Buying the Samples, Painting the Living Room

How long has it been that I've been talking about/ thinking about painting the living room? Other than the day we moved in? I can at least track it back to this post in October of 2012... or this one in August 2012. But I think I've been telling people about painting my living room forever. I went and picked out patch swatches last fall.

But get excited people, I took the next step... I bought paint samples. Not exactly jumping right in, but it's a start. I think I want a light blue or a gray, but I don't want to paint all the walls of the biggest room in our house and do all the detail work and look up and realize that the room looks like Andy's room or 'we're having a baby boy' blue. No offense to Toy Story, it's just that it's my living room...

I went down to Lowe's and talked to anyone who would listen about my color choices and my living room dilemma  Do I go with a safe gray or do you think this blue-green looks too much like toothpaste? After about an hour the nice lady made my three samples and I headed home.

Ended up with (from left to right) Moonshine by Benjamin Moore (matched in Valspar), Crystalline by Valspar, and River Mist by Valspar. Or as Kyle would say, "gray, blue, and blue." I was too afraid to paint the samples on the wall, and the nice lady at Lowe's said she didn't recommend putting the sample paint on the wall either. She said the samples of Valspar aren't actually the same ad the real paint. I don't know why they wouldn't use real paint, but she said the samples aren't exactly the same, but that they're 'working to make samples as close to the paint material as possible.' Still wondering why they don't just use the real paint...

Anyways, so I painted a foam board as recommended by my husband (before I realized that idea was all over the internet). Just set it up right on the living room floor with a few trash bags... it was raining outside, what's a girl to do? I did open the windows and turn on the fan though...

The samples are in the same order (from left to right) Moonshine, Crystalline, and River Mist.

And then I did what everyone recommends and I sent that foam board on the tour de la living room... (here colors bottom to top: Moonshine, Crystalline, River Mist.

I kind of love all the colors. Kind of wish the gray was a little lighter, kind of wish the blues looked less like Andy's Room. I'm a little concerned that either of the blues will be too much for such a big room and limit the color scheme down the line (it's taken me a long time to paint, so it's hard to think about re-painting the room).

For now I'm staring at the foam board all the time. Like it lives in the living room now. It could be months before I decided... but one step closer right?

Happy Friday, oh, actually Happy Good Friday. Enjoy your weekend, pray that you are truly blessed this weekend! Hope your Easter includes the best gift you could ever receive.

And if your feeling opinionated about paint, or even not... any ideas on the wall color?

Spring in the Kitchen Window

After getting really excited about spray painting everything, and then really bummed out when it turned below freezing here in the middle of East Texas... I needed a pick me up. That pick me up this week was my kitchen counter top garden!

I planted these guys about one month ago, and since then the green onions have been going crazy. I'm harvesting green onions way faster than we can eat them. Pretty much, when they get tall I cut them back to the lip of the jar and they grow right back. I've cut them back about four times since I 'planted' them, so I guess about once a week! I change the water every few days and they seem to love it. Still considering planting them in soil if they need it though.

For now I'm putting the onions I harvest (that I don't eat right away) in the freezer. I figure I'll use the dehydrator to dry some out later, and then use the frozen ones in soups and stews. (Frozen veggies tend to be mushy when thawed, so if you're wanting crisp green onions out of the freezer you may be disappointed.)

They're so pretty though and they yell "Spring!" every time I walk into the kitchen.

And then there were the herbs. The ones I planted from seeds...

I had just about given up on the seeds (Impatient much?). I figured it was too cold being right by the window or I didn't keep them moist enough while we were away on vacation. But I figured I'd water them and lay some plastic wrap lightly over them to keep in the moisture and wait a few days.

And guess what?

These little guys popped right up! Pardon the pictures, they were taken with my phone, through plastic wrap... These little guys are oregano. No signs of life from the thyme or cilantro yet... but isn't the oregano cute?

So even though I defrosted my car this morning before going to work... it really is Spring! At least in my kitchen window it is.

Happy Spring! Just praying for some spray painting weather, I've got a list going... until then maybe I'll have to paint a room or something...

Spring Cleaning

Kyle was working this weekend and I planned to paint a plethora of household items. Then the weather turned cold and wet and it was definitely not painting weather. My next plan was to watch old TV episodes on the computer while wrapped in a million blankets...

But then it was Spring.

And I had Britney Spears stuck in my head. So I started a load of laundry and put on this YouTube Britney Spears mix and danced/worked out for about an hour. (Can't help it if I love me some old-timey Britney...) Anyways, must have made me feel super productive or something...

Because when I went in to change over the laundry load, I cleaned the entire laundry room! No kidding; that's what I did Saturday. But my laundry room needed it. See?

To my defense, all the clothes on the dryer are clean, just 'laying them flat' to until I fold them ...right? But even on the shelves we needed help.

It started by me realizing that I've had a hanging rod to the left of my washer and dryer this entire time. So I started using it. Then I started sweeping, and I Lysol wiped the entire shelving unit, and I got a cute jar for the lost and found items in pockets. I even organized the laundry bottles...

I setup a new system for the laundry. See we're not the best at finishing the laundry. I mean I'll start a load and even move it to the dryer, but the taking it out and folding it and putting it away stops me I guess. But with the hanger system now functional (I actually realized it existed), and the shelves clean, I decided we could fold and stack. One shelf for Kyle (or two) and one for me... we could fold and then put away whenever we wanted. Without loading up the top of the dryer.

I washed about ten loads of laundry (between watching old TV episodes on the computer while wrapped in a million blankets) and I was pretty proud of myself. It was even worth learning how to use the panoramic photo feature on my new fancy phone.

What do ya think? I was pretty impressed. When Kyle got home I made him rush to the laundry room and tell me he loved it :) Even though I planned to paint some great things, make our yard a little closer to dandelion-free, and paint the living room... I think I did a pretty good job for a cold rainy afternoon. And hey, I'm caught up on all my TV shows...

Happy Monday. How's your Spring Cleaning going? I'm hoping the cleaning will spill over into other rooms of the house too? And hoping it will warm up for some painting!

First Official Hess House Vacation: Houston to Hometown

While I'm itching to tell you about the new projects we have going on at the house (yay warm painting temperatures and spring motivations!) I do want to recap the last few days of our Spring Break vacay. It's kind of fun to relive our vacation. Somehow it seems like so long ago...

But after a pretty full first few days of vacay in Austin and San Antonio, we headed to Houston. Stopped on the way and got a little Schlotzsky's and I fell in love with the cinnamon roll behind the counter. Like when I walked up to the counter the guy reached for the cinnamon roll before I even ordered... was I that obvious? Anyways, I said I was celebrating day one without TB meds and downed the entire 800 calories deliciousness...

Made a stop at Buc-ee's (my first time)! Buc-ee's is like the fancy pants of convenient stores. They have so many things that they make and the bathroom stalls have little red and green lights so you know if a stall's empty. Kyle saw the meat counter and got excited about his yummy treat. You know, half a pound of beef jerky...

Snapped a picture of Buc-ee, perused through the Icee flavors and we were on our way. (I tried to get a picture with Buc-ee, but I kept looking crazy, really, maybe I'll show you those pictures someday...)

We made it to Houston to our steal-of-a-deal hotel right on the water. We stayed in the Clear Lake area, right between NASA and Kemah. Perfect location. This was the view from our room. Huge window, could have stared for days...

Night one we hit up T-Bone Tom's steak house in Kemah. We saw that they were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and couldn't say no.

I've always wanted to eat at a place featured on the Food Network. We watched the DDD clip before we left the hotel, and so we had to order the Armadillo Eggs...

Pickled jalapeno stuffed with BBQ brisket double-battered and deep-fried... Are you drooling yet? They were incredible.

Finished it off by splitting a large steak and a piece of bread pudding a-la-mode the size of a barn. Isn't my man the cutest? 

With our stomachs stuffed we went to bed and got our rest. Morning brought on Day Five and I was pumped for NASA! I kind of love space exploration, the space program, all things nerdy like that. I was actually the "Pilot" of our Young Astronauts Club in middle school (Pilot was the cute space name for President)... So when I saw this helmet I just had to...

... try it on! I look good in a space helmet right? And I love math, I should have totally been an astronaut. I love science and experiments... maybe someday.

Unless the helmets look like this small one... Kyle said I looked like Gru in Despicable Me, apparently there was a scene with a helmet. Then he just googled a picture of Gru to show me. Shouldn't have laughed so hard before I knew what I was being compared to...

My husband is not as much a space nerd as me. So while I was like "what?!? they have a moon rock here! that. I. can. touch!!" he was like "hmm, there's a show outside let's see what it is." His favorite part of NASA was the Spring Break entertainment they brought in for an outdoor show. It had nothing to do with space... but it was cool. See?

After the show we went on the Tram Tour! This was the part I had been most excited about. Yes, I've seen it before. But it's been a while. And who gets tired of seeing NASA, and the training center, and real rockets? :)

This one's a model of the new Orion series for space exploration. When I heard the space shuttle program had been shut down I thought it was the end. Nope (that was just the media). Just starting a new program...

Rocket Park? Yes please. Isn't this huge? Last time I saw it, it was outside. Apparently the Houston climate was not good to it so they/the Smithsonian restored the rocket and made a little gigantic building for it to live in.

And then I saw my friend, you know... Buzz... second man on the moon, first in my heart (just kidding of course, Kyle you're the only one for me... right?) Buzz's other friends were with him too. So we all took a picture.

But then one of just us. I was star-shocked...

A fun pic with my friends from the good ole Apollo 13 mission...

And the fake astronauts in the museum... creepy, right?

And then I saw NASA's new-ish robot and I knew someone there is a Boba Fett fan (Star Wars, for those of you who don't have the force). I immediately sent a picture to my little brother to confirm. I mean really, can you see it? 

But all learning and no play makes Jack a dull boy right (not me of course, learning is SO fun...). So we headed out for a fancy fun dinner in Kemah... right on the boardwalk

... with Amy Wheeler!! (and Kyle, too). But really, there's just no one like here, girl has her own little place in my heart. I think all I said on the way back to the hotel was "I just love Amy, don't you?" to Kyle...

I do just think she's wonderful. And we talked for hours, had the most odd waitress, and caught up on life. We walked Amy to her car and as we got back to our car Kyle said, "didn't you want to get a picture of the boats, is it too dark?" It wasn't, and these are probably some of my most favorite pictures I have taken...

Beautiful night and we were headed to Louisiana the very next day. Squeezed in a nice round of disc gold and then packed the car and headed east. We were going to Louisiana!

Home of yummy crawfish...

... and Alligators. The real ones...

And the ones made out of bushes, lol.

Just a little fun and family time in the ole Lake Charles. I have a great family, and it was a very relaxing and yummy way to wrap up our road trip adventure. (Even though it wasn't technically in Texas...)

So after sharing a Kingsley-classic with the fam for lunch (You know, Popeye's 10 Piece All Dark Special with a Family Sized Side of Red Beans and Rice...mmm), we packed up the car with our luggage (and a fun surprise project for later) and headed back to the big state of Texas....

Couldn't have asked for a more perfect vacation for us right now. Really we had a blast, we got to hang out with each other like crazy and even got to see my fam. But I will tell you, it was good to be home. Our warm, cozy, little mothball-smelling home. I love it.

Happy Friday! I hope you have a cozy home too. Enjoy the weekend, because we've got some work to do next week around here! Woo hoo!