New name, new look.

It's only been FIVE MONTHS since the last header update, and yet I've already made a new one!  You're impressed, I know.

And I felt that it was time to change the name.  It's been years since the UPS ad campaign that the previous name was based on. 


So we've parted ways with What can Brown blog for you? and have moved on.

It's time for a new name for our new adventure.

The new header was a quick-n-dirty combo of Instagram pics and Picasa's free collage-maker.  Here's a post that inspired me to use this method.  I may never go back... this was just too easy.

Just for you, Mom.

Maybe you noticed that I haven't changed this blog's header since Caroline was, oh, EIGHT WEEKS OLD?

Maybe you noticed that it still said 2011?  And yet here we are in March of 2012?

Yep.

My mom called me a couple weeks back, wondering if I'd EVER change the old, tired header.  Well, here you go!

And apparently I felt all rainbow-brighty-springy today.  Because POW this header is colorful.  But hey, there are blue skies today and the bright colors match my baby's rainbow dress.

I apologize in advance to my sweet husband who always chooses dark colors.  This header will probably be up until the snow melts in 2013.

As I was putting this one up, I briefly scrolled through blog headers of old.  They could DEFINITELY be used as examples of why Jessica L. Brown should never come close to Adobe products.  She's clueless. 

But they make me smile...

Back from February of 2009.  Back when A) I managed to get the entire Adobe Suite for free due to Josh being a full time student at IU (AH-MAZING) and actually started to design headers and B) Riley was only baby.


Then this one, done in the late summer of that same year.  I always liked that picture of us.

I got sort of into this blog header design thing, and pumped this one out 3 months later.

And its close cousin, two months after that.

Then it appears that I cooled on the whole idea of designing regular headers, because this one is from a full year later.
 

This one's a favorite. Year around. Always cute. Poor Riley. He doesn't get much blog love these days.
 

Can't lie. Never liked this one. Summer 2010

This one reminds me of our Christmas Card from 2010. Because I designed the two at the same time.

And here's the one you saw for WAY too long, and the first one that was graced with a Caroline head in addition to a Riley head.

Since I have taken almost zero pictures of Riley over the past year, he's going to have to deal with not being a part of this header. Sorry buddy.

Cheap-o Kitchen Remodel: The Details

So earlier this week our kitchen was mentioned on Young House Love and it drew all kinds of visitors to this here blog. I've never seen such bloggy traffic! It's exciting for little bloggers like me.

(And if you're new here, welcome!)

And since that YHL post, I've gotten all kinds of kitchen-related questions that I'm going to attempt to answer.

First, here are some kitchen-ish posts you may have missed:

Scenes from when we first moved in: Progress
Painting: Color Splash
Our black table & chairs: DIY Project #1 of 32453
Before/after light fixtures: The Difference a Light Fixture Makes
The curtain over the sink: The Master Seamstress
The in-between stage: Kitchen In Progress
And of course, the final product: The Kitchen

We spent our $400 on an electric sander, a jig saw, cabinet hardware, primer, white paint, oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, liquid nails, "real" nails, and beadboard. We'd already taken care of things like hardwood floors, light fixtures, stools, table & chairs, curtains, etc. prior to starting the cabinet paining process.

So... on to the details of "how" we accomplished this.
Step 1: Dismantle the kitchen

My very, very sweet husband did the first few steps all by his lonesome while I was visiting friends in D.C. What a guy! First he emptied all of the cupboards and stashed all of our kitchen crap in the dining room. He then used an electric drill (with a screwdriver bit attached) to take off each of the cupboard doors. And he pulled out all of the drawers. The kitchen definitely looked skeleton-ish.

At some point he also took off all the hinges and hardware, putting all of the pieces in a bag for safe keeping.

Step 2: Sand 'er down

Josh spent $20 or so on an electric sander and bought a fairly fine grain of sandpaper to go with it. He sanded down the cupboard "bones," the fronts of the drawers, and both sides of the cabinet doors. As I understand it, this helps to make wooden surfaces more tacky and thus helps the paint stick. Our cabinets, prior to sanding, had a high gloss finish, so it was good to get 'em a little roughed up.

Step 3: Prime Time

I don't know what kind of primer we used, but I'm sure it went something like this:
Josh went to the store, described the project, and bought what was recommended. He primed everything. Bones, inside, outside, up, and down.

We'd made the decision to paint inside the cabinets for a couple of reasons. One, they were looking dingy. Two, we knew it'd be hard to stop and make a nice, neat line where the painting stopped. So of course we primed where we planned to paint.

He used one coat of primer.

Step 4: Painting

I actually helped with this part. (Crazy - I know!)

Josh put on coat #1 while I was still gone. He used both a paintbrush (for the tighter spots) and a small roller (for the larger, flat parts). The roller was recommended by the paint store and designed specifically for cabinet painting.

Painting the cabinet bones was easy enough, but painting inside everything was VERY time consuming. Just a warning! Put on a good audio book while you're doing this!

Josh set up a mini paint shop for all of the cabinet doors in our basement, using old paint cans as platforms. I'm pretty sure a large part of The Tudors: Season 1 was watched from the comfort of our unfinished basement room that weekend. To tackle the cupboard doors, he first used the brush to get paint into the grooves. He then used the roller on the other parts. Once side one was dry, he'd flip them over and start again.

I helped with coat #2. Josh was fed up with painting inside the cupboards by that point so I tackled that. We ended up doing a "touch up" coat later on as well.

Step 5: Spray paint the hinges

This was easy, but in retrospect I'd do a better job of painting them from different angles. As in spray one side. Dry. Flip. Spray other side. Dry. Bend hinge. Spray. Dry. Flip. Spray. Dry. Bend another way. Spray. Dry.

I definitely found a few places where I hadn't done the most complete spray painting job.

Step 6: Put the kitchen back together

Using our drill once again, and our painted hinges, we put the cupboards back together. We also put down some shelf liner paper and put away our kitchen equipment.

It was at this point that we saw some thin places that needed an extra coat of paint. So we spot-checked and rolled more paint on the cupboards where necessary.

Step 7: Install Hardware

We didn't spray paint our old stuff here, because we just didn't like the shape. So we spent about $100 at Home Depot buying new cabinet handles and drawer pulls that fit our style. We just made sure the new ones would fit in the old holes.

Step 8: The Beadboard project

Okay, this has it's own step-by-step process, and I'll leave it for a future post. Stay tuned!

Any further questions regarding this part of our project? Ask away!

And because many of you have asked, here's our source list:
Green Paint - Benjamin Moore Mountain Lane
White Paint - Sherwin Williams West Highland White
Light fixture - The Great Indoors (and it wasn't cheap)
Bar Stools - Target (they were pretty cheap)
Kitchen Table - Bought from friends, garage sale style
Kitchen Table black paint - no idea, but we did just walk into a hardware store, describe the project, and bought the paint they recommended - in black.
Curtain - homemade from a West Elm duvet cover
Drawer pulls/cabinet handles - Home Depot
Beadboard - Lowe's

A Question

No, this isn't the deep, meaningful, spiritual post you may have been expecting.

But I will quickly say that I was deeply touched by the outpouring of comments, emails, and other messages regarding my last post. Thank you for those messages - they've meant so much to me. I was so encouraged, and I feel that God used so many of you to shower me with His love and tenderdess through your honest and heartfelt words. And I must say that I was surprised by the most common response I received:

I feel the same way.

Or, I'm struggling too.

It was and is so comforting to know that I'm not alone in this.



And now for my completely unrelated, unspiritual question:

Does anyone know how to either:

A) Load pictures into blogger any quicker or easier than the standard method? Loading pictures is the bane of my bloggy life. It takes forever. I wish I could just copy/paste or something.

B) Get my pictures to appear larger on the web page without making them look all pixelated? For this post, I went into the html and expanded the dimensions. But I wasn't pleased with the result and haven't done it since.

Suggestions?

The Backseat

Between Josh's graduation, buying a house, saying goodbye to friends, moving to a different city, starting a variety of home renovation projects AND traveling to Europe, we find ourselves in the most exciting 3 month period we've ever had.

Not to mention busiest. And most expensive.

It sank in when our offer was accepted on our house.

Wait a second, we said. We close in 5 weeks? Then move in in 6?

Then head to Europe 3 weeks after that?

And since we want to paint and stuff in our new place before furniture comes, we need to pick out our colors soon. And we're thinking of new floors... and since those need to be ordered ahead of time, we need to figure them out NOW. And what about our apartment here - we still need to paint that white again. And what about utilities? Since I work from home, I'll need Internet set up right away. But which company do we choose?

Ah, the ignorant bliss we lived in just a mere 10 days ago.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not at all complaining. I've never been so excited in my life, and I'm oh so thankful for the blessings of Josh's new job, my continued job, and our new place.

But it is clear to us that we will be busy busy busy until (at least!) the end of June. We'll be in a whirlwind of paint samples, passports, contractors, and re-learning how to cut grass in a backyard. Praise the Lord for parents eager to help!

But because of this amazingly fun and crazy schedule a few things are just going to have to take a backseat.

Like this blog.

My posting has clearly slowed down, and it will continue to be slow. But rest assured I'll do my best to keep you up to date with all the happenings in the Brown family. I'll have so many things to report on I won't be able to resist.

New Header

I wanted it pink. Or orange. Colorful, in any case. Josh dislikes both of those colors and talked me out of it. But since I use Illustrator at a very, very low level, I needed his help. He advised me to go with more classy (in his opinion) colors.

Josh: After all, it is our blog. I posted - once.

Our blog my back end. But I relented, and we settled on teals and greens.

And then, after a sudden burst of inspiration:

Me: I'm totally going to design this circle with Riley's head poking out of it.

Josh: Because nothing says "classy" quite like that.

I think it fits us.

Writer's Block

I've got it. Big time.

All evening I've wanted to post something.

I googled "blog post ideas" and looked at websites like this.

I contemplated telling you a story from childhood, listing my top 10 "must haves" for a business trip, and finishing a book review post I started last week. But at this moment I don't feel up to it.

Then I started a new "favorites" post about my beloved pair of red tennis shoes. But in its current state, its awful. Totally boring.

So I'll turn this over to you, Internet. Is there something about me that you're curious about? A funny moment we've shared that you'd like me to recount? Perhaps a how-to (but keep in mind my limited number of skills)?

The Wonderful World Of Blogging: Part 2

I feel like this sounds weird, but I love having friends.

I’m so very thankful that God designed this thing called friendship. Shauna says it perfectly (she would!) in my opinion.

“Friendship is acting out God’s love for people in tangible ways. We were made to represent the love of God in each other’s lives, so that each person we walk through life with has a more profound sense of God’s love for them. Friendship is an opportunity to act on God’s behalf in the lives of the people that we’re close to, reminding each other who God is. When we do the hard, intimate work of friendship, we bring a little more of the divine into the daily life.”

(Cold Tangerines, page 49)

So what does this have to do with blogging?

My experience is that being a part of this bloggy world has allowed me to stay close to friends and family that live far away. For instance, we LOVED our small group in Grand Rapids and miss them terribly. But as any of you who have tried this with me have found out, I’m a pretty terrible correspondent. (Erika, you know what I mean!) I deeply care about my friends and family that live all over the world, but for some reason don’t do a good job of calling. Or emailing. Or even facebooking. But it is all different with blogging. I don’t think I’d be able to stay nearly as close to those friends and others without the continued connection through the blog world. Funny stories about those babies I used to get to snuggle? I still hear about them. Travel to foreign lands? I still get to hear all about it, and get to see pictures. And, as I mentioned yesterday, I still get to learn about the things God is teaching them.

While I may have predicted being better able to stay in touch with existing friends, I was definitely surprised when I started to make new friends in the blog world. There are two true bloggy friends I’ve made so far, and I’ve been so blessed by them both. For months I’d read their blogs and love their stories and then comment from time to time, and they’d read my blog and comment back. Such sweet, honest, FUNNY posts. And on a spiritual level I’ve been truly encouraged by them, in both their own posts and their comments. I knew these people could be my “real” friends, not just my “bloggy” friends.

Then last month I met one! And we hit it off (at least, in my opinion!) Couldn't stop chatting and laughing. What a kind, real, and hilarious person I met! Just like I knew she’d be. She has a heart for God and sense of humor about life… and is delightful to spend time with. I so enjoy having Sarah as a real friend, in addition to a bloggy friend.

And then last week, I met another bloggy friend! Jenni was in Bloomington visiting family, and joined me for a cup of Starbucks last Saturday morning. And I’m very thankful she put up with my questions about her life and family! Our coffee “date” went by way too fast. I really enjoyed getting to know her in a face-to-face way - another real connection with an online friend! It was truly a joy to spend time with such a sweet, open, and insightful person.

It is honestly a little odd actually meeting someone for the first time that you actually, on some level, know already. And in both cases, I loved it. Putting real life personalities with blogs was super fun in both of these cases.

Mom, go ahead and check out Short Stop and Swimming in Sugar and Spice, and you’ll soon realize they are neither:
#1 Crazy, or
#2 Murderous.

So there you have it. My favorite thing about blogging is making and keeping and enjoying friends.

The Wonderful World of Blogging: Part 1

It was about a year ago (give or take) that I jumped into this crazy blogging world. At this point, I’m not even sure why. But now I love it.

But why do I like to blog and read the blogs of others? I’ve been mulling this question over for the past couple of weeks and have come up with a few reasons.

First, it is a way to chronicle our life. Just yesterday I was scrapbooking some Christmas pictures and was trying to remember what we did for that season this past year. Solution? Check out my blog archives and remember moments like our special date and Riley stealing ornaments.

It is relaxing! There is something simply therapeutic about sitting down with a blank web page and spewing my thoughts onto the screen. It relieves stress and helps me process my thoughts. Then there is a validation that comes when someone comments with empathy. Someone out there understands me!

If I say that “personal expression” is one of my reasons, does that make me sound too fruity?

I also really enjoy the creative exchange of ideas. Getting rid of ants. Creating special Christmas moments with children. Saving money on groceries. Book reviews. Tried and true recipes (that I try and love!). Basically learning new things about life. It never gets boring! I learn new things all the time.

For me there is an important spiritual element to all of this. I have a hard time sharing about my faith in verbal ways, even when I’m talking to Josh. I can’t seem to find words for what God is teaching me. But when I’m writing down feelings and thoughts about my journey with the Lord, I can express things oh so much better. God is at work in this world and in my life, and I appreciate the ability to tell about it.

I get to share about my walk with God, but I also find significant encouragement in reading the blog posts of others. When a “bloggy friend” shares about a particular struggle or insight it often makes me stop and examine my own life in the light of what they’re learning. I learn things about life and God and the Bible that I’d never thought of before.

The friendship component, however, is my favorite part. More on that tomorrow. Until then, if you're a blogger, why do you do it?