Lori...Lovin' Life!

I got a new job…thank God!!!

2012-01-24T21:36:00.001-06:00

Y’all. I am so very happy and also a complete ball of nerves right now…but in a good way! I mentioned earlier that I have been feeling very burnt out with my job and have been stressing over a lot of new and less than desirable changes that are taking place at my agency. I began to feel like I hated doing therapy and wanted out all together. But I prayed about it and got some clarity one night around 3 am when I couldn’t sleep. I realized that I still love being a therapist, but had just gotten tired of working with the population of girls that I have been with for 10 years now. I also realized that same sleepless night, that I get the most personal reward and satisfaction working with the girls that have been sexually abused. That may sound horrible but I really feel like I am doing some good there…and really getting to the root of a lot of their problems. So, I prayed that God would open a new door for me in that area.

Well…..that He did. The very next day, I was sitting in my office and the Director of the Family Counseling Outpatient Clinic at our agency came in and told me that there was going to be an opening in her department for an outpatient/Crime Victims Assistance (CVA) Counselor, who would work mostly with clients from the community that had a background of sexual abuse. She said that when the current counselor told her she was leaving, my name popped in her head. Then she said that the current counselor told her that if she had any say in who she would like to replace her, she would choose me if I was interested!!!!!

When I told her that I had just prayed for this opportunity the night before, she immediately declared that it was God’s plan and meant to be.

Wow…right??

Well, of course they officially had to post the position for everyone at the agency to see in order to give anyone else who was interested a chance. But no one else expressed any interest. I had my official interview today and was offered the position. I had to turn in my resignation for my current position, which was more emotionally difficult than I expected it to be. Plus, I had to tell my girls that they would be transitioning to a new therapist soon, which was VERY difficult. But I do believe it is for the best.

It all happened so fast, I really didn’t have much time to even think about it. Now that I am processing it all, I am really nervous about certain aspects of the new job. I will have to do some grant writing, which I have never done before. I know I can do it, but it still makes me anxious because it is something new. But, I keep reminding myself that it was obviously God’s plan. I have no doubt about that. And I trust Him! So, I am going to push full steam ahead and give it all I’ve got!

Living Room Changes

2012-01-19T19:41:00.001-06:00

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know I like to change things up in our house a good bit. I did this post a while back on all the changes our living room has been through. So it should come as no surprise that more changes have taken place recently!!

It all started when my hubby texted me this pic of a coffee table that A.J.’s Baseball coach had tried to sell at his garage sale…(sorry for the horrible pic!)

It hadn’t sold and he wanted it gone, so we got it for free, even though we offered to pay him. I figured it would be a quick paint job and I’d sell it. But I never got around to doing anything with it. So, Andy took over the project.

He took off the big spindle guard rails on the top, and filled in the holes with wood plugs. Then, painted and distressed it. I am teaching him well!!! When I saw the finished product, I knew I wanted it in my living room!

Even though I really liked this ottoman I recently made…..the table was even better! Awesome right??

The only problem was, the table top was black and it was such a strong piece in the room, I had to balance it out with some darker wall art.

Which meant changing these DIY Ballard plaques I made. I liked them, but as time went on, I didn’t LOVE them anymore. And they were much too light and airy to go well with the heavier coffee table. I took them down, painted them in a black/brown finish.

For the 2 on the sides, I nailed on a smaller plaque that I painted ivory and hung a bronze fleur de lis from Hob Lob in the middle. On the middle plaque, I hung this awesome frame I got off ETSY.

Of course with a pic of my little man! (I will be sharing more about this frame and the ETSY seller very soon!!)

Anyway, here they all are together…

LOVE!!!! YAY! So, now let’s take a tour around the living room with these changes….

Notice how the dark wall plaques balance out the dark table top…

On the table, I used the same brown tray I had previously on the ottoman, but because the harder surface could hold something more sturdy, I added some pretty candle holders.

I filled the tray with mossy green rocks from the Dollar Tree, some glass rocks I already had, and some red berries for more color. I can already see it filled with eggs for the Spring and pine cones and pumpkins in the Fall. And for Christmas….glittery ornaments and jingle bells!!! So many possibilities!!!

I love all the new changes in our living room!!!! I don’t think I’ll be making any MAJOR changes for a while.

Gray French Script Armchair

2012-01-13T18:49:00.001-06:00

Happy Friday the 13th! Hope you all had a better day than I did!!! Today at work was CRAZY! In fact this whole week was pretty overwhelming. I got a little too worked up and ended up doing this to my pretty painted side table….

You see, the white out was not doing a good job covering what I needed it to…so I figured I’d just shake it up a little. Well, my poor table ended up taking the wrath of my frustrations. Luckily it came out of the carpet, but I will have to re-paint the table. Sigh….

Anyway, I figured I’d share a project I am pretty proud of today to make me feel better!!!

I got this old armchair at Goodwill a while back. It had the original green and yellow fabric from the 60’s or 70’s.

It was nasty and stinky, so it got ripped off quick. It sat like that for months until I finally got the motivation to work on it! I gave it a couple of coats of Paris Gray chalk paint, did some distressing, and finally added some brown wax.

I upholstered the seat and back of the chair with this French Script Fabric I found at Hob Lob, finishing off the edges with some ivory cording.

And this is the final result! It has a price tag of $65 if any of you local readers are interested or know someone who is!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Monthly Super Cleaning Schedule

2012-01-09T19:39:00.001-06:00

People who know me well know that when I am stressed, I clean. I like to clean anyway…some of my favorite Christmas gifts have been cleaning products…but when I am stressed, you can bet the house is going to shine. It just gives me a sense of control and accomplishment that seems to help and gives me something to do with my nervous energy. And because work is stressing me out these days, cleaning has been on my mind. And because I also like to make lists and be as organized as possible, I came up with a monthly cleaning schedule. (Yes, I realize I am a big nerd.)

Now, this is not my usual weekly cleaning schedule. Every Sunday, I do the typical things that need to be done regularly…cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms, dusting, vacuuming, laundry, etc. But there are some things that need to be done less often that can easily be forgotten about. So, I made a list of those things and made a schedule that spreads them out over the year.

With the new year just beginning, I figured I’d share it with you. I know all my fellow list and schedule makers will be excited.

January-baseboards

February-ceiling fans and light fixtures

March-windows and window sills

April-pillows and comforters (wash or have dry cleaned)

May-blinds and window treatments

June-vacuum mattresses

July-baseboards (the list is starting over again)

August-fans and light fixtures

September-windows and sills

October-pillows and comforters

November and December-NOTHING….that is Christmas time peeps!!!

So as you can see, most tasks get completed twice per year, with the exception of mattresses and blinds/window treatments which is once per year. That works for us, because we don’t have that many blinds in our house and honestly taking down all the curtains and valances is a pain that I can only see myself doing yearly. And we have mattress covers that will get washed when I do the pillows and comforters.

I know a lot of people like to “Spring Clean” and that is what I did last year. Basically I did all of those things in a weeks time. And even as much as I love to clean, it got to be a little much. I ended up stressing about everything I had to clean! HA! I think I am going to like this schedule better. My plan is to do a different zone of the house each weekend of the month. Yes…I have divided my house into zones…Nerd here remember??? The master suite and laundry room is Zone 1. Zone 2 is the kitchen, sitting room, and living room. Zone 3 is the guest bath, dining room and foyer. Zone 4 is A.J.’s bedroom, bath, and the craft room. So this month, I will tackle the baseboards in one zone each weekend.

So I am curious, do y’all have schedules for household tasks? Can you think of any thing that I haven’t included? I would love it if you decide to try my schedule or adapt it to fit your home. Just make sure to come back and tell me how it is working out for you!

Work Woes and My coffee filter wreath

2012-01-04T23:30:00.001-06:00

Hey y’all! How has your first week of 2012 been going? Mine started off a little rough. I don’t talk much about my job around here, but for the last TEN years….I have been the therapist at a residential treatment facility for a group of 12 adolescent girls with emotional and behavioral issues. Before the end of the year, I started feeling really burnt out….it is a very emotionally draining job, and I feel like I hear the same things over and over. And I was sick of whiny teenage girls!!! So, I was really looking forward to my Christmas break, hoping that when I went back, I would be refreshed and ready to start a new year. Well….that didn’t exactly happen. I got to work, and started talking with my coworkers about some new changes that our facility is going to be making this year….which includes a smaller caseload, but triple the number of sessions we therapists have to provide per week. And I FREAKED out. Now, this was not new information, but I guess it just hit me. I ended up in my boss’ office, telling him I didn’t want to do therapy anymore and I wanted to quit. Luckily, he didn’t take me too seriously, because I do still have a job. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to quit. But, we talked about different options that may be available for me as these new changes happen. And I plan on looking for other job/career opportunities elsewhere as well. Most of you know I love interior decorating and I would LOVE to do something in that field. But we can’t really afford for me to get another degree, and without any formal training…well it wouldn’t be easy to have a stable income.

So…I am trying to focus on the fact that I am VERY blessed to have a well paying stable job, even though it isn’t what I would love to be doing right now. And I reminded myself that my blog is my outlet for being creative and sharing my fun décor projects!

So…I got busy and completed my first project of the year!

After Andy took down the outside Christmas décor, I was left with a bare door to decorate. I never know what kind of wreath to hang in January….it is not quite Mardi Gras time and too early for Spring. So I started browsing around blogland for some inspiration and came upon some cute coffee filter wreaths. And they looked so simple to make! I already had a grapevine wreath to use as a base, so all I had to do was buy the coffee filters. I chose the natural colored ones to match the stucco on our house.

A.J.’s job was to pull apart all the filters. I then used a skinny sharpie marker to find the middle of the filter and dabbed a bit of hot glue of the end. Then, using the sharpie, I pushed the filter onto the wreath and held it there for a minute until the glue set. I continued on like that, placing the filters pretty close together.

And this is how it looked about 100 filters and 45 minutes later! I added a red bow and hung it on the door!

Andy says it looks like a sponge. I guess he is right….but I still really like it! I’m thinking in the Spring, I will change the color of the bow and add some pretty flowers. What do you think???

And If you can, please say a little prayer for me and my job woes….I know that God will lead me in the right direction, but please pray that I hear Him and follow!!!

December 26…Christmas with my side

2012-01-01T18:48:00.001-06:00

First of all…HAPPY NEW YEAR Y’ALL!!!! I am ready to see what 2012 has in store for us….I already know of one pretty exciting thing for our family…but not gonna let y’all in just yet!!!! Mostly because it is still a secret from A.J. I know what some of y’all are thinking…but NO BABY I promise!!!

Anyway, today I wanted to share pics from Christmas with my side of the family. We usually do it on Christmas Eve, but we decided to have it on the 26th this year, mainly because my sister Sherie got A.J. a Wii game and she wouldn’t have been able to give that to him before he got the Wii on Christmas morning.

I prepared a spiral ham and they brought the the side dishes (corn casserole, sweet potato casserole, dressing, and deviled eggs) and desserts (mini apple and blueberry pies and cherry cheesecake). Wow….my exercise bike needs to get here quick!!!

Anyway, here are some pics from that day!

Julie gave him this Paper Jamz guitar, which he absolutely loves! It plays 3 songs and he can play along with them or by himself.

He rocked out all afternoon on that thing! Good thing we had some earplugs to give him…

That way he could enjoy it, and we didn’t have to hear Smashmouth’s “Hey Now, You’re a Rockstar” for the billionth time!!!

A.J. was also very excited about the Nascar Wii game from Sherie. Although at that point we still had not gotten the #$@!% thing hooked up yet. Our TV is on the wall and all of the plug ins are in the middle of the back of it, so getting to them was difficult. Plus, we already had a satellite and DVD surround sound system hooked up, and we had the hardest time getting them all to work together! However, I am happy to report that we finally have it all working, after 3 trips to the store, 3 different converter boxes, new cables, and some colorful language from my dear hubby.

My parents gave A.J. a video racer, which is a car shaped video camera that he can hook onto his bike, skateboard, or helmet, and film his adventures! He also got some more games and books.

Julie gave us this awesome name plaque that she made from wood and picture frames! I think it looks really good on top of the piano!

I also got a new wide angle and macro camera lens that will hopefully come in handy around these parts, and a paint sprayer for my furniture and painting projects!! YAY!

Anyway, we really enjoyed hanging out with my parents, and my sisters, who we only get to see a few times a year.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your loved ones and wish the best for all of you in this New Year!!!

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-28T16:22:00.001-06:00

Whew! Recovering from Christmas chaos here…how about you??? For the last 2 days, the house has been covered with trash and plastic bins as we slowly cleaned up the wrapping paper and packages from all the toys and gifts, and took down the Christmas décor.

See what I mean??? The house is now back in some sort of order, although I still have a good bit of cleaning to do! I can’t complain though…we had an awesome Christmas with our families!

Christmas morning, A.J. woke up to find his Santa gifts….a new basketball goal, a Wii, and a skateboard.

He was very excited! Andy and I got him some beyblades, shirts, a sports plaque for his room, some basketball socks. I got Andy and A.J. an Android Epad tablet, which they are lovin’! They can play all their favorite games from the Android market. A.J.’s favorite right now is Word Search and Jewels, and of course the old stand by…Angry Birds!

My boys gave me a very cozy zebra striped snuggie, a digital photo frame, an external hard drive to back up all my pics and videos, and a new hoodie from the University Andy teaches at (and where we both attended). I am always complaining when we go to games that I don’t have anything to wear!

After we exchanged our gifts, we went to church and enjoyed a beautiful service complete with Christmas carols and candlelight. We have been stressing the “Reason for the Season” this year with A.J. And it was good to see that he loved giving gifts just as much as he enjoyed getting his!

After church, we headed to Andy’s parents and ate a yummy lunch and exchanged gifts with them.

A.J. got a new bike!

And I got some money to order the exercise bike that I am going to make myself use regularly in the new year! Andy and I both got new drills which I am very excited about! Andy’s old one was going downhill and I have been wanting my own small one for around the house for a while now!

Ginny put our initials on our presents! She is so creative!!! The rest of the day, we just hung out there and A.J. got to play with his new toys!

We also went to see Andy’s Meme and exchanged gifts with her, but silly me didn’t bring the camera in for that!

The next day, we had Christmas at our house with my side of the family…so I’ll be back soon to share that!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-20T15:37:00.001-06:00

Hey guys! Just wanted to do a short post to say Merry Christmas to all of you! Andy and I are officially off work until January 3 and A.J. is out of school. So we plan on spending a lot of time together! And the great part is, I don’t have a full agenda like I normally do when I am off work! So, this week, I just plan on finishing up my wrapping, and making cookies for Santa! We are really looking forward to a fun filled Christmas weekend! And I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday to share with your loved ones!

So from our family to yours….MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Christmas in the bedrooms

2011-12-15T22:26:00.001-06:00

First of all, thank you to those that commented on my last post. I love Christmas and it’s nice to know my efforts are appreciated. And I have been blown away by many of your homes as well! So much talent in blogland!!

I’m back today to share how we decorated the bedrooms. This year, I put a full size tree in our master bedroom.

Please excuse the profusely indented bed. You would think we both weigh 400 pounds. Sheesh. But it’s ok, cause it sure is comfy!

Anyway, back to the tree….I used all silver, white, and crystal ornaments on it. I think it made for a really elegant look!

On our nightstands, I put some white trees on some candle holders to add another little festive touch!

I love that the look in the bedroom is completely different than the main areas of the house, which is more colorful and traditional.

In A.J.’s room, we used another full size tree, but took the bottom section off so that it was smaller and not as full.

It was pre-lit with white lights, and a section toward the top was not working. So, we added the colored lights that A.J. likes so much to help out a little.

I get him a new ornament every year, and this year it was this Saints helmet. His tree also holds all of his handmade ornaments as well as many of mine and Andy’s childhood ornaments.

A.J. loves reading his bedtime story with it all lit up beside his bed and then falling asleep next to it twinkling in the dark.

So that officially concludes my tour! Hope you enjoyed it!

One other thing I wanted to share before I go. Tonight I attended the Angel Tree Party for the girls I work with. If you don’t know what that is, basically people in the community choose a kid that is placed with us and buys gifts for them. Then we have a party where they all get to open their stuff. I wish I could have taken pics of their house…the staff had it all decorated with pink and purple lights and ornaments. Very girly! Many of the girls I work with have families, but are very underprivileged. It was awesome to see my girls….my usually oppositional, bipolar, unstable girls…..genuinely happy. They were all so appreciative of what they received and we all enjoyed seeing them get to experience the happiness and magic of Christmas that many of them have never had before. I was so blessed to be a part of that tonight! That’s what it’s about peeps!

Christmas Decorating Pics….Finally!!!

2011-12-11T16:46:00.001-06:00

Ok y’all! I’m ready. I was able to get some pretty good pics of all my Christmas décor this weekend. So here we go….I’m sure I don’t have to point out that you are about to be bombarded with pictures….

First the outside….

Those concrete blocks are there to keep the trees from falling over. We get some pretty high winds around here and got tired of picking them up. I think after Christmas, I am going to try to find some lighted presents on clearance to add next year.

Ok come on in!

That is the top of the piano that I decorated with the large stocking that I was brought home from the hospital in as a baby. I also used some ceramic Santas, trees, and a small sleigh.

Now, heading into the living room….

This is our main tree….

And I took lots of pics of it!

Cause I think it’s really pretty!

And at night….

Ok….moving on to the mantle…

These fleur de lis stocking holders were the only new thing I bought this year and I LOVE them!

I used the same ceramic angels as always…

But they don’t show up against the new lighter wall color very well. I may have to find something new for next year!

I put our nativity set on the lower shelf in our built ins…

Just some wider room shots…

See the boys on the couch???

OK now we are heading into the dining room…

I used this reindeer candle holder that I love and put him on top of a gold leaf wreath. Then just sprinkled some jingle bells and ornaments around.

I also added gold snowflakes in the place settings.

I used a small tree on the desk in the corner and dressed it up with a gold ball garland….

In the kitchen, I put together this little display using a Santa plate and a small Santa teapot in the corner…

In the sitting room by the kitchen (what is suppose to be a breakfast room) I put my “Goodie” themed tree and gingerbread house along with some nutcrackers that fit right in…

Ok, I’m not done, but I think this post has been long enough. I’ll be back later in the week to share how we decorated our Master Bedroom and A.J.’s room.

But before I go…just ONE more pic of our living room tree (cause I didn’t show you enough already…)

I’m linking up with:

Thrifty Décor Chick’s Christmas Tree Party

Christmas sneakery…(Elf on the shelf ideas)

2011-12-04T16:52:00.001-06:00

Yes I just made up that word. But it seems appropriate for the sneaky antics of our little Elf Freddie.

He showed up on December 1st on the shelf by one of our family pics.

Evidently he is feeling somewhat mischievous this year. When A.J. finally saw him, he started yelling that Freddie drew on our picture and made us look like vampires. We tried to tell him that he was probably going for the Elf look, but he didn’t really believe us.

The next morning, Freddie turned the milk green!

And A.J. refused to drink it, saying it was “rotten”. Poor Freddie just wasn’t getting the reactions he was hoping for!! So, the next night he just decided to take it easy and hang out with the nutcrackers.

But who knows? He may try out some more pranks before his time is through…

We have been having a lot of fun with Freddie this year, because this may just be the last year that A.J. really believes….he is already starting to question all this Santa stuff. He is just too smart and analytical for his own good! We are going to hang on as long as we can. But when the day comes and he asks if Santa is real….I don’t know if I can lie to him. We are trying to teach him to be honest so that’s a hard one. But for now, we are enjoying the magic of Christmas as much as we can.

I know I keep promising Christmas décor pics! I was planning on taking them today, but it has been a dark and dreary rainy day, and the natural light is horrible. And during the week, it is dark by the time
I get home from work. So, hopefully I’ll be able to get them next weekend!

How I did….

2011-11-28T21:04:00.001-06:00

So…I know y’all have all been wondering how I did on my Thanksgiving break TO DO list huh???

Well, I’m happy to report that I got MOST of it done. We had Christmas pics made and got some pretty good ones for our card. But I’m not going to share them here just yet.

I was able to get the front porch stucco painted in 2 days. It had to have 2 coats and some touch ups, but it was worth it! I am LOVIN’ the new darker color! I have not been able to get good pics of it all finished yet, but here is a “during” shot….

You can see the top part of the cove and the point haven’t been painted yet. Here is how my hubby took care of that for me…

That’s called the REDNECK extension ladder right there……

In between the 2 coats of paint, I took A.J. to see “Puss in Boots”. It was pretty good. We went to Maggie Moos afterward and I had better batter and brownie batter in a chocolate dipped cone. It was REALLY good. Little man had green mint and blue cotton candy mixed together. Which he thought would make for an interesting bathroom visit later in the week. What can I say, he is a boy!

A.J. and I also went through his toys and ended up with a box and a trash bag full of toys to donate. They went along with a couple of bags of clothes and household stuff to Goodwill.

I worked on 2 photobooks and they are almost done!

I got the entire house decorated for Christmas….including 2 full size trees, 1 medium tree, and 2 small trees. Not to mention the mantel, dining table, top of the piano, and various table tops and shelves. Andy put up the lights on the house and the garland around the front door. Y’all KNOW I will be sharing all of that VERY soon!!

I got a little bit of Christmas shopping done, but still have a lot more to go!

We had a very yummy Thanksgiving meal at James and Ginny’s. I made some Cinnamon cupcakes for dessert, but did not include the yummy looking apple butter in the middle because my crazy hubby said that didn’t sound good. Humph!

Now, for what I did NOT get to mark off my TO DO list…

We did not go see Breaking Dawn. Andy is finishing up the semester (teaching and getting his Ph.D) and he only had 2 days off. Then we stayed pretty busy that weekend. But we WILL see it over Christmas break in 3 weeks!!!

I also did not finish my chairs. Didn’t even touch them. But that is on the agenda for this weekend, along with hopefully getting the rest of my shopping done. And I hope to catch up on all your blogs this week! I didn’t get much computer time while I was off…..I wonder why….

That’s all for now…but I’ll be back soon with lots of pretty Christmas pics!!

Thanksgiving break plans and a little venting…

2011-11-15T21:54:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and man am I ready! Besides the yummy food our little family is in desperate need for a break. Things have just been a little busy and stressed around here. Andy is in the process of getting his Ph.D. while still teaching full time. So every night he has been hitting the books and writing papers. And I have just been trying to keep everything running as smoothly as possible. A.J. is going through a lying phase and we are very frustrated with that. Plus, football has ended so he has lost that outlet of getting his energy out. And with it getting dark so early, he stays in more, which he really doesn’t care for. So he gets restless…but thankfully basketball is just around the corner!

We have to our little routine of doing homework, eating dinner, playing games, watching TV, then bath and story time before bed. And it works well, but we just stay busy and it gets monotonous. I don’t know how all you people with more than one kid do it. So anyway, I said all that to say that we are ready for a CHANGE in pace. Mornings that we don’t have to rush off to school and work and no required agenda.

Even though I would love to just lay on the couch for seven days straight, I would feel like a complete bum if I didn’t get something accomplished with this rare gift of time. So, here is my plan.

1. Have our Christmas pics made….we have a session scheduled for 11/19! Hope ours turn out as good as Laura’s!

2. . Paint the stucco on our front porch. (The sun has faded the color and I’ve always wanted it a bit darker anyway.) Hopefully I can get this done in one day. I have told A.J. he can help me, so it will probably take a little longer with him around.

3. Go through A.J.’s toys and pick out what to donate before he gets another mother load for Christmas.

4. Work on photobooks. I use Shutterfly every year and love them!

5. Get the Christmas bins down from attic and get the whole house outside and in decorated!!!

6. Get some Christmas shopping done…but NOT on Black Friday with the crazies.

7. Make THESE Fall treats.

8. See BREAKING DAWN with Andy.

But NOT on opening night with different kind of crazies. He has seen the first 3 twilight movies with me and though he likes to complain, I’m pretty sure he secretly likes them.

9. Take A.J. to a movie of his choice and get Maggie Moos…he has been wanting that for a while and it sounds good to me too!

10. Finish 2 chairs I have been working on and get them listed on Craigslist. Here’s a sneak peek…

11. Take a car load to Goodwill. (I already have a good start with old clothes, household items, etc.)

And most important of all…..do all of the above with a grateful heart, being thankful that I have a family to photograph, a home to beautify, a child to love, a husband that stands firm by his family, talents to share, and belongings to give away.

So how do you think I’ll do???? What about you…what are your plans?

Halloween 2011

2011-11-09T20:00:00.001-06:00

Some of our friends from the next neighborhood over invited us to their house for a little get together before the kids went Trick or Treating.

(mine is the Ninja)

The kids all had fun roasting hot dogs on the patio.

Then they had fun posing in front of the graveyard….My friend Jenay loves Halloween and goes ALL out!

It’s hard to sneak up on a Ninja…..

The dads took the kids Trick or Treating and the moms stayed and hung out in between knocks at the door! We had lots of yummies for ourselves…

And I got my little girl fix with this sweet baby…..

About an hour and a half later, A.J. and his friends came back with all of their loot…

…looking like they were about to pass out from exhaustion one minute and then bouncing off the walls the next! LOL! It was a really fun night!

Red Ribbon Week

2011-11-06T09:22:00.001-06:00

I’m sure most of you parents know what Red Ribbon Week is…but for those that don’t…it is a National Drug Prevention Program held the last week in October. Students typically wore red ribbons to promote being drug free. More recently, they have started dressing up in certain themes to make it more fun. A.J. had to wear camo one day to promote the “fight” against drugs, a team jersey another day to “team up” against drugs. Then another day was hippie day. Hmmmm……they gave an explanation of that one, but now that I’m writing it….drug free hippies????? OK…..

Anyway….we decided to make our own tie dyed shirt. My sister Julie helped since she was in town the weekend before.

It was pretty easy….we used a kit from Walmart. We spread out a trash bag in my parent’s back yard and then all we had to do was put the rubber bands where the instructions told us based on what design we wanted. Then, just squirted the dye on the different sections. After 8 hours or so, you can take the rubber bands off and wash them in cold water.

This was A.J.’s favorite design. I think it turned out really cute!!

My favorite day of the week BY FAR, was NERD day. Never Ever Rely on Drugs….or something like that!

We found the glasses in the Halloween section at Walmart, and put the masking tape on them ourselves.

Isn’t he hilarious???!!! He got to take a picture for the yearbook for being one of the “main nerds” in his class.

Jewelry Holders

2011-10-29T18:23:00.001-05:00

So last weekend, when my boys were hunting, I worked on getting my closet a little more organized. I hung some more hooks for belts and straightened up the shelves. Then I decided to make a jewelry holder to hang in there to hold my longer necklaces and bracelets that tended to get tangled up in my jewelry armoire.

I used a wooden plaque that I bought a while back at Walmart and some extra drawer knobs that I had laying around to create this…

I just screwed the knobs into the wood. Yes…I realize the wood split a bit, but I really don’t mind that much. I wasn’t going for perfect since in all likelihood I will be the only one looking at it. Besides all of you of course and I know y’all don’t mind either right???? I like things to be sort of distressed looking anyway. And it does it’s job!

I used this old coat hanger rack to hold my bracelets.

I hung them both by my shoe shelves….

So it’s very convenient to grab my accessories after I get dressed. I still want to paint the shelves and drawers in my closet….but that will have to wait until I have nothing else on my to do list. Which will hopefully happen one day!

Meal Planning

2011-10-23T16:30:00.001-05:00

Hey everybody! Hope you have all enjoyed your weekend! Andy and A.J. spent last night with my in laws so they could go hunting and fishing, so I have had a lot of time to get some things done around the house! Mainly just some cleaning and organizing but I did some fun projects I will be sharing soon! But today, I wanted to share a new concept in our house…meal planning!!!

First, let me start off by saying that I have never been a big fan of cooking. I love to bake, but cooking…not so much! The very first thing I am going to do when I win that lottery (that I never buy tickets for) is hire a full time, live in chef.

But, because I only stay in fantasy land briefly, I decided that I had to do something to make life easier when it came to meals at our house.

Before I started planning out our meals, I would just go to the grocery store, maybe with a list of a few items that I knew we absolutely needed, but without a real plan. So, I would just buy random things.

Then, in the evenings when I got home from work, if Andy hadn’t made something already, I would ask the boys what they wanted for dinner and would usually get the following responses:

From Andy: “Food” “I don’t care”

From A.J. “pizza” “sonic” “cereal”

Then I would get frustrated and try to figure out something to make, which was sometimes hard, because every idea I came up with, I was usually missing some key ingredient. So, I would resort to hamburger helper.

If Andy had already cooked, it was usually something similar, or fish…which I do not eat at all. So the boys would eat, and I would make myself a bowl of cereal.

I finally decided that I had to get more organized to make more of a variety of meals and not be so stressed about trying to figure it out every. single. evening.

So, here is what I do now. Every Sunday I take an inventory of what we have in the pantry, sit down with my recipes and laptop and plan out meals first using what we already have. Then I add meals that we want that we have to buy something for. I put those items on my grocery list app on my phone. I also give Andy and A.J. a chance to request something they would like that week.

When planning, I keep in mind what time we will be getting home every day based on if we have football practice, etc. So, I plan shorter, easier meals for nights we don’t get home until 7:00 and meals that take a little longer for nights that we are home by 6:00.

Genius I know.

I write each day’s meal on our pantry door chalkboard.

Yes, we do still have hamburger helper sometimes. So sue me. But this way, the boys know what we are having each night and when I get home, there is no guesswork. I know what to make and I know that we have all the ingredients for that meal. Plus, I am learning new recipes and getting a teeny bit better at the whole cooking thing. Maybe.

It is so simple, I’m not sure why I never did it before. I think I told myself that I didn’t have time! But it only takes about 20 minutes to plan for the week. It has really helped to make our evenings less stressful and rushed and we are eating more nutritiously! For the most part…..

Pumpkins and Jars

2011-10-17T20:58:00.001-05:00

Since my last post, I have added more pumpkins to the front porch.

These pumpkins are special because A.J.’s pepaw planted them for him and we have been watching them grow for months now!

It was nice not having to buy pumpkins for my décor this year!!!

And I’m so happy my bigger mum finally decided to bloom!

Inside, I used an assortment of glass jars and bottles filled with candy and colored water on top of some draped cheesecloth to add a little Halloween fun to the kitchen.

The black crows are a nice touch right?

For some reason I cannot for the life of me find the 3 taper candles that I bought last year specifically for that wine bottle candelabra!!!!

This display will be easy to take down after Halloween and doesn’t interfere with the rest of my Fall stuff that will stay out through Thanksgiving.

Then the REAL fun begins!!!!! (40 33 more days ‘til the Christmas bins come down!!!)

Fall Porch

2011-10-10T21:20:00.001-05:00

Ok, guys! I’m finally ready to share my Fall Porch with y’all!

I’ve been waiting on the mums to bloom. The smaller ones have done pretty good, but the larger one is taking it’s sweet time!

I re-configured my pumpkin topiary from last year by adding a 4th pumpkin and using green moss in between them. I also painted the clay pots black this year. It is actually chalkboard paint, so I planned on writing HAPPY FALL on them, but I forgot to do it before I took the pics!

The urn with the squiggly branches is a new addition this year!

I really liked this mum that I got at Lowes…it was already in a nice “welcome” basket, so I didn’t have to re-pot it. Hmmm….maybe that is why it hasn’t bloomed as well as the others….Oh well!

Happy Fall everybody! Maybe…..just maybe we will get some more Fall like temps here pretty soon!!! I am very jealous of those of you who are already donning leggings, boots, and scarves!!!

A.J.’s Bookcase

2011-10-06T17:53:00.001-05:00

MY F.I.L. built us an awesome entertainment center for our living room in our last house. It matched our woodwork perfectly and provided a great display spot for my accessories. But once we got our flat screen TV and moved in this house with it’s built in cabinetry, we didn’t need it anymore.

But we hated to get rid of it. So, we put it in A.J.’s room. It was ok in there, except that it held a small TV that he never watched, and took up a good bit of space.

He also had a very small, cheap-o bookcase that I never even took a picture of. It was starting to fall apart because of his ever growing book collection. So, I decided that he really needed a taller, more sturdy bookcase that could hold his books and knicknacks from the entertainment center. The TV would have to be sacrificed, but that was ok!

I kept a lookout and finally found one on Craigslist for $75. It was painted glossy white and I later found out it was oil based paint. The previous owners had attempted to paint over it in places, but it didn’t work too well because they didn’t sand it or prime it first.

So, the first thing I did was get out the power sander and went over the whole thing with a medium grit. Just enough to rough it up to accept the primer. I used Zinsser primer that said it was specially made to cover glossy paint finishes. It was very thin, but worked pretty well.

I wanted to paint it to match A.J.’s other furniture, but I didn’t have enough of that paint color left. I did have plenty of the left over wall paint from the living room, so I used that. It is only a shade different from his furniture.

He requested that I paint it “camouflage” but I shut that idea down quick. Sorry kiddo!

Here it is all finished and decorated in his room.

I love it and he loves it, and it frees up some precious floor space.

I am still working on putting the final touches on his Sports Theme. Remember those canvases above his bed??? I painted them!!! Still pretty proud of myself for that one!

Our version of Sports Center…

2011-10-01T18:17:00.001-05:00

Hey everybody! I’m so glad y’all liked my Fall décor! I have really enjoyed seeing all the beautiful “Fallscapes” you have all been creating too! I always get so much inspiration! I have since finished up my front porch for the season and will share that with y’all soon…just waiting on those mums to bloom out a little more!

Another thing I love about Fall is watching my little man play Football! This is his 2nd year of Flag Football and he is the Quarterback again. My very talented hubby made this little video clip of some of his game highlights and being the proud mom that I am, I had to share it here!

Keep in mind that A.J. picked out the music. He is a pretty ROCKIN’ kid.

A.J. Football highlights 9-2011

Fall Decorating 2011

2011-09-25T18:24:00.001-05:00

Here in Louisiana, we are starting to get some glimpses of Fall, but usually don’t get the lasting cool temps and red and yellow leaves until November. But that doesn’t stop my Fall decorating! I usually do inside the house first, in early September, and just add my Fall wreath on the front door. I wait until closer to October to do the rest of the front porch. Then, I also add some more Halloween themed stuff inside until November, when the Thanksgiving things come out. It is all a very structured process you see.

So, today I’m sharing my first attempts at infusing Fall into our home. First up is the piano in the foyer…

I just added some ceramic pumpkins and fall florals to what was already there.

I adore that little wreath…so natural looking!

I pretty much did the same thing on the mantel in the living room…added pumpkins and deeper red flowers.

I made this topiary for the side table in the living room, using a $1.00 carvable pumpkin from the Dollar Tree that I just painted and waxed. I already had the urn.

In the sitting area by the kitchen, I put some big acorns and pinecones in the apothecary jars…

Then I copied an idea I found on Pinterest for the shelf…

Which was super easy….just a glass vase with pumpkins and branches.

Can you tell I love me some white pumpkins??

I got these little ceramic ones at Dollar Tree as well.

In the dinging room, I used a big wooden cutting board I got at a thrift store for $4.00 and put a pumpkin candle holder in the middle, surrounded by berries, pumpkins, and pine cones.

So there you have it! I SO love this time of year!

I’m linking up with:

The Lettered Cottage: It’s Fall Y’all (Mantels) on Tuesday 9/27

I’ll be sharing my front porch soon!

Cheap and Easy Flower Petal Pillow

2011-09-20T19:56:00.001-05:00

Before I share my pillow project, I want to thank those of you who left such sweet and thoughtful comments on my last post. I know some of you have experienced the loss of a pet, and know that it is like losing a family member. It has been hard, but we are coping. I really appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers!

One of my best coping skills is keeping myself busy doing things I love, like painting or decorating projects. So I have a very quick, cheap, and easy project for y’all! As you all probably know, I like changing accessories in our home quite a bit. Lately I have been LOVIN’ burlap and grain sack pillows like these I found on PINTEREST…

So I decided to try to make one of my own. I used the left over drop cloth from my dining room curtain project to sew a basic pillow cover. No it is not perfectly straight or square but I’m ok with that!

Then I ironed on a transfer image I downloaded from Artfire.com

But, I don’t think I did it right, because you could still see the transfer residue around the image, even after I washed it. Plus, I really should have enlarged the image…I think it looked too small for the pillow.

So, I decided to go in a completely different direction and knew exactly what to do when I saw this tutorial…

I have been wanting to bring more green accents into the living room, so I decided to cover up my transfer mistake and make my own flower petal pillow.

I bought 1/2 yard of thin green fleece for about $4.00.

I drew 3 different sizes of circles and cut them out.

Then the circles got cut in half to make the petals, which I just arranged in a circle to get the basic shape I wanted and hot glued them on. (Here you can barely see the transfer reside around the image…)

The tutorial I mentioned earlier involves sewing every petal on. Which is great if you like sewing and are pretty good at it. But around these parts, if it can be hot glued…it will be hot glued.

Once I got the outer circle done, I then did a second circle inside of that one, overlapping and staggering the petals. And continued on like that for 4 or 5 circles. Then I started using my medium sized petals and finally the smallest petals toward the center.

In the center I took a small petal and sort of bunched it up and glued it on.

And here is the finished product!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

And because I still wanted the grain sack fleur de lis I was after in the first place, I ordered this pillow from Etsy…

I think they both go great with the red and ivory damask pillows I already had…

and with my monogram pillow from Ballards…

And you can see in the background my hubby finally hung my knock off Ballard plaques (which I think also coordinate really well with my flower pillow!) YAY!

So what do y’all think???

I’m linking up with:

Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesdays

Primp Your Stuff Wednesday

Drake

2011-09-18T20:28:00.001-05:00

This has been a very hard week for our family. We lost our sweet dog Drake. He was only 7 years old.

It all started one day when we found some raw bread dough in the yard. Then, we noticed Drake’s stomach was kind of bloated. So, we figured that he had gotten out of the yard the night before and eaten some of the dough. We read on the internet that the dog’s stomach provides a perfect environment for the yeast to rise, and the stomach can expand. We were worried, but figured it would eventually digest and pass through. Well, days went by and his abdomen just seemed to be getting bigger. Then on Thursday, he just wasn’t being himself. Wouldn’t eat his food and could barely get up. I decided to take him in, wishing the whole time I would have done it sooner. We just really didn’t know how serious it was.

(when he was a puppy)

(when A.J. was just a baby)

I got him to the Vet, who told me that his bloat wasn’t due to the bread dough. He said that it was fluid either from heart worms or some kind of cancer. He said that if it was heart worms there was a chance he could drain the fluid and treat him, but it still didn’t look good. If it was cancer, nothing else could be done. But we wouldn’t know anything until the fluid was drained. So, I decided to let them keep him overnight, knowing in my heart that he probably wouldn’t make it another day. I said my goodbyes at the Vet’s office.

My mom drove me to Andy’s office and I filled him in. We then went to pick up A.J. from his afterschool care. On the way, we got the call that our poor Drake had passed while they were draining him. We stopped at the Vet’s before getting A.J. We both headed back to the room where they had him, but Andy turned around and went back to the front. He couldn’t bear to see him like that. I had to go say goodbye again and hear what the Vet had to say. Evidently it was cancer of the liver or spleen, he wasn’t sure which without opening him up. I pet him and said goodbye again, got his collar and went to the front with Andy. We decided we had to bury him in the yard, so they put him in a bag for us. They brought him out to the truck and that is when my hubby lost it. Which of course made me lose it even more. He is suppose to be the strong one, and here he was sobbing like a baby. We just stood there in the parking lot, hugging and crying for a while. But we had to get it together before getting A.J.

We went to the house and laid Drake in the backyard. I stayed home and Andy left to get A.J. and take him to football practice. We thought about skipping, but I think Andy needed the distraction. He waited until after practice to tell A.J. When they drove in the driveway, I knew he had told him. They both had tears streaming down their faces. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to see, and I still tear up just thinking about it.

A.J. and I talked about it and I assured him that Drake was happy in Heaven, and that we were going to bury him in the backyard under a tree, next to the woods, where he use to watch the birds and squirrels.

Andy went outside that night and buried him. The next day was still pretty hard. Drake wasn’t at the back door, wagging his tail, waiting on his morning food. He wasn’t there when we got home, running up to the car and demanding that we pet him before we got out. I still have a hard time even looking outside knowing he is not out there.

Rest In Peace sweet Drake. We love and miss you!!!!

Duck Blue Jewelry Armoire

2011-09-13T20:40:00.001-05:00

Well, just when I finished bragging about the weather, it had to go and turn all HOT again. I am SOOO ready for Fall….cool crisp evenings, hot chocolate, boots and scarves….yep love it all!

And hopefully I will be able to get some more furniture pieces done to sell! I slacked off a bit in the 100 degree heat this summer!

But I couldn’t go cold turkey, so I found something in the house I could paint right in it’s very own spot!

I have had this jewelry armoire for years….

It matched our bedroom suite fairly well. But as I passed by it one day, it just seemed to be screaming out…”Paint me blue!”

So I did. Duck Egg Blue Chalk Paint distressed with clear and dark wax.

Please excuse the dirty floor. I was so excited with how it turned out, I grabbed my camera before I finished cleaning up. Yes…I painted it right there in the bedroom. Chalk paint is sooooo easy to clean up and really any kind of paint comes easily off my stained and polished concrete floors.

Anyway…..I love the “frenchier” look it has now. And it fits right in with my beach inspired bedroom that I have been working on for over a year now. It’s getting there, but just a few more final touches before I can show it to you!

I’m linking up with:

Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesdays

No Minimalist Here: Open House Party