Showing posts with label sister. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sister. Show all posts

Monday, April 14, 2014

home tour: guest bedroom

the guest bedroom, aka my sister's room, is almost exactly the same as it was in our previous home.  i used most of the same furniture and decor as in our previous home.

this room is mostly used by my sister or the kids when they visit, so that's why i call it my sister's room. the bed in the room is the same bed she had when we were growing up.  i added a few touches of things that she likes throughout the room.

the guest bedroom is located towards the back of the house, because we wanted our guests to have a nice view of the backyard.


for now it has a full size bed, but eventually when we get a new bed for the master, the guest bedroom will have a queen.


the bedding is from Target.  i got it on clearance a long time ago.  it works well for now, but isn't my favorite look anymore.



at our previous home, the bedroom was lavender.  this time we kept it more neutral with the same gray as in our living room and kitchen area.


on the nightstand is a photo of my little grams.  we miss her a lot and i wanted a picture of her somewhere in the house.


we moved the TV that was in our bedroom into this room and added a different TV stand than was in our old house.

the flowers next to the TV are light up.  my sister has some in her home, so i thought they would be a good addition to the guest bedroom.


the closet doors just got installed recently.  they ended up being a bit small for the opening but we are going to just try to make it work.  they still have to be painted and need knobs to be able to open them!

things that still need to be done:


  • paint doors and trim
  • add knobs to closet doors
  • shorten blinds
  • headboard
  • dimmer for lights
  • art
  • new bedding and curtains
  • eventually queen sized bed

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

week with my loves

i am beyond happy when i get to see my sis and the kids.  and this last week was the best ever, because they decided to spend their spring vacation with me!!  i'm so lucky!

i'm super sad to say that i didn't get many pictures :(  along with this being one of the most stressful times ever (which is a totally different story), i was just trying to soak up every second i had with them.

they got here on wed and stayed until sat.  wed night the kids stayed at doms (aka grams; their favorite thing to do!).  we had some take-out chinese before they headed to doms.

thurs morning, we made a stop at the new Hobby Lobby.  then, we had lunch at Panera and made a stop at Trader Joe's.  my sister doesn't have a trader's by her so we try to stop there if we can.  it worked out well because i desperately needed to go grocery shopping anyways.

my mom asked us to go to "Art in Bloom" at the milwaukee art museum thurs night.  i have gone for the past 2 years, but sara had never been.  i thought it was a GREAT idea to go because you don't truly appreciate the designs unless you see them in person.  she completely agreed and we really enjoyed it.  we even made a stop for ice cream on the way home.

basically the idea behind "art in bloom" is the designers are given an art piece at the museum that they sort of interpret and replicate in flower form.  here's mom's...

mom's design (which was also featured on the news!)
friday we headed to woodman's for more grocery shopping and a stop at target.  can you tell what me and my sister like to do when we are together?!  shopping is our favorite pastime.  haha.

she went to visit a friend in the evening, so it was game night for us and the kids!  we played monopoly, which was kind of a dud.  then we got to see the kid's favorite movie "Frozen"!  it was really cute.

saturday morning, mark made everyone breakfast and then it was game time again.  this time we played "heads up" and "spot it".  such a fun morning!

and before they headed out, i requested that the kids put a new design on my chalkboard!  wyatt drew a "love tornado" and adalai drew a flower with a message that said she loves me.  they fill my heart with so much joy!  i love those kids so much!


it was an amazing time to spend with my family, and i'm so bummed that they had to leave!  i wish they lived here so we could spend even more time together.  so happy that they will be coming back in just two weeks!!

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Weekend away in the woods...

Last weekend, Mark was away hunting with his boss, so I thought that would be the perfect time to visit my sister.  I invited Starla to go as a little girls weekend away (even though I kinda felt bad about taking her for a weekend away from her hubby).  We headed up Saturday morning around 8am and got to Sara's around 12pm.  When we got there, we hung out for a bit to let the dogs (Stella and Remi) play with Eli for a bit before we would kennel them.  We decided to check out the new Shopko in town (the kids specifically requested me going to check it out with them:).  This was a HUGE deal to those northerners!  They have no big box stores in their town, so everyone decided to make a stop at Shopko that day.  It was PACKED!  I was afraid we weren't going to find a parking spot.  We had a good time walking around and Sara picked up some stuff she needed.  Adalai had a little money and wanted to buy something so she picked out pink zebra print stick on nails (so cute!).  After that, we headed to the Super 8 to go for a swim.  It's so nice that they let people pay to use their pool, even if they aren't staying at the hotel.  We all hung out in the hot tub and relaxed for a bit.  It was much needed after my stressful week.  We let the kids (and Starla) swim for a bit before we headed home.  We had a yummy beef stew that my sister prepared.  After we finished dinner, Adalai and I worked to get her nails on.  All of us adults didn't think to make sure that they were small enough for little kid fingers (which they weren't!).  But Auntie Kira was determined to make it work, so we used all the small ones and got them on.  Let me tell you...I COULD NOT get over how freaking adorable she looked with her fake nails on.  Adalai has never been a girly girl until now, and I LOVE it!  Then we got busy playing Yahtzee and Apples to Apples.  We had SO MUCH fun!!  The kids really got into Apples to Apples.  With a little help from the adults, we made it work.  They are such smart kids. :)

When we got up in the morning, we ate some yummy pumpkin french toast that my sister made.  SO good!!  Then we looked through some photo books, so Starla could see how awesome we were as children.  (Ha!)  After a little big of playdo fun, the kids wanted to play games again!  I'm glad they had such a good time playing games with us.  And of course before we left we also had to do a little bit of Zumba with the kids.  Wyatt hadn't done it before and he had a big grin on his face the whole time.  They loved it!


pirate ship

Starla and Adalai's owls



We had such a good time up north visiting my sister!  So happy Starla got to come and that the kids had a good time with us :)



Monday, November 4, 2013

saying goodbye

This weekend has been busy!  Friday, we spent a lovely afternoon saying goodbye to JoAnn.  They had a really nice luncheon after an awesome balloon release.  It was just perfect! 






After, me and my sister went shopping at Target and Trader Joe's.  She had never been before, but that's where I go grocery shopping every week!  I was excited to be able to take her.  We bought a lot of goodies and then she went back to Grams.  I went home to clean!  My house was a disaster, so I spent the rest of the evening picking up.  It felt good to go to bed that night with everything in it's place.

Saturday, I went to get a flooring quote in the morning.  After that I had to take Remi to the vet because she still had an infection in her tail.  Luckily the vet loaded her up with antibiotics and it seems to be doing better.  Then, I made a run to American TV to get a quote on appliances.  We ended up putting $ down because we are needing them soon.  I later was able to find a much better deal on some of them and ordered those to be delivered in a few weeks.  After all that running around, I met Mark at his mom's to enjoy an evening hanging out with his family.  His step sister was in town from Colorado with her family.  We had a good time playing with the kids, and his mom made a really good dinner!

Sunday, I went to Zumba with Starla in the morning!  Zumba is my favorite work out!  It was quite a bit different then Zumba at church, a little more intense.  I'm definitely feeling it this morning.  Then I had to run a few more errands (buy outdoor lights) yesterday.


House update:

foam spray today
drywall the end of this week
continuing siding
finishing up electrical
tiling

This week is gonna be a lot of transformation!  It's gonna be very exciting!

Thursday, October 31, 2013

When a Heart Breaks...

Today we will be celebrating JoAnn's life!

I was thinking about her the other day and a song I had never heard before came on Pandora and I thought it was a fitting song for how everyone is feeling about losing her.



"When A Heart Breaks"


I woke up this morning
And I heard the news
I know the pain of a heartbreak
I don't have answers
And neither do you
I know the pain of a heartbreak

This isn't easy
This isn't clear
And you don't need Jesus
Til you're here
Then confusion and the doubts you had
Up and walk away
They walk away
When a heart breaks

I heard the doctor
But what did he say
I knew I was fine about this time yesterday
I don't need answers
I just need some peace
I just need someone who could help me get some sleep
Who could help me get some sleep

This isn't easy
This isn't clear
And you don't need Jesus
Til you're here
Then confusion and the doubts you had
Up and walk away
They walk away
When a heart breaks
When a heart breaks
When a heart breaks
Oh, when a heart breaks

This isn't easy
This isn't clear
And you don't need Jesus
Til you're here
Then confusion and the doubts you had
Up and walk away
They walk away
When a heart breaks

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Ovarian Cancer 5K walk/run

About a month ago, we participated in a 5K walk for Ovarian Cancer.  My step mom just recently went into remission after having ovarian cancer for about a year.  We were so excited to be able to donate and participate in the walk!  It was awesome how many people came out to support her and the fight against ovarian cancer.  This was only the second year for the walk and they said that there were a lot more people this year than last.  We plan on participating in this every year.



Kaylin (my step sister), Aunt Sandy's bf, Aunt Sandy, and my dad


most handsome guy I know ;)


Dad, me (don't mind my ugly hair), and Mary Lu (my step mom)
This day was also SUPER exciting for us because we got to meet our niece, Audrey.  She is adorable!

how cute is this baby?!
Everyone walking :)

Unfortunately, I'm gonna end this on a sad note.  This has been heavy on my heart...My sister's (step)mother-in-law is very close to losing her battle against colon cancer.  She has fought very long and hard and done everything she could to overcome, but sometimes it's just time to go home to be with God.  Although she is not actually my family, I have always felt like my brother-in-law's family is my family too, because they started dating when I was young.  So I have been thinking about and praying for her often.

Please Lord, help ease JoAnn's pain and bring her home to you.  Please God, help the family to overcome this terrible tragedy that will result.  God, I know that she is ready for her next step, please help the family find comfort in knowing she will be where she is supposed to be, with you in Heaven.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Christmas Tea

 Yesterday I made the long drive (about 7 hours round trip) to visit my sister, Sara, and go to the Christmas tea at her church.  I decided not to stay with her over night because I made Christmas cookies with my mom and Grandma today.  Anyways, the Christmas tea was a BLAST!  I got to meet all of Sara's Northwoods friends.  It was a lot of fun dressing up and listening to the story of Jesus's birth and all of the wonderful music!  Glad I made the long drive, and hopefully will be able to go again next year! :)


s
Sara and I
Sara and Sarah