Tools Are For Women Too!: Let me introduce myself!

Rory asked me to do a post introducing myself and it is probably about time! All of a sudden this person starts posting on Rory's blog and I am sure you are thinking "Who is she and why is she here?" I never know how much about myself to divulge. Too little and it is vague. Too much and well, its overwhelming! So I will try to find a happy medium.
I grew up in the country and we were poor, only I didn't know we were poor. My dad was a milk man and my mom stayed at home. We had horses and other animals and to a tom boy like me it was paradise. I have always preferred to be outside. I love to work hard and get dirty. I love fishing, hiking, camping, gardening, and pretty much anything outdoors. I also love to build and refinish furniture. It started when I was about 5. I would sit in my dad's wood pile and hammer and saw to my hearts content. I of course took the tools from my dad's shed with out asking. Who would let their 5 year old have a saw? But I loved it.
I grew up and went to college where I met my husband. I knew right away I wanted to marry him. Problem was, so did every other female student! But I got him in the end :) My husband is the best assistant and doesn't get offended when the kids call the tools "mommy's tools".
We have four beautiful children. All boys. And I love it.They are amazing and teach me some of life's greatest lessons (like PATIENCE!). I hope to teach them to be kind and accepting of others, to love learning, to love themselves, and to love God.

No. I can't get one single picture where they all look at the camera and smile "normal". But I love it.

My husband and I got married relatively young. I was done with school but he had a few more years left to become an architect. We had kids right away so we were pretty poor. I loved being creative with decorating on a teeny, tiny, almost not there budget. This is when I started building furniture. I even sold some to help us in tough times.

When it comes to my projects, I almost always bite off more than I can chew. And I always think I can get it done sooner than I really can. At any given point I will have at least 3 projects in the works. My husband can't understand why I can't finish one before I start a new one and to be honest, I don't understand it either! I am not an expert by any means, in anything I do, but I am willing to share what I have learned with others because so many have been willing to teach me.
Here are some of the things I have built for our home.

This red cabinet has shelves and holds our movies on the top shelves and blankets are in the bottom. And it is "antiqued" because I love things that look worn and old. I also build another just like this but it is blue and in the boys' room. I didn't antique that one. I do show restraint SOMETIMES:)

This is actually the first thing I built and I didn't have any power tools. I wanted something that looked like an old shipping crate. It holds our board games.

I built shutters for this nook in our house and painted it to look like a window.

I built this clock to hide an ugly power box. It slid right over it. And yep. It's antiqued.

I have made lots of different shelves. I love "floating" shelves the best.

I love to paint. My baby's nursery is decorated in monkeys so I painted one on the wall.

After a trip to California Adventure's Bugs Life park, my boys wanted a room where they felt like a bug. I used the head and foot boards plus the ladder from an existing bunk bed and built the rest. The bottom has a piano hinge so that it lifts up and a trundle bed can be pulled out.

I also love to read. "How to" articles, cheesy romance novels and everything in between.

I love to try new things. Last year I even learned how to make cheese! Next on my list is welding.

I am always up for trying new things and I love to challenge myself.

I started my blog 2 months ago. Actually I started 2 new blogs 2 months ago. Not JUST A Housewife and The Birthday Blog. My husband was laid off due to the economy and I took advantage of this time with him home to do what I love. I will be opening up an ETSY store soon too.

Whew! I guess that this was a little on the "too much info" side. Like I said, I never know what to say and what to leave out. I hope you will visit and I can get to know a little about you! That has been my favorite part of blogging. I love the emails and comments. Thanks for letting me share!