Shabby Chic Kitchen Photos

Finally! The Updated Photos.

Here's the updated photos of my Shabby Chic kitchen I promised to post. Please keep in mind that we still must add an exhaust fan and cabinets over the stove, some trim, grout the backsplashes, paint a bit, mount drawer handles and cabinet knobs, and complete some touchups here and there. My kitchen isn't perfect, but it's comfortable. I love my kitchen now that I rebuilt and tiled the countertops and added the island. Top left photo shows one of the countertops I rebuilt. It was fairly easy to figure out but physically taxing. Thank God, I had only 3 new countertops to build.

Tiling in progress.

I'm currently looking, well rather passively so, for an antique dresser or something else antique-like to make over and use as an island. Right now, I'm using the base of my antique Hoosier cabinet for an island. It works great but I want to make an island with a thick butcher block top on it and an area to set stools at for a breakfast bar. I may need to make the breakfast bar by adding a 'stepped up' area of countertop onto the island. No problem. I'll just do it! Anyhow, we aren't doing a lot of remodel work right now. Just enjoying the completed areas.

Kitchen at the beginning of remodel. As you can see this is the mobile home side of our house/Shabby Chic cottage. We remodeled the mobile home as we've built a large addition onto the front and roofed over it all to create a  cohesive look. A house.  Simply framing in a section at a time to cover the mobile home exterior creates a solid exterior wall with roof overall, of course.

 And in the end you have something like this!

Kitchen we lived with for a while until we could complete it.

One of my newly rebuilt & tiled countertops. (I have the backsplash trim but have yet to nail it up. Am I lazy or simply tired of carpentry? ; - )

Shabby Chic Kitchen at a glance.

Shabby Chic Kitchen (Notice my pink canisters?)

Stove and cabinets (Must paint door trim at left side of stove, yet. The work never ends. Sigh...)

Bookcase/see through into morning room which also allows heat from pellet stove to flow through these rooms with ease. The bookcase area was the original front door of the mobile home.

We (well, I actually) still need to purchase a stove exhaust fan and cabinets to mount above the stove. That will have to wait until next spring. So, I just threw together some shelves and mounted them above the stove to temporarily house a few necessary items, like olive oil. I think there's 3 bottles of olive oil on the top shelf. Can't have too much olive oil!

That's the end of the photos for now. I'll add photos of other areas of our little cottage-used-to-be-mobile-home soon. Thanks for taking time from your day to look. Comment or ask questions about our remodel if you like.

Blessings,

Steph

Feature Photo

Beautiful Florida Spring

(Photo #SB1.jpg)

This is one of the photos I snapped during vacation time with my family in Florida last July. (2011) We enjoyed going home (I'm from Florida originally and now live far away from the sand and sun). We had so much fun the day we spent at this spring. It'd been so long since I laid around in the cool, clear water. What fun!

Little did we know we would have to rush home a few days later with a sick child who required surgery, a short hospital stay, and several weeks healing time. We never know what the future holds. So, as I look back over my Florida vacation photos, I remind myself to live life to its fullest, within the Will of God and never neglect to tell those I love just what they mean to me. Life is fleeting. It changes from moment-to-moment. I pray I never waste even one of the precious days God grants me.

Blessings and enjoy the photo.

Bible Text:

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

James 4:14 (KJV)

Photo Use Policy:

Please do not use my photographs (neither those with the initials SB in the identification number nor those with no identification numbers) without written permission. You may email me and request permission to use my photographs for personal use, such as personal blogs or Web sites, desktop backgrounds, printing for personal use, only. My email to you represents said written permission.You may not use my photographs for profit. When using any of my photographs, I require a link to one of my blogs or my Web site. Thank you for abiding by this policy.

Contact me Stephanie@StephanieBoles.com or stephbolesbooks@gmail.com
My blogs: http://stephaniebolesbooks.blogspot.com/ or http://80acresandabook.blogspot.com/
My Web site: http://www.stephanieboles.com/

87 Freezer Meal Recipes

I found a treasure! Well, almost. What I found is a good Web site for moms.

I love to share any good links to other Web sites or blogs with my readers, so here's a great one. I recently began freezing meals those days when I'm running around like a chicken with its head...well you know what I mean.

EverythingMom.com is a wonderful place to hang out, if you like hanging out in cyber space, that is. This link takes you directly to the freezer meal list posted at EverythingMom.com, so enjoy.

Make Ahead Meal Inspiration - 87 Freezer Meal Recipes

Blessings,
Steph Boles

The Organized Life: How to Make a Household Planner

How to Make a Household Planner

(The photo is the cover of my Household Planner)

One way to keep organized is to create a Household Planner, also known as a Home Management Organizer or Notebook. These little (or large) books are convenient because everything you need to smoothly run your household is inside the Household Planner. 

Whether it's a home project, paying bills, or a school event my family must attend, I depend on my Household Planner to keep me on schedule. In addition to my Household Planner, I made a Remodeling Project Planner, since we are knee deep in remodeling our house. My Remodeling Project Planner contains several projects, separated into "chapters". If you prefer, and it may be wiser to do so, separate projects into individual binders. File all related paperwork and information for each project into its allotted binder.

There's no limit to the number and type of planners you create. Put together one for your children's school projects or make a Garden Planner. Use your imagination and have fun doing it.

There’s a wealth of information and free printables for making household planners on the internet. Just Google it. I've included some links to Youtube videos that will help you create a Household Planner. Don't forget to bookmark 80 Acres and a Book before leaving. http://80acresandabook.blogspot.com/ Better yet, follow this blog for updates.

     http://youtu.be/mrOotR7-7o8

Good info for creating a Household Binder

     http://youtu.be/Oxiwgm6LTu8

Great info on making your own planner

    http://youtu.be/D2ipz_Ut9qE

Just watch this gal for the fun of it. She's so funny. And you'll love her tips too.

Enjoy creating a binder and getting organized!

Blessings,

Steph

Vigilante by Robin Parrish

Vigilante

by Robin Parrish

Robin Parrish Creates a Unique Read!

Normally, I don’t read the type of stories Robin Parrish writes. But thinking I’d try something a bit different—I normally read Inspirational Regency Romance—I chose “Vigilante”.

I must admit, this book makes me wish Hollywood would make it into a film. I’d truly like to see this story play out on screen. And goodness! Which star would assume the role of the hero, Nolan Gray? Now there’s a thought-provoking question.

After suffering unimaginably in his past, the hero, Nolan Gray, determines to defend the defenseless in a world run amuck with evil. I see Nolan’s need to defend the helpless as an admirable quality. And for that quality alone, I liked Nolan Gray. But how can a mere mortal being defeat evil? Such a task would require superhuman strength and capabilities. In transforming himself into the Vigilante Nolan Gray does just that! But does he go too far? How can a man take on the superior nature of God?

Heavy with the dark reality of crime, in a story world filled with evil, this book is not a light read. But it is a good read. Will Nolan Gray overcome evil? Or is that a job for God alone? Read the book and learn for yourself what becomes of Nolan Gray and his faithful team of superhero creators.

In Vigilante, Robin Parrish weaves a good story with lots of action and finely-developed characters and an ending that will make you think anew about the story you've just read. I give Vigilante two thumbs up. Great job, Mr. Parrish!

More about the author

Robin Parrish is a journalist and the author of Offworld and The Dominion Trilogy. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and children. Visit Robin's Web site at www.robinparrish.com.

I received this book free from the Bethany House. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

ISBN: 978-0-7642-0608-5

Publication date: Jul. 11

Publisher: Bethany House

Where Have You Been?

(My Shabby Chic Kitchen

Still working on it, just a bit!)

Where Have You Been? I haven’t seen any new blog posts from you in a while.

Someone asked me that question recently. I simply shrugged and said, "After my daughter healed from having had surgery due to MRSA, I've been quite literally buried in house remodeling." I felt only somewhat chastised for not posting at my blogs for over two months. But only somewhat.

When I look around my house at the work I’ve completed I feel terribly thankful. And yes, I could have blogged and completed all the heavy remodeling work at once. I suppose. But I just didn’t. I’ve worked virtually from sunup to sundown on my house, completing the bathroom and majority of the kitchen. I was so weary and even discouraged from having to do the work alone, that by the evenings, I simply had no desire to write or blog. And yes, I realize my lack of desire to blog, came more from discouragement then actual physical exhaustion. Feeling discouraged during the push to complete the remodeling tasks created a sense of aloneness in me. That is never a place a person should live. Isolation breeds discontent. Perhaps I was too stubborn to ask friends for help. Perhaps, I simply felt an urgency to complete the project on my own. I cannot say. But the most difficult part of the work is over and I intend to use those feelings of discontent to fuel certain characters' personalities in future books. All is well that ends well! (The photo at the left shows one of the countertops I rebuilt and tiled.)

God strengthened not only my resolve but my physical body to carry out this remodel work. I gladly say, I’m done with the hard physical labor of remodeling our little cottage. Woo hoo!!! And yes, that’s me patting myself on the back and feeling quite thankful to God for granting me strength and ability to do this work. If only you could have been a fly on the wall, you’d understand just how difficult it was for me as I struggled through each task. Alone, with a neck injury, a hernia, and chronic pain due to Fibromyalgia, well it was hard for me, to say the least. And that's why I cannot help but act so silly about my achievements.
I still have to put up cove molding and baseboards in the kitchen and cove molding elsewhere, paint and touchup here and there. But compared to the hard work I’ve done in the past, these are small weekend projects. No more hard carpentry work for this chick! (Well, being a woman of a certain age, I’m more like an old, bedraggled hen on her last leg! Clu--clu--uuck. . . !)

I’m so excited that, now, I can get back to my life! I won’t promise tons of blog posts, but I’ll blog more often. So, I’m off to blog.
When you think you can't do a thing, just as I thought I'd never complete all those pesky remodeling tasks, remember, God grants strength for you to do what you must.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13 (KJV)

Blessings!
Stephanie Boles
Writing is my ministry, not my job