New Kitchen = NEW LIFE!

Life is changing. I recently quit my job at baby beloved so I am officially unemployed. It's been taking it's toll, too. I think that having to be home and be on as "mom" is something I was not built for. I NEED to leave the house and be able to put my energy into other things. I think the other thing I really like about working is that I can feel a sense of accomplishment. I can go into work and find solutions for people, get a woman fitted into a good bra, teach them how to use a baby carrier in a way that will change their lives...get the store clean and organized before I leave. This feels like I DID something. Where, everything I do here it seems only gets destroyed in a matter of seconds and I am left feeling like everyday is the same as the day before. There is nothing I can't stand more than boredom and predictability. So, while I couldn't see myself continuing at baby beloved, I do miss it terribly.

During this fiasco I have completely remodeled my kitchen - FINALLY. I have needed a new kitchen forever and I finally am starting to feel like this is my home. Originally, this was my husband's parent's house. We ended up with it somehow and I have been begging for a kitchen upgrade since day one.  Here is the change:

 We managed to widen the gap between the counters and where the oven used to be in the wall. About 6".

Before: only 3 of the 4 burners on this stove top worked. Now I have a fully functional 5 BURNER range. I <3 that the little bit more wide that the extra burner makes this oven you can put 2 baking sheets side by side!

The tile that we used for the back splash was actually given to us for free by a guy who was destashing his storage of building materials. It had been in our garage for about 3 years...we were short just a few to do the whole thing and I had just seen a thing about putting up a magnetic board behind the oven to keep recipes, so we did that! I REALLY love this. I have been making recipe cards and putting the ones I'm using for that week up there. 

If had this Buddha picture for about 4 years and it never really had a home. I ended up having to take it down from where it was when I hung our guitars up on the wall in the living room. I walked into the kitchen area with it and it was a perfect fit!

We gained a lot of space by taking out the middle counter and just cutting out the upper cabinet to look like a shelf then just slid the fridge all the way over. This has made a HUGE difference in the space and flow of the kitchen. Probably my favorite move. I had Eric (my handy friend) make shelves inside the space where the oven was. We used the wood from the cabinet we removed so this was FREE and earth friendly. ;)

We had JUST enough room to hang this shelf up next to the fridge. I've had it for about 7 years, but it has been just sitting in my basement. I bought it at .50 Friday (a Goodwill thing) for like $3.00 thinking I would "do something with it someday". 

I lalalalove it.

Now, I've also been really busy baking and cooking. There are MANY recipes that I am ready to post already - and can't wait to share with all of you! I have also recently learned that I absolutely CAN bake and sell my Milk'N Cookies on a retail level out of my kitchen as long as I'm not making over 16K a year! There is a lot on the horizon for me, I just have to go for it.....and I fully plan on it.