Many of you know how much I've loved re-doing cheap furniture finds this last year. A sweet friend in Canada introduced me to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint right before we moved back to the states, and I'm hooked. It has seriously become a hobby for me--painting and creating something new is like therapy for me. Many a nap time has turned into painting out in our back yard while Judah sleeps! Thought I would post several of my projects here. I've just recently stepped into reupholstering chairs..although very daunting at first, I found it was a piece of cake! I have wingback chair that I want to eventually get the nerve to re-do. Hope you enjoy!                                       

    You've probably heard the saying, "wrong place, wrong time" before. Well, that thought got me thinking about other scenarios of that saying and how it relates to seasons in our life.  It had me reflecting on the different seasons in my life, and how in each one of them God was trying to teach me something.  I can think of several examples of times in my life where I've been in the "wrong place, wrong time", right place at the wrong time, and of course at the right place, at the right time.  But then, I think to a degree, we are all at the right place at the right time. Even as I sit here to write these words, a quote I've written on a bright, pink note card stares me in the face. It reads, "A woman who walks in PURPOSE doesn't have to chase PEOPLE or OPPORTUNITIES. Her LIGHT causes PEOPLE and OPPORTUNITIES to PURSUE her." What a beautiful thought for a control-freak woman like me!      I can without a doubt testify that when I have let...

Are you appalled by the title of this post? Ha! I figured it would turn up a few eyebrows. Seriously though. Are we behaving like stupid Christians? We probably all have at some point, and from time to time, may still forget the simplicity of our relationship with Christ. Hebrews 5:11-14 should snap us out of this state! " 11  There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.   12  You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. [ c ]  You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.   13  For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right.   14  Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong." Prayer and the Wo...

This past weekend our family met another milestone. Our princess, Olivia Grace, turned 8! The weekend officially started on Friday when I brought a special birthday lunch to Olivia's school to enjoy with her. The rest of the weekend was spent celebrating our sweet girl with lots of fun that included getting her ears pierced (yikes! how is she already enough for that?), birthday breakfast with her Mimi & Papa, manicures, a special birthday tea party, lots and lots of sweet treats and gifts, birthday dinner out with family, and so many other fun things! It really was a great weekend! I was so excited about how her party turned out and the beautiful photos that came from it that I wanted to post some of them here, and also give my recommendation to  Butter Blossoms Shortbread Shoppe & Tea Party Room  for their amazing hostessing of my girl's tea party. I'm sure they would love to hear that I recommended you to them! On top of the beautiful space though, these mother/...

This morning I clicked on day 2 of a 31-day devotional I'm doing from Pastor Brian Houston of Hillsong Church. Thinking it would be like every other Sunday morning where I'd wake up to find Scott already at church, crawl out of bed to get the kids and myself ready for church, throw some sort of convenience breakfast food at them on the way out to the car (yes, guilty there) and threaten them more times than should be needed to get in their seats so that we could go. Sounds like a sitcom, but I can promise it's never that enjoyable on this end! As I read through the scriptures I found myself nodding along with all the words I was reading. Two of the verses were from Psalm 112:2 and Proverbs 13:22. Both urged me to recognize the importance of my influence to those around me, specifically my children.  The Word says that if I follow The Lord's commandments that I would be blessed, my children would be blessed, and their children would be blessed.  I was reminded by the v...

    As I sat closely snuggled up to my daughter on a couch in our family room once the last person left our home after Christmas, unfortunately and embarrassingly, I didn't feel contentment. Not a single drop of joy or fulfillment. Instead of smiling and thinking over the many memories made in the last week while our home was stuffed wall-to-wall with people, food, and beautiful gifts, and the air was filled with laughter, rather loud singing by an ecstatic 7-yr-old with a brand new karaoke machine and mic stand, and giggles from a joyful 3-yr-old discovering all of his new gifts, I was left feeling really, really lonely. My heart ached because I knew the little girl nestled next to me was feeling the exact same way. We missed family.     A few short hours earlier I was catching up on emails from my brand new mac mini that my awesome hubby gave me, but could hardly dig through the shopping emails retailers were pumping out quicker than Krispy Kreme does with hot an...

January 7th? The 7th? Really? That's the last time I wrote a post here on my blog? Oh, that makes me so sad. It seems I'm not great with New Years resolutions; but then again, who is? Well, lately I've been thinking about the things I love. What I love to do. What excites me, gives me joy and purpose. What I'm passionate about. Sadly, being a mother, often times we forget that we are a person aside from the PB&J making, mess cleaning, boo-boo kissing, bedtime story reading women we start to become defined by. If I'm honest, I'll say I'm weary. My heart longs to be able to carve out enough time daily to pour out words here or at least jot them down on a notepad on my nightstand. I feel satisfied and content after being able to share the things God places on my heart. Do you ever go so long without talking to a friend, and then get the chance to catch up for an hour, or even two, but spend so long playing catch-up, that you don't actually get to talk p...