You paint I paint | Cave's updated kitchen

I'm so excited about this blog post! I can officially say the Kitchen in our new cave is finished and I am enjoying the new look! 

The last aptpartment we were at, I never painted. It was all white and I like it that way. Knowing we would only be there a year (I only lived there 4 months) we didn't see the point in spending the money and time adding personally touches to the apartment. 

Now that we are in a home and see ourselves here longer we wanted to add that personal touch. 

When we moved in, the kitchen was the first thing I knew I wanted to change. The yellow walls aren't really me. Along with the blue cabinets. 

Here is a picture I took the first morning I was at the apartment, Cain had just left for Drill and I had a mess to put away! 

Here is another picture showing the yellow walls and blue cabinets. This was taken I think after about a month of being in the house. 

Last week we both had Wednesday off so I  thought it a perfect time to dive into paint and see what we could do to the kitchen! Cain being the supportive husband he is, only complained a little ;) haha I'm just kidding.

Hard thing about redoing anything in the house is the mess it can make. I think the kitchen can make the biggest messes!

While I started painting the cabinets white Cain took off the doors and sanded them down. 

Here is a before and after of the inside of cabinets... yes they needed done!!

BEFORE ....

Almost done!

AFTER.....

I hated this "curtain" so much haha I don't like seeing the things under the sink! This was a EASY fix. I went to Walmart, picked out this burlap ($1.25) with the rod ($1.00) and BAMB! Hidden and cute!

If you have ever painted I'm guessing you had the same trouble I did. Finding the right color. 

I went to Lowes with Cain. I picked out the whitest, white and the perfect gray color. When I went to get the gallon the employee questioned my "white" color. She asked if I wanted a more white, white. 

Haha I laughed and said "Isn't this white though?"

I was so wrong, she went over and picked out another color white and put it up agaist mine. My white looked PINK next to hers! I was in shocked at the difference. So I said, "Is this really gray then??" 

Nope it wasn't, it looked nothing like the gray I thought I wanted. It took about another 5 minutes to find the right color. Cain ended up picking the color though and I'll be honest, it wasn't the one I wanted but I really didn't care all that much!

Compared to the yellow, I couldn't be happier :)

I really wanted a new faucet because the old one linked a little. We would finish the dishes, head to bed, lay down and hear....  "Drip, drip.. drip.." AHH it drove us nuts. 

We didn't realize how much a faucet would cost though! How do people build homes and buy everything new?! We are NOT there yet. For sure. 

We were happy with this one though, was in the lower price range :) 

This armoire was given to me from a friend. I painted it for our Wedding last May. (This photo was from our Wedding day ) It was a reddish color before I turned it Turquoise blue.

 I loved this turquoise color and thought I would always have it. BUT ... In the new house the only place I seem to think it will fit is in the kitchen.  

But when I painted the walls this gray color I didn't think the turquoise matched. It really didn't! So I made the decision to paint it! 

And white it is! White, because we already had the color and because I love the fresh look! Cain sanded it down for me so I could still see a little of the turquoise though. What do you think?!

Phew! Happy to be done! We love waking up and walking through here every morning to let Nova out the door. The room looks tons bigger now with the lighter colors and I feel like I have more space to move around :) It's a little more "fun" to cook in here too ;)

So the official BEFORE and AFTER ....

Next is the bedroom!

Week #2 2015

1.8.15

This is Nova's spot. At our old apartment we had the couch right up against the window looking out on the yard. She would be there morning-night watching the people pass by, staring down squirrels and letting us know if any other dogs were out there that wanted to play!

Now in our new home the couch is now right where this window is. Nothing goes on outside that she won't tell us about :) We love our watch dog.

1.9.15

The snow just keeps coming!

Nova was very interested in why Cain didn't let her out to help shovel the snow! 

Oh maybe because the neighbor lady was out too and we took a wild guess that it would be best to NOT let Nova lick her face off!

1.10.15

I know there are beautiful sunsets every night, but sadly I seem to always miss them or not have my camera on hand when I do see them. This evening though I was out taking photos when this happened.

1.11.15

Sundays might be my favorite day. I normally get to go home (Dad&Mom) and spend the day talking with my parents. I always come home with goodies too. Thanks Dad for my Money plant (Cain wants to know when it will start growing money)

1.12.15

I received this awesome gift from my mother in law, Toni. She had this made for our cave. I haven't decided the location it will go at ... all in good time though. 

P.s the "love" birds are my favorite part! 

1.13.15

Tuesday was my first day out since the heavier snow came. Cain kindly made a path and cleared off my car before leaving for school that morning.

Before heading off though I took the second to see how pretty the house looks with snow around with blue, blue skies. 

1.14.14

When we moved in this past November I knew right away that I couldn't have a yellow kitchen. Now if you have a yellow kitchen and you love it... by all means, keep it and live in it. But me, no way! My sister had a yellow room growing up and I loved her room. I would walk in and it would be like the happiest place on earth.

But it's not my color and with the blue cabinets also in the kitchen, it was a hot mess... for me that is!

So Wednesday we changed things up a bit. You'll see the before and afters here soon :)

1.15.15

After a very busy day before painting the kitchen I was left with a huge mess to clean up while Cain went back to school for the day. I had to paint some more things, put back together the kitchen, do the loads of laundry and just totally clean up the house! 

I also needed to run to the store to pick up some groceries. When I went out to my car, it wouldn't start! It was dead! Battery gone. No longer working. HA

The plans I had for the day disappeared lol so having to wait for Cain to get home to do the running around I needed wasn't part of the plan, but it worked. 

I had planned to make pizza for dinner, which takes a hour or more. I have to make the crust from scratch, pizza sauce, and "ranch" dressing.  I had to cook the chicken, crust and bacon too. 

Yes it would have been tons easier to order pizza in that night, or even run out and get it frozen. But that's not how I work. When I sit down to eat I want to know whats in my food and that it's good for our bodies! 

So I baked away while Cain put a new battery into my car. (Thankful for a handy husband!)

Some things just don't go as planned but we make do just fine, we work better together :) 

$40 Family Session ... is it to good to be true?!

I'm very new to cute handy bags like the ones from Thirty-one ,  most things my sisters has though I love so I knew when she invited me to a party of hers for Thirty-one bags that I would want one too. There I found a big need for them and wanted some too, I follow after my big sister :)

So once I heard Lana (My sister) was selling these bags I thought why not have a party myself!

But I thought I would make it more fun for the people also wanting these bags by giving away a Family Session with a $40.00 perchance from Thirty-One ... Under Lana Smith (Of course!)

  

This Family Session will be like a normal Family Session that includes your immediate family (Dad, mom and kids) at a Location of your choice around Bluffton or Fort Wayne area.

The session will be 1 hour long with a chance to change outfits, if wanted!

You will receive a CD with all your edited photos with a release to print! 

The first person to check out online under Lana Smith will be the winner! 

Week #1 2015

Let's see if I can do this! A photo a day for 365 days!

12.1.14

We started our year at a wedding I was photographing. While I took this picture Cain was leaning in to kiss me!

12.2.14

When my dad gave me this plant a year ago I told him I loved it.. BUT... I had to get a new pot for it! Hmmm... still haven't done that! I still love this plant and all the others my dad has given me though.

12.3.14

I had a "first" last weekend. I washed the dishes in the tub! The drain had clogged up and I knew Cain didn't have time to fix it until Monday and I can't have a sink with dirty dishes for to long, it drives me nuts. So I washed away in the tub. It wasn't so bad but I am thankful Cain was able to fix the problem, now I'm back washing in the sink!

12.4.14

Early mornings need extra cuddles.

12.5.14

We love Mondays (I know that's a odd thing for everyone to say!) But normally we both have Mondays off so it's our day to relax.

12.6.14

We woke up to snow Tuesday morning! Nova was itching to go out.

After working a few hours I took Nova out for a walk...

Dad thought she might need a scarf to keep her warm.... LOL

Nova loves the snow.

YUP that's Cain's bit fit on Nova! He wanted to track how many steps she took on her walk with me. (And I think he might just have used his daughter to cheats on the Workweek Hustle we do with the family! ;)

12.7.14

Resting the WHOLE afternoon so that when Cain got home from work, she could play with him ;)