zach n kali

I am not the creative type.  I don't sew, I can't draw worth beans, I don't crochet cute little hats, and I definitely don't plan particularly exciting Sunday school lessons.  But here's something I do well: read.  This allows me to use the creativity of other people to have fun and create some pretty cool stuff.  So when I go onto Pinterest.com and see an appetizing looking cupcake or a new way to organize my socks, I can click the link to read the instructions - I love do-it-yourself stuff.  It may not always look the best, because like I said earlier, the picture in my head just doesn't travel through my hands, but I usually had fun doing it.  So for me, Pinterest is an opportunity for me to see what other people have come up with and if I like it and it's easy enough, I can recreate it. My $10 Growth Chart in M's Big Boy Room But here's the kicker - Pinterest has made me more creative!   Spending time looking at creative stuff has actually...

Ever since we got married, Zach and I have lived in a one-bedroom apartment. Less to clean, less expensive, and more than enough room for both of us. Now that there are three of us, we've had to be creative with our use of space. The first thing we had to do was decide what words we wanted to describe our home. For me, those were welcoming, peaceful, cozy, and serene. Here are some other ways that we've made our small space work for us: - Constantly get rid of clutter! Clutter is the bane of my existence. Since storage space is limited, I am constantly going through bookcases and closets to see what we no longer use/like/fit in/etc. It's very freeing to be able to sort through your shirts without having to use brute force! Granted, this philosophy has created a bit of tension between Zach and myself as he is more of a pack-rat and I am more of an exterminator. But sometimes the place just has to be fumigated if you're going to thrive in a small space. - E...

I will never again say that my husband isn't handy. I had no idea when I got married that I was marrying a closet interior designer. Not only does he have a great eye for how to arrange things, he also sees possibility in everything. The newest project is a wine rack. I've been wanting a better place to store wine than the pantry floor and have been browsing the internet for suitable wall hanging wine racks so that we didn't have to find floor or counter space in the … well, we really don't have floor or counter space anywhere. Baby stuff takes up way more room than you every think it will! Our kitchen has an incredibly unique feature that I have grown to love: a roof. Not one that you can see out the window, but one that hangs from the kitchen wall over the dining area. Why? No idea. But it adds much needed character and is a great place to hang Christmas lights. So my incredibly clever husband devised a way to create a $10 hanging wine rack using hooks...

For some strange reason, making life changing decisions are relatively easy for me. I can decide to move to Arizona or apply to graduate school on a whim. It's the little every day decisions with which I struggle. In college, my then-boyfriend and I would get ready to go on a romantic date by settling down on the couch and having a conversation that went something like this: “Where do you want to eat?” “Oh, I'm easy – where do you want to eat?” “It doesn't really matter to me – whatever makes you happy”. “I don't care”. “Me neither”. “So where should we go?” At this point my exasperated roommate would storm into the room and say “You both want Chinese! Go to Panda! Good grief”. My boyfriend and I would look at each other, shrug, and say, “sounds good to me!” This pattern of behavior somewhat explains why I have been struggling about whether or not to paint our bathroom. Not the whole room, mind you, just a small wall above the bathtub. I have asked countle...