Trah to Treasure Tuesday....bunkbed edition

**YO!  You guys....MAKE SURE you take a moment and read yesterdays entry.  It's cool, so don't ignore it mmmmmkay?!**

Well, I don't know how much these were "trash", but I DID buy them on Craigslist.   And I MAY have stole them for a song.  Seriously....I'd been looking for quite some time, off and on, for bunkbeds.  It seems like the only crap people were always selling on Craigslist were those poopy metal beds.  WHO wants those, EVER?  And those were the ones that were "affordable."  Any wood beds I'd find were either solid boxes and ugly, or they wanted 300 dollars or more.  Anywho, the morning I got my tax return I decided I should probably just give a quick looksy at "the list" and see if there was anything at all.

There it was....just listed that day...a pair of solid wood bunkbeds, with personality even for only $185.00.  YES!!  I emailed them, and after some phonecalls I asked if they'd take $160.00.  They said yes.  I said.....I'm on my way!

ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY BUCKS?!  For real?  I can TOTALLY handle that for solid wood bunks.

Off my Daddy and I went in his miniature truck to Queen Creek to pick them up.

I was so happy when we got there to see that they were actually pretty short, totally perfect.  Just ugly yellow, knotty pine.  THAT had to go.

After a BUTT TON of work painting, and then letting them sit in my garage for nearly a week, they are FINALLY in the kids room and they're great.  The kids are beside themselves with excitement.

Right...so here we go:

BEFORE:

MIDWAY:

WHAT?  I mean Puh-lease...you can't tell me the white isn't 4 million times better.  Even if it DID take me an ENTIRE day and more cans of spray paint than I ever care to tell you.  YIKES!!  And now...I have a lot of touching up to do.  You wouldn't believe how much you "miss" on those undersides. hahaha

AFTER: 

Oh my gosh...did I mention the HUGE drawers underneath?  AWESOME!  I cleared out three of Maxs drawers into one of these.  Now I have 3 drawers for the babies clothes and diapers.  WOO HOO!!  The other drawer has all of Maxs trucks and toys. 

Don't ya just love it?  I'm happy.  And Max finally in a real big boy bed.  SO GREAT!  He feels so cool.

Maggie just HAD to "take pictures" of it, since I was.  It was cute.  She took a bunch of pics and then she and her friend went out back and made "videos" with this silly broken old 35mm camera.  I'd hear them say, "now do you want to watch my video?"  And they'd be looking at the camera like they were really watching something and giggle their heads off.  SO CUTE!

Anywhozywhatsit....that's my bunkbed story and I'm stickin to it.  Let me know what ya thinky.

Allyson

I used rustoleum spray primer

Rustoleum Semi-Gloss White spray paint

Rustoleum matte clear finish

No sanding whatsoever

His Million Dollar "baby"......

Funny story....You know our friend Rob.  Or as I like to call him "THE Rob Gardner."

This guy:

Oh hey Rob, looking sexay here.  Thanks Google for giving me this pic.

Anyway...Rob is the composer of "Lamb of God" that awesome thing I got to be a part of the choir for and record.  Also the composer of many other things, including a little musical called "Twelve Princesses."

About 6 years ago or so he wrote a musical called Twelve Princesses.  They produced it at MCC and I kid you not when I say pretty much my ENTIRE family was in it.  He wrote the lead/narrator for Jere, he was Bob the Gardner, and my sis in law Lana was Franc the Fairy...hilarious!  Anywho, it was a cute show.  But, after it ran, he put it away and never touched it again.

That is until last year.  Suddenly, everyone is being called to come into the recording studio and record the show as a cartoon.  Rob decided to rework it a bit and submit it as cartoon storyboard to a new contest on Amazon for a new studio they were starting.

He submitted for December and WON as best picture for that month.  He won $100,000.00.  You read that right....ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND BONES. Plus he won another 10 grand for 2 other categories.  Then after some revamping of the script and reshooting and reworking he resubmitted the show and was then submitted as one of twelve finalists for the Grand, GRAND prize.  I'd post a link, but I'm not cool enough for that.  So, just go to Amazon.com, or Amazon studios or something and look up the contest, or 12 princesses or something.  You can watch the video and enjoy.

In the meantime, Jere and several others were nominated for "best actor" prizes.  Jere didn't win, but the romantic lead Michael, DID!  Thousand bucks.

THEN, THEN......last month Rob got the call.

HE WON THE GRAND PRIZE!  ONE MILLION DOLLARS.  No, I'm NOT kidding you.

Our friend Rob won ONE MILLION DOLLARS AND an opportunity to have his little cartoon made into a feature length movie.  How is that for cray cray? I know someone who actually won a million bucks.  I mean, I wasn't sure if a million dollars even really existed somewhere, but apparently....it does!

Needless to say....I really know some ridiculously talented people.  It's silly.

Then.....more good news.  Jere was RE-submitted for best actor (don't ask, we don't know the rules around there) and..........................

HE WON!  Jere won a thousand bucks.  SO HAPPY!

We seriously NEVER win anything, EVER!  So, this is big doins.  Perhaps I should really hit up the lottery......just sayin.

Yep, that's our story.

Millionaires and 100aires,

Allyson

Things that go BUMP! in the night......

Though really...a more appropriate title for this would be:
THINGS THAT GO KABOOM, CRASH and basically scare the crap out of you in the night.

It's a little like this.  There I was, slumbering deeply and peacefully (neither of which generally happen) maybe having a bizarro dream about one of Jeres cast members and her impending doom.....when suddenly there was a sound that can only be described as....the end of the world.  No really.  A giant kersplosion, crack, crash, BANG!  I was literally jerked out of my sleep (thinking said girl met her end) with heart pounding, mind reeling, pleading in my head that someone hadn't just absconded with my children and or dropped a bomb on them.

I turned on my lamp...stood up and got my bearings.  I had to think about this.  WHAT coulda made such a noise.  Oh wait, did I mention it was TWO A.M.?  Yes, yes it WAS 2 a.m.  Jere woke up, because I turned on a light.  Asked me what was wrong, and then I saw it......

The closet doors were being pushed dangerously far out, as if they were gonna bust forth a tidal wave of clothes.  Which coincidentally....they were.

I knew in my heart what this meant.  Our clothes no longer had a happy home.  They were now in wadded heaps on the floor, threatening a mutiny on the doors.

Somehow I pried a door sideways and sure enough....the entire first shelf and clothing bar were laying tragically on the floor.  The brackets and the 2x4 cleat had literally been ripped from the wall.  What the hell?

Looked a bit like this:

Uh...something tells me it's not s'posed to look like this.

RIPPED FROM THE WALL!

Or this for that matter.  UGH!

So, after clearing the offending clothes out and making a path so the doors would stop their ominous threat of explosion...I lay me down to sleep.

Except that sleep was not to come.  It took me until after 4 a.m. and one pee break to FINALLY go back to sleep.  Only to be awake at 6:05 a.m. again.

Bah Humbug!!

I put a call in to my trusty carpenter and fabulous bro. in law Troy.  Told him his handy work had somehow FAILED!  He's coming tomorrow to rectify this tragic situation.  In the meantime...I'm gonna see if there are a few things I can send to D.I. or just get rid of to lighten said load.  Clearly this closet bar doth protest too much.

Meanwhile....here's to hoping there are no more things that go

BOOM! or bump for that matter, in the night.

Heart attacks and broken things,

Allyson

Sleep Oddities...

For whatever reason I've collected a random bunch of pics of my family sleeping in funny ways.  So, lucky you, I'm sharing.  I know, I can't help it, I'm a giver that way.

WAIT.......I interrupt this intended sleep pic post to first show you this gem of Maggie.  At some point in January I finally bought a curling iron.  This night was our first attempt, as we were heading out to two different wedding receptions and she needed to look saucy.  Also, she's sporting a totally adorable outfit brought to us by my shopaholic sister who has magic always with her and never pays more than 2 bucks for anything.  No really, I SWEAR!!!

Let us take a moment and die a little at her cuteness with curly hair.  UGH!  Too bad she won't let me do that very often.  You know, we're still in a massive hair battle on the daily.

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled sleep pics.

Went in to check on them just before I went to bed and found them like this.  They really are best of friends, in spite of their fighting at times.  Clearly, Max was in need of some Maggie on this night.

Maggie had woken up screaming and crying about her leg hurting.  It happens a lot, she insists on ice packs and usually can be consoled quickly and put back to bed.  But, for whatever reason, this night she was SUPER unconsolable, screaming, crying, complaining.  As we all know, I don't deal well with her in that condition.  So, Daddy took it upon himself (it should be noted it was like 9:30 or 10:00 and we were out watching TV) to take her back to our room and lay with her.  When he never returned, I checked.  This is how I found them.  She really, REALLY wishes we'd let her snuggle in our bed all the time and sleep with us. Maybe this was her sneaky way.

And finally.........

Then there is this guy.  One afternoon while I was getting ready for lessons, or cleaning, or eating bon bons in my bedroom, whatever....he was out watching cartoons and apparently the day had just got the best of him.  He slept HARD like that for a couple of hours.  Sure love that boy!

Now, if only I could actually get some sort of sleep, it'd be awesome.  Ah well, s'pose I should just get used to it, there is a baby coming rather soon.  OY!

Sleep and Sound,

Allyson

So, I went and turned 39....

Right, so like I said....there really has been PLENTY goin on round here for me to fill you in on.  Not the least of which was my unwelcome Birthday.  But, I just seriously can't seem to get anything more than maintaining my house and my sanity from day to day done.

Meh!

Anywho......on January 30th, OVER a month ago I turned another freaking year older.  People, I am NOT ok with it.  I don't accept it.  I can't possibly be THIS close to 40.  It depresses me to no end.  It really does.  I don't LIKE getting older.  I don't LIKE the realities of our bodies breaking down and facing the future in it's scarey state.  UGH!

However, I try not to be TOTAL Debbie Downer, so I put on a smile and invited my adorable Daddy to lunch.  I mean, we DO share a birthday.  I was his 30th birthday present and I really DO love sharing the day with him.

There are several places that offer free meals to you on your Birthday, so we took advantage of Liberty Market in downtown Gilbert.  Joining us were my Mom, my brother, my children and then my friend Karen stopped by too.  All in all it was a lovely lunch and time had by all.

I do so love my Daddio.  Can't believe he's 69 years old.  That is just crazy talk.

The rest of the day was pretty low key.  Jere had given me some beautiful flowers and a sweet card and maybe some chocolate, I can't remember now.  Oh, he gave me the birthday girl ribbon I was forced to wear around for the day. haha

That night we went to dinner with our delightful and beloved neighbor friends Blaine and Noelle.  Really, they're so fun.  And Julie came along too, while one of Jeres cast members babysat our kids for us.   Thanks Britanee! 

We decided on Cheesecake Factory....man I love that place.  It may or may not have overwhelmed Noelle with all the choices, but somehow she persevered.

Our dinner group.  I REFUSE to even acknowledge or discuss how huge I look.

My pretty, pretty bouqet from Jere.  It seriously lasted for a MONTH!

All in all....it was a nice day. I got some nice cards, a couple lovely gifts, and there was of course all the facebook lovin.  MAN I love Facebook Birthdays, that really is fun to get all those greetings.  Anywho.... I'm moving on, learning to accept that age happens.  But, it doesn't mean I have to be happy about it.  Next year, I'm just telling you now, I will be hiding in a closet somewhere.  I REFUSE to turn 40, simply REFUSE!!

Stuffing your face to tune out the old age,

Allyson

Trash to Treasure Tuesday...REDO edition

Yo, yo, YO!  So many things to tell you and so little desire to ever do it.  However, I do have a new redo to show you, and well, that's always fun.  It may have nearly put me in labor doing this (no for real....contractions alllll day long) but that's not gonna stop THIS girl from getting a project done once the desire is there.  Shoot, the desire is rarely there these days, so when i felt the urge, I went with it.

Alright, so remember many months ago when I took this table:

And then I did THIS to it:

It was cute, it worked.  However, I didn't seal it, and pretty quickly, due to Jeres big feet with shoes on that he always likes to put on said table, and grubby children with no cares for furniture...it soon became THIS:

You can see which side Jere sits on, no?  All paint rubbed off there.  And look at all the chips and the grubby black marks and such.  Clearly something needed to be done.  Sooooo.....I stripped off the paint from the top, then I sanded the top 'til it was smooth as a babys butt.  Listen people, I actually finally bought my own sander.  SO HAPPY!  I had a good time sanding it down, and it was easy squeezy.

Ready for some stain.  And I actually followed the rules and did one layer, waited 12 hours and did the second round of stain.  Then, I put a wax all over the top to protect it.  I must say, I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.  It looks clean and neat and I no longer worry about Jeres big feet all over it, or the kids climbing on it.  It was a good long afternoon of work, but well worth it.  Even if it DID give me those contractions.

So, I'm very happy with the final result.   What do you think?

Interesting tid bit.  This is the same stain I used on my kitchen table AND my island.  It looks different on all 3.  The Island we did one layer and it's rather light.  The table I used a rag on and it's much darker and deeper.  This is probably the most even of the  three.

Table painted in Swiss Coffee

Tob stained in Minwax gel stain Cherry

Knobs from Hobby Lobby

Here's Where we're at....

So, I'm M.I.A for 3 weeks and I'm only here now to complain.  Aren't you excited?  I thought so.

Here's where we're at in life people.....

Sick, sick, sick and oh yes......SICK!

I've had a cough that has been somewhere between out of control and mildly lingering for going on a month.  A never ending supply of snot and mucus and really, no ability to sing.

Jere has himself a righteous cold, just in time for tech weeks of Rent and going into rehearsals for Seussical.  He doesn't know how to handle such things as, you know, head stuffiness, runny noses, cough and feeling like poo.  It's just so second nature for me, I tell him to buck up, this too shall pass.

Maggie and Max have had a bit of a cough, like a little here and there for a couple of weeks.  But 2 days ago both of their noses started running like faucets and Maggie woke up this morning at 5:30 a.m. burning up with a fever.  She has a really great, consistent cough to go with that fever that has been here all day.  It'll go away with Ibuprofen and then come back as soon as it wares off.  She spent a good 1/2 hour just sitting in a hot shower because she informed me that a hot steamy shower would probably make her feel better.  Then, she took an unprecedented afternoon nap (never a good sign).  Now, she just sits around yelling and demanding things and saying she doesn't feel good.

I'm realllllllllllllllly so done with SICK.  I mean, I know things could be so much worse.  I should shut up and not complain.  But, I just want fully well.  I want to not cough EVER.  I want to not hack up crap, EVER!  I WANT to sleep all the way through a night.

Oh, here is another thing.  Turning over in my sleep, or non sleep, whichever you prefer has gotten to a point of needing a crane, or Presidential permission.  I feel like I did when I was 400 pounds.  It is the HUGEST effort to roll my body over.  Ridiculous!

Also.....went in today for my 2 week checkup ( I am 33 weeks people) and out of nowhere they say..."oh yeah, we are going to have you start coming in TWICE a week, EVERY week for non stress tests and ultrasounds."  They knew that last time, but failed to ever mention it to me.  So, my 20 minute appointment turned into three hours.  Furthermore, I now have to go in TWICE a week for the next six weeks.  This is about the most inconvenient thing EVER!  I have to figure out how to work it around carpool, taking Jere to school, and just everyday life.  There is no indication of any problems, but because I'm OLD, and fat and have developed some decent anemia they've decided it's what to do.  UGH!  On the upside, the baby has some really chubby cheeks and apparently a lot of hair, so that's fun.

Oh, and in case you didn't know....this baby is OFFICIALLY a girl.  Woo hoo.

The pregnancy has really gone very fast, it has.  In spite of feeling crappy, and having a very long, wierd barfy spell in there and intestinal troubles like you wouldn't believe.  It's gone fast.  I've only gained 28 lbs., which for me is RATHER great.  I might be freaking out a little that very, VERY soon she'll be here and I don't feel prepared at all.  I need to pull out clothes and wash them and get them ready.  Unfortunately, I have NO idea where in the world I am going to put all her clothes, or diapers, or anything.  I literally have nowhere to put it.  So, I think I've just been ignoring it and not getting it done.  OY!

Enough about me.

Jere is heading into a crazy insane time.  He's in his FINAL semester at ASU to get his bachelors.  He is directing RENT at MCC and like I said, they start tech rehearsals tonight.  So, he will be gone every night now until LATE for the next 2 weeks.  Also, he is starting rehearsing for the role of Horton in Seussical the Muscial.  He's very excited about this one, it's one of his dream roles.  As soon as Rent and Seussical end he will go directly into rehearsals and performances for Much Ado About Nothing.  All while trying to do his homework and finish this semester.  He's already been accepted into NAU's masters program, which he'll be doing through their satelite campus at MCC starting in the fall.

Most exciting for Jere is, he got hired to teach two theatre classes and two music theatre classes in the fall at MCC, plus direct the show...hopefully.  So, good things ARE happening.

Now, if I can just get through the next six weeks with my brains intact and without killing my kids due to my high level of annoyance at all things these days, then we'll be good to go.  Seriously, I need an intervention, because I'm pretty much annoyed allll the time.  Not fair to anyone around me, I know.  I just blame the baby, it's her fault.

I think that about covers it for now.  I wish I could bring myself to actually blog the cute things Max says, or any other number of things I've thought about.  Maybe someday I'll find my mojo.

Until then....

Allyson

Trash to Treasure Tuesday rises....

Now, now, now people don't get yourselves in a tizzy.  YES, I have returned with a lovely trash to treasure, but don't be expecting this to happen every week.  It only took me 9 months to get my  act together and do this one.

Seriously....I happened upon this little gem of a table in a thrift store an age ago.  I knew it had grand potential, and for SEVEN DOLLARS I could NOT pass it up, but didn't have the time or gumption to do it.  It sat in my garage for a rather long time, collecting more dust and taking up space.  Until one day we were having our neighbors over for dinner and I realized our little 4 seater table was just NOT gonna cut it.  So, I hauled the bigger table in and wiped it down and put a big ol' table cloth over it to cover the hideous mess that it really was.  Well, after I saw how delightful it was to have an actual table of size I couldn't go back to the mini table.  I spent several months just covering the table up with various cloths and loathing the mess that needed me to do something with it.

To be fair, I AM pregnant and have been RATHER miserable this time around.  But finally, FINALLY, the day came when i actually had enough energy, enough drive and enough desire to get this bad boy done.  PHEW!  It was about damn time.

Ready?......

BEFORE:

What is not to love about those legs?

Pretty rough shape, as you can see.

How cute is that?  The sides fold down too.

Did I mention.....SEVEN BONES for this table?

So, Jer helped me take it out to the garage and I went to town sanding that bad boy down.  There were some serious gouges and issues to deal with.  As we all know, I don't do sanding....it's annoying and realllllly messy.  However, as evidenced by my crappy photos...there was no way around sanding this bad boy.  I sanded for a good while, cleaned it, taped off the cute little claw feet and hinges, painted the bottom and then stained the top.  Yes, STAINED.  Have I mentioned that I also don't do staining.  ICK!  It's messy and annoying and really not my cup of tea.  However, this seemed like the way to go with this project.

Now, as we all know, I also have a patience problem.  So, goodness knows I was not about to wait around between coats, or take extra long time sanding, or not paint the bottom while the top was drying.  I have things to do people, things.to.do.  I mention this because, well....while I like the results, there are definitely some flaws in my finished product.  But, good news...I'm also NOT a perfectionest. hahahaaha

FINE, I'll show it to you:

AFTER:

Look closely, you'll see said flaws.....sanded too low in some places.  Stain doesn't cover that bidness.  Ah well.  I'm going with....it's rustic and old, so the bad spots look ok, right? hahahahahahahaha

Pretty, no?

Spray painted the base with rustoleum heirloom white.

Stained the top with minwax gel stain cherry.

Table runner is just 3 yards of muslin, and a work in progress.  Gonna shorten it a bit, add some ruffles on the side and we'll see.

And now...it makes me happy to walk into my kitchen and see this pretty, complete, non splintery, rough mess of a table.  It looks finished and lovely.

And though I may have been RATHER sore for several days afterward, it was worth the pain of squatting and moving around on my knees and doing all that work.

Now the question here is....how do we feel about the chairs?  Keep them, or do I have to paint them all cream now?  I won't lie, the thought of doing that is NOT exciting to me.

Stainfully and painfully yours,

Allyson