Sunday, January 27, 2013

Reuse Redo

Yesterday I told you that I've been working on my office.  I'm really excited about this post because it shows how you can take old things and reuse them for new, different things.  I've been trying to find the perfect office desk for awhile now but just couldn't find anything I liked or could afford.

I've also been trying to find a filing cabinet.  I can't believe how expensive new ones are, so I've been trying to find used ones that I could redo.  There's a store in town called Habit for Humanity ReStore where people or contractors donate used or excess materials.  If you have never been to one, you really should check it out.

The stock changes every day and you never know what you are going to find.  A co-worker was taking a trip over there the other day and asked if I needed anything.  I told her that if they had any filing cabinets to take some pictures and let me know how much they were.  She came back with lots of pictures and prices from $15-$25.  I couldn't believe how many there were and one was perfect for my office.  I called Mike and told him that we needed to run to ReStore right after work, that this wasn't a deal we could pass up.  He agreed, I picked him up after work, and we headed straight there.  Here's the cabinet I purchased :)



What I didn't realize from the picture was that they were connected; I thought it was two separate pieces. After looking at it for a bit, Mike figured we could disconnect the two pieces and put them on separate bases. I was so excited!  Do you know what the best part was?  I got it for $19!  Furniture was 25% off that day :)

We weren't able to take them home that night because we didn't have the truck, but that gave me time to figure out what I was going to use as a desk top.  Awhile back I had gone through my grandma's chicken coop and found this amazing table:



It may have originally been a coffee table although it seemed a little too long.  It was missing a leg but was perfect for what I wanted. Here it is all cleaned up.


Something else at ReStore caught my eye . . . vintage chairs.  We were in a rush so I didn't take the time to look at them, but they were in the back of my mind all night.  The next day I called to see if they were still there and put them on hold . Since we had to go back to pick up the filing cabinet, I figured I could take a closer look at them. They were still there and even more amazing up close :)


They were $10 a piece (there were four of them)  and the 25% off was still going on.  How could I NOT buy them??!!???  I envision a desk chair, two chairs for clients, and then a chair for me to sit on during consults.

Mike loaded all four chairs up and the filing cabinet and we headed to my mom's.  I was praying the table top I wanted to use was going to be the right size - it was :)  I couldn't believe how everything was all coming together!  We loaded up the table and headed home.

We got the cabinets in to my office and began to disassemble them. It was quite a bit of work but we were able to separate them.  The table top needed some touching up, so I spent an afternoon using a toothpick and silver paint to fill in all the tiny indents.  Here it is all done.  I need to put a coat of sealer on it but I think it looks great!


Now for the exciting part! At least for me. Here is how my office looked before.


Here it is now :)  It's not all done and organized, but I think the filing cabinets and top turned out great!!!!


I need to get all my samples printed and up on the walls.  The room is finally starting to come together and it's turning out better than I could have imagined.  I'll post more pictures once the room is completely put together.
I hope everyone had a great weekend :) I sure did!

Bigger and better :)

I have been working on turning my spare room in to an office for quite a few months now.  It's finally getting close to being done, so I thought I'd share some pictures. We started by making the very small closet opening bigger.  I can't begin to tell you how much of a difference just that change made!  Here is a before picture of how very narrow the opening was for how big the closet was inside.


Here is a picture of it during the redo. The trim needs to be finished but that will happen once the windows are replaced.  Bead board and chair rail are options being considered.


And here is how it looks with the new curtains my mom made.



There's still a long way to go to get my scrapbooking and craft supplies organized, but this is a start.

Tomorrow I'll show you the amazing new desk I pieced together.  Can't wait to show you the things I found to reuse!  Once the whole office is done, I'll post pictures of everything.

One of my plants has a new sprout and it makes me think that spring is only a few months away :)



Hope everyone has a great day!!!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Still kickin butt!

It's been a little over a week since I've posted, but I'm doing better then before where it would be a month between posts!  Don't worry, though, because once camping starts, you will get overloaded with posts.

I have now officially completed 11 days of working out!  That's a huge accomplishment since I never worked out before.  After buying new shoes (the soles fell off the old ones), I was ready to kick some butt.  I'm loving every session and the trainers are amazing; I'll be sad when my sessions are up. 

My goal after that is to keep working out at home doing yoga and working with the Wii Fitness coach every day.


I started this 20-day challenge to feel better about myself and to kick-start getting in shape for Mike's work party.  I have until February 16th to fit in to this dress :)


Along with working out, I have drastically changed my eating habits.  No more soda and only alcohol for special reasons were pretty big changes for me.  The other part is eating more healthy foods and no more sugar.  The sugar part is still a challenge, but I can't believe how well I'm doing sticking to my eating plan. 
This was tonight's dinner :)  Yes, there is bacon in my wrap, but the rest is very healthy.  Just a grilled chicken breast, lettuce, tomato and light ranch dressing.  Delicious!

Other than working out, I've been spending time getting my office put together (I promise to post pictures soon) and playing around with past photo sessions.  I purchased some action sets from Wish Photography and applied one of them to a photo of my step-brother's girlfriend, Sam.  Here is Before:


And this is After.  With some touch-ups, a little cropping, and Wish In Time Fallen Leaves action, I love how this one turned out!


That's all for today :)  Time for this girl to wind down and enjoy the rest of the evening before bedtime.  Hope everyone had a great day!

Monday, January 7, 2013

Starting with a BANG!

So today was Monday as many of you already know. What some of you might not know is that today was the first day of my new workout schedule. I don't know what it was about today and this new beginning for me, but I was beyond excited for my first workout tonight.

A friend has been going to Ellipse for a year now and has had amazing results, and I finally took her up on the offer to join her for a class. Another one of our friends came along too. I got to class and was excited to start. My excitement faded after I was already out of breath 5 minutes in to our warm-up!!!! I know....terrible right? It made me realize how incredibly out of shape I am and how far I have to go.

Tonight was all about kick boxing which I have no experience doing. Let me tell you that after the first set I could hardly pick my leg up off the ground to do what I now know is called a round kick. I could hardly breathe let alone do a jumping jack. I felt muscles I didn't know existed.

I am happy to say that I made it. I did 45 minutes butt kicking kick boxing. Even the cool down was a workout. After I caught my breath and the redness subsided in my face I thought, "that was tough but I think I can do this!"

I said goodbye to my friends and got in my car. On the way home I started to feel my arms and legs get a little shaky. The drive took forever. I got home and my wonderful husband opened the door and just smiled. I could already tell that I was going to be in some pain in the next few hours but I had no time to relax. I ate some dinner and started to prepare for a wedding consult that I have tomorrow.

I am happy to say that it's 8:00 pm and I'm all ready for tomorrow, am doing my second blog post of the new year, and I can get up off of the couch without wincing :) We'll see how I feel tomorrow!

I will leave you with a picture of my cat Bridger who was helping me prepare for my meeting. I hope everyone had a great day!!!





Friday, January 4, 2013

Happy New Year!!!!

I know...I'm a little late and very behind on my postings. I'm finally working in my almost completed office and couldn't be happier with how things are turning out. I'll make sure to post a before and after once I am all set up.

We have been quite busy as I am sure everyone has been these past few weeks with Christmas and all and I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. We sure did. I am going to post a mix of pictures from the last few weeks so get ready for a photo overload :) My goal for 2013 is to post at least once a week if not more. I'm in a slow period with my photography so you might get a chance to see some every day pictures that I take and I hope you enjoy them just as much.

I had some pictures from a shoot I did with my brothers girl friend that I wanted to play with and I finally had time to work on them. Here are two of my favorites.
 

 
















Here is a photo from a shoot I had just before Christmas. This little cutie loved the tree :)
 
 
Here are some pictures of our tree and our cats.



 

 
Sam loved the wreath I had laying on the floor. I felt bad when I had to move him so I could hang it outside.
 
 
Next is a picture from a snow storm we had. This was taken with my phone but I think you can still see how bad it was. I took this picture while I was at work.
 


I had to add this one in because it was a gift from my mom and I just love it. It's a lap quilt with sayings about daughters. Thank you so much mom, you have no idea how much it means to me. I love you!!
 

 
This picture of Mike and I was taken at dinner on New Year's Eve. We celebrated with our friends Aaron and Mindy in Door County. We had the most amazing suite at Stone Harbor Resort in Sturgeon Bay. We will definitely be going back.



My final picture is of the sunset from the balcony of our room.



I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year!!!!!