Flippin' Awesome!

The other day I received the new Restoration Hardware book catalog.  Holy macaroni, I felt sorry for the mailman who had to carry it!  I live in a neighborhood where the mailman still walks house to house and delivers right to my door.  I love it.  I cant imagine what a hard job that must be. It's great exercise...I mean, you never see a fat mailman. They walk, walk, walk all day ... everyday. I'm tired just thinking about it, then add that massive catalog to the bag...I wonder if any of my neighbors had one delivered the same day. He might have had like 4 in his sack! Whew.

Ok, bringing it back, focus...  As I was saying, I got the magazine and while browsing through it for ideas, I noticed that the rooms I was drawn to had neutral rugs. Sisal or cotton or wool. But all in solid neutral.

We bought the living room rug about 4 years ago from Overstock.com. It's a wool rug, and wasn't cheapy, but wasn't expensive either.  I've been real happy with the purchases made from them. Including 4 mattresses. Yes, Four. We have a lot of beds. And shipping is only $2.95 on EVERYTHING!

Here is the rug in my living room. Please forgive the tired sofa, it gets a lot of love:)

Its a beautiful rug, but has more gold than I would like these days. 

Its a perfect rug for the winter. It's warm colors hide dirt really well. I thought about switching it with the sisal/cotton rug from my room. It has soft green cotton woven in with the sisal (also bought on overstock!)  Then, today as I was vacuuming,  the corner of the rug flipped up...and I got inspired!  I grabbed that corner, pulled her back farther and said "Heelllllo beautiful!".

See that texture!  And amazingly there are no stains on the entire thing. There is a little

hole...from when I staple gunned the rug to the floor...but I hid it under the couch along with the manufacture tag.  It took some blood, sweat, and tears to flip that sucker!  In the process, I unearthed another animals worth of hair from under the couch. It's a good idea to flip your rug, just to clean under your sofa.  The neutral color is a breath of fresh air. Hopefully it will stay clean. My husband may think I've lost my marbles, but that's nothing new.  I had him at the drawer hanging on the wall in 1988. It made a great shelf, what can I say.  You can pull the girl from the thrift store, but you cant get the thrift from the girl!

So, what do you think? 

The dark green walls seem to suck all the light out of the room. It was a gorgeous sunny day and much brighter than it appears. We plan to paint the living room a lighter color this Summer. My Pintrest board is full of lighter inspiration.  Don't you love discovering new creative blogs while searching Pintrest. A nice bonus!

Once I saw the change from the rug,  I became excited about bringing Spring inside.  Spring is just now showing its face in our corner of the world. And I love it. I opened the doors and let the sunshine in.  I tinkered around outside today, too, soaking up the rays.  My neighbor has several Camillia bushes, and they have been blooming in succession.  They are so beautiful. I have been cutting flowers (they hang over the fence) twice a week for a month now. 

When I emptied out my antique booth last month I kept several old wood doors to use around here.  My favorite is this one.

I brought it into the living room and set it against the wall by the piano. I don't know if I will keep it there, but its fun for now.  I'm making a folding screen out of the other doors to use on the back patio. I can't wait to show you when it's finished.

Well, tomorrow I am going to the Apple store to get my laptop fixed. YAY !! Hopefully it's a simple fix.  Have a happy SPRING weekend everyone.

xoxoxo

Jodi

Rotten Apple.... Kitchen Before/Afters!!!!!

Hello Bloggy friends, 

or if you are here with me in the Northwest I should say

 SOGGY friends!

So sorry I have been absent for a LONG time!

My Apple (Mac) is being ROTTEN.

There is a short in the screen and so it only opens about 8 inches

before the screen turns black.

So, imagine typing with the laptop on its back (fold) and

resting the keyboard part on your stomach

trying to type straight down ....

and peeking under the top to see what you are actually typing.

I just have to say...its not working well.

Why not just go have it fixed?

Since the kitchen re-do my husband has put us on a 

strict budget....booooo the b word.

But its all for good.

I mean, I have fun money, but I'd rather buy flowers for the yard

or a pretty spring outfit,

ya know what Im sayin girls?

So...in the meantime, I will curl into a pretzel as I write.

Just bare (or is it bear, cuz Im not naked!) with me!

Oh..PINTREST!

I know Im a little late on this boat, but better late than drowning.

I loooooove it.

Will love it even more when I can really SEE the pictures

(see note above...)

I've started a page, I tried to name it fresh vintage home,

but I believe its under my name Jodi Green.

Feel free to follow if you would like,

and at some point I will figure out how to do a pin button on here....

some day....

Now, the kitchen.

These are photo's that my mother in law took a few weeks ago while here. 

Her camera is much better than mine, so I am stealing borrowing

her photo's so you all can REALLY see the difference!

Jeff and I did it all ourselves except for hiring

a plumber to move the sink, and electricians to fix

the crazy wiring, and a handyman to take down the wall

adding a support beam. 

The rest was ALL us.

Anything that is not perfect we call character.

And we will just leave it at that.

ok? K.

Because I love it so much!

Before we moved in:

New sink now here, and wall above is gone

Looking from stove towards the Laundry Room

Note the "hole" under the microwave and doorway to the right that went to the Master & Bathroom

The wall to the left is the wall we partially removed. We kept both china cabinets intact.

Laundry Room when moved in.

Progress.....We changed some little stuff

and lived with it for a year like this...

I painted the walls a khaki color, painted over the dark grey colored trim, made the alcove into a chalkboard, and covered the hole with a fabric skirt.

The fan was so close to the stove it had melted in spots...yikes.

 The lighting was awful at night, the flooring made us dizzy, and it was so closed off from the rest of the living spaces. The new cabinetry we purchased from Craigslist was custom made for a different kitchen, so we used blue tape on the counters to mark the segments of cabinets.  We had to cut apart one cabinet and also get creative to fill the gaps.

 More piles in the laundry room.  The mess was because we had started to empty out
the armoire and cabinets below.  We had used the large Armoire for small appliances, and the small table for folding laundry.  Jeff had built small shelving for the cans.

Then, with much anticipation, we started to tear things up!

We removed all the stuff from the Laundry room.

As we started to remove the soffit we found a web of wiring that needed to

be professionally redone.

We had to pile kitchen stuff all over the house. This is the corner where we eventually closed off the doorway.

There were so many paint colors and types of wall surfaces. Some cement board,
some drywall, some plaster.

We framed in the doorway between the kitchen and Master bedroom & Bathroom.

It made the hallway darker, but we love the way it makes the area feel like

a master suite!

 The day the wall came down we did a happy dance!  The difference was amazing!

This is from the dining room side looking in. We still needed to change the lighting, flooring, moldings around the windows and opening, counters, etc.

Working on the finishing details....

We bought legs at Lowes, painted them to match, 

and inserted them into the cabinet on each side.

 It worked perfectly.

We installed the laminate tiles with real grouting.  They look real, and are much warmer on our feet.  The cabinets were 30" cabinets, so we had to raise them and install a tall
base board under them.

 Jeff built the moulding for the windows and I primed them before installing them.

 This is one of the butcher block counter tops from Ikea. Its the 1 1/2" Oak.
We had to cut it to fit around the farm sink. After trying to use the router,
Jeff found a chisel and hammer to be the most effective.
We used the sealer recommended at Ikea, but I would like to stain it darker
and put a heavy finish on it.

This is the new counter in the laundry room. We installed the uppers, and

then I refinished a huge dresser & distressed it. Then Jeff added the legs

and countertop.  We also added subway tile, but its not installed yet in this photo.

The breadbox is a gift from my son. He made it for me:)

 We re-hung the antique cabinet in the Laundry room above the washer & dryer.
Jeffs grandpa made it for his mom when she was a little girl. She
kept her doll collection in it.  I loooooove it!

Jeff installing the subway tile in the kitchen.

This is NOW....

 We used a leftover upper cabinet to fill in the hole under the microwave. It holds all my cookbooks and baking dishes as well as baking ingredients. The white wood wainscotting is actually a neighbors pine flooring they were tossing. We primed and painted it to add character. You cant even tell there was a door next to the microwave!

 Looking from the kitchen to the dining room.

 Ok, so I wish the red towel wasnt on the stove here...but thats real life. ha ha.

 Kitchen to laundry room

I'm such a happy girl!
Thank you for stopping by
xoxoxo

Delivery & Deployment...A Birthday Story!

"You made it!"

It was 9pm and the restaurant closed at 10pm.  

He couldn't help that he was 3 hours late for our Valentines Day date.  He had no control over his schedule.  His number one obligation was to his country.  I knew that, and was happy he didn't miss the night completely!

We arrived just in time to enjoy "shrimp uglies" and other Caribbean favorites. 

The waitress looked at my exploding mid line and asked "When are you due?"

Smiling with both pride and discomfort...I said "4 days ago!"

"Ohhhhh..." She said sympathetically.

This would be the last time we enjoyed dinner at this restaurant, it closed soon after. It was the last time we would dine out as a couple. We were about to become a family!

I tried to be romantic and ignore the additional 40" to my middle.  I set out strawberries and Sparkling Cider on the night table for a romantic ending to our Valentines date.  It was a thoughtful gesture, but a gesture is all it would be.  We were so full and tired by the time we came home, romance was not on the agenda.  Maybe TONIGHT will be the night I go into labor.  As the heartburn nearly over took me, we fell asleep dreaming about the little boy about to come into our life. 

The next 6 days we tried all the old wives tales to get the labor started.  Some were not so pretty...and better left unsaid. I even tried jumping on the bed for a half hour. The only thing that got moving was the mattress. Finally, at 10 days over due, the doctors decided to induce labor.  It was about time!  Even though I had heard over and over not to worry..."no one ever delivers a kindergartner". 

The anticipation of a new baby is exciting for every family.  We were especially anxious because Jeff was scheduled to leave in just DAYS for his second 6 month deployment.

Jeff was given ONE day of liberty to be away from the ship and welcome his new son.

We arrived at the hospital at 7am on the 20^th of February 1990.  They hooked me up to the pitocin and the labor began.  It was standard procedure at the time to not be able to get up from the bed for the entire labor and delivery. All day long Jeff sat next to me. We practiced the Lamaze breathing taught in class.  I scolded him when he tried to use the massager on my back.  He was so patient and understanding. The pitocin was doing its job, but my body was not cooperating as quickly as hoped.

All day turned into all night and still SLOW progress.  Jeff slept in the chair beside the bed and felt helpless.  Finally, I was given Demerol and faded in and out of reality. At one point I remember Jeff on the phone talking to his mom.  I thought it was a dream. I also thought I was sound asleep on my stomach...something I'd long to do for several months!  The night turned into day, and Jeff had to go back to the ship. 

I cried when he left.  Our families lived all the way across the United States, and I had one friend who had to work. I don't remember many details of that day. As the morning progressed, I would call him at work to give updates, he would then pass the details to his boss, who would determine when Jeff was able to leave.  Finally, about 1pm in the afternoon,  I was ready to start pushing.  After getting the ok from his boss, Jeff was approved to leave work. It was a long drive to the hospital, and he arrived just as I was about to deliver.  Tears of joy filled our eyes as we heard his little cry.  9lbs. 3oz. We were a mom and dad! Jeff cut the cord and we had a few hours to bond before he had to return to the ship.  The hospital was great, giving Jarrod and I our own room. We didn't have visitors, and Jeff wasn't able to return to the hospital until he took us home 2 days later. This sweet baby was perfect. Fair skin, peach fuzz red hair, big hands and feet. He would be a strong, tall man. As I looked at my son, I had tears of joy and of sadness. It would only be a few days until this boys daddy headed to the Persian Gulf.

We lived in a little 2 bedroom townhouse not far from the beach. We had a furr-baby named "Duke", an energetic black lab.  He thought the baby was a strange creature and kept his distance.  Jeff spent his last days prior to the deployment doing work ups, consisting of 15 hour work days. Because we were very young, and did not have the emotional or physical support in Florida, Jeff's parents offered to have Jarrod and I live with them in Oregon.  So, at just 6 days old, we packed up our home and put it in storage.  My stepfather flew to Florida, and drove our car all the way to Arizona, so it would be waiting for us when we arrived for that leg of our trip.  Duke was shipped on an airplane to Oregon and would be waiting for us when we finally arrived there later.

There I was. A brand new mom with all our belongings in storage, dog and car gone, and only 2 more days to spend with my husband.  Jarrod and I stayed in a hotel near the base for 2 days. Jeff wanted to be with us, but was at the mercy of his work schedule.  This was very hard for him, as he is a father through and through.  The day of our flight came fast, and still, they would not extend Jeff liberty to see us off.  He was given about 2 hours to take us to the airport and drop us off.  This was a era when security was fast,  and you could walk all the way to the gate to say goodbye.  Jeff  borrowed a car from a friend and we were running late.  He dropped us off at the curb so we could check in, while he went to park the car. He could not find a parking space. We got checked in and headed to our gate.  I kept watching over my shoulder to see if he was coming, but I couldn't wait. We were late!

In 1990 there were no cell phones, no internet, no Skype.  We had no way to communicate outside of a land line and US Mail.  

As I stood in the busy terminal waiting, the intercom announced last boarding calls for our flight.  There we were, standing in the hallway, staring anxiously hoping to see him come for us.  And he did. We had a couple of minutes to say our goodbyes.  How hard that must have been for this new father to watch his wife and newborn son get on the plane, knowing he would miss the next 6 or more months of his life.  I tear up now just reliving that moment. All we could say was I love you over and over again. He kissed us both and we boarded the plane.  I cried the entire flight to Phoenix.  Jeffs ship left the next morning. Letters, photo's, and occasional port calls would be all that connected us for the months to come.

We spent a month at my moms in AZ.  It was a good time, full of happy memories. I recall one day about a week after arriving to my moms.  "Mom" I said.  "I keep getting the strangest feeling like I'm babysitting, and the parents should show up any time now".  We laughed.  Jarrod was a happy baby.  I have very fond memories of this time together.  I missed Jeff every moment of every day. Im sure he missed us more.

At about six weeks old,  Jeffs mom flew in to Phoenix, and we left Phoenix together in my car, driving the scenic route of California headed home to Oregon.  It was a great time of getting to know each other, as she and I had only met twice before...once the Thanksgiving after our wedding, and the second was the following Thanksgiving when they flew to Florida while we were expecting. 

Jarrod and I lived in Jeff's childhood room until September, when he came home.  Jeff flew to Oregon and we had a big welcome home celebration, Jarrod was nearly 7 months old by then.  A few days later we packed up the dog, the baby, and our belongings and headed back to Florida to live…until the Navy moved us again.  Who knew it would only be about 7 months later before we would head back to the Northwest...to stay until Jeff retires.

To our son on his 22nd Birthday...You are an amazing gift.  We love you so much!

Happy Birthday Jarrod!


xoxoxo
Mom & Dad

Whats up buttercup?

Miss me?

I sure missed you!

I cant believe its been so long that the last post was about SNOW!

Its been up to 60* the past several days.

February in the Northwest is one

of my favorite months!

Its almost always very sunny and it gives me

SPRING FEVER.

I'm ready to get out in the yard and pull the weeds

that have started to grow and

plant some cool weather flowers in my pots.

***
A few weeks ago we were in Oak Harbor to get our

rental home ready for the 

new tenants.

It made us very nostalgic to be there!

We sometimes miss our house and time with friends.

Luckily, its only a hop, skip and a ferry ride away!

****

You may have noticed that I took down the "for sale" page.

Last weekend we emptied out the booth.

It was bittersweet.

Just a year ago I was so excited at the new opportunity

to create and sell what I love.

I don't regret it at all. 

I have a more defined vision now of what I would like

my future retail space to be.

One day I will do it again!

*****

I have added a new tab.

The subject of depression and anxiety isn't glamorous or popular,

but it's life.

I thought I would share my story in hopes that it might

encourage someone else.

Feel free to email me or leave comments if you would like.

****

I'm starting a new bible study called "Esther" by Beth Moore.
"It's tough being a woman"

I'm very excited to go!

I'm making a VERY SIMPLE and Delicious dessert to take.

I will share that recipe with you soon.

*****

Our son has a job interview tomorrow.

He is a junior in college.

Please pray he will make a good impression and if its meant to

be for him, he will get the job!

He is an awesome young man,

and will work hard.

**UPDATE: has a 3rd interview with company scheduled!  Pls. keep praying!**
**2nd UPDATE:  HE GOT THE JOB!!!**
Thank you for your prayers
xoxoxo

****

Our daughter is going on a mission trip to Bolivia

very soon

with the young adults group from

the Foursquare church she works at in PA.

Please pray for them to have safe travel and impact

the lives of those they are reaching out to.

*****

Ummm, old sammy is still plugging along.

Just when we think he has had it...he gets a second...third...fourth

wind! Right now he is having a doggy dream.

Obviously chasing something exciting!

Well, it was great catching up with ya'll!

I'll be back soon with that recipe!

xoxoxox

Jodi

Snow Day!

Snow!

Our first snow of the year...

Jeff and I bundled up and went for a refreshing walk

across the Manette Bridge.

The water was a dark steel grey and the wind whipped the snow

onto our cherry red cold cheeks.

It felt like a Norman Rockwell scene as we passed other couples

hand in hand kicking up snow.

We are home now,

 thawing out with a delicious

cup of hot coffee.

  

In my FAVORITE mug of all time.

xoxox

Later....a fire in the fire pit in our backyard...

mmmm

What would you do on a Snow day?

Who determines your success??

Its been almost exactly one year since I decided to start this blog.  I named it "Fresh Vintage Home" with the intention of starting up another home staging and re-design business. Realizing it was more than I wanted to take on alone, I decided to just do what has come naturally my whole life....find "junk", make it cute, get creative and decorate with it.  With the help of my husband, we started the booth, and worked towards my "vision".

After several months of spending a few dollars here, a few there...on a lot of things... it started adding up to more money than I wanted to spend, to more stuff than I could find room to store in my little house, and not enough time or work space to get it done. The atmosphere of the antique mall wasn't as youthful and inviting as I'd envisioned, and business was slow.  Soon came the realization that something had to change.  I still have a creative desire, that will never change, but my path is shifting once again.

The end of this month marks the closing of the booth (so get over there and make an offer on whatever you like!!)  Honestly, I feel a little bit of relief.  Although, I have to admit I could hear the negative voices telling me I had failed.  That I'm not smart enough, young enough, good enough.  That, after 25 years,  why have I not found a career or made "something" of myself.  After all, I look at others who have had great success making a life of the same passions.

Then, I woke up one morning and looked in the mirror.  WHO decides what success looks like?  WHO knows my life and my heart and created the desires within?  Its not the world, its not family members, its not even me!  Its Jesus, my Creator, my Hope, my Joy...my God!  He showed me what success looks like for ME. A happy marriage (not perfect, thank goodness, because trials have made us grow stronger!), meaningful and deep friendships, wonderful children who love each other and are kind. The ability to be a stay home mom for years while my husband spent months at sea. A home to nurture and clean (yes, even cleaning is a blessing), pets, and the time and energy needed to help friends and family during difficult seasons.  I am successful! I am grateful for finally defining success as God intended. 

Every day is a new opportunity to grow and learn and experience life completely. Some of those days are not glamorous or even very productive.  God knows us deep within.  Our hurts, our passions, our sense of humor and our nature.  You ARE ALWAYS where you are supposed to be...because God knows what you need, and when you need it. He is teaching us to be humble, strong, smart, content, and trusting among so many other things. Breathe it in, soak it up, look in the mirror and remind yourself!!

I forgot that I loved to write.  As a child and teenager, I LOVED to write.  Blogging has reminded me of this voice inside. We are still working hard on our little house, and I want to continue to share those changes with  you.  But there is so much more to me, as there is to each and every one of you.  A lifetime of stories and experiences that makes us who we are.   I truly don't know where this is going, but Im just going with it one step at a time.  I hope you will continue to visit, I would sure miss you if you didn't!

xoxoxo

Jodi

UPDATE:  As I tried to share this link on my Facebook page it gave me a message that I'd been reported as spam or something like that. Not nice, right?  I was able to link the post on my Fresh Vintage Home facebook page, however.  I apologize if this creates a problem if you try to share the blog.  Let me know if it works for you. Im working on it at this end:)

Subway tile!!!

I am sooo happy!

The $5 (for 3 boxes) of subway tile 

I picked up last year at my local

Habitat for Humanity Store

is going up!!

Im still learning about taking photo's, and these are proof I have a long way to go...

But I cant wait to get the grout in and see it done!!!

Thank you to the cutie pie missing the football game to finish the backsplash.

He's the best!

xoxox

Jodi