Oooh this bandwagon is FUN

I've stayed strong for awhile now. Everywhere I go it's all I hear about... Pinterest! But I was strong. Honestly, the very last thing I need is one more thing to waste time on. I really love pretty things and the idea of perusing the entire world wide web pinning together beauty was wonderful but dangerous.

But alas, I caved. Will power is really not my spiritual gift. Plus I justified that it would be my birthday present to myself (one of them). So here I am. Go ahead . Go on, show me your beautiful things. It's likely I'll never do laundry again so bring on the pins! I'm in desperate need of a billion new DIY ideas, more cupcake ideas than I'll ever have time to even consider attempting & enough room makeover ideas for a mansion (to decorate all 900 square feet of our rental house).

It is pretty awesome but I'm going to try and be a responsible pinner ok? I think it shall be my reward for grocery shopping. I can never seem to get to the grocery store. Seriously, pray for me. I hate grocery shopping. I need to grow up and get over that. My husband definitely loves dinner way more than clever idea boards and gorgeous party inspirations.

In other news I bought myself one more birthday present yesterday.

I realize it's backwards from the fancy mirror shot, but you read it right.

There it is. CRAFT PIMP. Amazing. I love this shirt.

It's thrifted from The Buffalo Exchange... who wouldn't buy my clothes back! I'm sorry your "customers actually prefer jeans and t-shirts". I actually do too. Why do you think I'm trying to sell you my blazers and dress pants? Anyway, this is perfect. Now instead of doing laundry I will just wear this shirt every single day while I'm on a pinning spree. Kidding! I think.

Oh and don't forget to enter the birthday giveaway before it's too late! Do it if you're cool.

Birthday Giveaway!

I just LOVE birthdays so much. Some people don't think turning 26 is fun and I mean sure, it's no 16 or 21. But the way I see it, I've been blessed with another whole year. I'll definitely drink to that... and I'll have a cupcake too :)

To celebrate, I'm having my very first giveaway! Just because I always think it's so fun when other blogs have giveaways. Also because my sweet, patient husband can't handle any more crafty aqua picture frames in our house, but I can't seem to stop making them. So without further ado...

Ashley's 26th Birthday Giveaway Extravaganza!

(Too dramatic? Didn't think so.)

It's my newest favorite craft: a rescued picture frame painted aqua (what else) & complete with felt flowers! It even come with a handmade print of my current favorite quote! (If you're not into the quote or the amazing pink houndstooth, just add your favorite 8x10 picture.)

Since I'm new at this we'll keep it simple:

#1 Just follow the blog (you don't have to have a gmail or a blog to be a follower... but you should think about getting a blog if you don't have one. Just sayin.)

#2 Leave me a comment about your FAVE birthday, or birthday present, or birthday party. You get the idea. I'm not strict.

#3 Also if you do have a blog & you share the love (aka my sweet button) you can leave me another comment and be in the drawing TWICE! (See. You need a blog.)

Check back Friday for the winner AND the first Field Trip Friday link party. Oh I'm excited about that!

Field Trip Fridays

Yesterday I was on an organization mission. You might think that means my house/ life got super organized yesterday. Nope, not exactly. It means that when Hunter came home I started blabbing his head off about my organization plans. I also haven't napped with Lil all week and my current excessive creative state has been keeping me up at night... So there's my excuse. Basically, as we ate our bag salad kit from a shared plate (no dishwasher in this house) and drank wine straight from the bottle (so serious- the bottle was more than half empty anyway and again with the dishwasher :) I gave him the run down on my new game plan for becoming the world's best mom & wife. Ready for it?

Meal plan Mondays: Cut coups & plan the week's menu

Target Tuesday: Grocery shopping

Wednesday Work day: Do the admin side of the Sugar Mama biz

I can't even remember what brilliant alliteration I came up with for Thursday.

Field Trip Fridays: Go somewhere fun!

I know. I've figured it out right!? Go ahead and steal it if you want :) We enjoyed a good laugh, but the whole point in sharing is that I really do love the Field Trip Friday idea! I'm going for it. This week it will probably just be lunch with Hunter, but I'm counting it because it's #1 out of the house and #2 fun! (Grocery store doesn't count as a field trip.) I really want to make it one of those link up games, but I have to figure out how to host those... So look for it next week!

Since I don't have any fun field trip pictures to share this week, these pictures are from some of our past adventures: headed to Mexico for our honeymoon, Pike Place market & a picnic in a park by our apartment. What's your favorite field trip? Want to go somewhere fun with me next Friday!?

Aqua love

Gussy Sews is a beautiful shop with all kinds of lovelies. I recently discovered her awesome blog too! She does a weekly inspiration workshop and this week's prompt is YOUR FAVORITE COLOR. Well, this one is a no brainer.

I. love. AQUA.

I love it! I can't get enough, but I just keep trying :) My husband oh-so-lovingly forbid begged me not to paint anymore aqua/ turquoise goodness for our house.

Unbelievable! Good thing I already snuck these bad boys in.

Aren't they pretty?

Aqua+grey felt flowers= YES PLEASE! My new favorite combo! (Beware- you may be gifted these if Hunter doesn't let me hang them in our house.)

I love aqua so very much because it reminds me of the fabulous ocean.

It gives me energy and peace at the same time... Which is probably why I've painted most of my home in some shade of it. It really might be turning into a problem. But it makes me oh so happy! If being obsessed with aqua is wrong, I don't want to be right.

What I love Wednesday

More than anything in the whole world.

A Monday Miracle

If you didn't get a chance to read yesterday's post, I was pretty excited about giving my time back to God and letting Him take care of it for me. So I took a craft fast (aka I cleaned my gross house instead of painting or baking). After a few loads of laundry and some sweeping in the living room I decided it was time to fix the long white curtains. They are hung too low and the extra fabric just lays on the ground and gets all filthy.

So I threw them all in the wash and tried to decide if it would be a better use of my time to hem the curtains or move all the hardware and curtain rods up higher. As I contemplated I worked on some other things and when it came time to "line dry" the curtains (by hanging them up wet) I realized one accidentally made it into the dryer with the other laundry.

Sure enough, the curtain had shrunk. The amazing thing is that it now fits per.fect.ly. I threw the others in the dryer so fast and cranked it up to high. An hour later I had a living room full of perfectly fitting white curtains AND extra time on my hands to love on my baby and work on my Sugar Mama blog and newsletter!

I know it seems like a silly small thing but I felt really blessed by my curtain miracle. Praise Jesus for not having to get out the sewing machine OR power tools! And Praise Jesus for being so much more powerful than all the things I fill up my time with.

Tithing my time.

I recently came across this blog & it spoke so much truth to me! Hunter and I have experienced God's faithfulness and provision over and over again when we trust Him with our finances. So why do I think that the same God who provides us with enough money to somehow make the ends meet every month shouldn't be in charge of my time as well? Lately I've totally been resting in Matthew 6:25&26

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them Are you not much more valuable than they?

and Matthew 6:28&29

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

But it's like I skipped right over verse 27, because instead of worrying about money I just started stressing about my time! There never seems to be enough to get everything done and to be a good mom, wife, friend, sister, daughter, runner, crafter, cupcake business owner, housekeeper, grocery shopper, etc...

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Bam! There it is. I definitely hear a little sarcasm in Jesus' voice when I read it.

"Um... hello!? I'm what's important. Not crafts. Give your time to ME & just see what happens. I'll probably even make you a little extra time for crafts, because I'm awesome like that, but give me the first of your time. You suck at scheduling, so I'll take it from here."

I wonder what pastor Aaron would think if he saw my interpretation of that verse? ha! Probably ask me to be a guest speaker next week. Doesn't matter. That's how it makes sense to me and the whole point is that it does make sense to me now. I'm giving Him the first of my time in the morning so that He can be in control of the rest of my time all day. I feel great about it because I know He is going to do SO MUCH BETTER than me!

Thanks for the pep talk Katie. I'm excited to tithe my time with you!

The dresser

The dresser is now officially an earth and budget friendly entertainment center!

A couple things:

#1 Yes, those are Guitar Hero guitars in the back corner. We Greenos LOVE Guitar Hero! Who's with us?!

#2 Do not be jealous of our sweet TV. It's sinful for you to covet my niiiiiiiice things.

You already know that the $10 treasure of a dresser started out in a nice shiny shade of Pepto-complete with a huge spot on the top, brass pulls and a loose baseboard. SO much potential!

I ran to Home Depot and bought myself a sander. It was only $30 and let's face it, this won't be the last piece of furniture I feel compelled to rescue (sorry Hunter).

Unfortunately, there were like 47 layers of old paint on this thing and the top layer just happened to be weird and rubbery. When the sander couldn't handle it, I went for the butter knife. Makes sense right? ha! Let's just say that the original plan to sand down to the wood and refinish this beauty got thrown out the window.

No worries! I just roughed the whole thing up a little with the sander. Painted it a lovely shade of Tropical Waters (Behr) and added a top coat of watered down brown acrylic paint ($0.27 on clearance) to make it look a little "weathered". I'm certain Hunter would have preferred a nice refinished wood tone to the turquoise but he did admit that it's cooler than he thought it would be :)

I even added a little pizazz to the drawers & painted the handles with brushed nickel spray paint. Now I just have to bust out the drill and make some holes in the back for that mess of cords.

I realize that a turquoise dresser as an entertainment center isn't for everyone... but it's definitely for me! It adds some much needed color to our grey living room. It's recycled and "green" which I'm always a fan of. It was only a whopping total of $14 which is fabulous! Best of all there is tons of storage space so I don't have a huge pile of dvds, cords, speakers, playstation etc. I'll call it a SUCCESS!

Motivational blogger

Listen, if you woke up this morning ready to seize the day and then locked yourself out with your newborn & had to break into your own home, tried to pick up your photo order at Walgreens only to have the cashier stare blankly back at you and tell you she has "no clue" where your pictures are, and came back home to a massive poopy explosion diaper all before 10 am... you might be ready to crawl back into bed and call it day.

But don't give up! Grab yourself an extra jug cup of iced coffee and keep moving. You may get to Goodwill and find wonderful treasures just begging for some tender lovin' spray paint. Shoot, they might even have 50% off pink stickers and really turn your day around!

I hope these words of wisdom are applicable and encouraging to many of you today. No? Just me? Well, I really needed the pep talk so enjoy the picture of the treasures :) And yes, it's also a sneak peak of the dresser. It's almost done!

Curtains!

This post is a bit late, but that's never stopped me before :) When my sweet mama was here in June she took care of my poor nekked windows. She had time to do that because she was supposed to be helping me with a newborn... but as you know the child took. her. time.

Anyway, we waddled (well, I waddled) through Denver Fabrics and perused all of the lovely textiles searching for a yellow chevron pattern. Yep, that's right I wanted sunshiney zig zag curtains in the dining room. I don't exactly have grown up taste when it comes to home decor. I'm fine with it.

This is what we found. No chevron but isn't it fabulous!? I really wish my photography skills could do them more justice because they are really awesome. They brighten the room a lot and make the little window nook really lovely. Especially when you consider the "before" look. Luckily, you can't even tell from this far away just how sick nasty those blinds are.

We also got fun new curtains in our bedroom and moved the long white ones to the living room. I'll work on taking better pictures and post about all of that someday. For now here's a sneak peek at the curtains with a sweet little babe snuck in :)

Thank you thank you Gigi (cool grandma name huh?). We LOVE the curtains... and we love that the neighbors don't know us quite so well anymore!

Date night

We did it! We left Lily with Grandpa Gary & Mor Mor for 3 whole hours :) So what exciting adventure did we go on with our first babyless outing in 6 weeks?

Harry Potter of course! haha What a couple of dorks. Don't judge.

Unfortunately these are the best pictures we could come up with for anniversary #3. Oh you think it looks like I've been crying my makeup off all the way to the movie theater? Whatever. I just had something in my eye...

Lil is a champ and I knew she wouldn't mind me being gone. I think that was the problem. She didn't really mind. Next time tell me she was miserable without me, k grandma & grandpa?

In all seriousness it was awesome to have Hunter all to myself! I really like that boy. It was also awesome to watch Harry defeat Voldemort.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I found this $10 garage sale beauty yesterday. Hunter says it's junk but I say Hunter's lame. I've got big plans. Stay tuned!

3 Years

Hunter John Greeno:

After three whole years of marriage I just wanted to say thank you!

Thanks for being so funny that I nearly peed my pants every single day that I was pregnant :)

Thanks for being so kind and caring that you drove the misplaced tiny baby bird on our porch to the bird doctor so he could have a chance.

Thanks for being SO encouraging and knowing exactly when I need it!

Thanks for providing for our family so that I can stay at home with our baby girl.

Thanks for having enough faith to trust that God will provide when he says he will.

Thanks for supporting me even when you can't see my vision & for talking some sense into me when I need it.

Thanks for being so fiercely protective of our daughter.

Thanks for looking at me like I'm a super model... when I'm still in sweats and haven't showered when you get home from work. Honestly, I don't know how you do that- THANKS :)

Thank you for being my very best friend. My leader & protector. The father of my sweet Lily.

I could go on forever, but you get it. I'm a better woman than I was before I knew you and for that I'm eternally grateful.

I love you.

Full-time mama

It's official. As of today I am no longer employed as a leasing consultant at The Highline on Cherry Creek. It's weird. I'm so sure that this is where I'm supposed to be and God has provided in awesome ways and reassured us that it's the right choice... I'm just nervous.

Confession: I just feel like if I was working a full-time job then I would have an "excuse" if I messed up as a mom. That's lame I know. I'm embarrassed I typed it. Because the truth is I know I'll mess up. A lot. It all goes back to the whole humility concept. Sometimes I'm afraid of going for things 100% because then if you fail everyone knows that you gave it your all... and that wasn't enough. But I'm seeing that in myself and I'm trying to push myself harder. What is the point of doing everything half ass just so it seems like you're successful at everything- when really you're not really succeeding at anything because you're taking the easy way out?

Yikes.

All that to say I'm pumped to give motherhood my whole 100%. I'm going to give it everything I have and that is not going to be anywhere near enough. Luckily, I have a ton of support and a perfect God on my side so Lil is in good hands :)

In other closely related news: we're now living on half the income so I'll be couponing for the rest of the morning. Wish me luck!