While visiting Roanoke last February, I explored Roanoke’s downtown. I immediately became obsessed.
Everything was renovated to look like the classic downtown it once was.
This was my favorite street. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. It was amusing to them that I had my camera glued to my hand. It was no secret that I was foreign to the area.
I took many many pictures, more to come!!
My niece, Hailey, took this picture. We were driving around downtown Roanoke and she had my camera. We saw this coming and I told her to take the picture urgently. She remained calmed and snapped the picture as we drove by.
I was certain we did not get a good shot, but we did! I was super impressed with her speedy, little fingers.
For the past two weekends, we have been removing wallpaper and popcorn ceiling. These are frustrating, time consuming, soul sucking tasks. Wallpaper is the worse of the two, in my opinion.
If it were not for our WONDERFUL friends and family (you guys know who you are), we would not of gotten as far as we have. We also wouldn’t have a hair left on our heads. This process is very exciting, but it is very tedious and frustrating as well. Luckily, we have amazing people working with us, all of whom have the most amazing sense of humor.
If you have pulled down wallpaper, you know how incredibly awful it can be. Everyone has a suggestion on how to remove it. We tried every suggestion. The only trick that SEMI-worked was mixing fabric softener in hot water and painting it over the wallpaper. We drenched those walls and still had to chip away millimeter by millimeter.
If you are about to try this endeavor, my suggestion to you would be to burn the room to the ground. Just kidding, but it is really tedious and frustrating. Use lots of water, fabric softener, patience and good scrapers. All of these things are at Lowes, except the patience. You will have to ask the good Lord for that one.
The popcorn ceiling was not near as bad. Really, in comparison to the wallpaper it was a sunny walk in the park. We used a Roundup 1-Gallon Plastic Tank Sprayer to wet the ceiling and then scraped it right off. If you try to do it, make sure you get it pretty wet and go over the whole ceiling at least twice before prepping for paint or texture.
Parker and I tag teamed the kitchen and dining room last Sunday and got it completely texturized. We used a Kobalt 3-ft Gravity Hopper Gun to texturize the walls, and when I say we I mean him, because there is no way these noodle arms were going to hold up that mac daddy. It was fantastic, I can’t imagine texturizing without it. I followed Parker with a Kobalt 14″ Blue Steel Taping Knife and smoothed the texture. If you try this yourself, make sure it is not to wet or to dry. I learned the hard way, thank God for my husband’s patience.
Before we texturized, my niece and I taped off the crown molding, windows and cabinets. If you ever have to do this to paint or texturize you MUST use a Tape & Paper Dispenser. It will change your life.
It has been very hard and exhausting, but also exciting and a lot of fun. We still have a long way to go but I feel good about our progress. You will be seeing MANY more posts from me and our home renovating journey.
I think Can Can is stressed out from all this packing, so… I got her a new dog bed from Cabela’s.
I think she likes it.
It’s Monday. This weekend was one of those weekends that went by so fast and had zero down time. I need a weekend from my weekend!
Tonight, we are just going to go out. We are not going to worry about cooking and cleaning. We are just going to go out and not worry about anything.
I hope you all are having a good start to the week.
Live a little, just go out!
Happy Monday!
We bought a house!! Parker and I are now homeowners. Being the thrifty, do it yourself, kind of people we are, we took advantage of snatching up a home in need of a little TLC.
The space is fantastic, we got a whole bunch of it for a fabulous price. Although it will be a ton of hard work, I am really excited to do it.
We started tearing down wallpaper last weekend, and have been diligently doing so every night this week. I will be posting about the before and after pictures on here soon!
In the meantime, we will be chipping away at some wallpaper!
Lately, I have been trying to live by these words. I have always struggled with trusting myself and second guessing, and it has become increasingly worse in the past year. I am always terrified the next move I make will be the wrong one and that I am not taking the right steps in the right directions. My husband has consistently been telling me to trust myself and to pray every day for guidance. I have began to do this and have seen such an improvement in my attitude and self-esteem.
I am sure many others have these feelings in their own lives. Doubt seems to surface every time we find ourselves in a sticky situation. When I have these feelings of doubt, I pray and ask for guidance and awareness. I pray that I will have confidence in myself and take peace in knowing God is leading me in the right direction. I realize stressing doesn’t get me anywhere and certainly doesn’t fix life’s headaches. Plus, it will give me gray hair and wrinkles!
Thanks to the unwavering support of my wonderful Parker, my amazing family and God’s guidance, I have really become a person I feel I can be proud of. My creativity is more prevalent and I accomplish so much more than I ever have. I feel better mentally and physically because I am not constantly stressing over things I can’t control. I trust myself and I trust the decisions I make.
I have come a long way and I have a long way to go. I still get down on myself (don’t we all?), but overall I know that no matter what happens, I am on the right path for me.
Have a good week and don’t forget to trust in yourself!
Today, I am praying for my lovely, amazing sister. She has limbal stem cell deficiency and has been struggling with her eyes for the past few years. Her eyes have been so bad recently that she has not been able to see to drive or to do many of the other things that we all do every day.
My sister, Crystal, has always been incredibly active. She loves being outside with her four children. She has always been wonderfully creative, joyful and charismatic. She inspires, creates and lives for her children. She is that mother that all the other mothers despise due to her ingenuity and individuality. Her kids adore her and genuinely like her as a mother and a friend.
Her eye troubles have changed her life drastically the last few years. She has not been able to see any further than maybe a foot in front of her. This has taken away her ability to drive, to play outside with her children or to do many of the things she used to do. Her greatest fear through all of this has been the chance of not being able to see her children’s faces every day.
I have been completely amazed as I have watched her struggle. I have never seen anyone so positive and strong through something so hard. She does not allow people to pity her or feel sorry for her. She makes light of her situation and laughs at herself when she is clumsy because of her lack of eyesight. No matter how bad it has gotten, she has remained positive for her kids and has not allowed them to worry for her.
Today, she is undergoing a long anticipated surgery that will hopefully fix her eyes for good! She will be getting a stem cell transplant in her right eye. Her left eye has healed a remarkable amount since she began a intense medication regimen over a month ago.
Her amazing husband has been there for her through this whole ordeal and has taken vacation to be with her during her surgery. She and her husband had to drive eight hours from their home to a specialized surgeon who will be doing the surgery. I have flown here to Roanoke, Virginia to watch her children for the week while she is in Cincinnati having the surgery.
Being here this week has been fantastic for me. I have gotten to witness how much her husband and children adore her and their unwavering support for her. I must say she has a fabulous family behind her. Her kids, Hailey, Desiree, Trent and Tyler have asked about her every moment she has been gone eager for her return with her ‘new eyes.’ Her husband has worked hard in preparation for today to ensure everything will go smoothly this week for me and for Crystal. He has helped her to keep her positive attitude and has maintained his unwavering support for her and her full recovery.
I have always looked up to her and I hope that someday I could be at least half the mother she is. I strive to be as good of a sister as she is to me. Although I will never have her power of persuasion that she has over me (you know what I am talking about Crys), I hope that I can make her feel as loved and special as she has always made me feel.
So today, myself and many others are praying the surgery is successful. I am confidant that she will come out of this beautifully and this ordeal will soon be nothing more than a memory.
Love you sis! You are a rock star and have hot legs!!
This morning I woke up to heart-shaped pancakes and hot tea for breakfast.
My wonderful husband is the best pancake maker in the world, he totally outdid himself this morning!
They were delicious and a great way to start my day.
I hope all of you have a wonderful day of love!
Last weekend, a group of us went downtown to have some wine and enjoy the lovely night view of downtown.
We went to the Brady District, and found ourselves at Valkyrie. It is located in one of Tulsa’s older brick buildings that have been renovated.
The dark lighting and old atmosphere set the scene for some unique pictures.
Peace!
All Things Good 