Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Updates, Short Story Style

Hello! Here are some updates:
  • Russell dislocated his shoulder for the sixth time Saturday night/early Sunday morning. This time we couldn't get his shoulder back in just by ourselves; no urgent cares were open at midnight; so we ended up at the ER. This is my fourth time taking Russ to the emergency room since we've been together. Four times too many I think. The doctor had a hard time getting his shoulder back in. There was a lot of yanking and grunting. I have realized that the worst sound you could ever hear is the sound of your loved one in pain. We got home at 4 AM. I teased Russ that the only time we stay out late on weekends is when we're at the hospital.

  • Oh, Russ dislocated his shoulder falling off a chair he was standing on. There was a big spider on the ceiling and I asked him to kill it for me. Darn spider. Stupid wobbly chair. I honestly thought he broke something when he fell. The doctors thought he shattered his shoulder but we're so lucky and thankful that wasn't the case. I never thought seeing moments in slow motion was a real thing, but it is. The entire time I was driving to the hospital, that scene kept replaying in my head. The way the yellow chair dipped backwards, then forwards, then Russell falling against the wall before dropping backwards. Then the silence. Russell is the luckiest guy but the unluckiest. In Philippines last year, his oxygen tank stopped working while he was scuba diving. While 30 meters underwater, he managed to communicate to his instructor that the tank stopped working, and they got back up water. No big deal. You see--lucky yet unlucky.

  • Our kitchen cabinets are almost all white now. My parents are coming over this week to help me screw the cabinet doors back on since Russell is out of service at the moment. Russell and I finally settled on the knobs/handles we want on our cabinets. Originally, we thought we would go with stainless steal or gray knobs. We ended up going for plain black handles to stay with the more classic look. I am so excited for this kitchen to finally come together.

  • I am sewing a whole bunch of drawstring pouches. Without getting too much into it, I jumped on the Zero-Waste bandwagon -- or at least, I'm trying to. It's not a bad wagon to be on. I finally got reusable bags and I even bought these bags to put my small produce in. And because I saw those pouches, I got inspired to try to make my own. I've been browsing through Etsy and bought a few more reusable items I never thought about before such as sandwich bags, snack bags, etc. Eventually I want to be able to make my own. I am still trying to get the zippered pouch down, but for the time being, I'm making these pouches to store my nuts and seeds in.
    fun fabric

  • Our patio is coming together quite nicely. This last weekend, we dedicated our time to fixing our patio and moving the plants around to make it look more roomy. I'll post before & after pictures soon. We scored an awesome Crate & Barrel outdoor rug on Craigslist I'm pretty proud of. I am becoming quite the thrifter when it comes to finding quality/pretty home decor.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Work Hard, Play Hard

Russell and I finally decided to tackle our kitchen as our next "renovation" project. All we're really doing is repainting the cabinets and adding knobs because I've always wanted a white kitchen. Also, I couldn't stand the current state of the cabinets.

By the end of June, I thought we were done painting, but here I am again with paint on my hands, hair, and feet. Make it stop!

Cabinet doors
In between the kitchen project, I've tackled a few other creative hobbies:

Sewing! I've only done basic things such as skirts, drawstring pouches, and pillow cases, but I'm addicted. I love pretty fabric.

pillowcases
The back of that leaf pillow has elephants:
Too cute to pass up
Paper stuff. Hung out with some girl friends for a Crafting Day and this is what I learned on one of those days - how to make paper flowers. They look so real too.


Oh, and needlepoint & embroidery. I'm sloppy at it and trying to learn different stitches. Nonetheless, still proud of my first project. I think I'll hang it over our doorbell.


While I'm doing projects that are fit for grandmas, here's what Russell has made:

One of our friends wanted a headboard and footboard for a bed using wood pieces, and Russell came up with this. Russell taught me how to use his sander so I helped with a few pieces (woohoo!). Overall, I love it. It makes me want one for our own room...

Okay, the cabinets are probably dry now. Time to go put 234235 more white coats of paint.