Chicago's calling

I can't wait...I can't wait for "true woman 08".
Tomorrow I am off to Chicago with a girlfriend to attend a woman's conference. I am looking forward to being encouraged and refreshed as the speakers lead us into a more intimate relationship with Christ. If you are going, e-mail me...maybe we can meet in real live person! :)

Designing for Life

Kari and Kijsa are at it again. Those two talented sisters are hosting a "share your own personal design for life" party. So, I decided to give a glimpse of one of my very favorite spots in my home.
It's the Kitchen table.




This table is special for many reasons. My husband got this table for me on my birthday a few years ago. While I slept into the night, my sweet hubby stayed up very late putting it together, so that he could surprise me in the morning! This table is a place where family meets...where meals are served...where coffee is consumed...where the Bible is read...where games are played...where conversation flows...where tears are shed...where discussions abound...where joys are shared. I love this place, because life is truly lived out right here in these chairs!

I consider my style an eclectic mix...I love casual elegance...nothing pretentious...just easy living.

One of my favorite items here in the Kitchen is this collection of coffee mugs.



I pull one off the wall nearly every morning to begin my day with a steaming cup of java! There's just nothing like it first thing in the morning! :)

My House is Sparkling

...yes, my house is sparkling! No, not sparkling clean...just sparkling. That's because I've been busy busy busy making these







...and there is glitter EVERYWHERE!
I am personalizing and selling "bow-wow baubles" this holiday season. My first event was yesterday - Bark in the Park! I sold enough to cover my event donation... and then some! I don't know if I'll actually make any money, but I'm having fun... and when you catch me in the right light, even I sparkle all over!!

Oh...and for those of you who can't live without a personalized pet ornament for that pampered pooch, just click on the little envelope and e-mail me! I'll send you all the details! :)

In search of the perfect pair

Where have I been? What have I been doing, you ask? Well, I've been making sure (like any good mom) that everything was in order before HIGH SCHOOL began. And this included the search for the perfect pair of glasses for my DD!


like these?


maybe these?


what about these?


here's some


and then some more


o.k., what cha think?


too much like my last pair?


these are different

love leopard

blue and lime...good colors


solid blue...even better


and then FINALLY
she found these

...and
the SEARCH WAS OVER!

Our staycation in Scotland?

Well, it felt like Scotland anyway! We recently took a (close to home) staycation and visited Birmingham. We enjoyed...


our Scottish castle (the Marriott)...


that came with a bagpiper...



lots of pool time...



and a trip to one of our favorites -The Cheesecake Factory.

Outrageous Oxymoron

My DD spotted this the other day... we had to laugh! Is this not an outrageous oxymoron?

Easy as Pie

I never really understood the term easy as pie, as my pies are never easy! Now my mom and my sisters...well their pies seem easy. They can roll that dough out with perfection and have a delicious dessert in no time at all...but I didn't get the pie gene by any stretch of the imagination! So I thought I would share this easier than pie recipe with those of you who also lack the pie gene.

2 packages chunky chocolate chip cookies (not soft) 27 total cookies - I use the brown pkg. (it's either Keebler or Chips Ahoy)
Appx. 1 cup milk
1 lg. cool whip (thawed)
Chocolate bar

Dunk 9 cookies in milk (about 6 seconds each). Place in bottom of 8x8 Pyrex dish. Add layer of cool whip to cover cookies. Repeat process and layer 3 times. Garnish with shaved chocolate or crumbled candy bar of choice. Refrigerate overnight. Serves 6-9.

Not bad for 10 minutes work. :)

The most lavish gift

What is the most lavish gift you have ever received from someone?
I received a very lavish gift from my DH for Christmas a couple of years ago...no, it was not a girl's best friend (which we all know is diamonds), however, that doesn't mean that I don't want diamonds or think that they are not lavish, dear sweet hubby. But instead, on this particular Holiday, I received man's best friend. That's right...the most lavish gift I've ever gotten - and this is why!
My husband likes dogs...even had a very special one growing up named Troubles! But, in all of the years that we'd been married, my husband had always said, and I quote, "we will NEVER have a dog living in our house"! NO NO NEVER NEVER huh-uh uh! And for 18 long years that was so! But life's circumstances have a way of changing minds...and after an event that changed the course of our very lives, my mantra became "life is too short". That little phrase paid off in a big way when one Christmas Eve my hubby slipped upstairs with a gift. Could it be pearls? diamonds? pots and pans? No...it was obviously something that made noise. Although I never heard a sound, my daughter, who has super-sonic hearing (yes, she's an only child) began to go nuts! As my husband threatened her within an inch of her life, I was more perplexed than ever as to what all the commotion was about. You see, I knew FOR A FACT that my DH would never bring another living breathing animal into our house - my daughter already had a cat! And I knew FOR A FACT that my DH would NEVER in a million years let us have a dog! So you can imagine my astonishment when my husband presented me with an adorable, precious puppy! I was surprised, shocked, stunned, amazed...I am thankful, grateful and forever blessed!
It isn't that Dach Holiday (that's what we named him) is such an extravagant gift - it's that my sweet, dear, wonderful, loving hubby put my desire to have a dog WAAAAAAAAAAY above his "til death do we part"NEVER gonna have a house dog desire! :)

WIP

Several weeks ago my DH and I began this Work In Progress. We were driving through a new neighborhood when I spotted this armoire for sale. Not knowing where I wanted to use it, I passed that $50 bargain up...but a week later visions of that pine armoire were still dancing in my head... and not wanting to pass up such a great deal, I asked my husband if he would return with his handy dandy pickup truck and load 'er up. Lucky for me, the piece was still there. The painting began...and this is what she looks like today! A couple more coats ought to complete the process and then, she'll take up residence in our bedroom.

Kari and Kijsa are celebrating a "Fabulous Flag-Flying Fourth"!...so I decided to make my contribution to their fun Fourth party! Be sure and check out all the other fun and creative ways that people are showing their patriotism this Independence Day!

Embellished

I adore all things embellished...so yesterday, while in the creative mode, I picked up my ribbon and supplies and forgot about cleaning...here's a sampling:

create or clean? hmmm!

o.k. - do you ever have one of those days when there is a lot of work around the house that needs to be done like laundry and ironing and cleaning? but for some reason, your brain just keeps focusing on ideas and projects and things that take you to a place that you shouldn't go (while you have chores to do anyway). a place where you can't write your ideas down fast enough and if you don't write them down, they are gone...because you are already on to the next light bulb? well, today was one of those days. when the day was done, nothing else was...not the laundry...not the ironing...and especially not the cleaning! :)

For Moi?????

I have been presented the Arte Y Pico award by Chris over at Refining Life! Wow! I feel very honored and humbled to receive this from my new blog friend, Chris. I have recently discovered her blog and always enjoy visiting. She is a lover of tea, a collector of teapots and decorative plates among other things, and her blog simply makes me happy! Thank you Chris for this award...I count it a privilege!

The link to this award will take you to a Spanish blog. As I understand it, this award was started by a new blogger who was very grateful for all that she learned and saw as she explored blogs from all over the world. It is a gift. My life, too, has been transformed by blogging...I have met soooo many wonderful people! Here are the rules :

1. Pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribution to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award should list the name of the author and a link to his /her blog to be visited by everyone .

3. Each award winner should show the award and put the name of and link to the blog that presented her/him with the award .

4. The award winner and presenter should show the link of the Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

Here's the hard part - did you say I can only list five? just five? Well, I'm going to list five that I enjoy (among bunches)! Some I have been visiting ever since I began blogging... and others I have just discovered! But all of them either inspire me or challenge me or just make me laugh!

1. His Heart My Desire (Beverly)

2. Mind Your Manors (Amy & Rachel)

3. Southern Somedays (Bell-ah)

4. Southern Somedays... (Mrs. Decker)

5. Streams of Living Water (Bonita)

Ahhhhhh! So much better!

Repaired cabinets...

(thanks to Mr. Cabinet Man who stopped what he was doing and came to my house to repair my cabinets for free)

Reduced items...
(in the process of this forced redo, I combined five, yes five! bags of brown sugar and three bags of powdered sugar - (do you know what lurks in your cabinets?)

Restocked shelves...
a place for everything and everything in it's place. wonder how long this will last?

Puppy Love

I have a Big CRUSH on my DH.....
I know what you're thinking...
but it's not him...

It's my Dach Holiday!
He was a Christmas gift a couple of years ago, hence the name:)
Isn't he soooooooooooooooo cute?

Finished

Recently, while driving to meet a friend at Panera's, I saw this giant check mark in the sky. I began to think about my To Do List...and how when each task is completed, I get to add a check mark to my list. Then I got to thinkin' about God and what this giant check mark in the heavens could represent...He might have just finished another task...hmmm! So here's a snippet of what I imagine God's To Do List might look like:


Lay the foundation of the earth...check
Set earth's measurements...check
Place boundaries on the sea...check
Command the morning...check
Create Adam...check
Fashion Eve from Adam's rib...check
Enter the storehouses of snow and hail...check
Bring rain to make the seeds of grass sprout...check
Bind the chains of Pleiades...check
Loose the cords of Orion...check
Send forth lightening...check
Tip the water jars of the heavens...check
Weave a baby in a mother's womb...check
Bind up the brokenhearted...check
Heal diseases...check
Redeem lives from the pit...check
Clothe the lilies of the field...check
Comfort those who mourn...check
Show mercy to the merciful...check
Sacrifice My Son on the cross...check
Raise my Son from the dead...check
Offer salvation to the world...check
Offer salvation to Becky...check

Sure glad that I was on His List! How about you?

little did i know

little did i know that i would be cleaning out all of my kitchen cabinets today...but when i noticed that one of my cabinets was pulling away from the wall last night...well, we had to get the repair job going early this morning...so everything, and i do mean EVERYTHING, had to come off those shelves. i guess there's never been a better time to clean out my cabinets :)