Show Us Your Life: Master Bedroom

Today over at Kelly's Korner, it's Show Us Your Life: Master Bedroom.

I wouldn't exactly call our bedroom a "Master" Bedroom, but seeing as we are the "masters" of the house, we can just roll with that title.

We just rearranged our bedroom a couple days ago and I like it so much better.

It is amazing how a room can feel so different just by doing that.

You know that feeling when you know a room isn't reaching it's full potential? Well, that was me with our bedroom- a change was needed.

I wouldn't say that it is now reaching it's full potential, but we rent this place-it's not our forever bedroom and there is really no need for it to reach it's full potential.

How's that for a motivational speech?

It also doesn't help that Roxie's crate takes up about 1/4 of our room. For real.

So anyways, here are the before pictures in horrible lighting and quality:

You walk into our room and see this, very little room between the door and the end-table/bed.

To the left you see this side of the room {my clothes are in the armoire}:

We added an accent wall {same color as the living room wall}

Looking from the opposite side of the door {Mr. B's clothes are in that little closet}

After:

We decided to get rid of the end tables, they were a waste of space and were used for about 3 sips of water before bed and other misc junk.

We moved the bed against the wall to save some more space. That's where I sleep and I don't mind- I never get up in the middle of the night, and when Ben leaves for work I kind of take over the whole bed anyways so for the most part I don't even notice a difference.

{Totally irrelevant side note- I do sleep on the outside on the weekends since I am the one that wakes up with Roxie in the morning. Just in case you were wondering.}

Yes, that's an empty frame. I've had it since High School, it was hanging in the spare bedroom with a bunch of old pictures in it. I took the pictures out, painted it to match our room and now I am looking for some new pictures to fill it with. This could be one of those projects where this remains on the wall like that forever and just becomes a unique piece of art- circle with various shapes inside. Who knows.

Btw, bought that armoire off craigslist for $50.

The other side of the room Let's pretend that it's opposite day. so that wall that is "accented" really means pretend it doesn't exist. So let's just ignore the fact that it has one tiny picture on it. Kthanks.

I also had this chest in my room in High School. It was periwinkle, we painted it brown while in Florida and made it our coffee table and now it is in our room and is a little storage unit. I am hoping to be crafty and buy some fabric and padding to put on the top to tie in with our room. But again...you know how home projects go.

Roxie's Master Bedroom.

How's the for creative? Let's stack our end tables and hope it looks like some sort of shelving unit. Call me a genius, if you really want to. I don't mind.

View from the door and puppy.

View from the kitchen.

We moved the shelf that we had in their out to the little "hallway" between the two bedrooms and it is just what that empty space needed.

{{Maybe I should call Roxie Waldo from now on...she seems to make it into almost every picture.}}

I am not sure I want to keep what's inside the basket, hence why it is currently unopened.

I am also printing a wedding picture to put in the frame instead of an engagement one.

That is what everyone signed at our wedding that has been hiding in the closet because I had no idea where to put such a "bold" piece of work. Hindsight, totally would've left a pen for people to sign with. A black marker is a little much.

So that's our little room. I am pretty sure this post is bigger than it.

Go link up and show us your bedroom!

Wordless Wednesday: DUI

Driving under the influence...

of apple juice.

Busted.

Top Two Tuesday: Hair Products

Today's topic for T2T is yo top 2 hair productssss.

This is pretty easy for me seeing as I am cheap and I also don't do a lot to my hair.

Mama Grace on the other hand, uses a million different hair products and I am sure she could hand out a whole list.

Thankfully, I am blessed with thick, soft, straight hair so it's usually pretty easy to handle.

I am honored to inherit many wonderful traits of my mom, but I thank the Lord above that I didn't inherit her thick coarse hair.

Anyways, my two every day hair products are:

{one} Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine. I put this on after I towel dry my hair {and sometimes after I blow dry it} and it makes my hair all silky and soft. You have to be careful not to put too much in though or it will look greasy.

{two} Chi Straightener. This is a fairly new product for me and it has changed my life. I bought it this summer off of craigslist {of course!} from a salon that went out of business. It was brand new, in the box and selling for $65! I had a real cheap conair straightener before, and this is like 109089078947 times better. I am amazed every time. Of course now I can't wait until my hair is long enough to curl, but for now this does the job and I love it and use it almost every day. My hair is naturally straight, but this makes it nice and flat, it makes it appear longer which I am all for. On the days that I don't have time or energy to straighten it, I am amazed at how big my hair is- I forgot!

{A perfect example, of tired ol' me in Texas. I went to bed with my hair wet and in a bun, woke up with crazy hair as seen on the right. Didn't feel like showering {don't judge}, and abracadabra or however it is spelled, in less than 10 minutes I look like a clean fresh new girl. As far as smelling like a clean fresh girl, we will leave that up to deodorant and perfume. My blog name is Smelly Wife after all. What can I say, sometimes I feel compelled to live up to my blog alias.}

What are your top two hair products?

Misc. Monday

{one} The fall TV line-up officially begins tonight! Super excited about that...although I wish we had two DVRs because I don't think I will be able to record everything. Hmm does that say something about me? Is two the limit because if you need to tape more than two shows at one time then you may watch too much TV? Good thing we at least have two TVs so that I can tape some shows and then watch another in bed. Phew! Glad that is figured out. Priorities, people.

{two} This weekend I decided we needed to rearrange our bedroom. I just couldn't stand the lay out any more. With a room so small there wasn't too much we could do. I convinced Mr. B, we changed some things around and it is like a completely different room and we now have way more space. More space also means more decor needed. Hey, I'm not complaining about that one.

{three} Proverbs 26:11 "As a dog {unless you are a boxer named Roxie} returns to their vomit..." A couple days ago Roxie drank a bunch of water too fast right after eating and ended up throwing her food up. She looked at it, sniffed it and walked away. While cleaning it up I said to my mom, "ummmmm isn't she supposed to eat this so I don't have to clean it up??" Last night, Roxie did the same thing and threw up her food in a few different places and I hear Mr. B in the kitchen "Roxie, eat it! Eat it!" ha! I know you may think we are being lazy, but dogs eating their throw up is biblical afterall so we are just trying to raise her right ;)

{four} The weather here has been ah.maze.ing. I love fall so much. It has been mid 70s sunny and a cool breeze. So refreshing!

{five} We bought a second car this weekend. It feels so good to finally have a car again. Even if I don't have any where to go, just knowing it is sitting there in the driveway if needed brings a smile to my face. A sense of freedom. In a couple of months we will see what the expenses of two cars does to this smile and sense of freedom...

{six} Tonight is the first night of the women's Bible study at my church. We are doing Kay Arthur- The Covenant. It is apparently really in depth and not a finish-5-pages-of-homework-an -hour-before-the-study-type thing so it will definitely be challenging and take discipline, but I am really looking forward to it.

{seven} I can't think of anything else to say, but I didn't want to end on six.

Show us your life: Living rooms

Today over at Kelly's Korner it's Show Us Your Life: Living Rooms.

This will work out nicely since I don't think I ever did a tour of our new place.

Our living room is fairly small.

Our whole apartment is small actually.

But it is perfect for us in this season of our life.

Everything in our house is pretty much from craigslist or ikea or something from a clearance section.

Gotta love great deals!

The front door leads right into our living room.

Right when you walk in this is what you see.

The living room leads into the kitchen.

Sidenote: If you can see in the back, the color scheme in the kitchen is teal and black. This is due to the fact that our kitchen came with a beautiful teal and black backsplash which ended up setting the color tone for the living room too. We tried giving the living room a different color scheme-I like the warm green, red, orange, yellow colors-but it really clashed since you can see the kitchen curtains and colors from the living room. Therefore my fall decor kinda clashes too, but fall is my favorite so who cares, right? Right.

To the left is our coat rack and shoe bin, TV and Roxie's little area.

The wall was a little bare in the corner, so I found this mirror on clearance at Home Goods for $12, then I bought the peg coat rack from the Mill Store and had Mr. B spray paint it with paint we already had. It's exactly what that spot needed and we were very pleased.

{And yes, I use all those purses depending on what is needed for the day-a big and brown, a medium that matches with everything and a small that matches with everything and also not pictured is a tiny Vera Bradley wallet thing that is my quick go-to.}

We love our TV stand from Ikea. It is actually a bookcase, that is sideways and mounted to the wall. We saw it like this on display and fell in love. Mr. B still needs to hide the cords underneath. One of the many projects that will get done "one day". We would really like to get a bigger TV for in here too, we are farther away from our TV in this apartment than our one in Florida so now this feels a little small. But of course it will do for now and is pretty much the last thing on our list to buy.

I also just got that monogrammed plate while in Texas, it was my first time in and my first purchase at a Hobby Lobby. {Technically I didn't purchase it, my mother-in-law did- thanks Mama K!} I always read about how much everyone loves that place- now I see why and I really wish we had one up here!

This is my favorite little basket I bought at Marshall's for like $7.

It comes in handy and matches our decor perfectly.

To the right is our couch.

And where you will also be greeted by a cute little pup who is currently wondering why I am flashing a "toy" all over the living room.

You will also find the most comfortable couch in the world.

This was an amazing craigslist buy- it was in excellent condition and came with a leather ottoman for just $250! Definitely one of my best craigslist buys...and trust me I have had a lot.

It is the perfect shape that we needed for our size/style living room- we love it.

We moved the ottoman into the spare room to give Roxie and the baby I watch more playing space, but it looks nice in here too.

{{Someone's little nub made it into the picture...}}

That window next to the couch is Roxie's favorite spot and where she is known for sucking on the blind cord while people watching. {Also my favorite spot to people watch- I usually don't suck on the blind cord though. We live right across from a park and a pond so it's really hard not to people watch.}

Happy Friday!!

Go link up- I love seeing everyone's different decor.

**It's a cold rainy day here, I think I should probably shower before it's already time for Mr. B to get home and I look like a nasty lazy wife...but I may or may not change into a new pair of PJs after my shower...aren't those the best days?

Wordless Wednesday: Caught looking at my pumpkin

{{Click on the pic to make it bigger}}

and yes I spelled pumpkin wrong on the pumpkin, but it was already saved

and I didn't feel like doing it all over again. I do know how to spell, really.

Top Two Tuesday: Things to accomplish

Today's topic for T2T: Things you want to accomplish before the end of the year.

This is a very easy one for me.

1. Make a little smelly baby. We really want to expand our family, and I want nothing more than to be a mommy. In His timing we know it will happen....but we would like it to be "accomplished" before the end of this year. Please?

2. Money. First, we need to tithe correctly. This is something we really struggle with, but are determined to do. We really need to start tithing right when we get paid. If we don't....somehow the money disappears. We then end up paying a huge lump sum, which is zero fun let me tell you. It's a lot easier to write a check for $100 then to write one for $1000. The fact of the matter is- it isn't even our money to begin with so the whole mentality of not wanting to give right now because then we can't have such and such needs to be thrown out the window. We are so blessed and we need to give back. first. Secondly, along the lines of money I would really like to:

1. Get back to and stick with the "cash life"

2. Put some money into savings

3. Who am I kidding? First it would be nice to have money in our checking account, then have extra to be able to put in savings.

I feel confident we can accomplish these! We have 3 months left...we better get on it!

What are some things you would like to accomplish??

Misc. Monday : Roxie Edition

{one} Yesterday was the perfect Sunday- we got chinese, put on our sweats and relaxed all day. Mr. B watched football game after football game mixed in with a little playstation football and I fixed my blog and organized some pictures. It's nice to have a day like that every once in a while. Ok fine, I'll be honest, I typically have that more than once in a while. It's really more like a few times a week...but it's nice to have it with my hubby beside me every once in a while.

{two} What do you think of my new layout?? My other background was no longer on photobucket for some reason {did anyone see how crazy it looked?} Thankfully Mama K let me know because I had no idea! I wanted to update it anyways with pics of our new furbaby, so it all worked out in the end!

{three} I am so bummed because I finally have iPhoto back on my computer and now I can't find my camera cord. Ugh. Hate when that happens.

**Now for the real Roxie Edition**

{four} Roxie is up to the norm. Still looking out the window and sucking on the blind cord. I know these look the same as a few weeks ago, but seriously I just took them this morning. What a fruitloop.

{five} I thought she wanted to go for a walk outside, since she spent most of the morning with her head in the window. But, she made it clear that she had other plans and would rather stay in and watch TV {thank you Jesus for a puppy after my own heart. What my jeans don't fit? Why??}. This is not a set up or props, people. She did this all on her own. Impressive, right?

{six} Roxie was sniffing at my slipper yesterday and I couldn't resist not letting her play with it. Dogs + Slippers- it's a stereotype. How could I say no?? I was proud of her for reaching a new milestone.

{seven} Roxie has the loudest/cutest farts. Human-like farts. It makes me giggle all through out the day, because yes, I am that mature. The downside is the intoxicating air that quickly follows and constricts your breathing ability, but the fact that she just lays there and lets them rip like it's nobodies business is quite comical. I wish I could get it on camera, because I am sure you are dying to see such footage, but it's so sporadic throughout the day that I don't think it is possible. Sorry.

{eight} I'll end on this note because I am curious. What do you call farts? I don't like the word "fart", we used to say "toot" growing up. I have heard "fluff" and thought that was cute and appropriate. So send me some ideas, I'm looking for a new word. And to ease your mind, yes my life is that exciting that I listen to my puppy fart all day and I am looking for some new words for a fart. Jealous?

Under Construction

I am working on getting a new template, as my other one was having some funky problems! So hang tight and fear not! It will be finished by Sunday night!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Edit: Accidentally erased some widgets :( So I lost my counter, about us and my blog list. Ugh. I guess this is why people just pay for these things. Puppy and Mr. B are in bed asleep already, so I guess I will go to bed and work more tomorrow. At least this gives me something to during all those football games...

Edit Edit: Somehow got my counter back and finished at 6:00PM on Sunday! Kept me nice and busy, while Mr. B yelled at the TV and endured a loss as always. Back with Misc. Monday tomorrow :)

The Double C Word

Mr. B and I are looking into getting out very first....

credit card.

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You're probably all cringing and shouting noooooo.

I know. I know.

But's it's not for this...

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I promise.

It's not to put us in debt.

It's not to buy things we can't afford.

It's to build our credit.

It's something to have for true emergencies.

It's also something to have to hold us over.

For example, we need to fill the car with gas today.

Mr. B doesn't get paid until Tuesday.

We have the money, but the timing just isn't right.

We are working on that though.

The joys of marriage and the grown-up life.

We will be having a little meeting on Tuesday night to try and get everything back on track,

but in the meantime we both agree that this is something to consider.

So, I come to those of you are addicted to our smell{y life} for some advice.

We are looking into a low maximum- about $1,000.

We are looking for a grace period.

No annual fees or any fees in general.

Fairly low interest rate.

What credit card do you have?

Do you like it?

Any suggestions?

Tips?

Happy Friday! Hope the weather is a cool and beautiful as it is here!

New Season. New Size.

New jeans.

New motivation.

New need for the 30 Day Shred.

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With the cooler weather approaching {and remaining the rest of the week!},

it's time to pull out the fall/winter wardrobe.

Pull out and put on squeeze in.

Last night I was getting ready for Bible Study, I put on my jeans and they felt a little on the snug side as they slid up my thigh.

I finally get them around my hips and realize there is no way that that button is making it through that hole.

I suck in. It moves 1/100 cm.

Awesome.

I jump up and down. Surely, it will fit if it's higher on my waist.

It moves 1/200 cm.

Perfect.

I rip them off because they are super uncomfortable around my legs, let alone buttoned and around my belly.

No problem, I'll try another pair.

Step into one leg. Right away- I know where this is going....

down the same path as the previous pair.

Not worth going through all that effort again to try and get it to button.

{When putting jeans on becomes a work out and you are too lazy to try and squeeze into another pair, it could be a possible sign/example of your lifestyle and why none of them fit?? Just sayin.}

Next.

Slip into the leg, we are along the same path as the previous pairs but this pair came with a glimpse of hope. Although it did require the double action move, called the "suck-in-and-jump-up-quickly-fit-the-button-through-the-hole-if-you-fail-squat-suck-in-jump-up-and-try-again-method".

It worked.

I ruined my freshly painted nail. But it was buttoned.

New problem- it wouldn't zip.

I couldn't get the zippers close enough to pull it up.

Self-esteem is blowing through the roof by now.

New solution: look in the closet for a big enough shirt that

a. will cover the open zipper

b. cover the the skin that is being pushed out of the pants and overflowing on the sides.

Oh and forget about being able to breathe while sitting.

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This isn't me, but it's a pretty darn accurate picture of what I looked like.

Mr. B loves some extra love on these handles, but I think even he might admit there's a little too much love.

Especially with these particular jeans on.

The tops of these muffins are a little bit larger than necessary.

I don't love muffins, but I do enjoy muffin tops.

Preferably, Market Basket blueberry with the sugar coated tops.

But, not a huge fan of the muffin tops on my pants.

Apparently those muffin tops that I like to enjoy for breakfast have found a new home.

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I just bought all these jeans 10 months ago.

This is not cool.

I have no excuse.

It's time to get serious.

But it's hard.

Real hard.

I love food too much.

I love exercising too little.

Any tips?? Have you tried on your fall wardrobe yet? It's a daunting task! Hope you have better luck than me!

In 30 days, they better button...with ease!

Top Two Tuesday but it's Wednesday

For self-esteem purposes I will believe that there was a lack of responses to my previous post because everyone was busy for Labor Day weekend. Because that's the truth, right?? Either that or I'm ashamed and embarrassed that apparently I am the only one with an occasional long dark strand in my armpit or the fact that I admitted that I like when my thighs stretch out my shorts and make them fit perfectly. So we will just go with everyone's busy schedule, okay? Great. Moving on..

I am in the process of updating my iPhoto so I can finally upload pictures to my computer, and then I can share about our wonderful trip to Texas too.

Until then, I will join in on T2T, or in my case T5W.

The topic for today yesterday was favorite things about fall.

Fall is my favorite season, so my list is way more than two!

The list could go on and on, but I will give you my top 5, in no particular order:

{one}. I love fall Sundays. Church, football, coupons, pizza, wings or chinese, naps and relaxing with my man and my family. I call myself a biltriots fan. I like to represent where I am from, {New England} but Mr. B is a hard core Bills fan so I like to support that too :)

{two} Apple Crisp. Mmmm

{three} Fall weather. We are known for the beautiful foliage and nothing beats it.

Last year we were in Florida, so this year I am looking forward to the cool crisp air and the gorgeous colored leaves.

{four} Fall Scents. Yankee Candle Farmer's Market is my fav.or.ite.

I am really into the tarts and I like to switch out the scents.

I also like Autumn Fruit and Mandarin Cranberry {but that's not fally}

{five} Fall clothes. Jeans, sweaters, scarves and boots. My birthday is also in the fall so I usually get to go on a little shopping spree and pick out a cute new wardrobe, which of course plays a significant part in fall being my favorite. Can you blame me?

What are your favorite things about the fall? Do you have any favorite scents? Have you ever experienced a New England fall?

Thursday's Thoughts

These are my thoughts while getting ready this morning that I just felt the need to share. Because clearly they are post-worthy.

I hate when you are shaving your armpits and you realize that one day, probably when you were really tired and not paying attention, you shaved a little bit farther than usual. Therefore, you have a few strands either higher or lower than the normal perimeter due to the fact that they are not trimmed in your every day stroke. When taking care of these, now long dark strands, it is inevitable that the shaved area doubles in size each time therefore creating more strands that will be missed for the next few weeks. All because of one mistake. Wonderful.

Sometimes I wonder what the back of my thighs look like, seeing as though I am not the most flexible person and turning sideways and backwards or down and under is too much work for this lady to shave. I have shaved it occasionally though so who knows, it could look like those little strands in my armpit. Except maybe with a lot of strands. Sexy.

Plucking eyebrows= bound to get carried away. This morning I decided to try and give my eye brows a "shape". Which of course turned into thin, uneven, one side shorter than the other, one side higher than the other, one side thicker than the other... you know, basically the perfect "shape" I was going for. Which is also the result of one mistake, one bad pluck that messes up the whole thing.

I love when you wear shorts 4 days in a row. By the 4th day they finally fit you perfectly and make you feel like you lost some weight. When in reality it's actually your fat that has been stretching it out. But that's okay, no need to be a pessimist. We can pretend that my thighs have actually shrunk after just one day of the Shred, right? Right. Thanks.

I wrote the mailman a note from Roxie today. Another milestone reached in becoming one of those dog people. He gives her a bone every day, even if we aren't home he will leave her one in the mailbox and I think it is so sweet. So I gave him a little thank you note and was really torn on who it should be from. So, I guess it's legit: I have crossed over to the other side if I am writing a note from my dog.

I dread seeing people you haven't seen in a while because to them it is obvious if you have are looking, lets say...a little more plump and healthy, if you will. The people in your every day life claim you look the same, but it's these people that can really tell. Unfortunately {or fortunately, really} they don't say anything about it to your face. But you always wonder...

Some people might hope that one day of the shred is enough to make the difference for those people not to realize you may or may not have gained weight since the last time you saw them.

Mr. B and I are going to Texas for the long weekend to visit his family. Just in case you were wondering what brings about these random thoughts for the day. Well, it explains some of them anyway.

Hope everyone enjoys their long weekend!

We are looking forward to a mini- vaca in TX {minus the heat!!}

Looking like babies {I know we still look young now, but I'd say we have at least moved to the toddler stage}, celebrating our 3 year dating anniversary on our last visit to TX in December 2008