Starting a Mountain Headboard

On a whim during lunch Josh and I decided to make a headboard. I have hated our current headboard since day one. It’s metal bars are not great for a lazy afternoon read and my pillows frequently slip through the bars. Yes, I realize #firstworldproblems.

So as we sat at Olive Garden for some delicious carbs, we plotted out our dream headboard.

Conveniently enough, Lowe’s is right next to Olive Garden. We left the restaurant, bellies full, and went shopping for wood!

The plans became real as we walked out of Lowe’s with a truck bed of wood.

Prepping border (in retrospect, I regret staining this now….we later sanded the whole project, including the border)

Plotting out designs, initial cuts, and safety first!

Stopping for the night. Still need to finish the sky, sand, and apply the finish. To stain or not to stain? That is the question.

Sunday night mask making

Friends gave me fabric for masks. I finally took some time to work on them!

Writer’s block and Speaker’s remorse

Sometimes, I can be extremely naive to my own mistakes. I can be clueless to the ways I may offend individuals, living blissfully in my ignorance.

As I reflect on each sermon or professional conversation, I look back and see when I’ve made insensitive or inappropriate errors in communicating.

One particular blunder has continued to chew in mind.

One Sunday, in a sermon, I casually compared my dog’s anxiety to that of a veteran’s PTSD…. Saying something to the line of “Much like a ‘nam flashback.'” FROM THE PULPIT no less.

FACE TO PALM! 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

Looking back, I’m so embarrassed. I strive to always be someone who speaks intentionally and in consideration of other. My judgement lapsed in the midst of making light of my dog.

I have loved ones who have been changed by war. I myself struggle with PTSD, not related to military service. Why did I think that would be ok?

🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

It’s haunting the empty spaces in my mind. I lay in bed embarrassed. And I need to say I’m sorry.

I can’t move on to finish my sermon for tomorrow while this looms over my head.

I know better. I will do better.

Acorn Squash Soup

Some of my farmers gave me some delicious acorn squash (among a bunch of other produce) so it was time to figure out what to do with it.

I found this recipe: https://www.asweetpeachef.com/roasted-acorn-squash-soup/#wprm-recipe-container-20012

I added tricolored quinoa and some meatless sausage to bulk it up.

Here’s the final product

Headboard remake

A friend (Abby Johnson) gave me a twin bed frame and headboard. I decided to breathe new life into it.

Before… Well technically I started sanding the top and then thought *I should take pics*

I sanded…. A lot…

Time to torch

Originally, we were going to add a stain on top of the burning. But we’re so happy with the burning that we decided to coat with acrylic and be done.

Finished product! Now to set up the frame and get a mattress & box spring.

Hard candy experiment

My friend Caele and I got together last night and attempted to make some candies. This was our first attempt ever at making hard candies. I think we did pretty good.