Apartment: Before & After- Ava's Bed & Bath

Decorating Ava's room has been fun since pregnancy! Here's a look back at her crib and nursery, then there's a snapshot of her twin "big girl" bed... These were taken at our previous house.

Now it's 2-bedroom-apartment-living for a while, and there are challenges and advantages! Gotta take the good with the bad, right?! Did I say that right? (Ron laughs at my uncanny ability to butcher phrases;) I included before and after pictures of her new bedroom and bathroom. She's super-excited to have a bathroom in her room! It was fun decorating that too.

My goal was to make this a functional space for out-of-town guests as well, so we put our full-size bed in her room. Also, since she'll be the BIG 4 this summer, I wanted to transition her room into a SLIGHTLY more grown up space without spending much $$. I was inspired by Melissa at 320 Sycamore!

To me, no room is ever--done--, but it has come a long way since we moved in a month ago.

sweet baby girl crib

hard to believe that after all the time and work I put into this stage of her life is just a memory

'big girl room'

empty room, white walls, unattractive blinds... For these windows, I hung 96 inch length white linen panels with grommets. They look airy, and I was able to dress her windows for $60.

see the white fan? the good, the bad, the ugly

generic apartment bathroom

It looks better with painted walls (Sherwin-Williams Rainwashed), cute Target towels, a little artwork, some black and white photos, fun oversized rug, ....

One of her favorite things is playing with her kitchen and having tea parties. My friend Jamie found this adorable mini-rug at a yard sale. Perfect colors!

Brittany gave me the chalkboard-- it was a gold mirror. 

Niki and Mary Abbott gave this adorable owl painting to Ava for her birthday last year; I just added the ribbon to make it a door hanger.

I found this shower curtain on clearance at Marshalls, and Brittany put the "A" on there for us. I just tied coordinating ribbons for extra fun:)

Why are bookshelves hard to decorate? It's a fine line between cluttered and organized. I'm sure I'll move this stuff around a million times. The bottom 2 shelves just have her books in baskets.

The old glass door will eventually have cuter wire/ribbon and fabric behind the glass (I've looked at several fabric stores and nothing has caught my eye so far). The bedding is a hodgepodge--I got the polka dot bed skirt at Target for $13....already had the ruffled white comforter- since it's a twin comforter, I just folded it at the end of the bed...the khaki coverlet was used in our master bedroom for about a year (Goodwill $10)... hot pink sheet set from Target $20...the cream scalloped pillow shams were used in our room for a while too (yard sale $2)... mixture of pillows-- some from Ava's nursery, a few that Brittany wasn't using, one from a yard sale, and that cute, round one is a new one I found at Marshalls a couple of days ago. I found that lamp at Target recently for $20.

We have  A LOT of books! I bought two of these old metal library display things on eBay last year and gave one to Brittany for Reid's nursery.

A friend from church gave me the old screen door. Love it! {Hmmm... the white part from the bed skirt is showing....gotta fix that. GRRRR! ;)}

I painted this bed last year to match a quilt that I was using in our guest room. Love that green color so I just left it. And there are two other little areas that I'm not finished with in her room. I can't figure out what I want to put on the top of her chest of drawers; it's a great piece that's painted white, but I can't seem to get decor part right there. And I'm going to paint or distress her pale pink toy box and add some cute pulls.

I'm linking up to Catch a Glimpse Thursday!

Family Pictures: May 2011

For Mother's and Father's Day, my sister and I decided to have pictures made by Jessica Rowell for our parents. Here's a few of my favorites:

Ava loves having her picture made! ;) I want this on a large canvas..

My precious nephew!!

Love this little expression....

I'm so thankful for these people!

Mimi, Papa, & their grands

Can't believe she's almost four!!

LOVE her!

Sweet cousins:)

Ava Karis

My sis's little fam

Thank God for these two!!

Another chair re-do;)

Jamie's husband, Greg, found this neat chair on the side of the road last week. We (mainly Jamie) spray-painted it with Valspar satin yellow, and she recovered the seat with some cute fabric she already had! So, really cute chair for almost nothing, just the cost of spray paint! Love it!! (Sorry for quality of pics-- camera phone...)

Before

 After

I'm linking up to Catch a Glimpse Thursday! 

Spring Fun

I am behind on posting fun family & friend events from the past six weeks or so. Here's what we've been up to...

1. We joined two other life groups at our church. We're still with our Sunday night group that meets twice per month, but Ron, Ava, and I are participating in a new one called the "Homies" for families who do home education. Even though Ava is still pre-school age, it's good to just listen to other parents for ideas. Our first outing was a picnic in the park; next up is a water slide party! Great group of people! And also, Ava and I joined a life group/play group that meets every other week with moms and their preschoolers for brunch and play and devotion.
2. Ava and I went to a fun birthday party at the Memphis Zoo! Hudson and Harrison's mom, Jamie, is the ultimate party planner:) We had a blast, and the weather was so pleasant. We're planning another zoo trip soon.
3. My friend and fellow teacher Tammy got married and asked Ava to be her flower girl and me to be a bridesmaid. We all went out for pedicures and Mexican food the night before. They had the neatest, most fun wedding on a softball field. Tammy is a softball coach, and she and her husband met playing on a co-ed team. He proposed at one of their games-- so why not have it at a softball field & have play a real game after the reception with a cookout to follow?! :) Other than the intense, Mississippi humid heat, it was a blast!!
4. Ava had her first dance recital. She's been taking ballet and tap since January with her bff Mary Abbott. They were so stinking adorable! For their tap routine they wore monogrammed aprons and had pots and spoons-- cute! Fun night! I took so many pics. Ava wasn't one bit shy!

Dining chair makeover

A year and a half ago I bought an antique dining table and 6 chairs that I found on craigslist.com for $285. I loved it except for the fabric on the chairs...which was no big deal, I'd just recover them asap. Well, I just got around to doing that. I did go back and forth about what to do--black & white damask? subtle animal print for a little funky-ness? paisley? They look soooooooo much prettier now!!!! And fabric is not a huge commitment (for $22 I totally changed the look of the chairs), so I'm not sure why I procrastinated;) Anyway, here are the before & after pics!

"Straight Shooting" Update

Six months ago, I posted this about what was going on in our life. I do try to keep my blog positive and upbeat but wanted to be transparent too. I prayed many times for God to take over our situation and help us to be in the center of His will. I felt that part of that would be taking steps of faith in the right direction.
In March, I resigned from the high school where I taught full-time (I finished the school year, of course, first). I loved many things about my job but didn't love the time it demanded away from my family. For now, I'll continue teaching part-time at the community college. What a load lifted! I can't say how tough the decision was, especially when they call asking me to come back.... Truly a leap of faith.
Two months later, Ron was offered a new position as a finance manager for a Honda dealership (first, he was offered something lower down the ladder but days before he started was advanced to this... God is GOOD!)...He actually was in sales there four years ago, but the 100% commission was scary at times. Praise God, he's on salary + commission now!! I am so thankful for this for many reasons; one of which is that Ron is loving what he's doing, and once you've been on the other side of that fence you don't take that for granted ever!.
We have moved into our own place-- an apartment (pics coming soon) close to Ron's job. And someone's made an offer on our house! PRAY that it happens!

Philippians 4:19

Moving is for the birds!

We have spent the past week preparing to move, moving, and unpacking. I'm taking a minute out to vent! ;) It's rough! I pray that the next time we move, it's because we've made very wise decisions regarding our finances and have found an affordable place to live for a VERY long time!! But in the meantime, I'll be 'content to rent' as The Nester says.

A few things about moving...
1. My back hurts.
2. It's even harder since this go around I don't have a garage for the overflow.
3. I feel guilty because people took time away from their family to help (but thankful too).
4. I have sat in the middle of the floor, looked at all the boxes, and cried.
5. After spending four nights in the new place, it feels a little more like home.
6. Life goes on around you... On the agenda for this week has been a Memorial Day Cookout, dance lessons for Ava, teaching a night class, a funeral, and a wedding....
7. I vow to pack smarter in the future.
8. My husband has been incredible. He's painted the apartment, even though he thought the beige walls were perfectly okay. He organized the actual move. He's been so sweet when I've had my emotional moments!
9. I thought I was over my house, but I have missed it so much this week. I guess it's because I miss the space, the fact that it wasn't full of boxes, and the cozy memories of being a family there (especially this time of year).
10. Above all, it's a process. One hour (and box) at a time. God is good. Pretty soon, the move will just be a memory, and we'll settle into our new life.

Ava's closet

the view from our mattress

one corner of the living room (notice I hung curtains yesterday: instant gratification!:)

Ava's room