The Ringls

I’m on a major office kick right now. With all the things going on in the Ringl house it’s easy for papers to get stacked, piled, and stored to the point of  ”Where is our electric bill?” “Have you seen my new House Beautiful magazine?” “Did we get that check in the mail yet?” “Why isn’t the water on?”   I know, crazy things happen when mail isn’t open, sorted, and kept in the same place each day…  Hence my recent office obsession.

Here is what our “office” looks like now:
(sorry for the picture quality, these were taken with my phone this morning)

The Dungeon Entrance. It doesn’t look so bad, yet….

here is where it gets SCARY:

and the SCARIEST part of all:  Stephen’s Area

It’s horrible I know. Almost un-human of us. So here is what needs to change first (since obviously the ENTIRE space needs a re-vamp!)

Priority 1: New Desk

Not just any desk either. I’m wanting to make our home office more user friendly. Not a room we go to throw the mail down or sign on the computer real quick to pay a bill we forgot about. I want more out of this space. I want peace, tranquility, organization, and functionality. A His-Her space where we can get our groove on (for Stephen and his music and me and my projects).  I feel like my home computer has been abandoned because it is in the office (aka: Junk Dungeon). I never go in there except on my day off, and I need this room to feel as much love as any other room.

Now for The Plan:

Who can pass something so awesome up with How-To Instructions Online ?!?!

It has everything I’m wanting to do in our office, without the hefty price tag!  I would turn the thing sideways, with the end against the windows so we could each have our own wall space for hanging art/cork board/pictures. It gives each of us our “own space” on each side of the room to decorate however we want (which means ALL of stephen’s instruments could be in 1 place finally!!)

While our office looks nothing like this space, I have already figured out how to alter it to fit our wants. However, I can’t divulge all of that information because then I can’t have an awesome ‘LOOK WHAT WE DID’ post and shock your eyes right out of your heads.

So you see my inspiration, and very soon you will be seeing how that can fit into an average person’s budget/home without the hefty $949.00 price tag if purchasing this desk from Pottery Barn.  Yes, you read that right – 949 smackaroos!  Time for a Ringl visit to home depot my friends, so you know I’m excited!!

Have you ever looked in a room and thought “this would be so much bigger if those dang closet doors weren’t in the way!”  You have?!  Hey me too!!

It could be a bedroom, home office, or even just a way to hide your laundry piling up in the utility room (not that that happens…).  Curtains can be the new doors. Keep them open and the space feels bigger, plus there’s no door hanging open and taking up space in the room (pocket doors would also solve this problem, but this is much less pricey, and doesn’t require making holes in the walls)

I’m thinking use some PVC for the rod (which you can paint to match the color of your wall AND is pretty cheap at any hardware store). Get some cheap shower curtain rings and pick yourself out some lovely fabric/any drapes you like for curtains. Tip: Get extra long ones to add height to the room!!

Instead of adding little curtains on the bottom to hide the file cabinets I would just decorate the drawers with a fun/matchy wallpaper to go with the curtains.

I go back and forth with what to do with the closet in our office. Right now those big doors are hiding all the things I haven’t found a place for yet.  Currently it is packed full, and thankfully it’s time for some Spring Cleaning to fix that issue. Once again my philosophy of  ”If it isn’t being used, pass it on” comes in handy. I love this philosophy, Stephen hates it, so sometimes we have to compromise on certain items. Do we have an attic?!  Dang I sure hope so!

Back to closet-talk… what are the thoughts of the rest of you out there?!  I go back and forth with closet usage.  I feel like they should serve a better purpose than hiding items that we seldom use. That’s square footage people. Square footage we are paying for and should get to see the light shining inside on lovely sunny spring days!

And in case you don’t like the idea of curtains/fabric hanging in your office there is always these options:

Options for so many different styles!! Love it

With Spring right around the corner my brain has been buzzing with outdoor ideas.  From gardening, to what kind of porch we want, and everything else in between.  While Stephen and I have plans of having a veggie garden I have come to realize something… I need a potters table!

Perhaps something like this:

With these handy How-To instructions online, I don’t think it seems too far fetched of an idea.  I figure if my hubby wants me in the backyard picking weeds out of the ground, he ought to at least give me something pretty to work at   Plus, that means I can paint it whatever color I want. Oh how I love the possibilities there are with paint…

Also, on a happy weekend-note, I walked around our backyard for the first time on Saturday!  It’s been so cold and wet this winter that we have steered clear of the yard. I am now happy to report that I went and explored back there. I found a golf ball, an old shoe, some fallen trees AND discovered that the people behind us have a garden house.  Maybe I should dream up BIGGER plans for our yard. Stephen will loooove that…

Before I end this happy monday update, I found this cool herb/spice rack online and am wondering if anyone has any idea’s on how to construct something like this.  Any clues or thoughts?!?! I know it would look so cute hanging outside on the back porch!

Designed by Mike Moran

These 2 friends will soon become a new home for the tooshie.
One key question though: what color should I go with? Both the same, a pattern, solid, accent pillows? Okay, more like a few questions.

Time for a game plan. Ideas?

I posted the above “tweet” on a very strange morning.

This would be the same weekend as the Family Friendly Fire when Cassie and I were staying over at her parents for a multitude of reasons. But this particular morning I was getting ready to fill in leading The Core’s Sunday school lesson. As I was gathering my stuff together to head out the door and to church I received a phone call. It was a local (though unfamiliar) number, so I picked up.

Me: Hello?
FHP: Hi. This is the Florida Highway Patrol. Is this Stephen Ringl?

It was at this point I knew it was going to be a weird morning.

The FHP had called me to let me know that my car had been found wrecked. The odd part? It was three houses down from where I parked it, across the street, and in someone’s yard.

It turned out that during the night it had been hit. And when I say hit, you should probably read “slammed into with the force of Russell Casse in his last ditch effort to save humanity.”

Anyhow, a highway patrolman came out to survey the scene and fill out a report. Here are a few pictures of what he had to work with:

Here is where I parked:

If you look in the background you can see where my car is. Let’s zoom in:

To this day I’m not sure what happened to the other headlight. My belief is that it was smashed into oblivion.

After the officer finished his work he asked if I’d like to move it out of the yard myself, or if I’d like it towed. Hoping that it just looked a lot worse than it really was I tried to start it up.

Bad idea.

Long story short, insurance wrote the car off as a total loss and (after way too long) got me a check.

So if you know a car for sale cheap, you’ve got a local Ringl in need!

I love the term “Shop the House”, which I heard from the blog I mentioned Friday The Lettered Cottage.  The phrase means to get things from your own house and move them to a fun and useful spot. Search those closets, rearrange those bookshelves. It’s like re-gifting, but instead it’s re-placing. Doesn’t cost you a cent, and you don’t have to leave the house! While this is a great idea, I have run into one problem: I don’t have that much to choose from. I’m an avid goodwill gifter, so anytime we have something that isn’t being used I pass it on.

With my lack-of-options I drove past an exciting scene the other day. I am talking about a yard sale! With my un-desired (but continuous) habit of sleeping in on Saturdays I am constantly missing out on the best deals out there! So imagine my excitement that when coming home after work the other day one of my neighbors had a yard full of stuff for sale! I hadn’t met this neighbor yet, so my visit had a dual purpose: find a super good deal, and meet my neighbor!  What a great and easy way to introduce yourself to someone.

After driving home I walked over to shop-my-neighbor, with the added bonus of meeting the family.

You’ll be happy to hear I scored some great deals, and had the added bonus of meeting my neighbor!

I think I’m going to paint the frames white, or maybe a green, or blue… well, obviously I’m still deciding   The frame however is going to be white!  I replaced the picture with the bird you see there. I also changed the matting from hunter green and gold to that blue and pale yellow.  You know how much I spent?  $2   Man I love yard sales

What do you think?  Was it worth the 2 bucks I had in my car?!

Since I got married I have become very budget conscious. I have actually been that way most my life, but when you are living with someone new there are always a few adjustments to spending habits.  One of the biggest problems I’ve had is being careful with the “food budget”.   Each month I plan on spending “x amount” on groceries and allot a separate amount for going out/fun/date nights.  Well, that hasn’t been going too well lately.  It seems like the cost of meat and veggies has been on a constant rise and it’s cutting holes in my pocket.

I already have a few good grocery rules:

1) Make a List

2) NEVER go to the store hungry (otherwise I come back with Oreo’s & Chips…)

3) Shop the ad’s

4) Coupons, Coupons, Coupons

5) Go to the store early!

Obviously a list is always smart. If I don’t have a list with meals and what I need for those specific meals I end up coming home with cans of chicken broth and packages of cheese that I already have multiples of at home.   I don’t know if you have ever gone shopping hungry, but dang if that isn’t the biggest mistake you can ever make.  It’s worst than when you go without a list!  I also like to check out the ad’s online every Wednesday: Publix has one, Winn Dixie and Food World.  Then there’s the option of getting coupons online and printing the ones you want. My biggest tip, if you are anything like me and HATE shopping in crowded aisles, is to go early!  If you go to the store around 8:45-9:30 it is a completely different experience than going anytime after 11:00am.  It’s almost like you are in a completely different universe of shopping, a 180 degree difference!

Now the ultimate question is why I keep going over our food-budget when I have such awesome rules put in place.  I think it’s partially because I am a rule-breaking rebel, and then slightly more accurate that I live with a man that can’t just snack on something light for dinner, or eat a salad and yogurt and be content. He’s a man, he needs meat and substance after a long day of work.  I think that is my problem,  that and the fact that I have a hard time telling Stephen no when he asks if we can grab a pizza on the way home, or when he doesn’t feel well I let him choose dinner.  He’s just so sweet about it, ya know what I mean?!

These problems (that I just now became aware of after writing all this out) have made me decide that it’s time I set some new habits into place.  #1 Pizza passes if we we’re already planning on it, otherwise, it’s straight home for JOINT cooking!  #2  If it ain’t on the list, I ain’t buying it (yes I said ‘aint’ and yes I am 98.5% serious about this).  #3  Be smart, not “healthy” when shopping.  I seem to think that if I buy healthy food items we will eat healthy more often. Wrong!   If salad isn’t on the menu then don’t buy items for every night (for example: you don’t have a salad on taco night, that’s just weird).   Shop Smarter, Not Healthier.   Hmm, that would be a great title for a book!  It expresses that if you are shopping smart you will in turn buy healthy items. Buying only “healthy” leaves you stranded on those nights you just want a burger. So instead of having something in the freezer, you go out and over spend AND over eat at McD’s with a greasy burger, fries & cola combo!

Are there any other great idea’s out there for smart/budget-friendly food spending?  I know we only buy ice cream if it’s on sale and we are going to someone’s house, or having people over. It’s a nice guarantee to make sure we don’t eat a gallon each!  not that that’s ever happened….

I went to high school with Rachel.  Although 2 years younger throughout school, I admired several things about Rachel.  To start, she’s always been motivated and has a huge heart.   She’s got that cute surfer look, only it isn’t a look she buys at the mall, she really has some amazing skills on a board.  I always assumed she went to school on the east coast so she could up her surfing skills on some real waves.

Not only is Rachel all these things, but she’s also an artist.  She is gifted with anything you can grab, whether it be aerosol, a paintbrush, or her doodling on a notepad with a pen.  If we lived in the stone age she would have been the one that came up with the idea of drawing on the cave walls with charcoal!

In my senior year of high school Rachel and I had a design class together and I quickly became  jealous of her mind. The way she can see something ugly and have the sight and skill to make it into something amazing.  Or not see anything at all and make something beautiful – that is a true gift (plus she and I were setters on our high school volleyball team, so I had someone to goof off with!)

Currently, Rachel is living in North Carolina and has a website here.   Occasionally it will happen that I visit her site and see her posting on things that I have been considering or doing in my own town.  I always feel reassured when I see other people having the same idea’s and thoughts on ways to change a house or yard.  The biggest difference though is that I know if  Rachel could she would change the world with her idea’s.  She is that person that would go across the world to help when a disaster strikes.  I’m pretty sure she could survive out of a backpack and not have any problems.   If we could live multiple lives I see Rachel leading up the Peace Corps.  If  we had another go-around at life I would love to do something similar.  To escape corporate America and actually help people.  To teach people fundamentals for physical and spiritual health.  Then to grow with things they can teach me as well.  What a wonderful life that could be…  I’d be happy if I could survive without a car. What a financial, time-consuming, and environmental change that could make!

Here’s a little preview of Rachel’s website…

That’s right, a recent post was about owning chickens!  That should make it obvious to you why I enjoy her website so much. A girl after my own heart.  Fresh eggs and a cruelty-free home for some clucking little friends?!?  Yes please!  Stephen laughed when I mentioned the idea a while back, so now I know Rachel has my back (and probably plenty of great tips).

My favorite piece is a canvas she did a while back:  I almost bought the green for my sister, and the blue for myself.  Sadly I couldn’t get them at the time.  I can see the blue in my office hanging by my desk, they would be great office buddies.

So if you guys would like to be inspired by her work click here, and you can learn more about Rachel too.   She commissions artwork, so if you are wanting something done you can check out her work and ask if she can do something for you.  I have always liked this piece here of a cowboy.  I ‘m pretty sure if I ever have a little boy one day I will want him to be a cowboy.  Sure westerns were hollywoods false and exaggerated interpretation of life in the pre-vehicle days, but a girl can dream…

There you have it, an artist in the twenty-first century that is well worth checking out!  Oh, and did I mention that she and her boyfriend have a goat?   Love!

Friday’s are always my hardest days to go to work.  I usually spend the majority of my day thinking about the things I didn’t get done the day before on my day off, and how I could be at home cleaning the office, de-cluttering the closets and packing the car up to drop a load off at Goodwill.

Yesterday was an exceptionally productive day for me. I got a ton of things done outside of the house.  Here’s a little list of how some of my day went:  started early with our carpool, then getting groceries, filing for homestead exemption, (finally) getting our licenses changed to our new address, getting a birthday present and wedding shower gift, visiting with my mother-in-law, picking up my hubby, cooking  dinner, paying some bills, cleaned the pile of mail and papers that have stacked on the table, pumping Stephen of Vitamin C and throat losanges so he can dump this throat thing he got, tackling the never ending dishes, 2 loads of laundry, and finally sleep.  However, as awesome and task-oriented as my day was I still have so many things that keep getting ignored.  I have a feeling this is something I should get used to… I doubt the cycle ever ends.

With that feeling of  ”I want to go home and do this, this, and that”, I was so pleased to find this on a blog I read.  It brightened my day, so I had to share it with you all.  If you really like it you can buy the book here.  Did I already mention how much I love the bright colors!?!

Wouldn’t those be cute framed and hanging on a wall?   The writer of the blog where I found it has some awesome before-afters of her home.  She happens to be the one that mentioned the Eastbrook Flea Market in Montgomery and encouraged me to write this post from last week. I hope it will make your day brighter like it has mine  Have a great weekend!

p.s.  For all you people out there waiting for the “car story”, I have asked Stephen many times to share the nitty gritty with you, and this weekend it is #1 on my list of things to get done.  ”Get Stephen to make a post” has been added and WILL be checked off!

I found this in the new Pottery Barn catalog and fell in love.  Isn’t it fabulous?

Cute meet functional. Functional and cute meet the people reading this.  Of course, because I found it in a Pottery Barn catalog that means that it costs an arm and a leg.  Poor lovely desk. Yes, you are gorgeous and would look absolutely AMAZING in my kitchen, but sadly we can not be together.  However, if you decide to go on sale at 80% off then maybe I can reconsider.  K?  Okay, good!

Look how amazing it looks with the sun shining on it on a beautiful day.  Are they trying to sell this thing or what?  Who am I kidding, it’s working, I want it!  Which, is why this post is called Dream desk.  I will dream of it as often as my mind allows…

Aside from my desk dreaming life has been pretty busy.  We’re having a family dinner tomorrow night to celebrate my brother’s 28th birthday. That makes the 4 of us kids ages 22, 24, 25 and 28.  I love how I always throw the even numbers off track!