Just a sneak peak and Look ahead

While I don't really have a specific post planned for today I am looking over my list of topics and post ideas I realize I have not posted any recipes or food things in awhile... sorry. As of late my appetite is not what it used to be previously, I don't have much of an appetite not that it was that great pre pregnancy. Early on I had morning sickness and some aversions to food and smells the last two have stayed around here and there, I still am not a huge fan of chicken. I used to love chicken dishes but now it's a texture thing and preparing it just makes me queazy so I/we tend to stay away for the most part. I am making a list of recipes to post about so I promise to start adding those some may not have step by step pictures to go along as I have been cooking in bulk lately when I do, so my freezer is FULL!!

Oh yeah I wanted to share that it totally warms my heart that this little one is already so loved and has so many people excited for the arrival. I mainly want to brag on my husband and say how much joy it brings to me to see his excitement with the baby. He is genuinely is just excited to just have a baby that it didn't matter the gender just as long as it was healthy. Now that put it in perspective for me even though I have had a feeling it was a boy since shortly after we found out. He gets all smiley and kind of chuckles seeing my bump grow.... I think he really just wants to see how big it will get. I love it when he occasionally talks to "mini wheat"  and rubs the belly, it is really sweat, cute and funny. I can not wait to see Scott interact with the baby. I know this is one loved little one and it is not even born yet.

I have several projects coming up that are exciting and I am looking forward to.  The nursery is one and making over my armoire into a changing area for Mini Wheat. I also need to get my grandmothers glider recovered it was out in the rental and once it is not needed in the nursery it will be brought out into the house. I searched for weeks for a fabric that I liked and would be good if I ever needed it an nursery but that would work in other rooms of the house like our den. I found one and of course I had to scoop it up since there was not much left on the bolt. Hopefully there is enough to do the entire glider but I have picked out fabric for the back that will coordinate with the pattern in the front. Here is a sneak peak of my grandmother's glider and fabric that I love it is super comfy & the perfect height for me since she was also vertically challenged. I chose a solid grey linen fabric if needed for the back and sides possibly.

 I bought a desk for our/my information center in the house, I may or may not paint it a different color or distress it. I have to pick it up in February sometime from Charlotte. I am excited to organize and make it a true place I can work and keep all our stuff. We needed a central location for stuff plus I love to organize, always had one that was neat and tidy at work. I love good bins and storage for things so we are going to paint the kitchen soon so I get to do my work space while we do that. Oh the wainscoting, dry erase and cork boards, places for mail, bills and cute hooks for keys plus a place to sit in a chair and blog...I can see it now. I would show you a picture of the desk but you will just have to tune in!

I also finally decided on a kitchen table that I wanted, my hubby said he could build it once I showed it to him. I found some a place that had cool reclaimed barn wood, river wood ( sinker logs that come out of the Cape Fear River locally here) they also have tons of other beautiful woods. We went on weekend to look at the barn wood and the river wood since I thought that would be cool to use local wood in the farm table I wanted plus the color in those are so cool. I wanted the look of old vintage wood planks on top and probably be able to paint the legs but wasn't 100% on that. The guys there gave us tons of ideas and well we went the total opposite way of what we went in with. I was excited that me and the hubs were making this cool piece of furniture but the more we talked to them and the choices being made it ends up we are going to have to have them make it for us. They will make the table top for sure with a place for us to put in legs or they may make them option 1- they make wooden legs that are built into the table option 2- they make concrete legs for the table, still debating what to do. I am leaning towards wooden legs although I love the look of wood and concrete together I think that it's to industrial for what I am going for plus the weight of that and the table would be so heavy. We choose the wood pieces they are sitting out in the garage until we are ready to have them build it. The pieces of wood are HUGE, knobby, spaulted and very rustic I LOVE them, I never thought I would say that or think that I would agree when someone said that is hot or sexy referring to a table. Here is a sneak peak of the table pieces it is two different species of the same kind of wood, these are just sections since the planks are so huge weigh at least 100+ pounds each. There are 3 pieces, 2 are bookends of each other. It will be a wide and heavy table that will be a family heirloom one day, I never thought we would pay that much for wood but it will be beautiful rustic, chic one of a kind farm table. I can't wait to get this finished and get some chair so we can finally sit at a table again.

these are the main pieces that are bookend, they will not be painted will have the wood finish one them, they are thicker in most places too

close up of the grain and knots

these are the 3 pieces standing up, this is for the extra planks that will be needed to make it wide enough.

I also have some blogs about pregnancy as this what is currently going on in my life. I will touch on things like our gender reveal, the mishaps with pregnancy and the lovely changes it brings plus a few other topics.

A bed makeover

So I got this headboard from my sister in law when she heard that we were moving and we were looking at a rattan headboard for the guest room. I had come up with a design that I wanted to go in with the guest room so I started to notice head or footboards for the existing bed. These are ones that got me started looking I liked these.

So I was just looking at headboards so when my sister in law said she had a head and foot board in storage if we wanted it. It had wood and rattan so I was said sure. It just so happened to be from Pier 1 Imports. 

It needed a little TLC and so it sat in the garage for a few months until I figured out what I wanted to do with it, what color to paint it.

 I found the Cece Caldwell paints in one of m favorite local shops here that has great stuff to decorate with or for gifts. I really liked three colors and I had been toying with the idea of painting something charcoal or black. I also wanted to use the color to paint a piece of furniture in the nursery to help update the piece. So one night we stopped by and I showed my hubby the colors I was thinking he agreed the charcoal like black was a nice color and would look good. I grabbed a can of paint and took pics of the other two I wanted to use on the inside of the piece in the nursery, since I was waiting to find out the gender still. Either way I want to use those two colors on something in my house since they will coordinate with most rooms.
My hubby has been hinting not so subtly that I need to paint this and get it done but I had no motivation and lacked energy. He brought in the pieces and put them in the kitchen since it was too cold to paint in the garage. I cleaned them off since they had been sitting in storage for awhile. Then he took them back to the nursery since I finally had plenty of space in there once another bed was removed.

I opened the Cece Caldwell paint after shaking it, the packaging I already liked better and the prices were lower too. This chalk clay paint is thicker and richer to me and I just couldn't wait to start. I stirred vigorously per instructions and could see the swirls of color in the paint. I decided to do a test patch on the back of the headboard first to see if I wanted one coat or two and to see what the color would look like. It dries pretty quickly and has that chalky appearance that was not glossy black but a pretty rich flatter charcoal color, I asked the hubby what he thought he said looks good. Off I went to start taping off the headboard. It took more time to tape than to paint it well maybe not since getting up and down is a tad more effort or strategical these days with the growing bump. I put one coat all over and let it dry I planned on just one coat and some of the wood shows through in places but not all over but I wanted to make sure in case I wanted two coats.

do not let this scare you, it dries like this some places dry faster and the strokes fade away

partially dried

you can see the strokes disappear in the dry places

just finished the footboard 

               the finished headboard, the rattan pops now

TADA that's the finished product, it looks good with all the brown and blue, plus when the light hits it can look different colors more blue or black. It looks so much better painted and it helps hide all the imperfections, scratches and places with chipped wood.

The bedding is from Restoration Hardware and is discontinued but I could not bring myself to get rid of it. It is the first luxurious bedding I ever had and I liked the simpleness and colors, plus the hubby liked it. It went from our master to our guest room since we upgraded to a king. I have to get a bed skirt since I had a bed frame that didn't need one and I had a brown one that I seem to have lost in all the moves. So this room is about done just a few accents like a mirror on the wall.

** I will post the changing area for Mini Wheat once I paint it, still deciding on the theme/color scheme I know the outside will be charcoal just need to pick inside color that will coordinate.

An exciting Surprise!!

So if you read my previous post about my journey you know how shocking this news would be. If you haven't read it you can still maybe grasp the shock in finding out this news one you read this one. I keep using "shocked" because that is the only word I can think of  yet it does not even come close to how I felt when we found out. So just like most things this in life it did not happen the way I imagined it would at all.

We had been moving along with things at the new house and I had made an appointment with REACH (Reproductive Endocrinology Associates of Charlotte) to find out if I had endometriosis and to see about further fertility treatments. I made the appointment the day before Thanksgiving so that gave us the perfect excuse to visit my family there! I was having all kinds of odd symptoms so I thought nothing of the fact I had started having extreme bloat, girls I am talking WAY more than normal, thankful I had lost those 19 pounds and could fit back into clothes again plus had some room. I noticed I was a few days late and that was out of the norm for me. I also was having some mood swings and started to get tired more frequently by the end of the day I was ready for bed 9pm. I just figured OH JOY more new symptoms of whatever was going on.  I remember mentioning to Scott that I was late but brushing it off, I was sure there was NO way I was pregnant....How could I be with all the crazy stuff going on in my body?  He did ask if I had taken a test yet. The days kept passing and at about 4 days I remember Scott saying again I should take a test, I had one left over. I said I would but put it off again, I wasn't going to take another negative test and waste money & a perfectly good test. Then day 5 came and he asked again about taking a test and I had given my speech and he said I had already I wasn't wasting money and to just take it! I promised I would in the am if I had not started ( still thinking I was not pregnant so why bother). 

Sunday morning I got up earlier than Scott and immediately went to the bathroom and got the test from the bottom of the drawer, I can honestly say I really have no idea what changed my mind. I figured this would just be another negative test. So as I sat there with only the morning light peaking through the blinds I did the test and sat a second and thought about what I am not sure. I remember thinking ok it's done maybe I can go lay back in bed and check it later. I promise not even a minute went by and poof there appeared one strong line and HOLY COW another faint line but a +.  Wait what.... is that a positive NOOOOO no way the line is kinda faint and I have never had a test turn that quickly. I remember thinking please don't get my hopes up and break my heart protect it I am not strong enough to handle  that. I yelled for Scott, yep I woke him up and I was still sitting there in bathroom holding the test with I am sure a confused look on my face. He assumed I ran out of toilet paper again! He came in all sleepy eyed and I remember looking at him and asking him what does he think this is, what did he think it meant?  Does it really say I am.....pregnant??  He looked at me at the test and then said I don't know, but we had to go to the store to get ones that said the words and that were not out of date. I looked at the package and it didn't expire until 2015 so it was good. He asked if it could be a false positive from everything going on, I said i doubt it but anything is possible. I looked at the box and it said past 5 days it was like 95 % accurate or something. I wondered how this happened with everything going on and if this would be ok. Needless to say off we went to CVS with coupon in hand and got the only digital ones they had, a box of 3! I got some coffee and we came home and did somethings then I took the tests again. It took less than 1 minute and the digital screen said pregnant and that I was about 5 weeks along ( it was one that tells you a window of how far along).  I showed him the test with a smile. I think we both were in shock for awhile but I had realized it wasn't false that I WAS pregnant. I looked at my phone and saw the ovulation calendar and with now 4 test I had staring back at me I knew that I had finally gotten pregnant. He didn't seem so convinced so we had to call my best friend who is a nurse to help confirm the results for him. I admit I checked the test several times each, kept coming back in to look at them and make sure they had not changed. 

Like I said this was NOT the way I ever imagined it going. I had grand plans of putting the test in a box with a rattle or something  and wrapping so he would find it after work one day.  I had seen so many cute ways to tell him on Pinterest and stuff that I figured I would use.

It was an emotional thing to go from being at peace with the fact that I probably would not ever get pregnant on my own or at least not until after the scope procedure to then BOOM a positive test. I literally held my breathe for weeks hoping everything was alright and knowing that the percentage of miscarriage was high. I had some cramping and spotting a few weeks after finding out and I was worried especially with my history of everything going on. I went in and they checked labs and confirmed I was pregnant. That was also a another horrible experience to go through since they apparently thought I probably had lost an embryo but did not tell me just had me worried about ectopic pregnancy all weekend. Needless to say it wasn't ectopic and my HCG levels were high but it was ok. They saw the sac and things looked fine. I spent the next several weeks holding my breathe until my 9 week appointment with the new OBGYN I was establishing with. I just needed to hear or see this tiny thing inside me and make sure it was ok and counted down the days.

Now I needed to figure out a creative way to tell our parents especially since this is the first grand baby for my parents & nobody expected this was coming. Plus it was our first and you do not get that chance again. I scoured the internet for ways to tell them and we settled on a frame that said tiny miracle since it summed it up perfectly. It was a miracle that we beat the odds and that it finally happened on it's own. I felt so blessed to have this happen. 

This was the day before we left to come to Charlotte for my appointment at REACH, both parents thought we still had the appointment so it would be a total surprise. That was one of the best appointments of my life getting to see the baby for the first time and hearing the heartbeat- the best sound EVER. It brought tears to my eyes, my husband just held his breathe while they kept checking to make sure there was just one.  It had a very strong heartbeat and was on track and looked good, I was healthy and so was baby. We got my due date and the pictures of the ultrasound that we could put in the frames for each set of grandparents! I could finally breathe easy as the doctor told me I had pasted the first hurdle or window of when things go wrong. I had like a  90% chance of my pregnancy ending in a birth from that point. I carefully placed the picture in the frames and wrapped them in orange wrapping paper with brown bows hoping not throw them off too much since it was Thanksgiving. Needless to say they were all thrilled and I recorded the reactions and set it to music as our announcement thanks to my sister's help. I would share the video but I am unable to post video at this time...working on how to without it just freezing. I will post one of the pics my sister took at a mini session for our Christmas cards. 

This was my Christmas gift from my sister....LOVE it. We had used a blank chalk board in the pics.

So we are having a Mini Wheat June 28 2015!!

A personal journey

So, as I sit here pondering what to say and how to tell my story in a non rambling, therapeutic way I realize this is a topic many people struggle with but do not talk about. It is not something I ever imagined having to hear let alone deal & struggle with,... Infertility.  It is  a heartbreaking diagnosis to hear coming from your OB, while sitting in their office surrounded by pictures of their kids and babies. I share this in hopes that can help or empower someone to be their own healthcare advocate as I had to after a hard lesson. I also hope my story is not the "norm" and that my horrible experiences can help. I am not sharing for sympathy, just to help educate and make people aware everyone has a battle they are fighting. 

   It all started  shortly after we got married in 2012. I went to see a new OBGYN to discuss coming off birth control to try and get pregnant. Holy Cow, that was an appointment or consult I was not prepared for in the least!  I had all these facts and horrible statistics of an  "advanced maternal age women" thrown at me as well as my odds of having a child with something wrong. I was not even 35 yet the "golden age" that starts higher risk pregnancies. I was warned and given information on genetic testing and pre screening as well as a healthier pregnancy diet.  Um..hello wasn't it his job to encourage me to get pregnant he did make a living delivering babies!?! He also warned me that he has heard the first month coming off birth control could be difficult especially with my dysmenorrhea (painful periods) which I had at 14 and the reason I got on the pill. Well he was right it took me to the cool bathroom tile floor from the pain and symptoms that went along with it.  He also warned that it would probably take a few months for me to ovulate on a regular basis if at all after being on B.C. for so long. He also suggested to try using ovulation test kits and keep track of things once I started ovulating. Well, it took a several months of negative test but the smiley faces finally started to appear on my fertile days. 

* I wish that any of the GYNs I saw had mentioned to me that maybe taking a break from the pill would be helpful or that I should have gotten off it sooner than I did. 

Well a few more months went by and I started having very painful periods again that over the counter meds would help anymore. It was starting to interfere with my life and work. I went for a follow up and to hopefully get some medication for the cramps. We discussed that I had started ovulating and he told me to use a calendar to keep a log of everything. Finally, after a year it was time to do some preliminary fertility testing and blood work on me to find out if everything was ok. That came back all clear so then it was the plan to have some further fertility testing done. Once again I was given all the statistic as I had aged and a list of all the test she wanted without much detail given to me. The lack of detail and tact this women had as she counseled me about caffeine in take and aging motherhood while she sipped her kettle of coffee with a chocolate breakfast bar should have been a clue of the kind of attention or lack of  I was getting, but I digress. I researched all my testing and then started to urge my hubby to get tested too, his was easy less invasive than my test. He finally humored me and even the urologist commented that I was ahead of the game. We got his results from both his test he was fine which I kind of hoped it would be him as his can be easier to treat and the fact I was scared it would be me, awful I know. By this time frustration, disappointment, sadness, failure and anger were starting to become monthly cycles every time I took a negative pregnancy test. I kept charting away and started my fertility testing praying it would all come back ok or give some insight as to why we were not getting pregnant. Everytime a test came back all clear or a good report that I was healthy and no reason why I couldn't get pregnant, yet there I sat not pregnant. Onward we kept trying and charting, so not a romance booster to the love life planning it out and charting your love life. We used all the tips and tricks the urologist and OB suggested. I was hopeful that things would turn around we started to be more healthier and lighter in the pounds department.

We got busy with life and a move to a new city in 2014 away from friends and family yet still kept trying even though time was ticking away. I started having odd new symptoms that concerned me but the OBGYN was not worried about them. Once we moved I immediately got a new OBGYN here since I need a refill on my pain med. She( a very young female OBGYN out of school a year or year and half) took one look at my scans from my testing and asked if I had been told that I have P.C.O.S.(polycystic ovarian syndrome) I said no. She said that I had it and it explains why we were having difficulty getting pregnant and why I was healthy but holding on to weight but other than that didn't go into much detail. She told me that I should try metfromin that it helps, granted I had no problems with my sugars but she said that P.C.O.S. doesn't process it well and that I can still have normal levels but this would help with weight loss. I researched it and I had some of the symptoms but NOT the classic one but at this point I was relieved to have some kind of answer as to what was going on. The more I researched and talked about it with people it sounded like I really didn't have this. The metformin was awful it made me so sick and was not helping at all with weight loss, so I stopped taking it. I went back again after I started to have odd changes in my cycle and other symptoms that really concerned me. She just said oh that is what P.C.O.S. does and we talked about how I was really trying to loose weight. I mentioned that the only reason I can think of that I am not getting pregnant is it is my bodies way of protecting itself, it can not handle me being pregnant at this weight, she kind of chuckled and said yeah I could be healthier. I began that lovely roller coaster of a journey of weight loss and continued with weekly bi weekly check up on my progress. Needless to say it only took 3 visits in after that where her bedside manner, tact and cooth as a person where questionable enough for me to have to restrain myself from reacting to her as she told me "Look you just need to choose right here and now which is more important getting pregnant or loosing weight and being healthy?"  To me it was not a choice I wanted to be healthier for myself and that would benefit my future kids it was not an either or situation for me. She also told me that if I wanted to get rid of some of those symptoms I complained about I should get back on birth control-WAIT what...that totally defeats the purpose of everything we have been working for. (she said my symptoms were not normal but she shrugged them off again!)  I kept at the weight loss and all my symptoms got worse even though the doctors kept saying they do get better with weight loss LIES  LIES LIES I tell you.  I switched doctors in the practice and they discussed trying Clomid as an option even thought I was ovulating very regular and having abnormal period every month. I knew deep down something was wrong and that these changes should alarm more than myself and family. They did an ultrasound when I came in with abnormal bleeding and noticed changes in it since the last one that was done the previous month. They talked and came back and told us that my best options where to start the Clomid or have a DNC. I did not want the DNC at the time it was so invasive and my hubby and I talked and looked into the Clomid.

In the meantime I ended up in the Emergency room the night before my 36 birthday due to  bleeding and pain when it was not time for my cycle, the triage nurse made me go. Actually she told me to hang up and dial 911 since I was alone and in such pain...well I knew that bill and a ride was not worth the $2,500-$3,000 bill that insurance would not pay. After a very long 8 hour wait there which I tried to leave several times but the hubby would not let me, I was ready for the DNC and wanted it. I wanted the pain and the crap that was going on to just stop. I got IV meds & fluids and was told that I had heavy menstrual bleeding and dysfunctional uterine bleeding and to follow up in the am with my OBGYN. I knew something was not normal I had been clotting a lot, having extremely heaving bleeding, pain, headaches and hot flashes to the point I could not leave the house for 2-3 days during my cycle. I was also bleeding for 20-25 days a month along with some of the other symptoms for  months and the doctors still did not seem that concerned.  I took matters into my own hands after a comedy of errors with this practice as well as 6 months time. I made an appointment with a specialist in the group that dealt with menstrual problems, I gave them one last shot. After talking with him for 5-10 minutes he said I clearly do NOT have P.C.O.S., he admitted I had been treated wrong and let down by the other doctors. He said I deserved and needed answers as to what was going on and the infertility issues. He said he was sorry and I clearly should have been offered help and given the opportunity to see a fertility specialist for further testing and treatments after a year not the 2 years we were at and down almost 20 pounds! He said he was very confident and strongly felt I have Endometriosis and that is what was causing all of the crazy symptoms from bleeding to hormone surges. I felt the biggest weight lift off my shoulders and tears well up in my eyes.  Finally someone who did not make me feel I was crazy  and that something was really wrong plus and it was treatable. He said I did everything that the doctors asked of me and then some, he wished more patients would be like that. He referred me to a fertility specialists they could both, be the one to diagnose and treat the endometriosis since you have to be scoped in order to have the formal diagnosis and explained that procedure. I started to look forward to this and try to set up the appointment. This would no longer affect my quality of life or lack of, I would hopefully be normal again. I knew treatments would not be the fun part but at this point I have developed a pretty high tolerance for that kind of pain and it would be worth it to get rid of all of this. I was once again let down by the staff and left to get the referral going with my insurance company since it was not in network make sure they got all the information they needed for an appeal and get the notes for the specialist together. It took weeks almost a month I was livid so I confronted the nurse in person about it several times and still got no help. I was at my breaking point to say the least I made calls and logged formal complaints with the practice and their managing hospital group. I got several apologies which seemed worthless after no follow through or very little. I got my records and searched out a new OBGYN I deserved better, they had failed with their standard of excellence and I was falling through the cracks. I wanted someone who listened to me and just plain did their job plain and simple from the front office to the referral coordinator down to the nurse.  Just stop saying your going to do it and weeks later say oops I forgot. If this was their loved one or themselves they surely would not be so lazy about getting things done and too much time had been wasted already.

This has been an emotional roller coaster that brought emotions I had no idea I would have nor expect to have. The anger, guilt, fear, resentment. disappointment, inadequacy, deep sadness, depression, feeling of loss and deep rage that would appear out of no where all amplified at times by all the extra hormones I had running through me. I had moments where I thought my husband would not want me anymore, I had promised or given him hopes of having babies and brought him on this ride that was not what either one of us had signed up for. I was damaged goods, my body had failed me. While he could not comprehend all that I was going through and I could not always put into words all my feelings either he stood by my side. He was my rock on the days I needed it and promised  we would have a baby one way or another, we would adopt if we needed to, he was not going anywhere this marriage was a for life kind of thing. I can honestly say I gave him many reasons to question that sometimes as my emotions where a minefield and out of my control sometimes!! I also had times I cried in the shower because I was so angry and frustrated at my body for failing me and putting me through all of this. I truly did not understand why all of this was happening but I also started realize that a baby probably was not in my near future, I most likely would not get pregnant on my own. I struggled with this and talked about it with my husband and we agreed to put a pin the whole trying to have a baby and just focus on us. So we stopped trying and I came to a place of peace with that and looked forward to being scoped and still hoped that this could help with fertility but I would help my pain and other symptoms. We would handle the baby situation after if we needed to but we were focused on getting me treatment. This was a process and coming to peace does not mean that there is no more sadness but letting go of all the other emotions that hindered me and us. I had to let it go and accept I once again had no control and no matter the fact I did everything the doctors told me to do it would not work, I needed to address this and get my life back. My husband also deserved to have his wife back not the shell of a person I felt I had become. I trusted that I had a path and purpose even though I could not imagine why I had to go through all of this. I could see the power that all of this has to destroy couples a statistic I was given luckily it made us so much more stronger as a couple, if we could get through these darker times we could get through anything.

My hope is that if you feel something is wrong deep down DO NOT let anyone dismiss it,  get another opinion. I do not know why I felt a sense of loyalty to any of these doctors I guess I trusted the system I used to work in but it has changed so much since I left. I also learned doctors DO NOT always have all the answers and if they had just admitted that with the promise of  leading me in a direction of an answer things would have been different. Sadly you HAVE to be your own health advocate you may have to be firm or get forceful aka be the bitch but DO IT!!! You are the one who could be loosing out and suffering. Do not let yourself fall through the cracks as I did, it can happen to anyone. I hope people also think before they speak when talking with someone going through this. People need to be more sensitive to this issue and it is not always a quick or easy fix sometimes there are no fixes to the problem with infertility. These issues are far more common than people realize we just do not like to talk about them. Like I said this was my long journey and experience and I hope it helps someone else. 

***DISCLAIMER: I know that not all doctors are bad and I have just had a run of them and at a poor practice was in the mix. I just feel that patient care has gone out the window there is such a lack of it, I see it at all kinds of practices and the all mighty dollar is more important, between that and the insurance company healthcare is circling the drain. That is my opinion and not meant to be a political statement just an observation from many years. I do have doctors that I loved and totally trust with my healthcare and are confident in guess they set the bar pretty high. I am just not willing to sit by and put up with poor service and horrible patient care anymore. The fact is being poked, scanned, prodded, screened and every other kind of testing at appointment after appointment with no real answers is NO way to live, no to mention the amount of money wasted. 

  

Some painted furniture projects

This is the end table I started with, thanks to my Mother in Law (MIL) who had some Chalk Paints and waxes that she let me borrow and try it to see if I liked it. They can be an investment or a pricey thing to just get for one project. I found I can use normal paint brushes but I use high quality ones but the round brushes are great and some times you can get more out of your paint with them, especially with the CeCe Caldwell paints. The great thing with these paints is if you don't like it you paint over it and try again and can always change it after some time with very little to no prep!! Needless to say I have my own stock now and I look for things to paint now! I like the mix of adding painted furniture for pops of color in rooms.

base of Provence on a dark table, it was used and had dings, scratches and blemishes on it

I sanded some places to let the wood come through and then put some brush strokes of duck egg blue... like I said if you do not like the way it comes out you paint again.

painted over it then went and bought the color Florence so it is Provence under neath

 This is the final product, which I truly wanted the teal/turquoise color and with out buying the color I had trouble mixing others together to get. This does have several coats of clear wax to protect it. Like I said this was my first project and attempt at this plus I was it was also about changing the color scheme of our previous home earthy colors into a more serene beach glass themed color palate. It spruced up the rental that had all white walls.

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Using these two colors, another quick try of mixing and using a wash of color on these plain white frames

 after some dark wax on one and clear on others they turned out great.

these are her waxes

these are the paint brushes I used and the round is one like hers but a cheaper version good but small for big projects. Don't judge the wall paper it was our rental.

this a great brush, I use for clear wax

black signs I wanted to give new life to

 This is the bigger project I was working up to and I wanted the inside boxes to a coordinating color or pop of color in this piece. It took SEVERAL tries but it also was a way to learn different techniques and see what works and what doesn't.

thought this would look good but I put it up and you could not see the different paint colors in the boxes so it was back to the drawing board.

I got Greek Blue paint and that small container went far but I did have to purchase a large container of it in order to get good coats of color.

painted the outside shelf French Linen (grey)

finished product I LOVE it!

 A childhood stool that is old and I figured could use some paint and the picture on the left is the stool after two coats of paint with out wax. The right is with a couple coats of wax. It is Antibes Green underneath Florence.

 Tried a dresser that had drips of stain going down and that sat in our closet in old house but now was out in the bedroom, so part of the makeover. It is French Linen with Old White.

This is a project that is still a work in progress since it involved LOTS of sanding, waxing and trying to find a look I liked once we moved into the new house so I have tweaked it once again.

These are a few of the projects I did while we were in the rental to keep busy and change the look of the house. I am currently doing a project a bed for the guest room and dresser that will be a changing table for the nursery. I am using the CeCe Caldwell with these projects in a charcoal color. Wanted to change it up. You can also use these paints outside just without wax I painted over a rusted yard decor thing, it is weathering very nicely. They are also non toxic paints that have no odor or toxic fumes, plus they are organic. This is a way to get creative and a quick way to change a look of something. I love it, I get inspiration looking on pinterest and other places then think of a way to incorporate that into my decor. I enjoy making old things new again. Happy painting.