Pantry Project Complete!!!!!!

What is behind Door #1???

Could it be a new pantry?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Why, YES it is!!!!

Did you forget what it was before????

Here's a reminder:

Oh my. I needed new shelving so badly!!!!

There was so much wasted space.

THE BREAKDOWN

Here's a break down of my new organization on my new shelves:

I wanted to use all the height of the closet so I had my Dad install narrow shelving at the top for extra storage for serving baskets.

The shorter shelves to the left of the closet act as 'drawers' with my cloth tableware stored neatly.




The top left holds grilling tools, candy, medicines and then below that, are boxed foods.

I wanted to store my vacuum in a central location of the house. If it was stored anywhere else, I new it would be an inconvenience. I use it almost daily so this closet was a perfect spot! My Dad allotted the room to be able to store the vacuum and my steamer to the left of the closet!

To eliminate the wasted space in the back (because of the vacuum), I purchased wire baskets to hold baking mixes and bagged food.
Plus, they were too cute to pass up!!!

The middle right holds the canned goods...

Below that are the snacks. I wanted them to be 'reachable' to little hands so, on the way out the door, they can grab a snack if needed.

I wanted to keep the floor clear for the most part. It holds my step stool and heavy 2 liters.

And my favorite part....
Do you remember when Reese had a wrought iron heart made for me for
Valentine's Day???
That was my one 'Must Have' in the pantry. I wanted to have room to hang the heart in the closet for my apron! And it's perfect!!!

I am sooo thankful that my Dad took his vacation time to help me with the pantry!

We shopped...

And he built quicker than I could have imagined...

(I was good at standing around and watching.)

Pre-Organization...

The white wire shelving (I quickly found out) can be expensive. My Dad helped me design a closet that was very effective- storage-wise and financial-wise.

We used all the 'extra' little pieces of shelving and measured a million times so that we didn't waste space or shelving.

And with the main 'bones' of the closet organization, safetly secured in the back, I can rearrange the white wire shelves easily into a zillion different closets!

One last final look...

And one last

THANK YOU DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will think of you everytime I unload and put away groceries.

Which, by the way, has become my new favorite 'chore'.

Love you,

Daughter

(Feeling spoiled and totally organized!)

It's In The Small Things

Sometimes the small things can be just as exciting as the BIG things!

Like this small labor of love from my husband...

The existing sink and previous faucet that came with the house:

(Before)

You can barely see the faucet, right? It was sooo short! I was constantly hitting it with my pots and pans.
But the most ANNOYING part was the auto-shut off. At first, I liked the feature. (For about a week.) But common tasks became a nuisance.
Like, washing your hands. You'd have to be really quick or the water would shut off on you mid-wash. Leaving you with soapy hands.
Or anytime I needed to fill a pot of water, or fill the sink to wash dirty dishes, I had to physically stand there and hold the water on.
I could never leave the water on and walk away because it was guaranteed to shut off in 2.5 seconds.

And the separate water 'filter'?...

Pointless for us. We have filtered water in the fridge. So it's always cold and ready. Plus, this 'filtered' faucet was never hooked up to a filter.
So, if you came to my house and filled your glass using this faucet, you probably thought you were getting filtered water. (Sorry!)

Finally, I bought a new faucet- only after my Handy-Man agreed to put it in!

Out with the old....

In with the new....

And now I have a super cute soap pump too! :)

I'm so proud and thankful for my husband!

This project was a little out of his 'comfort zone'.

He can trouble-shoot any computer problem at work, rebuild the brains of a machine to revive it into running, fix any fixable computer and solve so many problems on my computer with just the touch of his hands. (Literally, I will be so frustrated after hours of trying to do something on the computer, he comes home, touches the mouse, and it all performs perfectly for him.)

 And all of that barely scratches the surface of his God given talents!

He is not, however, a woods-working, build-a-room-on kinda guy.

And I LOVE him for that!

But, he is willing to learn new skills (like installing ceiling fans, fixing plumbing problems, and the newly faucet exchange). Willing to do it for me!

(So, if I did want a room added on, he'd learn how to do it!)

I am honored to be his wife and I hope I am the encouragement to him that he is to me!

Vera Bradley Sale

It's Crazy. It's every Spring. And I go (with my VB partner in crime shopping).

It's the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale!!!!!!!!


Like I said, it's crazy. This is the check-out line....

This is actually checking out...

Want to know what came home with me?????
(Thought so!)

And for all of you who think all Vera Bradley bags look like your Grandma's old bags keep reading.... (I don't LOVE all the patterns or some specific bags but I always find cute treasures in pretty colors. And they are great quality!)

The reason I went.... a new overnight bag!!!! I haven't even put it away yet because I'm so excited to use it! And yes, I LOVE this bag!
(This is the 'Grand Traveler' in 'Watercolor'.)

A fun find!!! A mini hanging organizer- perfect for jewelry or make-up.
('Mini Hanging Organizer' in 'Lemon Parfait')
$14.99

Love the stationary section!
('Creat-a-Card' in 'Purple Punch')
$4.99

Thought of Reese as soon as I saw this! It was a hit with her too!!!!
('Mini Desk Set' in 'Suzani')
$4.99

Another reason I went was for the note cubes. Can you tell I love the gray/teal/yellow color combo?
('Printed Flip-Flops' in 'Lemon Parfait'; Mini Hanging Organizer; 'Take Note Cube' in 'Sittin' in a Tree'.)

A little crazy makes for good memories! It was a great ladies shopping day!

(And I did see 4 men there!!!)

Easter {Sunday} 2012

Our pretty Easter Eggs.....

We had fun with the white crayon that came with the coloring kit :)
(Mickey seems to make an appearance in everything around here!)

Such talent!!

That Easter Bunny sure keeps us on our toes!

Reese and Graham had a furry path to follow Easter morning to find their Easter 'bags'.

Good Morning!!!!!

That's one FUZZY Bunny!

"It's there!"

Easter Goodies!

Time to open the 'Tomb' and check out the cookies!

Off  to Church!

(Lunch at Great-Grandma's house.)
I'm pretty sure a Cousin's Easter Egg Hunt Plan was being made here!

The Golden Egg!

(Yes, that's my son!)
Love that BOY!

We hope your Easter was filled with the remembrance of our LIVING Savior, worship, family and fun!