DIY Spotanski's!

Ever since Nick bought our house, we got married and I moved in, and having Emma, we have only done some painting to it. Actually, we have painted every room except our entrance hallway/staircase, and our upstairs bathroom. The downstairs is a deep green, the downstairs bathroom is dark brown-ish gray, our bedroom is a turquoise blue, and Emma's room is a soft yellow. However, lately we have been watching DIY shows and have wanted to try and do something new to our kitchen, so here's our plan:

So, as you can see, we have plans to: replace our current stainless steel sink with this tan-ish colored one, put in a new oil rubbed bronze faucet, and to put a backsplash up under the cabinets and all the way around! The tile is a mix of nude, beige, brown, and greens, which I think will really go well with our current paint color, and which will also go well with a neutral beige color which we will revert the wall to before putting our home on the market someday. In order for us to get all of this done, Emma will be going to stay with my folks for a week in about two weeks. Hopefully this will be enough time for us to give our kitchen a mini facelift! Before and after pictures to come!

My Roots

Writing has been a big part of my life for a long time now. The first time I REALLY got into it was in fourth grade when my English teacher, Mrs. Grant, gave us an assignment to make up a story that had to be a few pages long. Well, being a story-teller this came naturally to me, and that night I wrote a few pages, and then a few more, and then a few more, until this "assignment" had become much more than that to me. The more I wrote the more I loved it, because I could write about anything and be anyone, if only for an hour or so. At this time I was fascinated with Indians....err, Native Americans, and so most of my stories were based around an Indian tribe, particularly a protagonist by the name of Wind Flower, and then antagonist, Obacheask.

Then, I discovered my fascination with Louis L'Amour and the West. Countless stories started off sent back in the 1800's or around the time of the Oregon Trail, and there always had to be a rogue appearance from a Native American to appease my continued love of their culture(s). Along with writing, I now began to "illustrate" my own "covers", as well as drawing maps for the readers which I anticipated having someday :)

Poetry eventually worked its way into my life, and with it came a whole other type of creativity, whether it be with rhyming, free verse, or other poetic devices. I have many binders and self-made booklets of my poems packed away somewhere, for whenever I want to read them for myself or to Emma! Once poem that really sticks out in my mind was entitled "Garage Saling" and it was a poem I wrote and won a first place award for at a library in Saint Joseph :) This is one of only two pieces of writing I have had published, the second being a short story about our heritage that was written for a contest in the Missouri Conservation magazine.

From 2004-2009 my writing skills were put to the test in multiple classes and Missouri Western State University. During the five years that I attended college, never once did I write a creative piece...leading me to be convinced that Professor were just trying to suck the creativity out of your being. But, creativity isn't something that can be stamped out simply by writing hundreds of theory, analytical, or historical papers. For me, being creative isn't something that I can produce on demand....sure I could've taken Creative Writing classes if I had wished, but for me, my writing loses something when there is someone expecting a poem or a short story in two day's time. However, in the end, and after hundreds and hundreds of hours researching, writing, editing, and rewriting, I finally got my English Degree on May 9th, 2009.

And now I am married, have a 1.5 year old daughter, and blogging is the main type of writing that consumes my time. Sometimes I really get nostalgic for the days when I could go sit in the old Smoke tree at Grandma and Grandpa's and just write, and write, and write. Funny how things change as time passes, but if it's something that one is passionate about, they still manage to incorporate it into their being, even if it's shape has to morph in order to fit.

Let the Good Times Roll

Lately things have been going pretty good for us here, despite it being Nick's busy time of year at work :) Emma has been in a really good mood and is learning to play by herself more, which is really neat to see her doing! She's also learned to blow kisses and play ball. When we take her to daycare once every two weeks she loves getting to play with the other kids, and at the playplace in the mall she just smiles watching all of the kids run around and play. In the past month or so, Nick has mentioned wanting to have another baby someday. I think it finally dawned on him one evening that Mom and I were talking about how lonely my cousin, Lauren, is as an only child, that Emma could be lonely too and that she really needs a sibling! This was all a really big surprise to me because he had made it known many times that he didn't want anymore kids, and I am happy about his change of heart!

We haven't really decided when to start trying again, but I imaging that within the next year or so the timing will be right. My biggest worry is space and juggling two kids at home by myself. As far as space goes we would have to keep the baby in our room in a bassinett/playpen until they began sleeping through the night, at which time we could move them to Emma's room. Our room is already pretty cramped, and another thing in there certainly wouldn't help the situation any, not to mention trying not to wake the baby when we are tossing and turning in bed, as neither of us are good sleepers. If anyone reading this has any ideas I would be glad to hear them! So it looks like there could be a new little Spotanski sometime in the future, which is certainly [good] news to me!