Christmas 2012 Recap

I had SUCH a good Christmas season, y'all.  Season, not just day (though Christmas day was absolutely wonderful), because I had a week and a half of Christmas events.  When I was looking over my calendar to see what all had transpired I was blown away by the goodness and kindness of the Lord.  My heart was/is so so full.  Now, as my Scottish friends say, getting on with it...

Celebrating with Brookie!

We had Thai food!  And went to Aromas!  And had quality time!  Yay!
*The package decorating is part of the Black Friday wrapping party efforts--brown paper, stamps & yarn.  Wee!

Staff Christmas Party (Tuesday afternoon)
Catered by Momma's Boy, with a hilarious gift exchange.  Done and done.

School Christmas Party (Tuesday evening)
We had a pot-luck dinner party, and white elephant gift exchange.  I made my first caramel cake for this party.  I didn't know caramel was what it was to make, but I was way satisfied with the results.  The white elephant gift exchange was hilarious.  Best gift ever--a lightbulb, that at the end was paired with a bottle of wine.  Haha!

Moore's Christmas time (Wednesday evening)
I just love being with them.  That's all there is to say about that.

House Christmas (Thursday evening)
Tiff, Z & I had a fun Christmas celebration.  We picked up salads and exchanged presents.  We were going to be watching Home Alone, but present opening got in the way.  Here we are with some of our gifts...

As Brookie said, hot pants (for Tiff), hot strings (for Z), and hot home decor (for me).  Let's talk about this guitar for a second.

Z came home from Mozambique saying how much she wanted a guitar.  That's all she talked about wanting, etc.  I found one for super-cheap (AKA free), and went and bought all new accessories for it, a case, asked Kel to re-string it, etc.  And that all happened the first week of December.  We all didn't celebrate Christmas until almost Christmas.  That was a LOT of time keeping my mouth SHUT.  I almost caved numerous a few times, but I kept it in.  The night of present exchanging, Z and Tiff went to get the salads while I hid the guitar and put out a note leading her to the hiding place.  We ate, and then Z started with her presents.  She sees the note, goes running, and Tiff & I are so excited.  Then Z comes back downstairs, no guitar in hand.  I'm incredulous, and say, "did you look upstairs?!?!"  Z goes running back upstairs and we hear her squeal and we think "Finally!"  She comes back downstairs holding the guitar in its case and says, "you believe in me!  Wow, this is heavy for a case."  She.  still.  didn't.  know.  I sarcastically retort, "you know, it's not full of bricks."  She then realizes what's going on, there are a couple tears, and much squealing.

Admin Girls Christmas Party (Friday afternoon)
On Friday we had a Christmas party which also turned into a going away party for Emily at work.  It was the healthiest party ever!  We all brought a different item (I brought vegetable soup), and I organized a cookie exchange.  And there were presents.  Fun times!

Girls Group Christmas Party (Friday evening)
This group of us gathers on most Friday nights to hang out and pray, and this Friday we had a Christmas party!  Everyone brought 2 appetizers to share, I provided drinks, and we all brought a pair of earrings to play a gift exchange with.


And there was insane sugar induced fun picture taking.




Christmas Eve

•  Floyd's Brunch--Always love this time!

• Multiple services at work church (photo time)
• Christmas Eve at the Waffle House-yeah!

Christmas Day
Sweet-sweet-sweet time with my Athens families.  So blessed, and so thankful.

christmas home tour 2012

*This post was originally titled "christmas home tour 2013."  Dates foil me everywhere.

The decorating grinch in me is dying a slow death, and is almost dead!  This year I did more than the half-thought-out, poorly executed, lame showing for decorating I've done in the past and actually did something!    A foil in my decorating is that I thought that I actually had purchased some decorations last year in after Christmas sales, only to discover that I hadn't.  But, making the most with what I had...

the mantle
For my birthday I was given my first creche, which is from Germany and darling.  I love it.  On the stockings I hung a couple ornaments, including some book ornaments hand-made by Katie.  I am big on the idea of getting all-season items, so I picked up a couple of clear holders from the Dollar Tree, and filled them with red & gold ornaments.  On the staircase behind me I wrapped the banister with clear lights.  Yay, effort!

Also below is the slowly-diminishing pile of decorated presents.  On Black Friday I hang out with Mary W and we wrap our presents in brown paper and decorate them.  I really look forward to that fun time!

the butler/side-board/what-do-you-call-this?
I got a Christmas tree!  Well, sorta.  An allergy to real trees slowed me down in getting one, and for me I don't like fake ones, so rosemary it was!  It smelled delightful.  It would probably still be going strong if I'd actually remember to water it.  This piece of furniture is also where I post Christmas cards that come in.  I also have my cute little book tree that I learned to make from Erika.


the dining room
Or, as you can see, where all of the effort is concentrated in.  Ornaments on the hutch, festive napkins, etc.  I had a Christmas Party on Friday (pics to come), and it was so fun.
 

to claim or not claim.

On Sunday morning I had to go to work-church to well, work for a while.  Shoot some pictures, be an extra set of hands, etc.  All good things.  One task was to help with a reception and while greeting people I was asked something that I never really wanted to be asked.

"Do you work out at ?"

Oh gosh.  Y'all.  When I look around at the gym after I get done exercising, or even when I just walk in really, it's clear to see I'm not one of the "cute ones."  My (5 year old+) gym clothes rarely match and are a little threadbare at points.  Since it's at 6 or 7 a.m. when I'm there I certainly haven't washed my face, there is definitely no make-up on, and I usually have the funky top-knot going on to keep my hair of my neck so I won't have to wash it.  And the post-cardio work out diana--let's just say she's red and pouring sweat.

So when I'm asked "do you work out at " my first thought was, "ugh."  Fortunately, I don't think my moment of dread & panic showed on my face, and what came out of my mouth was a bright and perky, "Yes sir!."

Oy.

wisdom from my aunt, part one

While in the Bahamas my aunt and I had a lot of quality chat time, information sharing, et cetera.  

One thing that she shared with me was how to fall.  Not how to properly enjoy the fall season, nor how to keep from falling emotionally, but how to fall physically in a way that you won't get hurt.

Seriously.

She told me to just go with the fall--once you start going, keep going with it until you stop moving.  That when you catch yourself (or try to catch yourself) you hurt yourself.

Well, today I got to put that into practice.  I was helping boss man hang up Christmas lights in his office and I was standing on a chair.  I needed a few more inches so I went to hop up on the chair arm.  See where this is going?  I hop up with one foot and the chair starts flipping.  I drop the Christmas lights, and try to aim for the couch.  I fall into the couch but then bounce off of it, landing flat on my back on the floor.  Katherine who saw said demonstration said it was the most graceful fall ever.  I got up (with no bruises) before boss man was even off the couch end to make sure I wasn't broken.

Score one hundred for my aunt!

some favorite etsy spots

There is not a single thing decorated in my house, other than a heap of presents!  I absolutely LOVE giving gifts, and I wanted to share some of my favorite sites of where I've gotten them at, particularly Etsy shops.  I know that I went through a lot of blogs looking for Etsy shops, and I wanted to highlight some of my favorites, in case you're still looking for gifts!

My NUMBER ONE favorite Etsy store is linenlaid&felt, run by one of my BFFs Katie.  I've bragged on her a ton, referred her like crazy, and always know it's a good decision to get a gift from her (and to receive a gift from her).  The work is excellent and the products beautiful, and Katie is amazing.  You should go buy from her now.

Another Etsy find is Kristin, who makes baby teething necklaces.  I ordered a necklace and it looks so good!  I hope my SIL isn't reading this, because that may be what Georgia santa is delivering this year...

To thank some dear ladies for doing different events I selected some necklaces from this seller.  Because the necklaces come from South Korea they take a while to arrive (2 weeks or so instead of one), but they are beautiful and worth the wait!  I was (am) so pleased with them.

October and November 2012

...hi!  

I've outdone myself in neglecting this fun little blog the months of October and November.  I usually get at least one blog in a month...but carrying on.  I always think of this little slice of the internet as my scrapbook, and there were some really fun things in the past two months that went on that I do not want to forget.  I want to get this out of the way so I can move onto newer posts without it looming over me that I wanted to note these fun things:

• I went to the Becoming conference!  I got some great ideas, some major inspiration, and had so much fun.

• I organized a women's day conference.

• Went to the dentist for the first time in years, and thanked the Lord again for His major kindness in sending excellent doctors my way.  My dentist is awesome; let me know if you're looking for one!

• Helped throw a baby shower for my friend Sarah!

*Yard wreath!

*There were 18 cards, and everyone selected a card and wrote a note to EA for her to open on that birthday.

*Hostesses

• So many good & fun church things.  I really, really love my church.

• Made birthday cakes for a one year old's birthday party!  And acquired a shiny new scar when I put my arm in the oven.

• Was part of another fall women's craft day.  Yarn wreaths, coasters, and cards galore.  I LOVE these days!

*And way was glad my friend Erika came!

• Started the process of grad school.  That sounds more definitive then just researching some programs in town and emailing program heads, but at least that ball is rolling now.

• Had a sweet-sweet birthday party.

• My dear friends Skelli and Keth (or Kelli and Seth, your choice) got married!

• Turned 27.  In the Bahamas.

• Tried to sell my car.  Anyone want to buy a Honda?

Weekend Rewind

Linking up!

Saturday!

Saturday was the Moore's annual Labor Day BBQ.  I went over on Friday night when they put the hog (literally, an entire hog with certain parts missing) on the pit and the beans in the hole (in the ground).  Both were incredibly good.  What was also incredibly good?  A full Saturday with my friends!  In the morning I spent a bit of time with Zakiya and ran a few errands with Tiff before heading out to the farm for the day.  Saturday was wrapped up with a movie with Rebekah and Tiff.  I stayed awake for almost a third of it.  :)

Chicken coop!

 Clementine!

New roommate, Tiffany.  I was on the tire swing for a while and my arms are still killing me 2 days later.  Pitiful.

Sunday!

My church didn't meet yesterday so were encouraged to visit elsewhere.  After visiting a new church (during which I texted my friend at work about how I was ruined because I had to get over assessing the signage and hospitality to first time visitors...ruined) I ran, and then went home and cleaned!  I had aspirations of going to visit a friend, but somewhere between finishing mopping and cleaning the shower every bit of motivation in my heart left.  I wrapped up the night reading & finishing a book and working on a project.

Today!

Haha, still considered the weekend!  I have a full to-do list right beside me and a ton of motivation to get it done, so this should be good.

weekly sampler, last week in august 2012 edition

This week!  This week I...

*Worked!  40 hours spent at work, and thankful for each of them.  I just love the people I get to work with!  We had birthday lunch on Tuesday at Last Resort that I had to miss, but the admin girls celebrated Cookie's birthday on Wednesday at Depalma's which was way fun.  And way good.  (Meatball sandwich with a cucumber/olive/tomato/onion salad on the side).

*Summer is almost over.  SUMMER IS ALMOST OVER.  Since Labor Day is around the corner I wore my white skirt and dress one more time.  I also, after wearing them all summer, managed to spill on each while wearing them.  I am lamenting a bit in heart that summer is almost over, but the temps in the 90s all week calmed my fears that it'll be cold soon.  

*I had 2 nights at home this week without any meetings or obligations (though I could have filled one of them if I had had transportation).  They were really needed!  On one of them I fell asleep at 8:15.  It was marvelous.  

*The car saga update:  my car is still at the doctor, and I've been blessed with the generosity of friends giving me rides and two friends even lending me their car (THANK YOU Brookie and Emily). I should have mine back Tuesday, which will launch me into getting little fixes on it done to get it ready to sell.  GULP.

*One of my besties came home from Africa.

Yes, there were tears, and yes, Dave at work may have been deafened with the screetching that went on upon being reunited.  Thank You, Lord!

Purple Wedding Shower

My friends Alison and Elise said it best yesterday, "southern women throw the best showers."  It's true!  They're so fun!  This weekend I was part of throwing a shower for my dear friend Kelli with some of my dear friends and it was a fun & pretty party!

The details

Purple wedding shower?  Purple is one of Kel's wedding colors, so I found invites with purple.  From there we found some purple napkins and rolled them (and they looked like rose buds, accidental bonus!) and I made a banner with their names on purple paper.  There were also some purple tulips on the food table.

Guests & Presents

Prayer

Hostesses
*Missing Mary R! :(

I can't wait for Skelli and Keth's November wedding!
**Skelli and Keth.  That came out of my mouth one day when trying to talk about them, and occasionally it comes back into play.  Fortunately I didn't put that on their banner I made for the shower, or their guest book...I don't think.

car saga part 1

Almost a year ago, my car stopped working coming off of 316, and I had to be towed back to home.  Definitely a situation I could have done without, but I lived and learned.  Last Saturday I was coming into home and my car sorta did the same thing.  Fortunately, I was pulling into home so I called the tow truck and had my car taken away on Monday morning.  I distinctly remember saying to someone, "this should be wrapped by Wednesday or Thursday!" and hoping it wouldn't wipe out too much of my savings.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

I get a call Monday at around lunchtime and the friendly folks tell me my car needs a new transmission to the tune of $3,100.  I'm not going to joke here folks, I started bawling.  I had NO idea what to do.  Then I quickly wised up and started calling people who are way smarter than me.  One person started calling around trying to find me a better deal.  Another quickly offered abundant support, saying "Well, I don't know what to do or what to tell you, but but I sure can support you emotionally!"  I was given really, really good advice over a couple days.

This week was topsy-turvy.  Take out a car loan and fix the transmission?  Sell it for what I can (with an out transmission) and work on getting a new car?  And back & forth, and back & forth, and back at forth.  I sent this email to my friend Julie because this was my case for about 2 days:

So this car thing can be best summarized with this:

I get mostly set on one decision with the car, yay!

Then I get more (good) advice, which makes me (wisely) question my decision.

Back to neutral ground.

I go the other way on the decision with the car, yay!

Then I get more (good) advice, which again makes me (wisely) question my decision.

Back to the middle.

Finally, I committed to a decision:  Sell the thing for what I can and buy a new car.  Done and done.  Brooke had picked me up from work and I was telling her why this was the good plan, blah blah blah when my phone rang.  It was someone who I had called for a quote at the beginning of the week and hadn't heard back from.  He tells me a price less than HALF for what I'd been hearing. Saywhat?  Don't you know I JUST made the decision?!  What??  We talk, and I hang up the phone.  I'm pretty sure Brookie who could hear all of the conversation was smirking.

Right back to the drawing board, but with a better option on the table.  Call my peoples (who I can't thank the Lord enough for) and get their input, which lines up with what I was thinking when I heard about this:  fix the car, get it running, drive it for a couple months, then sell it and move forward with a new car.  Yes, I could (obvi) keep my fixed and (well) running car, but I think it's time to change wheels (and I can sell it for more the fewer miles it has on it).

My car's at the doctor now, and I'm borrowing a friends car for the weekend.  That's all I know.  I don't know when it's going to be fixed, but I do know a ball is (finally) rolling instead of just sitting idle on the court.  I do know this:

• I am so, so, so, so, so, SO THANKFUL for the people in my life.  I have never felt alone, and I have been more than well advised and taken care of.
• I have learned some new things.
• I trust the Lord even more than I did last week.

Thank You, Lord.

Here's to part 2 (and probably part 3, good gracious...car buying...I'm hoping to wrap that up FAST because I can over-think something to death). 

time flies

...if you're having fun or not.  I try to keep Monday's as a "work-night" and work on all the other things that I want to accomplish/get ahead on/et cetera for the week.

Tonight I had lofty ambitions to:

• Get done with school work
• Finish some birthday cards
• Start some drafts for a couple publications for church
• Update an online calendar
• Grocery shop

What I've done:

• Gone to AT&T and Peach Mac to have my phone looked at, to be told that some g-mail accounts are just experiencing trouble right now (yay my phone's not broken!)
• Finished some birthday cards (*all belated)
• Grocery shopped

All the home-work things?  Bah ha ha.

Today at work we had our long-range planning meeting, where dates start to be set for January-August 2013.  I'm thinking about that tonight, especially in light of how fast this evening has slipped away from me.  How do I expect my life to be different in January 2013?  Not employment status or anything, but what new things do I hope to be walking in?  How will my dear relationships that I have now have gone deeper?  What skills (aka photoshop) will I pick up?  Will I be hitting consistent mileage on runs?  There is a song in Tangled (if you haven't seen this movie yet, call me.  We'll fix that real fast.) that goes "waiting on my real life to begin."  The Lord speaks to me SO much through this movie, and this is a part that really hit home.  I'm not waiting, my "real life" has begun.  I'm living it now.

Intentionality is something that is really important to me, and I'm wondering how intentional I'm being right now?  Those things I listed above, and others; I don't want those to slip away.  And I want to push myself to dream more!  Hmm...

but now, I'm off to be intentional with finishing my list above.

Weekly Sampling

Spaghetti Squash
I discovered spaghetti squash this week.  OMG.  I was invited to a friend's for dinner where she served it.  What she did is that after roasting it she scooped it the squash and put in a skillet with a can of tomatoes, some seasonings, onion, and feta cheese.  The very next night I went to Publix and bought my own and replicated it.  I only wish I had added ground beef too; I don't think that I'll ever buy spaghetti noodles again.

Iphone
My iPhone no longer receives my email.  Help?  I'm working up to go see AT&T tomorrow.  Meh.  But one thing I learned about it this morning is that I can "name" my alarms.  I did.  And it makes me laugh.  Hoping that it'll make the 5:45 call to run easier!

*While I was sorting out my alarms I had one set for 2:45 a.m.  Why on earth was I setting an alarm for that time?

D-i-a-n-A
My current #1 pet-peeve:  being called DianE.  No, that's not my name.  It's DianA.  Granted this probably bothers me more than it should because my father frequently called me Diane, (it just ticked me off remembering how he did; definitely the cause of the issue!) but he signed the birth certificate (not that it had the correct add...never mind, I'm done with this rant) so he had no excuse!  My two favorite instances this week of being called the name which I shall not be called by:

• In an email that I signed with "Diana" and had my work signature of "Diana" underneath it got a response of "Thanks, Diane!"  WTHeck.  But that individual did respond a couple days later with "I think I called you Diane, sorry!"
• My former campus minister (who I interned in his ministry for 2 years) walked past me this week and goes' "Hi Diane."  Given that he sees 1,000's of people a year I let it go, but still.  Boo.

Lighbulb

In my bathroom this guy exploded with a cloud of smoke and I caught it when I noticed it was hanging on by a thread.  Now to get the base out of the fixture.  I'm thinking of calling an SOS to the more handy people in my life on this one, but I will google it first, in case it's anything like my Thursday morning.  

Thursday Morning

I woke up Thursday morning to run with a terrible headache so I stayed in bed another hour and a half. At 7:30 I told myself, "self, you'll feel better if you shower."  I turn on the water, let it get good and hot, assess my hair and see that it needs washed, and then hop in.  Well, I hopped into a freezing cold stream.  I fly out and go check the water heater, which is silent.  Uh-oh.  Hair gets crafted into a new up-do and I email my landlord.  He comes over after we all get off of work and comes in with tools.  The fix?  Flipping the breaker.  

Belt of shame

One afternoon I was running through the sanctuary at work and I saw boss lady wearing a tool belt filled with donation envelopes and pencils while refilling the pews and I stopped dead in my tracks and said, "what are you wearing?!?!?!"  I quickly began calling it the belt of shame.  Well, I had to wear it this week.  Another day in the office...

sesame wave.

It started out as a great idea (though, can't most people say that when describing their worst idea?).

I had a can of tahini,

that had separated.  There was a lot of oil on the top (I hadn't used it in a while).  The paste on the bottom was super hard to stir so I thought, "hey!  I'll get my hand mixer out and use it to mix the oil back into the paste."

ha.  ha.  ha.

The thought did run through my head, "hold onto the can tightly."  But I didn't.  The second I turned the mixer on the can started spinning and the oil started spraying.

As in, it made it a full 360.

My rooms said I made a sound like I lost a finger or something.  Then there was silence as I stood frozen in a sea of sesame oil.  I had to throw away my dress and shirt--they were soaked.  Pulled out the mop.  Washed the rugs.  Cleaned all the cabinet fronts.  Scrubbed the counters.  Now please, let's not glass half-full this and say, "you got to clean your kitchen!"  It's my kitchen.  It WAS clean.  I had even deep cleaned prior to roomie moving in, AND we had a brunch on Saturday--the mop was still outside air drying from the last time I used it!

It was only about a 20 minute delay (and then I got back in the game later when I bent down against a random corner to pick up something and my second dress of the night came up oil stained; cue another scrub down), and I can still perfectly picture the oil flying out of the can.  Haha!

When we (finally) got to eating dinner, Tiff asked me, "so what's been your worst kitchen disaster?"  "That," was my answer.

Post-script:
What was I needing tahini for?  To go into greek yogurt for some sauce for one of the best dinners ever--chick pea patties.  OMG.  If you like chickpeas you should make them...now.
How I make them:
-I sautee about a half an onion with a load of garlic, cumin, oregano, salt & pepper in a bit of olive oil.  Let cool a bit.
-In a food processor add around 2 tbsp. of flour, a can of chickpeas, an egg, flat leaf parsley, and the onion.  Pulse.
-In a skillet (I use the same one I used for the onion) get a wee-bit of olive oil heating up.
-Form the chickpea mixture into patties, and put in the warmed-up skillet.  One can makes about 4 patties.  I cook them on medium/low for a while, flip a couple times till there is a bit of a crust, and top with the yogurt/tahini mixture and cucumbers.  And inhale.

ON the walls

After a couple of years, there are actual photos and paintings on the walls at home!  And I LOVES it!

Dining Room
A family painting I refer to as "pink lady" is back up in the dining room.  She formerly dwelled where my china cabinet is, but when that came in she had to move.  After living by the floor on the desk (with other pictures and paintings) it's over the buffet and I love it.  Framed on the buffet (all in yard-sale frames) are 2 maps (one a postcard from Scotland, another from a calendar) and a photo I took of foxglove (also from Scotland).

 The mantle!

 One of my FAVORITES!  (please excuse the glare.  All of these pics were taken from my phone.  #lazy).  I am a big fan of the off centered mirror, an idea I got from Pinterest.  The mirror and big vase are all yard sale finds, and the little figures are from Africa travels (both mine and others).  In the little frames are 2 pictures from a friend's home, and the vertical picture is from Scotland.  The large picture is from Israel (thanks Mary!)

Kitchen Decorations

 I picked up this 4 pack of frames on super sale, and didn't do anything with them for a (good-long) while. I have a frame color for each space (my room, white & silver; dining room, gold; living room, brown) so I just needed to find a space for these and the kitchen was what was left.  The frames came with the mats (score!), and I picked up craft paper on sale from Michael's (.25/sheet instead of .59!), and went through my recipe box, finding a recipe from my mom, her mom, and her grandmother.  I framed two of my mom's recipes.  If I find one from my paternal grandmother I'll get that up in one of the frames to have all sorts of family on the wall.  There are 2 on each side of the sink (they face each other, if that makes sense).

Oil Painting (next to book shelf)

I scored that beautiful (that you-can't-really-see-from-this-angle/distance) oil painting by the bookshelf at a yardsale for $6.  $6!  When she sold it to me at that price I almost took off running with it to the car.  It's genuine and beautiful and I love it. You can also see the mantle some w/o the glare, and a little shelf an uncle made years ago that I kept in my grips.

Miscellaneous

I purchased this frame on sale (duh, have you met me?) and got the picture printed (for cheap).  I took the photo on Edisto and it's one of my favorites that I've ever taken.  I purchased 2 of these frames; the other has a picture from the mountains and is across from the oil painting.

I'm loving decorating.  Yard sales are so fun, and I love how most of the pieces I've used have a history to them.

breaking out of the blog fog

While trying to find some inspiration to break out of my most recent blog fog, I clicked on a list last night called "50 things to blog about when you don't know what to blog about," or something like that.  Most were completely unhelpful (it was primarily geared for authors who publish, not ladies who write about their weekends and decorating exploits), but one caught my eye "how you deal with stress."  I can blog about that!  Especially since I feel like July was somehow a slow-cooker of stress that I didn't really acknowledge till all was said and done and I finally relaxed a bit.  My favorite dealing strategies...

1.  Ice-dream.
"Why eat your emotions?"  Because it's less than 150 calories and a small is $1.66.  Could be worse...

2.  Clean & organize
After my grandmother died last year, I went home from work and thoroughly organized, deep cleaned & decorated the pantry, and magic-erasered almost every wall in the house.
My roommate moved out this summer, I built a gallery wall and redid my closet.
...to each her own.

3.  Run
If I can get my brain to shut off, runs while stressing are the best ever.

4.  Abandon and Abide
This came out yesterday from A Holy Experience, and it's so good:

Abandon the worries… and Abide in the Word.

Abandon the fears… and Abide in the Father.

Abandon the hurts… and Abide in His heart.

Abandon the cares… because Christ will never abandon you.

gallery wall...complete!

I had it made up in my mind that I wanted to do a gallery wall in my bedroom.  So LAST Christmas while at Ikea I bought a ton of frames.  A ton of frames that sat on the floor of my bedroom.  Then on another trip I picked up a couple more.  And then a couple more.  The pile grew, but nothing ever transpired.  Some living-situation transitions (more on that in a future bloggie) have led to moving upstairs in the condo, so I had a newly painted room to go with and a ton of "let's get this done!" drive.

I definitely didn't think it was going to be a 6 hour + project (spread out over a couple days), or that I'd ever hate saw-teeth hangers so much (more on that below), but I'm done!

Bur first, let's talk about these saw-teeth things.  And let's mention how I can be incredibly absent minded.  While I was purchasing the frames from Ikea I didn't see any picture hangers on the back so I assumed, "oh!  I better get some of those saw-tooth things."  While running errand after errand to Hobby Lobby I finally had the presence of mind to pick up a few packages.  One night I get home from work and set to finally start putting them into the frame.  30 minutes and a banged up frame and thumb later, I have one half-crap one done.

I have about 10 more frames to go and I realize that I'm NEVER going to get done.  I'm about to throw myself to the floor in desperation (or go downstairs and get dinner) when I look closer at the frame.  All of the Ikea frames had these clip things that I didn't know what they were so I just tossed them from mind.  THEY WERE PICTURE HANGERS!  Instead of 10+ frames to fit with the saw tooth hangers from hades, I only had 6 (4 were for the kitchen).  I spent a good long while trying to get them in again; again, meeting failure.  A very pathetic and desperate Diana went to Michael's to find a different solution and the man at the framing counter (maybe sensing my desperation) said "just bring me your frames and I'll take care of it for you."  I went back later (with all 6 frames and a bandaged up thumb from working on this project), and he proceeded to take care of all of them!  Thank you LORD and thank you Michael's.  Michael's just successfully won a loyal customer.  Hobby what?

Moving on, gallery wall!  My steps (mostly inspired by YoungHouseLove)...

• I cut out sheets of paper in the same size as the frame and marked where the hanger would go.
• I laid out on the floor how I wanted the layout to be. 

• I taped the sheets of paper to the wall.

• Where I had marked the hangers I nailed the hangers in over the paper.

• I removed the sheets of paper (the elaborate "rip it off method).
• I hung the frames and fiddled with them a bit.
• And donesies!

And I'm in love!  There are photos to add/change around, and I want to expand it down more/fill in some holes, but at this time I'm done done done!