Author Archives: explorenewness

lovin’ my NEW kitchen

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beforeafter2

I thought I’d finally post the before and after pics from our kitchen remodel.  I’m LOVING my NEW kitchen!  The family didn’t really appreciate how long it took {we think our contractor could have scheduled the subs a bit more efficiently}…but it’s FINALLY done, and we are really enjoying it!  Before we started this project, I thought and thought how I might change the kitchen’s layout; but nothing practical presented itself.  We didn’t want to mess with the flooring, because it was just fine –  so we just got NEW cabinet faces and countertops and we called it good!  Here are a few details:

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I  love, loVE, LOVE my NEW knife drawer!

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A bunch of miscellaneous utensils/tools that used to be stored in a drawer are now stored vertically in a pull-out shelf.  Much more efficient!

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The VERY tiny cupboards to the right of my stove used to be pretty useless!  Now I have NEW pull-out spice cupboards.

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I’ve always used these dish pans to store my plastic-ware in; but having them on these pull-out shelves has been REALLY nice.  My plastic-ware seems to stay organized longer now, for some reason!

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I like having my soap on a plate!  Before, it seemed to always leave a yucky ring on my countertop.  (But my countertop used to be white, so now maybe I wouldn’t see the yucky ring on the black…but, I still like the plate).

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And lastly, I like my NEW over-the-sink light fixture and NEW curtains!  I scored when my friend said she had two extra fixtures from her remodel. (I’d looked around and hadn’t found one I liked…so I was THRILLED when she said I could buy one from her).

And, of course, one project leads to another!  We got a NEW back door in the dining room and a few NEW décor items.  We still have more projects to finish…so I’ll post on that progress later.

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So what’s NEW with YOU!?!?  Hope you have a great day!

Linking to:

Sew Many Ways

miscellaneous NEW stuff

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flamboyance

How was your weekend?  Mine was pretty relaxing…that’s a good thing, right?   I stayed around the house because my hubby was doing a project – and he likes me to stay close by in case he has a ‘design question’.  He’s very handy, and always likes to make things just the way I like them to be :o)  Yes, I’m a VERY lucky gal!

Anywhoo!  Here are a few miscellaneous thoughts from my weekend:

This month…since it’s November, I’m going to steal the idea from Snippets from Springdale and concentrate on gratitude this month.  I have SO MANY blessings that I’m truly grateful for, and I need to express that gratitude….either through word or photographs on this blog.  Isn’t that an excellent idea?!?!?

Also…I very rarely watch a movie more than once, but this weekend I ended up watching the Princess Bride again.  I saw this video snippet about one of the actor’s favorite lines from the movie:  CHECK IT OUT HERE!   It’s so true that our perceptions change as we go through this life,  and things we don’t even notice when we’re younger make an impression later as we have more experience to glean from!  So that little clip made me want to watch the movie again!  It’s a GOOD movie!….and I LOVE that line now as well!

Lastly, I spent a bit of time at the piano this weekend.  I recently needed some NEW sheet music {yeah, I get tired of the same ol’ music quite often – as I’ve mentioned before}, so I learned to play the fun piece from The King and I called ‘March Of the Siamese Children’.  It’s a fun piece to play and every time I play it, it reminds me of the {SOOOOO CUTE!!!} children in the movie!

Again, I  hope you all had a GREAT weekend!  Let me know what NEW things you did!

a NEW fudge recipe…yummy!

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fudge

I tried a NEW fudge recipe last night.  Wow…it’s probably been a decade since I last made fudge! BUT…when I saw this recipe for Samoa Fudge, I knew I had to try it.  Why?  Because I LOVE the Girl Scout Samoas cookies, and anything with a similar taste has to be my friend!

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Check out the recipe at My Recipe Magic and learn or do something NEW today!

NEW photos of my week #31

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orangeautumntrees

Today I set out to photograph a spot up the canyon where I knew there was a nice waterfall.  But my timing wasn’t great, because there was no lighting at all! (Too early for the sun to peek over those peaks, I guess).  However, on my way home I saw these beautiful trees!  My photo-shoot wasn’t a complete total waste, thank goodness!  Have a great day.  DO SOMETHING NEW!

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Linking to:

The View From Right Here

Mosaic Mondays

a NEW habit…dry brushing

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Hi all!  A few months ago, I visited our library and checked out five or six short non-fiction books on a variety of subjects.  I only remember a couple of them now…one book was about the benefits of water, and the other was a ‘How to get things done’ type of book.  I was practicing my speed-reading :o)  and so I went through the books rather fast, but I made sure I took ONE THING from each book that I could implement in my life.  In the ‘Benefits of Water’ book, they talked a lot about drinking water…(yeah, I know I need to drink more H2O!)….but they also talked about the benefits of dry brushing.  Now I’m happy to say that I’ve implemented this habit for the last few months and I’m confident that it’s an ingrained habit and I’ll continue from now on.

I can’t recall the title of the book I checked out from the library, but I’ve got a couple of good references for dry brushing for you, if you are interested!  I’ll let you know what I implemented from the ‘How to get things done’ book in a later post.

Benefits of Dry Skin Brushing Explained:

  1. Removes cellulite
  2. Cleanses the lymphatic system
  3. Removes dead skin layers
  4. Strengthens the immune system
  5. Stimulates the hormone and oil-producing glands 
  6. Tightens the skin preventing premature aging
  7. Tones the muscles
  8. Stimulates circulation
  9. Improves the function of the nervous system
  10. Helps digestion

Check out: Natural Health Techniques

There is also lots of good YouTube videos on how to do dry brushing!  Check those out as well.  Have a great day, and try something NEW!

NEW {repurposed} Halloween Decor

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witches

Less than a week until Halloween! Eek!  I’ve gotta go buy bags of candy 😮  I don’t have a ton of Halloween decorations, but I thought I’d share this year’s Halloween mantle with you today.  Sorry the photo is at a weird angle…it was hard not to get some light reflecting off the picture frame glass.  (Yes, I was WAY TOO lazy to take the glass out!)

I saw this print of vintage witches last year, and ordered the print quite some time ago.  I recently got around to framing it, and then whipped out the candles we had from my son’s wedding earlier in the year:

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And wha-la!  Repurposed Halloween mantle.  So easy!  Just a bit of fake cobwebs to finish it off.  It looks especially spooky with all the candles “lit”.

Have you decorated for Halloween?  Do or Learn something NEW! Have a great day!