About me

Hi, my name's Wendy and I'm the author of this here blog called A Couple More Hours.

Want to connect? Click here.

I have twin daughters, a loving husband, a fulfilling full-time job and an awesome house.

I sew, I make stuff, occasionally I bake and cook and I have an Etsy shop.

30 random things about me:

1. I am sprouting gray hairs around my temple. Gah.
2. My bestest friend lives three hours away but we are still connected tight because we talk through email and texts almost every single day.
3. I started this blog in 2007 and there's been times when I've wanted to scrap it all but I'm glad I didn't. 
4. I cannot paint my finger nails correctly. Well, I can paint them, but I'm never 100 percent satisfied with the result because I'm a perfectionist, so I end up taking it right off.
5. I'm an introvert but on my blog and online I'm an open book.
6. I have connected with a number of awesome women through this blog.
7. I'm a middle child. I have two brothers. My oldest brother used to hold me down and fart in my face.
8. I met my husband in a thrift store.
9. In high school I really loved The Smashing Pumpkins. 
10. I've been told I'm calm and have a soothing demeanor. The soothing demeanor part cracks me up because I consider myself pretty high strung most of the time. I think I'm just good at concealing it.
11. My current and last two cars have been Hondas.
12. In 2011 we moved into an awesome new house. We had a crappy house in a crappy neighborhood but we were able to sell it by the skin of our teeth and move onto greener pastures.
13. I read every single night before going to sleep.
14. I have an Iphone and it is with me constantly.
15. I recently gave up drinking soda. This is a HUGE deal. I could down a 32 ounce soda like nobody's business. Now I can't really stand the taste of it. Go me!
16. I love office supplies. 
17. I used to make button eyed dolls. I sold quite a few at craft shows and through my Etsy shop. In 2011 I retired the design.
18. One year for my birthday I wanted to have a week straight of pizza for dinner. We managed to have five nights of pizza, all at different pizzerias around town. It was so delicious.
19. My favorite color is purple.
20. I have green eyes.
21. I'm terrible at Words with Friends. If you want to win a game, play me and you will win by at least 125 points.
22. I used to hate to bake and cook. Now I really enjoy it.
23. We struggled with infertility and were lucky to be blessed with our girls through IVF. I blogged about our struggles and the outstandingly awesome outcome in a series of posts called To Be Called Mommy. It was really scary telling our story and putting it out there into the interwebs but I'm glad I did it.
24. My favorite candy is peanut butter M&Ms.
25. I was a newspaper reporter before I began my public relations career. I loathe the one-sided state of journalism as it is today.
26. Last night I made a delicious crock pot chicken meal. 
27. I have a mile-long list of to-do projects.
28. I have a complicated relationship with some of my in-laws and as much as I'd love to vent about it on my blog I never do. I've considered starting a completely anonymous blog for such things. 
29. My goal for 2012 is to create a new marketable product for my Etsy shop.
30. I think I have rather nice handwriting. 

House hunting: Money money options!

Mission: house hunt is well underway and this is all kinda freaking me out to be honest.  We want to make the BEST decision possible with this move because we don't want to move again. But trying to find out all the particulars and ins and outs of different neighborhoods and areas, well, while it's completely worth it, is also tiring and at times frustrating!  For house hunting trip number two we went to look at just new construction. {Last time we looked at (dirty) older re-sale homes and new construction and I blogged about it here.}  Right now we are focusing our search on new construction because if we decide to build, we'll have to get it started soon in the coming months so it's finished this summer. If we don't build, then we will look in earnest for our new (older and hopefully clean) house later in the spring.

Seasoned readers of A Couple More Hours will remember that back in 2008, we built a house. I blogged about the process quite a few times and shared a bunch of pictures. I loved that house so much. I could always, and still can, picture us living our long lives in that house. It was just big enough but not too big and was cozy enough yet roomy and very modern. There were features of that house that we adored, such as its big open two-story great room. I've never seen quite a great room!!  To illustrate my point:

Check out those windows! 

{Mike and Arlene are off to the left side of this shot - it looks like she's trying to escape him!}

I loved that railing.

We couldn't sell our house in time to be able to buy that house, so it was sold to someone else. Sad. It took me a while to get over it, and I don't think I'm completely over it yet.  The builder that built that house was taken over by another builder, and they're not offering that same exact plan anymore. Bummer! 

But, since then, we've gotten older and wiser about this whole process. 

Look at those BABIES!  This photo was taken the weekend that house was finished.  Flash forward three years. The girls are older, we're older, we actually sold our house so this is really happening, so let's move on. 

We're taking some lessons learned.  We know what we loved about that house, so we know what to look for with other builders. And, we learned a couple things about what type of location we'd want to be in. That house was built in a big sprawling neighborhood. Look at this, it's huuuuge! The red blob is where that house is:

The neighborhood goes on for EVER ... but, it's filling up slowly. We think there's a reason for everything, and we think that the reason why we didn't sell our house in '08 and move into that new house is because we wouldn't have ended up liking that huge neighborhood. It's just TOO BIG for our tastes. At the time maybe we had blinders on and we loved the house so much that we didn't fully consider its location. There are so many undeveloped areas of that neighborhood with plans to expand. There's a lot of unknown too - there are plans to open a retail center at the entrance of the neighborhood but no one knows what retailer could go in there. There's plans to expand the streets and open up new sections for more houses. It could literally be under construction for 15 or more years, and different builders have started there and pulled out - it's like a rotating door. The street that we built on has grown since '08, but there are still a lot of vacant lots.

We realize now that we want more space.  If our budget allows, we'd love to build a house that has some space. We don't want to be looking into the neighbors' windows.  We want a long driveway.  We want trees and a nice sized backyard. 

Connecting with me

Hello! The beauty of blogs is connections! Feel free to leave comments on my posts and/or to connect with me directly. There's lots of ways: 

• For starters, my name is Wendy, and you can email me by clicking here.
  
• I am on Twitter as @couplemorehours.
  
• I'm on Instagram as couplemorehours.
  
• I'm on Pinterest as couplemorehours.
  
• I have a shop on Etsy called Two Stars.
  
• I have a Facebook page for my shop here.

Let's connect on Instagram!

I'm on Instagram as @couplemorehours
{link to my online profile here}

I post a lot of pictures of my girls because I think they're rather cute. I also post lots of pictures of projects and crafts in progress. And just about whatever else I find Instagram-worthy in any given day.

Written correspondence

Image from "12 Small Envelopes with Mini Note Cards" listing  on Etsy by Ciafi

  All day long I type type type click click click my day away at work. And I type with my thumbs on my mis-guided auto-correcting fool of a smart phone all the time and I typety type into my Ipod into various social mediums. But, I miss writing. I miss handwriting.  I used to have very good cursive handwriting but I rarely use it anymore so I've almost completely lost it. I have to try really really hard to keep my writing as cursive - I tend to start out writing cursive - then it slides into being print then goes back to cursive. I barely remember how to do the cursive capital letters and I struggle to remember the rules about cursive 'n' and 'm's.

The girls are learning to write in school and it's such a joy to find something they have written. I love their scrawly, scratchy uneven handwriting. I'll find little notes tucked away in their coloring books and they are just too precious. Lydia likes to leave post-its around for us to find that say "I love you mom, love Lydia!" with a drawing of a heart or a flower. The other day I found this list of theirs and it cracks me up!  It's a keeper.

It's a list they wrote with Daddy on one of their snow days of what activities they wanted to do during the day and they marked off what did. Love it. 

I love that the girls are writing and not only because they're writing, putting letters together to make words and putting words together to make sentences, but that they are forming the letters, forming their own sense and style of handwriting.  Arlene is going through a phase right now where she is writing very, very slowly to form her letters just perfectly. She used to write her name in all caps but she meticulously does her 'A' in caps then lowercases the rest. It's so cute seeing the girls write, tounges sticking out, concentrating hard. I worry that with all of our computer use now-a-days that an emphasis won't be placed on handwriting in their schooling. I hope it is! I will surely be emphasizing it at home. I can't wait for the day that they learn cursive!

Yesterday evening, I sat down and wrote my grandmother a letter. It felt good to put pen to paper but it was difficult - my brain was going faster than my hand and my writing was sloppy. My hand got tired because it's not used to doing all the work by itself, grasping the pen, forming the letters and writing nicely, but I plugged away and I filled two pages, telling her about what's going on with our lives. Nothing earth shattering, nothing too exciting, nothing too clever, just an update about our lives. It's sad to me how rare it is now-a-days to actually write a letter. I maybe write three total letters in one year? All to my grandma, because that's still how she corresponds - she has never and will never email.

I want to write, to hand write, more frequently.

Etsy Favorite Wednesdays - cards for your Valentine

Valentine's Day will be here before you know it!  Here's some lovely handmade cards ala Etsy, all under five bucks!

You complete me - teehee!

Friendship card - now this is kinda mean but it's also kinda funny.

Sew in love - sew true!

Heart and doves - this card is gorgeous - I would frame it!

Secret admirer - rawr!  What fun. I love the random images thrown in there like the skull and cross bones and the Rx.

Ridiculously delicious

If you can believe it, I have never ever made Rice Krispie treats. That's weird, right?!  My husband had never made them either, which I thought was really odd because he's the best cook of the family and has more experience than me with all manner of cooking things. This weekend I decided to make them! And of course I had to try to be all fancy pants with them. I dyed them red and I attempted to shape them into hearts, but it didn't work out all that great (umm, sticky!) so I just shaped them into balls. {And shame on me all to heck, I didn't get one picture of my red Rice Krispie balls!}  They were DELICIOUS!  Oh so incredibly delicious. Sure we've eaten Rice Krispie treats before, but fresh treats?!  Ridiculously delicious. All four of us ate THE ENTIRE BATCH in 24 hours and my husband made another half batch the following night. Mmmmm! 

This is Mike's batch. Tasty tasty!

Let's talk about doilies

{Sadly this print is sold out - check out the artist here.}

I'm a fan of doilies. Awhile ago my cousin had sent me a stash of doilies made by our grandmother.  They were extra special because they were made by her. I put a few up around the house and used them to line shelving at a few of my craft shows. My mom's an excellent doily maker and she has made me two sets of coasters and a couple doilies to go under my living room lamps.

I know this may be hard to believe, but I cannot make doilies. I can't work well with the teeny tiny crochet needles and the teeny tiny thread. One of my crafting goals in 2011 is to make a doily.

Some people may think doilies are too grandma-ish to use in decoration, but I would argue that and say that doilies add a bit of femininity and softness to a room's decor. 

Check out these doily items that are a twist on the original thread doily!

Orange doily plate from Crate & Barrel - I'm drawn to white doilies but I think colored ones are just as sweet.

Blue placemats by ModCloth - I love these but they're sold out, unfortunately.

White rubber coasters - These are made out of rubber and would be great as coasters but I think they'd also look fab if you hung them on the wall in an interesting pattern.

Doily bath rug - I spotted this on Etsy's front page last week. It's huge and chunky!

Doily pendant - I must have one of these.

 

Doily wall decor - From the same artist as the doily pendants ... these are high up on my wish list. I really like ceramic doilies, for some reason.

And check out this DIY doily mirror!  I'm bookmarking that to do later.

And another DIY project! I found this while I was looking for something else.  I'm personally quite sick of all of the snow we've been getting lately, but these snowflake doilies are really pretty and would look lovely strung up as garland.

Tell me - do you like doilies? Or do you think they are too old-fashioned, too grandma-ish? Do you decorate with doilies?  If so, how?

House hunting: the dirty

Let me tell you something:  pictures are deceiving! 

When you look at this picture, you might think, 'Oh my goodness! What a lovely wonderful CRAFT ROOM and holy moly I can't believe I'm looking at a picture of a craft room with shelves and ooooo, want to see it want to see it!' At least, that was my reaction to it.

That craft looks awesome. Look at those shelves and all of that cabinetry!  This picture accompanied 10 others in a lovely house listing online. We went to see the house this weekend. What a disappointment!  In person, that room is non-existent, and the house it is in?  Totally gross.

Ah yes, house hunting has begun!  Let me back up a minute before we dive into this "pictures are deceiving" topic. We are in our apartment until July, but wanted to get started looking at houses this past MLK Day since both Mike and I were off work. We booked our lovely and talented Realtor to show us a mix of re-sales and new construction. I was super duper excited because we were actually looking for real since we sold our house (holllllaaaaa!). We're not sure which area we want to be in so the trip was more for exploration purposes rather than to actually find a house that we wanted to put a bid on. Still, it was exciting!  We had some great houses lined up to see.  Well, I say "great" because they looked "great" online.

The craft room house was the first that we went in.  Eeegads it was horrible. For starters, the house smelled like a mixture of ciggy smoke, cats and stale air because it was vacant. Not a good combo. Secondly, it had some really awful paint jobs going on. Thirdly, it was empty, so that only emphasized it horribleness even more. Fourthly (is fourthly even a word?) the "craft room" was a JOKE.  The shelving wasn't even THERE anymore. It had been taken out when the owners moved out. The listing says that the house's basement was "finished" - but some people's version of "finished" greatly varies from what I would consider "finished." Because as was the case in this house, "finished" meant throwing up some drop-ceiling tiles and putting down rubber puzzle pieces for the flooring. RUBBER FLOORS. Who in their right mind wants RUBBER FLOORS?!?!  As in, rubber floors that are meant for gyms. Floors such as these:

That is exactly what was in the house. Those floors are for GYMS not "finished basements" people!  I was aghast. The floor was freaking me out. The "craft room" was gone. We got outta that house as quick as we could. 

There was another house that was saw that also had a questionable "finished basement" - they had actual carpet flooring in their basement but their method of "finishing" the ceiling was to simply just spray paint everything black. Nails, joists, pipes and all. All black.  Not cool at all. It looked horrible.  And let me clarify - these are homes that are not cheap - this horrible DIY type of work is in homes listed for $225K plus!  What?! 

We saw lots of dust and dirt too.  It made me want to throw up.  I wouldn't be able to handle moving into a dirty dirty house. I'd clean obsessively but I'd forever know that there was a pee stain on the floor by the upstairs toilet, even after I bleached it out 100 times over. I'd sneeze at the memory of how the vents were caked with so much dust and debris. ICK!

Of course the pristine new homes were indeed pristine!  They were so so very nice.  We fell in love with a couple new home models.  Buuut, the search continues. We didn't find our dream home this past weekend but we didn't expect to. Instead, we learned a lot about what we definitely do NOT want in a house (dirt, scary DIY projects, unfinished rooms, rubber floors) and we learned more about the different areas. The most important thing we learned is this - just because something looks cool in a photo listing online does not mean it is cool in person!

Got any house hunting stories you want to share?  Please share in the comments! 

Not the same but it'll do

I still haven't found that sweet Starbucks mug that I had and broke. {I blogged about it here.}  I checked three other Starbucks stores and it's all sold out. I was going to buy a replacement from Ebay but I couldn't bring myself to pay triple the original price for it. I'm trying to be all thrifty since we're wanting to buy a new house. Paying $30 for a $10 mug seems like a bad idea. So. I bought a replacement. It's not the same, but it'll do and it was only $10.95. 

It's a regular mug, no fancy dancy design, but it does the trick. It's ceramic and double insulated so it keeps my coffee toasty (I'm a slow sipper.)  And it's only 12 ounces, which is good - because I usually buy a 16 once coffee. I'm drinking less coffee but it feels like more coffee because the mug is big {it appears bigger than it actually is because it's double-insulated.}

You like my labeled creamer?  Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts in the office fridge! 

Etsy Favorites Wednesday

This week's Etsy Favorites Wednesday list is a mishmash of delightful items.

Metal and sewn button earrings - I feel as though I NEED these earrings. Don't you agree?  I have added this seller to my faves ... the stuff is expensive but it's sooooo wonderful.

Owl print - It's no secret I've got a thing for owls.

Knitted bag with ribbon - I thought this bag was incredibly cute.

Polly necklace - how fun is this - you can play with the doll and change out her clothes and hair! I also like this seller's photography frame pendants and pins, found here and here.

Antique mirror - something about this mirror is just striking. I think it would look lovely on top of a dresser.

Whoooo made an adorable trio of purses?

When we packed up house and moved into the apartment I packed up my sewing machine and 99% of my craft-making supplies. Well that lasted all of three weeks.  I got the itch to make something this weekend. I needed a new purse. So I borrowed my mom's machine (my machine is buried in our storage unit) and set to it.  I must say, I am in love with my creations.  I made myself a purse and then two mini versions for the girls.

Hooty hoot!

I used a sling bag pattern I had used before. It's lined and enforced with cotton flannel so it's durable yet washable. And it was super fun to make!

I love the owls. At first I wasn't sure if it was too bright, but, I really did like the fabric, so I went with it. {When I went to the grocery store I got two compliments on it!} 

Button enclosure.

 The lining is a coordinating star pattern. There are two pockets inside for my essentials, my Blackberry and Ipod! 

 

The girls' versions are just TOO CUTE!  They are exactly like mine except without the pockets.

Oh so cute.

This is Arlene's stuffed full of her essentials, like an eye sleeping mask {don't ask} and lip gloss.

It felt good to create. I miss it. I figured I would. But I returned my mom's sewing machine because I feel like these sewing creations were enough for now. I have some crochet and embroidery projects I can work on next.

She's mastered pig tails now

Lydia has been doing her own hair in the mornings and now she's mastered pig tails!  {Here's my original post about this new found independence}

She says, "Mommy do you want to take a side shot?"  Sure! 

Look at those cheeks! She's just so darn cute.

 

Mirror mirror: who is this girlie girl?

{heehee I am such a dork}

For some reason, I've turned all girlie girl.  I never used to be girlie girl.  Sure I kept myself together and I would never leave the house without at least showering and doing my hair. But on the girlieness factor, I'd rank myself pretty low.

I work full time out of the house so I have to look presentable Monday through Friday and I think I've managed well over the years. I've always worn light makeup and I rarely, if ever, painted my fingernails. I maintained but that's about it. High maintenance just wasn't me.

But then, two months ago, I chopped my hair off and got a cool pair of boots. I started to like to dress fancy and to make myself up. And I found out I adore Bare Minerals Makeup (hello, clear skin!) and I also adore Sephora eye liner. LIKE, A LOT. 

As I was getting ready this morning I was a little shocked to discover I had SIX different eye liners in slightly different shades.  SIX.  Who is this person with SIX eyeliners?!  I guess that person is me.  Huh.  And then I realized that I put three different products in my hair, all costing about $25 per container. Huh.  High maintenance?



AND! Before Christmas I got my NAILS DONE!  I haven't had my nails done since, oh 10 years ago - on my wedding day!  I got acrylic nails then and not since. But I wanted fancy nails for Christmas so I got Shellac nail color.  Loved it!  I was super girlie to the max.

I don't really know why suddenly I'm girlie girl now. I can't put my finger on it. I think it all happened when I cut my hair.  Short hair = extra sass = extra girlie girl? 

Etsy Favorite Wednesday - bring on the flowers

It's snowy, cold, and just generally drab and overall blah in southern Ohio right now. Let's think spring, shall we?  How about some bright cheery flowers ala Etsy?

Daisy earrings - these dainty earrings caught my eye. I like the blue and orange color combination.

Snap purse - I love the bright fabric!

Crochet flower pattern - I may just buy this pattern!

Awesome card - Awww, how sweet!  I'm intrigued by this seller's stitched cards. Quite a good idea!

Vinyl flower decals - These would bring a nice springy feel to any room!  In our new house I plan to decorate with a few vinyl decals - have you ever searched for vinyl decals on Etsy?  Oh man, there's TONS!  {See what I mean: click here.}