a deal but I have been trying to get little jobs and big jobs done while Jonathan is gone. My last few blog post have been M&M's on Mondays; Marvelous Monday and Manic Monday. So I thought I would follow suit today by calling this week's Monday Masking Monday. Monday I was off work for Columbus Day so I chose this day to tackle my largest project of this time with Jonathan gone. Monday I taped off the bedroom, hence "Masking Monday," as in masking tape! I tapped off the bedroom and painted the walls gray. We are working towards a white, gray, and green color pallet in the bedroom. So the walls got a gray color treatment and I must admit I already wish I would have done it earlier. I do not have my finished product pictures yet and wouldn't put them up even if I did but I thought I would show you what I had before. Warning: there was not a lot of tidying done before these pictures were taken so excuse the messiness.

Mixing my paint...

Before view from the doorway.

Door Decor

Well I have been trying to clean and tidy up most of today in addition to make one of my favorite dishes, chicken pie! YUMM! However, on my last Friday before I start work I did manage to squeeze in a quick project to dress up our drab and boring door to the apartment. My mom sent me a wooden "R" so that is was I started with. Here are all my supplies:

A wooden R spray painted white, black paint, and donut holes used on  paper.

First place as many donut holes on letter as you wish, then paint over.

Let the paint dry for a few minutes and then peel up the donut holes, I used a toothpick to carefully get underneath.

Add a little string, hand, and add a pumpkin for good measure!

A few tips:
-Be sure the stickers on the outside that are sticking off are secure, some of mine could have been better.
-Using a toothpick to get the stickers up is definitely the easiest way that I found to get them up with as little destruction as possible.

I was glad to make our door a little more home like. I will probably be doing something with the pumpkin soon- just haven't quite decided what yet!

Busy Bee

Sorry I have been away most of the week. I began my dining room wall project and was committed to finishing it. There were times when I wondered if I should be committed for even starting it! I thought I would never get done and asked myself on several occasions whether or not I was crazy and what was I thinking. I finished it last night after the Georgia bulldawgs beat the rebels!! Whoo hoo!! Anyhow, my goal was to add a little bit of creativity to the little area. About a month ago I had grabbed the container of white paint we had left from a while ago and added the little bit of brown tint we had left to it in hopes it would be dark enough to make a little bit of difference. I painted two coats on the wall and quickly concluded I had just wasted my time because only I could really tell. So I ventured back to the discount store, Poco, and grabbed two more bottles of brown paint. Then I came across an idea of using a stencil and I was hooked and knew I wanted to try it! So I darkened the paint I originally used and got to work. My first mission was to paint half the way the solid darker color:

The next step was to take my stencil and trace it with a pencil over and over and over again, all the way across the wall. After tracing that stencil numerous times I had to then paint along each of those lines that I had traced, this way the part that tries your patience (and your sanity).

Sorry it is turned, I am uploading right off the memory card!

All done!

Then I also did a couple of small fall decor projects with more to come hopefully!

This table is going to be a project soon as well!!

Oh the Joy!

Labor Day was always one of those ironic holidays to me. Labor means to work the last time I checked and Labor Day is a day most of us have off from work. Hmm? Interesting! I think we should change it to Rest Day! :) Anyhow, Jonathan unfortunately is not one of the many who could celebrate rest day, he actually is laboring! Lucky for him today also happens to be "Be late for something day." I think this work outs perfectly. He can just be late for celebrating it!! Great right!!

I have been faithfully slacking on my blog, but that is not really new news. New news would be if I updated more than one or two times a week! Well, thankfully I have been busy with little projects around the house. I am slowly making our house feel more and more like home and coming into my own a homemaker! I really enjoy finding new and great ideas and being able to shape and form in my head how I would like things to be. The vast majority of these ideas have come from this lovely website! I promised my sister that I would blog about my little projects!

These are the frames I did.

An old shelf I found on the curb, repainted!

Quick and easy dry erase boards!

Wooden letters wrapped in yarn...took forever!

Finished product to go over our bed.

I have been having a lot of fun beautifying our home! I am not through, just have to go slowly (not made of money). Some projects are looking like they are going to be harder than originally thought, since I can't find the materials to do them here in Germany. I have heard there is a larger craft store on a base about 45 minutes away that I hope to check out soon. My friend and I have vowed to have DIY days at least once a month to get together and work on a project together. In the meantime I am just enjoying my daily life with my hubby. I hope to update again soon.

By the way tomorrow is "Read a book day." So pick a favorite and read it with your kids and tell them why it is a favorite. Maybe if I am not too lazy I will share some of my favorites with you tomorrow!

~Emily

Permanent Housing!!

Well folks, we are officially into permanent housing. We received our key and moved in Wednesday of this week. I will do my best to get some pictures up soon. I am already planning what colors I am going to paint and all that stuff. It will feel much more like home when the rest of our belongings get here. Other than that I finished the MOST, Mannheim Orientation Spouses Tour earlier Wednesday. I learned a little bit better how to operate the train system, the Straub. We also got the chance to visit the marketplace and found a Euro Shop, our version of the dollar store!! That place will come in handy I have a feeling. We saw some beautiful catholic churches located in Mannheim that I did get pictures of with Jonathan's camera. I, unfortuantely, do not have that with me right now! :( I am doing such an awful job of providing pictures I know! I will get better when I have internet of my own I promise!!! I hope I will anyways! ;)

Jonathan has still been going through classes and next week he goes through all his orientation stuff which I might try to come and sit in if I am not busy homing! Cash is doing good. He got super hyper this morning and just ran all over the apartment and then just crashed so I decided to take that advantage to come up to the computer room near all the offices. Still on the job hunt. I filled out a packet that might allow me to work at the day care on base here. But I also heard that the elementary school needs some help with their pre-k classes so I might go by there today and inquire about that. Hopefully, something will come up soon.

I start my first online class for my master's this coming Monday and I am excited right now. In a few weeks I may be the complete opposite but right now I am excited about it. I just hope I can get my internet at home soon so I don't have to walk all the way up here in order to get my school work done. Well, I have to try to go find a planner for my school stuff so I can stay organized. Be back soon!