small master bedroom redo on a $50.00 budget

finally after 9months of being here.. i decided it was time to redo our "master" bedroom. with my quitting work my budget was even tighter than normal, but that is the fun of it.. for a few months my friend and i went junkin on sunday nights and hitting goodwill.



we found so many amazing things it was crazy...
*street finds FREE:
-dresser
-mirror

*ikea as is section:
-headboard (it is actually 2 large cabinet doors screwed together and put on my
old bed) $18.00
-bedside table $4.00
-drape rod and hooks $1.99
-frame $1.00
-silver tray $.50
-under bed storage $5.99

*goodwill
-pottery barn linen drape (I cut in half and made 2 dummie panels)$3.99
-NIP black/cream gingham napkins (i sewed together and made 2 throw pillows)
-3 pottery barn brushed nickle candle stick $9.99
-pottery barn brushed nickle vase $1.99
-cute little flower decor $1.99
-brass standing lamp that i spray painted to a brush nickle $4.99

*garage sale
-white queen size NEW white comforter $5.00

everything else i already had in other rooms (vintage suitcases, sheets, spray paint)i spent a few dollars and a few hours and painted the stripes and when all was said and done suprised my husband for our anniversary.



finally an adult room COMPLETE with our wedding picture and not a college dorm room with only a bed and a broken dresser.

what do you think?

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not too late

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late review - marley's 3rd bday extravaganza

my baby turned 3 and it was her "golden birthday" so what is an overzelous momma to do... well spend 3months planning, designing, eat, sleep a massive birthday party for her. complete with a sweet shoppe, singer and amazing cake... click on the pictures to enlarge. for those of you in the illinois area.. i cannot recommend the following 2 people more.. MINDY HESTER and RICHELLE MINOR... both are amazing people, are passionate about their work and ROCK it!

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new year... new goals.. new me...

never have i set a goal with new years.. but i figured what a better way for a clean sheet this year. my life is changing... and this is my way of keeping with it...
so here is our family goals:

*game night wednesday
*childrens museum atleast 1x/month
*library atleast 2x's/month
*start dance/sport/music class
*everyone cleans house from 8:30am - 9:30am on saturday mornings
*mom/dad date night atleast 1x/month


my personal goals
*to get healthy.. and not necessarily weight wise... i have been physically sick more in 2009 than i can ever remember, I was violently ill over christmas break and that was the final straw I was unable to have christmas with my family and it just broke my heart.. and i vowed to them if i can ever prevent that again i will
*get back to basics.. the basics of my love.. my family, my arts, finding me
*start preparing to homeschool miss marley moo for preschool
*be the best wife/mom ever

i think all of those are very doable.. so if you have any tips to help me along the way.. please start posting and help a girl out..

sidenote.. totally missed showing all of my kids birthday pictures.. i will be sure to recap all of those maybe midweek... im still trying to figure out this blog.. wish me luck on that!

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please excuse the dust

as part of my new years resolution i am back to blogging.. however i am trying a new layout and cannot quiet grasp it... so please be patient! :)

but it feels good to be back.

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this first gift i am buying this year.. and hope you are too!!!

The first gift I'm buying this year.
As I sit and write this, in front of my beautiful computer,
a diet coke next to me, in my safe, big new home,
mothers are burying their babies.



This is not okay.

I know too many families who have lost precious children. And if they could have prevented it/ if I could have prevented it/ if you could have you WOULD HAVE!!!!

But we do have the power to save lives.

To change the world.

With water.



Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80%
of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every
year than all forms of violence, including war.



Yet for only $10 you can provide one person
in Africa with clean water for ten years.

Ten. Years.



Today I do not care about anything else.
Today I am buying water.
Because I can do something.
I can change something.
I can save a mother from the agony of losing her precious child.

$10 is hardly a sacrifice for me.
But I know with all of my heart, that $10 will be
by far the best money that I will spend this Christmas season.

Join me.
Blog about it.
Tweet about it.
Update your Facebook status.

Today is about water.
Today is about saving lives.
Today is about something bigger than ourselves.

Donate here.
100% percent of your donation will buy water for Christmas.

Every single penny.

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Fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House

Each year.. I donate a either my sitting fees and portions of my profit to a specific charity...

in the past it has been the Autism Society of America, Little Friends, Inc., and the Y-Me Race in Chicago..

also last year we had a silent auction for a family that had an extremely hard year behind them...

This year.. I want to do something a little different..

I am hosting a gift drive and money donations for The Ronald McDonald House of Chicago... look below for more details

This fundraiser.. is open to all but I am personally asking my clients for help.



The Ronald McDonald House provides a “home away from home” to keep families together while their child is receiving medical treatment far from home. Located near , Children’s Memorial Hospital, the House provide comfortable & private rooms, opportunities to bond with other families going through similar situations, and delicious meals prepared by giving volunteers for a suggested donation of $10 per night.


Here is our wish list the house manager told me they need:


*Easy Mac
*Soup
*Frozen Meals
*Canned pasta
*Cereals
*Snack Items
*Lysol Spray
*C-Fold towels
*Paper Towels
*Kleenex
*Clorox wipes
*Travel size shampoo and conditioner
* Aluminum foil, plastic wrap, and plastic sandwich bags
* Laundry detergent and fabric softener
* Cleaning products (scrub pads, sponges, dish washing liquid, dishwasher detergent)
* Bath and bedroom items (sheets, pillow cases, towels, shower curtains)
* Trial size personal care products (deodorant, tooth paste, bath soap, shampoo, conditioner)
* Entertainment products (new toys, games, DVDs, books)
* Food (canned goods and non-perishables)

-Since I will be delivery this the day after Thanksgiving.. she also said families that are there during the holiday's they like to give them a little something (they get plenty of childrens toys but the adults and older children there is nothing to give to them) so they are looking for small increment gift cards to walgreens, chipotle, barnes and nobles, mcdonalds, bp gas.. etc.


-Also..if anyone wants to donate money they can do that.. I am going to be taking pictures of the families that are there and giving them a CD of their shoots and I am going to try if we get enough money try to cater a dinner for them from Portillo's.


I hope anyone and everyone can try to help out a little, I know times are hard.. but I cannot imagine going through these hard times in America along with being away from home and having a sick child in the hospital.

Please feel free to email me: yesitssam@juno.com or message me for more details on where to drop off or collect!!!

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boohoo..

this made me so happy and so sad at the same time..
i had to do miss marley's 3rd b-day shoot..

oh man alive can this thing be any cuter...she just melts my heart, but it makes me so sad seeing my baby so grown..

but how can one be sad when you look at these pictures!!!

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how does one....

remember to breathe...

i really need to listen to myself.. and take some time...
i will..
right?!?!
i have to..

well for now.. doing this little entry is my "breathing" time... im so busy with work.. that i have neglected the one thing that lets me take a break, time to breathe and reflect...

ok..
enough of that.. now back to the daily grind

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Step Up To Autism Walk - June 28, 2009

Sorry for the delay in post.. I just wanted to post when I had all facts in order and pictures up..

once again..
THANK YOU ALL WHO SUPPORTED US/WALKED/DONATED

Recap:
One Sunday June 28th we walked in honor of my little man Dylan... we created a team called "TEAM BIG D" the walk was for supporting "Little Friends" a school for children with special needs, especially Autism.



As a team.. TEAM BIG D raised $1600.00 for "Little Friends"
and after the walk we had a bbq/fundraiser at our house... to thank everyone and to get a few more for all of the amazing outlets out there for the support in Autism.

At our "little" (i say that delicately) bbq we raised an additonal $500.00 for the ASA "Autism Sociecty of America"

We had such a great team of walkers.. it was a beautiful day.. and we could not have done it without any of the help and support of our family and friends..

A special thanks so LORI from "Lori's Place, Gourmet Delights" she came through with some AMAZING donations... she donated 100cookies for our guests as their "thank you presents" and they turned out... well lets just say I cried when I opened the box.. they were perfect and they had such meaning to them. She made puzzle pieces with words of inspiration on them... for those of you who know.. the PUZZLE PIECE is the symbol for Autism Awareness.. and the words of "hope" "dream" & "inspiration" all embody everything that children with autism stand for! She also made hand*prints with hearts on them.. a sign of advocacy..











A LOT of time and effort.. and mostly HEART went into these cookies.. and I cannot thank her enough... so one way.. I figured we can thank her.. is by telling all of you.. not only about her wonderful heart.. but HOW AMAZING of a baker she is..
please visit her online bakery here: LORIS PLACE


Below are some pictures from the walk... we had a team of 30 walkers.. followed by 100 friends and family throughout the day.. all in all.. SIMPLY AN AMAZING AND MEMORABLE DAY!!!

I cannot tell you how much it means that you all came out in support of Dylan... its been a long uphill battle.. and he has grown so much.. but honestly we as a family could not get through all of these challenges that we face on a day to day basis if it was not for the love and support and backbone of our family and friends.. so thank you thank you thank you.. i love each and every one of you!

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so you wanna see how my days have been spent...

we have been attacked by a killer stomach bug.. we have been confined to our house.. and thats it.. i have a bottle of tissue and a garbage bag in one hand and a bottle of lysol in the other at all times its seems...

my kids are such opposites when they are sick.. marley hides and goes on the couch upstairs... dylan likes to lay on the hard floor and snuggle with tons of blankets.. while sierra.. she likes to write stories.. (i think she is secretly writing her life memoirs)


<

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wahhhh.... my baby.. my baby... why is she growing up?

i've been a little in denial lately.. my baby is growing up and its totally killing me..

in 2days she went from pure baby: diapers, pacifier and letting me hold her to go to sleep... to....... a big girl with no pacifier and no diapers...

whats a girl to do...

remember this is how my days were filled and i ate up every second of it:



and well this is now how my days are spent (i will prob. get in trouble from her in a few years for posting it.. but oh well.. ill deal with that at the time):

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nothing a little water won't wash away

that's all i kept telling myself as i let the kids paint adam's father's day present...
but OOPS... well water didn't take it off of the cement patio.. and our gift was found out by adam when we had to explain why there were little green handprints on the patio..

but he LOVED his present so much that he forgave us! and you ask what were we painting... well we bought him finally a set of "bags" and it not only turned out to be a great gift.. but it turned out to be a great time for my kids!

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SHE CUT HER HAIR

its been about 3weeks and im starting to finally get over the grieving period.. so i guess i should blog about it...

miss marley ann took the scissors to the front of her hair.. and did her very first hair cut...

thankfully she has dark hair and with it growing back in you cannot really tell.. but for a while there she had a receding hairline!

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ahhhhhhhhh...

well.. i have a nice little break till next week..
not really a break.. but i have no clients this week.. bc i have to do some major work around the house..

but to treat myself i went to barnes and nobles and bought a book.. and some dove chocolate..

and can i tell you its been a perfect morning!!!

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