Israel Update

Ok so I'm really sorry to everyone who I told to follow my blog... and here it is over halfway into my Israel trip and I haven't created even one post. SORRY! :( If you could see how long our days have been and how much we've tried to cram into every day, you'd probably be more understanding. But, I promise I will eventually blog about everything... it just might be after I'm back stateside and have a reliable internet connection. 

But, for those who seriously are looking forward to my upcoming novel-length blogs (and obviously everyone is), here is a quick summary list of things I have seen and done in Israel so far:
 -flew first class over to Israel (seriously, there are no words)
-bet shamesh (where david and goliath are said to have had their famed battle)
-sailed on the mediterranean sea
-visited jerusalem
-walked the via delarosa (the walk that jesus walked while carrying the cross)
-been on the mount of olives (amazing pictures of Jerusalem from there)
-saw the Garden of Gethsemane (beautiful, amazing- where Jesus prayed to God for strength and asked if there was another way ... other than being crucified.)
-attended Easter morning sunrise service at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem
-entered into the West Bank
-visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and saw where Jesus was born
-been on top of Mount Madasa
-walked across "no-mans land" into the country of Jordan from Israel
-stayed in Aqaba, Jordan
-visited Petra in Jordan (ancient city magnificently built into the walls of a canyon)
-swam in the Red Sea
-got a serious sunburn
-saw Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia all at one time
-got kissed by a camel
-drank camel's milk
-rode a donkey
-ran someone over with that donkey
-got my bag searched by Israeli border patrol (I felt like they were going to arrest me)
-visited Eilat, Israel and went to the underwater observatory
-FLOATED in the Dead Sea (once in a lifetime experience, there is nothing like it)
-drove through countless Israeli checkpoints on the roads

whew. ok. I know I forgot some stuff, and I'm sure once I pull out all my pictures and brochures and stuff I'll have more places to talk about. I will be talking about each thing in more detail once I actually blog all this for real. This is just a quick blog to let you know I'm having a great time and will be writing more soon!

 Teaser photo.. (more to come)

From Goodwill to BEAUTIFUL!

Alright, it has been a LONG LONG time since my first post. Basically the only excuse: life got in the way. You know with all the graduating college, the moving to a different city, the job searching... all those small, minor, minuscule things.


So this is a post that I should have written a while back (in June) when I actually did this project. Earlier this year, I started heavily reading DIY blogs. I was inspired. All these beautiful crafts and pieces of furniture that people had a gift for making absolutely beautiful. I knew... that was me. I could do that just like all those other women out there. I could go to goodwill and find a dresser for $10 and make it seem fresh out of a Pottery Barn catalogue. I could turn a rustic, broken antique mirror into a sophisticated and classy note board. I could refrain from buying expensive decor from Pier One and Ashley. I could and I freaking should because I am fresh out of college, no job as of yet, a boyfriend and roommate who is still in school, and a precious baby, Sadie, who is the light of both our lives to provide clothes and food for. Why yes, Sadie is a dog. :) But it doesn't mean that she is any less needy than an actual child would be, just let me tell you!


Anyways, back to saving money. Ensue trip to local goodwill store to see if I could make any good finds. And what do you know but I find these 3 beauties for $12 each.

How often do you find 3 matching end tables in pretty good condition at a resale shop?! I definitely couldn't give you any kind of guesstimate, but I'm betting its not too often. I knew I didn't need 3. Hell, I didn't even know if I had room for two of them in the new apartment we were about to move into. But I definitely bought all three, because someday I will have that dream house large enough to hold three end tables. Yes, its one of my many dreams. ;)

I was really inspired at the time by many posts on Better After that showed stained wooden tops of tables with white painted body and legs. LOVE! So I gathered up advice from the blog-o-sphere on what brands to buy, what stains to get, how to strip, etc etc. Mind you, this was my first time ever to do something like this, and by golly I was going to be an independent woman and do it alone. No help from the dad or the boyfriend needed here! [Ok, well maybe a little advice now and then helped ;)]

After (several) trips to Lowe's to get everything I needed, I started my adventure in the scorching Texas summer. I believe that most of the days that I worked on this project the temperature outside was in the ballpark of 105-110. I wish I was kidding. No need for a workout that day, I'll tell you that much. I'm pretty sure I sweated out my entire body weight working on these tables.

Honestly, the hardest part was stripping the tables of the previous finish. I researched several ways to strip the finish, but I ultimately went with a spray on stripper from Minwax (I think, honestly its been so long since I did this I can't remember for sure). It was so hot outside that I think it made the stripping way harder than it should have been, and it was drying like CRAZY fast. Im pretty sure it's not supposed to look all blotchy like this, but I made it work.

So moving on, I then had to cover the top with a cheap, plastic drop cloth, tape it and turn the table over onto its face. Then I was able to prime the upper part of the body that was green and get it ready for some fresh new paint. I used Klitz primer for obvious reasons as it seems to be the universal choice among DIY-ers. I also primed all the legs after I had unscrewed them from the table.

By this point, I was so incredibly sweaty and tired, I threw in the towel for day one. The next time I started back up on this little project, I was going to get to enjoy the fun part: PAINTING! Honestly, I was very underwhelmed by the spray paint selection at most stores in N/E Tarrant county. Lowe's and Home Depot's selections were abysmal considering they are a home improvement store. I was told to check out Wal-Mart for their selection of Krylon, but um, my Wally World definitely doesn't carry Krylon or have any kind of selection to ride home about. Anyways, I settled on Rustoleum's Antique White that I found at an Ace Hardware and was ultimately pretty pleased with it.

At this point I was getting pretty excited because this had turned into a really lengthy process and finally I was seeing some progress as to what my final project might look like. 

Next up, staining! I bought Minwax's Red Mahogany stain. I was scared it was going to have too much of a reddish tint, but thankfully it didn't

Apply on, Wipe off, Apply on, Wipe off. Apply on, Wipe off.

Let dry for 24 hours and VIOLA!

I had a little trouble with the finish completely soaking into the wood. I'm not sure if I didn't strip or sand the top enough, but I'll be sure to work a little harder at it next time. 

But I'd have to say, for a first project. I'm mighty proud of my 3 little goodwill end tables! Hope you like them too.

I'm linking up to a few sites that gave me the inspiration for this endeavor:

Camera Dilemma

So being a college grad here in a few short months I basically have little to no money (shocker!). And all the money that I find myself accumulating in these next few months and years to come will mostly head straight from my pocket to the bank.


So therefore what I am currently fantasizing about will most likely have to wait a while. 


THIS LOVELY, WONDERFUL, AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL SPECIMEN OF A CAMERA:

THE NIKON D3100 14.2MP DLSR W/ 18-55MM VR LENS

OR:

THE CANON EOS REBEL T1i 15.1 MP DSLR W/ EF-S 18-55MM IS LENS

Aren't they just jaw-droppingly stunning?! I know I would take some equally stunning pictures of my own with them. But since I currently own a working Point & Shoot Sony CyberShot, the desire for a new camera isn't outweighing the financial toll it would take to afford one. Did I mention that these are both in the $650-800 range.... AT WAL-MART, aka. the cheapest place on the planet. I hate Wal-Mart, but love them at the same time. No one can beat their prices and being like every other American in this economy, money and price are the most important factors almost all of the time.

..But I definitely have a new staple on all of my birthday and Christmas wishlists for the next several years. :)

Smiles,

Amanda