My thrifty find!

Facebook is good for catching up with old friends and connecting with family from a distance but who knew it was good for thrifting too! There's a virtual garage sale group for my city (you should do a search for your town!) and people post their unwanted items in albums and people can make arrangements to buy things. You can be a member of the group as a buyer, a seller or both. I've probably made $50 from selling stuff that was sitting around my house, but it was too cold for garage sale season. I came across a vintage school desk for only $5. I had to have it! It would look perfect in A's room once I worked my magic on it. Here's the before pictures ...

A lovely shade of off-white and the shiney wooden top. I knew it had potential!

 

I picked up a can of bright pink paint from Lowes. Hello clearance rack ... priced at ONLY $2.99!

Then we got to work paintng. Since this was a desk for A, she naturally wanted to help. She's not too bad, a little practice and she'll be on her way!

Next I added two coats of chalkboard paint to the top and let it dry. A kept asking when it would be dry. When could she draw on it, when could we put it in her room. Here's the final results ...

And here's how it looks in her lovely purple Dora room. (I have a feeling Dora will be uncool very soon, good thing I thought ahead and bought sticky wall decals to decorate!)

She's so proud of her new desk!

My weekend in photos

Lots of crying and throwing fits from both A and J

Working on my couponing skills -- 58% savings right there!

Did a little reading to prep for J's 2nd b-day party in a couple weeks

Made spaghetti dogs from a Pinterest inspiration for the girls

I wish I could've slept more this weekend, but overall there was fun had by all. Happy Monday!

House stuff

I didn't work on A's desk this weekend, instead I did house stuff. After almost 2 years of living in our house we finally organized and semi-decorated our master bedroom. We also tackled the guest/sewing/weight lifting room and got everything in its place. I feel good, I feel like we have a real home. I say that, but it's not like I ever thought we didn't have a real home. It's just that now it feels a little more complete. We talked more about redecorating the bathrooms and what changes we wanted to make to the house. I got almost every bit of laundry done in the house (I don't think it's possible to ever have it all done at once) and we got our taxes filed! YEAH us! Too bad most of that money that the government has been hoarding will go to buy a new air conditioner. We did decide we would go out on a special date to our favorite restaurant. It was a productive weekend, nothing too fancy. Just keeping things organized, one room at a time.

My next weekend project

I'm working on a new project this weekend ... I can't wait! I got a desk for A for $5!! I'm going to paint the bottom a bright color and then paint the top with chalkboard paint.
Ideas I've found ...

source

How to make your own colored chalkboard paint

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I'm still trying to figure out if it would be better to use spray paint or if I want to use a brush/roller. Here's to a crafty weekend!

Healthy Inspirations

The number one New Years resolution on most people's list is to lose weight. I don't so much want to lose weight as I want to get fit. I want to be in shape, eat healthy and have more energy. I've been pinning away my healthy inspirations.

Things to keep in mind ...

Helpful tips ...

Cute workout gear ...

And even some funny ones!

I've also started thinking about what races I want to run this year. Here's my list of potentials so far ...

Runaway Eagles -- May 20th

The Diva Dash -- June 16th

Fort4Fitness -- September 29th

What's for dinner?

This is the most elusive question that happens every night in homes across the world. I know it's something that I think about constantly. Anyone with food allergies knows that this is taken to a whole 'nother level. I have to plan a main meal, then I have to figure out if A can eat anything that we are having. A's allergies consist of milk, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts, so every time I make something I'm running the ingredients through my head. I've become a pro at reading the ingredients lists on prepackaged foods at the grocery store. I've learned to substitute soy milk and soy butter into our normal meals. Nobody knows that I make pancakes with soy milk. Nobody knows that my delicious homemade banana bread is made with soy butter. I am the master of disguise. I've begun pinning dairy-free recipes so I can offer some better alternatives for our meals and her snacks. 

Homemade gummy fruit snacks

Healthy breakfast idea

So now after all this talk about food allergies, I'm still trying to figure out ... what's for dinner?!

When changes come your way ...

Sometimes you aren't prepared for the things that happen in your life. The changes that come your way are unexpected, shocking and leave you wondering why. Today was one of those days ...

When you rely on others around you to help you out, you find yourself becoming close with people you never would've thought possible. I am a marketer, I get people to buy stuff. In order for me to create compelling email designs for you to buy stuff I need help. I've worked at my job for 3 years and have been working with the same core of freelancers to help me do my job best.

I've never met her in person. We've only chatted briefly on the phone, but yet I talked to her online almost every day. We shared jokes, personal stories and so much more. I never thought I would find someone, a friend, that I've never met and become so close with them. We got the news around lunch that Ruth had passed away, unexpectedly, that morning. I would have never thought I would be so affected by someone's passing that I've never met.

I've had plenty of people pass away in my life, so this isn't new to me. The problem is that I never had to learn how to deal with their deaths. Maybe this happened to teach me something, maybe I needed this in my life to learn how to deal with death. To learn how to grieve, to grow as a person. Here's to making tomorrow a better day because you just never know what life will throw your way.