Built-in Bookcase Repainted

Built-in Bookcase Repainted

contributed by Robby @ Down On Sanford

First off, I want to thank you all SO SO SO much for you're incredibly kind comments on my last post. I was really overwhelmed by them! You all have made me feel so welcome my first few months here. :)

Alight, remember the bookcase I told ya'll I was going to paint, and asked for your opinion on way back in August?

Yep...that one.
I finished painting it quite awhile back, but just haven't got around to shooting pictures of it because, in order to get sufficient lighting in this particular room for taking photos, you need to get up early. I get up early every morning, but I'm usually more concerned about my schoolwork and eating breakfast then taking pictures. Anyways, this morning I had a little extra time after getting ready for church, and the sun was shining in beautifully, so I snapped some photos.

Before I show you the photos, I want to take you back for a second to our family room a few years ago:


Yeah...this photo basically speaks for itself.
Boring, outdated, boring, outdated, boring and well...outdated. This is basically what our house looked like for as long as I can remember. Don't get me wrong, I loved my house then (every gross, outdated, boring inch of it), I just love it a lot more now.



This is me "working" on the bookcase. For some reason my ridiculous mind thought it would be a brilliant idea to sit inside the shelf and take a photo. *rolls eyes* The result is me in my work clothes looking tired and dirty.


Here are my lovely footprints in the sawdust created by my sander. Yeah...another "brilliant" photo idea from my mind. ;)

Alright, so now with my old living room in your mind, and the above photos that prove that I obviously worked quite hard on this project, I present the new bookcase.



Basically I decided to go with stripes on the back paneling. Originally I wanted gray stripes but when I tried painting them, they just didn't look right, they were too defined and I wanted them to be a lot subtler. I ended up painting over them with a lighter version on my tan accent wall color and I'm pretty happy with the result.










Everything in this space isn't the exact way I want it (particularly that ugly, crooked lamp shade) , but I'll undoubtedly be messing around with it for months to come so that's why I decided to show it to ya'll now.

Read more...

New White Book Shelves and Cabinets

Saw Dust and Paper Scraps is always up to some kind of build in.  See what they did here with a book shelves and cabinets.

Since tomorrow is Party day, I better deliver on my promise to show you this room by the end of the week.  I'm calling it the "Whatever Room" because it has no purpose other than storing books but I wouldn't exactly call it a library.

 {Before}

It's not exactly perfect, but it's good enough for now.

*I built the bookshelves out of MDF and used pine for the face frame and doors. 

*I painted the bookshelves and trim the same colors as the trim and cabinets in the rest of the house and you can find that info on my Q and A Page.

Maddie is going to be dragging up all the Halloween boxes first thing in the morning on Oct.1.  She is a little Halloween obsessed and can hardly wait to decorate so next time you see this room it will be all Spookified!

 Nice job on the bookshelves and cabinets!

How do you like it?

Read more...

NaNoWriMo

These pictures are from this website,

he calls them "DeMotivators"  I think they are pretty funny.

Speaking of books, some of you may know what that subject line means, some may not.  Let me clear it up for you.  It is short for National Novel Writing Month.  I am trying, but lacking purpose, or a crazy person with a whip behind my back driving me on.  I have about 6,000 word written toward the goal of 50,000 words.  Yikes, that is a lot.  I have been waking up at 7:00 am the crack of dawn to work, but it is the 6th and I  have only  done 3 early mornings.  Today, I have just been surfing, and therefore wasting valuable baby sleeping time. 

Who else want to write a book?  Join in this year on NaNoWriMo with me.  Let me know (by leaving a comment) if you do, motivation of friends helps.  If you just start writing you will be surprised at how the ideas just kind of type their way onto the page.  It seems that act of writing spurs that on.  Now, getting yourself to actually write them, that is another story in itself!  We will see if I can get myself to do it! 

This post I guess is about accountability. 

Will I be accountable for my goal at the end of the month? 

Yes, yes I will.  (those are fighting words, I better get going!)

p.s.  Kim, if you haven't started writing you book yet, start with me this month!

Here are some more demotivators for fun, check out his website if you want to (link above).

Read more...

Read My Lips, uh, I mean books...

The other day my friend Maria told me about the sale that our local library has twice a year! YEAH!  I went.... I am telling you it is dangerous!  I might have gotten a little carried away, but at about 50 cents to 1 dollar, I couldn't help it.  And when Etta ruins the pages, I won't be out that much.  I am psyched about adding them to our library!

**Next time I am taking cash ONLY, a list of good books that I want and having Justin babysit!  Oh, and Maria of course, I will definitely need her, because she found some books that I have really wanted, and knows what books are good!  Thanks Maria!

Tell me, what are your favorite books?  What are your favorite children's books?  Do you even like books?

Read more...

As A Man Thinketh, Positive Attitude

I am teaching the young women Laurel class today (love them).   The lesson is called The Ability to Succeed.  It is a subject that is fun to think about. 

Luckily from my childhood I have been taught by my mother to always think positively.  Growing up I was corrected when I started to say " I can't..."  My mother would stop me mid sentence with a gentle reminder to say, "I'm learning how to do this, or I am getting better ..." 

THANK YOU MOM!

From her always positive attitude, I have always thought that there is nothing I can't do.  I try to do all I can or imagine I want to.  Also I am usually able to see the positive in the results pass or fail.  I hope this is something we can all do.

Here are some quotes from two of my favorite books The Secret and As A Man Thinketh (and one or two from the lesson). 

Be positive! You can succeed! Believe it!


☻You are what you think.

☻“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt

☻“One of the greatest weaknesses in most of us is our lack of faith in ourselves. One of our common failings is to depreciate our tremendous worth” L. Tom Perry

☻We are like magnets - like attract like. You become AND attract what you think

☻You attract your dominant thoughts

☻Choose your thoughts carefully .. you are a masterpiece of your life

☻Your thoughts cause your feelings

☻You can change your emotion immediately .. by thinking of something joyful, or singing a song, or remembering a happy experience

☻"All that we are is a result of what we have thought" - Buddha

☻An affirmative thought is 100 times more powerful than a negative one

☻Decide what you want .. believe you can have it, believe you deserve it, believe it's possible for you

☻"Whatever the mind of man can conceive, it can achieve" W. Clement Stone

☻Life is meant to be abundant in ALL areas...

☻Relationships: Treat yourself the way you want to be treated by others .. love yourself and you will be loved

☻No one else can think or feel for you .. its YOU .. ONLY YOU.

☻When you realize your potential to feel good, you will ask no one to be different in order for you to feel good

☻The truth is there is more than enough love, creative ideas, power, joy, happiness to go around.

☻Are your thoughts worthy of you? If not - NOW is the time to change them. You can begin right were you are right now. Nothing matters but this moment and what you are focusing your attention on.

☻Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. James Allen

☻The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. James Allen

☻Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits. James Allen

☻The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities. -James Allen

☻Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. - James Allen

☻Thought is the fountain of action, life and manifestation; make the fountain pure, and all will be pure. - James Allen

☻Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it. James Allen
 
Hope those lift you for the day.  What positive thougths and quotes do you like?  Share with us!

Read more...

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

I am a little nervous about actually posting my first book review. I read to be entertained, not to judge, so this will not be to "review-y". Also, I realize that is is a little cheesy to pick "The Host" for my first review. It is not a classic, but about 2 weeks ago I just had the urge to re-read it.

-

A brief description of the book is this:

-

Earth in the not to distant future, has been taken over by an alien life form, that is inserted into human bodies and then controls them. There are a few humans that noticed the changes in time and went into hiding. The story is centered around the life of Melanie, a human in hiding. She saved herself and her brother from the aliens. While hiding out she meets the love of her life, no matter that he may be the Last man on earth, Jared. Life is now basically complete. Until she is caught and an alien is installed in her body. The twist? The story is told from the alien's perspective...

-

There is romance, suspense, a good fight for survival and an ever present sense of danger.

-

In that past, I used to think I am not into the whole Sci-fi world, but if this is Sci-fi I am a total convert. It is not overly fantasy or futuristic, in fact very earthy. (Okay, I must admit it, I grew up faithfully watching "Star Trek, The Next Generation", I someday dream of dressing up like a
treky" for Halloween, and I still think that Capt Sean Luke Picard is a very good looking man)

-

But back to "The Host", I think that I enjoyed this book more with my second perusal. The first time I read it, due to the nature of the story, I was a ball of nerves. Those nerves ruined all the subtleties of the story. This time, with an idea of how it would all go, I was really able to take in the story and in turn really enjoyed it.

-

My one complaint is this, it is not a face paced story, and that really frustrated me the first time. But not at all the second.

-

As for content: There are some references to violence, but nothing too graphic. There are also some "hot Kissing scenes" that didn't go any further, not too inappropriate, but it did allude to things going further, in life past. There wasn't much language, maybe a few less that choice words, but nothing too hard and not very often. Overall, it is a book that I own, and will keep. I would let my teenager read this, but I would hope not until about 15, if I really had my way.

-

If you've read this book, I would love to hear what you thought. Send me a comment, I am sure other's would appreciate them too.

Read more...

The best books...

I am always on the look out for good books.


Finding these books can sometimes be a daunting task, I am very particular, not so much about subject, but content. I don't like smutty or violent things. And, while I read for mostly for fun, one of my lifetime goals is to read all the classics.


My sister Kristen who was/is? attending Gorge Wythe university working on her graduate degree, was telling me about the great statesman of the past. How they had honed their minds with great literature and reading at relatively young ages. This knowledge helped them to found our country. Many of the men were self taught, by studying the great works of the past.


She also told me about the concept of a "complete or whole" novel, and a "broken" novel (and forgive me, I might be a little jumbled in trying to explain this- and may have the wrong names for them but you'll get my point in one second). In the "complete or whole" novel there are clear consequences based on the characters moral choices. We see played out what ought to properly happen to those that make good and bad decisions. In a broken novel, there are no such consequences. People glorify the physical appetites without any restraint and no consequence.


In the Ensign this month (our church magazine) there was a wonderful article about our "Refined Heavenly Home" I really liked what it said about raising our thoughts, words and choices to a higher standard. But I was struck by this:


"President David O. McKay (a leader of our church) (1873–1970) was inclined to awaken daily at 4:00 a.m., skim read up to two books, and then commence his labors at 6:00 a.m. He could quote 1,000 poems from memory. He referred to the grand masters of literature as the “minor prophets.” He was a living embodiment of the scriptural admonition to “seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom” (D&C 88:118)."


Isn't that incredible! first of all 4:00 AM- are you kidding me? WOW! I am so impressed!Second of all two books a day? DOUBLE -WOW! Lastly, I am so fascinated with the mental capacity to have over 1,000 poems memorized. I should start working on that today, I started memorizing some scriptures a while back, but failed pretty miserably keeping up with my first plan... I need to try again.


So, after all this rambling thought, I am going to start including some of the books that I have read. Now, I am sure they will not all be classics, and I may find that some books are "broken" but I will also have a label on the books so if you are ever looking for a good book you may be able to find it. I may not be a sharp critic, but occasionally maybe.

With that said, let the reviews begin.

Read more...

Sorry, I'm mooning you!

As in NEW MOON by Stephenie Meyer!

Go watch the video, it looks SO GOOD!

I have never been on the Jake team, but I'm considering it.

I almost cried- but forgive me, I'm hormonal.

Read more...