Beige is NOT Beige....and you want to put the deer head where?

Beige is Not Beige.....unless it's Woodrow Wilson Putty!

I couldn't even begin to tell you how pleased I was when I saw our kitchen (different layout) but same white cabinets, similar counter top and floor and the PERFECT color on the wall, on Pinterest!  Not too beige.  Not too gray.

I went to Lowe's (after visiting Benjamin Moore and I think found the perfect color for the living room/great room there - Thanks Al & Rob!) and intended on just purchasing a sample to take back and try.  I used my FREE coupon for the sample, compared it to the white on the trim......I'll take a gallon please!

A few other supplies in the cart and off I go to start painting.  Once there, I couldn't get the first swipe on the wall quick enough.  Was I going to have to return the paint?  Heck no - I love it!

Kitchen paint - CHECK!  And, I'm not really sweatin' the LR/GR color either because I already know what I want and I'll be purchasing that this week too.  I want to get the paint on the walls BEFORE the carpet is installed.

During my free time, I went back to Pinterest hoping it would solve another decorating challenge!  I'm determined to make this work for the country boy/hunter/fisherman I'm married to and the eclectic vintage country girl he married.  The deer head(s).  Yep, there's two. (and for the sake of time, I'll only speak of the deer tonight.  There are two mounted fish as well.)

I typed in "Deer Head" and auto fill added the word "decor".  Really?  Now....to all you hunters out there and wives of hunters, please don't get your panties or BVD's in a wad.  We are going to make this work and in order to do that I need to have a little fun with it too.  Gimme a break!

Deer Head Decor.....I found many options and thought I should share some of them......

Now.....even I had to laugh at this! 



I actually like this! 



I'm not a fan of the really dark walls.  But again, this is OK!



There were plenty more, but these were my favorites!  There was one I thought I saved that had an old vintage frame around the mounted buck, and that was OK.....alright..it was pretty cool.  I do think that taxidermy experts should be able to replicate your prize buck by casting it into this white resin. Wives everywhere would be happy!  I am thinking of looking for one like the middle picture, but smaller to mount with the real one.  And, of course...at Christmas it's a place to hang a wreath!  Well, there you go!

I'm not a girly girl, but I do like girl things.  I also like to ride go-karts, love my power tools and am just a tad bit competitive when fishing.  I'd love to have a citation fish and had a blast in California creating the perfect lure with Cuzzn Thom!  So, I get it and I'm not scared of the deer heads, nor do they make me whimper for Bambi.  It's just not my style of 'decor'.

As we move our furnishings in and start to decorate, I'll be scanning each room for just the right place to put one of the mounted deer heads.  I promise to blog about the honorary hanging of the buck and include photos!  Including the photos of how I decide to hang my collection of antique purses.  Love ya Babe!

Beige is Beige!

Beige is beige right?  Wrong!  Oh so wrong!

I'm trying to pick out paint colors for the great room and kitchen of our new home and needed to wait until we saw the new carpet samples and picked that! 

In the meantime, I've been to Sherwin Williams, Lowe's and Home Depot to look at 8,213 different colors of beige.....Actually what I want is a Grayish Beige! Here's what I found....

Country Beige, Barefoot Beach, Pavilion Beige, Cliveden Mist, Hopsack, Pecan Sandie, White Asparagus, Drifting Dune, Desert Fortress, Rock, Modern Gray, Gray Beige, Tightrope, Ashen and they even had a Windsor Greige (Get it?  They blended Gray & Beige to make 'Greige') 

Obviously, I didn't list all the varieties but I did find that carpet is just as hard to select.  It has to blend well with our existing furniture and our couch is brown. I love gray and brown together (Ashley is shaking her head I'm sure),  and the problem is most of the gray options are cool colors, which is why I wanted to go with the grayish beige.

I had so many paint samples on my kitchen table, I was about ready to put them all in a bowl and pick one for the great room and one for the kitchen.  And while we are at it, let's just go with the sea foam green carpet too!

While trying this color with that color and matching it up with our favorite kitchen color, I suddenly discovered the exact color I want is the color of the brochure!  You've got to be kidding me! Since I have a coupon for a free sample at Lowe's, I'll go by there and see if they can match it.

QUESTION:  I'd like to know your paint preferences.  Lowe's?  Home Depot?  Sherwin Williams?  I'd love your feedback!

I hear good things about all three as far as the quality of the paint.  Home Depot didn't have as many options in the neutral colors I was looking for and customer service was lacking a little.  Lowe's was super busy, but I did browse for a long time at their samples.  Sherwin Williams wins the gold star for customer service.  Each visit has been great....AND their paint is going on sale this weekend I think!

You know what's easier than picking out paint colors?  Playing my banjo!  See-ya!

Ding! Ding! Roung Two!

As you know, I finished my Whole30 challenge and for the most part have stayed on the plan.  I decided to introduce a few things back in to see how I tolerate them and here's what I found.....

• Skim milk - Good! (Only used it in my coffee)
• Bread - Heck No!  I felt bad, my stomach was bloated and just blah!

I want to make sure this is truly a lifestyle change and don't feel like I'm completely there.  It actually makes me nervous going to a restaurant or grocery store.  While doing the first 30 days, you could have slapped a fresh piece of homemade bread with REAL butter on it, right on my cheek and I wouldn't have eaten it. 

 

Now, mentally because I know I'm not officially on the program, it makes me nervous. And, with the few additional food options I've added, I've noticed a few things creeping back and don't want that at all. 

 

Soooooooooo it's become a family affair (go ahead my Motown friends - sing it with me....It's a family affair!)  Kathy has already started and my daughter, Ashley is starting tomorrow.  I'm going to join her for another 30 days! 

 

I don't want to fill up Facebook with posts every day, unless I put something else that's up my sleeve.  But, you can subscribe to get the blog posts via email by signing up to your right.  (Elevator music while you find it!)

 

Anyone else want to join us?  It's a free country...you can do whatever you want to do and I'll bet Walmart, Martin's, Farm Fresh and even Trader Joe's will let you buy whatever you want too!

 

Buckle up cuz here we go!

 

 

30 Full Days Completed!

30 Days Completed!

I wanted to complete the full thirty days before I stepped on the scale.  And I've done that!

This morning.....I did what every person does before they take that dreaded step....no clothes and take a deep breath and blow out at least 2 pounds of air BEFORE getting on the scale. Oh, and any other elimination that needs to happen will also take off another pound right?  HA!  Why do we do such crazy shenanigans?

13.1 pounds in 30 days!  My lucky number is 13 (has been since I started playing softball wearing skorts!) and today is Friday the 13th. Only appropriate!

I'm very pleased and of course I've made it no secret how it's made me feel so much better.

Now...confession time!  While at the house deliberating over carpet, I realized I was hungry and didn't want to talk carpet samples any longer.  We went to Two Drummer's Smokehouse (Yum - recommend a visit!) and I ordered a BBQ plate with collards and sweet potato.............and I usually give Stephen my biscuit - OR - ask them not to bring it at all.  Tonight - I'm going to eat my biscuit!

My plan was to eat until I was full of everything else and then if I still wanted the biscuit, I'd eat it.  I couldn't finish all the BBQ, but did wipe out the veggies.  I picked up the plain biscuit and broke it in half and said to Stephen, "I feel guilty eating this."  Stephen, "I didn't!"  I ate the half and gave him the other half.  It was good, but I noticed about 20 minutes later, I was bloated.  After only 1/2 a biscuit?  I'd rather had the fresh pork rinds if I was going to be bloated anyway!

Lesson learned!

I'll continue on my quest of healthy eating and part of that is because of the support I've received from family and friends.  Whenever I go to Mom's to pick up Drew, she walks out with a Ziploc snack bag filled with something I can eat.  Of course, you saw the card from my sister! Today, I received a yummy edible arrangement of fruit (and kale!) from a dear friend, Alice.  Even better than the fruit, were her kind words and sentiment that made my day!  Thanks Mom!  Thanks Kathy!  Thanks Al!  Thanks everyone!

Can I double this in another 30 days?  I'm going to try!  We've got a busy month ahead, so check in periodically to see how I'm doing!

Love ya - Robin 

Day 30 of the Whole30......Tuhdah!

Day 30......Tuhdah and thank you, thank you very much!

Where's my crown?  I've been practicing my pageant way for years! 

Yesterday, I got home and had every intention of blogging for Day 29.  However, the History channel had a special on about September 11th and it was quite captivating.  It held my attention but it also create a sadness in my heart as they played a collection of personal videos, phone messages, etc from that day.

Before I knew it, Stephen was waking me up to go to bed.  Guess I was a little tired!

Today I really wanted to weigh myself, but I wanted to commit to the full 30 days and then tip toe onto the scale.  Tomorrow morning when everyone is still sleeping, I'll have a little one on one time and see what the numbers show.

I said going into this I was NOT going to focus on whether or not I'm losing weight.  I was feeling like a slug and needed to do something to snap me out of it.  This program was the ticket and I'm being 100% serious when I say this.  I started on a Wednesday (the same day all the house excitement started) and on Thursday, my knees didn't hurt. I had a little pep in my step and I felt good about making the changes.  I was in the zone.  And, by the zone...those of you that have dieted before know what I mean.  When I'm in the zone you can't tempt me with anything.  I was determined to succeed and I still am. 

I do want to try and add a few things into my diet and possibly take a few things away too.  I miss my Greek yogurt but I've found I don't like the way my stomach feels after eating ice burg lettuce. 

Bottom line....I'll weigh myself tomorrow but I'm not going to change much.  The sugar and sugar substitutes were not missed....much.  I'll admit I did want a diet coke around week 2, but I don't crave them.  I just want to find something else to drink other than water.  I found a drink today at Farm Fresh and all it was was purified water, mint and orange essence.  Essence of nasty is what it was.  It tasted like a bowl of potpourri.  I was so excited because it didn't have any form of sugar.  I know!  I know!  What did I expect?  I figured it would be a sparkling water with a hint of orange flavor.  Yuck- potpourri!

Stay tuned for tomorrow and I'll post my total weight loss....big or small...it doesn't matter.  I know if I stay with it, it will continue to work and to top it off....I'll continue to feel great!

As Kiley says......I do'd it!

Day 28 of the Whole30....With My Own Bad Self!

Day 28......Bluegrass Junction all the way to school!

Today, I thought it was going to be a doozy of a day!  I'm trying to gather up all my extra stuff for work because we were having a surprise bridal shower.  Thus why I had to suffer through making the Buffalo Chicken Dip last night!  And to top it all off, there was some leftover and I had to bring it home!  Oh my LuLu!

A-n-y-w-a-y....Andrew heads out the door, all 6'2" of him and I'm looking like I'm auditioning for Saturday Night Live, as I try and carry the cooler bag, my work bag, purse, shower gifts and coffee......can't spill the coffee.  I don't know who I thought I was talking to but I had to at least say it out loud....Mom do you need any help?  Oh no....I think I've got it if you can run me by Urgent Care to try and bring back my circulation in my fingers that would be nice! Or maybe I could take this balancing act on the road...what do YOU think as you get in the car without asking to help or even carry my coffee???? (Breathe!)

Of course, then I had to try and get out the front door.  Which way should I turn?  How am I going to lock the door.  I look at the car....Andrew is all ready to go and buckled into the front seat, like a nice teenager should be.  Isn't that nice?

I usually try to be respectful of our difference in opinion with music, although we both do love classic rock!  I limit how often I put my radio on Bluegrass Junction.....but not today!  Flatt & Scruggs....Bill Monroe....Allison Kraus....carried me all the way to school! 

That was the start of my day and even though I knew we'd have food brought in for lunch, I was prepared!  Food for the bridal shower, I was prepared and someone was nice enough to put out a lovely display of strawberries and pineapple!  Very yummy! I'm proud of myself and again so thankful for the change Whole9 Life and the Whole30 Challenge has made in my life! 

Any other time I've tried to diet, I go through this phase of being ticked because I can't eat all the wonderful foods I enjoy if I'm dieting!  I speak to people everyday that have to make adjustments to their diet or their health suffers.  Or, their health has suffered already because of poor food choices and/or the preparation of that food.  Today, I wasn't angry or feeling deprived because I couldn't have a sandwich on that nice fresh white loaf bread....I had some tasty chicken, carrot & asparagus salad and fresh mango for dessert....I'm going to win this battle.....with my own bad self!

Day 27 of the Whole30...Please tell me why I did that?

Day 27....Why did I do that?

Robbie, Haylee and Baby Avery (As Kiley likes to call her...not just Avery, but Baby Avery!) came over for a visit and to have dinner with us.  I asked myself many times today....What will I fix for dinner? Ahh-Hah...Breakfast!

Dinner was easy!  I fixed pancakes, beef sausages and scrambled eggs...for them!  Once that was finished....I fixed myself scrambled eggs with a little diced tomatoes and green chilies. A little splash of hot sauce and I was good!  For dessert, I had a slice of papaya.

Oh yeah - I forgot!  I have to make the World Famous.....Frank's Buffalo Chicken Dip! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!  I did this to myself by waiting until the last minute.  Have you ever had this?  I believe sometime during the cooking process Frank's little spicy elves transform into something to make it addictive!  Let's scan the ingredients and see if I might be able to have a bite.....

• Frank's Hot Sauce - Maybe...depends on whether it has sugar or not!
• Blue Cheese Dressing - No!
• Shredded cheese (3 cheese blend is what I use!) - Nope!
• Cream cheese - Are you kidding?
• Chicken!  Canned works best - but of course, you know what's coming....A BIG FAT NO! (Looks like I'll be sipping on the jar of Frank's!)

I made it.  It's cooking.  And, why did I do that?  Why did I agree to make that?  I could have brought a yummy fruit bowl and sat there with a spoon and enjoyed it!  Oh!  I would've brought a second bowl for anyone else that cared to dine with me....I'm not rude (eyes rolling!)!

No worries though - I've got this!  Besides, I had to buy a pair of jeans one size smaller!  Chow!