Projects and over-run budgets.

TA-DA! A blog post! I know, I know, how exciting.

I just finished my latest project for my living room. The South end has been redone and I thought I would share the progress.

The family pictures: Family pictures are always an ordeal, even when you don't want them to be. When my sister Nikki was in town, we went shopping for clothes. 17 outfits later (okay, maybe there were only 15), we decided on what I should wear. Then Bryce and Derek's outfits were easy to find. I then decided to take the pictures at Wadley Farms in Lindon. Clay came with us to make Derek smile -- somehow a grown man with a light saber always does the trick! (Thanks again, Clay.)

We did Rick Nye's new website and left some cash at the end for an updated family picture. I did take the picture of Derek on the right -- he wouldn't cooperate long enough for Rick to take a picture, so Mike and Claire let us use their backyard as a backdrop a few days later.

The coffee/end tables & frames: I went in to Four Chairs to order some frames for our family pictures and I saw the tables. I knew I had to have them! They came in a set, so I decided I needed both end and the coffee table. That meant we had to rearrange the living room, moving the entertainment center and rearranging the media stuff. That was quite the project. I also had a hard time deciding on a frame color, but I think black will be traditional enough throughout the years. (I do Four Chairs' website too. But don't look at it now. It's in the middle of being revamped.)

The lamps: I got a black lamp base and pretty red lamp shade for our wedding. I realized a little while later that I should have two -- one for my side of the bed and one for Bryce -- but Target decided to no longer carry the shade. A few years later I noticed the base on clearance, so I bought it. A short while after that, we moved and one of the bases was dropped and broken (the guilty person will remain nameless).

Now fast-forward to the present. I had two new black end tables, one functioning black base, one broken black base and one red shade. I went to Lowe's and (all by myself) found the necessary pieces to fix the broken base. I then browsed online and found a darling lamp shade for $250. I then kept looking for lamp shades and found one at Target.

I then decided that I wanted something more unique for my totally-awesome-and-totally-unique end tables. So I went to six stores and then decided that the Target lamp shades were totally-awesome-and-totally-unique-especially-for-their-price. I then went to JoAnn's and bought beads and trim to spice them up. An hour later with the hot hot glue gun, they look pretty dang good. (And no, I didn't make a mistake. I meant to say hot twice. Just ask my right thumb.)

I also spent an evening with my Lowe's fix-it parts and my broken lamp base. I was only electrocuted once (and tripped the power twice), but I fixed my broken base for a little less than $10. It was so worth it.

The couch and accessories: the same ol' red couch. In my wildest dreams I will get a new one someday. I have fabric left over from the curtains for toss pillows. What a concept. So for today, just let the couch be. The throw has been at Target for months and it finally went on clearance, which means I have no restraint. Hooray for Target clearance.

I want something else for the East wall and some sort of finishing touch with the picture frames. Maybe someday we'll decide what to do with our lives, we'll own something and I will be able to paint too.

But hey, several projects and several over-run budgets later, I couldn't be happier about my new South-end in my living room. And my cute family hanging on the wall.