A Spring Tablescape

Welcome to my home! The table is set for spring and we are anxiously awaiting Easter dinner.My table is set with a few old pieces that belonged to my Mama. The little birdie was a gift from a student and as soon as I saw her I knew that she would be on my spring table!

The magnolias were rescued from an old wreath I made years ago.

Another view of some of my silver pretties. I love silver pieces!

My china is Montclair by Lennox. Silver is Gorham Chantilly. Crystal is Gorham Lady Anne. For napkins I used some fabric from Mama's fabric stash and white hankies! The napkin rings are from a very exclusive boutique you may have heard of...Walmart! They were clearance finds left over from fall.

Thank you for stopping by! We love company! Be sure to stop by Between Naps on the Porch's Tablescape Thursday party to see many more beautiful tablescapes!

A Bathroom Metamorphosis

We moved into our beloved 1970's ranch style house in late 2006. Almost every original finish was still in the house and we immediately started updating the house. We had to start with the kitchen because it needed help the most and we did other projects as we had time and funds available. Spring 2008 we did a mini redo of the master bath, but we finally bit the bullet and did a total gut and rebuild March 2010. We are VERY blessed that Frank's dad is an awesome carpenter and he came up and worked for 3 long weeks building my dream bathroom. It is freshly finished, and I haven't started decorating it yet, but I couldn't wait to show it off! So here it is, My Bathroom Metamorphosis!

The Before's

The bathroom was divided into two separate rooms divided with a bi-fold door. In the front room was a double sink. In the mini-remodel we put up bead board over the hunter green wallpaper and I painted the mirrors and the cabinets. When Paige broke her leg, she scratched the paint off the cabinets with her crutches.

The second room held the toilet and tub. It had the original harvest gold tile and huge toilet that hung on the wall. It was not water efficient to say the least, and we called it our 5 gallon bucket toilet.

Harvest gold tub...the finish was so worn you just couldn't make it look clean.

The view from one end of the bathroom to the other.

Opposite view from hallway door through the bathroom.

A closet from the master bedroom butted into the bathroom and there was a door into the bedroom.

Gotta love all that harvest gold.

The During's

Demo started with pulling down the beadboard....see the green wallpaper we started with originally.

The walls started coming down.

Oh the mess!

This one is out of order, but under the carpet pad was the original green carpet glued to the floor...gross!

The After's

We now have one big bathroom. It only opens into the master bedroom so it's a true master bath. We just have a case opening into the bedroom and so far, I love it. This is my vanity. My father-in-law built the cabinets in our garage so I could have exactly what I wanted.

I love my new Jacuzzi tub and the tile turned out so pretty!

This is the view from my bedroom doorway. The window is the one thing that did not change in the bathroom!

Here is the view across from the window. I have a ladder shelf that will go there to hold towels and pretty things.

This is "his" vanity. No more sharing!!!

Another view of my vanity. I've not been able to put on my makeup in the bathroom for 3 1/2 years...I've been getting ready in my closet!

The water closet. This used to be a tiny linen closet, but we enlarged it to use it as the w.c. This included raising the floor because it goes over the basement stairs and without raising the floor, you would bump your head going down the stairs.

This shows the location of the w.c.

I love my new bathroom, and have been able to use it for two days now! I am going to get it all decorated while I'm home for spring break and can't wait to get to Hobby Lobby to get some new things picked out! I'm linking to Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday for the first time today. I read it every week, and am so excited to finally be joining the party! Be sure to drop by some of the other links...I'm sure that you will be inspired!

And here's one more pic of my bathroom because it's so darn pretty!

Are You Ready?

I'm ready! Ready to go! Frank and I are headed to Atlanta to spend the night at the fancy schmancy Westin, and then we are flying out at 7:45 am to Arizona. Yipee! We will fly to Phoenix, then to Yuma, to get Rickey and Amelia moved back to Georgia. I'm hoping to convince them to take me into Mexico just long enough to say I've been and to buy cheap souveniers, then Friday morning, we will start the long ride back to GA. Road Trip 2010. We will go through lots of states I've never been to, and I will try to remember to take lots of pics along the way.

I feel fantastic today, and I don't know if it's in anticipation of the trip, or if it's the steroids I'm on for my knee pain. Either way, I'm stoked. My knees feel much better, so I'm hoping to be able to maneuver the airports without a mobility scooter.

The kids will be with the McCoy's and the Pry's for the weekend. Jacob is going to a youth retreat for part of the weekend, and Paige and Matthew have plans to see "Diary of a Whimpy Kid" so they should have a lot of fun too while their parents are living the life of a young childless couple. Thank God for such good friends who love your kids enough to help you raise them!

Couponing

Today was my first foray into couponing. I went to a Women on Mission meeting on Tuesday night and was inspired to try the couponing thing. I spent way too much time trying to prepare, but it didn't help so much at CVS. A lot of the best deals were already gone. When I got to the checkout, there was no one in line, so I asked the lady could I break it up so I could use my Extra Care Bucks. You could tell she didn't want to do that, so I broke it up into only two batches. Something happened, because on the second batch, I didn't get the ECB's I was supposed to...the receipt said "limit reached". These were on different types of items, so I don't know what happened. By this time, there were 3 people in line behind me so I didn't ask any questions. I left very disappointed. I came back home and went through the Kroger ad with my coupons in hand. I think I did great at Kroger. I bought $120something worth of groceries for $82.something. I saved about half with Kroger card, and the other half with coupons. I got 4 old spice deodorants (which Frank uses) for $3.76. I got a Secret for me for $0.88. I got two bags of chex mix for $1.00, and 4 cans of pringles for $4.00. I also got deals on brownie and cake mixes and cookie dough. This is not stuff I usually buy, but it is stuff that my family will definitely use! Our pantry is overflowing (it's usually empty) and the refrigerator is full. I can't wait to get Sunday's paper to see what deals I can find next week!

Home Again

We feel like we are home again...in a church home, that is. Today we joined Lakeside Baptist Church. We said we were going to visit a lot of churches before we made up our mind, but Lakeside was only the second one we went to. It just felt right. The kids were ready to join after the first Wednesday night, lol. We are sure that this is the place God has called us to serve him and to heal the wounds we have suffered. It sure feels good to be home!

She's Not Heavy, She's Diana!

Today was the big day...my honey treated me like a princess and took me to see the Diana exhibit in Atlanta. We were not able to take pictures in the exhibit, but these are some that I was able to download. When we got there, we had about a 15 minute wait to actually get into the exhibit. Frank was so well behaved, and at some point, he said "She's not heavy, she's Diana", and I told him then, that would be the title of my post! When you get into the exhibit, the first thing you see is this...
a beautiful tiara from the 1800's that belonged to the Spencer family. Wow. I can't describe how beautiful it was. From there, you go through a display of Spencer women...Diana's female ancestors. She looked remarkedly like her great-grandmother (Charlotte, I believe) and apparently got her desire to help others from her. Along with portraits of some of these women were family jewels. There was a diamond necklace with HUGE diamonds in it and a cross pendant made with gorgeous emeralds. The family jewels were breathtaking. From there you went through a display with some of Diana's childhood belongings including her diary. There was a home movie playing with clips from her childhood. (She had really long legs!) That display transitioned into her courtship and engagement to Prince Charles and then you see it...

the gown! The train is 25 feet long. There are thousands of tiny pearls sewn into the lace. Her shoes were a masterpiece of their own. Tiny pearls, the soles were handpainted with gold, and they were very low heels! It was all sooooooooooo pretty. All along the room were photos from her wedding day and a video was playing. It was surreal to see the video that I've seen so many times standing right next to the actual gown. And you can't get the concept of how long a 25 foot train is unless you see it with your own eyes! Her mother paid for her dress and the bridesmaid dresses. According to a sign, it was $1900 USD. I take that as $1,900 US dollars, and that just doesn't seem right....obviously she got a great discount! The tiara belonged to the Spencer family and the diamond earrings she wore (beee-u-tee-ful) were bought by Diana with money she inherited from her grandmother. I know that it is customary for the bride's family to pay for these things, but you would think sinc she was marrying royalty they could have chipped in! From there you go through a display of her charitable work. There was a prayer book on display with a handwritten inscription from Mother Theresa about Jesus. Then you go into an exhibit of items from her funeral. A video of the procession and service is playing accompanied by a recording of Candle in the Wind. It was very quiet in there, and the girl in front of my in line was crying. I wasn't about to cry, because I thought Frank would laugh me out of there! But it was very touching to relive a day I remember so well. From there you go into an exhibit of her clothing...what a difference!

The gown in the middle is the last dress she wore at a public appearance. She wore it to her birthday party I believe. There was a short version in light blue just like it. The clothes were so beautiful. I've never been that close to couture clothing before, and was amazed at the detail and workmanship. My mother was a seamstress, so I notice the construction of clothes, and these were flawless. The suits, the gowns, all of them. Just wow. One of the sweetest things was the blue coat dress she wore that had matching baby blue coats that belonged to both of her little sons. There was a Versace (I think) cocktail dress with a velvet bodice and a deep dark red lacy skirt. The fabric for the skirt was just too beautiful for words. And there was a hideous blue with red polka dots gown from 1987...and it was straight 1987, haha. The rest were timeless, but that poor dress from 1987, screamed 1987.

As you can tell, I had a wonderful time. As much as I've said about it, there is so much more to see. If you would like to go too, there is a special offer available to all my blog readers (all 2 of you!)

Sweets for My Sweetie

My loyal readers (both of you) know that I'm on a diet. A for sure diet. NO sugar. Low-carbs. Trying to exercise every day and trying to drink that darn water diet. I've run (what a pun) into a problem with the exercise. I really hurt my legs on that stupid treadmill. I walked 2 1/2 miles Monday and felt mostly fine. Tuesday was nasty, so we couldn't do anything outside and I wasn't about to get back on that STUPID treadmill. Wednesday, we walked/ran again. I had to stop walking after the 9th lap (shooting for 10) because the shin pain was moving up to my knee. Wow, I had no idea how bad it was going to hurt until I got still for the night. I only walked 5 laps today. And it hurt. So. Bad. I couldn't hardly climb the steps into the house when I got home. Sooooo, I'm not sure where the walk/run thing is going. The pain is pretty much isolated to my right leg, and its right under my knee. It only hurts when I put weight on it. :)

But to get back to my original post idea, I'm on a diet, and I stick to it like glue. I'm an all or nothing person, and if I'm dieting, I do not cheat. Not even a little. If I cheat, it's over. Well, Frank is going to his first "social" event at Lakeside. They are having a Men's Ministry kick off Low Country Boil. I offered to make him a dessert to take. He is taking some friends with him, so I started thinking I should make 2 desserts. What did he pick? His two favorites, which are pretty high up on my favorites list too. Honey Bun Cake and Chocolate Delight. Oh Frank, sometimes you ask a lot of me! But I did it...with a little help from Paige. Tonight while making dinner, I also made his desserts and did not even lick a spoon. The pain in my leg kept reminding me of how hard I've worked, and that is enough incentive to stick to my diet. I've worked too hard, given up too much, to quit now.

I hope Frank is very popular around the dessert table tomorrow night. While he and his buddies are making new friends, my girl and my bestie and I will be eating our own shrimp here at the house. And hopefully watching an uber-chick flick. And oh yea, I made the two of them a chocolate pie while I was at it tonight. Sweets for the sweetest people I know...and I will eat a sugar-free ice cream bar!

Princess Diana

I loved Princess Diana. I remember going to my granny's early in the morning to watch the wedding coverage when she and Charles got married. I was very young, but I knew that she was a big deal! I sat and cried while watching the funeral coverage when she died. She was a fairy tale to me. Well, I get to see my fairy tale up close and personal Saturday. Frank is taking me to the Princess Diana exhibit in Atlanta! He is definitely taking one for the team because it is of no interest whatsoever to him. But I am soooooooo excited! There are over 200 artifacts on display. Her clothes, documents, jewels. But probably the most exciting thing on display will be this...

AMAZING! Perhaps the most famous (and beautiful in my opinion) wedding gown of all time! And I get to see it! In person! If I'm allowed to take pics, I will be posting lots of them. Humor me...it's not every day a girl gets this close to her fairy tale.