Bringing the Galaxy to Our Game Room

What used to be a closet, has become our Nerd Room. Or Game Room. Or Man Cave. It kinda fits all those descriptions depending on who you ask in this household. From the 3D printed light switch cover and electrical outlet covers, to the shelves displaying Star Wars, Star Trek, Minecraft, and Zelda collections, this room is being made into our dream room. We have been running out of space though lately. Which is where space comes into play....

My husband and I both love space. But for different reasons. He loves true space. Vast, beautiful and unfathomable. I love space in movies. Star Wars, Star Trek, Serenity - I'm that space nerd. But they are essentially the same thing. So we came to an idea together. What if our Nerd Room was given a makeover that brought space inside?? It isn't a big room. Like I said, it used to be a closet for the previous owners. A large walk-in closet, but a closet still. 

So we looked up. After all, where are the stars usually? Up! There was an ugly popcorn plastered ceiling above us. Normally, I'd want to remove everything from the room. Lay down some plastic sheeting. Hit the tunes. And then begin the process of scraping or sanding off all that plaster. But that takes time. And removes the gaming room from existence for a period of time that would be unbearably long to my many gamers in this house. I thought we were going to have a nuclear meltdown when my TV quit working on me... We could only play from one console and it about killed the kids. 

So what do I do? The next best thing! We bought a gallon of black paint. Flat. Nothing too fancy. And because I couldn't remove everything from the room indefinitely, I carefully started painting the ceiling by hand with the biggest brush I had in my crafting supplies. Time consuming, sure, but totally worth the final effort. 

Each time I got to painting, I set timers or had the kids time me. About 20 minutes was my goal. Once or twice I was able to push it to 30-40 minutes. By then, my hands and feet had that painful tingling and numb feeling. As well as arms and neck that hurt from being upward turned for too long. 

My starting point was around the light fixture as my husband was planning to install a new fan/light combo that he chose. I slowly circled outward from there. And it looked much like those psychiatry ink blots.

So my kids came up with ideas on what the shapes looked like. My youngest would give me a 5 minute story to go with her ideas. And then a friend pointed out that it looked like the Nothing from The Neverending Story.

This is where I learned that my husband had never seen that movie! Which then prompted me to borrow it from the library and have a family movie night. My kids laughed at it and said it was cool, but weird. My husband thought it interesting. He laughed at the boy reading and said it reminded him of me.

My three older kids started chipping in to help me. It made the progress go by faster. And we had fun talking while we worked. Shapes and blackness kept spreading along the way.

Notice those shapes going from the ceiling to the wall? That was not me making a mess. Nor was it accidental. I did that on purpose with the idea that it would look like the roof had been torn away to let the galaxy in. I'm no artist, but I think it worked out alright.

The finished product of all this work was a scene better than I could have thought. See those white flecks? This is what happens when you paint over the popcorn texture by hand. It is nearly impossible to cover all the angles. So you are left with parts that look like stars shining through the darkness.

The final part of the job was to get the outline of a moon left white. My husband had to do this. My attempt had it looking like a stretched out half moon.

Now that my moon is in place, the entire ceiling is finished and we are ready to add some exploration vehicles!

Oh, didn't I tell you? We have these LEGO sets that were space themed. They have been sitting in their boxes for years. Just never had a place to display them. But we had this great idea. What if we could hang them from the ceiling? What if the land vehicles are parked on the shelf under the night sky? 

But then...

Before I could finish this post and share it with you, there was a bit of an accident. A hole was punched through the ceiling during a wiring attempt for another home project. So now we have a black hole. *Pun totally intended!* It was an interesting patch job that I hope not to have to repeat. How well can you tell the difference??

Eventually, my husband and I will start hanging the rocket and satellite builds. Then I have to figure out the shelf for the ground vehicles. But for now, I think we have a pretty unique setup going. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! I love hearing from you. Any ideas on how to improve this?

Exploring Midland: Part 2

We finally took some time to go check out more places in this beautiful town we call home. We also wanted to show some favorite places to my sister-in-law. I have to say, we were not disappointed! 

The Cat's Meow:

My sister-in-law had seen this while driving by and asked if we would want to go in. I, of course, said yes! It was quite the antique store. They had vintage postcards, clothing, hats, shoes, even Barbies! Jewelry crowded in cases, furniture was everywhere, books. Most things were out of my price range, though all of it was in excellent condition. I did consider getting some of the vintage doll clothes. Like a suit for a Ken doll that was only $5. Maybe next time. They had a great book that was right up my alley, however, way out my budget. It was costumes from Star Wars, signed by the author! The photos were stunning. The book was mint. And all for a whopping $200! My 6 year old love the mink wrap. Even after she learned that it was a real animal before it became a women's wrap. My sister-in-law lamented at not finding one of the vintage night gowns in her size. What was with women having tiny wrists?? My oldest son wished he could afford a robe that was embroidered with a colorful dragon on the back. So, something to hit every individuals interests. There was even a customer visiting from New York who found goodies to take home. 

The Cracker Barrel:

My husband and I visited this one for our anniversary dinner. He had gotten a gift card for his birthday and it just seemed perfect for the two of us to steal away for a little bit. We laugh every time we go as we remember Tim Hawkins' jokes about southerners and the 'Barrel. 

While this visit was pleasant enough, I was a little disappointed. The server might have been new, as she had to ask about things I questioned on the menu. And then even after saying yes, didn't get the order right. Food was good, albeit a bit more rich than my husband and I were used to. His order was the Steak n'Egg Hashbrown Casserole.

It wasn't anything like what we expected. No tomato, not colby cheese - they had cheddar on it, no green onion, and didn't give us the buttermilk biscuits either. It was a bit on the greasy side too. The beef tips were cooked to perfection, the hashbrowns were lightly seasoned with garlic. They should have crisped the fried onion a little more. Instead they were limp, mushy and greasy.
My food was about the same. I ordered the Cheesy Bacon Homestyle Fried Chicken. No biscuits, I asked for the cheese to be swapped, but was still served the cheddar. Limp and greasy onions. Even the bacon was limp. And no green onion or tomato was brought. And I don't recommend the dumplings. Maybe I'm spoiled from the ones my grandmother made, but these just didn't cut it for me. The dumplings were in a huge clump together and the soupy gravy was almost without taste.

I think we agreed on two things this go around. Firstly, the drinks were the best part. We had the Southern Half'n'half tea and lemonade. Wasn't expecting the strong flavor. Not too sweet, but not sour either. Perfect blend. We also tried a Jack Daniels Watermelon Punch. Delicious! Loved the flavor. The second thing we agreed on, was that the fried pickles (which arrived after the main course), were the best food part of the meal.

Centennial Park was amazing!

This place takes up about a full city block. There is a splash pad, field and grassy hill for kicking a ball around, and a small playground for climbers to enjoy. There was also a large selection of books for all ages to chill with. Tables are shaded for snacking in between play. Benches are placed around the splash pad for parents wanting to watch as the kids play. I was pretty impressed by this place. Parking was easier to find than I expected as well. 

Centennial Library

I told you last time that there were two libraries here. Well, we finally got around to visiting that second library. It is the Centennial Branch. I think this one was built more with kids in mind. Open floor plan with a lot of sensory teasers. There were a lot of faux trees inside that showed kids various trees native to Texas.

The girls and I set up the dolls in one of them. I believe this was the Live Oak tree. 

SK Arms

My husband has been wanting to check this place out since the first time we drove by it. It was a lot cooler than I expected! The guys that work there aren't overly salemen-ish. They are there to help, but not to push. There are so many guns to check out, something they encourage you to do, by the way. They have emergency kits you can get for your shooting outings as well as parts and accessories. I have my eye on one of their bags... The ammo wall was pretty nicely stocked, though I think shortages are still going on for some types. 

Mural City

Midland has murals all over the place. Sides of businesses, on electrical boxes - you never know what you will see. This one was along a highway in town. Not sure what business it was on, but we loved it all the same. 

That is all for this round. Don't worry though! There are still more places on our list. The more we see and visit, the more we want to go out and find new places. Haven't been too disappointed yet. Really love living here! Which place would you want to see? Leave me a comment below. I'd love to hear from you!

Catching Our Breath Yet?

I feel as though the whirlwind of activity hasn't stopped yet. We finished the tiny house. Got my sister-in-law settled in. Did school for a week. Sent the boys off to camp. But still the fast pace didn't slow down. 

After we came back from getting my sister-in-law, we had a busted water pipe to fix. While I hope we never have to do that again, at least we now know how to! It was pretty epic. There were roots crowding the pipe junction that caused it to break. So working to fix it included cutting the roots with a chainsaw. Quite the interesting experience...

My daughters made a joke by placing this prank tape across the bathroom door while we had the water turned off.

We learned about this flexible pipe that can connect the two ends, but also allow for the possibility of roots to push it without breaking it. 

We wanted to help boost the signal for my in-laws to use the internet without disruption in the tiny house. So my husband bought Cat5 cable and thought he would just run it through the attic space. That turned into my next project...

Remember the game room ceiling I painted? Oh wait... I don't think I had shared that post with you just yet. Well, I painted the popcorn ceiling to be like a galaxy in the game room. Now I'm in the process of fixing this to look like a black hole in that galaxy. 

At this point, I keep thinking of that one song by Johnny Diaz.

Ever have those days? When you just need that reminder to stop and breathe? I've been feeling that. We are trying to get back into the groove, but it is a steady stepping process. Sometimes those steps feel like one forward and two backwards, but we keep pushing. A lot of things happening. I hope to have many posts to show some interesting projects, so be patient with me. And remember, just breathe.

Diamond Earrings for a Special Lady

I was recently asked to do a review for a pair of beautiful diamond earrings. While I wasn't asked to write about them, I thought they were just too nice not to share with you guys!

*Disclaimer: I received these earrings for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not otherwise paid or endorsed. All opinions are my own.*

When I was first approached, I didn't hesitate to say yes. While I am not big on bling for myself, I know these would make a perfect gift for other ladies in my life. 

What are they?

First off, these are moissanite diamond earrings. I had no idea that such a thing existed, but they do. I looked it up! 

These are beautiful. Delicately set into white gold plated sterling silver, they are small in size. This makes them ideal for children or those who prefer subtle jewelry. Each diamond is a carat in size.

What was so great about them?

First off, they came with more than I expected. There is the nice box that had the bow, making it a great gifting option. 

Once you open that, there is the certificate of authenticity, another box containing the earrings, a card on the company, and a cleaning cloth.

Each earring is inside a separate plastic sleeve. This keeps them from rubbing against each other in transit. The box you see behind them has an insert that you can attach each earring to when you are ready to give it as a gift or if you want to store them in between uses. 

Where can you get them?

Can you believe it was on Amazon that I bought these? Well, of course you can. Amazon has almost anything these days! These were $49.99 and at the time of writing this post, there is also a 10% coupon. This would make a great gift for birthday or even if you are planning ahead and stocking Christmas gifts! Here is the link for you to check them out.

I just loved how well they shone, how classic they looked, and how nice a presentation they came with. What do you think? Know anyone who loves diamonds? Who would you give these to? Let me know in the comments below!