One Post Leads to Another...

I took photos this afternoon of our dining room, and I'm excited to share, so here goes!

I'm horrible at taking before photos, so this is the only one I really have. Notice the floral carpet, boring white walls, and dated wood door/trim. You can't see it, but there was also a lovely 70's style white curtain on the window. I have to mention, too...this carpet was NASTY...and by nasty, I mean dirty, filthy, gross.

Here's the same view...after! We replaced the floors and installed wood laminate. We updated with window covering with some nice, bright wood blinds. We also painted the trim and door white. The walls got a fresh coat of paint, a nice, neutral taupe color. Warm and inviting. Now for the details....This piece has pretty much been the sole inspiration for the entire upstairs decor. I found it at Hobby Lobby, on sale of course, and fell in love with it. I love the colors, and everything else about it.
I have had this vase forever. I found it at Pier 1 a few years ago, and I think I paid something like $1 for it on clearance. I updated it with some new "sticks" I found at Dollar Tree. I think I have all of $5 tied up in this, and it's perfect in the corner of the room.

I've learned that I love CREATING things for our home, and adding personal touches. I covered every outlet and light switch cover in our house with scrapbook paper, and they're all different. I may be the only one that notices, but I love them, and think they add personality to our decor.

This gem is by far my favorite part of our dining room redo. I've wanted a new dining set for a LONG time. We had been using the same hand-me-down from my grandma since before we were even married. My grandpa bought it for her sometime in the 70s...and you could tell. I had been to furniture stores and looked, and I have to admit, the price tags made me cringe. I didn't see any I liked for under $600. I suppose that's not a lot to most people for a nice piece of furniture, but it's a lot to me, especially when there are so many good pieces of furniture thrown out all the time. Enter this beauty, which I saw on a local classified site. I had ignored it because 1) It didn't come with chairs, and 2) It's solid oak, so I figured they wanted a fortune for it. After looking at the furniture stores with my mom, I decided to inquire about it, especially since it is the EXACT shape I was looking for. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the asking price was a mere $30! Obviously, I jumped on it.


One of my new obsessions is distressed furniture, so the first thing I did to my new table was paint and distress the legs.

Justin sanded the top smooth and stained it a darker color. We actually mixed 2 stains to achieve the color we wanted, then went over it with a dark walnut stain. It turned out gorgeous, and trust me, the pictures do not do it justice!

The chairs were free. My mom got a new dining set and was taking her old ones to the dump. I snatched them right up! I still have 2 left to do, but I'm painting and distressing them to match the legs of the table. When I'm all done, I will have a set almost identical to the ones I fell in love with at the furniture stores!

So...that's our dining room redo. It's been fun, and we love the look!

A Very Ryan Christmas: Part 1

I'm extremely behind on blogging. I really thought once we moved, I'd have more time, but it seems like things are busier! I have all sorts of posts floating around in my head, mostly dealing with our new home (we've been busy!) and eventually they will get posted here, but for now...enjoy this post about our Christmas....part 1!




Our tree went up the week before Thanksgiving. Early, I know, but I was excited. This year we did a KU them. Red, blue, white, and of course, Jayhawks everywhere. It looked great!



The girls were in a parade to kick off the holiday season. They were on a float for their dance team, and Kendra was a ballerina and Alexis was a snowman. They both looked great, and even though it was COLD, they had a lot of fun. Alexis kept saying she had a big boobie.


After the parade, Santa showed up to take Christmas requests. Of course, Kendra knew exactly what to do and had her list ready. AJ, on the other hand, was not impressed. She cried. And screamed. And said, "I don't wike a santa cwaus!" From this day forward, she will not have ANYTHING to do with Santa or Santa related items.

Of course, Christmas would not be complete without decorating cookies for Santa. It's okay AJ, we ALL think Kendra is a little nuts sometimes! :)

I'm not a very patient person when it comes to gift giving, so we may have opened some gifts a little early. Since it was Abby's first Christmas, we tried to get a photo with her, but it did not turn out well, as you can see.


It's a good thing our human children are more photogenic!


Christmas Eve, we laid out cookies, milk, and some special homemade stars for Santa.


He must have really liked his treats, because he rewarded the girls generously! A new princess baby doll with all the accessories, a princess carriage, a princess doll house, princess barbies, and some walkie talkies waited for us Christmas morning. Unfortunately, Santa was not able to get all of the gifts requested, but the girls were okay with it.



Emmy thought she would give the gift of herself to us this year. We just think she's "gifted".



Papa and Grandma Morton and Grandma Schlyer and Uncle Derrick all came over Christmas day. We had MORE presents to open, and lots of yummy treats. It was a great day, and by far one of the best Christmases to date. We all had a lot of fun. We also celebrated my mom's birthday. The boys made a cake that didn't turn out so great as far as appearances go, but it tasted good!

Aren't these two just gorgeous?!?!? This gift was a favorite, and we can't wait to get pictures taken in them. I'd say our first Christmas in our new home was a major success, and we look forward to hosting more holidays in the future. Christmas part II is this weekend...stay tuned!