Last Thursday, Will and I decided to go up to Atlanta to buy a couch from the Ikea store there. I was so very excited! I had had a very long and tiring day, but I figured the drive would be relaxing and the couch was worth it. So we hopped in the truck and got on our way that afternoon. Well, halfway there, the truck broke down. We pulled to the side and William tried to look, but he didn't have any tools. So I called for a ride from some people from church. Thanks to them! They came and got us and took us back to Columbus which was an hour away. Once we got home, we were tired. William said to leave everything in the truck, and that we could get it the next day. Then I reminded him that my purse was in it with my work i.d. card and I had to have it. So we drove back up, grabbed some of the stuff, and came back home. We made it at 10:30 pm. and we slept GOOD. lol The next morning, we both woke up early. Will dropped me off at work an hour early, and then drove back up to work on the truck. Thankfully, those people let us borrow their tools. Then, William had to drive down sign his time card and pick me up. We drove back up to work some more on the truck. In between, William came back down here to get some tools. On our way back up, it started to rain. And it was still raining when we made it to the truck. Regardless, it had to get done, so we worked on it in the rain. I think the rain lasted for 30 minutes to an hour. William sent me on a few errands for him, but by 6:30 pm Friday afternoon, the truck was fixed! The wheel baring had broken. William has never really worked on a personal vehicle before. He is a tank mechanic, but he impressed me. He said that given tools and time, he can figure it out sooner or later. And he did. Go, Will! After that, we decided that since we were halfway to Atlanta, we'd keep going and get the couch. I was not going to go home empty-handed after all of that. So we drove up to Ikea and the store was huge! They had a show floor and a restaurant and a kid playground. It was more confusing than fun. We did not like it. Finally, we found our way to the self-service area. The page on-line said that they had seven couches in stock. But when we went to go grab ours, we couldn't find it. I was ready to cry. My hair and clothes were still wet, and I was hours from home. We finally got our truck fix, and the couch wasn't there. I grabbed the nearest person and begged for help. He wrote down a number and told us to go and ask the help desk person to assist us. When we got there, the person was on break. After ten minutes, that same guy came back and looked it up for us. He said that they had plenty in stock and would go look. But he couldn't find where they were. He said that in that case, they were up on the top and would need the fork lift to bring it down for us and to come back tomorrow. I was NOT okay with that answer. I couldn't wait until tomorrow. I had to work tomorrow! Devestated, we left him and walked around aimlessly for a few minutes discussing options. During this time, we wandered into a sweet looking associate. I explained the situation to her and told her that for sure, I was not going home without my couch. She understood and told me that if the fork lift did need to come, we could stay and wait to buy the couch that evening, but that we would have to wait until closing time. I was willing to do that. After all of the talking, I told her we wanted to SOLSTA couch. She laughed and said, "The Solsta is one of our best sellers. It's on display. I'll take you to it." I couldn't believe it! I told her I could hug her and then she hugged me. lol. We finally got our couch. Then we hopped on the road to go back home. We made it at 10:30 again. By the time we got the couch into the house, it was 11 pm. We went straight to bed. So here's a picture of the couch and the cat playing in the box. Just so you know, the couch was 150 dollars, and we're not going to Ikea again. Next time, we'll order it on-line if we ever use them again..
I decided to cook some thin chicken breast with diced tomatoes, onion, and fresh cilantro. It didn't taste too bad either. 
This is the first step to Satin Hands. Make sure to start with soft hands. First, wet your hands a little. Then squeeze out a little bit of hand softner. It feels very much like putting wax on your hands, but it gives amazing results.
This is step two: Pump out some of the Satin Scrub onto your hands and rub it in. I like to add a dribble of water to help it out. Afterwards, wash your hands clean.
And step three, the final step: Squeeze out some Satin Hands lotion onto your hands to add a complete finish for the softest hands you'll ever have!
This chair was one of the first projects I did. William and I bought an old rather ragged brown used table and chair dinning set. I was not pleased with it and it always felt very dirty. So we sanded it down and painted it black. Then I used a stencil to put this decorative bit on. All of the chairs are matching with this design. It gets compliments all the time from people!
This is the detailed work on a full-length mirror above my couch. I wanted a mirror, but they cost over a hundred dollars! Then, they aren't even the correct color to match my decor and completely not my style. So I bought a mirror at Wally World for thirty-five dollars and painted the detail stuff free-style myself.
This is the latest project. This was William's idea, and I love it! We were looking for a shelf to put over the toilet. However, they vary in price from 15-30 dollars. I wasn't going to pay that. William found the boxes in Michael's and asked if one of them could work. I said perhaps. We looked around and found this box. It is wood that is stained black and woven. I absolutely love the fabric. And the fact that I can put stuff in it is definitely a plus!!! This matches everything perfectly, and I love it!!!
