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2011 Year in Review

December 27, 2011

2011 is coming to a close and looking back I can say that 2011 had a few big changes for our family! This time last year I was blogging under Love From My Kitchen and had maybe 11 followers which were mostly friends and family. I was having fun blogging my recipes and some things about our home but didn’t really have much of a clue as to what I was doing. I thought it would be fun to look back over the past year and see how things have changed.

January  I share our 2011 House Goals and we started on the Cloffice.

February   Cloffice Reveal

March      Playroom Makeover

April     Launch of The Blooming Hydrangea & Our Little Boy’s Bedroom Reveal

June     I introduced you to Ruby the newest member of our home and I also had some really great Guest Bloggers filling in for me while we were busy moving.

July I shared our Colonial’s never ending siding project minus the front door being painted and I also get a little more personal by sharing about  My Miscarriage and Ectopic Pregnancy

August The birth of Roomspiration was born and I was finally able to announce it!

September We worked on the Entryway
October I hosted the Closets and Nooks portion of Roomspiration where I revealed the new Cloffice. which is still not quite done and I also shared the progress I made on Painting our Oak Trim White.

November I shared the start of  Our Master Bedroom makeover and I also won a ticket to Haven!
December I shared some of my Favorite Things, participated in the 12 Crafty Days of Christmas where I shared my tablescape and shared the rest of my Christmas decorating here.

We started the year out strong on projects and renovating the Colonial then we moved in June and since then it’s been slow going. We did promise our kids no projects for six months but failed on that. The entryway, Powder Room and Cloffice were all done in about a 4 week period in September but since then we haven’t done much besides painting trim and our bedroom. Is painting considered a project?  Not according to the 10 almost 11 year old, she said “I like when you do projects and painting doesn’t count.”  I am really excited to get working on Master Bedroom again and also, I have Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations kit sitting in my house just waiting for me to open it! 

I’ll be back later this week to post our House Goals for 2012. You can read Our House Goals for 2011 post here and I feel even with moving halfway through the year, we didn’t do too badly! How was your year looking back?   Did you blog about your year in review, if so I’d love to read it! Get your posts ready to link up and come join me!

When you link up if you would please either save the above image and include it in your post or leave a direct link back to this party, I’d appreciate it! 

I’m linking up here:

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Christmas Faces & a Link Party

December 27, 2011

My friend Shan at Family Brings Joy is having a fun link up party this week. It’s a Stunned Faces Photo Link up where you can post pictures of Christmas day and the surprise or stunned look on the person’s face as they are opening a gift. I didn’t capture any this year but I did find a few from last year and they do make me laugh!

Who knew a Lava Lamp could make someone so happy?  I love it!  We are opening some gifts again on Friday so I might try and capture a few more of these moments! 

If you have captured some great expressions on faces this Christmas, head over and link them up.  Even if you don’t have any photos to link up, head over and check out the ones that are! 

Also don’t forget that Thursday I’m hosting my own 2011 Year in Review Link Party.  I hope you’ll join me!

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The end of the Year and a Link Party

December 26, 2011

Is everyone sad that Christmas is over? I am but we had a great time on Christmas Eve sharing food and fun with some close friends and their children.  We then headed to church and later during bedtime and until 11pm we ended up with kids not being able to sleep and crying.  We just wanted them to go to bed so we could finish up our gifts for them.  The kids had a great time opening gifts on Christmas morning and I’ll be back later this week to share our DIY Entertainment Center turned Play Kitchen. I did post a pic on The Blooming Hydrangea FB page so you can always head over there to see it.

Last night I was thinking back to what I was doing last January and what my goals were for the coming year in our home. I thought it would be fun to do a blog post on the past year to see what I accomplished and all that happened this past year.  I’d love to see what you’ve done this past year too so I am hosting a link party starting on Thursday!

Feel free to spread the word, the more the merrier! 

What did you get for Christmas this year?  I’m waiting for this to go on sale!

Now we are off to enjoy some more family time, I made everyone clean the house this morning because I can only handle so much Christmas mess strewn around the house like this:

Do you leave the presents out under the tree after they are opened or do you prefer them put away?

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My Favorite Things 2011

November 30, 2011

Today I’m going to share A few of my favorite things this Christmas season and you should.

I just went to Bath & Body Works, used a coupon and managed to buy 12 foaming hand soaps for $30.  I love them and they are my splurge, yes, I choose to splurge on soap that gets washed down the drain.  I used to use the cheap soap from Target with a refill jug for $4.50 but I hated the way my hands smelled after washing them and the foaming soap just seems more fun to wash your hands with. 
Two of my very favorite Holiday scents right now are Ribbon Candy and Iced Gingerbread. Yummy smells that you can only get once a year, check. Clean hands that feel good, check. Use a coupon and get them for around $2.50 a piece so you feel good about not spending a lot on soap, check.

An added bonus and another favorite thing, you can buy these cute metal holders for your soaps that are called soap sleeves.  Interesting name.  Anyways, they are cute and come in different designs.  

I am not a coffee drinker, if you know me at all, you know that I have enough energy I don’t need a kick start to my day.  Also caffeine kicks up my anxiety and you will find me in a corner, rocking and sucking my thumb.  I do love flavored hot chocolate though and this one, is my favorite, Land O Lakes Amaretto!  It’s hard to find but if you find it, hoard it!  That’s what I do, I buy like 10 at a time, they are about .50 cents a packet so really you are getting 10 hot chocolates for the price of maybe one Starbucks hot chocolate.  If you get a small one maybe you could buy one and a half from them, maybe. 

To make it even better, I have now started adding some whipped cream on top, caramel topping drizzled on top of the whipped cream and then sprinkle some sea salt on for the final WOWZA!  Oh yummyness in a cup, how I love you!  If you aren’t a big Amaretto fan they have other great flavors like Hazelnut, Caramel, Raspberry, Mint, Artic White and Irish Cream to name a few.

Finally, my hubby and I have recently discovered the tv series Parenthood on netflix.  We are not tv people much but we do like to watch tv sometimes.  This is the perfect series for us, we laugh because sometimes we so relate to what’s going on.

Have you watched this show?  Don’t tell me what’s happening, we are only halfway through season 2!

Ok I am editing this post because how could I forget about one of my very favorite things that I use whenever we watch an episode of Parenthood!

This little lovely makes popcorn kernels turn into popcorn in the microwave.  Add some kernels, no oil or butter needed, place the lid on the container, put it in the microwave, hit the popcorn button and in a few minutes enjoy fresh popped popcorn without gross fake butter all over it.  I of course add my own butter and lots of it but that’s the beauty of this baby!  No messy pan full of oil on the stove, shaking the pan vigorously for 10 minutes while it pops.   I found my bowl at Target in the chip aisle, right where the popcorn kernels are.    It was only $8 in the store, it’s $12.99  online but I think that is still a deal!  What a great Christmas gift to give with some kernels, maybe a movie and a fun beverage like root beer!

So that’s it, my favorite thins right now, this moment!  I love them and I’m sure you will too, really!     What are your favorite things right now?  Tell me, talk to me, I want to know!

Linking up here:

and The Nesters Favorite Things Party

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I won! I won! I really won!!!!

November 18, 2011

I am so excited, picture me doing a happy dance in my kitchen, kind of like a leprechaun mixed with a cotton-eyed joe type dance.

Last week my friend Lisa sent me an e-mail about a Haven Ticket giveaway at Creative Kristi’s Blog.  So I tweeted and entered and waited  impatiently patiently for her to announce the winner on Wednesday.  And then she didn’t.
But today I received a tweet from Creative Kristi while in the church parking lot that said this:

@Bloomingange I announced the winner on my blog ;)  

Ok, why did she tweet that to me with a winky face?  Does that mean I won?  No, I doubt it. 
I check her blog post and it was ME!   I WON!  I’m going to the HAVEN Conference! 

Haven Conference 2012


So who’s going to be there?  I’m so excited to meet so many of you in person and of course to get my blog on.  WOOT WOOT! 

This is a truly wonderful day for me, I won a ticket to a blogging conference and  I’m going to see Hillsong in concert tonight, I can’t wait!  Yet, I know that today, a family is burying a 12 year old son.  My emotions are so mixed, high, low, happy, sad. I can’t imagine the heartbreak and tears but amidst that they know, right now there son is in Heaven.  Is there any better place to be?   No sadness, no tears, no pain.  The only ones with sadness, tears and pain are those left here on Earth.  So if you are a praying person, this family could be lifted up today, tomorrow and whenever you think of them.  Thank you!

By 8 Comments Filed Under: Blogging Fun, giveaways

How to use Pinterest

October 18, 2011

Many of you already know about the wonder of Pinterest. If you don’t yet know about Pinterest, you are missing out! Pinterest is a virtual pinboard and it’s wonderful! Have you ever been on a blog or a website and you wanted to save an image or maybe a recipe from the website? Maybe you were cruising the internet and you found something you like but then you lost it because you kept cruising and couldn’t find your way back to the place that had the thing you liked? Pinterest is the answer you’ve been looking for, you just didn’t know it! I have a few friends and now my own mom who are jumping on the Pinterest train but they aren’t exactly sure how to use it. So I am going to attempt to  show you how I use Pinterest and maybe you’ll decide to give Pinterest a try or finally start pinning some stuff to those empty boards.

What exactly is Pinterest and why do I want to join?

For those of you unfamiliar with Pinterest, it is basically an online pinboard. My friend Kelly always tore pictures and articles out of  magazines and saved them in folders for future reference. Some people bookmark their favorite websites for the articles, information, pictures, etc. I know other people save pictures from blogs and websites on their computer files.  Pinterest is an online version of these types of systems but without the hassle and clutter either in your home or on your computer.  You can find anything and everything on Pinterest including, recipes, home decor inspiration and ideas, craft/diy projects and ideas, photography poses and tutorials, exercise stuff, orginazation and cleaning stuff, weird crazy stuff, celebrity pics, pretty much anything you could think of, it’s on there!

How do I join Pinterest?

To get started, the very first thing you will need to do is request an invite to join Pinterest.  The turn around time on this varies but it shouldn’t be longer than a week before you receive an e-mail from Pinterest.

What is all this talk about Pins and Boards? 

Some terminology you will need to get familiar with are the words Pins and Boards.  Pins are the pictures or items added from websites by people, collected all onto Pinterest.   Some examples are recipes, tutorials for photography, clothing, furniture, pets and art.  You can then pin the items you like onto your boards.  Boards are where you organize what you  pin.  You can have many different boards organized in a number of different ways.  You will figure out what works best for you the more familiar you get with Pinterest.   You will have some boards already set up by Pinterest when you first log on.  I will discuss boards in greater detail a little further down in this post.

 

I received my invite, now what?

Once you’ve received your e-mail from Pinterest, login to your account and this is what your page should look like:

One of the first things you want to do is get familiar with the functions on Pinterest.  Those can be found under your name where the drop down box is located.  Drop down the box and click on Boards.

 
How do I organize and name my Boards?

Once you find something you like, you will want to pin it.  So where do you pin your pin?  This is what the boards are for, they are a place to organize your pins.  Pinterest gives you a set of generic boards to help you get started.   This is a screen shot of my mom’s Pinterest boards.  She hasn’t pinned anything yet and you can see the boards that Pinterest has already named for you.

I highly recommend changing the names of your boards after your initial log in and once you have a feel for how you want to organize your boards and pins.    There are a bazillion ways to organize and name your boards.  Here is a screen shot of some of my boards:

I have a board for every room in my home, recipes and food, clothing, books, hair ideas, project ideas, things that make me laugh, blog stuff and Christmas to name just a few.  You can always create new boards or change the names of your boards once you are more familiar with everything.

How do I get pins onto my boards?  
If you are on the main page of Pinterest and see something that you would like to pin, you need to hover over the pin with your mouse.  The screen shot below has further details on how to re-pin a pin from Pinterest.

 

How do I find stuff to pin on Pinterest? 

There are a few ways to go about finding items to pin.  If you are not following anyone yet, you can just browse your main page on Pinterest where you see pins from random people and it will be a mixed bag of stuff.  I actually enjoy browsing the random page and find lots of fun stuff on there plus it’s always changing as people are always pinning!

Once you start following friends or people you may know on Pinterest, your “home” page when you  log in will have your friend’s most recent pins on it instead of the page of pins by random people.  The shot below is from my mom’s Pinterest account which she has not used yet so those pins are from strangers.

 

This is a shot from my home page when I log into my Pinterest account.  The pins shown here are items that have recently been pinned by people that I am following on Pinterest.
If I don’t want to browse what has recently been pinned by people I am following, I just click on the word Everything located under the Pinterest that is in red at the top of my page.   This is where I can browse the latest items that have been pinned or re-pinned by random people.  Clicking on the word Pinterest in red takes me back to what a page that displays what I and everyone I’m following have recently pinned.

You can also search for specific things on Pinterest by using the search box in the upper left hand corner.  This allows you to search everything that has been pinned on Pinterest, ever.  Say I want to find a Crock Pot Chicken Recipe.  I type in Crock Pot Chicken Recipe and this is what my page looks like now:

Underneath the search box you will see that there are  209932 Pins · 110936 Boards · 31 People

for crock pot chicken recipes.  You can browse all 209932 pins which is what the picture above shows you the start of all those pins.  You can also click on the 110936 boards and your page will look like this:

These are the boards on Pinterest that contain the words Crock, Pot and/or Recipes.  I can chose to follow some or all of these boards as maybe they pinned some recipes I would be interested in.  I can also decide that I don’t want to follow the boards but maybe just pin a few pins from these boards instead.

If I click on the 31 People this is what it looks like:

As you can see, the results on this are mixed.  The first pin is a Skinny Crock Pot pin which takes me to a blog named Skinny Crock Pot which is nice.  There are also people who have the words Crock or Pot in their name which really isn’t helpful for my search for Crock Pot Chicken Recipes.

How do I pin something that is on a website or blog?

Finally, you can install the Pin It Button on your internet browser’s toolbar.  When you are browsing blogs and websites and come across something you really want to pin, you can hit the Pin It Button.  The Pin It Button can be found under the About button on the top right hand side of your Pinterst page.

There are lots of other goodies as they call them to be found here as well.  If you have an iPhone or Android they have an app, along with Follow buttons and Pin It Buttons for websites and blogs.  After uploading the Pin It button onto my Toolbar, it’s time to use it!  So I’m browsing this great blog and find a great picture that I’d love to Pin.  I hit the Pin It button on my toolbar and here is what my screen looks like now:

It brings up recent images from my blog.  I can chose which image to pin by clicking on it.  When I hover my mouse over the lemon bars image, you can see the Pin This show up.  Please make sure when pinning an image that you pin from the direct post it pertains to and not the main page of the blog or site.  I would pin this image from http://www.thebloominghydrangea.com/2011/01/lemon-bars.html not from http://www.thebloominghydrangea.com

When I click on Pin this I get the same box I would on my Pinterest page which lets me choose which board to pin the image on. It’s that easy peasy!

 

How do I find friends or people to follow on Pinterest?
To find friends on Pinterest is fairly easy.  Under your name in the right hand corner of your Pinterest page, use the pull down text box and scroll down until you highlight Find Friends.  You can use Twitter, Facebook, Gmail or Yahoo to find your friends via your address book.
Many bloggers also have a Follow me on Pinterest button on their blog, so that’s always a great place to get started following someone as well.
Another idea is to follow strangers on Pinterest.  You can chose to follow as many of their boards as you wish or you can just follow all of them.
When you find a friend or someone you would like to follow, simply click on the Follow All button under their profile picture and you’re done!
 You can also follow random boards by clicking on the Follow button located on the board.
  I’m going to end this post here as my head is about to explode and maybe yours is as well.  I am considering doing another post,  How to Use Pinterest Part 2,  including a Q&A session in my post.  I hope you found this post to be helpful in learning the ropes of Pinterest!

I almost forgot to tell you one more thing about Pinterest that you should know:

And don’t forget,  you can follow me on Pinterest by clicking on the P in the right hand side of my blog next to my e-mail, facebook and RSS buttons!

I’m linking up here:

 

Weekend Bloggy Reading

By 10 Comments Filed Under: Blogging Fun, pinterest tutorial

Blog Makeover

September 10, 2011

It’s 1:22 am and I think it’s time to call it a night! Hubby has been working hard on switching over my blog design and I think he did a great job. I love that he can use his job skills on my blog!
I designed all the buttons and header myself, not bad for a first time blog design with absolutely no graphic skills/design skills, etc. We are still working on a few things but for the most part, it’s all done! It’s been a long day but I crossed a few things off the list today. I posted a few photos on fb from earlier today when I went on a barn wood adventure. It went really well and I didn’t even need my overdue tetanus shot. Well, at least I think I’m good, my jaw still opens and closes if that’s any indication! So we’re off to bed and hoping the bubs will sleep all night tonight. You think by two years old they would sleep through the night without crying or yelling for mommy. I have some more fun stuff to post on Monday but until then……..enjoy the weekend!

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House Goals 2011 Revised

June 7, 2011

Back in January the Nester posted her house goals for 2011 here and encouraged us to do the same. I posted about that here.

After reviewing my goals, I think we did pretty good! We did redo the dining room, sold the corner cabinets, painted over the brown and added board and batten.   I did repaint my dining room table and chairs, along with recovering the seat cushions.

We made the cloffice in January which also led to the playroom remodel.

We turned the playroom into a playroom again instead of the catch all it was. We added shelving, redid the floor, painted the walls, threw the couch out to the curb, painted the closet doors white, finished the trim around the windows and ripped out the desk.

We also tried refinishing the front entry floor, it looks better now but a rug really works wonders for covering that up.

I also rocked the outside landscaping and even stained the playset last weekend.

Add to all that the bub’s room,which wasn’t even on the list and I feel pretty accomplished and it’s only June!

 Now I have the second half of the year to come up with new house goals at the new house!  I already have a few things in mind but I’m hoping to start projects after August when the kids head back to school. 
I also found this from my post in January and it’s funny to read it now.
“I love my home but sometimes I feel like I’m always trying to improve it without stopping and just letting things be for a while. I don’t have a Country Living worthy house nor will I probably ever. What I want most is a home that is safe, comfortable, inviting, warm, welcoming and inspiring. A place for my family to think back on fondly when they are grown. A place where they bring their teenage friends to hang out, their children to visit in and where they will always call HOME! Unless of course I get the bug to move in a few years. ;) ”  Oh that is funny, isn’t it?  Who knew I was a prophetess? 

So did you link up to the Nester in January or did you make a list of goals for your home for 2011?  How are you doing on your list?  I’d love to hear! 

By 2 Comments Filed Under: Blogging Fun, colonial

Why the Blooming Hydrangea?

April 5, 2011

Naming a blog can be a tricky thing. My blog Love From My Kitchen started out as a place to post my recipes for friends and family. After I discovered how much I loved blogging, I realized I could blog about more than just recipes, so I did. Then I started to feel like Love From My Kitchen just wasn’t working for me anymore, like I was trying to run a race with a pair of skinny jeans on and maybe some cute boots with heels too. You can do it but maybe it’s not the best outfit for running in. After a while it might get uncomfortable, restrictive and just not what you need to accomplish your goal!
So after driving them crazy racking the brains of friends and my husband for several days, I finally came up with the name, The Blooming Hydrangea.
When I finally decided that was the name and I went to purchase the domain name, hubby pointed out while I was typing in the new blog name that Ange,my own name was in the word hydrangea. That’s when I knew without a doubt that this was the name for my blog! It was a great confirmation for me because I was still so unsure about the name, I hate things that can’t be changed easily.   That is what also made picking out a design for my blog tricky!

I decided on the word Blooming for part of my blog name because I love the thought of blooming, being at your best, just all out there for the world to see you.
Blooming is an adjective and the root word Bloom is a verb, it means we are doing something, I love action!  Here is the definition of bloom from the wiktionary:
Thriving in health, beauty, and vigor, vigour; indicating the freshness and beauties of youth or health.
Doesn’t that sound wonderful?  To be thriving in health, beauty and vigor?  I want that!  I want to be healthy for my family, on the inside and the outside.  By beautiful I mean I don’t want to be a supermodel on the runways of Paris but I want to be a supermodel on the runway of my home for my children.  (I’m sure my husband wouldn’t complain if I was a supermodel for him on a runway either if you know what I mean! wink, wink.)    I want to have vigor throughout all my seasons of life, no matter where I am or what’s going on. I want to bloom with love, life, joy and hope! How do we do that?
Well when thinking about flowers I chose the hydrangea for the name because I love that you can change the color of the flower petals by subtracting or adding things to their soil. It reminds me of our hearts, we can change our hearts by adding or subtracting to our own soil. We choose what to put into our soil, what to take out of our soil, how we are nourishing our hearts, with things that last and will sustain or with junk and things that will rust out and die. We need to take care of our soil and add the best fertilizer if we want to bloom with love, life, joy and hope!  For me, that fertilizer is God.
I  have a special little clump of dried hydrangeas that I keep because it reminds me that God loves me and cares about  me.  One cold night in January hubby and I went to Wallyworld for a date, hot I know. We decided to look in the magazine section just because we could and I immediately found a Country Living Magazine to drool on browse through. On one of the pages was a beautiful arrangement of blooming hydrangeas in a bowl. I told my hubs how much I love hydrangeas, they are my favorite flower and I wish I had some right now but it’s snowing out and it’s January.   Later that night when we arrived home, there on the front step was a clump of dried hydrangeas, just sitting there.   I knew it was a gift from God!  He was saying to me, “Here my daughter, I can’t give you blooming hydrangeas in January when snow is everywhere but I can give you a little dried bunch just to let you know that I care about you and love you.”  So I hope that while you are here, you will know that God loves you too, even if it’s not in the form of dried hydrangeas on your front step in January.  I hope you will find at The Blooming Hydrangea something that will inspire you to Bloom, a place where life and love create something beautiful, you!

 

By 5 Comments Filed Under: Blogging Fun, life and love

Welcome to the Blooming Hydrangea

March 30, 2011

Welcome and thanks for joining me at The Blooming Hydrangea! If you are joining me from my previous blog Love From My Kitchen, some things will look familiar to you and of course, some things are brand new. If this is your first time here, I’m glad you stopped by! Take a peak at some of my feature rooms, maybe check out the recipes and just have a look around. I hope you’ll come back often and maybe even bring a friend or two with you! There will be some great giveaways starting on Sunday so be on the lookout for those because who doesn’t love a giveaway?
At my new blog you will also find new recipes, a monthly Blooming Blog link up party, a featured Blooming Blogger each month and also a new feature called Love & Life. So I hope you’ll stop back and see what’s happening at The Blooming Hydrangea!

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By 18 Comments Filed Under: Blogging Fun, life and love
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