Day 9

Yea, I go on vacation tomorrow and don't have to paint for a whole week! I also have paint in my hair that will not wash out....I look like I have a very bad dye job! These pictures are random and in a strange order but I'm tired and don't care!

I found my new "porch bling" at a garage sale today.....love them! I sat there for awhile today thinking about how amazing life is!

Here is my finished room that I don't think I ever took a picture of!

See strange order.....porch bling up close (my porch is going to be painted by the youth in my ward while I'm gone)!

My 1/2 done, very cool new fence!

Yesterday I finished my red wall. Today I removed the tape some of it pealed off! Hey Teri, when you get here I need you to do my rectangle wall and please fix this!!!!!

Off to spend 6 days in the hot sun and swim, ski, rock jump, lounge and maybe start the book the Host that I borrowed 6 months ago!

Day 8

I forgot to snap pictures today.....things are moving along. Vicki and my mom have been there almost everyday helping and encouraging me. Vicki has been my lifesaver through this project and has kept me some what sane! Cameron is starting to really love the house....he told me today, 'mom, it's cool this house is yours and mine!' He is making friends and riding his bike non-stop! In the last 2 days the house has transformed........things are getting done! Today all my ceilings were painted, my mom trimmed out the hallway and bathroom. Vicki and I trimmed out a bunch of stuff in the living room/kitchen, my red wall is complete and alot of other little tasks. It's not going to be 100% done before I leave on vacation however, it's really close!!!!!!!! Life is good!

Funny story: Cameron had to go #2 and Vicki was cleaning the bathroom. He kicked Vicki out and went and did his thing. When he came out he said, "man, I made a big stink.....mom, it was bad I had to plug my own nose!' Wow, that is stinky if you plug your own nose!!!!!

and on the 7th day there should be rest.....

Yea right!!!!! Wednesday night and today I had a mental breakdown. I spent 2 hours scrubbing paint off Cameron's floor and crying okay sobbing my eyes out! It's all good....don't feel bad for me I need it and it was a good, no a GREAT turning point! A few hours later I was surrounded by family, all pitching in and helping out. We were laughing, smiling and Vicki kept singing 'Count your many Blessings' and it's true......I've been blessed!

Cameron's room is done....floor to ceiling all new!

Mikey power washed my front porch, back porch and driveway! I also shoved him up in the skylight to paint....hot and stinky!

Ashley and Kelsey are on vacation and they showed up to paint......guess what??? My room is done too!!!

They are in need of a serious foot scrub! Girls why are you shoeless????

Paul Carlson showed to bring my carpet and fix my floor! The carpet will be laid as soon as the floor is level. He also took all the garbage in my garage and offered to take to dump! Thanks Paul!!!!

Then my dad and two brothers started to put up my fence. It's half way done but I forgot to snap a picture. It looks great!

I'm so blessed with all the family and friends who have been so willing to help me in this adventure. I'm feeling like this project might get done! I'm in desperate need of a pedicure, manicure, haircut, my eyebrows need a thread job and look at those legs!!! UGH!

Day 6

I have great friends and family! I can't believe how blessed I am! Today was ROUGH!!!!! I've hit my breaking point....I look around my house and all I see is a huge mess with lots of unfinished projects. However, I also look at all we've accomplished in the past 3 days and it's amazing! I think the reason I hit a wall today is because I'm not a good painter and I'm so critical of my imperfections! UGH! On a positive note my carpet is in and will be laid before the weekend! Just remember to breath! Really looking forward to my upcoming vacation!

Day 5

Finally every wall has my colors on it!!!!! Yea!!!! It's amazing what fresh paint can do to a place! This is my living room and I'm in love with the color! The tan wall off to the side will have 2 red rectangles on them, eventually!

Here is my room....the dark wall still needs another coat!

Cameron's room!

I'm getting a new fence. Funny story: The man that lived in the house you can see in the background lost his house....so, he got angry and took his whole fence (hauled off the wood and everything), all his appliances and damaged the inside. Needless to say I need a fence! Keith and Mike came over to dig holes and they were hot and tired!

My fence that I budgeted $200 and it came to $310

My dad working hard

and Cameron made new friends!

Day 4

Cameron is struggling with the move....just the thought of living in another house is a little too much for him. The other day Cameron told me I could move and he was staying with his Grandma. Change is hard even for me! My sister Teri gave me a great idea, get Cameron involved....so, today he painted! It's funny it lasts for about 1.5 minutes but at least he can say he did it!

Here he is painting the hallway

and then his "transformer" bedroom!

and YES Teri I paint too!!!!!!

We painted for about 7 hours today! The ceilings were primed, the living room has color on all the walls, Cameron's bedroom is painted and needs a second coat, the skylight was primed and my dad showed up to tell me what lumber I need to buy for the fence. It was a very productive day!

I'm feeling so grateful today....it's amazing how many people are willing to help because they love me! I've been very blessed!

Day 3

How many times have you been to Home Depot in a day? It's really bad when the employees notice and make comments...

Today was overwhelming! I'm not good at picking paint colors and then I get these outrageous or bold ideas in my head and well, it's all a little too much! Today's tasks: pick Cameron's room color, kitchen color (I picked an obnoxious yellow and it will be going in the garbage), my room color, buy tile/stone for the hearth, buy lighting for living room, garbage cans for house, pick a stain color and get more texture for ceilings. WOW!!!!

Vicki and I on our 3rd trip to Home Depot!!!

I'm really proud of myself that I'm actually budgeting....every night I sit down and calculate exactly where I'm at. I now understand how people on those design shows go waaay over their budget.....not hard to do! My paint is up over $450 and I still have to buy one more gallon at least!

Here is today's hearth adventure story:

Mandy: Excuse me sir do you have any faux stone?

HD Guy 1: Faux stone? (yelling loudly to another employee) Do we carry faux stone?

HD Guy 2: What?

HD Guy 1: Faux stone!

HD Guy 2: Faux stone?

HD Guy 1: Yea, faux stone!

Vicki: (is dieing of embarrassment and she said she blushed. I think I saw her try and hide in the tile)

I'm not really sure how long this went on but it did feel like forever....finally HD Guy #2 came over to help.

HD Guy 2: No, we don't carry any faux stone but you might want to try Stone Mountain.

Mandy: Is that by the Super Mall?

HD Guy 2: Yea, Faux Mountain....I mean Stone Mountain is across the street!

Long story short, stone is very expensive ($28 for an 18x18 piece) and I never found any faux stone (does it even exist?). Vicki helped me pick out this gorgeous tile ($18 for all 5 pieces). What do you think?

Day 1 & Day 2

Life is good!!! This whole house hunting adventure has been a process...finally on the 15th I received my keys. What an incredible feeling!!! For those of you that don't know just over 7 years ago I was living on the streets going nowhere and now I own my own home. What a blessing! God is Good! I'm kinda speechless and in awe at the moment....someone pinch me

I need to start off by saying I don't like to paint, I hate manual labor and I'm kind of testy when it comes to these things....this next week ought to be fun! I wish I was rich and could hire it all out! My sisters keep laughing at me because I have these grand ideas of what I would like to do and they keep asking, "who is going to do that?" Teri called from Utah yesterday and she was rather impressed that I was actually painting!

My flowers I bought for the front porch....

DAY ONE DAY ONE DAY ONE DAY ONE DAY ONE DAY

I hired my friend Jody to scrape all my ceilings....she is a trooper!!!

Picking paint colors is HARD!!!!! Vicki has been a trooper with me through the process. I must have spent (who knows how many) hours trying to find the right shade. Wasted $10 and got a good laugh!

Finally found the shade I wanted and they could not match it correctly....FRUSTRATING!!!! Vicki saved the day and you'll see in Day 2 I went with Gobi Dessert.

Ripped out the nasty carpet in the family room and found some mold....yum! But now this room is ready to paint!


Design on a Dime Tip: Vicki and I were at ACE and I decided I need new house numbers....so I bought the numbers for $4.99 a piece. After spending $20 the light bulb went off....why not spray paint them. They look brand new and it cost me $3.99!!!!


DAY TWO DAY TWO DAY TWO DAY TWO DAY TWO

The painting has begun....I budgeted $300 for paint and have already spent $418.40. I still need more paint for the living room, my room and Cameron's room! Back to Home Depot tomorrow!!!

The repair man showed and he could not get the part so I get a whole new garage door opener plus he flashed (get your minds out of the gutter) my skylights!

Serves me right to try and take a break, leaned right up against the wet wall!

Here is the color of the accent wall in the living room. It's more pink then I thought it would be but I love it! I hate the color I picked for the kitchen so back to the drawing board there!!!!!

Decisions, decisions, decisions!!!!!

The last room is being scraped right now!!!!!

Vicki priming for my red walls

We almost completed this room...I love the wall color and with the dark brown carpet that will be laid next week it will be perfect!

The house is trashed but I'm getting more and more excited for the final outcome!!!

Tomorrow's tasks: Ceilings will be textured and Vicki and I are shopping! I think the best thing right now is I get to spend time with my sister....Teri I sure do miss you in this process but thanks for picking up the phone every time I call!!!!!

Soccer Camp

Cameron had a great time at soccer camp! I learned something, if I just drop him off and come back and pick him up he does a whole lot better. I have nothing to really blog about because I didn't stick around!

Boom Boom Pow

I need to start off by saying I love the new Black Eyed Peas CD!!! Don't you think the boom boom pow song is fitting for the fourth of July holiday? It's been in my player for over a week now and as soon as they come to concert I'm there!

Cameron and I went camping with Jimmy's family to Lake Cushman. We had a great time; the weather was beautiful, the lake is gorgeous and there was a ton of fireworks! Cameron thought the "sprinklers" aka sparklers were pretty cool until one sparked on his tongue...lol!

I swear I've made smores with Cameron before but he acted like he had no idea how to make one. Jimmy was excited to teach him!

The scenery around this lake is awesome; there are waterfalls, creeks, streams and lots of cool rock formations.

and YES the water was freezing....

Here are the kids posing in the woods

Here is the rock we jumped off....I'm a screamer and screamed the whole way down till I hit the water. It was a rush!

Cameron decided he wanted to jump off with his dad--So, Jimmy hoisted him on his back and scaled him up the rock.

Here they are at the top. Cameron went up one time and changed his mind quickly but after lunch we went back and he decided to try it again.

Unfortunately, you can't see Cameron but he is there hiding behind Jimmy. If you look you can see the back of Cameron's life vest.

This was a memorable 4th of July for sure!