A Southern Rose

My first project of the new year

2012-01-29T07:32:00.000-08:00

I plan on getting at least one project done a month. I would say more...I will probably do more, however to not stress myself out too much I will just say one a month. :) Back in August my sister and I spent the day together for her birthday. We went to lunch and went 'thrifting'. We love spending time together doing that. Last time it was her time to find a bargain. This time it was mine. :) I found this mirror at a junk store....way up high on the wall of an old warehouse. I'd been in there several times...don't know how I missed it before. The guy said it had been there for a long time. He sold it to me for $20.00. We left it there and went to a few other stores. I had to call Stevie and get him to go pick it up for me. He said that when he got there he didn't realize that he was going to have to get it down from the wall too. Oooops! He said that they almost dropped it. So glad they didn't.

The whole time he kept saying to himself...."What is she going to do with this thing?" Another project....

Well.....It turned out so pretty. After a coat of primer and two coats of paint. It fits perfect on my old dresser that I painted a while back. It even has a light at the top. All I have to do now is buy two little wooden disks to cover the holes at the top. It was missing two. I decided to go ahead and take a picture and post it because we are almost into the second month of the year. Gonna finish a new project for February. Or maybe two. :)

I think it turned out so pretty.

I also thought that I would show you what Stevie did for me for New Year's Eve. I had to work and I while was there He prepared for us a delicious dinner. He had the table all set and everything with some of my old Christmas dishes. He had bought me these pretty flowers for my desk at work during the holidays. (He must have had this planned.) lol

It was so yummy! Better that any restaurant around here.

I even made a 'happy' plate. :)

We had a quite evening at home for our first New Year's Eve.

Didn't he do a great job? He even wore pink...for me. :)Hope you all are having a wonderful new year so far.

Packing up the Christmas stuff...

2012-01-04T08:44:00.000-08:00

Today I finally started packing up some of our Christmas decorations and getting things back to normal. I had all day off from work and it felt so good. These are a few of the things that I packed away. My sweet little snowman picture that I bought at TJ Maxx last year. The words really mean a lot to me.

We bought Christy the three wise men to go with her nativity. She loved them.

Our Christmas dishes in the kitchen hutch.

Our poinsettia wreath and garland.

A few things out of the kitchen window.

Stevie and I decided not to exchange gifts this year.....but he surprised me with a teapot to match my china. Wasn't that so sweet?

As I was going through my pictures, I found a few from Christmas that I thought I would share.

This is the pineapple upside down cake that I made to take to my sister's for our 'get together'. It was delicious. I thought it turned out pretty too.

I also made my sister's favorite...Date Nut Balls.

She loves them. They are so additive. You can't eat just one.

My sister's daughter Whitney, me and my daughter Christy, my sister Melinda and our mom.

My daughter and my youngest son Garrett.

And her son Jason.

Me and Stevie...Our First Christmas being married.

Christy and her husband Phillip.

My nephew Michael. Loving his LSU gifts.

This one was taken back at our house. Garrett opening a few gifts.

Christy with her new wind chimes. She loves them.

My daughter in the kitchen with my mom. She has grown up to be such a pretty little lady.

My Stevie and my sister's Steven.

Melinda and her husband Steven.

My daughter and my grandson Jason.

Jason loves his dinosaurs.

Me and Stevie.

Jason, Chase (my sister's little boy) and Garrett.

All of us girls. Me, my sister, my daughter and mama.

Stevie and mama in the kitchen. He's trying out my cake.

Me and Christy and Mama.

Me and Garrett.

Garrett excited about his deer hunting game.

Garrett and Christy.

Tyler, (Stevie's son) Garrett and Hailey. (Stevie's daughter)

Garrett loving his I-Pod and Hailey with her pink suitcase.

Hailey loves her pink body pillow. It didn't even phase Garrett when she put it in his face. He wasn't taking his face away from his I-Pod.

Opening up a gift from Christy and Phillip.

They bought us a pancake making set. We love it. They know how much we love to cook.
We had a good Christmas spending time with our family. I hope that you all did too.

Christmas at Aunt Jenny's Victorian Cottage

2011-12-28T16:53:00.000-08:00

Can you believe that Christmas has come and gone already? I hope all of you had a merry one and enjoyed celebrating the birth of our savior with your family and friends. Stevie and I both worked a whole lot but we were still able to make a few new Chrismas memories with our families. We had my Dad's side of the family's Christmas party at his sister's house this year. Aunt Jenny and Uncle Jerry have the prettiest Victorian cottage and it was so homey and festive.

This is our first Christmas together as husband and wife.

I'm showing lots of pictures on this post for family members that couldn't be there. Some of them didn't come out too well but I posted them anyway. I just love Aunt Jenny's Victorian cottage. I always have. This is a picture of one of her dessert tables. She had pecan pie, plum pudding, fruit cake, fresh apple cake, homemade shaped cookies for the kids and tons of other sweets. I can't remember them all but I do know that I ate way too much of them. :)

This is another section of her pink dining room with her victorian pink tree. I love this room. The walls were wide cedar paneled when they first bought the house many years ago. They didn't stay that way long....:)

This is their front den. It is a very large room with high ceilings. She has a Christmas tree hanging upside down from the ceiling in there and I forgot to take a picture of it. These walls are the original bead board. When they first bought the house it had old cheesecloth wallpaper hanging in there.

This is me and my little boy Garrett and Uncle Jerry. Not the best picture but I wanted you to be able to see more of the den.

This is the mantle in her dining room. So pretty!

This is a lamp on her buffet in the den. I remember when she bought this lamp many years ago. I like it so much....I had to have one too.

Aunt Jenny all ready with her video camera. She had everything decorated so beautiful.

Fixing our plates...so much food and everything was so delicious. I was asked to bring my usual...sweet potato crunch. They ask me to make it every year.

I just spotted another upside down Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling in this picture. I didn't even notice it when I was there.
Uncle Jerry washing some of the dishes....he is a sweetheart.

Me and my little boy. He is growing up way too fast.

Me and Aunt Jenny. Daddy's baby sister.

Me and Aunt Shelby. Daddy's oldest sister.

Me and Aunt Ann. Daddy's middle sister.

Me and Daddy.

Aunt Shelby and her grandaughter, Kimberly.

Kimberly and her boyfriend.

My cousin Angie and her hubby, Randy. She is Aunt Jenny's daughter.

Uncle Jerry and Aunt Shelby cleaning up afterwards. Again I posted this one so you could see more of the house.
Aunt Ann and Uncle Jerry in the kitchen.

Aunt Jenny, Aunt Ann, Daddy and my cousin John in the kitchen. I love her kitchen. It looks and smells like Christmas.

Some of the Garrett's little cousins. Zack, Jessie and Ethan.

Stevie even got caught in this one getting some of daddy's famous lima beans.

Hope you enjoyed seeing pictures from our family get together. This one is a little blurry but I had to post it. I love her kitchen. Makes me wanna paint mine again....Well, almost. :)

Hugs to you and Happy New Year!

Christmas is coming!

2011-12-19T11:25:00.000-08:00

Well....Christmas is almost here. Just a week away. These last couple of weeks have been a blur. They went by so fast. I have been so busy with work....long crazy hours. The 'joy' of retail. I've tried to use any available free time from work spending it with my family. Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to the last week. I baked red-velvet cupcakes for Garrett one day last week while he was at school. I was off that day so I spent it baking and wrapping and decorating. When he walked into the kitchen after school, the first thing he said was...."MMMM...cupcakes!" That made my day. :)

The cake batter was as 'red' as my mixer!

I think they turned out pretty and they were so yummy!

We took Jason and Garrett to see Santa one night in our small town. All of the little shops were open late that night for open house. My little boy loves open house. He looks forward to going every year. Jason wouldn't sit in Santa's lap....he didn't want to even get close to him unless he was sitting in Pappy's lap.

After that we took them out to eat. We really enjoyed our time with them. They are growing up so fast. Garrett is 10 now and Jason is 3.

Jason and his Uncle Garrett.

Jason lovin' his veggies.

Jason spent the night with us that night and Stevie took him to pre-school the next morning. I had to take a couple of pictures of him in front of the Christmas tree before he went to school.

He is so sweet and he is so excited about Christmas this year.

This is our other grandson Gabriel. I wish that he lived closer. I can't wait to see him. He is 2 years old now. He is growing up so fast. His mommy sent us this picture of him playing his drums that we sent him for his birthday. She had his hair all sticking up like a rock star. I hope to see him soon. Can't wait to get my hands on him!

Hope you all are making some good memories with your families during the holidays.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Parade

2011-12-12T08:32:00.000-08:00

We had our town Christmas parade a couple of weeks ago. It was such a pretty day that day. Not too cold but cool enough for a sweater. Lots of people turned out! Every year Stevie and his kids walk in the parade and pass out flags. The last few years my little boy has done it with them. He always has so much fun.

Our friend Mr. Benny all dressed up in his American Flag costume passing them out. He is such a character.

Stevie giving them to some children on the back of a truck.

Getting another handful.

A picture of the car behind us all decorated. I didn't get to see too much of the parade because I rode on the back of the golf cart. I was taking these pictures as we were moving. Does the golf cart look familiar? We used it at our wedding a few months ago. :) See that church in the background? Isn't it beautiful?

Garrett trying to fill up both hands. Mr. Benny hooked this cart up to the back of the golf cart to carry the tubs of flags. That way they could just walk up and fill up as we went. It was a long parade.

Garrett was so tired and thirsty at the end! He loved it though. Isn't that the cutest pink truck behind him? Wish Santa would bring me one. :) Mr. Benny and Hailey are back there too on the right.

I took the easy way out and rode the back of the golf cart. lol.....Then I had to hurry and get home and get dressed for a long day at work. It was a lot of fun.

Tonight is another parade and I'll miss it because I have to work. I know Stevie, Hailey and Garrett will be there passing out flags again. Hope he gets some pictures.

Merry Christmas!

A gift from a friend...

2011-12-07T08:53:00.000-08:00

This is a quick post. I had to show you all what a blogging friend sent to us as a wedding gift. Tammy from the 'Stitching Coop' made these sachet pillows for us. They are so beautiful and smell wonderful. Every time I walk into the bedroom and smell them I think of her and her husband. It was so thoughtful of them. I'm having a hard time this year with the holidays. The last 6 months have been extremely difficult and sometimes I just don't know how to deal with the things going on in our lives. I realized that I had to let go and turn everything over to God. He will get us through these trying times. I won't go into detail on here. But I will tell you that when we opened the box from Tammy and Steve and saw the saying that she had sewn on the pillow....it really touched my heart.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Thank you, Tammy and Steve....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2011-11-27T15:10:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a very blessed Thanksgiving holiday. We enjoyed our Thanksgiving at Stevie's parent's home. Everything was delicious. We enjoyed spending the day with them. We have many things to be thankful for.

Afterwards, we came home and I decorated a little bit in the kitchen. I decided to put out some of our Christmas dishes. Stevie moved my hutch that was in the dining room to the kitchen for me. Then he moved the one I painted white into the dining room. We're always moving things around here. :)

This is one of my favorite Christmas plates. I love the fireplace scene....looks so warm and cozy.

I've had these dishes for years. I love the Christmas trees on them. They go so well with my white dishes.

The hutch looks good in the kitchen too. He bought it for me a few Christmases ago. This is the only decorating that we've done so far. I've been trying to re-coup from Black Friday. I worked 12 long hours and it just about got me this year. He put the tree up for me but we still have to decorate it.

I'll post pictures as soon as we do. For now I'm just gonna catch up on rest and watch tons of Hallmark Christmas movies. I'm trying to take it slow this year and really enjoy everything.

Hugs to you,

A Fall Picnic

2011-10-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

A few days ago....I decided to surprise my hubby with a picnic for his lunch break. I was on vacation....didn't go anywhere just stayed home and got some things done around the cottage. Anyway, I knew he was coming home for lunch so I thought since it was such a pretty Fall day....a picnic would be perfect. I decorated outside at the picnic table and swing. I even hung a picture on a tree. It was fun getting it all ready before he got there.

We had barbecue chicken, baked beans, coleslaw and of course good ole' sweet tea. It was such a pretty day. Perfect temperature outside....just a tiny bit breezy. It felt so good to be outside sharing lunch with my best friend.

I wish that you could have seen his face whenever he came up the driveway and saw it all. He had the biggest smile on his face.

We ate and talked and enjoyed just being alone for an hour of our busy day.

He started laughing whenever I pulled out my camera to take his picture. He knew what I was planning to do with it. A blog post...of course!

He told me this lunch was better that any restaurant that we could have went to. I agree.

Afterwards we relaxed on the swing with our sweet tea and talked about our plans for the future. We have so many things planned....getting more things done at the cottage. We plan on building on to it next year. A new family room and master bedroom and bath. We decided to stay in my little cottage after we were married because it is so peaceful here and we have so many memories here. (He proposed to me on my porch swing.)

We're just trying to keep everything in perspective....not get to stressed out about our future plans on the cottage. It's easy to get wrapped up into all of that stuff and forget what you're even doing it for. We plan on enjoying all of it....together.

After all...Home is where your story begins.

Hope you all have a beautiful day!

Hugs,

Pretty Pink Desk

2011-10-04T06:19:00.000-07:00

Isn't this the cutest little desk? That's what I'm calling it anyway. My husband bought it for me at a garage sale a while back. (Before we were married) I remember that he was so proud of himself. :) He couldn't wait to tell me what a bargain he had gotten! He only paid $5.00 for this sweet little thing. I know these pictures don't do it justice. I didn't have the best camera that day when these were taken. I decided to give it a fresh coat of paint....I thought pink would be a great choice. She looks so pretty in pink.

I decided not to paint the inside of the door because it has a very shiny surface and I wasn't sure if I could get the paint to stick too well and be able to use it without scratching it up.

I used the same knobs, just gave them a fresh coat of creamy white paint. I think it turned out so pretty.

Since we were married in July, we've been so busy! We decided to live in my little cottage and either sell his house or rent it out. He still has so much stuff in his house that we are trying to figure out what to do with! My cottage isn't very big and it's already full....so we are weeding out some things and planning on adding on a great room and expanding the kitchen. Right now we are changing the guest room/storage room into a room for Hailey, my 14 year old step-daughter. This little desk will be so cute in her room. We have so much to do and the busy time of year is on it's way.

I'll be sure to post pictures along the way of our many changes.

We love working on ''Our Cottage" together.

Have a blessed day!

Peachy 'comfort' cobbler

2011-09-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

What do you do when someone gives you fresh peaches?

Bake a delicious peach cobbler, of course. :) Aren't these the biggest peaches? Stevie's parents gave us some a few days ago and I couldn't wait to try them out. They were the best that I've ever tasted.

They were huge and so juicy. Made my kitchen smell so good baking that cobbler. I always use my old square iron skillet. I've had it since I was 16 years old. It was one of the items in my 'hope chest'. Did y'all ever have a 'hope chest'? My granny put so many things in there for me. I still cherish them all.

I love 'Fall'....my favorite time of year. I love baking comfort foods. I love being inside all warm and cozy. Hope y'all have a beautiful day!

My beautiful new bookshelf

2011-09-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

It feels so good outside this morning. I can feel the 'Fall' in the air. My favorite season. I'm ready to start baking cakes and pies and all of those cookies that make my kitchen smell so yummy. It's been so hot here in Mississippi that the last thing I wanna do is heat up the kitchen!

Well...I thought I would show y'all the most beautiful gift that was given to me a few months ago. I can't believe that I haven't posted about it already. We recently had a remodel done to the store where I work and several things were being tossed out. I've had my eye on this bookshelf for years....I've been working there for 11 years. I always said if they ever decided to get rid of this that I wanted first dibs to buy it. When my manager told me that it was fixin' to go...she even called me on my off day to tell me....(such a sweetheart)....I just knew I had to move quickly before it got tossed out. I called Stevie at his work and pleaded for him to leave his work and go pick it up for me. I know he was probably thinking, "What are they giving her now....more 'stuff' for her to put in storage." Well...he might of thought it but he certainly didn't say it to me. :) He went right then and there and picked it up for me and delivered it with a smile. Here he is trying to get it under my arch in my courtyard. It looks so much bigger than it did in the store.
We ended up having to turn it sideways to get it inside.

Isn't it beautiful? I love all of the detail it has. I'm so excited. I haven't had time to do anything to it yet. My hand are just itching for that paintbrush.....and I have a three day week-end starting tomorrow!

Thank you Mrs. Julie for thinking of me and thank -you Stevie for getting it home to me. I love y'all.

Fishing on our honeymoon...

2011-08-16T07:25:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a few more wedding pictures. This one was taken later that night after everyone had already left. We were sitting on the swing out in front of the cabin. It was so peaceful out there.

This one was taken in front of the pond. I love all of the lily pads. So pretty.

After everyone had gone home. You can see the arch all lit up in the background down by the pond. See how far....that's why I didn't want to walk down there all by myself. :)

The morning day after our wedding.....drinking our morning coffee.

Little cup for Stevie but he liked it anyway. :) He asked me what I wanted to do for the day. We didn't want to go out....wanted to stay around the cabin and relax. I told him that I wanted to go.... FISHING.

He bought me the cutest little fishing rod and reel. It's pink! I love it. I told him that I hadn't fished in 20 years....since my daughter was 8 years old.

We had so much fun! I was so excited. I kept catching them over and over. Stevie just stopped fishing all together because every time I threw my line out...I caught one. :) I kept having to get him to take the fish off my hook and re-bait it for me. I haven't tried to do that part yet....lol

Well...it started to rain and I was having so much fun that I didn't wanna stop. So...I just kept right on fishing in the rain. And he kept right on taking pictures. He was having fun watching me have fun. :)

This is how I looked when I first felt the BIG one on my line! It was huge and I was getting nervous that he would break my line. I called for 'back-up' but he told me I had to do it myself. :) After he saw how big it was, he dropped the camera and ran to get the net. lol

It was huge! I was so excited. The biggest fish that I have ever caught! I had a hard time reeling it it. It almost broke my line! Stevie said to tell y'all that I was using a 6 pound test line and the fish was at least 20 to 25 pounds.

The owner of the cabin (Mr. Benny) took our picture with it. He said that it was a Grass Carp. He also said that he never had heard of someone catching one before out of his pond. He said that they never bite bait, they only go around eating the grass and weeds around the edges of the pond. I think it was because of my 'pink' rod and reel. ;) I got a little sad when I found out that I had caught a fish that we couldn't eat....so we through him back in. He swam a little slow at first and I walked down the edge of the pond and watched him as he got stronger and stronger. He was okay. :)

I'm ready to go back fishing! It was so much fun!

Our Wedding....July 22, 2011

2011-08-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

July 22, 2011....I married my best friend, the one that I laugh with and love. "Where is my bride? I better go get her".

Stevie walking up the path to the cabin to get me. It was a long path and I didn't want to walk down to the pond alone. We had our wedding down by the pond under an old wrought iron arch. We had originally planned to be married up at the cabin until Stevie found the archway by accident. We knew that would be the perfect place.

Stevie, when he first saw me. :) The song that was playing was called "Will You Marry Me?" by John Berry.

He met me on the porch of the cabin....

Walking through the arch...

Saying our vows...

The 'kiss'...

Husband and wife...

All smiles....

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Yoas.

Ready to start the rest of our lives together.

Our reception at the cabin.

Our rings placed on a pillow sachet made by Rebecca from "A Gathering Place". One of the first blogs that I ever read. I bet she will be surprised to see this. Such a sweet lady.

Our pretty wedding cake that Stevie's cousin made for us.

Cutting our cake.

Yummy....wedding cake.

Our 'getaway' vehicle...a golf cart. :)

A ride around the pond...

Happily Ever After...

Together for always. The search is over....you were with me all the time.

Stopping To Smell The Flowers

2011-07-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

I want to show y'all a place where my friend Missy and I went for lunch a few days before my wedding. We wanted to go somewhere special. It's such a pretty place. And it's only 15 minutes from my house. The houses are very old and they were all brought here from New Orleans a few years ago. Some of them are shotgun houses. I love the old tin roof on this one.

I was starting to get a little stressed with the wedding coming up in a few days. Missy thought that I needed a little time to relax....and smell the flowers along the way. :)

Missy's top matched the flowers. I loved the gardens...so inspiring. Made me want to go home and plant more in my courtyard. The red and white building behind her is the cafe.

Yummy dessert. Didn't eat mine though. Had to make sure I could still fit in my wedding dress. :)

Inside the cafe.

Our delicious food. Mine was called "Crawfish Renee". I can't remember the name of her food. We both enjoyed our meals. Loved the dishes too. I sold them to the owner a few years ago from the store that I work for.

I just love these little houses. They turned them into shops. An antique shop, a bakery, a variety store, and a couple are empty. Oh, how I would love to rent one for a shabby chic shop one day. I would love this pink one.

The cafe. See the little bowls and saucers on the porch? They are for the little kittens that come by daily. :)

This yellow one is pretty too. I love the bright color. Looks like a beach house.

This is the little variety shop. It was closed....we'll have to go back soon.

Me....trying the door anyway. I really wanted to go in there. I bet they have some neat things.

Thank you Missy for always being there for me.

My best friend.

Hugs,

Finding happiness...

2011-07-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

I have been away from my blog for a while now due to some personal family issues. I have missed talking to my 'bloggie' friends so much. Things have just been really hard for our family and they have really taken their toll on me. It took a while for me to see through the difficulties that were and are still surrounding our family. This is a very hard time for us all but I know that with God's help, we can and will get through it all. I know that he will see us through this storm and lift us up and keep us safe.

On the other hand...I have some really 'happy' news to share with all of you.

This coming Friday night....July 22, 2011.....

I will marry my best friend. The man I love with all of my heart. The man that has been beside me through these last 5 years through many ups and downs. The man who laughs with me and cries with me. The man who wants to grow old with me and who I want to grow old with.

Easter with my children

2011-05-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a beautiful Easter. I was able to share Easter Sunday with two of my children and one of my grandsons. This is me and Garrett right after church. He had already changed into play clothes but I made him run put his shirt back on for pictures. lol

He is growing up so fast. He will be 10 years old next week.

As you can see we still have old "Bear". He has been the best dog. I am so glad that he adopted us.

My little boy....almost as tall as me.

Me and my sweet daughter, Christy.

Just wanted to show a few pictures of my Spring and Easter dishes. This is my favorite time of year. Everything so fresh and new.

My Easter centerpiece. Just kind-of thrown together at the last minute. I had worked so much the week before. I'm so glad that Belk closes on Easter.

My Swan vase and teapot. I've always loved swans. They were even in my favorite movie..."The Notebook".

I have collected them for years.

The little eggs are salt and pepper shakers.

My Spring dishes are Paula Dean. So pretty. I love changing out this hutch for different holidays.

My daughter and my sweet grandson, Jason. He is so precious.

Isn't he adorable? He is almost 3 years old now.

After church we went to a friend's house for an Easter egg hunt. This is Garrett all hot and sweaty. He had so much fun.

We had a really good time together.

Hard to believe that Garrett will be 10 in a few days. Isn't he a doll? He is such a good boy too.

I love sharing special times with my children. The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have my other son, Cole and my other grandson, Gabriel there.

I haven't blogged in a long time. Just been so busy. Hope to get by my favorite blogs soon.

Hugs,

Garrett's room is getting a make-over!

2011-02-28T09:15:00.000-08:00

This is me and my youngest son Garrett taken last year on one of his field trips at school. He is such a precious little boy. He is a blessing to me everyday.

Garrett is so thoughtful and 'looks after me' everyday. He always asks me how I'm feeling and also how my day at work went. He is very mature for his age. He will turn 10 years old in May.

I am so proud of him. He loves school and has made straight A's all year. This picture was in our local newspaper of him and his friends after getting some awards.

We recently went to visit my youngest grandson in north Mississippi. My son Cole's baby. This is Gabriel. He is 13 months old. He has grow so much and so fast.

Garrett playing with Gabriel. He loves being "Uncle Garrett".

Garrett and Gabriel. He is so protective of his nephews.

Gabriel bit a hunk out of Garrett's new Nerf ball. Garrett wasn't even upset about it. I thought that was so sweet of him.

Garrett with his little nephew, Jason. My daughter Christy's son. I am so proud of him for playing with his little nephews and watching out for them. I just wanted to post about how proud I am of him and let y'all know that I am giving his room a make-over this week. He deserves it and it really needs it. I spent most of the morning just 'cleaning' it. That was a job! He is getting new 'old' furniture that use to be in his older brother's room. Just gonna give each piece a new paint job to make it look new. Garrett even picked out the colors. Can't wait to show y'all.

All grown up

2011-02-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

Last month was my daughter's birthday. Her 28th. Christina Danielle. Amazing how fast these years have flown by. This post is for her. This was the first picture ever taken of us together. She was only a few hours old. One of the happiest days of my life.Here we are still in the hospital. She was 1 day old. I was almost 17.

Here she is with her daddy. We were both so young. He was 18.

First day at home with my beautiful daughter. She was 3 days old.

One of our Christmases at her grandparent's house. I remember it like yesterday.

My sweet little girl. Here she was at 2 years old.

Here she is at 3 years old.

I loved this outfit on her. All dressed for pre-school with her baby doll.

'Licking the bowl' at MaMaw's house. That's what we always called it.

Beautiful little girl.

Another Christmas...

So talented. She always loved to draw and color.

Christy and her little kitty. She always loved animals and still does.

One of her birthday parties that I had for her at McDonald's. I told her that she could only invite a few kids from school....and she invited about 30 or 40! She didn't want to leave anyone out.

Another birthday that we celebrated at home. She turned 9 that year.

She loved her barbies!

Here as a pre-teen with her same little friend.

Here as a teenager.

Growing up so fast.

One of our fun times together. We were at a casino in the restroom. We thought it was so pretty that we had a lady take our picture in there.

So glad that we were always close and continue to get closer everyday.

Christy and her friends after trying out for the talent show at the fair.

Here she is with her little brothers.

Sweet Teenager.

She has always been such a loving daughter.

My sweet little girl in her Senior portrait.

She fell in love....

With a good man....

Married him....

Started a family.... Her mother-in-law and me with her at one of her baby showers.

My sweet daughter and my extra sweet grandson. She is the best little mommy. I am so proud of her.

We met for lunch on her birthday because I had to work. I gave her gifts to her at a restaurant in the mall.

She loved her "Daughter" bracelet.

Me and my little girl....all grown up.

I have so enjoyed our life together. My only little girl.

Thank you for being such a blessing to my life. I love you so much. Thank you for always being there for me. I'll always be here for you too. Pinky-promise.

Getting things done around my cottage

2011-01-27T10:25:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe that it's been over a month since I've posted on here. December and January have been so busy for me. Things are starting to slow down a little and I am able to get a few things done around my little cottage. I've been working on my bedroom and master bathroom...still not finished with the bathroom. Doing it a little at a time and paying for it as I go. This picture is of a Tiffany lamp that I've had for about 16 years. I recently turned it into a table lamp to use on my dresser. It was a hanging lamp that I used in my dining room before I moved into my cottage. I found the base for it at a thrift shop for $12:00. I like it better this way.

Just a few of my favorite things on my dresser.

I love perfume. Looks like I have a collection of it. I used a crystal dish to keep it all together. I think it looks pretty like this.

These are some prints that I bought years ago at market. They are signed and numbered from the artist Vicki Thomas. I framed them years ago when I had more of a formal decor. They were in storage and I ran across them the other day and decided to use them in my bedroom. They each have little children/fairies in them among the roses.

I realize now that I added this one sideways. Oh well...Isn't it pretty?

I love this one.

Here is one of them hanging on my wall. My daughter bought me the candle a couple of months ago as a 'happy'. It's scent is Mulberry. One of my favorites.

They all look so pretty grouped together.

I finally got around to painting my chest of drawers. I used a color called "Heirloom Lace" from Lowe's. I used it on all of my bedroom furniture. I love French Provincial furniture. Whenever I see it at thrift shops....my heart skips a beat. I try to figure out a place I can put just one more piece. My little cottage is getting full. :)

The piece on top was made for me for Christmas from a friend of mine and his step-dad. It was made for my t.v. and my DVD player. It even has a little place for my remotes. I actually painted it right where it sits because that old t.v. is so heavy and me being short I couldn't reach it anyway to move it. :)

This is a sweet little chair that I bought at a garage sale a while back. It was peach polished cotton. Remember when that was the style? I had it re-covered in a pretty soft ivory micro-fiber and cotton rose fabric that I bought at Walmart. I love it. My perfect reading spot.

This is one of my Christmas presents...an electric fireplace. My ex-husband bought it for me. My room didn't have heat except for a small electric heater that took forever to warm up. I put my rose screen behind it. I think it looks pretty like this. Of course, after the 'new' wears off, I will probably paint it too.

The 'thing' between my chest of drawers and fireplace is not a ghost. lol I put a tablecloth over my cable box and modem to hide them. lol I don't like seeing them or their wires. This is only temporary. I'm working on a little project today just for them. I'll post after I get it finished.

I hope you enjoyed my pictures of what I've been busy doing. I promise to not take so long between posts. My goal is to do one or two projects a week. I've visited several of your blogs and have been so inspired to get busy. Thank you so much.

I'm linking to "Primitive & Proper" and "Domestically Speaking". Please go by there and see all of the other participants.

Decorating 'Cabin Style'

2010-12-22T07:22:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've been on here. This happens to me every year. I work in retail and this is our busiest time of year. Seems like I leave work and turn around a couple of hours later and go right back. I thought I would share some pictures of Stevie's home with you. I helped him decorate it for Christmas last week. He is having his family Christmas party at his house this year so we thought it needed some Christmas touches. His home is decorated rustic...he loves 'old' things and he hunts and fishes a lot, so he has lots of his trophy animals everywhere. I had to work around that. LOL He has deer heads, fish, big cats, squirrels, etc. all over the place. He even has a huge turkey....which got moved to his bedroom because I had to have somewhere to put the tree. lol I bought these carved wooden letters from T.J. Maxx a few weeks ago. I thought they would look perfect for his den. We just put some pine garland around it and it looks so "Homey".

This Santa ornament is one that I bought for him. He is holding a shot-gun. All dressed in camo.

He already had his mantle decorated with some of his favorite things. I just added the red candle holders to make it 'Christmasy'. Those little cowboy boots are his from when he was a little boy. Aren't they just precious?

This is an old mountain village train set that I have had for years and years. My little boy helped Stevie with the train set. He even hung a squirrel ornament above one of the houses. He wanted it to look like it was sitting on the roof. lol I told him that if a squirrel that big ever got on top of our roof, we were gonna hide! Garrett thought that was hilarious! He laughed and laughed and still does when I mention it.

I made a tree topper out of glittered eucalyptus. The ribbon is kind of like burlap with little painted trees on it. Next I'm gonna make him some burlap curtains for his windows and use antlers for curtain rod holders. He has tons of them!

This is an old cabin picture that I've had for years. I bought it when I use to work at "The Mole Hole' many years ago. It thought it would look perfect in here.

One of his many deer heads.

This is a print that Stevie has had for a long time. His step-dad made the frame for it. I bought him the lamp at a junk store one day.

Little lantern ornament and wooden signs.

Feather bird and flocked mercury ball.

Pine cone squirrel.

Yes...We still believe. Always will.

This is a little vignette that we came up with. His old scales and his old bank that his mom gave him when he was around 6 years old. We filled the twig basket with hickory sticks and tweed balls and leftover garland. I looked around my house and found these birds and willow tree couple to add to it. It looks so pretty.

I even found this little heart pillow in one of my Christmas boxes. Haven't seen it in years. It was like Christmas to me finding all of this old stuff that I haven't seen for years. So much fun!

The other side of his mantle. I love that 'Terry Reddlin' print.

We even hung stockings for him and his little girl and me and my little boy. They almost spell out the word 'sleigh'.

Garrett putting together the train tracks.

He was having a ball. He couldn't stop laughing.

Hard to believe that my baby is 9 years old.

Stevie adding a few more touches.

This is an old cabinet that my step-dad made years ago. I've used it for my display in my booth several times. It looks perfect here.

Stevie's den looks like a cozy cabin.

He called me at work the next day to tell me that he and his daughter Hailey had made a few more ornaments for his tree. :) He hot-glued red ribbon to some small antlers. I had to smile when I saw them. Oh no! Now he knows how to use a glue gun! lol

Hailey did the same thing with this pine cone. They had fun doing this together.

Me enjoying a cup of hot chocolate after we finished. It was so cold outside. It was all warm and cozy inside.

Stevie doing the same.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. We had so much fun decorating. I think it all looks so festive for his family's party. He has 24 people coming.

Hope you all have a very
Merry Christmas!

Blessings

2010-11-28T06:21:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for. I spent Thanksgiving at my daughter's house and we had such a good time together. We cooked the night before and got up early and cooked some more. We played Christmas music and talked about past Thanksgivings that we've had. I loved this special time together. She said that she will remember it always. This is us getting everything prepared. I told her I would be better prepared next year. lol I will get up an hour early and get out of my p.j.'s and put on some make up! She gets me every time....so I'm putting this picture on here for her. lol The best part of the day was being able to have all of my children together in one place. I love them so much. They are my sweet blessings.

Christy loves picking at her brother Cole. She tries her best to keep him in line. lol Guess she will always be his 'mother hen'. He loves it though!

Of Course, Garrett has to act silly for the pictures...he better watch out...his sister will be after him next! I hope you all had a beautiful day together with your family and loved ones.

Veteran's Day

2010-11-12T06:29:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share some pictures with you of my step-grand-daughter. Her name is Leah and she is 20 years old. She is serving our country in the Army. She just returned home from her first tour in Irag. These pictures are small because they were taken on my i-phone and I don't know how to enlarge them. This is Leah and her dad...my daughter's husband, Phillip. Leah and her sister Lauren.

Leah and her friend.

We love you Leah. Thank you so much for protecting us. God bless you.

God Bless our Veterans and God Bless our country.

Hello, My name is Lee Laurie and I am a pack-rat.

2010-10-31T23:43:00.000-07:00

I know that Halloween is officially over....but I just had to show y'all something really REALLY scary! This is my son's old bedroom. It became a storage room after he moved out 2 years ago. Things just got thrown in there and forgotten, UNTIL....my daughter came for a visit the other day. lol (Don't zoom in too close...no telling what you'll see.) She couldn't believe her eyes! After hearing her threaten me over and over that she was going to call the hoarding police on me...for the 10th time, we decided to get to work cleaning it up. You see my precious little girl (that used to have a messy room when she was a teen) seems to have turned into a "Say No To Clutter" kind of gal. LOL

She got a garbage bag and started throwing stuff away! Me, being the pack-rat that I am, almost started having a panic attack. But she was gentle with her Mama and asked me before she put anything into the bags. :) We took out 4 of them so far and still have to finish tomorrow.

Have you ever seen so many Belk bags in one place....besides at Belk? That's the joy of working retail. Anyway, we got a lot cleaned out and I filled up my booth at the vendor's mart with goodies. I hope I sell it all 'cause it's not coming back to my house and every time I sell something, I'm putting something else in the booth to replace it. I'm gonna keep it full and my daughter is going to help me.

This is my booth. I packed it full. They are having 'Open House' this Tuesday night and I wanted to be stocked up. (I forgot my wet washcloth in one of the bowls!) lol

I'm so excited and it feels so good to have that room back....almost. Got a little more to clean out. I'm gonna make it into a den. Can't wait to get my paintbrush out and pull up that awful looking carpet. I haven't decided on colors yet. Maybe Khaki or Olive Green.

Hope I didn't scare y'all too much. I'll post more pictures soon. I know with Christy as my motivator it will be really soon!

In The Garden

2010-10-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

I haven't been on here for a while. We have been through a lot over the past few weeks. Our sweet grandmother passed away on October 9th. We all knew that she didn't have much time left here with us. The doctors all told us that she didn't have many days left. We all spent as much time as possible with her in the nursing home and the hospital. My daughter and youngest son and my dad and I were with her the night before she went to Heaven. She and my daughter sang songs together. Her favorite ones. "In The Garden" and "When They Ring Those Golden Bells" and "Amazing Grace". Daddy says that he will never forget them singing together. These are the songs that we played at her funeral.

Me and my daughter.

Me and my oldest son

My three precious children.

These last few weeks have been so hard but only for us. Mamaw is in Heaven and her 'hard' days are over.

My favorite time of year

2010-09-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

I'm linking this post to the 'Hook up your Hutch Party' at Jennifer Rizzo and "My Romantic Home" for 'Show and Tell Friday' and "Cottage and Vine" for the 'Falling up party'. Go see all of the other participants if you get a chance.

I was so excited whenever I looked at my calender this afternoon. I had today circled as the first day of Fall. My favorite time of year. I ended up staying home from work today...something that I try not to do. I woke up with a bad sore throat and my body was aching all over. I was afraid that I was catching a bug that my little grandson has. We spent most of the day yesterday with him at the ER. They said that he has a viral infection and both ears are infected. Poor baby. I don't like it when my grand babies are sick.

I stayed in bed most of the day and took medicine and tried to rest. After I started feeling better, I decided to do a little Fall decorating around my cottage. This is my hutch in the dining room with my white Wedgwood dishes. I guess you can see that I haven't gotten around to painting the bottom of my hutch yet. It's still just primed for now. Gonna paint it creamy white when I have time. This use to be my old bedroom dresser...and it was dark cherry. :)

I found the little white pumpkins at The Dollar Tree last year. They were perfect!

I thought I would pull out my spiced pumpkin diffuser too that I bought last year on clearance. I love the way it smells.

I decided to use my salad plates from my everyday dishes to add some color. I love color. My little boy noticed this first thing when he got home from school. He said "Those are the dishes that we eat on!" I thought that was so funny.

These salad plates are called 'Victoria' and they are by Sakura. I love the colors and I love the fruit. My glasses are by Denby.

My white dishes are Wedgwood and the pattern is called "Strawberry and Vine".

Different fruit on each salad plate.

I bought the little black wire candle holders from a thrift shop last year. The pumpkins fit perfect on top of them.

I added some flocked wine colored fall leaves for more color.

I think I got really into Fall on this vignette. I decided the piano needed some sprucing up. I draped some valances that I picked up at a thrift shop over my mirror and one on my piano for a scarf. These were handmade too.

I hung my Fall wreath from last year on my mirror. I used it last year on my front door. My daughter bought me the beaded lamp several years ago for Christmas. She was just a teenager. I love it.

I love all of these warm colors. Makes everything feel so homey. Thank y'all for taking the time to look at my Fall decor. Maybe I'll get to my kitchen next.

Think Pink...Something Old, Something New

2010-09-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

Years ago, back in 1994, I managed a gift shop in our mall called 'The Mole Hole'. It was a beautiful store and we had so many unique things. I worked there for eight years. My boss and I would go to market twice a year to order beautiful things for the store. I picked this tea set out one time at the Atlanta market. My boss, Mrs. Dean bought it for me for Christmas that year. I have so many things that she gave me over the years and I cherish every one of them, because 'she' gave them to me. See, I even loved 'pink' and 'roses' back then too. I always have for as long as I can remember. This pattern was by a company called 'Omnibus' a division of 'Fitz and Floyd'. Back then we didn't have big stores in our town that carried 'Fitz and Floyd' so we were the only ones here that sold it.

The name of the pattern is called "Love Notes". Isn't that a pretty name? I have six cups and they have little postage stamps on them. The teapot has a stop watch on one side.

I decided to get it out of the china cabinet and start actually using it. Besides, I needed a little sugar and creamer for my bedside table...

Isn't the little tray so pretty? It says 'Thinking of You" on the bottom of it.

Now for the 'something new'. Look what I bought yesterday. Isn't it so cute? Perfect for my bedside table. Perfect for when I just want to reach over and push a button and have my coffee ready for after I've hit the snooze button for that last time. :)

I love my new little coffee pot.

I've been reading so many blogs and so many of you are decorating for Fall. I love Fall...my favorite time of year. I just haven't started yet getting ready for it. Maybe this week-end.

Remember that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Be sure not to forget that mammogram. I'll be getting mine this month.

Love Y'all,

Sister Time

2010-09-03T05:41:00.000-07:00

My little sister's birthday was August 26th. We decided to spend the day before her birthday together because I had a bridal show at work on her birthday and had to be there for that. We had a great time together that day. These pictures were taken that night at her house after we got back home from a long day of shopping. I was so exhausted. She thought it was so funny that she actually wore me out. She took me to so many stores...that when it was finally time for my store that I had been needing to go to, all of a sudden she was so tired and her feet were hurting, and her back was killing her...etc. We stayed in Hobby Lobby about 20 minutes at the most. lol What? You can't just shop there for 20 minutes! Anyway, she laughs about it now because she says that it was pay-back for all of the times that I pulled her into every store that I could squeeze in.

We had a great day together. I helped her pick out curtains and accessories for her new shop that she is about to open. She just finished school and is opening her own nail salon. I believe a pedicure and manicure are in order for me for all of that walking that she put me through! :)

I forgot to take pictures of the birthday gift that I gave her. I had bought a beautiful comforter set and pillows, etc. for myself right before I bought my little cottage. It was way too fancy for my place so I put it in storage. Melinda and Steven built a new house and I knew it would be perfect for her new bedroom. I had never even taken it out of the package. We were too tired to fix it up that night but as soon as we do, I will post it on here. By the way, she loves it! It even has flowers on it (not roses) and she usually doesn't do flowers.

These pictures have nothing to do with the above photos, but I just had to post them. Yesterday when I was outside cleaning out my car, my little boy decided to play in the old mud puddle by the driveway. lol He even asked me first! My first thought was to say 'No' but I thought about it for a minute and decided...why not? Let him be a kid! Let him get all muddy! What will it hurt?

Nasty mud! He was making an army fort with rocks. He had a ball!

I'm so glad that we live out in the country and he can play like we all did as kids. Those are my best memories when I was a little girl. I made countless mudpies! We would play outside from early morning until it started getting dark. Mama would have to call us in to get cleaned up for supper. Sometimes it seems like yesterday....

Now...I gotta get that driveway fixed!

Hope y'all have a great day!

A new guest room

2010-08-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

This has been the busiest couple of weeks for me. Between getting Garrett back in school....he is in the 4th grade now, how can that even be possible?...to cleaning out closets around my cottage and helping my friend fix up her guest room. I guess I could call this my first real decorating 'job'. One that I got paid to do! I would love to do this for a living...maybe one day. This top picture is the finished bedroom. She wanted a 'shabby chic' guest room for when her mom comes to stay during the holidays. We were trying to use things that she already had because we were working on a tight budget. I think it turned out very pretty. She already had the quilt and throw pillows...so we went with those colors. We used paint that I had left over from my recent bedroom make over in my cottage. I love that color. It's so peaceful. I love waking up in my room and looking around and seeing that pretty 'sage' green. The room was dark brown paneling....yuck!

We painted this little desk that was sitting out in her garage...for years! lol It had so much dust and grime on it that I wasn't sure if we could salvage it. lol Not really, good old primer always does the trick. The wicker furniture was sitting on her little side porch and never was being used...so we gave it a fresh coat of white paint and it looks brand new again. I had the old mirror in storage and it was UGLY gold, so we gave it a couple of coats of paint too. It looks so much prettier now. We even painted a little wicker trash basket from the thrift store to put beside the desk. Now her mom can sit here with her laptop.

She looked around her house and found these frames that were already painted shabby white. The little wicker end table came from a garage sale. She already had the two lamps and they were perfect for this room. I tried not to get the door in the picture that we had not painted yet...I see it peeking in the picture a little bit. :)

One of the hardest parts of this make over was getting those doors painted white. They were dark brown and it took two coats of primer and 2 coats of paint to get them white. The little dresser was brown too. It originally had handles on it but one was lost. She had a bag of wooden knobs that she had picked up at a thrift store so we decided to use them. A little paint and the holes were already in the dresser so it was an easy fix.

The headboard was actually a wall decoration that was a bronze color...a little white paint and it looks perfect. The curtains and the green bedspread and shams came from the dollar store. I think she said that she got them at Fred's. The quilt went perfect with it. We didn't have a whole lot of money to spend but I think it turned out so pretty. Her mother will feel so welcomed here...she may not ever wanna go back home. :) Thank me for that later Amanda. lol

I'm linking with My Romantic Home for "Show and tell Friday" and The House in The Roses for "Show off your cottage Monday".

My new "OLD" bed.

2010-08-13T05:46:00.000-07:00

I thought I would show y'all my new "OLD" bed that I finally got around to finishing. I actually finished it a few months ago but I wanted to wait until I had my new quilt and shams before putting it on here. I was looking back through some older posts and saw the one where I had posted my little grandson Jason and my son, Garrett sitting in front of my bed and it dawned on me that I had never done a post on it. This is what it looked like whenever I first bought it. I loved the color that it was however it wouldn't go with my bedroom wall color which is a green too.

First, I primed it with two coats of primer. This was after the first coat. I love all of the detail. Then I painted it with my favorite color...Heirloom Lace. A creamy white. I might add some rose decals in the center later on.

Look how pretty it turned out. So pretty and so dainty. I have a small bedroom and my king size bed was taking up almost my whole room. When I saw this bed, I knew it would be perfect.

I now have room on each side for my end tables that I recently painted.

My room feels so much bigger now. I also love my new quilt and shams. I waited until they went 'clearance' before I bought them. That always helps. lol I love quilts....they bring back happy memories for me. I bought the scalloped valances at a thrift store a couple of years ago and they just happened to match.

Even the foot board is detailed and so pretty. I love my little bed.

I love my little bed and my little bedroom. This is my space where I can relax from the outside world. I love to just sit here and relax and visit my 'bloggy' friends. I picked this little wicker bed tray up at a thrift store years ago. Perfect for my laptop.

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share with you my little treasure. I'll have more pictures soon of my dresser and chest of drawers that I am working on.

I'm linking to "Show and Tell Friday" with My Romantic Home and to Miss Mustard Seed for "Furniture Friday" and also to The House in the Roses for "Show off your cottage Monday. Please go by their blogs and visit the other participants. So many beautiful things to see.

Hugs,

Relaxing on the patio

2010-08-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a while 'again' since I've posted. This summer has been so busy for us. And talking about HOT! I'm ready for Fall. We have had some good times with family and friends this summer. These pictures were taken at Stevie's mom's house. We were all sittin' out on the patio and it was so hot.

Stevie's mom...everyone calls her Kaki. She is such a sweet lady. You can tell she really loves her "Mississippi" with her tee-shirt.

Stevie's brother in law...Don and his step-dad...Papa John.

Stevie's niece Shannon and me looking at pictures on my phone. I have about 1200 on my phone. lol I really need to do something about that.

Stevie's sister...Terry and his great niece...Julianna. Shannon's daughter.

Me and Kaki. I had my fly swatter ready! I hate bugs!

Terry and Don. Having a good time.

Me and Shannon. She is so funny! She had us all crackin' up!

Papa John and Kaki. Don't they look cute? Papa John is a character! You can probably tell just by seeing this picture.

Me and Kaki.

I had to throw in my next project. This old dresser was here when I bought my cottage. It's very ugly that's why it has been hidden in my closet this whole time. It's in the same spot that it was in when I bought this place. Too heavy to move. It's solid wood. Anyway...as soon as my back gets better, it's getting a 'paint job'. Gonna paint it Navy blue for my son's room.

Yucky! Can't wait to get that paint brush out! Bought the paint yesterday.

We are leaving in a couple of hours to go and have my MRI done. Hopefully they will figure out why I'm hurting so much. I'm ready to get fixed so I can get back to paintin'. lol

Fun at Blue Bayou

2010-07-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to Blue Bayou in Baton Rouge, La. My sister and her family live in Kentwood, La. We decided to go down to their house and spend the night and get up really early and go before the crowd got there. This is Garrett (my little boy) and Chase, my sister's little boy. (They are exactly 3 weeks apart.) They ended up sleeping in the den...what little sleep they got. lol They stayed up half the night! They love spending time together. It's hard to believe that they are already 9 years old.

They love making 'silly' faces.

This is one of the big water slides...one that I DID NOT get on. Way too scary. I did go down a couple though. We stayed at the water park side all day and went to the amusement park later that afternoon.

Garrett sliding down the big slides. He had a blast! You see that black and white water slide to the left? They talked me into riding it. NEVER AGAIN! lol

Stevie riding the bumper cars.

Garrett loved this one too. He kept slamming into me!

Me and my little man on the swings. I wasn't going to put any pictures of me...you know...no make up. lol But Garrett said that he wanted this one on here. It had been years since I'd gotten on the swings. It was fun.

He started getting tired so he decided to ride the carousel to rest. He picked the one with roses for me. I didn't tell him to either. That was so sweet. He knows that I love roses.

Stevie and his daughter Hailey. Can you tell that she got a 'little' sun? This was taken on the Ferris wheel and I was so nervous taking this picture because I don't like heights at all.

That was a huge Ferris wheel.

Isn't this pretty? The little train depot. I loved it.

It looks so old and Victorian. I love the little cars too.

We were on the train when I took these.

Carousel in the background. I love the light posts.

Ferris wheel at night.

Me and Hailey after a long day. We had a blast. We were waiting here for the light show and I just had to rest a little. All that playing wore me out. Hope y'all enjoyed the pictures. We are going again before the summer is over.

My freshly painted end tables

2010-07-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

I am participating in "Show and Tell Friday" again this week with "My Romantic Home". Please go by there and see the other wonderful things that other's are showing. So many beautiful things. This is one of my end tables that I have had for years that I just now got around to painting. I have two of them and I use one on each side of my bed. I love this style of furniture and I am always on the look out for it at 'junk' stores. First I primed it and then I painted it with "Heirloom Lace". I have been wanting to use them in my bedroom for a long time but I just didn't have room because I was using my king size bed and my room is on the small side. I have changed to a full-size bed (a huge difference) and now I have room for both tables. I will do a post on the bed soon. I painted it too.

I love these tables. They have lots of room in the drawers for magazines, remotes, night cream, medicine, etc. I could go on and on. Anytime I am looking for something, my little boy tells me to check my end tables because he knows that I stick bunches of 'stuff' in there. Aren't they pretty?

Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget to go and check out all of the other participates.

A great find 22 years ago...

2010-07-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

Today is Show and Tell Friday over at Cindy's "My Romantic Home". I have something that I would like to share with y'all today. I'm slowly but surely getting my storage buildings cleaned out and re-doing some items to keep for my cottage and some to re-do and sell. Hope you like what I've done this week. Please go buy "My Romantic Home" and see what the other participates have to share too.

I wanted to share with y'all a piece of furniture that I painted this past week while I was on vacation. I have had it for several years. These two pictures are the only 'before' pictures that I could find. Christy is gonna be so mad at me for posting these. lol In the top one she was only around 5 years old and she always made these funny faces when I tried to take her picture. She never thought that I would be using them one day and showing them to my 'blogging' friends. Those were the days when I was into the country decorating style. Look at all my watermelons, chickens, etc. This next one was taken when she was around 8 years old and I was using the furniture in Cole's nursery. I was still expecting him at the time and we had gotten his little room all ready. When we moved to Denver, I left it here with my sister and she painted it white and used it in her daughter's room. She kept storybooks and videos in the little cubbies. A few years ago she gave it back to me and I kept it in storage for years.

I decided that I wanted to 'paint' something when I was on vacation, so I thought about this piece. I'm gonna use it in my bathroom to store towels, toiletries, etc. My bathroom is under 'construction' right now so it will remain in my bedroom for now.

It's a very heavy old piece...I've had it for 22 years and it was old whenever I bought it. I got it at a garage sale for $25.00. That was a bargain. I remember trying to figure out if I could afford it or not. I actually used a little 'grocery' money to buy it. LOl That was a lot of money back then for me. (It still is)

I love the little doors at the top. They open up downwards. They have really old hinges and latches. When I first got it there was glass in the doors. I changed it back then to punched out tin. (Country days). This time, I plan on putting lace there.

In my bedroom all prettied up. The color I used is called "Tangerine Dream". A soft peachy color.

Even though I'm using it in my bedroom for now, I'm still storing my towels in the cubbies.

Isn't she pretty? Ain't she sweet? Now I'm ready to get that bathroom finished. Stevie tore out the old shower for me and I already bought my new bathtub. I'm getting excited!

A new start...

2010-07-04T07:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone out there in blog land. Happy 4th of July! God bless all of the men and women who have fought for our country and who are still fighting for our freedom. I am just sitting here enjoying my coffee this morning before I have to get ready for work. Today is my first day back to work...I have been on vacation. I'm actually excited about going back today.

I wanted to share some new pictures of my son and his family this morning. This is Gabriel...he is 7 months old now. Isn't he a doll? He has grown so much. It's amazing how fast it goes by. They don't stay little for very long.

This is Cole, Shanna and Gabriel. They came down for a visit a couple of weeks ago and my daughter took these beautiful pictures of them. Christy is getting to be a very good photographer.

Isn't this one just beautiful? I'm framing it. Look at that sweet little face!

Shanna and her precious son. I can already tell that they are going to be very close. Just like me and Cole.

Cole and his little man. When I look at Gabriel it's just like looking at Cole when he was a baby.

A precious little family. They are going through some hard and trying times right now. Cole lost his job in Southaven. He has been trying to get another one but hasn't had any luck. He has decided to move back home for a while and get a job here and then when he gets back on his feet, move Shanna and Gabriel down here too. I hope that everything works out for them. I know how hard it is being young and having your own family. Sometimes things can get really hard and you have to make decisions that you might not wish you had to make. I am here for them and I always will be as long as I am here on this earth. I am going to help them as much as I can to get back on their feet and get their little family back together under one roof.

Remember the little trailer that I bought a couple of years ago and put on my property? Well...I didn't know exactly what I was gonna do with it when I bought it...just saw a good deal and thought I could use it somehow. I haven't done a thing with it since I bought it except for using it for storage. Well...Cole and I are going to empty it out and remodel it and fix it up for them to live in. Of course I won't charge them rent to live there. And I will get to see my grand baby every single day. What could be better than that?

This is a picture of it when it snowed last year. We plan on painting it yellow to match my cottage. I can already picture a pathway made from there to my house for Gabriel when he wants to walk over to see his Nana.

I knew there was a reason why I had to have this trailer...even though I didn't know it at the time.

Please keep us in your prayers as we start the process of getting it all ready for their new home.

Garrett was picked for All Stars!

2010-06-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

Gotta do some bragging on my baby boy Garrett today. His baseball team was #1 in the Nationals and he was one of the boys from his team that was chosen for All Stars! We are so excited and he is beyond excited! That's him on the far right with his hand on his hip. lol

Garrett and his daddy. We were glad that he was home to see the championship game. He had just gotten in from Brazil that same day. He was exhausted. Garrett was so happy that his daddy was there.

Me and my little man. He smiled all afternoon and night. lol

At the Awards ceremony, holding up the winning trophy!

Garrett loves baseball! He takes it very seriously but has so much fun too.

Garrett and his team. He is 4th on the top row with the huge smile on his face.

Looking all serious here. He takes baseball serious!

After the game his daddy took us out to eat. Garrett was still all smiles!

Me and my little man.

So glad that he wanted to play this year. He had skipped two years. Now it's all he talks about! He is a great ball player. Look at that happy face.

These are days that he will never forget. Seems like he should still be my little baby but he is growing up so fast. I found this song by Kenny Rogers to play for this post. I thought it was perfect.
Thanks for taking the time to listen to me brag a little.

Fun in Kenner, La.

2010-05-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, My friend Missy and I went to Kenner, La. to tour an old plantation home. We always tour plantations in Natchez, Ms. so this time she decided that we should go to Louisiana for a change. This home is called Destrehan. It was built in 1787. To me it wasn't as grand or as pretty as some of the homes that we have toured but it was interesting. I love looking back into the past and seeing how people lived back then. This home has been changed some from when it was originally built. In 1840, the new owner's remodeled it in the Greek Revival style. In 1864, the Union Army took it over and established the Rost Home Colony where newly freed slaves learned trades.

These tall towers on each side of the home were used to keep pigeons. They raised them for food.

This is one of the servants houses.

Destrahan Plantation initially known for making indigo ink. They sold the ink and it was used to decorate china. One popular pattern of china was "Willow Blue"...we call it "Blue Willow". Later, Destrehan was known for making sugar. This in one of the huge bowls that they used in the sugar making process.

The old oak trees are so beautiful. I love the moss hanging from the limbs.

A movie was filmed here a while back called "Interview with a Vampire". Never seen it but now I guess I might.

Of course, back in the day this road wasn't there. All you could see then was the river. Can you just imagine looking out from the front porch at the beautiful Mississippi River?

A picture from inside of the gift shop.

Front of the gift shop. I loved it.

After we toured the home, we went down by the river and I took a few pictures looking back to the street. These little shops are so pretty and colorful.

Looking up at the river banks...our beautiful flags.

The street across from the river.

We had a very peaceful day. Of course after we relaxed for a while, we had to go do a little retail therapy. We went shopping! We went to a huge thrift store called "The Red White and Blue". We had a blast and found so many great things!

This is Missy with some of our finds.

And me holding a sweet sign that says "Count Your Blessings". I had to have that and the mirror I bought for only $10.00. It is solid wood and very heavy. You know I will be painting it white!

I'm trying to start blogging more like I use too. I have just had so much going on that it kind of got pushed aside. I miss it and I miss sharing things with my blogging friends and seeing all that you do. I love all of you. You mean so much to me.

My Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Gosh it's been a long time since I posted. April 20th...wow. I've just had so much going on in my life...about to get settled down though. I've been working so much not much time for too much else. Tomorrow I start my much needed vacation! I'm so excited. I hope all of you ladies had a wonderful Mother's Day. I'm posting a few pictures of my Mother's Day with my kids. I had to work the whole week-end. I was able to spend some time with them before and after work. My son Cole came down to see me for a couple of days and we stayed the night with my daughter the night before. My youngest son Garrett had his 9th birthday the day before Mother's Day. I don't have pictures of his party yet. He had a bowling party and had a blast. I went to church with two of my children before I had to go into work and it was wonderful sitting there with them and hearing God's word. Garrett was with his daddy but after work they took me out to eat for my Mother's Day. We really had a good time. Me and Cole. He had bought me a gift and was so proud that he couldn't wait to give it to me.

He bought me a beautiful purse that he picked out himself. lol I love it.

They gave me my gifts before we went to church.

That is little Jason in the picture. He is a doll and has grown so much!

Jason giving me a gift...a book and helping me open it.

So glad that Cole got to come down and spend time with me.

Christy and Phillip bought me the sweetest little set of wind chimes. I'm gonna hang them outside my bedroom window. I love waking up and hearing chimes and birds singing.

Me, Cole and Christy and Jason. She had just gotten her tonsils taken out 2 days before. She was still in a lot of pain. Even with the pain, she got up extra early and cooked everyone a huge breakfast.

She gave me this pretty picture with the sweetest verse on it.

I bought her some pretty green crystal earrings. This is her 2nd Mother's Day. She is a wonderful mother and I am so proud of her.

I gave her a candle and some sea-side potpourri.

I love giving my kids little 'happies'. I found her the sweetest frame and it has a poem on it about daughters.

She loved it. I love my daughter so much.

Two of my blessings. Cole and Christy.

Cole came by work later that day to tell me good bye before he went back to his home. I don't think he wanted me to kiss him on the face. He didn't want lipstick on him. Crazy boy!

I got him anyway!

I'm gonna miss him!

Me and Garrett at the restaurant. He had made me some sweet cards at school. I will keep them forever. He always make the silliest faces when we try to take his picture. He is so silly!

I love my little man. He brings so much joy to my life. I had a wonderful Mother's day. I cherish these special times with my children. I thank God everyday for them.

Hugs,

$Simple Man$

2010-04-20T10:42:00.000-07:00

My son Cole singing 'Simple Man'. I really like this one. He put this on you-tube in 2009. Don't forget to turn off my play list first.(At the bottom of this page) Hope you like it.

Good news for Cole...

2010-04-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

I have some exciting news! My son Cole went and recorded a demo last Friday in Nashville. Yesterday he received a call from a record company that is very interested in recording him. He is so excited and so is his mama! Here is an old picture of him when he was a little boy with one of his 'toy' guitars. He went through many of these!

Me, Cole and Shanna at their baby shower last year.

Me and Cole a long time ago.

Last year when he was in town for a visit.

Me and Cole when he was at Camp Shelby a couple of years ago. He has grown up so much.

I hope everything works out for Cole with this chance to really shine and get his music recorded. He has really worked hard at writing his own music and teaching himself how to play his guitar.

I hope you will take a minute to listen to him sing this song. It is from May 2009. Remember to go down to the bottom and turn off my play list first.

Thank you for listening and letting me share this with you.

Easter at Cole's house

2010-04-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to show y'all some pictures that we took when we were visiting my son and his family at Easter. My mom went too. This was her first time to meet Shanna and her first time to see her new great -grandson, Gabriel.

Isn't he adorable? We all went out to Olive Garden (My favorite place) to eat the first night we were there.

Shanna and Cole get tired of eating there every time I go to see them. We don't have one in my town, so it's always a treat for me. I guess next time, we will have to go somewhere else. LOL

Me, Mom and Gabriel. She fell in love with him.

Mom, Gabriel, Garrett and Me. I like this one...I promise I wasn't choking Garrett. lol Just looks that way.

Mom says he reminds her so much of Cole when he was a baby. She used to call Cole "Rollie Pollie Collie". lol I caught her calling Gabriel that a couple of times.

Mom really liked Shanna too. I love this picture of them.

Mom and the boys. Poor Garrett...Looks like she is choking him too. lol

Cole and his little man.

I was so happy to see him! I held him almost the whole time that I was there. He is such a happy baby.

He is adorable. I was so glad that I got to go visit them for Easter.

Didn't wanna leave.

I got so many kisses while I was there.

Look at that happy face! He laughs and smiles so much.

He was starting to get a little tired here.

Just about out....all that laughing and smiling made him tired.

Garrett decorated his Easter eggs at Cole's house.

I baked Cole his favorite cake for him for Easter.

Garrett when he first woke up. "Where is my Easter basket"???

He loved it.

He's all about sports!

Then Gabriel said, "Where is my basket Nana?"

Of course Nana got him one for his first Easter.

I filled it up with teethers...

little socks to keep his feetsies warm...

"What else Nana?" "Yay! Bunches of baby food! Yummy!"

We all went to the park before we had to get on the road to come back home. It was a beautiful day. The wind was blowing a lot. We had to keep his ears covered.

Me and Mom playing with Gabriel.

It was a very pretty park. It has exercise equipment all around it. Even the library is there. I could just see myself going to the library there and reading out by the water.

It would be fun exercising there too. Garrett was trying out some of the equipment.

Mom and Cole walking her little dog. (Midnight) Me and Shanna and Gabriel in the background. I would love to walk there every morning. The path goes all around the water.

Cole and his sweet baby.

Gabriel needed some shades!

Cole, Shanna, and Gabriel. Love this one.

They make a sweet family.

Me, Stevie and Gabriel. I was starting to get sad. I knew we were fixing to leave.

Letting him know how much I was gonna miss him.

I'm ready to go again! Christy will probably go with me next time. We need to get Jason and Gabriel together. Thank y'all for letting me share these with you.

Hugs,

My birthday dinner

2010-04-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since my last post! Sorry about that...I've just been so busy. Yesterday was my birthday and I had to work. My daughter and her family decided to have a birthday dinner for me after I got off. Lauren, my beautiful step-granddaughter cooked for me. She is only 16 years old and that girl knows she can cook! Lets get this party started!

First she started it off with a delicious salad.

She cooked shrimp fettachini from scratch. It was awesome. I ate way too much...had to start my diet all over again today.

This is me and my grandson, Jason. He was giving me my birthday present.

It's hard to believe that he is almost 2 years old.

Giving me a birthday kiss! He is the sweetest little thing!

And a big birthday hug. Priceless!

They bought me a plaque for my garden and a pretty necklace and earring set...pink with roses of course. I love it.

I was finally able to give Jason his Easter basket. I've been working ever since Easter and I was out of town for Easter visiting my son and his family. I will have to post about that soon.

He loved his bunny rabbit basket.

My birthday cake. Isn't it pretty? They just had to get me those candles! lol

I've really been blessed in my life. I was sitting here thinking of a wish before blowing out my candles.

This picture is so funny to me! I was serious about getting those candles to go out! lol Garrett looked thrilled too!

Me and Jason. He was waiting patiently for his piece of cake.

Yummy! So delicious!

Me and Stevie. Showing off my candles...

Me and my sweet daughter, Christina. She brightens my day every single day.

Christy, me and Garrett. I love my babies.

I love being a 'Nana' too. Nothing better!

Thank y'all for making my birthday such a special one. I love y'all and I love you too Cole. I will see you soon!

Loving the Spring season

2010-03-31T06:55:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I'm linking this post to 'Show and Tell Friday' with Cindy at "My Romantic Home". Please go by there and see all of the other links. It's a great way to meet so many wonderful bloggers and share ideas.

I'm so glad that Spring is here. This is one of my favorite seasons. I thought I would share with you a few of my Easter displays in my cottage. This little metal wall sign, I have hanging in my bedroom. I keep it out all year long. When I wake up in the mornings, I look over at it and it reminds me to have 'faith' that the day will be a beautiful one and that there is nothing that I can't handle with Jesus by my side. I have it hanging above one of my favorite pictures. The only Thomas Kincaid that I have. It's called "Forrest Chapel". A little chapel in the woods...I could just picture going to church there Easter morning. After church having 'dinner on the ground'. We use to do that in our church when I was a little girl. We actually would lay out a quilt on the ground and have our lunch outside in the fresh air. I love those memories.

Another fond memory that I have from when I was a child was every year right before Easter my

great grandpa (Papaw) would get his daughter, my great Aunt to take me to get an Easter dress. I looked so forward to this every year! We really didn't get to get new clothes through out the year. We were given hand me downs and that's about it. Easter was a special time at my grandparents' house. Papaw believed that every little girl needed a new dress for Easter. My Aunt would take me to the old J.C.Penny's downtown and I would try on several until I found the perfect one. I love this memory and I will always cherish it.

This display is on my hutch in the dining room. I thought my wooden cross would be perfect for this spot. Jesus is the reason that we have an Easter.

My little Easter glitter houses on top of my piano. I finally got my piano out of storage last week. It had been in storage for 3 years! I'll do a post on that later.

I plan on re-painting it soon. That's gonna be a job.

Dishes in my 'shabby white' hutch. I love the colors.

My bunny cookie jar. Garrett and I will have to bake some Easter cookies soon to fill it up.

Mr. Bunny even finds himself inside my china cabinet with my 'good' china sometimes!

Look at this sweet birdhouse cookie jar that I found at the vendor's market one day. Isn't it cute? Garrett and I need to get busy! Those roses in the vase are made of wood.

My little bunny trinket box...I love little boxes.

I love bunnies...I always have. I think it all started because of my birthday falling on Easter sometimes. I have a big day coming up on April 11th. Well...I hope you enjoyed my little Easter vignettes. I'll post more soon. Have a great day!