Sprucing Up!

This week I decided to do some sprucing up around From My Front Porch To Yours! It really started when I noticed that my music was no longer working like it should and thus I had to find a new music player. I know there are those who like music and those who do not so now you can find my music player on the side bar and turn it off if you choose. No more having to go all the way to the very bottom of my blog to find it! 

I also found a new blog background that I was not so sure about at first but now am loving which then led to my new header! I need to give a shout out to Marty over at A Stroll Thru Life for helping me find her post on just how to make an awesome new header! Thanx so much Marty!! I really appreciate it!

Next I spent some time making some new pages. Pages elude me in a way and I have yet to figure out how to make my Before & After page work. I was able though to move all of  the weekly blog party buttons to one page and then Fabulous Spots To Visit to another page cleaning up my sidebar and just making it look more tidy. I think it looks a lot less confusing!

I then went and looked at the new gadgets available to us and I found one that list your blogs most popular posts! I thought this was super cool so I added it! I am guessing it changes from day to day but I am not sure.

 I hope you like the changes I made and just want to say thank you again for taking the time to stop by and visit my lil' old blog! I appreciate every one of you and all my bloggy pals! Y'all are the best!

Weigh In Wednesdays #6

Welcome to WIW #6!! I know it seems like I do not have a ton hopping on the band wagon with this party but trust me when I say I do have fellow bloggers who email me personally to let me know they are in the same boat! So I am determined to continue with WIW in hopes that eventually more fellow bloggers will want to join in on this crusade to a healthier better life! 

With that being said last week I shared that I gained 5 pounds while away on vacation. All of it was from eating pure crap and I must admit it is harder with summer being here to stay on track because it is sooo freaking hot outside ya really don't feel like doing any thing. Trust me I know!! I was though lucky enough to manage to loose 4 of those said 5 pounds I gained. How you may be wondering.

Well I waited till the cooler evening hours and got outside and did some of this! I may be the odd man out when I say I LOVE mowing the grass! Don't ask me why but I just do and The Hubster is ever so grateful for it!;) Now I have no idea how to trim or am I even able to turn the blower on but I do have to leave something for him to do! We also worked on removing more of our wood flooring which trust me is not an easy task! I was sore from head to toe for two days afterwards. Both things though helped me almost reach my goal.

So what have you been up to this week? Are you needing cheering on to keep you going? Do you have a favorite work out routine or recipe you would like to share? Have you been able to loose some weight or even been able to keep off weight already lost? If so write a post let me know and I will add you to my linky list so we all can cheer each other on!! Together we can do this even though it seems very daunting at first.

Party Goers:

All Because of a Rug: Transformed Landing

This is our landing heading up stairs. It has always just been kinda there with no  real direction.

It has sat this way minus the fall decor for ever but I just never could think of what to do with it. That all just changed!

Won't you come up stairs with me and see the recent transformation of our stair landing?

Off to left you will see this saying that I ended up having to hand paint on the wall after we moved in. It was a stencil but the stencil was not sticking with all the texture we have on our walls. It is a lil' crooked but shhh, don't tell anybody!;)

To the right I have an adorable lil' nest. This has actually been there awhile and I am quite surprised that the boys or our furry children have not hauled off with it yet.

It is hard to get a good pic with all the light streaming in from the window so lets go all the way up stairs shall we.

Yes, a much better view!

This rug is what started the whole transformation. I found it at Garden Ridge last Friday. I was thinking it would make a great foyer rug but it ended up here instead. For just $25 I think it was a steal.

The curtain panels I made from my Old Time Pottery fabric, some fab I already had and the original valance that was hanging on the landing window. They could stand to be a tad wider but I did not have enough fabric to make full panels and I think full panels would have been too much for such a small space. I finished the panels up at midnight last night and well I HAD to hang um so out came my 99 cent decorative upholstery tacks from HobLob. They will do for now until I decided whether or not I want a rod or not.

I took the chair down that had been up here for ever and brought up this cute lil' table that normally sits in the foyer by our front door.

I love this lil' candelabra! I have had it since November but just could not find the perfect spot for it.

I also finally found the perfect spot for this cute wire frame  I bought back in March when my mom and I went shopping at Old Town Spring. Speaking of which this is a pic of my mom when she was a lil' girl and her Aunt Ruth. They both have the same name!:) (Correction-That is my moms Aunt B in the pic with her and not her Aunt Ruth.)

My HomeGoods bust and a pretty floral arrangement from Kirklands accents the bottom of the table.

And here is the revamped frame display! I just love this to pieces. I purchased the Bless Our Family mirror for just $4 at HobLob last week.

Thanx for stopping by and taking a peek at our landing! I hope your week is going well! Off to visit a new consignment shop I spotted over the weekend!

Linking up to the following linky parties:


Metamorphosis Monday


Show off Your Cottage Monday


Table Top Tuesday


Wow Us Wednesday- have to wait till next week since this week is all about porches. I would share ours but it is in disarray from working on the flooring and fire ants.



Open House Party Thursday


Transformation Thursday

Show & Tell Friday

Home Sweet Home


Treasure Hunt Thursday

7 Year Old & Sleep

Oldest is having issues with sleeping upstairs lately. He goes thru spells where he just would rather be down here with The Hubster and me. Now is one of those spells. I have debated on wether or not to just move the boys downstairs and then put the guest room upstairs but that would involve redoing two bedrooms and two baths. The guest room is much much smaller and so it would be a tight fit for the boys especially once they get older. I know they will want back upstairs so upstairs is where they will be staying. 

So what do I do to try and get them to stay up there every night? I lay down with them till they fall asleep which usually is within 10-15 minutes. I figure they will be grown and gone way too soon so I cherish every moment I have with them at night.

Well last night Oldest popped back up while I was mulling around in the sewing room. How did I get him to go back to bed at 11:30 at night?

I started on this! Yes, I started on making curtains for our landing so Oldest would go back to bed. See my sewing room is in plain site of the boys room so I promised him I would stay in there and work. It worked and thus so did I till almost 1 am!

I am in the midst of transforming this valance.

I was inspired in part by this. 

This is what we worked on today for 6 hours straight! The foyer is finally ripped out. 

Why the drop cloths you may be asking!? Well this is what is under them. The easy part was ripping the old wood flooring up. The pain in my tukus part is getting the old glue and leveling up so we can properly prime and level for the new flooring. Ladies this is going to take us forever!!! 

This here mess resulted in a minor break down. (Okay maybe a huge break down where I said I was done and was getting a quote on how much to have somebody else finish it in between major sobbing. I was tired and my bones in my hands and arms literally hurt from working with the rotating hammer all day. A nice warm shower and some Ibprofen cured that thankfully and thus my sanity slowly crept back in.) Now back to the mess...

It also resulted in this! Please wish me sanity and luck so we can get this flooring project under wraps by August!! I am truly way over it and will never tackle a huge flooring project again. A smallish one maybe but never a huge one!

How was your weekend?