I am human after all

This morning started out pretty much like any other morning. I got up, got ready, and headed to work (I even had time to get coffee with my gift card of course and still be early). About a mile from work, I was driving in the middle lane, when BAM, the truck next to me, swerved into my lane and hit me. At the time of impact, I was probably going 40-ish mph and the dude was going probably 25-30 mph. Two cars in front of him were slowing down to turn, and he decided not to wait.

It happened so fast (everyone says it because it's true) that I'm not sure how much my car moved after impact. I remember flying forward in my seat, luckily I was wearing my seat belt, so I didn't fly through the windshield. The dude pulled into a nearby parking lot, and I followed him. As my hands were shaking, I managed to unbuckle my seat belt, turn off the car, and open my door. He seemed rather distraught, asked me if I was ok. I replied (with tears starting to form in my eyes), "No, not really." After looking at the damage to my car and muttering an expletive, he proceeded to inform me this was his first accident and that he wasn't sure what we should do. I told him he should call the police, and that while he did that I was going to call my principal. He walked toward his truck, appearing to be on his phone, got in his truck, and proceeded to drive away. Yes, a hit and run! I was on the phone with my principal when he drove away, and I was absolutely shocked! I didn't think fast enough to get his license plate, but I did think about running down the street after him! Yes, only me!

Suddenly, I was dealing with this all alone. Sure, my husband was on his way, as were the police, but there was not another person who had experienced this with me. No one else felt the force of 40 mph, flying forward in the seat, panic of realizing an accident had just occurred. Nope, I was all alone on that one. What a strange feeling for someone to check if you are ok, but then to just drive off as if nothing had happened. This accident is interrupting my life, not just my day, my life. While waiting for the police (yes only 10 minutes after the accident), I could already feel the soreness setting in. And with that came a feeling of dread at the long road to recovery ahead. I know healing takes time, and I don't necessarily want to be patient. I wanted to run in Pat's Run this year (after the accident preventing it last year). I wanted to be able to do push-ups and crunches at the end of the day. I wanted to be able to clean the kitchen, go to the grocery store, stand in the kitchen and cook dinner. Yet in spite of all the things it hurts to do, I am so incredibly grateful that I was able to walk away from the accident. I'm grateful I was wearing my seatbelt. I'm grateful for everyone around me who is incredibly supportive and encouraging.

So - what has gone through my mind after being involved in a hit and run? Anger, sympathy, anger, wondering, anger. I know that hit and runs happen, but I've always believed in a sort of decency in most people to stop and do the right thing after an accident. Even if it's inconvenient or scary, there is a certain expectation that as a driver, you will be responsible in dealing with accidents (big or small). As a result, I've been angry at this dude for abandoning that responsibility. Who is he to masquerade around as a driver yet feel he is above the law? Who is he to run away from hitting me and the inconvenience he is causing me? I've moved through feeling sorry for him. Maybe he didn't have insurance, maybe he really was freaking out, maybe he knew he couldn't be late for work under any circumstances. Yes, there is a side of me that is sympathizing with how he felt. And yet, he still had a responsibility to do the right thing. So I'm back to anger at his choice to run away. I'm angry that he wasn't practicing good citizenship or integrity. Will he ever get caught? Will he feel guilty for running from the scene of an accident? Did anyone else happen to get his license plate number? Are there cameras anywhere that can get his license plate number? There are so many questions to be contemplated. The valley is a big area - driving 10 minutes gets you into a new city to get lost in a new crowd. Chances are, I'll never see or hear from this dude again. And, that makes me angry. That someone can do such a horrible thing and probably will get away with it. That's really frustrating. And it's frustrating that I could've reacted quicker to get his license plate number. I know that I can't put myself through that, but it is still a thought that has crossed my mind.

This is the car I've had the longest (almost 6 years), and it's been a great car. This is how it looks now.

Crock-Pot Love

I love my Crock-Pot. No joke. Like, really really love it. I'm not sure sure what I would do without it. Maybe starve? Just kidding - well sort of. So imagine my reaction when I received Real Simple in the mail and the cover promised of delicious slow cooker recipes. If you are imagining something like this reaction, you're pretty much spot on.

So I've been making delicious dishes like this

via Real Simple

And this

via Real Simple

And this one's up later in the week

via Real Simple

I just love the feeling of putting raw ingredients in and knowing that by the time I get home the house will be filled with delectable aromas of something delicious. It's especially perfect for those days that are tiring and long. Does anyone else share my deep love, borderline obsession, with the Crock-Pot? What are your favorite slow cooker recipes?

January Wreath

As part of our plan for 2012, Jon and I decided to go on a cash only system for January, cutting down to basics and trying to save money. This means, no trips to Jo-Ann or Michael's or spending money on unnecessary things. I was reminded that this meant I couldn't buy anything for a wreath for January.

Oh no!

Granted, my Christmas wreath could've been holiday neutral (since it was gold and silver), but what fun would that be? So, as I was drifting into la-la-land one night, I came up with a free wreath! Yes, completely free. I had everything for this wreath already - go me!

Here's what I used:
1 wire hanger
Approximately 40-44 book pages
Wooden letter B
Blue yarn
Cream muslin
Burlap
A piece of cardboard (I cut it into a circle using a salad plate)

Here's how I did it:
First, I ripped pages out of an old book. It's my designated craft book. Then, I straightened the torn edge with a paper trimmer. Then, I rolled them into little cones. I found it was easiest to use a bit of glue  on both sides of the paper to secure the cone. Once, I finished all my cones, I found a wire hanger and bent it to be a round "wreath-like" shape. Then, I started gluing my paper cones on.

And I glued some more, and some more. Then, I got so excited about the rest of the wreath, I forgot to take any pictures. Basically, I dug a piece of cardboard out of the recycling pile, traced a salad plate, covered it with cream muslin, then glued a 3 inch wide piece of burlap as a ruffle around the edge.

Then, I found a little wooden B I had bought for an ornament and wrapped it with blue yarn. This was the hardest and most time consuming part. All those little curves and rounded edges almost made me crazy. But, after persevering, I finished wrapping the B. Then, I glued it onto the cream circle, and glued that whole piece onto the circle of paper cones. It ended up looking like this:

Isn't it adorable?

Seriously, I really like it.

I also like how the color of the yarn ties in with the color of our front door. Matchy-matchy. That's how I roll wrap.

Kitchen Makeover

Ta-da!

I'm pleased to introduce our new kitchen. Whew - it was definitely a push to get it done in a week, but it's done! Of course, I have to show you what I started with (or close to it - I always forget to take real before pictures).

Ready to sand

Other side before

Starting to see some progress

Seriously loving the choice of white at this point (and this is only after priming)

After!

Other side after

The knobs! (I love them. Love. Love. Love.)

Here's how it all went down:
Last Friday, we painted the walls a lovely shade of sunshine yellow (read more here). Sunday evening and Monday - we worked on recovering our dining room chairs (nothing like throwing an extra project in the makeover). Tuesday, we started taking off the cabinet doors, detaching hinges and handles. (At this point, I was convinced none of this had ever been done prior to painting in our kitchen before.) Wednesday, I spent the entire day in the kitchen: taping plastic in the cabinets, sanding, priming, painting and painting some more. Last night while watching an IU basketball game with Jon I filled in a hole on each cabinet door (the new knobs only use one hole, the previous handles used two). Oh, and mopped up the (approximately) 14 gallons of water that spewed from the water line to the fridge. About 9:30pm, the hose broke off and water sprayed everywhere. My wonderful husband turned off the water to the house and to the fridge and helped me mop up the water. Thursday, sanded, primed, and painted cabinet doors and drawers. And the plumber came and fixed our fridge. Friday, finished stripping the hinges, spray painted them, and got everything put back together. Hooray!

So - what did it all cost?
Yellow paint - $7.00
Primer and white paint - free, we had it on hand
Painting supplies - $6.68
Stripper (to reuse the old hinges) - $5.47
Spray paint (to paint the hinges) - $5.84
Spackling (to fill in the cracks) - $1.68
New knobs - $31.29 (score!)
Grand Total: $51.28


*Note: I did buy new screws for the hinges (since the others had been painted over, they were a pain to get out and we ended up stripping a few), but that only adds another $7.00. Still under $60 for the whole shebang!

Here's one more look of the transformation. I love what a difference a few coats of paint can make!

Spreadin' a little kitchen cheer

Guess who's majorly pooped tonight? That's right, this girl. Guess why??? The hubby and I painted our kitchen today! Wahooo!

Yes, two days before Christmas I decided to tape and paint our kitchen. Did I mention we are hosting Christmas day festivities? But when the productive bug bites, you gotta respond! So I did. About two weeks ago, I scored a great sunshine-y, yellow color of paint for $7.00! It's so happy and just makes me want to smile all the time. I love colors like that!

So, the wheels started turning... It's been no secret that I dislike the pink color my kitchen was and the tacky antiquing technique on all our cabinets. Oh, and the boring (with a capital B) cabinet pulls. After purchasing a paint color, I started considering all the possibilities for changing up the kitchen. Of course, it's Christmas season, I'm a teacher, and I'm frugal. So I wanted to make a big change for not a lot of change (See what I did there? I told you, I'm wiped out). I've always loved Anthropologie for it's classic, funky, vintage, eclectic, modern feel. They always have the cutest knobs and drawer pulls, so I started searching on their site...and I came across these beauties:

Aren't they adorable?! Plus, they were on sale. Down to $2.95 from $8.00. I only need 19 (20 once I replace the missing cabinet door), so $60 wouldn't be terrible to pay, but somehow I just couldn't bring myself to order them. This week, I got an email that Anthropologie was having an extra 50% off sale items, and my heart started to sing. Could it be that I could get the adorable knobs to outfit my entire kitchen for less than $30??? Oh, yes, yes it could be. I found 14 blue, 5 yellow, and 5 sage (really light green) colored knobs at an area Anthro. Oh, I was in love! I brought them home, cleared them with hubby, and got excited about starting on the kitchen.

So, with my husband getting the day off today, the great kitchen makeover of 2011 was born. And the kitchen is now painted. So, here's the to-do list for the rest of the kitchen:

• remove all the cabinet doors
• soak the hinges in stripper (they were painted over)
• fill in one of the knob holes (the current knobs have two holes, the new ones have only one)
• sand, prime, and paint the cabinets (they will be white)
• install the new knobs

That's it. Think I can do it all in the next week before starting school again? Let's hope. Can't wait to show off the new kitchen once it's all done!