Bathroom Remodel...Finished

So 3 months ago I decided to tear apart my master bathroom, not realizing that what seemed to be such a simple job, would turn into a 3 month adventure that just about sent me to the looney bin.  I am finally done.  I've learned alot, had a great time, and am more than happy with the finished product.  So here are the before and after pics.

Before of the toliet area

After of the toliet area

I made those floating shelves all by myself.  Got to say wasn't too difficult and saved a ton of money

Before of the vanity



After of the vanity

Bought some pretty trim at Lowe's and made myself a frame to go around the mirror.  I think it dressed it up nicely.

Primed and painted the vanity.  Looks completely different.

I am on the lookout to buy some cheap bronze faucets.  Cant bring myself to spend what Lowe's wants for theirs.

Before of the flooring

After of the flooring

Sticky back linoleum squares that I grouted in to look like real tiles

Popcorn textured ceiling all scraped off

New Orange Peel Textured Ceiling

New Shower Curtain

Painted trim around window (we are still on the hunt for cheap double pane windows) & my $2 yard sale find hand towel rack

My husband installed a bathroom fan for me.  Yes, that is a bathroom fan. I had no idea that they made cute one's until we stubbled across this one. 

A good friend of ours came over and showed Aaron how to install crown molding.  They did a FANTASTIC job.

And last but not least the one and ONLY white door in our house.  Our 20 year old house is moving up in this world.

Living in the moment

Oh how I loved this when I read it.  I feel like it touched me to my inner core.  I personally feel like 90% of the time I go through life in Survival Mode. Just make it to the end of the day Michelle and you get a break.  I don't want to get to the end of life and look back at someone who survived raising her children, but rather someone who cherished raising her children.  I want to soak up and enjoy every little giggle, the endless smudge marks that cover my sliding glass door, listening to my one and half year old say pease (please) or nigh nigh Jo Jo a hundred times over, catching fire flys out at the bonfire, or the hundreds of stories and questions that come at me from the time my eyes open in the morning.  This is my moment, and I want to live in it, not merely survive it.

Day...(I don't know I lost count)

Ok so I think unless I do another actual fast I am going to stop with my juicing posts.  There's really nothing new to say.  As of now I juice 1 or 2 meals a day and eat the other meal/meals.  I am lingering at 209 at this point (thanks to all the different events/functions we have had going on) and can't get past it.  Maybe its time to put my "nose to the grind stone" and really go at it, to get these last 30ish pounds off.  I think what I'll do is as my juicing journey continues I'll post milestone pictures for you all to see.  So with that said, best wishes and good luck to all of you who are venturing out into the juicing world.  I can't express enough how much it has changed my life and health.  Juice on!!

209lbs and feeling good :o)

Tater-Salad

So about a month ago, my husband was driving home from school, when he called me and said I needed to login to his school email and read a paper he had wrote that night in English class.  I was slightly annoyed as I was presently trying to round up 4 kids and wrangle them in bed for the night.  However to appease his persistence, I went ahead and logged on to his email, and downloaded this paper he wanted me to read.  I got a paragraph into it and was already welling up with tears.  Anyway I thought I would share it with you all.  Enjoy!! 

Current Event: Tater-Salad

            My current event was not found in a newspaper. It was not seen on a cable news channel, heard on the radio, nor blogged on an internet site. It was revealed in a spoonful of potato salad. This was no ordinary potato salad. This was my wife’s culmination of at least ten years-worth of trials and errors culminating in one delicious revelatory bite.

            As I sat at my kitchen table with my four children and wife, consuming delicious fresh grilled hand pressed beef patties, fresh brewed sweet tea, and the for-mentioned tater-salad, my eyes were opened. I saw the most important event in the world that happened today. My family dined together in love, harmony, and peace (Well as much peace as could be had at a table with four children).  This was humanity at its perfection.

            It seems that from every angle families are under attack. From the break of dawn parents and children are separated between work and school. Husbands and wife s are then again separated to their respective tasks for the day, and siblings each in their own individual class bustling around the school yard. Then as evening approaches the migration home begins. One would think this would happen in a divergence of stories of the day, the high points and disappointments shared for all to hear, but no. As each respective family member crosses the threshold they once again withdraw to their own vices, alone, quiet.

            When did this become common culture? I don’t know, but to me this is a major issue that is not addressed enough. So while it may not be a breaking news story, the deterioration of family is (in my opinion anyway) a devastating disease riddling our society, and maybe even the world. We set our sights on the big news stories of the day and forget about the smaller things that really matter. 

            With all of the commotion that surrounds my life, from politics to the shootings in Afghanistan to my less than stellar day at work, today I had peace on earth with my family. Each one of us being different and unique we talked, drank and broke bread. Now I do not believe that the things that go on around the world or nation are unimportant, they are just the opposite. But I genuinely believe that what would solve this world’s problems is a spoon-full of tater-salad. 

Day 4 of round 2

So today is day 4 of my 2nd reboot.  And I'm pleased to say that I weighed in at 209 this morning, 4lbs in 4 days.  I have been drinking my juices normally for breakfast and lunch and then having a small dinner that normally consists of grilled veggies.  However, last night we had a birthday party to go to and I ate one and a quarter slices of pizza (thank you Eden for not finishing your piece, mommy needed those few extra calories). 
I have found with juicing I get some weird and not so weird side effects, one being:

1. I am awake and ready to go at like 6am.  Normally I get up around 7:30ish, but when I start a reboot my body starts waking up even earlier...weird.  Its happened both time I've juiced.
2. I have tons of energy.  I know not necessarily weird but when your accustomed to tanking around lunch time and again just before dinner time, being able to go from 6am - 10pm without every needing that "second wind" is weird...just saying.
3. The headaches I used to get are GONE when I juice.  I think they were partly due to dehydration (when you reboot you have to drink TONS of water) and partly due to unhealthy eating habits.

So all in all I guess they aren't THAT weird.  I can't say enough how grateful I am to have stumbled across Joe Cross and the Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead documentary.  I know there are people who are mocking me, or think this is just another "diet fad", but I don't care.  It probably is in the Grand Scheme of things, however, this works for me so say what you want ;o) 

I have alot of people ask me what I juice, what juicer I use, and so on, so here are a few of my tips:

1. I use this juicer and LOVE IT!!  Did you get that?  L O V E I T!!! http://www.amazon.com/Breville-BJE200XL-700-Watt-Compact-Fountain/dp/B000MDHH06/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334320725&sr=8-1
2. Why do you love it you say?  Because I get alot of juice from it.  Its easy to clean up.  And I can plunk a whole sweet potato down it and it doesn't even hesitate to take it on.  Or how about a pineapple.  I cut a pineapple into 1/4's and stick it in skin and all.  This thing is a hoss!
3. I juice whatever I have in my fridge.  Normally for breakfast its a fruity juice and for lunch and dinner its a veggie juice.  ex. this morning was: pineapple, pear, apple, carrot.  I added that to a blender with some spinach, banana, & blueberries...YUM                                                           For lunch or dinner I do celery, beet, bell pepper, cabbage, & a apple.  Whatever I have it goes into the juicer.
4. Sometimes I have to choke down a juice, but its during those times I think "its better this goes in me than a stupid cheeseburger and fries!"  Or I sure can't wait to fit in those size 12 pants!!! 

Lets Do this!!!

Ok so I have had a month to eat all the yummy foods I had been craving the month-ish I was on my juice fast....HOWEVER...it is time to get my rear in gear.  I still have some more weight I would like to say BYE BYE to.  I have been fluctuating between 207 & 215 in the last month.  Today I weighed in at 213, thank you Easter candy!  I just haven't had the self control to say "No Thank You," to the stupid starburst jelly beans and reese's eggs that are sitting on my counter.  Well enough is enough, so here we go...round 2. 

I think this time around I am going to drink my juices, hot tea, & water.  But also incorporate grilled veggies if I feel that DESIRE to chew something.  My GOAL is to get under 200lbs.  I started this morning off with a banana, orange, pear, apple, carrot, & spinach juice.  You can't juice a banana so I actually juiced everything else and then blended the banana in....SO YUMMY!!  So 199lbs here I come!

The small things in marriage often times say I love you more than the big things

For you who might not know my husband started going to school at Kennesaw State University this last fall.  I had mentioned to him a couple times that I wanted a KSU hoodie (I know cheesy but you got to represent) haha.  I walked out and found this laying on the back of my couch this morning with a note attached. 

This little gift said, "I love you" more than words can express.

My husband worked all day yesterday, came home got dressed and left for school, was at school for a good 4hrs.  Came home late and went back to work this morning at 3am.  In the midst of his hectic, overloaded, busy schedule he went and purchased this shirt and wrote the little note to go with it. Lets just say it meant the world to me.   

This doesn't even scratch the surface of selfless things this man has done for me in the last 10 years.  Its just one of those little things he does that make me fall in love with him all over again.

 Aaron Harrison I know that eventually you will see this, and I want you to know how grateful I am to be married to you.

Till Death Do Us Part,
Shell Bell