Super Cute.. and Homemade!!

A couple of days ago i stumbled upon this blog. I loved the idea of the rose petal trim. So i ran over to Hobby Lobby and whipped up a top for my little bit..... just in time for Valentine's Day.

Now go on over to This Blessed Nest and check out her cutie patootie in her cute shirt. Dont you just love her stuff?? Ahhh another Tennessee girl. I just happen to be on the west side of the state and her on the east.
Here is what my cutie patootie looks like..

Valentine's Day

So my sweet hubby sent me tulips at work Of course there were plenty of them to split them up and place them all around the house. I just love them all. My husband is so kind and so thoughtful. I am so lucky to have him in my life!!!! 

And Her Bedding!!!

After getting everything (well almost everything ironed)i rushed downstairs to get the bed made. 

For those of you that havent had the priveledge of meeting my inner obsessive comulsive tendencies, brace yourself... its ugly. I will pull and tuck at a flat sheet until its just so. 

Then the hospital corners... my sweet friend Abbie and I lived together our sophomore year at Alabama and she really taught me the art of hospital corners. So then i begin to perfectly tuck the corners. Next comes the pillow placement, fluffing and tucking then comes the comforter. 

Yes i ironed the comforter 3 times, once on the bed i even ironed!! 

Enjoy!!

Love the embroidery on the sheets.

Just like the bedding in the Serena and Lily catalog!

Ended up finding this at TJ Maxx for $39.00!!

Oh the joys of holidays

With each new holiday my itch to create, craft and redecorate grows stronger and stronger. I am always thinking of tutorials to do but since we dont have internet at home it makes it hard for me to remember to take pictures of these things throughout the process. Lets recap on current projects at hand

• chalkboard with homemade scalloped frame. (i know its going to be great)
• finding bedding for AC's big girl bed
  
• deciding exactly where i want pictures to hang in the house {my dad could have killed me when i moved out to go to college. he repainted my room and before he could do so he decided to fill all the holes in the walls where i would constantly rearrange and rehang pics... grand total holes in my bedroom... 110! i was a rearranging freak!}
• picking out bedding for my room
  
• figuring out colors for the shutters for the front of the house
• trying to decide on landscaping for the front flower beds
• all in all just being able to complete a project.
  here are a few of my thoughts. Here is the board and batten style above.

okay so probably a slate color or off white. 

the style will be enclosed board and batten with similiar hardware.

working on the other pics of these ideas... will share those with yall later today. 

Happy friday readers. 

Be prepared for valentine's day fun.

At Last ( sing it Etta)

Okay now that we have cued the music join me on this journey of random thoughts.

1. I am still slowly mulling through Facing the Giants by Max Lucado.

2. I have discovered that I have made nice clothing/shoes/handbags my god and one of the ten commandments is to put no other gods before me.

3. working on ridding myself of this god. dont be silly now i am not giving my Burberry and Lilly, but Iam thankful for these items and teaching myself that I cannot purchase them again until they are just things and however much I may appreciate them I won't put them before other things in my life.

4. in an effort to rid myself of these gods i have begun what i am calling a life overhaul and detox. (sorry forgot to take pictures and document this effort) I have ridded myself since May of 2009 of at least 9 bags of clothing. now if you could still currently see the amount of clothes i own it truely is sinful to see what i owned.

5. i undertook the daunting task of organizing all the closets in the house. We have had a few problems with the upstairs closets and finding studs to hang a shelf. Therefore we have decided to do a free standing unit that is attached meerily as an anchor instead of a main support.

now... on this journey what girl doesnt think of Carrie Bradshaw's AH. MAZ.ING closet that Big built for her??

I know i know all those Loubiton, LV, Jimmy's Marc's... ahhh one day when i dont drool overthem i know i can renew my hobby of collecting these gems but for now i would even be okay with this....

again .... i know right?? need i saay more????

via google

so does your closet currently look like this???

well i just wish mine looked at least like this. Join me on a journey of organization, purification, and a sense of finding my dream of a perfectly organized closet. (within reason.)

Pictures to come.

Closing thoughts...

what does your closet look like?? 

care to join me on a spring cleaning organization party??

Christmas in Mobile

dream backyard. need i say more

baby was terrified we would leave her when we were packing up in mobile to come home

then we said no worries little bunny... we would never leave you

cheesin with aunt mary

watchin backyardigans with aidan

aidan giving me a hug....

All Icky

Okay so in an effort to expand baby's food palate I thought I would give her some chocolate pudding. (dont worry its sugar free)

okay so all was well feeding herself till we got to the end and it got nasty... she screamed when we took her away from the high chair and dragged her upstairs to the bath.... she was gushing the pudding through her fingers.... SOOOOOO GROSS

I love my butterfies.... they make bathtime worthwhile.

no mommy i am not ready to get out!!

Where do i hang this picture??

Recently we had some pictures done of the family by a local family photographer.

Now i have these great pics and have no idea where to hang them in my home. Usually i like a little bit more posed of a picture but i mean come on.... we spent the whole time trying to get baby to cooperate and then casey and i wouldnt cooperate.... too funny if you ask me.

Facing Your Giants

Hokay soo.... It just donged on me that I have been blogging now right at a year. It has been an interesting past year; raising a child, buying our first home, getting a job, loosing a job, getting a new job that i LOVE, loosing some precious friendships, deepening the friendships i already have and learning about myself.

Some things i have learned is that if there is a problem in my life, first fix me, go to the lord with my concerns and ask for his forgiveness and let him guide my decisions. 2009 was an emotionally taxing year and i feel that the lord did not give me more than i could handle but he did present situations to me that he knew i would need to rely on him to overcome.

I am slowly making my way through Facing my Giants by Max Lucado. This book is the story of David and how the lord used him and his vices, and how the lord helped him overcome. Max Lucado has been given such a talent and the way he writes really speaks to my heart and convicts me of how i "Face my Giants." I hope once i complete this book to be able to share my stories with all of you and encourage you with the giants in your lives.

I know for my dear friend Stephanie, its her new pup Judd. For you is it your boss, spouse, family member, kicking a bad habit, loosing weight? Each of us have our own temptations and i use that word lightly. Satan contstantly tempts us to give in to them, let them have their way. But what i am beginning to realize is my problems arent for me to handle, they are the lords. He determines who to extend mercy to and who to punish, not me. We reap what we sow. 

Are you currently sowing some bad seeds? 

Do you need to ask forgiveness for what you are doing and repent before you begin reaping those seeds??

I hope each of you begin feeling the lord change your heart as we move into a new year and make you a kinder more understanding person as he is doing with me. If you need a good book to comfort you through the storm and teach you how to overcome Facing the Giants is it.

Baby Girl 14 months

I cannot believe how fast time has flown since she was born. 

She is such a big girl and everyday she reveals more of her vivacious personality to us. here is what she is currently doing. 

And yes I am a bad mommy, it just occurred to me the only pic we have of her since her birthday is this one. Forgive me, i will get on that this weekend, promise.

This was after a very long day of play at grammies and dinner with Lauren and Chad... she was pooped.

Back to the updates on our development:

• last week she cut 4 new teeth
• she makes this ohhh cindy loo hoo face and says "ahhhh"
• she started saying "What?" and flipping her hands in the air
• she will listen to people talk then say "oh really." too stinkin funny.
• she is also speaking baby gibberish and does so in full sentences then does the what? face/hand movements. and at this point casey and i both so badly wish we could hear what it was she was saying
• any dog within 10 to 20 feet of her she is going to insist we go that way so she can squeal and pet the puppy. then she will look at us make her ahhh/ohhh face like its the biggest suprise of her life and start waving and saying "uppie uppie uppie"

LOVE IT!!!!!

Girl's Bathroom Reveal-Shabby to the Chic

Tada!! 

Her it is... baby girl's bathroom.

 I am very pleased with all the elements coming together for a shabby chic, clean, fun children's bathroom.

okay i just couldnt stand not showing this to you guys. Casey and I havent found the trim we want to use above the beadboard and are planning on finding that and installing in the coming weeks. However i think these small changes created a high impact change in this very tiny space. We only spent 385.00 on the whole remodel... I very carefully shopped and found this incredible idea over here.

Rhonda at southernhospitalityblog.com used beadboard wallpaper found at Home Depot and Lowe's and it creates the same look as actualy wooden beadboard but is much cheaper and easier to remove for the next owner. I am so thankful to her bringing this gem to blog land.

We still need to find some tiny lampshades to put over the chandelier's bulbs.

All in all I really like the outcome.

Love my glass shelf !!

Big girl room, well sorta.

okay so found this cutie over at kookoobears.com i didnt want to pay $129.00 for this cutie so i DIY'ed that sucker and voila. i am very very happy with the results. What do you think??

this is one of my fave diy projects so far... found the shelf at pottery barn outlet a few years back. the diaper pins are from a cute store in collierville, tn called First Fruit Collection.

i know top shelf wasnt done but dont worry i went back and completed.

after deciding what we were doing for AC for christmas i was given a wonderful christmas gift by my company i work for... anywho we decided to use our very nice bonus to finish off the playroom we wanted to do for lil bit. We found this shelf and i snazzed it up by adding Lilly Pulitzer wrapping paper to the backer board. i know cheap/chic diy.... Stay posted as throughout the year we will transition from our crib and baby bedding to a wonderful world of big girl. Here are the pics of what we have done so far.

Seeing Santa

soo we were surely scared of santa claus. here are the pics leading up to our visit.

who is that big scary man??

i dont know about this daddy!! you can see the horror in her little eyes.

daddy just chatting with santa.

at the christmas eve service at church. anxiously awaiting the start and singing of the carols.

The stockings were hung by the what?? no chimney?

Here are a few of the things we used to decorate around this house this holiday season.

adoreable sign Candace made for me.

Pottery barn stockings i found at the outlet for 1.99 a piece. 

Doorbusters are amazing after thanksgiving.

These are the treats we left for santa, however little elf Luke (our beagle) decided to taste the morsels to make sure they were fit to eat. 

Then there was nothing left for santa!!

Sorry, we will make it up next year.

Our christmas china that my uncle got for us. These are the salad plates and my parents got us the dinner plates. LOVE them.... also here is our key for santa to get in that a friend found for us!

And our tree very early christmas morning. 

I also must share as casey and i awoke to get ready with the video camera to go find AC in her bed we let Luke out as usual, however the crazy winds blew our gate open so we spent christmas morning chasing our beagle around the neighborhood.

Such nostalgia watching people around their christmas trees as I chase my crazy pup through their yards. 

Kids Bathroom Deconstruction

Remember this post where we picked out our accessories? 

Time to demo so we can decorate!!

snake showerhead???

There is a special place in this world for these things....

There are no words for this light fixture. 

I know the pics are up in reverse order but i am using my sisters laptop and she has some funky settings for the mouse on and it wont allow me to load the pics in order.

 old flooring on the left, view of aweful tiles, new flooring on the right.

okay when we moved in, the walls were tan, underneath reveals a much worse color.... deep deep rust. if it were fire brick i could see making it work but such a dark color for such a small space screams troubles.... so we thought again.. GREEN. 

I know my whole dang house is green but again its the color of growth and prosperity..... here is the whole patched from the aweful tiles.

This is the hole where we removed the 9 tile backsplash behind the sink. Such an unusual addition to a home.

Stay tuned for more!!

How I love fine china.

May I first mention as i sit here and blog that I am doing so with a baby in my lap. In my daughters first whole year of life i never held her while i played on the computer. This is the best feeling having a bundle of joy lay in your arms, sleep peacefully, and keep you warm as you open your heart to blogland. 

Okay so back to the reason for the post.When i was registering for things one of my favorite stores i went to was Jude Gifts. The sweet ladies there helped me pick out this place setting. They even reaffirmed me in mixing and matching companies and pieces, Thus Lenox and Pickard fell in love.

Found this excerpt from Pickard's website.

{Experts and connoisseurs of fine porcelains agree that Pickard is America's finest china - some will add that Pickard makes the finest china available anywhere in the world. At the heart of this proud tradition of excellence are stringent quality standards that have been passed down through four generations of the Pickard family.

All Pickard china is made in the U.S.A. by the same skilled craftsmen that produce the china that serves the President aboard Air Force One. When our ambassadors entertain queens, sultans and heads of state in U.S. embassies around the globe, their tables are set with Pickard.}

What an incredible feeling knowing that i am eating off the same fine china that dignitaries around the world are eating off of. Oh china, crystal, and silver.... how i love you so.