Craft Room Model - Completed

So we finished the remodel on the craft/office/guest room. To see the beginning of our project go here. 

It was a very long project but the end results are well worth it. 

This is the closet with the new sheet rock up. I had pictures of the process of putting the sheet rock up but Blogger wasn't liking my pictures for some reason. At this point, we had painted the ceiling and walls plus installed the lighting. The paint is a nice neutral grey. A lot better than the hideous tan yellow that was on the wall.

 

One day while I was at work Kalan painted the accent wall. It is an aqua color with a dry brush look. You can't see the texture here but it looks really cool. The flooring is the best part in my opinion! This flooring is going in every room of the house except for the bathrooms and kitchen. It will make the house look so much better. 

The floor is finished and the new base boards are down. They are just 1"x4" boards. It looks so sleek and modern. 

This is our accent wall. These are old windows that we screwed to the wall. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! Kalan was very hesitant about it until we put them up. He likes them now too. We put a black sleeper sofa in the nook that the closet created. It was a perfect fit and is now ready for guests. 

Sorry that this picture is sideways. I have tried and tried to get it to reformat but alas it has not saved. This is the view of the room with the nook completely finished. 

This is a view straight into the room. This desk has been put to great use. 

This shelving unit is a lot more full now. 

This is a little corner for reading or just sitting for a chat. I made the art on the walls. It was really simple. I would do a blog post on the art but I didn't take pictures of each step. Maybe I will recreate the steps to document them, if people are interested. The only thing we have added to the room is a clock above the door. That way I don't lose track of time when I am creating beautiful pieces of art. 

I love this room! The color scheme I went with is Aqua, Watermelon, and Grey. I wasn't too picky about all the shades matching but they needed to at least be in that pallet. Our next room is the Guest Room. Can't wait to share the finished product with you. 

Where Are The Smiths?

Where have the Smiths been? We have been crazy! :) We have had some life altering changes. First, Russia closed their international adoption gates. So we put adopting on hold until we can see what God has in store for us. Second, Kalan started a travel job and is gone more often than he is home. Third, we made a little change to our family. Turns out I am highly allergic to rabbits so they had to go. And we replaced them with a new bassett hound puppy, Missy.

So needless to say, we have been very busy adjusting to all of the changes. They have not been easy. I am always tired and when Kalan comes home he gets to take charge of the fur babies and I get to sleep! The weekends are glorious just for that reason!

We have completed some projects around the house and I am excited to share them with you! So be on the lookout for upcoming posts. But please be patient with me. It has been about 6 months since Kalan started his job and I am still not used to juggling everything on my own. I really have respect for military wives that do it on their own for extended periods of time with no break. I truly have no idea how you do it.

Stephanie

The Office/Craftroom Remodel

The last two weeks or so we have been busy remodeling one of the spare bedrooms. We have always wanted it to be an office, and of course I would love some place to do my crafting. 

 

This is the room before. It was the catch all for the house...A complete mess!!

Everything cleaned up! Phew! It was quite the job! 

We had some lovely friends come over and help us tear the wall down. They had way too much fun! The only payment they required was a home cooked meal. That is always the easiest payment.

Funny story about this picture. As I was taking this picture Preston was taking the junction box off of the electrical wire. The flash went off just as he hit the box. He thought he had hit something and it was arcing. I thought I was going to wet myself because of how scared he looked. It was very humorous. 

                                         The wall removed.                            The aftermath.

We scraped the ceiling too. We hate popcorn ceiling and are so glad that it is gone!

We are still working on the room. This past weekend Kalan's dad came and ran some electrical for us. No pictures of that because you can't really see a difference. Hopefully, this weekend we will get the sheetrock up and all the holes in the walls puttied so that we can paint. I am so looking forward to painting and decorating the room. I will definitely keep you all updated on the progress!

How Do You Do It?

How do you do it? How do you balance family, house, friends, church, work, and all the in betweens? I have such a hard time balancing everything! Something always falls through the cracks. When I try to love God, my husband, and perform my wifely duties, my relationships with everyone else suffers. When I try to love God, my husband, and friends, my wifely duties suffer. How do you balance your life? Which things do you let slide? I would really love some ideas!

How do you balance everything??

The Flu

Here is what my week has looked like:

Lots of these; 

This to keep the fever, chills, and aches away; 

Drinking plenty of this; 

Watched lots of this because

I couldn't move from here. (No this isn't my real bed.)

So ready to be part of the living! Really ready to begin blogging and doing normal life again.

Happy New Year from the Smiths

Happy New Year! What are your big plans for 2013? What goals do you want to accomplish this New Year? Here is what the Smith Family would like to see accomplished this year:

1.) Growing close to God by strengthening our relationship with Him.

2.) Our adoption and all of the paperwork that goes with that. For an update on that see here.

3.) Kalan is starting a new job! We are so excited and looking forward to seeing God move in our       family through this job!

4.) Stephanie is going to work on being healthier. This is a constant struggle and one we are making as a priority this year. 

5.) Working on our ‘home organization’ skills to help spend more time with each other, friends and family.

6.) Making changes on our house to make it more of the home that we want it to be. 

Happy New Year from the Smith Family! May God bless you and guide your every step this year!

Stephanie and Kalan

Have You Ever Felt Crazy?

Do you ever feel just completely overwhelmed?? You can hardly think because so much is running through your mind at about 1000 mph. You don’t even remember what you ate about 30 minutes ago or even if you ate so you eat again and then end up with a stomach ache. Bed time is late and then get up time is early, so sleep pretty much doesn’t happen. You have so much to do that you aren’t even sure where to start so then you are rushing around at the last minute to get everything done. Yep, that is totally where I am right now. So I thought that I needed some help and accountability. Here is the list of things that I need to get done between now and December 8^th. I know that is exactly a month away but if you knew how many crazy things I had to do between now and then you would be stressing too.

Here is my list of events and everything I have to do to accomplish the events:

1)      Surprise Party – November 10

·         Set-up decorations

·         Prep food

·         Clean house

·         Clean yard

·         Set-up food

·         Party hardy!

2)      Trip to Disney!

·         Clean house for people staying to watch our fur babies.

·         Bathe the dogs.

·         Wash a massive amount of laundry.

·         Go shopping for breakfast items and snacks.

·         Have friends over to meet our fur babies.

·         Pack clothes.

·         Pack car.

·         Forget about the world for one whole week!

3)      Mommy Owned Business Fundraiser – December 1 (More info on this soon!)

·         Order necklaces (I had to have some things crossed off the list! ;)).

·         Order Business Cards.

·         Make coasters.

·         Have Coaster Making Party.

·         Package coasters.

·         Acquire black table cloth.

·         Make necklace display.

·         Buy plate stand for coaster display.

·         Acquire cash box.

4)      Parents’ Night Out Fundraiser

·         Create event.

·         Recruit baby sitters.

·         Pick up pizzas, chips, and drinks.

·         Age appropriate activities.

So, do I have enough to do?? I am feeling a little overwhelmed and all prayers would greatly be appreciated! Thanks for reading all of my ramblings! Thank you to all of my friends for putting up with my crazy and forgetful self. A special thank you to my husband and bestie because they see it more often than not! Love you all!