The Joys of the Mitten State

 You are probably asking yourself why I posted this picture......did you notice that I'm wearing a wool sock???  And yes....that's a warm cup of coffee.  The weather decided to take a dip back into cold weather which means that my feet get cold and thus.....warm socks are needed.  Everyone knows how much I love the cold weather, but I'll be honest, I was starting to enjoy the springy temps and not having to wear socks with my shoes :)  Needless to say...I want the sun to return and my wool socks to be put away for a couple months.

Enough of the complaining since we all know that Michigan weather is temperamental at times.  Easter is just around the corner and I'm super excited to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Savior and Lord.  We will be in Portage for most of the weekend visiting my family and hopefully seeing David's family as well.  This holiday is more that just one day......it is the celebration of the gospel that reflects the hope and joy of Christ that I strive to faithfully believe everyday.

My last post was full of photos and this one will include some photos as well.  After receiving our tax return and using most to pay off some credit card debt, we decided to save a little for something fun.  We decided to get place to put our coffee station.  My heart was set on a dresser, but David and I compromised with this:

Its a really cute table that I distressed and painted cream.  It turned out better than I could have imagined.  We also got baskets to put underneath that stores all my mugs, coffee supplies, and tea things (yeah I know.....I have way too much coffee/tea things).  Our other purchase was a little shelf for our plants:

This I also distressed and painted cream.  I love that my little plants are able to get more sun and grow.  They are all growing now!!!!!  The tomato plant is my favorite and just started to sprout a cute little spud.......I love growth.  We ended up getting both of these at an antique store in Lansing for only $30!  We were on cloud nine.  Sure they needed a little love, but what's more fun than making things your own.

David and I have loved thriftiness and antiquing since we first got married.  It is seriously one of our favorite things to do together.  I love being able to use things that someone else has used.....it makes me feel like our stuff has character and a story.  I also love being green and using things that no one else wants.  It makes me think twice about buying anything new.  Sure there are things that I like new like appliances and things like sheets......but furniture is so much more fun to me used. 

Making things is probably one of most favorite things to do by myself.  My husband is so generous in letting his crazy crafty wife try out new ideas.  It has become so cathartic for me.  Lately I have done one project that I stole from a blog I love called "Lovely Little Things."  You should check it out under my blogs....its JJ Heller's blog which you all know I love and adore.  Anyways she had this idea to put letters above your sink and use craft paper or fabric to cover the letters.  She used the word "Wash" but I decided to use "Joy" instead.  Here is the finished project:

Isn't it cute?!?  I love doing the dishes now :)  We also got a dish drainer.  Since we use the "envelope system"......I'm going to blog about this next time......I was able to use my money for households plus BB&B (Bed Bath and Beyond) coupons to get one really cheap.  Here it is:

The kitchen has become my new favorite place since I updated a couple things to make it feel new again.  I'm really starting to enjoy our cute little humble abode :) 

That's all for now.  Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.....my husband is still sleeping.  Too bad sleeping in for me is like 8am.  Oh well...the joys of getting older I suppose.

April showers bring May flowers

I don't know about everyone else, but here in Michigan the rain season has begun.....the sun is hiding.  I can't complain though since I know that flowers are starting to bloom....as well as my little apartment garden :)  I planted some cute little plants that I nabbed from Target in the dollar section.  I'm pretty sure I jumped up and down yesterday when I saw that my basil was sprouting some little green buds.  Here are some pictures of my little guys....my hope is to get a shelf to hang under my bird wall art so they get a little more sun.  

My poor little garden....I need to get a shelf and give them more sun!

Little baby sprouts....YAY!

 In other news I was realizing something a little funny in my closet the other day.  I own more sweaters,  and long ones at that,  than anyone I know!  I decided to examine my closet (since in our college bible study that we help lead) asked the ice breaker question, "How would you explain your style sense?"  I explained that mine was "Grandma-y" since I wear sweaters and stay at home wearing slippers most of the time.  My favorite clothes consist of long sweaters and tunic like shirts.  Someone else in the group said my style was "complementarion" which is pretty much what I go for in a wardrobe :)  Only Christians would feel complemented by that observation!  Ha....I love it!   I also realized that a lot of my clothes come from the kid's section......I admit that I still fit in some of the shirts.  This makes me embarrassed to point out, but usually they are cheaper :)  My poor husband...I ask him all the time if I look too kid-ish in things since my inner child gets the best of me in clothing and decor in our home.    Anywho, hope you enjoyed my observation :)

I helped host and throw a baby shower for my sweet friend Ashley and baby Addy....and let me say that baby showers are my new favorite thing to host!  I absolutely loved pulling out some of my more kid-like decor and using all my fun bird things!  It was such a fun and relaxing shower since it was a little smaller and intimate.  It was really the highlight of my last couple weeks.  Here are some pictures:

all of the ladies!

Ash opening up gifts!

Aren't these amazing?  Alyssa made them...toasted coconut for the nests and little pink birds :)

favors!

I made little favors that had flower seeds to plant in a garden or pot!

Can't wait to meet her!

Brit made chocolate covered strawberries!  I have talented friends :)

Mom and Addy got to sit her to open gifts!

I made dirt pudding and put it in a garden pot with a shovel to serve....it was so fun to make!

 This post has a lot of pics :)  I tend to be a compulsive buyer.....my husband is not.  This can cause disagreement among us so we decided that I should make a list of all the things I would like to buy for our apartment.  That way I'm able to organize the things I want and make smart purchases that we've talked about.  One of the things I've wanted forever is a dresser to put in our dining area.  My thought is that I could use the top for a little coffee/tea station (I've wanted this ever since we got married) and use the rest for storage (we are running out of space to store things).  Below is a list of the things I'm thinking about....would love your thoughts/comments!

This is my coffee station now

This is the kind of dresser I want with the coffee station on top :)

This is the kind of shelf I want to put the "Koch garden" :)

I want new lighting in our dining room and I think this would be perfect!

This is the dish drainer I want to sit on our counter top where the coffee station is right now!

This is our bedroom right now, I'm getting a duvet cover for the bed since its kinda essential with cleaning. 

David and i made this together.  We had the frame and decided since it didn't have glass we would make a collage thing.  I think it still needs something under the plate.....I was thinking a key.

Notice the lamp base with no shade.....I got it really cheap.  We are in the market for new lamp shades since the one on the other side of the bed is not giving us enough light.  I was thinking a burlap one for the night stand and maybe a colorful one on the other side, what do you think?  The duvet is cream with ruffles so it will look like it does now.  

Whew.  Sorry for the large amounts of photos.  This is Casey's wishlist......I will have to be patient.  I'm excited to browse with my husband and gets things over time.  I feel like it will teach me to budget and save for things I would like.  Hope you enjoyed this post and let me know your thoughts!