Back to the Bedroom

So, a few days ago, I was going to organize my room and therefore posted pictures of my messy, unorganized, very "live in" bedroom. I got sidetracked.

Now, I'm back on track, and thanks to a lot of company coming tomorrow, I was forced to clean up and get things looking presentable. Here's what I did:

•  Bookshelf with coloring books, crayons, foam boards and letters, canvas, card games, books, books, books, a basket of lotion, books, books. We have a lot of books. :)
•  Bookshelf on other side of the bed, has my school books, some cookbooks, a basket of perfumes, my first glass doll that my grandmother bought me when I was about 6, the book I'm currently reading on top of my alarm clock, lotions, a drawer full of nail polish, and then books and books. 
•  My bed, made.
•  Small bookshelf with a few catch-all baskets.
• Desk (actually a dining room table!) with the drawers under it. Drawers contain all of my ribbon and other crafting needs, and a box of fabric is towards the wall, infront of the chair. 

I call today successful. Finally, I have a haven!

Camera Settings

I had a grand time today. I played with the settings on the camera, and found the correct one to photograph my bows with in order to have the correct color and texture come out!

So, I'm very excited to present my latest creations:

Bedroomville, Texas

The other day, we were bored inside, so I pulled out some tape and told Daughter to get all her little cars and little people and we were going to build a town in her room. 

It was a lot of fun! The masking tape came right off a few hours later, and she spent a few hours on her floor with these toys.

Bedroomville, Texas, USA 

(:

My Friend's Creation

When I was in the 5th grade, my best friend moved away. I was heartbroken. I remember going into 6th grade orientation with my parents, and losing it when I saw that the teacher had put her desk next to mine, not knowing that she had moved away, and expecting her in class the following week. That's a great first impression to your teacher, I'm sure. Anyway, her name is Jade. We were always together, and my family even took her with us to meet my mother's family in Georgia. My family didn't take anyone else, ever. So just please understand that she was the closest thing to a soul mate that I had found. Perhaps she still is, because when we lost contact over the years, it never meant I didn't think of her. 

As soon as MySpace came to be, I searched her name, but had no results. Then came Facebook. Same thing. Until just one night, out of the blue, I thought I'd try again. I did. And there she was. She hadn't changed a bit. I hesitated. What if she had forgotten me? What if she broke contact for a reason unknown to me? What if she didn't accept my friend request? 

But you never know unless you try, so I clicked the button, sighed, and went to sleep. The next day, she called me. I tried to hide my excitement, but I was so happy to hear from her. We talked a while, caught up, and started our friendship off right where we ended it years before. We text now and then now, when we have time, at least once a week. There's something about us that survived the sands of time, and we have each other, even if we are hours away.

I always thought that maybe we would be so different as adults than we were as children that we would have nothing in common at all now. And on some subjects, it's true. Overall, though, we are alike as can be. Two peas in a pod, if you will. We both craft for fun. We love kids. Her stepdaughter resembles my daughter, and they're about the same age. She's a little more outdoorsy than I am, perhaps a little healthier, but I'm working on it. I think it's always been that way with us. Anyway, you get the point. She's like the icing on my cake, and it brings a whole new meaning to the doodles we would doodle on our book covers in 5th grade that read "BFF".  

That's the back story to my post today. I mentioned we both craft. Well, she sent me a picture of her latest creation this morning, and I fell in love! She said she's going to try and sell some, but didn't know how to get it out there. I mentioned my blog, asked if I could post about her and her creation. Of course, she said yes, or else I'd be doing this without her permission. I'd never do that. 

Is this not the cutest? I'd hang it in the kid's room in a heartbeat. I want a "B" done for our living room when I move out of my parent's house and back in with my husband! I'm seriously just in love with this whimsical cuteness.

So here's the neat part. You can just let me know what letter and what color, and what size you want. 9x12, 8x10, 5x7 or 4x6. I'll get all the information to her to complete your order.

Bows

I made these bows a while back. And I've sold most of them, I just thought I'd post them here, too, if only to say, "Hey, look what I did!" :)

Red Boutique Bow:

1.5 inch ribbon sewn together for major sturdiness. We need it out here in this wind, and you may need it if your daughter has a wild side out on the playground!

Blue Spirits:

My little cousin was in the state playoffs (football and basketball this year!), and my grandfather took Daughter to every game he attended. Auntie informed me that next year, I will making a lot of bows and selling them before playoffs, because at every game, someone asked her for a bow! 

Colorfun:

These bows are all unique. I will not make a copy. I heard a lot of complaining from coworkers when I worked that there are all these girls running around with copies of each other. So I'm making them the fun and unique bows, that no other little girl will have! No mistaking these when they're left at daycare/school!

Christmas

Simple Bows:

Simple and easy to match to an outfit. Could I call them Daddy Day Bows??

Honor Bows:

Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day... Whatever the occasion, Red, White and Blue will prove your Patriotism! 

Spring Time

Leprechaun Bows

Another Blue Spirit Bow

Visit... or... Post in a few days!

My husband, who drives trucks, just sent me a text about an hour ago that he has been put up in a hotel about three hours away from the house. I'm on my way to see him now! I haven't seen him since October! I'm very excited and cannot wait to see him!
Mostly this post here is to let you know it may be a day or two before I post again. I know it's less money for his rig to be parked, but oh my gosh, we need time with Daddy!!! :)

Bedroom Organization

I'm working on some organization today. I have so much to do! I'm starting in my bedroom. I'm pretty much done with the kid's room and bathroom. I wish I had before pictures to show you of those but sometimes things happen! O well. Just trust me when I tell you it was cluttered and messy. So, here's my bedroom:

 I have the two bookshelves that need to be organized.

 Laundry EVERYWHERE that I need to put away.

 My craft corner. I need to figure something out to make it look a lot more inspiring! 

Now, yesterday I did do a lot in the kid's room and bathroom:

 Where the little drawers were, I had a small bookshelf. I had everything just stacked up on the bookshelf, and it was horrid. You couldn't hang a towel on the rack, so Daughter couldn't reach it, therefore we had water spots all over the floor into the kitchen or where ever else she thought about finding a towel she could reach. I added the drawers and stole the bookshelf for my room. 

 This is something I need to work on today or tomorrow. It's the bottom of the kid's closet.

 Someone help!

Shoe holder I took from my closet to kid's room. It's holding Daughter's shoes right now, and toys. I'm going to make another box for the other side of the drawer part (the drawer broke but it's a good shelf still).

I better get work! Hopefully you wont be able to recognize my spaces when I put up the after pictures.

Room and Board

I'm annoyed right now at the fail that technology provided me earlier. 

I took all these pictures on a card, went to upload them onto the computer to blog about them, and I get a lot of "sdfjas;dlkjfweo#x#$@#$$%^(^adlkjf" type of named files, none of which contain pictures. Ugh. So.... 

My blog this week (and probably until I start the 21 Day Challenge: http://mommybloggerweightlosschallenge.com) is going to be about organizing my bedroom, craft corner, school supplies, kid's room, linen closet and bathroom. I have a pretty tiny space for my stuff in this house. I live in a huge house, but MY part of it is tiny in comparison to the common areas. I'm grateful for it, because when I leave home from living with my parents, I always have the problem of trying to fill the space I move into. But I only need what I have in these tiny two rooms. Three if you count the bathroom, which I could fit into my room without problem. 

Let me tell you the story of my bedroom, 'cause it's neat. In May of last year, I found out that I was pregnant. I was split in my reaction to the news, seeing as to how I was about to finish out my first year of college, I lived four hours from my family, my husband and I are separated, and I was not seeing the only person who could have been the father of child any longer. Any longer meaning that I had dumped the jealous stalker who was getting in the way of me and school. Five months before I found out about Son. After Stalker broke into my apartment one night, I saw him only once, when I was on a "date" with Roommate and we ended up eating at the place where Stalker was working as a busser. Nice back-story? Well, I finished up semester at College and Parents and I decided it would be best if I moved Home. West Texas, here I come again. But the only spare bedroom in the new house (yes, there's a back story there, too, that I may tell sometime) was not big enough for Daughter, Son and I all at once. There was, however, a space behind a closed door that resembled what once could have been a room, but you could enter the backyard through. There was a frame, no walls, no real ceiling, and the electric work was what Brother (certified electrician and USMC who spent 2 tours in current war on Terrorism) "a cluster f*ck of electric work I've never seen a comparison for". So Brother, Dad and Grandpa went to work while I was hospitalized and completed this room. It's great. Made just for me! Literally.

The back wall of the room has two bookshelves in each corner, and my bed fits between them. Perfectly fits between the bookshelves. I don't know about you, but my head sure likes to sleep between books. It's the best. I have a window over my head, too. It's great. And the "cluster" of electrical work was changed into a wonderful dimmer that hangs over my bed, so when I breastfed Son, or when Daughter comes into room late at night, or I just want some "mood lighting", I can just dim the lights accordingly and do what I need to do. I also have a ceiling fan and full light on it, so it's whatever I need or am in the mood for. My closet is almost perfect in size. I could use a little more, but hell, it's a room. That wasn't here when I moved in. So I'm not complaining. 

I don't have a dresser. I did, but when Son got bigger and needed more space for clothes, I stuck it in the kid's room and I'm just hanging all my clothes. My unmentionables I just have in a little canvas storage box inside of my closet, so I can hide them if necessary. 

Now the fun part of my room is the inspiration for my blogs this week. I have a little corner for crafting. My great grandmother's dining room table is covered in my computer, markers, ribbon, paper, and notebooks full of lists of things I would like to do. It's my craft corner. In this corner, I will create cuteness. In this corner, I need cute. I need cute and organized. I will create cute organization in this corner. In this corner I'll create it. (OK, it's Sunday, and I caught some church service on the radio this morning, and then finished off the night with Dr Suess, so I'm into repeating myself a little today). 

I'll post pictures tomorrow of my Cute Crafty Corner. 

On a side note...Daughter read at least half of Dr Suess tonight. I am extatic at her site reading skills! Will post pictures of her working on those, also.

Of course, I boasted about Daughter, so let me boast about Son. It's crazy to think that this time last year, I still didn't know he was coming. Anyway, he's really starting to move and stand up. Today his thing has been "Bye Bye!" and waves.

I love being their Mommy.

21 Day Weight Loss Challenge

Yesterday, it was about 85 degrees here. Granted, the wind was blowing, but it was still HOT! So, I went and got my St. Paddy's Day shirt, and thought, "Screw jeans, it's too hot! I'm going to wear shorts"... Well, I put on the shorts and decided my legs are fat. I have that little muffin top looking thing, but it's on my knees, not my waist. Well, I have one there also, but dress accordingly. So right before summer, I realize...I'm fat.
It's not just "baby fat"... no, this is going on 5 years of "baby fat" that never went away. I gained a LOT of weight with Daughter. 70 pounds. I actually lost all of my pregnancy gain in about three days with Son, though! (That's 'cause I was sick and almost going to die and my doctor said, "We were going to wait for this afternoon, but we can't wait any longer!") Anyway, that's a different story. Check back later for it. But back to where I was, I'm fat. I'm upwards of 250 pounds, standing at only 5'3''. My back hurts, I ache most of the time. It's because I'm not healthy. I drink water all day, eat in moderation, and eat healthy. I move more than I ever have, with two kids to chase after. (I lied there, I moved SO MUCH MORE when I was in marching band...maybe that's what I need to do again.) But I never loose, I maintain. I don't understand. So something HAS to be wrong with what I'm doing, even if what I'm doing seems to be the right things.
So, when my friend asked if I'd like to do this with her, I said yes. I'm going all in. I haven't read the rules all the way through, or even looked at the menu, but absolutely think it's something I need to do. Besides, summer's coming up, and I'm thinking, "I need to be able to wear shorts!"

Who needs it?

Who needs a sewing machine?? I can do so much with a hot glue gun!

Yes, just a hot glue gun. Perhaps I shall put the sewing machine away for good.

Sewing?

I tried my hand at sewing today. When I say "today", I mean it's the only thing I did. Well, I watched Dumbo with Daughter and played around on the floor with Son, and made a leprechaun trap... But mostly, I tried making this "Anywhere Chair", that's suuupppppeeerrrr cuuuuute. Check it out here:
http://www.madebymarzipan.com/?x=2038
But instead of the super cuteness that Marzipan creates, I created a huge mess and wasted supplies.
I'm going to go hit reset and try to not cry that I wasted 5 hours on something that went so wrong.
I'm usually not this depressed when I screw something up. I know it's a learning process and all that hooplop. But I really needed this chair for dinner tomorrow when we go to my grandfather's. He has an old high chair that Son is going to wiggle out of in about .05 seconds. Honest. I'll post pics, 'cause I'm sure we're going to be forced into using it tomorrow, just out of desperation!
Anyway, I'm going to practice, and maybe revisit the Anywhere Chair again someday. Maybe when I'm a grandmother myself. I'll make it for one of the kid's kids, and have a laugh about how I screwed it up so royally when they were babies.

So Close!

I have been pretty tired these last 2 days. I have been at work until midnight all week. With the spring forward, it really has screwed me up. But it's alright, I'm almost finished with this job and then I'll be rested. I can't wait to spend more time with the kids and more time at the farm, working. I'd rather work on the farm than for Dreaded Place.

But, for a few more days, I work at Dreaded Place. Today, then on Thursday and Friday. Last three days!!! I'm VERY EXCITED! Meanwhile, I've got a lot to do today. I've got to:

make my bed

coffee

clean room

organize shelves

vacuum kitchen

mop kitchen

drink more coffee

dress kids

daughter's hair

clean kid's room

coffee (all day long)

work from 3-11

I have a lot more to do, but I'm going to wait. 

I'm still very tired from last night. I hope I'll be able to function at work tonight. Well, really I'm not all that sure I care to make sure I am functioning. I have been functioning there pretty well the last few months, I'm sure one night towards the very end isn't going to make them fire me early. And if it does, so be it.

Just to show off, I'm going to post a picture or two that I found on the computer. I had this computer in storage, pulled it out, set it up, and am good to go.

Summer time is coming up, and I'm sure I'll have a lot of pictures with Daughter being a fishy in the pool. This one is from last summer.

And day before yesterday, I went into the kid's room to this: Son standing in his crib.

He's just over 9 months, not even crawling, and I'm worried about him jumping out of his bed! I'm going to lower the mattress as soon as I can, I just need to find time to go to the garage when Bubbe (my mom) is awake (she works nights), and dig through the thousands of piles of small tools that Pappa (my dad) has laying around out there.

That's all for today; I'm going to go start my chores. I feel 12, calling them chores, but that's what they are, right?

Have a great day, friend!

I Could Be a Morning Person...

But Morning Doesn't Like Me!

Daughter let me sleep in this morning. It was nice. But my first thought upon waking was, "O crap, where's Son??" Of course, he's in his crib sleeping. I think something was off this morning or last night, 'cause he's usually up playing in his crib by (at latest) 9 am! So here it is, 10:15, and I hear nothing. Daughter says she's been watching the fireplace this morning. I was in a dead sleep, so I have no clue if she went back to sleep after my father woke us up at 6:30 looking for his car keys. If not, she'll nap good today.

Well, back to Son. He was just hanging out in his crib, happy to see me when I walked in. Smiles so big at me, I can't help but beam back. He's such a little cutiepie. I know I'm a bit biassed, seeing to that he's my son. But come on. Look at him!!!

I should wake up to this EVERY morning. I love that grin. Great for mornings like this, when I hurt all over, can barely move, and didn't get enough sleep. I am working at "a store" deli right now. Deli being a hot bar with huge variety of fried chicken, fried chicken, fried potatoes, fried shrimp, and baked chicken. Chicken, chicken chicken. Also, have the sandwhich meat and cheeses that we slice however thick you want, however much you want. I close this place nightly, and it's very reduntant, and management is horrid.

 We have all sorts of crazy scheduling in our house in order to not pay daycare, because it's expensive! So I work from 3 to 11 PM. Most of the time I don't clock out until about midnight. So I crawl into bed about 1, and try to go to sleep, but fail misserably. And then comes morning. Daughter will run into my room and say, "Good morning! It's morning time. Time for breakfast. Time for coffee! The sun is up!" She has no clue how much I just want to sleep. But, I get out of bed, get her breakfast, set her up all nice in the kitchen. Sometimes, I get back in bed.

It's not like I have an easy job. Sometimes, it's easy. But yesterday, I had a truck to unload, frieght to put way in the steels, dishes to wash, food to cook and heavy trash to throw. All that while tending to customers. I am almost finished with this job, though. I can't wait for my last day. It's going to be on the 16th. My hands are dry to the point of cracking open and bleeding just from making a fist. Lotion doesn't work. I'm using medicated stuff with menthol that just makes them burn at first, but help enough to keep the bleeding down. Anyway, this morning my back hurt because I dropped chicken grease on the floor and slid around for a few hours. I had customers, and no time to clean the spill. I almost fell a few times, and I'm sure I threw off my back making sure I didn't land on my butt in all of that grease.

When I finally left Work, I drove home, but it was sleeting. I couldn't go very fast. I live in the middle of nowhere, and it takes me 30 mins most nights to get home. Last night was an extra 20 because of the wind, fog, and sleet. I get home, and read a chapter of The Hunger Games. If you haven't read this book, please grab a copy. If you have read it, you know that I couldn't just read a chapter. I started the book just two nights ago, and I'm already more than half way finished with the games. I want nothing more than Katniss and Peeta to find each other and for Katniss to realize she loves Peeta as much as he loves her! So my chapter turned into four, and finally I had a reality check when my phone went off and I was forced to check the time. 2 AM.

So I went to bed. Just to have Daughter wake me up at 6:30 to announce she is going to see Papa (my father, who's getting ready to leave for work). Then he asked me where his car keys are. So she was wide awake. I had her eat a banana and come back to bed. Books were provided to prevent certain boredom. I think she went back to sleep. Sometime between Papa leaving and Bubbe (my mother, who, at 6:30 or 7:00 AM, arrives home from working all night) coming home, I went back to sleep. Hard sleep. Nice sleep. I dreamed of hunting human game and grease spills.

Today, I have to go to Work. I am tempted to call in sick. But shouldn't. I hate having to close alone, and really hate for someone to have to do it, because, as much as I hate Working at Work, I love my coworkers. They're wonderful friends that I'm going to miss when I leave Work.

Anyway, it's time to get the kiddos bathed and ready for the day. And time to put my laundry away, make Daughter's bed, and find somewhere to store all my bow making materials. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to squeeze a few chapters of The Hunger Games in before I'm forced to turn on a movie for Daughter, rock Son to sleep, and return to Place of Dread.

Daughter let me sleep in this morning. It was nice.

Let's see...

This is my first blog. Ever.

So, stick with me. I can't promise that I'll be entertaining. I am pretty sure I'm going to not teach you anything. 

But hey, who knows. I may teach you something about something someday. 

Let's start with an "about me" paragraph... 

I'm Shayla. I am almost 26 years old. I have a daughter, who is almost 5, and a son, almost a year old. They're my life. I live in west Texas, in the middle of no where, on a 60 acre "farm" with my parents, who are 50. The "farm" consists of 7 cats, 2 outside dogs, and the spoiled rotten inside dog. I'm married, but he drives trucks around the nation, so is rarely here at home. We talk all the time and are constantly texting each other. It sometimes seems like we talk more when he's gone than we do while he's home. We've been married 5 years in May. It took me a while to realize he was the man I would love the rest of my life, and we separated for a year. Technically, even though we're married, we are still in the "dating" stage of getting back together after said separation. Anyway, that's about me. Almost always absent husband, lives at home with parents, and has 2 kids. Pretty simple. 

O, yes. May I add the real reason for this blog??? Bows. Ribbon. Pretty fabric. Yes. I craft. 

I created this tutu. It's my daughter's favorite thing to wear. She wears it with jeans and Tshirts, as you can see. Sometimes she adds the cowboy boots, which I love to see. She is a girly girl when it comes to hair and clothes, but if you saw her playing, you'd think she was a little tomboy. 

Her favorite braid is a princess crown. Takes about three minutes, if she sits still and I don't have to fight her. 

Like I said, I'm pretty new on this whole blog stuff. 

Thanks for reading my first one!