summer vacation//part 2//hiking

The weather was gorgeous on one of our last days at First Landing State Park.  The humidity was a bit killer but we muscled through it.  We stopped by the main lodge to pick up a free backpack.  They offer a handful of themed backpacks.  We told them we were going to hike the Bald Cypress Trail (which was about a mile long) and they gave us the Bald Cypress Swamp pack.  It was full of fun things to help the kids learn more about the swampy area.  Books, a map, binoculars, and magnifying glass were included, but the kids liked playing with the birdsong identifier the most.  It had cards for different birds and frogs and you simply push the button next to the creature you want to identify.  When Noah had it, there was a continuous stream of frog sounds.  It was only slightly annoying ;)

I was pretty caught up in noticing the small details of things.  I could have stared at the texture of these tree stumps for a good hour.



While Nana was checking out our nature backpack, I wandered into a room of nature displays in the main lodge.  I paid extra attention to the snake exhibit, making a mental checklist of which snakes were poisonous and which were not.  I hate snakes.  They are all poisonous in my mind.

We ventured onto a bridge about half way through our hike to see more of the swamp.  I spotted a snake almost immediately.  Let's face it, while my kids & Nana were looking at the trees in the swamp, I was looking for snakes.  It was a cottonmouth.  And it's on the poisonous snake list.  Ick.



Soaking in a little nature was just what I needed before heading home.  I've had a lot of things weighing on my mind lately and I was able to clear my head a bit.  The responsibilities of motherhood can be  overwhelming and I needed to feel closer to God to get some answers to months of prayers.  Those answers finally came and I was at peace.  Even after 15 years, I still don't have this whole motherhood thing figured out.  Of course I am my own worst critic.  But now I have a boost of confidence and am ready to be better than before.  I am better at letting little things go.  I am better about doing things on a whim.  I am getting better at a lot of things.  After all, life is all about learning and progression.  And I am in the thick of it.

sunday style//polka dots

I haven't done a Sunday Style post in a while - probably because I have been wearing outfits to church that I had already shared with ya'll.   I woke up this morning with a headache so the thought I put into today's outfit was slim to none.  But it's a new outfit to share :)  I grabbed my new-to-me thrifted skirt that is black with cream colored dots, a powder blue top from Urban Outfitters that I purchased last summer, my favorite black sweater &  nude heels.  I like to wear my skirts higher up on my waist for two reasons.  The first being that it gives my outfits more of a vintage feel.  It also works better for my body shape.  A skirt does not look all that great on me if it falls to my mid-calf.  I prefer that my skirts hit just below the knee instead for a more slimming look.



I showed up to church with my hair down & bangs pinned back but by the time it was over I had it pulled back into a ponytail.  The humidity and my hair don't like each other.



What did you wear to church?  I'd love to see!  Share your link in the comments.

sunday style//yellow & lace

Today was a beautiful day.  After being under tornado watch just a couple of days ago, the beautiful weather today was more than welcome.  I hope it stays for good.



As I was taking these outfit photos today, I asked myself why I even do this type of post on my blog.  It's not a fashion blog by any means.  Coming up with something different to wear every Sunday is quite a challenge considering the size of my wardrobe is very very small.  I am going to run out of outfits to post sooner rather than later.  But it stretches this blue jeans & t-shirt wearin' mama to come up with something cute to wear once a week. And I like that :)

lace top/tank top/mustard tights/shoes: Target

skirt: thrifted

necklace: handmade by yours truly

So I want to know..... do you have a small wardrobe?  How do you switch things up so your wardrobe feels fresh?

sunday style//pencil skirt

It was fun to dress up for church today.  I wore my favorite thrifted pencil skirt, which happens to go with  just about every top I own.  It's good to have versatile pieces in one's wardrobe.  I went with a polka dot button-up from Target on top and a pair of pinstripe tights on bottom.  I thrifted my shoes just yesterday - they are so comfy and I have plans to paint the tips (I'm thinking gold).  My necklace is handmade by yours truly.

home decor//mixed frames

I'm sneaking in a little bit of blogging today (my weekend schedule is CRAZY).  Sigh.  All I want to do is plop down on the couch and watch a long movie like Steel Magnolias and eat chocolate chip cookies.  Instead I am running the kiddos all over and I have yet to see my hubby today.  A bright spot??  Carter won his basketball game today.  Boo that I missed it to get Tatum to a birthday party across town but I am so proud of him and the Mr. who is coaching this year.

On to today's post......I wanted to share another simple way to add some pictures to your walls.  Every time I go to thrift stores, I head right for the frames section.   In a handful of trips, I found four frames that had enough decoration to make them visually interesting.  They are each a different size so in order to make them look cohesive, I spray painted them a glossy white.  To break up all the white, I added a black letter B and a black plaque to the mix.   Before hanging them, I laid the frames out on the floor and moved them around until I came up with an arrangement I liked.  Then I adhered 3M strips to the backs of them and hung the center frames first, working my way out from there.


 I filled the frames with simple prints.  Here are my sources:

Center Frame: Chalkboard printable

http://www.settingforfour.com/2013/01/free-printable-for-valentines-day.html

Letter B

Michaels

No 3 print

Essanel Press 

Families Are Forever Plaque

LDS bookstore – Mesa

Love At Home print

made by me using PSE10

Be Strong & Of Good Courage

Kensie Kate

Do you have grouped frames on your wall?  I'd love to see!  Share a link in the comments below.

home decor//sitting frames

Hello friends.  I'm back with another simple way to spruce up your walls!  On Monday, I told you all about our current living situation as renters.  In an effort to drive as few nails into the walls as possible (mostly to keep our landlord happy), I  decided that sitting frames would be the best way to add framed prints to our small living room.  Atop our piano sit three prints.  The silver framed Mesa Arizona Temple print was gifted to us from my mom a couple of Christmases ago.  I purchased the black and white print from Tolman Bryant's etsy shop (I already had the frame), and the Debbie Patrick drawing was a fabulous find at a thrift shop in Midlothian.  I wanted to keep this grouping of buildings together so I simply sat them on top of our piano, overlapping the frames a bit to tie them all together.

 

I'll be back Friday to share one more simple & cute framing idea with you so be sure to stop by then!
 

home decor//framing a 3D object

Our little family is new to this whole home renting thing.  I can hardly believe that in just a month, we'll have been renting for an entire year.  We were in Arizona for so long and now it seems like it was ages ago that we were ever there.  My heart hurts a little just thinking about it.  Whatever.  I love you Arizona and we will come back.  Someday.  Anyhoo, so this whole renting thing has kinda put a damper on my willingness to decorate.  We are saving up for a house, which means we will not be in this little brick rental home forever.  Thank goodness cuz things are tight in here!  

When we moved in, our landlord gave us the green light to hang pictures on the walls.  I was excited and started decorating the whole house in my mind.  Up until now, all those ideas stayed in my mind.  I have no idea why.  Yeah, my brain is one big decorating notebook.  I think I just had to let the idea go that even though the home we live in officially belongs to someone else, there is no reason why I can't make it a reflection of who we are as a family.   One project is all it took and now I'm on project overload.  

We are not allowed to paint the walls.  Boo!  Although I have to admit plain white walls are starting to grow on me.  I am enjoying adding pops of color into our decor instead of on the walls.  Things can be changed out seasonally or painted over when I get tired of a color and want something fresh.  Speaking of fresh, check out this deer I hung and framed on our living room wall this weekend.  Actually, the Mr. did all the hard work but I made sure it was all level and stuff.

Yes, the deer has a broken antler, but I figured since the break was clean, I can just glue it back together. I have wanted a fake deer head for like 5 years now and finally splurged for this one from Z Gallerie. It's a little heavy, so we used a heavy duty wall anchor and screw to hang this puppy deer. We had an ornate thrifted frame in our stash (found at a consignment shop in AZ) so I removed the glass and used it to frame to deer to give it a more complete look.  If you want to do something similar, I suggest setting everything up on your floor first.  It would be super frustrating to find out your object doesn't fit or look good in your chosen frame.  Once you like how your frame and object fits & looks together, you can set it all up on your wall space.  Mr. Deer hangs by the front door over our footstool, which holds our extra blankets, and next to our vintage wardrobe (my favorite Craigslist find yet).  Now I just need to spruce him up with a little Valentine garland.
 

life according to my iPhone

It's been a busy couple of months. I haven't blogged much which means three things.

1. My big girl camera has been nice and snug in its new bag which the Mr. gifted me for Christmas. I've been too darn lazy to get it out.
2. I've been spending way more time with my kiddos. It hit me one day that I was spending more time on my iphone than I was with them. Shame on me. So lots of quality time it is - reading books, baking cookies, playing with toys, watching favorite movies, and doing yard work together. It's made a big difference to make time to spend with each of our 4 kids individually. It's easy to let life get in the way but I have to remind myself that one on one time is so fun!
3. I'm getting more done around the house. I have begun working on fun little projects to spruce up our little brick rental home since we have officially decided we will be renting for at least another year. I was hoping we could have saved enough up to buy a home but life gets in the way and things break down and need to be fixed. It's life.

The Mr. & I found a countertop for 80 bucks at Home Depot last week. Major score. Now I have an official craft space and can't wait to fill the cabinets with all of my junk so I can craft again. If I'm not posting here, I do instagram lots (where most of the pics above are found). I'm hooked. Follow me: @annieandm

Do you instagram?  Give us your link in the comments!

what i wore to church//mustard tights

It's just cool enough in the mornings now to warrant wearing tights.  Wanting (and needing) to add some fun color into my wardrobe, I settled on a mustard pair.  I kinda have a thing for anything mustard colored.  It's hard to resist.  Anyhoo, I decided to wear my new tights to church yesterday, since I was speaking in Sacrament Meeting.  Such an occasion calls for colored tights, does it not?

I paired them with an Old Navy jean skirt, a thrifted plaid button-up top & a thrifted grey sweater.  I sorted through my necklace pile and found a white necklace (also thrifted) that I added a blue flower to a couple of years ago.  [note to self: make a bigger flower to go behind the little flower on the necklace]
Oh, and I threw on my grey loafers to go with the grey sweater and a black skinny belt for good measure.



But oh, my hair.  It's turning grey faster than I can say she sells sea shells down by the seashore 10 times fast.  And I am freaking out a little bit about it.  This Virginia air makes it frizz, too, and I am desperate to find a solution.  Like maybe chop it off again and let it curl naturally?  Or keep it long and just deal with it?  **Sigh**  I am turning 35 in just a few weeks.  I need to do something to it so I don't feel so blah.  You know?  Or maybe you don't know and you want me to shut up about my hair.  Either way, something must be done.  I suppose that will be another post for another day.....

xo,
--Anna

life according to instagram

Life has been busy in the Buis household as of late. The kids started school the day after Labor Day. We celebrated with homemade cinnamon rolls.  It reminded me of how much I love to bake.  Somehow, that love got put on a shelf a couple of years ago and I haven't done much with it.  Now that all of the kids are in school, I plan to make some of the treats I've been dreaming up in my head.  I'll share, of course ;)

In other news, I am healing from my surgery well.  I have another whole week before I can even leave the house and two weeks before I can drive again.  During my down time, I am watching netflix with the Mr. (today is was Rocky 3 - his choice, not mine), nap, do minimal house cleaning.   I am sprucing up this little blog here & there too.

What have you been up to?  

I am working on some new curtains (that I started before my surgery) and hope they'll be done next week.  I'm a slow worker ;)

xo,
--Anna

sometimes i wear vintage

The house we owned in Arizona had closets aplenty with shelves in them and so we had no need for dressers.   The closets in the home we are renting currently are not as large as I had wished for, but I am grateful at the very least for a good roof over our heads.  With school approaching I am finding a need for dressers - a place to store the kid's clothes inside and their treasures on top.  While out on our hunt last weekend, I found this simple green dress sandwiched between a hundred others at the thrift store.  I knew the moment I saw it that it had to be mine.  I checked the tag for size & it was missing but I had a gut feeling it would fit.  So I grabbed it & bought it just before the store closed.  I wore it to church the next week, pairing it with my favorite black sweater which is looking very tired because I wear it all the time.  I think it's time to get a new favorite black sweater ;)  The Mr. happily snapped a few shots so I could share it with you.



I don't own much green but I like the color and look forward to adding more of it into my wardrobe. 

xo,
--Anna