Origami Owl

Painting the Living Room

I know I’ve said it before, but there’s nothing like a hosting a party to motivate you get stuff done around the house! Jimmy and I have been wanting to paint our living room since we moved into our house in 2014.

As I mentioned a few posts back, I hosted an Origami Owl Jewelry party at our house (more on that in another post!). I think we had around 15 people over–the most we’ve ever hosted–and it was such a nice evening.

I’m not sure what prompted Jimmy and I to tackle painting the biggest room in our house a week before having a ton of people over, but we surprisingly finished before the party!

Our living room walls were previously off-white. We also had a wooden mantle and corner shelf unit. We decided to paint the walls gray (Whirlwind by Olympic), the mantle and corner shelf white (Ultra White by Valspar), and the ceiling white (White by HGTV Home).

We began painting on Monday and finished up late Friday night. I don’t think we went to bed before 11:00 pm one night last week, but it was totally worth it! Here are some before and after pictures.

Before

2014-10-25 08.33.04 2014-10-25 08.32.252014-10-25 08.33.28

After

living-room-1 living-room-3 living-room-2living-room-4 living-room-5before-and-after-collage

It was quite an undertaking, but I’m so glad we painted. Our living room feels like a whole new room now. We might do a second coat of paint on the walls, or we might be lazy and let it go, haha. We’ll see. All that’s left to do is hang some pictures, art, a mirror, etc. on the walls!

Do you like to paint?

Blogging in between

It seems like Thursday is my blog day lately! Probably because I typically have Thursdays off from my regular job. I’m pet sitting two dogs today, so I’m blogging in between visits to the pups.

I just wanted to share some random pictures and thoughts from my life lately, as usual!

Let’s start with books, one of my favorite things to talk about.

adopted-for-life

I picked up a book from the Christian book store last week and I’m enjoying it. It was the first time I’ve bought a book in months and months, so it was quite a treat. Adopted for Life is about the priority of adoption for Christian families and churches. The author is great at relating adoption with how Christians are adopted into God’s family. It’s a pretty dense book, so I’ve been reading a few pages each day and really pondering the scripture references and the author’s points.

As I’ve mentioned before, adoption is something Jimmy and I talk and pray about a lot. I’ve had it on my heart since I was a young girl (and even mentioned it years ago here on the blog). As much as I want to just know what the future holds in terms of children, I am continually learning to trust that God has it all figured out. Whatever His plan is will be amazing.

lola-garbage-picking

Even at 10-years-old, Lola still keeps me on my toes. She hasn’t got into the garbage in months, so I’m sure you can imagine mine and Jimmy’s surprise when we came home from church and a quick pet sitting run at like 9:30 pm to find garbage all over the kitchen floor. Oh Lola, you are a goober!

sister

My sister-in-law and I painted ceramics together this week. It was so nice to talk, laugh at our painting skills, and do something creative. I really needed that relaxation time, and I always enjoy hanging out with my sister-in-law!

sunday-paper

I’m trying to start back up a little Sunday tradition that my dad and I had going before I got married. One of us would buy the Pittsburgh Post Gazette each Sunday and then share it with the other after they finished reading through it.

Jimmy and I stopped at a gas station to fill up his truck and I went inside to buy coffee this past Sunday afternoon. When I saw the newspaper near the cash register, I bought it and sent my dad a picture asking if he wanted me to bring it to him when I would see him at Sunday night church. Of course, he said yes. Tradition reinstated! I love my dad.

Alright, I’m off to pet sit and then I’m going to figure out what to bake to bring to an Origami Owl party tomorrow night. I’m so excited! I hope everyone has a great day 🙂