Get inspired by these Blogging Beauties!

Mondays are a great day to get inspired.

 Here are a couple of new "friends" I have found in the blog world who inspire me greatly!

Check them out if you have time:

Jessica @ Happy Together is so cute!

Check out her maternity picture dress. Oh man. So cute and creative.

I think this will be a fun place for fun home and "mom" ideas! 

I am wanting to do a chalkboard project in my house and THIS  gem is so awesome! 

Look and drool!

Sneak Peak:

My new real-life kindred friend, Tanya, who blogs over @ Percolating Projects, 

is a creative genius!

I think we are going to have fun junking (as she calls it) adventures and work ourselves into a project frenzy.. or work our husbands into a "oh man, you are doing what now?" frenzy. Either, or.  

She's fun! Also, funny. I love it when great bloggers don't take themselves too seriously and have a sense of humor. 

She just builds her own bed and stuff like that, no big deal...

Wowzers.

And last but not least, Lauren @ Because I'm Yours.

What an uplifting blog!

Encouraging, real, Jesus-filled and fun to look at :)

I stop in regularly to get motivated and reminded of Whose I am..

Read this post on Extending Grace. It's filled with truth and goodness!

I love other's who share their creativity in humble way!

 I  somtimes think I am creative but really I think it's a spazzy mind that I like to call a pretty word: creative.

Get inspired with me and check these ladies out!

Happy reading and project-ing!

Key words and more color

I'm so project ADD right now.

Just as soon as I get one two three four projects to do, I get a wild hair to redo my bedroom now too.

We have to rearrange it to accommodate our sweet pea's co-sleeper anyway and since I am going to have to redo everything, I figured (budget permitting) I may as well just give 

the room the wee face-lift while we're at it.

Key words: budget permitting.

Which it's not at the moment.

I am going to start saving though.

The green and yellow damask/ vintage look is great but the bedding is falling apart.

I'm trying to salvage it little by little but it's just starting to look a little shabby but not in a chic way.

I am ready for some more colors but also some darker business in there too. And I do love me some gray. 

I have my eye on a couple of possibilities so far a quilt from Urban Outfitters is winning.

John liked it the most.

And I like for him to like the things I decorate with. Even though I ALWAYS reserve the right to veto and/or trump his suggestions ;o) I have a big 'ol empty frame I'd like to put above our bed after I repaint it (that's one of the already listed projects).

I think this one may be our choice..we'll see.

Remember the key words? Oh yeah, it may be a while.

Sidenote: budgeting is really awesome HOWEVER,  when I am in turbo re-do/ nesting mode, not so much.

'Could be worse...

Maternity Shoot

My friend, Cherie, took my maternity pictures on Tuesday.

I. LOVE. THEM.

She really is very gifted!

I just love looking at them over and over because 

a.) that's my baby in there and she's a miracle 

b.) they are just really good photographs!!

How will I ever choose??

If you want to see the complete set go here: Missy's Maternity Pictures

Here are a couple of highlights

Take a look at the complete set and let me know which ones I should choose!

Email me or leave a comment...please!!

I can't decide on a good day and now that I am pregnant, I am extra indecisive!

Sweet Feet

Sometimes I forget that I was once that small and that she will someday be this big..

Baby shower #1

Yay!

It's that time...Baby shower time!

I had my first baby shower this past weekend in my hometown, Indianapolis.

My mom and sister put it on and it was divine!

There was a chocolate fountain that interested me more than the presents...well, almost.

But seriously:

Dipping things (mostly my fingers) in chocolate is always #1 in my book.

There were people there from my church growing up, family members, high school friends, long lost family members and college friends. It was perfect.

I am one of those super blessed people who gets TWO showers.

WOOT WOOT!

Highlights..

This cute little invitation.

Precious, I'd say.

Bright mini-bouquets on every table. Adorable!

The Table of Heaven..

Me, partaking in the Table of Heaven

"I LOVE PRESENTS!!!!"

seriously, it's my secondary love language :)

Not the most flattering picture but hey, what pictures ARE flattering these days?

I loved that John got to be there. Even though he refused to talk while he was sitting there and just handed me gifts like my Lady in Waiting. It was strange.  He gets a tadge awkward when all eyes are on him.

It's cute. On our wedding day (sidenote, by the way) all throughout our ceremony I was certain he was not happy he was marrying me. But alas, he was just nervous to be in front of other people while declaring his love for me (kind of strange and out of character if you know him!).  Anyway. He's my favorite baby daddy ever. Word.

And he is glad he married me..(I just asked)

First present of the day..

My second hostess with the mostess, Christianna Grace.

I got my bassinet! This handy piece of paper was telling me it is being shipped to my house.

Woot!

4 Generations!

Me and my cousin, Mandie, who I haven't seen in seriously 15 years.

Yay for reunions!

Some of my high school girls. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

The man of the hour, Dahlia's Daddy.

And us, the Parents to-be. 

OH. MAN.

She's going to be here soon..

 And I should have a picture of all of our loot but I don't. I guess the fact that there are people celebrating this little miracle inside of me was first on my priority list that day. I cried while getting ready that morning.

It was very surreal.

People were so excited about MY baby. What!!?

My mom cried when she talked about it, which made me cry.

We were all crying at the shower..

But for once, tears of joy!

My cup runneth over.

We are overjoyed that we are getting to experience this 9 month miracle which took 23 months to get here..

She's such a celebrated baby. I KNOW she is going to be an amazing little person who does great things for the Lord. I just can't wait to see her!

Until then, I will sort her ADORABLE stash of baby things and prepare the best I know how.

Now, I eagerly await shower #2!

Yee haw!

Project #2

Project #2..

My dear friend Rebecca had a birthday a couple of weeks ago. She appreciates the homemade, handmade gifts more than the average bear and since I am feeling extra crafty (and am limited on resources these days) this was a perfect opportunity to make something fabulous for this fabulous friend.

So this is what I started with-

OLD WINDOWS from my garage.

AND

my new BFF, the palm sander

(love this little guy!)

'Got my sand on..

(P.S.-If I look miserable here, I was. It was 95 degrees that day and there was NO wind. None. I think I baked my baby a little too much that day.)

Moving right along..

I chopped the window in half because a.) I thought the whole window was a tad large for what I was doing and b.) the top half was rotten.

So... chop suey!

with some minor repairs

some fresh paint

a large ammount of cleaning

 and

more palm sanding. 

Then, my lovely assistant helped with the knobs

and the back hooks.

 and the finished product:

Voila!! 

A fun decoration/ coat hook/ display thingy.

The birthday girl :

She was so excited she exuded light out of her mouth! It's a magical birthday window!

Just kidding.

Silly flash.

I think she liked it a lot.

I am going to make one for my baby too. I got her 4 knobs and hope to hang her sweet kitty cat robes and fun 3 inch long newborn hoodies from it!  Makes me want to squeal!

I recently acquired  a bird cage that I am going to repaint for the baby's room and a chair that needs sanded and repainted, not to mention the bookshelf  that needs a face-lift and the name sign I was going to paint for her.. I have PLENTY of projects to keep me busy during my nesting phase!

2 more months is all I have left. 

I better get crack a lackin'!

A place for Sweet Pants to put her sweet pants

I had looked and looked for a dresser that I acutally liked for our daughter's room. And after a month of looking I was highly annoyed at a.) the cheapness of many things and how they aren't well-made and b.) the prices for both cheap and well-made things.

I wasn't about to spend hundreds of $$ on something made of plywood and particleboard. And I don't have the $$ for super expensive things.

I wanted vintagey anyway so the hunt was on.

 Me and Craig's List became good friends but Craig's little list consumed way too much of my time and I was overwhelmed with "dresser obsession".

Then after talking with a friend one day and telling her what I wanted she found exactly what I was looking for in .5 seconds on CL and that was our winner. She has "THE Gift", I guess.

(that's the way it always goes for me when I am shopping. If I have the money, I never find what I want, If I am not looking and ususally don't have the money, there are options galore. Annoy. Ing.)

Anywho. We ended up getting a solid wood, antique dresser with a mirror (which we are going to use somewhere else in our house because I love mirrors, not to see myself in but for light reflection purposes. Makes everything look so much brighter and bigger! {which is the reason I am not down for looking at myself in them at the current moment})and a night stand. She won't be having any night caps right away so we will find another use for the nightstand until she starts using her big girl bed. I don't even want to talk about that. How cute is that thought? A big girl bed for my Sweet One. Geeze! Can't handle it.

So this is what it looked like to begin with:

And Daddy lovingly made it more like Baby Pep's style

(I was the producer, he executed. He is loving to do projects for his daughter. THE SWEETEST!)

And the finished product (pardon my clutter)

So all together this was a rather cheap project.

The fact that the previous owner had sanded and re-painted was a time and money saver!

The dresser, mirror and nightstand: $100

Spray paint for the handles: $3

And paint for the faces:  $1

So after buying the dresser I spent $4 on personalizing this little treasure.

Pretty good, I'd say.

Now for the sorting of the clothes..

That's a whole other project!

Come back soon now, ya' hear?

Ok so I didn't post anything for a really long time and now that I am back I want to post all the things I did while gone at one time.

There are some things to look forward to though called  PROJECTS.

I love me some projects.

 I have been doing a few at once.

So, this week it will be about the projects I have actually started AND finished :)

YAY!

Something to look forward to this week: key words : baby dresser and old window coat hanger thingy. (good keywords, huh??)

Come back soon and check 'em out!