Author: Allie Zottola

Absentee Me

I have been a bit of an absentee blogger lately, and for that I apologize! When the weather became colder, Jimmy and I started discussing indoor house projects we wanted to work on. One of the most pressing things we discussed was painting. When we bought our house, all of the walls were powder blue except for the kitchen and living room (which are a dingy off-white…). We’ve been living in our house for over a year, and we’re pretty much done with outdoor projects for 2015, so we are now focusing on small indoor renovations like painting.

We decided to paint what we have dubbed our “closet room,” which is one of the bedrooms. The closets in our house are pretty tiny, so we just used an empty bedroom as a walk-in closet. When we moved in, we bought an Ikea wardrobe, and put it in the closet room. It worked, but it was also huge and hulking in the tiny bedroom.

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In order to paint the closet room, we had to pull the wardrobe away from the wall. Then Jimmy was like “Let’s just sell this and install shelving on the wall.” and I was more than happy to go with his plan. He then suggested we do a complete overhaul of the room before installing shelving, including:

– Sanding and re-staining the hardwood floors
– Installing new baseboards
– Painting the walls
– Painting the doors
– Installing a new light fixture
– Installing new door knobs

So, we’ve been at it for a few weeks and we’re finally getting close to finishing! Jimmy has been doing everything himself, and he’s working on making the shelving after work today. I feel incredibly blessed to have a husband that is so capable and knowledgeable about household things. He inspires me because he has never done some of these things before (like sanding and re-staining the floors), yet he just dives in and goes for it. I try my best to help, which usually means painting and staying out of his way.

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The floor mid-sanding

Things have been a little disheveled around the house, which can drive this organization freak nuts. We sold the wardrobe (which paid for the project we’re undertaking-yay!), so we had no where to put our clothes. I’ve had to be creative with finding places to put our clothes and shoes. Needless to say, almost every room in the house is storing some item of clothing. I know it will be worth it all in the end, though! I will make sure to share pictures of the whole process, too.

Along with the closet project, I’ve been pet sitting a lot lately (I think I say that every time I blog, though?). I watched five dogs last weekend, and I have three this week. Love it. Jimmy and I also had my mom, Hannah, her boyfriend (!!!), and his friend over this weekend (at seperate times, if that makes sense?), which was a blast. My mom and I made Christmas wreaths. Yes, it’s probably a bit early, but Christmas is less than two months away now. I can’t wait!

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What have you been up to lately?

Do you get ready for holidays early?

Morning Frost

It was 28°F when I woke up this morning. I’m pretty sure we had our first heavy frost of the season here in Pittsburgh. To commemorate the event, I decided to take a few snapshots and share them.

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While summer is my favorite season for many reasons (that rhymes…!), I truly love all of the seasons. The beauty of fall is unparalleled, and there is nothing like a fresh blanket of snow covering the ground in the winter months. By the time spring rolls around, the sight of a daffodil peeking out of the ground gives me more joy than is probably normal.

It’s amazing how the seasons change, and I feel so blessed to live in an area that experiences all four seasons every year. Jimmy and I have a weird little ritual that we do every morning as he leaves for work that always keeps our minds on the current season. It goes something like this…

October through April – 6:00 AM – Zottola Living Room, as Jimmy leaves for work and Allie is still in her pajamas.

Jimmy: (standing at front door, with door opened) Bye babe, I love you.
Allie: (Standing five feet away from the door) Bye! Love you!
Jimmy: Come here and give me a kiss. Come stick your foot outside to feel the air.
Allie: Okaaaay. (Walks to door) YUP. It’s cold!
Jimmy: (Smiling) You and Lola are going to be so cold on your walk!
Allie: Go to work.

May-September – 6:00 AM – Zottola Living Room, as Jimmy leaves for work and Allie is still in her pajamas.

Jimmy: (standing at front door, with door opened) Bye babe, I love you.
Allie: Let me give you a kiss goodbye and stick my foot out the door!
Jimmy: (Gives Allie a kiss)
Allie: (Sticks foot out front door) YUP! It’s warm! (Smiles) You are going to be so hot at work today!
Jimmy: I’m leaving.

With a few deviations, depending on whether or not it’s raining or the weather is unseasonable, that’s our little morning ritual. I have no clue how we started it, but I love it.

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It felt amazing to get outside in the crisp air and capture exactly what the first frost felt like, how the grass looked, and what shade of red the berries on our dogwood trees are. It reminded me of a Bible verse in Ecclesiastes.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11

Even though fall is technically the time of year when the plants and trees die, God has still made it beautiful. He’s made everything beautiful in its time.