My Husband Married His Sister

And no, that's not just an Arkansas joke

Leo's sister came down to visit this past weekend. For the past year or so, Leo has been realizing that she and I are more alike every day. We have a lot of the same mannerisms, likes, dislikes, and find humor in the same things. Friday, it became apparent to both Michelle and I that we are even more similar that we originally thought.

Friday was our house inspection (which is a long post for another day), and while Leo and the inspectors were looking at the structure of the house, his sister and I went through the house talking about all of the cosmetic changes we could make to it. I'm not exaggerating when I say that we came up with exactly the same ideas. It got even funnier when we hit up Lowes after the inspection. Every department we went to, we were drawn to the same things. Doors, paint, appliances, flooring, tiles...you name it, we liked the same thing. Now if only I can convince her to move down here to be on my side every time Leo and I are making decisions....

If I'm being completely honest, I'm thrilled that we're so much alike. Leo and his sister have a bond that I always dreamed of having with a sibling. She was the person I wanted to impress the most when I met his family because Leo respects her opinion and trusts her completely. She's also been a great friend to me. We clicked right away when I met her Easter weekend four years ago. I do have to admit though, it is a bit creepy sometimes thinking that Leo married somebody just like his sister

What a champ

One In A Million Mike

Today is the day to share a story. This is heartbreaking, eye opening, and inspirational. It is the true story of a man who deserves the absolute best. It's my hope that his story moves you like it moved me.

I was on facebook a couple weeks ago and came across an old friend from elementary school, Malary. She had shared a few different things about her boyfriend Mike, and in true internet fashion, I started reading. One page led to another, which finally ended here. I knew I wanted to do something to help out, but without having a lot of money, my options were limited. Then I remember the power of the internet, so I'm sharing the story here on this little blog in hopes that it will reach other people. After all, big things are always accomplished by a lot of small people. I'll stop jabbering and just let you read the story:

"Mike was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He served two tours in Iraq as part of the United States Army. While in Iraq, Mike was exposed to radiation. The doctors we have spoken to have said that this absolutely played a role in his diagnosis, but are quick to say that they cannot prove it. 

Aside from his role in the army, Mike has worked at an orphanage in Cambodia and taught english to children in Thailand. He currently works for Alaska Child and Family where he does activity therapy treatment for foster children. Mike is genuine, caring, and intelligent. He makes everyone he meets feel important. He is an asset to humanity. 

At 29, the odds of being diagnosed with myelofibrosis are 1 in a million, sparking the nickname One in a Million Mike. This disease, which has a median age of diagnosis of 65, makes normal stem cells in the bone marrow turn to scar tissue. Day by day, Mike's bones become harder. The only treatment is a stem cell (aka bone marrow) transplant. The progression of the disease will lead to leukemia and organ failure. 

After a trip to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Mike was put on a list and the search for an unrelated donor has begun. There are 100 potential donors at this stage. Further testing must be done on these donors to find a perfect match. This could happen tomorrow or in a few months. Once a donor is found, Mike will undergo a week of chemotherapy and radiation to prepare him for the transplant. For the transplant to be successful, Mike will have his entire immune system wiped out, so extensive in fact that a year or two after the transplant he will need all of his immunizations all over again. The preparation will be followed by the transplant and 4 months in Seattle undergoing constant treatment and observation. Listed in the top 3 most expensive medical procedures, the stem cell transplant comes in at about $800,000. 

We have started gathering bills and have racked up $20,000 for diagnosis alone. The financial strain on top of the medical stress is overwhelming to say the least. People have been incredibly gracious and helpful."

I can't imagine the stress and pain he and his family and friends must all be going through, but I do know one thing: he's strong, and he's a fighter. He's surrounded by people who love him and would do anything to help him. He is truly an inspiration.

There are several ways for you to help out. First, you can help me share his story. I want his story to go viral. Bloggers are some of the best at utilizing social media, so I want to see those skills at work! Twitter, pinterest, instagram, facebook...share it everywhere. Secondly, you can share this on your own blog. If you want to share the story on your blog, hit me up at thekojewelry@gmail.com, and I'll get you in touch with Malary. 

You can also donate. Even a few dollars can go a long way. They have a goal of $150,000 to reach on their donation page, and currently have raised over $20,000. If you want to help out financially as well, I've included the widget:

Medical Fundraising Made Simple

Since my November jewelry fundraiser for multiple sclerosis went so well, I'll also be donating 25% of all my jewelry sales from now until August 31st! You can check out the shop here

Personalized Mugs

Back in April, I participated in a book and mug swap. I made my partner, Tawny, a personalized mug that I meant to write a post about way back in the day. If you've been around since then, you'll know that didn't happen. Well guys, the procrastination ends today!

Tawny's last name starts with "Y", and while I wanted to get her a mug with her initial on it, there were no "Y" mugs to be found. I've always been a bit too stubborn for my own good, so I set off on a mission to make a mug of my own. After scouring pinterest for a while, I found this post that referred me to the correct type of sharpie to use (the regular ones tend to wash off eventually).

I hit up a few stores and gathered my supplies:
1 large mug
2-3 different sharpies
1-2 sheets of hole-punch reinforcement stickers
1 bottle of rubbing alcohol
cotton balls

Step 1: Draw whatever initial or monogram you want. This is the hardest part of the whole project. I wasn't sure about going completely freehand on this, so I looked up a couple of fonts on pinterest, and picked out my favorite that I knew I could recreate. As you can tell by the picture on the left, I messed up the first time. No worries! That's what rubbing alcohol is for: erasing your mistakes before you bake it and make it permanent. Attempt #2 (on the right) turned out much better.

Steps 2 and 3: If you want polka dots, place the reinforcement stickers all over the mug around the large initial. You can peel them off and move them around until you like the placement. Then you just color in the dots! Let the ink dry off a bit and then just peel off the stickers. Voilà! Perfect golden circles

Step 4: For a little added personalization, you can use the handle to place a word or name. I used some extra stickers to make sure the spacing between the letters was equal. Again, if you mess up, you can just use rubbing alcohol to start over.

Step 5: I used the same "glass baking" directions as my DIY champagne glass tutorial last year- place the mug on a baking sheet and stick it in a cold oven. Turn the oven on to 350*. Once the oven is heated up all the way, set the timer for 30 minutes and let the mug bake. After 30 minutes, turn off the oven and let the mug cool down inside the oven. This is a very important step because the mug can crack if the temperature change is extreme. I typically do this at night before I go to bed and just let the mug or glass cool off over night.

A full-on makeover

I've been off the grid a bit lately. It hasn't been intentional, we've just been busy. Doing what? Planning out everything for....wait for it............our first house!

We're under contract for a house, but the inspection isn't until Monday, so it still may not work out (like house #1), but I'm so excited, I just can't hide it! *cue singing and dancing*

A little bit about the house: it's older, as in built in 1966, but it looks like it's in great condition. It's over 2000 sq ft, so we'll have room to grow (but not for a while!). It's going to be a project house that we plan on working on as we can save money. This is great for two reasons: I've always wanted to fix a house up AND it's excellent blog material. It has 4 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms with the guest bathroom being incredible funky- I'm talking "a door from the bathroom to the back porch" funky. I guess that will come in handy for summer parties on the deck?

Being an older house, the kitchen is the one room that is in terrible shape. We're already going to have to get all new appliances, so we thought "why not just gut the thing and start from scratch?" So, if everything falls in place, we'll be trying to redo an entire kitchen in two weeks (the time that we will have keys to the house, but we won't have to be out of our apartment yet). Are we crazy? Possibly, but we're the couple that likes to find a new place to live and move to a different state within a week twice.

I've been scouring pinterest for new kitchen ideas and Consumer Reports for smart appliance buys. Here are some of my inspirations:

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As you can tell, I pretty much know what I want. The kitchen space is rather small, so the white cabinets will brighten up the space. I want to keep everything under $8000 (including appliances) which I think is pretty feasible with what we want to do. As for paint, I want a really good greige a la Benjamin Moore's Ashley Gray. However, since we're trying to stay on a budget, Ben Moore paint will probably be out of our budget. Anybody have suggestions of what brand to use? I'm clueless when it comes to paint!

Kitchen Makeover Inspiration by thekojewelry on Polyvore