Five Years.

Today marks five years of being married to the love of my life. He is the most compassionate, loving, and selfless person I have ever met. I thank my lucky stars every day our love story worked out.

I thought I would answer a couple of questions about us as a couple!

1.  When was your engagement anniversary? November 8, 2007

2.  When is your wedding anniversary? July 31, 2009

3.  How long have your known your partner? We met in high school, but did not start hanging out until 2004. 

4.  How long did you date before you were engaged? Two and a half years. 

5.  Where did you meet your partner for the first time? At his high school girlfriends house, who was also my good friend's older sister. 

6.  What is your partner's full name? Roberto

7.  Do you have any children yet? Yes, two. 

8.  How many boys/girls? Two boys. 

9.  Do you have any house pets? Yes, Bama, a chocolate labrador. 

10.  Do you live in the country or in the city? Suburbs. 

11.  Do you own a house or rent? Own, hence the blog. 

12.  How many siblings (including in-laws) do you have? I have a brother. I also have three sister-in-laws. 

13.  Do you work or stay at home? Stay at home. 

14.  What town is your current address at? Suburbs of Denver.

15.  Where did you go on your honeymoon? Waikiki on Oahu

16.  Where were you married? The Inverness Hotel and Golf Club

17. Where was your first date? Cheesecake Factory in Boulder, Colorado. 

18.  What sort of fun things do you like to do as a couple? Watching movies, hanging out with friends, vacationing, day trips to the beautiful mountains, and shop. 

Happy fifth anniversary, to the love of my life! 

Ch-cha-changes!

Hi all! We are finally back from our amazing family vacation to the "motherland" as my husband likes to call it, I call it Mexico, but nonetheless it was so much fun! As soon as I got back into the country I was back on Pinterest and finding new inspiration for our house. We have made a few major changes since we have been back, one including the playroom. We have moved every major toy, that could not fit into ONE toy box, down into the basement. It is going to be the next transformation. I still need just a few more things for our master before I have that reveal, but in the mean time I thought I would share with you our new mantel.

First, I came across this picture from Pinterest and fell in love. I cannot believe she is only renting and how beautiful the house is already!

source

I already had our giant clock from Z Gallerie and I thought it would be a nice change to put it over our mantel. I also plan on adding navy blue in our family room for the winter, so this is a nice contrast to the bright yellow that was over our mantel before....

Now our fireplace and mantel look like this...

I am so excited to add navy blue to this room and really like the simplicity of it! What do you think? Does the yellow look better? I will share next week where the Aspen painting has moved! 

Laundry room mock chalkboard print.

I seriously love this quote. One of the reasons I am doing my laundry room so girly is because I am surrounded by messy, tough, dirty boys. Since I am the only one that does laundry (except for the occasional load my husband does), this can be my space. I even bought crystal door knobs! This saying is so important to how I need to be thinking because some days I am just dying for my boys to grow up. I want them to stop hitting, stop yelling, stop peeing in their pants, and doing all the other dirty things little boys do. But I know I need to cherish these times when they are so little and need me. I am sure, before I know it, they will want me out of their circle and I will be so sad when that day comes. So, for right now I suppose I will rejoice in being their favorite!

Supplies:

• 5.0 mm Panel from Home Depot (made for drawer bottoms) 11 x 14
• Large picture hanger
• Black chalk paint (Annie Sloan Graphite)
• White paint
• Paint brush
• Tiny paint brush
• Printer
• Scotch Tape
• Painters Tape
• Ballpoint pen
• Sharpie Paint Pen

I bought a board from Home Depot for $5.98 and had them cut it to my size (11 x 14), which they do for free! When I got home I sanded the rough edges and put a trash bag on my counter to protect it. I would normally do these things in the garage, but with the boys being awake, I needed them contained within the confines of my house so they aren't running in the street or fighting over some ridiculous outdoor toy. 

I also chose the side with the least amount of knots because that can prevent straight lines when tracing over the "stencil." I painted the board in two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite. I also used an Annie Sloan brush. They just come off smoother and leave less stroke marks. I did not use wax on this project because I wanted the chalkboard style look. I also only bought a sample of this color, but after seeing it in person I wish I would have bought the entire quart because it is a beautiful color! 

Next, I printed out the print that I threw together in Photoshop and since I do not have a printer that can print 11 x 14, I had to puzzle the pieces together to create an 11 x 14. This was annoying, I would recommend getting one printed at Kinkos, Office Depot, or Staples or somewhere like that. 

Here is my version of the saying that you can use if you would like. If you have any problems getting to it, comment with you e-mail and I can send you a bigger copy. 

Once everything was pieced together, I used painters tape to center the saying on the board and make sure everything was level and stayed in place. 

Next, I used my ballpoint pen to trace over the letters, and you have to push hard, and it kind of hurts your hand, but then you get a great stencil on your painted board. 

Then I used my smaller brush and painted in the lines. This takes a little bit, but it is worth it to get the chalk board look. Next, after I let the paint dry, I took my Sharpie White Paint marker to touch up the lines. Once the paint marker dries, I will put on the backer. Be careful when doing this because it could split your board. Gentle hammers! 

Here is the finished product!

It is not perfect, like most of my projects, but it will be perfect for our laundry room. I can't wait to show you what it looks like in the finished room! 

Laundry Room Mood Board.

I am going to make this room a bit girly since I am pretty much the only one who ever goes in here, and I am pretty excited since everything else in my life is surrounded by boys! This room is LITTLE. Like, six feet by six feet, if that. So I have to have a very functional room. 

My amazing sister-in-law gave me some adorable cathedral cabinets that I plan on painting London Fog by Benjamin Moore, it is a light gray color. I want to do the walls in a smooth sage. I am also going to add open shelves on one side of the cabinet. 

Here is what it looked like for our walk-through...

And here is what it looked like last time I showed you....

And here are some inspiration photos that can all be found on this board. 

I am SO excited about the project and cannot wait to get it started. The floors may be done in the fall because the tile I want is almost $12 a square foot, so I need to do some major shopping around because that just isn't happening! Keep an eye on my instagram for updates!