I'm dreaming of a vintage kitchen...

I have been having WAY too much fun at the Better Homes and Gardens website...do any of you ever visit their site? I admit, I do get a little annoyed sometimes at how many times I have to enter in my password and say no, I don't want the magazine because I'm already receiving it! But if you can get past these annoyances (and I intend to) you can find so many new and creative ideas! :) As you know, we have been working on our kitchen, and it has been A LOT of work! But I am excited when I think of the end result! I have been looking at kitchens at BHG, especially trying to find the vintage looking ones.




I love this large open kitchen, and the island with the pots and pans hanging above it~ I think anything you ate in this room would taste good just because of the atmosphere! :)




I love the bead board in this kitchen~ something we are definitely going to add between our cabinets and counters! :) Aren't these colors of red and green with the crisp white beautiful together?





Ah, red...I couldn't live without it! :)





And it's always interesting to see ways that go "outside the box" for ways to store kitchen items, ways that wouldn't cost that much to imitate...




I love how they used an old window to create this adorable china cupboard! I may have to copy this idea somehow...wouldn't this also make a cute potting shelf? Hum...will have to further contemplate that!

Well, that's all for me, or I truly will fall asleep on this computer! It has been a LONG day here, and tomorrow we leave for the weekend! I am going to hopefully do a little post tomorrow before we head out, but in case I don't~ Have a very Happy Memorial Day weekend! :) Are you doing anything special to celebrate, or maybe just taking it easy at home? If you are doing the latter, I am SO jealous! I am such a homebody, it's not even funny! I just love being at home, plain and simple. My family loves vacations, though, so I have to compromise on this, of course! But we will make wonderful memories, I know! :) Take care you all!

Blessings,

Favorite Finds on Saturday this time...

Hi you all! Happy Weekend to you! :) I was supposed to do "favorite finds" yesterday, but since I didn't, I thought I'd just do it today instead! Hope you don't mind too much!

Do any of you shop at Costco, if you have it nearby? We do, and although it's not my favorite errand, it ends up saving us a lot of $$$, so it's worth the effort!




And one thing we always buy there is the Krusteaz Muffin Mix they sell...this is just perfect for those times you want to bake something special for breakfast, but are low on time (or energy!). They give different variations on the box that you can make with the basic mix~ double chocolate chip, banana, jelly-in-the-middle, etc. None of them require many other ingredients to make them, and they always come out SO good! :)




My husband likes to make the double chocolate chip kind, but started substituting Quik chocolate milk mix for the cocoa powder they call for. I didn't think they'd turn out okay, but they are even better that way! Who'd ever have guessed? Certainly not me...




And I finally broke down and bought these cute glass jars...all three are different sizes. I just think they are adorable! Then again, I find most all kitchen cannisters irresistable, which is why I have so many, and also why I had a hard time justifying them. But when I was visiting Jen @ her blog Candlelit Cottage, she was showing all they had done to redo their kitchen, and I saw how cute these jars looked in her kitchen... SO,now here they stand in mine! I haven't washed them or anything yet, but just had to show you anyway! :) These will make such great storage spaces for rice, oatmeal and cheese-its! :)

I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend! Have any of you been doing any garage-saling? The season has finally kicked off here, and I went to a couple of them today and found a couple of cute things I am fixing up. I will definitely show them to you when I finish! :)

Have a blessed night,

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, I've gone and done it again. I have not blogged in over a week! I wanted to, but I just couldn't seem to get to it this week! I don't know how some of you blog almost every day~ it's amazing! :) I am going to try to do better...

This past week I painted our son's room (the same colors; it just needed a couple of fresh coats!) and then my dad came over on Wednesday and we removed half of the wall that separates the kitchen and dining room. Because this was such a huge rewiring job, my husband and I hired an electrician for the first time since moving here! The electrician and his son were here the same day my dad and I were knocking the wall and cabinets down. It was a long day, but we got it down the studs. This weekend, my husband crawled up in the attic and installed a support beam because this wall is a partial load bearing wall. Now this week I will be able to take the studs out! This is just the beginning as we redo our kitchen and finish the dining room...




I finished this little project this week...I got this idea from Jeni @ At Home In Georgia. I so love reading her blog! :) And I loved how she created different words for each season by putting one letter in each frame! Mine didn't turn out as nicely as hers, but I am happy just the same! I used a few different fonts, but they all ended up looking the same! I moved the chicken picture to a different place in the living room, adding the topiaries instead. Looking at it now though it doesn't look quite right. I'll have to see what I can do about that tomorrow; I have an idea of what might look better. At this point, I am just thankful to have got this up before spring was over! :)




I hope all of you mothers had a truly wonderful day! Did you do anything special to celebrate? Or maybe the best thing of all was you didn't have to do anything! :) We went to lunch after church, which was so fun!




My girls...




My girls with their silly faces...




My guys...




Have you ever eaten at The Old Spaghetti Factory? We just love it there, especially us girls! I love the red train they have there, too...Well, I hope whatever you did, that it was a wonderful day and weekend for you all! :)

Blessings,

FitMama Friday

I thought I would do something different this Friday and postpone "Fantastic Finds Friday" until next week, and join my sister Christine over at Southern Belle Dreaming in her FitMama Friday! :)

I have been saying the same thing for a couple of years now. I really want to be tone and way more in shape than I am...which isn't much! I tend to be sporadic with my exercise~ either I am doing really well, or I'm not doing at all! :) So perhaps this will help me to stick with it! My goals are to:

1. Exercise at least four days a week, for at least twenty minutes total. Include the small weights for upper arm toning, with goal to work my way to heavier weights.
2. Drink MUCH more water than I do! Not only would it make me feel better, it would also help with these chronic headaches!
3. Continue to keep eating out at a minimum, especially fast food!
4. Drink less Diet Coke. I always try to keep it to two a day. This sounds like a lot, but it was way worse before! I have such a difficult time just drinking one can, but this is my present goal! (Again. ) I know soda is terrible, but am truly addicted to the stuff! Somebody help me!) :)
5. Keep drinking at least two glasses of low-fat milk each day. (Cannot stand fat free!)

I tried some new exercises this week, and WAY overdid it! I can't remember the last time I was that sore! I was actually enjoying myself while exercising, but was not feeling so hot a while later...Note to self: remember to take it a little slower when beginning something new!

Something I have learned recently: I heard an exercise expert say that a lot of times women think that if they don't exercise twenty to thirty minutes straight, than it is not effective. Therefore, many of us just don't do it at all. He said it is still very effective, even if it is a a little here, a little there! This helped me so much, because I can always think of millions of things I would/should/could do other than exercise. So now I follow this advice. If I can only snag five minutes in the early morning, ten minutes a few hours later, and five more in the afternoon, this still meets my goal!

I am naturally hyperactive~ meaning I can't sit down! But I have realized that just because you are up and busy, this will not tone your upper arms or stomach muscles! If only it would...

Do you have some form of exercise that you really enjoy? I know a lot of people, including my sister, have DVDs that they love. I have never tried these, but think I am going to try out the Hula Dance one my sister likes, just for the pain~ um, I mean fun~ of it! Well, that's all for me! I hope you have a fabulous weekend! :)

Ramblings...

Hi you all! Hopefully this has been a good week for you so far! It's Wednesday, so it's all downhill from here, right? :) I don't know why, but today was one of those really good days, the kind you thank God for. Of course, I know I should thank Him for EVERY day, but some days it's just a little easier than others, you know? :) I had a fun half hour conversation with my neighbor friends after our kids rode away on the school bus...came home and set to work. If we are going to accomplish all we need to in this old house this spring, I know I am going to have to focus. I don't know what was different between yesterday and today, but I got a lot of things done and had a great day at the same time...

Do you want to know one of my deepest, darkest secrets? Seriously, this IS embarrassing! But it's all about being real, right? This is the keeping it real truth: I still haven't put away all of my Christmas, V-day, and Easter decorations! Yes, it's true! They are all in a heap in a kitchen cupboard, waiting to be put away in the holiday boxes. Now this might not be so bad, but this particular cupboard doesn't have its doors on. I had taken them off, intending to repaint them, but then we decided to take the wall down, so hence, no need to paint cupboards that are only going to come off! So, there they are~ a conglomeration of holiday stuff. Now they have gone from point A to point B...they are in my son's room half packed away into boxes that we keep in his closet. So now the cupboard is empty, but his room is a mess. At least it's a start...

I painted our closet/craft area shelving...organized...worked on the to-paint pile...and the to-hang-up pile (pictures and plates, etc.)...gardened with my friend from across the street...loads of laundry...you get the drift!




This is what Max thinks of all my running around like a mad woman...he gives me a look of total boredom!

But do you want to see the cornice? It is finally up and painted! :)




I was having some trouble with my camera and couldn't get the picture I wanted to capture. With the flash, it was overexposed; without it is too dark! But here is my humble offering...




Maybe I'll be able to get a better picture of it another day...




I have been moving things around on our mantel a little, and framed some cute bird paper...




Notice the lampshades do not match the plates...I need to recover them...This is a painting that my friend Bonnie made. I just love her whimsical art...





I am sorry this post is so choppy! When I get tired, I tend to kind of ramble and become rather random! :) But I just especially wanted to show you the cornice, so you know I actually can finish projects, LOL! :) I will be back around by Friday for sure! Have a great night! :)

A wonderful weekend!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and that maybe, you even got a little sunshine where you are! :)




My husband and I had such a fun time during our stay at the Bed and Breakfast this past Friday night! Isn't it such a cute house?















They put a hot tub in their gazebo...when you get out you wrap yourself in the nice robes that are provided for you, and when you come to your bedroom door, guess what's waiting for you? Warm cookies and cold milk in a cute little basket!


In the morning, they bring coffee, tea, or cocoa~ whichever you say you like~ in a basket with a yummy "pre- breakfast"! Then you get to eat an amazing breakfast with all the other guests downstairs. The owner made a delicious meal for us!




I just love her sweet kitchen! LOVE all of the red in it! Her kitchen really inspired me the last time I was there...




On Friday we spent about an hour in this one antique shop, mostly just looking at all the old books that were there. It was so fun! I found a little poetry school book from 1906, and bought it...




...and they also sold vintage seed packets. I bought one and framed it...




I have four other old seed packets in a different frame, but I don't care for the frame they are in. I think I'll split them up into other frames and group them instead...




Anyway, I hope this was a great Monday for you! :) I will be catching up on all you have been up to in the next few days! Have a blessed night!

Yesterday...

...I turned 34 years old. I went to breakfast with my friend Amy and then we shopped at my one of my favorite "haunts", Country Village, full of quaint, very charming little shops! I found some "already quilted" material at Keepsake Fabrics...

...I am so excited about this! I will use a matching fabric and put them together for a little runner for the girls' dresser...



...I enjoyed these birthday flowers. (I know, tulips again!) The funny thing is this was my gift to myself! I treat myself to a little something every birthday...

My family and I went to The Olive Garden for dinner and then came home to eat cake...



And when I opened my husband's card, I found out that he is taking the day off tomorrow and we are going to a favorite Bed and Breakfast, Katy's Inn for a night away! He took me there for my 30th and I have since wanted to return! I AM SO EXCITED! SO...tomorrow I will be a true woman of leisure. (Ha!) The kids think this is great because it means they get to stay with their grandparents overnight! :)

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! It's the best part of the week, don't you think? :) Have a blessed night! :)