A Few Free Things I've Found

BofA Giving Away Free Doses of Culture in 2008
With a Bank of America Card, you can access Museums free on the first Weekend of every month in 2008.

Staples helps you Help Your Pocketbook AND The Environment!
Staples offers a $3 store credit for each printer cartridge you turn in for recycling.

You simply take in the cartridges along with a Staples Reward Card (like a membership card at a grocery store... there is no charge, you just fill out a form). Periodically (once per quarter, I think) you will receive a Rebate Check (Coupon) good at Staples. You may only turn in three cartridges per day per day per card.

Even if you only turn in one cartridge a month, you'll wind up with $9 back each quarter or $36 per year... which is nothing to sneeze at!

Sixteen, no make that Seventeen Colors with Five to go!

There were a few questions about how one could/would put sixteen colors in one house. I guess first of all, it should be mentioned that both my hubby and I like color. Whenever we would go into a home with a lot of color we always said “we like this!” We lived at Sh---r Station five years. We added one new color per year. I was very slow and cautious about it. I would always pick “the lightest” color on the light paint chips, and Tom would pick the darkest. Always, we settled on the middle color – and loved it!

With this home, I knew I wanted it painted and it would have to be done before we moved or it just wouldn’t get done. I spent at least four hours, in the house, while it was under construction, with piles and piles of paint chips. I came on cloudy days and on sunny ones. I came with a few chips at first, then would “need a different shade or color” and would come back with more.

So, on Memorial Day (FYI: Home Depot has a Behr sale every year on Memorial Day weekend) we bought paint. Lots and lots of paint! I actually have a spreadsheet (surprise!) with the paint colors, numbers, how many square feet they needed to cover, sheen, and gallons needed. The paint people said I was “the most organized person they’ve seen” (BIG surprise!) I’ve also got all my paint chips punched (with a 3-hole punch) and on little rings so I can take it with me places.

As we painted, I realized the green the boys choose was just too NEON, for the hills I planned to paint. So, I went back and found a darker green. Of all the colors we put on the walls, I didn’t like the way one color sat with it’s neighbors… the blue in my sewing room. Today I remedied that. I picked out a new color, one that matched the sky, and painted over the first color. I’m MUCH happier with the new color.

Oh yes. One other thing. Most rooms have two or three colors in them. The boys, because of the cloudy sky, has seven total colors, but they are in three hues. So. Here are some sample pictures of the paint on our walls, as well as the paint chip names and colors (in case you’re interested in them.)

We started with this color EVERYWHERE (but the trim and doors)

700C-3, Pecan Sandie – the walls were kinda like this color. It’s nice on it’s own, but everywhere, it feels like dried mud or coffee with cream. It feels dreary and like we’re in a cave. So. Enter color!

Here is the collection of Behr paint chips I’ve actually bought for the house:

Except the top left color, that’s the brown we started with.

First thing you see in the Living Area (couches, dining, kitchen):

#1 – Ceiling – 310C-1, Kansas Grain
#2 – Walls – 280C-2, Serene Peach (we’ve had this in three homes for the past four years. We REALLY like living with this subdued, calming, cheerful color.)
#3 – Accent – 220D-5, Nectarina (I think of this as Terra Cotta or Sedona Red.)

Downstairs is CALM and SERENE with a Southwestern feel. As you go up the stairs, you will quickly see that the upper floor is going to be BRIGHT and CHEERFUL! While walking up, and looking up, you see our laundry room:

#4 – Ceiling – 360B-6, Flame Yellow

#5 – Walls – 370A-2, Pale Daffodil (I chose three yellow paint chips, and Tom instinctively choose this one… it’s the same one that we had in our kitchen at Sh---r Station!)

Walk around the corner into the boys’ room. Here’s where A LOT of colors went, but like I said, they are all blue, yellow, or green.

#5 – Ceiling – 370A-2, Pale Daffodil (same as laundry room)

#6, 7, & 8 – Sky – Color Washing Faux Finish

Base Coat, FF88-1, Debonair Blue (like 580C-1, Diamond Light)

Top Coat, FF88-2, Beautiful Fountain (like 580C-3, Impressionist Sky)

Top Coat, FF88-3, Parisian Sky (like 580D-4, Skysail Blue)

#9 – Hills – 450B-7, Green Grass (quite a fitting name, no?)

#10 – Window Sill & Closet – 420B-6, New Green (Skrek, Nickelodeon Green. Tom HATES this color. The boys LOVE IT!)

#11 – Accent Walls – 550B-5, Windjammer (I think this set s off the NEON green well. It reminds me of Smurfs. I think I’ll paint a few Smurfs on the hills behind the door. Any suggestions of which Smurfs I should paint? I was thinking of one per family member, so, OBVIOUSLY I would be Smurfette, but which ones to paint for the boys and Tom?)

I still have some detail work to do on the hills in here. Some darker lines and roads and train tracks. Then, they will have wall stickers that are re-positionable, so, as their interests change, they can change them.

Right beside the Boys’ Room is my Studio (sewing, quilting, and such). Here was the first draft:

The blue didn’t feel “heavy” enough. It was too light. This morning I went in search of a blue the same color as the sky’s I’ve been waking up to. Here is the amazing solution I found:


This new color looks blue when it’s by purple and it looks purple when it’s by blue. Even on the same wall, at the same time, in the shadows and the sun it will look like two different colors.

#12 – Ceiling - 760A-1, Crème Angels

#13 – Walls, Top – 240A-2, Sunkissed Peach (this is a brighter, clearer peach than the one downstairs.)

#14 – Walls, Bottom, Original – 520A-2, Ice Flower

#15 – Walls, Bottom, Better Color – 570B-5, Gulf Stream

I’ve never been “a purple person”, but after enjoying Behr's Chateau Rose (a light purple with a pink hue) in our halls for the past three years, we decided to try a crisp, clear purple in our bedroom.

#12 – Ceiling - 760A-1, Crème Angels

#16 – Walls – 640A-1, Soft Iris

#17 – Accent – 640D-4, Canyon Mist

So. There you have it. That’s how we put 16+ colors on the walls, with a few more to go.

What do you think?

We have the following areas still left to Paint:

#12 – Hall to stairs, Upper Landing, ½ bath, and Main bath – 760A-1, Crème Angels (same as ceiling in Studio and Master bedroom.)

#18 – Stairwell – 280C-1, Champagne Ice (this is a lighter color from the same paint chip as our favorite Serene Peach.)

#4 – Boys’ Room, Sun – 360B-6, Flame Yellow (same as ceiling in Laundry Room.)

#19 – Master Bath, Ceiling – 380C-a, Sun Glint (pale yellow)

#20 – Master Bath, Walls – 500C-2, Aqua Pura (light, watery color)

#21 – Master Bath, Accent – 500A-2, Refreshing Pool (I was just unpacking and found the paint chips I’d planned for my Master bath in Arizona, this is the same blue that I’d picked out there!)

#22 – Tom’s Closet will be 440E-2, Herbal Mist (light, minty green)

My closet – Some leftover color(s)

Mural in ½ bath, Sonoran Desert Scene

We are very happy with these colors and our enjoying our bright, cheerful home! :D

Fit for Life - Action Plan

I just wanted to give you an update... or maybe I should just be informing you in the first place. I recently realized that I gained weight this past winter. This was a surprise for me. It's never happened to me before. I mean, well, once, I worked - consciously - for a FULL YEAR to gain almost 20 pounds. But since last fall, I gained 25 pounds... without even trying OR being aware of it. Okay, maybe on some level I knew I my clothes weren't fitting quite the same, but I had NO IDEA that such a thing would ever happen to me! My whole life has been one of those "I can eat whatever I want and I'm still always skinny and healthy." It's just been like that for me. Always and forever. Well, then I had two babies (does this story sound familiar) and with each pregnancy I gained about 50 pounds... I grew 'em big! (10 pounds 2 ounces and 9 pounds 3 ounces big!) Still, it was three years ago when I birthed my last child and since then, things have been sitting pretty much the same. I've been fluctuating around a size 14. I just figured the weight would slip away without much effort on my part, because I never had to think about it before.

I think I'm rambling. Yep! The size of the previous paragraph says I'm DEFINITLY rambling! (I do that when I'm tired, which I am).

This wasn't suppose to be a rambling or a whiny post. Just a quick little update, and then relax for the night...

So. Suffice it to say I recognized *something* had happened and it needed to be corrected. With the assistance of my Aunt, I devised an ACTION PLAN to help me get back to a size 10, around 128 pounds... I liked that weight. That's where I plan to get back to.

This plan includes:

• regular water consumption
• vitamin and mineral supplements
• regular, nutritious food choices
• yoga
• meditation
• self-reflective periods
• consistent sleep patterns
  
• walking
• stair-climbing
• bike-riding
• swimming

Now, for the original point of this post, the quick update...

I've been "doing" the exercise portion of my Action Plan for two weeks now. Yesterday I noticed a bit more of a spring in my step and also more energy. I'm glad to feel these things, even though all of the parts of my plan have yet to be implemented and even though I'm still working to forge better habits.

So far, I've been doing the following:

• regular water consumption
• vitamin and mineral supplements
• yoga
• walking
• stair-climbing
• bike-riding
• swimming

Oh, one other thing... I'm going slow and taking it easy on myself. I started with 10 minutes biking and 10 minutes swimming, three times a week. Also, walking and stairs and yoga each day, but just in small, manageable portions.

Now, this next week I need to get my sleep and eating habits on track. Then my meditative periods (or maybe visa-versa, I'll have to think about it.)