Notefull Living

5 Things for Valentines Day

It’s tomorrow, Valentine’s Day.

I remember this day when I was little and in getting valentines from kids in class. Well things sure have changed as I know have a boy in grade 1 and am learning what it’s like to be on the other side of that.

What I’m about to share may be different then the regular run of the blog posts about Valentines. Personally I don’t make a big fuss.

Have a quick read and let me know what you think?

Here’s 5 things things for Valentines Day!

5: Make your own Valentines cards!

I’m a super frugal person. I just love a good homemade gift. I have hit up the dollar store last year for this day. Plus I was pregnant and wanted to get the ordeal over with. This year my son had a snow day and well, we made valentine’s day cards (hopefully he can hand them out this week).

I used to make scrap books and never got rid of my supplies, that sure come in handy. Plus with a day off from school for a snow day, I wasn’t going to drive to the store AND it used up lots of time.

4. Buy a Thrifted Vase

Thrifted Jar February happens to be my mom’s birthday month. For her birthday I wanted to get her a Vase with flowers. I grew up antique shopping with my parents and I had a particular one in mind. I only went to 2 thrift stores before I found what I was looking for.

I paid $2.70 (Canadian) for this jug. It’s a little smaller than your normal vase. Plus knowing my mom she has lots of flowers from her garden what will fit well in this all summer long.

P.S. Smaller vase means smaller bouquet to buy = less money. Flowers are EXPENSIVE in February. Especially before Valentines day.

3: Don’t Decorate

WHAT!! I’m a person that appreciates a well decorated space. In February, I don’t decorate for Valentines Day. Umm, in our home we just had December, the house was decorated for Christmas. January was our son’s birthday = decorated.

I just don’t make a big fuss about the day.

Here I am blogging about it…

Maybe I’m just cheap. Or, I just don’t want to get caught up in the over commercialized day.

OR, I just like what my oldest has done and made little valentines notes on our bedroom doors with pink hearts all over them. I think I’m going to keep them up as long as I can (or as long as our 3 year old will let them stay up).

2: Take time for YOU

Here’s the harsh truth. Someone (maybe that’s you reading this) we know has lost someone they love in their life and being reminded that they don’t have that person to share Valentines Day with anymore, SUCKS.

Take time for YOU. I’ve come to learn to LOVE who I am.

If we LOVE who we are, we have more of ourselves to GIVE.

And then there’s #1.

1: Valentines Day happens EVERYDAY

I’ve always been taught and have come to learn the truth that there is an amazing love story happening everyday. Not unless you believe it will you see that and experience that truth.

I choose to Follow Jesus Christ. His love for us and from God in Heaven far out shines all the commercialized crap that the world sells you today.

That’s the truth I was taught and have come to know. The message I received through a song for 2019 was LOVE.

You are LOVED – Did you know that? Everyday!

Thanks for sticking to the end.

Hope some of this was helpful.

Carrie Lynn

——————————————————————

If you like what I wrote, love to have you Subscribe to my blog.

You can Follow me on Social Media through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Did you notice this blog was ad free?

If you want to support me and my blog you can check out my side hustle.

Ask me about Arbonne Products (rescue wash in this post) at carrielynnparbonne@gmail.com or check out my website.

Living in the Suburbs

“Living in the Suburbs”, whenever I hear that phrase as a kid I didn’t think that would be me.

Plus as a kid “Suburban Living” was a place where they lived in the US. The Movies might have something to do with how I got that idea.

In my teens, living in the country I was going for a bike ride in the summer and got stopped by a vehicle. A bunch of ladies in their 20’s poke their head out. “Where’s the LAKE??”, “We’ve been driving for like EVER!!”. So I gave them directions and told them it would be maybe another 40 minutes (depending on which beach they go to).

Their last comment to me was, “You live in the BOONIES”.

It turns out a bunch of them from San Francisco where here visiting their friend from Vancouver.

The boonies comment has stuck with me because I thought they were crazy to think that. But now when we do go visit Vancouver and drive back home I think about those ladies. I put myself in their shoes and I would think driving it for the first time and when you go through to the turn off for Cultus Lake it’s mostly a lot of trees and farms (for a visitor that may seem like the boonies)…

Today, The Fraser Valley area outside of Vancouver where I grew up is vastly changing and definitely the “Suburbs of Vancouver”.

It’s becoming more like the suburbs that I saw in the movies as a kid.

Top that off, LOTS of movies and TV shows are filmed here. I recently bumped into a prop guy in the flower aisle at a local dollar store. We got chatting and he told me there was 20 filming contracts currently in town.

Living in the Suburbs is different for me. My husband grew up in town, where as I grew up in the country. As I said in the beginning I didn’t think I would be “Living in the Suburbs”. Here I am.

If your currently living in the suburbs or thinking of moving there, here’s some insight. Notefull Living (2)

I honestly thought I would have to give up so much of what I love (open space).

If I could be a mini backyard homestead I would in a heartbeat.

But, our Suburban City lot is still JUST to small for that dream.

You can still live and create your home to be the home you’ve dreamed of living in the suburbs.

Everyone has their own likes and dislikes or styles. There’s a place for community and getting to know your neighbors (or not, if you don’t want to).

I didn’t think giving our realtor our wish list that he would hit most of the check boxes for example: Family Home, Room for RV, Big backyard etc…. Then we came to this house and there was a bonus on my dream list, the greenhouse.

Along with those likes and dislikes, there’s so many options in the Suburbs. For us right now, we’ve been able to buy an affordable, “fixer upper” home. We’ve done a big renovation on our townhouse (meant to be short term to flip) and yes, it’s a LOT of work, and it paid off in the end.

I’m planning to share those renovations in the near future. I love a good “Before and After”. I’m a massive binge watcher of anything Reno and love watching the transformation. We’ve done a small upgrade in our kitchen that’s made a massive impact already.

We’ve already done some much needed work in our backyard and our house has forced us to do the major updates for the important things like the furnace and roof to name a few.

Yes, my big dream is to have acreage and if I could write a “Homestead blog” I would fully do that. BUT, like I’ve shared before we live in the suburbs and our lot won’t be able to be the little homestead dream at this time.

For now, I get an abundance of raspberries and lovely flowers from the lady behind me. Our neighbor beside has a lovely grapevine and mini orchard and we share garden tips all the time. Love where we are at and our little community.

If you like what you read, LOVE to have you SUBSCRIBE to my blog.

You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Until my next post, have a great day!

Blogging Goals

Did you set new years goals? I’ve changed how I approach new years goals. I stick to a word, my word this year is consistent.

2019 I want to be consistent with my blog.

Does using one word make a difference?

2 years ago my word was “Fearless”. I fearlessly set up my first blog (no longer exists) and started writing. This was after 2 years of that nudging that I should do this, I finally listened. I didn’t know what to expect, I learned I loved it. Last may I switched to a new platform and I’m very glad I did.

2018 my word was “brave”. Brave to me also means to be strong and courageous. With blogging you become your own “brand”. I personally find this part a challenge. Being your own brand with blogging means being in front of the camera, A LOT.

Writing a blog post and sharing some pictures is one thing. Constantly posting in stories on Instagram and Facebook, learning Twitter is a whole other learning curve.

Your welcome to follow me on any of those social media pages.

If you looking into starting a blog, a big thing is photography. I’ve always loved photography. If I look back of my years of pictures I’m always taking artsy shots.

If Blogging is a future goal of yours, get a good camera and start practicing.

What’s a niche?

The other thing about blogging is finding your “niche”, which lots of people say you can make lots of money at sharing your “hobby”. Well, maybe I’m a little off in saying this. I think blogging didn’t start out that way. It used to be a place for people to share stories and recipes.

As much as I love music, my everyday living keeps going back to a more country way of living. Like making our own broth, or grape jelly.

Definitely live a suburban life in the Fraser Valley.

Something about keeping it simple is appealing to me. Let’s just say I haven’t noticed which blogging niche I’m in yet, just enjoying blogging for now.

Picking a Blog Name

My blog name is “Notefull Living”. The word Notefull has a different or deeper meaning to me then just “noteworthy tips for everyday living”.

To share a small piece of my story. I’m a musical person and honestly there was a time where I couldn’t hear the music. Sounds weird, to be playing music and not hear it.

My Faith has a big part in making me whole again.

When I got into a better place and not dwelling on all the hurt from my past or recent loss in my life, I looked to lots of blogs (and books) for DIY, recipes and gardening ideas as I recognized they were a great outlet to make and create.

If you have something to share, share it!

Some people use the phrase that their heart is full, well literally the notes are full in my life again and I couldn’t be happier.

Everyday Living Goals

I have 3 young kids. Technology at this time with them being young is only hindering the time I have them, which is only for a short while that they are small. I would love to shut the technology all off. That’s not the world or time we live in. So being consistent with my blog is a big challenge. One I’m ready for, now that I’ve been growing and starting to become established.

My niche isn’t keeping with the popular themes “mommy blogger” that people pick. I’m just being myself. If you meet me in person, I hope I’m the person you like meeting online.

When I’m not online, I keep up with friends, hiking and getting outside in the yard with my garden. Something about gumboots that feel like home when I slip into them.

I know there’s lots of wonderful blogs out there that outline “How to make a blog”.

If it’s your 2019 goal to make one, I would love to read it.

Finding a niche isn’t easy. Just enjoy the process as you learn.

Reflections of 2018

Reflections of 2018 Is it here? The end of a year? 2018!

Next post will be in 2019!!

Many good things and difficult things have happened in 2018.

Life Storms

What a way to end 2018 in the Fraser Valley/Vancouver here in Canada we had a massive wind storm. The Pier that my husband proposed at got trashed by boats, someone had to get rescued by helicopter.

Some life storms we faced this year to do with a job change, 5 weeks early preemie baby and loss of a family member to name a few things.

Despite life storms I’ve worked more consistently at blogging. Switching to a better platform has made a big difference. I’m enjoying the journey, which it definitely is.

If I could speak openly, I’ve never thought much about venturing online and being more public and vulnerable with writing a blog. I’ll share more about that in the new year.

Best of 2018 for Notefull Living?

A big THANK YOU to everyone who is following, reading, commenting and subscribing.

If your new hear I would love to have you Subscribe!

You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Blessings to you in 2019!

Christmas at my house

Christmas of 2018 is here!

It actually just arrived a week ago. 2018 in general has been a full year for us. December was quite a ride, full of fun, but a ride and I was trying to keep up. Still am, truthfully.

Tomorrow I get to do a “Christmas at my house” presentation with my son in his classroom. So, keeping in step with that same idea I’m just going to share on here the same thing.

Here’s the deal, I have a huge appreciation for Home Decorating and by no means am I an interior decorator. Do I binge watch on YouTube and Instagram at the beautifully decorated homes, yup.

Enough of that. Here’s our home. I usually decorate more in my home. Christmas is just sticking to the living room.

IMG_9881 (2)

I’m excited for the 6 stockings. We are a family of 5, now with our little girl. A student staying with us for Christmas makes 6. Each stocking is marked by a special ornament to represent a member of the family. No – I didn’t make the stockings. I’ve been asked several times. I would like to make them in the future, once these give up.

Our mantel normally has a garland on it. With our kitchen shelf not up, the boys wanted the train out, so the mantel is full of extra fun Christmas trinkets.

IMG_9882 (2)

OK, there is a touch of homemade on here. I made my ornament one year, with the intention to finish the other ones for the family. I think I’m missing letters for everyone else. Isn’t the stocking cute? I was happy to find these for my husband and I to hang.

IMG_9880 (2)

On the side of our fireplace sits the favorite spot for everyone in the house. Our big black leather chair. We moved our wooden box for the tree to fit. I won this table runner at a market several years ago and love pulling it out every year. Yes, Style at Home magazine tends to reside here and I flip through it often.

IMG_9887 (2)

On the other side of the room I switched up by pillow covers for my DIY pillow cover made from a sweater. Above that our kids make big glittery snowflakes with their Oma this year to hang in the opening.

IMG_9892 (2)

Had to add the piano in here of course. This was the first to get decorated. I’m thankful my flute isn’t used as a weapon anymore and actually fits there with the music books so I can still play Christmas chorals (when I can).

IMG_9891 (2)

A sneak peak at the Christmas Tree. Had to share this lovely little country girl. The only ornament from my childhood tree as a kid. My initials are penned on the bottom of her shoe. Along with my new favorite Music garland.

IMG_9898 (2)

Here’s another snapshot of the ornaments on the tree. It’s real, every year we have a real tree. Yes, needles are everywhere, It’s hard to get the garland to fit just right and ornaments are hard to hang. BUT, we LOVE having a real tree. It’s great fun taking the kids to a local tree farm and cut one down.

IMG_9893 (2).jpg

There it is. Our real family inspired Christmas tree. Can you tell where the kids decorated? I keep finding ornaments all over our house from our 3 year old. Or find them moved all to one branch. Either way they are loving having Christmas set up.

December 2018

Is 2018 really almost done? I’m ready for 2019. How about you? I’m looking forward to sharing more with you in the new year.

If you haven’t already done so, Subscribe.

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Stay at Home Mom

This has been a childhood dream of mine. I wasn’t always a stay at home mom. If your thinking about making the change to do be one, I hope reading my story helps with that decision.

Here’s how I became a stay at home mom.

A dream is a dream, it’s healthy to dream. Dreams do come true, for me it came in the least way I expected.

I actually went back to work after my maternity leave for a complete year (in Canada). My job before my maternity leave was only contract, so I had no job to go back too. I ended maternity leave on a job hunt and thankfully got one. I worked for full year with having our son in childcare.

Here’s what happened next:

Sometimes life circumstances pushes you in a different direction, in the least way you expect.

I kept hearing over and over from family and friends, “you need to work to get that second mat leave”. Peer pressure, lots of it.

Long story short: We wanted to grow our family, we did get pregnant AND then we lost the baby at 17 weeks.

After many long months of grieving and attempting going back to work. We made the decision for me to stay home. Since growing a family was important to us, I obviously needed to stay home. My first pregnancy ended with a difficulty in regards to my health.

Life as a Stay at Home Mom, meant a BIG lifestyle change.

It’s a massive adjustment. We did learn I wasn’t really making any money with working and having a child in daycare. We would actually be losing money with 2 in daycare. Good thing on maternity leave I already was doing whatever I could to learn a more frugal lifestyle.

My miscarriage left me in a dark place and it wasn’t how I imagined being a stay at home mom.

Not to get all “listen to my sob story”. But this is a part of my story. It took moving out of our townhouse to a new home to really give a new and fresh perspective for our family, lifestyle and me being home. IMG_4269 - Copy

Being a “Homemaker” isn’t all, home baking and made from scratch, all the time. You can give yourself some grace when something is store bought. Or if you need a day to just REST, it’s OK.

When I mentioned it’s a big lifestyle change. I truly meant it. A big reason you resort to learning how to make things on your own, well it’s a whole lot stinking cheaper. Learning how to make a lot of my own stuff, lead me to reading blogs and watching lots of YouTube videos. I’ve been reading blogs for so long, I feel more confident than ever to be able to share my tips and experiences on here.

I’ve never learned to be more frugal. I thought my childhood growing up was frugal living.

What does my typical day look like?

39973006_425586547964896_1666949040337584128_n We now have 3 kids. Thankfully our oldest son is mostly independent, I love watching him learn. Still teaching our second son to potty train (its rough) and our little girl, just loves to give lots of smiles and is super easy going.

Some days I can make the yummy drop cheese biscuits (pictured above) to go with Sunday soup. Other days I grab a bag of cheese buns when I go grocery shopping.

If there was one thing I recommend if you are home like I am. Invest in a Kitchen Aid. I would NOT bake as much as I do if I didn’t have this on my counter. When I’m in a good mood, and want to bake, I run this thing a few times a week.

**Here’s my affiliate link for a Kitchen Aid.

Can I Bake, Cook, Clean, Sew, Mend Clothes, Cloth Diaper, Cut Hair and Have time for myself. Yes, but not all at the same time. I definitely do my best to do all those things but in the end give myself space to take some time “off”.

Being a mom there is no “Part Time or Full Time”, your a Mom “ALL the time”, in a good way.

Allow yourself a break. Even if that means when your husband walks in the door and you hand him the kid that’s been crying all day and walk out. You need to get away from the kids after a long day. I’ve done it, it happened one time that I had to GET AWAY. I’ve learned now how to decompress during the day. Remember when I said it being a big lifestyle change?

It does help that our oldest is starting to shift into helping more around the house. Yes, my husband is a HUGE help too.

Life is sure changing though since I first became a mom. Life with 2 boys is busy. Now there’s a lovely little girl in my life.

I’m not a perfect parent. I have friends and family that are parents that I look up to, they think I’m crazy when I tell them that. I’m always learning how to do things to make home life easier or flow better. There is lots of great advice and NOT great advice out there, be mindful of that. You just gotta figure out what works for you and your family as a mom.

What’s it been like for you? I grew up with a stay at home mom and it’s such a different world we live in today compared to what my mom grew up with and what my parents had when they raised me. We can always learn something from sharing our stories.

Now I’m making the transition to being a “work at home mom”.

Let me know if there is a topic you want me to cover?

If you made it to the end, Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed reading this, love to have you SUBSCRIBE.

Follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter

** I’ll be adding products to recommend from Amazon. This helps with everyday living. What could you do with a little extra money?

I’ll also be adding pictures with Arbonne in use in my home. Pictured above is the Shea Butter Duo by my Kitchen Aid.

I have a public Arbonne Facebook page that your welcome to join to find everyday living tips and product offers there, send me a message if your interested.

You can also find my direct website link here.

10 Wedding Tips

I promise the nursery blog post is coming. I’m learning September and “getting back into routine” is a bigger task then I thought.

Until then I’ll share a family post with why September is more special around our home. Wedding Sept 12 359

It’s been 10 years since my husband and I got married. September 2018 has been a wedding month for us, this month is almost over. We have been talking about our dreams and goals that we are currently living.

YES, Dreams do come true.

We even watched our reception video (lots of fast forwarding), made a favorite meal, read our wedding bible verse and discussed our next dreams and goals for what’s ahead.

But, If you have been reading my blog then you know some of those future goals already and I don’t want to repeat myself.

This list I’m going to share are often the things we let our friends or family know when they are getting married. Everyone gives advice, but we’ve learned couples want to hear from those who have gotten married in the last 5 to 10 years.

So, here’s a list of 10 Wedding Tips:

1: It’s a celebration of you and your future spouse, it’s YOUR day. Wedding planning can get dramatic. I was one of three brides living under one roof to know how “dramatic” it can get. I’m just going to leave it at that.

Wedding Sept 12 305

From experience here’s a few….

“Do’s and Don’ts”

2: Do your research for a wedding photographer. The one we wanted would have costed a good chunk of our entire wedding budget. Wedding photography isn’t cheap, do your research.

3: Don’t make your own veil. I thought it was crazy what they charged and what you got for the veil itself. 1/2 way through making mine I knew WHY. I love a good DIY , however no matter how much I did my best to secure the beads my veil was coming apart most of the day.

4: Do find a good rental company. We rented our table centerpieces. The rest was made by family or gifted. Our wedding arch is a part of my garden currently. I love decor and decorating but having the same of 20 plus table centerpieces can add up and you have to do something with it after. No, Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of what ours was.

True fact: Pinterest didn’t exist when we got married

Yes, I’m technically a “millennial”, pinterest would have been a great help particularly in this area. However, I do like that we got to use a lot of our own creativity for the decor. Their wasn’t much online back then for “ideas”.

Attention BRIDES: Someone I know locally has a business just for this and I wish her business was running 10 years ago.

If you live in the Fraser Valley, check her website Elegant Decor Rentals

5: Don’t make your own invitations or thank you cards. Just like the wedding veil that was time I could have spent doing other things. We had a “card making” party with family which was fun, but in the end was a big job. There’s lots of great options now that can still give that crafty vibe I was going for.

6: Wedding Car: I’m grateful for the car we got to use. Here’s the thing, it was a MESS. If your ever planning to lend your vehicle for a wedding. PLEASE, clean your car out. We unexpectedly got to borrow someone’s summer convertible before it went into storage.

Wedding Sept 12 349 I got a sunburn on our day, it was HOT out.

A convertible car was fun, but not when your feet can’t reach the floor boards from all the garbage.

7: Remember to write a proper “Thank You” speech for the reception. We didn’t pay attention to this detail and were fully caught of guard when we got called up.

Going to other wedding since our wedding we always joke and look at each other at what a good job the couple does when they list and name everyone, that helped make their day happen.

8: Wedding Cake:

Wedding cakes don’t always have to be wedding cakes.

This was one of my favorite of breaking the “wedding cake” tradition. We had homemade cream puffs done by my mother in law. Every time I see this picture I just want to eat some.

Wedding Sept 12 419

9: Destination? No our wedding wasn’t, I’m not talking Mexico or Hawaii either. I can’t take credit for this.

One of our friends did this recently. Our wedding guest list hit 200, a lot of that is family. Our friends list easily was 300. So they chose to go to a resort a couples hours drive from where they lived. The capacity of the resort was much less and helped refine the guest list.

Dreams do come true. I’ve said this before. This wedding was BEAUTIFUL. The ceremony was on a frozen lake and it was SNOWING, during the ceremony. The name “Narnia” kept coming up. Just to give you an idea of how to picture this incredible day.

10: This tip isn’t actually wedding related but worth sharing. This was told to us before we got married, we did this and deeply appreciate the tip.

Go on a DATE just before the wedding.

One rule: No wedding talk allowed.

As I shared before, wedding planning can be dramatic, and obviously busy. This date just brings you back to the one person that you want to be with.

Marriage to my husband and I is a big deal. It’s a day that you start being a family. Your life isn’t all about you anymore it’s the loved one that you get to share it with.

Wedding Sept 12 374

If your reading this and getting married, congrats!

Relax and Enjoy your day when it comes.

Have fun, be yourself.

I hope some of these tips are helpful.

This last picture, is one of our favorites from our wedding day. It’s “US”.

I remember thinking the photographer was crazy to ask me to pose like this, but I couldn’t stop laughing. First picture we framed and was on our wall right away.

If you liked this post you can subscribe or follow my blog.

You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram.

I’m hoping to now that a routine is starting to take shape at home to keep up with posting new content.

Boys Bedroom

Here’s is the Boys Bedroom. Here I share some tips to help make a small shared bedroom space work.

Boys Room(Shared) Here’s a look at our boys bedroom. With the arrival of our little girl, we knew we had to put the boys together.

Here’s the thing: The bedroom is 10′ x 10′

We learned, from visiting friends houses with bunk beds in their kids bedrooms, that it wouldn’t be a safe option for our second son.

We were given the matching bed frames, which do stack into bunk beds. However we are missing the ladder and some important hardware to make the set into bunk beds again.

There’s many things about this room that I love.

With it being small, keeping it SIMPLE was key to making this space work.

Our oldest wanted the room to be ALL red. So we worked on a compromise. We talked about making a red racing stripe.

While doing our researching we really liked the classic: red, blue and grey “Superhero” colors.

We have a house built in the 1970’s so we took the red and painted it on the boxed out curtain rob (They are ALL over this house).

Here’s the “stripe” we made. I can’t get over how great this turned out. The boys call it many things, but not a racing stripe.

The boys think it looks like a super hero cape or a laser beam, and many other creative things.

TIP: Use yellow painters tape if you want to make the same look.

Here’s all the colors together. One of my favorites in this room is the artwork on this wall. It can fit in many different spaces in a home. I was hoping it would still work in their room and I think it still does.

What also makes this space great is the bedding and decorative pillows.

Can you see where the color scheme idea is coming from? The motorcycle pillow originally comes from the first bedding set we bought for our oldest. This has been “driven” all over our home.

We got the bed sheets recently from Costco. The comforters are duvet covers from IKEA.

I fully thought I bought matching bed sheets, nope, matching duvet covers.

It worked out in the end, the boys had different comforters so this helped keep everything matching without buying all new bed sets.

Curtains are still original and work as great black out curtains. Plus the grey worked out. So I’ve kept them for now.

Keeping a shared space organized can be tricky.

I went to the dollar store and bought these bins and put some in the closet and some under their beds.

Remember my oldest wanted an ALL red room. You can tell which side is his.

I love these bins. They are easy for the boys to clean up and move toys back down to the playroom if they bring some up. The bins are also great to store, artwork or paper work from school.

Here’s another angle with the blue wall again.

I’ve purposely not shown the closet, I’m still trying to figure out how to make some kind of system. This is where sharing a room is challenging.

We are still planning to build and add our own DIY floating shelves. The floating shelves will go near the end of their beds on the wall.

Currently all their personal stuff that would go on them are in the closet.

Hope you enjoyed this small tour of our sons small shared bedroom.

The paint we used was by DULUX:

Fashionable Grey
Salty Dog (Blue)
Positive Red

TIP on saving money to buy paint: buy the small cans when doing a feature color. Since this room is small that worked the best for us. We had enough to do 2 coats.

Additional tip: Wait for paint to go on sale. We always buy the cans on sale and don’t tint them right away. We wait to tint them when we are ready to paint another space.

Can’t wait to share the nursery next.

I would love if you would subscribe to the blog.

You can follow me on Instagram and Facebook with the links on the side.

Have a great weekend.

August Birthdays

Sharing a family update today. The end of summer is more then just busy with back to school, we have birthdays in our family.

Anyone else busy with August birthdays?

It’s a busy month, it’s not just summer holidays in the mix too.

Today is my birthday. A big shout out to all my other birthday buddies in the world.

Happy Birthday

3 years ago this date was also my seconds sons due date. He is the only one of my kids that’s gone overdue, so thankfully we don’t share the same birthday. Having birthday’s close in the family makes for interesting family get together’s. I have lots of nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts and cousins with August birthdays.

My Aunt and I share the same day!

Does being a year older make me wiser? That always is my grandfathers question. He’s 96 years old, I think so.

How I celebrate my birthday today is very different then how I used to. As a kid I counted down the days in August. A teenager, I learned where the present hiding spots where. End of August birthday also meant no one was around for your birthday party as they were all going on that one last holiday with the family.

When I graduated, it meant the first week of college was literally a week away. Just after I turned 22, I was getting married in a few short weeks.

For a short time when we first got married I didn’t want to celebrate my birthday, it’s just another day, NO IT’S NOT. Why bothering sharing this. Believing your not worth it is a dangerous mind set to live with.

Celebrate YOUR day. Your worth it.

Today, as I said, I’m celebrating differently then I used too.

I texted my husband spontaneously and we had lunch together as a family. Dream come true, that was never possible before. I put on my favorite earrings, summer dress and did my makeup. After lunch we picked out candies at the old fashioned store and sat at the park across the street and enjoyed our treats.

My oldest asked me today when my friends where coming over, “isn’t that what your supposed to do?“. I also bought a bunch of sunflowers from the flower stand in the little village.

“Mom, your friends are supposed to buy you flowers, not you”……

On the drive home I told him I was having lunch with my friends. It’s my hope that when your older you will see me more then just a parent but a friend you can always talk too.

Side note: Fighting in families isn’t fun, it makes for birthdays and other special occasions especially difficult.

The day isn’t over yet, looking forward to what’s ahead.

Again, if your birthday is today, August 28, HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

Remember: celebrate YOUR day, YOUR worth it.

Home Tour update: I’ve learned attempting to photograph the kids rooms on top of regular family life is quite the challenge. You will see more once it’s done.

It would be great if you could follow my blog. I also am on social media with Facebook and Instagram.

Have a great day, I know I will.

Home Tour

I’ll be doing a series of post with a Home Tour of our home. We are finally have the time to start the much needed renovations. I’ll be sharing our Kitchen, Living Room and Upstairs bath.

Noteworthy Tip: If you are buying a home and it’s been “renovated”. Take someone with you that’s done renovations or does renovations for their line of work.

No one wants to re -renovate a “reno”.

Brief Background:

Since before my husband and I got married I’ve binged watched on home renovation shows. Have a huge appreciated the work of Interior Designers and their creativity with designing and Home Decor.

We live in the Fraser Valley, just outside of Vancouver BC. The housing market here is nuts. 4 years ago we sold our renovated townhouse and bought this house.

With our budget and the neighborhood we wanted to buy in, this was the right house for us. Since we had already done renovations with our first home our realtor knew he could show us homes that needed some much needed reno’s but still livable.

The only rooms that have done are the kids rooms. Everything as you see in the photo’s is still as is.

The Kitchen – 1970’s anyone? This kitchen is hanging onto the 1970’s.

We suspect there was an attempt to paint the cabinets? I think that’s why there’s a 2 toned thing happening? At some point this kitchen got a new counter top and flooring.

This kitchen may seem big, but this is it for cabinets, it’s a challenge for food storage.

Living Room

I’m not an expert on home decor or furniture. There’s lots of “styles” out there. Here you get a glimpse of what we like. Home Decor and Furnishings can get expensive fast. Working at a home decor store and helping interior designers taught me that. I’ve done what I can currently with a limited budget to still have solid pieces.

When it comes to “styles”, I found this in one of my magazines which sums up what I think is my style. I would change the word cottage for country.

Rustic Cottage Style: Distressed paint, tarnished metal and reclaimed wood; collected antiques, heirlooms and flea market finds. This style is a reflection of a well-loved space with a story to tell that gets richer over time. Style at Home Magazine

There’s a lot in our living room of heirlooms, antiques that is well- loved with stories to tell. When it’s time to fully renovate the kitchen and living room, you will see the Rustic Country style more in our home.

Currently we have bought a custom designed couch and my hubby got his big leather chair. We are looking forward to the day we can get rid of the carpet.

Upstairs Bathroom

On the listing for this house, it claimed to have an updated bathroom. This was the first house we settled with living with someone else’s DIY Reno. This is why I shared my noteworthy tip in the beginning.

Our realtor commented we weren’t his usual clients and picked out things most people wouldn’t.

You learn a lot about a house when you renovate one.

The blue, in my opinion is intense. It’s on the ceiling too. I’m glad my decor from our townhouse fit in. I also found a shower curtain that works with this space.

I’m not a pro photographer, this picture was hard to take.

This bathroom is functional (ish). We have gotten used to the outdoor tile on the floor. I’m surprised the cabinet doors and drawers are holding up, considering the granite (I’ve learned to dislike) is custom fitted. The under mount sink also doesn’t fit the counter top, it’s a mold fest under there. We’ve stopped trying to fix the drain plug.

What’s next?

We’ve been shopping for supplies and this weekend will be moving things around to start making this place more our own.

If you have been reading my blog, you will know Music is a big part of my life. To give a hint of the space we are updating, you will notice my piano isn’t in these pictures.

My Piano is in the area of the kitchen.

When the renovation is done I’ll post a before and after.

Until then I’ll give a tour of the kids rooms. I love how our boys room turned out. I’ve already shared on Instagram a sneak peak.

If you haven’t already, Please follow my blog and for more everyday living of what I’m up to you can follow me on Instagram or like my page on Facebook.