2.28.2012

print giveaway winner

The winner of my first giveaway (chosen by random.org) is....

Meghan Kessler!

Meghan's favorite quote is, "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like hard work."-Thomas Edison

She chose the print "Perfect", pictured below.


Just in case you wanted to buy one of the prints I had listed, I'll include a link to them (all found on etsy). Thanks for entering!








2.27.2012

our weekend in Nashville

This past weekend we hopped in our Accord and headed to Nashville for a much needed break/opportunity to spend some birthday cash.

I'm going to go ahead and say it. Nashville tops Knoxville any day {sorry, natives}. :)

 Here's a quick over view of our weekend in pictures. They are entirely phone pictures; you've been warned.


The full size Parthenon at World Fair Park



The "American Pickers" store


The awesome indoor arboretum at the Grand Ole Opry Hotel


Ice Cream in Downtown Nashville

Our tour guides. :)
Way more happened this weekend.

 Picture the largest flea market in the world, Chinese food, creamy popsicles, hugemongous Goodwill bins, breakfast at the Loveless cafe, art museums, Vanderbilt campus tours, and additional shopping. Sorry I was spotty on the photo taking, but we did bring a bunch of Nashville home with us. I don't mean t-shirts and post cards {through we did mail ourselves a post card while we were there}. I mean less touristy things. Things like a hammock.

Sharon got this hammock in South America, but didn't have the space for it, and now it's hanging pretty in Powell, TN. Lucky Powell. 






Loverly, eh? :) I have so much to show you, but it's midterms week so everything is on hold. I will be back tomorrow afternoon to announce the winner of my print giveaway. There's still time to enter! 

So what did you do with this lovely February weather? Pose for pictures in your new hammock? No, just me?


2.23.2012

weekend trip

To finish off my birthday week, on Friday we are heading to Nashville to visit with Matt's sister and her husband. I am so excited! I keep mentally packing. Pray it doesn't rain on us. :)

On the flip side, I got rain boots for my birthday, so bring on the rain! :)

Midterms are next week, but I refuse to study on this trip. Instead I will spend my time spending my birthday money on flea market finds and stuffing myself to the max. Me=Excited. Of course I'll be documenting the trip{along with my fabulous finds} and sharing them {mommy will be so proud}. 

How bout a small recap of my birthday week? Cupcakes, kite flying, pearls, and nesting dolls. See? Ok, only half of those are pictured. But I'll show you my nesting dolls and pearls later. :)

Oh, and yes. Matthew did decorate all of my cupcakes {how adorable is he??}, and our kite is a pteranodon. :)







Be sure to enter for my print giveaway! The more the merrier! :)

2.21.2012

print giveaway-closed

Well, my birthday was fabulous, and I'll let you know what I buy with my birthday money/ what I got for my birthday sometime this week, but today I want to give you a gift! In honor of my blog breaking 10,000 views {you guys are amazing!}, I'm giving away a print to one of you lovely readers. You can choose any one of the following seven prints.


Love Birds 8x10

Home Sweet Home 11x14

Tomorrow 11x17

Happy Things 8x10

Perfect 8x10

Map of Your City 8x10 {you can choose from many different colors}

Be Happy 8x10




  • PRIZE: Any one of these seven prints
  • TO ENTER: Comment on this blog {NOTon facebook where I posted it}, with which print you want to win. Make sure you call it by the name I captioned it with, so I can be sure which one you mean. If you do not have an account, you need to include your full {first and last name} on the post. If you do not know me personally, you need to include your email address so I can contact you if you win.
  • BONUS QUESTION: What's your favorite quote? My favorite is, "My home makes me feel like a kid in a candy store."
  • GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Tuesday, February 28th at 9:00 a.m.
  • NUMBER OF WINNERS: One
  • PRIZE SHIPS: The United States or Canada
  • USUAL STUFF: One entry per person is permitted. The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Tuesday in another post. That’s right, come right back here next Tuesday for the announcement of our winner. Good luck!





  • 2.20.2012

    22 years old

    The day greeted me with typical, dreary February skies and a loving husband who doesn't yank the covers back that I've stolen in the night. Today is the first day that I've ever gone to school on my birthday {homeschooled bonus + it's been on a weekend every year since college started}. The very first one. I am perfectly aware that most people have always gone to school on their birthday and have no sympathy for me, but it's still a pretty big deal. :)

    I got dressed for my 7:30 class, noticing some midnight happy birthday wishes on my iphone.

    22 is that age. That age I thought was immensely old when I was growing up. That age when I expected I  would graduate from college. You know... High school ends at 18, and 4 years later you're 22.

    I'm not graduating this year. It was my decision. Most of you know that I went to Pensacola for part of a semester. When I came home, {read- got kicked out} the Lord really used that time in my life to draw me close to Himself and to reintroduce me to Matthew Gabriel Nowak, that same man who doesn't yank the covers back. 

    So here I am, with a year lost in Pensacola, a 22 year old Junior.

    But... on the flip side, I always imagined I would get married at that age. 22. Like my mother. And my Grandmother. It was just "in the cards", right after graduation..... or so I thought. 

    If I had to chose between marriage or graduation... I would certainly rather have marriage early. So, in the end, it's best the way that God planned it. Ha, I shouldn't be so surprised.

    So today, instead of student teaching as my last semester wraps itself up, I come home to the most handsome husband in the world, who works two jobs so we can put some money in the bank. I am over-abundantly blessed, and so aware of the life I have been handed that I do not deserve. Married at 21 and graduating at 23. It turns out, 22 isn't so much "that age". :) 

    Here's to a fun filled year of loving on my husband and enjoying this small stage of life in Tennessee! Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone!





    2.19.2012

    diy spring wreath

    In December our door had a green leafy wreath {pictured on this post}, but even though there was nothing Christmas specific about it, we agreed it was a little too Christmasy to leave it up all year round. At least for us. So, in celebration of the spring weather we had this weekend {a beautiful day followed by a freezing cold down pour} I made a wreath to brighten things up. Wanna see it?

    Good. :) Cause I'm gonna show you regardless.

     
    Happy, huh? :) 

    I started with this pile of crafty stuff {all from Hobby Lobby}, 


    and began wrapping the wreath in the yellow yarn. This step took about 45 minutes, but I wanted the end product to be smooth, so I took my time.




    Next, I had to work on my petals. I've seen different felt flower tutorials on pinterest, but I didn't want roses, so I made my own flowers. I started with cut outs in the shape of a home plate {or a check on a soccer ball, which ever sport you relate to better}.


    Then I folded the two bottom corners into the middle to make diamond {or petal} shapes.


    Here's how two of the petals fit together.


    And round and round it goes. First white...


    Then gray...


    Then charcoal. 



    I never worried about the petal sizes, and instead let them fit however they fit. As long as it's happy it doesn't have to be "perfect". 

    Lastly, I pulled out my button jar and found some old couch buttons to add to the center of my flowers. It's just the finishing touch. :)



    And here she is again on the door.



    She's helping make people feel welcome to knock, enter, and stay awhile. I hope pretty soon the weather will begin reflecting her sunshine. 

    Enjoy the rest your weekend! I'll be back again tomorrow with a birthday post, but in the meantime, how about you? Have you started your spring cleaning? Do you have a happy spring wreath? Or maybe you should put it on your to-do list.

    2.15.2012

    vintage owl keyholder

    Lovely lovely love. I spent all of Valentine's Day (minus 4 hours for his work) with the love of my life. The day began with breakfast in bed and ended with board games. Oh, and there was shopping, a movie, and waffle house in between. My kind of day.


    I don't want to be that wife.. but... Is he a hottie or is he a hottie? But, I know you don't want to hear about how attractive I think my husband is. 

    Let's move to what we brought home from Nostalgia. Just two things. In fact, it was just two small things.

    An owl key holder, and my first pyrex container.



    Check out the awesome color change when I put it in the window and let the sunshine light it up. *Sigh*. It's just so beautiful. But since it hasn't been used yet for food, this post is about the key holder, which is {as I type} holding keys.


    Before I even thought about hanging it up, I knew I had to go through my key ring and whittle it down to the keys I use on a regular basis. 

    I started with this.


    And ended with this.


    Ah, much better. On to hanging! One of the things I've learned lately {I'll tell you more about that later} is that everything should be hung at 57 inches. So out came my measuring tape, and up went the owl.




    Functional and Beautiful. My kind of upgrade. Did anyone else fall in love with something other than your Valentine yesterday? :)

    2.13.2012

    twas the night before Valentine's Day...

    And Matthew was annoyed, while Amanda was clueless. Here's the story.

    This morning I had school from 7:30-11:50 and Matthew had work from 5:00-11:30. We got home right around the same time {his work is not as close as the school}. I told him that my work day had been extended from 1:30-5 to 1:30-7:45. I told him that  my boss invited him to join me. Watch kids. Eat a free dinner. I expected him to be all about it {he loves kids and pizza}.

    Matt- "Well I'm going out to Norris to drop off the job application, so I'll come over later."
    Me- "It's only 25 minutes away and we have an hour and a half before work. Let's go together!":)
    Matt- "Yeah, that makes sense. Ok."

    We go. We drop off the job application. We make it to work with 15 minutes to spare. Matt seems a tad annoyed, but after hours of playing with Caroline {the youngest of the two girls I watch} he was in a super bright mood. We drive home.

    Matt- "I'll take you home, grab the movies, take them to the library, and then go up and take the trash out at Emory Road {part of his lawn care job}."

    We get home.

    Me- "I'll just stay in the car. I might as well keep you company!" :)

    I love him. I was just trying to spend every minute I could with him.

    Matt- "................"

    Me- "What? You don't want me to come?" {picture a slightly hurt, clueless female}

    Matt- "............. I've been trying to get away all day!! The one thing I was going to get for you I'll have to get tomorrow because it's too late now, but there's still one thing I can get. But not if you keep going everywhere with me!"

    :) How cute is he? And he's not even a procrastinator. He says whatever it is couldn't have been purchased before today... No idea what that means. :)

    In other news...

    Here's Matthew and Caroline. Matthew was laying on his stomach halfway on the tiles, halfway on the carpet with his arms folded just so....

    Distractedly playing with the alphabet magnets on the fridge, Caroline suddenly noticed him. She {literally} dropped what she was doing and went to lay next to him. Scooting her body to be half on the carpet, she crossed her arms just like him. I can't wait for the day I can take this picture with two Nowaks in it.



    2.11.2012

    winter

    I was all like, "Stop snowing, so I can go for a walk!" Having always hated snow scrooges, I was in danger of becoming one.

    But, then.

    I found this print from the etsy shop "spreadthelove" {link here}.


    It was such a lovely reminder that I decided I wanted to share some joy with you guys, just for reading. When I get to 10,000 views, I'll have a print giveaway. I'll give some choices, and then gift one to one reader... just for reading. Happy Winter!

    2.09.2012

    153.1 pounds


    It's that time of the month again. The time when I show you a picture of my side{ish} profile in those striped exercise shorts and that purpleish-blue shirt and turn in the stats. This past month, I lost seven pounds.

    Seven isn't as big as ten, but you've heard the saying, "No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everyone on the couch." No offense to those of you who are sitting on your couch as you read this... ;)

    Here are this month's life improvements
    • Only drinking water {Except for that one time when I ordered a sweet tea and honestly didn't remember until I was thinking, "Whoa, this is the best sweet tea I've ever tasted!"}
    • Still not having seconds
    • Still eating smaller portions
    • I didn't work out every day this month. Probably twice a week, Matthew and I {and sometimes Chris} would walk 3 miles.
    Snacking this month has been hard. We've had alot more company, so we kept making brownies or cranberry pumpkin bread. Mostly, I find that it's all in the little choices I make. 

    I've been getting alot more compliments lately, which is a nice little pat on the back from people who don't notice it enough to say, "Hey, have you lost 17 pounds?" but still subconsciously notice that I'm looking better.

    This month I think I'll try to walk 3 miles 4 times a week. It takes about an hour every time, so it's just a matter of making time for it.

    Well, here I am. 17 down and 25 left to go! It'd like to reach the half way mark this next month. :)

    February 153

    January 160

    December 170

    2.07.2012

    diy song lyric art

    Awhile back I saw this post on Kelsie's blog where she had put some lyrics to a song on an ugly painting. I loved the idea and I've been on the lookout for the perfect painting. I needed something with good colors, that was big enough to make a statement {I'm thinking above the mantel... someday, when we have a mantel}.... oh, and it needed to be cheap. Huge paintings on the cheap are hard to come by, even when you're shopping thrift stores. 

    Enter this painting. 


    It's a very quiet little farm scene, and I fell in love with the yellow in the tree. As you can see, the bottom of the painting wasn't attached to its frame. Guess how much this beauty cost us? $5.00. Yep, that's cheap enough for me. 

    Next step? Picking the song lyrics. This one was pretty easy. Our song has been "I think I love you" since the day Matt sent me a link to it years ago. We were chatting... not dating... nothing... All of a sudden the chat box has "I think I love you" in it, and I freaked! I didn't bother listening to the song {which says "and if you say, 'hey, go away!' I will"}. I was like "How can you love me if you don't even know me?" I proceeded to tell him every bad thing I'd ever done in hopes of scaring him off. 

    Happily, it didn't work. :) And now it's our song. 

    So, I got sticker letters from Hobby Lobby and worked on the spacing.


    After they were as perfect as they could be, I took the backs off the stickers and made it all official. 


    By this time, I was more in love with the painting than I had originally anticipated. Christopher {my brother} suggested that instead of blasting it with a dozen coats of glossy white, I spritz it a couple times and leave the painting in foggy view. Seemed like the right idea to me.


    My awful habit of nail biting kept me from the next step. Enter Matthew. 


    While he was busy peeling stickers, I tackled the second part of the project. You saw the wooden frame the painting came with, but I wanted to update it. I've recently heard wonders about a tube of paint?/stain? called "rub n buff" and I wanted to give it a shot.


    It worked wonders, taking my frame from wood to brass in only a couple of minutes.


    I pulled down the meaningless number art that used to hang in our hallway, and up went my new favorite piece of art.


    It's a little hard to read in the lighting, but I love its subtlety. 

    I think I love you. Isn't that what life is made of? 

    :) Isn't it?