Herringbone Painting

I have a deep, dark secret to share. I love chevron pattern. Chevron is that zigzag pattern that is literally EVERYWHERE right now. Clothes. Wallpaper. People's fingernails. Rugs. Bedding. Lamps. Furniture. It's out of control, people. This bugs me so bad because I hate it when something I like becomes crazy popular because then people think I just like it because it's trendy. 

"I swear I liked it before it was cool." -Every Hipster, Ever.

You thought I was kidding about the fingernails.

You can imagine my delight, then, when I discovered Herringbone. It's like chevron's awesome cousin who is ten times cooler because it's not all caught up in the high school popularity contest. There even seems to be quite a bit of confusion online where people call something herringbone when it is actually just chevron. That's just how cool herringbone is. Chevron wishes it was herringbone.

Chevron on the left, herringbone on the right. Chevron=zigzag, herringbone=interlocking

The point of all this is that I had been looking all over the place for a painting to go on our mantel but wasn't having much luck. I just couldn't find something that was big enough for a decent price that also had the colors I wanted. I started scouring Pinterest to see if there were any easy DIY artwork ideas I could use and stumbled upon this one. Here is my finished work:

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• 1 canvas: Mine was 30x40. I got it from Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon so it cost $26. You could obviously go smaller or larger depending on where you want to put your painting.
• Painters tape in desired width: I used 2 inch wide, light adhesion painters tape and it ended up coming off in places. I recommend getting medium-adhesion so you don't run into the same problem.
• Acrylic paints for base colors: This is the fun part--pick whatever colors you want! I used 6 colors in total, plus 2 bottles of gold acrylic for the herringbone.

  

  DecoArt Metallics Splendid Gold, Sea Breeze, Midnite Blue, Coral Blush, Indian Turquoise, Peony Pink, and Desert Turquoise

• 1 can of spray paint for herringbone pattern: This is my hindsight advice. I wish I had chosen to just get a can of gold spray paint instead of painstakingly putting on coat after coat for the herringbone pattern with acrylic paint. If you don't have an area you could spray paint, then use the acrylic paint.
• Paint brushes: Don't go crazy here. Just use whatever paintbrushes you have on hand. If you are using acrylic for the herringbone pattern, I do recommend using a sponge brush.

STEPS:

1. Begin painting your colors onto your canvas. This can be as random as you like. I chose to use up and down streaks but you could do swirls or whatever you want. Every once in awhile I would step back to see if any one color needed a little more representation on the canvas. If you are using contrasting colors (like orange and blue or red and green) make sure to give them some time to dry in between so they don't blend into a brown. The nice thing about acrylics is that they dry really quickly so if you don't like what you did in one spot, just let it dry and paint right over it.

   

   Part way through painting

2. Once you are done painting, give it at least an hour to just sit and really dry. In the meantime, start cutting your painters tape into strips. I made all of mine 5.5 inches long. They don't have to be perfect, but they do need to be pretty darn close to all the same length, otherwise your herringbone pattern will look sloppy.
3. Once your painting is completely dry, you can start placing your tape on the canvas. I started at one corner and placed the first strip as close to a 45 degree angle as I could get just by eyeballing it.

   

   Here's a drawing on paper to help you visualize it since I didn't take a photo after each piece of tape.

4. Place your second strip perpendicular to the first so that the side edge is in line with the end of the first. I left about 1/4 of an inch gap in between the pieces of tape because I wanted a nice bold herringbone pattern. You can place them really close together if you want it to be more subtle.
   
5. Place your third strip next to your second and line the end up with the edge of the first. Continue following this pattern all the way across.
   
   
6. Continue your herringbone pattern until your canvas is completely covered. I had to stop several times to cut more strips of tape. When you get to the edge of the canvas just take your tape right over the edge.
   
   
   
   
   
   
7.  Once your tape is all in place, start filling in the gaps with your selected herringbone paint color. If you are using acrylic, I recommend at least 3 coats with 10 minutes to dry in between coats. If you are spray painting, I recommend at least 2 coats.
   
8. Once your herringbone paint is dry, begin to gently peel off the tape. Because I used a low-adhesion painters tape, some of it was already starting to peel back and I had several spots that I had to touch up with my base colors.

Start of 3rd Year

We're about a month into Robbie's 3rd year of Dental School and I just have to say... 3rd year rocks! It's still hard work, but what makes 3rd year so awesome is that you are in clinic the majority of the time. Robbie still has some classes this semester (oral surgery, pediatric dentisrty, and implant dentistry to name a few) but now he's getting to do actual dentistry on real patients between classes. The work load is definitely lighter than previous semesters. On our drive home the other day I asked him if he needed to study and he said something like, "I feel guilty like I should be studying, but I just don't need to right now. I only have one test and it's in two weeks." Sweet! Let's go home and play Mario on the WiiU.

While the stress of huge class loads has eased, new challenges are definitely coming up. I know a lot of schools have one treatment room assigned to each student and that's where they see all of their patients. Or other schools just have the students go through different rotations and they see whatever patient is scheduled that day. At CU, however, you manage all of your patient scheduling and you have to fight to get whatever chair is available. Sometimes a chair will open up and you'll call your patient to see if they can come in on that day/time but by the time they call you back someone else has already filled that chair. What's even more frustrating is when you are all ready to go and the patient doesn't show up. Entire. Afternoon. Wasted. Still, I feel like he is learning valuable lessons about patient management that will come in handy if/when he decides to open up a practice of his own someday.

That's all I have time to write about today. I'm throwing a friend a baby shower tomorrow and I've got lots to get done before then! I'll post some cute pictures of that as soon as I can.

Something Personal

I've been going back and forth about whether to write about this on my blog, but I really feel the need to share something about what's been going on in my family.

Several weeks ago, we found out that my mom has stage 2 breast cancer. There has been a lot of cancer in my family tree (skin, ovarian, lung, breast, etc.) so I don't feel like the concept is foreign to any of us; however, what really makes it hit home on a personal level is that my mom's mom passed away from breast cancer 15 years ago. I was still pretty young so I only have sheltered memories of what my family went through at that time, but I'm observant enough to know that facing the same disease has stirred up a lot of old questions and emotions

My mom and I are very different people. She thinks out loud; I'm more of an internal processor. She's an extrovert; I'm an introvert. She wears her emotions on her sleeve; I tend to bottle things up inside. She's an amazing cook; I'm good at making sandwiches. She's infinitely servant-hearted; I have a lot of selfish tendencies. But in spite of all our differences, I absolutely love being around her. I love seeing how crazy she'll act in public just to get her grandchildren to laugh. I love when Robbie acts like I starve him to death so my mom will make him a gluten-free feast to make up for my (alleged) neglect. She is one of those people who gets all her satisfaction out of seeing the needs of other people met.

And that is exactly why it is so hard to be up here in Denver working full time while she goes through all of her treatments. I long to return some of her kindness in a small way by giving her shoulder and foot rubs. I want to be there to clean her house for her because she doesn't have the energy. I want to bring her drinks and snacks and read her books to keep her mind off things. It kills me to think of her being in any pain.

I'm not sure what most people do when they feel helpless to help someone they love. The feeling would completely overwhelm me if it weren't for the unshakable peace that comes from knowing that God loves her even more than I do. God has proven over and over to me in personal ways that He is the very definition of faithful, just, and good.

Not only that, but he knows how all the pieces are meant to fit together. While I have the limited perspective of this moment, He has eternal perspective and is able to see our lives from beginning to end. Psalm 139 says:

You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it...

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

I don't know all the plans He has for my mom, but I am convinced that whatever happens, He is able to make it glorious.

Celebrating the Completion of Year Two

I've written before about the value of memorializing the milestones in Dental School. Robbie recently just hit another milestone-- finishing his second year! I'm late on writing about it because second year turned into third year in the blink of an eye. He only had two weeks off between summer and fall semester (last year it was three weeks). Additionally, because I am a state employee, I don't get off when the students are off unless I want to use a bunch of my vacation hours. The two week break came and went and aside from me being home with a cold for a couple days, not much happened.

It's difficult to know what to specifically write about 2nd year that most people haven't heard already. It was hard for us. At times it was painful. It was definitely emotionally draining. But I also believe it was a defining period of our marriage.

Until this past year, Robbie and I have had pretty smooth sailing in our marriage. Yes, applying to Dental School was pretty demanding. Living on a very small income when we were first married was a challenge. Moving in with my in-laws for a year while maintaining healthy boundaries was a little stressful at times. But 2nd year of Dental School was the first time in our marriage that I felt we were both stretched beyond what we thought were our breaking points.

Robbie frequently expressed that what made it so stressful was how he never felt caught up. No matter how hard he worked and how much time he put in, he was constantly being thrown into situations, tests, practicals, etc. for which he didn't feel prepared. The moment he began to feel like he was starting to get the hang of something, they switched gears and started learning something else. It was a complete confidence killer.

At the same time, I felt exhausted from work. I missed being at home and having the energy and desire to go grocery shopping, plan healthy meals, and exercise. Laundry piled up. We ate out more frequently than I care to remember.  I felt like I was failing as a wife because I couldn't do many of the things I longed to do in order to help Robbie get through this difficult year.

On top of it all, rent prices continued to climb so we made the decision it was time to buy. We were completely blindsided by how difficult it would be to find and buy our first home. Why did I never learn actual valuable life knowledge in college? Why did no one teach me what types of mortgages are available and how to apply for them? Should I go with a private lending company or a bank? What is the difference between a town home and a condo anyway? What is mortgage insurance? These types of things may be common knowledge to someone who studies finance or realty but our learning curve was quite steep.

Let's just say I'd rather have a double IA block every morning for a year than go through that again anytime soon (ask your Dental Student if you aren't familiar with that). I felt at times it would never end and yet the days marched on. I remember crying a lot. I remember feeling horribly guilty after snapping at Robbie (again) over something stupid. I remember wondering where my husband's energy, humor, and playfulness had gone and feeling like I had become the grouchiest, neediest wife on the planet. There were a lot of tearful apologies.

But there was also a lot of forgiveness. I remember tender moments when we both felt completely emotionally drained yet somehow God would be in the midst of it. The experiences of the days/weeks/months had put us at odds. Then a moment would come when we were truly vulnerable-- acknowledging the ways we had failed one another-- and God enabled us to speak grace. "I forgive you. We're going to get through this. I love you. I'm with you in this."

God was able to turn the struggles of 2nd year into something that knit us together more tightly as a couple. I'm more confident in our ability as a couple to make grown-up decisions. While I wouldn't jump at the chance of going through it again, I am able now to see the good that has come from this period of our lives and the importance of facing challenges together.

No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead. -Hebrews 12:11-13

About to get an IA block

Ah, the awkward numb-jaw smile

Highlights from Year 2, Semester 3

I'm really enjoying my new built-in desk and decided to take advantage of this lovely Sunday evening by writing another catch-up post. Here are the highlights from summer semester of year 2 of Dental School.

1) CLOSING ON OUR HOUSE
After months of house hunting and paperwork, we finally closed on our first home in early June. Over the summer, we've worked on little projects here and there, slowly getting it decorated how we want it. There's still plenty of work to be done!

Move In day

Hanging some curtain rods. I love power tools.

Riesy loves her perch above the staircase

These are pull out drawers that have a base you screw into the cabinet. We found them at Wal-Mart and they made the narrow pantry so much more functional!

2) BEING AN AUNTIE
All three of my older sisters are now mommies which makes me super-Auntie. I can't get enough of those squishy little faces and every time we go up to visit Fort Collins, I'm shocked at how fast my niece and nephews are growing.

Went to the park with Ariane and Deborah

The niece and nephews with Altair and my mom

Holding my two squishy nephews

Grabbing breakfast with Deborah and Henry

3) COMIC CON
If you didn't already know Robbie and I were huge nerds, this will probably convince you. I had been to Star Cons as a kid (yup, I admit it publicly) but never a Comic Con. As this year marked the 75th anniversary of Batman, we decided we just had to go! My sister, Deborah, came with us along with my adorable nephew, Henry. Deborah dressed as Ripley from the Alien movies and made a sweet costume for Henry to match. Robbie and I ended up running out of time to make costumes so we decided to just sport some nerdy shirts and enjoy observing everyone else. We even almost got run over by Adam West in a golf cart! True story.

The cutest Xenomorph I've ever seen!

Robbie hanging out by the Batmobile

Me hanging out with Zangief from Mortal Kombat

A life-size functioning R2D2

I don't know which is better... the awesomeness of the Star Wars set or the fact that we got photobombed by Deadpool

4) NITROUS CLINIC
Robbie's class got to be in my clinic when they had their lab for administering nitrous oxide (aka. laughing gas). Everyone was laughing and saying silly things. It was probably my favorite day at work ever. Here's Robbie enjoying his turn:

5) CRAWDAD FISHING
Robbie's sister, her husband, and their two boys recently moved out of state. As part of their going away party, we had an epic water balloon fight followed by some crawdad fishing in the creek. I had never been crawdad fishing before, but it was ridiculously easy. All you do is tie a piece of hot dog to a string then throw the hot dog in the water and wait for the crawdads to bite. It doesn't take long before you feel a little tug on your string so someone gets ready with a bucket and you gently tug the hot dog upwards. The crawdad doesn't want to let go of it's prized hot dog so it lifts right out of the water with the hot dog! After playing a bit with the crawdads, we released them back in the creek.

6) ROBBIE SEEING PATIENTS
This by far is the most mind-blowing highlight of Year 2, Semester 3. Robbie has been doing fillings on real live patients! This part of school felt so far away when we first began the whole process but it has arrived in the blink of an eye. It's unfortunate that I don't have a picture to share (for the obvious reason of patient privacy rights) but he has already done 6 fillings and a crown! Hygienists can clean teeth and even Dental Assistants can place fillings, but only Dentists are allowed to drill teeth. He's officially Dentisting and I couldn't be more proud of all the hard work he put in to get here.

Guest Room Remodel

As you may know, Robbie and I purchased our first home a few months ago and it was... a bit of a fixer-upper. Prior to moving in, we were able to request a few improvements be made to the home such as having all new carpet and windows installed (the carpet was filthy and smelled horrible and the original windows were single-pane); however, there were still many projects left for us to complete ourselves.

By far the room that needed the most help was the guest bedroom and was the first project zone for me to tackle. Here is a before picture to show you just how terrible it was:

I don't know which is worse... the shamrock green, the Pepto-Bismol pink or the horrendous paint splatters that covered everything including the closet doors and window sill.

STEP 1: New Paint
In choosing the paint color, I was trying to keep in mind that this room will eventually be used as a baby room and I don't want to have to repaint. I chose a cheery green paint called "Rejuvenate" by Behr for the main walls and inside the closet I used a blue-green paint called "Aspen Aura." Here's the painting in-progress:

The green looks way more bright in this picture than it is in person.

STEP 2: REMOVE CLOSET DOORS AND REPLACE
The closet doors were beyond help so we decided to remove them completely and hang curtains with a tension rod in front of the closet. (see picture for next step to see a picture of the curtains)

STEP 3: WALL ART
I got the idea off Pinterest to hang a group of framed scrapbook papers as a cheap wall art. I chose to do a blue, green, and orangy-pink grouping. I love how it turned out! The frames were $2 each at Wal-Mart and I probably spent $3 total on the scrapbook paper for a total of $21. Another bonus is that I can change out the paper if I ever get tired of it!

STEP 4: BUILT-IN DESK
I've hated not having a desktop computer to use for the last several months, but Robbie and I couldn't decide what kind of desk to get for the Guest Room/Office. The day we took down the closet doors, I was struck with the idea of using half the closet as a desk space. I started planning out how I could build it, gathered my supplies from Home Depot, and went to work.

You can just barely see the edge of the 2x4 I used to support the front left corner of the desk

We used three shelf brackets to give additional support to the middle of the desk.

The final product

Here's the BEFORE/AFTER of the room as a whole:

That's all I have time for today. My next post will be about updating the guest bathroom.

Highlights of Year 2, Semester 2

So I know we just finished Year 2, Semester 3 and I'm a little behind on this, but I don't want to forget some of the great moments of Robbie's spring semester! This blog is, after-all, somewhat of a journal for us to look back on someday.

1) THE WHITE COAT CEREMONY
I wrote about this in a previous post, but Robbie received his White Coat in a ceremony marking the transition from student to Dental Care practitioner. His parents, sister, brother-in-law and nephews were able to come as well as my parents and one of my sisters. We celebrated afterward by going to a delicious Mexican restaurant called Ajuua!

2) GETTING NUMBED UP BY ROBBIE
I know this probably sounds crazy (especially to anyone not married to a Dental Student) but letting Robbie practice numbing me up for the first time was freaking awesome! It made me realize just how much I trust him and I experienced first hand one of the many skills he is gaining in school. What a long way he's come from those first days when he was filling in shapes with wax.

And he did such a great job, too! A tiny pinch but no real pain!

3) PRESENTATION FOR A.O.
Robbie joined a Dental Fraternity this year called Alpha Omega. They asked me to give a presentation about the rules of clinic, infection control, etc. because of my position as a Dental Assistant at the school. I had a great time prepping a PowerPoint and overall felt the presentation went pretty smoothly. I even threw in a few witty jokes for good measure.

4) BABY HENRY WAS BORN
Yes, I do indeed have another nibling! He was born in March to my third-oldest sister and he is absolutely adorable! How could you not love a baby who smiles so much?

 Are you overwhelmed by the cuteness yet?


5) OUR SPRING BREAK TRIP TO PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO
Jeez this is making me realize how behind I am on this blog. I didn't even write a post about our Spring Break trip! We went to Puerto Vallarta for 5 days and stayed at an all-inclusive resort (a first for me). Robbie's favorite thing by far about all-inclusive vacations is the unlimited quantities of food he has access to. And the hotel we stayed at did not skimp on the variety. Every day was a new buffet of deliciousness. We also got to go kayaking, shoot a little archery, soak in the sun by the pool, and even get a massage right on the beach.

The view from our hotel room

Yes, I am wearing a Little Mermaid shirt.

It had a swim-up bar just to the right of the picture.

The massage hut. It was glorious.

I honestly can't get enough of this guy! He is my favorite travel buddy!

6) SEARCHING FOR OUR FIRST HOME
Technically we didn't close on our house until the beginning of Summer Semester, but our search took up almost all of Spring Semester. Let me just tell you that the process of buying a home was a steep learning curve. I had no idea what a Conventional Loan was compared to an FHA loan. I had no idea how competitive and stressful the whole process would be. In the end it was well worth it and I feel like I am a little better at handling stress now.

I've posted this before, but this is right after we closed on our home.

Our cute little kitchen. The margarita glass was left by the previous owners when they abandoned the place.

Ah, this room. There have been some major improvements to this room since we moved in. I hope to write a post about the transformation as soon as I'm all done. The previous owners obviously let their child go nuts with paint in here.

The best improvement that was done before we moved in was having all new carpet put in. The former carpet was covered in mystery pet stains and wreaked like you wouldn't believe.

It was a hard semester-- probably the hardest of my life. But I'm beginning to see some of the ways God used it to mature us as a couple and we now are reaping the benefits of owning our first home.