Amusing MJ

Labor Day Respite

September 1, 2014 By amusingmjblog 1 Comment

Did you guys miss me? Is there anyone still there?

I can’t believe it has been over a month since I posted last! Actually… scratch that, I can. It has been an insanely busy month in my life. I unexpectedly had to take care of an emergency at work which has required me to be in Kansas for about 6 weeks. I’m facing down my last week here, so I’m getting back into my normal life… and that means I have a little extra time to blog! But not being home means I have done zero projects at home, so I’ll be catching up on a few that I haven’t had a chance to blog about yet, and a couple that I left half done 6 weeks ago and will be returning to when I finally get home this Friday. I’m anxious to get home, and pretty excited to get back to my normal life!!

This weekend my husband and brother came up to Kansas to join my parents, grandmother and myself at our little lakehouse out in the country in Kansas. It has been a relaxing weekend of skiing, swimming, playing fetch with the dogs, sleep and board games. This place is a dog’s paradise, so Lexie and my brother’s dog Q have had an excellent weekend!

The dogs played fetch until they basically passed out.

I caught this funny picture of Lexie and my husband as Lexie was shaking all her water off.

This is one of those places which has been a constant in my life and some of my best memories are here. I learned to ski here, I spent countless 4th of July’s setting off fireworks, played hours and hours of board games, took long walks, brought friends, and spent time for family. So after a crazy month of long work hours and high stress, this weekend of relaxation was exactly what I needed!

lake6

I also got the chance to practice some of my photography this weekend, just getting to play around a little bit. And I definitely had some great natural subjects! I was playing around with long exposure after having such good luck at Fourth of July with them, and I have to say I love the way the long exposure turns out!

This was of the outside looking in last night of a beautiful and peaceful night! Then after some storms rolled through overnight, I woke up early and saw the most beautiful sky with a double rainbow and an amazing sunrise. (both are completely unedited except for size)

Kansas is definitely one of the best places in the world for sunrises and sunsets! And after living in the city, nothing is quite as amazing as a calm clear night with amazing stars!

I hope you have all had a wonderful and relaxing Labor Day Weekend!!

Filed Under: Life, Travel

Becky’s Guestroom

July 17, 2014 By amusingmjblog 2 Comments

PS… I also updated the photos on the House Tour Page, so be sure and check them out!

I showed y’all a bunch of posts this spring from my brother’s wedding (if you missed them go here, here, here, and here). Well they have been busy over at their house turning his house into their house. Which by the way is a pretty tricky transition (or at least has been for the several couples I know who have done it!). But they are doing an awesome job, and I’ll show you their new bathroom renovation once it is complete!

But on to the topic at hand. The guest bedroom. When AJ was ‘decorating’ (and I use that term loosely) the guest bedroom was perfectly functional but not very pretty. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of it, but picture a bed on a metal frame, extra sheets and blankets and you’re pretty much there. When Becky moved in, she had her old bedroom set that they decided to use in the guest room. And it is beautiful!!!

Since my college rival’s color is purple, its never been a color I go to, but I love this beautiful gray with lavender!

The monogram in the picture below was on the mantle at their wedding, so it has even more significance.

This awesome wall decor was made by the ever talented Judy (Becky’s mom) for her old bedroom. and is made out of scrapbook paper, but it makes an awesome wall decoration (and can be perfectly customized to any room!!). This would be an excellent dorm decor idea!

It is such a beautiful room and a lovely place for people to stay! (Which means now I have to share my parents with them when they come to stay!)

Want to see more of AJ’s house? Click here, here and here!

Filed Under: AJ's House, Guest Room

The Aliens have left the building

July 10, 2014 By amusingmjblog 2 Comments

Okay now that I’ve updated you on all my summer travels (here and here), I’ll show you one of the projects I managed to squeeze in! When I moved into my house 3 years ago one of the things I really didn’t like was the light fixture over the kitchen table, which you can see here:

It may not seem like much of a big deal, but the first thing I thought when I saw this was that the alien ships were landing all over my dinner plate. AND its the first thing you see when you walk in from our garage (how we enter the house 99% of the time). So it was pretty high on my I WANT TO CHANGE THIS NOW list. (don’t worry… that’s just a mental list, not written down anywhere). But I also knew that I wanted it to be a night light fixture and much to my chagrin… those things don’t come cheap! So I did what any smart girl did, and asked for it for my birthday. And by asked for it, I mean sent my husband an email with a link to a picture of it :). Here’s the link in case any of you want to pass that along to someone who loves you.

But it was so worth it because look how pretty it is! (PS that’s the same table, just with it’s leaf extended below and not above)

It has 4- 60 Watt bulbs, so it gives off quite a bit of light, especially down onto the table, which is perfect. And I like the fun weave pattern it casts on the ceiling: