Days in the making

**I'm going to be doing 3 or 4 posts over the next day or two - so check back often!**

You know, sometimes blogging is hard (not that this is an excuse or anything.) I admire those of you who post regularly, even if it's just a couple of adorable pictures of your kids with seriously like, three sentences. You know who you are. I would like to be like this - nay - I'm going to be more like this! Okay, that's it. We're doing this more regularly. Period.

So, since May and last you heard, we had a dog and a flooded car. Fortunately, the car situation got sorted out - thank you full coverage insurance. Our neighbors who have lived in this neighborhood for 15 years assure us that this street has never, ever flooded like that (or anything remotely close to it) but whenever it rains, I still have the compulsive urge to go move my car even if it's already in the garage.

Jack, the dog, has also left us. My brother is deploying to Afghanistan in a month and Jack was able to rejoin his family as they get settled in South Carolina. It's going to be a long six months for everyone.

I've been getting more and more brave in my projects, though. I think it all started with the house, really. There's something about being able to paint a rental (and having your landlord give you free reign) that helps develop bravery. It's really been an interesting process of self discovery that I'll probably get into more in another post. (Remember how we're doing this more regurlarly now?) Don't worry - I've been writing that one in my head for about a month. It's just a matter of getting this one done first. Anyway, in the last couple of months, these:

became these.

And this (a $3 display for a Lord of the Rings sword that I found at Goodwill):

became this (a concrete way for me to feel like I've accomplished something.)

The ugly, but free headboard I got off of craigslist (see the flying/flaming pretzel?):

Became something a lot more awesome:

The formerly bleh living room:

Became something I'm pretty proud of. (I promise my kids do more than watch tv.)

It's all a work in progress, though. Alright, gotta run - but I'll post more later (Logan's birthday, Discovery Green, etc.) In the meantime, I'll leave you with this:

We've been staying busy, though.