Friday, August 7, 2015

Ames Family Adventures Project #1 - UPDATE

Y'all - I FINALLY FINISHED SOMETHING!

Remember that post I did back on March 12th? The dining room table & chairs that I was going to re-stain and recover and make look like something straight out of the haverty's catalog... I FINISHED IT. HOWEVER, it took on a life of its own and I ended up changing every thing about the project.

Once Mike & I went to get the paint stripper, we realized pretty quickly that that was NOT the way we wanted to go. It burned our eyes, nostrils, skin... and took FOR-EV-ERRRR. Mike bought a sanding tool thingy (like that technical term there?) and set to work trying to sand every square centimeter of those chair legs, backs and table. Two nights into the project, and sawdust covered my garage and husband. He determined that painting it was going to be the way to go. BUT - why paint something until we were ready to use it. It could have been ruined during the move! So the project went dormant for a couple of months.
Parker likes to help shop at the home-improvement stores. SO handy.

Finally, June rolled around and we were able to move into our new house - post on that coming soon - therefore, it was time to finish this dining room table up! I spent my weekday afternoons and weekends during Parker's nap time spray painting each of the chair legs, backs and table satin white. Of course, it took a couple of coats and about 8 bottles of spray paint, but they eventually were WHITE.
All of the pieces - painted white

Then came time for big decisions. To distress or not to distress. After looking hard at the table and chairs and noticing quite a few imperfections on my painting abilities, Mike & I decided it would be best to distress. After another trip to Lowes for sanding paper, Mike & I set to work grinding each chair and the table down to "chabby chic"mode. It took a couple of days, but we finally got them sanded down to perfection!

On to the cushions. I initially found the fabric that I liked on the interest about 5 months ago. It was neutral, teal and chartreuse. Most random colors ever. But I loved it. After checking around Jacksonville, I came to the conclusion that the $10/yard price was the best I was going to find and with a 20% off coupon, I might as well go for it. Turns out I LOVED IT. With some help from mom, we were able to recover the seat cushions quite easily - making them my favorite part of this whole project.
Best deals on fabric - hands down! www.fabric.com
Eventually, once I get brave, I'll order the curtains material and attempt curtains. 
Need to learn to sew first!

NOW - remember how I mentioned that it took me about 30 mintues to get all 4 chairs undone? And how I put the screws in two plastic baggies for safe keeping? Well, apparently when we moved, Mike & my dad put those two bags of screws "in a box" when they loaded up the garage. Which box? They didn't know. Where in the new garage was this "box"? They didn't know. I swear, y'all, I searched that garage for a month and a half STRAIGHT. I prayed, I unloaded, I unpacked, I repacked, I threw away. That garage was practically spotless due to me looking for those dang screws. All until last Sunday morning.

Mom was in town, helping us do some chores around the house - so I asked her to come outside with me one more time - just to see if we could find the screws. I moved some furniture around, moved some baby gear around, and LO & BEHOLD - there those dang screws were. In a piece of white furniture along with an old can of black spray paint and some other weird garage stuff. I about cried I was so happy.

Needless to say - here's the finished product! I couldn't be happier if I bought & paid for this set myself! But the fact that I made it makes it 10 times more enjoyable!
PS - those were my bridesmaids flowers from our wedding! :)



Cheers!
Annie

Thursday, April 30, 2015

A Day in the Life of Me

Ever wanted to know what my crazy life is like - see below. 

6:00am – My Fitbit buzzes me awake and I frantically tap it to make it stop vibrating.
6:02am – I fall back asleep for about 28 minutes until my body realizes the sun is up
6:30am – grudgingly decided to get out of bed
6:35am – after using the restroom, I step on the scale, hold my breath and PRAY that the number is even 0.2 lbs smaller than it was the day before…
6:40am – shower, dry hair, put on makeup, etc.
7:00am – husband brings Parker into the bedroom with sippy cup of Milk. Parker decides he wants to sit in my lap while I do my makeup. He then proceeds to throw all of my compacts, brushes, hair curlers, bobby pins and a tube of tooth paste to the floor. Thanks, kid.
7:30am – run around the house like a mad woman trying to make sure I have my gym bag packed (with socks), healthy, weight watchers approved lunch packed, cell phone, cell phone cord, head phones, office entry card, parking garage entry card, and hair ties ready to go for the day. Don’t forget purse!
7:45am – get stuck behind school bus in the neighborhood and wait while the 500 rugrats pile onto not one but TWO school busses. WHY DOES OUR GIANT NEIGHBORHOOD ONLY HAVE ONE BUS STOP???
8:15am – finally get to work.
8:20am – pull out laptop, plug it in, boot it up, and immediately check emails – work and personal. Respond to necessary ones.
8:25am – fill up water bottle and proceed to stare at it wishing it was coffee – as in a fancy one from Starbucks, but we all know that has mega points. Water. Ugh.
8:30am – text mom today’s weight loss/gain, continue to carry on text conversation for next 15 minutes.
8:40am – check in with lead project manager and get “leads” for the day. Determine importance level and check calendar for meetings.
8:45am – check up on today’s top news stories (including lifestyle and gossip columns) – thanks MSN.COM!
9:00am – check into social media – see what the friends have been up to. Continue to scroll Instagram until I determine that I must find a suitable post to make myself not look so lame. – brainstorming session begins.
9:05am – remember water is sitting on desk – take a giant gulp hoping I was able to get half way through. Realize I didn’t even make a dent in it. Frown face.
9:10am – decide it’s time to eat my breakfast – stolen go-gurt from my son, along with a cutie brand clementine. Why is my toddler’s food so much better than grown-up food?
9:30am – yes, it took me 20 minute to eat my breakfast. I SAVORED IT.
10:00am – look though action items lists and determine what needs following up on. Prepare for afternoon meetings, run to the ladies room – work work work.
10:05am – repeat texts from mom, checking emails, checking calendars, checking news, chugging water
10:15am – check the JLJ website and makes sure no updates are needed
10:45am – talk to mom on phone, discuss weight loss, shower/birthday/mother'sday gifts, gossip about people, determine what each other has going on that day.
11:00am – refill water bottle (yay me!). 24 ounces down, need to drink another 3 of these. Yikes.
11:30am – start contemplating with co-workers if we’re going to go on a lunch-time walk. Usually they chicken out and I’m left to walk on my own. NOT A PROBLEM. I have my free audio book-of-the-week (thanks Jax Library) to make the walk go by faster. Currently listening to “Doll-Baby” Laura Lane McNeal
11:45pm – go change into my work-out clothes. Praying that my coworkers don’t see me in my spandex and start judging. I’M EXERCISING – NO JUDGING ALLOWED!
12:00pm – head out on a walk down by the river. My current “track” is from my office in the Wells Fargo Building by the Landing all the way to the end of the river walk underneath I-95. It takes me about an hour – less if I push myself – and includes a 4-story incline to cross a bridge over the train tracks. It’s not as easy as it seems, folks.
1:00pm – return from walk, red-faced, sweaty and generally grody looking. Run into office and head towards desk to grab gym bag full of work clothes. Give myself a paper towel bath in the handicapped bathroom and get work-appropriate again.
1:10pm – heat up lunch – usually consisting of a lean cuisine. Yum.
1:15pm – eat lunch as slowly as possible. Making each bite last forever. All while checking emails, social media, news blurbs, etc.
1:30pm – prepare for 2:00pm meetings
2:00pm – meetings until 4:00pm
4:00pm – contemplate urgency of “leaving early”.
4:05pm – double check the JLJ website, making sure no updates are needed.
4:10pm – continue contemplating leaving early
4:20pm – text husband to see if he’s left for the day yet
4:30pm – start packing up belongings
4:35pm – head towards parking garage
5:00pm – fight rush hour traffic. I love Jacksonville.
5:05pm – call mom to discuss my day. Gossip about everything under the sun. Plan next vacation, trip to Charleston, etc.
5:15pm – return home and immediately take shoes off.
5:16pm – go straight for Parker. Play play play until it’s time for Swim lessons
5:40pm – head to swim lessons (and/or Junior League Meeting, Women's Board Meeting, Weight Watchers Meeting, etc.)
6:00pm – swim lesson time. Watch as my 15 month old struggles to float, roll over, kick and swim in the water. Listen to his terrified and angry screams. Remind myself that this is for his own good.
6:10pm – swim lessons over! Snuggle Parker to warm him up, burp him to get rid of the extra air he swallowed and desperately try to calm him down.
6:25pm – head home and attempt to determine in my mind what we’re having for dinner that night.
6:30pm – stare into barren refrigerator trying to pull a dinner together. SUCCESS – found a protein, veggie and grain – dinner complete!
7:00pm – feed toddler whatever food he will consume. These days its green beans, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, rice, and mac & cheese. Absolutely NO carrots.
7:15pm – lovingly serve my husband dinner. Watch as he either a) devours it in one bite or b) plays around with it with his fork until it looks like he ate something (meaning he hates it).
7:30pm – return plates to sink and play with Parker some more. Usually a game of tickles and kisses or chasing around the living room.
7:45pm – time to calm Parker down. I ask him to go pick out a book to read, he brings back the SAME ONE every night. The Tractor book. Not sure what it is about this book. There’s no story line. It’s just a bunch of tractors and their parts. I. Don’t. Get. It.
7:50pm – 8:00pm – convince myself that Parker is tired and attempt to lay him down in his crib. 9 times out of 10 he’ll go straight to sleep. Start praying that this isn’t one of those rare occasions where he has a melt down and won’t sleep.
8:00pm – check out Fitbit steps. DAMNIT. I’m only at 8,000 steps for the day. AND I TOOK A LUNCH TIME WALK! WTF!
8:05pm – put walking shoes on. Head towards the door trying to go unnoticed by Millie. Too late. She caught me. Guess she’s going on a walk with me.
8:45pm – finally get all of my steps in. WOOHOO! Now I’m exhausted. 11,000 steps in a day is a tough goal. But these chubby thighs and left over baby weight (haha, yeah, still calling it baby weight) isn’t going anywhere on its own.
9:00pm – peel off clothes and put PJs on.
9:05pm – flop onto the couch with my cell phone. TIME TO DISENGAGE AND PLAY ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM (this includes my online shopping addiction time).
9:30pm – okay, enough is enough. No more social networking for me. I’m already jealous of everyone’s houses, jobs, careers, cross-country moves, vacations, and perfect children. Time to focus on my own crazy world.
9:35pm – run through the house putting away random items that I know will just be moved to another location by my husband before the sun comes up (diet coke cans, remote controls, watches, paper work, magazines, etc.)
9:45pm – crawl into bed and attempt to watch an episode of Big Bang Theory
9:47pm – remember to turn my Fitbit onto sleep mode.
9:50pm – PASS OUT.

10:00 – 11:00pm – dog comes into the bed, cat comes into the bed and husband comes into the bed. My king sized sleeping space has now been reduced down to the size of an infant’s mattress.

Looking back on it all now just exhausts me. Luckily, my husband is extremely appreciative and supports me in all that I do. 

Cheers y'all!
Annie



Monday, April 6, 2015

Back on the Bandwagon... again!

Here I go again... back at it on Weight Watchers. 

Why do I constantly start and stop this program when I KNOW that it works? I lose 20 pounds, get super excited and then get lazy again. So, for the FOURTH time, I'm  going back to weight watchers. Luckily, I didn't gain back ALL of the weight I lost last time (I was down 25 pounds total last October). However, I am back up about 10 pounds since the start of last year. I jumped, well, more like dragged myself, back to the scale last week and my jaw about hit the floor. TEN POUNDS in 6 months. That's AWFUL. 

Of course, I can blame all of those cold rainy winter days, and my lack of exercise... but what it really is is my LACK OF SELF CONTROL. I tend to over-indulge on everything - too much wine, too much beer, too much sweet, too much savory. JUST TOO MUCH. When will I get it into my head that TOO MUCH is TOO MUCH?



So here I go again... back to tracking EVERYTHING that I put into my mouth. Back to exercising at least 4 times a week. Back to getting off of my bottom and doing something about this weight problem. I know I can do it and hopefully it'll stick this time. This weight will be gone. I will be healthy. I will love my body and I will not give up. 

Cheers!
Annie

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

We're Under Contract!

I'm so excited to share that we are UNDER CONTRACT on our new house! This means, that in 30-45 days, this beauty below will be OURS! Can't wait to make some memories and watch my family grow here!

Front of House


View of the 3-car garage


Front Entry 


Since this is a HUD house, it's definitely going to need some work. Flooring will be first on the list, since, besides the tile seen in the foyer and kitchen, there are no floors in the house.

View of the foyer


Formal Living Room


Formal Dining Room

Painting will be next, because as you can tell from these pictures, the previous owners were not afraid to use dark bold colors throughout the entire house. Not exactly our style when it comes to colors; however it will eventually be everything we dreamed of!


View from the Kitchen


Kitchen Cabinets


More Kitchen Cabinets


Entire Kitchen


Eat-in Kitchen Nook


Family Room with Gas Fireplace


Kid's Room #1


Kid's Bath


Kid's Room #2 (This will be Parker's Room)


Upstairs Guest Bedroom


Upstairs Guest Bath


Luckily, there aren't any structural issues that we'll have to face prior to moving in. The only major damage we've been able to find so far is the hole in the master bathroom wall. We're hoping our contractor (A.K.A. my dad) will be able to fix some of these issues rather inexpensively. HOPING. 


Master Bedroom


Master Bathroom


Master Shower


Master Bath - plus lovely repair that needs to be done.


Master Closet


Laundry Room


View inside of the 3-car garage.

Next project will be fencing in our back yard. As you can see below, the yard is huge. There is a main road on the other side of the wall in our back yard, therefore we will need to fence it in to keep Millie and Parker safe and sound.


View of Back Porch from the Family Room


View into the Back Yard


Full View of Back Deck


View of Side Yard


Full View of Back Yard


Wish us luck on our journey towards home ownership! We're going to need it! Be sure to follow our adventures on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #TheAmesBuyAHouse.
My handle on both sites is @MrsAnnieAmes!

Cheers!
Annie

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Ames Family Adventures - Project #1

I would like to call myself somewhat of a handy-woman. I helped (more like watched) my dad do several do-it-yourself projects growing up including Making my own headboard for my bed out of a picket fence piece, build a corn hole (beanbag game) set for a friend, change my own flat tires, and paint practically everything. Now that I'm a grown up with a family of my own, I've started collecting "do-it-yourself" projects that I never seem to have the time to start (or finish for that matter). 



DREAM DINING ROOM

Yesterday, I received a sales flyer in the mail from Haverty's furniture. As I sat there drooling over the gorgeous dining room table, chairs and hutch (above) I found myself trying to figure out how I was going to buy this set immediately after we close on our house. I mean, look at it. It's gorgeous, has seating for 8 and is going to match perfectly in the rest of the house. After some heavy daydreaming I had a come-to-Jesus moment with myself I had to face the facts - I'm going to be broke as hell once this house finally goes through. After the pre-paids, closing costs, new flooring, paint, and general repairs needed throughout the house, any "fun money" I have is going to be non-existant.

Faced with that fact - and staring at my lame dining room table set (which we inherited from a friend) - I decided that NOW was the time to design my own dining room table and customize it to look EXACTLY like I wanted. I had always thought I wanted to paint the dining room set white and throw a navy blue material over the cushions. But after eyeing that set from Haverty's, I decided that I wanted to strip the bad boy down and stain it dark. 

My sad dining room chair (before picture)

Therefore, I did what any brave, DIY'er would do and had a chair massacre in my living room. It took me about 30 minutes to take each chair apart - I was smart enough to put all of the nuts & bolts in ziplock bags and then got to work googling how I was going to strip the wood down. After a couple of calls into my dad and a few texts to Mike letting him know our next adventure, I had a plan in place.  Operation "Update Dining Room Furniture" is officially underway! Stay tuned for updates!

Parker's Fisher Price chair was the only one who survived the Chair Massacre of 2015

Cheers! 
Annie

PS: An update to this post was created on 8/7/2015 and can be found here


Tuesday, March 10, 2015

The Ames Buy A House

Hello my friends!

I'm excited to share some BIG news with everyone! Mike and I have finally bit the bullet and have decided to venture into the home-ownership world! The house hunting process, while it seems to be fun and exciting, was actually more of an emotional journey than I expected. 




We started our search for houses in November 2014 like most people do - peeking in the windows of vacant houses in our current neighborhood (like stalkers). When we decided to actually inquire about a house - we found out that it was already sold. Strike ONE! Although we were a tad bit disappointed, some good did come out of the situation - we met GEORGE! George has been our realtor through this entire process and I cannot say enough great things about him!



Our serious home search began in January; we would reserve Saturday mornings and weekdays after work to go check out houses - we even put an offer in on a couple. Let's talk about THAT emotional roller coaster. The first house we put an offer in on - we were over bid on. Granted, our offer was $10k less than what the asking price was, so no wonder. But hey - it was worth a shot. It's actually a blessing in disguise that we didn't get it - looking back on it now, the house just wasn't "us". 



The second house we put an offer in on had a pool, a layout we liked, didn't need ANY updates... Mike was instantly in love. Alas - we were over bid on this one as well. However - this was just another blessing in disguise. The pool would have required more work than we were willing to put in, the neighborhood wasn't my favorite, and the front entry way had 3 different types of flooring - all within 5 feet of the front door.


After losing this house - and starting to lose hope on any others, Mike and I determined that we were going to take a break for a couple of weeks to re-group and come up with a game plan. We decided to "up" our max budget by about $20,000 just to have more options to review. On Wednesday, February 25th, we met George and went through three houses together. One was a Fannie Mae property that didn't need any work at all, another was a Short Sale in our current neighborhood that didn't need much work either, but had zero yard space, and the last one we saw that day was a complete disaster. It was owned by HUD, had no floors, had holes in the walls, was painted EVERY COLOR UNDERNEATH THE SUN; however - it had potential... and a huge back yard. Guess which one we decided to go with? THE HUD HAZMAT HOUSE!




For those of you who aren't familiar with HUD - they're home selling process is a little different than other types of home buying. For starters, the house goes up for bidding for 10 days. Only Owner-Occupants, Government Agencies and Non-Profits are eligible to bid on the house. If it doesn't sell within those first 10 days, it gets opened up to investors. Mike and I knew, that if we wanted this house, we were going to have to fight for it. The bidding deadline was Thursday, March 5th at midnight. We put in our offer on Wednesday night, with the help of our fabulous agent, George. And then we waited.

All day Thursday, Mike and I were nervous wrecks. After losing 2 previous offers and countless other homes that went off the market before we could even put in an offer, we did NOT want to lose this house. We both didn't get much sleep Thursday night - tossing and turning each hour, not knowing what Friday would bring us - tears of sadness, or tears of joy.Waking up Friday morning, Mike and I immediately pulled out our phones and checked the HUD website - terrified. First thing we noticed: The bidding period was EXTENDED to Monday 3/9. WHAT DID THIS MEAN? Hurriedly, I sent George a text message (at 7:00am) asking for an update (HELP US GEORGE!). With nothing new to report, he convinced us to be patient and let us know that he would update us if anything happened.


Around lunch time, my curiosity was getting the better of me. I sent George another message asking him if he had any updates. His reponse: "The HUD website says that the bidding period has closed an offer has been accepted, but I haven't gotten an email yet." Here is where my heart sinks. Could we have possibly lost ANOTHER house? But then another message comes from George: "The bidding period is closed because they accepted YOUR offer." Could this be true? Did they really pick us? Did we have a house? OUR HOUSE? Commence extreme excitement dance in my office chair. [side note: Mike forgot his cell phone at home this day - therefore, I had to call every friend we had to try to find him to tell him the news.]


Now that the paperwork is in to HUD (including our pre-approval letter and binder check), the real fun is about to begin! Please send prayers, good vibes, and any other good mojo and karma our way - we're going to need it these next few weeks as we try to close on this house and get it ready to be lived in! I'll be sure to keep everyone up-to-date on our progress, including photos! Stay tuned for more!



We can't wait for our friends and family to visit us at our [soon-to-be] new [to-us] house!


5347 Clapboard Creek Drive
Jacksonville, FL 32226

Cheers!!
Annie, Mike & Parker

Friday, March 6, 2015

Influenster Review: Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel


Greetings followers!

I hope your 2015 year is off to a great start! A couple of months ago I joined an awesome site called Influenster. You basically answer questions, review products and share your favorite products via social media - in return they send you full size products to test (FOR FREE) in the comfort of your own home! HOW MUCH FUN!

My first VoxBox (as they're called) was for Neutrogena's new "Hydro Boost Water Gel" moisturizer. We'll start off by saying, I was a LITTLE too excited to get the box in the mail - Mike was a bit confused. But when only a few people get selected to test each product, you'd get excited too!

After first trying this moisturizer, I will say that I'm hooked. It's extremely lightweight and feels AMAZING on my face. It's not oily, it's not creamy, it's just like a splash of water that soaks into your skin and makes you look glowingly beautiful. I highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a light-weight moisturizer - great for those hot summer months when you don't want to use that heavy stuff from last winter!

Go out and give it a try!! 
Cheers!
Annie

PS: I received this product for free to test thanks to @Neutrogena and @Influenster. #BehindTheGlow #Neutrogena #Contest