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Saturday, May 30, 2009

Sending all my love


This post is one of gratitude! I'm sending some love out to those of you who have helped me figure out how to make my blog cute and held my hand with the techy stuff. I never could have figured it out on my own.

Jill @ Sneaky Momma you are the best. Her site is designed for dummies like me! She leads you step by step through various things to make your blog better. She makes it's simple. Sneaky Momma helped me figure out my signature, how to put videos in my posts, got rid of the little dotted lines that separate everything on my template, centered my buttons on the sidebar, add an extended blog list etc...

Shabby Blog...thank you for the awesome free blog design. My site is cute and quirky because of you:)


Kristin @ Twinkle Life... thank you for answering the simplest of questions when I first got started. I'm sure you were annoyed:) Your blog really inspired me to go deeper and to share my faith more.

Kevin and Amanda... I love my new font for the header, post title and sidebar. I always wanted to spruce this part of my blog up and never knew how. Thanks so much.


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The Lovely Blog Award

I have recently been awarded the "Lovely Blog" award by Katie Lane @ Sunshine and Bubblegum and Amanda @ Serenity Now . I really do feel honored and appreciate you for spotlighting me on your blogs. Now I have to pick some other Lovely blogs to bestow this honor, so without further adieu:

1.) Humble Pie

2.) Sasha's Heart

3.) Simple Thoughts

4.) The Perch

5.) Transparent Mama

6.) All Things Wonderful

7.) Sara's Art House

8.) Lime in the Coconut

9.) Flower Patch Farmgirl

10.) Dreams of a Country Girl

Here are the rules:

1) If you want to accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 10 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. (It was 15, but that's an awful lot of links to post!) Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

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Last but not least, I want to thank Laura Trevey @ Bright, Bold and Beautiful.
I won one of her beautiful watercolor prints on my birthday!!
Yay me:) Thanks so much Laura.


Have a wonderful weekend!


Photo Credit: nicky.reynolds, Flickr

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Friday, May 29, 2009

Prayer Request


My heart is so full...with sadness, anger and disbelief right now. I recently invited my daughter's preschool teacher to our house for lunch and she just emailed me back letting me know that the preschool/church has let her go. Just yesterday I posted about how above and beyond wonderful she is. She has made such a difference in my daughter's life. This isn't something I take lightly. She blessed our family and it has meant so much to us. And to find out that they let her go. I just can't believe it. I am in complete shock.

She told me the reason was that they wanted someone from the church to fill the position, so they could be more involved. They have apparently already found this person. I find this a lame reason personally and it sounds like a "nice" way of saying something else. Regardless of the reasoning, Miss Williams is a single mother with four children at home. My prayer for her is that God will lead and guide her to something bigger and better. I pray that His hand of blessing will provide and protect her and her family, and that He will comfort her during this difficult time.


Thanks for listening.


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School End Festivities

Do you remember Track and Field Day??
I was little weird as a child. I never really liked stuff like this. I was the kid who always got a note from the doctor, so I wouldn't have to run...I had asthma. But if I could go back I would love a day like this...going from one activity to another, being outside with my friends. That would be so much fun.
The "fill the bucket with a sponge full of water" race. The "three legged" race.
Big Chick running! EEEkkk:)
And last but not least TUG of WAR! Cool...sign me up:)



Little Chick's last day of school.

Giving Miss Williams her handmade "bear".
We made this together and I have to say she loved it.
She was so proud.

Her teacher was the absolute best...above and beyond sweet and sincere.
I'm so thankful she had a good experience.
Yummy ice cream social after graduation.


Oh to be a kid again.
Seems like yesterday
.




Hope you have a blessed day!


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Thursday, May 28, 2009

Labor of Love

Meet Erin and Jake. Jake was Big Chick's 1st and 2nd grade teacher. You are in for a real treat. They let me tour their beautiful new house (that looks old) and I just knew you would love it. This house is such a labor of love. Every nook and cranny tells a story. It really is amazing to hear the details of how it all came about.

This is the back of the house. I wanted you to see the breezeway that connects the main house to the garage. Love the originality of this idea. They sketched out the house on notebook paper and found someone to frame it. They did almost all of the work themselves. Erin acting as the general contractor:) Jake doing the manual labor.

This is the dining room. I just love all the molding and trim. The light fixture is beautiful. I think she said it came from Ballard Designs.

See these floors.
They are from the farm Erin grew up on in Wisconsin! Her parent have a maple syrup farm and they let Erin and Jake harvest eight maple trees to use for the floors, trim and cabinets in the house. This was NOT an easy endeavor. They had to truck out the trees, get them dried and milled etc... it is unbelievable how resourceful they are. Not to mention sentimental. How incredible to have the trees from the farm you grew up on. I know I would love that!

Check out these bricks. Erin found a place on Craig's list that had salvaged bricks from a building in Colorado. She had the bricks cut down in order to use them like tile and then faced the entire fireplace herself.

The details to getting the "old look" right are just exhausting. Erin found a place that sells old doors and building supplies etc... for cheap. It was an "underground" swap out place contractors get the privy to. Anyway these doors usually sell for around $400 a piece. They got them for $75.00 each. WOW!

Okay this is my favorite part. I LOVE this kitchen. I mean really really love. Jake built all of the cabinets himself. No really...he did! Can you believe that? I love the color, the sink, the lighting...everything:)

These coasters are from Anthropology.
Erin is going to use them as tile for her backsplash. What a great idea!

I love their vintage school house lights and beadboard ceiling. It really makes the space look authentically old.

This piece was at an antique store and it was 5 inches too wide, so Erin passed on it. Jake went later and bought it as a surprise and cut it down to fit the space. You can't even tell. It's in their pantry. How vintage and cute is that?

This island was at an upscale furniture retailer and Erin got it at a complete steal. The little curtain really gives it charm.

I love built in seating.
They are going to put a time capsule in one of the benches.
Any ideas on what should go in there??

This hallway leads from the front door into their kitchen. These are old photos of their parents and grandparents. They are going to put their son's art work on the other side of the hall to balance it out.


They have pocket doors in their master bedroom with a bonus space. Right now they are using it as a nursery.

This picture is actually a photo from their wedding that Erin had made to look like an oil painting. I soooo love this idea.


Erin bought this old coat rack off Craig's list. I adore this. It's beautiful and functional.I found one at Anthropology for about $32.00, but of course it's not authentically old:)

Old fashioned doorchimes. Great attention to detail.


Thanks Jake and Erin for a fabulous house tour.


Have a blessed day!

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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Late Bloomer!

I just about fell out of my chair when I looked out the window and saw this tree. You see for the past few weeks I've been obsessing a little...imagine that:) Our poor tree in the front yard looked dead. Every other tree in the neighborhood was in full bloom and ours had nada. I had already mentally cut the thing down and replanted something else in it's spot...then one day it surprised me and voila, IT'S ALIVE. I may sound like a weirdo, but I almost cried. You see that is such an example to me. God uses things like this to teach me a lesson. We don't always know what is going on behind the scenes. What may appear to be "dead" in our lives may only be in a holding pattern or in hibernation.

I just want to sing from the rooftop...
don't give up, keep hoping and someday soon your leaves (dreams, vision, God's plan and purpose etc...)
will come forth!!!



Have a blessed day!

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Monday, May 25, 2009

Day 49 of 49

Okay I've reached my first goal date and of course last week I said I was extending it 6 weeks:) I need more time. I have been sabotaging myself lately. Not only with food, but with thoughts. When you are fairly close to your goal weight it is super easy to get distracted, lose focus and to slow down on the progress. This is why I have never quite made it to the finish line. I need something to switch again in my mind to make me pick up the slack. Any ideas?? I have learned my weak points in all of this. We eat out alot on the weekends and this definitely sidetracks my progress, and there is always some special occasion to bend my resolve!

My inspiration photo this week is of the lovely Brooke Shields. She is just a ray of sunshine. I love her curves, she's a mom of two and she's 43! I know I'm always showing celebrities and this may not be the most accurate depiction of the average woman, but what can I say...they inspire me. I hope you find some motivation to help you meet your goals this week:)

Have a blessed day!

Photo Credit: Shape Magazine, Oct. 2008 issue
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Happy Mulch Day


This weekend we spent doing yard work. We had 15 yards of mulch delivered and my honey spent several hours going up and down the steep hills in our back yard moving it all. We were so blessed to have perfect weather.

SO glad he's a hard worker. This would have taken a normal person a few weekends, but he of course killed himself to get it done. Now his back is hurting a little:o I was the official spreader. Don't cha just love my outfit?:) I had to get prepared!! In addition to moving and spreading mulch, I spray painted our porch furniture, planted flowers and stained our flower baskets. {Before}
{After}
My father-in-law made these baskets for us years ago.
They are really special and we put them out every year.
The Chick's and Fergie just chillin'.
I should have given them a shovel and put them to work too:) We celebrated our hard work by roasting marshmallows and hanging by the fire.

The yard looked all fresh and new. It was momentarily perfect:)


Hope you had a beautiful weekend too.


Have a blessed day!

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