Also on the home improvement menu...

storm door (41 of 47)-11.jpg, originally uploaded by willowdawn.

I've been painting the bannister and railings of our staircase in preparation for the new hardwood floors. See the dark inside my daughter's room... that will be throughout the entire house, save the two upstairs bathrooms. Painting all those nooks and crannies is a pain! Going to put the flooring in the hall this afternoon. Someday this house will be pretty... someday this house will be pretty... someday this house will be pretty...

It never ends...

storm door (25 of 47)-1.jpg, originally uploaded by willowdawn.

So last winter our storm door wasn't shut all the way and the wind pulled it... breaking the casing it was attached to. So we finally get the new one in, and it's not damaged (LONG story that I'll save for another day) and planned on installing the new beautiful door this morning. In preparation, yesterday I pulled off the old one only to find that my entire door frame and transom window over my door is completely rotten. MAKE IT STOP! This home ownership stuff is a lot of work. I'm reading to go back to base housing... let it be someone else's problem for a little while! So now we are getting a new storm door, a new front door (did I mention that I just repainted the old door, inside and out?) and a new transom window. So much for a budget! But the entry will be pretty!

Herding cats....

ANTM (24 of 47).jpg, originally uploaded by willowdawn.

would be easier than trying to photograph this child! Click this link for a slideshow of our last practice session. No direction, just all Boozilla.



OK, I give up... the html says there is a link, but nothing is showing. If you click on the photo, it is part of a set on flickr and then view slideshow for all the fun of shooting Boozilla. She walks in and out of photos at will.

Dinner with friends...

J, originally uploaded by willowdawn.

I love this shot because my hubby is laughing! He has worked incredibly long hours for the past 18 months, so to see him relaxed and enjoying himself is a treat. It doesn't hurt that he's catching up with his "other wife". A guy he used to work with, and they saw more of each other than their actual wives.

Need Opinions Please...

Playing with some new conversions...


Black and White



Chocolate



or Vanilla?

Spotsylvania Film Festival

, originally uploaded by willowdawn.

Our church has a motto:
"Loving God, Loving People
Turning the World Upside Down"

So to love our neighbors, we did free face painting at the Spotsylvania Film Festival. I say "we" but I had little to nothing to do with it, other than birth one of the artists! AJ and Julie painted the faces, arms and sometimes feet of nearly 200 kids! They took requests and painted what ever the child wanted. I had planned on helping paint, but when I saw what these two talented ladies could do, I knew any poor kid that stuck in my line would be sorely dissapointed. They loved it so much that even when the sun went down and the movie started, they wouldn't leave. We finally had to stop allowing kids in line and turn our truck around so the gals could paint in the light from the headlights! They painted non-stop from 6:00 till 10:00 p.m. They were awesome and the kids loved it!

Still painting...

Sorry for lack of updates, but I MUST finish this kitchen. This kitchen will be the death of me I'm pretty sure. When we bought the house, it was pink with grey undertones. Very dentist office-y. There was also a wall-paper border at the ceiling. Wasn't working for me, but I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to do as I needed to replace countertops and floors, and possibly new cabinets, as well. So for a quick fix, I painted it a medium coffee color. Lovely, color but I quickly realized that there wasn't enough contrast between the medium oak cabinets and the coffee walls... So next paint job was a gorgeous shade of red. Word to the wise, do NOT buy Behr brand of red paint. When I was on coat 5 of 6, I read that they have the worst red coverage. It's true. So at this point I have two coats of coffee, and six coats of red. I'm sick of painting this kitchen! Well, we finally figured out what we are doing. Reusing the cabinets, but new countertops, and dark Jacobean bamboo floors throughout then entire house. Well, the Jacobean can not be used next to the medium oak cabinets, which means, you guessed it... I'm painting not only the walls, but all of the cabinets as well. So in the past 20 months that I have lived in this house, I have personally put ELEVEN coats of paint on the walls! I'm still working on the trim and the cabinets.... Calgon take me away!

I promise to post before and after pics when after actually comes. The countertops are being reordered as they arrived damaged and the flooring is currently occupying all space in my garage!