DELIGHT in the Journey

Christmas Week

2010-12-20T10:42:00.000-08:00

It is Christmas Week, 2010, already! I can hardly believe it. My mind is spinning this morning with "all the things that need to be done" and here I sit- blogging instead. Actually, I am processing. ;)

I finally took a notepad and started writing down all the things that are on my mind. Sometimes there seem to be so many extras that my mind feels like the spin cycle of my washer. I randomly wrote down everything that I need to do, want to do, must do, wish I could do... no prioritizing or anything, just write it down. It's like removing all the very much spun out clothing from the washer and putting it in the dryer. (it's laundry day- can you tell?) And now I will sort the findings of my note taking and decide what needs to be hung up, what can dry completely and not wrinkle in the process, and what I can ignore for the time being.

Just the act of writing it out lessened the burden of having it all on my mind! I already accomplished two tasks on my list.. two phone calls to reschedule appts. that were "weighing me down" and now it's all taken care of, done, checked off.. HURRAY!

So.. Christmas week. Now that all those items are written down and on paper instead of filling every space of my brain, I will choose instead to fill my mind with all our blessings. This should be a week of celebration- celebrating the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ! The whole reason we celebrate Christmas to begin with- the gift of His life and my resulting salvation from sin. If I contemplate those miracles instead of the grocery list, I believe peace would reign!

I pray that whoever reads this blog will find peace in Christ today. "The Joy of the LORD is my strength". May you find strength in the Joy of the LORD. May we put all our "to do lists" at the feet of Jesus and keep Him at the forefront of our thoughts- always, and especially during this season of celebrating HIS birth!!

Merry Christmas

Summer projects...

2010-07-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

The garage sale is finished!!! The remaining treasures were taken to a Goodwill drop off. I decided to let someone else have the joy in those treasures. They had become junk in my house. We made enough to view the garage sale as having been worth it. But really, even if we had made less than $10, it still got all the stuff out of the house and that would have been worth it regardless!

Our friends down the street brought all their treasures to our driveway and did a sale along with us. That was FUN!!!! Really- this is the first time I thought having a garage sale was actually fun. We sat in the shade eating cookies and talking for hours. (the girls did a cookie sale and made good money! Oh- that could be why my dollars didn't add up the way I thought it should at the end of our sale.. hmmmm)

I just finished listing 28 items on ebay in an attempt to sell some more of my treasures.. namely stamp sets I don't use any more (I don't use ANY of them any more.. but these I felt I could part with) and school books I am done with (child #3 is done with them.. there are no other children I know of in this house needing to use them in the future..).... and misc. diet books!! HAHAHAHA okay- I think it's funny I put them on ebay. After all those cookies, I should probably read them. Oh. I DID read them and I still ate the cookies..

Tomorrow I'll start rearranging the basement. This is getting to be a blast! I'm loving "accomplishing great things" like this- sorting, tossing, moving things around... I dread it for months and once it's done I wonder why I waited so long.

Remember how I wrote my son sounds like my husband? Today we discovered child #2, my daughter, is as tall as I am and she is not even 13 years old. WHAT?!?!?! I put on the highest heels I have (and believe me.. that is NOT high) just so I could still be taller!

Sigh...

Garage sales...

2010-07-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

We did it!!!! We got everything out front, set up, and are having a garage sale. This is momentous- just going through the house was challenge enough.. having a garage sale is more so.

If it were up to me, we would haul it all to Goodwill. No- I would probably take a majority of it to the dump. Then again, I would just leave it all in the house and rearrange things and tell myself it looks better.

I personally do not like this "having a garage sale" business. I feel everything has to be priced correctly, set up neatly, looking its very best and like some great treasure people need to take home with them. I want to go hide when lots of people come and browse through my junk and wish they didn't even know I had this much junk to begin with. I actually panic when I think "What??!?! We just sold THAT for $1??? I paid $89.99 for it new!!!"... ummmm.... yes and it sat there for how long and I forgot it was even there? Really...

My husband just puts the stuff out there, prices things if he gets a chance, enjoys visiting with whoever comes by, and I think he gets a kick out of the whole process.

I think he just came inside for something.. I might get caught down here blogging instead of helping with the garage sale... :) Whew.. was my son. When did he start sounding like my husband coming in the house?!?!?! that's another story for another day...

My epiphany

2010-07-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

I have many of those. I had one last night. And it really makes me think "Ohhhhhhhhhhhh... why did it take me so long to get this?"

I DID work on the basement last night after procrastinating, but still didn't make the progress I wish I had made. And then I realized how I was viewing the project and why it was overwhelming me so much.

We are planning to have a garage sale tomorrow, thus the motivation to clear out the 'stuff'. I want do some rearranging in my basement as well, so I lumped that whole project into one and wheweeeee was it ever overloading my brain. I could not concentrate on which books to keep and which to sell, because I kept thinking about where I wanted to move the keyboard, or the computer, or this bookshelf or that bookshelf.... The whole time staring at a pile of books that needs to be sorted through.

So my epiphany is this- I do NOT need to rearrange the basement this weekend!!!! (really- I know some of you would have realized that long before... I tend toward the "all or nothing" mentality and it's a killer) My new goal is to clear out stuff for the garage sale, make an ebay pile, and that's it!

I can do that! I'm excited now! Off to sort!!

Proctrastination

2010-07-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

verb: delay or postpone action; put off doing something

Exactly. That's what I'm doing. The closet is clean.. the laundry room is clean.. kitchen has been rid of cookbooks I have NEVER even looked through.. cupboards cleaned of dishes I don't use any more (or never used.. )... and here I am in the basement. The king of all projects. The unfinished basement that has space for the TV area, music, crafts, computers, exercise equipment... it all fits nicely and is a very useable space, but since it is "out of sight out of mind" a good portion of the time, it quickly deteriorates.

I homeschool, and love to read, which is a great combination that results in MANY BOOKS. But there comes a time when I'm done using the books for school and need to sort, rearrange, sell, etc.- just do SOMETHING to make sense of this space.. At the moment I am overwhelmed.

Therefore, I am practicing the fine art of procrastination. I'm not writing a profound blog or even one with a great moral or end result. No- I'm totally and completely procrastinating and ignoring all the books and clutter calling my name here in this basement.

Now that I have written a completely honest blog (wait- not completely honest- I haven't mentioned yet how much I dislike organizing basements and the task of "re-organizing" anything at all makes me want to curl up in a corner with one of my books I'm supposed to be sorting through!).... well... I have nothing else to say.

I'm going to get up, wander around the basement, find a small pile of something to sort.. and come back and see if I have any new emails.... I'll master this procrastinating one way or another!

The Cleaning Saga..

2010-07-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

Truly. I am trying to find delight in the process of cleaning house.. I am not talking about the regular cleaning, but CLEANING and purging the house and dark corners of stuff/junk/treasures. Those items that haven't been used, or seen, in over a year. As in many projects, one thing leads to another...

It's actually rather hilarious. I started with the closet by the door to the garage. I found treasures in the closet that were put there 3 1/2 years ago when we moved into this house. Those "I-do-not-know-what-to-do-with-this" items that somehow I couldn't throw away. (picture frames I didn't like, candles, candle holders, weird Thanksgiving decor, a bag of rocks..)

All of those miscellaneous items that I forgot I even had are now on their way to the garage sale table. "one man's junk.." I hope becomes someone else's treasure or at least goes into someone else's closet! Once the closet was emptied out, I put back those things that we use- but DO need to be stored somewhere- and made way for shoes.

Yes- shoes. For some reason, we collect shoes by the garage door- a minimum of two pairs per person.. which adds up to a minimum of twenty single shoes.. usually more... which creates an amazing pile to stumble over when carrying groceries in from the garage.. Well, you get the picture..

Now to train my family to actually put their shoes in the closet instead of walk in the door, remove shoes right where they stand, enter home... forget about shoes....

Many of those shoes migrated into the laundry room. Once I removed those, I saw how dirty the laundry room was. The laundry room is now clean and neatly organized. I now have a pile of STUFF in the family room to sort and dispose of.

One thing leads to another.. this whole project will lead to a huge garage sale this weekend, items to put on Craig's list, ebay, take to goodwill or the dump. And boy will I be delighted when this is finished!

Singing in the Shower

2010-06-17T11:51:00.001-07:00

Not me. My youngest... she loves to sing in the shower, loudly, and I have come to love listening to her sing. I have heard probably the clearest teaching of God and His presence while listening to Nicole sing in the shower.. Her melody is free, not following any patterns and her words do not rhyme. She just sings what is in her heart. I thought I would share some of what I have learned-

"You do not need to be afraid... no need to fear... He is with us.. He is always with me.. He is here.. He is always with all of us"

(when I asked her about that particular song, she confessed fear of finding a tick in the shower! But hey!! God can help even with fear of ticks!)

"no one knows about tomorrow.. we do not know what we will do.. we do not know what tomorrow holds... but God knows.. There I am at Great West Gymfest.. I am on the floor doing my routine.. I am going to be in the Olympics.. nothing will stop me.. but I don't know if I will be in the Olympics.. but God knows... "

Really!! I love her "theology". Dream big.. and then know God has a plan! She just sings her little heart out, showers until the warm water is gone, and I sit and listen, not wanting to interrupt the lessons of life my young daughter is teaching me.

What do I read?

2010-06-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

I love to read. I often have multiple stacks of books throughout the house. Today, I thought I would share what I have been reading- it's definitely not an exhaustive list, but just a sampling from the past month or two. I find when life is busy and somewhat "stressful", I like to read books that are "easy reads".. basically, they don't make me think too much and I can escape, so to speak. Then, when things settle down again (as they are now), I pick up an "easy read" and find myself longing for more depth. I then pick up those books that make me dig into my brain and process the information. So here goes-

*Yada Yada "House of Hope" Series by Neta Jackson (LOVE these books.. easy reads that make me long for a group of friends to pray with on a regular basis)

*Harry Bentley's Second Chance by Dave Jackson

*books by D.E. Stephenson (light reads written in the early 1900's... )

*Last Light, Night Light, True Light and Dawn's Light by Terri Blackstock (and what would I do if absolutely everything electronic stopped working????)

*Soul Survivor by Philip Yancey (now into my deep thinking type)

*Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky (really? 500 pages long small type? This one might take me a while..)

Sonlight Curriculum Catalog (hahah.. a home school curriculum catalog that is mostly BOOKS! Sometimes I read the catalog just for more ideas...)

Off to read...

Following the written directions....

2010-06-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

Ohhh.. this could be a trend, writing on my blog more than once in a six month period! :)

I just spent a WONDERFUL few days with my daughters, nephew and my parents at a little house on the river in Oregon. (literally... the house was almost ON the river) It was a beautiful few days- taking a drive to the OR coast, walking around a mill pond, sitting on the deck reading a book, visiting, and just hanging out and relaxing. It was very refreshing for me and I came home with renewed energy and a clearer head.

After the final performances music directing Willy Wonka, finishing a year of home schooling and sending a son to South Korea- all within a week's time- my brain needed some clearing!

The little Oregon town is tucked up in the hills. Getting there from one direction required 27 miles of winding through the hills. It was nearly impossible to find a landmark as everything looks the same.. BIG trees, loads of underbrush and another winding section of road.

One day of this fabulous vacation, I drove OUT of that town to visit one of my closest friends from college. I left armed with written directions to Longview, WA.. then more written directions to my friend's home. I rewrote the directions to make sure I understood what was said. I made it there without any complications whatsoever, but the drive and directions set my mind to thinking...

There were times I wondered "really?? I have been winding around for quite a while.. did I miss something? These stop lights seem an awful long distance from each other.. did she mean to turn on the first one???" and every time I questioned, I reminded myself NO- follow the directions exactly and I will get there.

I did! I was even able to reverse the directions and find my way back to the little town tucked in the hills. Believe me, I felt that was a huge accomplishment!

Then I began to wonder... How often does God give me directions for something in my life and I question? How often does it seem as if the directions just don't quite make sense.. after all, we were headed over there and now there is a turn? But I thought... ??? Too many times I set off in obedience to this or that, and after a bit, make a turn God did not send me on because it just seemed that it "looked like the correct turn"... and sometimes God sends us one direction and says "trust ME" and then HE creates a turn and I question...

But I trust HIM... His ways are not my ways, and I'm very glad for that. The Bible clearly states God will direct our paths (Prov. 3:5-6, Ps. 119:105, Isaiah 42:16 and many more). I am encouraged today to continue going the path God has set before me.

Of course, on my "map from God", I do not have a final destination written down, other than the final of all, Heaven. Really.. I had no idea a change two years ago would lead down certain roads that now require another turn... We just keep moving, winding around those roads, and leaning on God's everlasting love and faithfulness!

Now... one of these days I'll take a road trip and not have some deep thought from it. HA. then again....

June 2010??? Really??

2010-06-07T16:51:00.001-07:00

Well- I am an avid blogger! Can you tell? I couldn't even remember my password to access my blog, let alone figure out what to do when I got on. Ohhhh brother...

Please let me explain. Since my last entry, we pulled our son out of an online high school to home school fully, my youngest had her gymnastics competition season- winning 1st place overall in four of six competitions and taking 1st in state for bars, floor, vault, 2nd on beam and 1st overall (with the highest Level 7 score in the whole state at that meet), I played the piano for our Christian Youth Theater production of "Sleeping Beauty", went on to music direct the next show of "Willy Wonka".. my middle daughter got a part in "Willy Wonka" and absolutely loved that experience, my husband's job was sold to a company from out of state and for a while we were concerned we might have to move... my son ran track with a charter school here in town and had quite the positive experience with that sport... my husband has been adjusting to his new job, position, etc., ... and today my son left for a mission trip to South Korea with a group from youth.

That is why I haven't posted a blog. Ahhh.. I'm sure there was much to write about during those months full of exciting activity, but somehow I never felt it was profound enough to share. Or maybe too profound to share. Or something...

A blog post might have looked like this- "What's for dinner? I don't know.. time to head out for another rehearsal.. wow.. my carpets need vacuuming again? These birds are NOISY.. yes, we got two parakeets... When is the next track meet? Oh wow.. my 18th wedding anniversary is this weekend and so is the final performance of 'Willy Wonka'.. " and so on. And who really wants to read all that?! Not even I want to go back and read that!

So here I am! With nothing profound to share. I am loving life.. have found many ways to delight in this journey, even as our schedule picks up and sometimes felt a bit too crazy... and I'm thankful now for the "down time" of summer. Yes, I still have papers to grade, transcripts to put together, closets to clean and organize, meals still to plan and prepare... but I have to stop and enjoy this journey or it will pass too quickly and I will be left wondering what happened to all my time.

My latest discovery is when I have something "stressful" going on (such as music directing and having 12 performances of a show), I read books every opportunity I get. That could explain why I read 9 books in just over three weeks..?? Truly. That's scary. No wonder I have no idea what's for dinner...

The day I said "Oh Well"...

2009-11-03T14:11:00.001-08:00

Recently, my husband and son went to an Awana Conference for leaders and high school students. They heard a speaker there by the name of Steve Pigott. Jason purchased a CD of talks by Mr. Pigott and I have found them to be excellent- all of them.

One is titled "Oh Well". Fascinating title. Even more fascinating sermon. " ²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.." James 1:1-5

These are the main verses used in Mr. Pigott's sermon. Mr. Pigott goes on to explain how we can learn to say "OH WELL" in the midst of circumstances and trials, knowing that through it, perseverance is developed, which leads to maturity... It isn't a flippant "oh well" attitude he is speaking of. It is realizing that no matter what I say or do that may be negative (kick the tire when it's flat, yell at the driver for cutting me off.. ), it doesn't change the situation, but it sure changes my perspective of it.

Last week my washing machine quit working. All you Moms know that is near disaster!!!! I had clothes in there, it was full of water, whining and groaning and not turning at all.. I tried resetting it, moved the clothes around to change the 'balance'.. all to no avail. I actually looked at it and laughed and said "OH WELL!!!!" and walked away.

I knew nothing I did would change my situation.. no amount of being angry.. no kicking the washing machine or taking out my frustration on my children.. nothing. I just walked away and wondered how in the world God was going to provide in this situation.

My husband came home that evening.. restarted the machine and it worked. Not only did it work then, but it has continued to work with NO problems. That alone has the capacity to make me mad!!! Those machines- stop working for the woman of the house, but act as if nothing is wrong when the man of the house looks at it!!! However.. this time I had a different perspective. "oh well" I have no idea what happened or why it now works, but I can tell you with all confidence saying OH WELL changed my day and my perspective on the whole situation.

It isn't easy. In fact, it's downright challenging at times. But may I learn to say OH WELL with confidence ..

I'm STILL Hanging in there....

2009-09-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

Whoa. Could it be? Is it really true that my summer is gone and school has started again? Just yesterday I wrote about hanging in there to survive the end of last years' school days, and here I am... doing it again.

The days are getting shorter, air is cooling off, schedule is picking back up with school and all.. and I wonder what happened to my summer?!

This summer was an adventure. It was fabulous.. and amazing.. and parts were overwhelming. God showed His amazing LOVE and GRACE through all of it. I'll post another blog (promise not to wait until the end of the school year for that) soon to write about my summer.

Meanwhile.. school calls. I now have a son in high school, daughter in middle school and daughter in grade school. Michael is enrolled in an online high school.... the other two I home school using a mix of curriculum. The girls settled in quickly- Michael has had more of a learning curve just figuring out when and how to watch classes and so on. I have hope this will be an excellent school choice for him, but the verdict is out. :)

I'll just share my latest God blessing. I am convinced- absolutely convinced, that God is the ultimate designer (yeah- just look around at all things natural!)... This conviction has become even greater as I have wrestled with decorating my home and painting and so on. We have a sliding glass door by our breakfast nook- we have been here nearly three years and it still has no covering. Until now, it hasn't bothered me because the fields behind us were empty. Now there are houses...

I refused to get vertical blinds.. and haven't shopped for curtains because I know I'm picky, and sometimes the process of shopping and shopping and shopping trying to find "just the right thing" is frustrating! We went to Pier 1 Imports the other day to check out ideas for coffee tables, etc., and while walking through, saw these curtains on sale- dark Chocolate Brown with funky circles in threads of tan, reds, and greens. I went back with my paint swatches (oh yeah- it ALL MUST COMPLEMENT!!) and they are PERFECT!!!! I bought them, brought them home, and WOW.. I LOVE the look. And they were on sale.

God knew I needed window coverings for those glass sliders! He knows what colors I love, what matches my walls and decor already in place, AND added a fun style that adds some character to the room. I'm once again amazed.

Perhaps my next posts will be about God's answers to prayers and the amazing ways He works. It is good for me to dwell on those things as they remind me He is faithful always. Not sometimes, not only when He says yes to "what I want".. but ALWAYS and HIS ways are best. What an awesome thing to rest in.

Have a blessed day!

Hang..... in..... there......

2009-06-10T07:29:00.001-07:00

My last post was on summer time... this one is to share how much I feel like I'm hanging on a thread trying to get school finished!!! LOLOLOL

We are almost there... soooo close I can feel it.. but yet not quite there. Two weeks ago I typed up the final "to do" list for each child. I told them "When you are done with this checklist, you are DONE". Did they then work double time and finish early? NO!!!! that had been my hope and desire, but phooey... it didn't happen.

Instead, they did their easiest and favorite subjects FIRST leaving MATH for last. Now they MUST double up to finish on time. This week I said not only do you have to finish that list, but I want it done ON FRIDAY. :) Now they are picking up some speed...

And on Friday, if they finish, we are having a party- home made ice cream, cupcakes and whatever healthy fare we can dream up. harhar (had to up the reason to get motivated and finish) We are going to celebrate another school year completed. I love home schooling and this was by far our best year ever. So much so that I look forward to planning next year's curriculum and schedule...

But for now... when Friday comes, I'm hauling all the books downstairs, putting them on the desk, coming upstairs, shutting the basement door and refusing to look at them for a week!!!!

Whoohoooo!!!!!! HURRAY... Oohhhhhhh so close....

Summer Time....

2009-06-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

I can almost hear the song "Summer Time" as I type those words. However, today it is chilly and the rain finally decided to get down to business. Ha! The very warm weather of the past few weeks was a teaser... Our lawn and the weeds in the flower beds love the rain... Whew.. just saw lightning and heard a long roar of thunder...

This is our last week of school. I'm planning a big end of school year party this coming weekend with my three precious students.. It's an added incentive for them to work hard and finish all their work this week. :) Next year I will be teaching high school, junior high AND grade school! Yikes.. For a large variety of reasons, this has been our best home school year ever and I really look forward to the next..

But meantime, we get SUMMER. Ahhh.. a break in the school routine... in many ways, our schedule "picks up" a bit as activities increase. But they are activities out of the norm and I truly look forward to them all.

Our summer includes Christian Youth Theater camp for the girls, Awanas Camp for Michael, SERVE trip for Michael (youth mission trip serving the Silver valley community), summer gymnastics schedule for Nicole ( summer is an intensive time for practice... the part I like most is her practices are early in the day so we get evenings home!!!), three or four hours of swim team each week for Jessica, a couple trips for me to visit my Mom and family (HURRAY), a couple hiking/camping trips for Jason, finish painting (ya think I might get some pictures on here?), enjoy the Kroc Center (swimming.... ), riding bikes on the fabulous trails we have around here, might even find time to clean the basement and reorganize a bit... LOL

There was a day when that list might have caused panic. No more!!! I'm so excited for my kids and the activities they get to participate in!!! It has been a tremendous joy watching them each find a niche.

I have all plans to delight in my summer!!! I hope any who read this finds reason to delight in their summer as well!

Rehearsals and performances

2009-05-24T10:08:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a week!!!!!! I am playing the piano for the Christian Youth Theater "Wizard of Oz". We have been rehearsing since the beginning of April. This last week, we had dress rehearsals every evening from 4-9, plus an added rehearsal Friday before the opening performance that night.

The dress rehearsals were quite rough- CYT is using the new Kroc Center here in our town.. the Kroc Center is a brand new community center that is absolutely AMAZING!!!!! The theater seats 400 and is fabulous for productions like this.. many curtains, lights, etc., and a joy to work with. However, this CYT production is the very first in the Kroc Center, so there was a HUGE learning curve this week.

We started dress rehearsals Monday night.. and by Thursday had not yet run the entire program start to finish, due to tech, lighting, sound issues and so on. Whew.. talk about sweating it out last minute...

I learned some amazing things this week, though... the biggest thing I learned was that I completely underestimated the talent and hard work of these kids!!!!! I knew how rough the rehearsals were and expected the opening night to be a bit tough.. Boy was I wrong!!!!!! These kids all pulled it together and had the most incredible opening night!!!! It truly was magical and the audience LOVED it.

Was it perfect? No... but it had energy and they put their heart and soul into it. Actually, yes.. it could not have been more perfect. I was completely awed by the whole thing. There were two more performances yesterday, and they were both great as well. We have seven more performances to go.

I learned that being a part of a huge production like this is incredible and way more fun than I ever imagined. CYT is a fabulous program and WOW... I am completely amazed at the work that goes into a program like this. I have my part.. 50 pieces of piano music- songs they sing and dance to as well as music that underscores the acting or gives the audience something to listen to while sets are being changed....

I learned I do my part, and trust everyone else to do theirs. As they do their parts, big and small, the program goes together amazingly well. 77 actors and 20 crew- all between the ages of 8 and 18!!! I am off stage and can not see much of the acting, so depend on vocal cues. This had its challenges at the beginning of the week, but it has all gone so smoothly.

And I learned that being off stage, behind curtains and unable to see much (and also not visible to the audience) has its advantages.. I can take off my shoes and play barefoot, I can sit back, relax in between songs, and even eat hot tamales. :) LOLOLOL (okay.. I'm speaking here of the candy hot tamales.. haha)

I wish I could capture the magic of these performances and being a part and put it here on the blog. I think that is impossible. Wish you could all come see!

Peaceful Chaos.... ??

2009-05-17T07:43:00.000-07:00

What in the world? Those are the words that came to mind as I contemplate the next couple weeks. In the next thirteen days, the Christian Youth Theater is performing "Wizard of Oz" a total of fourteen times. This includes dress rehearsals and 10 performances! I am playing the piano for all of these.

I had to laugh about it this morning, because I enjoy doing this so much it is just play for me! It does not feel at all like "work" or anything tedious. It's chaos, yes.. but I'm experiencing much peace in the midst of it because the enjoyment factor far outweighs the time and crazy factor! :)

It has been so delightful watching these 77 cast members, the director, music director, CYT director, parents, choreographers.. all come together for the same goal of creating an amazing show. And they have done it! I'm just in awe when watching all that has to be done for a performance like this!!! And I get to just show up and do one of my favorite things- play the piano!

And in the midst of it, I asked my husband to move the bookshelf and help me tape trim so I can start painting the red wall.... oh brother!!!! What was I thinking?!?! All is moved, so I'm going to add some chaos to the peace and see if I can get some painting done this week as well. Pictures.. to come some day!

May the rest of your weekend be peaceful and restful, even in the midst of any chaos....

Mother's Day

2009-05-11T07:39:00.001-07:00

I should have posted this yesterday! We spent the day at my husband's parent's home, enjoying a visit with his Mom and Dad, his brother and a few of the cousins. My sister-in-law was home with a sick kiddo... enjoying the quiet house since everyone else was at Grandma's! ;)

Mother's Day. I'm sure that brings up an amazing amount of emotions for many. I have very good friends who lost their only child when he was just five or six years old by a freakish fever causing swelling in the brain... Mother's Day is a very sad day for her. I could cry for her, knowing the loss is magnified every year on this special day to honor Mothers.. her son is not there to give her cards, bring her flowers, say "Happy Mother's Day". "They" (whoever that is!) say time heals pain.. but I am quite sure the pain of losing a child never goes away.

Our Grandma Dundas passed away earlier this year. This was the first Mother's Day my father-in-law had without HIS Mom.

Why am I writing these things? This wasn't the direction I intended to go on this blog, but these were heavy on my heart yesterday, as I celebrated Mother's Day with my children and almost took the day for granted.

Yes, I have much to be grateful for. I have three healthy children and a husband who gave me my favorite candies and a Starbucks gift card (I'm going to buy a mug at Starbucks I have had my eye on for months.. mugs... that certainly is a topic for another post!)... I am blessed with a wonderful Mom and have a very good relationship with my Mother-in-law as well!!! My children have the blessing of godly Grandparents- both sides of the family.

I think this morning I will give each child an extra hug (the 14 year old will love that.. LOL) and give many thanks to God for another day with them. Without them, I would not have this title of "Mom".

I pray the reminders of how short life is keeps me from just throwing away my days and time with those that are special to me. Our Mothers and children are a gift to us, and time is too short to set those gifts aside in lieu of the busyness of life. Each day is a gift and may we search for those things to DELIGHT in today!

Adventures of quilting and shoe shopping...

2009-05-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I got to attend our SEVENTH quilt retreat with my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, a cousin and her daughter and another cousin. We used to attend a retreat at a camp with a much larger group of women. However, due to scheduling conflicts, last year we met in Missoula at our cousin's house. This was even MORE fun than the previous retreats, so now we just plan on our own little retreat.

I learned a very interesting lesson this retreat. It takes me about 1/2 a day or more to get into "sewing and quilting" mode. I finally found a "charm pack" of fabric at a store that I just "had to get". The charm pack included 5 " squares of 39 different designs of fabric- blues, yellows, pinks, oranges, creams, greens... very cheery, fun fabric. The best piece, though, is a block that has funky high heel shoes with the words "Objects of desire" woven through the design in cursive.. CUTE!!!!

I find it especially funny because I begged to wear high heels (just ask my Mom!!) as a child.. then, when old enough to actually wear them, I wouldn't because they hurt my feet! :) LOL Figures!!! I still like high heels, and still won't wear them. I can't even walk on the stupid things, even though I'm told one can practice to get it right. I look like my legs are injured when walking in high heels... and my feet for sure will be...

I finished the quilt top with the charm squares. We then went to a different quilt store and I brought it along to find border fabrics. no luck. At that point, my cousin and I walked to the mall to shop for shoes. Yup- I may not like wearing high heels, but I really like shoes!!!! Unfortunately, I like expensive shoes (Keens, Birkenstocks, Dansko, etc.), so I really don't own very many pairs. There was a sale going on.. who can refuse that?.. so off we went to look.

Sure enough- found a pair of Dansko sandals 60% off! HURRAY. They fit, color was right, price was really good... I bought them. On our way home, I realized I no longer had the quilt with me... my shoe quilt was missing!!!! We went back to the mall twice to see if it had been found.. no .. no one had seen the quilt and we couldn't find it anywhere. Good grief!!! Who carries a quilt top into a mall and then loses it?!?!?! A quilt top with SHOES on it.. and loses it while shopping for SHOES for goodness sakes?!?!

I went home a very sad shoe shoppin' quilter. Honestly, really wrestling with myself. Even upset that I had gone shoe shopping.. after all, we're a "single income homeschooling Mom stays home with three kids money doesn't grow on trees and the kids need clothes more than I need shoes" family. Had I not given in to the appealing aspect of shoe shopping, I wouldn't have lost my quilt! Where is my brain? Why can't I even multitask while shoe shopping??? Well.. I had a small pity party later that night, in my room, just absolutely sure the quilt would not be found, and somehow I deserved it.

I know... "stinkin' thinkin' " for sure!

so Sunday morning, our cousin Cecelia, who so graciously opens up her home for our craziness!!!, said "I sure hope they find your quilt and call" and I, in an amazing moment of great faith, said "I doubt they will". (note the sarcasm) She called. THEY FOUND IT!!!!! They found it by a Croc display.. a display of high heel Crocs, of all things, that I just "had to try on" and knew I would never wear!!

Now every time I look at that quilt, made with high heel fabric and cheery polka dots, stripes, flowers and colors, I am reminded that God cares even about little things such as fabric, quilts, and even shoes. His mercies are new every morning, and the quilt is a constant reminder to me of just that. God definitely works in amazing, odd, and sometimes funny ways.

A Favorite time of day...

2009-04-23T22:06:00.000-07:00

We just finished reading for the night. We have a tradition now, and the other evening I was reminded how much my children LOVE this tradition!!! Almost every night before bed, I read to the family. We read quite a variety of books.. this school year has included books about Mother Theresa, William Carey and other missionaries... different stories set in the Eastern Hemisphere... some historical books, some biographies... some "just for fun"... Tonight I began "The Phantom Tollbooth". This tradition has been in place for years now, and often as part of school, I read aloud in the afternoon as well.

The children are ages 14, 11, and 9 now.. I often wondered if they would tire of having me read aloud to them. The other night they were watching a video (okay-- "The Beverly Hillbillies".. how educational can it get?!?!? LOL). It was nearing bedtime and we gave them the option of watching another 30 minute show or my reading. They voted unanimously for the reading.

What a treasure!!!! Our days may be a bit crazy and sometimes we go different directions in the evening, but we have this gift of time to read. I find it one of the most precious moments in my days...

Twists and Turns

2009-04-22T09:39:00.001-07:00

We have had sunshine and gorgeous weather for a few days!! LOVE IT. It makes for restless school days for sure, but that's okay. We'll take it..

Twists and turns.. sounds like one of Nicole's gymnastics moves, but it is life I am referring to. I wrote a blog once about Garmin.. the GPS travel companion. (see "www.thefivedundai.blogspot.com) Right now, I wish I had one that said "turn right here, take a left here" so in the fog, I could still stear correctly. Not my car.. my life and decisions!!

Decisions are often like that. It's foggy, it is NOT a matter of right and wrong.. I can not look up a verse in the Bible that says I should or should not pursue teaching piano, for example... ahhh... I wish these things were more clear at times...

Since it's foggy, today I choose to just delight in what I do know!!!! I do know home schooling is amazing.. I LOVE doing this. I am having a blast learning and playing music for "Wizard of Oz".. so the things I am unclear about I will give to God and ask Him to make my way clear. Or, if not clear, at least give some direction in the fog. ;)

Delight in the journey- a choice. A daily choice. This is the day the Lord has made, I WILL REJOICE and be glad in it!!! Amen.

Winter sneaks back...

2009-04-14T07:44:00.000-07:00

We all know the "Spring teaser days" last about a week or so, then winter sneaks back in and drops a few more snowflakes before the warmer weather finally wins the battle! This morning is cold and I did see a few snowflakes falling... yesterday we a good hail storm pass through... (a good hailstorm is one with lots of hail but not a damaging one!!)

The weekend was amazing. Easter. The celebration of the death and resurrection of our Savior and the life we now have!!! I had the honor of playing the piano for an Easter concert Sunday evening, with a small orchestra and choir... WOW. I also played for our regular church services. In both of these services, we sang the "Revelation Song"...

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain... Holy, holy is He.. Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come... With All creation I sing, Praise to the Risen King.. You are my everything.. and I will, Adore You"...

That song comes straight from scripture and just overwhelms me every time I hear it, sing it and play it. Powerful.

May my days be put into perspective by this. Jesus Christ is my everything.

Spring is HERE....

2009-04-10T10:58:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been absolutely beautiful. Sunshine after a long, snowy winter is good for the soul. We still have had chilly mornings and evenings, but that is to be expected. Cold, rainy weather is coming again, but that is also to be expected! We always get a "teaser" of fabulous weather early in the spring and everyone always seems surprised when cold weather comes back. LOL But the walkers and bike riders have been out by the masses just soaking in the sun rays.

As I look out at the blue sky, I am so thankful. Thankful for the sunshine and break in dark days... today I am thankful for the sacrifice Jesus took for my sins on the cross over 2000 years ago... Sunday we will celebrate the fact that Jesus did NOT stay in the grave!!!

While the weather may be good for my soul, my hope is in Jesus, not the sunshine, so even on the gray days, I have a hope that outlasts them all...

As Spring continues to win its way over Winter, remember the creator who designed it all and then died to save us and had the ultimate victory over death. Happy Easter!!!!

Monkeys!

2009-04-04T18:55:00.001-07:00

These have nothing to do with anything... but I just love this background. It's cheery and makes me smile every time I look at it! My youngest daughter loves monkeys and thought this was GREAT.. including the fact that it has a favorite color- bright green. :)

I'm finally to the point where progress is really being made with this painting project. The kitchen is done.. with the exception of some "finishing" things, such as the edges between the Cocoa and Muslin... but those will wait until the paint has dried a couple days. So tonight I am going to paint two walls of the family room. I surprised myself by painting two walls of the kitchen Cocoa (a dark chocolate brown). Once I painted one wall, I decided it looks amazing with my cabinets, so I painted another cabinet wall Cocoa as well. it looks fabulous!!!! Okay- well, I think it does and since I live here.. good enough!!! :)

Jason so graciously did a whole bunch of taping for me today. HURRAY.. now I can just paint!

Bye.... enjoy the monkeys...

Painting diversions...

2009-04-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

Wow. So who would have guessed spring break would be so busy I hardly have time for painting? HAHA Let's see.. I have spent hours practicing the piano, got to spend a birthday lunch and rollerskating with my niece and sister-in-law, spent some time visiting having coffee and visiting with a special friend, watched Nicole at gymnastics.. It has been a GREAT week!!!! All the things I have done this week have been fun and I have enjoyed them... and I should have known better than to say "spring break-- all I'm doing is painting!" LOLOLOL

So today I started the kitchen. Oh my goodness.. who knew it would take SO LONG to actually get the kitchen clean enough to paint?! You know- clear off the desk (where did all those papers come from?), take the pottery off the top of the cabinets (ahhhh.. the DUST), clean the top of the cabinets (found a name scratched into the dust, thank you Nicole).... then tape all the cabinet edges and along the tile backsplash.. then cut in the edges.. oh brother.

I have the first coat of paint done... I think it's enough and doesn't need the second coat. I am SO pleased with it. I still have to wash all these pottery dishes before putting them back up. Whatever gets done today and tomorrow is IT until a later date..

I guess I had better remove myself from this diversion and get back at it!!! :)

Painting!!!

2009-03-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

HURRAY!!! Spring Break is here and I finally get to paint. I bought paint for the rest of the main floor (entry, hall, family room and kitchen) last week. The store I was buying from is discontinuing the paint I have been using (Devine Paint)!!! Thankfully they were still able to get what I needed! Whew...

I spent the last 2 1/2 hours painting ceilings. Oh my goodness am I sore! I am going to FEEL this tomorrow! Wow. I painted the ceiling in the hall, family room and kitchen .. got it all done except the edges against the wall. I'll have to touch that up with a brush. If I can raise my arm tomorrow, that is! ha!

Now that the process has been started, I know it will be motivating to finish. Tomorrow I'll try cutting in some edges in the kitchen- the MOST tedious part of the whole thing. :)

So- there you have it. This has been quite long in coming, a post on painting. I'll just keep plugging away and get as much done as possible this week... :)

A tangled mess....

2009-03-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

I'm grading papers and getting caught up on school stuff that has been put off during these weeks of traveling for gymnastics meets. I have been wanting to blog this- so I am taking a break from grading to get this off my mind!!!

Last week while my Mom was here, my youngest got her long hair completely tangled in a small round brush. I do not mean a "little bit" tangled. I mean "completely full on wrapped around can't get it out at ALL" tangled!!! I heard this little voice upstairs crying "please come here, Mommy". When I arrived, the brush was right up to her scalp, hair wrapped around, and there were signs of an obvious struggle (a handful of hair on the bathroom counter)...

As I began to work on it, I knew I needed backup.. it took my Mom and I nearly an hour to undo the hair!!! It was the most amazing tangle I have ever seen and ever hope to see again.

I was struck by the similarity between her struggle with the brush and my struggle with life at times. How often do I face something frustrating or a tangle beginning to happen, and immediately begin to yank away at it, hoping to fix it myself?!?! I believe God has more patience than ANYONE I know.. and how often has He had to theoretically sit down and lovingly untangle my mess? If only I would surrender the moment it begins, instead of pulling out handfuls of hair in my determination to do it myself!!!

Oh so often I cry "God, please help me" and He hears my cries and gently works out the knots- but only when I surrender. Sometimes it's a long process and sometimes the consequences of my own mess hurt.. but wow is it better in the end to have Him untangle me!

I must say Nicole doesn't go anywhere near that brush now. May I have the wisdom to not go anywhere near the "brushes that tangle" in my life!

Memory Verse...

2009-03-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

I have mentioned before that I have joined with some friends and thousands of others (via the Beth Moore blog) in memorizing scripture- two verses each month. It's time to choose another, and I thought I would share it.

Psalm 138:9 (New International Version)

The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me;
Your love, Oh LORD, endures forever-
Do not abandon the works of your hands.

I have been reminded lately that God has a plan for my life.. and He has a plan for my children's lives!!! And now I am reminded that He will fulfill HIS purpose.. and thankfully His love endures forever.

The entire Psalm 138 is a wonderful expression of thankfulness and praise to God.. for his constant love and thankfulness. Our world is anything but constant- How amazing to have the Creator of this universe be our "constant".

Thankful Thursday Again..

2009-03-12T08:41:00.001-07:00

I have to do this one more time. :) I have much to be thankful for and love to pause and think about my list. I was going to write about my ongoing battle with the flat surfaces in my home, but that will wait for another post.... LOL

1. My Mom comes today!!!!
2. I'm thankful she can stay here with the older two while we travel with the youngest for gymnastics
3. Thankful Jason gets to travel with me this time
4. Thankful for safe travels last weekend
5. Love the daylight later in the day!!!
6. I am thankful for pretty paint colors. :) (Spring break is coming and I AM PAINTING)
7. Did I mention how thankful I am my Mom is coming?
8. Did I mention the meet is Sunday, so we aren't leaving until Saturday.. which means I get all day today and tomorrow with my Mom??
9. My children are a joy to be with! SOOOO thankful for my husband and children.
10. Thankful for a warm home.

Wild Wednesday!!

2009-03-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

Okay-- not really "wild", but it went with Wednesday. :) Perhaps it is "wacky", or "weird", or "whatever".. LOL

Today we have the privilege of house cleaning. I'm saying privilege to keep my focus correct. I'm thankful we have a house to clean. But really.. I do not like house cleaning. Or sorting junk drawers. Or cleaning closets. Or even laundry. I would rather paint or decorate any day!!

But alas.. it doesn't clean itself. So the chore list is written (since I prefer organizing things to actually cleaning, I spent some time creating a computer sheet with ALL the house cleaning chores on it! I printed it.. we'll initial our jobs and have at it!). Having our home on the market in the past year made for some fine tuning of the house cleaning process... we can get it all done in 1 1/2 hours if EVERYONE pitches in. And they do. They all like it about as much as I do. We draw straws for the toilet cleaning privilege. LOL

Actually- Nicole LIKES cleaning the toilets. I'm not sure what I think of that...

We all love the end result. So today... we say over and over how thankful we are for a home to clean.. and we clean. :)

Crank the tunes... it really could get wild around here.

Terrific Tuesday!

2009-03-10T11:12:00.001-07:00

Okay- that sounds cheery so I'll go with it. :) This week seems all upside down to me.. daylight savings has me wondering every morning why it feels so early... the snow we got yesterday was rather a surprise!... the COLD today is deceptive because the sun is shining and it is gorgeous outside!!! It looks like a winter wonderland, but it's almost the middle of March! ha!

But really, with all that seems upside down, it's a great day. My "students" are quietly working (or quietly playing.. LOL), I'm ready for my piano lessons this afternoon... and yes, I'm enjoying the sunshine immensely.

It is so easy in our "culture" to talk about "how busy we are".. sometimes I feel like it's a competition to see who can be the busiest and cram the most into every day. I'm guilty- it just sounds like I'm accomplishing so much in life if I'm going crazy running here and there... In fact, I even had a friend tell me once that she was so glad I took on piano lessons, etc., and was "busy" as "it was good for me". (her words) Whatever that means. I honestly think her deeper meaning was she felt much better about her crazy life knowing someone else was busy... (you know.. misery loves company)

But regardless.. I just want to say that while yes, we do have a lot going on at this moment, I chose it all. I would not trade home schooling, the gymnastics schedule, swim lessons, guitar lessons, and on the list goes for anything. I have chosen this and have chosen NOT to do other things. When things seem out of control, I try to take a breather and see where my priorities are a bit messed up. God is always faithful to show me!!! :)

I once read a statement that always makes me pause "I will not take on that which cannot be done without tranquility". Can I be "tranquil" and take children to lessons and travel for gymnastics?

Amazingly, YES. It is all in how I view it. I'm doing what I believe is important!!! I admit there are days I wonder how in the world it will all get done.. but this reminder of tranquility helps immensely.

And today is a terrific day.

Thankful Thursday

2009-03-05T20:18:00.000-08:00

Okay- I am copying this Blog post title. I LOVE it!!!! I am going to write out a quick list of things I am thankful for before packing for my trip to Boise. My youngest and I leave the house at 4:30 AM tomorrow morning -- we're flying to Boise for a gymnastics meet this weekend. I'm tired, haven't packed yet, tomorrow comes WAY too early.. but taking this time for thankfulness will definitely give me an attitude adjustment. So here goes...

1. I'm thankful for my FAMILY!!!! My husband and three amazing children...
2. Thankful for the daylight longer in the day...
3. Thankful for books to read..
4. Thankful for the freedom to home school! I treasure every day! (or try to)
5. Thankful for every moment I get to read to my kids
6. Thankful for airplanes and cheap airfare making an 8 hour drive to Boise turn into a 45 minute flight (even if I do have to leave at 4:30 AM)
7. Thankful for my older daughter making biscuits for us to take on the plane...
8. Thankful for laughter...
9. Thankful for Beth Moore Bible studies and a fabulous group of women to study with..
10. Thankful for treadmills. (HAHAHAHAHA)

okay- I feel better now and will go pack. Tomorrow will be Fabulous Friday! Enjoy!

Colors, Colors, Colors

2009-03-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

Now that the blogs are combined, I have so much more to write!!! HAHA Spring break is the end/beginning of March and April. I think I will paint!!! I'm finally getting inspired to do so. And believe it or not, I am changing a color. I realize that comes as quite a shock to some of you. :)

I have stared at these "splotches" of Steamer (deep blue/green) and Ginger (gorgeous deep warm red) since before Christmas. Mind you, this is during the darkest days of the year. I finally decided that NO-- I will not use Steamer- too dark. Gorgeous color.. but for hallway, kitchen and family room it is just too much depth of color. I have a lot of wall space in those rooms...

I ordered a sample paint pouch of "Date".. a lighter blue/green, more green. It was beautiful at day.. and turned into mint at night. Okay, okay-- my goal was not a fresh mint kitchen! I know in a different setting, the Date color would not be "mint", but alas.. it sure was in mine. Jason didn't even like it.. Jason.. who rarely has a color opinion.

So.. what to do ???? This had to be decided quickly so I don't lose sleep over it. :) I finally realized "hey- I could actually put Sumatra in those rooms and keep Ginger on the walls I originally wanted it on". Chocolate milk on my kitchen walls? Why not? I tried out some more splotches, I mean samples, of Sumatra on my kitchen walls and I love it!!!!! It brings out the warm grain of the hickory wood. The blue greens almost caused the cabinets to look more "orange", another color I try to avoid.

I really do love this-- Cocoa in my dining room, Sumatra almost everywhere else with Ginger on some accent walls to spice it up. Coffee, chocolate and spice. And my favorite coffee is Kirkland brand Sumatra. Perfect.

Ahhhhh.. peaceful color... it's starting to sing again, instead of little bits of off key clashing. Or rather, harmonies I didn't prefer- even the Steamer and Date did not clash.. they just sang the wrong song for me.

Isn't this fun?!?!?! I can hardly wait to post pictures... give me a month... or two...

Combining Blogs...

2009-03-02T10:30:00.000-08:00

For any of you who actually read my ramblings and thoughts, I am combining my "Journey into Color" blog with my "Delight in the Journey" blog!!! My Mom pointed out, and rightly so, that my journeys into color, painting, etc., ARE part of my delighting in the journey of life!!! It fits in this blog quite well. So rather than try to keep up with two separate blogs on things I find delight in, I'll just keep the one. I will be deleting the painting blog soon.

It's MARCH!!! Can you believe that?!?!?! This month is a BUSY one for me. I wrote that last month was one of getting back into our routine... well.. this month is going to undo it all. :) Actually- this month will be fabulous BECAUSE we worked so hard to create routine and habit last month!! I am gone three weekends of the month with gymnastics meets- all out of town and requiring traveling a great distance. But because I put some "routines" into motion last month, I'm very excited about the travels and knowing that everything will continue to run smoothly with school, piano, etc.

Or- that's my hope and I'm hanging on to it!!!

If you haven't read the past painting blogs-- check them out. Or at least look at the pictures. :) Spring break is coming up and I think I'll paint!!!!

My newest memory verse is Galatians 6:9 (NIV) Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. I LOVE that verse. It reminds me to not give up!

I'll be back....

February's End

2009-02-28T15:53:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of February!!! We still have snow on the ground from our huge snowfall that occurred before Christmas... . the air is still wintry and cold... snow still falls from the sky on occasion, reminding us that yes, February is about over, but winter is NOT.

The days are getting longer, though, and that I love. February has been a month of settling back in to routine, school, gymnastics, guitar, piano, swim.. well.. my normal stuff. I do not have much time for writing in these blogs, let alone coming up with great, deep thoughts. ha! My deep thoughts are usually more along the lines of "wow-- that laundry pile is deep"!! :)

I am learning to treasure moments. I have goals and dreams and do not let go of them, but it's the "moments by moments" that make my life. I treasure every day with my children. They are growing up far too quickly and what an amazing gift to have them home... I am learning to make decisions ONCE then live them out... and I'm discovering new things about my children all the time.

Part of delighting in my journey is accepting the surprises that come my way. :) And there are many.

For example, Jessica has no interest in having a pedicure!!! What?!?!?! I have never had one, and really want one, and thought she and I could go do some girlie thing like that together.. and no.. she immediately said she had no interest in that. I love her uniqueness! I think she would rather dress up like a pirate.. and this spring she wants to take a drama class!!! Hmm.. I will have to come up with some other "Mom/daughter date ideas" since obviously the pedicure is not going to work.. She was more interested in going to the restaurant at the resort and getting a "Gooey" (a HUGE fabulous dessert). Okay- sounds good to me!

I learned this month that Michael and Jessica both enjoy serving. The youth had a breakfast fund raiser a couple weekend ago- both got to serve there and came home just beaming. I know they enjoyed it and am thankful for their opportunity to serve others. We talk a lot around here about honoring each other and treating others in a way that honors them. I love seeing bits of that soak in.

I think this post is rather scattered, but there goes the way of my brain lately!!! :)

I hope anyone that reads this is able to find something each day to delight in.. even if it is only the fact that the daylight is getting later each day! :)

Memorable weekend...

2009-02-09T07:29:00.000-08:00

This was one of those weekends to store away in the "amazing weekend" category for me. I had the opportunity to go to Pullman and attend a concert at WSU. I attended school there, getting a degree in piano performance. One of my professors, Dr. Argersinger, is a brilliant man. He was my theory professor, as well as a jazz pianist and composer (among many things). The concert Sat. night featured pieces that he has written. It was especially a weekend to honor Dr. Argersinger as he just recently retired due to serious health reasons.

I met with friends from college days... we toured part of the campus, met with Dr. Berthiaume, who was a piano professor when we attended and is now the Music Director, toured the music building, had dinner, went out after the concert... stayed in Pullman Sat. night and drove home Sunday. I had not seen some of these people in nearly 15 years! WOW. Imagine my shock when Dr. Berthiaume mentioned his grandchildren!!! How in the world can that be?!?!

Truly a lovely weekend. I had moments of "oh wow.. look at where they have traveled... look at where she is teaching... " and so on, but quickly came back to my life and I'm so grateful for my family and what I am doing. I had a glimpse back at college days (which were great for me, personally), then a quick overview of the past 15 years, and now here I am. I saw people whose lives are still empty. Others whose lives are full of joy in what they currently do.

It was very clear how our daily choices create the memories we will have. May I live today bringing honor to God in all I do... rejoicing in the gift of this day and whatever it brings along. And again, finding DELIGHT in the work before me.

And a side note-- Nicole did not get to compete due to her fever and cough. Jessica got a fever as well, but thankfully has not been coughing. But I am sure by the next competition in two weeks, Nicole's strength will be back and she will be even MORE prepared for that new bar routine!!!

Live for today...

2009-02-05T12:04:00.001-08:00

Earlier I wrote on "Just for Today". Today I get to put that into practice!!! Yikes- it's hard! Nicole has a meet on Sunday in Moscow, ID. Saturday, I get to go to WSU to meet up with some friends from college, go to a concert, etc. I have spent much time this week planning how to get older kids to St. Maries, when to be in Pullman, how to get back to Moscow.. well, you get the picture.

This morning Nicole woke up with a fever. Lovely. 100.3 at the moment. No warning, nothing- just whammo- fever. This is the little girl who has been working SO HARD this week DETERMINED to learn her "kip, squat-on, long-hang-kip cast-to-handstand, clear-hip handstand, giant, flyaway" bar routine (got that?) It is a more difficult level 7 routine and to our knowledge, Nicole is the first "first year level 7" at Funtastics to do this routine. (okay- proud moment there)

She worked so hard on it, in fact, that yesterday she did SEVEN routines during practice!!! Of course, her goal is to compete this on Sunday.

And now she has a fever. Here is my first response-- "Oh no!!!!! She has a meet!!!! She will be so disappointed if she can't go!!! I will be so disappointed if she can't go!! We already paid for that meet.. we have plans... what if she is still sick... how long will this last? What about my trip to Pullman?".. well.. you get the picture.

Whew.. take a big deep breath, calm down, and now I know that God is in control. Even in sickness. I don't understand, but what's new? I pray for quick healing for Nicole.. and for today.. enjoy the quietness that comes from not running her to gym. There is no way I can figure out tomorrow, so once again.. I give up. :) I live today, enjoy my children here, right now, and make the most of it!!!! Sometimes I realize that sickness forces quietness upon my home and that is a hidden blessing.

And the rest of them are enjoying the traditional popsicles because someone has a fever. LOL

Painting adventures

2009-02-05T08:31:00.001-08:00

I know- I haven't meant to neglect this blog, but I still have not painted a thing!! I'm about to paint the entry door wall just to have a little touch of more color! That wall will be Ginger, a beautiful rich warm red color. Mmmm.. I can hardly wait.

But meanwhile, I have two friends who have been using my Devine Paint palettes and color sheets to find colors for their homes. One friend chose Devine Peanut, a yellow color I wanted to use, Devine Olive, a beautiful green I came close to using, and a couple other colors that are just gorgeous!!!!! And they were BEAUTIFUL in her home!!! She has dark wood floors, lots of chocolate, olive greens, dark cabinets... gorgeous, rich colors and these paint colors looked fabulous.

I had to work through my "yellow paint envy" again. LOL I was amazed at how different those colors looked in her home.. and all the colors I chose for my home did NOT look very nice in hers! This is the beauty of paint and colors, and I am loving the variety of everyone's styles.

The next friend ended up using Devine Silver and Devine Bavarian. She was basically starting over completely with the decor in her home... choosing new fabric to cover a couch and so on. I encouraged her to really focus on colors that she LOVES- it's her home!!! The Devine Silver turns sort of periwinklish (is that a word?) in the daylight hours, and that is one of her favorite colors!!! I haven't seen it yet, but she loves the results and I can't wait to see it!!

Once again- TOTALLY different color scheme, but beautiful for her and her home. Color is meant to be unique and personal, and it has been such fun to watch that unfold for others.

As I write, I'm getting inspired. You never know when the painting urge will finally WIN over my schedule!!! :) But for now, I'll live it out a bit through my friends and their homes and unique to them colors.

Random thoughts of thankfulness...

2009-02-02T20:26:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful tonight for:

1. my family most of all.. loving husband and children who are a delight
2. my faith in God, the Creator of the Universe!!
3. a good competitive game of ping pong (har har)
5. smiles
6. good books
7. sunny days
8. peaceful sleep
9. a new piano student starting tomorrow
10. laughter!

Have fun thinking through your top ten of the day!

Standards before Options...

2009-01-31T21:00:00.000-08:00

This is a saying I heard an acquaintance use and after he explained it, I decided to use it in my own home. We now have a list on the side of the fridge called "standards before options", and it lists all the standard chores the kids do before and after school. We explained to them that these "standards" are basic to all we do... and must be done before one can pursue any options, such as X-Box, computers, TV, games, whatever... They have done fabulously with this as everyone knows the expectations and then we all know when we are "finished" and can play.

(remember my saying below that I am a planner??? Oh brother- this is planning to the extreme and I'm teaching them all how to live on lists!!!! HAHAHAHA)

The eye opening part for me was realizing I have my own list of standards! (No Kidding!) It's rather a bummer, is it not? I have to set the example and by my following through, my children then learn to follow through as well. Ah, but it keeps me on track! We have always had chores and what not, but put in the wording of "standards" has made it more clear for all of us. Quirky, perhaps, but it has worked!

For example, I enjoy scheduling lesson plans, but not so much keeping up with grading papers. I LOVE writing on this blog... so now I have to discipline myself to do my "standards" first, then I can play. It is working quite well and this is the first week perhaps in the history of my home schooling that I am completely caught up with grading for all the papers done this week. I'm going to enjoy this feeling.. ha!

The not so surprising result has been much peace in our home. There is much less chaos, the expectations are mostly clear, and there is such a great feeling when things are done and kept up with. Whew...

Why am I writing this?? I think because today, after all the cleaning was done and we had done our "work", the kids were SO HAPPY. Nicole was humming and singing... they laughed and played and I realized that it is worth it. It is worth the effort to model the standards and then expect them to follow through on theirs. We are all better off for it.

Meanwhile.. perhaps I should put blogging as one of my "standards"...... LOL

Just for Today....

2009-01-30T11:43:00.000-08:00

I am joining with a friend, plus thousands that read Beth Moore's blog (see LPM blog .. one that I follow) in memorizing two scriptures each month. On the 1st, I will need to post my new scripture of choice on Beth Moore's blog, then spend the next 15 days meditating on that verse and memorizing it. I have been thinking about this one a lot. There are so many that I find incredibly meaningful at this point in my life. Two really stand out to me..

Zephaniah 3:17 - "The LORD your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring [you] quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy." (HCSB)

Ps 143:8. "Let me experience Your faithful love in the morning, for I trust in You. Reveal to me the way I should go, because I long for you." (HCSB)

There is something that fills me with awe when I realize the creator of the universe delights in me!!!!! And this same Creator will reveal to me the way I should go, every day, as I long for Him and trust in Him. It is His love that will bring me quietness. I have a busy life, as do most of you, and I can experience quietness in the midst of it all!

In my seeking the LORD my God in how to live "Just for today", I am reminded that He will reveal the way I should go and if I just follow, whether or not I can quite make sense of it, I will find delight and joy in each and every day.

God delights in you, too!

New Blogs and thoughts...

2009-01-29T20:01:00.000-08:00

Another blog? After all, I already have two.. but YES! :) As I would often contemplate things in my days, I wanted to blog about them. But the latest thing I learned in a Bible study or the latest thing God showed me so clearly just didn't quite seem to fit in the "paint blog" category. I also wanted to use my family Blog as just that- info about the family- not the musings of a home school Mom whose brain is exploding with ideas and things to write about!! (okay- I admit sometimes it's just a mental escape from Algebra.. haha)

Since I have found the enjoyment of writing and blogging, I decided WHY NOT?!

Of course I had to set it up.. my Mom led me to www.thecutestblogontheblock.com and I had to go through probably 25 backgrounds before deciding on this one. And "this one" may change tomorrow!!!! You never know!....

I'm excited to write. My latest focus has been living for TODAY and today alone. I'm a planner-- love to plan, schedule, write goals, but sometimes I forget to live today and delight in all God has for me today. In many ways God is teaching me surrender in this very day I have. To surrender today means surrendering my tomorrows as well. I can't possibly live "in today" and figure out tomorrow at the same time!

I wanted to name it "Find Joy in the Journey", but every form of "joyinthejourney" was taken for a blog address. I decided my second favorite word, DELIGHT, was just as good. I long to delight in every day, finding joy in my family and all the little things that happen. I have much to be grateful for and may you be encouraged as you read!

Dreaming of painting...

2009-01-16T08:05:00.001-08:00

Hello there! I have NOT forgotten about this blog... I just have had nothing to add in the paint department other than saying "YES! I still love my paint colors.. and still have paint splotch samples on the walls!" :) I am looking forward to getting to paint again and hopefully sometime soon I will begin the next leg of that journey. (is splotch a word?)

It doesn't help that the next "leg" is a ceiling that extends through the hallway, family room and into the kitchen... at least when painting a ceiling, furniture doesn't really have to be moved. But it DOES have to be covered.. especially the piano. I really doubt "Muslin" will blend well with grand piano shiny black. HA!

Meanwhile, check out www.blog.devinecolor.com and read the article on "Your Life in Color.. Color that sells your home". The pictures on that blog are my home. :) I attribute my entire color scheme and the process of getting there to Devine Color and the designer, Gretchen Schauffler. Her approach to colors and choosing colors has changed the way I looke at painting and decorating. The ideas in my head are never ending...

My time, however, seems to be constantly ending.... but as I have stated before, it's all part of the journey. Painting my house is just a part of my life.. and believe me.. it's ALL a journey!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

2008-12-31T09:04:00.001-08:00

Okay!!! 2008 is about officially over. What a year!!!! I look forward to our new year with great anticipation... I love to reflect on the past year and look forward to the new year-- this year I am grateful for all God has done and all the ways He has shown us He is with us ALWAYS.

I have not done any more painting.. so no new pictures or comments on that. Still love the Steamer and Ginger. I suppose the two story walls that need to be painted in the entry as well as the large amount of ceiling have me a bit hesitant to just jump in on the project. I'll get there.

Meanwhile... enjoy the coming of the New Year and God bless!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

2008-12-24T07:57:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!!!!! No painting to report, no new colors... taking a brief rest from my color journey. Sometimes one has to just stop, enjoy what has been done, enjoy the planning for the next leg of the journey-- and it truly is all part of the journey.

My Mom has been here, admiring color swatches on the wall with me. LOL The Steamer is a fabulous blue/green color and I am quite anxious to get it on the wall!!! But since I am also painting ceilings, I want those done first. Oh dear... there is a huge section of ceiling to work on.. a slightly daunting task for me. So meanwhile, we admire color swatches.

And then there is hair color... hmmm... it can be just as much of a journey as paint colors, more expensive and far more frustating. And one can't just buy a "color pouch" and try it out on different parts of the hair!!! Well, one could... but it's not advisable. A color, higlight and yet another highlight later, I think it's at a doable shade and I hope for fast grow out and a return to the stylist whose color I was always happy with. LOLOL Sometimes "change" does not have desired results...

So I sit here, enjoying the Christmas season, the lights on the tree, the snow that keeps coming (over three feet now), having my parents here, my children's excitement over the presents under the tree, and hair that is darker than I have seen it lately... I am reminded life is full of change and through it all, God is faithful and never leaves us or forsakes us. He is my reason for living and my reason for celebrating all of the above!!!! Without Him, all is meaningless for eternity. I am so grateful and continue to FIND JOY IN THE JOURNEY through Him.

Merry Christmas!

Let it snow!!!

2008-12-19T06:27:00.001-08:00

We just had an amazing snow storm that resulted in 30 inches of snow in less than 36 hours!!! It is amazing outside!!! We love snow... and the kids get a white Christmas! :) Okay- the adults get one, too. I think we love it just as much, although I prefer to view it from inside the warmth of the house.

We discovered this much snow with a trampoline in the backyard provides the perfect, already made snow fort!! Just shovel a path (the paths look more like trenches or canyons) to the trampoline and crawl under! No need to build sides on the fort- snow depth already provided. Cool!! Complete with snow chairs, snow beds and who knows what else under there.

This has nothing to do with paint... but all to do with life at the moment. I actually did have time to paint a Steamer (blue green) wall, but honestly enjoyed the break from cleaning paint brushes...

I do believe Christmas lights on houses are far more beautiful and colorful with the contrasting snow..... an amazing time of year as we reflect on Christ's birth and ultimately His death and resurrection. Knowing the Creator of this amazing universe gives me an even greater appreciation for color.. He is the ULTIMATE color designer and WOW... just look at the snow!!

Another picture!

2008-12-16T19:10:00.001-08:00

Here is my dining room!!! I need to work on the pictures for better lighting without glare from light in the windows and whatever... but for now.. this will work! Devine Cocoa walls, Muslin on the lower part of the ceiling and Ginger on the top. The archway is Devine Sumatra. These two rooms that are finished are SO cozy feeling and it was worth all the work and repainting and repainting and repainting.... LOL

Picture time!!!

2008-12-13T09:36:00.001-08:00

Here it is!!! A picture of our living room- Devine Sumatra walls and Muslin ceilings. The Cocoa is visible just to the right of the Christmas tree through the archway. I have not painted ceiling before and included them in the "color palette" but it makes a tremendous difference and I love the results. I will do some before and after pictures at some point, but for now.. this will do! :) Now that it has been like this a couple days, I can hardly imagine having it all white!!!! While it made for a busy week, I am awfully glad this room is done now..... :)

Paint and re-paint...

2008-12-12T07:56:00.001-08:00

But of course.. every good paint project has a few re-dos. (mine usually have more than a few) HAHAHA Not a color redo this time, thankfully. I have done enough of those. This time it was the choice of which color to put on the wall that connects the living room and dining room. Since my corners are rounded in the archway between the two, I could either wrap the Cocoa from the dining room into the living room on that one wall, then paint the other three walls of the living room Sumatra (lighter chocolate color)... OR I could paint that connecting wall Sumatra so all four walls of the living room are the same.

I opted for the first choice, liking the idea of one accent archway wall in the living room being Cocoa. The color is BEAUTIFUL, but the result surprised me. It pulled that wall forward visually and made the room feel way too dark for me. I kept wanting to turn more lights on to brighten it up. Cocoa on a gray day or in the evening creates almost a shadow of a color.. it's perfect in the dining room, but in the living room it was overbearingly dark.

So.. I repainted that wall Sumatra. SOOOOO much better. It made the room feel right and I am so pleased.

I did buy a gallon of Steamer and I painted right over that Denim swatch. LOL I didn't have enough time to do the whole wall, but I will soon. The Steamer is a beautiful color...

We put the Christmas tree up. Ahhhh... beautiful. And with the walls being a warm color, the whole room feels cozy and warm. The TV cabinet is also back in place, newly stained and finished. It looks GREAT!

whew. Now to see if I can resist the pull of the paint brush while trying to clean house and prepare for a party... LOL

Please hide my paint brush....

2008-12-10T08:44:00.001-08:00

Last night I said "I AM DONE PAINTING"... this morning I am looking at those Denim and Rain swatches in the hallway and thinking "oooo.. a gallon of Steamer would quickly eliminate those little spots and that wall would not take long at all to paint.. hmmmmm". LOLOL

For the honest update on Sumatra in the living room-- it's a rich color!!! Having been in "white surround sound" for so long, it's a bit of a shock. It's a chocolate color with a red undertone, but there is more green undertone than I wish... but that only shows every now and then.. I really do like the color, though.. so I am going to finish the little spots (window trim and a couple edges), put the TV cabinet back, put up my Christmas tree and just live with it!!!! I think honestly I wish it were just a couple shades lighter... but I like the contrast of the richer color with the light colors in my decor....

I'm not just painting an accent wall or painting just another shade of white-but-slightly-darker... I'm completely changing the look and feel of the house and it's scary and a blast all at the same time!!

I wonder how long that Steamer wall would take to paint....????

Frappes and Mochas

2008-12-09T07:15:00.001-08:00

Yum.. that sounds delicious!!! My youngest daughter really likes Frappes- caramel ones with a shot of decaf espresso. So last night she announced to me that the dining room looks like a Frappe and the living room looks like Mocha.... that it all looks like coffee!!! :)

I did indeed paint all day yesterday... the second coat of Ginger on the dining room ceiling- used a taping technique a friend taught me for very straight lines where light and dark colors meet and it worked perfectly. (used it on a different part of the dining room, where the Muslin ceiling meets the Cocoa wall, and it did NOT work perfectly- the tape needs to be on a wall with very little texture... no kidding! LOL)

Then I painted the living room ceiling Muslin... (discovered the Muslin color blends perfectly with the color of our carpet!!! LOL) I also painted the one wall that is connected to the dining room Cocoa, and the other three walls Sumatra. The Sumatra is a couple shades darker than I expected... its' a very rich coffee with cream color (mocha really does describe it well). The color is beautiful .... I'm just getting used to looking at darker walls instead of ALL white!! Quite a change.

As for the big question everyone seems to ask about dark colors-- "does it make the room feel smaller"??? ?Well... at the moment, I have two couches, a rocking chair, two end tables and a coffee table, the TV and a host of odds and ends all in the middle of the room. yes, the room feels quite small right now! LOLOL

I'm off to paint the second coat - only needs a VERY light coat .. probably doesn't even need that, but it's insurance against white spots showing through. ha!

What an adventure!!!! :) That caramel Frappe sounds rather good....

Ceilings and torn apart living rooms...

2008-12-08T07:44:00.001-08:00

Yes. That's it! :)

Last week, I painted the ceiling of the dining room Muslin.. it's a tray ceiling and just didn't quite look right all Muslin. So went back and painted the square top part of the tray "Ginger"- the deep warm red color. Ahhhhhh... MUCH better!!! It looks wonderful!!!! I love it. One more very light second coat and I'm done with the dining room.. until I decide to tackle trim and I am nowhere near wanting that task yet! LOL

I was gone all weekend and came home to my TV Cabinet taken apart. We bought it unfinished, with of course the plan to finish it, and have used it unfinished for six years! Well.. now it is almost "finished". :) It looks amazing! Jason used a cherry stain and amazingly it looks much the color of the natural cherry wood furniture he has made. I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

So now, of course, I need to paint the living room. (there may not be snow outside yet, but the snowball effect is sure happening in here!) The TV cabinet was the one item preventing me from painting this room as it's quite a job to unload everything and move the cabinet. Since it is already unloaded and out of the room, now is the time.

I'll paint the ceiling first (Muslin) and then the one wall attached to the dining room Cocoa, and the rest Sumatra.

This is all in the plan so I can get my Christmas decorations up also!!! All before Saturday as we have company coming ...

I better go paint! :)

Interviewing Colors...

2008-12-03T10:53:00.001-08:00

See.. this is how it all works for me, and having these paint pouches is fabulous!!! Without buying a quart or gallon of paint, I can paint a section of wall.. look at it day and night... and make a decision. No matter how much a paint sample resembles the paint, it does NOT look the same as the actual painted wall. With Devine paint, it's awfully close.. but the texture is different, so of course the color looks a bit different.

Rain and Denim have not made the cut. They are such beautiful colors.. but don't quite have the warmth I am looking for.

Also, I was thinking of Cocoa on one of my entry walls.. this wall then curves around and becomes part of the family room/piano room. After painting Cocoa, I absolutely LOVE the color but it's darker than I want for the entry... I decided to paint a swatch of Ginger (which I already had a gallon of!). Oh wow. Yep... Ginger in the entry and hallway.... :)

The constantly changing choices!!!! HAHAHAHA Gotta love it.. it's part of my journey so I embrace it!

Good thing I don't have an endless money supply for paint pouches or I would have a patchwork of paint colors on my walls "just to try them out". LOL

A Picture!!

2008-12-02T07:54:00.001-08:00

Here it is!!! My dining room with Devine Cocoa walls. It's a "real time" picture- complete with stuff on the table and a flannel jacket hung on the chair. Now that I have pointed those out, that's all you will see !!! LOL

Anyway- if you look at the ceiling on the left side, you can see a "shadowy splotch".. that is Devine Muslin and the color for that part of the ceiling. The tray square above is yet to be determined- possibly Rain, possibly Ginger, Cocoa.. Muslin... hmmmm.... contemplating...

The fun part, really, is to see a comparison. So see blog "A Glimpse of Off-Key (11-22-08)" and take a look at the yellow walls!!! Ahhhh... Cocoa sings a much nicer tune.

Color Contemplations...

2008-12-01T08:10:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving week is over... school starts again today... but only three weeks until Christmas break!!! HURRAY!

This morning I am contemplating all these colors. I am still loving the Cocoa wall in the dining room. I finished the second coat- Devine paint is fabulous!!!! This dark color pretty much covered with the first coat of paint... the second coat was just needed to fill in the texture on the wall that got missed the first time around and it created more depth in the color.

I find that amazing because I have painted a deep red before in our last house-- and it took a red tinted primer and two coats of the red before it FINALLY covered the wall, and probably could have used another coat. So I'm VERY happy with this paint...

Oops- got side tracked there...

Back to contemplating colors. I have paint swatches up where I can see them in every room... I like all of them!!! But I find myself asking "Hmmm... do I really want Cocoa on that entry wall and down the hall... or will it be too dark???????" and "Do I really dare paint that entry wall Denim? But what a lovely blue!" and "I just can't believe I'm going to put blue/greens on the walls"..... it's a constant thought process for me.

This is part of my journey and I really enjoy it!!! I'm not entirely sure yet what the end result will be, but I do know it will not be "ended" for quite some time!! LOL

Meanwhile... this is like the next step in Color A.D.D. Not moving around paint samples, but staring down painted swatches... it's great fun!

Paint swatches/blotches....

2008-11-29T07:31:00.001-08:00

This morning I am having a good laugh at myself. I got Devine paint pouches yesterday so I could "interview" some paint colors on my walls. Sumatra (milk chocolate), Muslin (cream), Rain (blue), Denim (dark blue), Steamer (blue/green). I got so excited to try out these colors, I got to work painting little sections of wall!!!! I have Sumatra and Muslin on the living room wall, Rain on the tray ceiling in the dining room (believe it or not, I REALLY like that!!!!), Muslin on the bottom part of the tray ceiling in the dining room, then Rain on a corner of the hallway into the family room and on a corner in the kitchen. Denim will go next to it to compare.

Okay- HAHAHAHAHAHA... really- I am not going to go buy paint and finish all these walls even in the next couple weeks!!!!! I realized that we have a Christmas party here in a couple weeks and there is no way I'll get this all done before then. I will get to have people see my home with paint blotches on the wall!!!

Oh too funny. LOLOL Oh dear.. would have been good to think that through beforehand, but I was so excited I just didn't stop to think! :)

Might as well put Steamer and Denim swatches on the walls to get the full effect .....

Hot Chocolate!!!

2008-11-28T16:22:00.001-08:00

The dining room is now a lovely color of hot chocolate!!!! It is BEAUTIFUL. Okay- I like it, anyway... personal opinion. However, Jason told me shortly after I painted that he loves the color and wanted me to go buy the Muslin to put on the ceiling today. :) (the Cocoa does not look nice with the Honey ceiling... har har)

Yes, the room is dark, but it looks "right". The wood floor looks lovely with the Cocoa and the contrast of the light wood floor with the dark color is great.. I also have white trim and white blinds that now contrast with the Cocoa. I am VERY happy with it!!

HURRAY!!! Success!! LOL

I also got my paint pouches from Devine Paint.. I put Sumatra on the wall in the living room as well as the Muslin. The Muslin ceiling in the dining room will be just right.. and in the living room, I think Sumatra is going to win. It's medium/dark, but VERY nice.

It is snowing outside... and now my dining room fits the weather perfectly- looks like a large cup of hot Cocoa...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

2008-11-27T08:04:00.001-08:00

Today is Thanksgiving Day. I love this day.. I love having another reason to focus on things that I am thankful for. It's a good practice on any given day, but to have an entire day to celebrate thankfulness.. even better!!!

Here is a short list of things I am thankful for:

God, forgiveness of sins, Christ paying the penalty for my sins and loving ME, my wonderful husband, my three precious gifts of CHILDREN, family, the opportunity to home school, friends, coffee shops and friends :), music, our church, being in our house in Coeur d'Alene, books to read, paint and colors... LOL

Oh dear.. my list could go on and on. Take time to find things to be thankful for!!!

And I'm thankful tomorrow I get to paint my dining room.

I have the BLUES....

2008-11-26T08:05:00.001-08:00

The "happy" blues...

I am sitting here looking at my Cocoa swatches on the dining room wall. I am now facing the reality of what colors WILL look good clashing with my nerves of "oooooo... really?" For two years I envisioned yellows and golds and those types of colors! This is undoing my two years of "ideas" and going in a new direction for me. I am having to force myself to step back and TRUST this process!! I know that just sounds strange, but it's true.

So- the blues... I laughed this morning as I looked at the colors I chose for this blog. Blues and greens!!! LOLOL I had no idea a color such as warm blues would sneak their way into my life this way. And they are everwhere. Why have I not seen this??? Time to embrace it and surround my home in colors that make it all welcome. No more color battle. :)

Even the last stack of fabric I bought "just because I love the colors" were all blues and browns. Ahhhhhh..... embrace warm blues.

I AM ready to paint.. I have Cocoa for the dining room, Ginger for the bathroom.. and ordered paint pouches of the other colors so I can paint swatches in very strategic places (haha.. that sounds good) and view them for a while until I have extra money for the paint and the extra time to do it!! (this blog could go on a very long time.... LOL)

Have I ever confessed that in our last house, I left a painted spot of a very light creamy color on a section of wall for over a year?!?!?!? Thank goodness it just looked like a shadow....

LOL

Color awareness...

2008-11-25T16:59:00.001-08:00

Perhaps those with Color A.D.D. ought to stop long enough to be more aware of their surroundings!!! Had you asked me weeks ago what colors I decorate with I would have said "oh... greens, browns, reds, yellows and golds, orange..... very little blue"....

but no!!!! I now have had a color awakening! Which explains more my paint color selections. I decorate with lots of browns and neutral tones, warm reds, soft greens and blue!!! There is a lot of blue around here. How did I miss that before??? AND, a lot of my wood, which I thought was "orange or yellow" is really red. WOW. Golds, yellows and orange are in my decor, but mostly as accents.

Ahhhh... that explains why colors like Denim and Steamer and Rain complement my stuff! :)

Good thing I like surprises.... LOL

Color choices..

2008-11-24T21:03:00.001-08:00

Okay- just for fun, check out http://blog.devinecolor.com/ and go to the blog "Why Yellow is not always the answer." That blog "home owner" is me. LOL I am SO grateful for Gretchen Schauffler's help and advice. She has not told me what colors to use, which I'm thankful for, but has led me to choose colors that will be stunning in my home. COOL!!!!!

My color choices have indeed been narrowed down. I still can hardly believe what colors they are, but the more the samples travel around my home, the more I love them.

Now.. before I say what they are, let me once again say HOW I came to these colors. I took my favorite decorations, quilts, etc., and put them by the wood and cabinets and so on. Tried to get a snapshot of what I use in my home. Then I used the Devine paint palettes to choose colors. I tried very hard to pick colors based on what I found complemented my decor, not based on what I thought should look good. You already know what happens when I fall back on that!!!

Then, I have been living with these samples for quite some time... narrowing down my choices and so on. The ones that "speak loudest" today are as follows--

Devine Cocoa, Sumatra (chocolate tan color), Muslin (light cream), Denim and Rain (darker and medium warm blues), Ginger (warm red) and Steamer (rich greenblue or bluegreen.. depends on what it is by... )... and now I'm going through the process of finding which color goes where.

I have a gallon of Ginger.. and really, the red just isn't saying much to me in the main rooms of the house, but I do have a small "powder bathroom" on the main floor and guess what?! It's going to be Ginger!!! Perfect.

I am going to get the paint pouches for these other colors and paint small sections of wall and live with it a while before moving on ahead and buying gallons!

Finally. I have made a decision on which road to take on this journey and which colors to "interview", but they are already starting to hum a bit and it's quite a nice sound. LOL

Sunrise, Sunset...

2008-11-24T08:21:00.001-08:00

WOW!!!! Have you taken time to watch a Sunrise or Sunset lately? Or both? With our wintery weather coming in, the sunrises have been stunning. I love them all the time, but admit I don't see very many in the summer months. They rise earlier than I do...

But now.. the air is icy cold, and the sunrises are just amazing (and happen after I wake up). The blues, purples, reds... the changing of colors as the sun comes up, the different colors in the sky all at once... the light that shines in my windows and reflects off the walls (oh yes.. the lovely Hazelnut and Honey walls.. LOL)... it amazes me every single morning I have the privilege of watching.

I get to sit here in the morning just visually soaking in God's creation. I love how He puts color together. We might say "oh no.. those colors don't go together" but God already did it!!! The sky has pink, orange, red, blue, purple, grays... all at once.. and it is a treat for the eyes.

I think the sky sings God's glory every day... may we pause long enough to listen...

Paint samples and Christmas lights..

2008-11-23T14:57:00.001-08:00

They have absolutely nothing to do with each other. But those are my two main items of focus today... I LOVE THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!!!! Jason had all three children on the roof yesterday, putting up lights. Well, only Michael was putting up lights.. the girls were out there just to say they got to walk all over the roof. Lovely. Two story home.. I told them I really just did not want to know where they had been...

But the lights this year are a celebration of home for me. It has been a long time in coming, making this house our home, and I am SO grateful for this. They lined the peaks with lights, my favorite way to have lights, and it makes me smile every time I see it. Okay- which was only last night, but I smiled all morning thinking about it.

As for paint samples... hanging over the archway from the front room into the entry are seven paint samples (8 1/2 by 11 sheets for Devine paint)... I had more up there, but they got moved into the kitchen. I was told pretty soon I could just tape up these samples on my walls and coat the entire wall!!! LOLOL

I have narrowed down my choices to Cocoa (dark chocolate), Ginger (warm red), Denim (warm dark blue.. what does "warm blue" mean??? I have no idea), Medallion and Sumatra (both light chocolate colors.. slightly different and I'm still trying to figure out what underlying color is different), Rain (another blue), Glass and Date (light neutral green colors with a hint of blue, not a yellow green) and Muslin (light cream). I have already determined that orange and yellow colors do not get to be painted on my walls-- without really understand what I did, I chose orange and yellow based colors in ALL the cabinets, wood laminate flooring, tile and carpet in this house!! Putting those colors on the walls is TOO much.....

It is all yet to be determined. :) With the rounded corners, all of my rooms become a part of the next room.. and it is forcing me to think very carefully about what goes where. With one wall, for example, a color that will be in the kitchen will also be in the entry. With our floor plan, the entry wall wraps around into the family room and then wraps back around into the kitchen. This has me puzzled.

I love a good challenge and definitely found myself one! It isn't all fun.. such as when I stare down the paint samples and they don't speak to me and say "paint me here". I still ask them, though... I do wish it all came more naturally to me, but I'm learning and enjoying the process. Well, some days I just enjoy writing about the process, since the actual process isn't going very fast!!

FIND JOY IN THE JOURNEY

Glimpse of off-key...

2008-11-22T08:02:00.001-08:00

Okay- just for fun, today I'll include a picture of my Honey/Hazelnut dining room. Yes- two colors. The "intent" was to paint the wall that is currently Hazelnut the Ginger (warm red) color, bring the red into the kitchen and so on. But of course, the Honey does NOT work, and I am not painting a wall red just for the fun of it. I'm still mulling over colors, reading the book AGAIN, and just pausing in my journey....

I called this blog a "Journey" for a reason. Sometimes in a journey one must just pause and make sure of their destination. I'm headed to a concert of colors and want to make sure the concert I end up listening to has had some training and the colors sing in harmony!! I'm a pianist and an accompanist.. since I am hand picking my singers in this case, and already painfully aware of picking some out-of-tune singers, I am on a talent search and will make absolutely sure before allowing them to sing in my home!

The walls actually make me laugh. LOL It wasn't a case of "oh.. I just love yellow so much I really want a yellow dining room... " but at the point I painted it a case of "I know yellow isn't a good choice, but I'm going to try it anyway". If you ever think that while choosing colors.. DON'T DO IT. Let my stubbornness be a lesson for you to learn from!!!

The definition of insanity- doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results... LOL

A side note... completely unrelated to painting but completely related to making this house our home. We got Christmast lights to put outdoors on our house!!!!!! I do not remember the last time we put up lights on our house... have never done it while living here in Idaho. I am SOOO excited!!! This is a huge deal for us and for me a moment of "Ahhhh... our home".

I have MUCH to be grateful for.

"When Color Sings"

2008-11-21T08:39:00.001-08:00

..the title of the book I just read, by Gretchen Schauffler, the creator and designer of "Devine Paint". I stayed up late reading it.. it was excellent. It was not a book on how to put color together.. but instead teaching to see color in a different light, helping to give one confidence to make color choices that make them sing! (the colors sing.. not the person.. but hey- if my color choices make ME sing, so be it!!!! LOL)

As a child, I used to sing off key deliberately to drive a certain person in my family batty (you know who you are). Okay- not a kind thing to do, but believe me.. I can sing OFF KEY quite well!!!!! LOL

I'm thinking painting my walls yellow has been part of my pay back. LOL It grates on me just like an off key song. These colors are singing, but the tune isn't pretty!!

Try this-- think in terms of rainbow colors. Red, blue, green, yellow, purple, Orange (there is another color in the rainbow, but it's another purple). Now look at what you have in your home-- name everything by a color- only those main colors. It's quite interesting!!! ALL the woodwork in my home is yellow and orange. (Obviously a shade of.. not pure yellow and orange.. but you get the drift). NO WONDER yellow walls don't work- too much!!! :) Every color boils down to one of those tints... or rather, those rainbow colors are in every color. LOL

Even "neutral" wall colors can be called by one of those- neutrals are those colors that create a "feeling" in the room, not necessarily a color to be noticed. But even they have blue, red, green, yellow, purple or orange in them, and putting them next to other certain colors can really bring it out! Sometimes it's a surprising and very off-key result.

I'm not exactly any closer to figuring out my wall colors, but I am more aware of how colors affect each other.

I'm hoping to create a palette that sings in harmony, and not even slightly off key.

W-A-I-T-I-N-G

2008-11-19T10:23:00.001-08:00

Oh yeah- this is something I do VERY well... wait.... (stop laughing)

I ordered a book called "Devine Paint: When Color Sings". It is not a book telling me which colors to use, but more of a "how to" type, teaching about color, myths about color, how to determine which colors I like and why and so on.... a sort of "self help" book for colors. LOL Whoa- certainly topics that interest me!!!

I realized this morning that I have painted in every single home we have owned- from the first trailer home to this one. :) All the rentals in between I wanted to paint.. haha... And every time I have bombed on colors, often finally settling one something "neutral" and somewhat blah just to relieve the tension of colors that didn't work. I have always been fine with my end results because I never gave up and kept painting until I got it "right".. or close.

I wonder what the record is for number of colors on a wall before getting it right??

I am DETERMINED this time to LEARN through this process. And to make this home "mine" in terms of color and decor I love to surround myself with.

Meanwhile.. while I wait for the book and also suggestions from the designer of "Devine Paint"... well, I have taken out the palettes, looked at them again and again, and I keep coming up with the same colors. Go figure.

"Find Joy in the Journey"

Lessons Learned...

2008-11-18T10:14:00.001-08:00

What is a life experience if one can't learn a lesson from it??? Here are a few of mine, learned in the past couple weeks..

1. When choosing paint color, do NOT just pick a "color you like" to put on the wall. Use a collection of colors (such as the Devine paint palette sheets), put them with your decor, flooring, woods, cabinets... and mark off what works. And don't keep telling yourself "but I really love yellow and I really want yellow walls..." If it doesn't complement the palette that goes with what you love, STAY AWAY. :) Admire yellow on someone else's wall (or not.. if it doesn't even belong on their wall!! LOL) And if a color doesn't pop out at you from the palettes, don't try to make it work (the Hazelnut.. it really does go with my stuff, but it didn't stand out as a "oooo.. I like that" type of color and sure enough, I didn't like it)

2. After deciding what colors might go where, buy a small amount of that color (quart of paint.. paint pouches that Devine paint sells, whatever...) and paint a segment of wall. In a couple places would be best.. a connecting wall, shadowy corner.. whatever... Then live with it a few days.

3. Trust me.. if a color isn't 'right' in a color swatch or color sheet, it will NOT look right on a whole wall!!! There is nothing about painting a whole wall or room that makes the color better!!!

As for #2, please don't ignore this part. It may seem expensive to buy these paint pouches or a quart, but believe me.. with what I just spent on several gallons of paint that are now a waste, not to mention the time wasted painting and now getting to stare at a yellow wall that does NOT belong... I could have purchased MANY paint pouches and made a wiser choice from the get go.

4. Trust your eyes. That is what I did not do.

It reminds me a bit of knowing what is the right thing to do in a given situation (I'm not talking paint now..), then turning away from that and doing what I want to do.. not what I know is right. Also, asking someone else for advice when I know they will tell me what I want to hear, is NOT going to make it work!!!!!

A little deep for just paint? Perhaps.. but it struck quite a chord with me this morning...

Interesting twists and turns...

2008-11-17T20:56:00.001-08:00

Sounds like some amazing gymnastics move or something. :)

Life is interesting... and recently, color has been one of my more interesting topics. Well, perhaps I'm boring you all to tears, but I find it interesting. LOL

Did you know that some greens have yellow in them?--- just snuck in there, I'm sure, for the totally unsuspecting.... Truly- I wrote the lady who designed Devine Paint.. she has a blog that I have been faithfully reading daily. :) GREAT advice on choosing colors, etc. Really great advice and I have found it to be a wonderful help.

So I have written her a couple times with my questions about paint combinations and so on. Today I admitted to her choosing all these great colors that go with my stuff.. then using Hazelnut and not liking it.. then stubbornly painting yellow knowing I would NOT LIKE IT!!! So I asked about the Olive color... and she wrote back and said the Hazelnut has yellow in it and that is what I did not like and AVOID YELLOW. No Olive color.. no yellows. :) She is actually going to look at pictures of my house and stuff and give some suggestions.

Now that is COOL!!!!!!! I can hardly wait to see what she comes up with. :) Here's the deal-- most all the colors that complement so fabulously are what I call "cool colors". I think all my stuff is warm and keep going that direction for paint, even though the palettes say otherwise. I am thinking that the cooler colors on the walls balance out my "stuff" and make the effect very calm.

I actually put my samples away and cleaned house, did laundry, taught school.... I refuse to buy any more just to try a color, so I will wait for the Devine Paint designer to give her advice first.. then I can have at it again! :)

I'm looking forward to seeing what I have to write about.... LOL

Surprise, Surprise.....

2008-11-16T22:00:00.001-08:00

Ha!!! Just kidding there. No surprise. The "Honey" color is a no-go. Eeks. The maple flooring made the Honey color much brighter than it looked in any other place I have seen it used... I know better than to use other people's homes as the guide for a color I'm choosing in my own home. too many factors go into play that determine how a color actually looks.

The Honey color does nothing for the wood.. just sort of looks non-descript and not too pretty. I should have known when my friend suggested covering up the yellow with decor. Well- I really don't care for many things on my walls and I really want the color to be PART of the decor!

So.... I ONCE AGAIN have all my quilts and all those color swatches, with a couple pictures and so on, near the floor, a rug, agains the wall.. and I'm staring at them completely unable to figure it out. I even take my glasses off to see if the colors will blend better. Yup- they blend.. LOL They all look great with my stuff... but as to which color to use in which room.. oh good grief.

Almost all the walls wrap around to another room, so I can't choose a color for just one room. Every room affects another and it's just CRAZY trying to figure it out. :) I still love the Rain color.. I really do. It's a beautiful blue and looks fabulous with my wood and carpet!!!

Well, I refuse to just go buy another gallon of paint "just to try a color". Yikes. Would you believe it if I admitted this actually keeps me awake at night??? I can hardly believe it myself. I just want to paint a color on the wall and then go "Ohhhhhh... that is BEAUTIFUL" instead of "ohh- that's pretty..but doesn't work!" No wonder people just paint their walls some form of "white" and never change it. :)

If it weren't for the fact that now I need to cover up a Honey wall, that is next to a Hazelnut wall with a swatch of Ginger on it... LOL... I would put all the samples away for a day or two and just clear my vision. Kind of like eating some sort of sorbet at a fancy French restaurant in between courses to "clear the palette".. I wonder if eating chocolate clears the palette....???

Yellow walls....

2008-11-14T21:37:00.001-08:00

Okay- sometimes one just has to try.. :) This was one of those times. I had a friend come over who loves to decorate, choose colors, etc., and she does a fabulous job with both . I have seen some of the decorating and painting she has done and have always loved it. So I asked for her help. As I did not like the green and just could not come to a conclusion with the other paint samples I have.. I called for a second opinion.

She said that a yellow color called "Honey" would work just fine. She also loved the "Ginger" (a warm red") and the "Cocoa". We talked through different places to use those colors and so on...

Well.. I am not one to let paint dry too long on the walls so off I went to buy Honey and Ginger and give this a go!!! I have one coat of Honey on the dining room wall... it is a very cheery, warm color and brightens the room up a lot. I really like it. It's hard to tell at the moment the final result.. as it needs a second coat, one wall needs to be painted Ginger...

I am liking it... second guessing it... and just being honest :) Crazy paint jobs!!!!! har har I am trusting my friend's advice and just going with it for now.. we'll see how it looks once the job is done.

:)

Painting dilemma....

2008-11-14T06:58:00.001-08:00

Every project needs one of these. I usually end up with two or three or four of them!!!!! :)

I painted my dining room Hazelnut. It is a BEAUTIFUL color. Rich, deep color.. the paint was wonderful to work with... It truly is pretty. But I do not like it. What?!?! Didn't I just say it is pretty?? It IS.. but I don't like it. The room does not exude warmth and coziness like I thought. It does warm up the wood and make my floors look beautiful, and the decor looks nice and everything.. but it isn't the look I wanted.

Not only that, the kids said "hey- you could paint the ceilings Cocoa and it would look like camouflage". oh just fabulous. I wanted a dining room that hides in North Idaho.

Okay- and what is that I want????? Warm yellow walls!!!!! Drat it. I just want a wall color that makes me smile every time I look at it. Not "grin-and-bear-it" smile, but truly smile. Few colors do that for me, and this Hazelnut just isn't working.

Just had to share!!! :) Because it is my honest journey and I really want to make those of you who wrestle with colors feel better!!!!! LOLOL Sometimes I wonder if there are any others out there who do what I do?!!!

Also, just an interesting note.. the white walls have more sheen than the new paint I bought. Hmmmm... also, when choosing my colors with my quilts and so on, truly-- the Hazelnut was a stretch.... I wanted it to work since I had already chosen it. Ummm.. that wasn't too smart.

I'm going to look again. It's SUNNY today-- so perhaps the "Honey" color will work this time.. ha!

I still really like the blue and Cocoa, but after this little trek in my journey, I'm holding off on everything for a bit... need more time to stare down the paint samples!

Keep Smiling!

I DID IT!

2008-11-12T07:33:00.001-08:00

I bought paint!!!! Okay, okay-- I know this is not a momentous occasion for most, but I dreamed from the day we moved in for that moment of buying paint and starting to put color on the walls. Even my girls were SO excited to have "color on the walls"! (Yes, I have brainwashed them.. in many colors)

I bought Hazelnut and Cocoa, came home and painted a swatch of Hazelnut on the dining room wall and Cocoa on the dining room ceiling. There are a couple things in this home I am going to try for surprise, and the Cocoa ceiling is one of them. It truly looks like melted chocolate. Hmm.. not sure melted chocolate over my head is a good idea while eating dinner.... LOL

That was all I had time for, but just to say I painted, I did those swatches. ;) (and I don't have painters tape... I can trim out a room without it but it's much more tedious!) Today I should have enough time to buy painters tape, then finish the Hazelnut-- Actually- I WILL make time! I'll keep you posted.. and then I'll start including pictures..

Rain and Cocoa....

2008-11-11T07:46:00.001-08:00

I really want to paint today, but with school, piano lessons, and so on, it likely will not happen. I may have to wait until Saturday, but that's really okay!!! (well, not really okay.. but I'll survive) It does give me more time to move paint samples around and just "make sure" they look fabulous under every possible lighting condition and against every possible surface.....

But I had a thought. Rainy days are perfect for curling up on the couch covered with a warm quilt, reading a good book and sipping hot chocolate. I just figured that it was so appropriate to paint my walls "Rain" and "Cocoa". :)

As for Filbert and Hazelnut... guess I'll have to snack on trail mix as I read....

New Colors.....

2008-11-10T20:27:00.001-08:00

What fun I had today!!!! I went to the paint store first thing- but I was not the first customer. :) I picked up a bunch of paint sample sheets. I have quite a collection now if anyone wants ideas for their house.. haha

I laid them all out with the quilts and stuff.. and it didn't take too long to narrow down my favorites. I want warm/rich colors on the wall and not really light/pale/bright colors. The whole palette was gorgeous with my "stuff" and the lighter colors I pulled out I will use in the bathroom, laundry room, whatever...

The amazing thing is that I LOVE the colors, but they are not what I would have picked first. Obviously- I already told you I picked yellows and creams and golden browns and so on first... But these colors complement what I own so nicely and the colors, while different, complement each other also. I am SO pleased and very comfortable with it.

I realized that always before, I chose a color I liked and tried to put it on the wall. I have not used my favorite decorating things and picked from that selection of colors! Sure, I tried to match a couch cushion or something like that, but that NEVER worked. :)

The colors are all Devine Paint colors-- Hazelnut (warm khaki/green/brown color), Cocoa (yup..liquid dark chocolate.. oh yummy), Filbert (lighter tan) and the shocking one for me - Rain. It's a blue. I can't believe I chose a blue but I can't get away from it!!!! I love it. Love how it looks with the browns and greens... hmmmmm Unlike with the yellows where I tried every shade of Devine that had yellow in it, determined to make it work, the "Rain" I just can't get away from. I even try to replace it, then go right back to it.

This is all quite the interesting result for me and I'm still quite amazed.

Of course, give my record, I will live with this for a while before buying paint. At least 12 more hours....

ha!

My "AHA" moment....

2008-11-09T20:45:00.001-08:00

By now, I'm quite sure you will realize an "AHA" moment with me and painting means I changed my colors!!! I know I wrote "I love these colors" last night. I still do love these colors. But I'm not going to use them.. or at least, not the warm yellow one. And right now, I'm awfully glad that the paint store was closed yesterday!!!! Whew. Color disaster diverted.

So what are my new colors? I have NO IDEA!!!!! Read on...

I love yellow. Every time I go to paint, I always head towards some yellow type colors.. always very warm colors, not the lemon yellows and bright yellows. I also pick out rich rust type colors, or warm terra cotta colors.... reds... warm browns.. and this time was no exception. :) In the past, I have made my best guess, bought a quart of paint, then had to re-paint!!! har har

Again I was determined to use one of those warm colors, since this time I chose warm colored flooring and cabinets and of course they will work, just like planned. Right?

Until last night. Jason came home and saw my paint page sample that had made it's way above the cabinets in the kitchen and he said "that yellow doesn't match the cabinets". Usually I don't pay TOO much attention to his color comments. haha But this one made me finally say OHHhhhhhhh... what am I doing?????????

I don't want yellow walls with warm maple floors and hickory cabinets!!! WAY too much yellow!!!! Yikes!! Now what??

Okay- check out www.devinecolor.com, if you are so inclined and love color as much as I do. The paint color designer has a blog and I have read through pretty much all of it pertaining to color. Twice. Or more. But she teaches how to choose colors. It's not so much different than choosing fabric for a quilt, and with this I am VERY familiar.

I had already bought the Devine color palettes and finally decided to do what she teaches-- take my decor, wood colors, etc,. and use them agains the palettes and start checking off the colors that "go" with my stuff. I drug out my favorite quilts, some other fabric I love, dropped them all in a pile on the floor by the kitchen so I could see the cherry table Jason made, cabinets, etc.... and started the process.

I was shocked.

Ended up with Cocoa (deep rich chocolate color), a couple other browns, then some blues, blue greens, yellower greens and a rich warm red. Wow!!!!! NO yellows, golds, warm terra cotta colors.. NONE of them... but I love all the colors that I checked off. I will now get the 8 1/2 x 11 color sheets and start the Color A.D.D. process all over again to determine the best ones and where they will go.

Tomorrow morning the paint store opens at 7:00. I just might be their first customer! :)

Honestly a Bummer

2008-11-08T15:49:00.001-08:00

Well, do you recall reading this is my "honest journey"???? It is going to be honest, and sometimes honesty is not always funny!!!! This is one of those moments.

I had fully intended to buy paint for my dining room today. I was SO very excited to do this. I am longing for happy colors on my walls and was finally ready to tackle this project.

Unfortunately, I had a few bumps in the road this morning. Difficult bumps that would require another blog I refuse to start! So by the time we finally got going, got out the door, picked up a friend the girls are having over this afternoon and got to the paint store, the store was CLOSED!!!! Their new winter hours are "closed at 1:00" on Saturdays, and of course not open on Sundays!!! I could not believe it.

Closed. What? This is all I planned to do today! Paint! I had my rollers out, my brush out (only one brush.. the other two apparently were not cleaned properly last time.. ummm.. stiff brushes don't work too well!), and I was all ready to be brave and paint a dining room ceiling "Cocoa". I expected "closed at 4:00", but certainly not 1:00.

So to make good use of all this time I have had this afternoon, I have looked at paint colors and just "made sure" I was completely 100% positive I wanted to use the colors I chose. One never knows when Color A.D.D. will translate into some new fabulous even better than before color collection!!!

And for the record, I still love what I chose and will not be changing that. I'll go buy paint Monday morning first thing. :)

Yes, I home school.... isn't there a subject called "crafts"???

Painting TOMORROW!!!!

2008-11-07T19:29:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow begins my new adventure painting THIS house!! I can hardly wait!!! I have waited two years for this. When building this home, I chose light maple laminate flooring in the entry/dining room/kitchen, a warm colored light carpet, hickory cabinets... I wanted a warm palette to start with so I would not have the same mistake of the past few homes. I am so glad those choices were made. The white walls are begging for color.

In our last house, the carpet was again a cool tan. it looked tan until warmer golden colors were put up next to it. I could not use the warm colors I kept being drawn to, once again!!! I ended up painting some accent walls cocoa and my kitchen/family room walls deep brick red. It was gorgeous!!! I had to have several friends tell me to JUST DO IT to be that bold. I didn't ever regret it and I loved what the bold color did for the architecture and feel of the rooms.

So now I have the opportunity to be bold once again. A friend told me about Devine Paint and only one store in our area carries it. Devine Paint has a limited color selection and the paint "chips" are actually 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of the color. No more looking at a paint chip too small to really tell the color OR even better, a paint chip with five other shades of the same color!! The Devine colors are so much more "natural" and rich looking and just beautiful.

As I work through this project, I will include before and after pictures. I know how much paint can change a room-- for better or for worse and I'm really hoping for better in this case!!! I'm finally going to use a warm golden yellow color!!!! FINALLY.

Ahhh.. may it do what I picture in my head.. and we already know how that can turn out!!

COLOR A.D.D.

2008-11-07T07:43:00.001-08:00

Did you know it is possible to have Color A.D.D.???

I have some 8 1/2 x 11 paint samples on my walls and I can't even type a complete sentence on here without glancing up to see if I like the "Devine Hazelnut" color better or the "Devine Olive" color. Which one goes better with "Devine Oak" and "Devine Cocoa"... ??? I currently have one on either side of the Devine Oak with the Cocoa on a wall further back. This is quite a process of moving them around, trying them in different lighting... by the furniture, partly behind some picture on the wall, near the carpet to see if they clash, even on the ceiling.. I can hardly walk into another room without carrying my paint samples with me and sticking them somewhere else so I can continue to look at them as I cook dinner, give a spelling test, fold laundry.....

A few years ago, I foung my youngest daughter (then just a toddler) carrying around a paint chip and holding it against different surfaces. I taught her well. In fact, now that my children are older, I have even been known to ask THEM to move a paint chip to just a certain spot (you know.. over a couple inches, up a few.. Perfect!) so I can see if I like the color there!!!! They very good naturedly support me in my disorder..

I'm really not sure I should admit these things, but it's true. Perhaps this will help anyone reading this blog who also has COLOR A.D.D. to know they are not alone.

I like the "Devine Hazelnut" better at this moment.

The Beginning...

2008-11-06T16:41:00.001-08:00

Quite the catchy title, isn't it?! haha I wanted to share a bit of background in my journey, some of it I can laugh at now. Perhaps not then.

I first painted an "accent wall" in the trailer home my husband and I lived in many years ago. Yellow. I LOVE yellow. Yellow has always been my favorite color! It is sunny, bright and cheery. Little did I know that yellow comes in about 2,345 or more shades, all on paint chips that look nothing like what actually is in the paint gallon! I ripped the wallpaper off that little section of wall and painted away. I remember liking the results- anything was better than that wallpaper. :) I think I might have even done some creative sponge painting on there.. oh my..

My next attempt was in our house in Indiana. We put in all new flooring and repainted everything before moving into our house. Whoa. I didn't realize that "neutrals" also come in as many shades as yellows... likely more. They range from bright white, dirty yellow looking, green tinted, orange tinted, blue tinted.. it's a wee bit overwhelming! Remember how much I love yellow and warm colors? I ended up with very cool colors- light "taupe" (is that really a color?) carpet with a directional pattern that drove me batty with my striped couch, and VERY cool grayish/white walls. It was not at all what I had dreamed of.... so of course, not long after, I "HAD" to paint my walls!!!!

We had remodeled part of the home, which necessitated paint anyway, so why not start on that wall? I did. Painted it some color... painted it another color.. another color... okay- maybe again??? I don't remember how many times I painted that wall or what colors I chose! (I'm quite sure my husband remembers) But wow... I was learning first hand that what I see in my head and what comes off the paint brush sometimes do NOT match even remotely.

Same for my kitchen- very small section of wall. Painted it once, twice, yellows, greens...

I nearly obsessed about color.. scrutinized everyone else's wall colors (not realizing that their home and decor had much to do with how the color looked!), collected paint chips, taped them to the wall, painted sections of wall.....

I ended up finding some sort of light-peachy-creamy-but-not-yellow-because-that-clashed-with-the-cool-carpet kind of color and painted all the rooms that color. Whew. It looked okay. MUCH better... warmed everything up a bit and finally I could relax. :)

That was the beginning.. of something deep inside that sees my white walls and desires to have colors that I love surrounding me. I wasn't quite successful in my first attempts and finally settled for "light, plain, neutral, calm".

Ohhhhh, but that wasn't enough for me.