One man's trash...

... is another man's treasure.







Once upon a time, I rescued a piano bench out of Greg's grandma's garage. She was ready to junk it. It had obviously seen better days. When I brought it home, it had a rough, chipped particle board top that wouldn't even hold a lowly houseplant. I quickly knocked that off, so all I was left were the legs.

That was at least four years ago. (No joke. I'm sure I did that when we lived at our old house, because I remember moving the darn thing.)






Last week, I threw some stain on her. She looked kind of jazzy.

The roadblock I kept running into, which kept me from moving past the stain step, were these darn tabs on the edge. The original top had sat over them, but I wanted something sturdier. If I added anything too thick, then the top of the bench wouldn't be flush with the frame. And, I couldn't get the tabs to budge. I tried a chisel. I tried a screwdriver. I tried a hammer. I tried a pry bar. NOTHING! I didn't try the sawzaw, because I was afraid the whole thing would collapse into a big pile of sawdust.

So, I cut a new piece of plywood that would fit around the tabs. I'm not going to talk about this part. There were a lot of bad words until the plywood was attached and a lot of, "I hope the boys are still sleeping so they don't hear me cussing."

But, alas, I had victory... ish. The plywood was attached to the tabs with many screws and wood shims. I sat on it, and it didn't collapse, so I figured we might be ok.

I was ready to put fabric on the top and some padding.

There are much easier ways to do this then how I did it, but the screws that were holding the plywood in place kept getting in my way. Let's just saw I used a staple gun, some hot glue, and a whole lot of luck. Oh, and did I mention that I cut open an old pillow and used the padding out of it, because I was too cheap to buy new? Use what ya got.

And here's the finished piece.

Miracles do happen.

Pinterest Positives

Ok, so I've admitted before I'm addicted to Pinterest. Admittance is the first step, right? Lately, it seems like people are willing and ready to throw Pinterest under the bus. I've read things like, "Nobody's house should look that perfect," or "Pinterest sets unrealistic expectations for life."

I agree that every pin needs to be taken with a grain of salt. I also agree that someone could go off of the deep end trying to replicate the perfect Pinterest home. But, here's the thing, I think Pinterest is full of positives.

Let's rewind to the mid 20th century. This was the typical housewife:

{Via}

She kept a tidy home, her children were the center of her world, and she gave her undivided attention to her husband.

Fast forward to today.

{Via}

Moms have thousands of things on their plates. There are jobs, families, and other tidbits of life thrown in. Somewhere between the first picture and the second picture, I think we have forgotten how to take care of a home. And that's where Pinterest can lead our generation back to the basics. 

There are a few fundamentals of keeping house. First, it should be somewhat clean and orderly. Secondly, you should do your best to make nutritious meals. And lastly, you should throw in a little bit of love to make it feel like a home. Over time, I think people have become so focused on their jobs that they've forgotten these fundamentals. 

Maybe it's a new recipe, a tip for organizing that junk drawer, or a craft to hang on the wall: Pinterest can help the non-functional homemakers out there bring joy to their family. Pinterest brings homemaking to the forefront of our thoughts. 

Forget all the bullcrap about feeling like a failure if your home doesn't look like a magazine spread. Instead, focus on the things you can do to make your family feel loved. If it doesn't come natural for you, find inspiration on Pinterest. You don't have to be the first picture or the second, you just have to be your best self. 

Shameless plug: follow me on Pinterest.

And cue the feminazis now.

Thankful. Grateful. Blessed.

There's no real tutorial for this sign. It was pretty straightforward:

1. Cut a board to your desired dimensions.
2. Paint or stain said board.
3. Project up your letters or freehand them.
4. Paint letters.
5. Hang.

As far as the hanging goes, I have a confession. I've mentioned before I tend to get impatient when it comes to finishing projects. Since I didn't have any hangers, I improvised. 

That's two staples from a staple gun and a piece of wire ran between. I definitely wouldn't recommend this for anything heavy, but for this, it worked! Who would've thunk?

How a menu board makes my life easier

One of the great things about being married to a farmer is we always have tons of raised-by-us meat in the freezer. One of the bad things about that is the freezer!

I enjoy cooking, but I have this bad habit of leaving the meat in the freezer until it's time to prepare a meal. Then, I have to spend lots of time defrosting it. Or, I inevitably run into that, "What the heck am I going to cook" dilemma. 

So, a while back, I devised a simple menu board to help me with that planning. I took a picture frame that was laying around collecting dust with no picture, a piece of scrapbook paper, and some sticker letters. I whipped them together and bought a pack of wet-erase markers. Here's the result:

I saw much more complex versions on Pinterest, but this simple idea works for us. At the beginning of the week, I make a menu, and I do my best to stick to it. Of course, there are always last minute plans that change things. (Ie: Greg says he'll be home in 10 minutes to eat, and the meal for that day requires 30. Or, Greg's in the field or at the farm, and I need something easy to take to him.) For the most part, however, the menu board makes life simpler.

It really accomplishes a few things. First, it reminds me to get things out of the freezer. If I need corn or beef the next day, I get it out to defrost the night before. Secondly, it helps me make avoid questions like, "Haven't we already had ham three times this week?" Finally, as I plan, it helps me incorporate new recipes into our meals.

Do you guys do any sort of menu planning? What's it look like at your house?

A bio for the blog

I've been doing some updates and organization on the blog today, so I thought it would be a good time to write up a bio.

It's challenging writing a biography when you don't know who will be reading it, so I'll just tell you the basics.

I've been married nearly five years to this great guy:

We met through a fantastic youth organization called FFA. I could write for days about FFA. But, long story short: I would not be the person I am today without the opportunities I had. FFA literally changed the course of my life. And, I made some of very best friends to this day.

Greg and I didn't start dating until we were students at Ohio State.

I had some fantastic opportunities at OSU. I traveled all of the world, including South America, Europe, and Africa. One day, I aspire to visit all seven continents.

I graduated in 3 1/2 years and became a high school agriculture teacher. Greg and I got married, and I moved to a new part of Ohio. It took me a while to get used to the flat ground, but I've come to appreciate scenes like these:

Greg works full-time and then some on his family's dairy farm. I didn't grow up on a farm, but I've definitely gotten a crash-course being married to a man who lives, works, and breathes farming. I've learned to drive tractors, haul manure, pull trailers, make cow feed, and the list goes on.

This spring, Greg and I started a new adventure called parenthood. We welcomed Dwight Owen (named after Greg's grandpa) and Jordan Scott (Scott is Greg's middle name) into the world. They are absolutely wonderful babies, and we couldn't be happier with our family of four.

This year, I've stepped away from the classroom to spend time with these bundles of joy. I keep myself busy though, helping farmers make good decisions about corn and soybean seed, serving our little township as fiscal officer, designing websites and graphic design pieces, running a corn maze and pumpkin patch during the fall, and of course, keeping up with Greg, Dwight, and Jordan! In my spare time, I love to cook and craft.

That's me in a nutshell. I hope you enjoy reading about our life adventures!