Not Really Here

Hi Guys!

I'm not really here any more. Go check out amybuller.com. That's where I really am. And I've got all the archives there too. You can subscribe to the RSS too!

New Site Coming!

I am working on a new site. It will still be amybuller.com, but it will be different. No promises that I will post more frequently, but at least it'll be pretty.

Also I don't know when it will be ready. I just wanted to give you a heads up. I'll let you know when it changes so any readers can update their RSS feeds.

Home

I always want our home to feel welcoming and inviting. I also want it to feel like us... but also decorated. Apparently I’m succeeding on some level because people do compliment me on our home and how it’s decorated. I think it really comes down the feeling it conveys though, because it’s not all that decorated, though plenty of our stuff is everywhere, the walls are still almost all the same color and sometimes it’s not very clean. But I think the things that make it succeed is when it is tidy, and it feels like you can just plop down anywhere in a comfy seat. I hope you feel at home. Even if the kitchen isn’t spotless (it so rarely is) you can go and get some water from the fridge. You can peruse the bookshelf and find something interesting. You can even take a nap in the giant chair.

I’m so thankful for our home. It really is ours. Our stacks of books crammed into bookcases, our dings in the walls from rearranging, our ridiculously large chair-and-a-half. When we’re away we look forward to coming back, and not just to our comfy bed, but the whole place.

Sometimes I need to remind myself of these things. That we have made this house our home, and that people enjoy coming and hanging out here (or so I’ve been told). I need reminded when I feel antsy to paint a room, or all the kitchen cupboards, or the insides of closets, or any other project lurking in my brain. That’s the problem right now, I’m feeling antsy. Paint is not overly expensive, but time must be considered too. And I may be feeling overly ambitious but I need to focus on the present, the things that need baked for Thanksgiving, the lovely ideas for Christmas presents that need to be attempted (so there’s time to try or get something else), projects already in motion, the things that need a simple cleaning, the daily meals that are so necessary. I’m so good at coming up with ambitious ideas, but there are other important things that need my time right now.

So, the house will wait for its little upgrades. It is doing what it needs to do. Welcoming us and our loved ones in, providing warmth and peace. Thanks, house. Someday maybe we’ll give you a name along with some new colors.

New Project! The Book and the Bird

So I've started another project. Woo! My friend Kayla and I have started a video blog (vlog). Kayla is a awesome lady I met in college and got to hang out with a bit while I lived in Hillsboro. This summer we started hanging out more, and I was reminded what a cool person she is and how easy it is to talk to her.

And then she moved to grad school in North Carolina. 

That’s far away. But, Kayla is also the friend who introduced me to the Lizzie Bennett Diaries and got me addicted to the VlogBrothers. So we decided to utilize the distance and try something we are both interested in: vlogging.

We are making videos for each other. I think we are settling into a weekly rhythm. Kayla just posted a delightful new video. We have so much to learn, but I feel like there are improvements every time. Also, since I'm doing this with someone else there's a great chance it will continue for a while. We named our channel The Book and the Bird. It just seems to fit us both in so many ways, and maybe we'll discuss such things in a video someday.

I will probably be hanging out in the video realm, so I hope you like it, but chances are I’ll still update the blog as often as I currently do. Which is to say- once in a blue moon.

Right Now

Right now:

Listening to Fleet Foxes Sing tumblr where they have a bunch of cover songs.

Drinking coffee which I haven’t done in over a week because Brian has had a cold and it seems silly to make coffee for one. PG Tips tea is a great substitute.

Have just been doodling the secret life of my stuffed owl, Owly. I think he dreams of being a real owl and having adventures.

Thinking I should go take a shower and start my day.

Dreaming about things I want to do someday. Projects I want to do, art classes I want to take, travels I want to do. Do travels? Go on travels? eh.

Reading Start Something that Matters by Blake Mycoskie. Just finished Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James (eh, it was ok, not my favorite. My favorite Austen fanfic would be The Lizzie Bennet Diaries). I have 18 things checked out from the library. I should return some stuff.


Ok. Coffee's gone. Time to get ready for the day. Storytime at the library this morning. That means we're super busy and it should go quickly. I'm so glad I just have to work the desk and not entertain 38 kids at once!

Spring Bug

Ah, Spring. May! This time of year always fills me with hope and ambition. When I was young it was the joy of the end of school and the hope of what the summer would bring. It still feels that way. Plans of projects crowd my mind. Thankfully I don’t have to finish homework before starting them or sit through class all day before enjoying the sunshine. Oh wait. I don’t have summers off. I still have to make sure the house is moderately taken care of and my husband is fed. I still have to go to work. But I am lucky, I only work a few hours so I still have time at home to tackle projects. 

I just have so many things crowding into my mind. And my workspace. I have projects that are unfinished lying around from the beginning of March. I wasn’t in a terrible hurry to get to gardening this year, but it has finally hit me and I’ve been planning and labeling pots so I can now go buy things to stick in them. I did a linocut, but I don’t know how I feel about it, and a blog post about it is still churning inside me. I have a collage started, as well as a requested project from my mom. The project from March is something for Brian. I’m anxious to start a project for my aunt. I want to repair my Toms, take an art class, learn to sew, and keep blogging. I want to have picnics, and to keep going on bike rides, to soak up the sun. So many things.

Spring is a time of starts. Beginnings. I just realized that, as I sit here and think of all the things I’m not finishing before I start something new. Maybe I don’t need to feel overwhelmed by the incomplete. I’m planting the seeds, and nurturing the sprouts that will someday bear fruit. Hmm, I like that. As long as they don’t wither and languish. That’s something I’m pretty good at, not finishing projects. But I’m feeling excited now. Not overwhelmed. And that bodes well for seeing fruit (completion).

"New" Dresser

This project started over two weeks ago, and would have been pretty quick, except I decided to get fancy with the top, and then our mini stay-cation happened. This flimsy old dresser with a poor stain job came from my grandparents house. It really is not high quality so I no qualms painting it:

This is during the sanding stage. 

I actually first painted it a brighter, and (I decided) more obnoxious blue. This light blue is just a little test pot of paint I’ve had for a while. I only did one coat and like it rustic for now. Plus I ran out of paint.

I wanted to be more creative with it other than that random green drawer. I’ve had a placemat that I thought would be a great stencil for a while and this might be the project to use it on. I didn’t really think through all of the ways I could accomplish this, I just knew I wasn’t ready to paint over the placemat yet. So I traced it in pencil and decided to use the green color I had used on the drawer. I’ve never been good at coloring inside the lines. This is very good practice. That’s what I keep telling myself. And good practice with a paintbrush, since I don’t really know any techniques. 

The green is an interior wall paint, and went on very thinly. It definitely needed a second coat, which I’m still working on (see mini stay-cation). That is why it seems darker in the upper left corner, it actually is, not just more weird lighting. For the second coat I mixed it with green acrylics and it seems a lot better. I’m not sure if I’ll get to a third coat or just call it good when I’m finally done with the second. It will just be in our bedroom, and if we end up annoyed with it I can always paint over it. I’m not sure what I will do with the knobs. I might look for some different ones, or just paint the ones that came with this, but I ran out of blue paint. So, we’ll see, but it definitely needs handles.

I’ve enjoyed working on this, and it’s nice to get paints out again, even if it’s just for a dresser. Although I am ready to be done with it. So, now, onward!