Reflections...

About a month ago, my grandma got really sick.  As of now, she is in a hospital in Lakewood Ranch, FL completely sedated and hooked up to just about everything imagineable.  The doctors keep telling us that she could recover, but I know in my heart that she probably will not.  She has cancer and it is spreading, she has a feeding tube, she has pnuemonia, she has atrial fibulation (sp?), she is dieing.  Her wishes are to be kept alive, so that is what they are doing.  She is 89 years old and I am certain she is fighting as hard as she possibly can.

I spent last weekend down south with my mom and my Uncle Steve.  We spent everyday with her.... at that point she was awake and talking.  She got mad at us for taking her picture and was upset that strangers we seeing her without her hair combed.  A day or two after we left, she started to go downhill.  We stayed at her house while we were down there.  Shared stories, smiled as we went through her drawers and found more plastic bags and receipts from things she purchased who knows how long ago.  I was in her closet and I found my grandfathers hat.  I immediately pictured him smiling with his hat on just the way I remember him.  He died a little over 10 years ago.  I told myself that if he were still alive, he would know just what to do to help grandma.

I am almost 30 years old.  I wish that all those years had not gone by with me not appreciating the people in my family and how wonderful they are.  See, my grandfather was an AMAZING man.  He was a great man.  WWII vet, engineer and the most amazing husband to my grandma in the entire world.  I could only dream of finding a man who loved me as much as my grandpa loved my grandma.  (no offense to my husband of course)  And though I am so sad that she is going, I am so happy that she will be able to dance in his arms again.  And that he will once again be able to watch her pick up sea shells and pat her on the butt as she walks by.  And I am glad that she will be disgusted with him and fuss at him again.  What a grand reunion they will have.... I just wish I could be there to see it.  When he was alive, though, I did not understand these things about him.  He was strict and watched boring TV and read boring books.  And that is what I knew.

I am now at an age where the realization is that my family members are not going to be around forever.  The should have, could have, would haves start happening along with the guilt.  I wish I could explain this to my children, but I know that they would not understand and they won't until they are close to 30 years old.  Daniel will remember my grandmother, but to him she is old and thats what happens to old people.  To me though, I am getting old.  My parents are getting old.  My grandparents are getting old.  Its getting a little scarey honestly. 

So, my goal is to cherish my time with my kids and my family more.  Forget about the housework and go spend the day with my grandma.  They aren't going to be around forever and to be honest, I have taken that for granted.  We are blessed with a few people who remain in our lives for years and years... family and a few really close friends.  I need to learn how to appreciate that more.  Its not going to be long before I am officially "old."  Daniel says that is 50, so I have 20 more years.  But my dad turns 50 this year, so Daniel gives him the "old" title now.  My mom earned it a few years ago. 

Damn getting "old." 

DIY bathroom renovation: attempt #1

We bought our house in 2011... actually it was December 23, 2011.  Best. Christmas. Present. Ever.  As we were going through the process, I had a great friend of mine give me some advice:  "do not do anything major with the interior or exterior for a whole year, if you can help it."  The house was in great condition and move in ready when we bought it.... but every wall was eggshell white and the trim was white and the carpet was beige.  I wanted to paint every single wall in that house so bad!  But, I listened and I am so greatful that I did for a few reasons.  First, it takes an entire year, going through each season to completely figure out your house.  Second, if you come up with an idea and immediately act on it then you might regret it sooner than later.  And, making a house your own is not something you want to do often (unless you have tons of money and can pay others to do it for you). 

So, my first DIY renovation project was the kids/guest bathroom.  Ever since we moved into the house I have HATED that bathroom.  First of all, I have little boys.  Gross.  Second, it was so so bland.  Here, see for yourself:

See the pedestal sink?  That was my inspiration.  I love pedestal sinks... granted it leaves you little to no room for storage, but they are pretty. 

The walls were eggshell white, the tile is eggshell white.  The bathroom is small, so we needed some sort of storage.  There was a recessed medicine cabinet.... I hate those things.  The things that you want to put in there do not really fit.  The towel racks, shelves and toilet paper holders were all mismatched.  The bathroom was a bland mess.
I wanted to do something that was manly but nice at the same time.  And, since we love the water/beach, a nautical theme would be perfect for the boys.  So, that was it.  But I wanted it to be original and nice.  See, I have rented many houses, and to be honest, the inside of our house looked like a rental house.  So, I did not want to do the rental thing and buy an "over the toilet" shelf thing or a matching toothbrush holder/soap dish/ bath mat/shower curtain set (which is exactly what we have in the master bathroom).  So, thanks to Pinterest, Google and Hobby Lobby, I came up with a color scheme and starting piecing together the bathroom.  This, by the way, took about 4 months to do. 

I had everything I needed to start the renovation... tools, mud, paint and pretty stuff. 

So, I started on a Wednesday afternoon and removed the recessed medicine cabinet and replaced it with a piece of drywall.  It took a couple of days of mudding, waiting on the mud to dry and sanding to get that part finished.  That Friday night, I painted the first layer.  Saturday I finished painting the main parts.  Sunday I painted the stripe and added all of the fun stuff.  Here is the finished product:

The colors are navy blue on the bottom, a crisp white stripe through the middle and a pretty gray on the top.  (I got a new camera for Christmas and I have not quite figured out the settings and what is best for what.  I need to spend some time playing with it.)  I found these awesome wall hooks at Hobby Lobby.  The sign is my boys' favorite part.... it says "Captain's Quarters" and I hung it up over the toilet.  They think its hilarious!

I have to say that I am very proud of my little bathroom.  Next up:  the master bathroom.  It is bigger and has cabinets.... so I am going to practice painting cabinets.  It'll be a little while, though.  I am still trying to recover from this bathroom!

December and Christmas!

The entire month of December flew by in a flash.  So, here is a picture recap of our month and Christmas!

We started the month with a trip to the Havana Christmas tree farm.  This wouldve been out first time cutting down a tree.  We didnt really like the trees that they had growing so we picked out one of the trees that they had shipped in.

As soon as we got it home we put it up and decorated it.  One of my favorite parts of the holidays is decorating.  Even though there were a couple of meltdowns and after about half of the tree was done I was the only one left, it was nice. 

My mom and Allen also competed in the Urban Disturbance.  It is a 5 mile run through downtown Tallahassee with a ton of obstacles throughout the race.  They had to jump over fire, climb over busses, crawl through tunnels, etc.  They had a blast and I hope that I am able to compete next year.

They did a really good job and worked really well as a team. 

Sadly, I had to say goodbye to a great friend of mine.  I meet her through Zumba, and we clicked almost immediately.  Kari moved to Gainesville so she can attend the University of Florida.  She is chasing her dreams and I am so happy and proud for her.  She was my line dancing partner, so our last night out together we went to Johnny Ringos. 

That was our last tribute to the crab dance.  I know I will see her again, a bunch, but I am so sad to see her leave. 

We continued with a few more Christmas traditions.  We took the boys to see Santa.  Connor was a little hesitant at first, but after watching Daniel he was fine again.

After that, we went to Dorothy B Oven Park to see the lights.  This is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do over the holidays.

We ended that night with a trip to Daniel's special Santa.  We love this Santa and as long as the family decorates with him, we will go visit.

Then it was finally time for Christmas.  We had our normal Waffle House Christmas Eve dinner.  Then we headed home for Santa cookies, a movie and bed.

And we woke up the next morning to Santa and his awesomeness.  I will let the pictures show you!

We cleaned up a little and then headed outside to play.  It rainned a little, but not too bad.

Daniel's friend from the neighborhood came over to test out his new Xbox... she also stayed for dinner.  I have to admit that it was a little difficult accepting the fact that Daniel has his first Christmas dinner "date."  She is an awesome little girl!

After we had Christmas dinner, Allen, Danny, the boys and I headed over to my Uncle Billys house to see the rest of the Tappen family.  We do not get over there much anymore... not nearly as much as we should.  It is always fun to spend time with them.

That is my baby cousin, Lawson.  He is bigger than me now, too.  It all happens so fast!

We had a great Christmas.  and an awesome December.  Now, we all feel like this:

So my next post will be about the first DIY renovation we (I) are doing to our home.  I started the first small step today and I am excited for this project to be complete!  Cannot wait to share!