Jan 22, 2014

Bathroom Pallet Wall Tutorial

Hey Friends.

Tonight I wanted to give you all a tutorial of our pallet wall in our new bathroom. The hubs and I had posted some pictures on our facebook page and people have been asking about it since we posted it. So I figured I'd let you see 1st hand how we did it.


I scoured Pinterest and came across this pic as my motivation. I loved the colors...but wasn't 100% sure if those colors would work for us.


 I was lucky enough to come across an endless amount of pallets at work. So I took the truck to work and loaded up 2 full truck loads {about 50 pallets total}  




Then it was time for a little manual labor.  I've seen some projects on Pinterest that took the time and removed the nails on the ends and middle of the pallets or carefully cut them. I figured screw it and just grabbed the saw and started cutting.  Don't worry I had the wood burner going in the garage to stay warm :)  
 

 After cutting through about 30-35 pallets, I grabbed the sander and touched up the edges and the front of the boards if I felt that they needed it.  I grouped the pieces by width and some by length.




After all the pieces where sanded and grouped, we stared staining. Sorry I didn't take any pictures of the actual staining process, only a pic of the pallets drying. 
I went to Lowe's and purchased a 4 different tint-able stains {sangria, moss green, blue and brown}.  The stain was almost like a paint, which I loved because it washed off so much easier.


We also bought a $5 return gallon of a redish-brick paint to put on the bottom of the wall where the old wainscoting was. It worked perfectly.  We wanted a darker color to hide any gaps or imperfections in the wall behind the pallets. 

After painting...it was time to lay out the pallets. I stared by laying the rows out on the floor. Once I found my groove we started applying them to the walls.  To secure them to the wall we used some liquid nail & air nailed them to the wall. We hit the ends and the middle. Those boards aren't going anywhere :) 



The Hubs in action. 
We totally lucked out with piecing the wall together, there wasn't too much extra cutting to fit the boards.  John did an amazing job. I'm so proud of him.


The final project.  I was really not digging the blue when I was staining the wood, but LOVED the way all the colors turned out.  This might be the 1st Pinterest project that turn the way I was hoping.  




We still need to add some trim work to the bathroom but its totally functional. John did an awesome job. I'm so proud of him, he worked his ass off before he left to get everything running and functional.


Total cost for the pallet wall...
50 pallets= FREE
1 gal of Paint= $5.oo from Lowe's {it was a return gallon}
4 stains= $6.00/stain ($24 total)
2 tubed of Liquid nails=$6.00

Grand Total=$35.00 

 I'll take it.

Jan 15, 2014

My First Giveaway

Hello Friends!!!

Hope everyone is having an awesome week.  We're half way there!!!

So I've decided to host my 1st giveaway!!! Exciting Right?

I'm starting out small but hopefully there will be a good enough turnout that I'll work towards bigger
 & better giveaways in the future.
I will be giving away a $25 Starbucks Gift Card.


The winner will be selected on Monday Jan 20, 2014.
To enter is simple.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!!



Jan 13, 2014

Bucket List

 
Hi ya'll...by ya'll I mean the 1-2 people who follow the sad little blog.
Anyway...I was driving into work this morning listening to my morning radio show & they were talking about New Year's Resolutions and how many people have already stopped or a given up on theirs.  The conversation then turned to bucket list, which made me think...I still have my bucket list on my computer & it needs updated.
 
But before I go into my ever growing bucket list, I'm going to share with you my 2014 bucket list.
14 in 2014 Bucket List
My 2014 Bucket List...
1. Read a book every month
2. Work out more & eat less crap
3. Complete at least 1 Marathon (Little Rock)
4. Be better organized
5. Declutter the house
6. Do more meal planning
7. Pay off some Debit
8. Blog more
9. Meet new people
10.Stay in better contact with old friends
11. Enjoy the present
12. Send more snail mail. letters, cards, ect.
 
 

ok..ok...
Now on to my ever growing Bucket List {aka...wish list}
1.       Learn to act within your sphere of influence and stop worrying about things which are not within your control
2.       Go on a hot air balloon ride
3.       Get a 2nd chance at marriage (with someone who puts a little thought and effort into a proposal)
4.       Start a family
5.       Complete at triathlon
6.       Take 1st at the Bataan Death March, Women’s heavy
7.       Go white water rafting
8.       Walk the Grand Canyon
9.        Go to Vegas
10.   See the Northern Lights (the Aurora Borealis)
11.   Learn sign language
12.   Finish my Master’s
13.   Make a difference….Discover my life’s purpose.
14.   Learn to play the violin and Harp
15.    Take dancing lessons with someone
16.   Go scuba diving
17.   Go on a cruise
18.   Travel as much as possible…Australia…great barrier reef , Greece, Bora Bora
19.   Visit every continent
20.   Visit Normandy Beach
21.    Touch a Killer Whale
22.   Ride on a Pedal Tavern
23.   Visit The Kremlin in Russia
24.   Start going to church more often
25.   The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
26.   Go to a private concert
27.   Do more with my photography
28.   Take up more crafts…and finish them
29.   Become more organized
30.   Grow a garden (it didn’t turn out so well)
31.   Buy/Build a house….and make it “the perfect” house over the years
32.   Read every book your favorite author has written
33.   Learn not to take what others do or say personally
34.   Learn to say “no” without feeling guilty
35.   Make a difference in at least one person’s life
36.   Sell your original artwork or have it displayed somewhere
37.   Run with the Bulls
38.   Find inner peace and Learn to forgive
39.   See the Olympics in person
40.   Go to New York at Christmas time
41.   Ride a gondola in Venice
42.   Restore my ’69 Camaro
43.   Climb a mountain
44.    Learn to Surf
 
45.   Sky dive
46.   Relax…and let someone take photos of me
47.   A run a month for a year (almost there)
48.   Go on a Safari
49.   Watch wild mustangs roam
50.   Go to a NFL game
51.   Find a job/career that I really enjoy
 
 


Jan 8, 2014

OK...so I seriously have a problem. My name is Kira and I ‘m a Medal snob.
I am not a good runner, heck I really don't even call myself a runner. I finish races.
I've finished a several 1/2's and so far 3 full’s and a lot of 5ks. Anyway, I have never trained for any of them.
I'm not trying to be arrogant, you can hate me if you want to, I just get bored while running. It’s
weird I know. Many run because it is their outlet, blah blah blah.
I do it because I semi like it…not so much at the time…but I really do it normally for the medals. 
I’m a Medal snob!!! I pick races because of their medals. Other Than St Jude’s races, I do those for
 
the cause.
I blame my husband.  There are a few of us where I work that run/finish races. Well my husband (BF
at the time) was reading Runner’s World and seen an article about a race.  He looked it up and came
into my office and said…”we have to do this race…have you seen the medal?”  At the time I have
only complete 1 marathon (Bataan Death March) I rucked 26.2 miles in a full military uniform and a
weighted backpack.  I said that I would never do another race again….what can I say…the bug bit
 
me.
 
Anyway, I asked him when it is...his response, "in less than 3 weeks!" are you freaking nuts!!! Less than 3 weeks to prep for a 26.2 run. Oh man this is gonna hurt. It definitely didn't feel good, but we finished.
 
 
2 years later…we were dumb enough to do it again.
 
 
This year...the medal is bigger than last year. I wasn't going to do it until 2 ladies that work in my office had decided to do it.  Dang it...I couldn't not have that big huge medal too!!! I had to ask myself,  "Self, could I pass by their office and see it hanging there in all of it's glory?"  Nope I sure can't!!!! So, I signed up for my yearly 26.2 mile race...8 weeks out.
 
Wish me Luck!!!! 
It's Super Hero themed this year....what should I dress up as?
 
 
 

Jan 5, 2014

Running Season has begun

Hi ya'll!!!!  Two post in the same day!!!!  
Yes I have much more time on my hands now that the hubs is gone. :(

I just wanted to take a moment and let you all know that I will be running the Rock & Roll 1/2 Nashville in April.  I will be a St Jude's Hero again and will be raising money for the St Jude's Hospital. 

My goal is raise $1,000. I don't plan on stopping there, the more the better.
If your feeling generous....feel free to click on the image below to visit my fundraising page.
Thank You.

Kira 
http://heroes.stjude.org/kiratierney

Proposal Recap

Hello Friends!!!

I owe you all a recap of our wedding day and, trust me,  I'm working on that.  
One of my 2014 goals is to blog more.  The Hubby left for his deployment so I hope to blog more to fill up my time.  

I suppose I should start with the Proposal Story.  
We live in a small town in Central Illinois and for a small town,there are quiet a few hot air ballon hobbyist.  
We always see the balloons going up in the morning and evening going to and from work. I've mentioned in passing how I would like to go up in one, but I know the Hubs would never be up for it, because he hates heights.

On 08.15.13 we got home from work around 4:45 ish and needed to change and meet the in-laws and the Hub's sister for her B-day dinner.  The weather was nice and warm, so I through on some shorts and a t-shirt and john asked that I put on jeans and tennis shoes. I thought it was a little weird but I would wear yoga pants and a sports bra every day if i could :). 

We have to pick up the baby from daycare by 6pm and meet everyone for dinner at 6:15.
It was almost 5 and we needed to run by Walmart to get a b-day card and still run by daycare to pick up Graham.  I hate being late!!! It's a huge pet peeve of mine.  Anyway, I was ready to leave and John kept dragging his feet, which started to piss me off.  

We finally got to town, ran to Walmart.  John dropped me off at the door so I could run inside to grab a card.  A few mins passed and I get a text "hey i need to grab cash for dinner & i gotta run to the bathroom"  So I wondered around Walmart for a few mins until I got a text letting me know he was ready to go.

We got to the truck and John drove the longest way possible to get out of the parking lot and then drives into the bank parking lot near Walmart. I was for sure he was doing this all to get a rise out of me now. 

I asked him what we were doing now and he said he forgot the get cash.  It was 5:30...daycare closes in 30 mins!!! I'm starting to panic, lol.

He then pulls into a spot in the parking lot, and I lose it. I ask, "what the hell are we doing now? we're going to be late getting Graham!"

We get out of the truck and we starting walking into this flat open area and the next thing I know....he was proposing!!! The timing was perfect because the hot air balloon guys drove up.  He had planned the whole thing. He's plan was to pull in and have the hot air balloon waiting but they were a little late getting there which is why he kept stalling.  The kicker was he had look at my Pinterest boards and had our friend Amanda taking pictures in the bushes.  One of pins was to have a photographer hiding and snap pictures of the proposal.  Yea he's a keeper.


I'm trying to figure out what the hell is going on

Yep, that just happened

He just told me that Amanda was hiding in the bushes taking pics and all of our family was in the parking lot and we're taking a hot air ballon ride!

I can't believe he went up...he hates heights.
 


~Kira


Jan 1, 2014

2013 Recap

Happy 2014 everyone!!!
I hope you all had a wonderful ending to 2013.  
Sorry I've been MIA over the last month. Between the wedding, the holidays and with John leaving I haven't taken much time to sit down and blog.
I was sitting here thinking about our highlights from 2013 and what I want to accomplish in 2014.
2013 was a busy year for us, it seems like between John & I, one of us where gone.

2013 Recap
Jan- Left for Florida for a 6 week course. I was nice to miss the IL cold for nice sunny weather but I missed my baby like crazy. Of course he started crawling when I was gone.
Feb- We had John's Mom's 60th surprise birthday party
March- John and I went to Little Rock to run the Little Rock Marathon.  Their medal is AMAZING. It's the only marathon I do because if I'm gonna suffer through 26.2 miles...I'm going to get an amazing medal out of the deal. I was (am) completely out of shape, I hadn't trained at all but decided to do this race all because of the medal. totally worth it.
April- Complete the Lincoln 1/2 marathon. again...no training but finished. I really need to apply myself to see what I'm capable of. 
May- My 1st real Mother's Day
June- Graham's 1st bday.  
July- Had our yearly 4th of July party at the house and Graham and I flew out to Colorado to meet up with a few friends. He did awesome flying. 
August- I had to leave for 2 weeks for work to Alabama. John planned a surprise proposal, it was awesome totally took me off guard. I'll post more about it later.
Sep- of course...I get home and John had to leave for a few weeks to Kansas to military training
Oct- John was home for about 4 days before he had to leave again for a month in Virginia. Graham and I flew out to see John and enjoy the beach.
Nov-John came home and we got married Nov 9th (i'll post more about it later)

Dec-flew by with the holidays and John getting ready to leave it happened all so fast.  We were able to visit with family and finish our master on suite!!! more pics to follow 
I got to meet some of my fave bloggers Holly, Melanie , Ashleigh  they are too funny, such an awesome group of ladies.


~Kira