Spring cleaning

Let's be honest here.  I don't really spring clean.  Don't get me wrong, I actually do enjoy cleaning but I just don't have a lot of time.  However, over the last few weeks the tiles in our bathroom have been driving me crazy they were so disgusting.  It was time to get the job done, my friends.

All it took was a spray bottle of Vim and a hard bristled scrub brush.  A winning combination.  The results?  A Christmas miracle.

Don't judge me by the before picture.  I do clean the bathtub...but the grout was so gross!!  It isn't the easiest thing to wash week to week because a regular old rag just doesn't cut it.

That scrub brush worked a miracle.  The grout isn't perfectly white because it's old and cracking a little bit in some places, but it is so much better than before!  What a satisfying project.

Mother's day 2013

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.  This is my third year as a "mother" to baby Leroy!  So happy he moved in with us in 2011.  He likes to call me Mummy. :)  He brings a lot of joy into my life even though he doesn't like to cuddle like this anymore!

Big changes

Nothing too major...just became a redhead!

Welcome home

How could I be upset that these two left me for a week-long fishing trip when they come home and look this cute?  Glad they're back!

Why are we going it alone?

Lately I've been thinking a lot about connecting with people.

I have always been someone who has a lot of friends.  More specifically, I've had good friends.  People I can tell things to, vent to.  People I know things about and they know things about me.  They know how I feel about things, how I react to things, and what keeps me going.  Since we've moved here I haven't always felt that way.  There are people I talk to, but not many people I have made that deeper connection with.  This winter has been particularly difficult with school being so draining that I feel like I rarely see my husband, let alone anyone else.

I've been talking to friends about this recently and I'm not the only one who feels this way.  It seems hard to be on that deeper level with people.  A lot of times I feel like people are silent about their problems and it's almost "shameful" to have personal struggles.  I don't usually post thoughts like this on my blog, but I feel the need to get a thought out there.

And no, I'm not about to post a personal confession or anything like that.  That's exactly what I'm trying to say... Get out there and talk to a real person about it.  Don't keep quiet.  Don't post it on facebook.  Don't email someone about it.  Talk about it.  To a real person - face to face.

You don't have to be alone in your problems.  Here is what happens when you go it alone... When you don't share your life and your struggles with others:

1. You don't get any support.  If no one knows about it, no one can help you.  And not even in the sense of offering advice, just in the, "Hey, that sucks.  Sorry you're going through that.  I don't understand cause I've never been there but I want you to know I'm here for you."

2. You feel like you're the only one who has ever been through this.  Who knows?  When you share things with people, you might find out they've been there too.  "I think I'm going to lose my job."  "Oh really?  That's awful.  That happened to me a few years ago."  You're not the only one out there who has feelings and whose life isn't perfect.  You're pretty much the majority. :)

3. When someone else goes through a difficult situation, they feel like no one else has ever been there.  How would they know you've also been unhappy in your marriage, struggled with addictions, been unhappy for no good reason?

Do you see?  It's better if we share it.  We can help each other.  Hopefully we can give each other a little of God's love, because He's the one who gets us through things.  Prayer and hope are essential, and sometimes God will reach you through someone who is entirely human...and that's the whole point of the matter.

Something to think about.

Mint candy apple

I spent last weekend in Quebec City for a conference and although I spent most of my time studying, I did go on a few walks through the old city and managed to sneak in a tiny bit of shopping.  I didn't come away much but I found these great pajama pants at Simons.  Funny thing is I actually remember this store from my last trip to Quebec City...in grade eight.  There is one Simons location outside of Quebec, in Edmonton.  It's a nice little store.  Anyway, back to the pj pants.  I thought it was quite cute because my toenail polish matches them perfectly, (my toes are Essie Mint Candy Apple).  How cute are the pants?

Master bedroom - post two

Have you ever had a small project that escalated quickly?

Initially I really wanted to paint the ceiling in our bedroom.  The old ceiling was white (which is fine), but it's a bit boring and I like to think of the ceiling as another wall.  I picked out a cream/pink coloured hue from Behr called "Palatial."  Sounds nice, doesn't it?  It is.

Not sure if you can tell from the photos but the ceiling is indeed Palatial. 

Once all the furniture was out of the room I could see just how poorly the walls had been painted.  Not to say the previous owners were bad painters...but the previous owners were bad painters.  And that white trim wasn't looking so white in places.  And we had always talked about ripping the carpet up.  With all the furniture out of the room, this was the time, wasn't it?  (I am not a fan of the light fixture either but that seems more expensive and difficult to change out - I wouldn't be doing that one myself - so it's there indefinitely.)  We're actually thinking of adding crown molding at some point in the near future but I'm not making myself any promises.

Here it is - another post of my tiny project turned slightly larger project.