getting creative

I've been dreaming up ways to be more creative & I need your help. I LOVE to be creative in many ways, but I especially love photography. If you've known me for awhile, then you know how often I used to take photos... not with an iPhone, but with an actual DSLR.

I used to hop in my car & drive around for hours finding places that were forgotten or where I could be completely alone just taking shots & practicing. I love a good challenge!

Young Liz, with camera in hand.

I sold this camera... but again, I was usually found with camera in hand.

Some of my older work...

PLEASE keep in mind, none of these are edited... they were shot, uploaded & posted.

Old school, right? ;)

So, here's the scoop...

I want to GIFT you with a little photoshoot! Yay!

We will go out or stay in, snap some shots & have fun being creative. Could be just you, small family shots, your business shots, home/staging shots, couple/engagement, artistic/creative, beauty shots, maternity, birthing, newborn... anything really. (No boudoir or weddings shoots though, sorry).

The catch?

- You cannot crop or edit my photos.

- I will be posting my favourite shots on social media. (obviously with discretion... I likely won't post your birthing or newborn shots though for obvious reasons).

- If we do some driving to locations, some gas money will be required.

- You have to be ok with my baby tagging along with us... and maybe even some baby snuggles too.

PLEASE READ:

This is is NO WAY meant to be a start up photography business for myself. This is simply a way for me to be more creative & to do something nice. So don't ruin it. I by no means am calling myself a photographer. If you are wanting PROFESSIONAL photos done, please hire a REAL photogpraher who does this for their work/career. Trust me, they are worth it. If you're looking for a photographer, just ask & I can refer you to some amazing photographers! I don't want to take away from their REAL work & talent. I simply want to do something fun & creative for me but to also give back to you in thanks, for helping me achieve this.

I will be starting this once a month & go from there...

So... if you want to do this & you're in the Saskatoon area, email/message me.

roth.lizanne@gmail.com or Facebook message me.

Bathroom Renovations Before & After

The long awaited bathroom renovation post is here.

Let's start from the beginning shall we?


I bought this house about 3.5 years ago. It was built in 1949, so... she be old. But in pretty good condition. There are 2 bathrooms in the whole house, one upstairs on the main floor and one downstairs. This bathroom was never in terrible condition, but this last year it was really starting to look pretty darn dated & like it needed some repairs. The tile on the floor was cracking, the grout in the tub was mouldy and old, the paint on the wall was chipping away. And the walls were umm... not too straight. Although it had been working well for us, we figured we should one day renovate it to prevent it from getting to that REALLY BAD point. I also, really didn't want a major renovation looming over Jonathan's head with a newborn. I wanted to be able to just enjoy each other and our baby for awhile before taking on another big house project. SO, it was decided that when we got back from our holidays late August, that the next 8 weeks would be hustle time... and well... it worked. We got it done ALL before baby Roth's arrival.

So, let's get into it. Grab a coffee or tea... or a beer. It's a long post.


Here's the before:

Dated and old wall colour. & fixtures... it was actually like a pale yellow. Dated baseboards. Holes in the wall & major cracking above the tub on the back wall. (This is actually where we found a tiny bit of water damage once we took the wall down). When I first moved into this house, there was a really old school sliding glass door instead of the shower curtain. So, that was removed awhile ago and a lovely boring white shower curtain with a curtain rod was put in it's place. Obviously that had to go.

To save on money, we kept the vanity & tub. And of course the cool mason jar holder thing my amazing carpenter hubby made for me.

We also kept this cupboard/storage unit to again, save on money. The backsplash tile is actually the same tile that was in the shower/tub area. Silly me though, I forgot to get a before photo of the tub area. But trust me y'all... it was pretty bad.

The floor. Not terrible, but there was obviously some uneven floor as there was a bunch of cracking going on and pieces coming up. Just needed something fresh and new!

Now onto the process...

1. Demolition

We discovered this cool little shelving unit behind out mirror. Also, the shower head was never actually screwed onto anything...

This bathroom was insulated with wood chips basically, which was common for that year. As you can see they sink which means the top bit of the wall is not actually insulted. Also, where that pink insulation is... there was a window there apparently at one point.

2. Re-framing, re-insulated & adding in studs as there were hardly any. Also adding in cement board on the back wall & of course dry wall for our new walls.

It was at this point that we ran into a bit of a plumbing issue. We were very grateful that everything had been going pretty smoothly. So, after not being able to find certain pieces, we got Jonathan's uncle and dad to help us and put in a whole new piping system for the tub, so instead of two handles, using the same shower head, etc. we turned it into a one handle system with a new shower head. Getting this help saved us at least $300, so we are so grateful for his uncle helping us!

Dry wall is all up & ready for mudding. Floor is ready to get tile put on.

3. Flooring

We found this tile at Habitat for Humanity. We went with a bigger tile, so we wouldn't need as many & wouldn't have to make as many cuts. The nice thing about a small bathroom is the money you can save! This floor cost us $36!

4. Mudding, Sanding, Priming & of course... tiling

Jonathan and I actually completed tiling the entire tub together in one day. Super impressed my pregnant body was able to keep up all day. We were pretty sore the next day though from the constant bending over & squatting. Walls are done, ready for paint, and the tiles we grouted later on.

5. Painting

Originally I was thinking of doing a more neutral green colour. But since there's no natural light in this bathroom, I felt it was going to look a bit muddy. So, we went with more of a clean fresh mint/green colour.

Now for the final touches and completed bathroom...

Please just ignore the yellow front of the tub. We have yet to figure out what to put at the base of the tub and to cover the yellow plastic look. Also, the shower curtain is a tad short in my opinion, so we may one day look for a longer one... but in the mean time, this will do.

New door framing & new toilet. We went with Kohler and got it on sale for about $250.

I'm in love with our like new tub & subway tile wall...

The tile grout is actually a lot lighter in real life but the pictures are making it seem darker. In reality it's more of a light silver grout.

Before & After:

And there you have it! Roth bathroom renovation complete in just 4 weeks. I have to give a final shout out to my husband. He would work all day, then come straight home to work on the bathroom till late in the evenings. He did the majority of the work, while I did cleaning & assisting where I could. He's a rockstar & I'm so beyond grateful for him & for all that he does. 

And as a final note... keep in mind, it is very doable to renovate an entire bathroom all while keeping your costs down. This renovation did NOT cost us $10,000 because we chose to reuse some things, get things second hand & of course did the work ourselves.

Now it's time for us to sit back, relax & enjoy the fruits of our labour...

And hopefully soon, we can enjoy our baby after my impending labour. ;)

21 weeks

I probably should have mentioned that the other big event last week was that this little coconut has been making his/her presence known. I've been feeling tons of little movements starting last week & even more so this week! If I stop to think about it too much, it gets a little creepy, but generally it's a pretty amazing feeling. Reassuring as well!

I feel as though my belly hasn't been growing too much. According to Jonathan... "it's just filling out nicely now." I think that's a good thing, but I just haven't decided yet. ;)

And in other news, our garden is doing so well this year! We are so excited to start diving into these fresh veggies & fruit. We finally got some rain in this desert prairie land & when that happens, you can bet I'm outside snapping shots of our little green patch of yummy. If you have a little bit of space, you can really save yourself a bit of money & get some nice, fresh & organic food right at home! Don't be afraid to try it out. Our novice garden last year surprisingly did quite well & although we are still amateur gardeners this year, it's still enjoyable when you get to eat the food you grew yourself!

So help me, if caterpillars eat my spinach, I WILL throw a pregnant lady fit. And it won't be pretty.

Until next week my e-friends...

Big X's & O's to you!

personal development (aka... a guide to happiness)

I get it... personal development doesn't sound that fun. But when you realize how much it can help with guiding you to more happiness & fulfillment in your life, then why not start, right?! I would have to say, it's something you should be doing everyday! Yes, there. I said it. E-V-E-R-Y-D-A-Y!

Personal development could be a bunch of things. Is it time spent reading your faith devotional book? Or maybe it's listening to a webinar or reading about goal setting or how to live a successful and happy life.  Whatever it is, it should happen daily.

It's a healthy habit to do this small little thing every day and make it a non negotiable. It may seem like a small and insignificant thing, but over time... wow.

If you've ever read The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson, you know about how important it is to do those small (seemingly insignificant) things every day to create a more fulfilling life. Such an EASY thing to do right? Well, apparently also a really easy thing NOT to do.

Do you already do Personal Development every day? If so, what do you do? Do you try to aim for 20 minutes a day? What about 30 minutes a day? Or maybe 1 hour?! Why not try it? Maybe instead of listening to music in the car, you can listen to an inspirational talk or an audio book? You've already scrolled that facebook and instagram newsfeed for 20 minutes and you could have instead read a chapter of an insightful book. (don't worry, I've done it before too... working on it). We all have the same 24 hours in a day, you can make the time.

(I'm allowed to give tough love here, right?)

I should be clear though... personal development should NOT replace your time of prayer, reflection & gratitude or take away from your faith. If anything it should enlighten you more and should help you grow more in it and become more disciplined with the time you've been given in this life.

Email me : stilwell.e@gmail.com if you're needing help getting started with personal development or if you have any good books or tips you'd recommend. I would love to hear from you!

Some of my favy-favs thus far:

The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson
#Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso
Superlife by Darin Olien

heart of a minimalist

I've been working on some projects as of late, which has sadly kept me from my blog. But, let's stop that now shall we?

My intention for this blog is to be a space where you can find lots of things. Things about fitness & health. Things about work, personal development, random stories, adventures, house stuff, gardening stuff... all the stuff. With so many blogs these days being more and more about nothing, I wanted to make sure this blog doesn't become that. I hope that each blog post will be intentional, relatable, give value and/or at least brighten your day.

( View from the back yard )

So, as I had mentioned... I've been working on some projects. One big one being what I will dub "Project Home". I'm not a big DIY - girl... I try, but a lot of the time I lack patience to get things done, so I just don't start. But anyways, for those of you that don't know... we live in a pretty small house. About 745 square feet. And we actually only get to live in the upstairs as we have tenants in the basement suite. So, it's not a lot of space. Which means we have to be creative. Very creative. But I love the challenge & actually love the opportunity to learn more about how much our society wants us to have so many things in order to bring us happiness, however all these things we have do the opposite. So, I enjoy the task of practicing being minimal & not always buying things that don't benefit me & my family.

Last year I counted the number of times we went through our closet to get rid of clothes and we hit a total of 6 times! This year already, I still feel like we have too much and I have already gone through the closet/house twice. I'm not sure if this is a healthy thing or just an addiction of mine to toss things, but it's one of the greatest feelings. We are becoming more and more free of having things in our life that take up our space. Things we don't care about, things we never wear... just too many things. One day I'll post a before & after of our closet/house when I'm satisfied with where we are, and you'll see what I've done. To some people it may be drastic and perhaps our house looks plain to most people, but I like plain, clean & simple. I like open space, no clutter & a minimal amount of "stuff" in my nice calm space. And besides, not having a tv has it's perks... encourages us to go outside more, right?!

So, part of this years Project Home:

- be satisfied with the clothes & items we currently have
- organize closet so that we have the basic clothes we need, while not looking like garbage at the same time
- practice letting go of things both physical & spiritual.... often
- make some bigger purchases to allow for more storage to create cleanliness & no clutter
- finish painting!!
- have more of nature inside

If you're reading this and thinking "yup... I could lose a few things/clothes in my house" I encourage you to listen to that & do something about it! Take an afternoon to go through your house and ask yourself "Do I need this/use this?" "Will I miss this if I give it away?" If you answered "NO!" then toss it! :)


Any other minimalists out there? Any tips for us?

take me to the ocean

The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea -- Isak Dinesen

First blog entry, so naturally I have to talk to you about the ocean.
You could say I'm obsessed... it's ok. I know I am. I can be awkward & random sometimes (or at least I feel like I am) so it makes sense that my first blog entry would be about... well nothing much.

There is something so mystical about that salty water. I dream of it daily since I currently live in the prairies where we only have cold lakes & winter about 7 months of the year. My husband & I travelled to St.Maarten for our honeymoon (everyone should experience this place!) & I've missed the turquoise blue everyday since then.

Growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia, one could simply drive to the ocean on a monthly (ok-weekly) basis. We grew up by the ocean & in the water. Swimming lessons, beach days, lifeguarding. We were surrounded by water!

God is miraculous though & I'm so grateful for this beautiful earth He created, especially the sea. The fresh air & wind in your face when you're walking down a pier. The salty ocean hitting your skin. The sand on your toes, scrubbing your feet till they are smooth & soft. The waves with their strength & power. (we played in the waves for HOURS on our honeymoon). Seagulls & other birds fly over as you watch the golden sunset on the horizon where it meets the water line. The amazing creatures below the sea & the plants that cover the sea floor. Everything about the ocean makes me marvel at God's wonder, His strength & beauty. It reminds me of His love for me.

When I'm near that salt water, I can't help but feel refreshed, reborn, renewed & energized.  Like everything will sort itself out & fall into place. If you aren't a fan yet, give it another chance. I promise, the ocean is so beautiful and will change you, if you let it.

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In other news, my next blog post won't be about something so random. But I felt I needed to let you know how much I love the sea. mmk? K cool. God bless!


MAKAI