Posts
3 weeks ago
So, it has been a while...
Monday, September 7, 2009
Here sits my favorite comfy chair. I bought the little orange pillow at the goodwill this week and I like how it brings out the fall colors. You can see on the ottoman my Halloween/Thanksgiving collection of Martha Stewart magazines. They once had such pretty covers. I have been a little disappointed overall with her magazine lately. I am still not loving the mantle yet. I have some friends coming over today that can hopefully offer some input in that department. 
I have been collecting ivory dishes all year and I finally have enough to do something with. I still can't bring myself to paint this lovely cabinet. It compliments my floors so well. Did I mention it was only $20 at a garage sale?
I found this frame at a garage sale and used it this summer/spring with the word "grow" in it. I have several scrap booking sets of cardboard letters and have been collecting interesting fabrics. There are lots of 4 letter words I can put in here. (only the nice ones). And when I am finished, I put the fabric and the letters in a plastic bag ready for the next time.
Here are my fabric hoops. I love these little guys. They make it so easy to change my decor for the seasons so far I have ones for Christmas, Spring, Valentines day and Fall. I also have a set of wooden ones in my craft office, this is an old photo. The craft office is now in our dining room and this room belongs to baby.
Nursery update coming soon...stay tuned.
Nursery
Thursday, July 2, 2009
It has been a busy summer and it is already half way over. I wanted to post some of the things that I have been working on and gathering together for the nursery.
Here are some of the fabrics that I am using, it came out fuzzy but I am feeling too lazy to go downstairs and then back up to take another picture. The "Blanket" is a Shabby Chic king size pillowcase from target and the other pillow is also from the same line. Victoria gave it to me. The green in the bottom left is a rug that I picked up at a garage sale earlier this spring. I love this bedding set but I am not sure that I will buy it. I have some pieces and some fabric pendants that go with it but I would like to piece it together on my own. I forgot to take pictures of the bedding I have put together so far. Later, I digress.
This is an antique jar I found while thrifting with friends in the mountains. See the tiny little "A"?
This was made by my friend Liz on her swanky new cutter thingy. Isn't it cute? I plan on getting a chunky ribbon and hanging it on her door.
These were brought over by my mom along with some others. They were worn by my sister and I when we were babies. They will work themselves into the room somehow.
My mother also brought this vintage print. My sister immediately called dibs but agreed to let me use it in Ansley's nursery.
This is a desk from my spare bedroom. I am going to use it as a changing table. There is enough room for a changing pad and a cute little basket at the end with all of the diapery things babies need. I am keeping my eye out for a laundry basket to go underneath. My mother is an absolute painting genius, I didn't take a good before picture, but I know everyone has seen French Provincial Furniture with all of the gold and laminate. Mom is worried that it is too much pink, any thoughts?
This is how the desk looked before, we havn't refinished this yet but it will happen...eventually.
Growth Update 2: Baby
Sunday, May 3, 2009
We are out of the first trimester and into maternity pants. Technically, I could still wear my pants with my nifty belly band, but the maternity pants are MUCH more comfy. I wish I had thought to take a "before" picture. Especially of my face, it is a little pudgier already.
Things are going along pretty well. I have had some minor setbacks. I was told a few years ago that I had genetic marker that showed me to have hypercoagulable blood(thicker blood that is more prone to clotting). No big deal. My rheumatolagist told me to start taking a baby aspirin daily and make sure to tell my OB whenever I do become pregnant.
When I became pregnant I told my OB and he referred me to a specialist, again, no big deal. I have a friend who had to see one because of one case of high blood pressure(she was afraid of needles and didn't know they were going to take blood that day).
My husband and I were pretty stunned when we were told that I would be administering a shot every day to thin my blood. But we took it in stride. I am blessed to have the school nurse (I am a teacher) administer the shot on weekdays. We are so thankful to know about the problem ahead of time. I am glad that my rheumatolagist was concerned about something as small as veracose veins and checked it out. I have since read around and most women have several miscarriages before they even know there is a problem. I am glad to know that we are doing everything within our power to make sure baby arrives safely.
Me at 15 Weeks
Baby at 13 Weeks
Growth Update:Garden
Monday, April 27, 2009
I hope everyone is doing well. I just wanted to give an update on this years "theme." You may remember, though probably not since it has been so long, that my theme for this year is growth in several areas.
Here is the garden now. I am very pleased with the results so far. Since the last post I have planted squash, lima beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, leeks and marigolds.
These are the sugar snap peas climbing up my mothers home made "trellis." I had some that were planted before the snow. The snow didn't effect them but the rain before (the drops were huge) absolutely pulverized them. So, I planted some seeds as a safety. The seeds have done better than the ones that started from seedlings.
Here is the second bed that was vacant in the previous post. it doesn't look like much now, but hopefully it will come along nicely. It contains lima beans, cauliflower, bell peppers, tomatoes, squash and carrots.
This is one of my blueberry bushes. Isn't the soil terrible? But these blueberries love Georgia clay so they have been totally hands off. 
I also planted the impatiens this weekend. The plan is that they will re-seed and be low maintenance.
This was the best investment I made. It was a bag of mixed salad green seeds. They are great to throw in with the romaine. In Georgia you can grow it from February through November. I took my mom's advice and planted some more every two weeks so that I would have as much as I needed.
News
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sorry for the brief hiatus. I have been very busy since I blogged last.
- I finished a 132 page yearbook for the school where I teach.
- I have written seven individual education plans for the children I teach.
- I have planted a kicking garden (pictures when the sun comes up)
- I let coupons expire before even cutting them out
- and most importantly... looking at a lot of this kind of stuff
How does your garden grow?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Back when we were all doing resolutions in January. After posting mine I got to thinking about some of the talk of having a focus for the year. This year's focus for me will be growth.
Mental-possibly going back to school
Spiritual-being more intentional about placing myself before God so that he can use me
Physical-growing a vegetable garden. This is the one I will focus on in today's post
Unexpected growth-TBA
After watching several bloggers and what they had done in their gardens I took a page from Manuela's book and decided to do raised beds. Our home is newly built and they scraped all of the top soil off of our land and only left clay. We have had a difficult time just getting grass to grow. My father (who happens to be a master craftsman) built me these beds.
First we laid down newspaper that I had been saving from my coupon clipping exploits. Next we added leaves, then some of the topsoil that we do have on hand, and finally some store bought soil and finally the rich miracle grow to get it really going. In the end mom and I decided to throw in the soaker hose. Not because it was necessary, but because it was free.
I am grateful for Hubbs for the brute strength, and Mom and Dad for their expertise. I am grateful to all of them for working along side me in this project as if it was their own. 
So far I planted:
Sugar Snap peas (see the little thingy that mom rigged for them to climb)
Romain Lettuce
Spinach (seeds)
Lettuce Mixture (seeds)
Broccoli
We also planted two blueberry bushes. Did you know you have to have two for cross polination?
I am working on a home organizing notebook
Monday, February 9, 2009
I am kinda type A. I have been saving lists and things forever and working up to have an entire notebook of organization. You know you have all of those stain charts, master gift buying lists, garden plans, shopping lists, and Sunday school class members phone numbers. I don't even have kids yet and I feel like I already let things slip through the cracks.
Does anyone already use one? Here are some helpful links I found.
- How about a daily To-Do List from Penny Pinching Diva-Complete with space for a bible verse and checking off your 8 glasses of H2O a day.
- Great printable for every ocasion. There are some very intriguing ones for the scrapbooker at Household Notebook.
- Or there is this daily docket from Simple Mom who encourages you to swallow the frog first (do the thing you really don't want to do.)
- Overwhelmed already. I really enjoy Home Sanctuary. This Company Girl encourages her readers to do one small thing each week day. I work full time and sometimes more than 10 hours a day. If I can do one small thing it makes me feel a little better as a wifey. You keep track of each small thing (they are all worth a different ammount of points) and at the end of the month she has a giveaway for the person with the most points. Don't worry though, there is also a random drawing for everyone else. She has a new song on her site each day to go along with the day's small thing.
I will post my notebook when it is finished. It will be about a week. Until then her is some click candy.
God Bless!
I have an obsession
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Allow me to confess one of them to you.
Enamel Pans!
Crazy, huh?
Let me tell yo why. You don't have to be fussy about what utensils you use when cooking them. You can get down and scrub them with steel wool or wire sponge when you goof and burn the rice on the bottom(I NEVER DO THAT!) Yeah Right, I do it all of the time. My DH does all of the dishes in our house. But when I burn something I always clean it. Enamel pans are the greatest for my somewhat forgetful way of cooking. And where do I get these little Jems? Why, at the local neighborhood goodwill.
This is my egg pan, not becase I cook eggs in it. I am sure you can see why. It is perfect for cooking dried beans, rice, and heating up a can of soup.
And here is my latest acquisition. It doesn't have a name. It is highly useful in skillet meals and hamburger helper. It's durability has already been tested. I burned hamburger helper on the bottom of it this week when I walked away(always the multitasker), and it is just as pristene without a stain on it. I love my little forgiving pans. The hubs is getting tired of trying to fit them all in the drawers. 
Lovvve is in the air
Saturday, January 24, 2009
I wish I had had the time to decorate for winter. I love what Joy has done for the winter. She is my decorating hero. I would have my house look like hers in a minute. Alas, this week was about an 80 hour week for me. So, I skipped winter and went straight for valentines day. Interesting fact-my V key is on the blink just in time for my VVVVVValentines day post. Here is what I did with my chalkboard and sewing hoops for V day.
This is what I have going on in my china cabinet right now. I really love the rose pink depression class. I recently aquired the candy dish at the flea market and am loving it.
I am so glad that I made these books when they started popping up all around blogland. They have sported jack-o-lantern faces, Christmas ribbon and now are looking lovvvvely for Valentines day. I think I need more for sort of a cluster.
This cute little cake plate is one of two that I got from my sister. The other is larger and they stack together. This ivory spray painted frame travels around my home with different magazine clippings that I think are cute and seasonal. I love candy hearts. I need to buy some more to eat and not just look at.
And last but not least here are my two favorite guys. They are the hobbit adventurers Marry and Pippen. Yes, Mary is a boy. I have had Pippen (the siamese mix) for almost 5 years and can't imagine life without him. Mary is a relatively new addition to our home. But, Pippen is showing him the ropes and will kindly swat him if he gets out of line. And in case you are wondering Pippen is not evil, His eyes just dialate more slowly than the average cat. 
Tutorial:Versitle Seasonal Decor
Monday, January 19, 2009
I love using sewing hoops to decorate. Fabric is always easy to work with and very inexpensive. You can always find interesting prints in pillowcases and other scraps at your local thrift store. I took these Pictures in December, these were the colors that I used for Christmas. If you look carefully you can see that I kept several of the scraps in place for Valentines day and only swapped out the green ones. I keep all of the swatches tucked away together so that I can reuse them for different seasons. For more examples check out my post HERE (Fall). I also have some wooden ones in my craft room here. In this room I actually used some shelf paper in the hoops, just because I liked it better than any of the fabrics I could find. The hoops are easy to find. All of mine came from either the Avendale Flea Market or the United Methodist Childrens Home Sale. Some of the fabrics came from there as well.
- Choose your fabrics. and hoops They can come from anywhere. Some of my hoops are quite small and don't take much fabric to fill.
- Choose the portion of the fabric that you want to "Frame." This mostly applies to fl orals and toilles.
- Place the bottom of the hoop under the fabric and the top piece (they come apart, these metal ones have springs and cork to cushion them) press down until they firmly hold the fabric in place. You may have to tug the fabric until there aren't any wrinkles. Be especially careful with stripes so that they don't get wavy.
- Trim around the edges.
- Hang.
Here are the ones that I have up right now for Valentines Day.
Camera Broken
Sunday, January 18, 2009
I hate blogging without pictures. So, I haven't blogged in quite a while. The camera is broke so I am having to revert to my older one. It is charging now and I promise I will post some pictures soon, I have been doing some decorating for valentines day. I have been very busy couponing. My husband even got a little involved today. We went and did half of our Publix shopping after church today. When we were at the register he was cheering as the "ammount saved" kept going up. The total that we spent was $9.23 and we saved $34.86. Joel was very suprised and gushing with pride at my couponing skills. Hope to post more pics soon.
Last day of winter break
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Sundays are my day of rest. My husband and I live 45 minutes from our church and we choose not to go back to church on Sunday nights. We go to the morning service and to Sunday School. When I was growing up we went in the morning and then back at 4:00 for choir practice and then the evening service. We lived three minutes away. Sundays are the beginning of the week and they are important for me to be able to prepare for the rest of the week. Some people may judge us for not spending three hours on the road on Sunday, but I know for us it is the right decision. We have decided that, for the new year, we will have our date night on Sunday evenings and I couldn't be more thrilled. This evening we plan on having dinner...at the table, discussing our goals for the new year and watching Superstars of dance. He and I are both huge suckers for anyone with rhythm. Have a great Sunday
