Staircase Before and After

This post is long overdue.  This project has been done for some time now and after I scrubbed the little handprints off of the balusters, I thought I'd better take some after pictures before they got dirty again!  White trim is sure hard to keep clean!  All of the trim in our house looks like this:

Now after sanding, sanding and more sanding, it looks like this:

 

This is after 3 coats of Glidden Gripper primer and 3 coats of Sherwin Williams ProClassic Enamel in color matched to Benjamin Moore's "Simply White."

The dark banister is also primed with Glidden Gripper in Gray and the paint is Benjamin Moore's SuperSpec paint in Black Bean Soup.  I spray painted the banister hardware with Rustoleum's Oil Rubbed Bronze.   The baseboard trim is new.  Wall color is Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter (in Sherwin Williams SuperPaint).

Big difference!

Today we finally got around to finishing (well almost) the quarter round in our kitchen and half bath.  The "finishing touches" seem to take me forever!  Next up: I bought some gel stain to "practice" staining our old kitchen table and chairs.  If they turn out, they will go back in the kitchen and I'll move on to staining my mid-century modern buffet and table/chairs in my dinning room.  I don't want to mess those up!

Skating Party

Not sure if I ever mentioned it, but I co-lead Addi's Girl Scout Daisy troop.  I always remember having so much fun in girl scouts when I was in elementary school, so I wanted Addi to have the chance to do the same.  All I have to say is that it is a lot of work!!  Thankfully we only meet once a month, but then there are outings and events scattered in between and we just finished cookie sales.  Addi sold 220 boxes!  Thanks in part to my darling sister who took Addi into work with her (at Home Depot) and sold 90 boxes alone!

Last Sunday, the service unit that our troop is part of, hosted a skating party at the local roller arena.  We had a wonderful time, just wish I would have taken more pictures!

Here is Addi and her BFF, Ava

The roller arena had "skate trainers," which were just PVC structures, like baby walkers, on wheels.  Ingenious!  It helped out a lot (she is holding on to two trainers in this pic). 

Jack and I both attended the event and both skated!  It was a blast! 

Operation 2013: Part II

So with it still being January, I thought I would create a 2013 challenge for myself. I started reading the book, “The Happiness Project,” but lost interest because it just wasn’t interesting! But just from reading the synopsis of the book, the author challenges herself each month for a year to change something about her life. A lot of times I feel like a robot just moving through the day; always looking forward to the weekend. I want to enjoy each day (even if that means I have to go to work)! I thought I could do something similar to challenge myself in the areas of: Parenting, Marriage, Food/Cooking, Fitness, General Health, Finance, and Home Organization/DIY. Right now, I have a rough draft for the rest of January and February and then I’ll go from there (some of these goals will be cumulative—continue practicing them each month).


Remainder of January:

• Parenting: When I get home from work, I will put my iPhone on the charger in the bedroom and not look at it until I go to bed so that I am present and not looking at my phone constantly. My child is more important than selling crops on Hay Day (although that game is soooo addicting!)

• Marriage: Ask my husband how his day was, everyday (and actually listen).

• Food (or Cooking): I would say cut out white sugar completely, but my sister’s birthday party is this weekend and I can’t go without my mom’s angel food cake! So my January plan is no alcohol (currently, I usually have 1 glass of wine with dinner a few times a week).

• Fitness: Workout one day on the weekend (I have been a slacker on the weekend in both food and fitness).

• General Health: Keep nails painted so that I do not pick them

• Finance: Pay off my credit card in full on 1/25 and not continue to use it (this will be the most difficult challenge). My husband and I each have our own credit cards to buy things for ourselves (with our “allowance” money and/or surprise each other when gifting). I use my credit card waaaay more than I should.

• Home Organization/DIY: Finally finish the quarter round in our breakfast nook/power room (I began that project back in late November).

February:

• Parenting: Find a kid’s yoga DVD and do yoga with my mini me at least once a week

• Marriage: Have a date night on either Valentine’s Day or that weekend to celebrate 12 years of being together (married for 8 ½ of those)

• Food/Cooking: Still can not cut out sugar because the Girl Scout cookies will be delivered! Haha! Read more about clean eating and plan out a month of healthy weeknight dinners.

• Fitness: Attend a step aerobics class (at least one!)

• General Health: Spiritual health this month-attend a service at a Lutheran church (this will be the biggest challenge this month).

• Finance: Do our taxes!

• Home Organization/DIY: Install (A.K.A. supervise installation of) a glass block window in the basement. Decide whether or not to keep the remaining basement carpet.

At the beginning of the month I will summarize the previous month’s challenges and plan ahead for the month after the current month. Doesn’t seem to difficult, right?? Some people reading this (which again, is probably like 2 people), may think that I am being too rigid with these goals/challenges, but I like the feeling of accomplishment and positively moving forward. By creating specific monthly challenges/goals for myself, I can organize the mile-long “to-do” list in my head.

On a side note, I am super excited today because Riverbend Music Center released their county music lineup for the summer!!!! With Riverbend being on the Ohio River, we are able to anchor our boat and listen to the music for free! Already penciled in all of my favorites on my calendar!

Later this week, I will post pictures of our first-ever Girl Scout trip to the roller skating rink!  Sooooo much fun!

Christmas Pictures

As promised, I am finally posting our Christmas pictures. 

Christmas Eve we always have Jack's family over for dinner.  This year we went to mass before dinner. 

Snickerdoodles!

 

 

 Addi would kill me if she knew I posted this picture online, lol.

 

Addi make placecards for everyone.  They were adorable!!

 

 

 Grandpa Jim

 

 

Uncle Steve and Daddy

 

 

 with Aunt Amy

 

Christmas morning is always spent at our house to open "Santa" gifts!

That afternoon we went to my parents house (chaotic!!)

Cousin Cameron with his GF Savanna

 



 

Me in my re-gifted Snuggie!

 

My sister and I

 

 

Holidays were wonderful! Much better than last year, which was a week after my back surgery. 

 

I am thinking about a new blog or re-vamping this one.  I want to focus on health and fitness but don't know where to begin :( Something motivational to others but I also don't really want 2 blogs.  Hmmmm....

 



Not much to report!

Title says it all!  I did have my doctor appointment last week and he started me on an anxiety medication and it made it WORSE!  I of course stopped taking it, determined to change things myself!  I seriously could have slept for an entire week, after eating a bag of chocolate chip cookies.  No motivation whatsoever and starving!  Today I am finally starting to feel what I'd call normal. 

I broke out my juicer, like every January, and made some green juice!  Here is a pic of me and my mini-me in the kitchen juicing away!

Had a busy weekend...we are unexpectedly working on our basement.  Since we moved in 18 months ago, there has been a strong mildew smell.  Long story short, there is a large stress crack in the foundation! 

Here is a picture of the crack/drywall/carpet coming out

Not pretty.  It has since been patched and this spring, hubby will have to dig from the outside to fix the crack from the outside.  We are planning to do a decorative finish on the concrete floor and wall. 

I also talked hubby into stacking my washer and dryer in my dollhouse-sized laundry room.  The washer had to be on the right when they were side by side and I'd break my back trying to lean over to put wet clothes in the dryer.  So we bought a stacking kit from Best Buy and stacked them! 

 

 

I lost overhead storage, so we took the oak cabinet from our bathroom.

Other than those house-related things, we enjoyed the snow back in December!

Jack's friend, Rob and his son Brady met us at the park to sled.  Great time! 

My goal this week is to upload pictures from Christmas...I can't believe it was almost a month ago!  I bought a PolarFT4  Heart Rate Monitor online and it should be coming today! So excited about this model, which is a step up from what I already have.  It tells how many calories are burned!  The small things that motivate me are important! It should be coming in the mail today. 

Operation 2013

Every single year I make the same resolutions: be a better person, be more organized, yada, yada, yada. This year I really mean it! Every time I write a blog post (which is scarce), I’m always thinking “what is so-and-so going to think/say about this?” Heck, I bet like 2 people read what I write, so I just need to get over worrying about what others think. In this digital age, it is so must easier to document “life” by typing and uploading pictures instead of actually writing, printing pictures and inserting into a journal. So that is my first resolution—to not worry so much about what others think. I think this stems from not wanting to “brag,” (since I don’t like when others brag), but I’m writing the truth, not bragging (especially about the weight loss, because that was not easy).

To begin 2013, I am finally going to the doctor for my severe anxiety (never would have written that before) because it is getting in the way of life (second resolution). I put on a good front around other people, so it’s not always apparent, but just look at my nails—they are picked to shreds and usually bleeding because I nervously pick at them all day (not even realizing it). I also have a phobia that someone close to me is going to die, specifically, in a car accident. So needless to say, I don’t like to be in a car and I don’t like Addison to be in car driven by someone else. I have issues concentrating on one thing at a time and have to constantly be doing something (drives hubby nuts). I am hoping a medication will help me with my irrational thoughts and calm me down!!

However, on the other hand, the anxiety has somewhat helped me to lose the 10 pounds I gained over the past 2 years (I have OCD tendencies and when I have a serious goal in mind, I don’t stop until it is reached). Disclaimer: I was never “overweight” to begin with, however, I had clothes that were getting dusty from not being able to fit in them. I feel my best at a certain weight, and that was my goal. This is another area I don’t like talking about with people, but I want to be proud of my recent weight loss accomplishment! When Addi started Kindergarten in late August, I changed my work schedule so that I could put her on the bus. I didn’t have any more excuses to not work out. The routine of the school year was good for me too so that I could plan meals and exercise. I cut out sugar, refined carbs (white flour), processed food, fried food, most dairy and alcohol. Since the beginning of September I lost 15 pounds (5 more than what I set my goal at). I mainly wanted to focus on my abs, since they are the easiest (for me at least) to tone. I religiously use the My Fitness Pal (friend me! “sarahwessel”) app on my phone and log all of my food and exercise. I eat between 1300 and 1400 calories a day. I am not as rigid as I was through November, especially around the holidays. I also had one cheat day (Sat or Sun), where I ate anything I wanted (usually something sweet). As for exercise - Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 5:30-6:30 am (yeah that says A.M.) I take a power pump/boot camp class that is cardio and weights (mainly weights). I only missed one class in October when I was in Michigan/had the flu. I attribute most of my success to these classes because they tightened everything up (I lost 3.5” from my hips, 2.5” from my waist and 1.5” from my thigh). On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (or Sunday) mornings I did our elliptical at home for 30-40 minutes. At this point, I am just maintaining. Eating mostly whole, unprocessed foods (along with a cheat day) and still doing the same workouts.

And now for proof. I can not believe I am posting these pictures, but I am going to anyway (I am using the Blogger app on my iPad and I can't get the pictures into the body of the post, so please see below)

This picture was taken on 7/4/12

This picture was taken on 8/22/12

This picture was taken on 10/11/12

This picture was taken on 11/5/12

This picture was taken on 11/15/12

Th last 2 pictures were taken today, 1/4/13

So to summarize what I’d like to accomplish in 2013:

1. Not care what other people think
2. Finally win the battle over my anxiety (and phobias and maybe grow some nails!)
3. Take more pictures (especially of Addi!)
4. Live without regrets (that is a whole ‘nother blog post)
5. ORGANIZE!

Just looking at the list I typed gives me anxiety (and fear that I won’t accomplish it)! Ah! Baby steps!
So here is to 2013! I year of actually living!