I am SO excited to announce that I have started a new blog.  I will still have all the same refurbishing tutorials, and we have added way more info and unique things to offer our readers.  We have named it:

SIMPLYSHERIDAN

We have so many posts coming up including:

How to create a hard surface faux marble countertop

how to refurbish a antique dresser

How to build a budget chicken coup

Recipes

Keto living

Natural living

DIY Jenny Lynd Beds

How to build a closet

And so much more!  Join us as we renovate and bring our cottage back to its glory days!

I am SO excited to announce that I will have a Scentsy booth at the upcoming expo for 

ALL ABOUT BABY!! 

You must come!  Get your FREE tickets here

FREE EXPO TICKETS

There will be give aways and a TON of other vendors there.  Spread the news!  This is great for you even if your not having a baby, they have stuff for toddlers to.  We all know some one who is pregnant-mom of toddler so come and enjoy!  

The Misadventures of a Self Taught Videographer | Ep. 1

Videography is something I have been interested it for many years. The passion was sparked by a desire to capture my friends and I as we did various death defying stunts on our rollerblades. Or, as we blew up various things with our homemade explosives (sorry to all our parents...). Lately, I've had a desire to make videos that have an impact on the viewer also.

So, with some extra money I started to buy some necessary equipment, like a camera. I started to search the vast expanses of the interwebs to find tutorials and lessons on videography. I even started DIYing some accessories (which I will post separately). With all this knowledge poring in to my brain, I felt ready for my first shoot.

My First Video Shoot. Which Turned Into My Second...

I met with my good friend Chris (@CDZthemessenger) to shoot his first spoken word video. I felt confident for the most part that I could come away with some awesome footage. Like I expected, I loved the footage we captured! We shot in downtown Provo later in the evening at the "Golden Hour" (right before the sun goes down).

There was a problem though. After I got home and put the footage in my editor, I noticed that the audio was absolute garbage. There wasn't a lot of wind that day, more of a slight breeze. I did not have a windscreen for my recorder (Tascam DR-40). My first "misadventure" was not monitoring the audio as we shot the video. Big mistake. We tried to salvage the footage by dubbing over the original, but there were to many factors that made that too time consuming. If you follow me on Facebook then you saw this photo.

This was the original footage. I loved it. However, I had to make the decision to re-shoot the video.

This time we shot indoors and, had a lav mic. There was an important lesson I learned on this second first shoot. Lighting is key! On the first shoot lighting was not an issue due to the great golden hour sun light. So, the footage came out a little darker for some angles but usable. More important to me, the audio was awesome!

There is a lot that goes into filming editing and producing a video, even if it is only 2 min long. I definitely learned a lot on this project and can only improve from here. The final product can be seen at this link: Contentment | Spoken Word by CDZ

Fresh Painted Chairs For Spring

Wednesdays are my new "Get 'er Done" days.  Every week on Wednesday I have a few ladies over for  breakfast and lunch, we sit around just crafting, and finishing unfinished projects for our homes.  First it was my Picture Wall (for another post), and second was my Pillows (also for another post), this past Wednesday I broke out my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and got two of my dinning chairs done.

Since the chairs already were so feminine  I used a more masculine fabric on the seats so my Hubbs would still feel like a man sitting on them. ( love you babe).  I LOVE them! 

I also wanted to try and see if it was true that Chalk Paint worked well on leather!?! 

I had bought this chair for $6.00 at DI when I was pregnant with my most recent little girl.  Such a steal right? 

 Its so drab, but the lines are FAB...

Here it is after its little make over.

I am surprised at how nice the chalk paint feels on the leather, as well as how real it looks!  We've had everyone sit on it and test it out.  So far it has held up to rubbing, wiping, rough sitting, and it is flexible with the leather so no cracking or wrinkles!  Crossing my fingers it lasts.

I used regular latex paint in pure white for the wood, and used a silver sharpie pen to bring out the lines and details on the arms and legs...its not very noticeable since it reflects light, but it adds just enough. 

Bringing Hannah Home

Although I love being pampered at the hospital, I was really ready for us to get home this time.  I was also dreading it at the same time cause I hadn't cleaned the house.  We had planned on leaving at 1:00 straight after lunch, but since the nursing staff was super busy ( they had filled all the rooms in labor and delivery as well as some the next floor up!) it took them forever to get all the paper work finished.  We ended up getting home around 4:00 that afternoon.  We stopped by the pharmacy to pick up some supplies as well as this awesome stuff..

yep Coconut Oil, best stuff ever!  We use it for everything,  face, bums, hair, and of course we use it cooking.  This is my favorite kind.

Our Birth Story

Warning:  This is a birth story, I have kept it as appropriate as possible, but there are somethings that might still gross you out.

December 17th started out like a typical Monday morning. Steve's alarm woke us up, he sighed knowing that there was no "action" happening and that he had to get up and go to work again...(the excitement of not only getting to spend two weeks payed vacation with the family, but also avoiding the crazy Christmas work was getting to him). Since my midwife advised me not to drive any more Steve just took the van to work, my mom was meeting me at 11:15 to take me to my 11:45 check up.  I was completely out of energy and 1 day past my due date,  I looked at my house and just felt depressed, so I did only the most important stuff, dishes, swept, mopped, cleaned off the sofa. ( Those tend to be the most messy things in our house) and spent most of my my morning resting.  I had been having mild contractions for two days now and basically gave up on having my little princess all naturally since I was measuring a whopping 44-45 weeks!

Due In 15 Days

( Warning: Lots of words in this post)
Little Hannah is on her way!  I am 38 weeks tomorrow and could not be more ready for her to come, ok maybe I could.  It is December 1st and I am sitting in the laundry strewed living room of our new rental.  The hospital bag is almost packed, its just missing a few things like my yoga pants (can't find them) and the toiletries.  Hannah's bag however is ready to go!  Isn't it cute?

I went with a simple grey pleather (wipe able) bag. We have done this twice before with Mia & Jude and I am completely worried confident of my bag packing skills. But here is what I did pack and remember using with my other two.

Easy wipe able diaper bag

Lip balm

My favorite diaper cream

Two pacifiers ( although I will not be using them)

A few new born diapers ( just in case, but the hospital usually provides and sends you home with some)

Warm blanket

3-4 outfits ( 3 simple sleepers, and one going home)

Breast feeding pads

Nursing cover

swaddling blankets

preferred wipes

feeding ointment (lasinoh)

Boppy pillow

Next up is our Super Awesome Find!  The playpen.  

I was really particular about finding something that "did it all" because we are living in a small space. 

This is the Graco Pack n Play with new born napper.

I haven't put the changing table, or the napper on since I was still organizing all her things.  This is my favorite buy cause its not huge! 

 

Its just what we need and it rolls easily from room to room. We got it for a steel off ksl.com for only $85.00.  Sweet savings. 

Hopefully our next post will be showing a lot of the "two feet" our family will be growing.

Pregnancy update:

How far along? 38 Weeks

Total weight gain: up 2 lbs. (lost weight at the beginning of the pregnancy and have gained all + 2lbs)

Maternity clothes? Yep
Stretch marks? Two small new ones
Sleep: Terrible.  I am sore, and I am posetive its cause she is at a -1 this week.
Best moment this week: Kid2Kids "Fill A Bag" event...yes im not kidding. Fill a bag to the top for $10.00.  LOVED IT!
Miss Anything?  Walking straight.  I feel like a duck (waddle waddle).  Playing and singing piano.  Its been too hard to sit on my bench. 
Movement: oh yes she is a crazy mover!
Food cravings: Sweets! I know dangerous, but I do I want carrot cake and spiced cupcakes sound so good! 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing right now.
Gender: Girl
Labor Signs: Yes! I am so excited.  We are at -1, 3cm, 70%.  Also last night I had some contractions I actually had to concentrate breathing threw!
Symptoms: Some contractions, and lots of pain in my hips the last little while.

Belly Button in or out? Flat!
Wedding rings on or off? on.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy & a little moody!
Looking forward to:  D-DAY!  Oh I wish I knew so I could plan around it!

* Update:  So I thought I'd write what I really used in the hospital. This just what my baby and I needed.  

Warm Blanket 

Swaddling blankets

4 outfits (3 simple sleepers, 1 coming home)

Lotion(Mom)

Shampoo(Mom)

Conditioner(Mom)

loose comfortable outfit(Mom)

Car Seat

Car Seat Cover

baby socks

baby gloves

Boppy Pillow

Lip Balm(Mom)

Nursing cover

Make Up(Mom