December 20th, 2010
The 95% finished room.
Before:
We worked around our couches for the entirety of the project. It was only this last leg that we were finally forced to move them into our dining room. For the floors.
My husband did about 80% of the work in the room. I did the other 20%. 0% was outsourced. (I’m all over the percentages today.) EVEN THOUGH! I will admit to trying to persuade the husband to call a flooring guy to, you know, know our options. Or get some tips. Or um, beg him to come do it… we’d pay! But like most things, I don’t give Rus enough credit. I’d say, his floors came out looking like a dream. But it’s not a dream, it’s MY room! :D If you’ve lost count, that’s 100% of the floors done by Rustin.
Original floors, before being sanded:
Original floors, sanded:
Being stained:
Stained:
Entryway, before:
Entryway, after:
I also just wanted to note that our house in the before photos was how we moved in. We hadn’t touched the paint or anything, that was the previous owner’s style. *ahem…*
Once all of the finishing around the base boards is done, and we have our sconces, I will post more pics. I just couldn’t wait to share our almost-finished, finished room. And this is Phase 1 of the project. Phase 2 is the crown molding, phase 3 is the fireplace, and phase 4 is installing some book cases next to the fireplace. Old school style.
But before the next phases of our front room project, we’re painting and refinishing our dining room. It is… a hot mess.
So, welcome to our Phase 1 95% finished front room. You should come over for tea and biscuits, because we’re oh so fancy with our fancy room, and drink with our pinkies up all fancy-like!
Oh, and doesn’t my husband do good work?
Cheers!
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November 11th, 2010
That’s right quit. Like put the camera away and vowed never to touch it again.
My personal life had hit a big blow and after Amber’s Session I hit the biggest burn-out I had ever experienced. As if I had been spinning and spinning my wheels, faster and faster getting absolutely nowhere and suddenly I just couldn’t spin anymore. My tires went flat, smoked all over the place, and my engine just died.
I thought it was something that would pass quickly. So I continued to blog, continued to tweet, hoping that any day my zest would come back with a vengeance. I didn’t fight it, I let it take over and I did nothing, watched My Big Greek Wedding and Mean Girls, knowing that I’d be back any day now. But the days went on and on, and that zest didn’t come back. And I began to worry that my worst nightmare had come true.
This post was written because of that slump. It feels weird going back and re-reading it, I hate doing that. I sound SO pathetic. I also sound optimistic that it would pass quickly. Let me tell you, it didn’t. I had resigned to the fact that my camera would never be touched again. I had a few more sessions to finish up and then I’d be DONE.
I thought maybe a shoot would kick start me out of it. I was wrong. Dead wrong. I do blog everything that I shoot; I like that challenge. But the shoot during this slump, was an epic fail! I didn’t post it. I couldn’t. I was so embarrassed. And I really felt that it was a mistake to have picked up my camera again. That sealed it for me. I had just one more session, and THEN I was really DONE!
Meanwhile, my life outside of photography was beginning to change, and possibly take me out of Utah. And I began to understand why this thing felt like it was coming to an end. It was because it WAS ending. I had coffee with a few friends that weekend to share the crazy news. And it was this coffee meeting that unexpectedly helped me turn a corner.
Stay tuned. Cheers!
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$50 session still going on, check out the deets HERE!
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August 28th, 2010
I talk a lot about our move from Southern California to Utah, I know this. I still feel like I’m adjusting to Utah, still, two years later, so it’s constantly on my brain. It has been a BIG adjustment in every way you can imagine. I can’t speak for Rustin, but I’m pretty sure he feels the same way even having grown-up here.
This was meant to be a different post when I started writing it, but somehow it’s transformed into this, and like Tim Gunn says, make it work!
It’s the beginning of the Fall season that triggers memories of that first year. Let me tell you, I was a hot mess. The second year was a little bit better, but I was trying way too hard to fit in and I was so so desperate to make new friends. I felt different in EVERY way possible, and found it impossible to get people to relate to me and vice versa. I was playing the wrong game, and there was no way I could win at that game. It wasn’t until I started REALLY hiding behind my lens, that I began to just not care. As we enter the third year, I’m excited to watch this tiny but healthy and secure, circle that I’ve built around me grow. I’m excited to see what else might be hiding around the corner. I’m excited because I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that it could never be as bad as that first year. Every year it gets a little bit easier.
I can’t sit here and say that Utah feels like home. Because quite frankly, it doesn’t. I don’t think it’s either a good thing or a bad thing. I’ve always felt that as long as Rustin and I are on the same page we can make anything work (again, I invoke Tim Gunn). I don’t know if I will ever feel at home here. But I do know this, I am a better, healthier version of myself than I have ever been in my life. I give a lot of that credit to our move, to becoming a mother, and especially to hiding behind my lens. All of these things were the perfect formula to break me down and bring me back up. I’m still finding my way, with blinders on it seems sometimes, but each step feels like one in the right direction. What is the saying? As long as you’re facing in the right direction, all you have to do is walk? I think I heard that on a BBC sitcom. I know, I am so deep!
Alright, I’m out. I hope you all enjoy the Fall season, it is my favorite. And Utah knows how to do Fall better.
Cheers!
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