The beauty I almost left behind!!

This project was a good reminder that if something catches my eye at a thrift store or yard sale, unless it costs an insane amount or has unrepairable damages, I should probably snatch it up.

There's just something so sweet and romantic about a candelabra, and I had actually never come across one until last week during a 5-minute stop at my local Goodwill. It was one of those things where I saw it, picked it up and thought about how much I'd like to have it, then thought about how it might never get used, and then set it back down to check out the rest of the home decor items. And then I get this unsettling feeling that some hateful old woman snuck up behind me to snatch it up and take it home only to let it collect dust along with all the other candle holders, knick knacks, and cat figurines she's collected over the years. So I quickly raced back to rescue the candelabra from such a life. And here she is-In MY house! What I didn't even realize until I got home was that the arms move so you can have them side by side or spread out.






I could have polished her up or gave her a new coat of a metallic finish paint, but I had something else in mind. Just two steps and this beauty was good to go!

1. Clean out old nasty red and pink wax. Really? Pink taper candles??
2. Apply ivory spray paint.

Prepare to be jealous...







I'd be jealous, too. If you were to buy one of these things new, it would not come cheap. If you were wanting one to use for a wedding or other event, it might be worth keeping an eye out for one to fix up, because I'm sure the rental price would even be high! I'm just imagining how great this will be for holiday decorating and parties (baby shower, bridal shower, etc.)

Totally worth the $4.00 I spent on her, no??

Linking up to Thrifty Treasures and...











Can't get their button to work, but also linking up to Six Sister's Stuff

Delicately Constructed Friday

My mom is going to be so excited...

Well, it happens to everyone who starts a blog, I think. Take a break that turns into an 8 month hiatus. I really do think about writing often, and my mom's occassional emails/texts saying "it's time to update your blog!" assured me that at least someone was reading. Just for some reason I couldn't get excited about it.

The truth is, and my lovely friend Brenda can verify, that I read a lot of blogs. A lot. And often. There are a few that I "follow" because they are geniouses when it comes to couponing/being frugal or cooking/creating, but then there are those days where I spend my entire lunch break clicking from one to the next, never really knowing how I ended up where I did (much like my sweey husband does on YouTube). I am generally reading and bookmarking blogs from women who love the things that I love and do the things I wish I had more time to do. These women are more often than not, staying home with kids, making meals and goodies from scratch, cleaning, thrifting, crafting, and just overall making their lives and homes drop-dead gorgeous and filled with thought and love. And I guess I just thought since I'm not "there" yet, my blog wasn't exactly what I wanted it to be.

But I realize, and will make a better effort to remember that my life is happening right now. I have a good job that I'm very thankful for that allows me to shop and eat out and have electricity and go on trips and buy Adam lemon pudding even when it's not on sale just because he's weird and loves it. Our home is not as clean or organized or put-together as well as I would like it to be, but it's comfortable and it's where we share our lives with each other. God has blessed us with a home and I become prouder of the work we've put into it every day. And it's so fun and rewarding making it more beautiful and personal in a practical way, using thrift store/yard sale finds and things I've made with my own hands.

I love to cook and I know one day God will allow me to be at home and planning healthy meals for our family, but I need to give myself credit for what I'm doing now! The average girl my age without kids is not planning each week's meals ahead of time based on what's already in the house and what's on sale. They're definitely not making an effort to do a lot of meatless meals or use organic ingredients or making things from scratch rather than using prepackaged foods.

God has blessed us so much (just celebrated our first anniversary!) and I'm starting to see Him prepare a path for our lives and I'm so, so excited. But tomorrow is tomorrow and today is HERE. NOW. And I want you guys to come along with me and experience the things I love. I want to share with you things I've made, cooked, found, did that made my day GREAT. We've got a lot of fun things coming up so I anticipate some new posts to come very soon, so stay tuned! I've also asked Mr. Wyatt to help me make my blog look less sucktastic, which I'm sure you'll appreciate. And we finally got our camera fixed (actually, replaced), and who doesn't want to read a blog that has pictures??

So, hang with me and find out more about Our Life's Legacy.

Oh, by the way, can we just pretend that we don't see the weight tracker down there from September? I won't ask about your weight if you don't ask about mine. :)

Its the simple things...

...that make me happy. There is no one in the Hixson/Soddy Daisy area that was more excited to see that Bi-Lo had hydrangeas. And not just any hydrangeas- BLUE hydrangeas that match my kitchen! They are one of my favorite flowers (and had to get them worked into my wedding bouquet as you can see...)




I'm very frugal, but I do make it a point to try to have fresh flowers in the house most of the time, and Bi-Lo and Publix usually have some great options for just a few dollars.

Just a reminder to enjoy the small things in life AND that you should treat yourself every now and then to something that makes you smile.

So what to do with my 25th year?

Happy Birthday to me!! Isn't getting a million birthday wishes and sweet comments one of the BEST parts of facebook? I agree :)

The past year has been FILLED TO THE BRIM with blessings and new friends and incredible learning experiences, and I expect this next year to be just the same. And while my friends have been so kind and blessed me with goodies and a great suprise birthday dinner, I decided to do something for myself to celebrate my 25th birthday.

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

My sweet husband and I are in the beginning stages of planning our one-year anniversary trip (cruise, perhaps??) and it is my goal to lose 25 pounds by the time we set sail (or hit the road...). I've gotten vverrryyy close to my goal weight once before and then life happened (living with three girls who enjoy chocolate chip cookies and Moe's a little too much followed by dating/marriage with lots of fun eating out adventures...and blizzards...) and I lost track of my goal. I've researched and planned and know that I've come up with a healthy weight goal and I've given myself plenty of time to achieve that goal.

Anyway, I don't know how much I'll "publicize" how I'm doing with the weight loss, and rest assured that I'm not doing any crazy grapefruit-cabbage soup, bread-hatin' lunatic diet. I'm going to eat healthier than I have been and work out more often and harder than I have been. That's so crazy it might just work!

Love you all!


9/28/10 UPDATE: wwaaahhhooo! Did you catch the change to my little weight loss ticker?? That's right- 7 pounds! haha. I by no means expect that to be the average each week, but it was a great and encouraging start. I'm working out every day and making MUCH better decisions about what I'm eating (this past weekend I passed up a Frosty from Wendy's AND chips and salsa at CHILI's!!). Because I'm keeping track of what I'm eating, I actually feel like I'm eating MORE because food is on my mind all the time. LOL. Anyway, week one down... lots more to go!

Goodwill Gold!

I had survived the hunt through aisles packed with crazed shoppers, and was waiting patiently in line with the other "thrifters". It was Goodwill's 50% off day, and I had scored a few Old Navy tops, some Gap jeans, a metal scroll-design candle sconce (that will soon get a coat of paint!), and a really cute fabric shoulder bag. And then there it was... hanging on the wall behind the registers at the very bottom of the rack. I noticed the color first (I envisioned it with a little black dress or with a brown jacket and jeans in the fall) and then even from a distance I could tell it was good quality and had been well taken care of (if used at all!). A manager was going around collecting hangers and I caught him and asked him to pull it down for me. When he first handed it to me I mostly just thought it was a REALLY nice bag and great find amongst the outdated and well- worn handbags usually found at Goodwill. And then I turned it around. And that's when I saw it.

Michael Kors.




Yes, that Michael Kors.


Now, I'm not too much of a brand name snob, and by NO MEANS would I ever care enough about a brand name to save up money to buy something like this when I can get a great bag at Target for fifteen bucks. But there's just something about knowing that some woman paid almost as much for this bag as I do for a car payment and I found it at Goodwill... it's sort of like winning a shopping Oscar or retail Super Bowl.

Retail Value: Around $230
I paid: $20

I've researched online for all the things to look for to spot a real Michael Kors bag, and everything I see leads me to believe this is the real deal.


SCORE!!!!

I'm going to try to link up to Southern Hospiltality, one of my fave blogs to share my deal! I'm a goober and cannot for the life of my figure out how to get her fancy shmancy button up so you can go directly to her site, but here's the link: http://southernhospitalityblog.com/weekly-treasures/

Rest

There is something so wonderful about relaxing on the couch with a good book after a crazy day at work. What makes it even sweeter is to look beside you and find your two favorite boys curled up next to each other sleeping...



I guess UFC just wasn't that interesting!

MEGA Productive Weekend 2010

So I'm back to work after one of those long weekends where I could use another long weekend to recuperate. You know what I'm talking about. However, I am SO excited and relieved about all that got done and would like to share some of it with you! Please bare with me, its going to be a long one. :) There were even a couple suprises along the way...

First up, I took Friday off to do some of those super un-fun things that come along with getting married like spending your morning at the DMV to get a new license. But I'm glad to officially be Dana Wyatt!

We got our joint accounts at the bank and Adam promises not to use my paycheck to buy any new drums...

Now on to the good stuff. Our house was needing some serious TLC, so my first step was buying something I've been wanting since we painted the kitchen MONTHS ago: curtains! The picture doesn't show the color well, but I swear they're not gold. More of a beige with brown designs. I love them! (Please excuse the mess on the table...)



Just need to get some stuff up on the walls and it will look so nice in there.


Ok, now prepare yourself. The wallpaper you're about to see may or may not cause damage to your eyes if not your spirit. This was our hall bathroom BEFORE the hours and hours of miserable wallpaper removal. Ugh...



And the very classy light fixture:



So now onto the after shots! This first one was taken during the painting process, just to give you an idea of how great this color looks with the tile (Adam and his dad put this tile down last year and I think they did a fabulous job!)



Some creepy guy helped me paint




And now the results! I've only included pictures that don't show the mess thats in the middle of the floor. haha. We've gone with bronze fixtures and we really like the new lighting. Hope to get a cool framed mirror at some point.







Ok, so Adam and I have done a pretty good job with figuring out how to share a home. Compromise, sharing, communication, blah blah blah. But we have two other individuals at our home who had not yet had the privelage of meeting and learning how to coexist quite yet. That would be Conan, the world's goofiest dog, and Jonesy, the world's most handsome cat. I had been preparing myself for their initial meeting, but was not ready yet. And I knew Jonesy wasn't. He hasn't been in the presence of another animal since the day I brought him home from the shelter almost two years ago. Conan's seen and been around cats, and his only desire is that they would play with him and be his friend. Jonesy wasn't even aware that silver mini-horses like Conan exist.

Until Saturday.

I spent the few seconds of the first sighting cowering in the bathroom and screaming. I HATE angry cat sounds and there were plenty of those. Poor Jonesy hissed and growled like I have never heard before. After Jonesy ran to hide in the kitchen and Conan calmed down, I summoned the courage to grab my camera and go in for a closer look.






Conan was bored and his feelings were hurt, and Jonesy was in a to-the-death staring contest with the Evil Silver Beast. Let's just say the 30-minute or so introduction left no one with scratch marks or missing limbs, but the Wyatt animals are not BFF quite yet. Better luck next time.

Back to the house!

The living room will eventually be painted, but one thing we (with a little help) could accomplish this weekend was to change out the seriously out-dated and dust-covered ceiling fan. We HATE gold, so it was definitely time to throw in some nickel accents. Out with the old...



And in with the NEW!!





Now, these pictures have only given you a small idea of the work that got done this weekend and the places we had to go/errands we had to run (and the laundry. Oh, the laundry!). We even squeezed in a suprise lunch with my parents and church on Sunday morning AND I accomplished some batch cooking of grilled chicken for future dinners. However, there are always kinks in any good plan. There's always the thing you didn't see coming. And they happen when you have the LEAST amount of time (energy and patience) to deal with them.





Yes, we got rolled.

Yes, we set the toilet paper on fire for speedy removal.

And yes, Yard Roller, you dropped your watch. No, you cannot have it back.