It’s summer (not officially, but it’s here). It’s a time for fun in the sun and flexibility of schedules, for catching fireflies and going to a drive in movie on a whim. But lately I’ve been feeling like a bum mom. A real dud. The blow up pool has been up for a week now and every day my daughter asks me to jump in with her. I always find an excuse to sit in a chair on the side and watch, scroll through my phone, and read a magazine. Why was I saying no thanks to that sweet face? A lot of the time I tell myself I just want to relax when I come home from working all day and I almost said it out loud for the hundredth time when I stopped myself. I wasn’t going to get endless days of this little girl wanting me to do fun things with her. Soon she’d get bigger, make friends, and run the neighborhood with them leaving me behind. So, as I walked up to my dripping, smiling daughter and I said yes! I hopped in that little pool and it was amazing. She brushed off the imaginary dust from her floaty seat for me to use and then snuggled up to me. We talked uninterrupted until our skin was pink from the sun about her day, my day, and whatever craziness happened to come out of her mouth. She let me hold her and gave me hugs and kisses and she made me laugh genuinely in a way that warmed my heart. So, I decided to keep this yes train moving. We went inside and showered off and then she asked if she could dress up like Belle and if I could do her hair up like Belle too. Yes! It was a quick, girly fun way to bond some more and her praises for the hairdo were too cute. We ate some dinner and watched a few minutes of Beauty and the Beast so she could sing along with the song.
Before the end of the poor provincial town number, Charlotte had a stroke of inspiration. “Let’s take a Belle walk!” She grabbed a book, found some slip ons, and we were off. She walked the neighborhood with her nose stuck in her book and I smiled the whole way.
This doll is too cute. As we walked we collected wildflowers for a DIY project I’m doing for our new house. We’re collecting flowers from 3 of our favorite walks, drying them out and pressing them, and then we’re going to put them in a floating frame for the entryway. She had so much fun being involved in this. Every time we saw a flower she got so excited, asked if it was prickly, and if not told me to pick it for the pile.
We had some fun Gaston role playing with daddy and then it was time for bed. All that whimsy and smiling and laughing had detoxed me from my long day of work and actually gave me the second wind I needed! The one I never would have found if I had sat on the couch and watched TV instead. So, if you’re feeling a little sluggish and don’t feel quite up to doing whatever cockamamie thing your kid wants to do, my advice is to say yes and do it. You might just feel like a kid again yourself.
So much for a daily journal. I’m lucky if I have time to sit and write in this thing once a week! Oh well. Better late than never. Things have been so crazy in my world…in the whole world in general, really, but I’ve been very busy personally. Here’s a little digest of all that’s been happening this week:
Writing
The one thing I’m sure you all came here to read about. It’s also the one area in my life where not too much is happening. Since publishing Wayfare Angel I haven’t started working on anything new. I had planned to start organizing and plotting my Beauty and the Beast historical retelling, but that hasn’t happened yet. I have had some really awesome readers this week reach out to me, though! Everytime I hear from a reader it makes my heart smile. I love knowing my stories are being enjoyed. One reader shared her to-read list for June. Notice anything familiar?
That last one made me think maybe I should get working on Dead World. It’ll be the last in the trilogy making it the first completed series of mine. Tempting. I’ll have to think on that one.
Family
We have been going through the process of selling our home, meeting with the builders to make choices for our new home, and moving in with my parents during the whole thing. Finally, next week they break ground on our house! Yay! I’m beyond excited. So lately it’s been a lot of saving, finance talk, and scouring Pinterest and home magazines, binge watching HGTV to plan what to do with this new blank space once it’s done in the fall.
Our lot. I love the trees behind it. It will be such a pretty view from the sunroom!
We are going through a vehicle switcheroo, which will be done tomorrow. My husband traded in his toy fun car, I’m supposed to throw my orange car up online to try to sell, and we bought the car I’ve been dreaming about getting for over two years now. It was a great financial move on our end, but we sure will miss fun, fast green car. The process was a bit stressful for both of us, but at least it’s almost over.
Work
I’ve been enjoying 6 hour work days thanks to Covid, but now it’s time to get back to reality and go back to 8 hour days, 40 hour weeks. I’ve been so thankful to work for an essential business during this pandemic, to be given the opportunity to continue to work without being laid off, and to have the extra time each day at home with my wonderful family. I’m so grateful and it was the blessing in the mess for sure.
Also, I have decided to start my own home decorating business called Revivify Home Designs! The last two weeks I’ve obsessed over it and all the details. I’ve built a website, set up social media, got the blog going, and ordered business cards and what not. I won’t officially launch until November of 2020, but I want to make sure I’m putting myself out there as a decorator before then.
I’ve also still been messing around on floorplanner.com to design my new home’s interior. I’m rethinking the agreeable gray walls and think I might embrace the white walls for contrast.
Health
I’ve had back issues since I injured it in 2013 while in the Navy. Every time I throw it out it gets worse and worse and this last one was the straw that broke the camel’s back (I’m the camel). The VA suggested surgery but I wanted to explore other options before then so I’ve been going to our chiropractor friend. He has me on a year long that involves a ton of visits, some X-rays and a special made pillow. I’m pretty excited about this pillow! But my least favorite part of it all is the driving. It takes me 30 minutes to drive there from work and then 37 minutes to drive home, all for him to adjust my back in 5-10 minutes. I believe in him though and I know if I keep it up I’ll see a difference. It has helped my neck a bit already.
So, that’s why I’ve been busy and haven’t written; working full-time, selling cars, planning our home, starting a business, and binge watching HGTV and binge reading Magnolia Journal. What a life I live. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
In light of all the looting, rioting, and destruction going on in almost all towns across the nation right now, I wanted to take a moment to show some encouragement and support for my hometown of Valparaiso, Indiana. I know the local mall in the town next to us was looted and there were shootouts and even attempted arson. The Walmart in Valpo closed and barricaded its doors the other night. It’s insane. I don’t wan to get too far into the politics of it all, but I do not see how anyone can think destroying their hometown is going to fix anything. So, I wanted to highlight my favorite local hotspots in hopes that others will enjoy them and not destroy them.
#1 Schoop’s Hamburgers
Not the inside of the Valpo one but the food is just as delicious and the décor is just as 50’s vintage
I love going to Schoop’s for so many reasons; it’s right around the corner from where we live now, they have Green River floats and patty melts, there is so much cool 50’s memorabilia on the walls! If I ask my daughter where she wants to go eat lunch it’s almost always Schoop’s.
#2 Society
If I make a trip to walk around downtown I am definitely going into this store! It’s such a great collective of old and new, vintage and modern and it’s so pleasing to the eye. Local artists pair up with rare finds to give shoppers a unique home décor store like no other. If you haven’t been in here and you’re in the area, I highly recommend it! (Please don’t loot it)
#3 Radius
I ate here for the first time only recently but it quickly became one of my favorites. It’s the only place where your Blood Mary looks like a delicious gourmet meal! ‘Nuff said. But really, I love the industrial style of the intimate little restaurant and it was voted best restaurant in Valpo last year. I can see why!
#4 Valparaiso’s Porter County Public Library
For being an author, I do not utilize this awesome gem as much as I should. I love buying books to build my personal library so I rarely check out books to read, but for my daughter we use it ALL the time. This last weekend she got her very first library card and even signed the back all by herself. She was so proud. I love this library because it’s clean and it feels friendly. The staff really take the time to chat with you and get to know their regulars. It’s a nice small town feel in a not so small anymore town. This dollhouse has been here since before I started going there!
#5 Central Park Plaza in Downtown Valparaiso, IN
This is such an awesome renovation in our town. I love it! Charlotte is still too scared to sit down and have her picture taken with Orval Redenbacher, but she’s so close. She enjoys prancing around the splash pad. It’s the perfect size for little babies to bigger kids to run around and cool off in. You may even see me in there on a super hot day! In the winter they turn the pavilion into an ice skating rink. For five-years-old Charlotte is able to skate all on her own thanks to this place and other local rinks. She’s got amazing coordination. The plaza is just so beautiful and well-kept. On the stage they have live music and free movies during the summer. Bring a blanket and a picnic and enjoy!
#6 Southlake Martial Arts
Charlotte is a straight-up ninja because of this place. I’m definitely not messing with her! The staff is friendly. Miss Wallace teaches the kids upstairs and she is so great with them. Charlotte has learned so much that really has nothing to do with fighting at all; coordination, listening to those in authority, patience, silence, her own strength, confidence. I really like sending her here to get all her baby energy out and she loves it because she gets to show off and interact with the other kids. And they are decently priced when compared to other martial arts schools. I think we’re going to use them for her birthday party this year too which was a nice affordable option for us. (Would not recommend looting. I’ve seen Ms. Wallace’s kicks and you don’t want to be on the receiving end of those.)
#7 Pat’s Ice Cream Parlor
When walking around historic downtown Valpo, Pat’s Ice Cream Parlor is a must for us. Last time we went Charlotte broke out of her vanilla box and tried a large scoop of Cotton Candy. I love their Exhausted Parent flavor option, well named, which includes some coffee in it. YUM! They’re certainly creative and the ice cream is so good. I also love their sign that says basically she knows ice cream is high calorie and if you want to eat healthy go somewhere where they serve carrots. Gotta love that humor!
#8 The Old Fairgrounds
Though the playground has not been opened back up, nor the outdoor exercise equipment, Charlotte still had fun running up and down the hills, playing soccer with us in the open field, and walking the beautifully manicured track. The pavilion is a great size for rental. When we went this weekend there was a graduation party going on. Perfect centralized location.
#9 Walmart
I know this is not a local store or indie store, but it is still a staple in my life. This is where I picked up my $20 Nostalgia ice cream maker we’ve been having so much fun with! It’s a great way to make those offbeat flavors like watermelon and pineapple that are harder to find. It’s easy to use, takes little ingredients, and tastes amazing. I highly recommend it. I am a big fan of the one-stop-shop and grocery pick up too.
#10 Barnes & Noble
Again, this is not a local only shop or indie bookstore, but it’s the only bookstore we got and so I support it so we don’t ever live in a town with zero bookshops. I love the remodeling ours has undergone. Now, they have a huge toy section that my daughter loves walking through with a huge Lego section, which my husband loves searching for deals through. The store is clean, the staff is so friendly and helpful, and I love sitting in the Starbucks café looking through my new purchases with a Frappuccino and a cinnamon coffee cake. Tempting as it is for us avid readers and authors, please don’t loot!
I know I seem like I’m making light of this terrible situation we’re in with rioting, looting, arson, murder, and more, but I understand the seriousness of it. I understand it from a community standpoint where I am sad to see businesses that I love scared to open their doors, especially after they have been closed for so long because of the pandemic we just went through. It makes me sad that people are fighting the injustice of violence with violence, that people are destroying their hometowns in response to the destruction of life.
I have been binge watching Home Town on HGTV. I just love Erin and Ben Napier who saw the potential in their little southern town that fell on hard times and made it their mission to fix it up and make it beautiful again. This is the kind of action that sparks change. She was challenged by a fan of the show on social media questioning why she hasn’t spoken out more heavily for the black community during all this and her response was spot on perfect, well-thought out and well written. It is exactly how I feel and why I have taken more to silence than jumping into social media full force.
Social media and protesting does raise awareness and it can be peaceful, but the awareness is raised. Now is the time to make little changes in your community for good. God places so many opportunities right in front of us to do His will to better this world and the lives of others. We do not have to force the situation with riots and violence but rather look for what is given to us. We are not all meant to make these grand sweeping motions too big for us to change the entire world, but rather in the little interactions God places in front of us daily. He knows what is best for us and what is right in His eyes, so we can accept the opportunities placed in front of us without forcing our will into it. He works all things for the good of His believers, and this is what keeps me positive and kind and moving forward.
We had a great weekend! (A little late in posting about it, but better late than never. Work’s been crazy so far this week.) Friday evening I came home from work and took a nice neighborhood walk with Charlotte, who was all decked out in royal Disney fashion.
Aren’t five-year-old daughters the best? So much fun! Or it was until she developed a blister between her toes and proceeded to give up on life and our walk because of it. In the end, she had to take her shoes off and finish the walk hillbilly girl style with flip-flops in hand. My parenting advice would be don’t let your little one take a long walk in flip flops, even if they insist they’re comfortable.
Saturday was my special mommy-daughter day. I’m selfish and love to have at least one day a week all to myself with Charlotte. We relaxed and snuggled in the morning playing iPad and watching TV. I treasure our relaxing Saturday mornings! Then, we headed to favorite local restaurant Schoops for lunch.
It’s the second time she’s been there since restaurants reopened and they are still having issues with their cooler so no Green River float for us. But the patty melt and chicken fingers were too good! I love all the vintage 50s nostalgia on the walls.
Our next stop was the old fair grounds for a nice walk around the track. Charlotte is a very active little girl so taking daily walks is a must for us. This place was perfect because it slopes inward the entire way around making great hilly exercise for kids. It definitely wore her out! Walking is essentially my only form of exercise. I try to hit my 10k steps a day. With this simple “get up and move more” and watching my food proportions I’ve lost 20lbs! Slowly but surely I’m on my way to a healthier, happier me!
She even climbed her first tree (with very little assistance from mama)!
We stopped at Walmart to grab the Nostalgia ice cream maker because this little thing has been asking for watermelon ice cream for days! I love this machine. The instructions are goofy but once I watched a YouTube video on how to properly use it the ice cream turned out awesome!
After grabbing the machine and ingredients we made a quick stop at the Valparaiso public library so Charlotte could get her very first library card and check out some books all by herself. She was so proud and happy, and I have to say so was I. Being an author, I am over the moon that I have a daughter that shares my love of reading.
This dollhouse has been in this library since I was a little girl, and probably even before that!
Sunday we all went to Coffee Creek Watershed Preserve between Valpo and Chesterton. I had never been there before, surprisingly, but I really enjoyed the easy, long trails. It’s such a beautiful place! The trail we chose was 7 to 1&2, which ended up being about 5 miles. Charlotte hiked the whole thing, only wanting to be picked up once the parking lot was in sight again. I do have to warn any thinking of walking here that you might want to wear boots. It got pretty muddy in spots.
Afterwards, we stopped by John’s mom’s house to have lunch and set up her cable box. I got to look through all her awesome old pictures to copy some for my ancestry wall in our new house. It’s a project I have been having a lot of fun putting together lately in preparation for our move. It’s nice to have the time to get these little projects together before we even move in so it’s all ready to be hung once we’re there. Here’s some of the gems I found.
Next weekend I’m going to scour the antique shops in town for nice vintage frames. I think pieces with a history and a story are great ways to implement old with new in a new build like ours. My ancestry wall is going to be above my coffee bar in my writing space.
When we got home we finally made our much anticipated Watermelon ice cream. I am so happy with how it turned out! Here’s the recipe for the Nostalgia ice cream maker if you’re interested.
So, there you have it; a glimpse into how we spend our late-spring weekends. I for sure didn’t get an ounce of writing accomplished, but it was worth it. Family is everything and it should always come first.
Hope you all had a great weekend and have a great week. Stay safe out there!
I discovered a great, free, easy to use home design software and have been going crazy with it. You can check it out at http://www.floorplanner.com if you like. We are in the very earliest stages of building a new house. So early, in fact, they haven’t even started digging yet, but you better believe I’ve spent hours designing the inside! I’m really excited about this because #1 I’ve never had a house built before with all the specifics I would like. It’s got 9 ft ceilings on the main floor and in the basement (which we’re finishing ourselves), it’s got the modern farmhouse black cabinets with white countertops, it’s got the beautiful sunroom with all that natural light. It’s got a living room and a front den room. That’s the room I’m the most excited about because it’s going to bey writing space. I hope to pen many a novel in there. Let me show you what I’m thinking.
My Writing Den
My Writing Den
My Writing Den
This den is neat because it has that breezeway through it from the foyer to the kitchen. I would love to paint the breezeway wall a deep charcoal gray and hang our two large family tree posters there. When you first enter from the foyer there’s my simple dark wood desk with my laptop. Hanging over it will be my antique world poster framed grandly. The rest of the walls I’m thinking of going with agreeable gray which actually looks more warm and tope-ish than gray to me. In the corner will by my record player on a stand with storage for my records. For some reason the windows didn’t translate right in the program but it’s a large picture window. I found a really great vintage looking leather armchair for my reading chair and next to that is my beautiful dark wood coffee bar John got me for Christmas, because I’ll need lots of coffee when I write. Above that coffee bar is going to be my ancestry gallery wall. I have many great photos from my mom and dad’s sides and would like to get some of John’s family in there too if I can and then scour antique stores for some really unique vintage frames.
I originally wanted a chair and a half to curl up in but then I saw this and fell in love with it’s vintage style.
They’ll be placed something like this on the wall in frames
And to top it off we’re going with some industrial finishes like the pipe curtain rod and the wood and ironwork ceiling fan. I want this office to feel very warm and inviting and cozy but also like you stepped back in time, like back to the 1940s. I’m in love with it already!
Living room
Living room
The agreeable gray will be carried into the living room and the charcoal will wrap around that stair wall. We’re thinking a nice big gray sectional, possibly with a chaise. Bring in some warmth and color with the pillows. The coffee table will be wood and iron industrial style, same as the console. I’d like another armchair because we plan to put in a really cool electric fireplace I found.
I loooove this industrial style fireplace
On either side of the fireplace will be mantel height black bookcases. Above the fireplace will be the TV mounted and I would love to frame that out in a matching chunky wood so it looks like art. Across from the couch on the charcoal wall will be our black cubby hole bookshelf laid long ways with alternating pop up bins and books. Above that will be a large industrial style clock. John really love the light farmhouse gray floors so we’ll do that throughout and use a warm tope or tan or brown rug under the coffee table. And the fan will be wood and iron industrial again to tie in with the fireplace and den.
Dining room and sun room
The dining room is simple. We have these columns with separations and I have been toying with the idea of wrapping those in wood to match the fireplace but not sure yet. Carrying the agreeable gray into the dining. It will go nice with the wood and iron farmhouse table we have with the bench. My favorite part is the industrial bookshelf wall!
Industrial shelves in dining
It would look something like this. I would love the roller library ladder but so far they are all stupid expensive so not sure on that yet. We have a lot of books but we also have a lot of games, which we would most likely play at the table so I thought putting those on the bottom shelf would look cool. John thought it might look cluttered and junky but I think displaying games and books as a collection is awesome. We’ll see.
The sunroom we will carry in the agreeable grey because it’s, well, agreeable. Off white curtains instead of gray. We have a nice light natural woven rug. And I have a sleek modern gray Ikea couch I’ve had since high school that’s in great shape so bing bang boom, we got a sunroom. We might keep the keyboard and a guitar or two up there as well because if it’s just a room for sitting I feel like we won’t use it much. The sunroom comes with a fan and I’m not sure if we’ll keep what they give us or not. I assume it’s just a white fan.
The Kitchen
Originally I had wanted white cabinets with a black countertop but it was an expensive upgrade so we got the black cabinets with the white countertop and I’m so glad we did that instead. If you’re having trouble picturing it, here’s a good example.
Our kitchen is not huge but it is open to the dining which makes it feel huge. Not a lot of bare wall space but what there is we are going to do white subway tile.
Subway tile
Maybe down the road we’ll play with open industrial shelving but for now just black cabinets. We are going to buy a black island with white countertop that has bar seating too. Stainless steel Samsung appliances, I think. I would love a series of black hanging lights over the island but not sure if we’re electrically set up for that or not. We had discussed doing a snake-like track lighting system for tons of light.
That could be cool too and would definitely brighten it up. And on all the windows I would like natural woven Roman shades for that farmhouse feel and warmth. Across from the kitchen will be that stair wall I want to paint charcoal gray and that’s where I want to put the command center. It will have a large calendar and vintage mail holders and some decor and maybe a chalkboard menu planner. John has a weird fetish for mail. He collects it and only goes through it like a few times a year so it piled up and I would love to have a place besides the kitchen counter for it all to be organized. These are bills, these are coupons, these are family and friends letters, get it?
And there you have it, my design ideas that I’ve been obsessing over for weeks now. I cannot wait to start putting it all together. John has done equal if not more work planning his awesome basement to finish that will include storage room, theater room, and office/gaming room for him. I get to help with that and get my hands dirty for the first time doing some home construction!
