my blessed life

Well...I'm so sorry that I sort of fell of the face of the earth this week. It was completely un intentional, I promise! We left on Monday for a conference in Kansas City and we didn't return until tonight. However, I knew that I would have access to a computer so I had planned on blogging from there. So much for plans, right? It was my sister's laptop that I'd planned to use. It had been out of commission for a while due to her needing a new battery/cord/ some thing and she had just gotten that taken care of, but apparently it needs some internet security updates because it wouldn't let me on anything. It effectively blocked every site that I needed to go to. It was a little frustrating, but I'm back now--and so glad to be! I missed blogland:) Apparently I have an addiction. So this is just a little "hello".....I'll be back tomorrow with more. Enjoy your weekend! EDITED TO ADD: A funny tidbit for you: I'm off to bed after a late night snack ...

OK, since you twisted my arm, I'll show you what I did with all those treasures I scooped up! First, here are the shelves along with the bronze pot which I stuffed some pretty green "plants" in. I don't know why it looks like my wall is bowed out--it's really a flat wall! I promise:) Here's a close-up--I just love how they turned out! Here are the bird prints. I had first thought of a different place for them, but decided that I really loved them with my *welcome* sign. This is one of the little "plants" I potted. The container once held a poured candle. I thought it was too pretty to toss after the candle burned down, so I've been hanging onto it. I love the way it looks! And, lastly, this is one more small "plant" in yet another saved pot from a long-ago arrangement. I think I got it sometime around the time of my daughter's birth (5 years ago!). I guess I'm a sort of pack rat :) It's fun adding new decor to the house e...

You may have read where I mentioned some fun shopping last weekend in Arkansas. I didn't have a lot of time to shop, but I was able to squeeze in a few places and find a few treasures. My first stop was to a wonderful shop called Coming Home. It's owned by a mother/daughter team who are very talented with home decor and antiques. I actually worked there with them for five years--until my first child was born. I loved it: all of the wonderful *pretties* to work with, doing displays, helping customers (at least the nice ones-ha!). Of course, all the *girls* that I worked with made it so much fun! So....I always have to pop in when I'm in town to say "hi" and check out all of the awesome stuff! This time I found: 1. These really cool black leather wall "L" shelves in the clearance room. They were just what I needed for a certain spot in our family room. Wait till you see how they turned out! (just ignore the mess in the background--I was more excited ab...

According to Wikipedia , April 22nd marks the anniversary of the beginning of the modern environmental movement. I don't know how long it's been celebrated, although I've heard of it before I really always forget about it. However, lately I'm thinking more about taking responsibility for how I treat the environment--and setting an example for my family. Some things I'm doing are: recycling all my plastic shopping bags recycling plastic storage bags (like Ziplocs) changing all light bulbs to the compact fluorescent ones buying more organic foods switching to *green* cleaners My next thing is to start taking my own bags to the store with me. I was getting ready to invest in some of those canvas bags that you can get at Hobby Lobby or Wal-Mart for 3/$5.85--then I found this awesome project. Being involved in student ministry insures that I have more t-shirts that I could ever possibly wear, so I'm making them into resuable shopping bags! Well, to be honest, I'...

Well, we got home late last night--which is why I haven't posted all day! I've been dealing with the usual *trip aftermath* all day. That's the worst part of a trip, in my opinion; having to un pack the suitcases and deal with all of the laundry. But that's one of the (many) perks of staying at my parents' house--my mom sends us all home with suitcases full of clean clothes! She's such a June Cleaver! I love her! It really was a great weekend. We were in need of refreshing and I feel like our little getaway did just the trick!....Plus there was some good shopping involved (more on that later!) We visited my grandma in her new digs. Since I saw her last (at Thanksgiving) the family has moved her into an assisted-living facility. She has Alzheimer's and is slowly going away from us in her mind. She was having a good day though and was so glad to see us, especially the kiddos. The kiddos with their Great-Grandma On Saturday we decided to take the kids the Nat...

Happy Thursday! I am ( getting ready to be ) busy packing our bags for a few days' trip this weekend. Our 11th wedding anniversary is this weekend and we wanted a little getaway out-of-town. After considering all of our options we decided to pack the kiddos and head to Arkansas to visit my family. That way we all get to have some fun: visiting with family, a couple of days in our old hometown, plus free childcare for our *date night* and free lodging:) Can't beat that! We're all looking forward to it very much. The Princess has been counting the days--literally! So, I'm off to get our clothes together and ( most importantly ) the road trip activities and snacks for the kiddos. I got them some lap trays yesterday, so they have them all packed with fun stuff for the car. Of course, I'll have access to a computer there, so hopefully I'll get a chance to post while I'm gone. If not, then I'll be back in a few days. Meanwhile, have a GREAT weekend!! The kiddo...

Take one pot, some floral foam, some hot glue, a silk plant and some moss. ~Cut the foam to size ~Hot glue it down ~Stick the plant into the foam ~Arrange the moss around the base of plant Voila! One pretty plant for a bathroom corner!